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Speaker 1: Very disappointingly. Yesterday we heard up to two thousand Quantas

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Speaker 1: ground crew, aircraft cleaners and baggage handlers are set to

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Speaker 1: lose their jobs, taking that total number of job losses

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Speaker 1: at the airline to well eight and a half thousand.

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Speaker 1: And that is comparatively excuse me, to the twenty nine

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Speaker 1: thousand pre COVID workforce now joining me on the line

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Speaker 1: to talk more about this situation. From the Transport Workers

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Speaker 1: Union South Australia MT Branch Secretary Ian Smith, Good morning Ian.

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Speaker 2: Good morning CODI. How are you going?

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Speaker 1: Not too bad? Mate? Firstly you hear from South Australia.

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Speaker 1: How are you finding the heat?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's Southerners. We're not used to watch you goys

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Speaker 2: have COMMDI. We've had some pretty hot weather down home

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Speaker 2: as well, but it's not the humidity. But anyway, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's been up in Darlen and the NT is a

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Speaker 2: very important part of our union. So I'm proud to

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Speaker 2: be up here. Yeah moaveny people.

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Speaker 1: Well, and you know what, I'm sure that there will

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Speaker 1: be plenty of those QUANTUS ground staff and others that

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Speaker 1: a please to have you here at the moment. We

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Speaker 1: heard yesterday that they are forging ahead with up to

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Speaker 1: two thousand Countas crew losing their jobs. How is that

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Speaker 1: going to impact us here in the territory.

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Speaker 2: Well, our understanding, it's up to sixty five across the

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Speaker 2: whole territory. In Darlan itself, it's forty to fifty people minimen.

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Speaker 2: There's some people were left already. But look, it's an Australian.

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Speaker 2: The antics of quantas the spirit of Australia as despicable.

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Speaker 2: You know, absolutely aviation has been a halves hit with

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Speaker 2: this COVID period. But let's be quite frank, in Australia

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Speaker 2: we've done a magnificent job. And I take my head

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Speaker 2: off to the governments, to their health departments, everybody involved.

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Speaker 2: How we've been out of such would control this virus.

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Speaker 2: So MESSI is the biggest Armorconis in Australia, always has been.

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Speaker 2: That's where they started from, that's where their big revenue is.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're seeing all the borders now start open

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Speaker 2: except Western Australia. Flighters starting to pick up, and Quanus

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Speaker 2: is actually saying Christmas, they've got back to profitability. Now.

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Speaker 2: We had the Morrison government who are absolutely silent on this,

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Speaker 2: which is disgraceful in itself, but they're putting job keepers

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Speaker 2: so that these companies could keep the relationship with their employee.

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Speaker 2: When things were turned back to the profitability or the

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Speaker 2: work picked up, they could re engage the workers workers

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Speaker 2: and we move on. We didn't lose the skill set,

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Speaker 2: which is crucial in this industry. They're not bad chucking,

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Speaker 2: They're not. They are very skilled people. They're not cleaners.

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Speaker 2: They're very skilled cleaners that make sure those planes are

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Speaker 2: safe to fly off. They make sure as far as

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Speaker 2: the baggage handlers go to, the planes are loaded correctly.

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Speaker 2: Our pets that travel in the valley of those planes

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Speaker 2: are loaded correctly. You only have to think, let's talk

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Speaker 2: about load transport, if the truck's not loaded correctly and

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Speaker 2: the loads trucks accidents ian the same think in face

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Speaker 2: for ECA, and it's despicable when a group of people

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Speaker 2: have been able to put using e Y, which is

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Speaker 2: a professional firm that has been able to put together

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Speaker 2: a competitive bid that is actually and we're getting told

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Speaker 2: it's probably cheaper so the other competitors so ian.

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Speaker 1: At the moment, Sorry, if we can just get back

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Speaker 1: to the fact, so at the moment sixty five Territorians.

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Speaker 1: So that is obviously baggy Chandler's ground staff in Alice

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Speaker 1: Springs and in Darwin. Have you met with those people

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Speaker 1: and what are they saying to you today.

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Speaker 2: Well, what they're saying they want to keep their jobs.

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Speaker 2: They don't want to lose the job. They built this company.

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Speaker 2: They love working for kunas they've been through the bad

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Speaker 2: times and the good science and it becomes to you know,

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Speaker 2: to have the fact that they're allowed to put a

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Speaker 2: competitive bid in and get down with nitty gritty and

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Speaker 2: have the expertise to do that, and then to be

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Speaker 2: shoved the back in your faces. Sorry, thanks very much,

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Speaker 2: but it's not good when it is cheaper. That's what

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Speaker 2: we're told. It is competitive and this is idology and

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Speaker 2: then hiding behind COVID for making this decision ten years ago.

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Speaker 2: They got caught. They made this decision to get rid

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Speaker 2: of this. This is about profit, agreed, So its not

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Speaker 2: about what a piece Australian companies should be and what steps.

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Speaker 1: Is the Union going to be taking today. I understand

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Speaker 1: that you are going to be having a bit of

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Speaker 1: a rally, I guess you would call it today in

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Speaker 1: an effort to make sure that these workers' voices are heard.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, we will turn we will leave no stone unsand

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Speaker 2: as a union to represent our members and support our members.

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Speaker 2: We've got a Senate inquiry. The good people of the

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Speaker 2: Senate have realized this decision as well, and they want

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Speaker 2: to hold into account and the government to account. We

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Speaker 2: need the federal government, the federal government to get off

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Speaker 2: their hands, get their take their head out of the

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Speaker 2: sand and tell Cornus this is not good enough. Take

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Speaker 2: a stake in the in this. We need a good

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Speaker 2: aviation sector. We need a safe aviation sector, and the

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Speaker 2: government should take a stake in that and not give

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Speaker 2: money to their mates. Quantus has been caught already warding

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Speaker 2: the job keeper system Broughting brought in and then they

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Speaker 2: come up with this decision. It's despicable, it's un Australian

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Speaker 2: and if they want to do the right thing, they

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Speaker 2: should be reversing their decision and keeping them well trained,

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Speaker 2: great employees, engaged and on board. And we go through

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Speaker 2: the and we go through the process and we make

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Speaker 2: the airline the great air one that it has always

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Speaker 2: been and will continue to be if they don't stop

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Speaker 2: cuting courtans well.

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Speaker 1: And we are going to have to leave it there.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate your time this morning, and yeah, I'm certainly

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Speaker 1: feeling for those workers today Transport Workers Union SAMT Branch

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Speaker 1: Secretary Ian Smith there, and we do know that they

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Speaker 1: are going to be well having that twelve pm meeting today.

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Speaker 1: Basically it'll be the reaction to Quantus outsourcing sixty five

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Speaker 1: territory and baggage ramp and cleaning workers. They have rejected

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Speaker 1: that competitive bid which was submitted, So yeah, i'll tell

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Speaker 1: you what you know, it is going to be a

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Speaker 1: really tough situation for those territory families, those territorians that

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Speaker 1: are impacted by this