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Speaker 1: This is the Fitting and Whipper with Kate Richie podcast.

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Speaker 2: This is a pleasure because we saw him floating around

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Speaker 2: the studio when he thought we had to get him in.

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Speaker 2: He's the only premiere that we had that we couldn't

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Speaker 2: get rid of on the MIDI Life Cross at least.

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Speaker 1: At midday.

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Speaker 2: It's a fair call. Dom perrote, welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: It's funny because we wanted to get you in. It's like, well,

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Speaker 2: Dom's not premier anymore. Do we get him in for

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Speaker 2: a chat? We're like, yeah, we would like to know

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Speaker 2: what life's like after you leave one of the major

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Speaker 2: positions here in New South Wales and there's no.

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Speaker 1: Bags under your eyes.

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Speaker 2: You'd look there's a glow back in your.

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Speaker 1: Face thinking about making more kids.

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Speaker 3: How are you feeling very relaxed and enjoying life. It's

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Speaker 3: it's fantastic. On the other side, obviously, it was a

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Speaker 3: great job and a great honor and privilege to serve

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Speaker 3: our state for many years and thirteen years in politics

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Speaker 3: Finance Minister treasure of five years and during very diffult

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Speaker 3: times like the pandemic and premiere. But there's more to

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Speaker 3: life than politics and you certain this out the other.

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Speaker 1: Side, Tommy, you're only forty one. This is the exciting thing,

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Speaker 1: and let's talk about your new career in a moment.

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Speaker 1: But like I would assume an ex sports person watching

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Speaker 1: a game thinking I'd just love to run out on

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Speaker 1: the ground and have an impact, did you ever look

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Speaker 1: around Sydney and drive around New South Wales and go

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Speaker 1: I should have put a road through it? What to

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Speaker 1: chuck that in there? I wouldn't have done that. I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't have done that.

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Speaker 3: They're still opening our projects, so so we're not there yet.

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Speaker 1: I was proud of how you steered everyone through the

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Speaker 1: pandemic or.

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Speaker 3: Oh you know, that was a really difficult time, but

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Speaker 3: particularly his Treasurer keeping people in work and getting businesses open.

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Speaker 3: Obviously I was very against lockdown and just they were real,

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Speaker 3: really challenging times for our state. But I'm really proud

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Speaker 3: of what we did during that period of time. But

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Speaker 3: I'm proud of just the way approach we took to government.

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Speaker 3: And you know, talking about driving around the city and

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Speaker 3: state while looking you know, many years, many years down

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Speaker 3: the track, and I'll be here and I'll be driving

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Speaker 3: around and I think I can say I was part

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Speaker 3: of a government that built these metros that the new

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Speaker 3: one's going to open on August four, the motorways, the schools,

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Speaker 3: the hospitals, the footy stadiums, the art galleries. Like, we

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Speaker 3: just got stuff done. And I know it's bloody hard

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Speaker 3: during that period of time, and everyone's got an opinion

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Speaker 3: and people think you make the wrong decisions, and that's fine,

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Speaker 3: and that's part of politics. But ultimately I think our

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Speaker 3: government has a great legacy and one that set up

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Speaker 3: our state for future success.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess you don't miss having to hear everybody's

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Speaker 1: opinions about you all the time. You're saying it's part

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Speaker 1: of pologicssolutely is true.

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Speaker 3: I know, But and you know, I enjoyed having debates,

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Speaker 3: and ultimately you'll have a point where half the people

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Speaker 3: agree with your half people won't. But ultimately I think

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Speaker 3: we've got more decisions right than we got wrong. But

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Speaker 3: then we lost the elections, so maybe I was wrong.

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Speaker 2: Is it a double edged sword, though, dom because you

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Speaker 2: leave probably the most busiest occupation in the state, and

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Speaker 2: then you've got to go home and look after seven children.

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Speaker 2: What's what's harder, what's more demanding?

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Speaker 3: They're both demanding, but you know, families everything, and it's

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Speaker 3: completely grounding, and I think it gave me a great

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Speaker 3: kind of perspective in the job and of what's most important.

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Speaker 3: And ultimately, I think it's a government. You know, we

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Speaker 3: were really focused on families, and I think, you know

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Speaker 3: the experience I had at home and you know, the wonderful,

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Speaker 3: the wonderful being a father and being her husband is

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Speaker 3: the most important thing in life. And I love my

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Speaker 3: family and ultimately I got into politics for them, and

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Speaker 3: ultimately I'm leaving for them as well.

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Speaker 1: So you've taken a job overseas, heading to DC, which

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Speaker 1: is phenomenal Washington. How do you come home and hey,

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Speaker 1: hell am honey, I've got another idea, said, She says,

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Speaker 1: what is your idea today? And you go, let's move

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Speaker 1: to Washington. So that is a huge life change. Of course,

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Speaker 1: how's everybody feeling.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, they're excited and Helen's very supportive of it. And

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Speaker 3: obviously the older kids took a while kind of getting

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Speaker 3: used to the idea, and the young kids just think

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Speaker 3: we're going to Disneyland forever. So it's all sweet double

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Speaker 3: in for donside.

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Speaker 2: First, McDonald's that you've bought over, do you know what

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Speaker 2: I would have loved about your negotiation.

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Speaker 1: You would have gone, Okay, this is well, this is

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Speaker 1: what I would have showed. You would have gone, Okay,

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Speaker 1: you need to pay for the relocation costs, and and

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Speaker 1: then they go okay, sure, don we can handle that.

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Speaker 1: So you go, Okay, I'm going to need nine.

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Speaker 4: Flights and I'm going to need a house with eight

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Speaker 4: bedrooms in it, and may you're joking, right, I.

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Speaker 3: Think they kind of knew what they were getting into.

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Speaker 3: But the flights is an interesting question, right because we're

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Speaker 3: going to go separately because we just can't. We're going

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Speaker 3: to go one day after each other. Sure, and you're

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Speaker 3: going to take half of them. I think I've got

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Speaker 3: the top half of the bottom half. I think Helen's

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Speaker 3: winning on but you know she was debating with me

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Speaker 3: last night. But we're choosing them based on personality, So

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Speaker 3: you know, I'm taking four Helens taking that is hilarious.

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Speaker 1: Calm Ones to the left.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that we loved about you, Domin

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Speaker 2: and he was your opposition, Chrismins. He's in the job now,

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Speaker 2: but you caught up with Chris a couple of times

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Speaker 2: during the campaign, and you know what, I think.

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Speaker 1: This is what we need.

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Speaker 2: Need more politicians in the world like this, who lean

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Speaker 2: on each other. It's not all about you know, this

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Speaker 2: war that you have and obviously you are trying to win.

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Speaker 2: But I think Australians are warming to politicians who actually

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Speaker 2: see that they want to work with the opposition to

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Speaker 2: make the place a little bit better. And that's what

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Speaker 2: you did with Mindsy. Do you still speak to him?

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Speaker 2: Do you catch up with him every now and then

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Speaker 2: I ask you for advice?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: I do. And ultimately, I always believe I've got a

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Speaker 3: politics because it was about a battle of ideas. It's

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Speaker 3: not about being personal. And I've got good friends in

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Speaker 3: the Labor Party and good friends in the Libal Party.

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Speaker 3: And ultimately you should be united by the fact that

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Speaker 3: you go into public service because you want to make

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Speaker 3: the state a better place or the country a better place. Right,

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Speaker 3: So you might disagree, but I disagree with my own

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Speaker 3: party as well. Yeah, and so that's just part of

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Speaker 3: That's just part of politics. And ultimately you're invested in

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Speaker 3: one thing, and that's improving the lives of Australians And

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Speaker 3: that's why I got into politics. And you meet people

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Speaker 3: on both sides you have a good relationship with, and

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Speaker 3: it's yeah. And I think in politics is that it's

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Speaker 3: best when you're debating policy to a cat's point, you

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Speaker 3: know where you Yet people have different ideas and that's okay.

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Speaker 3: We should be comfortable in disagreeing.

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Speaker 2: Who's going to win, Who's going to win the US election?

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Speaker 3: I've retired from politics.

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Speaker 2: Who's going to win the next Australian federal election.

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Speaker 3: I've retired from politics?

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Speaker 1: Well can I change the topic? What you haven't retired

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Speaker 1: from is having a big heart. And DOM has been

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Speaker 1: a crucial part in thirty six Months so the advocacy

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Speaker 1: to change the laws around when a kid can join

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Speaker 1: social media and change it from thirteen to sixteen. So

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Speaker 1: DOM has been fantastic. So I publicly want to say

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Speaker 1: thank you for everything you've done in opening doors and

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Speaker 1: creating the right handshakes and the conversations we've been able

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Speaker 1: to have. And during this process, DOM has been so fantastic.

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Speaker 1: You know, Rob and I, who are the two founders

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Speaker 1: of thirty six Months, said Tom, you know, how can

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Speaker 1: we help you? What can we give you? What can

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Speaker 1: we do? And I said, could you sit on the

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Speaker 1: board with us? Would you like to be, you know,

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Speaker 1: a shareholder in the business. And Dom said no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: don't worry about it. Then Tom rang me and he

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Speaker 1: had an emotional story about some work being done at

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Speaker 1: his place and how he's got an air tasker kind

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Speaker 1: of clean up his backyard and the air tasker, Guy

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Speaker 1: Stoley's chainsaw, and Dom was he was broken. He was broken.

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Speaker 1: So onf thirty six months we put our hand into

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Speaker 1: the help and.

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Speaker 2: Got him a chain and brought chains very much real.

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Speaker 1: How do you think the man that has everything give him?

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Speaker 1: He got a new still beautiful. I was there one day.

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Speaker 1: Now he goes somethings to right for you. It was

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Speaker 1: like like a new chainsaw.

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Speaker 3: But that was incredibly touching.

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Speaker 1: O's a guy from here, but what is it air

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Speaker 1: taskers who's doing a lot of other jobs around the mable.

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Speaker 2: A photo with you with your top off and the

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Speaker 2: chain before you get to Washington.

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Speaker 3: Well, can I say this though on that on the

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Speaker 3: work you've done with this campaign. But I think it's

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Speaker 3: incredibly important when you and when you're caught up with

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Speaker 3: me to speak to me about what we can do

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Speaker 3: in this space. And as someone who's obviously got a

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Speaker 3: lot of kids and teenage kids. I've seen firsthand the

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Speaker 3: impact that social media has and you know, you see

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Speaker 3: it in adults in terms of you know, addiction to phones,

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Speaker 3: but also bulling that you see. And one of the

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Speaker 3: things I've learned in the job is that you can

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Speaker 3: get really genuine, nice people, right, but then they get

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Speaker 3: behind a keyboard or they get behind one of these

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Speaker 3: social media platforms and they become a different person and

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Speaker 3: they're so negative. But the impact on young kids on

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Speaker 3: mental health that we're seeing from these social media platforms,

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Speaker 3: I think is devastating today and in a generation we

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Speaker 3: will really only then see the negative impact of what

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Speaker 3: this has caused. So cutos to you for what you've

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Speaker 3: done with this campaign, the fact that both sides of

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Speaker 3: politics are now supporting it, that change will have a

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Speaker 3: lasting legacy. And the most important thing we can do

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Speaker 3: in life is protect our kids and give them every

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Speaker 3: opportunity in life and and and and the best start.

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Speaker 3: And that's what that's what this campaign will do. So

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Speaker 3: well done to you, Thank you, thanks for the change.

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Speaker 3: So it's going to make the other day saying what

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Speaker 3: are you taking over that? So I'm taking that change.

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Speaker 1: I'm negotiations security.

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Speaker 2: Getting security to get in the US is a bit halfbeat.

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Speaker 1: Well God, thank you for coming in. We're very excited

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Speaker 1: for the next journey mate and keep in touch.

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Speaker 3: Whipper with Kate Ritchie is a Nova podcast walk great

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Speaker 3: shows like this.

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Speaker 4: Download the Nova player the app Store or Google Play,

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Speaker 4: then overplayer