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Speaker 1: Well, certainly a lot of discussion this morning about the

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Speaker 1: federal budget and what it means for Territorians. Now joining

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Speaker 1: me on the line is the Minister for Infrastructure, Planning

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Speaker 1: and Logistics, Eva Lola. Good morning, morning, Katie Minister. What

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Speaker 1: was your reaction to the federal budget overnight?

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Speaker 2: Ah, I mean, I think we're pleased with it. I mean,

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Speaker 2: the announcements were made on Monday around the roads infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: so we'd obviously had that early announcement, but I'm the

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Speaker 2: ninety six million around road safety. The opportunity to be

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Speaker 2: able to apply and get funding around road safety initials

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Speaker 2: at ninety six million was a one that was that

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Speaker 2: we didn't know about it basically, so it's a great

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Speaker 2: one and we'll be able to put in applications for

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Speaker 2: a whole heap of work around that. So yeah, I

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Speaker 2: think overall a good solid story for the territory.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a really different sort of budget, I

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Speaker 1: guess to what we're used to in the sense that

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Speaker 1: usually we're keeping a really close eye on, you know,

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Speaker 1: what's in it for the Northern territory. But the fact

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Speaker 1: is COVID's made it such a different cult situation for

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Speaker 1: everybody that it was more about tax breaks and incentives

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Speaker 1: to try and employ people and keep people in jobs.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, of course we push the infrastructure, and

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Speaker 2: you know, we want to get our share, and we

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Speaker 2: know we're smaller in population, but also in Landmasks we

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Speaker 2: are up there and equal with other states. So our

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Speaker 2: story around roads infrastructure, any dollars we can get for

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Speaker 2: roads is a good news story as far as I'm concerned,

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Speaker 2: because I reckon every single day I have somebody coming

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Speaker 2: into my office, so whether it's local government, whether it's

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Speaker 2: tourism operators all asking about bitchmizing roads, particularly our outback roads.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, good stories.

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Speaker 1: Minister, which roads are really going to benefit? So those

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Speaker 1: territorians out there listening this morning who maybe aren't as

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Speaker 1: you know, don't know exactly where that money's going to go.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So I mean the budget is a point in

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Speaker 2: time as well. But there's also been some good stories

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Speaker 2: that we've had in the last sort of twelve or

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Speaker 2: eight months surround road so specifically the Carbon Terrier Highway

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Speaker 2: that one hundred and twenty millions, so the Carbon Terrier

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Speaker 2: Highway for those who have traveled on it from daily

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Speaker 2: Waters to Borolula most of that is old single lane

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Speaker 2: and I tell a story. I think my father who's

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Speaker 2: long dead, was involved in building that originally. So it's

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Speaker 2: you know, there's been some areas that have been widened,

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Speaker 2: but that will be very very useful to have cooler

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Speaker 2: linga intersection as well. That Stretcher Road in front of

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Speaker 2: the cooler Linger shops. You know, when the Stuart Highway

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Speaker 2: went through there, there was one service station originally and

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Speaker 2: now it's one of our big busiest areas in the

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Speaker 2: top end. So that's a really good story. Forty seven

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Speaker 2: million for the National Road Network. So there's already been

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Speaker 2: some COVID money about the same amount that has been

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Speaker 2: there for strengthening and widening and upgrades and so some

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Speaker 2: of the top end people. If you're driving past Virginia,

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Speaker 2: you would have seen those new metal barriers going in

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Speaker 2: between Palmerston and Howard Springs and then around Brook and

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Speaker 2: Creek there. So those amounts of money forty seven million,

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Speaker 2: it's a good solid amounts of money that provide ongoing

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Speaker 2: work for some of our small operators. So whether it's

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Speaker 2: putting in you know, as you said, widening the road

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Speaker 2: fixing areas of the roads that have deteriorated or putting

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Speaker 2: in safety barriers, line marking upgrades. You know, they're they're

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Speaker 2: positive things because it's about small operators as big as

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Speaker 2: well as big operators. So overall, some really nice money.

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Speaker 1: There now, Minister, when we talk about infrastructure, could more

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Speaker 1: have been announced when it comes to shovel ready projects.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know there is there are projects that

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Speaker 2: are always you know that governments have that are ready,

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Speaker 2: shovel ready and so things like you know that we

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Speaker 2: would like to see so and the reality is that

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Speaker 2: the money that comes from the Northern Territory government budget

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Speaker 2: and you know we paste that out over the you know,

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Speaker 2: it might be a two to three year commitment around that.

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Speaker 2: You know, you do design work, you commit to that,

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Speaker 2: then you might three or four five million in to start.

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Speaker 2: So the mand or a jetty is one of those

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Speaker 2: where you know we're rolling that out. That would have

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Speaker 2: been a nice one to see the FEDS put the

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Speaker 2: you know, some dollars into that one for example, or

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Speaker 2: the Use Justice Center. So we've got some good, solid,

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Speaker 2: big projects that our government have got that's underway. You know,

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Speaker 2: we'd like to have seen some nice money to come

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Speaker 2: to those. But the reality is, you know, we didn't

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Speaker 2: and we'll continue to work to achieve that. You know,

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Speaker 2: there is another budget cycle coming up very soon. We've

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Speaker 2: got our budget to be done. You know, I heard

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Speaker 2: Leah talking and it was almost like you send in

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Speaker 2: a wish list. It doesn't work like that when you're

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Speaker 2: in government. Of course, you have you know, you have

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Speaker 2: your desires and what you'd like to see, but there

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Speaker 2: has to be considerable work around developing a project up

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Speaker 2: so that the public sector in the Northern Territory as

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Speaker 2: well as the federal you know, they work around. You

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Speaker 2: can't just say, oh, you know, I want this to happen.

