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Speaker 1: We know that obviously the mask mandate is being lifted

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Speaker 1: for us in Darwin on Monday, and the scaling back

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Speaker 1: of the checking cob well, it took place where it

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Speaker 1: started from yesterday. Joining us on the line is the

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Speaker 1: colp's member for Catherine, Joe Hersey. Good morning Joe, Good morning.

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Speaker 2: Katie, and good morning listeners. Joe.

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Speaker 1: How are things going in Catherine at the moment and

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Speaker 1: what's happening with you guys when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: mask mandate and around the COVID situation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. So, yes, things are going well here.

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Speaker 2: You know for the most part that yes, we're still

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Speaker 2: wearing the mask. However, it was interesting to hear in

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Speaker 2: the Big Rivers region, which obviously Catherine is and it

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Speaker 2: does take in a lot of regional communities that we

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Speaker 2: won't actually know whether the mask will be listing here

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Speaker 2: until potentially later in the week. The Chief Minister said.

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Speaker 1: So, still don't know exactly if you're going to be

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Speaker 1: able to take those masks so for or really if

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Speaker 1: you are even going to be able to take them off.

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Speaker 2: No, and the interesting thing is that the pubs and

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Speaker 2: clubs they look forward to removing the masks mandate. They

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Speaker 2: are over it, and their patrons just want to get them.

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Speaker 2: We've been able to go into the pubs and clubs.

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Speaker 2: I've done a bit of a ring around and spoken

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Speaker 2: to them this morning. Yep, and they're ready for the

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Speaker 2: masks mandate to be removed. But when I went on

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Speaker 2: on how to look at the data, and obviously you

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Speaker 2: know the data in the Big Rivers Region vaccination data,

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Speaker 2: Catherine's not even mentioned in that. It just comes under

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Speaker 2: Big Rivers. But there's only three communities in that Big

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Speaker 2: Rivers that are actually under eighty percent. Right. But then

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Speaker 2: so I don't know why Catherine doesn't get a mention

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Speaker 2: in the Big Rivers Region data on the NTG side.

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Speaker 2: And then if you have a look at the federal data,

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Speaker 2: Catherine does get them mentioned, and it says Catherine's actually

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Speaker 2: only at seventy six point eight percent. So that, as

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Speaker 2: usual the data, we go right back to the very start.

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Speaker 2: It's been confusing right from the start about vaccination data. Now,

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Speaker 2: whether we wear a mask or don't wear a mask,

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Speaker 2: we're still left hanging in the balance, and hopefully we'll

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Speaker 2: find out and the rest of us say they've all

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Speaker 2: opened up today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, this is the thing. You know, all of

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Speaker 1: Australia is opened, even Wa Fortress Wa is opening up today.

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Speaker 1: So it does like it's a really it's a difficult situation,

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Speaker 1: I would imagine for you guys, particularly for those businesses

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Speaker 1: and everybody just wondering exactly what it's going to mean

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Speaker 1: for the people of Catherine.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Correct. So you know, as I've said, there's there's

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Speaker 2: been a conflicting data right from the start. The fact

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Speaker 2: that you can you're more likely to potentially catch COVID

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Speaker 2: going to maybe a restaurant, a food court, a shopping center,

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Speaker 2: but they can all have the mask removed.

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Speaker 1: So, Joe, is the reason that the government's given at

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Speaker 1: this point in time for the Big Rivers region? Is

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Speaker 1: it due to the vaccination rates? Is that what they're saying?

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Speaker 2: Well, we have not been told anything. I'm following up

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Speaker 2: on some of those, you know, concerns today as to

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Speaker 2: why the Big Rivers region is left out. I haven't

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Speaker 2: heard anything back yet. So we are all in it

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Speaker 2: at a loss here as to why Big Rivers has

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Speaker 2: been chosen for that. You know, if it's vaccination data,

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Speaker 2: you know, yeah, than say data alone. We're all over eighty.

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Speaker 1: Because you've not had you know, like a huge volume

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Speaker 1: of COVID cases in recent days or anything like that

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Speaker 1: in the Big Rivers region?

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Speaker 2: Have you not any more? Not anymore than we've had

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Speaker 2: sort of you know, over the time yesterday, I think

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Speaker 2: it was sixty something cases. But you know that data

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Speaker 2: is very flimsy as well, because you know, when I

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Speaker 2: talked to community organizations here in town, they would say

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Speaker 2: there's more than that many cases. So you know, it

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Speaker 2: just depends on who you talk to as to where

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Speaker 2: the information is coming from.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so how are things going in Catherine at the moment?

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Speaker 1: I know, I was pretty dismayed. I reckon it was

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Speaker 1: this time last week or Thursday last week, and I'd

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Speaker 1: seen that vision on nine News Starwin story by Talia

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Speaker 1: sav about a home being broken into an absolutely destroyed

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Speaker 1: in Catherine.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, we have had a bit of a crime

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Speaker 2: spike in Catherine in the last three weeks, and so

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Speaker 2: there has been it's the same group and it is

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Speaker 2: only a small group of youth that are well known

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Speaker 2: to police. Not only have they broken into that particular house,

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Speaker 2: there's other houses around Catherine that have been broken into.

