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Katie Woolf spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But we also know this week was supposed to be
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the second week of parliament sitting. Obviously that got scrapped
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: due to the lockdown. Now joining me on the line
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  Speaker 1: as she does every Wednesday morning, it is the Opposition leader,
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  Speaker 1: Leah Fanochiarro.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Leah.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Leah, firstly, what was your reaction to the lockdown earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the week.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, well, of course, you know, just like everybody else, shock,
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  Speaker 3: of course, thoughts thinking hopefully that this hasn't spread, that
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  Speaker 3: people are safe, that people don't panic by, you know,
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  Speaker 3: just all of those natural reactions like everybody else, that
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  Speaker 3: hopefully there's minimum time requires the lockdown and everyone's going
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: to be okay. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, one of the things that we've got quite a
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  Speaker 1: few messages and phone calls about yesterday is businesses which
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  Speaker 1: are affected. We know that that is unfortunately one of
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  Speaker 1: the side effects of these lockdowns is that businesses, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of them really suffer through these lockdowns. And the
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  Speaker 1: government did say yesterday they'd be out with support one
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars for those businesses that are over seventy five
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Lea, do you think that goes far enough.
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  Speaker 3: Look, unfortunately it doesn't. And this just harks back to
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  Speaker 3: the fact that when you don't save money for a
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  Speaker 3: rainy day and you blow out books into smithereens, you
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  Speaker 3: don't have the money you need to support people in
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  Speaker 3: times of crisis. And so whilst that thousand dollars is great,
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  Speaker 3: we've been hearing really mixed feedback from the business community
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  Speaker 3: about it. Of course, there are a raft of businesses
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  Speaker 3: who are not eligible at all, and then yesterday we
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  Speaker 3: were receiving feedback from some businesses who had not even
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  Speaker 3: been paid from last lockdown and who were or believe
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  Speaker 3: they were ineligible because they received the payment last lockdown.
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  Speaker 3: So there's definitely still some bugs to be ironing out
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  Speaker 3: in that business support space.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I did ask the minister about this, Paul Kirby,
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  Speaker 1: about this yesterday, about whether you know, if they received
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  Speaker 1: it last time, were they eligible again this time.
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  Speaker 2: And he said yes, that they would be. So I
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  Speaker 2: don't know whether.
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  Speaker 1: There's a fault in the system or what exactly is
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  Speaker 1: going on, but yeah, we certainly had people contact us
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  Speaker 1: yesterday with that exact same concern.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And messaging is really really important Now, if
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  Speaker 3: the government have changed their mind overnight because it's not
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  Speaker 3: working for them, then fine, but they need to be
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  Speaker 3: open about what is available and what is and of
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  Speaker 3: course this is people's livelihood. Our businesses are out there
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  Speaker 3: employing other territories to rely on that income and in
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  Speaker 3: uncertain times, what territories really need is absolute clarity around
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  Speaker 3: the messaging and what they're allowed to do, not allowed
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  Speaker 3: to do, and what support they can access.
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  Speaker 1: Do you reckon that there needs to be something available
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  Speaker 1: for those that are under seventy five thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, certainly. I don't know why the government has chosen
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  Speaker 3: that dollar figure as a marker. Of course, any size
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  Speaker 3: business has a number of employees, and so really a
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  Speaker 3: lot of what we've seen over the last eighteen months
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  Speaker 3: is actually about keeping people meaningfully employed and making sure
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  Speaker 3: employers are in a position to be able to keep
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  Speaker 3: people on the books, you know, to work through these spikes.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, obviously there's a turmoil right around the nation
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  Speaker 3: and to varying degrees and in the territory. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we've only had to have this second lockdown, which is
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  Speaker 3: you know, good news, but it still hits really hard,
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  Speaker 3: and it hits some businesses much much harder than others.
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  Speaker 3: If you look at that retail sector and hospitality, you know,
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  Speaker 3: they're really the one turning over there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'd heard from a photographer yesterday as well. She
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  Speaker 1: was expecting the next few days to be incredibly busy
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to those photo shoots, enough to be
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  Speaker 1: able to sort of, you know, to tide her over
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  Speaker 1: for the next few weeks. But then losing that work
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  Speaker 1: was having a massive impact on her and her family.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that sometimes, you know, freelancers and things
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  Speaker 1: like that fall through the cracks as well.
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  Speaker 3: Oh with that question, I mean there's also your beauticians,
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  Speaker 3: you know. I mean, there's all sorts of small businesses
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  Speaker 3: who provide services who aren't being necessarily being captured by
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  Speaker 3: the support And you know, sure the government have heralded
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  Speaker 3: that last lockdown they pumped out two point two million
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  Speaker 3: dollars in support packages, But really two point two million
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  Speaker 3: dollars when you compare that to a twelve million dollar
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  Speaker 3: grand stand for example, is a drop in the ocean.
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  Speaker 3: And that's why we've been so critical for a long
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  Speaker 3: time about how the government spends its money. Now, no
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  Speaker 3: one could predict COVID, and I'm not trying to suggest
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  Speaker 3: they could, but what is important is that things come
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  Speaker 3: up and it's a government's responsibility to be armed and
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  Speaker 3: ready to deal with them. And so, you know, because
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  Speaker 3: of the state of our books, I think that has
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  Speaker 3: to be a reason why government aren't pumping out the
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  Speaker 3: business support to the maximum capacity that they could be.
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  Speaker 3: I think they've had to pull back because they're broke.
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  Speaker 2: Leah, I want to ask you.
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  Speaker 1: I know that we now know that the man who
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  Speaker 1: came into the Northern Territory was tested on day seventeen obviously,
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  Speaker 1: and we then find out that obviously he's got COVID.
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  Speaker 2: But do you think that.
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  Speaker 1: Those who travel from international locations should have to quarantine
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  Speaker 1: for longer? I mean, this person obviously tested on day seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: then left, was in the community but hadn't done the
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  Speaker 1: wrong thing in terms of the rules and protocols that
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  Speaker 1: are in place. But then we find out that he
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  Speaker 1: does indeed have COVID.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think we need to have.
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  Speaker 1: A look at this and relook the way in which
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  Speaker 1: we're dealing with international travelers that aren't quarantining at Howard Springs.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so certainly, and I'm sure the government is doing
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  Speaker 3: this work right now. Of course they've implemented the seventeen
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  Speaker 3: day test, which is clearly shows that that is a
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  Speaker 3: really good initiative. But again people are sort of giving
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  Speaker 3: that feedback around well, do we need to be relooking
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  Speaker 3: at how we treat international arrivals and could we even
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  Speaker 3: improve this even further? But it just goes back to
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  Speaker 3: making sure we're arming our health professionals with all the
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  Speaker 3: information they need to be giving government the right advice
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  Speaker 3: on this type of stuff so that we can make
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  Speaker 3: sure we've got the best possible measures in place to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that no one slips through those cracks. So
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure, given this latest case, that it's going to
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  Speaker 3: be something that the government look at and we would
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  Speaker 3: fully support them supporting our health professionals to get to
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  Speaker 3: the bottom of the best way to deal with international arrival.
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  Speaker 1: One of the other things that's been floated around the
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  Speaker 1: country is these vaccine passports. In Queensland, they're looking at
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  Speaker 1: implementing a vaccine passport, but they are actually well, those
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  Speaker 1: who cross the border from New South Wales to work
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  Speaker 1: in Queensland have to show their vaccine proof at this
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  Speaker 1: point at least at least one shot, as I understand,
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  Speaker 1: should we be doing that here, well.
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  Speaker 3: I'd like to know what the health professionals are saying
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  Speaker 3: about this here in the Northern Territory. Of course, it's
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  Speaker 3: something people are talking about, and of course we want
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  Speaker 3: to make sure that people are vaccinated. I mean, if
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  Speaker 3: it's an initiative that encourages people to get vaccinated, then
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  Speaker 3: that's great because that's really our number one goal as
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  Speaker 3: a nation and as a territory. We really need people
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  Speaker 3: to have access to the vaccine as soon as possible
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  Speaker 3: and have confidence that the vaccine is the best way forward.
