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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is the Health Minister Natasha Files.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to your minister.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.

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Speaker 3: Minister.

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Speaker 1: Why do these numbers differ so greatly when you look

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Speaker 1: at the numbers that are on the Northern Territory government

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Speaker 1: website comparatively to those on the federal government website.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, this is something that the Commonwealth and the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory officials have been looking at. We, for example,

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Speaker 2: have thousands of people that haven't updated their Medicaid details.

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Speaker 2: There's a number of reasons as to why we know

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Speaker 2: how many people we vaccinated over the chiundred and eighty

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Speaker 2: thousand vaccines, and Katie, we will hit that eighty percent,

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Speaker 2: we expect in the next few hours. And so in

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Speaker 2: terms of the actual data, we know the people that

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Speaker 2: we vaccinated, We know them in our primary parent information system,

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Speaker 2: and so that's the data that we're going on. We

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Speaker 2: don't believe that the Commonwealth data is accurate in the

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Speaker 2: NT context, and this was because going back a few

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Speaker 2: months now, their methodology changed to count those jobs based

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Speaker 2: on Medica their addresses, and we believe it doesn't accurately

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Speaker 2: reflect the amount of vaccinations delivered in the territory, and

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Speaker 2: we've raised that with the Commonwealth.

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Speaker 1: I know that the opposition has obviously been at pains

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Speaker 1: to say that the Northern Territory government is actually counting

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Speaker 1: people who are maybe traveling from interstate traveling here through

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Speaker 1: or through the Northern Territory for work. But I guess

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, this is such an

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Speaker 1: important number that we get to. We're so heavily reliant

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Speaker 1: obviously on getting to that eighty percent. So which of

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Speaker 1: these figures are we going to be using to determine

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Speaker 1: when we reached that eighty percent mark?

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Speaker 2: To tell you, the Commonwealth of acknowledge such their methodology

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Speaker 2: doesn't truly reflect the accuracy of the vaccine delivered in

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Speaker 2: the territory. As I said, our officials have worked and

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Speaker 2: discussed that. But we'll be basing on our territory data, which,

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Speaker 2: as we've bet today, we should hit eighty percent first dose,

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Speaker 2: so in the coming week we will see people receive

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Speaker 2: their second dose and be fully protected against this horrible disease.

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Speaker 1: Do we have any data or do we like we

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Speaker 1: base our modeling obviously off the first doses and then

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Speaker 1: the expectation that people are going for their second dose.

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Speaker 1: But do we have any data on whether people are

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Speaker 1: not returning for their second dose and could this actually

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Speaker 1: affect opening up our numbers.

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Speaker 2: That's a really important point, Katie. It's so vital that

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Speaker 2: people get that second dose of the vaccine and be

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Speaker 2: fully protected. And we have our health teams work incredibly

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Speaker 2: hard and the fust that the church's population is so chansient.

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Speaker 2: So I was talking to some of the health officials

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Speaker 2: yesterday and they've seen operating mobile teams within Zawhen touching

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Speaker 2: up with people that might be visiting. And they have

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Speaker 2: found a number who have been for example, and Man

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Speaker 2: and Greta got their first dose and they've been able

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Speaker 2: to give them their second dose, and that's floated on

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Speaker 2: our database. Do we know they're fully protected against COVID nineteen?

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Speaker 1: I know you said before that you are concerned that

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Speaker 1: they're people who haven't updated their medicare their addresses obviously

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Speaker 1: on their medicare. How do you know that there are

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Speaker 1: lots of people that haven't actually up their addresses.

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Speaker 2: So we believe there's around fourteen thousand Territorians who have

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Speaker 2: moved here, and we can sellect data from driver's licenses.

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Speaker 2: People buying houses, et cetera. But we know that they

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Speaker 2: have an updated their Medicare and it is frustrating. I

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Speaker 2: will acknowledge Katie going into mind of and he's into

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Speaker 2: those government's portals. He's got to remember logins. But it

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Speaker 2: is really important that people do update their Medicare address

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Speaker 2: because it does play an important role for the territory

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Speaker 2: in receiving funding from the Commonwealth and provides accurate information.

