The Week That Was – 15th September 2023

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is time for the week that was, And in
the studio with us this morning, we've got the opposition leader,
Leo Fanocchiaro.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning, Lead, Good morning Katie, Good morning everyone.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
And at this stage we've also got the Minister for
Business and various other portfolios.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Paul Kirby, good morning to you.

Speaker 4 (00:14):
At this stage, I mention that we're also expecting Kathleen
Gazola from nine years to get here, but she'll be
here in just a moment's time.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
She's probably listening in her car as we speak. But look,
there is so much to cover off on this morning.
And firstly, I will go to this bush fire that
we have indeed had in Tenant Creek, and as of
late yesterday afternoon, that fire had broken through the containment
line on the southeast of the fire. Crews were working
on the mitigation strategies, which did include backburning and a

(00:47):
fallback line to contain it. There's no immediate threat to
Tenant Creek or the Stuart Highway, Epinara or Canteen Creek.
That is what we were being told late yesterday afternoon.
We will head on down to Tenant Creek a little
after ten o'clock this morning. To find out a bit more.
But it's been a massive response. There is no other
way to put it. From our fires, from bushfires, int

(01:09):
from those station owners, absolutely everybody in the Barkley region.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yeah, absolutely everybody's tipping in. It actually makes you feel well,
proud of territorians of how they've dug in, proud and
really happy for people from other states that have come
in to help out as well. But yeah, we know
that the pastoralists and the cattle station owners are all
on dozes and grad as. We know that all of
the civil contractors have dropped work and got every bit

(01:34):
of equipment that they can around there. We know that
all the volunteers and all the Bushfire's team are doing
such an amazing job. It does make you feel proud
to be a territory and that everybody's locking in and
a little bit sad that we can't do more to
help from up here.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
To be honest, it is such a.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Tough situation, isn't it When you see something like this
happen and an emergency declaration called like it was.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
And I guess that's so often we.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Do come together in terms of flooding and cyclicans, but bushfires,
we haven't seen such.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
A huge emergency, I guess with a bushfire for quite
some time. Of this scale of magnitude.

Speaker 5 (02:08):
It is enormous.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
It's just impossible to even comprehend the size of it
when you're talking about ten thousand square kilometers. But I
think the response has been really strong. Steve Edgington, the
member for Barclay's been working with the emergency response, and
of course the mayor and all of the teams out there.
Our pastoralists have really had to do a lot of

(02:29):
you know, incredible hours just to keep things at bay.
But hopefully this dissipates soon. But all the reports from
Tony Fuller from bushfires nt he sort of. I was
speaking to him a few weeks ago and he said,
you know very much that with the late the rain,
unseasonal rain that we had, has meant that fuel loads
are really really high right across that region, and I
suppose this is unfortunately the outcome of that.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Unfortunately, it would have been feed for next year for
our cattle and perhaps even into the year after, so
it will certainly have some long standing effects, not just
for fences and cattle yards. Thankfully, there's been no massive
property and thankfully no reports of injuries or worse than that,
even but certainly we'll have a significant effect and we'll

(03:16):
obviously be looking to how we can help out once
the dust settles and we get on top of the fire.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
And we have just received the latest update as well
from Bushfires in t They have said that the advice
to the public crews are containing sorry, are continuing to
secure containment lines around infrastructure and backburning operations may increase
fire and smoke in the area, but conditions are changing,
so people are indeed being urged to head to secure
NT to stay up to date with the latest information.

(03:43):
And Kathleen Gazolas in the studio with us this morning
as well, and yeah, it's been it has been such
a huge, huge situation unfolding their intendant, hasn't it.

Speaker 6 (03:52):
It is Yeah, I can confirm, always sitting in the
car listening to you as you started.

Speaker 5 (03:58):
But yeah, it's incredible.

Speaker 6 (03:59):
I mean, just the sheer size of it, the description
of it being five times the size of Act really
puts into perspective.

Speaker 5 (04:06):
Just how big that fire front is.

Speaker 6 (04:08):
And you know you've already touched on just how incredible
the community spirit of everyone just nucking down and working
together you know, mining companies as well as community people
and pastoralists, and it is just incredible that they haven't
lost any stock. I don't think obviously. Yeah, the feed
from now on will be the issue, but it's amazing
that they've just been able to manage such an enormous

(04:31):
fire with such little structures or anything like that lost.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, and look it is.

Speaker 6 (04:36):
You know.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
The thing I love about the Northern Territory, and we
hear it and see it so often on this show,
is that when something does go wrong, when you have
got a situation like this, or whether it's a cyclone,
whether it's an incident where somebody has you know, has
been the victim of crime or whatever it may be,
Territorians do get together and we do help each other out.

