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Speaker 1: It is just after nine point thirty.

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Speaker 2: Now we know that the Northern Territory government announced yesterday

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Speaker 2: that they've reached agreement with the Commonwealth to launch a

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Speaker 2: second round of Tourism Survival Fund and Visitation Reliance Support Program,

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Speaker 2: with payments under both these programs set to triple. Now,

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Speaker 2: somebody who has really been spearheading the calls to try

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Speaker 2: and help our tourism sector and try to see some

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Speaker 2: change in this space is Daniel Rochford, who's the CEO

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Speaker 2: of Tourism Central Australia.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Daniel, Good.

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Speaker 3: Morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.

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Speaker 2: Daniel, you and I have spoken on so many occasions

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Speaker 2: about the need for additional support for tourism operators, particularly

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Speaker 2: in Central Australia.

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Speaker 1: Does this announcement go far enough?

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Speaker 3: Look, it's great support Katie, and thank you for your

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Speaker 3: advocacy with us on this. It has been something we've

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Speaker 3: been talking about for many weeks and it's great to

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Speaker 3: see both the Territory and Federal getting their heads together

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Speaker 3: to get behind and back our industry. Many of our operators,

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Speaker 3: as you know, are on their knees and they were

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Speaker 3: looking forward to a very bleak Christmas, and this support

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Speaker 3: is very meaningful and very important.

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Speaker 2: Daniel, Does it apply just to those in Central Australia?

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Speaker 2: Is it those up in the top end as well?

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Speaker 2: I know that you're obviously based in Central Australia, but

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Speaker 2: is it territory wide?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and it's across the whole impact of the COVID

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Speaker 3: pandemic has hit us right across the territory. And you know,

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Speaker 3: obviously we've been very much advocating for our members here

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Speaker 3: in Central Australia, but I know the same impact is

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Speaker 3: being filled up in the top end. So look this

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Speaker 3: funding which in survival for those who were successful in

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Speaker 3: the first round, we'll see up funds of up to

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Speaker 3: anywhere between thirty and ninety thousand dollars being injected into

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Speaker 3: the businesses to get them through to the other side.

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Speaker 3: As you know, this is our low season right across

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Speaker 3: the territory, and so that you know our operators here

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Speaker 3: in Central Australia they're seeing almost no revenue. So this

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Speaker 3: is as meaningful as it gets.

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Speaker 2: Will it mean that some of those businesses who you

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Speaker 2: and I have spoken about before, who were looking down

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Speaker 2: the barrel of having to know to really either go

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Speaker 2: into sort of shut down mode or close over Christmas

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Speaker 2: or lay staff off. Will it mean that they are

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Speaker 2: able to keep going?

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Speaker 3: Indeed, and that's the feedback that I got. In fact,

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Speaker 3: the message were sent out to all those successful in

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Speaker 3: Round one collectively by our email on last Friday, and

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Speaker 3: I was actually a meeting with six operators when they

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Speaker 3: received the email, and to see the relief on their faces,

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Speaker 3: it was absolutely amazing. And you know, if I wish

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Speaker 3: I could have bottled that moment. It was so critical

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Speaker 3: for these guys to get enough funds to see them through,

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Speaker 3: just to pay bills, to pay their payroll, to get

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Speaker 3: them through to hopefully what will be a bumper twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Finally some good news for them. Hame.

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Speaker 3: Hey, Yeah, it's been a long time going, hasn't it.

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Speaker 3: I've been talking about this for a long time, Katie.

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Speaker 3: But look, we're very appreciative of the the board of

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Speaker 3: both of our governments. You know, we've certainly been advocating

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Speaker 3: for this for long and hard for some time, and

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Speaker 3: it's great our government's listen and we really appreciate that support.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, now let's talk through some of some of those

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Speaker 2: tourist numbers. I know that we really got that clarification

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Speaker 2: or that that certainty. I suppose that we all wanted

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Speaker 2: around December twenty still being the date that we are

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Speaker 2: going to open up. Yesterday the Health Minister had spoken

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Speaker 2: to us on the show and she said that yes,

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Speaker 2: that is still the roadmap forward despite their being Omicron.

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Speaker 2: The other variant flow around in different states around Australia

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Speaker 2: at the moment and indeed other parts of the world.

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Speaker 2: But it is looking as though we are forging ahead

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Speaker 2: with that December twenty date in terms of those vaccinated.

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Speaker 2: Assie is being able to travel to the territory. Daniel,

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Speaker 2: what do you think that's going to mean for Central Australia.

