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Speaker 1: We know out of Alice Springs at the moment that

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Speaker 1: the town Council has withdrawn support for the Alice Springs

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Speaker 1: or sorry for the Central Australian Football League, their community

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Speaker 1: competition which the upcoming season is due to start in May,

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Speaker 1: I believe now Counselor Michael Little moved the motion at

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Speaker 1: a recent council meeting following debate about crime, which passed

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Speaker 1: with a slim majority. Now it has raised questions about

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Speaker 1: how the competition is going to proceed, so it runs

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Speaker 1: from May until August. But there are also, you know,

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Speaker 1: by the sounds of things, a number of reasons why

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Speaker 1: the council has made this decision. And joining me on

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Speaker 1: the line right now is the Alla Springs Town councilor

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Speaker 1: Mark Coffee, Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Mark, Good morning Toady.

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Speaker 1: Mark. Tell me this was obviously a vote that happened yesterday.

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Speaker 1: Why did the council decide to withdraw the support for

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Speaker 1: the Central Australian Football League community competition?

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Speaker 2: Okatie, We have been talking about the community competition in

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Speaker 2: Ala Springs but for a couple of years, ever since

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Speaker 2: I've been on council, and we were concerned that there's

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Speaker 2: sort of pushbull factor about a community coming in to

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Speaker 2: play football along with their families and then getting stuck

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Speaker 2: in town and they're not returning to community and the

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Speaker 2: impact that that had on our springs. I should point

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Speaker 2: out that this is not about stopping Aboriginal people playing football.

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Speaker 2: They can still play in the town comp which occurs

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Speaker 2: on a Saturday. This about the community com which should

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Speaker 2: be played out in community. We should have facilities out

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Speaker 2: in community so that you know, those communities don't have

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Speaker 2: to travel hundreds of kilometers with all the associated challenges

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Speaker 2: that that brings, but allowing them to play sport, especially

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Speaker 2: football in this case, out on the community. So with

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Speaker 2: everything that's happened in the last twelve months with them,

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Speaker 2: the crime and law and order issues and the impacts

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Speaker 2: on our springs that we've been tough for, we just

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Speaker 2: thought it was important that the town has the ability

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Speaker 2: to pause this competition for this year. It's only for

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Speaker 2: this year, yep, and that afl MT and others can

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Speaker 2: work out how they can get these games to be

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Speaker 2: played out in communities in the future.

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Speaker 1: And Mark does the competition usually bring quite a few

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Speaker 1: people in from the communities. You know, when you talk

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Speaker 1: about not just the teams but everybody that comes to watch.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's rightly so people do travel in families travel,

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Speaker 2: they come in to watch as well as do other things.

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Speaker 2: But as I've said, there is some evidence out there

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Speaker 2: that they tend to stay in town and of course

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Speaker 2: that impacts on where they're living. They go into town camps,

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Speaker 2: and that it impacts on already overcrowded houses and another

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Speaker 2: sort of short term accommodation is very limited in Oil Springs,

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Speaker 2: so that does impact significantly on the town. And we

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Speaker 2: much prefer the community is to be able to play

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Speaker 2: this sport and in community, and we've had that from

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Speaker 2: a number of community people are and cold, I think

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Speaker 2: just today and last council meeting was saying it should

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Speaker 2: definitely be played on community. And you know, we're a

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Speaker 2: bit dismayed to hear of AFL spending millions of dollars

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Speaker 2: to allow Tasmania to put an AFL side in. Well,

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Speaker 2: we'd ask them to come and spend some money in

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Speaker 2: our remote communities to allow people out there access to

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Speaker 2: some of the basics that you get everywhere else in Australia.

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Speaker 1: I know that that certainly AFL and t have issued

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Speaker 1: a statement and they have said that you know that

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Speaker 1: the that the decision by the council, they're deeply deeply

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Speaker 1: disappointed by the decision to withdraw support for the for

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Speaker 1: the competition, and that to date there's no evidence around

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Speaker 1: the supposed negative impact the community competition has on social

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Speaker 1: issues in Alice Springs. I mean, is there any evidence

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Speaker 1: to support that it does bring any antisocial behavior?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I don't accept the door. It was on

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Speaker 2: the afl MP board and the ALPA board for many years.

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Speaker 2: We've had numerous incidents at the football and around the football,

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Speaker 2: not just from players but also supporters and from people

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Speaker 2: that are traveling with them impacting our springs. I think

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Speaker 2: that's well documented. I just don't accept that, Katie. We

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Speaker 2: do accept that football is very important in terms of

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Speaker 2: supporting young people, male and female in a number of areas.

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Speaker 2: But we would say that this is not about stopping

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Speaker 2: people playing the sport. It's about enabling them to do

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Speaker 2: it in their home communities, closer to home, so that

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Speaker 2: these young people can continue to do what they do,

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Speaker 2: attend school, work in their communities, do whatever they're doing

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Speaker 2: that rather than having to travel hundreds of condons AFL

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Speaker 2: and T already run comps over in I think gove

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Speaker 2: Elko Island and some of those other places. We would

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Speaker 2: ask them to start running some of these comps down

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Speaker 2: here in Santa Treza, in you and the move in

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Speaker 2: Ta Tree, even at Lara perhaps you know there are

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Speaker 2: I get that some of the facilities aren't up scratched,

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Speaker 2: but I'm sure the ofl MT could do more in

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Speaker 2: terms of getting some of these competitions running in these remotes.

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Speaker 1: And mark is the situation here, I mean, realistically, Alla

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Speaker 1: Springs has gone through a pretty dreadful time in recent

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Speaker 1: months with the issues that you have experience with crime

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Speaker 1: and anti social behavior. I mean, is the situation here

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Speaker 1: that town just needs a bit of respite.

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Speaker 2: Oh definitely, Cadie, like, we're all stealing the pinch of

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Speaker 2: these issues that have been occurring, especially since the Strom

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Speaker 2: your Future's Legislation fee. I understand it's back in now,

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Speaker 2: but for that six months it was living hell down

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Speaker 2: here in our springs. You know, people were getting officers,

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Speaker 2: breaking into cars, smash experiencing anti social behavior all the time. Now,

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Speaker 2: the NT government, to the credit that have put some

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Speaker 2: things in place, including our whole restrictions and that's improved things.

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Speaker 2: So we're all we're all sort of playing our partner this.

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Speaker 2: So now we're saying the lay Felm, you need to

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Speaker 2: play your part and counsel have made a decision that

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Speaker 2: the community can't occur here in town. You go sort

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Speaker 2: it out and get it happening out Bush to support

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Speaker 2: the Town of our Springs for this year so that

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Speaker 2: we can sort of return the town to normality, so

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Speaker 2: we don't have to put up with these levels of

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Speaker 2: law and order and crime and social behavior that's just

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Speaker 2: not acceptable. The behavior wouldn't be accepted anywhere else, and

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Speaker 2: say why should we accept it down here? It is?

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Speaker 2: It is important now.

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Speaker 1: I know as will Mark that obviously there was majority

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Speaker 1: support for this. Does look as though, you know, the

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Speaker 1: majority of counselors did did accept this and did say

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Speaker 1: that this was the right decision to make. From what

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Speaker 1: I can see, there were a couple that didn't. I

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Speaker 1: know that Counselors Marleybanks and Gavin Mowrens voted against the motion.

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Speaker 1: They also raise concerns that the move could be racially discriminate.

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Speaker 1: Discriminatory Do you feel as though that could be the case?

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Speaker 2: So no, I think you know, as I said earlier,

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Speaker 2: this is not about stopping Aboriginal people or community people

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Speaker 2: from playing football. They can still come in and play

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Speaker 2: in the community comp. They can play for the Red

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Speaker 2: Tails and the Pink Tails, and when that occurs, arrangements

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Speaker 2: are usually made through the clubs for transport and things

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Speaker 2: like that. It's well managed. It's quite different with the

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Speaker 2: community comp and we're saying we all means say the

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Speaker 2: community comp, but play it in your home community because

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Speaker 2: it just impacts too much on our springs. So that's

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Speaker 2: the point. It's not about stopping people. We encourage people

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Speaker 2: to pay for it. It's really important in terms of

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Speaker 2: development and other opportunities. But we just need a break

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Speaker 2: for this year in our springs for the community company much.

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Speaker 1: How are things going in Alice Springs at the moment?

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Speaker 1: I mean, has it quietened down a little bitter? Are

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Speaker 1: you still seeing you know some social issues?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Look, there's still those social issues are still around.

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Speaker 2: My sense is that they're not as bad as they were,

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Speaker 2: that we do get a little bit of respite on

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Speaker 2: particular days, but of course it's not a filabullet. There

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Speaker 2: are still significant issues, you know, personally just last week

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Speaker 2: our office in the CBD got breaken into it, as

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Speaker 2: did a number of other officers around us. So that's

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Speaker 2: still pretty frustrating. But you know, council personally, as a counselor,

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Speaker 2: I'd be more than happy to continue working with all

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Speaker 2: the stakeholders try and get better outcomes for Ourice Springs

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Speaker 2: and to change that behavior. It's all about the behavior

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Speaker 2: that needs to change now and into the future.

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Speaker 1: Well Mark Coffee, Alice Springstown Counselor, I really appreciate you

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Speaker 1: having a chat with me today on the show. And look,

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Speaker 1: I know some people won't agree with the decision that

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Speaker 1: the Counselor's made, but I think for you to reach

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Speaker 1: this point where you have made this decision, it sounds

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Speaker 1: as though quite a bit of thought has gone into

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Speaker 1: it and that there are some concerns here for the

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Speaker 1: broader community. So I think it's you know, while it's

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Speaker 1: a tough decision to make, by the sounds of it,

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Speaker 1: it has been done really thinking of the goodwill of

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Speaker 1: everybody around Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: Oh definitely, Katie, this is not a quick decision. My

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Speaker 2: counsel little has raised this in the chamber for two years.

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Speaker 2: We haven't supported it previously, but I think after thinking

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Speaker 2: about it long and after weighing up the options and

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Speaker 2: the benefits and the pros and cons, that we decided

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Speaker 2: this is the best thing for Alice Springs right now.

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Speaker 2: You know. Hopefully we can support a community comp into

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Speaker 2: the future to be played out Bush look at the

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Speaker 2: town comp to improve that even more, but for now

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Speaker 2: I think this is what we need well.

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Speaker 1: Alice Springstown Counselor Mark Coffee, thanks so much for your

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Speaker 1: time this morning. Very much appreciated.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you