Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We also know the Northern Territory has now got the
largest judicial compliment in its history at nineteen. Now it
follows additional appointments being made in an effort to strengthen
the courts to meet the demand created by what the
Northern Territory government sees is the law changes since they
have enacted since they were elected one year ago now.
(00:21):
Earlier this week, the government announced the appointment of mister
Giles O'Brien Harcher and mister Stephen Ladeck as ongoing judges
of the Northern Territory Local Court. Now two acting judges
have also been appointed to the Local Court for a
six month period to March twenty twenty six, Miss Sally
Osland's and Mister Jonathan bore Tooley. Now the Attorney General,
(00:45):
Marie Clare Boothby joins me on the line to talk
more about the appointments and some of the work being
undertaken to really try to get things moving within our
court system. Good morning to your Attorney General, Good.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Morning to Katie and your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Now, first off, two appointments are two additional judges appointed
for the six month period as well. How busy have
the courts been in the last six months.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Katie, they have been under extreme pressure, not just in
the last six months, so I might add this has
been a growing problem for a number of years. You know,
that's a space which was severely underinvested in over a
very long time under the previous government. And of course
when we came to government, we said we would invest
(01:29):
in our not only our police, but our courts and
correction system as well, and they all go hand in hand.
You can't have one working without the other. So yeah,
Luck you just said that, we've we put on those
additional permanent judges. Now that's ongoing. They will be doing
a lot of those cases. And those two particular judges
have been in that acting position before, so now they're permanent,
(01:52):
and of course putting on another two acting to make
sure that we can keep up with that demand because
we know that we have to deliver that you know,
fastjustice for those victims. We can't have them sitting around waiting,
and so you know, this is why we invested the
you know, the most we've ever invested in our court
system to be as part of that one point five
(02:13):
billion dollar package.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So Attorney General, I mean, can you quantify it for
us in terms of the increase that we've seen over
the last six months. Like you've said that it is
as a result of the legislative changes that have been
made by the Colp government that we're seeing, you know,
additional pressure on our court system. What kind of numbers
are we talking about, you know, on a weekly basis,
(02:34):
a monthly basis, whatever sort of figures you've got, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I think I will put it into perspective for you, Katie,
with the numbers that I do have. If you look
at people who were refused bail over this period that
over three thousand, three hundred people were refused bail, that's
forty four percent increase compared to the same period last
year under labor. So that kind of gives you an
indication of how many cases that they're working on over
(02:59):
a period of time. It does fluctuate every single day,
but we are talking in some cases hundreds of cases
which are before the courts each day. So the other
big number that is really important to note is time
on remand, which actually reflects what's going on in the
court system because that's when people are waiting around for
their hearing and their sentencing. If they are you know,
(03:21):
to be sentenced. That used to sit around one hundred
and forty days, it's now sitting at one hundred and
thirty six point five days, So that time has reduced,
which shows that some of the things that we're working
on in the court system is starting to work. I mean,
the demand is still there, but you've got those number
of days which are coming down. And you may remember
(03:45):
I've spoken to you about this before, with the number
of sentence prisoners now does outnumber the number of remand prisoners,
which it used to be the other way around, So
there is some movement there. I think there's still more
work to be done having and this is the whole
point of having those additional judges commence, both the permanent
ones and also those two acting because if you've got
(04:08):
judges that can hold those those hearings, then of course
you know more finalizations we call them can occur. And
that number is certainly is keeping up with the demand.
Still it is a pressure cooker for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Are you still looking at holding at court sitting on Saturdays?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is that something that's still on the agenda.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah. I continue to work with the courts on that,
and of course, working with those judges, we're exploring all
sorts of different reforms to improve that efficiency. We've already
had some kind of hours extending so that they do
sit a little bit longer and that has been helping.
And then the other part that really helps is with
(04:47):
the defense lawyers such as NAJA. They now have a
lawyer which is based you know, at a police watchhouse
all weekend, and what that does is allow for the
defense lawyer to speak to their clients well ahead of
that Monday hearing everything it gets prepared so that it
can go through a lot smoother. And so we're watching
to see how that unfolds because that means that maybe
(05:07):
there's some other expansions we can do over the weekend. Yes,
but of course having actual courts set up on the
weekend is something that I'm still really keen to explore
and an am with various stakeholders. But of course, if
we can do it in a way that doesn't take
up all the other resources that we need to do that,
such as you know, defense lawyers in those watchhouses, and
(05:29):
that's that's a good result as well. So we're still
doing that work and bringing down those numbers so that
the times are shorter and those people can get through
the system a lot.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Faster, Attorney General, one of the big questions from our
listeners yesterday when we spoke about this, and also this
morning already, how much are these additional changes or the
appointment of the judges, how much is it going to cost.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Well, that's what the budget was for back in May
when we announced that total of one point five million
dollars into police, courts and corrections, and a large percentage
of that does go to courts, which does pay for
those judges. And it's not just the judges. You need
court staff. Of course. The more people that are in
front of the courts means that, you know, the correction
(06:15):
system has to bring them in for those hearings. So
there's a lot of different moving parts around that. And
that's exactly why we invested that amount, because we said
community safety was a time rarity, and this is what
a cost to get offenders off the streets and to
make sure that they're dealt with and that we do
have that faster justice for victims, which is exactly what
the community has been calling for for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Now, Attorney General, you and I have spoken since the
Attorney General's Meeting was held in Sydney. But I do
see that there's been some coverage over the last couple
of days in relation to the closing the gap targets.
Now we know the Indigenous Australians Minister, Senator Melanderie McCarthy
has been pretty blunt in her assessment of the territories
(07:00):
lack of progress in this space, and will has said
that the Northern Territory has got the worst outcomes when
it comes to closing the gap. She called out the
government's recent tough on crime and youth justice reforms telling
the NT News last week. Last week I met with
the Northern Territory Chief Minister. In those discussions, I made
(07:20):
very clear the concerns I have in regards to First
Nations youths in watchhouses and the reintroduction of spit hoods.
Attorney General, I mean, what do you say to those
like the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister who feel as though
some of the legislative changes the Northern Territory government are
(07:40):
making will not seeing an improvement when it comes to
closing the gap. In fact, I suppose they would argue
the opposite, that we're seeing more Indigenous people incarcerated.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, for Katie. The close in the gap measure is
incredibly important and this has been on the go for
a very life time, including under a federal labor government
which Malandari is part of, and of course previous labor governments.
And so we know that the way that we reduce
Aboriginal incarceration, which is part of that, closing the gap
(08:13):
to make sure that less people are committing crimes, and
that's the measure of success, and so we will continue
to work with them. We've actually got, you know, children,
We've got more kids going to school now than we
had before. That's part of closing the gap. We've got
more families that are involved with different parts of the
system that allow them to have more support, which is
(08:36):
more than what labor had before. And they are the
kinds of things where closing the gap can really make it.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I mean, does it worry you though that obviously you
guys aren't on the same page as the federal Indigenous
Affairs minister who's based here in the Northern Territory, given
the fact that we are so heavily reliant on federal funding, Like,
does it concern you that we may wind up in
a situation where they say will do. You know what,
we're not providing funding for X, Y and Z because
(09:03):
we feel as though these policy measures or these legislative
changes that you've put in place are race based and
are seeing you know, the closing the gap targets worsened.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I don't think there's any talk about removing of funding.
I think what they're highlighting is that they know that
the closing the gap targets have been a failure for
a very long time, and so that's why we're doing
the work. We're doing, you know, to reduce crime, which
is part of that closing the gap. We just we
absolutely need to make sure that less criminals are out
there doing the wrong thing. And that's exactly why we've
(09:35):
been targeting the pointy end of things. We've had to
clean up those serious offenders who are out in our streets.
We can't have them continuing to be out there. But
then I go back to that data was talking about
that before. Under our Seal Peak government, we've now got
more sentenced prisoners than romand prisoners, which was the opposite
of the course. We know that previously when you're on
(09:55):
remand you can't get those rehabilitation programs. We also know
that we have rehabilitation happening in our prison system than
we had under labor, So we're not ignoring the closing
the gap. We're not further removed from the way in
which the federal government addresses is we were working towards it.
But we have to address the point the end and
(10:16):
at the same time which we're doing, address those reissues
of crime back to school.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, you also have to deal with the issues of
crime that people are absolutely well and truly sick of,
you know, And I sort of like, in some ways,
I don't know what some want to see. Do they
think that people who are committing really violent offenses or
involved in sexual assaults should be left out on the street, Like,
(10:43):
I just sort of don't understand it. I get the
argument that there certainly needs to be rehabilitation programs, there
does need to be an addressing of these issues at
the root cause, but there also needs to be a
think about the safety of everybody within the community where
you're talking about, you know what, whether you're talking about
Tenant Creek, Catherine Darwin, there is an expectation from the
(11:07):
broader community that if somebody is a violent offender, that
they're not on the straight exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And i'd let me be really clear with everybody, Katie
is that our laws apply to everybody equally, and so
if race is coming into it, we just don't want
to not buying into that. I don't take that on board.
I believe that everybody, if you're doing the right thing,
you don't have to worry about it. If you're breaking
the law and you're a serious or violent offender, then
(11:33):
you will be dealt with. You won't be out on
our streets doing the same sorts of crimes over and
over again. You will be incarcerated. It's not a nice
place to be and nobody wants to see incarceration rates
go up. But more importantly, we cannot keep continuing to
let the levels of crime go on that had been
going on in our community.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Minister, I am just going to ask you about another
issue which you may not have a great deal of
detail about, but I think it is absolutely raising. We've
had Teewee residents get in contact with us. I know
there's also an issue out in what air at the
moment around the barge and the barge service to those
remote communities now being canceled. It's well, it's been. It's
(12:15):
no doubt it. There's a concern for a whole raft
of reasons. But isn't all then territory government working with
both the Tee Wee residents and also with the residents
of what Air to try and sort this issue out
with the barge service, because otherwise we're going to wind
up with people wanting to leave those remote communities. You're
going to wind up in a situation where people cannot
have the goods that are required delivered to those communities.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Yeah, that's right, Katie, And yes, my understanding of the
circumstances is that they have been working with key stakeholders
across you know whatever and Tee Weed because obviously the
aim is the achieving that reliable freight service ahead of
the wet season, because we absolutely have to make sure
that there's security of getting food and supplies out to
(12:58):
our communities. Yeah, the government is working with those keepers.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Now, before I let you go, there's a few things
kicking off. We know that the golf is set to
kick off. We also know that the motocross GP of
Australia is not too far away either. How are we
looking in terms of visitor numbers and ticket numbers for
these wonderful events.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Okay, I'm glad you asked, because this is the part
of my portfolio that is really great for Territorians. But
there's a serious side and then there's a fun side. Now, yeah, MXGP.
We obviously you know that we got we would delivered
this under a previous government and it was a bit
of a buffer case with huge blowouts and costs. But
we've managed to turn it around. We've managed to get
(13:41):
the track almost up and ready, like it'll be ready
by the time the writers arrive in the territory. But
I guess we're shaping up to have a huge, amazing,
fantastic event. You would have seen remember the cricket a
couple of weeks ago and how successful that was. We
see the motocross Gran Grand Prix in a similar vein
because we know our territorians love a bit of a
(14:02):
redhead experience and we are expecting about thirty two thousand
spectators across the three day events, so that's a huge
injection into our economy. We know most of the tickets
sold already a large percentage from interstatus, which is fantastic.
Our caravan parks and our hotels are all booking out,
But I just want to have a word of caution
to locals. If you want to go along, make sure
(14:24):
you get your ticket because if they sell out, to
close the gate because you can't squeeze more than you
can into a track like that. Yeah, and we want
everyone to have a really good experience. So all those ripheads,
did you.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Say thirty two thousand people you're expecting to.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
The three days?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Over three days? Thirty two thousand, So idea per day?
Any idea? How many tickets we've sold so far?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, I can't say the exact number, but I do
know that it's quite a majority. And they there's only
a few left ready for the locals. And I know
what locals sometimes can be like they like to you
know what's happening with we can goage try and buy
a ticket, but we don't want that to happen. We
want all those people that love the MXGP to make
sure they get online book a ticket now in various options. Yeah,
(15:09):
with you know, three day passes, one day passes, there's
something for everyone. But it is absolutely ramping up. I know.
That's all of our tourism and hospitality providers have been
working together as well to make sure that they can
offer all our visitors a great experience and you know,
get the town really humming because it will be a success.
And of course we're going to have the same MXGP
(15:29):
for another few years as well.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Look, I will say, I know that the COLP likes
to sort of trash the former labor government on a
lot of things, but.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
It sounds as though, you know, things like the.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Cricket, things like the motocross that were in play when
they were still in were actually good moves. I mean,
do you acknowledge that there was to work, some good
work happening.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Look, I do, and I think you know, I remember
by the announcement of their XGP, and but the thing
is that all they did was the announcement. I guess
the hard rubber hit the road when we had to
sort out a bunch of issues to make sure we
could get it a the ground. I mean, imagine if
you know, you didn't get off the ground because of
those blowouts and not being able to work together across
the different parts of the tourism, hospitality, the sports. You know,
(16:09):
like they all come together to make this happen, and
we've had to really pull everyone together to make sure
we could get this off the ground. It was the
same with the cricket like things don't happen just because
you say it's going to happen. You actually have to
do a lot of work to get there, and that's
certainly what we've done. We you know, whilst whilst it
was really tricky at the time when we had those
huge blowouts for the MHGP, we said, no, you know what,
(16:29):
let's turn this around. Let's make this amazing for territorians
and grab visitors. We know they love their rev ed
sports and yeah, that's exactly what we're going to deliver.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Well, they've got to get out there and get those tickets.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Attorney General and also Minister for Various Portfolios Marray Claire
Bood be good to talk with you this morning. Thank
you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Thank you, Katie, and to your listeners, thank you
We also know the Northern Territory has now got the
largest judicial compliment in its history at nineteen. Now it
follows additional appointments being made in an effort to strengthen
the courts to meet the demand created by what the
Northern Territory government sees is the law changes since they
have enacted since they were elected one year ago now.
(00:21):
Earlier this week, the government announced the appointment of mister
Giles O'Brien Harcher and mister Stephen Ladeck as ongoing judges
of the Northern Territory Local Court. Now two acting judges
have also been appointed to the Local Court for a
six month period to March twenty twenty six, Miss Sally
Osland's and Mister Jonathan bore Tooley. Now the Attorney General,
(00:45):
Marie Clare Boothby joins me on the line to talk
more about the appointments and some of the work being
undertaken to really try to get things moving within our
court system. Good morning to your Attorney General, Good.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Morning to Katie and your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Now, first off, two appointments are two additional judges appointed
for the six month period as well. How busy have
the courts been in the last six months.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Katie, they have been under extreme pressure, not just in
the last six months, so I might add this has
been a growing problem for a number of years. You know,
that's a space which was severely underinvested in over a
very long time under the previous government. And of course
when we came to government, we said we would invest
(01:29):
in our not only our police, but our courts and
correction system as well, and they all go hand in hand.
You can't have one working without the other. So yeah,
Luck you just said that, we've we put on those
additional permanent judges. Now that's ongoing. They will be doing
a lot of those cases. And those two particular judges
have been in that acting position before, so now they're permanent,
(01:52):
and of course putting on another two acting to make
sure that we can keep up with that demand because
we know that we have to deliver that you know,
fastjustice for those victims. We can't have them sitting around waiting,
and so you know, this is why we invested the
you know, the most we've ever invested in our court
system to be as part of that one point five
(02:13):
billion dollar package.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So Attorney General, I mean, can you quantify it for
us in terms of the increase that we've seen over
the last six months. Like you've said that it is
as a result of the legislative changes that have been
made by the Colp government that we're seeing, you know,
additional pressure on our court system. What kind of numbers
are we talking about, you know, on a weekly basis,
(02:34):
a monthly basis, whatever sort of figures you've got, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I think I will put it into perspective for you, Katie,
with the numbers that I do have. If you look
at people who were refused bail over this period that
over three thousand, three hundred people were refused bail, that's
forty four percent increase compared to the same period last
year under labor. So that kind of gives you an
indication of how many cases that they're working on over
(02:59):
a period of time. It does fluctuate every single day,
but we are talking in some cases hundreds of cases
which are before the courts each day. So the other
big number that is really important to note is time
on remand, which actually reflects what's going on in the
court system because that's when people are waiting around for
their hearing and their sentencing. If they are you know,
(03:21):
to be sentenced. That used to sit around one hundred
and forty days, it's now sitting at one hundred and
thirty six point five days, So that time has reduced,
which shows that some of the things that we're working
on in the court system is starting to work. I mean,
the demand is still there, but you've got those number
of days which are coming down. And you may remember
(03:45):
I've spoken to you about this before, with the number
of sentence prisoners now does outnumber the number of remand prisoners,
which it used to be the other way around, So
there is some movement there. I think there's still more
work to be done having and this is the whole
point of having those additional judges commence, both the permanent
ones and also those two acting because if you've got
(04:08):
judges that can hold those those hearings, then of course
you know more finalizations we call them can occur. And
that number is certainly is keeping up with the demand.
Still it is a pressure cooker for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Are you still looking at holding at court sitting on Saturdays?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is that something that's still on the agenda.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah. I continue to work with the courts on that,
and of course, working with those judges, we're exploring all
sorts of different reforms to improve that efficiency. We've already
had some kind of hours extending so that they do
sit a little bit longer and that has been helping.
And then the other part that really helps is with
(04:47):
the defense lawyers such as NAJA. They now have a
lawyer which is based you know, at a police watchhouse
all weekend, and what that does is allow for the
defense lawyer to speak to their clients well ahead of
that Monday hearing everything it gets prepared so that it
can go through a lot smoother. And so we're watching
to see how that unfolds because that means that maybe
(05:07):
there's some other expansions we can do over the weekend. Yes,
but of course having actual courts set up on the
weekend is something that I'm still really keen to explore
and an am with various stakeholders. But of course, if
we can do it in a way that doesn't take
up all the other resources that we need to do that,
such as you know, defense lawyers in those watchhouses, and
(05:29):
that's that's a good result as well. So we're still
doing that work and bringing down those numbers so that
the times are shorter and those people can get through
the system a lot.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Faster, Attorney General, one of the big questions from our
listeners yesterday when we spoke about this, and also this
morning already, how much are these additional changes or the
appointment of the judges, how much is it going to cost.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Well, that's what the budget was for back in May
when we announced that total of one point five million
dollars into police, courts and corrections, and a large percentage
of that does go to courts, which does pay for
those judges. And it's not just the judges. You need
court staff. Of course. The more people that are in
front of the courts means that, you know, the correction
(06:15):
system has to bring them in for those hearings. So
there's a lot of different moving parts around that. And
that's exactly why we invested that amount, because we said
community safety was a time rarity, and this is what
a cost to get offenders off the streets and to
make sure that they're dealt with and that we do
have that faster justice for victims, which is exactly what
the community has been calling for for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Now, Attorney General, you and I have spoken since the
Attorney General's Meeting was held in Sydney. But I do
see that there's been some coverage over the last couple
of days in relation to the closing the gap targets.
Now we know the Indigenous Australians Minister, Senator Melanderie McCarthy
has been pretty blunt in her assessment of the territories
(07:00):
lack of progress in this space, and will has said
that the Northern Territory has got the worst outcomes when
it comes to closing the gap. She called out the
government's recent tough on crime and youth justice reforms telling
the NT News last week. Last week I met with
the Northern Territory Chief Minister. In those discussions, I made
(07:20):
very clear the concerns I have in regards to First
Nations youths in watchhouses and the reintroduction of spit hoods.
