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Speaker 1: And joining me on the line is the Health Minister

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Speaker 1: and also Leader of Government Business. Let's just make sure

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Speaker 1: we've got her on the line there, Natasha Files, good

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Speaker 1: morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, Good morning listening minister.

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Speaker 1: What is lined up for Parliament today? From the government's perspective.

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Speaker 2: Katie's another busy week in Parliament and for us, we're

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Speaker 2: implementing legislation around the Chersey which was the Territory Economic

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Speaker 2: Reconstruction Commission Report, and we've got a significant bill going

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Speaker 2: into Parliament which seeds regulatory changes right across portfolios which

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Speaker 2: will help the tertary economy. And so this was a

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Speaker 2: key area identified by Chersey in prioritizing that regulatory reform

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Speaker 2: and streamlining approvals to support industry and ease and make

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Speaker 2: investment in the teritary easier.

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Speaker 1: All right, So Parliament sits for two weeks. That's obviously

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Speaker 1: on the agenda. There is there any other legislation or

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Speaker 1: bills being introduced From the government's perspective.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Katie, We've got an Amendment to Health Legislation Bill

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Speaker 2: and this bill is an important one. COVID has been

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Speaker 2: such a focus and this bill allows for the declaration

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Speaker 2: of isolation facilities, so it enables a longer time frame

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Speaker 2: to be declared and provides for the clinical uncertainty if

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Speaker 2: we do need to, for example, go and lease the property,

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Speaker 2: we can declare that for a significant period of time.

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Speaker 2: And I do believe that the Attorney General has also

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Speaker 2: got a parole bill around the chair of the Parole boards.

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Speaker 2: It's certainly a busy week legislatively in the Parliament. I'll

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Speaker 2: be to fortnite I should.

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Speaker 1: Say, yeah, well, no doubt about that, and we will

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Speaker 1: catch up with the Opposition leader in a little while

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Speaker 1: and find out what's on the agenda for her.

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Speaker 3: From her perspective.

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Speaker 1: I do want to ask, though, a bit more about

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Speaker 1: some of the other things happening around health. We know

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Speaker 1: that those changes yesterday you and I spoke about those

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Speaker 1: when you are entering the Northern Territory. We now know

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Speaker 1: that fifteen people were refused entry at the Darwin Airport yesterday.

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Speaker 1: Eight people departed within two hours, while the other seven

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Speaker 1: are booked on flights today and were accommodated overnight at

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Speaker 1: the Center for National Resilience. Where had these people arrived

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Speaker 1: from so Katie.

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Speaker 2: We certainly have seen a busy period and we are working.

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Speaker 2: I've got some figures for you. We were talking yesterday

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Speaker 2: around applications to enter and numbers being approved and declined.

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Speaker 2: So we had three hundred and eighty four applications to

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Speaker 2: enter the Northern Territory. We are aiming for a seventy

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Speaker 2: two hour turnaround to process those, and so of those

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Speaker 2: applications received, eighty two are seen approved and eighty one

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Speaker 2: have been denied. The most common request, Katie four exemptions

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Speaker 2: are active military personnel and compassionate grounds. In terms of

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Speaker 2: the question you just asked me around people coming in

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Speaker 2: without exemptions, I have a figure of twenty four unapproved entries.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if that's in addition to the fifteen

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Speaker 2: that you were speaking to. And of that twenty four,

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Speaker 2: thirteen were taken to the Center for National Resilience because

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Speaker 2: it was longer than twelve hours to get them on

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Speaker 2: a return flight, and eleven people went to the transit

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Speaker 2: range area at the airport and were able to get

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Speaker 2: I believe the red ice lights back down south. So

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Speaker 2: we are certainly ramping up resources and we're aiming for

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Speaker 2: that seventy two hour turnaround for people seeking an exemption.

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Speaker 1: So Minister sorry, can you just repeat that total number

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Speaker 1: of applications following on from that declaration on Sunday because

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Speaker 1: it only really came into play was it yesterday?

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Speaker 2: So it came in from midnight yesterday. But people may

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Speaker 2: be applying for an exemption going forward, Katie. So it's

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Speaker 2: not necessarily reflecting that the passenger numbers over the last

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Speaker 2: twenty four to forty eight hours. But three hundred and

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Speaker 2: eighty four applications have been received to enter the.

