Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So now. The Northern Territory Police say that they're engaging
(00:02):
with the family of a man who died following an
incident at a Col's supermarket in Alice Springs last week.
Security guards confronted the twenty four year old man, who
was trying to steal items from the store on Tuesday afternoon.
He reportedly became aggressive. An altercation then broke out and
a security guard was arrested. Police who were in the
store at the time came to assist. Now When officers
(00:24):
tried to cuff the man, he was found to have
lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital but couldn't be saved.
The Northern Territory News is this morning reporting disturbing new
details about the incident he was allegedly involved in on
the street in Alice Springs prior to his death. Witnesses
telling the paper that a woman allegedly assaulted moments earlier
(00:45):
by the same man outside the Commonwealth Bank on Gregory
Terrace was holding an infant baby when she was attacked.
Although the infant's age is not clear, the Northern Territory
News understands the child could have been as young as
four months old. Believe the baby was not hurt in
that attack. Now joining us on the show is the
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Lea Fanochiro. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You, Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now, Chief Minister, it is a tragic situation. Those details
now revealed in the paper that the man who has
allegedly well, who has has passed, allegedly assaulted a woman
with her baby. Now, from your perspective, what is the
latest that police have told you.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, it's obviously a very tragic situation, and you know,
your heart goes out for the family and there's a
community grieving. But police have a really important job they
have to do now, and I stand by the Acting
Commissioner Dole's statement that he made late last week the
Northern Territory Police are best place to investigate and action
this situation and people need to quite frankly, get out
(01:49):
of the way and let the police do their job. Now,
we've seen before where politicians have inserted themselves. I mean
you look at the fallout that happened after the Walker
Rolfs situation with Michael Gunner and the former IK commissioner.
Police don't need that, and the community don't need that
and that it will not be what I'm doing. So
let's let the police do what they need to do,
(02:12):
and in the meantime, we recognize and support a community
who's grieving the loss of loved one.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
There's been quite a strong statement come out as well
by the man's grandfather, need Hard Graves. Now, he said
last week, we know that he was held down by
two police until he lost consciousness and perished, but at
the moment, we're in the dark about what really happened.
In that statement, it is disgraceful that police are already
(02:39):
putting out stories that portray my grandchild as a criminal.
We are always told by lawyers that we need to
wait for investigations to take place before we comment on events,
but police have not waited. They are trying to run
him down. We demand they stop spreading stories and show
some respect. He said that family representatives need to see
(02:59):
all all available footage of this incident immediately, both CCTV
and body cam, so they can understand what happened to
his grandchild. Should the police release that CCTV look.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I understand that mister Hargraves is grieving. I tried to
contact him last week and I'll keep trying, Katie, but
at the end of the day, this is a police
matter and police have to undertake that important work. And
you know people want answers, but the only way to
get answers is to let the police do the investigation.
The coroner will have to do what she needs to do.
(03:32):
It's a process and it may very well take some time.
I don't know what the next days and weeks look like,
and probably neither do the police at this stage. But
the work must be done. You know, the outcome will
be made public and we have to wait.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So you have attempted to speak to need Hardgraves, this
the deceased grandfather.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, I have I called last week and it didn't
get through, So I'll continue to try.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Have you spoken to any family or anyone in the communit.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
No, not any other family. I tried to reach out
to mister Hargraves.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Again.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
People are angry, people are devastated. I understand that, but
we have a police investigation that has to run its course.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Do you think you should speak to that community or where?
Do you know? Where do you feel this needs to
go from your perspective as the chief minister.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I think it's totally appropriate for me to ring mister
Hargraves and offer my condolences, and that's the end of
really where my involvement should be. I mean, we've seen
this play out again. I'm we'd be parachuting into any
community like previous politicians, and our police need to be
able to just have the clear air to do what
they've got to do. I have full confidence in support
(04:40):
in them to do that.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And so from your perspective, I know, Senator Melandarry McCarthy,
it suggested that an independent investigation may be a bitter
way forward, as I understand it from the statement that
Acting Police Commissioner Martin Doulady shoot on the weekend he
had made contact with the Senator. I mean, given the
fact that they're has been concerns raised by the family,
(05:02):
do you think that there should be anybody independent looking
into the whole situation?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
No, I don't. I spoke to Senator McCarthy early last week.
I also made sure that the acting Police Commissioner and
Senior executive in Alice Springs, had kept her abreast of
the situation. She is a strong and important voice in
this and I responded to her calls for an independent
investigation by saying she can have full confidence in the
(05:29):
police and also that she needs to be using her
voice to continue to call for Kam to explain the
process that has to take place and to reinforce confidence
in our police to be able to do that work.
We cannot have people going around undermining our police force
and causing this level of angst at what is already
a time of great sadness for many people. So it
(05:50):
adds no value to undermine confidence.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Chief Minister. We know that the long awaited coroner's findings
into the death of Cooman joy Walker are also due
to be handed down on June tenth. Given the fact
this young man who died last week is from the
same community, do you know if there's going to be
any delay or changes to that process.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
No, I don't, and I imagine that's the matter for
the coroner.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, Now, I think we've got a really difficult path
ahead right now. You've got people really upset at the
death of this young man, understandably, so they've got questions
about what's happened. We've got a lot of victims of
crime who listen to the show who are absolutely exasperated
at the level of crime we continue to see across
the Northern Territory and unnormalizing of criminal behavior. You've got
(06:37):
a police force under the pump doing what they can
to try and stop crime with the microscope over them,
and then you've got people at that vigil and Alice
Springs on Friday wearing shirts at sayf the police. How
do you, as the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
bring people together at what is I think it's safe
(06:58):
to say we are at crisis.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's a really it's really disappointing the reaction people have
towards our police. It's disappointing when politicians use tragic events
like this to political points score and that's effectively why
it's very important that we allow our police to do
this job. It's important that politicians of all stripes come
(07:21):
together and understand the process. Like any other death in custody,
this is how it would be handled, and to make
sure that the community is reassured about the process. Now,
the process will be difficult and uncomfortable for many, but
at the end of the day, it has to happen.
That's our system, and you know, I just challenge those
people of our men and women in Blue went out
(07:43):
there pulling on that uniform every day, what would the
territory be like. So when you want to criticize and
go after the police, just think about it if one
day they decided to pack up and leave because they
were sick of that type of behavior. Now there's you know,
we are very much on record as backing in our
police force. We've taken a very strong stance on law
(08:03):
and order. But right now is not the time to
be just having this chaotic conversation. There is a process,
The process will be followed and there will be an
outcome as a result of that process.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Chief Minister. There's a couple of people messaging through wondering
has the commissioner? Has the position of police commissioner been
advertised yet? Is it something you could ask the Chief
Minister while you've got her on the show.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, great question. No it hasn't because I still haven't
received the report from the Justice blow process an inquiry
that's going on. So once that's concluded, then we will
move into that next day.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Do you anticipate that's going to take.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, it's probably taken longer than I thought, Katie, But
at the same time I said it will take as
long as it needs to. It needs to be done properly,
So he's doing what he needs to do and I'll
just have to wait patiently.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I would imagine it's going to be a fairly costly
exercise as well. Financially. It probably will.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It probably will, and you know, all of that will
obviously be made public. But I was very upfront with
people right from the start that judges have a daily rate,
and I'm not sure how many hours he's put into it,
but it's a process. It has to run its course
again and when it concludes, it concludes, and everyone will
know about it, probably exactly the same time.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
But I know you're thinking sort of weeks, days, months.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm hoping weeks. I'd
like to see it all finalized, but at the end
of the day, I don't want it to be finalized prematurely,
So it just has to it'll be what it'll be.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Now on to another commissioner role. What's the latest now
on the ICAC commissioner given the fact that the former
ICA commissioner has now officially resigned.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, that's right, So no recruitment process for that either.
We've been really clear that the continuity of the K continues.
We've got an acting K Commissioner in that role as
Missus Shanahan. So everything is functioning business as usual for
the I.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Plans to change, no plans to advertise for it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Not yet, because of course we have to do that
work that we promise territories around. You know, does there
need to be changes in our ICAC what comes next?
So that work has to happen. So I don't want
to prematurely move to a point in New ICAC if
there might be other changes that have to happen first.
So we've just got to take the time to look
at that properly, given everything we've learnt over the last
(10:13):
number of years that we've had in i CAAC and
given about thirty million dollars has been spent.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Now just moving on to a listener question, I've got
one here from Greg and Katon. He says, Hi, Katie
and Cole, we miss being able to ask Josh on
the show on Friday on the week that was, so
would you be able to ask the Chief Minister now?
