16 June 2023
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA) says its members deserve to know the extent of the reduction to the operational police budget to fund former NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s, as yet, undisclosed settlement.
NTPA President, Nathan Finn, said it’s unacceptable that our members - and the public - are being kept in the dark over funds that will impact the police budget bottom line.
“What operational policing needs will our members and the public have to forgo because of this decision? The thin blue line is already stretched beyond breaking point, and the real cost of this pay out will be felt by our police and the community.
“It’s also concerning the Police Minister has admitted she doesn’t know the sum of Jamie Chalker’s pay out. How can our members have confidence that the Minister understands the funding available for the operational police budget if she doesn’t know how much has been siphoned off to settle a legal dispute?
“If the decision to sack Jamie Chalker was made independent of the Police Minister, as claimed by Kate Worden during yesterday’s Estimates hearings - the settlement should be paid out of the responsible Minister’s budget, and not at the expense of our hard-working police.
“Our members, and the wider community, deserve transparency on this issue and quite frankly they’re sick of the NT Government treating them like fools.
“Another deeply concerning revelation from Estimates is that our members have worked 159,000 hours of overtime in the financial year to March 31, which is on average 580 hours per day. If you divide that by an 8-hour shift, it means at least 72 additional officers are needed each day to meet current demand.
“Those figures are further proof of what our members have been telling Government for years: they’re chronically understaffed and overworked and the agency needs an urgent injection of funds to adequately resource our police,” said Mr Finn.
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA) says its members deserve to know the extent of the reduction to the operational police budget to fund former NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s, as yet, undisclosed settlement.
NTPA President, Nathan Finn, said it’s unacceptable that our members - and the public - are being kept in the dark over funds that will impact the police budget bottom line.
“What operational policing needs will our members and the public have to forgo because of this decision? The thin blue line is already stretched beyond breaking point, and the real cost of this pay out will be felt by our police and the community.
“It’s also concerning the Police Minister has admitted she doesn’t know the sum of Jamie Chalker’s pay out. How can our members have confidence that the Minister understands the funding available for the operational police budget if she doesn’t know how much has been siphoned off to settle a legal dispute?
“If the decision to sack Jamie Chalker was made independent of the Police Minister, as claimed by Kate Worden during yesterday’s Estimates hearings - the settlement should be paid out of the responsible Minister’s budget, and not at the expense of our hard-working police.
“Our members, and the wider community, deserve transparency on this issue and quite frankly they’re sick of the NT Government treating them like fools.
“Another deeply concerning revelation from Estimates is that our members have worked 159,000 hours of overtime in the financial year to March 31, which is on average 580 hours per day. If you divide that by an 8-hour shift, it means at least 72 additional officers are needed each day to meet current demand.
“Those figures are further proof of what our members have been telling Government for years: they’re chronically understaffed and overworked and the agency needs an urgent injection of funds to adequately resource our police,” said Mr Finn.
ENDS
Please direct all media enquiries to NTPA Communications Officer, Kyrrie Blenkinsop +61 (0) 499 017 654 or media@ntpa.com.au
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA) is the industrial voice of all members of the Northern Territory Police Force. Read more via www.ntpa.com.au or join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NTPoliceAssociation
