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Speaker 1: Well, the Deputy Chief Minister, Nicole Madison's been traveling the

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Speaker 1: territory with a promise to cut red tape and long

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Speaker 1: approval delays as well as getting new job creating projects

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Speaker 1: off the ground. We just spoke with Drew Wagner about

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Speaker 1: what that could look like for the mining industry, but

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Speaker 1: what does it look like for the territories business sector.

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Speaker 1: Were joining me on the line to talk about that

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Speaker 1: is the Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Island.

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Speaker 2: Morning, Greg, Good morning man, how are you this morning?

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Speaker 1: Good? Thanks? Greg? As I understand it you're on a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a road trip yourself down in Catherine

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, shut down the cast in this morning. Just arrived.

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Speaker 2: So we have a Chamber in General meeting down here

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Speaker 2: today and looking forward to catching a few members.

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Speaker 1: Very good Greg. As I mentioned, it's a call that

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Speaker 1: the business industry has long been making. The Deputy Chief

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Speaker 1: Minister being quoted as saying she can make it happen

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Speaker 1: in terms of cutting red tape and long approval delays

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Speaker 1: and new job creating projects. Are you confident Nicole Madison

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Speaker 1: is the one who can make this happen.

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Speaker 2: I certainly believe Minister Madison is certainly in the right

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Speaker 2: place at the right time to make these things happen

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Speaker 2: as transpires. I met with Minister Madison yesterday to talk

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Speaker 2: about this very subject and I walked out of the

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Speaker 2: room feeling very confident that we will have access to

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Speaker 2: her and that she has a very strong focus on

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Speaker 2: enabling business in the territory.

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Speaker 1: That's really good to hear that because I know for

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Speaker 1: so long a lot of industry groups have been saying

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Speaker 1: the opposite, that ministers can be hard to access and

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Speaker 1: they walk away without any promises or substances. Was there

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Speaker 1: anything in particular that made you really confident in chatting

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Speaker 1: to the Deputy Chief Minister yesterday.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's been a bit evident over the

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Speaker 2: last few weeks and certainly since the election, that the

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Speaker 2: Territory government has really rammed up protectivity, focusing on a

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Speaker 2: lot of the rhetoric around all of this, and it

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Speaker 2: really is the evidence and the delivery of that that

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Speaker 2: is so important to us. That's why we wanted to

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Speaker 2: meet with Minister Manison and just explained it. At this

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Speaker 2: super critical time, it's hugely important that we kick some

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Speaker 2: goals in this space, and everything that we discussed was

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Speaker 2: that was positive, and I'm convinced that she wuld certainly

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Speaker 2: be giving it to go and has the mandate from

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Speaker 2: the Chief Minister to do so.

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Speaker 1: Greg, what industries are are the one the greatest ones

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Speaker 1: calling out for reform at the moment?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think and you would have spoken to Drew

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Speaker 2: around the mining and particularly the environmental harmonization potential and

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Speaker 2: as well as approval processes being probably top of the list.

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Speaker 2: We also see that in agriculture and agricultural opportunities around

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Speaker 2: the territory as well. So we really do need to

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Speaker 2: get these approval processes rushed through without compromising any of

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Speaker 2: equality of that service.

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Speaker 1: Greg, what role, if any, has COVID played in I

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Speaker 1: guess in the approvals process. Has it slowed anything down

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Speaker 1: as the government focused on other areas instead, or would

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Speaker 1: you say that COVID's affected businesses in other more obvious ways.

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Speaker 2: Well, perhaps it's interestingly had the opposite effect. I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, I think we've long been bemoaning red tape

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Speaker 2: and delays around processes, and what we saw during COVID

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Speaker 2: was the ability for government to react very very quickly,

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Speaker 2: make changes at a moment's notice, and really drive those

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Speaker 2: outcomes at a call to the Chief Minister of the

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Speaker 2: time was to see that sorte of attitude continue, and

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Speaker 2: I think that's what hopefully we'll see over the next

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Speaker 2: few months.

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Speaker 1: Then that's a really good point. And an example that

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Speaker 1: I can think of pretty easily is how quickly restaurants

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Speaker 1: and say takeaway places were able to adapt to COVID

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Speaker 1: when you know, we could no longer dine into restaurants.

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Speaker 1: You know, I imagine ordinarily in terms of being able

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Speaker 1: to be a business and say start up a takeaway

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Speaker 1: or even I know, I was able to order from

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Speaker 1: a local pub while we're in lockdown and get you know,

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Speaker 1: a beer delivered to my door, you know, with a burger.

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Speaker 1: I mean, ordinarily you'd have to go through a lot

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Speaker 1: of red tape to do that. But it almost seemed

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Speaker 1: like overnight the government were able to make that happen.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right, man, And it certainly did make

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Speaker 2: a difference to those businesses. And we saw the ability

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Speaker 2: for people to partake in activities that wouldn't normally be available.

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Speaker 2: And then we saw business innovate things like traveling musicians

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Speaker 2: delivering your food and playing a few songs of the

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Speaker 2: ability to order from places that you normally would have

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Speaker 2: to physically visit. Those are the initiatives that we would

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Speaker 2: like to see in the attitude that we'd like to

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Speaker 2: see perpetuated. Greg.

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Speaker 1: When I spoke with Nicole Maison a little bit earlier,

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Speaker 1: she flagged that the public sector obviously has a big

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Speaker 1: role to play in this cutting red tape and the

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Speaker 1: slashing approval approval delays and new job creating projects. What

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Speaker 1: role do you think the public sector can do better

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Speaker 1: or to help the private sector?

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Speaker 2: I think the big combinating in those processes and really

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Speaker 2: drive those outcomes. Don't let things sit in intros or

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Speaker 2: too hard baskets for too long. We would like to

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Speaker 2: see somebody responsible for moving those processes through the system

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Speaker 2: as quickly as possible. So we've spoken to the Minister

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Speaker 2: Manison about those opportunities and how we can best get

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Speaker 2: those time prayse reduced to the minimums possible.

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Speaker 1: Greg, I know it's a conversation that pops up from

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Speaker 1: time to time, but do you warned there's a growing

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Speaker 1: war between the public and the private sector when it

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Speaker 1: comes to the fact that I guess the public sector

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Speaker 1: has somewhat more appealing recruitment process. Obviously their wages and entitlement.

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Speaker 1: So I mean it's probably not something we're talking about

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Speaker 1: a lot at the moment. But you being you know,

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Speaker 1: as part of the Chamber of Commerce, is that something

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Speaker 1: that your members flag with you, that war between the

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Speaker 1: public and the private sector.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not quite sure to go quite as far

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Speaker 2: as calling it a war, but it certainly is the

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Speaker 2: BDE that that is diffuel for private enterprise to compete with.

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Speaker 2: It clearly can offer the same level of remuneration and

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Speaker 2: all conditions, so it is problematic from a recruitment perspective

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Speaker 2: on occasions, is.

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Speaker 1: There anything that the private sector could be doing differently

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Speaker 1: to compete? I suppose you'd say.

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Speaker 2: It's a challenging one. Again, we hear a lot about

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Speaker 2: territory business and their ability to be competitive, and that

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Speaker 2: really does come from being efficient and having your cost

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Speaker 2: base being as low as practically possible. If you're trying

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Speaker 2: to compete with government wages, it's only going to drive

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Speaker 2: those recovery costs upwards.

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Speaker 1: Just finally, Greg, can I get your thoughts on council's

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Speaker 1: move to delay a decision on the new RSL clubhouse

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Speaker 1: on the Esplanade. Is this a proposal that the Chamber

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Speaker 1: were supportive of and were you surprised at what happened

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Speaker 1: at the meeting on Tuesday night.

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Speaker 2: Look, I think all potential development considerations should be given

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Speaker 2: appropriate airtime and the real impacts of them possessed properly

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Speaker 2: and understood. As I understand it, the process is for

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Speaker 2: Counsel to approve and then any cultural assessments to be

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Speaker 2: done after that point. If that's the case, then I

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Speaker 2: would have thought that this process should still be continuing. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I raised that question with the Lord Mayor. I said, no,

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Speaker 1: one is undermining what issue has been raised. I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of people were just shocked that. I think

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Speaker 1: Contandy took that call at about five o'clock and you know,

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Speaker 1: everything changed by the time the Council meeting rolled around

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Speaker 1: at six.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I certainly agree to the motive issue and

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Speaker 2: those people that have those concerns right to have them

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Speaker 2: all held. But I think if process is being followed

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Speaker 2: and Council leaves that particular manner to the designated authorities,

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Speaker 2: then that would be the due process and consider the

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Speaker 2: application on its merits accordingly. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's going to be one to watch the Anti

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Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Island will have to leave

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Speaker 1: it there. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Now where is it all? Matt, appreciate it time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Greg. That's Greg Island. Their Lives from Catherine this morning,

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Speaker 1: the CEO of the Anti Chamber of Commerce