Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we know that parliamentary well, budget estimates is a
word I'm looking for, is continuing in the Northern Territory today.
Yesterday the Chief Minister was first uph and she has
indeed got a number of portfolios, including police. We also
know that there were a number of questions asked of
the Territory Coordinator. Joining me on the line to tell
(00:22):
us a little bit more about what has been her
focus and to talk a little bit more about the process.
Is the Member for Nightcliff, The Greens Member for Nightcliff,
Cat macnamara.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning to you, Cat, morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Good to have you on the show. Cat, Can I
ask before we get into budget estimates, what do you
think of the announcement today by the Northern Territory government
in terms of the rollout of oc spray a trial
from September.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, look, yeah, I only just saw that in the
media this morning, so I'm still kind of wrapping my
head around it. But I mean my initial thoughts are
this just sends a message to me, right that the
government has kind of just given us whenever one's safety.
It's like, let's just everyone you know, that they've given
up trying to actually do anything to improve the situation.
Like what this is essentially doing is just putting weapons
(01:10):
more weapons in the community. I mean, we're going to
all this great length to take out other weapons, but
knives and things. So yeah, really concerning and quite strange.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, there's been a lot like this. We honestly, the
tech sign this morning's gone off. Some people are really
supportive of it. Some people are a little bit worried
about it. The Police Association, for example, saying that they
need a bit more detail, and I think that's fair enough.
I think there's lots of people there are after further details,
so we'll do our best to make sure that we
can get some further detail for our listeners. Kat a
(01:41):
busy day yesterday in budget estimates. I couldn't watch the
whole thing, but I watched for a couple of hours
in the afternoon and lots on the agenda. I know
that you were certainly asking quite a few questions of
the Chief Minister around the lobbyist register. Talk me through
what you asked and what you're keen to see happen
in this space, yees.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I asked around because we had the Chief Minister
herself when she was in opposition sort of questioning Labour's
integrity and specifically talking about the need for a lobbyist
register where everyday people in the community can find out
who which lobbyists are meeting with which ministers and how
often they meet and so in their lobbyist register that
they presented to us at the start of the year,
(02:21):
that's not part of it. We have no transparency for
the public around seeing who was meeting with lobbyists. And
so that was my question to her, And I mean,
I don't think I really got satisfactory answers because I
put forward my own motion for a lobbyist register that
included all the best practice things that we really want
to see for accountability integrity, and the selpobos against it.
(02:42):
So yeah, I asked her questions around that, and they
just said, well, that was the model they wanted to
go with. But I don't think that really stacks up.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So what do you reckon we need to say around
that lobbyist register and how would you like to see
it sort of go a step further.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yes, the company, it just means that third party lobbyists, right,
so anyone who worked for a contracting firm, they register
themselves and they get their name registered on our list
on our website, and that's that is there's a code
of conduct and if they break it, they just get
removed from this list. The problem is you've also got
all the lobbyists that work for so you know a
lobbyist that's employed by Santos or employed by a fambran,
(03:18):
and we don't know who they're meeting with. The whole
purpose of a lobbyist regisurant or most of the purpose
is for transparency and accountability to the public. So we
need it's like up they call it publishing of minister's diaries, right,
and it can be as simple as how often they're meeting,
who they're meeting with, what is the general items of
things discussed, And then people can really know because then
(03:40):
you can see who is walking into your MP's office
or MLA's office the most, right, who are they meeting
with the most And then you can and look. All
other states and territories have different versions of this, and
other states and territories are really improving and strengthening their
as time goes on. So you know, to have the
CLP go on to when labors and government about the
lack of transparency and now to see them just doing
(04:02):
the same, it's really frustrating.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Now, kat, I know that obviously the Territory Coordinator was
in there yesterday Stuart Knowles and the Independence and Opposition
got the opportunity to ask some questions of the Territory
Coordinator and also of the Northern Territory Chief Minister in
the space what were you keen to find out more
about with the Territory Coordinator.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, well, we wanted to get more details around the
appointment of the Territory Coordinator. You know, was there an
open process? Turned out there wasn't. He seemed to be
just hand picked. I wanted assurances that his connections to
the industry, to the gas industry, like how are they
going to manage that in terms of conflict of interests?
(04:47):
And also, you know, we saw the public submissions that
we had to the Territory Coordinator bill, you know, over
three hundred submissions and only two were in favor, and
so I was asking questions around but what is the
point of consoleation, Like what are you doing with that feedback?
If people have gone to take the time to give
you really detailed submissions and the government just kind of
goes and throws them out the window. So what does
(05:10):
that mean for consultation and what were they doing with
people's input.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Now, Police and emergency services were also in their guest today.
I know there wasn't time for emergency services and the
fieries in the ads because there's so many questions asked
of the Northern Territory Police. What was your focus, particularly
for your electorate of Nightcliff, where we know there's been
some really serious concerns when it comes to crime and
(05:33):
anti social behavior issues.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, so you're right, we did run out of time
for emergency services, which was a shame because I had
a lot of questions. I'm really keen to find out
more for bush biz and te and emergency services and things.
But I feel quite passionate about yeah, in terms of
how we're going to mitigate the risks of climate change,
in terms of increased bush buyer risk, things that are
really important. So I'll be putting my questions unnoticed at
(05:59):
a later day. But it was police here that was
quite a big questioning time. Now as I'm I'm not
a member of the estimates committee, so I sort of
have to wait till the very end to ask my questions,
and as you saw, we run out of time. But yeah,
there was a lot of questions around the resourcing, around
police retention, around questions around the recent guests in custody, yes,
(06:22):
around command a White, and around questions around whether that
could be have an independent investigation or not.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Kat, How did you find the whole process? It's your
first budget estimates. I've had to watch plenty of them
over the last ten years. How did you find it?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh my gosh, I know it's all this is all
a big learning curve for me. And you know, of
course I'm just nervous like anyone who would be my physician,
and just wanting to get the right questions in. And look,
it's kind of like it's time limited, so you sort
of sometimes you miss out, and I missed out in
my few yesterday. But I mean, overall, I think it's
just a really Look, it's a part. It's a really
important process, right we should we have to be able
(07:00):
to scrutinize the government. And it's also it's about asking
getting into the details of fundings, but also broader policy
stuff like why did this decision get made? And I've
got so many more questions for the next two weeks
that I'm keen to for different ministers.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Well, it'll no doubt be a it will continue to
be an interesting process. And look, I agree with you.
I think it's such an important process. It is an
opportunity for the opposition, the independence to be able to
ask further questions and questions that really are driven by
the community and by those that live in your electorates.
So it is definitely a really important process. I appreciate
(07:35):
you having a chat with us this morning. Kat Let
us know if you do uncover anything that you reckon
our listeners might be interested in over the coming weeks.
All right, we'll do Keatie, thank you, thanks for your time.
Well, we know that parliamentary well, budget estimates is a
word I'm looking for, is continuing in the Northern Territory today.
Yesterday the Chief Minister was first uph and she has
indeed got a number of portfolios, including police. We also
know that there were a number of questions asked of
the Territory Coordinator. Joining me on the line to tell
(00:22):
us a little bit more about what has been her
focus and to talk a little bit more about the process.
Is the Member for Nightcliff, The Greens Member for Nightcliff,
Cat macnamara.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning to you, Cat, morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Good to have you on the show. Cat, Can I
ask before we get into budget estimates, what do you
think of the announcement today by the Northern Territory government
in terms of the rollout of oc spray a trial
from September.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, look, yeah, I only just saw that in the
media this morning, so I'm still kind of wrapping my
head around it. But I mean my initial thoughts are
this just sends a message to me, right that the
government has kind of just given us whenever one's safety.
It's like, let's just everyone you know, that they've given
up trying to actually do anything to improve the situation.
Like what this is essentially doing is just putting weapons
(01:10):
more weapons in the community. I mean, we're going to
all this great length to take out other weapons, but
knives and things. So yeah, really concerning and quite strange.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, there's been a lot like this. We honestly, the
tech sign this morning's gone off. Some people are really
supportive of it. Some people are a little bit worried
about it. The Police Association, for example, saying that they
need a bit more detail, and I think that's fair enough.
I think there's lots of people there are after further details,
so we'll do our best to make sure that we
can get some further detail for our listeners. Kat a
(01:41):
busy day yesterday in budget estimates. I couldn't watch the
whole thing, but I watched for a couple of hours
in the afternoon and lots on the agenda. I know
that you were certainly asking quite a few questions of
the Chief Minister around the lobbyist register. Talk me through
what you asked and what you're keen to see happen
in this space, yees.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I asked around because we had the Chief Minister
herself when she was in opposition sort of questioning Labour's
integrity and specifically talking about the need for a lobbyist
register where everyday people in the community can find out
who which lobbyists are meeting with which ministers and how
often they meet and so in their lobbyist register that
they presented to us at the start of the year,
(02:21):
that's not part of it. We have no transparency for
the public around seeing who was meeting with lobbyists. And
so that was my question to her, And I mean,
I don't think I really got satisfactory answers because I
put forward my own motion for a lobbyist register that
included all the best practice things that we really want
to see for accountability integrity, and the selpobos against it.
(02:42):
So yeah, I asked her questions around that, and they
just said, well, that was the model they wanted to
go with. But I don't think that really stacks up.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So what do you reckon we need to say around
that lobbyist register and how would you like to see
it sort of go a step further.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yes, the company, it just means that third party lobbyists, right,
so anyone who worked for a contracting firm, they register
themselves and they get their name registered on our list
on our website, and that's that is there's a code
of conduct and if they break it, they just get
removed from this list. The problem is you've also got
all the lobbyists that work for so you know a
lobbyist that's employed by Santos or employed by a fambran,
(03:18):
and we don't know who they're meeting with. The whole
purpose of a lobbyist regisurant or most of the purpose
is for transparency and accountability to the public. So we
need it's like up they call it publishing of minister's diaries, right,
and it can be as simple as how often they're meeting,
who they're meeting with, what is the general items of
things discussed, And then people can really know because then
(03:40):
you can see who is walking into your MP's office
or MLA's office the most, right, who are they meeting
with the most And then you can and look. All
other states and territories have different versions of this, and
other states and territories are really improving and strengthening their
as time goes on. So you know, to have the
CLP go on to when labors and government about the
lack of transparency and now to see them just doing
(04:02):
the same, it's really frustrating.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Now, kat, I know that obviously the Territory Coordinator was
in there yesterday Stuart Knowles and the Independence and Opposition
got the opportunity to ask some questions of the Territory
Coordinator and also of the Northern Territory Chief Minister in
the space what were you keen to find out more
about with the Territory Coordinator.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, well, we wanted to get more details around the
appointment of the Territory Coordinator. You know, was there an
open process? Turned out there wasn't. He seemed to be
just hand picked. I wanted assurances that his connections to
the industry, to the gas industry, like how are they
going to manage that in terms of conflict of interests?
(04:47):
And also, you know, we saw the public submissions that
we had to the Territory Coordinator bill, you know, over
three hundred submissions and only two were in favor, and
so I was asking questions around but what is the
point of consoleation, Like what are you doing with that feedback?
If people have gone to take the time to give
you really detailed submissions and the government just kind of
goes and throws them out the window. So what does
(05:10):
that mean for consultation and what were they doing with
people's input.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Now, Police and emergency services were also in their guest today.
I know there wasn't time for emergency services and the
fieries in the ads because there's so many questions asked
of the Northern Territory Police. What was your focus, particularly
for your electorate of Nightcliff, where we know there's been
some really serious concerns when it comes to crime and
(05:33):
anti social behavior issues.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, so you're right, we did run out of time
for emergency services, which was a shame because I had
a lot of questions. I'm really keen to find out
more for bush biz and te and emergency services and things.
But I feel quite passionate about yeah, in terms of
how we're going to mitigate the risks of climate change,
in terms of increased bush buyer risk, things that are
really important. So I'll be putting my questions unnoticed at
(05:59):
a later day. But it was police here that was
quite a big questioning time. Now as I'm I'm not
a member of the estimates committee, so I sort of
have to wait till the very end to ask my questions,
and as you saw, we run out of time. But yeah,
there was a lot of questions around the resourcing, around
police retention, around questions around the recent guests in custody, yes,
(06:22):
around command a White, and around questions around whether that
could be have an independent investigation or not.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Kat, How did you find the whole process? It's your
first budget estimates. I've had to watch plenty of them
over the last ten years. How did you find it?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh my gosh, I know it's all this is all
a big learning curve for me. And you know, of
course I'm just nervous like anyone who would be my physician,
and just wanting to get the right questions in. And look,
it's kind of like it's time limited, so you sort
of sometimes you miss out, and I missed out in
my few yesterday. But I mean, overall, I think it's
just a really Look, it's a part. It's a really
important process, right we should we have to be able
(07:00):
to scrutinize the government. And it's also it's about asking
getting into the details of fundings, but also broader policy
stuff like why did this decision get made? And I've
got so many more questions for the next two weeks
that I'm keen to for different ministers.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Well, it'll no doubt be a it will continue to
be an interesting process. And look, I agree with you.
I think it's such an important process. It is an
opportunity for the opposition, the independence to be able to
ask further questions and questions that really are driven by
the community and by those that live in your electorates.
So it is definitely a really important process. I appreciate
(07:35):
you having a chat with us this morning. Kat Let
us know if you do uncover anything that you reckon
our listeners might be interested in over the coming weeks.
All right, we'll do Keatie, thank you, thanks for your time.
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