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

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Speaker 1: leader Selena Rubo.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katy, and good morning to you listeners.

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Speaker 2: Great to have you on the show now.

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Speaker 1: Selena, just first off, disturbing news of course from overnight

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Speaker 1: with this person shot in Coconut Grove. They had to

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Speaker 1: be arrested. They were actually arrested in Catherine in your

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Speaker 1: neck of the woods. What is your reaction to this occurring.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Katie, I think I'm just as shocked as you

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Speaker 3: know other fellow community members hearing about this incident. You know,

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Speaker 3: people are hoping it's a once off, but from talking

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Speaker 3: to community members about concerns around crime and becoming more serious,

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Speaker 3: more violent and more prevalent, I think unfortunately we're starting

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Speaker 3: to see that in the territory now.

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Speaker 2: It's a worry. There is no other way to put it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the fact that somebody has been shot in

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Speaker 1: the Northern suburbs and we'll find out some further detail

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Speaker 1: from the Northern Territory Police. I mean, at this point

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Speaker 1: in time, we don't have a huge amount of background,

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Speaker 1: but no doubt that a lord of Territorians hearing this

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Speaker 1: for the first time now are going to be utterly

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Speaker 1: shocked to hear that this has happened.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, Katie, and I think we're going to

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Speaker 3: be asking some serious questions around what the government's doing

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Speaker 3: to continue on what they said they would do, which

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Speaker 3: is to keep territory and safe. So we're going to

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Speaker 3: have some very serious questions to them.

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Speaker 2: Now, just on that. We do know that we have got.

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Speaker 1: Absolute record numbers in terms of our jails being full

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Speaker 1: at the moment. We've spoken quite a bit about this

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks, and we know that

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Speaker 1: there is fifty percent of our prisoners are on remand

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Speaker 1: with those record high prisoner numbers, what do you think

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Speaker 1: needs to be done to try and push cases through

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Speaker 1: the courts more quickly.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess there's some very interesting takes on this.

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Speaker 3: I haven't heard other than what the new Theopic government's

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Speaker 3: put down on paper around what their plan is. I

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Speaker 3: haven't heard of any real traction that's being made in

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Speaker 3: a space around particularly what you're talking about, Katie, seeing

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Speaker 3: the justice system flow through a bit smoother. So I'll

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Speaker 3: be very interested to see what the new government's plans

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Speaker 3: are around the justice peace. They've talked about the punitive piece.

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Speaker 3: We know that, and that's where the numbers are becoming higher.

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Speaker 3: But what's happening to help the system actually flow. I

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Speaker 3: don't see any plan around that. Well.

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Speaker 1: I know that they announced additional judges to step into

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Speaker 1: those roles to try to get things moving a little

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Speaker 1: bit more quickly.

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Speaker 2: Over the Christmas break.

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Speaker 1: There was a there was less of a break I

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Speaker 1: guess through the court system. But oppositionly, is it time

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Speaker 1: do you think for us to maybe look at building

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Speaker 1: a remand center.

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Speaker 3: I mean that would cost a lot of money as well, Katie.

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Speaker 3: So I'll be very interested to see what way the

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Speaker 3: government decides to choose to progress this or not progress

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Speaker 3: this issue. We know that some of the comments that

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Speaker 3: have been made have been around again the quick fix,

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Speaker 3: not the long term, and I've yet to hear anything

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Speaker 3: about the long term from the COLP government.

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Speaker 1: Look in terms of in terms of you know, money

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Speaker 1: being invested, money being spent. One area of concern which

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Speaker 1: you have been raising for quite some time is the

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Speaker 1: area of domestic violence. Certainly you'd like to see some

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Speaker 1: of that money will really you know, get out there

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Speaker 1: and to try to make some change in this space.

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Speaker 2: What exactly are you.

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Speaker 1: Concerns as we get into the new year and with

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Speaker 1: Parliament set to begin.

