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Speaker 1: We are going to talk now about the Royal Commission. Now,

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Speaker 1: we know that a Royal Commission into Defense and Veterans

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Speaker 1: Suicide has released its interim report outlining thirteen recommendations for

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Speaker 1: urgent action. Now, improving the compensation claim system is among

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Speaker 1: the key priorities. It does come ahead of hearings in

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Speaker 1: Darwin which are due to take place in October. Now,

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Speaker 1: Royal Commission spokesperson Nicole Chetel joins me on the line

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Speaker 1: right now. Good morning to Nicole.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time. Nicole, What are

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Speaker 1: some of the key recommendations in the interim report.

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Speaker 2: Look, we've released the interim report yesterday in Camber and

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Speaker 2: it does cover a number of things, but some of

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Speaker 2: the key recommendations include clearing this massive claims Backlook, but

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Speaker 2: the Department of Veterans Affairs, so we know that as

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Speaker 2: of at the end of May, there were forty two

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Speaker 2: thousand people still awaiting processing of their claim. We need

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Speaker 2: to simple the confusing and complex veteran compensation and rehabilitation laws.

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Speaker 2: The commissioners say that we need to increase legal protections

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Speaker 2: that are available for serving and ex serving ADF members

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Speaker 2: to engage with the Commission, and there are many things,

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Speaker 2: including the exemption of the Royal Commission from parliamentary privilege

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Speaker 2: to make it easier for us to hold Defense and

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Speaker 2: DBA to account, and ultimately for Defense and DBA, to

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Speaker 2: improve access for serving and ex serving members and their

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Speaker 2: families to get their service information, including medical records. Many

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Speaker 2: many issues. What I would say is this is just

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Speaker 2: the beginning. It is the interim report. The final report

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Speaker 2: is due in twenty twenty four, and the Commissioners are

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Speaker 2: saying please, if anyone in the territory wants to have

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Speaker 2: their say, whether you're a serving member, an ex serving member,

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Speaker 2: or perhaps you know a loved one or a family member,

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Speaker 2: please get in touch and make a submission, because we

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Speaker 2: have teams that are carefully reviewing every single submission and

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Speaker 2: what you have to say will inform the direction of

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Speaker 2: the rest of this inquiry.

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Speaker 1: And it's so very important. It is so important that

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Speaker 1: their voices are heard. Nicole, I do want to ask

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Speaker 1: what kind of personal accounts has the Commission heard so

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Speaker 1: far from these hearings.

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Speaker 2: Look, the personal accounts have been harrowing. I was having

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Speaker 2: a chat with the Commission chair Nick called this joke

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Speaker 2: yesterday in Canberra, and you know it's his job to

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Speaker 2: be professional and listen to what people have to say,

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Speaker 2: but he said, you'd have to have a heart of

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Speaker 2: stone not to be moved by the experiences of some

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Speaker 2: of these people. For instance, in our first hearing in Brisbane,

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Speaker 2: doctor Nikki Jamison, who is the mother of Private Daniel

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Speaker 2: Garford who died in twenty fourteen, described her anguish but

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Speaker 2: also said, you know, part of the problem is that

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Speaker 2: families can't access mental health information and it needs to

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Speaker 2: change because had she known, had any hint that her

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Speaker 2: son was struggling in such a way, she would have

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Speaker 2: been explain and taken him home and had help. So

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Speaker 2: clearly there are communication issues and also cultural issues, and

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Speaker 2: every other day the Commissioners are receiving submissions from three

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Speaker 2: families or veterans or former serving members who've struggled with

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Speaker 2: suicidality themselves. One of the issues that the commission is

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Speaker 2: keen to highlight is suicide doesn't start with a tragic decision.

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Speaker 2: There are so many things that happen along the way,

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Speaker 2: which is why the Commissioner is looking at everything from

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Speaker 2: recruitment and training to service, deployment at home and overseas,

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Speaker 2: right through to transition out of the military, and then

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Speaker 2: things like compensation, and it can be any number of

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Speaker 2: factors there that might contribute to the risk of suicide.

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Speaker 2: And that's why we're asking people to reach out because

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Speaker 2: we know that a lot of people in defense of

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Speaker 2: stoic they think, oh, perhaps my story doesn't count because

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Speaker 2: I haven't experienced suicidality myself, but they may be able

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Speaker 2: to shed some light on some of the practices or

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Speaker 2: the situation that they're in that might put other people

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Speaker 2: at risk. So we're really saying, please, if you've got

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Speaker 2: a story, reach out. We want to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it does sound as though the scope and

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Speaker 1: certainly the breadth of issues is incredibly wide and something

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Speaker 1: that you guys want to know absolutely.

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Speaker 2: And one of the issues that the commissioners raised in

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Speaker 2: this report too was the need for a permanent body

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Speaker 2: because we know that the Australian government's formally responded to

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Speaker 2: fewer than half of fifty seven previous inquiries or reports

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Speaker 2: that they've received in matters relating to defense and veteran suicide.

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Speaker 2: And what the commissioners are saying is there should be

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Speaker 2: some sort of permanent body to follow this commission to

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Speaker 2: report on not only the progress but also the quality

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Speaker 2: of what happens next. It's not enough to make recommendations.

