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Speaker 1: Bus Tech at a time when we have lost so

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Speaker 1: much manufacturing across the country and here in South Australia,

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Speaker 1: you think of everything we had, including obviously Holden and

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Speaker 1: Mitsubishi Akzil. The white goods industry is still a little

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Speaker 1: bit of that left here out at Dudley Park, but

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Speaker 1: most has gone. As you're aware. Out in the Northern

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Speaker 1: Suburbs there is a company there that had been building

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Speaker 1: buses for the state government and for interstate as well.

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Speaker 1: I understand bus Tech, which only recently went into administration.

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Speaker 1: It has a new owner in go zero and near

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Speaker 1: bus Builders, but they say here in Adelaide the company

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Speaker 1: is some eighty deliveries behind, needs to regain lost ground

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Speaker 1: and could yet be forced into liquidation without government support.

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Speaker 1: The managing director of GOES zero is Stephen Cartwright, and

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Speaker 1: he is on the line. Stephen, good morning, Good morning,

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Speaker 1: matt Thank you for your time. Look what made you

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Speaker 1: buy this company knowing eighty buses behind, knowing its future

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Speaker 1: is uncertain, yet you're willing to give it a.

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Speaker 2: Go, Matthew. The bus tech business has a tremendous reputation

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Speaker 2: across Australia in terms of the quality of the buses

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Speaker 2: that they build. There's about three thousand bus Tech buses

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Speaker 2: running around all parts of Australia, so it's got a

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Speaker 2: long and proud history. It's got a factory in Brisbane

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Speaker 2: as well as the one in Adelaide. And given that

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Speaker 2: we are mostly concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria,

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Speaker 2: putting our two businesses together makes a lot of sense

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Speaker 2: because it builds then the largest bus manufacturer in Australia.

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Speaker 2: And when you think that the other one is owned

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Speaker 2: by Brazilians and we're Australian owned. So the time has

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Speaker 2: come if we really all do believe in a future

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Speaker 2: made in Australia, that we have some big, successful local

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Speaker 2: manufacturers to take on the Chinese and the Europeans and

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Speaker 2: produce world class buses. We saw bus Tech as an

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Speaker 2: important step in our business scaling up and being available

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Speaker 2: for the state governments to provide their buses for them.

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Speaker 1: Well that's excellent, and moving forward then you do need

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Speaker 1: government help to catch up, particularly and as a first

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Speaker 1: step the eighty buses that you reckon bus techs behind on.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I know for example that the South Australian government

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Speaker 2: are keen to get those buses delivered and there were

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Speaker 2: some problems and challenges. Really, I think i'd say bus

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Speaker 2: Tech never really recovered from the impact of COVID, so

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Speaker 2: they're not alone. There a lot of companies across Australia

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Speaker 2: have really struggled coming out of the COVID period. But

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Speaker 2: we do now need to get on complete those buses,

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Speaker 2: put them into service because I know the operators are

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Speaker 2: waiting for them, and they've been waiting for them for

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Speaker 2: a fair while. But what we need to do that

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Speaker 2: is for the state government to recognize that the arrangements

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Speaker 2: that they had with the prior owners they're gone. They

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Speaker 2: kind of fell away with the administration process and we

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Speaker 2: need to have a constructive discussion with the government to

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Speaker 2: figure out the best way to support, particularly the first

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Speaker 2: sort of six months of the factory reopening, to make

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Speaker 2: sure that not only do we protect the jobs that

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Speaker 2: are there at the moment, but actually there's a huge

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Speaker 2: opportunity to grow the jobs up there. And you know,

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Speaker 2: as you said in your introduction, Bustech occupies a part

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Speaker 2: of the old Holden complex at Edinburgh Parks, so we

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that they are a viable, long term,

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Speaker 2: ongoing employment opportunities and even apprenticeships for young people in

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Speaker 2: that area. We're came to do that, but we need

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Speaker 2: we need a constructive engagement with the South Australian government

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Speaker 2: to recognize that the old owners are no longer there,

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Speaker 2: that whatever arrangements they had in place with the old

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Speaker 2: owners got swept away, and we need it. We need

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Speaker 2: a reset.

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Speaker 1: Sixty five seventy jobs there. As sigunder stated, I've been

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Speaker 1: to the factory going back some six or seven years

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Speaker 1: as part of a media and now that was made

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Speaker 1: way back then under the weather Or government I recall,

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Speaker 1: but some sixty five seventy jobs. Do you expect they

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Speaker 1: will continue? And you talk about ramping up in the future.

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Speaker 1: Obviously you need some initial help to get to that point.

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Speaker 1: But is that the job number you'd be looking at

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Speaker 1: retaining moving forward.

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Speaker 2: I'd actually I think the bus tech factory in Adelaide's

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Speaker 2: the best bus factory in Australia and it's certainly got

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Speaker 2: plenty of space for growing and expanding. I'd actually like

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Speaker 2: to get more people working at that site, but obviously

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Speaker 2: to do that it will need it will need to

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Speaker 2: be part of an approach. Where As the state governments

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Speaker 2: across Australia start to migrate from diesel buses to electric buses.

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Speaker 2: We need to have sophisticated factory setups to respond to

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Speaker 2: that so that the state governments everywhere can buy locally,

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Speaker 2: locally made, Australian made, rather than going off the China.

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Speaker 2: And you know, Matthew, that the Chinese government have spent

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Speaker 2: over two hundred billion dollars subsidizing their local EV manufacturers

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Speaker 2: in China. All I'm looking for from our governments here

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Speaker 2: is just a little bit of cooperation. I'm not even

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Speaker 2: putting my hand out for subsidies they get in China

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Speaker 2: in places, so I don't think it's a big ask.

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Speaker 1: Really, have you heard anything positive from state or federal

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Speaker 1: government to help out.

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Speaker 2: Federal government are certainly making the right noises in terms

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Speaker 2: of getting in behind us, so that's good news. I'm

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Speaker 2: yet to meet with the South Australian government, and to

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Speaker 2: be fair, we only concluded the negotiations on Monday, so

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Speaker 2: I've got to find some time to do that. But

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Speaker 2: I'm just hoping that I get a responsive year when

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Speaker 2: I do meet with the South Australian government, because digging

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Speaker 2: in and saying well, you know, we had an arrangement

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Speaker 2: with the last lot. I don't think that's going to

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Speaker 2: get us there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, go zero. You talk about EV busses for

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Speaker 1: the future, that's what you do build for New South Wales,

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Speaker 1: I understand is electric buses and the government there is

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Speaker 1: a contract with you to supply those. How are they

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Speaker 1: working out? Because because you may know here in South Australia,

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Speaker 1: the Adelaide City Council some ten maybe even fifteen years

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Speaker 1: ago now brought in the country's first all electric bus.

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Speaker 1: They dubbed Tindo, which is a local indigenous word, a

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Speaker 1: Gharana word here for some and it's barely seen the

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Speaker 1: light of day despite its name running around because there's

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Speaker 1: been all sorts of issues with it. EV buses do

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Speaker 1: they work?

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Speaker 2: So we provided the first sixty electric buses to transport

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Speaker 2: for New South Wales for the sort of inner west

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Speaker 2: part of Sydney. That was three and a half years

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Speaker 2: ago and they've done collectively those buses have now done

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Speaker 2: more than six million kilometers and you know, they've transported

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Speaker 2: thousands and thousands of passengers. I sometimes, you know, just

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Speaker 2: sort of go out and talk to people who ride

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Speaker 2: those buses and those passengers get cranky when the evs

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Speaker 2: don't turn up. When the old stinky diesel turned up,

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Speaker 2: the passengers get cranky and they go we want to

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Speaker 2: So not only do they work, but actually, in terms

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Speaker 2: of customer enjoyment, in terms of passenger sort of enjoyment,

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Speaker 2: the passengers much prefer the evs to the diesels. They're quieter,

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Speaker 2: they're more comfortable, they're better on the road. So we're

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Speaker 2: looking forward to building thousands of these evs for the

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Speaker 2: governments and they're all just starting to get on with

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Speaker 2: that procurement process now, so that's good news.

