Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis discusses the return of the My Darwin voucher scheme

Transcript

Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis discusses the return of the My Darwin voucher scheme · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Warning me live in the studio right now is the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Lord Mayor of Darwin combat scarlets for the first time
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: That case New Year, and of course it's the Year
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: of the Tiger. Yes, the day before was the Chinese
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: or a new Year, so our Chinese community here celebrating.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I know it's going to be a very subtuous celebration.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: No lion dances anymore because of the COVID situation. I
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: understand fully what the problem is. As you know, we
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: got nearly a thousand CA's a day now in the territory.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's going to get any better with
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: school starting and everything else.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: No, I agree.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: I do think that we're going to see more cases
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: with school gone back, and I think we'll Yeah, we're
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: certainly going to see that peak reached.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: I don't know when exactly.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Most people have been immunised. They have got it like
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: a light flu, not severe, but people they are not immunized.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: They're finishing hostel and as you probably.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Noticed, everybody I know my whole family had COVID over
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Christmas and neither of my children were immunized yet.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: But they're both very healthy and managed very well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: That run out very well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's us the oldest looking copy the children.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Now can the my Darwin vouchers. They're a great initiative.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Another round announced yesterday, Well we did.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: We had one hundred thousand dollars left from the previous
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: round that run in August. Remember we had the lockdown
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: and we'll put some money out. But this time the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: gunmer said, look, if you put the my down votes
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: are out, we're going to give you two dollars for
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: every dollars. So last night we had a meeting and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I increase put the motion and increase the amount that
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: the country would put from one hundred thousand to two
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars. With the government giving another four hundred
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: thousand dollars to us, that means six hundred thousand dollars.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: There the multiplier effect was seven times. That means the
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: six hundred thousand dollars will have a multiplier effect and
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: there will be four point two million dollars spent in
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: the local economy. Yeah.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Look, it's a great initiative, I know, and it's not
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: council's responsibility will end up being the territory and federal government.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: But the worry is that some of our businesses are
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: doing it incredibly.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: We're doing our best to support our businesses. We make
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: the my Darwin platform available to all the councils in
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory for free so that you can use
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: it if they like to. But look, four and a
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: half million dollars in the Darwin business is not bad
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and we'll restrict to retail and hospitality. So if people
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: can go out, if people want to go out, please
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: do go out.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: Support the local businesses.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: They're your neighbors, the people that will employ your kids,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the people that will probably make donations, the supporting clubs
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: your kids play, so support them so they can support them.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Well, this is the thing.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: A lot of the restaurant owners that I know around town,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: of parents from school and and you know, wonderful Territorians
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: that are gone through a tough patch.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And in the past three weeks have been talking to
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: these people. They told me they had a really rough time.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: It's not only the COVID, it's a fact we can't
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: find workers.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: Then the other we've got the supply problem.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Exactly, triple whammy, terrible employment and supplies.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really tough going. There is no doubt about that.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: So when will they become available to my Darwin vals.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Will start making available after Saint Valadine's Day, That's what
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: the industry telling us. We know January is always slow,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: picks up in February and then slows down again, so
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: we've just come to come in when things slow down.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Good stuff. Hey.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: One of the other issues that I'm keen to talk
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to you about, and it's something that I've really noticed
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: around the city at the moment, is people sleeping rough,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: but also people publicly intoxicated. One of the areas that's
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: been incredibly bad is the longest Stuart Highway and one
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: of those buildings in Stuart Park where it is no
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: longer a car yard but previously was. There's literally people
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: there with mattresses and quite a large number. Is this
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: becoming an increasingly difficult situation for the council.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: We've got problems with people sleeping rough. One of the
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: problems is because the communities were closed, people couldn't go back.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: We had people from Tiwy complaining they had to stay
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: here and pay one hundred dollars a night because they
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: couldn't go back to Tiwi. So this is the problem
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: we've got now that car yahd it's a private property.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: People were coming under there and unfortunately I can't step in.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: We had to use the legislation that stands. I have
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: to tell you we cleaned once then some bleeding hearts.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: We gave the matrices and furnitures and some of the
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: friends that we picked up yesterday that had the price
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: tag of the outlet still.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: There, so furniture to squash.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, somebody had the money to spend to provide them
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: with the matrices to sleep there, and chairs and other things.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: And look, homelessness is an incredibly large issue.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: We all understand that.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: But you know, like it's not okay to have people
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: then drinking into all hours of the night and somewhere
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: where they shouldn't they, Katie, And.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: That's my problem.
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  Speaker 2: It might make you feel good giving them furniture and
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: food and everything else, but that allows them to have
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: more money to drink. The other thing, of course, is
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: with that particular premises are it's going to be converted
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: to a petrol station, so it's going to be demolished
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: very very soon. But until then it was unsecured. They
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: even broke the door, they started using them.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: I called the police.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Police went there and with the real estate Edgent, the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: representative of the owner.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: Who lives in the state.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: They secured the place, but the people were squatting outside.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: So yesterday for a second time, we went and cleaned
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the place completely, removed all the matters of the thing
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: and wish you dying voice to the owner because under
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: our legislation, if you don't do yourself, we'll do it
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: for you and.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: You have to pay for it. Something you're doing exactly
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: the same every time it happened.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: It's not the only area of concern.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: I know that along East Point, for example, went for
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: a round there over the last few days and there
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: has been an increased number of drinking.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: If we go in, we pick up all the bedding
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: and everything else, We throw them away and they come
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: back again. They get supplied somewhere somewhere and they camp again.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: The problem we've got to the moment is PEP locked
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: out of the communities.
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: There were nowhere to go.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: There's not enough place for them to stay there.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: You're gonna have something in the city constructed. I don't
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: know that that was the right location, but what is
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: what needs to happen here?
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: We had the Marara that was actually specifically for them.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: They only pay five dollars a night, they can sleep
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: in a clean bed, they can have a shower, but
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: you're not allowed to drink there.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: So a lot of people choose not to go there.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: But I understand it's fully fully booked by people they
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: actually want to live distantly. Some other people they just
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: want to live rough and they decide to leave rough.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: But again my problem is.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: Well, we've had this issue before.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: About it before we love the community stuff.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's exactly right, and we have had this
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: issue in the past and there's been flooding and things
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: like that. People from communities not able to get back.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: But if we know that we're in that situation, well
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: we've got to find somewhere for them to.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: I argue about it for more accommodation, or at least
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: think before you make a decision. If you're going to
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: have one hundred people from one part their community here,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: how about you tell these people to go back to
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: the community quickly because you're going to close the community. Now,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: if the argument is they might get COVID, it's more
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: likely to get COVID here because if you look how
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: they live one on top of the other. No masks nothing,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: it's more likely to get COVID and going to have
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: serious implications.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Well, convat Scarlets, the Lord Mayor of Darwin. We always
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time, no doubt there's going to be plenty
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: more to talk about throughout the year.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: And of course I have to tell you that last
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: night a decision of the Council they changed the name
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: of the elected members from.
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: Aldermen to Councilors.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Jurisdiction in the Northern Territory and the only capital city
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: that used their cake title of Aldermen, so it became
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: considable before.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: I let you go, actually very quickly. That person who'd
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: done the burnouts on the Espanade, now that was atrocious.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: When I saw those photos last week, I couldn't believe it.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: I thought idiot.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: Would do that. You're going to press the button to
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: cut better?
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Not But I'm telling you that now we advise the
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: police will provide it for mister.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Police.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Police checked the TV and the advisers. They've got a suspect.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: They arrested somebody and they're going to charge for stealing
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: a car and doing all these stupid things.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: In a secretary is it all looking down there now?
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Is it back to the rain?
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: And thank god we actually moved very quickly put topsoil
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: and we put seeds and fertilizer.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: It's start looking good.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: We've got another twenty days till the seventeen days till
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: the bombing of Darwin Day.
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: Hopefully it will be okay.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: But how somebody in his right mind will go then
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: do something stupid like that.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: I better not say what I'm thinking either, Convet Scarlus,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: good on you.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon. A good day, thank you.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: That is the Lord Mayor of Darwin. Convet Scarlus