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Speaker 1: But a bit of a change of pace. We know

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Speaker 1: that the territory territory tourism set to head into well,

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Speaker 1: hopefully a pretty exciting high season since the start of

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Speaker 1: the pandemic, and the government have announced it as part

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Speaker 1: of the budget for twenty twenty two they are going

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Speaker 1: to be investing eighty six point four million dollars into

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territories tourism and event sector.

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Speaker 2: And joining me on the line.

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Speaker 1: Right now is the Minister for Tourism and also Health,

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Speaker 1: Natasha Files.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to.

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Speaker 3: You, Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister eighty six point four million dollars into tourism

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Speaker 1: and the event sector. We know it is an extra

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Speaker 1: fourteen point two million for direct tourism marketing over the

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Speaker 1: next twelve months. Who are we going to be trying

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Speaker 1: to entice to the territory, So, Katie.

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Speaker 3: Tourism and hospitality. We're particularly hard hit through COVID as

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Speaker 3: we know, and looking like it's looking like we're going

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Speaker 3: to have a bumper dry season and we want to

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Speaker 3: see that continue through. We want to see the opportunity

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Speaker 3: for tourism and hospitality year round. So teen million dollars

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Speaker 3: for tourism marketing over the next twelve months. This will

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Speaker 3: be both domestically and internationally. We know the Northern Territory

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Speaker 3: is a bucket list destination. People know about the territory,

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Speaker 3: they want to come here, and so in that post

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Speaker 3: COVID world where people are traveling, we want the Northern

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Speaker 3: Territory to be at the fore of their mind.

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Speaker 1: Now. One of the issues that a lot of people

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Speaker 1: seem to be quite concerned about it at the moment,

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Speaker 1: whether it's hospitality, other small businesses, tourism, is being able

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Speaker 1: to find staff to fill these different roles. I understand

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Speaker 1: that one point three million dollars is going to be

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Speaker 1: invested in an effort to attract and retain tourism workforce.

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Speaker 2: How are you going to get them here?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie. So it's gone from the industry being devastated

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Speaker 3: just a year or so ago to having so many

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Speaker 3: people here, but how do we cater for them? And

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Speaker 3: so we have put a number of packages where we're encouraging,

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Speaker 3: both domestically and internationally for people to come and work

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Speaker 3: in the territory. So we are supporting businesses we're attracting,

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Speaker 3: where we're putting in place packages where people get some

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Speaker 3: tourism bound they get incentives to come here to the territory.

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Speaker 3: One of the other initiatives that we're putting in place, Katie,

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Speaker 3: is that we're linking together the international marketing by study

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Speaker 3: and tea and business events. We know that the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 3: you know, for international higher education is is a really

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Speaker 3: great choice and we have a number of international students

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Speaker 3: and it's an area that we want to grow. But

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Speaker 3: they also provide a great workforce while they're here for

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Speaker 3: those three or four years studying. So these are some

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Speaker 3: of the programs that this budget will link together and fund.

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Speaker 1: So what are some of these incentives, because presumably we're

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Speaker 1: going to be competing against other locations around Australia.

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Speaker 2: I mean, just a month or so back.

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Speaker 1: We were reporting on a barista in Kanana, No in Broom.

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Speaker 1: They're going to be paying ninety thousand dollars a year there.

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Speaker 1: You know some of the things that we're competing with

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Speaker 1: at this point, what kind of incentives are you offering?

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Speaker 3: So it's making sure that people understand the opportunities here

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Speaker 3: in the territory. And then, as I said, we've had

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Speaker 3: some worksday play packages where we've put together some monetary

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Speaker 3: incentives to attract people to the territory, to make it

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Speaker 3: a little easier to come to us, and that they

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Speaker 3: feel that those incentives get them here. We know once

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Speaker 3: they're here they fall in love with the lifestyle and

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Speaker 3: the work opportunities. And we'll continue to work with industry

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Speaker 3: around these incentives. So the budget has this funding going

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Speaker 3: forward to attract and retain that tourism and hospitality workforce.

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Speaker 1: Are you concerned about workforce shortages going into the dry season? Certainly?

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Speaker 3: The message I'm hearing from industry is that they it's

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Speaker 3: almost that they've gone from being you know, completely stopped

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Speaker 3: to high speed very quickly as we see both the

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Speaker 3: dry season and that peak tourism season realign with international

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Speaker 3: borders opening. So it is a concern for industry, and

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Speaker 3: we've been working with them for some time and will

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Speaker 3: continue to do so, and this budget will deliver for that.

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Speaker 2: All right, So do you reckon that's going to be

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Speaker 2: enough that one point three million?

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Speaker 1: And how successful have like some of those works stay

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Speaker 1: play packages been so far.

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Speaker 3: So we'll continue to listen to industry. They're the ones

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Speaker 3: with the ideas, and this provides an opportunity to fund

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Speaker 3: those and it's about working together. It's not going to

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Speaker 3: cover everything, but it's about ensuring that some of those

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Speaker 3: initiatives that can attract people can be funded.

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Speaker 1: All Right. Some of the other money that is going

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Speaker 1: to be invested is, as you've touched on obviously, the

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Speaker 1: international marketing to study and NT business events. But we

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Speaker 1: also know there's going to be one point nine million

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Speaker 1: to support the implementation of the NT Aboriginal Tourism Strategy

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Speaker 1: for twenty twenty to twenty thirty.

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Speaker 2: What does that mean?

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, we know that research in the tourism space

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Speaker 3: shows us that eighty percent of visitors to the territory

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Speaker 3: would like an Aboriginal tourism experience, so we want to

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Speaker 3: work with local Aboriginal businesses to provide that. So they

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Speaker 3: want a culturally appropriate, authentic experience whilst they're here. And

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Speaker 3: so we've done destination management plans for the different regions

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Speaker 3: of the territory and we've also done an Aboriginal Tourism

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Speaker 3: strategy so that we can fulfill the wishes of those visitors.

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Speaker 3: So this will work through to see that implemented and

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Speaker 3: some of these events, some of these offerings that are

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Speaker 3: in very remote parts, so we need to provide some

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Speaker 3: support to get them started. So that's what that is for.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about parliament resuming tomorrow. It's going

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Speaker 1: to be an interesting week. We know that the budget's

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Speaker 1: being handed down, a few sweeteners obviously announced as we've

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Speaker 1: just spoken about, and some clarity around some of the

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Speaker 1: budgets for different departments. How is it all sort of

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Speaker 1: going to work this week? Is it tomorrow that the

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Speaker 1: budget gets handed down?

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Speaker 3: Correct, Katie? The Chief Minister and Treasurer Michael Gunner will

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Speaker 3: deliver the budget at ten am tomorrow. The Parliament then

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Speaker 3: adjourns and then we will see the debate of that

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Speaker 3: introductory bill. So a number of members I anticipate will speak.

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Speaker 3: They'll speak through tomorrow. Then tradition is that the Leader

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Speaker 3: of the Opposition would speak at ten am on Wednesday

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Speaker 3: and then the opposition members speak after that. So you'll

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Speaker 3: see the budget, but you'll also see a number of

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Speaker 3: pieces of legislation. Katie debated this parliamentary sittings whilst we

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Speaker 3: also have that budget introduced, which then goes off to

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Speaker 3: the Parliamentary Estimates through June and comes back to pass

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Speaker 3: it before July.

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Speaker 2: First, all right, Now.

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Speaker 1: One of the other bits of legislation I understand is

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Speaker 1: going to be debated. I'm not sure if it's this

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Speaker 1: week or next week. Is around alcohol in communities? Is

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Speaker 1: it this week, Katie.

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Speaker 3: So we've got a number of bills. We're just finalizing

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Speaker 3: the parliamentary schedule today. But yes, you'll see that bill

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Speaker 3: debated and passed. I anticipate this parliamentary sitting.

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Speaker 2: Do you think you're going to have to make changes

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Speaker 2: to that bill?

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Speaker 1: I know that there has been a lot of concern

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Speaker 1: raised over the last couple of weeks.

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Speaker 3: Katie. This is a bill that simply allows for a

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Speaker 3: community to opt in and be a dry community. It's

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Speaker 3: as we've spoken about in great detail, and I won't

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Speaker 3: go back over that, but this is what we can

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Speaker 3: do within our legislative power. It immends the legislation to

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Speaker 3: cover for the fact that the federal government Stronger Futures

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Speaker 3: and Intervention legislation ceases in July.

