Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, as you heard on the show last week, expectant
(00:02):
mums around the top end concerned and stressed about some
of the changes which are happening when it comes to
the delivery of maternity services in Darwin. So last week
we'd revealed on the show that a letter had been
sent advising that Midwiffree Group Practice on call services have
been stopped while the reviews carried out to ensure that
the model is sustainable. Now the letter states and anti
(00:24):
natal and post natal appointments are going to be conducted
by maternity group practice team will buy that team during
business hours, but labor and birth care are going to
be provided by midwives and doctors in the delivery suite. Now,
I guess the concern from a lot of mums at
this point is that that delivery suite is already under
the pump. We have caught up obviously with the union,
(00:45):
but we've also heard from a number of women who've
recently given birth at the hospital and have told us well, well,
one in particular actually didn't give birth at the hospital.
She turned up to the hospital in labor, was sent
home and then her mum delivered her baby at home
within hours. Now joining us in the studio is the
(01:05):
Chief Minister, Leah Finocchio. Good morning to you, Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Good morning Katie to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now, what do you make of this situation? I know
there's a couple of issues here bubbling along when it
comes to the delivery of services to women in the
territory when they're pregnant, But I mean, what do you
make of this situation currently?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, so there are a couple of things going on
and hopefully I can clear up at least a little
bit of it. So one thing is the on call
nurse for the Midwiffree Practice Women, who is about thirty
nine different women, and so that used to be a
sort of twenty four hour on call service. We've had
to change that for nighttime just due to some staffing change.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But they are still getting a call answered by a midwife.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So it's just instead of bringing that midwife, it's going
to Ardie h and then they speak to a midwife there.
So that's just a slight difference, and I appreciate very
much that that's still very setting for the women involved,
but continuity of service remains. In terms of pressure on
the system, we do have a very busy hospital but
there hasn't been a material change or impact because of
(02:14):
what's happened with Hellscope over at the private So we
just have to keep monitoring and obviously resourcing these things.
We want women having a really calm and confident birthing experience,
and we want women to have that faith and confidence
in the system, obviously.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah. Look, unfortunately it doesn't seem as though that is
the case for every woman at this point in time.
I mean, as I just mentioned, we spoke to a
mum about two weeks ago who had fronted, you know,
gone up to the hospital in labor. They had sent
her home, They didn't do an internal or didn't sort
of do a thorough check to see how far along
(02:48):
she was. She tells us. She then got home. Her
mum ended up delivering her baby, obviously with the assistance
of Saint John. We also spoke to another mom, Tessa,
a couple of weeks ago and again last week about
these changes. But Tessa had told us about laboring well
in sort of a hallway area within the hospital for
(03:09):
quite some time while they waited for a room to
be cleaned. So I guess we're hearing a lot of
reassurance from the government and also from staff to tell
us that there isn't additional stress on maternity services, But
then we're hearing from Northern Territory women that that's simply
not the case.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Well, I think it's just a continuation of stress on
the system. I don't know that it's increased because of
the closure. We know that it's only about its less
than three hundred berths a year, right, so we're not
even talking about one a day, so it is a
minimal additional impact. That's not to say that our system
wasn't already under pressure and continues to be under pressure.
(03:48):
So it's just something we have to work through. Obviously,
it's a very very special and sensitive and even scary
time in a family's life, so you want all of
that to be perfect, seamless. I completely appreciate that as
a as a mother myself, I hear you.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I get it personally, I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So we've just got to continue doing our best to
make sure we've got the right stuff. You know, We've
put a lot of extra money into our health budget
this year recognizing the strain at ARDH, and we're also
looking to our the federal government to be doing their
fair share as well, especially when it comes to age care.
You know, we need that age care facility so that
we can get the agecare people out of the hospital.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And have more support within the hospital spot on people.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Spot on and we've definitely spoken about that before. Look
what I can see though at the moment, it's part
of the broader discussions that I'm having, is that you know,
not only are we seeing the changes when it comes
to you know, when it comes to the Midway free
group practice, the on call service. We also have a
situation where as we learned about earlier in the year,
(04:52):
the maternity ward there at the Darwin Private Hospitals closed.
Now I also have confirmed over recent days that the
two private obstetricians that we have operating here in the
Northern Territory are not going to be continuing operating post
the next couple of months. So what we have is
a situation in a capital city where the choices for
(05:13):
Northern Territory women are minimizing. I mean, this does have
an impact when you talk about retaining young families in
the Northern Territory.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
There's no question, Katie, and that's why we've tried to
provide you know, government delivers government services, and what we've
tried to do is create a private alternative. But it's
not perfect and it can't replace a private system. But
what we have to do is make sure that we
are continuing to grow our economy so that we can
underpin private sector investment. Now, the reason why Healthscope pulled
(05:46):
out of maternity is because it just wasn't paying the
bills at less than three hundred months a year. Now,
I'm not defending them, but they're just operating in a
commercial environment. It comes back to growing. Everything comes back
to growing our economy. So we know Hellscope still hangs
in the balance. There is that commitment across the federal
government to work with all states and territories affected.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
They gave Tasmania funding. My understanding is that Steve Edgington
had asked for funding. I thought it was thirty odd
million dollars from the federal government. So where is that
at Because women are really concerned right.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So I don't think we've had a response from the
federal government on that. They have under you know, sort
of made a commitment around us safety in it on
what next steps look like. Because if if Healthscope go
to a new you know, is sold to a new provider.
That might mean maternity services open back up. But we've
just got to keep the pressure on that. And at
the moment, it's just business as usual for Hellscope obviously
(06:44):
at Darwin Prior.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I'm also told that defense members are sending women into state.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay, have you heard that?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
No, I haven't heard that some women might be choosing
to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I don't know. Again, it is a big issue, Like.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
How concerned are you that there are Northern Territory women
that are saying, well, we're going to go into state
rather than have our baby here because we're hearing these
stories from other moms, you know, like they've got their
own Facebook group where they're literally sharing these stories with
each other and they're worried, right, and they're not worried,
you know, because something may happen, Like we know that
(07:21):
we've got high mortality rates unfortunately when it comes to
babies in the Northern Territory, so it actually does. It's
a big issue for us.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yeah, look, there's no question, Katie, And you know, there's
nothing I can't just wave a magic one to make
it better. So I'm not going to pretend to write,
We know there is pressure in the hospital. We know
Hellscope are pulling out, and that's a commercial decision we
couldn't stop. But we have put in place that safety
net with the federal government around what is what is next?
And we are absolutely putting our foot to the pedal
(07:51):
on growing the economy and we've had some good results
at a ten point two percent growth race, the fastest
in the country. Things are turning around, and if we
can keep our economy moving up and crime moving down,
we will regain our numbers. Numbers equals greater opportunity for
private sector investment, which means more choice, and that will,
in and of itself create more opportunities for women to
(08:14):
birth in all of the ways in which they like
to choose. And I know that's cold comfort to pregnant
women now or women wanting to fall pregnant, but it
is a situation we inherited from the previous government eleven
months ago, and we are doing everything we can to
make it better in the long term, including the immediate
safety nets.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Now, look, I'm not one to call on the federal
government every time something goes shong and asks for a handout,
but I mean we're talking about the delivery of we're
free services in the Northern Territory. Are we expecting the
federal government to help out in any way in this space.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Well, we expect it. Whether or not they do is
another story.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Now, of course, there's the broader national conversation around. You know,
the Prime Minister wants there to be a new health agreement.
We are very much on board with that because it
would give the territory a signific can uplift, but that
requires an entire national cabinet to agree and ultimately, the
territory is woefully underfunded by the federal government. When you
(09:09):
compare our baseline funding to every other state and territory,
it's horrific.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And even under the new deal being.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Proposed, we'll get a big lift, but we will still
be way behind everyone else.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And this is just legacy issues dating back to self
government where we have been ignored.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
And I say again I've said it on your show before, Katie,
that whilst the money we get from the Feds is
about seventy five percent of all revenue to the territory,
it is maintenance money.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It is status quo. It does not advance the cause.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And unfortunately, until we have a federal government that really
cares about shifting the dial for the territory. We're just
going to have to get on with it ourselves.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
All right. I'm going to move along. Police have arrested
three males following an aggravated robbery that occurred in Nightcliff
early yesterday morning. This incident happened about three point fifty
in the morning at Nightcliff. Jetty, A twenty five year
old male victim alleged that three males had threatened him
with a machette before stealing his friend's vehicle keys. The
offenders subsequently fled the scene in the friend's Silver Niss
(10:08):
and Pulsar. Now, neither victim, fortunately were injured during that incident,
but we know that multiple police units responded. They commenced investigations.
