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Speaker 1: Joining me live on the line in Alice Springs. It

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Speaker 1: is Robin Lanley, the Member Farara Lun. Good morning to you, Robin.

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Speaker 2: Good morning kat.

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Speaker 1: Now, it's certainly been a big week in Alice Springs

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Speaker 1: and well a lot of people saying that there's been

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Speaker 1: a bit of chaos when it comes to the way

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Speaker 1: in which people are being sent into quarantine after arriving

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Speaker 1: back from South Australia. What are you hearing on the

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Speaker 1: ground in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: Well, a bit of a chaos is an understatement. It

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Speaker 2: really has been pandemonium in Alice Springs. It started, of course,

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Speaker 2: when the Minister for Health announced that anyone coming back

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Speaker 2: from South Australia into the Northern Territory would have to

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Speaker 2: go into fourteen days quarantining on Monday morning. And what

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Speaker 2: became clear, very very quickly is that the preparation for

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Speaker 2: hundreds of people coming back to Alice Springs was just

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Speaker 2: not there. The mechanisms, the systems, the facilities were not

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Speaker 2: in place to provide quarantining for people flying in and

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Speaker 2: driving in from South Australia. And of course, you know,

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Speaker 2: really people have only just started to go back to

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Speaker 2: South Australia, so there's been There are a lot of

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Speaker 2: people particularly from this part of the world in Central

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Speaker 2: Australia down in Adelaide and you know, enjoying the coastal

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Speaker 2: areas of South Australia whatever. So and Robin, it has

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Speaker 2: been extremely chaotic.

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Speaker 1: And Robin, my understanding is that overnight, I believe about

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Speaker 1: seventy seventy one people finally left Allas for Darwin.

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Speaker 2: Is that correct, that's correct. They tried to send a

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Speaker 2: plane load of people out on Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening

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Speaker 2: and that plane had some problems. There was a bird

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Speaker 2: in thee and the plane the flight was aborted. So

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Speaker 2: last night they sent out to say seventy people. But

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Speaker 2: you know, the issue that the really interesting issue that's

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Speaker 2: coming to light, apart from the complete disorganization, inconsistency and

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Speaker 2: decisions being made. Some people are allowed to quarantine at home,

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Speaker 2: some people have been forced to go to Darwin. Some

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Speaker 2: people have been forced into quarantine. Here is that people

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Speaker 2: that are being told they have to go pack up

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Speaker 2: their belongings and get on a plane and go to Darwin.

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Speaker 2: People are saying no, I'm not going, and that is

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Speaker 2: really throwing a spanner in the works. There's a local,

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Speaker 2: very high profile businessman in Alice Springs who's been on

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Speaker 2: radio down here is Steve Brown. He's in quarantine and

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Speaker 2: the child facility, and he said that he had a

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Speaker 2: knock on the door. The police were advising him to

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Speaker 2: pack up and that he was going to Darwin and

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Speaker 2: Steve said no. And I understand several other people have

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Speaker 2: said no, wow, and yes. So this is a real

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Speaker 2: twist because he also had his solicitor on radio this

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Speaker 2: morning and Alice Springs saying, well, he hasn't been fined yet,

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Speaker 2: they've threatened to find him five thousand dollars for not

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Speaker 2: complying with directions. But his solicitor was saying this morning

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Speaker 2: that because of the complete chaos an inconsistent approach in

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Speaker 2: how people are being processed, that they would have a

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Speaker 2: strong case against any action taken against someone like Steve

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Speaker 2: saying no to being transported fifteen hundred kilometers from Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: To dark and Robin. The only reason I can think

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Speaker 1: of why they would be wanting to get people from

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Speaker 1: Alice Springs to Darwin is that they feel that the

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Speaker 1: Howard Springs facility is more appropriate. But then if they're

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Speaker 1: confident with the facility these that they're using in Alla Springs. Well,

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Speaker 1: why do people need to leave?

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Speaker 2: Well, there's insufficient facilities down here, that's the problem. Look,

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Speaker 2: I have a problem with this whole concept of people

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Speaker 2: being made to go to Darwin. Where in the western

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Speaker 2: world is anyone told they have to go somewhere fifteen

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Speaker 2: hundred kilometers away. I know it's within the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 2: but a lot of people don't travel much and to

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Speaker 2: be taken even if they're separated from their loved ones

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Speaker 2: here in Alice Springs reporting days, it's a big thing

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Speaker 2: for a lot of people to be plucked out of

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Speaker 2: their hometown and told that they have to go to Darwin.

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Speaker 2: They've interviewed a lot of people who have had this

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Speaker 2: experience now on ABC local radio here and people are

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Speaker 2: talking about how distress, the how how they've been poorly treated.

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Speaker 2: They haven't been adequately fed and watered, they haven't been

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Speaker 2: informed this Katie has been a complete and uther sho model.

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Speaker 1: Wow, well, Robin, I tell you what you know. It's

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Speaker 1: it's really disheartening to hear, but it's important. I think

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Speaker 1: that we are here in daw and understand exactly what's

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Speaker 1: going on, Robin. I do want to ask you about

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Speaker 1: another issue in Alice Springs, one which you and I

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Speaker 1: have been talking about a lot over recent weeks and months,

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Speaker 1: and that is crime. Now, I'm not sure if you've

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Speaker 1: seen it, but another video has surfaced on social media,

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Speaker 1: and it's actually a video of two police officers, a

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Speaker 1: male and a female, looking as though they're trying to

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Speaker 1: apprehend a teenage girl in Alice Springs. Now, this teenage

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Speaker 1: girl then, well, for want of a better word, lazy

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Speaker 1: to the female police officer, you know, while her friends

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Speaker 1: are in the background sort of hearing and laughing. And

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Speaker 1: then as other vehicles, other police vehicles and other officers

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Speaker 1: arrive as backup, you can hear the other girls that

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Speaker 1: are there that obviously aren't involved in the Well, I think, look,

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Speaker 1: I think you would call it assaulting a police officer.

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Speaker 1: You know, they're they're sort of saying in the background, Oh,

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Speaker 1: you can't look at this. They're calling him back up,

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Speaker 1: you can't do that. She's just a young girl. But

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Speaker 1: look I watched it and thought, these police officers have

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Speaker 1: literally got their hands tied.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I haven't seen this video, Katie, but that story

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Speaker 2: does not surprise me. What I am hearing is that

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Speaker 2: the groups of girls are in many ways more dangerous

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Speaker 2: and more cocky than the boys, the young men. And

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Speaker 2: I did hear a very distressing story yesterday and intermittently.

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Speaker 2: I had heard this story for the years, but I'm

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Speaker 2: hearing that some of these young women and girls on

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Speaker 2: the streets at night prostituting themselves. So you know, there's

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Speaker 2: a real lack of care for themselves and care or authority. Look,

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Speaker 2: things are very serious down here. Operations Vita has made

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Speaker 2: a slight difference, but we have a hell of a

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Speaker 2: long way to go. And I feel sorry for the police.

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Speaker 2: You know, what can they do without falling back on

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Speaker 2: them personally and professionally, well at all. They have their

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Speaker 2: hands tied there, I tell you what you know.

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Speaker 1: For me watching yeah, and for me watching that video

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Speaker 1: Robin and it's look, I don't even think that I

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Speaker 1: can share it on social media because there's so many

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Speaker 1: there's so much swearing and stuff in it that it

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Speaker 1: probably is not appropriate for me to share on the

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Speaker 1: mixed page. But what it made me think is that,

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Speaker 1: you know, I thought the police so are in a

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Speaker 1: pretty volatile situation there in Alice Springs and that it

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Speaker 1: actually demonstrated to me that there are young people, and

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Speaker 1: we've spoken about this before, that there are young people

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Speaker 1: who have no regard for the law. But I thought,

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Speaker 1: how do you get out of bed and go to

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Speaker 1: work every day knowing that you're going to be dealing

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Speaker 1: with that type of behavior and really feeling as though

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Speaker 1: you're unable to do your job and those you know

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Speaker 1: that there's an element of the community who've just got

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Speaker 1: no respect for anybody.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's completely demoralizing and it's unsustainable. You can't you

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Speaker 2: can't go to work feeling like that for a very

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Speaker 2: long time. It has its use by day, doesn't it.

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Speaker 2: People can't you know where all human beings look. Our

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Speaker 2: town is really meeting some leadership and some attention on many,

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Speaker 2: many levels. You've got the COVID disaster playing out here

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Speaker 2: at the moment, and it is a disaster, Katie. You know,

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Speaker 2: up until three days ago, I didn't have any particular

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Speaker 2: criticism of the way the COVID response had rolled out

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Speaker 2: from the Northern Territory government. But what we've seen over

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Speaker 2: the last three days is a monumental flop. It's failed,

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Speaker 2: particularly the people of Alice Springs and lay it on

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Speaker 2: top of that, you've got this ongoing youth crime disaster too,

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Speaker 2: and you know, the government can't sit up in Darwin

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Speaker 2: and pretend everything fine for too much longer because it's

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Speaker 2: just not. And we do have a voice down here

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Speaker 2: and we've got some rights and they've got some responsibilities.

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Speaker 2: So yes, what you've described is stressing, but it's really

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Speaker 2: just more of the same, Katie. Things are not getting

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Speaker 2: much better.

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Speaker 1: Robin Lambley, I always appreciate your time. I know that

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Speaker 1: very often at the moment we're having to talk about

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Speaker 1: things which, you know, which are quite negative. But unfortunately, yeah, unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: that is the situation that we're dealing with. So Robin,

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you speaking with me this morning.

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Speaker 2: My pleasure, Katie. Thank you.