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Katie spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce about the new vaccine mandate · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line right now is the
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  Speaker 1: CEO of Hospitality here in the Northern Territory, Alex Bruce.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you yet a Katie Alex out on
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  Speaker 1: the road this morning.
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  Speaker 2: I understand, beautiful daily waters.
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  Speaker 1: What are you doing out there?
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  Speaker 2: Look, we're stopping at all the roadhouses and wayside inns.
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  Speaker 2: They're very very important members for us, and you know
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  Speaker 2: they had such a mix mixed year as we all have.
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  Speaker 2: But it's just good to now that the school holidays
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  Speaker 2: are over, get down the track, spend a bit of
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  Speaker 2: time with them, see what's happening. What's what you know?
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  Speaker 2: Pretty good?
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  Speaker 1: Half your luck, mate, I reckon that sounds like a
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  Speaker 1: great thing to be doing traveling around the territory now, Alex,
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  Speaker 1: what was your reaction to the announcement yesterday about the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: mandate for the vaccination for COVID.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, a little fair bit of a concern
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  Speaker 2: in our industry. Our phone lines and email system definitely
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  Speaker 2: lit up over the last twelve month twenty four hours
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  Speaker 2: since the announcement. We support everything that's been going on
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  Speaker 2: with this health perspective. You know, you and I have
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  Speaker 2: spoken about this the last eight een months. The importance
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  Speaker 2: of the health of territoriums, our workers, our staff, our customers,
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  Speaker 2: you know, don't we don't take that for granted, and
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  Speaker 2: we understand why these things that are occurring. So the
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  Speaker 2: vast majority of our workforce, we've been having that respectful
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  Speaker 2: discussion with them for a few months now, saying, look,
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  Speaker 2: it looks like this is what's going to happen. There's
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  Speaker 2: a few issues around how far does this go. Does
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  Speaker 2: it include the kitchen staff, you know that the people
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  Speaker 2: that make the beds in their hotels, things like that.
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  Speaker 2: Are they forward facing at a in customer service roles?
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  Speaker 2: The government's been pretty good. They've they've provided Q and
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  Speaker 2: A that we've distributed already. But it will just be
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  Speaker 2: some of those decisions that each individual business now needs
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  Speaker 2: to make on whether the worker is in a mandated
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  Speaker 2: that's required position or not. Once that decision's made, though,
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  Speaker 2: it's relatively simple for us. You know, we've got responsible
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  Speaker 2: service of alcohol registers, we've got gaming ones, so we'll
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  Speaker 2: just have another register where we protect that information.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Alex, I mean I know that you said it
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  Speaker 1: is causing quite a bit of concern. Is the major
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  Speaker 1: concern that not knowing exactly which jobs need to be
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  Speaker 1: included or what is the major concern for you guys?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's how what information do I now need to
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  Speaker 2: ask for? Is some people have got it on their iPhone?
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  Speaker 2: Will that work if they show me that? What kind
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  Speaker 2: of record? So the government yesterday said that they'll be
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  Speaker 2: producing a register for us, a template that we can distribute.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, I've cited this because there's about four
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  Speaker 2: different types of certification or documentation that you can show.
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  Speaker 2: So how do we record that we keep it safely
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  Speaker 2: in the manager's office or the rest of it? No dramas,
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  Speaker 2: it's probably that assessment of which positions or which employee
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: for this effect. And the other thing we are hearing,
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  Speaker 2: unfortunately from a lot of our members is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're already challenged with a workforce shortage. There is a
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  Speaker 2: concern that this makes the problem that little bit harder
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  Speaker 2: to tackle. Again, though, we do need to see and
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  Speaker 2: how understanding is the government that this is coming in
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  Speaker 2: across the country and we do need all of our
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  Speaker 2: workers that are vaccine hesitant just to be mindful of that.
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  Speaker 2: Don't upsticks and move into state. Our understanding is this
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  Speaker 2: is coming in across the country. Yeah, that was.
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  Speaker 1: Actually going to be the next question that you know
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  Speaker 1: that I was going to ask, are you concerned that
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  Speaker 1: you could actually lose staff who travel into state? Now
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  Speaker 1: that we realistically do have the strongest vaccine laws, look a.
