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Speaker 1: Well in some good news.

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Speaker 2: What we know for the Red Center is that the

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Speaker 2: Henley on Todd is now going to go ahead this year.

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Speaker 2: The River Regata, which has been running for more than

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Speaker 2: sixty years, was canceled in June, but the committee's hatched

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Speaker 2: a plan for it to continue with a few changes

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Speaker 2: by the sounds of things. But joining us on the

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Speaker 2: line to tell us more is commodore of Henley on Todd.

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Speaker 1: It is Lester Hamilton. Good morning to you, Lester.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. How are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm very well mate.

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Speaker 2: Tell me what changed your minds and how come you're

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Speaker 2: now able to make it happen for this year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, no, look look, thanks very much for the

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Speaker 3: chat and thanks so much for supporting us. Yeah. Look,

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Speaker 3: we were so disappointed in June to put out the

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Speaker 3: announcement that Deferently on Todd wouldn't be going ahead this year.

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Speaker 3: It was around the specially funding issues where we've had

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Speaker 3: a continual stream of funding come through a year on

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Speaker 3: year on here and then and then this year the

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Speaker 3: switch was just turned off and we had zero. We

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Speaker 3: are trying to set the event up as a strong

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Speaker 3: business model that can support itself. That we're not quite

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Speaker 3: there yet, so we need this external funding. But we've

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Speaker 3: also had trouble sourcing an event manager. So yeah, no funding,

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Speaker 3: no event manager. We made the calls not to not

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Speaker 3: to go ahead with it at the time.

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Speaker 2: Katie, Yeah, well it does make things really difficult, right

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Speaker 2: if you need that additional funding and if you don't

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Speaker 2: have an event manager, it does make it quite difficult

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Speaker 2: to manage what is a big tourism event or certainly

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Speaker 2: it brings plenty of tourists to town just by volunteers,

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Speaker 2: I'm assuming.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, volunteers come from all over the

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Speaker 3: country and volunteering such a rewarding pastime. I guess you

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Speaker 3: get to meet so many people in such a worthfule

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Speaker 3: thing to do. So yeah, look, we get so many

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Speaker 3: volunteers and tourists but also locals. You know it Alice

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Speaker 3: Springs's you know, it's had its struggles and the issues

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Speaker 3: and been in the headlines for the wrong reasons, but

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Speaker 3: you know, event like this just brings so much community pride,

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Speaker 3: ideas where the people people come together and celebrate all

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Speaker 3: good things about Alice so Leicster.

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Speaker 2: In terms of sorry to I probably confuse my words,

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Speaker 2: Am I going to go. But in terms of the

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Speaker 2: organization of it this year, it is just volunteer.

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Speaker 1: It's organizing it, isn't it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, and we have been able to

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Speaker 3: ntme C. Northern Churchy Major Events has been extremely helpful

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Speaker 3: and have worked hard for us. And they actually connected

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Speaker 3: us with an event manager from Darwin and that's Andrea

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Speaker 3: from from Basket Event Management and she's gladly put her

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Speaker 3: hand up to well, I don't know, it's pretty challenging

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Speaker 3: job try and pulled all together in five weeks now,

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Speaker 3: you know, when normally we have a six month leading

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Speaker 3: So yeah, we're really excited to be working with Andrew and.

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Speaker 1: Good she's a legend.

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Speaker 2: She's a good egg. I know Andrea, well, she is

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Speaker 2: definitely a good egg. So that is that is really

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Speaker 2: good to hear. Now tell me in terms of the

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Speaker 2: scaling back, what are you going to have to do

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Speaker 2: a bit differently this time round.

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Speaker 3: Well, well, the big thing is we'll scale back ticket prices.

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Speaker 3: It's only it's only ten dollars for entry, so it's

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Speaker 3: all about just trying to get as much of the

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Speaker 3: community there as possible and enturist and whatnot. But look,

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Speaker 3: we're gonna We've got a major sponsor naming right sponsor

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Speaker 3: to the event in Ultimate Camper Trailers who looked at

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Speaker 3: their camp of Caralos they're having a thirty year anniversary,

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Speaker 3: you know, any other springs on that weekend, and their

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Speaker 3: camper trailers are a little bit of a bit of

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Speaker 3: anautical shape about them. So yeah, it leads itself to

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Speaker 3: the Henvy On.

