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Speaker 1: Now the tragic irony with Friday Night's stairs. The Federal

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Speaker 1: Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Bernie and her staff were there

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Speaker 1: when the incident unfolded, her office issuing a statement saying

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Speaker 1: that the woman came into the hotel to seek help.

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Speaker 1: She'd said in that statement, together with staff from the hotel,

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Speaker 1: members of her staff provided assistance to that woman, and

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Speaker 1: she said, and I comforted members of her family. She

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Speaker 1: went on to say, my heart felt condolences go out

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Speaker 1: to the woman's family and her loved ones. And I

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Speaker 1: want to thank the hotel staff, the Northern Territory Police

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Speaker 1: and the paramatics who attended. So when is enough enough?

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Speaker 1: That is what so many of us continued to ask

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Speaker 1: ourselves every single day.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: The incredibly stoic Senator just Enter Price was brought to

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Speaker 1: tears during an interview on Sky News on Friday night

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Speaker 1: talking about the state of the Northern Territory. Right now,

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Speaker 1: she joins me on the line, right now, Senator just Center,

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Speaker 1: number jimper Price, good morning to.

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Speaker 2: You, Good morning, Katie just Center.

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Speaker 1: The weekend was an absolutely terrible one. Three people stabbed

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Speaker 1: in two separate incidents. One person's died, two alleged defenders

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Speaker 1: have been charged. These issues just don't seem to be

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Speaker 1: getting any better.

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Speaker 2: No towns and our communities just don't seem to be

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Speaker 2: getting any respite from the climb situation on the ground.

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Speaker 2: And it doesn't help when the territory labor government is

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Speaker 2: downplaying the issue instead of instead of just admitting that

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Speaker 2: they just can't handle the situation that they're in over

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Speaker 2: their heads and that they need help. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we know that the AFP has put the invitation out

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Speaker 2: there that they're happy to support efforts on the ground,

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Speaker 2: and to not take up that opportunity because you know,

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Speaker 2: they're seen as being weak. I think it absolutely not,

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Speaker 2: since the community needs a circuit breaker and it's just

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Speaker 2: not happening.

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Speaker 1: So, Senator, are you saying that the IFP have now

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Speaker 1: come out and said they'd actually be happy to come

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Speaker 1: and support the territory police.

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Speaker 2: They have, Yeah, when did they say that? So that

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Speaker 2: conversation has happened some time ago. I know that I

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Speaker 2: know that Peter Dutton has been in conversations with the

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Speaker 2: head of the AFP, who, of course, as a former

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Speaker 2: police commissioner here in the Northern Territory, who knows the

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Speaker 2: lay of the land. Who has put that has put

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Speaker 2: that on the table for the Territory government to consider.

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Speaker 2: As far as I know, because of the issues going

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Speaker 2: on with Jamie Talker at the moment, apparently they're they're

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Speaker 2: they're caught up with things, so you know, it's unclear

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Speaker 2: why they're not taking on that invitation. Yeah, it's been made.

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Speaker 1: Well and I think that it's something that a lot

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Speaker 1: of Territorians would welcome. You know, it's not about the

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Speaker 1: IFP stepping in and trying to do the work of

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police or taking over for them. It's

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Speaker 1: about providing some support where it is required.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and our police are absolutely under the pump. You know,

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Speaker 2: they are in so many police they're short staffed in

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Speaker 2: a lot of cases. You know, they're working long hours.

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Speaker 2: They're feeling like they're also unable to sort of do

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Speaker 2: much in terms of what's going on on the ground.

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Speaker 2: I knowed that a lot of people police feel frustrated.

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Speaker 2: They can't They do very little in terms of dealing

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Speaker 2: with the children on our streets. They need back up,

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Speaker 2: They need support, as do our communities, and our communities

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Speaker 2: just need to feel safe again.

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Speaker 1: Now the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Bernie was actually

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Speaker 1: at the Double Tree when the terrible fatal stabbing occurred

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Speaker 1: on Friday night. The minister's office has confirmed that her

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Speaker 1: staff assisted the woman and the minister comforted her family.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that this terrible situation will see some

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Speaker 1: agency for the Northern Territory around crime, Well.