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Speaker 1: Territory and as I, mostly just Territorians wanting to come home.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, I don't have that breakdown. When I questioned,

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Speaker 2: the Department of Kelsey advised me that the two most

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Speaker 2: common reasons for exemptions are active military personnel and compassionate

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Speaker 2: grounds people. Territorians with proof of residents returning home. I

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Speaker 2: don't believe are in that figure, but I'll double check

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Speaker 2: that off there and provide some advice back to you.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So what happens if a Territorian who arrives back

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Speaker 1: in the NT from a hotspot but didn't get approve

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Speaker 1: or didn't get one of those you know, an application

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Speaker 1: to enter. What happens with those territorians? Are they allowed

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Speaker 1: to stay or do we send them back to Queensland

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Speaker 1: or wherever they've come from.

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Speaker 2: Of course, of course territorians are always welcome home, and

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Speaker 2: so the online border arrival form which everyone entering the

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Speaker 2: territory must complete, has been updated and requiring people coming

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Speaker 2: from a hot spot. They just filling that exemption as well.

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Speaker 2: So territorians returning residents its streamline. We've got an express

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Speaker 2: lane at the airport. So if they provide evidence for

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Speaker 2: their residents in the territory like your driver's license, your

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Speaker 2: approval is automatic, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, we do know that the entry refusals come

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Speaker 1: as the government reveals that almost a quarter of people

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Speaker 1: haven't actually paid their quarantine bill.

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Speaker 3: Now data has been obtained by the NT News and.

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Speaker 1: Has revealed that as of the thirtieth of June, there

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Speaker 1: were one eight hundred and thirty three quarantine fee bills

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Speaker 1: unpaid after ninety days from the seven nine hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty which had been issued by Inte Health to domestic travelers.

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Speaker 1: Is the government actually going to be able to recover

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Speaker 1: this money, so, Katie, it is a debt owing.

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Speaker 2: To the Northern Territory and so processes will go into

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Speaker 2: place to recover unpaid fees, and you know, people can

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Speaker 2: expect that the territory government will follow up outstanding debts.

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Speaker 2: I do have advice that seventy five percent of quarantine

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Speaker 2: bills have been paid on time. We also have payment

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Speaker 2: plans for people that you know it might be difficult

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Speaker 2: to pay that amount upfront, but which has certainly worked

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Speaker 2: that out and as I just said, people are expected

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Speaker 2: to pay that so overdue invoices at an appropriate time

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Speaker 2: will be forwarded to a debt recovery agency and that's

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Speaker 2: in line with anti government procedures.

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Speaker 1: Is that the real reason for the changes at Howard

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Speaker 1: Springs because we are running at a big loss by the.

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Speaker 3: Look of it.

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Speaker 2: No, Katie, We've been very clear we need to make

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Speaker 2: sure that, as I said to you yesterday, we've got

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Speaker 2: capacity at Howard Springs for people that genuinely need to

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Speaker 2: come to the Northern Territory and do quarantine, so returning

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Speaker 2: territories people that are moving here and those people filling

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Speaker 2: in a vital roles. So it's not about the cost,

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Speaker 2: all right.

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Speaker 1: Another big development yesterday is that there are now one

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand vaccine appointments set to become available in the territory.

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Speaker 1: The news comes as the new COVID nineteen vaccination clinic

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Speaker 1: is set to open at Palmerston next month. The new

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Speaker 1: vaccination clinic is going to be based at the Palmerston

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Speaker 1: Hub as I understand, and will deliver at least two

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Speaker 1: thousand extra appointments per week and open well to all

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Speaker 1: Territorians from September one. What type of vaccine will people

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Speaker 1: be able to get at the hub? And with this

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Speaker 1: one hundred thousand vaccine appointments.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, they're all Fizer appointment. So we have opened

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Speaker 2: up the vaccination program. So if you've got listeners who

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Speaker 2: have been waiting to get a vaccination, and we know

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Speaker 2: that there has been some frustration for people that might

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Speaker 2: not have been in the categories early on of the

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Speaker 2: age group, it's open for everybody. You should head to

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Speaker 2: the website and you will be able to make a

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Speaker 2: booking for Darwin Mass Vaccination Hub, the Tracy Village site

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Speaker 2: and this new Palmeston site. You can make the booking

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Speaker 2: now for September. So what we want territory to do

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Speaker 2: is we want them to make their booking. That booking

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Speaker 2: might not be for four or five weeks, but at

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Speaker 2: least they know they've got that booking. We can manage

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Speaker 2: that booking with the workforce around it, and we can

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Speaker 2: get on with the job of vaccinating everyone in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Now I know you are pressed for time because you've

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Speaker 1: got to get into Parliament, so I'll just power through

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Speaker 1: a couple more questions. The Prime Minister was out yesterday

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Speaker 1: talking about the Maderna vaccine.

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Speaker 3: When is it going to become available in the territory.

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Speaker 2: So Katie will work with the Commonwealth around the supply

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Speaker 2: of the Maderna vaccine. For your listener's Maderna is a

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Speaker 2: brand name and fires is a brand name. They use

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Speaker 2: the same base for the vaccine. But we have seen

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Speaker 2: the approval and the Commonwealth Government have indicated it will

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Speaker 2: be available. My understanding is that we'll start to see

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Speaker 2: that roll out in the coming weeks. Pharmacies for example,

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Speaker 2: we'll look at that vaccine. But these appointments we announced yesterday,

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Speaker 2: we have one hundred thousand appointments over the coming weeks

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Speaker 2: for territories in the top end to get vacksine. We've

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Speaker 2: already got a strong program in regional areas and remote

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Speaker 2: so this is particularly for the top end where we

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Speaker 2: have had a little bit of frustration from the community.

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Speaker 2: They're keen to get vaccinated. Now is the opportunity to

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Speaker 2: book that appointment.

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Speaker 1: Now there has been a lot more discussion about kids

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Speaker 1: getting the vaccine and well, kids being reportedly being super

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Speaker 1: spreaders in some instances. What is the plan for kids

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. Is there going to be a

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Speaker 1: trial period like we are hearing reported in other states?

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Speaker 2: So a TARGI and the tg have TGA have approved

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Speaker 2: fires for children age twelve to fifteen. So I'm working

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Speaker 2: with our health officials. They're working with the Department of Education.

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Speaker 2: We estimate as around thirteen thousand kids in the territory

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Speaker 2: who fall into this category, a large number of them

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Speaker 2: vulnerable and or have that priority access. So we will

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Speaker 2: work to roll those appointments out and we'll certainly let

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Speaker 2: the community know whether people access it through schools obviously

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Speaker 2: in remote areas that'll access it through those remote vaccination teams,

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Speaker 2: or if parents can make an appointment to come to

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Speaker 2: one of our vaccination centers. But it certainly is a

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Speaker 2: priority for us, yeah, and we'll make sure the community

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Speaker 2: is well informed when those appointments have become available.

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Speaker 1: So what you're saying is that children age twelve to

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Speaker 1: fifteen are going to be eligible for that FIZE vaccine,

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Speaker 1: expected to be around thirteen thousand kids here in the territory,

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Speaker 1: and they'll be given priority access when it is given

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Speaker 1: the go ahead in coming weeks.

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Speaker 2: Are we thinking, sorry, Katie, Just to clarify, we estimate

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Speaker 2: there's thirteen thousand kids in the territory fall into the

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Speaker 2: category and we know that a large number of them

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Speaker 2: will be vulnerable and have priority access. But yes, we

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Speaker 2: are certainly including those children in that age bracket in.

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Speaker 3: Our plan and in coming weeks.

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Speaker 2: Katie. I'm confident that this was a big step yesterday

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Speaker 2: and I just like to acknowledge the Department of Health team,

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Speaker 2: the IT people. It's a big job to load one

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Speaker 2: hundred thousand appointments. It's not just the vaccine supply and

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Speaker 2: looking at that, it's the workforce around it. And so

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Speaker 2: that's done a huge effort in getting that dial and

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Speaker 2: center up. They've now identified in the hub location, so

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Speaker 2: that the health team, supported by other areas of government

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Speaker 2: have done an amazing job and we certainly our children

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Speaker 2: making sure they have the opportunity to be vaccinated. Is

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Speaker 2: our next priority? All right?

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Speaker 1: A couple of questions from listeners one here regarding the

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Speaker 1: code yellow. When will those surgeries, those elective surgeries be rescheduled?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, anyone that had a surgery and elective is

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Speaker 2: a bad choice of names. If they are important surgeries,

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Speaker 2: they're just categorized as non urgent. But Health department officials

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Speaker 2: will contact people who had appointments postponed to have them rescheduled.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: We did get a question from a listener yesterday as well,

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Speaker 1: saying that they were unwell. They tried to book in

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Speaker 1: to get a test. They were told that there'd be

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Speaker 1: a call back. They ended up just taking this person's

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Speaker 1: name and number and saying they'd bringing back. They still

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Speaker 1: hadn't heard back, so they ended up booking an appointment

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Speaker 1: through Royal Dalen Hospital to go and get a COVID test.

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Speaker 1: Is the Northern Territory Department under quite a bit of

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Speaker 1: pressure at the moment, or quite a bit of strain

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Speaker 1: due to those changes that were also announced over the weekend.

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Speaker 1: Is you know, is it quite a hard process for

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Speaker 1: people to be able to get through to the COVID hotline?

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Speaker 2: Katie, I'm not sure what's gone wrong there, and I'd

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Speaker 2: be happy to chase that up. I know for myself

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Speaker 2: when I've had to get COVID appointments, jumping on line

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Speaker 2: is the easiest way. You can see the variety of

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Speaker 2: times that are available and you can make that appointment.

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Speaker 2: But yes, I will acknowledge the Department of Health is

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Speaker 2: working very hard. We only have a limited number of people.

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Speaker 2: We are looking at what resources we can provide, particularly

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Speaker 2: with this vaccine roll out, additional workforce. But I certainly

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Speaker 2: apologize to that listener and we'd be happy to chase

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Speaker 2: up what might have happened. Generally we get quite good

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Speaker 2: feedback from the phone line. There is certainly peaks in

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Speaker 2: demand when there's hot spots declared and people want to

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Speaker 2: get back get those testing appointments. But I'm not sure

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Speaker 2: what's happened there, all right.

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Speaker 1: Just very quickly, we know that there's plenty of events

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Speaker 1: happening in the territory at the moment. We also know

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Speaker 1: that there's two Vitorian Big Bash teams, the Melbourne Stars

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Speaker 1: and Melbourne Renegades, planning on flying into the NT on

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Speaker 1: Saturday for the NT Cricket three six five that T

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Speaker 1: twenty competition.

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Speaker 3: It's set to start on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: What are the chances do you think of them looking

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Speaker 1: to come up to play in that competition? Do you

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Speaker 1: think that we're still going to be in a situation

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Speaker 1: where Melbourne and Victoria are a hot spot on the weekend?

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Speaker 2: Okai, I'd love that Crystal Ball to be able to

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Speaker 2: tell me that in all seriousness, I understand the game

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Speaker 2: is still scheduled. We know that Victoria has seen more

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Speaker 2: cases today, but they are due to lift their lockdown

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Speaker 2: later in the week, so will seek the health advice.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure where the teams are currently located, whether

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Speaker 2: they are actually in Melbourne. You may know that, but

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Speaker 2: certain in terms of the event, I understand it's still

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Speaker 2: scheduled and the safety of territories comes first, So we'd

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Speaker 2: love to see the event go ahead. But if it's

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Speaker 2: not safe to let those players come into the territory,

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Speaker 2: then unfortunately they won't be able to go all right.

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Speaker 1: One last listener question, a lot of Olympians will another lord,

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Speaker 1: I should say, have Olympians arrived yesterday? Are we actually

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Speaker 1: going to be having a parade for them?

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Speaker 2: So the advice the Chief Ministry is very passionate about this, Katie.

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Speaker 2: We certainly want to have a parade here in Saiwin.

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Speaker 2: We want to acknowledge those Olympians. I think we've all

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Speaker 2: thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics and are looking forward to the Paralympics.

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Speaker 2: And we've seen quite a few hundred athletes and officials

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Speaker 2: quarantining at Howard Springs, so we'd love to celebrate them.

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Speaker 2: And as soon as we have confirmation, we'll let you know.

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Speaker 1: All right, Health Minister also Leader of Government Business Natasha Files,

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Speaker 1: will let you go and get into Parliament.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for your time tonight.