Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now on Friday last week, we were told by the
(00:02):
Minister for Public Employment, Joe Hersey on the week that
was that the police pay dispute would be heading to
the renumeration tribunal after police had overwhelmingly rejected the pay
officer offer I should say put on the table by
the Colp government. Now my understanding is that that didn't happen,
all parties sort of heading back to the table to
(00:22):
try and sort out a fair deal and the government
putting a new deal on the table. Now joining me
in the studio to tell us a little bit more
is the president of the Police Association, Nathan Finn.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, Finny, Good morning Katty, Good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Now, Finny, where are things at with this negotiation. Has
the government put a new deal on the table?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, so we heard the government call for that we're
going to arbitration for our consent agreement. Earlier last week
we reached out to the government and obviously the ministers
as well in respect to coming back to the table
to negotiate a better outcome for our members and to
possibly avoid that arbitration side tribunal side of things. We
didn't believe that was going to be in the best
interest of for our mens given the delays that a
(01:02):
cause when you go through these processes, we want to
see some real benefits for our members right now.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So what have they put on the table, Finny?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, So the offer come back to us was presented
to me and on Friday, the fifteenth of August, I
took that to our membership. We've got an Industrial Committee
that refers to obviously the offers that come through. They
endorse that offer to go to the NTPA Executive Board,
which I preside over. During discussions with the Executive Board,
it was chosen to endorse the offer as presented by
(01:31):
the government and present that to our members.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Okay, Now, the.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Presentation of that offer to our members will occur after
we conduct information sessions and road shows right across the
Northern Territory.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
To our members, is it is the year on year
increase as much as what you've been hoping for, Katie.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I'll be open honestly and I always am. And do
I want more for our members? Of course I did.
Do I think we can get more? I don't believe so.
And if we had to go on to the arbitration,
I don't believe we would have got any better offer
than what we've got currently at the moment. So it's
very much a risky situation. I'm not a gambling man.
I'm not a gambling man to gamble away the entitlements
of our police officers. We've secured great working place in titlements.
(02:14):
We haven't again. We've secured those workplace in titlements and
we've made sure that every day every member is receiving
an increase to their wages and supporting their work in titlements.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So, Finny, talk me through the headline numbers. Here is
it five percent first year?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, five percent the first year KD four percent, the
second year, three percent the third year, and three percent
the fourth year. We did request a guarantee in that
fourth year. We were concerned we're given the current inflation
and I'm not an economist economist as some people are,
but CPI have obviously gone through the roof over the
previous agreement that we had. We've seen the CPI come
(02:51):
back to a sustainable level being at one point seven
percent of the last thing. So our five percent in
the first offer as well above that CPI rate again
for that guarantee and that fourth year we ask the
government to have a guarantee in that fourth year because
who knows what CPI is going to do when the
cost of living is going to do over that four years.
But now we've got an agreement in for that fourth
year that if the CPI is actually above that three percent,
(03:13):
we actually get whatever the CPI is. So if CPI
is five point six cady in that fourth year prior
to that fourth year calculation, we get the five point
six percent, yeah, three percent.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now, in terms of some of the other you know,
entitlements and different things that the association had been fighting for,
I know that certainly, you know the retention bonus, it's
not part of the negotiation, so same as the housing
as I understand any of those different measures looked at
and where are you at.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
With the Definitely there's a lot of key areas that
over time without with prior notice now is obviously gone
from time and a half to double time. That's what's
been agreed to. We've improved allownce for members on personal
leave and also restricted duties. We've also looked at our
higher duties. We've known previously for members to get higher
duties allowance, they'd have to do a week of forty
hours of the high duties before they get paid. Now
(03:59):
they get paid every shift, Katie. We've also had a
great increase and recognition of the rank professional profile for
our acpos, our Aboriginal community police officers, Katy. I won't
use the acronyms because the people who listen.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
What you're talking about, how long am I talking about?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
But the five percent structurally increased to them. So the
compaigning effect, as it's been calculated of the term of
the agreement for our comfortables is increase of about fifteen
point eight five percent and for our acpos around twenty
one point three percent.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So Phinny, it's got to go to a vote now,
is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, definitely, Katie. And it's entirely up to a members
as much as the NTPA Executive endaors and we endorsed it, Unanisley.
It needs to go to the vote for the membership.
So that's where we conduct the information sessions, the road shows.
The members have got feedback coming and back into the
association already, there's a lot of feedback coming in both
positive and negative, Cuddy. Kay, And again, I don't want
to undervalue what we do. We do the hardest possible
(04:50):
job in Australia in relation to policing, and we deserve
to be the best paid in Australia. We also have
to take inn consideration a lot of financial factors around that.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So does this take us to best paid in Australia.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We have been the best paid in Australia and we
continue to be one of the best paid police forces
in Australia.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Katie Finny, how important is it? Look because like I
said to you last time you and I were talking
about this, I know there will always be some that
listen that go, oh, come on, you know, how much
did the police expect to get paid? But how important
is it that you know you get this deal right
and that the police are paid adequately, that it's competitive,
if not better than other states, and that police officers
feel valued in their roles.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Definitely, And that's that's what we want to what we
want to We've got to get to a point where
we want our members to feel that the evaluation of
their of their service. Our members struggle every day and
they have struggled over at number of years, Caddy with
the resourcing issues the crime that we deal with as
much as the government can report now that it's going
down and it is trending down, Katie. Our members are
still dealing with this high levels of crime. We still
outstrip any other jurisdiction with an Australian relation to offenses
(05:50):
per capita. Our members are still struggling daily with the
police resourcing issues. It is getting better and it's going
to take some time though, Cadie. But their members want
to feel valued. They want to feel rewarded for what
they're doing and the sacrifices they're making to serve the territory.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Finny, a few bits and pieces that I'm keen to
ask you about this morning. First off, the rollout of
the OC spray. We know what's happening on September one.
The police have now released some further information about the
requirements to get your hands on it. What are officers
saying to you.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yes, I've given some feedback to both the Acting Commissioner
and also the government earlier this week in respect to
the OC spray trial. There was a lot of non
information coming out until the exemption was issued by government,
and that only occurred, I believe on the sixth or
seventh of August this month. So there's a lot of
information being held back until that time. So the exemption
has been improved by the government, the administrator and also
(06:41):
the government, and we're working through what it looks like.
There are some concerns that we've written to both the
Commissioner and also the Chief Ministry about and the concerns
around the purchasing of the product, the limitations of obviously
what they can do, and it's and the concern that
we have and getting into the people that don't necessarily
deserve it all we should you have it, so there's
(07:01):
a self decoration that the purchase at the purchase point,
which we're contesting that shouldn't occur. There should be some
further checks in relation to who Obviously the eligibility of
the person obviously buying the product. There's no limit on
how much they can buy, but there's a limit on
how much they can carry, so sort of it's in
contradiction to some extent, so.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
You reckon there just needs to be a bit of
affirming up of some of those different guidelines.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, and a lot of the feedback that I'm getting
from my members is we haven't got access to a
database to show who is actually going to be in
possession of this product. It helps us when we're responding
to an incident if we know that, hey, this person's
got is legally entitled to have OC spray, it could
be a risk factor for our members attending that situation
if it's potentially used against them, and the safety for
(07:44):
their members going forward as well.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Finny, Look, there's quite a bit happening at the moment,
you know, obviously impacting the police, and we know the
coronial inquest into the death of Constable Michael Doutrom it
wrapped up, as I understand it, last week with the
coroner flagging recommends around better care and early intervention to
support mental health of serving Northern Territory police officers. What
(08:08):
were some of the other sort of key revelations and
what are you hoping the you know, to see as
a result of this coronial.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
First and foremost, Catie, I just like to address it.
It's a very tough time and a tough in quest
for all members involved in the inquest. For the NTPA,
representing the dou Trim family in the inquest and representing
the NTPA members as well in this inquest, It's been
a very tough time and the evidence been given as
very harrowing. It shows to the concern that our members
have in respect to the welfare space, especially in that
(08:37):
remote area location. Some of these things have been overlooked
by the police for a long time and the health
and well being hasn't been prioritized for our members, and
that we want to see a marked improvement in relation
to our health and wellbeing of our members, especially in
those remote locations where there's no downtime. You're on call
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. They
are exhausted, they are literally, yeah, falling over as we
(09:00):
speak with workplace injuries because of the pressures that's being placed.
We want to see significant change where the health and
well being of our members are prioritized by this Northern
Territory Police Force.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Well, look, I do we know when we're expecting to
see those findings handed down, so coming through.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They've requested further evidence to be presented to the coroner
in respect to that. If the evidence needs to be tested,
they'll be obviously further days listed if it's required, then
they'll be calling for written submissions to the coroner in
respect to recommendations that we're seeking for the inquest to
take place, Yeah, very tough time. The Dutrim family has
been there throughout the whole process as well. Police to
(09:37):
announce that he is Tony Dutram is arriving in the
in DA later today and we great to catch out
in today. He hasn't been backed to the territory for
some time, so it'd be good to have close communications
with the Dutrim family again. They want to see significant
change and see that Michael's life hasn't gone to the
wayside and improvements are being made for his fellow police
officer he loved and adored and worked with.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I think it's it's so incredibly important. You know, the
large portion of the community is really grateful to the
police for the work that they do every day and
understand that it cannot be easy. But I think that
the inquest has really laid bare some of the extreme
challenges when it comes to policing in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And it's also put into perspective that someone could be
seen to be coping so very well and not coping
on the other end of the spectrum, and that's an
alert for a lot of our members and a lot
of our members have fed back to us that hey,
it's okay not to be okay, and to seek advice
earlier rather than later and seek those supports in that workplace.
It's definitely important, and it's definitely it has an impact.
(10:39):
No matter what you do in policing, everything has an impact.
Of the cumulative effect that the trauma has on you
over your career is untold and different members go to
different experiences. We've seen the incident in Palmerston last week
with a search warrant that turned horribly wrong, and our
members are suffering like those certain instandents, this stuff that
(11:00):
you never unsee, Katie, Our members are carrying that every
day and the burden they carry every day if they
don't speak to someone and get the help and professional
help they need. We get these types of situations, but
the focus needs to be on the workplace. Their workplace
injuries their a cumulative effect because of the policing job
we do, and it's very very sad when it comes
to the point where someone takes their own life and
(11:23):
if we can speak about it and save one person's life,
that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Absolutely, And of course if you or somebody you know
are suffering and you need to speak to somebody. Certainly
get in contact with Lifeline, but I know people can
contact the association as well.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
People do, Katie, and we have these conversations regularly, people
at breaking point and refer them to professional agencies as well.
And the police force have got that ability to as
well throughout them through their air programs.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
It is incredibly important, Finny. Just a couple of other
bits and pieces. I take questions. I've not a lot made.
I've always got plenty. Do you know me? I want
to ask because I know this is something that's been
raised with me by a number of police officers. Is
there any update on the retention bonus.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There's no update on the retention bonus. We're hoping that
we can get back into a conversation now that consent
agreements put forward and put to a vote of membership.
Our focus is on the retention bonus. We're still calling
that it's not adequate to a retention of our experienced
members and that's something we're looking at going forward with
this government well, and I've seen them make changes to
that retention bonus package. Again, it's been very discriminative in
(12:30):
how it's been paid and as our members.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Referring to, I've heard of like different units where one
person's happened to fall on that particular year and got
a retention bonus, but then someone's gone for longer and
it hasn't.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, I use this as an example, Cadie. If I'm
sitting in a police vehicle with a member that's done
twenty years and gets a retention bonus of twenty thousand
dollars this year, and I've done twenty three years myself
in the police force, I'm sitting next to them, I
get nothing. So that's where the divide is. It's not fair,
it's discriminative against it. It really is a lottery, Cady,
for this financial year. I know it was election commitment,
but the lection commitments are damaging applice force and it's
(13:03):
not fair on everyone.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Hey, just really quickly. Of course, the Police Association's annual
conference kicks off later this week. What's on the a
for you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
How could we forget that, Katie? Yes, it does kick
off tomorrow. We have our interstate and overseas delegates arriving
tomorrow to commence at nine o'clock at the Hilton. We've
got a couple of full days ahead of us. We're
discussing important Northern Territory Police Association business, how we're looking
at our business going forward, how can protect our members
to make sure they're safe and secure in the workplace.
(13:33):
A lot of key speakers. I believe you're going to
be speaking to one of our key speakers tomorrow in
relation to PTSD and the trauma that he's been exposed
to through his career, which is important to hear, and
it's important for our delegates to hear that so they
can take back back to our membership and have those
conversations with them at the earliest possible opportunity about the
dangers of policing, trauma and the Cumulitay Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It's really important for the broader public to hear that
as well. You know, particularly from frontline officers, that the
impact that it has long term. So it's something we're
keen to talk about tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Ye, Katie, definitely. And I've shared my experiences with my
delegates a couple of years ago in relation to my
journey with PTSD and everything else and the dangers that
we face as police officers and the danger where our
members put themselves in risk every day and policing the
Northern Territory, it's a dangerous environment which we police. There
are dangers every single day that our members walk towards
instead of walking away to protect the community and we
(14:27):
say thank you to them, and we need to obviously
respect that and make sure they support are in place
to support them.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, Nathan Finn, President of the Northern Territory Police Association,
I'm done now, that's enough questions. That'll do.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
There's a few topics there, but more importantly the ca
the information sessions we provided to our members to ask
these questions, to ask any concerns they have, and will
be addressing those face to face with our members to
make sure that they get the best possible deal and
understand the deal that's been put on the table for
our members.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Good stuff, well, Finny, We are going to be catching
up with the Minister in just a moment's time as well.
Thank you very much for you your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Thank you
Now on Friday last week, we were told by the
(00:02):
Minister for Public Employment, Joe Hersey on the week that
was that the police pay dispute would be heading to
the renumeration tribunal after police had overwhelmingly rejected the pay
officer offer I should say put on the table by
the Colp government. Now my understanding is that that didn't happen,
all parties sort of heading back to the table to
(00:22):
try and sort out a fair deal and the government
putting a new deal on the table. Now joining me
in the studio to tell us a little bit more
is the president of the Police Association, Nathan Finn.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, Finny, Good morning Katty, Good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Now, Finny, where are things at with this negotiation. Has
the government put a new deal on the table?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, so we heard the government call for that we're
going to arbitration for our consent agreement. Earlier last week
we reached out to the government and obviously the ministers
as well in respect to coming back to the table
to negotiate a better outcome for our members and to
possibly avoid that arbitration side tribunal side of things. We
didn't believe that was going to be in the best
interest of for our mens given the delays that a
(01:02):
cause when you go through these processes, we want to
see some real benefits for our members right now.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So what have they put on the table, Finny?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, So the offer come back to us was presented
to me and on Friday, the fifteenth of August, I
took that to our membership. We've got an Industrial Committee
that refers to obviously the offers that come through. They
endorse that offer to go to the NTPA Executive Board,
which I preside over. During discussions with the Executive Board,
it was chosen to endorse the offer as presented by
(01:31):
the government and present that to our members.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Okay, Now, the.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Presentation of that offer to our members will occur after
we conduct information sessions and road shows right across the
Northern Territory.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
To our members, is it is the year on year
increase as much as what you've been hoping for, Katie.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I'll be open honestly and I always am. And do
I want more for our members? Of course I did.
Do I think we can get more? I don't believe so.
And if we had to go on to the arbitration,
I don't believe we would have got any better offer
than what we've got currently at the moment. So it's
very much a risky situation. I'm not a gambling man.
I'm not a gambling man to gamble away the entitlements
of our police officers. We've secured great working place in titlements.
(02:14):
We haven't again. We've secured those workplace in titlements and
we've made sure that every day every member is receiving
an increase to their wages and supporting their work in titlements.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So, Finny, talk me through the headline numbers. Here is
it five percent first year?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, five percent the first year KD four percent, the
second year, three percent the third year, and three percent
the fourth year. We did request a guarantee in that
fourth year. We were concerned we're given the current inflation
and I'm not an economist economist as some people are,
but CPI have obviously gone through the roof over the
previous agreement that we had. We've seen the CPI come
(02:51):
back to a sustainable level being at one point seven
percent of the last thing. So our five percent in
the first offer as well above that CPI rate again
for that guarantee and that fourth year we ask the
government to have a guarantee in that fourth year because
who knows what CPI is going to do when the
cost of living is going to do over that four years.
But now we've got an agreement in for that fourth
year that if the CPI is actually above that three percent,
(03:13):
we actually get whatever the CPI is. So if CPI
is five point six cady in that fourth year prior
to that fourth year calculation, we get the five point
six percent, yeah, three percent.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now, in terms of some of the other you know,
entitlements and different things that the association had been fighting for,
I know that certainly, you know the retention bonus, it's
not part of the negotiation, so same as the housing
as I understand any of those different measures looked at
and where are you at.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
With the Definitely there's a lot of key areas that
over time without with prior notice now is obviously gone
from time and a half to double time. That's what's
been agreed to. We've improved allownce for members on personal
leave and also restricted duties. We've also looked at our
higher duties. We've known previously for members to get higher
duties allowance, they'd have to do a week of forty
hours of the high duties before they get paid. Now
(03:59):
they get paid every shift, Katie. We've also had a
great increase and recognition of the rank professional profile for
our acpos, our Aboriginal community police officers, Katy. I won't
use the acronyms because the people who listen.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
What you're talking about, how long am I talking about?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
But the five percent structurally increased to them. So the
compaigning effect, as it's been calculated of the term of
the agreement for our comfortables is increase of about fifteen
point eight five percent and for our acpos around twenty
one point three percent.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So Phinny, it's got to go to a vote now,
is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, definitely, Katie. And it's entirely up to a members
as much as the NTPA Executive endaors and we endorsed it, Unanisley.
It needs to go to the vote for the membership.
So that's where we conduct the information sessions, the road shows.
The members have got feedback coming and back into the
association already, there's a lot of feedback coming in both
positive and negative, Cuddy. Kay, And again, I don't want
to undervalue what we do. We do the hardest possible
(04:50):
job in Australia in relation to policing, and we deserve
to be the best paid in Australia. We also have
to take inn consideration a lot of financial factors around that.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So does this take us to best paid in Australia.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We have been the best paid in Australia and we
continue to be one of the best paid police forces
in Australia.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Katie Finny, how important is it? Look because like I
said to you last time you and I were talking
about this, I know there will always be some that
listen that go, oh, come on, you know, how much
did the police expect to get paid? But how important
is it that you know you get this deal right
and that the police are paid adequately, that it's competitive,
if not better than other states, and that police officers
feel valued in their roles.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Definitely, And that's that's what we want to what we
want to We've got to get to a point where
we want our members to feel that the evaluation of
their of their service. Our members struggle every day and
they have struggled over at number of years, Caddy with
the resourcing issues the crime that we deal with as
much as the government can report now that it's going
down and it is trending down, Katie. Our members are
still dealing with this high levels of crime. We still
outstrip any other jurisdiction with an Australian relation to offenses
(05:50):
per capita. Our members are still struggling daily with the
police resourcing issues. It is getting better and it's going
to take some time though, Cadie. But their members want
to feel valued. They want to feel rewarded for what
they're doing and the sacrifices they're making to serve the territory.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Finny, a few bits and pieces that I'm keen to
ask you about this morning. First off, the rollout of
the OC spray. We know what's happening on September one.
The police have now released some further information about the
requirements to get your hands on it. What are officers
saying to you.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yes, I've given some feedback to both the Acting Commissioner
and also the government earlier this week in respect to
the OC spray trial. There was a lot of non
information coming out until the exemption was issued by government,
and that only occurred, I believe on the sixth or
seventh of August this month. So there's a lot of
information being held back until that time. So the exemption
has been improved by the government, the administrator and also
(06:41):
the government, and we're working through what it looks like.
There are some concerns that we've written to both the
Commissioner and also the Chief Ministry about and the concerns
around the purchasing of the product, the limitations of obviously
what they can do, and it's and the concern that
we have and getting into the people that don't necessarily
deserve it all we should you have it, so there's
(07:01):
a self decoration that the purchase at the purchase point,
which we're contesting that shouldn't occur. There should be some
further checks in relation to who Obviously the eligibility of
the person obviously buying the product. There's no limit on
how much they can buy, but there's a limit on
how much they can carry, so sort of it's in
contradiction to some extent, so.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
You reckon there just needs to be a bit of
affirming up of some of those different guidelines.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, and a lot of the feedback that I'm getting
from my members is we haven't got access to a
database to show who is actually going to be in
possession of this product. It helps us when we're responding
to an incident if we know that, hey, this person's
got is legally entitled to have OC spray, it could
be a risk factor for our members attending that situation
if it's potentially used against them, and the safety for
(07:44):
their members going forward as well.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Finny, Look, there's quite a bit happening at the moment,
you know, obviously impacting the police, and we know the
coronial inquest into the death of Constable Michael Doutrom it
wrapped up, as I understand it, last week with the
coroner flagging recommends around better care and early intervention to
support mental health of serving Northern Territory police officers. What
(08:08):
were some of the other sort of key revelations and
what are you hoping the you know, to see as
a result of this coronial.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
First and foremost, Catie, I just like to address it.
It's a very tough time and a tough in quest
for all members involved in the inquest. For the NTPA,
representing the dou Trim family in the inquest and representing
the NTPA members as well in this inquest, It's been
a very tough time and the evidence been given as
very harrowing. It shows to the concern that our members
have in respect to the welfare space, especially in that
(08:37):
remote area location. Some of these things have been overlooked
by the police for a long time and the health
and well being hasn't been prioritized for our members, and
that we want to see a marked improvement in relation
to our health and wellbeing of our members, especially in
those remote locations where there's no downtime. You're on call
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. They
are exhausted, they are literally, yeah, falling over as we
(09:00):
speak with workplace injuries because of the pressures that's being placed.
We want to see significant change where the health and
well being of our members are prioritized by this Northern
Territory Police Force.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Well, look, I do we know when we're expecting to
see those findings handed down, so coming through.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They've requested further evidence to be presented to the coroner
in respect to that. If the evidence needs to be tested,
they'll be obviously further days listed if it's required, then
they'll be calling for written submissions to the coroner in
respect to recommendations that we're seeking for the inquest to
take place, Yeah, very tough time. The Dutrim family has
been there throughout the whole process as well. Police to
(09:37):
announce that he is Tony Dutram is arriving in the
in DA later today and we great to catch out
in today. He hasn't been backed to the territory for
some time, so it'd be good to have close communications
with the Dutrim family again. They want to see significant
change and see that Michael's life hasn't gone to the
wayside and improvements are being made for his fellow police
officer he loved and adored and worked with.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I think it's it's so incredibly important. You know, the
large portion of the community is really grateful to the
police for the work that they do every day and
understand that it cannot be easy. But I think that
the inquest has really laid bare some of the extreme
challenges when it comes to policing in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And it's also put into perspective that someone could be
seen to be coping so very well and not coping
on the other end of the spectrum, and that's an
alert for a lot of our members and a lot
of our members have fed back to us that hey,
it's okay not to be okay, and to seek advice
earlier rather than later and seek those supports in that workplace.
It's definitely important, and it's definitely it has an impact.
(10:39):
No matter what you do in policing, everything has an impact.
Of the cumulative effect that the trauma has on you
over your career is untold and different members go to
different experiences. We've seen the incident in Palmerston last week
with a search warrant that turned horribly wrong, and our
members are suffering like those certain instandents, this stuff that
(11:00):
you never unsee, Katie, Our members are carrying that every
day and the burden they carry every day if they
don't speak to someone and get the help and professional
help they need. We get these types of situations, but
the focus needs to be on the workplace. Their workplace
injuries their a cumulative effect because of the policing job
we do, and it's very very sad when it comes
to the point where someone takes their own life and
(11:23):
if we can speak about it and save one person's life,
that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Absolutely, And of course if you or somebody you know
are suffering and you need to speak to somebody. Certainly
get in contact with Lifeline, but I know people can
contact the association as well.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
People do, Katie, and we have these conversations regularly, people
at breaking point and refer them to professional agencies as well.
And the police force have got that ability to as
well throughout them through their air programs.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
It is incredibly important, Finny. Just a couple of other
bits and pieces. I take questions. I've not a lot made.
I've always got plenty. Do you know me? I want
to ask because I know this is something that's been
raised with me by a number of police officers. Is
there any update on the retention bonus.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There's no update on the retention bonus. We're hoping that
we can get back into a conversation now that consent
agreements put forward and put to a vote of membership.
Our focus is on the retention bonus. We're still calling
that it's not adequate to a retention of our experienced
members and that's something we're looking at going forward with
this government well, and I've seen them make changes to
that retention bonus package. Again, it's been very discriminative in
(12:30):
how it's been paid and as our members.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Referring to, I've heard of like different units where one
person's happened to fall on that particular year and got
a retention bonus, but then someone's gone for longer and
it hasn't.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, I use this as an example, Cadie. If I'm
sitting in a police vehicle with a member that's done
twenty years and gets a retention bonus of twenty thousand
dollars this year, and I've done twenty three years myself
in the police force, I'm sitting next to them, I
get nothing. So that's where the divide is. It's not fair,
it's discriminative against it. It really is a lottery, Cady,
for this financial year. I know it was election commitment,
but the lection commitments are damaging applice force and it's
(13:03):
not fair on everyone.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Hey, just really quickly. Of course, the Police Association's annual
conference kicks off later this week. What's on the a
for you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
How could we forget that, Katie? Yes, it does kick
off tomorrow. We have our interstate and overseas delegates arriving
tomorrow to commence at nine o'clock at the Hilton. We've
got a couple of full days ahead of us. We're
discussing important Northern Territory Police Association business, how we're looking
at our business going forward, how can protect our members
to make sure they're safe and secure in the workplace.
(13:33):
A lot of key speakers. I believe you're going to
be speaking to one of our key speakers tomorrow in
relation to PTSD and the trauma that he's been exposed
to through his career, which is important to hear, and
it's important for our delegates to hear that so they
can take back back to our membership and have those
conversations with them at the earliest possible opportunity about the
dangers of policing, trauma and the Cumulitay Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
It's really important for the broader public to hear that
as well. You know, particularly from frontline officers, that the
impact that it has long term. So it's something we're
keen to talk about tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Ye, Katie, definitely. And I've shared my experiences with my
delegates a couple of years ago in relation to my
journey with PTSD and everything else and the dangers that
we face as police officers and the danger where our
members put themselves in risk every day and policing the
Northern Territory, it's a dangerous environment which we police. There
are dangers every single day that our members walk towards
instead of walking away to protect the community and we
(14:27):
say thank you to them, and we need to obviously
respect that and make sure they support are in place
to support them.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, Nathan Finn, President of the Northern Territory Police Association,
I'm done now, that's enough questions. That'll do.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
There's a few topics there, but more importantly the ca
the information sessions we provided to our members to ask
these questions, to ask any concerns they have, and will
be addressing those face to face with our members to
make sure that they get the best possible deal and
understand the deal that's been put on the table for
our members.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Good stuff, well, Finny, We are going to be catching
up with the Minister in just a moment's time as well.
Thank you very much for you your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Thank you
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