Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But as we know over the weekend, well it was
a massive weekend in Alice Springs and hugely successful in
terms of the fiftieth anniversary, but unfortunately some really sad
news with a competitor dying following a crash during the
opening league of the Fink Desert Race. Now joining me
in the studio is the opposition member Chancey Paige. Good
(00:20):
morning to you, Chancy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning Katie and certainly good to be up here
for some warm with her.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, I reckon definitely warmer than Alice Springs at the moment, Chancy.
You know, Alice Springs has had a really tough few months,
I think it's safe to say. But with this terrible
situation that unfolded at Fink, it's really sad news. I mean,
the think is such a hugely popular event and a
massive year this year for the fiftieth anniversary, but really
(00:48):
sad stuff to have that loss of life.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, I mean, look, Alice Springs is an amazing town.
It's so resilient and you know, yeah, it's really sad,
heartbreaking news that we have heard over the weekend in
our community. But what has shone through is the community
spirit coming together, you know, the tributes coming forward and
the community just really rallying behind to support the family,
(01:13):
the friends and the local community for that event. I mean,
it was fifty years celebrations of the Fink Desert Race
and it is such an important event in central Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's a huge economic driver.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I know that for the last week we've had many
cars coming into town, motorbikes, people practicing out there doing
that work.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's an important event, but it.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Probably does highlight Katie that we're probably moving into a
space now where the government could be looking at what
additional support and resourcing do we need to bring in
to help, whether that's emergency procedures and those support mechanisms,
the systems that are in place to support the think.
(01:56):
I know it's a great committee, the Fink Committee, they
do an amazing job, but it might also be an
opportunity to have a bit of a health check on
how it's running.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I know that they all essentially bring in, like I know,
it's not into major events anymore. I guess it falls
under major events and tourism, but potentially bring them in
for some assistance.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think it's a good opportunity. You know there will
of course be investigations float now and potentially you know, coronials,
So I think it might be a good way for
the government to say, hey, let's look at making sure
that we can safeguard this event, because what we don't
want to do is lose such an important event because
you know, safety or insurance premiums become untenable for the
community to manage. But great event in us on the
(02:36):
weekend was down at the start finish line yesterday seeing
people come together. It's a great way for the community
as well to do the reunions, you know. I mean
we all get on motorbikes and you know, relive our youth.
Sometimes that's a bit terrifying, but you know, look it's
a great event. I know that many members of the
Parliament were down there, so yeah, an important event. We
(02:59):
had barunga well, fantastic event across the territory.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So plenty, there was so much.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I mean, this really is the time to be in
the territory if you're not from the territory, just to
see what's on offah. But yeah, important for us to
have a bit of a health check, I think, and
make sure that we don't lose these events and that
we make sure that we can be as safe as
we can.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Chancey, I want to ask you about this decision by
the Northern Territory government this morning. They've announced the former
Nightcliffe Police station is going to become the new headquarters
for the NT Fire and Emergency services. So this twelve
million dollar facility on Progress Drive was promised by the
former Labor government as a twenty four hour police station,
but opened in twenty twenty one without holding sales and
(03:39):
has never really operated as a full police station. The
Chief Minister says the site's going to be upgraded with
backup power and water systems to support emergency operations and
that transition is expected to be complete by May next year,
with the police administrative functions relocated to other facilities. What
(04:00):
do you make of this announcement, Well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, I think it's quite an interesting announcement to be
made on the first day of estimates when the Chief
Minister is going to be talking about her portfolio area.
I mean, they could have made this announcement during a
Nightcliff by election. They could have made it a year
ago or when they first came to government. So it's
an interesting choice today to make that announcement. Certainly, I've
heard already this morning mixed reviews from people in Nightcliff.
(04:25):
Certainly some people welcome that announcement. That there are people
now saying what little police resource we had in our
area is now being withdrawn, and we haven't actually had
any conversation or consultation in the local community about that.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Just on that. We got a message from a listener
a little bit earlier this morning saying, morning, Katie, it
is noteworthy that the Chief Minister chose to publicly criticize
labor today while the police officers affected by the Nightcliff
decision were reportedly not informed before the media release was issued.
What do you make of that?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I just think that's it incredibly disrespectful to our hard
working police across the territory. Telling them that they're going
to be deployed somewhere else by press releases is not
good government. And you know, again, people in Nightcliff hadn't
even been told or conversed about what was going on.
So I think it is important to just remember who
we're working for. We're not working for, you know, press releases.
(05:22):
We're working for the people in the territory and this
government seemed to have forgotten.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That chancy, as you mentioned a moment ago. Obviously, estimates
getting underway today. It is the opportunity for those out
there listening who don't really care that much, but it
is the opportunity for the opposition and the Independence to really,
you know, not out some of the information in the
budget and work out where money is or isn't being spent,
what's on the agenda. From the opposition's perspective, what are
(05:47):
you hoping to get some further info on.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, look, I mean it's estimates. We get the chance
to ask questions about, you know, what's in the budget,
how it's going to be delivered and costed. You know,
today certainly the Chief mens up and talking all of
her portfolios over the day. You know, that'll be then
followed by other ministers.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Throughout the day.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Look, as the opposition, we're making sure that there is
questions being asked about service delivery, that there's enough money
in the budget to pay for the things that the
government said that they were going to pay for, and
to really highlight where there are shortfalls and where things
are not being delivered that the government said that they
were going to.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Deliver all right.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
One area where there has been concerns raised by the
opposition over the last week or so is non government
members as well well of the Northern Territori's Legislative Scrutiny
Committee calling for major reforms. They claim the body is
failing to properly examine proposed laws. So Justine Davis and
Duran Young say that the committee's seven day deadline for
(06:47):
public submissions is too short and limits meaningful community input.
They're also pushing for changes to reduce government control on
that committee. Now, your team is arguing that that Scrutiny
Committee is an functioning as intended. Can you give us
an example of the legislation or the different areas that
you believe maybe weren't properly examined because of those type deadlines.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Look, I just want to acknowledge I have been a
member of that committee up until recently when I swapped
out with Duran Young. Look, I think it's important it
be like, you know, people changing the radio licensing laws
and not talking to mix about what they were doing
and then saying you've got a week to tell us
what you think.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
We are concerned that the government are rushing through.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
To make it look like they care and not actually
listening to the voices. So that committee should have longer
periods of time for people to have a chance to
read the legislation, be kind of you know, think about it,
and then be able to put in a really comprehensive
submission that is long. We saw a huge piece of
(07:52):
reform in the territories legislative system child protection. People given
a week to write a submission, put a submission and
to have a hearing.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Some of the.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Questioning is it a bit ironic now that you guys
are saying this about the committee when the former Labor government,
which obviously you were a minister in, scrapped it, but
now you want them to have more power.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now, look, Katie, I think firstly, I think we should
be learning from mistakes of the past and did we
do that committee right when we were in I think
it's safe to say no, we didn't, and I can
acknowledge that. So as a government, don't repeat the same stakes,
do something different. I mean, you look at the Act government.
They have a non government member as a chair of
(08:32):
a committee and they have a committee of four. At
the moment, we've got three CLP members, an independent and
a Labor rep. So the government will always have their numbers.
They'll always be able to push through whatever they want.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So what would you like to see? What do you
reckon would be workable?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I think you know we should look, go let's go
to a committee of four, save some tax payer money
by not having five people on a committee. And let's
go to a committee of four and let's have a
non government member as the chair. Then that way to
eat an even balance and you get more of a say,
and that we can be really again, I want to
see the government give us longer periods of time to
(09:07):
actually go out and talk to people in the suburbs
about the legislation that's been put up and really hear
from them.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Chancy, we're fast running out of time. I do want
to ask you just very quickly. After one of the
worst wet seasons in recent memory, we know that there's
still a lot of people kind of dealing with the floods. Well,
you guys the Labor Party are calling for the COLP
to deliver an independent public inquiry into the floods. What
do you want to see here?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Look, I think an independent inquiry needs to happen to
ensure that everyone has the chance to have their voice heard,
their concerns raised, and that we get a series of
recommendations back from an independent inquiry that the entire Parliament
can see and that the entire Parliament can agree on
to make life bigger and better for everyone across the territory.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Is there anything you specifically want to see following on
from the floods? Do you think we need to look
at moving you know some of those residents at the
Daily River for example.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I think we need to be able to have those
conversations with people in our community. But I think what
I have heard loud and clear from people right across
the territory, whether it's Alice Springs, remote communities or people
folks up here in the top end, is how do
we alert people that there are these natural disasters coming,
these floods, How do we evacuate people successfully, and how
do we get people back into their community when it's
(10:23):
safe to do so and that it's done properly. Because
I'm seeing people be returned when they shouldn't be returned.
Yet it's not up to scratch and the infrastructure is
not there to support them well.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Chancey Peig, Labor opposition member and Member for Guauja. Thank
you very much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
As always, no worries. Thanks Katie, thank you,
But as we know over the weekend, well it was
a massive weekend in Alice Springs and hugely successful in
terms of the fiftieth anniversary, but unfortunately some really sad
news with a competitor dying following a crash during the
opening league of the Fink Desert Race. Now joining me
in the studio is the opposition member Chancey Paige. Good
(00:20):
morning to you, Chancy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning Katie and certainly good to be up here
for some warm with her.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, I reckon definitely warmer than Alice Springs at the moment, Chancy.
You know, Alice Springs has had a really tough few months,
I think it's safe to say. But with this terrible
situation that unfolded at Fink, it's really sad news. I mean,
the think is such a hugely popular event and a
massive year this year for the fiftieth anniversary, but really
(00:48):
sad stuff to have that loss of life.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, I mean, look, Alice Springs is an amazing town.
It's so resilient and you know, yeah, it's really sad,
heartbreaking news that we have heard over the weekend in
our community. But what has shone through is the community
spirit coming together, you know, the tributes coming forward and
the community just really rallying behind to support the family,
(01:13):
the friends and the local community for that event. I mean,
it was fifty years celebrations of the Fink Desert Race
and it is such an important event in central Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's a huge economic driver.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I know that for the last week we've had many
cars coming into town, motorbikes, people practicing out there doing
that work.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's an important event, but it.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Probably does highlight Katie that we're probably moving into a
space now where the government could be looking at what
additional support and resourcing do we need to bring in
to help, whether that's emergency procedures and those support mechanisms,
the systems that are in place to support the think.
(01:56):
I know it's a great committee, the Fink Committee, they
do an amazing job, but it might also be an
opportunity to have a bit of a health check on
how it's running.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I know that they all essentially bring in, like I know,
it's not into major events anymore. I guess it falls
under major events and tourism, but potentially bring them in
for some assistance.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think it's a good opportunity. You know there will
of course be investigations float now and potentially you know, coronials,
So I think it might be a good way for
the government to say, hey, let's look at making sure
that we can safeguard this event, because what we don't
want to do is lose such an important event because
you know, safety or insurance premiums become untenable for the
community to manage. But great event in us on the
(02:36):
weekend was down at the start finish line yesterday seeing
people come together. It's a great way for the community
as well to do the reunions, you know. I mean
we all get on motorbikes and you know, relive our youth.
Sometimes that's a bit terrifying, but you know, look it's
a great event. I know that many members of the
Parliament were down there, so yeah, an important event. We
(02:59):
had barunga well, fantastic event across the territory.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So plenty, there was so much.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I mean, this really is the time to be in
the territory if you're not from the territory, just to
see what's on offah. But yeah, important for us to
have a bit of a health check, I think, and
make sure that we don't lose these events and that
we make sure that we can be as safe as
we can.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Chancey, I want to ask you about this decision by
the Northern Territory government this morning. They've announced the former
Nightcliffe Police station is going to become the new headquarters
for the NT Fire and Emergency services. So this twelve
million dollar facility on Progress Drive was promised by the
former Labor government as a twenty four hour police station,
but opened in twenty twenty one without holding sales and
(03:39):
has never really operated as a full police station. The
Chief Minister says the site's going to be upgraded with
backup power and water systems to support emergency operations and
that transition is expected to be complete by May next year,
with the police administrative functions relocated to other facilities. What
(04:00):
do you make of this announcement, Well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay, I think it's quite an interesting announcement to be
made on the first day of estimates when the Chief
Minister is going to be talking about her portfolio area.
I mean, they could have made this announcement during a
Nightcliff by election. They could have made it a year
ago or when they first came to government. So it's
an interesting choice today to make that announcement. Certainly, I've
heard already this morning mixed reviews from people in Nightcliff.
(04:25):
Certainly some people welcome that announcement. That there are people
now saying what little police resource we had in our
area is now being withdrawn, and we haven't actually had
any conversation or consultation in the local community about that.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Just on that. We got a message from a listener
a little bit earlier this morning saying, morning, Katie, it
is noteworthy that the Chief Minister chose to publicly criticize
labor today while the police officers affected by the Nightcliff
decision were reportedly not informed before the media release was issued.
What do you make of that?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I just think that's it incredibly disrespectful to our hard
working police across the territory. Telling them that they're going
to be deployed somewhere else by press releases is not
good government. And you know, again, people in Nightcliff hadn't
even been told or conversed about what was going on.
So I think it is important to just remember who
we're working for. We're not working for, you know, press releases.
(05:22):
We're working for the people in the territory and this
government seemed to have forgotten.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That chancy, as you mentioned a moment ago. Obviously, estimates
getting underway today. It is the opportunity for those out
there listening who don't really care that much, but it
is the opportunity for the opposition and the Independence to really,
you know, not out some of the information in the
budget and work out where money is or isn't being spent,
what's on the agenda. From the opposition's perspective, what are
(05:47):
you hoping to get some further info on.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, look, I mean it's estimates. We get the chance
to ask questions about, you know, what's in the budget,
how it's going to be delivered and costed. You know,
today certainly the Chief mens up and talking all of
her portfolios over the day. You know, that'll be then
followed by other ministers.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Throughout the day.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Look, as the opposition, we're making sure that there is
questions being asked about service delivery, that there's enough money
in the budget to pay for the things that the
government said that they were going to pay for, and
to really highlight where there are shortfalls and where things
are not being delivered that the government said that they
were going to.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Deliver all right.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
One area where there has been concerns raised by the
opposition over the last week or so is non government
members as well well of the Northern Territori's Legislative Scrutiny
Committee calling for major reforms. They claim the body is
failing to properly examine proposed laws. So Justine Davis and
Duran Young say that the committee's seven day deadline for
(06:47):
public submissions is too short and limits meaningful community input.
They're also pushing for changes to reduce government control on
that committee. Now, your team is arguing that that Scrutiny
Committee is an functioning as intended. Can you give us
an example of the legislation or the different areas that
you believe maybe weren't properly examined because of those type deadlines.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Look, I just want to acknowledge I have been a
member of that committee up until recently when I swapped
out with Duran Young. Look, I think it's important it
be like, you know, people changing the radio licensing laws
and not talking to mix about what they were doing
and then saying you've got a week to tell us
what you think.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
We are concerned that the government are rushing through.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
To make it look like they care and not actually
listening to the voices. So that committee should have longer
periods of time for people to have a chance to
read the legislation, be kind of you know, think about it,
and then be able to put in a really comprehensive
submission that is long. We saw a huge piece of
(07:52):
reform in the territories legislative system child protection. People given
a week to write a submission, put a submission and
to have a hearing.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Some of the.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Questioning is it a bit ironic now that you guys
are saying this about the committee when the former Labor government,
which obviously you were a minister in, scrapped it, but
now you want them to have more power.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now, look, Katie, I think firstly, I think we should
be learning from mistakes of the past and did we
do that committee right when we were in I think
it's safe to say no, we didn't, and I can
acknowledge that. So as a government, don't repeat the same stakes,
do something different. I mean, you look at the Act government.
They have a non government member as a chair of
(08:32):
a committee and they have a committee of four. At
the moment, we've got three CLP members, an independent and
a Labor rep. So the government will always have their numbers.
They'll always be able to push through whatever they want.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So what would you like to see? What do you
reckon would be workable?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I think you know we should look, go let's go
to a committee of four, save some tax payer money
by not having five people on a committee. And let's
go to a committee of four and let's have a
non government member as the chair. Then that way to
eat an even balance and you get more of a say,
and that we can be really again, I want to
see the government give us longer periods of time to
(09:07):
actually go out and talk to people in the suburbs
about the legislation that's been put up and really hear
from them.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Chancy, we're fast running out of time. I do want
to ask you just very quickly. After one of the
worst wet seasons in recent memory, we know that there's
still a lot of people kind of dealing with the floods. Well,
you guys the Labor Party are calling for the COLP
to deliver an independent public inquiry into the floods. What
do you want to see here?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Look, I think an independent inquiry needs to happen to
ensure that everyone has the chance to have their voice heard,
their concerns raised, and that we get a series of
recommendations back from an independent inquiry that the entire Parliament
can see and that the entire Parliament can agree on
to make life bigger and better for everyone across the territory.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Is there anything you specifically want to see following on
from the floods? Do you think we need to look
at moving you know some of those residents at the
Daily River for example.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I think we need to be able to have those
conversations with people in our community. But I think what
I have heard loud and clear from people right across
the territory, whether it's Alice Springs, remote communities or people
folks up here in the top end, is how do
we alert people that there are these natural disasters coming,
these floods, How do we evacuate people successfully, and how
do we get people back into their community when it's
(10:23):
safe to do so and that it's done properly. Because
I'm seeing people be returned when they shouldn't be returned.
Yet it's not up to scratch and the infrastructure is
not there to support them well.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Chancey Peig, Labor opposition member and Member for Guauja. Thank
you very much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
As always, no worries. Thanks Katie, thank you,
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