(04:57):
And I think that that is absolutely a wonderful thing
to see and something that we can all be.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Incredibly proud of.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Now, I do want to move along because unfortunately there's
been some incidents from overnight now. A man's been arrested
after allegedly stealing grog from a Casarina bottle oh and
assaulting a police officer. It is alleged that the forty
four year old man stole two bottles of wine from
one shop, and when approached by security guards, he armed
himself with a pair of pliers produced from his pocket

(05:26):
and verbally threatened security. Now shortly after, the man allegedly
stole another bottle of spirits from a separate bottle shop
and threatened security with pliers once again. During a patrol
of the area, police located the man where he all
where he allegedly violently resisted arrest and punched a female
police officer in the stomach. He's now in custody and

(05:49):
is expected to be charged today. But this is this
is horrendous. It's disgraceful. Like it is disgraceful. There's no
other way to put it.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
It is disgraceful.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
And unfortunately, we're seeing assaults on police increasing. We're seeing
crime increase right across the territory and it's our hard
working coppers who are out there, the ones on the
front line bearing the brunt of this.

Speaker 5 (06:10):
I mean, and.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Again, you know, Katie, if I was Chief Minister, I
would be making a minimum mandatory sentence for assaults on cops.
I would have compulsory alcohol treatment for people who are
clearly chronically affected by alcohol to the point and they're
stealing it from multiple bottle shops. I mean, there are
solutions to these problems. It's just we have a government
that can't bring themselves to deal with it. But people

(06:31):
have to be safe, and our police needs some reprieve
from this just ongoing crisis.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
To say that we're not dealing with it. We know
that things at times aren't good, and met with a
few of the senior police yesterday and just the amount
of calls that they're getting a day are very very high,
and they're arrest rates compared to per capita in the state.
They do it an amazing job of picking people up
and making sure they get presented to courts and go
through the justice system. But to say that we're not

(07:00):
dealing with anything in the alcohol or the crime space
is just not the truth at all. And it is
a really complex problem. And we'll continue to do that.
We'll continue to support our police, and we're always looking
at different ways that we can do that.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
I mean with things so like the announcement just a
couple of weeks ago, with like de escalation training, you
know for people that are working on the front line
or or not on the front line, like in bottle
shops and in retail and that kind of thing. You know,
gone of the days where where you know, somebody is
stealing a bottle of alcohol and they're not producing a weapon.

(07:33):
Like it's actually really quite frightening and the ramifications are
incredibly frightening. And we've seen those across the territory. So
I understand when the government says that you you know
that you're trying to look at different things, but the
fact here is somebody pulling a pair of pliers out
is terrifying. Yeah, it's like, it is really terrifying and
to those those people that are working in bottle shops,

(07:56):
you know, having to deal with that after what has
happened in the North and Territory over the last twelve months.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Honestly, it'd be I don't know how you go to work.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
Well, it's Thatt'd be the thing.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
I'd imagine that they're constantly thinking about what they're going
to be faced on it day to day, every single
day as to potentially someone coming in and threatening them,
you know, trying to take something. I mean, you know,
the de escalation training good for a worker to have
extra tools in their toolbox. To be able to make
them feel safer. But you'd have to question whether someone

(08:28):
who's threatening them with a set applies because they want
to steal a bottle of grog. Is that really going
to energingly punch the police officers escalation, going to do anything.
To be honest with you, you really have to wonder
whether that's the case. And you know, yes, Curbs, you
say that there's a lot going through the courts and
we're seeing that our jails are extremely full, But then

(08:48):
you have to wonder is the things on the other
end of the scale actually working if our jail's overflowing.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Well, that's right. And we hear constant promises from government
about they've never spent more money than ever before and
they've never had more of this and never have more
of that. The reality is the proof is in the
pudding and the putting shows that crime is through the
roof people. I mean, there had been twenty seven thousand
victims across the territory already this year. We've got this
severe offending. Government promised a knife crime strategy that took

(09:16):
six months and resulted in no legislative change, a bail
review which took five months and resulted in no legislative change.
This government is spinning its wheels and not putting people's
right to be safe above everything else.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Leah, in terms of you know you've spoken about you know,
you just said before if I was the chief minister
of what you would do? But what would The thing is,
you know, we are going to see more and more
people locked up because there are more people breaking the law.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
So where are we going to fit prisoners?

Speaker 1 (09:43):
And I think that's a big question that a lot
of people are asking as well, and it's part of
the discussion that both sides of politics need to actually
be looking at.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, and that's the thing, Katie. At the end of
the day, if we need to have more correctional facilities,
then that's very sad and very disappointing and very expensive.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
But we can't leave criminals on.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
The street because we're too scared to deal with having
a new facility.

Speaker 5 (10:07):
I mean, it just is what it is.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
It's unfortunate, but again it shows this government hasn't planned
the infrastructure properly. We know the Youth Justice Facility is
now what seventy million dollars seven years down the track,
still not open, and that thing will be full to
the brim on the day it opens. Katie, there's no
future planning in infrastructure development by this government, and yet
there are more criminals than ever before left on our street.

Speaker 6 (10:30):
I think it's surely it's about the programs inside these
facilities rather than building more facilities. I mean, you know,
where are the programs inside these to rehabilitate people, to
get them into a job. Sentenced to a job is
the big one that everyone would barely remember. You know
that the facilities are so overfull now because they're having
to take certain areas that are used for those programs

(10:54):
to be able to house people. So there aren't any
areas in these in these prisons to be able to
decate and train people. So, you know, rather than spending
on infrastructure, why don't we do some more program.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Hats off to our really hard working correction staff because
I know they do really, really concentrate on trying to
rehabilitate people and it is a very very tough job
that they do. Stepping back to where we started, it's
not just about de escalation training for one particular person.
It's about a range of things. It's about businesses being aware,
like if you're walking to a bank. Now they look

(11:26):
completely different, so they did a couple of decades ago.
So there will be work that we do with businesses
to make sure that environmentally they're designed to keep their
workers as safe as they possibly can do well.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
The work business is saying to you, Curbs, as the
Minister for Small Business, Are they saying to you their
crime and these issues are a concern for them? Oh?

Speaker 4 (11:47):
Absolutely. We talk with people every day, particularly in this electra.
As soon as you step out the door, you speaking
to people. So we know that it's a concern for people.
We know that particularly some of the incidents we have
had about people walking to their car, they are concerning.
As I said, the police there are rest rates and
being able to track people down are better than most

(12:09):
other states. The amount of cameras that we've got through
the CBD and the capacity to track people down.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
Yeah, but I want to stop it before it happened.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Well, and look, I do want to go back to
the situation that we've seen a couple of weeks ago,
and we have spoken about this on air. But you know,
given the fact that it was in the CBD and
that was Leah Bennett being assaulted after she'd left work
in the afternoon at five in the afternoon and had
been assaulted by by.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
Three young girls.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
You know, to me, that absolutely exemplifies what people are
really worried about and the absolute concern that a lot
of Territorians have got right now. You know, we talk
about this incident from overnight and it's horrific, So you
know that that is one thing, But then you talk
about somebody walking to their car in broad daylight and
being set upon by three young girls, You know, that

(12:58):
absolutely changes the shape of your life, you know, because
that is something that means that you'll constantly be looking
at the corner of her eye as to someone coming
close to her, as to who it might be.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
Yeah, absolutely, and everyone else.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
I was speaking with businesses who operate in the mall
Katie yesterday and they were saying to me, regularly they've
had to open their door and encourage people to rush
in for safety, like tourists to come in to be
safe because there's been brawls and fights in the mall,
or where they have to lock the front door for
their own safety if there's staff. One staff member said
to this particular boss of this business, she only lives

(13:34):
very close to her workplace and said she's too scared
to walk home. I mean, this is the impact, and
that's why it's an economic issue, because people don't feel safe.
Staff are leaving, people are leaving the territory and it's
not an environment where you can work, live or continue
to run a business.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
We have also, unfortunately another incident overnight. Now we are
still getting some further detail, but a stolen car has
crashed in Marara overnight. Police say that the white Toyo
de Prado was seen speeding through a red light before
colliding with another car and clipping the side mirrors. The
stolen car later crashed into a fence, and police say

(14:11):
a handful.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
Of youths were observed fleeing from the car.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
Now, look, I honestly can say that I've spoken about
crime until I sound like a broken record. I think
that that's the easiest way to put it. But unfortunately,
everywhere I go, every time I go somewhere, it is
something that people pull me up about no matter where
I am. It's something that people are talking about because
they are seriously concerned for their own safety. They're concerned

(14:37):
for the safety of their children, they're concerned for the
safety of their parents and their elderly grandparents. And you know,
I don't I don't know what the answers are, but
what I do know is that people are continuing to
feel unsafe.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
They're continuing to feel very.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Unhappy about the state of crime and safety in the
Northern Territory. Now, I think for both of you, what
I would say both sides of politics is this is
the number one issue for territories.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
Now, it's number one. It's got to get sorted out.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't know how you sorted out, but people have
had an absolute gutful.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Well, Katie, we recognize that absolutely and have for a
number of years. And that's why our plan for the
territory is around taking back control of our streets, rebuilding
the territory's reputation, and getting our economy moving forward. Because
without community safety, we will continue to lose good people.
Businesses will not be able to retain staff, we will
not be able to attract people to the territory. Businesses

(15:34):
will continue to close, and we will continue to go backwards.
So crime is number one, not just for personal safety,
but for literally people's lives and their livelihoods.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
Absolutely personal safety is is the key to making sure
people stay safe. We are speaking with businesses on a
daily basis. We're speaking with police to make sure that
our settings are right and that those laws are structured
exactly how they need to be structured. We're putting more
funding into police we have, We've got more security guards
getting around than we ever have. Also, as I said,

(16:05):
septeb audits and different opportunities for businesses to take those
opportunities up. It's a matter of continually looking at new
age ways that come out, and we are always looking
at that as well as looking over your shoulders. Some
of the work that we did in the Enterprise agreement
with the police has made sure that we're getting more
police back to work quicker than they ever have before,

(16:25):
and make sure that the police have got that support
around them. So there's a massive amount of things that
are happening. So to say we're just going to take
back our streets without putting any detail to that, it's
what people want to hear. It's fine to say that,
how do we change things, How do we're investing as
much into police as we possibly can, as much into
all of those support services that were cut years ago.
As we possibly can laro QIEA, patrols and all of

(16:46):
those things. So we're happy to continue to work with
people and we'll keep doing that hard work, but it
is tough going.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Look, we are going to take a bit of a break.
You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three sixty.
It's been an incredibly busy week and an interest week.
I think you'd have to say, we know that the
Chief Minister, Natasha Files has traveled over to the US
for ten days at a cost to taxpayers of ninety
two thousand dollars. Now, she's obviously outlined the reasons for
that trip and the benefits from her perspective, but in

(17:17):
addition to that, i'd ask the Deputy Chief Minister, Nicole
Madison throughout the week, well on Monday in fact, whether
any public servants then were on that trip. Now, the
answer was yes, we didn't know how many at that
point in time, and we didn't know how much.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
She didn't have that detail.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
But yesterday or the day before actually Wednesday afternoon, I
had then been sent some detail about well the number
of people that did indeed travel, the number of public servants.
So what we know is and I read this out yesterday.
The Major Projects Commissioner attended as well, at a cost
of let me just find it, twenty nine, four hundred

(17:54):
and eighty eight dollars. The Senior Director of Investment also
traveled for eighteen thy, nine hundred and seventy three dollars.
Then we also know an advisor on the Australian Northern
Territory Strategic Defense Advisory Group who's based in the US,
was also part of that delegation twelve thousand, two hundred

(18:15):
and ninety six dollars. So that's a total of more
than sixty thousand dollars on top of the ninety two
thousand dollars, bringing us up to around one hundred and
fifty grand. I just don't understand, Curves, why the Chief
Minister wasn't open, honest and upfront about having public servants
and others traveling when you guys, promised when you came

(18:36):
into power that you would be.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
Look, we know that travel is extremely expensive, and we
know that it's extremely important. Like every other state has
got either people traveling or in a lot of cases,
they've got people based in these jurisdictions. So the territory
absolutely has to be over there for those playing along
at home. If you want to google nt ministerial travel,

(18:59):
it comes up.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
What her price is now of how much it's not.

Speaker 6 (19:02):
The Chief Minister's one travel for ministers is posted on
this website that Curves is talking about it. But in
some cases it can be months after. I think there
was one one trip that I saw that you'd taken
a little while a while ago. Whenever, whatever link it was,
I'd look back. It was maybe two months after the
travel had taken place, which the kicker for me with
this trip and what's confronted the government is the promise

(19:26):
that costings were going to be revealed or provided, even
it was an estimate to the public before travel and
releases they estimated.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
Cost was that this is why people are pieced off,
because it's you've just got to be open and transparent
about it. People will make up their own minds whether
they actually then think that the trip's been official to
the Northern Territory or not. I'm not the judge during
and executor of everything, because will decide that.

Speaker 6 (19:56):
In opposition, Labor was extremely critical of seal travel, which
rightly so.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
There were some.

Speaker 5 (20:02):
Very very questionable trips during that time.

Speaker 6 (20:05):
So it was so hard on the former government about
those that delivered that promise. So you haven't lived up
to that promise of providing it up front, and then
it's been a piecemeal of information fit out that you asked.
The question just happened to be that there was extra.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
And on the trusty grandsworth. You know, like, that's an
awful lot of money. That's someone's wage for a year,
and that's the way that territorians see it. And then
when you look at the one hundred and fifty thousand
altogether over ten days, people start to go, well, what
benefit exactly is going to come to the Northern Territory
as a result of that trip. And you know, for

(20:46):
a lot of us, we're probably not ever really going
to know unless we can, like unless the Chief Minister
comes back and goes, all right, this project's being announced.
For a lot of us, we're not actually going to
know what the benefit is now. Like I say, I'm
not the judge, dury and executor of everything. I die
no whether everybody believes that that is absolute waste of
money or whether you think that that's money well spent.
But what I do know is that you've got to

(21:07):
be open, honest and upfront from the get go about
these things, and about the cost to territory tax bis.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
This is not monopoly money.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
Well, that's exactly right.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
And at a time when territorians are struggling to put
food on the table. You know, our hospital is in
constant states of code yellow, We've got crime out of control,
police under resourced. It just doesn't feel like the right priority.
People don't like being basically having to drag information out
of government. I mean we were talking about this trip
at ninety two thousand for about a week before it

(21:39):
was revealed that public servants were on the trip as well.
I mean, government could have come forward right from the start.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
Three days to get that info, to.

Speaker 2 (21:46):
Get that information exactly so, you know, Katie, I mean,
I'm sure Natasha's had a lovely dinner with Kevin Rudd,
but other than that, the proof would be in the
pudding when she comes back. What on earth was six
people doing in Washington for ten days.

Speaker 4 (22:01):
I'll give you an indication the trip was probably I
would imagine mine was. Well, I've only been to team
Or to hunt down workers from team Or about October
last year, and I also did a trip to Indonesia. Now,
we flew from here to Dempasar and had meetings in
Dempasa on the same day, then flew west to Jakarta,

(22:22):
so it gets earlier and earlier the furtherer fly to
the west. We had meetings during the day, met with
people during that night. The first day on that trip
was a twenty hour day until we went to bed.
I got sick that night. I won't tell you how
sick because it's not very attractive. Got up the next day.
We had people from other countries that had flown in,
so you can't cancel those meetings, so you had to

(22:43):
go to the next couple of days worth of meetings
and then fly home. They are extremely rigorous and yeah,
they are certainly tough trips to do. They used to
take meet here on them.

Speaker 5 (22:56):
Yeah, batally, And that's the thing.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
I'm quite aware of how long those days can be.
My issue isn't with certain trips. Mine is that you
promise to deliver those costings in the public before the
trip happened. Even if you know if the arguments now
is like on those websites, that's the exact cost of
how much it costs it could have been. It was
estimates beforehand. Why can't you provide that and then have

(23:20):
it on the website as the exact cost. That's what
I'm saying is because Labor was so critical when in
opposition and promise this thing and then now has backtracked
on it.

Speaker 4 (23:29):
I don't know that we've backtracked. I think you're right
that these these details weren't on there. Absolutely agree and
understand that. But there has absolutely has not been a
policy decision made of us not to your own policy.
I can't tell you why they weren't loaded in this
particular instance, but I have been assured that they will
be into the future.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
It's going to start.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
I did as the Deputy Chief Finiston and Cole Madison
if she's going to commit to that being published now
before those trips are gone on, and she said that yes,
that would be the case. Is that I mean, is
that the desire of the cabinet.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
Yeah, well, I haven't spoken with cabinet. Natasha's backing down.
I think she's doing a presser in a few minutes time,
so I'm sure that she'll get asked about that, and
I'd be surprised if she doesn't commit to making sure
those costings go up as the travels happening, or as
early as they possibly.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
Just on this note, I do want to say that
Minister Lauren Moss traveled to the US, of course, to
New York to the United Nations Conference on Water. Now
that trip cost around sixty grand, fifty thousand dollars of
that was on flights.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
You know, to me, that doesn't pass the pub test.

Speaker 5 (24:42):
I was never carefully her. That's her and a stuff.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yes, yeah, absolutely, her and a staff member. But you know,
I know that QUANTUS has you know, I've certainly got
those prices up quite high sometimes, But that's ridiculous.

Speaker 5 (24:54):
That is definitely a lot of money.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
It's a huge amount of money.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
It's a kind of money that most US could never
even dream of spending on a flight. And I think
that that is what needs to be kept in mind
when that overseas travel happens as well, is that you've
got to think to yourself, how is this going to
benefit territorians and is it going to you know, is
the cost going to you know, to add up to

(25:18):
the benefit then to what it brings into the Northern territory.

Speaker 4 (25:22):
I can guarantee and we we have got good relationships
with our federal ministers. Now, I can guarantee you that
from a few weeks ago going down to Canberra for
Facing North, it is astounding how little them and their
staffers know. So you absolutely have like it's great to
be able to do zoom meetings. You can't do zoom
meetings with a pentagon. You can't patch in to an

(25:43):
international water conference. And particularly in a situation like that,
when when the federal government and federal minister had asked
Lauren to attend on her behalf yes flights bell.

Speaker 3 (25:54):
Federal mates to pick up the bell Qantas.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
So I did go on and have a look, and
I admittedly, you know, for like two weeks time, so
I couldn't do it. I couldn't backdate it to the
date that she's gone. But you know, you're not talking
about economy flights here. You're talking about business flights, and
you're not talking premium economy. And I tell you right
now the cost difference is astronomical between premium economy and
flying business. And look, you know, like I said, people

(26:19):
will make up their own minds as to whether they
think this is money well spent or not. But while
we are on that topic of flights. I do want
to talk about the situation with Quantus because we know
that it has been a quite an unbelievable week. I
think you'd have to say, well, an unbelievable month for Quantus.
We know that Alan Joyce is now out, they've got
their new CEO in, but this week, well, they had

(26:41):
to issue their first ever apology to workers after the
High Court found the airline acted illegally when it sacked
one thousand, seven hundred ground crew staff members during the
COVID nineteen pandemic. The Transport Workers Union says it is
a historic win for workers and Quantus has said that
it accepts the High Courts ruling and has apologized to

(27:04):
those former workers. And the jobs are bagging chandlers as
we know, and cleaners at ten airports were outsourced as
the airline faced a dramatic decline in business.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
This was during COVID, but it is quite an.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Unbelievable situation what's gone on with Quantus over the recent
weeks and the rest of Australia is really just looking
at Quantus and going, you know, wow, what I've done
for us though our national carry out that I think
all Australians would have it. Many times, we so have
been so proud of, you know, the safest airline in

(27:39):
the world and you could go to so many destinations,
great service and all the rest of it. But more
recently they certainly haven't been looking after Australians, let alone
Territorians which are in the name and lining their own pockets.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
That feels like the reputational damage that they've copped out
of this and just what will come now for those
visits seventeen hundred workers and to let those people go
or force them out in the toughest times. I heard
one gentleman talking on the radio the other day saying
he struggled to pick up full time employment. Beyond that,

(28:12):
like the effect for these people and their families, it's
really going to be amazing to see what the what the.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
Payouts are for decades.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Yeah, how CANDUs go about repairing their reputation from there?

Speaker 1 (28:25):
A start, they could start looking after regional Australia, you know,
for a start, they could maybe try to make some
prices a little bit a bit more reasonable for anybody
that lives out of Sydney, Melbourne or you know, Brisbane,
for that That's going to be a good way to start,
wouldn't it.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
That's what I was going to say, Katie, this is
actually a really big opportunity for the territory. You know,
Quantus is in a world of pain at the moment.
The Northern Territory sits proudly in its name, and flights
in and out of the territory have become a crisis
point for people wanting to travel for business and to
go and see family and friends and go on holidays.

(29:01):
So you know what's the territory government's next step Now?
They should be absolutely saying to quants, let's do some
brand fixing, let's get some good news stories going, and
let's really work through a better travel solution for people
in the territory, particularly with some of those key linkages
like the Darwin Singapore flight.

Speaker 6 (29:22):
But I mean to be fair, there's only so much
that a government can convince a private company like Quantus,
who's clearly been making billions of dollars in profit, are
actually going to listen and do the thing it's on
them to.

Speaker 5 (29:36):
What they should be doing. Absolutely, Springs just recently get
another flight.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
But you need advocates.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
If no one is there banging down that door, fighting
for the territory. Then why would they care to do
anything different. That's what ministers are for. They are supposed
to be leading the charge, driving the advocacy, driving the ideas,
driving the progress. And instead and we've got people sitting
back and waiting for things to fall apart. That is

(30:04):
the time to pick up the sword and charge a
million miles an hour.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
You've heard of the Aircraft Airport Attraction Fund, Airline Attraction Fund,
So we have we and I know that Minster Manison
is on the front foot and meeting not just with
Quantus but a range of different providers to try and
make sure that we can encourage different providers. We know
that we need that competition and we know that we
have been sorely let down to It's great to see
that Quantus are turning a record profit, but do you

(30:29):
we wouldn't mind some of that being pumped back into
to looking after Australians and particularly territory.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
Few messages this morning. Firstly, the biggest thing people messaging
about is I'm sorry, but the iHeartRadio app seems to
be down and so they're not able to get their fixed.
Don't worry, we will get the audio up as quickly
as possible, so if you're missing the week that was,
we'll be able to sort that out. Wayne's message through
Good Morning, Katie. Have we found our Attorney general yet?

Speaker 3 (30:54):
Where is the Attorney Jo?

Speaker 5 (30:56):
Tom's on holidays in America, isn't he?

Speaker 4 (30:58):
I think he's having a well deserved break in America.
I'm not sure where he went down. He might have
gone to the to the States. I'm not exactly sure
where he was trapped.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
He had dinner with k Rud too hot, so he
played for it himself. If he's on leave.

Speaker 6 (31:11):
I don't say ministers on holidays.

Speaker 4 (31:15):
Not that I'm aware of at the moment. Look, it is,
we don't form. We don't get paid holidays like it
is a really, really busy, busy time anytime of the year.
We know the dry season is an amazing time. I
know there's some people that get to have most school
holidays off and get time away with their families. We
actually don't get that. We're going through trying to structure

(31:37):
now to make sure that we've got ministers here over
the Christmas break and that we've got coverage three hundred
and sixty five days right across the northern territory. But yes,
every now and again, as we've seen in Queensland with
the premiere over there, every now and again it's not.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
Very well for us.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
As an example, every now and again, particularly yesterday being
are you okay to everybody needs and deserves to be
able to step away just for a week or so.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
We are going to have to take a very short break.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three
sixty if you've just joined us. It is indeed the
week that wasn't in the studio with us this morning
is Paul Kirby, Kathleen Gazola and Leah Finocchiaro. Now, I
do just want to take you across to well to
just enterprise indeed making headlines around Australia this morning, following
on from a couple of speeches that she'd done yesterday.

(32:25):
And I know that there had been some comments made
about a whole raft of different things. Kathleen, you've been
keeping an eye on this one as well, haven't you.
You're just mentioning to us Alfia some of the comments
that had been made.

Speaker 5 (32:38):
Yeah, she made some pretty.

Speaker 6 (32:41):
Bold statements in relation to some of the questions from
the Press Club yesterday when she delivered her speech around
intergenerational trauma and colonization. So no doubt there'll be plenty
of articles on Rose if you want to have a
look back. But you know, she definitely touched on the
device in the community that has come about the referendum,

(33:03):
you know, from both sides, and of course we saw
a lot around certain comments that Marcia Langdon made this week.
Just the it's sitrial on both from both sides to
both sides and so on is really horrible in the
sense of, you know, did divide in the country and

(33:23):
you just hope that once it's all over we can
come back to some sort of position and work together.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, and I know the Opposition leader Peter Dutton has
come out and said, well he's spoken about comments made
by just Enter Price and had said that, you know,
when he was asked whether the Indigenous people when asked
when Indigenous, whether Indigenous people suffered the consequences of British settlement,
Price had told the audience in Canberra, I'll be honest no.

(33:50):
And Dutton has told Nines Today Show he wasn't at
the event but tuned in to watch it on TV
and said that Price was a brave indigenou woman. He said,
we either accept that people have views broad range of
a broad range of views, or we don't. The left
just say well, we can only listen to people like
Marcia Langton, but people on the right like just Enterprise.

(34:13):
We can't listen to Leah obviously just Enterprise part of
the CLP.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
What did you make of the comments?

Speaker 2 (34:19):
I actually didn't see it, Katie, so I can't really comment.
But obviously Jacinta is leading the charge on the No
campaign right across the country. She's a staunch advocate for
the territory and a really proud Territorian, so you know
she's not afraid to mince her words. She believes very
strongly in a wide range of things and always puts

(34:40):
the territory first. So you know, without without seeing the comments,
is very difficult to make a comment. But what I
do know is that she will go out and fight
every day for the territory, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
I mean, is it a bit of like is it
is it correct though to say that you know that
in Australia, we're not we all suffering the consequences you
know of what has gone on and that there isn't
still that generational trauma.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
I don't think we can take and I didn't see
the comments either, but if they're correct, I don't think
you can take comments like that as saying that you're
standing up for the territory. You know, I think you
do have to acknowledge people around the top end, even
in my electorate, the old carl And compound. You speak
to Charlie King and people like that, absolutely acknowledge the

(35:27):
pain and anguish that are been caused by decisions of
the past. But this is really an opportunity not to
sling mud at each other. But if you look at
our local decision making agreements that we've done a number
of outwith communities, indigenous people just getting the opportunity to
have a say in their own future. And if we
don't make this discussion any more complex than that, I

(35:47):
think we can come to the right answer.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Look, it's going to be interesting to see what happens
over the coming weeks. The thing that I've not liked
is that you know that it has been getting quite
nasty on either side. And I think that we're better
than that. This country is better than that. Surely we
are better than that. I know that so many of
us come from really diverse families. You know, all of
my nieces and nephews are Aboriginal. I think that we, yeah,

(36:12):
we can just be a bit more respectful.

Speaker 4 (36:14):
And the truth of it is, Katie, it won't change
the way that we behave in the Northern Territory as
a government or as a society where extremely inclusive. We
know we've got a long way to go, but I
know from my perspective, like we're tipping tens of millions
of dollars more into foundational skills and making sure that
literacy and numerousy out in remote areas that we've funded

(36:35):
to the right level to do those things. As I said,
local decision making sure that the health services in remote
communities and housing at all of those things are done
to the absolute best level that we possibly can. Those
things won't change. So yeah, we really want I hope.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
They change, Paul, because we've got the worst outcomes than
ever before. We've got lower school attendance since Labor have
been in government. We've got really disappointing, you know, levels
in in education. We know kids need to be getting
to school. We've got rolling code yellows and poor health
outcomes for people. Katie, We're really focused as a COLP

(37:12):
on bringing a really strong policy to the next election
around reforming local government. And I know that's something you
and your listeners have also talked about, but that has
come directly from Aboriginal people living in very remote communities.
No matter where you are in the territory, it is
an absolute consistent theme everywhere we go that labor's disempowerment

(37:34):
of Aboriginal people in the bush by consolidating community councils
into massive shires has totally stripped that ability for leadership, control,
decision making, having plants and equipment out of communities and
is something they want back will be make meaningful change
in their lives. So that's what we're absolutely focused on.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
Look there, we are going to have to take a
bit of break. There is a lot going on this morning.
We have just been sent some further information by the
Northern Territory Police about other arrests made overnight, but will
take a really short break. You're listening to mix now.
I do just want to take you across to the
fact that the Northern Territory Police have made multiple arrests
for stealing offenses across the territory overnight. We have already

(38:18):
told you about the incident at the bottle shop at Casarina,
but I do just want to make you aware of
another incident. Around midnight, police received reports of a stolen
Honda Jazz being driven around the Alla Springs CBD. A
tired deflation device was successfully deployed. Three mails, aged thirteen,
sixteen and twenty two were arrested at the scene without incident,

(38:40):
and whilst in the watchhouse, a twenty two year old
man has allegedly spat in the face of two officers.
He's expected to be charged with unlawful use of a
motor vehicle and assault police. The two youth are going
to be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth
Justice Act, and Acting Commander James gray Spence has said
that assaults on our office is particularly spitting, is completely

(39:03):
disgusting and shameful behavior. Spot on to the acting commander there.
It is absolutely disgusting and they should not have to
endure that kind of behavior. And then there was the
other officer that we told you about earlier who was
punched in the stomach.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Horrendous yep, it's disgusting and you know what dealt with
under US Justice Act means probably given a sandwich and
dropped off back home, Katie, because that's the weak nature
of Labour's laws. And then we have police being spat
at by people who have done the wrong thing, and
this government has deprived our police of using spit hoods.

(39:42):
Now I have a red hot tip. They are still
for adults.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
There's still.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
The discussion last week, so they can't for use and
now there's this national discussion around whether they shouldn't be
able to for adults. Well, this a very good example
and again my red hot tip to criminals listening is
if you don't spit at police, they won't put a
spit hood on you. And the COLP policy is to
return spit hoods for our police, even for youth offenders,

(40:13):
because spit and blood is absolutely a health issue. It
is disgusting and people should be able to protect themselves.

Speaker 6 (40:21):
It is abhorrent what they have to go through. And
then obviously now these two officers will have to be
tested and will take months, many weeks sometimes months absolutely
to get the results of not being potentially infect with
something which obviously impacts their personal life. Being able to
be with their partners, looking after their kids, you know,

(40:42):
being close with them and all all that kind of stuff.
And I mean in these circumstances obviously being able to
use the spit guards. In some they're not wearing them
all the time. So in this circumstance, unless they know
for sure this person's gonna spit, they probably didn't even
get the.

Speaker 5 (40:57):
Opportunity beyond me.

Speaker 6 (41:01):
Exactly, so like they should have the opportunity to be
able to protect themselves.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
The Assistant Commissioner actually bought a spit guard into the
studio for us to have a look at about a
week ago, so that we could see what they look like,
because I think that a lot of people have in
their mind that the spit hoods look like what they
did in the footage from Don Dale from many years ago.
They're not like that at all. You know, they're made
out of like this light chuol kind of fla. Yeah,

(41:29):
it's not a good at all.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
It's like it's see through. You can see through it,
you can breathe through it.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
The only place where there is like a bit of
plastic or a bit of you know, it's slightly heavier,
is over the mouth. Area to stop it from being
able to spit. So I think, you know, we need
to be careful that we don't go too far here.
You need to actually make sure that you are protecting
the people that are trying to protect the Northern Territory community.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
Why would they want to sign up and do it?

Speaker 2 (41:53):
Yeah, well, why should anyone have to be in a
workplace like that? You know, it's just it's not okay.
And this continual narrow arrative from labor around just putting
the rights of criminals first. I mean, this is the
example of that. It's very simple. If you don't do
the bad behavior, you don't have a repercussion. And ultimately,

(42:13):
we cannot let people continue to assault our police and
continue to victimize territorians simply because this government doesn't want
to deal with the fact that we have to be
harsher on criminals and put people's right to be safe first.

Speaker 4 (42:28):
We've got more consequences in place than we ever have
to decide we're dealing with.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Tell that to twenty seven thousand victims, Paul, go and
say it to their face. Go and tell it to
Leah from Stomp, Go and tell it to cha who've
had to shut their doors. Go and tell it to
Samara Lavity. You know, this is an absolute joke. It
is out of control and people want change.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
We are going to have to wrap up for the morning.
Before we do, though, I just want to do a
bit of a shout out to a few incredible Territorians.
Throughout this week we had two Northern Territory Police officers
who are actually the recipients of the National Police Bravery
Award for twenty twenty three. They were Constable Aaron Larson
and Constable Deborah Bradley from the Northern Territory Police Force.
Now they've been awarded for their heroic actions is what

(43:13):
this board had decided on the national scale during violent
rioting at what Air in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
So a big shout out to them. Incredible stuff.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
But also yesterday I actually interviewed her name Shari Togo.
Now she is a local rugby league coach and she
is going away this weekend as the assistant coach of
the Australian Women's rugby league team.

Speaker 3 (43:37):
I think, you know, shout out to all of those
wonderful territories.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
We've got some absolute gems in the territory and sometimes
you know, they've got to get that recognition if you
ask me.

Speaker 4 (43:48):
Yeah, absolutely, we do punch well above our weight up
here and we are very very proud of all those people.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
Wonderful congratulations Well Lea finoki Aro, the opposition leader, thank
you for your time today.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
And I just wanted to do shout out to the
Territory Court Association. They have the ATV state titles this weekend,
so it's going to be pretty awesome.

Speaker 5 (44:06):
Get on down if you want to have a look.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
And Kathleen Gazola from nine years Darwin, thank you for
your time this morning.

Speaker 5 (44:12):
Always a pleasure.

Speaker 3 (44:13):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
And Paul Kirby, the Minister for Small Business and various
other portfolios, thank you for your time this morning.

Speaker 4 (44:18):
Thanks very much. Big shout out. Get around if you
get the chance to have a look at the new
street art murals. We're doing our hundredth this time round,
so there's a lot of them up and around this
somehow out in the suburbs and they are absolutely amazing.
Big thanks to David Jesse and the crew that have
done the majority of those.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
I cannot wait to see how the one on the
side of the g p O, the old g PO
building looks.

Speaker 5 (44:39):
Is that what it's called the old?

Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah, no, good stuff