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Speaker 2: You actually have to do, you know, mon some months

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Speaker 2: of work around, design around, you know, all of you

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Speaker 2: have to convince the federal government that it's a good

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Speaker 2: use of their money.

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Speaker 1: And so were their shovel ready projects put forward to

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Speaker 1: the federal government that we missed out on, Yes, there were.

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Speaker 2: But there's always you know, we're always having those conversations

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Speaker 2: with the federal government around projects that we'd like to see.

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Speaker 2: And so, you know, there is some nice money that

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Speaker 2: came out the middle of last year around the National

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Speaker 2: Partnership Agreement on Land transport. So there's some money for

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Speaker 2: the Tanami for example, so two hundred million for the

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Speaker 2: Tanami Road. Well that road needs about six hundred million.

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Speaker 2: So of course we would have loved to have seen

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Speaker 2: in this budget a commitment and you know those things

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Speaker 2: would happen over three or four years. For the Tanami

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Speaker 2: for example, or the Central Arnam Road, there's two hundred

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Speaker 2: and twenty five million in the land Transport agreement around that.

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Speaker 2: That's not enough to bitumize the whole um Central Arum Road.

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Speaker 2: So there are things like that that you'd like to see.

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Speaker 2: So as a government, absolutely focus on things that will

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Speaker 2: give long term economic benefit. And we've seen some of

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Speaker 2: those really good projects like the Keep River Road, the

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Speaker 2: Arnham Highway, the Mango Roads, the Outback Way. You've seen

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Speaker 2: you know, the Anti government work very well with the

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Speaker 2: Federal government to roll out those projects. And then there

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Speaker 2: are one off shovel ready projects as well.

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Speaker 1: Minister, can I just ask there's a bit of you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a bit of discussion at the moment about GST.

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Speaker 1: I know that the federal opposition it said that the

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Speaker 1: budget will rack up a trillion dollars of debt, but

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory is going to be coppying a one

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Speaker 1: hundred million million dollar cut to our GST payments. Mattias

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Speaker 1: Gorman had a different take on it this morning. Take

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Speaker 1: a listen to what he had to say.

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Speaker 3: Let me be very explicit. The Northern Territory in twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty one is expected to receive two point seven billion

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Speaker 3: dollars in GST payments and that is an increase, an

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Speaker 3: increase of two on on twenty one point six million

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Speaker 3: dollars compared to twenty nineteen twenty Minister, where.

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Speaker 1: Is the fusion here? What's the situation? Is it a

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Speaker 1: cash or an increase in GST?

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Speaker 2: Well, obviously we believe that it's one hundred million dollar reduction,

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Speaker 2: so that two point seven billion, but it is about

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Speaker 2: those forecasts and those budget forecasts going forward, so it

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Speaker 2: is more optimistic than what we thought. But the reality is,

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Speaker 2: you know, the GST is going down. When you've got

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Speaker 2: victorians locked up, they're not actually spending money. You know,

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Speaker 2: that's where the GST bucket is. The GST bucket. So

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Speaker 2: there has been a reduction. I'll let the treasurers discuss

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Speaker 2: that one in more detail. But you know, our belief

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Speaker 2: is that there is a reduction in GST. But you

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Speaker 2: know the other side of the coin, which is a

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Speaker 2: positive And as I said, I firmly believe. And you know,

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Speaker 2: you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That's one

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Speaker 2: of my life saying. You know that money that we've got,

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Speaker 2: ninety six million, that is exclusive of GST. So usually

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Speaker 2: in the territory it's eighty twenty when we pay for roads,

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Speaker 2: Fed's pay eighty, we pay twenty and that money comes

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Speaker 2: out of our GSP. So that ninety six million for roads,

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Speaker 2: we need to make sure and we will definitely, I'll

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Speaker 2: be pushing that we get every single cent of that

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Speaker 2: money because that is exclusive of our GST, so that

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Speaker 2: money can all come to us. But you know there

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Speaker 2: is a product for that that we will see improved

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Speaker 2: roads in the territory. So you know, I I heard Leah,

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Speaker 2: I'm the leader of the opposition speaking just before I spoke.

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Speaker 2: You know, I would like to know what she's gone

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Speaker 2: into bat for for the territory as well, And same

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Speaker 2: with Sam McMahon. It's not about paying you know, petty

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Speaker 2: politics or anything like that. This is for the benefit

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Speaker 2: of territori ands we've come through COVID. We need to

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Speaker 2: make sure that you know our local members, our local

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Speaker 2: opposition are all on the same page and so you

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Speaker 2: know you're asking me what we went into, what did

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Speaker 2: Leah put forward, because she should have been lobbying hard

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Speaker 2: as well to make sure that the territory benefit from

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Speaker 2: as many dollars as we could get.

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Speaker 1: Well, Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and logisticks Evia Laula. Always

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Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your time today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Katie, thank you