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Speaker 1: Let's head across right now and catch up with the

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Speaker 1: Health Minister, Natasha Philes, who joins us on the line.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to your minister.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, it is being reported this morning that new

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Speaker 1: data has been released by the Federal government and it's

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Speaker 1: shown a gap well between urban areas of Darwin and

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Speaker 1: remote areas of the Northern Territory when it comes to

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Speaker 1: those vaccination rates. I think it's something that we probably

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Speaker 1: all have known about you, particularly as the Health minister,

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Speaker 1: But how are we looking firstly as a whole when

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Speaker 1: we talk about the rate of vaccination in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, Territorians have done a wonderful job and these

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Speaker 3: statistics are theirs to own. Over two hundred and four

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Speaker 3: thousand vaccine doses have been administered and the role out

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Speaker 3: is continuing world Sixty three percent of Territorians have now

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Speaker 3: received their first dose. But the figure that's really coming up, Katie,

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Speaker 3: is forty four percent are now fully vaccinated. And so

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Speaker 3: I certainly know that some people have been a little

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Speaker 3: hesitant around the vaccine. It was developed very quickly, but

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Speaker 3: had the world's brightest scientific and medical minds focused on

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Speaker 3: this and so it is safe. It's been rigorously tested.

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Speaker 3: So do encourage any of your listeners who have been

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Speaker 3: hesitant to talk to their GP. Make sure they get

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Speaker 3: their information from a truthful source that is accurate. And

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Speaker 3: the vaccine is the best tool we've got to going

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Speaker 3: back to life the way we knew it well.

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Speaker 1: And we've been talking a lot more about you know,

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Speaker 1: what point we need to be at before we can

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Speaker 1: open up to other states a little bit more freely

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Speaker 1: and when we will no longer need to go into

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Speaker 1: those lockdowns. It's something that we spoke to the Chief

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Speaker 1: Minister about yesterday. But by the sounds of things, our

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Speaker 1: remote communities are the real.

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Speaker 2: Concern at this point.

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Speaker 1: We're not going to be able to sort of, you know,

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Speaker 1: to totally open up or be able to go back

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Speaker 1: to some kind of normality until those vaccination rates in

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Speaker 1: our remote areas are up.

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Speaker 2: How are they looking at the moment?

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, So the remote statistics I just mentioned sixty

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Speaker 3: three percent and forty four percent the remote stats are

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Speaker 3: about ten per behind that. Fifty one percent of territories

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Speaker 3: who have a remote address in our information system have

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Speaker 3: received their first dose and thirty two percent have received

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Speaker 3: their second dose, and our teams are right across the

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Speaker 3: territory working with our aboriginal medical organizations. We're seeing some

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Speaker 3: real innovation. The RFDS is out in the Big Rivers

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Speaker 3: region delivering vaccines to cattle stations and communities in that area.

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Speaker 3: So we certainly are focused on protecting the most vulnerable.

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Speaker 3: It's heartbreaking what's happening in central New South Wales. We're

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Speaker 3: in Pepe Palumpa this week, so we're certainly focused on

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Speaker 3: making sure that it's not just our urban areas, but

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Speaker 3: it's also a remote We do need that spread across

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Speaker 3: our population that's vaccinated. We can't just simply have ninety

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Speaker 3: percent in Darwin and our springs, for example. We've got

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Speaker 3: to have that seventy eighty percent right across the territory.

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Speaker 2: When do you think we're going to get there?

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Speaker 1: Do you think that we are going to be there

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Speaker 1: by sort of October November? How long do you anticipate

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Speaker 1: that it is going to take? Because I know a

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Speaker 1: lot of business people out there and those in different

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Speaker 1: industries will be really hoping that we're able to, you know,

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Speaker 1: to get the foot on the accelerator in terms of

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Speaker 1: those vaccinations in remote areas.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, I was at the Hospitality Awards last night,

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Speaker 3: and those businesses have been devastated, particularly when we go

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Speaker 3: into it the snap lockdowns. We acknowledge how hard it

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Speaker 3: is for business, and they need us to vaccinate the community.

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Speaker 3: I think that you know that October November to have

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Speaker 3: that seventy eighty percent across the territory is a really

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Speaker 3: stick timeframe. That's what we're working towards in terms of

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Speaker 3: offering everyone a vaccination. So I was out in what

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Speaker 3: Are last week. Our teams were out there sitting in

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Speaker 3: front of the shop saying to people, not tomorrow, get

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Speaker 3: vaccinated today. The same in an Adelaide River yesterday. So

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Speaker 3: people are being offered the vaccine. We need them to

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Speaker 3: roll up their sleeve and take that vaccine.

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Speaker 1: Why do you think there's such hesitancy in some of

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Speaker 1: those remote communities, O, Katie.

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Speaker 3: I acknowledge that the virus hasn't had an impact as

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Speaker 3: much as other places in the territory. There is concern

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Speaker 3: there's been misinformation and spread around. So that's why it's

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Speaker 3: important for people to understand how thoroughly the vaccine's being tested.

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Speaker 3: It's safe I'm vaccinated, my parents are vaccinated. And also Katie,

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Speaker 3: in terms of the vaccine, it's free. You don't have

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Speaker 3: to be a Medicare card holder. I know that I've

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Speaker 3: had that question raised with me that people might be

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Speaker 3: here on different visas or not have that Medicare card.

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Speaker 3: Yet if you're in Australia right now, you can access

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Speaker 3: that vaccine for free.

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Speaker 1: How many kids have accessed the vaccine since it became

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Speaker 1: open to those over the age of twelve, Katie's.

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Speaker 3: Really interesting talking to our young people because their lives

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Speaker 3: have probably been impacted just as significantly as ours. School

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Speaker 3: is not what it was. There's concerts missing, camps missing,

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Speaker 3: and they're really keen to play their part. And we

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Speaker 3: saw the data up until the end of last week,

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Speaker 3: five hundred and fifty territory kids had been vaccinated in

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Speaker 3: that twelve to fifteen category. So that was only opened

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Speaker 3: up sort of in the ten days before. That's the

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Speaker 3: vulnerable territories and only late last week, but everyone in

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Speaker 3: the Darwin area, so we're certainly seeing parents and children

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Speaker 3: making that bookings. And as I said to the media

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Speaker 3: last week that we will go into our schools in

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Speaker 3: the coming weeks so it'll be very easy for parents

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Speaker 3: to access the vaccine for their children. They'll be fully informed,

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Speaker 3: they'll sign consent. But it's not unusual to do a

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Speaker 3: vaccination program through schools.

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Speaker 1: On those federal government on the federal government data that's

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Speaker 1: been released in terms of the number of vaccinations and

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Speaker 1: the areas where people have been more I guess forthright

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Speaker 1: in terms of going out and getting vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: What are some of the leading suburbs for us here

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Speaker 2: in the territory.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, I don't have the data in front of me,

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Speaker 3: but what it does show is that eighty one percent

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Speaker 3: of the Darwin area has had a first vaccination rate.

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Speaker 3: So that's where those figures released by the Commonwealth government

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Speaker 3: and people are saying, hang on, I thought we were

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Speaker 3: at sixty odd percent. So it's broken it down into

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Speaker 3: those geographical areas. But I don't have the full stouts

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Speaker 3: in front of me.

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Speaker 1: Are there any suburbs or any areas though? That a

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Speaker 1: real concern for you and you're sort of wondering why

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Speaker 1: people in those areas aren't getting vaccinated, Katie.

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Speaker 3: For us, it's been making sure that people I think

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Speaker 3: the message that I just said that you don't have

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Speaker 3: to be a Medicare cardholder. I know that some people,

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Speaker 3: you know, think that they have to pay for it

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Speaker 3: because they don't access medicare. That's been an area that

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Speaker 3: we'd like to express that you don't need that, and

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Speaker 3: also in remote communities that have largely been uncut, making

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Speaker 3: them understand the virus is a very real threat and

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Speaker 3: the best tool for them and their loved ones in

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Speaker 3: their communities is to get vaccinated. But in saying that,

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Speaker 3: some communities have done an excellent job have higher rates

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Speaker 3: than some urban areas. So it is patchy, and that's

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Speaker 3: why we're focused on getting that continuum across the territory

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Speaker 3: of seventy to eighty percent, not ninety percent in some

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Speaker 3: areas and much lower in other places.

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Speaker 1: Now we know in Alice Springs well, the Territory Police

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Speaker 1: have arrested a fifteen year old after an unlawful entry

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Speaker 1: at the Todd Quarantine facility. Minister, have you been made

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Speaker 1: aware of this and are you concerned that it could

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Speaker 1: potentially see any kind of COVID breach or do you

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Speaker 1: feel as though things are pretty secure at this point to.

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Speaker 3: The Territory Control and the Police Commissioner has made sure

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Speaker 3: that as a minister, I was certainly well aware of that.

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Speaker 3: I do need to be careful in my comments, Katie.

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Speaker 3: Police have arrested someone for an unlawful entry at that facility.

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Speaker 3: There is a review of the current security measures being undertaken,

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Speaker 3: and so we'll make sure that you know any inadequacies

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Speaker 3: are dealt with. A breach such as this is rare

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Speaker 3: and our security arrangements have been adequate to date, but

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Speaker 3: we do need to review what's happened and make sure

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Speaker 3: that we're not putting the community at risk. I'm advised

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Speaker 3: that it's a very low risk. All the results for

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Speaker 3: the people involved have returned to negative and also we've

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Speaker 3: got that wastewater testing in our springs and that has

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Speaker 3: still had negative results to date.

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Speaker 2: All Right, I want to.

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Speaker 1: Talk a little bit more with your tourism has on

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Speaker 1: and firstly about Quantus. We know obviously we spoke about

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Speaker 1: this a little bit throughout the week that was US Friday,

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Speaker 1: but Quantus have obviously flagged the Northern Territory is the

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Speaker 1: location where they want to increase flights a direct flight

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Speaker 1: from Darwin to London. There's no doubt that this would

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Speaker 1: have a significant impact for tourism.

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Speaker 2: But how are we going to get there?

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Speaker 1: You know, do you think that we're going to need

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Speaker 1: to have any kind of incentive to try and entice

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Speaker 1: Quantus to actually go down this path. We are obviously

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Speaker 1: up against wa to.

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Speaker 3: Katie, the Territory Labor Government, we've welcomed the plans for

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Speaker 3: Quantus to consider Darwin as a hub. It makes sense.

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Speaker 3: We've proven logistically that we are a great place for

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Speaker 3: them to pivot all over the world. You've seen flights

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Speaker 3: coming into Darwin from London, Southeast Asia, America over the

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Speaker 3: past six months. With the International Repatriation I work very

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Speaker 3: closely with QUANTUS as as the Chief Minister and will

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Speaker 3: certainly any requests that they have of us as a

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Speaker 3: government to make this hub happen, will be listening and

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Speaker 3: working with them.

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Speaker 1: So where are those talks at with Quantus at the moment?

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Speaker 3: The Quantus are saying that they expect that the NonStop

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Speaker 3: route will have hired the post COVID and that's logical sense, Katie.

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Speaker 3: People are going to want to pivot from Australia directly

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Speaker 3: to the country they're visiting, and so this provides an

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Speaker 3: opportunity for the Northern territory, we'd have the Center for

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Speaker 3: National Resilience. We've been working with Conscious around their crews

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Speaker 3: using that facility, and so we're very open to what

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Speaker 3: might be into the future, as we hopefully see sooner

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Speaker 3: rather than later international tourism regime.

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Speaker 2: What kind of.

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Speaker 1: Impact do you think that this would have for us

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Speaker 1: in terms of tourism into the northern territory. My understanding

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Speaker 1: is that the UK is obviously a large visitor market

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Speaker 1: for us here in the territory, So what kind of

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Speaker 1: impact do you think this could potentially have if we

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Speaker 1: can make it happen.

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Speaker 3: So we're the closest Australian city to London, so it

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Speaker 3: makes logical sense. But I think it's exciting the opportunities

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Speaker 3: people will use Darwin as that layover destination as they

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Speaker 3: pivot into Australia. There is certainly plenty to see here

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Speaker 3: and so you know people will then as you tend

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Speaker 3: to do when you used to travel, Katie, if you

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Speaker 3: had to take a long haul flight, you used to

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Speaker 3: spend a few day at the location where you first arrived.

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Speaker 3: And so we've got that opportunity to really be at

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Speaker 3: the forefront of international tourism. So we'll work very closely,

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Speaker 3: of course keeping our community safe as a priority, but

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Speaker 3: these are the plans that we need to start to

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Speaker 3: work towards.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, is our vaccination rate going to hinder us in

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Speaker 1: any way here? I mean obviously you and the chiefness

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Speaker 1: to have both been really clear saying that those vaccination

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Speaker 1: rates need to be really high to avoid any any

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Speaker 1: future sort of lockdowns. But also when we talk about

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Speaker 1: opening up the Northern territory, so are you concerned that

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Speaker 1: our vaccination rate in those remote communities could actually hinder

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Speaker 1: this happening if they're not at where you want them

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Speaker 1: to be.

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Speaker 3: Oh so, Katie, we've seen our vaccination rates are leading

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Speaker 3: the nation and we've been incredibly focused on that, knowing

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Speaker 3: that that is what we need for business certainty going forward.

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Speaker 3: So this plan of quantus hubbing through Darwin is some

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Speaker 3: months off and all decisions will be made with the

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Speaker 3: safety of our community, but it's another reason to drive

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Speaker 3: that vaccination rate as quickly as possible to get to

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Speaker 3: that high figure.

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Speaker 1: One other thing that is a big concern at the

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Speaker 1: moment is tourism in Central Australia. I know we've caught

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Speaker 1: up with Daniel Rochford from Tourism Central Australia. On a

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Speaker 1: number of occasions we've spoken about the rate of flights

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Speaker 1: that are going into the likes of Ularou at the moment,

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Speaker 1: it's incredibly low. We all understand why that visitor market

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Speaker 1: from New South Wales, Victoria and others is obviously well

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Speaker 1: next to nothing at this point, essentially nothing because they

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Speaker 1: are in lockdown and are declared a hotspot.

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Speaker 2: What support is.

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Speaker 1: Being provided to our tourism operators in Central Australia at

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Speaker 1: the moment.

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Speaker 3: The Katie, we're very conscious that the tourism sector that

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Speaker 3: there's not a one size model right across that will

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Speaker 3: support this industry that's been particularly devastated tourism and hospitality

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Speaker 3: in Central Australia specifically, we've been working with Tourism Central

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Speaker 3: Australia and Daniel and Patrick. We put in place earlier

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Speaker 3: this year in late March a Mates rates campaign, so

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Speaker 3: working specifically with them, they said we want this project,

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Speaker 3: it's tailored to fit our mark, so we provided over

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Speaker 3: one point two million dollars towards that. We've been working

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Speaker 3: with the Commonwealth who've provided significant resources. Of course, with

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Speaker 3: the Tourism vouchers, we've got that incentive if you do

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Speaker 3: travel further. And the other thing, Katie is there's particular

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Speaker 3: sectors in the tourism industry and in Central Australia, such

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Speaker 3: as tour operators and event organizers, and so we made

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Speaker 3: an announcement just a week or so ago around support

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Speaker 3: for them specifically because there's some areas that just can't

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Speaker 3: bounce back even with vouchers and people domestically, so it's

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Speaker 3: a multifaceted approach to supporting them. Is all of that enough, Oh, Katie,

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Speaker 3: it's devastating and we you know, tourism is a significant

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Speaker 3: economic contributed territory wide and into Central Australia. As you said,

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Speaker 3: Central Australia relied heavily on international tourists who have a

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Speaker 3: different market to domestic tourists, and so we're certainly putting

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Speaker 3: what support we can in place right across the area.

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Speaker 1: So we need to look at, you know, some kind

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Speaker 1: of of subsidized flights from Darwin to the likes of

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Speaker 1: Central Australia so that we do see a situation maybe

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Speaker 1: during the school holidays. We're territori ands i e. Those

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Speaker 1: that live up in the top end are able to

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Speaker 1: fly down to central Australia and support those local businesses.

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Speaker 3: We do have the extra incentive on the tourism about Katie.

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Speaker 3: I know it's a small amount, but we are trying.

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Speaker 3: We've also had last year our Summer on Sales campaign

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Speaker 3: which provided a discount for people coming from outside the

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Speaker 3: territory or people in the territory could use it, but

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Speaker 3: outside the territory is what it was specifically aimed at

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Speaker 3: to help reduce the cost of those flights. So as

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Speaker 3: a government, we've put in place a range of measures.

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Speaker 3: Of course, we can never make up for all of

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Speaker 3: that international particularly market, but we're certainly working with the

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Speaker 3: sector and I think that makes rates campaign points to.

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Speaker 1: That all right, Minister for Health and also Minister for Tourism,

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Speaker 1: Natasha Files, thank you for your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie,