Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Week That Was - 17 December 2021

Transcript

The Week That Was - 17 December 2021 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is Friday morning. It's time for the last week
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: that was for the year. And joining me in the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: studio is the opposition leader Leofanocchiaro. Good morning to you
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: morning and merry Christmas. We made it, We made it.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Woo.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We've got Keysier Puric, the Independent member for Goida, in
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: what is a very fancy Christmas hat. Good morning to you,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: stylish bush hats.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning rural people.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: We will take a photo later to make sure that
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: it goes up on the social so everybody can see
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the magnificent hat. We've also got Paul Kirby, the Minister
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: for plenty of these small business I'm trying to remember
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the other portfolios of the public.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Lots of faation, innovation, yes, digital, corporate development, affairs, wreck fishing.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: There you go, you got it all covered.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Morning.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being here this morning. And we've got
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Matt Cunningham from Sky News. Good morning to you mate,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and well it's certainly been a busy week. These two
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: are just checking on the weather. It looks like that
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: storm's going underneath us.
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: So doesn't it kind of shame? Yes, it's a what
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: up we're not to get but.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: We're not going to get it at this stage by
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the look of us. Now, it's been an incredibly busy
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: week and the Territory government will has back down on
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: their plans to restrict those arrivals to the territory. Well,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: originally it was just going to be to Darwin, Catherine
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and Allas Springs. Now the Deputy Chief Minister, Nicole Madison
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: called the modest changes. I called it a pretty massive backflip,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and they were changes that we'll see travelers banned from
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: sixty six remote communities that have vaccination rates that are
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: below eighty percent. And it does mean though that our
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: tourism sector, I think has been able to sort of
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: sigh a bit of relief because they were staring down
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the barrel of what was going to be a really
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: terrible time.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: Unfortunately, many thousands of people have already canceled their travel plans,
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: both Territorians and people coming from interstate and I think
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: all of us listening have spoken to people on both
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: sides who've changed those plans, and that is going to
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: be really difficult. The wet season is a very slow
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: time in the territory as it is, and then to
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: have lost any opportunity for tourism. Really, that backflip came
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: too little, too late. It should never have happened in
• 2:06
  Speaker 5: the first place. I mean, when you're putting in place
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: rules to keep people safe and allow people opportunity to travel,
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: they have to be workable. And these were some of
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: the most impractical, illogical, illogical rules we've seen yet come
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: out of the Gunner government. I think Michael Gunner was
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: obviously needing a holiday. He wanted to do his last
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: hurrah in front of the flags and drop this bombshell
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: nicked off to cans and while are the girls came
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: in and mop up the mess.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Again.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: This is I think three years in a row.
• 2:34
  Speaker 6: And I think I said last week or whenever it
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: was on here last time, that this comes down to
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: a matter of trust. And the fact is that and
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: I was just only speaking to someone just just before
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: I came in, and he said, look, Guta said, you know,
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: get the vaccination right at the sleeves.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: So people did that. You know it will work through this.
• 2:54
  Speaker 6: You know, the twentieth of December will have new changes.
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: You'll be able to travel more, You'll be able to
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: go here, go there as a terror because you've been vaccinated.
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: You know, trust me, believe in me. So people did that,
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: the businesses believe, the individuals believed and come, you know,
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: a couple of days before the twentieth Bang changes the
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: rules with no consultation. Even the isolated Children's Parents Association
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: came out. Now they're a very conservative group, they came
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: out and blasted the government for their lack of capability,
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: their lack of care, and their lack of compassion. And
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: also what it shows to me is not only was
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: there no consultation, no one, not one person perhaps within
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: cabinet or the SEMSE or within the caucus, made a
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: question that says, what if we make this decision, how
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: is that going to impact on everyday ten things?
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: And no one did it.
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: I think that's because no one in the caucus was consulted.
• 3:43
  Speaker 8: I'm happy to clear up.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Right the way through these last eighteen months, Simpsey have
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: made these decisions, and right the way through there's been
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: bodies of people or different individuals that haven't been happy
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: with portions of the decision. So it absolutely is Sempsey
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: that make those decisions. What we have seen with COVID
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: is that things change right the way through. So yep,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: we say that people get we get to eighty percent
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: across the territory and it's going to get us to
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: a level to be able to.
• 4:09
  Speaker 8: Move around freely.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Now as we found out some of our remote communities
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: were just ridiculously below that. What we do know, what
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: we have seen down south at the moment is some
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: massive increases in COVID, So we know it's going to
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: be here next year. So the decision that was made
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: had to have some changes made to it. That's what
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: we've seen people step through last week. Wasn't just some
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: of us boys got in.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: I mean talk about an echo chamber.
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: How can SEMSE be so detached from reality that they
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: wouldn't have even thought through the practicalities of how people
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: would do this. And to top it off, the government's
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: actually closing down testing clinics over the Christmas period, which
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: I can understand because mostly the staff want to close
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: on a.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Holiday, but the testing clinics in just a moment. But
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: I do want to really, you know, not through this
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: situation with the changes, and I will say, you know, look,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: the government could have really dug their heels scene over
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: this and could have said, no, we've made this decision
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and We've based it on you know, health advice that
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: we've been provided and we're not changing it. So I
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: will give credit where it's due that it did change.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: But it was a lot of kicking and screaming. I mean,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: right from Friday last week we were talking about this one.
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: I hear what you say, and I think samc is
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: obviously Chief Minister Health Commissioner. Whoever else is in there, well,
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: they need to take a hard look at the Northern
• 5:30
  Speaker 6: territory and look at the actual landscape and who lives where,
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: the demographics. So to make the decision that the one
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: that we know about most highlighted was of course all
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: the kids returning from boarding school and perhaps you know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: university and things of that age and FI FI workers.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: You know that they would have to kill it.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: We couldn't even have essential workers going back to work.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: What about in Catherine.
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: There were literally streets in Catherine, just random streets in Catherine.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: Yact where you've lived on Once you're in and if
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: you and you're out, I know, no.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: One disputes, no one, just it's Paul.
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: You know that we've got to take clear medical advice
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: that's all around the country from the Chief health officers
• 6:05
  Speaker 6: to the number one health officer for Australia.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: No one disputes that.
