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Speaker 1: Now it is understood that the Darwin Volunteer Coast Guard

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Speaker 1: is set to close following a decision by the Australian

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Speaker 1: Volunteer Coast Guard in July. The National Body wrote to

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Speaker 1: the Darwin Flotilla notifying them of the closure last week,

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Speaker 1: sparking concerns that capabilities on the water are going to

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Speaker 1: be significantly reduced. The Darwin flotilla commander, Simon Dorman joins

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Speaker 1: me on the line right now, get a Simon.

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Speaker 2: Good morning. Here you going, Katie?

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Speaker 1: Not too bad mate? What's going on? Why does the

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Speaker 1: Darwin Volunteer Coastguard have to close?

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Speaker 3: Well, that's the mean dollar question, isn't it. We were

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Speaker 3: left in a little bit of shock as well, having

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Speaker 3: a meeting on last Wednesday. We had that piece of

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Speaker 3: paper that you've probably just read out slid across the

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Speaker 3: table to us and it's gone from there. Basically the

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Speaker 3: next day our bank assets were these and basically all

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Speaker 3: our assets are now in control of the National Board.

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Speaker 3: So when you're saying our services are compromised, our services

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Speaker 3: have seats. They're not compromised. They're not operational as we

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Speaker 3: speak today.

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Speaker 1: So what is this going to mean for Territorians.

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Speaker 2: Well, what it's going to mean for Territorians.

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Speaker 3: You're out on the harbor and you break down, you

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Speaker 3: basically rely on the resources of the water police. So

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Speaker 3: that's going to tie them up now from already their

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Speaker 3: business schedule to now come out and find people up

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Speaker 3: creeks or whatever, you know, whatever situation arise. It's now

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Speaker 3: up to them and any other service that services Darwin

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Speaker 3: Harbor and in surrounding waterways.

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Speaker 1: We look in terms of, you know, the impact that

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Speaker 1: this is going to have for territorians. I mean, just

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Speaker 1: yesterday we were talking about how how many people fish

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. I've no doubt that the Coast

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Speaker 1: Guard has helped so many locals. It's going to be

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Speaker 1: a big.

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Speaker 2: Void, exactly exactly. And the thing that gets us is.

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Speaker 3: In the last five years we've received money from the

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Speaker 3: Anti grants. So the Anti government has given us grants

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Speaker 3: and our main rescue boat, the Pete Davies, has undergone

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Speaker 3: a total refit. So excuse me if you can imagine say,

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Speaker 3: restoring an old car and then getting its Christine condition

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Speaker 3: and then just wait to jump in and go for

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Speaker 3: a drive down the highway exactly. Is what happened with

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Speaker 3: Pete Davies. It's now ready to.

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Speaker 2: Go, new motives, new everything, and we've just got this

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Speaker 2: notice that we can't even use it. So how devastated

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Speaker 2: do we feel?

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Speaker 1: So? What like, is this bureaucracy gone mad? What's going on? Look?

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Speaker 2: Who knows?

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Speaker 3: I mean I know that on the East Coast there

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Speaker 3: has been a major shakeup, so I don't know if

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Speaker 3: this is part of that. I know it's left everyone

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Speaker 3: at coast guarding darn shaken up. So we're just volunteers.

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Speaker 3: We're mums and dads our time. We're not after any

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Speaker 3: fame or glory or anything like that, and we basically

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Speaker 3: we just don't know what to do. I think this

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Speaker 3: decision has probably been coming for.

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Speaker 2: A long time.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the flotilla is actually run by and volunteers and

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Speaker 3: it always has been, so we're always trying to find funds.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's beggas beliefs. Basically, I've come on lost.

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Speaker 1: For words, and it sounds like it's come as a

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Speaker 1: complete surprise, and no doubt I would imagine it's going

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Speaker 1: to put additional pressure on our water police.

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Speaker 3: Oh you got that right, I mean they're stretched at

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Speaker 3: the moment already, So imagine them getting called out to

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Speaker 3: go and pull international goodies in and do this and

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Speaker 3: do that, and when when there's someone around at Dundee

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Speaker 3: or there's someone around in show Bay or whatever, they're

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Speaker 3: gonna be over worked now to the max.

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Speaker 2: My biggest worry was the grant.

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Speaker 3: We've received this money from the anti government, So that's

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Speaker 3: you and me paying the government and the government walking

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Speaker 3: out taxpayers money to get these vessels up and going

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Speaker 3: to save people's lives.

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Speaker 2: And now.

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Speaker 3: I'm not sure what their future holds.

