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Speaker 1: Police have certainly got their hands full at the moment.

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Speaker 1: We know that evacuees from nayu Daily River are calling

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Speaker 1: on and on well, they're calling for an ongoing police

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Speaker 1: task force to be stationed in the township, while praising

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Speaker 1: the local officers who risked their lives to save them

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Speaker 1: from gang members. Now joining me on the line is

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Speaker 1: Matt Cunningham from Sky News.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to.

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Speaker 3: You, Matt, morning Katie.

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Speaker 2: Now, mate, you were out at Daily River yesterday, weren't you.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. I spent a.

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Speaker 3: Good chunk of the day yesterday out at nau Daili

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Speaker 3: River where I was actually taken around the community by

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Speaker 3: a mambo name of Mark Casey, who was the Aboriginal

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Speaker 3: community police officer out there for more than twenty years,

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Speaker 3: and he just took me around the community, showed me

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Speaker 3: some of the damage that had been done, and just

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Speaker 3: sort of talked me through what had been going on

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Speaker 3: there over the past week, but also really over the

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Speaker 3: past three years or so. We're that community and others

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Speaker 3: in that West Daily region that have seen a real

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Speaker 3: escalation in violence.

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Speaker 1: Well, it really escalated over recent days. We know that

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Speaker 1: there's been a number of arrests, but it seems as

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Speaker 1: though things got quite out of control. You know, photos

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Speaker 1: of a bloke with an arrow through his abdomen, houses

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Speaker 1: lit on fire.

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Speaker 2: It looked terrible, Matt.

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Speaker 3: Look it was an absolutely shocking situation. There are at

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Speaker 3: least seven houses that I saw out there yesterday that

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Speaker 3: have been either seriously damaged or destroyed or ransacked in

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Speaker 3: the riots that occurred there last week. Some of them

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Speaker 3: the inside of the homes are burnt out completely. There

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Speaker 3: were other houses where there had been cars that had

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Speaker 3: been set alight next to the house and then the

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Speaker 3: house caught on fire. There was another house and saw

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Speaker 3: a car had actually been crashed into the side of

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Speaker 3: the house and then set on fire. That house has

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Speaker 3: been burnt, and then the contents of that house had

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Speaker 3: basically been thrown out onto the front lawn. You know,

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Speaker 3: they've been just ransacked completely. You know, Mark Casey was

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Speaker 3: telling me about another situation where the house that was

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Speaker 3: occupied by a woman agent in her eighties, where you know,

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Speaker 3: the elite defenders had gone in there and ransacked her

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Speaker 3: house while she was there at home, and she'd just

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Speaker 3: been left absolutely terrified. So, you know, it has been

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Speaker 3: an absolutely shocking situation. You talk about the crossbow incident

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Speaker 3: and police confirm me that one person had been shot

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Speaker 3: in the stomach with the crossbow. There were also actual

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Speaker 3: guns used in some of that violence last week. Cadd

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Speaker 3: shotguns were fired and people suffered palette wounds to their

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Speaker 3: legs as those shots were being fired. You might have

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Speaker 3: seen some of that other that we run today as well,

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Speaker 3: where you just see people literally running for their lives

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Speaker 3: and you can hear those shots being fired. So you

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Speaker 3: know it is and has been a really dangerous, some

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Speaker 3: violent situation out there last week. Things appear to have

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Speaker 3: calmed down a little bit at the moment that there

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Speaker 3: after you is that he could ramp up again at

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Speaker 3: end stage well, and that.

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Speaker 1: There seems to be then a war of words underway

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Speaker 1: between the Police Minister and the NLC. The Northern Land

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Speaker 1: Council has taken aim at the Police Minister after he

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Speaker 1: claimed that it and other agencies need to come to

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Speaker 1: the table to figure out long term solutions, Brent Potter

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Speaker 1: saying at a press conference what needs to happen is

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Speaker 1: mediation and we need to see the NLC come to

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Speaker 1: the table and getting out there and talking to those

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Speaker 1: communities that have long standing disputes around land.

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Speaker 2: And title now.

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Speaker 1: In response, though, the NLC yesterday issued a statement labeling

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Speaker 1: mister Potter's claims is unfounded and to cover for the

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Speaker 1: government's own failure to keep territorians safe.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, you know there's a bit of finger pointing

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Speaker 3: going on, Katie. I'm not sure how useful that is

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Speaker 3: to anyone's cause. I mean, I was at a press

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Speaker 3: conference with the Police minister. I think he was talking about,

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Speaker 3: you know, a more long term solution than what's immediately

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Speaker 3: going on here. And on the flip side of that,

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Speaker 3: I've seen some of the criticism of the police and

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Speaker 3: the government over the reaction to this. I think that

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Speaker 3: there's some really interesting comments in the Anti News and

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Speaker 3: the story today by Jason Walls, who's spoken to you know,

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Speaker 3: some of the people who actually had their houses set

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Speaker 3: on fire and ransacked, who are now camping out in

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Speaker 3: Adelaide River, you know, and they were actually thanking the

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Speaker 3: police for the job that they did. They are saying

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Speaker 3: that there does need to be a task force, they

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Speaker 3: believe established in Daily River. And remember that the government

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Speaker 3: spending tens of millions of dollars building a new police

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Speaker 3: station at the moment in pepper Minardi. And it's not

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Speaker 3: that long since I was at the opening of the

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Speaker 3: new police station in water so there's certainly been a

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Speaker 3: significant investment in police infrastructure out there. I think it's

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Speaker 3: right that there's not enough police. There's not police anywhere

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Speaker 3: in the Northern Territory at the moment, Katie, and something

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Speaker 3: that was recognized by the government announcing a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 3: you know, two hundred extra offices. And look at what

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Speaker 3: happened in our Springs when they sent an extra sixty

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Speaker 3: police down there, really got on top of the situation

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Speaker 3: really quickly, and people I've spoken to down there so

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Speaker 3: that you know, things are really starting to turn around

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Speaker 3: since they had those extra police plus a curfew put

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Speaker 3: in place.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, the makes a difference is.

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Speaker 3: That we get more and more police everywhere.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's how people are feeling at the moment. No,

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Speaker 1: that's how people are feeling at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Matt.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure whether you can provide much detail, but

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Speaker 1: you know, there has sort of been, you know, some

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Speaker 1: discussion that it's that it's different family or clan groups,

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Speaker 1: you know, fighting with each other other. Discussion though that

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Speaker 1: this is literally a situation where you've got a gang

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Speaker 1: who are you know, who are coming into the community

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Speaker 1: and running a mark.

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Speaker 2: What's your take after being there yesterday?

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Speaker 4: Well, well, Mark Casey's take was that this is basically

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Speaker 4: fighting between family groups of different groups that you know

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Speaker 4: from from either side.

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Speaker 3: Of the Daily River. That's been going on for more

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Speaker 3: than three years. And that actually that started over a

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Speaker 3: football match and some you know comments that were posted

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Speaker 3: on social media after that and then escalated into one

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Speaker 3: act of the violence and then it's sort of been

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Speaker 3: an ongoing tip to pat situation ever since. And then

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Speaker 3: the situation last week that flared up again was over

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Speaker 3: something I was told that was posted on social media

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Speaker 3: and then you know, there was an argument that developed

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Speaker 3: online and then that online argument escalated into people's houses

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Speaker 3: being set on fire. So, you know, it's a pretty

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Speaker 3: pretty ordinary situation. But I think one thing being highlighted

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Speaker 3: there is the impact of social media. And this is

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Speaker 3: not something that just Commune any leaders in Daily River

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Speaker 3: are talking about. I've heard people in what Air and

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Speaker 3: people in other communities talk about, you know, the impact

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Speaker 3: social media is having and how it really is leading

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Speaker 3: to some of these situations that then instead of being

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Speaker 3: a sort of war of words on social media, turned

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Speaker 3: into to an actual war of violence that's playing out

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Speaker 3: in the community. I know some communities have even gone

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Speaker 3: to tel USA and ask can you switch off the tower?

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Speaker 3: R wow, just to give us some peace and let

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Speaker 3: us try and get on top of this. So, you know,

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Speaker 3: it is the meeting of two worlds, as we know.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I think the whole situation, social social

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Speaker 3: media situation is not helping.

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Speaker 2: Him, No, not at all.

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Speaker 1: And you know, then when you've got you know, you've

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Speaker 1: got elderly women speaking to the paper and saying.

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Speaker 2: That they're scared. You've got women and.

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Speaker 1: Children, you know, trying to hide and homes being list

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Speaker 1: on fire, it is utterly frightening.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean just since Bryce she was on

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Speaker 3: Sky News last night and basically she was making the

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Speaker 3: point that you know, if this was happening anywhere else

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Speaker 3: in the country, there's been people marching in the streatment

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Speaker 3: or you know, rightly, I think the rallies take place

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Speaker 3: a little more than a week ago, marching against domestic

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Speaker 3: and family violence. And yet you've got this situation in

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Speaker 3: Mau that some people that it'scribing as like a civil war.

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Speaker 3: And you know the things I saw yesterday, Okay, you

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Speaker 3: can see how they draw that conclusion. And yet you know,

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Speaker 3: there's not a lot of national attention being put on

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Speaker 3: this issue, that's for sure. But he said to me yesterday,

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Speaker 3: he said, you know, if this was was Muslims and

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Speaker 3: Christians attacking one another in a part of Sydney or

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Speaker 3: New South Wales, you know, my God, to be honest,

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Speaker 3: some page of every newspaper in the country. But when

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Speaker 3: it's when it's sort of Aboriginal people involved in violence

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Speaker 3: against one another, no one seems to really care that much.

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Speaker 2: It's pretty terrible.

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Speaker 1: Well, Matt, we are going to have to leave it

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Speaker 1: there because we've got the Chief Minister heading into the studio.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, as always for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks mate,