Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Minister for Small Business Paul Kirby

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Minister for Small Business Paul Kirby · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's get straight into it, because we know that a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: lot of Territorians at the moment are still worried and
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: feeling a bit concerned aboutwell about either not being able
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: to head back to work still if maybe they operate
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: gyms or work inside gyms, but also about the impact
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: that the lockdown had last week. We've spoken fairly extensively
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: about this. On Friday, you heard from Rob, a tourism operator,
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  Speaker 1: who really spoke of the dismay that he and even
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: his daughter have gone through, about the difficulties that that
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: lockdown cause. Now there are some supports in place. And
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  Speaker 1: joining us on the line to tell us a little
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  Speaker 1: bit more is the Minister for Small Business, Paul Kirby.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Good morning, not too bad, minister. I know that on Friday, well,
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  Speaker 1: we spoke about the announcement on air about the federal
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: government and the Northern Territory government came out and announced
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: well on Friday morning. For those out there who maybe
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: list missed exactly what that announcement was, just talk us
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  Speaker 1: through us.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, the thousand dollar payments that we put together
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  Speaker 2: initially back in June as a government, they still stand,
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  Speaker 2: and that's been increased to two thousand dollars for businesses
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  Speaker 2: that have had to remain closed in this second week.
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  Speaker 2: But the next part of the package we can probably
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  Speaker 2: break into two pieces. One is for people that have
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  Speaker 2: had their visitations impacted by the interstate lockdowns. So they
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  Speaker 2: might be a tour operating business that hasn't specifically been
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: shut down because of what's happened here in Darwin, but
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  Speaker 2: all of their interstate market has dropped off. So there's
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  Speaker 2: certainly an element to recognize those visitation support packages for people,
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  Speaker 2: and they're three thousand dollars if they're employing people, in
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  Speaker 2: one thousand dollars if they're a sole trader. And there's
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  Speaker 2: another element to the package as well, which is for
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  Speaker 2: people that organize to bring conferences to town, that have
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  Speaker 2: exhibitions and or are the build companies that put those
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  Speaker 2: exhibitions together, if they've lost business out of that, that's
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  Speaker 2: a different package. Again that starts at five thousand dollars
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  Speaker 2: for people that turn over above two hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 2: thousand and goes right up to thirty thousand. So it's
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  Speaker 2: a pretty broad package now an extensive package, and yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we certainly encourage people to get onto the bus recovery
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  Speaker 2: website or get a hold of the web on the
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  Speaker 2: hotline if they have got more intricate questions about exactly
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  Speaker 2: how they play out.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon there will be quite a few people
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  Speaker 1: listening sort of wondering what they may or may not
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  Speaker 1: be eligible for. And I know that you know, these
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  Speaker 1: are all different things that certainly can hopefully help some
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: of our business operators. But the point you made there
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  Speaker 1: about those that aren't actually able to see those visitors
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  Speaker 1: from interstate, particularly tourism operators, it is having such a
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  Speaker 1: massive impact at the moment. We caught up with Rob,
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  Speaker 1: one of our listeners on Friday, and he sort of
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  Speaker 1: really laid it very bare. I think for a lot
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  Speaker 1: of us to hear just how tough it is, Minister.
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  Speaker 1: I know, like I said, these are steps in the
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  Speaker 1: right direction, but for some people, they're just not going
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  Speaker 1: to go far enough, are they.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we would absolutely love to be able to reimburse
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  Speaker 3: every business you know, in every worker for every dollar
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  Speaker 3: that they might have missed, but we just try and
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  Speaker 3: put packages together that help as much as they can. Certainly,
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  Speaker 3: when you start to talk about wage reimbursement, that's a
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  Speaker 3: federal government responsibility and you know, we know that they
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  Speaker 3: have announced some packages recently if areas have been declared
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  Speaker 3: hot spots, but certainly the real killer and we understand
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  Speaker 3: in talking to businesses from our springs too, and businesses
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  Speaker 3: right through the course of this year that what is
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  Speaker 3: happening in the state is having a massive effect on
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  Speaker 3: our tourism businesses. So you know, we would love to
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  Speaker 3: be able to fix all of that for people. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: having the nation do better in the vaccination states will
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  Speaker 3: help people move around more freely into the future. And
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  Speaker 3: until we get there, yeah, we're just going to try
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  Speaker 3: and continue to plug as many gaps as we can.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, it is a very tough time for some.
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  Speaker 2: Of these tourism operators because, yeah, the tale does last
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  Speaker 2: longer for them. You know. You see last Thursday and Friday,
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  Speaker 2: businesses being able to open up in town, money starting
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  Speaker 2: to be generated through their tills, and that's just not
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  Speaker 2: the case for a lot of these tourism operators.
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  Speaker 1: Minister. One of the messages that we've just received, it says,
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  Speaker 1: hey guys and Northern Territory COVID lockdown payment round two
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  Speaker 1: closed Friday. Is that the case I thought it was
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  Speaker 1: still opened.
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  Speaker 2: I've only just been made aware of that myself, So
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to have to take that on notice and
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  Speaker 2: ask some question about that, Katie. That does seem very
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  Speaker 2: very quickly. I know that we had over two million
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  Speaker 2: dollars it was expended from our first round of that.
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  Speaker 2: I know that we had had over sixteen hundred businesses
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  Speaker 2: already apply last week for that, but I will have
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  Speaker 2: to double check on that on that date and timeline
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: for people. So has so was.
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  Speaker 1: That raised with you as well? You know, apart from
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  Speaker 1: me just saying it then, has somebody else raised it
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  Speaker 1: with you too?
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  Speaker 2: Or only just recently this morning somebody had alerted me
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  Speaker 2: that those grants closed on Friday, those immediate payments, So y,
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  Speaker 2: we will have to have to look into that. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, we we have done a good job of
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  Speaker 2: trying to make sure that people you know, we want
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  Speaker 2: people to have access to these grants. Is there's absolutely
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  Speaker 2: no doubt about that. So we will have to get
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  Speaker 2: some advice around that and get yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, because I mean the remaining part of this message
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  Speaker 1: that this listeners sent through it says they only gave
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  Speaker 1: three days to apply bit ordinary, so surely we'd be
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  Speaker 1: surely there's the potential there to extend it is there
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  Speaker 1: and give people the opportunity to apply if they weren't
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  Speaker 1: able to get an application in by Friday.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and I think you know there was certainly, and
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  Speaker 2: I can't recall off the top of the head exactly
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  Speaker 2: how long the packages were open in the first round.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we didn't have people coming and complaining to
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  Speaker 2: us in that first round that they got closed off
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  Speaker 2: too quickly, So I'm not sure if the timelines have
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  Speaker 2: changed here. We know with every package that you put
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  Speaker 2: together there has to be specific terms and conditions and
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  Speaker 2: timelines and we've certainly developed them in the past to
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  Speaker 2: try and make as many businesses as possible able to
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  Speaker 2: avail themselves of these support packages. So yep, I will
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  Speaker 2: have a look at Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that'd be good because I was going to say,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the reality of it is, I can't remember
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  Speaker 1: whether those packages were announced on Monday or Tuesday last week.
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  Speaker 1: But then if you've literally only gotten till Friday to apply,
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  Speaker 1: that would seem to me like a very short period
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  Speaker 1: of time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And we saw from the last one there were
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  Speaker 2: businesses in Dalen and in Catra and our spring sorry
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  Speaker 2: last time, and now with the Catherine connection this time,
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  Speaker 2: we do want to make sure that people can avail
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  Speaker 2: themselves of those bits of support. We know that it's
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  Speaker 2: not enough to pay everybody for every dollar that was,
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  Speaker 2: but if people need to restock fridges and get back
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  Speaker 2: up and running, it's just an acknowledgment and a bit
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  Speaker 2: of support for people to help get back up and
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  Speaker 2: running as quickly as they can.
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  Speaker 1: But it's not a situation where we've run out of
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  Speaker 1: money already as part of that round two. Is that?
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  Speaker 2: No, certainly not. We've allocated we were expecting. Like I said,
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  Speaker 2: so there's sixteen hundred applications so far, and we knew
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  Speaker 2: that there would be around about two million dollars or
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  Speaker 2: a bit over went out the door last time, and
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  Speaker 2: we were planning for that again this time. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I'll have to look into those timelines and get back
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  Speaker 2: to you again. Yeah, that'd be a better answer.
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  Speaker 1: On that, Yeah, because we would be very keen to
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  Speaker 1: let our listeners know, you know, if they are still
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  Speaker 1: able to apply. But also yeah, I look, I'd be
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  Speaker 1: disappointed if they did in fact close on Friday and
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  Speaker 1: no one was sort of giving a heads up that
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  Speaker 1: they were going to close on Friday.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, understand that we'll get some info and get back
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  Speaker 2: to here all right.
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  Speaker 1: Now, moving along, because I know that there are still
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  Speaker 1: some businesses who are struggling at the moment when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to those gyms not being able to open, Minister,
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  Speaker 1: what are they telling you at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I certainly we hear the feedback from people and
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  Speaker 2: as as Minister for Small Business, and I do appreciate,
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  Speaker 2: like you could see the concern on the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 2: and Doctor Haggy's face last week when they announced that
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  Speaker 2: Doctor Hegey did talk through the absolute medical reasons why
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: they believe that it had to happen. But yeah, as
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  Speaker 2: Small Business Ministry, you want to get everybody back up
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  Speaker 2: and running as quickly as you possibly can. So we
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  Speaker 2: have acknowledged there are extra costs for those people. So
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  Speaker 2: there's a two thousand dollars payment for the second week
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  Speaker 2: for people that we have asked to stay closed. And
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  Speaker 2: as we have with a range of different businesses, we'll
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  Speaker 2: work closely with the gyms try and get a system
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  Speaker 2: in place where you know, touchboard. Hopefully we don't have
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  Speaker 2: to have these snap lockdowns again. If we continue to
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  Speaker 2: get our vaccination rates up as high as they possibly
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  Speaker 2: can be. But if people do need to if we
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  Speaker 2: do need to extend a lockdown and it needs to
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  Speaker 2: go on longer, we certainly, whether that's construction or any
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  Speaker 2: other type of business, we're in discussions with them about
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  Speaker 2: how we can make sure that we can get as
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  Speaker 2: many people back to work as quickly as we possibly can.
