NTPA President Nathan Finn slams chronic under-resourcing in annual speech

The NT police union has slammed the Territory government for continued lack of support as its frontline workers are ‘stretched beyond breaking point’.

Police union president Nathan Finn says the force is stretched beyond breaking point. Picture: Supplied

A mass exodus of Territory police over the past three years has left the force 200 officers short, pushing those who remain to breaking point, the union says.

Acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, in his opening address at the Northern Territory Police Association conference, revealed more than 450 officers had left the force in the past three years.

It came as NTPA president Nathan Finn slammed the government for what he said were “insufficient resources and staff” in the NT police force.

Of those who had departed, 60 had left on retirement, but Commissioner Murphy said a lot had left through enticement to other law enforcement agencies across the country.

In the past year, since August 2022, the force had welcomed 198 new recruits while 102 people are in the police college.

The executive revealed the force was still 200 members short having put out an appeal to more than 200 former NT officers to return to the Territory force.

Acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said more than 450 Territory police officers had left over the past three years.

However, Acting Commissioner Murphy said the main issue was retention where the “strategy has to change”.

“We need to retain our knowledgeable and hardworking officers,” he said.

“The operational workload has significantly increased over the past three years and the trend is expected to continue.

“Our infrastructure needs improvement and societal changes exceed police capabilities.”

Police had secured $13.7m in repairs and maintenance to improve facilities across the Northern Territory, while further funding had gone to mental health and wellbeing support.

Meanwhile, Mr Finn was scathing in his assessment of the lack of police resourcing provided by government over the past few years.

He called out what he said had been “government lip service” and said his members were unable to realistically meet the demand put on them with their current numbers.

“Our members deserve the support, that’s what we’re here for, the sacrifice they continually make to protect each and every person in the Territory is why we are here,” he said.

“There’s a lot of frustration, in my short time in the role I’ve learned a lot about what’s going on across the Territory and the need for change for our members.

NTPA president Nathan Finn was scathing of government lip-service.

“I’m sick of talking to the government on what our members deserve, I’m sick of getting lip service from these people telling us they’re doing everything they can, that’s not the case.

“I don’t want to see words, I want to see action and we need action now, the most telling thing was we’re 200 members short.

“We cannot meet demand and when ignorant government ministers call us out and say just ring 131 444, that’s just ignorance.

“We are stretched beyond breaking point, we need the government to listen and this resource allocation review will hopefully hit them between the eyes and make them realise how short we are.”

Police Minister Kate Worden insisted the government was listening to police, but was unable to commit to when a review into resources would take place.

“A number of the issues that have been raised we’re already working with police on,” Ms Worden said.

“We are listening and we are acting on all the things that have been raised with us for example we will bring in legislation around raising the age of police retirement into the next sittings.

Minister Kate Worden said government were working closely with the NTPA on resourcing issues. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“We are going to be conducting a review (into police resources), we’ve agreed that will take place.

“That’s where you can crunch all the data and get a well-informed position about the state of the police force in terms of resourcing and what we might need to do to change.

“I believe these processes need to be done properly and I have been talking to a number of people about how we would conduct that review properly.”

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said ministers encouraging residents to call police when kids were on the street or being used for duties other than police work wasn’t good enough.

“Unfortunately under a spectacular lack of leadership on a policy front we as Territorians are all suffering,” she said.

“I have heard promise after promise from labor about impending changes to the disciplinary system, better health and well-being support and additional police, and those promises remain empty.

“When the government of the day disempowers police by gutting the power out of the 2km rule and making criminals under 12 immune for their crime police know where they stand with Labor.

“The CLP hears your calls for help and has continued to push for change, we will always put the rights of people to be safe, including our police, above the rights of criminals.”

Territory police are at breaking point: union

Territory police are “stretched beyond breaking point” the union boss will claim in a major speech to delegates on Friday.

As the annual Northern Territory Police Association conference gets under way, president Nathan Finn will use his address to call for more resources for the force, claiming the government and police executive are risking lives through inaction.

“We have been telling the government for years now that the thin blue line is stretched beyond breaking point, with insufficient resources and staff, and an attrition rate that has reached record highs,” Mr Finn says in a preview of his speech shared with this publication.

“That not only places our members at risk, but also the safety of the public, each and every day.

“This is not the fault of our hardworking members but the failure of the Northern Territory government to adequately resource our police force, and the executive of the police force for failing to fight for our members.”

Northern Territory police say they are stretched to the breaking point. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The union says more needs to be done to care for the health and wellbeing of officers, including more action taken to prevent assaults in the line of duty.

“Previous commitments by the Northern Territory government to establish a working group to review sentencing options for cowardly offenders who assault frontline workers was a positive step,” he says.

“Disappointingly though, calls from our members for tougher sentencing options appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

“The working group has met once since its inception in September 2021, and there is still no commitment for improvements to protect our members.”

Mr Finn will also take aim at the internal disciplinary system of the force, arguing it is too harsh.

“For too long we have been waiting for a real change in approaches to discipline – less punitive, more educational.

“That still hasn’t happened – we are working with the department to improve the system but it’s an uphill battle.”

Mr Finn will highlight the particular challenges in remote policing, arguing “a significant lack” of government investment in infrastructure over a number of years puts increased pressure on the force.

An example is given of a member who successfully applied to transfer to Wurrumiyanga – the largest community on the Tiwi Islands – but could not take up the role because there was no appropriate housing.

Mr Finn says the union’s advocacy will focus on the resource allocation review soon to be undertaken by NT Police.