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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the President

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Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory Police Association, Paul mcke Good morning to.

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Speaker 2: You, Paul, Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Paul. The nation is shocked by the events which unfolded

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Speaker 1: in Queensland. Has the Association been in contact with your

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Speaker 1: counterparts in Queensland?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we certainly have obviously, and leaves the president over

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Speaker 2: there at the Queensland Police Union and through the Police

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Speaker 2: Federation of Australia, you know, touching base with all our

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Speaker 2: counterparts around the country who are probably still in a

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Speaker 2: state of shop and disbelief to be honest about you know,

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Speaker 2: the circumstances of this tragic event. And you know we've

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Speaker 2: obviously reached out provided whatever support and messaging we ken

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Speaker 2: to them and then their colleagues and no doubt, you know,

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Speaker 2: these tragic and senseless murders of our colleagues have been

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Speaker 2: felt deeply, very much across the entire country and over

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand. So it's it's a difficult time for

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Speaker 2: the police family at the moment and we're all just

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Speaker 2: reaching out to see how everyone's going.

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Speaker 1: Paul. It's been a really tough year for so many Australians.

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Speaker 1: It's been a tough year. But you know, I think

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Speaker 1: that you and I have spoken so many times about

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Speaker 1: the enormous job that police have had over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years through COVID and on the front line,

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Speaker 1: and then for something like this to happen so close

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Speaker 1: to Christmas and what seems to be cold blooded murder

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Speaker 1: is just horrific.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've seen obviously on today's today's front page

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Speaker 2: of the paper, we've seen two young, brave officers there

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Speaker 2: in the prime of their life. Here we are just

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Speaker 2: before Christmas. I mean, they were just going about their duties,

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Speaker 2: as our police do every single day. They put on

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Speaker 2: their uniform, they go to work, never knowing what they're

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Speaker 2: going to be confronted with. And it really is a

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Speaker 2: stark reminder that policing can come at a heavy cost

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Speaker 2: to us all and really does remind us what police

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Speaker 2: risk every day. And they're sadly, the two officers over

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Speaker 2: there in Queensland have paid the ltimate sacrifice to keep

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Speaker 2: us safe. And you know, sadly, our police go to work,

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Speaker 2: as you know, Katie, to confront situations and there's never

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Speaker 2: a guarantee they're going to come home at the end

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Speaker 2: of the day, and tragically these two officers didn't.

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Speaker 1: Paul, how deeply is a tragedy like this felt, even

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory by our police force.

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Speaker 2: It's felt enormously, Katie. I mean, it's difficult to really

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Speaker 2: explain it, just how deep the feelings run in terms

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Speaker 2: of when something like this happens. Being a police officer

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Speaker 2: is a very, very challenging job. It's one that people

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Speaker 2: do and they do it because they want to help

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Speaker 2: the community. They want to get out there and serve

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Speaker 2: and protect our community, and they know it's a dangerous

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Speaker 2: job and we know sadly sometimes people don't come home.

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Speaker 2: And every year we go to camera and we go

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Speaker 2: to the National Police Memorial and those names of those

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Speaker 2: officers who make the ultimate sacrifice are placed on that

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Speaker 2: wall for us to never forget the circumstances our police

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Speaker 2: working and you know, the risks stay put on the

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Speaker 2: line every single day for all of us. And I

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Speaker 2: think to say it hasn't affected police across the entire

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Speaker 2: country and in fact messages from across the world, is

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Speaker 2: a complete understatement. And of course, remember we have many

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Speaker 2: officers come here from Queensland. Many officers that have worked

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Speaker 2: in the Queensland Police Force may join our ranks and

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Speaker 2: are no doubt deeply affected because we know just how

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Speaker 2: much this means to those people and their colleagues and

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Speaker 2: of course their family.

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Speaker 1: Well I know a lot of police officers listen to

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Speaker 1: this show. What is your message for them this morning?

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Speaker 2: Look, it really is. It's simple. We value you enormously,

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Speaker 2: we value the work you do. We know that people

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Speaker 2: are hurting across the territory and across the country, and

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Speaker 2: you know, we need to make sure we're all reaching

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Speaker 2: out to our families, our friends, our colleagues, making sure

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Speaker 2: you know if you need help in this challenging time,

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Speaker 2: that you seek it and you don't sit there in silence,

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Speaker 2: because these are the times we all need to bandy together,

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Speaker 2: we need to reach out for that support. And we

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Speaker 2: just want the public to really just thank our police.

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Speaker 2: We want them to go up to an officer and

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Speaker 2: say thank you for the work that they do serving

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Speaker 2: and protecting our community. Because as with these two young officers,

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Speaker 2: they didn't go home and they'll never go home and

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Speaker 2: those families and their colleagues will have to live with

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Speaker 2: that now For the rest of their lives. So think

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Speaker 2: our officers, thank them for the work they do, and

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Speaker 2: let's stick together and provide whatever support we need.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, an incredible job that our police do here in

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Speaker 1: the territory, right around the country, and I think that

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Speaker 1: this tragedy is just being felt right across the board,

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Speaker 1: as you've said. But Paul, we really appreciate you having

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Speaker 1: a chat with us this morning. We really appreciate all

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Speaker 1: the time you've given us throughout the year, and more

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Speaker 1: than anything, we appreciate the work of the Northern Territory Police.

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Speaker 1: So thank you for having a chat with us again today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

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Speaker 1: Katie