Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me in the studio right now is the opposition
leader leofan Oki ara O.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Good morning, lad In morning Katie and or your listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Thank you for joining us a little later. That's usual. Now,
were you impacted by last night's power outage?
Speaker 4 (00:11):
No, I wasn't personally, but of course my electorate along
with thousands, tens of thousands of other territorians were, And
I think it really reminded people of back in the
Henderson days when we had that full scale system black
and it's a timely reminder that power and Water is
in need of a lot of help. They represent over
one billion dollars in the territory's debt. We've got a
(00:34):
very fragile networking systems that have not been invested in
by this government. And with gas supply issues when the
territory is literally rich with on and offshore gas, it
just beggars belief that this government has got the territory
in a position where we could be running out of
gas when there is literally the greatest abundance of gas
available to us.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
And look, the word was when the COLP was last
empowered that they were going to privatize power water.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I mean, is that in your sites.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
That was certainly scam mongering by labor and they did
a great job of it. I'll give them ten points
to scare Mangerine power.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Water at the time, and people were seriously warring. I
think that was going to happen.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
It was an effective campaign that they ran against us.
But I can absolutely confirm, emphatically, unequivocally, Katie, that a
COLP government will not sell power and water.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's just not in our wildest imagination.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
We need a strong territory owned power network, power assets
and our viewers actually to strengthen power and water because
they can't continue to be left by this government to
hobble along. People literally rely on power to live, to
go to school, to go to work. It's too critical
to just ignore and forget about. And so through our
(01:47):
economic plans with seriously getting gas online, making sure we've
got business certains and confidence, by cutting approval time frames,
re totally reinvigorating the way we deliver major projects, we
will start to have that ability to strengthen power and
water and give people confidence that when they turn the
light on, it'll come on.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Katie.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The tough thing is power water does probably require quite
a bit of investment. You know, in terms of that
infrastructure it is aging. How is the COLP going to
pay for that investment if indeed you are elected, I mean,
are you going to need to put power prices up?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
No, that's not something we're looking at, particularly, you know,
at a time when cost of living is literally driving
people out of the territory. But you know, this isn't
new news to the government. In estimates last year Katie,
we asked the Chair of Power and Water and he
literally said he couldn't be certain that territorians would not
experience blackouts due to our gas shortage.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And so our focus is really clear.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
We need to be ensuring we have a strong economy
that will bring in revenue, which means we can invest
in all of our critical systems, our police, our power networks,
our hospitals, our schools, everything that's fallen apart by the
wayside by labor while they've been chasing PEP projects and
building shadeless shade structures. We've got to get onto the
business of the fundamentals, you know. But they're failing at
(03:06):
the basics and territories don't deserve that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Look, the messages are a little bit mixed. This morning,
I think it's safe to say. I mean, you've got
APA sending out a statement saying that they've experienced an
event which resulted in us being unable to deliver full
supply of gas to the Channel Island Power Station. Then
of course you've got Power and Water saying that it
wasn't so much a supply issue, but more.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
The infrastructure delivering that supply.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
However you look at it, you know, people are unhappy
that their power has gone out. We're all very very
happy with the fact that crews have worked incredibly hard
to install that power big you know, well done to them, Yeah, absolutely,
But the fact here is this isn't the first time
that we've suffered an outage as a result of something.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
To do with the gas exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So what is your commitment in terms of that gas?
I mean, if it's a supply issue, are you going
to be looking at that contract if you're elected give
it to a NIM A structure issue? Hey going to
you know, like, how are we going to pay for
any infrastructure upgrades that might be required.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Well, this is why fiscal responsibility is so important, and
that's part of the CLP's DNA. We will grow our economy.
We will manage the budget so that key services are
delivered to territories. That's got to be the number one
a focus of any government is the very basics community safety,
jobs and opportunities, low cost of living, and so we
(04:26):
need to make sure that power and water is better supported.
It's been left to with or on the vine and
that's unacceptable and it's giving people a loss of certainty
when it comes to energy security, which is something everyone needs.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And so will you review a contract with of course.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
We have to not necessarily ap eight, but we have
to be looking at gas supply and this government's been
very cagy around who the territory gets its gas from.
