Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke to Honourable Shane Stone

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke to Honourable Shane Stone · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Joining me in the studio is the honorable Shane Stone.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Now Shane is actually the Coordinator General of the Drought
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in North Queensland Flood Spot. I guess for us here
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in the territory it is probably more about the drought.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: And then we've also got Tracy Hayes who is and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: on the advisory board as well. Good morning to you both.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Good morning morning Katy. Wonderful to have you both in
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: the studio with us this morning.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Great to be back on Mix one oh four point nineteen.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Darwin in Darwin and Shane I know well, both of you,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I believe have really been traveling around and hearing people's
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: concerns and the ways that they've been impacted by both
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: flood and also drought.
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: The drought is still very much alive in the territory.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: People see the rain, of course, and they say, well
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: that's great, the rain's over, the grass is green, but
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: saw moistures are still way down, particularly in Central Australia.
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: But look, can I just before I get into that,
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: I want to give you some of my ginger which
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: I harvested this morning on my balcony my apartment in Darwin,
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: and I grow my own ginger and a whole raft
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: of things.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: That's wonder Oh, that is so cool.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: So there's no drought up on my balcony.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: A hose smells lovely as well.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Absolutely crush this morning.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: So now look, droughts still very serious business and I'm
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: really indebted to my advisory board. And of course the
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: person who represents across Nashley but also has a particular
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: eye on the territory scene is Tracy Hayes, who came
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: from Central Australia where the drought is still the toughest.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: Thanks. Shane obviously had a long history lived experience in
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: dealing with drought, so certainly able to relate to those
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: people that find themselves impacted by that. And it's not
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: just landholders as well. We know it's an insidious situation
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: when it occurs and it flows on through to businesses
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: and the entire local community. So part of the agency
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: works taken us right around the nation, a particular focus
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: on parts of Northern Australia.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Of course it's drought and flood.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: And for those listening that maybe you know, maybe haven't
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: been impacted, so those living in the more urban areas
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: that haven't been impacted.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Talk us through sort of the work that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Is happening to try and support, you know, those that
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: are impacted very heavily.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: Well, I've got a very generous budget of ten billion
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: dollars and a very big team of people who work
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: with me.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: We are not Canberra centric.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: I've got thirty three regional recovery offices out in the
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: field in the territory. I've got Jane Mack who's based
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: down in Catherine. Surely we'll have another person. They get
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: out there, my eyes and ears and they promote the
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: measures that we have at hand to help people impacted
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: by drought. So just to get things in perspective, whilst
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: it's being pretty tough on the Berkley and down in
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: Central Australia, in the Southern Downs area of Queensland, I've
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: got people going into the eighth year of drought.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: Now that is just heartbreaking. So what can we do.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: We have a range of measures of which we can support.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: We have the rick loans and there's been a number
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: of territory farming operators who've actually qualified for them. The
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: first lot were interests free and they were one to
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: two million dollars, so these are substantial. We've got farmhousehold allowance,
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: we got a range of other measures, and it's a
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: matter of people becoming acquainted with what's available and making
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: the application. That's the role of people like Jane Mack
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: to get out there and explain to people how they
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: can access.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, if there is people listening today, we know
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: we've got a very broad and diverse audience. If there
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: are people listening today who are wondering whether they are
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: able to actually seek some of this assistance, what's the
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: best place or what's the best way for them to
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: do it, Well, I'd.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: Get on the internet if they've got connectivity.
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, let's just remember there's a lot of people
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: in remote rural Australia that don't have internet connection.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: But if they can access.
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: The Internet and simply go on the website Drought and Flood,
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: it's all laid out there and also contact numbers for
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: Jane Mack, so it's easy to find and.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: You can read the measures that are available. They're quite extensive.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Now I do want to ask you as well, Shane.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: We know that earlier in the week news started to
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: flow through that are very well known territory in call
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Fuller had lost his life and I know that he
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: was a friend and colleague of yours.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: He was my.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: Last Secretary of Department, of Chief Minister and Cabinet before
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: I retired from the Territory Parliament. So he was a
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: giant of a man. I put on my Facebook page
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: that he was respected, feared and reliable and what more
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: could you ask of a great territory and that was
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: coll Fuller. He was recognized as a Member of the
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: Order of Australia for his outstanding service. He came from
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: Papa New Guinea down to the territory. He was part
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: of that original Comwealth Public Service Brigade that transitioned into
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: this new territory in the time of Paul Everingham, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: he delivered outstanding service. He was eighty and very sad
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: to see him pass.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, lots of love to his family and to all
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: of his friends. And what a way to be described.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: I reckon there three very very you know, they're definitely
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: how you want to be remembered.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: I reckon, yeah.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: No, great epitath for Cole, great men, great territory.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: I will thank you both so very much for joining
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: us in the studio this morning, Tracy Hayes.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Always good to catch up with you.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks Katie and Shane Stone of course the Coordinator
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: General of Drought and uh well sorry, Coordinator General Drought
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and North Queensland Floods. And once again though that address.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: If people do need a bit more information, it is
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: all the w's dot drought and flood dot gov, dot AU.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Thank you both so much for your time.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Great to be back.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Thank you.