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Speaker 1: Three sixteen with Katie Wolf thanks to Joyce Main Dowin

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Speaker 1: homes Own Stuart Highway Beerromar.

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Speaker 2: We did just catch up, as you heard with NT

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Speaker 2: Farmers about the worker shortage when it comes to our

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Speaker 2: farming industry. Joining us on the line right now though

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Speaker 2: Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce, good morning to you, Alex.

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Speaker 1: Good ay Katie.

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Speaker 2: Alex, You and I have spoken on so many occasions

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Speaker 2: about this worker shortage. How are things tracking from your

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Speaker 2: perspective at the moment? For Hospitality, look, the single.

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Speaker 1: Biggest improvement for us happened when they unshackled the international students.

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Speaker 1: We saw an immediate impact on the rosters in cafes

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Speaker 1: and restaurants and venues around town and down the track.

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Speaker 3: There are a ranger tools and pull from MT. Farmers

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Speaker 3: is not wrong, you know, we are looking at every

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Speaker 3: single avenue at the moment. Gray nomads, traveling families with

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Speaker 3: kids local Territorians children sixteen to eighteen can get exemption

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Speaker 3: to serve our.

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Speaker 1: Whole through licensing.

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Speaker 2: We're doing absolute You seems to have cut out there,

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Speaker 2: are you there, Alex? Sorry you cut out for one moment.

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Speaker 3: Sorry dodgy reception in the CBD of that.

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Speaker 2: That's okay, we'll continue on. So you literally, as we

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Speaker 2: heard from you, you know, you've just said it and

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Speaker 2: Paul said it before, you're trying everything, every tool in

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Speaker 2: your tool belt to try to fill these positions. Has

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Speaker 2: it had much of an impact the COVID lockdown for

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Speaker 2: you guys in Victoria and what's happening in Victoria? Has

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Speaker 2: it had much much of an impact from the hospitality

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Speaker 2: industry's perspective. For us here in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Look, it probably led to ten to fifteen percent of

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Speaker 1: rooms being canceled and refunded across the network. The longer

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Speaker 1: it goes on, the bigger the impact happens. Some venues

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Speaker 1: I'm aware of lost a lot more than that, but

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Speaker 1: there has been some backfill, especially in Central Australia that

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Speaker 1: even up and down, and you know, demand is so

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Speaker 1: high at the moment compared to the rooms that are

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Speaker 1: available and online that you know, there was a shout

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Speaker 1: out from the casino I think on Friday with a

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Speaker 1: local discounted special rate and so a bunch of people

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Speaker 1: jumped in on that. So we have been able to

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Speaker 1: replace those lost bookings with with other people, which is positive.

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Speaker 2: Well, that is a good thing to hear now in

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Speaker 2: terms of some of the other things that are happening

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Speaker 2: around the place. I mean, we know, as again as

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Speaker 2: I've said, We've said it on so many occasions, the

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Speaker 2: situation across the borders. We know that it does have

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Speaker 2: an impact for us. Has it made much of a

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Speaker 2: difference so from your perspective the way that the territory

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Speaker 2: government sort of looked at it a little bit differently

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Speaker 2: this time round, and I know that it's changed now

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Speaker 2: with Victoria, but sort of looking things with looking at

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Speaker 2: things with those locations of concern and not shutting down

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Speaker 2: or not sort of locking out whole states. Has that

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Speaker 2: made a bit of a better impact, do you think

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Speaker 2: in terms of the way we're dealing with it from

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Speaker 2: our perspective in hospitality here in the territory?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, since Christmas you've seen a lot shorter and sharper lockdown.

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Speaker 1: And as the confidence of the contact tracing capability across

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Speaker 1: the country's got better and better, and you know, we

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Speaker 1: all learned last year how to deal with a one

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Speaker 1: in one hundred year event, there don't seem to be

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Speaker 1: more confidence to be particularly targeted with the hotspot declarations now,

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Speaker 1: rather than just ripping up the handbrake on a whole

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Speaker 1: state at a time, which, yeah, that absolutely minimizes some

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Speaker 1: of the negative impacts.

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Speaker 2: Now, what do you feel, Yeah, well, and look, I

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Speaker 2: think that that is it's hopefully, you know, a good thing.

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Speaker 2: I know that a lot of people still do have

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Speaker 2: concerns and they do want us to totally lock people

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Speaker 2: or lot different states out when this kind of thing

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Speaker 2: is happening. But I do think that it is a

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Speaker 2: real moving feast at the moment. We've got to become

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Speaker 2: a bit more adaptable in the way that we deal

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Speaker 2: with it, which we are seeing I suppose over the

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Speaker 2: last few months, like you've pointed out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and internationally and nationally, all the health experts seem

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Speaker 1: to be saying, we are going to get to a

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Speaker 1: point where we're living with this. This is never going

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Speaker 1: to go away, but we're going to live with it.

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Speaker 1: The vaccinations and everything else are going to make it

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Speaker 1: a lot less deadly, which is a positive. And months

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Speaker 1: we get to that point, it's more about some of

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Speaker 1: these targeted responses rather than keeping the international borders closed

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Speaker 1: forever in a day.

