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Speaker 1: Yesterday we heard from the Chief Minister about the changes

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Speaker 1: giving police more powers to deal with public drinking in

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Speaker 1: a bid to tackle i should say, antisocial behavior and

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Speaker 1: reduce alcohol related harm.

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Speaker 2: Now, those changes are going to allow.

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Speaker 1: Police to issue a seven day band drinker order for

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Speaker 1: public drinking or disorderly behavior in high risk areas, and

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Speaker 1: those committing more serious alcohol related defenses, including domestic violence,

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Speaker 1: will automatically be hit with a mandatory three month BDO.

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Speaker 1: Police are also going to be able to check people's IDs,

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Speaker 1: allowing them to refer people to various treatments, including sobering

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Speaker 1: up shelters. Some of these changes have been called for

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Speaker 1: by the opposition in the past. The Opposition leader Leah

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Speaker 1: Finocchio joins me on the line from Catherine this morning.

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Speaker 3: Good morning to you, Leah, Good morning Katie and to

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Speaker 3: your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now, Leah, first off, did you support all of those

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Speaker 1: changes last week?

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Speaker 3: We did.

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Speaker 1: So.

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Speaker 3: What's happened is this government, after four long years of

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Speaker 3: dismp powering our police, have finally conceded that our police

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Speaker 3: do need to be able to ask public drinkers and

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Speaker 3: problem drunks for their identification specifics, and so we supported

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Speaker 3: that it's legislation we tried to pass a month ago.

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Speaker 3: It's come from their own alcohol review saying it was

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Speaker 3: dangerous for police to be in this situation. And it's

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Speaker 3: just really sad that for four long years Labor have

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Speaker 3: taken this power away from our police, only to reinstate

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Speaker 3: it now that things have gotten so unbelievably bad.

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Speaker 2: I mean, Leah, does it go far enough?

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Speaker 3: Though, No, it doesn't, Katie and another missed opportunity from Labor.

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Speaker 3: So what this does is effectively create a consequence for

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Speaker 3: people not telling police their ID. So for police officer

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Speaker 3: says to someone, Okay, what's your name, where do you live?

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Speaker 3: And they comply, then all police can really do is

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Speaker 3: either tip out the grog or issue them with a

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Speaker 3: seven day band drink or order, which is a lengthy

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Speaker 3: process for our police, so it's more paperwork for police. Effectively,

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Speaker 3: if the person doesn't complying, gives the police officer the

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Speaker 3: wrong name, or is just being very difficult about it,

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Speaker 3: then the police are able to find the person. But

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Speaker 3: what we say is that it's the actual drinking in

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Speaker 3: public that is the problem, that is the behavior that

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Speaker 3: is not acceptable to our community, and that is why

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Speaker 3: the colp's position is that people who are drinking in

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Speaker 3: public that should be a criminal offense, not whereas labor

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Speaker 3: gone the other way and made it an offense not

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Speaker 3: to give police well, yeah, your name.

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Speaker 1: I mean it sort of became a bit more evident,

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Speaker 1: not the sitting's just gone, but the ones prior where

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Speaker 1: the government then finally said that, yes, they have decriminalized

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Speaker 1: that public drinking. I mean, in some ways.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: Their argument here is that it was as a result

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Speaker 1: of a Royal commission into Aboriginal debts in custody. We've

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Speaker 1: spoken to the Chief Minister about this yesterday. But you're

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Speaker 1: dead right. We're in a situation where the community right

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Speaker 1: now has had enough of people being drunk or drinking

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Speaker 1: in public spaces.

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Speaker 2: I mean.

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Speaker 1: The changes, though, have not been without criticism. The Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Police Associations say that they support the change to

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Speaker 1: give police the powers to require name address, you know,

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Speaker 1: by those drinking in public places, but they say that

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Speaker 1: the changes don't provide any health response or support to

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Speaker 1: address the real issues that our community faces every day. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, do you think we need to go back to,

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Speaker 1: you know, sending people for mandatory rehabilitation.

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Speaker 3: There's no question, Katie, And the contrast to territories is clear.

