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Speaker 1: Now, well, we like heading beyond the bear of line

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Speaker 1: in an effort to find out what is happening when

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Speaker 1: you step outside of the Greater Darwin region. And joining

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Speaker 1: me to head beyond the bear of my line right

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Speaker 1: now is Steve Edgington, the member for Barkley. Good morning

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Speaker 1: to you, Steve.

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Speaker 2: Oh, good morning Katie, and good morning to all the listeners.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show this morning. Now, Steve,

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Speaker 1: we like heading beyond the bear of the line, finding

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Speaker 1: out what's happening around the place, and there's always plenty

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Speaker 1: happening in Tenant Creek. But mate, the future of the

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Speaker 1: show has been a concern over the last couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: We spoke to the mayor last week and he said that, well,

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Speaker 1: they're still aiming to put the show on, but it's

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Speaker 1: going to be in a bit of a different format.

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Speaker 1: How are things looking right now when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the show.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, the at the moment, the show will be

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Speaker 2: going ahead. You know, there's been a meeting I think

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Speaker 2: there was one on Monday afternoon and the the well,

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Speaker 2: I suppose the view coming out of that was that

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Speaker 2: the show will go ahea. I haven't heard exactly what

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Speaker 2: format it will be in. But the word around town

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Speaker 2: is that it will be going ahead and everybody's looking

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Speaker 2: forward to you know, there was some concerns that it

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Speaker 2: wasn't you know, it was being canceled, but at the moment,

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Speaker 2: everybody's excited and looking forward to it.

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Speaker 1: Steve, how upset do you reckon people would have been

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Speaker 1: if it didn't happen.

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Speaker 2: Oh, look, it would have been very upset. The show's

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Speaker 2: been going for around about forty three or forty four years,

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Speaker 2: and this would have been the first time we've actually

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Speaker 2: missed a complete show. You know, there's been times where,

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Speaker 2: particularly through the COVID days, where we had a reduced show,

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Speaker 2: just sideshow alleys. But at the moment, everybody looks forward

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Speaker 2: to the annual show. It's one of the events I

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Speaker 2: suppose it attracts people from right around the Barkley. All

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Speaker 2: of the communities come in. We see the pastor us there,

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Speaker 2: we see everyone from Tenant Creek goes to the Tenant

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Speaker 2: Creek show. So it's one of those events that brings

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Speaker 2: people together. And you know, over the years we've seen many,

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Speaker 2: many good shows. And of course the good thing to

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Speaker 2: talk about is, you know, there's people like the CWA,

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Speaker 2: other volunteers and volunteers around town all chipping in and

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Speaker 2: doing their bits. So everybody does their bit when the

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Speaker 2: show's on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is a really nice thing to see, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: You know, whether you're talking about Tennant, Craig Gallas Springs Show,

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Speaker 1: Catherine show Er up here in Darwin, the way in

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Speaker 1: which everybody does sort of get together and make sure

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Speaker 1: that it's a great event that showcases the whole community.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And look it's been difficult for the volunteers

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Speaker 2: getting this year's show together. You know, there's been some

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Speaker 2: issues with infrastructure. Yes, there's issues around outstanding payments. And

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Speaker 2: we've got to realize that shows, particularly here in the

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Speaker 2: Barklay and right around the territory, really rely on volunteers

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Speaker 2: and getting volunteers on board is becoming more and more

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Speaker 2: difficult over the years, with people tied up doing a

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Speaker 2: whole range of you know, full time jobs and other things.

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Speaker 2: The number of volunteers is really shrinking. So, you know,

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Speaker 2: I really commend the work that, but our showgrounds really

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Speaker 2: need a bit of an upgrade. It's been, i suppose

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Speaker 2: fallen behind when it comes to keeping all of the

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Speaker 2: infrastructure up to date, particularly around electrical building structures. Maintaining

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Speaker 2: that throughout the year has become more and more difficult

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Speaker 2: to There's also things like water bills to cover during

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Speaker 2: the year, broken pipes, all of those sorts of things

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Speaker 2: need to be attended to during the year, and I

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Speaker 2: think over the years what we've seen is a lack

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Speaker 2: of investment from the Northern Territory government, not only at

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Speaker 2: the showgrounds, but right around all of Tenant Creek and

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Speaker 2: the Barkley at the moment. So this is one of

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Speaker 2: the issues that has really affected the planning for this

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Speaker 2: year's show.

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Speaker 1: Now, Steve just stepping away from the show for a

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Speaker 1: moment because one of the other concerns at the moment

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Speaker 1: is well is some of the weather that's being experienced

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Speaker 1: in Central Australia and indeed the Barklay. How are things

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Speaker 1: going right now? I can see that the forecast, well,

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Speaker 1: it looks like it's only about fourteen degrees at the moment,

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Speaker 1: But how are things going when it comes to that

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Speaker 1: wet weather and the impact it's having on the roads.

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Speaker 2: Well, at the moment, I think all of the roads

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Speaker 2: are still open around the Barkley, but we did have

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Speaker 2: a sprinkle of rain. Last night, I came out of

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Speaker 2: one of our local restaurants, Walks Up here, at about

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Speaker 2: eight thirty and I felt the first sprinkle of rain

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Speaker 2: and there was a bit of excitement amongst the people

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Speaker 2: I was talking to. But early this morning I was

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Speaker 2: waking up, woken up, i should say, with the quite

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Speaker 2: heavy rain. So we've had a few meals this morning.

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Speaker 2: It's very dark and overcast at the moment, so I'm

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Speaker 2: expecting more rain here. So we're just going to have

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Speaker 2: to monitor that over the next few days and hopefully

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Speaker 2: that won't have too much impact on the Barkley. But

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Speaker 2: you know, drivers out there will need to be mindful

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Speaker 2: and take care when out on the roads.

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Speaker 1: Steve, before I ask you about those potholes, did you

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Speaker 1: just say the restaurants called Walks Up.

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Speaker 2: Walks Up restaurant in Tenant Creek very well known around

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Speaker 2: the territory. Lots of people always stop there when they

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Speaker 2: come through. It's a great restaurant. I still think it's

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Speaker 2: the best Chinese in the territory.

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Speaker 1: I reckon that's a fantastic name. I love it.

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Speaker 2: I'll tell you what. It's pretty popular and those that

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Speaker 2: have been through Tenant Creek. I suspect would certainly have

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Speaker 2: some very high ratings for that restaurant.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, I do want to ask you about some

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Speaker 1: of the potholes and things, because that's something we've spoken

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Speaker 1: about in the past, but it's also something that's been

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Speaker 1: raised with us right across the board around the territory.

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Speaker 1: And we know that from time to time those weather

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Speaker 1: events do cause some pretty serious concerns, but there had

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Speaker 1: been worries that some of them were real, Like some

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Speaker 1: of those potholes were really quite quite big. How near

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Speaker 1: you know in the Barkley region. How's it going?

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Speaker 2: Well, look, it's moving very slowly, and you know, this

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Speaker 2: is a great concern to not only myself but residents

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Speaker 2: here in the Barkley, but also I've had complaints from

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Speaker 2: the transport industry and tourists coming across the Barkley and

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Speaker 2: up the Stuart Highway. Look, we did have no doubt

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Speaker 2: about it. We did have a significant flooding and weather event,

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Speaker 2: but essentially that finished back in February and here we

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Speaker 2: are at the end of June. So now we're talking

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Speaker 2: what four approaching four and a half months, so out

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Speaker 2: on the Berkeley Highway, there's still significant damage to the

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Speaker 2: Berkeley Highway, both on the western side of the Berkeley Homestead,

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Speaker 2: but also further between the Berkeley Homestead and the Queensland border.

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Speaker 2: There's significant damage to that road and traffic is down

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Speaker 2: to I think forty kilometers through some of those areas,

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Speaker 2: but importantly on the main Stuart Highway as well, just

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Speaker 2: forty five kilometers and I drove through there again the

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Speaker 2: other day. There's probably one hundred kilometer stretch that is

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Speaker 2: really just a dirt and gravel at the moment, and

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Speaker 2: that's been sitting like that for well over four months.

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Speaker 2: So I just don't understand when you have a Minister

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Speaker 2: for Infrastructure talking about record investment in infrastructure. We have

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Speaker 2: a ten billion dollar debt, but we still have some

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Speaker 2: of the worst roads in the country and it's just

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Speaker 2: not good enough because it's dangerous not only for locals,

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Speaker 2: it's dangerous for the transport industry, it's dangerous for visitors.

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Speaker 2: We really need to be lifting our game when it

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Speaker 2: comes to maintaining infrastructure.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it does sound as so that work needs

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Speaker 1: to get underway. Well, it sounds as it's sort of underway,

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Speaker 1: but it's taken quite a long time by the sound

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Speaker 1: of it.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's extraordinary. It's a very topical issue here in

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Speaker 2: Tenant Creek. Every time somebody raises the issue about the roads,

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Speaker 2: people are talking about the length of time. You know.

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Speaker 2: People accept that, yes, there was damage during some flooding

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Speaker 2: events earlier in the year. But what people don't accept

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Speaker 2: is that it's taken four and a half months and

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Speaker 2: still we're seeing bare bits of ground on the main highways,

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Speaker 2: being the Berkeley Highway and the Stuart Highway. Now it's

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Speaker 2: just not good enough.

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Speaker 1: Well, Steve Edgington, I really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for heading beyond the Bear and align with us

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Speaker 1: and taking our listeners to Tenant Creek.

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Speaker 2: Well, thanks for your time, Katie, and thanks all the listeners.

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Speaker 2: There's plenty more to talk about, I can assure you, Katie,

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Speaker 2: because down here below the barren the line, it's not

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Speaker 2: just roads. There's lots and lots of infrastructure that simply

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Speaker 2: hasn't been delivered. So we can talk about that at

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Speaker 2: some other stage in the future.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, we'll catch up with you again very soon. Steve.

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Speaker 1: Always appreciate your time, mate, Thanks so much for speaking

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Speaker 1: with us today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Katie, and good morning to everybody.

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Speaker 1: Thank you,