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Speaker 1: Well, as I said before, the Northern Territory's Chief Health

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Speaker 1: Officer has issued that COVID nineteen hotspot declaration for Cans

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Speaker 1: and Yarraba. It came in to effect yesterday. Joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line to talk further about this and plenty

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Speaker 1: more is the Health Minister Natasha Files. Good morning, Well

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Speaker 1: let's try that one more time. Good morning to your

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Speaker 1: minister Files.

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Speaker 2: Good morning will Fee. I'm here excellent Monday.

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Speaker 1: My technical issue from my end, I think now, Minister,

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Speaker 1: what is the current situation when it comes to our

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Speaker 1: hot spots or the hotspot declarations which impact the territory.

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Speaker 2: O Katie. This delta variant of the COVID nineteen is

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Speaker 2: very virulent and it is traveling across Australia and so

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Speaker 2: we won't hesitate to call the hot spot declaration. We

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Speaker 2: saw Victoria going to lockdown and the Chief Health Officer

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Speaker 2: put that Melbourne Metropolitan hotspot declaration late last week and

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Speaker 2: unfortunately yesterday it became apparent that there is a case

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Speaker 2: in Cans. An individual who they believe are spent up

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Speaker 2: to ten days in the community was infectious. So they

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Speaker 2: have declared a hot spot for cans and some surrounding areas.

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Speaker 2: So that means anyone who arrives in the Northern territory

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Speaker 2: will have to go into mandatory quarantine. And Katie, for

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Speaker 2: any of your listeners who may have recently been in

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Speaker 2: North Queensland, there is also some directions for people to

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Speaker 2: isolate and stay isolated until they get a negative test.

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Speaker 2: This is because we don't know the specific locations that

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Speaker 2: that individual has been to. Some of them are starting

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Speaker 2: to come through this morning, but we're being very cautious.

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Speaker 2: So if you've been in North Queensland in those areas

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Speaker 2: since the twenty ninth of July, you need to be tested.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, we know that the end to hotspot declaration for

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Speaker 1: Southeast Queensland, it remains in place as I understand it.

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Speaker 1: That is despite those residents emerging from lockdown yesterday. So

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Speaker 1: what is going to happen with Brisbane, the Gold Coast,

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Speaker 1: the Sunshine Coast.

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Speaker 3: Are we expecting those hot spots to lift?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, they have reduced their measures. They've gone from

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Speaker 2: an absolute lockdown to being able to do some activities,

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Speaker 2: but they have measures such as masks in place. We

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Speaker 2: won't remove that hot spot declaration until it's safe to do.

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Speaker 2: So there are still cases and cases that are in

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Speaker 2: the community in that southeast corner of Queensland. I think

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Speaker 2: yesterday we saw a case on the Gold Coast. So

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Speaker 2: people shouldn't automatically assume that when a hot spot, sorry,

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Speaker 2: when a lockdown is lifted for an area, that we

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Speaker 2: will respond with a hot spot being lifted. Sometimes that

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Speaker 2: is the case, but we will be guided by our

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Speaker 2: Chief Health Officer and so I know this is an

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Speaker 2: intervenience to people, but they do need to be conscious

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Speaker 2: of that that it might not be an automatic hot

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Speaker 2: spot removal.

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Speaker 1: I guess the best advice for anybody is to make

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Speaker 1: sure that they do stay up to date. By heading

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Speaker 1: to that covid end website as well, they can get

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Speaker 1: all of that up to date information. If they are

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Speaker 1: into state, they'll be able to go on there and

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Speaker 1: see exactly where is still a hot spot and what

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Speaker 1: they need to do if they're planning on heading back

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Speaker 1: to the tree.

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Speaker 2: Correct, Katie. It is a situation where we've got New

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Speaker 2: South Wales, Melbourne, we've got exposure sites in we've got

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Speaker 2: hot declarations in Queensland, we've got exposure sites in Western

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Speaker 2: Australia and so our health authorities. They work around the

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Speaker 2: clock through the weekends to make sure that our decisions

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Speaker 2: are based on the latest advice. And if you have

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Speaker 2: recently traveled or are looking to travel, we owe you

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Speaker 2: to head to that website.

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Speaker 3: Minister, a question just come through since twenty nine July.

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Speaker 3: What does that mean?

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Speaker 1: Is that from the thirtieth of July onwards or from

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Speaker 1: the twenty ninth of July onwards if you flew back

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Speaker 1: in from North queensighted.

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Speaker 2: So the advice I've got Katie is since the twenty

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Speaker 2: ninth of July, so I would assume that includes twenty

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Speaker 2: nine July. I'll get that checked by heals off there

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Speaker 2: and make sure that we get that to you while

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Speaker 2: you're still on air this morning. But the information I

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Speaker 2: have is if you were in cans since the twenty

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Speaker 2: ninth of July, you must isolate and stay in isolation

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Speaker 2: until you get that negative chest results.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: Another big announcement was made by the Chief Minister, Michael

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Speaker 1: Gunner yesterday that the territory is going to be banning

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Speaker 1: all non approved travel to the NT from COVID nineteen

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Speaker 1: hot spots effective from today.

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Speaker 3: What exactly does that mean.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, if you're a returning territory and the process

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Speaker 2: is streamlined, if you provide evidence of your residence in

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Speaker 2: the territory, your approval is automatic. But what we've got

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Speaker 2: is a situation where, for example, eight hundred people who

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Speaker 2: have recently arrived from domestic hotspots, less than a quarter

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Speaker 2: of them were MPTY residents returning home. And so as

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Speaker 2: the COVID nineteen pandemic has been prolonged, people from other

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Speaker 2: jurisdictions are utilizing our quarantine to pivot into states that

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Speaker 2: have completely hard bordersm won't allow anyone. So someone from

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Speaker 2: New South Wales who may need to go to WA

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Speaker 2: for work is coming to the territory for two weeks,

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Speaker 2: they're staying at Howard Springs and they're immediately leaving. They're

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Speaker 2: not spending any dollars here in the territory and they're

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Speaker 2: going to WA. So we made this decision to make

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Speaker 2: sure that the quarantining facilities are available for us to

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Speaker 2: utilize them for the purposes we need.

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Speaker 1: So how many people are doing this over the last months.

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Speaker 2: We've got a significant number, Kadi in terms of people

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Speaker 2: that are utilizing it. It's been something that we've been

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Speaker 2: aware of and we've seen that creep and so we've

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Speaker 2: made this decision, particularly with so many areas in hot

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Speaker 2: spots and a prolonged situation where it's evident that New

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Speaker 2: South Wales is not going to be getting out of

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Speaker 2: their lockdown or their hot spot declarations anytime soon. The

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Speaker 2: people are being quite imaginative and they're coming to the

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Speaker 2: territory to utilize our quarantine.

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Speaker 1: So you don't have any concerns that this is going

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Speaker 1: to impact tourism in any way.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I know that we've.

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Speaker 1: Probably got quite a few let's say grandparents and family

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Speaker 1: members coming to the Northern Territory to help their families

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Speaker 1: in terms of childcare and caring for those that are

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Speaker 1: un well. You're not concerned that it could impact them

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Speaker 1: in any way. Is it still going to allow people

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Speaker 1: like that to come in?

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Speaker 2: So yes, Katie, there is an exemption process. There's a

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Speaker 2: list of people that for example, essential work, people that

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Speaker 2: are providing an essential service to the territory, and there

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Speaker 2: is compassionate grounds. But what we're doing is we're seeing

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Speaker 2: people that are coming into the territory. They're not coming

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Speaker 2: here to have a holiday, they're not spending two weeks

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Speaker 2: in quarantine and then spending a few weeks in the territory.

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Speaker 2: They're immediately leaving the territory and they're stilling those quarantine

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Speaker 2: spots that we need to utilize. Considering this prolonged episode

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Speaker 2: of a number of areas in lockdown, we need to

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Speaker 2: make sure that they're available for territorians. We've seen increasingly

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Speaker 2: being used from people from interstate who have no intention

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Speaker 2: of spending further time in the territory.

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Speaker 1: So can people still come here for holidays if they're

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Speaker 1: in a hot spot and let's say they're retirees and

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Speaker 1: they think, I don't mind doing two weeks in lockdown.

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Speaker 1: They know they can still come here and spend their

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Speaker 1: money here in the territory.

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Speaker 2: Katie, if you're in an area that's lockdown, you should

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Speaker 2: be staying at home. You shouldn't be going more than

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Speaker 2: the five or ten calimit kilometers that the local health

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Speaker 2: authorities are put in place. There is COVID in your community,

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Speaker 2: and so we want tourists in the territory, but we

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Speaker 2: want them from non hot spot areas. And Katie, we

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Speaker 2: don't want to see people transmitting this virus and that's

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Speaker 2: what we're seeing. It's creeping. It's crept out of Sydney

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Speaker 2: into the northern you know, the area around Newcastle. It's

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Speaker 2: now in southern Queensland. So, Katie, lockdown is lockdown and

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Speaker 2: we need to make sure that we keep this virus

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Speaker 2: out of the territory.

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Speaker 3: So why are we taking this step? Is it full

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Speaker 3: out there?

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Speaker 1: Pardon?

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Speaker 3: Is Howard Springs full out there?

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Speaker 1: Is that why we're sort of taking this step to

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Speaker 1: not allow you know, those let's say, those workers that

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Speaker 1: are maybe working in way but transitting through Howard Springs.

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Speaker 3: Is it full? Is that why we're taking this step?

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Speaker 2: Oh? So, Katie, the numbers for Howard Springs presently, there's

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Speaker 2: the figures I've got today is two one hundred people

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Speaker 2: in the Howard Springs facility and in the Todd facility

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Speaker 2: there's one hundred and forty four residents and there's thirty

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Speaker 2: two rooms available. And we acknowledge, Katie, that we need

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Speaker 2: to make sure we preserve our quarantine resources. It's not all,

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Speaker 2: but it certainly is nearing capacity. But what we've identified

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Speaker 2: is a significant number of people that are just utilizing

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Speaker 2: our quarantine to go to another jurisdiction. It's not to

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Speaker 2: benefit the Northern Territory. So we need to preserve those

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Speaker 2: quarantine rooms for people that are genuinely coming to the

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Speaker 2: territory for purposes such as moving to the territory for

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Speaker 2: business or work that benefits the territory. So that's why

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Speaker 2: Territorians rechtraining homes have an automatic exemption once they prove

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Speaker 2: that they are as Territorian, and for others there is

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Speaker 2: a process of exemption for a listed number of I

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Speaker 2: get it.

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Speaker 1: I understand what you're saying, but I guess some people

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Speaker 1: listening right now will be thinking it seems a bit UnAustralian,

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Speaker 1: especially considering that we've had the Olympians and of course

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Speaker 1: we have the international repats that go through there, So

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Speaker 1: why not allow workers to go through there if they

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Speaker 1: are heading off to WA or another state for work.

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Speaker 2: Patty, we're not a service center for other jurisdictions. We're

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Speaker 2: absolutely doing our bit. We're being very Australian. We're letting

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Speaker 2: the retraining Olympians come through, repatriating vulnerable Australians, but we

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Speaker 2: cannot continue to put a burden on our quarantine system.

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Speaker 2: Other jurisdictions need to look at how they allow people

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Speaker 2: that perhaps are essential to their jurisdiction to come in.

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Speaker 2: What we're doing is making sure territorians can get home

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Speaker 2: and people essential to the territory can quarantine.

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Speaker 3: Did the decision have to be run past the fetes?

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Speaker 2: Certainly, Katie. We work closely with the Commonwealth, but this

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Speaker 2: was a decision of the Territory Controller and the Emergency capet.

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Speaker 1: I've got a message here that says, aren't we all

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Speaker 1: in this together? Or is it a states state vers

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Speaker 1: territory situation? Katy.

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Speaker 2: I think people are reading into it too much. If

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Speaker 2: you're in a hot spot, if you're in lockdown, you

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Speaker 2: should be staying at home, Katie, and only people with

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Speaker 2: specific need should be traveling outside of those areas. So

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Speaker 2: we're actually supporting those jurisdictions that are trying to lock

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Speaker 2: down and stop the virus from spreading. This new delta

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Speaker 2: strain is certainly very different to previous strains.

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Speaker 1: The Chief Minister said that it is costing territorian's money.

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Speaker 1: I actually thought that everybody that went through there had

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Speaker 1: to pay that two and a half thousand dollars to

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Speaker 1: stay at Howard Springs.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we've confirmed previously that the two and a

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Speaker 2: half thousand doesn't fully cover our costs. The costs are

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Speaker 2: not behind this decision being made. Rooms being available is

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Speaker 2: the most pressing issue, and so we are doing this

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Speaker 2: so those rooms are available for territorians, and Katie, I

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Speaker 2: point to Southeast Queensland. People probably have spent some time there.

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Speaker 2: They've ridden out hoping that when the lockdown is that

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Speaker 2: the hot spot would be listed from the Northern territory.

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Speaker 2: That's not the safe thing for us to do. So

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Speaker 2: we'll now have territorians who will make the decision to

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Speaker 2: come home go into quarantine. We need those rooms available

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Speaker 2: for them. As I said, we're not a service center

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Speaker 2: for other jurisdictions.

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Speaker 1: So just to clarify, has this been agreed to by

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Speaker 1: the federal government.

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Speaker 2: Katy, it's not a matter for the federal government to

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Speaker 2: agree to this. As I said, we communicate with them,

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Speaker 2: But this is a decision of the Territory Controller.

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Speaker 3: So, but is Howard Springs regarded.

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Speaker 1: I know that it obviously is run by the Territory Controller,

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Speaker 1: but given the fact that the federal government's providing an

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Speaker 1: enormous amount of funding, and my understanding is that that

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Speaker 1: is attached to the international arrivals.

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Speaker 3: But so they don't.

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Speaker 1: Need to sort of to be notified or let know

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Speaker 1: that this change is happening.

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Speaker 2: Katie, I will have to start to conclude my comments.

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Speaker 2: I do have an importment I have to get to.

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Speaker 2: But in terms of Howard Springs, the international side of it,

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Speaker 2: we work closely with the Commonwealth. They have full oversight,

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Speaker 2: They provide the funding for that. The domestic side is

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Speaker 2: controlled by the Northern Territory and this is a decision

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Speaker 2: based on that domestic side. It is separate to the

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Speaker 2: international side.

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Speaker 1: All right, I know we are running out of time,

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Speaker 1: so I do just want to power through a couple

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Speaker 1: of things. I understand that that code yellow at Royal

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Speaker 1: dar And Hospital has now been lifted.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Katie, So the code yellow was listed on Saturday afternoon.

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Speaker 2: And what a code yellow is is it shows that

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Speaker 2: we're experienced their peak in bed demand and in that's

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Speaker 2: capacity management plans at the hospital. So we've been at

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Speaker 2: an escalation plan of level four for a number of

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Speaker 2: days and despite amazing efforts, concentrated efforts from our staff,

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Speaker 2: we needed to call that code yellow, which enacts processes

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Speaker 2: within the hospital to try and ease that pressure and

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Speaker 2: get some bedflow happening.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: We know that patients then from Palmerston Regional Hospital had

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Speaker 1: to be transferred out of the renal unit, as I

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Speaker 1: understand out there, what was the issue?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, this was a separate issue and it was

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Speaker 2: around us. I'm advised plumbing issues at the Palmerston renal

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Speaker 2: unit and so it had a temporary closure of the

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Speaker 2: unit which allowed maintenance to go in and resolve that issue.

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Speaker 1: Has that issue been fixed now, the plumbing issue, Katie.

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Speaker 2: I haven't had a brief on that. But the dialast's

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Speaker 2: patients were relocated to other censers to continue their vital

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Speaker 2: treatments and we worked with them to make sure that

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Speaker 2: they had transport etc.

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Speaker 1: How long do you anticipate that that unit's going to

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Speaker 1: be closed down?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, I'll get an update for you and get

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Speaker 2: my team to send it through to you. But I

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Speaker 2: understand it was a temporary plumbing issue, all right.

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Speaker 1: And so did any of those patients have to be

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Speaker 1: transferred across the Royal Darwin Hospital.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we've got a number of dallass services in

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Speaker 2: the top end at Royal Darleen Hospital. The Nightcliff rerein

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Speaker 2: or unit. So they would have scheduled their treatment at

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Speaker 2: those facilities, is my understanding.

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Speaker 1: And so did that have any impact when it comes

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Speaker 1: to that code yellow?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, there were two separate issues. The code yellow,

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Speaker 2: as I just explained to your listeners why it was

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Speaker 2: called and what it enacts. Then we had that plumbing

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Speaker 2: issue and with dallases, which is a life saving treatment

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Speaker 2: that can't be deferred. We've always got contingency plans if

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Speaker 2: we're to see any impact on one of our censers.

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Speaker 2: And so that's what was enacted there.

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Speaker 1: All right, I do just want to ask you very

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Speaker 1: quickly the darw And Turf Club. It was expected they'd

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Speaker 1: hold that special general meeting tonight to elect a new board.

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Speaker 1: It's now being reported by the paper that it has

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Speaker 1: been delayed until August twenty four. Michael Gonna said on

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Speaker 1: Sunday at a press conference he may not take any

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Speaker 1: legislative action even if the Darwin Turf Club aleex board

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Speaker 1: members that the Independent Commissioner against Corruption made findings of

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Speaker 1: misconduct against Do you think that this legislation needs to change, so, Katie.

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Speaker 2: As we've said consistently, as the ICAC report noted we

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that we have processes in those

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Speaker 2: clubs and those associations, and right now they have put

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Speaker 2: in place some temporary measures and we need to see

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Speaker 2: that longer term change so that we can have confidence

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Speaker 2: in this board that oversees such a significant space in

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Speaker 2: the church.

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Speaker 1: So there is going to be legislative change.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, as you've just reported, and we've been made

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Speaker 2: aware this morning that they've deferred their meeting and so

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Speaker 2: we need to await the outcome of that meeting.

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Speaker 3: Is this a backflip by the Chief Minister O Katie.

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Speaker 2: I've just pointed out we need to have confidence in

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Speaker 2: the club the association there they've got the opportunity to

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Speaker 2: elect the new board and we would be preempting to

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Speaker 2: get into further conversation.

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Speaker 1: All right, Minister Files, we are going to have to

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Speaker 1: leave it there. We appreciate you taking the time to

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Speaker 1: speak with us this morning, and I think that we'll

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Speaker 1: speak to you again tomorrow to find out exactly what's

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Speaker 1: happening Parliament.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Walking