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Speaker 1: Now budget estimates hearings get underway this week. It's an

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Speaker 1: opportunity for the Opposition and the Independence to grill the

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Speaker 1: government on spending in all areas following that budget being

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Speaker 1: handed down in May. But there has been a last

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Speaker 1: minute shake up after the Chief Minister announced on the

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Speaker 1: weekend that her family would have to fly into State

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Speaker 1: on Sunday to seek specialist medical treatment for her son.

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Speaker 1: Now her Deputy, Nicole Madison is going to instead be

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Speaker 1: first on the panel, with miss Files anticipated to return

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Speaker 1: to work for the hearing scheduled for next week. Now

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Speaker 1: joining me on the line is Bill Yan, the Opposition

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Speaker 1: spokesperson for Treasury, as well as the Member for Namajira.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Bill.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning.

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Speaker 1: Can you listen now, Bill, No doubt this two week

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Speaker 1: period it does provide an opportunity for the Parliamentary Estimates

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Speaker 1: Committee to really grill ministers on their new budget. What

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Speaker 1: do you think the absence of the Chief Minister will

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Speaker 1: mean this week when you talk about how it's all

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Speaker 1: going to roll out.

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Speaker 2: Oh, look, it's not going to change a great deal, Katie.

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Speaker 2: It's a little bit of a shuffle around. Look, the

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Speaker 2: Chief Minister has rightly got to get away and get

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Speaker 2: that treatment for a son, and we all hope that

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Speaker 2: goes really well for young Henry. But the Chief Minister

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Speaker 2: will be back on Monday next week, so she'll be

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Speaker 2: fronting the estimates community then. So everything shuffled forward today.

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Speaker 2: I think Minister Medison is up today and then Treasury

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Speaker 2: tomorrow with Minister all and then Kate Warden shuffles forward

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Speaker 2: today on the Thursday, so it changes the schedule around,

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Speaker 2: but we still get the opportunity to speak to those

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Speaker 2: ministers and try and get to the bottom of some

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Speaker 2: of the things that are pretty clearing in the budget

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Speaker 2: and find out all those questions of territories want to

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Speaker 2: know the answers to oh.

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Speaker 1: Bill, there's plenty of questions that we want to know

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Speaker 1: the answers too. I'm thinking how it springs. I'm thinking,

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Speaker 1: you know some of those police numbers. There's a lot

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Speaker 1: of things we've discussed. But what's going to be on

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Speaker 1: your agenda? Are you the opposition's agender?

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Speaker 2: Well, some of those things you just mentioned, k we

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Speaker 2: want to get to the bottom of some of the

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Speaker 2: cover ups that have taken place over the last world months.

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Speaker 2: Howard Springs is an interesting one. I think we're all

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Speaker 2: over the whole Where and Tear think it's a stand

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Speaker 2: of joke around the territory. Now is something happens it

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Speaker 2: was where and Tear. So we want to get to

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Speaker 2: the bottom of what's happening and how Springs. Of course,

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Speaker 2: police and how they're faring with their police numbers and

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Speaker 2: their resourcing is critical as well. Jamie Chalking, the question

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Speaker 2: is on everybody. It's about what that's cost territories. Among

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Speaker 2: some of the blowouts on the other projects we're seeing.

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Speaker 2: If you look at the overpassing Tyler Brennan blowing out

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Speaker 2: from was it eighty million dollars or something like getting

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Speaker 2: closer to two hundred million dollars. So the other things

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Speaker 2: that we want to find out about, get to the

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Speaker 2: bottom of those blowouts, find out where territories money is

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Speaker 2: being spent, but more importantly, where this government may be

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Speaker 2: wasting some of that money and we're not getting the

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Speaker 2: best bang for our bill.

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Speaker 1: Let's be honest here. You know, sometimes it can be

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Speaker 1: very difficult to get that information from the Northern Territory government.

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Speaker 1: I know that there's already been questions asked I about

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Speaker 1: the payoffs to the former police commissioner. Do you anticipate

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Speaker 1: that you're actually going to get that information?

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Speaker 2: Well, the estimates process is a great opportunity for the

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Speaker 2: opposition of the Independence to ask those very specific and

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Speaker 2: point of questions where in Parliament we don't seem to

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Speaker 2: get the answer to those things. Estimates is about territory finances,

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Speaker 2: how they're being used, and the government need to be

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Speaker 2: open and transparent about this because we all know that

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Speaker 2: there have been anything but open transparent in the last

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Speaker 2: six years, I suppose, and this is where we get

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Speaker 2: to ask those questions. And they can't buck and weave

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Speaker 2: this stuff. They've got to provide truthful answers. The agencies

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Speaker 2: that are there have to provide truthful answers to the

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Speaker 2: Estimates Committee and then some of those questions if they

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Speaker 2: can't answer it at the time, and then taken on

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Speaker 2: motives and the answers to all those questions are then

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Speaker 2: made public and they have to be produced within thirty days.

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Speaker 2: So it's a great opportunity for us and Independence to

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Speaker 2: get to the bottom of some of the things that

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Speaker 2: are really really pressing to us but also to territorianes

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Speaker 2: because at the end of the day. We went out

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Speaker 2: to everybody in the territory where we could and said, well,

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Speaker 2: what are the questions you want us to ask around

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Speaker 2: the budget and budget estimates And we're bringing some of

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Speaker 2: those questions here over the next two weeks.

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Speaker 1: So, Bill, it's going to be an interesting time. It

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Speaker 1: always is, and I think that there's always some pretty

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Speaker 1: important nuggets of information that do eventually sort of come out.

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Speaker 1: But on just going back again to the former police commissioner,

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Speaker 1: will you be putting those questions to the Minister for

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Speaker 1: Police and Territory Families, Kate Warden, I believe she's up

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Speaker 1: on Thursday.

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Speaker 2: I'd say i'd pretty well guarantee we'll be asking those

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Speaker 2: questions as the minister, but also those questions go to

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Speaker 2: OCP and a number of other areas too, Katie. So okay,

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Speaker 2: it's not just the minute for me Minster for Police,

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Speaker 2: but it's also the Minister responsible for public employment as well.

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Speaker 2: So there's a number of avenues that will be taking

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Speaker 2: to find out that information that people have been asking

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Speaker 2: about the payout to the Police Commission. So how much

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Speaker 2: is it? We've all heard I think reports and rumors

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Speaker 2: about what it is. But again that's just it. They're rumors.

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Speaker 2: Are people actually want to know what it's cost were

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Speaker 2: what the cost of them is for the government messing

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Speaker 2: up when they were looking to change the police commissions.

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Speaker 1: Say, yeah, it's going it is going to be interesting.

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Speaker 1: As I said, Bill, So today it is the Deputy

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Speaker 1: Chief Minister of Cole Madison. What's on the agenda from

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Speaker 1: the opposition's perspective, what info you're hoping to glean from

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Speaker 1: the deputy.

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Speaker 2: Well today with Minister Madison, it's about tourism and mining

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Speaker 2: and energy. And look, we all know that the forty

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Speaker 2: billion dollar economy that later been throwing around seems to

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Speaker 2: be a little bit of a fallacy. Until we can

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Speaker 2: get some consumer confidence and some investor confidence into the territory,

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Speaker 2: which means dealing with the crime issues that we face,

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Speaker 2: we're not going to reach anywhere near that forty billion

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Speaker 2: dollar economy. So there's a lot of questions being asked

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Speaker 2: today around the mining sector and its growth and support

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Speaker 2: of the territory longer term. Again, we've been listed as

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Speaker 2: one of the poor rating economies in the country or

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Speaker 2: deep purse rating economy in the country by the ABS.

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Speaker 2: So the stat stuff for the Treasurer tomorrow, but Edgo's

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Speaker 2: in there today asking about mining. Ma reeclick booth be

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Speaker 2: in this afternoon. Also talking about tourism is key to

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Speaker 2: our growth as well, and we all know the tourism

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Speaker 2: numbers are down. That's been reported by Tourism Top End

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Speaker 2: and Tourism Central Australia. So again again that's linked to

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Speaker 2: of course the economy and inflation, but also crime is

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Speaker 2: an issue which we hear it all too often in

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Speaker 2: particularly in Central Australia and other areas, that people are

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Speaker 2: not coming because they see what's happening in these regions

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Speaker 2: around crime and that they're choosing other destinations, which is

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Speaker 2: a shame because at the end of the day, our

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Speaker 2: product is hurting.

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Speaker 1: Bill Before I let you go. It has been reported

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Speaker 1: by the NT News today that the band Drinker Register

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Speaker 1: figures show that grog sales in Alice Springs have rebounded

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Speaker 1: just two months after those tough new takeaway alcohol sale

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Speaker 1: restrictions were introduced in January. So despite the takeaway sales

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Speaker 1: regime that include, as you know better than most, one

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Speaker 1: sale per day per person, alcohol free days on Sunday,

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Speaker 1: Monday and Tuesday and limiting takeaway alcohol sales between three

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Speaker 1: pm and seven pm, except on Saturdays, those grog sales

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Speaker 1: numbers in the town have begun to edge up. So

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Speaker 1: according to this report, the alcohol sales in Alice were

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Speaker 1: at a four year high in December, but dropped sharply

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Speaker 1: in January. As we know, those restrictions were announced when

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Speaker 1: the PM was in town. That decline though, continued into February,

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Speaker 1: but in March it rebounded in Alice Springs and all

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Speaker 1: so surged in all territory centers. What do you make

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Speaker 1: of this and what do you make of those calls

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Speaker 1: for the alcohol restrictions to then be extended in our springs?

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Speaker 1: Is it making a difference?

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Speaker 2: No, Katie said, listen, and we said this from day one.

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Speaker 2: You can put restrictions in place and people will find

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Speaker 2: a way around it. This is what happened in Tenner

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Speaker 2: Creek when I bought in those strict restrictions years ago

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Speaker 2: Tenant Creeks and the immediate drop off of sales, and

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Speaker 2: then within a few months those sales went up to

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Speaker 2: previous levels and then continue to increase. And we're seeing

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Speaker 2: the same thing in our spring. So governed needs to

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Speaker 2: deal with the core part of the problem. Which is

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Speaker 2: the problem drinkings. So rather than dealing with supply, they

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Speaker 2: need to deal with demand. We knew that those numbers

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Speaker 2: will go up. We've seen them go back up now

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Speaker 2: to previous levels. So the government really need to take

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Speaker 2: hold of and provide those programs and deal with that

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Speaker 2: demand issue first up. Because you can put all sorts

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Speaker 2: of restrictions in place, problem drinkers will find a way

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Speaker 2: around it to gain access to alcohol. So the demand

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Speaker 2: issues have to be dealt with the first and foremost

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Speaker 2: the supply stuff. I said, the supply will continue, it's

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Speaker 2: not going to change. Restrictions are not going to make

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Speaker 2: that much of a difference apartment in that quick, short,

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Speaker 2: sharp cease when you put the restriction in place, and

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Speaker 2: then people will find a way around. And the Chief

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Speaker 2: ministra onily recently said they couldn't provide the data from

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Speaker 2: the BDR on whether or not the restrictions were having

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Speaker 2: any effect on alcohol sales and alcohol related crime, and

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Speaker 2: that just I suppose indicate position the number of people

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Speaker 2: have had. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, and you know the thing is there is still

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Speaker 1: those ongoing concerns that if the band Drinkers Register was working,

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Speaker 1: if some of those restrictions were working, then we'd be

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Speaker 1: seeing a real change to some of what is going on. Bill,

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Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time, mate. Are you up in

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Speaker 1: Darwin yes or were you in Alice saw in Central

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Speaker 1: Australia for the think on the weekend? Sounds like it

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Speaker 1: all went very well.

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Speaker 2: I think it was great as it always is, and

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Speaker 2: I said congratulations to Toby Price and the local fellow

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Speaker 2: while she for taking out the cars and bikes. I

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Speaker 2: had to fly up yesterday for rest of it, so

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Speaker 2: I haven't done a proper think now and gee, you

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Speaker 2: about three or four years. So I managed to get

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Speaker 2: out on Friday. I got out Friday night and done

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Speaker 2: a bit of volunteering work, helped with the bar for scrutineering,

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Speaker 2: sort of got my stuff together to get back up

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Speaker 2: here on Saturday and flew up Sunday. But it's always

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Speaker 2: a great weekend and AlSi it was nice to see

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Speaker 2: so many people in town. It was really Virbrant and

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Speaker 2: the town was buzzing all weekend, which was great to see. Well.

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Speaker 1: Bill Yan, the member Foranama Jeira and also the opposition

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Speaker 1: spokesperson for Treasury, Always appreciate your time, mate, Thanks so

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Speaker 1: much for speaking with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Jeers Ka have a great day you too,