Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to mix one O four nine's three
sixty now that number. If you're keen to call through
this morning eight nine one oh four nine. You can
also send us a message though zero four double nine
seven double one three six zero. There is certainly a
lot to discuss this morning with the Chief Minister, and
Lea Finocchiaro joins me in the studio. Good morning to you, Chief.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Now, first off, in some very sad news, like yesterday
we learned that Pope Francis has indeed passed away.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
He was aged eighty eight.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
The world indeed in morning, is there anything that's going
to be happening here in the Northern Territory to one
of the Pope.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yeah, there will be, Katie, and it is incredibly sad.
And I rang Bishop Gauchi last nine and offered our
condolences and thoughts to the entire community. There will be
millions of people around the world who are just absolutely
heartbroken today. My understanding is there will be a church
service at Saint Mary's a few days after whenever the
(01:00):
funeral might be. So I'm sure for people who are
interested to perhaps follow the diocese of Dah and Catholic
Diocese of dah on Facebook page. I'm sure they'll be
putting updates up, but I believe early next week we
could expect to see a Mass.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And I'm assuming all the flags around the Northern Territory
like they are around the rest of Australia and around
the world, really will be flying at half Mass.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, all of the appropriate protocols will be taken place.
Obviously I've not been the Chief Minister at a time
like this.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
But we have wonderful people in protocol who make sure
all of the right things happen.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, it is. Look at his incredibly sad news. I
know that there will be plenty of people feeling pretty
sad about this today. Look, I do want to move
along though, because there's unfortunately been quite a bit happening
yet again when it comes to crime now, I mean,
it's really not the kind of thing anyone wants happening
when we speak about tourism and boosting the industry, particularly
(01:52):
in the Red Center. But police have arrested a sixteen
year old male after an indecent assault near Ularu on Friday.
Teenager also allegedly stole a woman's handbag and phone. This
is yet another incident of crime in Central Australia for
the property crime on the weekend, adding well to a
tourist being seriously assaulted just over a week ago. We
(02:16):
also know that local man Aaron Black was seriously and
when he was trying to help a business which was
being targeted by a youth. Chief Minister, what else can
be done in Central Australia and indeed in Alice Springs
to try and sort this issue out once and for all.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, it's really disappointing. We've obviously, you know, changed a
heap of laws and supported our police in an unprecedented way,
but there's just the legacy of this issue is so big, Katie.
But there is more we can do and we've always
said this is just the beginning.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So I had a bit pulled together.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
A meeting late last week to make sure all of
our agencies are working really closely together and doing their
fair share. So you know, children and families, education and police.
That's all working well and we've seen some really good
responses from our police, but obviously what the community want
is not you know, when a crime happens, our police
(03:10):
are there, but we don't want crime to happen in
the first place, so we are doing a massive rewrite
of the Youth Justice Act and changes to the Traffic
Act and other things. But certainly it's incredibly disappointing. It
damages the town reputationally. People feel concerned about their own
personal safety and whether it's a safe place to live.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And that's not what we want.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It's a gorgeous, important part of this country and the
territory and we've just got to keep the focus on
and keep our attention.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well. Absolutely, it seems as though you're doing It's not
just in Central Australia, but looking at Catherine last week
we had a number of incidents there, including someone being
struck by a car following a late night brawl. Now,
one of our listeners, Tom got in contact last week
and asked if the government would consider looking at alcohol
restrictions in the town. Is that's something that you'd consider.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
We haven't been looking at new ones, but there are
alcohol restrictions in Catherine. That particular incident was a couple
of communities engaging in some payback from a previous incident,
which is always very disappointing. But I am aware that
Catherine has been experiencing, you know, levels of crime they
don't want to see as well. So we continue to
(04:21):
send police into our regions. Just out of the last graduation,
we sent ten to Alice, and I think a couple
went to Catherine. But Katie, it's imperfect and I hate it.
You know, it is absolutely disgusting behavior. I hate to
see the territory like this and people having to make
decisions about where they park their car and will they
(04:42):
go to the shops. I mean, talking to my colleagues
Bill Yen and Josh Burgoyne of what's happening in Alison,
Joe Hersey and Catherine. You know she's saying older people
are trying to go to the shops at seven am
to avoid any issues.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I mean, people do not deserve to have to change
their life around these issues.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Like honestly, it's bullshit. Oh yeah, Territory orians have been
quite patient and they are continuing to try to be
quite patient with your government. I mean, even for me.
Last Thursday, I went to the Nightcliff shops and saw
intoxicated people, one person in particular pushing a security guard
who was asking that person to leave. Now there was
elderly people. There was literally somebody walking in at that
(05:20):
point in time with a walker. It was at two
point thirty in the afternoon, around two thirty three o'clock
in the afternoon. People are pissed.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, to put it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Really bluntly and behaving really terribly. I mean again, I
will say that your government was elected to try and
sort this issue out with crime, but we're seeing it
flair up, seeing it really flair up in a way
that people do not want.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
What else can be done, well, we just have to
keep recruiting more police, building more prison infrastructure, which is
what we're doing. We just graduated thirty one corrections constable
sorry corrections.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Officers, which is really exciting.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I think there's another thirty three in training, which is great.
