Larrakia traditional owner Richard Fejo has stepped down from his role as chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation. He says he cannot represent the NT government after it passed laws reducing the age of criminal responsibility. Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Marie-Clare Boothby said the NT government's anti-crime laws "apply equally to everyone".
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00:00It was a tough decision, but this Larrakia traditional owner says it's a step he had
00:08to take.
00:09This morning, with a lot of mixed emotions, I've officially resigned from my position
00:16as chairman of Darwin Waterfront Corporation, and it is in protest to locking up ten-year-old
00:22children.
00:23After four years in the role, Richard Fijo says he's had a change of heart about representing
00:29a government body, after the NT government lowered the age of criminal responsibility
00:34back to ten.
00:36Everybody knows that Dundale is 100%, if not close enough to 100%, First Nations population.
00:43He says racism towards First Nations people is worsening in Darwin, and some visitors
00:48from remote communities agree.
00:51Sometimes them taxi drivers, they treat Indigenous people like, you know, they make their own
00:58price, they can't put their meter on, they're like ripping off Indigenous people.
01:05It's not fair from us.
01:07When asked what the government was doing to help ease racial tensions, the Chief Minister
01:12pointed to her government's tougher bail laws and expansion of the NT's prison system.
01:17That's exactly why we're strengthening the laws, to make sure that the territory is a
01:21safe place no matter where you live.
01:23Who are these laws targeting?
01:25You know?
01:26I can tell you now, it's not the white people in our community.
01:31In a statement, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, Mari-Claire Boothby, says the NT government's
01:36laws apply equally to everyone.
01:39She says it's what Territorians voted for in August, adding racism has no place in our
01:45society.