By five o'clock in the morning, members from Strikeforce Trident
had located that vehicle and arrested the three mail The
three males so they were aged thirteen, fifteen, and nineteen. Now,
(10:29):
I am told that the two teenagers, the thirteen and
the fifteen year old, have already been released on bail.
They were released on the same day of their offending.
And my understanding is that they both have extensive prize.
They weren't released on police bail. I am told that
they were released through the court. However that system happens
(10:51):
over the course of the weekend. Is that acceptable in
your eyes? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Look, it's certainly news to me, Katie, and you know
on the face, but it doesn't pass the pub test.
And this is why we keep going back and strengthening
our bowlers.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I mean, we have.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
The sharpest bow laws in the country, Katie. They are
these strongest and it requires judges to do a double
community safety test and they have to actually personally satisfy
themselves that the person they're bailing is not.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Good to you. Do you feel safe that someone's held
somebody else up with a machete and then they're back
on the street, like.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I know, I don't, yeah exactly. So I don't know
the circumstances in detail. I don't know if they had prize,
if it's a first time of fans. I know you
mentioned you had some detail. But we just have to
keep monitoring this, Katie, because if the courts aren't getting
the message, then we'll keep sending the message.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But I just don't know enough about that fact.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
But needless to say, I can absolutely see your listeners
driving their car listening along saying that that's a's a
little bit curious.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Well, honestly they'll be furious because I just think to myself,
if you are using a weapon to hold somebody else.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Very serious, very serious. Absolutely, so something you'll follow up.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, I'll certainly find out more of the details when
I get off the show, Katie, and we'll we'll just
keep a very we as always, we keep a very
close eye on the changes we've made and whether they're
working and what more needs to be done, and we
just keep moving forward as this is not a you know,
the job is not done for us.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We have a lot more work to do in this space, all.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Right, Chief, A couple of quick ones. We know that
the police pay negotiations continue on Northern Territory. Police overwhelmingly
rejected your government's pay offer, sending a strong message that
they're not going to be taken for granted. So and
twenty members took part in that ballot and eighty one
(12:41):
percent voted no to the consent agreement. Police Association president
Nathan Finn said the three percent wage cap is insulting
and the vast majority of officers are going to miss
out on the retention bonus. Look, I get that this
is obviously negotiation between the department and between the union,
(13:02):
but you know, for you, we are talking about a
lot of the changes to legislation are on the shoulders
of our hard working Northern Territory police. Like surely you
think they deserve a pay increase.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Of course they do, and so that's why Minister Hersey
and OCP have been doing that pay negotiation. We were
really really happy to see how many police participated because
traditionally it's more like fifty percent of our police who
actually vote, whereas this was right up there.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So that is good. It means our police are engaged.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, it means it pissed with the payoffics.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, the NTPA came out and told them to vote no,
and police came out and voted no.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
But at the end of the day, we've got to
look at what's next.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You know, we hear that we are supporting our police
in every way we can, and it's unfair and misleading
to say the three percent pay deal. It was not
the three percent. The police were getting around forty million
dollars on top of the three percent pay deal.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So it was substantially. They've rejected that, and that's their prerogative.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of the things I heard really loudly in discussions
that I've had off f here with police officers is
they are not happy about this retention bonus situation. You know,
like in some units you've got, you know, you might
have six people that have been working within the Northern
Territory Police for over ten years, a varying level, you know,
but one of them happens to fall into the twenty year.
(14:27):
You know, somebody else might be on eleven, somebody else
might be on seventeen, and they miss out. Like, how
can you like look at that group and go, well,
that's fair for you, but not for you.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well this is a bit of a long stager, but
at the end of the day, a retention bonus is
designed to keep people in the job. So you have
to have it at a milestone. It's not a reward
for service.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So if you've passed a milestone.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Then it's the next milestone, right, You're trying to keep
the person until the next milestone. What we ended up
doing in response to the NTPA's calls is putting it
into the EBA, So all of that money is in there,
and I said to the NTPA, you guys want a
retention bonus, you work it.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Out in the EBA.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Now they've come back and said they'd rather every police
officer just get more money. So that's that's where the
money is. So we will meet our exact election commitment.
I've actually gone above and beyond our election commitment. But
again this is all being used to you know, it's
an EBA time and I get it, that's a highly
contentious political time. But at the end of the day,
(15:27):
Minister Hersey now needs to find a way forward and
it might end up being that she decides to take
it to the Police Arbitration Tribunal, which is the you know,
the independent umpire. We don't want to have a fight
with police. We want them to have a fair paid deal.
CPI is at one point six percent, so it's a
four four three three deal, which is well above CPI
and well above there.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Are you worried you're going to lose their support if
you can't sort it out.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Though, well it will be sorted out.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So it'll either be sorted out with a new offer,
or it'll be sorted out through the pad. At the
end of the day, if the independent umpire decides what
the pay should be, none of us can dispute that.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
All right, Chief Minister. The shiplift, well, we know that
it is costing an absolute and a league. It's going
to be at least eight hundred and twenty million dollars.
That is despite a business case having never been prepared.
That's according to a report in the paper by cam Smith.
Now in the early days of this project being announced,
it was slated for one hundred million. That was back
(16:24):
in twenty seventeen. We get the costs blowout, but I
mean seven hundred million dollars more so, appearing before the
Northern Territory Public Accounts Committee, it was revealed that the
previous government had signed that exclusive operations and maintenance agreement
with pass Payley. That was back in twenty twenty one.
That followed a twenty fifteen selection process that was undertaken
(16:46):
by the COLP. Now, I mean, do we have agreements
in play shed around who's going to use this shiplift.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I'm not aware of that detail, Canye, but suffice to
and just at the outset, I want to say we
support a robust maritime industry. It's a really critical part
of growing our economy and the ship lift will have
a role in that. Particularly. We're hoping around defense now.
Whether or not there's contracts sign I would doubt it
given the project is under construction, but they may very
(17:19):
well be and we want that all flushed out as
part of this Public Accounts Committee process. The Treasure is
very clearly said we need transparency on this. Territorians need
to understand the cost and you know, they'll run the
ruler over and I guess what people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Want to know is is there going to be a benefit,
Like our territory is going to see value for money
for an eight hundred million dollars spend.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, it's a.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Huge spend and that's why the PAC need to look
at it, because people need to know where their money
is going. It means we can't spend it on other things,
and you know, we just talked about a bunch of
things as a government you could spend money on. But
it also means, you know, we need to be using
the opportunity, so we need to back the project. If
we're going to spend the money, we've got to back
it in and we've got to make it work. We
(18:00):
want to see defense using it. We want to see
it build capacity across our marine industries.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And if that.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Creates lots of local jobs and opportunities for maintenance, and
it secures defense cycling through the territory, then fantastic. That's
what it was always designed to do. We've got to
make sure it now, is the brief.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
All right, Chief, We're gonna have to let you go.
You're headed to the cricket last night. Yeah, pty awesome.
How about that bloke that caught the ball one hand
while holding two beers. He's got to be territory.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I reckon, that's not bad, you know I did.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I did say to the CEO of Cricket Australia that
I was pretty good at one hand, one bounce and
back in street cricket back in my day.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So if they needed a hand, I could do that.
But I wasn't taken up on the OFFU. Sorry this
step in.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
But it was a cracker night like people came out
in their thousands. There's still tickets available for Tuesdays. So
what a great family event. Forty three dollars gets you
a family pass. You can get in there and have
a wonderful evening and just enjoy it while it's will
we get this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I will say the city was absolutely bustling over the weekend.
I actually haven't seen it that busy in a long,
long time. Out for a run, had people asking for
directions for the mangrove one, you know, like you go.
