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Speaker 1: As you would have heard over the last few weeks

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Speaker 1: since the Northern Territory election. Obviously, we've been trying our

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Speaker 1: best to catch up with the backbenches and we're week

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Speaker 1: by week trying to meet all of our new backbenches

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Speaker 1: and joining us on the line. This morning is the

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Speaker 1: CLP's member for Catherine, Joe Hersey.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Joe, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Lovely to have you on the show. And how's it

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Speaker 1: all going. How's the first week of parliament.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's been emotional. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster.

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Speaker 2: It's been exciting. It was really good. We had a

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Speaker 2: good opening day where we had family and friends that

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Speaker 2: we invited and with the ceremonial happenings that went on,

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Speaker 2: it was very good, I bet.

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Speaker 1: And I'm sure it can be probably a bit daunting

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Speaker 1: as well, you know, delivering that maiden speech and getting

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Speaker 1: up and talking in front of everyone for the first time.

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Speaker 2: How did that part go? It's sure, Ken, and as

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Speaker 2: a headresser for thirty three years, talking is nothing new

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Speaker 2: to me. By doing our maiden speech in parliament was

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Speaker 2: very different, I bet, Joe.

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Speaker 1: I'm keen to find out. Obviously, you're the Member for Catherine.

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Speaker 1: In the lead up to the election, we caught up

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Speaker 1: and you know, we spoke about some of the issues

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Speaker 1: in Catherine. How have things gone since you've become the member,

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Speaker 1: and what are the issues for the electorate of Catherine.

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Speaker 2: So I've just been sort of hit the ground running, really.

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Speaker 2: I have been out and met with key stakeholders to

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Speaker 2: do with my portfolios, which are education, international education, water security, sport,

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Speaker 2: seeniors and the environment. So there's a few things that

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Speaker 2: I'm quite familiar with, like education and seniors in sport,

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Speaker 2: and there's a few other things that I'm getting my

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Speaker 2: head around still. So it's been really interesting and there's

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Speaker 2: lots of things that I was talking about before while

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Speaker 2: I was on the campaign train with education and with the.

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Speaker 3: Health crisis that we are, you know, steering down the

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Speaker 3: barrelading Katherine, and so now I'm just wanting to double

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Speaker 3: down on making sure that my voice is heard and

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Speaker 3: that we get more infrastructure for our schools that we

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Speaker 3: need in Catherine.

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Speaker 2: I've been to see a few schools up here in

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Speaker 2: Darwin and they're lovely schools and I don't doubt that

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Speaker 2: they deserve the money spent on them. But I have

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Speaker 2: had a conversation with the Education Minister and just said,

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Speaker 2: you know, we need to get that money spread out

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Speaker 2: into the regions because I know for a fact my

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Speaker 2: children go to Catherine High School, and I know we

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Speaker 2: have Saint Joseph as well, but Catherine High School, apart

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Speaker 2: from the BBS money of three hundred thousand which just

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Speaker 2: got released a couple of weeks or months before the election,

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Speaker 2: that is all we've seen there and it is in

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Speaker 2: desperate need. With there's lots of issues that happen at

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Speaker 2: the high school. They've got a diverse range of students

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Speaker 2: and that go there, and those teachers need to be

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Speaker 2: well supported and have the infrastructure to make it a

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Speaker 2: nice environment to go to. Yeah, well, which is fair

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Speaker 2: enough in dah When anyway, I mean the schools in

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Speaker 2: dar and Middle. It just seems all the northern suburb

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Speaker 2: schools where all the government votes are their schools are lovely.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I would love for my children to go

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Speaker 2: to dh And Middle or dah And High. It's amazing. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and you know, doubt that they needed it, but we

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Speaker 2: would like just one amazing school in Katherine.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes we forget this, you know, when you live

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Speaker 1: in the major town center, which is DAR and sometimes

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Speaker 1: we forget how things are down the track, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's really important that wherever you live, you're obviously

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Speaker 1: you've got good facilities and your children are able to

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Speaker 1: get a really great education. One of the other issues

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Speaker 1: that's been continuously spoken about for Catherine is the GP

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Speaker 1: service and the fact that there really isn't a GP

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Speaker 1: service at this point in time. How are things.

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Speaker 2: Going well, They're still up until the twenty eighth, the

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Speaker 2: GP service is still available, yep. After the twenty eighth

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Speaker 2: twenty eight in talks with the PHN, there is meant

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Speaker 2: to be an interim clinic being set up. I haven't

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Speaker 2: actually caught up with them more recently they find out

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Speaker 2: if that's still going ahead, but I'm pretty sure it is.

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Speaker 2: But apart from that, we need to again make sure

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Speaker 2: that regional centers are well looked after and that they

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Speaker 2: can attract doctors. You know, the Aboriginal Health Services attract

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Speaker 2: doctors by the salary and all the additional things that

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Speaker 2: they might get, whether it be car or house or

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Speaker 2: whatever they get with their job. But when you are

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Speaker 2: just a GP in a private practice, and as the

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Speaker 2: government have replied to me in a letter. Yes, it

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Speaker 2: is a private practice. I appreciate that. But the thing

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Speaker 2: is private practices all around the country are no different

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Speaker 2: to our one in Katherine, and we need to maybe

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Speaker 2: change the model a bit where I've sort of discussed

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Speaker 2: with the PHM that maybe we have a joint private

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Speaker 2: and government joint venture the which they didn't disagree with.

