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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now from Palmerston. I

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Speaker 1: believe that he is out at the BWS store, which

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Speaker 1: was indeed targeted overnight on a number of occasions. Matt

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Speaker 1: Cunningham from Sky News.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt, good a, Katie.

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Speaker 1: How are you not too bad? Matt? So much happening

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Speaker 1: overnight in Palmerston. It's pretty horrifying stuff.

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Speaker 2: It's remarkable, Katie. You'd have to say. We're looking now

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Speaker 2: at six incidents reported to police over a nine hour

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Speaker 2: period at two bottle shops, first at the Kazalies and

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Speaker 2: then at the BWS in Palmerston. So it all started

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Speaker 2: at about two forty pm yesterday according to police, where

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Speaker 2: a man went into the Kazalie bottle shop and while

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Speaker 2: he was there he threatened, according to police, to split

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Speaker 2: a staff member's throat and then stole a staff member's

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Speaker 2: credit card. Now police say the same man then came

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Speaker 2: to the BWS in Palmerston. That's where I am at

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Speaker 2: the moment, Katie, and he threatened staff there again before

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Speaker 2: stealing alcohol. At five o'clock he came back. Now they're

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Speaker 2: not sure if he actually had a knife on those

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Speaker 2: first two occasions, but he was certainly saying that he did.

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Speaker 2: At five o'clock he came back to the BWS and

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Speaker 2: Parmerston and this time he was seen with a large

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Speaker 2: kitchen knife protruding from his shorts. He threatened the staff

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Speaker 2: there again and stole alcohol. Then only half an hour

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Speaker 2: later there was an incident where two more men came

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Speaker 2: back to the same bottle shop to b w ars

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Speaker 2: in Parmerston. One of them threatened staff with a knie

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Speaker 2: well sorry with an axe and got miss occasion, while

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Speaker 2: another person style alcohol. And at nine thirty five pm,

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Speaker 2: so of course this is after the bottle shops closed.

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Speaker 2: We know the bwss are all closing at six o'clock

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Speaker 2: at the moment, and this Parmeston one won't open at

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Speaker 2: all today. At nine point thirty five there's an incident

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Speaker 2: where a man comes brandishing a kitchen knife and threatens

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Speaker 2: the security guard. And then at eleven forty there's a

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Speaker 2: sixth incident at the BWS and Palmerston where two men

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Speaker 2: are trying to get the roller door up. They get

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Speaker 2: inside and then they pass alcohol out to some women

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Speaker 2: who are waiting outside. That's at eleven forty ten, so

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Speaker 2: that's over nine hours sixth incidents unbelievable. Those two bottle

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Speaker 2: shops alone, Matt.

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Speaker 1: You know, has there ever been a week, realistically where

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Speaker 1: it is more evident that we need some serious change

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. When you consider what has happened

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Speaker 1: over a five day period, it is appalling.

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Speaker 2: Well, I reckon. The saddest thing and one of the

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Speaker 2: most revealing things, Toddie is just talking to people out

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Speaker 2: here on the street and talking to them off camera.

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Speaker 2: You know, I've been talking to a lot of people

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Speaker 2: this morning. Some of them are public servants, so they

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Speaker 2: don't want to speak publicly, but people I reckon, they're

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Speaker 2: beyond angry. I reckon, they've got to the point that

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Speaker 2: they're just sad. I was talking to one woman here

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Speaker 2: this morning and she just said, she said, I feel

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Speaker 2: like we've got to the point where this has just

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Speaker 2: become normal. We've just come to accept it. We expect

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Speaker 2: these things to happen. You know, she said, I wasn't

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Speaker 2: surprised at all when I heard about what had happened

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Speaker 2: to you overnight, because it's just been normalized. You know,

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Speaker 2: there was another guy I was talking to, you know,

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Speaker 2: who works for the government. He just said that it's

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Speaker 2: just absurd. He said, I've had to put cameras up

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Speaker 2: at my house. I've had to put extra security up

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Speaker 2: at my house. I've been breaking into it several times.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: I've got people here talking about just braves and thefts

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Speaker 2: going on where people come into the supermarket or to

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Speaker 2: the bottle shop and they just take stuff and the

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Speaker 2: staff are told not to challenge them, not to confront them, yep,

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Speaker 2: because we're seeing some of the terrible consequences when people do. So. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's a pretty sad situation.

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Speaker 1: It is. It's sad. It's you know, it has been

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Speaker 1: a terrible week, an absolutely terrible week, and I think

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Speaker 1: that that is why people then felt frustrated. You know,

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Speaker 1: I played a bit of audio from Parliament throughout the

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Speaker 1: week and you hear these lines like, you know, you're

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Speaker 1: talking the territory down. The territory's on its knees right now.

