Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce

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Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We spoke yesterday to Daniel Rochford in Alice Springs about
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the shortage that they've got at the moment when it
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: comes to staff in the tourism sector. And also a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: hospitality now joining us on the line to talk further
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  Speaker 1: about this and hopefully well give us a bit more
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: information about how we might be able to overcome this situation.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Is the CEO of Hospitality here in the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: Alex Bruce, Good morning to you, Alex.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: What do you reckon? Time to dust off the old
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  Speaker 1: Boundless Possible campaign, Alex and try and lure a few
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  Speaker 1: people to the territory.
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  Speaker 2: That and other things. I'm not sure about putting things
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  Speaker 2: on pickers on a rockets. And look, we've worked with
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  Speaker 2: government for many years on workforce. It'd be no secret
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  Speaker 2: or surprise to anyone in the territory that you know,
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  Speaker 2: we've had working holidaymakers, we've had spilled yeah, overseas workers
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  Speaker 2: in our industry. They've been part and parcel for us
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  Speaker 2: and our workplace than our communities for many years. We
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: do a survey regularly as part of that, but in
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  Speaker 2: the last seventy two hours we've had the most responses
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  Speaker 2: and the quickest responses we've ever had from our industry survey,
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  Speaker 2: and unfortunately it paints quite a bleak situation at the
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  Speaker 2: moment for us.
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  Speaker 1: So what are they saying to you at this point
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  Speaker 1: in time, Alex.
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  Speaker 2: Look, so I started the week down in Alice, ended
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  Speaker 2: up through Daily Waters and Catherine and as wonderful as
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  Speaker 2: Parchmo is and it is absolutely fantastic. If you can
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  Speaker 2: get down there to see it, please do. Everywhere I go,
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  Speaker 2: every conversation in our industry is about the workforce shortage.
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  Speaker 2: You meet people like Kyle at the Other Springs Brewery
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  Speaker 2: and him and his wife are just working phenomenal hours
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  Speaker 2: right now because they just cannot get the workers. So
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  Speaker 2: the demand is there from locals and Australian tourists. We
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  Speaker 2: spoke to people down there that had chartered playing four
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  Speaker 2: grade nomads from towns Will the chartered a plane to
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  Speaker 2: go down Yeah, four day experience around the Red Center.
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  Speaker 2: There is a demand for what we can do and
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  Speaker 2: showcase yep. But we need the work as if we're
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  Speaker 2: going to give people that customer service experience that leads
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  Speaker 2: a positive impression on them.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and as I mentioned in the opener. We'd actually
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  Speaker 1: we caught up with Daniel Rochford yesterday and he had
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  Speaker 1: said that this is a real concern for them, and
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  Speaker 1: I know that it's like you've said, all the way
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  Speaker 1: up to the top end, all across the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: how do we compete with other states and territories that
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  Speaker 1: are presumably in need of keeping their workforce. So how
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  Speaker 1: do we compete and how are we going to fill
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  Speaker 1: these jobs?
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  Speaker 2: So where we've been running that chefty and p campaign
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  Speaker 2: down in the rest of Australia and over into New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand when the bubble opens and closes, trying to get
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  Speaker 2: as many particular kitchen workers into our businesses up here,
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  Speaker 2: we're expanding that out to that work here this year campaign,
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  Speaker 2: trying to piggyback off what Tourism Australia's done. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they've come prime to the community with holiday here this
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  Speaker 2: year and all the great imagery and landscape of Australia.
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  Speaker 2: It's worked. People are coming, people are traveling, you know,
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  Speaker 2: caravan sales or through the roof and all the rest
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  Speaker 2: of it. We need a similar workforce work here this year.
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  Speaker 2: This is the kind of thing you can do on
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  Speaker 2: your day off. We have asked for territoriums. You know,
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  Speaker 2: you have been great with us as our customers. Now
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  Speaker 2: can you consider getting a part time job or a
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  Speaker 2: casual job or work work the major events. You know
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  Speaker 2: there's six hundred work is required for the Turf Club
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  Speaker 2: when we get through to that festival, So you know,
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  Speaker 2: consider getting a bit of extra cash joining us on
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  Speaker 2: our side. We do think there is something to look
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  Speaker 2: at about getting COVID safe neighboring countries and getting some
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  Speaker 2: of their workers coming down through us if we can
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  Speaker 2: sort out the flights and the quarantining. You know, the
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  Speaker 2: fact that at the moment you can land a plane
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  Speaker 2: in Perth and it's got agricultural workers on it and
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  Speaker 2: hospitality workers on it that go all the way north
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  Speaker 2: to Broom. Yet we can't do it in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: That just has us sketching our heads a little bit right.
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  Speaker 2: One of the ones we're keen to work with the
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  Speaker 2: government on.
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  Speaker 1: So it's already happening in other states as in they
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  Speaker 1: have got in other states people coming to fill those
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  Speaker 1: those packing and picking jobs, but also hospo jobs in
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  Speaker 1: the likes of w A.
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  Speaker 2: They do they've been piloting some of that stuff since
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  Speaker 2: early this month. So you know, we completely appreciate that
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  Speaker 2: the government gets pulled on in every direction on COVID
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  Speaker 2: and the fact that we have this problem is because
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  Speaker 2: Australia is safe and we are open again and then
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  Speaker 2: you know we do have the travelers wanting to come,
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  Speaker 2: so we just look. We think there's many many things
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  Speaker 2: where we're engaging with great nomad networks on social media
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  Speaker 2: and trying to get them to swing through for a
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  Speaker 2: few months and work with us ultimately as well. And
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  Speaker 2: this has only popped up recently, but we think part
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  Speaker 2: of it could be you know, you might wait that
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  Speaker 2: little bit extra time at a busy bars, so your
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  Speaker 2: drink service or your food. We're very focused on keeping
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  Speaker 2: it a top quality, but you know, if it's a
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  Speaker 2: little bit off, that'll be the bit you remember and
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  Speaker 2: leave the territory with unless a local has come up
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  Speaker 2: and said gooday, yeah, and then it'll be the connections
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  Speaker 2: that all of us can make with these travelers this year.
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  Speaker 2: So we are the patients. We do ask for every
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  Speaker 2: territory to champion our backyard because if you do see
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  Speaker 2: the travelers and we're not used to seeing them in
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  Speaker 2: any numbers. So over twelve months now, you know they
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  Speaker 2: do stand out with their bum bags and fun safeware
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  Speaker 2: go up and say gooday, and we think that'll really
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  Speaker 2: ram home what a wonderful place this is.
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  Speaker 1: Mate. Do we also need I mean, firstly, how many
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  Speaker 1: staff are we talking here that we need to fill?
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  Speaker 1: How many positions?
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  Speaker 2: Look headcount? Over seven thousand positions? We think in the territory,
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  Speaker 2: that's everything from casual, part time, full time. It's in
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  Speaker 2: our kitchens, it's our housekeepers, it's front of house, it's
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  Speaker 2: the bar staff and waiters. It's all through our industry.
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  Speaker 2: It's in tourism and tour operators and Glenn and Daniel,
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  Speaker 2: and we're all working together. We've got this shortage. We're
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  Speaker 2: not alone. It's in the agricultural space. I see all
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  Speaker 2: the comments as well about good luck getting a tradee
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  Speaker 2: as well. There's acute shortages more than their normal years.
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  Speaker 2: We do look at it though, and think, you know,
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  Speaker 2: when you're talking seven thousand workers though, that could be
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  Speaker 2: up here living with us, working in our communities. That
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  Speaker 2: is a major project right there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, do we need as well to offer some
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  Speaker 1: kind of incentives? Do we need to be thinking outside
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  Speaker 1: the box here.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Look up the track definitely did get a lot of
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  Speaker 2: conversations where's our melon money? Which, which is in reference
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  Speaker 2: to the watermelon support package that the government has been
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  Speaker 2: able to help the agricultural sector out with, and and
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  Speaker 2: and the reality is, you know, no one wants to
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  Speaker 2: see our fantastic produce just wasting away on the vine
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  Speaker 2: or the tree because they don't have the workforce either.
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  Speaker 2: But it does pose a question on what support packages
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  Speaker 2: we can come up with for our sector. The quantity
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  Speaker 2: of the problem seems to be larger, and the federal
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  Speaker 2: government does have incentives for people, job seekers unemployed people
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  Speaker 2: if they're willing to move to get a job, so
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  Speaker 2: we will we will be trying to use that where
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  Speaker 2: we can. But yeah, look, it is a mixed and
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  Speaker 2: challenging problem for us, and we just think we have
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  Speaker 2: to do everything we can, pull every lever at the
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  Speaker 2: moment we needed these people yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let's keep in contact on this issue. I
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  Speaker 1: think it's so incredibly important. We've got to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that you know that we have these positions filled before
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  Speaker 1: we get into the dry season, or as many of
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  Speaker 1: them as as possible, because we are all hoping that
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  Speaker 1: we have an exceptionally good dry season.
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  Speaker 2: That's it. And one more quick one is the visa stuff. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: we've just got to call from you know, Goldfield's Hotel
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  Speaker 2: and ten and Creep that in two of their COVID
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  Speaker 2: visa workers rejected by the federal government. So these are
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  Speaker 2: people that have been working in that business for a year.
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  Speaker 2: They've been doing to have enough money in their bank account,
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  Speaker 2: but they should go back to the UK and they
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  Speaker 2: can no longer stay in our business working. Oh no,
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  Speaker 2: of decisions that really kick the owner, the operator, all
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  Speaker 2: the other staff in the gaps unfortunately, because you know
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  Speaker 2: they're short staff, they're all just shouldered the wheel right now.
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  Speaker 1: Well and how big an impact does something like that
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  Speaker 1: have you know on on that workplace?
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  Speaker 2: I look massive. And we have written to the Federal
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  Speaker 2: and Gration Ministry Alexander Hawk and we understand our local
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  Speaker 2: Paul Kirby minister as well in that space, has shot
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  Speaker 2: off a letter as well. We know that's a slower
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  Speaker 2: moving conversation potentially, but it is one we.
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  Speaker 1: Do need to have, certainly, is well Alex Bruce, CEO
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  Speaker 1: of Hospitality here in the Northern territory. Always good to
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  Speaker 1: chat with you. Thanks so much for your time this
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  Speaker 1: morning
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  Speaker 2: Here Katie, Well, thank you