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Katie Woolf spoke with Senator Sam McMahon · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: The discussion this morning and over the last couple of
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  Speaker 1: mornings has been well centered around our vaccination rates and
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  Speaker 1: what needs to happen in order for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: to open up and for us realistically to not be
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  Speaker 1: sent into lockdown when there is a case of COVID
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  Speaker 1: entering the community. The Chief Minister Michael Gunner saying on
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  Speaker 1: the show earlier in the week that we really need
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  Speaker 1: to be at that eighty percent across the board to
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  Speaker 1: get to that point. But well, upon seeing the federal
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  Speaker 1: government data that was released yesterday, it looks as though
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  Speaker 1: we're a long way off in some of our regional
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  Speaker 1: and remote centers. And joining me on the line right
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  Speaker 1: now is Senator Sam McMahon who's calling on the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory government to release full details of those COVID vaccination rates.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to your senator, Yeah, good.
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  Speaker 2: Morning Cody in. Good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Now, before we get into it, I understand that you
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  Speaker 1: are in quarantine at the moment at our very own
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  Speaker 1: Howard Springs facility.
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  Speaker 3: How's it going.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I've spent the last four weeks down in Canberra
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  Speaker 2: at parliamentary sittings and due to the lockdowns in Canberra.
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  Speaker 2: Had to come into Howard Springs when I returned, which, look,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going okay, I'm a pretty strong person and it's fine.
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing parliament remotely this week, so I'm emoting into
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  Speaker 2: the Senate, so I am very busy. I will say though,
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  Speaker 2: that it's pretty disappointing. I've been here over fifty five
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  Speaker 2: hours now, this is my third day, and I've not
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  Speaker 2: had a single health or welfare check. So I'm pretty
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  Speaker 2: disappointed in the Northern Tertary Government's handling of the facility.
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  Speaker 1: Really, So in that fifty five hours, no one's coming
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  Speaker 1: to see if you're okay.
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  Speaker 2: Not a single person. I've had someone knock on the
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  Speaker 2: door and poke a a thermometer at my forehead and
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  Speaker 2: then not say a word and walk away. But no
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  Speaker 2: one's actually checked on my physical or mental health or welfare.
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  Speaker 3: Do you know if that.
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  Speaker 1: Like, I'm curious to know whether you know whether it
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  Speaker 1: is a protocol or a procedure that ordinarily people would
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  Speaker 1: receive a bit of a health and welfare check. And
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  Speaker 1: I think the second part that you pointed out there,
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  Speaker 1: that welfare check is incredibly important.
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  Speaker 3: For a lot of people.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and look, there's a little manual that they
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  Speaker 2: give you here, and it does talk about the fact
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  Speaker 2: that you will get a daily health and welfare check.
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  Speaker 2: And I certainly know that that used to happen when
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  Speaker 2: our very own lend the TARIS was running the facility
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  Speaker 2: on behalf of the federal government, so it definitely was
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  Speaker 2: a protocol. But obviously that's been let slip. And yes,
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  Speaker 2: like I'm an incredibly strong person and I know what's
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  Speaker 2: going on, and I know how to ask for help
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  Speaker 2: if I need it. But you know, there's a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people in this place that are not, you know,
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  Speaker 2: probably not as strong as I am, and may not
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  Speaker 2: know what's going on and maybe are stressed and confused
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  Speaker 2: and nobody's checking on them. It's really awful.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that that is something you obviously do
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  Speaker 1: think that that is something that should be happening. Yeah. Absolutely, Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's I find that very interesting. It's something we will
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  Speaker 1: try to look into because I, you know, I was
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  Speaker 1: of the understanding that there were those welfare checks happening,
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  Speaker 1: and so we'll see what we can find out. So
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate you making us aware of that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no way, They very much surprised me. This
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  Speaker 2: is a very unique and a very stressful situation for
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  Speaker 2: anyone coming into the place and you know there's people
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  Speaker 2: here with little kids, and there's people here that English
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  Speaker 2: is the second language. And yeah, I find it absolutely
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  Speaker 2: astounding that those health and welfare checks have been let go.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Senator, I will to ask you about because this
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  Speaker 1: is what we plan to have a chat to you
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  Speaker 1: about this morning. These details of the COVID vaccination rates.
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  Speaker 1: Now we know that obviously the federal government released that
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  Speaker 1: information yesterday which revealed that in some locations we are
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  Speaker 1: certainly struggling when it comes to those vaccination rates. Well,
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  Speaker 1: in some of our locations, we've got more than eighty
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  Speaker 1: one percent who've been living in Darwin's inner suburbs have
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  Speaker 1: had their first vaccine dice, which is obviously great news.
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  Speaker 1: But less than thirty percent of those living in remote
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  Speaker 1: areas across the Barkley Daily Teewee where s Darnham regions
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  Speaker 1: have had a single COVID nineteen jab that's according to
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  Speaker 1: this data which was released by the federal health authorities.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner has told the paper
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  Speaker 1: today that that is absolutely incorrect.
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  Speaker 3: He has said.
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  Speaker 1: He's said that essentially it's flat out wrong. What do
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  Speaker 1: you think needs to happen here? I'm assuming that you
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  Speaker 1: obviously agree with the federal government data, but what do
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  Speaker 1: you reckon needs to happen here?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, OK, there's quite a few things wrapped up
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  Speaker 2: in that bit of information. Firstly, the figures released by
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  Speaker 2: the federal government for fairly generalized areas. And now, so
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  Speaker 2: when you talk about, say talking about Katherine or Berkley,
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  Speaker 2: you know that will include towns that have a significant
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  Speaker 2: non indigenous population, and the vaccination rates in you know,
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  Speaker 2: in TenneT Creek and Catherine are extremely high. So that's
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  Speaker 2: going to be masking what the true vaccination rates are
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  Speaker 2: out on the actual indigenous communities. So what I've been
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  Speaker 2: trying to do is find out vaccination rates on communities. Now,
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  Speaker 2: Michael Gunner holds that information. He has that information, and
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  Speaker 2: he's not releasing it to either the federal government or
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  Speaker 2: the public. So that that is the problem. And we've
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  Speaker 2: certainly heard anecdotally that you know, Utopia community of seven hundred,
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  Speaker 2: there's apparently ten people vaccinated there. I know a team
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  Speaker 2: went out to Kintour community of over four hundred people
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  Speaker 2: and one person consented to being vaccinated. So the true
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  Speaker 2: rates in communities are very very likely to be very
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  Speaker 2: very low compared to the rates amongst the region, and
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  Speaker 2: that is what Michael Gunner is hiding.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we spoke to John Pattison from Amsand earlier
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  Speaker 1: this morning. He echoed the sentiment that he does feel
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  Speaker 1: as though that data needs to be readily available. It
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  Speaker 1: should be something that is at the click of the
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  Speaker 1: finger of the likes of am sand able to see,
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  Speaker 1: you know, how those vaccination rates are rolling out in
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  Speaker 1: some of our more remote communities. But I guess, Senator,
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  Speaker 1: you know the fact is in some of these communities
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  Speaker 1: they're not you know, their vaccine rollout isn't wholly and
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  Speaker 1: solely the responsibility of the Northern Territory government. It's in
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  Speaker 1: some cases, you know, we're talking about different services that
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  Speaker 1: are indeed funded by the federal government.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, look at the responsibility is with the Northern Territory government.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the states and territories have been very clear
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  Speaker 2: on this that they want to be responsible for health
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  Speaker 2: and they want to be responsible for the vaccine rollout.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, in the territory it's probably a little
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  Speaker 2: bit clouded because apart from the Northern Territory government rolling
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  Speaker 2: it out, you have various Aboriginal medical services and nachos
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  Speaker 2: involved in the rollout as well. But it is the
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  Speaker 2: responsibility of the Northern Territory government.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you reckon We're in a situation right now
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  Speaker 1: where some locations are struggling so badly obviously with the rollout,
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  Speaker 1: where others are flourishing.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, look again anecdotally, but I get told lots of
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  Speaker 2: these stories. There are communities where there are certain individuals. Now,
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  Speaker 2: these people might be NTG employees, they might be NGO
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  Speaker 2: employees that are actually lefty anti vaxes, and these individuals
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  Speaker 2: are going around and scaring everybody on the community and
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  Speaker 2: telling them that that vaccine's going to kill you, and
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be bad for you, and it's going
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  Speaker 2: to make you sterile, it's going to kill your kids here.
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  Speaker 3: So who do you reckon telling them this kind of thing.
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  Speaker 2: I've been told numerous stories of individuals on the community,
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  Speaker 2: which which may be government employees or they may be
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  Speaker 2: you know, non government organizations that are that are going
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  Speaker 2: around and these individuals are spreading misinformation.
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  Speaker 3: Wow, I mean that's a pretty big call.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, But I mean it does explain perfectly, well,
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  Speaker 2: why on some communities there's a very very low uptake
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  Speaker 2: of vaccination.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's frightening, you know how low the uptake is
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  Speaker 1: on some of those communities, particularly when you take into
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  Speaker 1: account the chiefiness to saying on the show earlier in
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  Speaker 1: the week that you know, we are still going to
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  Speaker 1: be enduring lockdowns until we can get to that magical
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  Speaker 1: eighty percent rate.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean that's right. And if you're going
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  Speaker 2: to apply that eighty percent to each individual town or community,
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  Speaker 2: can see that it's potentially going to take us forever
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  Speaker 2: if ever we get to there. So that's holding the
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  Speaker 2: whole Northern Territory and businesses in particularly, that's holding them
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  Speaker 2: to absolute ransom that they're going to be subject to
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  Speaker 2: these lockdowns which are costing business billions of dollars, you know,
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  Speaker 2: simply because some communities have individuals choosing not to be vaccinated.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I really think that we need to, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we need to make sure that people are being properly
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  Speaker 1: educated through our healthcare professionals rather than you know, through
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  Speaker 1: the Internet and various other sources, so that we can
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  Speaker 1: try to ensure that the large majority of the population
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  Speaker 1: is indeed vaccinated.
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  Speaker 3: Senatr I do just want to ask you.
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  Speaker 1: I know that earlier in the week it was reported
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  Speaker 1: by Sky News that the future of the Country Liberal
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  Speaker 1: Party at a federal level could sit solely in your
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  Speaker 1: hands after a new bill passed the Parliament earlier in
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  Speaker 1: the week. So the Party Registration Integrity Bill increased the
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  Speaker 1: number of members a party needs to be registered from
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  Speaker 1: five hundred to fifteen hundred unless it has a member
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  Speaker 1: in the federal Parliament. So it's understood that the CLP
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  Speaker 1: has more than five hundred members but fewer than fifteen hundred.
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  Speaker 3: Senator, are you going to well, I mean, what are
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  Speaker 3: your thoughts on this?
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  Speaker 1: Are you going to ensure that the CLP can continue
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  Speaker 1: to operate?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, Katie, the reality is that this bill has
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  Speaker 2: no practical impact on myself or on the CLP. Yes, okay,
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  Speaker 2: it's increased the number of members that you need to
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  Speaker 2: have from five hundred to fifteen hundred. Now I argued
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  Speaker 2: against that, but this was a bill that was agreed
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  Speaker 2: to by both Labor and the Coalition, so you know,
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  Speaker 2: there was no chance to cross the floor so to
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  Speaker 2: speak because you know it was a done deal between
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  Speaker 2: both major parties. As I said, the practicalities are, this
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  Speaker 2: will affect nothing. It will be business as usual. I
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  Speaker 2: have no plans to leave, to quit, to go anywhere,
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  Speaker 2: so it will just be carrying on business as usual
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  Speaker 2: for the CLP.
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  Speaker 1: So, Senator, you're not planning on joining any other party
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  Speaker 1: or anything like that after obviously the CLP decided to
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  Speaker 1: go with another candidate for the for the upcoming federal election.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, I'm not. And you know, lots and lots
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  Speaker 2: of people have asked me why. Well, it's it's simply,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'm not. I would be doing it. There
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  Speaker 2: will be no gain in it for me or for
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  Speaker 2: anyone really. And if I did that, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: know potentially be doing it just to be vindictive or spiteful.
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  Speaker 2: And that's not me.
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  Speaker 3: Senator.
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  Speaker 1: After your time is up, you know, in your current
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  Speaker 1: role as as the Senator for the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: Will that be it for you for politics?
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  Speaker 1: Or do you reckon that you could move into a
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  Speaker 1: you know, into another another area or run as a
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  Speaker 1: candidate somewhere else.
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  Speaker 2: I will look, look, Katie, I I love the Senate.
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  Speaker 2: I have been approached by numerous people about moving to
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  Speaker 2: the Lower House, and I wouldn't say absolutely not. It's
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  Speaker 2: not something I would ever do. But you know, other
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  Speaker 2: areas of politics probably don't interest me as much as
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  Speaker 2: the Senate does. But look I've got lots of options.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, I sat down with Barnaby Joyce the other
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  Speaker 2: day we had a we had a long chat about
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  Speaker 2: some sort of things that he would like to see
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  Speaker 2: me potentially move into after politics, So you know there's
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of options on the table for me.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Senator Sam McMahon, I appreciate your time this morning,
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  Speaker 1: and thanks for having a chat with us from the
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  Speaker 1: Howard Springs Quarantine facility and we are keen to find out.
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  Speaker 1: Please let us know if you do end up getting
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  Speaker 1: one of those health and welfare checks and how long
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  Speaker 1: it takes for it to happen.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Katie, I will and I'm happy to keep
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  Speaker 2: in touch.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. We appreciate out your time this morning.