Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce on BDR on premise in the Barkly Area update

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Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce on BDR on premise in the Barkly Area update · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Three sixteen with Katie Wolf thanks to Joyce Main Dowin
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: homes Own Stuart Highway Beerromar.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: We did just catch up, as you heard with NT
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Farmers about the worker shortage when it comes to our
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: farming industry. Joining us on the line right now though
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce, good morning to you, Alex.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Good ay Katie.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Alex, You and I have spoken on so many occasions
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: about this worker shortage. How are things tracking from your
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: perspective at the moment? For Hospitality, look, the single.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Biggest improvement for us happened when they unshackled the international students.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: We saw an immediate impact on the rosters in cafes
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and restaurants and venues around town and down the track.
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  Speaker 3: There are a ranger tools and pull from MT. Farmers
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  Speaker 3: is not wrong, you know, we are looking at every
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: single avenue at the moment. Gray nomads, traveling families with
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: kids local Territorians children sixteen to eighteen can get exemption
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: to serve our.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Whole through licensing.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: We're doing absolute You seems to have cut out there,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: are you there, Alex? Sorry you cut out for one moment.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Sorry dodgy reception in the CBD of that.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: That's okay, we'll continue on. So you literally, as we
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: heard from you, you know, you've just said it and
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Paul said it before, you're trying everything, every tool in
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: your tool belt to try to fill these positions. Has
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: it had much of an impact the COVID lockdown for
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: you guys in Victoria and what's happening in Victoria? Has
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: it had much much of an impact from the hospitality
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: industry's perspective. For us here in the territory.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Look, it probably led to ten to fifteen percent of
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: rooms being canceled and refunded across the network. The longer
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: it goes on, the bigger the impact happens. Some venues
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: I'm aware of lost a lot more than that, but
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: there has been some backfill, especially in Central Australia that
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: even up and down, and you know, demand is so
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: high at the moment compared to the rooms that are
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: available and online that you know, there was a shout
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: out from the casino I think on Friday with a
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: local discounted special rate and so a bunch of people
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: jumped in on that. So we have been able to
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: replace those lost bookings with with other people, which is positive.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Well, that is a good thing to hear now in
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: terms of some of the other things that are happening
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: around the place. I mean, we know, as again as
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: I've said, We've said it on so many occasions, the
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: situation across the borders. We know that it does have
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: an impact for us. Has it made much of a
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: difference so from your perspective the way that the territory
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: government sort of looked at it a little bit differently
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: this time round, and I know that it's changed now
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: with Victoria, but sort of looking things with looking at
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: things with those locations of concern and not shutting down
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: or not sort of locking out whole states. Has that
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: made a bit of a better impact, do you think
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: in terms of the way we're dealing with it from
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: our perspective in hospitality here in the territory?
