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Speaker 1: Now, as I said, the Northern Territory Government's going to

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Speaker 1: be extending the youth curfew in Alice Springs for a

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Speaker 1: further six days, the extension covering the entire school holidays,

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Speaker 1: with crime dramatically decreasing. The Chief Minister, Evil Aula joins

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Speaker 1: me in the studio. Good morning to your Chief Minister.

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Speaker 2: And can I start by passing on my condolences to

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Speaker 2: Tommy's family. Yeah, it's very very sad news. And I

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Speaker 2: had bits to do with Tommy through when I was

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Speaker 2: the Environment Minister and.

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Speaker 3: I held the Bushfire's portfolio.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, mice a sincere condolences to Tommy's family A

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Speaker 2: good block.

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Speaker 1: Such sad news, and I know really well loved family

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Speaker 1: and well loved bloke.

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Speaker 2: And I think there's the footage of him feeding the

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Speaker 2: crocs is iconic territory footage.

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Speaker 3: Really truly sad news.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it truly is.

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Speaker 1: And look we will will certainly pay our respects to

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Speaker 1: him after eleven o'clock this morning, now, Chief Minister, this curfew,

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Speaker 1: it's been widely accepted, with locals saying that it's had

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Speaker 1: a positive impact.

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Speaker 4: Why did you decide to extend it?

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Speaker 3: So I've been on the ground.

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Speaker 2: The last two weeks in Nalla Springs, I've come and gone,

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Speaker 2: and of course it was very very positively accepted the curfew.

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Speaker 2: But also as the curfew date started to end, the

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Speaker 2: conversations on the street, also the conversations with the agencies

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Speaker 2: down there, the NGOs, they said, it makes sense, it's

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Speaker 2: common sense to extend it until the end of the

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Speaker 2: school holidays.

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Speaker 3: So it's a.

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Speaker 2: Pupil free day on the Monday, so the curf you will

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Speaker 2: be extended until six am on Tuesday morning. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: absolutely a common sense approach around really making sure that

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Speaker 2: the young people aren't in the CBD, that they're home

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Speaker 2: with families.

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Speaker 4: I agree with you.

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Speaker 1: I think it was the right thing to do, and

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Speaker 1: I know that there's some groups that have come out

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Speaker 1: and sort of questioned the lawfulness of it, but I

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Speaker 1: think sometimes you've got to make those tough decisions and

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Speaker 1: it's the community's expectation exactly.

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Speaker 2: So you know, I'm really happy if there are people

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Speaker 2: who want to take us to court over that.

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Speaker 3: Of course we followed.

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Speaker 2: We got advice, we got legal advice from the solicit

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Speaker 2: for the Northern Territory Attorney Generals, We've got legal advice

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Speaker 2: before we made the decision, but it was the right

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Speaker 2: decision to make, Katie. I think everybody truly on the

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Speaker 2: ground in Alice Springs. There may be a few that aren't,

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Speaker 2: but the vast majority of people in Alice Springs are

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Speaker 2: grateful for that, the respite that it's provided that community.

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Speaker 2: It really has given the police some time and a

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Speaker 2: breather literally, So I'm happy. If there's people who want

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Speaker 2: to take us to court around it or whatever else, fine,

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Speaker 2: but you know, the vast majority of people want this.

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Speaker 1: In terms of those stats that have come through or

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Speaker 1: some of the evidence that its coming through. What are

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Speaker 1: the police telling you, you know, have we seen a

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Speaker 1: reduction in crime in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so there literally has been, and they've said even

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Speaker 2: a reduction in domestic violence in Alice Springs. So it started.

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Speaker 2: I think the first night there was about fifty or

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Speaker 2: sixty kids on the street. Word got out very quickly

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Speaker 2: and that dropped down. It dropped down to about thirty.

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Speaker 2: I think the short the loss that got was about

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Speaker 2: twenty nine. Think it might have gone up on the

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Speaker 2: sad Day, but very much the word got out to

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Speaker 2: all the young people. What it's stopped. Is that the

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Speaker 2: excitement and the thrill of being in the CBD, you

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Speaker 2: vidding your video and yourself doing something really stupid, something illegal,

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Speaker 2: and then sharing it on TikTok or Facebook or social media.