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Speaker 1: All right. You're up in Brisbane at the moment showing

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Speaker 1: off a new design. I understand. There's a National Bus

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Speaker 1: show on in Brisbane. Who knew, but you're up there

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Speaker 1: showing off one of your latest buses. I understand. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: We've spent the last eighteen months with our engineers in

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Speaker 2: Western Sydney designing the next generation of ev buses, and

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Speaker 2: we launched our next generation bus yesterday and it's a

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Speaker 2: low floor city bus like you'll see running around in Adelaide.

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Speaker 2: And it's an incredibly a well designed and safe bus

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Speaker 2: with a whole heap of new features including you know,

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Speaker 2: driver alert systems. All the things that you would see

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Speaker 2: in a modern car we've now put into into these

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Speaker 2: new next generation buses. So we think there's no excuse

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Speaker 2: now for state governments to not buy locally when when

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Speaker 2: they're when they're shopping for their new bus fleete.

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Speaker 1: All right for bus tech locally. Just to bring it

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Speaker 1: back to home here, if people are thinking, well, this

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Speaker 1: sounds like a wonderful opportunity to learn some skills, maybe

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Speaker 1: an apprenticeship moving forward, or somebody sitting there thinking or

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Speaker 1: I could do this sort of work. Is it too

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Speaker 1: soon to get in touch?

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Speaker 2: I'd say, provided that I get a sympathetic hearing from

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Speaker 2: the South Australian government about what we need to do,

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Speaker 2: I would think we will be in the market for

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Speaker 2: staff as early as probably next week or the week after.

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Speaker 2: So I just i'd say to your listeners, if you

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Speaker 2: if you have a desire or maybe you have some

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Speaker 2: historic skills working in sort of manufacturing in this space,

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Speaker 2: keep an eye out because there will be ads that

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Speaker 2: will run probably through a recruit company that specializes in

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Speaker 2: this space. But keep an eye out, and you'd.

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Speaker 1: Think you would get a sympathetic here and given the

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Speaker 1: government as a contract with Scannier to import the chassis

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Speaker 1: that you build the buses on, and those chassis will

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Speaker 1: continue to come I imagine, So you'd think the government

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Speaker 1: would be very keen to follow through on that and

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Speaker 1: have the buses built. And there's no more common sense

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Speaker 1: thing to do than to provide the assistance you need

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Speaker 1: to get on your feet.

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Speaker 2: Well, I absolutely hope you're right, Matthew.

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Speaker 1: I mean logically dictate that, but that doesn't necessarily follow

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Speaker 1: I suppose.

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Speaker 2: Well. I've had some interesting experiences government over the years,

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Speaker 2: but let's hope this time that the common sense prevails

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Speaker 2: and maybe we can have a chat once I've had

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Speaker 2: a meeting with them to let you know what happens.

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Speaker 1: I'd love to do that, Stephen, thank you for your

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Speaker 1: time this morning.

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Speaker 2: My pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Stephen Cartwright, who is managing director of Go zero. Go

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Speaker 1: zero has bought bus Tech, which is out at the

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Speaker 1: Edinburgh Park Region former Holden area and building buses out there.

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Speaker 1: Have been for years at bus Tech and all the

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Speaker 1: buses you'd see pretty much running around Adelaide Metro at

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Speaker 1: the moment for whichever company, if not ninety odd percent

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Speaker 1: of them, probably more than that have been built at

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Speaker 1: bus Tech