00:00Jessica Morrison Chief Minister, thank you for joining us on
00:04Stateline NT.
00:05Now, can I take you back to start with to December in Alice Springs, just before Christmas.
00:11Now we saw a two-month-old baby girl who had her skull fractured in what's alleged to be
00:16a violent home invasion.
00:18When you got that phone call, when you heard that news, what went through your mind at
00:23that time?
00:24It was horrifying.
00:25I mean, you just immediately put yourself in the shoes as a parent.
00:30You send all of your thoughts and prayers and everything you can summons into that child,
00:35hope that they're okay.
00:37Often what happens when you get notification of something as horrific as that is, it's
00:41not a lot of detail, of course, because it's unfolding.
00:44So we immediately made plans to go down to Alice Springs and we left at the crack of
00:48dawn the next morning.
00:50Since that time, I've met with the Siguenza family and the little baby and all the children
00:54a couple of times and it's been lovely.
00:56It's great that she's on the path to recovery, but it's a traumatic, horrific event and the
01:02community just, the outpouring of support for that family, for that child and the outrage
01:07is 100% justifiable.
01:10We stood with the community in that outrage, in that sadness and took really strong action
01:15afterwards.
01:16Well, you mentioned the outrage.
01:17You, in the aftermath of that, the next day flew down to Alice Springs.
01:22You were met with what I guess would be considered confronting scenes.
01:25There were angry protesters about crime.
01:28They were shouting at you.
01:29They were calling for you to resign.
01:31They were saying you'd failed the people of Alice Springs.
01:34Do you wish you'd done something sooner?
01:36Well, when I landed in Alice Springs, I knew people would be angry and I was just as furious
01:41as them.
01:42So none of that bothered me.
01:43It's absolutely people's right to be so disappointed and angry.
01:48So I understand that frustration and that's why I went, is to stand with people in that
01:52anger.
01:53Indigenous Australians Minister Malindirri McCarthy has criticised your government's
01:57plan to scrap alcohol unit price restrictions.
02:01I believe you're planning to do that next week in Parliament.
02:04Given that will make alcohol cheaper, is it inevitable that cheaper alcohol will result
02:08in more alcohol-related crime in the Northern Territory?
02:11Yeah, the criticism around this is really unfounded.
02:14What we know is that if you're an addicted alcoholic, a violent offender who's addicted
02:19to alcohol, you will spend whatever it takes to get your fix.
02:22And we see that, you know, the anecdotal evidence of bottles of rum going for seven, eight hundreds
02:28of dollars in remote communities is well known across the Territory.
02:31I mean, health experts has said it will create issues though.
02:34And you can see how it looks like a contradiction.
02:36On the one hand, you're saying we're being tough on crime.
02:39We're making these changes to people being able to drink.
02:42And then on the other hand, you're offering cheaper alcohol to people.
02:45I mean, what do you say to those criticisms?
02:46Yeah.
02:47And, you know, I guess I can see it from their perspective.
02:49But at the end of the day, if it's not working, we're not going to keep it in place.
02:53Now one of the first things you did in government was lower the age of criminal responsibility
02:57to 10 years old.
02:58That was met with some quite widespread criticism, including from the United Nations.
03:03How did you deal with that sort of backlash that early into your term?
03:07We had a job to do.
03:08We made really strong commitments to Territorians and there's no way we're backing down.
03:13And you know, people have their right to voice their concerns about us implementing our plans.
03:17But all of our plans have been tested in an election.
03:21Territorians have spoken.
03:22And it's not for me to second guess those items that people have voted strongly on.
03:27We're talking about 10 year olds though.
03:28You and I both have children who are nearing that age.
03:31As a parent, when you think of your own children, do you really think that a 10 year old is
03:36capable of being criminally liable, criminally responsible for their actions?
03:41I absolutely do.
03:42And I think the reality is most parents realise that their 10 year old does understand the
03:46difference between right and wrong.
03:48And I wish we were talking about kids who were hungry, stealing a loaf of bread.
03:52We'd be the first government to go out and buy every child the food that they need.
03:56But these are kids engaging in extremely serious, violent offending.
04:01And ultimately, we don't want to see these kids in prison, but we have to have a mechanism
04:06to get them better help.
04:08Alright, instead of just having questions from me, we did go to the streets and ask
04:11the public what they would like to ask you too, Minister.
04:14So I have a video here which has a few questions.
04:16I'll get you to take a look and then I'll just get you to respond to me afterwards.
04:19What are our plans for crime, really?
04:22And what are they going to do about fixing crime rates, basically across the territory
04:27and in communities as well?
04:29Maybe the crime, yeah.
04:30It's been a bit full on at the moment.
04:32A lot of kids do a lot of no good stuff.
04:35Probably the question of sending kids home to families, where they're obviously not safe
04:41in the first place because they wouldn't be able to get out on the streets if they were.
04:46What are you doing about the crime and the domestic violence and everything?
04:51Yeah, I think you need to step up, mate, and try and help them all.
04:55Great.
04:56They're exactly, that's exactly the questions we get when we're out in community.
05:00And that's why we're here.
05:01So we moved really fast as promised with our reducing crime package in October last year.
05:06And that gave police a much broader range of powers across a range of areas.
05:11You know, we all constantly say, Amy, we want territories to judge us on our action.
05:15And I think this year they're going to see this is a year of action.
05:18And the end of this year will look very different to now.
05:21You've said you'll do whatever it takes to fix the economy.
05:24But you've also said that you will not be making cuts to the public service.
05:27Now, the Northern Territory has one of the largest public service workforces per capita
05:32in the country.
05:33It's huge.
05:34Is it really realistic to think we are going to be able to rein in this debt without making
05:39cuts to that service?
05:40It is.
05:41It's absolutely achievable.
05:42And we have 22,000 public servants who are a part of our community.
05:46They're paying mortgages.
05:47Their kids are going to schools.
05:49They're buying food and groceries at the shops.
05:51And we can't afford to lose those people.
05:54We've had the worst performing economy for about six years now.
05:57And we don't deserve that title.
05:58The Territory has everything that this country needs from our energy security with gas, our
06:04vast agricultural opportunities, our strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific, our tourism
06:10opportunities.
06:11I mean, the sky really is the limit for us.
06:14Let's look at the year ahead.
06:15What are your plans and priorities for 2025?
06:18And what can Territorians expect to see change this year?
06:21There's lots on the agenda.
06:22And we're really, really focused on making sure this year is a year of action.
06:27And it's a year of getting the framework for the Territory right.
06:29So we've done a lot of work at the end of last year, obviously leading up to Christmas.
06:33But this year's our first full year to really bed down the reform we need to drive the Territory
06:38forwards.
06:39Chief Minister Leah Finocchiaro, thank you for your time today.
06:41Thank you very much.
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