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Speaker 2: So it's cut that out, but it's also provided parents

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Speaker 2: and so territory families when they have taken the young

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Speaker 2: people home, they've had family saying I need a hand,

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Speaker 2: and so territory families now have been able to step in.

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Speaker 2: They know, they've been able to identify the kids very clearly.

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Speaker 2: There's only a small number that have been like repeat

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Speaker 2: in repeat offenders in your CBD, so they've been able

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Speaker 2: to really identify those. So it's all like I guess, moving,

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Speaker 2: getting a clear picture of who and then put support

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Speaker 2: services in place for those kids and families so cheap.

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Speaker 4: Minister, what's the plan long term?

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Speaker 1: Because I guess a lot of people are feeling so

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Speaker 1: positive about the way it is going now. Yep, there's

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Speaker 1: some naysayers, but it feels like from what I'm being told,

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Speaker 1: people are able to go out for dinner again. They're

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Speaker 1: feeling like they can be out on the street.

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Speaker 4: What's the plan long term?

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Speaker 2: So that's the conversations I've had with the Acting CEO

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Speaker 2: of Department, the Chief Minister and Cabinet as well as

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Speaker 2: Michael Murphy, the Commissioner, is how do we get the

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Speaker 2: same effect as a curfew without a curfew. Basically there

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Speaker 2: has been a group, a summit group that was brought

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Speaker 2: together on Monday. That was their task. There was lots

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Speaker 2: of conversations, but also myself, I've been down talking to

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Speaker 2: a whole range, so ranging from LUA Tippa and congresspur

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Speaker 2: in your shopping center to Tourism Central Australia to the Council,

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Speaker 2: a broad range of people to get their views and

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Speaker 2: their ideas. So it won't be just one thing, Katie.

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Speaker 2: It will be a number of things and we're pulling

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Speaker 2: that together literally now I'll be down in our Springs

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Speaker 2: on Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon or Friday at some

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Speaker 2: stage I'll be making announcements around what next after the curfew.

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Speaker 2: Basically that informations being pulled together. But as I said,

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Speaker 2: it won't be just a thing, because there is not

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Speaker 2: just a thing. I mean, the curfew has received a

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Speaker 2: lot of attention, but it was also a large number

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Speaker 2: of extra police officers on the ground in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: So those are the conversations with the police commissioner around

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Speaker 2: what do we need to keep doing, to keep making

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Speaker 2: to make sure that Alice Springs continues to get that respite.

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Speaker 1: So we'll have a better plan on Friday. And look,

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Speaker 1: you know, with those additional police officers. A good segue

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Speaker 1: I think into the long awaited police review. It was

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Speaker 1: released yesterday. It's been in the making for the last

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Speaker 1: seven months. It was conducted by former police officer and

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Speaker 1: former head of the union, Vince Kelly. It makes eighteen

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Speaker 1: recommendations and shows what most of us, I think have

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Speaker 1: realized for quite some time.

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Speaker 4: We do need more police.

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Speaker 1: Fifteen of the eighteen recommendations out of that review have

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Speaker 1: been accepted by your government. Why didn't you accept the

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Speaker 1: recommendations to reduce the palis or discontinue that private security.

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Speaker 2: So Katie and I must acknowledge Vince Kelly and his

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Speaker 2: team who have done a truly magnificent job. They consulted widely.

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Speaker 2: I think it was about six hundred and something Territorians

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Speaker 2: had to say, five hundred of those in the police force.

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Speaker 2: So it does reflect the voice of police. I can

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Speaker 2: hear that when I read the report, and I encourage

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Speaker 2: people to have a read online because often we talk

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Speaker 2: about the recommendations that haven't been accepted, but there are

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Speaker 2: some really solid recommendations there that have so. First of all,

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Speaker 2: in relation to Pally's I've heard loudly and clearly in

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Speaker 2: relation to Alice Springs and Catherine the value of having

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Speaker 2: a sworn police officer or a sworn officer on their

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Speaker 2: lick our outlets so that one will continue. Hey, the

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Speaker 2: perfect day will be when we don't need them in

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Speaker 2: ALUs Springs or in Catherine or Tenant Creek, but they

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Speaker 2: need to continue now. So that was a recommendation, and

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Speaker 2: I can understand where Vince and the police are coming

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Speaker 2: from around that. It is a large amount of money

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Speaker 2: that goes into that, into that whole structure, but it

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Speaker 2: is one that we need to keep there at the moment.

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Speaker 2: The other one was around private security services. I know

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Speaker 2: my electorate's Parmesan, I live in the Parmesan CBD. I

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Speaker 2: know the value of having those security officers. Again, eventually,

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Speaker 2: when we get those additional two hundred sworn police officers,

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Speaker 2: the seventy one admin and non sworn off non sworn

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Speaker 2: staff as well, we might get to the day where

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Speaker 2: we don't need security. But as you say, the security

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Speaker 2: of their their presence is enough to as a deterrent,

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Speaker 2: and whether that's walking through car parks, whether it's in

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Speaker 2: shopping centers. I think we're seeing that worldwide. I mean,

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Speaker 2: if anybody who travels overseas see security guards in places,

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Speaker 2: and we want the police to be doing the big jobs.

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Speaker 3: And so I didn't accept that one.

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Speaker 1: Do you think we'll ever reach a point where we

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Speaker 1: have got enough police that we don't need those palis

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Speaker 1: or don't need the private security again.

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Speaker 2: The Pali one, I think we possibly could, but again

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Speaker 2: definitely around the security, I think you need that. I

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Speaker 2: mean I made the announcement on I think I think

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Speaker 2: it was Chooda can't right. I'm losing tracking day yesterday

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Speaker 2: around the transit safety officers and the security guards, and

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Speaker 2: so that was an additional eight million dollars for them

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Speaker 2: to continue. So you don't really want a police officer

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Speaker 2: to be walking through the bus interchange.

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Speaker 3: Yes, you do want them, but it's day.

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Speaker 2: In, day out, constant work to keep an eye on

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Speaker 2: someone just being like a bit of a dickhead really

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Speaker 2: and doing something stupid but may not be a violent crime.

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Speaker 2: I'm talking about someone who's just been prestling someone for

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Speaker 2: money or being a pest.

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Speaker 1: Just a really quick one on that, because we did

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Speaker 1: speak to a mum whose son was unfortunately set upon

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Speaker 1: by quite a large group out at the Palmerston bus

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Speaker 1: exchange a couple of weeks ago, and she had said,

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Speaker 1: maybe we do need sort of increased presents on those

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Speaker 1: bus stops, I know, or at those bus exchanges. I

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Speaker 1: know the police can't be everywhere. I know that there

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Speaker 1: are security around there, but around those hours of when

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Speaker 1: school is being you know, like school kids are being

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Speaker 1: dropped off, is it something that could be looked at.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think the police do their patrols.

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Speaker 2: They do actually drive around the back there of we're

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Speaker 2: between Kazales and the bus interchange. Yeah, my children went

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Speaker 2: to the bus interchange all their schooling lives. I know that,

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Speaker 2: you know how volatile that space can be, but it

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Speaker 2: is having constantly having security guards, transit safety officers and.

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Speaker 3: Then police coming through.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, just recommend that just reinforces the reason why

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Speaker 2: we needed we couldn't accept recommendation twelve of the review.

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Speaker 4: Let's move along.

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Speaker 1: I know the public has been screaming out about the

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Speaker 1: lack of police and delays to response times for quite

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Speaker 1: some time, Chief Minister. Why has it taken this review

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Speaker 1: for the government to listen to some of those concerns.

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Speaker 2: So, I mean, I think this is what was needed

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Speaker 2: and you know, a great decision to have the review.

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Speaker 2: This is an organizational review as well. It's not a

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Speaker 2: policy review. It focuses on the organization. But it was

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Speaker 2: around not and government has continued to provide additional police.

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Speaker 2: I think there's about an additional two hundred and fifty

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Speaker 2: that we've put in during our term. But it needed

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Speaker 2: a comprehensive look rather than an ad hoc a few

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Speaker 2: more here, a few.

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Speaker 3: More there more. It really needed.

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Speaker 2: This comprehensive approach, bring someone independent in like Vince who's

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Speaker 2: respected by the police force, respected by the public as well,

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Speaker 2: to have a comprehensive look at what needs to be done.

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Speaker 3: So it was around.

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Speaker 2: It's an additional seventy one non sworn officers that are recruited,

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Speaker 2: so we know we need more forensic scientists for example,

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Speaker 2: as well. We need the technical and crime is the

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Speaker 2: face of crime is also changing, where you need those

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Speaker 2: technical covert operations that can do work, and so some

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Speaker 2: of it isn't just around police, but that will make

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Speaker 2: the support staff and the support staff, but they'll make

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Speaker 2: the police jobs easier. So the JESK was around an

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Speaker 2: extra twenty five call takers and CCTV operators. There'll probably

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Speaker 2: be some additional police officers that sworn police officers that

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Speaker 2: will also go out of that two hundred go into.

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Speaker 3: The jes as well.

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Speaker 1: So the reports found four hundred and seventy two sworn

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Speaker 1: officers have left the force over the past three years.

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Speaker 1: It's a massive number. You last weeke anounced this edition

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Speaker 1: two hundred more police over the next four years. That

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Speaker 1: is on top of attrition. Is that going to be

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Speaker 1: enough to cope with the level of crime that we're experiencing.

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Speaker 3: So that is vitally important. That was the number.

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Speaker 2: So Michael Murphy as soon as he came in as commissioner,

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Speaker 2: he's been working on those figures and when you read

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Speaker 2: the report, there's a bit of a scientific equation to

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Speaker 2: it how long it takes to respond to a call

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Speaker 2: and how many they need. So, yeah, two hundred is

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Speaker 2: the number that obviously, between Michael Murphy and Vince Kelly,

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Speaker 2: we needed that work to put it into our budget.

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Speaker 2: So we've got our budget coming down in May, so

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Speaker 2: that work was done and that's why I made those

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Speaker 2: announcements prior to the report coming out, because they were

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Speaker 2: budget announcements. But Katie, two of the really important recommendations,

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Speaker 2: and I encourage people them to read a recommendation eighteen

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Speaker 2: and seventeen eighteen is all about the well being. There's

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Speaker 2: a whole chapter in here around the well being of

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Speaker 2: our police force and it is you know, they've got

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Speaker 2: the strategy, but it talks about a culture triviagionys stigma

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Speaker 2: of mental health, looking at the physical and psychological risk,

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Speaker 2: cultural responsiveness, work health, life balance. And a really important

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Speaker 2: one is around fatigue management. So if you're burnt out,

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Speaker 2: of course you're going to have to take sick leave

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Speaker 2: or take leave, and so two hundred extra officers is

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Speaker 2: part of that equation. Then you've got more police on

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Speaker 2: the beach, more vans on the road. You can then

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Speaker 2: manage fatigue and that's one of the critical ones. We

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Speaker 2: all know if you're exhausted, you can't do your job well.

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Speaker 4: We know.

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Speaker 1: Even in the report, Vince's pointed to a few different

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Speaker 1: incidents over the last ten years which have contributed to

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Speaker 1: the morale within the force really falling to all time low.

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Speaker 1: So I think all you've got to do is go

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Speaker 1: back to some of those Police Association surveys that they've

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Speaker 1: done as well to know just how low morale has

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Speaker 1: been over recent years.

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Speaker 4: I mean, has the government.

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Speaker 1: Let the force down over those years by not providing

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Speaker 1: that support not really getting stuck into this work sooner?

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Speaker 2: Okay, it's a really tricky one. You know, as a government,

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Speaker 2: you rely on the leadership and you have the police commissioners,

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Speaker 2: you know, and we've had a number of police commissioners

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Speaker 2: over the term of our government. But there has been

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Speaker 2: some really tough, critical incidences that the police force has faced,

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Speaker 2: and the report talks about that. In twenty fifteen, the

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Speaker 2: dismissal of the Commissioner of Police, John McRoberts, you know,

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Speaker 2: unheralded to have a police commissioner that actually serves some

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Speaker 2: jail time. We've then had Kumin Jai Walker. We know

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Speaker 2: the impact of that on the police force. We've also

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Speaker 2: had COVID and there were sadly suicides of police officers

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Speaker 2: and so it has actually been a really, really tough

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Speaker 2: time for police. We understand that. I understand that. I

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Speaker 2: think we've got a police commissioner that's very compassionate, very understanding.

