Police Minister Brent Potter to meet with NTPA president Nathan Finn

The NT’s new police minister has responded to the union’s concerns the portfolio is ‘too important’ to be handballed to a junior politician.

The Territory’s new police minister has welcomed feedback from cops and plans to tackle unease head-on.

Newly-minted minister Brent Potter said he would meet with NTPA president Nathan Finn on Wednesday after the union expressed “real concerns” regarding his appointment.

Mr Finn, just hours after the Chief Minister’s cabinet reshuffle on Monday, said the police portfolio was “too important to be handballed to a novice minister”.

“A sensible decision would have been for Natasha Fyles to reclaim the portfolio, which has traditionally sat with the Chief Minister,” he said.

Brent Potter received the Police, Fire and Emergency Services, and Veteran’s Affairs portfolios during the Chief Minister’s cabinet reshuffle on October 30. Picture: Sierra Haigh

The junior politician did not shy away from Mr Finn’s grievances.

“He’s entitled to represent his members, and if he wasn’t doing that, he’s letting them down,” Mr Potter said.

“He needs to hold me accountable, and I look forward to the challenge and working with him.

“I look forward to delivering – with him and the commissioner – on the commitments that were made.”

In his first statement as police minister on Monday afternoon, Mr Potter also promised to listen to frontline officers during ride-alongs, particularly during afternoon and night shifts.

“There is no question that over recent time the behaviours of some of our community have not met the collective community expectation,” he said.

“These behaviours are completely unacceptable.

“We can’t downplay this behaviour, because that cheapens the impact on our community cohesion, and ultimately impacts the victim.”

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy welcomed the Chief Minister’s decision to give Brent Potter the police portfolio. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy welcomed the fresh perspective and ideas Mr Potter brought to the role.

Commissioner Murphy said he expected Mr Potter – and the 67 police recruits currently in training – to “challenge how we do things”.

“We have to do things differently – if we keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result, we’ll go crazy,” he said.

“Do we change legislation? How do we make it more efficient for police to be in the field and actually servicing the public, suppressing crime, and actually engaging with the community to make a difference?”