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Speaker 1: It's not a matter of talking it down. We're broken.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right. And that's the other really

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Speaker 2: sad thing about You're hearing people more and more stories

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Speaker 2: of people saying that they're going to pack up and leave,

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Speaker 2: you know, and that just saddens me even further. You know,

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Speaker 2: a lot like you. This is the place that I

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Speaker 2: call my home, and you know, I've raised my kids

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Speaker 2: and I want to continue to do that same here.

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Speaker 2: When people pack up and leave, you know, it's just

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Speaker 2: has such a devastating effect, and you know, you lose

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Speaker 2: friends and it just hurts when you see friends pack

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Speaker 2: up and go, and you want to give them every

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Speaker 2: reason to stay, and it's sort of hard to give

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Speaker 2: them that reason when you're seeing this sort of stuff

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Speaker 2: going on.

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Speaker 1: Something has to change, like it dead said, it has

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Speaker 1: to change, and I know that. You know, obviously, throughout

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Speaker 1: the week that was this morning, the Minister has spoken

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Speaker 1: about a number of things that they're doing and you

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Speaker 1: know some of the different different measures that they want

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Speaker 1: to take. But the time for talks over, like the

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Speaker 1: time for reviews are over. The time for beating around

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Speaker 1: the bush is well and truly over. We cannot have

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Speaker 1: a situation where there is six incidents in one night

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Speaker 1: and there is people armed with knives and you know,

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Speaker 1: threatening really really dangerous behavior the same week that we

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Speaker 1: have lost a life at a bottle shop.

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Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. I mean, you're not just talking about someone

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Speaker 2: and coming and making a single bottle or something like that.

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Speaker 2: When they're actually threatening this sort of violence in the staff.

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Speaker 2: I think that's you know, and it's just five days

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Speaker 2: after we've seen a sect and Levity stab to death

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Speaker 2: at a bottle shop. Yeah, same here, And you're right,

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Speaker 2: I think something does need to change. It's interesting we've

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Speaker 2: given no timeline. I don't know whether you've got any

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Speaker 2: more indication. There seems to be no timeline on this review.

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Speaker 2: We don't know who's doing the review. We don't know

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Speaker 2: how long it's going to take. You don't know what, yep,

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Speaker 2: exactly is going to be reviewed or exactly what's going

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Speaker 2: to change, if anything, when that review is done. So now,

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Speaker 2: I think people want to see a little bit more

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Speaker 2: than that at the moment.

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Speaker 1: They really do.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of sad and angry and frustrated people

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Speaker 2: out there.

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Speaker 1: Really is, Matt. I always appreciate your time, mate, Thank

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Speaker 1: you very much for speaking to us this morning. And

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Speaker 1: it sounds like it sounds like it's a pretty busy

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Speaker 1: morning out there. Just tell us, so, how's that sort

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Speaker 1: of looking. We've been told that the BWS wasn't going

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Speaker 1: to reopen today. What are you sort of hearing at

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Speaker 1: this point.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's my information that that BWS won't reopen today.

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Speaker 2: So there've been police here this morning, Katie. Police arrived.

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Speaker 2: I would say it about just after seven o'clock. I

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Speaker 2: saw the police arrive here. They've actually they've just lifted

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Speaker 2: the roller door at the bottle shop. There's a security

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Speaker 2: guarden presuming it's a staff member there, who were just

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Speaker 2: taking some pictures and just looking around the scene at

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Speaker 2: the moment, and there were police in there taking photographs

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Speaker 2: as well. This morning, I briefly went to Gauzli's bottle

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Speaker 2: Shop and that's obviously closed at the moment too. There

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Speaker 2: were no police there at the time, but they have

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Speaker 2: been police here at THEWS. They've been speaking for management here.

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Speaker 2: There's at least three security guards out the front, sorry,

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Speaker 2: out the back of the bottle shop where I'm standing

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Speaker 2: at the moment. There's another security guard out the front.

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Speaker 2: So there's plenty of security here and obviously please investigating

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Speaker 2: and trying to get as much information as they can.

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Speaker 2: And I can see there's security cameras everywhere here as well, Cadie,

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Speaker 2: so I'm sure that they'll have plenty of evidence that

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Speaker 2: they're going to gather in the next day or so.

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Speaker 1: Without a doubt. Well Matt Cunningham, thank you as always

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Speaker 1: for your time mate, much appreciated

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Speaker 2: No worries, thank you