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Speaker 1: This last week, all eyes were on Catherine as we

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Speaker 1: waited and watched to see a further flooding would occur,

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Speaker 1: as that rain associated with Cyclone Norrell drenched the top end. Now,

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Speaker 1: luckily the beautiful town didn't see the level of flooding

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Speaker 1: that we'd initially predicted after well shocking scenes just two

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Speaker 1: weeks earlier. Now joining us live on the line is

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Speaker 1: the member for Catherine, Joe Hersey. Good morning to you, Joe.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and to the listeners, Joe, a very

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Speaker 2: sunny day here in Catherine.

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Speaker 1: Beautiful to hear. Now, before I talk about how things

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Speaker 1: are tracking in Catherine, what did you make of the

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister's national address overnight?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Look, I only I had some meetings last night,

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Speaker 2: so I only sort of caught snippets of it. But yes, underwhelming.

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Speaker 2: And I think when you and Kathleen were talking before

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Speaker 2: the scare mongering that went into it, because I actually

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Speaker 2: had three people ring me yesterday say are we going

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Speaker 2: to go into a few childrens or something like that.

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Speaker 2: And yet I've heard Minister Yan talk that we have

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Speaker 2: enough fuel here in the territory. But you know, obviously

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Speaker 2: it's a bit like the whole toilet paper thing, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Don't get what you don't need. Just fill up your

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Speaker 2: tank and there'll be enough for everyone to go around.

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Speaker 2: You don't need to go and fill up everything, your

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Speaker 2: jerry cans, your trucks, And because I know people that

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Speaker 2: have done that, because they're worried. And if you put

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Speaker 2: a little bit of information out there and you just

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Speaker 2: have people hanging on a string, they don't know what

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Speaker 2: is coming.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right, and they start to worry, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I go out there and think the worst.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Joinese whispers.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. Look, it'll be interesting to

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Speaker 1: see if he gives some further detail today in that

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Speaker 1: press club address in terms of, you know, some surety

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Speaker 1: for the different industries that are being seriously impacted right

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Speaker 1: now as well by the situation that we've got with fuel.

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Speaker 1: So hopefully he provides a bit more detail for all

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Speaker 1: Australians by later today.

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Speaker 2: Yeah that's right.

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Speaker 1: Well, wait and see now, Joe, tell me how are

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Speaker 1: things tracking in Catherine at the moment. You guys have

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Speaker 1: had a shocking time. As I mentioned in the opener there,

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Speaker 1: you know that flooding a few weeks ago. Then we

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Speaker 1: thought it was going to happen again just a week ago.

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Speaker 1: How are things tracking right now? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think everyone is relieved getting ready for Easter.

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Speaker 2: Town is very busy. When I was in Woollies yesterday,

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Speaker 2: there was so much stock in the shelf it was amazing.

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Speaker 2: I've not been so full of stock for a very

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Speaker 2: long time. So they're obviously ready for everyone to do

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Speaker 2: their Easter buy up. But no, I think everyone's sort of,

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Speaker 2: you know, getting back to normal and just so relieved

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Speaker 2: that we're all done with the rain. You know, maybe

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Speaker 2: a little bit to the gardens good, but that's about it. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: But I just want to before we go too much

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Speaker 2: into anything. When we first had that flooding, given that

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Speaker 2: my business is private business, you know, before I came

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Speaker 2: into this role, I certainly heard from many businesses out there,

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Speaker 2: and so then got the Chiefs Office to get onto

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Speaker 2: the federal government for some business support. And I did

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Speaker 2: that when we were going through that first flooding event.

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Speaker 2: We are still three or so weeks down the track

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Speaker 2: and it is sitting on the Prime Minister's desk. I

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Speaker 2: followed that up when I left Dahwin a couple of

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Speaker 2: days ago. It is still sitting on Olbow's desk. He

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Speaker 2: just needs to get to it. And you know, we've

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Speaker 2: had to provide more information to him. But back in

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Speaker 2: ninety eight, as I've said to people, all businesses got

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Speaker 2: ten thousand dollars. That was twenty nine years ago. It's

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Speaker 2: got to resonate to you know, a whole lot more

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Speaker 2: than that. We put a package forward of what that

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Speaker 2: might look like and they wanted some more support.

