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Speaker 1: Let's say hello to our next guest.

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Speaker 2: Our next guest is the leader of the Victorian Liberal

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Speaker 2: Party and sitting representative.

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Speaker 3: For ques and as leader, I have a clear focus,

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Speaker 3: I have clear authorities.

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Speaker 1: Please welcome to the show.

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Speaker 3: Jess, good morning to meeting. Have to meet you all.

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Speaker 1: Why would you want to get in the politics.

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Speaker 3: Let's just get straight on.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, come on, Chess, what are you doing?

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Speaker 3: Look, it is the I see the best way to

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Speaker 3: help people, the best way to change things. And you know,

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Speaker 3: when I decided to put my hand up and run

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Speaker 3: for the seat of Q, I didn't expect it. I

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Speaker 3: didn't see it coming. And you know, these opportunities just

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Speaker 3: present themselves when you least expect it. But I thought,

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Speaker 3: you know, I want to. I love Victoria. I love

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Speaker 3: this state. I can either, you know, complain about things

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Speaker 3: from the sidelines, or I can get in and try

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Speaker 3: and do something about it. And here we are, so,

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Speaker 3: I mean.

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Speaker 4: Victoria is facing some pretty hideous challenges. I think the

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Speaker 4: top of mind for all of us. We always are

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Speaker 4: constantly talking about it in here, his home invasion, knife crime,

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Speaker 4: crime in Victoria. If you take over, what are you

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Speaker 4: going to do to change that? Because we all feel

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Speaker 4: like we are banging our heads against the wall. Every

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Speaker 4: single morning we wake up, we see the same news.

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Speaker 3: Stories spot on right and you see the ring footage

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Speaker 3: of people's homes being broken into. We get flooded with

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Speaker 3: it in our office, my local constituents. You know what

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Speaker 3: really stays with me is this time and you might

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Speaker 3: remember it when I think it was four or five

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Speaker 3: people broke into a home in Q with knife and

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Speaker 3: they stabbed the father eleven times in the face, in

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Speaker 3: the arms while his little kids were there watching and

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Speaker 3: his wife.

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Speaker 4: We're seeing it over and over and over again, and

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Speaker 4: it feels like nothing's changing.

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Speaker 3: And I agree, and I get it from a Victorian's perspective,

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Speaker 3: right like, it feels like the government's not taking it seriously.

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Speaker 3: It's getting worse day in day out. You know, crime,

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Speaker 3: you know, to be honest, since the premier took over

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Speaker 3: has gone up twenty five percent, and we're feeling it

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Speaker 3: in real time. I see three key things that I'm

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Speaker 3: really focused on, and Mike to Victorians, bail reform, sentencing reform,

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Speaker 3: and early intervention. Early intervention is so key because we

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Speaker 3: don't want to see young kids end up in the

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Speaker 3: criminal justice system. Right, But at the moment, we're seeing

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Speaker 3: thirteen year olds fourteen year olds think that they there

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Speaker 3: are no consequences.

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Speaker 2: They're actually suggest So what's different about the bail reform,

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Speaker 2: the sentencing reform that you're proposing, as opposed to what

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Speaker 2: has already come in what twice three times orse?

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Speaker 1: We've seen a host of changes come in this year,

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Speaker 1: last year.

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Speaker 3: Sorry, yeah, and unfortunately we're not seeing them having anything.

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Speaker 3: What we're saying is we need to see greater focus

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Speaker 3: on consequences, meeting community expectations now. As I said, early

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Speaker 3: intervention is key to this because we don't want to

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Speaker 3: see young kids in the criminal justice system. We don't

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Speaker 3: want to see them in juvenile the tension because we

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Speaker 3: know that leads to a life of crime. But unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: at the moment, young kids don't think that if they

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Speaker 3: go out and do something wrong, if they break the law,

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Speaker 3: if they break into someone else's home with a knife,

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Speaker 3: there will be consequences. And that's what the police will

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Speaker 3: tell me, is that they catch these people day in,

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Speaker 3: day out, but by breakfast they're back out on bail.

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Speaker 1: If you've got the top job, do you have the

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Speaker 1: power to make those changes.

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Speaker 3: Yes, the Parliament makes the bal the Parliament makes the

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Speaker 3: sentencing laws. Now it's for the courts to implement that, yes,

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Speaker 3: but it's for the Parliament to make the strong laws.