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Speaker 2: Now, Alex, another situation that you and I have spoken

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Speaker 2: about on a few occasions is the takeaway alcohol purchases

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Speaker 2: will in the Berkley region. But I know that there's

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Speaker 2: been a decision made in this space. Can you talk

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Speaker 2: us through what's happened and how it's impacting you guys.

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Speaker 1: Yes, So the Lector Commission handed down its decision notice

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Speaker 1: on Monday or over the weekend. There's nineteen licensees that

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Speaker 1: are impacted in the Barkley region, and that's all the

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Speaker 1: little roadhouses and waysidems, plus the two pubs in ten

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Speaker 1: and the one pub in Elliott. The Liquor Commission's gone

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Speaker 1: away from the idea of putting BDR on premise, which

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Speaker 1: we think is are sensible outcome. They have increased some

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Speaker 1: of the CCTV requirements. The government's making it quite clear

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Speaker 1: and the Liquor Commission that going forward, CCTV over BDR

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Speaker 1: systems is something they're wanting to see written into all

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Speaker 1: the licenses in the Northern Territory. Largely the town operators

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Speaker 1: already have a lot of CCTV for their own security

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Speaker 1: purposes and the like, so it's not too onerous and

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Speaker 1: the cost of the technology continues to decrease. The one

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Speaker 1: sticking point with some of that stuff is the call

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Speaker 1: out fees and the service fees that those really remote

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Speaker 1: places cop can be quite exorbitant. So we'll just continue

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Speaker 1: to work with the government on what the CCTV guidelines

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Speaker 1: look like as they seek to roll it out into

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Speaker 1: some of those really remote locations.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what's the reaction been from some of those from

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Speaker 2: some of those venues.

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Speaker 1: Look to Tenant Creek, it was quite positive because it's

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Speaker 1: got the toughest restrictions in the nation in Tenant Creek,

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Speaker 1: and the liquor commissions decided to keep them there, but

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Speaker 1: try to put a bit more flexibility into it. And

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Speaker 1: what I mean is one customer per day can go

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Speaker 1: and buy a cartment beer or two bottles of wine,

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Speaker 1: but you can't go in and buy a six pack

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Speaker 1: and a bottle of wine. So it does detract from

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Speaker 1: bona fide caravans and tourists sales, and you know locals

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Speaker 1: that are wanting to just go in and potentially get

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Speaker 1: some beer for the mister and a bottle of wine

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Speaker 1: for the missus. Both people have to attend or they

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Speaker 1: take it in turns and they're actually purchasing more So

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Speaker 1: the Liquor Commission did appreciate that that was a bonafide

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Speaker 1: concern of residents in TenneT Creek and has approved for

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Speaker 1: that different mix. The overall alcohol quantity doesn't increase, you'll

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Speaker 1: be able to move between categories, which you think is good. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: the BDR is the clunky, old, clapped out system that

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Speaker 1: it is, and computer says no, and the technology isn't

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Speaker 1: there to make put this into effect. We are looking

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Speaker 1: forward to an updated, smarter BDR at some point in

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Speaker 1: the future.

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Speaker 2: That was going to be my next question. How is

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Speaker 2: the BDR going? Is it scanning those new licenses yet

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Speaker 2: or are we still struggling.

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Speaker 1: They're they're they're doing a better job at scanning the

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Speaker 1: new licenses, but as the new licenses distribute getting to

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Speaker 1: the hands of more and more territoriums, it's it's remaining

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Speaker 1: an issue for us and it's nowhere near as user

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Speaker 1: friendly as the old licenses. And the number one use

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Speaker 1: for territoriums is with their driver's license is for scanning

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Speaker 1: through the bottle shops, even if they're a very very

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Speaker 1: infrequent customer. So we had zero consultation as an industry.

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Speaker 1: We think it's unfortunate, but cop it on the chin.

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Speaker 1: We do want to see an updated BDR going forward

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Speaker 1: and we're happy to work with government on that.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it is what it's going to need to happen.

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Speaker 2: I mean, if we've got a situation whereas more and

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Speaker 2: more people get those new licenses, less and less of

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Speaker 2: those you know scans are able to happen. It does

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Speaker 2: sound as though it's going to have to be a

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Speaker 2: no brainer and we're going to need updated, updated you know,

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Speaker 2: machines and more.

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Speaker 1: Tourists of all ages, despite what it says on their

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Speaker 1: home state government websites are coming up now with just

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Speaker 1: digital drivers licenses. It's good that we can manually enter

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Speaker 1: them into the BDR. Now we've got that outcome, thank

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Speaker 1: you very much, Katie. Which is positive. But you know

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Speaker 1: when the territoriums get the benefit of digital driver's licenses.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the timeframe, well, good point and good question. I reckon, Alex.

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Speaker 1: Mate.

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Speaker 2: It's always good to catch up with you. We appreciate

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Speaker 2: your time this morning. Thanks for having a chat.

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Speaker 1: With us Tfkatie, all the best.

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Speaker 2: Thank you. That is Alex Bruce there the See of

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Speaker 2: Hospitality NT