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Speaker 2: We need to make sure that someone is responsible for

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Speaker 2: making sure that they're rolled out in a timely and

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Speaker 2: an a fifty manner. So the idea would be that

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Speaker 2: we do more research next year so that such a

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Speaker 2: body could be in place by mid tw twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: four when the Royal Commission delivers its final report, and

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Speaker 2: the intention would be then that the community can have

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Speaker 2: confidence that any recommendations will be effective and will hopefully

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Speaker 2: create real and meaningful change for veterans and their families.

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Speaker 1: One hundred percent. You know, that's one of the things

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Speaker 1: that everybody wants to be sure of is that all

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Speaker 1: of this work does mean that there's going to be change,

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Speaker 1: and you know that that hopefully we do not see

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Speaker 1: the rate at which we have in Australia of veteran

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Speaker 1: and defense suicide.

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Speaker 2: That's absolutely right. And the thing to note with suicide

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Speaker 2: is the commissioners are genuinely moved by hearing. They want

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Speaker 2: to honor the service of the people who wear the

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Speaker 2: uniform in Australia and they want to make sure that

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Speaker 2: people can have long, happy, meaningful lives. And we know,

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Speaker 2: because we're hearing it regularly, that this tragedy is ongoing.

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Speaker 2: We're in regular communication with Defense. We know that they're

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Speaker 2: there have been a number of people who have died

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Speaker 2: in in recent months and years, and the commissioners are

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Speaker 2: absolutely determined to shine a light on this problem, to

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Speaker 2: really try and understand what's going on so that we

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Speaker 2: can make a difference. Then Senator Jackie Lamby gave evidence

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Speaker 2: in Tasmania and she said, look, this is it. There

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Speaker 2: may not be another Royal Commission in her lifetime, so please,

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Speaker 2: if you're a veteran, come forward, share your stories. And

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Speaker 2: I think that was a very powerful and courageous message

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Speaker 2: from the Senator.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and we do know, Nicole, as you touched on

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Speaker 1: a little while ago, that Territorians are due to have

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Speaker 1: their say in October. What's your message to them this morning?

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Speaker 2: Reach out. We know that the defense community is broad

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Speaker 2: and diverse, and that the issues that are happening in

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Speaker 2: Darwin may not be the same as what's happening in

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Speaker 2: Wogga Wogga or Sydney. Or townsil or Perth or Adelaide,

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Speaker 2: So the commissioners know that there will be some things

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Speaker 2: that these communities have in common. But we certainly know

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Speaker 2: in Tasmania, for instance, where we've just held hearings in Hobart,

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Speaker 2: that isolation is an issue for many veterans, particularly when

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Speaker 2: it comes to accessing services. And I'm not pre emptying

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Speaker 2: what we'll find when we visit Darwin, but I imagine that

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Speaker 2: there may be similar issues there for veterans in Darwen

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Speaker 2: and across the territory, so we really need to understand

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Speaker 2: what those local issues are. We know, for instance, in

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Speaker 2: Hobart that homelessness is an issue for many veterans, and

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Speaker 2: the only way that we can find out what's happening

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Speaker 2: on the ground is for people to share their stories,

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Speaker 2: and they need to know that if they want to

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Speaker 2: have their say, they'll be supported to do so. Who

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Speaker 2: have a line, if I may with it, absolutely a

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Speaker 2: hot line if anyone wants any information, and that's one

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Speaker 2: eight hundred three two nine zero nine five, or you

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Speaker 2: can visit our website but that number again is one

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Speaker 2: eight hundred three to nine zero nine five and we

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Speaker 2: can put you in touch with counselors. If you need it,

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Speaker 2: we can provide support and also information about what you

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Speaker 2: need to do to have your say, But the most

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Speaker 2: powerful thing you can do is make a submission. Every

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Speaker 2: single one is considered very carefully. There's also an opportunity

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Speaker 2: to meet commissioners one on one in a private session,

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Speaker 2: and that can be done in an absolutely watertight, confidential

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Speaker 2: setting so that your identity can be protected. If that's

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Speaker 2: what you.

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Speaker 1: Wished well, Royal Commission spokesperson Nicole Chestel, I really appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thank you so much for having

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Speaker 1: a chat with us.

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Speaker 2: Look, thank you very much, and the commissioners certainly appreciate

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Speaker 2: your interest, and I hope that we can keep in

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Speaker 2: touch in the future.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, we'd be very keen to. I know that we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of people who listen to this show

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Speaker 1: who are defense personnel. We've got a lot of veterans

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Speaker 1: who listen to this show as well, so I think

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Speaker 1: it's really incredibly important and something that we definitely be

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Speaker 1: ken to keep in contact about.

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Speaker 2: Terrisy. Well, one more thing I should say, which I didn't.

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Speaker 2: If we will have some community engagement, our team will

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Speaker 2: be in touch with ex Service organizations, for instance, when

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Speaker 2: we're heading up to Darwin, so we'll actually reach out

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Speaker 2: to the local community and there'll be many ways people

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Speaker 2: can be involved and make their voices turned.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning, Nicole

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you