DARWIN - 29 July 2021

KATIE WOOLF, HOST: Joining us live in the studio this morning is the federal Member for Solomon, Labor's Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling. Good morning to you, Luke.

LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Good morning, Katie.

WOOLF: Great to have you in the studio. We know that parliament is back next week, or federal parliamentary sittings might look a bit different, though, due to some of the lockdowns around the place.

GOSLING: Yeah, we'll be back to minimum numbers, but I'm definitely heading down. Even last year, I didn't miss the parliamentary sittings. I just think it's so important that we’re actually physically there representing the Territory and there's not going to be many people from New South Wales. So my plan is for Territorians and South Australians and people from the smaller states – and we battled to get a look-in with so many people from New South Wales, this is our chance to try and get some things done.

WOOLF: So you reckon slip a few things through for the Northern Territory while there's not as many people there, I like it. I think that's a good idea.

GOSLING: Oh well, I'll give it a crack. At least we'll get our points across easier, and there's a lot to talk about.

WOOLF: It has been really tough, hasn't it, though, for so long, for so many different sectors. But when you look at those lockdowns and the impact that it's having, it's something that you and I have spoken about on numerous occasions in terms of the quarantining for some of our farm workers in different industries. I know that there are ongoing issues. Has there been much movement in that space?

GOSLING: Not really. I keep hearing that the Federal Government's going to look at different dedicated quarantine facilities around the country. But it’s almost daily we're hearing of another hotel quarantine leak that's leading to lockdowns. We’re up to 28 hotel quarantine leaks now. So I wish that they’d move on that. And I'll be talking to some of my colleagues about that in the Government when I get down to Canberra to get an update on what's happening in that space. But I think there's finally an understanding, I think, that a quick, short, sharp lockdown like we did here in the Territory and that Victoria has successfully done over the last weeks, is how you nip the virus in the bud and get everyone back to normal.

So hopefully that message is starting to be understood by the Prime Minister and the Federal Government.

WOOLF: Well, it's something that's not going away in a hurry. I know that we're all hoping as well – well, here in the Territory we've done a pretty good job, I think you'd have to say, in terms of the vaccine rollout. But in some of those other states, it's been a bit more difficult or there has been concerns. But I guess the more and more people that are vaccinated, hopefully the more and more we open up around Australia as well.

GOSLING: Absolutely. I mean, there's no two ways about it. The Federal Government stuffed up the vaccine rollout because they didn't order enough vaccines early enough. However, we are where we are. We're all looking forward. One thing that Federal Labor saying is JobKeeper should have always been kept for the times when there's significant lockdowns that affect certain industries. And as early as February this year, I was saying, you know, the tourism industry needs targeted support for when there's lockdowns because it doesn't just affect New South Wales businesses when there's a lockdown in Sydney, that's a big chunk of our tourism.

WOOLF: Well, it's actually a good point that you raise. It's something that was brought up with us a little bit earlier this week by Tourism Central Australia’s CEO Daniel Rochfort. And he had said that they're having such a difficult time in Central Australia over the last few weeks with those lockdowns, and had had raised that point, whether they does need to be some more targeted support for some of those businesses, particularly in the likes of Central Australia, but even up here in the Top End. I mean, is it something that you and your Labor colleagues are talking about on that federal stage and trying to push for even for us here in the Territory, even though we're not in a lockdown? Those lockdowns still have an impact.

GOSLING: Yeah, absolutely. Businesses that are affected, JobKeeper should be used – like, not all the time, but when there's a lockdown that affects businesses, JobKeeper should be used to keep employees connected to the businesses. And what people down south have got to understand is when you've got such a seasonal tourism set-up, as we have, particularly for the tourism industry, the hospitality industry, a lot of our businesses had 50 per cent cancellations when those lockdowns occurred. Now I'm hearing that the Melburnians and Victorians are coming back. They're rebooking to come up to the Territory. They're rebooking to go to the Darwin Cup on Monday, which is great news. But there's still that big chunk of New South Wales that is locked out. So we should have JobKeeper when it's needed until the vaccine rolls out further and we can open up fully.

WOOLF: And we are going to be catching up with Hospitality NT’s Alex Bruce a bit later this morning to find out a bit more about some of those situations with our hospitality businesses. Hopefully we are seeing more of those bookings return. Luke, I do want to ask you, I know that with the end of the Australian operations in Afghanistan, there's quite a bit happening as well with the peak body for our veterans as well here in the Territory. Talk us through what is going on in this space at the moment.

GOSLING: I think a lot of people are thinking back as we've pulled out. In my opinion, we shouldn't have pulled out all our diplomats and all our military advisers. But in any case, after 20 years, we're seeing the end of Australian military operations in Afghanistan. And the Afghani nation is going to have a difficult time as the Taliban is resurgent. Now, I’ve been calling for the Federal Government to do the right thing by the interpreters and other staff that saved Australian lives over there. The Afghanis, some of them have been given visas to come back, there's more still that and are under daily threat from the Taliban. So we need to be doing the right thing there. But we also need to remember that the majority of veterans, the overwhelming majority of veterans, did an incredibly great job over there and have come back and have just transitioned back into society. And I think coming up after 20 years, it's an opportunity for us to recognise the great work our people did there and also recognise that the best thing a business or an organisation can do is employ a veteran. They’re really passionate, dedicated, disciplined people. So part of that 20-year celebration is we’re going to have a big concert up here by the end of the year.

WOOLF: Oh, right.

GOSLING: With veteran bands, it's called the Rock for Reflection and Remembrance Tour, a national tour. And it's going to come here to Darwin, probably to the Darwin Entertainment Centre. And it's going to include a veteran art exhibition. And it's going to be a really good opportunity for our veteran community to get together and by no means celebrate Afghanistan, but just to commemorate the lives lost, like our own Scotty Palmer, and just think about moving forward into the future. And the royal commission's going to help with that.

WOOLF: Yeah, I reckon there'll be plenty of Territorians who'll be very keen to find out more about that. Just very quickly, is there much movement when it comes to that royal commission into veteran suicide at this point in time? You and I have spoken about this on so many occasions. Is there much of an update?

GOSLING: When I get down to Canberra next week, I'll be meeting with the new Veterans Affairs Minister. I think it's the sixth one that the current government have had, but I'm really hoping that he will get a little bit more engaged in the royal commission and make sure that it starts as quickly as possible and that we get the recommendations then as quickly as possible. And obviously the implementation. We all know that a royal commission is only as good as the will and the determination of the government of the day to implement those recommendations. So I'll be talking to him about that in Canberra next week. Here locally, in some great news, there's a new organisation has been formed as sort of a peak body for veterans organisations in the Northern Territory called the Council of Australian Veterans NT. They'll be launching on the 11th of September this year, which is really significant because it is the end of their 20 years in Afghanistan. And it's a good time for us to get together as a veterans and defence community, coordinate our efforts and work together as a team to do the best thing for our veterans and their families.

WOOLF: Well, Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling, always good to catch up with you. We are going to have to leave it there. We'll catch up with you again soon. Let us know if anything happens in parliament next week that Territorians should be aware of.

GOSLING: If there’s a bit of a takeover down there, Katie, I’ll let you know.

WOOLF: Good on you. Thank you.

ENDS