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  Speaker 3: So I think it's really positive that all of these
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  Speaker 3: ideas are coming forward and that we need to, you know,
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  Speaker 3: obviously work through that with the health professionals to see
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  Speaker 3: what's going to be the best way to get that done.
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  Speaker 3: But clearly access to vaccine is a major issue, and
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  Speaker 3: I'm glad to see the government pouring more vaccines into
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  Speaker 3: Catherine because certainly the feedback we were getting from Catherine
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  Speaker 3: up until this point is that it's been very difficult
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  Speaker 3: to access the job.
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  Speaker 1: Now Leah, we know that this week, well, Parliament was
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  Speaker 1: meant to be sitting obviously it got canceled as we
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  Speaker 1: went into lockdown, or it got postponed as we went
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  Speaker 1: into lockdown. I'm pretty sure as well you were expecting
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  Speaker 1: to get or you'd put forward those two hundred odd
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  Speaker 1: questions about the turf club and that grandstand grant. Do
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  Speaker 1: we have any idea at this point in time what's
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  Speaker 1: going to happen? Firstly with Parliament? Is it going to
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  Speaker 1: be rescheduled?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it should be. We know that it's been canceled,
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  Speaker 3: I suppose, but I don't have any clear information about
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  Speaker 3: whether or not it's been postponed. We firmly believe that
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  Speaker 3: once lockdown is lifted, Parliament should be recalled immediately. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory Parliament only sits about thirty days a year,
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  Speaker 3: and if they're Gunner government just want to wipe three
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  Speaker 3: of those days off the calendar, that spell's alarm bells
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  Speaker 3: to me. They either don't like the level of scrutiny
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  Speaker 3: that the Opposition and Independence have been pouring on them,
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  Speaker 3: or they don't have enough work to do. So we
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  Speaker 3: want to see Parliament resuming as soon as it's safe
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  Speaker 3: to do so. We don't think that three days should
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  Speaker 3: just be scrubbed off the calendar, and we certainly have
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  Speaker 3: a lot of questions of the government around of course,
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  Speaker 3: the twelve million dollar grands then, and the government's involvement
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  Speaker 3: in pushing that through cabinet, around the thirty five million
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  Speaker 3: dollars they're paying to use justice detainees around the co
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  Speaker 3: yellow and the hospital. Of course, that's a particular highlight
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  Speaker 3: given the fact that we're in lockdown right now. So
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  Speaker 3: we've got plenty of questions for government and we don't
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  Speaker 3: think that you know, of course lockdown, absolutely we should
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  Speaker 3: postpone parliament, but those three days should not be scrubbed
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  Speaker 3: from the calendar.
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  Speaker 2: So you reckon they need to be scheduled to a
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  Speaker 2: later date.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think, you know, all things going well, if
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  Speaker 3: we're out of lockdown this week, there's no reason why
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  Speaker 3: parliament can't be next week. Of course, the lockdown extends,
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  Speaker 3: we need to be flexible about that, but you know,
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  Speaker 3: they definitely should not be scrubbed from the calendar. Parliament
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  Speaker 3: is a really important part of our democratic process. It's
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  Speaker 3: a really important opportunity for the opposition and crossbench to
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  Speaker 3: scrutinize the government and the government to face up to
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  Speaker 3: its decision making and answer some questions.
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  Speaker 2: So we are on those.
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  Speaker 1: It's critical on those questions. So over two hundred written questions,
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  Speaker 1: what's the go with that situation? What now happens with
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  Speaker 1: those written questions that you put to the government.
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  Speaker 3: Well, fortunately they will still come down, so they're due
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  Speaker 3: tomorrow morning. I believe they should be published on the
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  Speaker 3: Legislative Assembly website. So we'll be keeping a very close
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  Speaker 3: eye on that. We have had no communication from government
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  Speaker 3: to say that they couldn't meet the deadline, and we've
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  Speaker 3: certainly been calling on the government all of last week
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  Speaker 3: that we're looking forward to this week. So those answers
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  Speaker 3: to our questions will be published, they will be publing.
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  Speaker 3: We will certainly be pouring through them, and undoubtedly more
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  Speaker 3: questions will flow from those two hundred Katie. But yeah,
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  Speaker 3: that information we will certainly be analyzing and for the
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  Speaker 3: scrutinizing about what government have done with that twelve million
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  Speaker 3: dollars in why.
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  Speaker 1: I'd be very interested to see what comes out of
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  Speaker 1: those questions that have been asked.
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  Speaker 2: Leah.
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  Speaker 1: We've just had a caller getting contact and say the
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  Speaker 1: hospitals are still under immense pressure. It's something that I
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  Speaker 1: got told about on the weekend as well.
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  Speaker 2: The Health Minis.
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  Speaker 1: Yesterday confirmed on the show that Royaldale and Hospital isn't
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  Speaker 1: in a code yellow again, but she certainly encouraged our
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: listeners to if they have a health issue, see their GP.
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  Speaker 1: In the first instance, she said that there is obviously
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  Speaker 1: you know, well I can't remember her exact woods, but
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  Speaker 1: it was a discussion about mental health beds.
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  Speaker 2: We've been told as well.
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  Speaker 1: About well about those mental health beds and they're really
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  Speaker 1: not being.
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  Speaker 2: Enough of them.
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  Speaker 1: But I also know that out at Royal sorry, out
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  Speaker 1: at the Palmerston Regional Hospital, and we confirmed this yesterday
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  Speaker 1: with the Health Minister that ward that Renal Ward is
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: still vacant because they had to get all of the
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: all of the patients out of there due to an
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: issue with the with the plumbing.
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  Speaker 2: So that'll be over two weeks.
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  Speaker 4: I would suggest now absolutely that's in a tremendous amount
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  Speaker 4: of pressure to play the role of Darwin Hospital and
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: you know, you know, we've got a lockdown right now
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  Speaker 4: if things were to get out of control, which we
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  Speaker 4: of course no one wants to see and we're.
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  Speaker 3: Looking forward to you know, hopefully good news from the
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  Speaker 3: Chief Minister today, but we can't have a hospital in
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  Speaker 3: crisis when we're also dealing with a global pandemic. We've
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: also heard from ambulances of course during lockdown, paramedics are
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: having to deal with a whole new range of protocols
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: when treating patients with cleaning vehicles. That's you know, adding
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: to the delay and complication of being able to give
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: people the care that they need. And of course this
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: is not the first time that our hospital has been
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: in code yellow. It's twice this year. We've already seen
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: both code yellow numbers and to have Parmesan Hospital partially
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  Speaker 3: out of action Code yellow and COVID it's a disaster
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  Speaker 3: waiting to happen and we have a lot of questions
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: around this, particularly because you know, it's just impacting so
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: much on frontline workers and their ability to be able
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: to give the care they want to get, but also
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: to the health of territories and we all know, you know,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: there were a lot of people whose elective surgeries were
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: postponed and canceled as a result of that. It just
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: creates a lot of inconvenience, but pain and suffering for
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: people as well. You know, at the end of the
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: day helps. It's about you know, it's about your body
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: and your mind, and it's very complicated, and if you're
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: having to suffer, you know, alone or at home, it
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: gets very very challenging. So something that needs to be
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: dealt with quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Leah fanocchiiro the opposition leader, we are going to
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  Speaker 1: have to leave it there. I'll be very interested to
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: hear some of those answers that you get back tomorrow.
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  Speaker 2: Make sure you let us know how you go.
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  Speaker 3: Don't worry, Katie, You'll be the first person I crawled
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: good on your lead.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate everyone. Thank you,