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Speaker 1: Todde Well that's good, that's good to hear.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, Now.

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Speaker 2: And tell me in terms of because there'll be people

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Speaker 2: listening that are thinking, do you know what I want

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Speaker 2: to go down there? I want to make sure that

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Speaker 2: I support it? How can they get involved? And what

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Speaker 2: date exactly is it happening now? And and you know,

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Speaker 2: tell us a bit more about what they can do

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Speaker 2: this year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, So it's on the seventeenth of August, the

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Speaker 3: third Saturday in August, and we're going to be running

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Speaker 3: a sort of a more of a condensed event. This year.

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Speaker 3: We were calling at the Mini henly On Todd So

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Speaker 3: normally we kick off sort of eleven o'clock and go

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Speaker 3: through till till dark pretty much. This year it would

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Speaker 3: be probably more sort of three or four hour event.

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Speaker 3: Given the short period of time, we've got to organize it.

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Speaker 3: But look, the highlight of Henny On Todd every year

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Speaker 3: is the Battle of the Boats at the as the

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Speaker 3: finale event. And so we've got the five Kings that

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Speaker 3: the Vikings, the Pirates, and the Navy in the in

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Speaker 3: their battle boats. And the great news is that those

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Speaker 3: three boats will be battling it out this year in

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Speaker 3: the in the river for for I guess, for the

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Speaker 3: right of being the King of the River.

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Speaker 2: I was gonna say the title, I would think lest

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Speaker 2: it's it's going to be an awesome title, right, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it carries a lot of honor with it. They

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Speaker 3: and the lead up in the week of the lead

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Speaker 3: up to the event, you know, the three crews are

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Speaker 3: working the town drumming up support, and then you know,

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Speaker 3: on the day after the battle of the way we

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Speaker 3: judge the winner is just the amount of applause that

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Speaker 3: you know, each team can garner from the crowd. So

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Speaker 3: it's all about you know, working working the town and

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Speaker 3: the lead up to the event and then uh and

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Speaker 3: then having a good battle then able to bomb your

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Speaker 3: mates and take out the other notes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it sounds like it's going to be so much fun.

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Speaker 2: Now, just tell me in terms of because I know

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Speaker 2: it's been a pretty rough week for Ollie Springs over

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Speaker 2: the last week. Is this you know, how people reacting

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Speaker 2: to this good news that it is still going to

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Speaker 2: be able to happen this year.

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Speaker 3: Look, it's been overwhelming, Katie. Like you know, when when

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Speaker 3: we put out the announcement that it wasn't going ahead,

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Speaker 3: there was so much, so much disappointment. But now now

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Speaker 3: we've been able to make it happen. You know that

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Speaker 3: we've we've had support from both sides of government which

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Speaker 3: has been currific to pull it off now and you know,

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Speaker 3: to be able to go back out to you to

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Speaker 3: the community and say, listen, this event on. It's go

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Speaker 3: back to a bit of a ticket prices are very

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Speaker 3: very affordable. Come on down and be part of this

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Speaker 3: iconic event. It's such a positive put, such a positive

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Speaker 3: moved throughout the community.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm really pleased to hear that.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a bit of good news that certainly

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Speaker 2: everybody across the territory needs.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: Just tell us so in terms of the.

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Speaker 2: Longevity of the event, to making sure that the events

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Speaker 2: able to come back, you know, bigger and better next year.

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Speaker 2: What is really required?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, we you know, I guess we just need

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Speaker 3: any event manage. You're in place much much earlier. But

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Speaker 3: also we need our funding now locked away much much earlier.

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Speaker 3: And they're both both sides of politics and Tourism Center Australia.

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Speaker 3: You are talking about, you know, a much stronger funding

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Speaker 3: model going forward to for four major events, iconic events

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Speaker 3: such as the Heaveny on Todd in other Springs, because

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Speaker 3: our Springs is known throughout the touristies for having something

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Speaker 3: on every weekend and it's such a core and it

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Speaker 3: caused people to the Red Center, so you know, we

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Speaker 3: must have these events. You secure good foundations so that

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Speaker 3: they can go on.

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Speaker 2: Your absolutely well. Lester Hamilton, the commodore of Henley on Todd.

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Speaker 2: It's lovely to speak to you this morning, so good

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Speaker 2: to have a bit of good news.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, once again, thanks you support Katie, no

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Speaker 1: Worries at all, Thank you