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Speaker 1: We know that Eva Laula yesterday handed down her first budget,

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Speaker 1: significant money invested on infrastructure and cost of living. The

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory budget sees a record two point one one

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Speaker 1: billion spend on infrastructure this fiscal year. It is up

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Speaker 1: from one point seventy nine billion last year. There's going

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Speaker 1: to be upgrades for schools, for hospitals and various other things.

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Speaker 1: Now the governments also say that they are set on

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Speaker 1: their deadline to create that forty billion dollar economy by

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Speaker 1: twenty thirty. Now joining me on the line this morning

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Speaker 1: is the Northern Territory Treasurer Eva Lawla. Good morning to

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Speaker 1: your treasurer.

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Speaker 2: Morning Katie.

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Speaker 3: Now, how would you describe your first ever budget?

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Speaker 2: I said it was a rock solid budget, I think,

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Speaker 2: and that's a good description. Is a really strong balance

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Speaker 2: between the social and economic which is always difficult in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. But there was some really good news

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Speaker 2: around infrastructure, the biggest infrastructure spend in Northern Territory history basically,

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Speaker 2: so two billion dollars of cash will go out. But

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Speaker 2: then on the other side, it's had some really good,

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Speaker 2: really solid announcements around social things, so you know, modular

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Speaker 2: accommodation for a big modular accommodation unit to go into RDH.

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Speaker 2: We know we have those code yellows, so that's a

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Speaker 2: really good news story. Nineteen million for a police station

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Speaker 2: at pep Manarti. Again we've seen, you know, an escalation

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Speaker 2: of crime in that sort of area with daily over there,

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Speaker 2: so that's a really good one to have a permanent

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Speaker 2: police presence. Catherine High School nine point seven million, really

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Speaker 2: nice one around the stem. So it's you know, the budget.

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Speaker 2: We worked hard to make sure it was the length

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Speaker 2: and the breadth of the territory that you know, everybody,

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Speaker 2: there was something in it for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Basically, Minister that record two point one one billion on infrastructure.

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Speaker 1: What kind of infrastructure are we going to see? I

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Speaker 1: know there's been a lot of talk about roads.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, most of it is roads. You know that that's

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Speaker 2: one that we have to do in the territory. And

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Speaker 2: you've heard me say many times Katie, seventy percent of

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Speaker 2: our roads is still do it, so it know it Again,

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Speaker 2: it's the length and the breath. So it's a Paru

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Speaker 2: road on the Tiwi Islands, there are times where people

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Speaker 2: just can't get across the Island because of you know,

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Speaker 2: logged of water logged, boggy, dirty areas. So we need

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Speaker 2: to have bitchman there. The Tannami. We're determined to get

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Speaker 2: that bitchumen from the Stuart Highway turn off all the

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Speaker 2: way to the WA border. The Santa Teresa Road. Same story,

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Speaker 2: people getting out to their community. The road at times

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Speaker 2: is impassable or dangerous. So that's being done. More roads

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Speaker 2: in the Beatloo area because of the industry going in there.

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Speaker 2: The Carpenterrea Highway Central anam road that's that will be bitchamized.

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Speaker 2: There's a progressive work to bitchamize. That will be amazing

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Speaker 2: to be able to drive all the way to Nulamboy

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Speaker 2: on Bitchamen one day, you know, and hopefully in the

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Speaker 2: not too distant future. So the road's money is the

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Speaker 2: big money. And you know Tiger Brennan Drive, there's another

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Speaker 2: one hundred and eight million to do probably hopefully to

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Speaker 2: finish that Tiger Brenn and Drive overpass. But yeah, nice

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Speaker 2: roads money. But there's also roads maintenance money. That's one

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Speaker 2: that I always don't forget because there's about two hundred

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Speaker 2: million for repairs and maintenance.

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Speaker 1: Well and given the weather that we experience here and

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Speaker 1: the issues that we have here. It is money that

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Speaker 1: does need to be invested.

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Speaker 2: Oh I know, and you know, I mean I get

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Speaker 2: reports all the time around potholes. Yeah, people let me know,

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Speaker 2: and you know they do need to be repaired. You know,

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Speaker 2: we do know that water gets underneath it, the cars

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Speaker 2: traveling over makes a pothole, and so there's some good

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Speaker 2: money in there for repairs and maintenance and upgrades as well.

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Speaker 1: Minister, we know as well that there is going to

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Speaker 1: be quite a significant spend on corrections.

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Speaker 3: Can you talk me through that?

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Speaker 2: So yes, again, it was about making sure the budget

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Speaker 2: hit the mark around some of the areas where we

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Speaker 2: have you know, stress points in it. And so with

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Speaker 2: the corrections, it was about first and foremost around additional accommodation,

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Speaker 2: additional prison cells and so there's modular accommodation that will

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Speaker 2: go in in Alice Springs. First of all, we've had

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Speaker 2: people looking at similar setups in New South Wales for example,

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Speaker 2: So that will be and I think there's a between

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Speaker 2: fifty or eighty just off the top of my head,

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Speaker 2: you know cells that will go in there. So to

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Speaker 2: provide extra accommodation there's also more money for correctional officers,

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Speaker 2: so we know we need more prison officers. You know,

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Speaker 2: we've had those EBA discussions with the union. They have

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Speaker 2: told us loudly and clearly they need more prison officers,

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Speaker 2: more correctional officers. So there's more money that goes into

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Speaker 2: there as well.

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Speaker 1: Does that go against, you know, the line from the

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Speaker 1: Attorney General? You know that jailing is failing if we

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Speaker 1: are going to be spending such a significant amount on corrections.

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Speaker 1: I think in fine the community is probably thinking this

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Speaker 1: isn't a bad announcement because we know that there are

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Speaker 1: unfortunately lots of issues with crime at the moment. But

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Speaker 1: does it go against that real jailing spailing line that

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Speaker 1: the Attorney General users?

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Speaker 2: That's right, so that that's the work you do is

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Speaker 2: the treasure you you know, because I'm the one that runs,

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Speaker 2: you know, the ruler over it basically, And so when

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Speaker 2: you have you know, your ministers and the agencies coming

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Speaker 2: to the you you you actually have these strong conversations

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Speaker 2: with them around this. You know, are you fair thinking

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Speaker 2: about this? Tell me about that you know all those

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Speaker 2: But the other side of the coin is yes, you know,

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Speaker 2: yes we do need to have those things because there

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Speaker 2: are those pressure points. But we have also invested twenty

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Speaker 2: million dollars more into domestic, family and sexual violence. So

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Speaker 2: again you've probably heard Michael Murphy the Acting Commission. You've

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Speaker 2: heard that our you know, eighty percent of the people

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Speaker 2: in our jails are there because of domestic and family violence,

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Speaker 2: you know, and I mean, I don't know it's total,

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Speaker 2: right figure, but it's the large percentage of people in

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Speaker 2: our jails because of devastation violence. So you put more

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Speaker 2: money into that and hopefully then it's you know that

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Speaker 2: upstream you can you know, cut off some of those

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Speaker 2: problems before they start. That's really important as well. The

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Speaker 2: Aboriginal Justice Agreement, there's about forty million over three years there.

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Speaker 2: So again that's around what do we do to prevent

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Speaker 2: people getting to that, you know, about to go over

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Speaker 2: the cliff, to get into into jail, into trouble. So Minister,

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Speaker 2: you do as a treasure balance.

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Speaker 3: Those or treasure.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot of spending, there's no doubt about that,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of ways, you know, it is spending

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Speaker 1: that we need. But how are we going to get

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Speaker 1: back into the black by twenty twenty six, twenty seven.

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Speaker 2: So two things on that one, Katie, first of all,

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Speaker 2: and own it is always complex, but we've got an

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Speaker 2: operating well we're predicting an operating surplus in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: So the operating surplus is the money that the public

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Speaker 2: service spend to keep the place going, so you know, wages,

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Speaker 2: leases on buildings, vehicles, all of that. So we'll have

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Speaker 2: an operating surplus we you know, all going well, and

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Speaker 2: I'll talk more about that by twenty twenty four. But

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Speaker 2: then there's a fiscal balance surplus. When you put the

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Speaker 2: fiscal word in that is in that in includes the infrastructure. Then,

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Speaker 2: so we've got a big spend of infrastructure. Yes, we

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Speaker 2: have a big spend of infrastructure because you need to

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Speaker 2: keep the economy ticking over. You can't shut shop like

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Speaker 2: I could not spend any money on infrastructure and our

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Speaker 2: budget position would improve greatly. But you can't do that.

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Speaker 2: We need the civil contractors, we need people in jobs.

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Speaker 2: So that fiscal balance surplus that's by twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 2: That will see because we've got this, as I said,

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Speaker 2: big spend because there's a lot of projects like ship Lift,

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Speaker 2: Tiger Brenn and drive State Square, the roads funding. Some

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Speaker 2: of that road's funding. All of it is eighty twenty

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Speaker 2: from the federal government pretty much, so you know, we

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Speaker 2: have to match the twenty percent that the Fed's put

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Speaker 2: eighty percent in. So we've got this big amount road

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Speaker 2: of infrastructure. As some of that gets completed, that's when

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Speaker 2: the fiscal balance deficit comes through. So that's an and

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Speaker 2: you know that's going to be in twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 2: and it's about I think sixty seven minute and in

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Speaker 2: the black will be once that happens.

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Speaker 3: Minister.

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Speaker 1: One of the questions that a lot of people are

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Speaker 1: asking this morning as well, we know that that obviously

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Speaker 1: there are concerns that there isn't enough investment when it

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Speaker 1: comes to community safety. I know that Leofanocchiaro, the opposition leader,

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Speaker 1: has claimed that you and the Chief Minister are tone

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Speaker 1: deaf when it comes to crime. With the release of

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Speaker 1: this budget, I've got to say that, you know, we

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Speaker 1: asked the Chief Minister a lot of questions about this

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Speaker 1: yesterday and a lot of listeners were incredibly frustrated that

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Speaker 1: it doesn't seem as though those real concerns around community

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Speaker 1: safety are getting through to the government. Is the government

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Speaker 1: tone deaf? On this issue of public safety.

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Speaker 2: No, no, absolutely not. And I will say you there are

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Speaker 2: fact sheep budget nt dot gov, dot dot gov, dot

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Speaker 2: AU so you can go and have a look. So

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Speaker 2: it's all spelled out very carefully there. So, yes, the

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Speaker 2: police have a record police budget. But besides that, there's

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Speaker 2: been as I said, twenty million that's gone into domestican

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Speaker 2: family violence, forty million into the Aboriginal Justice Agreement. There's

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Speaker 2: about twenty five million over three years that have gone

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Speaker 2: into the youth justice reform areas. There's money that's gone

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Speaker 2: into correction. So just because the dollars don't necessarily go

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Speaker 2: into straight into the police budget, and that is a

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Speaker 2: very blunt instrument, and that's you know, I mean, it's

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Speaker 2: politics one oh one that Lee is playing, but it

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Speaker 2: is a blunt instrument. We have put money into other

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Speaker 2: areas that will impact then the overall picture of how

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Speaker 2: we keep territory in safe. The other really good news

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Speaker 2: is the federal government, and we have to work closely

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Speaker 2: with the federal government. Doesn't matter what color they are

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Speaker 2: and what color their stripes, we work closely with them.

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Speaker 2: There was an announcement on the weekend of fourteen million

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Speaker 2: dollars going into Central Australia for policing and that's thirty

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Speaker 2: extra police. So combined with what we're doing and the

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Speaker 2: federal government is doing, there's a large amount of money,

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Speaker 2: probably over a billion dollar that's going into the safety

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Speaker 2: for territories. There's a fact sheet on the website. Have

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Speaker 2: a look at that so you can get all the details.

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Speaker 1: Minister, nineteen million dollars for a new police station in

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Speaker 1: pepper Manati. Some questioning why we're investing such a massive

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Speaker 1: amount of dollars on that for not a real large population.

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Speaker 2: Well, again you work with the agencies around that. I

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Speaker 2: think anybody that would have looked at very closely some

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Speaker 2: of the social issues that we've got. We have seen

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Speaker 2: in that West Ahnam sorry West Daily area, considerable issues

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Speaker 2: around crime. So you know, I'm not going to go

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Speaker 2: into the details. I'm not the police minister, but we

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Speaker 2: have seen vehicles being stolen from Darwin being driven out

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Speaker 2: into those areas. We've seen we know the ongoing issues

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Speaker 2: with what EI. There have been long term issues. There

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Speaker 2: was someone murdered in pep Manati. It is an area

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Speaker 2: same Daily River. It's an area where we have had

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Speaker 2: substantial crime. We need to have a ongoing permanent police

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Speaker 2: presence there. Nineteen million dollars for the pep Manati that

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Speaker 2: is also around voq. It's around accommodation also for police there,

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Speaker 2: and that's the difficulty in the territory. It's like, you know,

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Speaker 2: the same with schools. If you have a school in

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Speaker 2: a remote community, you then have to have housing. We

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Speaker 2: know how expensive it is to build housing. So in

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Speaker 2: Peppy that nineteen million dollars is for a new police station.

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Speaker 2: It's the detention facilities, but it is also a VOQ

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Speaker 2: and it is also housing.

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Speaker 1: So it sounds like it's a situation where it's sort

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Speaker 1: of trying to deal.

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Speaker 3: With the issue that's out there.

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Speaker 1: So that investment, I'm assuming it is hoped that it

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Speaker 1: will mean that some of those issues that we've seen

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Speaker 1: spill over into the likes of Darwin and other areas.

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Speaker 2: People out there feel safer that there are good people.

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Speaker 2: It's the same the world over, and it's the same

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Speaker 2: in all our communities. There are very good people who

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Speaker 2: live in these communities, but there are some people in

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Speaker 2: our communities who aren't good, and so we also need

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Speaker 2: to make sure that we're looking after the good people,

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Speaker 2: the people who send their kids to school every day.

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Speaker 2: When I look at the attendance figures in our communities,

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Speaker 2: they're not good, but they're inside those figures. There are

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Speaker 2: some really good kids who go to school every single day,

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Speaker 2: and their families always do the right thing. They have

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Speaker 2: them up, they have them fed, they're doing the right thing.

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Speaker 2: They also need to feel safe in those communities.

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Speaker 3: I don't think anyone's disputing that.

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Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's disputing that, but I think people

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Speaker 1: sort of get a bit offended when the accusation, you know,

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Speaker 1: when people ask these kind of questions that the government

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Speaker 1: sort of reverts back to, you know, to if the

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Speaker 1: community asks those questions, almost like making out that we're racist.

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Speaker 2: No, Katie, it is about making sure that, yes, we

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Speaker 2: do want to make sure all territories are safe. But

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Speaker 2: I just need to remind people that the people who

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Speaker 2: live in Peppinati, who don't have a police a presence there,

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Speaker 2: a permanent police presence there, they also need to be

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Speaker 2: able to feel safe. So nineteen million dollars is a

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Speaker 2: broad spend, as I said, includes accommodation, but it is

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Speaker 2: also about making sure that you can turn that community around.

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Speaker 2: If there's a full time police presence there, you can

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Speaker 2: have police in the schools. You can have the police

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Speaker 2: in the community. They're on the ground, they're hearing, you

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Speaker 2: know what's going on. They can address issues.

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Speaker 1: Treasurer, we are going to have to move along. There

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Speaker 1: has been a lot said about the Northern Territory government

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Speaker 1: reaching the forty billion dollar economy by twenty thirty. However,

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Speaker 1: the Budget four cast that this is to be about

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Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars shy of the target by twenty twenty seven.

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Speaker 1: How are you going to reach that forty billion dollars,

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Speaker 1: So it.

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Speaker 2: Was always absolutely a stretch target. But there is lots

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Speaker 2: of things that aren't in the budget. So we've heard

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Speaker 2: recently the spend. So from the Defense review there's about

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Speaker 2: three point eight billion dollars that will for the North

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Speaker 2: of Australia, so a large amount of money from defense,

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Speaker 2: and that's solid money that we know that the federal

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Speaker 2: government will spend. There's two point six billion dollars for

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Speaker 2: infrastructure from the federal government, so that's that's the middle arm.

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Speaker 2: That's also arrows that money isn't in the budget as well.

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Speaker 2: There's also arrofurer resources that's up and running about. They're

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Speaker 2: doing their civil works. There's also the ento oil and

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Speaker 2: gas industry. So there are lots of projects that you

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Speaker 2: know that we haven't included in the budget, and that

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Speaker 2: always happens. Until we get FID or until we get

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Speaker 2: that sign sealed and delivered with the federal government, it's

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Speaker 2: not included. So we're very optimistic about that. That's our

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Speaker 2: target and where I think we'll hit that target. There's

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Speaker 2: lots of good things happening in the territory, Minister. People

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Speaker 2: are feeling positive about the economy.

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Speaker 3: Let's talk about Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: I know that we were promised two hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: million dollars, but it's looking I'm having a look through

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Speaker 1: that breakdown. It's one hundred and fifty five million dollars

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Speaker 1: over five years, and then there's ninety four million dollars.

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Speaker 3: It's a contingent in a contingent fund.

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Speaker 1: Are you disappointed that that's not all being invested immediately?

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Speaker 2: A couple of things on that. So, first and foremost,

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Speaker 2: it was about making sure that you know the consultation,

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Speaker 2: and there's consultation that's happened with government agencies. There's also

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Speaker 2: consultation that's happening with the community. Some of that consultation

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Speaker 2: with the community is ongoing that will nail down that

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Speaker 2: next ninety million dollars. I've had a lot of input

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Speaker 2: obviously into the forty million dollars for education, and that's

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Speaker 2: a really good news story. That will go to the

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Speaker 2: schools and that will bring the schools up to their

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Speaker 2: full resource allocation. So a really positive news for education.

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Speaker 2: But there are ongoing discussions around how all of that

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Speaker 2: money should be spent and that once it's done, that

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Speaker 2: money will roll out.

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Speaker 1: But it is correct that there's ninety four million dollars

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Speaker 1: in a contingency.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's one hundred and fifty that's been really

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Speaker 2: clearly in marked forty million. As I said, I've had

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Speaker 2: strong discussions with Jason Claire. The other agencies as well

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Speaker 2: have mutual discussions. So forty million has been nailed down

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Speaker 2: around education some of the other dollars and you can

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Speaker 2: see that on the list where they will be spent.

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Speaker 2: But there's ninety million dollars where there's still some ongoing

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Speaker 2: discussions around where that's what that should be focused on.

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Speaker 2: You know, So there's things like boarding facilities, have been

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Speaker 2: talked about a lot. We do need to do some

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Speaker 2: more conversations around that to make sure it's money well spent.

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Speaker 2: So that's still consultation happening.

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Speaker 1: But so it is going to happen that ninety four

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Speaker 1: or ninety million order is going to be spent.

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Speaker 3: Is that what you're saying?

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Speaker 2: I reckon, Marion scrimdaw will be making sure of that.

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Speaker 2: I really want to argue with Marion scrimdaw me.

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Speaker 3: Minister before I let you go.

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Speaker 1: Another arm told up last night that follows a sixty

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Speaker 1: one year old man being stabbed in his home yesterday

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Speaker 1: during the day. Territorians are feeling really sad and I

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Speaker 1: think pretty deflated at the moment that they feel in

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Speaker 1: a lot of ways, particularly after hearing from the Chief

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Speaker 1: Minister yesterday that they're know for the plans to try

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Speaker 1: to fix their very serious concerns around public safety. What

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Speaker 1: would you say to Territorians to give them some hope

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Speaker 1: that the government does understand those concerns and that they're

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Speaker 1: going to see some change.

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Speaker 2: So, yeah, Katie is absolutely shocking. Nobody wants to see

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Speaker 2: any crime at all in the territory. As I said,

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Speaker 2: it is a terrible thing. And you know, every time

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Speaker 2: I hear a story around crime in the Northern Territory, yeah,

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Speaker 2: it breaks your heart to hear that. I was born

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Speaker 2: and bred territory. You know, we all remember the days

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Speaker 2: where we didn't hear about crime, so it is absolutely

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Speaker 2: shocking to hear that. But I can assure territories that,

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Speaker 2: like in our budget, there's a lot of money that's

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Speaker 2: going in to actually address these issues. But it is

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Speaker 2: everybody having to do their job in a firm focused

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Speaker 2: way and that includes ngngos as well as government agencies

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Speaker 2: and government ministers. So you know, more money into education,

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Speaker 2: well that means getting every single kid to school so

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Speaker 2: that you can make sure that a kid that's going

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Speaker 2: to school is doing the right thing, they're learning right

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Speaker 2: and wrong, all of those sorts of things. So you know,

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Speaker 2: but again, you put in legislation, you work with the police.

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Speaker 2: It's a constant work to keep ahead of the issues

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Speaker 2: around crime, and the Territory.

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Speaker 1: Minister just finally a couple of messages coming through people

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Speaker 1: saying Katie, it's great to build a police station out

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Speaker 1: in the remote community, but are we going to have

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Speaker 1: enough police to be able to man it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so that was one of the good things that

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Speaker 2: is in the budget as well. There's three million dollars

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Speaker 2: for the health and wellbeing of police and I think

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Speaker 2: that's a really important one. We hear the story that

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Speaker 2: there are police that are on sickly, that there are

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Speaker 2: police that are feeling undervalued, that their families are feeling

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Speaker 2: the stresses as well. So there's some good money there

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Speaker 2: for police to work on the health and wellbeing of

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Speaker 2: the police force. And I think I see that as

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Speaker 2: a preventative measure method as well as a measure to

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Speaker 2: get people back into the workforce. That's some good money

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Speaker 2: there into the police. But as I said, the federal

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Speaker 2: government also have put more police into Central Australia. We've

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Speaker 2: given police a really solid budget. Again, then that's up

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Speaker 2: to the Acting Commissioner to make sure that's used judiciously,

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Speaker 2: that it hits the mark around that well.

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Speaker 1: Treasurer for the Northern Territory, Eva Laula really appreciate your

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Speaker 1: time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for speaking with us.

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Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Katie, thank you