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Speaker 1: And joining us on the line right now is the

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Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. Another busy morning.

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Speaker 2: Huh, I'm always busy in here Greg.

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Speaker 1: Now now, firstly, obviously we've just been on the phone

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Speaker 1: to Tony Innes about this check in situation for a

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Speaker 1: lot of our businesses around the top end, and you know,

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Speaker 1: Tony certainly copped it on the chin, that is that

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Speaker 1: the Nuna Mar Tavern could have done more, obviously to

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Speaker 1: make sure that people were checking in as a result

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Speaker 1: of this latest COVID situation that we're in, mate, is

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Speaker 1: it quite difficult for some of our businesses at the

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Speaker 1: moment to make sure that they've got somebody who's checking

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Speaker 1: that everybody's checking in.

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Speaker 2: Or should it come down to personal responsibility?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, I think under the current scenario it's pretty

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Speaker 3: important that the business does as much as practically possible

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Speaker 3: to get people to check in and confirm their vaccination

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Speaker 3: status as requested by the Chief Minister. But ultimately it

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Speaker 3: is a community responsibility to a bideline the requirements and

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Speaker 3: we're personally looking forward to the app being linked with

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Speaker 3: your vaccination status to kill two birds with one Stone

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Speaker 3: in that regard, do we know how far off.

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Speaker 2: We are from that?

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Speaker 1: I know that we'd spoken to Services Australia last week

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Speaker 1: and they said that there was work still underway, but

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Speaker 1: do you know if we're far away from getting there

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Speaker 1: and those two things being linked.

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Speaker 3: Look, I don't have a definitive answer to that, but

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Speaker 3: I'm led to believe it's actually working interstate and these

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Speaker 3: apps are quite common across the country, So I think

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Speaker 3: it's an implementation phase and the intention is to have

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Speaker 3: it up and running before the twelfth.

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Speaker 2: Excellent. Well, I do think that'll help you.

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Speaker 1: I reckon it'll just be helpful to be able to

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Speaker 1: have it all linked on there when you check in,

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Speaker 1: people know then, so that you don't end up in

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Speaker 1: that situation where staff members are sort of having to

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Speaker 1: ask correct.

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Speaker 3: It'll take a lot of the onus off the business

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Speaker 3: and allow them to get back onto what they do best,

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Speaker 3: and hopefully it's making good copy or a great sandwich.

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Speaker 1: How has the latest lockdown or lock out, I suppose

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Speaker 1: you'd say, how has it been impacted or received from businesses?

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Speaker 2: From the Chambers perspective.

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Speaker 3: Well, it certainly has created some additional workload on business

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Speaker 3: the vaccination and people as they progress from unvaccinated to

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Speaker 3: first vaccination and so forth, it has walked forward the

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Speaker 3: impact on the single vaccinated people. So we understand the

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Speaker 3: number of industries have had significantly reduced attendance and that

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Speaker 3: has a flow on effect. If you're not confident all

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Speaker 3: your workforce is going to be there, then how do

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Speaker 3: you invest in some of those key areas such as

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Speaker 3: a concrete poor and as in a building site. If

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Speaker 3: you don't have the labor there, you can't actually undertake

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Speaker 3: the work. So that has had some flow on effects.

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Speaker 3: But the majority of businesses have stepped up to the

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Speaker 3: plate and just got on with what needs to be

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Speaker 3: done in.

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Speaker 1: Terms of that mandate kicking in on Friday. From the

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Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce perspectives, how our businesses feeling. Are they

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Speaker 1: concerned or are they feeling quite sort of satisfied at

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Speaker 1: this point in time that their staff are going to

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Speaker 1: be vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: Going There's varying levels to that, Katie, but most businesses

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Speaker 3: are prepared and fully aware of what's going on. From

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Speaker 3: a membership perspective, we've been communicating with all of our

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Speaker 3: members regularly, just keeping them informed on what those requirements

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Speaker 3: are going to be dealing with any specific queries that

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Speaker 3: they may have. Our phones have been running pretty hot

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Speaker 3: just making sure that people understand exactly what's needed. I

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Speaker 3: think we're in a good understanding position for the twelfth

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Speaker 3: and then how that progresses through from there is just

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Speaker 3: hopefully going to remain an orderly process.

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Speaker 1: So at this point, do you have sort of any

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Speaker 1: businesses who are saying, oh, you know, my workforce is

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Speaker 1: going to be decreased because we're losing staff they're not

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Speaker 1: prepared to get vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: We are hearing that that is in the minority, but

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Speaker 3: there are people coming to see us and ringing regularly

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Speaker 3: to say that they're going to be impacted by this.

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Speaker 3: It's a situation is very, very difficult to manage because

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Speaker 3: it is a mandated requirement too effectively becomes law and

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Speaker 3: the business needs to comply with So that is always

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Speaker 3: going to remain a personal decision for those individuals, and

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Speaker 3: the impact is going to fly into business and they

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Speaker 3: really can't be helped at this point. That said, we're

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Speaker 3: encouraging businesses to accommodate people where they can in flexible

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Speaker 3: working environments, but where that's not possible, it just has

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Speaker 3: to be what it has to be.

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Speaker 1: I know that we've been contacted by some listeners saying

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Speaker 1: that there have been exemptions for some businesses around the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory. One of those is apparently on a building side.

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Speaker 1: Are you aware of any businesses being able to sort

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Speaker 1: of seek exemptions to not have all of their staff

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Speaker 1: vaccinated at this point? Is that even able to happen.

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Speaker 3: I'm unaware of that requirement or that capability at all, Kadie.

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Speaker 3: I suspect there may be some confusion. There's a requirement

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Speaker 3: in some cases for one hundred percent compliance to award

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Speaker 3: government contracts. Yes, that does have some exemptions if certain

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Speaker 3: workers are nable to be accommodated and won't have any

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Speaker 3: potential infection capability through their work that they undertake, So

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Speaker 3: there is some room to move around that. But apart

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Speaker 3: from that, the individuals, as far as I'm aware, have

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Speaker 3: to comply.

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Speaker 1: Greg. Is there any update in terms of those government

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Speaker 1: contracts at this point. I know that when we caught

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Speaker 1: up with the Chief Minister about two weeks ago, he

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Speaker 1: had said that it was going to come into play,

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Speaker 1: but I haven't heard any further announcements. Are you aware

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Speaker 1: whether it has indeed gone ahead or not.

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Speaker 3: No, I'm unaware of again any release. It's just still

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Speaker 3: in concept stage and being talked about us aspect that

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Speaker 3: it's coming, and that's where some of those discussions have

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Speaker 3: emanated as part of the criteria that's about to be

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Speaker 3: released as we understand it.

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Speaker 1: So, greg from your perspective, come sort of Friday or

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Speaker 1: I guess Friday is the last day for people to

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Speaker 1: actually to get that vaccine and then by Saturday all

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Speaker 1: of those outward facing jobs realistically need to have adhered

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Speaker 1: to that mandate. From your perspective, are we going to

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Speaker 1: see a huge impact on the business community, Well.

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Speaker 3: We should see an improvement in the situation from what

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Speaker 3: we've got now, Katie. So under the lockout, if your

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Speaker 3: single vaccinated, you can't participate. However, post Friday you can participate.

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Speaker 3: So as long as we are out of this particular

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Speaker 3: lockout scenario, we're going to see an improvement on the

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Speaker 3: situation as it stands today. However, it is not necessarily

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Speaker 3: as good as what it has been in the past.

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Speaker 3: So we still think that the people that aren't vaccinat

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Speaker 3: are going to be in the minority, and hopefully the

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Speaker 3: back rays that we've seen over the last few days

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Speaker 3: will continue.

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Speaker 1: And so you're not expecting to see any Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: businesses close as a result.

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Speaker 3: I suspect that there may be some that have adverse

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Speaker 3: outcomes as a result, but it's very difficult to map

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Speaker 3: that out. We hope that that's not the case, but

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Speaker 3: I think it is going to challenge some areas for sure.

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Speaker 2: Well, it is always good to catch up with you.

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Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Ireland, thank you so very

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Speaker 1: much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: You're welcome, Katie, thank you