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Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio this morning, because we

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Speaker 1: know that the discussion of the City of Darwin's Cyclone

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Speaker 1: monument at Bundilla Beach, it doesn't seem to be easing up.

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Speaker 1: I mean every day we still continue to take calls

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Speaker 1: and messages about it. Joining us in the studio right

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Speaker 1: now though, is one of our counselors, Mick Palmer. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to.

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Speaker 2: You, Meck, Good morning Kate.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show. Good to have

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Speaker 1: you in this studio. Now you are a Cyclone Tracy survivor.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I was here when it happened.

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Speaker 1: So is there a difference between survivors and.

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Speaker 2: Here people like some people like take us themselves as survivors,

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Speaker 2: the co order people I knock around with generally you

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Speaker 2: see ourselves as people that we're here.

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Speaker 1: And so do you feel passionately about whether there is

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Speaker 1: a memorial, whether there's a monument, you know exactly what

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Speaker 1: sort of happens to mark the fiftieth anniversary.

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Speaker 2: Well, there seems to be two lots of opinion here.

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Speaker 2: One that supports a memorial and that that's well and good,

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Speaker 2: that's not a problem. And another view is the view

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Speaker 2: I have is that rather than just looking backwards what

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Speaker 2: happened at cyclone Tracy, We've got to celebrate the intervening

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Speaker 2: fifty years, you know, where Darwin's been and what it's

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Speaker 2: growing into following those tragic events.

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Speaker 1: Now, in terms of last night, I understand there was

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Speaker 1: a council meeting. Was there anything to do with the

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Speaker 1: monument at Bundilla Beach sort of decided upon that had

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Speaker 1: already been voted on, hadn't it.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, there's been voted on months ago. You know,

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Speaker 2: it had to we had to go to start the process,

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Speaker 2: you know, else nothing had happened. So it's being manufactured

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Speaker 2: as we speak. It'll be installed. I understand late November

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Speaker 2: with the Council did decide to support the the installation

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Speaker 2: of memorial. At each point there's a couple of things

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Speaker 2: there that need to be addressed.

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Speaker 1: And so supporting it as the frang Japanies or as

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Speaker 1: the big sort of monument that they had hoped to

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Speaker 1: be able to do.

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Speaker 2: Off the race. The one on the on the on

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Speaker 2: the reef is not on council property. Okay, that's Antigo,

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Speaker 2: but our property ends up the high watermark. So we

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Speaker 2: can only talk for for the top about the high

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Speaker 2: watermark where the proposed cycleed Fransire pennies.

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Speaker 1: And that's so that's the Council's voted to support that

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Speaker 1: in principle.

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Speaker 2: We need obviously to get some details so we can

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Speaker 2: issue words permit. You know, there's there are things to

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Speaker 2: be considered, and including the location of it. You know,

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Speaker 2: there is the biodiversity plan for each point that encompasses

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Speaker 2: a few things like that. We want to make sure

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Speaker 2: that that it's safe, secure and and you know, from

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Speaker 2: what I said, it's proposed to have it right at

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Speaker 2: the cliff top. Well, it will end up on a

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Speaker 2: reef in due course if it's right at the cliff top,

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Speaker 2: because the coastline subject to subside.

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Speaker 1: And so it sounds like there might have to be

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Speaker 1: some movement in terms of exactly where that monument goes.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think I think, you know, but.

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Speaker 1: The councils is the council prepared to work pretty closely

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Speaker 1: with that group, with the survivors group, to make sure

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Speaker 1: that they come to a happy agreement.

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Speaker 2: Yep.

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Speaker 1: In terms of so in terms of what's happening at Bundilla,

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Speaker 1: because there's been lots of discussion about that. Obviously the

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Speaker 1: Mayor had said to us last week on the show

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Speaker 1: that it's not a Cyclone Tracy monument. It's a public

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Speaker 1: art work. But what's I mean as a council like,

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Speaker 1: is it moving forward as a Cyclone Tracy monument.

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Speaker 2: Well, monument, memorial, dedicated sculpture. I mean, you can play

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Speaker 2: with words, but as I said, it's a public art works.

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Speaker 2: It's a kinetic which I like. I'm a big fan

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Speaker 2: of Connecticut art. Maybe more rolling ball CONNECTICU art than

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Speaker 2: that sort of Connectic art, but I still like my Connecticut. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's called the Coriolist and hopefully it spins the right way.

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Speaker 1: Yep. So is it I mean, is it something that like,

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Speaker 1: is it something that everybody on council support it, because

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Speaker 1: I think that at the moment cons gotten a lot

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Speaker 1: of stick it is.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. The council met, Yeah, you know, the committee that

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Speaker 2: formed made recommendations that that we commission a kinetic sculpture,

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Speaker 2: which you know, with wind and forces of nature, this

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Speaker 2: this what you know, it imparts upon you you know.

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Speaker 2: And it's close to the museum and it's a great

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Speaker 2: spot for viewing sunsets, et cetera, et cetera, and and

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Speaker 2: and council met, you know, based on that recommendation, the

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Speaker 2: council got the aldermen, you got recommendations from the staff,

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Speaker 2: from the team, and we agreed to it, and everyone

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Speaker 2: agreed to it.

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Speaker 1: So everybody actually agreed to it, because again I go

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Speaker 1: back to the point, like Conn's Conn is coppying a

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Speaker 1: lot of stick, even if you read things on social media,

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Speaker 1: even to us here at the station, people are you know,

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Speaker 1: they're focusing a lot of their energy on him. But

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, there's how many how

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Speaker 1: many counselors.

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Speaker 2: There's twelve councils and con con you know, isn't an

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Speaker 2: executive mayor. He's once one or thirteen. He's got no

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Speaker 2: executive powers whatsoever. He can't direct stuff to do stuff.

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Speaker 2: He can't direct budget re approval.

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Speaker 1: It's something everybody's got to agree.

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Speaker 2: He's a titular head of counsel and he's some ceremonial

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Speaker 2: type person in his brains.

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Speaker 1: Do you reckon he like as a counsel got this wrong.

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Speaker 1: I mean, people are pretty furious about it. You don't

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Speaker 1: reckon they've got.

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Speaker 2: It wrong, And of course not people always get furious

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Speaker 2: about works public art works. I mean, you can't find

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Speaker 2: any in the world that have been put up and

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Speaker 2: the people haven't been furious about you. You can go

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Speaker 2: back to the spire who proposed John McDowell Stuart's spire

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Speaker 2: that people got furious about. I don't know who is

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Speaker 2: a a expert on public.

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Speaker 1: Art, you know, could we have done it a bit

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Speaker 1: different though? In terms of it, I suppose maybe luck,

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Speaker 1: you know, being more respectful to to people, to the

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Speaker 1: lives that had been lost, and maybe something that was

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Speaker 1: a bit more about this.

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Speaker 2: There's a plaque on the wall outside the council building

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Speaker 2: which is open or unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth,

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Speaker 2: that has the name of all the people that passed

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Speaker 2: during the cyclone. You know, many of whom are you

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Speaker 2: or many of those families. You know, I know the

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Speaker 2: family is one not particularly close to me. But you know,

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Speaker 2: that's that's there. That's that's a memorial to those that

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Speaker 2: have died. You know. There are other plaques and things

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Speaker 2: around Darwin. There's the there's the exhibition at the museum

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Speaker 2: and this, you know, the Coriols. He said, not only

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Speaker 2: to you know, as a memorial, what if you like

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Speaker 2: to call it to the cyclone, but you know, a

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Speaker 2: celebration almost of where Darwin's come in the fifty years.

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Speaker 2: You know, there was no palm, there was no entertainment said,

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Speaker 2: there's no waterfront, there was no a lot of the

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Speaker 2: facilities you take for granted. Now just word here and

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Speaker 2: now it's come a long long way.

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Speaker 1: So what do you say to the people listening, because

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Speaker 1: I know I can guarantee it. Once our interview finishes,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to start getting messages and I'm going to

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Speaker 1: start getting calls. What do you say to those people

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Speaker 1: listening this morning that that don't feel like this? You

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Speaker 1: know that this monument that's going up at Bundilla Beach

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Speaker 1: fits the community's expectations.

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Speaker 2: Well, nothing will fit the community's expectations. I don't care

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Speaker 2: what you propose. There's going to be opposition to it.

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Speaker 2: You know. I think this, this Coriolysis is be a

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Speaker 2: marvelous piece of public art, and that's what it's meant

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Speaker 2: to be. You know, it's something where people can gather

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Speaker 2: ANDed itself forms. Another dimensions are on the places to go,

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Speaker 2: you know, things that tourists can go and look at yep,

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Speaker 2: you know, rather than just blend memorials.

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Speaker 1: And there's someone who did live here when Cyclone Tracy

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Speaker 1: struck and whose family obviously lived through that. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you're obviously not offended by what's you know, what's going up.

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Speaker 1: In fact, you've approved it. You think it's from what

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Speaker 1: you said, you think it's a good idea.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I'm not offended by it at all. How

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Speaker 2: can you take offense to something that blows around in

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Speaker 2: the wind.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think that's what people are worried about, that

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Speaker 1: it blows around the wind, and you know, and after

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Speaker 1: living through that cyclone, that they feel as though it's

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Speaker 1: maybe not the best option.

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Speaker 2: Well do they not then take advantage of wind power?

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Speaker 2: You know? Well? Yeah, really yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, look, I mean to me, I know that there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of people who are really upset about it.

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Speaker 1: I know that they, you know, they had thought that

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Speaker 1: it would be something different. I think they were, you know,

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Speaker 1: their expectations were very different. They wanted the local artists,

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Speaker 1: they wanted you know, they wanted I guess the memory

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Speaker 1: of those that have been lost and the re emergency of.

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Speaker 2: Let's see that Plark is there opened in nineteen sent

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Speaker 2: Iron Veil in nineteen seventy seven, by her Majesty the Queen.

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Speaker 2: That's done, that is there in place. You know that

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Speaker 2: the thing East Point is supposed to be a memorial,

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Speaker 2: a place where you can sit and reflect and think

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Speaker 2: about the hard times or whatever. The one at Bundilla

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Speaker 2: is a reflection of where Darla has been and where

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Speaker 2: it's going to, where it's you know, what's happened in

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Speaker 2: the fifty years. It could be a celebration of a

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Speaker 2: remarkable recovery, remarkable fifty years.

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Speaker 1: Well. Mc Palmark, Counselor for the City of Darwin, appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thank you very much for joining me.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Kate, thank you