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Speaker 2: You'd hope so. I mean, you'd think so. I mean,

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Speaker 2: the Prime Minister spent three hours on the ground. He's

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Speaker 2: never going to spend enough time on the ground where

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Speaker 2: he might be confronted with a situation like that. But

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Speaker 2: given that the Minister herself has experienced that face to face,

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Speaker 2: given that certainly that Marion Skimjaw has come out with

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Speaker 2: the comments she made with regard to sexual abuse issues

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Speaker 2: as Indigenous children and territory families, you would think that

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Speaker 2: at some point, if the territory government isn't going to

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Speaker 2: do anything, but the feed will step in and actually

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Speaker 2: take control of the situation and do something, do something

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Speaker 2: that's going to create that circuit breaker for us locals

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Speaker 2: on the ground, you know, I mean, and I think

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Speaker 2: that's the thing. What I find what angers me slightly

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Speaker 2: is the fact that a lot of the national media.

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Speaker 2: While they picked up on you know, the emphasis wasn't

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Speaker 2: on the tall woman who lost their life. The emphasis

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Speaker 2: was on the fact that the Minister for Indigenous Australians

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Speaker 2: was there and that her staff jumped to the rescue.

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Speaker 2: Yet again, you know, we've got another fatality because of

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Speaker 2: stabbing on our hands. And if that's not enough for

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Speaker 2: action to be taken, I don't know what is.

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Speaker 1: I don't either, And I think that this is the

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Speaker 1: point that we here in the Northern Territory have all

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Speaker 1: reached where we're all asking ourselves when is enough enough?

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Speaker 1: You know, we had the mayor of Alice Springs on

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Speaker 1: the show last week saying, Katie, we just want to

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Speaker 1: feel safe. We just want to be able to be

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Speaker 1: safe in our own homes. Are we in a situation here?

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Speaker 1: And I know that obviously the Federal Opposition leader was

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Speaker 1: in Alice Springs last week. Here's saying that the federal

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Speaker 1: government does need to step in. But from your perspective, Senator,

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Speaker 1: what needs to happen right now, Well, the.

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Speaker 2: AFP need to be brought on board. First thing first,

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Speaker 2: you know, I mean I don't know why the territory

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Speaker 2: government increase the age of criminal responsibility when clearly the

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Speaker 2: young kids that are running around on our streets know

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Speaker 2: that what they're doing is the wrong thing. You know,

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Speaker 2: measures need to be put in place. So you know,

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Speaker 2: currently at the moment, and some of those kids that

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Speaker 2: are in in the care of territory families, they can

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Speaker 2: be taken to facilities, but they can't be kept at

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Speaker 2: those facilities, so there's no what's the point to that.

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Speaker 2: They need to be kept off the streets, especially in

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Speaker 2: circumstances where you know here in our springs are becoming

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Speaker 2: so brazen that they're actually they're directing the cars that

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Speaker 2: they've stolen at other vehicles at securities. It's even become

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Speaker 2: unsafe for security themselves at night to be patrolling the

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Speaker 2: streets when they're being targeted by these kids. They need

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Speaker 2: to be held held over night. So as soon as

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Speaker 2: they can't actually be out on our streets at night. Children.

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Speaker 2: As I said, when it comes to the young kids

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Speaker 2: who are being put back in dysfunctional circumstances, that needs

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Speaker 2: to stop immediately. The kin provision needs to be reconsidered.

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Speaker 2: These are all measures that can be changed. You know,

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Speaker 2: if this government can actually put through legislation at the

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Speaker 2: job of the hat when they want to put through

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Speaker 2: and they have the power to do so, they have

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Speaker 2: the power to make these sorts of changes going forward.

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Speaker 2: And that is something that you know, I've advocated for

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Speaker 2: for a long time to break that cycle, stop these

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Speaker 2: kids from getting into circumstances where they're becoming criminal.

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Speaker 1: Senator, I know that you're very pressed for time this morning,

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Speaker 1: so I do want to just get through a couple

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Speaker 1: of other issues there has obviously well they're all related.

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Speaker 1: There's been a lot of discussion about Peter Dutton's comments

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Speaker 1: around child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory, the Minister

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Speaker 1: for Territory, Families and Police, Kate Warden describing his comments

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Speaker 1: as a dog act. Is Peter Dunton using this as

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Speaker 1: a political football to support your stance on the voice?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely not. I mean, you know, Peter made another trip

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Speaker 2: up here because he understood that locals were calling out

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Speaker 2: for some sort of offensive leadership. He's been here in October.

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Speaker 2: He'd asked the Prime Minister following that to take a

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Speaker 2: bipartisan approach with him to deal with the issues on

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Speaker 2: the ground. Nothing came about as a result of that.

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Speaker 2: In fact, the Prime Minister only came because he was forced,

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Speaker 2: because he was shamed into it because of of course

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Speaker 2: Darren Clark speaking two GB in Sydney and that would

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Speaker 2: affect then his electrics. That's the only reason he came here.

