1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,000
Speaker 1: Let's get straight into it because Bill, Yeah, the Treasurer

2
00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,320
Speaker 1: and Minister for Various Portfolios, joins me on the line.

3
00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:08,720
Speaker 1: Good morning to your minister.

4
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,680
Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.

5
00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,400
Speaker 1: Now, Minister, I tell you what changes to legislation for

6
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,400
Speaker 1: assaults on frontline workers, the budget outlook, changes to payroll

7
00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 1: tax claims, the supercars could have been in jeopardy under

8
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,239
Speaker 1: the former government. There is a lot to touch on.

9
00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,040
Speaker 1: It's hard to know where to start, but I know

10
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: that one of the things that a lot of Territorians

11
00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,840
Speaker 1: would be pretty worried about if they're hearing it for

12
00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,400
Speaker 1: the first time, is that there were some issues or

13
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,280
Speaker 1: there continues to be some hiccups around the supercars. Is

14
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,839
Speaker 1: the nugget of info that you dropped yesterday in Parliament.

15
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, it's just another one of those hand grenades

16
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,360
Speaker 2: we're finding as we shift through some of the issues

17
00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,360
Speaker 2: that we've been left with. So of course we know

18
00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,080
Speaker 2: about the Tyler brend And Drive overpass and the change

19
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,600
Speaker 2: is there, and of course that's sort of blown out

20
00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,320
Speaker 2: by one hundred million as well. But yeah, as part

21
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 2: of that when the overpass was done, we all know

22
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,160
Speaker 2: that Hi, Valley had like two entrances. You had the

23
00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,800
Speaker 2: main entrance and Gate B which got you into the

24
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:10,800
Speaker 2: quads and down to the mud rating. But when they've

25
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,480
Speaker 2: done the Tiger bred An overpass the off remp coming

26
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 2: from the port towards town, that entrance has gone. Now

27
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,680
Speaker 2: it turns out, but that's a deal breaker for the VH.

28
00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,760
Speaker 2: And this came up because we're working on the FIM

29
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,000
Speaker 2: World Motocross. It's going to be happening next year, and

30
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,720
Speaker 2: when we were looking at that and we found that

31
00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:35,000
Speaker 2: little nugative information that without a gate B, the deals

32
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 2: off for the indigenous round of the supercars, and of

33
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,360
Speaker 2: course for FIM Motocross they may need to get emergency

34
00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,319
Speaker 2: vehicles in or out during an event, and if the

35
00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,520
Speaker 2: main entrance is closed with spectators, I can't get emergency

36
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,320
Speaker 2: vehicles out in and out in cases a major accident.

37
00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,480
Speaker 2: So where.

38
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,120
Speaker 1: Are we in a situation where that gate's going to

39
00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:57,920
Speaker 1: be able to be open. Where are we at?

40
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 2: Well, well, the department now, I said of gone away

41
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,200
Speaker 2: to the department, said we need an immediate solution to

42
00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:08,920
Speaker 2: get a gate be into Hidden Valley because supercars like

43
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,519
Speaker 2: it's one of the biggest events in Dharma. I'm a

44
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,440
Speaker 2: petrol a petrol head as well, so I want to

45
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,120
Speaker 2: see the supercars go ahead. So we're working on developing

46
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,639
Speaker 2: a solution now. But see, the thing is the department

47
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,160
Speaker 2: went to government and told them about this, and labor

48
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,239
Speaker 2: didn't do anything. They knew about it and didn't do anything.

49
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:26,840
Speaker 2: I don't know what the hell they were going to

50
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,760
Speaker 2: do if they had in one government again, would they

51
00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,080
Speaker 2: go and to have to, oh, gee, we're going to

52
00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,359
Speaker 2: have to come out and solve this problem. But they

53
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,600
Speaker 2: certainly knew about it and didn't do anything about it.

54
00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,960
Speaker 2: And now we're here today fixing it because the supercars

55
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,440
Speaker 2: going ahead k one way or another.

56
00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,440
Speaker 1: So no matter what you are making, that commitment to

57
00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,280
Speaker 1: territorians that you are going to.

58
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 2: Make this happen, absolutely, OK, Gate B will exist in

59
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,600
Speaker 2: one way, shape or form somehow because the supercars are

60
00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,000
Speaker 2: going to happen as well as the fem made across

61
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 2: a couple of months after that.

62
00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,600
Speaker 1: So, yeah, Premier, does it mean that some of the

63
00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,640
Speaker 1: work is going to have to change or the you know,

64
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,320
Speaker 1: like the the order I guess in which some of

65
00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,560
Speaker 1: that work is happening. Is it going to have to change?

66
00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,320
Speaker 1: To some degree. No.

67
00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,160
Speaker 2: No, So the overpass will continue on as it is,

68
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,440
Speaker 2: and that's supposed to be finished by January next year

69
00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,720
Speaker 2: and open. So the department working out a couple of

70
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,320
Speaker 2: solutions now as to how we're going to create another

71
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,919
Speaker 2: gate be so in case we need to get those

72
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,880
Speaker 2: emergency vehicles in and out and through a second gate,

73
00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,079
Speaker 2: we're going to be able to do that.

74
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,840
Speaker 1: I mean, could this cock up cost us more money? Oh?

75
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,600
Speaker 2: Look, sadly, cay is going to be a cost. And

76
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,720
Speaker 2: this is what we're finding is we're finding all these

77
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,760
Speaker 2: these little hand grenades, the skeletons behind the walls or

78
00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,640
Speaker 2: under the floorboards. That's to say that everywhere we go

79
00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,200
Speaker 2: we find in these little issues. So this is one

80
00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,160
Speaker 2: of those that is going to cost us some money.

81
00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,280
Speaker 2: I'm not exactly sure how much get depending on the

82
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,760
Speaker 2: solution that we come up with, but yeah, it is

83
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,320
Speaker 2: going to cost us some money. But look, we've got

84
00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,360
Speaker 2: to have the VS going ahead. It's a premier event.

85
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,560
Speaker 1: But it's also something that Territorians look forward to every year, right,

86
00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 1: It's one of the things that they love about living here,

87
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 1: being able to go to the VS. And to me,

88
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,360
Speaker 1: I just think how are we in a situation where,

89
00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,359
Speaker 1: you know where we didn't think of this sooner or

90
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,080
Speaker 1: did they think of it sooner? I don't know.

91
00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,480
Speaker 2: Well, it's part of our listy okay. And that's one

92
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,920
Speaker 2: of the platforms that the cop was elected on this

93
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,600
Speaker 2: to make sure that we maintain the territory listle. The

94
00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,039
Speaker 2: vates are part of that and have been for such

95
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,680
Speaker 2: a long time. So and that's why I said I'll

96
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:33,840
Speaker 2: move heaven and make sure we've got a date b

97
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,000
Speaker 2: to keep the VHS going. Yes, it is. It's a

98
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,800
Speaker 2: great event for everybody time but right across the territory

99
00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,159
Speaker 2: and the money it brings into territory is certainly welcome.

100
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,360
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. Now someone's just messaged through and said, could

101
00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,320
Speaker 1: you ask the minister what impact closing the road off

102
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,960
Speaker 1: had on fiery who would have had to drive around

103
00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,839
Speaker 1: to get to a fire adding time. Did they create

104
00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:54,680
Speaker 1: a solution for that?

105
00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,040
Speaker 2: Well, that's that's what the issue is at the moment

106
00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,599
Speaker 2: because the only entry there are a couple of entries

107
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,919
Speaker 2: that there's some dirt rays that are coming off Amy

108
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,680
Speaker 2: Johnson and there's a bit of a dirt track that

109
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,960
Speaker 2: comes in from somewhere else. But it's still a little

110
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,560
Speaker 2: bit difficult to get in without that date be access.

111
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,280
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's what we've got to restore, that second

112
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,800
Speaker 2: access point. So it's not just for those events in

113
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 2: cases and the merging somewhere else, and maybe the fires

114
00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:21,800
Speaker 2: have got to get in, so we need another access

115
00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:22,480
Speaker 2: point somewhere.

116
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,680
Speaker 1: All right, Bill, let's move along. There's a lot to

117
00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,760
Speaker 1: cover off on this morning, and I understand those changes

118
00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,120
Speaker 1: to payroll tax will they are forging ahead as well.

