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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line this morning here in Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Actually it is the Minister for Northern Australia and Agriculture,

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Speaker 1: David little Proud.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, good morning, good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister. Before we get into what's happening in Darwin

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Speaker 1: at the moment or what you're in Darwin for, I

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Speaker 1: just want to get a little bit more detail on

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Speaker 1: this historic joint announcement with the United States and the

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Speaker 1: United Kingdom this morning. We know that the Prime Minister

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Speaker 1: Scott Morrison has confirmed that Australia would use British and

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Speaker 1: American technology to build its next fleet, replacing the existing

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Speaker 1: Collins Class submarines. What does this mean for Australia and

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Speaker 1: indeed for Northern Australia, Well.

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Speaker 2: This just means we're going to be a lot safer.

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Speaker 2: This is historic and what the Prime Minister has been

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Speaker 2: able to achieve in utter secrecy with our coalition friends

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Speaker 2: in the UK and the US, we'll leave a legacy

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Speaker 2: for generations and what it says to the world is

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Speaker 2: that we are a peace free, loving country and we

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Speaker 2: want to maintain that. But if anyone wants to harm

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Speaker 2: Australia or any of its allies, then we will work

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Speaker 2: together to make sure that we return the globe to

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Speaker 2: a safer place where peace and prosperity reigns. And what

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister has done is sign an agreement not just

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Speaker 2: around the technology that is game changing, but also a

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Speaker 2: broader agreement with the UK and US to have a

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Speaker 2: strategic alliance to make sure the world understands that we

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Speaker 2: want to advance the cause of peace and prosperity. But

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Speaker 2: if that changes and someone wants to challenge that, then

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Speaker 2: we will stand united to make sure that we return

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Speaker 2: the world to that. So the subs in particular, we

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Speaker 2: will pivot away from that contract. And I've got to

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Speaker 2: say the reason we pivot away is because this technology

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Speaker 2: wasn't available to us. The US wouldn't share it with

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Speaker 2: Australia until now and the fact that the Prime Minister

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Speaker 2: has been able to achieve that is mind blowing. No

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Speaker 2: one else in the world has been given the keys

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Speaker 2: to this. So that is why we're going to have

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Speaker 2: to pivot away from the subs that we were making,

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Speaker 2: and they were the best technology we had at the time,

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Speaker 2: but this now is going to keep our service men

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Speaker 2: and women safe. We'll bring them home after if they

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Speaker 2: have to go to war and to found our country.

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Speaker 2: We hope they never have to, but this is a

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Speaker 2: significant game changer.

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Speaker 1: It does certainly send a message to China and obviously

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Speaker 1: we know that the Northern Territory and indeed the top

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Speaker 1: end is incredibly strategically important. Do you think that this

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Speaker 1: announcement's going to have much of an impact for us

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory, but particularly Darwin and Catherine.

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Speaker 2: Well, look, I think you'll see that there'll be some

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Speaker 2: further announcements in it. I'll leave that further Defense Minister

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Speaker 2: from Prime Minister, but strategically, not just from the Australian government,

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Speaker 2: but also obviously from the UK and US government. They've

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Speaker 2: already at the US that has already made significant investments

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Speaker 2: in the top end, and I think you will see

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Speaker 2: that we'll continue to work together and those announcements will

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Speaker 2: come obviously in due course and after strategic alliances are

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Speaker 2: formalized and we start to understand what that'll look like

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Speaker 2: in terms of boots on the ground.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's move along and talk about the announcement

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Speaker 1: that you made yesterday actually about a new business developed

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Speaker 1: the grants program it's dedicated to Northern Australia. It's going

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Speaker 1: to hopefully open up a strategic corridor across the North

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Speaker 1: in early November. I mean, what kind of businesses are

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Speaker 1: we talking about here.

