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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is Hospitality Int

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Speaker 1: CEO Alex Bruce.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Alex, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 2: Alex. You and I have spoken over recent weeks.

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Speaker 1: We've spoken about the escalation in violence and bottle shops.

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Speaker 1: You and I spoke about this just a couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks ago. I mean, did you ever think that something

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Speaker 1: so violent and tragic was going to occur as what

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Speaker 1: happened just a couple of days ago.

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Speaker 3: Look, the sad truth is that there are many in

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Speaker 3: our industry that feel like it was heading to something

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Speaker 3: like this occurring. And it's just absolutely horrific that it's

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Speaker 3: happened and we weren't able to stop it happening. And

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Speaker 3: absolutely now there's red hot anger as well as emotion

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Speaker 3: on how we try to make sure it never happens again.

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Speaker 2: Yes, spot on.

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Speaker 1: You know, there's there's that emotion, there's that anger that

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Speaker 1: people are feeling as well, you know, to sort of

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Speaker 1: learn this morning as well that the nineteen year old

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Speaker 1: who has been charged with murder is also facing court

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Speaker 1: on breach of bail. I don't know what the right

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Speaker 1: word is for how the community is feeling right now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously some of my industry are strong listeners of

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Speaker 3: your show, and already I'm getting texts from some of

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Speaker 3: them after they found out listening to you earlier about

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Speaker 3: the breach of bail. And you know, we do focus

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Speaker 3: a lot on the bottle shops. It's not just a

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Speaker 3: bottle shop issue. You know, how did that journey from

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Speaker 3: Karama over to Nightcliff over to tragically jingly at the

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Speaker 3: end there? How was that allowed to occur for as

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Speaker 3: long as it was. I think of all the agencies

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Speaker 3: that have touch points with that nineteen year old before

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Speaker 3: he steps out of the car brandishing a weapon. Think

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Speaker 3: of our cafe in the city that someone sledge hammered

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Speaker 3: their way in to access water and then passed out

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Speaker 3: on the street out of the front and police came

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Speaker 3: an hour and a half later and told the cafe

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Speaker 3: that they should do that at job securing their venue.

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Speaker 3: Think of the guy with the axe in the back

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Speaker 3: of his pants, visibly just walking down one of the

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Speaker 3: main suburban streets of Darwin a couple of weeks ago.

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Speaker 3: This has been building that We've been in countless meetings

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Speaker 3: with government and police that apply pressure on bottle shops

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Speaker 3: to increase our refuse to serve, and big and small,

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Speaker 3: our industry has been saying, yep, we'll do that. We

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Speaker 3: want to play our part, but it's getting more aggressive.

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Speaker 3: This is not just a bottle shop issue. This is

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Speaker 3: not an alcohol fueled violence issue. This is just plain

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Speaker 3: old violence and it's unacceptable. We don't need to wrap

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Speaker 3: up other words about it. This is about the standard

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Speaker 3: of community behavior that we're willing to accept and if

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Speaker 3: you fall below that, you're taken out of the commune.

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Speaker 3: I'm sick of hearing, and I've got this loud and

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Speaker 3: clear from me in our industry yesterday. Don't tell us

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Speaker 3: about how we can't police our way out of this.

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Speaker 3: It would be a bloody good start. Don't tell us

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Speaker 3: that the jails are full. Build an even bigger one.

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Speaker 3: We are not allowing the system to appropriately deal with

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Speaker 3: these people and tragically failed when that individual stepped out

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Speaker 3: of their car with a knife.

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Speaker 2: Have you spoken with the Chief Minister?

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Speaker 1: Yes?

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Speaker 3: Yes, the Chief and a lot of her parliamentary colleagues,

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Speaker 3: but on both sides were very good and reached out

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Speaker 3: yesterday direct to us, direct to endeavor group that runs

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Speaker 3: the BWS and the ALH venues, and there is strong

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Speaker 3: support and a lot of feeling right across everyone in

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Speaker 3: the community, our industry and the politicians that are being

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Speaker 3: touched by this. I agree with his sentiments about not

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Speaker 3: wanting to politicize it or trying to politicize it. This

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Speaker 3: cuts through everyone, and we just need to get together

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Speaker 3: and work as hard as we can to fix it,

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Speaker 3: whatever fix looks like, to ensure this never happens again.

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Speaker 1: What can be done at this point, because I would

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Speaker 1: imagine from your perspective and in your role right now,

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Speaker 1: you are probably getting calls, You're probably getting messages and

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Speaker 1: emails from people that work in bottle shops and that

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Speaker 1: work in licensed premises who are bloody scared.

