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Speaker 1: Oh, yesterday on the show, you would have heard us

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Speaker 1: talking about the situation in Maningrida. We caught up with

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Speaker 1: the mayor of the West Aarnthhamshire and he told us

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Speaker 1: about the concerns with the telephone lines, also the Internet

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Speaker 1: being down and that telephone service being very much intermitt

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Speaker 1: and now we had been told late yesterday that it

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Speaker 1: had all been rectified, but we're hearing again from people

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Speaker 1: in man and Greta this morning that there are still

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Speaker 1: some issues.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is the Senator for the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory, the Labor Senator, Melanderie McCarthy. Good morning to you, Malandierie.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, good morning to your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now this is something that has been a concern now

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Speaker 1: since Thursday last week. We understand that there are some

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Speaker 1: Telstra technicians out in Maningrida today and we ended up

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Speaker 1: getting a statement from Telstreet yesterday. But Malandiery, it is

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Speaker 1: still a concern, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I'm still getting calls from people in Maningrida or

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Speaker 2: texts letting me know that this isn't as satisfactory. What's

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Speaker 2: seemed to be a really happy moment late yesterday afternoon

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Speaker 2: has now turned into some more despair Katie, and more

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Speaker 2: than frustration, like I'm actually ropable that this is still

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Speaker 2: a major concern when we're only a few days out

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Speaker 2: of Christmas. We have residents across Man and Greta who

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Speaker 2: had contracts with Telstra and I will certainly be going

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Speaker 2: really hard with Telster if this is not.

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Speaker 1: Six and the statement that we received yesterday from Telstra,

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Speaker 1: I will read it out to you. It says Telstra

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Speaker 1: is currently working to resolve an intermitted issue with three

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Speaker 1: and four G mobile services in Man and Greta that's

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Speaker 1: been impacting services since December sixteen. However, landline services and

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Speaker 1: NBN Internet services are not impacted and continue to work.

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Speaker 1: It goes on to say we believe the problem is

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Speaker 1: related to our local transmission network and looking to get

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Speaker 1: the issue resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for

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Speaker 1: any inconvenience course to local rescis it's during this time.

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Speaker 1: In relation to f Post, most f POST machines have

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Speaker 1: a capability to connect via fixed line, Wi Fi or

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Speaker 1: mobile services, and we always encourage stores across the NT

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Speaker 1: to have a backup connectivity option to ensure that they

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Speaker 1: can continue trading and supplying services in case of an outach. Senator,

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Speaker 1: what is your response to that statement from Telstra yesterday?

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Speaker 2: Well, clearly that is not good enough as well, at Katie,

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Speaker 2: because their response yesterday is a far cry from what

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Speaker 2: is actually happening in Man and Greta today and the

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Speaker 2: reality is that Telstra is not fulfilling its obligation to

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Speaker 2: people who have contracts with Telstra, to people who expect

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Speaker 2: a higher response and communication in terms of when things

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Speaker 2: go well, and in this instance there's been little, if

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Speaker 2: any communication other than something on a website that says sorry,

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Speaker 2: that is not good enough. And I'm saying Telstra, if

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Speaker 2: you're listening, I will be calling for a Senate inquiry

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Speaker 2: into Telstra communication across remote and regional Australia, in particular

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Speaker 2: in arnham Land, because this is happening way too often

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Speaker 2: and the slackness of Telstra in supporting people in our

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Speaker 2: remote and regional Australia is just not on well.

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Speaker 1: So you actually think there needs to be a Senate

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Speaker 1: inquiry into this and into the issues that we've got

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Speaker 1: in regional and remote Australia. I know that you know

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Speaker 1: that's Man and Greta is not the only one in

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Speaker 1: the territory. We very often get contacted about Dundee, for example,

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Speaker 1: So you actually think there needs to be a Senate

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Speaker 1: inquiry into this.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I heard residents from Dundee speak about concerns they have.

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Speaker 2: I certainly know there's concerns in Central Australia and this

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Speaker 2: is just the tip of the iceberg. Firstly, I want

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Speaker 2: Telster to fix the problems in Maningreda right now, but

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Speaker 2: secondly there will be a longer term view as far

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Speaker 2: as I'm concerned that we should be looking at a

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Speaker 2: Senate inquiry into Remote Region Australia Technology.

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Speaker 1: Senator, I've got to say, you sound, to put it

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Speaker 1: pretty bluntly, you sound really pissed off this morning.

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Speaker 2: Totally, Totally, this has gone on way too long. I've

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Speaker 2: been speaking to residents since Friday and the expectation warns

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Speaker 2: it what's to be fixed. On Friday. They went through

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Speaker 2: Saturday and Sunday, no fuel, no food, no ability to communicate.

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Speaker 2: Come Monday, they get a little bit of a relief

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Speaker 2: when in reality it's pretty gam and Katie, sorry, absolutely gamming.

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Speaker 2: This is not good enough. Teltra is a major corporation.

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Speaker 2: It has incredible amounts of money with contracts with Australians

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Speaker 2: across the country and it is not fulfilling its obligation

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Speaker 2: in Maningrida.

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Speaker 1: Well, Senator, I reckon there is people out there listening

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Speaker 1: this morning who will be feeling the same those in Maningrida,

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Speaker 1: I know, and also in Dundee who've contacted us, like

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Speaker 1: I said, on numerous occasions. And after we'd spoken about

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Speaker 1: this yesterday though, was saying, Katie, it's not just Managrita.

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Speaker 1: What about all the calls we've contacted you about when

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Speaker 1: it comes to Dundee. And look, you know we haven't

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Speaker 1: forgotten their either. So I think there will be a

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Speaker 1: lot of people who agree with you this morning listening

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Speaker 1: to what you've got to say.

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Speaker 2: And Katie, just one more thing at tell us again

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Speaker 2: if you're listening, you know, the most decent thing you

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Speaker 2: could do is offer people out there at least some

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Speaker 2: credit towards their contracts for the inconvenience that you've caused

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Speaker 2: them since Thursday, and anyone else for that matter, who's

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Speaker 2: out there that's experiencing problems.

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Speaker 1: Well, Senator for the Northern Territory Melandarie McCarthy, we always

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for speaking with

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Speaker 1: us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you