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Speaker 1: We know that there are some issues at the moment

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Speaker 1: with these new drivers' licenses. Some of them aren't scanning

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Speaker 1: apparently on the BDR. Now joining us on the line

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Speaker 1: to talk more about this hospitality into CEO Alex Bruce,

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Alex, Good ay, Katie, Alex. What is the

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Speaker 1: go with these new driver's licenses.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, quite a small issue. But when you think that

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Speaker 2: about it, and we do four hundred thousand BDR scans

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Speaker 2: a month on average, sometimes some of these little little

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Speaker 2: things that aren't as good as they could be end

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Speaker 2: up having frustrations and a larger impact I reckon.

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Speaker 1: So and so at the moment, we've got these new

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Speaker 1: licenses that are being rolled out, and so some of

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Speaker 1: them you can't actually or is it correct that these

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Speaker 1: new licenses, all of them, they can't actually be scanned

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Speaker 1: on the BDR machines.

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Speaker 2: Communication has gone out from the government to bottle shops

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Speaker 2: saying they're aware of the issue. A lot of shops

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Speaker 2: are reporting that they haven't been successful in a single

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Speaker 2: scan of the new licenses, and I heard that again

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Speaker 2: talking to some bottle shops in the city yesterday. So

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Speaker 2: it's definitely not fixed yet. But whereas the old license

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Speaker 2: could be slapped down on the BDR machine in any position,

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Speaker 2: in any direction and it would read these news licenses.

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Speaker 2: They've sent an image where it has to very very

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Speaker 2: neatly be put up in the top middle corner of

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Speaker 2: the machine, and then even only then half the time

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Speaker 2: it doesn't work, which sounds small, but it just means

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Speaker 2: the bottle shop attendant then has to be manually entering

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Speaker 2: all the transactions. Yeah, the new driver's licenses. And there

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Speaker 2: is a bit of a concern as well with the

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Speaker 2: letters because you wait up to twenty eight days to

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Speaker 2: receive it in the mail. Now, I was lucky. I

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Speaker 2: updated my old license only a week before they announced

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Speaker 2: the changes.

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Speaker 3: And you know, after the way that the mbr are

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Speaker 3: per up. There another five minutes after the counter and

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Speaker 3: there's your card. Now we're waiting twenty eight days in

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Speaker 3: the mail and do transacts, including on the BDR.

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Speaker 2: Well, and we're meant to be accepting these letters.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it slows everything right down. I would

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Speaker 1: imagine you said, how did you say, four hundred thousand

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Speaker 1: transactions a month.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that's in the last report that the government. The

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Speaker 2: government used to do monthly BDR out of report and

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Speaker 2: they haven't published one since June. We've been on them

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Speaker 2: to try and get that updated. We think it was

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Speaker 2: a pretty good resource for people to see what was

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Speaker 2: going on in terms of scans and sales versus rejected

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Speaker 2: sales across the territory. But yeah, so that shows on average,

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Speaker 2: and it's seasonal and it does depend in a normal

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Speaker 2: year when we do have more tourists up here. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: about four hundred thousand a month.

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Speaker 1: Well, and I would imagine that that's going to get

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Speaker 1: busier as well over the Christmas period. So any delays

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Speaker 1: like in terms of being able to scan scan those

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Speaker 1: licenses is going to have an impact when you're busy

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Speaker 1: and you're at the counter trying to serve people. But Alex,

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Speaker 1: what is the go So if you can't actually, if

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Speaker 1: you can't scan it properly when you put it down

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Speaker 1: on the machine, they've then got to manually insert the numbers.

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Speaker 2: Correct and that's what they do. Even with the old ones,

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Speaker 2: you know that were a bit faded or a frequent

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Speaker 2: user might be getting them out of their wallet a

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Speaker 2: lot for the purpose of a BDR scan, So there

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Speaker 2: was always the need for the attendant to check that

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Speaker 2: the license had scanned properly. Yeah, but yeah, it is

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Speaker 2: just as more of these roll out. We understand they

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Speaker 2: are working on the algorithms with the tech company behind

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Speaker 2: the BDR to fix the problem. I suppose my own

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Speaker 2: comment on that would have been, given the high rate

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Speaker 2: of usage of licenses on the BDR system, I thought

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Speaker 2: they would have done that kind of due diligence before

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Speaker 2: rolling out new licenses.

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Speaker 1: Well, common sense would tell you that, but unfortunately sometimes

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Speaker 1: that doesn't prevail. Alex. I also am of the understanding

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Speaker 1: that there's some real issues when it comes to South

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Speaker 1: Australian licenses and Western Australian licenses to straggling to the territory.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this is an emerging one for us and I'll

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Speaker 2: be king for understanding from your listener's perspective. You know,

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Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank last year said on current trend rates,

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Speaker 2: cash will be dead within the decade. COVID has sped

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Speaker 2: that up. You see everyone you know pay waving on

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Speaker 2: their phone or they're smart watch or their credit card

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Speaker 2: for a single coffee or a single beer in our venues.

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Speaker 2: New South Wales and South Australia have already rolled out

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Speaker 2: digital drivers licenses. Yea. We've got no public plans for

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Speaker 2: when we go that way up here, but already we've

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Speaker 2: been instructed that we cannot accept digital drivers licenses from

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Speaker 2: New South Wales or South Australian residences and manually enter

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Speaker 2: that data into the BDR and we use the sale.

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Speaker 2: And I just questioned why a system that's set up

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Speaker 2: to target those problems within the territory community that people

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Speaker 2: do know are real and they're on the BDR, why

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Speaker 2: is the tourists now being told if they forgot their

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Speaker 2: hard copy license or left it at home, we're meant

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Speaker 2: to not serve you alcohol in the entire Northern Territory

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Speaker 2: during this day. Wow.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's certainly going to hinder things with

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Speaker 1: our tourists. And I don't know about you, but I

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Speaker 1: like when I go on holidays, I actually one of

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Speaker 1: the first things I do is going by a bottle

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Speaker 1: of wine and just you know, then you can have

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Speaker 1: a responsible drink in the afternoons or whatever. So if

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Speaker 1: you weren't able to do that, I would think, where

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Speaker 1: have I gone? What is this place?

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Speaker 2: That's it? And we're just we're raising it now when

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Speaker 2: it's a small issue which we hope can be addressed

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Speaker 2: quickly before it mounts. But you know, you can honestly

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Speaker 2: predict in a year or two times people won't be

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Speaker 2: carrying their wallets and their phones around as often as

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Speaker 2: they currently are. Once your driver's like in details, they're

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Speaker 2: on your smartphone or smart watch. You'll treat your driver's

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Speaker 2: license hard copy like your passport. It's it'll always be

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Speaker 2: a significant document, but you'll keep it secure at home.

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Speaker 2: You've just head out with your phone.

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Speaker 1: I know people who do that already. So at the

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Speaker 1: moment though with New South Wales and South Australia, they're

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Speaker 1: sort of already moving towards that, but our system here

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Speaker 1: with the BDR isn't going to support it.

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Speaker 2: Ours is going backwards. Unfortunately, we're twenty eight day delays

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Speaker 2: for Territorians to get their driver's license. No plans for

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Speaker 2: digital IDs announced up here, and we've been told that

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Speaker 2: we can't accept them on the BDR, when you know

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Speaker 2: Quantus accepts them. So you can book a you can

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Speaker 2: book a flight and rock up at the domestic checking

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Speaker 2: counter and show it. You can book one of our

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Speaker 2: hotel rooms with your digital driver's license from South Australia.

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Speaker 2: He said, Look, you can hire you can even drive

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Speaker 2: away roads up here with it, but we can't sell

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Speaker 2: you a bottle of wine responsibly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems absurd, Alex, Like, what are the answers here?

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Speaker 1: What do we need? You know, what do you think

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Speaker 1: really needs to happen?

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Speaker 2: Isle, We just wanted to put it up the flag pole.

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Speaker 2: There just needs to be some work done. I think

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Speaker 2: there's some legislation that needs tweaking. We are dealing with

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Speaker 2: a ten year old, clapped out BDR system. Though the

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Speaker 2: scan is a failing more often the call out times

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Speaker 2: to fix them is unfortunately getting a little bit worse

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Speaker 2: as well. So we do as a community need to

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Speaker 2: start thinking about what BDR mark two looks like in

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Speaker 2: the new year.

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Speaker 1: Well, I tell you what, it's always interesting times, Alex Bruce,

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Speaker 1: But it doesn't sound like a good situation for you know,

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Speaker 1: for some of our outlets over the Christmas period when

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Speaker 1: it is going to be busy, and you just want

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Speaker 1: to make it as easy as possible for people to

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Speaker 1: be able to use their licenses and to be able

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Speaker 1: to put those licenses on those BDR machines. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: make it nice and easy, that's it.

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Speaker 2: And if any delays. We just ask for our customers

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Speaker 2: to be patient with us.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, well, Alex Bruce, CEO of Hospitality NT. If

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Speaker 1: we don't, I mean we're still on air for a

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Speaker 1: couple more weeks. But if we don't speak to you

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Speaker 1: before Christmas, I hope you have a lovely Christmas. And

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Speaker 1: thanks for all your input this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah thanks Katie. You've actually got me on my final

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Speaker 2: day on the tools today, I'm not following the Chief

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Speaker 2: Minister's advice either and hitching up my camp trailer and

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Speaker 2: hitting out.

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Speaker 1: Good on you mate, have a lovely break with your family.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks, thank you you too.