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: So that person gives clear advice, clinical advice, medical advice,
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: pandemic advice. That's fine. Then it goes to the next
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: level down and those people then have to implement the advice.
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: That level is the one that should have been saying, Okay,
• 6:21
  Speaker 6: how is this going to impact on ex people traveling
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: through haws? It going to impact on the hundreds of
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: kids who live on cattle stations, how's it going to
• 6:26
  Speaker 6: impact on the tourist industry? And the person who lives
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: in Pine Creek or Timber Creek for that matter, or
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: Nulan boy, they're not going to get home. I mean,
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: I had a case of two grandchildren in Marrakai. I
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: wanted to get down to see their dad. And it's
• 6:38
  Speaker 6: all sorted now because it's changed, but one is legally blind.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: He's sixteen and eleven year old.
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: Now they were going to go and see dad, come
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: back and have to stay in Darwin. The grandma has
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: no capability or capacity to fund that. She lives in
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Maracai in the middle of wood war. And you've got
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: these two young boys, like I did, write to the minister.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: But then things change. It wrong the way. But that's
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: just an example. It wasn't thought through.
• 7:00
  Speaker 6: Now, for goodness sake, as I think LEAs said this,
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: we've been at this for two years now, and the
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: government should be well versed and well practiced before you
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: actually do anything.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Or have it. You know, a brain, you know, we've
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: got to do this. We've got to stop getting into
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: our low.
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: Communities, for goodness sake, get out and talk to the
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: bloody affected groups like land counselors like what's John Patterson's like,
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: the industry, groups like isolated children's parents like anyone.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Heartbreaking. Just when I spoke to the parents of the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Isolated Children's Association earlier in the week and she had
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: said that there was going to be like there was
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: literally going to be kids who weren't spending Christmas with
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: their families and with their parents, And I thought, shit,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: how have we gotten it so wrong?
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Where were they going to spend Christmas?
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Well, that's wrong.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: I'm a boarding school kid. Now, when boarding school end
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: of the year, ta.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Classes the school closer, when you.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Have relatives, what were they going to do with these kids?
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: Yeah, obviously a parent was going to have to fly
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: down to wherever they've come from.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: What you expense to families.
• 7:52
  Speaker 7: What strikes me is strange is so mind standing is
• 7:56
  Speaker 7: simply exists when it needs to make quick decisions about
• 7:59
  Speaker 7: things like, oh, we've got cases, we need to lock down,
• 8:02
  Speaker 7: or we need to do a lockout. This was a
• 8:04
  Speaker 7: decision that had been months and months in the planning.
• 8:06
  Speaker 7: You remember it was first and now it's probably back
• 8:09
  Speaker 7: in September or October fifty days to freedom. Remember we
• 8:13
  Speaker 7: got vaccination, and so we've been on that track the
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: whole way, and then we've been given this date of
• 8:19
  Speaker 7: December the twentieth, and everyone was moving towards that day,
• 8:23
  Speaker 7: and then it was like one day they woke up
• 8:26
  Speaker 7: and changed their mind. And when they did that, they
• 8:29
  Speaker 7: actually didn't consult with anyone. Now, Nicle Andison at the
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: Press Comperence the other day said, oh, we consulted with
• 8:34
  Speaker 7: you know, but then our specifics. She couldn't give an
• 8:37
  Speaker 7: example of a single person or a single group the
• 8:39
  Speaker 7: government had consulted with.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Then we've spoken for after.
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: This wasn't an emergency we need to lock down decision.
• 8:48
  Speaker 7: This was a decision that had been months and months
• 8:50
  Speaker 7: in the planning that suddenly changed overnight.
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know, the Chief Minister stood up at
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: Carol's by candlelight, and I was there with my family
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: and sort of sprout twenty December is this wonderful opportunity
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: and we're backing in territories and you will be with
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: your loved ones, and you know, really hammed it up
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: and then literally a couple of days later just bang
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: and crashed it around people, and you know it was
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: actually funny. And the lead up to that announcement, when
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: I'm always out talking to people, so many people said
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: to me, I'd be like, oh, you know you're booking
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: travel now twenty December you'll be able to see family,
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: and people saying no, I actually don't believe he's going
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: to stick to it. And then this happened, and I
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: think people now are just they really don't know where
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: to go because the uncertainty and that erosion of confidence
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: is the most damaging part of all of this.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Curbs what were I mean, you are the Minister for
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Small Business, What were some of those small businesses saying
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: to you over that period of time where it was
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: looking as though that Christmas period was going to be
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: pretty blak.
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: Certainly, we had a lot of conversations post that announcement
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: with small businesses, with tourism businesses. We've been working pretty
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: hard with Tourism Central Australia and I know they will
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: come out and and speak about some of those changes.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: We'd certainly done a mountain of work with the federal
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: government to make sure there's other financial incentives for Tourism
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Central Australia businesses that we know are going to struggle
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: to get through the next few months. I know that
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: my family isn't going to travel this year. That's well
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: partly because Leila can't get vaccinated until next year, but
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: also because we knew what was going to happen into state.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: I know it's easy to sit and say that a
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: lot of people's travel arrangements were decided around the twentieth
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: of December announcement, but there's a lot of people that
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: are just being very pragmatic and going, I'm actually not
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: going to go anywhere. I know that this virus virus
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: is going to start to transport around the nation really quickly,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: and we want to bunk it down in the territory
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: and just stay here for Christmas.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I want to just take you to a little bit
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: of what Daniel Rochford had told me yesterday following on
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: from the initial announcement being made and that real sense
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: of absolute dread that was being felt by some in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the tourism sector. If if you missed that interview with
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Daniel Rochford yesterday, take a listen to what he told me.
• 11:04
  Speaker 9: I was taking calls. You know, people were openly breaking down,
• 11:08
  Speaker 9: crying on phone calls to me, and you know, there
• 11:12
  Speaker 9: were a number of people that I was really deeply,
• 11:16
  Speaker 9: seriously worried about their whether they might take their own
• 11:20
  Speaker 9: lives over the current state of play. So look, one
• 11:26
  Speaker 9: of the great things about our industry is that we
• 11:28
  Speaker 9: all have each other's back.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: And look, I know, like I found that really hard
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: to hear actually, if I'm honest earlier in the week,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: and I play that because I think it's really important
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: that all of us, and particularly those that are in
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: those decision making processes, understand the mental impact that it
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: has on some of our tourism operators, on some of
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: our business owners, on some in the community who have
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: you know, who haven't seen their families for two years,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and I know it's been so tough for so many
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: and we're not immune to it here in the Northern
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Territory and we probably haven't felt it anywhere near as
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: badly as what some other locations around Australia and around
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the world have felt it. But gee, for some of
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: those operators in Central Australia to hear that from Daniel Rochford,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: it is it's hard to hear.
