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Speaker 1: As you may have heard us say yesterday on the show, Well,

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Speaker 1: the text line blew up by outrage from listeners over

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Speaker 1: damage reportedly caused to a Catherine hotel by flood evacuees.

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Speaker 1: That was what was reported in the NT news so

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Speaker 1: vulnerable residents from Darga, ragu Kelkarini Pigeonhole. They were relocated

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Speaker 1: to Catherine amid major flooding last month. News Court reported

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Speaker 1: that int Health forked out seventy five thousand dollars to

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Speaker 1: accommodate residents at the hotel, but they caused eight thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars worth of damage over the month long stay. That

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Speaker 1: was the report. Now joining me on the line to

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Speaker 1: shed some more light is the local member in Catherine,

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Speaker 1: Joe Hersey. Good morning Joe, Good.

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Speaker 2: Morning Katie, and good morning listeners.

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Speaker 1: Joe. Have you spoken to the hotel operators and what

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Speaker 1: are they telling you.

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Speaker 2: I've spoken to some people that have worked there. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and I've had community members you know, come and see me,

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Speaker 2: you know, just out about in the community. But first

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Speaker 2: of all, I just do want to make it clear

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Speaker 2: Katie that we are very supportive of flood evacuees coming

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Speaker 2: into the community and if this is their closest community.

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Speaker 2: And also just note that these were medically vulnerable people.

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Speaker 2: I know that, so you know, they came into the hotel.

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Speaker 2: I know that some went to a couple of the

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Speaker 2: nursing homes here in town. I'm not sure about the hospital,

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Speaker 2: but you know, maybe with some of the things that

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Speaker 2: went on, they should have actually gone to the hospital

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Speaker 2: or the nursing home because they were medically vulnerable people.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, because you know what had been reported is

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Speaker 1: that the extent of that damage. You know, look, it

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Speaker 1: sounds pretty gross to say, but some of it you're

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Speaker 1: in soaked sheets, spit on walls. But from what you

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Speaker 1: were saying, I mean, if we're talking about medically vulnerable people,

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Speaker 1: it could actually be people that are aging or that

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Speaker 1: are in a situation where they're you know, they're not

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Speaker 1: actually able to move as freely as what you or

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Speaker 1: I might be able to.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Katie, But you know, it just goes

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Speaker 2: back to because yeah, yes they were and you know,

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Speaker 2: they came in and they didn't potentially have you know,

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Speaker 2: changes of clothes, they didn't have their incontinent you know,

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Speaker 2: uh needs that they need to have as you know medically,

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Speaker 2: uh you know as you get older. You know, people

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Speaker 2: needed continent nappies and whatever, and there were actually nurses

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Speaker 2: at the hospital for them, and there was also security

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Speaker 2: at the hospital. But you know some of the issues that, yeah,

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Speaker 2: like you've spoken about them, you know, the spits and

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Speaker 2: the neuron and the thesis and whatever. I mean, the

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Speaker 2: fact is, you know, maybe the government needed to think

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Speaker 2: about it a little bit more before they actually sent

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Speaker 2: them to somewhere like that, because we learned last year

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Speaker 2: that there was you know, almost five hundred sorry five

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Speaker 2: million dollars with the damage to Howard Springs, and I

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Speaker 2: just would have to ask, like they not there anything.

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Speaker 1: Are we at the point like where we need to

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Speaker 1: seriously start having conversations here, like if if every single

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Speaker 1: year we're spending a fortune to evacuate people from communities

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Speaker 1: because of that risk of flooding, like we are we

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Speaker 1: at a point where we need to start seriously having

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Speaker 1: a conversation about whether some of the communities where the

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Speaker 1: housing is, you know, it needs to move to higher

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Speaker 1: grounds so that we don't end up in this situation

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Speaker 1: every wet season.

