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Speaker 1: Joining us on the line is Master Builders CEO Dave Malone.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Dave.

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Speaker 3: Good o, Katie.

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Speaker 2: How are you very well?

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Speaker 1: I apologize that we've been running late and had to reschedule.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Oh I know, dramas. I'm happy to get on mate.

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Speaker 1: How are you guys going. I know that obviously this

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Speaker 1: lockdown has a big impact, as we said with tourism

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Speaker 1: a bit earlier, on a lot of different industries, but

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Speaker 1: it has an impact on our construction industry as well, doesn't.

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Speaker 3: It absolutely, Katie. You know, seventy five percent of all

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Speaker 3: the construction activity in the NT happens in the top end,

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Speaker 3: and so there's literally thousands of people without work and

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Speaker 3: hundreds and hundreds of businesses which are just sitting idol

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Speaker 3: right now. It's costing our industry a lot of money. Dave.

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Speaker 1: You sent out a bit of a survey yesterday to

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Speaker 1: your members, really asking them how big an impact this

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Speaker 1: is having.

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Speaker 2: What did they say?

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Speaker 3: Actually, what's really interesting that we went out only lunchtime yesterday,

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Speaker 3: so it's just twenty four hours since we first went out,

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Speaker 3: and you know, eighty percent of the firms have told

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Speaker 3: us that they've already made changes to their workforce, whether

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Speaker 3: that's they've stood people down, they've redeployed people, or they've

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Speaker 3: made their people take whatever available leave they've currently got.

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Speaker 3: So that's eighty percent reacting within the first twenty four

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Speaker 3: hours to the lockdown.

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Speaker 2: So eighty percent.

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Speaker 1: How many businesses or how many you know, how many

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Speaker 1: firms would that be, do you think.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's a bit of a guest to work out

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Speaker 3: how many firms are in our industry because many people

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Speaker 3: are just mum and dad doing small construction works. But

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Speaker 3: there's about thirteen hundred businesses in the territory. Seventy five

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Speaker 3: percent of those are in the top end, so you're

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Speaker 3: probably talking about one thousand firms who have taken some

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Speaker 3: steps to change their workforce within twenty four hours of

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Speaker 3: the lockdown. And it's completely understandable. You can't do construction

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Speaker 3: from home like you can for many other for space

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Speaker 3: tasks like you and I are doing. The truth of

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Speaker 3: the matter is they've got nothing else but to put

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Speaker 3: people off.

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Speaker 2: Well, and I.

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Speaker 1: Know we've already had had listeners call through wanting to

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Speaker 1: know what support are our builders and those in construction getting.

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Speaker 1: Is there anything available to them.

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Speaker 2: At the moment.

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Speaker 3: Well, my understanding is that the only thing that's available

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Speaker 3: right now is the one thousand dollars payment to businesses.

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Speaker 3: And you should never complain when government is stepping in

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Speaker 3: and trying to support people. But we asked that question

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Speaker 3: during our survey. We said do you think this is

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Speaker 3: adequate or not? And sixty four percent of people said no.

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Speaker 3: So it's not landing that well with industry. I know

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Speaker 3: government has been working behind the scenes to look at

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Speaker 3: a more sort of steps approach to support, but it

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Speaker 3: hasn't reached industry yet. And that's probably part of the

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Speaker 3: point with this lockdown is that we just don't seem

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Speaker 3: to be ahead of the curve on this stuff.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, dave On that we're their one thousand dollars, like

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Speaker 1: you know, is correct me if I'm wrong?

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Speaker 2: But is that?

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Speaker 1: Like so, if you are a business, right so you employee,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, four different blokes in your business, is

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Speaker 1: one thousand dollars all that you're eligible for this period

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Speaker 1: of time during the lockdown?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely? And I was talking to a guy yesterday. He

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Speaker 3: was telling me during the last lockdown he applied it

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Speaker 3: to one thousand dollars and he was very grateful for it,

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Speaker 3: but he had sixteen people that he put off, and

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Speaker 3: so we split that one thousand dollars amongst the sixteen people.

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Speaker 3: They got sixty five bucks each out of it. So

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Speaker 3: it doesn't really make a difference when people have mortgages,

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Speaker 3: when they've got you know, the family responsibilities or I

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Speaker 3: just you need to live. It's a difficult situation for people.

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Speaker 2: It is such a tough situation.

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Speaker 1: And we all get that, you know, we've got to

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Speaker 1: make sure that the community stays safe and that we

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Speaker 1: all stay healthy.

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Speaker 2: We don't want to see this thing spread.

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Speaker 1: But gee, I mean that actually puts it into real

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Speaker 1: perspective that you know, if you've got sixteen people working

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Speaker 1: for you, one thousand dollars is not even going to

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Speaker 1: touch the sides over three days.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know, we're eighteen months into this pandemic now,

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Speaker 3: and you know, our view very much is that you

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Speaker 3: can't push back against their health situation. We fully understand

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Speaker 3: how hard it is for government to manage these health

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Speaker 3: challenges and emergencies, but we should be ahead of the

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Speaker 3: curve now. We shouldn't be finding out about lockdowns by

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Speaker 3: having to watch a media conference, for example, because I

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Speaker 3: can tell you none of my guys sitting on site

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Speaker 3: or working on site are watching TV. They're busily building buildings. Yep.