Our Police College is full to the brim of police
and auxiliaries, so they're all getting their training. We're building
prison beds as fast as humanly possible, and we're changing
the laws as much as we can so that work.
It just can't happen overnight, unfortunately, and we've shown territories
(06:20):
we're very committed to this issue. Obviously, with our bringing
in a decleence law and a range of other things
within six weeks of coming to government. But I think
the changes will make to the Youth Justice Act will
make a big difference as well. And then there's all
the root causes of crime work. So we're seeing really
good work with family responsibility agreements. Data I'm getting early
data out of education is that our work to get
(06:41):
kids to school is.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Going really, really well.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And if kids are in school, they're not out on
the street and they've got half a chance at having
a productive life instead of a life of crime. So's
that early intervention work is starting. But at the point
of end we would just keep changing the laws, keep
supporting our police until we get this right.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So where are things that with the the Youth Justice
Act review and when can people expect to see some
of those challenges come into play.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yep, So that is all on track. I think I
said last time I was on the show Katie that
it will be introduced into Parliament that last sittings in July.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I think it's about twenty nine July, don't quote me
on that.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So that will become law August September, and so ready
and good, it'll be in time for the school holidays
over the Christmas period as well. But yeah, can I
just say just sorry, just to add to that, so
you know, there's plenty of work to do. The crime
stats did come out and it's showing some really good signs. Now,
I've always said, Katie, it's not about the crime stats.
(07:43):
I'm not going to be the one holding them up
and saying no, no, see, look, it's better. It's how
people feel and people's lived experience. But I am just flagging.
From a data perspective.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We've made an impact, which is important.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
It tells us keep going, you can have a bigger impact,
don't stop.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's what we do.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
What kind of numbers are you seeing and in what
areas are you seeing some impact?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, territory wide, it's looking really good.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So we've got you know, hundreds of percentages dropped when
you compare February this year to February last year, particularly
around house break ins, commercial break ins, even motor vehicles
DV is up. So that's not something we've been able
to trend down yet. So it's definitely patchy, but some
really really good indicative data. And now that we're on
(08:27):
full surpro data, we're comparing apples with apples, so there's
not a need to have some sort of strange interpretation.
We can literally look at February this year, compare it
to February last year and say was it better or
was it worse? And so we can do that across
all crime categories.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
All right, I wanted Last week we got a call
from Charlie. He called in from Corama, I believe it
was Charlie. He spoke to us about a security camera
going off in the night at his home. When he
checked it, there was two kids, one who he said
looked like it was about ten, trying to get in.
Upon further inspection of that vision, one the older one
(09:06):
not only armed with a machete but also wearing an
ankle monitoring bracelet. He wanted to know how these are
actually monitored and if there is someone, you know, like,
if there's someone going from home to home, essentially a
child that's wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet going from house
(09:28):
to house, surely it's going to alert someone.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, this is a very vexed issue and it's something
we are putting a lot of energy into and have
not got to the bottom of yet. So I appreciate
the frustration and that sounds like a horrific situation for
Charlie and and many of your listeners will have lived
and walked in charlie shoes ten times over, so it's shocking. Basically,
(09:52):
electronic monitoring is something we've increased since coming to government.
It's particularly part of Declum's Law. And what happens is
police don't have real life time access to that data.
It's through a different company, the company who owns the
ankle bracelet. So there is connectivity there, but it's not
where we want it to be, and so we're working
(10:14):
on a bit of a project to try and make
that more streamlined, but it's just not there yet. But
again it's about enforcement and you know, I was thinking, Katie,
where are the parents? And this is where our family
responsibility agreements come in, you know, like you cannot have
and it's not just ten year olds, it's eight year
olds out on the street totally without a care in
(10:35):
the world, destroying other people's lives.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's absolutely agree and do not dispute that in any way.
But if you've got somebody that's got an ankle monitoring
bracelet on, I just like you just think to yourself,
how are you in a situation. Then we're a kid
that our listener said he looked like he was about twelve,
is with a ten year old then you know the
older kids allegedly armed with the machete teaching the younger kid. Yeah,
presumularly allowed to commit a crime, and wearing an ankle
(11:00):
monitoring bracelet all during that process, Like it just people
are getting really frustrated by this kind of thing and going, well,
it seems like the whole system is continuously letting us down.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, and it's it's broken as anything, Katie, make no
mistake about that. So with ankle monitors, for example, it
depends what the court orders. So some of them can
be what's called geofence. So for example, it would set
off an alarm if a person wearing a bracelet left
a particular area. So if you were bailed to your
house with a monotet you were not allowed outside the fence,
(11:31):
for example, when you walk through the fence, then it
would it would set off an alert to the company.
