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Speaker 1: Now let me take an absolute change of pace because

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Speaker 1: we had some fantastic news late yesterday that for the

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Speaker 1: first time in eight years, international hockey is coming back

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Speaker 1: to the top end. Joining me on the line is

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Speaker 1: Hockey nt CEO Jason Butcher. Good morning to you, Hi,

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Speaker 1: How are you yeah? Really good?

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Speaker 2: Now?

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Speaker 1: The Oceania Cup it's expected to deliver well a thrilling

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Speaker 1: spectacle as the national sides take part in the best

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Speaker 1: of three test match series. Tell me a little bit

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Speaker 1: more about it, Butch, and how big a coop this

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Speaker 1: is for the Northern Territory, Hi.

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Speaker 2: It's massive. We're talking about the most significant hockey event

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Speaker 2: that we have ever hosted in the Northern Territory. World

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Speaker 2: Cup qualifiers, two powerhouses in world hockey obviously our very

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Speaker 2: own coooker Barros and hockey Rows and playing the black

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Speaker 2: sticks our cross transmit rivals. So it's going to be amazing.

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Speaker 1: It will be amazing. So talk us through. So who

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Speaker 1: exactly are we expecting to see play and how many matches?

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Speaker 2: So it's the best of three test matches for both

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Speaker 2: the men and the women first week of September. I

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Speaker 2: think it's going to be on Thursday, the fourth and

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Speaker 2: then the Saturday and the Sunday, so a week of

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Speaker 2: pretty intense hockey at the MWt Hockey Center, which obviously

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Speaker 2: leads into World Cup, yeah, selection qualification, and we also have,

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Speaker 2: because of Oceania, the potential for emerging nations like Popu,

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Speaker 2: New Guinea, Fiji, some of these nations to attend as well,

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Speaker 2: which will be very exciting for local community.

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Speaker 1: It is wonderful. It's going to be fantastic for the

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Speaker 1: local community. And I would imagine that there's been quite

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Speaker 1: a bit of work happening behind the scenes to get

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Speaker 1: this moving.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we had amazing sort of collaboration with MT MECH

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Speaker 2: and also MT Government and we've been working through this

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Speaker 2: with Hockey Australia and the Oceanic Hockey Federation, so lots

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Speaker 2: of key stakeholders and all very keen to bring international

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Speaker 2: hockey back to Darwin. And I also, you know, it's

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Speaker 2: a bit of a testament to the work done by

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Speaker 2: our community over the last two years to start making

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Speaker 2: hockey strong again. So it's a tick of approval and confidence, I.

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Speaker 1: Guess, and you touched on the fact that it is

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Speaker 1: obviously going to it's going to play a big pivotal

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Speaker 1: role in determining qualification as well from what I can

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Speaker 1: gather for the twenty twenty six fih Hockey World Cup

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Speaker 1: set to be held in Belgium and the Netherlands, talk

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Speaker 1: us through how that's going to work and just how

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Speaker 1: pivotal these matches are going to be.

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Speaker 2: Well. Essentially, the winner takes that allocated spot from Oceania

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Speaker 2: and then the loser has to travel around the world

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Speaker 2: in repcharge competitions trying to fight their way back in

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Speaker 2: through the back door to earn the right. So big,

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Speaker 2: big prize at stake.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it most certainly is. It's a massive price, one

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Speaker 1: that anybody in sport would be absolutely frothing to to get. Now,

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Speaker 1: tell me, in terms of where they're playing, they're obviously

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Speaker 1: the matches are going to be at out there at

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Speaker 1: Marara on the hockey Fields.

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Speaker 2: Yep, mw T Hockey Center, home home of hockey in

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory, So the fixtures will be there, and yeah,

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Speaker 2: we'll right in the middle of our local community and

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Speaker 2: then obviously interstate, international visitors and a lot of people

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Speaker 2: coming in into our backyard to see this spectacle.

