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Speaker 1: We've hardly even had the chance to talk about the

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Speaker 1: Nightcliff by election because there's been going so much going

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Speaker 1: on when it comes to the weather. But we know

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Speaker 1: that Labour's Ed Smelt has won the Nightcliff by election.

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Speaker 1: A check count conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission

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Speaker 1: on Monday slightly increased his lead to one hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty eight votes over the Green Suki Doris Walker. Now,

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Speaker 1: the by election was triggered, as we know when the

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Speaker 1: Greens Cat mcdamara resigned citing health concerns and the Greens well,

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Speaker 1: they had a strong lead on first preferences, but well

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Speaker 1: mister Smell correct ahead on those preferences and he joins

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Speaker 1: me in the studio. Now, good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Ed morning, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show and a big congratulations.

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Speaker 2: Thanks very much. It's been a huge four weeks. Yeah

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Speaker 2: and yeah, very excited to be here.

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Speaker 1: How are you feeling about it all, you know, following

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Speaker 1: on and as you're watching those votes come through on Saturday.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, it was a little bit of a wild

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Speaker 2: ride there on Saturday night. We've sort of got the

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Speaker 2: family ready and got the kids all dressed up, to

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Speaker 2: go down to the event after the close of the polls,

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Speaker 2: and as those first votes came in, they weren't looking

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Speaker 2: good for me and for Labor, and so we actually

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Speaker 2: had to put the kids back to bed because we

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Speaker 2: said we had to wait a bit longer, and we said, look,

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Speaker 2: daddy might have lost. And the kids were upset at

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Speaker 2: that point. But yeah, it was it was a pretty well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well then it is, right. You're watching it more

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Speaker 1: intently than anybody. What's it like then, you know, sort

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Speaker 1: of going on that roller coaster and you're seeing those

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Speaker 1: votes come in. It's not looking so great. Then you go, oh,

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Speaker 1: hang on a second, things are turning around.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. So we're sort of trying to get

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Speaker 2: the kids to bed, we're rewriting the speech. It's all

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Speaker 2: these things going on. But look, it's it's fantastic to

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Speaker 2: get that support from the community. I'm very grateful and

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Speaker 2: very humble. There's a lot of people I need to

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Speaker 2: think and I'll get around to everybody, but yeah, having

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Speaker 2: the support from the community and that all the volunteers

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Speaker 2: and supporters, it turned out so many people got involved

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Speaker 2: and it was a really great spirit on the campaign ed.

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Speaker 1: Why do you reckon. People decided to go back to

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Speaker 1: labor and not stick with the Greens in Nightcliff Look.

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Speaker 2: I think there was a range of things, particularly around

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Speaker 2: my approach that I really brought from council, around delivery

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Speaker 2: and really be focused on the local issues. I had

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Speaker 2: a lot of feedback on the council campaign last year

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Speaker 2: that people wanted that sort of focus and I felt

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Speaker 2: that that would resonate for the territory level. And I

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Speaker 2: think that was one of the key things. People wanted

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Speaker 2: to see, the tangible things that I would change or

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Speaker 2: that would be different. If I put my hand.

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Speaker 1: Up, what are going to be your main priorities now?

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Speaker 1: Because when you go on that four week sort of

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Speaker 1: you know, campaign around the place, you're listening to what

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Speaker 1: everybody's saying to you. What are the main things do

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Speaker 1: you think that you need to prioritize.

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Speaker 2: The first thing is definitely getting the office open. Getting

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Speaker 2: the lectured office open is absolutely number one thing. People

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Speaker 2: want to see that presence. People want to know that

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Speaker 2: I'm available. I had hundreds thousands of chats with people

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Speaker 2: across the electorate. I'm expecting a lot of people to

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Speaker 2: be in there early in the piece. People particularly Nycliffe,

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Speaker 2: have high expectations and yeah, I'm ready to be out

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Speaker 2: there and ready to act and be a strong voice

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Speaker 2: for our local community.

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Speaker 1: Now, glennin Darwin's just messaged through. He said, Hi, Katie,

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Speaker 1: can you please ask ed if he's happy that it's

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Speaker 1: going to cost the city rate payers more money for

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Speaker 1: a by election.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, and that was something I did consider that impact.

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Speaker 2: I think council's got a decision to make how they

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Speaker 2: wish to do it. The last time there was a

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Speaker 2: vacancy on council, there was an expression of interest process done.

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Speaker 2: There's postal voting as well. I think Victoria they don't

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Speaker 2: do any in person voting for local government.

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Speaker 1: So right, so there's a few things that they could

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Speaker 1: look at.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of things that they can look at,

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Speaker 2: and ultimately that's a decision for counsel in consultation with

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Speaker 2: the local government department.

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Speaker 1: What's the process now for you in terms of being

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Speaker 1: sworn in?

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Speaker 2: Yes, so there's a few steps to go go through.

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Speaker 2: Next week I'm meeting with the Department of Legislative Assembly

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Speaker 2: and that'll start the induction process for me. There's a

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Speaker 2: formal declaration of results on Monday, the twenty third of March.

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Speaker 2: I believe there's the return of the Ritz in April,

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Speaker 2: which is kind of the formal end of that whole

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Speaker 2: election process. So I anticipate that by the May sittings

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Speaker 2: I'll be there and fully.

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Speaker 1: In the role. Now there's no possibility here that the

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Speaker 1: votes could change before the twenty third of March or

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Speaker 1: use a fire enough in front you reckon. It's all good.

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Speaker 2: I believe that, based all the advice and feedback I've had,

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Speaker 2: should be the case.

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Speaker 1: I bet you go through like you know, I would

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Speaker 1: imagine that you go through like ticking off, making sure,

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Speaker 1: double checking everything, particularly you know the whole party probably does.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, there's a process there with scrutineers and rechecks

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Speaker 2: and recounts, and yeah, I'm really grateful for all that

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Speaker 2: support as well.

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Speaker 1: Now, what kind of local member are you hoping to be?

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Speaker 1: Because you know, I guess you know your predecessor not

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Speaker 1: the Greens, Cat McNamara. I know that she was popular

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Speaker 1: with some in the electorate, but certainly Natasha Files, the

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Speaker 1: Labor predecessor, was a very popular local member, whether people

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Speaker 1: agree with her politically or not. As the Chief Minister,

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Speaker 1: she was a really active local member. What kind of

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Speaker 1: local member are you hoping to be?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, I'm aiming to be that active local member

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Speaker 2: who's available, who follows things up. That's a kind of

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Speaker 2: approach that I brought to my counselor role, and I

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Speaker 2: think people want to see me out in the community

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Speaker 2: as well. They want to know that I'm approachable, and

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Speaker 2: I think it's really important too. People have talked about

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Speaker 2: the primary votes and the preferences and all that that

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Speaker 2: I'm absolutely going to be here and available for the

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Speaker 2: whole electorate. I've been in touch with all the candidates

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Speaker 2: and they've all expressed to me that they want to

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Speaker 2: be able to come and see me about issues, and

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Speaker 2: I've said, oh, absolutely be available and anyone who's worked

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Speaker 2: with them or voted for them, I'll be there for

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Speaker 2: the whole community.

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Speaker 1: It's actually like it is a big win for the

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Speaker 1: Labor Party more generally in terms of a rebuild. You know,

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Speaker 1: at this point in time, there has been four local

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Speaker 1: members or four members of the Labor Party, nobody in

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Speaker 1: the Northern suburbs. So for a lot of political observers,

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Speaker 1: they see it as a really big opportunity for Labor

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Speaker 1: to try and rebuild. I mean, is that a lot

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Speaker 1: of weight on your shoulders.

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Speaker 2: Look, I think that's really important. We're not going to

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Speaker 2: have a strong opposition and a strong alternative government unless

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Speaker 2: we do have representation across the territory. Labour doesn't hold

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Speaker 2: a seat in Darne and Palmston until now, and absolutely

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Speaker 2: I'll be taking that up joining making an even stronger

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Speaker 2: Labor caucus team. T holl the government account. Every government

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Speaker 2: needs a strong opposition and I hope to be part

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Speaker 2: of that.

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Speaker 1: Well Ed smelt good to catch up with you this morning.

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Speaker 1: Congratulations and all the best over the next few weeks.

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Speaker 1: Says you learn how to Well, they send you in

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Speaker 1: there with the Legislative Assembly to like basically learn how

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Speaker 1: to be a politician in parliament, don't they.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely I need to learn the ropes and earned my stripes.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I've got a big couple of weeks still

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Speaker 2: heading me to set up.

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Speaker 1: All those standing orders. Mate.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely got to read the rule book, absolutely, and also

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Speaker 2: this weekend really exciting too, obviously with the footy Grand

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Speaker 2: Finals and Nightcliff Tigers, so very much looking forward to

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Speaker 2: that as well.

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Speaker 1: It's going to be a big weekend, no doubt. About

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Speaker 1: it ed smelt good to catch up with you. Thanks

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Speaker 1: so much for your time. Thank you, Katie, thank you