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Katie spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Like I said, always plenty happening.
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  Speaker 2: And joining me on the line this morning is Leah
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: fanoki Aro, the opposition leader.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Now Leah, we know that the vaccine mandate was announced
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  Speaker 2: about this time last week. Over the weekend we saw
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  Speaker 2: massive crowds on the lawns out near Parliament House and
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  Speaker 2: then on the stairs rallying against the mandate to get
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  Speaker 2: the vaccine.
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  Speaker 1: Leah, what are people telling you?
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  Speaker 2: Do you have businesses and territorians contacting you at the
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  Speaker 2: moment with concerns about this mandate.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, look, without question, this is you know, it's a
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  Speaker 3: very big issue for you know, a group of people
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  Speaker 3: in our community. By and large most territories have had
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  Speaker 3: that first vaccine or of course are fully vaccinated. But
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  Speaker 3: there are people who are concerned and you know, the
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  Speaker 3: protest amongst anything else, highlights that. But I think what's
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  Speaker 3: important is the communication coming out of government at this
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  Speaker 3: important critical time, particularly as we can down to that
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  Speaker 3: mand mandated vaccine date, and so certainly from a business
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  Speaker 3: and employee perspective, people want some certainty around what that
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  Speaker 3: roadmap looks like to get to the mandatory Vack State.
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  Speaker 1: So when you say communication, is that what you mean?
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  Speaker 2: Do you think that there's businesses out there that are
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  Speaker 2: sort of wondering how it's going to be implemented or
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  Speaker 2: what do you mean when you say that there's not
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  Speaker 2: enough communication?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think what the Chief Minister has done has
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  Speaker 3: come out and announced the policy. The Chief Health Officer
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  Speaker 3: has of course put those directions out, but there is
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  Speaker 3: concern in the community. People don't really know how to
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  Speaker 3: implement it for those people. And of course we've heard
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  Speaker 3: very clearly that in response to the announcement many people
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  Speaker 3: have booked in and decided to get vaccinated, which is fantastic.
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  Speaker 3: It's clearly encouraged those people who just perhaps hadn't got
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  Speaker 3: around to it to really start to make it a priority.
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  Speaker 3: But there will be a portion of the community who
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  Speaker 3: you know, would rather lose their jobs than get vaccinated.
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  Speaker 3: And so really it's important that government is clear and
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  Speaker 3: working with businesses and industry so that people, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the people who are going to have to deal with this,
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  Speaker 3: because it's not going to be the government, understand how
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  Speaker 3: they can go about it.
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  Speaker 2: Are you worried that we're going to see some businesses
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  Speaker 2: closed or do you think you know, do you think
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  Speaker 2: that it's not going to be an issue when we
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  Speaker 2: get to that mandate day.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I just hope everyone makes the right decision to
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  Speaker 3: get the vaccine, Katie. We know it's safe, we know
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  Speaker 3: it's the best way to get back to normal. We
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  Speaker 3: know that millions of people in our country and of
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  Speaker 3: course around the world. You know people are getting vaccinated
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  Speaker 3: and are able to go back to normal. It's the
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  Speaker 3: safest way to protect yourself, it's the safest way to
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  Speaker 3: protect your family and of course the rest of the community.
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  Speaker 3: And so our message has always been and always will
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  Speaker 3: be for people to please if you are concerned, if
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  Speaker 3: you still have that level of hestency, go and see
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  Speaker 3: your GPS. See counts the information that you need to
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  Speaker 3: have the confidence. But ultimately we really need people getting
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  Speaker 3: the job. There's plenty of bookings and availability, which is
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  Speaker 3: really important, and so don't put it off to another date.
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  Speaker 3: Just make that call today, Get on the coronavirus website,
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  Speaker 3: get onto the vaccine portal, and get the job.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I know that one of the other big issues
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  Speaker 2: that we are continuously being contacted about at the moment
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  Speaker 2: is the fact that we sort of don't have a
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  Speaker 2: real clear plan when it comes to home quarantine and
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  Speaker 2: what's going to happen when we get to Christmas. So
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  Speaker 2: we've seen now New South Wales, Victoria Act and Queensland
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  Speaker 2: have all announced their plans to open up to the
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  Speaker 2: rest of the country. Do you think that the plans
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  Speaker 2: provided by the Chief Minister Michael Gunner give enough clarity
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  Speaker 2: to Territorians with Christmas coming up, you know, even those
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  Speaker 2: that are living here but maybe are from another state
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  Speaker 2: wanting to go and visit family and then coming back.
