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Speaker 1: I am going to have to go straight to our

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Speaker 1: next interview. We'll have to try and manage the ads

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Speaker 1: afterwards because joining us on the line right now to

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about the federal budget is

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Speaker 1: the Assistant Treasurer just be with me a moment. The

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Speaker 1: Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, hey, big hello up to everyone

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Speaker 2: there in the territory. I hope your morning's going well.

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Speaker 1: Minister. We know that there were quite a number of

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Speaker 1: cost of living measures that were announced overnight by the

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Speaker 1: Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Can you talk us through what

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Speaker 1: those will mean for northern Territorians.

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Speaker 2: Yes, of course, look first and foremost attempting to do

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Speaker 2: two things at once, balance the budget, get the finances

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Speaker 2: back under control. But we know people right around the country,

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Speaker 2: including in the territory, are doing it tough with inflation,

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Speaker 2: cost of living increases on power bills. Ensuring that there

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Speaker 2: is power bill relief up to five hundred dollars. This

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Speaker 2: is a co sponsored or a co funded orgel between

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Speaker 2: ourselves and the territory government to ensure that there is

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Speaker 2: relief for power bills for low income households and small

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Speaker 2: businesses in the territory. So that's one important thing. Ensuring

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Speaker 2: that we can do everything we can to bring down

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Speaker 2: the cost of interest repayments by ensuring we don't add

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Speaker 2: to inflation repressures is absolutely critical as well critical as well.

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Speaker 2: Big thing that people are talking to me right around

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Speaker 2: the country is medicares get into a doctor, you can't

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Speaker 2: get bulk billing. We want to take this on. So

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Speaker 2: three billion dollar injection of funds, the biggest in my

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Speaker 2: time in Parliament into bulk billing.

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Speaker 1: And so what exactly will that change mean when it

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Speaker 1: comes to bulk billing.

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Speaker 2: What it means is that we have provided additional incentives

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Speaker 2: for gps to offer bulk billing services to their patients. Again,

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Speaker 2: how the majority of gps around the country had pulled

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Speaker 2: out of doing billing gone to direct billing. We're increasing

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Speaker 2: the subsidies, tripling the subsidies in fact, to ensure that

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Speaker 2: they can afford they can and can afford to do it.

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Speaker 2: Again important piece of our health reform.

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Speaker 1: Well and hopefully that makes a huge difference in terms

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Speaker 1: of people being able to get in to see the GP,

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Speaker 1: being able to do so at a reasonable price. But

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Speaker 1: also maybe even easing that pressure on the hospital system,

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Speaker 1: because we know that up here in the territory there's

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Speaker 1: been situations where people can't go to the doctor, they

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Speaker 1: can't afford to and so they are presenting to the

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Speaker 1: emergency department, which really isn't ideal your.

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Speaker 2: Spot on, it's the least efficient way to deal with

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Speaker 2: most of you common health issues. We want to remove

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Speaker 2: that blockage as well. That's good for hospitals and good

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Speaker 2: for GPS. It's been very well, very warmly welcomed by

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Speaker 2: the GP colleges who represent doctors around the country. So

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Speaker 2: it's just what is needed and we're very hopeful it's

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Speaker 2: going to make a meaningful difference. And of course it's

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Speaker 2: on top of the changes we've made to medicines as well,

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Speaker 2: the sixty day prescription, which means people don't have to

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Speaker 2: go in as often to the chemist to fill a prescription.

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Speaker 2: That will literally cut the price of getting a prescription

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Speaker 2: filled by fifty percent, and the thirty dollars cap on

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Speaker 2: medicines that we've put in place as well, So you know,

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Speaker 2: looking at things that we can do that aren't going

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Speaker 2: to add to inflation, but we'll add make a meaningful

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Speaker 2: difference to households and to families doing it tough.

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Speaker 1: Now, there have been some announcements for the Northern territory specifically.

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Speaker 1: Have you got much of that detail in front of you? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Mate, I knew you were going to ask me this,

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Speaker 2: So I need Luke Wosling sitting in you don't forget

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Speaker 2: to say this.

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Speaker 1: Change that well, don't worry, we can chase him up

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Speaker 1: if required.

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Speaker 2: What I can say is that the territory will be

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Speaker 2: a natural beneficiary of the things we're doing around infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: particularly on the energy side of things. To be one

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Speaker 2: thing that we want this first term of the Albanzy

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Speaker 2: government to be remembered for. It's a massive investment into

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Speaker 2: energy generation and storage and distribution because that's what's going

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Speaker 2: to kickstart industry in the Northern Territory. So a big

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Speaker 2: focus on that ship.

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Speaker 1: Now, one of the other announcements it was made was

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Speaker 1: around rent assistance. How exactly is that going to work?

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Speaker 2: A fifteen percent boost to rent assistance. We know that

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Speaker 2: rents have gone up and incomes have it's so the

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Speaker 2: people are on social security benefits of fifteen percent increase

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Speaker 2: in rent assistance. It is the one part of our

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Speaker 2: housing package. We've got our Housing Australia Future Fund Bill.

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Speaker 2: It's currently logjammed in the Senate. We're calling on the

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Speaker 2: Coalition and the Greens and Cross benches to pass that bill.

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Speaker 2: It'll make a meaningful difference, is the thing. We know.

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Speaker 2: The long term solution in housing is building more houses.

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Speaker 2: We don't have enough. We need to build more houses

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Speaker 2: that'll bring downward pressure on prices and also make rerants

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Speaker 2: more affordable. To do that, we need to get the

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Speaker 2: Housing Fund passed through the Senate. So of that ten

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Speaker 2: billion dollars worth of money we've put aside for building

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Speaker 2: more houses can be unleashed.

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Speaker 1: Now just onto an issue that has been bubbling along

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory for quite some time. I

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Speaker 1: know that you would be aware of it. That is

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Speaker 1: the issue of crime Alice Springs. In Alice Springs, we

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Speaker 1: know that two hundred and fifty million dollars had been

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Speaker 1: flagged by the Prime Minister earlier this year, but going

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Speaker 1: through the announcement it looks as though there is ninety

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Speaker 1: four million dollars that's been put into a contingency fund.

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Speaker 1: Do you have any idea why that has happened?

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Speaker 2: We need to get the programs worked out properly to

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Speaker 2: ensure the money. There is no hesitation from the Commonwealth's

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Speaker 2: point of view to ensure the money is allocated, but

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Speaker 2: we want to ensure that the programs, that is, the

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Speaker 2: things we're spending the money aren't on, are all stacked

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Speaker 2: up and properly thought through and organized, and then the

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Speaker 2: money can start to flow be course of the short

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Speaker 2: period of time when the Prime Minister is up there

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Speaker 2: and us putting the final touches on the budget. All

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Speaker 2: of the details haven't been crossed off yet, but we're

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Speaker 2: committed to doing it, and the commitments that the Prime

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Speaker 2: Minister made and Linda Bernie made and our local MP's made,

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Speaker 2: when they are up in our springs, they will be honored.

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Speaker 2: We've just got to get the details of those programs

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Speaker 2: sorted out so.

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Speaker 1: By the sounds of it, that ninety four million dollars

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Speaker 1: is going to be invested.

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Speaker 2: It's available to be invested. We just need to work

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Speaker 2: with the local community and the NT government to ensure

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Speaker 2: that everything is squared away so the money can start plight.

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Speaker 1: Does the federal government at this point in time have

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Speaker 1: that trust in the Northern Territory government to be able

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Speaker 1: to make sure that this money is delivered and invested

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Speaker 1: in the areas that it needs to be because at

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Speaker 1: the moment in the territory the community is losing faith.

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Speaker 2: Well, we've got to work with our partners in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory government. I know that the Chief Minister and

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Speaker 2: his and ministers there are focused on the issues. We've

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Speaker 2: got to work with local partners. And it's as simple

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Speaker 2: as that. We've seen things go wrong when somebody in

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Speaker 2: Canberra thinks, oh, this is what will work in the

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Speaker 2: territory and we'll just do it without any local consultation,

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Speaker 2: it inevitably fails, which is why we put a high price,

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Speaker 2: high premium mind working with the Antique government and the

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Speaker 2: local leaders in the Alice community in the case of

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Speaker 2: our springs, but other communities where we're working there as well.

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Speaker 1: Well. Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones,

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Speaker 1: we are going to have to leave it there. Thank

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Speaker 1: you very much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: My great pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Thank you