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Katie Woolf spoke with Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Natasha Fyles · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to mix ONEOW four point nine's three sixty.
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  Speaker 1: Now we have heard early this morning that for the
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  Speaker 1: first time in the competition's history, three tagged barre have
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  Speaker 1: already been caught in the first week of the Million
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  Speaker 1: Dollar Fish season. Six. Now joining me on the line
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  Speaker 1: to talk about this and a lot more, the Minister
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  Speaker 1: for Tourism, Health and Alcohol Policy, Natasha Files. Good morning,
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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Katie, Good morning listening minister. Firstly, that's a
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  Speaker 1: cracking weekend when you talk about the million Dollar Fish.
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  Speaker 1: It's all gone pretty well so far.
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  Speaker 2: It's off to a flying start. Katie. More than thirteen
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  Speaker 2: thousand people have registered. Now is the time to register
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  Speaker 2: if you haven't. Three fish caught. Three great stories. A
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  Speaker 2: local at the nightclif Jenny, one of the fish that
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  Speaker 2: I released last week was caught. And then someone using
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  Speaker 2: their tourism bouncher adding kakadu with their partner. And then
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  Speaker 2: some visitors from North Queensland who extended their holiday by
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  Speaker 2: two weeks to participate in the Million Dollar Fish and
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  Speaker 2: it was two friends and they caught one of the
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  Speaker 2: double tag fish. So the person that reeled it in
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  Speaker 2: we got to get ten grand and the mate that
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  Speaker 2: netted it got five grands, so wonderful stories. Lots more
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  Speaker 2: fish out there, including that elusive million dollar fish.
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  Speaker 1: How good would it be for tourism if that million
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  Speaker 1: dollar fish went off?
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  Speaker 2: Katie? Already people using the tourism vouchers, people extending their
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  Speaker 2: holidays to fish and to try and catch that million
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  Speaker 2: dollar fish where the safest place. A little bit of
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  Speaker 2: warm weather makes up for it if you catch that
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  Speaker 2: million dollar fish. So anyone that has got friends or
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  Speaker 2: family into state, now is the time to come to
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  Speaker 2: the territory and have a great time and maybe catch
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  Speaker 2: that fish.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Minister, speaking of people coming to the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: yesterday we spoke to the Chief Minister about the borders
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  Speaker 1: opening to people living in Regional Victoria. They will be
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  Speaker 1: allowed to enter the Northern Territory from Monday November two,
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  Speaker 1: Sydney side as though we'll be able to enter from
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  Speaker 1: later this week. Minister, are you feeling confident about the
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  Speaker 1: borders opening to Sydney later this week?
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  Speaker 2: So we've seen in New South Wales very low numbers,
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  Speaker 2: in fact that no numbers are of local cases of
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  Speaker 2: coronavirus for some days now. This is based on the
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  Speaker 2: health advice and no territories that will be nervous. But
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  Speaker 2: every measure and step that we've taken to date has
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  Speaker 2: kept us safe and this is a practical step forward
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  Speaker 2: removing that hot spot declaration from Sydney from this Friday.
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  Speaker 1: Will there be additional safety measures in place? Or do
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  Speaker 1: you feel quite satisfied that what we're doing right now
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  Speaker 1: will be enough?
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, of course we'll listen to the latest clinical
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  Speaker 2: advice and if there's reason to put in place further
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  Speaker 2: measures or declare a hot spot once again, we will
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  Speaker 2: do that. We've seen that in the past where suddenly
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  Speaker 2: an area, a local government area has been declared that
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  Speaker 2: hot spot. But in terms of the measures, the police
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  Speaker 2: and the health professionals will still stay on the borders.
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  Speaker 2: People entering the territory will still fill in that paperwork.
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  Speaker 2: But this is a hot spot policy that's designed to
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  Speaker 2: keep us safe but also allow people to travel, visitors
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  Speaker 2: to come, but also people to visit family and friends
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  Speaker 2: into state who have been cut off for some time now.
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  Speaker 1: How many people have now crossed the borders into the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have those latest figures, Katie, but we know
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  Speaker 2: many thousands of people come into the territory since we
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  Speaker 2: saw that the change the hotspots policy back in July,
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  Speaker 2: and we expect, particularly with Sydney, millions of people now
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  Speaker 2: able to come into the territory. But just want to
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  Speaker 2: reassure territories that we participate in those national meetings from
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  Speaker 2: a health perspective every day. Our Chief Health Officer certainly
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  Speaker 2: won't hesitate to act if we do need to declare
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  Speaker 2: any area of hotspots going forward.
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  Speaker 1: Now I'm fairly sure the NT News is reporting about
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  Speaker 1: one hundred thousand people have now crossed the borders. As
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  Speaker 1: more people enter the Northern Territory, I guess the concerns
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  Speaker 1: about COVID coming into the territory rise. We know that
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  Speaker 1: the Deputy Chief Health Officer, Charles Paine said yesterday at
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  Speaker 1: that press conference that more people should be wearing masks.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think we should be so?
