Police Minister Kate Worden used “spin and deceit” when backing Deputy Police Commissioner Murray Smalpage’s extraordinary, and ultimately incorrect claim, that crime in Alice Springs dropped to its lowest point in four years, an independent MLA has said.
Meanwhile, the NT Police Association president said he did not believe Mr Smalpage’s claim was the result of political interference or that he misled the public.
Mr Smalpage told journalists at a Darwin press conference last week that crime in Alice Springs hit a four-year low in May, but the next day, after media scrutiny, the NT Police media unit said the claim was wrong.
However, despite the acknowledgement the claim was untrue, Ms Worden told the ABC she believed the claim was true based on anecdotal accounts she had heard from police officers.
An explanation as to why Mr Smalpage made the untruthful claim has still not been provided by police or the government. Acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has not commented publicly about what Mr Smalpage said or why.
“Last month Alice Springs recorded its lowest recorded numbers, and incidents in four years of crime,” Mr Smalpage told reporters.
“This is significant, as they also include a period during COVID-19 time when we saw a reduction in crime, which we attributed to lock downs. We continue to work with other government agencies as appropriate right across Northern Territory to address crime issues and trends as they arise.”
When asked by a journalist to elaborate on his claim about crime, Mr Smalpage said official statistics showed the drop, and the media could get access to the data.
“Well that’s the data I’ve got. I can’t give you the crime stats in front of me…, I can get to you through [NT Police media manager] Margaret [McKeown]. We can probably give you much more detail. But that’s the advice. I’ve got my [inaudible] here, that it’s the lowest numbers we’ve had in four years.
“…And the fact that we’ve had really good news about lower crime numbers, gives us an opportunity to catch up on perhaps anything that we haven’t had an opportunity to pick, to pick up in the last couple of weeks…”
His comments were first reported by the ABC without the national broadcaster verifying the claim through reviewing the crime statistics Mr Smaplage was referencing.
The next day in another report, the ABC said the NT Police media unit “had walked back the comments” and had given the ABC statistics that included non-criminal incidents and said the isolated crime data wasn’t available. This was despite the fact it was almost July.
NT Police also issued a statement to the ABC which appeared to make the situation more confusing: “This data has been captured during the past four years and can be used to analyse trends and resourcing, rather than just focusing on the number of committed offences”.
When the NT Independent asked NTPA president Nathan Finn about Mr Smalpage’s claim, he said he had sought clarification and the Deputy Commissioner had said the “number of reported incidents remains the lowest in four years for May 2023”.
“These figures are not the number of crimes being reported, or committed,” Mr Finn said.
There was no explanation from either the NT Police or the NTPA about what exactly was covered by the term ‘incident’.
“It’s difficult to determine what factors have contributed to the drop in the number of incidents being reported to police,” Mr Finn said.
“Recent reports, published in The Australian, which highlight a decrease in alcohol-related harm, is cause for cautious optimism, although feedback from our members indicates pressure on our members and police resources remains unsustainable.”
In January, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to visit Alice Springs at short notice because of the national focus on alcohol-fuelled violence and property damage, that spiked in the town in the second half of 2022.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles then announced a temporary ban on alcohol in Aboriginal communities, and town camps, and increased further restrictions on alcohol sales in Alice Springs.
At the time, NT police statistics showed property offences jumped by almost 60 per cent over the previous 12 months, while reported assaults had increased by 38 per cent along with reported domestic violence assaults by 48 per cent.
In April, Ms Fyles extended the alcohol measures until July 27.
Mr Worden told the ABC last week she was “one hundred per cent backing up police” on Mr Smalpage’s claim of crime dropping to a four-year low in Alice Springs.
“I’ve gone down to Alice Springs and had discussions with police on the ground there, and the police executive in Alice Springs. They are all saying it is the quietest it has been in those four years,” she said.
“They know — they’re out on the beat every single day.”
Ms Worden did not respond to questions from the NT Independent, including if she had actually seen the crime statistics, as her response in the television interview relied on anecdotal accounts by police as evidence of the crime drop. She was also asked if she had not seem them, why a minister would base a public statement about such a significant crime drop on anecdotal accounts.
Independent MLA for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, said Ms Worden’s agreement with Mr Smalpage’s claim was “the ultimate in spin and deceit”.
“Kate Worden is proving to be the Queen of Spin! Worden has demonstrated a complete lack integrity and honesty,” she said.
“In Budget Estimates hearings she chose to completely minimise the seriousness of crime throughout the NT.
“She said that crime was actually reducing at the height of the ‘crime crisis’ in Central Australia in January. When asked why then did the Prime Minister come to Alice Springs at that time, she said she didn’t know.
“Defending the Deputy Police Commissioner in his statement that crime levels in Alice Springs have dropped to a four-year low, is the ultimate in spin and deceit.
“The so-called statistics she used to defend Smalpage were incredibly dishonest. Crime stats that include ‘non-crime’ are not crime stats, minister.
“In fact crime statistics show from 2019 compared to 2023, an almost doubling of the incidents of crime in Alice Springs, both in terms of property crimes and crimes against the person.”
Smalpage’s statement not misleading the public: NTPA
The NT Police media unit did not respond to NT Independent questions, including why Mr Smalpage had made the extraordinary claim, and what exactly the true crime levels in Alice Springs are. They also did not respond to a request to see the crime statistics.
The NT Independent also asked Ms Worden if her office had any involvement in Mr Smalpage’s now discredited claim and why she publicly backed the claim despite police media having said it was not true, and why she had not publicly retracted her endorsement.
Mr Finn was asked by the NT Independent if he believed Mr Smalpage’s comments were a result of political influence, a question which related to this publication’s June 22 revelation that a marketing manager, who gives strategic advice on the “Territory master brand” to the Chief Minister’s department, had been installed by an unknown person to help decide what crimes are reported to the public.
The NT Independent exclusively revealed that sources had said the unadvertised new role was filled by Sita Bacher, who works in the Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet, and who describes herself on Linkedin as a senior marketing and digital manager.
Her spiel on her Linkedin biography states: “The team I lead provide strategic marketing advice and services for NT government agencies, whole of government campaigns, major projects and the Territory master brand”.
In response to that revelation, Mr Finn said he would talk to Mr Fyles about the perception of political interference in police operations.
“We do not believe the comments by the Deputy Commissioner amount to political interference, or misleading the public – but it is imperative information provided by the senior police management is clear, concise, transparent and leaves no room for interpretation,” he said.
“It’s also important that the Police Minister measures the rates of reported crime by the monthly crime statistics, and not anecdotal information.”
The NT Independent asked the police media unit, Ms Worden, and the NTPA if Mr Smalpage’s comments had broken the NT Police Code of Conduct and Ethics.
The NT Police and Ms Worden did not respond to the question, while Mr Finn said Mr Smalpage had done nothing more than to be unclear with what he said.
One section of the Code of Conduct and Ethics states, that the “community must have confidence, trust and faith in our members”.
“To maintain the community’s trust we must be accountable, truthful and act at all times with honesty and integrity,” it says.
“….Members must always conduct themselves, both on and off duty, in a proper manner that does not bring, or has the potential to bring discredit to, or adversely affect, the police force.
“…To maintain the respect of the community it is critical that members’ conduct on and off duty is beyond reproach, members should endeavour to be role models for the community.”
Another section, under the heading of scrutiny, poses a question for all officers: “Can the decision you have made withstand the scrutiny of affected persons, the courts, the community, the Ombudsman, the Northern Territory Police or the media?”
And Territorians will vote these people in ..again!!!!!!