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Katie Woolf spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles · 360 with Katie Woolf

0:00
Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is the Minister for Tourism
0:02
Speaker 1: of Major Events and also the Health Minister, Natasha Files.
0:06
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.
0:09
Speaker 1: Now, Minister, a tragic situation at the Fink on the
0:12
Speaker 1: weekend with the death of a spectator. NT Police have
0:16
Speaker 1: confirmed that a man in his sixties was killed after
0:19
Speaker 1: being struck by a vehicle while watching the Fink Desert
0:22
Speaker 1: Race on the weekend. Two others have been injured. Minister,
0:27
Speaker 1: what was your reaction upon hearing about this tragic situation?
0:32
Speaker 2: On absolute tragedy as you just said, Katie, and my
0:35
Speaker 2: heart goes out to the victims, families and those people
0:38
Speaker 2: that are not well and being cared for in hospital,
0:40
Speaker 2: but also the broadest Entrailian community to think is such
0:43
Speaker 2: an iconic event. I know people whether they're interomotorspoort or
0:46
Speaker 2: not in Central Australia and in fact territory wide, love
0:49
Speaker 2: the event. They get out there and camp along the trap.
0:52
Speaker 2: So an absolute tragedy and everyone will be reeling right now.
0:55
Speaker 1: What is the process now for organizers? I know that
0:58
Speaker 1: there has been some disc USh and commentary that those
1:01
Speaker 1: spectators were too close, but what is the process now
1:04
Speaker 1: for those organizers.
1:07
Speaker 2: Yes, I have heard some of those spectators and the
1:09
Speaker 2: comments that have made through the media. But we've got
1:11
Speaker 2: a number of investigations. Police have established a crime scene.
1:14
Speaker 2: We also will see a coronial investigation and so we
1:18
Speaker 2: need to await the outcomes of these investigations and see
1:21
Speaker 2: what they say. But right now, an absolute tragedy and
1:25
Speaker 2: I can imagine the community is in shock.
1:27
Speaker 1: Yeah. Have you spoken to many people in the community
1:29
Speaker 1: this morning or over the weekend and you know what
1:32
Speaker 1: have they said to you.
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Speaker 2: I've heard from people that are involved in the race
1:37
Speaker 2: and they're absolutely in shock. But they're getting on with
1:40
Speaker 2: what needs to be done right now. But yes, the community,
1:43
Speaker 2: you know, such a happy, fun event, an iconic event,
1:46
Speaker 2: and to have this tragedy, people can't believe it.
1:50
Speaker 1: All right, minister, Let's move along to another serious situation
1:53
Speaker 1: on the weekend, a PPE breach at the dah And Port.
1:57
Speaker 1: The Curtein Port workers were apparently involved in servicing a
2:00
Speaker 1: ship which had arrived from overseas. Why were these workers
2:05
Speaker 1: not wearing the appropriate PPE so Katie.
2:08
Speaker 2: Commercial vessels entering the Northern Territory are processed by Australian
2:11
Speaker 2: Border Force in the Australian Department of Agriculture, and everyone
2:14
Speaker 2: has to adhere to the COVID nineteen border rival conditions,
2:17
Speaker 2: and we also need anyone working down there to wear
2:21
Speaker 2: full PPE, and so the failure to wear full PPE
2:25
Speaker 2: puts everyone at risk, particularly those port workers. And so
2:29
Speaker 2: whilst no one on board that vessel is reported to
2:32
Speaker 2: be displaying symptoms of COVID nineteen, we can see transmission
2:36
Speaker 2: take place without any symptoms, and so ant authorities have
2:39
Speaker 2: undertaken appropriate processes and we have seen these port workers
2:43
Speaker 2: go into mandatory quarantine as a result of those PPA breaches.
2:47
Speaker 1: So whose decision was it for those workers to then
2:50
Speaker 1: go into mandatory quarantine as a result of the PPE breaches?
2:55
Speaker 2: But Katie, the Chief Health Officer directed those thirteen port
2:57
Speaker 2: workers into fourteen days mandatory ships quarantine for not wearing
3:02
Speaker 2: the PPE as they boarded an international vessel where crew
3:05
Speaker 2: members were undertaking those quarantine arrangements.
3:07
Speaker 1: Now, my understanding is that the health authorities were there
3:11
Speaker 1: and gave them the go ahead to board, but then
3:13
Speaker 1: backflipped and workers were advised that that PPE wasn't to scratch.
3:17
Speaker 1: I can't understand why we're sort of this far into
3:20
Speaker 1: a pandemic and we still have confusion about PPE.
3:24
Speaker 2: Katie, I'm not aware of that detail, but what I
3:26
Speaker 2: can say is that wearing a full PPE is a
3:29
Speaker 2: very reliable method of stopping transmission and it's something that
3:32
Speaker 2: those workers or people interacting with these vessels need to undertake.
3:37
Speaker 2: So our Chief Health Officer has made a decision, a
3:39
Speaker 2: tough decision, absolutely, but a decision to protect our broader community.
3:43
Speaker 1: So were they though initially given the go ahead, but
3:46
Speaker 1: then that was revoked and then now having to spend
3:48
Speaker 1: that fourteen days in quarantine.
3:51
Speaker 2: Katie, I'm not aware of that detail. What I've been
3:53
Speaker 2: advised is that the Chief Health Officer has directed them
3:55
Speaker 2: into quarantine as a result of the PPE breaches as
3:58
Speaker 2: they boarded an international vessel, were premembered to undertake in
4:01
Speaker 2: that quarantine. As I just said, all.
4:03
Speaker 1: Right, Minister, we have had quite a few people get
4:05
Speaker 1: in contact with us about this over the course of
4:07
Speaker 1: the weekend. I'll just read one of these emails out
4:10
Speaker 1: to you from Dave and it says, why are the
4:12
Speaker 1: wolf workers in Howard Springs where most of them have
4:15
Speaker 1: had the vaccine, Why was the ship allowed in and
4:19
Speaker 1: why are we in this situation.
4:22
Speaker 2: So, Katie, we've seen regular vessels arriving into the Northern
4:25
Speaker 2: Territory and right around Australia during these COVID times. They
4:28
Speaker 2: bring importance supplies for Australia and also we send you
4:33
Speaker 2: things such as catalog show and so we have the
4:36
Speaker 2: chow directions around wolf workers and what needs to be undertaken.
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Speaker 2: And the chief Health officer here has detected a breach
4:44
Speaker 2: and that's why he's made the decision that these people
4:47
Speaker 2: need to go into quarantine.
4:48
Speaker 1: Okay, we also know on Saturday morning, the Health Department
4:52
Speaker 1: has confirmed that a Darwin family that returned from a
4:56
Speaker 1: regional Victorian hot spot earlier last week spent several hours
5:00
Speaker 1: in the community before authorities realized that they should have
5:03
Speaker 1: gone into supervised quarantine. Now it's being reported by the
5:06
Speaker 1: ABC Online that the family touched down in the early
5:09
Speaker 1: hours of Monday morning and was allowed by screening staff
5:13
Speaker 1: to return to their home. How did this happen, so, Katie.
5:18
Speaker 2: I do understand that there was an operational issue in
5:21
Speaker 2: which people were inadvertently it wasn't realized that they had
5:24
Speaker 2: been in a hot spot. It was quickly detected and
5:27
Speaker 2: they those measures have been put in place, so we
5:30
Speaker 2: will see this from time to time. Everyone is trying
5:32
Speaker 2: their best. But we had been an inverted breach of
5:37
Speaker 2: the direction, but was quickly rectified.
5:39
Speaker 1: All right, It's unfortunately not the only case by the
5:43
Speaker 1: look of verse. On Saturday afternoon, the Department confirmed that
5:46
Speaker 1: two boarding school students were mistakenly released from Howard Springs
5:50
Speaker 1: when the Regional Victorian hotspot was revoked, despite the school's
5:54
Speaker 1: location falling into the Greater Melbourne category. Is this situation
5:59
Speaker 1: with the hotspots because coming a bit too confusing? Is
6:01
Speaker 1: that what's happening.
6:02
Speaker 2: Here, Katie? It certainly is complex, particularly with Victoria being
6:08
Speaker 2: split into regional and metropolitan. Everyone is trying their best.
6:12
Speaker 2: That's while we need clear information from territorians and people
6:15
Speaker 2: arriving into the territory on their border declaration form. And
6:19
Speaker 2: also we try and make sure that the latest advice
6:22
Speaker 2: from the Chief Health Officer is quickly put in place
6:25
Speaker 2: so that those on the borders and within the quarantine
6:28
Speaker 2: centers have that latest information. But we apologize. These breaches
6:32
Speaker 2: have been reviewed, Everything is reviewed. The risk is very
6:35
Speaker 2: very low, but we do certainly see from time to
6:38
Speaker 2: time these things happening.
6:39
Speaker 1: I mean look, I guess at the end of the day,
6:41
Speaker 1: we can say that the risk is very, very low.
6:43
Speaker 1: But you have long said, as has the Chief Minister,
6:46
Speaker 1: that all it takes is one case. Are these situations
6:49
Speaker 1: good enough in your eyes?
6:52
Speaker 2: So, Katie, we're working within a complex if then no,
6:55
Speaker 2: I don't think that it's good enough to see breaches.
6:57
Speaker 2: But where humans and from time to time you will
7:00
Speaker 2: see things happen. But these things are being quickly picked
7:03
Speaker 2: up and rectified, and that is why we have to
7:06
Speaker 2: put in place a number of measures. That's why people
7:08
Speaker 2: need to get vaccinated. That's why we need people to
7:10
Speaker 2: provide accurate information on their border forms, and we also
7:14
Speaker 2: make sure that our staff have as much information as
7:16
Speaker 2: possible in our train.
7:17
Speaker 1: By the sounds of things, though accurate information was provided
7:21
Speaker 1: on those border forms. So are you concerned that staff
7:24
Speaker 1: a dropping the ball?
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Speaker 2: But Katie, of course, these incidents broadly are concerning Any
7:29
Speaker 2: breaches that possibly put the community at risk is a concern.
7:33
Speaker 2: And following any breach or any incident, there is a
7:36
Speaker 2: review undertaken so that we don't make the same mistakes again.
7:39
Speaker 2: But this is a complex space that we're dealing in.
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Speaker 1: Okay, So again, I'll ask, I mean, are you concerned
7:44
Speaker 1: that the staff are dropping the ball here?
7:47
Speaker 2: Our staff are working very hard, Katie. They're working in
7:49
Speaker 2: trying conditions right across the Northern Territory and we need
7:52
Speaker 2: to remember that we're all human and people are trying
7:55
Speaker 2: their best. There's a number of measures in place to
7:57
Speaker 2: protect our community. Following any incident, things are reviewed and
8:01
Speaker 2: if we can make changes that help keep your community safe,
8:03
Speaker 2: we will do so.
8:04
Speaker 1: All right, where are we at at the moment with
8:06
Speaker 1: the Melbourne hot Spot? I do know that obviously the
8:08
Speaker 1: supercars are coming up this weekend and with your other
8:11
Speaker 1: hat on as the Tourism and Minister for major events,
8:15
Speaker 1: you must be hoping that we're in a situation where
8:17
Speaker 1: we can see those visitors here from Melbourne.
8:22
Speaker 2: So, Katie, the decisions that we made by our Chief
8:24
Speaker 2: Health Officer based on the safety of territoriums. We've seen
8:26
Speaker 2: some very promising results coming out of Victoria, and we
8:29
Speaker 2: saw the regional Victoria declaration lifted late last week. I
8:33
Speaker 2: should say so he'll participate. He has participated in HPPC
8:37
Speaker 2: across the long weekend. They will make sure that we
8:40
Speaker 2: have the latest advice and any decisions that can be made,
8:44
Speaker 2: whether it's in relation to lifting that hot spot or
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Speaker 2: refining it any further. As soon as those decisions are
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Speaker 2: made by the Emergency Management we subcommittee of Cabinet.
