Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce about staffing and mask mandates as the Territory Covid situation escalates

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Katie spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce about staffing and mask mandates as the Territory Covid situation escalates · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From hospitality these here in the northern territory of the CEO.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Alex Bruce, Good morning to you, Alex.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Hey Katie, So I don't know what's up in there.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Let's thanks all right? Now for Darwin? Hey, oh what
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: was that? Let's wash, Let's push for five G for Darwin,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: get another round of protests.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Well, Alex, obviously we're in the situation that we're in
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: at the moment when it comes to COVID. We are
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: waiting for the Chief Minister to come out and do
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that next press conference, hopefully between eleven and eleven thirty.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Actually eleven thirty is what I'm being told is when
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: it's going to happen. But Alex, at the moment we
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: here in Darwin, there's been no positive COVID tests in
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: our waste water at this stage. Yet we do still
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: have the mask mandate in place. Is it a bit excessive?
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Look if it's another donut day today, we think probably. So,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: you know, the credit to Health Police. Those are original
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: NGOs that have been out there driving up the VAX
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: rates in the remote areas as well. It does seem
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: to be that the Catherine region is contained the outbreak
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: there obviously we'll see what extra numbers are in that
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: region today. But if it's only that region, we do
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: question why, you know, what is the health risk on
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Groot Island right now from a high vaxed local regional
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: community population and the high vaxed mining workforce that are
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: over there. COVID's not going away. We're understanding that. You know,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: we've probably got more lockdowns, lockout region by region to
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: live through for the next three four months. We're not
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: too sure. No one will tell us if that's the case,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: when it's safe to reopen and just revert back to
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: that underlying risk that is still there until we declare
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: that it's endemic and we're going to treat it like
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: we treat every other health outcome and approach. You know,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: we need to be able to claw back business where
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: we can. The Chief did seem to open the door
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: to that pop stability yesterday, which we would very much
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: see as a pragmatic outcome and a balance like it
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: is a juggling act, and we appreciate how far they
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: have managed to go so far over the past eighteen
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: nineteen months. When you look around the country, we are fortunate.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: But this isn't about profits. We've been opening our businesses
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: this week, many food and beverage restaurants, small licensed cafes.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: They've been opening their doors to lose money, but they
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: want to keep their staff. They want to keep ours
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: for the staff up. Otherwise they do risk losing those
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: essential workers to other industries and interstates. So it's just
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: a recognition that just because we're open and the lights
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: are on, it doesn't mean that it's all hunky dory
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: and Alex.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: What kind of impact does the situation that we're currently in,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: what kind of impact is it having on businesses at
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the moment.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: I look, we're getting cancelations eighteenths and twenty first in
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: the late night sector. They just don't want to do
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: it on a weekend when masks. So if we'll get
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: a lifted today, that would be good. People booking in
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: an accommodation around Darwin, you know, to come in for
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the weekend that we faced cancelations there in that restaurant
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: and cafe space. It's thirty percent drop in sales and
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: unfortunately a lot of them, their profit margins operate below
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: that level. So they're still paying their rent, they're still
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: paying all their bills, they're still paying their staff because
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: they do want to keep that connection and not lose
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: those workers and not get any back. You know, there's
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: not a surplus of workers as you know, right across
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: industry sectors. So it is it is a challenge that
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: you know, we're starting to look at Okay, well what
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: do the next three or four months look like if
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: if we're going to be a bit triggered happy with the.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Masks, So do you reckon that we really need to
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: just re look at this and if we are in
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: a situation like we're in now where it does seem
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to be contained in a particular area at this point
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: in time, and obviously time's going to tell in Catherine
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and in Robinson River where it shouldn't see that blanket
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: approach for the whole of the Northern Territory.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: We'd hope. So you know, South Australia shut its border
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: with the entire ntee and the justification we're hearing from
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: them is that, well, you've acknowledged that there's an inherent
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: level of risk territory wide, and it's not just the
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: hassle of wearing masks up in the build up and
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: how hot it is that that contributes to it, but
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: masks also indicate to the society there's something a little
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: bit additional in the risk profile right now. So we
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: know that COVID can come back, We know that we
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: can close our businesses down or enter a lockout environment,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: you know, within a matter of hours, and that we're
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: living through that for the next few months. So we
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: just hope that, as the government had been in the past,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: once it's safe to revert back to that underlying risk level,
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: the sooner the better in HIVAX communities.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: And look, I suppose some people listening might be thinking
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to themselves, oh, well, isn't that hard for us to
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: wear a mask? You know? Are we being a bit
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: petty here?