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Speaker 3: Yes, And apart from the shock, the sadness, absolute sadness,

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Speaker 3: and the anger, there's a bit of resentment that this

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Speaker 3: has been building. There's been a range of measures taken

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Speaker 3: across a number of years that is allowed the standard

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Speaker 3: in the community on the streets to fall to such levels.

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Speaker 3: We're meeting with the chief later today and I'm aware

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Speaker 3: that AIH group and BWSR as well, and they're showing

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Speaker 3: a lot of support behind their staff and really, you

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Speaker 3: know that brought the AMATA up from into state overnight,

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Speaker 3: which is absolutely amazing to see their support for their

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Speaker 3: local workers and we're very appreciative of that. You know,

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Speaker 3: we're meeting with the chief and I know it'll be

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Speaker 3: centered around how we keep our workers safe and workplace safety.

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Speaker 3: We've absolutely got a role and responsibility to do that,

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Speaker 3: but it only goes so far. You only need to

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Speaker 3: look out of the streetscape and we need to get

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Speaker 3: control of that. If we end up having to look

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Speaker 3: like banks when sawn Off shotgun bank robberies were a thing,

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Speaker 3: that shows you that we've failed to keep the streetscape

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Speaker 3: at a higher standard.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell me, I mean, from your perspective, what

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Speaker 1: do you think needs to happen right now.

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Speaker 3: Oh look, we don't think rushing any legislation in today

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Speaker 3: is the right answer. Necessarily. We all do need to

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Speaker 3: sit down and look at everything. If bail's an issue,

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Speaker 3: it's an issue. If prison capacity is an issue, it's

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Speaker 3: an issue. If police have stopped using their watch houses

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Speaker 3: cycling people through, they've got different policies now to the

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Speaker 3: ones that they had for thirty or forty years about

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Speaker 3: how long and what kind of cohort they cycle through

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Speaker 3: their watchhouses. I think we've got to run a rule

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Speaker 3: through a lot of that. We've got recommendations on what

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Speaker 3: liquor lords can change. But I think we said this

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Speaker 3: before when I gave you that Knucky Street example. By

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Speaker 3: the time a vulnerable person's walking into our bottle shop,

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Speaker 3: whether they're armed or not, whether they're thinking to doing

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Speaker 3: a smash and grab, whether they're purchasing to then go

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Speaker 3: and drink in appropriately in a public space, think of

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Speaker 3: all the touch points of agencies and NGOs on that

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Speaker 3: person before they've stepped the foot in our shop. If

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Speaker 3: we wanted to change things, we've really got to run

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Speaker 3: the ruler through all of that.

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Speaker 1: Alex, do there need to be alcohol restrictions? So do

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Speaker 1: we need to be looking at what's going on in

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Speaker 1: the likes of Alice Springs. I know that we've already

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Speaker 1: got some of those bottle shops that are closing at

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Speaker 1: nine o'clock because they do not feel like it's safe

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Speaker 1: enough to operate later.

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Speaker 2: In the evening.

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Speaker 1: Do there need to be some other measures like this

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Speaker 1: put in place right now?

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Speaker 3: Well? So this occurred at a venue that was limiting

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Speaker 3: its hours voluntarily, has had a very long relationship with

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Speaker 3: having guards there has had to manage the safety and

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Speaker 3: was really concerned of it. Of their work as leading

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Speaker 3: up into this, well, you know with issuing, don't chase,

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Speaker 3: don't interact if it's too violent, was complying with the

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Speaker 3: request from government that yeah, they put more pressure and

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Speaker 3: refuse to serve, asking everyone where they're planning on drinking it.

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Speaker 3: And again, none of that actually stops the outcome that happened,

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Speaker 3: and it's brazen, it's daylight hours, it's nighttime hours. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: a tragic incident can happen at eight forty five pm

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Speaker 3: at night or it can happen at four forty five.

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Speaker 3: So I don't know that going down any of that

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Speaker 3: knee jerk path. You ask Gallas Springs and I don't

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Speaker 3: think they think everything is awesome down there either. With

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Speaker 3: all those initiatives in place, and again we'll constantly do

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Speaker 3: our bit, but we're looking at the wrong end of

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Speaker 3: the journey for some of these people. Where is the

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Speaker 3: intensive case management on that nineteen year old. How many

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Speaker 3: agencies have had interactions with him or should have had

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Speaker 3: interactions with him? Has he been out of don Dale

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Speaker 3: multiple times or not? You know, we've got to actually

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Speaker 3: start case managing these these wrap bags.

