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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the opposition leader,

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Speaker 1: Leah Finocchiarro.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Leah.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, and you're wonderful.

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Speaker 2: Listener, Leah. How do you think Territory Day went?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Look, obviously there's a couple of unfortunate incidents there, but

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Speaker 3: on the whole, the feedback I'm getting is that it

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Speaker 3: was really good. People really enjoyed the public fireworks, of course,

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Speaker 3: spent time with family and friends in their own backyards

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Speaker 3: and in our parts. And I have to say the

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Speaker 3: cleanup has been really good as well. I saw lots

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Speaker 3: of people out the next day cleaning up, and certainly

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Speaker 3: when we went to the dump, it was all action

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Speaker 3: stations there, Katie, So I think that's really good.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it certainly seemed as though there were people out,

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Speaker 1: a lot of people out yesterday morning. I was running

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Speaker 1: around each point and there was plenty of people out

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Speaker 1: cleaning things up, which is really good to see. But

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Speaker 1: I know that whenever there are incidents like the ones

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Speaker 1: that we've heard about out in Virginia, and we're going

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Speaker 1: to find out a bit more about this later in

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Speaker 1: the show, where somebody is quite significantly injured, it does

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Speaker 1: always pose that question. Do you think we need to

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Speaker 1: keep allowing personal fireworks?

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Speaker 2: Leah? What are your thoughts?

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Speaker 3: Oh, look, we support the use continued use of personal

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Speaker 3: fireworks here in the Northern Territory. It's something really unique

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Speaker 3: that we really get to celebrate self government in a

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Speaker 3: special way. We just turned forty five years young on Saturday, Katie,

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Speaker 3: and it's really important to remember our struggle in our

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Speaker 3: fight for that independence from Canberra. So we believe that

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Speaker 3: people should be doing things safely. There's always ways you

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Speaker 3: can do that, and of course there's not a lot

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Speaker 3: of information about the incidents that have happened, but you know,

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Speaker 3: if you do things properly, generally speaking, things things go okay.

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Speaker 2: Forty five jeez, we're in our prime, aren't we.

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Speaker 3: I know's yet to come Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Leah, there has been so much discussed over the

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Speaker 1: last week, and on Friday we spoke quite extensively on

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Speaker 1: the week that was about police numbers. We're also joined

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Speaker 1: by the Police Association to talk about constable numbers.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: It comes as the Northern Territory Coroner, Elizabeth Armitage, is

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Speaker 1: three weeks into a month's long inquiry examining the domestic

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Speaker 1: violence killings of four Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: in which evidence has been provided about the police call

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Speaker 1: center being overwhelmed with domestic violence calls. Now the Joint

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Speaker 1: Emergency Services Communications Center dispatch Sergeant Wolfgang Langanek told the

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Speaker 1: inquest that calls such as some of what they've heard,

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Speaker 1: were overwhelming the Triple O call logs with no police

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Speaker 1: able to respond.

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Speaker 2: He'd said, I feel helpless.

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Speaker 1: They feel the screen is unmanageable, and he said that

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Speaker 1: domestic violence assaults in progress were considered among the highest

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Speaker 1: category of seriousness group with stabbings, murders and other major incidents.

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Speaker 1: But domestic violence incidents are on the screen for two

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Speaker 1: or three days and we don't have the cruise. Now

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Speaker 1: we know that this inquest is continuing on. I'm very

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Speaker 1: cognizant of that. But this discussion about police numbers and

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Speaker 1: taking into account what he had said throughout that coronial,

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Speaker 1: it really does make a question whether we need more police.

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Speaker 3: Well, we definitely need more police, Katie. I believe that wholeheartedly,

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Speaker 3: and that's why we've tried seven times in Parliament to

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Speaker 3: have a review into policing. We cannot bring the government

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Speaker 3: keecking and screaming on this journey for whatever reason, Katie,

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Speaker 3: they don't want to deal with this properly. And it's

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Speaker 3: really important to have a strong community. We have to

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Speaker 3: have a strong police force. To have a strong force,

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Speaker 3: we have to make sure they're well resourced, that they're

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Speaker 3: health and well being is being cared for, and that

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Speaker 3: we're not running our police into the ground because a

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Speaker 3: couple of weeks ago, in estimates, I uncovered that our

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Speaker 3: police are doing one hundred and fifty nine thousand hours

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Speaker 3: in overtime and that is just not sustainable. And then

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Speaker 3: for the Police Association to come out and say there

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Speaker 3: are twenty three less constables today than they were ten

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Speaker 3: years ago shows that Natasha Files and Labour's rhetorics around

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Speaker 3: more police being on the ground than ever before is

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Speaker 3: just completely untrue. Police don't believe them, Territorians don't believe them,

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Speaker 3: and neither do the Police Association.

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Speaker 1: Now. On Friday last week, we know that a senior

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory police officer was reportedly relieved of his acting

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Speaker 1: Assistant Commissioner duties after giving an interview on the ABC

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Speaker 1: saying that there are enough resources and that a former

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Speaker 1: witness at the coronial might have been mistaken in terms

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Speaker 1: of being overwhelmed. And that goes back to the comments

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Speaker 1: that I'd read out just a couple of moments ago. Now,

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Speaker 1: the counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer, said later on Friday,

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Speaker 1: that's a fundamental disconnect with the evidence that we've heard

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Speaker 1: to date. Now again say, I'm very mindful and cautious

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Speaker 1: of the fact that this inquest continues. But Leah, how

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Speaker 1: concerning is this situation we're here? From what I can gather,

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Speaker 1: some calls are not being answered in a timely fashion,

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Speaker 1: some which are incredibly serious.

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Speaker 3: Well, you only have to speak to police to hear

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Speaker 3: these stories, Katie, as I do. I mean instances where

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Speaker 3: victims will tell me how they've been ringing and ringing

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Speaker 3: triple zero and it's very difficult to get through, or

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Speaker 3: police knowing that they've got thirty or forty jobs lining

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Speaker 3: up and banking up. And we've all heard the stories

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Speaker 3: from people of how they've waited eight hours or all

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Speaker 3: different times for police to come. And again, this is

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Speaker 3: not the fault of police. This is the fault of

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Speaker 3: government not properly planning, not driving down crime. And not

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Speaker 3: resourcing our police properly. So it's a perfect storm and

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Speaker 3: we've got to get on top of this. This is

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Speaker 3: something we fight government on constantly in the media, in

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Speaker 3: the Parliament. I don't know why they won't make change.

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Speaker 3: I don't know why they don't want to have a

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Speaker 3: thorough review to policing because we need a strong community,

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Speaker 3: a safe community. We can't have a strong economy or

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Speaker 3: all of the lifestyle and opportunities we believe in and

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Speaker 3: want for our kids if law in orders out of control.

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Speaker 1: Katie Well, the Police Minister, said that they are going

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Speaker 1: to have a review. Take a listen to what she'd

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Speaker 1: told us during the week that was on Friday.

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Speaker 4: Their figure of eight eight six was in thirteen fourteen.

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Speaker 4: In fourteen fifteen there was less than that, there was

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Speaker 4: eight sixty, and in fifteen sixteen before we came to government,

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Speaker 4: there was eight hundred and five. So they're picking a

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Speaker 4: figure from behind that is not relevant when you're comparing

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Speaker 4: stats to when we came to government. So if your

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Speaker 4: starting figure with a COLP was eight hundred and five,

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Speaker 4: what they're also doing is only picking a figure around constables,

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Speaker 4: whereas what that says is nobody else does frontline. So

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Speaker 4: since that time, we've also got an additional forty sergeants

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Speaker 4: who also do frontline work. But we've also got huge

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Speaker 4: numbers of auxiliaries. So the auxiliaries actually are sworn police officers.

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Speaker 4: They are also members of the NTPH.

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Speaker 1: So you're saying that there are more police, and I

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Speaker 1: know the line that we hear from the government very

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Speaker 1: often is there's more police than ever before.

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Speaker 4: There's two hundred and thirty additional police sins when we

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Speaker 4: came to government in twenty sixteen. They are So the.

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Speaker 2: Question is, Katie, do we have enough?

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Speaker 4: And we are looking at that very closely and we

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Speaker 4: will make sure that we've got an external look at that.

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Speaker 2: So they're going to take an external look at that.

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Speaker 1: I asked her whether they're going to make that review public.

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Speaker 1: But I guess what I'm concerned about here is, you know,

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Speaker 1: based on what is being reported in terms of comments

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Speaker 1: made by a senior police officer last week, based on

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Speaker 1: the comments that Minister Warden has also made, there's a sense,

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Speaker 1: it seems with some that there are enough police. Yet

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Speaker 1: the evidence that we are being shown in a lot

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Speaker 1: of different ways, and even when you speak to Territorians

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Speaker 1: anecdotally they don't feel that there are enough Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: police officers.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think that labor absolutely want people to feel

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Speaker 3: like there are enough, and without a proper review, we

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Speaker 3: will never know. And of course government have made no

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Speaker 3: solid commitments around the review we've got.

