Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We also know that Hospitality NTA were due to have
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: an event last night, and the CEO, Alex Bruce, joins
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: us on the line right now. Good morning to you.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Alex, Good morning Katie Alex.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Obviously the gold Plate Awards due to happened last night,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: weren't they and thrown into well chaos, you'd have to say, yeah.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Restaurant and dining establishments. Night of night, five hundred of
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: us were going to be popped up over on the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Esplanade having an absolute Southeast Asian cultural extravaganza led by
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Medusia from Double Tree, Jimmy Chu who needs no introduction,
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: and Danny from Roastan Noodle. Those three had got together
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: and they put a lot of time planning and hours
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: and hours of preparation in for what was shaping up
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: to be a cracking event.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Well and as we all know, it couldn't go ahead,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: but you guys made sure that all that food, well
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: it didn't go to waste. What did you end up
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: doing last weeks? Was it all?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Yeap? Credit to the three chefs and the stuff at
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Double Tree. They pivoted pretty quickly yesterday, packaged up over
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: a thousand food parcels and Hospitality and volunteered as well,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: and we went along and set up a pop up
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: drive through the Double Tree on the Esplanade there handing
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: out meals. People in need could come through and get
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: a feed for nothing, and a few people walked up
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: and drove through and did that. Otherwise we were accepting
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: donations for two charities and it's sold its socks off.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: We started running out of food within the hour. People
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: had started to join the drive through q I think
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: about twenty minutes before we even officially opened it, So
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: we ended up having to start selling a bit early,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: just so we minimized the traffic impact we were having.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Oh good on you guys. So how much money did
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you raise in the end of which charities was it for?
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Look over three and a half thousand dollars split between
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: the Sunset Soup Kitchen that helps feed some of those
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: vulnerable people down at Doctors Gully and also importantly for
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: us we partnered with them in the past Kindness Shake.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Now these guys international students based in the territory lad
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: but they pick up those migrant workers, those workers on
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: visas that you know and you've explored this last year.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: They didn't get as much support job keeper, job seeker
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: in their eligibility and all the rest of it. Northern
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Territory Government did come to the party of it last
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: year and provide some support. But credit to these guys.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: They've just pulled together. They're an integral part of not
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: only our industry but the community up here. So yeah,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: with a no brainer for us. A lot of them
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: work in retail, hospitality, tourism. They're not going to get
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: any money for the next few days while we're in lockdown,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: so yeah, just a good opportunity for us to support
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: them and make them feel welcome and absolutely integral part
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: of the community which they are.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Is that the one for Benjamin and the people that
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: he works with. He's a great young bloke.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: I look, there are some absolute fantastic international student ambassadors
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: up here, too many to name, and I can't get
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: all of their names. That's all right, mate.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: They are such a good crew.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: They look after each other. Like our chefs have a
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: thing going cocktail bartenders, I'll tell you what. Like there
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: is a vibe going on in hospitality up here. We're
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: going to get through this week and just hit our
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: strides and charge forward again.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I have actually really enjoyed seeing that about the hospitality
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: industry over the last eighteen months. Is you guys actually
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: all pull together and you've touched on it. Just see
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: with the bartenders as well. We've caught up with Ollie
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: in the past and you know, having like trivia online
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: trivia and things like that, just to keep an eye
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: out on each other and look after each other. And
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: it's so incredibly important.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: That's it. Ollie's at it again tomorrow night. He's going
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: to Swamps with supplies and supporters of our industry offering
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: prizes again, so credit to Olie and Leah. I'll be
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: participating from my bunker down under my house as well.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Hey, Alex, obviously we're talking about you know, the wonderful
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: the wonderful support that you guys received last night and
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: and the really positive parts of the hospitality industry. But
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: how are our hospitality industry and businesses feeling this morning
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: as we enter that first full day of a lockdown.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: I look at yesterday just another roller coaster of COVID emotions. Yeah,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: you know, it's one punch and after another. We've got,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: similar to Glenn Hingley through the top end, we've got
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: businesses that are affected by border closures. We've got a
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: bunch of other businesses that are more directly affected by
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: local lockdowns, so it was a bad week for them.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: But the strong view within now our sector probably like
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: the border community, go hard, go early, let's get this done.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Let's hope that in three days that's all it is.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: You do look at Sydney and other places, and you know,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: we do also need to say. You know, the Chief
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: came down and donated quite generously to the two charities
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: and took some food home. Minister Files has reached out,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: the Chief Health Officer, the Police Commissioner. Minister Kirby had
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: a good meeting with us and Glenn and the Chamber
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: and others last night and the engagements very strong. Shadow