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Speaker 3: And what we're seeing is a government that's had to

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Speaker 3: be dragged to this position in the first place. They

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Speaker 3: don't even believe the laws that they've put in place,

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Speaker 3: and so bail reform, sentencing reform and early intervention are

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Speaker 3: absolute priorities to me to end the crime crisis.

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Speaker 4: And so what's happening with the Liberal Party, because it

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Speaker 4: seems like you all hate each other. It's feeling very unsecure.

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Speaker 3: I'm not like, look, there's obviously the Federal there's obviously

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Speaker 3: the Federal Liberal Party, and there's a lot going on

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Speaker 3: up there, and I'm not going to chat. We don't

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Speaker 3: have been kicked out left. No, Look, there's obviously the

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Speaker 3: Federal Liberal Party. And I'll park that because I think

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Speaker 3: we have enough time this morning to get into that.

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Speaker 3: But look, I know that my team are focused on

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Speaker 3: what's ahead. We now only have ten months to the

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Speaker 3: state of liction.

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Speaker 4: I know, how are you all fighting with each other?

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Speaker 3: Because when it feels a bit high school, I get

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Speaker 3: that the media you know, love this, but well.

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Speaker 1: No, the facts of fact.

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Speaker 2: So you're the third leader in as many years you've

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Speaker 2: had the more a deeming situation, sam growth has quit.

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Speaker 2: You know, are you ready for government? Because yeah, sure

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Speaker 2: that the government is tired, but how do we trust

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Speaker 2: that you guys are grown up enough to deal with

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Speaker 2: states crisis?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely understand that when people look at us as the

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Speaker 3: alternative government, they need to trust that we can govern.

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Speaker 3: And I'm going to spend the next ten months earning

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Speaker 3: that trust and demonstrating that not only are we ready

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Speaker 3: to govern, but we have the plan to government. You know,

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Speaker 3: crime's an example of that. I've just outlined our priorities,

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Speaker 3: but repairing the budget, making sure people can access healthcare

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Speaker 3: most importantly for me, because it's something I'm incredibly impassionate

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Speaker 3: about giving young people hope again that they might be

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Speaker 3: able to own their own hope. It comes back to

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Speaker 3: demonstrating that we are ready to govern, working with our team,

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Speaker 3: making sure that our team is absolutely focused. I know

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Speaker 3: that my team is going into this year excited to

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Speaker 3: work with their local communities and excited to put out

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Speaker 3: a plan and to work together to change the you're.

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Speaker 5: Saying you sort of fell into this, right because we

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Speaker 5: always joke around go oh we should put cleaned up

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Speaker 5: for politics, then we laugh and the skeletons. When you

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Speaker 5: fell in, was there a couple of calls or messages

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Speaker 5: to friends going, hey, you ain't that story from that trip?

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Speaker 5: That that can just never see the light of day.

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Speaker 3: Look, you do get a lot of obviously, it's a

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Speaker 3: lot of scrutiny on your life. I find it hard.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I think social media is hard.

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Speaker 1: I'd put petrol over my phone and burn it.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I just don't. I just don't. I never go

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Speaker 3: on Twitter or X because I think, to be honest,

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Speaker 3: I think it's accessible, like I think horrible, the worst

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Speaker 3: of humanity. You do, well, it's funny.

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Speaker 5: It's funny you say that because unfortunately I saw the

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Speaker 5: worst of Jess on the weekend.

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Speaker 1: What she does?

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Speaker 4: Something come back from there's a video doing the.

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Speaker 1: Round from Australia day where you were pulling a beer.

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Speaker 3: Where was this app This was at the Doncaster Balls Club.

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Speaker 2: Just this is in your electorate.

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Speaker 1: She turns the tap off and.

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Speaker 3: It's pretty good. I reckon, that's pretty second.

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Speaker 4: Go all right, I'm impressed to I always.

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Speaker 3: Wanted to work as a pub at a pub when

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Speaker 3: I was young, and it never had the opportunity. It

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Speaker 3: looks so fun, doesn't it. I feel like it's so sticky.

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Speaker 4: Just scullet After that though, straight down the hotch I

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Speaker 4: definitely had a big sip.

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Speaker 3: It was so hot and it was so refreshing.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Jess, I think I'm right in saying that no

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Speaker 2: female has been elected premiere as opposed to assumed the premiership.

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Speaker 2: That's right, Never in our history. What would I mean?

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Speaker 2: Sometimes I just inter goes to the election as leader.

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Speaker 2: We'll get that. How much of an honor would that

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Speaker 2: be to be the first elected premier of Victoria.

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Speaker 3: I'm the first female elected leader of the Liberal Party

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Speaker 3: here in Victorian. That's an honor in itself. But to

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Speaker 3: have the Victorian people, you know, elect me and you know,

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Speaker 3: to be the first female would be incredible. And you know,

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Speaker 3: I think there's something to be said as well. I mean,

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Speaker 3: we've got two female leaders of the major parties. I

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Speaker 3: think that's great to see. Look, I think that, you know,

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Speaker 3: too much of politics is made personal and I don't

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Speaker 3: want to do that. You know, we get on across

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Speaker 3: the political aisle and we see each other around Parliament.

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Speaker 3: It's all that stuff you don't see in the media,

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Speaker 3: right is you know you're always in the same place.

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Speaker 3: You're walking down the corridor, you're getting a coffee at

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Speaker 3: the same place. You have good chats with people. You know,

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Speaker 3: we're all people. She's a mom, im and a mum.

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Speaker 3: You know, all these things. You don't want to take

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Speaker 3: away from the humanity. At the same time, you want

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Speaker 3: to actually focus on the policies. And that's something I

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Speaker 3: want to say to Victorians and to your listeners. Always

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Speaker 3: try to do that, because there's a politics as tough

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Speaker 3: as it is, and we don't need to make it

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Speaker 3: worse for each of them.

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Speaker 4: When is the state election? Do we know?

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Speaker 1: Youmber?

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Speaker 3: November? The end of November.

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Speaker 2: Four year terms, same date every four year.

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Speaker 4: Just just quickly, it's the same date. Well can you tell

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Speaker 4: that I made.

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Speaker 3: At the university?

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Speaker 2: Just very quickly, journalist in me. There is a story

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Speaker 2: in the paper this morning. Sam Growth might force a

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Speaker 2: by election. He might just get out now and mean

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Speaker 2: the people in the pen go to the polls. Do

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Speaker 2: you think there's a chance of that happening?

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Speaker 3: Look, I think Sam's had a really tough time and

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Speaker 3: you know, I've had some really good conversations with him.

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Speaker 3: We came in together in the Parliament. You know, he's

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Speaker 3: not in a colleague, he's a friend and he's made

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Speaker 3: a tough call, but one that I think he's come

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Speaker 3: together with Britt and they've decided is in the best

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Speaker 3: interest of their family.

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Speaker 4: Which I can completely understand. Belay, what they went through

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Speaker 4: was horrenders.

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Speaker 3: Totally, and you know, I get it. I've got a

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Speaker 3: I've got a young son, and you know, the thought

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Speaker 3: of him and ever being put you know, at risk,

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Speaker 3: or feeling like he was, you know, being people were

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Speaker 3: talking about him or anything like that. Makes sure he

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Speaker 3: claims it.

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Speaker 2: Came from his own party a lot of it.

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Speaker 3: So what I would say is right now, Sam has

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Speaker 3: said that he's absolutely focused on continuing to serve the

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Speaker 3: people of Nepean and being part of the team, and

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Speaker 3: that's where we're all at. We will ensure that we

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Speaker 3: continue to make sure that every one of our people

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Speaker 3: who represents the community, they continue to be represented. Sam's

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Speaker 3: working hard and that's where we are all.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 3: Well, good luck, thank you, and thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: Leader of the Opposition, Victoria.

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Speaker 4: It's got to get better.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm excited to make it better for Victorians.

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Speaker 5: Well, whoever gets a top job come November, I think

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Speaker 5: there's going to be a lot of pressure on us

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Speaker 5: and everyone's going to hold him accountable, Absolutely sure.

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Speaker 1: Jess Wilson joining us on the air this morning and

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Speaker 1: on your Jess. Thanks coming out Jane. It is just

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Speaker 1: going far past Ay Lauren.

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Speaker 3: Lauren wake up feeling good following them on the socials,