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Speaker 1: We've been talking a lot this morning about some terrible

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Speaker 1: instances that have occurred over the last few days, and

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Speaker 1: a brutal broad daylight attack on a tourist in Alice

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Speaker 1: Springs as well as a robbery a rebels sport in Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Now that one happened just a couple of days ago,

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Speaker 1: but the owners of Casarina Square say that they have

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Speaker 1: noticed a significant drop in crime and anti social behavior.

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Speaker 1: Sentinel Property Group said that youth crime has declined, while

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Speaker 1: adult crime has also seen a bit of a decrease

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Speaker 1: over a two year period. Now joining us in the

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Speaker 1: studio is the CEO, Warren Ebbertt. Good morning to you, Warren.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, another sensational day in Darwin.

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Speaker 3: It is a lovely day today.

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Speaker 1: Now, Warren tellers there's been a noticeable decrease in crime

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Speaker 1: at the center, is what you are saying, Katie.

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Speaker 2: We bought the center or settle on the property thirty

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Speaker 2: first of March twenty twenty two. Now we had security

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Speaker 2: contracts in place which we were legally obligated to continue

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Speaker 2: with it. It's taken We instigated some immediate changes were

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Speaker 2: the patrol dogs and those type of things, but it

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Speaker 2: is hard to change people's habits. So last year we

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Speaker 2: did a contract with the local security group, Neptune Security,

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Speaker 2: and we have seen enormous changes. We've seen youth incidents

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Speaker 2: where they just have to pull them up talk to

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Speaker 2: them because there are a few problems. Now they're down eighty.

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Speaker 3: Six percent, down eighty eighty six.

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Speaker 2: Percent year on year from eighty seven per day to

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Speaker 2: twelve per day. One of our larger national retailers their

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Speaker 2: thefts are down fifty percent year on year from December

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Speaker 2: twenty three to December twenty four, and they say it's

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Speaker 2: the best that they have seen it in five years.

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Speaker 1: And do you reckon do you attribute that to the

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Speaker 1: change in security or do you think that there's I mean,

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Speaker 1: do you think that some of the legislative changes that

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Speaker 1: have been made have had an impact as well?

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Speaker 2: Katie, There's never one thing, so there's everyone thing that

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Speaker 2: makes a good football team. You've got, it's a combination

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Speaker 2: of things. It's all the one percenters, And certainly the

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Speaker 2: security team are much more active. They're very preventative. Rather

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Speaker 2: than waiting for people to come inside and create problems,

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Speaker 2: they have people stationed at the bottom of the escalators

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Speaker 2: and sort things out down there. But certainly the legislation

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Speaker 2: that the CLP have brought in with the reduction of

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Speaker 2: the age of criminality. Now, I know people aren't like

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Speaker 2: but if you don't commit a crime, it's not an issue.

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Speaker 2: We have youth mentors out there seven days a week.

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Speaker 1: So how are they employed by, well, what are they

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Speaker 1: government funded? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Government funded. I know there's a lot of bad us,

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Speaker 2: but there's a lot of kids who really don't have

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Speaker 2: a choice. They're not looked after at home. We've had

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Speaker 2: our center managers actually feed eight year old girl and

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Speaker 2: a ten year old brother. You have three meals a day.

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Speaker 2: So you know that gets us to another thing. We

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Speaker 2: really do need that youth drop in center out there

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Speaker 2: that was funded was going ahead. Now there's been nothing

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Speaker 2: happened since the CLP. You've got in now, the CLP

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Speaker 2: have done some fantastic change. Now they have truant officers

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Speaker 2: now wandering around. If your kids aren't gained skill, there's

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Speaker 2: a three hundred and seventy dollars fine, but.

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Speaker 1: They've got to get this youth drop in centering. I do,

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Speaker 1: so where do you reckon it needs to go? Because

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Speaker 1: that's been the point of contention here I think is

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Speaker 1: that when we caught up with the with the minister

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Speaker 1: Jinsen Charles, he had said that, you know, that's what

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Speaker 1: they're looking at, the different locations where it needs to go.

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Speaker 3: I mean, what are your thoughts on this?

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Speaker 2: Well, I know they say that, but as late as

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Speaker 2: yesterday morning on the CLP government website it's still had

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Speaker 2: the old fire slash at Casarina so maybe they need

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Speaker 2: to update their website.

