Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Robyn Cahill on a new petition to ensure Australians get vaccinated

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Robyn Cahill on a new petition to ensure Australians get vaccinated · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, plenty of us around the nation are of course wondering,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: you know, what's going to be happening, well, with when
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: it comes to travel and with the vaccine roll out,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and when things really could get back to some kind
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of normal. I know that over the weekend, unfortunately, there
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: were a number of people protesting around Australia. Now I
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: know that obviously protesting is something that you can choose
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to or to not do, but in some of those
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: locations we're talking about people protesting where it goes against
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the rules of a lockdown. Even here in the Northern
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Territory we saw people protesting at Raintree Park in the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: city on the weekend in those freedom rallies. But one
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: healthcare professional has started a petition to ensure that Australians
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: do indeed get vaccinated, and she joins me on the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: line right now. Good morning to you, Robin Carr.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How are you going very well?
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Robin, thanks so much for your time this morning. What
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: is the aim of this petition?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Well, I guess when New South Wales hit what is
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: really the second wave of COVID in Australia, myself and
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: my colleagues just when oh my goodness, we're in a
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: worse position than we were eighteen months ago. How could
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: this possibly be? And how are we ever going to
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: see the end of this? And we spend a lot
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: of time, I guess, winging a little bit to each
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: other about what people are and aren't doing, and I
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: just thought, you know what if people genuinely do believe
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: that vaccination is the solution, and our politicians are saying
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: that they really can't make people get vaccinated, and they
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: don't really want to put any kind of requirement to
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: get vaccinated on people because they don't feel that they
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: have the general support for that, I thought, well, why
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: not try and show them that really the majority of
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: people do support them and do believe that there should
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: be a consequence for not getting vaccinated. You don't want
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: to get vaccinatedbsolutely, fine, but then you have to accept
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: that there might be things that you can't do. And
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: the logical thing is that if you've vaccinated, you can
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: travel pretty much anywhere once we reach that magic eighty
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: percent number, and if you're not vaccinated, well then you
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: just have to stay home.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Robin, I know that the government to ease out this morning,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister, I think and the Health Minister out
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: this morning talking about those vaccine rates. Six months since
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: that rollout began here in the territory, we've apparently hit
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I think the sixty percent on the first dose. Are
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: we sitting well in the Northern Territory? Do you reckon
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: or do we realistically need to push harder here?
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Look, I think territorians have done an amazing job and
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: we certainly have been overwhelmed with people talking about getting
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: vaccinated and wanting to get vaccinated, and it's so reassuring
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: to see Territorians leading the way. But the reality is
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: if the whole country doesn't get there, it won't matter
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: what we do, we will still be stuck. We won't
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: be able to go visit our family and friends. Well's
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I have a very dear friend who lost her dad
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: last week overseas. She couldn't go and see it. She's
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: not going to be able to say goodbye to him.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: He couldn't get home because of the lockdowns across the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: international borders. And he wasn't because he was choosing to
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: stay away. He was still away because he simply couldn't
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: get home. So when we hear businesses disintegrating, you had
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: the gentleman speaking about the tourism industry and the hospitality industry.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: People are losing their jobs, people are losing their homes,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: and yeah, we've been doing great in the Northern territory,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: but we really need the whole country to be in
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: the one position. And the sad fact is right now
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Australia is starting to get left behind. So we need
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: to tell our politicians that we're okay. It's them telling
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: us that there's a consequence not to getting vaccinated. And
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: everybody I've raised the issue with, not one single person
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: has said that's a stupid idea. It all gone. You
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: know what, that makes perfect thing.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I know, Robin that over the weekend there were still
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: people at a freedom rally on the weekend in Darwin.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: There was plenty around the nation who were rallying. Some
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: people just don't seem to want to get the vaccine.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: And you know their argument, I guess is my body,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: my choice. I mean, what would you say to those
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: people who are out there rallying over the weekend, and
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: obviously you know you're what you're proposing, and what other
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: healthcare professionals, because it certainly you're not standing on your
