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Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf on Mix one oh four

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Speaker 1: point nine thanks to Joyce Main Darwin, you are listening

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Speaker 1: to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty. Now,

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Speaker 1: I tell you Wash, there's some serious, serious confusion here

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Speaker 1: this morning in Darwin about whether we are included in

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Speaker 1: this list of regional locations that is going to be

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Speaker 1: eligible for half priced flights. Now we understand, and we've

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Speaker 1: understood right from the get go early this morning, that

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Speaker 1: Alice Springs and Airs Rock are locations which are included

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Speaker 1: where other Rossies from around Australia can travel too and

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Speaker 1: obviously boost our tourism numbers. Now we specifically asked the

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Speaker 1: Tourism Minister, the Federal Tourism Minister, Dan Tien about this

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Speaker 1: this morning, knowing very well at the beginning of the

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Speaker 1: show that Darwin had not been included on that list. Now,

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Speaker 1: obviously we were asking these questions because I was well

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Speaker 1: and truly ready to have a bit of arji bargie

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Speaker 1: with the Minister about making sure that Darwin was included

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Speaker 1: on that list. Now, if you missed Dantean's interview earlier

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Speaker 1: this morning, take a listen to what he had to

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Speaker 1: say there. Airs Rock and Alice Springs are included on

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Speaker 1: that list. Our understanding is that Darwin isn't at this stage.

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Speaker 2: Is that correct? No, Darwin is one of the locations

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Speaker 2: that we we've also identified and so it will be

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Speaker 2: a beneficiary as well. So the Northern Territory is very

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Speaker 2: well covered by this package.

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Speaker 1: Darwin wasn't on that list that has come through to us.

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Speaker 1: But by the sounds of it, what you're saying is

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Speaker 1: that people will be able to travel to Darwin.

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Speaker 2: There is and if you go on to the Department

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Speaker 2: of Transite Transport website you will see that Darwin is listed.

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Speaker 2: So it says where the TANS program, which is the

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Speaker 2: travel Assistance Program will reduce the cost of flying to

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Speaker 2: the following initial regions Adelaide, Broom, Darwin, Great Ocean Road, Hobart, etc.

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Speaker 2: So it's there on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional

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Speaker 2: Development and Communications website. What we gave initially was a

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Speaker 2: list of the destinations as examples. Yeah, but quite clearly

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Speaker 2: Darwin is part of them. So you've done well in

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Speaker 2: the MT.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio right now to talk

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Speaker 1: about this from Tourism top Ends, the general manager Glenn Henley.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Glenn.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. What a roller coaster ride.

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Speaker 1: Wellen, are you as confused as I am this morning?

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Speaker 4: Beside ourselves? So we wake up when we go to

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Speaker 4: bed last night and we're not on the list. We

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Speaker 4: hear the great news listening to yourself this morning, and

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Speaker 4: Dan teen confirms more than once, in fact three times.

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Speaker 4: You got him to double down on that that it

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Speaker 4: was included and it was one of the destinations where

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Speaker 4: tourists would be leveled to travel too, not from, and

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Speaker 4: now to be getting pushed back from the pmo's office

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Speaker 4: to say that he misspoke. That's not fair on the

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Speaker 4: tourism industry. It's not fair on the on the top end.

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Speaker 4: It's just a dreadful and it's not what our tourism

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Speaker 4: industry needs write Now.

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Speaker 1: I tell you what, Glenn, do you know I feel

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Speaker 1: really bloody up set that we've got this pushback now

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Speaker 1: where we As you've said, I've asked three times about this,

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Speaker 1: and we've been told several times that Darwin is on

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Speaker 1: the list. Now. The whole reason I asked so many

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Speaker 1: times is because I was quite confused. I thought, hang

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Speaker 1: on a second, we haven't been included on this list,

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Speaker 1: so I continued to ask, Now we're getting this pushback

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Speaker 1: from the Prime Minister's office. Essentially, we have received a

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Speaker 1: text message from the Prime Minister's Office saying Tiam was

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Speaker 1: talking about the fact we already subsidized roots to Darwin

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Speaker 1: through rand slash Dan's program. I'm sorry, but this morning

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Speaker 1: we were actually talking about these half priced flights, Glenn.

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Speaker 1: They need to actually include Darwin on this least died.

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Speaker 4: They without doubt, this is so important to the territory.

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Speaker 4: It's so important to our tourism industry. I'm really grateful

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Speaker 4: that the folk in Central Australia have been able to

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Speaker 4: be helped by this, but there's so many businesses here

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Speaker 4: that were never picked up through job Keeper that are

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Speaker 4: really struggling to keep going and they need that support.

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Speaker 4: They need that support to be able to get people

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Speaker 4: from down South back up here traveling. You know, in

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Speaker 4: twenty nineteen, one in eight jobs in the territory dependent

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Speaker 4: on tourism vouchers. Have been a great lit episode, but

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Speaker 4: there's thirty million in an industry that in twenty nineteen

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Speaker 4: was two point two billion dollars employed so many people,

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Speaker 4: and the knock on effect of not getting these tourists.

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Speaker 4: And I think part of this too is we've now

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Speaker 4: find ourselves as a destination. We're not included. We're in

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Speaker 4: competition with what the federal government are doing. The federal

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Speaker 4: government are out there marketing thirteen destinations against the top end.

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Speaker 4: Tourism industry doesn't need this, The economy of the top

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Speaker 4: end doesn't need this.

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Speaker 3: This is dreadful.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and how on earth can we be pitted again?

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Speaker 1: You know all these other locations everybody else ends up

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Speaker 1: with these half priced flights, you know, and people are

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Speaker 1: able to travel to those destinations i e. Broom, you know, Cans.

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Speaker 1: We're in direct competition with them already. How do we

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Speaker 1: bloody stand a chance if they've got half priced flights?

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Speaker 1: And then the minister is going to backtrack on this.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 4: It's these mixed messages are terrible. They're terrible for the

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Speaker 4: well being of our industry as well. They've suffered such

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Speaker 4: hard times and for the people they employ. And we

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Speaker 4: need as much support as we can get because we

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Speaker 4: everyone knows the tyranny of distance that we suffer, and

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Speaker 4: airfares are a key component in getting our tourists here.

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Speaker 4: That's what's going to keep people in jobs. And if

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Speaker 4: those flights aren't in some way better subsidized as they

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Speaker 4: are for these other special thirteen locations across the Australia,

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Speaker 4: then that's going to fall by the wayside. It's not

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Speaker 4: enough that we've been through enough trouble with Kakadu and

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Speaker 4: other aspects over the past few years.

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Speaker 3: It's a real opportunity for us to relaunch here.

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Speaker 4: If tourism businesses can't stand up, then it's not just

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Speaker 4: tourism businesses, it's those around it. And I'll give you

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Speaker 4: an example touring businesses that which take tours. There was

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Speaker 4: one of our one of Australia's leading touring companies. It's

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Speaker 4: based here in Darwin. At the onset of COVID last

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Speaker 4: year it had to cancel its seven day itineries and

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Speaker 4: had to cancel the whole season for one restaurant in Darwen,

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Speaker 4: one of Darwin's leading restaurants, where they had one meal

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Speaker 4: on that seven day. That meant that restaurant lost over

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Speaker 4: a quarter of a million dollars in forward bookings.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 4: So when tourists aren't coming through, the knock on effect

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Speaker 4: goes right through our community.

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Speaker 3: And we need this back.

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Speaker 4: We know that outside of oil mining and gas, tourism

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Speaker 4: is the number one export earner for the territory two

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Speaker 4: point two billion, as I said before in twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 4: with a number one service industry, and so for for

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Speaker 4: this to happen and then for there to be a

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Speaker 4: misspoke on something so clear is I find it hard

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Speaker 4: to fathom how that could be the case.

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Speaker 1: I actually don't believe that he misspoke. I actually think

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Speaker 1: that you know that he thought Darwin was included on

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Speaker 1: the list, which concerns me more. What is it going

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Speaker 1: to mean for us here in the top end Glenn

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Speaker 1: If Darwin is not included on these half priced flights.

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Speaker 4: It means that tourism and tea out there doing a

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Speaker 4: great job in their southern marketing campaigns. But ultimately Queensland

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Speaker 4: is too. And so when when it comes down to

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Speaker 4: that purchase point, am I going to go to Cans

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Speaker 4: or am I going to go to the top end

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Speaker 4: fifty percent off? An airfare survey says I'm going to

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Speaker 4: Cans And I think that's just not fair on businesses

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Speaker 4: that have got their life savings invested and for the

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Speaker 4: people of the top end.

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Speaker 1: But also, how have they gone about actually determining these

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Speaker 1: destinations And how can you then, you know, have broom

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Speaker 1: on one side of us and have cans on the

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Speaker 1: other and determine that Darwin doesn't need it.

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Speaker 3: That's not clear.

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Speaker 4: That's been something that through the Australian Tourism Industry Council,

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Speaker 4: we've been trying to get that information. What matrix, How

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Speaker 4: is it they've come to these decisions and done this?

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Speaker 4: Is it related to job keeper? What is the ASP

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Speaker 4: and you know.

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Speaker 1: What they were all the questions that I'd actually planned

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Speaker 1: to ask the minister this morning, but then when he

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Speaker 1: came out and said that Darwin was included, well, it

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Speaker 1: totally changed that line of questioning. And I think that

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Speaker 1: this is the really disappointing part here. It's you know,

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Speaker 1: he'd said it very loudly and clearly that Darwin was

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Speaker 1: on that list. I said to him, that is going

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Speaker 1: to be music to the ears of our tourism industry

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Speaker 1: this morning, who thought that they were not included. They

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Speaker 1: cannot backtrack on this now. If they do, it is

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Speaker 1: going to be absolutely heartbreaking.

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Speaker 3: For your industry. We'll be doing all we can.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's hope that we're able to you know, get

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Speaker 1: the Prime Minister if we need to, on the blower

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Speaker 1: to be able to find out exactly what the goal

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Speaker 1: is here. But Glenn Hinley, we always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: I know you've got a bit of a frog in

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Speaker 1: your throat this morning. Hopefully, hopefully you're able to get

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Speaker 1: your breath back. Eight nine four one one four nine

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Speaker 1: is the number. And Glenn, thank you very much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thank you. Keed