PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: The Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney she joins me now from Alice Springs. Minister, welcome back to breakfast.
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good morning, Patricia.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Is this a mini intervention?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: This is a very important step, a first step in what is a very complex problem, or set of problems, really. We will be staying the course. And The Prime Minister's visit yesterday to Alice Springs was very good. He met with the NPY Women's Council, he met with police, he also met with the local Mayor and he also met with people from Congress. And some of the stories that we heard yesterday, Patricia, were nothing short of gruelling. And the head of the Congress, which is local medical association here, had her home broken into just two days ago. And there was a very threatening large spanner involved and two adult men. And she really did bring it home to us just how people are living here in Alice Springs.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: The alcohol restrictions are the most immediate change. Are you worried about bootleggers coming into Alice Springs to illegally supply grog?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: We are concerned about illegal supply of alcohol and that is one of the issues that we'll be looking at in terms of the work that will go forward after the immediate restrictions that are going to be put in place today. And we're talking about a $14.2 million commitment to high visibility policing and law enforcement, because the issue of illegal supply and secondary supply is something that's very important here in Alice Springs.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Bans on alcohol or increased emergency accommodations don't address the underlying causes of social issues in the area and around other communities in Australia, how much work needs to be put into happening, to dealing with this more broadly. We heard yesterday about the Kimberley, we heard yesterday about other parts of Australia, Townsville that are dealing with these issues. Do you need to broaden your response?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: I think the point that you've made about other areas is really important. Obviously, there is an enormous flash point here in Alice Springs at the moment, which is why the Prime Minister visited yesterday, which is why the Northern Territory government, who admitted freely that they actually got it wrong and they're putting in place emergency measures today in relation to restrictions. But the underlying issues, which is where you're going in Aboriginal communities, which go back to intergenerational trauma, it goes back to levels of disadvantage that most people listening to us this morning, Patricia, would be shocked at. I mean, there are communities in Australia that do not have clean drinking water and that's just something that's completely unacceptable. But the most important issue that we're dealing with right now is here in Alice Springs. I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people that are living in town camps. Many of them were from out of town. Many of them had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour, who had visited the hospital and there were 16 beds in the ICU. 14 of those beds were Aboriginal women that had been beaten.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: And is alcohol responsible for a lot of this violence we're seeing?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of these problems and it's about balance. Like being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view. And that's clearly one of the issues here. On one hand, you've got a whole lot of young people who have enormous problems creating issues at night, but on the other hand, you've got free access to alcohol and that is creating enormous issues, particularly in terms of safety for women and children.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: The Chief Minister just spoke to us here on RN breakfast and she raised this idea of letting communities vote on whether they have access to alcohol. She said, sending the Electoral Commission, doing a proper vote. What do you make of that proposal?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: The issue for me, and I'm not part of the Northern Territory government, is working with three tiers of government, local, Territory and Federal Government to address the social issues here in Alice Springs. What we heard yesterday is that doctors are leaving, people are leaving because they don't want to live here anymore. But this is a beautiful town, they are resilient people. And the issue is about, in my view, addressing some of the underlying social issues, which we'll do in partnership with the Northern Territory government and the local government. Plus, of course, the immediate issue that hopefully these restrictions will have some effect on.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: You just said that the Northern Territory government admitted to getting it wrong, although the Chief Minister was reluctant in my interview with her to say that. But the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress wrote to you last June about the violence in Alice Springs. Congress Chief Donna Ah Chee’s letter warned about the problems with alcohol and said, and I'm quoting, to permit more access to alcohol will undoubtedly add fuel to this fire. Do you regret not heeding those warnings?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Look, I've been in talks with the Northern Territory government for a number of months now. In fact, as far back as Garma, which you were at Patricia last year, yesterday we made important progress and that's what I want to focus on. This is the beginning of the response, not the end.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: I don't mean to be impolite, but can you just explain to me, in these months, have you been pushing them and saying you need to be tougher on alcohol? Have you told them that?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: I have been in discussions with the Northern Territory government and community organisations here in Alice Springs for a number of months and, yes, I have expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into alcohol restrictions.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Do you think they took too long?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Look, I'm not going to get into whether they've taken too long or they haven't, but clearly, if you ask people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes. But the most important thing is that we made enormous gains yesterday. Dorelle Anderson will report back in one week and then we will know where we will head after that report back.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: And by asking, have they taken too long? Minister, I must press you too, given it's a Territory, has your government and the Prime Minister also taken too long?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: No, I don't think so. I mean, the issue with Alice Springs is that there was election commitments that were substantial in terms of Alice Springs, including community safety. So we have been working over the last six months with the Northern Tertiary Government and particularly relating to Alice Springs. I mean, Patricia is a small town with a big heart. The people are resilient and yesterday was a very substantial beginning. It is not the end.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: How do you envisage a voice to Parliament might fix the problems we're seeing in Alice Springs? How would it work?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: And I've been thinking about this very deeply and it was actually expressed yesterday that is if the Voice to Parliament had been established previously, I don't think we would be where we are in terms Alice Springs at the moment, because we would have been getting practical advice from people who are representative of the community in relation to these social issues. I mean, it is wrong to think that the issue out here is just alcohol. There has been neglect for ten years of small communities surrounding Alice Springs. There is a seasonal issue involved, I was told yesterday, and at the end of the day, there are a number of community organisations here in Alice Springs that want to see change and it's our responsibility as government to respond to those organisations.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: So you really think that if we'd had a Voice to Parliament making recommendations, you wouldn't have seen this situation escalate?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: I do believe that very deeply. That's the whole point, Patricia, as you know.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: But the voices were telling you they may not have been enshrined in the constitution, Minister, but they were telling you and the Northern Territory government that things were going to explode.
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Which is why we are responding, which is why there was substantial money committed in the budget towards Central Australia. This is not something that we've walked into yesterday, Patricia. This has been something that we've been working with and dealing with for a very long time.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Very briefly, why should the young Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, remote communities in Alice Springs, feel any hope?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Well, that's a great question and that's the challenge, isn't it? A part of that is, of course, education, but one of the things that we're doing as a government is reforming the CDP. And that, to me, is going to be one of the keys in terms of creating the employment and opportunity in community.
PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Minister, thank you for your time.
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Thank you, Patricia.