• 12:18
  Speaker 7: I think from a tourism point of view, some of
• 12:19
  Speaker 7: those operators have probably had it worse than anywhere in
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: the country. I mean they've been You look at it, say,
• 12:24
  Speaker 7: if you're a tourism operator in Central Australia, you rely
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: a great deal on international tourism, which has been completely
• 12:31
  Speaker 7: cut off now for almost two years. And you also
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: rely on domestic tourism, particularly from Sydney and Melbourne, which
• 12:37
  Speaker 7: has been cut off for the best part. Well Sydney's
• 12:40
  Speaker 7: been cut off for pretty much all of this year,
• 12:42
  Speaker 7: in Melbourne for the past two years, so you know,
• 12:44
  Speaker 7: they've probably been hit harder than anywhere in the country.
• 12:47
  Speaker 7: And then to have their last room mate. What that
• 12:50
  Speaker 7: decision did was it cut off the last remaining markets
• 12:54
  Speaker 7: they had. It meant that people who were coming from Brisbane,
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: or from Perth, or from Adelaide or from Hobart. They
• 13:00
  Speaker 7: suddenly couldn't come. So the last little sceric they had
• 13:03
  Speaker 7: to hold on to was taken away from them. And
• 13:06
  Speaker 7: now I know the decisions been reversed, but I thinkily
• 13:08
  Speaker 7: made the point before. How many bookings have been canceled
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: in the six days between when the decision was made
• 13:13
  Speaker 7: and when the decision was reversed.
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: Well, I know one business in the Greater Darwin region,
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: I'll say, who lost twenty thousand dollars worth of booking.
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: So that's just one business.
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: You imagine in Central Australia that would be profound And
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: I think you know a lot of people think businesses
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: are these big rich organizations that can just take everything.
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: But in the territory, most businesses a mum and dad
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: family businesses. And that means when they lose twenty thousand
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: dollars worth of work, that means they're firing staff, that
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: means they're not paying their rent, not able to pay
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: their bills, how do they pay for the food they
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: might have ordered or the fuel they've ordered, and ultimately
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: their house and their family are on the line. I mean,
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: these are real people with real skin in the game.
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: And it's okay if you're a salary owner like I am,
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: and you know you wake up every fortnight and the
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: pay goes in. But when you're a small family business,
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: there is literally your life, to some extenters on the
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: line every single day.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: We know that tourism has been hit harder than most
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: other industries in the Northern Territory. Since becoming the Small
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Business Minister, we spent a lot of time in Alice
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Springs and a lot of time speaking with Daniel from
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Right in the Get Go September October last year. Daniel's
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: relayed exactly that same conversation to us that it is
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: extremely tough in Central Australia. We thought that twenty twenty
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: one would be better for Central Australia because even though
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: the international travel was still unsure, but the domestic travel
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: would get better. With what's happened with Sydney and Melbourne
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: this year. That didn't turn out to be the case.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: So we have put a lot of time and effort
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: into revamping some of that funding and working with the
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: federal government to make sure that people that have had
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: to hibernate, people that have had to close businesses or
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: lost Over fifty percent have got access to money now
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: in Central Australia to try and help them get through.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Well, look, we might take a very short break and
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: when we come back, I do want to talk a
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: little bit more about what it's going to happen when
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: it comes to the testing requirements. If you do travel
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: over the Christmas period, you are listening to Mix one
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: oh four point nine. It is the week that was
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: also broadcast on eighth. It is twenty three minutes after
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: nine o'clock and it is the last the last week
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: that was for the year, the Christmas edition. Usually we
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: get to do the year that was, but unfortunately there
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: is so much happening around the place with COVID and
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: the changes that we didn't get the chance to do
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: the year that was. We're just doing a normal week
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and one of the big changes that we are going
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: to see over the coming weeks these with these December
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: twenty you know, changes that are coming into place. I've
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: said changes about twenty times in that sentence, But it
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: is the testing and the testing requirements that are going
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: to come into play. I know that there are a
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: lot of people who are still quite confused by the
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: testing and what they need to do if they travel
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: into state. Just how many tests they are going to require.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: I am pleased that it's not like the initial seven
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: I think was what we been told originally. Remember a
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: couple of months ago, it was looking like we're going
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: to need about seven tests. Fortunately that's no longer the case.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: My understanding is that you've got to have a test
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: seventy two hours before entering the Northern Territory, seventy two
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: hours after you enter the Northern Territory, and then another
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: one six days in. Is that right, Curbs, Yeah.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: Within that seventy two hour period of when you get
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: back to the territory, and you don't have to wait
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: for results. So there's a couple of examples, I suppose,
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: and I won't speak to exact specifics. And if people
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: are traveling or really encourage them to get on to
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: the website, have a look through and make sure that
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: they have got it clear in their head. But if
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: we've had some queries about people that do say long
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: term fishing charters that are going out for seven days yep.
• 16:43
  Speaker 8: So yep, seventy two hours before you come get tested.
• 16:48
  Speaker 8: Once you get to the territory.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: You don't have to wait for that test, so you
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: can go through, get tested, head out on your charter.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: And then we just need to clarify exactly how that
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: sixth day test.
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: Is going to be done.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: People aren't going to be in an area that they
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: can readily get that done now.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: I think that's what's so confusing about it. So people
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: are heard on I heard yesterday someone say that if
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: a cattle station, for example, worker can't be near a
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: PCR test and they can do rapid entergen. I think
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: that phishing charter example is a really good one. Sure
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: you might land in Darwin or come home, drive home
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: and be able to get a test that day, but
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: if you're out for seven days, how do you possibly
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: do that on day six? And so will the government
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: be allowing on a case by case basis people to
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: do rapid antagen testing, which you can buy at the
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: chemist and do every day if you like, versus the PCR.
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: And that's one of the biggest changes you mentioned, Katie.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: This whole week we're going to have seven days of
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: testing that was going to be there was rapid engigen
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: as part of that, whereas now the government said no, no,
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: no rapid ENGERGEN or PCR, and that's added additional layser
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: complication because of course you have to go to a REGISTERPLINIC.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: So these are the two biggest questions that we've been
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: getting all throughout the week. Is it free? Are those
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: two free? And where can you get them?
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: My understanding is that people will be able to get packs.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: I'm as I said, I will ask people to clarify
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: that for themselves before they go out. I will certainly
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: be in touch with the Health Minister and make sure
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: that information continues to go out. We haven't been charging
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: people for any of the tests up to date, and
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: we certainly hope that that remains the case. But yeah,
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: I don't want to speak to exact details because it
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: has changed recently. But my understanding is that people to
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: be able to take those packs, to be able to
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: do the rapid tests is certainly one of the ways
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: that we'll be looking for.
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: Again, well, you don't know, and you're a cabinet minister,
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: how on earth a two hundred and fifty thousand territories
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: meant to know, many of whom work and live in
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: remote areas, many of whom don't have phone reception.
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's it's been handled so badly.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I thought it had been said that press conference that
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: the tests were going to be free.
• 18:57
  Speaker 7: That was Danna was asked and said they would be free, be.
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: Free from government clinics, from for Marara for example, also Parmesan.
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: But constituents come to me and say they've rung those clinics.
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: I don't know which one told the.
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: Check because last week we talked about Katie and we
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: looked it up on the website and at.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: That time you couldn't actually it said.
• 19:18
  Speaker 7: Unless you've been a close contact or a couple of hours,
• 19:20
  Speaker 7: and I know you'd be had to go private.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: And I know that some of those private ones we
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: have been told that if you just get the text
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: message basically back saying that you are negative, then that is,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: I believe free. But if you need a certificate and
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: a consultation that obviously costs money then is so?
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: How is the government going to track all the people
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: returning to the Northern test spot and when you get
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: your PCR test into state, yes, that interstate medical provider,
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: How and where are they going to send the information
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: to in the Northern Territory to say I'm coming back
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: from where respond and I arrived. So two hours what's that?
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: Two days?
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: This fishing? Yep, this is definitely something.
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Just showing the person at the airport, he is showing
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: the person at the border. And what about availability of testing?
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: I mean, all of a sudden, we're making everyone who
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: moves around gets several tests, which if you are out
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: Bush or if you're doing a road trip for example,
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: is going to be incredibly challenging and difficult. So are
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: we going to have testing centers in Darwin, Catherine, Tenant Creek,
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: Alice Springs and in a few more regional areas so
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: that anyone who's moving is able.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: To get a Tell, Leah, you were saying before that
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: some of those testing centers are closing. That is that correct?
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: So what we're hearing is that you can't book Catherine
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: tests beyond sort of late ish December and that that
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: won't reopen until the new year. Now, if that's the case,
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: how are people in that region going to be able
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: to get tests? And how are tourist going to be
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: So if you've if you've traveled from Winter State and
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: you're going to be visiting family and Catherine for exams
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: or Matteranka or our bullshit it on a station. You know,
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: we need to make sure government needs to make sure
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: that those certainly at the least the major towns, but
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: even more than that are available for testing. Is if
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: people have to do this PCR then and we want
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: them to comply, it's got to be accessive.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we want to make sure that it is really clear.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: And look, I appreciate Curves that you've stepped in at
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: the last minute this morning. I know that the health
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: ministers had to go into that SIMC meeting as I understand,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: so we know that you don't have all that details
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: as the biggest business minister, but we will certainly try
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: to make sure that we are able to get it
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: because honestly, there are so many people that are out
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: there listening who have been asking questions about this, Like
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: I said, some of them with the real specific of
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: is it free, you know, are we able to get
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: packs or do we need to go somewhere If we
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: need to go somewhere specific, is it only Marra and
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: is it the COVID location out in Palmerston Where exactly
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: can they go? And I think that the reality is
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: that it is all going to be made. It's going
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: to have to be made incredibly clear on the COVID
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: website because people are pretty lost at the moment with
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: it all. Matt, how'd you go with trying to book
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: him there?
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: I think that they've slightly updated it, but it's hard
• 22:11
  Speaker 7: to tell because it still talks about red zones and
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: green zones and if you've been in a sort of
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: red zone area. So presumably that website's going to change
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: come the twentieth of December from what we've been told,
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: and that anyone will be able to book a PCR
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: test or yeah, you know when they arrive back.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting to see how it all
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: unfolds on Monday.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: But you're saying, Paul that once people get the PCR tests,
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: they don't have to wait for the negative result, or they
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: don't have to isolate until it's negative. They can continue
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: on with what they were whatever their travel plans were
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: going to be.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Wearing masks if they can't maintain that meter and a
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: half distance from everybody, but going about their normal business
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: waiting until they get that result back.
• 22:48
  Speaker 7: This has surely got to be a temporary situation, though, Katie.
• 22:51
  Speaker 7: I mean, yeah, we're talking yesterday the new South Wales
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: Health Minister talking about twenty five thousand cases a day, right,
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: which you know, I'm sure at the high end of
• 23:01
  Speaker 7: what the experts are possibly predicting. But the virus is here,
• 23:06
  Speaker 7: it's going to be here. We're going to see more
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: and more of it, and we're going to have to
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: get to a situation where we live with the virus.
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: We can't. I mean, if we have to every person
• 23:16
  Speaker 7: who comes to the Northern Territory has to have three tests,
• 23:22
  Speaker 7: that's going to add up to a hell of a
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: lot of money that either people are going to have
• 23:26
  Speaker 7: to pay all the government's saying they're going to have
• 23:28
  Speaker 7: to pay it. You know, all of these things that
• 23:31
  Speaker 7: we keep on doing. I think we need to get
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: to a point at some point where we just go, Okay,
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: the virus is here, We're going to live with it,
• 23:38
  Speaker 7: and we're just going to make sure that our hospitals
• 23:40
  Speaker 7: don't get overwhelmed. So you know that the daily measure
• 23:44
  Speaker 7: perhaps shouldn't be how many cases there were, It should
• 23:46
  Speaker 7: be how many people are in hospital, how many of
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: them are on ventilators. How many ventilators do we have.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: You know, certainly one of the things with covid is,
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: it's constantly changing. So to be able to draw a
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: line in this end and say in six months time
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: we're going to be in this spot, which I think
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: some of what we have seen happen with some of
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: the vaccination rates in remote communities being as low as
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: they have in some of the tragedies that we've seen
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: over the last few weeks in those remote communities, it's
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: just meant that we've had to double down make sure
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: that we keep people in those areas as safe as
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: we possibly can.
• 24:18
  Speaker 8: So, yep, I've got absolutely no doubt things will change
• 24:21
  Speaker 8: into the future.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: But to be able to detail exactly how things are
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: going to look in six months time has been a
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: constant challenge over the last eighteen months.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: We're going to take a very short break. You are
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: listening to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: It is the Week that was. You are listening to
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: the Week that was. It is twenty five minutes away
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: from ten o'clock and in the studio with me, Matt Cunningham,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Paul Kirby, Kesiopuric and Lea Fanocchiaro. Now, just a message
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: come through from Sarah this morning and it says, good morning.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: The website can't be updated on the twentieth, as you
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: need to apply for your past before then. If you're
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: flying in on the twentieth, My mom's flying in on
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: the twentieth, slash twenty first, and she's having this problem.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Now it's going to be interesting. It is going to
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: be a bit of a dog's breakfast. I reckon come Monday,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: when everybody is trying to fly into the territory and
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: working out exactly what the process is. I hope there's
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend that there is some
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: significant work done on that website to make sure that
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: people are able to find out exactly what they need
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: to do with the testing requirements, you know, find out
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: exactly where they need to get tested, how much it's
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: going to cost, and that all of that information is
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: really readily available because we're going to need it. We
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: certainly don't want people arriving, whether you're coming home to
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the territory or arriving as a tourist and it's a
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: debarcle and a nightmare to.
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: Get here, or then are shipped off to Howard Springs
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: without understanding why.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: You know, as long as people have got their test
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: before they will have to have their test before they
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: get on the plane. They get their next test within
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: that first seventy two hours. Once they get to the
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: territory it Hammins.
• 25:58
  Speaker 7: If they get here without having the test, they get
• 26:00
  Speaker 7: sent to Howard Springs.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: Do that, that's my understanding. And if you're at the border,
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: you just get your car will get turned around. That's
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: my understanding.
• 26:08
  Speaker 7: Oh Jesus, well, you know another question that got raised
• 26:10
  Speaker 7: during the week. What happens if you arrive on the
• 26:12
  Speaker 7: nineteenth do you still have to quarantine for seven days?
• 26:18
  Speaker 7: Or if you arrive in the nineteenth does it change
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: from the twentieth and then you are Then.
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: If you're on the nineteenth, get a pc R test
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: and that on the next day you can say I
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: did it seventy two hours before.
• 26:31
  Speaker 6: Communication has not done a government's.
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: Strength message and drama and scandal is though so well done.
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: They learned from the best chaos and this function of the.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: Labor Party maybe to spend the next twenty minutes talking
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: about that's what we wanted to do.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about this, so I do that. Let's
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: talk about this public sector wage vote or the pay
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: bonus that got voted on earlier in the week, and
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I understand there's another voted down yes, and there's another
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: one at ten o'clock today. So earlier in the week
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: it was Power and Water Corporation and indeed Jacana Energy,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: and they certainly voted that bonus down. I believe it's
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: the rest of the public service, or quite a large
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: majority of the public service that's voting today or probably
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: like as we speak, I think we'll know the outcome
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: by about ten o'clock, won't.
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: We Well again, Katie, I think this demonstrates how this
• 27:35
  Speaker 6: has been handled.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Again.
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: It hasn't been handled with any clear thinking. It hasn't
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: been handled with any evidence based sort of reasons to
• 27:45
  Speaker 6: go forward to offer a particular amount of money to
• 27:48
  Speaker 6: the public servants. And it's just symptomatic of how Gunna
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: government goes about its business.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: They just shoot and.
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: Then ask questions later, or they make an announcement and
• 27:57
  Speaker 6: they go, oh, is hit that didn't work?
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: What do we do now? I don't mind if you say.
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: That this is this is another dog's breakfast.
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: Of course you've got you know a few years ago
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: the Gunner government came out and said, if we don't
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: stop what we're doing with spending, we're going to have
• 28:14
  Speaker 5: a thirty eight billion dollar debt. So then they commissioned
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: a review and a report into budget repair, which Territorians
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: paid a hefty price for. The report into budget repairs
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: said that the public service, you know, there needs to
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: be restraint across the board, but not unfair levels of restraint.
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: If everyone chips in and we can all shoulder the blow.
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: And so they said it suggested that the public service
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: get a genuine pay rise, so that there is wages growth,
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: but that it's capped at one thousand dollars. Of course
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: ECO is getting their pay frees and other bits and pieces. Now,
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: that is what is supposed to have happened going forward.
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: But of course Michael Gunner, in all his wisdom, he
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: probably cooked this up at the same time he cooked
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: up the twenty December changes, decided that when four hundred
• 28:55
  Speaker 5: public servants didn't get the job because of the mandatary vacs,
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: he would take their sort of salary portion which ps
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: he borrows to pay for anyway, claim it as savings,
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: and then redistribute it to all the other public servants.
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: Except he didn't have the money in.
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: The first place.
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: There is no savings because people are going through their
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: termination dismissal process and ultimately he's making the publics the
• 29:20
  Speaker 5: departments pay that ten thousand from their bottom line as
• 29:24
  Speaker 5: well as rehire a large portion of those four hundred people.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: So it's a joke.
• 29:29
  Speaker 7: Can I add one I think important point to what
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: you say there, which is largely correct. But when that
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: Langolant report was handed down in April twenty nineteen, correct
• 29:40
  Speaker 7: me if I'm wrong. There were about twenty one and
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: a half full time equivalent public servants in the Aland
• 29:46
  Speaker 7: Territory at the time two thousand. At the time the
• 29:49
  Speaker 7: government said we need to freeze that number. That didn't work.
• 29:51
  Speaker 7: They said they need to cap that number. At the
• 29:53
  Speaker 7: time that Gunnan made the announcement that he was going
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: to give them four thousand dollars bonuses of that money saved,
• 30:01
  Speaker 7: the number of public servants had increased by more than
• 30:04
  Speaker 7: three thousand. We've now more than twenty four and a
• 30:07
  Speaker 7: half thousand public servants, despite the fact that we were
• 30:12
  Speaker 7: told two and a half years ago we absolutely desperately
• 30:16
  Speaker 7: needed to freeze that number and restrict their pay rises
• 30:19
  Speaker 7: to one thousand dollars a year. Or we were headed
• 30:21
  Speaker 7: for financial rules oblivion.
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: And gonna you know, they're pretending that they're all frontline workers,
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: nurses and just seven.
• 30:32
  Speaker 7: Two thousand, three hundred and if overnight we can sack
• 30:36
  Speaker 7: four thousand public servants and have no effect on services,
• 30:40
  Speaker 7: then why are those four thousand public servants there?
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: In the first That was a very good question that
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: we're all asking at the time that we heard that
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: this happened. Hundred What is going to happen if you
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: know you have the large part of the public service
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: now vote down this pay bonus. I mean they're saying
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: they want their to continue to go up.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: So what will happen is exactly what was going will
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: continue to happen. Like with power and water, will go
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: back to the table in the new year. We will
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: look at the offer that's on the table, will liaise
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: and consult with the unions about how that might be
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: sliced in dice a different or a better way to
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: make sure that we can compensate or compence people for
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: how things will progress over the next four years. The
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: Langolant report did come out pre COVID there words the
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: cap put on staffing. We know that some departments and
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: the majority of areas that departments have gone up in
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: have been frontline workers.
• 31:42
  Speaker 8: So we do know that with those four.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: Hundred frontline, four hundred public servants that shows not to
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: get vaccinated, that three hundred of those that won't be replaced,
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: that there wages that is already budgeted for will go
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: into paying for the extra offer towards the public service.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: The Chief Minister has been clear for quite some time
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: that the only way that we can offer any better
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: financial opportunities to the public service is if they have
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: less numbers, and he's been up front of it.
• 32:10
  Speaker 7: This is the point that that was what the situation
• 32:13
  Speaker 7: was when there was twenty one and a half thousand
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: public service servants at that point, the government's own review
• 32:21
  Speaker 7: said we need to cap wage rises at one thousand
• 32:25
  Speaker 7: dollars otherwise we're going to have to cut the number
• 32:29
  Speaker 7: of public servants. In the two and a half years
• 32:32
  Speaker 7: since great we've got more than three thousand more public servants.
• 32:36
  Speaker 7: So surely it figures that there either needs to be
• 32:38
  Speaker 7: a wage cut or a numbers cut, otherwise we're heading
• 32:42
  Speaker 7: for a financial situation that cannot be rectified.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Am I.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: As I mentioned, the majority of those numbers that have
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: gone into the public sector over the last eighteen months
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: are frontline workers to do with the COVID response that
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: will organically reduce over the coming period of time.
• 32:58
  Speaker 8: So the wages bud that is allocated for people is
• 33:02
  Speaker 8: what we're using. And that three hundred te anyone.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Know whether the population has grown or to what degree
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the population has known by in that period of time
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: point five percent many public servants is their per territory.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: And you know, like per capita, how many public servants
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: do we which have sort of looking after it?
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Where's your mister mister?
• 33:23
  Speaker 7: I think I think the best way to look at it, Katie,
• 33:25
  Speaker 7: and it's and it's it's telling as far as the
• 33:29
  Speaker 7: politics of this place goes as well, is there's about
• 33:32
  Speaker 7: one hundred last time I checked, about one hundred and
• 33:34
  Speaker 7: six thousand people in the Northern Territory who are in
• 33:37
  Speaker 7: employment who work about half Okay, there's there's twenty four
• 33:41
  Speaker 7: and a half thousand full time equivalent employees in the
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: public service, but in actual numbers because people work part
• 33:49
  Speaker 7: time and people work in different roles, I think it's
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: closer to thirty five thousand is the total number. So
• 33:54
  Speaker 7: if you look at that, you're basically looking at one
• 33:57
  Speaker 7: and that doesn't then include you know, people who work
• 34:00
  Speaker 7: NGOs that are funded by the government, et cetera, et cetera.
• 34:02
  Speaker 7: But let's say it's about a third of the total
• 34:04
  Speaker 7: number of people who work in the Northern territory. So
• 34:08
  Speaker 7: you think about the political influence of that group of people,
• 34:11
  Speaker 7: and that's why that's when you think how difficult it
• 34:13
  Speaker 7: is to try and do what the Langland Report recommends,
• 34:17
  Speaker 7: which is to put in some.
• 34:18
  Speaker 5: Kind of ex say, I mean that's true, but except
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: to say that they've rejected this, this ten thousand dollars
• 34:25
  Speaker 5: pay rise scheme because people, I think a lot of
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: public servants are really concerned about the direction of the
• 34:30
  Speaker 5: territory and the debt. It's actually the gun of government.
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: Who are the ones spending recklessly twelve million on a
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: grand stand, four million on a playground.
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: You know, all these these.
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: Wastes of my thirty five million to use justice offenders.
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: Hey, let's give them a payout.
• 34:42
  Speaker 5: They deserve it, not you know, it's this waste and
• 34:45
  Speaker 5: the public service of territorians too, they see that and
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: real wages growth is very important for certainty, for being
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: able to go and get a mortgage and plan your life.
• 34:53
  Speaker 5: And that's why one thousand dollars a year is a
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: more attractive offer to people than some tokenistic ten thousand
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: dollars by where you've actually got a four year pay freeze.
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: And that's what the unions and people are.
• 35:04
  Speaker 7: Saying indicated in those negotiations curves that they would be
• 35:06
  Speaker 7: happy with the one thousand dollars pay increase, actual pay
• 35:09
  Speaker 7: increase as opposed to a cash bonus. And is that
• 35:12
  Speaker 7: something that you would consider.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: Look, there's a range of different things that will put
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: back on the table and be interesting to see. We
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: will know in half an hour's time how the rest
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: of the public.
• 35:21
  Speaker 8: Sector vote has got.
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: Obviously, the compounding nature of giving twenty odd thousand people
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: a pay rise it goes into their base salary, does
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: have some significant impacts on the budget on going, particularly
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: in those outer years. So I think maybe you're right
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: about saying how many public servants work in the Northern territory.
• 35:43
  Speaker 8: You know that's been a heavy percentage.
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: They are absolutely campaigning against these pay rises at the moment.
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: So to say that we're feathering the nest whilst the
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: public servants are saying this is not good enough.
• 35:56
  Speaker 8: It's a tightrote.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: But what is going to happen? I mean, if they
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: just keep rejecting the office that you guys put on
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: the table, are you going to wind up in a
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: situation where you either seriously, you know, a piece, or
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: offer a block of public servants soup. Potentially it's going
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: to blow up in your faces come the next election.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: Or are you going to have to bow to them.
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: If there's processes within fair work for the negotiations to continue,
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: and as long as each party is at the table
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: and genuinely bargaining and moving forward, then that process is ongoing,
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: and that's certainly what will be. We've been in consultation
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: and in contact with unions and we'll continue to do
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: that moving forward.
• 36:36
  Speaker 7: What's their issue? Is there issue that they want a
• 36:38
  Speaker 7: permanent pay rise or is there another issue that's played
• 36:44
  Speaker 7: they want the pay rise to be permanent.
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: Right, there's a range of different issues, and that's certainly
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: one of the most significant is a permanent compounding pay
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: rise that has a significant effect on the budget. So
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: if that's what we need to do, then it certainly
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: it will need to can consider exactly what type of
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: pay rise that could be.
• 37:04
  Speaker 8: So we can break that down a range of different ways.
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: Perhaps if people earn over a certain amount, they might
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: not get that type of pay rise people under like,
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: there's a number of different ways.
• 37:14
  Speaker 7: I think that's why the one thousand dollars across the
• 37:16
  Speaker 7: board makes sense, because if you're already earning you know,
• 37:19
  Speaker 7: one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it's only a small percentage.
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: But if you're on forty thousand dollars, yeah, that's a
• 37:26
  Speaker 7: big payer.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Well, So then where I reckon it gets a bit
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: complicated and a bit difficult is the likes of our
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: nurses and our teachers, where we're then trying to entice
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: people in a lot of different states to come to
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory and some of those you know, in
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: some cases then if they're simply not getting paid as
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: much or their conditions aren't as good, it's going to
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: be hard to get some of those frontline service seeds.
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: With the private sector as well, you know, one thousand
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: dollars pay rise. I think most people can you know,
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: stomach that as being fair and reasonable in it and
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: sort of I won't say go as far as saying
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: in line with the private sector, but they can understand it,
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: you know, when you're talking about a ten thousand dollar bonus.
• 38:03
  Speaker 5: I don't know many people in the private sector who
• 38:05
  Speaker 5: are going to be seeing anything of that, and it's
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: really got their nos out to joint too.
• 38:10
  Speaker 7: The other thing that I think needs to be looked
• 38:11
  Speaker 7: at structurally is the percentage of public servants in the
• 38:15
  Speaker 7: Northern Territory who work in administration and management. Right because
• 38:19
  Speaker 7: you know, no, like you say, you go, oh, well,
• 38:22
  Speaker 7: does a nurse or does a teacher deserve a pay rise?
• 38:24
  Speaker 7: Everyone says, well, yeah, absolutely, does a police officer. Absolutely.
• 38:28
  Speaker 7: The problem structurally is according to the Langoland Report, forty
• 38:31
  Speaker 7: percent of the Northern Territories public service is in administration
• 38:34
  Speaker 7: and management. Right In the in the Western Australia, for instance,
• 38:37
  Speaker 7: I think the number is nine. So I think the
• 38:41
  Speaker 7: government needs to consider, well, yeah, if we need to
• 38:43
  Speaker 7: hire seven hundred new frontline workers because you know we've
• 38:46
  Speaker 7: got a pandemic, or because we need more police in
• 38:49
  Speaker 7: remote communities, or whatever the case may be, maybe it
• 38:52
  Speaker 7: needs to look at whether to do that we need
• 38:54
  Speaker 7: to lose seven hundred people from other areas where they're
• 38:57
  Speaker 7: not working on the front line.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Well, look, we are going to have to tell a
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: very short break. You're listening to Mix one O four
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: point nine three sixty. It is the week that was
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: also broadcasting on AH in Alice Springs. Well, it is
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: just seven minutes away from ten o'clock and in the
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: studio with me of course, leofan Occhio, Kezia Puric, Paul
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Kirby and Matt Cunningham. Now, before we wrap up this morning,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: we do know that throughout the week, Well Leaf and
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I spoke to you about this earlier in the week
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: the Opposition Health spokesperson and indeed you said, the Territories
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: Order the General has found that a contract which was
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: awarded to Ernst and Young was against procurement rules and
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: has indeed referred it to the IKAK, which probably means
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: that none of us can say a huge amount about it.
• 39:41
  Speaker 10: Now, isn't that what actually happens?
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: Best excuse, Look, this is a really big scandal, Katie.
• 39:56
  Speaker 5: So what we had earlier in the year was the
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: government award a seven hundred thousand dollars consultancy to a
• 40:03
  Speaker 5: company under the emergency Powers or under the guise of
• 40:07
  Speaker 5: it being emergency power. So it didn't have to go
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: out to tender. They got to pick. Yep, you come here,
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: here's your seven hundred grand writers to report about our
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: COVID response. Now the Auditor General has exposed is many
• 40:17
  Speaker 5: months later that that has now blown out to over
• 40:20
  Speaker 5: four million dollars, that the scope of the works blew
• 40:23
  Speaker 5: out to a basically a whole of Health Department review.
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: And the worst part is that it wasn't properly done
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: under the emergency powers. There was no correct mechanism for
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: that to have escaped going through the proper tender process.
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: So we've essentially got a four million dollar handout to
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: a select organization, and the Health Minister is burying her
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: head in the ground and just simply not fronting up
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: and talking about it.
• 40:49
  Speaker 7: And we're still like that that would be bad enough.
• 40:52
  Speaker 7: But where's the report?
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: Can see it's secret? We're questions in May. Since May,
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: we've been asking.
• 40:58
  Speaker 7: About this bloody is secret report that you might get a.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: Version reacted besides a few words painting.
• 41:05
  Speaker 6: And I'm still waiting for the report from Gunner's office
• 41:07
  Speaker 6: and to review the KIC legislation.
• 41:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, seen it good questioning.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Next year's Christmas. But I can't.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: I mean not this year's I can't.
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: And people who know have listened to this story out
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: in the.
• 41:21
  Speaker 7: Room about the pageant report into the fire at the
• 41:24
  Speaker 7: Darwin Correctional Center exactly, we say.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Anyone seeing that one, I haven't seen it.
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: But to go from seven hundred thousand, open and transparent,
• 41:31
  Speaker 6: I get it, it's okay, emergency powers, I get that,
• 41:34
  Speaker 6: but it wasn't.
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: That's a problem.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: But it jumped a four and a half an ob
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: seen amount of money scrutiny.
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: But to also then falsely claim it was under emergency
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: powers when it when it wasn't. I mean, this is
• 41:46
  Speaker 5: dodgy written all over it now.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: So it's going Obviously the ikic's going to have a
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: look at it.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: But yeah, not necessarily.
• 41:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, the CAT Commissioner may choose to you know, as
• 41:58
  Speaker 6: you know the big thing I had within which yeah,
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: not not secret. You know, he wants the departments to
• 42:02
  Speaker 6: be more accountable, the CEO, so the ik make review
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: it and keep it internally to do whatever they do.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: But it also might he might decide that.
• 42:10
  Speaker 6: Well, you know, the Apartment of Health or yeah, the
• 42:13
  Speaker 6: procurement people are you know, you really have to answer
• 42:16
  Speaker 6: fix it up, tell us what's about.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know. We just have to wait and see.
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: But yeah, you're right, Katie.
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: It might never see the light of day and the
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: government will keep not talking about it, not commenting, bunk
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: it down and hope it goes away like everything else.
• 42:28
  Speaker 5: And Bob's your uncle. It's another just dead and buried.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: No, I know what.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: We can use the report because of really fat document.
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: It'll be somewhere and we can use it to put
• 42:38
  Speaker 4: on the.
• 42:38
  Speaker 6: Top of the cabinet street shade structure.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: Show yes.
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: With the twelve million dollar IKAK report, the Badge of report,
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: and the Langland report, they're.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Not missing any opportunities. This morning.
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: We actually have got an ik now to look into
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: these types of matters because we have before.
• 42:58
  Speaker 7: What did we have before for the sixth of July.
• 43:01
  Speaker 3: We had plenty of opportunities with previous governments to introduce
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: an k type of body and nobody did.
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: It's the peace fault that you gave away four million
• 43:11
  Speaker 5: dollars to a consulci without following properate process.
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: What I'm saying is the correct processes to go into
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: place to look at these The Health ministers speak the
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: other day to say it was an operational matter, and that's.
• 43:24
  Speaker 8: Exactly what the IK will do.
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: We'll investigate it to see if there had been proper processes.
• 43:29
  Speaker 8: Followed, and if they haven't been, then they'll work through that.
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: At the time, someone must have made the decision internally
• 43:35
  Speaker 6: Department of Health, I presume, or somewhere else. Don't ask
• 43:38
  Speaker 6: me where Chief Minister's department to move that contract from
• 43:42
  Speaker 6: seven hundred thousand to produce a report into whatever someone
• 43:46
  Speaker 6: has made.
• 43:46
  Speaker 4: That, someone has to approve, someone.
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: Has to have signed off on that. Now, given the
• 43:50
  Speaker 6: level of that money, it's got to be pretty.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: High up to.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: When I certainly think so that should come out. I
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: would think of variation on any project to that degree,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: whether you're talking about something in construction or whether you
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: are talking about consultancy in this space, any variation like
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: that city. Yes, that's careful what you wish. Look, we
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: are we've run out of time. We are going to
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: have to wrap up. Lea Fanocchiaro, the opposition leader, thank
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: you so much for your time this morning.
• 44:19
  Speaker 5: Thank you and take care everyone, have a wonderful merry
• 44:22
  Speaker 5: Christmas and we look forward to you tuning back in
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: next year.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: Keezy Appuric. Thank you very much for your time today.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Katie.
• 44:28
  Speaker 6: I've got to do my usual to wish all those
• 44:30
  Speaker 6: Christmas babies happy birthday.
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: Gallagher, you're out.
• 44:34
  Speaker 6: There, mumsy, my mummy, Noel pajama and I know there's
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: Chris Young's wife.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: I'm just young.
• 44:42
  Speaker 6: You're a Christmas baby, Christmas baby as well any other
• 44:44
  Speaker 6: Christmas babies out there.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: Remember Christmas babies, You're meant to get two presents, one
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: for your birthday and one for Christmas exactly, don't you
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: don't let any gres.
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: Just cut the one present in hard.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: Have a met a safe Christmas to everyone.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: He good on you, Keezier, thank you, Paul Kirby, thank
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: you so much for your time.
• 45:06
  Speaker 8: Thanks Katie, Thanks everyone.
• 45:07
  Speaker 3: Merry Christmas to everybody, and if you're in Darwin, come
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: down to the waterfront for New Year's Eve. Sam and
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: his crew had done an amazing effort to pull together
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: a great combination of entertainment for the kids and for
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: the adults.
• 45:19
  Speaker 8: It will be a cracking night down there. Good have
• 45:21
  Speaker 8: a safe and mery Christmas.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Good stuff and Matt Cunningham from Sky News, thank you
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: for your time and all your efforts.
• 45:25
  Speaker 7: This year nowhere is Katie. Merry Christmas to you and
• 45:29
  Speaker 7: all your listeners.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Thank you and I will still be on air for
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the rest of the day and the rest of the
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: week next week. But whether we have this more been
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: for any interviews, we'll have to wait and see. Plea's back.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: She's telling me that is the week that was for
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: another year. Thank you so much, we'll be back again
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: after ten am. You're listening to Mix one O four
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: point nine.