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Katie Woolf spoke with Chief Minister Michael Gunner · 360 with Katie Woolf

0:00
Speaker 1: Joining me in the studio right now is the Chief Minister,
0:02
Speaker 1: Michael Gunner.
0:03
Speaker 2: Good morning, good a gang, not too bad, Chief Minister.
0:06
Speaker 1: The vaccine roll out, when's it going to open up
0:09
Speaker 1: to everyone? You've been alluding to it for a couple
0:12
Speaker 1: of weeks since we last spoke. When are you going
0:14
Speaker 1: to allow all territories over the age of sixteen to
0:17
Speaker 1: get that vaccine?
0:18
Speaker 3: We've had some significant success working in the Australian government
0:21
Speaker 3: already and basically all the territory outside Darwin can access
0:25
Speaker 3: the vaccine sixteen and up. For Americ communities, it's on
0:28
Speaker 3: an essentially a schedule basis. We go and work with
0:30
Speaker 3: the community for when they're ready. So Darwin's been kind
0:32
Speaker 3: of the quirk. So I know the TASH has been
0:35
Speaker 3: working very closely with Greek Hunt, Figeral Minister for Health
0:38
Speaker 3: on this. I've been talking directly with the Prime Minister.
0:41
Speaker 3: I'll be going out later today to say to announce
0:44
Speaker 3: that we will be collapsing the tranches in Darwin.
0:47
Speaker 4: So I thank the PM for that.
0:48
Speaker 3: I think TASH and Greek Hunt for that, so we
0:50
Speaker 3: will be able to essentially have everyone in Darwin. We'll
0:53
Speaker 3: be able to have access to vaccine. Now there's a
0:55
Speaker 3: serious note of caution here. Because we've made it available
0:59
Speaker 3: to everyone doesn't mean you can all get it tomorrow.
1:02
Speaker 3: We have the supply that we need over the coming
1:04
Speaker 3: months to be able to do all this. Something about
1:06
Speaker 3: quadruple the booking slots or anything or that. It's about
1:09
Speaker 3: making it easier for people to get the vaccine, which
1:12
Speaker 3: I think will increase confidence has more people that you
1:14
Speaker 3: know have the vaccine, so that's going to significantly improve
1:17
Speaker 3: the simplicity of our rollout. Does take away a quote
1:20
Speaker 3: that Darwin essentially was the only one that wasn't able
1:22
Speaker 3: to access it. We're able to successfully argue for that
1:25
Speaker 3: based around our indigenouity, mobility and vulnerability if.
1:28
Speaker 4: You look at our population.
1:29
Speaker 3: So essentially Darwin can fall into the remote classification because
1:35
Speaker 3: of the nature and mix of people that we have
1:36
Speaker 3: in our community and the movements there, which I think
1:39
Speaker 3: is just a very sensible decision by the Australian government.
1:41
Speaker 2: I think this is a good move.
1:42
Speaker 1: So essentially, what you are announcing on what you're saying
1:45
Speaker 1: right now is that by the collapsing of those tranches,
1:47
Speaker 1: it means that from tomorrow, anyone over the age of
1:50
Speaker 1: sixteen is eligible to get that vaccine. Of course, you
1:53
Speaker 1: still need to book in. It could still take some
1:55
Speaker 1: time to access a booking but as of tomorrow that
1:59
Speaker 1: will be.
1:59
Speaker 3: The and there's an online booking system forgive me, Katia,
2:03
Speaker 3: it's just specs. If I had on me the actual
2:04
Speaker 3: web a dress, we'll be able to get. I think
2:07
Speaker 3: it's COVID nineteen booking something simple like that. Way, we'll
2:10
Speaker 3: get you the accurate address so you can book online,
2:12
Speaker 3: to make it as easy as possible for you. But
2:15
Speaker 3: I do think it's as we've discussed before, Katie, it's
2:18
Speaker 3: absolutely critical we get as many territoriums vaccinated as possible.
2:22
Speaker 3: We've bought a lot of time with some very tough decisions,
2:26
Speaker 3: but we don't know how much time we've got. If
2:27
Speaker 3: you saw as you are seeing in Victoria right now,
2:30
Speaker 3: they have a cluster and a lockdown that came from
2:33
Speaker 3: outside their stay into their stay, and no policy decision
2:36
Speaker 3: we've protected them from that. That person came directly out
2:39
Speaker 3: of hotel quarantine. We've made some changes since then to
2:43
Speaker 3: try and close that sort of like hole in the net,
2:45
Speaker 3: but that's a very difficult one to close, and so really,
2:49
Speaker 3: we don't know how much time we've got, and that's
2:50
Speaker 3: why you've got to get vaccinated.
2:51
Speaker 1: And I think also if we can sort of remove
2:55
Speaker 1: some of that vaccine hesitancy that we've seen by everybody
2:58
Speaker 1: in the community going out and saying all right, I've
3:00
Speaker 1: had my vaccine. Now, the more that you have those discussions,
3:02
Speaker 1: hopefully the less of that hesitancy we see. Is that
3:05
Speaker 1: the reason, you know, really why you want this to happen.
3:08
Speaker 3: What one of the big reasons. First though, I need
3:11
Speaker 3: to give some big thanks to the people of the territory.
3:14
Speaker 3: So it's easy to get caught up in essentially the
3:16
Speaker 3: national conversation right hasn't seen and we have pockets of
3:18
Speaker 3: it here in the territory. But we're currently seven seven
3:22
Speaker 3: point two percent of the population totally vaccinated. Then Australian
3:25
Speaker 3: average right now is two point eight percent, and mind stainings,
3:28
Speaker 3: we're number one the country for totally vaccinated. So we
3:30
Speaker 3: are doing huge effort here in the territory and I
3:33
Speaker 3: think lots of people for that, but obviously we're well
3:35
Speaker 3: short still of where we want to get to by
3:37
Speaker 3: the end of the year are fully vaccinated.
3:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, And look, I think we do still have.
3:41
Speaker 1: You know, there's still a lot of people that have
3:43
Speaker 1: got concerns around some of the repatriation flights and things
3:46
Speaker 1: like that. So if we are able to get more
3:48
Speaker 1: people out there and vaccinated, hopefully it's a good thing.
3:51
Speaker 1: Now speaking of some of these concerns, we know that
3:54
Speaker 1: Kath Hatcher, the Branch Secretary of the Australian Nursing and
3:57
Speaker 1: Midwiffree Federation, on the weekend is to a statement calling
4:01
Speaker 1: upon Acting Professor Diane Stevens, who is the director of
4:04
Speaker 1: the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility and the Deputy Chief Health Officer,
4:08
Speaker 1: to stop using the PCR SALIVI test daily to all
4:12
Speaker 1: staff and to recommence the rapid antigen nasal swamp which
4:17
Speaker 1: the Howard Springs Quarantine Center has been using for the
4:20
Speaker 1: past seven months in conjunction with the PCR weekly swaps.
4:25
Speaker 2: Are you going to look at changing these tests?
4:28
Speaker 3: I always respect the unions, and unions definitely have a place,
4:31
Speaker 3: so I thank the Union for speaking up in this instance.
4:33
Speaker 3: But I will take our advice from the clinical experts,
4:36
Speaker 3: and that's not just the local territory clinical experts, so.
4:38
Speaker 4: It's not just doctor painting.
4:40
Speaker 3: People know Dodtor Die Stevens or Professor Nataras, etc. Who
4:43
Speaker 3: are taking our avice from and they're very very good people.
4:45
Speaker 3: By the way, you could argue they're world experts. Now
4:47
Speaker 3: we also take our advice on this issue from Paul Kelly,
4:50
Speaker 3: the Chief Medical Officer, from the Australian Chief Nurse and
4:53
Speaker 3: from the national bodies that look at this. So what
4:57
Speaker 3: I find surprising, by the way, what the Union's saying
4:59
Speaker 3: and a few others is it's basically unanimous.
