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Speaker 1: We know that just last week we were talking about

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Speaker 1: the terrible situation unfolding in What Air. There were homes destroyed,

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Speaker 1: people injured, and calls now for some greater support to

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Speaker 1: be deployed to the region. We know though, that the

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Speaker 1: COLP Senate candidate Center Price has also said that the

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Speaker 1: unrest has epitomized the need for police to carry guns

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Speaker 1: in community, while also calling for defense to be deployed.

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Speaker 1: And she joins me on the line right now. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you, Jacinta.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. How are you?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, really well, thank you, just Sinda. Why did you

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Speaker 1: see or why do you feel the situation in What Air?

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Speaker 1: Why has it prompted you to call for those guns

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Speaker 1: to continue to be used in communities.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's been put to me often whether I agree

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Speaker 2: that guns should be removed from communities, and I don't agree.

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Speaker 2: I don't agree that that should be the case. And

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Speaker 2: we've got a prime example here of what's going on

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Speaker 2: with What Air. Community safety and vulnerable people in those

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Speaker 2: communities and their safety, that is what should be first

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Speaker 2: and foremost. You know, I understand also the people on

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Speaker 2: communities themselves use guns for hunting, so that would mean

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Speaker 2: that those would be removed from them if that were

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Speaker 2: to be the call. But ultimately it is about community safety,

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Speaker 2: and I know that our police force are under an

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Speaker 2: immense pressure and they can't they can't. It appears as

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Speaker 2: though they can't even you know, don't even have the

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Speaker 2: resources to be able to deal with the circumstances that

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Speaker 2: they're currently faced with in some way like what air.

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Speaker 2: And to me that for the people that are vulnerable

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Speaker 2: in those situations, it would be absolutely frightening. Its absolutely

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Speaker 2: frightening for them.

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Speaker 1: I know that the situation and what it's like, it

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Speaker 1: seems last week some of that vision that came out

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Speaker 1: was pretty terrifying stuff. And you think of women out there,

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Speaker 1: you think of kids out there, and the fact that

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Speaker 1: you know, in some instances it sounds as though there

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Speaker 1: are not homes small than me that right now.

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Speaker 2: That's right. I mean, if you can imagine your house

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Speaker 2: being set on fire and the threat of violence coming

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Speaker 2: at you, I mean, we talk, this is Australia in

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, and this is what's going on in

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Speaker 2: our own backyards and it shouldn't be happening this way.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's been described in some cases as all

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Speaker 2: out war, and I would imagine that that would be

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Speaker 2: absolutely terrifying for people in those houses. And ultimately, I

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Speaker 2: think the wider public want to know what the gunn

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Speaker 2: of government are doing about this. Are they holding to

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Speaker 2: account those individuals who have caused this harm, who have

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Speaker 2: burnt these houses? Are calling them to account? Now? Are

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Speaker 2: they facing the consequences of their actions? That's what we'd

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Speaker 2: like to know.

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Speaker 1: And Jacintha, I understand that you've also said that you

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Speaker 1: know that potentially the defense force needs to be called

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Speaker 1: in in this situation out there.

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Speaker 2: Well, I guess I've asked do they need to be

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Speaker 2: called in? Is this a situation where they should be

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Speaker 2: called in? When it comes to peacekeeping? I mean, as

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Speaker 2: I said, it's been described as all out war. We

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Speaker 2: need a peacekeeping efforts to take place in our own

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Speaker 2: backyard and that's what our ADF has been tasked with

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Speaker 2: doing previously. Is this what needs to happen now? I

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Speaker 2: know that there's been ahead of an indigenous organization who

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Speaker 2: had a personal word to me who said he was

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Speaker 2: very concerned, particularly about the possibility of alcohol being released

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Speaker 2: into these communities. And he put it to me, well,

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Speaker 2: you know, I hate to say it, But is this

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Speaker 2: where the FEDS need to step in because the territory

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Speaker 2: government is failing?

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Speaker 1: And I guess that is another part of this discussion,

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Speaker 1: and we've spoken about it quite a bit on this show.

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Speaker 1: Alcohol in the communities and the fact that the change

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Speaker 1: to legislation which is set to come into play. I

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Speaker 1: know that Parliament resumes obviously next week. The change which

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Speaker 1: is set to come into play is going to have

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Speaker 1: a big impact.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: We spoke to the Health Minister about this last week.

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Speaker 1: I'll play just a little bit of the audio for

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Speaker 1: you because it was something that we've been asking lots

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Speaker 1: of questions about and there was quite a bit of confusion.

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Speaker 1: Take and listen to what she'd told us on the

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Speaker 1: show last week. From July. Once that legislation passes from July,

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Speaker 1: they will be able to have alcohol in that community

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Speaker 1: unless they're community leaders opt to not allow that takeaway alcohol.

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Speaker 3: Correct, Would it be.

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Speaker 1: A better option to go the opposite way? And those

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Speaker 1: that have been dry remain dry unless they actually apply

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Speaker 1: to have that license and it's led by the community.

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Speaker 3: So we can't legally do that. That would intertwine with

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Speaker 3: the Anti Discrimination Act in the terature and the Racial

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Speaker 3: Discrimination Act Commonwealth. So if we're providing that exact legislative framework,

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Speaker 3: all the community has to do is say we opt in.