But not everyone is geofence, so the rest of the time,
it's a it's sort of a more manual process of
just of checking where is everyone and does that align
with their bail.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So there's plenty of work to.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Be done, not just from an electronic monitoring perspective, but
a bail perspective, and that's the work we're doing through
the rewrite of the Youth Justice Act. So it's honestly, Katie,
used to fix one thing. If I and a new problem,
you uncover something else, you get stuck into that. So
this electronic monitoring one has been on our radar for
months now and we continue to come back to it,
(12:09):
to come back to it and work on it. But
because we're contracted to a private provider, that adds.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Just a wins contract run out.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Oh, I don't know, and it's important. It's nothing, there's
no problem with the provider. It just adds a level
of complexity. So we are absolutely working through it, and
it's myself, the Corrections Minister, who are really leading the
charge on getting to the bottom of that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Chief. I'll keep moving because there is a lot to
cover off and I know we both pressed for time.
You are expected today to make an announcement in terms
of strengthening the justice system to ensure the defenders face
real consequences and also to reduce court delays and restore
community safety. What exactly are you going to be announcing today.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, it's really exciting because there's many parts to our
justice system. One is the police, one is corrections, and
one is the courts. People will remember we've done a
lot of work on funding legal aid and trying to
get our courts moving better. So we're announcing our Tiger
Task Force, which is really an early it's to deal
with the backlog of offending. We've had it reviewed two
(13:12):
hundred and ninety remand cases already because we know we've
got huge percentages of people who are on remand, so
they've been able to finalize over two hundred matters, which
includes eighty seven guilty please, So that's one part. We've
also made the twenty deep pp stuff who were on
contracts permanent because they were going to have to go
and look for other jobs and didn't have the certainty
(13:34):
we needed, so we're retaining those skills in the territory.
We've got four additional prosecutors, which is fantastic, and new judges,
so we're really working hard in that court space to
bolster the court.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So she's mister to do so is it what did
you say?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
It was called Operation tiger, Tiger, tiger, and it's all.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So it's reviewed two hundred and ninety. Reminds.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Remind cases that's right, it's reviewed two ninety. So the I,
my dear, is they're very senior experienced people. They go
in and are looking at that backlog of matters. Why
has there been caught delayed? Why has this person been
sitting on remand for a year, and so you know
they're working through all of that to try and reach
a resolution. So it's been really really effective so far,
(14:18):
and we will continue to do that work.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
All right, Chief Minister, I do want to ask you
about another issue which has been raised by our listeners
certainly over the last week or so. It's not a
new one, but it is causing a lot of anks
amongst territory mothers. It's some maternity services at the Darwin
Private Hospital. We've now got a situation where more than
one thousand people have signed a petition demanding the protection
(14:42):
of private maternity services. Have you seen this petition?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I haven't, but I'm certainly aware of it.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And of course this is a huge issue for the territory,
extremely disappointing, destabilizing and uncertain times for expecting mothers and families.
It's horrible and I've talked about this on your show before, Katie,
where it's a symptom of it's a really tangible example
of a slowing economy where the government hasn't invested in
(15:10):
growing the territory so that we have more people and
more jobs. And Hellscope made the decision that it just
didn't pay the bills and they've cut it. So we've
stepped up, and that is a horrific situation. And so
we've stepped up to try and offer a private like
service through the public hospital, so women in the private
system will be able to have their babies at Royal
(15:33):
Darwin and then we can offer them two private like experiences,
either from home with cleaning and food provision or at
a hotel where they can be cared what.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I can gather though, what that is going to mean
for some of these women. If you're being cared for
by a private obstetrician, are you still going to be
able to have your private obstetrician care for you right
through the birthing of your child.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
That is my understanding, but I'm just getting some more information.
I know some are feeling like the transition team have
perhaps been not as supportive as they could be. So
this is an area that's really important to me and
our government. It's imperfect and we wish Health Scope didn't
make this decision. So we're really trying. You know, we're
not a private health provider as a territory, so we're
(16:17):
really trying to continue an offering that is not traditionally
something a public health system would do. But we don't
want women feeling left behind.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
All right. I am going to be catching up with
the Health Minister later in the week, But essentially what
this petition is asking the Northern Territory government to do
right now is launch a central information hub, host a
public forum where women have the opportunity, families have the
opportunity to ask questions, share concerns and speak to the
(16:48):
Minister for Health and yourself about the future of maternity
care in the Northern Territory. They also want a commitment
to finding a long term solution. Are you prepared to
do those things?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, look, I'm not sure if there's status of everything,
and I'm very happy to get across it. I think
the reality is that the government can only provide what
it can in terms of making it as a public
type offering in a private type offering in a public system.
Unless Healthscope change their mind. They are the ones who
(17:20):
who operate the public hospital. It is entirely a decision
for them, unfortunately. So this is not about private health
or any of those other things. It is literally the
hospital operator saying well, we're not offering that. It'd be
like if they decided they're not doing I don't know
broken bones anymore. You know. They're just saying no, we're
not doing that, and that's the end of it. So
that obviously has a huge impact on the territory. And
(17:43):
what we want to do is make sure we can
offer as much continuity of care as possible and as
much offering as possible, and by growing our economy, we
hope then that there's more births, more babies, more people,
and Healthscope will come back to the table.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
All right, chiefiness to there's other questions coming through this
morning about book. I will talk to you in just
a moment about some unreased in a community which has
been raised with me as well. But there's some questions
being asked about issues at the Darwin waterfront. One online
publication calling for an inquiry after raising conflicts of interest concerns,
(18:18):
would you endorse a public inquiry?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Well, Katie, I'm not the waterfront Minister and I've done
that very deliberately. The allegations are all historical under the
previous Labor government, and I've got full confidence in the
Attorney General, who is the waterfront Minister, to resolve any
outstanding manners and make her own decisions about it.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So when you say you've done that very deliberately, is
that because of your conflict of interest with your husband
obviously working.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, my husband is down there and so I'm deliberately
not the waterfront minister. Traditionally waterfront has sat with the
Chief and I've deliberately kept myself out of any decision
making around that so that it's all properly an appropriate
really dealt with. So this is best directed towards the
Attorney General.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Look, I will obviously declare as well that my husband's
a chair of the Darwen Waterfront. But there's some pretty
awful comments being made on social media about you and
your husband's employment at the waterfront, claims of conflict of interest.
Have you been involved in any way in his employment?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Absolutely not, Katie, and as I said, any of the
allegations happened under a labor government. Perhaps those questions are
better directed to Eva Lolo or whoever the waterfront ministers
were over that period. But I've certainly had no involvement
and I stand by that.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I mean taking that into account. Do you think that
if there was a review that it would just clear
the air and you know it's worth doing.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Look again, this is really a matter for the Attorney General.
She's the person with the right information and can make
her own decision.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
All right. I want to take you to some other
questions that are coming through from listeners. Somebody is asking,
where is the police review currently.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
At the police review? So that was the one that
was finished?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
No, No, the one that is been conducted by Justice So.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Sorry, yes, yes, yes, sorry, I thought you met the
big review from last year. Yes, I believe that is
all on track. I'm sort of expecting perhaps in the
next couple of weeks. I obviously don't have any engagement
with Justice blow but he's doing his work, and I
made it very clear that I had no time limit
expectations and that he had.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Full opportunity to do whatever he needed.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
So I don't think it will be months away, but again,
if that's what's required.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So being Chief Finister, I have also been contacted by
a territori and over the weekend who wanted to raise
some really serious concerns about unrest in a remote community.
It is a community that's located near Borilula in the
Gulf of Carpenteria. They have a police station, but it
has never been staffed. Now they're facing on rist and
(21:02):
have had to limit the operating hours of the local
store due to a couple of individuals or some individuals
causing havoc. This person sees, the unfortunate reality is it's
the actions of just a few that are currently impacting
the safety and well being of the entire community. Now
they do not want me to name the community for
fear of further on risk, but it clearly demonstrates the
(21:24):
need for police in the area. I know it's difficult.
We need our police everywhere all of the time. But
we did receive some additional funding, didn't we from the
federal government when it comes to remote policing.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah, we've received a little bit more. It doesn't go
very far, unfortunately, and we don't have police stations in
every single community Kadian. So it does make it very challenging.
What can I say? I mean, you know, anyone anywhere
who does the wrong thing disrupts the life of others
who are just going about their day, trying to live
(21:58):
their lives. And this is what we're trying to very
very hard to get to the bottom of. And as
we continue to recruit and graduate more police and we
have greater opportunity to be in more places at more times.
But obviously we're off the back of a very major
deficit under a labor government that laura and order wasn't
a priority for them, but it is a priority for us.
(22:19):
No matter where you live, and I can tell you
there are plenty of Aboriginal people on Aboriginal communities who
are sick to death of people mucking up, and you
know they'll be the first people to tell you how
to have tougher laws and send more people to jail.
So you know, I hear the concerns whether you are
in a very remote community or in Parmesten or Nightcliffe
(22:40):
as you were talking about, Katie, it applies equally to
everyone and this behavior is unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Well, Chief Finister, we are going to have to leave
it the text lines going off about issues with crime
and different things that people are dealing with, but really
appreciate you staying and answering all of those questions. Thank
you very much, Take care again. Thanks everyone, Thank you.
You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three
sixty
You are listening to mix one O four nine's three
sixty now that number. If you're keen to call through
this morning eight nine one oh four nine. You can
also send us a message though zero four double nine
seven double one three six zero. There is certainly a
lot to discuss this morning with the Chief Minister, and
Lea Finocchiaro joins me in the studio. Good morning to you, Chief.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Now, first off, in some very sad news, like yesterday
we learned that Pope Francis has indeed passed away.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
He was aged eighty eight.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
The world indeed in morning, is there anything that's going
to be happening here in the Northern Territory to one
of the Pope.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yeah, there will be, Katie, and it is incredibly sad.
And I rang Bishop Gauchi last nine and offered our
condolences and thoughts to the entire community. There will be
millions of people around the world who are just absolutely
heartbroken today. My understanding is there will be a church
service at Saint Mary's a few days after whenever the
(01:00):
funeral might be. So I'm sure for people who are
interested to perhaps follow the diocese of Dah and Catholic
Diocese of dah on Facebook page. I'm sure they'll be
putting updates up, but I believe early next week we
could expect to see a Mass.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And I'm assuming all the flags around the Northern Territory
like they are around the rest of Australia and around
the world, really will be flying at half Mass.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, all of the appropriate protocols will be taken place.
Obviously I've not been the Chief Minister at a time
like this.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
But we have wonderful people in protocol who make sure
all of the right things happen.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, it is. Look at his incredibly sad news. I
know that there will be plenty of people feeling pretty
sad about this today. Look, I do want to move
along though, because there's unfortunately been quite a bit happening
yet again when it comes to crime now, I mean,
it's really not the kind of thing anyone wants happening
when we speak about tourism and boosting the industry, particularly
(01:52):
in the Red Center. But police have arrested a sixteen
year old male after an indecent assault near Ularu on Friday.
Teenager also allegedly stole a woman's handbag and phone. This
is yet another incident of crime in Central Australia for
the property crime on the weekend, adding well to a
tourist being seriously assaulted just over a week ago. We
(02:16):
also know that local man Aaron Black was seriously and
when he was trying to help a business which was
being targeted by a youth. Chief Minister, what else can
be done in Central Australia and indeed in Alice Springs
to try and sort this issue out once and for all.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, it's really disappointing. We've obviously, you know, changed a
heap of laws and supported our police in an unprecedented way,
but there's just the legacy of this issue is so big, Katie.
But there is more we can do and we've always
said this is just the beginning.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So I had a bit pulled together.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
A meeting late last week to make sure all of
our agencies are working really closely together and doing their
fair share. So you know, children and families, education and police.
That's all working well and we've seen some really good
responses from our police, but obviously what the community want
is not you know, when a crime happens, our police
(03:10):
are there, but we don't want crime to happen in
the first place, so we are doing a massive rewrite
of the Youth Justice Act and changes to the Traffic
Act and other things. But certainly it's incredibly disappointing. It
damages the town reputationally. People feel concerned about their own
personal safety and whether it's a safe place to live.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And that's not what we want.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It's a gorgeous, important part of this country and the
territory and we've just got to keep the focus on
and keep our attention.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well. Absolutely, it seems as though you're doing It's not
just in Central Australia, but looking at Catherine last week
we had a number of incidents there, including someone being
struck by a car following a late night brawl. Now,
one of our listeners, Tom got in contact last week
and asked if the government would consider looking at alcohol
restrictions in the town. Is that's something that you'd consider.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
We haven't been looking at new ones, but there are
alcohol restrictions in Catherine. That particular incident was a couple
of communities engaging in some payback from a previous incident,
which is always very disappointing. But I am aware that
Catherine has been experiencing, you know, levels of crime they
don't want to see as well. So we continue to
(04:21):
send police into our regions. Just out of the last graduation,
we sent ten to Alice, and I think a couple
went to Catherine. But Katie, it's imperfect and I hate it.
You know, it is absolutely disgusting behavior. I hate to
see the territory like this and people having to make
decisions about where they park their car and will they
(04:42):
go to the shops. I mean, talking to my colleagues
Bill Yen and Josh Burgoyne of what's happening in Alison,
Joe Hersey and Catherine. You know she's saying older people
are trying to go to the shops at seven am
to avoid any issues.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I mean, people do not deserve to have to change
their life around these issues.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Like honestly, it's bullshit. Oh yeah, Territory orians have been
quite patient and they are continuing to try to be
quite patient with your government. I mean, even for me.
Last Thursday, I went to the Nightcliff shops and saw
intoxicated people, one person in particular pushing a security guard
who was asking that person to leave. Now there was
elderly people. There was literally somebody walking in at that
(05:20):
point in time with a walker. It was at two
point thirty in the afternoon, around two thirty three o'clock
in the afternoon. People are pissed.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, to put it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Really bluntly and behaving really terribly. I mean again, I
will say that your government was elected to try and
sort this issue out with crime, but we're seeing it
flair up, seeing it really flair up in a way
that people do not want.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
What else can be done, well, we just have to
keep recruiting more police, building more prison infrastructure, which is
what we're doing. We just graduated thirty one corrections constable
sorry corrections.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Officers, which is really exciting.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I think there's another thirty three in training, which is great.
Our Police College is full to the brim of police
and auxiliaries, so they're all getting their training. We're building
prison beds as fast as humanly possible, and we're changing
the laws as much as we can so that work.
It just can't happen overnight, unfortunately, and we've shown territories
(06:20):
we're very committed to this issue. Obviously, with our bringing
in a decleence law and a range of other things
within six weeks of coming to government. But I think
the changes will make to the Youth Justice Act will
make a big difference as well. And then there's all
the root causes of crime work. So we're seeing really
good work with family responsibility agreements. Data I'm getting early
data out of education is that our work to get
(06:41):
kids to school is.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Going really, really well.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And if kids are in school, they're not out on
the street and they've got half a chance at having
a productive life instead of a life of crime. So's
that early intervention work is starting. But at the point
of end we would just keep changing the laws, keep
supporting our police until we get this right.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So where are things that with the the Youth Justice
Act review and when can people expect to see some
of those challenges come into play.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yep, So that is all on track. I think I
said last time I was on the show Katie that
it will be introduced into Parliament that last sittings in July.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I think it's about twenty nine July, don't quote me
on that.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So that will become law August September, and so ready
and good, it'll be in time for the school holidays
over the Christmas period as well. But yeah, can I
just say just sorry, just to add to that, so
you know, there's plenty of work to do. The crime
stats did come out and it's showing some really good signs. Now,
I've always said, Katie, it's not about the crime stats.
(07:43):
I'm not going to be the one holding them up
and saying no, no, see, look, it's better. It's how
people feel and people's lived experience. But I am just flagging.
From a data perspective.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We've made an impact, which is important.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
It tells us keep going, you can have a bigger impact,
don't stop.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's what we do.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
What kind of numbers are you seeing and in what
areas are you seeing some impact?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, territory wide, it's looking really good.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So we've got you know, hundreds of percentages dropped when
you compare February this year to February last year, particularly
around house break ins, commercial break ins, even motor vehicles
DV is up. So that's not something we've been able
to trend down yet. So it's definitely patchy, but some
really really good indicative data. And now that we're on
(08:27):
full surpro data, we're comparing apples with apples, so there's
not a need to have some sort of strange interpretation.
We can literally look at February this year, compare it
to February last year and say was it better or
was it worse? And so we can do that across
all crime categories.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
All right, I wanted Last week we got a call
from Charlie. He called in from Corama, I believe it
was Charlie. He spoke to us about a security camera
going off in the night at his home. When he
checked it, there was two kids, one who he said
looked like it was about ten, trying to get in.
Upon further inspection of that vision, one the older one
(09:06):
not only armed with a machete but also wearing an
ankle monitoring bracelet. He wanted to know how these are
actually monitored and if there is someone, you know, like,
if there's someone going from home to home, essentially a
child that's wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet going from house
(09:28):
to house, surely it's going to alert someone.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, this is a very vexed issue and it's something
we are putting a lot of energy into and have
not got to the bottom of yet. So I appreciate
the frustration and that sounds like a horrific situation for
Charlie and and many of your listeners will have lived
and walked in charlie shoes ten times over, so it's shocking. Basically,
(09:52):
electronic monitoring is something we've increased since coming to government.
It's particularly part of Declum's Law. And what happens is
police don't have real life time access to that data.
It's through a different company, the company who owns the
ankle bracelet. So there is connectivity there, but it's not
where we want it to be, and so we're working
(10:14):
on a bit of a project to try and make
that more streamlined, but it's just not there yet. But
again it's about enforcement and you know, I was thinking, Katie,
where are the parents? And this is where our family
responsibility agreements come in, you know, like you cannot have
and it's not just ten year olds, it's eight year
olds out on the street totally without a care in
(10:35):
the world, destroying other people's lives.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's absolutely agree and do not dispute that in any way.
But if you've got somebody that's got an ankle monitoring
bracelet on, I just like you just think to yourself,
how are you in a situation. Then we're a kid
that our listener said he looked like he was about twelve,
is with a ten year old then you know the
older kids allegedly armed with the machete teaching the younger kid. Yeah,
presumularly allowed to commit a crime, and wearing an ankle
(11:00):
monitoring bracelet all during that process, Like it just people
are getting really frustrated by this kind of thing and going, well,
it seems like the whole system is continuously letting us down.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, and it's it's broken as anything, Katie, make no
mistake about that. So with ankle monitors, for example, it
depends what the court orders. So some of them can
be what's called geofence. So for example, it would set
off an alarm if a person wearing a bracelet left
a particular area. So if you were bailed to your
house with a monotet you were not allowed outside the fence,
(11:31):
for example, when you walk through the fence, then it
would it would set off an alert to the company.
But not everyone is geofence, so the rest of the time,
it's a it's sort of a more manual process of
just of checking where is everyone and does that align
with their bail.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So there's plenty of work to.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Be done, not just from an electronic monitoring perspective, but
a bail perspective, and that's the work we're doing through
the rewrite of the Youth Justice Act. So it's honestly, Katie,
used to fix one thing. If I and a new problem,
you uncover something else, you get stuck into that. So
this electronic monitoring one has been on our radar for
months now and we continue to come back to it,
(12:09):
to come back to it and work on it. But
because we're contracted to a private provider, that adds.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Just a wins contract run out.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Oh, I don't know, and it's important. It's nothing, there's
no problem with the provider. It just adds a level
of complexity. So we are absolutely working through it, and
it's myself, the Corrections Minister, who are really leading the
charge on getting to the bottom of that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Chief. I'll keep moving because there is a lot to
cover off and I know we both pressed for time.
You are expected today to make an announcement in terms
of strengthening the justice system to ensure the defenders face
real consequences and also to reduce court delays and restore
community safety. What exactly are you going to be announcing today.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, it's really exciting because there's many parts to our
justice system. One is the police, one is corrections, and
one is the courts. People will remember we've done a
lot of work on funding legal aid and trying to
get our courts moving better. So we're announcing our Tiger
Task Force, which is really an early it's to deal
with the backlog of offending. We've had it reviewed two
(13:12):
hundred and ninety remand cases already because we know we've
got huge percentages of people who are on remand, so
they've been able to finalize over two hundred matters, which
includes eighty seven guilty please, So that's one part. We've
also made the twenty deep pp stuff who were on
contracts permanent because they were going to have to go
and look for other jobs and didn't have the certainty
(13:34):
we needed, so we're retaining those skills in the territory.
We've got four additional prosecutors, which is fantastic, and new judges,
so we're really working hard in that court space to
bolster the court.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So she's mister to do so is it what did
you say?
Speaker 3 (13:49):
It was called Operation tiger, Tiger, tiger, and it's all.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So it's reviewed two hundred and ninety. Reminds.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Remind cases that's right, it's reviewed two ninety. So the I,
my dear, is they're very senior experienced people. They go
in and are looking at that backlog of matters. Why
has there been caught delayed? Why has this person been
sitting on remand for a year, and so you know
they're working through all of that to try and reach
a resolution. So it's been really really effective so far,
(14:18):
and we will continue to do that work.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
All right, Chief Minister, I do want to ask you
about another issue which has been raised by our listeners
certainly over the last week or so. It's not a
new one, but it is causing a lot of anks
amongst territory mothers. It's some maternity services at the Darwin
Private Hospital. We've now got a situation where more than
one thousand people have signed a petition demanding the protection
(14:42):
of private maternity services. Have you seen this petition?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I haven't, but I'm certainly aware of it.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And of course this is a huge issue for the territory,
extremely disappointing, destabilizing and uncertain times for expecting mothers and families.
It's horrible and I've talked about this on your show before, Katie,
where it's a symptom of it's a really tangible example
of a slowing economy where the government hasn't invested in
(15:10):
growing the territory so that we have more people and
more jobs. And Hellscope made the decision that it just
didn't pay the bills and they've cut it. So we've
stepped up, and that is a horrific situation. And so
we've stepped up to try and offer a private like
service through the public hospital, so women in the private
system will be able to have their babies at Royal
(15:33):
Darwin and then we can offer them two private like experiences,
either from home with cleaning and food provision or at
a hotel where they can be cared what.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I can gather though, what that is going to mean
for some of these women. If you're being cared for
by a private obstetrician, are you still going to be
able to have your private obstetrician care for you right
through the birthing of your child.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
That is my understanding, but I'm just getting some more information.
I know some are feeling like the transition team have
perhaps been not as supportive as they could be. So
this is an area that's really important to me and
our government. It's imperfect and we wish Health Scope didn't
make this decision. So we're really trying. You know, we're
not a private health provider as a territory, so we're
(16:17):
really trying to continue an offering that is not traditionally
something a public health system would do. But we don't
want women feeling left behind.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
All right. I am going to be catching up with
the Health Minister later in the week, But essentially what
this petition is asking the Northern Territory government to do
right now is launch a central information hub, host a
public forum where women have the opportunity, families have the
opportunity to ask questions, share concerns and speak to the
(16:48):
Minister for Health and yourself about the future of maternity
care in the Northern Territory. They also want a commitment
to finding a long term solution. Are you prepared to
do those things?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, look, I'm not sure if there's status of everything,
and I'm very happy to get across it. I think
the reality is that the government can only provide what
it can in terms of making it as a public
type offering in a private type offering in a public system.
Unless Healthscope change their mind. They are the ones who
(17:20):
who operate the public hospital. It is entirely a decision
for them, unfortunately. So this is not about private health
or any of those other things. It is literally the
hospital operator saying well, we're not offering that. It'd be
like if they decided they're not doing I don't know
broken bones anymore. You know. They're just saying no, we're
not doing that, and that's the end of it. So
that obviously has a huge impact on the territory. And
(17:43):
what we want to do is make sure we can
offer as much continuity of care as possible and as
much offering as possible, and by growing our economy, we
hope then that there's more births, more babies, more people,
and Healthscope will come back to the table.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
All right, chiefiness to there's other questions coming through this
morning about book. I will talk to you in just
a moment about some unreased in a community which has
been raised with me as well. But there's some questions
being asked about issues at the Darwin waterfront. One online
publication calling for an inquiry after raising conflicts of interest concerns,
(18:18):
would you endorse a public inquiry?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Well, Katie, I'm not the waterfront Minister and I've done
that very deliberately. The allegations are all historical under the
previous Labor government, and I've got full confidence in the
Attorney General, who is the waterfront Minister, to resolve any
outstanding manners and make her own decisions about it.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So when you say you've done that very deliberately, is
that because of your conflict of interest with your husband
obviously working.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, my husband is down there and so I'm deliberately
not the waterfront minister. Traditionally waterfront has sat with the
Chief and I've deliberately kept myself out of any decision
making around that so that it's all properly an appropriate
really dealt with. So this is best directed towards the
Attorney General.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Look, I will obviously declare as well that my husband's
a chair of the Darwen Waterfront. But there's some pretty
awful comments being made on social media about you and
your husband's employment at the waterfront, claims of conflict of interest.
Have you been involved in any way in his employment?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Absolutely not, Katie, and as I said, any of the
allegations happened under a labor government. Perhaps those questions are
better directed to Eva Lolo or whoever the waterfront ministers
were over that period. But I've certainly had no involvement
and I stand by that.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I mean taking that into account. Do you think that
if there was a review that it would just clear
the air and you know it's worth doing.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Look again, this is really a matter for the Attorney General.
She's the person with the right information and can make
her own decision.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
All right. I want to take you to some other
questions that are coming through from listeners. Somebody is asking,
where is the police review currently.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
At the police review? So that was the one that
was finished?
Speaker 1 (20:08):
No, No, the one that is been conducted by Justice So.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Sorry, yes, yes, yes, sorry, I thought you met the
big review from last year. Yes, I believe that is
all on track. I'm sort of expecting perhaps in the
next couple of weeks. I obviously don't have any engagement
with Justice blow but he's doing his work, and I
made it very clear that I had no time limit
expectations and that he had.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Full opportunity to do whatever he needed.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
So I don't think it will be months away, but again,
if that's what's required.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So being Chief Finister, I have also been contacted by
a territori and over the weekend who wanted to raise
some really serious concerns about unrest in a remote community.
It is a community that's located near Borilula in the
Gulf of Carpenteria. They have a police station, but it
has never been staffed. Now they're facing on rist and
(21:02):
have had to limit the operating hours of the local
store due to a couple of individuals or some individuals
causing havoc. This person sees, the unfortunate reality is it's
the actions of just a few that are currently impacting
the safety and well being of the entire community. Now
they do not want me to name the community for
fear of further on risk, but it clearly demonstrates the
(21:24):
need for police in the area. I know it's difficult.
We need our police everywhere all of the time. But
we did receive some additional funding, didn't we from the
federal government when it comes to remote policing.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah, we've received a little bit more. It doesn't go
very far, unfortunately, and we don't have police stations in
every single community Kadian. So it does make it very challenging.
What can I say? I mean, you know, anyone anywhere
who does the wrong thing disrupts the life of others
who are just going about their day, trying to live
(21:58):
their lives. And this is what we're trying to very
very hard to get to the bottom of. And as
we continue to recruit and graduate more police and we
have greater opportunity to be in more places at more times.
But obviously we're off the back of a very major
deficit under a labor government that laura and order wasn't
a priority for them, but it is a priority for us.
(22:19):
No matter where you live, and I can tell you
there are plenty of Aboriginal people on Aboriginal communities who
are sick to death of people mucking up, and you
know they'll be the first people to tell you how
to have tougher laws and send more people to jail.
So you know, I hear the concerns whether you are
in a very remote community or in Parmesten or Nightcliffe
(22:40):
as you were talking about, Katie, it applies equally to
everyone and this behavior is unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Well, Chief Finister, we are going to have to leave
it the text lines going off about issues with crime
and different things that people are dealing with, but really
appreciate you staying and answering all of those questions. Thank
you very much, Take care again. Thanks everyone, Thank you.
You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three
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