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Speaker 1: Now, as you would have heard us discussing throughout the week,

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Speaker 1: those parking fees are set to recommence in the CBD

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Speaker 1: just on set well every day of the week you

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Speaker 1: already have to pay for parking, but on Saturdays now

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Speaker 1: you're going to have to pay once again. So it

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Speaker 1: all kicks in on the first of August, and it's

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Speaker 1: going to mean that in those Zone a's in Darwin, CBD,

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Speaker 1: you're going to have to pay for your parking. Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is Sean from

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Speaker 1: the bookshop. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Sean, Good morning. Thanks having me, Yeah, thank you.

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Speaker 1: So much for your time. Sean. What are you guys

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Speaker 1: thinking as you hear more detail about this Saturday parking

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Speaker 1: fee being reintroduced.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I may I'm not up to day

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Speaker 2: with all the details, but last I heard, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I haven't heard anything that makes it sound like a

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Speaker 2: really explaining prospect for us. I'm quite worried about it actually, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right, do you reckon it's going to have an impact

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Speaker 1: in terms of customers being able to just sort of,

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Speaker 1: you know, to pop in as freely as well they

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Speaker 1: ordinarily would.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it will. I think it's it's I mean,

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Speaker 2: I know it's a small fee, but you know it's

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Speaker 2: the extra hassle of having to have cash or coins

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Speaker 2: on your hand of using the app, and it's also

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Speaker 2: like the principle of it, I guess, you know, why

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Speaker 2: why would people want to pay for parking when they

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Speaker 2: can go to you know, other big shopping centers like

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Speaker 2: Casarina or Gateway which are free.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's been what you know, a lot of people

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Speaker 1: have been saying that, you know that in other locations

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Speaker 1: you can then park for free. Sean, what impact do

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Speaker 1: you reckon it's going to have for the bookshop?

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Speaker 2: I think it will be I mean, I hope not,

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Speaker 2: but I think it could be significant at least as

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Speaker 2: a knee dirk reaction in the first few, you know,

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Speaker 2: weeks and months. We really rely on that big Saturday

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Speaker 2: traffic because you know, staff wages are a little bit

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Speaker 2: higher on weekends, opening hours a little bit tighter, and

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Speaker 2: it's the only day when, because it's not a school day,

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Speaker 2: you know, we get so many families coming through and

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Speaker 2: just walking up and down the mall and a lot

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Speaker 2: more foot traffic. So yeah, we're really worried that we'll

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Speaker 2: miss a lot of that now.

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Speaker 1: And Sean, you know, for a place like the bookshop,

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Speaker 1: my understanding as well is that you're the resident author there.

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Speaker 1: It is a place where you really rely on that

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Speaker 1: foot traffic and you really rely on locals enterists being

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Speaker 1: able to come in, but particularly with those locals who

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Speaker 1: maybe will be more impacted by the parking.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, I mean we you know, we one of

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Speaker 2: the things we do on Sat Days a lot is

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Speaker 2: get guest authors in, you know, and some of those

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Speaker 2: local authors, some of them are inter state visitors and

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Speaker 2: so you know, we look for we try and find

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Speaker 2: busy periods of the day for them so they can

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Speaker 2: see as many people as possible. But if we're now

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Speaker 2: getting a reduction in foot traffic, who knows how that

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Speaker 2: will impede that. You know, that's a nice thing that

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Speaker 2: we do for the community and for the you know,

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Speaker 2: the literary community of Australia. And if it's not worth

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Speaker 2: it anymore, then that'll be a huge shing. There's a

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Speaker 2: massive loss for everyone.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but it'd be a massive loss. So I know

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Speaker 1: that you guys have some wonderful book launchers and as

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Speaker 1: you've said, you know, different authors there at different times

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Speaker 1: it's such a wonderful bookshop where you can find things

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Speaker 1: that quite often, you know, you can't find in other locations.