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  Speaker 3: No, I don't think the plan is very clear, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: and I think because the other jurisdictions you know, are
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  Speaker 3: making rapid changes at the moment, and of course we've
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  Speaker 3: got this focus on transitioning to the mandatory vaccine, you
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  Speaker 3: know policy. I think it's causing a lot of confusion
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  Speaker 3: around what people can and cannot do at Christmas, and
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  Speaker 3: of course people need to be booking clients, making arrangements
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  Speaker 3: with loved ones, or accepting that they're not going to
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  Speaker 3: be able to catch up and spend that time together
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  Speaker 3: as friends and families. So we really do need that
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  Speaker 3: clear pathway going forward because people need certainty and you
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  Speaker 3: know eighteen months down the track. The lease the government
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  Speaker 3: can do is give people that certainty so that those
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  Speaker 3: arrangements can be made or not made.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we know in Queensland, obviously the state's border opening
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  Speaker 2: scheduled to go ahead on December seventeen, so when eighty
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  Speaker 2: percent of Queenscience populations predicted to be double vaccinated, so
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  Speaker 2: on that date, then fully vaccinated interstate visitors who have
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  Speaker 2: recorded a negative COVID nineteen test, so they've got basically
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  Speaker 2: seventy two hours of quarantine and then if that test
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  Speaker 2: comes back negative with the rapid antigen testing, they'll be
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  Speaker 2: allowed to enter the community without having to quarantine. Shall
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  Speaker 2: we be looking at something like this once we've reached
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  Speaker 2: the eighty percent.
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  Speaker 3: Mark, Well, I'm sure that's what our Chief Health Officer
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  Speaker 3: is looking to. Obviously, our CHOW is part of the
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  Speaker 3: national organization where all of the chos are getting together
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  Speaker 3: and sharing this adviance. The health advice is of course
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  Speaker 3: different for every jurisdiction because the people within that community
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  Speaker 3: have different requirements and are at different vaccination levels. We
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  Speaker 3: obviously have a very vulnerable community as well, so there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of factors that come into it. I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: the Chow and the Gunner government are looking at it,
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  Speaker 3: but what we're really urging them to do is come
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  Speaker 3: to a decision as soon as possible. They might be
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  Speaker 3: waiting to see what our final VAX numbers come out
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  Speaker 3: at by the time we hit that mandatory back stake, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: and then perhaps they're waiting to make their final decision.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know, and we're not privy to that information.
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  Speaker 3: But ultimately more certainty is required, and territorians are really
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  Speaker 3: feeling very there's a great sense of uneasy at the
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  Speaker 3: moment because there is a lot of change and not
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  Speaker 3: a lot of clearifaction well.
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  Speaker 2: And also you know when you look at our tourism
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  Speaker 2: sector and also for the hospitality sector and others, nobody's.
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  Speaker 1: Wanting to put the community at risk.
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  Speaker 2: But I think if other states all around the nation
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  Speaker 2: are moving towards this rapid antigen test and that seventy
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  Speaker 2: two hours of being quarantined before being able to enter
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  Speaker 2: the community, if it comes back negative, if it is
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  Speaker 2: going to happen in other locations, we really can't leave
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  Speaker 2: ourselves in a situation where we're entirely left behind.
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  Speaker 3: It's certainly going to place a lot of pressure and
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  Speaker 3: it's going to mean really complicated arrangements for territorians who
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  Speaker 3: are wanting to reunite with loved ones. But it is
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  Speaker 3: that balancing act. I know plenty of people equally Katie,
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  Speaker 3: who happy to keep the borders closed and live late
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  Speaker 3: this forever. So you know, it's just a very difficult situation.
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  Speaker 3: But ultimately we've got to be focused on the vaccine
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  Speaker 3: roll out, We've got to be focused on getting jobs
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  Speaker 3: in arms. But the Gunner government can certainly afford to
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  Speaker 3: be a lot clearer and a lot more supportive with
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  Speaker 3: the people who are there to be implementing any changes.
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  Speaker 3: But of course those who know we're well and truly
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  Speaker 3: through October now and Chrismas is just around the corner.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's talk education. We know that the Minister
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  Speaker 2: for Education, Lauren Moss, has released a new strategy which
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  Speaker 2: is aimed at lifting school attendance across the territory. It's
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  Speaker 2: going to be backed up by an initial ten million
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  Speaker 2: dollar action plan over the next three years. Have you
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  Speaker 2: had much of an opportunity to look at this strategy
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  Speaker 2: and do you think that it's going to make a difference,
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  Speaker 2: particularly when you talk about school attendance.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we have had a good look at this because
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  Speaker 3: of course education is the key to our children's future.