Please that On the twenty six the man with sixteen
serious assaults against him had his latest sentence suspended and
(10:39):
asked her what the heck is going on to allow this?
It indicates that all the new legislative changes haven't stopped
the judiciary handing down what is clearly not a deterrent
nor a consequence. Now, I'm just trying to remember which
incident that was. Hopefully Crystal's able to just remind us.
So I believe it may have been the elderly lady
being knocked to the ground who had her fracture. But
(11:00):
I'm sure that Greg and Kton will potentially provide some
further detail. But nonetheless, I guess the premise of the
question remains the same. A person who allegedly had sixteen
offenses against him but then had his latest sentence suspended suspended,
I mean like it does sort of. It does make
(11:22):
a question whether the legislative changes that you guys have
pushed forward and want to see enacted, Ie, if somebody's
got serious offenses against them that they're not then bailed.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, so I don't it'd be good, Greg, if you
can flick through the specifics. Very happy to have a
look at that. So our laws around bail were very clear,
so it would surprise me if that person was bailed.
If it's a suspended sentence, that's something different, and so
that is within the discretion of the judges to be
able to do that. But it's a bit hard to
comment without better understanding it. But I'm sure between the
(11:55):
three of us we'll get to.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
The bottom of my mind, get to the bottom of
that with Crystal in a moment. Now, I want to
have a long and talk about defense. In the next
couple of months. We know the US Carrier Strike Group
is going to visit Australia and will visit Darwin. It's
going to be the first time in almost two decades
that a British carrier is going to visit Australia. We
know the Australian Minister for Defense and Defense, Industry and
(12:16):
Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy confirmed that the carrier Strike
groupsdar and visit and its participation in Exercise Talisman Saber
are going to happen. Do you know exactly when they're
set to a right?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
No, I don't know the exact dates, but it's very
exciting and I know the ADF for gearing up for
Talisman Saber as our allied partners. And it's also the
first time that we'll see the Japanese Self Defense for
spending a bit of time in the territory as well.
So lots and lots happening. But this is I think
a great sign of confidence in the Northern Territory and
(12:49):
our strategic importance. And again it just continues on our
push to make sure the federal government understand how important.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
On that note, it is being reported by the Sustralia
newspaper the Australia has been asked to lift defense spending
to three point five percent of GDP as soon as possible,
with the request being relayed directly from the US Secretary
to the Deputy Prime Minister on the sidelines of the
(13:19):
like in Singapore. I mean, it's a major increase on
the current levels of defense spending and would require the
government to pour many tens of billions of extra money
into the defense budget. What do you make of these
discussions happening between the US and Australia given our importance
but also our.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Vulnerability exactly, and we've been we are so focused, Katie
on making sure that the Australian defense for US, the
federal government understand the critical importance of the Northern territory
we don't want to see economic, social and defense opportunities
moving into Queensland because it's just easier to do things there.
We are very much making sure that we are working
(13:59):
in partnership with the federal government around how we can
expand what that looks like. I'd love to see more
boots on the ground as well. So it's a continued discussion,
but I think it's fair to say the territory has
a very important role to play in the defense of
this nation and we just need all of the decision
makers to understand that really clearly, and then as a
result of that, the territory will set to benefit from
(14:21):
the economic and social opportunities that come from it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I've just got a bit more detail following that question
ja from Greg So he said, a Daily Well, it's
the report in the NT News, we said a Daily
riverman with more than a dozen convictions for violent offending
was released back into the community after his prison sentence
was suspended. So it was sentenced for recklessly endangering serious harm.
(14:46):
The court heard that on the night of December twelve,
twenty twenty three, he and a co offender followed a
forty eight year old man from a service station atm
when that man was alone, he struck the victim from
behind with a large glass bottle, the victim to the ground. Now,
I'm just trying to find why the outcome was then suspended,
(15:06):
but it was that he demonstrated periods of time of
living a law abiding life, and he was sentenced to
two years four months imprisonment backdated to April fifteen, twenty
twenty four. The sentence was immediately suspended, with him set
to depart prison last Tuesday morning. For the remainder of
his suspended sentence, he was going to be supervised by
(15:28):
a parole and probation officer, must reside at a designated
location near what Air and complete a rehabilitation program. He
could also not consume alcohol and must pay two and
a half grand compensation to the victim. I mean, do
you LOK What do you make of that? Obviously from
what we are hearing from at least some of our listeners,
they don't feel it meets the pub text.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yes, so that's quite different to our Bowe laws. I
just want to make that first point for Greg and
your listeners. So that person, because they were in remand
for so long, the judges made the decision then that
being in prison from April last year to now is
enough time served, and that because of certain behaviors or attributes,
you know, they've been allowed to you know, have that
suspended sentence. So that is something that judges make decisions
(16:09):
about every single day. Obviously, that judge has also put
some restrictions around what the person can do, so if
the person was to breach any of those then they
would end up back before.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So I know that you're hearing this info on the fly,
but yeah, so sixteen convictions for agravig assault, three convictions
for assaulting a worker, and one conviction for assaulting police.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, look, short of having manatory sentencing for everything, they're
you know, these are matters that judges have to decide.
So I just want to reinforce again, it's quite different
to bail when it comes to sentencing. That is something
judges do. So the law will probably say, you know
that you can the maximum sentence is whatever, have many years,
(16:51):
maybe say ten, just as an example, and then the
judge decides, based on all the information they have in
front of them, how long out of the ten they get,
and then they decide what conditions are put around that,
so that really is a judicial process.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Do you see how some people listen to very frustrated Yeah,
of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And you know, look, I do understand that ultimately we
can't put ourselves in the shoes of that judge on
that day with the information they have, But the restrictions
around movement would then mean if any of that was breach,
they'd ended up back before court.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
All right, just a couple of quick bits and pieces.
I want to ask this energy conference last week in
Brisbane that you are tended. How did it go? Are
we expecting things to ramp up?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah? We are, We absolutely are. So we had a
really unique opportunity at this energy conference to be showcased specifically,
so the Deputy Chief Minister and I hosted a industry
breakfast where it was just about the Beatloo and the
room was packed and everyone commented that they had not
seen that level of engagement before, which was wonderful. We
(17:58):
had Timburen, High Energy, Daily Waters and Santos all expressing
great confidence in the Beaterloo and in the steps we'd
taken as a government to really give confidence to investment,
and so that was fantastic. We then got to opportunity
to meet with many stakeholders and I also participated as
part of a broader national panel on gas exploration. So
(18:22):
we've really, we really are in the spotlight. It was
a very good opportunity to showcase.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And what do you make I don't know whether you've
seen these comments, but what do you make of there's
a couple of CEOs of major Australian gas and energy
companies likening the Victorian government's gas policy to North Korea.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, Kevin Gallagher from Santos doesn't mince his words. And
what we were talking about a lot at this conference
is the fact that the Northern Territory can solve this
entire country's energy issues and people just you know, need
to be more aware of that opportunity, and they haven't
before because there's been lack of confidence that the territory
(19:01):
government was ever going to develop the Beloo. So now
that there is political and regulatory certainty, people are very
very keen. But we've got to be making sure that
jurisdictions like Victoria aren't importing gas from overseas. We want
them using Australian gas. Better yet, we want them using
territory gas and that means our community benefits from it economically.
So it was a really great opportunity to push back
(19:25):
on the status quo, get in front of the nation
and say, hang on a second, just look up, we're here,
you know. So with a resource that's nearly it's about
the third largest in the world, Katie, we can make
some big changes for this nation.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
All right, Chief Minister. Before I let you go. We
spoke to Luke Keariti last week from Fusion Fireworks and
he said that there is some movement on the fireworks
for Territory Day. I believe he's got about four containers
that have been approved to come through another supply. I
got about three, there was a few still being held up.
(20:00):
We are things from your perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yes, So while I was in Queensland, I caught up
with Premier David CHRISTI fully and don't worry. He very
clearly understands how important fireworks are to territories. I think
he's a little bit jealous quite frankly. That's how we
still get to have Craig at night. So I invited
him to come and experience it. But I think it
will all be resolved. I'm hoping trucks are rolling this
week Katie, and as soon as I have an update,
(20:22):
i'll let you know. But I thank New South Wales
they did a great job and thank you to Premier Mins.
And now now Christa Fully's going to come through with
the goods.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Is he going to come to the Northern Territory for
terrortory die?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I hope so.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He's pretty busy over there being a new government as well.
But I extend the offer to everyone, Katie. It's it's
a brilliant day well.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Leofanocchiaro, good to catch
up with you. Thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Thank you, take care everyone,
So now. The Northern Territory Police say that they're engaging
(00:02):
with the family of a man who died following an
incident at a Col's supermarket in Alice Springs last week.
Security guards confronted the twenty four year old man, who
was trying to steal items from the store on Tuesday afternoon.
He reportedly became aggressive. An altercation then broke out and
a security guard was arrested. Police who were in the
store at the time came to assist. Now When officers
(00:24):
tried to cuff the man, he was found to have
lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital but couldn't be saved.
The Northern Territory News is this morning reporting disturbing new
details about the incident he was allegedly involved in on
the street in Alice Springs prior to his death. Witnesses
telling the paper that a woman allegedly assaulted moments earlier
(00:45):
by the same man outside the Commonwealth Bank on Gregory
Terrace was holding an infant baby when she was attacked.
Although the infant's age is not clear, the Northern Territory
News understands the child could have been as young as
four months old. Believe the baby was not hurt in
that attack. Now joining us on the show is the
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Lea Fanochiro. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You, Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now, Chief Minister, it is a tragic situation. Those details
now revealed in the paper that the man who has
allegedly well, who has has passed, allegedly assaulted a woman
with her baby. Now, from your perspective, what is the
latest that police have told you.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, it's obviously a very tragic situation, and you know,
your heart goes out for the family and there's a
community grieving. But police have a really important job they
have to do now, and I stand by the Acting
Commissioner Dole's statement that he made late last week the
Northern Territory Police are best place to investigate and action
this situation and people need to quite frankly, get out
(01:49):
of the way and let the police do their job. Now,
we've seen before where politicians have inserted themselves. I mean
you look at the fallout that happened after the Walker
Rolfs situation with Michael Gunner and the former IK commissioner.
Police don't need that, and the community don't need that
and that it will not be what I'm doing. So
let's let the police do what they need to do,
(02:12):
and in the meantime, we recognize and support a community
who's grieving the loss of loved one.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
There's been quite a strong statement come out as well
by the man's grandfather, need Hard Graves. Now, he said
last week, we know that he was held down by
two police until he lost consciousness and perished, but at
the moment, we're in the dark about what really happened.
In that statement, it is disgraceful that police are already
(02:39):
putting out stories that portray my grandchild as a criminal.
We are always told by lawyers that we need to
wait for investigations to take place before we comment on events,
but police have not waited. They are trying to run
him down. We demand they stop spreading stories and show
some respect. He said that family representatives need to see
(02:59):
all all available footage of this incident immediately, both CCTV
and body cam, so they can understand what happened to
his grandchild. Should the police release that CCTV look.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I understand that mister Hargraves is grieving. I tried to
contact him last week and I'll keep trying, Katie, but
at the end of the day, this is a police
matter and police have to undertake that important work. And
you know people want answers, but the only way to
get answers is to let the police do the investigation.
The coroner will have to do what she needs to do.
(03:32):
It's a process and it may very well take some time.
I don't know what the next days and weeks look like,
and probably neither do the police at this stage. But
the work must be done. You know, the outcome will
be made public and we have to wait.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So you have attempted to speak to need Hardgraves, this
the deceased grandfather.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, I have I called last week and it didn't
get through, So I'll continue to try.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Have you spoken to any family or anyone in the communit.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
No, not any other family. I tried to reach out
to mister Hargraves.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Again.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
People are angry, people are devastated. I understand that, but
we have a police investigation that has to run its course.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Do you think you should speak to that community or where?
Do you know? Where do you feel this needs to
go from your perspective as the chief minister.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I think it's totally appropriate for me to ring mister
Hargraves and offer my condolences, and that's the end of
really where my involvement should be. I mean, we've seen
this play out again. I'm we'd be parachuting into any
community like previous politicians, and our police need to be
able to just have the clear air to do what
they've got to do. I have full confidence in support
(04:40):
in them to do that.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And so from your perspective, I know, Senator Melandarry McCarthy,
it suggested that an independent investigation may be a bitter
way forward, as I understand it from the statement that
Acting Police Commissioner Martin Doulady shoot on the weekend he
had made contact with the Senator. I mean, given the
fact that they're has been concerns raised by the family,
(05:02):
do you think that there should be anybody independent looking
into the whole situation?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
No, I don't. I spoke to Senator McCarthy early last week.
I also made sure that the acting Police Commissioner and
Senior executive in Alice Springs, had kept her abreast of
the situation. She is a strong and important voice in
this and I responded to her calls for an independent
investigation by saying she can have full confidence in the
(05:29):
police and also that she needs to be using her
voice to continue to call for Kam to explain the
process that has to take place and to reinforce confidence
in our police to be able to do that work.
We cannot have people going around undermining our police force
and causing this level of angst at what is already
a time of great sadness for many people. So it
(05:50):
adds no value to undermine confidence.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Chief Minister. We know that the long awaited coroner's findings
into the death of Cooman joy Walker are also due
to be handed down on June tenth. Given the fact
this young man who died last week is from the
same community, do you know if there's going to be
any delay or changes to that process.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
No, I don't, and I imagine that's the matter for
the coroner.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, Now, I think we've got a really difficult path
ahead right now. You've got people really upset at the
death of this young man, understandably, so they've got questions
about what's happened. We've got a lot of victims of
crime who listen to the show who are absolutely exasperated
at the level of crime we continue to see across
the Northern Territory and unnormalizing of criminal behavior. You've got
(06:37):
a police force under the pump doing what they can
to try and stop crime with the microscope over them,
and then you've got people at that vigil and Alice
Springs on Friday wearing shirts at sayf the police. How
do you, as the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
bring people together at what is I think it's safe
(06:58):
to say we are at crisis.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's a really it's really disappointing the reaction people have
towards our police. It's disappointing when politicians use tragic events
like this to political points score and that's effectively why
it's very important that we allow our police to do
this job. It's important that politicians of all stripes come
(07:21):
together and understand the process. Like any other death in custody,
this is how it would be handled, and to make
sure that the community is reassured about the process. Now,
the process will be difficult and uncomfortable for many, but
at the end of the day, it has to happen.
That's our system, and you know, I just challenge those
people of our men and women in Blue went out
(07:43):
there pulling on that uniform every day, what would the
territory be like. So when you want to criticize and
go after the police, just think about it if one
day they decided to pack up and leave because they
were sick of that type of behavior. Now there's you know,
we are very much on record as backing in our
police force. We've taken a very strong stance on law
(08:03):
and order. But right now is not the time to
be just having this chaotic conversation. There is a process,
The process will be followed and there will be an
outcome as a result of that process.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Chief Minister. There's a couple of people messaging through wondering
has the commissioner? Has the position of police commissioner been
advertised yet? Is it something you could ask the Chief
Minister while you've got her on the show.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, great question. No it hasn't because I still haven't
received the report from the Justice blow process an inquiry
that's going on. So once that's concluded, then we will
move into that next day.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Do you anticipate that's going to take.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, it's probably taken longer than I thought, Katie, But
at the same time I said it will take as
long as it needs to. It needs to be done properly,
So he's doing what he needs to do and I'll
just have to wait patiently.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I would imagine it's going to be a fairly costly
exercise as well. Financially. It probably will.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It probably will, and you know, all of that will
obviously be made public. But I was very upfront with
people right from the start that judges have a daily rate,
and I'm not sure how many hours he's put into it,
but it's a process. It has to run its course
again and when it concludes, it concludes, and everyone will
know about it, probably exactly the same time.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
But I know you're thinking sort of weeks, days, months.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm hoping weeks. I'd
like to see it all finalized, but at the end
of the day, I don't want it to be finalized prematurely,
So it just has to it'll be what it'll be.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Now on to another commissioner role. What's the latest now
on the ICAC commissioner given the fact that the former
ICA commissioner has now officially resigned.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, that's right, So no recruitment process for that either.
We've been really clear that the continuity of the K continues.
We've got an acting K Commissioner in that role as
Missus Shanahan. So everything is functioning business as usual for
the I.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Plans to change, no plans to advertise for it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Not yet, because of course we have to do that
work that we promise territories around. You know, does there
need to be changes in our ICAC what comes next?
So that work has to happen. So I don't want
to prematurely move to a point in New ICAC if
there might be other changes that have to happen first.
So we've just got to take the time to look
at that properly, given everything we've learnt over the last
(10:13):
number of years that we've had in i CAAC and
given about thirty million dollars has been spent.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Now just moving on to a listener question, I've got
one here from Greg and Katon. He says, Hi, Katie
and Cole, we miss being able to ask Josh on
the show on Friday on the week that was, so
would you be able to ask the Chief Minister now?
Please that On the twenty six the man with sixteen
serious assaults against him had his latest sentence suspended and
(10:39):
asked her what the heck is going on to allow this?
It indicates that all the new legislative changes haven't stopped
the judiciary handing down what is clearly not a deterrent
nor a consequence. Now, I'm just trying to remember which
incident that was. Hopefully Crystal's able to just remind us.
So I believe it may have been the elderly lady
being knocked to the ground who had her fracture. But
(11:00):
I'm sure that Greg and Kton will potentially provide some
further detail. But nonetheless, I guess the premise of the
question remains the same. A person who allegedly had sixteen
offenses against him but then had his latest sentence suspended suspended,
I mean like it does sort of. It does make
(11:22):
a question whether the legislative changes that you guys have
pushed forward and want to see enacted, Ie, if somebody's
got serious offenses against them that they're not then bailed.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, so I don't it'd be good, Greg, if you
can flick through the specifics. Very happy to have a
look at that. So our laws around bail were very clear,
so it would surprise me if that person was bailed.
If it's a suspended sentence, that's something different, and so
that is within the discretion of the judges to be
able to do that. But it's a bit hard to
comment without better understanding it. But I'm sure between the
(11:55):
three of us we'll get to.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
The bottom of my mind, get to the bottom of
that with Crystal in a moment. Now, I want to
have a long and talk about defense. In the next
couple of months. We know the US Carrier Strike Group
is going to visit Australia and will visit Darwin. It's
going to be the first time in almost two decades
that a British carrier is going to visit Australia. We
know the Australian Minister for Defense and Defense, Industry and
(12:16):
Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy confirmed that the carrier Strike
groupsdar and visit and its participation in Exercise Talisman Saber
are going to happen. Do you know exactly when they're
set to a right?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
No, I don't know the exact dates, but it's very
exciting and I know the ADF for gearing up for
Talisman Saber as our allied partners. And it's also the
first time that we'll see the Japanese Self Defense for
spending a bit of time in the territory as well.
So lots and lots happening. But this is I think
a great sign of confidence in the Northern Territory and
(12:49):
our strategic importance. And again it just continues on our
push to make sure the federal government understand how important.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
On that note, it is being reported by the Sustralia
newspaper the Australia has been asked to lift defense spending
to three point five percent of GDP as soon as possible,
with the request being relayed directly from the US Secretary
to the Deputy Prime Minister on the sidelines of the
(13:19):
like in Singapore. I mean, it's a major increase on
the current levels of defense spending and would require the
government to pour many tens of billions of extra money
into the defense budget. What do you make of these
discussions happening between the US and Australia given our importance
but also our.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Vulnerability exactly, and we've been we are so focused, Katie
on making sure that the Australian defense for US, the
federal government understand the critical importance of the Northern territory
we don't want to see economic, social and defense opportunities
moving into Queensland because it's just easier to do things there.
We are very much making sure that we are working
(13:59):
in partnership with the federal government around how we can
expand what that looks like. I'd love to see more
boots on the ground as well. So it's a continued discussion,
but I think it's fair to say the territory has
a very important role to play in the defense of
this nation and we just need all of the decision
makers to understand that really clearly, and then as a
result of that, the territory will set to benefit from
(14:21):
the economic and social opportunities that come from it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I've just got a bit more detail following that question
ja from Greg So he said, a Daily Well, it's
the report in the NT News, we said a Daily
riverman with more than a dozen convictions for violent offending
was released back into the community after his prison sentence
was suspended. So it was sentenced for recklessly endangering serious harm.
(14:46):
The court heard that on the night of December twelve,
twenty twenty three, he and a co offender followed a
forty eight year old man from a service station atm
when that man was alone, he struck the victim from
behind with a large glass bottle, the victim to the ground. Now,
I'm just trying to find why the outcome was then suspended,
(15:06):
but it was that he demonstrated periods of time of
living a law abiding life, and he was sentenced to
two years four months imprisonment backdated to April fifteen, twenty
twenty four. The sentence was immediately suspended, with him set
to depart prison last Tuesday morning. For the remainder of
his suspended sentence, he was going to be supervised by
(15:28):
a parole and probation officer, must reside at a designated
location near what Air and complete a rehabilitation program. He
could also not consume alcohol and must pay two and
a half grand compensation to the victim. I mean, do
you LOK What do you make of that? Obviously from
what we are hearing from at least some of our listeners,
they don't feel it meets the pub text.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yes, so that's quite different to our Bowe laws. I
just want to make that first point for Greg and
your listeners. So that person, because they were in remand
for so long, the judges made the decision then that
being in prison from April last year to now is
enough time served, and that because of certain behaviors or attributes,
you know, they've been allowed to you know, have that
suspended sentence. So that is something that judges make decisions
(16:09):
about every single day. Obviously, that judge has also put
some restrictions around what the person can do, so if
the person was to breach any of those then they
would end up back before.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So I know that you're hearing this info on the fly,
but yeah, so sixteen convictions for agravig assault, three convictions
for assaulting a worker, and one conviction for assaulting police.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, look, short of having manatory sentencing for everything, they're
you know, these are matters that judges have to decide.
So I just want to reinforce again, it's quite different
to bail when it comes to sentencing. That is something
judges do. So the law will probably say, you know
that you can the maximum sentence is whatever, have many years,
(16:51):
maybe say ten, just as an example, and then the
judge decides, based on all the information they have in
front of them, how long out of the ten they get,
and then they decide what conditions are put around that,
so that really is a judicial process.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Do you see how some people listen to very frustrated Yeah,
of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And you know, look, I do understand that ultimately we
can't put ourselves in the shoes of that judge on
that day with the information they have, But the restrictions
around movement would then mean if any of that was breach,
they'd ended up back before court.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
All right, just a couple of quick bits and pieces.
I want to ask this energy conference last week in
Brisbane that you are tended. How did it go? Are
we expecting things to ramp up?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah? We are, We absolutely are. So we had a
really unique opportunity at this energy conference to be showcased specifically,
so the Deputy Chief Minister and I hosted a industry
breakfast where it was just about the Beatloo and the
room was packed and everyone commented that they had not
seen that level of engagement before, which was wonderful. We
(17:58):
had Timburen, High Energy, Daily Waters and Santos all expressing
great confidence in the Beaterloo and in the steps we'd
taken as a government to really give confidence to investment,
and so that was fantastic. We then got to opportunity
to meet with many stakeholders and I also participated as
part of a broader national panel on gas exploration. So
(18:22):
we've really, we really are in the spotlight. It was
a very good opportunity to showcase.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And what do you make I don't know whether you've
seen these comments, but what do you make of there's
a couple of CEOs of major Australian gas and energy
companies likening the Victorian government's gas policy to North Korea.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, Kevin Gallagher from Santos doesn't mince his words. And
what we were talking about a lot at this conference
is the fact that the Northern Territory can solve this
entire country's energy issues and people just you know, need
to be more aware of that opportunity, and they haven't
before because there's been lack of confidence that the territory
(19:01):
government was ever going to develop the Beloo. So now
that there is political and regulatory certainty, people are very
very keen. But we've got to be making sure that
jurisdictions like Victoria aren't importing gas from overseas. We want
them using Australian gas. Better yet, we want them using
territory gas and that means our community benefits from it economically.
So it was a really great opportunity to push back
(19:25):
on the status quo, get in front of the nation
and say, hang on a second, just look up, we're here,
you know. So with a resource that's nearly it's about
the third largest in the world, Katie, we can make
some big changes for this nation.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
All right, Chief Minister. Before I let you go. We
spoke to Luke Keariti last week from Fusion Fireworks and
he said that there is some movement on the fireworks
for Territory Day. I believe he's got about four containers
that have been approved to come through another supply. I
got about three, there was a few still being held up.
(20:00):
We are things from your perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yes, So while I was in Queensland, I caught up
with Premier David CHRISTI fully and don't worry. He very
clearly understands how important fireworks are to territories. I think
he's a little bit jealous quite frankly. That's how we
still get to have Craig at night. So I invited
him to come and experience it. But I think it
will all be resolved. I'm hoping trucks are rolling this
week Katie, and as soon as I have an update,
(20:22):
i'll let you know. But I thank New South Wales
they did a great job and thank you to Premier Mins.
And now now Christa Fully's going to come through with
the goods.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Is he going to come to the Northern Territory for
terrortory die?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I hope so.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He's pretty busy over there being a new government as well.
But I extend the offer to everyone, Katie. It's it's
a brilliant day well.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Leofanocchiaro, good to catch
up with you. Thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Thank you, take care everyone,
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