5:01
Speaker 4: It is unanimous.
5:02
Speaker 3: All the advice that we're getting clinically from local territory
5:04
Speaker 3: experts who are essentially the ones who make decisions, and
5:06
Speaker 3: the national experts who make these decisions is that PCR
5:09
Speaker 3: is absolutely the gold standard. That the one advantage rapid
5:12
Speaker 3: engine had for a while was itt speed that that's
5:15
Speaker 3: now gone. The PCR is very very quick and you
5:17
Speaker 3: want accuracies what you most want, And all the clinical
5:21
Speaker 3: advice that we're getting, which is what we've relied on
5:23
Speaker 3: all the way through this crisis to make the best decisions,
5:26
Speaker 3: is that the PCR test daily is the absolute best
5:28
Speaker 3: way to go.
5:29
Speaker 2: Who made this decision, who signed off on it, So there's.
5:33
Speaker 3: A clinical panel that is out at House Springs. There's
5:35
Speaker 3: a number of people on it. I'll get you the
5:37
Speaker 3: fullmatup and my saying doctor Payn and Die Stevens are
5:40
Speaker 3: on it. I've come of a professor's Harris's on or
5:42
Speaker 3: it gave advice to it. But essentially that whole panel
5:46
Speaker 3: made this decision. They're making all those othersight decisions. My
5:48
Speaker 3: direction to them has been very very clear that in
5:52
Speaker 3: parts of the Australian government, we've got all the money
5:54
Speaker 3: we need to make the absolute best decisions.
5:56
Speaker 4: So all decisions we should.
5:57
Speaker 3: Be making are only ever to improve the gold standard
6:01
Speaker 3: out there and that's the only direction we need to go.
6:03
Speaker 3: We don't need to save any money or anything like that.
6:05
Speaker 3: So all the decisions have been one hundred tent been
6:07
Speaker 3: made on the clinical advice at what they believe is safer.
6:10
Speaker 1: Well, look, I get that that's where those decisions are
6:12
Speaker 1: being made. And then obviously you've got a clinical panel
6:15
Speaker 1: making these decisions, but you've now got staff out there
6:17
Speaker 1: who are seriously concerned.
6:19
Speaker 2: According to Cath Hatcher.
6:21
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I guess if you've got these
6:23
Speaker 1: health staff now who are really worried, you're going to
6:25
Speaker 1: have to in some way quell those concerns.
6:28
Speaker 2: How are you going to do that?
6:29
Speaker 3: Well, I think the best place to do that is
6:31
Speaker 3: with those clinical professionals, the same one's giving us our advice,
6:35
Speaker 3: and even at that national level Paul Kelly and others
6:39
Speaker 3: talking with the staff out there and maybe just explaining
6:41
Speaker 3: again the science behind the clinical decision making. So for me,
6:45
Speaker 3: it's there has never been a hesitancy at any stage
6:48
Speaker 3: and the advice coming in from the clinical experts at
6:51
Speaker 3: all on this issue, and it'd be questioned, I get
6:54
Speaker 3: the clinical experts talking with those new staff who are
6:56
Speaker 3: saying they're concerned through the unions, MI nudstand, we're not
6:59
Speaker 3: getting that similar feedback up through our own structures. So
7:02
Speaker 3: it's one of those ones that will keep working away
7:04
Speaker 3: at it. But the advice to.
7:05
Speaker 1: Me you mad, So are you saying that you are
7:08
Speaker 1: not being told that through your structures that you've got
7:11
Speaker 1: out there at Howard Springs and through the department, you're
7:13
Speaker 1: not getting told that staff are concerned about this testing.
7:15
Speaker 3: We're not getting the same feedback up through the ordinary
7:18
Speaker 3: government HR process, which is which isn't necessarily a complaint
7:20
Speaker 3: because obviously they've gone to the unions.