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Speaker 2: They seem to be going to empty houses, all the

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Speaker 2: ones that I'm aware of, our empty houses. We have

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Speaker 2: actually also had a fight in our shopping center last

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Speaker 2: week in front of the right school view, in front

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Speaker 2: of the checkouts and the cafe. And there are also

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Speaker 2: schools that have been broken into. One of the schools

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Speaker 2: has been broken into eleven times in the last five weeks.

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Speaker 2: There's been five happening in schools. There's been the solto

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Speaker 2: white things burnt in schools, flags being burnt in the schools.

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Speaker 2: It is just absolutely not good enough, and you know,

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Speaker 2: it needs to take I mean, there's a big conference

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Speaker 2: that are happening are in town today with parapy families

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Speaker 2: and a few other community groups to work out some

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Speaker 2: kind of solution. But early intervention is absolutely necessary in

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Speaker 2: these situations. By talking to police, they you know, these

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Speaker 2: children are not feeling safe in their houses and potentially hungry.

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Speaker 2: But some of the you know, the stuff at some

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Speaker 2: of the schools is just wanting damage for no reason.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that is terrible. That's really terrible to hear. And

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Speaker 1: it's you know, it makes me concerned because I think, well,

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Speaker 1: we're talking about the issues in the top end, like

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Speaker 1: in Darwin right now around this public drunkenness and anti

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Speaker 1: social behavior. You've just outlined to me the issues in Catherine,

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Speaker 1: and goodness knows, we know how many issues have had

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Speaker 1: in Central Australia over the last couple of years as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. And you know the thing is,

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Speaker 2: while these youth know that that the police can't do

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Speaker 2: anything to them, I mean potentially even the fourteen year

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Speaker 2: old that has the ankle brace of on nothing, nothing

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Speaker 2: can happen to them. They're doing it. There does need

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Speaker 2: to be consequences for these youths, but you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure what that is because I don't think putting

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Speaker 2: them in a detension center is an answer. There needs

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Speaker 2: to be an all of government working on this. We

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Speaker 2: cannot the government continually say we need in a generational change.

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Speaker 2: We can't wait a generation to make a difference. Something

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Speaker 2: needs to happen now. You know, I feel for the police.

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Speaker 2: They're doing the best they can. Some of the service

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Speaker 2: providers you know, are doing the best they can, but

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Speaker 2: they need more staff.

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Speaker 1: Yep, your spot on. You know, like we all understand

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Speaker 1: that there needs to be generational change, but what happens

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Speaker 1: in the meantime, and that's something we've spoken about on

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Speaker 1: this show on so many occasions. We can't afford to

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Speaker 1: have a domestic vie straight soaring, boring behavior on the streets,

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Speaker 1: people being broken into, kids left in unsafe environments. You know,

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Speaker 1: there's got to be some change in this space, and

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Speaker 1: I think that it is. It's time that everybody puts

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Speaker 1: their heads together and really tries to make an impact.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and Katie, if I can just bring up one thing, sure,

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Speaker 2: there's been a bit of chatter on social media about

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Speaker 2: our Cafernese area plans and the development out there. The

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Speaker 2: chatter on social media is that I took a petition

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Speaker 2: to the Parliament last year and the petition was for

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Speaker 2: There was fifty one people on that position, and it

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Speaker 2: was for not a total replication of what we have

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Speaker 2: in the main street. It was not against a development

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Speaker 2: in Katherine. A lot of people out there that think

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Speaker 2: it was. You know, if people choose to go down

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Speaker 2: that road, that's signed. But the truth in the matter

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Speaker 2: is we welcome a Katherine development out there with a

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Speaker 2: great I g A, some little shops around there, maybe

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Speaker 2: some office works and stuff like that for for potential

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Speaker 2: extra office space, because there's a little bit of that

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Speaker 2: needed in town as well, and obviously with the flooding

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Speaker 2: down south, that needs to be something that issued for

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Speaker 2: our community. You know, we've seen in the recent flood

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Speaker 2: that it was difficult to get supplies into town. But

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Speaker 2: if you had another good I g A there, you know,

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Speaker 2: we would have something out of the flood zone, you know,

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Speaker 2: not that we want to have another flood here, but

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Speaker 2: that happened again. Oh absolutely, So that position was not

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Speaker 2: actually about stopping that development. That is for we just

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Speaker 2: the people that signed that position, And I did not

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Speaker 2: sign that position. I merely was like the con that

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Speaker 2: took it through Parliament, which I can do for anybody,

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Speaker 2: and it's about a good IDA or something like that

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Speaker 2: there so that we have another supermarket to service the

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Speaker 2: community as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well that's something that we might have

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Speaker 1: to have a chat with you again, Joe, if there's

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Speaker 1: any any update in that space. Yeah, worried, really appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks very much for having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us and letting us know what's going on

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Speaker 1: in Catherine, No worry.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, Thank you