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Speaker 1: Now we know that the Federal Assistant Minister for Defense,

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Speaker 1: Matt Thistlethwaite, is in Darwin today and he's going to

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Speaker 1: be visiting the Robertson Barracks where is set to make

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Speaker 1: a major renewable energy announcement. But he joins us in

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Speaker 1: the studio. First, good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, thanks for having me on your show here.

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Speaker 1: Great to have you on the show. Thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for your time this morning. Now, what is the announcement?

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Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit more about It's set to

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Speaker 1: be a new energy project, as I understand.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. I'll bit Robertson Barracks today with Luke

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Speaker 2: Gosling and we're announcing the Defense Renewable Energy and Energy

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Speaker 2: Security Program. It's a sixty four million dollar program in

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Speaker 2: which we'll invest in defense bases throughout the country in

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Speaker 2: renewable energy projects. And the one that we're launching today

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Speaker 2: at Robertson Barracks is an eleven megawatt solar farm with

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Speaker 2: a two and a half megawatt battery that'll save about

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Speaker 2: eight thousand tons of emissions per year. But importantly, in

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Speaker 2: the process, we've created jobs in the local community. There's

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Speaker 2: been about eighteen local Northern Territory businesses involved in the

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Speaker 2: construction project. Eleven of those were small to medium sized enterprises,

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Speaker 2: six of them were First Nations businesses. So we're reducing emissions,

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Speaker 2: we're saving money for the defense force as well, and

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Speaker 2: we're taking pressure off the local energy grid as well.

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Speaker 2: So it's a win for the lordn Territory and it's

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Speaker 2: a win for defense.

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Speaker 1: Any idea how much it's going to say, financially sort

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Speaker 1: of year on year, You know, it is a big investment,

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Speaker 1: I guess from the outset, but I would imagine that

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Speaker 1: it is going to save money each year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it will reduce the cost of the energy needs

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Speaker 2: at the base by forty percent, so it's a pretty

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Speaker 2: big saving and that means that more money in the

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Speaker 2: future can be invested in capability. And when you're saving

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Speaker 2: money on energy, you can invest more in capability to

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Speaker 2: defend the Australian people. And that's the philosophy behind this project,

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Speaker 2: as of course, meeting with the government's commitments to reduce

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Speaker 2: emissions and to boost renewable energy throughout Australia.

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Speaker 1: I know that a lot of Territorians have sort of

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Speaker 1: you know, they've got confidence in solar and renewables, but

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Speaker 1: they have got a few projects here in the territory

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Speaker 1: which haven't been connected and have hit other roadblocks. Is

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Speaker 1: there a guarantee that this one is going to get

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Speaker 1: off the ground and then everything's going to run smoothly?

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Speaker 2: So far the project is running smoothly. It'll be operational

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Speaker 2: in quarter four of this year. And it's not just

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Speaker 2: Robertson Barracks. Tyndall, Larrakia, raf based, Darwin and harts Ridge

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Speaker 2: will also benefit from these projects. The NT gets the

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Speaker 2: most of these projects. You're getting half of the ten

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Speaker 2: that have been allocated throughout the country because you've got

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Speaker 2: an abundance of sunlight and they certainly make sense in

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Speaker 2: the north here. So it's something that I'm ploased to

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Speaker 2: be here to announce today and is a great partnership

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Speaker 2: between the Northern Territory and the Albanize labor.

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Speaker 1: Government and how do you reckon it will benefit the

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Speaker 1: community more broadly, but also so I guess the defense

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Speaker 1: community more broadly.

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Speaker 2: Well, firstly, you're reducing emissions and that's important for all

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Speaker 2: of us, and reducing the impacts of climate change. We're

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Speaker 2: going to take pressure off the local energy grid by

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Speaker 2: producing more renewables and importantly in the process where creating jobs.

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Speaker 2: There's the construction jobs that I've just mentioned, but also

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Speaker 2: there'll be twelve ongoing jobs specifically at Robertson and others

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Speaker 2: the other bases that will benefit the local community. To

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Speaker 2: win win.

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Speaker 1: The big question that we always get asked on this

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Speaker 1: show when there is a major project is are those

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Speaker 1: tenders will have those tenders gone out to local businesses.

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Speaker 2: There's been in this case, eighteen local businesses that have

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Speaker 2: been involved in the construction, So that's local jobs. As

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Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier, six of those were indigenous businesses and

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Speaker 2: eleven of them were SME. So we're very much focused

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Speaker 2: in defense on providing opportunities for local businesses and to

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Speaker 2: employ locals.

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Speaker 1: Now, what's the timeline for the project.

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Speaker 2: Well, as I said, constructions almost completed and it will

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Speaker 2: become operational at the end of this year in quarter four.

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Speaker 1: Now I know that there has been a defense review conducted.

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Speaker 1: It's now been provided to the federal government, and underpinning

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Speaker 1: that document is the premise that China represents well a

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Speaker 1: military threat to Australia. I think that it's something that

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Speaker 1: a lot of Aussies are talking about right now, and

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Speaker 1: it does seem to be something that's sort of at

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Speaker 1: the four of people's minds. I'm not sure whether it

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Speaker 1: is more so than it's been before. But for us

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory, particularly after an event like

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Speaker 1: the commemorations of the bombing of Darwin, I suppose we

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Speaker 1: know greater than anybody just you know, just how vulnerable

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Speaker 1: we can be in different ways, but just how strategically

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Speaker 1: important we are here in the Northern Territory. What part

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Speaker 1: does the Northern Territory play in that review that's been conducted.

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Speaker 2: Well, we face the toughest set of strategic circumstances that

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Speaker 2: we've faced since World War II, and the territory is

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Speaker 2: going to be a crucial part of the ongoing defense

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Speaker 2: of Australia. The Defense Strategic Review has been handed to

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Speaker 2: the government. I haven't seen it yet, only the Prime

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Speaker 2: Minister and the Defense Minister have a copy and over

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Speaker 2: the coming months that will be released and the government

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Speaker 2: will respond. But I was at Larrakia Barracks yesterday talking

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Speaker 2: to the wonderful ADF personnel that are based there. I'm

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Speaker 2: in Robertson today I'm going to Rublef based Darwin today

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Speaker 2: as well. And what we've seen over the last decade,

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Speaker 2: in particular in the Northern Territory is an increase in

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Speaker 2: ADF presence, a growing of that presence and growing IF capability,

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Speaker 2: and I n visis that that will continue into the future.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So you do think that we will potentially

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Speaker 1: see a greater presence of ADF personnel here in the territory.

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Speaker 2: There's no doubt that Darwin and the Northern Territory and

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Speaker 2: the top end is strategically important to Australia. There's no

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Speaker 2: doubt about that. And that's where you've seen that growing

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Speaker 2: presence in the past and nine visits that will continue

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Speaker 2: into the future.

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Speaker 1: Because I know there has been some criticism at different

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Speaker 1: times as well, you know, with the likes of South

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Speaker 1: Australia maybe having a greater presence or having more happening

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Speaker 1: there in terms of defense than what we do here

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory, when as you've seen, we are

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Speaker 1: so strategically important.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, defense invests in different capabilities in different states. There's

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Speaker 2: seventy bases throughout the country. Defense is the largest landowner.

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Speaker 2: That's why these renewable energy projects make such sense. But

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Speaker 2: there's different specialties in different regions, and the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: certainly is strategically important to the Defense Force and will

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Speaker 2: continue to be into the future.

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Speaker 1: Now, Matt, before I let you go, obviously, crime has

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Speaker 1: been a big issue for us here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure that you've seen plenty of that coverage, particularly

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Speaker 1: out of the likes of Alice Springs. I know that

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Speaker 1: Barnaby Joyce has taken aim at the Prime Minister rating

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Speaker 1: Sydney's Marti Gras parade is more important, he said, than

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Speaker 1: the crime crisis in Alice Springs. The nationals MP said

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Speaker 1: that locals were annoyed with mister Albanezi for spending more

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Speaker 1: time at the tennis or at the Marti Gras than

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Speaker 1: in the embattled out back town. What do you make

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Speaker 1: of those comments?

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Speaker 2: Well, as soon as our Springs became an issue, the

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister traveled there, sat down with local leaders and

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Speaker 2: police force and tried to work on solutions. And that

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Speaker 2: solution has been developed in conjunction with the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: government and is being rolled out. Matt Keo, the Assistant

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Speaker 2: Defense Minister, and Veterans Minister was here on Sunday for

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Speaker 2: the Battle of Darwin commemoration. I was here yesterday at

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Speaker 2: one down at Adelaide River and I'm here for the

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Speaker 2: next three days. And that's why you have ministers to

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Speaker 2: represent the government in different portfolio areas. We cherish the

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Speaker 2: relationship that we have with the Northern Territory. We've got

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Speaker 2: some excellent representatives up here in Luke, Gosling, Melanderry McCarthy,

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Speaker 2: Marion Scrimsa. They do a great job in informing us

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Speaker 2: in camera and throughout the country about what's needed here

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Speaker 2: in the end too, I know when.

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Speaker 1: It comes to some of the issues around Australia with crime,

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Speaker 1: particularly youth crime in regional parts of well of Northern Australia,

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Speaker 1: you know, the likes of Queensland at the moment, also

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It's being raised as

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Speaker 1: a big issue. Is it something that's on the federal

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Speaker 1: government's agenda.

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Speaker 2: It certainly is an issue that's on our agenda and

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Speaker 2: we're aware of a lot of the time. These are

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Speaker 2: complex issues. They don't just involve crime, They involve issues

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Speaker 2: of social disadvantage. They involve housing issues, they involve employment issues,

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Speaker 2: training issues. They're complex issues to deal with and that's

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Speaker 2: why we've had a number of ministers that are working

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Speaker 2: on these issues with the Prime Minister. But what's important

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Speaker 2: is that we're working in concert with state and territory governments. Ultimately,

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Speaker 2: a responsibility for crimes acts and those laws rests with

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Speaker 2: the state and territories, but we want to make sure

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Speaker 2: that as a Commonwealth government, we're responsive to their needs

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Speaker 2: and providing the support that they need to get on

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Speaker 2: top of those issues.

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Speaker 1: Well, Federal Assistant Minister for Defense, Matt Thistlethwaite, we really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for coming

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Speaker 1: in and having a chat with us. Thanks Katie, thank you,