1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: So now, yesterday when I caught up with the Opposition 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: leader Selena Rubo, she told us her deputy, the Member 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: for Daily, Duran Young, is going to present a petition 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: against plans to scrap funding for upgrades to Port Keats 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: Road to Northern Territory Parliament today. A number of residents 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: and community leaders are planning to protest about it on 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: the steps of Parliament House this morning. As I understand 8 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: it now. I caught up with the Member four Daily, 9 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: Duran Young, a little bit earlier this morning. Duran, good 10 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: morning to you. 11 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning to all your listeners 12 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 2: out there. Thanks for having me in giving me the 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 2: opportunity to speak today. But yes, that's correct. Today we 14 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 2: are roughly seeing forty to fifty residents from the Daily 15 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 2: region who are flying into Darwin today to voice their 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 2: concerns around the Port Keiths Road upgrades and the funding 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 2: that's come along with it. You know, we've got questions 18 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 2: around whether that funding has been cut by Ox humerous 19 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 2: times to the minister, whether that funding is still there 20 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 2: and that key piece of infrastructure is still going to 21 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 2: go ahead, and he still hasn't answered those questions. But 22 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 2: I do want to paint the kind of picture for 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 2: how important this piece of road or infrastructure is for 24 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 2: that region. So it's a piece of road that it 25 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 2: will be upgraded between Port Keats and Plumpa. It's a 26 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,119 Speaker 2: critical piece of infrastructure. When we're looking at, you know, 27 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 2: lowering the cost of living, this will lower grocery prices. 28 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 2: We've seen just recently in the federal government that it 29 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 2: had been exposed that people in remote areas are paying 30 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 2: over double the prices for their groceries, for their fuel, 31 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: for other essential goods. So this will lower those costs. 32 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,919 Speaker 2: So when we're looking at economic growth and business development, 33 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 2: you know, I know there's many people in that region 34 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 2: that are looking at tourism ventures to bring tourism in, 35 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 2: to create local jobs, to have people out on their 36 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 2: country and have set up that tourism venture there too. 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: So Duran, just to make it clear in my mind 38 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: and for our listeners, was the project costed under labor 39 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: or was it an election commitment? 40 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 2: So it had already been allocated in the budget. So 41 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 2: for the listeners out there, all pieces of infrastructure that 42 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 2: relates to upgrades to roads, it is split eighty twenty, 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 2: so eighty percent of that funding comes from the federal 44 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 2: government and twenty percent of the funding comes from the 45 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: Northern Territory government. So we had allocated our money and 46 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: the federal government had also came to the table and 47 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 2: allocated that funding for this vital piece of infrastructure for 48 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 2: the four roads, and in the last budget and. 49 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: Again for our listeners, I mean, is this Port Keats Road? 50 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: Is it an area that you know, like every year, 51 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: is it suffering from flooding? Talk us through the condition 52 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: of this road. 53 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, look that's right, Katie, exactly right. Every year 54 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 2: the road his experiences flooding. So there is access issues 55 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 2: to communities along that road. So we've got a number 56 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 2: of homelands. We've also got a major community in Plumper, 57 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 2: and people in Plumper actually they rely on services in 58 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: Port Keats. But also especially when we're talking around family, 59 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 2: domestic and sexual violence. You know, I know of stories 60 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: where people in Plumper have called the police and unfortunately 61 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: they're unable to attend those incidents because of the road 62 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 2: has been cut off. So you know, that's another piece 63 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 2: to the puzzle when we're talking about the importance of 64 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 2: this road, how critical it is. I don't think it's 65 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 2: fair for people that live in that region that this 66 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 2: is all of a sudden just being cut because I 67 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 2: know it was ready to go at the end of 68 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 2: last year. 69 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: Well, and look, obviously others agree with you. We are 70 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: expecting we're expecting a number of people to converge on 71 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: Parliament House today and protest. How many are you expecting, 72 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: Duran and who are you expecting to a teend today? 73 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, from my understanding, there's roughly I think it's 74 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 2: forty to maybe fifty people. I believe people are flying 75 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 2: in today And I just want to make it clear 76 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 2: to that this has been driven by the community itself. 77 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 2: They've gone out and put the petition out. So we 78 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 2: have Summer of Development Corporation along with Mirror and association 79 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 2: with the airline out there, but they also run other 80 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 2: services up the trucks out there for food and bus 81 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 2: services for transport, and we've also got Cardo Diminum Corporation. 82 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 2: They came out yesterday and put a press release out 83 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 2: calling on the CLP government to commit to the funding 84 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 2: for this road. Because they've also reached out to the 85 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 2: minister and he's just brushed them off and he's not 86 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 2: even willing to meet for them face to pay. 87 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,239 Speaker 1: So my understanding is that the government have now seen 88 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: that the project hasn't been canceled. It is going to 89 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: be considered as part of the budget process. But by 90 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: the sounds of things from locals living out that way, 91 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: from you know, businesses trying to operate, that's that's not 92 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: really good enough. They want to sit down with the 93 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: minister and they want to get some clarification. 94 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 2: Exactly we all want clarification on this. You know, it 95 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 2: was part of the budget in last year twenty twenty four, 96 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 2: twenty twenty five budgets. So for the minister to come 97 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,679 Speaker 2: out and say we're going to consider this into future 98 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 2: budget like I mean, I've heard that he's looking at 99 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 2: considering it just before the election in twenty twenty eight, 100 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 2: which is absolutely disgraceful to politicize this issue. People have 101 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 2: been waiting for twenty to thirty years. I've been advocating 102 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 2: the government, and you know, I do want to give 103 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 2: a shout out to the former CELP member Gary Higgins. 104 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 2: He was the one that kicks started this project to 105 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 2: get and looked at it at a staged approach over 106 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 2: ten years and he was able to secure that funding. 107 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 2: He was the first one as a local member to 108 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 2: get the first section of the road done in Fort Piece. 109 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 2: I think it was twenty to thirty ks or something 110 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 2: like that, that piece of road done there. My watch, 111 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 2: we've seen the subtle road upgrades done, which is the 112 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 2: start of the road closer to Daily River, and now 113 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 2: this was the third piece to it and the sealp 114 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 2: of scene to have just walked away from it. 115 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: Can I just ask how much exactly was it going 116 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: to cost? 117 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 2: So overall it was seventy two million dollars which had 118 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 2: been allocated, so sixty million dollars had come from the 119 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 2: federal government. So that has been alligated. But you know 120 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 2: that has been allocated, I should say, yeah. But you know, 121 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: when we look at the cost of health, the cost 122 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 2: of getting kids to school, education, this is what we 123 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 2: need to invest in to ensure that kids in that 124 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: region have access to school all year round and they 125 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 2: have options to go to school. Because we know in 126 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 2: whatever you have a Catholic school and in Plumpy a 127 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 2: public school as well. But some of some of the 128 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 2: students that I know talking to family out there, if 129 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 2: that road was upgraded, es and some kids would go 130 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 2: to the school in plumba duran before. 131 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: I let you go. I mean just very quickly, so 132 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: expecting between forty and fifty people flying in. They're coming 133 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: in from community today to converge on the stairs there 134 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: at Parliament House. What time is all of that happening? 135 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, look, it all depends where we're hoping that. I 136 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 2: think we all understand when it comes to remote communities, 137 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 2: howls be with the weather. So we're hoping that people 138 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 2: will be here between eleven to twelve pm and eleven 139 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 2: am to twelve pm today and then they will officially 140 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 2: hand myself the petition. Then at two pm I will 141 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 2: table that petition. I believe members of the community I 142 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 2: will come in to see that and then from there 143 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 2: I understand that the people that have come in will 144 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 2: then head back home. 145 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: Plenty of moving parts to run. How do you know 146 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: how many people have signed the petition? 147 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, I haven't counted exactly the numbers that I understand 148 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 2: roughly over eight hundred to one hundred and two thousand. 149 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 2: So there's quite a lot of interest, especially such a 150 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 2: small community, and you know it's yeah, people very upsets 151 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 2: well the government. 152 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: And it is a massive region. I mean, my parents 153 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: lived out in water for quite some time. It is 154 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: somewhere that's volatile in terms of being able to get 155 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: in and out. When it comes to the weather, it's tough, 156 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: you know. So look, we'll continue to talk about this, 157 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: keep us up to date, let us know how that, 158 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: how that goes today, and we'll talk to you again 159 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: very soon. 160 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 2: No problem, Thank you, thank you.