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Speaker 1: Now the Senator for the Northern Territory, doctor Sam McMahon,

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Speaker 1: is calling for the biosecurity zone, which has been implemented

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Speaker 1: by the federal government to prevent people from entering or

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Speaker 1: leaving the Robinson River and surrounding homelands, to be extended

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Speaker 1: to Borrow Lula. The Senator joins me on the line

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Speaker 1: right now, Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Sam, Good morning Katie. How are you yeah?

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Speaker 3: Really well?

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Speaker 1: Now? Senator, why do you think this biosecurity zone needs

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Speaker 1: to be extended to include Borrow Lula.

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Speaker 2: Look, Katie, these communities are contiguous. That is, they connect intimately.

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Speaker 2: They are essentially one community, although they're separated by distance

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Speaker 2: and a rough road. You know, people from Robinson River

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Speaker 2: travel to Borrow Lulla all the time. They go there

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Speaker 2: to visit family and friends, they go there for services,

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Speaker 2: they go there to get their mail. They're constantly traveling.

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Speaker 2: They've intimately connected these two communities, so it makes no

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Speaker 2: sense to put a restriction on one but not the other.

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Speaker 1: How you conveyed this to the federal Minister Greg Hunt

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Speaker 1: And what's he said, because obviously it was him who

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Speaker 1: called or implemented that biosecurity Zigne for Robinson River.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I asked the question firstly of Nicole Manison

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Speaker 2: and she, you know, her explanation was, well, the road's

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Speaker 2: quite quite rough, so she didn't feel like people would

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Speaker 2: be traveling on it, which is like ridiculous. The road's

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Speaker 2: always been rough and people always travel But that was

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Speaker 2: her explanation. Now. I spoke to Greg Hunt a short

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Speaker 2: while after. Now he's implemented the biosecurity zones based on

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Speaker 2: the anti government asking for that to happen. Now, he's

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Speaker 2: not familiar with the area. He is more than happy

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Speaker 2: to extend the biosecurity zone, but it has to be

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Speaker 2: on the request of the Antique government.

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Speaker 1: Now has there been from what you can get, are

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Speaker 1: there any desire for that to happen from the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government? From my understanding, they've said that there's extensive

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Speaker 1: testing or there's going to be in Boro Lula and

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Speaker 1: at this stage they weren't looking to lock down Boro

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Speaker 1: Lula as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. They have no appetite to do it.

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Speaker 2: They don't understand why you would need to. You know,

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Speaker 2: as I said, Minister Manison's explanation was, well, the road's

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Speaker 2: really rough, so we don't think people would be traveling,

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Speaker 2: which is ridiculous. Anyone who knows remote communities know that

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Speaker 2: people travel irrespective of how rough or difficult the road is.

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Speaker 2: And yes, they're doing testing, but the thing is, you know,

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Speaker 2: if they by the time they find a case, it's

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Speaker 2: too late. People will have been infected in that community

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Speaker 2: for days by the time they find a case, and

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Speaker 2: will have traveled from that community. People travel from Boloulla

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Speaker 2: all across the Northern Territory, including to and from Darwin,

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Speaker 2: So you know, say testing and they find a case,

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Speaker 2: it's unfortunately it's already too late. People will have spread

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Speaker 2: it further and wider.

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Speaker 3: I mean, is it a bit excessive?

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Speaker 1: Though? Surely if the Northern Territory government is looking at,

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Speaker 1: you know, the different information that's coming forward and they

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Speaker 1: are obviously feeling as though they're confident with the testing

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Speaker 1: at this point in time and making sure that people

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Speaker 1: are vaccinated, would it be excessive?

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Speaker 2: Well, look, Kaybee, time will tell, and I hope I'm wrong,

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Speaker 2: I really do. And as I said, time will tell,

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Speaker 2: but you know it doesn't. It wouldn't take very much

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Speaker 2: to just extend that zone to borrow Lula for a

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Speaker 2: few days until you've done all the testing and you're

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Speaker 2: sure that it hasn't spread. You know, it's very little

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Speaker 2: imposition to just extend that for a few.

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Speaker 1: Days now, Senator, I do also want to ask you

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Speaker 1: about we know that those disaster payments are indeed rolling

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Speaker 1: through as I understand it, we know that they'll be

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Speaker 1: eligible or available, I should say, for eligible workers in

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Speaker 1: Catherine Robinson River who are subject to the latest COVID lockdown.

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Speaker 1: How many hours is it or how many days do

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Speaker 1: people have to be out of work to be eligible?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So look, Katie, yet great that those are available.

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Speaker 2: People only need to have experienced eight hours loss of

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Speaker 2: work to be eligible for a payment. Twenty hours loss

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Speaker 2: of work for the full payment of seven hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty dollars per week, but only eight hours for the

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Speaker 2: part payment.

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Speaker 1: All right, So is there I know that there's always

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Speaker 1: a bit of concern from some people who are not eligible.

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Speaker 3: I mean, should we broaden it.

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Speaker 2: Well to where I mean, this is available to people

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Speaker 2: in Catherine and Robinson River who are affected by the lockdown,

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Speaker 2: and it's available to anyone who's employed, So it's available

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Speaker 2: to anyone who's been affected. So you know, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: I don't know who you are. Probably business owners are

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Speaker 2: the ones that are affected that are not eligible, but

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Speaker 2: you know, at least their employees are being supported, and

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Speaker 2: they're supported, they're eligible as well as they're also employees

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Speaker 2: in their own business, So you know, it's really available

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Speaker 2: to everyone in those areas. Who's affected?

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Speaker 3: Now, Senator, I do want to ask before I let

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Speaker 3: you go.

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Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of people trying to get tested today

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Speaker 1: in Darwin, and indeed, Catherine, a lot of people quite

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Speaker 1: concerned about the situation.

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Speaker 3: That we are in right now. In Catherine.

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Speaker 1: I understand that there is going to be twelve additional

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Speaker 1: staff coming from Darwin, is what the Member for for Catherine,

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Speaker 1: Joe Hersey, had told us a bit earlier this morning,

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Speaker 1: so that they can get that Catherine East testing side,

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Speaker 1: a third testing side up and running. How pivotal is

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Speaker 1: it that as many territories as possible get out there

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Speaker 1: and get tested and we've got enough resources on to

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Speaker 1: be able to make that happen.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, Katie, we need to have resources to be

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Speaker 2: able to test everyone who needs to be tested, and

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Speaker 2: quite clearly we don't at the moment. You know, Look,

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Speaker 2: I apparently I've been told that half of the staff

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Speaker 2: of Kirby's, which is one of the main exposure sites

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Speaker 2: in Cafine, have yet to be tested, so the staff

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Speaker 2: are isolating and waiting for the availability of tests. That

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Speaker 2: that is just a ridiculous situation. So it's really important

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Speaker 2: that the government steps up, you know. Unfortunately, they've sacked

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Speaker 2: a whole pile of workers from the health on Monday,

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Speaker 2: so they've sacked those workers and now they're lacking staff

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Speaker 2: to be able to do the important testing.

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Speaker 3: But the other point is, sorry, who do you mean

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Speaker 3: that they sacked? Do you mean the ones that weren't vaccinated?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, pep, Yeah, nurses and health workers that weren't vaccinated

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Speaker 2: were sacked on Monday, so they're missing from the workforce

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Speaker 2: and now they're struggling to be able to provide a

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Speaker 2: vital service to test people that need to be tested.

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Speaker 2: But the other point I want to make, Katie is

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Speaker 2: people shouldn't be shouldn't be going and getting tested unless

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Speaker 2: they're required to, unless they have symptoms, unless they are

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Speaker 2: a contact, unless they've been at an exposure site. Because

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Speaker 2: if you haven't, if you haven't got any of those things,

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Speaker 2: you're just clogging up the testing and making it unavailable

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Speaker 2: for those people who really need to be tested. So

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Speaker 2: you know, I would say to people, please don't think

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Speaker 2: you're doing the right thing by rushing in to get tested.

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Speaker 2: If you're not a close contact, if you're not be

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Speaker 2: to exposure site, or if you don't have symptoms, well

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Speaker 2: please leave it to those people that need to get tested.

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Speaker 1: Senator Sam McMahon, we appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for having a chat with me. Thank you, Ky,

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Speaker 3: thank you