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Speaker 1: But John, is that just for Catherine or is that

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Speaker 1: also you know, like we know some of the businesses

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Speaker 1: in Daily River we spoke about one at Douglas Daily

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Speaker 1: as well. Is that for all of those businesses?

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Speaker 2: No, this is this is for all businesses. It just

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Speaker 2: I just started the ball rolling when we were going

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Speaker 2: through it here. But we've had many businesses across the territory.

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Speaker 2: In actual fact, I think I might have even said

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Speaker 2: one other time when I was on you know, seven

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Speaker 2: extreme weather events affecting eight percent of the population. It's

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Speaker 2: a considerable amount of things we've had to be dealing

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Speaker 2: with as a government, you know, over the last web season,

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Speaker 2: but certainly in the last month, and you know, whilst

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Speaker 2: we've had some you know, six hundred dollar payments if

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Speaker 2: you're an adult and three hundred odds for kids, and

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Speaker 2: there was one thousand dollar payment for others if their

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Speaker 2: places had been in and dated the re establishment grant,

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Speaker 2: which seriously, the threshold was I think fifty six thousand

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Speaker 2: dollars if you're single. Again, I've sent that back and

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Speaker 2: said that needs to be reassessed if there's another you know,

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Speaker 2: emergency event like we've just seen. That does not cover

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Speaker 2: nearly any nowhere in the territory. And I think it

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Speaker 2: was one hundred and twenty one thousand if you're a

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Speaker 2: couple with children.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, look, I really hope that businesses that you

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Speaker 1: guys at the Northern Territory Government and those businesses do

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Speaker 1: hear back from the Prime Minister's office or from the

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Speaker 1: federal government about this, because I do think it's imperative

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Speaker 1: that those businesses that have been struck and some of

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Speaker 1: them you know, still not able to operate and it

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Speaker 1: could be an awful long time before they're able to

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Speaker 1: that they do receive that support. You know, when territory

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Speaker 1: ends are in their hour of need, that's when you

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Speaker 1: expect the federal government to you know, to be able

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Speaker 1: to step up and give them a hand.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I think you know, some businesses that have

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Speaker 2: been in contact with me for the month of March

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Speaker 2: that actually works seven days. They still want to pay staff,

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Speaker 2: you know, they still got to pay you know, their

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Speaker 2: outgoings and everything that they've got. That's really tough when

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Speaker 2: you're in private business. And as someone who's been in

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Speaker 2: private business, I know how tough it is, and I

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Speaker 2: tell you I will be. I am making sure that

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Speaker 2: we are banging on that door and keeping you know,

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Speaker 2: the federal government to account and making sure that we

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Speaker 2: get some kind of response and in a more timely manner.

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Speaker 2: It's not acceptable. Yeah. I get that there's a lot

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Speaker 2: going on in the world at the moment, but this

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Speaker 2: is you know, in the Northern territory that is certainly

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Speaker 2: a big focus for me at the moment in supporting

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Speaker 2: a small business, you know, and any business that has

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Speaker 2: been flooded yep over the last month, six weeks or Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, I agree with you. You've got to be able

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Speaker 1: to walk into gum at the same time as a

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Speaker 1: government and that's the reason why there's plenty of departments

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Speaker 1: and a number of ministers that are able to then

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Speaker 1: help people when they need that support. Joe, tell me

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Speaker 1: in terms of the cleanup and in terms of the

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Speaker 1: damage in Catherine, how are things going. You know, it

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Speaker 1: does feel as though, I hope for you guys at

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Speaker 1: life's starting to get back to normal.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's certainly life is certainly starting to get back

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Speaker 2: to normal. But for anyone that has been flooded, just

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Speaker 2: like myself, I'm sure their places are in disarray. I

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Speaker 2: mean I've been out to Gregor garyln Rights out on

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Speaker 2: Gorge Road, and you know they're slowly cleaning things up

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Speaker 2: and putting things back in and you know, doing what

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Speaker 2: they need to get their home back to normal. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we are waiting on insurance accessors. I know another business

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Speaker 2: down the road from me. You know they are waiting

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Speaker 2: on insurance accessors. But whilst it goes out of the

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Speaker 2: main public eye, and this same thing happened in ninety eight,

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Speaker 2: it sort of goes out of the news a little bit.

