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Katie Woolf spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us on the line right now. He is the
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Minister for Health. Natasha Files, good morning.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Good morning. I could just sit and listen to you
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: and Maddie do my job.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Listen to a bit of commentary now, Minister, we know
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this that yesterday the tough decision was made to declare
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: South Australia a hot spot. It's certainly thrown the plans
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: of many travelers into chaos. I guess you'd say quite
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: a few people on planes yesterday that either had to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: turn back and go back to South Australia or go
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: straight into quarantine.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, Katie, we apologize. And you know coronavirus has been
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: unpredictable fifty four million cases around the world and South Australia,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: you know, we went from just a handful of cases
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: to seventeen and the decision was made to protect territorians
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: by the Chief Health Officer that we needed to close
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: that border. He is participating in the national meetings trying
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: to ascertain exactly what's going on in South Australia. We've
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: seen residents of South Australia and that Adelaide region reach
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: out and get tested in their hundreds and so far
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: today just one has come through, but certainly need to
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: understand what's happened there out of hotel quarantining and how
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: far its impacted into the community. But the decision was
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: made to protect territorians. We of course apologize. You know,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: you've been talking about the stories Katie, people you know,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: on planes and being told and having to head to quarantine.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: We certainly apologized for that inconvenience, but we need to
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: protect territorians.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Do we know how many people ended up in quarantine
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: yesterday who were either on flights or you know, arriving
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: via different forms yesterday, Katie.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: The figure I've got that there was around one hundred
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: and twenty travelers arrived into Darwin on flights from Adelaide
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: and they have been quarantined at Howard Springs, and there
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: was around sixty passengers within the Alice Springs facility. We
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: also had the Gan train which was arriving into Alice
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Springs but made the decision to turn around. So those
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: are the numbers that I have before me. Of course,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: there's more flights arriving and people would have chosen either
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: not to come or that they still might have come.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So we'll get those latest figures later today.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt there would have been some who sort
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: of chose to just go straight back, you know, turn
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: around on the plane and go straight back.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: There were some that some of the travelers were transitting,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: so they'd only been at Adelaide Airport from elsewhere, so
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: they don't need to enter the mandatory quarantine. So but
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: the other figures that I was provided, we.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Also know that's overnight. I believe there was one additional
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: confirmed case in South Australia. So it is certainly going
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: to be a real way and watch situation here, isn't.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: It, Katie. We saw when we declared Brisbane that hot
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: spot earlier in the year, it was in place for
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: around a week from memory, so you know, fingers crossed
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: that this close family groupings and that the work the
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: South Australian authorities are doing, we'll get on top of it.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: But we can't be sitting in a week's time going.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: We wish we'd chut our borders because we've let the
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: virus in. So that is why that decision was made,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and a very efficient decision in that once we got
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: the information, the Chief Health Officer of the Northern Territory
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: spoke to the Chief Health Officer of South Australia. But
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: we'll continue to monitor this closely because we know it
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: has caused a huge convenience to many people.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Now, what about people who do travel to South Australia
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: i Adelaide for medical treatment? Will they still be able
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to do that?
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: That's a really important question, Katie. And we've seen throughout
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: this year people needing care from interstate hospitals and impact
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: to that, some appointments have been scheduled to telehealth and
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: we've provided additional services here in Darwin to manage them
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: in facilitation with their clinicians into state some situations and
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: we've managed through COVID where we had Melbourne as a
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: hot spot. We weren't sending patients there. We were sending
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: them or trying to send them to other hospitals. Of course,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: if the best clinical decision is for them to go
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: into that hospital and that hospital can care for them,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: that happens. So we're certainly working with the South and
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Australian authorities because we are seeing them step up and
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: preprare in case they see an influx of people into
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: their hospitals. So they're being made on a case by
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: case clinical decision Minister.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I am just reading a story on the ABC online
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: on a different in one of your other portfolios, which
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: says the Northern Territory Racing Minister yourself has relinquished your
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: honorary membership of the Darwin Turf Club. But you've said
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: that your decision is administrative and not linked to the
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: previous revelations about the government's controversial support of the turf Club.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Why have you relinquished that honorary membership?
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, we as members of Parliament have a Register
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: of interest, so we outline what associations where members of
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: what properties we own. It's quite a detailed piece of
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: information so that people can see if we potentially have
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: any conflicts. For me, heading into the new Assembly, I
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: made a decision that I would relinquish that membership and
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I'd go on a case by case basis to the
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Turf Club. I've been there in a personal capacity just
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: in the last few weeks, paid for the ticket myself.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: If I'm going as an official to present awards or
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: in official capacity, ticketing can be arranged on an event
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: by event basis. So that was a decision I made
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: as we headed after the election, and I've advised the
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Turf Club that they have acknowledged that that's my decision
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: and they've supported me.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: I understand the Chief Minister still has his Why I've
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: only one of you sort of relinquished your your membership
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: and the other hasn't.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: So for me, anyone that knows me, Katie, I'm very organized.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Relinquishing my membership was for me so that I could
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: make it quite clear in what capacity I was attending
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: the turf Club. I've been going to the Turf Club
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: in a personal capacity for many decades, and so I
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: just wanted that clear point of view. The Chief Minister,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: he's also the local member there, so he's made a decision,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: but he has declared that on his register of terron.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, were you worried about how it maybe would
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: come across if he kept that membership.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: No, for me, it was am I here in a
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: personal capacity or am I there in a professional capacity?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And I wanted that clear point of difference. Was I
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: paying for the ticket myself or was I going along
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: and being hosted and presenting awards? So for me, that's
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: what it was about.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: So you wanted it to be very clear that you're
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: there for personal reasons. Not in a professional capacity.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: I wanted that very clear cut. How was I attending
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: in what capacity was I attending?
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Yes, Katie, all right, we are going to have to
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: leave it there because we're crossing over to the Howard
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Springs facility in just a moment to catch up with
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: one of the passengers that was on board a playing yesterday.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Minister for Health and also Racing, always appreciate your time,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you Natasha Files there who, as I said,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: is the Minister for Health and also the Minister for Racing.