Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with NT Senator Sam McMahon about protecting communities caught up in the Covid cluster

Transcript

Katie spoke with NT Senator Sam McMahon about protecting communities caught up in the Covid cluster · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now the Senator for the Northern Territory, doctor Sam McMahon,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: is calling for the biosecurity zone, which has been implemented
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: by the federal government to prevent people from entering or
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: leaving the Robinson River and surrounding homelands, to be extended
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to Borrow Lula. The Senator joins me on the line
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: right now, Good morning to you.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Sam, Good morning Katie. How are you yeah?
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Really well?
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Now? Senator, why do you think this biosecurity zone needs
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to be extended to include Borrow Lula.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, these communities are contiguous. That is, they connect intimately.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: They are essentially one community, although they're separated by distance
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and a rough road. You know, people from Robinson River
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: travel to Borrow Lulla all the time. They go there
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: to visit family and friends, they go there for services,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: they go there to get their mail. They're constantly traveling.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: They've intimately connected these two communities, so it makes no
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: sense to put a restriction on one but not the other.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: How you conveyed this to the federal Minister Greg Hunt
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: And what's he said, because obviously it was him who
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: called or implemented that biosecurity Zigne for Robinson River.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I asked the question firstly of Nicole Manison
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: and she, you know, her explanation was, well, the road's
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: quite quite rough, so she didn't feel like people would
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: be traveling on it, which is like ridiculous. The road's
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: always been rough and people always travel But that was
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: her explanation. Now. I spoke to Greg Hunt a short
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: while after. Now he's implemented the biosecurity zones based on
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the anti government asking for that to happen. Now, he's
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: not familiar with the area. He is more than happy
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to extend the biosecurity zone, but it has to be
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: on the request of the Antique government.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Now has there been from what you can get, are
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: there any desire for that to happen from the Northern
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Territory government? From my understanding, they've said that there's extensive
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: testing or there's going to be in Boro Lula and
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: at this stage they weren't looking to lock down Boro
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Lula as well.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. They have no appetite to do it.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: They don't understand why you would need to. You know,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: as I said, Minister Manison's explanation was, well, the road's
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: really rough, so we don't think people would be traveling,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: which is ridiculous. Anyone who knows remote communities know that
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: people travel irrespective of how rough or difficult the road is.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: And yes, they're doing testing, but the thing is, you know,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: if they by the time they find a case, it's
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: too late. People will have been infected in that community
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: for days by the time they find a case, and
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: will have traveled from that community. People travel from Boloulla
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: all across the Northern Territory, including to and from Darwin,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: So you know, say testing and they find a case,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: it's unfortunately it's already too late. People will have spread
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: it further and wider.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: I mean, is it a bit excessive?
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Though? Surely if the Northern Territory government is looking at,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you know, the different information that's coming forward and they
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: are obviously feeling as though they're confident with the testing
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: at this point in time and making sure that people
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: are vaccinated, would it be excessive?
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Well, look, Kaybee, time will tell, and I hope I'm wrong,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: I really do. And as I said, time will tell,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: but you know it doesn't. It wouldn't take very much
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: to just extend that zone to borrow Lula for a
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: few days until you've done all the testing and you're
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: sure that it hasn't spread. You know, it's very little
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: imposition to just extend that for a few.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Days now, Senator, I do also want to ask you
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: about we know that those disaster payments are indeed rolling
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: through as I understand it, we know that they'll be
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: eligible or available, I should say, for eligible workers in
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Catherine Robinson River who are subject to the latest COVID lockdown.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: How many hours is it or how many days do
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: people have to be out of work to be eligible?
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah? So look, Katie, yet great that those are available.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: People only need to have experienced eight hours loss of
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: work to be eligible for a payment. Twenty hours loss
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: of work for the full payment of seven hundred and
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: fifty dollars per week, but only eight hours for the
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: part payment.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: All right, So is there I know that there's always
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: a bit of concern from some people who are not eligible.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, should we broaden it.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Well to where I mean, this is available to people
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: in Catherine and Robinson River who are affected by the lockdown,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: and it's available to anyone who's employed, So it's available
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: to anyone who's been affected. So you know, I don't know,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know who you are. Probably business owners are
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: the ones that are affected that are not eligible, but
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: you know, at least their employees are being supported, and
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: they're supported, they're eligible as well as they're also employees
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: in their own business, So you know, it's really available
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: to everyone in those areas. Who's affected?
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Now, Senator, I do want to ask before I let
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: you go.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of people trying to get tested today
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: in Darwin, and indeed, Catherine, a lot of people quite
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: concerned about the situation.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: That we are in right now. In Catherine.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: I understand that there is going to be twelve additional
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: staff coming from Darwin, is what the Member for for Catherine,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Joe Hersey, had told us a bit earlier this morning,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: so that they can get that Catherine East testing side,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: a third testing side up and running. How pivotal is
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: it that as many territories as possible get out there
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: and get tested and we've got enough resources on to
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: be able to make that happen.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, Katie, we need to have resources to be
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: able to test everyone who needs to be tested, and
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: quite clearly we don't at the moment. You know, Look,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I apparently I've been told that half of the staff
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: of Kirby's, which is one of the main exposure sites
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: in Cafine, have yet to be tested, so the staff
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: are isolating and waiting for the availability of tests. That
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: that is just a ridiculous situation. So it's really important
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: that the government steps up, you know. Unfortunately, they've sacked
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: a whole pile of workers from the health on Monday,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: so they've sacked those workers and now they're lacking staff
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: to be able to do the important testing.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: But the other point is, sorry, who do you mean
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: that they sacked? Do you mean the ones that weren't vaccinated?
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, pep, Yeah, nurses and health workers that weren't vaccinated
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: were sacked on Monday, so they're missing from the workforce
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: and now they're struggling to be able to provide a
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: vital service to test people that need to be tested.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: But the other point I want to make, Katie is
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: people shouldn't be shouldn't be going and getting tested unless
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: they're required to, unless they have symptoms, unless they are
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: a contact, unless they've been at an exposure site. Because
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: if you haven't, if you haven't got any of those things,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: you're just clogging up the testing and making it unavailable
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: for those people who really need to be tested. So
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: you know, I would say to people, please don't think
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: you're doing the right thing by rushing in to get tested.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: If you're not a close contact, if you're not be
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: to exposure site, or if you don't have symptoms, well
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: please leave it to those people that need to get tested.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Senator Sam McMahon, we appreciate your time this morning.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having a chat with me. Thank you, Ky,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: thank you