Attorney General, I mean, what do you say to those
like the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister who feel as though
some of the legislative changes the Northern Territory government are
(07:40):
making will not seeing an improvement when it comes to
closing the gap. In fact, I suppose they would argue
the opposite, that we're seeing more Indigenous people incarcerated.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, for Katie. The close in the gap measure is
incredibly important and this has been on the go for
a very life time, including under a federal labor government
which Malandari is part of, and of course previous labor governments.
And so we know that the way that we reduce
Aboriginal incarceration, which is part of that, closing the gap
(08:13):
to make sure that less people are committing crimes, and
that's the measure of success, and so we will continue
to work with them. We've actually got, you know, children,
We've got more kids going to school now than we
had before. That's part of closing the gap. We've got
more families that are involved with different parts of the
system that allow them to have more support, which is
(08:36):
more than what labor had before. And they are the
kinds of things where closing the gap can really make it.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I mean, does it worry you though that obviously you
guys aren't on the same page as the federal Indigenous
Affairs minister who's based here in the Northern Territory, given
the fact that we are so heavily reliant on federal funding, Like,
does it concern you that we may wind up in
a situation where they say will do. You know what,
we're not providing funding for X, Y and Z because
(09:03):
we feel as though these policy measures or these legislative
changes that you've put in place are race based and
are seeing you know, the closing the gap targets worsened.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I don't think there's any talk about removing of funding.
I think what they're highlighting is that they know that
the closing the gap targets have been a failure for
a very long time, and so that's why we're doing
the work. We're doing, you know, to reduce crime, which
is part of that closing the gap. We just we
absolutely need to make sure that less criminals are out
there doing the wrong thing. And that's exactly why we've
(09:35):
been targeting the pointy end of things. We've had to
clean up those serious offenders who are out in our streets.
We can't have them continuing to be out there. But
then I go back to that data was talking about
that before. Under our Seal Peak government, we've now got
more sentenced prisoners than romand prisoners, which was the opposite
of the course. We know that previously when you're on
(09:55):
remand you can't get those rehabilitation programs. We also know
that we have rehabilitation happening in our prison system than
we had under labor, So we're not ignoring the closing
the gap. We're not further removed from the way in
which the federal government addresses is we were working towards it.
But we have to address the point the end and
(10:16):
at the same time which we're doing, address those reissues
of crime back to school.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, you also have to deal with the issues of
crime that people are absolutely well and truly sick of,
you know, And I sort of like, in some ways,
I don't know what some want to see. Do they
think that people who are committing really violent offenses or
involved in sexual assaults should be left out on the street, Like,
(10:43):
I just sort of don't understand it. I get the
argument that there certainly needs to be rehabilitation programs, there
does need to be an addressing of these issues at
the root cause, but there also needs to be a
think about the safety of everybody within the community where
you're talking about, you know what, whether you're talking about
Tenant Creek, Catherine Darwin, there is an expectation from the
(11:07):
broader community that if somebody is a violent offender, that
they're not on the straight exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And i'd let me be really clear with everybody, Katie
is that our laws apply to everybody equally, and so
if race is coming into it, we just don't want
to not buying into that. I don't take that on board.
I believe that everybody, if you're doing the right thing,
you don't have to worry about it. If you're breaking
the law and you're a serious or violent offender, then
(11:33):
you will be dealt with. You won't be out on
our streets doing the same sorts of crimes over and
over again. You will be incarcerated. It's not a nice
place to be and nobody wants to see incarceration rates
go up. But more importantly, we cannot keep continuing to
let the levels of crime go on that had been
going on in our community.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Minister, I am just going to ask you about another
issue which you may not have a great deal of
detail about, but I think it is absolutely raising. We've
had Teewee residents get in contact with us. I know
there's also an issue out in what air at the
moment around the barge and the barge service to those
remote communities now being canceled. It's well, it's been. It's
(12:15):
no doubt it. There's a concern for a whole raft
of reasons. But isn't all then territory government working with
both the Tee Wee residents and also with the residents
of what Air to try and sort this issue out
with the barge service, because otherwise we're going to wind
up with people wanting to leave those remote communities. You're
going to wind up in a situation where people cannot
have the goods that are required delivered to those communities.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Yeah, that's right, Katie, And yes, my understanding of the
circumstances is that they have been working with key stakeholders
across you know whatever and Tee Weed because obviously the
aim is the achieving that reliable freight service ahead of
the wet season, because we absolutely have to make sure
that there's security of getting food and supplies out to
(12:58):
our communities. Yeah, the government is working with those keepers.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Now, before I let you go, there's a few things
kicking off. We know that the golf is set to
kick off. We also know that the motocross GP of
Australia is not too far away either. How are we
looking in terms of visitor numbers and ticket numbers for
these wonderful events.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Okay, I'm glad you asked, because this is the part
of my portfolio that is really great for Territorians. But
there's a serious side and then there's a fun side. Now, yeah, MXGP.