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Speaker 2: We're looking for anyone with an ABN that wants to

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Speaker 2: grow their business and expand it and do transformational things

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Speaker 2: with infrastructure and equipment. So it's a fifty to fifty

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Speaker 2: grand scheme and for small businesses that's from fifty thousand

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Speaker 2: through to two million, and for larger businesses we're looking

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Speaker 2: from three million through to ten million. This is about

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Speaker 2: trying to actually just put a little bit of grunt

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Speaker 2: behind those businesses that are here, but also those that

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Speaker 2: want to come. We want to try and stimulate their

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Speaker 2: decision to make that next step. I mean, they're having

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Speaker 2: the courage and conviction to put their own money out

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Speaker 2: there to grow Northern Australia and this is just a

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Speaker 2: way to turbo charge that and we don't want it

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Speaker 2: to be sitting around. We want this money out the

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Speaker 2: door by February. It's going to be competitive, obviously a

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Speaker 2: competitive process. It has to be able to demonstrate that

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Speaker 2: it's going to create jobs and it's going to grow

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Speaker 2: Northern Australia. That's the return on investment that I'm looking

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Speaker 2: for on behalf of the Australian taxpayer whose If we

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Speaker 2: can do that, we'll actually get more tax revenue. We'll

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Speaker 2: be able to pay for more skills, more hospitals and

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Speaker 2: a like. So this is just complementing everything else we've

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Speaker 2: done with the Knife. Also what we're trying to do

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Speaker 2: with insurance, a ten billion dollar insurance underwriting scheme to

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Speaker 2: bring some competitiveness back in. And we've got a bit

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Speaker 2: of work to continue to do around infrastructure, which we'll

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Speaker 2: fill in those supply chain gaps. But this is really

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Speaker 2: just giving businesses, mum and dad businesses right through to

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Speaker 2: big businesses the confidence to take that final step to

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Speaker 2: come north.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there'll be plenty of people, plenty of business

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Speaker 1: owners listening to the show this morning as I know

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Speaker 1: that they do wondering if they're actually going to be eligible.

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Speaker 1: I mean, what type of grants are we talking and

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Speaker 1: are we talking about infrastructure or just you know, any

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Speaker 1: kind of idea. What are we looking for?

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Speaker 2: Well, it is it is around infrastructure or equipment, but

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Speaker 2: it's also about helping taking some of those new ideas,

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Speaker 2: those concepts too fuition to actually put them into practice.

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Speaker 2: So that's why we've tried to keep it as broad

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Speaker 2: as we can and to those businesses that are here already,

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Speaker 2: we're trying to We're not just saying come up to

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Speaker 2: the north and just and targeting those people that aren't here.

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Speaker 2: We're saying that those businesses have already had the courage

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Speaker 2: of their own money. We want to try and take

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Speaker 2: your business to the next level. So this is about

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Speaker 2: making sure and effectively. We will be saying that if

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Speaker 2: you want to invest fifty to fifty with us in

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Speaker 2: the piece of equipment or infrastructure, or in terms of

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Speaker 2: bringing a concept of business to life, then we will

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Speaker 2: partner with you. But we want to see results. We

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Speaker 2: want to see a return, we want to see jobs

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Speaker 2: on the ground, and we want to see Northern Australia

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Speaker 2: reach its full potential.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, earlier in the week, as I understand you're

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Speaker 1: in Central Australia, I know that tourism Central Australia has

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Speaker 1: been crying out for help now for weeks. We've had

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Speaker 1: Daniel Rochford on the show on numerous occasions. They're really

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Speaker 1: struggling with lockdowns and the situation with COVID. They're calling

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Speaker 1: for the federal job Keeper scheme to be reinstated so

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Speaker 1: that the region struggling tourism and hospitality industries can really

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Speaker 1: be kept alive. Is this something that you discussed earlier

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Speaker 1: in the week with Tourism Central Australia and is the

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Speaker 1: federal government looking at doing something in this space.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, and it's a real concern and I'm hearing

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Speaker 2: that in Darwin as well as I get around here.