We prosecuted this in estimates last year Katie and trying
to get to the bottom. Of course, we've got a
take or pay arrangement that labor tied us up to
where we pay for gas whether or not we use it.
(05:03):
We then have gas shortages, there's disputes with gas companies.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
It's a dog's breakfast well and.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Even this morning obviously APA have said that they've experienced
that event which resulted in them being unable to deliver
the full supply of gas. Then the Chief minister has
spoken to another media outlet this morning and said that
gas was now being supplied as she understood it by Santos.
So it is all a bit confusing.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Ye, it absolutely is, and that's certainly news to the community.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And I think we want backup, there's no doubt about
that lot. We want to make sure that there is
more than one supplier so that should something go wrong,
we've got that backup. But we also want to make
sure we're getting the best bang for our buck.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Round absolutely, and the government won't come clean around whether
we're paying twice, so we're paying on the take or
pay arrangement, but that is running out of gas and
then we don't know what we're paying for the top
up gas to backfill essentially, So there's plenty of questions
in this space. It doesn't give anyone confidence going forward,
and you know lines out under Labor, it just seems
(06:03):
to be a revolving theme no matter who's in.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
That top job.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
But it all comes back to basics of government fiscal responsibility,
managing the economy, growing the territory and ensuring that all
of those fundamentals, like I said, schools, hospitals, police power, networks,
are in tip top shape, all right.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
There are a few things to get through. One area
of concern right now is youth crime. Brent Potter, the
Minister for Police, yesterday confirmed on this show the co
responder model is going to continue indefinitely.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Is this a good.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Move, Well, it's their only choice.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Put it that way, Katie.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
What they did is disempower our police by watering down
the laws and removing polices of power to deal with
youth offenders. Now what they foiled to do after doing that,
despite promising they wouldn't until programs were in place, is
make a big commitment that territory families would plug the gap.
Now territory families are suffering one hundred and forty less
(06:59):
people in that job, so their actual capacity to plug
the gap that police were filling isn't there. And of
course Brent Potter promised the people of Alice Springs in
the lead up to summer that as part of his
summer plan there would be twenty four to seven territory
families doing that stop gap measure and that's been a
total failure. So this is a very The government has
(07:19):
it's back against the wall on this because its policy
is flawed. It's put them in this position and they
actually don't have the capability to deliver.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I mean, will you keep it in place though, if
it's working, and if it means that police are not
wasting time in dealing with you know, with you that
are out on the streets.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Well we're reforming that entire area, Katie. So under a
CLP government, the age of criminal responsibility will be lowered
to ten so that young people don't fall through the gaps.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
That's not going to stop them being out on the streets, no.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It means police can deal with them.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
It means they can be put before the courts and
sentenced into programs that are going to turn their life
around and make sure they have a productive forward facing
skills training.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
The police have said is that they need that assistance
in terms of kids being out on the street like
that right now and wasting their time if they're tied
up sort of.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Having to take them back.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Wouldn't it be a good thing to keep it in
place if territory families are able to help in that space.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
The problem is the only reason we have to have
territory families effectively half doing this job is because police
can't deal with it. So these kids out on the
street are a waste of police's time because police have
been disempowered by labor. If we re empower police, get
kids in programs, we also take youth justice out of
territory families and put it in corrections. It means territory
(08:35):
families can spend one hundred percent of their time focused
on the care and protection of children. Now, if that requires,
and I have absolutely no doubt and can commit, there
will be a strong after hours component to that because
we don't want vulnerable young people left in terrible situations,
including out on the street. But this is a problem
Labor are trying to back feel and fix because they
(08:58):
disempowered police in the first place.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
All Right, your announcement last week on the show around Spithoods.
