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Speaker 1: Joining us live in the studio slightly lighter than usual.

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Speaker 1: The Lord Mayor of Darwin convat scarlets good morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning kid apologized, but the weather actually played hihock

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Speaker 2: this morning. I was supposed to be in Alo opening

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Speaker 2: the new dog park there this morning, but we're waiting

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Speaker 2: for the weather to clear up.

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Speaker 3: I look at my bomb rather as a humans be kidding.

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Speaker 3: We're not going anywhere by that time would change your time.

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Speaker 2: So that's a beautiful dog park in Alowa, fully fenced,

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Speaker 2: special fence for big dogs, special offends or small dogs,

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Speaker 2: with watering areas, with play areas for the dogs.

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Speaker 3: Because the best way.

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Speaker 2: To get the dog out of board I'm sitting in

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Speaker 2: the beard of the time is taking them out there

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Speaker 2: introducing to other dogs. They get too used to it

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Speaker 2: and they don't go for the jugular. Sometimes dogs can

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Speaker 2: be very aggressive, especially if they don't know other dogs.

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Speaker 1: Well, so what was that park previously? Was it just

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Speaker 1: like a block of light?

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Speaker 3: It was actually a novel that nobody used it.

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Speaker 2: Nobody used it because there was some complaints about the

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Speaker 2: midges coming up and everything else. But again it is

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Speaker 2: a very very very good idea having an area like

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Speaker 2: that Let's not forget a lot of people now living

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Speaker 2: units and they don't have anywhere to take their dogs.

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Speaker 3: That give an opportunity for people to take their.

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Speaker 2: Dogs out and the dog they're not bored, they don't yep,

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Speaker 2: they don't bark, they don't drive the naborscration.

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Speaker 1: What's a good thing to do? I think you need

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Speaker 1: dog parkstion et places that are friendly for our animals. Whereabouts?

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Speaker 1: Is it in Ala?

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Speaker 2: It's if you go to the newly fully constructed Clakes

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Speaker 2: I drive that we just finished this year on your

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Speaker 2: left hand side, just after you pass the community garden.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so just say and how long go to the open?

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Speaker 1: I reckon it? Or it's today the official.

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Speaker 2: Learning yesterday, excellent open yesterday, beautiful weather today a bit muddy.

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Speaker 2: So you're not taking your dog today. Let's drive for

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Speaker 2: a while and take it out there for Christmas.

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Speaker 1: Well, unless your dog enjoys a round in the in

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Speaker 1: the weather, it which smell afterwards in the car that

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Speaker 1: bothers exactly exactly. Well, that's good news. Con sounds like

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Speaker 1: i'd a good initiative. Was it an expensive initiative?

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Speaker 2: No, no it was not. It was a less than

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Speaker 2: two hundred thousand dollars something like that. But again, and

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Speaker 2: it's most of the area was there that most of

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Speaker 2: it was actually put the fencing on and the other equipment.

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Speaker 2: It's not an expensive one because this is going to

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Speaker 2: last for the next ten to twenty years, so if

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Speaker 2: you amortize it, it's a very little expense for a

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Speaker 2: very very big game.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt people in the northern suburbs, particularly around

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Speaker 1: that area, will big plays. That is happening Corne. It's

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Speaker 1: been a busy year, There's no doubt about it. So

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Speaker 1: you've been in every week. It has to catch up

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Speaker 1: with us and.

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Speaker 3: In a different year.

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Speaker 2: I remember last year this time actually I was visiting

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Speaker 2: my mother in Greece, and of course we flew into

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Speaker 2: this perfect storm. We flew to China watching what happened

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Speaker 2: in Wuhana, and then we came here and the world

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Speaker 2: changed as we know it. And of course here that

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Speaker 2: we were safe, but we actually faced the problems the

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Speaker 2: other states faced.

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Speaker 3: You remember very well, went to a lockdown. We remember

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Speaker 3: very well that we had.

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Speaker 2: Soops closed and we first situation we had a we

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Speaker 2: do you know what was happening? When things will go

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Speaker 2: back to normal and they belong took we realized was

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Speaker 2: not going back to normal and counsel. To our credit,

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Speaker 2: they did a tremendous job. First of all, we realized

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Speaker 2: that people were losing their jobs here and there and everywhere,

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Speaker 2: so we did everything possible to keep that alive. We

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Speaker 2: brought the first time ever they might down vouchers that

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Speaker 2: pumped about six million dollars with the economy, which actually

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Speaker 2: very welcome for the small business. We had the Green

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Speaker 2: Army employing people that lost their jobs. They were entitled

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Speaker 2: to the job start and that was great. With suspending

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Speaker 2: payments to all the owners that they had business on

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Speaker 2: council property, then we went back and had the look

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Speaker 2: how people are going to pay rates, all the professional

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Speaker 2: owners that they had tenants their own business in their

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Speaker 2: business if they actually relieved them from the paying the rent.

