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Speaker 1: Now joining us on the line right now from the

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Speaker 1: Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, the CEO, Ben at Scambrey. Let

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Speaker 1: me just make sure I've got the right line up there.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Ben.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Ben, thanks so much for your time this morning. Can

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Speaker 1: I just ask what's happened here? Why are we in

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Speaker 1: a situation from your perspective where Territory Day celebrations have

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Speaker 1: been canceled from Mindle Beach.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's a good question, Katie. We provide a process

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Speaker 2: under the Sacred Site Tact that provides authority for works

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Speaker 2: to occur on or in relation to sacred sites. Mindle

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Speaker 2: Beach is a registered sacred site that is very significant

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Speaker 2: to Laroche of people. It was registered back in nineteen

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Speaker 2: eighty nine. Activities have occurred there over decades, unproblematically, typically

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Speaker 2: with the benefit of an authority certificate. Territory Day has

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Speaker 2: never had an authority certificate. The organizers of the event

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Speaker 2: have never formally engaged with us about that event and

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Speaker 2: to this date still haven't lodged any kind of application.

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Speaker 2: So some issues arose in relation to erosion at the beach,

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Speaker 2: which were City of Darwin issues earlier this year. The

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Speaker 2: authority responded to those. In the context of that, Major

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Speaker 2: Events realized that they didn't have a certificate for Territory Day.

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Speaker 2: They were advised that it would be good practice to

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Speaker 2: have one, but they didn't actually apply and as a result,

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Speaker 2: laroche of people have not been asked their view one

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Speaker 2: way or the other, and ultimately Major Events have made

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Speaker 2: a risk management decision that I think the Minister would

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Speaker 2: have been aware of, and ultimately they've made that decision.

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Speaker 2: It's likely to be a decision of the Minister, I suspect,

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Speaker 2: and they've decided to move Territory Day.

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Speaker 1: So ben has the Aboriginarious Protection Authority sort of been

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Speaker 1: thrown under the bus a little bit here.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's a process that we offer and it's a

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Speaker 2: law of the territory. It's a discretionary process, so it's

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Speaker 2: not compulsory to have an authority certificate. It's a risk

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Speaker 2: management tool. So ultimately, given that the authority certificate process

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Speaker 2: is not mandatory, we haven't had an application for one.

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Speaker 2: We haven't advised Major Events to cancel their event. We've

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Speaker 2: simply said there is a registered sacred site there, you

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Speaker 2: need to undertake some kind of risk management and then

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Speaker 2: they've decided to move it, so that decision has nothing

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Speaker 2: to do with the authority.

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Speaker 1: So Ben, from your perspective, I mean, could there still

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Speaker 1: be time to have territory day as mindle Beach.

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Speaker 2: Look, it's run without an authority certificate for however many

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Speaker 2: years it's been run. Yep, we've never received a complaint

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Speaker 2: about it from Laroche of people, So I guess that

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Speaker 2: would be a question for the organizers at this late

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Speaker 2: stage as to whether they can move it back or not.

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Speaker 2: That's a matter for them really.

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Speaker 1: I mean do they run the risk though if they

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Speaker 1: continue with the event of potentially, you know, somebody making

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Speaker 1: a complaint and there being some kind of future legal

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Speaker 1: all or ramifications for them.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's always a risk of someone making a complaint.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't necessarily result in some kind of litigation. There

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Speaker 2: is a well defined boundary for the registered site at

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Speaker 2: mindle Beach, and I guess the offense under the Act

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Speaker 2: is working on a sacred site. So if some impact

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Speaker 2: were to occur and there is a complaint and there

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Speaker 2: was substandard damage to that place, then that might trigger

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Speaker 2: that process. But it's clearly a risk that they've managed

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Speaker 2: for a significant period of time.

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Speaker 1: It just seems so odd to me being that we're

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Speaker 1: in this situation now. I mean, has someone made a

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Speaker 1: complaint to the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority about Mindle Beach

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Speaker 1: being utilized on territory Day.

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Speaker 2: We haven't received any complaints, so.

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Speaker 1: No concerns have been raised at this point in time

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Speaker 1: with the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority about the event.

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Speaker 2: I think the only concern that I'm aware of is that, uh,

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Speaker 2: that the process hasn't properly been engaged.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I suppose if that process was properly

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Speaker 1: engaged in will hopefully be in a situation where, you know,

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Speaker 1: where it can continue at Mindle in the future.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, look, Windle Beaches is you know, enormously significant

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Speaker 2: hilarity here. It's much loved by the Darwin community. A

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Speaker 2: lot of events occur down there based in the grass

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Speaker 2: as an authority certificate. The City of Darwin has authority

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Speaker 2: certificates for their activities. All I think, you know, it's

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Speaker 2: just a matter of asking the question, engaging in the process,

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Speaker 2: and doing the right thing.

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Speaker 1: Really, so Ben also, by the sounds of it, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't sound as though this issue that we've got for

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Speaker 1: territory day that it's going to have an impact on

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Speaker 1: the Mindle markets going forward, or on Base in the

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Speaker 1: Grass moving forward.

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Speaker 2: Either no Base in the Grass has an authority certificate

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Speaker 2: for their main area there. The certificates are issued indefinitely.

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Speaker 2: City of Darwin Holt's certificates that cover the activities of

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Speaker 2: all the infrastructure that's required for Mindle Beach markets.

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Speaker 1: So Ben, can I ask what area in particular is

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Speaker 1: the concern? Is it the sand dunes? That was what

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Speaker 1: the Mirriad indicated to us a little earlier on the

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Speaker 1: show in talking more broadly about about the situation.

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Speaker 2: So the registered sacred site down there is the sand dune.

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Speaker 2: Also the area where the market is held, and there

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Speaker 2: is people may have noticed that there's a memorial there

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Speaker 2: to the sacred site there. It extends all the way

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Speaker 2: along the sand dunes. It includes the casino lawns and

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Speaker 2: a little part of the beach and it's an enormously

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Speaker 2: significant place. It's also a burial ground and people that

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Speaker 2: have been around a long time would remember that when

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Speaker 2: the casino was constructed, ancestral remains were unearthed there and

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Speaker 2: it caused an enormous amount of upset.

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Speaker 1: Laroche of people and so Ben, you know, without expecting

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Speaker 1: you to speak on behalf of the Larachie people. And

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't you know, I'd love to speak to you know,

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Speaker 1: to them this morning, if you know, if we're able to.

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Speaker 1: But I suppose you know, one of the things and

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Speaker 1: there words that resonate in my head from Antie Billawara

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Speaker 1: Lee who says, you know, tread carefully and look after

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Speaker 1: our land and treat it with respect. And if that

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Speaker 1: is done, you know, by the sounds of it, it

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Speaker 1: seems as though it's quite okay for events and things

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Speaker 1: to happen down there if that respect is indeed given.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think you know, whilst not perfect, the

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Speaker 2: authority certificate process provides a pathway for those conversations to happen.

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Speaker 2: For importantly, the consultation with custodiums and people would be

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Speaker 2: aware of the great number of events that are held

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Speaker 2: in the Middle Beach Area that have typically gone through

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Speaker 2: that process.

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Speaker 1: Well, Ben, I really appreciate your time this morning. Benedict Scambre,

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Speaker 1: the CEO of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, thank you

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Speaker 1: for having a chat with us this morning. Just before

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Speaker 1: I let you go, I mean, do you think that

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Speaker 1: there is any potential here that there is still time

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Speaker 1: that you know, I know it's up to major events,

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Speaker 1: not the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, but is there any

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Speaker 1: opportunity here that this that territory Day may still happen

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Speaker 1: at Mindle Beach.

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Speaker 2: Look, I really can't say. I think that's really a

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Speaker 2: question for major events.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning at very very short notice. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: speaking with us.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you