Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with AFANT President Warren de With

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with AFANT President Warren de With · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: One of the other issues which seems to be causing
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  Speaker 1: some serious concern and confusion at the moment is when
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: it comes to fishing. We know that recreational and commercial
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  Speaker 1: fishes were shocked over the weekend following a public notice
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory News which said that from twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty one, permits would be required to access indigenous into
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  Speaker 1: title waters. Now joining us on the line to talk
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  Speaker 1: more about the situation from AFAT is the president of
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  Speaker 1: the Amateur Fishermen's Association, Warren Dewick. Good morning to you, Warren.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Good morning, Katie, Warren.
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  Speaker 1: What is going on? Where is this situation.
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  Speaker 3: At It's very unclear at the moment where in the
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  Speaker 3: negotiations or getting some information to us from the NLC
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  Speaker 3: and also from the Northern Churchy government to try and
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  Speaker 3: clarify where we actually are with it. My understanding is
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  Speaker 3: that Marion's made a couple of announcements saying that we
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  Speaker 3: don't require a permit.
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  Speaker 2: If Marion's saying that we don't require a firmit that's
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  Speaker 2: okay by me.
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  Speaker 3: So at this stage I would say people just staying
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  Speaker 3: back and wait for a second or two until it
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  Speaker 3: gets a little bit more information out to everybody so
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  Speaker 3: that we know exactly where we're going.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, even started from the.
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  Speaker 3: Northern End Council putting that gazette in the paper declaring
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  Speaker 3: that people need a permit as of the first of January,
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  Speaker 3: which is not in a line with what we were
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  Speaker 3: told was going to happen or what did happen after
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  Speaker 3: the full council meeting.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's and that sent everybody into a bit of
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  Speaker 1: a spin wondering exactly what the go is now. As
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  Speaker 1: you've just said, we understand as well that Marion Scrimjaw
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  Speaker 1: from the Northern Land Council has spoken or I'm not
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  Speaker 1: sure whether there's been an interview happened or whether there's
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  Speaker 1: been a media statement sent through to the ABC, but
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  Speaker 1: that there has been that discussion that permits won't be required.
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  Speaker 1: But I guess at this stage Warrem we're all sort
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  Speaker 1: of still a bit up in the air, aren't we.
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  Speaker 3: I definitely it's very confusing, the left hand and the
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  Speaker 3: right end not sort of understanding where they're going at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. So hopefully the Northern Land Council can get
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  Speaker 3: together and see what they need to do to fix it.
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  Speaker 3: If it is to be fixed or make it more
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  Speaker 3: clearer to everybody prior to the first of January, so
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  Speaker 3: that we know exactly what we're dealing with here at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. And obviously, if Marian is correct in what
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  Speaker 3: she's saying, the Northern Land Council will need to issue
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  Speaker 3: another public notice in the paper because those notices are
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  Speaker 3: a statutory with notice, which means they have to have
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  Speaker 3: another notice revoking that original information put out in the
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  Speaker 3: paper last Friday and Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Sorry.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, we've put in a call to see if
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  Speaker 1: we can get somebody from the Northern Lane Council on
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  Speaker 1: the show, whether it's Marian Scrimjaw or somebody else, or
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  Speaker 1: whether we can at the very least get a statement
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  Speaker 1: to try to really clarify this for our listeners. I
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  Speaker 1: know that a lot of people who listen to the
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  Speaker 1: show obviously get out on the water and fish and
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  Speaker 1: from what I can gather, that notice that appeared on
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  Speaker 1: Friday sent everyone into a real spin.
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  Speaker 3: Well it didn't send us in the real spin as well,
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  Speaker 3: because we didn't see this coming and we were under
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  Speaker 3: the understanding that the access agreement was extended for another
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  Speaker 3: two years and that everything was still as it was
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  Speaker 3: prior to the full Council meeting that everybody was okay
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  Speaker 3: to go fishing intertidal waters overlying Aboriginal land. So we
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  Speaker 3: were under that impression and then all of a sudden
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  Speaker 3: these notices come out and sort of left us a
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  Speaker 3: little bit confused about exactly what the Northern Land Council
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  Speaker 3: is trying to achieve by doing this.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure why they would do this.
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  Speaker 3: And provoke recreational anglers and everyone to confuse the hell
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  Speaker 3: out of us for a start, But hopefully Marion can
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  Speaker 3: sort of get some clear air to us so that
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  Speaker 3: we can see what's going on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Warren, If indeed a permit is required from January
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  Speaker 1: next year, a few weeks away, what would that mean
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  Speaker 1: for fishing in the territory.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it'll be chaos. I mean, I don't know whether
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Land Council are organized yet to have a
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  Speaker 3: permit system put in place. I think what the idea
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  Speaker 3: was was to let everyone know that the red area
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  Speaker 3: was the areas that hadn't been fully consulted with the
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  Speaker 3: traditional owners from the Northern Land Council and until they
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  Speaker 3: get those full consultations completed, those red areas were not
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  Speaker 3: areas that were allowed to go into without a permit,
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  Speaker 3: and I understand that the permit is not going to
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  Speaker 3: be issued until those negotiations are completed. So we're still
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  Speaker 3: totally confused even if we need a permit, because there's
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  Speaker 3: two different stories being told to us about why we
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  Speaker 3: need a permit if we do to go into those
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  Speaker 3: red areas and obviously.
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  Speaker 2: The Yellow area.
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  Speaker 3: We managed to get an extension from Marion till the
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  Speaker 3: first of March for those Yellow areas, and then after
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  Speaker 3: the first of March, we are required according to the
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  Speaker 3: gazette to get a permit for those areas. So it
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  Speaker 3: is very confusing at the moment, and hopefully within a
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  Speaker 3: few days time we'll be able to get some better
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  Speaker 3: information from the Northern Land Council and from the Northern
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  Speaker 3: Charity Government to be able to put out.
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  Speaker 2: For the public.
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  Speaker 3: But at the moment, I would say everything's still the same.
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  Speaker 3: I would tell people not to panic. It's all going
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  Speaker 3: to be sorted out one way or the other with
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Land Council and the Northern Charritory government and
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  Speaker 3: stakeholders to try and make sure that we all get
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  Speaker 3: back to the negotiating tables and that we can see
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  Speaker 3: a clear view of what the Northern Land Council and
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  Speaker 3: traditional owners would like in those areas.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, Larren. I'm taking a
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  Speaker 1: look at a map right now, and those red areas,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of red area there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, there is a lot of area there that is
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  Speaker 3: the area that they haven't finished the consultations with us yet,
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  Speaker 3: so they're trying to finish them off as soon as
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  Speaker 3: they can.
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  Speaker 2: So hopefully we'll have a.
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  Speaker 3: Better idea in the coming weeks with those areas as
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  Speaker 3: well before hopefully before the first of March. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, look, Warren, I know that you know, even after
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  Speaker 1: the discussion that we've had so far, there'll be a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people still feeling a bit confused. What if
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  Speaker 1: you could give our listeners one piece of advice, what
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  Speaker 1: would it.
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  Speaker 2: Be, carry on as usual?
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  Speaker 3: Marian said that there was those permits or the actual
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  Speaker 3: waiver is still in place until we hear otherwise, I
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  Speaker 3: would say that nothing changed and I would just allow
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  Speaker 3: things to happen as they are. So if you were
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  Speaker 3: planning to go fishing after the first of January, until
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  Speaker 3: we find out otherwise, I.
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  Speaker 2: Wouldn't let it worry you too much.
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  Speaker 3: I would just sort of wait and see what happens
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  Speaker 3: in the next couple of days.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you reckon this notice has gone in the
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  Speaker 1: paper on the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: I've got no idea.
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  Speaker 3: And I did try and find that out from the
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  Speaker 3: Northern Land Council what the purpose of this was, and
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  Speaker 3: I think there's a little bit of confusion about the
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  Speaker 3: reason for it because I don't see anything there it's
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  Speaker 3: a gain from the Northern Land Council doing this other
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  Speaker 3: than dividing territories. And that's the last thing we want
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  Speaker 3: is the division between traditional owners or owners of that
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  Speaker 3: Blue Mud Bay areas and the rest of the Northern
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  Speaker 3: Territory population. So we're here to work together. We want
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  Speaker 3: to get back to the table and try and get
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  Speaker 3: these negotiations back on track.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure that's what Marion wants.
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure that's what Sammy Bush, the President of the
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  Speaker 3: Northern Land Council wants as well. So hopefully they can
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  Speaker 3: sit down with us and with the Northern Terratory Government
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  Speaker 3: in the coming days so that we can get some
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  Speaker 3: idea of exactly where we're all going to sit once
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  Speaker 3: this settles down a bit.
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  Speaker 1: But Warren, have you had the opportunity to sit down
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  Speaker 1: with the NLC at this point or have a conversation
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  Speaker 1: with them at this point. No.
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  Speaker 3: I've had a conversation with Sammy Bush the other day
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  Speaker 3: when I first seen this come out, but he wasn't
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  Speaker 3: aware of it. Also, I don't think he seemed to
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  Speaker 3: be a little bit sidelinded by it as well, a bit.
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  Speaker 2: Like what Marion was by the sound of it.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm not sure whether the Northern Land Council needs
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  Speaker 3: to clear this up. I mean, it's nothing that I
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  Speaker 3: can say or do that's going to make it any
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  Speaker 3: clearer to people. I mean, until the Northern Land Council
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  Speaker 3: comes out and test everybody, this is where it is,
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  Speaker 3: this is what's going to happen, and this is the
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  Speaker 3: situation that when at the moment, then and only then
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  Speaker 3: we know which direction to go in.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Well, we will continue to putting those calls
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  Speaker 1: to see if we can get somebody from the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Land Council on or at the very least at least
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  Speaker 1: have a statement that we're able to read out to
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  Speaker 1: let people know exactly what's happening. But in the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: carry on as usual.
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  Speaker 3: Well that's my Yeah, that's what I would do. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I don't see any reason why not to. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: the Non Land Council of saying through Marion that the
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  Speaker 3: gazette is maybe incorrect, So hopefully there will be another
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  Speaker 3: gazette put out rectifying that. Because our belief in the
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  Speaker 3: Northern Charity Government belief was that the waiver was going
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  Speaker 3: to be extended termit free access to those into tidal
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  Speaker 3: waters and hill December twenty two. So let's hope that's
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  Speaker 3: what's going to happen so that we can all get
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  Speaker 3: back to the negotiating table.
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  Speaker 1: I reckon. Well, we're also due to catch up with
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  Speaker 1: the Minister after ten o'clock, so we'll see what else
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  Speaker 1: we can find out. Warren, really good to talk to
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  Speaker 1: you mate, Thanks so much for your time today.
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  Speaker 2: All the us DATI thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That's Warren DeWitt there, who is the president of AFANT,
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  Speaker 1: the Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory.