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Speaker 1: There are reports that the Airport Development Group, owned by

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Speaker 1: one of the Northern Territory's biggest corporate entities. Oh it's

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Speaker 1: the City of Darwin Council, more than one million dollars

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Speaker 1: in rates. It's understood the council would need to slug

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Speaker 1: ratepayers an extra one point four percent on top of

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Speaker 1: their current rate bills in order to recoup the money.

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Speaker 1: And one councilor is calling the airport out. Meck Palmer

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Speaker 1: joins me on the line. Now, good morning met one. Okay, Meg,

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Speaker 1: what exactly is the situation here?

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Speaker 2: Well, exactly the situation is the airport corporation that they

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Speaker 2: call themselves, are required and the terms of their lease

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Speaker 2: from a Commonwealth to pay a rate equivalent to the

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Speaker 2: Darwin City Council and it has decided not to pay.

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Speaker 1: So since what period have they decided not to pay?

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Speaker 1: Is this something that's years and years worth of rates?

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Speaker 2: Now I've been on going for bed two or three years.

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Speaker 2: We know there was a decision made in house of

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Speaker 2: the airport that it didn't have to pay rates.

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Speaker 1: So give us a bit of context, because I reckon

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Speaker 1: for a lot of people listening, they're going to be thinking, well,

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Speaker 1: hang on a sec Why doesn't the airport have to

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Speaker 1: pay rates in the same way that you know any

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Speaker 1: other landholder would.

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Speaker 2: Well, it does in a way that it is required

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Speaker 2: under its least to pay a rate equivalent to the

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Speaker 2: Darwin City Council. Now, I think the airport takes advantage

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Speaker 2: of the services im municipal services we provide the council

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Speaker 2: provision and especially in relation to the shol Bay based

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Speaker 2: management facility. You know, they on a daily basis would

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Speaker 2: be taking refuse out there and dumping it. And you

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Speaker 2: know that's been subsidized by the ratepayer.

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Speaker 3: So meant how.

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Speaker 1: Much do they potentially are the City of Darwin or

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Speaker 1: you know, is there any options for the City of

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Speaker 1: Darwin to even be able to recoup it?

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Speaker 2: Well, I owe an excess of in excess of a

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Speaker 2: million dollars. But well, the city, the council has a

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Speaker 2: number of options available to it aside from the normal

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Speaker 2: legal redresses. You know, And I feel my colleagues would

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Speaker 2: agree with me that perhaps we should just despire them

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Speaker 2: from going to the dump and let them dispise of

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Speaker 2: their ways there they will, and I'm sure the rap

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Speaker 2: would be pleased to see a dump developed a dough

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Speaker 2: and airport attracting birds and you know, hopefully not ingesting

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Speaker 2: them into airline engines, et cetera, et cetera.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it wouldn't be ideal, Nick, I mean, like, is

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Speaker 1: the counsel here at a bit of a stalemate with

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Speaker 1: the Airport Development Group? Is that why you've decided to

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Speaker 1: go public?

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Speaker 2: Well, it's been going on for some time, and the

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Speaker 2: Airport Development Group have decided, you know, they're just not

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Speaker 2: going to play ball, not going to pay rates and

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Speaker 2: they don't decide they don't have to and they're not

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Speaker 2: going to. So yeah, you know, I feel my colleagues

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Speaker 2: had been over it by now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So what are the options?

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Speaker 1: Like what you know, I know that you said they're

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Speaker 1: potentially making it that they're not able to go out

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Speaker 1: to the to the Shoal Bay waste stump. Like, what

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Speaker 1: options does the council have And is the council then

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Speaker 1: going to have to slug rate payers to make up

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Speaker 1: for the shortfall?

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Speaker 2: Well, as I said, really there's obviously some illegal redress

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Speaker 2: that we could take. We could cut off the services,

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Speaker 2: but it's not only the airport. You know, these major businesses,

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Speaker 2: they're like bummies that they're the competitive advantage to other

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Speaker 2: businesses doing similar trade in Darwin, that you've got this

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Speaker 2: massive national company that doesn't pay rateship, but small retailer

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Speaker 2: down the road has to.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so they're not as far as you know,

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Speaker 1: they're not charging they're not charging some of those big retailers'

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Speaker 1: rates either or not sort of you know, making the shortfall.