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Speaker 1: Can I ask, I know that you mentioned this a

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Speaker 1: moment ago, like, are we going to get to the

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Speaker 1: point where you know you're having to serve alcohol behind

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Speaker 1: sort of lows so to avoid this kind of situation?

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Speaker 2: I mean, do you think we're heading down that path? Alex?

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Speaker 3: You're already seeing more and more product locked behind cabinets

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Speaker 3: that only staff can access. On your behalf, you are

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Speaker 3: already seeing stores in supermarket shopping center environments closing their

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Speaker 3: automatic doors earlier in the night and posting their security

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Speaker 3: out the front and then being discreet about who and

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Speaker 3: how they let into the store to try and limit

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Speaker 3: that smash and grab, all the grab and runs. You'll see.

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Speaker 3: The question, and it's a live one that everyone's thinking about,

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Speaker 3: is what physical barriers can be put in place? So

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Speaker 3: I think ultimately all of those things are on the table,

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Speaker 3: and we are going down that path, and yeah, doesn't

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Speaker 3: it What does that say about the standard?

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Speaker 4: Well?

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Speaker 3: Will it do accept on our street?

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Speaker 1: And the other thing is, Alex, you know, while this

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Speaker 1: incident has happened at a bottle shop, the fact is

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Speaker 1: there are people that are facing incredibly dangerous situations, not

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Speaker 1: only at bottle shops, you know, at petrol stations, in

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Speaker 1: retail outlets, you name it. You know. I was in

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Speaker 1: a shopping center on the weekend and I got told

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Speaker 1: by a young group of girls that worked in a

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Speaker 1: store that there had been a pair of scissors pulled

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Speaker 1: on one of the girls. So you just sort of gone,

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Speaker 1: what have we come to?

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Speaker 3: This is happening in our cafes that aren't even licensed.

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Speaker 3: There are people smashing in to get access to water

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Speaker 3: or to a packet of chips. Alcohol absolutely is part

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Speaker 3: of it, and often the sharpest part is the bottle shops.

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Speaker 3: You saw that horrible footage, Yeah, the stuff out in

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Speaker 3: Palmerston Way. But I raised this September on your show

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Speaker 3: last year. Around then, I think, yep, a lady with

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Speaker 3: scissors tried to stab staff in the Kazi's bottle shop.

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Speaker 3: She then got picked up very quickly issued bailed by

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Speaker 3: the police. There was an incident with the same lady

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Speaker 3: two days later at another outlet in Palmerston, got picked

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Speaker 3: up very quickly, issued bailed. My understanding, my police, and

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Speaker 3: it took a third event in the course of about

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Speaker 3: seven days before that lady got taken out of society

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Speaker 3: for a while. I don't know why it's three strikes

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Speaker 3: policy when you're trying to stab our staff.

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Speaker 1: But then you hear from the government that they've changed

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Speaker 1: the laws and that they're the toughest laws.

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Speaker 4: That we've ever had, and that our prisons are full,

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Speaker 4: and that we can't police our way out of it

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Speaker 4: the system, and maybe it's not police, And I know

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Speaker 4: there's a lot of good, hard working.

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Speaker 3: People right across there that are just frustrated. We're watching

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Speaker 3: the standard of behavior deteriorate. Holistically, let's all come together

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Speaker 3: and work out how we can lift it back up.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we have to. Something has seriously got to change.

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Speaker 1: Young Declan's life cannot be lost in Vain. Something seriously

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Speaker 1: got to.

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Speaker 3: Change, absolutely, and it was you did a phenomenal interview yesterday.

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Speaker 3: It was so heartbreaking to hear. But yeah, we are

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Speaker 3: getting a lot of requests from people in our industry

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Speaker 3: and I'm sure across the community they want to know

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Speaker 3: how they can support Declan's family. We know Crystal's been

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Speaker 3: a good conduit in talking to the dad. If if

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Speaker 3: they or a family friend are looking at setting something

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Speaker 3: up that we can direct and encourage people to show

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Speaker 3: their support that way to APIs that family. We stand

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Speaker 3: ready and not able to hit the go button way

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Speaker 3: out on that, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let us see, let us see what we

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Speaker 1: can what we can do, and if there is somewhere,

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Speaker 1: because I've been getting similar messages, people really just wanting

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Speaker 1: to pay their respects and do anything that they can

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Speaker 1: to support his family, Alex, we are going to have

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Speaker 1: to leave it there. I really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, and please let us know how those discussions

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Speaker 1: go with the Chief Minister.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Cotie, thank you,