POINTS TO PONDER

NT Nursing and Midwifery Federation Secretary Cath Hatcher’s interview with Katie Woolf (Mix 104.9 15/9 and reported in the NT News 16/9) was/is impacting and deeply disturbing. Ms Hatcher has demonstrated that issues confronting our nursing fraternity are overwhelming with many staff close to breaking point. I hope what she had to say hits home with decision makers and leads the key issues she raised, being addressed.
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Our Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Chief Medical Officer Hugh Heggie deserve high praise for the plan designed to maximise protection from Covid for all Northern Territorians. I am so glad they have not been swayed by the carping of those who would open us up for the sake of making money and in so doing, throwing health cautions to the wind. We are lucky to have the protective leadership of the Gunner/ Heggie duo.
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There is talk about hotels housing those undertaking Covid quarantine being gradually returned to offering accomodation to travellers and tourists. I would be very reluctant to accomodate at one of these hotels because of the possibility of lingering virus that could be infectious.

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro did the perceptions held of her no favours by storming out of the Legislative Assembly on August 10 when things did not go her way. This behaviour was tantamount to throwing a tantrum, something not expected of leaders. She owes her party and the assembly an apology for this conduct.

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An overfull and unstable waste bin recently confronted the driver of a JJ Richards truck who was doing weekly kerbside collections in our suburb. He could have driven past and left the bin. Instead he got out, manually moved excess rubbish from the bin into the truck’s hopper, climbed back into the truck, picked up and emptied the bin. This driver deserves recognition and thanks for his management of the situation.

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It is worrying that people booking vaccinations have not been turning up for their appointments. This indicates a complacent attitude to protection against the virus and also raises the spectre of vaccines expiring because of non administration by their use by date. We need to be smart, not slack about vaccination.

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Many years of living in our suburb have taught me the two rules applying to street sweeping by both the City of Darwin Council and the NT Government (responsible for a nearby major road.)

Street sweeping cannot commence before 11.00 pm.

The street sweeper must pass up and down over the same stretch of road at least four times.

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I am very glad that the courts determined the amount to be paid out in the Don Dale class action should be revealed to the public. $35 million. It is an amount that will cause people to gasp with astonishment. It may well suggest that there is a silver lining for those convicted and detained for wrongdoing, if management of their sentences is deemed inappropriate.

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All the best to new CEO of Danila Dilba Rob McPhee as he takes up the management reins of this key organisation. He succeeds Olga Havnen who has done an outstanding job in overseeing the key health service provisions of Danila Dilba for the past eight years.

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Jabiru’s hybrid power station (NT News 2/8) with both diesel and solar components will be a real fillip for the community. A similar plant is needed for the town of Nhulunbuy. This town and community of 3,000 people experience regular power outages and disruptions that negatively impact on businesses and residents. Irregularity of power supply has plagued the community for many years.

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The supposed ignorance in Sydney by people over Covid issues, in my opinion, has nothing to do with language. It has much more to do with cultural preferences and background.

If I was in a foreign country and did not understand the language, visual clues and pictorial content on TV, posters and billboards would be sufficient to tell me about how to keep myself safe and how to become vaccinated.

Many Australians with their origins from overseas won’t vaccine, won’t keep away from large family groupings and will not take the precautions or follow the recommendations of health authorities and government.

Thanks to this attitude, the way out of Covid, especially in locked down Sydney, will be a slow burn.

To date, 27 people without Covid infection, have become Covid positive while in hotel quarantine. They in turn have infected others, in some cases many, many others. Hotel quarantine is responsible for a lot of our ongoing issues with the virus. We will have problems with Covid for as long as hotel quarantine is the go to method of quarantine management.

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There are too many ‘if’s’, ‘but’s’, ‘maybe’s’ and exceptions about the way in which the NSW Government has handled the Sydney lockdown. The process lacks consistency and the outcome is that there are increasing numbers of community transmissions with the end of lockdown maybe months away.

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It is to be hoped the Indo Pacific Marine attraction and educational exhibit can be housed at the museum (Sun Terr 25/7) or elsewhere. To dismantle this fine exhibition would be a travesty. The attraction is iconic and has brought marine understanding to hundreds of thousands of people, local and visitors alike. It must not be consigned to the realms of extinction.

The QR code can be used to give actual times is shops, businesses and shopping centres if it is engaged on phones as people enter and exit places. Deduction of the first from the second time stamp gives the exit and actual times spent on premises. This could have future use if places are later designated as hotspots because of access by infected persons.

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Those who engage in anti vaccination and lockdown protests deserve severe chastisement. For breachers, that should include cancellation of unemployment benefits and all welfare assistance for a designated period of time. Those not prepared to respect community needs and government/health department directions do not deserve support.

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Covid vaccine optionality is dangerous and will prolong community uncertainty about the inroads of this disease by weeks and months. It is this optionality that is continuing the dangerous inroads of the coronavirus in the UK and USA where the community is supposedly reaching full vaccination. That cannot be the case when 30% to 40% are refusing to be vaccinated. The same outcome could happen in Australia.

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I wonder why signage asking motorists to desist stopping on sections of thoroughfares designated as entry points for traffic from the left are written in a way that reverses the message to approaching drivers. The message should be “KEEP CLEAR “

but is stencilled across the width of the left hand side lane(s) as “CLEAR KEEP”

POINTS TO PONDER

Surely teachers and other essential workers who will return when Covid lockdowns In southern states are lifted, should be quarantined at Howard Springs at government cost. For them to be confronted with significant quarantine bills seems unfair. As NT Government employees, they are victims of circumstances not of their making.

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I hope the Rolfe trial, for the sake of everyone connected with this matter, can proceed without undue delays caused by interstate Covid lockdowns.

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There are many ambulance movements up and down Vanderlin Drive every day, always with sirens blaring, in what seems to be a constant connection between the two hospitals. Every time one passes, the thought “there goes another $500”, springs to mind.

It was very decent andf unselfish of NSW to step back and allow Queensland the luxury of a close win in the third State of Origin game. With the trophy won, the Blues did the right thing in retiring a little in order that the Maroons could salvage some pride. Theirs was a compassionate attitude toward a game that could never dampen their prowess and superiority.

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Sometimes there is too much probing, prodding and pushing into the world of the unknown when it comes to scientific curiosity about viruses. There is every chance that Covid 19 came from this exploration, with a monstrous and evil virus being unleashed on the world. Sadly with coronavirus, curiosity has killed more than the cat.

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I am disappointed in those construction and furbishment companies that are so enthused about big money associated with new work, they forget about or are not interested in maintenance of earlier work or installations. It is particularly galling when maintenance needs of long term, loyal customers are dismissed.

COVID AWARENESS

People in the NT (the majority at least) act as if covid is history Paul. Howard Springs quarantining efficiency has made us complacent. Tourists are pouring up here like never before and the mixing and mingling defies all social distancing rules. Maybe 5% observe physical distancing and hand hygiene wiith less than that using the NT QR code.

They are talking about sewage testing. For a good while, electronic number plate recognition on border entry points was the only survelliance of traffic.

With the northern Territory suddenly being confronted with a Have Covid outbreak which manifested self at The Graham at Mine, there may be a change in attitude. But I am not holding my breath.

There has been ANOTHER e-Scooter accident in Darwin, the third in the last week (NT News online 25/6). It would be interesting to analyse whether there are more scooter or motor vehicle accidents in the CBD and areas accessed by both, within a given period. Maybe this question could be come the subject of a doctoral study at CDU.

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The return of traditional lands including the township of Jabiru to the Mirarr people (NT News 25/6) is wonderful news. This move will secure the future of a town that will be developed as an outstanding tourist attraction overseen by traditional owners. It may be appropriate at some future time for the town to be renamed in order to better reflect the cultural relevance of the centre.

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I am beginning to wonder if children born in 2020 and 2021 will ever grow up into a world without Covid of one of the myriad of variants which will spin off this evolving viral family. In time, the identification of variants will exhaust the Greek alphabet.