Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says there are serious concerns over whether the Gunner Labor Government can handle the additional management of international arrivals for mandatory quarantine at Howard Springs.
“This afternoon the Chief Minister made the snap announcement, without the support of his Health Minister or the Territory’s Chief Health Officer, that the NT Government will take over the management of the international quarantine facility from AUSMAT.
“These substantial changes to operations at the Centre for National Resilience have come without any justification or reassurances to Territorians that the gold standard will continue.
“Not only has the Chief Minister announced the withdrawal of AUSMAT, but also the need to recruit 400 health professionals to manage the expanded capacity at the facility.
“This comes at a time when Royal Darwin Hospital is experiencing a critical bed shortage, we’re struggling to find surgeons to fill our emergency departments and Territory health is undergoing an extensive restructure to amalgamate the Top End and Central Australia health services.
“We know that international arrivals present the greatest risk of COVID getting out into our community and that’s why Territorians have been reassured by the separation between domestic and international quarantine arrivals, and staff at each facility, with the AUSMAT team and Federal Government in control of the highest risk cohort.
“We know that despite the best efforts of the Territory’s health professionals, on the domestic side we’ve seen serious security breaches including rave parties and attempted escapes.
“Our hospitals and health network are under enormous strain just keeping up with the day- to-day healthcare needs of Territorians. The additional impost of 400 staff and thousands of Australians returning from overseas is going to put a level of strain on our health system that we haven’t seen before,” said Ms Finocchiaro.