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Speaker 2: We also have the sense of data, Katie that shows

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Speaker 2: us where people are located in Australia. So that's why

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Speaker 2: we know that it's quite a significant number of people

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Speaker 2: with an incourage or not updated. I should stay in

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Speaker 2: medacharac dress.

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Speaker 1: So really, for our listeners this morning, anybody out there

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Speaker 1: listening who's maybe thinking to themselves, well, you know, the

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Speaker 1: data on the federal government website seems to be much

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Speaker 1: lower than what the Northern Territory data is showing us.

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Speaker 1: What you are telling us this morning is no matter

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Speaker 1: what the data that you're going to be relying on

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Speaker 1: is that that the Northern Territory government is publishing when

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Speaker 1: it comes to opening our borders.

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Speaker 2: At eighty percent, yes, Katie, we have absolute confidence in

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Speaker 2: our health officials. They know where they've been delivering the vaccine,

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Speaker 2: and they know the doses they've been delivering, and it's

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Speaker 2: probably an encouragement and reminder of people can find the

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Speaker 2: time to update their Medicare details so that they can

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Speaker 2: accurately reflect their current location.

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Speaker 1: I know you and I have spoken at lengths about

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Speaker 1: the vaccination rates in some communities being incredibly low. There

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Speaker 1: is vaccine in those fridges you'd told us on the

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Speaker 1: show on Friday during the week that was, but some

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Speaker 1: just don't seem to want to get the vaccine. Are

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Speaker 1: these communities going to hold the rest of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory back when it comes to this roadmap forward?

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Speaker 2: So Katie, that is what we're looking at. We have

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Speaker 2: protected territorians and we will keep trying our hardest. We

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Speaker 2: will try and keep the COVID nineteen out of the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory. But this new Delta strain is so transmissible.

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Speaker 2: We've seen it spread from New South Wales and our

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Speaker 2: hearts go out to the people in Victoria. Now it's

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Speaker 2: spreading from metropolitan Melbourne in to regional areas. We're seeing

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Speaker 2: high rates of people that aren't vaccinated in hospital and

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Speaker 2: tragically passing away. And so, as I did say on

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Speaker 2: the show on Friday KD, the vaccine is readily available.

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Speaker 2: Our health teams, as I said, caught up with some

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Speaker 2: of them yesterday. They've been out there right across the territory.

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Speaker 2: We're sending people that community trust studies a clear message

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Speaker 2: that they want to have the nurses that they interact

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Speaker 2: with or the people that they're built up I report

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Speaker 2: with delivering the vaccine. They are going out multiple times

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Speaker 2: to communities. We've got the vaccine in the fridge and

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Speaker 2: people do say to me, oh, but it's been developed

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Speaker 2: so quickly, I'm not sure I trust it that it

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Speaker 2: has had the brightest medical minds working on this, and

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Speaker 2: it is safe, and it is effective, and COVID is

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Speaker 2: a horrible disease KTE and this is a tool to

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Speaker 2: save potentially you.

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Speaker 3: Are, Minister.

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Speaker 1: I know that on the front page of the paper today.

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Speaker 1: It was obviously leading the news headlines last night as well.

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Speaker 1: On the news the line from you is Delta is

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Speaker 1: on its way. That's certainly been a concern for a

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Speaker 1: lot of people, and by the look of it, the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory government is certainly residing themselves to the fact

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Speaker 1: that at some point we are going to have Delta

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Speaker 1: in the community. I mean, how big a worry is

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Speaker 1: this though, when we look at the state of our

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Speaker 1: health system right now.

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Speaker 2: So Katie, I think it's inevitable that the virus will come.

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Speaker 2: It's been an absolute miracle. It's been the hard work

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Speaker 2: thanks to everyday territories that have kept the virus out.

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Speaker 2: They've gone into quarantine, they haven't troubled into state. We've

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Speaker 2: had these short sharp lockdowns, and we have had cases

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Speaker 2: come into our community. But you know, at some point

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Speaker 2: it's inevitable that the virus will come to the territory

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Speaker 2: and it will be a burden if people are not vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: The key to being vaccinated is that the illness won't

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Speaker 2: be is to be won't end up needing that acute

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Speaker 2: hospital care. And as we've talked about many times over

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Speaker 2: the last few weeks, few months and few years for

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Speaker 2: me being health minister, we have an incredibly busy health

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Speaker 2: system and it would be the best tool is to

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Speaker 2: not have that burden by getting vaccinated.

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Speaker 1: All right, I want to talk about the health system.

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Speaker 1: It's something that you and I have discussed honestly, a

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Speaker 1: lot over the last few weeks, but yesterday we learned

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Speaker 1: that the federal government is making plans to bring up

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Speaker 1: to two thousand nurses and doctors into the country and

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Speaker 1: an effort to ease the issues that we're seeing with

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Speaker 1: our health systems across the board around the nation. The

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Speaker 1: Chief Minister yesterday confirmed on the show that fifteen doctors

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Speaker 1: will be heading to the Northern Territory. Minister, fifteen doctors

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Speaker 1: will no doubt help to ease some of the pressure

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Speaker 1: being experienced on the health system. When do you expect

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Speaker 1: that they're going to get started?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we know that there's a nationwide challenge in

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Speaker 2: recruiting to medical nursing and allied health conditions, and we

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Speaker 2: spoke about the nurses and this is fifteen doctors that

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Speaker 2: will come into our system. I don't have an exact timeframe,

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Speaker 2: but I'm happy to get that and provide that off

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Speaker 2: there or when I speak to you again soon. But

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Speaker 2: we worked closely with the Commonwealth and we keep working

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Speaker 2: with them so that they can understand the challenges and

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Speaker 2: provide what support they can. But we're also doing our

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Speaker 2: bit and making sure we've got an active recruitment campaign

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Speaker 2: particularly around those identified nursing shortages that we've got.

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Speaker 3: Just on those doctors.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I know you can't give us the exact timeframe,

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Speaker 1: but I'm anticipating you over the next couple of weeks

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Speaker 1: would be when you're hoping for them. Given the fact

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Speaker 1: that it is for the whole of Australia, I would

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Speaker 1: expect that the Federal Health Minister wants them rolled out

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Speaker 1: sooner rather than later.

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Speaker 2: Essential help Medustry and myself both want them rolled out

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Speaker 2: as quickly as possible, but we have targeted country such

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Speaker 2: as the UK where the qualifications and the training can

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Speaker 2: be easily mapped across. We need to make sure that

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Speaker 2: we're bringing in high quality stuff, but they will need

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Speaker 2: to undertake quarantine and as you can imagine, Katie, it's

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Speaker 2: quite a big process relocating from overseas and it's something

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Speaker 2: that we do see medical staff do all the time

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Speaker 2: in more normal circumstances. So we'd certainly be working as

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Speaker 2: efficiently as we can with the Commonwealth to get them

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Speaker 2: here on the ground in our hospitals.

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Speaker 1: Now. I know that you're revealed on the show last

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Speaker 1: week on the week that was forty nurses are set

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Speaker 1: to begin in the Northern Territory as well.

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Speaker 3: When are they going to be starting.

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Speaker 2: The Katie, My understanding is within the next fortnight.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so within the next fortnite. Where are they coming from?

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Speaker 1: Do we know yet?

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Speaker 2: To Katie, I don't have that specific but Health have

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Speaker 2: advised me that forty nurses have been recruited to and

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Speaker 2: are expected to begin working within the next fortnight and

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Speaker 2: will continue to focus on nurse recruitment, particularly in those

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Speaker 2: fields of psychiatry, emergency and the perioperatives, the surgical nurses

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Speaker 2: that are where we're really needing that expertise.

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Speaker 1: Now, are they going to be based at the Darwin

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Speaker 1: and Palmerston hospitals at this stage?

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Speaker 2: To Katy Delby, we have six hospitals as you know,

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Speaker 2: across the territory and they'll be based where we need

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Speaker 2: fulfill those, but I imagine that the majority will go into

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Speaker 2: the Rod Darwen and Palmerston and it's our nursing staff

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Speaker 2: work across both campuses, Katie, So it's not uncommon for

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Speaker 2: them to have a shift, a couple of shifts at

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Speaker 2: Palmestan and an officift at Darwin each roster.

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Speaker 1: Are they being provided accommodation or where are they going

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Speaker 1: to live?

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, when we relocate medical staff or we support them,

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Speaker 2: there's a range of measures. Sometimes we provide them with

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Speaker 2: short term hotel accommodation and then they find their own rentals.

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Speaker 2: We do have some nursing quarters at the hospital, so

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Speaker 2: there's a range of mess you know, measures that we

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Speaker 2: can support them to get them here. So we do

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Speaker 2: know that housing has become a little bit of a challenge.

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Speaker 2: The rental market is certainly hot, and so we'll support

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Speaker 2: those nurses in relocating and finding them suitable accommodation. But

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Speaker 2: you know, there's a range of people coming and there's

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Speaker 2: not one simple but they're all going to go to

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Speaker 2: this location.

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Speaker 1: Answer now, Minister, are there still plans afoot to bring

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Speaker 1: some nurses across from you know, internationally as well? Obviously

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Speaker 1: we spoke about those doctors and what the federal Minister

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Speaker 1: has plans to do when it comes to the doctors,

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Speaker 1: but when you talk about nurses as well, are there

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Speaker 1: still those plans to bring some nurses from overseas?

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Speaker 2: Yes, Katie, we're focused around these international nurses, particularly as

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Speaker 2: the borders open up and we see travel a little

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Speaker 2: bit more normal, particularly with commercial flights resuming. We'll work

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Speaker 2: closely with the Commonwealth to make sure that they've got

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Speaker 2: those pathways of entry into Australia so that we can

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Speaker 2: get them working in our medical system.

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Speaker 1: Are you confident that these different measures are going to

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Speaker 1: be enough to ease the burden on our health system?

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Speaker 2: Cat It is not one measure that's going to suddenly

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Speaker 2: ease the burden. But I believe this recruitment campaign on

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Speaker 2: an intense focus, the age care beds, the work that

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Speaker 2: we're doing around infrastructure for mental health. I think all

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Speaker 2: of that will provide resources to our hard working health

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Speaker 2: staff and to provide that better care to territories when

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Speaker 2: they're most vulnerable and need that support.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, one of the other things that we learned

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Speaker 1: overnight is that there is one new case of COVID

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Speaker 1: recorded in the territory, an eighteen year old female from

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Speaker 1: Geelong who arrived on a flight from Melbourne and went

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Speaker 1: directly from the airport to the Center for National Resilience

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Speaker 1: and tested positive for COVID nineteen. Now, there were eight

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Speaker 1: other passengers on that flight who've been identified as close

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Speaker 1: contacts to begin with. Seven of those went directly into

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Speaker 1: quarantine and we'll obviously complete those fourteen days of quarantine.

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Speaker 1: But there was that remaining passenger who did not travel

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Speaker 1: from a declared hotspot and wasn't displaying symptoms. I understand

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Speaker 1: that that person was initially left out of quarantine but

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Speaker 1: is now in quarantine.

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Speaker 2: Is that the case, so, Katie, it would be concerning

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Speaker 2: for territories to hear that there's a case that maybe

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Speaker 2: should be reassured that our system works. So we had

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Speaker 2: a flight arrived from Melbourne. Eight passengers were on board.