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Speaker 2: But no does He needs to come back to those

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Speaker 2: concerns and he absolutely needs to come back, and he

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Speaker 2: needs to listen to the people that Peter and I

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Speaker 2: have been listening to. I mean, locals know exactly what's

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Speaker 2: gone on in terms of young kids. Foster parents know

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Speaker 2: what's happened for a long time, and the fact of

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Speaker 2: territory families were putting these kids back in dysfunctional circumstances.

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Speaker 2: Locals aren't stupid. So for Kate Warden to suggest that

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Speaker 2: is she's suggesting that Territorians are stupid and we don't

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Speaker 2: know what's actually gone on on the ground. And in fact,

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Speaker 2: I suggest that she's projecting on her own behavior.

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Speaker 1: She's saying that the opposition leader Peter doesn't. And you

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Speaker 1: have failed to report your repeated claims that Indigenous children

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Speaker 1: in Alice are being returned to their abusers. Are you

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Speaker 1: going to be making reports? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Look, she's she's pulling stuff out of god knows where

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Speaker 2: and making stuff up. The fact remains what the circumstances

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Speaker 2: we were talking about have been known to territory families already.

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Speaker 2: We're talking about the dysfunction of territory families in itself,

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Speaker 2: where that despite advice from from from those professionals on

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Speaker 2: the ground, pediatricians, those working in the child you know,

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Speaker 2: the child protective services of police, even against their advice

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Speaker 2: to say, please don't return these children to dysfunctional circumstances,

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Speaker 2: gone ahead and done that anyway, and then these kids

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Speaker 2: have been retraumatized either neglected in some cases sexually abused.

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Speaker 2: So territory families themselves have a responsibility to do the reporting.

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Speaker 2: It's been known again to police. So these are matters

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Speaker 2: that are known to authorities. That's what we're talking about.

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Speaker 2: We're talking about We're not talking about matters that haven't

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Speaker 2: been reported. We're talking about matters that it's known already

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Speaker 2: to authorities. And this is what this is what needs

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Speaker 2: to change within territory families.

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Speaker 1: So you're not saying there's new new issues. You are

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Speaker 1: saying that this is something that's very well known that

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Speaker 1: everybody has known about it for some time.

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Speaker 2: If every day. If foster parents know about it every day,

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Speaker 2: you know, territorians know about it. And if Kate Warden

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Speaker 2: doesn't know about it, and that's very telling. That means

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Speaker 2: she does not know what's going on, or she's trying.

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Speaker 2: She's playing stupid to it all. And you know this

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Speaker 2: has been going on under labor for some time. I

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Speaker 2: remember Dale Wakefield, I said in her office. I told

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Speaker 2: her about these things going on. She sat there dumbfounded

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Speaker 2: basically same as not much that could be done about it,

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Speaker 2: and I suggested to her, well, you're the minister. You

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that these children aren't retraumatized. But

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Speaker 2: you know fallen on death nears basically.

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Speaker 1: Senator, before I let you go, lingy arimp Marion Scrimdor,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned a short time ago, she's come out

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Speaker 1: and she's called on the Northern Territory government to establish

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Speaker 1: a Queensland style Family Responsibilities Commission with the power to

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Speaker 1: enforce compulsory income management where children are being neglected. She's

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Speaker 1: told the paper it's now time for an initiative similar

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Speaker 1: to the FARC, which has the power to place welfare

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Speaker 1: recipients on income management, to be established in the Northern territory.

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Speaker 1: Is this what needs to happen or is it part

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Speaker 1: of what needs to happen.

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Speaker 2: It's one of the things I agree needs to happen.

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Speaker 2: And absolutely you know Marian's not similar. She knows what's

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Speaker 2: going on on the ground. It's why she suggests that

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Speaker 2: Kate Wharton do the work that needs to be done

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Speaker 2: and get her department to do the work that needs

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Speaker 2: to be done, because she knows what's going on on

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Speaker 2: the ground. But I agree, yes, that needs to happen.

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Speaker 2: It's funny though, because if someone like myself or Peter

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Speaker 2: Dutton came out to say that, then would be absolutely

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Speaker 2: stillified by labor. But no, that's something I can certainly

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Speaker 2: agree with.

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Speaker 1: Marrying on just center Before I let you go, when

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Speaker 1: are we going to find out if you are the

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Speaker 1: new shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs?

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Speaker 2: I guess you'll know what I know.

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Speaker 1: Well, let us know, all of us to Center Price,

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Speaker 1: to Center Navigen for Price. We always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for speaking with us.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you