Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / CLP Member for Katherine Jo Hersey gives an update on how the coronavirus situation is currently affecting the Katherine region

Transcript

CLP Member for Katherine Jo Hersey gives an update on how the coronavirus situation is currently affecting the Katherine region · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that obviously the mask mandate is being lifted
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: for us in Darwin on Monday, and the scaling back
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: of the checking cob well, it took place where it
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: started from yesterday. Joining us on the line is the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: colp's member for Catherine, Joe Hersey. Good morning Joe, Good morning.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Katie, and good morning listeners. Joe.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: How are things going in Catherine at the moment and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: what's happening with you guys when it comes to the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: mask mandate and around the COVID situation.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. So, yes, things are going well here.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: You know for the most part that yes, we're still
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: wearing the mask. However, it was interesting to hear in
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: the Big Rivers region, which obviously Catherine is and it
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: does take in a lot of regional communities that we
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: won't actually know whether the mask will be listing here
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: until potentially later in the week. The Chief Minister said.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: So, still don't know exactly if you're going to be
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: able to take those masks so for or really if
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: you are even going to be able to take them off.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: No, and the interesting thing is that the pubs and
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: clubs they look forward to removing the masks mandate. They
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: are over it, and their patrons just want to get them.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: We've been able to go into the pubs and clubs.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I've done a bit of a ring around and spoken
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: to them this morning. Yep, and they're ready for the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: masks mandate to be removed. But when I went on
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: on how to look at the data, and obviously you
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: know the data in the Big Rivers Region vaccination data,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Catherine's not even mentioned in that. It just comes under
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Big Rivers. But there's only three communities in that Big
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Rivers that are actually under eighty percent. Right. But then
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: so I don't know why Catherine doesn't get a mention
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: in the Big Rivers Region data on the NTG side.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And then if you have a look at the federal data,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Catherine does get them mentioned, and it says Catherine's actually
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: only at seventy six point eight percent. So that, as
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: usual the data, we go right back to the very start.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: It's been confusing right from the start about vaccination data. Now,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: whether we wear a mask or don't wear a mask,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: we're still left hanging in the balance, and hopefully we'll
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: find out and the rest of us say they've all
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: opened up today.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, this is the thing. You know, all of
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Australia is opened, even Wa Fortress Wa is opening up today.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: So it does like it's a really it's a difficult situation,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I would imagine for you guys, particularly for those businesses
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: and everybody just wondering exactly what it's going to mean
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: for the people of Catherine.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Correct. So you know, as I've said, there's there's
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: been a conflicting data right from the start. The fact
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: that you can you're more likely to potentially catch COVID
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: going to maybe a restaurant, a food court, a shopping center,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: but they can all have the mask removed.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: So, Joe, is the reason that the government's given at
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: this point in time for the Big Rivers region? Is
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: it due to the vaccination rates? Is that what they're saying?
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Well, we have not been told anything. I'm following up
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: on some of those, you know, concerns today as to
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: why the Big Rivers region is left out. I haven't
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: heard anything back yet. So we are all in it
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: at a loss here as to why Big Rivers has
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: been chosen for that. You know, if it's vaccination data,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: you know, yeah, than say data alone. We're all over eighty.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Because you've not had you know, like a huge volume
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of COVID cases in recent days or anything like that
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in the Big Rivers region?
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Have you not any more? Not anymore than we've had
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: sort of you know, over the time yesterday, I think
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: it was sixty something cases. But you know that data
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: is very flimsy as well, because you know, when I
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: talked to community organizations here in town, they would say
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: there's more than that many cases. So you know, it
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: just depends on who you talk to as to where
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the information is coming from.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so how are things going in Catherine at the moment?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I know, I was pretty dismayed. I reckon it was
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: this time last week or Thursday last week, and I'd
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: seen that vision on nine News Starwin story by Talia
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: sav about a home being broken into an absolutely destroyed
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: in Catherine.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, we have had a bit of a crime
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: spike in Catherine in the last three weeks, and so
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: there has been it's the same group and it is
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: only a small group of youth that are well known
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: to police. Not only have they broken into that particular house,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: there's other houses around Catherine that have been broken into.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: They seem to be going to empty houses, all the
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: ones that I'm aware of, our empty houses. We have
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: actually also had a fight in our shopping center last
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: week in front of the right school view, in front
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: of the checkouts and the cafe. And there are also
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: schools that have been broken into. One of the schools
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: has been broken into eleven times in the last five weeks.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: There's been five happening in schools. There's been the solto
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: white things burnt in schools, flags being burnt in the schools.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: It is just absolutely not good enough, and you know,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: it needs to take I mean, there's a big conference
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: that are happening are in town today with parapy families
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: and a few other community groups to work out some
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: kind of solution. But early intervention is absolutely necessary in
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: these situations. By talking to police, they you know, these
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: children are not feeling safe in their houses and potentially hungry.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: But some of the you know, the stuff at some
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: of the schools is just wanting damage for no reason.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that is terrible. That's really terrible to hear. And
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: it's you know, it makes me concerned because I think, well,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: we're talking about the issues in the top end, like
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: in Darwin right now around this public drunkenness and anti
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: social behavior. You've just outlined to me the issues in Catherine,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: and goodness knows, we know how many issues have had
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: in Central Australia over the last couple of years as well.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. And you know the thing is,
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: while these youth know that that the police can't do
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: anything to them, I mean potentially even the fourteen year
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: old that has the ankle brace of on nothing, nothing
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: can happen to them. They're doing it. There does need
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: to be consequences for these youths, but you know, I'm
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: not sure what that is because I don't think putting
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: them in a detension center is an answer. There needs
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: to be an all of government working on this. We
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: cannot the government continually say we need in a generational change.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: We can't wait a generation to make a difference. Something
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: needs to happen now. You know, I feel for the police.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: They're doing the best they can. Some of the service
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: providers you know, are doing the best they can, but
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: they need more staff.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Yep, your spot on. You know, like we all understand
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that there needs to be generational change, but what happens
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: in the meantime, and that's something we've spoken about on
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: this show on so many occasions. We can't afford to
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: have a domestic vie straight soaring, boring behavior on the streets,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: people being broken into, kids left in unsafe environments. You know,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: there's got to be some change in this space, and
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: I think that it is. It's time that everybody puts
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: their heads together and really tries to make an impact.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Katie, if I can just bring up one thing, sure,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: there's been a bit of chatter on social media about
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: our Cafernese area plans and the development out there. The
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: chatter on social media is that I took a petition
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to the Parliament last year and the petition was for
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: There was fifty one people on that position, and it
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: was for not a total replication of what we have
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: in the main street. It was not against a development
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: in Katherine. A lot of people out there that think
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: it was. You know, if people choose to go down
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: that road, that's signed. But the truth in the matter
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: is we welcome a Katherine development out there with a
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: great I g A, some little shops around there, maybe
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: some office works and stuff like that for for potential
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: extra office space, because there's a little bit of that
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: needed in town as well, and obviously with the flooding
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: down south, that needs to be something that issued for
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: our community. You know, we've seen in the recent flood
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: that it was difficult to get supplies into town. But
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: if you had another good I g A there, you know,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: we would have something out of the flood zone, you know,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: not that we want to have another flood here, but
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: that happened again. Oh absolutely, So that position was not
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: actually about stopping that development. That is for we just
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: the people that signed that position, And I did not
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: sign that position. I merely was like the con that
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: took it through Parliament, which I can do for anybody,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: and it's about a good IDA or something like that
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: there so that we have another supermarket to service the
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: community as well.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well that's something that we might have
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: to have a chat with you again, Joe, if there's
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: any any update in that space. Yeah, worried, really appreciate
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks very much for having a
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: chat with us and letting us know what's going on
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: in Catherine, No worry.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, Thank you