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Speaker 2: But in twelve months time, Katie, people will still be

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Speaker 2: trying to get their lives back together, because that's how

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Speaker 2: long it takes for some people. That's how long it

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Speaker 2: took for us in ninety eight.

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Speaker 1: So you mentioned then those insurance successors, and I know

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Speaker 1: what that's like. When you have damage to your house,

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Speaker 1: it can take what feels like bloody forever to be

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Speaker 1: able to get somebody out there and get it sorted.

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Speaker 1: But I've also been contacted this week by locals who

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Speaker 1: are really worried about the cost of insurance. One in

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Speaker 1: particular contacted me and said that their annual insurance cost

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Speaker 1: for their home has gone up to twenty two thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars in Catherine. They're shopping around, but it is going

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Speaker 1: to be a big issue, I reckon for locals. What

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Speaker 1: are you hearing?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I haven't. I mean, I've certainly heard that

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Speaker 2: people that were flooded that didn't have insurance didn't have

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Speaker 2: it for those very reasons. Since I've heard someone got

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Speaker 2: in contact with our office and they were due to

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Speaker 2: renew their insurance over that flood period, and then when

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Speaker 2: they've gone to do it, they've been told, sorry, you'll

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Speaker 2: have to go and find someone else. We're not going

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Speaker 2: to ensure you anymore. And I can't think of what

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Speaker 2: that company was that they were insured with, But all

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Speaker 2: I can say is people do need to shop around.

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Speaker 2: We certainly, I mean given that we got flooded in

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Speaker 2: ninety eight and two thousand and six. I can only

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Speaker 2: go on my own experience. We did have insurance for

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Speaker 2: flood but our premium was a little bit higher. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it wasn't excessive because I wouldn't pay it either, But

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Speaker 2: the I can't think of what you know, when you

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Speaker 2: when the threshold of what you actually have to pay out,

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Speaker 2: you know, it goes up.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I know what I mean, the excess or

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Speaker 1: whatever it is.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it might cost you one thousand dollars to get

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Speaker 2: all that or whatever, but that that actually went a

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Speaker 2: little bit higher, Yeah, to bring the insurance down.

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Speaker 1: Yep. I mean it's beyond the joke for people though,

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Speaker 1: because if it gets to the point, like I know,

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Speaker 1: for me, you know, in my home, I'm in an

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Speaker 1: elevated home, it's I think it's about six thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: a year. Like that's a lot of money as it is,

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Speaker 1: But then.

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Speaker 2: If you'd done a little bit like that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but then if you end up with some people

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Speaker 1: in Catherine where they're being told it's going to go

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Speaker 1: up into you know, into the twenty thousands, that's obscene,

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Speaker 1: Like it's absolutely obscene. Is there anything that can be

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Speaker 1: done Like I would, I would suspect it falls under

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Speaker 1: a federal issue, But is there anything that can be done,

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Speaker 1: you know from a local level. I guess because like

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Speaker 1: I said, I reckon, you're going to find there'll be

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Speaker 1: more people getting in contact saying I can't even afford

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Speaker 1: to ensure my home.

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Speaker 2: I think that's something you know in the coming weeks,

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Speaker 2: you know, if people want to get in contact, and

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Speaker 2: if a lot of people are getting contact, I think

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Speaker 2: we can certainly write to the FEDS and say, you

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Speaker 2: know what's going on here, But insurance companies need to

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Speaker 2: look at it as well, because you know, as part

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Speaker 2: of the flood recovery fund, you know, if we're going

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Speaker 2: to do it works and make things better than what

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Speaker 2: they were before, or for example, let's just use Catherine

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Speaker 2: as an example, or you know, with the flood mitigation

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Speaker 2: that was in hand. I know that when the flood

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Speaker 2: mitigation was done on the north side of town, that

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Speaker 2: there were some people there that certainly one older gentleman

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Speaker 2: came in and said his insurance was going to be

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Speaker 2: twenty thousand dollars. I was absolutely hoping and praying when

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Speaker 2: that happened because I knew that his place would have

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Speaker 2: been flooded. When I finally saw him, I said, oh,

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Speaker 2: I've been wondering how you were going. I said, did

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Speaker 2: you have insurance? And he said yes, he did, so

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Speaker 2: he did manage to get a lot cheaper insurance as

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Speaker 2: a retired person than the twenty thousand he was quoted

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Speaker 2: first up. But now that we've had that again, that's

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Speaker 2: certainly something that we need to keep an eye on,

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Speaker 2: and insurance companies need to, you know, maybe look at

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Speaker 2: that as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I totally agree, so I'm sure it'll be

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Speaker 1: something that we discuss again.

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Speaker 2: Joe.

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Speaker 1: Hey, before I let you go, though, In terms of

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Speaker 1: that flood mitigation that you've just spoken about, there obviously

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government announcing the you know, the flood

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Speaker 1: Recovery Fund, has there been much of a look at

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Speaker 1: what might be able to be done in Catherine for

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Speaker 1: next you know, I'm hopefully there's not a next time,

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Speaker 1: but you know, but history tells us there could be.

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Speaker 2: History does tell us that, Katie and I certainly hope

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Speaker 2: it's a long time in the future. Ken Davies, the

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Speaker 2: Director General of that Flood Recovery Fund, and he's got

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Speaker 2: Tony Fuller working with him and they have been out.

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Speaker 2: I've met with them here in Catherine. I've met with

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Speaker 2: Ken again just at the Bachelor meeting the other night

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Speaker 2: and spoke to residents there. But he has actually been

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Speaker 2: out to the Murray Downs area. He's been to Plumper

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Speaker 2: and Naiu, he's been to Beswick, he's been to Jill

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Speaker 2: Mengen and had to look at all that and so

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Speaker 2: there has been you know, they will be putting something

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Speaker 2: together and bringing back to me very shortly and then

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Speaker 2: we will prioritize what some of those areas are and

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Speaker 2: so that's the work that we still have in front

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Speaker 2: of us. But when Ken came to that meeting at

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Speaker 2: Bachelor the other day, he had just flown in from

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Speaker 2: being at Plumper and Naiu, So it was really good

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Speaker 2: for him to be able to address the people there.

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Speaker 2: And whilst you know, it's about as a member of

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Speaker 2: Parliament and the part of the cabinet in this government,

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Speaker 2: it's about turning up to those difficult conversations as well

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Speaker 2: as the ones that you the easy conversations. And that

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Speaker 2: was I have to tell you, it was a bit

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Speaker 2: I was thinking, oh gosh, what's this going to be

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Speaker 2: like that we're going into a lines den, But it

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Speaker 2: was actually, you know, there were angry residents there, and

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Speaker 2: I absolutely acknowledged the fact that their community has swelled

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Speaker 2: more than double because of these people in here. But

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Speaker 2: I did just say to them, as someone who had

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Speaker 2: been flooded, these people don't want to be here anymore

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Speaker 2: than potentially they want them there either. You know, they

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Speaker 2: have lost everything, and you know it may not be

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Speaker 2: your everything, and it may not be my everything, but

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Speaker 2: it is there everything. And I think a little bit

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Speaker 2: of compassion and you know, some niceties need to go

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Speaker 2: there towards those people who are being looked after extremely

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Speaker 2: well by territory families and the education support there and

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Speaker 2: other agencies. We've got school holidays coming up, There'll be

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Speaker 2: things to keep the kids busy, there's extra security, there's

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Speaker 2: extra police presence. So yeah, and I did speak to

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Speaker 2: Duran Young, the member for Daily, and we swap numbers

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Speaker 2: and just said if there's if there's anything that you

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Speaker 2: hear that needs to be addressed, please get in contact

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Speaker 2: with me straight away. So got to lead together. You know,

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Speaker 2: those lines of communication are open and we need to

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Speaker 2: work together in times an emergency and it's not my community,

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Speaker 2: but I'm very you know, empathetic towards them that they

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Speaker 2: have gone through exactly the same as what we've gone

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Speaker 2: through here, and I think we need to just get

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Speaker 2: them back and in their homes as quickly as we can.

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Speaker 2: And there has been some areas that have been acknowledged

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Speaker 2: that are on higher ground and the elders and the

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Speaker 2: communities are being worked through, so I think it will

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Speaker 2: be a better solution for them moving forward.

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Speaker 1: Well, Joe Hersey, the Member for Catherine and also the

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Speaker 1: Minister for Education and various other portfolios, will have to

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Speaker 1: leave it there. Good to speak with you as always

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Speaker 1: and have a great Easter.

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Speaker 2: Yes, thanks Katie. Happy Easter to everyone.

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Speaker 1: Thank you you two