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Speaker 2: Well, I know, actually talking about Pigeonhole, Katie, they did

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Speaker 2: have that conversation last year, and you know, just anecdotally

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Speaker 2: talking to people that I know that are either out

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Speaker 2: there or the station people nearby. You know, there was

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Speaker 2: conversations about moving that community.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 2: I know that governments built the houses up, but still

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Speaker 2: those houses got flooded. I think there seriously needs to

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Speaker 2: be conversations around you know, is this good use of

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Speaker 2: tax payers money? Years ago when flood evacuees came into town,

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Speaker 2: they used to be housed at the intense you know,

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Speaker 2: assisted by the rap I think it was back then.

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Speaker 2: So it's not like this is anything new. The governments,

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Speaker 2: you know, have been doing this for some time and

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Speaker 2: there should be some you know, emergency relief or disaster

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Speaker 2: relief program there that they know. Okay, well this is

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Speaker 2: what we did last time, and you know with Howard Springs,

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Speaker 2: you know, we had nearly five million dollars worth of damage.

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Speaker 2: Or this year, hopefully they have learned something from that

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Speaker 2: because at the end of the day, Katie, the taxpayer

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Speaker 2: is footing the bill.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, this is the thing, Joe. Can you tell me,

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Speaker 1: do you know what impact you know, the damage this

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Speaker 1: time around has had on the hotel? Like have you

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Speaker 1: had many discussions about that with people.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think the impact on the hotel is that,

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Speaker 2: you know, they had cleaned all their rooms getting ready

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Speaker 2: for the dry season. You know, there's cleaners that you know,

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Speaker 2: they're just going to work to do their normal job,

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Speaker 2: and they have had to be cleaning up these rooms.

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Speaker 2: And I don't know, actually think that's good enough that

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Speaker 2: they weren't there to you know, basically, it's not to

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Speaker 2: look up. They are not the nurses or the carers.

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Speaker 2: You know, supposedly carers were coming in with them, but

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Speaker 2: it was more like a buddy system because they were

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Speaker 2: you know, older, older people.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that if they had their time again,

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Speaker 1: you know, that the hotel operators would agree to take

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Speaker 1: on you know, residents, given the amounts the department paid

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Speaker 1: to accommodate them. I mean, it does seem as though

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Speaker 1: it's been like it seems as though it's probably been

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Speaker 1: commercially viable for them.

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie, what we know is that, yes, you just

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Speaker 2: said the figure before, and obviously yes it is commercially viable,

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Speaker 2: but you've also got to understand that this is a downtime,

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Speaker 2: it's not tourist time. Yes, so you know, all their

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Speaker 2: hotels are doing it pretty tough. Business has been quiet,

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Speaker 2: I know that. You know, some of the ones I

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Speaker 2: spoke to last year had a massive downturn in the

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Speaker 2: tourist season. So they are just doing whatever it is

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Speaker 2: that they can do to make their business survive. And

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Speaker 2: that's what doing private business, you know. So that's entirely

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Speaker 2: up to them, And I wouldn't blame them if they

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Speaker 2: took that contract and did it again, but I can

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Speaker 2: guarantee you that I'm sure they'll have some more stringent

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Speaker 2: guidelines themselves.

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Speaker 1: Now just tell me as well, Joe, I know that,

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Speaker 1: just stepping away from that for one moment, how are

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Speaker 1: things going in Catherine at the moment? I know you

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Speaker 1: guys have been going through a real tough time. You know,

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Speaker 1: the last couple of times you and I have spoken,

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Speaker 1: it's been pretty wild some of the things that have

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Speaker 1: been happening. Even earlier this week we spoke about a

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Speaker 1: situation with one of the servos, you know, again being targeted.

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Speaker 1: How are things going from your perspective?

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Speaker 2: So that servo that was I think maybe last time

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Speaker 2: I was talking to you, it was United Vinky from

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Speaker 2: United Servo, But just a few days ago on the

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Speaker 2: run got broken into again. They broke into the place

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Speaker 2: where the attendants have locked themselves in their safe room.

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Speaker 2: And I do read there was a police release that

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Speaker 2: said that twelve and fourteen year olds, now a twelve

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Speaker 2: year old got taken home to a responsible parent. Now,

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Speaker 2: I don't know about you, Katie, but I'm gonna be

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Speaker 2: sick of hearing about a responsible parent because you're not

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Speaker 2: responsible if your child is out in the middle of

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Speaker 2: the night, and they either need to be better supported,

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Speaker 2: Territory families need to become involved, and you know, find

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Speaker 2: out why that child is out on the street in

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Speaker 2: the middle of the night. Sonny, you say that the

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Speaker 2: top and I was talking to someone from Territory Families

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Speaker 2: about this very thing just now.

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Speaker 1: Well, and so will we this morning on the week

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Speaker 1: that was literally asked Nari a Kit to explain to

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Speaker 1: us exactly what a responsible adult was. And so we

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Speaker 1: might have to go back and replay a bit of

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Speaker 1: that audio. Get Crystal to get it online so that

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Speaker 1: we are able to replay it, because I've got a

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Speaker 1: message here right now from Mary and Humpty Dowit says,

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Speaker 1: good morning, Katie. What's the definition of a responsible adult

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Speaker 1: is it anyone over eighteen? Is it a parent? This

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Speaker 1: is a joke. It really irks me every time I

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Speaker 1: hear it, and I did say that to the minister

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Speaker 1: this morning. You know, are there checks in place to

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Speaker 1: make sure that they're going to you know, to to

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Speaker 1: an actual safe place, that the you know, that the

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Speaker 1: responsible adult that they're going back to isn't intoxicated, or

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Speaker 1: that there's no danger to that child as well. You know,

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Speaker 1: there's sort of all the questions that I think a

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Speaker 1: lot of a lot of people have got wanting to

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Speaker 1: make sure that if a kid is drop back to

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Speaker 1: a responsible adult, that that is indeed the situation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Katie, and a responsible adult make sure

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Speaker 2: that their child is not out on the street in

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Speaker 2: the middle of the night, you know, just on a

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Speaker 2: on a different than Government has been running some safety

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Speaker 2: for your Business courses this week and I went to

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Speaker 2: one of them on the return of my sittings in

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Speaker 2: Parliament and the Minister for Infrastructure was there and they

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Speaker 2: were talking about all these you know, changing your the

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Speaker 2: set head, which is changing your you know, entrance to

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Speaker 2: your business. Ya environmental design, like you cut down that

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Speaker 2: bush or whatever, or some of the other programs that

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Speaker 2: they've got out for businesses to ramp up their security,

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Speaker 2: but no one addressed the elephant in the room, Katie,

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Speaker 2: which is actually dealing with the person that he's doing

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Speaker 2: the breaking in. You know, that is the problem, and

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Speaker 2: there are no consequences under this labor government, and that

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Speaker 2: is not good enough. And territories are at a gutfull.

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Speaker 2: And there was a heap of business people there the

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Speaker 2: other day discussing all of the things that are happening

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Speaker 2: in their business and the answer for them was let's

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Speaker 2: strengthen the window and not strengthen the law. That is

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Speaker 2: not acceptable to territories are sick of hearing that.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's treating the symptom, right, it's not actually you know,

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Speaker 1: like it's not actually treating the whole cause of what's

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Speaker 1: going on. And it's something that you know, I know

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Speaker 1: you and I have spoken about before. We talk about

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Speaker 1: it so often on the show. Joe, I really appreciate

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Speaker 1: you having a chat with me this morning. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to have to wrap it up because we're going to

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Speaker 1: head across and catch up with care flight. Thank you

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Speaker 1: as always for having a chat this morning.

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Speaker 2: Just quickly, Katie, Catherina Street Primary School do have after

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Speaker 2: school care?

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Speaker 1: Oh god, yeah yeah, I'm back to you with that.

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Speaker 2: So that is positive news for Casina Street Primary School.

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Speaker 2: They've organized something else and they do now have after

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Speaker 2: school care for their kids at school.

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Speaker 1: That is good to hear, Joe. I appreciate you following

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Speaker 1: that up for us as well and making sure that

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Speaker 1: we were made aware. Thank you so much for your time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Katie, thank you, you two