NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has taken her first trip to Katherine since taking over the top job to meet with local stakeholders.
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Ms Fyles spent Tuesday travelling around town with newly-appointed Police Minister Kate Warden.
Speaking exclusively to the Katherine Times on Tuesday, Ms Fyles said the focus of the trip was community safety, with the pair having meetings with local police, Katherine Town Council and local hospital staff.
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"It's important that we listen to the community. We need to have tailored solutions. You know, every part of the territory is different and so that's been our focus is talking to police but also the agencies that support them," she said.
Ms Fyles answered the Katherine Times' questions about what she will do in her new position to address some of the main concerns for Katherine.
Crime
With Kate Worden now looking after the police, Territory Families and prevention of domestic and family violence portfolios, Ms Fyles said she is well placed to tackle crime as a holistic issue.
"It's around the factors that are linked together and you can't deal with one in isolation. So you have domestic and family violence, child protection and youth justice and so it's really terrific that Minister Warden leads all of that together," she said.
She said she is in the process of meeting with community stakeholders to discuss potential solutions.
"It's just been really important to hear on the ground from community about what they would like to see and how they think it might work in their community."
Water regulations and fracking
Ms Fyles said the NT Government was currently in the process of developing its long-term strategic water plan.
"We need to ensure sustainability, so the management of our water resources, obviously, we need it available for drinking and household use, but we also need it for growing crops and making valuable products," she said.
She said the NT Government was also developing a "water harvest policy."
"So this is where you start to get into industry and that's been developed with input of representatives from a range of government and non government organisations. So government industry, and of course, environmental and Aboriginal organisations and that draft policy, I'm advised, will be released soon," she said.
"And that will allow Territorians to have the opportunity in those groups to provide feedback."
As for concerns around fracking in the NT, Ms Fyles said the NT Government was committed to implementing all of the recommendations from the 2018 Pepper Inquiry.
"There's been a huge body of work undertaken and I understand the remaining recommendations will be implemented by the end of this year," she said.
Staff shortages
The NT Government has introduced packages to attract both international and domestic workers to the Territory, with Ms Fyles acknowledging staff shortages were a problem across the NT and the country.
"We want people that perhaps are on the East Coast and not looking forward to a cold winter to come up and work in some of our areas here, but equally with international borders opening as an opportunity," she said.
Housing
She acknowledged housing was a barrier to getting staff, especially in Katherine.
"In terms of Katherine specifically, we know that around staff shortages, housing is certainly a factor. And so there's a number of programs that we've put in place to alleviate that," Ms Fyles said.
"The Department of Chief Minister has got a number of plans that they've put in place so some of them are around $4 million to build 16 new social and affordable homes. And also working with venture housing to address affordability," she said.
Ms Fyles said the NT Government was "looking at" developing a short-term accommodation facility in Katherine, which is among the top priorities for the NT's peak body for homelessness and affordable housing, NT Shelter.
NT Shelter said the facility is desperately needed for visitors to Katherine for medical appointments and other errands, as well as visiting family.
"We certainly make sure that when people are attending medical appointments that there's accommodation for them provided, they may be in hospital or they may be put in a hotel to attend to that appointment," Ms Fyles said.
"But I do understand that other family members sometimes travel, you know, to provide them with support, so it's certainly something that we're looking at."
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