Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / More than $80 million is being poured into the NT's tourism industry to help get workers back ahead of the Dry Season, according to Tourism Minister Natasha Fyles

Transcript

More than $80 million is being poured into the NT's tourism industry to help get workers back ahead of the Dry Season, according to Tourism Minister Natasha Fyles · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But a bit of a change of pace. We know
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: that the territory territory tourism set to head into well,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: hopefully a pretty exciting high season since the start of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the pandemic, and the government have announced it as part
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of the budget for twenty twenty two they are going
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  Speaker 1: to be investing eighty six point four million dollars into
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territories tourism and event sector.
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  Speaker 2: And joining me on the line.
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  Speaker 1: Right now is the Minister for Tourism and also Health,
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  Speaker 1: Natasha Files.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to.
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  Speaker 3: You, Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Minister eighty six point four million dollars into tourism
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  Speaker 1: and the event sector. We know it is an extra
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  Speaker 1: fourteen point two million for direct tourism marketing over the
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  Speaker 1: next twelve months. Who are we going to be trying
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  Speaker 1: to entice to the territory, So, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: Tourism and hospitality. We're particularly hard hit through COVID as
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  Speaker 3: we know, and looking like it's looking like we're going
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: to have a bumper dry season and we want to
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: see that continue through. We want to see the opportunity
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  Speaker 3: for tourism and hospitality year round. So teen million dollars
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  Speaker 3: for tourism marketing over the next twelve months. This will
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  Speaker 3: be both domestically and internationally. We know the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 3: is a bucket list destination. People know about the territory,
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  Speaker 3: they want to come here, and so in that post
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  Speaker 3: COVID world where people are traveling, we want the Northern
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  Speaker 3: Territory to be at the fore of their mind.
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  Speaker 1: Now. One of the issues that a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: seem to be quite concerned about it at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's hospitality, other small businesses, tourism, is being able
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  Speaker 1: to find staff to fill these different roles. I understand
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  Speaker 1: that one point three million dollars is going to be
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  Speaker 1: invested in an effort to attract and retain tourism workforce.
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  Speaker 2: How are you going to get them here?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie. So it's gone from the industry being devastated
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  Speaker 3: just a year or so ago to having so many
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  Speaker 3: people here, but how do we cater for them? And
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  Speaker 3: so we have put a number of packages where we're encouraging,
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  Speaker 3: both domestically and internationally for people to come and work
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  Speaker 3: in the territory. So we are supporting businesses we're attracting,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: where we're putting in place packages where people get some
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  Speaker 3: tourism bound they get incentives to come here to the territory.
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  Speaker 3: One of the other initiatives that we're putting in place, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: is that we're linking together the international marketing by study
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  Speaker 3: and tea and business events. We know that the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 3: you know, for international higher education is is a really
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  Speaker 3: great choice and we have a number of international students
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  Speaker 3: and it's an area that we want to grow. But
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  Speaker 3: they also provide a great workforce while they're here for
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  Speaker 3: those three or four years studying. So these are some
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: of the programs that this budget will link together and fund.
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  Speaker 1: So what are some of these incentives, because presumably we're
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: going to be competing against other locations around Australia.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, just a month or so back.
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  Speaker 1: We were reporting on a barista in Kanana, No in Broom.
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  Speaker 1: They're going to be paying ninety thousand dollars a year there.
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  Speaker 1: You know some of the things that we're competing with
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  Speaker 1: at this point, what kind of incentives are you offering?
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  Speaker 3: So it's making sure that people understand the opportunities here
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  Speaker 3: in the territory. And then, as I said, we've had
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  Speaker 3: some worksday play packages where we've put together some monetary
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  Speaker 3: incentives to attract people to the territory, to make it
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  Speaker 3: a little easier to come to us, and that they
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  Speaker 3: feel that those incentives get them here. We know once
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  Speaker 3: they're here they fall in love with the lifestyle and
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  Speaker 3: the work opportunities. And we'll continue to work with industry
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  Speaker 3: around these incentives. So the budget has this funding going
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  Speaker 3: forward to attract and retain that tourism and hospitality workforce.
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  Speaker 1: Are you concerned about workforce shortages going into the dry season? Certainly?
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  Speaker 3: The message I'm hearing from industry is that they it's
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  Speaker 3: almost that they've gone from being you know, completely stopped
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  Speaker 3: to high speed very quickly as we see both the
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  Speaker 3: dry season and that peak tourism season realign with international
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  Speaker 3: borders opening. So it is a concern for industry, and
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  Speaker 3: we've been working with them for some time and will
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  Speaker 3: continue to do so, and this budget will deliver for that.
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  Speaker 2: All right, So do you reckon that's going to be
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  Speaker 2: enough that one point three million?
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  Speaker 1: And how successful have like some of those works stay
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  Speaker 1: play packages been so far.
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  Speaker 3: So we'll continue to listen to industry. They're the ones
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  Speaker 3: with the ideas, and this provides an opportunity to fund
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  Speaker 3: those and it's about working together. It's not going to
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  Speaker 3: cover everything, but it's about ensuring that some of those
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  Speaker 3: initiatives that can attract people can be funded.
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  Speaker 1: All Right. Some of the other money that is going
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  Speaker 1: to be invested is, as you've touched on obviously, the
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  Speaker 1: international marketing to study and NT business events. But we
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  Speaker 1: also know there's going to be one point nine million
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  Speaker 1: to support the implementation of the NT Aboriginal Tourism Strategy
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  Speaker 1: for twenty twenty to twenty thirty.
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  Speaker 2: What does that mean?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we know that research in the tourism space
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  Speaker 3: shows us that eighty percent of visitors to the territory
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  Speaker 3: would like an Aboriginal tourism experience, so we want to
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  Speaker 3: work with local Aboriginal businesses to provide that. So they
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  Speaker 3: want a culturally appropriate, authentic experience whilst they're here. And
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  Speaker 3: so we've done destination management plans for the different regions
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  Speaker 3: of the territory and we've also done an Aboriginal Tourism
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  Speaker 3: strategy so that we can fulfill the wishes of those visitors.
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  Speaker 3: So this will work through to see that implemented and
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  Speaker 3: some of these events, some of these offerings that are
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  Speaker 3: in very remote parts, so we need to provide some
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  Speaker 3: support to get them started. So that's what that is for.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about parliament resuming tomorrow. It's going
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  Speaker 1: to be an interesting week. We know that the budget's
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: being handed down, a few sweeteners obviously announced as we've
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: just spoken about, and some clarity around some of the
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: budgets for different departments. How is it all sort of
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  Speaker 1: going to work this week? Is it tomorrow that the
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  Speaker 1: budget gets handed down?
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  Speaker 3: Correct, Katie? The Chief Minister and Treasurer Michael Gunner will
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: deliver the budget at ten am tomorrow. The Parliament then
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: adjourns and then we will see the debate of that
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: introductory bill. So a number of members I anticipate will speak.
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  Speaker 3: They'll speak through tomorrow. Then tradition is that the Leader
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: of the Opposition would speak at ten am on Wednesday
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  Speaker 3: and then the opposition members speak after that. So you'll
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: see the budget, but you'll also see a number of
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: pieces of legislation. Katie debated this parliamentary sittings whilst we
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  Speaker 3: also have that budget introduced, which then goes off to
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  Speaker 3: the Parliamentary Estimates through June and comes back to pass
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: it before July.
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  Speaker 2: First, all right, Now.
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  Speaker 1: One of the other bits of legislation I understand is
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: going to be debated. I'm not sure if it's this
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: week or next week. Is around alcohol in communities? Is
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  Speaker 1: it this week, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: So we've got a number of bills. We're just finalizing
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: the parliamentary schedule today. But yes, you'll see that bill
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  Speaker 3: debated and passed. I anticipate this parliamentary sitting.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think you're going to have to make changes
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  Speaker 2: to that bill?
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  Speaker 1: I know that there has been a lot of concern
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  Speaker 1: raised over the last couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 3: Katie. This is a bill that simply allows for a
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: community to opt in and be a dry community. It's
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: as we've spoken about in great detail, and I won't
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  Speaker 3: go back over that, but this is what we can
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  Speaker 3: do within our legislative power. It immends the legislation to
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: cover for the fact that the federal government Stronger Futures
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: and Intervention legislation ceases in July.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, what about the powers for the Chief Health Officer?
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  Speaker 1: These powers that are going to be extended for another
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  Speaker 1: two years.
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  Speaker 2: Is it really necessary?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we're hoping that this public health emergency that
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: we are still in it. It ends it's due to
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  Speaker 3: end in June. We're hoping that that's the last time
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  Speaker 3: we have to assign that emergency. But what this will
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: allow is the ability to retain appropriate measures for COVID
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  Speaker 3: nineteen and the variance. We've got two new variants presently
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  Speaker 3: that we're starting to see in Australia and have adequate
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  Speaker 3: public health measures in place to keep the community safe.
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  Speaker 3: We've done a great job to date and this is
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  Speaker 3: the way we believe to manage from a pandemic to
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  Speaker 3: an endemic.
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  Speaker 1: All right, do we know now how many staff have
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: had to be stood down from the public service as
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  Speaker 1: a result of the mandates, Katie?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's around a dozen slightly more. Those final
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: figures are just coming through OCP, but a very small
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: number in terms of the overall public service.
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  Speaker 1: So you don't feel as though it's had a huge
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  Speaker 1: impact or there's been a big loss to the public service.
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  Speaker 3: In terms of COVID nineteen and its impact. We know
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  Speaker 3: that the vaccine is the key, and so the health
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  Speaker 3: advice is in those occupations we need to have these
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  Speaker 3: measures and we'll continue to follow that.
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  Speaker 1: I've got a message here from Kim in Humpty Doo.
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  Speaker 1: He said, Hi, Katie, can you ask minister what they're
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: offering long term territorians to stay in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: So the budget, certainly, Katie, we have a number of initiatives,
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  Speaker 3: whether it's supporting young people and families. We provide subsidies
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  Speaker 3: and rebates into childcare. We have the back to school
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  Speaker 3: and sports vouchers. But we also support long term territorians
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  Speaker 3: who are seen as with a number of initiatives that
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  Speaker 3: you don't see elsewhere. We also have in terms of
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: community service obligations for power and water to ensure that
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  Speaker 3: we can try and keep the cost of living as
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: low as we can.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: I tell you what, one of the things that's got
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  Speaker 1: people really very fired up this morning are these changes
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: to solar to the feed in tariffs.
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  Speaker 2: Minister. I know it's not your portfolio, but why was
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  Speaker 2: this required?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, there's a number of reasons and Minister Lawler
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: can certainly provide that detail to you as further, two
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: point four million has been allocated to extend the battery scheme,
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: but we need to make sure that we do see
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: support for renewables. But at the same time it's sustainable
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: and the same time that we're getting these measures right
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: across the community. So we have seen changes over time
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: to various measures of people putting rooftop solar on. We've
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: got a program of rolling solar out in remote communities
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  Speaker 3: and those renewables. So this is a part of ensuring
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  Speaker 3: that we do provide support, but at the same time
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  Speaker 3: we make sure as many people in the community can
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: access these services. Some people, like on the tech side
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: this morning and also calling through, some people are feeling
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  Speaker 3: really quite disappointed, you know, feeling as though the government's
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: been dishonest about this. Okatie, I think it's fairly upfront.
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  Speaker 3: There is changes, but there will also be the ability
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: for people to have ensured that they've been on that
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: scheme for four years, which is the average time it
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: takes to recover the cost of the initial investment. So
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: these decisions are made, as I just said, to ensure
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: that we have a number of people and that we
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: have a renewables policy that supports the whole of the community.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: All right, Minister, we better leave it there.
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  Speaker 1: We are going to catch up with a few people
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: about these solar changes.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for your time this morning.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Take care