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  Speaker 2: Little bit of that, and our preference probably would have
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  Speaker 2: been the National Cabinet announced across the country what the
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  Speaker 2: rule where, and that there is that consistency across the country.
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  Speaker 2: We understand that is in train and each individual state
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  Speaker 2: and territory are making their own decisions on it. But
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  Speaker 2: we would hate to be in a predicament where we
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  Speaker 2: do have ultimately a system up here that isn't shared
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  Speaker 2: across the country, because then the real risk for us
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  Speaker 2: is that we do lose people into the state.
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  Speaker 1: Alex, I mean, are you lock Do you think that
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  Speaker 1: you are at a risk of that happening anyway, because
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  Speaker 1: at the moment, I know the Chief ministers certainly you know,
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  Speaker 1: some would say being quite strong and come out with this,
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  Speaker 1: you know, with the rules that he came out with yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: Others would say, you know, very heavy hand, and considering
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  Speaker 1: that some of our other locations where they actually have
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  Speaker 1: COVID active in the community, don't even seem to be
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  Speaker 1: going this hard.
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  Speaker 2: Look, our industries, like the community more broadly, there are
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  Speaker 2: a range of views. We respect the right of people
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  Speaker 2: to have those different views. We continually have to have
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  Speaker 2: that conversation in our industry on the information flows and
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  Speaker 2: the access and where people are getting their data from
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  Speaker 2: and all the rest of it. So, look, we don't
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  Speaker 2: like heavy handed approaches on this one though. We by
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  Speaker 2: and large we understand and appreciate what the Chief Hugh Heggy,
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  Speaker 2: the rock god that he is, you know, the CEP
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  Speaker 2: wholes and stuff. We understand what they're doing, and they're
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  Speaker 2: pretty upfront about it. So we're quite pragmatic. You know,
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  Speaker 2: there are absolutely people in my industry that are not
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  Speaker 2: happy with what's going on. But the reality is we
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  Speaker 2: just knuckle down and make it work, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And just finally, you know, when it comes to the
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  Speaker 1: holidays and over the Christmas break, do you think that
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  Speaker 1: the news yesterday or that are the announcement from the
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  Speaker 1: Chief Minister yesterday when it comes to potentially being able
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  Speaker 1: to home quarantine, did that give you any comfort in
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  Speaker 1: terms of seeing travelers back in the Northern Territory over
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  Speaker 1: that Christmas period.
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  Speaker 2: Again, that November plan, if you want to call it,
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  Speaker 2: that that might come in at some point in November
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  Speaker 2: or maybe early December. It's an important next step. It's
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  Speaker 2: really good for territoriums that are looking forward to going
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  Speaker 2: into state to see loved ones that they haven't been
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  Speaker 2: able to see for a long time. It doesn't particularly
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  Speaker 2: help bona fide tourism travel. No one's going to home
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  Speaker 2: quarantine in a hotel room for fourteen days before they
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  Speaker 2: start there their exciting experience with us. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: with Glenn Hingley and others, we've been quite strong in
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  Speaker 2: our advocacy towards government that we need to move beyond
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  Speaker 2: this next stage, preferably sooner rather than later, but by
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  Speaker 2: end of February at the latest, so that we can
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  Speaker 2: really knuckle down and crack on with a strong dices
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  Speaker 2: next year.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, well I agree with you, Alex. I think
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  Speaker 1: we do need. You know, we've got to have those
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  Speaker 1: really sort of strong plans in place so we all
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  Speaker 1: know what we're heading for and when we're going to
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  Speaker 1: be able to see those travelers back in the territory.
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  Speaker 1: But also if you've got family into state, you know,
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  Speaker 1: knowing when they're going to be able to come and visit,
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  Speaker 1: or you're going to be able to travel again as well.
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  Speaker 2: That's it, and we do need to accept to learn
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  Speaker 2: to live with COVID and if that requires a level
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  Speaker 2: of mandatory vaccination in ours and other industries, you know,
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  Speaker 2: fair cop, We'll make it work.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Alex Bruce always good to catch up with you.
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  Speaker 1: All the best out on the road mate. I hope
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  Speaker 1: you have a good trip and we'll talk to you
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  Speaker 1: again very soon.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, cheers, Katie, I'll just keep jogging on.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good on you. Thank you.