Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am pleased to say that I believe joining me
on the line right now is the Federal Opposition leader
Peter Dutton. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
You, Good morning, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Yeah, very well, Thanks so much for your time this morning.
I know you're having some well phone reception issues, so
hopefully we're able to get through the interview without you
cutting out. Now, you had the discussion or the roundtable yesterday.
Tell us a little bit about who you met with
and what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, Katie, we had a really good meeting. It was
I think a good reflection of the community sentiment, not
just in Darwen, but across many parts of the NC
where people from businesses and people with a service delivery
perspective just told us about what they're seeing in the
community in relation to crime. And it's pretty alarming. And
(00:48):
you know, I'm not telling people of Darwin, or you know,
the broaders of a community any news that they don't
already know. We know that just according to the stats
I'm in the house, break into cross the territory a
up twenty two percent, vehicle thefties up by thirty percent
of Darwin, and so it goes on the question is
what can be done about it, and it seems to
(01:12):
me that the government at the moment run out of
ideas or they've made decisions which has really made it
less safe and much more difficult for the police to
enforce the law, and unfortunately people are falling victim to
these crimes on a more regular basis.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
What do you think can be done or what do
you think should be done? I mean there's a real
discussion I guess in the lead into to any election,
you know, whether it's at a state scale or even
even federally, when you talk about crime that you know
that tough on crime approach, some people come out and
say it just doesn't work. I mean, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, interestingly, yesterday Katie talking to some of the people,
I mean, I asked the question, well, you know, why
is it so bad now, and why is it much
worse than it has been in the past, and are
there are a few people there who who obviously the
long term residents of Darwin in the NT and they
were talking about changes to bail laws, the government's approach
(02:10):
to not arresting people and allowing there to be a
culture where there's no consequence for your actions. People go
before the courts and get a slap on the wrist.
And when you look at the appointments that the Labor
Government's made of magistrates and judges over a period of time,
are they people that reflect the community values and views
in terms of sentencing and does it provide that deterrence.
(02:34):
I think people are living with the outcomes now of
the social experiment which has gone terribly wrong. So I
think there are a number of things you can do.
And as you know, I think people have talked about
not just in the Northern Territory but in Melbourne and
in Sydney. When you water down the bail laws, people
are back out there before the police can finish the
(02:55):
paperwork and they're back out committing more crimes. There are
things that you can do about bail. I think there
are things that you can do in relation to providing
support to the police, clearly.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
There's a lot going on in the community at the
moment that I think people are starting to see as
normal and it's not normal behavior to have the impact
that we're seeing on local residents with their homes being
broken into, the windows on their cars being smashed at
local shopping centers, and what we're seeing for businesses. One
(03:33):
of the business groups yesterday told us that one of
the shopping centers now has a security bill of over
a million dollars a year. Now all of that's passed
on to shoppers through higher rents for the tenants in
that shopping center, and it has an inflation re impact
and at a time when people can't afford extra prices,
they're finding the prices of the goods that they're paying
(03:56):
being jacked up. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Well, it's something we were literally just talking about out
with the Australian Hotels Association. I mean, when it comes
to those issues of crime right across Australia, though we
know that we are definitely under the pump here in
the territory, there's no other way to put it. Other
parts of Australia are, you know, are experiencing high rates
of crime as well. Is there more that can happen
(04:19):
from a federal scale to really try to help the
states to deal with this.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
The short entry is yes. But I just make this point.
It's in my judgment and you know, we've get to
move around the country every day. There's nothing like what
we're seeing in the territory. You know, the parts of
the country at the moment. When you look at Pallas Springs,
I mean motor vehicle steps up by fifty percent, housebreakings
in Tenet Creek up by one hundred and sixty six percent.
(04:49):
You know, Palmerston property damage up fifty percent, robbery extortion
events our Springs up one hundred and fifty percent. There's
there's a give a problem here in the NTA, and
I think the Chief Minister really needs to offer a
huge apology to local residents because she's allowed it to
(05:10):
get completely out of control. But the anty question in
relation to what can be done at a federal level, well,
there's more funding that can be provided for policing services.
There's obviously federal legislation, particularly around telecommunications, which is a
power that the commonwp has that the territory doesn't have.