119
00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,960
Speaker 1: The government yesterday is saying that the tax reforms are

120
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,640
Speaker 1: going to be happening. When are those changes going to

121
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,159
Speaker 1: come into play?

122
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,840
Speaker 2: So one January, Katie, the first part of the reforms

123
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,479
Speaker 2: will come into play. So the one point five are

124
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,200
Speaker 2: assuming up to two point five change, So that's two

125
00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,880
Speaker 2: hundred businesses straight away which will benefit from that increase

126
00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,640
Speaker 2: in the tax free threshold for wages, so that helps

127
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,960
Speaker 2: those businesses grow and then invest back into their businesses.

128
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:04,160
Speaker 2: The other businesses will get that benefit, so those up

129
00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,760
Speaker 2: to seven point five million dollars that change. The second

130
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,599
Speaker 2: part that change will come in at the end of

131
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,839
Speaker 2: the financial year next year, so then that full suite

132
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,680
Speaker 2: of changes are in. But this is a positive we're

133
00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,160
Speaker 2: talking really when you look at talking to Pat yesterday,

134
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,440
Speaker 2: he's got twenty twenty five employees and there's two hundred

135
00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,599
Speaker 2: businesses and that will BENEFITROM. So we're talking up to

136
00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:30,080
Speaker 2: five thousand employees from those smaller medium businesses across the territory.

137
00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 2: So that's a lot of people. And of course that

138
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,800
Speaker 2: means that I said, those businesses can then reinvest, maybe

139
00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,800
Speaker 2: employ some more people, grow the businesses, do some more work.

140
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,560
Speaker 2: And when you combine that with the first Homeowner's scheme

141
00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,799
Speaker 2: and the fresh Start scheme, we need we need more people,

142
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,520
Speaker 2: we need more trade. So this is that incentive for

143
00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,640
Speaker 2: those smaller medium businesses to be able to employ more people,

144
00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,960
Speaker 2: grow the businesses and develop the territory bill.

145
00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,240
Speaker 1: Look, I think it's a good thing. It certainly seems

146
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,000
Speaker 1: like it's a good thing based on the feedback that

147
00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,279
Speaker 1: has been received from business owners and operators. But how

148
00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,640
Speaker 1: much is it going to cost and where is that

149
00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:09,080
Speaker 1: money going to come from?

150
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we were going to lose about twelve million

151
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,560
Speaker 2: per annum in revenue on income tax into treasury. So

152
00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,720
Speaker 2: twelve minutes said, it's certainly not chicken feed. But when

153
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,679
Speaker 2: you look at the increased productivity and the increased spending

154
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,720
Speaker 2: will certainly get some of that money back. And the

155
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,120
Speaker 2: other thing we're doing is where we're looking at the budget,

156
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,920
Speaker 2: reprioritizing some of our spending and certainly reducing some of

157
00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,000
Speaker 2: that waste. And you look at some of the previous

158
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,120
Speaker 2: government's pet projects where they blew ten fifteen million dollars

159
00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,720
Speaker 2: on something that had no benefit to anybody, or just

160
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,800
Speaker 2: threw some money down the drain. I said, I'm going

161
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:46,800
Speaker 2: to fore go twelve million dollars in revenue, but I'm

162
00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,800
Speaker 2: actually stimulating business growth, stimulating the economy to do things,

163
00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,040
Speaker 2: and I'll see that as a far better proposition than

164
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 2: just throwing money away, Katie, that's for sure.

165
00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:57,080
Speaker 1: Well yeah, and look, it's one of the questions that

166
00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,320
Speaker 1: was asked at length really before the Northern Territory election.

167
00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,080
Speaker 1: I know, it's something we asked a lot of questions

168
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,840
Speaker 1: about throughout the week. That was of Maury Claire Boothby

169
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:06,880
Speaker 1: at the time, and she'd said that, you know, the

170
00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,160
Speaker 1: COLP was going to be saving money through well not

171
00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,600
Speaker 1: having those pet projects. But the fact is, you know

172
00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,000
Speaker 1: it's probably going to take a bit more than not

173
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,360
Speaker 1: having pet projects, and so I know, those questions are

174
00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,800
Speaker 1: already starting to flow through from the opposition. Are you

175
00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,040
Speaker 1: going to need to cut jobs? What are you going

176
00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,400
Speaker 1: to need to cut to cover those costs?

177
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 2: Well, so we're not cutting the public seccatie. We need

178
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,680
Speaker 2: the public sector and you're working alongside the private sector

179
00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,880
Speaker 2: to develop, come and develop the territory. The public sector

180
00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,080
Speaker 2: are going to play a really important role in the

181
00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,600
Speaker 2: future of the territory and where we're going. But it's

182
00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,200
Speaker 2: been being smart about what we're spending. But when you

183
00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,080
Speaker 2: look at some of the infrastructure stuff, just the blowouts

184
00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,200
Speaker 2: and overspend because the government went is doing some due

185
00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,280
Speaker 2: diligence here and there. So there's ways that we can

186
00:08:54,440 --> 00:09:00,920
Speaker 2: pull some money back, certainly reduced reduce those ends, but

187
00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:02,319
Speaker 2: we've got to grow the economy. At the end of

188
00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,599
Speaker 2: the day two, we need private investment. We need to

189
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,640
Speaker 2: deal with those crime issues and get some business confidence

190
00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,120
Speaker 2: back in the territory. I've met with some people this

191
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,560
Speaker 2: morning about who want to come and invest here in

192
00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:16,000
Speaker 2: DA and invest in the territory. And it's great to

193
00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,160
Speaker 2: see people starting to think like that because for too

194
00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,199
Speaker 2: long we've seen investors sort of on the fence, maybe

195
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,120
Speaker 2: not wanting to come to the territory. They weren't sure

196
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,199
Speaker 2: about where it was going to go. But with the

197
00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,880
Speaker 2: change of government now and the work that we've done

198
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,480
Speaker 2: just in this first two weeks of parliament, Katie, we're

199
00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:35,440
Speaker 2: starting to see business investment increase. We're seeing investors looking

200
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,040
Speaker 2: at the territory wanting to come here, which is great

201
00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:39,640
Speaker 2: to see and near the people that are going to

202
00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,200
Speaker 2: help us deal with the effective of the black hole

203
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,079
Speaker 2: that we've been left with.

204
00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,000
Speaker 1: I hope, so, I hope. So now, speaking of what

205
00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,480
Speaker 1: you've been left with, I know that on Monday, the

206
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,560
Speaker 1: Under Treasurer is going to be taking what I think

207
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,160
Speaker 1: is quite an unprecedented step, opening the books and holding

208
00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,840
Speaker 1: a public event so that territorians can see the state

209
00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,440
Speaker 1: of the finance. It's obviously something that that you, as

210
00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,480
Speaker 1: the Treasurer, keen to have happened. But why have you

211
00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:06,880
Speaker 1: decided to do this? Why do you think it's important

212
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:08,319
Speaker 1: for territorians to see?

213
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:13,079
Speaker 2: Well, it's about open and transparent government, Katie. Like the

214
00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,480
Speaker 2: under treasure used to play a more important role way

215
00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,200
Speaker 2: way back in the day and that sort of stopped

216
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,520
Speaker 2: under the previous government. The Under Treasurers is the person

217
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,640
Speaker 2: who knows the nuts and bolts and the facts and

218
00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:31,840
Speaker 2: figures about our economy. I'm the Treasurer, but I take

219
00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,280
Speaker 2: advice from the Under Treasurer and we work together in

220
00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,440
Speaker 2: developing what our economy is going to look like and

221
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,760
Speaker 2: how our finances work. But this is the opportunity for

222
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,959
Speaker 2: territories to get along to the convention set of the

223
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,920
Speaker 2: next Monday morning at eight forty five, I believe and

224
00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:48,920
Speaker 2: the Under treasure is going to give a talk about

225
00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,200
Speaker 2: how the anti economy works, what are the drivers, what

226
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,000
Speaker 2: the state of the books look like. So it'll be

227
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,640
Speaker 2: the opportunity for people to come along, have a listen,

228
00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,520
Speaker 2: get a really good understanding of what the books are,

229
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,760
Speaker 2: how they work. I said, I said, I want to

230
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,160
Speaker 2: be open and transparent about treasury and our finances because

231
00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,560
Speaker 2: there's no point trying to hide our dirty laundry away, Katie.

232
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:14,880
Speaker 2: We've got to deal with the mess that we've been left.

233
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:19,920
Speaker 1: Bill. How are those finances looking? Because obviously the budget

234
00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,720
Speaker 1: was handed down as I understand it, there was a

235
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 1: bit of an update a couple of days ago.

236
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,559
Speaker 2: We had the TAFFA, which is the state of the

237
00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 2: budget from from between twenty twenty two twenty three and

238
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,280
Speaker 2: the budget twenty three twenty four, So comparing those figures,

239
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,160
Speaker 2: and look, there've some people saying that there's a bit

240
00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,839
Speaker 2: of a win because oh, there's a three hundred and

241
00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,200
Speaker 2: twenty three million dollar win here or a ninety million

242
00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:47,360
Speaker 2: dollar win there. But when you start from the base

243
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,439
Speaker 2: Katie that there's certainly not wins. We're coming off a

244
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:52,760
Speaker 2: note out operating balance back in twenty two to twenty

245
00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,280
Speaker 2: three of one hundred and thirty two million. In twenty

246
00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,680
Speaker 2: three twenty four, labor budgeted for a two hundred million

247
00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,839
Speaker 2: dollar loss. Then they revised that in the middle of

248
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:03,679
Speaker 2: the year to a seven hundred and twenty eight million

249
00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 2: dollar loss, and the outcome at the end of the

250
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,440
Speaker 2: day was six hundred and thirty eight million dollar loss.

251
00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,600
Speaker 2: And some people said, oh, well, that's a win, because

252
00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:14,800
Speaker 2: it was. It was ninety million dollars less than what

253
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 2: they forecast. But at the end of the DAYCAD between

254
00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,880
Speaker 2: twenty two to twenty three and twenty three twenty four,

255
00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,920
Speaker 2: it's a seven hundred and seventy million dollar deficit in

256
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,559
Speaker 2: twelve months. And a lot of people know about the

257
00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,079
Speaker 2: debt to revenue ratios that's a number that's tossed around.

258
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,280
Speaker 2: In twenty two to twenty three it was ninety seven percent,

259
00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,000
Speaker 2: and for the first time in the territory's history, it's

260
00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,160
Speaker 2: gone over one hundred and it come into one hundred

261
00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:45,120
Speaker 2: and eight percent and its forecast will increase to one

262
00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,520
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty one hundred and twenty seven percent. So

263
00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,160
Speaker 2: these are the challenges that we now face that's coming

264
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:55,920
Speaker 2: in the governments, looking at that's spiraling, that the spiraling deficits,

265
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,480
Speaker 2: and how we can slow that down and then how

266
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,640
Speaker 2: we can start to turn it around. We need to

267
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,719
Speaker 2: start by developing our own soervice revenue and growing our economy,

268
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,280
Speaker 2: and that's what the Chief Ministers charged me. We're doing

269
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,880
Speaker 2: and I'm working hard with the Under Treasurer and the

270
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:11,719
Speaker 2: Treasury guys and business to try and.

271
00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:13,880
Speaker 1: Do it well. And we're going to need to build.

272
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:15,760
Speaker 1: There is no other way to put it. Mate. I

273
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,840
Speaker 1: want to ask you. I mentioned this on are yesterday.

274
00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,880
Speaker 1: I saw you at Casarina on the weekend and you

275
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,520
Speaker 1: said you'd been on a bit of a bus tour,

276
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,200
Speaker 1: now not a tourism bus tour. You decided to catch

277
00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,360
Speaker 1: some public transport from the city out to Casurina, then

278
00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:33,880
Speaker 1: out to Palmerston. Now what I like about this is

279
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:35,439
Speaker 1: it didn't seem to me like you were doing it

280
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,640
Speaker 1: as any kind of media event or anything like that.

281
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,360
Speaker 1: You were literally doing it to see how things were going.

282
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,000
Speaker 1: And you know what some everyday territorians are experiencing when

283
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,040
Speaker 1: they get on that public bus network. How did it go?

284
00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, after all the things that had happened on

285
00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,560
Speaker 2: the bus net, we've seen the driver attacked, and we

286
00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,280
Speaker 2: hear all these horror stories. So you've got to have

287
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,560
Speaker 2: some grand truth at the end of the day, Kadie. Yeah,

288
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:03,319
Speaker 2: I said, got me, got me thongs out in shorts

289
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:09,600
Speaker 2: and T shirt and and look and got out, and

290
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,720
Speaker 2: I said, travel the bus network to see what was

291
00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,160
Speaker 2: really going on and to see what territories are experiencing

292
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,480
Speaker 2: on a day to day basis. Look it was. It

293
00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,400
Speaker 2: was really good in some respects. There were a couple

294
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,960
Speaker 2: of interesting things. But what I did notice, k is

295
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000
Speaker 2: that the bus network is well used. Most people are

296
00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,040
Speaker 2: quite respectful of the drivers, and I think there's a

297
00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:32,680
Speaker 2: lot of the people who travel regular in the buses

298
00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,120
Speaker 2: know the drivers. But we still have this issue with

299
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,600
Speaker 2: some anti social behavior drunks.

300
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,880
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely.

301
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,800
Speaker 2: The casual in casual interchange Saturday afternoon, it was pretty interesting,

302
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,440
Speaker 2: to say the least, I must say, Palmerston was was

303
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,000
Speaker 2: pretty quiet. So I'll be out on the buses on

304
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,040
Speaker 2: a regular basis. I don't need to advertise the fact.

305
00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:56,880
Speaker 2: I'll just be out.

306
00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:59,520
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's a really good thing

307
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,280
Speaker 1: to do. And you know, even when I saw you,

308
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,520
Speaker 1: it wasn't something that you were telling me, you know,

309
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 1: because you were sort of having a skite about it.

310
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,040
Speaker 1: It was more you were just telling me because we

311
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,120
Speaker 1: ran into each other, and I thought, do you know what?

312
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,080
Speaker 1: Good on you. I don't know whether this is something

313
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,560
Speaker 1: that other members of Parliament have done, but I think

314
00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,240
Speaker 1: there is no better way to stay grounded and know

315
00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,280
Speaker 1: what territorians are experiencing than actually doing what everyday territorians

316
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,600
Speaker 1: do every day. So I thought it was a good thing.

317
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,400
Speaker 1: But Bill, we know that some of what our bus

318
00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,280
Speaker 1: driver's experience is woeful. There was that vision that was

319
00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,240
Speaker 1: released a little bit earlier in the week of bus

320
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:40,600
Speaker 1: drivers being assaulted and the discussion about the rollout of

321
00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,840
Speaker 1: the screening. How quickly are those screens going to roll

322
00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:45,200
Speaker 1: out to all of the buses.

323
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I said, CDC, we're looking to get it

324
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,080
Speaker 2: done by December. And again this is an issue to

325
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,440
Speaker 2: go quite back to January that the previous government you're

326
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,760
Speaker 2: about and wasn't really proactive about. The minute we found

327
00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,880
Speaker 2: out about it, I met with members of tw and

328
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,040
Speaker 2: some of the bus drives, including the driver that was

329
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,720
Speaker 2: assaulted in that vision where the guy climbed over and

330
00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:10,680
Speaker 2: kicked the head. So we straightaway started putting some pressure

331
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,160
Speaker 2: on CDC to get these screens up. They were sort

332
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,640
Speaker 2: of having difficulty getting material and having people to do it.

333
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,360
Speaker 2: A lot the really proactive working with CDC. We've got

334
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,520
Speaker 2: a guy down there now helping him and oversighting and

335
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,000
Speaker 2: getting those screens done. I think it was nearly seven

336
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:32,480
Speaker 2: fitted yesterday, so if my account's trek, we'd be at

337
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,880
Speaker 2: nearly forty six or forty seven out of seventy nine.

338
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,800
Speaker 2: The department telling me we should be having them all

339
00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:44,360
Speaker 2: done by at the latest mid November, probably early November.

340
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,200
Speaker 2: But we also made the commitment, and I gave the

341
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:51,040
Speaker 2: commitment to the CWU and the drivers that until all

342
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,080
Speaker 2: the buses screens are on, like buses that don't have

343
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,480
Speaker 2: screens we'll have a security guard on that bus without

344
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,160
Speaker 2: that doesn't have a screen to ride that extra resistance

345
00:16:58,160 --> 00:16:59,640
Speaker 2: to them until they're all done. But I've got to

346
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,840
Speaker 2: keep peace earlier priority to keep those guys safe, because

347
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 2: good just you can't even think of that the tragedy.

348
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,560
Speaker 2: Imagine one of those ms pulling into a school bus stop,

349
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,120
Speaker 2: someone loses control and the bus stops loaded up there

350
00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:16,480
Speaker 2: with kids rend thinking about ca So that's why we've

351
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,359
Speaker 2: been really, really proactive and really jumped on this to

352
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:19,840
Speaker 2: get it done.

353
00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, good Bill, I want to ask you, I know

354
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,560
Speaker 1: that it's not the only thing happening to try and

355
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,399
Speaker 1: keep frontline workers safe. The legislation passing earlier in the

356
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,480
Speaker 1: week on the mandatory minimum sentencing of three months imprisonment

357
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:38,240
Speaker 1: for those who do assault frontline workers now. Chancey Paike

358
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,840
Speaker 1: in Parliament yesterday claimed that the COLPS changes were merely

359
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,560
Speaker 1: tinkering around the edges and mandatory sentencing did not work

360
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,560
Speaker 1: as a deterrent. He also accused the government of being

361
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 1: utterly misleading painting the laws as a win for all

362
00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:00,359
Speaker 1: territory workers. He said this only applies to police and paramedics,

363
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,800
Speaker 1: not our bus and taxi drivers. Not our nurses, doctors, teachers,

364
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:09,760
Speaker 1: corrections officers, retail and hospitality workers bill. Is that true?

365
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,600
Speaker 2: That's a bit richer coming from chance in the labor

366
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 2: the governor after they said watering down the laws and

367
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,119
Speaker 2: winning everything back. And that's why we're in a situation

368
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,280
Speaker 2: where today so that those laws came into place, Cody,

369
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,879
Speaker 2: there are laws there that protect every worker in the

370
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:31,320
Speaker 2: territory and particularly our forward facing workers and our frontline workers, police, paramedics, nurses,

371
00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:32,640
Speaker 2: and prison officers.

372
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,640
Speaker 1: So it is covering, it is definitely covering those nurses

373
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:37,360
Speaker 1: people in the front.

374
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,800
Speaker 2: There's four different parts of the legislation, so and there's

375
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,160
Speaker 2: different levels to every part, and I can't sit here

376
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,439
Speaker 2: and rattle them off the top of my head, but

377
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,639
Speaker 2: there's four specific different parts and there are specific mandatary

378
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 2: offenses for what might happen under those four different parts.

379
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,520
Speaker 2: Whether are you assault a worker which causes some will

380
00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,480
Speaker 2: attract one penalty, you're assaulted worker that doesn't cause will

381
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,600
Speaker 2: attract another penalty. If you spit on a worker, you

382
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,160
Speaker 2: will attract a penalty, so and so on. So there's

383
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,800
Speaker 2: four different tiers and there's mandatory sentencing to all of

384
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 2: those penalties that wasn't there before, that that did not

385
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,359
Speaker 2: exist before. So if you're assault a worker, depending on

386
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,840
Speaker 2: what the range you are going to, you are going

387
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,399
Speaker 2: to end up with a penalty of some description and

388
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,200
Speaker 2: it will be a mandatory penalty. And if you think,

389
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,719
Speaker 2: if you assault a worker and you have a previous

390
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:29,879
Speaker 2: world offense, you're going to do three months in jail.

391
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,600
Speaker 2: And that's that's pretty simple. So there are different levels

392
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,679
Speaker 2: to it. So yeah, if you assault somebody, you assault

393
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,560
Speaker 2: a worker, you're going to face consequences and there will

394
00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,360
Speaker 2: be a mandatory consequence for those actions.

395
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:49,120
Speaker 1: Well, Billyan, the Treasurer and Minister for a number of portfolios,

396
00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:50,680
Speaker 1: we are going to have to leave it there. Really

397
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,240
Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. Thanks so much for

398
00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:53,119
Speaker 1: your time this morning.

399
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,640
Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, you have a great date you too,