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Speaker 3: Under Labor public drinking doesn't have a consequence. Under the COLP,

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Speaker 3: we are going to make sure that drinking in public

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Speaker 3: easy legal, there is a criminal offense to that. We

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Speaker 3: are going to make sure that there is compulsory alcohol

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Speaker 3: treatment for chronically affected alcoholics. Because people expect better in

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Speaker 3: our community. They want safest streets and we cannot have

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Speaker 3: a situation where the rights of people doing the wrong

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Speaker 3: thing are above the rights of everyone else to live

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Speaker 3: in peace and client to operate their businesses and for

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Speaker 3: tourists to be able to come. You know, this is

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Speaker 3: such a huge issue. We know alcohol causes so much

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Speaker 3: misery and destruction, and yet this government can't bring himself

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Speaker 3: to make people who have a problem with alcohol base

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Speaker 3: those demons.

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Speaker 2: Leah, how are you going to afford to do it? Though?

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Speaker 1: Because this is something we spoke about on Friday throughout

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Speaker 1: the week that was I mean that mandatory rehabilitation. According

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Speaker 1: to Brent Potter, the Police Minister, he said like he

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Speaker 1: did say that it costs a lot of money. So

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Speaker 1: how is the COLP going to be able to afford it?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think the first point is how would he

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Speaker 3: know he's been around for less than a UK, So

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Speaker 3: I'll make that point. The second point is there are

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Speaker 3: many different ways in which to run manatory alcohol treatment.

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Speaker 3: It could be that we provide we use existing services

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Speaker 3: for example, it could be that we build new facilities.

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Speaker 3: There's a number of different ways to do it. But

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Speaker 3: the bigger question is what is the cost of not

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Speaker 3: doing it? Now? As a government, they pour tens and

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Speaker 3: hundreds of millions of dollars into our hospital system to

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Speaker 3: deal with people coming in constantly, chronically injured or affected

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Speaker 3: by alcohol. We pour hundreds of millions of dollars into

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Speaker 3: our police, who under this government have to act as

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Speaker 3: a taxi service for problem drunks. I mean there is

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Speaker 3: a lot of money being poured into this in different ways.

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Speaker 3: What we're saying is what's the cost to our community

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Speaker 3: if we don't do it? And I think under a

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Speaker 3: COLP government, if people elect us in August, they will

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Speaker 3: see an immediate change to the way our community operates.

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Speaker 3: And I think the price of that peace of mind

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Speaker 3: is quite literally Christless Lea.

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Speaker 1: What about the BDR Is it going to stay in place?

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Speaker 1: If you are elected next August.

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Speaker 3: We've been very clear over the last seven years Katie

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Speaker 3: of being in opposition, that we would review the BDR.

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Speaker 3: We just don't believe the statistics that government puts out.

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Speaker 3: We don't think it's as effective as it could be.

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Speaker 3: For example, doesn't even it's not even able to tell

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Speaker 3: that poor person working behind the counter whether or not

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Speaker 3: that person's over eighteen. So we think there's additional capability

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Speaker 3: it could have, but we just don't trust labor on

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Speaker 3: the effectiveness of the BDR. So we've committed to a

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Speaker 3: full review which will make that information public.

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Speaker 1: And what about the restricting of operating hours for bottle shops?

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Speaker 1: That was something that was pretty contentious last week after

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Speaker 1: hospitality were.

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Speaker 2: Not informed that it was going to happen.

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Speaker 1: It was a request though of the Northern Territory Police Commissioner.

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Speaker 1: If the Northern Territory Police Commissioner does request something of

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Speaker 1: this of a possible colp government, are you going to

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Speaker 1: approve it?

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Speaker 3: Well, the Police Commissioner has a job to do and

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Speaker 3: it's a critical job, and governments have a different role

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Speaker 3: to play. They're not the same thing. And ultimately what

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Speaker 3: the Police Commissioner said is effectively, he has a resource issue,

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Speaker 3: and so this government because they've not been able to

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Speaker 3: make sure police are properly resourced and now creating and

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Speaker 3: aid solutions that what we know is shutting bottle shops

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Speaker 3: for two hours a week is only going to hurt

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Speaker 3: the poor staff who work there, who are trying to

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Speaker 3: earn some money before Christmas and they're going to be

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Speaker 3: losing ten hours a week in salary for what. I

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Speaker 3: haven't spoken to a single person in our community who

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Speaker 3: believes that this is actually going to reduce alcohol fuels.

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Speaker 2: How do you think what how do you think it

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Speaker 2: should be gauged?

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Speaker 1: What evidence do you think the Northern Territory government should

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Speaker 1: be looking at while they've got this trial in place

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Speaker 1: until the end of January, with the restricted bottle shop hours,

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Speaker 1: how do you think that they should gauge its success

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Speaker 1: or failure.

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Speaker 3: Well, they should be measuring the volume of alcohol sold.

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Speaker 3: So for example, in Alice Springs, we know that with

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Speaker 3: their restrictions there's just as much growth being somewhat it's

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Speaker 3: just in a shorter window of time. So again, the

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Speaker 3: only person losing out of the staff that work in

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Speaker 3: these places. So the government needs to during this trial.

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Speaker 1: But if you've got like if you've got the emergency

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Speaker 1: water at the hospital, and if you've got the presentations

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Speaker 1: in at the hospital going down, would that demonstrate that

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Speaker 1: it has actually been a success.

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Speaker 3: That was the next thing I was going to say.

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Speaker 3: So it needs to be looking at volume of sales,

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Speaker 3: so total total alcohol being sold, whether or not there's

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Speaker 3: been a reduction in presentations, whether or not there's been

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Speaker 3: a reduction from police having to put people into protective custody.

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Speaker 3: There's a number of ways in which government can measure

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Speaker 3: these things. Unfortunately, we have a government that isn't interested

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Speaker 3: in measuring the success or failure of its program because

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Speaker 3: it's more interested in the politics than it is on

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Speaker 3: caring about good outcomes for territorians. Well, it'll be interesting

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Speaker 3: to see, but we certainly do not support it, Katie.

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Speaker 3: We've been very clear about that. This is about dealing

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Speaker 3: with the people doing the wrong thing, not about punishing

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Speaker 3: everyone else in our community. I think territories are sick

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Speaker 3: and tired of bearing the brunt of this government's policy failures,

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Speaker 3: and they're not going to copy it any longer. Well.

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Speaker 1: Look, one of the things that you know that is

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Speaker 1: obviously a concern. I mean, there's plenty that our concerns,

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Speaker 1: but one of the things that's been a concern for

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Speaker 1: quite some time. We've spoken to Shelley out at the

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Speaker 1: IgA Zicoli. We spoke to the owners of the matter

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Speaker 1: Aranka Supermarket a number of weeks ago. I know that

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Speaker 1: then the ABC had followed that up yesterday and spoke

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Speaker 1: to them again. But this cap on their alcohol sales,

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Speaker 1: it is having a massive impact on those businesses.

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Speaker 2: Lea, do you think it's.

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Speaker 1: Making any difference when it comes to the anti social

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Speaker 1: behavior that we're seeing around the Northern Territory?

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Speaker 3: Not at all. And again this is another idea from

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Speaker 3: Natasha Philes, who's been the Alcohol Minister for seven years,

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Speaker 3: and she's made it very clear right from the start

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Speaker 3: that she has something against corner stores. Now, these fifty

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Speaker 3: one stores across the territory are locally owned and operated

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Speaker 3: corner stores. They employ local people and my understanding is

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Speaker 3: they're collectively responsible for about eight percent of all alcohol

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Speaker 3: sales in the territory. Now to go and target and

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Speaker 3: punish those people, it just doesn't make any sense to us, Katie,

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Speaker 3: we don't. We've never supported the twenty five percent and

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Speaker 3: this deliberate targeting. And again it comes back to who

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Speaker 3: are you know what is the problem. The people who

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Speaker 3: have a chronic addiction to alcohol are the one to

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Speaker 3: need the support and the focus. And again, stop having

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Speaker 3: policies that are blanket policies impacting people doing the right thing.

