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Speaker 1: Now we know that yesterday's announcement it had been well,

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Speaker 1: we'd all been wondering exactly when it was going to

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Speaker 1: happen and what it would see. Joining me on the

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Speaker 1: line right now is Michael Little, who is a counselor

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Speaker 1: in Alice Springs and also an Indigenous leader. Good morning

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Speaker 1: to you, Michael.

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Speaker 2: Good morning. How are you?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Really good. Great to have you on the show again. Michael,

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Speaker 1: what was your reaction to yesterday's announcement?

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Speaker 2: Well, I just listened to Biddy what you're going to

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Speaker 2: talking about on the radio. Then what's interesting is kids

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Speaker 2: are breaking into school, but they're not attending school. So

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Speaker 2: did they all tie together with these student and the

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Speaker 2: release of these restrictions that are kind of coming in.

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Speaker 2: And I think it's a really good turning point that

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Speaker 2: didn't have to happen. It just where we're at now

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Speaker 2: should not have happened had the anti government had in

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Speaker 2: place something before the restrictions were lifted. And we're in

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Speaker 2: this position because of that.

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Speaker 1: Michael, I'm going to be really.

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Speaker 2: We got to retract all our steps and do the

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Speaker 2: hard work again.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm going to be really blunt here. I mean,

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Speaker 1: are you pissed off that it got to that point.

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Speaker 1: Are you Are you annoyed that it got to the

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Speaker 1: point where, you know, where the government was seemingly dragged

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Speaker 1: kicking and screaming before they you know, before they sort

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Speaker 1: of announced these restrictions would go back into place, when

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Speaker 1: you and other strong Indigenous leaders in the community had

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Speaker 1: been saying for a long time that they needed to

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Speaker 1: be some action.

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Speaker 2: It was a big voat collecting and it was to

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Speaker 2: get to beigion of people and said okay, we're going

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Speaker 2: to lift these restrictions and opens ladder. But there was

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Speaker 2: no information getting getting to the people the communities about

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Speaker 2: what's going to happen regarding alcohol. Now. The one community

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Speaker 2: that's missing out and that's tell the Springs community because

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Speaker 2: this is the place where people come and get their

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Speaker 2: al goal. So these people's voices haven't been heard about

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Speaker 2: all this restriction and the best way to go forward.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Michael, do the restrictions that have now been put

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Speaker 1: in place, which are set to be put in place

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Speaker 1: by the Northern Territory government that they announced yesterday, do

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Speaker 1: you feel as though they go far enough?

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a start, and places like tallengera they're on notice.

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Speaker 2: Now organizations are unnotice and especially then because they are

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Speaker 2: the more or less the managers of the town camps

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Speaker 2: and a majority of people that come in from communities

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Speaker 2: spend and reside on town camps, and that's where the

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Speaker 2: most the most domestic violences, assault and all the other

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Speaker 2: bad behaviors starts happening and begins happening.

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Speaker 1: Michael. We know as well that the federal government have

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Speaker 1: announced as part of the announcement yesterday, a significant amount

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Speaker 1: of funding two hundred and fifty million dollars. Are you

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Speaker 1: confident that that's going to help with the issues of

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Speaker 1: domestic violence and also you know the issues that we're saying,

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Speaker 1: like you touched on right and start of kids not

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Speaker 1: going to school.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it it reverts back that there's many service

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Speaker 2: providers in other springs and looking at the circumstances and

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Speaker 2: the issues happening, well, they've all failed. So they're all

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Speaker 2: on notice. All these service providers, they're all unnotice. I mean,

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Speaker 2: you get a service provider from everything from time issue

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Speaker 2: that has to wipen a bum. So they're all on

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Speaker 2: notice about doing something. But what's going to be more

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Speaker 2: effective we can do the physical things, But it's the

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Speaker 2: brain work that has to be done, the listening, engaging

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Speaker 2: in the conversation about good behavior, bad behavior, what's acceptable,

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Speaker 2: what's inappropriate, appropriate living in the municipal term of Ella

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Speaker 2: Springs and Catherine and the whole territory is under this

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Speaker 2: problem because of ineffective services that happened back here, and

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Speaker 2: we're trying to drag it up to happen tomorrow. It's

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Speaker 2: almost impossible.

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Speaker 1: Michael, is you know, do you feel as though at

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Speaker 1: the moment, by the sounds of it, like you've said,

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Speaker 1: you know that those service providers, realistically, they are on notice.

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Speaker 1: You know, they need to be delivering. They need to

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Speaker 1: make sure that they are delivering the services that they're

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Speaker 1: you know that they're funded to do, and they need

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Speaker 1: to make sure that there are results. Do you feel like,

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Speaker 1: based on the announcement that was made yesterday, do you

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Speaker 1: feel as though that two hundred and fifty million dollars

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Speaker 1: is going to go into the right areas?

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Speaker 2: Well? I can't really say that, And like I say

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Speaker 2: that the worker has to start tiny's bootless up and

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Speaker 2: doing a lot more walking and talking and engaging with

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Speaker 2: the client. And I do think that we've failed in

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Speaker 2: that area where we only work forty five percent of

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Speaker 2: our capacity. We need to lift it over fifty percent

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Speaker 2: because these issues that we're dealing with, You pull one

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Speaker 2: string and another string pops up in ceneral that you're

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Speaker 2: at renal through all these troubles. You know, it's just

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Speaker 2: so much issue and it's so complex the life of

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Speaker 2: an Aboriginal person. Michael.

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Speaker 1: In terms of the kids that we're seeing out on

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Speaker 1: the streets, I mean, has that calmed down it all

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of days? And do you think

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Speaker 1: that we're going to see kids re engage going back

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Speaker 1: to school. I mean it's not going to change overnight,

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Speaker 1: but do you think that these announcements are going to

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Speaker 1: go some of the way.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, in time. We just hope that they can. One

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Speaker 2: thing that is missing from this whole movie theater is

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Speaker 2: the man. Where is the man? And I asked this question,

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Speaker 2: where are the men, the fathers of these children? Where

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Speaker 2: are they? Well a seven percent of the answer, ninety

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Speaker 2: percent will tell me they're in gale, or they're in

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Speaker 2: the pubble, or they're drunk somewhere. So you know, it's

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Speaker 2: very sad what's happening.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Michael, I really appreciate your time. I always do,

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Speaker 1: and I appreciate your insight. Mate. I want to ask you,

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Speaker 1: do you still like do you feel as though there

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Speaker 1: is hope for Alice Springs and things turn around?

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Speaker 2: Well, look Alice Springs, Tennant, Catherine and now down, they're

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Speaker 2: all having the same issues with inequality in levels of

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Speaker 2: education and around purpose and structures, the haves and the

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Speaker 2: haves not so if I haven't, I don't know any

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Speaker 2: other boundyboy except to pinch it or to hurt someone

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Speaker 2: or do something that's in appropriate by the way that

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Speaker 2: rules and appropriateness of behaviors and respecting people are carried out.

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Speaker 2: So I think that you know, we've got to live

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Speaker 2: on hope, and we've got to maintain a good effective

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Speaker 2: way of looking after our fellow worker because the work

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Speaker 2: is under pressure here because we have to deliver more people,

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Speaker 2: more outcomes, more KPIs for as supervisors. So we're in

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Speaker 2: the immense pressure. But we also have a life, and

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Speaker 2: we also have a family life, and if it's an

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Speaker 2: aboriginal life like I, it's even more complex because we

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Speaker 2: can't just switch the life switch off at four twenty one.

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Speaker 2: Our life still continues as an abridging man. Yeah, something

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Speaker 2: like that. You know, Michael, what do you think look together? Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I one hundred percent agree with you, whether

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Speaker 1: you're in Alice, whether you're in Catherine, no matter where

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Speaker 1: you are. Michael, what do you think about you know,

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Speaker 1: the broader discussion that's happening around Australia at the moment

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Speaker 1: with the Voice And you know, there's been a lot

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Speaker 1: said about the Voice, and I guess the situation in

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Speaker 1: Alice Springs has really then been brought into the discussion

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Speaker 1: and people saying, well, how can we expect that Aboriginal

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Speaker 1: people are going to be listened to if they weren't

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Speaker 1: being listened to in Alice Springs around the alcohol restrictions

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Speaker 1: and around what's going on in Alice.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the Voice and there's some wonderful people working

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Speaker 2: on it, and I've spoken to a lot of those

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Speaker 2: people and they're fine. I trust them with the direction

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Speaker 2: that they're taking this, this idea of the Voice in Parliament,

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Speaker 2: and I wish them well, but I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: stand up in the front row and scream out for

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Speaker 2: it because I got some other had work to do

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Speaker 2: and it requires getting on the ground and doing the footwork,

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Speaker 2: and I trust them. People who can understand the complexities

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Speaker 2: of the voice will work out better for people like

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Speaker 2: me in my conversations towards working towards the abut of

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Speaker 2: people to become more effective.

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Speaker 1: Michael Little. Like I said earlier, I always appreciate your time, mate.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with me this morning,

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Speaker 1: and also, you know, for the leadership that you've shown

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Speaker 1: over recent months out of Alice Springs. Sometimes, you know,

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Speaker 1: I know that it's probably been hard to have that

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Speaker 1: really strong opinion that you've had, but look, I appreciate

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Speaker 1: that leadership that you've shown and for chatting with me

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Katie, thank you.

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Speaker 1: Thanks mate. We'll talk again soon. See