It's actually really nice to see so many peace.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
It's really good. About ten percent.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We believe we're from interstate, so we're just trying to
firm up those numbers. But great for locals. It delivers
on our commitment around lifestyle, and that's the first time
we've had international cricket in seventeen years, Katie first T
twenty international game, so we want to see more of
that here. It's great for our lifestyle, it's great for tourists,
it's great for local business, and we're backing and in well.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Chief Ministeralia Finocchiaro, good to speak with you this morning,
Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Thank you
Well, as you heard on the show last week, expectant
(00:02):
mums around the top end concerned and stressed about some
of the changes which are happening when it comes to
the delivery of maternity services in Darwin. So last week
we'd revealed on the show that a letter had been
sent advising that Midwiffree Group Practice on call services have
been stopped while the reviews carried out to ensure that
the model is sustainable. Now the letter states and anti
(00:24):
natal and post natal appointments are going to be conducted
by maternity group practice team will buy that team during
business hours, but labor and birth care are going to
be provided by midwives and doctors in the delivery suite. Now,
I guess the concern from a lot of mums at
this point is that that delivery suite is already under
the pump. We have caught up obviously with the union,
(00:45):
but we've also heard from a number of women who've
recently given birth at the hospital and have told us well, well,
one in particular actually didn't give birth at the hospital.
She turned up to the hospital in labor, was sent
home and then her mum delivered her baby at home
within hours. Now joining us in the studio is the
(01:05):
Chief Minister, Leah Finocchio. Good morning to you, Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Good morning Katie to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now, what do you make of this situation? I know
there's a couple of issues here bubbling along when it
comes to the delivery of services to women in the
territory when they're pregnant, But I mean, what do you
make of this situation currently?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, so there are a couple of things going on
and hopefully I can clear up at least a little
bit of it. So one thing is the on call
nurse for the Midwiffree Practice Women, who is about thirty
nine different women, and so that used to be a
sort of twenty four hour on call service. We've had
to change that for nighttime just due to some staffing change.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But they are still getting a call answered by a midwife.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So it's just instead of bringing that midwife, it's going
to Ardie h and then they speak to a midwife there.
So that's just a slight difference, and I appreciate very
much that that's still very setting for the women involved,
but continuity of service remains. In terms of pressure on
the system, we do have a very busy hospital but
there hasn't been a material change or impact because of
(02:14):
what's happened with Hellscope over at the private So we
just have to keep monitoring and obviously resourcing these things.
We want women having a really calm and confident birthing experience,
and we want women to have that faith and confidence
in the system, obviously.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah. Look, unfortunately it doesn't seem as though that is
the case for every woman at this point in time.
I mean, as I just mentioned, we spoke to a
mum about two weeks ago who had fronted, you know,
gone up to the hospital in labor. They had sent
her home, They didn't do an internal or didn't sort
of do a thorough check to see how far along
(02:48):
she was. She tells us. She then got home. Her
mum ended up delivering her baby, obviously with the assistance
of Saint John. We also spoke to another mom, Tessa,
a couple of weeks ago and again last week about
these changes. But Tessa had told us about laboring well
in sort of a hallway area within the hospital for
(03:09):
quite some time while they waited for a room to
be cleaned. So I guess we're hearing a lot of
reassurance from the government and also from staff to tell
us that there isn't additional stress on maternity services, But
then we're hearing from Northern Territory women that that's simply
not the case.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Well, I think it's just a continuation of stress on
the system. I don't know that it's increased because of
the closure. We know that it's only about its less
than three hundred berths a year, right, so we're not
even talking about one a day, so it is a
minimal additional impact. That's not to say that our system
wasn't already under pressure and continues to be under pressure.
(03:48):
So it's just something we have to work through. Obviously,
it's a very very special and sensitive and even scary
time in a family's life, so you want all of
that to be perfect, seamless. I completely appreciate that as
a as a mother myself, I hear you.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I get it personally, I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So we've just got to continue doing our best to
make sure we've got the right stuff. You know, We've
put a lot of extra money into our health budget
this year recognizing the strain at ARDH, and we're also
looking to our the federal government to be doing their
fair share as well, especially when it comes to age care.
You know, we need that age care facility so that
we can get the agecare people out of the hospital.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And have more support within the hospital spot on people.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Spot on and we've definitely spoken about that before. Look
what I can see though at the moment, it's part
of the broader discussions that I'm having, is that you know,
not only are we seeing the changes when it comes
to you know, when it comes to the Midway free
group practice, the on call service. We also have a
situation where as we learned about earlier in the year,
(04:52):
the maternity ward there at the Darwin Private Hospitals closed.
Now I also have confirmed over recent days that the
two private obstetricians that we have operating here in the
Northern Territory are not going to be continuing operating post
the next couple of months. So what we have is
a situation in a capital city where the choices for
(05:13):
Northern Territory women are minimizing. I mean, this does have
an impact when you talk about retaining young families in
the Northern Territory.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
There's no question, Katie, and that's why we've tried to
provide you know, government delivers government services, and what we've
tried to do is create a private alternative. But it's
not perfect and it can't replace a private system. But
what we have to do is make sure that we
are continuing to grow our economy so that we can
underpin private sector investment. Now, the reason why Healthscope pulled
(05:46):
out of maternity is because it just wasn't paying the
bills at less than three hundred months a year. Now,
I'm not defending them, but they're just operating in a
commercial environment. It comes back to growing. Everything comes back
to growing our economy. So we know Hellscope still hangs
in the balance. There is that commitment across the federal
government to work with all states and territories affected.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
They gave Tasmania funding. My understanding is that Steve Edgington
had asked for funding. I thought it was thirty odd
million dollars from the federal government. So where is that
at Because women are really concerned right.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So I don't think we've had a response from the
federal government on that. They have under you know, sort
of made a commitment around us safety in it on
what next steps look like. Because if if Healthscope go
to a new you know, is sold to a new provider.
That might mean maternity services open back up. But we've
just got to keep the pressure on that. And at
the moment, it's just business as usual for Hellscope obviously
(06:44):
at Darwin Prior.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I'm also told that defense members are sending women into state.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay, have you heard that?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
No, I haven't heard that some women might be choosing
to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I don't know. Again, it is a big issue, Like.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
How concerned are you that there are Northern Territory women
that are saying, well, we're going to go into state
rather than have our baby here because we're hearing these
stories from other moms, you know, like they've got their
own Facebook group where they're literally sharing these stories with
each other and they're worried, right, and they're not worried,
you know, because something may happen, Like we know that
(07:21):
we've got high mortality rates unfortunately when it comes to
babies in the Northern Territory, so it actually does. It's
a big issue for us.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yeah, look, there's no question, Katie, And you know, there's
nothing I can't just wave a magic one to make
it better. So I'm not going to pretend to write,
We know there is pressure in the hospital. We know
Hellscope are pulling out, and that's a commercial decision we
couldn't stop. But we have put in place that safety
net with the federal government around what is what is next?
And we are absolutely putting our foot to the pedal
(07:51):
on growing the economy and we've had some good results
at a ten point two percent growth race, the fastest
in the country. Things are turning around, and if we
can keep our economy moving up and crime moving down,
we will regain our numbers. Numbers equals greater opportunity for
private sector investment, which means more choice, and that will,
in and of itself create more opportunities for women to
(08:14):
birth in all of the ways in which they like
to choose. And I know that's cold comfort to pregnant
women now or women wanting to fall pregnant, but it
is a situation we inherited from the previous government eleven
months ago, and we are doing everything we can to
make it better in the long term, including the immediate
safety nets.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Now, look, I'm not one to call on the federal
government every time something goes shong and asks for a handout,
but I mean we're talking about the delivery of we're
free services in the Northern Territory. Are we expecting the
federal government to help out in any way in this space.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Well, we expect it. Whether or not they do is
another story.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Now, of course, there's the broader national conversation around. You know,
the Prime Minister wants there to be a new health agreement.
We are very much on board with that because it
would give the territory a signific can uplift, but that
requires an entire national cabinet to agree and ultimately, the
territory is woefully underfunded by the federal government. When you
(09:09):
compare our baseline funding to every other state and territory,
it's horrific.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And even under the new deal being.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Proposed, we'll get a big lift, but we will still
be way behind everyone else.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And this is just legacy issues dating back to self
government where we have been ignored.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
And I say again I've said it on your show before, Katie,
that whilst the money we get from the Feds is
about seventy five percent of all revenue to the territory,
it is maintenance money.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It is status quo. It does not advance the cause.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And unfortunately, until we have a federal government that really
cares about shifting the dial for the territory. We're just
going to have to get on with it ourselves.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
All right. I'm going to move along. Police have arrested
three males following an aggravated robbery that occurred in Nightcliff
early yesterday morning. This incident happened about three point fifty
in the morning at Nightcliff. Jetty, A twenty five year
old male victim alleged that three males had threatened him
with a machette before stealing his friend's vehicle keys. The
offenders subsequently fled the scene in the friend's Silver Niss
(10:08):
and Pulsar. Now, neither victim, fortunately were injured during that incident,
but we know that multiple police units responded. They commenced investigations.
By five o'clock in the morning, members from Strikeforce Trident
had located that vehicle and arrested the three mail The
three males so they were aged thirteen, fifteen, and nineteen. Now,
(10:29):
I am told that the two teenagers, the thirteen and
the fifteen year old, have already been released on bail.
They were released on the same day of their offending.
And my understanding is that they both have extensive prize.
They weren't released on police bail. I am told that
they were released through the court. However that system happens
(10:51):
over the course of the weekend. Is that acceptable in
your eyes? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Look, it's certainly news to me, Katie, and you know
on the face, but it doesn't pass the pub test.
And this is why we keep going back and strengthening
our bowlers.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I mean, we have.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
The sharpest bow laws in the country, Katie. They are
these strongest and it requires judges to do a double
community safety test and they have to actually personally satisfy
themselves that the person they're bailing is not.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Good to you. Do you feel safe that someone's held
somebody else up with a machete and then they're back
on the street, like.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I know, I don't, yeah exactly. So I don't know
the circumstances in detail. I don't know if they had prize,
if it's a first time of fans. I know you
mentioned you had some detail. But we just have to
keep monitoring this, Katie, because if the courts aren't getting
the message, then we'll keep sending the message.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But I just don't know enough about that fact.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
But needless to say, I can absolutely see your listeners
driving their car listening along saying that that's a's a
little bit curious.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Well, honestly they'll be furious because I just think to myself,
if you are using a weapon to hold somebody else.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Very serious, very serious. Absolutely, so something you'll follow up.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, I'll certainly find out more of the details when
I get off the show, Katie, and we'll we'll just
keep a very we as always, we keep a very
close eye on the changes we've made and whether they're
working and what more needs to be done, and we
just keep moving forward as this is not a you know,
the job is not done for us.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We have a lot more work to do in this space, all.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Right, Chief, A couple of quick ones. We know that
the police pay negotiations continue on Northern Territory. Police overwhelmingly
rejected your government's pay offer, sending a strong message that
they're not going to be taken for granted. So and
twenty members took part in that ballot and eighty one
(12:41):
percent voted no to the consent agreement. Police Association president
Nathan Finn said the three percent wage cap is insulting
and the vast majority of officers are going to miss
out on the retention bonus. Look, I get that this
is obviously negotiation between the department and between the union,
(13:02):
but you know, for you, we are talking about a
lot of the changes to legislation are on the shoulders
of our hard working Northern Territory police. Like surely you
think they deserve a pay increase.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Of course they do, and so that's why Minister Hersey
and OCP have been doing that pay negotiation. We were
really really happy to see how many police participated because
traditionally it's more like fifty percent of our police who
actually vote, whereas this was right up there.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So that is good. It means our police are engaged.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, it means it pissed with the payoffics.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, the NTPA came out and told them to vote no,
and police came out and voted no.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
But at the end of the day, we've got to
look at what's next.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
You know, we hear that we are supporting our police
in every way we can, and it's unfair and misleading
to say the three percent pay deal. It was not
the three percent. The police were getting around forty million
dollars on top of the three percent pay deal.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So it was substantially. They've rejected that, and that's their prerogative.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of the things I heard really loudly in discussions
that I've had off f here with police officers is
they are not happy about this retention bonus situation. You know,
like in some units you've got, you know, you might
have six people that have been working within the Northern
Territory Police for over ten years, a varying level, you know,
but one of them happens to fall into the twenty year.
(14:27):
You know, somebody else might be on eleven, somebody else
might be on seventeen, and they miss out. Like, how
can you like look at that group and go, well,
that's fair for you, but not for you.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well this is a bit of a long stager, but
at the end of the day, a retention bonus is
designed to keep people in the job. So you have
to have it at a milestone. It's not a reward
for service.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So if you've passed a milestone.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Then it's the next milestone, right, You're trying to keep
the person until the next milestone. What we ended up
doing in response to the NTPA's calls is putting it
into the EBA, So all of that money is in there,
and I said to the NTPA, you guys want a
retention bonus, you work it.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Out in the EBA.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Now they've come back and said they'd rather every police
officer just get more money. So that's that's where the
money is. So we will meet our exact election commitment.
I've actually gone above and beyond our election commitment. But
again this is all being used to you know, it's
an EBA time and I get it, that's a highly
contentious political time. But at the end of the day,
(15:27):
Minister Hersey now needs to find a way forward and
it might end up being that she decides to take
it to the Police Arbitration Tribunal, which is the you know,
the independent umpire. We don't want to have a fight
with police. We want them to have a fair paid deal.
CPI is at one point six percent, so it's a
four four three three deal, which is well above CPI
and well above there.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Are you worried you're going to lose their support if
you can't sort it out.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Though, well it will be sorted out.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So it'll either be sorted out with a new offer,
or it'll be sorted out through the pad. At the
end of the day, if the independent umpire decides what
the pay should be, none of us can dispute that.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
All right, Chief Minister. The shiplift, well, we know that
it is costing an absolute and a league. It's going
to be at least eight hundred and twenty million dollars.
That is despite a business case having never been prepared.
That's according to a report in the paper by cam Smith.
Now in the early days of this project being announced,
it was slated for one hundred million. That was back
(16:24):
in twenty seventeen. We get the costs blowout, but I
mean seven hundred million dollars more so, appearing before the
Northern Territory Public Accounts Committee, it was revealed that the
previous government had signed that exclusive operations and maintenance agreement
with pass Payley. That was back in twenty twenty one.
That followed a twenty fifteen selection process that was undertaken
(16:46):
by the COLP. Now, I mean, do we have agreements
in play shed around who's going to use this shiplift.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I'm not aware of that detail, Canye, but suffice to
and just at the outset, I want to say we
support a robust maritime industry. It's a really critical part
of growing our economy and the ship lift will have
a role in that. Particularly. We're hoping around defense now.
Whether or not there's contracts sign I would doubt it
given the project is under construction, but they may very
(17:19):
well be and we want that all flushed out as
part of this Public Accounts Committee process. The Treasure is
very clearly said we need transparency on this. Territorians need
to understand the cost and you know, they'll run the
ruler over and I guess what people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Want to know is is there going to be a benefit,
Like our territory is going to see value for money
for an eight hundred million dollars spend.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, it's a.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Huge spend and that's why the PAC need to look
at it, because people need to know where their money
is going. It means we can't spend it on other things,
and you know, we just talked about a bunch of
things as a government you could spend money on. But
it also means, you know, we need to be using
the opportunity, so we need to back the project. If
we're going to spend the money, we've got to back
it in and we've got to make it work. We
(18:00):
want to see defense using it. We want to see
it build capacity across our marine industries.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And if that.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Creates lots of local jobs and opportunities for maintenance, and
it secures defense cycling through the territory, then fantastic. That's
what it was always designed to do. We've got to
make sure it now, is the brief.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
All right, Chief, We're gonna have to let you go.
You're headed to the cricket last night. Yeah, pty awesome.
How about that bloke that caught the ball one hand
while holding two beers. He's got to be territory.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I reckon, that's not bad, you know I did.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I did say to the CEO of Cricket Australia that
I was pretty good at one hand, one bounce and
back in street cricket back in my day.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So if they needed a hand, I could do that.
But I wasn't taken up on the OFFU. Sorry this
step in.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
But it was a cracker night like people came out
in their thousands. There's still tickets available for Tuesdays. So
what a great family event. Forty three dollars gets you
a family pass. You can get in there and have
a wonderful evening and just enjoy it while it's will
we get this opportunity.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I will say the city was absolutely bustling over the weekend.
I actually haven't seen it that busy in a long,
long time. Out for a run, had people asking for
directions for the mangrove one, you know, like you go.
It's actually really nice to see so many peace.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
It's really good. About ten percent.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We believe we're from interstate, so we're just trying to
firm up those numbers. But great for locals. It delivers
on our commitment around lifestyle, and that's the first time
we've had international cricket in seventeen years, Katie first T
twenty international game, so we want to see more of
that here. It's great for our lifestyle, it's great for tourists,
it's great for local business, and we're backing and in well.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Chief Ministeralia Finocchiaro, good to speak with you this morning,
Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Take care everyone.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Thank you
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