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Speaker 1: Now, as I mentioned on Friday, a pretty big well.

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Speaker 1: It seems like it's quite the backflip from the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government in the mining sector. So you might recall

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Speaker 1: a couple of years ago changes were made to the

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Speaker 1: royalties regime which many believed made investment in the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory less competitive. So it was an issue which we'd

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Speaker 1: spoken about many times on the show. And the change

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Speaker 1: is now there is going to be a change. It's

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Speaker 1: one of a number of changes actually announced following the

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Speaker 1: establishment of the Mineral Development Task Force, established in November

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one to investigate and identify strategies to activate

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Speaker 1: and secure ongoing private investment. So the task Force, which

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Speaker 1: comprises of government to industry and private sector experts, was

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Speaker 1: tasked with reporting findings back to the Northern Territory government.

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Speaker 1: That is what they have done.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line to tell us a bit

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Speaker 1: more is Cat Tillmouth, who's the executive director of the

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Speaker 1: Minerals Council of Australia here in the Northern Territory. Good

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Speaker 1: wanting to your cat.

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Speaker 2: Hello, Katie, how are you here?

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Speaker 1: You're really good, Thank you so much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning. Now tell me what did the task force find.

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Speaker 2: So the taskforce put forward a couple of recommend a

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Speaker 2: handful of recommendations to government.

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Speaker 3: A lot of them.

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Speaker 2: Focused on helping the government put in place some changes

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Speaker 2: that will attract investment in mining into the territory. So

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Speaker 2: what they were looking at is in the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: there is only a handful of operating minds, whereas when

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Speaker 2: you look across the border to Western Australia and other jurisdictions,

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Speaker 2: there are exponentially a lot more mind in operation. And

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Speaker 2: it has got nothing to do with the quality of

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Speaker 2: the resources underground. It was about figuring out, why is

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Speaker 2: it when you're an investor do you look at the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory and.

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Speaker 3: Go, Nah, it's too hard.

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Speaker 2: What is it with our regulations, with some of the

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Speaker 2: frameworks that we have in place? As an avest, did

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Speaker 2: you go I would rather go somewhere else than not

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Speaker 2: go to the Northern Territory to spend my money.

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Speaker 3: So the recommendation that they put forward.

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Speaker 2: Had to do with the royalties, with the regulatory framework,

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Speaker 2: some to do weird land access, social license and other

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Speaker 2: things like that. But the big standout one that everyone

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Speaker 2: was really excited to see the government take seriously was

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Speaker 2: changing the royalty framework.

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Speaker 1: Now, talk us through this, because it's something that we've

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Speaker 1: spoken to your predecessor, Drew Wagner about on numerous occasions.

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Speaker 1: I remember even m seeing an event for the Minerals

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Speaker 1: Counsel and it was something that was really high on

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Speaker 1: the agenda at the time. So talk us through this

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Speaker 1: change and what it's going to mean.

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Speaker 2: So back in twenty eighteen, prior to that, the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory had a profit based royalty regime. It was pretty

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Speaker 2: much when you reached a certain amount of profits, the

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Speaker 2: government took a percentage of that profit, and then after

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Speaker 2: that point the government changed it to a hybrid system

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Speaker 2: where it went profits based and ad belorum after that,

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Speaker 2: and that you were have talked to Drew about it

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Speaker 2: at length. All of the industry went, that is so confusing,

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Speaker 2: that is too complicated. All the industry went, this is

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Speaker 2: the only place where this system if just happened. You

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Speaker 2: had to run almost a dual accounting system to figure

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Speaker 2: out what that would look like. If you were a

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Speaker 2: company that was looking at financial investment decision and you

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Speaker 2: had to figure out what your books were going to

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Speaker 2: look like you.

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Speaker 3: Had to figure out both of those systems.

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Speaker 2: So what they're looking at doing now in the government

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Speaker 2: is having an ad blareum system. So that means that

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Speaker 2: they will calculate the value of the resource. For the gold, nickel,

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Speaker 2: zek whatever it is, that you're going to mind the

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Speaker 2: value of that as it is being mined, So work

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Speaker 2: out the details of bat through the consultation process, but

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Speaker 2: work out the value of that resource as it's being

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Speaker 2: mined and then pay a royalty of that. And that's

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Speaker 2: consistent with what it is like around other jurisdiction. So

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Speaker 2: it's making it competitive with other places. So we're the

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Speaker 2: same of everyone else now because we're not different.

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Speaker 1: The thing is we're resource rich, aren't we. Like there

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Speaker 1: is no doubt that the Northern Territory has got several

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Speaker 1: different minerals which are there which could be mined, whether

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Speaker 1: you know, whatever it is. But we were making things.

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Speaker 1: It seems like we're making things a bit too difficult.

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Speaker 2: Oh, so we have so many we are actually under

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Speaker 2: explored and underdeveloped. It was just that when you were

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Speaker 2: a mining company and coming to look at the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: It was as though it was too hard do business.

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Speaker 2: In the Northern Territory, you would look at another jurisdiction

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Speaker 2: and go it was actually easier to get your business

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Speaker 2: off the ground in another jurisdiction than to do it

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory. So that's what this task force

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Speaker 2: was looking at, was to attract.

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Speaker 3: The investment, and to attract that.

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Speaker 2: Investment meant that you were going to help businesses get

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Speaker 2: off the ground, which would then lead to more money

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Speaker 2: going into the empty government drew these royalties, and those

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Speaker 2: royalties going into the anti government go into the economy,

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Speaker 2: and then that money goes to.

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Speaker 3: Helping hospitals, public schools.

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Speaker 2: Roads, infrastructure and everything that territory and benefits from.

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Speaker 1: So Catherine, how soon are we expecting these changes now

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Speaker 1: to come into place in the territory.

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Speaker 2: So for the majority of the recommendations, the government's going

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Speaker 2: to go out and do a three month consultation process

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Speaker 2: before they give their formal spons but for the royalties recommendation,

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Speaker 2: they're going to take a twelve month consultation process. Because

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Speaker 2: the way the system works for royalties is that for

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Speaker 2: every dollar that a mining company pays to the NT

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Speaker 2: government in royalties, the Commonwealth actually matches that it gives

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Speaker 2: that to the Aboriginal Benefit to count. So the government

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Speaker 2: needs to make sure that the land councils and those

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Speaker 2: that are impacted by that are okay with the changes. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: So there's got to be sensitivities there. But in the

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Speaker 2: long run, what we're very very make it very very

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Speaker 2: clear is that as there are a couple of minds,

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Speaker 2: like the bigger minds that are coming to the end

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Speaker 2: of life like the twenty thirty. You know, you've got

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Speaker 2: the big minds like Macartha, river Mine and even Rio

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Speaker 2: as it goes, they're going to become to the end

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Speaker 2: of their life then and they're not going to be

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Speaker 2: paying royalties anymore. So they're not going to be paying

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Speaker 2: royalty for the Anti government or the Commonwealth is not

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Speaker 2: going to be paying that money into the Aboriginal Benefits account.

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Speaker 2: So if we're not making the anty attractive for new

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Speaker 2: minds to open, then that's going to be no more

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Speaker 2: money coming into royalties for the Anti government, and that

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Speaker 2: means there's going to be no more royalties going from

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Speaker 2: the Commonwealth Government into the Aboriginal Benefits account. So if

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Speaker 2: we don't increase the pie for everyone, then everyone misses out.

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Speaker 1: Well, So it sounds like we are actually by twenty thirty,

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Speaker 1: we're coming to a bit of a cliff where we

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Speaker 1: need to make sure that we're sort of expanding investment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we need to bring and make us attractive so

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Speaker 2: that we bring in opportunities so that everyone benefits and

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Speaker 2: its jobs. It's training, it's opportunities for small businesses to

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Speaker 2: go out and sell their wares, and you know, it's

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Speaker 2: that flow on business effect.

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Speaker 3: It's not just people.

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Speaker 2: Wearing high bigs. It's the people that are selling food.

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Speaker 2: It's the people that are the supermarket. It's the people

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Speaker 2: that are doing all of the cleaning, it's the people

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Speaker 2: that are washing the sheets in all the camps. They

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Speaker 2: bring huge investment into local communities.

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Speaker 3: These thoughts of projects, and.

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Speaker 1: Catherine, based on the announcement that the government had made

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Speaker 1: on Friday and these recommendations that have been made, do

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Speaker 1: you think that it's going to make the difference that

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Speaker 1: we need.

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Speaker 2: The government said that they accept all of the recommendations

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Speaker 2: in principle and they actively went out and thought the council.

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Speaker 2: They sought the feedback from industry. So if they're serious

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Speaker 2: about it and they take the advice from industry and

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Speaker 2: they put this in place, then I think this is

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Speaker 2: what needs to happen. They needed that, they need this change.

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Speaker 2: If they're serious about adding to that goal of forty

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Speaker 2: billion dollars by twenty thirty, you can't get there without

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Speaker 2: the resources industry. The resources industry already makes up so

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Speaker 2: much of the territory economy. Without growing the resources the

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Speaker 2: industry when never going to reach that target.

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Speaker 1: Well, Catherine Tillmouth, the EXECUTI Chief Executive of the Minerals

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Speaker 1: Council of Australia here in the Northern Territory, I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much for

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Speaker 1: having a chat with us today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, and thank you for accommodating the times.

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Speaker 1: No worries, that's all good, no problem at all. Good

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Speaker 1: on you, Cat, Thank

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Speaker 2: You, thank you.