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  Speaker 2: But we certainly do feel for the gym owners. We
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  Speaker 2: know that a lot of them have got the capacity
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  Speaker 2: to switch to do some outside work and have people
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  Speaker 2: do some sort of work outside, some sort of running
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  Speaker 2: and stuff. We know that a lot of people do
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  Speaker 2: have twelve months memberships, and we do appreciate and think
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  Speaker 2: everybody that has stuck by their gyms and just maintained
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  Speaker 2: their memberships, But we do know that it is an
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  Speaker 2: extra burden for those people when they are asked to
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  Speaker 2: close for that second week, and hopefully we'll be out
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  Speaker 2: of that miss rider.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what about those in the construction industry. We caught
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  Speaker 1: up with master Builders Dave Malone last week and spoke
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  Speaker 1: about you know the fact that that one thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: if you have got a couple of employees, it really
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  Speaker 1: doesn't go very far, does that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, As I mentioned before, that's an acknowledgment. We know
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  Speaker 2: that it's not going to reimburse people for everything that
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  Speaker 2: they lose, so certainly construction businesses will feel it. We
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  Speaker 2: have met with Dave as well. We had committed with
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  Speaker 2: Dave because there is a fantastic level of compliance not
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: just around COVID, but around a host of other safety
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: meages on on, particularly the larger construction sites where people
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: have to sign in and sign out. We know, and
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  Speaker 2: we've heard the chief and doctor Heggey talk about, and
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: we've seen in the state how this next variant of
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: the disease gets out and that you lose control of it.
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  Speaker 2: So that first week it has just been so important for
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: us to plead with people to stay home, to don't
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: move around, and we've shown that we can get on
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: top of it really really quickly and get everybody back
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  Speaker 2: up and running as soon as we can. If we
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: do have to go beyond that first week, we'll certainly
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: be looking at arrangements where we can get people back
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: into their workplaces as quickly as we can, whilst also
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: making sure that we don't create opportunities for the delta
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: strangers spread around the top end because we can't afford
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  Speaker 2: that either.
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  Speaker 1: Now, just very briefly, I think there is so much
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: discussion happening around the nation about those vaccination rags, about
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: us getting to eighty percent, you know, about that then
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  Speaker 1: hopefully being the time when the country sort of opens
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: up and we're able to move around again a little
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  Speaker 1: bit more freely. We caught up with a healthcare worker,
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  Speaker 1: a healthcare professional a bit earlier this morning, and she's
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  Speaker 1: actually launched an online petition really encouraging people to get vaccinated,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: not just here in the Northern Territory, but right around Australia, saying,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: you know that she would like to see a situation where,
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  Speaker 1: you know, where everybody does go out and get vaccinated.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: If they don't, then they're not allowed to travel sort
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: of further than their towns where they live. But those
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: of us who have been vaccinated will be able to
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: move around freely. I mean, what do you think about this?
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that that should be the case.
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  Speaker 2: And I think we almost saw some of that start
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  Speaker 2: to play out online last week when people were asking
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: questions about, you know, people that had come from in
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: the state and who was getting tested on the seventeenth day,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: and what sort of proof and protocols we need to
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: put around that. I think there will come a lot
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: of pressure, particularly in the northern territory where we know
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: that if the disease does get here, the virus will
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: spread really really quickly. We've got some very very vulnerable
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: people there, laughing that we can afford to happen as
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: we're seeing in country New South Wales now, is that
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: creeping out of the city centers and out into some
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: of those remote towns and remote communities. That would be
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: absolutely devastating in the northern territory. So we've worked really
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: really hard with our health professionals make sure that we
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: do get those policy setting right and we'll certainly continue
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: to do that. But yeah, it was an interesting to
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: see people in the community almost starting to ask that
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: question of how are these people from in the state
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  Speaker 2: allowed to come here and move around if they can't
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: prove that they've been vaccinated. So it'll be an interesting
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: discussion going forward, I think, Katie, Yeah, I.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Reckon it will be well. Minister, Please let us know
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: how you go in terms of getting that further information
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: about whether that payment actually closed on Friday, and be
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: keen to get that info throughout the rest of the show.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: We've had all possible.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Certainly will where we're doing a business visit at a
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: recycling center out Humby, do it at the moment and as
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: soon as we can get that information to you, we
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: will so that your listeners are clear on.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. Thank you, Minister, Minister for Small Business
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Paul Kirby. Always good to catch up. Thanks for your time.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Katie. Cheers