Territory cops it again after crazy choice to showcase NT, writes Greg Thomson
NT POLICE top brass need their heads read for commissioning another season of the fly-on-the-wall television series, Territory Cops, writes Greg Thomson
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NT POLICE top brass need their heads read for commissioning another season of the fly-on-the-wall television series, Territory Cops.
After all, the last thing the Territory really needs is more images of folk getting off their chops on Mitchell Street or of skimpily dressed partygoers retching into planter boxes after a night out at Darwin’s infamous Hooker’s Ball.
As any self-respecting local knows, the rest of Australia has a serious image problem with how the Territory is perceived – with our unrelenting heat and flies, and our long list of wayward politicians not doing their bit to help.
By the time Territorians booted out the Adam Giles government in 2016, our interstate reputation was so bad we’d become a bit of a laughing stock.
Back then, the CLP tore down its leader Terry Mills soon after winning government, a swag of ministers were sacked for clangers ranging from credit card misuse to a homophobic spat that cost the treasurer’s job, not to mention the MP who filmed his own ‘member’ in his parliamentary office.
If you need further reminding, it’s all there on Google – but the damage done to the Territory’s national positioning was so severe that the incoming government of Michael Gunner moved to invest more than $7m in a brand reset.
The arrival of Boundless Possible, and its positive narrative that the Territory is a place where anything was possible, was actually a real winner in the lounge rooms of Australians – but less so this side of our borders in the minds of Territorians.
Sure, you can debate the colour, type fonts or the polarising grammar in the catchline – but nobody objected to the thrust of the ‘opportunity’ narrative or the campaign’s key proposition urging Australians to revisit what they know about the north.
Fast forward to 2020 and COVID-19 and the NT government’s handling of the pandemic is something we can genuinely be proud of.
The sensible positioning of Howard Springs quarantine facility and the work of first responders in health and police had many Australians noting that we were not only the safest joint in the nation, but also home to one of the more sensible state governments.
How’s that for a turnaround?
No one needed this leg-up more than the Chief Minister, whose steady leadership through 2020 delivered him election victory in August last year, even if his list of first-term achievements were light on.
Now, with the pandemic moving to the rear-vision mirror, Territorians are wondering whether our population and economy will ever recover.
The reassuring flow of JobKeeper payments and a strong bounce in real estate values have contributed to a strong sense of optimism and improved business confidence in 2021.
This is why the last thing we need is a television series stereotyping misbehaving Territorians on Mitchell Street and our streets overrun by crime.
I also question the allocation of scarce police resources to the series when our Commissioner is under pressure to keep officers on the beat.
Finally, the production of Territory Cops stands in contrast to that of ABC Television’s series Outback Ringer which focused its first season last year on the amazing feral bull catchers of the Territory.
In this series, characters like cattle baron Kurt Hammer, Kiwi couple Will and Lizzy Cook, and four generations of the indigenous Shadforth family from Seven Emu Station, drip with authenticity as they tell their own real story of the Territory.
The series was produced by Ronde, the same people who produce the worldwide hit Bondi Rescue, with their producers careful in both series to tell it as it is, but also in a positive way so as to not make the lifesavers or bull catchers look foolhardy or amateurish.
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I’d argue it’s near impossible to ride along with NT Police with TV cameras rolling, as I have done previously as a journalist, and capture only a positive light with a balanced perspective.
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■ Greg Thomson is the general manager of the NT News
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