7:22
Speaker 4: That's a perfectly reasonable way to go.
7:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, okay, so Cathacher is saying that as the
7:26
Speaker 1: nursing staff will not be living on Howard Springs anymore,
7:29
Speaker 1: these high risk staff could leave the facility and going
7:32
Speaker 1: to the community as COVID positive and wouldn't possibly know
7:36
Speaker 1: until the next day when they get their PCR saliva
7:39
Speaker 1: test results.
7:40
Speaker 2: I mean, surely that's a worry for you.
7:43
Speaker 3: Well, a bit bigger worry if you're using what a
7:45
Speaker 3: test that we consider inaccurate in the rapid eigene testing,
7:48
Speaker 3: which could see them out in the community for several
7:50
Speaker 3: days effective.
7:51
Speaker 4: So I'm much rather an accurate test. So this is
7:53
Speaker 4: the clinical devices.
7:53
Speaker 3: You're much rather an accurate test than inaccurate test, and
7:56
Speaker 3: the rapid eergen testing. All the advice that we're getting
7:59
Speaker 3: is got inaccuracies.
8:01
Speaker 1: So that's why you've gone down this path. Do you
8:03
Speaker 1: reckon that it's the only way to go in terms
8:06
Speaker 1: of having an accurate result?
8:08
Speaker 3: Yes, So that PCR test is considered significantly more accurate
8:12
Speaker 3: by all the people who are.
8:13
Speaker 4: Working with it.
8:14
Speaker 1: I'm confused because we actually caught up with an epidemiologist
8:17
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago Mary Louise mcclau's and she
8:20
Speaker 1: said that realistically, we shouldn't be making this change. I
8:23
Speaker 1: mean she's on the World Health Organization's panel as well,
8:26
Speaker 1: so she's not just some punter. She's somebody who's obviously
8:29
Speaker 1: an expert in this space.
8:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that advice was rejected by doctor Paine and
8:35
Speaker 3: all the people I've been talking with who are working
8:37
Speaker 3: in the field with the two different tests, and they're
8:39
Speaker 3: saying it's just not good advice. That the PCR test
8:42
Speaker 3: is significantly more accurate.
8:44
Speaker 1: And so the decision was made ultimately and signed off
8:47
Speaker 1: on by that clinical panel.
8:49
Speaker 3: Yes, so that all those kinds of decisions signed off
8:52
Speaker 3: at the clinical level, we obviously get briefed on them
8:54
Speaker 3: and get to talk to amount, we get to ask questions.
8:56
Speaker 3: So I like playing the Devil's advocate role in asking
8:59
Speaker 3: those difficult questions and just really testing the advice and
9:01
Speaker 3: making sure they're thought of everything. But you've got to
9:03
Speaker 3: respect professionals and what they're doing. Have done that all
9:07
Speaker 3: the way through this crisis. I have absolute complete confidence
9:10
Speaker 3: of them. Superb staff Department of Health have done outstanding work.
9:14
Speaker 4: I think you actually get.
9:15
Speaker 1: The name you've sort of got those some of these
9:17
Speaker 1: staff that work for the Department of Health, these nurses
9:19
Speaker 1: who are obviously very worried about this change and are
9:22
Speaker 1: worried about being out there at work and what could happen.
9:24
Speaker 3: Happy to work with any staff at any time about
9:28
Speaker 3: the decisions that we're making and the basis of those decisions.
9:31
Speaker 3: But I think you can argue now that people are
9:33
Speaker 3: got to pain are almost the world's best at dealing
9:35
Speaker 3: with coronavirus. Not the heggy he's coming back to work
9:37
Speaker 3: this week, world's best at dealing with coronavirus.
9:40
Speaker 1: All right, So you are one hundred percent confident that
9:42
Speaker 1: this is the right way to go. You do not
9:44
Speaker 1: feel that there needs to be any change in this
9:46
Speaker 1: space when it comes to the testing of our staff
9:48
Speaker 1: out at Howard Springs.
9:49
Speaker 3: Absolutely, But also all the way I've done through this
9:53
Speaker 3: since we first came across coronavirus is to always accept
9:56
Speaker 3: you have to constantly make change to improve. This is
9:58
Speaker 3: one of those changes have made to improve. But my
10:00
Speaker 3: expectation will be all the clinical staff on site on
10:03
Speaker 3: anything that we're doing on site should constantly be questioning
10:06
Speaker 3: it and seeing if we can do better and so
10:08
Speaker 3: I actually do encourage that kind of questioning because that's
10:10
Speaker 3: how you actually improve on site. So there's been changes
10:13
Speaker 3: made over the journey constantly to all different sorts of
10:16
Speaker 3: practices to make sure we keep getting better. You could
10:18
Speaker 3: argue we were gold standing back in February. We've only
10:21
Speaker 3: ever improved that.
10:22
Speaker 2: But that's kind of the concern, is that we were
10:24
Speaker 2: gold standard.
10:25
Speaker 1: A lot of people felt back in February when OZMTT
10:27
Speaker 1: was managing the facility and when we were following the
10:30
Speaker 1: the directions of what they were doing out there. And
10:33
Speaker 1: I think that that's the concern a lot of people
10:35
Speaker 1: have got at the moment, is there seems to be
10:36
Speaker 1: a lot of change now since the department has taken over,
10:40
Speaker 1: and people are concerned about that.
10:42
Speaker 3: Perhaps I can clarify anything that anyone's ever done on
10:44
Speaker 3: any quarantine facility in any location law territory is signed
10:48
Speaker 3: off by the chief Officer. So nothing OSMAT did happen
10:50
Speaker 3: without sign up from the show. So everything that happens
10:53
Speaker 3: comes under empty Health and is approved by Empty Health
10:56
Speaker 3: and any change any facility, any fictious CYS control program.
11:00
Speaker 3: So I was not to do an outstanding job was
11:02
Speaker 3: always in partnership with Empty Health and Anti Health can
11:05
Speaker 3: absolutely take as much credit as osmatt.
11:07
Speaker 4: I don't like this, asked them.
11:08
Speaker 3: Fine, I think both Empty Health and OMA are superb
11:10
Speaker 3: and excellent, But the idea that I was operating isolation
11:14
Speaker 3: is also incorrect. If that's where some of this confidence
11:17
Speaker 3: issues that come from, I'm happy to correct that.
11:18
Speaker 4: Always done.
11:19
Speaker 3: One Hume sent partship of Empty Health and the chow
11:21
Speaker 3: has final signed off on everything.
11:23
Speaker 2: All right, let's move along.
11:24
Speaker 1: If you were listening to the show last week, a
11:26
Speaker 1: lot of people would know that we were well. There
11:28
Speaker 1: was a lot of upset people following the cancelation of
11:31
Speaker 1: their rooms that they booked weeks and some months ago.
11:34
Speaker 1: At the quest in Behrama, we then learned the hotel
11:37
Speaker 1: had been booked out by the Health Department. Now, over
11:40
Speaker 1: the weekend, the Northern Territory News reported that a high
11:43
Speaker 1: ranking government official had confirmed that the apartments have been
11:46
Speaker 1: booked out for staff that will be working out at
11:49
Speaker 1: the Howard Springs facility. Chief Minister, Why has the government
11:53
Speaker 1: been so secretive about this?
11:55
Speaker 3: I'm not sure to be honest, It's not something I've
11:57
Speaker 3: dealt with during the last week. Mindsetting is into Health
12:00
Speaker 3: have booked those apartments. I feel sorry for anyone who's
12:02
Speaker 3: had their booking canceled. My assumption, and I'll go back
12:05
Speaker 3: and talk to our procument people, is that when we
12:07
Speaker 3: go to make bookings, we obviously made assumption that those
12:09
Speaker 3: rooms are available, right, so Quest have made decision businesscision
12:13
Speaker 3: to cancel bookings. I don't think that's a good call personally.
12:17
Speaker 3: I think people are the right to have their bookings honored.
12:19
Speaker 3: So I'm sorry that's happened to them. It wasn't obviously
12:22
Speaker 3: our intention and making our bookings that we would see
12:25
Speaker 3: others have theirs there's canceled. The territory is pumping at
12:29
Speaker 3: the moment. I've got lots of people coming to town.
12:30
Speaker 3: We don't want them having a bad experience. So apologies
12:33
Speaker 3: for that, but mindsetting is and you know, we do
12:36
Speaker 3: this stuff all the time. Department Health made accommodation bookings,
12:39
Speaker 3: and I believe that we've always made assumptions when we
12:42
Speaker 3: make bookings we're taking available rooms, not kicking people out.
12:45
Speaker 1: How long has the Quest been booked out the whole
12:48
Speaker 1: you know, the hotel for the health department.
12:50
Speaker 4: I can find out that information for you if you like. Kadi.
12:52
Speaker 4: It's not something that's coming in direct to me well.
12:55
Speaker 1: Because I guess you know, at the end of the day,
12:56
Speaker 1: presumably it's being funded by the tax payer.
12:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, so Health main department prog do this.
13:04
Speaker 3: I have often had arrangements aroun accommodation to help with
13:06
Speaker 3: specialists through other staff as they come in out, So
13:09
Speaker 3: anty Health might be best place to answer some of
13:11
Speaker 3: those questions about duration and mix.
13:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean it's a hard one because I guess
13:15
Speaker 1: we all understand that we need to accommodate staff for
13:17
Speaker 1: Howard Springs, but it is an incredibly bad look for
13:20
Speaker 1: tourism when you think about the impression that it leaves
13:23
Speaker 1: on tourists coming to Darwin. I guess the hard thing
13:26
Speaker 1: is at the moment as well, as we have got
13:28
Speaker 1: the Health minister who's handling the health portfolio and also
13:31
Speaker 1: handling the tourism portfolio, and I know that last week
13:34
Speaker 1: when I spoke to her about this, I said, can
13:36
Speaker 1: you take your health hat off for a minute and
13:38
Speaker 1: take a look at this as the tourism minister, Because
13:40
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, these are two pretty
13:42
Speaker 1: conflicting situations. I mean, is it appropriate that we've got
13:46
Speaker 1: the same person dealing with both of those portfolios, it.
13:49
Speaker 4: Would be extremely rare. I think that through them the
13:51
Speaker 4: health come into conflict.
13:53
Speaker 3: But my opinion as a government is you always have
13:55
Speaker 3: one policy, one voice, and so Minister, you always be
13:57
Speaker 3: capable of carrying obviously multiple folios. We all carry my
14:00
Speaker 3: ultiple portfolios because there's only ever one answer. Right, whatever
14:03
Speaker 3: I say to commercial fishes, I should be say to
14:06
Speaker 3: wreck fishes. Whatever I say to the health industry should be.
14:09
Speaker 2: Our differences though at the moment that we're in a pandemic.
14:12
Speaker 3: Yes, so I think Natasha does an excellent job. I
14:17
Speaker 3: think she's really hit the ground running as tourism minister.
14:19
Speaker 3: I think the tourism seasons are going extremely well at
14:22
Speaker 3: the moment. I don't see those portfolios as ones being
14:24
Speaker 3: in conflict, the ones that certainly Natasha is a very
14:27
Speaker 3: good senior minister can't handle.
14:29
Speaker 1: So I don't think anyone's questioning whether she can handle it.
14:31
Speaker 1: But I think what we're questioning is sort of whether
14:34
Speaker 1: it's appropriate then when you've got a situation like this
14:36
Speaker 1: one to have the same person dealing with, you know,
14:38
Speaker 1: a very conflicting situation, has the quest been booked out
14:42
Speaker 1: until the end of the year.
