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Speaker 1: The alban Easy government say that they're working to address

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Speaker 1: the acute skill shortages in the Northern Territory. Today announcing

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Speaker 1: an extension to the existing migration agreement with the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government. It's going to benefit over two hundred and

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Speaker 1: eighty employers across the Northern Territory. So the one year

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Speaker 1: extension to the Designated Area Migration Agreement known as the DHARMA,

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Speaker 1: plenty of you will have heard of it. I will cover,

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Speaker 1: as I understand, up to six hundred and twenty five

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Speaker 1: temporary skilled visas for new workers, delivering higher wages for

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Speaker 1: those new workers, and also more expansive pathways for permanent

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Speaker 1: residency for existing workers. Now joining me in the studio

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Speaker 1: to talk more about this is the Minister for Immigration

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Speaker 1: and Other Areas, Andrew Giles.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, good morning, great to be with you.

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Speaker 1: Great to see you, and thanks so much for joining

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Speaker 1: us in the studio. Now, Minister, what does this extension

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Speaker 1: mean for a place like Darwin.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I think it's really important. I've been coming

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Speaker 2: to Darwin a bit since I became the minister, and

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Speaker 2: it's been really clear to me that for the territory

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Speaker 2: economy and for families right across the territory. Getting the

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Speaker 2: immigration system moving was an absolute priority, much more so

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Speaker 2: than maybe in some of the bigger cities. So we

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Speaker 2: got the visas moving the Midian that were on hand

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Speaker 2: when we came in office. We've got that back log down,

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Speaker 2: we've got visas being processed more quickly, and I'm sure

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Speaker 2: you'd have seen that you've got international students and backpackers back.

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Speaker 2: But what businesses have been telling me in the territory

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Speaker 2: is there are persistent gaps in skills, some which have

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Speaker 2: been ongoing but some evolving ones too. So I've been

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Speaker 2: spending a lot of time listening to the voices of

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Speaker 2: territory businesses and of course my friends in the Territory

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Speaker 2: government to come up with a solution in terms of

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Speaker 2: this agreement, which I think will make a real difference

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Speaker 2: right across the territory.

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Speaker 1: So what have you been hearing from some of those

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Speaker 1: different businesses about the shortages and about those difficulties.

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Speaker 2: Well, there's a heap of issues, but probably the persistent

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Speaker 2: one is that there are a range of really critical

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Speaker 2: areas where the workforce isn't there at the moment, and

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Speaker 2: we need to look at immigration, it's got to be

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Speaker 2: attractive and a number of level childcare is one and I

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Speaker 2: know that's not just for those businesses seeking to employ

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Speaker 2: childcare workers. It's for busy territory families too, and a

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Speaker 2: real cost of living issue right across community. That's one

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Speaker 2: that's really come up. The more skilled roles in hospitality

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Speaker 2: as well, really consistent chefs and cooks especially increasingly, there's

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Speaker 2: issues with getting teachers, and I think we all know

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Speaker 2: how fundamentally important having good teachers is. So those are

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Speaker 2: some of the issues that we're trying to focus on

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Speaker 2: and making sure that we've got something which recognizes that

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Speaker 2: the territory has distinct needs from some of the bigger

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Speaker 2: cities and we need to tailor that so that the

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Speaker 2: territory can market it's great advantages to the world in

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Speaker 2: terms of getting those skilled migrants in.

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Speaker 1: So tell me in terms of the type of changes

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Speaker 1: that we're seeing as well to the DAMA. It does

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Speaker 1: mean that there's going to be an increase in the

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Speaker 1: jobs offered under that agreement. So previously we're teachers part

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Speaker 1: of that agreement.

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Speaker 2: No, they weren't, So that's probably the really big change.

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Speaker 2: There's some changes across some service sectors, but it's really

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Speaker 2: about teachers as the new one. The other big change,

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Speaker 2: as I'm sure you'd be aware and would be of

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Speaker 2: interest to your listeners, is to increase the wage level

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Speaker 2: to fifty five thousand dollars. And for us, that's about

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Speaker 2: just trying to get the balance right between making sure

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Speaker 2: that as people come in, we're keeping wages growth going

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Speaker 2: so that everyone's keeping up with the cost of living.

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Speaker 1: So, Minister, how many skilled workers will this mean for

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Next year six hundred and twenty five visuits will be available,

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Speaker 2: So that's going to make a real difference.

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Speaker 1: I mean six hundred and twenty five. It will no

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Speaker 1: doubt fill a huge shortage that we've got across various

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Speaker 1: different areas. Like we've just discussed the big question I

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Speaker 1: know a lot of people are going to be asking though,

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Speaker 1: is where on earth are they going to live?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's obviously important right around the country. This

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Speaker 2: is a real sort of barbecue conversation. One of the

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Speaker 2: things that I've been focused on as a member of

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Speaker 2: the government is making sure that we have a joined

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Speaker 2: up solution to this housing problem. And back in August,

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Speaker 2: the Prime Minister got all the State and territory first

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Speaker 2: ministers together to make sure that this is a national

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Speaker 2: cabinet priority, so that we're all pulling in the direction

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Speaker 2: so that particularly young Australians get that opportunity to get

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Speaker 2: their first house that people can rent and rent with

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Speaker 2: some certainty. This is a real priority for government and

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Speaker 2: you know, we've got to get that balance right because

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Speaker 2: of course, one of the things that's often raised with

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Speaker 2: me is another of skill shortages off in some of

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Speaker 2: those trades that we need the housing construction.

