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Katie Woolf spoke with Top End Tourism General Manager Glen Hingley · 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 1: hundred percent NT.
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  Speaker 2: As you heard just a little while ago when catching
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  Speaker 2: up with Alex Bruce, the CEO of Hospitality here in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory, we know that over the weekend there
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  Speaker 2: was quite a big announcement allowing foreign students to work
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  Speaker 2: unlimited hours here in the territory now, and I think
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  Speaker 2: it's across the board around Australia. We know that the
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  Speaker 2: Immigration Minister Alex Hawk made that announcement saying that temporary
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  Speaker 2: visa holders could now receive an exemption for tourism and hospitality.
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  Speaker 2: Roles now joining us on the line to talk about
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  Speaker 2: how this will hopefully have a positive impact for the
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  Speaker 2: tourism industry. Tourism Top End General Manager Glenn Hingley, good
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  Speaker 2: morning to you, Glenn.
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  Speaker 3: Katie, good morning and good morning listening Glenn.
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  Speaker 2: This is something that has been on the agenda really
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  Speaker 2: for quite some time. We spoke to you a few
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  Speaker 2: weeks ago yourself and also Daniel Rochford in Central Australia
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  Speaker 2: about the concerns around not being able to fill some
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  Speaker 2: of these jobs in the tourism sector. Is this change
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  Speaker 2: going to go far enough?
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  Speaker 4: Do you think to step.
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  Speaker 3: In the right direction, Katie. Absolutely. We know that we've
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  Speaker 3: got a few thousand students here in the territory who
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  Speaker 3: would if given the opportunity, because we've done quite a
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  Speaker 3: bit of meetings and discussions, because we didn't want this
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  Speaker 3: to be a waste of time to have all this
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  Speaker 3: process happened only for them to turn around and say no.
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  Speaker 3: And so many of them were desperate to be able
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  Speaker 3: to fund their days, their education because so many of
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  Speaker 3: them are from countries that have been ravaged by the
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  Speaker 3: pandemic and their families haven't been able to help fund them.
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  Speaker 3: You know, for those who don't know, foreign students paying
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  Speaker 3: upwards of thirty thousand dollars a year to study here
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  Speaker 3: in the Northern Territory, and so that they've got no income,
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  Speaker 3: especially if mom and dad are able to keep funding them,
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  Speaker 3: and of course, since you know, a year ago, there's
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  Speaker 3: been no financial support other than soup kitchens by many
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  Speaker 3: wonderful volunteers in our community. So for them to be
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  Speaker 3: able to work and not interfere with their studies, let's
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  Speaker 3: be clear. They're here to study, they're here to be educated,
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  Speaker 3: and that's why they're here. But they need to live,
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  Speaker 3: they need to be able to survive, and twenty hours
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  Speaker 3: a week often wasn't able to give them enough that
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  Speaker 3: it needed to pay the rent and to be able
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  Speaker 3: to pay some food and contribute back to society. And Katie,
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  Speaker 3: could I also make one point really clear, and our first
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  Speaker 3: priority every time, every time here is for locals. Locals
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  Speaker 3: and the challenge and while we've have been advocating collectively
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  Speaker 3: with Hostitiality and to Tourism Central Australia, Tourism top End
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  Speaker 3: together with Dowe, Major Business Group EASON, is that we
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  Speaker 3: just aren't getting the applications locally to be able to
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  Speaker 3: fill the jobs. And one of the great things that
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  Speaker 3: job Keeper did initially was teather people. Even though the
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  Speaker 3: businesses didn't have work, they didn't have to let them
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  Speaker 3: go because that job Keeper they can keep them. However,
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  Speaker 3: we lost job Keeper and with that we did lose
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  Speaker 3: a lot of people from positions. Equally, there were still
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  Speaker 3: a lot of businesses and tourism hospitality that weren't able
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  Speaker 3: to keep their staff that they normally would have employed
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  Speaker 3: in April May in any normal year, and they weren't
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  Speaker 3: on the books in March. So there are a few
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  Speaker 3: reasons for it. But this is where this is a
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  Speaker 3: great step. I'd like to say. I'm also grateful to
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  Speaker 3: our federal representatives, especially Sam Senator Sam mcmont, she really
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  Speaker 3: picked us up. When the Prime Minister was in town,
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  Speaker 3: we befall left and made sure that he was made
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  Speaker 3: aware of it. We also had reached across the aisle
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  Speaker 3: to Luke Gosling and so Senator Melanderry McCarthy, who both
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  Speaker 3: took a bipartisan approach on this. I have to say
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  Speaker 3: and said that this doesn't need legislation, this just needs
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  Speaker 3: immigration Minister.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think they need too.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, at the end of the day, we're talking
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  Speaker 2: about making sure that our tourism operators, our hospitality operators,
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  Speaker 2: everybody is able to run their businesses. And you can
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  Speaker 2: only do that if you've got workers to fill those jobs.