14:44
Speaker 3: I wouldn't have that answer about the length of time
14:46
Speaker 3: of booking. Katie could follow up. But also I would
14:48
Speaker 3: say that the Minister for Health doesn't do the bookings
14:52
Speaker 3: for staff. I think most you can probably appreciate that,
14:55
Speaker 3: and I think Minster Health be similar to me, would
14:57
Speaker 3: make an assumption around procurement that when gouvernment goes out
15:00
Speaker 3: to the book a room, it's an available room and
15:02
Speaker 3: you're not canceling someone's booking. So I feel for the
15:04
Speaker 3: people who had their rooms canceled. That would that would
15:06
Speaker 3: not ever be the intention of government.
15:08
Speaker 2: Is now the time to bring bladon Point online.
15:10
Speaker 4: So blame Point is online, it's got a thousand people
15:12
Speaker 4: out there.
15:12
Speaker 2: To use it for staff like the Howard Springs stuff.
15:16
Speaker 3: I don't think that's how you would probably choose to
15:18
Speaker 3: accommodate people you probably don't want.
15:20
Speaker 4: I mean, I could take advice on that, Okay, I
15:22
Speaker 4: won't just roll it out of hand.
15:23
Speaker 3: But I don't think that would be the right way
15:26
Speaker 3: of using bladon Villages around twelve hundred beds out there,
15:29
Speaker 3: maybe just under thirteen hundred around the military is taken
15:31
Speaker 3: around one thousand, so minderstanding is around two hundred available.
15:35
Speaker 3: I don't know if the military have any spikes above
15:36
Speaker 3: a thousand coming up about how they want to use
15:38
Speaker 3: those rooms. My preference will be if we could ever
15:41
Speaker 3: get those rooms online and be resource on tents. I
15:44
Speaker 3: think peoplen understand the logistics of operating two. You look
15:46
Speaker 3: at bringing people in rather than housing people there, if
15:50
Speaker 3: that makes sense.
15:50
Speaker 1: Okay, Now, last time you were in the studio, we
15:53
Speaker 1: spoke about the situation with the Treaty Commissioner following allegations
15:56
Speaker 1: he'd verbally abused women. The Treaty Commissioner has remaine in
16:00
Speaker 1: that job two hundred and ninety thousand dollars a year,
16:03
Speaker 1: taxpayer funded job after taking sick leave almost two weeks ago.
16:08
Speaker 1: Has he advised the government of his intentions.
16:11
Speaker 3: My understanding is his sick leave expires midweek Wednesday Thursday.
16:16
Speaker 3: Song On those lines, he has not provided us any
16:19
Speaker 3: advice today about what his intentions will be when that
16:22
Speaker 3: sick leave expires. I think we've made our position extremely
16:25
Speaker 3: clear about what we want to do here, both in
16:27
Speaker 3: terms of how we want to handle that complaint, but
16:29
Speaker 3: also how we want to make sure the treaty process
16:31
Speaker 3: doesn't fall over through the handling of that complaint.
16:33
Speaker 4: So this is a big thing for us.
16:35
Speaker 3: So we're hoping we'll get a clear answer from him
16:39
Speaker 3: midweek about what he intends to do. And obviously between
16:42
Speaker 3: now and then, I will obey the employment law like we.
16:45
Speaker 2: Will have to have you directly asked him to stand
16:47
Speaker 2: down or will you.
16:48
Speaker 3: Be so that conversation has been held by the Treaty
16:52
Speaker 3: Minister and we have formally communicated to him our intentions,
16:56
Speaker 3: and as we made that correspondence available, we're simply now
16:59
Speaker 3: way he knows exactly where everything stands.
17:02
Speaker 4: We're now waiting to see what he will do.
17:05
Speaker 1: My understanding is that the administrator can suspend him. She's
17:08
Speaker 1: got the power to do so if she deems him
17:11
Speaker 1: mentally or physically incapable of doing the job, which he
17:15
Speaker 1: clearly is, if he has had to take two weeks
17:17
Speaker 1: sick leave to deal with how to deal with his
17:19
Speaker 1: PTSD cause to him, well, by making these comments to
17:26
Speaker 1: a woman, are you making moves to do this?
17:31
Speaker 3: We will wait to see what his answer is first,
17:34
Speaker 3: before then we step before we then step through what
17:37
Speaker 3: we can do next. I think Parliament's probably a cleaner
17:40
Speaker 3: option mindstanding under employment law, the administrator's path has probably
17:45
Speaker 3: got difficulties to it as well. Unfortunately, there's probably no
17:48
Speaker 3: simple path through this. If the Treaty Commissioner chooses to
17:51
Speaker 3: take a path of.
17:52
Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing.
17:53
Speaker 1: But I guess at the moment, you know it just
17:55
Speaker 1: it seems odd to me that he's allowed to sit
17:58
Speaker 1: and linger in that position.
18:00
Speaker 3: Well, that's the protections of a ployment law, and it's
18:03
Speaker 3: one of those ones. You've got to be careful in
18:04
Speaker 3: this face too. There's you can't, for the exception, cancel
18:10
Speaker 3: the rule. If that makes sense. I understand there's plenty
18:12
Speaker 3: of people out there and plenty of different jobs who
18:14
Speaker 3: might need sick leave occasionally. You've got to be very
18:16
Speaker 3: careful how to handle this and how I handle this
18:18
Speaker 3: one incident. You don't want to impact on others. So
18:20
Speaker 3: we've got to be careful through it. But as a government,
18:22
Speaker 3: we've made our position clear and we'll do everything we
18:25
Speaker 3: can to clean it up, depending on what he says.
18:28
Speaker 1: Okay, does we know that the COLP last month said
18:30
Speaker 1: that they're preparing emotion to move on an urgency in
18:33
Speaker 1: the June sittings to remove him from that role. If
18:36
Speaker 1: he doesn't resign first, I mean, why are we in
18:39
Speaker 1: a situation where the oppositions are the ones standing up
18:42
Speaker 1: and saying that this behavior isn't acceptable, but the government
18:44
Speaker 1: are allowing him to stay in the role.
18:47
Speaker 3: I think I've answer that Kadid in the sense that
18:48
Speaker 3: we don't think is acceptable. We've made our pursun extremely clear.
18:52
Speaker 3: No government right now, whether it's us or that the
18:54
Speaker 3: Silpye God for me, the silpy had the controls, can
18:58
Speaker 3: actually ignore the law put together.
19:02
Speaker 1: So if you are you guys going to do the same,
19:04
Speaker 1: Are you preparing emotion to have him removed if there
19:06
Speaker 1: isn't a decision.
19:07
Speaker 4: Made or we've made it clear that we will active.
19:09
Speaker 2: Needed, So are you preparing emotion?
19:12
Speaker 3: Well that that takes about forty five seconds, So we're
19:16
Speaker 3: just let's just be clear. He's currently on sick leave.
19:18
Speaker 3: He'll make a decision midweek about what he intends to do.
19:21
Speaker 3: Based off whatever he does, then we'll then make it
19:23
Speaker 3: clear what we're going to do next, whether it's emotion
19:25
Speaker 3: in parliament or the pathway through the administrator or other
19:28
Speaker 3: options that may may or may not exist. So that's
19:31
Speaker 3: where we're at, where we will do the things that
19:33
Speaker 3: we need to do to make sure that treaty process
19:36
Speaker 3: doesn't fall over.
19:37
Speaker 1: So Wednesday is when we'll expect to know exactly what's
19:41
Speaker 1: what's going to happen.
19:42
Speaker 3: I'll make sure you get that in fashion today, Kati
19:44
Speaker 3: about whether it's Wednesday or Thursday, but my saying midweek.
19:48
Speaker 1: Okay, we are going to have to leave it their
19:49
Speaker 1: Chief Minister Michael Gunnett, thank you very much for your
19:51
Speaker 1: time this morning.
19:52
Speaker 4: Thank you