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Speaker 1: We are hearing that a lot of Darwin City business

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Speaker 1: owners are fed up with the crime and anti social

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Speaker 1: behavior that's being experienced, to the point that they're angry

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Speaker 1: and questioning why they're still sticking around and staying in business. Now,

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Speaker 1: one of those people who's a very positive person, I've

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Speaker 1: got to say, and does lots of good stuff around

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Speaker 1: the community is Sam Western from The Mad Snake, and

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Speaker 1: he joins me in the studio right now. Good morning, Sam,

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Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show. Like what's been

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Speaker 1: going on?

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Speaker 2: Everything?

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Speaker 3: The town just seems to be in full crazy mode.

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Speaker 3: As I said in my post, after seeing so many

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Speaker 3: bad incidents over the weekend, come Monday morning, I was like,

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Speaker 3: maybe it's time to leave daring like.

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Speaker 2: Darwin is going down the gurglar, But no one can

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Speaker 2: deny that.

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Speaker 3: Like unfortunately due to this and as you said, it's

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Speaker 3: not anti social behavior, it's just disgusting behavior.

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Speaker 2: I'm seeing it day in day.

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Speaker 3: It doesn't help that I obviously work in the city

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Speaker 3: and I spend a lot of time in Austin Lane,

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Speaker 3: but then when I go home to perap it's no different,

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Speaker 3: and it's just where it's wearing me thin. I spoke

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Speaker 3: to a lot of business owners and you know, some

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Speaker 3: of them didn't want to come on today. They feel

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Speaker 3: the same, Why are we investing and putting our time

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Speaker 3: and love into this great, once great city when it's

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Speaker 3: just falling apart? And that scares me because you've got Alice. Now,

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Speaker 3: so many businesses are closing down. Sorry Alice people. That's

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Speaker 3: going to be hard to recover from. Just when this

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Speaker 3: city started getting good again after impacts. It feels like

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Speaker 3: this is the kick and that this is just a

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Speaker 3: kick in the guts. And it worries me because if

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Speaker 3: I'm thinking, nah, you know, not now, but two years,

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Speaker 3: maybe it's time to go elsewhere because unfortunately doing isn't

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Speaker 3: what it used to be.

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Speaker 1: And the thing is, people are fed up. I think, Look,

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Speaker 1: that's the whole point is that you know, you've sort

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Speaker 1: of look, I know, for me, it's you know, I

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Speaker 1: obviously dabble in politics all the time. I'm always talking

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Speaker 1: about politics. But the thing that people are fed up

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Speaker 1: with is that there seems to be in action and

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Speaker 1: a blame game sort of going on with a lot

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Speaker 1: of the different issues that we're experiencing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the blame game isn't helping.

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Speaker 3: It's no one and it's and you know, I don't

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Speaker 3: think we can blame one particular personal or group anyway,

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Speaker 3: but one party blames that party, They blame the local council,

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Speaker 3: they blame this, and it's sort of nothing's happening, like

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Speaker 3: it's just this vicious game where we're getting more. I

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Speaker 3: remember I spoke to you about two years ago, and

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Speaker 3: we've had enough. Like we had enough back then, it's

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Speaker 3: now got to a point where I think, you know, unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: it's going to affect the future of the city.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, sadly, well, I think that it's past a threshold.

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Speaker 1: I think that people have had enough because they no

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Speaker 1: longer sort of feel that real personal safety, like you

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Speaker 1: feel as though you're not quite sure what's going to

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Speaker 1: go on if you go into the city. I know

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Speaker 1: I've certainly had that thought when going in with my kids.

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Speaker 2: And again it's from my kids' perspective.

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Speaker 3: My son doesn't catch the bus anymore because he's been

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Speaker 3: people have tried to fight him so many times. Now

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Speaker 3: he's scared to go to Casuina shopping center. Like this

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Speaker 3: is affecting my kids, you know, this is the vulnerable

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Speaker 3: the business people We've got to a stage now where

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Speaker 3: you know, I've had a few of the polies come

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Speaker 3: in over a few days I were doing this, and

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Speaker 3: I've said to him, it's not whatever you're doing is

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Speaker 3: not working.

