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Speaker 1: Now it's time for a big shakeup of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Electoral Commission and the democratic process in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Those are the words of Robin Lamley, the Independent Member

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Speaker 1: Forarara lun after the NT Electoral Commission confirmed on Friday

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Speaker 1: that the twenty twenty three NT electoral boundary redistribution would

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Speaker 1: be delayed. In a statement, the Electoral Commission confirmed that

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Speaker 1: the final report for the twenty twenty three NT electoral

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Speaker 1: boundary Redistribution, which was scheduled for release this month, has

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Speaker 1: been delayed due to an administrative oversight. The oversight relates

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Speaker 1: to notices for the redistribution process not being gazetted as

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Speaker 1: required under section one hundred and thirty seven of the

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Speaker 1: Electoral Act of two thousand and four. Now, legal advice

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Speaker 1: provided by the Solicitor for the Northern Territory confirmed the

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Speaker 1: redistribution process must begin again for the redistribution to be lawful.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is Robin Lamley, the

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Speaker 1: Member four Gara lun Hi.

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Speaker 2: Robin, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Robin, the process was due to be finalized later

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Speaker 1: these months. What do you make of this delay?

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Speaker 2: Well, this is startling really, this process only happens every

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Speaker 2: four years, always twelve to eighteen months out from a

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory general election, and the next one, of course

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Speaker 2: is in August twenty twenty four. So this process started

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Speaker 2: seven months ago. It takes seven months, or it has

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Speaker 2: taken seven months. And to hear the news on Friday

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Speaker 2: afternoon that they've bungled it, messed it up and the

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Speaker 2: whole thing has to start again is just gobsmacking really,

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Speaker 2: and to me it's a sign of bigger problems in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory Electoral Commission, Katie. They've been struggling on

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Speaker 2: a very tight and minimal budget for a long time.

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Speaker 2: They've cut their services. We've seen very very low go

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Speaker 2: to turnout in pretty much all elections over the last three,

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Speaker 2: four or five years. And to top it off, they're

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Speaker 2: now not being able to execute a process which is

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Speaker 2: very very clear it's a legal process. It says to

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Speaker 2: me that there's problems and it's not just about the

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Speaker 2: staff that are in the end to the Electoral Commission.

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Speaker 2: It's about the Northern Territory government, I think failing to

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Speaker 2: really back and support democracy in the Northern Territory. I

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Speaker 2: think it's a huge issue, Katie, the huge issue.

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Speaker 1: We have put in a request to see if we're

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Speaker 1: able to get the Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner on the

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Speaker 1: show for tomorrow morning, so we'll certainly follow that up, Robin.

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Speaker 1: You know, there's going to be a lot of people

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Speaker 1: listening this morning whose eyes might be glazing over a

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Speaker 1: little bit as they think about a boundary redistribution and

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Speaker 1: kind of thinking to themselves, well, what does this even

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Speaker 1: mean to me? Yeah, of course, why is this such

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Speaker 1: a concern.

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Speaker 2: So boundaries are very important to politicians because it's about

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Speaker 2: who your voters are and where they're located. So every

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Speaker 2: four years the Electoral Commission undertakes this really in depth

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Speaker 2: and controversial process of looking at the number of voters

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Speaker 2: and where they are and the boundaries, and it's all

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Speaker 2: about how many who is enrolled to vote and where

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Speaker 2: they live. And sometimes this redistribution process can mean electorates

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Speaker 2: can change profoundly, almost completely in some cases in the past.

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Speaker 2: So in my case in Ala Springs, they've just about

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Speaker 2: completed the process that they've bungled up and their recommendation

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Speaker 2: was to not change it. But I know that some

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Speaker 2: seats in Darwin, and I can't even name them because

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Speaker 2: I don't much notice of what's going on up there

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Speaker 2: as long as they leave me alone. But I know

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Speaker 2: that there's for example, Malka, not your Norlan boy. They've

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Speaker 2: recommended profound changes to that electorate and given now that

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Speaker 2: they have to start the whole process again of looking

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Speaker 2: at this, and it's really high level. You've got the

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Speaker 2: Order to General on the committee, the Electoral Commissioner Ian Logan,

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Speaker 2: Ethan the Surveyor General, and the chair is a judge.

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Speaker 2: So it's very high level, very controversial, and they have

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Speaker 2: to start the whole process again. So we're looking at

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Speaker 2: possibly not knowing where the electoral boundaries will fit prior

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Speaker 2: to the next election, up until maybe even March if

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Speaker 2: it takes another seven months. So this is I know

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Speaker 2: you're right. Most people are probably thinking what's she on about?

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Speaker 2: But this is politically very very important and it should

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Speaker 2: be important for most territories in terms of where they sit,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: Knowing who they're voting for, to knowing which which are

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Speaker 1: lecture they're actually falling into.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, one day you could be an the electorate of

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Speaker 2: song Limb and the next the next day it could

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Speaker 2: be Fanny Bay for example. So although it's sort of

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Speaker 2: all very high level of bureaucratic, it does affect us

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Speaker 2: all and the fact that people aren't voting. I mean,

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Speaker 2: up in Darwin you had that recent local government by

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Speaker 2: election with the voter turn that was less than fifty percent.

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Speaker 2: I mean, this all tells a story of problems within

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Speaker 2: the Electoral Commission and problems with our democratic process.

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Speaker 1: Robin, do you think that there needs to do? You

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Speaker 1: think they need additional funding, What do you think needs

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Speaker 1: to happen here?

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Speaker 2: Well, in estimates in June, which is the two weeks

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Speaker 2: that we have to pick the brains out of ministers

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Speaker 2: and senior bureaucrats, we were told this year and last

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Speaker 2: year by Ian Logernathan that they don't have the funds

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Speaker 2: to do what they need to do. Basically in Alice

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Speaker 2: Rings they shut the Electoral Commission shopfront about three years ago,

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Speaker 2: and we don't have a permanent presence of the Electoral

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Speaker 2: Commission in Central Australia at all anymore. So you know

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Speaker 2: you have to extrapolate and say, well, maybe that's the

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Speaker 2: reason why a lot of people aren't voting because they

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Speaker 2: don't think about it. The Electoral Commission is really stretched

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Speaker 2: and pressed to do what they need to do in

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Speaker 2: terms of getting people to enroll, and people just aren't enrolling.

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Speaker 2: I mean, in the last federal election, Lingiari, which is

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Speaker 2: a massive electorate, had the lowest voter turnout in the country.

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Speaker 2: So you know, they've bungled this electoral redistribution process which

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Speaker 2: could take another seven months. But there's all sorts of

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Speaker 2: other problems Katie, within our voting system, our electoral system,

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Speaker 2: which need to be looked at, and I think it's

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Speaker 2: of national interest. I think it's something. You know, we're

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Speaker 2: looking at a referendum in a couple of weeks for

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Speaker 2: giving Aboriginal people of voice, and we know, and we've

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Speaker 2: known for years that Aboriginal people aren't voting. So it's

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Speaker 2: all a part of a pretty grim picture. And I

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Speaker 2: think it's time to have an independent inquiry and a

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Speaker 2: shakeup into what's happening in this space, because if you

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Speaker 2: can't even conduct an electoral redistribution process that only happens

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Speaker 2: four years correctly. I think these guys, these people, this

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Speaker 2: agency anti government agency is under enormous pressure and this

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Speaker 2: is just a reflection I think of bigger problems.

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Speaker 1: So Robin, you reckon there needs to be an independent

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Speaker 1: inquiry into the Northern Territory Electoral Commission following on from

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Speaker 1: what's happened.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think for me, I've been observing there in

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Speaker 2: logger eate and cops my questions in estimates every year.

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Speaker 2: Electoral commissioner, he's been in that job for many years now.

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Speaker 2: He cops the same sort of questions from me every

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Speaker 2: year in budget estimates and whenever I can get here

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Speaker 2: at other times about what the hell is going on?

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Speaker 2: You know, we don't have a presence in Central Australia.

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Speaker 2: People aren't voting. This is very very clear. It's not changing,

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Speaker 2: it's probably getting worse. And now on top of it,

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Speaker 2: we hear that you've bungled this very very controversial and

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Speaker 2: important process. Well, times are well, we need to have

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Speaker 2: a look at this. And I think it's very interesting,

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Speaker 2: Katie that not many other politicians are talking about this.

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Speaker 2: Why isn't the opposition coming out and slamming this and

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Speaker 2: drawing the conclusions I'm drawing. I just un bewildered. I

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Speaker 2: think it's just it's such a big issue democracy in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. We need to be talking about it, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Well, Robin, we will make sure we certainly, Like I say,

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Speaker 1: we've put in a request to have the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: Electoral Commissioner on the show tomorrow, and I do think

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Speaker 1: it is certainly something worth talking about. Before I let

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Speaker 1: you go though, this morning, I do want to just

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Speaker 1: ask you about a couple of things. Firstly, we know

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Speaker 1: that there was a fatality in Alice Springs overnight. Is

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Speaker 1: there much further detail that you have at this point?

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Speaker 1: As I understand, it was a pedestrian who was killed

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Speaker 1: in a crash outside the hospital.

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Speaker 2: It is, Katie, and I haven't been able to extract

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Speaker 2: much more information than what you've just said. A woman

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Speaker 2: was killed at around nine o'clock last night outside the hospital.

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Speaker 2: I guess what was eerie for me and a lot

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Speaker 2: of locals hearing this is that a couple of years ago,

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Speaker 2: outside the hospital, a woman was run over by a car.

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Speaker 2: That car was driven by her partner. So it's just

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Speaker 2: a bit eerie and uncomfortable and tragic that we now

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Speaker 2: have a second person killed within meetings of this other

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Speaker 2: woman that was killed out the front of the hospital

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Speaker 2: a few years years ago. So you know, it's just

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Speaker 2: it just rolls on down here, Katie. What happened? I mean,

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Speaker 2: why was this woman bowled over by a car last night?

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Speaker 2: We don't know, and the police will get to the

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Speaker 2: bottom of it. But I just hope it's not a

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Speaker 2: similar scenario to what we saw unfolded a few years ago.

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Speaker 1: I certainly hope so as well.

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Speaker 2: Rabunja her name was. She was a local Aboriginal woman

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Speaker 2: in Alice Springs and that's been the center of a

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Speaker 2: controversial coronial in quest. As you know, women dying at

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Speaker 2: the hands of their partners through domestic violence. I just

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Speaker 2: hope it's not a scenario like that. It probably isn't,

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Speaker 2: but you know, just sort of run a bell, same location,

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Speaker 2: almost exactly the same location.

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Speaker 1: Well, again, we will try and keep our listeners up

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Speaker 1: to date with any of that info. Robin. One last

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Speaker 1: thing before I let you go. We also know that

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Speaker 1: the Chief Minister is currently over in the US on

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Speaker 1: that trip with one staff member to the cost of

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Speaker 1: the taxpayer at ninety two thousand dollars, meeting with defense

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Speaker 1: officials and various other meetings. Now, we also learned yesterday

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Speaker 1: through questioning that I'd put to the Deputy Chief ministeron

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Speaker 1: Nicole Madison that additional public servants are also on that trip.

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Speaker 1: It has now been confirmed it was two additional public servants.

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Speaker 1: We've not been able to find out to what cost

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Speaker 1: at this point in time. I mean public do our

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Speaker 1: politicians need to be more open and transparent here about

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Speaker 1: who's going on these trips and how much they're costing.

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Speaker 2: Well, if they're not, they run the risk of it

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Speaker 2: all coming out at some stage and then looking like

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Speaker 2: they've tried to hide it. The best policy when you're

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Speaker 2: in government is to be as upfront and as honest

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Speaker 2: as you can about pretty much everything, well about everything,

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Speaker 2: So if they're not giving the full details, then you

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Speaker 2: know they're just being playing stupid. Look. I don't have

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Speaker 2: a problem with ministers traveling overseas if it's in the

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Speaker 2: best interest of the Northern Territory, and these days it

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Speaker 2: costs a lot of money. I was a minister for

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Speaker 2: a couple of years in the former Colp government. I

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Speaker 2: did a bit of traveling and you know it's come

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Speaker 2: back to bite me on me on the bum because

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Speaker 2: it's been spun in a way that made it look

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Speaker 2: like it was futile and self indulgent in all the

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Speaker 2: rest of it. These things are usually only about work

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Speaker 2: and they cost money, and you don't go because you

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Speaker 2: on a holiday. You go because there's some particular reason

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Speaker 2: or you know, it's for the greater good of the

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Speaker 2: Northern territory. So whilst I'm reluctant to defend display your

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Speaker 2: ministers traveling, I get the fact that they had to.

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Speaker 2: But I think it's a bit rich when they turn

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Speaker 2: around then and criticize the former Celpa government for going

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Speaker 2: on similar trips to what they're doing now. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I you know, years ago, I went on a trip

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Speaker 2: to Singapore. It was about tourism and horse racing, and

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Speaker 2: it coincided with the Singapore Cup, which was a part

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Speaker 2: of the whole sort of meeting schedule. I went on

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Speaker 2: a trip around multiple hospitals and that costs in the

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Speaker 2: range of almost ten thousand dollars at the time. I

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Speaker 2: read that Eva Laula went on a three day trip

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Speaker 2: to Singapore and it cost forty six thousand dollars recently,

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Speaker 2: so you know, I've been. I was absolutely hauled over

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Speaker 2: the coals and continue to be for that trip years ago,

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Speaker 2: over ten years ago. Whereas I read about evil Lula

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Speaker 2: going on her trip and I thought, well, that's what

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Speaker 2: it costs. She would have gone for business purposes, not

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Speaker 2: because she wanted to spend three or four days in Singapore. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, whilst I understand why these things happen, I

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Speaker 2: don't accept the fact that people turn around and then

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Speaker 2: throw stones at other people doing the same thing years ago.

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Speaker 2: You have to travel when you're a minister. It is

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Speaker 2: in the best interest of the Northern Territory that you

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Speaker 2: have strong international relationships and that's all there is to it.

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Speaker 2: But do try and hide it, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's exactly right. Be honest and upfront right

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Speaker 1: from the get go. Robin Lamley, the Independent member Ferrara

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Speaker 1: Lum will leave it there for this morning. Good to

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Speaker 1: speak with you. Thanks so much for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you