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Speaker 1: So you reckon it needs to go there? Like what

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Speaker 1: do you well?

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Speaker 2: For us? As you know, we're certainly very concerned about

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Speaker 2: the community. We put a lot of money into it book,

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Speaker 2: but we have to be our main focus is on

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Speaker 2: Casina Square. Now, given every man, woman and child in

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Speaker 2: Darwin goes to Casarina Square five point one times a

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Speaker 2: month and spends fifty four dollars and fifty three cents pervisent.

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Speaker 2: Now you probably spend a lot.

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Speaker 1: More, mate, I spend quite a bit of money at

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Speaker 1: the shopping center. There's no doubt about that. My husband's

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Speaker 1: not listening, so I'm all right.

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Speaker 2: So where the people like it or not. There's one

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Speaker 2: hundred and forty thousand people in Darwin. We get eight

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Speaker 2: point four million visitors a year. Now, we are very

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Speaker 2: keen to support something close to us. If there's trouble

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Speaker 2: with the youth that they're our a security people can

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Speaker 2: walk them down there, and we're keen to work with

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Speaker 2: their retailers when there's food left over the end of

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Speaker 2: the night, which is one hundred percent fine, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: but you won't keep it overnight.

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Speaker 3: And so I mean, is that.

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Speaker 1: Like, is the fire station going to be the best location?

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Speaker 1: The old fire station location is what I'm saying. Is

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Speaker 1: that going to be the best spot for there to

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Speaker 1: be a youth dropping center? I guess anybody that lives

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Speaker 1: nearby maybe doesn't think so.

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Speaker 2: I think the ideal place for a youth dropping center

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Speaker 2: would be not to have one, Katie, if we had

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Speaker 2: no trouble. But the trouble is we do have trouble,

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Speaker 2: and it has to go somewhere. Now I know there Nimby,

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Speaker 2: not in my backyard. Now. I think the previous government,

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Speaker 2: and I'm not here to defend them because they did

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Speaker 2: plenty of things wrong. But that center's already there. It

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Speaker 2: was a fire station, so it was used to noise

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Speaker 2: and activity. It wasn't a park. And then then you

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Speaker 2: had the men shed. If there's somewhere else, can we

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Speaker 2: bloody get it done?

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Speaker 1: So is that your message really for the government today,

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Speaker 1: Like we have to make this happen.

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Speaker 3: You need that youth drop in center.

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Speaker 2: We do because idle hands get into mischief. Now when

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Speaker 2: kids have nothing to do, even if they're good kids,

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Speaker 2: I'll mixed with bad ones and then we've got a problem.

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Speaker 2: We need somewhere where they can go have some activities,

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Speaker 2: maybe teach them, teach them to cook, teach them to

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Speaker 2: do something. If they want to just play games, go

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Speaker 2: now and play it rather than warrent.

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Speaker 1: Some people listening might be going, oh, of course you

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Speaker 1: want there to be a youth drop in center because

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Speaker 1: you don't want the youth Casuarina. You know, you're just

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Speaker 1: trying to get them out of there. Like what do

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Speaker 1: you say to people listening this morning that are thinking that.

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Speaker 2: I don't think anyone's that's cilin Dahwen, are they, Katie?

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Speaker 3: Possibly the other views? Other views.

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Speaker 2: So we have no problem with youths coming there. We

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Speaker 2: just don't want problem. And as I say, when we

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Speaker 2: get every man, one child, five put one times a month.

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Speaker 2: We wanted to be clean, safe and enjoyable. Now I

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Speaker 2: think everyone wants that, So how do we achieve that? Now?

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Speaker 2: Twelve months ago, we used to have at the start

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Speaker 2: of the school year, you'd get the different school groups

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Speaker 2: and their skill uniforms coming. We had one day fifty

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Speaker 2: students fighting. Now I remember, yep, you know, Ami, we've

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Speaker 2: had this year, not one, not one And that's I

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Speaker 2: do put that down to the CLP government and that

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Speaker 2: they're changes in legislation and they're doing a lot of

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Speaker 2: good things, but we need a youth thropping center in effort.

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Speaker 2: It's not going to be at the fire station. Where

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Speaker 2: is it. Can we get it done because the youths

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Speaker 2: need help?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, get it moving. And now I want to ask

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Speaker 1: you last time we spoke. We've certainly spoken in the

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Speaker 1: past about the numbers of weapons being discarded around the

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Speaker 1: shopping center.

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Speaker 3: Are you still having to worry about that?

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Speaker 2: Well, you're always worry about it, Katie, But we've gone

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Speaker 2: from over when twelve months ago they're confiscating around two

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Speaker 2: each two per day now for the whole of March

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Speaker 2: this year, we did two for the month. So we

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Speaker 2: are seeing enormous changes. And I've heard on the rain

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Speaker 2: of this morning a lot of crime and it hasn't disappeared,

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Speaker 2: but our focus is at Kasarina and it shows that

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Speaker 2: working together you can you can do things. Now, we're

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Speaker 2: also closing the BWS at Kasarina next month, so you know,

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Speaker 2: we're not closing the little land because if you want

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Speaker 2: to go shopping with your family, are entitled to buy

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Speaker 2: some bottles of wine and have a piet drink. I

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Speaker 2: don't have an issue with that.

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Speaker 1: What impact do you think the closure of that BWS

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Speaker 1: is potentially going to have, Katie.

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Speaker 2: The problems we've had now are the three bs, the bus,

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Speaker 2: the booze, and the banks that arrive on the bus

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Speaker 2: go up to You know, there's a couple of banks

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Speaker 2: that have the contracts with the federal government for giving

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Speaker 2: out money for doing nothing. They then get that and

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Speaker 2: go to b WS. So we'll be shifting some of

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Speaker 2: the banks outside so people don't q up inside the

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Speaker 2: binder change. You know, you've probably heard that it is closing,

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Speaker 2: so there'll be a bus stop people can come and go.

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Speaker 2: That's not going to change, but we're not going to

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Speaker 2: have all the people sitting sitting around there and the boozers,

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Speaker 2: so all the things that we're creating the issues there,

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Speaker 2: they'll be gone.

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Speaker 1: Now, what about just on a bit of an update

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Speaker 1: at the center, how are those plans going to redevelop?

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Speaker 2: The quarter starts next month, Katie, Right, So if you're

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Speaker 2: after a bit a weekend job for com creating us

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Speaker 2: okay or your husband, So we're actually out to tender now.

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Speaker 2: We start next month. We expect the quarter will be

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Speaker 2: open for Easter next year. We've got a couple of

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Speaker 2: really good national tenants that are going in there, and

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Speaker 2: it'll be completely different. We know it's not fit for

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Speaker 2: purpose now we didn't do it, but it will change.

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Speaker 1: How big an investment is this for Sentinel? How much

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Speaker 1: money are you going to be spending on this? And

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Speaker 1: I mean, how many people do you anticipate it going

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Speaker 1: to be working there?

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Speaker 2: Well, I know it's fifty million dollars because I had

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Speaker 2: to approve the budget. I don't know how much many people.

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Speaker 2: But yep, part of that is the quarter. And then

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Speaker 2: we're doing a new Woolworth So the existing five thousand

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Speaker 2: meter wall so that's going to get down to the

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Speaker 2: latest three and a half thousand meters module and one

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Speaker 2: thousand meter dark store so you can have your click

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Speaker 2: and clicked, and I think that will be the only

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Speaker 2: one in Northern Territory. And then we're doing a multi

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Speaker 2: level car park out the front of Walworth's going out

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Speaker 2: on the Trail Road.

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Speaker 1: So next month that gets underway. How long until it

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Speaker 1: will be complete.

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Speaker 2: Well, we certainly expect the quarter to be open by

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Speaker 2: Easter next year, and with the Woolworths and deck car

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Speaker 2: parking open my September next year, so we're getting right

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Speaker 2: into it.

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Speaker 1: Well, Warren, we are going to have to leave it there.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot happening this morning. I really appreciate

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Speaker 1: you joining this this morning and giving us a bit

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Speaker 1: of an updates on the issues of antisocial behavior and

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Speaker 1: crime in the center, but also on those plans around

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Speaker 1: the quarter. I think people will be really pleased.

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Speaker 2: To hear that, Thanks Katie. And I know that crime

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Speaker 2: is a big thing. We've got to get sort up

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Speaker 2: here to get more people move here. But it shows

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Speaker 2: if you take the right actions and what the government

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Speaker 2: are doing, there is hope and it is improving enormously well.

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Speaker 1: Sentinel Property Group CEO Warren Ebbert, good to chat with

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Speaker 1: you today.

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Speaker 3: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Cutie,