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Katie Woolf spoke with Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we know that snap lockdowns and border restrictions have
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: been having a big impact on territorians, particularly businesses who
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: rely on tourism. And joining me on the line is
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  Speaker 1: the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Greg Island. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you. Greg.
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  Speaker 2: Morning Katie. How are you should I own?
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  Speaker 1: Not too bad now? Greg? How are businesses faring in
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  Speaker 1: the territory at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, Katie, it's probably the same message that we've
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  Speaker 2: been talking about for a while where these lockdowns around
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  Speaker 2: the country are certainly impacting on us. And we've seen
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  Speaker 2: some commentary around that in today's paper. Particularly tourism, major events,
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  Speaker 2: those type of things are impacted almost instantaneously whenever one
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  Speaker 2: of those lockdowns is announced.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's and it's no doubt, you know, having an impact.
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  Speaker 1: Different businesses feeling it different in different ways.
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  Speaker 2: I would assume, yeah, absolutely very much. If you lose
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  Speaker 2: a day in tourism sector, that's a day that you
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  Speaker 2: can never replicate again, versus other industries that can rebuild
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: over time just by increasing their outputs. So it's certainly
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  Speaker 2: impacting on things and that is the real impact every
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  Speaker 2: time that this occurs. But broaderly, we've got more pressing
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  Speaker 2: issues developing as well. So, yeah, some good news and
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  Speaker 2: bad news in the economy.
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  Speaker 1: What are those more broader issues developing as well? Great?
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  Speaker 2: I think probably starting with some of the band stuff. First,
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  Speaker 2: population has always been a challenge for us here in
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  Speaker 2: the territory, and we've seen over the last quarter we've
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  Speaker 2: lost another approximately four hundred Territorians to moving down south,
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  Speaker 2: most of them going to Queensland for some reason. And
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  Speaker 2: the previous two quarters above that added up to another
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  Speaker 2: thousand people. So fifteen hundred or thereabouts people leaving the
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  Speaker 2: territory over the last year or so, and that certainly
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  Speaker 2: increases pressure on people being able to find workforce and
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  Speaker 2: also our skills base gets eroded as part of that
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  Speaker 2: process as well.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, fifteen hundred over the last year, that's a lot
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  Speaker 1: when you actually think about it, that's a pretty big number.
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  Speaker 2: It certainly is. When we talk about major projects in
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  Speaker 2: the territory bringing fifteen hundred jobs. Yeah, that's just replacing
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  Speaker 2: what we've gone backwards in the last little while. So
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  Speaker 2: we need some of those major projects to kick off
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  Speaker 2: and create sustainable employment for us long term.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we certainly do. And I know that there has
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  Speaker 1: been some positive announcements of late when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: different projects and diversifying the economy. Does it go far
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  Speaker 1: enough at this point? Gregor? I mean, I suppose we're
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  Speaker 1: always looking for more to build the population.
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  Speaker 2: We certainly are. We've really seen a strong focus from
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  Speaker 2: government and industry to really drive those projects going forward.
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  Speaker 2: The term Report has generated substantial interest there and the
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  Speaker 2: appointment of the new Commissioners gives a real focus inside government.
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  Speaker 2: But from an industry perspective, final investment decisions and an
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  Speaker 2: environment that promotes that investment is exactly what we need.
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  Speaker 1: And that Turk legislation went through Parliament yesterday. Some of
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  Speaker 1: it aimed at really trying to get projects and get
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  Speaker 1: business in the territory and enable things to sort of
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  Speaker 1: be able to process be processed a bit easier than
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  Speaker 1: what they have previously, greg Did that legislation go far enough?
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  Speaker 1: From the Chamber's perspective.
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  Speaker 2: Look, we certainly want to remove as many barriers to
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  Speaker 2: investment as possible without exposing the territory to significant risk.
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  Speaker 2: But every time that you make these changes, we introduce
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  Speaker 2: a new suite of challenges. We always want that environment
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  Speaker 2: to facilitate that investment. So they are steps in the
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  Speaker 2: right direction. I still feel we've got some steps to go,
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  Speaker 2: but we're certainly seeing broader industry engagement. Everyone's talking to
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  Speaker 2: us about where do we'll find people, how do I
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  Speaker 2: get more skills? We need more people in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: So it's something that's a positive sign, even though it's
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  Speaker 2: going to be difficult to attract close.
