’Stretched beyond breaking point’: NT Police Association outraged by Chalker’s budget payout
The police union has hit out at the NT government’s decision to skim Jamie Chalker’s mystery payout off the top of the police budget.
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The NT police union has voiced its outrage over the Territory government’s decision to draw a secret payout to former Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker from the force’s coffers.
Treasurer Eva Lawler revealed in Budget Estimates this week that the undisclosed sum paid to Mr Chalker when he stepped down in April would be funded out of the police budget.
On Friday, NT Police Association president Nathan Finn said it was unacceptable that some operational policing could potentially be short-changed in order to pay off the mystery debt.
“The thin blue line is already stretched beyond breaking point and the real cost of this payout will be felt by our police and the community,” he said.
“It’s also concerning the Police Minister (Kate Worden) has admitted she doesn’t know the sum of Jamie Chalker’s payout.
“How can our members have confidence that the minister understands the funding available for the operational police budget if she doesn’t know how much has been siphoned off to settle a legal dispute?”
Mr Finn said he was also concerned by revelations NT Police members had worked 159,000 hours of overtime in the financial year to March 31 — an average of 580 hours per day.
“If you divide that by an eight-hour shift, it means at least 72 additional officers are needed each day to meet current demand,” he said.
“Those figures are further proof of what our members have been telling government for years — they’re chronically understaffed and overworked and the agency needs an urgent injection of funds to adequately resource our police.”
The NTPA has previously expressed concerns the 2023-24 police budget was not enough to support police retention.
Former acting president Lisa Bayliss in May said there was no urgency from the government to “plug the gap” caused by an increasing attrition rate within NT Police.
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Originally published as ’Stretched beyond breaking point’: NT Police Association outraged by Chalker’s budget payout
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