Selena Uibo to focus on ‘generational change and reform’ as the NT’s new Attorney-General

THE expectations facing Attorney-General and Justice Minister Selena Uibo in her new portfolios are ‘very high’, but the second-time frontbencher believes being an Aboriginal Territorian will be an advantage.

THE expectations facing Attorney-General and Justice Minister Selena Uibo are “very high” but the second-time frontbencher believes being an Aboriginal Territorian will be an advantage as she’s not “one step removed” from the decisions made in the high-impact portfolios.

Ms Uibo, in her first interview since taking on the new portfolios, said her plan through the next term was to focus on “generational change and reform” through legislative levers crafted in close consultation with the people it would impact most.

The Arnhem MLA also carries the portfolios of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Treaty and Local Decision Making and Minister for Parks and Rangers.

The Northern Territory's new Attorney-General Selena Uibo and her baby daughter Radiance at Parliament House in Darwin. Picture: Che Chorley

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Ms Uibo, who is facing a “steep learning curve”, as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice now has carriage of the Paget report which looked into the recent riot at Holtze prison, though her next toughest test may come when the NT Law Reform Commission hands down its review into the Territory’s mandatory sentencing regime.

The report is due to be handed down in March 2021 and Ms Uibo said any reforms around the “huge body of work” wouldn’t be rushed.

“We want to make sure that any of our reforms are done properly in the NT,” she said.

“We’ve seen what happens when reform is done rushed and not done thoroughly and not done in consultation with the community under previous CLP governments.

The Northern Territory's new Attorney-General Selena Uibo at Parliament House in Darwin. Picture: Che Chorley

“We’re not going to see change if we keep doing the same, so we really need to reinvigorate the way that we look at things, have mechanisms that actually work, particularly around local decision making by talking about justice in some of our remote communities and not have something that’s imposed on Territorians, particularly Aboriginal Territorians.”

Side-stepping her own views on whether she believes Labor should repeal mandatory sentencing, as it has promised, Ms Uibo also did not say if she personally thought the age of criminal responsibility should be raised to at least 12 as per the Royal Commission into Youth Detention recommendations.

The “national discussion”, of which peak law and health bodies support raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, remains ongoing.

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Ms Uibo, who said she has relatives in prison and is acutely aware of the over-representation of First Nations people within the corrections system, understands the expectations of her are “very high” as law reforms particularly in the justice space would impact not only community members, but people within her electorate and family.