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Speaker 1: Minister, what about the powers for the Chief Health Officer?

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Speaker 1: These powers that are going to be extended for another

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Speaker 1: two years.

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Speaker 2: Is it really necessary?

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, we're hoping that this public health emergency that

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Speaker 3: we are still in it. It ends it's due to

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Speaker 3: end in June. We're hoping that that's the last time

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Speaker 3: we have to assign that emergency. But what this will

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Speaker 3: allow is the ability to retain appropriate measures for COVID

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Speaker 3: nineteen and the variance. We've got two new variants presently

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Speaker 3: that we're starting to see in Australia and have adequate

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Speaker 3: public health measures in place to keep the community safe.

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Speaker 3: We've done a great job to date and this is

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Speaker 3: the way we believe to manage from a pandemic to

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Speaker 3: an endemic.

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Speaker 1: All right, do we know now how many staff have

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Speaker 1: had to be stood down from the public service as

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Speaker 1: a result of the mandates, Katie?

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Speaker 3: I think it's around a dozen slightly more. Those final

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Speaker 3: figures are just coming through OCP, but a very small

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Speaker 3: number in terms of the overall public service.

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Speaker 1: So you don't feel as though it's had a huge

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Speaker 1: impact or there's been a big loss to the public service.

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Speaker 3: In terms of COVID nineteen and its impact. We know

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Speaker 3: that the vaccine is the key, and so the health

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Speaker 3: advice is in those occupations we need to have these

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Speaker 3: measures and we'll continue to follow that.

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Speaker 1: I've got a message here from Kim in Humpty Doo.

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Speaker 1: He said, Hi, Katie, can you ask minister what they're

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Speaker 1: offering long term territorians to stay in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 3: So the budget, certainly, Katie, we have a number of initiatives,

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Speaker 3: whether it's supporting young people and families. We provide subsidies

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Speaker 3: and rebates into childcare. We have the back to school

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Speaker 3: and sports vouchers. But we also support long term territorians

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Speaker 3: who are seen as with a number of initiatives that

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Speaker 3: you don't see elsewhere. We also have in terms of

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Speaker 3: community service obligations for power and water to ensure that

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Speaker 3: we can try and keep the cost of living as

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Speaker 3: low as we can.

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Speaker 1: I tell you what, one of the things that's got

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Speaker 1: people really very fired up this morning are these changes

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Speaker 1: to solar to the feed in tariffs.

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Speaker 2: Minister. I know it's not your portfolio, but why was

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Speaker 2: this required?

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, there's a number of reasons and Minister Lawler

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Speaker 3: can certainly provide that detail to you as further, two

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Speaker 3: point four million has been allocated to extend the battery scheme,

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Speaker 3: but we need to make sure that we do see

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Speaker 3: support for renewables. But at the same time it's sustainable

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Speaker 3: and the same time that we're getting these measures right

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Speaker 3: across the community. So we have seen changes over time

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Speaker 3: to various measures of people putting rooftop solar on. We've

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Speaker 3: got a program of rolling solar out in remote communities

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Speaker 3: and those renewables. So this is a part of ensuring

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Speaker 3: that we do provide support, but at the same time

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Speaker 3: we make sure as many people in the community can

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Speaker 3: access these services. Some people, like on the tech side

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Speaker 3: this morning and also calling through, some people are feeling

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Speaker 3: really quite disappointed, you know, feeling as though the government's

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Speaker 3: been dishonest about this. Okatie, I think it's fairly upfront.

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Speaker 3: There is changes, but there will also be the ability

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Speaker 3: for people to have ensured that they've been on that

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Speaker 3: scheme for four years, which is the average time it

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Speaker 3: takes to recover the cost of the initial investment. So

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Speaker 3: these decisions are made, as I just said, to ensure

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Speaker 3: that we have a number of people and that we

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Speaker 3: have a renewables policy that supports the whole of the community.

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Speaker 2: All right, Minister, we better leave it there.

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Speaker 1: We are going to catch up with a few people

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Speaker 1: about these solar changes.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Take care