Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland about the added Christmas Public Holiday this year

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Katie spoke with Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland about the added Christmas Public Holiday this year · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So essentially we know that Boxing Day has been declared
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: a public holiday in the territory. Some of you saying, well,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: hang on a second. Boxing Day is always a public holiday. Yes,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: it is. But what it's basically going to mean is
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: that under Northern Territory legislation, if Boxing Day falls on
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a weekend, the following Monday is designated a public holiday instead.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: But it is now coming through all this information is
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: now coming through that December twenty six has been deemed
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: an additional public holiday. So what it means is that
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: obviously it is going to be those penalty rates for
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  Speaker 1: those who are working on those two days. Now, Karen
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  Speaker 1: and Catherine has said Boxing Day falls on a Sunday,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: so penalties would apply anyway, wouldn't they. Yeah, you're right,
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  Speaker 1: I reckon, Karen, but I'm not too sure to what degree.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I whether you're getting paid double time, whether it's triple time.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: So we'll see what we can find out when we
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: catch up with the Chamber. There is another one here
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  Speaker 1: that's come through and it says, Hi, Katie, I was
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: under the impression that Monday the twenty seventh was a
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: public holiday for Christmas Day, for Christmas Day and the
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighth public holiday for Boxing Day. As I've just
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: completed our appointment book, well let's see what we can
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  Speaker 1: find out. Because joining us on the line right now
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  Speaker 1: from the Chamber of Commerce, it is the CEO, Greg Island.
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  Speaker 1: Get a Greg.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. How is everything today?
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  Speaker 1: Not too bad? Now? Greg, there's a bit of confusion
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  Speaker 1: or some people are wondering exactly what the go is
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  Speaker 1: with this Boxing Day situation and the public holiday. What
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: exactly has happened here from your perspective, So.
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  Speaker 2: The announcement from government indicating that the twenty six is
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  Speaker 2: also a public holiday means that both the Sunday, the
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: twenty six, and the Tuesday, the twenty eighth public holidays,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: which means that if you normally work as a permanent
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  Speaker 2: work on that Sunday, you get the day off as
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  Speaker 2: paid as you would normally on any public holiday. I
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  Speaker 2: guess from a business perspective, the challenge with that is
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  Speaker 2: that you're getting you Christmas cape and eating it too,
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  Speaker 2: and effectively double dipping on those penalties.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I said it on the show a
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  Speaker 1: bit earlier this morning. I know that if you're a
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  Speaker 1: casual worker, or if you're somebody who is obviously going
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to get those paid those penalty rates should be pretty happy.
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  Speaker 1: But for a lot of our businesses, they've been having
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  Speaker 1: a tough couple of years as it is, and it
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: now means that they will be paying those penalty rates.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I'd imagine across those two public holidays. What kind of
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: impact do you reckon that's going to have.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Well, this brings me back to the conversation that we
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  Speaker 2: had pretty much this time last year, Katie, around the
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: same announcement for Christmas Eve and also New Year's Eve,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: where those penalty rates applying where they normally didn't, and
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: it effectively means that businesses that are on the boardline
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: of opening to at least break even are probably opening
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: at a loss. And that means it's to be a
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: careful decision as to whether they'll open it all. So
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: if that's the case, those workers would miss out on
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: on their normal wages as well as the opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: work on that holiday.
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  Speaker 1: Greg, do you reckon that we are going to have
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  Speaker 1: a number of businesses who say it's too expensive, we're
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: not going to open.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: I think there will certainly be that element. There'll be
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  Speaker 2: elements that will just take on the responsibility themselves and
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  Speaker 2: stand down stuff on that day. So, you know, ultimately business,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: as you pointed out, has that a pretty tough time.
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  Speaker 2: There's not a lot of I guess excess and the
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: kitty to cover these additional expenses, so they'll either be
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: forced to close or potentially do the work themselves. It's
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: a real challenge at the moment for business.
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  Speaker 1: Greg. You know, this announcement obviously is on the back
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  Speaker 1: of the Chief Finess's announcement a bit earlier in the
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  Speaker 1: week that he's changing the bonus for our public servants.
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  Speaker 1: How is the business community feeling right now? Are you
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: feeling as though the governor is very much making sure
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: that they're looking after the public service, but maybe not
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: looking after the private sector with the same level of.
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  Speaker 2: Care. Yeah, there is an element of mixed messages in
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  Speaker 2: some of these announcements. And I guess at the end
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: of the day, if those four hundred public servants that
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  Speaker 2: have made the decision not to take the vaccination are
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  Speaker 2: not going to be replaced and that is going to
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  Speaker 2: be spent on the existing staff, what does that indicate.
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  Speaker 2: Doesn't mean that there was some excess capacity in the
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  Speaker 2: public service. It would seem that is potentially the case,
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  Speaker 2: but the private sector is very much I guess, getting
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: the rough end of the pineapple in some cases, particularly
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: the hospitality and tourism sectors on these public holiday events
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  Speaker 2: when they need them to support the most.
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  Speaker 1: Greg We do know that you know that. Earlier in
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  Speaker 1: the week we learned that obviously the borders go to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: be opening up and there's changes to home quarantine. Is
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: that going to help in some ways when it does
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  Speaker 1: come to business sort of getting moving again and you
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  Speaker 1: really trying to make ends, mate.
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  Speaker 2: Well, certainly a bit of a double ledged sword there,
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  Speaker 2: I think, Katie. Yes, we're going to see more visitation
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  Speaker 2: and that is a positive thing. We absolutely need our
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: fellow Australians, particularly from Victoria, New South Wales, as soon
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  Speaker 2: as that's practically possible to help boost our retail activities.
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  Speaker 2: But by the same token, we are going to see
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  Speaker 2: and increasing cases as a result of that, and it's
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  Speaker 2: super critical that our vaccination rates are high enough to
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  Speaker 2: prevent significant outbreaks and the last time we need there's
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: more lockdowns.
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  Speaker 1: Look, I'm getting lots of messages this morning on the
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  Speaker 1: tech signe about this public holiday situation. There's one here
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  Speaker 1: that says Hi Katie, as an owner of a Mitchell
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  Speaker 1: Street bar and cafe on the public holiday over Christmas,
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  Speaker 1: thirty percent surcharge will be passed on to the consumer
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  Speaker 1: if we open it all as we'll be down to
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  Speaker 1: interstate and local patrons. Interesting, he goes on then about
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  Speaker 1: the public servants. But do you think, like, are we
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: going to see that, Are we going to see businesses
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  Speaker 1: having to pass on that surcharge to patrons?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think that's a given. Generally the consumers have
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: been pretty strong in supporting local business. But we know
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: that when there's a mask mandate that businesses are thirty
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: to fifty percent down. If there's a thirty percent surcharge
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  Speaker 2: or suspected, they'll also be considering the value proposition of
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: going out on that particular day. So that's going to
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  Speaker 2: double impact on the business community.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Greg, Before I let you go, how are our business
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  Speaker 1: community going in Catherine at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Look again, doing it tough, particularly around the access
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: to essential services and that sort of thing. People understand
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: down there that this is a new force lockdown for
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  Speaker 2: a very good reason. They've been accepting of that, but
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: starting to drag a little bit from a personal perspective,
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  Speaker 2: and people are keen to get back into work. So
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: let's hope that there's some more good news today and
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  Speaker 2: that opens up pretty soon.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll make sure that we keep everybody up today
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  Speaker 1: as that information comes to hand. Greg Ireland, the CEO
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  Speaker 1: of the Chamber of Commerce, thanks so much for your
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  Speaker 1: time today.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: You're welcome, Katie, thank you.