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Speaker 1: But we know that Catherine teachers, it's been reported or

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Speaker 1: certainly the Minister and issued a statement yesterday saying that

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Speaker 1: they're set to receive additional financial support to help secure

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Speaker 1: housing and alleviate cost of living concerns from next year.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us a

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Speaker 1: little bit more about the situation is Michelle Airs from

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Speaker 1: the Education Union here in the Northern Territory. Good morning

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Speaker 1: to you, Michelle.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 3: Thanks so much for your time this morning. Michelle.

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Speaker 1: Obviously the Education Minister saying yesterday that Catherine teachers will

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Speaker 1: receive that additional financial support and that new teachers to

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Speaker 1: Catherine will see an increase in their relocation allowance from

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Speaker 1: ten fortnights to fifteen fortnights and well as well as

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Speaker 1: some other measures. Michelle, does this go far enough?

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Speaker 4: So excuse me?

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Speaker 2: This is a huge win for our members. That's the

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Speaker 2: first thing we really need to celebrate is that they're

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Speaker 2: our members have been fighting for something on this since

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Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, and it's members coming together and doing actions

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Speaker 2: that have really won this. The members have done it

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Speaker 2: by coming together and fighting for it, and I think

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Speaker 2: that's the first.

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Speaker 4: And foremost thing we need to.

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Speaker 2: Say, is it the same as what they lost in

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Speaker 2: twenty nineteen. No, it isn't. But also it's not the

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Speaker 2: same as nothing, which is what they've had, you know,

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Speaker 2: since twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 1: That is a very good point to make and your

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Speaker 1: spot on you know, we'd even we've spoken to you

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Speaker 1: and one of the teachers based there in Catherine that

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Speaker 1: when the you know, the rally was held or when

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Speaker 1: there was some striking happening, and teachers have certainly fought

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Speaker 1: for this, particularly in Catherine, because it's been really tough,

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Speaker 1: hasn't it.

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Speaker 3: On the housing front, it's been hugely.

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Speaker 2: Tough, and you know, and that's something we've been talking

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Speaker 2: about with them as well. As we can't you know,

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Speaker 2: make new houses just suddenly appear. That's not something that

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Speaker 2: I empowered to do. But I can work with the

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Speaker 2: government to see what we can do to get them

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Speaker 2: some incentives maybe to find other options for their accommodation.

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Speaker 2: And that's what we're going to continue to do. Like

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Speaker 2: we haven't just because we've won a step forward here,

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Speaker 2: it doesn't mean that we've stopped our discussion with the

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Speaker 2: government around making sure that they're getting supported to find

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Speaker 2: accommodation around you know, logistical issues, but also around you know,

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Speaker 2: continuing to campaign on this issue for the best possible

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Speaker 2: living conditions. That's something we'll be doing, you know, going

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Speaker 2: forward for sure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And what's been the reaction from those teachers that are

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Speaker 1: based in Catherine, because there've been some concern, hadn't they Michelle,

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Speaker 1: that you know, if something wasn't sorted, that we might

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Speaker 1: actually lose them and then you know, not be able

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Speaker 1: to retain the good teachers that we've got there currently

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Speaker 1: and then trying to recruit new ones was going to

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Speaker 1: be difficult.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So from what I've heard so far that this is

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Speaker 4: that they're appreciative of the government for coming up with this,

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Speaker 4: but there's still big questions around the pay, which we're

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Speaker 4: still in negotiations with the government about and hoping to

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Speaker 4: come to some kind of a decision within the next

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Speaker 4: few weeks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Okay, so those negotiations are still certainly underway,

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Speaker 1: and it does sound as though there is still some

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Speaker 1: areas that teachers are wanting to see some change here.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, that was the biggest question, and it's the first

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Speaker 2: time in Catherine that the biggest question has been okay,

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Speaker 2: what's happening with the EA because there has been such

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Speaker 2: big issues with the housing. So I think that the

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Speaker 2: housing is one issue that Catherine's been dealing with that

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Speaker 2: maybe the rest of the territory hasn't necessarily been concerned about.

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Speaker 2: But now that we've taken care of this, they're like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this issue now that we've been dealing with throughout the

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Speaker 2: rest of the territory, which is okay, what's happening there?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So that's the big one.

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Speaker 2: It's going to be you know, what are teachers going

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Speaker 2: to be paid next year? They want to know before

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Speaker 2: they decide whether or not they're potentially going to take

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Speaker 2: positions in other jurisdictions and principles. Want to know what

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Speaker 2: are teacher's going who paid next year so that I

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Speaker 2: can attract new teachers here to replace them.

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Speaker 1: Michelle, when are you going to find out? Because we're

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Speaker 1: literally how many weeks into the semester are we now?

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Speaker 3: Or a few weeks in? There's only like six weeks

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Speaker 3: or something to go, isn't there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So we're in week three of a ten week term,

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Speaker 2: so at the end of this week there'll be seven

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Speaker 2: weeks to go. Our negotiations with the government. The date

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Speaker 2: we've come up with is the middle of November. We

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Speaker 2: need to have something pretty much decided by the middle

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Speaker 2: of November in order to give us time to put

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Speaker 2: it out to teachers and get it signed off by

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Speaker 2: the end of the year.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, honestly it is.

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Speaker 4: The ball is in the government's court.

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Speaker 2: The position the government have come out with is a

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Speaker 2: two percent starting rate. What we're having see is if

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Speaker 2: there's any room around that to come up with something

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Speaker 2: that would cause our members to sign an agreement, because

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Speaker 2: two percent does not come anywhere near the current CPI

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Speaker 2: increases that we're seeing and it's like the cost of

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Speaker 2: living pressures that teachers are facing currently in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Michelle, I'll ask you the same question that I

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Speaker 1: put to the to the police union earlier this morning,

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Speaker 1: and that is, you know, I had messages coming through yesterday.

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Speaker 1: This is more on the police calling for those negotiations

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Speaker 1: to you know.

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Speaker 3: To get back to the table around their pay.

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Speaker 1: But I'll ask you the same We had people messages

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Speaker 1: yesterday and say, Katie, you know, I work in the

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Speaker 1: private sector and I'm in a worse situation.

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Speaker 3: So our teachers being greedy, Michelle, No, this.

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Speaker 2: Has been about teachers being greedy at all. And to

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Speaker 2: be clear, we haven't put this yet to teachers. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: this is about again and it's always goot. I've said

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Speaker 2: this year before. It's about which is in front of

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Speaker 2: children and quality education. We need conditions in the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory that attract quality teachers here and keep quality teachers here.

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Speaker 2: And that at the end of the day I taught

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Speaker 2: it about. And the government their position is from creating

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Speaker 2: a strong fiscal policy and specifically around creating a strong

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Speaker 2: pyscical climate by twenty twenty, by twenty thirty, most of

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Speaker 2: the kids that are currently in classrooms will be in

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Speaker 2: the workforce in twenty thirty and that's something the government

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Speaker 2: really has to consider here is we need to invest

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Speaker 2: in our teachers. And it's not just about the bottom

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Speaker 2: line pays. Bottom line pay is a big part of

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Speaker 2: the agreements, but it's not just about that. We need

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Speaker 2: to be making sure that we're upskilling them and you know,

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Speaker 2: making sure that they've got proper places to live like

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Speaker 2: we're doing in Cathroine, giving them the right professional development

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Speaker 2: or the right release time if their early career teachers,

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Speaker 2: all of this stuff. We're negotiating with the government to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we've got the best quality teachers, you know,

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Speaker 2: their release time, et cetera.

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Speaker 1: So, Michelle, when the territory, when do you do back

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Speaker 1: to the table with the government at this point to

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Speaker 1: try and sort it out? Because as your point now,

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Speaker 1: you know, there's only seven weeks left in the term.

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Speaker 1: Presumably teachers would either be looking at whether they're going

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Speaker 1: to stay in the Northern Territory right now, or they'd

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Speaker 1: be looking at jobs into state.

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Speaker 2: Katie where in the middle of discussions right now, and

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Speaker 2: I will be more or less walking in there as

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Speaker 2: I hang up this with the government.

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Speaker 4: What this looks like so or.

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Speaker 2: What this is going to continue to look like at

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Speaker 2: these discussions they take time. I won't necessarily know today

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Speaker 2: what this looks like, but we are in the middle

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Speaker 2: of going over our agreement and working out what flexibility

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Speaker 2: there is on the other the other elements of the

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Speaker 2: agreement which would possibly get pieces across. Well, please get

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Speaker 2: the answer.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, please keep us up to date.

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Speaker 1: I know that I, like lots of other parents, you know,

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Speaker 1: will be really keen to find out what happens and

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Speaker 1: you know, obviously all that everybody that works in education

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Speaker 1: will be really keen to find out.

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Speaker 3: But for a lot of parents, you know, we want to.

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Speaker 1: Make sure that we're keeping the best teachers that we've

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Speaker 1: got here in the Northern Territory. We don't want to

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Speaker 1: be losing them. And I know that it is more

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Speaker 1: expensive to be, you know, recruiting new teachers to bring

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Speaker 1: them to the territory than what it is to be

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Speaker 1: retaining those good ones.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that's the thing overall as well,

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Speaker 2: is it's more expensive. Everything's more expensive than the other territory.

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Speaker 2: It's more expensive to live in the territory. I think,

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Speaker 2: it's more expensive to teach in the territory, and it's

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Speaker 2: more expensive for our government to provide education in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory. So it's a huge conversation that's going to happen.

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Speaker 2: It's not all going to happen by the middle of November. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: the conversation we have to keep up having around studying

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Speaker 2: and how to you know, how to get the best

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Speaker 2: quality school that we possibly can in the nothern territory.

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Speaker 1: Well, Michelle, please keep us up to date with how

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Speaker 1: things progress and no doubt we'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Thanks you, Katie, thank you,