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Katie Woolf spoke with Transport Workers Union SANT Secretary Ian Smith · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf thanks to Joyce Main Dowen
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  Speaker 1: Homes on Stuart Highway, Bear Mart. It may have seen
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  Speaker 1: that there was a well a crash at the airport
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  Speaker 1: on Friday last week. It was actually a baggage carrier
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  Speaker 1: crashed into a plane at the Darwin Airport on Friday.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more about the situation. The Transport Workers Union
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  Speaker 1: sa NT Secretary Ian Smith. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How you go?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, not too bad? Ian? What happened on Friday?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know we've it's a result of the outsourcing
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  Speaker 2: of the job to Qunus and with the new contractors
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  Speaker 2: coming on, we've seen the standard slipped that has had
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  Speaker 2: a workforce that was carrying out these duties very successfully
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  Speaker 2: being GGS and one of q one us lurkers. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: and you know they laid and onload their planes and
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  Speaker 2: make sure that our luggage is on the safely and properly,
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  Speaker 2: Sword and our pets are on there properly, safely and
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  Speaker 2: safety Sword and we don't have any issues. Well, what's
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  Speaker 2: what appears to have happened when they've been going to
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  Speaker 2: load the baggage or the love or afraid or whatever
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  Speaker 2: they've got, and they've gone up with the conveyor belt
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  Speaker 2: and father stoppers crashed into the plane and of course
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  Speaker 2: some damage, you know, and this is not the first example.
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  Speaker 2: Now we can't take these things rightly, you know, any
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  Speaker 2: damage to an aircraft because it to fall out of sky.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, these are these workers that we're doing
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  Speaker 2: the jobs were skilled. Yeah, you have a load and
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  Speaker 2: you have a new US equipment. What we're seeing across
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  Speaker 2: the country, this is not occurring with these with the
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  Speaker 2: companies that are doing it. Now that's disappointing and unsatisfactory,
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  Speaker 2: but wasn't needed for and so.
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  Speaker 1: You reckon that, I mean you reckon that this is
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  Speaker 1: as a result of of quants really, you know, changing
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  Speaker 1: changing the workforce in terms of getting rid of those
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  Speaker 1: those baggage carriers and all those baggage handlers.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we didn't see this happening before. Very rare occurrences
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  Speaker 2: accidents to happen, but this is coming an occurrence all
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  Speaker 2: over the country. We're seeing more and more issues has
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  Speaker 2: been in purpose been some missues reported in the city.
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  Speaker 2: Now we're getting Darwin, you know where the safety of
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  Speaker 2: the traveling public and our pets and our faith can
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  Speaker 2: get it.
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  Speaker 1: And we also have heard over recent weeks and we've
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  Speaker 1: had a few people get in contact with us here
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  Speaker 1: at the station. We've also had sort of friends of
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  Speaker 1: friends say that as their flights have arrived, they've then
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  Speaker 1: been waiting over an hour to get their bags out
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  Speaker 1: at the airport. Now I'm hearing that sort of as
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  Speaker 1: I say, from friends of friends and from listeners. But
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  Speaker 1: have you heard this and is this again? Is this
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  Speaker 1: something that's a concern to you.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely know your paper service, you should expect that
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  Speaker 2: to occur. That's something that we've been hearing too. I
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  Speaker 2: know the transport with the Union we had our National
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  Speaker 2: Council in Darwen and there was some hold ups of
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  Speaker 2: luggage as luggage who was wet and which thinks that
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  Speaker 2: didn't have happened before that are happening now. So and
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  Speaker 2: it gets down to the fact they've got less people
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  Speaker 2: doing doing the work and they're doing it. Then they're
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  Speaker 2: doing it, but they're not doing it an unsafe manner
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  Speaker 2: because we're seeing what's happening. So it needs to stop.
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  Speaker 2: Wheus should be held to look out. So we'll be
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  Speaker 2: writing n Safe Work NT and we'll be making sure
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  Speaker 2: that CASSA does an investigation of this incident because it's
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  Speaker 2: not good enough. You know, when one has had a
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  Speaker 2: workforce that was safe, well run, well paid, and they
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  Speaker 2: decided to contact it out for pure costs. This is
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  Speaker 2: the result. This is what happens the race to the bottom.
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  Speaker 2: We see incidents like this that puts people, a general
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  Speaker 2: public and everybody at risk and it's not good enough.
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  Speaker 1: And so and you have written to KASSA, but you're
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  Speaker 1: also writing to NT work Safe to have the investigate.
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  Speaker 2: It absolutely, to make sure that we get a proper
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  Speaker 2: investigation done so we can get to the bottom of this.
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  Speaker 2: And it's not actually the people's fault that they're actually
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  Speaker 2: doing the jobs. They're probably not trained properly, but probably
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  Speaker 2: haven't got the right amount of starts to do the work.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what happens on people's fatique. We've known about
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  Speaker 2: this and the transport indegucy years. When you put pressure
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  Speaker 2: on people, especially tough rates, this is what occurs. Makes
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  Speaker 2: that's we realized I'd made the wrong decision here. Hopefully
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  Speaker 2: the federal call when it makes a decision on the
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  Speaker 2: case to run agrees with as as well, and these
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  Speaker 2: workers are returned to their jobs well.
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  Speaker 1: And we'll keep a close eye on it. Let us
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  Speaker 1: know how things progress, mate. We always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Coatie, Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That is the Transport Workers Union branch secretary there Ian Smith,
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, he's certainly concerned about that situation that unfolded
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  Speaker 1: on Friday. We're apparently a baggage carrier crashed into one
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  Speaker 1: of the planes out there at the airport. So he
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  Speaker 1: has definitely called on both Quantas, the Quantas Board and
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  Speaker 1: the federal government to start holding senior Quantus management to account.
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  Speaker 1: And as you've heard, he's also going to be written
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  Speaker 1: writing to Takasa and to NT work Safe to ensure
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  Speaker 1: that everybody is safe in these scenarios or in these situations,
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  Speaker 1: I should say,