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  Speaker 3: You know, all of every single territory, kid has a
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  Speaker 3: right to a good education and we need them going
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  Speaker 3: to school. And I think what this strategy highlights is
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  Speaker 3: just how empty the government's plan is when it comes
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  Speaker 3: to ensuring that kids are in classrooms. I mean, when
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  Speaker 3: they first came to government, they scrapped truancy officers and
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  Speaker 3: we've seen some appalling attendance rates going forward. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we want kids in school and that really for if
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  Speaker 3: not hundreds of schools across the territory needs to be
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  Speaker 3: our focus. We're really concerned that this strategy is really
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  Speaker 3: just a bit of an empty announcement. There's nothing groundbreaking
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  Speaker 3: in it. And of course a major concern for us
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  Speaker 3: is the fact that only twenty one schools were consulted,
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  Speaker 3: and that's out of one hundred and ninety one schools
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  Speaker 3: that we have in the territory. So I really don't
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  Speaker 3: know the depths that this strategy has gone into, that
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  Speaker 3: the level of engagement was there to really work out
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  Speaker 3: what the issues are. But you know, when you hear
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  Speaker 3: statistics like, just fourteen percent of very remote Indigenous children
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  Speaker 3: are attending school four days a week. You know that's
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  Speaker 3: not okay in Indigenous kids. Every kid deserves to have
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  Speaker 3: a good education and have access to education and be
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  Speaker 3: at school. So we need to be working a lot
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  Speaker 3: harder on that element of our education strategy, Leah.
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  Speaker 2: I know that the Opposition spokesperson for Education, Joe Hersey,
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  Speaker 2: is out today saying that there's uncertainty for Northern Territory
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  Speaker 2: schools as there is reportedly as many as thirty one
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  Speaker 2: principles for schools across the Northern Territory needed for the
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  Speaker 2: beginning of the school year. Sixteen jobs for principles are
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  Speaker 2: currently being advertised and fifteen are apparently forecast to resign
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  Speaker 2: by the end of the year. I mean, firstly, how
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  Speaker 2: do we know that fifteen are forecasts to resign? But
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  Speaker 2: then I mean, it's pretty clear to me why this
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  Speaker 2: is a concern. But why is this such a concern
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  Speaker 2: from the opposition's perspective.
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  Speaker 3: Well, of course, principles are amazing leaders in our schools.
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  Speaker 3: I mean they're providing all of the support, all of
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  Speaker 3: the direction and of the leadership for our teachers and
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  Speaker 3: our staff. But of course importantly our students, they're highly
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  Speaker 3: trained professionals, as are our teachers. But you know that
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  Speaker 3: principal role is much more difficult to fill. There's just
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  Speaker 3: less principles around, and so of course, when you layer
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  Speaker 3: on top of that desperate need to make sure that
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  Speaker 3: we do have principles in schools providing that leadership and direction.
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  Speaker 3: You lay over that COVID and the complications of moving
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  Speaker 3: around the country attracting and retaining people into the territory,
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  Speaker 3: particularly remote, then you've got some serious issues.
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  Speaker 2: And so do you reckon it's small that than the
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  Speaker 2: pay freeze for principles or what? Do you think it
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  Speaker 2: is the main reason for this?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think it's a cumbination. I think, of course,
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  Speaker 3: the upcoming pay freeze is really just meant a lot
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  Speaker 3: of people are just not interested to stay in the
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  Speaker 3: territory anymore. Of course, we had the principal pay frees
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  Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, so this is pay freeze
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  Speaker 3: on payfrees, which I'm sure you know players on people's
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: minds when they're making their decisions whether to continue to
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  Speaker 3: stay in the territory. But of course, and that's why
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  Speaker 3: people are leaving. But of course, then when it comes
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  Speaker 3: to okay, well if people are going to go, how
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  Speaker 3: do we feel those spots? Then you've got a whole
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  Speaker 3: host of other issues, which of course include our attractiveness
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  Speaker 3: is a jurisdiction when we have pay freezones like the
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  Speaker 3: ones we do, but also with that overlay of COVID,
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  Speaker 3: so we're really concerned. We don't want any school to
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  Speaker 3: start the new year without a principle. It's a critical role.
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  Speaker 3: We value the role that they play and that leadership
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  Speaker 3: and direction that they provide. And so you know, much
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  Speaker 3: like our other conversation, time is running out to Christmas,
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  Speaker 3: and we can't wait around until January to work out
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  Speaker 3: whether or not we've got principles stealing that critical role
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  Speaker 3: in our schools.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Lea Finocchio, the opposition leader, we are going to
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  Speaker 2: be catching up with Lauren Moss, the Education Minister in
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: around ten minutes time, so we'll see what we can
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  Speaker 2: find out.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you very much for your time this morning.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Thank you, and take care everyone.