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Speaker 2: And so we've created an emergency payment and so that's

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Speaker 2: equivalent to the job keeper, but what the limitation on

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Speaker 2: that is that it's paid to those hot spot areas

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Speaker 2: that are defined in lockdown. But what we've got to understand,

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Speaker 2: I think, well, we're having discussions in Canberra about is

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Speaker 2: the secondary effects for tourism in particular, and we're seeing

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Speaker 2: that here in the Central Australia and also in places

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Speaker 2: like Cans. So as a government, we're looking at that

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Speaker 2: and how do we look to make sure that those

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Speaker 2: secondary effects of lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne by premiers

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Speaker 2: down there, what impact that's having it up here and

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Speaker 2: how do we try and iron that out So there

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Speaker 2: is discussions happening and we understand that, and I think

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Speaker 2: there's an appreciation that we have a look at this,

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Speaker 2: and obviously the Tourism Minister and the Treasurer are fully

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Speaker 2: aware of it and cognizant of it, and it's how

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Speaker 2: do we put a process in place that protects the

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Speaker 2: Australian taxpayer but helps those that are needed at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Well, yes, I mean you're spot on in the sense

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Speaker 1: that it's certainly being felt in the likes of North

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Speaker 1: Queensland and also here in the territory. But really acutely,

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Speaker 1: I think you'd have to say by Tourism Central Australia,

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Speaker 1: I mean, is there going to be some kind of

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Speaker 1: announcement on the cards.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's not in my remit, but I know that

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Speaker 2: we are having discussions and we're looking at it, and

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Speaker 2: I know that Sam McMahon's been pushing for this, as

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Speaker 2: has Warren Nshover in North Queensland, to have it looked at,

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Speaker 2: and I think the Treasurer is obviously looking at it

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Speaker 2: and trying to work through the process. How do we

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Speaker 2: extend that emergency payment and how can we do that

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Speaker 2: and make sure that we protect it so there is

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Speaker 2: discussion happening, but it's not in my remit to make

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Speaker 2: any decision or announcement. But I do know that the

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Speaker 2: government is making room and decisions about that soon now.

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Speaker 1: Minister, we are fast running out of time, but there's

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Speaker 1: a few things that I do want to get through.

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Speaker 1: Did you hear the Chief Minister's announcement yesterday about the

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Speaker 1: roadmap forward for the Northern Territory around COVID and what

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Speaker 1: did you make of it?

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Speaker 2: Well, I didn't see it in detail. I'm sorry, but

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Speaker 2: I do understand that he's deviated from the national plan

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Speaker 2: and that's frustrating. I mean, the Prime Minister's trying to

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Speaker 2: show leadership and bring everyone together, but what we're getting

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Speaker 2: now is a real education in our constitution and federation.

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Speaker 2: The states and territories have the power on this, have

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Speaker 2: the sovereign power on this, and we respect that. But

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Speaker 2: what we're trying to do is so let's have some

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Speaker 2: consistency across the country. Because lines were put on a

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Speaker 2: map one hundred and twenty years ago and modern Australia

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Speaker 2: has moved past that and at some point, at some point,

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Speaker 2: we're going to have to live with COVID it's not

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Speaker 2: going to go away, and so at some juncture we're

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Speaker 2: going to have to have an environment where Australians can

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Speaker 2: continue to move around Australia and not be pulled up

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Speaker 2: at the border. Now, vaccination is the first step in that,

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Speaker 2: and then out of that we're going to have to

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Speaker 2: understand we're going to have to take that big step

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Speaker 2: outside at some point. And I think that the premiers

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Speaker 2: and Chief ministers go to these national cabinets, they all

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Speaker 2: sit there with the Prime Minister and they agree to

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Speaker 2: these national plans. They send the PM out and when

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Speaker 2: he looks left and right behind him, there's no one

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Speaker 2: standing with him. And that shouldn't be how a modern

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Speaker 2: Australia operates.

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Speaker 1: I guess the real concern for us here in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory at the moment, dom we've been speaking about

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Speaker 1: it quite extensively over the last couple of days, is

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Speaker 1: the pressure that NTY Health is under right now, even

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Speaker 1: in terms of staffing Howard Springs, staffing Royal Darwin Hospital

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Speaker 1: and staffing the Palmerston Regional Hospital. So if we were

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Speaker 1: to see any kind of outbreak in the territory, it

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Speaker 1: could have a massive impact. I think he said yesterday

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty ICU beds with ventilators. I suppose we just

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Speaker 1: don't have any kind of capacity for COVID to enter

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Speaker 1: the territory.

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Speaker 2: Well, that show goes to the management of your health

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Speaker 2: system even without COVID. I mean, the money that's being

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Speaker 2: paid to the territory government to manage and to prioritize

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Speaker 2: the resources every year should be about making sure they

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Speaker 2: do have that capacity. So the money is there, it's

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Speaker 2: been to the Northern Territory government's just how they choose

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Speaker 2: to spend it, and unfortunately they haven't made those decisions

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Speaker 2: to spend it on a health system to keep up

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Speaker 2: to the capacity.

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Speaker 1: Some of those beds are being used at the moment

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Speaker 1: for aged care and we know that that certainly falls

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Speaker 1: under the REMIT as I understand of the federal government.

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Speaker 1: I mean, is there discussions in that space in terms of,

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Speaker 1: you know, getting some funding or the capacity for further

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Speaker 1: beds in the territory for our aged care patients.

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Speaker 2: Well, they are long standing arrangements that we have with

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Speaker 2: states and territories around age care beds, and the states

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Speaker 2: and territories are remmunerated for them. They're they're long standing arrangements.

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Speaker 2: There's nothing new in that. That's business as usual. So

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Speaker 2: this is what I'm saying is you've got a business

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Speaker 2: as usual model here that isn't working. And he's right.

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Speaker 2: If he gets COVID at the moment, because he can't

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Speaker 2: manage a business as usual approach, he's going to have

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Speaker 2: even more trouble. We've got COVID, and that's the challenge

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Speaker 2: that he's got to actually live up to and get

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Speaker 2: that capacity and get his priorities right now, we work

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Speaker 2: through at the funding and obviously the territory gets itditional

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Speaker 2: money in addition to the GST because of your population

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Speaker 2: and the challenges you face up here, and that money

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Speaker 2: continues to flow and that continues to increase, but it

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Speaker 2: comes back to the management of that money. So this

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Speaker 2: is the challenge. But the thing is if you want

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Speaker 2: to continue to be locked down, you've got the real problem.

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Speaker 2: If you just articulated about the tourism industry while you

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Speaker 2: lock out the rest of the country, you lock down

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Speaker 2: your tourism industries right here, right across Central Australia. That's

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Speaker 2: the challenge, and that's at some juncture we're going to

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Speaker 2: have to come out and we're going to have to

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Speaker 2: trust one another. We're gonna get jabs in the arms

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Speaker 2: and get out and live.

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Speaker 1: Minister, were just about out of time, but very quickly.

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Speaker 1: Are you meeting with the Chief Minister while you're here?

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Speaker 2: No, Sadly he's canceled our meeting this afternoon as he

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Speaker 2: did last time. But I'm keen to reach out and

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Speaker 2: to meet with him. I'll be back up again. I

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Speaker 2: was here a month ago and I suggest I'll probably

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Speaker 2: be up within the next month as well, because I

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Speaker 2: can only travel between Queensland and Northern Territory at the moment,

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Speaker 2: so it's good to get up here. But my phone's

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Speaker 2: always on the doors always, and we'll obviously continue to

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Speaker 2: try and meet with the Chief Minister. It's important. The

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Speaker 2: Territory is an important part in Northern Australia. I think

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Speaker 2: the exponential growth of Northern Australia will happen here in

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Speaker 2: the center.

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Speaker 1: Just very quickly. Where are we at with the ship lift?

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Speaker 1: What's holding things up?

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Speaker 2: Well, as we understand, we've committed, it's now between the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory Government and the proponent. I understand that it's

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Speaker 2: still working through. I mean this is a saga that

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Speaker 2: has gone on for some time. So effectively, the federal

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Speaker 2: government has made its commitment and that's what we do

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Speaker 2: through the NATHE. Then after that we allow the proponent

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Speaker 2: and the state nor territory government to finalize it and

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Speaker 2: we hand the money over once they've utilized their cash.

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Speaker 2: So they haven't utilized their money yet, so the Knafe

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Speaker 2: loan hasn't been triggered, so from our perspective, it's business

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Speaker 2: as usual, but with expect that something happens sooner rather

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Speaker 2: than later.

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Speaker 1: Well, Minister for Northern Australia and also Agriculture, I wish

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Speaker 1: we had more time, but we're going to have to

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Speaker 1: leave it there. Thank you so much for having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: No as we're back again. Thanks sounds good.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. That's David little Proud there