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, since Christmas you've seen a lot shorter and sharper lockdown.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: And as the confidence of the contact tracing capability across
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the country's got better and better, and you know, we
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: all learned last year how to deal with a one
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: in one hundred year event, there don't seem to be
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: more confidence to be particularly targeted with the hotspot declarations now,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: rather than just ripping up the handbrake on a whole
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: state at a time, which, yeah, that absolutely minimizes some
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of the negative impacts.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Now, what do you feel, Yeah, well, and look, I
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: think that that is it's hopefully, you know, a good thing.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: I know that a lot of people still do have
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: concerns and they do want us to totally lock people
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: or lot different states out when this kind of thing
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: is happening. But I do think that it is a
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: real moving feast at the moment. We've got to become
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: a bit more adaptable in the way that we deal
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: with it, which we are seeing I suppose over the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: last few months, like you've pointed out.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and internationally and nationally, all the health experts seem
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: to be saying, we are going to get to a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: point where we're living with this. This is never going
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: to go away, but we're going to live with it.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: The vaccinations and everything else are going to make it
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: a lot less deadly, which is a positive. And months
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: we get to that point, it's more about some of
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: these targeted responses rather than keeping the international borders closed
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: forever in a day.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Now, Alex, another situation that you and I have spoken
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: about on a few occasions is the takeaway alcohol purchases
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: will in the Berkley region. But I know that there's
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: been a decision made in this space. Can you talk
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: us through what's happened and how it's impacting you guys.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Yes, So the Lector Commission handed down its decision notice
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: on Monday or over the weekend. There's nineteen licensees that
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: are impacted in the Barkley region, and that's all the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: little roadhouses and waysidems, plus the two pubs in ten
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and the one pub in Elliott. The Liquor Commission's gone
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: away from the idea of putting BDR on premise, which
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: we think is are sensible outcome. They have increased some
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: of the CCTV requirements. The government's making it quite clear
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: and the Liquor Commission that going forward, CCTV over BDR
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: systems is something they're wanting to see written into all
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: the licenses in the Northern Territory. Largely the town operators
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: already have a lot of CCTV for their own security
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  Speaker 1: purposes and the like, so it's not too onerous and
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the cost of the technology continues to decrease. The one
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: sticking point with some of that stuff is the call
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: out fees and the service fees that those really remote
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: places cop can be quite exorbitant. So we'll just continue
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to work with the government on what the CCTV guidelines
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: look like as they seek to roll it out into
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  Speaker 1: some of those really remote locations.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what's the reaction been from some of those from
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: some of those venues.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Look to Tenant Creek, it was quite positive because it's
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: got the toughest restrictions in the nation in Tenant Creek,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: and the liquor commissions decided to keep them there, but
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: try to put a bit more flexibility into it. And
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: what I mean is one customer per day can go
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: and buy a cartment beer or two bottles of wine,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: but you can't go in and buy a six pack
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: and a bottle of wine. So it does detract from
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: bona fide caravans and tourists sales, and you know locals
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: that are wanting to just go in and potentially get
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: some beer for the mister and a bottle of wine
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: for the missus. Both people have to attend or they
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: take it in turns and they're actually purchasing more So
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the Liquor Commission did appreciate that that was a bonafide
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: concern of residents in TenneT Creek and has approved for
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: that different mix. The overall alcohol quantity doesn't increase, you'll
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: be able to move between categories, which you think is good. Unfortunately,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: the BDR is the clunky, old, clapped out system that
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: it is, and computer says no, and the technology isn't
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: there to make put this into effect. We are looking
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: forward to an updated, smarter BDR at some point in
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the future.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: That was going to be my next question. How is
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: the BDR going? Is it scanning those new licenses yet
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: or are we still struggling.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: They're they're they're doing a better job at scanning the
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: new licenses, but as the new licenses distribute getting to
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: the hands of more and more territoriums, it's it's remaining
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: an issue for us and it's nowhere near as user
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: friendly as the old licenses. And the number one use
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: for territoriums is with their driver's license is for scanning
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: through the bottle shops, even if they're a very very
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: infrequent customer. So we had zero consultation as an industry.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: We think it's unfortunate, but cop it on the chin.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: We do want to see an updated BDR going forward
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: and we're happy to work with government on that.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it is what it's going to need to happen.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, if we've got a situation whereas more and
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: more people get those new licenses, less and less of
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: those you know scans are able to happen. It does
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  Speaker 2: sound as though it's going to have to be a
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: no brainer and we're going to need updated, updated you know,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: machines and more.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Tourists of all ages, despite what it says on their
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: home state government websites are coming up now with just
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: digital drivers licenses. It's good that we can manually enter
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: them into the BDR. Now we've got that outcome, thank
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: you very much, Katie. Which is positive. But you know
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: when the territoriums get the benefit of digital driver's licenses.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the timeframe, well, good point and good question. I reckon, Alex.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Mate.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: It's always good to catch up with you. We appreciate
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: your time this morning. Thanks for having a chat.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: With us Tfkatie, all the best.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you. That is Alex Bruce there the See of
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Hospitality NT