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Well it's twofold, though, so it's some people won't want to.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I know that I had a kid's kid's birthday party
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: in one of those indoor play centers, and I really
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: begrudgingly took my daughter along to that and sat there
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: for two hours wearing my mask. Well, I thought the
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: kids would be running a muck around to your feet,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you know, you're trying not to step on them. But
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: it was a ghost town. A lot of families are
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: clearly choosing I'll just stay at home in the aircorn
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: or put the kids in the backyard pool. So there
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: is that, and the other thing is that COVID tier
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: COVID tier community be scared, be afraid, wear a mask.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: It's a visible sign that things aren't where they need
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: to be, and so there are people that are reluctant
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: to move out and about around society as much as
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: well and more.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Broadly at the moment, how are things going following on
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: from the other mandate that we've spoken quite a bit
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: about in that vaccine mandate, so really coming into play
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: on Saturday last week.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: We did lose some workers, but it wasn't it wasn't
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: higher than in that zero to five percent range that
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: I've had reported back through to me that I've shared previously.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: The comment this week really was that we've seen on
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: exodus of staff as Sydney's reopened and with Melbourne now
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: you know, pretty much going healthful ever back to full
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: opening last night, that's been a bigger drain on the
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: workforce up here and they're not being replaced by anyone
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: while our boarders are still up in the air. So
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: you know, the I think the chiefs said yesterday that
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: we had our third best vaccination day. Well done everyone
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: that's done that, and all the hard work that the
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: police and health and frontline are doing to achieve that.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: I know that those extra percentages are getting tougher and
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: tougher to get. It's just the nature of the beast.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: But you know, with that, then once we've contained this
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Catherine thing and got rid of the masks, how quickly
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: can we get our borders normalized and open?
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Well, that's what we're we're all wondering. I reckon, Alex,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: how quickly do you think?
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Well, the chiefs dangled out eighteenth of January, but with
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: an asterix, and you'll get back to us with a
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: firmid date. Would love to be in alignment with Brisbane
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: and Queensland and our competitors over in Cans And you
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: know they're taking Christmas bookings because their borders are open
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: to double vaxed COVID tested negative travelers from Sydney and
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Melbourne from the eighteenth of December. So, yeah, why don't
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: we pull up our focks. We've done a phenomenal effort.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Territoriums deserve to have the same equity come Christmas time
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: as others.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think that we've got to realistically think
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: about how it is going to happen, exactly what date
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: it's going to happen, to provide some certainty for absolutely everybody.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: But also, you know, so many people have rolled up,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: these thieves and done what's been asked of them. So
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: when are we going to sort of see, you know,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: see that freedom again after being double dosed?
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: That's it. And because of the workforce mandate, because of
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Darwin's lockout and Catherine's previous lockdown and then this week
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: with masks territory wide and Catherine and Robinson Rivers lockdown again,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: this has driven the vax rates up, so surely that
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: eighteenth of jan looks like that's probably a bit slow.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Now if this is meant to be linked to our
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: vaccination rates, and our vaccination rates are better than what
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: was projected, let's go for eighteenth December and have a
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: happy Merry Christmas.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Yep, well, we will have to leave it there. Alex
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Bruce of hospitality here in the Northern Territory. Always good
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: to catch up with you. I appreciate your time.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Cheers Katie all the day.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Thank you