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Speaker 1: Well, she said that it's going to happen in the

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Speaker 1: next six months. She said, it's going to get underway,

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Speaker 1: it's going to start, and it's going to be done

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Speaker 1: in the next six months.

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Speaker 2: Is that good enough from you.

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Speaker 3: No, because we could have done this two years ago.

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Speaker 3: In any event, I asked her two weeks ago about

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Speaker 3: this and she was still saying that they needed the

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Speaker 3: electronic monitoring electronic rostering system to be in place before

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Speaker 3: they could do a review.

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Speaker 2: She reckons on Friday, they don't rub it.

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Speaker 1: So she reckons on Friday, they don't And that is

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Speaker 1: something that Nathan Finn, the president of the Police Association,

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Speaker 1: had told this told us on this show that they

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Speaker 1: don't need And I certainly take into into account what

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Speaker 1: you're saying that you know, you've been calling for this

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Speaker 1: for a long time. But I guess now getting into

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Speaker 1: the nitty gritty of this the police Minister has said

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Speaker 1: that they're going to do a review. She reckons it's

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Speaker 1: going to be done and dusted within six months. But Leah,

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Speaker 1: how extensive from your perspective does this review need to

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Speaker 1: be and does it need to be made public?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it needs to be a full blown review. It

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Speaker 3: needs to be public. What is worrying me about this

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Speaker 3: so called review is that in estimates, the Minister said

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Speaker 3: that they were the ones packaging up the data and

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Speaker 3: the information to give to whoever is going to conduct

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Speaker 3: this review so that they can then assess it. Now

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Speaker 3: I was saying during estimates, I don't think that the

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Speaker 3: government should be the ones cherry picking and collating the information.

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Speaker 3: Whoever the reviewer is should be able to go through

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Speaker 3: and do what they need to do so that we

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Speaker 3: can get the best unbiased report back to have a

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Speaker 3: really genuine clean look at what is going on and

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Speaker 3: where we need to go.

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Speaker 1: Who do you reckon needs to conduct this review? Lea,

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Speaker 1: do you think that it needs to be a former

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Speaker 1: police officer? Who do you think needs to conduct this

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Speaker 1: independent review?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: I think it needs to be someone very seen, very independent,

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Speaker 3: perhaps from another state or territory, and someone with experience

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Speaker 3: in policing and these types of matters, because it's really important.

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Speaker 3: The territory has not had one for ten years, and

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Speaker 3: so this is going to provide a critical blueprint going forward.

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Speaker 3: But let's not forget if this government spent time driving

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Speaker 3: down crime, it would also free out the time of

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Speaker 3: our police. So instead, what we've got is police force

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Speaker 3: in crist is under labor and crime going through the roof.

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Speaker 3: It is an untenable situation that this government doesn't have

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Speaker 3: a plan for and is failing to manage. So we've

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Speaker 3: got two big things happening at the same time which

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Speaker 3: are just unsustainable.

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Speaker 1: Lea, I do want to move along, and I want

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Speaker 1: to ask you about the revelations that we had on

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Speaker 1: this show last week that Jetstar has canceled flights from

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Speaker 1: Darwin to Dempasar ahead of planned airport tarmac upgrades. Now

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Speaker 1: they've canceled the flights ahead of those planned works, potentially

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Speaker 1: throwing territorians well they're build up escape plans into disarray.

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Speaker 2: But the carrier said that it would.

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Speaker 1: Suspend those those flights between October nine and November eight

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Speaker 1: due to potential runway works by the Department of Defense.

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Speaker 1: Now there are a few concerns around the situation.

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Speaker 2: But Leah, what impact do you.

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Speaker 1: Think that these works are going to have on other services?

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Speaker 2: Do you think that that's a worry here?

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Speaker 3: Well, this is all a worry because again it shows

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Speaker 3: that Natasha fars and her government have dropped the ball.

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Speaker 3: I do not think it's acceptable.

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Speaker 2: But how they dropped the ball when it's defense work.

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Speaker 3: Well because they didn't know about it and they haven't

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Speaker 3: told the community about it and there is no plan.

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Speaker 1: So shouldn't that be up to defense and the airport, Well,

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Speaker 1: it should.

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Speaker 3: Be up to the government, the Tourism minister, the Chief

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Speaker 3: Minister to articulate what the plan for our community is.

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Speaker 3: When you have a community relying on a runway, I

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Speaker 3: mean everyone can understand there needs to be upgrades and maintenance.

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Speaker 3: Everyone would welcome that because it ensures safety and efficiency.

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Speaker 3: But to just have that lot doubt at the last minute,

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Speaker 3: just a couple of months in advance, when people have

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Speaker 3: already made their plans, shows that this government is not

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Speaker 3: on the ball when it comes to that important transportation

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Speaker 3: in and out of the territory. And we've seen this

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Speaker 3: with this government not fighting through a better deal on

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Speaker 3: flight prices and time and time again, a government without

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Speaker 3: a plan and its territories who are left to pick

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Speaker 3: up the pieces.

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Speaker 2: Don't you reckon?

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Speaker 1: It shows that this information has not been communicated to

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Speaker 1: the government. I mean, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: it's not the Northern Territory government that's doing these upgrades.

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Speaker 3: The Northern Territory government is meant to be working with

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Speaker 3: all key stakeholders across every single facet of the territory.

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Speaker 3: And for this government to not know about significant defense

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Speaker 3: work being planned on our biggest airport in the Northern

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Speaker 3: Territory does not pass the pub test. There is no

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Speaker 3: way that the senior government ministers should not have known

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Speaker 3: about that work be working with defense on all of

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Speaker 3: the program works that are happening right across the territory.

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Speaker 3: It just is a disconnected government who aren't putting in

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Speaker 3: the work, don't have a plan, and have completely lost

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Speaker 3: their fights for the territory.

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Speaker 1: Leah, what do you think that it will mean though

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Speaker 1: when it comes to the efforts that the tourism ministry

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Speaker 1: is trying to put in to bring other airlines to

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, Like if we're in a situation where

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Speaker 1: you know where these roots have had to.

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Speaker 2: Be canceled for a whole month.

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Speaker 1: How do you think that's going to impact some of

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Speaker 1: those talks that are being had.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'm not confident in any of these talks because

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Speaker 3: we've asked Nicole Madison a number of times who is

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Speaker 3: she talking with, what is going on and what pressure

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Speaker 3: has she put on airlines to drop prices And of

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Speaker 3: course you can't name a single person that she's met

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Speaker 3: with yet. Murray Claire Boothby, the Member for Brennan, went

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Speaker 3: straight up to Alan Joyce and the chairman of Quants

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Speaker 3: and Stead without any hesitation that territorians are really suffering,

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Speaker 3: that Quantas need to do more. And if Murray Claire

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Speaker 3: can do that on behalf of territories when she's not

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Speaker 3: a government minister, then what on earth is our Tourism

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Speaker 3: Minister and Chief Minister doing. They are not taking up

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Speaker 3: the fight to business.

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Speaker 1: I mean they did meet with the they did meet

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Speaker 1: with Quantas. She says that she is meeting with other

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Speaker 1: airlines about the potential of obviously getting further roots here

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Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory. But I will just ask again,

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Speaker 1: I mean, what impact do you think that these works

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Speaker 1: are going to have. Just stepping away from the comments

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Speaker 1: that you're making about Murray Claire, you know, shirt fronting

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Speaker 1: allen joyce, but what do you think these plans are

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Speaker 1: going to do in terms of those negotiations, because regardless

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Speaker 1: of whether it's labor or the COLP, presumably they will

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Speaker 1: have an impact.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think it will have an impact because this

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Speaker 3: government clearly didn't know about it, so they're not able

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Speaker 3: to factor that into whatever negotiations they might be having.

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Speaker 3: I'm not actually confident there are negotiations of book, Katie.

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Speaker 3: But ultimately, if this government isn't across what's happening in

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Speaker 3: the territory, then it can't properly plan for our future.

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Speaker 3: You can't plan for refuture, it can't give certainty. And

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Speaker 3: when there's no certainty, business cannot thrive. You cannot attract airlines, people,

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Speaker 3: tourists when you have no idea what's going on at

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Speaker 3: your major airport. So again, this is a government totally

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Speaker 3: out of its depths when it comes to managing the territory.

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Speaker 1: Leah, thank you as always for your time, much appreciated.

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Speaker 3: Take care everyone.

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Speaker 2: Thank you