Subjects: Visit to Darwin and today’s crime roundtable with local residents and businesses; Labor’s NT crime crisis; the Prime Minister’s lack of leadership; Labor’s homegrown inflation and cost of living crisis; the Iranian Ambassador’s extreme and inflammatory statements; the Prime Minister’s Makaratta mess of his own making; nuclear energy; Labor’s border policy shambles.
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………
LIA FINOCCHIARO:
Thank you very much for being here. Lia Finocchiaro, Opposition Leader.
It’s fantastic to be here today in Darwin’s CBD with my good friend and colleague Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a fierce advocate for the Territory and someone we’re incredibly proud to call our own.
Peter Dutton, the Federal Opposition Leader, has come to the Territory again – a good friend of the Territory, someone who’s always on the ground, keen to understand the issues affecting Territorians.
Today we’ve just had lunch with a range of stakeholders from right across the Territory – from people providing services, to people in frontline services. We’ve heard their harrowing stories of how crime is destroying their lives and economic opportunities for the Northern Territory. In five days’ time, Territorians will be able to go to the polls and early voting will commence. Territorians have a very important choice to make this election. They can choose to vote for Labor, who, over 19 of the last 23 years have dragged the Territory backwards. When people’s life isn’t better today than it was four years ago, we’re asking Territorians, ‘Can we afford another four years of Labor?’.
The reality is that crime has escalated on the watch of Labor because they have weakened our laws and failed to deliver change to the root causes. They’ve failed to support young people, they’ve failed to rehabilitate offenders, they’ve failed to drive down alcohol-fuelled violence and harm and turn people’s lives around. As a result of that, our community are the ones paying the price. We know that there can be change and that the Territory can be better. That’s the Territory we’re fighting for.
We know that if we reduce crime, rebuild the economy, and restore our lifestyle, that the Territory, once again, can be a place that people are proud of to call home, a place that’s growing with a population thriving, a business community able to trade with their doors unlocked. They’re just some fundamental basic rights that Territorians want to have, and right now, under Labor, their choices are continuing to be limited by a Government that’s more focussed on themselves than they are on our community.
It gives me great pleasure to ask Jacinta to come forward now and make some remarks.
JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:
Thank you, Lia. I’m pleased to be here today with our Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, and our Federal Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton.
We’ve been listening to local business owners, we’ve been listening to those who work on the frontline, who understand what the circumstances are on the ground, right across the Northern Territory today. The Northern Territory is suffering. It has been suffering for some time, but it’s suffering because we have an incompetent Labor Government at the helm – both here in the Northern Territory but also Federally.
We’ve seen a Prime Minister who has come with weasel words to the Northern Territory on several occasions. He’s splashed around $250 million in Central Australia that’s seemingly done nothing to improve the rate of crime, the rate of abuse that locals are experiencing on a daily basis. Locals are feeling this. I’m feeling this. I had a home invasion occur across the road from my own home while I was tucked under my blanket sleeping the other night.
It’s not good enough that this behaviour has now become normalised with the Northern Territory. When you listen to young people who tell you that their father keeps a baseball bat underneath their bed at night because of the fact that somebody could very well break into their home. When you are lying in bed at night with one eye open, terrified that your home might be the next home to be broken into. It’s just not good enough.
Territorians have a very important choice to make come August 24th. All Territorians know that we need a change. We need a drastic change to the Territory Government and the only change that can be had is one where a CLP Government is brought to power under the leadership of Lia Finocchiaro. This is what needs to occur, and I urge Territorians, please, this change is what we need. We are desperate.
Our economy is going backward. Territorians are suffering because of crime. We have an incompetent Prime Minister who does not understand what the needs are on the ground, who is attempting to push his agenda, which, quite frankly, I’m not even sure what his agenda is anymore – but it’s certainly not to support the Territory to get back on its feet.
I’d now like to hand over to Peter Dutton.
PETER DUTTON:
Jacinta, thank you very much. Lia, great to be back here with you in the Northern Territory.
We’ve just had a roundtable and it was pretty confronting, I’ve got to say. I’ve been coming to the Northern Territory for the last quarter of a century, and it’s an amazing place. When you speak to people, there’s always been, over the years, a level of hope and an involvement in community – people who are building their businesses, people who are asking their friends to come and live here, or trying to attract staff because their business is growing.
Today, we’ve heard from a lot of local Territorians who are really concerned about where Labor has delivered the Territory now – and that is to a situation where people are worried about their businesses, trying to make sure that they can keep a safe work environment for their staff. They’re worried about set up in the morning or of a night-time, trying to pull tables in of a night-time and the tables being stolen, the violence that’s taking place across the business community.
We’ve heard a lot about, not just the impact on businesses, but obviously on households as well. This is not how it should be, and there’s a much better way. When I listen to Lia and when I’ve spoken to Lia over the years, she is in contact and connected with local Territorians and understands their priorities. She wants to work hard for the Territory. It’s not normal, the situation that Labor’s created in relation to the law and order and crime crisis. Labor’s law and order and crime crisis is just going to get worse if there’s not a change in Government in a couple of weeks’ time.
So, we will work very closely with our Territorian colleagues because I want to make sure that we can have people feeling safe in their own homes – Jacinta referred to it before. I don’t want the economy suffering because of law and order, which is exactly what’s happening under this Labor Government at the moment. Insurance premiums are going up because of the amount of claims that businesses are having to make. This restaurant here has been broken into, or they’ve been a victim of crime, on 16 occasions. It’s a staggering figure – and ultimately it creates a less certain environment for businesses to invest and, therefore, to employ and pay taxes and contribute to the economy here in the Northern Territory.
So, I’m really proud and pleased to be here with my good friend, and I really hope that people listen to Jacinta’s words, to Lia’s words, over the course of the next couple of weeks, because this is a very pivotal moment for the Northern Territory. I hope that we can provide support to Lia and her team to make sure that the Territory gets back on track.
A couple of other issues that I wanted to raise. The Prime Minister’s obviously out there again, talking out of both sides of his mouth. He’s now talking about a Voice 2.0, in relation to a Makarrata Commission. There’s money in the budget for a Makarrata Commission, and he can’t deny that. The money was put in the budget to set up a Commission.
The Prime Minister’s now speaking out of both sides of his mouth in relation to the Iranian Ambassador. We can’t have somebody tweeting those sort of offensive comments in our country. We know that the Israeli Ambassador was called in by the Minister and given a dressing down. The double standard that’s operating here, the way in which the Prime Minister, for his own political purposes in Western Sydney, is acting in relation to this issue, frankly, is reckless and it’s beneath a how Prime Minister should be conducting him or herself.
As we know, every Australian at the moment is concerned about the cost of living crisis that Labor’s created in our country. Very fortunate yesterday that interest rates didn’t go up, and if you read the comments of the Reserve Bank, that was something they did contemplate, because inflation is higher as a result of Labor’s three budgets – and when inflation is higher, interest rates are higher. That’s why, at the moment, we’re seeing a lot of families and small businesses struggle.
When the Reserve Bank Governor talks about this being a homegrown problem, we should really have a look at what that means. It means that the Government has pumped $315 billion additional money into the economy – so that’s fuelled inflation. The Government’s renewables only policy is what’s resulted in higher energy costs – not just electricity, but gas costs, as well – and that’s why you’re paying more at the supermarket, because when people go in to the supermarket, it’s not just your electricity bill that’s gone up, but it’s also the farmers bill that’s gone up, and all of that cost is being passed on.
As we know today in the Financial Review, we know that federal spending under Labor has continued to go up and up and Federal Labor continues to spend. And that results in inflation staying higher for longer and interest rates staying higher for longer. What we know about Labor is that they can’t manage the economy – at a Federal level, at a Territory level – and that’s why Australians, and particularly Territorians at the moment, are really struggling under very bad governance.
I’m happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, you mentioned just on crime, in particular, of it being such a big issue here in the Northern Territory, but we’re also seeing, obviously, in your home state of Queensland and in Victoria. Do you think there should be a broader national focus to try and combat this? And would you be willing to put more investment in the Northern Territory to combat the issue?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, there are a couple of good points there. Firstly, we can look at jurisdictions around the country where there has been an effective use of bail laws, for example. In some of the jurisdictions, bail laws have been watered down and we’ve seen the consequence there. We’ve seen the consequence of withdrawing money and support from police. We’ve seen a lack of support from the Territory Government for the Northern Territory Police – and that creates morale issues. It also means that the police are stretched very thinly indeed, and it means that people don’t get the response times that they would want.
It means, for example, Governments, including this Government here, can make decisions about appointments to the judiciary, that result in penalties that have been watered down and therefore there’s no consequence for actions and so people go and commit further crimes.
As we heard today, the economy here is really suffering because of Labor’s law and order crisis. When you don’t enforce the rule of law, when you don’t provide support to the police, when you don’t provide support to local households and to local small businesses, there’s a price to pay. There’s an economic price, as well as a law and order price, to pay. That’s what we’ve seen with Labor’s experiment here, which has failed terribly, in relation to law and order.
QUESTION:
We could have a CLP Government in two weeks, we could also have a Liberal National Government in potentially a few months’ time if the federal election held goes your way. What do you promise Territorians you’ll do if it does end up being both the Territory Government and the Federal Government are conservative?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we will work very closely with the Territory Government. I think Territorians are ready for a change because there is a much better way ahead and Lia’s outlined that plan, and she’ll have more to say over the next couple of weeks.
We want to make sure that people can live safely in the community. If you’re at home at the moment and you’re worried about what’s going to happen tonight because last night somebody across the road or down the street got broken into, there is a better way – this is not normal. What Labor has done here has provided great uncertainty in the local community.
So, we will work very closely. I think there’s more money to be invested, as Jacinta and I have spoken about before when we were last together in Alice Springs. The Prime Minister’s response here is that he wants to build wind turbines and solar panels in Indigenous communities. We want there to be jobs and to be housing. We want people to be gainfully employed. We want good health services. But you can’t do that if you pretend that there’s nothing wrong. Unfortunately, the Territory Government, has just let Territorians down terribly.
I think there’s a better way and people start to vote in the next couple of weeks when pre-polling opens – I really hope that they consider that there is a much better way and Lia’s outlined that plan.
QUESTION:
You mentioned there that there needs to be jobs in Indigenous communities. What would a Government that you lead do to provide opportunities in Indigenous communities?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we would listen to the people here in the territory. Pretending that putting another 10,000 public servants on Canberra – which is what the Prime Minister did in the budget – he’s just spending money in the Australian Capital Territory and the money really should be spent in the Northern Territory. You can’t pretend that putting more bureaucrats and more layers of Canberra bureaucracy is somehow that’s going to improve the situation here on the ground.
We need to make sure that we get bureaucrats out of Canberra, and that we can provide support for frontline services here, across the Territory. When you look at what Lia has done, the team that she’s brought together, the policies that she’s promised, there is a much better way. I want to see the Territory go from strength to strength, not be pulled down by a bad Labor Government that’s been in power for way too long.
QUESTION:
The Federal Government recently decided not to renew the Jabiluka uranium mine lease. Is that a decision that your Government would uphold, particularly given your nuclear agenda?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, the Government’s, obviously, made a decision with all of the facts in front of them, which we don’t have in Opposition. So, that’s a decision that they’ve made. I was in Perth a couple of days ago talking there about ways in which we need to reduce some of the timelines at the moment, which are just killing off projects, that are prospective and could employ thousands of people either in WA or in Northern Territory or in Queensland or New South Wales, wherever it might be.
We need to bring electricity prices down, not drive them up. The problem with the Prime Minister’s renewables only policy is that it’s driving electricity prices through the roof. If you’re a family with two or three young kids, you are struggling big time at the moment because your mortgage has gone up on 12 occasions. You were hoping that interest rates might have gone down yesterday. But as the Reserve Bank Governor pointed out, because Labor has spent so much money and made the wrong decisions over the course of the last three budgets, you’re really suffering in your household budget at the moment.
We want to make it better by managing the economy well, by getting our country back on track, and by working very closely with Lia and her team.
QUESTION:
In regards to nuclear energy, are you going to release the costings of your policy before Parliament resumes on Monday?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ll release them, as we’ve committed to, in good time. What it’ll show is that there is a big upfront capital cost – as we know from the international experience – but there is an amortisation period that’s much longer than, say, wind turbines. In relation to wind turbines, for example, there are about three or four life cycles of wind turbines compared to the life of a reactor, which is 60 to 80 years. So, it means that you get much cheaper electricity cost. It also means you have reliable cost, because as we know, there’s about 90 per cent of the baseload power that comes out of the system by 2034. The independent regulator is warning that under the Albanese Government, not only will prices go up, but there’s also a big risk of there being blackouts and brownouts. That’s the last thing you want for an economy. That’ll just make the situation so much worse for families, for hospitals that need 24/7 power, for local businesses who want to expand and employ people – and we’ll have more to say about it in due course.
QUESTION:
Domestic violence is highlighted as one of the biggest contributors to crime here in the Northern Territory. The advocacy sector, services have called for needs-based funding, given we only get 1 per cent federally. A Government that you lead, would you up that and change it to needs-based funding for those services?
PETER DUTTON:
I would certainly improve the funding, and we’ve made announcements about funding that we want to improve on. I think, always, look at what a leader does as opposed to what they say they will do. As a Minister, I started the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation because I wanted to tackle sexual violence against young girls and particularly against women as well. The prevalence of domestic violence here in the Territory, and in other parts of the country, is just beyond belief and we need to do more. It requires more funding, but it requires funding to be put into programmes which we know are working, and which we know will shift the dial. I know that Jacinta has had a lot to say on that as well.
QUESTION:
At the Garma festival this weekend, the NT Police Commissioner apologised to Aboriginal Territorians for past injustices, and he singled out the NT’s Government’s intervention, its role. Would you believe it’s necessary for the Federal Government, and maybe even the Federal Government that put in place interventions, to apologise for that? Or do you think that’s not really necessary?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, the roundtable we had today was all about listening to local residents and their priorities. Their priorities are to make sure that if they open their business, they can do it safely. That if they go out to their car after they’ve been shopping at the supermarket, that the windows haven’t been smashed. Their priority was to make sure that we all understood that insurance premiums are going through the roof as a result of the spike and the crime and law and order crisis that Labor’s created.
They were really worried about shopping centres where the cost for security is now over $1 million, and all of that cost is passed on to the shoppers. That’s why you’re paying more and more when you go to the shops, because people’s rents have gone up to pay for that security.
So, they’re the priorities that we’ve heard and we’ve listened to and, I think it’s pretty confronting when you hear people say that they’re worried about keeping their businesses open of a night-time or they’re worried about their restaurant. They’re now working the door, or having a security person on the door to allow somebody in and then close the door and then open it again when somebody comes along as the next customer. Again, that’s not normal behaviour, but that’s what Labor’s creating. There is a much better future for the Territory and people should bear that in mind when they vote over the next few weeks.
QUESTION:
Australian Border Force has confirmed it intercepted four fishing boats off the Kimberley yesterday. Do you think that the surveillance work of the Australian Border Force is up to standard, and what are your thoughts on these latest detections?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, look, when you look at all the broken promises of the Prime Minister, one of the main ones has been that he supported Operation Sovereign Borders – because he just doesn’t. We know that because another four boats have arrived in to Australian waters undetected. I mean, how could this be the case?
Well, it’s the case because Anthony Albanese pulled money out of aerial surveillance and maritime surveillance. If you take those resources away, the people smugglers and those who are involved in illegal fishing and other activities, including running of drugs, etc., they just run riot. That’s what’s happening under this Prime Minister.
We had our borders secure and under a Liberal National Coalition Government, we can secure our borders again. But we know that the Government has, in addition to losing control of the borders, they’ve released 150-odd hardcore criminals into the community, which was not something that we did when we were in Government.
So, I think the Prime Minister talks a big game, but, in the end, he’s the weakest Prime Minister since Federation, and he can’t make the tough decisions that keep our country safe and provide support for our economy.
[ends]