Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we know that it has been revealed that it's
going to cost taxpayers more than ninety two thousand dollars
for the Chief Minister and two staff members to travel
overseas to America. She's going to be traveling, as I said,
with two staff Now. In a statement last week, the
government said that the Chief Minister is going to be
traveling to the United States to reaffirm defense ties and
(00:21):
promote the Northern Territory's abundance of critical minerals and emergency
response capability. But the question really is this morning, I
mean more than ninety thousand dollars, is that too much money?
Or are these meetings required? Now joining me in the
studio to discuss this and other things is the Opposition
leader Leah fanochiiro Good morning to you, Leah.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Now, Leah, is ninety thousand dollars too much to be
spent on going overseas for what has been described as
critical meetings?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Look, I think it doesn't pass the pub test, Katie.
At a time when our debt is at ten billion dollars,
cost of living pressures on family are really forcing people
to make decisions on how they put food on the table.
And then you've got a government that's literally spent an
entire week in Parliament telling people that crime is just
a perception and gossip, and then they've all flitted off
(01:13):
overseas at ten thousand dollars a day. I mean, I
just can't understand why it's costing Natasha Philes ten thousand
dollars a day to be in the US. And then
we know earlier this year Minister Moss went overseas and
it costs ten thousand dollars a day for that trip
as well.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
We've got Eva Lawler.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, look there are by the look of it, there
is a number of trips. And during the trip though,
the Chief Minister I want to just focus on hers
for one moment. The Chief Minister is going to meet
with key US federal government decision makers to advance the
territory's role in supporting US defense training initiatives under the
Australian United States Alliance in the Northern Territory. They say
(01:51):
it's also an opportunity to develop US defense planned infrastructure
investments in the Northern Territory which will create local jobs. LEA,
isn't this work and these meetings. Isn't it important?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Look, it is important, and our relationship with the United
States is important. But for the Chief Minister to spend
nine days at ten thousand dollars a day, there are
questions around that. You know, people, this is a government
that promised to be open and transparent when they came
to government in twenty sixteen, they said they would be
publishing in advance the cost of overseas holidays, and of
(02:25):
course this has had to be extracted.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Hang on, so it's not holidays, they're not overseas sorry,
overseas troops.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Obviously that was asleep, but it's probably what everyone's thinking.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
But look, you know, I do.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Think that there does need to be you know that
we do need to be honest here. I mean, it
is a situation where obviously there are important meetings that
need to happen. But I do think that there was
a time, if I recall correctly, where they were actually
publishing the amount on pressure releases that it was costing.
That was in the early days of the government. And
I actually think that that's a good idea. Then people
(02:59):
know it's very up front, you're very straightforward about how
much it's costing. So that taxpayers actually have an understanding now.
I know even last week I'd heard from Master Builders
and they'd said that Katie. Yes, we do believe that
these discussions are important, particularly when you look at the
amount that he's going to be coming into the northern
Territory around infrastructure from from defense. But you know the
(03:20):
point that you're making about sort of ten thousand dollars
a day, it is one that needs to be made.
It's an awful lot of money.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And I'm off the back of the context, Katie. So
we've got a government that's not able to control the basics.
Our hospital is constantly and Code yellow crime is totally
out of control. Things are a mess in the territory
and we're going backwards. Then you've got the government picking
up and going overseas at a pretty penny. I mean,
this is not their money, this is territory taxpayers dollars.
(03:49):
And people want to know why it's costing ten thousand
dollars a day seemingly for every minister to go overseas.
What's that money being spent on. Does it have to
be that expensive and what's the outcome? Want to know
that they're getting value for money. Members of Parliament are
accountable to the people and so this is really around
transparency with when it comes to Lauren Moss's travel, that
(04:09):
information came out way after the fact, and we know
with the Chief Minister's travel this week it's been extracted
by the media. So we do have a government that's
not got a good track record on transparency and people,
you know, people don't like that.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So by the sounds of things, you know, you don't
have an issue obviously with the Chief Minister going for
these meetings or having these meetings, But when it then
comes to something like Minister Lauren Moss going away for
that water conference, you're sort of going, well, hang on
a sec is that travel essential? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
So Lauren Moss went away for six days I think
to New York. It was for the United Nations Water Conference.
Now does she need to do that, probably not. Did
it need to cost sixty thousand dollars, absolutely not. Does
the Chief Minister need to be in Washington for nine days?
Probably not? Does it need to cost ninety thousand dollars?
So there's all degrees here. Territorians are very reasonable people
(05:04):
and we want our best foot forward on the national stage.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Sod Leah, what would the COLP do differently when it
comes to overseas travel? I mean, would you not meet
with the likes of those US Defense Force.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Like I said, it's not about not going on these trips,
but it's about ensuring that you have value for territory.
So Natasha Files has taken two staff members with her.
Could she have taken one staff member that would make
the trip a third of you know, one third cheaper.
It's all those types of decisions, and of course being
open about it at the start. The comments from the
(05:37):
Deputy Chief Minister around oh well it's transparent because you'll
see it on Facebook, just laughable, Katie.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It's it's not what people want to hear.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Especially again, what we're talking about is a context for
real life territorians out there making tough decisions on where
do I park my car, can I go to the shop,
will I be safe tonight?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Can I put food on the table?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
And then off the back of that, we've got a
government not dealing with those issues and off overseas at
an extraordinary cost.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So, Leah, would the COLP commit to publishing those costs
before traveling away?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We're very happy to continue that going.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Of course, it was a labor commitment in twenty sixteen
that they started and have totally disbanded, but we're very
happy to pick that back up.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
We've got nothing to hide.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
This is about making sure that we spend every penny
as wisely as we can. And when we've got a
ten billion dollar debt and the territories falling apart with
crime and cost of living in our economy going backwards,
it's prudden and responsible to be really upfront about making sure,
you know, can things be done more?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Publish it in a pressure release before traveling away. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Well, I've got absolutely no qualms about doing that, Katie.
It's not an issue for us. It always governments have
to travel, but it's about putting enough public pressure and
scrutiny on it to make sure when they are making
those decisions that it really is in the best interest
of the territory.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
All right, Lea. I do want to move along because
in other news, the Northern Territory governments refusing to release
a secret letter from the Chief Minister Natasha Files to
the former police Commissioner Jamie Chalker. It was sent before
his sudden leave of absence and legal fights earlier this year.
Now the ABC News putting a request through Freedom of
Information to access the letter, but after a five month wait,
(07:17):
the Northern Territory government has formally declined the request, citing
confidentiality and privacy concerns. Lea, do you think that this
letter should be made public?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
This is very interesting, Katie.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I think this government again has got no runs on
the board when it comes to being open and transparent.
They promised changes to FOY to be able to make
more things accessible to the public. And this letter has
public interest because of course it's what sparked this whole
disaster and uncertainty around the Jamie Chalker payout. It's what
led to that Supreme Court proceeding, and what Territorians know
(07:52):
is that the settlement with Jamie Chalker happened the night
before Natasha Files was due to hit the stand and
be a witness in those court proceedings.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
All around that letter.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
So I think the question on people's mind is whether
or not the Australian Federal Police were asked to come
to the Territory to support our crime crisis, and people
want to know the answer to that.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
So do you think that the public interest here outweighs
the detriment.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Well, I think there's lots of ways that government could
do it. Instead, they've just closed the lid on it.
They haven't redacted parts of it, they haven't even tried
to sort of offer up sections of the letter that
could be made available. They've just absolutely said no, we're
not doing it and made that decision. And I'm glad
the ABC are appealing that decision because people want to know.
(08:37):
This of course led to a payout from the police.
Bottom line, it led to Supreme Court proceedings that our
Chief Minister would have had to front as a witness,
and of course it ended in the demise of a
police commissioner. So there is significant public interests around this matter.
Territorians are the ones who paid, and ultimately, in a
crime crisis, people want to know whether or not this
(08:57):
all sparked from the commissioner asking for the AFP to
come and support us.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
He was on the record though, I was saying that
he didn't need the AFP to come in and support us.
And I know because this is something that I'd asked,
I'd put to him, i'd put to the Chief Minister,
I put to a lot of decision makers over that
period of time, so he was on the record as.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Saying that he didn't ask yes, but it obviously appeared
in this letter, and because we don't have it, I
guess we were wondering. I think the allegation was at
the time that perhaps the Chief Minister had said that
he had done that.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
So who knows right?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And I guess that's the whole point of wanting to
get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
This letter is.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Really pivotal and will answer a lot of questions for
a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So we'll see where ABC get with it.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
But again government just shutting it down straight up without
even trying to release some information.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
All right.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It is being reported that the COLP has a proposal
for council local government boundaries to change back to the
way that they used to be. So this was flagged
last week and would see the return of community councils
to the Northern Territory's local government structure fifteen years after
that model was scrapped in favor of a shire council model.
Why is the COLP looking.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
To do this?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
We have had overwhelming feedback for the entire period that
we've been in opposition Katie from every part of the
Northern Territory. No matter which remote Aboriginal community we go to,
people raise it with us as the number one concern
that the super shires that Labor brought in in two
thousand and eight have totally disempowered Aboriginal people on communities.
(10:30):
It's removed leadership structures, it's removed control, and has not
led to better outcomes for anybody. So it's something we're
really focused on working with Aboriginal people in remote communities
around what a new model could look like. You know,
the original model wasn't perfect either. There's got to be
a way to do this properly. But certainly having highly
(10:51):
centralized councils or you know, regional councils in the major
towns is not delivering the outcomes.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Money saving measure that was well, I mean, was it
costing an enormous amount of money to have like various
different local councils throughout different regions when you could actually
you know, when you could actually refine things.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Look, it could have been a cost saving at the time.
It was right back in two thousand and eight, but
you know, all these decades later, we need to be
reviewing that and saying has this worked? And I think
the resounding answer to that is no, it hasn't. Aboriginal
people want to be in control of their communities, creating
those jobs, creating the opportunities and the leadership structures, and
we're very, very supportive of that. So we're excited about
(11:33):
this consultation process that has begun. We're actively out talking
with people about what it could look like, and we'll
carry that through into next year.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Before I let you go, the Coalition leader Peter Dutton
has come out with plans of his own. He says
that he plans to do a second referendum seeking constitutional
recognition of Aboriginal people with no voice element if the
current bid fails.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Do you support this?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I've always been supportive of constitutional recognition. I think Territorians
are probably thinking, oh, another referendum or another election and
more money. So probably the best way to go off
the Coalition want to do that is to tie in
with the next federal election. That way, there's not additional
cost or impost on the community to vote. But I
think a lot of people are really disappointed that Labor
(12:19):
have not split the questions so that people can vote
yes for constitutional recognition and then vote how they want
to vote on the issue of the voice.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Leah Finocchiaro, we are going to have to leave it.
They're good to catch up with you as always.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Thank you, take care, thank you.