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Speaker 1: We are breaking down the budget and working out exactly

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Speaker 1: what some of this spending is going to mean for Territorians.

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Speaker 1: And joining me on the line right now from the

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Speaker 1: United Workers Union, the secretary Erina Early. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Morning, Katie. How are you very well? Now?

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Speaker 1: Erin a number of big announcements obviously when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the budget, but one that certainly sparked my attention

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Speaker 1: is quite an investment when it comes to correctional services.

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Speaker 1: Can you talk us through exactly what we're going to

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Speaker 1: see when it comes to corrections and what it's going

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Speaker 1: to mean for an area that you and I have

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Speaker 1: spoken about on numerous occasions it was needing some serious

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Speaker 1: sort of investment.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie. I think Corrections have done quite well out

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Speaker 2: of this budget. Significant amount of money is going to

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Speaker 2: be provided to them, as you would know that they're

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Speaker 2: going to be putting nearly up to ninety five million

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Speaker 2: strengthen the corrections budget. It's been under budget for a

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Speaker 2: long time and we've seen that with a short staffing,

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Speaker 2: with the officers walking off the job to send that

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Speaker 2: message for government. So I really really hope the government

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Speaker 2: have listened and stuff with prowarding this money. Forward and

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Speaker 2: eron are.

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Speaker 1: Thirty million dollars to ease that overcrowding as well, because

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Speaker 1: the overcrowding. Again, you and I have spoken on a

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Speaker 1: number of occasions where you've told me that those prison

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Speaker 1: officers are really concerned about the volume of people that

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Speaker 1: they've got in there and the staff to prisoner ratio.

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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, and you know, yes, putting this additional money

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Speaker 2: in too address the over crowding and stuff like that

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Speaker 2: is fantastic. But the way that we need to do

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Speaker 2: that is we need to ensure that we've got enough

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Speaker 2: correction officers as well to maintain the security for the prison.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So how do we make sure we've got enough

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Speaker 1: of those correctional officers and where are those numbers out

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Speaker 1: at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Well, we're still quite significantly short with officers, as you know.

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Speaker 2: Alice Springs is still the big one. Darwin still has

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Speaker 2: their staffing issues as well. But Corrections are rigorously trying

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Speaker 2: to recruit new officers. So hopefully we're going to start

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Speaker 2: actually studying to see some of these long standing positions

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Speaker 2: being filled.

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Speaker 1: So, Erina, from your perspective, was the Northern Territory budget

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Speaker 1: a good one?

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Speaker 2: From Corrections? I would say if we're going in the

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Speaker 2: right step, definitely with corrections. We just need to ensure,

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Speaker 2: for example, the seventeen million that's going to Alice Springs

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Speaker 2: with this rapid modular cell accommodation, which I think the

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Speaker 2: fancy words for a donner. Yeah, I'd wondered that there

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Speaker 2: that they actually need to make sure they're actually making

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Speaker 2: sure they've got enough officers to accommodate these new fancy

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Speaker 2: doggars that are coming.

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Speaker 1: I have wondered, you know what the modular I can't

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Speaker 1: even think of the words now what that meant. So

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Speaker 1: you're you're thinking it's from your fancy dogga.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I reckon, it's a fancy empty dogger.

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Speaker 1: Erina, tell me where did you think that the budget

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Speaker 1: fell short or were there any areas where you thought

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Speaker 1: it fell short?

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Speaker 2: Well, from our unit perspective, we're seeing the fire Service

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Speaker 2: got some additional funding. I just I don't I think

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Speaker 2: it's great they're actually looking at the training side of

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Speaker 2: the Fire Service, but I feel still that they're not

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Speaker 2: really addressing the real issues with the fire Service. You've

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Speaker 2: still got a hostile EA negotiation. We've got a really

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Speaker 2: big attraction of retention issue. In the fire service and

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Speaker 2: there's a real toxic workplace at the moment and stuff there,

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Speaker 2: so a lot needs to be put into fire service

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Speaker 2: and I still don't think it was recognized in the B.

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Speaker 1: And so where are things that with those EBAs at

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Speaker 1: this point? Not only with the fireies, but how have

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Speaker 1: we sorted Have most of them now been sorted out?

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Speaker 2: We're getting there, Katie. So the fieries, they're a complete mpath.

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Speaker 2: It's very hostile negotiations. Power and water and TGen are

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Speaker 2: going out to vote, so they've got some great improvements there.

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Speaker 2: The dentists and the doctors are stilling negotiations and so

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Speaker 2: are the nurses, but are there coming to the end.

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Speaker 2: So we're looking hopefully getting some resolution there. And the

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Speaker 2: Aboriginal health practitioners got voted up the other week, so

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Speaker 2: now that's an a fair work commission for.

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Speaker 1: Approval, all right, So it is I mean, it's good

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Speaker 1: to hear that the majority of those EBA negotiations are

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Speaker 1: now moving along and going through hopefully in a positive way.

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Speaker 1: But hopefully you're able to see some movements soon when

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Speaker 1: it comes to the firies. Yes, folks, yeah, well erin

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Speaker 1: early I always appreciate your time. Thank you very much

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Speaker 1: for having a chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Always my pleasure. Catie, have a great day you too.

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Speaker 1: Thank you