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Speaker 2: We said, okay, if you do that to them, we

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Speaker 2: will do something for you, and we relieve the payment

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Speaker 2: of rates for a quarter.

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Speaker 3: For residential we kept.

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Speaker 2: Rates at the same level likes year zero percent, and

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Speaker 2: then we thought we have to do something about it,

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Speaker 2: so we actually put a lot of money in the economy.

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Speaker 2: We'll put about fifty million dollars incentive altogether out of

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Speaker 2: the economy.

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Speaker 3: And you've seen what we've done. I mean, look at

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Speaker 3: daily streets, million dollars.

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Speaker 1: It's been done great an.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, we put four toilets, public toilets. Everybody talks about

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Speaker 2: public toolange Jinglely Calum Bay in the rapid cricket foreshow

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Speaker 2: the one in the explanet here with t tremendous jobs.

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Speaker 3: And we will continue to so because you know, you can't.

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Speaker 2: Say, oh, things will get better, Well, what if we're

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Speaker 2: still locked next year? And from what we see is

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Speaker 2: the vaccine will come, but we would not know for

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Speaker 2: sure until the middle of the next year.

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Speaker 1: And the Council is, I suppose in a better financial

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Speaker 1: state than what the Northern Territory government is. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we know the Northern Territory government's in a pretty tough

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Speaker 1: financial state and that's been well documented over the years.

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Speaker 1: But the Council is actually in a pretty good financial state.

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Speaker 3: Well, look, the reality is we've got good reserves.

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Speaker 2: Now. The problem I had all these year years we

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Speaker 2: actually the previous countries keep putting money in the bank

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Speaker 2: and they didn't spend any money for public infrastructure. My

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Speaker 2: question is, okay, you have the money in the bank.

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Speaker 2: But what do you do with that money in the

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Speaker 2: bank means nothing, So what we decided says okay. First

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Speaker 2: of all, we look in our function. Our CEO found

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Speaker 2: out about three million dollar savings from within the organization.

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Speaker 2: We use these savings to do some of the public work.

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Speaker 2: So we didn't touch our resources. Even with the forgiving

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Speaker 2: rates for a year still we didn't touch our savings.

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Speaker 3: But the savings are there.

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Speaker 2: We're going to use some of the savings now for

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Speaker 2: the Casurina swimming pool reconstruction and for the Civic center reconstruction.

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Speaker 2: We have some major problems. We've got publies burst in

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Speaker 2: Casina every second week. We've got problems with the polls

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Speaker 2: that don't.

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Speaker 3: Comply with the national standards because.

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Speaker 2: When they were built, were built with the Imperial system,

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Speaker 2: so the fifteen minute poll is forty seventy. Our civic center,

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Speaker 2: we can't actually protect our people. Intruders can work in

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Speaker 2: any time. During the COVID we find out that everybody

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Speaker 2: was on top of each other. We couldn't even provide

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Speaker 2: this protection and duty of care to our staff.

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Speaker 3: And we had people coming through the roof.

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Speaker 2: We don't comply with some of these standards of todays

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Speaker 2: and we really we have to seriously look, what are

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Speaker 2: we're going.

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Speaker 3: To do today?

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Speaker 1: When do you reckon you're going to start that work

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Speaker 1: on the civic center or on the civic precinct.

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Speaker 2: Well, we actually are now for public consultation. We want

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Speaker 2: to actually ask people what they want with regards to

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Speaker 2: public forums, Like for public facilities, do they want a

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Speaker 2: town hall.

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Speaker 3: We don't have a townhold in down believe it or not.

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Speaker 2: A library there, or a facility to display all the objects.

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Speaker 3: We've got a gallery.

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Speaker 2: So we will ask to them because there's certain thing

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Speaker 2: we have to do for our stuff which we have

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Speaker 2: to and other things that the public wants. You won't

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Speaker 2: have a wedding, a civil wedding. Where are you going

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Speaker 2: to do it? You can only do it at the registrar.

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Speaker 2: Why can we do it in a beautiful area in

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Speaker 2: the council overlooking the new stage square. So we're going

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Speaker 2: to the public to see what they want, the same

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Speaker 2: way we went we went for the casual Ina pool color.

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Speaker 1: I've got a message to one of our listeners that

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Speaker 1: says less than two hundred thousand for a dog park,

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Speaker 1: says the Lord and a cheerful voice. Please remind con

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Speaker 1: that some people are having a hard time paying.

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Speaker 2: Their rates and that's a little what we kept them

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Speaker 2: a zero percent increase, and that's the reason what we

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Speaker 2: said to people, if you've got a problem with your age,

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Speaker 2: come and talk to us. We're very very happy to

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Speaker 2: discuss a payment plan or suspension of that one. Yes,

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Speaker 2: we know people there they've got problems paying their age,

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Speaker 2: but at the same time they've got people out there

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Speaker 2: they're fed up with dogs barking because people have no

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Speaker 2: way to take their dogs. Also dogs being aggressive or attacking.

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Speaker 2: I know some people think that it's a waste of money,

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Speaker 2: but I'll tell you what you talk to some of

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Speaker 2: the people they actually have to put up with these

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Speaker 2: dogs is thank.

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Speaker 3: God for that.

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Speaker 1: Well, you do need to have those public facilities as well,

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Speaker 1: and I think that very often it's easy for us

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Speaker 1: all to be very critical of where money is being spent,

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Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, money does need

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Speaker 1: to be invested into different things to deliver for the community.

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Speaker 1: And you know, much like the toilets last week, obviously

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Speaker 1: we had a big discussion about that. The amount of

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Speaker 1: money that it costs for those toilets. Plenty of us,

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Speaker 1: you know, quite critical of how expensive it is. But

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Speaker 1: I tell you what, I never realized that it costs

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Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars to have one of those self

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Speaker 1: cleaning toilets. It's a phenomenal amount of money. But then

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Speaker 1: if we didn't have those toilet facilities, we'd all be

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Speaker 1: up in arms.

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Speaker 2: Well, people all the time asking me why you don't

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Speaker 2: have more toilets in the CVD. The only tourlets we've

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Speaker 2: got to the CBD is inside the underground the car park,

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Speaker 2: so we put toilets in the CVD. But the thing

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Speaker 2: you have to remember, it's not only about putting a

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Speaker 2: toilet just drow a toilet somewhere. You have to bring power,

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Speaker 2: water shurts if it's not there. That's an add on cost.

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Speaker 2: It is expensive to do business in Darwin, especially when

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Speaker 2: there are no services. At the same time, think about

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Speaker 2: yourself being caught out wanted to go to the toilet

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Speaker 2: and there's no public toilet. I'll bet you you're going

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Speaker 2: to curse me overweight home because when you have to

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Speaker 2: go you have to go similar sight well.

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Speaker 1: But also you know, places like Culumba, we do actually

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Speaker 1: need facilities down there, There's no doubt about it. If

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Speaker 1: you're down there with your family enjoying fish and chips,

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Speaker 1: you've got to make sure that you're able to or anything, really,

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Speaker 1: anything that you're eating. You've got to make sure that

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Speaker 1: there's somewhere to go to the toilet.

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Speaker 2: The government spent that million dollars upgrading the colum and certainly,

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Speaker 2: if you're going to attract people by beautifying the place

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Speaker 2: and they're not public toilets, a waste of time and

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Speaker 2: a waste of money. People will go once, they will

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Speaker 2: not go again. The other thing I know, people say, oh,

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Speaker 2: why cal And Bay Calan Bay. Actually, Calm Bay is

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Speaker 2: not like the water front Colum Bay. Actually it is

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Speaker 2: part of Dowen City Council. The vote in the elections

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Speaker 2: and the pay rates. Yes, they've got their own little

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Speaker 2: area because it was created like that. But at the

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Speaker 2: same time they do contribute to the coffers of the

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Speaker 2: Dowensity Council and I think they deserve a toilet.

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Speaker 1: Well, combat scarluts. We are going to have to wrap

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Speaker 1: up at Merry Christmas and we'll catch up with you

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Speaker 1: again in January.

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Speaker 2: Just make sure that they don't do you drive, don't

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Speaker 2: do anything say we want you back here in our community.

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Speaker 2: We love you, we need you, and certainly enjoy your family.

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Speaker 2: And hopefully twenty twenty one will be much much better

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Speaker 2: and different than twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: Yes, let's hope so, Combat Scarluts, good to speak with you,

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Speaker 1: Thanks for your time this year.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, you too,