WOOLF: Big announcement made yesterday by the Federal and Territory governments to support community led place-based approaches to justice reinvestment. At the Joint Council on Closing the Gap meeting, which happened here in Darwin. Now, as part of its landmark $81.5 million First Nations justice package, the Albanese Government is going to be assisting 15 communities that have expressed interest in designing and developing early stage justice reinvestment strategies. Now joining me on the line to tell us a little bit more about what this is going to look like, it is the Labor Senator for the Northern Territory, Malarndirri McCarthy. Good morning to you.
MCCARTHY: Good morning, Katie. Good morning to our listeners and I'm coming to you from sunny Katherine.
WOOLF: And on your way to Barunga and we will talk a little bit more about that in just a moment. Now, Senator, tell me what is the aim of the investment and the announcement that was made yesterday?
MCCARTHY: The aim is to really look at the issues around crime and work with local solutions for each of the areas that we've announced in the Northern Territory. We've already started that work in Alice Springs and I'll touch on that in a moment. Halls Creek is another one. But then 15 more were announced, which now include Darwin, Katherine, Groote Eylandt and Lajamanu.
WOOLF: Now obviously you've touched on those locations as well. What are you hoping that it is going to do for those communities? Because I mean, anyone that's listened to this show, anyone that's heard you and I speak over the last year or six months would know that we've got some really serious issues with crime.
MCCARTHY: Absolutely. This is why we're really focused in this space and we took this to the election 12 months ago that should we get in, we did want to look at justice reinvestment across Australia. We are very concerned and focused with our youth, but also in particular around the high incarceration rates of First Nations people who also keep going into the system. So we are specifically focusing in these areas because we know they are areas we need to look at straight away.
WOOLF: Now, Malarndirri, from the outset, I want to say that I think anything we can do to try and make headway to stop criminal activity before it happens is obviously a good thing. But I think there are probably some people listening this morning feeling a bit fatigued in the Territory right now as we hear lines like community led and holistic approaches. Because over the last six months or so, it feels like, you know, there's been a lot of talk about that, but there hasn't been a huge amount of change. So how is this different?
MCCARTHY: Well, I'll just say to our listeners, especially those who may be feeling exactly what you described, Katie, I would say this, that we've been in government for 12 months and we have focused specifically on Alice Springs over the last six months, and now we're moving towards these other communities. So I would say to those people who are listening, you know, don't give up. We really are focused on this. We can see some solid outcomes in Alice Springs where the Lhere Artepe native title holders have foot patrols and rangers out on the streets. Businesses there are much, much happier with what they can see is going on and these were local solutions to their local problems. So if we can emulate that in a lot of the other communities, we will. Obviously that has to be done for and by the people who live there. But this is the federal government saying these issues matter and we take them very seriously.
WOOLF: Malarndirri, how are we going to measure the success? Is it going to be something that we're keeping, you know, that there is some KPIs that need to be made because I guess that's another concern that people will have because there seems to be lots of money invested at different times. You know, we talk, we hear the Northern Territory Government talk about some of the different programs they've got underway, but sometimes we don't really know just how well they are or aren't working.
MCCARTHY: Well, there's two ways of looking at it. For instance, we've got the KPIs that the Joint Council talked about yesterday, but also with attorney generals when they meet across the jurisdiction. So those KPIs will be established. But there's also the anecdotal cases. So if we've got residents in a place saying, 'Hey, I feel safer, my place is not getting getting broken into, my shops and businesses are good, I'm getting more people back in'. You know, the anecdotal stuff is still as important as the KPIs themselves. So these two areas are what I'll be monitoring. I'll certainly be always traveling constantly across the territory just to see how businesses are going, but also how residents are going.
WOOLF: Now, Malarndirri, I know that you are in Katherine right now on your way to Barunga. It's going to be a massive weekend. What is on the agenda?
MCCARTHY: Well, today is a full day of meetings around Katherine, talking to organizations and businesses here, which I'm really looking forward to, just so I've just arrived, driven down from Darwin and then out to Barunga tomorrow to meet with the Four Land Councils: the Central Land Council, the Northern Land Council, Anindilyakwa from Groote and the Tiwi Land Council, and to again talk to them about some of these issues that we've just spoken about with crime with unemployment and how we can work with the communities to make sure that it's reduced there so that people aren't going to other places to cause issues, but also clearly to talk on a number of other matters, the voice as well, the referendum. So that will be a pretty big day tomorrow as well.
WOOLF: Yeah, I reckon it will be. Just while you're in Katherine, you touched on, then you're going to catch up with some of those businesses. Will you be speaking to some of those businesses that were severely impacted by that youth crime last week?
MCCARTHY: I'll certainly be walking around. I haven’t got a specific meeting with the businesses here. What I'd like to do is have a more formal arrangement. What we're doing today is getting out to some of the communities like Rock Hole and talking to organizations in town like the Katherine Town Council first up who will no doubt fill me in on some of those issues with crime and anything else that is concerning them. So what I'd like to do, Kate, is to still have a more formal meeting with the Chamber of Commerce at a later date.
WOOLF: Just on Barunga, as you touched on as well. No doubt the voice is going to be a huge part of the discussion set to get underway. There's still a lot of people listening this morning who might be feeling like they don't have all the information that they need to know which way to vote. What would you say to them?
MCCARTHY: Look, I'd say to your listeners, go to a website called Voice.gov.au. It's not a yes or no campaign site. It's actually a very straight down the line. This is the referendum. This is why we're looking at a referendum. This is what will happen. If you're interested, obviously to vote yes and there is a yes 23 website they can go to and I'm sure there is one for the 'no'. So I think people can now actually start to access just Google it.
WOOLF: Malarndirri McCarthy, Senator for the Northern Territory, always appreciate your time. Thank you very much for having a chat with us this morning.