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Speaker 2: I would hope they're not because if they know in

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Speaker 2: the past they have charged to rate equivalent and that

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Speaker 2: bowarded onto the council. I would hope they're not charging

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Speaker 2: those big companies or those tenants the rates and then

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Speaker 2: they're parkeeting them.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Has the company, like has the Airport Development Group

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Speaker 1: made any payments at all in recent years?

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Speaker 2: I think Alan, you know I'm not right across the

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Speaker 2: close detail of it. No door should I be in that.

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Speaker 2: You know, generally I would know who pays on in

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Speaker 2: rates and not in tiring today that the same that

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Speaker 2: this has come out because you know, we need needing

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Speaker 2: to take legal action. Yeah, and they are a big

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Speaker 2: company and they're not as if it's a private individual

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Speaker 2: rate payer falling on hard times.

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Speaker 3: So just to go.

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Speaker 1: Back to as well, you know, the the on charging

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Speaker 1: to their tenants. So you're not aware if they are

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Speaker 1: on charging rates to their tenants at this.

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Speaker 2: Point, I'm not aware of what they're doing. Yeah, the

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Speaker 2: way they're finding that out, whether they're charging say, Bumming's

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Speaker 2: rates and and the trowsering it, so to speak, or

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Speaker 2: whether they decided not to charge and rates and help

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Speaker 2: fundings with their competitiveness against a lot of small family businesses.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, Mick, I've no doubt there will be people

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Speaker 1: listening this morning that are probably feeling a bit furious

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Speaker 1: actually upon hearing this, because they'll be thinking, well, I've

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Speaker 1: got to pay bloody rates, you know, I've got to

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Speaker 1: make sure I'm doing the right thing. Why are they

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Speaker 1: you know, why are we in a situation where where

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest organizations in the territory isn't.

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Speaker 2: Well that's right. I mean it's extremely unfair, especially in

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Speaker 2: an organizations like the airport, but in the commercial sense

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Speaker 2: virtually rates and villages in all territories when then they

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Speaker 2: want to travel.

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Speaker 1: So where are things that now in terms of negotiations

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Speaker 1: between the Airport Development Group and the council.

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Speaker 2: I don't know that they have well, I don't think

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Speaker 2: they have been talking. As of late, the Airport Development

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Speaker 2: Group decided that they're not going to pay it.

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, I'll be interested to see where

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Speaker 1: this all lands, how like how a counselors feeling about it?

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Speaker 1: I mean, is there like, are there are there sort

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Speaker 1: of plans from the council's perspective to try and I

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Speaker 1: don't know, to try and and and sort of force

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Speaker 1: them into it.

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Speaker 2: If the option was to cut off access to the dump,

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Speaker 2: I would think that would get a very very large

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Speaker 2: support from the other councilors.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right, do you reckon that?

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Speaker 1: Like? Would the Airport Development Group be using the dump

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Speaker 1: quite often?

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Speaker 2: Make this hotels? You know, there's the outlets, the food outlets,

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Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera. There is you know, I should

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Speaker 2: imagine bunnies have a bit of waste. They have to

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Speaker 2: get a bit of almost on a daily basis. The

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Speaker 2: service stations, the childcare centers, there's officers, the you know,

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Speaker 2: casher and the federal police officers, the office waste, food

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Speaker 2: waste be generated. So I should imagine there'd be a

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Speaker 2: stangile amount of waste and to take free advantage of

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Speaker 2: that to speak, is there probably not fair.

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Speaker 1: Well, So, Mick, I'm fascinated to see where this all lands.

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Speaker 1: When's the next meeting and when will you guys sort

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Speaker 1: of discuss whether you do cut off access to the

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Speaker 1: dump the.