It's been welcomed by many, but the Chief Minister said
on the ABC this morning that she thinks it's a distraction.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I mean, is that what it was? A headline grabber.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I think if you are a police officer or a
corrections officer having blood and phlem spat in your face,
you would not call this a destruction. And again it's
just the level of disregard and disdain that this government
has for our frontline workers that makes them completely out
of touch with reality. We stand behind people who go
to work every day to protect the community, and that
(09:36):
means they need protection. And by putting a mesh netting
on someone who has shown a willingness not only to
break the law, but to then spit and possibly transfer
communicable diseases to frontline workers, we won't stand for that
and so sensible, well regulated measures to protect frontline workers
is one hundred percent what the COLP is about.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Now. Alcohol in communities, it's another thing that certainly come
up discussion one year since those restrictions after Alla springs
flared up, would you allow alcohol back in those communities.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
No, We were strong advocates for making sure that stronger
futures was returned, and unfortunately labor just took too long
to do that and so many people's lives have been
destroyed and impacted as a result of it. But going forward,
we need to be having a serious look at the
demand for alcohol, people's ability to live and have a
responsible relationship with it, which is why the CLP's policies
(10:29):
to have compulsory alcohol treatment re empower police to deal
with public drinking and public drunkenness because we have to
deal at the pointy end of that of that public component.
But we also have to change people's lives and turn
them around, give them respite from themselves, their family and
the community.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Now, the other.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Thing that the government's going to colp on at the
moment is the BDR. Like they're saying that they've made
some changes to the BDR and that it is now
going to be working better, that they've got more people
that are going on the BDR if there public drinking
that kind of thing. Is the CLP going to scrap
the BDR or are you going to wait and see
the way in which this works now that these changes
have been.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Made again we go back to labour scam mongering and
just more laborize.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Katie.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I have said for the last seven years that the
CLP will review the band drinker registered to look at
enhancing its capability, and so will Labour want to turn
around and say we've got more people than ever before
on the BDR. The reality of most people are thinking
in their mind, well, who cares, because what actually happens
to the people who are on the BDR, Katie, is
it actually impacting their lives. Are those people engaging in
(11:34):
secondary supply are they still causing alcohol field violence? And
these are the questions that this government can't answer, and
they're the questions that if we're elected, we want to
explore the capability of the BDR to actually drive down
alcohol field harm.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
What about the alcohol flaw price? Is that something that
you're going to keep in place.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
We've been on record very clearly that that's got to go.
It's done nothing to drive down alcohol field harm. It's
a failed experiment by this government. It's only the bottle
shops benefit really because they're the ones who take that
extra imprice. And what we've seen extraordinarily is people spending
huge volumes of money, I mean hundreds of dollars for
(12:12):
alcohol that should be fifty or sixty dollars in the
black market, of course, in the secondary supply chains that
are happening right across the territory. And so the price
of alcohol, you know, the floor price, we don't believe
is really driving any change.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Lea a couple of quick ones.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
The Northern Territory government yesterday announcing that they're well, they've
opened consultation for the draft saltwater Crocodile Management Program, which
is going to allow for the public to have input
on how crocodiles are managed in the territory.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Do we need to cull the crocodiles?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
We welcome this hare's certainly become a population that's well
and truly means crocodiles are no longer an engaged species.
But I'm more focused and very interesting to see the
community's feedback and see what comes of this review. But
I really believe in protecting our waterways that are open
for swimming for territories and tourists. We need to be
investing more money in parks management. So to me, this
(13:08):
really comes down to a question of our our park
ranges well enough resource to manage our crocodiles in our
national parks and waterways. Do we have the right infrastructure
to be stopping crocodiles, And that comes down to money.
So I would be very focused if we were to
be elected in August to make sure that our park
ranges and networks are best supported to have that certainty
(13:31):
and prevention of crocodiles getting into those waterways.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Just a personal palvation.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I know some people are going to be listening this
morning and thinking to themselves, you know a fair point
making sure that they are better resource those park ranges.
And also you know in terms of power and water
that there is that investment into infrastructure and in terms
of making sure that the lights don't go out. But
then you have promised as well that you'll build a
bigger jail if required. I mean people are going to
be listening thinking where are you going to get the money?
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Well, we can't do nothing, and if we manage the
budget responsibly, stop wasting money on pet projects at the
whim of ministers who have no vision.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Like that shade structure. I mean it hasn't cost twenty
million dollars. Like just saving money on that shade structure
isn't going to mean that you can build a jail
like I get what you.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Shore, sure, but you can replicate failed projects like that
right across the Northern territory.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So we need to.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Tighten our belt when it comes to that reckless spending.
We need to be managing our money properly. I mean
we've called for audits into various areas to make sure
money is hitting the ground. So it's about getting banged
for buck. For territories, for example, I said last week
that we would no longer fund the Environmental Defender's office.
That's a saving to the tax payer.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Again, the one hundred thousand dollars, I think it is
so yes, they are all very small savings, so I
know that it all adds up. But you know, when
you look at a jail that's going to cost a
massive amount of money to build.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
And I think people can very comfortably blame labor for
racking up ten billion dollars dead and putting us in
this situation. But our plan is to is not to
slash and burn. We are in a too fragilear situation.
What we need to do is grow our economy and
that's why all of our economic policies are around unleashing
the territory's potential, halving approval time frames across government, reinventing
(15:17):
how we deliver major projects and fight for projects in
the territory that will bring revenue in, that will bring
business confidence, and that will start its own momentum which
allows us to fund the things that we need to do.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Lea a quick one from Jerry Wood.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Actually, it says hik I wonder if Leah would support
an independent public inquiry into the gas issue. We had
a committee once Territory Cooperation Committee that John L. Frank
used to get a public inquiry into the gas blackout
some years ago. Then after getting what he wanted, dropped
support for the committee. With the COLP support an independent
parliamentary committee to have a public inquiry into what happened
(15:56):
last night.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
We're very supportive of committees, and of course this government
is very unsupportive of them. Jerry, So I think your
text is better directed to our new chief Minister, who
avoids scrutiny much like happens. Would you, oh, well, if
in six months time a review is required, I would
have thought one should be done immediately we go into
parliament in two weeks time. There's absolutely no reason why
(16:19):
it couldn't be done. But we've seen a government very
unwilling to allow the democratic process to run its course,
and so with that level of control, I wouldn't be
holding my breath on labor delivering that.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Leah Finocchiaro, we're going to have to leave it.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
They're good to speak with you as always, Thank you,
Take care everyone,
Joining me in the studio right now is the opposition
leader leofan Oki ara O.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Good morning, lad In morning Katie and or your listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Thank you for joining us a little later. That's usual. Now,
were you impacted by last night's power outage?
Speaker 4 (00:11):
No, I wasn't personally, but of course my electorate along
with thousands, tens of thousands of other territorians were, And
I think it really reminded people of back in the
Henderson days when we had that full scale system black
and it's a timely reminder that power and Water is
in need of a lot of help. They represent over
one billion dollars in the territory's debt. We've got a
(00:34):
very fragile networking systems that have not been invested in
by this government. And with gas supply issues when the
territory is literally rich with on and offshore gas, it
just beggars belief that this government has got the territory
in a position where we could be running out of
gas when there is literally the greatest abundance of gas
available to us.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
And look, the word was when the COLP was last
empowered that they were going to privatize power water.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I mean, is that in your sites.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
That was certainly scam mongering by labor and they did
a great job of it. I'll give them ten points
to scare Mangerine power.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Water at the time, and people were seriously warring. I
think that was going to happen.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
It was an effective campaign that they ran against us.
But I can absolutely confirm, emphatically, unequivocally, Katie, that a
COLP government will not sell power and water.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's just not in our wildest imagination.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
We need a strong territory owned power network, power assets
and our viewers actually to strengthen power and water because
they can't continue to be left by this government to
hobble along. People literally rely on power to live, to
go to school, to go to work. It's too critical
to just ignore and forget about. And so through our
(01:47):
economic plans with seriously getting gas online, making sure we've
got business certains and confidence, by cutting approval time frames,
re totally reinvigorating the way we deliver major projects, we
will start to have that ability to strengthen power and
water and give people confidence that when they turn the
light on, it'll come on.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Katie.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
The tough thing is power water does probably require quite
a bit of investment. You know, in terms of that
infrastructure it is aging. How is the COLP going to
pay for that investment if indeed you are elected, I mean,
are you going to need to put power prices up?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
No, that's not something we're looking at, particularly, you know,
at a time when cost of living is literally driving
people out of the territory. But you know, this isn't
new news to the government. In estimates last year Katie,
we asked the Chair of Power and Water and he
literally said he couldn't be certain that territorians would not
experience blackouts due to our gas shortage.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
And so our focus is really clear.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
We need to be ensuring we have a strong economy
that will bring in revenue, which means we can invest
in all of our critical systems, our police, our power networks,
our hospitals, our schools, everything that's fallen apart by the
wayside by labor while they've been chasing PEP projects and
building shadeless shade structures. We've got to get onto the
business of the fundamentals, you know. But they're failing at
(03:06):
the basics and territories don't deserve that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Look, the messages are a little bit mixed. This morning,
I think it's safe to say. I mean, you've got
APA sending out a statement saying that they've experienced an
event which resulted in us being unable to deliver full
supply of gas to the Channel Island Power Station. Then
of course you've got Power and Water saying that it
wasn't so much a supply issue, but more.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
The infrastructure delivering that supply.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
However you look at it, you know, people are unhappy
that their power has gone out. We're all very very
happy with the fact that crews have worked incredibly hard
to install that power big you know, well done to them, Yeah, absolutely,
But the fact here is this isn't the first time
that we've suffered an outage as a result of something.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
To do with the gas exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So what is your commitment in terms of that gas?
I mean, if it's a supply issue, are you going
to be looking at that contract if you're elected give
it to a NIM A structure issue? Hey going to
you know, like, how are we going to pay for
any infrastructure upgrades that might be required.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Well, this is why fiscal responsibility is so important, and
that's part of the CLP's DNA. We will grow our economy.
We will manage the budget so that key services are
delivered to territories. That's got to be the number one
a focus of any government is the very basics community safety,
jobs and opportunities, low cost of living, and so we
(04:26):
need to make sure that power and water is better supported.
It's been left to with or on the vine and
that's unacceptable and it's giving people a loss of certainty
when it comes to energy security, which is something everyone needs.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And so will you review a contract with of course.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
We have to not necessarily ap eight, but we have
to be looking at gas supply and this government's been
very cagy around who the territory gets its gas from.
We prosecuted this in estimates last year Katie and trying
to get to the bottom. Of course, we've got a
take or pay arrangement that labor tied us up to
where we pay for gas whether or not we use it.
(05:03):
We then have gas shortages, there's disputes with gas companies.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
It's a dog's breakfast well and.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Even this morning obviously APA have said that they've experienced
that event which resulted in them being unable to deliver
the full supply of gas. Then the Chief minister has
spoken to another media outlet this morning and said that
gas was now being supplied as she understood it by Santos.
So it is all a bit confusing.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Ye, it absolutely is, and that's certainly news to the community.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And I think we want backup, there's no doubt about
that lot. We want to make sure that there is
more than one supplier so that should something go wrong,
we've got that backup. But we also want to make
sure we're getting the best bang for our buck.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Round absolutely, and the government won't come clean around whether
we're paying twice, so we're paying on the take or
pay arrangement, but that is running out of gas and
then we don't know what we're paying for the top
up gas to backfill essentially, So there's plenty of questions
in this space. It doesn't give anyone confidence going forward,
and you know lines out under Labor, it just seems
(06:03):
to be a revolving theme no matter who's in.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
That top job.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
But it all comes back to basics of government fiscal responsibility,
managing the economy, growing the territory and ensuring that all
of those fundamentals, like I said, schools, hospitals, police power, networks,
are in tip top shape, all right.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
There are a few things to get through. One area
of concern right now is youth crime. Brent Potter, the
Minister for Police, yesterday confirmed on this show the co
responder model is going to continue indefinitely.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Is this a good.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Move, Well, it's their only choice.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Put it that way, Katie.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
What they did is disempower our police by watering down
the laws and removing polices of power to deal with
youth offenders. Now what they foiled to do after doing that,
despite promising they wouldn't until programs were in place, is
make a big commitment that territory families would plug the gap.
Now territory families are suffering one hundred and forty less
(06:59):
people in that job, so their actual capacity to plug
the gap that police were filling isn't there. And of
course Brent Potter promised the people of Alice Springs in
the lead up to summer that as part of his
summer plan there would be twenty four to seven territory
families doing that stop gap measure and that's been a
total failure. So this is a very The government has
(07:19):
it's back against the wall on this because its policy
is flawed. It's put them in this position and they
actually don't have the capability to deliver.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I mean, will you keep it in place though, if
it's working, and if it means that police are not
wasting time in dealing with you know, with you that
are out on the streets.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Well we're reforming that entire area, Katie. So under a
CLP government, the age of criminal responsibility will be lowered
to ten so that young people don't fall through the gaps.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
That's not going to stop them being out on the streets, no.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It means police can deal with them.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
It means they can be put before the courts and
sentenced into programs that are going to turn their life
around and make sure they have a productive forward facing
skills training.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
The police have said is that they need that assistance
in terms of kids being out on the street like
that right now and wasting their time if they're tied
up sort of.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Having to take them back.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Wouldn't it be a good thing to keep it in
place if territory families are able to help in that space.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
The problem is the only reason we have to have
territory families effectively half doing this job is because police
can't deal with it. So these kids out on the
street are a waste of police's time because police have
been disempowered by labor. If we re empower police, get
kids in programs, we also take youth justice out of
territory families and put it in corrections. It means territory
(08:35):
families can spend one hundred percent of their time focused
on the care and protection of children. Now, if that requires,
and I have absolutely no doubt and can commit, there
will be a strong after hours component to that because
we don't want vulnerable young people left in terrible situations,
including out on the street. But this is a problem
Labor are trying to back feel and fix because they
(08:58):
disempowered police in the first place.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
All Right, your announcement last week on the show around Spithoods.
It's been welcomed by many, but the Chief Minister said
on the ABC this morning that she thinks it's a distraction.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I mean, is that what it was? A headline grabber.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I think if you are a police officer or a
corrections officer having blood and phlem spat in your face,
you would not call this a destruction. And again it's
just the level of disregard and disdain that this government
has for our frontline workers that makes them completely out
of touch with reality. We stand behind people who go
to work every day to protect the community, and that
(09:36):
means they need protection. And by putting a mesh netting
on someone who has shown a willingness not only to
break the law, but to then spit and possibly transfer
communicable diseases to frontline workers, we won't stand for that
and so sensible, well regulated measures to protect frontline workers
is one hundred percent what the COLP is about.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Now. Alcohol in communities, it's another thing that certainly come
up discussion one year since those restrictions after Alla springs
flared up, would you allow alcohol back in those communities.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
No, We were strong advocates for making sure that stronger
futures was returned, and unfortunately labor just took too long
to do that and so many people's lives have been
destroyed and impacted as a result of it. But going forward,
we need to be having a serious look at the
demand for alcohol, people's ability to live and have a
responsible relationship with it, which is why the CLP's policies
(10:29):
to have compulsory alcohol treatment re empower police to deal
with public drinking and public drunkenness because we have to
deal at the pointy end of that of that public component.
But we also have to change people's lives and turn
them around, give them respite from themselves, their family and
the community.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Now, the other.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Thing that the government's going to colp on at the
moment is the BDR. Like they're saying that they've made
some changes to the BDR and that it is now
going to be working better, that they've got more people
that are going on the BDR if there public drinking
that kind of thing. Is the CLP going to scrap
the BDR or are you going to wait and see
the way in which this works now that these changes
have been.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Made again we go back to labour scam mongering and
just more laborize.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Katie.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I have said for the last seven years that the
CLP will review the band drinker registered to look at
enhancing its capability, and so will Labour want to turn
around and say we've got more people than ever before
on the BDR. The reality of most people are thinking
in their mind, well, who cares, because what actually happens
to the people who are on the BDR, Katie, is
it actually impacting their lives. Are those people engaging in
(11:34):
secondary supply are they still causing alcohol field violence? And
these are the questions that this government can't answer, and
they're the questions that if we're elected, we want to
explore the capability of the BDR to actually drive down
alcohol field harm.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
What about the alcohol flaw price? Is that something that
you're going to keep in place.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
We've been on record very clearly that that's got to go.
It's done nothing to drive down alcohol field harm. It's
a failed experiment by this government. It's only the bottle
shops benefit really because they're the ones who take that
extra imprice. And what we've seen extraordinarily is people spending
huge volumes of money, I mean hundreds of dollars for
(12:12):
alcohol that should be fifty or sixty dollars in the
black market, of course, in the secondary supply chains that
are happening right across the territory. And so the price
of alcohol, you know, the floor price, we don't believe
is really driving any change.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Lea a couple of quick ones.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
The Northern Territory government yesterday announcing that they're well, they've
opened consultation for the draft saltwater Crocodile Management Program, which
is going to allow for the public to have input
on how crocodiles are managed in the territory.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Do we need to cull the crocodiles?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
We welcome this hare's certainly become a population that's well
and truly means crocodiles are no longer an engaged species.
But I'm more focused and very interesting to see the
community's feedback and see what comes of this review. But
I really believe in protecting our waterways that are open
for swimming for territories and tourists. We need to be
investing more money in parks management. So to me, this
(13:08):
really comes down to a question of our our park
ranges well enough resource to manage our crocodiles in our
national parks and waterways. Do we have the right infrastructure
to be stopping crocodiles, And that comes down to money.
So I would be very focused if we were to
be elected in August to make sure that our park
ranges and networks are best supported to have that certainty
(13:31):
and prevention of crocodiles getting into those waterways.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Just a personal palvation.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I know some people are going to be listening this
morning and thinking to themselves, you know a fair point
making sure that they are better resource those park ranges.
And also you know in terms of power and water
that there is that investment into infrastructure and in terms
of making sure that the lights don't go out. But
then you have promised as well that you'll build a
bigger jail if required. I mean people are going to
be listening thinking where are you going to get the money?
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Well, we can't do nothing, and if we manage the
budget responsibly, stop wasting money on pet projects at the
whim of ministers who have no vision.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Like that shade structure. I mean it hasn't cost twenty
million dollars. Like just saving money on that shade structure
isn't going to mean that you can build a jail
like I get what you.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Shore, sure, but you can replicate failed projects like that
right across the Northern territory.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So we need to.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Tighten our belt when it comes to that reckless spending.
We need to be managing our money properly. I mean
we've called for audits into various areas to make sure
money is hitting the ground. So it's about getting banged
for buck. For territories, for example, I said last week
that we would no longer fund the Environmental Defender's office.
That's a saving to the tax payer.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Again, the one hundred thousand dollars, I think it is
so yes, they are all very small savings, so I
know that it all adds up. But you know, when
you look at a jail that's going to cost a
massive amount of money to build.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
And I think people can very comfortably blame labor for
racking up ten billion dollars dead and putting us in
this situation. But our plan is to is not to
slash and burn. We are in a too fragilear situation.
What we need to do is grow our economy and
that's why all of our economic policies are around unleashing
the territory's potential, halving approval time frames across government, reinventing
(15:17):
how we deliver major projects and fight for projects in
the territory that will bring revenue in, that will bring
business confidence, and that will start its own momentum which
allows us to fund the things that we need to do.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Lea a quick one from Jerry Wood.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Actually, it says hik I wonder if Leah would support
an independent public inquiry into the gas issue. We had
a committee once Territory Cooperation Committee that John L. Frank
used to get a public inquiry into the gas blackout
some years ago. Then after getting what he wanted, dropped
support for the committee. With the COLP support an independent
parliamentary committee to have a public inquiry into what happened
(15:56):
last night.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
We're very supportive of committees, and of course this government
is very unsupportive of them. Jerry, So I think your
text is better directed to our new chief Minister, who
avoids scrutiny much like happens. Would you, oh, well, if
in six months time a review is required, I would
have thought one should be done immediately we go into
parliament in two weeks time. There's absolutely no reason why
(16:19):
it couldn't be done. But we've seen a government very
unwilling to allow the democratic process to run its course,
and so with that level of control, I wouldn't be
holding my breath on labor delivering that.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Leah Finocchiaro, we're going to have to leave it.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
They're good to speak with you as always, Thank you,
Take care everyone,
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