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Speaker 1: Well, particularly for us here in the Northern Territory. You know,

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Speaker 1: just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about

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Speaker 1: the jobs that will be created as part of the

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Speaker 1: defense spent here in the Northern Territory, so we're anticipating

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Speaker 1: that we will need additional workers. So you can sort

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Speaker 1: of see it's a bit of a catch twenty two,

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Speaker 1: I guess in the territory in some ways that yep,

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Speaker 1: we definitely need those skilled workers, but making sure that

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Speaker 1: we've got appropriate accommodation for them is another part of

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Speaker 1: that puzzle.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, and I think you know, my friend

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Speaker 2: and colleague Julie Collins, the Housing Minister has been focused

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Speaker 2: on this from day one. We've made very significant investments

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Speaker 2: and we've finally got the Housing Affordability Future Fund through

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Speaker 2: the Parliament which will make a huge and ongoing difference

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Speaker 2: to this issue.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister this it's a great step. I actually think

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Speaker 1: that this is a really positive thing. I know there'll

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Speaker 1: be some people listening who are maybe thinking, is it

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Speaker 1: going to mean that jobs are taken from locals, But

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Speaker 1: the fact is there are different areas where we do

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Speaker 1: need to fill these jobs. There's no doubt about that.

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Speaker 1: But there is criticism of the federal government that migrants

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Speaker 1: in some locations in Australia are making it harder for

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Speaker 1: I guess those locals that are there to maybe get houses,

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Speaker 1: to find places to live. Do you reckon We need

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Speaker 1: to see a bigger push in Australia right now when

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Speaker 1: people do come to Australia to work to fill some

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Speaker 1: of those job gaps, to have them work in regional

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Speaker 1: places like the Northern Territory or even more regional. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Look, that's a great question, and I think one of

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Speaker 2: the challenges we have is to recognize that we've got

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Speaker 2: one immigration system as one country, but the immigration and

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Speaker 2: skills needs in different parts of the country very enormously.

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Speaker 2: We've got different economies, different labor markets, and one of

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Speaker 2: the challenges for me, and one thing that's been really

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Speaker 2: important to me, has been just listening to the territory government,

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Speaker 2: to territory businesses, to the unions in the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: so that their understanding of about what's happening here and

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Speaker 2: what matters here is melded to what we are doing

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Speaker 2: at a policy level. That's why we've got this agreement

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Speaker 2: which covers the territory. It is unique and I think

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Speaker 2: provides a basis to solve some of those problems to

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Speaker 2: enable people to sell the unique advantages of making a

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Speaker 2: life in the territory with a migration system that supports that.

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Speaker 1: So, is that maybe more the answer that you do

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Speaker 1: look at those specific locations and have plans that actually

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Speaker 1: work for those locations.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that's exactly it. Because when someone makes a

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Speaker 2: decision to migrate, yep, it's a big decision and it's

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Speaker 2: got consequences, particularly for people with a partner and family,

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Speaker 2: and they want to have a sense of what it

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Speaker 2: can mean for their life. And I think the more

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Speaker 2: we give the regional areas of Australia, in particularly obviously

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Speaker 2: in the top end where we are right now, an

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Speaker 2: opportunity to tell a story about what it is to

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Speaker 2: make life here, what are the great things about this,

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Speaker 2: and have our migration system working alongside that rather than

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Speaker 2: the other way around, which has been the case for

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Speaker 2: too long. The more likely it is we're going to

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Speaker 2: see more people make their lives here.

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Speaker 1: Well, we are such a multicultural place, there is no

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Speaker 1: doubt about that. I Mean, all you've got to do

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Speaker 1: is look around the territory and you've got the Greeks

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Speaker 1: and the Italians and more people from Asian destinations as

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Speaker 1: well that have really just helped to grow the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory into the wonderful place that it is. I mean,

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Speaker 1: many would argue that they've built. They've built a lot

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Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory. There's no doubt about that. So

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Speaker 1: I do not as well. On the announcement that was

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Speaker 1: being made this morning that there's going to be more

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Speaker 1: expansive pathways for permanent residency for existing workers as well,

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Speaker 1: how's that going to work?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, one thing that we've said for a long

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Speaker 2: time as the Labor Party is as you just said

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Speaker 2: a moment ago. In fact, Katie, Australia is a country,

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Speaker 2: modern Australia, that's been built on migration as a pathway

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Speaker 2: to permanency here. But we think for too long, too

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Speaker 2: many people have come here and have been what I

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Speaker 2: would say permanently temporary here. They're making a life here,

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Speaker 2: but they don't have that anchor to citizenship and to

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Speaker 2: really lay down those foundations, we think we've got to

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Speaker 2: make it clearer. We get a lot of feedback about

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Speaker 2: the complexities in the system and were determined through the

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Speaker 2: Migration strategy to work through that while making sure we've

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Speaker 2: got all the integrity of the Australian community expects. But

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Speaker 2: we do think our migration system should be premised on

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Speaker 2: people having pathways to making a life here rather than

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Speaker 2: being guest workers for a short period of time.

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Speaker 1: Well, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, we really appreciate you coming

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Speaker 1: into the studio this morning before I let you go.

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Speaker 1: Anthony Albanezi's here tomorrow. Do we know what he's going

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Speaker 1: to be doing while he's in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Well, I won't spoil his thunder, but look, I think

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Speaker 2: people here know that the Prime Minister has been a

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Speaker 2: very regular visitor to this part of the world. I'm

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Speaker 2: sure he's looking forward to being here and coming here,

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Speaker 2: not just in dry season. I hope people will not

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Speaker 2: to say I'm sure it will be a big event,

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Speaker 2: but I won't get in the way of any announcements

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Speaker 2: as he might be making.

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Speaker 1: I can see exactly what happens tomorrow. Minister Andrew Giles,

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Speaker 1: thank you so very much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Much appreciated my pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Thank you