Selena Uibo on how crime brought an end to Labor’s long reign in the NT

ABC NEWS (Australia)

More than six months into her new role as leader of the Northern Territory's Labor opposition, Selena Uibo reflects on what went wrong for the party in the 2024 NT election.

Transcript

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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