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Speaker 3: Next week, Katie, the COLP government promised to start getting

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Speaker 3: that one hundred and eighty million dollars of funding for

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Speaker 3: the domestic violence prevention sector out the door by the

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Speaker 3: end of January. Obviously we're now at the start of February,

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Speaker 3: so they have broken their promise in that respect. We

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Speaker 3: see some of the most shocking crimes in the Northern

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Speaker 3: Territory which are domestic violence related, and we can't continue

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Speaker 3: to urgently request and urgently encourage the government to roll

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Speaker 3: out that one hundred and eighty million dollars to the experts,

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Speaker 3: the DV sector, experts in our community, so we can

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Speaker 3: see territories protected and that we can see domestic violence

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Speaker 3: prevention in the Northern Territory. The CLP said they would

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Speaker 3: do this, but yet to do it. They said they're

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Speaker 3: going to be a government of action, and we are

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Speaker 3: seeing lack of action. This is an area that's also

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Speaker 3: going to reduce crime. And we just do not understand, Katie,

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Speaker 3: why the CLP government is not rolling out that critical

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Speaker 3: funding to the DV sector.

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Speaker 1: And so is this going to be a big point

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Speaker 1: of focus for the opposition as Parliament resumes next week

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Speaker 1: and as we get into twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Katie, I think we can't. I think we can't

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Speaker 3: stop focusing and highlighting the issue of domestic and family

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Speaker 3: violence across the Northern Territory. We had a bipartisan agreement

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Speaker 3: at the end of last year which was led by

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Speaker 3: our Labor opposition, so we can go above politics in

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Speaker 3: this particular area, which we know affect every part of

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Speaker 3: our community across the Norman Territory and the lack of

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Speaker 3: action is extremely frustrating, but it's also quite dangerous, Katie,

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Speaker 3: because I do believe we'll see more lives lost to

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Speaker 3: domestic violence in the Norman Territory unless we see more

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Speaker 3: investment in our prevention measures, and that's what I'm most

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Speaker 3: concerned about on behalf of territoriums.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we've really got to see some change in this

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Speaker 1: space right across the board. And I'll be blunt about it.

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Speaker 1: I actually think it's a failure from the federal government,

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Speaker 1: from the local government. Over years and years, this issue

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Speaker 1: has really deteriorated to the point that it is right now,

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Speaker 1: and the way in which Territorians are seeing the impacts

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Speaker 1: and feeling the impacts. I believe it the worst in

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Speaker 1: the nation. So there is no doubt that there needs

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Speaker 1: to be some really serious and urgent work in this space.

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Speaker 1: Opposition leader, I want to ask you.

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Speaker 2: We know that the Treasurer Bill.

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Speaker 1: Is going to be out today on his budget road show.

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Speaker 1: Now he's issued a statement this morning saying that there

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Speaker 1: is an enormous mess that's been left behind by the

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Speaker 1: former Labor government. He said there was a failure to

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Speaker 1: allocate any operational funding to pet projects like the Darwin

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Speaker 1: Art Gallery estimated to be at least six million dollars

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Speaker 1: a year, as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Speaker 1: Islander Art Gallery of Australia project estimated to be an

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Speaker 1: excess of ten million dollars a year. He reckons there's

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Speaker 1: a massive budget blowout on those pet projects, with the

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Speaker 1: Darwin Art Gallery blowing out from seventy million dollars to

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Speaker 1: one hundred and forty three million, while the Aboriginal Torres

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Speaker 1: Strait Islander Art Gallery was first announced at one hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty million and that's blown out to three hundred

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Speaker 1: million dollars before the colp well before they say they

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Speaker 1: rained in the budget and ragined at back into its

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Speaker 1: original allocation. I mean, how on earth were these things

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Speaker 1: not budgeted.

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Speaker 3: For, Katie. The Treasurer's press release today has shown that

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Speaker 3: there's actually no substance of any economic vision or plan

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Speaker 3: that the CLP said they would rebuild the territory's economy.

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Speaker 3: They have nothing in that press release today, and I'll

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Speaker 3: be very interested to hear how the Treasurer's road show

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Speaker 3: goes and what's the vision of the government to really

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Speaker 3: rebuild the territory's economy, because that, oh, it's a bunch

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Speaker 3: of words. It's no vision, it's no plan that shows

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Speaker 3: that the CLP is going to support the territory and

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Speaker 3: our economic rebuilding.

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Speaker 1: So it sounds like it sounds like the plan is

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Speaker 1: to try and rain in the spending and to actually

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Speaker 1: get to the bottom of the finances, which they're claiming

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Speaker 1: that the former Labor government which you were part of,

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Speaker 1: really didn't take as seriously as you should have.

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Speaker 3: Katie. I know you mentioned the Alice Springs are Gallery,

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Speaker 3: the national average on total and the art gallery. The

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Speaker 3: COLP has been saying it's a waste of money and

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Speaker 3: that they've rained in that project and they've made changes

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Speaker 3: to it. This is a project that was projected to

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Speaker 3: bring in fifty three thousand tourists to the territory economy

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Speaker 3: every year, so territory jobs, territory businesses are going to

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Speaker 3: benefit from that as well as the territory economy, and

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Speaker 3: now they've reduced that project dramatically. I was in Alice

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Speaker 3: Springs just last month and there are a lot of

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Speaker 3: unhappy businesses, people who planned and made years of business

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Speaker 3: planning around this project to capitalize on the economy that

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Speaker 3: it would bring into Central Australia specifically, but also the

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Speaker 3: territory to benefit. And I think the Treasurer is already

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Speaker 3: out of touch because a lot of people in Alice

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Speaker 3: Springs are extremely disappointed that the Colp government has made

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Speaker 3: this decision without any community consultation and the lack of

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Speaker 3: understanding of what a iconic national project in the territory

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Speaker 3: would bring to a territory economy is just outstanding. I

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Speaker 3: can't understand how they are not connecting the dots and

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Speaker 3: that particular project.

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Speaker 1: Katie oppositionally do I know that there will be some

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Speaker 1: out there listening this morning though, saying how can you

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Speaker 1: make promises that you can't actually afford.

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Speaker 3: Well, Katie, when we talk about rebuilding the territory's economy,

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Speaker 3: you have to have investment in growth. So far, the

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Speaker 3: Silpic government, in their four months of governing, have not

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Speaker 3: shown how they're going to commit to investing in the

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Speaker 3: growth of the territory. They've talked about things that they'll

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Speaker 3: do that will rain in the budget and I understand that,

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Speaker 3: but they haven't talked about how they're going to grow

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Speaker 3: the economy.

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Speaker 2: But is that what the territory is the role of them?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I would argue that that's they would say

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Speaker 1: that that's what the role of the Territory coordinator and

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Speaker 1: trying to bring in, you know, projects that actually aren't

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Speaker 1: funded by the Northern Territory government, but trying to get

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Speaker 1: private investment into the Norse Than territory.

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Speaker 3: Katie, the government is a government for the whole of

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Speaker 3: the territory. It shouldn't rely on one position of a

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Speaker 3: position and a role that doesn't exist yet to do

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Speaker 3: that for the territory economy. That will assist, but the

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Speaker 3: planning and the vision of the Government of the day

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Speaker 3: also needs to take responsibility rather than fobbing it off.

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Speaker 1: To a but just so I've got this straight, I

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Speaker 1: guess for territorians, just so I've got this straight.

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Speaker 2: But so you.

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Speaker 1: Would argue that the reality is that the government should

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Speaker 1: actually use taxpayers dollars to get things moving and build

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Speaker 1: projects like the art gallery, rather than try to push

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Speaker 1: for that private investment and try to make that as

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Speaker 1: as co you know, like as sort of as easy

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Speaker 1: is not the right word, but I guess you knows

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Speaker 1: as easy as possible to happen.

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Speaker 3: In the end, Katie, A government can do more than

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Speaker 3: one thing. You don't have to choose one thing over

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Speaker 3: the other. Yes, you have decisions where you may look

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Speaker 3: at what the planning will be and what may need

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Speaker 3: to go in front of one foot in front of

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Speaker 3: the other. But the government should be able to multitask.

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Speaker 3: They should be able to bring in private investment as

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Speaker 3: well as look at the investment, the government investment and

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Speaker 3: the partnership which the project. The Alice Springs Art Gallery

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Speaker 3: project was a project with the federal government and the

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Speaker 3: territory government. You can be able to do both. But

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Speaker 3: the vision about how do you get there and what

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Speaker 3: the outcome is is yet to be seen by the

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Speaker 3: colp government.

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Speaker 1: Oppositionally to just a really quick one on this because

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Speaker 1: I want to move along, but just quickly. You haven't

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Speaker 1: according to what the COLP has said, the former government

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Speaker 1: didn't actually even allocate any money though for ongoing costs

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Speaker 1: for those projects I operating them.

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Speaker 3: Well, we know, Katie that projects that come from the

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Speaker 3: federal government are around infrastructure. That's no secret. We've had

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Speaker 3: that for many, many decades in the Northern Territory. So

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Speaker 3: projects that are invested in with the territory government and

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Speaker 3: the federal government are infrastructure projects. Operational funding.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but how did the former government not budget any

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Speaker 1: kind of operational costs in terms of the forward planning

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Speaker 1: for these projects?

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Speaker 2: Like you know that the.

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Speaker 1: Money is coming in, you know that it's going to

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Speaker 1: be invested in obviously these major projects are going to happen.

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Speaker 1: But then to have something like, for example, you know

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Speaker 1: the gallery in our CBD, but there are no operating

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Speaker 1: cost in terms of the forward planning like that sort

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Speaker 1: of seems to me if you're running a business and

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Speaker 1: doing it in that way, a lot of people who

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Speaker 1: do run businesses will be scratching their heads saying, how

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Speaker 1: on earth did you do.

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Speaker 2: It like that? O?

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Speaker 3: Katie, I could tell you there's Alice Springs businesses that

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Speaker 3: are scratching their head at the CLP's change of the

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Speaker 3: size and the magnitude of the Alice Springs Art Gallery.

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Speaker 3: It's actually going to be smaller than the Shepherdon Regional

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Speaker 3: Gallery in Victoria, so it's not going to be a

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Speaker 3: project of significance nationally. It's not going to bring in

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Speaker 3: the fifty three thousand visitors that were projected year on

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Speaker 3: near for the territory economy to rebuild. So I know

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Speaker 3: there's a lot of Alice Springs businesses that are very

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Speaker 3: disappointed in this particular decision by the COLP government and

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Speaker 3: it doesn't show how the economy is going to rebuild

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Speaker 3: in somewhere like Central Australia. Were yet to see what

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Speaker 3: the vision is.

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Speaker 1: Well. Look, I will talk more about that in a

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Speaker 1: few minutes because we are due to catch up with

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Speaker 1: tourism Central Australia. Selena Rubo, while I've still got you

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Speaker 1: on the line. There was a lot of discussion last

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Speaker 1: week about the Rainbow flags and the Torres Strait Islander

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Speaker 1: flags being removed from the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospital

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Speaker 1: four years where they'd been up alongside the Australian, the

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Speaker 1: n and the Aboriginal flags. First off, was it part

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Speaker 1: of policy that they be hung or how did they

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Speaker 1: go up?

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Speaker 2: Were you the Health minister at.

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Speaker 3: The time, Katie. The flags were in place before was

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Speaker 3: the Health minister, which is the last eight months of

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Speaker 3: our labor government. They were part of an inclusion policy

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Speaker 3: to celebrate and recognize and appreciate diversity. So that's something

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Speaker 3: that has come from ensuring that members of the community

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Speaker 3: and that territorians feel safe and secure when they seek

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Speaker 3: to have access to health services, and that our health

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Speaker 3: services across the Northern Territory are accepting and welcoming of

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Speaker 3: all territories and the celebration of diversity in that sense.

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Speaker 3: So that's what my understanding of why the flag has

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Speaker 3: been hung. I mean, the torresto on the flag is

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Speaker 3: obviously a First nation's national flag, so I completely do

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Speaker 3: not understand why that decision was made. That's for the

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Speaker 3: government to address and to talk about. But I know,

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Speaker 3: particularly around the pride and the transgender flags, that was

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Speaker 3: around showing all members of the community that health services

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Speaker 3: in the Northern Territory are accepting and welcoming to everyone

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Speaker 3: accessing health in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Now, as I understand it, a staffer from your office

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Speaker 1: is well has been banned at least from entering Parliament

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Speaker 1: House for a week after being captured on CCTV cameras

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Speaker 1: entering a lift near your officers, then exiting on the

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Speaker 1: fifth floor near the offices of.

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Speaker 2: The Chief Minister.

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Speaker 1: That staff I was then seen heading towards the men's

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Speaker 1: lose where they'd plastered a poster of the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: Health Minister Steve Edgington superimposed over a rainbow on the

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Speaker 1: men's toilet wall. Was this staff for operating on their

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Speaker 1: own accord or was it part of a plan that

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Speaker 1: had sort of been concocted by other staff members, Katie.

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Speaker 3: Once I was made aware of this incident involving life,

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Speaker 3: staff member absolutely reined it in straight away. Does not

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Speaker 3: reflect the standard that I expect of my staff and

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Speaker 3: particularly in the role as the Opposition leader. I can

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Speaker 3: tell you that the staff member is extremely remorseful that

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Speaker 3: acknowledged that it has a mistake and it was a

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Speaker 3: bad call of judgment, which was something that was supposed

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Speaker 3: to be in jet than a joke and absolutely wasn't

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Speaker 3: It was unacceptable in the place of Parliament as a workplace.

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Speaker 3: The staff member has apologized not only to me as

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Speaker 3: the employer, but also directly to the Minister for Health,

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Speaker 3: Steve Eddington, who was the subject of the image and

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Speaker 3: the poster. So there has been some severe consequences for

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Speaker 3: that staff member and I can just say is completely

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Speaker 3: out of character for the staff member. But they are

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Speaker 3: deeply remorseful and they have definitely learned from the mistakes.

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Speaker 1: I guess some people are questioning if it demonstrates, you know,

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Speaker 1: an immaturity from your office.

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Speaker 2: But from what you are saying, you did not condone it.

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Speaker 2: You didn't know about it beforehand.

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Speaker 3: No, I was actually not in Darwin Well when I

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Speaker 3: found out about the incident, and it was raised with

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Speaker 3: me directly with the Speaker, Robin Lambley, and I took

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Speaker 3: director and action as soon as she called me to

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Speaker 3: inform me what had happened.

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Speaker 1: And I mean, is that do you feel as though

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Speaker 1: the action that's been taken now goes far enough?

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Speaker 3: I think that the staff members received a written warning.

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Speaker 3: They've also through the Speaker, as who's the responsible person

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Speaker 3: of the running of Parliament, receives the expulsion for a week.

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Speaker 3: Members of Parliament don't even get expelled for expelled from

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Speaker 3: parliament for a week, So I think the gravity and

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Speaker 3: the severity of the consequence has definitely made its impact

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Speaker 3: and we all know that that's unacceptable and we will

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Speaker 3: continue to maintain that high standard and know that there

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Speaker 3: has been a mistake made and the person who's learned

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Speaker 3: from that mistake.

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Speaker 1: Well Selena Ubo Opposition later here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: Good to catch up with you this morning. We'll talk

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Speaker 1: to you again next week when parliament resumes.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Katie, great Gay you two