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Minister Claire Boothby, you know, we're actually being inundated with
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: strong support from all of our leaders and we're very appreciative.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Now, Alex, I know that there was actually an issue
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: overnight as well for Pee whereas I understand that they
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: were broken into, but is there also a licensing issue
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: there or what's going on at the moment.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Look, it is just a kick in the guts and
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: we've reached out and our hearts support to tee Wee's.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: You know, not only do they have to shut down
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: and stop paying their staff for a few days and
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: all the rest of it. Then some mongols break in
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: to access alcohol illegally last night and look the licensing NT.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: They put on the emergency power on the bottle shops
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: in Darwin and Castine region again like they did last
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: locksdown where you have to have a residence, a legitimate residence,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: and you'll be queried by bottle shop staff, particularly if
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: your ideas are from more remote locations as you're coming through.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: We're not sure whether that's the right path. Ultimately, if
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: someone's got a license that scans green on the BDR,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: if they should be on the BDR, how come they're not,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: And if they aren't on the BDR and it's green,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: white put another additional stress and burden on us during
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: a challenging time. It just further restricts legal supply and
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: we think it contributes unfortunately to the smashing grabs like
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Peewee's got.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: So you feel as though it's potentially having an adverse effect.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: I think blind Freddie can tell you, you know, more than
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: half the territories prohibited in land mass of alcohol. Do
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: we think we've got good alcohol management going on?
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Alex, what exactly was like, what exactly happened last night
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: at Peewee's. I know that the girls in the newsroom
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: have caught up with the watch commander and had a
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: little bit of info, but from your perspective upon talking
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: to them.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: What happened? I look, My understanding is their security company
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: contract contacted them. They must have had some motion cameras
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: that were triggered. They have unfortunately been smashed and grabbed
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: for some alcohol. Pleasingly, I think the police were able
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to locate the alleged perpetrators quite quickly. But yeah, you know,
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: it's just such a kick in the guts when that's
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: going on on top of locking down your business.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: That's right, well, and it is. You know, it's such
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a beautiful, iconic location, but it's also a location that's
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: got so much glass in terms of being able to
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: really encompass the beautiful view and the beautiful surrounds. So
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: I would imagine that any kind of smash and grab
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: probably has a massive impact for them.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, it does. And you know this thousand dollars support payment.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: We're appreciative that the government's turn that back on as
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: quickly as they have. But the reality is, and we
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: hear it from a lot of our industry, it doesn't
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: touch the sides on the losses that get incurred to
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: those businesses over lockdown time. You know, all the bills
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: are still rolling in that need to be paid and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: there's no revenue opportunity.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Taking that into account, Alex and obviously we are going
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: to have to get ready to wrap up. But taking
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: that into account of the impact that we do see
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: on business when there is a lockdown, do you find
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: it frustrating? Then you know that we have wound up
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: in this situation where we've got a bloke and there's
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: no in no indication that this person's done anything, but
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: obviously they've traveled in internationally, they've done their hotel quarantine time,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: and then somehow have ended up with COVID on day seventeen.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, do we need to look at how we're
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: doing things with international arrivals into the territory to try
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: to avoid sort of one person throwing us into a
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: three day lockdown.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Look, I think they will look at all that. Again.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: They looked at it when the mine in Central Australia
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: sent us under the dunal last time. We do appreciate
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: tho no systems full proof and you know in South
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Wales's languages that they're learning to deal with delta and
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: getting the vast rates up. We hope that's not our
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: position up here right now, but some of these broader
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: discussions as a community as a whole, we probably still
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: need to tackle. Well.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Alex Bruce, good to catch up with you this morning.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: All the best to you and to all of our
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: hospitality businesses and our hospital workers. Well well done to
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: you guys though on last night, still being able to
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: you know, to raise some money for charity and turn
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: around a pretty difficult situation into a positive.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. And we saw a lot of familiar
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: faces coming through. They were waving, they were cheering on
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: the events team, particularly from Double Tree and those three
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: chefs that you know they were feeling pretty down. Yeah,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: it was actually quite a lovely thing for people to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: come together, COVID safe and raise some money for some charities.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Absolutely good on you, Alex, Thanks so much for your
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: time this morning.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Katie. Thank you.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: That is hospitality end is Alex Bruce there and yeah
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: it is nice to hear that everybody was out there
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: supporting those hospitality workers well and turning around what was
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: a really difficult situation for them yesterday and turning it
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: into a positive with that money raised for charity.