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Speaker 2: Seven of those passengers before we became aware that one

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Speaker 2: of the passengers was COVID positive, all went to quarantine

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Speaker 2: because they'd come from a declared hot spot. The eighth

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Speaker 2: person had traveled from another location and just transited on

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Speaker 2: that flight. But CBC, the Center for Disease Control, had

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Speaker 2: recommended that those eight people on that flight all be

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Speaker 2: deemed close contacts. And so that means that eighth person

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Speaker 2: now is being or I believe will already be in

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Speaker 2: how it brings now, So no one had done anything wrong.

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Speaker 2: All the right processes had been followed and the system

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Speaker 2: had worked, and the individual that has tested positive could

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Speaker 2: have passed it on to those people on the plane.

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Speaker 2: But because we've deemed them close contacts and we have

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Speaker 2: did that eighth person put them into quarantine, there should

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Speaker 2: be a very very minimal risk to territories. And this

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Speaker 2: is not that we're going into a lockdown. I've had

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Speaker 2: that question, asked me as well.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, so definitely no lockdown at this point. Minister.

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Speaker 3: Do we know if all of those people have been vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: Katie, I don't know that detail, but what I can

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Speaker 2: reassure people is that all the processes were followed. This

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Speaker 2: person that has tested positive, we wish them a speedy recovery,

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Speaker 2: but they were picked up because our system worked, because

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Speaker 2: they went into mandatory quarantine because they'd come from a

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Speaker 2: hot spot and it was that routine testing that picked

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Speaker 2: up this case. And then we've now worked through and

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Speaker 2: just a very small number of people that are deemed

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Speaker 2: close contact.

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Speaker 1: But so you're confident that eighth person hasn't been exposed

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Speaker 1: to the community or isn't going to put the territory

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Speaker 1: community at risk in any way.

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Speaker 2: So the way it works is that person has potentially

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Speaker 2: been exposed to the virus on that flight. Remembering that

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Speaker 2: the very minimal risks people are wearing masks their physical

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Speaker 2: distancing and so if that person has passed on the virus,

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Speaker 2: this eighth person has gone into Howard's frames in a

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Speaker 2: very quick timeframe. For there is a very very minimal

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Speaker 2: risk to the broader community and this shows our system work.

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Speaker 1: Now, we can't get through all the listener questions this morning,

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Speaker 1: but one that I do want to ask you very quickly.

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Speaker 1: It says, morning, Katie, I was just reading the government's

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Speaker 1: thinking of giving incentives to get the JAB. Why don't

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Speaker 1: I get something forgetting it months ago? It's very unfair,

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Speaker 1: says that text.

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Speaker 2: That is a great question, Katie. And that's something that

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Speaker 2: we've said that with incentives, if we did use incentives,

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Speaker 2: they would have to be retrospective exactly that we don't

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Speaker 2: want to suddenly put out an incentive and then make

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Speaker 2: it a disappointment to those people that have done the

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Speaker 2: right thing, that they have listened to clinical advice months

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Speaker 2: ago and been back. So we haven't ruled out incentives.

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Speaker 2: We haven't decided upon any incentives. I need to make

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Speaker 2: that point clear, But the Chief Minister has said if

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Speaker 2: there is incentive, it will be retrospective to encompass those

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Speaker 2: people that really have led the way and gone out

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Speaker 2: and got vaccinated early.

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Speaker 1: Do we mean like a cash incentive or could it

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Speaker 1: be some kind of tourism or business incentive to try

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Speaker 1: and help us maybe, you know, move those businesses along

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Speaker 1: that have suffered as well throughout the COVID.

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Speaker 2: So, Katie, we haven't ruled out incentives, but there's nothing

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Speaker 2: specific on the table right now in terms of an

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Speaker 2: incentive to get vaccinated. To me, the biggest incentive is

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Speaker 2: saving a life, your own, your loved ones, your community

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Speaker 2: by being vaccinated.

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Speaker 1: Well health Minister Natashaphiles, We will leave it there. Thank

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Speaker 1: you very much for your time today.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie,