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Speaker 1: Let's get into it, because there is an awful lot

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Speaker 1: happening around the place. And earlier this week we did

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Speaker 1: speak about those comments made by the Quantus CEO, Alan Joyce,

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Speaker 1: who was speaking in Darwin last Friday, and according to

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory News, said that flights in and out

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Speaker 1: of the Red Center are still languishing well below pre

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Speaker 1: COVID levels, despite top end roots making a full recovery

8
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Speaker 1: blaming Alice Springs crime wave. Now he and the company's

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Speaker 1: boarded mesh in the territory last week and reportedly said

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Speaker 1: that high profile coverage of the crime that had obviously

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Speaker 1: impacted the town earlier this year had landed a direct

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Speaker 1: hit on visitor numbers. Now joining me on the line

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Speaker 1: is a Deputy Chief Minister and also Minister for Tourism,

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Speaker 1: Nicole Madison. Good morning to your minister. Let's try that

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Speaker 1: once more. Good morning to your minister.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Just a bit of a technical issue there, Operator eraror

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Speaker 1: from my part now, Minister to this report. Quantus flights

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Speaker 1: to the territory, well, they're currently at one hundred and

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Speaker 1: nine percent of pre COVID levels, while passenger flights into

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Speaker 1: Alas are still just around seventy percent of pre COVID figures. Minister,

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Speaker 1: when you were asked about the impact of crime and

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Speaker 1: it's what it's having on tourism during estimate, Jude indicated

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Speaker 1: that the cost of living pressures were the greater concern.

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Speaker 1: Do you concede that crime has seen tourism in the

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Speaker 1: Red Center take a serious hit?

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie. At the start of the year, we listen

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Speaker 2: to the tourism operators of the Northern Territory, particularly those

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Speaker 2: ones in Central Australia, and we did embark on a

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Speaker 2: package of measures to go out there and to really

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Speaker 2: market those positive, amazing tourism experiences in the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 2: in Alice Springs and Central Australia in particular. We put

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Speaker 2: in extra money in there and those campaigns are running

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Speaker 2: right now. But crime has obviously had people, yes, without

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Speaker 2: a doubt. For some people they will read reviews and

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Speaker 2: that will influence their decisions about where they go to

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Speaker 2: and for some of those people, reading about crime will

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Speaker 2: influence their decisions. But when you have a look at

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Speaker 2: the state of the Australian tourism industry right now and

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Speaker 2: the trends that we are seeing last year was a

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Speaker 2: record year and we were still seeing the effects of

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Speaker 2: COVID come through and very strong domestic visitation right across

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Speaker 2: the board, and we had record expenditure here in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory of over three billion dollars, which was great. However,

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Speaker 2: what we are seeing is that and this isn't unique

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Speaker 2: to the Northern Territory, We're seeing it right across the

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Speaker 2: country that cost of living factors are biting. And as

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Speaker 2: well as that, we are seeing that people are now

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Speaker 2: going outbound again. They have confidence to travel internationally and

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Speaker 2: those services are opening up to them, so we are

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Speaker 2: seeing a bit of an impact there too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, there is no doubt that cost of living pressures

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Speaker 1: are having a huge impact for people. But I just

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Speaker 1: don't understand why the Northern Territory government's not prepared to

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Speaker 1: go Yeah, do you know what the crime issues that

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Speaker 1: we had earlier in the year did have a massive

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Speaker 1: impact on people traveling to the Red Center.

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Speaker 2: Well, for me, that's why we responded very quickly. We

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Speaker 2: went in there, we announced the extra measures to go

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Speaker 2: out there to market Alice Springs and Central Australia. We

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Speaker 2: put in extra measures around trying to get more of

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Speaker 2: the school tourism groups into the Alice Springs in the

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Speaker 2: Red Center as well, because it's a very popular place

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Speaker 2: for them to go. And we did go in with

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Speaker 2: a support package there because there was significant national media

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Speaker 2: coverage and we wanted to make sure that we were

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Speaker 2: out there supporting our tourism operators. And like I said,

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Speaker 2: that campaign and that effort is out there in market

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Speaker 2: right now and we have huge efforts about telling those

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Speaker 2: amazing stories about our springs happening right now.

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Speaker 3: Is it a bit embarrassing?