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Speaker 3: Well, we're already seeing some impact of ready. I've talked

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Speaker 3: to you many times about the impact of aviation access

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Speaker 3: into Yolara Airport. We're currently just down to two flights,

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Speaker 3: which compared to pre pandemic was about forty two flights.

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Speaker 3: With this announcement, Jetstar has made an immediate announcement to

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Speaker 3: increase that two to seven flights, so that will have

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Speaker 3: an immediate impact for being able to get into the

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Speaker 3: Yolara Airport. We're not hearing a huge upticking loookings for

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Speaker 3: December January Intoala Springs, but beyond that into March April.

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Speaker 3: The feedback on GET is really positive. But I suspect

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Speaker 3: once people, you know, once it happens and people know

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Speaker 3: that they can come in quarantine free, I suspect we

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Speaker 3: will start to see visitation turn up in January and

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Speaker 3: early into February.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what we're all hoping for.

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Speaker 2: I do know that it was reported by the ABC

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Speaker 2: online that several popular Central Australian tourism experiences and accommodation

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Speaker 2: options are going to be closed for renovations over the

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Speaker 2: summer period. Is that still the case.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly right. But look, I don't want to don't

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Speaker 3: take that as a message that we're closed for business.

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Speaker 3: So for instance, King's Canyon Resort and Glen Helen closed

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Speaker 3: for renovations thirty million dollar worth of renovation. So they're

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Speaker 3: using this downturn at the moment as an opportunity to

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Speaker 3: renovate and really refocus those properties. But for instance, if

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Speaker 3: any of you listeners are wanting to go to Kings

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Speaker 3: you know we have King's Creek Station just at the

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Speaker 3: doorstep of Kings Canyon. Many of the hotels that Lara

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Speaker 3: is still open. And of course, as you know, Katie,

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Speaker 3: we've got a chart of running from Darwin to u

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Speaker 3: Laru in late January. Of course i'd give that a

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Speaker 3: bit of a plug. Bit is we're encouraging as many

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Speaker 3: territory in top end folks to come down on that

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Speaker 3: direct flight from Darwin to Lara, and there's still a

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Speaker 3: few vacancies for that, so that's another opportunity. And look

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Speaker 3: where were cently encouraging as many people from the top

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Speaker 3: end to come down to use those territory vouchers in

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Speaker 3: some shape or form to support the ufellow territorians, and

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Speaker 3: you know, all that support is greatly appreciated.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, when you talk.

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Speaker 2: About those territory tourism vouchers, has there been a big

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Speaker 2: uptake you know from territorians to actually use those in

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Speaker 2: Central Australia.

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Speaker 3: Look, I of course sound very optimistic that we haven't

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Speaker 3: seen any change in the tapets. It's still anywhere between

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Speaker 3: ten to fifteen percent of the total vouch is being

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Speaker 3: redeemed in Central Australia, which is compared to eighty five

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Speaker 3: percent being redeemed in the top end. So I'm not

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Speaker 3: doing cartwheels down the tide mall. But all that fifteen

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Speaker 3: percent is still meaningful and still makes a big difference

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Speaker 3: to our operators. So we're always very appreciative of the support.

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Speaker 3: But you know, in comparison to what's being redeemed in

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Speaker 3: the top end, we're certainly not seeing that that same uptake.

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Speaker 3: So but what we're seeing is, you know, is appreciated.

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Speaker 2: Daniel, just back on to you know that funding that's

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Speaker 2: been announced, and I know that it's obviously a really

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Speaker 2: positive thing, Like how long do you think that that

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Speaker 2: is going to sort of tie businesses over for and

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Speaker 2: do you think that.

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Speaker 1: You know that they are now going to.

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Speaker 2: Be able to or ready to sort of rebound hopefully

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Speaker 2: from early next year.

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Speaker 3: That's my worry greatly, Katie, is that this funding that

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Speaker 3: that's receives will essentially deal with some of the immediate

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Speaker 3: bills and immediate challenges. Well, the thing that worries me

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Speaker 3: at the other side of this is these are two

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Speaker 3: tsunamis about to hit us and we hit the industry

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Speaker 3: here in Central Australia. The first one is having to

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Speaker 3: pay for the bills to restart your business, so things

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Speaker 3: like regios and insurances and the like and the ability

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Speaker 3: of where the businesses have the money to do that.

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Speaker 3: And the second one, and probably the bigger of the two,

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Speaker 3: is labor shortages. We need a thousand staff just in

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Speaker 3: Central Australia alone by March next year. And the most

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Speaker 3: disheartening thing will be to see this huge tsunami of

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Speaker 3: demand but not having staff to meet the supply, and

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Speaker 3: that will be I think probably one of the biggest

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Speaker 3: challenges that we have to face, and we certainly are

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Speaker 3: working and calling on our governments to look at that

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Speaker 3: issue very seriously. If we were a mine where there's

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Speaker 3: a thousand jobs coming to Central Australia, the red carpets

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Speaker 3: would be rolled out. And this is as low hanging

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Speaker 3: fruit as you get. We need a thousand staff just

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Speaker 3: to get back to operational capability. There's a great economic

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Speaker 3: development opportunity for Central Australia.

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Speaker 2: So how soon do you reckon? You need those thousand

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Speaker 2: staff by March.

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Speaker 3: April next year, So we're only talking the case of

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Speaker 3: a couple months. So we're certainly talking to around the

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Speaker 3: Pacific Labor Mobility program and looking at some numbers there,

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Speaker 3: and I know a number of our businesses have already

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Speaker 3: committed to that program. We need to look at doing

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Speaker 3: things differently. We need to pick up rocks and see

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Speaker 3: what's underneath them, so you know, for example, you know

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Speaker 3: we need to supercharge the Workstay Play program that was

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Speaker 3: announced last year. Fifteen hundred dollars unfortunately just does not

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Speaker 3: cut it in a competitive environment. When the government announced

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Speaker 3: that fifteen hundred dollars, two days later the Queensland government

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Speaker 3: announced for three pound dollars. We've got this great opportunity

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Speaker 3: with the Darwin two London flights. You know, if there's

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Speaker 3: a spare seat on that plane, you know we should

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Speaker 3: be looking at potentially the government underwriting that seat to

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Speaker 3: encourage people from the UK to come and work in

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Speaker 3: the Northern territory, whether it's in the Top End or

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Speaker 3: of Central Australia. We've got many leavers that we could

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Speaker 3: push and pull. But the thing I've noticed when I've

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Speaker 3: put my head down the rabbit hole is that we

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Speaker 3: need to do not one is the answer. We need

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Speaker 3: to do them all well.

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Speaker 1: I reckon there's some really good points.

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Speaker 2: We're actually due to catch up with the Minister of

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Speaker 2: a Small Business, Paul Kirby, in a couple of moments

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Speaker 2: to talk fishing in one of his other portfolios, but

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Speaker 2: I might ask him where we are at in terms of,

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Speaker 2: you know, those staff shortages and what planning I guess

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Speaker 2: is underway at the moment, because hopefully there is some

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Speaker 2: of that planning already happening.

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Speaker 3: Well, yes, I'm not seeing huge amounts of it, and

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Speaker 3: you know, certain of some areas around the labor Pacific

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Speaker 3: Labor program. But look, I feel like you know, I'm

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Speaker 3: not one of those single voices at the moment advocating

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Speaker 3: for this because you know, my members are saying that

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Speaker 3: they just are not getting applicants for jobs, and it

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Speaker 3: is going to be such a hotly contested market next year.

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Speaker 3: We had the luxury of this year being an area

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Speaker 3: where people were migrating too because of COVID, But next

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Speaker 3: year we're going to be in a much more competitive

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Speaker 3: labor market.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, Daniel Rochford, we will talk more about that in

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Speaker 2: a few minutes time. Mate. I tell you what I

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Speaker 2: am looking forward to one day seeing you cartwheel down

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Speaker 2: down the Todd Mall.

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Speaker 1: That sounds like it to be pretty fun.

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Speaker 3: Oh look, I'm sure we could sell tickets for that event.

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Speaker 1: Good on you. Mate, I always appreciate your time and

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Speaker 1: have you know.

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Speaker 2: I think that you've done a lot in terms of

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Speaker 2: advocating over recent months as well on these issues when

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Speaker 2: it comes to tourism in Central Australia and to see

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Speaker 2: this money obviously now announced is a really good thing.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and thank you too, Katie. You've been a great

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Speaker 3: supporter of Central Australian tourism and we really appreciate your

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Speaker 3: empowerment and encouragement on this issue too.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: We're all in it together, hey, we're all territory and

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Speaker 2: so I think it's really important. Daniel Rochford, thanks so

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Speaker 2: much for your time. We'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Thanks man, Thank you,