DARWIN - 2 September 2021
KATIE WOOLF, HOST: Actually, a lot of you have been in contact about housing and the rental market, and I've got a message here. It says, “Hi, Katie, I was renting a three-bedroom house in the northern suburbs, and when my lease ran out, the real estate agency put the price up $130 a week.” And that all follows on from that discussion that we were having a little bit earlier this morning, also brought about some of the difficulties that people are facing when it comes to housing in the Northern Territory right now. Joining us on the line is the Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling. Good morning to you, Luke.
LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Morning, Katie.
WOOLF: Luke, I mean, you and I have spoken before, actually, about housing, but I know that it is something that's been on your mind for a while. It was interesting this morning having that discussion with Lawson Broad from Somerville and talking about some of the stress that people are under when it comes to housing.
GOSLING: Yeah, and I think Lawson makes some really good points. And, you know, back in the day I've worked in social housing with Vinnie’s, and it's one of the best things we can do, is we need to make sure that people have got a decent place to live that's affordable. Now, I mean, Darwin rents have gone up the most of anywhere in the country, and that obviously makes it really difficult for young people to get started or for people of any age, really. So I think we need to be doing more. Federal Labor has already announced that in government we’ll have a $10 billion Housing Australia Fund, and the idea of that is to build more affordable housing. And that's going to be great not only for people being able to have a roof over their heads they can actually afford, but it's also great for the construction industry as well. So that's a bonus that way as well.
WOOLF: Now, Luke, one of the other topics we have been speaking about this morning – and we just spoke to Matt Ting from Save the Children, the deputy CEO. We know that there were Afghan refugees that arrived in Darwin overnight. Do you have much detail in terms of the number of people who arrived overnight?
GOSLING: Yeah, there were 200 people that have come in, Katie, and I've been speaking with the Minister's office just to ascertain what that mix was. There was a combination of Australian nationals who were working in Afghanistan, but also Afghan nationals with Australian visas, and there was 200 in total. And they're here at Howard Springs. I don't know where they are, but there's an international part, I’m in the domestic part. But they're out here, and the Home Affairs department are basically saying if they've got contacts in the community – and there are bigger Afghan communities down south – then they'll be settled with those communities where they're going to have some support. But obviously, there's a lot of organizations and individuals in Darwins, should there be family members here or should any of those really want to come and settle in Darwin, there's certainly plenty of people who've been in touch with me saying that they want to help them.
WOOLF: Yeah. And so, Luke, you said that you'd been in contact with the Minister's office about that breakdown of how many of those people were actually Australian nationals coming home and how many refugees, did they give you much of an idea when it comes to that breakdown?
GOSLING: No they didn't, but they said they'll get back to me. All up, they've got back about 2,000 people. When we evacuated people out of Kabul, it was to Dubai where there's a joint base called AMAB, and they were settled there temporarily for checks. And now I think there's 2,000 they said that have arrived back in Australia, and most of those will be settled down south. But obviously, they've been through a traumatic time. They would be relieved to be out, but also obviously concerned about those that are left behind because there's not a lot of good news coming out of Afghanistan, Katie.
WOOLF: No, there really isn't. It's been absolutely so sad to see the vision and what is going on over there. And I think that it is a good thing that we have we have some of those refugees back here on home soil, particularly here in Darwin and quarantining out there at Howard Springs. But there's still a lot of people, by the sounds of it, that are in danger
GOSLING: Yeah, and they're continually making contact, and I'm just sort of encouraging them to work through the people, the internationals that they work with, whether it be with a UN organization or another aid organization, because it's got to be a team effort. For 20 years it was a team effort to try and make a difference there. There’ll be a lot of critics about, you know, the lack of purpose we had or direction that we had about what we're trying to achieve there in time. But that'll all come out. We've launched a Senate inquiry to look at the Afghanistan deployment over 20 years because we've obviously got to learn some lessons.
WOOLF: Yeah.
GOSLING: So there'll be hopefully a lot of good lessons learned out of that deployment. One of them is that when you send people overseas, they've got to know what they're there for and what the mission is. And we have to have the country supportive of them. I know we're all supportive of our troops when they're overseas. But we need to just be clear in in those decisions when we make them. So I think that inquiry’s a good idea. And just thanks to everyone who's been showing their solidarity with both our veterans and their families.
WOOLF: Yeah. Now, Luke, we are going to have to get ready to wrap up because we've got to head across to the national news. But mate, when did you arrive in quarantine in Howard Springs?
GOSLING: Oh, at 2:00 AM this morning, mate.
WOOLF: And how’s it been so far?
GOSLING: Well, I walked into my little donga and I nearly froze to death, the AC pumped up so high. But yeah, they delivered a little breakfast this morning. And I can't complain at all. It was important for the Territory to be represented down in parliament. I’ve done that now, so I've got to do my time and, well, hopefully, all being well – well, I know I’m negative because I had a teat in Canberra before I come back – but I'll be able to join my family for my 50th birthday on the 17th of September.
WOOLF: Oh, well hopefully!
GOSLING: So I’ll be out for that.
WOOLF: Ah, good stuff. Well, no doubt we'll probably talk to you before then. Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon, we appreciate your time this morning, particularly given the early start that you've had – if you've even slept overnight, arriving at 2:00 AM.
GOSLING: Yeah, absolutely Katie, and if I can get a quick plug in, I'm going to be jogging on the spot on Sunday for Run With Dad –
WOOLF: Woo hoo!
GOSLING: – on the little balcony. So if anyone is feeling a bit generous, a bit of the Henry Lawson or whatever the $50 bill’s called, again.
WOOLF: I can’t remember.
GOSLING: A pineapple, the $50. But on my Facebook is the site. So it is great cause, Run With Dad, raising money for fighting prostate cancer and men's health in general. So jump on my Facebook if you can, give us a hand with a bit of a lobster.
WOOLF: Oh, well, good on you, Luke Gosling. Obviously that's going to be something that I think is well worth supporting, because it is a fun run that I founded a few years ago. So mate, thank you very much for your support on Run With Dad. And you'll have to send us a photo of you just running around that little balcony, I think, out there at Howard Springs.
GOSLING: There’s one on my Facebook already where I'm just jogging on the spot, doing the warm-up in 2019. It's the most pathetic warm-up you’ve ever seen anyone do, but it’s on my Facebook if you want to have a laugh, and also donate money to a great cause. Well done, Katie.
WOOLF: Good on you, Luke, thanks for your time today.
ENDS