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Speaker 1: So it is such a great place. And so many

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Speaker 1: of our CBD businesses really are like they're locally owned

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Speaker 1: and they're a little bit niche.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got a really good demographic of businesses in town,

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Speaker 2: you know, different types of things than you'd see at

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Speaker 2: Casuina or Gateway. I mean, Gateway doesn't even have a bookshop,

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Speaker 2: which is you know, I just hate to see people,

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Speaker 2: you know, cut out the city as a good option

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Speaker 2: for their week you know, their weekend shopping. Like, We've

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Speaker 2: got some lovely parks and facilities and playgrounds and cafes,

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Speaker 2: and we don't want to be of the three kind

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Speaker 2: of major shopping areas that people can choose from, you know,

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Speaker 2: we don't want to be the one that's charging them

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Speaker 2: just to visit. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, and that I think is a really good point

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Speaker 1: that you make, because I know when i'd heard heard

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Speaker 1: the CEO say it on the show a little bit

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Speaker 1: earlier in the week, I thought, oh, you know, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't really impact me too much. I've got the app

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Speaker 1: and I'm happy enough to sort of you know, to

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Speaker 1: pay for that parking. But I remember when, you know,

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Speaker 1: when we were first in this situation where we got

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Speaker 1: rid of those Saturday parking fees, and it was something

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Speaker 1: that we've been talking a lot about on the show

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Speaker 1: at the time because businesses in the city were really suffering.

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Speaker 1: They weren't getting as much foot traffic and were't getting

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Speaker 1: as many people into the city as what they would

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Speaker 1: have hoped. So it was sort of an initiative at

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Speaker 1: the time that was hoped would bring more people into

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Speaker 1: our city.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I understand. I heard that that was about eleven

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Speaker 2: years ago. I think that they stopped doing that, they

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Speaker 2: changed that.

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Speaker 1: Yep, it was as ago.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm curious, I guess to see why they're

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Speaker 2: bringing back now. I mean, I haven't heard, so maybe

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Speaker 2: there is more up to date information. But is there

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Speaker 2: a particular kind of a fund that this is going

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Speaker 2: to or some kind of you know, revitalizing the city.

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Speaker 2: I'd love to know where that money is going, the

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Speaker 2: question out of the My Darwin program. Yep, I believe

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Speaker 2: that that's where some of it went from the last time,

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Speaker 2: but that you know, that's about a decade then in

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Speaker 2: between sort of projects like, what is there anything in

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Speaker 2: particular that this one's going to I have no idea.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good question. I think in terms of those the

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Speaker 1: revenue rays, what will it go towards? I know that again,

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Speaker 1: when we spoke to the council about earlier in the week,

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Speaker 1: they had said that the reason that they were looking

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Speaker 1: at or that this was being reintroduced, is because in

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Speaker 1: some situations they were seeing people that were literally like

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Speaker 1: sort of parking in some of those zone A really

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Speaker 1: good car parks and just staying there all day and

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Speaker 1: not moving. But then you kind of wonder whether they

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Speaker 1: could have you know, parking inspectors going and just finding

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Speaker 1: those people that park all day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that would be probably a good option,

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Speaker 2: or you know, but there are other options. I mean

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Speaker 2: I worry about the staff a little bit who work

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Speaker 2: on weekends, you know, because this is the one day

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Speaker 2: of a week where they can get to work without

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Speaker 2: having to spend money, you know, and now they're going

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Speaker 2: to be charged as well. And I don't know, I

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Speaker 2: just I worry about if this money was specifically going

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Speaker 2: towards improving public transport or stuff like that, for example,

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Speaker 2: you know, because how many you know, all morning we

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Speaker 2: see people driving five minutes from Prapp or Jingly or

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Speaker 2: around you know, Larakia into Darwin and taking up all

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Speaker 2: the car parking spaces, and you know, and there's often

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Speaker 2: only one person in the car, Like, what do we

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Speaker 2: need more car parks? Do we need better public transport?

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Speaker 2: Are there other ways that we can get a better

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Speaker 2: turnover into the city.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I don't know. I think they're all very

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Speaker 1: good points that you're raising this morning, Sean. So I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate you having a chat with us. Thank you

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Speaker 1: very much for joining me on the show today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thanks having me, Thank you