Minister for Indigenous Australians
Subjects: Cyclone Narelle, food security
JESS ONG, HOST: As severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle approaches, the top end is on high alert. A number of communities have been impacted. We've been hearing about the community of Numbulwar, that is being evacuated in stages. About 500 residents being moved to Darwin. The Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy is the Minister for Indigenous Australians. Good morning to you, Senator.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good morning, Jess. Good morning to all your listeners. Good to be with you.
HOST: It has been a really rough few weeks for lots of people here in the Northern Territory. Are the communities in the path of Tropical Cyclone Narelle ready for what's approaching this weekend?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, we do live in the top end, in cyclone territory, if you like, Jess. So, people are conscious that this has been an extremely difficult wet season, more than I've ever seen, really, in a very long time. And so those families in Numbulwar, in Groote, even as far south as Borroloola, are certainly preparing and certainly relieved for the Numbulwar residents that they will be evacuated out, thanks to the ADF. And there's been a fair bit of work there yesterday to just look at that preparation, Jess, in terms of being able to get two Hercules out there and also a Spartan sometime today from Richmond Air Base.
HOST: So, just with the ADF working to get those Numbulwar residents out, was that something that the Northern Territory Government also helped arrange? How did the ADF get involved?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Absolutely, this is led by the Northern Territory Government, and that's why we always need to wait for the request from the Northern Territory Government. And I'm very pleased that the NTG has reached out both for Katherine with the ADF there and, of course, now with the evacuation in Numbulwar. We need to be able to make sure that Defence can get in well and truly ahead of time. That was a difficult scenario in 2023 with Borroloola, with trying to get residents out then. And so, there's been certainly a lot of learning lessons. So, I do appreciate that the NTG's reached out now so that we can get our personnel onto the ground in Numbulwar, do the assessments, which they did yesterday and today we should be seeing families coming into Darwin.
HOST: Do you know how many people have been evacuated so far from Numbulwar?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: At this point in time, if anyone has left Numbulwar, it would be their own self evacuation. I'm not aware of any other planes at this stage that have gone out there on a private charter to take people, but I could be mistaken on that. I'm certainly just focused with what the feds have been able to do. And we'll certainly see the large removal of many members of the community today with those aircraft from Defence.
HOST: Some of them are heading to Nightcliff High School. We were hearing about that yesterday on ABC Drive with Adam Steer. I believe though that evacuation centre can only hold around 150 people. So, are you across where the remaining residents are headed?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: My understanding in my conversations with the Chief Minister is that Nightcliff, yes, that's correct, will be there to establish people's entry into Darwin and I guess that means in terms of identifying who's there, just how many in the family. I do know that there was an expectation to move them through to either Foskey or Marrara, but we are conscious that that is still a process in terms of seeing where the Palumpa and Daly River families go. The Chief Minister has made clear that Batchelor is going to be an important area for the relocation of some of those families from Daly River and Palumpa. So, I imagine that will take place. But that would have to come from the Northern Territory Government to fill in details in regards to that.
HOST: I do have the Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole. He is also the Territory Coordinator, sorry, the Territory Controller. He'll be on ABC Darwin after half past seven so we can put a few more of these questions to him. You're hearing from Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Indigenous Australians with me, Jess Ong. How big an undertaking is all of this Senator? You have been to the evacuation centres, you've been in Katherine as well. As you mentioned Palumpa and Naiyu heading to Batchelor this weekend. Numbulwar residents are heading to Darwin. Is this, is this an unprecedented thing, the number of people who are on the move at the moment in the Northern Territory?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Look, I can only speak from my own personal experience, Jess. I came into politics nearly two decades ago, here in the Northern Territory, and I've never seen anything like it. The closest I've seen to the Northern Territory catering for such a large volume of people was when we evacuated people from East Timor and had tent city up out at Marara. To be able to see the displacement of around 1,000 people or more, just in a matter of a couple of weeks here in the Northern Territory is quite astounding. I have not seen anything like it.
HOST: I've had a few texts for you. Just pivoting to the news out of Nhulunbuy this week that Woolworths are pulling out of the town. How worried are you about the transition and how this might affect communities who rely on this supermarket in that part of the world?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: I've been very aware of the concerns in the Nhulunbuy region. I met with the Rirratjingu Association last week in Canberra, but also in touch with Gumatj, in touch with the Yothu Yindi Foundation. With many families in the Yirrkala area, this is a concern with Woolies. What I've been able to do in the last month or two is set up an interdepartmental committee from the Commonwealth's perspective, because we need a really coordinated approach to ensuring that there is certainty going forward in some capacity, given the movements of the mining company out there. I've also had these conversations with the Chief Minister and I know that she's also been out there as well. So, we are very much across the fact that there are these concerns. I'd certainly like to also personally reach out to Woolies. I don't think you should ever say never. I think that there's a real reason to stay. I'd like to see if we can do that. We know that good food, healthy food and food security in terms of moving forward is critical for everywhere, but in particular for Nhulunbuy.
HOST: All right, thank you for the update this morning, Senator. We'll talk to you soon.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: No worries. Stay safe everyone.
