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Speaker 1: Now, as you heard on the show on Friday, the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police Association has released the interim results from

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Speaker 1: their survey into confidence in the Police Commissioner and concerns

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Speaker 1: within the force, and the results confirm a force which

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Speaker 1: is broken, with rank and file officers losing confidence in

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Speaker 1: their leader. Now one thousand and forty four police took

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Speaker 1: part in that survey, which is sixty five percent of

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Speaker 1: the membership and the largest general survey results ever received

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Speaker 1: by the union. Now almost eighty percent of respondents said

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Speaker 1: that they do not have confidence in the Police Commissioner

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Speaker 1: Jamie Chalker, while ninety two percent said that they don't

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Speaker 1: think that there are enough police in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: The results are incredibly concerning, with many now looking to

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Speaker 1: the government for answers and wondering how the Police Commissioner

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Speaker 1: can remain in the top job. Now joining me in

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Speaker 1: the studio right now is the Chief Minister of the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory, Natasha Files.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now, Chief Minister, what was your reaction to these results?

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Speaker 4: Oh, Katie, of course I paid attention to these results.

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Speaker 4: Our police work incredibly hard and I know that the

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Speaker 4: Minister for Police has spoken with both the Commissioner and

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Speaker 4: the Police Association. I think it's the point that you

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Speaker 4: just made that police out on the beat don't feel

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Speaker 4: that there's enough police. That's a point that we have

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Speaker 4: to look into because we have seen a significant increase

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Speaker 4: to the police budget thirty six percent since twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 4: But I absolutely hear from the members on the ground

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Speaker 4: that they are feeling unsupported.

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Speaker 3: To put it simply, well, this is the.

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Speaker 2: Thing, and it's not the first time that we've sort

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Speaker 2: of heard this.

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Speaker 1: This is something that has been has been bubbling along

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Speaker 1: for quite some time. But essentially seventy nine point nine

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Speaker 1: percent of respondents to that survey said that they do

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Speaker 1: not have confidence in the Police Commissioner.

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Speaker 2: Do you still have confidence in the Police Commissioner?

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Speaker 3: Yes?

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Speaker 2: How are you going to manage this then?

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Speaker 1: Where you've like you've got eight out of ten of

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Speaker 1: the rank and file police saying that they don't and

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Speaker 1: that they don't believe that he's the right person to

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Speaker 1: lead them through what's been a difficult time and a

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Speaker 1: difficult challenge. If you've still got that confidence as the

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Speaker 1: chief minister, how do you respond to those rank and

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Speaker 1: file officers.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's why it's so important that we

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Speaker 4: listen to them through their association.

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Speaker 3: They've got their conference later this week. Katie.

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Speaker 4: We've invested significantly in police, and not just in police

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Speaker 4: numbers but in the infrastructure to support them to do

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Speaker 4: their job. But if they are still feeling that way,

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Speaker 4: these are complex problems that we have to address. We

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Speaker 4: have to listen to the officers on the ground and

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Speaker 4: work through so that we can have a strong police

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Speaker 4: force that can care for territory.

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Speaker 1: And do you have any plans at all to review

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Speaker 1: his position or look at this position right now given

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Speaker 1: what the.

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Speaker 2: Force are telling you?

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Speaker 4: So, Katie, we need to work through what the force

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Speaker 4: are telling us through these survey results with the Commissioner.

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Speaker 4: I expect him to take this on board. It has

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Speaker 4: been an incredibly tough couple of years for everyone in

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Speaker 4: Northern Territory Police. They've gone above and beyond in keeping

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Speaker 4: our community safe, but we do need to make sure

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Speaker 4: that we look after them because we know there's been

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Speaker 4: tragically wellbeing issues. There's been work done in that space,

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Speaker 4: but it's across the system. It's making sure when they

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Speaker 4: go out on the beat that they've got the tools

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Speaker 4: to do their job, whether it's around resources in terms

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Speaker 4: of police numbers, access to CCTV, good computer systems to

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Speaker 4: support them.

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Speaker 3: It's complex.

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Speaker 2: I've got to be honest.

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Speaker 1: It does sound as though the government right now is

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Speaker 1: continuing to trot out the same lines, you know, the

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Speaker 1: same things that police that our rank and file police

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Speaker 1: have been hearing for weeks, for months. And I did

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Speaker 1: hear the Police Minister on the ABC this morning and

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Speaker 1: thought exactly the same thing.

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Speaker 2: You know, you've literally got a situation.

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Speaker 1: Right now where almost eighty percent of police say that

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Speaker 1: they do not have confidence in their leader. The questioning

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Speaker 1: around confidence in the commissioner was brought about because of

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Speaker 1: several of those police association regions calling for a vote

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Speaker 1: of no confidence to happen the Northern Territory police leadership

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Speaker 1: and your government and you guys refuse to acknowledge that

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Speaker 1: discontent and believe that there was only a small number

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Speaker 1: of police who were not happy. Now these results paint

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Speaker 1: a very very different picture. How long do you think

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Speaker 1: that you can continue to ignore these Northern Territory police officers?

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Speaker 3: Well, Katie, I would politely disagree.

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Speaker 4: I think that the fact that the Police Minister has

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Speaker 4: spoken to the association and will attend their conference later

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Speaker 4: this week. We need to understand the complexity of these

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Speaker 4: complexities of these issues and how we're going to drive

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Speaker 4: that change, because it's not just about dollars and systems

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Speaker 4: and resources. That is all incredibly important and that has

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Speaker 4: been delivered and will continue to be so, but it's

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Speaker 4: how can we support them in doing their jobs right

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Speaker 4: across the territory And there's different issues in different parts

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Speaker 4: of the territory.

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Speaker 1: Well, there's some enormous issues, you know how. I'm just

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Speaker 1: trying to wrap my head around how the government feels

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Speaker 1: as though those changes can happen when you've got a

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Speaker 1: eighty percent of the four saying that they don't have

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Speaker 1: confidence in their leader. So if they haven't had confidence

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Speaker 1: in their leader leading up to this point, how can

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Speaker 1: they then have that confidence that he's the right person

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Speaker 1: to go down this path of making sure that they

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Speaker 1: can do their jobs.

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Speaker 4: So, Katie, the job of being a police officer in

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Speaker 4: the Northern Territory is incompleted, is incredibly tough, and it

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Speaker 4: varies from remote policing through to some of the task

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Speaker 4: force teams. We see in our urban areas, and so

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Speaker 4: we need to understand in each region of the territory

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Speaker 4: what are those complexities and how can we support those

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Speaker 4: officers to do the best that they can and keep

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Speaker 4: territory in safe. So what are the next steps now

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Speaker 4: from the government's perspective, because from what I'm hearing from

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Speaker 4: both you and from what I've heard this morning from

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Speaker 4: the Police Minister, you've still got confidence in the Commissioner.

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Speaker 4: You know you're taking on board these results, but it

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Speaker 4: doesn't sound as though there's any changes of Fosh. So

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Speaker 4: the Police Minister will be attending the Police Association conference,

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Speaker 4: which I think is later this week Katie. So she's

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Speaker 4: certainly since she's become the Police Minister a few short

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Speaker 4: months ago, has been actively out there meeting with officers

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Speaker 4: right across the Northern territory but also working with the Association,

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Speaker 4: the union that represents our police officers, and we will

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Speaker 4: understand these headline figures that we're hearing, what is driving

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Speaker 4: behind that and what can we do to improve our

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Speaker 4: police service.

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Speaker 1: Well, particularly when you look at and you touched on

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Speaker 1: this right at the start of the interview, ninety two

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Speaker 1: percent of police are saying that they do not think

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Speaker 1: that there are enough police in the Northern Territory to

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Speaker 1: do what's being.

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Speaker 2: Asked of them.

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Speaker 1: Seventy nine point four percent rated morale as low or

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Speaker 1: very low. The Police Association President Paul McCue said that

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Speaker 1: the results speak for themselves and that there are no secrets.

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Speaker 1: He says there needs to be a plan in place

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Speaker 1: to address this and it is an enormous concern.

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Speaker 2: So right now the plan.

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Speaker 1: Is that the government that you're going to have the

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Speaker 1: minister attend the conference on Friday, and is there anything

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Speaker 1: beyond that?

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Speaker 4: So, Katie, when you talk about police and the police

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Speaker 4: feel that there is not enough police and that they

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Speaker 4: feel like they don't have the resources, that thirty six

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Speaker 4: percent increases over one hundred million dollars. So that's significant.

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Speaker 4: So why has that not driven the change that we

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Speaker 4: would have expected? So I think it is really important

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Speaker 4: to that Association conference for the Minister to get her

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Speaker 4: head and understand all of these issues so that we

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Speaker 4: can work together to drive that change.

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Speaker 1: So is there going to be any kind of review

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Speaker 1: into the force? Is there going to be any closer look,

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Speaker 1: because you know, I could go back through some of

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Speaker 1: the issues that have been raised over the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years. We're talking about mental health, you know, we're

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Speaker 1: talking about that morale within the force. We're talking about,

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Speaker 1: you know, the concerns that a lot of police officers

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Speaker 1: had following on from the trial of Zachary Rolf.

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Speaker 2: But we're also talking.

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Speaker 1: About a community that feels as well that there's not

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Speaker 1: enough police to do their jobs.

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Speaker 3: And Katie, I meet with police as well. I work

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Speaker 3: with them.

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Speaker 4: They're a part of my community in terms of the

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Speaker 4: well being and the supports to our police. There has

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Speaker 4: been a review undertaken in that space to ensure that

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Speaker 4: the right resources are there to care for people. I'm

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Speaker 4: not sure that an overall review of the police force

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Speaker 4: is what is needed. I think that people want to

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Speaker 4: see action, and that's clear from those survey results.

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Speaker 2: But what action are they going to see?

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Speaker 1: Like you've literally just said that what's going to happen

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Speaker 1: is that the Police Minister is going to attend the

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Speaker 1: conference on Friday, Like, I don't understand why there's not

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Speaker 1: immediacy from the Northern Territory government at this point. And

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Speaker 1: I know people are going to be screaming at their

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Speaker 1: radios saying the same.

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Speaker 3: So Katie.

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Speaker 4: We got the survey results late last week. The Police

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Speaker 4: Association and the Police Commissioner have been briefed on them.

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Speaker 4: They will be discussed in detail at the conference and

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Speaker 4: through those discussions we can identify what needs to be done.

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Speaker 4: I can point to the significant budget increase around police

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Speaker 4: in the Northern Territory sense we came to government, but

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Speaker 4: we absolutely acknowledge that more needs to be done. But

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Speaker 4: what that is we have to work hand in hand

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Speaker 4: with our police.

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Speaker 1: All Right. We've got a situation where your government obviously

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Speaker 1: is continuing to you know, to trot out that line

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Speaker 1: about having the biggest investment into police than any other government,

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Speaker 1: more police than.

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Speaker 2: Ever before to do the job.

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Speaker 1: But right now, like I've said, that message from the

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Speaker 1: police is very clear. It's there in black and white

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Speaker 1: from that survey and the results. Well, they don't even

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Speaker 1: go into some of the issues at this point when

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Speaker 1: it comes to mental health and other things. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: that they will once we see that commentary that Paul

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Speaker 1: McHugh spoke about.

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Speaker 2: But I do I want to say that a lot

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Speaker 2: of people.

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Speaker 1: Listen to this show, and a lot of Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: police officers listen to this show, and they are hurting.

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Speaker 1: I've spoken to current and former serving officers over the weekend.

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Speaker 2: They've had enough. They feel the government are not listening

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Speaker 2: or that they do not want to hear what they

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Speaker 2: are saying.

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Speaker 1: Chief Minister, what is your message for those police officers

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Speaker 1: that are feeling that way this morning?

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Speaker 3: So we value our police officers.

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Speaker 4: We've valued the enormous amount of work and over the

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Speaker 4: last two years they've had to do things that I

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Speaker 4: don't think anyone would have expected. We've had them out

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Speaker 4: on borders, we've had them working in really trying conditions,

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Speaker 4: and we need to work with them and the lead

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Speaker 4: that they have through the Police Union, so that we

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Speaker 4: can implement the change that they crave.

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Speaker 1: So the Opposition leader is calling for Kate Warden, the

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Speaker 1: Police Minister, to stand down from that portfolio and you

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Speaker 1: to take it on should that happen.

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Speaker 4: So Minister Warden has got the tenacity and the skills

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Speaker 4: and the passion, and that is shown by the fact

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Speaker 4: that she is talking to the Police Association will attend

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Speaker 4: to their conference and work through these issues on behalf

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Speaker 4: of their members.

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Speaker 1: I mean, can you guarantee to those officers that are

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Speaker 1: listening this morning. The government is really hearing what they

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Speaker 1: are saying right now. Absolutely, yes, you are hearing it.

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Speaker 1: Is there going to be changed.

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Speaker 3: There has to be change, Katie.

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Speaker 4: We can't keep you know, just simply saying here's more resources,

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Speaker 4: here's more money. We have to understand the complexities of

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Speaker 4: these issues and it will take time. But I understand

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Speaker 4: that our police officers want to see some immediate action,

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Speaker 4: but they also want to know some of those long

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Speaker 4: term issues are being addressed and will be addressed.

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Speaker 1: Now we have just received in this morning that schools

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Speaker 1: are going to be striking on Friday this week. So

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Speaker 1: essentially the Commissioner for Public Employment in the Australian Education

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Speaker 1: Union are in current negotiations on the new anti public

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Speaker 1: sector non contract Principles Teachers and Assistant Teachers Enterprise Agreement,

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Speaker 1: so the paid dispute, I guess you'd say to put

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Speaker 1: it to put it bluntly for our listeners, but we

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Speaker 1: do know as well that they've received Now the Department

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Speaker 1: of Education has received formal notification from the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: branch of the Australian Education Union that planned industrial action

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Speaker 1: is going to impact Darwin and Palmerston schools and work

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Speaker 1: sites this Friday between nine am and one pm. What

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Speaker 1: have the unions told you that they want here? Why

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Speaker 1: are they taking this strike action?

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Speaker 2: Katie?

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Speaker 3: It's a pretty big jump.

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Speaker 4: So an enterprise bargaining agreement is where the union come

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Speaker 4: to the government and say in the next EBA we'd

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Speaker 4: like to see X, Y and Z, and those negotiations

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Speaker 4: take place. It's absolutely the right of the government to

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Speaker 4: negoiate and it is the right of the unions to

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Speaker 4: take action. But I was surprised at the jump to

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Speaker 4: take this action. One could question the timing around it,

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Speaker 4: but well.

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Speaker 2: Do you reckon the timing is what's happened.

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Speaker 4: Well, it's interesting that there's a by election on Saturday, Katie.

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Speaker 4: But from my perspective, our teachers, they were some of

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Speaker 4: the highest paid in the country.

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Speaker 3: We absolutely acknowledge.

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Speaker 4: And what you see is the EBAs in other states

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Speaker 4: take place and or states and territories leap for us.

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Speaker 4: But we are negotiating in good faith around this EBA

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Speaker 4: with our teachers.

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Speaker 3: We absolutely value the work they do.

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Speaker 1: You reckon that the unions have time this strike on

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Speaker 1: Friday because of the by election on the weekend.

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Speaker 4: That would be a question for the unions, Katie, But

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Speaker 4: I'm surprised that we've gone from zero to a strike action.

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Speaker 4: We have the right and we are negotiating in good faith,

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Speaker 4: but the union has the right to take that action.

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Speaker 4: So we certainly will make sure our schools are supported.

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Speaker 2: Kid's going to be able to go to school on Friday.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie.

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Speaker 4: So schools do remain open, but there will be changes

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Speaker 4: to the timetables and each principle will work through that

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Speaker 4: with their.

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Speaker 1: School, all right, So schools will remain open. I mean,

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Speaker 1: are we in a situation here where you know, the

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Speaker 1: government needs to relook at that freeze that you've got

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Speaker 1: on public service wayges here? Now, I'm the last person

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Speaker 1: to say that I think that any government or anyone

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Speaker 1: should be held to ransom by unions.

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Speaker 2: I do not think that that's appropriate.

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Speaker 1: But when you actually look at the CPI, the cost

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Speaker 1: of living in the Northern Territory, are we in a

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Speaker 1: situation here where you need to get moving on relooking

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Speaker 1: at that pay freeze?

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie.

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Speaker 4: So when I became Chief Minister a couple of months ago,

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Speaker 4: we started to see that inflation rise quickly, the cost

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Speaker 4: of living pressures and I absolutely hear that each and

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Speaker 4: every day across the Northern Territory. So we certainly have

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Speaker 4: a responsibility to manage the Northern Territory government budget. But

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Speaker 4: at the same time, I think we've seen some unprecedented

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Speaker 4: global factors that have driven cost of living. I'm very

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Speaker 4: conscious of that. The interest rates that have jumped up

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Speaker 4: incredibly quickly. Even the RBA was not expecting them to

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Speaker 4: rise till only twenty four So there has been factors,

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Speaker 4: so where we certainly are working through in terms of

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Speaker 4: our government and our responsibilities fiscally, but at the same

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Speaker 4: time acknowledging that the cost of living pressures are huge

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Speaker 4: on territorians, how soon could this be reviewed? So Katie,

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Speaker 4: we've got to work through these things methodically. We've got

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Speaker 4: to make sure that we get the right advice. But

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Speaker 4: I can tell Territorians that are listening that we're very conscious,

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Speaker 4: not only for those that work in government, but across

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Speaker 4: the board of the cost of living pressures. I mean,

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Speaker 4: it does feel like you go to the supermarket, Katie.

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Speaker 4: I was doing the groceries yesterday and you know fruit

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Speaker 4: that was three and four dollars went to five and six.

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Speaker 4: It's now you know, seven dollars, and you know it

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Speaker 4: is really difficult. You do think twice before you put

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Speaker 4: things in the trolley.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, could we see a change here within.

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Speaker 4: Weeks, Katie. We just need to work through this with

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Speaker 4: our officials. But what I can say is that we

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Speaker 4: will negotiate across the board with government EBAs in good

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Speaker 4: faith and recognize the hard work that those frontline workers do,

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Speaker 4: whether they're corrections offices, whether they're our fires or our teachers.

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Speaker 2: Well, because I understand that the fieries as well.

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Speaker 1: We're in a situation today where the Humpty Dow fire

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Speaker 1: station is closed because they're not actually able to have

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Speaker 1: their firefighters in there.

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Speaker 4: I understand that they've had a high number of fieries

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Speaker 4: call in unwell, so we do see this from time

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Speaker 4: to time. We have had flu waves, COVID waves. I'm

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Speaker 4: not advised that there's any COVID case numbers jumping up,

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Speaker 4: you know, but we certainly have to make day to

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Speaker 4: day operations and fires. Can the fire service can speak

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Speaker 4: to that light.

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Speaker 1: I'm very mindful of time, but I want to ask

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Speaker 1: you about a couple of things very quickly. Over the weekend,

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Speaker 1: the IKAC Commissioner issued a statement saying that he and

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Speaker 1: the Ombudsman have determined to jointly investigate the extent of

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Speaker 1: non compliance into more than three hundred buildings owned or

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Speaker 1: least by the Northern Territory Government which do not comply

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Speaker 1: with occupancy certification requirements under the Building Act, and well

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Speaker 1: why and how this has occurred Now, I think first

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Speaker 1: and foremost, these occupancy certificates obviously deemer building to be

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Speaker 1: compliant to the Australian standards of the day. Any other

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Speaker 1: building or homes have these or we simply can't occupy

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Speaker 1: them privately. So I think the question on everyone's lips

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Speaker 1: that everybody wants answered this morning.

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Speaker 2: Is are they safe?

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Speaker 4: So, Katie, for your listeners, in June, the Anti government

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Speaker 4: establish the Building Compliance Task Force and the advice I

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Speaker 4: have is yes, these are historical, some of them going.

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Speaker 3: Back thirty and forty years.

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Speaker 4: The why, I think is the question that needs to

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Speaker 4: be answered, and you'll see that joint investigation with IKAK

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Speaker 4: and the Ombudsman. But the advice I've got is that

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Speaker 4: the buildings are safe. This is around procedure, but it

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Speaker 4: certainly needs to be looked into. Any of them schools, Katie,

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Speaker 4: I don't know the list of them. I'm happy to

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Speaker 4: go away and ask that question. But to my understanding

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Speaker 4: is it's wide ranging over thirty and forty years, and

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Speaker 4: so government established that task force. The first step was

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Speaker 4: to identify are they safe, but also working through how

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Speaker 4: can they get their compliance?

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Speaker 1: Look, I know that people will be listening who are

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Speaker 1: in the private sector and thinking to themselves, how on

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Speaker 1: earth can the Northern Territory government buildings be allowed to

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Speaker 1: still be occupied, you know, when we have to go

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Speaker 1: through the certification process to ensure that everything's up to

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Speaker 1: the standard that it needs to be. So why is

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Speaker 1: there a rule for one and not others?

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Speaker 3: I don't know necessarily, Katie.

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Speaker 4: If it's a rule for one and rule for others,

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Speaker 4: I think it is important that we look historically what happened,

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Speaker 4: and you know is their buildings in the private sector

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Speaker 4: that we also need to make sure are encompassed. And

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Speaker 4: I think it's around providing a pathway forward that they

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Speaker 4: can get those compliance certificates. But the advice I've got

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Speaker 4: is that they are safe, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, Chief Finister. Lastly, this morning, these petrol prices. People

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Speaker 1: have had enough. They are absolutely fed up about the

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Speaker 1: fact that we're not seeing a lot of movement at

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Speaker 1: the Bowser.

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Speaker 2: I'll just take you through them.

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Speaker 1: Today at the terminal Gate fear unlettered, it's a dollar

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Speaker 1: fifty three point nine. Now on Tuesday last week it

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Speaker 1: was a dollar fifty nine point six. So you can

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Speaker 1: see that that it's come down. That's, you know, that's

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Speaker 1: just in the last couple of days. Now at the

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Speaker 1: Bowser there's been a little bit of movement, but not much.

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Speaker 1: The average today is around a dollar ninety two, a

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Speaker 1: dollar ninety three. Some locations are still at a dollar

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Speaker 1: ninety five. You are talking about minute. You know, it

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Speaker 1: changes when it comes to the petrol prices at the Bowser.

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Speaker 1: Similar situation with your diesel prices today.

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Speaker 2: Now, Chief Minister.

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Speaker 1: The last time we spoke, you said that you were

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Speaker 1: going to be writing to these petrol companies. Have you

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Speaker 1: done that, yes, Katie, I wrote to them that week

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Speaker 1: that we spoke.

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Speaker 3: I also wrote to the.

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Speaker 4: A Triple C to ensure that they were aware of

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Speaker 4: these discrepancies. Because what we're seeing is that terminal gate

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Speaker 4: price come down, but I don't believe it's being passed

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Speaker 4: on to territories. At the Bowser, and I think it's

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Speaker 4: really important because the A Triple C do provide a

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Speaker 4: crucial role in this space. But it is frustrating because

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Speaker 4: we see that price come down six cents there, but

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Speaker 4: we're not seeing it come across in the retail. So

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Speaker 4: I've written to the retail outlets as well as the

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Speaker 4: A Triple C around this, and we'll continue to make

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Speaker 4: sure that we leave no stones unturned in this space.

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Speaker 1: Well, even like when you look at the diesel today,

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Speaker 1: so your terminal gates are dollars seventy six point six

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Speaker 1: at the Bowser the average is two dollars fifteen. I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of people are wondering why you're not

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Speaker 1: angrier about this, Oh, Katie.

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Speaker 4: It absolutely is frustrating me and upsets me that Territorians

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Speaker 4: are essentially being ripped off and we're not fools. I

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Speaker 4: mean that diesel discrepancy that's huge, that's you know, and

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Speaker 4: sometimes they say it's a little bit of lag because

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Speaker 4: they've purchased at a certain price, but this is beyond that.

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Speaker 4: We've seen the prices dropping and we know that they're

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Speaker 4: at record highs because of factors out of Australia's control.

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Speaker 4: In some cases. But hriple C have got important role

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Speaker 4: to play and we've certainly made sure that they're aware.

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Speaker 1: You've got the abilities though as well, and the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government have got the ability here to not only

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Speaker 1: you know, put your foot down and say to them

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Speaker 1: you you know, you need to explain to us these discrepancies,

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Speaker 1: but also you know, to force them to disclose their profits. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So Katie, we've got the work that we have done

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Speaker 4: is we've got that mandatory fuel reporting scheme which does

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Speaker 4: help you know, Territorians at least understand and they can

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Speaker 4: vote with their feet. But yes, certainly we expect transparency

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Speaker 4: from our fuel operators and that's what we've asked of them.

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Speaker 1: All right, we are going to have to leave it

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Speaker 1: their chief Minister, Natasha Files, thank you for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie,