Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Health Minister Natasha Fyles on the $130 million dollar budget spend on Rapid Antigen Tests for the NT, and the latest ALP cocaine scandal

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Health Minister Natasha Fyles on the $130 million dollar budget spend on Rapid Antigen Tests for the NT, and the latest ALP cocaine scandal · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, we're going to catch up with the Health Minister.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Natasha Files first stop and she joins me on the
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: line right now.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, minister.
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: Good morning Katy, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Minister. Firstly, how are you going since contracting COVID?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you Katie Fir for asking. Feeling much better,
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: the whole family better and certainly glad that we had
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: those vaccines that we were all eligible for. But I'm
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  Speaker 3: really excited to be back at work.
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  Speaker 1: You timed it well, obviously, back in time for parliament.
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  Speaker 3: Wouldn't want to miss parliament.
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  Speaker 4: Wilfe well, and.
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  Speaker 2: It seems as though it's going to be a very
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  Speaker 2: interesting day. There is a lot on the agenda. I
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  Speaker 2: do want to take you, though, firstly to this news
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  Speaker 2: which is just emerging this morning, the Anti Independent reporting
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  Speaker 2: that the president of Territory's Labor youth wing has resigned
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  Speaker 2: from his job in federal MP Luke Gosling's office after
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  Speaker 2: a social media video surface showing him allegedly snorting a
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  Speaker 2: white substance. Minister, have you seen that video and watch
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  Speaker 2: your reaction, O Katie.
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  Speaker 3: I don't condone criminal behavior of any kind. I haven't
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  Speaker 3: seen the video, but I take your word for it,
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  Speaker 3: and I don't understand. A person was not employed by
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  Speaker 3: the government but by Luke Goggling, and at once that
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  Speaker 3: alleged video had surfaced. He no longer works for Luke
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  Speaker 3: Goggling and he's also resigned from that position in the
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  Speaker 3: youth wing. But certainly I don't condone any criminal behavior.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the video has again raised concerns that some
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  Speaker 2: within the Labor Party have an issue with drug use.
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  Speaker 1: Is there an issue here, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: I've been involved with the Labor Party for a very
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  Speaker 3: long time and I feel that it is a very
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  Speaker 3: safe place and there is not a problem with drugs.
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  Speaker 2: Minister, how would you react if someone in your office
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  Speaker 2: was engaging in that type of behavior.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, it's unacceptable, and as I just said, I don't
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  Speaker 3: condone criminal behavior of any kind, and particularly drug use.
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  Speaker 3: So these I haven't seen a video, but I'll take
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  Speaker 3: your word around this alleged activity and do not condone it.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know if that person is still the president
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  Speaker 1: of Young Labor.
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  Speaker 3: To the advice I've got is that And as I understand,
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  Speaker 3: he had a position in the youth wing of the party,
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  Speaker 3: which he's resigned from.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so he has resigned as a result of this situation.
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  Speaker 3: That's the advice that I've been provided Katie.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Well, I'm sure that there'll be further detail
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  Speaker 2: in this space throughout the day. No doubt it'll be
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  Speaker 2: something that the Opposition raises in Parliament, I'm assuming, But
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  Speaker 2: I want to move along because there is an awful
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  Speaker 2: lot to cover off on this morning. And in what
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  Speaker 2: appears to be some good news, Alan Joyce, the CEO
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  Speaker 2: of Quantus, is in Darwin today as I understand it,
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  Speaker 2: recommitting to that Darwin London route for at least an
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  Speaker 2: extra few months. Minister, how long are these flights going
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  Speaker 2: to stay in place?
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  Speaker 3: Fantastic to have Quintus CEO in Darwin on the grounds
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  Speaker 3: not only announcing the continuation of those DAHL in London
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  Speaker 3: but importantly London Darwin's direct flights, but also the partnership
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  Speaker 3: around the new Embreya one ninety aircraft base. So this
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  Speaker 3: is the territory. We've kept the territory from COVID and
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  Speaker 3: that resilience, we're now prospering economically and building upon.
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  Speaker 2: That, and so did the Northern Territory government. Are we
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  Speaker 2: subsidizing the route and at what cost.
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  Speaker 3: So in terms of the E one ninety base, we
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  Speaker 3: have put in three point six million dollars in training, marketing,
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  Speaker 3: promotion as well as incentives so that we can have
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  Speaker 3: that base here. It's beginning with four aircraft and they'll
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  Speaker 3: fly various routes and they'll be in place by the
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  Speaker 3: end of March, and then we'll continue to work with
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  Speaker 3: the Quantus Group and Alliance Airlines around how we can
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  Speaker 3: expand this. It's a perfect aircraft for the territory, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: It speaks about one hundred people and if you draw
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  Speaker 3: a four and a half hour circle around Darwin, that's
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  Speaker 3: where these planes can fly to. Because it's got that
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  Speaker 3: slightly less capacity than the seven three seven, it will
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  Speaker 3: allow the economics of these routes to stack up, so
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  Speaker 3: you'll see that Darwin Canberra. But also you know, as
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  Speaker 3: we open up internationally the opportunities within Southeast Asia.
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  Speaker 2: Now we know that, like you've said, obviously there is
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  Speaker 2: that hope that there will be that job creation. There
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  Speaker 2: is the hope that it will also bring in more
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  Speaker 2: tourists to the northern territory. Has there been modeling done
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  Speaker 2: to forecast how many passengers these flights will bring to
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory let's say per week or per months.
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  Speaker 3: The quantits has announced the plans with those four destinations
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  Speaker 3: so far. And as I just spoke to the fact
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  Speaker 3: that this aircraft has around one hundred feet capacity, it
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  Speaker 3: provides a real opportunity. It's got that longer range which
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  Speaker 3: is vital for the territory and the longer distances, but
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  Speaker 3: that smaller capacity means that the economics of its stack
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  Speaker 3: up and we hopefully will see this is a real
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to have Darwin as a base into the future
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  Speaker 3: for aviation.
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  Speaker 2: Now, in terms of that London Darwin route, have we
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  Speaker 2: had to has there been a subsidy paid from the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory government for that one?
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  Speaker 3: Katie, I'm not aware of those details. I'll go back
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  Speaker 3: and check with it. But this was a real opportunity
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  Speaker 3: when Westernustralia wasn't open, we were agile. We responded and
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  Speaker 3: not just the government but MP Airports did a great
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  Speaker 3: job and really getting that up and running quickly. And
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  Speaker 3: then we've seen WA keep their borders closed and we
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  Speaker 3: shamelessly have said we want to keep that route, and
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  Speaker 3: so we're excited at this opportunity and we'll build onto
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  Speaker 3: it into the.
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  Speaker 1: Future now, Minister.
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  Speaker 2: A press release which has just come out from the opposition,
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  Speaker 2: the Shadow Minister for Health Bill Yan says that the
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  Speaker 2: Gunner Labor government has serious questions to answer over why
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  Speaker 2: at spending one hundred and thirty million dollars which is
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  Speaker 2: more than ten percent of the Northern Territories hospital budget
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  Speaker 2: on rapid antigen tests.
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  Speaker 1: Why are we spending that much?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, Katie the steelp have got no credibility when it
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  Speaker 3: comes to health.
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  Speaker 2: There's literally a tender document. I've been online because I
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  Speaker 2: wanted to double check. There's a tender document one hundred
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  Speaker 2: and thirty million bucks.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and Katie the steelp a clueless. What that is
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  Speaker 3: is that is the rat test. Those rapid antie and
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  Speaker 3: tests are vital. This is a tender document for the
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  Speaker 3: whole of MTG going forward. We know how important those
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  Speaker 3: rat tests are. It's not saying we'll spend that much.
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  Speaker 3: We expect the price per kit is coming down as
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  Speaker 3: that supply catches up with demands, so there's no obligation.
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  Speaker 3: This is for health across NTG. We're using those rat
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  Speaker 3: tests at our borders. We've been using them in our
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  Speaker 3: schools in our healthcare system right across the territory government.
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  Speaker 3: So this is a tender document to procure into the future.
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  Speaker 3: And it was the NT government that because we organized
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  Speaker 3: those RAT tests weeks ago, months ago, we've been able
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  Speaker 3: to open up and not have the problem that other
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  Speaker 3: jurisdictions have had with no RAT tests available.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that is such a phenomenal amount of money.
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  Speaker 2: Like I understand that obviously we need to secure these
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  Speaker 2: RAT tests and we need to make sure that we've
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  Speaker 2: got everything required to deal with this pandemic. But one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and thirty million, I mean when you put that
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  Speaker 2: into if we were to put that into the actual hospital,
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  Speaker 2: I would assume that it would go a very long way.
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  Speaker 3: So Katie, what how we got to that figure is
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  Speaker 3: it's based on the current use of rats projected to
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  Speaker 3: twelve months, So I suspect that the RAT usage will
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  Speaker 3: drop down, but we don't know that the figure is
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  Speaker 3: a maximum amount, so it doesn't mean that the MTG
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  Speaker 3: will spend it. And as I just said, it's across
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  Speaker 3: all agencies, police, health, education, it's an estimated use of
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  Speaker 3: rapid antigen tests for twelve months. So we certainly would
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  Speaker 3: rather not be using that for rapid antigen tests. But
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  Speaker 3: those tests have been vital in keeping our hospital safe,
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  Speaker 3: our schools open, and more importantly, Territorian is able to
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  Speaker 3: be out and about are in our cafes and restaurants
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  Speaker 3: because we've got that ability to test people quickly.
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  Speaker 2: The COLP say that it is ten point eight million tests,
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  Speaker 2: which roughly equates to twenty nine, six hundred and eighty
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  Speaker 2: tests a day over the next year.
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  Speaker 3: Sotie the figures that I've been provided and I don't
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  Speaker 3: have that breakdown, but that's a projected use on what
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  Speaker 3: we've been using. And as I said, I suspect that
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  Speaker 3: that will ease, but we don't know into the future.
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  Speaker 3: It's procurement through an open and transparent process. We can
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  Speaker 3: then purchase those tests as we need them. But it
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  Speaker 3: certainly was an anti government initiative being organized getting in
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  Speaker 3: early with the rat test that has allowed us to
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  Speaker 3: open up to date.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, like I said, it seems like a phenomenal
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  Speaker 2: amount of money. But I do want to ask you
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  Speaker 2: a couple of other questions in the health space elective surgery,
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  Speaker 2: when's it going to recommence?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we've certainly seen an impact on surgeries and
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  Speaker 3: we've seen this right across Australia right now where we've
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  Speaker 3: seen a slight stabilization in those hospital numbers, but it
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  Speaker 3: certainly is putting pressure on our health system. It will
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  Speaker 3: be over the next few days whether our COVID case
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  Speaker 3: numbers start to decline. We always expected with the return
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  Speaker 3: of school and increasing case numbers. We've seen that over
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  Speaker 3: the last couple of days. Whether that's just a weekend
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  Speaker 3: easing of the testing and whether it will pick back up,
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  Speaker 3: but we have had a flow and impact on services
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  Speaker 3: within the hospital. We're very conscious of what that means
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  Speaker 3: for territory. But we've got to make sure that we
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  Speaker 3: manage the care for people with COVID and also ensure
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  Speaker 3: that when people are getting those other procedures that there
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  Speaker 3: is the full care available should they need it.
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  Speaker 2: All right, So no date yet, but it is something
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  Speaker 2: that hopefully we'll have some answers on within the next
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  Speaker 2: week or so.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, very conscious that that current temporary postponement of elective
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  Speaker 3: surgery has a huge impact. Someone might have a Category
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  Speaker 3: three or two surgery, but for them it's huge and
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  Speaker 3: it has that big day to day impact. So very
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  Speaker 3: conscious working closely with health around, when we can safely
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  Speaker 3: allow some of those surgeries to.
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  Speaker 1: Begin again, all right, Minister.
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  Speaker 2: One of the other things that's had a big impact
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  Speaker 2: is visitation to the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: When are we expecting.
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  Speaker 2: That some visitors are going to be allowed back into
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  Speaker 2: the hospital. It was a real point of contention on
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  Speaker 2: the show last week with families who have very unwell
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  Speaker 2: members of their families not able to go up and
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  Speaker 2: see them. We all understand that there needs to be
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  Speaker 2: some restrictions in place. It cannot be a free for all,
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  Speaker 2: But when is this going to be relooked at?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we've seen a change in the visitation right
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  Speaker 3: throughout the pandemic, and this is an operational decision that's
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  Speaker 3: made by our clinicians with the leadership at our hospitals.
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  Speaker 3: I absolutely understand the impact of My heart goes out
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  Speaker 3: to any family that is impacted. So we know that
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  Speaker 3: there is processes in place where nurse managers can allow visitation,
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  Speaker 3: but we certainly would like to see its resumed to
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  Speaker 3: more normal visitation sooner rather than later. But these are
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  Speaker 3: operational decisions that the hospital is making to ensure the
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  Speaker 3: safety of all patients and staff.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: But Minister, like I understand that. I totally understand that.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, I don't think it should be a
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  Speaker 2: free for all, but do you think that we need
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  Speaker 2: to have a closer look at this.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie, this is something that I've raised with Health
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  Speaker 3: and it's just a balance and making.
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  Speaker 4: Operational decisions that they believe let's keep the hospital and
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  Speaker 4: staff and patients safe from COVID, but at the same
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  Speaker 4: time we know how important it is for families to
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  Speaker 4: be able to visit, but importantly for patient to have
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: that visitation.
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  Speaker 3: So various processes. I've certainly the department to rate with
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: them around the real need to be particularly compassionate. In
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: some situations there's extenuating circumstances that make it very difficult.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Minister for Health, we are going to have to
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  Speaker 1: leave it there.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate your time this morning obviously going to be
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: a very busy day in Parliament.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Just quickly, what's on the agenda for the government.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie, we're really proud of our track record of
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: managing COVID and keeping the economy strong. We've got legislation
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  Speaker 3: going in so looking forward to the resumption of the
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: parliamentary year.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Minister Files, great to have you back on deck
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  Speaker 2: following on from that bout of COVID. Let's hope that
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  Speaker 2: you know that it is a productive day in Parliament
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  Speaker 2: House this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks Katie, thank you,