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: own here. Other healthcare professionals are proposing, is that that
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: realistically everybody does go and get the vaccine. What would
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: you say to those who are still sort of fighting
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: against that.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I have to be honest, I do struggle to understand
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: when you look at what's happening, particularly in New South
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Wales where people are literally dying every day. Young people
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: are in hospital on ventilators because they haven't been vaccinated.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: So I do struggle, but you know, I respect their
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: right to their own choices about their body and if
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: we can get to the magic number, then what I'm
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: proposing we should do, which is no vaccine, no travel
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: anywhere outside of behind town. That would only be for
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: a short period of time. It wouldn't be forever. It
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: would just be until our community was at a point
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: where we could cope with those people who choose not
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: to get vaccinated, who then contract COVID, and we wouldn't
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: see our hospitals starting to drown, as is the case
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: in New South Wales under the load of caring for
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: people who are really unwell, really quickly.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: So Robin, just to you know, a lot of our
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: listeners out there this morning will be thinking, so, what
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: exactly does the petition mean, so, really, what do you think,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: you know, what are you calling on our pollies? I
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: guess to do.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: I guess what I'm calling is on them to do
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: is one to see that the community supports them standing together,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: because we have seen a fair bit of fracture between
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: the states and the territories, and what we want them
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: to do is all stand together, make a decision and
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: stick to it. Different rules in different places. It's so
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: confusing for people and so difficult to keep up with
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: if we're all on the same page, and if they
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: all went, you know, okay, let's get the majority of
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: the population vaccinated. Let's respect the right of those people
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: who don't want to get vaccinated. But there has to
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: be a consequence to that while we battle to get
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: on top of this very, very insidious disease that is
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: making life difficult for so many people, not just from
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: a health perspective, but most importantly from a mental health
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: perspective for some people, but also from a business perspective.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: It's just the whole lack of connection with family and
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: friends that we're seeing and how difficult it is in
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: people plan weddings and they can't get married, People lose
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: family members. They can't say goodbye. You can't even I
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: can't go visit my mum and dad and I have
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: seen them for such a long time because they don't
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: live in the Northern Territory. So it's just to send
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: a message to the politicians that we're actually standing behind
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: them and with them, and we want them to stand together.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Robin. For those out there listening, you know, I know
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: that for our healthcare professionals, realistically, the added stress of
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: COVID would be quite massive, is my assumption. You know,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: what has it been like in the last eighteen months
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: for those of you that work, you know, in health
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: dealing with what is always a pretty difficult job. Then
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: adding to that, you know, the stress of COVID and
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the stress of trying to ensure that everybody stays as
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: healthy and safe as possible.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: It's relentless and it's exhausting, and we all every time
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: we hear there's another outbreak or another lockdown, or there's
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: another hot spot or there's another public exposure site, we
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: all just go, oh my goodness, I don't think we
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: can do this again. But everybody picks themselves up and
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: they push on, and I guess for all of us. Now,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: we're really tired. It's been eighteen months and we just
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: would like to see some light at the end of
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the tunnel that's not an oncoming train. So I know
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: my colleagues rally every single time they have to, but
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: it's getting harder to do that. There's just so much
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: you can do before it really starts to have an
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: impact on your own health and your own mental health.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Now, Robin, where can people go if they are out
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: there listening this morning and think, do you know what
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I do want to sign that petition? Where can they
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: go to?
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a change dot org petition, which is so
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: it's very easy to get to. So it's for www
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: dot change dot org forward slash, no Vaccine, no.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Travel, Robin Carl, we always appreciate your time. Thank you
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with us this morning.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: let people know that we can actually change things and
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: we can make a difference while we still respect everybody's
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: choice to do what they want with their own bodies.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good on you, Robin, Thank you. I appreciate your
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: time this morning.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie,