November 23, 2025 • 14 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me on the line this morning is the Chief Minister,
Lea Finocchiaro.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Good morning to your chief, Good morning Katie, and to
your listeners. To what a weekend?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Oh, what a weekend? All right? What's the current assessment
of the damage across the top end and which areas
are sort of going to be prioritized, I guess in
the recovery efforts.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yes, so yesterday we had crews out. We had about
thirty three field crews from power and water corporations. So
to give you an idea, that's about ninety people going out,
and that's just reviewing the damage to water and sewage infrastructure.
You add on top of that the dozens of emergency
services volunteers and police and other people who were out
(00:42):
surveying all the damage so that we could get a
good idea of what needed to be done next. And
then of course, you know, removing trees from roads, people's
driveways like yours, Katie, you know, doing all of that
work to allow that sort of free movement of people
was and safe movement of people. Obviously we're down power
lines and things like that. So as it stands right now,
(01:04):
and we continue to have crews out, but right now.
We got we had sixty six schools affected, all except
two back up and running and good to go.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So they're probably springs.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. So only Berry Springs and
Halerbris are closed today. So that's an excellent outcome and
I really thank our teams for working literally around the
clock to make that happen. We then have had another
two and a half thousand homes come back on with
power overnight thanks to Power and.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Water, so in total and now back on, so there's
about five thousand that might have updated since my last briefing,
but we had nineteen and a half thousand without and
we've done five.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So that work will continue on along with the assessments.
And if people are curious about that, Power and Water
has this excellent map that shows you the area.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I've got to tell you chief's actually not that useful.
I mean, we've got so many people that are without power,
and you know, even when you click on it, there's
sort of saying that it's being assessed. There's not really
any kind of, you know, accurate up to date information
for people as to when the power could be coming
back on.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And we all get.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It like it's a moving feast. I don't want to
be critical, but there's a lot of people really feeling,
you know, pretty uninformed. I think you'd say this morning.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, look, and that that's fair, Katie. All I meant
by the website is you get a good picture of
what though, like just how expansive it is. You can
see the most of it's red, right. So there's a
lot of people still without power, and I get it.
You know, people are waking up for the second morning
today without power and it's getting real old, real fast.
You know, I appreciate it very much. So we've got
(02:47):
to be doing and that's why we've had the around
the clock teams out there. We've got to bring that
power on as fast as possible. And it's not just Darwin.
You think we've got Warmy Younger for example. Yeah, Al
Louise sense four specialists have traveled there this morning to
do that restoration works and they'll need a line crew
to head out over there as well. So a lot
(03:09):
to do, no doubt's patience.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, and we'll catch up with power and water hopefully
throughout this morning. Well, I bloody hope they come on
because there's a lot of people asking a lot of
questions and I think they need to get out there
in front foot it so that people have an understanding
of where things are at Chief Minister. In terms of
Royal and Hospital, we know that they suffered some structural
damage during the cyclone. How are things going out there
at the hospital?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yes, they did, and just on that point, I agree
with you and Power and Water. You know, we've we've
really asked them to up the communications with the community
because it's the single biggest point of banks at the
moment and it's my expectation that they do that. So
will you'll hold them to get.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
To be honest with you, I think it's bullshit that
their social media platforms haven't been updated for hours. I
mean somebody had messaged through and said workers are doing
a great job and it's really appreciated. However, their head
honcho should have been out much sooner than last night
to make an announcement really let the workers in the
community down. That's from Donelina in lud Miller. Somebody else's
(04:13):
messaged through said well, for you know, we're in a
situation where we've got two little kids in a hotel
room and we've got no idea what's going on with
the power, you know, like they've got to be front
footing it here and they've got to make sure that
they're getting that message out to people.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I agree with you, because people need to know
are we dealing with this for one more day, two
more days, three more days a week? And it's my expectation.
I mean, I know you can never you know, guess
with a great degree of accuracy, but people need to
know what they have to be prepping one hundred. So
I've been very clear at my end on that, and
(04:46):
so certainly my expectation will improve as of this morning.
Good on the hospital and the hospital.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Sorry, there's lots to cover off on the hospital. Are
things going out there?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Good, So we'll now start to undertake the work required
to fix all of that. It was obviously a huge
shock and the vision is very confronting, but excellent and
very lucky that no one was injured, it didn't impact operations.
We were able to move very quickly to isolate the
power to that area so that it was safe and
(05:20):
our staff and our patients were not impacted by it,
which is great news and very lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Now chief in terms of public transport, and that kind
of thing. Is it back up and running today or
when do you anticipate that it will be?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yes? So school buses were as per normal this morning
as a public buses. So again my focus is on
getting back to business as usual, which is why the
power is central to all of that. But school and
public buses have are fully operational. The airport is open,
which is again really important. And the one issue we
are having which is extremely disappointing, I have to say,
(05:57):
is around dumps of Darwin have made the decision to
not allow people to dump green waste at a tip.
It's crazy, which is ridiculous. And Lichfield have made a
similar decision. We are working with them very closely to
urge them to do the right thing by their rate payers.
And I don't think any ratepayer who pays their fees
(06:19):
expects to be locked out of their own tri facility.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So we are building and equally congrats to Palmerston have
done the right thing. Arches open and ready to go
for there, yeah, which.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Is good news.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And we should have an announcement by lunchtime of an
alternative because it's just not acceptable that people can't dump
their greenwaytement will.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Step Chief Finster, is that out at Hidden Valley?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's yes, it is. It will be out at Hidden Valley.
And I expect a public update on that bible.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, because we were being told that it had opened.
But you're expecting some further further detail or what's your
understanding at this point.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
There should be direct communications with people's civicallyiant issue, so
there's exact clarity on location, open times, all of that details.
I don't want people, you know, rocking up and thinking
it's open and it's clos Just it's just more annoying
that everything is already annoying, and it has to be
clear info.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Chief. I know your press for time, so I just
want to get through a few things. In terms of
undergrounding power, I mean people are already questioning now as
there is still nearly twenty thousand people without power or
nineteen thousand without power, a lot of people questioning, you know,
what's a go are we going to look at undergrounding
those older suburbs.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Look, this has been a really a perpetual issue for
the territory and I would love to do it, Katie,
I really would, But the debt situation we are in
is astronomical, and when we're talking about undergrounding power, we're
talking hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. And unfortunately,
you know, and now he's got the time to play
pointment politics finger But you know, we had ten years
(07:57):
where we were told that was happening and it just wasn't.
And I guess this is evidence of that. You're get
in there without power in the northern suburbs, this is why.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So look, it's always on the table and we've got
a lot of reform we're doing with power and water.
Even just last Parliament we did some introduced legislation for
major changes. So all of that is on the cards
for us. I don't want to hype it up and
over commit to people. This are an astronomical cost.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, look, I think that'll be a discussion that we
continue to have over coming days, no doubt about that,
because I think at this point in time, people are
just really wanting their.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Power back on.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And I do want to ask you though, in terms
of the Tiwi Islands, what's the plan for the residents
out there? Do they have enough food? Do they have
what they're they're acquiring at this point.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yes, So I spoke to the chair of the Tiberlan
Council last night to check in. They've had a tree
down and those types of things, just like here in Darwin.
But everyone is in good spirits now that travel is
opened back up, can get food and water in and
out as required, so there's no pressing strain on those
resources because we have access and I would expect that
(09:09):
the ferry and barge services would be able to commence again. Well.
So I'm just trying to find out a time frame
on that because anything that we can give certainty on
I want that comms out the door for people so
they know where they stand or a really clear critical.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Issue, Chief Finister, what's the federal response? What are we
expecting from the feeds? Is there going to be you know,
if some people are going to be without pound now
for days? What's the situation?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yep. So I'm literally after my phone call with UKD
meeting with Minister McBain, the federal Minister for Emergency Management,
and we will be doing a press conference at quarter
to ten, I believe, giving an update on how the
funding works. But we have activated the disaster recovery assistance.
So all of that was pre done last week as
(09:57):
part of our Emergency Operations Center State and up and preparedness,
so we're ready to go. There's different tiers of funding
for all sorts of different things, so I won't get
into the detail because it's just it's just complicated to
talk to. But there is a range of support available
and we will then now be going through that detail
on what that looks like and what can be paid
(10:19):
and when, or.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
We'll be keeping a very close eye on that. So
about nine forty five we're expecting that announcement. From what
you've said their Chief Minister, what is your message to
territori Ines this morning? I know that you were certainly
pleased with how well people had prepared over the weekend
and the way in which people have come together, But
what's your message today? You know, as the sun comes
out and some of us are maybe feeling a bit
(10:43):
deflated as we've got trees across our roads, people you know,
feeling a bit sort of stuck at the moment without
the power on.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, and we're all in this together as a community,
you know. I just want to say thank you to
everyone heeded the advice early you prepared yourself and you
did an excellent job. That's Businesses, Territory and our emergency services.
We are stronger together. And I know that people's patience
is tiring, and I know the coming days are going
(11:13):
to really really test people, and I absolutely get that
we will do everything we can as fast as we
can because I want business as usual and I want
the resumption of people's lives back to normal, and so
we will continue to make sure people have clear understanding
of what is happening when as we know it, so
that people can make the right decisions for themselves and
(11:35):
their family. But I just want to say thank you
very much for all of your cooperation and understanding through
what has been a very big weather event over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Chief finis a quick one. Someone's just called through saying,
you know, they're pretty upset with the council regarding well Lichfield,
regarding the green ways. They say that Lichfield councilors should
have been prepared with a maulta or something to be
ready to take that greenways to me idiately. He said
that we as Terra Torends have all been prepared and
as have the messaging. Yet they're not open. They should
(12:07):
have something, even if not in the main area. And
I think that's how quite a few people are feeling
at the moment, is even as we you know, with
the power, we get that it's going to take time
to get it online, but no communication, you know, with
the councils and with the dumps not being opened for greenways,
people are like, well, hang on, we're all out helping
each other to bloody chainsaw trees done and we've got
(12:28):
nowhere we can.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Take it exactly, Katie. I was gobsmacked. And when I
worked out yesterday that that was the situation, I made
it very well known that it was unacceptable to have
two counsels think that they can lock people out of
the public dums is ridiculous. And at the end of
the day yesterday was Sunday, people were out lending a
hand on the chainsaws, getting things done, just being an
(12:52):
incredible community. They wanted to fill their utes through their
trailers and get rid of this stuff and move on
with their lives. And to have a tier government like
local government stop that is gobsmacking. I mean, that is
their job. They are literally responsible for rubbish and then
they've abrogated that responsibility. So I'm not happy. They know
I'm not happy, and I think they will fill that
(13:14):
from territorians as well. We will now step in as
a government because I'm just not going to have this
drag on any longer. Why they work out what their
actual job is, we'll stand up a public dump. Palmerston
have done the right thing and I thank them for that.
But at the end of the day, this is an emergency.
Counsels don't get to decide when they do and don't
do their job.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Do you know if there's going to be and it's
probably a question for counsel, but do you know if
there's going to be like verge side collection of some
of the you know, like we've got a lot of
seniors serving out in our communities at the moment who've
had massive trees fall down. You know, Dave Tolna was
up my street over the weekend cutting down trees for
some of the more senior residents. But what happens then
is there going to be sort of curbside collection? That's
(13:54):
probably more a question for counsel. But if they don't
step up, is the government?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, well again, if they can't even open a dump,
I'm not holding my breath on curb site. But this
is what needs to be worked out and fast, because
the uncertainty doesn't support a community restoring itself back to normal.
So I think we will know more about this over
the coming hours, Katie, and that is my expectation. And
as I said, if they are going to fail, we
(14:19):
will not join that bandwagon. We will step in, but
first and foremost councils need to step up.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
All right, Chief, I better let you go meet with
Minister McBain so we can work out what the federal
government's emergency response is for us. Thank you so much
for your time.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Thank you, and take care everyone look after each other.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Thank you.
Joining me on the line this morning is the Chief Minister,
Lea Finocchiaro.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Good morning to your chief, Good morning Katie, and to
your listeners. To what a weekend?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Oh, what a weekend? All right? What's the current assessment
of the damage across the top end and which areas
are sort of going to be prioritized, I guess in
the recovery efforts.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yes, so yesterday we had crews out. We had about
thirty three field crews from power and water corporations. So
to give you an idea, that's about ninety people going out,
and that's just reviewing the damage to water and sewage infrastructure.
You add on top of that the dozens of emergency
services volunteers and police and other people who were out
(00:42):
surveying all the damage so that we could get a
good idea of what needed to be done next. And
then of course, you know, removing trees from roads, people's
driveways like yours, Katie, you know, doing all of that
work to allow that sort of free movement of people
was and safe movement of people. Obviously we're down power
lines and things like that. So as it stands right now,
(01:04):
and we continue to have crews out, but right now.
We got we had sixty six schools affected, all except
two back up and running and good to go.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So they're probably springs.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. So only Berry Springs and
Halerbris are closed today. So that's an excellent outcome and
I really thank our teams for working literally around the
clock to make that happen. We then have had another
two and a half thousand homes come back on with
power overnight thanks to Power and.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Water, so in total and now back on, so there's
about five thousand that might have updated since my last briefing,
but we had nineteen and a half thousand without and
we've done five.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So that work will continue on along with the assessments.
And if people are curious about that, Power and Water
has this excellent map that shows you the area.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I've got to tell you chief's actually not that useful.
I mean, we've got so many people that are without power,
and you know, even when you click on it, there's
sort of saying that it's being assessed. There's not really
any kind of, you know, accurate up to date information
for people as to when the power could be coming
back on.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And we all get.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It like it's a moving feast. I don't want to
be critical, but there's a lot of people really feeling,
you know, pretty uninformed. I think you'd say this morning.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, look, and that that's fair, Katie. All I meant
by the website is you get a good picture of
what though, like just how expansive it is. You can
see the most of it's red, right. So there's a
lot of people still without power, and I get it.
You know, people are waking up for the second morning
today without power and it's getting real old, real fast.
You know, I appreciate it very much. So we've got
(02:47):
to be doing and that's why we've had the around
the clock teams out there. We've got to bring that
power on as fast as possible. And it's not just Darwin.
You think we've got Warmy Younger for example. Yeah, Al
Louise sense four specialists have traveled there this morning to
do that restoration works and they'll need a line crew
to head out over there as well. So a lot
(03:09):
to do, no doubt's patience.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, and we'll catch up with power and water hopefully
throughout this morning. Well, I bloody hope they come on
because there's a lot of people asking a lot of
questions and I think they need to get out there
in front foot it so that people have an understanding
of where things are at Chief Minister. In terms of
Royal and Hospital, we know that they suffered some structural
damage during the cyclone. How are things going out there
at the hospital?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yes, they did, and just on that point, I agree
with you and Power and Water. You know, we've we've
really asked them to up the communications with the community
because it's the single biggest point of banks at the
moment and it's my expectation that they do that. So
will you'll hold them to get.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
To be honest with you, I think it's bullshit that
their social media platforms haven't been updated for hours. I
mean somebody had messaged through and said workers are doing
a great job and it's really appreciated. However, their head
honcho should have been out much sooner than last night
to make an announcement really let the workers in the
community down. That's from Donelina in lud Miller. Somebody else's
(04:13):
messaged through said well, for you know, we're in a
situation where we've got two little kids in a hotel
room and we've got no idea what's going on with
the power, you know, like they've got to be front
footing it here and they've got to make sure that
they're getting that message out to people.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, I agree with you, because people need to know
are we dealing with this for one more day, two
more days, three more days a week? And it's my expectation.
I mean, I know you can never you know, guess
with a great degree of accuracy, but people need to
know what they have to be prepping one hundred. So
I've been very clear at my end on that, and
(04:46):
so certainly my expectation will improve as of this morning.
