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Speaker 1: Mix Fio four point nine dot com DOTU for all

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Speaker 1: the latest news and information. Now three sixty with Katiew Wolf.

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Speaker 1: Everyone is listening Mix one oh four point nine one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent NT.

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Speaker 2: Matt Hepworth filling in for Katie Wolf this morning. A

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Speaker 2: new task force has been established to investigate livestock theft

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory. To talk more about it is

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Speaker 2: Will Evans, the nt Cattleman's Association CEO.

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Speaker 3: Get a Will, Matt, how are you going mate? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Well thanks Will. Hey. I know for a long time

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Speaker 2: the Cattleman's Association has been calling for a stock squad.

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Speaker 2: I know this hasn't been quite dubbed a stock squad,

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Speaker 2: but rather a task force. Can you tell us a

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Speaker 2: little bit more about it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Mine. Look, it's been a big win for the NTCO.

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Speaker 3: This is something that we've been advocating for for a

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Speaker 3: long time. So what we've got is we've got eight

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Speaker 3: police officers from the Northern TERRISIY Police and we've got

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Speaker 3: some stockspoid guys from Department of Primary Industries and Resources.

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Speaker 3: They'd combined and they're working with the NTCA to identify

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Speaker 3: instances of stock there. But it's also a bit ordin

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Speaker 3: of data goes into people who are coaching stock for

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Speaker 3: maybe for food, or people who are shooting stock for

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Speaker 3: say hunting purposes.

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Speaker 2: Well, just how big an issue is this?

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Speaker 3: Well, look, I think anecdotally for a long time, it's

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Speaker 3: been reported as a big issue. I mean in the industry,

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Speaker 3: it seems to us like it's a pretty significant issue.

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Speaker 3: But what we haven't had is really good data around

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Speaker 3: these things. So this project is as much as about enforcement,

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Speaker 3: it's also about collecting those data points, getting police out

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Speaker 3: and talking to partialists and giving partialist faith that this

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Speaker 3: information is going to go somewhere and there's going to

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Speaker 3: be actions that comes to afterwards.

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Speaker 2: I mean, obviously there'd be an emotional cost associated this

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Speaker 2: as well, but I mean, is there enough data at

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Speaker 2: the moment to talk about the financial cost that comes

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Speaker 2: with stock theft and stock loss?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think if we use cataprices at the moment,

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Speaker 3: I mean a single animal can be worked upwards of

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Speaker 3: two thousand dollars, So even small instances of someone driving

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Speaker 3: down the highway and shooting an animal and a padic

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Speaker 3: can have a normal amounts of financial impact. But you know, again,

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Speaker 3: it is that thing of what you're talking about. Is

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Speaker 3: it's not just the financial impact, it's something that takes

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Speaker 3: an emotional toll on people and those that are located

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Speaker 3: I guess what we'd call hotspots or areas where these

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Speaker 3: sort of practices are fairly prevalent. I think are really

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Speaker 3: fed up with it and it's just something that has

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Speaker 3: to stop.

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Speaker 2: Well, where are some of those hot spots?

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Speaker 3: Look, I think you're really looking in around towns or

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Speaker 3: within sort of peri urban areas. You're looking in just

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Speaker 3: on the outskirts of Darwin, outskirts of Adelaide River, outskirts

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Speaker 3: of Catherine, and it continues down through the territory. It's

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Speaker 3: not just an isolated There are areas that I guess

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Speaker 3: cop it worse, but it's something that is a territory

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Speaker 3: wide problem.

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Speaker 2: And is there any indications who these offenders might be

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Speaker 2: and why they're doing this?

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Speaker 3: I think it's a mixed bag. I mean, you're probably

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Speaker 3: you're starting with guys who are probably what we could

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Speaker 3: call organized in some way, and they're looking to trap

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Speaker 3: as many cattle as possible, take them and sell them

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Speaker 3: for what is at the moment significant amount of money.

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Speaker 3: And then it goes right down to those sort of

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Speaker 3: opportunitist guys who might be just wanting to shoot an

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Speaker 3: animal for hunting purposes. Maybe take the horns or guys

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Speaker 3: who are just looking for some cheap made out of

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Speaker 3: a paddock.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit more about this task force,

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Speaker 2: a task Force Starlight. I believe it is as you

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Speaker 2: mentioned before, There'll be different groups and organizations are part

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Speaker 2: of this. Is it giving police more powers to be

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Speaker 2: able to investigate and prosecute.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think it's the key thing is the debt.

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Speaker 3: They're a dedicated policemen who do this now, and that's

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Speaker 3: really the key issue. Sometimes when we report these issues

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Speaker 3: to the police, they've obviously got other priorities and they

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Speaker 3: have a really broad spectrum of jobs they need to

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Speaker 3: handle on a daily basis. So these guys are dedicated

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Speaker 3: specifically to addressing these issues. There was an issue yesterday,

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Speaker 3: for instance, the task force was notified and they were

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Speaker 3: able to get out and start talking to the partial list.

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Speaker 3: By the time and when they got out there, the

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Speaker 3: carc is still warm, So this gives them a really

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Speaker 3: quick response. They're able to get out there, take photos

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Speaker 3: and get on the frunt foot straight away.

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Speaker 2: That it's good to hear under the circumstances as well.

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Speaker 2: Is there a timeline on how long this will run for?

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Speaker 2: Is it a trial or is it hoped that it

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Speaker 2: could ultimately lead to a full time stock squad.

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Speaker 3: Well, I mean I'm nowhere very much hoping for that,

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Speaker 3: but at the moment, the task force is going to

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Speaker 3: go on for twelve months. And look, I think once

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Speaker 3: we start really capturing these data points, once producers start

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Speaker 3: coming forward and feeling comfortable with the Taskforce and saying hey, look,

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Speaker 3: actually I've had issues with this in the past, and

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Speaker 3: this is really where I'm at the moment, and we

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Speaker 3: start building up the data set, I think that's really

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Speaker 3: key here is if we can collect data and use

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Speaker 3: that to make policy decisions, I think we're in a

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Speaker 3: good spot to be able to continue this moving forward.

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Speaker 2: And Well, what's the reaction been like from your members

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Speaker 2: following this announcement.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think there's always a degree of skepticism around

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Speaker 3: these things, but the membership is very happy that the

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Speaker 3: government's come to the table and agreed to support this

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Speaker 3: is fantastic. It's a really good outcome for us, and

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Speaker 3: now it's about proving it. It's really about saying it's

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Speaker 3: not just a task force, just a piece of paper

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Speaker 3: and some guys and photos. This is real and you're

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Speaker 3: going to see these guys and then to come knock

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Speaker 3: and you're door and have a chat here.

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Speaker 2: Well, just on a slightly different topic. I know COVID's

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Speaker 2: been tough for nearly all industries across the board in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory over the past twelve months, many describing

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Speaker 2: the roll out of the vaccine as a light at

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Speaker 2: the end of the tunnel. I've been following bits and

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Speaker 2: pieces of the live trade stock up here in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory, and I tell you what, the industry sounds like.

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Speaker 2: It's doing really well over the last few months.

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Speaker 3: I look in terms of the explorers, I think they're

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Speaker 3: having a pretty difficult time. Cattle prices are very hot.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry, cattle prices I should see.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, for producers it's a good news story. I mean,

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Speaker 3: if you've got cattle and a paddock at the moment,

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Speaker 3: they're worth a lot more money than they were this

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Speaker 3: time last year. But look, it's still a challenge. We've

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Speaker 3: had a lot of guys who've be stocked, you know,

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Speaker 3: over the last couple of years you to drought, they're

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Speaker 3: going to buy back into the market, so there's a

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Speaker 3: lot of expensive cattle out there, but overall we've had rain,

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Speaker 3: we've got grass, and there are still some cattle out

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Speaker 3: there and they're looking very good.

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Speaker 2: No, that is it's good to hear Will Evans, the

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Speaker 2: CEO of the Anti Cattleman's Association. Great to hear about

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Speaker 2: this new task force. Mate, Thank you for taking the

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Speaker 2: time to chat to us this morning.

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Speaker 3: No problem, thanks mate,