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Speaker 2: Next meeting council is about the twenty thirsd or twenty second.

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Speaker 1: Twenty first or twenty second door, that's all right, twenty

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Speaker 1: first or twenty second of May.

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Speaker 3: So a little while away.

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Speaker 1: Well, I suppose this is the council sort of putting

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Speaker 1: them on.

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Speaker 3: Noticed by the sounds of it.

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Speaker 2: Meck oh, so I don't know this council putting on

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Speaker 2: a noticement. Don't be putting on notice and I will

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Speaker 2: you know, I'll move to the nine. Access to the

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Speaker 2: dump is also the issue of storm order. You know

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Speaker 2: they discharge storm orter do our our system? Yeah, right,

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Speaker 2: and so to discharge it back into.

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Speaker 1: These and so if they I mean the if the

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Speaker 1: council did cut off the access to the dump. Also

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Speaker 1: you know the storm water being able to you know,

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Speaker 1: to drain that storm water, what impact do you reckon

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Speaker 1: it would have on them?

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Speaker 2: Well that they'd have to find that, have to you know,

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Speaker 2: there's no alternative but to dump use that dump on

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Speaker 2: the they'd have to go the e p A seriously

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Speaker 2: and get another dump approved. Yeah, they'd have to put

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Speaker 2: in our cells, which take about it probably to construct

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Speaker 2: well over millions of dollars per sell of course of

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Speaker 2: these days, and you've got to put in a bad

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Speaker 2: lead shape treatment system that goes on and on and

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Speaker 2: let's let's you know, that's all I'm really annoyed with.

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Speaker 2: On the right pace. Over the years have subsidized the

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Speaker 2: construction of this these facilities. In no way is the

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Speaker 2: cost recouped by your annualized dump fee and charges you know, attributed.

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Speaker 2: You got to go a payoff that thing. We need

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Speaker 2: to put reserves aside because when the dump shuts eventually,

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Speaker 2: we need to have money there to do a reinstatement process,

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Speaker 2: you know, and then indeed open the news facility. So

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Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of costs involved in a

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Speaker 2: lot of long term costs and a lot of subsidies

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Speaker 2: that the ratepayers have afforded the management of the dump,

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Speaker 2: afforded the infrastructure of the dump too. So we can

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Speaker 2: go ahead and provide this which is a wonderful facility

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Speaker 2: in terms of its its environmental controls, and actually take

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Speaker 2: management systems and it really is. It's it's a credit

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Speaker 2: to those people that organize it and staff and manage

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Speaker 2: it and plan for it. Is the airport corporation decided

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Speaker 2: to take advantage of all that for nothing. And if

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Speaker 2: I was to walk through the airport decided to get

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Speaker 2: on a plane without paying my.

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Speaker 1: Airport that mat you wouldn't get very far, that's for sure. Mick. Well, look,

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Speaker 1: I you know, I always think with this kind of thing,

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Speaker 1: it's it's all about fairness in my opinion. And if

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Speaker 1: other businesses, other corporations, other entities are having to pay

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Speaker 1: their rates to utilize all of those facilities, and I

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Speaker 1: don't see why it shouldn't be the same situation for

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Speaker 1: the Airport Development Group. And and look, we'll try to

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Speaker 1: seek some kind of response for them from them to

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Speaker 1: find out why they sort of feel as though they

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Speaker 1: shouldn't have to pay those rates. But I think for

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Speaker 1: a lot of people listening, they'll be thinking, We'll hang

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Speaker 1: on a second. You know, why do I have to

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Speaker 1: pay my rates if they're not paying theirs.

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Speaker 2: It's Katie, it's just a simple matter of equity.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's what it seems anyway, Mick Palmer. Good

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Speaker 1: to speak to you this morning. I always appreciate your time.

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Speaker 2: No worries don't bring me up enough.

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Speaker 1: Oh well, Mick, you know we'll We'll talk to you

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Speaker 1: again soon, I'm sure.

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Speaker 3: Thanks mate, Thank you a dress