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Speaker 3: They should be able to find out about it in

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Speaker 3: other ways. And we shouldn't have to keep watching media

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Speaker 3: conferences to find out what happens, and we shouldn't have

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Speaker 3: to wait for a media conference tomorrow to find out

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Speaker 3: what the reopening arrangements might be. So we've just got

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Speaker 3: to get ahead of the curve we do.

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Speaker 1: And I think your spot on there, you know, there

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Speaker 1: needs to be some really sort of formal messaging for

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Speaker 1: businesses and four different industry so that they know exactly

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Speaker 1: what is going on firstly, but then also so that

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Speaker 1: they know what support is available to them. Now you've

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Speaker 1: touched on there, you know what the plan is going

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Speaker 1: to be in terms of opening up for tomorrow, Like

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Speaker 1: how soon would your industry need to be made aware

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Speaker 1: whether we are or are not opening up at midday tomorrow.

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Speaker 3: Well, if you're an employer right now and you're uncertain

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Speaker 3: about whether tomorrow opens or not that the companies can

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Speaker 3: open tomorrow, you're pretty much stuck with only one solution,

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Speaker 3: and that is to hold off until Friday. You can

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Speaker 3: bring in a few office stuff, but you're not going

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Speaker 3: to go on site until you can be absolutely certain

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Speaker 3: that you can start work.

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Speaker 1: Yeah wow, Now what about people that work for themselves

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Speaker 1: like you know, I know that we do. I'm assuming

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Speaker 1: that we do have some soul sort of you know,

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Speaker 1: tradees that work for themselves and subby themselves out.

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Speaker 2: What's it like for them during this period.

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Speaker 3: Well, they go from hero to zero in one press conference,

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Speaker 3: so they go from being able to work to not.

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Speaker 3: And you know those people, they're not large, large construction businesses.

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Speaker 3: They're just basically working for a wage and a bit more.

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Speaker 3: So they go to zero. And that's why, you know,

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Speaker 3: when we talk about the consequences for this, we completely

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Speaker 3: understand the health challenges. But you know, I'm looking around

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Speaker 3: the country and our industry is open in other parts

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Speaker 3: of Australia and we've got to be We've got to

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Speaker 3: find a nuance way that takes risk out of what

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Speaker 3: people do, but at the same time allows people to

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Speaker 3: earn income.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is so tough.

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Speaker 1: And I tell you know, over the last couple of days,

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Speaker 1: me sitting in here interviewing different industries, speaking to different

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Speaker 1: people like yourself. You know, I realized that I'm so

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Speaker 1: bloody lucky to be able to go to work and

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Speaker 1: be able to continue to do my job and continue

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Speaker 1: to get paid. And honestly, I feel, I really feel

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Speaker 1: for all of the Territorians out there listening this morning

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Speaker 1: as they were yesterday, who are wondering exactly when this

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Speaker 1: is all going to end, who don't have a wage

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Speaker 1: coming in businesses who've been forced to close, and we

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Speaker 1: all get the reason why. But I think that, you know,

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Speaker 1: you make some really good points, Dave, in the sense

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Speaker 1: that we've got to sort of, you know, we've got

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Speaker 1: to be able to find a way, you know, I

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Speaker 1: guess to keep everybody safe, but maybe not end up

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Speaker 1: in a lockdown for three days for absolutely everybody based

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Speaker 1: on one positive case.

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Speaker 3: I agree with you, Katie. I just think that we've

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Speaker 3: got to get ahead of the curve. You know, if

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Speaker 3: you're a business person and you want to work out

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Speaker 3: whether you can even be open or not, there's no

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Speaker 3: tool that you can go online to and put the

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Speaker 3: information in and get an answer back on whether you

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Speaker 3: can or not. You've got to read a four or

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Speaker 3: five page document prepared by a parliamentary draftsmen to work

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Speaker 3: out whether you can work or not. It's just we

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Speaker 3: haven't got ahead of the curve. We haven't made it

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Speaker 3: easy for people to comply, and we haven't got to

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Speaker 3: the point, in my view, where we can continue to

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Speaker 3: do many functions because they're very, very low risk, and

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Speaker 3: we concentrate on the areas where risk is greatest.

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Speaker 2: Yep.

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Speaker 3: I accept their health. People will tell me I don't

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Speaker 3: know what I'm talking about, and they'll tell me that

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Speaker 3: help is the only issue at this time.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 3: I just don't think that's completely the case.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is so tough, Dave. I know that.

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Speaker 1: You know, like you said, we all get it in

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Speaker 1: terms of the health of the health ramifications here, and

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Speaker 1: we all want to make sure that everybody stays safe.

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Speaker 1: But as you said, you know, if there is a

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Speaker 1: way that we can do that and also make sure

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Speaker 1: that all the information is there and really readily available

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Speaker 1: to our different industries as well, so that everybody knows

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Speaker 1: exactly what they're dealing with.

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Speaker 3: If we're going to reopen tomorrow, O Kadie, which is

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Speaker 3: you know, I've got my fingers crossed for that, then

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Speaker 3: wouldn't it be fantastic to find out about that today

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Speaker 3: so that all those businesses can prepare and provide the

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Speaker 3: greatest opportunity for people to go back to work tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Dave, we still don't even know what time

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Speaker 1: that press conference is happening, so I don't know how

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Speaker 1: likely that is to happen.

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Speaker 2: Well, don't even get me started on that. Dave Malone,

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Speaker 2: good to chat with you.

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Speaker 1: As always, I really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: That is Dave Malone there from Master Builders here in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.