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Speaker 1: I mean to have the CEO of Quantas come into

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory and after you guys have sort of

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Speaker 1: dug your heels in and said that everything else is

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Speaker 1: having an impact on tourism. But again, I mean, even

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Speaker 1: this morning, it sounds like you're not prepared to sort

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Speaker 1: of say, yeah, crime has had a big hit on tourism.

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Speaker 1: Is it a bit embarrassing? Then to have Alan Joyce

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Speaker 1: come in and say it is.

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Speaker 2: Oh, Katie, I have said that we've gone through at

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Speaker 2: the start of the year acknowledged that there was significant

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Speaker 2: coverage around crime in Alice Springs and that's why we've

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Speaker 2: gone out with the response package. To go out there

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Speaker 2: to support our hard working tourism operators and again to

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Speaker 2: make sure we're telling those amazing stories. But without a

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Speaker 2: doubt the start of the year we did see significant

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Speaker 2: national media coverage and I have no doubt that that

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Speaker 2: would have impacted some people's decisions about where they travel

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Speaker 2: to in Central Australia and reviews as well. So that's

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Speaker 2: why we've responded, and that's why we're trying to back

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Speaker 2: in the tourism industry there.

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Speaker 1: So obviously we are now seeing those crime levels reduced.

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Speaker 1: That's according to the police. You've touched on the fact

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Speaker 1: that there are going to be some additional measures to

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Speaker 1: really try to get things moving again. But are we

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Speaker 1: doing enough? I mean, from all accounts, when you listen

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Speaker 1: to the likes of Daniel Rochford, when you listen to

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Speaker 1: you to the council, here's a struggle for them at

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Speaker 1: the moment. Daniel Rochford was on the show earlier in

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Speaker 1: the week and he said, Katie, I'm standing in the

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Speaker 1: mall right now I can see two tourists yep.

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Speaker 2: So I caught up with Tourism Central Australia last week.

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Speaker 2: We catch up regularly and we have some very frank discussions.

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Speaker 2: It is a story of mixed fortunes at the moment

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Speaker 2: out there. There are some businesses that are doing very

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Speaker 2: strongly and doing very well and reporting to us that

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Speaker 2: they are fully booked and going very very well. There

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Speaker 2: are other businesses that are seeing softer numbers out there

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Speaker 2: and would like to be doing a bit better. But

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Speaker 2: that's why at the start of the year we did

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Speaker 2: announce those measures. They are in market they are going

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Speaker 2: out there right now. But I think it goes beyond

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Speaker 2: just the marketing. It's about accessibility as well Alice Springs,

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Speaker 2: and that's why we're doing more work around getting more

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Speaker 2: airlines into Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: Tom yeah, well, and I reckon not just Alice Springs

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Speaker 1: but the territory more generally. When you talk about the

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Speaker 1: accessibility of flights, it's a bit of a.

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Speaker 3: Disaster at the moment. Trying to get a flight anywhere.

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Speaker 2: You have to plan ahead, as we know, because it

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Speaker 2: is tight and you know, I certainly flew over to

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Speaker 2: Brisbane the other day for some meetings with the mining

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Speaker 2: ministers and it wasn't a spare seat on the plane.

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Speaker 2: So it's school holidays. People are moving about and if

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Speaker 2: you're not organized, then you need to have to pay

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Speaker 2: a huge amount of money to get on a flight

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Speaker 2: or you're just going to miss out. We're working really

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Speaker 2: hard to attract more airlines to the Northern Territory. Yes,

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Speaker 2: to Darwin and to Alice Springs. We're having some very

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Speaker 2: positive conversations. We'll have more to say about that. But

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory government alone can't do this. The airport

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Speaker 2: plays a fundamental role here too in their charges and

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Speaker 2: what they do to help attract airlines too. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we also welcome local council support. Often the aviation packages

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Speaker 2: that you see and the work that it's done, it's

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Speaker 2: a joint effort by airports, governments and local government organizations.

