DARWIN - 16 September 2021

KATIE WOOLF: Good morning to you, Luke.

LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: How are you, Katie?

WOOLF: Good mate, we’re juggling everything in here today. How are you? Fresh out of quarantine?

GOSLING: Oh, I'm happy to be free. Yes. Yeah, they run a really good operation here Katie, there’s no complaints from me. And obviously coming back from Canberra, from Parliament, which is a hot spot and continues to be a hot spot, I was more than happy to do my part. And obviously now there's some really good people are coming through there, and a couple of lads, for example, from Geelong, they were in there with us for about a week. And then as Geelong hotspot came off Geelong, they were allowed to go. So I think the staff are doing a really good job in just trying to get some common sense rules about where the threats are to Territorians’ health and what we need to do just to make sure and do the testing so that so that we don't see COVID up here.

WOOLF: Well, look, it's been a bit of a mixed bag for us this morning, I’ve got to tell you, when it comes to Howard Springs and the way that some people have felt that their stay there has gone. But apart from what you've said, you certainly had a positive experience. I know that others have had a very positive experience as well. Others, unfortunately, not so much. But look, I won't dwell on that too much because there is so much that you and I were keen to have a chat about. Obviously, we had the Minister for Northern Australia, David Littleproud, on the show this morning. What did you make of these changes that they've announced, or this announcement that's been made around the NAIF and some of the different biz grants that are going to be available?

GOSLING: Yeah, Katie, absolutely. I caught a bit of what David was saying and absolutely welcome some grants being made available to Territory businesses, because that's what the Federal Government should be doing. And obviously, we've pushed for a lot of changes to the NAIF, which will hopefully mean that that those funds will actually get out onto the ground. And it's hard to remember back that far now, but the $5 billion NAIF fund was launched to much fanfare in 2015. So six years later, we've had some funding for Humpty Doo Barramundi, we've got some funding for the ship lift. But I think grants have got a really important part to play, and your listeners will remember the infrastructure investments in the form of grants that Federal Labor made when we were in government. But it's about eight years ago now. So look, all I can say is that we won't just be relying on NAIF when we get into government after the next federal election, we'll be very keen to supercharge development in the North with grants as well. But David Littleproud talked a lot about lots of things, including an agriculture visa, but they're slow to hit the ground and like this promised support to our tourism businesses, you know, I’ll believe it when I see it.

WOOLF: Yeah, obviously that's a real point of contention at the moment for our tourism sector, particularly in Central Australia. I know that on a national scale, there's been a lot of discussion about this as well for North Queensland, and some of our tourism businesses have been hit really hard. We've spoken to David from Tourism Central Australia on numerous occasions, and he has said that this situation is acute. They need help, but really, right now. David Littleproud said on the show this morning that he couldn't make any announcement today, but it is something that they're looking at. I mean, how important do you think it is that there is some kind of support for our tourism sector in the Northern Territory?

GOSLING: Oh, incredibly important, Katie. You would remember me saying when they were wrapping up JobKeeper earlier this year, I said “it's too early. The vaccine hasn't rolled out. Let’s keep targeted support going to our tourism businesses”. And what have we seen? A slow vaccine rollout has meant that our two biggest tourism markets being Melbourne and Sydney haven't been able to come to the Territory because of the COVID outbreaks there. So they should have had targeted support to tourism continue when they turned off JobKeeper. But the big slap in the face, I think, really comes from the fact that JobKeeper is being rorted so much. We pushed for JobKeeper, federal Labor pushed for JobKeeper because it was going to keep businesses afloat and going to keep employees employed. But what we didn't want is for JobKeeper to be going to big businesses that made super profits and have kept all that taxpayers’ money in the form of JobKeeper.

So I would be asking David Littleproud to talk to his colleagues, Josh Frydenberg and the Prime Minister and say, “you need to talk to the big businesses that got these taxpayer funds that didn't need it to return it, and that will enable some funds to roll to businesses, particularly small businesses that are still struggling”. Because of the lockdowns that the Federal Government caused with their inability to roll the vaccine out and to properly quarantine people, which saw those hotel quarantine leaks not only cause lockdowns in the Territory, but that saw the spread back into Victoria and into the ACT.

WOOLF: Yeah, look, I wouldn't mind that money being paid back that those that really shouldn't have been receiving it and it actually go to people who genuinely need it right now. And we know that the tourism sector is certainly a sector that does need it, particularly in locations like Central Australia, where we rely so heavily on that tourism dollar.

GOSLING: Yeah, absolutely. And the big markets that fly into Alice Springs and Uluru in Sydney and Melbourne, they're locked down. And our small businesses in particular are really struggling. I really thank the Territorians that are getting out there and supporting our tourism businesses, and now that I'm out of Howard Springs we’ll be doing the same thing. We'll be heading that Kakadu, we’ll be supporting our local businesses. It's just so important. And yeah, thanks to the Territorians that are doing the right thing, thanks to the Territorians that – Territory Pathology, actually, I want to give them a quick shout out, Katie, they’ve now done 300,000 COVID tests.

WOOLF: Oh, that is a lot. Good on them.

GOSLING: Yeah, yeah, that's on top of all the normal stuff, too, to help people that have got heart disease or cancer or diabetes, or the mums that are having their bubs. So, you know, wonderful, hardworking health professionals. But yeah, I'd just like to say I heard David Littleproud say a lot that “it's business as usual now, it's business as usual, no, nothing’s changed, it’s business as usual”. Well, what’s not business as usual is COVID and the lockdowns that are affecting our tourism businesses, small and medium sized businesses. So stop with the charades and work cooperatively with the Chief Minister and the NT Government, and let's see some real support come from the feds.

WOOLF: Well, Luke, I think we are going to have to leave it there. It's always good to catch up with you. I haven't had a chance to see you in person, but to say thanks for doing Run With Dad from your balcony at Howard Springs. Champion effort. With a mask on as well, I believe.

GOSLING: It was an experience, Katie, and thanks to all the donors who’ve chipped in.

WOOLF: Absolutely. Oh absolutely.

GOSLING: Yeah, I’ve just got a mate actually, who's just been diagnosed with prostate cancer down in Canberra. And so I just told him what we were doing and he just said, “that's a fantastic initiative”. So well done to everyone who jumped on board and help out.

WOOLF: Yeah, good on you. Thanks, Luke, and we'll talk to you again very soon, no doubt.

GOSLING: No doubt, Katie and Kevin Rudd's at the Railway Club Saturday at 3pm for those that want to come along and catch up with Kevin, and that'll be a good time.

WOOLF: Good on you, Luke. Thank you. We'll talk to you again very soon. That is Luke Gosling, Labor's Member for Solomon.