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Speaker 2: He's i think, been a police officer and worked his

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Speaker 2: way through for about twenty odd years and the police force,

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Speaker 2: so we actually really truly understand police force. Brent Potter, iye,

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Speaker 2: I believe is doing a really good job. He also

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Speaker 2: gets the police and understands and is on the side

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Speaker 2: of police and backing police. So I think the report,

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Speaker 2: which it's five hundred and seventy million dollars over five years,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to be as you say, talking about the infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: that one also has some good money around police housing.

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Speaker 3: So again, if you have some you know, some.

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Speaker 2: Quality housing in your remote communities, improved police stations in

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Speaker 2: your remote communities, so people want to be out there.

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Speaker 2: You've got a nice new police station, you've got a

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Speaker 2: really comfortable house for your family. We need to have

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Speaker 2: police who want to go to a remote communities and

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Speaker 2: build a relationship with the community. So to me, the report,

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Speaker 2: I know we've often concentrated on the res that haven't

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Speaker 2: been accepted. The other one that's really important is Recommendation

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Speaker 2: seventeen and that's talking about the people management, and it

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Speaker 2: talks about how we can manage poor performance in the

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Speaker 2: police force very much, turning it around from being punitive

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Speaker 2: to educational and getting in early. So you know, somebody

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Speaker 2: does stuff up and does something small or you know,

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Speaker 2: not outlandish in the police force, how do you actually

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Speaker 2: correct that but change? And I'm firmly believe that we

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Speaker 2: need to keep our police in the police force. What

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Speaker 2: can we do around, you know, improve professional development, to

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Speaker 2: develop our police force so if there are issues, you

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Speaker 2: catch them early and you develop your force rather than

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Speaker 2: being punitive. So that Recommendatation seventeen is a really important

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Speaker 2: one for Chane.

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Speaker 1: So you said at that press conference yesterday that some

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Speaker 1: things were hard to read in that report.

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Speaker 4: What was hard to read?

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Speaker 2: Oh, there's probably a lot, Katie, that was hard to read.

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Speaker 2: You know, I can understand the organization a government organization.

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Speaker 2: So first and foremost it was that whole the police

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Speaker 2: are very good at doing their police work. And the

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Speaker 2: first recommendation is about putting in a high level public servant,

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Speaker 2: not a sworn officer, to really look at the organization.

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Speaker 2: And of those were really tough around things like fatigue

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Speaker 2: management and having a better handle on that. But it

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Speaker 2: was around strategic workforce, the well being, fatigue management, so

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Speaker 2: that that really critical first recommendation was tough around what

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Speaker 2: we need to do and put in a high level

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Speaker 2: position that won't be paid for by the police budget.

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Speaker 3: It will be paid for by government.

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Speaker 2: The other one, Katie, there's a lovely but sad, a

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Speaker 2: lovely case study that's in the report about a young

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Speaker 2: female police officer at gun Bolunya. So she's only a

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Speaker 2: case study in the report, so she's only been out,

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Speaker 2: she hadn't been out long I think four months, and

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Speaker 2: she's literally holding the whole, holding the fort literally at

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Speaker 2: at gun Bolunya and loves her job. So it's fabulous

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Speaker 2: to hear how much she loves the work that she's doing,

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Speaker 2: loves working with the community, but is exhausted and at

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Speaker 2: times she was the only person there. And so my

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Speaker 2: heart goes out to someone young like that that comes

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Speaker 2: to the or is a Territorian who really wants to

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Speaker 2: do the right thing. But an extra two hundred police

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Speaker 2: officers will help that. So yeah, I like stories, Katie.

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Speaker 3: It makes things real.

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Speaker 2: So that there's two case studies in this report which

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Speaker 2: are lovely as well.

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Speaker 1: Now, a couple of the areas we know that you

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Speaker 1: know that listeners that Territorians are talking about very regularly.

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Speaker 1: One of those is calls to those two emergency services.

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Speaker 1: What we know from this report is they've doubled since

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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. So the response times as well have almost

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Speaker 1: doubled in Priority one calls in the last five years.

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Speaker 1: So priority one jobs we know of the highest severity,

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Speaker 1: which have ten minute response time targets. They took police

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Speaker 1: an average of forty nine minutes to respond to in

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Speaker 1: Darwin and Casarina in twenty twenty two twenty three. How

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Speaker 1: are you going to get that time back to the

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Speaker 1: ten minute target?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, I mean that was probably another one that

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Speaker 2: was one of the tough parts to read. So it's

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Speaker 2: really just blown i mean blown out over the last

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Speaker 2: few years. So if you look at the data, and

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Speaker 2: the report actually has some really strong data in it.

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Speaker 2: So up until two years ago, things were so in

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Speaker 2: our budget papers, we have targets. Police have targets to

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Speaker 2: make to have ninety percent of the calls done within

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Speaker 2: those timeframes, so triple zero within ten minutes, and they

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Speaker 2: have tight targets. Literally the last few years, though those

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Speaker 2: targets are blown out. Prior to that, Prior to that,

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Speaker 2: actually crime and when you look at the data, crime

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Speaker 2: was actually declining, so.

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Speaker 4: It's fourteen years ago.

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Speaker 2: During that ten year period we've seen actually we saw

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Speaker 2: the actual trajectory of crime was in a reasonable position

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Speaker 2: for quite a few years. But then in the last

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Speaker 2: few years and since COVID and we've seen that Australia wide.

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Speaker 2: So it's it is a major issue for police, it's

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Speaker 2: a major issue for government how to get on top

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Speaker 2: of that. And that's you know, that's why Vince Kelly

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Speaker 2: was fabulous, had a good look at that and said,

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Speaker 2: we need more We need more operators, So we need

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Speaker 2: more operators who are taking the calls to respond quickly

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Speaker 2: to the calls that are coming in a triple zero call.

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Speaker 2: But then we need more officers. So it's about literally

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Speaker 2: having more vans on the road. So the Commissioner over

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Speaker 2: probably the coming months or even because we have to

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Speaker 2: have an implementation planning by June, end of June, he'll

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Speaker 2: be able to tell us very clearly where those vans

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Speaker 2: will be. So we'll and I'm making this up, but

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Speaker 2: will it be four more vans in Palmerston, or three

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Speaker 2: more vans in Palmerston formal vans each shift in Darwin,

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Speaker 2: so that you can respond to those. So that's the whole.

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Speaker 2: That's the holistic approach of the report. The importance of

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Speaker 2: having that report. It isn't just saying more police and

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Speaker 2: not having more call takers. You have to have all

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Speaker 2: those parts together. But we also have I think it's

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Speaker 2: about one hundred and sixty police officers who are on

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Speaker 2: sick leave. How do we get that them back? That's

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Speaker 2: I'm the treasure.

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Speaker 4: It's important to me.

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Speaker 3: They're already getting paid.

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Speaker 2: If we could get those extra one hundred and sixty

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Speaker 2: back into the workforce as well as our two hundred,

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Speaker 2: we're in a really good position around police. So the

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Speaker 2: report needs to be read in whole. It wasn't a

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Speaker 2: addressing policy. That's the role of government and you know

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Speaker 2: that's what you do through elections. This is an organizational review.

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Speaker 2: The police commissioner has a busy job. It's going to

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Speaker 2: be even busier now.

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Speaker 1: Well, Chief Finister, we are going to have to wrap

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Speaker 1: up just very quickly before I let you go, What

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Speaker 1: really is your priority? You know this week upon receiving

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Speaker 1: that review to make sure that these recommendations get implemented

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Speaker 1: and they happen quickly.

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Speaker 3: Exactly, Katie.

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Speaker 2: A report otherwise just sits on the shelf, and I've

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Speaker 2: seen plenty of reports over the years as a public

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Speaker 2: servant for a long time, and so that's why I've

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Speaker 2: been adamant around making sure we've got a and Vince

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Speaker 2: Kelly the same. There is an implementation There will be

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Speaker 2: an implementation team. There's also going to be a high

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Speaker 2: level and people who understand government and executive contract officer

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Speaker 2: for that will drive that work. We want an implementation

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Speaker 2: plan done by the end of June twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 2: and then there's twelve months Dune twenty twenty five to

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Speaker 2: have the recommendations underway and being implemented. There will be

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Speaker 2: also report backs to Cabinet around that, so we will

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Speaker 2: be making sure that every one of these recommendations that

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Speaker 2: we've accepted that gets implemented in full, Katie, and we've

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Speaker 2: put the dollars for that.

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Speaker 4: Evil Aula, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Appreciate your time this morning, Appreciate you speaking through extensively

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Speaker 1: with us that review.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, thank you