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Speaker 2: Stop.

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Speaker 3: Let's get everyone that's blaming each other in one big

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Speaker 3: group and do something and start making some harsh decisions.

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Speaker 1: And what was their response to that?

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Speaker 2: No one wants.

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Speaker 3: No one wants to take responsibility, do they. You know,

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Speaker 3: no one wants to. There's this in place, and there's

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Speaker 3: that in place, but they don't uphold it. And it's

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Speaker 3: almost like they're not on the same sort of song sheet,

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Speaker 3: you know. And yeah, what my opinion. If there's people

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Speaker 3: terrorizing us in the city, kick him out.

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Speaker 2: Sam.

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Speaker 1: You know, you've experienced things like people, you know, damaging

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Speaker 1: your pop plants, people abusing you, but you've also experienced

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Speaker 1: some pretty terrible stuff like you know, someone assaulting his

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Speaker 1: missus or assaulting a female.

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Speaker 2: I've had enough of that that one sickens me.

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Speaker 3: To see a woman get bashed by a guy just

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Speaker 3: sicking like that is not what I'm about. So, yeah,

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Speaker 3: the other day, he was a big dude and he

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Speaker 3: was punching on with his missus, and I think I

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Speaker 3: was just that angry from what had happened to me

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Speaker 3: that I thought I was super Sam and I thought

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Speaker 3: Cavigart me, buddy, and he was like no, no, no, no,

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Speaker 3: And sadly, as I drove off, I looked in the

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Speaker 3: rear ear and he's just like he's punching his foot

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Speaker 3: in the head in broad daylight, in parrap like.

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Speaker 2: And we I don't say we accept that.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: I think we're all mortified by it.

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Speaker 1: But the thing is it's becoming normalized because it's happening

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Speaker 1: so often, and that's the really frightening and sad part.

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Speaker 3: But our kids are seeing that, like the other day

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Speaker 3: that you know, me and my son laugh at some

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Speaker 3: of the stuff we see. There was someone doing a

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Speaker 3: pooh in the gutter outside Willis the other day and

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Speaker 3: it's jovial at the time of the young fella, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: but it's disgusting, like there's.

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Speaker 2: A toilet right next to her.

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Speaker 3: The stuff that these kids see up here is sort

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Speaker 3: of like, man, you know, yeah, it's got to change.

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Speaker 3: I had to change last week, like this isn't We

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Speaker 3: can't be talking about this in six months.

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Speaker 2: I won't be here in a year if we're still talking.

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Speaker 1: About that's exactly right. And that's I think that that's

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Speaker 1: the issue that we've got at the moment, is that

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Speaker 1: people want to see some really serious change. They want

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Speaker 1: to see some serious action. It's not okay, you know

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Speaker 1: what we're what we're dealing with right now, and we're

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Speaker 1: sick of people blaming each other.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And i'd also, like I've said before, the person

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Speaker 3: that's smashing my plants, the responsibility has to be on them.

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Speaker 3: You can't blame the government or what happened in the past.

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Speaker 3: This person is just a pure nasty person that enjoyed

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Speaker 3: He knew that it would upset me by smashing my plants,

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Speaker 3: probably because I didn't give him free coffee. Like what

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Speaker 3: type of attitude have we allowed these people to have?

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Speaker 1: Well? And I do want to point out as well,

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Speaker 1: because look, I know some people listening might be thinking, oh,

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Speaker 1: listen to these two. They're just having a complain, they're

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Speaker 1: just having a bitch to one another. But the point is,

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Speaker 1: like at Christmas time, over Christmas, you actually feed the

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Speaker 1: homeless on Christmas Day, Like you you're a bloke who

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Speaker 1: does do a lot in the community, you help you

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Speaker 1: know you help people in terms of mental health when

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Speaker 1: it comes to ex servicemen and women. You do a

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Speaker 1: lot to try to to try to help the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory community. Now, if we've got good people like you

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Speaker 1: that are fed up, that's a real worry in itself,

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Speaker 1: you know.

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Speaker 2: Like I love Darwen, you know this.

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Speaker 3: Look at the time and effort I put you gos

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Speaker 3: Lane and see all my plants I put out there,

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Speaker 3: like I want people to love doing.

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Speaker 2: I want the tourists to go, it's great. I want

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Speaker 2: locals to go. It's great.

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Speaker 3: But when I see people just going against that and

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Speaker 3: destroying it, for me, yeah, the little fairyem he dies unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: and it's quite hard. Why would I invest again in

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Speaker 3: the city when there's you know, someone's going to trash

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Speaker 3: whatever I've got. I mean, the break ins is just shocking,

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Speaker 3: Like how some of these how Jason Hannah does it

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Speaker 3: for creditor here.

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Speaker 1: JAB understanding is that he got hit again last night.

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Speaker 1: I could be wrong, but that was what.

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Speaker 2: I think I did.

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Speaker 3: A rock got thrown in. I think I think Gosushi had.

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Speaker 2: Some drama in their one.

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Speaker 3: And these I talked to these business owners, We're all

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Speaker 3: thinking the same thing here, like why would we invest anymore?

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Speaker 1: And do you know what, there's some of the best

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Speaker 1: businesses we've got around the place. So look, I know

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Speaker 1: everybody's frustrated. I hear it more than most, you know,

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Speaker 1: I hear a lot sitting in here in this studio,

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Speaker 1: and I've got to say that us good Territorians can't

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Speaker 1: give up. We've got to keep on trying to track

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Speaker 1: along and we've got to try and and really make

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Speaker 1: some change because our kids deserve it.

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Speaker 3: And you know, to all the Polly's, the leaders, the counts,

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Speaker 3: like everyone needs to we need to sit down in

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Speaker 3: one big room and say, right, what's moving for this

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Speaker 3: blame game? It's become a blame game. It's their fault,

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Speaker 3: is this fault? But that's not helping move forward at all?

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Speaker 1: So what do you reckon? We do need to have

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Speaker 1: I know it's something that we've spoken about previously that

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Speaker 1: maybe there needs to be a bit of a summit

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Speaker 1: where everybody does sit down and that you do hear

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Speaker 1: the voices of people like yourself, business owners that are

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Speaker 1: struggling through and you know, and try to reach some

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Speaker 1: kind of solutions.

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Speaker 3: Something has to happen, like we were at the tipping

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Speaker 3: point six months ago. We're out the point where locals

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Speaker 3: are leaving Darwin, people are leaving Alice Springs, people are

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Speaker 3: leaving the Northern Territory. If the city becomes a bit

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Speaker 3: of a I'm trying to think of a not rude word,

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Speaker 3: it's not a good place to be and we're not

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Speaker 3: going to invest in the city. Other people aren't going

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Speaker 3: to invest in the city. The city is going to die.

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Speaker 3: It's just got to it's quite scary to think that

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Speaker 3: this could cause so much damage to the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: And we are such a great we are such a

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Speaker 3: cool place. Like I do love the territory, but these

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Speaker 3: things just yeah, I don't know. There's no easy way out,

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Speaker 3: but I do think they.

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Speaker 2: All need to get together and talk about it collectively.

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Speaker 3: We need to not blame anyone to an extent, and

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Speaker 3: what we can do, like my opinion, the guy that

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Speaker 3: keeps terrorizing me and John John's and go Sushi, kick

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Speaker 3: him out of the city.

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Speaker 2: Like, we've got to be harsh with these people.

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Speaker 3: You know, if you're if you're terrorizing someone on a bus,

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Speaker 3: you're banned from the bus.

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Speaker 2: I don't care how you get around.

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Speaker 3: I don't care like tough that they're Like I said

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Speaker 3: in my post, they're terrorizing the good people of this

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Speaker 3: community and it has to stop.

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Speaker 1: Well, Sam Western, I always appreciate your time. I know

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Speaker 1: that you are a very positive person and clearly, if.

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Speaker 2: Not today I am you are mate, you are.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming in the studio and having your

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Speaker 1: chat with us. I will say as well, those other

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Speaker 1: business people, well go Sushi and the others. They were

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Speaker 1: going to come on, but they didn't trust themselves what

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Speaker 1: they'd say on air.

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Speaker 2: You did well. Thank you very much. Thank you