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Speaker 1: Heather Dup to see Allen is the text number. Now

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Speaker 1: the owners of Auckland f C have launched a website

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Speaker 1: showing their plans for a stadium at Western Springs. They

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Speaker 1: want to build a fifteen thousand seat arena troublers. Of course,

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Speaker 1: Auckland Council is already considering two rival bids. But these

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Speaker 1: guys promise there will be zero cost to the rate payer.

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Speaker 1: We've got three hundred million dollars in private funding already secured.

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Speaker 1: Now Ali Williams, who's an owner obviously of Auckland f C,

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Speaker 1: is part of the team. Hey Ali, hello, well thank you.

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Speaker 1: You're a sucker for punishment, aren't you that?

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Speaker 2: I am someone say, I'm a walking dartboard at the moment.

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Speaker 2: You only live once, right.

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Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to deal with your punishment in order.

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Speaker 1: So let's deal with the stadium. Can you assure rate

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Speaker 1: payers not a cent right totally funded by other people?

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Speaker 1: Who's funding it?

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Speaker 2: The good people and Anna and Bill currently and then

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Speaker 2: let's see where if we need or require more.

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Speaker 1: Than Anna as and your wife and Bills and Bill Foley.

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Speaker 2: Correct, yes, yeah, yes, I think I think if you

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Speaker 2: break these things down, why do they do things like this.

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Speaker 2: I think it comes from passion. And if you look

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Speaker 2: at you know, the two of them, along with the

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Speaker 2: others that jumped into Auckland f c. It stemmed from passion.

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Speaker 2: It does. And when you have the ability to affect something,

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Speaker 2: then that's where that passion takes over. And two of

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Speaker 2: them are very passionate about sport and about the greater

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Speaker 2: elements that they can make change, and then so they

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Speaker 2: commit to something like this and they see the opportunities.

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Speaker 2: And I suppose you mix that in with meving a

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Speaker 2: very passionate Aucklander and believing that the city and knowing

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Speaker 2: that the city is the greatest city in the world,

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Speaker 2: traveled around the world a lot, and on that sporting front,

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Speaker 2: you see that there's a massive opportunity for this, right,

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Speaker 2: there's a massive opportunity for Aucklanders to have an intimate

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Speaker 2: and boutique type of stadium that offers that family friendly

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Speaker 2: vibe that office.

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Speaker 1: Don't we have so many like don't we have too

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Speaker 1: many stadia in the city already?

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Speaker 2: Correct? No, we have Eden Park which caters for forty five,

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Speaker 2: plus we have smart Go Media that caters for twenty seven.

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Speaker 2: But do we have that North Harbor. We have North Harbor,

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Speaker 2: but well, I don't know what that cat's for at

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Speaker 2: the moment four thousand, because I think they took a

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Speaker 2: few seats away.

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Speaker 1: And then we've got a massive cricket ground somewhere.

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Speaker 2: But you've got to remember one hundred percent. But you've

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Speaker 2: got to remember that the sport is not about just

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Speaker 2: the product on the field. It's about the vibe outside

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Speaker 2: the field, around the field. It's about families feeling comfortable.

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Speaker 2: It's about people being passionate. It's about a community, bringing

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Speaker 2: communities together, so having a precinct that ties people together

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Speaker 2: so that the ninety minutes that you see on the

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Speaker 2: field is one element, but it's how you get there.

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Speaker 2: It's the food and beverage, it's the noise, it's the entertainment,

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Speaker 2: it's the lights, it's all that sort of stuff. And

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Speaker 2: if you look at Western Springs where it is now,

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Speaker 2: which we're we've gone out there call Auckland Arena. You've

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Speaker 2: got the zoo, you've got Motat. The zoo gets a

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Speaker 2: million people through. You've got Motat that gets two hundred

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Speaker 2: and fifty. It is already part of our community.

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Speaker 1: And it's already like a precinct there's already and where

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Speaker 1: saying well, let's put sport in there as well, with

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Speaker 1: high performance with offices and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: This create a vibe. Let's create paddle courts, eight paddle courts,

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Speaker 2: basketball courts is massive shortage of basketball courts.

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Speaker 1: Why not go? Like, why bother going through all this

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Speaker 1: kerfuffle with the council.

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Speaker 2: I don't know why we bother doing a lot of stuff,

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Speaker 2: but I think it comes back down to why are

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Speaker 2: we doing this?

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Speaker 1: Why high a gigantic piece of land and put a

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Speaker 1: stadium on there and don't ask permission.

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Speaker 2: Because it doesn't work. Oh, it doesn't work. Stadiums So

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Speaker 2: unless the council, which we've all gone through that our process,

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Speaker 2: they don't work. They don't make money. We've got to

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Speaker 2: be very clear on that. They don't actually make money.

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Speaker 2: It's the whole precinct that we believe can make can

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Speaker 2: be sustainable. Okay, And that's when you sit there football team.

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Speaker 2: Do you think that makes money?

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Speaker 1: Does it not lost money on this?

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Speaker 2: No way does it make money.

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Speaker 1: But we're having fun, aren't you?

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Speaker 2: One hundred percent? But what are we doing for the community.

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Speaker 2: We've had over two hundred and twenty thousand people through

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Speaker 2: the gate. We believe in Anna and Bill. They believe

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Speaker 2: they're putting a positive influence on people and giving back,

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Speaker 2: and I think that's pretty admirable. Look, I'm just the

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Speaker 2: lucky person that's probably the taller one out.

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Speaker 1: Of these, the trophy wife forgets to go.

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Speaker 2: I am the trophy one. I do value myself as

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Speaker 2: the best plus one in the game. But look, I

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Speaker 2: just think we're very, very lucky as a city to

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Speaker 2: have these people that actually want to influence. And I

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Speaker 2: think you'll see that. You know it is there's a

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Speaker 2: lot of good intentions behind it. And this city needs

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Speaker 2: a stadium on that. It needs something like this to

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Speaker 2: really elevate us. I mean, some of the sports people

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Speaker 2: we create is unbelievable. And if you look at it,

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Speaker 2: this is not just for football. This is for all codes,

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Speaker 2: you know, from rugby all the way through the league

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Speaker 2: or whatever. Whoever wants to play out a fifteen thousand

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Speaker 2: seats stadium, that's it. And then you look at the

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Speaker 2: other side. It's also part of entertainment. Western Springs is

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Speaker 2: known for its concerts. You know, I went to Michael

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Speaker 2: Jackson way back. You know, we can still do that

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Speaker 2: forty thousand people at Western Springs, which will be unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: Are you're going to cut the lunch of some people?

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Speaker 1: Aren't you? If you do this?

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Speaker 2: What lunch? We can't? Oh?

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Speaker 1: You know, like because you know, I mean I feel

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Speaker 1: like I feel like Eden Park might be a bit

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Speaker 1: gutted if you started.

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Speaker 2: If you if you look at Neck and you see

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Speaker 2: what Nick Saughton has done with him, but he's unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: It's pretty good.

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Speaker 2: I mean, he has promoted this city like no one else.

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Speaker 2: He's told you what an asset we have, and he's

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Speaker 2: he's working. I've communicated with him on that, and you know,

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Speaker 2: if you look at it, he sits here and he goes, look,

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Speaker 2: you support the smaller numbers on sports, and we go

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Speaker 2: from there.

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Speaker 1: Live on to him. Listen, question the other thing that

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Speaker 1: you're taking a hiding on is is that all about?

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Speaker 2: Is that all about the good thing we're doing? And

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Speaker 2: we want to sort of half half or should we

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Speaker 2: should we do the other thing? What we're actually trying

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Speaker 2: to get is we're actually trying to see and hope

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Speaker 2: that the people of Auckland will get behind this yes

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Speaker 2: and and have some voice I.

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Speaker 1: Feel like it's stadium fatigue. Ali, don't you think, well, yes, no, yes,

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Speaker 1: the pictures I hit the website, I thought, geez, that call.

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Speaker 2: We want people to hit the website Auckland Arena dot

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Speaker 2: com and you know.

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Speaker 1: But now listen to try tell me about this halipad,

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Speaker 1: right are you? I had had a look at the submissions,

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Speaker 1: right you had like ninety one percent to post? Are

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Speaker 1: you just depressed at the number of people who want

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Speaker 1: to say no to something like this?

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Speaker 2: Look, we're going through a process with council. Yeah, that's simple,

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Speaker 2: and if you know the process, lets people have this, say,

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Speaker 2: let them have this, say, we're not going to take

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Speaker 2: that away. But as I say, we're just going through

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Speaker 2: the process and we were in the hands of the council.

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Speaker 2: So thank you on that question. We can move to

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Speaker 2: someone else if you really want to.

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Speaker 1: We'll leave it there. Ali, listen, I really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much to Tally Williams, co owner of

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Speaker 1: Auckland FC and obviously very passionate about that arena at

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Speaker 1: Western Spring.

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Speaker 2: For more from Hither Duplessy, Allen Drive listen live to

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