1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,120 Speaker 1: As you may have heard yesterday in the local news 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: with Crystal, the Dawn Military Museum was left devastated after 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: the theft of two old firearms on the weekend. Two 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: men stole the guns, which are not operational, from a 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: glass display cabinet on Saturday. With a member of the 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: public alerting staff. Now joining me is the museum's director, 7 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: Doctor Norman Cramp. Good morning to you. 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. 9 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Dr Cramp. 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: Can you describe to us what happened on the weekend. 11 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:44,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're on the Saturday. Two mail mails arrived at 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 2: the museum. They paid the admission fee and went into 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: the museum. There was quite a number of people in 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 2: the museum and on the grounds at that time. Late 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 2: we think well between two o'clock and probably three point 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 2: thirty quarter to four. They made their way to one 17 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 2: of the display buildings, the original wartime command post. We're 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 2: pretty confident now that they set it up so that 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 2: there was nobody in that building for a short period 20 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 2: of time except themselves. It appears that they put a 21 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 2: sign on the door saying that it was closed, and 22 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 2: they very quickly one of them went about forcibly removing 23 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 2: a locked glass panel out of one of the display cases, 24 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 2: put one of the weapons in the bag in a bag, 25 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 2: they left for a short period of time, and it appears, 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 2: according to the CCTV footage that at least one of 27 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: them came back and then it took the other weapon, 28 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 2: probably to put it in a separate bag or something 29 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,119 Speaker 2: like that, and then they left the museum and as 30 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 2: they say in the classics, made good their escape. 31 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: Wow, Norman, it sounds like they put a great deal 32 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: of thought into stealing these firearms. 33 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 2: I think, you know, looking at what happened here, was 34 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 2: definitely premeditated. It wasn't a crime of opportunity. They had 35 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 2: it well planned out. It's probably highly likely that they 36 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 2: had visited the museum previously, knew the layer of the land. 37 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 2: And I would say, Kadie that given that there were 38 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 2: other firearms in that display case and the two that 39 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 2: they took, I would say that they were the two 40 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 2: weapons that they were targeting. As to why they've perpetrated 41 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 2: this crime, I mean, that's up to speculation. There could 42 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 2: be one hundred reasons why they've done it. Certainly it's 43 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 2: for the staff here, it's concerning It's frustrating, it's annoying, 44 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 2: but you know it's not soul destroying. The anti police 45 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 2: or under this they have done an absolutely fantastic job 46 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 2: since we alerted them to the crime. They're working on 47 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 2: it and we're working with them, and you know, we 48 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 2: just move on and say that we can't allow these 49 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 2: people and the things that they do to stop the 50 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 2: things that we're doing. 51 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: Your spot on. 52 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 2: We're trying to do all the right things here in 53 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 2: the community and these two people are trying to do 54 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 2: all the wrong things. 55 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: Norman, You've hit the nail on the head there, and 56 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, that's the way that a 57 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: lot of Territorians feel at the moment. We love this place. 58 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: That is why we live here. You know, you do 59 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: something like run the Darwin Military Museum so that people 60 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: can come along and experience our rich, rich history, and 61 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: you can't let, you know, a couple of thugs who 62 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: decide that they're going to come in and steal these firearms. 63 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: You simply cannot let them ruin all that is great 64 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,359 Speaker 1: about the Darwin Military Museum. 65 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, in the fifty four year history of 66 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 2: this museum, nothing like this has ever happened before this 67 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 2: museum was established on the back of the volunteers, and 68 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 2: it still largely depends on volunteers. And it's whilst it's 69 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 2: really annoying and to a degree heartbreaking, what's happened. We 70 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 2: everybody rallied and everything was back in place and in 71 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 2: order first thing on Monday morning, and the museum is 72 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 2: back in full operation. And I'm I we are very 73 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 2: confident that the Northern Territory Police will nail these people, 74 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 2: and we think they'll probably do it recently quickly. I agree. 75 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: I reckon you spot on the you know, the police 76 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: do a phenomenal job. Norman. Can you tell me how 77 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: important were these guns to the to the museum? 78 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 2: Are they? 79 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: You know? Are they just describe them for us? 80 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 2: Well? In terms of monetary value or their historic value, 81 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 2: there as probably moderate value. One is a is a 82 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 2: copy of a more famous or more iconic weapon. I 83 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 2: suppose in the collector's market these weapons are readily available. 84 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 2: They're not They're not worth a lot of money. We're 85 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 2: not talking about very extremely rare firearms or expensive firearms. 86 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 2: And because they're they're being deactivated or made innocuous, the 87 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 2: monetary value of them decreases significantly, so it makes you wonder, 88 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 2: you know, why these people would do this so brazenly, 89 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:58,239 Speaker 2: so boldly in broad daylight. The weapons sort of little 90 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 2: monetary value, but as I say, we're not sure what 91 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 2: the motivation was. I think they'll be if they had 92 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 2: other sinister plans or motivations. I think they're going to 93 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 2: be disappointed when they realized that the weapons welded up 94 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,119 Speaker 2: and use them for a doorstop or with the ovie 95 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 2: mantelpiece or something. 96 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: I've got to say, good job, you know. I hope 97 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: that they're utterly useless to them for whatever they thought 98 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: that they were going to steal them for, or if 99 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: they were thinking that they were you know, that they 100 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: were worth you know, a phenomenal amount of money. I 101 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: think I hope that what they end up getting is 102 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: what they deserve, and that is the police knocking on 103 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: their door. 104 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and it's we do that. This is just 105 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 2: our view, not necessarily the view of the anti police. 106 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 2: We do think that they these two weapons were what 107 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: they were after, because there are others in that display 108 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 2: case that you know, they're they're disarmed, deactivated as well. 109 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 2: But from a historic point of view, they're probably more 110 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 2: iconic than the ones that were taken. So yeah, it's 111 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 2: all it's all a bit baffling, to tell you the truth. 112 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 2: Minds like ours don't work like minds like this. 113 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: Very true, very true, Norman. Before I let you go 114 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: this morning, have you had Have you had any update 115 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: from the Northern Territory Police at this point, No. 116 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 2: But I'm expecting a phone call from the police probably 117 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 2: within the hour. We're updating each other. The board of 118 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 2: management for the museum met yesterday afternoon and we've decided 119 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 2: on some menhents to the security system over there, and 120 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 2: so I'll be speaking to the NT police about that. 121 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 2: And we also have some more evidence the more BCTV 122 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 2: footage has come to light that we have passed on 123 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 2: to the police. We'll all work together and see if 124 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 2: we can bring these people to account. 125 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: Well, please keep us up to date, let us know 126 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: how it all progresses, and hopefully you know you're able 127 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: to they're able to catch them sooner rather than later. 128 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: Doctor Norman Cramp, I really appreciate your time this morning. 129 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having a chat with me today. 130 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 2: My pleasure. 131 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks so much.