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Speaker 1: So simon, you know, I buy the sounds of it

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Speaker 1: on this occasion. It's no fault of the government or

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Speaker 1: anybody else. This is a decision that's been made by

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Speaker 1: the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard exactly.

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Speaker 2: It's out of our hands.

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Speaker 3: This is a decisions and look, when it comes to

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Speaker 3: search and rescue, it's not like it's not like you

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Speaker 3: break down on the side of the highway in a

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Speaker 3: car and you can jump out and walk away or

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Speaker 3: flag down someone to go the lift. This is this

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Speaker 3: is out on the water, so if you break down,

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Speaker 3: there's no there's no boats right beside you.

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Speaker 2: Everyone goes your own way, so you're isolated.

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Speaker 3: It's just gonna it's just gonna make things a lot worse.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like it. Honestly, it sounds like madness. And

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Speaker 1: I tell you what, Pete Davies would not be happy

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Speaker 1: that he's not out on the water. I think that

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Speaker 1: this is it is. It sounds like it's bureaucracy gone mad. Simon.

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Speaker 1: Let us see if we can get any kind of

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Speaker 1: response from the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard. I just think

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Speaker 1: the community's got to stand up here and go hang

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Speaker 1: on a second, this is not okay. I'm I'm tipping

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Speaker 1: that you know, if if a few of us get

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Speaker 1: in contact with them and say, what on earth are

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Speaker 1: you doing in Darwin and they get some letters from

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Speaker 1: members of the public and maybe even a few of

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Speaker 1: our politicians, that they might turn around and reverse this decision.

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Speaker 3: Well, I have been in contact and Paul Kirby's are

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Speaker 3: a proud supporter of Coast Guard and has been for

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Speaker 3: many years. So it is out there and they are

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Speaker 3: trying to access avenues of why our assets are going

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Speaker 3: maybe going into state like who knows, this could be

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Speaker 3: like a truck arrived in the middle of the night

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Speaker 3: loads up there our assets and away they go.

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. Well can you please keep in contact

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Speaker 1: with us and we'll do our best to contact the

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Speaker 1: Australian Volunteer co Guard mob as well.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Any assistance would be grateful. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: we just don't know where to go. We are all

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Speaker 2: volunteers like yep, yeah, well this.

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Speaker 1: Is the thing. You're all good people trying to do

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Speaker 1: the right thing, trying to help others out on the water,

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Speaker 1: and this is what happens.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's time.

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Speaker 3: It's time the government anti government put on a big

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Speaker 3: boy pants and find out what's going on and help

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Speaker 3: us out.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you. I agree with you. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if they've got that i'll give. I'll give them

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Speaker 1: a loan of my big boy pants, or we can

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Speaker 1: give them a loan of yours if you want, you

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Speaker 1: know the way, I agree mate, I agree. It is

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Speaker 1: like to me, this is just a joke. It sounds

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Speaker 1: so ridiculous. You've got the volunteers ready to go, you've

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Speaker 1: got the vessel that's needed, you've got everything that's needed.

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Speaker 1: So wild on Earth, you know, are you in a

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Speaker 1: situation where you can't help other people.

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Speaker 2: I think, you know, we all know, okay, but shake

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Speaker 2: a lot of things up.

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Speaker 3: But since then, you know, like we've lost our demandable Yeah,

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Speaker 3: we based homeless. I think I came on your radio

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Speaker 3: station a while ago and put out support and I

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Speaker 3: did get some fantastic local support yep.

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Speaker 2: And but it only goes so far. We need more

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Speaker 2: than just the very basics. We pay for everything.

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Speaker 3: We have to find our own money to pay for birthing, rent,

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Speaker 3: boat maintenance skills, and we do have a couple of sponsors,

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Speaker 3: so we're not broke. Our sponsor money is minimal, and

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Speaker 3: out of that we have to do boat maintenance, fill

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Speaker 3: everything else, all the rents for our two boats, and

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Speaker 3: it just it just wears everybody down. And the handful

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Speaker 3: of volunteers that have been trying to keep display till

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Speaker 3: the going have all got volunteer at fatigue, myself included,

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Speaker 3: and we have been waving our hands for a long

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Speaker 3: time and funding has never been forthcoming for us.

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Speaker 1: Well, Simon, we are going to chof off. We've got

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Speaker 1: a chough off to the national news. But I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate you speaking to me this morning. We'll try our

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Speaker 1: best to get in contact with the Australian Volunteer Coast

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Speaker 1: Guard as well.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thank