8:52
Speaker 1: When are you anticipating that When are you anticipating that
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Speaker 1: that'll happen?
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Speaker 2: So HPPC has been daily cross a long weekend. The
9:01
Speaker 2: Chief Health Officer will participate again today and so the
9:05
Speaker 2: advice is coming through very regularly. And as I said,
9:08
Speaker 2: it's looking promising in Victoria, but we won't make any
9:10
Speaker 2: decisions until we're absolutely certain that that's the safest decision
9:13
Speaker 2: for the territory.
9:14
Speaker 1: But the reality is it could happen as early as today.
9:18
Speaker 2: Okatie, I don't have any indication on timing. What I
9:21
Speaker 2: can say is the low case numbers in Victoria are promising.
9:24
Speaker 2: But we have seen and I think the Victorian authorities
9:27
Speaker 2: are waiting on the results of one particular location. But
9:30
Speaker 2: we won't make these decisions based around events or flight schedules.
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Speaker 2: Will base the decisions around clinical information to keep our
9:36
Speaker 2: community safe. If it happens to fall on the right
9:39
Speaker 2: side for some people, that's fortunate, but that is not
9:42
Speaker 2: the reason that those decisions will be made. It's based
9:44
Speaker 2: off the clinical information from HVBC and in this case
9:47
Speaker 2: the Victorian authorities. To our Chief Health Officer.
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Speaker 1: All right, Minister, we will power through because I know
9:52
Speaker 1: that you are busy this morning and we've got a
9:54
Speaker 1: lot to get through. You are out at RDH this morning.
9:57
Speaker 1: Royal dar And Hospital. Last week reports of patients being
10:01
Speaker 1: taken by ambulance from Royal dah And Hospital to the
10:04
Speaker 1: emergency department at Palmerston Regional Hospital, only to be sent
10:09
Speaker 1: back if they needed to be admitted. Top End Health
10:12
Speaker 1: Service apparently recently informs staff of a policy change that
10:16
Speaker 1: when ramping occurs at Royal da And Hospital, ambulances will
10:20
Speaker 1: be sent from the ramp to the Palmerston Hospital to
10:22
Speaker 1: offload patients. Is this happening, so.
10:26
Speaker 2: Katie, we have Royzalen Hospital and a Palmeston Regional Hospital
10:29
Speaker 2: are two campuses of the same hospital under that Royalzalwen
10:33
Speaker 2: and Parmerstan Regional Hospital, and so the beds are utilized
10:36
Speaker 2: in clinically safe ways to care for people. And so
10:40
Speaker 2: in terms of the situation that you've just described, it
10:43
Speaker 2: could happen, but it would be based on clinical information
10:47
Speaker 2: and it would be based on the bed availability. So
10:49
Speaker 2: the two hospitals work together to deliver health services across
10:51
Speaker 2: the top end.
10:52
Speaker 1: So has it been happening in recent weeks?
10:55
Speaker 2: So, Katie, across St Palmeston Regional Hospital opened a couple
11:00
Speaker 2: of years ago. You will see patients transferred between the
11:04
Speaker 2: two facilities depending on their clinical need and depending on
11:07
Speaker 2: better availability. So there's a number of fairs at Palmerston
11:10
Speaker 2: Hospital that provides support to Royzalen Hospital.
11:13
Speaker 1: But have we got a situation right now where our
11:15
Speaker 1: paramedics are having well initially taking patients to Royal Darwin
11:20
Speaker 1: Hospital only to be then sent out to the Palmerston
11:23
Speaker 1: Hospital to offload those patients.
11:26
Speaker 2: So Katie, those decisions are clinical, so the ambulances decide
11:31
Speaker 2: which hospital they'll take individuals too based on their clinical
11:34
Speaker 2: need and then the better availability again plays into clinically
11:40
Speaker 2: the clinical care that someone needs for these two hospitals.