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Speaker 3: If there are operators doing the wrong thing, Katie, I

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Speaker 3: have always said, throw the book at them. There are

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Speaker 3: plenty of liquor laws in place to breach people for

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Speaker 3: failing to implement their liquor licenses appropriately. Throw the book

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Speaker 3: at bad operators because no one wants them in our community.

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Speaker 3: But to just blanketly target all corner stores I think

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Speaker 3: is appalling.

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Speaker 2: Lea.

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Speaker 1: Some will be listening to you this morning, and they'll

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Speaker 1: be listening and they will be thinking the CLP sounds

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Speaker 1: like they're going to backflip on everything that Labor has

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Speaker 1: basically implemented when it comes to, you know, to alcohol policy,

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Speaker 1: and they'll be concerned that that may have an adverse

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Speaker 1: effect if you are elected in August next time. I mean,

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Speaker 1: what do you say to those listeners.

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Speaker 3: Well, we have a totally different view than Labor, and

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Speaker 3: we're not apologetic about that because under Labor alcohol fueled

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Speaker 3: violence crime across the territory is higher than ever before.

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Speaker 3: So people need to really just turn to the statistic

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Speaker 3: to see that under labor crime across every dimension is

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Speaker 3: so much worse. And so we won't apologize for wanting

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Speaker 3: to target problem drinking and problem drunks. They are the

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Speaker 3: people causing harm to themselves and our community. They should

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Speaker 3: be the focus and we will have sensible practical measures

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Speaker 3: in place to ensure that community safety is the number

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Speaker 3: one priority if we're successful to lead the government in

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Speaker 3: August next year.

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Speaker 1: All right, Lia's something I want to ask about. We're

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Speaker 1: going to be catching up with Labour's Luke Gosling just

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Speaker 1: after ten o'clock this morning. But the Territory government's been forced,

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Speaker 1: according to the End News, to deflect friendly fire from

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Speaker 1: their federal Labor colleague on a war path about delays

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Speaker 1: building DAH and shiplift. So Luke Gosling said the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Government had two years from now to build that

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Speaker 1: shiplift in line with the implementation of the Commonwealth's plan

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Speaker 1: to grow and maintain Australia's navy fleet. Of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government have as we know they've promised to build

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Speaker 1: the shiplift seven years ago, and in September that joint

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Speaker 1: venture partner CLAFF and BMD assigned final contracts to deliver

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Speaker 1: the construction program. Le just remind me, was this initially

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Speaker 1: an announcement by the COLP when you guys were still

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Speaker 1: in power?

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Speaker 3: It was, Katie, and maybe it's not so friendly fire.

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Speaker 3: It's good to see one of them actually speak up

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Speaker 3: and step up. I mean, what a joke we promised this.

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Speaker 3: I think it was twenty and fifteen, Katie, and here

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Speaker 3: we are a decade later, still talking about this wonderful project.

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Speaker 3: I mean it's a bit like the National Original Art

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Speaker 3: Gallery and Alice Springs. I think most of us don't

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Speaker 3: believe that these things are ever going to happen under LAH,

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Speaker 3: but they've shown that they're incompetent and incapable of delivering

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Speaker 3: projects in the territory, and that comes to a great

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Speaker 3: loss to our economy, a great loss to jobs and opportunities.

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Speaker 3: And if a member for Solomon can see that this

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Speaker 3: is an opportunity that will we will miss, just like territory,

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Speaker 3: as we can see that labor is continuing to fail

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Speaker 3: us when it comes to growing our economy well.

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Speaker 1: As I said, we'll be speaking to Luke Gossling this

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Speaker 1: morning after ten. But I mean, this has to happen.

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Speaker 1: It just feels like it's been going on for such

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Speaker 1: a long time. I get that major projects have a

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Speaker 1: lot of hurdles in place and it can sometimes be

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Speaker 1: difficult to get them, you know, to get them up

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Speaker 1: and running. But it needs to happen. But Leah, you

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Speaker 1: are coming to us this morning from Catherine. What's going

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Speaker 1: on in Catherine today?

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Speaker 3: Yes, I've been in Catherine yesterday and today. It's been

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Speaker 3: fantastic getting out and speaking to people. No surprises to

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Speaker 3: report to people in the top end that chrime is

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Speaker 3: the prevailing issue. I've been and spoken to businesses who

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Speaker 3: are boarded up. Youth crime i'm here is profound. There

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Speaker 3: are significant risky behaviors, door vehicles, breaking, enters, assaults, and

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Speaker 3: people have had enough. The businesses are reporting to me

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Speaker 3: they are losing staff, they can't attract people to come

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Speaker 3: to Catherine to live here, and it's having a massive

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Speaker 3: impact on their ability to deliver services. So it's some

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Speaker 3: very big challenges here in Catherine, much like the rest

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Speaker 3: of the territory. But It's really sad because Catherine's always

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Speaker 3: you know, it's a tight knit community. There are very

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Speaker 3: optimistic people and they just get on with it. You

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Speaker 3: know the rest of the territory could be burning down

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Speaker 3: around them, and Catherine people would just get on with

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Speaker 3: the job. Well, they're feeling really demoralized, and.

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Speaker 1: We are actually going to catch up with one of

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Speaker 1: those businesses. We'll be speaking to Beck from Willow Blue

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Speaker 1: in a few minutes time, but I want.

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Speaker 2: To ask as well.

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Speaker 1: I understand that there's been some concerns raised with you

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Speaker 1: about the primary healthcare providers leaving Catherine.

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Speaker 2: What exactly has gone on here?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so when you speak to the jeeps, clinics and

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Speaker 3: everyone will remember a couple of years ago, there was

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Speaker 3: no GP services in Catherine, so locals stepped up to

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Speaker 3: fill that gap. But they're struggling enormously to get GPS

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Speaker 3: into the Katherine area and they need some serious assistance

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Speaker 3: with that. There needs to be programs and incentives in

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Speaker 3: place to be able to make sure we have GP

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Speaker 3: services in our towns. I mean, Catherine is a very

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Speaker 3: remote area in terms of you know, when they classify

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Speaker 3: GP services, and we don't want to have that pressure

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Speaker 3: just dumped back on our hospital system. You know, if

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Speaker 3: GPS closed, it means people aren't going to have that

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Speaker 3: early support into healthcare that they need. Want to put

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Speaker 3: additional pressure.

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Speaker 1: What are they saying to you in terms of why

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Speaker 1: they can't get GPS to the town.

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Speaker 2: What is like, what's the impact?

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Speaker 1: Is it the fact that there is a shortage nationwide

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Speaker 1: or what's the go.

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Speaker 3: The shortage doesn't help, but effectively it's because the the

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Speaker 3: salaries and entitlements just can't match other areas. So GPS

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Speaker 3: are moving to where they can secure better pay, better

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Speaker 3: conditions and in Caster and it's very very difficult to

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Speaker 3: be able to deliver that in this remote setting.

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Speaker 2: So what do you reckon? The answer is here, what

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Speaker 2: do you think needs to happen?

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Speaker 3: There needs to be a recognition that regional Australia is.

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Speaker 3: It just has higher cost of living, greater challenges. It's

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Speaker 3: far away and people need additional incentives to be able

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Speaker 3: to be there. But the payoff to our community is enormous.

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Speaker 3: So we'll keep a watch on what's happening here in

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Speaker 3: Catheron very closely. We would hate to see the GP

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Speaker 3: services closed down again. We know people are putting their

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Speaker 3: shoulder to the wheel as best that they can, but

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Speaker 3: they need support from the federal government to get this

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Speaker 3: done and ultimately the price of having of not having

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Speaker 3: GP services in places like Cathern will have a profoundly

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Speaker 3: detrimental impact on our community.

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Speaker 1: Lea Finocchiaro always appreciate your time. Thanks very much for

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Speaker 1: having your chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 3: Take care everyone.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.