19/09/2026
𝐀𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥
Before anything else, Power Clean NT would like to publicly thank Jason Scadden from Town And Country Butchers / Lenards.
In the early hours of this morning, one of our employees was assaulted while cleaning and unlocking public amenities in Katherine. During the incident, youths also attempted to steal our company vehicle.
Jason intervened, helped our employee and then drove him safely back to our depot.
He didn't have to do any of that. He saw somebody in trouble and chose to help.
Unfortunately, what followed requires a very different conversation.
This is the second time in approximately three months that one of our employees has been assaulted while working in Katherine in the early hours of the morning.
On both occasions, offenders also attempted to steal a Power Clean NT vehicle.
Our people are cleaners. They go to work at 3, 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning, while most of Katherine is asleep, preparing facilities the community expects to be ready when it wakes up.
Being assaulted should not be an occupational hazard of doing that job.
𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞
On the first occasion, our experience was that police drove past the incident and returned to Katherine Police Station. The matter was only escalated after Jo Hersey-Member for Katherine became involved.
I contacted the Katherine Shift Supervisor and was told, in substance, to lose his telephone number. I then contacted the Darwin Watch Commander and was told he would not intervene.
This morning, another employee was assaulted.
Police attended more than an hour later, spoke with our employee and directed him to attend Katherine Police Station to provide a statement.
Police subsequently advised Jason that they had reviewed police CCTV footage of the offending but could not identify the alleged offenders because of its quality.
There may be operational information we don't know, and I am 𝐧𝐨𝐭 suggesting every officer involved has failed in his or her duties.
But as an employer sending people into the Katherine community in the early hours of the morning, I think we're entitled to ask whether this is good enough.
I served as a police officer for 13 years and left the service as a Police Prosecutor in Katherine, where I spent my days advocating for victims of crime. My wife continues to serve as a police officer and spent four years serving in Katherine. Our daughter was born there.
I founded Power Clean NT in Katherine after leaving the Police.
My brother Rowan and his wife moved from Perth to manage our Katherine operations. Rowan plays for the Katherine Camels and coaches the women's AFL team; his wife manages the Emergency Department.
Power Clean NT is deeply invested in Katherine and its people.
I know policing is difficult. I know what it is like to work short-staffed, to deal repeatedly with the same offenders, and to see frustrating outcomes in court.
Police don't write the laws, determine sentences or ultimately decide who is released back into the community.
But police do have responsibility for policing.
Frustration about what might happen after an arrest cannot become justification for disengagement before an offender ever reaches a courtroom.
“𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭”
Those aren't my words. They are the mission of the Northern Territory Police Force.
NT Police's published principles include "𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵". Its own plan speaks about transparency, accountability, responsiveness, proactive policing, protecting Territorians and their property, and having more police available to respond to calls for help.
These aren't standards Power Clean NT has invented for police. They are standards NT Police has set for itself.
Right now, our experience as an employer in Katherine is that there is a gap between those commitments and what members of our community are experiencing on the ground.
That should concern everyone.
Because when ordinary people stop believing that calling police will result in timely assistance, they start believing they need to protect themselves.
We don't want our employees confronting offenders.
We don't want business owners like Jason putting themselves in danger.
We don't want residents taking matters into their own hands.
We want people to call the police and have confidence that police will come.
Police cannot control every decision subsequently made by a court. But they can control how they respond to victims. They can proactively patrol known problem areas. They can investigate offences, gather available evidence and, where the evidence supports it, put alleged offenders before a court.
Our employees deserve to go to work without being assaulted.
The Katherine community deserves visible, proactive policing.
And when somebody calls police because they're being assaulted or their vehicle is being stolen, they deserve a response consistent with the words “𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭.”
Once again, Jason Scadden, thank you.
When one of our workers needed somebody, you stepped in, helped him and got him safely back to our depot.
That's true community spirit.
After seeing a second employee assaulted in approximately three months, and again being left questioning the response they received when they needed police assistance, my patience with the present situation is exhausted.
Leighton Arnott
Director - Power Clean NT
