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Speaker 1: Well, two councilor of counselors have resigned from the Catherine

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Speaker 1: Town Council over the last week or so, both citing

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Speaker 1: personal reasons for stepping down. But I guess everybody wondering

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Speaker 1: exactly what the next steps are and joining me on

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Speaker 1: the line is the.

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Speaker 2: Catherine mayor, Liz Clark. Good morning to you, Liz.

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Speaker 3: Oh, good morning, Katie.

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Speaker 1: How are you really good? Great to have you on

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Speaker 1: the show. Before we get into it, what's the weather

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Speaker 1: like in Catherine this morning, Liz? Bit wet here in Darwin.

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Speaker 3: Actually we had a sprinkle of range really early this morning,

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Speaker 3: but it's just beautiful at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Oh, lovely.

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Speaker 1: Always nice when we get that bit of rain, and

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Speaker 1: your hope it cools things down rather than makes it

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Speaker 1: more humored.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, Pierre, Liz.

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Speaker 1: The situation two counselors resigning, what's happened with these two.

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Speaker 3: Well, they're both they're both leave in town, and they

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Speaker 3: both both saw their own personal reasons which I can't

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Speaker 3: go really go into. Yes, it was a surprise, and

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Speaker 3: I wish them both well in their new endeavors.

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Speaker 1: And so Liz, I guess people have been messaging through

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Speaker 1: wondering whether it's to do with the crime and anti

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Speaker 1: social issues. I don't know whether you're able to, you know,

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Speaker 1: to shed any light in that way.

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Speaker 3: All I can say is that, no, there are both

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Speaker 3: the personal reasons, and it just happens to be around

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Speaker 3: the time that we're having this crime. No, it was

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Speaker 3: for very different reasons.

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Speaker 1: And when what's the process now in terms of the

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Speaker 1: by election for the two counselors?

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Speaker 3: Okay, once the CEO has been notified, then the CEO

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Speaker 3: then goes to the Electoral Commission and then they will

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Speaker 3: determine when they can actually do the election, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, And so so I'm assuming that part of that's

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Speaker 1: happened already, has it in terms of the CEO being

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Speaker 1: notified and and letting the Electoral Commission know.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we just have to wait until we hear

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Speaker 3: back from them as to when they can actually go

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Speaker 3: through the process.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, is it like, is it a tough situation for

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Speaker 1: you now, Liz as the mayor and for the rest

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Speaker 1: of the council because usually you might you know, you

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Speaker 1: might lose one councilor. But too is quite a big loss,

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Speaker 1: isn't it.

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Speaker 3: It is a big loss. But when I look back

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Speaker 3: through that some of our history, it has happened before

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Speaker 3: where two councilors have been have resigned in that time.

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Speaker 3: So actually has happened a couple of times. But it

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Speaker 3: is hard because it just we still have a quorum,

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Speaker 3: so they can't take any leave at the moment.

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Speaker 2: But you've got to get back into it. Do you

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Speaker 2: reckon that you're going to find?

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Speaker 1: Like, do you think that you're going to find that

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Speaker 1: quite a few people are keen to put their hands up?

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Speaker 3: Well at the last at the last by election, a

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Speaker 3: small ones that we had the year before last, Yes,

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Speaker 3: we had quite a few people put their hand up,

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Speaker 3: So I'm hoping that we will get the same this time.

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Speaker 2: Now, lis on to other things happening in Catherine.

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Speaker 1: I understand that there were three cars destroyed by firing

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Speaker 1: Catherine early this morning.

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Speaker 2: Do you know what's gone on there or have you

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Speaker 2: heard much?

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Speaker 3: I haven't heard about that one. Yeah, sorry, I oh,

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Speaker 3: that's all right. Coment on that one. I haven't heard

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Speaker 3: about that one at all.

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Speaker 1: No, that's all right. We'll see what we can find out.

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Speaker 1: I know that there have been some other initiatives that

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Speaker 1: the council though, has been trialing. I believe that there's

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Speaker 1: a few of the laneways closed at the moment.

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Speaker 3: Yes, we have five lane ways that are being closed

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Speaker 3: for a trial for six months and they've been identified

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Speaker 3: by councils work with the police and the Northern Territory

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Speaker 3: government to choose the lane ways that they wanted to trial.

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Speaker 3: And basically the lane waves have been an issue ever

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Speaker 3: since I've been on council. Yeah, so wherever you know,

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Speaker 3: and I think are the same in Darwin and Palmerston.

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Speaker 3: So the new subdivision in Katherine East has no lane

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Speaker 3: waste because they do have like we seem to have

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Speaker 3: an increase in the antisocial behavior in laneways. We have

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Speaker 3: people throwing rocks on people's roofs and for instance, and

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Speaker 3: then they jump into people's yards because they have an

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Speaker 3: easier access from the laneways. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right, So there's obviously been a bit more concern in

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Speaker 1: recent times for that work to happen with the police

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Speaker 1: and to determine that they need to be closed.

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Speaker 3: Yes, because they have because there's a close proximity to them.

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Speaker 3: You know, people can run down one of the laneways

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Speaker 3: and if the police are after them, they can't catch

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Speaker 3: them because they go through the lame waves.

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Speaker 1: And so how are you sort of physically closing them

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Speaker 1: or what do you like, what do you do with

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Speaker 1: those laneways?

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Speaker 3: Okay, they will have a gate across them, a proper

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Speaker 3: a proper a high sort of gate, and the fencing

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Speaker 3: long each side will be the same height along that way,

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Speaker 3: and you can you know, you'll be able to see

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Speaker 3: through them, so people won't be able to hide behind them,

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Speaker 3: that they'll be on both sides of the lame way

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Speaker 3: at least.

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Speaker 2: Is it a permanent thing or a trial? How long

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Speaker 2: will it go for?

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Speaker 3: The trial is for six months if it's successful, If

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Speaker 3: it works successfully, then it'll have to it'll come back

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Speaker 3: to counsel and will have to then apply to have

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Speaker 3: the lamewves closed permanently. And if they work well, we

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Speaker 3: have had other areas where there are laneways where people

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Speaker 3: have asked for the same thing to happen. So this

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Speaker 3: is a trial for six months to see if it

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Speaker 3: will help in the you know, in the process of

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Speaker 3: people with avy. So you know that that just not

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Speaker 3: not walking, just not walking down the lame wave is

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Speaker 3: what they were designed for originally.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so which locations have you sort of decided

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Speaker 1: to do in this trial?

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Speaker 3: Okay, we have, so there's five all together. Yeah, So

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Speaker 3: we've got Fordham Court to melucaed Rain, We've got Habspa's

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Speaker 3: Place to the Maluca Rain Franchipanny Court to melucad Rain.

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Speaker 3: As you can hear, you know, there's a wall within proximity.

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Speaker 3: A case should drive to Meluca Rain and sandal Wood

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Speaker 3: Crescent to Maluca Rain. So those are the Laane ways.

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Speaker 3: There are the five Laane ways that we are trialing

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Speaker 3: at present.

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Speaker 1: Well, hopefully it does have a positive impact and hopefully,

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Speaker 1: you know, it makes a bit of a difference when

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Speaker 1: you talk about some of that anti social behavior that's

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Speaker 1: been experienced and rocks thrown on roofs and that kind

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Speaker 1: of thing. Liz, before I let you go, last time

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Speaker 1: you and I were speaking, it was about a week

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Speaker 1: or so ago, and it was in relation to you know,

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Speaker 1: what was being experienced in Alice Springs and those alcohol restrictions.

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Speaker 1: Since then, we know that the Northern Territory government have

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Speaker 1: come out and they've announced that there is going to

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Speaker 1: be legislation introduced to Parliament next week with those blanket

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Speaker 1: alcohol bands again for you know, for town camps and communities.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that this is a good thing for

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Speaker 1: your region as well, and as.

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Speaker 3: And even in that time, and whatever is done in

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Speaker 3: Alice Springs needs to be across the board. We are

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Speaker 3: already experiencing people, you know, people moving up from Alice

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Speaker 3: Springs and also to Darwin. So yeah, we need whatever

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Speaker 3: is done in Alice needs to be right across the

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Speaker 3: board because otherwise what will happen? People will just move

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Speaker 3: from Alice and move further north.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And Liza mentioned then that you know you've already

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Speaker 1: sort of experienced some of that movement. How have things

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Speaker 1: been going over the last week or so.

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Speaker 3: I think it's been a bit of as strain on

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Speaker 3: some of the service providers because you know, they've got

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Speaker 3: a lot more people than normal to deal with. So

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Speaker 3: it does make it very difficul call, particularly when service

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Speaker 3: providers have still got a shortage of staff often and

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Speaker 3: and so it's very Yes, I think it's very hard

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Speaker 3: on everyone. That it's a strain on everyone. So some

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Speaker 3: of these measures that we need to look at a

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Speaker 3: whole raft of measures, not just one thing to try.

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Speaker 3: And you know, we've got to get to the root

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Speaker 3: causes of all these things.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that like that's really interesting to hear that

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Speaker 1: you know already after sort of a week or so

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Speaker 1: of those restrictions that there's been, that there's already like

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Speaker 1: that there's a strain on services.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think it's more because we've got extra, you know,

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Speaker 3: so many extra people coming up here that normally would

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Speaker 3: not be here. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Gee, that makes it to.

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Speaker 3: Restrictions in you know, because of the restrictions. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And I think that you're spot on.

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Speaker 1: You know, it does need to we do need to

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Speaker 1: make sure that things are happening territory wide so that

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Speaker 1: you know, so that there needn't sort of an increase

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Speaker 1: for other locations such as yours. And there does as

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Speaker 1: though there is still a lot of work to happen

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Speaker 1: right across the Northern territory. Liz, it sounds like there's

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Speaker 1: going to be a massive cash injection for Central Australia.

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Speaker 1: Does more work need to be done or does it

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Speaker 1: need to be sort of other funding looked at for

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Speaker 1: places like the Big Rivers region.

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Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely, And I was told that we would be

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Speaker 3: getting some funding, but I'm not sure what in what

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Speaker 3: areas or what it's going to look like at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Well, no doubt, we'll speak more about it at some

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Speaker 1: point in the near future. Liz Clark, the Katherine Mayor.

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Speaker 1: It's always great to catch up with you. I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much for your time as well.

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Speaker 2: Katie, thank you