NTCOSS CEO Deborah Di Natale spoke to Adam Steer on ABC Darwin about the Government’s decision to keep Territorians on JobSeeker below the poverty line, living on less than $44 a day. They also discussed the ongoing detention of 15 asylum seekers near the Darwin airport, and NTCOSS’s call to boycott Mercure for their role in supporting the detention.
TRANSCRIPT : ABC DARWIN TUESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2021
Adam Steer – ABC Darwin : This week marks a year since 15 refugees were flown to Darwin for medical reasons from Nauru.
Since then, the refugees all from Iran, bar one family that hails from Sri Lanka, have been kept in detention near the airport. The refugees have been detained in a complex adjacent to the Mecure Darwin Airport Resort, which Australian Border Force classifies as an alternative place for detention. And the detainees have described their detention, or the lawyers for the detainees have described their detention as illegal and political imprisonment.
Deborah Di Natale is the NTCOSS chief executive officer.
Deborah, welcome back to the program. Before we get to that, the breaking news this morning is people on the JobSeeker unemployment benefit- so what you and I would call the dole – are possibly could get an extra $25 per week under a Federal Government plan to permanently increase the payments.
The boost will take the total allowance for people on JobSeeker, unemployment benefits, the dole, whatever you want to call it, up to $307 per week. What do you make of that plan?
Deborah Di Natale – CEO NTCOSS : Firstly, good morning and Happy New Year, Adam, because I haven’t seen you in the new year yet.
One of the big concerns for us is that we’ve had a lot of evidence that says living on $40 a day is not enough. So we know that. We’ve heard people telling us this, we’ve got a number of people who are living below the poverty line, and the idea of raising the rate, as appears to be proposed at the moment, for such a small sum of money, is not going to bring people out of poverty.
NTCOSS and all the other COSS’s around the country have said at an absolute minimum, what we need is an increase of $25 a day. So that brings people from $40 a day to $65 a day. That doesn’t mean that people are living a luxurious lifestyle. What that means is we will bring 23,000 Territorians out of poverty.
And the point I want to make here is that, in fact, people who are on these low incomes and are relying on JobSeeker, they’re not putting money away in their mortgage. They’re not putting extra repayments on investment properties. They’re not putting money in any shares. They are actually spending that money on day to day goods. So in terms of any increase to the overall Northern Territory economy, that money comes straight back to the NT, to the local shops.
Adam Steer : We did hear, though, from businesses and business owners through the pandemic, particularly when that pandemic payment on top of the unemployment benefits was basically double – people getting $1100 a fortnight – that that was stopping some people searching for work.
So you’re saying if that dole went up to roughly around $420 dollars a week or $840 dollars a fortnight, would you be concerned that that would preclude some people from deciding to actually get a job?
Deborah Di Natale : No, because what we do know in terms of job seekers is that a number of people are looking for jobs.
I just want to give you some stats in terms of in January in the Northern Territory, there were 2,000 jobs, job vacancies, that were advertised online. So of that 2,000, there were 23,000 job seekers.
So when people say that giving people an adequate income and letting people live above the poverty line is a disincentive to work, a disincentive to work is actually not having enough jobs for people.
So that’s what the issue is here in the NT. And it’s even worse for people who are living out in regional remote communities because we know that a number of people who are on JobSeeker are living there and that’s where we have the least jobs.
Adam Steer : You’re on ABC Radio, Darwin. It’s 20 to 11. Adam Steer with you this morning. Deborah Di Natale is the Chief Executive Officer for NTCOSS
Let’s move to these 15 refugees – they were flown to Darwin, as I said, for medical reasons from Nauru a year ago. They’re all from Iran, bar one family that hails from Sri Lanka and they’ve been detained, detained in a complex adjacent to the Mecure Darwin Airport Resort. Now you’re calling for a boycott of the chain, the hotel chain. Why?
Deborah Di Natale : Well, what we do know is that the hotel chain is providing services to these asylum seekers and we have seen them bringing food in and providing some other services there. We have, on numerous occasions, not just myself, but a number of my large members, have asked for some clarity to the Mercure, what is your role in relation to detaining these asylum seekers indefinitely?
We haven’t had a response and we are now trying to give some light to the issue. What is your role in this inhumane practice is the first question. And secondly, I also want to say that it was not an easy decision to make to boycott during what are very difficult times. It was a very, very hard decision. But we are hoping that this will mean that we get the responses that we need. And I also want to state that two of my largest members, Catholic Care and Anglicare, are also putting out media releases in relation to boycotting, and they have already started to withdraw those services.
Adam Steer : But as you say, it is a very difficult time for the hospitality business. This particular chain is just, presumably they’ve been employed by the government to supply a service. What’s wrong with that?
Deborah Di Natale : Well, I think that all business, whether it be here in Darwin, in the Northern Territory or across the country, need to have an ethical compass in terms of the service provision.
If we know that, in fact, 15 people and that’s five families have been in Nauru for seven years and we all know what the conditions are like there. They’ve come here on medevac visas. They haven’t actually,not all of them, but a number of them have not had the medical attention they need. We need everybody we can get in our corner to say we will not support this inhumane treatment. And the UN itself says that indefinite detention is, in fact, absolutely defined as a form of torture. And nobody in Darwin, no business and no individual should be supporting that.
Adam Steer : What do you see as a better alternative than those 15 families remaining in detention at the moment in Darwin?
Deborah Di Natale : Well, the obvious result in terms of being able to provide people with good care would be to release them out in the community.
If the government doesn’t feel that that’s okay, then we would be saying there are a number of families in Darwin who have come forward and been at those vigils and saying, we have a room and we are a very welcoming community, and I would like to see as a first resort, people should be released into the community, which they’ve done in other jurisdictions, or at the very least stay with a family in Darwin.
Adam Steer : OK, Deborah, thank you so much for your time this morning. We have contacted the Mecure Darwin Airport Resort for their response, but no answer yet. But I appreciate your time this morning. Good to see you again.