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Speaker 1: This Cyclone Tracy monument that has been proposed by the

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Speaker 1: Darwin City Council. It's got a lot of people up

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Speaker 1: in arms. I think you'd have to say. We just

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Speaker 1: spoke to Richard Creswick and he was obviously as he said,

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Speaker 1: he is the chair of the Remembering Cyclone Tracy Commemoration

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Speaker 1: Advisory Committee, so bound by confidentiality to some degree because

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Speaker 1: he has obviously signed that clause in terms of being

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Speaker 1: the chair of that group. But we have just been

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Speaker 1: inundated with messages about this even you know, if you

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Speaker 1: go on social media, people are pretty wild about this

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Speaker 1: monument that's being proposed by the City of Darwin. Now

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Speaker 1: joining us on the line is another Cyclone Tracy survivor

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Speaker 1: who is also part of the Cyclone Tracy Survivors Group.

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Speaker 1: Her name is Robin Cooper Radkey. Good morning to you, Robin.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How are you.

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Speaker 1: Really good now? Robin? I believe you're joining me from

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Speaker 1: New Zealand this morning.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I am well. I'm sitting in front of a fire, Katie.

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Speaker 1: A bit different to us here this morning. Robin, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for getting in contact with us. I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate you having a chat with me today and well,

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Speaker 1: can you tell me a little bit first about your

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Speaker 1: cyclone Tracy Ordeal.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I was twelve years old nearly thirteen when Tracy hit.

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Speaker 2: We'd only moved to the territory two and a half

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Speaker 2: years prior from New Zealand. Yep, So obviously it's a

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Speaker 2: twelve year old very traumatic. We had our family in Australia,

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Speaker 2: so I was evacuated back to New Zealand for five

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Speaker 2: months or my parents, who owned a transport company and

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Speaker 2: majorly involved in the aftermath, brings caravans and everything up

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Speaker 2: from Alice, so residents and I came back five months

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Speaker 2: later when schools sort of developed a bit. I've lived

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Speaker 2: with the trauma of Tracy all my life for forty

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Speaker 2: nine years. Still affects me to this day. And approximately

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Speaker 2: twelve years ago, a person another start from Tracy survivor,

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Speaker 2: Roger Godfree, started up a Facebook group called such a

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Speaker 2: Tracy Survivors yep, and I have been admin on that

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Speaker 2: since conception and since that date we now have over

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Speaker 2: six thousand and seven hundred current members.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that is like, that's an incredible number. Robin, your like,

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Speaker 1: your story sounds quite unbelievable. I mean, as you're as

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Speaker 1: you're talking, I just think to myself, I can't even

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Speaker 1: imagine what it would have been like to be a

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Speaker 1: twelve year old girl living through that. You know, I immediately

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Speaker 1: think my daughter's thirteen, just turned thirteen, and I cannot

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Speaker 1: even begin to fathom how she would deal with something

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Speaker 1: like that. So for you, you know, I can hear

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Speaker 1: it in your voice that it's still something that, as

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Speaker 1: you've touched on, affects you right now.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it does. I, along with many others within our group,

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Speaker 2: we support each other and the lead up to every

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Speaker 2: Christmas and emotionally mentally it is exhausting and we live

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Speaker 2: with that every year as we have supporting nine years. Now,

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Speaker 2: tell me.

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Speaker 1: In terms of the way in which we are looking

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Speaker 1: at really remembering Cyclone Tracy and all of the aftermath

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Speaker 1: on the fiftieth anniversary this year, like, how are you

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Speaker 1: feeling about it all?

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Speaker 2: As we can get closer, the anxiety little of are

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Speaker 2: starting to wise a little with the thoughts coming to

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Speaker 2: Darlin and being in Darlin for it for the fiftieth

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Speaker 2: I feel, on behalf of the other members, we talk

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Speaker 2: about it quite consistently on how we are hoping it's

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Speaker 2: going to give us some closure after fifty years, because

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Speaker 2: we're all going to be together because unless you were

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Speaker 2: there that tragic night, nobody else can assume they know

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Speaker 2: how we feel. So we need it to be calming

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Speaker 2: and therapeutic and a place for grieving and for healing

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Speaker 2: within one another.

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Speaker 1: And do you feel as though what has been proposed

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Speaker 1: by the City of Darwin down at Bundilla Beach does that.

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Speaker 2: No, it doesn't. We find it very disrespectful. And listening

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Speaker 2: to Richard prior to coming online on here with you, look,

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Speaker 2: Richard's grew it's doing is awesome, but what's being proposed

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Speaker 2: for Bundella is a tourist spectacle. We find it dis respectful.

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Speaker 2: It's not a place for someone who takes selfie tourists

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Speaker 2: to go and take selfie. I wouldn't stand underneath it,

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Speaker 2: being what nine meters high and moving in the wind

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Speaker 2: because my memories of that night was looking at a

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Speaker 2: black sky with all the gebrick flying. I was wondering

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Speaker 2: what was going to come down and kill me. So

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Speaker 2: it's very triggering. The doc so co D proposal.

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Speaker 1: I can hear it in your voice. Actually Robin, and

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Speaker 1: I can hear that you know that it is something

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Speaker 1: that yeah, like if.

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Speaker 2: They clearly but that the City of dub has not

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Speaker 2: acted in the human component into their proposal, and obviously not.

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Speaker 1: And you know the point that you've made there as

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Speaker 1: well about unless you've lived through it and unless you

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Speaker 1: actually know that trauma, you know, even for me listening

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Speaker 1: to you this morning, and I've been very respectful about

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Speaker 1: it all throughout the week, but it just adds a

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Speaker 1: whole other element to me.

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Speaker 2: It does. There's massive other layers out there. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 2: I just feel balance rely countful has missed the mark on.

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Speaker 1: You know, after seeing what they've proposed, after listening to

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Speaker 1: what Richard said earlier this morning as well, and you

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Speaker 1: know what they're proposing, should that money just all be

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Speaker 1: invested into to what you know, to what Richard is

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Speaker 1: talking about?

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Speaker 2: What that thought has gone through my mind so many times. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I learned that it was to be three hundred thousand

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Speaker 2: between the two groups. Why could and widely voiced why

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Speaker 2: was there not why the slot plane Tracy survivor community

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Speaker 2: consultation given? Or buy down the city council prior to

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Speaker 2: making this decision. You know, I feel that it would

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Speaker 2: be if everybody could have come together and worked as

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Speaker 2: one and turn for example, each point into a flight plane,

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Speaker 2: Tracy platform, remembrance platform, and more could have been chieved.

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Speaker 1: Look, yeah, I agree with you. I think I think

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Speaker 1: the point that you're making is real common sense approach.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and one of my favorite sayings Katie is common

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Speaker 2: sense doesn't grow on a garden.

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Speaker 1: It really doesn't, doesn't.

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't know whether common sense can prevail in

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Speaker 2: the situation now, but listening to you Live on yesterday

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory government announce that they had listened to

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Speaker 2: the Territorium. They've got mingle Beach wrong. It will now

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Speaker 2: buy what from that was that back? They made a mistake,

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Speaker 2: They've corrected it. Well, that's the biggest thing. When you

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Speaker 2: make mistakes, stand up and own it, then rectify.

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Speaker 1: Spot on Robin spot On. Now, Look, we are due

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Speaker 1: to have the mayor, as I understand, back on the show.

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Speaker 1: We have him on on a Tuesday morning. So look,

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Speaker 1: we are going to continue to have this discussion because

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Speaker 1: I'm hearing really loudly and clearly that it is not

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Speaker 1: what Darwin wants. It is not what the survivors of

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Speaker 1: cyclone Tracy want and honestly, after hearing from you this

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Speaker 1: morning and speaking about you know, your traumatic experience and

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Speaker 1: then the thought of standing underneath something that is moving

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Speaker 1: is not even not even something that you'd be prepared

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Speaker 1: to do, It just sort of it really shows to

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Speaker 1: me that they've missed the mark on this.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and I will. I quite often get private messages

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Speaker 2: from group members Katie. Yeah, and I've been contacted by

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Speaker 2: two families who lost loved ones in Tracy who were

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Speaker 2: planning on coming back to the fiftieth and they now

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Speaker 2: stated they will not be returning to Darwen in December.

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Speaker 2: Right goodness and human impact?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, look, we've got this is I think the council

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Speaker 1: needs to rethink this. It's not what the people want,

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Speaker 1: you know. I'm hearing that loudly and clearly. Like I said, Robin,

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Speaker 1: I thank you so much for your time this morning,

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Speaker 1: and I really appreciate it. Thanks for listening all the

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Speaker 1: way in New Zealand. Where are you exactly in New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: I'm in a little country town called geraldans Our, west

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Speaker 2: of christ Church and I love listening to my endite

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Speaker 2: dal On News. It's lovely.

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Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much. It's lovely to talk to

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Speaker 1: you this morning. I'll tell you what you sound like.

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Speaker 1: You're somewhere absolutely beautiful today.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's actually raining. I'm very overcast, rainy and cold.

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Speaker 1: Too, too funny.

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Speaker 2: I'll see you when I come back up to the fiftieth.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, come in and say good I I'd love to

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Speaker 1: see you.

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Speaker 2: Robin.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for talking to us this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, go on you, thank you