00:00Selena Ubo, thank you for joining Stateline.
00:04Thank you for having me.
00:05It's just been a little over six months since Labor got demolished by the country Liberals
00:10at the Territory election.
00:12Where did it go so wrong for your party?
00:15I think our previous government lost touch with what Territorians prioritise in those
00:20key areas and key issues, and we definitely lost the confidence of Territory voters.
00:27Where do you suspect the party got it wrong?
00:30So I think losing touch with what Territorians prioritise definitely meant the loss was quite
00:37a large one, which is what happened.
00:40I think that having now been able to have some time to review and to really unpack that
00:47loss, the areas of community safety, we didn't act fast enough in the previous government
00:54to some of those concerns.
00:56I think some of it was also the internal politics, not necessarily listening and staying in contact
01:03with those key priorities across the communities of the Northern Territory.
01:07I know that Territorians get very frustrated when politicians turn inwards, so I think
01:12that it definitely hurt us as well.
01:14Several of your former colleagues, including Kate Warden, Brent Potter, and the former
01:18Chief Minister himself, Michael Gunner, have left the Northern Territory since the election.
01:23Is this proof that their hearts weren't in the right place?
01:27I wouldn't say that.
01:29I would say that some of the changes after an election cycle can be quite difficult,
01:36I would say, for a Labor politician to get a job across the Northern Territory.
01:40We're a small, very interconnected community across the NT of less than 250,000 people,
01:48and when you're a professional and looking at some of that change-making work, I think
01:53your options are limited outside of politics.
01:56You've conceded that the former Labor government should have acted sooner on law and order
02:00in the Northern Territory.
02:02This week alone, there's been murder charges laid, stabbings and assaults in Darwin, Palmerston,
02:08Alice Springs and Beswick, and that's not even to name all of it.
02:12When do you concede that this is a national emergency, and what are you going to do about it?
02:18I think that the investment of a good government, any good government, regardless of what side
02:23of politics they are, needs to invest in preventative measures, not just punitive measures like
02:29what we're seeing the CLP government do now in the Northern Territory.
02:33If we're to see the Northern Territory thrive, we need to invest and continue investment
02:38in education, in healthcare access, into safe and adequate housing, and into particularly
02:44domestic, family, sexual violence prevention.
02:48Currently 1% of the Northern Territory's population is in prison.
02:53What do you think this says about the Territory's historical failure to rehabilitate people?
02:58I think that we could have done more, absolutely, but again, the inroads started under the former
03:05Labor government around justice reinvestment, around the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
03:10I think the process under the new CLP government needs to not just look at the punitive measures,
03:19yes, absolutely, consequences need to occur, but the investment into breaking the cycle
03:26of crime, addressing the social determinants of crime, also need to be the responsibility
03:31of the government.
03:33We have a federal election looming.
03:35Do you think that Territorians will vote against Labor federally the same way that they did
03:40at the Territory election?
03:41I think Territorians will make their choice very soon, of course, when the federal election
03:47is called.
03:48I think we'll see those areas of key service delivery to the Northern Territory become
03:53the priority.
03:54I don't think we're going to see anything positive offered up by the federal coalition
04:00in those areas of health, housing, education, to support our economy.
04:05I think it's going to be very narrow.
04:06I don't think they're going to focus on supporting the Northern Territory in the way that our
04:11federal Labor government has done so.
04:14What impact do you think the failed voice referendum will have on Labor's chances federally?
04:20I think a lot of people across the Northern Territory were quite frustrated with the amount
04:26of money spent on the campaign for the federal referendum around the voice.
04:32I think we'll see maybe some backlash in the federal election.
04:37I think Territorians have moved on and will be focused on those key cost of living areas
04:42like education and particularly childcare in the Northern Territory and looking for
04:47the support that families and individuals need here in the Territory when it comes to
04:51the cost of living.
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