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Katie Woolf with Senator Sam McMahon · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf. Join the conversation with Katie Wolf.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: You are our eyes and ears in the Territory mixed
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: one oh four point nine.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Now you would have heard a bit before ten o'clock
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: we caught up with NT Farmers Association. We caught up
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: with the CEO Paul Burke and spoke about the potential
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: of quarantining workers coming across from other countries, some of
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: those safer countries at Bladen Point, the worker village there
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: now joining us in the studio to talk a bit
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: more about this, and it's actually something that we spoke
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: about around this time last week with the Prime Minister
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Scott Morrison as well.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: It is the Senator for the Northern Territory, Sam McMahon.
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  Speaker 4: Good morning, Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 4: Great have you in the studio, Senator. As I say,
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  Speaker 4: this is something that.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: You and I discussed last week when the Prime Minister
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: was in the studio as well. Where are things at
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: with Bladon Point being a location that we could potentially see.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Some of that workforce come across to quarantine in.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Look, Katie, I've spoken to a lot of ministers
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: and put the proposal to them to use Bladen Village
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  Speaker 4: for a multitude of things. I mean it's currently being
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: used for our Marine Rotational Force to get the Marines in.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: It's also currently being used by Impects for their shutdown
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: for the workers needed for that. It has a capacity
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: of fifteen hundred rooms and their double rooms so it
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: can take a couple, so there is a lot of
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  Speaker 4: capacity there. It's also divided into three different sections so
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  Speaker 4: we can have different people quarantining for different reasons. And
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: I've put the proposal that it could be used for
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: bringing in seasonal workers. It could also be used for
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: bringing in international students, and it could also be used
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: for Ossie's returning home. And so where are we at
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: with that proposal, Well, it sits with Northern Territory government
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  Speaker 4: at the moment. It's completely up to them. They control quarantine,
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: so it's up to them if they will allow the
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: use of the facility for those purposes.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: And we spoke to the Health Minister Natasha File earlier
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: this morning. She had said that that obviously it would
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: need to be staffed and so there need to be
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: you know that we would need to come up with
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  Speaker 2: a solution when it comes to staff and being able
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: to fund those staff as well. As I understand it,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: I suppose that's been the concern even out of Howard Springs.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: And again you and I have discussed this before when
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: it comes to the staffing in some of these different
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: facilities and making sure we've got people that are adequately trained.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, it does seem as though it's something that
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: the federal government and the territory government need to work
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: together on.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, And it's also involving private enterprise. And Katie, I
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: always think that when private enterprise gets involved, things generally
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: run a lot smoother and a lot more efficiently than
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: when government is running things.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: So that's one of.
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  Speaker 4: The beauties of this facility is that it is privately
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: owned and run, so that gives private enterprise the opportunity
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  Speaker 4: to do what business does.
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  Speaker 2: And then when it comes to the staffing out there,
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  Speaker 2: what's happening at the moment, it.
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  Speaker 3: Is like with defense and also with impact.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: So have they then got their own staff out there
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: helping out in terms of that health care or what's
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: happening in that space, and could we learn from that
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: to be able to implement something similar When it comes
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: to the farmers and pickers and packers.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Well, look, the Marines have obviously got their own staff,
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: and Bladen Village also has their staff there. The IMPEX
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: workers aren't actually quarantining, they're just staying there, so they
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: don't need to be under quarantine. But yes, it would
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: need to be a combination of federal, Northern Territory and
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: private enterprise to provide the solution.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: And so what has the Department of Health or what
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  Speaker 2: has the Northern Territory government said to you and to
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  Speaker 2: the federal government at this point in time when it
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: comes to those potential plants.
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't think they've really considered it. I mean
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  Speaker 4: I've been talking about it for a long time now,
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  Speaker 4: but my understanding is that the the CCHO hasn't actually
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: investigated the possibility.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: So I'm really hoping that they do.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: So, really, you'd like to see the Chief Health Officer
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  Speaker 2: have a closer look at the potential of doing this.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, And a proposal of formal proposal has gone through
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  Speaker 2: to them, has it. No, I've put the proposal to
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  Speaker 2: several federal ministers right now. Just talking about sort of
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: bolstering the workforce, because that's something that's been on the
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: agenda for quite some time. I know the hospitality and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: also tourism of Flag their concerns. I know at one
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: point it was about seven thousand workers, seven thousand jobs
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: that they were trying to fill. Has there been much
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  Speaker 2: movement from your perspective in this space on a federal level.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, Katie, there has been.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: There's a couple of things that have happened, certainly for
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: the rural the ag workforce. States and territories now have
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: the option of having workers seasonal workers under that program
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: quarantine in Fiji and Vanuatu, so they do their pre
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: embarkation quarantine over there, then come to Australia into the
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: Northern Territory and go straight onto farms and work. Now,
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  Speaker 4: so far only the South Australian government has signed up
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: for that. The Northern Territory government has chosen not to
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: take part in that program. So that's a great opportunity
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: there for the Northern Territory government to take part in
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: that program. And the other thing I spoke to Minister
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: Stuart Robert yesterday and put the proposal to him for
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: retirees and pensioners to be able to do more work
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: to raise the cap. They can currently earn I think
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: one hundred and seventy four dollars a fortnight without affecting
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: their pension. So I put it to him to raise
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: that significantly so that our gray nomads would be able
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: to do work. It's a win for tourism, hospitality and agriculture.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: It's also a win for the government because they're going
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: to be earning money that then is taxed, so it's
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: no impost on the government. And Minister Robert was very
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: very interested in that proposal.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: So currently our seniors or those that are on a pension,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: are able to earn one hundred and seventy four dollars
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: a fortnight.
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  Speaker 3: Is that right, yep, So you're proposing that.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: That be actually well extended or that level be lifted
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: so that they could earn some more money and hopefully
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: get them back in the workforce.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Katie, increase it, make it, make it one thousand
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: dollars a fortnight, you know, and those that want to
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  Speaker 4: work that are traveling around can fill those shortages, particularly
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: useful for tourism and hospitality. They can earn some money,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: they pay tax on the money, and our operators get
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: their workforce.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: It sounds like a good idea in theory.
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  Speaker 2: Like we've spoken to people on this show before who
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: are seniors who have said though that they that they
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: struggle ized bose or they feel as though their ages
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: may be looked at as being an impediment rather than
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: being a positive thing.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: Well, Katie talking to tourism operators throughout the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 4: that that is not how they feel. They will take
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  Speaker 4: people that are able to work, and a lot of
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: our retirees have skills. A lot of them have skills
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: and experience. Some of them are retired engineers who have
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: run their own businesses, all sorts of things, so they
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: often have the skills that these employers are looking for
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  Speaker 4: and they're very keen to take them on.
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  Speaker 2: How likely do you reckon this is that it could happen,
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  Speaker 2: and do you reckon it would only be for the
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: territory or Australia wide.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: I think it could be Australia wide. I don't see
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: any negatives in it. The Minister was very very interested
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: and he's keen to talk further with me and with
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: the Treasurer about the proposal. So yes, it could be
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  Speaker 4: Australia wide and it could be a win win for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: I'll be really interested to hear how that goes, and
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  Speaker 2: I know that we've got plenty of seniors who listen
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  Speaker 2: to this show who'll be keen to find out, because
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: you know, if you can raise that amount that you're
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: able to earn from one hundred and seventy four dollars dollars,
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  Speaker 2: I mean that's bugger all really when you think about it.
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  Speaker 2: If you're able to raise that and you can be
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  Speaker 2: working a bit harder or working a bit more, earning
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: a bit more money and not impacting your pension, that'd
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  Speaker 2: be amazing yep.
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  Speaker 4: And contributing to the government's taxation as well, So it's
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: a win for everybody.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: Senator.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: The federal budget is going to get handed down next week.
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  Speaker 2: Do you reckon there's going to be much in it
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: for the territory. We've already heard from Minister Keith Pitt
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: this morning.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Yes, Look, Katie, I think there is.
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  Speaker 4: The Federal government has been spending massively in the territory
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: over the last twelve months and I would fully expect
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: that to continue.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: All right, Well, I reckon we might have to have
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: a catch up with you next week when you're in Canberra.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for your time this morning.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: No worries Katie anytime.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you Senator Sam McMahon there, the COLP Senator for
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory.