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Speaker 1: It's twenty minutes away from ten o'clock.

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Speaker 2: Now, if you were watching the press conference obviously yesterday afternoon,

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Speaker 2: you would have seen the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner really

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Speaker 2: quite upset, I think he'd say and sort of lose

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Speaker 2: his cool over the vaccine data in remote communities. Now

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Speaker 2: we know that obviously ensuring that those vaccination numbers in

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Speaker 2: remote communities is incredibly important.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is.

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Speaker 2: Doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the Australian

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Speaker 2: Medical Association here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Dr Parker.

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Speaker 3: Morning COVID.

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Speaker 1: Doctor Parker.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure if you saw the Chief Minister blow

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Speaker 2: up at that press conference yesterday, but do you have

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Speaker 2: much insight into these numbers and is it important that

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Speaker 2: we do actually have those numbers for some of the

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Speaker 2: remote communities at this point?

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Speaker 3: Incredibly importantly, you know, we've been constantly concerned as I

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Speaker 3: v sund about the potential spread of COVID into those community,

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Speaker 3: into the remote communities, and the potential a very significant

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Speaker 3: illness and death following. You know what's happened with indigenous

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Speaker 3: communities down south, because again the indigenous communities are very

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Speaker 3: vulnerable given their very high rates of other illnesses that

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Speaker 3: they've got to both you know, in terms of very

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Speaker 3: serious impacts are being in hospital and also dying from

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Speaker 3: the COVID experience.

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Speaker 1: Now obviously, doctor Parker.

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Speaker 2: Earlier in the week we also saw the Chief Minister

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Speaker 2: sort of talk through some of that doughity modeling. And

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Speaker 2: I know or I understand that you've been out on

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Speaker 2: reading on the ABC online out in the last couple

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Speaker 2: of days saying this, until young kids can actually be vaccinated,

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Speaker 2: that the government should actually be putting those plans to

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Speaker 2: ease travel restrictions for domestic and international travelers on hold.

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Speaker 2: Why do you think that that is important at this point?

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Speaker 3: Well, again, it's the potentials bred I mean children, even

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Speaker 3: though they thankfully don't often get the virus or get

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Speaker 3: very sick from it, they can still pass it on.

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Speaker 3: So the potential spread in the indigenous communities from young

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Speaker 3: children is still very real.

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Speaker 2: Should we be sort of holding back I suppose the

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Speaker 2: whole of the Northern Territory though, when it comes to

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Speaker 2: those travel restrictions when there are by you know, it

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Speaker 2: seems as though there are some parts of the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory whether it's remote communities or whether it's remote remote

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Speaker 2: sort of areas within the community who actually seem to

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Speaker 2: not want to get the vaccine.

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Speaker 3: Well, the problem is, you know, with vaccine resistance, they're

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Speaker 3: still users of the system. So if they become sick,

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Speaker 3: you know, and we're aware of the constant pressures on

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Speaker 3: the hospital with code yellows and level four, but still,

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Speaker 3: you know, if they get sick, it's still going to

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Speaker 3: be they're still going to be traveling to Alice Springs

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Speaker 3: or day on hospital be treated and putting incredible pressure

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Speaker 3: on already very straight health health systems. So there's the

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Speaker 3: individual cost of COVID, then there's the public cost of

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Speaker 3: further extreme pressure on a very stress system.

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Speaker 2: Dr Parker, what else can we be doing in some

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Speaker 2: of these communities and in different parts of the territory

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Speaker 2: where people don't want to get the vaccine to really,

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Speaker 2: you know, try and get them over the line.

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Speaker 3: Well, again, I think I've had my own views on

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Speaker 3: the media approaches that every man needs dog has their

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Speaker 3: own view, and unfortunately I'm not funded to provide mine,

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Speaker 3: which is to produce a couple of racy music videos,

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Speaker 3: which is basically the local Aboriginal bands putting the message

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Speaker 3: trust the health mob, don't trust other mob. And for

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Speaker 3: footballers to be saying you get vaccinated, you know, unfortunately

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Speaker 3: I'm not funded to produce those, but I think you know,

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Speaker 3: stern individuals telling you if you get vaccinated probably doesn't

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Speaker 3: doesn't relate to people, whereas some racy music videos that

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Speaker 3: get up on TikTok or on Facebook and more likely

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Speaker 3: to get the message across the people.

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Speaker 2: But any else my view, we are we looking at

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Speaker 2: this in a bit of an old fashioned way, do

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Speaker 2: you think, Dr Parker?

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Speaker 3: See people use media in quite a different way now

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Speaker 3: and I think we've got to be quite adaptive about

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Speaker 3: getting health messages into communities and in a slightly different

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Speaker 3: way to the way we're doing that. That's my view now.

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Speaker 2: I know that also as part of this dolity modeling,

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Speaker 2: and I know you're a busy man, so I don't

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Speaker 2: know whether you've had the opportunity to have a good

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Speaker 2: sort of look through it. But it did also say,

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Speaker 2: and the Chief Minister repeated on Monday that realistically the

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Speaker 2: territory would be able to handle between thirty and one

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Speaker 2: hundred daily COVID cases. That is obviously once we reach

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Speaker 2: those vaccine targets, do you feel as confident as what

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Speaker 2: the government seems to be.

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Speaker 3: I think the government's very optimistic, you know, it's I

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Speaker 3: mean again noting that half of Royal Melbourne Hospital at

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Speaker 3: one stage is devoted to looking after people with COVID.

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Speaker 3: That's an incredible pressure on the system. And again, the

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Speaker 3: people from COVID just don't en up in hospital for

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Speaker 3: a day and then leave, you know that they stay

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Speaker 3: and they're often very sick for a number of days

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Speaker 3: or weeks. The fact that we're currently working on coke

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Speaker 3: Yellow level four and we're going to get additionally very

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Speaker 3: sick individuals, so we're going to be in hospital for

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Speaker 3: a long time, potentially on ventilators, potentially sitting in wards,

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Speaker 3: is going to put another significant straight on the health system.

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Speaker 3: So I'm not nearly as confident as the Chief Ministry

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Speaker 3: about the health systems beliad the code.

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Speaker 2: They do seem to have really hung their hats on

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Speaker 2: everybody getting vaccinated and really getting those high vaccination rates.

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Speaker 2: But do you think that more could have been done

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Speaker 2: up until this point to make sure we're prepared in

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Speaker 2: other ways?

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Speaker 3: Well, I know the government again you know, it gets

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Speaker 3: back to the letter I wrote years ago. In fact,

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Speaker 3: it's interesting now that the government is starting to realize

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Speaker 3: that the national issue about pressure on public hospitals, and

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Speaker 3: I think Scott Morris is starting to make noises now

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Speaker 3: about realizing that hospitals all over Australia are already stressed. The

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Speaker 3: fact that the territory hospitals are three times and stresses

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Speaker 3: other hospitals shown as active, you know, and the fact

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Speaker 3: that we may as a result start to get some

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Speaker 3: real funding coming in to help out very very distressed

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Speaker 3: hospitals system. Doctor Parker is very important.

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Speaker 2: How are things going at the moment within our hospital system?

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Speaker 3: Well, again, I paid tribute to all our collisions, and

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Speaker 3: workers in the hospitals are doing a great job given

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Speaker 3: the whole thing going. But you know the co yellow

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Speaker 3: level four in the cave. The systems are under stress.

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Speaker 2: We know that the vaccine mandate obviously kicks in over

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Speaker 2: the weekend. Do you have any idea whether it's going

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Speaker 2: to have much of an impact from your perspective on

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Speaker 2: the health system. I on the professionals that work in

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Speaker 2: the health system, any of them not wanting to get

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Speaker 2: the vaccine.

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Speaker 3: Well, I understand there's a few who don't want to.

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Speaker 3: But unfortunately you're not going to have any work because

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Speaker 3: the government's been very clear on the thing. You either

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Speaker 3: get vaccine or you don't have a job, and that's clear.

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Speaker 3: So you make I suppose you make choices in life,

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Speaker 3: and that's one of the choices you make.

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Speaker 2: Well, doctor Robert Parker, It's always good to catch up

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Speaker 2: with you. Anything else I should be aware of before

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Speaker 2: I let you go.

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Speaker 3: We're becoming increasing concerned about police body worn care cameras,

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Speaker 3: particularly in the in the in the context of what

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Speaker 3: happened to me in the in the Hoffman trial, and

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Speaker 3: also what happened with the publication of the Wroth body

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Speaker 3: worn camera. Where we're now the police, when they wear

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Speaker 3: body worn cameras can capture whole lot of stuff, So

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Speaker 3: they can be an ed wandering around capturing a whole

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Speaker 3: lot of material. It's not relevant to the person they're escorting.

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Speaker 3: Other people having medical conditions treated, potentially day and celebrities.

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Speaker 3: We suddenly on police body warm camera for medical private

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Speaker 3: medical conditions and also you know, clinical discussions about individuals

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Speaker 3: that may be identified also ending up on police body

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Speaker 3: warn cameras. So we're seeking and again what happens to that,

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Speaker 3: So we're seeking urgent advice from the Anti Police Minister

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Speaker 3: and the Health Minister on the privates issues about that.

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Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, when police are out and about in

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Speaker 3: public with body worn cameras, you know, they do that

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Speaker 3: to protect themselves and the people that they're dealing with.

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Speaker 3: But in a health situation where a whole range of

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Speaker 3: people who have not committed a crime or have done

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Speaker 3: the thing and just seeking health and suddenly on police

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Speaker 3: body worm cameras by no fault of their own, it's

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Speaker 3: a real concern. So that's a significant issue for the

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Speaker 3: AMA at the moment that we're pursuing with the government.

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Speaker 2: Is you're right, So is that do you mean just

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Speaker 2: within the hospital and health system or you know, yeah.

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Speaker 3: You can be an ned having something treated and a

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Speaker 3: policeman bring someone into the ed having their body worm

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Speaker 3: came or active there and while they're moving through the idea,

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Speaker 3: they're recording everything that's happening, so everyone who come into

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Speaker 3: contact with and potentially you know, they're identifying people, they're

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Speaker 3: identifying their medical conditions are there. And also there are

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Speaker 3: a cuisian maybe having a discussion nearby about a patient,

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Speaker 3: that's all, but also being recorded on the camera, and

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Speaker 3: it has no relevance to the to what the police

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Speaker 3: are doing with a particular individual, but it certainly has

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Speaker 3: significant health privacy concerned.

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Speaker 2: And so this is obviously something that the I m

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Speaker 2: A here in the Northern Territory is wanting to get

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Speaker 2: a bit more detail about and wanting to sort of

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Speaker 2: see whether whether that body warn camera is actually required

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Speaker 2: them if they are bringing someone into the hospital.

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Speaker 3: Well, that's right, whether it is whether it is required

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Speaker 3: in the ed, I mean, whether we've got the ability

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Speaker 3: to say the police please turn it off. Now you're

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Speaker 3: in the idea because the potentially potentially there are issues

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Speaker 3: about health privacy for other individuals. But from the person

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Speaker 3: you're with, yeah, well we seek in urgent advice from

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Speaker 3: the police and health minsitess on that.

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Speaker 2: So seeking urgent advice and doctor Parker I'm assuming obviously

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Speaker 2: written to them. How soon are you anticipating that they

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Speaker 2: could come back to do.

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Speaker 3: I don't know. We'll wait and see. And I think

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Speaker 3: there are significant we're trying to get around the health

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Speaker 3: moorage implications and they seem pretty fuzzy as well. No

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Speaker 3: one seems to have an idea of what's covert or

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Speaker 3: what's not covered. But that's why we'll look forward to

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Speaker 3: whatever advice we get from the police and health minsitism

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Speaker 3: as regard.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is very interesting. Please keep in contact with

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Speaker 2: us and let us know what you do find out.

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Speaker 3: Look, you might want you might want to ask the

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Speaker 3: police yourself about it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say it could be something

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Speaker 2: we do our list as well.

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Speaker 1: Dr Parker, all right, good on you. Thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for your time. As always, no worry, Thank you,