(05:31):
And in that regard where kids are sharing videos or
they're posting images of themselves committing crimes, the Commula can
do more to enforce those laws, and we've put forward
a policy to that effect to make sure that we
toughen the laws up and make it an offense to
(05:51):
share an image of that crime being committed or perpetrated,
because for many kids and gangs. Now part of the
part of the reason they're committing a crime is that
they can post it online so that they can get likes,
and that's part of the psyche. Regrettably, that's the reality,
and it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, it's unbelievable. We are going to have to get
ready to wrap up. I know your press for time,
as are we, but I just want to ask you.
And it's a complex issue, so I know there's probably
not a short answer, but when it comes to the
serious rates of domestic violence that we've got here in
the Northern Territory, there's been a real push for needs
based funding rather than, you know, rather than the level
of funding that we're currently receiving from the federal government.
(06:34):
Is that something that a coalition government would be prepared
to commit to.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I'd be very happy to look at it, and some
of the groups raised it yesterday. I do think the
territory is underdone in terms of the funding that's coming
from Camber. At the moment, the PM is just employing
another ten thousand public servants in camera and I think
that money can be better spent in services that we
know are working on the ground. Got to be making sure.
(07:00):
We've got to make sure that we're not putting money
after bat into services that aren't working. But for the
services that are shifting the dial and it can demonstrate
that they're reducing the incidents of domestic violence, then I
think we should be looking to scale it up so
that we can reduce that cycle. Because young kids are
growing up watching that violence. It's been normalized, particularly in
(07:22):
some cases reinforced with what they're watching online as well,
and then they become future perpetrators as well, and so
you become a generational cycle. But there are other things
that you can do as well. I mean, the government
removed the restrictions in relation to alcohol in some communities,
the Casuallest debit card was removed, and there was just
an overnight spike in domestic and family and community violence otherwise,
(07:47):
And I just think the PMS had a pretty weak
approach to all of this, and I think we've got
to make tough decisions to really get back to a
position where we can allow people to lead safe, normal
lives again. And that's absolutely our priority, and I know
Leah's priority as well. And I actually gets elected in
a couple of weeks time, because we can turn the
(08:08):
territory around and get it back on track, and I
think there's a huge opportunity for that coming up. Well.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for having a quick chat with us.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Pleasure, Katie, take that. Thank you.
I am pleased to say that I believe joining me
on the line right now is the Federal Opposition leader
Peter Dutton. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
You, Good morning, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Yeah, very well, Thanks so much for your time this morning.
I know you're having some well phone reception issues, so
hopefully we're able to get through the interview without you
cutting out. Now, you had the discussion or the roundtable yesterday.
Tell us a little bit about who you met with
and what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, Katie, we had a really good meeting. It was
I think a good reflection of the community sentiment, not
just in Darwen, but across many parts of the NC
where people from businesses and people with a service delivery
perspective just told us about what they're seeing in the
community in relation to crime. And it's pretty alarming. And
(00:48):
you know, I'm not telling people of Darwin, or you know,
the broaders of a community any news that they don't
already know. We know that just according to the stats
I'm in the house, break into cross the territory a
up twenty two percent, vehicle thefties up by thirty percent
of Darwin, and so it goes on the question is
what can be done about it, and it seems to
(01:12):
me that the government at the moment run out of
ideas or they've made decisions which has really made it
less safe and much more difficult for the police to
enforce the law, and unfortunately people are falling victim to
these crimes on a more regular basis.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
What do you think can be done or what do
you think should be done? I mean there's a real
discussion I guess in the lead into to any election,
you know, whether it's at a state scale or even
even federally, when you talk about crime that you know
that tough on crime approach, some people come out and
say it just doesn't work. I mean, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, interestingly, yesterday Katie talking to some of the people,
I mean, I asked the question, well, you know, why
is it so bad now, and why is it much
worse than it has been in the past, and are
there are a few people there who who obviously the
long term residents of Darwin in the NT and they
were talking about changes to bail laws, the government's approach
(02:10):
to not arresting people and allowing there to be a
culture where there's no consequence for your actions. People go
before the courts and get a slap on the wrist.
And when you look at the appointments that the Labor
Government's made of magistrates and judges over a period of time,
are they people that reflect the community values and views
in terms of sentencing and does it provide that deterrence.
(02:34):
I think people are living with the outcomes now of
the social experiment which has gone terribly wrong. So I
think there are a number of things you can do.
And as you know, I think people have talked about
not just in the Northern Territory but in Melbourne and
in Sydney. When you water down the bail laws, people
are back out there before the police can finish the
(02:55):
paperwork and they're back out committing more crimes. There are
things that you can do about bail. I think there
are things that you can do in relation to providing
support to the police, clearly.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
But.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
There's a lot going on in the community at the
moment that I think people are starting to see as
normal and it's not normal behavior to have the impact
that we're seeing on local residents with their homes being
broken into, the windows on their cars being smashed at
local shopping centers, and what we're seeing for businesses. One
(03:33):
of the business groups yesterday told us that one of
the shopping centers now has a security bill of over
a million dollars a year. Now all of that's passed
on to shoppers through higher rents for the tenants in
that shopping center, and it has an inflation re impact
and at a time when people can't afford extra prices,
they're finding the prices of the goods that they're paying
(03:56):
being jacked up. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Well, it's something we were literally just talking about out
with the Australian Hotels Association. I mean, when it comes
to those issues of crime right across Australia, though we
know that we are definitely under the pump here in
the territory, there's no other way to put it. Other
parts of Australia are, you know, are experiencing high rates
of crime as well. Is there more that can happen
(04:19):
from a federal scale to really try to help the
states to deal with this.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
The short entry is yes. But I just make this point.
It's in my judgment and you know, we've get to
move around the country every day. There's nothing like what
we're seeing in the territory. You know, the parts of
the country at the moment. When you look at Pallas Springs,
I mean motor vehicle steps up by fifty percent, housebreakings
in Tenet Creek up by one hundred and sixty six percent.
(04:49):
You know, Palmerston property damage up fifty percent, robbery extortion
events our Springs up one hundred and fifty percent. There's
there's a give a problem here in the NTA, and
I think the Chief Minister really needs to offer a
huge apology to local residents because she's allowed it to
(05:10):
get completely out of control. But the anty question in
relation to what can be done at a federal level, well,
there's more funding that can be provided for policing services.
There's obviously federal legislation, particularly around telecommunications, which is a
power that the commonwp has that the territory doesn't have.
(05:31):
And in that regard where kids are sharing videos or
they're posting images of themselves committing crimes, the Commula can
do more to enforce those laws, and we've put forward
a policy to that effect to make sure that we
toughen the laws up and make it an offense to
(05:51):
share an image of that crime being committed or perpetrated,
because for many kids and gangs. Now part of the
part of the reason they're committing a crime is that
they can post it online so that they can get likes,
and that's part of the psyche. Regrettably, that's the reality,
and it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, it's unbelievable. We are going to have to get
ready to wrap up. I know your press for time,
as are we, but I just want to ask you.
And it's a complex issue, so I know there's probably
not a short answer, but when it comes to the
serious rates of domestic violence that we've got here in
the Northern Territory, there's been a real push for needs
based funding rather than, you know, rather than the level
of funding that we're currently receiving from the federal government.
(06:34):
Is that something that a coalition government would be prepared
to commit to.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I'd be very happy to look at it, and some
of the groups raised it yesterday. I do think the
territory is underdone in terms of the funding that's coming
from Camber. At the moment, the PM is just employing
another ten thousand public servants in camera and I think
that money can be better spent in services that we
know are working on the ground. Got to be making sure.
(07:00):
We've got to make sure that we're not putting money
after bat into services that aren't working. But for the
services that are shifting the dial and it can demonstrate
that they're reducing the incidents of domestic violence, then I
think we should be looking to scale it up so
that we can reduce that cycle. Because young kids are
growing up watching that violence. It's been normalized, particularly in
(07:22):
some cases reinforced with what they're watching online as well,
and then they become future perpetrators as well, and so
you become a generational cycle. But there are other things
that you can do as well. I mean, the government
removed the restrictions in relation to alcohol in some communities,
the Casuallest debit card was removed, and there was just
an overnight spike in domestic and family and community violence otherwise,
(07:47):
And I just think the PMS had a pretty weak
approach to all of this, and I think we've got
to make tough decisions to really get back to a
position where we can allow people to lead safe, normal
lives again. And that's absolutely our priority, and I know
Leah's priority as well. And I actually gets elected in
a couple of weeks time, because we can turn the
(08:08):
territory around and get it back on track, and I
think there's a huge opportunity for that coming up. Well.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for having a quick chat with us.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Pleasure, Katie, take that. Thank you.
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