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Speaker 1: Now just taking you across right now to well some

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Speaker 1: positive news in fact, in a lot of ways, I

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Speaker 1: mean some positives following on from a negative, because we

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Speaker 1: know that the Transport Workers Union, which represents bus drivers

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory, have welcome news that full driver

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Speaker 1: pretty is something that the union had been calling for

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Speaker 1: after a spate of attacks on drivers, including an attempted

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Speaker 1: stabbing of a driver with a passenger climbing over the

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Speaker 1: screen and kicking a bus driver in the head in

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Speaker 1: a separate incident. Now you'll recall you may have seen

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Speaker 1: that vision when it was released not so long ago.

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Speaker 1: Was pretty atrocious to see. Now joining me on the

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Speaker 1: line is the Transport Workers Unions sa NT branch president

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Speaker 1: Sam McIntosh. Good morning, Sam.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, great to have you on the show. Sam. Good

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Speaker 1: news by the sounds of it that you know that

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Speaker 1: these screens have now been installed across our bus network.

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Speaker 2: It is good news, Katie. It's a big win for

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Speaker 2: our drivers and frankly the community as well. You know

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Speaker 2: we've been calling as you mentioned at the top, the

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Speaker 2: Transfer Workers' Union has been calling for these screens to

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Speaker 2: be installed in buses for months and years, we've known

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Speaker 2: just how vital they are and how dangerous it is

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Speaker 2: without them. And so to have that announcement yesterday, to

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Speaker 2: hear that there is now a driver protection screen that's

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Speaker 2: an improved version in every bus, that's a big win

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Speaker 2: for the Union and a big win for our communities.

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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what it doesn't It seems as

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Speaker 1: though the new Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Logistics,

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Speaker 1: Bill Yen, have worked pretty quickly on this. Following on

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Speaker 1: he said to us this morning from a meeting with

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Speaker 1: you guys just a few weeks ago.

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Speaker 2: Well, we had over one hundred drivers sign a petition

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Speaker 2: not so long ago calling for these screens to be

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Speaker 2: installed and expedited do it quickly, and we took that delegation,

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Speaker 2: a smaller delegate of drivers to the minister. We had

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Speaker 2: a really constructive meeting and we spoke about the urgent need.

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Speaker 2: We touched on some of those recent incidents as well, Katie,

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Speaker 2: are very dangerous, extremely serious, and the Minister received the petition,

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Speaker 2: he said that he would table it in Parliament. He

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Speaker 2: did that and we now have screens in every bus, which,

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Speaker 2: as I said, is a huge win. It's also a

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Speaker 2: real testament to our driver group who have been relentless

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Speaker 2: in their campaign for a safer industry, and this is

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Speaker 2: one step towards that. But it's a really important step

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Speaker 2: and it's essential before we go any further. We needed

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Speaker 2: those screens, Now we've got them.

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Speaker 1: Is there more that still needs to happen, Sam to

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Speaker 1: ensure that drivers and indeed passengers are safe.

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Speaker 2: There is, Katie, There is always more to do, and

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Speaker 2: you know the TWU, we very quickly have to move

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Speaker 2: on to the next issue to increase safety. Examples include

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Speaker 2: more transit officers. You know, there are transit officers across

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Speaker 2: the network that do a terrific job. Difficult job, but

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Speaker 2: they do a really terrific job in making sure that

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Speaker 2: our drivers and our community is safe. They're well trained,

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Speaker 2: they've got appropriate powers. There's just not enough of them.

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Speaker 2: And what we want to do is back them in

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Speaker 2: and say let's get more toos on the network. Because

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Speaker 2: I know from talking to our drivers and I was

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Speaker 2: out last week at Casherina and Palmerton interchanges talking to

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Speaker 2: drivers about all things safety, and one thing that definitely

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Speaker 2: comes across is the presence of toos matters it makes

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Speaker 2: a difference. And so if we can start the conversation

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Speaker 2: in the campaign to have more toos across the network,

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Speaker 2: that would be another big win.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's hope that that is able to happen. I mean, fundamentally,

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Speaker 1: we want to make sure that the drivers are safe.

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Speaker 1: We want to make sure that passengers are safe, and

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Speaker 1: that we stop seeing some of the really crappy behavior

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Speaker 1: that we have seen at different times on our bus

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Speaker 1: at work. And a step further is, you know, some

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Speaker 1: incredibly dangerous behavior. That vision that we saw just a

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Speaker 1: few weeks ago, I think it's you know, it shocked people,

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Speaker 1: but we sort of weren't surprised because we know that

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Speaker 1: these kinds of things were happening on the buses, but

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Speaker 1: it was quite shocking to see it there right in

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Speaker 1: front of you.

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Speaker 2: I think that's right. It was shocking and alarming and

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Speaker 2: something that we've been talking about for some time as

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Speaker 2: a union that when these sort of incidents occur on

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Speaker 2: the road, it's extremely dangerous for drivers for the public.

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Speaker 2: And so, yeah, the vision shocked people and with cause,

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Speaker 2: but we now have the opportunity to really ramp up

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Speaker 2: our efforts to increase safety across the network and the

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Speaker 2: announcement yesterday really important, essential first step.

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Speaker 1: Well, I really appreciate your time this morning, Sam, Sam McIntosh,

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Speaker 1: the Transport Workers Union's sa NTI branch president, thanks for

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Speaker 1: having a chat with us today.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Katie, thank you, thank you,