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  Speaker 1: Star greg I did want to ask you. I know
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  Speaker 1: that the Chief Minister yesterday made some comments around vaccination
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  Speaker 1: rates and around the snap lockdowns and border restrictions. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: the aim with the vaccination rate is to get to
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  Speaker 1: eighty percent, but the Chief Minister had said yesterday that
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  Speaker 1: those snap lockdowns and border restrictions could continue even if
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  Speaker 1: we reach key vaccine targets. It's despite the National Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: agreeing to a four phase plan when we've reached certain
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  Speaker 1: benchmarks around those vaccines. The work, the research, I guess
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  Speaker 1: you'd say, was completed by the Doughty Institute. Does it
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  Speaker 1: concern you that we may wind up in a situation
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  Speaker 1: where the Northern Territory still faces lockdowns even if we
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  Speaker 1: get to that eighty percent vaccination rate.
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  Speaker 2: Look, it certainly does, Katie, and this is something that
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  Speaker 2: we raised with government couple of weeks ago regarding these
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  Speaker 2: decisions once so we're reached around those targets. Our concern
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  Speaker 2: is that anyone that is vaccinated is still potentially a
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  Speaker 2: carrier of COVID nineteen. Whilst they will have reduced impact themselves,
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  Speaker 2: they potentially pass it on to someone that's not vaccinated.
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  Speaker 2: Our indigenous communities really are exposed in that regard, and
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  Speaker 2: one of our concerns is getting all of the maximum
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  Speaker 2: take up we can in those communities to prevent that
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  Speaker 2: particular risk. I can see this coming a little while ago,
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  Speaker 2: and we've certainly been talking about how that that can
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  Speaker 2: be mitigated in the future because we can't afford these
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  Speaker 2: lockdowns to continuing.
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  Speaker 1: No I was going to say, and it does seem
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  Speaker 1: to be a sort of different approach to the New
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  Speaker 1: South Wales premiere, who obviously is in a pretty difficult
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  Speaker 1: situation at the moment. But take a listen to what
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  Speaker 1: Gladys Spirogic Glenn had to say a little bit earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the week around the easing of restrictions.
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  Speaker 3: Based on the health advice that when you get to
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  Speaker 3: fifty percent sixty percent vaccination rates, it does give you
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to eat some restrictions are ahead of that seventy
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  Speaker 3: percent number, when we literally have a change in thought,
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  Speaker 3: we transition from going from talking about case numbers to
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  Speaker 3: talking about hospitalizations and that's a big shift. As doctor
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  Speaker 3: Chann and doctor Macnaughty and other health experts will say,
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  Speaker 3: we'll get to a stage when you have those high
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  Speaker 3: rates of vaccination where you can start treating the delta
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  Speaker 3: strain as you would the flu, where you talk about
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  Speaker 3: the number of people in hospital as opposed to the
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  Speaker 3: number of cases. We can't do that until we get
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  Speaker 3: to that eighty percent. But between seventy and eighty percent vaccination,
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  Speaker 3: that's what the DOITY report says.
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  Speaker 1: Greg. Is it a worry for business in the territory
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  Speaker 1: when you look around the nation and different states and
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  Speaker 1: different leaders their approaches to COVID and the lifting of restrictions,
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  Speaker 1: and you know the movements that will be allowed to
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  Speaker 1: have once we get to that vaccination rate of eighty percent.
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  Speaker 1: Is it a worry for business that there seems to
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  Speaker 1: be quite mixed messaging.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think a lot of that revolves around the
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  Speaker 2: demographics and the physical nature of those places. New South
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  Speaker 2: Wales as we know, very densely populated, lots of resources
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  Speaker 2: in terms of infrastructure for health and so forth, compared
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  Speaker 2: to the non territory, where we have significant different distances,
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  Speaker 2: we have remote communities that don't have any infrastructure to
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  Speaker 2: support any outbreak whatsoever. Those are the challenges that we're
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  Speaker 2: going to be faced with in the future. Territory business
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  Speaker 2: predominantly occurs within the greater metropolitan areas of Darwen, Catherine
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  Speaker 2: Tennant Alice Springs. There's certainly significant risk to those communities
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  Speaker 2: outside of those key areas that don't have that support,
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  Speaker 2: and no doubt that's what the Chief Minister is concerned about.
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  Speaker 2: That's why we're going to need to push the vaccination
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  Speaker 2: rates as high as practically possible into those regions.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Island, always good to
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  Speaker 1: speak with you. Thank you so much for your time today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. Nice to see the other night at the
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  Speaker 2: day On festival.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you too. Good for us well, lucky for us
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  Speaker 1: we are in this situation where we are able to
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  Speaker 1: still get out and about, but I know it's a
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  Speaker 1: juggle for everybody or anybody trying to put on an
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  Speaker 1: event at the moment in terms of those lockdowns.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, very challenging, but you're right, at least we've got something.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely good on you, Greg, Thank you,