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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the CEO

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Speaker 1: of Hospitality here in the Northern Territory, Alex Bruce. Good morning, Alex,

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Speaker 1: Good morning, key Alex. A bit to get through this morning. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: the government made the announcement yesterday they've committed an additional

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Speaker 1: or or a further eight million dollars over the next

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Speaker 1: two years for funding to be used to maintain the

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Speaker 1: transit safety officers on the bus network. But as that

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Speaker 1: announcement was being made yesterday, some were questioning where are

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Speaker 1: things that with our security guards on bottle shops being

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Speaker 1: able to use OC spray.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you might remember, tragically after declan Levity's pasting

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Speaker 2: last year more than a year ago now, it was

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Speaker 2: part of the measures that the government announced in that

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Speaker 2: following week. The latest update that we've been provided by

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Speaker 2: Minister Potter is that we think we might be ready

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Speaker 2: to start seeing some of them rolled out end of

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Speaker 2: this month's early next month. We would have liked to

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Speaker 2: be sooner rather than later, but it is what it is.

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Speaker 2: We are seeing a lot of edged weapons, so you know,

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Speaker 2: we'd always have a bit of an influx over the

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Speaker 2: wet season and weather, rest spite and more people from

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Speaker 2: other parts of the territory coming into Darwin, and now

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Speaker 2: that the weather's improving in the road opening up, they

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Speaker 2: clear back out again and it might calm down a

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Speaker 2: little bit, But definitely this season has just been many,

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Speaker 2: many incidents and near misses with with edged weapons and

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Speaker 2: our bottle shop network particularly, So you know, we're all

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Speaker 2: a little bit on tenor hooks and we do think,

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Speaker 2: you know, there is no one thing, but there are

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Speaker 2: all these little punks that are putting themselves on TikTok,

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Speaker 2: you know, gown the police in our suburbs and towns

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Speaker 2: or whatever. Well let's get some footage of spraying them

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Speaker 2: in the eyes of the OC spray and put that

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Speaker 2: on TikTok instead.

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Speaker 3: I reckon others would agree with you on that one, Alex.

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Speaker 1: Particularly you know, when you've got people out there breaking

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Speaker 1: the law, it just makes me wild when you think

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Speaker 1: then they're sharing that on TikTok, they're sharing that on

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Speaker 1: other platforms and seemingly getting away with doing so. But

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Speaker 1: with so with the OC spray with the security officers.

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Speaker 3: So I mean.

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Speaker 1: This month or early next month, Alex, that seems like

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Speaker 1: a very long time to wait. Following on from the

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Speaker 1: absolute tragedy that we we are all very well aware

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Speaker 1: of from early last year.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's been hurdles put up within the bureaucracy on

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Speaker 2: this one, and you know, the the decisions taken from

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Speaker 2: from from cabinet and the ministers. But then you know

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Speaker 2: it's sent to people whose job it is to say

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Speaker 2: no to most things. So you know, it had been

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Speaker 2: slow moving legislative change that was required. The government did

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Speaker 2: put through at the end of last year, which is good,

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Speaker 2: but yeah, you know, is it le galant you can

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Speaker 2: carry this around themselves? Yeah, right, Like we wrap ourselves

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Speaker 2: up into whether this is putting us on the path

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Speaker 2: of second tier policing, and we respect the police and

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Speaker 2: their association have a very strong role to say in

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Speaker 2: all of that. But when we just can't get the

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Speaker 2: boots on the ground, we need to be able to

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Speaker 2: protect our staff and our security.

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Speaker 1: So you're saying that in Western Australia, every day people

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Speaker 1: can carry around their oc spray, but here we're sort

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Speaker 1: of concerned about whether a security guard.

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Speaker 3: Can have it or not.

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Speaker 2: We have a coboard in our community that's carrying around

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Speaker 2: weapons and the rest of us aren't allowed to. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: it is what it is.

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Speaker 1: Oh, look, I think it will be a good thing

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Speaker 1: once they're able to actually use that. It's not going

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Speaker 1: to be, you know, the answer to every issue we've got.

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Speaker 3: We all understand that.

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Speaker 1: But it does just mean that there is a tool

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Speaker 1: in the belts of security guards and they need to

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Speaker 1: be trained properly obviously to use it. But all of

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Speaker 1: that work is what is going to happen, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: That's it. And at the moment, you know, I've seen

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Speaker 2: too many incidences not to name any of them on

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Speaker 2: the CCTV footage, and the guards, the staff, they're standing

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Speaker 2: back as they're trained to do when there's too big

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Speaker 2: of mob boarders, you know, edge weapons or scissors being

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Speaker 2: filled around and moving away from the till, moving away

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Speaker 2: from the counters of spirits or whatever, and they're still

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Speaker 2: getting lunched at. So we're not we're not happy where

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Speaker 2: we are. We'd hate hates that to be any worse

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Speaker 2: incidence than to occur in their space. And yeah, we

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Speaker 2: just think as appropriate with the right training and all

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Speaker 2: the other framework that's getting put around it. But a

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Speaker 2: couple of these mongrel kids that it might change their behavior.

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Speaker 3: Alex let me ask you.

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Speaker 1: I know that that we have now received a copy

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Speaker 1: of a letter that went from the Northern Territory Police

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Speaker 1: two different licensed takeaway licensed premises in Alice Springs saying

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Speaker 1: that as of tomorrow basically that training commitments the recruit

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Speaker 1: constables are going to see duties in Alice Springs on Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: Post this dage, there's going to be a revision of

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Speaker 1: the all that's going to be a reversal to the

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Speaker 1: hybrid Pouse operation which was in place prior to the

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Speaker 1: twenty ninth of March. The operation is going to provide

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Speaker 1: well ongoing assessments at takeaway alcohol licensed premises. It's also

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Speaker 1: going to meet a collaboration with Licensing and Tea to

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Speaker 1: ensure compliance with the Liquor Act and enhanced Alcohol Policing

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Speaker 1: Unit staffed by constables supporting this hybrid operation. Wash are

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Speaker 1: those takeaway licensed premises in Alice Springs saying to you

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Speaker 1: this morning, Well, we.

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Speaker 2: Were down supporting the Alice Cup on the weekend and

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Speaker 2: it was cracking day out of the track and yesterday

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Speaker 2: we had the Central Australian liquor record in Alice Springs,

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Speaker 2: so it was very well attended from the licensees and

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Speaker 2: then the police and Licensing mt. That communication was discussed.

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Speaker 2: The subject to the final announcement of what was happening

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Speaker 2: with the curfew was discussed. So it was quite a

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Speaker 2: productive meeting. The little outlets, I think, have made their

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Speaker 2: views known about the impact on them when they don't

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Speaker 2: get full coverage. The large outlets in the CBD particularly,

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Speaker 2: we understand are still going to maintain full coverage, and

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Speaker 2: it's definitely the police and government's view that the smaller

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Speaker 2: ones that are restricted in the volume that they can

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Speaker 2: sell at that twenty five percent cap that you're aware of,

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Speaker 2: that does act as yet another limited We were already

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Speaker 2: rightly or wrongly what you think about that policy. But

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Speaker 2: we're already seeing those small stores having to close or

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Speaker 2: see service in their stores towards the end of the month.

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Speaker 2: So they're suddenly not going to materialize additional grocery store

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Speaker 2: sales to offset any additional alcohol volumes. Sound is relying

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Speaker 2: on that as a bit of a limit.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that those stores are concerned of being mobbed,

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Speaker 2: and then how do they put on the security and

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Speaker 2: the additional cost and everything else to try and to

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Speaker 2: deal with the law in order.

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Speaker 1: I mean, is it fair like is it fair really

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Speaker 1: that the big guys continue to get that coverage and

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Speaker 1: the little guys don't.

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Speaker 4: Ah, I might just leave that one there, the accord

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Speaker 4: in our springs and even in Catherine as well wrote

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Speaker 4: into the government before the changes happened earlier this year.

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Speaker 2: Generally it is our view that if you don't achieve

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Speaker 2: full coverage in a town, it just displaces activity between

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Speaker 2: outlets and we're not sure you get the right outcome

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Speaker 2: when that happens. But you know, the police outline yesterday

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Speaker 2: quite succinctly just that challenge they have at the moment

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Speaker 2: actually getting boots on the ground.

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Speaker 3: Well, look, we are going to talk more about it

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Speaker 3: throughout the morning. Alex Bruce. We always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much for having a chat with me today.

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Speaker 3: Thank you. That is Alex Bruce.

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Speaker 1: There the sea of hospitality here in the Northern Turret