Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, as I mentioned just a moment ago, the NT
election is now just ten months away and political parties
no doubt getting themselves organized. And the opposition t revealed
two candidates for the Palmeston area, with Matthew Kurl set
to recontest Blaine, while Army veteran and business owner Clinton
Howie is going to be running for Drysdale. Now joining
(00:20):
me on the show is the opposition leader, Leah fanocchiar
Og boarding to.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You, Leah.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Good morning Katie, into your listener now, Leah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Two candidates revealed on the weekend after the COLP conference
in Darwin on Saturday, and former Chief Minister Shane Stone
was elected as the president, replacing Sean Heenan. Firstly, is
it a case of returning the old guard with Shane
Stone stepping back in as the president.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
No, it's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Shane served in the country Liberal Party overs in a
variety of ways. He's been president dating back to nineteen
eighty nine, Katie, but also long serving member of Parliament,
Chief Minister. He's been President of the Liberal Party of Australia.
He's held a number of roles in political, public and
private life and brings a wealth of experience, so we're
(01:06):
very excited to have him back on board, and of
course then to announce two new candidates is very exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Gear up.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Is it a situation here where you know where he's
been brought in to try to keep the party calm
ten months out from an election.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
No, it was unanimous.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Sean Heenan was actually the one who put Shane up.
Shan's remained on as vice president, which is fantastic and
people are very excited. You know, we need to show
Territorians we're very serious about winning the next election and
with Shane's experience, it's going to put the party in
a really strong position to be able to support that
(01:43):
going forward. So the parliamentary team are very excited. Our
member base is strong and we continue to grow in
strength and that's what people want to see.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I guess it does give the Labor Party the opportunity
though to say that the COLP is like the old
boys Club. Look, they're bringing back old politicians you know
that have run before, or old chief ministers because they're
well they use a line.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
On new in parliament. It's something along the lines of
having a lack of ideas or.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
One trick pony here.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yep, there's a few different lines.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So we've had a situation where you know where they're
now going to be able to say that you've you
know that you've got the old boys back in ready
to try and sort this out.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Labor will say anything they can to try and throw
mud at the CLP or me because they're desperate and
instead of playing political games, they need to be looking
in their own backyard and sorting out the territory which
is crumbling to pieces under their terming governments, so they
can say what they want. Katie, We're not focused on them.
We're focused on territorians who are telling us they want
(02:42):
a safe and strong territory and that is our plan
to deliver if we're elected in August.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Now, in addition to that, Matthew Cool and Clinton Howe,
I believe this is how it's pronounced. Apologies for that
are going to be running in Palmerston. Did you have
a few people put their hands up?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, we had really a good numbers of people putting
their hand up, really great people, and that's wonderful. It's
wonderful to see territorians coming forward to take the fight
to Labor, to see the destruction that they've caused, and
to want to make a difference and to make the
territory strong, safe, and a wonderful place to live. So
(03:18):
I'm really excited about the opportunities going forward with our
remaining seats.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
But to have Matthew curl recontest Blaine is great.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
He only lost by thirteen votes and so people really
responded to his connection to that community. And Clinton Howe
a business owner, a former army, veteran, family man, fantastic
guy to represent people in Drysdale.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Leah, what makes you think that Matthew's going to win
this time round.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Matthew's really great on the ground.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
He's got that connection with people in Blaine, and he
will be out there on the doors, in the parks,
in the community. And ultimately, Territorians need to understand that
only with a change of government will there be a
change of the territory. And so you know, voting for
independence in this election is going to be a really
dangerous and risky move because it literally will threaten continuing
(04:07):
on with a labor government that's destroyed this place.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Now, I've got a message here that's come through from Susie,
and she's asking good morning, Mixed team love that Shane
Stone's been appointed President of the COLP. Can you please
ask Lea if he lives in the territory so that
he definitely has the territory's interest at heart.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yes, I can confirm that, Thank you, Susie. And I
think no one who anyone who knows Shane will.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Know that his great love is the territory.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And so you've got a passionate fighter in him, you know,
obviously a passionate fighter in me and the rest of
the party and the team.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
We we're celebrating fifty.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
Years as a territory party next year, Katie, and so
we take our responsibility to the community very very seriously.
As a homegrown political party.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I want to move along.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
John Howard and Tony abbotsh on the weekend declared the
Northern Territory a failed state because of its inability to
provide basic services to remote communities, including education, and believe
that the voice to Parliament's going to well not going
to improve practical outcomes for Indigenous people in Central Australia.
That is what is reported by the Australian newspaper on
(05:15):
the weekend. The former Liberal Prime ministers who implemented the
Coalition's two thousand and seven intervention into the Northern Territory,
which included those alcohol bands and also placing military personnel
in some remote communities, said that little had changed for
Indigenous Australians in the fifteen years since the Coalition government's action.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Lea, do you think the Northern Territory is a failed state?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
No, we're not a fad state. What we've had is
failed labor governments.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
In the laws have been in power as well four
of those years.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
That's right, and I'll explain that further in the last
twenty two years. In the Northern Territory.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
The CLP has only been in government for four and
sure they weren't our most standout years, but what we've
got is two decades of labor who've absolutely walked away
from people in the bush. And that's why the COLP
is so focused on re empowering Aboriginal people across the
territory through local government reform. We wholeheartedly believe that what
(06:10):
was done by labor in two thousand and eight to
dismantle leadership and community government across the territory has had
a devastating impact on people. To be able to have
control of their lives and their communities, and it's something
we're fighting tirelessly to change and are out to consultation
actively with people all over the territory about how we.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Can strengthen that and strength strengthen that empowerment.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I mean those four years so that the COLP was
in power, a Royal commission was called into the treatment
and detention of young people at don Dale. We know
that public servants were sacked. We also know that TiO
was sold and the port was leased. They certainly were
not stand out years, you know, from a lot of
(06:55):
territorian's perspectives. So I guess if we're talking about fail
governments over fiften years, you know at that election as well,
the COLP was almost totally decimated.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And I'm not walking away from that, Katie.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And that's why we've got a new team, and that's
why we've worked tirelessly to rebuild that trust and confidence.
But no matter what people think about that previous period
of time, the territory was safer and our economy was strong,
and so our commitment to the territory going forward has
always been for stable leadership, stable government. We will always
(07:30):
talk about what's important to territorians, not what's important to
us personally. We will always put their right to be
safe above the rights of criminal and we will always
fight for them to have the lifestyle they deserve, which
means good jobs, affordable housing and a cost of living environment.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Where they can support their family to live their best life.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Lea John Howard said that changes to the Constitution to
include an Indigenous voice to Parliament and executive government would
be tied up for years and would not do anything
to address the problems facing Abridge children in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Do you agree, Yeah, I don't see how the voice
is going to have any benefit. I actually think it's
going to be a detractor because of that added layer
of bureaucracy, because of a lack of representation of the
territory on a voice, and I think the impact is
not going to get on the ground. I really am
concerned and I certainly will be voting no at the referendum.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Cane Lea just.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Finally, the National Children's Commissioner, has come out today speaking
to the ABC and said that she's increasingly concerned about
government accountability for the human rights of children in the
Northern Territory after a video emerged showing the Barkley Regional
Council mayor sitting on a child. So Jeffrey McLaughlin has
rejected calls for his resignation over that footage which shows
(08:46):
him sitting on a child understood to be between eleven
and twelve years old, while another man makes threats against
the boy. Now the counselor sees or he alleges that
the child broke into his home in Tenant Creek last August.
But we've now got a situation and where The National
Children's Commissioner has said that although she recognized communities were
frustrated with crime, she believed that a pattern was emerging
(09:09):
in the Northern Territory and referenced that recent video which
we spoke about very extensively on this show, which was
published by the Northern Territory Police to its official Facebook page,
which depicted police chasing two Indigenous teenagers through burnt bushland
set to music. She said, I did write to the
Police Minister asking for the Northern Territory Police video to
(09:30):
be removed because what I saw, which was police hunting
down children using dogs in quite dramatic, almost like a
television program sort of video. I felt that that had
the potential to incite violence against children and incite vigilanteism essentially.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
What do you make of those comments.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I think at the time it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
You think in Children's Commission would have better things to do,
like protecting vulnerable children. What we're talking about is police
doing their job to catch crim and I'm not sure
what planet some of these people live on, but when
you're a police officer and you're dealing with a criminal, yeah,
you have to chase them, you have to use force.
There's a whole range of things. And this is why
our police feel so abandoned by labor, because labor are
(10:15):
not standing up for our police who have a very
difficult job.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
You cannot the.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Police Minister didn't ask them to take that video down.
She said that it showed them doing their work.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
No, that's right.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
But we've got an eleven percent attrition ray where we're
losing police at levels that we can't even replace. We've
got low levels of morale. Ninety nine percent of our
police don't believe the government support them, and it's because
people are sitting on pedestals like the Children's Commissioner don't
understand the hard work on the ground that's required. Now,
the question people should be asking is why are young
(10:47):
people committing crimes and.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
What is the government doing to stop that.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
That's the genuine question here, not blaming police for doing
their job, which is catching them.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Now, what do you make of the actions by the
tenant Creek meyh.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, certainly, you know, people are very concerned by the footage,
but ultimately the police are now investigating the veracity of
that citizen's arrest. I think more broadly, what it really
signals is the deep frustration in the community. And we
don't want to see vigilanteism, but people feel totally abandoned
(11:20):
by the government who is not protecting their right to
be safe, not protecting their property. We've got calls into
the Triple Zero Center at volumes that police can't even
answer the calls. People are feeling desperate and scared, and
they want action, and the best way for the government
to make sure that children's rights are protected is for
them to get off the couch and start doing their job.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
We are going to have to leave it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Their opposition leader Leafanocchiro, thank you as always appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Thank you, take care,
Now, as I mentioned just a moment ago, the NT
election is now just ten months away and political parties
no doubt getting themselves organized. And the opposition t revealed
two candidates for the Palmeston area, with Matthew Kurl set
to recontest Blaine, while Army veteran and business owner Clinton
Howie is going to be running for Drysdale. Now joining
(00:20):
me on the show is the opposition leader, Leah fanocchiar
Og boarding to.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You, Leah.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Good morning Katie, into your listener now, Leah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Two candidates revealed on the weekend after the COLP conference
in Darwin on Saturday, and former Chief Minister Shane Stone
was elected as the president, replacing Sean Heenan. Firstly, is
it a case of returning the old guard with Shane
Stone stepping back in as the president.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
No, it's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Shane served in the country Liberal Party overs in a
variety of ways. He's been president dating back to nineteen
eighty nine, Katie, but also long serving member of Parliament,
Chief Minister. He's been President of the Liberal Party of Australia.
He's held a number of roles in political, public and
private life and brings a wealth of experience, so we're
(01:06):
very excited to have him back on board, and of
course then to announce two new candidates is very exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Gear up.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Is it a situation here where you know where he's
been brought in to try to keep the party calm
ten months out from an election.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
No, it was unanimous.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Sean Heenan was actually the one who put Shane up.
Shan's remained on as vice president, which is fantastic and
people are very excited. You know, we need to show
Territorians we're very serious about winning the next election and
with Shane's experience, it's going to put the party in
a really strong position to be able to support that
(01:43):
going forward. So the parliamentary team are very excited. Our
member base is strong and we continue to grow in
strength and that's what people want to see.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I guess it does give the Labor Party the opportunity
though to say that the COLP is like the old
boys Club. Look, they're bringing back old politicians you know
that have run before, or old chief ministers because they're
well they use a line.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
On new in parliament. It's something along the lines of
having a lack of ideas or.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
One trick pony here.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yep, there's a few different lines.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So we've had a situation where you know where they're
now going to be able to say that you've you
know that you've got the old boys back in ready
to try and sort this out.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Labor will say anything they can to try and throw
mud at the CLP or me because they're desperate and
instead of playing political games, they need to be looking
in their own backyard and sorting out the territory which
is crumbling to pieces under their terming governments, so they
can say what they want. Katie, We're not focused on them.
We're focused on territorians who are telling us they want
(02:42):
a safe and strong territory and that is our plan
to deliver if we're elected in August.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Now, in addition to that, Matthew Cool and Clinton Howe,
I believe this is how it's pronounced. Apologies for that
are going to be running in Palmerston. Did you have
a few people put their hands up?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, we had really a good numbers of people putting
their hand up, really great people, and that's wonderful. It's
wonderful to see territorians coming forward to take the fight
to Labor, to see the destruction that they've caused, and
to want to make a difference and to make the
territory strong, safe, and a wonderful place to live. So
(03:18):
I'm really excited about the opportunities going forward with our
remaining seats.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
But to have Matthew curl recontest Blaine is great.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
He only lost by thirteen votes and so people really
responded to his connection to that community. And Clinton Howe
a business owner, a former army, veteran, family man, fantastic
guy to represent people in Drysdale.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Leah, what makes you think that Matthew's going to win
this time round.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Matthew's really great on the ground.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
He's got that connection with people in Blaine, and he
will be out there on the doors, in the parks,
in the community. And ultimately, Territorians need to understand that
only with a change of government will there be a
change of the territory. And so you know, voting for
independence in this election is going to be a really
dangerous and risky move because it literally will threaten continuing
(04:07):
on with a labor government that's destroyed this place.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Now, I've got a message here that's come through from Susie,
and she's asking good morning, Mixed team love that Shane
Stone's been appointed President of the COLP. Can you please
ask Lea if he lives in the territory so that
he definitely has the territory's interest at heart.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yes, I can confirm that, Thank you, Susie. And I
think no one who anyone who knows Shane will.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Know that his great love is the territory.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And so you've got a passionate fighter in him, you know,
obviously a passionate fighter in me and the rest of
the party and the team.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
We we're celebrating fifty.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
Years as a territory party next year, Katie, and so
we take our responsibility to the community very very seriously.
As a homegrown political party.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I want to move along.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
John Howard and Tony abbotsh on the weekend declared the
Northern Territory a failed state because of its inability to
provide basic services to remote communities, including education, and believe
that the voice to Parliament's going to well not going
to improve practical outcomes for Indigenous people in Central Australia.
That is what is reported by the Australian newspaper on
(05:15):
the weekend. The former Liberal Prime ministers who implemented the
Coalition's two thousand and seven intervention into the Northern Territory,
which included those alcohol bands and also placing military personnel
in some remote communities, said that little had changed for
Indigenous Australians in the fifteen years since the Coalition government's action.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Lea, do you think the Northern Territory is a failed state?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
No, we're not a fad state. What we've had is
failed labor governments.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
In the laws have been in power as well four
of those years.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
That's right, and I'll explain that further in the last
twenty two years. In the Northern Territory.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
The CLP has only been in government for four and
sure they weren't our most standout years, but what we've
got is two decades of labor who've absolutely walked away
from people in the bush. And that's why the COLP
is so focused on re empowering Aboriginal people across the
territory through local government reform. We wholeheartedly believe that what
(06:10):
was done by labor in two thousand and eight to
dismantle leadership and community government across the territory has had
a devastating impact on people. To be able to have
control of their lives and their communities, and it's something
we're fighting tirelessly to change and are out to consultation
actively with people all over the territory about how we.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Can strengthen that and strength strengthen that empowerment.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I mean those four years so that the COLP was
in power, a Royal commission was called into the treatment
and detention of young people at don Dale. We know
that public servants were sacked. We also know that TiO
was sold and the port was leased. They certainly were
not stand out years, you know, from a lot of
(06:55):
territorian's perspectives. So I guess if we're talking about fail
governments over fiften years, you know at that election as well,
the COLP was almost totally decimated.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
And I'm not walking away from that, Katie.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And that's why we've got a new team, and that's
why we've worked tirelessly to rebuild that trust and confidence.
But no matter what people think about that previous period
of time, the territory was safer and our economy was strong,
and so our commitment to the territory going forward has
always been for stable leadership, stable government. We will always
(07:30):
talk about what's important to territorians, not what's important to
us personally. We will always put their right to be
safe above the rights of criminal and we will always
fight for them to have the lifestyle they deserve, which
means good jobs, affordable housing and a cost of living environment.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Where they can support their family to live their best life.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Lea John Howard said that changes to the Constitution to
include an Indigenous voice to Parliament and executive government would
be tied up for years and would not do anything
to address the problems facing Abridge children in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Do you agree, Yeah, I don't see how the voice
is going to have any benefit. I actually think it's
going to be a detractor because of that added layer
of bureaucracy, because of a lack of representation of the
territory on a voice, and I think the impact is
not going to get on the ground. I really am
concerned and I certainly will be voting no at the referendum.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Cane Lea just.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Finally, the National Children's Commissioner, has come out today speaking
to the ABC and said that she's increasingly concerned about
government accountability for the human rights of children in the
Northern Territory after a video emerged showing the Barkley Regional
Council mayor sitting on a child. So Jeffrey McLaughlin has
rejected calls for his resignation over that footage which shows
(08:46):
him sitting on a child understood to be between eleven
and twelve years old, while another man makes threats against
the boy. Now the counselor sees or he alleges that
the child broke into his home in Tenant Creek last August.
But we've now got a situation and where The National
Children's Commissioner has said that although she recognized communities were
frustrated with crime, she believed that a pattern was emerging
(09:09):
in the Northern Territory and referenced that recent video which
we spoke about very extensively on this show, which was
published by the Northern Territory Police to its official Facebook page,
which depicted police chasing two Indigenous teenagers through burnt bushland
set to music. She said, I did write to the
Police Minister asking for the Northern Territory Police video to
(09:30):
be removed because what I saw, which was police hunting
down children using dogs in quite dramatic, almost like a
television program sort of video. I felt that that had
the potential to incite violence against children and incite vigilanteism essentially.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
What do you make of those comments.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I think at the time it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
You think in Children's Commission would have better things to do,
like protecting vulnerable children. What we're talking about is police
doing their job to catch crim and I'm not sure
what planet some of these people live on, but when
you're a police officer and you're dealing with a criminal, yeah,
you have to chase them, you have to use force.
There's a whole range of things. And this is why
our police feel so abandoned by labor, because labor are
(10:15):
not standing up for our police who have a very
difficult job.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
You cannot the.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Police Minister didn't ask them to take that video down.
She said that it showed them doing their work.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
No, that's right.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
But we've got an eleven percent attrition ray where we're
losing police at levels that we can't even replace. We've
got low levels of morale. Ninety nine percent of our
police don't believe the government support them, and it's because
people are sitting on pedestals like the Children's Commissioner don't
understand the hard work on the ground that's required. Now,
the question people should be asking is why are young
(10:47):
people committing crimes and.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
What is the government doing to stop that.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
That's the genuine question here, not blaming police for doing
their job, which is catching them.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Now, what do you make of the actions by the
tenant Creek meyh.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, certainly, you know, people are very concerned by the footage,
but ultimately the police are now investigating the veracity of
that citizen's arrest. I think more broadly, what it really
signals is the deep frustration in the community. And we
don't want to see vigilanteism, but people feel totally abandoned
(11:20):
by the government who is not protecting their right to
be safe, not protecting their property. We've got calls into
the Triple Zero Center at volumes that police can't even
answer the calls. People are feeling desperate and scared, and
they want action, and the best way for the government
to make sure that children's rights are protected is for
them to get off the couch and start doing their job.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
We are going to have to leave it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Their opposition leader Leafanocchiro, thank you as always appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Thank you, take care,
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