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Speaker 1: Now we know. The Northern Territory government yesterday introduced the

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Speaker 1: Domestic and Family Violence and Victim's Legislation Amendment Bill to Parliament.

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Speaker 1: The bill proposes to make critical amendments to several domestic

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Speaker 1: and family Violence and Victims of Crime acts. It's touted

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Speaker 1: as reinstating domestic violence mandatory sentencing laws which Labor removed.

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Speaker 1: Now joining us on the line is the Attorney General

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Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory, Marie Claire Boothby. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 1: We seem to have a bit of an issue there

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Speaker 1: with our phone line for some reason. Let's see if

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Speaker 1: I can get that back up and running. I'm not

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Speaker 1: too sure what's going on. We will just try that

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Speaker 1: again once more. All right, good morning to you, Attorney General.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, and thanks so much.

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Speaker 1: For your time. Now, the legislation's going to see the

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Speaker 1: reinstating of domestic violence mandatory sentencing laws. These new mandatory

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Speaker 1: sentencing provisions include a tiered sentencing framework from two to

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Speaker 1: five years of imprison for certain domestic violence order breaches.

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Speaker 1: Can you talk me through how these tiered sentencings going

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Speaker 1: to work?

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Speaker 2: Sure thing, Katie. So as we know over the last

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Speaker 2: eight years, we've seen domestic violence increase horrifically right across

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Speaker 2: the territory and labor. You know, let they removed mandatory

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Speaker 2: sentencing for DVO breaches, so we're really focused on reinstating

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Speaker 2: because we want to put the rights of victims above

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Speaker 2: the rights of offenders, and we want to make sure

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Speaker 2: that DV perpetrators face those consequences. So what will happen

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Speaker 2: now is if you breach your DVO and there's harm

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Speaker 2: cause or a threat to cause harm, then there will

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Speaker 2: be a mandatory sentence for you. Or if you breach

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Speaker 2: your DEVO multiple times, you will also have to you know,

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Speaker 2: sit in jail. Because we think that the rights of

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Speaker 2: victims as well, it should be above the rights of perpetrators,

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Speaker 2: and people who commit domestic violence need to be dealt with.

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Speaker 2: It is the community's expectations. We have seen such a huge,

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Speaker 2: horrific example of what happens when domestic violence perpetrators continue

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Speaker 2: to be let back out into the community and back home,

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Speaker 2: and you know, we just need to put a stop

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Speaker 2: to this.

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Speaker 1: So no matter what wash, if somebody breaches a domestic

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Speaker 1: violence order, they are going to be sent back to jail,

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Speaker 1: or do they have to actually commit an offense to

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Speaker 1: be sent back.

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Speaker 2: Where they breach the dvokad where there's harm or threat

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Speaker 2: to harm, or it's multiple breaches within a period of

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Speaker 2: time a short period of time, they will face the

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Speaker 2: consequences of jail time. And that is really important because

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Speaker 2: we need to keep victims safe and the way we

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Speaker 2: do that is to ensure that they perpetrators can't be

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Speaker 2: back out, you know, causing more harm to those same victims.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, we can't go into specifics of you know, of

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Speaker 1: situations that we've seen recently unfold where women have tragically

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Speaker 1: been killed in the Northern Territory, but it does seem

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Speaker 1: on many occasions that we have got domestic violence perpetrators

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Speaker 1: who are out on bail or there you know, they

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Speaker 1: maybe have I don't know, they're being monitored in some way,

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Speaker 1: but they certainly have a dv order against them, but

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Speaker 1: they are still offending against those victims. Are you confident

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Speaker 1: that this is going to stop that from happening?

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Speaker 2: Okay, This is exactly why we're putting forward the return

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Speaker 2: of the mandatory sentencing for DVO breaches. We need a

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Speaker 2: really strong message that if you breach those dvos and

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Speaker 2: you are continually causing harm threatening to cause harm to

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Speaker 2: your victim, then you're not going to get away with it.

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Speaker 2: You are going to be removed from that situation and

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Speaker 2: you're going to spend time in jail. The other really important.

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Speaker 1: Part of time, Can I just ask how much time?

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Speaker 2: So the time will be between two and five years.

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Speaker 2: We've expanded that we want that maximum, and then of course,

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Speaker 2: depending on the types of circumstances, then the judge will

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Speaker 2: determine that. But the message is loud and clear that

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Speaker 2: if you do breach your DBO and you cause harm,

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Speaker 2: or you threat to cause harm, or you do it

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Speaker 2: over and over, you are absolutely going to be spending

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Speaker 2: time in jail general.

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Speaker 1: A group of women's legal services have told the ABC

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Speaker 1: that the Northern Territory government's playing politics with women's safety

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Speaker 1: by planning to reinstate this mandatory sentencing for repeat domestic

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Speaker 1: violence breaches. The chief executive of the Catherine Women's Information

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Speaker 1: and Legal Service, Hannah George, has told them that the

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Speaker 1: reforms have been rushed by the government and jails are

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Speaker 1: already at capacity, impacting on visitation, professional access and program delivery.

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Speaker 1: Did you speak to those services before looking at these

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Speaker 1: legislative changes.

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Speaker 2: That's right, Katie. So I've met with a number of

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Speaker 2: the women's legal services a number of times in fact,

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Speaker 2: since becoming the Attorney General to hear exactly what it

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Speaker 2: is that they would like to see. One of the

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Speaker 2: really important parts of this legislation, which I spoke specifically

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Speaker 2: to the Women's Legal Services about, while the fact that

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Speaker 2: the Victim's Register had been somewhat not as effective as

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Speaker 2: it could be, and so part of this legislation is

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Speaker 2: to strengthen that, so we'll have more opportunities to ensure

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Speaker 2: that victims are notified at more stages of that perpetrator's movements,

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Speaker 2: not just when they're convicted, but of course if they

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Speaker 2: are breaching these dbos, this also means that they are

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Speaker 2: going to receive a notification. So it's that part of

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Speaker 2: it's really important. That's the part that they really clear

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Speaker 2: with me on wanting to make sure was right. The

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Speaker 2: other thing about women's services, not only legal but for

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Speaker 2: support for victims, is that there needs to be more money.

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Speaker 2: And the way that we're able to address some of

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Speaker 2: this more money is in the same legislation we are

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Speaker 2: increasing the Victim's levy by around forty one percent. In

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Speaker 2: that way, we'll actually have more money for those victims services,

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Speaker 2: and that again is something that that sector of women's

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Speaker 2: legal services absolutely have called for a number of times.

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Speaker 1: Look, I'm definitely not an expert in this space. I

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Speaker 1: you know, I don't know whether these changes will make

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Speaker 1: a difference. But what I do know is that clearly

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Speaker 1: what has been happening isn't working. Our domestic violence rates

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Speaker 1: are incredibly high. I do know though that there were

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Speaker 1: obviously recommendations handed down by the coroner following the deaths

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Speaker 1: of for Indigenous women in the Northern Territory. Are they

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Speaker 1: going to Are the recommendations from that going to be implemented?

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Speaker 2: So there's been a number of coronials into a number

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Speaker 2: of domestic violence depths, and we've seen that time and

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Speaker 2: time again. What we like you've just said, what we know,

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Speaker 2: it hasn't been working in terms of the things that

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Speaker 2: labor are watered down over the last eight years. I mean,

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Speaker 2: removing those mandatory sentencing means that those offenders continue to

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Speaker 2: be back out on the streets, back at home, back

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Speaker 2: being in the opportunity to cause more harm to their victims.

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Speaker 2: So that this is why we're bringing this forward. Those

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Speaker 2: recommendations as a number of them, thirty five of them,

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Speaker 2: and our departments are going through all of those things

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Speaker 2: to see what we've already done, what needs to be

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Speaker 2: looked at, and that's work that will continue right throughout.

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Speaker 2: And this is one of the important things about domestic

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Speaker 2: and family violence is we absolutely need to take a

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Speaker 2: different approach and different action because what we have been

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Speaker 2: doing hasn't been working, which is why we've seen these

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Speaker 2: huge increases.

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Speaker 1: So Attorney General, just with the legislation, so it was

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Speaker 1: obviously introduced to Parliament yesterday, where is it at and

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Speaker 1: how quickly do you think that these changes are going

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Speaker 1: to be implemented?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, I've preferred the bill to the Scrutiny Committee

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Speaker 2: so that everyone has their opportunity to put forward their

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Speaker 2: feedback about the bill, and that will happen between now

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Speaker 2: and the next sittings in May, and then our intention

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Speaker 2: is for in May to pass that legislation so that

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Speaker 2: it can be implemented as soon as possible, because we

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Speaker 2: want to make sure that victims can be safe and

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Speaker 2: we want to ensure that there are justice of victims

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 1: All right, Attorney General. I've got a bit to cover off,

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Speaker 1: so I want to move along. I want to ask

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Speaker 1: you about the situation with the IKAC now. I spoke

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Speaker 1: to the Chief Minister on about the report that was

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Speaker 1: tabled a week ago into Parliament into the situation with

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Speaker 1: colle Ain Gwynn. The IKAK had launched the investigation in

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Speaker 1: September twenty twenty three into allegations including that the police

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Speaker 1: investigation and prosecution was motivated by malice and the Police

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Speaker 1: Commissioner's referral to the Special References Unit was an abuse

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Speaker 1: of power. In that report, Patricia Kelly sc says it

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Speaker 1: was unsurprising the investigation was referred to the SIU, which

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Speaker 1: was set up to investigate high level corruption and serious

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Speaker 1: conflicts of interest. She also determined that it was not

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Speaker 1: her role to question any of the legal advice given,

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Speaker 1: finding no bias to continue any investigation under the IKAC Act. Now.

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Speaker 1: Following that, Collein Gwinn issued a statement last Friday and

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Speaker 1: said the IKAQ investigation was insufficiently thorough as the investigator

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Speaker 1: relied solely on the court documents and the information provided

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Speaker 1: by the entities under scrutiny. They had no independent fact

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Speaker 1: checking was conducted, No witnesses were interviewed, and no verification

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Speaker 1: of Affid David claims, particularly those used to justify intrusive warrants,

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Speaker 1: was undertaken. Attorney General, do you think this is a

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Speaker 1: thorough investigation given the fact that no one was interviewed?

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Speaker 1: According to Colleen.

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Speaker 2: Gwinn Katie, what I do know is that this when

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Speaker 2: this came to our attention, that became more public interest.

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Speaker 2: Most recently, I asked the IKAK if they had investigated

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Speaker 2: the case, and of course they came forward and told

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Speaker 2: me that there is in fact an IKAK report and

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Speaker 2: it had been four hundred forts sorry three hundred and

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Speaker 2: forty three days since that report was finalized. When I

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Speaker 2: received that report, I immediately tabled it in Parliament because

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Speaker 2: it was of a public interest. So at the same time,

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Speaker 2: I've also asked my Attorney General's Department for a full

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Speaker 2: briefing because I need to DECI what happens next, and

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Speaker 2: given that it has such a huge public interest about it,

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Speaker 2: I think it's important that we find that out. And

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Speaker 2: I mean the question that I have is, you know,

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Speaker 2: why has it taken so long for a report that

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Speaker 2: had such high public interests and you know, affecting people's

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Speaker 2: lives to be brought to the public's attention. You know,

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Speaker 2: Labor they asking the.

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Speaker 1: Attorney General's Department to have a look into it. Is

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Speaker 1: that effectively? I mean, are they going to be looking

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Speaker 1: into some of the work that they had done, or like,

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Speaker 1: is it going to be appropriate that they look into it.

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Speaker 2: Look, that's the first step of the process. I need

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Speaker 2: to find out exactly what it happened. You know, I

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Speaker 2: didn't have any oversight of this. This all happened under

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Speaker 2: LABOR and so we didn't have any of this information

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Speaker 2: to us and they didn't come forward.

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Speaker 1: Totally understand that. I totally understand that. I guess the

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Speaker 1: you know, the thing that I'm wondering is what's the

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Speaker 1: next steps? And when I spoke to to Colin Gwynn,

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Speaker 1: she had said she just wanted an apology. I know

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Speaker 1: you were not in power at the time, but should

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Speaker 1: there be an apology for the way that she was treated?

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Speaker 2: I think what has to happen is the process and

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Speaker 2: to get to the next step, and we're not at

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Speaker 2: that point yet. So that's why I've asked that that

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Speaker 2: full briefing. I want to understand exactly what happened so

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Speaker 2: that I can work out what do I do next.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to go and jump into hypotheticals or

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Speaker 2: speculate on things I just don't know, and have the

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Speaker 2: answers to Katie, and I think that is a fair

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Speaker 2: position to have it because because we are talking about,

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Speaker 2: you know, people's lives and the work that they have

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Speaker 2: done over a lot of time, and so I really

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Speaker 2: don't want to preempt any of that. I want to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we do go through a proper process,

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Speaker 2: and I'm really expecting the full brief to have some

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Speaker 2: information which will then help me with those next steps.

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Speaker 1: Attorney General, I know you were asked at a press

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Speaker 1: conference earlier this week if there are any other EYECAC

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Speaker 1: investigations which are of public interest that the former government

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Speaker 1: had been sitting on. Are you aware of any?

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Speaker 2: I don't have any knowledge of any others at this point,

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Speaker 2: but Katie, if there is a significant public interest in something,

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Speaker 2: then we will have a look at it and we

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Speaker 2: can ask the IKAC for well.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, the one that springs to mind is the situation

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Speaker 1: with Zach Rolf. I know that I asked the Chief

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Speaker 1: Minister about that earlier in the week as well. Have

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Speaker 1: you checked on that with the Ikak.

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Speaker 2: So with the zach Rolf case, they are of course

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Speaker 2: mid process in a coronial and so I don't want

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Speaker 2: to meddle in things when it is mid process. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we saw the Labor government do that time and time again,

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Speaker 2: and that's just not the way that we want to

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Speaker 2: handle things. The important thing is that we let that

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Speaker 2: process happen and then once we come to the findings

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Speaker 2: of that, then we will work out the next step.

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Speaker 1: All right, Attorney General, One quick question on one of

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Speaker 1: your other portfolios, and that is indeed tourism. The announcement

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Speaker 1: that anti major Events and anti tourism are potentially going

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Speaker 1: to merge.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: Look, the worry that I've got is that we're potentially

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Speaker 1: going to go from seeing int Major Events being a

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Speaker 1: really dynamic, fast moving entity that has been able to

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Speaker 1: get some of the best events going across the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory to it being slown down by bureaucracy. Why are

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Speaker 1: you forging ahead with this merger?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, it's important to understand we are at the

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Speaker 2: exploration stage of this. But what we know is that

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Speaker 2: we haven't been able to increase our visitation numbers to

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory over the last number of years, and

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Speaker 2: yet we have seen major events which have attracted not

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Speaker 2: only the excitement from territorians, but have brought visitors to

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Speaker 2: the territory. So what I'm really focused on doing is

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Speaker 2: making sure that there's that real strategic alliance and working

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Speaker 2: together from two departments which at the moment sits silo

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Speaker 2: and side by side and very much works separately. And

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Speaker 2: if that means that we have to change some legislation

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Speaker 2: so we can continue that agile operation of major events

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Speaker 2: and aps, we want to do that because we definitely

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Speaker 2: don't want to see any backward steps for major events.

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Speaker 2: We want them to actually grow and be even better

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Speaker 2: going forward. But if we can organize it so that

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Speaker 2: people who are visiting the territory come here for an event,

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Speaker 2: but there know that there are so many other more

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Speaker 2: exciting things that they can do and extend their stay,

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Speaker 2: then that's going to help all of our tourism operators.

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Speaker 2: That's going to help all of our hospitality businesses and

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Speaker 2: businesses in general to be able to make the most

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Speaker 2: of the time that those people are visiting for those events.

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Speaker 1: Well, Attorney General Murray Claire Boothby, we are going to

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Speaker 1: have to leave it there. I know plenty of people

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Speaker 1: are going to have lots of opinions on the various

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Speaker 1: things we've discussed this morning. Thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Katie, and thank you