The Fyles Government has rejected calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the ongoing crisis in NT Police, saying it is currently undertaking a financial and structural reorganisation of the police force that will “get to the bottom” of the problems.

The Opposition had called for a select committee to undertake an examination of the problems after the recent NT Police Association survey showed 80 per cent of respondents had no faith in Commissioner Jamie Chalker to continue in the role, while also raising staffing levels and other issues of concern for rank-and-file officers.

However, the government used its numbers to kill the motion in Parliament, despite one of its members calling for a Royal Commission into policing issues in the NT.

Police Minister Kate Worden said the restructure, that is examining the financial side of police operations as well as the operational side, would also include reviewing decisions introduced by Mr Chalker when he came into the role in 2019, including sending all officers to work in remote areas and the way the executive issues disciplinary notices.

“We’re getting to the bottom of this and we don’t need a select committee,” Ms Worden said on Mix 104.9, shortly before the government defeated the inquiry motion.

“This is about looking at all of those moving parts within the organization to see where it can best, you know, go forward.

“I’m out listening to police every day. And I hear their views every day.

“Their concerns are about feeling supported in the workplace, about feeling listened to and that’s the things that I’m working very hard on with the commissioner and that whole of the executive to change that within our police force.”

Ms Worden said the restructure would not look at removing Mr Chalker from the role. She also praised the “hard work” of deputy chief executive of Territory Families and former assistant police commissioner Jeanette Kerr in bringing in reforms in Alice Springs, which she will now undertake in Darwin.

“She’s just pulling people together and making a plan and actually executing the plan,” Ms Worden said. “She’s actually doing things on the ground.”

Labor Member for Blain Mark Turner, who is a former NT Police officer, said in Parliament that while he supported Ms Worden as Police Minister to fix the issues, he also called for a Royal Commission into NT Police.

“I can see no alternative but to start the conversation of a Royal Commission into policing in the Northern Territory,” he told Parliament.

“If we needed a Royal Commission into Don Dale, God knows we need one into why our police are hurting so much and the communities that they protect deserve one.

“We owe it to the thin blue line that protects us every day and night, 365 days a year, to ensure that they never have to go through this again.”

Opposition CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro said she has no faith in the government to fix the problems in the NT Police that have occurred on their watch.

“Today, Territorians are left wondering what it will take for Natasha Fyles and her cabinet to wake up and see what’s really going on,” she said.

“Not only was [the motion] knocked back, but the Member for Johnston gagged debate, interrupting the member for Barkley mid-sentence to prematurely put the motion and shut us down.

“This Government is a disaster and Natasha Fyles goes MIA to Sydney and Canberra [for National Cabinet meetings] as the police force suffers, public servants strike over pay freezes and the community struggles under the weight of high cost of living and a plague of crime on our streets.”

Ms Fyles was criticised by the NT Police Association on Wednesday for claiming the proposed parliamentary inquiry would be nothing more than a “talk fest”.

“Police are saying they have had enough. It is without doubt a major factor to poor morale, fatigue, high attrition and risk to mental health and wellbeing,” said president Paul McCue.

“When the government dismisses the concerns of our hardworking police officers who work 24/7 dealing with some of the most difficult and distressing issues our community experiences, it’s not good enough. How will you tackle these community concerns without a well-resourced and supported police force?

“It has been 10 years since a full external and independent review into policing was undertaken. In that review, significant boosting to the frontline was recommended, and never adopted.”