Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Venue Co CEO Paul Waterson chat with Katie about the company funding Aussies' return home to work at local hospitality venues on 360

Transcript

Australian Venue Co CEO Paul Waterson chat with Katie about the company funding Aussies' return home to work at local hospitality venues on 360 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now a bit of a change of pace right now,
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  Speaker 1: because I think that there are quite a few businesses
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  Speaker 1: around the Northern Territory, particularly those in hospitality, who are
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  Speaker 1: potentially struggling to fill some of those positions that they've got.
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  Speaker 1: And the papers today reporting that Ozzie stranded in the
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  Speaker 1: United Kingdom can find themselves a free ticket home if
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  Speaker 1: they take up an offer to work in a Darwin pub. Well,
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  Speaker 1: some of our Darwin pubs. Now joining me on the
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  Speaker 1: line to talk more about this is Paul Watson from
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  Speaker 1: Ozzie Venue Co. Sorry, Paul, I think I've pronounced your
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  Speaker 1: last name wrong.
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  Speaker 2: There.
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  Speaker 1: How are you this morning?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, very well, Katie, thanks so much for.
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  Speaker 3: Having you now.
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  Speaker 1: You are, of course the CEO of oz Venue Co.
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  Speaker 3: And what pubs do you have here in the territory?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so up in the territory we've got Shags and Money, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: as well as Smith Street Social in Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: And what's it been like over the last eighteen months
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  Speaker 1: trying to sort of get people to work in those pubs.
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  Speaker 2: It's been incredible. I think Darwin has thankfully being one
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  Speaker 2: of those areas that have just done incredibly well and
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  Speaker 2: manage the whole pandemic incredibly well, and so we've had
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  Speaker 2: this double impact of not having the working holiday visa
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  Speaker 2: workers at the same time as trade has been incredibly
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  Speaker 2: strong in that market. So hence why we're looking to
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  Speaker 2: bring new people into the industry. So tell us.
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  Speaker 1: About what you're trying to do right now in order
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  Speaker 1: to fill some of those positions.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's probably three main strategies Katie that we're looking at.
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  Speaker 2: The first of all is training up local territorians to
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  Speaker 2: be able to work in pubs. So offer paid training
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  Speaker 2: which is a mix of online and face to face training.
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  Speaker 2: So come in with zero experience and get your first
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  Speaker 2: job in a pub and we will teach you everything
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  Speaker 2: that you need to know. It's a really great career,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's for short term or longer term. So we
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  Speaker 2: want all those young territories is to come and do
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  Speaker 2: using in a pub and meet some great mates. Secondly,
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  Speaker 2: we're looking to bring stranded Ozzie's home from the UK
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  Speaker 2: who are working in the hospitality sector over there. Flights
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  Speaker 2: have been incredibly expensive and challenging to get, so we've
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  Speaker 2: decided to pay for flights and quarantine costs when those
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  Speaker 2: returning hosto workers from the UK return to Australia and
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  Speaker 2: Darwin in order to get them working in our sector.
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  Speaker 2: And finally, with the new free trade agreement in the UK,
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  Speaker 2: we're targeting one hundred and fifty UK chefs to pick
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  Speaker 2: up and move to Australia and we're paying their visa
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  Speaker 2: costs as well as flight and quarantine costs as well.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. When did you kick these off and have you
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  Speaker 1: had much traction so far?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been quite an incredible response, Katie. We've kicked
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  Speaker 2: it off late last week and we've had over two
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  Speaker 2: hundred expressions of interest from the UK so far, so
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  Speaker 2: we're really quickly sorting through those at the moment. And
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  Speaker 2: nationally in terms of training up new people into the
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  Speaker 2: pub industry, we've had around four hundred responses and so
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  Speaker 2: we're looking to get those people into pubs as quick
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  Speaker 2: as we can and provide them with support.
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  Speaker 1: And so with the situation where we're hoping to get
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  Speaker 1: them working here in Darwin, how many do you need.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, Katie, we're looking for about thirty people in Darwin,
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  Speaker 2: which is a mix of back of house staff in
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  Speaker 2: the kitchen as well as about twenty people in the
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  Speaker 2: front of house as well in the bars.
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  Speaker 1: And presumably you've tried to, you know, to get people locally.
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  Speaker 1: And I know you've obviously got the initiative to try
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  Speaker 1: and get young locals working in the pubs, but what
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  Speaker 1: about with the initiative to bring those Aussies that are
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  Speaker 1: maybe stuck over in the UK. How long do you
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  Speaker 1: then expect them to work for you guys if they
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  Speaker 1: do take you up on that offer.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, it's only an initial six months that we're
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  Speaker 2: asking them to work for us. So if after six
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  Speaker 2: months they no longer want to work with us, they
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  Speaker 2: don't have to pay back the cost. It will be
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  Speaker 2: about twenty thousand dollars per person all up between flights
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  Speaker 2: and accommodation, and so it's going to cost us just
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  Speaker 2: north of three million dollars. So it's a big initiative,
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  Speaker 2: but one we think is really worthwhile to get sector
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  Speaker 2: back on its feet.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to say it must be one which
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  Speaker 1: is needed to be sort of forking that kind of
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  Speaker 1: money out, So it must be something that you really
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  Speaker 1: need to have happen, Oh very much.
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, and I think what we really want to
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  Speaker 2: focus on is growing the sectors workforce. I think it's
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  Speaker 2: a zero sum game by different pubs and businesses taking
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  Speaker 2: each other's experienced workers. Ultimately, we need to grow the
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  Speaker 2: workforce for the whole sector. So if that means in
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  Speaker 2: the end we bring home some people who end up
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  Speaker 2: working in other pubs, so be it. It's great for
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  Speaker 2: all of us.
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  Speaker 1: And Paul, you've obviously you're going to have to go
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  Speaker 1: through the process of getting those exemptions and things like that,
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  Speaker 1: although I guess if you've got someone on one of
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  Speaker 1: those repat flights they have to stay and how it
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  Speaker 1: springs for a couple of weeks anyway, Yeah, that's.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Okatie. We're talking to Quantas about whether we charter
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  Speaker 2: a plane to get all these people over at once,
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  Speaker 2: and then we'll be talking to governments about quarantine arrangements
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  Speaker 2: in order to accommodate. And we think that's a really
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  Speaker 2: efficient way and would be a lot of fun being
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  Speaker 2: on a plane for the hosto workers coming into Australia
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 3: Probably be pretty wild, I reckon, But what's the where
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  Speaker 3: is it at in terms of you know, seeing whether
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  Speaker 3: you're able to charter that flight or what you're going
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  Speaker 3: to have to do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Quantas have been incredibly supportive so far. So we're
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  Speaker 2: in an early discussion with government about getting the quarantine
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  Speaker 2: places all going well. We hope to be able to
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  Speaker 2: execute this just before Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Paul, really good to talk to you this morning.
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  Speaker 1: I think this is a really novel idea, but by
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  Speaker 1: the sounds of it's something that.
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  Speaker 3: Is absolutely required.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you're clearly not able to fill those jobs,
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  Speaker 1: some of them with locals, and it does sound like
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  Speaker 1: a novel idea, which I know that a lot of
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  Speaker 1: businesses are really having to do right now, is sort
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  Speaker 1: of think outside the box.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks so much, Katie. Hopefully it's a great success.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, let us know.
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  Speaker 1: Do keep in contact and let us know how it
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  Speaker 1: all goes.
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  Speaker 3: Paul, thank you for your time today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie so