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Speaker 1: Have just been speaking about the situation in Central Australia

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Speaker 1: when it comes to tourism and indeed investment into the

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Speaker 1: Red Center, with the announcement earlier this week that Quantus

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Speaker 1: plans to cut thirty thousand seats from the region and

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Speaker 1: ATG a major tourism player winding down its operations. Now

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Speaker 1: one local tour operator who is calling for the airport

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Speaker 1: at all the route to potentially be closed to rebuild

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Speaker 1: capacity and help drive the flight prices is Tailor Made Tours,

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Speaker 1: and the owner, Danny Brennan, joins me on the line

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Speaker 1: right now, get a Danny here are you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Good, Thanks so much for your time this morning. Duanny.

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Speaker 1: First off, how much of a blow is the loss

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Speaker 1: of these seats when it comes to an operator like yourself?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely a last Like, it's not just the

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Speaker 3: transport company losing that though, it's more than that. It's

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Speaker 3: a travel agents internationally putting pressure on domestic travel agents

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Speaker 3: to think about do we come to Alice going forward?

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Speaker 3: Would you know with what's been going on. Obviously, flights

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Speaker 3: are hard. Some of them will get four or five

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Speaker 3: flights just to get to Alice in the day, so

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Speaker 3: that's definitely put an impact on as well, and that's

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Speaker 3: why people might agree with it. But I do think

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Speaker 3: they need to seriously have a conversation with Quantus the

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Speaker 3: government about thinking about shutting the airport down on the

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Speaker 3: Rock for a minimum of five years and then reevaluate

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Speaker 3: so you can give confidence back to the travel agents

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Speaker 3: to look at rebranding, rebrochuring for their seasons going forward,

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Speaker 3: and that will help Alice get volume, it will help

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Speaker 3: hopefully push prices down. I think the conversation would have

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Speaker 3: to be around the place if they would have shut

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Speaker 3: the airstreap at the Rock and just have one through us.

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Speaker 3: That should give Condus good volume, and then they should

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Speaker 3: definitely look at putting pressure on to look at getting

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Speaker 3: the price of the air fares down. But it's not

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Speaker 3: just the effect now, it's going forward with the next

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Speaker 3: two to three years, we're going to see it.

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Speaker 1: Danny, just how big an impact has not only I

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Speaker 1: guess the you know, the cutting back of these seats,

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Speaker 1: but also the situation in terms of crime and anti

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Speaker 1: social behavior over recent months. How big an impact hasn't

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Speaker 1: had on an operator like yourself.

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Speaker 3: Oh, obviously it's had an impact in the town. But hopefully,

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Speaker 3: you know, we've hit Botton. The only way forward is

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Speaker 3: up and we've all got to come together or the

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Speaker 3: tour operators are pretty keen to get this back on

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Speaker 3: track and we just need to figure out how we

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Speaker 3: do that. I think we need more major draw cards

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Speaker 3: in Ollie strings, so I've got a few conversations going around,

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Speaker 3: you know, new things we can do in Alice as

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Speaker 3: a draw card, because it's not just that we need

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Speaker 3: more drawer card into oallus. We haven't had anything new

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Speaker 3: for years. Twenty five or thirty years ago. When I

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Speaker 3: was going away to travel shows promoting tourism for the

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Speaker 3: Red Center, a lot of the agents were saying, what's new.

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Speaker 3: We haven't had much new at all. So obviously they've

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Speaker 3: got the Art Center going ahead eventually. I think it's

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Speaker 3: a bit of a shame that we didn't include that

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Speaker 3: with a Stockman's Hall of Fame. Whether they could do

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Speaker 3: that something else, But we need to really seriously consider

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Speaker 3: the direction of the town for tourism and have have

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Speaker 3: some really good ideas and open discussions. And yes we

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Speaker 3: have a Stockman's Hall of Fame in long reach, but

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Speaker 3: very minimal international tourists get time to get a long reach.

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Speaker 3: I do think we need some new draw cards. I

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Speaker 3: think that would be great. I've got some ideas around

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Speaker 3: a field of lights and cardiment festival and display of

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Speaker 3: arts on a huge massive rock formation in my place

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Speaker 3: at the old Quarry in Alice. But I think aliss

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Speaker 3: new things. The thing with a lot of these places

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Speaker 3: is they're not sustainable, like the Fossil Museum where it is,

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Speaker 3: the aral And Center, the Museum of Central Australia. Now

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Speaker 3: there are all individual places if they have played one

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Speaker 3: big complex. When you walk through the door, you've got

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Speaker 3: a Stockman's Hall of Fame, you've got an art center,

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Speaker 3: of culture center, the history of all Tongue, the gold

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Speaker 3: Rush fields. You've interest everyone's mind as a tourist. Whether

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Speaker 3: they go through that door to see the Stocklin's all

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Speaker 3: the fames are an ex farmer. Whether they go through

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Speaker 3: there to see art or culture, you know you're definitely

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Speaker 3: going to get a lot of volume go through that door.

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Speaker 3: So they need to really consider what we need for OLUS. Well.

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Speaker 1: The thing I love as well, Danny about tour operators

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Speaker 1: and you know, people like yourself and when you're in

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Speaker 1: business as you do think outside the box because you

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Speaker 1: have to when you run a business, and sometimes I

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Speaker 1: think that, you know, governments can be a little bit stifled,

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Speaker 1: you know, by their thinking or by their ideas, because

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Speaker 1: they let bureaucracy get the better of things. But we

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Speaker 1: do have to start thinking outside the box, particularly for

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Speaker 1: a place like ALUs at this point.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. So you know, the oldest industry in Alice Springs

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Speaker 3: is the is cattle industry in eighteen seventy two, but

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Speaker 3: we've got nothing to show for it. I think everything

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Speaker 3: will feed off each other with the cultural center and

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Speaker 3: the art center and everything else. Ye, the aviation museum,

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Speaker 3: you know, they could clean that up a bit, along

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Speaker 3: with the old cemetery there because we can't take people

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Speaker 3: into that cemetery because of the three corner jacks that

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Speaker 3: comes on their seat in Australia and the coaches just

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Speaker 3: making things look look down for the town for tourism. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I do think as well they need to think about

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Speaker 3: the gentleman that's Sport Casino and most of the other

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Speaker 3: hotels in our springs. I think the government we need

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Speaker 3: to support them because if they were to leave, I

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Speaker 3: don't see anyone else going to put much money into

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Speaker 3: our strings.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we did just catch up with We just caught

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Speaker 1: up with him on air actually, Craig, Yeah, we just

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Speaker 1: set him on the show and Craig Jarvis just had

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Speaker 1: to chat to him on the show. And yet, look,

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Speaker 1: it sounds like they want to be investing into inter

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Speaker 1: Central Australia, but they're quite concerned as well about the

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Speaker 1: situation with those seats can.

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Speaker 3: I definitely an issue and that's why I do stress.

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Speaker 3: And you know it's my opinion. I've been in tourism

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Speaker 3: my whole life, and my family went through the pilot

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Speaker 3: strike and the NS collapse and started taitle made in

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Speaker 3: nineteen sixty five, and you know they shout it during

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Speaker 3: COVID at the airport down there. I think they have

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Speaker 3: to have a serious discussion around that, because it's not

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Speaker 3: just losing the major transport operator at g We was

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Speaker 3: do at here, but we're going to need another operator

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Speaker 3: that they're not going to come into Alice. They've got

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Speaker 3: to look at are they going to get the seats,

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Speaker 3: They've got to look at the the place to operate from.

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Speaker 3: Obviously for us and rock throwers are a big issue,

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Speaker 3: or have been in the past. For the buses, so

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Speaker 3: you know, we need to look at that. But you

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Speaker 3: know there is some good people doing good things with us,

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Speaker 3: and you know we've got Michael Little the LYRICSIPA feel

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Speaker 3: those guys are doing some good things around the kids

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Speaker 3: and their thoughts as well, so that's good. But I

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Speaker 3: think we need to probably have a monthly meeting with

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Speaker 3: government and key operators to get us back on track.

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Speaker 1: Danny, do you feel as though the government is listening

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Speaker 1: to the concerns of your tour operators like yourself and

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Speaker 1: everybody else that's operating in Alice Springs at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Do you feel as though they are listening to your concerns.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think obviously there's a lot going on. I

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Speaker 3: think they're starting to listen of us. For a meeting

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Speaker 3: with the Minister for Tourism and she said next time

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Speaker 3: she comes down she would come and see me. I

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Speaker 3: think that's very important. But I think the main thing

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Speaker 3: for them through government is to start knocking on the

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Speaker 3: doors of business, whether it be big or small, whether

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Speaker 3: it be tourism or cafes and restaurants around town, and

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Speaker 3: knock on the door and say how are you going

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Speaker 3: and find out exactly what's going on on the ground.

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Speaker 3: I've even be tempted to talk to taxi drivers. So

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Speaker 3: they're around town all day long. They're seeing what's going

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Speaker 3: on there. At the airport, they're seeing flights coming in out.

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Speaker 3: They just need to start knocking on the doors. We

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Speaker 3: need to come together, Alice. It's the heart of Australia.

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Speaker 3: It's got great things to see in the gaps and

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Speaker 3: gorges and water holes and chasms. Who fly not to

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Speaker 3: school the Itelican. Our hands are killed. We've got all

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Speaker 3: of these places people can come and see. But we

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Speaker 3: just need new things. It's like the camel Cup. If

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Speaker 3: that's not going to be sustainable because there's one of

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Speaker 3: the rock now flip it. Let's let's put a national

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Speaker 3: radio circuit in part of the national circuit, a small

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Speaker 3: little radio and Alice Springs is just not going to

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Speaker 3: work with the with the insurance now. But have we

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Speaker 3: made it part of the Australian circuit. We've got good

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Speaker 3: funding and we've built a big stadium. Then we've got

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Speaker 3: another major event for our springs.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is the thing. I mean, you've got one

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Speaker 2: just up the road.

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Speaker 3: Change them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got one just up the road in Mount Eiser.

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Speaker 1: Why not try and get it to get it to

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Speaker 1: Alae Springs afterwards.

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Speaker 3: Well, you know you've got the Brisbane. What you got

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Speaker 3: Mount Eyes, I think you've got cans You've got If

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Speaker 3: we made it part of the national circuit, then it

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Speaker 3: would get good volume and it would be a good

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Speaker 3: news story along with the Stoppman's all the fame and

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Speaker 3: the art center going forward. And I also think we've

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Speaker 3: had a problem with the Todd More for years, and

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Speaker 3: I don't think we should open the open the bottom

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Speaker 3: end of the mall going south. I think the top

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Speaker 3: end of the mall needs to be opened one way

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Speaker 3: only with a heap of parallel parking. The reason why

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Speaker 3: that mall is dead there is no traffic, there's no parking.

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Speaker 3: I would say to Sam and Iris Capital that's bought

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Speaker 3: the casino. In the other hotels, I think a good

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Speaker 3: thing to do would be to change the Todd Tavern

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Speaker 3: to a five star hotel, whether it be a five

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Speaker 3: or six story, and that'll feed off of the art

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Speaker 3: gallery when it's eventually built. But it will also have

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Speaker 3: a beautiful vogue. Look at Avanza, kill them Donald Rangers

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Speaker 3: with maybe a pull up the very top with a

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Speaker 3: bar where you can go and do things in the

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Speaker 3: evening for the locals. And then you've got the walking

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Speaker 3: trail and the mountain by a trail concreted all the

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Speaker 3: way to the telegram station, and having a five star

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Speaker 3: hotel in the center of town. They're the people with

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Speaker 3: money to spend in the mall. If the shop's got

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Speaker 3: going again, the shops in the moll, we're not going

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Speaker 3: to get gone by backpackers. They're going to get going

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Speaker 3: by five star people with money to spend the mall.

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Speaker 3: But you have to put a really good hotel in

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Speaker 3: the mall. So people walk down the morning and they've

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Speaker 3: got time to shop because at the moment they come

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Speaker 3: off a King's bus out of the Rock at seven

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Speaker 3: thirty at night into Alice. A lot of those people

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Speaker 3: stay on Barrett Drive, whether it be the Double Tree

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Speaker 3: or the Lasses Cramplus Lasses. The next morning they're gone

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Speaker 3: on buses at nine thirty to ten o'clock to the airport.

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Speaker 3: They don't put any money into the town. They don't

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Speaker 3: have time, they don't even know where the town is.

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Speaker 3: But if they come in at seven thirty at night

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Speaker 3: and they see that mall. When they get dropped off

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Speaker 3: at a five star hotel in the center of town,

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Speaker 3: it'll be more inclined to wrecking in the mall. Put

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Speaker 3: money into the cafes and they'll be more inclined to

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Speaker 3: buy art to buy at the ar and William store.

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Speaker 3: The shops will feed again.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, don't look at that, Danny. We are going

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Speaker 2: to have to wrap up, mate.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with us on

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Speaker 1: the show this morning and just talking us through.

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Speaker 2: You know, what is going on in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: Some of you know the situation of what's being what

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Speaker 1: you're dealing with, but some of those ideas as well.

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Speaker 1: So I really appreciate you having chat with me today.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so very much for your time.

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Speaker 3: No worries, and thank you for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you. Thanks Danny,