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Speaker 2: And I think that it has to be the private

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Speaker 2: practice has to be helped out in that regard. And

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Speaker 2: that then goes on when I meet up with the seniors.

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Speaker 2: They're concerned about the health service that they're going to

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Speaker 2: maybe get or not get in Katherine. You know, go

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Speaker 2: to ED and you wait a long time, or it's

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Speaker 2: okay if you can drive to daal And for three

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Speaker 2: hours to go to your medical service, which lots of

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Speaker 2: people do if you can afford to and if you're

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Speaker 2: able to. But that's not everyone, and that's not good

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Speaker 2: enough that we in Katherine are left out on a

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Speaker 2: limb with no GP service.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, oh look, I agree. I think it's it seems

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Speaker 1: unbelievable to me and I think a lot of people

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Speaker 1: listening will find it quite unbelievable. If you end up

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Speaker 1: in a situation where we're not able to see a

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Speaker 1: GP Joe.

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Speaker 2: I've got a.

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Speaker 1: Question here from one of our listeners that says, Hi, Katie,

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Speaker 1: could you please ask Joe what her plans are to

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Speaker 1: stop people swimming on croc traps in the Katherine River.

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Speaker 1: She is from a local Catherine resident.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that would be a Dorothy Dixon question. And I'm

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Speaker 2: sure I know who the person write it in. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: they're just trying to have a dig because I will

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Speaker 2: go out there and say, yes, my son was photographed

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Speaker 2: on a cross. I did not realize normal child. You know,

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Speaker 2: children in all families do silly things and you just

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Speaker 2: hope as a parent that you put them on the

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Speaker 2: right track. And yep, thanks very much for that question.

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Speaker 2: But you know what, I never wanted to shy away

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Speaker 2: from the hard questions and that's why I think my

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Speaker 2: community voted me in the election well and said that

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Speaker 2: in Parliament that you know, I'm not afraid to call

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Speaker 2: a spadish shovel.

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Speaker 1: So I did not realize. I actually did not realize

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Speaker 1: that that was the case. So so there you go.

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Speaker 1: And look, you know, as a parent as well, mine

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Speaker 1: is still pretty young, but yeah, I can certainly understand.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, grow up and it's out of your control. What

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Speaker 2: happens when they've been into teenagers.

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Speaker 1: Well, I did grow up with two pretty wild brothers

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Speaker 1: as well, Joe, so I can only imagine and look, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think good on you. You know, you've got to good

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Speaker 1: on you for answering that question. And like you say,

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Speaker 1: all you can do is try and set them on

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Speaker 1: the right path. Well, anything else we should know about

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Speaker 1: in the in good old Catherine at the moment, I

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Speaker 1: know we have plenty of people that listen to the

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Speaker 1: show down that way.

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Speaker 2: I'd just like to put a shout out to the

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Speaker 2: for a Group company. They have been trying to get

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Speaker 2: their seasonal workers coming onto their property. They normally fly

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Speaker 2: them in and how's the all there on the property

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Speaker 2: and keep them. But with COVID, they've had to go

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Speaker 2: to the Child Springs facility for quarantining, which has mean

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Speaker 2: they're very short of their workers. So I think there's more.

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Speaker 2: There's another plane coming in soon, hopefully they will. They've

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Speaker 2: got an amazing set up there that I mean, who

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Speaker 2: would have known it? In Catherine we had this. I've

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Speaker 2: never seen it. When I went out to have a

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Speaker 2: have a look over the facility with Nino and Tina.

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Speaker 2: It was amazing. It's an air conditioned, massive shed where

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Speaker 2: they produced fifty when Nino said maybe this year sixty

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Speaker 2: percent of all the mangoes in the territory. So they're

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Speaker 2: a very big concern in Catherine and they really rely

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Speaker 2: on those seasonal workers. So yeah, that's been a bit

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Speaker 2: of a disaster for them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I bet it's certainly been difficult.

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Speaker 4: I know.

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Speaker 2: Apart from that, Yeah, I'm just working hard too. I

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Speaker 2: mean this week where if in Parliament and I'll be

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Speaker 2: back in Catherine next week and I'm looking.

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Speaker 4: Forward to getting back out in the community and meeting

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Speaker 4: people that are touched based with people that I haven't

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Speaker 4: seen maybe since the election, and i get about the

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Speaker 4: business of looking after Catherine.

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Speaker 1: Well, good on you, Joe. Good to catch up with

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Speaker 1: you this morning, and no doubt we'll talk again in

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Speaker 1: the near future. But thanks so much for having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us this morning and being part of our

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Speaker 1: segment of meeting the backbenches.

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Speaker 2: No worries, Katie, Thank you