Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland

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

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  Speaker 1: Mix one O four point nine dot com for all
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  Speaker 1: the latest news and information. Now three sixty with Katie Wolf.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone is listening Mix one oh four point nine one.
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  Speaker 2: You are listening to Mix one O four point nine Now. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: those those restrictions lifted on Friday, meaning that the majority
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  Speaker 2: of businesses around the territory were able to sort of
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  Speaker 2: get back to work. Joining us on the line right
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  Speaker 2: now to let us know how things went over the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Island, Good morning to.
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  Speaker 3: You, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Greg. How did things go as those restrictions lifted over
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  Speaker 2: the weekend and we came out of lockdown for you know,
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  Speaker 2: for our businesses around the territory.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, Katie, I think everyone was champing it a
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  Speaker 3: bit to get out about after a week cooped up.
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  Speaker 3: Not every business was able to react quickly enough to
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  Speaker 3: reopen for the Friday afternoon or even the weekend, but
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  Speaker 3: I think the majority did and they were certainly well
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  Speaker 3: supported by a territory.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Greg, were there still some businesses though, who who
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  Speaker 2: weren't able to get open at How are they going?
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  Speaker 3: Look? I think a lot of those businesses are still
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  Speaker 3: struggling from the cancelations that were received. You know, there
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  Speaker 3: was still a number of interstate bookings that just physically
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  Speaker 3: couldn't be here, So those are very difficult to replace
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  Speaker 3: a short notice. So there's certainly businesses out there that
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  Speaker 3: are still doing it tough. But it's good to see
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  Speaker 3: that normality will be drifting back in hopefully over the
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  Speaker 3: next little while, and we remain vigilant around the virus.
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  Speaker 3: We hope for that to continue.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the one of those industries that struggling
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  Speaker 2: at the moment is our gyms, and you know, I
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  Speaker 2: was talking to a gym owner on the weekend. It's
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  Speaker 2: tough going for them, obviously, still having to pay their employees,
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  Speaker 2: their full time employees, and just not being able to
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  Speaker 2: get people back in there even if there was social distancing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's certainly the case, Katie. I know I should
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  Speaker 3: spend much more time at the gym, and this is
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  Speaker 3: just another excuse, but ultimately, businesses that are still feeling
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  Speaker 3: those impacts are going to struggle, and it's very very
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  Speaker 3: difficult for them to consider even offering any alternatives.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, how important is it really that by
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  Speaker 2: Friday we get back to just life as complete normal.
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  Speaker 3: It's super critical, Katie. We can see what impact these
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  Speaker 3: changes have when they imposed upon us unless we can
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  Speaker 3: get to vaccinations at the right levels, and that's going
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  Speaker 3: to take some time. We have to certainly remain vigilant
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  Speaker 3: and keep this as by as much.
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  Speaker 2: As possible in terms of that vaccine rollout. Do you
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  Speaker 2: feel as though things are happening as fast as they
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  Speaker 2: should be in the territory? I mean, really, it seems
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  Speaker 2: as though that is going to be the only way
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  Speaker 2: that Australia can get back to normal is when the
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  Speaker 2: majority of Aussies are vaccinated.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a challenge, isn't that. It's predominantly a supply
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  Speaker 3: issue at the moment, But there are unities for people
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  Speaker 3: to get out there and get vaccinated. So Chamber is
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  Speaker 3: certainly actively encouraging any business owners to support their employees
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  Speaker 3: getting vaccinated so that we can get to that critical
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  Speaker 3: mass soon.
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  Speaker 2: Just talking through that lockdown last week, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to get too negative here, but how
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  Speaker 2: tough was it for business and just how big a
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  Speaker 2: loss and hit was it to a lot of our
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  Speaker 2: smaller businesses when it comes to trade and not being
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  Speaker 2: able to open.
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  Speaker 3: Look, it has a devastating impact. Katie. Your revenue ceases overnight,
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  Speaker 3: but your cost base certainly doesn't. You're still paying the rent,
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  Speaker 3: You're still paying employees, still paying insurances. All those expenses
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  Speaker 3: aren't offset with any revenue. Some businesses that revenue has
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  Speaker 3: shifted to a later date, but in many cases it's
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  Speaker 3: just one So that is very much an impost for
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  Speaker 3: those businesses and take some time to recover from.
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  Speaker 2: So I guess the message, you know, for all of
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  Speaker 2: us really just try to get out there and support
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  Speaker 2: local At this point.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely we were extremely good at it last time. If
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  Speaker 3: we can be vigilant and make sure that we support
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  Speaker 3: local business, it's going to mean that they can continue
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  Speaker 3: to be there for us in the future.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Greg Island, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, good
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  Speaker 2: to speak with you this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for your time, no problem in l Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you