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Speaker 1: Now we know the Supreme Court trial into crocodile wrangler

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Speaker 1: Matt Wright yesterday heard that he was not flying the

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Speaker 1: helicopter that crashed in a remote part of Arnham Land,

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Speaker 1: killing his friend and co star Chris Willow Wilson, because

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Speaker 1: he was an anti vaxxer and was not allowed into

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Speaker 1: indigenous communities. Now, Sebastian Robinson, who was flying the helicopter

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Speaker 1: that crashed near the King River on February twenty eight,

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, has been giving evidence at rites Supreme

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Speaker 1: Court trial. Now Wright has pleaded not guilty to three

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Speaker 1: counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice over

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Speaker 1: his alleged actions after the fatal crash. Joining me on

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Speaker 1: the line for an update, Matt Cunningham, Sky News Bureau

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Speaker 1: Chief for the Northern Territory. Good morning, mattod Morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: It's been a busy few days. Talk us through what

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Speaker 1: happened yesterday.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a big day yesterday. So we continue

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Speaker 2: the evidence of Sbastan Robinson. Of course, he was the

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Speaker 2: pilot who was flying this helicopter that crashed in Arnam

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Speaker 2: Land in February twenty ti, twenty two, killing Chris Willow Wilson.

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Speaker 2: One of the things we heard yesterday Sebastian Robinson was

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Speaker 2: asked by the prosecution about why Matt Wright hadn't been

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Speaker 2: part of that crocodile egg collecting mission on that day,

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Speaker 2: and he told the court that it was because he

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Speaker 2: was an anti vaccine He said it was well known

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Speaker 2: that Matt wasn't vaccinated and that as a consequence, he

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Speaker 2: wasn't allowed to fly into remote indigenous communities. Of course,

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Speaker 2: if you go back to twenty twenty two, Katie, you'll

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Speaker 2: remember that those areas were being highly protected and people

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Speaker 2: who were not vaccinated were not allowed to go into them.

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Speaker 2: He was then asked questions about the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

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Speaker 2: Of course, he was flying Sebastian Robinson's flowing to the

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Speaker 2: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital a couple of days after

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Speaker 2: that crash, and he was asked about the COVID restrictions

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Speaker 2: at that hospital. So he told the court, to the

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Speaker 2: best of his recollection, you couldn't enter that hospital unless

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Speaker 2: you had been vaccinated, and he said that it was

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Speaker 2: his understanding that only two visitors at a time were

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Speaker 2: allowed to come in. Now we subsequently heard evidence throughout

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Speaker 2: the day that matt Wright had visited Sebastian Robinson in

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Speaker 2: that hospital on two occasions, on March eleven and March thirteen,

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, so roughly eleven and thirteen days after

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Speaker 2: the helicopter crash. Sebastian Robinson gave evidence that while he

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Speaker 2: was there, Matt Wright had tried to get Sebastian Robinson

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Speaker 2: to alter the flying hours of the helicopter involved in

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Speaker 2: the crash, to move hours off one helicopter, the helicopter

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Speaker 2: involved in the crash, and to put them on another

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Speaker 2: helicopter that Sebastian Robinson himself owned. The helicopter involved in

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Speaker 2: the crash was owned by Matt Wright's company, Hallybrook. He arrived,

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Speaker 2: according to the evidence we heard yesterday, on the eleventh

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Speaker 2: of March, with some documentation. He left that documentation there

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Speaker 2: and asked Sebastian Robinson to have a think about it,

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Speaker 2: and then returned two days later to see whether Sebastian

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Speaker 2: Robinson had agreed to do that, and at that time

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Speaker 2: Sebastian Robinson said he wouldn't do that, and Matt Wright said,

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Speaker 2: you know that was okay. He would know. According to

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Speaker 2: what we heard in the court yesterday he would find

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Speaker 2: another way around it. So we heard quite a bit

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Speaker 2: of evidence relating to that hospital visit. We also heard

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Speaker 2: a secret recording played to the court that was made

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Speaker 2: of that second visit by Matt Wright to Sebastian Robinson

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Speaker 2: at his hospital bed. That recording was made by Sebastian

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Speaker 2: Robinson's uncle who was there at the time. And then

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Speaker 2: later in the day we started the cross examination of

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Speaker 2: Sebastian Robinson, so questions being asked of him by Matt

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Speaker 2: Wright's lawyer, David Editdson.

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Speaker 1: Now, Matt, can you tell us was I mean, has

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Speaker 1: there been much detail given to the extent as well

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Speaker 1: of Sebastian Robinson's injuries.

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Speaker 2: Ah? Yes, I mean that happened earlier this week, and

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Speaker 2: he became quite emotional as he told the court about

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Speaker 2: the injuries he'd suffered in that crash. They included basically

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Speaker 2: the fracturing of I think about five of his vertebrae,

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Speaker 2: the complete severing of his spinal cord that's left him

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Speaker 2: a paraplegic. And you know, he suffered two broken ankles

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Speaker 2: as well, twelve broken ribs, two punched lungs, and as

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Speaker 2: well a permanent traumatic brain injury. So, you know, as

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Speaker 2: he explained to the court yesterday, he was in a

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Speaker 2: pretty bad way when he was in that hospital in

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Speaker 2: the weeks after the crash. He's basically said that he

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Speaker 2: was hallucinating.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: He says that his memory is not great and that yeah,

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Speaker 2: he really was in a bad way after that crash

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Speaker 2: and that his recovery continues to this day.

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Speaker 1: Matt in terms of you know, rights defense counsel beginning

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Speaker 1: that cross ex doamination, you know, what can you tell

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Speaker 1: us about that? And is that continuing this morning?

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Speaker 2: It will continue this morning. Yesterday, Sebastian Robinson, under cross examination,

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Speaker 2: actually admitted that he lied to investigators from the Australian

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Speaker 2: Transport Safety Bureau in an interview that he gave them

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Speaker 2: after the crash. So this was just over a week

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Speaker 2: after the crash and they came to the Royal Brisbane

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Speaker 2: Hospital to interview him. He told the court that he'd

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Speaker 2: actually deleted information from his phone before they had arrived,

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Speaker 2: and he admitted under oath that that was because he

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Speaker 2: was worried about them accessing that information. David Edwardson then

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Speaker 2: took Sebastian Robinson through a series of questions that he

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Speaker 2: had been asked by those ATSB investigators during that interview

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Speaker 2: relating to the helicopter involved in the crash. Now, Sebastian

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Speaker 2: Robinson was the pilot of that helicopter. It was owned

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Speaker 2: by Rights Company, but Sebastian Robinson was also what's known

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Speaker 2: as the ham Sea of Rights Company Hollibrook. That's the

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Speaker 2: head of aircraft Airworthiness and maintenance and maintenance control. So

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Speaker 2: he basically had a responsibility in that role for the

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Speaker 2: servicing and maintenance of that helicopter. Now, he was asked

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Speaker 2: by investigators from the ATSP why in the maintenance records

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Speaker 2: of that helicopter there had been no issues that had

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Speaker 2: been loved and he basically said that that was because

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Speaker 2: the helicopter had always flown well, it was a good helicopter.

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Speaker 2: He was asked whether he'd ever been pressured by Matt

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Speaker 2: Wright not to log those sort of things in the

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Speaker 2: maintenance records and said during that investigation or during that interview, no,

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Speaker 2: that wasn't the case. But in court under oath yesterday

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Speaker 2: he said that what he had told those investigators was

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Speaker 2: not actually the whole truth. He was asked by David

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Speaker 2: Edwards and why he had lied to those investigators, and

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Speaker 2: he said it was because he had panicked basically, and

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Speaker 2: he didn't know at the time.

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Speaker 1: Who to trust.

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Speaker 2: We also heard the beginnings of David Edwardson yesterday afternoon

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Speaker 2: asked Sebastian Robinson about his prior cocaine news. He has

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Speaker 2: previously told the court that he's admitted that he used

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Speaker 2: cocaine at times, but said only sort of twice a year.

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Speaker 2: He said he'd use cocaine about ten years over a

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Speaker 2: five year period. But I would expect the first thing

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Speaker 2: this morning, we're going to take me. Matt Wright's Barrissa

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Speaker 2: asked Sebastian Robinson some more questions about that. The defense

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Speaker 2: actually does have a copy of phone records of Sebastian

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Speaker 2: Robinson that were downloaded by police. So Matt Wright's lawyer

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Speaker 2: has indicated that he is going to take Sebastian Robinson

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Speaker 2: through some of those phone records today when we are

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Speaker 2: hearing regimes.

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Speaker 1: And Matt, are you expecting today that Sebastian Robinson will

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Speaker 1: be the only person giving evidence or are we expecting

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Speaker 1: other witnesses to, you know, to give evidence later today? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Well, look his evidence and she went for almost two days,

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Speaker 2: so it wouldn't surprise me if his cross examination takes

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Speaker 2: up all of today, Katie. That would be my expectation

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Speaker 2: at the moment that do we.

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Speaker 1: Have any ideas sort of who else he's on you know,

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Speaker 1: he's on the list to give evidence over the coming

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Speaker 1: weeks or do you sort of is it something that

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Speaker 1: you learn you know, in the twenty four hours.

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Speaker 2: Now we do have a witness. This one person who

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Speaker 2: will be called to give evidence later on his Nolan

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Speaker 2: Chullingworth is Sebastian Robinson's mother, so she was president in

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Speaker 2: the hospital room there when Matt Wright came to visit

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Speaker 2: Sebastian Robinson. She was also heavily involved in Sebastian's business

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Speaker 2: and she was his care after the crash, so she

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Speaker 2: was actually president at the court, has been told at

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Speaker 2: five of the six interviews that Sebastian Robinson gave after

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Speaker 2: this helicopter crash. So she's another key witness that we

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Speaker 2: will hear from either later this week or next week,

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Speaker 2: I presume.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Matt Cunningham from Sky News, we appreciate you

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Speaker 1: keeping us up to date with what's going on. I

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Speaker 1: know our listeners really do so thank you very much

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Speaker 1: for speaking with us today. We'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: No worries, thanks for thank you,