Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we have been continuing to break down the coroner's
report into the deaths of four Aboriginal women at the
hands of their partners, and the thirty five recommendations that
Judge Elizabeth Armitage handed down yesterday after the landmark inquiry.
Now joining me on the line is the Shadow Minister
for Protection and the profamily violence. On a federal level,
(00:22):
it is the Senator Karen Little. Good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Senator, good morning and everyone in the top end.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Now, what was your reaction to the coroner's findings yesterday?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, I think there are a couple of things that
jumped out straight away to me, and that was the
word senseless, shocking, and preventable. She made thirty five recommendations,
and unfortunately what she said about those recommendations were that
none of them were new and there is no reason
for further delay or action on changing this style. They're
the things that stay with me after having a good
(00:55):
look at that report.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah. Well, and you know, this is the thing we've
been grappling with, this senseless violence in the Northern Territory
for such a long period of time. I mean, even
over the recent months, eight deaths of Northern Territory women
at the hands of domestic violence. It beggars belief that
we are still in this situation.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, it beggars belief. We focused at the moment on
the deaths of four women, tragic deaths, but people live
with near death experiences every single day. Let me explain.
Eighty seven women in the Northern Territory have died since
the year two thousand and the majority of those around
seventy percent were Aboriginal women. This is horrific. As a
(01:41):
person who's lost an immediate family member to the same
violence in the Northern Territory, to a perpetrator who had
an endless number of breaches and convictions. You know, these
things are terrible. They have lifelong consequences and much much
broader than that's just the individual who's harmed. I just
(02:04):
want to and I know your listeners, you know, I
just want them to understand that. You know, in the
explanations of some of the way these women's died, you know,
a woman bleeding from her lungs which had been torn
by protruding ends of her nineteen fractured ribs, nineteen fractured ribs.
You know, a person who had so many abrasions lacerations
(02:24):
and bruises. Both her arms were broken and she suffered
from five broken ribs. But you know what that didn't
kill her. It was the blunt force trauma to the head. Now,
that is a disgrace that this kind of behavior is
allowed to fester yep, is allowed to be meeted upon
(02:46):
innocent people, and that there are children often who are
witnessing this disgusting, terrible behavior.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Senator, you touched on there that you know within your
own sadly you've lost a loved one to domestic violence.
I mean, how heart wrenching is it. Then when you
continue to hear details like what you've just spoken about,
then you continue to hear this happening in the Northern
Territory and the prevalence at which it's happening, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
You know what frustrates me is the shadow minister responsible
for policies that actually create some change. I say, you know,
yesterday I stood up in Parliament and our questions about
the three hundred million that went into Central Australia by
this Albanize labor government for a better, safer, Central Australian
And you ask locals, they won't necessarily say they feel
(03:38):
better or safer, and I've been asking questions about how
does funding an ice skating rink and a playground make
it safer for residents and victims. I just don't understand that.
The coroner also mentioned the terrible consequences from this government
standing by and watching the then Northern Territory Labor government
remove those alcohol restrictions and what happened to violence during
(04:02):
that period. It was horrific. We've heard just recently from
organizations right across Australia that the government has come out
and talked about its big announcement about an increase in funding,
but in real terms they say their funding is actually reduced.
So these are things that we need to come to
terms with that We need to have tougher conversations about violence,
(04:24):
about men and violence, and about women and violence because
this is a family violence issue. The horrific violence meeted
also a factor in all of this. We have to
address this stuff from a very early age and we
have to make sure that when people perpetuate this behavior
that there aren't there isn't just punishment. But unfortunately, these
(04:49):
people who are perpetrators will unfortunately be released into the community,
and if they are released without some effective programs to
help them change their behavior. Then that is a terrible,
terrible risk. Yeah, people in the future.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Senator, I know you grew up in Central Australia. You're
born I believe in Alice Springs. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I was born and raised now Springs a regular visitor.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yep, an Alice Springs girl. Senator. Tell me, you know
we like here in the Northern Territory. We've got the
Northern Territory government, the current Country Liberal Party government, saying
that they're going to be investing one hundred and eighty
million dollars into into domestic violence to try and make
some headway here. The federal government really haven't committed to
(05:42):
the needs based funding that the Northern Territory government and
actually the opposition are both being calling for. As far
as you are concerned, where are things at with the
federal investment into the Northern Territory when it comes to
domestic violence.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, the government announced a whole lot of new money.
It's big on announcement, but pretty slack on action. You know,
we've got the frontline workers that were promised for the
Northern Territory where we've only seen eight full time equivalent
out of the twenty that were promised for the Northern
Territory actually in place. We've seen funding that they announced
(06:16):
in response to the National Rapid Review, but the funding,
the majority of it, won't actually fall to those services
until after one July, and of course after the federal election.
The Coroner was saying we need funding. There is no
reason for further delay or action. And what I was
saying in the Parliament yesterday is people need to understand
(06:39):
why they have decided not to transfer that money quickly.
But you know what money can be spent. As we
saw in Central Australia, it's about money that's spent on
evidence based, effective programs and not just funding programs. Because
people are putting up their hands saying we've been doing
this for years, you have to know that there is
(06:59):
a return on that investment. Victims deserve that, citizens in
the Northern Territory deserve that. Yep, everyone deserves that.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Senator, before I let you go, you know, if after
the next federal election you do become the Shadow Minister
for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family violence, what
will you be pushing to make sure happens in this
space sooner rather than later.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, I'd be going for the hard stuff, which is
not building a playground, which is not building an ice
skating rink. So it's temporary and now soon we need
to increase the work that we are doing with them
and the efficacy of the work that we do with
them to ensure they don't just go straight back out
to their families and communities and wreak the havoc that
saw them get back into and go into custody. That's
(07:49):
the tough stuff, that's where the greatest risk is and
we have to do more work with children. Children not
just as victim survivors, not just as witnesses, but also unfortunately,
when they become perpetrators, we have to intervene early. It
would be great if we invested more in prevention, but
(08:10):
we also need to make sure that those services that
we're funding right now are well placed and effective in
delivering what they should be delivering well.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence,
Senator Karen Little, I really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for having a chat with us. Thank you,
thank you,
Now we have been continuing to break down the coroner's
report into the deaths of four Aboriginal women at the
hands of their partners, and the thirty five recommendations that
Judge Elizabeth Armitage handed down yesterday after the landmark inquiry.
Now joining me on the line is the Shadow Minister
for Protection and the profamily violence. On a federal level,
(00:22):
it is the Senator Karen Little. Good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Senator, good morning and everyone in the top end.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Now, what was your reaction to the coroner's findings yesterday?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, I think there are a couple of things that
jumped out straight away to me, and that was the
word senseless, shocking, and preventable. She made thirty five recommendations,
and unfortunately what she said about those recommendations were that
none of them were new and there is no reason
for further delay or action on changing this style. They're
the things that stay with me after having a good
(00:55):
look at that report.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah. Well, and you know, this is the thing we've
been grappling with, this senseless violence in the Northern Territory
for such a long period of time. I mean, even
over the recent months, eight deaths of Northern Territory women
at the hands of domestic violence. It beggars belief that
we are still in this situation.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, it beggars belief. We focused at the moment on
the deaths of four women, tragic deaths, but people live
with near death experiences every single day. Let me explain.
Eighty seven women in the Northern Territory have died since
the year two thousand and the majority of those around
seventy percent were Aboriginal women. This is horrific. As a
(01:41):
person who's lost an immediate family member to the same
violence in the Northern Territory, to a perpetrator who had
an endless number of breaches and convictions. You know, these
things are terrible. They have lifelong consequences and much much
broader than that's just the individual who's harmed. I just
(02:04):
want to and I know your listeners, you know, I
just want them to understand that. You know, in the
explanations of some of the way these women's died, you know,
a woman bleeding from her lungs which had been torn
by protruding ends of her nineteen fractured ribs, nineteen fractured ribs.
You know, a person who had so many abrasions lacerations
(02:24):
and bruises. Both her arms were broken and she suffered
from five broken ribs. But you know what that didn't
kill her. It was the blunt force trauma to the head. Now,
that is a disgrace that this kind of behavior is
allowed to fester yep, is allowed to be meeted upon
(02:46):
innocent people, and that there are children often who are
witnessing this disgusting, terrible behavior.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Senator, you touched on there that you know within your
own sadly you've lost a loved one to domestic violence.
I mean, how heart wrenching is it. Then when you
continue to hear details like what you've just spoken about,
then you continue to hear this happening in the Northern
Territory and the prevalence at which it's happening, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
You know what frustrates me is the shadow minister responsible
for policies that actually create some change. I say, you know,
yesterday I stood up in Parliament and our questions about
the three hundred million that went into Central Australia by
this Albanize labor government for a better, safer, Central Australian
And you ask locals, they won't necessarily say they feel
(03:38):
better or safer, and I've been asking questions about how
does funding an ice skating rink and a playground make
it safer for residents and victims. I just don't understand that.
The coroner also mentioned the terrible consequences from this government
standing by and watching the then Northern Territory Labor government
remove those alcohol restrictions and what happened to violence during
(04:02):
that period. It was horrific. We've heard just recently from
organizations right across Australia that the government has come out
and talked about its big announcement about an increase in funding,
but in real terms they say their funding is actually reduced.
So these are things that we need to come to
terms with that We need to have tougher conversations about violence,
(04:24):
about men and violence, and about women and violence because
this is a family violence issue. The horrific violence meeted
also a factor in all of this. We have to
address this stuff from a very early age and we
have to make sure that when people perpetuate this behavior
that there aren't there isn't just punishment. But unfortunately, these
(04:49):
people who are perpetrators will unfortunately be released into the community,
and if they are released without some effective programs to
help them change their behavior. Then that is a terrible,
terrible risk. Yeah, people in the future.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Senator, I know you grew up in Central Australia. You're
born I believe in Alice Springs. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I was born and raised now Springs a regular visitor.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yep, an Alice Springs girl. Senator. Tell me, you know
we like here in the Northern Territory. We've got the
Northern Territory government, the current Country Liberal Party government, saying
that they're going to be investing one hundred and eighty
million dollars into into domestic violence to try and make
some headway here. The federal government really haven't committed to
(05:42):
the needs based funding that the Northern Territory government and
actually the opposition are both being calling for. As far
as you are concerned, where are things at with the
federal investment into the Northern Territory when it comes to
domestic violence.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, the government announced a whole lot of new money.
It's big on announcement, but pretty slack on action. You know,
we've got the frontline workers that were promised for the
Northern Territory where we've only seen eight full time equivalent
out of the twenty that were promised for the Northern
Territory actually in place. We've seen funding that they announced
(06:16):
in response to the National Rapid Review, but the funding,
the majority of it, won't actually fall to those services
until after one July, and of course after the federal election.
The Coroner was saying we need funding. There is no
reason for further delay or action. And what I was
saying in the Parliament yesterday is people need to understand
(06:39):
why they have decided not to transfer that money quickly.
But you know what money can be spent. As we
saw in Central Australia, it's about money that's spent on
evidence based, effective programs and not just funding programs. Because
people are putting up their hands saying we've been doing
this for years, you have to know that there is
(06:59):
a return on that investment. Victims deserve that, citizens in
the Northern Territory deserve that. Yep, everyone deserves that.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Senator, before I let you go, you know, if after
the next federal election you do become the Shadow Minister
for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family violence, what
will you be pushing to make sure happens in this
space sooner rather than later.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, I'd be going for the hard stuff, which is
not building a playground, which is not building an ice
skating rink. So it's temporary and now soon we need
to increase the work that we are doing with them
and the efficacy of the work that we do with
them to ensure they don't just go straight back out
to their families and communities and wreak the havoc that
saw them get back into and go into custody. That's
(07:49):
the tough stuff, that's where the greatest risk is and
we have to do more work with children. Children not
just as victim survivors, not just as witnesses, but also unfortunately,
when they become perpetrators, we have to intervene early. It
would be great if we invested more in prevention, but
(08:10):
we also need to make sure that those services that
we're funding right now are well placed and effective in
delivering what they should be delivering well.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence,
Senator Karen Little, I really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for having a chat with us. Thank you,
thank you,
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