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  Speaker 4: When you talk.
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  Speaker 2: About then you know, I guess the capacity at which
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  Speaker 2: a lot of our tourism operators are able to operate
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  Speaker 2: at the moment.
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  Speaker 4: Has that work a shortage had an impact?
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  Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely, You've got businesses that are running that are
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  Speaker 3: not opening on certain days of the week. You've got
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  Speaker 3: businesses that are running night to the week. Accommodation wise,
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  Speaker 3: it's seventy percent. Because they don't have the people to
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  Speaker 3: clean the rooms, they don't have people to check in,
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  Speaker 3: they don't have people to serve in the restaurant. They
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  Speaker 3: don't have This isnt this on knock on effect is happening,
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  Speaker 3: and of course this is especially for our owner operators,
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  Speaker 3: which the majority of tourism businesses and hospitality businesses are here,
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  Speaker 3: their mom and dad businesses, and last year they lost
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  Speaker 3: so much money and we're able to stay in the game.
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  Speaker 3: But there was reason for it that was clear. They
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  Speaker 3: could see why there's no customers here, and there was
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  Speaker 3: lockdowns and then we were on top spots. Now the
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  Speaker 3: customers are coming through and it's almost like that they
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  Speaker 3: can see the business flowing past them in the stream,
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  Speaker 3: but they don't have a net to catch it. And
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  Speaker 3: this is to use that metaphor the net to be
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  Speaker 3: able to retrieve and to be able to get themselves
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  Speaker 3: back and firstly get back on their feet from last year.
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  Speaker 3: The customers are also looking for a wonderful top end
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  Speaker 3: experience and this is that sliding door moment where in
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  Speaker 3: twenty nineteen, five point eight million Australians when overseas on
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  Speaker 3: a holiday, they can't go over the holiday. This year
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  Speaker 3: a lot of them have chosen the territory and the
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  Speaker 3: top end. This is our moment to shine. And if
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  Speaker 3: we've got customers waiting thirty minutes for a beer or
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  Speaker 3: a coffee, or not able to check in because your
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  Speaker 3: room's not made, we're not going to be able to
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  Speaker 3: deliver that which we desperately want well.
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  Speaker 4: And that's the worry, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Because I want to make sure that you're delivering a
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  Speaker 2: product and that people are receiving a product that is
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  Speaker 2: up to standard, particularly if they're traveling from other parts
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  Speaker 2: of Australia and this is the first time they've come
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  Speaker 2: to the territory. It's our real opportunity, like you said,
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  Speaker 2: our real time to shine.
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  Speaker 4: Glenn.
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  Speaker 2: I know that I've heard and I'm sure that you
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  Speaker 2: probably have as well. You know, some people saying that
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  Speaker 2: in some cases that service sort of hasn't been up
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  Speaker 2: to the standard that they'd hoped for.
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  Speaker 3: And I really like the line that Alex Bruced from
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  Speaker 3: Hospitality and T has been promoting heavily and I absolute
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  Speaker 3: support as a territory. And firstly, we're in recovery everybody,
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  Speaker 3: we all know it. We're still all in this together.
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  Speaker 3: And when we do see a tourist standing there waiting
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  Speaker 3: for that drink or or that meal, or waiting to
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  Speaker 3: check in as a local, take the time to say
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  Speaker 3: good at reach out. You know, has the rest of
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  Speaker 3: your week been here? What are you planning on doing
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  Speaker 3: next week? Give them that hospitality, spirit service. That's why
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  Speaker 3: they came here, not just for so many of our
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  Speaker 3: great cultural and natural assets, but also just to meet locals,
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  Speaker 3: and that'd be a big part of it and also
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  Speaker 3: offset those points you know we I know talking to
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  Speaker 3: a lot of members, they've got members, businesses, customers who
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  Speaker 3: are customers who are initially quite taken back by but
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  Speaker 3: as soon as that's explained to them, they get it,
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  Speaker 3: they understand. And just giving them to a chat to
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  Speaker 3: say well, let's do this on territory time and enjoy
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  Speaker 3: each other while we're waiting. I think it's important. And
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  Speaker 3: again this is that opportunity for us to turn our
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  Speaker 3: tourism industry. We know that we had over two million
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  Speaker 3: visitors in twenty nineteen and that employed one in eight
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  Speaker 3: territoriums against the national average of one in fourt A
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  Speaker 3: that brought two point four billion dollars to our economy.
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  Speaker 3: And this is money from outside the territory in this
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  Speaker 3: is now our opportunity if we can get it right.
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  Speaker 3: We're looking for the people to fill these spots in
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  Speaker 3: our workforce because we know that instead of being that
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  Speaker 3: once in a decade destination, the seven seasons of the
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  Speaker 3: top end gives people so many reasons to come back,
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  Speaker 3: and we have that opportunity to be a cans or
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  Speaker 3: with Sundays in terms of a Southern thinkers, like, what
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  Speaker 3: are you doing for your next holiday? I'm going back
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  Speaker 3: to Darlin. I'm going back to the top end. I
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  Speaker 3: haven't seen Kakid yet.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, well that's the thing, Glenn. We are fast running
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  Speaker 4: out of time.
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  Speaker 2: But I do want to just ask you how things
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  Speaker 2: are going in Kakado. I know that you know that
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  Speaker 2: last week there was some real concerns about some of
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  Speaker 2: those different areas being closed, and well the traditional loan
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  Speaker 2: is not being overly happy at this point.
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  Speaker 4: How things going? Is there a bit of an update.
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  Speaker 3: I was out there last week and I know there
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  Speaker 3: is some there's that which is happening above Parks Australia,
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  Speaker 3: which is it looks like it's headed towards the High Court,
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  Speaker 3: which is to be the precedent that the federal government's
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  Speaker 3: looking to take in relation to good run falls and
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  Speaker 3: it's precess. It's about a president on jurisdiction. It's gone
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  Speaker 3: well above that of Parks Australia, tourism industry and of
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  Speaker 3: course traditional owners. So we're anxious for that outcome. I
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  Speaker 3: think looking forward, the big focus for us here is
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  Speaker 3: how much operational funding will come out in next week's
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  Speaker 3: in the upcoming federal budget, because I think that's the
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  Speaker 3: key to it all here, whether that's invasive weeds, feral animals,
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  Speaker 3: more facilities for locals within Kakadu, more visitor facilities, being
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  Speaker 3: able to maintain those facilities, that's the key to it.
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  Speaker 3: It's all well and good to announce new things that
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  Speaker 3: are still well many years off, but the operational funding
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  Speaker 3: to take care of it, to be able to have
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  Speaker 3: the boots on the ground, to be able to employ
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  Speaker 3: locals in doing which the park desperately needs to be maintained.
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  Speaker 3: So our focus they're looking forward is we really hope.
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  Speaker 3: Albeit we're not overly optimistic that we'll see a good,
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  Speaker 3: solid operating budget given to Kakadu. A place that's just
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  Speaker 3: under a third size of Tasmania operates on thirteen million
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  Speaker 3: dollars a year. It doesn't go anywhere near enough to
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  Speaker 3: being able to take care of one of Australia's most
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  Speaker 3: wonderful assets, Glenn, culturally and conservationally.
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  Speaker 4: Glenn.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately we are going to have to leave it there
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  Speaker 2: because we've got to head off to the National News.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you so very much for your time this.
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  Speaker 3: Morning, het do you thanks again, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Glenn Henley there the CEO of Well of Tourism top end,
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  Speaker 2: the general manager.
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  Speaker 4: I should save tourism top end.