The Week That Was – 22nd September 2023

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for the week that was and joining us
in the studio this morning. We've got the Deputy Opposition
Leader Jared Maylee, good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners, and.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
All the way from Alice Springs, the Independent member for
Ara lew and Robin Lamley.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Good morning to you, Good morning Katie.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
And we've also got the Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Madison.

Speaker 4 (00:18):
Good morning, Good morning Katie.

Speaker 5 (00:20):
Great to have you all in the studio.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Now, there's lots to cover off, but I guess in
news that broke overnight, well, Rupert Murdoch he announced that
he's stepping down as the chairman of both Fox Corporation
and News Corp after a career of almost seventy years
beginning in nineteen fifty four, and Lachlan Murdock's going to
become the sole chair of News Corp. And it's I
guess it's an interesting time in the media if you're involved.

Speaker 5 (00:44):
In our News Corp or especially with.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
The success of the show Succession. But what I'll say
is that I'm hoping that he does a farewell tour.
I remember the last time he was in Darwin and
apparently he was very fond of the Northern Territory News
was one of his favorites, and I'm sure they would
love to see him here on his farewell well.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
He wasn't that fond of the Soon Trailian Advocate because
he got rid of that three years ago in pay
per Form, So lovetween ninety two years of age. You know,
when you put your feet up and move on.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
My question, my question is he really going to step
away or how far is he going to step away?
Those sort of people never really get away. He will
keep working and keep working till the day in the box.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I guess yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:26):
It's going to be interesting anyway.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
It was big news of course internationally in the last
twenty four hours. But I'll tell you what, We've had
quite a busy week in the Northern Territory as well,
and we know that there was very sadly another stabbing
death in our CBD. The incident happened in the early
hours of Saturday morning outside of will Works on Kavanagh Straight.

(01:48):
The Northern Territory Police have now charged a twenty eight
year old man following that fatal.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Stabbing with murder.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
He was arrested by detectives earlier in the week from
the Major Crime Unit after extensive investigations and was charged
with murder, armed with an offensive weapon, and possessing a
schedule to drug and was remanded to appear in court
earlier in the week. Unfortunately, not you know, not sort
of the only incident that we've seen then with a knife,

(02:15):
you know, that one, absolutely terrible. But we also know
Channel nine reporting throughout the week that a woman had
appeared in court after We're waving a wand around that
was apparently twenty nine centimeters long at the Casuarina bus
exchange through the week.

Speaker 5 (02:32):
Also, I think it's.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Safe to say, and I've said this on numerous occasions,
but we did interview the Chief Minister on the show yesterday.
People have had enough. Even we had the Lord Mayor
on the show throughout the week. He said, let's cut
the bullshit. The government needs to step up and make
some really tough decisions here and they need to meet
the community's expectation. And I think that that is where
that is the sentiment of the community.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
Everybody's had a gutful.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I think you're right. We all as politicians then go
around a community and people talked to me and I'm
sure talk to everyone. They're saying enoughs enough. People are
sick of the crime. Through the Northern territory. There's people
coming out to the rural area who live in the
northern side to go shopping because they're worried about crime.
People have to worry about when they're going to go
to work, where they're going to drop the kids off,
where they're going to park the car, how they're going

(03:16):
to secure their cars at nighttime. I spoke to a
business owner this week and he's spent I think four
and a half thousand dollars on security because he's a
full drive specialist and those sorts of cars have been
targeted in relation to crime. So they break in, take
the car and then do all the damage to the
workshop as well, and then the car goes away and
gets lost. So when you lose your car, especially a

(03:39):
bit to trade his car, or you got your baby
seat in the back, you're got to go and replace
all that stuff again. So people have just had enough
for this crime. And I know that governments say they've
done all these things. But we had our bail strategy
and it was no changes after six months. We had
the knife clime strategy, no changes to legislation. We're going
to educate people better. But I think the Territorians have

(03:59):
said enough. We need action right now. This Labor government
has been in power for seven years. I'm going to
be eight years for the next election, and how much
time do they need to be able to fix the problems.
And the problems aren't getting better, They're getting worse. So
whatever policies and strategy the Labor government got in place
aren't working. We know that the police are crying out
because they're lack of resource and they're saying they don't

(04:19):
feel supported by police. And Nathan Flynn has come on
this station and set out in public many times that
the police I don't feel supported and they're under resource,
and we know that we've had two police surveys, both
of them said they're getting worse. So instead of trying
to fix the problem, the Labor government policies are just
set forget and Territory has had enough.

Speaker 4 (04:41):
Well, what else say, firstly is a big thank you
to the police for their investigation work and being able
to bring forward somebody and charge them there. There is
no excuse for what has happened there. That is horrendous.
Somebody has lost their life and thank you please for
their diligent work in terms of arresting that person and
doing their investigations. We have put a huge amount of

(05:04):
work into the area of knife crime. It is not acceptable.
There is no excuse to threaten someone with a weapon,
to walk around in public with an edged weapon, there
is no excuse for that whatsoever. I don't buy in
or take any sympathy for anybody who tries to say
it's for self defense. No, if you go out with

(05:26):
a weapon, there is a clear intent to use it
in my views. So we have strength and police powers
to deal with those situations, to give them more search powers,
to give them the capacity to do wanding, which is
very important and contemporary legislation. You know, there is a
huge amount of work going out there right now to
tackle knife crime.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
It is completely unacceptable. The thing is though in the
top end. In this year alone, we have seen a
situation where we've had a lady die as a result
of a domestic violence incident outside a hotel when the
Indigenous Affairs Mina was there. We've had a situation where
a young bottle shop worker has been killed and that's

(06:07):
obviously going through a court case as all of these
incidents are. We've had international student Sefat killed, we have
had a man killed at the Rapid Creek shops in
a violent incident, and we have also had what we've
seen on Saturday morning. The point is right now is

(06:28):
that we have had some incredibly serious violent crime on
our streets and also in homes where people have reached
the point where they do not feel safe. You've got
families that are saying I don't actually feel safe taking
my children to the shops. Even at a shopping center
in the Northern Suburbs two weeks ago, we had a

(06:49):
situation where somebody had attempted to sexually assault somebody in
the toilets, a woman in the toilets at that shopping center.
There are so many incidents that are occurring. This is like,
it's not the perception that there's crime, or it's not
that it's being reported and that there's a lot of
reporting of crime. The fact is people don't feel safe,

(07:11):
that community safety has diminished, and once that's gone, I
feel the government's really just got one job to do,
and that is to make sure that people feel safe
living here again.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
And you know, I hear people you know, I'm a
local member and when people raise community safety issues with me,
I take them very seriously. I take them very seriously
as a member of the government, and I just want
to say to people that we don't stop here. We
are putting more resources into the police. We are putting
more resources to give our agencies the legislation the tools

(07:44):
that they need to be able to combat these issues.
And we are trying to deal with the systemic issues
that cause crime as well. We're tackling it from all angles.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
You never feel satisfied at the moment, though, man. I like,
when you go out into your electric what are people
saying to you? Because some of what's gone on has
actually happened in your electorate, and so how are you
feeling in terms of, you know, what locals are saying
to you that a long term that are saying, I'm
not happy anymore. I'm not happy with the lay of

(08:13):
the land and what's going on.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Whenever I have a conversation with someone about community safety,
you know, you really listen to the experience that they've had,
and you know you've worked hard to help them make
sure they're not in that situation again. Whether it's somebody
who's gone into their home, or they're sick of dealing
with any social behavior, or they're concerned about some violent
crime that has happened. But again, what I'll say is

(08:37):
that we are tackling this from every angle possible and.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
We're not going to slate though, isn't it, Nicole. I
mean the escalation in crime that we've all seen. Now
it started in Central Australia, it's now spread up to
the top end. It's all happened under your watch, your
government's watch. And it's all very well to be empathetic
and sympathetic and say that it's wrong, and we hear

(09:02):
you do that and say that all of you regularly,
how terrible it is, how unacceptable it is. But under
your watch, Nicole, particularly you as the former Minister for Police,
you've been Deputy Chief Minister for seven years, you have
sat back on sitting on your hands, watching this escalation

(09:23):
of crime, particularly in Central Australia, to the point where
people are so miserable, so unhappy, so put upon by
the fact that they are not safe, and all you
can do is say that you're doing your best, and
it's how terrible it is when you alone, Nicole could
have made a big change five, six, seven years ago,

(09:45):
instead of pretending that you've been consistently working on it.
Because you haven't. You failed Territorians. And the only solution, Katie,
is to change the government next year in August, because
this mob cannot manage crime.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
People are sick of the we're working on it, We're
going to fix it. They want action right now. They
need action today. They need to feel safe in your
community today. They don't need it. I'm going to do
it later. We're working on it. They need to be
reassured that their community say that they can take their
kids to school, they can go to the shopping without
seeing any social behavior, without becoming a victim of crime.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Well, I say, I take it very seriously. I deeply care,
and I'll tell you this every day I go to
work in this job. I give it my absolute all.
When I listen to any victim of crime, I take
that very personally. I don't ignore it. I don't sit
there and go at somebody else's problem. I take that
responsibility very very seriously. And that's why we've worked incredibly

(10:44):
hard since coming to government to look at the immediate
responses you need to put in but also how do
you actually change this, How do you change the issues
of the northern territory. We have seen a long time
that are frankly, they go directly to the issues of poverty,
They go directly to the issues of remoteness, of disadvantage
and a lack of decades.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Is that you guys came to government seven years ago
and haven't done enough to stop crime. That's the only
thing that's changed. We've had the poverty, We've had these
systemic problems for decades. I've been in Alice Springs for
thirty years now. Nothing's changed. It's always been there. What's
changed is your pathetic government not doing enough to jump

(11:28):
on it.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
We're in a situation though, at the moment, hang on,
let me just let's just We're in a situation at
the moment where we where we have got the community
screaming out saying, you know, enough's enough. We've got the
government saying we are doing all of these different things,
and we are listening to what the community is saying,
and we're implementing, you know, changes systemically as well as

(11:52):
trying to work on things you know on the ground
right now. But the fact is, and I did say
this to the Chief Minister yesterday. The fact is we
have got people dying on the street. There is no
other way to put it. We have still got violent
crime that is happening on our streets now, we have
got cars being stolen. You know, you've got higher rates

(12:12):
of crime than what people have experienced before. And what
they are saying is that they've had enough now. The
government then, in turn, is going, all right, we've done
this review and we're looking at we're implementing this knife
crime strategy. But the changes that you are implementing and
the changes that you are announcing are not in line

(12:33):
with the community's expectations. So how do you balance now
as a government what you think is right and what
you think are the right steps to take when the
community is not on that path with you. They're not
on that journey, they're not happy with it. I don't
take it for granted.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Every day you know to being in government and the
hard work you need to keep doing, and that does
involve listening and taking action. Yes, we do have a
police review happening right now to make sure that they
have got the resources they need to do their very
important job. We have got our different agencies territory families
working through domestic violence prevention, because they've got to say,

(13:10):
the domestic violence rates are not good and that is
a cause of violence in the Northern Territory. So we're
looking at that from both ends. From again the preventative
end to that end when we know we're dealing with
serious DV offend is how do we actually stop them
from going out? Do you think you're in crime again?

Speaker 3 (13:28):
Where have you gone wrong? Why has this all gone
to the pooh under your watch?

Speaker 4 (13:34):
It's challenging the territory. No, No, let's be really clear.
We've given police more numbers, We've made sure they've got
more legislation. We've boosted budgets, budgets across the service delivery
agencies right across the board in terms of the agencies
that are there to whether it's build more remote housing,

(13:55):
you know, put more child protection workers in place, help
work with those families that are clearly off the rails
and having issues. And then again you know, right now,
I'll tell you this, we've put more into corrections as well.
Now against justice, So did we got to continue making
sure that we are investing.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Look is the situation here though now where the government
has gone, all right, this is what we are doing.
It's going to take time and and that's where we're at.

Speaker 5 (14:21):
The community has to languish.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
How it should be, you know right now the COLP,
for example, of trying to bring some tougher bail laws
and also to strengthen the two K laws that could
go into Parliament. We could do that immediately and that
would make a difference because we would stop that cycle
of offending. The bail would be tougher to get. Could
you start with resumption against bail the two K laws
which were warded down by the Labor government in twenty nineteen.

Speaker 4 (14:46):
I things just to remind that people can tip out,
but that's all that's.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Actually you need to be able to move these people
on because they know that all you can do is
tip it out and they just continue to drinking. They
hide it in the tree around the corner. The cops
go and they come back. So the CELP would there's
two things you could do immediately. We could strengthen the
bail laws and we could do the two case stuff.
But I think there's more cops on the street because
Nicole said that there's more police. Their annual report last

(15:09):
year said there's thirty five less officers. So I'm not
sure who's telling the truth here, but the annual report
says is thirty five less officers. We always here a
Labour saying how there's more police, but yet you look
at the evidence, which is there annual reports there's a
thirty five less officers.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
So I think under Labor you've created a culture of permissiveness.
You haven't jumped on crime. You haven't sent a universal
message out to each and every one of us in
the Northern Territory that crime is unacceptable. I think you've
done the opposite. I think you've allowed people to get
away with too much. And all the legislation now in

(15:44):
the world under your government is not going to make
any difference because it's an attitude, it's a culture of permissiveness,
and the fact that people know that there are very
little consequences for crime.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well, I'd say that's absolute garbage. Make it very seriously.
Crime is, then, explain unacceptable.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Crime has escalated through.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
The reef across the modern to the transparences of people
and incarceration. They get incarceira, Where do we.

Speaker 5 (16:10):
Go from here?

Speaker 1 (16:11):
This? You know, because I'm feeling like I'm feeling, I
don't know how to put it, like pretty disheartened, I
think right now, you know that's I think how a
lot of people are feeling as well, like pretty disheartened
because we're thinking to ourselves. You know, you're hearing all
the right things from the government, but nothing's actually changing
on the ground. So where do we go from here?

Speaker 3 (16:32):
A change of government will mean a change of attitude,
a change of approach. Another four years of this government
in Alice Springs were finished, We're done for crime is
escalating again. We had a bit of a reprieve. It's
going through the roof again. Another four years of labor
and we will not have the town as we know it.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Darwin's community, a sick and tide of the government. Just
all hours, all words words were we need action, we
need action right now, and that's right across the.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Northern different approach.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
I agree with different taking action. We will keep taking
action on the ground because crime is unacceptable and people
should be able to feel safe wherever they live.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, that's the great rehearse speech we hear just about
every time from you, Nicole, and what's changed. Things have
got worse platitudes don't work.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Are you, like, are you when you go into the
cabinet meetings and when you go into those caucus meetings,
I mean, are you expressing to your team as well
that what is happening is not enough.

Speaker 4 (17:28):
We work together as a team to tackle those issues
of crime. To listen to within the cabinet, within the caucus.
I think what you've seen is that there is a
really united, strong, consistent team.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Nobody's actually standing up in there and going we've got
to change the way we're doing things.

Speaker 5 (17:47):
We've actually got to step up.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Well, we're going to not only is you know a
thing's going to get worse, but we're going to lose.

Speaker 5 (17:52):
At the election.

Speaker 4 (17:53):
We have very serious conversations about crime and the strategies
we're put in place to tackle them. As a team,
we take it very seriously.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
You're both the reviews come back with no action, you know,
the bail review, no bail changes, and also the Knifetime
Knife Time came with a lord. It's not getting tougher,
Robin said. It sends a message out there that there's
no consequences for crime. It's time to put the victims
first over the offender.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
There are some pretty serious consequences for crime, and plenty
of people that are in castles.

Speaker 5 (18:23):
VCLP throughout the week.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Well, the opposition leader did say that if required, they'll
build a bigger jail.

Speaker 5 (18:31):
Is that something that means?

Speaker 3 (18:33):
To look at the Alice Springs jails growing by about
one hundred and twenty beds. It's the only growth industry
in Alice Springs at the moment, the jail because the
demand can't the supply can't meet demand.

Speaker 5 (18:43):
And again we're bursting at the scene.

Speaker 4 (18:46):
Big industry, serious crimes, they face serious consequences for it
and they do go to jail.

Speaker 5 (18:50):
Well, take a bit of a break.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three sixty.
It is the week that was.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
If you've just.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
Joined us, We've got Nicole Madison, Robin Lamley and Jered
Maley in the studio with the This Morning.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Now.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
We had a great announcement earlier this week, a major
boost for domestic tourism with Bonza revealing Darwin and Alice
Springs as the airline's newest destinations. So the airline's going
to add twelve new flights per week to the Northern
Territory from these three new routes, so the Sunshine Coast
to Darwin, the Gold Coast to Darwin, and Melbourne to

(19:22):
Alice Springs. Daniel Rochford threatened that he was going to
cartwheel down the Todd Mall in Budgy Smug.

Speaker 4 (19:28):
Still got the opportunity for him to do that.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
He was much for tourism.

Speaker 5 (19:40):
He's a great guy.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
But you know, I think the point is that people
are really happy that this has happened, especially when you
look at what's gone on with Quantus in recent weeks.
How we all feel as though we're being mistreated by
airlines in terms of being able to fly anywhere within
our own country.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
So a good news story.

Speaker 4 (19:57):
Yeah, really happy that Bonza has come to the North Territory.
This has been a result of our Territory Aviation Attraction scheme.
There's been a huge amount of work and negotiation with
BONSA to get them here and we're really pleased. My
message to territorians is back in BONSA because they are
backing us. The two services going into the center are

(20:18):
really welcomed. I think everybody is delighted with the options
to go the Goldie or the Sunshine Coast, And I
mean I even had a look the other day myself
with just going you know what a return airfare cost
to take your whole family away, and you know that
could be for me. I was meant to go down
to Sydney last weekend to do the marathon, but that
never came through, and just to get the airfares down

(20:40):
there returned was about the same price to get my
whole family and I've got five in my family return
to the Gold Coast on Bonza for me just to go,
you know, return to Sydney. So what I'll say is
that this is great for territorians, but we need territorians
to back them in. This is going to be great
for visitors, for tourists to come to the territory. We're

(21:00):
continuing to talk to other airlines to try to lock
some more in. But you know, the best way that
we can boost out our airline services and keep them
here is that BONSA are coming in and backing us in.
Everybody go booker tickets with BONSA, support them make sure
that we can keep arguing that there's a reason to
have the services here. I'm particularly thrilled this is how
good they are. They've come in at the end of

(21:22):
November and December in time for Christmas holidays, so people
will actually be able to get out and get to
other parts of the country or have family come visit them.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
On Monday, I caught up with aviation expert Bruce Dale
and he had spoken to us about seasonality being an issue.
You know that we need to make sure that we've
got flights that are full right around the year. Otherwise
it you know, otherwise it makes it not so viable
for those airlines. Bonza did say that the aviation attraction
scheme had a big part to play for them in
terms of coming to the territory.

Speaker 5 (21:53):
The big question though.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Is how long are they going to stay. You know,
we have seen over the years airlines come and go.
We get really excited. You know, you've got air Asia,
you got Selgear, you got whoever, and.

Speaker 5 (22:05):
Then all of a sudden, oh they're out.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
And again that's the message. If you don't book the tickets,
we need to get on. We've got to need we
need to use these services. But make no mistake, aviation
is cutthroat, it is brutal. We've seen that the the
you know, the big players in Australian aviation are prioritizing
the Golden Triangle of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane because that's

(22:27):
where they get the most profit flying just in between
those three places. You know, they see us, we're a
further ride. They have aircrew, you know, extra costs and
those types of things, and they look at fuel. But
I just think they've got an obligation to this nation
to actually make sure they are servicing regional remote parts
and that's something that they seem to be falling back on.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
We need to make sure that our reputation is fixed
because people aren't going to come here for tours and
that's what we want. We want tourists to go down,
come up here and go had a great time and
fly up on these cheap flights. So this is where
crime comes back into it and any social behavior. We
need to make sure they are reputation is being fixed
and not damaged. Because you can say that the press
down south is damaged reputation, especially from the things happening
on in our of springs. We need to fix that

(23:07):
and that's where the government need to pull the levers
to make sure that they fixed crime, which we've just
been speaking about, because without a reputation We're not going
to get bums on seats, and that's what those our
lines need. We need them to come up here. We
need people to come on those planes. And if we
don't have that attraction where people come up here and
see drunken behavior, get victims of crime, or don't have
a good experience in Northern Territory, they're not going to

(23:28):
come back.

Speaker 5 (23:29):
We do have to make.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Sure that it's a positive experience and that basically lies
with the government to deal with the crime. Because people
come up here and walk down through the mall, through
cash arena and see any social behavior, they're going to
go and tell their friends don't go to the territory.
We need to make sure we've got bums on seats.
So we need to fix our reputation which has been
badly damaged by the crime over the last seven years.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
And tourism is down in Central Australia significantly mainly due
to crime. I think I'm in. The cost of living
is also a factor. It is good news the bonds
is coming in and out of Alice a couple of
times a week on the Alice Springs to Melbourne route.
That's good news. But I must have met I at
the time when I heard it, I thought, Gee, we

(24:13):
get excited by such little things these days. You know,
we've set the bar so low that we almost wet
our pants when something fairly small like this happens. But
it is significant and thank you bonds and yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
So what is going to happen or what's going to
be the case when the funds run out from that
aviation attraction scheme?

Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah, well, the funds are well and truly not expended yet.
So we're still talking to other airlines and we're really
trying to increase the services. We're looking at international options
out of Darwin. We're also trying to get more options
into Alice Springs and into Yulara as well, particularly to
back in the tourism operators as well as the residents

(24:55):
there for that livability piece. So we're talking to them
quite actively. You know, we're trying something different here, Katie.
You know, we wanted to shake things up and this
is what it is about. So we've gone out there.
This has been our first success story and we're continuing
our other active conversations with other airlines right now.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
We've had a few Tiger and Silka come and gone
because the money's run out, so and it goes back
to crime. I think no matter where you go in
the churrochory.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
But like I actually what I really want to say
is Quantus start looking after it a little bit better.
As you know, I think that needs to be a
huge part of the conversation. I know that you meet
with Quantus regularly, but with the new CEO coming in,
like Quantus really does need to get more serious about
looking after regional Australia. The way that they've treated Regional

(25:45):
Australia in recent years is absolute garbage.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
And new leadership there at the head of Quantus gives
them the opportunity. Like we've met with Vanessa to her
opportunity to make her mark as the new chief executive.
Our conversations with her when she was up a couple
of months ago, we spent a fair bit of time
with her really putting the case towards you know why
Quantus need to be servicing the Northern Territory. But they're

(26:07):
going through a whole raft of change and issues at
the moment and a huge level of scrutiny.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
There is plenty of Ozzie's asking as well, you know,
is it going to be that different when she was
the the what do you call it? Chief financial officer,
wasn't she again throughout the whole debarcle.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
You can get more out of people when they're down
and out, So this.

Speaker 5 (26:24):
Is the time to get in there.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
It puts some pressure on them. Yeah, they're looking for
a good news story.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
I don't know anyone else's traveled with their family and
their red eye flight. To get in the airport at
one thirty in the morning with your kids, it's just
absolutely horrible. It's a horrible experience and you get to
wherever you're can go the next day, and the next
day is basically get in the water as well because
the kids are screaming and you're tied. It's just those flights.
If we can, it's about the time, and we can.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Get that time. Alice Springs doesn't have an Alice Springs
to Perth direct flying anymore, which affects a huge number
of people now.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
Look. One of the other announcements that was made throughout
the week is the federal government have said that they're
delivering on their commitment to Darwin and Alice Springs residents
with the opening of these two medicare urgent care clinics.
So from the first of October, the Palmerston Urgent Urgent
Care Clinic is going to open at the GP Superclinic,
and in Alice Springs it's going to open well, it's

(27:19):
going to be operated by the Central Australia Aboriginal Congress
and it's going to open on the first of November.
Now this follows what has been unfortunately a difficult time
in terms of those code yellows that have been called
at Royal Darwin and indeed Palmerston Regional Hospital.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
Robert.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
I know that in Alice Springs there's been a lot
of pressure on the hospitals.

Speaker 4 (27:38):
There as well.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
I mean, are these I'm really hopeful that these urgent
care clinics do make a difference and that they do
actually mean that there's a bit of freeing up for
our staff at Royal Darwin, Alice Springs, whichever hospital you
go into in the territory where we know that they're
under a lot of stress.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
I think this is good news. My only concern for
Alice Springs is that they've given them to Congress, which
is an Aboriginal organization. Aboriginal people can access free health
services at any time in Alice Springs. So this has
to be a service I think primarily for people who
are struggling who aren't Aboriginal in Alice Springs. So it

(28:16):
concerns me that an Aboriginal service is now running a mainstream.

Speaker 5 (28:20):
Sert they'll be able to service everybody.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
Well they should, but it's a consideration. I think they
could have probably chosen a more mainstream provider.

Speaker 5 (28:32):
Yeah, right, so I guess time will tell.

Speaker 3 (28:35):
I guess I mean we kind of go to Congress
now for health services because it is an Aboriginal health service,
and so do you. I can't go there because I'm
non Aboriginal. So now they've given that money to an
Aboriginal health service.

Speaker 5 (28:47):
Look, and so will non Indigenous people be able to
go to that clinic?

Speaker 3 (28:51):
Presumably, But people need to know that it's available to them,
unlike all the other Congress services. Look, it's just one
of those obstacles. It can be overcome, but it's a
perceptual thing. Congress is for Aboriginal people, so hopefully they'll
open the doors and advertise it. It's also for non
Aboriginal people. Is that the case utilized by everybody?

Speaker 4 (29:14):
Yeah? My understanding is for everybody in the community of
Alice Springs. Clearly, Congress have got a lot of staff
and a lot of services and infrastructure available there, so
the FEDS have had a good look at it is
the advice I received. They've determined Congress and then up
here the Palmerston super Clinic because we know that's a
really fantastic facility there. But again it's out there. It's

(29:37):
about trying to make sure that you know those presentations,
and it's about half of them that don't need an
emergency department presentation that they go to see a GP,
hopefully get what they need and get on their way
rather than going into the ED.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
Look, we're all spoken about these cod yla. I think
there's been like seven or eight code yellows across the
Northern Territory in the last year.

Speaker 5 (29:57):
I can't remember how many.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
It's exactly multiple cor yellows. And I think we found
out this year in estimates that there was ten million
dollars spent at security at the hospitals this year in
relation to keeping the staff and keeping the patient safe.
So it goes back to that crime levels again. All
that money could have been going into a hospital system
because we know our hospital system is in crisis. The
co yellows tell us that you go there and the

(30:20):
waiting lists are horrific. You have to sit in the
ramping and these ambulances because this labor government have failed
the health system as well as a crime system. And
thank god that FED to come out to help us
out again.

Speaker 4 (30:31):
So generally experience when you do end up in the
e eday is they're pretty bloody good and the staff
are phenomenal in daw. I haven't been through to Palmeston
though now. Look we're building a new mental health facility.
We're also building a new facility to put in new
beds at RDH. We've put online the Palmerston Regional Hospital too.

(30:54):
In our time and government, so we have increased capacity
significantly and continued investing in health. But GP services are
something that really matter to people out there in the
community being able to access them as easily as possible,
and so this is why this is important. It just
means people know that they can go in with confidence
to know that it will be all under medicare, especially

(31:15):
for those people who don't have much money. Because I
tell you what, I'm on a good wicket and when
I have to you know, go into the doctor and
you still fork out one hundred dollars to go see
a doctor. You know you can see if you've got
not much money, that's going to be a really difficult
thing for you to justify. So no wonder you end
up in the ed to go get some healthcare.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
I just don't understand how Darwin, with two big hospitals
now is still not able to meet the demand. Well.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
One of the things that always comes up for us,
and one of the things that we spoke to doctor
Robert Parker, the head of the AMA here in the
territory about is the fact that we've got a number
of aged care patients that are needing those beds in
Royal Darwin Hospital because there's nowhere else for them to go.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
He said that the reality of it is that we
could have.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
One hundred bits come online and that's really what we need.
But also something that I know you guys have experienced
in Alice probably just as much, if not more so
than what we do here, is alcohol related harm and
alcohol related issues. There is no doubt that that has
a big impact in the Northern Territory.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
Yeah, without a doubt. To chronic health conditions as well
as presentations to the hospital. One thing with health services
is that you know they get filled. If you build them,
they will get filled because you know, people want to
make sure that they are taking care of people when
they present to them, and whether it's a GP or
they present to a hospital, that they are getting the
best possible care. You know, we're going to continue investing

(32:44):
in health That's something that we've always done. Will continue
to make sure that people get better services. And what
we can say is that they're certainly a lot better
than when we first came to government.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
But just investing in health system is not good enough
because the health system is in chaos. And I know
the government always say we've got our biggest health budget
ever and I started every year, but the facts are
that the health systems in crisis. We've had code yellow,
we've had people complaining, we've had we've got the security well,
I think what we've seen and the staff do a
great job and if they weren't there, it would be
in a world of hurt.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Look, we are going to take a very short break.
You are listening to Mix one oh four nine's three sixty.
It is the week that was if you've just joined
us this morning. We've got gered Maylee, Robin Ladley and
Nicole Manison in the studio for the week. That was
now an announcement made yesterday by the Minister for Infrastructure,
Evil Lawler, the Territory Government's established the Building Compliance Task

(33:34):
Force to review and audit the certification status of all
buildings and building works.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
On government owned land.

Speaker 4 (33:40):
Now.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
The purpose of the task Force is to provide strategic
advice to the government on appropriate pathways to compliance with
the requirements of the Building Act of nineteen ninety three.
And the issue here is is that we've got a
number of buildings and building works on two hundred and
ninety eight specified land parcels pre dating self government have

(34:02):
been identified as not receiving occupancy certification upon completion of construction.

Speaker 5 (34:08):
Now that is.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Something that we you know, every building needs, every premises needs,
and unfortunately we've got a situation where this well two
hundred and ninety eight nearly three.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
This is need. This this is a very longstanding historic issue, Katie,
as you can see that it's you know, some buildings
prior to self government. So Eva's gone out there she
wants to get this all sorted. The message to people
though is that these buildings are safe, like these are
safe places, so don't think they're going to fall in
under it like over your head. But we are working

(34:41):
through it and working to get that paperwork up to scratch.
And the other thing to point out is that you
know some of these buildings when they were put in place.
I mean we're talking about pre electronic records, computers and
so forth. So there is a lot of work to
do here and that's why she put the task force
together to look at how we deal with this, to
give people this certainty, the surety that they know they
have occupancy certificates.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
So this is an ongoing issue, yes, but it came
to a head a few years ago when the TiO
Stadium came under scrutiny when it was found that that
didn't meet the standards for certification. Look, this is it
is an ongoing issue, Nicole. But this Minister Eva Lawla
has sat on her hands for years and procrastinated over

(35:27):
how to deal with it. She's setting up a task force.
Look in any other jurisdiction in Australia, Minister Lawla should
resign with her head on her chest. An embarrassment for
her lack of action and her lack of real initiative
in trying to address this issue.

Speaker 4 (35:47):
Outrageous government. I think if you go talk to action,
go talk to the builders out there, go talk to
people who build infrastructure in the Northern Territory. That's say,
they're pretty happy with Eva the builder, but.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
I think they probably be thinking that this is a
bit hypocritical when they've got to build something and got
to have those occupancy certificates, but then there's you know,
then there's government buildings that don't.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
And toa stadium was the problems there were just pushed
under the carpet time and time again.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
And remember this labor government. You know it's not this
l but the labor government had been in powerful like
seventeen or eighty years out of the last twenty one
or twenty two years if you go back through the
history books. So a lot of these buildings that have
actually been built under Labour's watch and yet.

Speaker 5 (36:26):
A lot of them built under the colps.

Speaker 2 (36:28):
Well, I'm just going to say that then, so this
had seventeen years to fix the problem, and I agree
with Robin, and they're just seemed to sat on the
hands and too is and issues. We need to make
sure that the territories are safe. And again there's thousands
of people that coo and there's a fire.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
Or timeframes are you going to use, Minister Lawla, when
are you going to get this work done? What sort
of time frames are you working on? This is what's
your commitment a task force? Is that really good enough?

Speaker 4 (36:52):
No? You see the works well and truly under the way,
and you know EVA has been working very hard on
this issue, and you know, if there's any that will
resolve it, it's evil Lawla. Let me tell you.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
That remains to be seen.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
I mean, is there sort of is there a time
frame though when you talk about this work actually being done?
And the biggest question I think is are these different
buildings safe?

Speaker 5 (37:13):
Clearly territorians to still be Yes.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
The advice I've had is yes, And they're clearly working
through a pathway to get them to occupant CE certificates.
But again, remember we're talking about hundreds of long standing
buildings here.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
Go back to the TiO Stadium. It was the firees
that said that there wasn't enough water pressure in the
hydrants to put out a fire if a fire occurred.
Within Too stadium. It was the fireries that said that
it's unsatisfactory and unsafe. Yet Minister Lawla decided that it
was fine. She overrode all the advice carry on as

(37:48):
usually as one of.

Speaker 4 (37:49):
The most professional ministers you'll ever meet, who gets as
fir and she's bloody impressive. And I just know that
she would have taken this very seriously in terms of
the decision making. And she's rolling up her sleeves and.

Speaker 5 (38:01):
She's setting up the task for getting advice.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
We had advice that the shade struck. You have those
vines over one year and has been years. So some
of the advice given to the government is either not
correct or not active on. We're working on advice. Well,
clearly the advice could be wrong or is wrong, especially using.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
The shape that.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Criss cross.

Speaker 5 (38:30):
Oh dear, we'll take a bit of a break.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
You are listening to mix one O four nine's three
six did is the week that was well. One of
the other stories that made news headlines this week was
indeed the Yes campaign distancing itself from protesters who'd hurled
abuse at people attending a No event on Monday in
South Australia. So over a thousand people attended the event
to hear from Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians just Enter

(38:54):
Price and as well as that Warren Mundine, now the
Prime Minister at the Alban Easiest called for respectful debate
in the lead up to the Voice to Parliament referendum.
But I tell you what, you know, some of what
was being yelled at out outside of this of this
event was woeful, like you were saying, you know, they were,

(39:15):
they were really being pretty vile. I think you'd have
to say calling you know, like I can't even some
of it I can't say. But you know, if you
your racist dog, racist pig, that kind of thing and
not a true reflection I don't think of of people.

Speaker 4 (39:33):
That are Yes on the Yes campaign.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
These people looked like they were absolutely nuts, if I'm honest.

Speaker 4 (39:39):
And again, we live in a democracy, and a great
thing about living in a democracy is that you know,
we can have these debates and you can go in
to look at amending the Constitution. But I'd say to
anybody involved as yeah, by all means, go out and
campaign for your campaign, if it's yes or if it's no.
I'll be supporting the Yes campaign I'm happy to put
that on the re good, but do it respectfully. Treat

(40:04):
people with respect, you know, don't go and abuse people
just because they don't have the same beliefs as you.
There is no excuse for that.

Speaker 3 (40:10):
This happens in parliament. To Nicole, you know, your side
of politics in Parliament in recent times has pretty much
accused the CLP of all sorts of things for not
supporting the Voice, not in a in a sort of
swearing and completely derogatory manner, but pretty much asserting that

(40:33):
that the CLP erasist for not supporting the Voice. So
it's a bit rich to sort of change a tune.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
I think, you know, as parliamentarians in the Anti Parliament
with the largest proportion of Aboriginal people in the Northern
in the Northern territory in this country, that you know,
we should be supporting the Voice because it's going to
give Aboriginal people a greater say on their future and
I think we'll lead to better.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Outcomes about the Voice when it's going to be I'm
talking about the actual protest. People should be able to
go there and have your say. You should be able
to walk down the street if you want to wear
a yes shirt or no shirt by all means without
having to get someone coming to us. I just don't
think the average Australian accepts it. And I just think
what happened, whether the yes or no is that acceptable.
And we need to be able to go out there.

(41:16):
We're not overseas where there's some sort of dictatorship. Were
are a democracy. You should be able to go and
there's no place in Australia to for those sort of
people either side or whatever you're talking about.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
It. It's pretty sad that we've come to this point
where we're divided over race. That is sad. I mean
I intend to vote yes because I want to support
my fellow Aboriginal Territorians. I have no intention of insulting
them or not backing them. But I absolutely respect anyone
who votes differently from that for any reason, and they

(41:50):
should be left alone.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
And this is the thing. It's an individual choice, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
That is the thing about a referendum is it comes
down to an individual and the way that you want
to vote. But hurling insults at each other or not
being able to respectful discussion about it's pretty pretty gross.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
And it's not just I've got to say, you know,
this referendument stands for like you know, I've seen other
type of protest behavior, particularly around resources. Should have seen
some of the behavior of the people Resources week when
we had our opening ceremony and some of the things,
some of the protests out the front, some of them
were you know, I'm like, here we are at our
resources mining, gas, carbon capture storage, environmental management, and we

(42:26):
had protesters out the front hurling abuse at people just
trying to walk into a function. And some of that,
unfortunately was racist abuse.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Yeah right, She's just not acceptable.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
It's not And you know, I always think to myself
when you talk about protests in that way, and and
you know, some of what we have seen is we've
had some protests that have been incredibly respectful.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
You know.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Even the one where we I think we've had the
biggest turnout was the one about crime outside Parliament House
and that was respectful. You know, people were actually really
respectful of one another. We didn't hear issues like this,
We didn't hear people swearing at one another or anything
like that. It was a respectful discussion that was had.
But when you hear people hurling abuse they're being pretty

(43:09):
foul about it. It's not acceptable, but it's also how
do you think you're going to take people along on
the journey with you? And how do you think you're
going to change anybody's mind by swearing at them all
by having a crack.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
At them, Katie, I think this referendum has failed in
a big way because it means that calling someone a
racist is almost acceptable now and I've never found it acceptable.
I've been called a racist since the first day I
came to Parliament. Rod Knight, the former Member for Daily,
in my maiden speech yield out racist across the chamber

(43:43):
and I'll never forget that. And since then I've been
called a racist many times by Labor members. So this
is a game that labor play often and I don't
accept that at all. I think being called a racist
is a huge insult and it's very device and it's
meant to it's the purpose is to shut people down.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
Well, it's the last thing we want in the country
right now. It goes against what the federal government is
actually trying to do.

Speaker 4 (44:11):
You know.

Speaker 5 (44:12):
It means that people are becoming more divided, but we are.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Trying to do I have no idea Katie anymore. I mean,
you know, you've got the labor, Federal Labor and all
the federal factions pushing the yes vote with the underlying
message being if you vote, know you're a racist. That's
the message that we're all getting loudly and clearly. It's terrible.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
Well, we are going to have to wrap up for
the morning. It's always busy in here. There's never any
shortage of things to talk about, that is for sure.
Jered Maley from the COLP, the Deputy Opposition Leader, thank
you for your time.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Thank you, thanks a lot.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
Robin Lamley, the Independent member for Ara Lawn, thank you
for your time.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Pleasure Katie. Have you here?

Speaker 1 (44:51):
From Alice Nicole Madison, the Deputy Chief Minister, thank you
for your time.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
Thank you. And can I say to the Islamic Society
of Darwin looking forward to your fiftieth jubilee and the
Dal Malayley Association looking forward to a big on armed
celebration over the weekend.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
And to the kids of the territory. I know they're
probably not listening this morning, but school holda is