All Episodes

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, unfortunately, overnight we know a group of people are
on the run after assaulting four security guards at the
Mindle Beach Casino. Police say that five people took aim
at the guards at about three o'clock this morning after
they were refused entry to the gaming room. One guard,
who was stabbed in the arm, was taken to hospital,

(00:20):
while the other three sustained facial and head bruising. The
opposition leader Leo Fanocchiaro joins me in the studio. Good
morning to you, Leah.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Leah. Look, these incidents are becoming all too common, and
I think it is making people start to question whether
the knife crime strategy that the Northern Territory government announced
is actually working. We all know you're not going to
be able to stop every type of crime, but this
violent offending with knives is nothing short of frightening.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
It's terrifying, and I think just about every day now
we're waking up to news that someone has been stabbed
or threatened to be stabbed, and that's just what we
know about, that's just what makes its way to the media.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Katie.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
It's a terrifying sit situation and it just shows very
clearly that when you don't get on top of bad behavior,
when you don't stop crime and its early stages, what
you have is an escalation in the type of offending.
And we're seeing that now, eight years into a weakening
of the laws under Labor, that we're seeing this very aggressive,
very volatile, very serious types of crimes taking place, often

(01:20):
with weapons. And again you go back to the knife
crime strategy. That was all an optics management exercise by
a government desperate to do something in the wake of
the death of decl and Lavity. But we've said right
from day one it's a highly complicated process for our police.
Anyone listening out there, if you think police can just
go up and want people, they can't. You know, there's

(01:42):
a very big process to go through. It's just not
good enough, I.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Think in a situation like this, So you know, one
like you're not going to go into middle Beach casino
and result and wand to everybody you know, like, so
you're just that's exactly right. But and look, I think
the conversation is starting to turn now for a lot
of Territorians to what would you do differently? So when
it comes to knife crime, how exactly is the CLP

(02:06):
going to deal with knife crime.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
So you can try and deal with knife crime, or
you can try and deal with all crime. And we're
taking an all crime approach because by the time you
get to knife crime, you're already way way down. The
things have gotten past the point of no return. So
our position's very clear. If we're elected in August, that
very first week of parliament, we will walk into Parliament
with laws around making anyone who's a serious violent offender,

(02:29):
So that's with or without a knife. We don't care
if you've got a knife, a weapon, or anything else.
If you're a serious violent offender, you'll start with a
position of no bow. We'll make three kids as well,
absolutely anyone. Will lower the age of criminal responsibility to
tends that young people and their parents can be held accountable.
We will make breach of bow condition and offense. We
will have minimum mandatory sentencing for assaults on workers. We

(02:52):
will have mandatory community surface for youth offenders, make it
compulsory to do diversion. There's a very long list, Cadie,
and these are all practical ways that we can immediately
re empower our police. We've also got laws around giving
police greater powers to deal with alcohol. So this will
be an important part of our immediate action if we
win in August.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Leah, how quickly do you think that the community would
see any kind of difference with that legislation that you're
just talking about.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
It really can be very quick.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
So the first you know, I've said before to your listeners,
legislation can be changed in a couple of hours or
a day.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
It's not a huge exercise.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Then of course you need that to go through its process,
which usually takes a couple of weeks, but you can
fast track that and once police have the powers they
need and they're supported by a government that backs them
to do their job, which is catch the bad guys.
That's why people become cops, to get bad guys, and
that's what we want them focused on, not all these
other things that this government is burdening our police with.
So myself as Chief Minister and Police Minister, means they

(03:55):
will have an absolute mandate to go down and make
sure we are targeting criminals of all sorts, from the
lowest to the highest of offending to make people safe.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Clea. The biggest question as well from people is you
know where are they going to go And we know
that the Northern Territory government will this week they've announced
that they're going to be demolishing the former youth detention
center with that tender yesterday release for the demolition of
that building. So the demolishment of that building isn't the issue.
We were told that was going to happen after the
Royal Commission into Youth Detention, so the former don Dale

(04:28):
at the time though they said they also demolished the
current don Dale. I know it's all a bit confusing
for a lot of listeners. They are going to be thinking, oh,
hang on a second, you know, what does this all mean?
But we know the twenty seventeen Royal Commission into the
Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory found
that the former don Dale Detention Center on Tiverndale Road
in Berrimah, which has been vacant since twenty fourteen, that

(04:49):
it was no longer fit for purpose. So the demolition
of that is expected to commence in July. Detained youth
are currently housed at that separate facility in Darwen, which
also operates under the same name.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
That facility.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Now the government have announced after initially saying back in
twenty eighteen. I've got the documents. I've also just you know,
we've just replayed part of the Channel nine news from
back in twenty eighteen says that it was going to
be demolished. They've now said that it's going to be
repurposed as an interim correctional facility when the new Darwin
Youth Justice Center, which is under construction, becomes operational in

(05:25):
the coming months. Do you think this is a good idea.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
I think this is lies and cover ups, Katie. This
is lies and cover ups from a labor government making
it up as they go along. I mean, of course,
everyone for the last eight years has known that government
had promised to shut down don Dow that includes the
behrim of prison. They'd made that commitment to the territory,
they'd made that commitment to people living in North Crest,

(05:49):
for example. I've got drawings from a report, a government
report from twenty eighteen, which show very clearly they're going
to demolish the don Dale where kids are right now.
And so over the last week we've seen this frantic
covering up of what they're going to bulldoze what they're not.
We've got evil Lawla who, let's not forget she has

(06:11):
been infrastructure Minister for many, many years, she's been Treasurer
for many years. If we don't have enough places to
put prisoners, that's squarely in her lap. That is her fault,
one hundred percent. We've got Chancey Paig, the Attorney General,
wandering around taking selfies of himself wearing a jailing is
Failing shirt. This is a guy who doesn't want to

(06:32):
build any new prisons. He's totally opposed to holding criminals
to account. He's weakened the laws. So we've got evil
Lawla who can't build anything. Chancy Paig, he doesn't want
people to go to prison, wandering around making it up
as they go along, and in the meantime everyone is suffering.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Forget what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
But do you now think that it's appropriate that we
do house adult prisoners in that facility?

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Well, I don't think the plan is clear. And again
it goes back to certainty. How can anyone trust this government?
And if they continue to say one thing and do another,
how can people build and buy a home if they
if they can't trust what the government's going to say,
how can people build them buy businesses in that area
if they can't trust what the government's going to say
and they're making it up and now they've cut the

(07:15):
media out. We don't actually know the state of that
facility at all, Katie, but I'll get.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
To that in a sect.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
But I suppose what I'm trying to get from the
COLP right now is I understand what you're saying, and
I think we're all, you know, like, we're all kind
of going, well, hang on a sick you said you're
going to demolish it. Now you're saying you're going to
repurpose it. Yeah, but what would the COLP do? Are
you prepared to use that facility for adult corrections? Because
the point is for a lot of people listening, they're
going to be going, do you know what, Katie, we
need another facility. So I actually don't care whether it

(07:42):
was fit for purpose for youths or not. If we
can use it for adults, let's do it. Well.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
I don't know that we can use it for adults,
and I think that's the big issue. And even when
you look at what EVA, LAWLA and Labor are saying,
they're talking about it being a male prisoner training facility. Now,
what on earth does that even mean? Like a prison
is going to be leaping there? Are they living there?
Are they just going there to do some sort of training.
I mean, it's all very vague, very ambiguous. So if

(08:07):
they won't let the media in, it tells me the
damage from that riot is substantial, which also tells me
you probably can't be housing anyone there at the moment,
let alone into the future. So we will release our
Corrections policy, which will detail all of the ways in
which we will be relieving pressure on the current prison system.
We're certainly taking a different approach to labor, but I

(08:30):
think what's really clear over the last week is people
can't trust labor. They've shown that they're willing to deceive
people to try and fix a political mess, have put
themselves in, and ultimately a decision under this government doesn't
mean anything.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
You can't rely on it and it can't be trusted.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
In terms of though the repurposing of that facility, is
it actually a better use of taxpayers dollars than building
a whole new jail. I mean, you've previously said on
the show that you'll build another jail if you need to.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, we will because this is just infrastructure, and that's
what's so ridiculous about it. You've got a Chief Minister
who's been the infrastructure minister, is the Treasurer can't even
build a new building to house prisoners in at the
time of a crime crisis.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
I mean, this isn't.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
Something we woke up last week and everyone went, oh wow,
the prison's full.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
This has been ongoing for literally years.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
So you know, infrastructure of this nature is not a
concern to us. It's simply a money and priorities issue.
And because Chancey Paike isostery.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Build a new one is a better option than actually repurposing.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Well, I think if this is beyond its economic life,
then you can't just reuse it. If it's damaged to
the point that you can't house people in it. I
mean there's a lot of things unknown that the community
aren't aware of, and we're not aware of either, Katie.
But we have a different plan for the territory and
we're very proud of the fact that we're not following
Labour's footsteps because we know that crime is out of control,

(09:52):
we know our economy is going backwards and we've got
to do some drastic changes to turn things around and
rebuild the territory.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
I think a lot of people will agree fundamentally there
does need to be some really serious change to try
and get the get the territory back on track, particularly
when it comes to crime and personal safety. But the
big thing here is, you know, from a lot of
the policies that you are talking about in terms of
you know, knife crime, in terms of serious crime, in
terms of you know, a minimum mandatory sentence, all that

(10:20):
kind of stuff, it is going to mean that there's
going to be more people going to prison.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
So where are they going to go?

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yep, And we will let everyone know that full plan. Absolutely,
we will announce all of those details on how we
will be housing more prisoners because you're right, Katie, there
are people on our street right now who shouldn't be
and that's because we have a government who puts the
rights of offenders to be free above your right to
be saved. A government that is weakened the laws, taken
powers away from police, and continues to bury its head

(10:49):
in the sand. And so we are very clear that
tougher laws and a safe community means more people in prison,
which means we need more facilities.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
We should the media be allowed into don Dale right now?

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
We've just had a riot where fourteen young people have
been charged. We've got police who've been badly assaulted in
that riot, and now the media have been blocked out.
I mean again, this is a government that will say
and do anything to try and claw back votes. I
mean the election is looming and their desperation is evident.
And that's why again it comes back to that issue

(11:23):
of trust. We had this same government, Evin Laula as
Infrastruction Minister tell Territorians about wear and tear at Howard Springs.
You know it was only where in tear or was
it only where in tear at don Dale at.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
The moment, Well we might never know.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Actually, just text that through it, ask that. But I've
got a message here from Redge in Darwin, CBD. He said,
can you please ask Lea if the CLP's got to
get rid of the BS floor pricing?

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yes, we are.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
The floor price is going go and go on under
a CLP government this August. It's done nothing but drive
people to hard spirits. This government doesn't report on it
or tell people how it's made a difference, other than
to jack up the price and turn people off wine
and onto spirits. I had a community meeting with Brian
O'Gallagher out in Karama the other day and this issue
came up, with residents saying since the floor prices come in,

(12:08):
things have never been worse in their suburbs.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Leah, thank you as always for your time. We are
going to have to leave it there. We'll catch up
with you again next week.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Take care everyone. Thank you,
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.