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Speaker 1: As we've been talking about, we know the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: election is really each and closer and closer, not long

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Speaker 1: away at all. And the Northern Territory Council of Government Schools,

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Speaker 1: they are the peak parent body in the public education

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Speaker 1: throughout the Northern Territory. They represent and provide services to

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Speaker 1: government schools and their school representative bodies at a territory

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Speaker 1: and federal level. It is for the benefit of all

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Speaker 1: of our students and they've got some key areas where

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Speaker 1: they are keen for our politicians to focus as we

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Speaker 1: head to the polls on Monday. Those polls open, including

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Speaker 1: the expansion of school based mental health support in schools,

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Speaker 1: something that we've spoken about quite a bit on the

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Speaker 1: show after the issue was raised with us by students.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the show is Michelle Parker, who

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Speaker 1: is indeed the executive officer for nt COGZO.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Michelle, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Lovely to have you on the show. Now, talk me

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Speaker 1: through what nt COGSO would like to see when it

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Speaker 1: comes to the expansion of mental health support.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. Yeah, as you said, it's been such a

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Speaker 2: topical issue and it's been raised with us year on year,

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Speaker 2: So for those that don't understand or are aware. In

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Speaker 2: our government schools, we have school representative bodies, governing bodies

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Speaker 2: of the school and they meet annually and guide the

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Speaker 2: work of COGXOIT. So they'll put forward motions that they

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Speaker 2: want considered by members, and our members are every government

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Speaker 2: school and then they vote and approve those and then

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Speaker 2: that guides our work going forward. So something that has

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Speaker 2: been a high priority for them and year on years,

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Speaker 2: going back to sixteen seventeen, eighteen, twenty twenty one, has

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Speaker 2: been about mental health and well being of our students,

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Speaker 2: and in particular having though that mental health services, whatever

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Speaker 2: that might look like for a school, they have the

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Speaker 2: autonomy to choose whether that's a counselor you know, a

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Speaker 2: specific mental health worker, but to have those based actually

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Speaker 2: in the school Monday to Friday, belonging to that school,

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Speaker 2: and so that students can knock on a door and

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Speaker 2: have a qualified person open that door and be able

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Speaker 2: to respond to their needs.

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Speaker 1: I think it's such an important thing. And you know,

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Speaker 1: if kids have got if young people have got someone

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Speaker 1: that they trust that they feel that they can go

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Speaker 1: and have those conversations with It's an enormous, enormous thing.

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Speaker 2: It's fantastic, you know, preventative early intervention, isn't it. You know,

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Speaker 2: so so many parents have said, and even people within

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Speaker 2: the Department of Ed with Education with children, my own

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Speaker 2: son who's now twenty, having that service to be able

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Speaker 2: to knock and say, hey, I'm just having a bit

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Speaker 2: of a hard time right now, it could be related

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Speaker 2: to anything, and somebody to talk that through and to

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Speaker 2: be able to provide support referrals if that's needed. I

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Speaker 2: know personally and for many, many, many parents over the years,

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Speaker 2: that has been the difference in their child staying in

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Speaker 2: education or spiraling off. So it's just such a key

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Speaker 2: important fabric and makeup of our schools well being teens.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Michelle, the thing that I've you know that

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Speaker 1: I've been really and I'm sort of proud of of

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Speaker 1: the young people of the Northern Territory on this topic.

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Speaker 1: Is it like they've been really trying to drive it

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Speaker 1: as well, which I think is such a huge thing.

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Speaker 1: Every time we've spoken about this issue, it's been something

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Speaker 1: that the young people that are at schools in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory have actually wanted to talk to me about

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Speaker 1: you know, and haven't always been able to come on

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Speaker 1: air and speak about it. But I just think it's

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Speaker 1: really brave that you know that they want to raise

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Speaker 1: this issue themselves.

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Speaker 2: Oh it was incredible. I remember at the time, I

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Speaker 2: was actually listening in from Baliol's on holidays because I've

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Speaker 2: been told that some students wanted to to talk with

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Speaker 2: Katie Wolf about having counselors back in their schools permanently

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Speaker 2: and Monday to Friday and the same counselors. And my

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Speaker 2: question back to the school body, the school governing body

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Speaker 2: at the time, was oh goodness, what about their schooling

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Speaker 2: and their classes and missing that, And they said, no, no,

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Speaker 2: they've scheduled it for when they don't have classes. They

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Speaker 2: were seeing the students and they don't have classes all

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Speaker 2: the time, of course, so in their own time they

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Speaker 2: went off and spoke to you very passionately, because for

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Speaker 2: the students, they know the value of this service, they

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Speaker 2: know what their peers need, they know what they need,

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Speaker 2: they know what it looked like and felt like, and

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Speaker 2: they want it. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, I think it's a really To me, it seems

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Speaker 1: like a really positive thing to do. Have you had

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Speaker 1: much support from the parties on this from the two major.

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Speaker 2: Parties, Well, we sent out our election asks. Of course,

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Speaker 2: we've got twenty one which has been brought forward and

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Speaker 2: in saying that I must Katie be fair over the

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Speaker 2: years because we keep these actions, they don't go until

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Speaker 2: we've got a resolution for everybody. But we've had dozens

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Speaker 2: that have been supported and have been funded and so

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Speaker 2: we've got to give credit where credits due. But we

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Speaker 2: have these that have gone out to the major parties.

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Speaker 2: Certainly we've had conversations prior to caretaker mode with the

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Speaker 2: respective ministers that was in the LAWLA for a long

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Speaker 2: period of time. He's very supportive of school based counselors

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Speaker 2: and the opposition has certainly been in touch and said

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Speaker 2: we want to let you know that we support this also,

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Speaker 2: but it's about getting the detail now about what that

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Speaker 2: looks like in terms of the specific ask about them

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Speaker 2: being based full time in a school relationship based support.

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Speaker 1: Well, we'll be keen to find out what the parties

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Speaker 1: think of these and what they're prepared to commit to. Hey,

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Speaker 1: one of the other questions that we get asked regularly,

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Speaker 1: and I know that this is is one of the

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Speaker 1: points that you guys have made as well. Is an

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Speaker 1: expansion of school based policing. Talk us through cogso's view

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Speaker 1: on this.

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Speaker 2: Yes, such a fabulous program and highly successful. So it

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Speaker 2: actually we had it prior I started here over ten

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Speaker 2: years ago, and there were school based policing and unfortunately

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Speaker 2: that was disbanded by a previous government. And I will

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Speaker 2: give credit to the current government's credit. They embraced it

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Speaker 2: and said, yes, we believe in this program, so we'll

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Speaker 2: put it in. And we had at the time Acting

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Speaker 2: Commissioner Michael Murphy, and he was incredible. We went through

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Speaker 2: him and said trial it just put one or two

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Speaker 2: ins and we'll show you it works and expand it.

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Speaker 2: But he came to us with ten. He said, I'll

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Speaker 2: give ten police officers. I believe in proactive, positive policing,

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Speaker 2: and let's give it a go. So in twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 2: Incredibly successful and just really briefly, Katie, there was a

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Speaker 2: comment recently about you know where do we find police officers?

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Speaker 2: I can tell you there were two police comfortables based

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Speaker 2: it to me in college because it's a very large

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Speaker 2: school and those students were feeding back to families and

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Speaker 2: to the school governing board that they wanted to be

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Speaker 2: police after seeing you know, the relationships and the types

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Speaker 2: of humans that these police were, that they could envision

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Speaker 2: a future where they wanted to stay in the territory

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Speaker 2: and be police officers. So it's fantastic. Of course COVID

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Speaker 2: happened and they were reappointed elsewhere, but they are in schools.

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Speaker 2: There are ten across territory Nolan Boy, Catherine High Down

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Speaker 2: in Central Tenet Creek and our middle and senior schools here.

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Speaker 2: But what we need is additional resourcing so that for

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Speaker 2: those schools that are large, they have two, so that

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Speaker 2: for those primary schools that are really keen to have

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Speaker 2: school based policing as well, it can be expanded into that,

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Speaker 2: and so that there's enough to cover when you know

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Speaker 2: the police officers on leave you know sometimes they don't

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Speaker 2: on maternity leave, whatever, that there's enough resourcing to go

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Speaker 2: in and replace that so that it's an integral part

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Speaker 2: of policing in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Now, Michelle, what else? What else is cogso sort of

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Speaker 1: keen to see from the two major parties and commitments

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Speaker 1: I guess from Independence as well as we do head

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Speaker 1: into the election.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie, well quite a bit, but around infrastructure.

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Speaker 2: There is a focus in terms of Palmerston College being

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Speaker 2: the only government provider of education from year seven to twelve,

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Speaker 2: so looking for infrastructure commitments around a special education center.

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Speaker 2: So it's the only government school that takes all of

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Speaker 2: the primary schools in the area and Palmerston's growing really rapidly,

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Speaker 2: and so students with a disability need a purpose built facility.

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Speaker 2: So the one that's at the college at the moment,

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Speaker 2: and it's a fabulous school, I have a bias. I'm

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Speaker 2: on the governing body as an invited members. I want

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Speaker 2: to see that great work that they do. So it

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Speaker 2: was originally built for forty students and they now have

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Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty four students being accommodated, but not

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Speaker 2: in a purpose built center, rather in mainstream classrooms, so

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Speaker 2: that's really important. And also a steam center. We think

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Speaker 2: every major school and secondary school should have a steam center.

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Speaker 2: Catrine Highs got their commitments that Pumpston College is also

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Speaker 2: looking for that. Boarding in TenneT Creek has been something

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Speaker 2: that's been with us as a motion for six years.

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Speaker 2: There is federal funding four that we're asking that that

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Speaker 2: be that there's funding from the Northern Territory Government for

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Speaker 2: that to happen next year. We're just really wanting that

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Speaker 2: to be prioritized as a build so that it's open

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty six. The Tenant Creek, Yeah, the Larachie

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Speaker 2: of Preschool, they have a preschool that can't accommodate the

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Speaker 2: number of families that have children that want to go

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Speaker 2: to preschool, so they're going to other preschools. And we've

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Speaker 2: also got to focus on nicotine use by students vaping

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Speaker 2: in the federal legislation. Hopefully we'll see a big reduction

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Speaker 2: in those that now we have students that are addicted

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Speaker 2: to nicotine. And the latest praise now is some snuff

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Speaker 2: some sort of tobacco from influencing. So we've just got

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Speaker 2: across it and on top of it. So so lots

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Speaker 2: and lots.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know what, it's so important, Like the

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Speaker 1: education of our kids is so important and their you know,

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Speaker 1: their happiness and well being at school, I think is

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Speaker 1: is so incredibly important. You want children to you know,

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Speaker 1: I know that school's not always some kids love it,

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Speaker 1: some don't so much. They're just trying to get through.

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Speaker 1: But you want them to be able to learn and

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Speaker 1: and be their best selves and not have to worry

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Speaker 1: about about some of the issues that we've got. But

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Speaker 1: if they are having issues, that they're able to see

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Speaker 1: a counselor if possible, and the police presence at the

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Speaker 1: school is something that's a you know, that's a really

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Speaker 1: largely beneficial thing. But then even issues like vaping. You know,

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Speaker 1: there are things that that you and I know about, Michelle,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sure a lot of parents listening this morning

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Speaker 1: will also, So we've got to get it right when

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Speaker 1: it comes to education with our children.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's critical. There are our future leaders, there are

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Speaker 2: our future doctors, nurses, tradees, which are so important. We

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Speaker 2: want their well being protected and supported. We want them

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Speaker 2: to have a quality education no matter where they live.

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Speaker 2: We want it to be equitable across the board and families.

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Speaker 2: For families, education is key. It's their children. So we

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Speaker 2: ask that parties and independence focus on the ass and

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Speaker 2: what's needed in education. And when you're casting your votes,

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Speaker 2: think about education and think about our kids and think

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Speaker 2: about the future of the territory.

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Speaker 1: Well, Michelle, lovely to speak to you this morning. We

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Speaker 1: always appreciate your time and we'll waiting here if you

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Speaker 1: get any answers back do let us know certainly will

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Speaker 1: Thanks Katie, thank you, thanks so much,