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Speaker 3: There is the ability for them to opt in and

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Speaker 3: make these decisions in their own time. They just need

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Speaker 3: to simply opt in, Jacin.

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Speaker 1: Do you accept that explanation or is it a situation

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Speaker 1: here where the Northern Territory government could make some different changes,

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Speaker 1: but they are saying that it also falls on the

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Speaker 1: hands of the federal government with the Anti Discrimination Act.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think this is the anti government passing the

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Speaker 2: buck again. They have known for some time now that

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Speaker 2: the Stronger Futures legislation would be coming to an end,

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Speaker 2: and they've done buggerall in terms of community consultation to

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Speaker 2: talk to communities about how they would like to progress forward.

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Speaker 2: They're using trigger terms like, you know, we're removing the intervention,

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Speaker 2: but what does that mean. Does that mean that now

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Speaker 2: that there's going to be vulnerable children in those communities.

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Speaker 2: Let's not forget how long ago that there was a

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Speaker 2: two year old who was raped in a community. Are

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Speaker 2: they completely forgetting about these children, these vulnerable children and

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Speaker 2: these women in these communities? You know? And it concerns

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Speaker 2: me that someone like Sam mcmahonton calls it paternalistic when

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Speaker 2: she certainly hasn't had to deal with things like ideaing

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Speaker 2: the body of of your dead cousin after being killed

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Speaker 2: in an alcohol fuel crash, or dealing with the fallout

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Speaker 2: and taking care of children whose mother's been stabbed to

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Speaker 2: death because of alcohol abuse. And these are all things

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Speaker 2: that I've had to endure it with my own family.

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Speaker 2: And so this is a very concerning issue about saving lives.

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Speaker 2: And I know that there are a number of course

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Speaker 2: indigenous organizations, not just Indigenous organizations, everyday people in the

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Speaker 2: territory who are concerned about remote about marginalized people and

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Speaker 2: remote communities who are vulnerable and these circumstances, and quite frankly,

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Speaker 2: not enough has been done to deal with this, with

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Speaker 2: this situation right now.

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Speaker 1: So what do you reckon needs to happen now with

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Speaker 1: this alcohol legislation, because you know, I guess we've got

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government saying that they're putting in this

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Speaker 1: legislative framework so that a community can opt out, but

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Speaker 1: they don't have the power to do it the other way,

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Speaker 1: which i'd sort of as you heard in that audio.

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Speaker 1: I'd asked whether that is what should happen. You know

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Speaker 1: that they're dry unless they decide to opt in, and

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Speaker 1: she reckons thats the Northern Territory government doesn't have the

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Speaker 1: power to do that. That it would need to be

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Speaker 1: a federal decision.

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Speaker 2: Well, what I'd say is, then if they want to

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Speaker 2: opt in, how does that look? What does that look

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Speaker 2: from her? You know, does that mean just people just

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Speaker 2: bring in hordes of alcohol into the community. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm for communities making well informed decisions about education around alcohol,

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Speaker 2: the idea of social clubs in communities, that that should

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Speaker 2: be a well informed, slow process with all the right

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Speaker 2: mechanisms in place to ensure that it can be done

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Speaker 2: appropriately for four particular communities that see that that could

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Speaker 2: happen in their community. But simply just opening the floodgates

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Speaker 2: that that seriously is so extremely dangerous. And of course

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Speaker 2: the territory government are responsible for reporting back to the

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Speaker 2: federal government as to how communities feel, what the next

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Speaker 2: processes and the next steps would be. But to me,

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Speaker 2: it almost feels like they would prefer the high crime

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Speaker 2: rate that's going on that's fueled by alcohol in our

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Speaker 2: towns and cities to be taken back out bush again,

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Speaker 2: out aside, out of mind.

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Speaker 1: Before I let you go, Jacinta, I've got a question

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Speaker 1: here from Jeff, one of our listeners. He's wondering where

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Speaker 1: are the elders in this situation and are they stepping

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Speaker 1: in to discuss these issues that you're speaking about this morning.

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Speaker 1: Have you had the opportunity to go out to what

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Speaker 1: Air and have you spoken to them?

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Speaker 2: I personally haven't had the opportunity to go out to

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Speaker 2: the What Air as yet, and I would hope to

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Speaker 2: wait till the situation settles down a bit before I do.

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Speaker 2: But I know that I know that Melanderry has had

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Speaker 2: a conversation and I'd like to know what those conversations were,

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Speaker 2: what Labor is going to do to be able to

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Speaker 2: support these people, that it's not just empty promises. You know,

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Speaker 2: we have heard very little from the member for Daily Duran.

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Speaker 2: We hear very little from a lot of the Labor

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Speaker 2: members about the issues that are going on in their electorates,

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Speaker 2: and we'd like to know what is going on. The

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Speaker 2: wider community is concerned and we do want to know.

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Speaker 1: Well. We are due to catch up with with Arian

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Speaker 1: scrim draw in a couple of moments time as well,

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Speaker 1: so we'll hear her perspective, but just enterprice. I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for having a chat

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Speaker 1: with us.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Thank you