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Speaker 2: But you know, I know that certainly Mey and Matt

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Speaker 2: Patterson works very hard in this space. I've had some

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Speaker 2: great conversations with him over time about the work that

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Speaker 2: we're all doing. But I want your listeners to be

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Speaker 2: assured that we are absolutely making every effort to get

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Speaker 2: more airlines in. It makes a huge impact on our

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Speaker 2: lives every day, on livability, but also to tourism and

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Speaker 2: also of course to business, and we want to make

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Speaker 2: sure that we have more services here to the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: It is highly competitive out there, but as from a

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Speaker 2: government's perspective, we are pushing as hard as we can Katie,

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Speaker 2: and we're going to continue pushing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we're going to try and well we're going to

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Speaker 1: catch up with Matt Patterson in just a couple of

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Speaker 1: moments before I get to that though. And you know

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Speaker 1: what's happening or what they're calling for in allis in

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Speaker 1: terms of that additional or potential additional funding when it

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Speaker 1: comes to tourism. Can I just touch on you mentioned

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Speaker 1: in terms of those negotiations with other airlines and bringing

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Speaker 1: them to the Northern Territory and the charges which the

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Speaker 1: airports obviously charge those airlines. Is the airport coming to

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Speaker 1: the party here? Are they prepared to move the goalpost

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Speaker 1: slightly so that we are able to get some other

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Speaker 1: airlines operating out of the territory.

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Speaker 2: We're working very closely with the airport. Basically, you can't

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Speaker 2: do a deal in isolation without the airport at the table.

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Speaker 2: They play an incredibly important role there and it comes

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Speaker 2: down to those landing fees and the charges that they have.

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Speaker 2: So we are working very closely with them. We're having

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Speaker 2: some really positive discussions, hoping to have some more positive

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Speaker 2: announcements coming forward. But please be assured that we are

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Speaker 2: working very hard. But the airport plays a very important

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Speaker 2: role here, so we do work very closely with them

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Speaker 2: and with their team there.

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Speaker 1: How do those fees compared to other locations.

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Speaker 2: So that's not for me to say, But what I

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Speaker 2: will say is it's about talking to the airlines about

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Speaker 2: what's going to work for them in terms of securing

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Speaker 2: their services. We want to see more competition here. We

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Speaker 2: want to see more availability of new routes into the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory's not those markets. I constantly as a Northern

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Speaker 2: Suburb member. I have conversations with my international community with

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Speaker 2: only one option to go into Singapore at the moment,

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Speaker 2: and that makes it so difficult for them to go

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Speaker 2: see family, to have family come in, you know. So

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Speaker 2: it's not just looking south, it's looking north too for

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Speaker 2: those options, and also to get more international tourists here

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Speaker 2: because you know, people are beseas too. They're going, right,

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Speaker 2: I'm ready to leave my country. I'm kind of sick

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Speaker 2: of doing everything domestically now. I want to go out

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Speaker 2: and see the world. Again, so we need more availability

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Speaker 2: to come directly into Darwin and into Alice Springs from

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Speaker 2: north from south east west. We are pushing really hard.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I one hundred percent agree. I don't think anybody

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Speaker 1: would disagree with that. The more with you know, the

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Speaker 1: more airline capacity we've got, obviously, the better that would be.

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Speaker 1: And really, you know, some fairer prices because it is

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Speaker 1: it's ridiculous right now.

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Speaker 2: And let's say so in this country, we do have

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Speaker 2: a very dominant airline and they are our nation's airline

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Speaker 2: and they do have a lot of market control there

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Speaker 2: and you know they cannect exercise that power and we're

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Speaker 2: doing everything we can to make sure we continue you know,

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Speaker 2: constructive conversations with them. It was great to have the

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Speaker 2: board here last week to be able to show them

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Speaker 2: the opportunities they were speaking so positively about the opportunities

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Speaker 2: in the Northern territory. We also got to meet with

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Speaker 2: a new chief executive and start building those relationships there.

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Speaker 2: So so you know, we'll continue working with quantas. But

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Speaker 2: you know, my goal as the Tourism Minister is to

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Speaker 2: see new entrants into the market, to drive more competition

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Speaker 2: and to see more availability and better prices for territorians.

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Speaker 2: But the other challenge we've got right now, Kati is

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Speaker 2: the airport is about to undergo runway works and this

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Speaker 2: is going to possibly have an impact over the next

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Speaker 2: few years. This is an airport that is owned by

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Speaker 2: Defense and works with the Airport Development Group. They are

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Speaker 2: finalizing the details of how those runway works will go.

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Speaker 2: That tour is also something airlines are very live to

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Speaker 2: you right now about what the consequences and the impacts

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Speaker 2: could be there. So we are strongly advocating from the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory Government's perspective to have minimal disruption to services.

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Speaker 2: It is important runways do need to be upgraded every

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Speaker 2: fifteen to twenty years. It is time for this runway

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Speaker 2: to be upgraded. This is for safety reasons. However, you know,

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Speaker 2: we must make sure the impact on commercial airlines is

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Speaker 2: minimal and we continue to advocate that to Defense, who

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Speaker 2: ultimately have control of the contractors here through the federal government,

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Speaker 2: and also the airport who are working with them.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, I agree, I think it's going to you know,

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Speaker 1: we don't want it to have massive impact on what

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Speaker 1: is already by the sounds of it, you know, it

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Speaker 1: can be difficult, and we do want more airlines flying

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Speaker 1: in to the territory. We want more options for territorians. Minister,

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Speaker 1: I do want to ask mister Joyce apparently took a

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Speaker 1: swipe at local tourism operators on his way through the territory,

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Speaker 1: saying we'd be strong advocates of them doing more than

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Speaker 1: they're doing today. We've tweaked capacity slightly, but we've kept

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Speaker 1: the capacity in place, so there's plenty of seats. We

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Speaker 1: just need to have a concerted effort to start filling

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Speaker 1: them again. The local tourist organizations really need to get

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Speaker 1: behind this and do some really hard yards to get

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Speaker 1: tourists back to Alice Springs. Do you think they're doing enough?

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Speaker 2: I just applaud Tourism Central Australia and our operators there

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Speaker 2: on the ground, to the amazing people out at Ularu

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Speaker 2: and Tenant Creek and all of our remote areas in

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Speaker 2: Central Australia. They work so hard to tell a good story,

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Speaker 2: and at the last Tourism Central Australia meeting, I know

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Speaker 2: that they passed emotion that really emphasized their commitment to

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Speaker 2: telling the positive stories about Central Australia and the amazing

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Speaker 2: opportunities and trips that people can have the stick up for.

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Speaker 3: Did you stick up for them? To Alan Joyce?

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Speaker 2: So I always stand up for the territory tourism industry.

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Speaker 2: And what I will say is that I think we've

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Speaker 2: got the most amazing organization there and operators in Central Australia,

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Speaker 2: and they do a wonderful job and I get the

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Speaker 2: great privilege to work with them and keep backing them

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Speaker 2: in every day.

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Speaker 1: Just with those airlines that you're in discussions with, which

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Speaker 1: other airlines are we talking here?

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Speaker 3: Bonds are Rex?

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to go into the discussions here, Katie,

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Speaker 2: but to say that there are some very exciting prospects here.

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Speaker 2: These are delicate negotiations and we're working really hard.

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Speaker 1: How far away do you reckon from knowing whether they

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Speaker 1: are going to enter the market in the territory.

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Speaker 2: As soon as I've got good news, I'll be the

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Speaker 2: first one screaming it.

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Speaker 3: Excellent, Kati, excellent. Now I do want to ask.

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Speaker 1: I know that it's being reported today that in Central

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Speaker 1: Australia that basically from what I can gather, some members

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Speaker 1: of the town council are wondering if there'd be any

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Speaker 1: opportunity to use a portion of the two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty million dollar lifeline from the federal government to encourage

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Speaker 1: tourism in the area. Minister, is that one thing that

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Speaker 1: could be a possibility here to try to give them

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Speaker 1: a bit more of a boost to Central Australia.

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Speaker 2: We'll continue to We didn't have government representation at that meeting,

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Speaker 2: but I understand it was a really constructive meeting and

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Speaker 2: I applaud Marion Scrimshaw as their local member for sitting

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Speaker 2: down with them Quantas and the Council to have a

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Speaker 2: look at what they can do to drive further tourism

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Speaker 2: and further services into the center. So you know, really,

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Speaker 2: you know clearly that is just a new idea that

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Speaker 2: has been put on the table there. It would have

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Speaker 2: to be worked through with the Commonwealth because it is

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Speaker 2: their funding. But any extra efforts that can be put

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Speaker 2: in place to drive further aviation services I welcome. And

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Speaker 2: what I will say, Katie is that there are so

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Speaker 2: many benefits to more airlines coming in. It is for

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Speaker 2: people's liveability, for people's affordability to be able to tackle

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Speaker 2: their own personal cost of living of living in our

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Speaker 2: springs and knowing that they can get around see family

