Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has been in the role for less than six months, introducing new laws to tackle crime and boost the economy. But she faces an uphill battle to deliver lasting change. In her first one-on-one interview with the ABC, she speaks with Amy Culpitt about the challenges ahead.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.