Good on the hospital and the hospital.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Sorry, there's lots to cover off on the hospital. Are
things going out there?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Good, So we'll now start to undertake the work required
to fix all of that. It was obviously a huge
shock and the vision is very confronting, but excellent and
very lucky that no one was injured, it didn't impact operations.
We were able to move very quickly to isolate the
power to that area so that it was safe and
(05:20):
our staff and our patients were not impacted by it,
which is great news and very lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Now chief in terms of public transport, and that kind
of thing. Is it back up and running today or
when do you anticipate that it will be?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yes? So school buses were as per normal this morning
as a public buses. So again my focus is on
getting back to business as usual, which is why the
power is central to all of that. But school and
public buses have are fully operational. The airport is open,
which is again really important. And the one issue we
are having which is extremely disappointing, I have to say,
(05:57):
is around dumps of Darwin have made the decision to
not allow people to dump green waste at a tip.
It's crazy, which is ridiculous. And Lichfield have made a
similar decision. We are working with them very closely to
urge them to do the right thing by their rate payers.
And I don't think any ratepayer who pays their fees
(06:19):
expects to be locked out of their own tri facility.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So we are building and equally congrats to Palmerston have
done the right thing. Arches open and ready to go
for there, yeah, which.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Is good news.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And we should have an announcement by lunchtime of an
alternative because it's just not acceptable that people can't dump
their greenwaytement will.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Step Chief Finster, is that out at Hidden Valley?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's yes, it is. It will be out at Hidden Valley.
And I expect a public update on that bible.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, because we were being told that it had opened.
But you're expecting some further further detail or what's your
understanding at this point.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
There should be direct communications with people's civicallyiant issue, so
there's exact clarity on location, open times, all of that details.
I don't want people, you know, rocking up and thinking
it's open and it's clos Just it's just more annoying
that everything is already annoying, and it has to be
clear info.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Chief. I know your press for time, so I just
want to get through a few things. In terms of
undergrounding power, I mean people are already questioning now as
there is still nearly twenty thousand people without power or
nineteen thousand without power, a lot of people questioning, you know,
what's a go are we going to look at undergrounding
those older suburbs.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Look, this has been a really a perpetual issue for
the territory and I would love to do it, Katie,
I really would, But the debt situation we are in
is astronomical, and when we're talking about undergrounding power, we're
talking hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. And unfortunately,
you know, and now he's got the time to play
pointment politics finger But you know, we had ten years
(07:57):
where we were told that was happening and it just wasn't.
And I guess this is evidence of that. You're get
in there without power in the northern suburbs, this is why.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So look, it's always on the table and we've got
a lot of reform we're doing with power and water.
Even just last Parliament we did some introduced legislation for
major changes. So all of that is on the cards
for us. I don't want to hype it up and
over commit to people. This are an astronomical cost.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, look, I think that'll be a discussion that we
continue to have over coming days, no doubt about that,
because I think at this point in time, people are
just really wanting their.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Power back on.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
And I do want to ask you though, in terms
of the Tiwi Islands, what's the plan for the residents
out there? Do they have enough food? Do they have
what they're they're acquiring at this point.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yes, So I spoke to the chair of the Tiberlan
Council last night to check in. They've had a tree
down and those types of things, just like here in Darwin.
But everyone is in good spirits now that travel is
opened back up, can get food and water in and
out as required, so there's no pressing strain on those
resources because we have access and I would expect that
(09:09):
the ferry and barge services would be able to commence again. Well.
So I'm just trying to find out a time frame
on that because anything that we can give certainty on
I want that comms out the door for people so
they know where they stand or a really clear critical.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Issue, Chief Finister, what's the federal response? What are we
expecting from the feeds? Is there going to be you know,
if some people are going to be without pound now
for days? What's the situation?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yep. So I'm literally after my phone call with UKD
meeting with Minister McBain, the federal Minister for Emergency Management,
and we will be doing a press conference at quarter
to ten, I believe, giving an update on how the
funding works. But we have activated the disaster recovery assistance.
So all of that was pre done last week as
(09:57):
part of our Emergency Operations Center State and up and preparedness,
so we're ready to go. There's different tiers of funding
for all sorts of different things, so I won't get
into the detail because it's just it's just complicated to
talk to. But there is a range of support available
and we will then now be going through that detail
on what that looks like and what can be paid
(10:19):
and when, or.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
We'll be keeping a very close eye on that. So
about nine forty five we're expecting that announcement. From what
you've said their Chief Minister, what is your message to
territori Ines this morning? I know that you were certainly
pleased with how well people had prepared over the weekend
and the way in which people have come together, But
what's your message today? You know, as the sun comes
out and some of us are maybe feeling a bit
(10:43):
deflated as we've got trees across our roads, people you know,
feeling a bit sort of stuck at the moment without
the power on.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, and we're all in this together as a community,
you know. I just want to say thank you to
everyone heeded the advice early you prepared yourself and you
did an excellent job. That's Businesses, Territory and our emergency services.
We are stronger together. And I know that people's patience
is tiring, and I know the coming days are going
(11:13):
to really really test people, and I absolutely get that
we will do everything we can as fast as we
can because I want business as usual and I want
the resumption of people's lives back to normal, and so
we will continue to make sure people have clear understanding
of what is happening when as we know it, so
that people can make the right decisions for themselves and
(11:35):
their family. But I just want to say thank you
very much for all of your cooperation and understanding through
what has been a very big weather event over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Chief finis a quick one. Someone's just called through saying,
you know, they're pretty upset with the council regarding well Lichfield,
regarding the green ways. They say that Lichfield councilors should
have been prepared with a maulta or something to be
ready to take that greenways to me idiately. He said
that we as Terra Torends have all been prepared and
as have the messaging. Yet they're not open. They should
(12:07):
have something, even if not in the main area. And
I think that's how quite a few people are feeling
at the moment, is even as we you know, with
the power, we get that it's going to take time
to get it online, but no communication, you know, with
the councils and with the dumps not being opened for greenways,
people are like, well, hang on, we're all out helping
each other to bloody chainsaw trees done and we've got
(12:28):
nowhere we can.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Take it exactly, Katie. I was gobsmacked. And when I
worked out yesterday that that was the situation, I made
it very well known that it was unacceptable to have
two counsels think that they can lock people out of
the public dums is ridiculous. And at the end of
the day yesterday was Sunday, people were out lending a
hand on the chainsaws, getting things done, just being an
(12:52):
incredible community. They wanted to fill their utes through their
trailers and get rid of this stuff and move on
with their lives. And to have a tier government like
local government stop that is gobsmacking. I mean, that is
their job. They are literally responsible for rubbish and then
they've abrogated that responsibility. So I'm not happy. They know
I'm not happy, and I think they will fill that
(13:14):
from territorians as well. We will now step in as
a government because I'm just not going to have this
drag on any longer. Why they work out what their
actual job is, we'll stand up a public dump. Palmerston
have done the right thing and I thank them for that.
But at the end of the day, this is an emergency.
Counsels don't get to decide when they do and don't
do their job.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Do you know if there's going to be and it's
probably a question for counsel, but do you know if
there's going to be like verge side collection of some
of the you know, like we've got a lot of
seniors serving out in our communities at the moment who've
had massive trees fall down. You know, Dave Tolna was
up my street over the weekend cutting down trees for
some of the more senior residents. But what happens then
is there going to be sort of curbside collection? That's
(13:54):
probably more a question for counsel. But if they don't
step up, is the government?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, well again, if they can't even open a dump,
I'm not holding my breath on curb site. But this
is what needs to be worked out and fast, because
the uncertainty doesn't support a community restoring itself back to normal.
So I think we will know more about this over
the coming hours, Katie, and that is my expectation. And
as I said, if they are going to fail, we
(14:19):
will not join that bandwagon. We will step in, but
first and foremost councils need to step up.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
All right, Chief, I better let you go meet with
Minister McBain so we can work out what the federal
government's emergency response is for us. Thank you so much
for your time.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Thank you, and take care everyone look after each other.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Thank you.
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