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Speaker 1: Now we know. The Northern Territory police were out yesterday

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Speaker 1: speaking about the terrible rates of domestic violence that we're

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Speaker 1: seeing after another domestic violence death on the weekend. As

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Speaker 1: we reported on the show yesterday, a man was killed

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Speaker 1: at the hands of his partner in Alowa. Police arrested

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Speaker 1: a thirty one year old woman following the alleged stabbing,

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Speaker 1: as well as an attack on another woman. Now that

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Speaker 1: alleged defender has now been charged. Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst

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Speaker 1: holding a press conference yesterday afternoon to say the level

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Speaker 1: of violence perpetrated on victims of domestic violence on the

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Speaker 1: weekend was unprecedented. The Opposition leader Selena Ubo joins me

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Speaker 1: on the line.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Selena, Good morning Katie, and good morning to

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Speaker 2: your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Selena, you and I have spoken about the rates of

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Speaker 1: domestic violence on this show on so many occasions, but

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Speaker 1: the violence continues to plague the Northern Territory and sadly,

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Speaker 1: many of the deaths that we are seeing are Aboriginal wins.

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Speaker 1: And on the weekend, a man allegedly killed at the

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Speaker 1: hands of his partner. Selena, do you think there is

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Speaker 1: anything which can be done urgently in this space to

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Speaker 1: try and make some in roads.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, O, Katie, it really does feel like every time

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Speaker 2: we have this conversation, something else horrific has happened in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory that's related to domestic violence, and it

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Speaker 2: just ricochets right across all of our communities in the

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Speaker 2: NT because of that close connectedness we have in the NT,

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Speaker 2: which we love, but it also means that we hurt

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Speaker 2: when other people are hurting in the NT. I think that,

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Speaker 2: you know, we'll continue as the Labor Opposition to put

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Speaker 2: pressure on Leifanokiara and her COLP government to really roll

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Speaker 2: out that one hundred and eighty million which was committed

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Speaker 2: to Territorians in the NT election six months ago. We

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Speaker 2: know that the domestic violence sector is unfortunately swamped. They

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Speaker 2: do an amazing job, but they just can't get ahead

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Speaker 2: because they aren't resourced properly. And I know that this

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Speaker 2: will make a huge deal getting those dollars out the door.

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Speaker 2: Some of the programs that our DV sector facilitate are amazing.

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Speaker 2: I've met with quite a few of our providers over

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Speaker 2: the last couple of weeks, in particular across different parts

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Speaker 2: of the NTKD and they are desperate for this money.

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Speaker 2: They're desperate for this funding so we can see those

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Speaker 2: horrific numbers of DV and hopefully one day the prevention

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Speaker 2: of some of these horrible deaths that we're seeing in

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Speaker 2: the NT, because we know that it hurts all of

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Speaker 2: us in the NT when we hear terrible news like this, and.

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Speaker 1: It just like you know, like I said, right from

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Speaker 1: the get go, it just seems to continue to happen.

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Speaker 1: And look, I know that it's politics to you know,

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Speaker 1: to point out, you know, where others could be doing better.

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Speaker 1: And I know that this is something that has been

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Speaker 1: spoken about for a number of years. But right now,

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Speaker 1: the really sad thing is that we seem to be

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Speaker 1: almost losing a Territori in every fortnight to domestic violence

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Speaker 1: and it doesn't even seem to rate a mention nationally.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that greater national attention would make any difference?

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Speaker 1: I mean, does this need to be an issue for

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Speaker 1: Territorians when it comes to the federal election. Does it

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Speaker 1: need to be an issue for all Australians ahead of

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Speaker 1: the federal election.

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Speaker 2: Katie, I think attention and focus and highlighting some of

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Speaker 2: these horrific incidents in the territory does help, but what

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Speaker 2: we need is action. We need to make sure that

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Speaker 2: we have needs based funding in the Northern Territory, which

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Speaker 2: we've never had for the domestic violence sector. We need

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Speaker 2: to continue to put pressure on the federal government around

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Speaker 2: that because it's a drop in the water for them

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Speaker 2: in terms of the ocean of funding in the federal

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Speaker 2: landscape when we're talking about the dollars, but it makes

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Speaker 2: such huge waves of difference when it lands in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory. So we need to continue to have that

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Speaker 2: attention in that sense. But we want to have action.

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Speaker 2: We don't want to have sympathy from people down south

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Speaker 2: and the rest of the country. We want to have support.

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Speaker 2: We want to make sure that we can uplift the territory,

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Speaker 2: particularly around getting out of this scurge of domestic violence

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Speaker 2: and the horrific rates that are seen here that nowhere

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Speaker 2: else in the country experiences.

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Speaker 1: Katie No, that's exactly right, Opposition leader. Let's move along.

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Speaker 1: The government yesterday announcing that they're going to be delivering

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Speaker 1: critical workforce support for NT correction staff through a partnership

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Speaker 1: between the Department of Corrections and G four S, who

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Speaker 1: they've described as a leader in custodial services. Now the

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Speaker 1: Corrections Commissioner, Matthew sorry, the Corrections Commissioner, I should say

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Speaker 1: Matthew Varley joined me on the show yesterday. He said

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Speaker 1: that staff would be initially surged in from other jurisdictions

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Speaker 1: to support local staff. So those G four S staff.

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Speaker 1: But we have got more than one hundred beds expected

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Speaker 1: to come online by the end of the week, fifty

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Speaker 1: two of those in h bloc. I mean. The agreement

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Speaker 1: with G four S follows what the government's described as

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Speaker 1: a rapid, robust and thorough procurement process through the Department

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Speaker 1: of Corrections. It's going to be rolled out under a

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Speaker 1: phased approach. Do you think this is a good move

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Speaker 1: to support our hard working correction staff.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, this is another area we've talked about a

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Speaker 2: fair bit on the show together. This is an interesting

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Speaker 2: one because I'm not sure where the COLP government has

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Speaker 2: put out a released a tender for this particular contract,

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Speaker 2: so I'm really interested in how much this is going

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Speaker 2: to cost taxpayers. There was no tender released online normally

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Speaker 2: that's even if it's a rapid process, they can have

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Speaker 2: rapid turnaround, open procurement and tenders that go out. You know,

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Speaker 2: there's we've been told that there's a commercial in confidence arrangements.

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Speaker 2: We understand that, but there's no answers around how much

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Speaker 2: this is going to cost the territory taxpayer, and there's

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Speaker 2: no information about how this procurement, this tender, this contract

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Speaker 2: was arranged. And interestingly too, Katie, the Corrections Minister, his

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Speaker 2: advisor has just recently come from working from g fours

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Speaker 2: as a company, So I'd like to know if there

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Speaker 2: was a conflict of interest ECAID properly in those arrangements.

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Speaker 1: So you reckon something potentially untowards going on here.

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Speaker 2: Well, I just think there just needs to be some

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Speaker 2: openness around it. We know that the process of surging

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Speaker 2: some workforce from interstate, how much is it going to cost?

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Speaker 2: We know the unions and the contract ascuse me and

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Speaker 2: the corrections officers are not happy about this contracting arrangement.

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Speaker 2: But if the government's going to be open and transparent,

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Speaker 2: we'd need to know those basic questions how much is

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Speaker 2: this going to cost, how is the contract procured, was

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Speaker 2: it an open tender, and just answering those very basic

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Speaker 2: and simple government questions from the COLP would be helpful

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Speaker 2: to understand how they're going to move forward. Is the

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Speaker 2: surge going to be a stop gap or is it

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Speaker 2: going to be a permanent arrangement. We don't know that either, Katie.

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Speaker 1: So Selena just on that, just to sort of delve

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Speaker 1: into that a bit more deeply. What you were saying

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Speaker 1: is that there was no public tender for this, and

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Speaker 1: you're questioning why that was the case, and obviously the

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Speaker 1: additional questions about how much it's going to cost, all

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Speaker 1: that kind of thing. But then step further as you're

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Speaker 1: saying that the minister has an adviser working in the

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Speaker 1: office that previously worked for this organization or this company.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, and if there was an online tender and process,

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Speaker 2: I'd be very happy to be corrected in that, Katie,

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Speaker 2: But we cannot find anything that shows this has been

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Speaker 2: a public, an open and transparent process.

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Speaker 1: Do you know if, like under the former government which

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Speaker 1: you were part of, do you know if there was

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Speaker 1: ever a situation where a tender would go out or

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Speaker 1: a tender would be awarded in that way without it

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Speaker 1: being published or public.

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Speaker 2: Well, not in terms of an arrangement of a private business.

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Speaker 2: I know that there are panel contractors, particularly we've been

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Speaker 2: talking about construction, Katie, you know, roads and housing, repairs

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Speaker 2: and maintenance, etc. So I know there's panel contract but

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Speaker 2: you have to get on that panel. You have to

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Speaker 2: be hit a certain criteria of government to then be

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Speaker 2: you know, Hasilina, We've got this house that needs to

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Speaker 2: be fixed up. Can you get there yet? If not, Selena, Katy,

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Speaker 2: can you do that, etc. So you go down the list.

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Speaker 2: But there's because they're creating a whole new process, Katie,

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Speaker 2: around the surge of the workforce for corrections, bringing outside

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Speaker 2: territory workers into the territory to do this work. There

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Speaker 2: has to be a very open and robust process to

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Speaker 2: show not just territories but particularly corrections officers who have

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Speaker 2: not been happy about this announcement from the start, but

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Speaker 2: to show that there is due diligence in that process

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Speaker 2: of creating a new system, creating a new perhaps panel

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Speaker 2: of contractors that can come in and do the corrections

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Speaker 2: private security work that is being led into. So there's

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Speaker 2: just it doesn't sit right with me, Katie, and I'd

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Speaker 2: just love to have those questions answered.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, we might put a few questions to the

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Speaker 1: government about this, because I think it's fair enough to

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Speaker 1: ask how that contract was awarded, if indeed there wasn't

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Speaker 1: an open procurement process, or the way in which this

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Speaker 1: did happen. But also the point that you've raised there

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Speaker 1: about a staff I think that we're going to need

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Speaker 1: to know to get some information from the government about

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Speaker 1: that and for them to clarify whether a conflict was

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Speaker 1: indeed declared or not.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it just puts a bit of peace

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Speaker 2: of mind to territories if processes have been followed, and

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Speaker 2: if they haven't, what new processes are being created and

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Speaker 2: what's driving that structure, that criteria that guidelines so people

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Speaker 2: can have that piece of mind.

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Speaker 1: Look, Crystal's just informed me the commissioner had said yesterday

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Speaker 1: it was a select tender. Does that make it any

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Speaker 1: different in your eyes?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting because this again, this is a process

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Speaker 2: that's never been seen or done in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: So a select tender process for corrections outsourcing. I would

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Speaker 2: like to see what the criteria for that process would be.

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Speaker 2: So very happy. Obviously we'll do our homework again to

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Speaker 2: be corrected. But there was not publicly arranged tender, which

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Speaker 2: means if it's a select tender, they've already got a

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Speaker 2: panel of contractors. How have they created that? I think

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Speaker 2: it was five contractors that might have expressed it to

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Speaker 2: the government of doing this work. And then what has

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Speaker 2: then led to the final decision about this one particular company.

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Speaker 1: All right, So we'll try and find out some more.

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Speaker 1: Just like just trying to remember from my conversation with

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Speaker 1: the Corrections Commissioner yesterday, I did think that he had

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Speaker 1: said an EOI had gone out. But I'll have to

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Speaker 1: go back and have a listener and we will make

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Speaker 1: sure that we do get a response from the Minister's office. Selena,

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Speaker 1: let's move along. I do want to ask you about

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Speaker 1: this story around the IKAC releasing a report on Friday

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Speaker 1: stating that an unnamed senior executive public officer had failed

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Speaker 1: to disclose the full extent of their friendship with a

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Speaker 1: candidate despite remaining on the recruitment panel and providing them

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Speaker 1: with a reference. The IKAG delegate Patricia Kelly said that

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Speaker 1: Operation Apollo found the senior public servant had committed unsatisfactory

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Speaker 1: conduct in the management of their conflicts of interest, calling

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Speaker 1: it negligent and incompetent. Now, the Chief Minister's declined to

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Speaker 1: disclose who that person was or go into a huge

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Speaker 1: amount of detail about this when we asked her about

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Speaker 1: it yesterday. Do you think this person should be named

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Speaker 1: or stand down?

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie, I think that when we talk about public

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Speaker 2: resources and anything that has been proven to be misused

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Speaker 2: is serious here in the Northern Territory because again that

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Speaker 2: close connection. People wanted to make sure that their taxpayers

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Speaker 2: dollars are being spent properly and in the right way.

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Speaker 2: And when something like this comes out at the highest level,

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Speaker 2: I don't think the Chief Minister can step around it

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Speaker 2: or make excuses for it. There has to be accountability

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Speaker 2: and responsibility in this, Katie.

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Speaker 1: So do you I mean, do you think that person

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Speaker 1: should stand down?

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Speaker 2: Well? I mean it's up to the Chief Minister, and

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Speaker 2: she just at the moment doesn't sound like she's wanting

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Speaker 2: to even address it or show leadership. I think the

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Speaker 2: community will expect her to do so, and I think

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Speaker 2: that if there should be some more questions asked on

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Speaker 2: this particular issue, Katie, I don't think it is enough

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Speaker 2: for the Chief Minister the sidestep. It's wanting to show

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Speaker 2: leadership she needs to deal with and answer some very

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Speaker 2: serious questions.

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Speaker 1: All right, Just finally this morning, we know discussion over

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Speaker 1: the Darwin Port it's heating up. Do you think it

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Speaker 1: needs to go back into Australian hands.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think this one's a very interesting one

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Speaker 2: as well, Katie. I know it has been a very

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Speaker 2: sore point for many Territorians around the selling of the

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Speaker 2: Darwin Port I think under the gile CLP government years

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Speaker 2: ago and obviously haven't recovered from that and the national interests.

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Speaker 2: We are very strategically placed here in the Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: with particularly when it comes to defense, but when it

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Speaker 2: comes to international trade and some of our key natural

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Speaker 2: resources here in the territory. So I think this will

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Speaker 2: heat up quite a bit, particularly with the federal election.

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Speaker 1: Call me a skeptic, but I feel like it kind

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Speaker 1: of comes up whenever there is a.

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Speaker 2: I agree. I think most people go, oh, yeah, that's right,

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Speaker 2: Thedport got sold, and then they go, oh yeah, federal election,

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Speaker 2: that's what we're talking about it again.

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Speaker 1: And look, I do think it's something that people are

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Speaker 1: really passionate about. I know at the time it was

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Speaker 1: something that people were furious about on the show. I also,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think that the whole sort of you know,

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Speaker 1: the way that the world is at the moment is

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Speaker 1: very different, even with the Chinese warships just a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks ago or a week or so ago, you know,

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Speaker 1: in Australian waters. So there is definitely reason, I think,

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Speaker 1: for it to be on the agenda again. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: whenever it does come up, I can't help but think, oh,

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Speaker 1: there must be something about to you know, a federal

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Speaker 1: election or something looming.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it is, but I know the huge

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Speaker 2: interest that people have, particularly in the top end around

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Speaker 2: the Darwin Port. So we'll be following this on very closely.

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Speaker 1: Katie selena Ubo, Opposition Leader and Leader of the Labor Party,

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Speaker 1: thank you as always for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Katie, have a good day you too.

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Speaker 1: Thank you