Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce believes local watering holes are officially the "frontline in the Covid culture wars", with borders opened but restrictions not eased for venues

Transcript

Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce believes local watering holes are officially the "frontline in the Covid culture wars", with borders opened but restrictions not eased for venues · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: That on Friday, the government announced that those changes would
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: come into place when it comes to those border entries
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and no longer needing a border entry form when entering
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, So essentially you no longer need to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: be double vax to travel from interstate now. The change, though,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: has many questioning why we are continuing with check ins
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and other mandates when the government's totally relaxed the borders. Now,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the CEO of Hospitality here in the Northern Territory, Alex Bruce,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: joins me on the line right now.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Alex.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. It's official. Your local watering hole is
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: now the front line in the COVID culture wars.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: It sounds that way, Alex.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Were you surprised when the government came out and announced, Well,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: they didn't actually come out. They sent out a press
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: release on Friday afternoon saying that those border entry requirements
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: were no longer needed, but you know, the hospitality industry
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: is obviously going to be having to check that everyone's vaccinated.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Still.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Look, it did make sense that the border form wasted
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: in line with the international borders opening today, but we
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: very much expected to see the check in app the
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: now redundant checking system that they're not even using scrapped
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: as well. You know, we just heard from the minister.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: You did a pretty good interview, but she tried to
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: best not to answer anything directly with you. You know,
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: the same logic applies that we're high vaxed that bugger
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: or people were crossing the border that were low vaxed,
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: yet we have to patrol within our clubs. Still talk
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: about a double standard, Katie Well, and this is.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I think what's got people quite concerned at the moment.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: They're wondering, you know, why are we in a situation
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: where you're still having a check in where you still
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: have a mandate for people to get triple VAXX to
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: be able to go to work, but you're allowed to
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: travel into the territory.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: That's it. So you can probably come and socialize with
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: territorians at the local swimming pool or the local council library.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: You may or may not be able to get a beer,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: but you definitely won't be able to get a job
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: with us. Isn't that just bizarre?
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is I think at the moment there's
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: some real confusion around the place. A lot of people
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: sort of wondering why we need some rules and not others. Alex,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: what impact is this going to have now? Is it
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: going to change in any way? Do you think when
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: it comes to staff in hospitality having to check people's
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: vaccination status?
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Olive, We just want equity across the system. Remember two
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: years ago, everyone was sitting around the fire with a
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: guitar saying we're all in this together. We're now, you know,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: feeling like we're right out on the limb. There is
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: no science that backs up that a licensed versus that
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: unlicensed cafe carries more risk. There is no science that
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: treats an outdoor licensed cafe like a heaving, steaming nightclub.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: But we ignore the gyms. You know, you can poke
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: holes in this every which way. And our advice to
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: government on this is, you know, the longer that they
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: keep redundant systems in place, it really does start to
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: impact the public confidence in the public health response and
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: starts to look more about control than health.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Alex.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: It sounds as though your stuff did he get quite
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: pissed off about it all to be blunt.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: Oh look, Katie. Last week doctor Nick Coatsworth, former Deputy
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: Chief Medical Officer of Australia. You know, so the scientist,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: the expert, he knows what he's talking about. He let
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: the cat out of the bag. COVID, especially the current strain,
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: is now less concerning than the flu. He's calling for
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: an immediate end for all masks in classrooms as a priority.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: You know, why are we indoctrinating our kids to be fearful,
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: to socialize and grow up normally?
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Katie, Well, I guess some I'm listening this morning, though,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: We'll say, you know, we've now got fifteen deaths as
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: a result of COVID. Many of those did have underlying
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: health issues. But there is a real impact within our
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: hospitals at the moment as well.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: There is, and that impact is thirty percent less hospitalization
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: than there was two weeks ago. That's fifty one less
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: people in hospital than there were two weeks ago with
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: not due to COVID. The government has never declared how
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: many people are popping up in their stats with COVID,
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: but with underlying issues. You know, we heard from the Nurses'
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: union laugh week that someone that goes in with a
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: broken leg clogs up the hospital bed for seven days
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: if they test a symptomatic positive. You know, we really
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: need to be interrogating this stuff more. But yeah, we're
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: thirty percent better off and we've got one or two
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: people in ICU as we have buy and large for
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: the last two months with COVID. So that everyone that
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: is advocating that position and the government that's defending it,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: are they saying one or two people in our ICU
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: system with COVID is too much for our system to
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: cope with. It doesn't sound like a very robust system, Katie.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Now, Alex, you've been calling for a couple of weeks
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: now for this check in system to be scrapped. Why
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: is this so important that you know, you feel as
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: though it needs to go. Obviously, listening to the Health
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: minister this morning, sounds like the check in system is
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: going to be the system required to, you know, make
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: sure people are vaccinated.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Well, you don't need to if they're going to maintain
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: the vax passport on us almost exclusively on one section
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  Speaker 3: of the society, which we don't think is fair or
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: just all backed up by the science. But if they
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: were going to do that, there are those government apps
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: on both iPhone and Android phones directly from you can
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: download your medicare data, so we don't need the territory
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: checking app at all. And if they're going to scrap
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: it from you know, Cole's Wooly petrol stations, fair enough.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: You know it is absolutely not doing anything. The generic
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: message you get is if you have got symptoms, please
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: get tested. How about they just calm everything down, put
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: that on some bus wraps and drive them around town.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Alex, what impact like when you talk about some of
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: the different venues, especially when you go, all right, well,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: if you've got a cafe that doesn't serve alcohol, you
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: don't need to be checking people's vaccination status. But if
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: you do serve alcohol, my understanding is that you then
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: do need to be checking their vax status. What kind
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: of impact does that have on some of our businesses?
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Are some businesses being forced to employ additional security to
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: check that people are checking.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: In some are a lot more of very very concerned.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: You know, people can probably get around the rules if
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: they want to, and so therefore the liability doesn't just
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: rest with that individual that keeps getting threatened with a
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: five and a half thousand dollar fine. That any business
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: that's not taking reasonable steps to inch enforce these mandates
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: can get a twenty five thousand dollar fine, So that's
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: hanging over the heads. You know, we're not comfortable about it.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: More and more of our customers aren't comfortable about it
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: and starting to question more and more of the absolute
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: futility of it all. So you know, we just think
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: for the government, don't hold on to your control and
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: new restrictions too long. We need a clear change of approach.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Alex.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Just finally, these international borders are opening today. It's obviously
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: a good thing. Is industry fairly excited? It was sort
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: of cautious. I'm assuming that there's not huge numbers of
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: people arriving, but we'll find out more when we catch
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: up with the airport in just a short time.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: But how are you guys feeling this morning?
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Look, it's positive. It's been two years coming, and particularly
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: so Glenn and Daniels broad a membership out in the
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: tourism space TTE and Tourism Central Australia. A lot of
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: these businesses have been all but dormant or hibernating for
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: a couple of years, so hopefully they're planning to gear
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: back up and have a good season this year. For us,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: we just want as simple a rules to follow as
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: possible and not the chopping and changing that we're still getting.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Well, Alex Bruce, it's all getting a bit confusing. It
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: has been for quite some time. But yeah, we'll wait
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: and see exactly when the government makes some changes. It
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: didn't sound like they're planning to do anything in a
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: real hurry.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Did it, look I didn't. But we're still waiting for
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: the Chow direction for the employee mandate that was announced
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: weeks and weeks ago, so you know, maybe that is
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: a sign that behind the scenes they're starting to read
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: the room a little bit. You know, the community's views
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: on this are changing, and they're changing for the better.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Let's all just carry carry on and have a cracking year.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's see how we go.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Alex Bruce, the Hospitality t CEO, always appreciate your time.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Thanks for chatting with me this morning.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: Cheers, Gatie, Well, thank you