Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / We speak to a couple of local hospitality operators about the relief they're feeling now the NT's vax pass has been scrapped

Transcript

We speak to a couple of local hospitality operators about the relief they're feeling now the NT's vax pass has been scrapped · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, yesterday we learned that the vaccine pass, well, it
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: was being dropped finally. I think it was the sentiment
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: from a lot of businesses around the top end and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: right around the Northern territory.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: But joining me on the.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Line right now is Dom from Dom's Cocktail Bar in Nightcliff,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: Dom, Good morning Katie, how are you really well?
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Thanks? Mate?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Now was the what was the reaction from you guys
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: when you learned that the vaccine pass was being dropped?
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, finally we've been wondering why it wasn't scrapped with
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: the other measures about a month ago. In fact, why
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: was it held at all? So yeah, very pleased about that.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: It is completely unnatural in hospitality to turn people away.
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: So very happy that we don't have to do that anymore.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: And Dom had it become like quite hard to manage
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: in the sense that every time somebody came in, you're
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: having to go home.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Mate, Can you show us that you' vaccinated?
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: A lot of customers became used to the fact that
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: they have to show it when they come in, So
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: a lot of customers were prepared, had it ready to
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: show it staff.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: When they came in.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: But it's still uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable.
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: Reaction to have, It's an uncomfortable conversation to have with customers.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: So very happy that we don't have to bother with
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: that anymore.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: And Tom, how is business in the sense that you know?
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I think we're all we're all hoping that we have
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: a cracking dry season. But from what I've been hearing
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: this morning from the Chamber of Commerce, it's been pretty
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: tough for some industries, particularly hospitality, to be able to
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: fill all the jobs that they've got.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a lot of uncertainty still.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: I think things are slowly getting back to normal, especially
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: the life.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: Couple of weeks there has been a small spike in cases.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: We had all of our.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Have it.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: Last week.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: We were struggling, well, we got it all at once.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: We were struggling to field a team for the weekend,
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: but we managed to get that through and the guys
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: who covered for us did really well. But yeah, all
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: back on board now, so hopefully we don't have any
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: more issues like that.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: And customers are coming out again, which is good.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: What is it like if one team member gets COVID
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: or if there is a close contact has that made
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: it quite tough over recent weeks.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: Well, I think the fact that we all got it
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: is exactly the same time made it easier because we
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: all had to isolate for the same amount of time.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: It just made it very difficult for old Ned who
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: was the only one of our regular starters on board.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: But you did a great job.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Did a great job, and it just goes to show you,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: I suppose some of the you know, some of the
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: difficulties that our wonderful Northern Territory businesses are facing right now,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and they're varied and they're challenging.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: There's no doubt about that.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Dom.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: That's right, that's right.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: But yeah, hopefully we have a somewhat normal dry season.
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: And we can get on with it and.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Go well.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Well, Dom, lovely to catch up with you this morning.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time and hopefully we do have
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: a cracking dry season. Thanks mate, awesome, Thanks Katie, thank you,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and well joining me on the line right now. I
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: believe that I've got Jason Hannah, well known restauranteur here
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: Jace, morning Katie.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: How are you very well mate? What was your reaction
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: yesterday when that vaccine pass was dropped.
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: Oh, guy, was just I was just copying a whole
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: bunch of messages from my staff going true.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Is it's true?
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: So you know their reaction is what's more important. You know,
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: it really has been a pain in their ASTs. Yeah. Yeah,
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: I mean, don't get me wrong. A lot of people
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: have been fantastic, but but you know some people really
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: have been have been a little bit argumentative or you know,
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  Speaker 5: they're just not in a good mood and they take
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: it out on them on the crew. So one less
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  Speaker 5: thing to worry about. We can actually just get back
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: to welcoming people and trying to serve them rather than
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: rathervant check them first.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Really good point. And that's actually something that I hadn't
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: sort of thought of. And I just scort up with
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Dom from Dom's Bar and he said the same. You know,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: in hospitality, what you're usually doing is welcoming people in.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: So when you're actually.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Having to check their you know, their vaccine pass, it
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: actually sort of is is not It doesn't feel normal
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  Speaker 1: for somebody who works in hospitality.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: No, And look, we've got we've got new people to hospitality.
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  Speaker 5: This is their first job or their first experience with it,
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  Speaker 5: and they this is the norm for them, So we
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: have to retrain them and explain to them that, you know, hey, listen,
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: it's a lot better now. We don't have to go
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: through that rig roll. Now it's just about a smile
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: and expect to smile back.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Jason, had you had a few situations at your
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: establishments where sometimes people did become angry when they were asked.
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: I've actually had a couple where they've actually called me
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: to come and deal with it, and I've jumped on
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: my scooter, turned up there and put a foot straight
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: up their ass. You know, at the end of the day,
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: you can't reason with unreasonable people. You know, I know
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: some people sometimes have a bad day, but you know,
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: some of these poor young staff are just trying to
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: do their job and it wasn't their choice to do it. Yeah,
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: but you know, they stepped up and they did it.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: So look that's all behind us now. Yeah, you know,
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: we're just looking forward to getting back on with it
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  Speaker 5: and actually, you know doing what hospitality is about, matis
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: welcoming people into our venues and serving them.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: And Jason a little bit earlier this morning, I caught
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: up with the Chamber of Commerce Stephen Goodall, and we
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: were talking about some of the issues around the territory
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: at them and right around Australia, but I think particularly
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: in Northern Australia and regional parts of the country where
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: there is quite a job shortage. How's it going for
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you with you know, making sure that you're filling those
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: those different jobs that you've got.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Well, I've been really fortunate. You know, We've got a
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: great bunch of people who have been working with us
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: at different venues that have chosen to stay. You know,
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: however it is, you know, it is a transient nature
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: of the job. People do move on, or they move up,
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: or they move across. So you know, not having those
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: travelers that help fill in those gaps during that peak
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: busy season is something that we're not looking forward to.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: And you're already seeing venues make changes to their offerings
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: because they just haven't haven't got the staff or they're predicting.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: To not have the staff.
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: So yeah, it is a bit of a shame, but
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: you know what, we're troopers will work through.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: It absolutely, and that's the territory spirit.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I reckon are you having to do anything a little
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: bit creative to try and you know, to get people
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: to stay working.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: For a little bit longer or are they pretty loyal
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to you guys?
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  Speaker 5: Mate, you know there's always a cold beer at the end,
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  Speaker 5: and you know it's a good fun job. There's always
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: a bit of a joke you know, on the job
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  Speaker 5: as well as before and after. Say, look, it is
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  Speaker 5: just about trying to make it as enjoyable experiences as
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  Speaker 5: it should be because hospitality is about you know, it's
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  Speaker 5: about that smile. Third, and you know you can make
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: people smile that the easiest way is to actually have
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: them smiling naturally. So create a fun and exciting work
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: work workplace. You know, having the pressure taken off of
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: not having to deal with this vaccine passport is a
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: step in the right direction for us. And you know
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: it's all we like it when it's busy too. So
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: you know we're coming into the dry season where it
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: picks up. You know we're ready, we're hungry.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Yep, all good stuff.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Well, mate, I hope that it is a cracking dry
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: season for everybody, and and it's always good to catch
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: up with you.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having a chat with me
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: this morning. Thank you,