Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now. Yesterday on the show, I had asked the acting
(00:02):
Police Commissioner about a terrible situation which I'd been alluded
to by a few of our listeners. In fact a
post on social media by Territory and Heidi Blacker, her
husband was attacked by a youth in the CBD in
Alice Springs after attempting to help a business with a
youth who was attempting to steal products. Now, he was
(00:23):
allegedly hit in the head with a scooter, severing an
artery and almost bled out. Two weeks out of hospital,
and she had said that she had not been contacted
by the Northern Territory Police for an update. Now the
Commissioner said on the show yesterday that the family has
now been contacted. Joining us on the line is the
member for ra Lewin, Robin Lamley.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Good morning, Robin, Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Robin. This situation with Heidi, I understand that you know her.
Can you tell us a bit more about what happened?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, I probably don't know much more than what's been
put in them. I have been in contact with Heidi
and Aaron, and these two are just a sensational couple.
They've given their life to Alice Springs. They contribute by volunteering.
They are the people that make Alice Springs great. And
(01:20):
it's just so sad that this has happened to Aaron
and Heidi and their family. But I have to say
they're in a long queue of people that have been
victims of crime in Alice Springs over the last five years.
It's just horrendous to think that where it feels like
we're back to square one a bit.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, it will. You know, this situation sounds woeful. I
mean the fact that he's ended up in hospital with
a severed artery after this has gone on. I mean, like,
it's just a terrible situation to think that a Territorian
has gone to try and help somebody else and wound
up seriously injured.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Probably one of the nicest blokes you could meet. And
I and I just when I heard it the story,
I have this picture in my mind of Aaron just
reaching out to be kind and helpful and just being Aaron,
and this person has come around the back of him
apparently and bashed him in the head with a scooter.
(02:21):
And you know, we know the rest of the story
to some extent, but look, it's horrendous. It's you know,
this is a family, another family that's going to be
traumatized probably forever by what's gone on. He has survived,
he is okay, but it's it's a real setback. I
thought I was hoping, and people have been cautiously optimistic
(02:44):
in Alice Springs that things had been set on a
different trajectory. But it's just a reminder that we have
such a long way to go, Katie. We are not
out of the woods. We still have a crime crisis.
Things got better for a while, but it feels like
we've phaps back a bit. And there's probably a whole
range of reasons for that. People come in and out
(03:05):
of prison, troublemakers come in and out of town. You know,
there's probably a whole set of reasons that for why
we're seeing this almost like a spiking crime again. But
it's demoralizing.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, well, I you know it would be, particularly when
people that you know are being injured in the way
you know that this gentleman has been Robin from your understanding.
We did ask the police commissioner about this yesterday because
from the post that Heidi had put on social media,
she said that she hadn't been contacted by the Northern
Territory Police, or that they hadn't been The Commissioner said
(03:43):
yesterday that they had. I don't want to get into
a tit for tat, I mean, that's not my aim. However,
I do feel as though victims of crime, particularly when
it's something as serious as this, expect that they're going
to hear from the police and expect that there will be,
you know, that full and thorough follow up.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
They do, and they should. I think since Heidi's come
out very publicly, I don't think a lot of people
knew about it. They knew that someone had been assaulted,
but they had no idea it was Aaron Blacker, and
so Heidi coming out publicly really put it out there.
I mean, they have such a huge network of friends
(04:23):
and family in Alice Springs, So her coming out and
complaining saying that she was not happy with the police's response,
I think that has triggered the police into acting appropriately.
But it also says to me, Katie that the police
are overwhelmed again. You know that they are struggling to
(04:46):
keep up with what's going on again. It is not
like a few months ago they got on top of it,
and now we're seeing it cycle back down to a
low where they're struggling again. We know that that's what happens.
There's campaigns and what do they call it operations that
(05:07):
heighten police activity and they put all all their resources
into a period of time, and then obviously people police
need a break, they need to go on holidays, they
need to do stuff. There's changes, and then we sort
of experience this almost like a decline in response because
of their lack of resourcing or pressure. Look, I'm just
(05:31):
surmising this. I don't know that. When I heard Heidie's
complaint about the police, I thought, well, this is just
an indication of where we are in the cycle and
the fact that really nothing has changed in that regard.
They're still struggling to put police into the shifts and
(05:56):
respond to crime. And that's no different to the way
it's been forever probably, but particularly over the last five
years since we've had this heightened crime crisis, and.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Sort of since from listeners up here in the top end,
as we've gone through some of the different issues that
we've seen in recent weeks, you know what we've sort
of seen, I guess in a few different instances. Is you's,
you know, engaged allegedly in quite serious, serious crimes and
(06:29):
in some cases on bail, and so a lot of
people up here in the top end are sort of
starting to question, you know, how they can be on
bail and able to continue to offend. The Northern Territory
government announcing and saying on this show on numerous occasions
that they're going to be reviewing and they're in the
process of reviewing the Youth Justice Act and trying to
(06:51):
make some changes to avoid this happening. I mean, what
do you make of that and do you think that
it will have much of an impact in Alice Springs?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, I think that's probably one of the few mechanisms
they've got is to keep tweaking the legislation and tightening
things up so we have better laws in place that
the police can then go on and use to keep
us all safe. I mean, look, the broader perspective for
me is we've had a change in government where seven
(07:23):
or eight months down the track, they've done their best
to demonstrate their commitment to delivering on their promises, which
is to reduce crime and tighten things up, which they
did for a while but we know that these things
are hard to sustain. I think the challenge for them
now is to put the mechanisms in place to sustain it,
(07:46):
to keep the pressure on and that can you know,
as legislators, and that's all we are as members of Parliament,
changing and strengthening the legislation around these things is one
of the few mechanisms we have. So they're on track,
that's exactly what they should be doing. But in the
meantime it's just it's just agonizing to see things decline again.
(08:13):
And but you know, as we know with the cycle,
there'll be operations that come about conducted by the police
that will see a reduction in crime. We hope and assume,
because that's what's happened under Labor, that's what's happened will
happen under the CLP. They're still although they're a different government,
they're still facing the same problems with the same level
(08:36):
of resourcing and the same sort of context. Robin, how
can they do things so dramatically different? It's I don't know,
that's what they have to come up with.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, and you know, it's a community's expectation, right. People
want to feel as though they're able to be safe.
Aaron Blacker does not want to. I'm assuming, you know,
be in the situation that he in now and he
and his little family where you go to help and
you know you're stepping up as a good human and
winding up then seriously injured like it's We speak about
(09:11):
these issues way more often than any of us want to.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yes, we do. Aaron Blacker is a leader in our
community of Alice Springs. He is extremely articulate, he's extremely intelligent.
He's very widely respected across the community, across he's been
in the construction industry for years. I think we will
see Aaron Blacker come out of this and provide insight
(09:42):
and leadership around what he wants and what he thinks
should happen, and I welcome that if there's any positive
that will come out of it. I know Aaron well,
I've known him for a very long time. He is
a superstar, and I think we will see some positives
come out of it. But that's not always the case
case for people who are less articulate and less empowered.
(10:04):
It can you know, really just destroy live, right.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's exactly the right. Well, Robin, please pass on, you
know our well wishes to him and his family. But
look before I let you go, I mean we also
reported last week on this terrible situation where a Danish
tourist was allegedly assaulted by an offender who was not
known to her. Now, you know, following on from that,
we know that there's been some really good moves in
(10:31):
terms of additional flights going into Alice Springs, for example.
But you know, I think that our tourism operators have
got such a big battle on their hands when we
continue to grapple with these issues of crime all the while,
you know, trying to get more people to head to
the Red Center. Even yesterday we had a mum getting
(10:52):
contact with us. You know, they're heading to Alice Springs
as part of an event the anti title series for
motor Cross. Says I understand it, and there, you know,
like she's worried about her son heading to Alice Springs.
This is the kind of thing that you guys are
grappling with now as you try to get the place
on track.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, that's right, Katie. There's always this tension, always this
tension between tourism operators wanting to talk up the town
but having to do with the reality that we do
have a very high level of crime. We always have
and we in recent years have had a crime crisis.
So how do you sell tourism when that is the
(11:35):
reality of living in Alice Springs? Can I say Katie
that at this time of year, Alice Springs is absolutely magical.
We've come out of one of the longest, hottest, driest,
terrible summers, and it's like we've all crept out of
a hole and we've all got smiles in our faces.
(11:56):
It's rained, it looks green and lush and beautiful, and
the temperature is just perfect. So and the parture my
festival over the weekend was just such a success and
people have had a wonderful weekend despite these terrible incidences.
But look, it's an ongoing battle for tourism. I don't
(12:18):
know what the answer is. I'm not going to stop
talking about crime because I think it's important that we
have a dialogue about how to combat crime and we
need to be realistic about the levels of crime. Don't
shoot the messenger, don't shoot Katie Wolf and any other
journalist that wants to talk about crime, because I think
it's important we know where it's happening and what is happening.
(12:41):
But I feel for the tourism operators, but that's you know,
that's one thing that they have to deal with, you know.
Like but coming to our springs, if you are careful,
if you are very mindful of what could happen, look
after yourself, you look after your belongings. You nine times
(13:04):
out of ten you'll be okay. It's just I think
a lot of people just push their luck a little
bit or ignorantly and naively put themselves in a situation.
Walking alone on a street anywhere in Alice Springs obviously,
is something you've got to be very careful about in
quiet areas of Jap. Look, it can happen anywhere, and
(13:27):
if it can happen to Aaron Blacker, honestly, it can
happen to anyone. But I think if you're just really
protective of yourself and mindful of your surroundings, nine times
out of ten you will be okay.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, hey, Robin, really quickly before I let you go.
I understand that there's been some concerns as well about
this scam going on with flights into Alice Springs.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
What happened, Well, there was this marvelous deal put on
the table a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it
was through webjaed.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
It was.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
It was heavily discounted flights for people coming into Alice
Springs from anywhere across the country. And it was reported
just a few days ago that a local got their
family onto it and to cut along story short, picked
up the wrong link and bought tickets and was scammed.
(14:22):
So you know, another setback for the town that even
when you are offered discount flights, you have to be
so extraordinarily careful that you're actually going to the right
place and spending your money with the right company, otherwise
you'll end up out of pockets.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So there's a lot of scammers around at the moment.
I think it's Yeah, it's a good people changing invoices,
changing websites, all sorts of things and catching you hadn't.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Heard of it and that I think that's been a
real blow for tourism Central Australia too. That's something so
positive and someone has had such a negative experience, so yeah,
another blow.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, Robin sounds glorious.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
A lovely easter ahead of us.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
We'll have a lovely easter. Robin I always appreciate it.
Thank you, thanks so much for joining me, hopefully hopefully.
Thanks Robin, you too, talk to you bye.
Now. Yesterday on the show, I had asked the acting
(00:02):
Police Commissioner about a terrible situation which I'd been alluded
to by a few of our listeners. In fact a
post on social media by Territory and Heidi Blacker, her
husband was attacked by a youth in the CBD in
Alice Springs after attempting to help a business with a
youth who was attempting to steal products. Now, he was
(00:23):
allegedly hit in the head with a scooter, severing an
artery and almost bled out. Two weeks out of hospital,
and she had said that she had not been contacted
by the Northern Territory Police for an update. Now the
Commissioner said on the show yesterday that the family has
now been contacted. Joining us on the line is the
member for ra Lewin, Robin Lamley.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Good morning, Robin, Good morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Robin. This situation with Heidi, I understand that you know her.
Can you tell us a bit more about what happened?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, I probably don't know much more than what's been
put in them. I have been in contact with Heidi
and Aaron, and these two are just a sensational couple.
They've given their life to Alice Springs. They contribute by volunteering.
They are the people that make Alice Springs great. And
(01:20):
it's just so sad that this has happened to Aaron
and Heidi and their family. But I have to say
they're in a long queue of people that have been
victims of crime in Alice Springs over the last five years.
It's just horrendous to think that where it feels like
we're back to square one a bit.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, it will. You know, this situation sounds woeful. I
mean the fact that he's ended up in hospital with
a severed artery after this has gone on. I mean, like,
it's just a terrible situation to think that a Territorian
has gone to try and help somebody else and wound
up seriously injured.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Probably one of the nicest blokes you could meet. And
I and I just when I heard it the story,
I have this picture in my mind of Aaron just
reaching out to be kind and helpful and just being Aaron,
and this person has come around the back of him
apparently and bashed him in the head with a scooter.
(02:21):
And you know, we know the rest of the story
to some extent, but look, it's horrendous. It's you know,
this is a family, another family that's going to be
traumatized probably forever by what's gone on. He has survived,
he is okay, but it's it's a real setback. I
thought I was hoping, and people have been cautiously optimistic
(02:44):
in Alice Springs that things had been set on a
different trajectory. But it's just a reminder that we have
such a long way to go, Katie. We are not
out of the woods. We still have a crime crisis.
Things got better for a while, but it feels like
we've phaps back a bit. And there's probably a whole
range of reasons for that. People come in and out
(03:05):
of prison, troublemakers come in and out of town. You know,
there's probably a whole set of reasons that for why
we're seeing this almost like a spiking crime again. But
it's demoralizing.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, well, I you know it would be, particularly when
people that you know are being injured in the way
you know that this gentleman has been Robin from your understanding.
We did ask the police commissioner about this yesterday because
from the post that Heidi had put on social media,
she said that she hadn't been contacted by the Northern
Territory Police, or that they hadn't been The Commissioner said
(03:43):
yesterday that they had. I don't want to get into
a tit for tat, I mean, that's not my aim. However,
I do feel as though victims of crime, particularly when
it's something as serious as this, expect that they're going
to hear from the police and expect that there will be,
you know, that full and thorough follow up.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
They do, and they should. I think since Heidi's come
out very publicly, I don't think a lot of people
knew about it. They knew that someone had been assaulted,
but they had no idea it was Aaron Blacker, and
so Heidi coming out publicly really put it out there.
I mean, they have such a huge network of friends
(04:23):
and family in Alice Springs, So her coming out and
complaining saying that she was not happy with the police's response,
I think that has triggered the police into acting appropriately.
But it also says to me, Katie that the police
are overwhelmed again. You know that they are struggling to
(04:46):
keep up with what's going on again. It is not
like a few months ago they got on top of it,
and now we're seeing it cycle back down to a
low where they're struggling again. We know that that's what happens.
There's campaigns and what do they call it operations that
(05:07):
heighten police activity and they put all all their resources
into a period of time, and then obviously people police
need a break, they need to go on holidays, they
need to do stuff. There's changes, and then we sort
of experience this almost like a decline in response because
of their lack of resourcing or pressure. Look, I'm just
(05:31):
surmising this. I don't know that. When I heard Heidie's
complaint about the police, I thought, well, this is just
an indication of where we are in the cycle and
the fact that really nothing has changed in that regard.
They're still struggling to put police into the shifts and
(05:56):
respond to crime. And that's no different to the way
it's been forever probably, but particularly over the last five
years since we've had this heightened crime crisis, and.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Sort of since from listeners up here in the top end,
as we've gone through some of the different issues that
we've seen in recent weeks, you know what we've sort
of seen, I guess in a few different instances. Is you's,
you know, engaged allegedly in quite serious, serious crimes and
(06:29):
in some cases on bail, and so a lot of
people up here in the top end are sort of
starting to question, you know, how they can be on
bail and able to continue to offend. The Northern Territory
government announcing and saying on this show on numerous occasions
that they're going to be reviewing and they're in the
process of reviewing the Youth Justice Act and trying to
(06:51):
make some changes to avoid this happening. I mean, what
do you make of that and do you think that
it will have much of an impact in Alice Springs?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, I think that's probably one of the few mechanisms
they've got is to keep tweaking the legislation and tightening
things up so we have better laws in place that
the police can then go on and use to keep
us all safe. I mean, look, the broader perspective for
me is we've had a change in government where seven
(07:23):
or eight months down the track, they've done their best
to demonstrate their commitment to delivering on their promises, which
is to reduce crime and tighten things up, which they
did for a while but we know that these things
are hard to sustain. I think the challenge for them
now is to put the mechanisms in place to sustain it,
(07:46):
to keep the pressure on and that can you know,
as legislators, and that's all we are as members of Parliament,
changing and strengthening the legislation around these things is one
of the few mechanisms we have. So they're on track,
that's exactly what they should be doing. But in the
meantime it's just it's just agonizing to see things decline again.
(08:13):
And but you know, as we know with the cycle,
there'll be operations that come about conducted by the police
that will see a reduction in crime. We hope and assume,
because that's what's happened under Labor, that's what's happened will
happen under the CLP. They're still although they're a different government,
they're still facing the same problems with the same level
(08:36):
of resourcing and the same sort of context. Robin, how
can they do things so dramatically different? It's I don't know,
that's what they have to come up with.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, and you know, it's a community's expectation, right. People
want to feel as though they're able to be safe.
Aaron Blacker does not want to. I'm assuming, you know,
be in the situation that he in now and he
and his little family where you go to help and
you know you're stepping up as a good human and
winding up then seriously injured like it's We speak about
(09:11):
these issues way more often than any of us want to.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yes, we do. Aaron Blacker is a leader in our
community of Alice Springs. He is extremely articulate, he's extremely intelligent.
He's very widely respected across the community, across he's been
in the construction industry for years. I think we will
see Aaron Blacker come out of this and provide insight
(09:42):
and leadership around what he wants and what he thinks
should happen, and I welcome that if there's any positive
that will come out of it. I know Aaron well,
I've known him for a very long time. He is
a superstar, and I think we will see some positives
come out of it. But that's not always the case
case for people who are less articulate and less empowered.
(10:04):
It can you know, really just destroy live, right.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's exactly the right. Well, Robin, please pass on, you
know our well wishes to him and his family. But
look before I let you go, I mean we also
reported last week on this terrible situation where a Danish
tourist was allegedly assaulted by an offender who was not
known to her. Now, you know, following on from that,
we know that there's been some really good moves in
(10:31):
terms of additional flights going into Alice Springs, for example.
But you know, I think that our tourism operators have
got such a big battle on their hands when we
continue to grapple with these issues of crime all the while,
you know, trying to get more people to head to
the Red Center. Even yesterday we had a mum getting
(10:52):
contact with us. You know, they're heading to Alice Springs
as part of an event the anti title series for
motor Cross. Says I understand it, and there, you know,
like she's worried about her son heading to Alice Springs.
This is the kind of thing that you guys are
grappling with now as you try to get the place
on track.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, that's right, Katie. There's always this tension, always this
tension between tourism operators wanting to talk up the town
but having to do with the reality that we do
have a very high level of crime. We always have
and we in recent years have had a crime crisis.
So how do you sell tourism when that is the
(11:35):
reality of living in Alice Springs? Can I say Katie
that at this time of year, Alice Springs is absolutely magical.
We've come out of one of the longest, hottest, driest,
terrible summers, and it's like we've all crept out of
a hole and we've all got smiles in our faces.
(11:56):
It's rained, it looks green and lush and beautiful, and
the temperature is just perfect. So and the parture my
festival over the weekend was just such a success and
people have had a wonderful weekend despite these terrible incidences.
But look, it's an ongoing battle for tourism. I don't
(12:18):
know what the answer is. I'm not going to stop
talking about crime because I think it's important that we
have a dialogue about how to combat crime and we
need to be realistic about the levels of crime. Don't
shoot the messenger, don't shoot Katie Wolf and any other
journalist that wants to talk about crime, because I think
it's important we know where it's happening and what is happening.
(12:41):
But I feel for the tourism operators, but that's you know,
that's one thing that they have to deal with, you know.
Like but coming to our springs, if you are careful,
if you are very mindful of what could happen, look
after yourself, you look after your belongings. You nine times
(13:04):
out of ten you'll be okay. It's just I think
a lot of people just push their luck a little
bit or ignorantly and naively put themselves in a situation.
Walking alone on a street anywhere in Alice Springs obviously,
is something you've got to be very careful about in
quiet areas of Jap. Look, it can happen anywhere, and
(13:27):
if it can happen to Aaron Blacker, honestly, it can
happen to anyone. But I think if you're just really
protective of yourself and mindful of your surroundings, nine times
out of ten you will be okay.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, hey, Robin, really quickly before I let you go.
I understand that there's been some concerns as well about
this scam going on with flights into Alice Springs.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
What happened, Well, there was this marvelous deal put on
the table a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it
was through webjaed.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
It was.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
It was heavily discounted flights for people coming into Alice
Springs from anywhere across the country. And it was reported
just a few days ago that a local got their
family onto it and to cut along story short, picked
up the wrong link and bought tickets and was scammed.
(14:22):
So you know, another setback for the town that even
when you are offered discount flights, you have to be
so extraordinarily careful that you're actually going to the right
place and spending your money with the right company, otherwise
you'll end up out of pockets.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So there's a lot of scammers around at the moment.
I think it's Yeah, it's a good people changing invoices,
changing websites, all sorts of things and catching you hadn't.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Heard of it and that I think that's been a
real blow for tourism Central Australia too. That's something so
positive and someone has had such a negative experience, so yeah,
another blow.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, Robin sounds glorious.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
A lovely easter ahead of us.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
We'll have a lovely easter. Robin I always appreciate it.
Thank you, thanks so much for joining me, hopefully hopefully.
Thanks Robin, you too, talk to you bye.
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