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Speaker 1: Now I did just mention this article in the Herald

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Speaker 1: Sun a short time ago, which is raising eyebrows around

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Speaker 1: the nation. Indigenous patients are receiving fast tracked care over

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Speaker 1: other Victorians at a major Melbourne emergency department. It's sparking

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Speaker 1: allegations of discrimination. Now in an Australian first, staff at

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Speaker 1: Saint Vincent's Hospital have been ordered to treat all Indigenous

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Speaker 1: patients within thirty minutes of arrival, putting them ahead of

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Speaker 1: other patients in some cases. Now the move has prompted

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Speaker 1: warnings that prioritizing care based on race risked undermining confidence

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Speaker 1: in a public system already under intense strain. Now it

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Speaker 1: is it's something that there are those at work in

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Speaker 1: health are stepping up saying, you know, this does not

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Speaker 1: seem like it's the right thing to do.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Chief Minister Finochiao. Good morning to your Chief Minister.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now Chief, very quick interview this morning. This situation in

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Speaker 1: Victoria raising eyebrows around the nation. We've got a situation

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Speaker 1: near in Victoria where it's being reported Indigenous patients are

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Speaker 1: receiving fast tracked care over other Victorians in a major

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Speaker 1: Melbourne emergency department, sparking allegations of discrimination. Is this something

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Speaker 1: you'd ever consider for the Northern Territory?

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Speaker 2: No way in the world, Katie, And can I just say,

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Speaker 2: what on earth is going on in Victoria at the moment.

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Speaker 2: They have some serious problems that they need to get

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Speaker 2: their head around. Patient care should always be triarged based

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Speaker 2: on neat, not on the color of your skin, or

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Speaker 2: your race or your religion. It should be on your

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Speaker 2: health needs. And to think that there is a hospital

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Speaker 2: in this country doing anything other than that is truly

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Speaker 2: horrifying and will never ever happen here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Oh Hospital spokes and defended the policy, saying it was

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Speaker 1: part of a broader effort to improve access for Indigenous patients.

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Speaker 1: She said that research conducted at that hospital showed First

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Speaker 1: Nations patients were on average waiting longer to be seen

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Speaker 1: compared to non Indigenous patients. I mean, here in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory, are you confident that, no matter where you

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Speaker 1: come from, what your background are is, you'll get seen

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Speaker 1: as quickly as possible in our emergency.

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Speaker 2: Departments, absolutely, Katie, And that's what our wonderful nurses and

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Speaker 2: all of our health professionals who work in our hospitals

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Speaker 2: and in our clinics are trained to do. We've all

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Speaker 2: been there before, whether for ourselves or with our kids.

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Speaker 2: And you line up, you tell your story, you sit down,

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Speaker 2: and then they are then juggling all of the demand.

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Speaker 2: Now I acknowledge, of course there is sometimes significant and

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Speaker 2: overwhelming pressure on those staff and on the system, and

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Speaker 2: Territorians far too often wait far too long. But that

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Speaker 2: is a different issue to the one that Victoria is

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Speaker 2: really moving ahead that I just think it's a move

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Speaker 2: in the wrong direction. It will inevitably undermine confidence in

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Speaker 2: the system, and it might even cause people not to

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Speaker 2: present to hospital when they need to, which could lead

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Speaker 2: to really catastrophic outcomes as well, which no one wants

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Speaker 2: to see.

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Speaker 1: There are some that might be listening this morning, Chief Minister,

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Speaker 1: that say, you know, some of our indigenous Territorians have

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Speaker 1: the worst health outcomes than anybody else around the nation,

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Speaker 1: and in some instances, you know, they may need to

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Speaker 1: be seen faster.

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Speaker 2: But that will be judged on the health scenario at

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Speaker 2: the time. And so of course if someone presents with

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Speaker 2: chronic condition, then the health professionals who manage the triage

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Speaker 2: will manage that appropriately. And that's exactly why a fair

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Speaker 2: and equitable system is what health systems should be delivering

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Speaker 2: and nothing other than that.

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Speaker 1: Lea watch a message for those working in the healthcare

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Speaker 1: system today, but also for those listening that are maybe

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Speaker 1: you know, lining up and having a wait for ages

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Speaker 1: to be seen.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, just thank you so much. They are incredible. You know,

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Speaker 2: our heroes, our angels, the people that when we need

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Speaker 2: them the most are there for us no matter what.

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Speaker 2: And so you know, we recognize there is a lot

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Speaker 2: of pressure on territory wide hospital systems, but those stuff

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Speaker 2: in there, they all get a gold medal from me, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Chief Finister Leah Finocchiaro, thanks so much for the quick.

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Speaker 2: Chat this morning, No raise, take care everyone.

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Speaker 1: Thank you