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Speaker 2: I think it's really important for the community, particularly here
11:45
Speaker 2: in the top end, to understand they work together. So
11:47
Speaker 2: it's not unusual for someone to be in Royal Zalen
11:50
Speaker 2: Hospital and for them to be cared for at Palmerston
11:53
Speaker 2: Regional Hospital. Equally, someone could be at Palmerston and they
11:56
Speaker 2: might need the clinical services at Royal Zalen and they'll
11:59
Speaker 2: be transferred.
12:00
Speaker 1: Look, I guess the concern here is that we're seriously
12:03
Speaker 1: understaffed at at Royal Darwin Hospital and that there's not
12:06
Speaker 1: enough beds to actually admit patients who need a bed
12:10
Speaker 1: and so they're being taken out to the Palmeston Hospital.
12:13
Speaker 1: Is that what's happening.
12:15
Speaker 2: So, Katie, we have a number of factors staff availability
12:19
Speaker 2: and staffing is an issue across the Northern Territory as
12:23
Speaker 2: it is across Australia. But also we have to look
12:25
Speaker 2: at the bed flow and that's the work that the
12:27
Speaker 2: Department of Health is undertaking, particularly with our new Chief Executive.
12:31
Speaker 2: We're looking at the flows of beds and so someone
12:33
Speaker 2: enters the hospital through the emergency department, then they need
12:36
Speaker 2: to go to a particular area in the hospital, but
12:38
Speaker 2: they have to be medically cleared to do so. So
12:40
Speaker 2: these are complex but we're working through that flow to
12:42
Speaker 2: make it as efficient as possible and equally for someone
12:45
Speaker 2: to be discharged, there is often complexities around that. Are
12:48
Speaker 2: they waiting on pharmacy, are they waiting to go back
12:50
Speaker 2: to a remote community, and so that is why we've
12:52
Speaker 2: got services such as the Transit Lounge and the Lorraine
12:55
Speaker 2: Brennan Center to help the flow of Royal Dalen Hospital.
12:58
Speaker 2: So yes, we have seen pressure on Royals are in
13:01
Speaker 2: hospital and bed demand, but we can work through this
13:04
Speaker 2: and that is what we're undertaking right now.
13:06
Speaker 1: Is that pressure on the staff and also bed demand well,
13:11
Speaker 1: particularly the staffing. Is that being caused by having to
13:14
Speaker 1: also staff Howard Springs.
13:18
Speaker 2: Katie, I haven't got that specific advice. That's the staff
13:21
Speaker 2: at Howard Springs, and I note that it's around three
13:23
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty staff at Howard Brings. Not all of
13:25
Speaker 2: those staff are clinical. Many provide administrative support and other
13:30
Speaker 2: roles within the facility. Yes, I imagine there's some people that
13:33
Speaker 2: have gone out to Howard Springs. But part of shifting
13:35
Speaker 2: to one facility of Howard Springs and providing certainty to
13:39
Speaker 2: that facility has meant that if people were in the
13:42
Speaker 2: past doing a two week stint out there, we can
13:44
Speaker 2: provide certainty where they either continue in their permanent role
13:48
Speaker 2: or their permanent role is backfield. But it is incredibly
13:51
Speaker 2: complex the running of a hospital. But what I can
13:53
Speaker 2: reassure territories is is we're doing the work looking at
13:57
Speaker 2: what are the areas where we need to put expenditure into.
13:59
Speaker 2: We know clearly that mental health is one of those.
14:02
Speaker 2: But what are the other things we can do to
14:03
Speaker 2: make our hospital bed system and our hospital work better?
14:07
Speaker 1: All right, minister, we are going to have to move along.
14:09
Speaker 1: And this morning we are about to catch up with
14:11
Speaker 1: Matt Cunningham from Sky News about the territory's i CAAC
14:14
Speaker 1: watchdog being investigated of allegations it awarded lucrative contracts to
14:19
Speaker 1: a senior director's boyfriend. This follows a serious situation last
14:24
Speaker 1: month which the IKAC Commissioner had to apologize unconditionally to
14:29
Speaker 1: two people named in a report who have been denied
14:31
Speaker 1: natural justice. Do you have confidence in the i CAAK
14:35
Speaker 1: at this point?
14:37
Speaker 2: What I have confidence, Katie, is a process. And so
14:39
Speaker 2: we have the IKAK which was established in the Northern
14:42
Speaker 2: Territory and your listener as long as that, we also
14:44
Speaker 2: have an i CAAC oversight position which looks at the
14:49
Speaker 2: role of it's the IKAK Inspector and they look at
14:52
Speaker 2: the role of the IKAC to make sure that somebody
14:55
Speaker 2: is being the watchdog for them. So I understand there's
14:57
Speaker 2: some very serious allegations and they are being investigated.
15:01
Speaker 1: You said then that you've got confidence in the process.
15:04
Speaker 1: I will ask you again, do you have confidence in
15:07
Speaker 1: the ICAC at this point?
15:10
Speaker 2: Yes, I have confidence in the commissioner because of the
15:12
Speaker 2: processes around it. So we have established the Independent Commissioner
15:16
Speaker 2: of Corruption and we've also put in place and KAQ
15:19
Speaker 2: Inspector over the top so that we can have confidence
15:21
Speaker 2: within that office. So there are processes in place, and
15:24
Speaker 2: I have confidence in both the individuals and the process.
15:27
Speaker 2: And there's been some serious allegations made which are being
15:30
Speaker 2: reported in the media, and I'll await further comment until
15:33
Speaker 2: those investigations have an outcome.
15:34
Speaker 1: Well, will the government make the i CAAC Inspector Bruce
15:37
Speaker 1: McClintock's report public, Katty, I'd.
15:41
Speaker 2: Have to seek advice on that. I'm not aware of
15:42
Speaker 2: the process. It sits within the Department of the Chief Minister,
15:45
Speaker 2: so I'd have to seek some advice in answering that.
15:47
Speaker 1: Do you think that this situation could taint the iqaq's
15:51
Speaker 1: previous work, Katy.
15:54
Speaker 2: I think that there's some allegations made and it were
15:56
Speaker 2: be inappropriate for me to get into hypotheticals or comment
15:58
Speaker 2: further until those investigations are concluded.
16:01
Speaker 1: All right now, I mean, at the end of the day,
16:03
Speaker 1: a lot of people will be thinking that the i
16:04
Speaker 1: CAAC should set a higher standard when it comes to
16:07
Speaker 1: conflicts of interest. Do you think the ICAC should set
16:11
Speaker 1: a higher standard when it comes to those conflicts of interest?
16:14
Speaker 2: I think all of us should have the higher standard
16:16
Speaker 2: that territory tax payer dollars are used in the most
16:18
Speaker 2: appropriate way, that conflicts of interests are declared, and that
16:22
Speaker 2: procurement processes go through the right channels so that there
16:26
Speaker 2: is no misappropriation of taxpayer dollars.
16:29
Speaker 1: Would you have anticipated more to have come out of
16:32
Speaker 1: the IKAC at this point.
16:35
Speaker 2: Cotdie, We've seen a number of investigations from the KAC Commissioner,
16:38
Speaker 2: and we've also had indication from the ICAC that there's
16:41
Speaker 2: a number that are ongoing and that those reports will
16:44
Speaker 2: be finalized before he concludes his term. So for me
16:48
Speaker 2: as a legislator in the Northern Territory Assembly, it's about
16:51
Speaker 2: putting the process in place, providing them with the funding.
16:54
Speaker 2: We have given them additional funding and they're now undertaking
16:57
Speaker 2: their work.
16:58
Speaker 1: All right. Health Minister and also stir for well for
17:02
Speaker 1: major events and tourism. We are going to have to
17:04
Speaker 1: leave it there. Really appreciate your time this morning.
17:06
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you,