We obviously you know that we got we would delivered
this under a previous government and it was a bit
of a buffer case with huge blowouts and costs. But
we've managed to turn it around. We've managed to get
(13:41):
the track almost up and ready, like it'll be ready
by the time the writers arrive in the territory. But
I guess we're shaping up to have a huge, amazing,
fantastic event. You would have seen remember the cricket a
couple of weeks ago and how successful that was. We
see the motocross Gran Grand Prix in a similar vein
because we know our territorians love a bit of a
(14:02):
redhead experience and we are expecting about thirty two thousand
spectators across the three day events, so that's a huge
injection into our economy. We know most of the tickets
sold already a large percentage from interstatus, which is fantastic.
Our caravan parks and our hotels are all booking out,
But I just want to have a word of caution
to locals. If you want to go along, make sure
(14:24):
you get your ticket because if they sell out, to
close the gate because you can't squeeze more than you
can into a track like that. Yeah, and we want
everyone to have a really good experience. So all those ripheads,
did you.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Say thirty two thousand people you're expecting to.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
The three days?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Over three days? Thirty two thousand, So idea per day?
Any idea? How many tickets we've sold so far?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, I can't say the exact number, but I do
know that it's quite a majority. And they there's only
a few left ready for the locals. And I know
what locals sometimes can be like they like to you
know what's happening with we can goage try and buy
a ticket, but we don't want that to happen. We
want all those people that love the MXGP to make
sure they get online book a ticket now in various options. Yeah,
(15:09):
with you know, three day passes, one day passes, there's
something for everyone. But it is absolutely ramping up. I know.
That's all of our tourism and hospitality providers have been
working together as well to make sure that they can
offer all our visitors a great experience and you know,
get the town really humming because it will be a success.
And of course we're going to have the same MXGP
(15:29):
for another few years as well.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Look, I will say, I know that the COLP likes
to sort of trash the former labor government on a
lot of things, but.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
It sounds as though, you know, things like the.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Cricket, things like the motocross that were in play when
they were still in were actually good moves. I mean,
do you acknowledge that there was to work, some good
work happening.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Look, I do, and I think you know, I remember
by the announcement of their XGP, and but the thing
is that all they did was the announcement. I guess
the hard rubber hit the road when we had to
sort out a bunch of issues to make sure we
could get it a the ground. I mean, imagine if
you know, you didn't get off the ground because of
those blowouts and not being able to work together across
the different parts of the tourism, hospitality, the sports. You know,
(16:09):
like they all come together to make this happen, and
we've had to really pull everyone together to make sure
we could get this off the ground. It was the
same with the cricket like things don't happen just because
you say it's going to happen. You actually have to
do a lot of work to get there, and that's
certainly what we've done. We you know, whilst whilst it
was really tricky at the time when we had those
huge blowouts for the MHGP, we said, no, you know what,
(16:29):
let's turn this around. Let's make this amazing for territorians
and grab visitors. We know they love their rev ed
sports and yeah, that's exactly what we're going to deliver.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Well, they've got to get out there and get those tickets.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Attorney General and also Minister for Various Portfolios Marray Claire
Bood be good to talk with you this morning. Thank
you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Thank you, Katie, and to your listeners, thank you
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