Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Shadoow Minister for Health Bill Yan says the NT Government's extended powers for the Chief Health Officer in Covid decisions are likely to pass in Parliament today

Transcript

Shadoow Minister for Health Bill Yan says the NT Government's extended powers for the Chief Health Officer in Covid decisions are likely to pass in Parliament today · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And as I mentioned, the opposition's legislation yesterday around reporting
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: for the Chief Health Officer, it was voted down. Today
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the Government, as I understand, it's going to be introducing
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: their legislation extending the cho's powers for another two years. Now.
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  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the Opposition
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  Speaker 1: spokesperson for Health, Bill Yan. Good morning to you, Bill.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Now. Bill. Obviously that legislation that the COLP had drafted
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  Speaker 1: around greater reporting for the Chief Health Officer that was
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  Speaker 1: voted down yesterday in Parliament was Nash. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Look, we put this together quite some time ago, and
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  Speaker 2: the legislation is primarily about the advice that is coming
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  Speaker 2: to the CHARLD and that the CHOW is putting out
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  Speaker 2: through government channels, that being then reported back through Parliament
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  Speaker 2: so that the actual reporting process is clear and transparenting.
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  Speaker 2: All territories get to see what that advice is, and
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  Speaker 2: of course that advice is affecting their day to day
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  Speaker 2: lives rather than just what we see in the labor
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  Speaker 2: press conferences and been a license. We've had a press
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  Speaker 2: con Katie, so who knows what the advice has been made?
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  Speaker 1: So bill exactly what we're like, what are the concerns? Here?
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  Speaker 1: Was the worry and is the worry still the fact
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  Speaker 1: that you know, we could have changes made when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to the way in which COVID is being managed,
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  Speaker 1: but the Chief Health Officer isn't going to actually have
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  Speaker 1: to report on those changes or why they're made.
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  Speaker 2: Well the changes for the government's legislation that they're putting
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  Speaker 2: in today's we have the Health Emergency Act, so that
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  Speaker 2: the government has to declare the Health Emergency to enact
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  Speaker 2: those powers that users to get the public to do
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  Speaker 2: things on the vaccination mandate, wearing masks, isolation and all
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  Speaker 2: those sorts of things, so that there's a criteria around
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  Speaker 2: what that public health emergency use. Now the government want
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  Speaker 2: to cease that public health emergency because COVID in some
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  Speaker 2: ways whining back. We're moving to the endemic stage rather
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  Speaker 2: than pandemic stage. But rather than the government actually seating
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  Speaker 2: those powers under that Emergency Act and then maybe bringing
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  Speaker 2: it back if we see a re emergency of another
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  Speaker 2: Australia COVID, they're now going to give visually all the
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  Speaker 2: powers or actually all the powers in that Emergency Health
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  Speaker 2: Act to the show for two years without the checks
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  Speaker 2: and balances of currently the government has, so that the
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  Speaker 2: show will have all these unfitted powers for two years.
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  Speaker 2: There's no reporting requirements as that currently sits under the
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  Speaker 2: current Public Health Emergency Act, where the show has to
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  Speaker 2: report back three months after the end of it. It's
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  Speaker 2: a detailed report outlining all the things that he's done
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  Speaker 2: and what the outcomes were. That disappears out out the window.
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  Speaker 2: We don't see that anymore. And the show has these
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  Speaker 2: powers now for two years without those checks and balances
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  Speaker 2: of governments.
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  Speaker 1: And so is the expectation. Is the expectation today that
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  Speaker 1: that is indeed going to the that is going to
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  Speaker 1: pass through Parliament today, and that that's the situation that
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  Speaker 1: we're going to find ourselves in.
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  Speaker 2: Well, unless some of the Labor members can see this
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  Speaker 2: for what it really is, and that's giving unprecedented power
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  Speaker 2: to an unelected official and not an elected member. So
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  Speaker 2: unless their members can see past that, Labor are going
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  Speaker 2: to ram this through. They have the numbers to push
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  Speaker 2: it through. I know that the CLP will be voting
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  Speaker 2: against it. I can't speak to the Independence, but I
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  Speaker 2: know a number of the Independences aren't particularly happy about
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  Speaker 2: this either. But unless some of the Labor members can
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  Speaker 2: get past their party and use their actual consciences and logic,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to see this push through Parliament today and
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  Speaker 2: this will be forced upon territories now for the next
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  Speaker 2: two years. Bill.
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  Speaker 1: I know that there was a petition that was doing
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  Speaker 1: the rounds. Did that end up being tabled in Parliament
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  Speaker 1: and any idea how many people actually signed it in
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  Speaker 1: the end.
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  Speaker 2: That was titled in Parliament last week Cayden where there
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  Speaker 2: was over four thousand signatures on that petition. Of course,
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  Speaker 2: that petition then goes through to the Public Accounts Committee
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  Speaker 2: for review and then it's fought back to parliament' ded
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  Speaker 2: But because of the issues last week with the Chief
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  Speaker 2: Minister resigning and of course the Labor government been trained
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  Speaker 2: a little bit of a chaos while I figured out
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  Speaker 2: who was going to be in charge, the Labor government
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  Speaker 2: is effectively shut down the PAC last week and this week,
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  Speaker 2: so the Public Accounts Committee won't be able to hold
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  Speaker 2: those meetings probably until the next few weeks, maybe hopefully
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  Speaker 2: before Estmate. So we'll get to discuss that that petition
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  Speaker 2: then and then bring it back before Parliament.
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  Speaker 1: Bell what else is on the Oppositions agenda today in Parliament.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've got the legislation today about injuries to people
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  Speaker 2: whilst in custody, so we'll be looking at that quite closely.
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  Speaker 2: Look looking to support this piece of legislation because it
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  Speaker 2: actually puts a cap on what the government is paying out.
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  Speaker 2: But more importantly, if there is compensation paid on first
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  Speaker 2: and Cussy, it goes into a trust and from that
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  Speaker 2: trust there can be orders for fines and victims payments
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  Speaker 2: taken out of any money's given to the somebody under
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  Speaker 2: this legislation. But we'll be pushing an amendment to this
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  Speaker 2: legislation because the government failed to include restitution payments ordered
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  Speaker 2: by a court. So if someone gets some money under
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  Speaker 2: this piece of legislation, we would like to see restitutions
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  Speaker 2: paid out of that too. But sadly it's not retrospective, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't go back to the thirty five million dollars
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  Speaker 2: that the government gave away to the use from Don Dale.
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  Speaker 2: That money has already been paid, that's gone, so we
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  Speaker 2: won't see that back again. But this piece of legislation
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  Speaker 2: limits those payments in the future, which is probably in
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  Speaker 2: some respects a good thing.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Bill yeah, and the opposition spokesperson for Health. Always
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  Speaker 1: good to talk to you. Thanks so much for your
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  Speaker 1: time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks you having the right time.
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  Speaker 1: You two