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Speaker 2: or have family coming in. It is the business to

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Speaker 2: help drive down the cost of business and drive further

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Speaker 2: economic activity and of course tourism as well, so everybody

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Speaker 2: wins if we get more airlines and more services into

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Speaker 2: Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: Minister a couple of quick ones, because I know your

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Speaker 1: press for time, as are we our listener question though

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Speaker 1: somebody's been in contact and said, hi, Katie, we tried

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Speaker 1: to book Jetstar flights from Darwin to Bali for October,

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Speaker 1: but there are no flights scheduled between the seventh of

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Speaker 1: October and the tenth of November. They apparently rang Jetstar

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Speaker 1: and there was no explanation. Minister, are you aware of

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Speaker 1: you know, are we in a situation here where there's

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Speaker 1: no flights to Bali for a month.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to have to take that on notice, Katie,

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Speaker 2: and we will look into that and get some information

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Speaker 2: back to your show.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that'd be great if we could, because we had

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Speaker 1: a bit of a look on web jets ourselves and

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Speaker 1: couldn't see any available for that period of time.

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Speaker 3: But to be good to find out was that.

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Speaker 2: Seventh of October the tenth of November yes, that's.

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Speaker 1: What this listener is saying. So if we're able to

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Speaker 1: get some detail, that'd be wonderful. Hey, just a quick one.

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Speaker 1: We've been talking about this throughout the week and no

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Speaker 1: doubt we'll talk about the gain on the week that

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Speaker 1: was tomorrow. We know that the ABC had reported two

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory government MLAs charge taxpayers more than three grand

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Speaker 1: in private interstate travel this year thanks to the fuel

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Speaker 1: card entitlement. We have got a statement which we read

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Speaker 1: out in full yesterday from the Speaker of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territories Legislative Assembly about this situation.

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Speaker 3: But Minister, do you.

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Speaker 1: Think it's appropriate for fuel cards to be used interstate

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Speaker 1: by politicians when they're on private trips?

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Speaker 2: Well, it comes down to what the Remuneration Tribunal say

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Speaker 2: is allowable under their independent determinations about what members can

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Speaker 2: and can't do with their vehicles and with their fuel cards.

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Speaker 2: This is within the rules, Katie, and that is something

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Speaker 2: that the RTD makes allowance for.

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Speaker 3: Would you do it?

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Speaker 2: Well, I work under different circumstances there where I don't

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Speaker 2: have those vehicles and those fuel cards, but you know

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Speaker 2: we can live within the rules. The most important thing

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Speaker 2: is to be working within the rules, Katie, do you.

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Speaker 1: Reckon that rule needs to change because it's not passing

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Speaker 1: the pub test for a lot of our listeners.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's a determination for the RTD. Like I said,

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Speaker 2: they are independent and they independently assess what members of

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Speaker 2: Parliament are allowed to get in terms of allowances, salaries,

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Speaker 2: entitlements and those things. So that is something for them

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Speaker 2: to look at.

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Speaker 1: But not prepared to really give us your personal view

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Speaker 1: here as to whether you think it's all right.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, members need to be working within the

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Speaker 2: rules and this is what our hard working members are

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Speaker 2: doing here and so they are actually that is part

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Speaker 2: of their entitlements.

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Speaker 1: There, Minister, a few more messages coming through about that

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Speaker 1: Balley situation, so keen to find out a little bit

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Speaker 1: more if we can, well, no doubt be in contact soon.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, we will go have a look into it.

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Speaker 2: Ask the department if they can get any more information

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Speaker 2: about it too, and if we get any response by

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Speaker 2: the end of the show today, we'll get it through

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Speaker 2: other Katie like, we'll get it there as soon as

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Speaker 2: we can.

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Speaker 1: Wonderful, Thank you very much, minister. We appreciate your time today.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. Thank you, thank you.

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Speaker 3: Thanks mate.

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Speaker 1: That is Nicole Madison there, the Minister for Tourism, also

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Speaker 1: the Deputy Chief Minister, and yeah, a few questions coming

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Speaker 1: through actually about flights and things. It's obvious that it

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Speaker 1: is something that's of concern to a lot of you.

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Speaker 1: We'll take a really quick break. When we come back,

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Speaker 1: you're going to be hearing from the Mayor of Alice Springs,

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Speaker 1: Matt Patterson.