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Speaker 1: Now, you know, in terms of the development of hockey,

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Speaker 1: and I know this is something you've been working really

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Speaker 1: hard on. But in terms of sort of young Territorians

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Speaker 1: being able to see hockey played at you know, they're

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Speaker 1: at Marra on the on you know, the area that

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Speaker 1: they usually play. How important is it, you know when

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Speaker 1: you look at at at you know, sort of seeing

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Speaker 1: the opportunity that you can that you can have in

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Speaker 1: the sport.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're really big as you know on aspiration and

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Speaker 2: opportunity and that's part of you know, the work we've

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Speaker 2: been doing to get into the Malaysian Hockey League, so

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Speaker 2: obviously announcement around that earlier in the week as well

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Speaker 2: our four year partnership with them. Novaperis said this at

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Speaker 2: the press conference yesterday. You can't be what you can't see,

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Speaker 2: and so to have the best in the world in

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Speaker 2: our backyard, showcasing what hockey can look like and making

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Speaker 2: it real for our kids is really powerful. And you know,

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Speaker 2: also we're hopeful that Jeremy Hayward gets selected. We sure,

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Speaker 2: we're sure he will. And then Leon Heyward, his brother

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Speaker 2: who's got a dual citizenship, who plays for the Black Fix.

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Speaker 2: They can juke it out in front of their family

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Speaker 2: and friends and we can see the next group of

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Speaker 2: emerging Australian stars on our backyard as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it'll be fantastic. Hey, talk us through because you

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Speaker 1: and I have discussed previously the Malaysian Hockey League and

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Speaker 1: going down that path. So what happened earlier in.

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Speaker 2: The week, so we obviously had the one year invite

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Speaker 2: which is a starting point for us to go and

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Speaker 2: play in Malaysia February next starting February next year, and

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Speaker 2: we're in KL for a week working through the lotistics

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Speaker 2: of that, and what has now come from that is

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Speaker 2: that we have a four year partnership. There's some other

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Speaker 2: things around cross cultural awareness and education and things that

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Speaker 2: our players will do in Malaysia and vice versa when

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Speaker 2: Malaysia come here. We're still working through potential home games.

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Speaker 2: And the other thing that we've discussed, which is in

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Speaker 2: the agreement with SIGN, is that over this period of

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Speaker 2: this four years, will work together to put in place

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Speaker 2: of joint submission to get back into Hockey one. So

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Speaker 2: that obviously gives us stronger capacity and builds our relationship

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Speaker 2: with Malaysia and Southeast Asia, which is something that's important

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Speaker 2: to the Northern Territory. As a whole as well, So

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Speaker 2: we think, you know, going forward, how we build that

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Speaker 2: together is really going to consolidate our place in the

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Speaker 2: Oceanic and Southeast Asia region and make us stronger in

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Speaker 2: Australian hockey as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. Look, I think it's I think it's

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Speaker 1: really good and I love the way that Territorian is

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Speaker 1: obviously embrace sport. But what I can see and I

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Speaker 1: am at Marara, is that certainly when you talk about

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Speaker 1: junior hockey, there seems to be a huge uptick and

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Speaker 1: there seems to be a lot of kids playing hockey.

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Speaker 1: It's a great sport. I think it's wonderful, you know,

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Speaker 1: no matter what sport Territorians choose, but it is really

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Speaker 1: good to see the large numbers that you guys seem

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Speaker 1: to have at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this year has been a really strong year for us.

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Speaker 2: From under twelve so tens under eight, under six is

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Speaker 2: all those grades has twenty six percent growth. So we're

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Speaker 2: the second strongest state or territory in Australia from a

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Speaker 2: hockey perspective with our junior growth, which is a really

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Speaker 2: big tick for all the work done by our community,

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Speaker 2: and you know that's going to remain a focus, the

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Speaker 2: aspirational piece of the Stingers and all the other things

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Speaker 2: we're doing are related to providing better opportunities for our

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Speaker 2: future generations and an environment that they can belong to

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Speaker 2: and love being a part of, which is hopefully going

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Speaker 2: to enrich their whole lives.

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Speaker 1: And look, I know that at the moment as well,

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Speaker 1: there's some work happening across the board into terms of

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Speaker 1: the future plans for Maurra as a whole, as a

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Speaker 1: big sporting venue. Have we got the infrastructure that we

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Speaker 1: need when it comes to hockey or do you think

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Speaker 1: that there needs to be a bit more put into

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Speaker 1: the infrastructure.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, we have the bare bones and we're involved

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Speaker 2: in conversations with government at all levels our facility. The

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Speaker 2: reality is our facility is forty years old and we're

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Speaker 2: going to need some government support for the Oceana Cups

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Speaker 2: to upgrade some things and then long term, obviously a

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Speaker 2: forty year facility, forty year old facility need some work

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Speaker 2: and we're probably behind in some of those areas, so

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Speaker 2: certainly from a hockey perspective, there's going to have to

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Speaker 2: be some support to an investment in getting that up

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Speaker 2: to speed in the long term.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I know most people that listen to the show,

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Speaker 1: I would know that I'm a big supporter of investment

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Speaker 1: into sport, particularly when you look at it at that

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Speaker 1: grassroots level and what it can then mean in terms

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Speaker 1: of even bringing further further involvement in the sport and

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Speaker 1: bringing international players what we've spoken about this morning to

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory. But I just think, you know, Marara

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Speaker 1: is a fantastic venue in the sense that everything's already there.

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Speaker 1: If we can invest, you know, a bit further in

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Speaker 1: all the different sports, and I know it's easier said

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Speaker 1: than done, that does cost a lot of money, But

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Speaker 1: then when you look at the different carnivals and the

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Speaker 1: different things that you know can have happening in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory, surely you know that investment is worthwhile.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I'm biased, but I think sport is one

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Speaker 2: of the vehicles that can help with the social change

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Speaker 2: we're all looking for. The different conversations you've already had

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Speaker 2: this morning, give kids a sense of purpose, something to

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Speaker 2: belong to, a place where they have great mentors and

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Speaker 2: great things to be involved in. So I think sport

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Speaker 2: is and always has been one of the answers for

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Speaker 2: our society and our community, and certainly from a hockey perspective,

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Speaker 2: we haven't an extraordinary heritage and story which we'd probably

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Speaker 2: let slip as a collective in recent times and over

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Speaker 2: the last two years, we've been working hard to rebuild

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Speaker 2: the strength in hockey and the health of hockey, and

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Speaker 2: I guess to earn the right to have conversations to

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Speaker 2: get the increased support that we need. You know, we

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Speaker 2: need support for the Malaysian Hockey League, we need support

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Speaker 2: with our facility, and we're having conversations with that. So

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Speaker 2: what I would say to our corporate community and our

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Speaker 2: company is get on board because we're doing this for

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Speaker 2: our kids.

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Speaker 1: Hey, botch, before I let you go, big call earlier

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Speaker 1: in the week by Brooke Peris to retire from international hockey.

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Speaker 1: She has had an illustrious career, hasn't she.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that's an amazing ambassador for territory sport Hockey Australia,

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Speaker 2: you know, our indigenous representation. She's an amazing person and

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Speaker 2: some you know, a career that we're extremely proud of

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Speaker 2: and grateful for. But yeah, she's she's done a lot.

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Speaker 2: Two hundred and forty odd caps, and she's obviously decided

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Speaker 2: that she's got other things to do with it in

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Speaker 2: her life, and we're looking forward to what that represents,

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Speaker 2: because I've got no doubt she's going to contribute to society,

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Speaker 2: society in a significant way going forward.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good on her. Well Hockey and CEO Jason Butcher,

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Speaker 1: good to speak with you this morning. Thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you,