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  Speaker 2: In terms of masks, the health advice is that people
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  Speaker 2: should have the mask in their household. You don't know
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  Speaker 2: when someone is going to take ill and they should
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  Speaker 2: be wearing a mask, or if you need to go
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  Speaker 2: into a situation where physical distancing is not possible. So
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  Speaker 2: there's a variety of masks, Katie. You can grab some
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  Speaker 2: from the chemist that a surgical masks that you can
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  Speaker 2: dispose of after one youth, or there's a range of
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  Speaker 2: fabric masks that you can keep, perhaps get one for
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  Speaker 2: each member of the family. So it's not too alarmed
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  Speaker 2: territory in it's about having practical steps fit similar to
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  Speaker 2: having a cyclone kit. We're living in a coronavirus pandemic,
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  Speaker 2: so having some mass handy in your household is recommended
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  Speaker 2: by a health.
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  Speaker 1: Professional, but it's not a directive at this stage. So
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  Speaker 1: it's really a personal choice as to whether people wear
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  Speaker 1: them or not.
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  Speaker 2: Correct and it's really important that people understand that not
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  Speaker 2: to panic. This is not a health directive. It is
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  Speaker 2: saying have some masks in your household for those situations
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  Speaker 2: that I've just described. In others, it is not important
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  Speaker 2: to have them handy.
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  Speaker 1: Is it a sign though, that our health officials are
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  Speaker 1: concerned about more people coming in?
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, we have eradicated coronavirus and we've done that
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  Speaker 2: twice and then we saw previously some cases occur. We
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  Speaker 2: are not aiming for eradication, it's suppression. So I believe
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  Speaker 2: we will see cases in territory. But we've got the
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  Speaker 2: measures in place to keep our community safe, that contact tracing,
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  Speaker 2: our health resources are there, and so this is about
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  Speaker 2: living with the pandemic until there is a vaccine that
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  Speaker 2: is rolled out widely across our community.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Minister, yesterday we were sent photos of signs out
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  Speaker 1: at Howard Springs saying that the pandemic clinic has closed.
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  Speaker 1: Why has that clinic and Howard Springs closed and where
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  Speaker 1: can people now get tested?
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, this is another measure looking at the longevity
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  Speaker 2: of this virus. It's going to be with us for
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  Speaker 2: many months until we have that vaccine hopefully rolled out.
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  Speaker 2: So COVID testing continues to take place at Rozalen Hospital
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  Speaker 2: and the Palmerston GP Superclinic as well as Danela Delbal
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  Speaker 2: Health Service, and that's by appointment only. We were seeing
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  Speaker 2: very low numbers at Howard Springs facility and because of that,
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  Speaker 2: a decision was made to temporarily close the facility. If
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  Speaker 2: we need to stand that facility up, we can do
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  Speaker 2: that quickly.
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  Speaker 3: But this is.
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  Speaker 2: About preserving our resources as this is a marathon, not
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  Speaker 2: a sprint.
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  Speaker 1: Now let's move along to your portfolio of alcohol policy.
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  Speaker 1: We know that police are continuing to target people selling
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  Speaker 1: alcohol illegally, and a twenty five year old was charged
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  Speaker 1: over the weekend after being caught by police allegedly trying
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  Speaker 1: to take thirty one bottles of alcohol into communities of
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  Speaker 1: the Victoria Daily region. Are these issues arising as a
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  Speaker 1: result of the additional stimulus payments that some people are
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  Speaker 1: eligible for as a result of COVID.
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  Speaker 2: Secondary supply is illegal. There is tought penalties in place,
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  Speaker 2: and police have extra resources. They will catch you if
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  Speaker 2: you're doing the wrong thing. In terms of the payments,
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  Speaker 2: we have seen more people having income to spend, but
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  Speaker 2: in terms of secondary supply, it is illegal and the
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  Speaker 2: police will catch you. And this is an example of that.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we have so many measures in place in
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  Speaker 1: an effort to curb this kind of thing. Obviously the
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  Speaker 1: BDR and the floor price, to name a couple. Does
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  Speaker 1: this just demonstrate that these measures don't work.
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  Speaker 2: So one single measure alone, Katie, is not going to
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  Speaker 2: stop the harm that alcohol can cause or people that
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  Speaker 2: use alcohol and cause harm in our community. We need
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  Speaker 2: a multitude of measures in place, and since we've had
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  Speaker 2: those measures in place, we have seen a reduction in
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  Speaker 2: alcohol related presentations to ed alcohol related assaults. But yes,
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  Speaker 2: people do pivot to other measures, and that's why we
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  Speaker 2: made sure there's tougher penalties in place around secondary supply
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  Speaker 2: and that police have additional resources to catch those people
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  Speaker 2: who are doing the wrong thing.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we know at the moment as well, this is
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  Speaker 1: now the fourth week of additional alcohol restrictions. Could they
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  Speaker 1: become permanent for the Darwin region.
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  Speaker 2: So the measures that were put in place around asking
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  Speaker 2: in the top end area where the alcohol is going
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  Speaker 2: to be consumed with between police and the licensing commission,
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  Speaker 2: so the licensing the head of licensing and so the
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  Speaker 2: police asked for those powers and so licensing has provided them.
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  Speaker 2: They have been, as you just said, in place for
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  Speaker 2: some weeks. And of course we'll listen to the police
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  Speaker 2: out there on the front line and licensing if they
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  Speaker 2: want some longer term changes, but presently they've just been
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  Speaker 2: acted on that rolling so at.
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  Speaker 1: The moment, not looking at making it more permanent.
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  Speaker 2: No, we don't have that advice. But as I said,
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  Speaker 2: police are out there, Licensing works very closely with them,
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  Speaker 2: and this is a response from police asking for that
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  Speaker 2: additional power.
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  Speaker 1: All right, I want to move along because we know
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  Speaker 1: that the federal budget is being handed down tonight. Yesterday
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  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister said he'd like to see the funding
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  Speaker 1: for Kakadoo brought forward. But Senator for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: Sam McMahon made these comments on the show Take a listen.
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  Speaker 3: The situation with the funding for Kackadoo is it's there
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  Speaker 3: and we're trying to bring it forward as fast as
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  Speaker 3: we can. I mean, there's two hundred and six million
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  Speaker 3: dollars I'm allocated sitting there waiting to be rolled out.
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  Speaker 3: It's actually a combination of the Northern Territory Government Upper
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  Speaker 3: and the Northern Land Council that are holding up that development.
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  Speaker 3: He's well aware the fact that the money's sitting there
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  Speaker 3: ready to be rolled out. We just need approval.
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  Speaker 1: So in what ways are they holding that money being wrong?
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  Speaker 3: There's all sorts of disputes about how the money should
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  Speaker 3: be spent, what it should be spent on, who actually
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  Speaker 3: are the traditional owners of the various areas of the park.
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  Speaker 3: There's disputes about various developments that have gone on which
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  Speaker 3: is holding up the opening up of those areas, such
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  Speaker 3: as the Gunlong Track. And there's obviously been issues with
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  Speaker 3: Parks Australia leading to the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary leaving.
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  Speaker 3: So there's been from the territory side all sorts of
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  Speaker 3: disputes and arguments that are holding up the rolling out
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  Speaker 3: of this funding. The money sitting there, it's ready to go.
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  Speaker 3: We want to spend it.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, what is your response to those comments from the senator?
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  Speaker 1: Is that the case?
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  Speaker 2: So, Katie, my understanding is the federal government have identified
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  Speaker 2: and we very much welcomed the additional funding from the
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  Speaker 2: Federal government to go into Kakadu, and we're certainly working
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  Speaker 2: as efficiently as we can to have that delivered and
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  Speaker 2: the pathways in place so that you know, the infrastructure
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  Speaker 2: from it can be delivered as soon as possible. We
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  Speaker 2: know that the Kakadu and some the relationships have been
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  Speaker 2: complicated in the past, and so we're very much focused
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  Speaker 2: on strengthening those relationships so that we can see those
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  Speaker 2: dollars in the territory supporting jobs, but also investing in
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  Speaker 2: what is a world class asset. And once we see
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  Speaker 2: travel open up, you know, interstate is opening up, but internationally,
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  Speaker 2: it puts Kakudu back as a iconic international site that it.
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  Speaker 1: Is, so, Minister just I suppose to break it down
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  Speaker 1: really clearly for our listeners. Is that money there and
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  Speaker 1: is it already being spental or is it being held
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  Speaker 1: up due to sort of internal disputes.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, I don't think it's about the money being held up.
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  Speaker 2: The federal government have identified that money. My understanding it
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  Speaker 2: was on the forward estimates for some years ahead. But
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  Speaker 2: the federal government, particularly in terms of what we've seen
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  Speaker 2: around coronavirus, have been bringing forward spending. So I'm very
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  Speaker 2: confident that if we work hard and build on those relationships,
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  Speaker 2: we can see those dollars flowing into the territory as
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  Speaker 2: soon as possible. We've got a supportive cenator there. The
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  Speaker 2: Chief Minister is certainly very passionate in this space, so
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  Speaker 2: we'll be working to make sure we see those dollars
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  Speaker 2: as quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, I've only been in that role as a Tourism
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  Speaker 1: minister now for a few weeks. But how important is
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  Speaker 1: it to you to really ensure that Kakado gets up
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  Speaker 1: to the standard that international tourists and you know, locals
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  Speaker 1: and also domestic tourists expect.
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  Speaker 2: Katie. It's a key focus for me. I think that
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  Speaker 2: we know that Kakadu is amazing, It's iconic and it
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  Speaker 2: needs to be a world class asset for both locals
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  Speaker 2: and visitors I like, and so for me, I'll be
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  Speaker 2: heading there later this week. It's somewhere I visited over many,
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  Speaker 2: many years and it is simply amazing. But I'm certainly
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  Speaker 2: focused on strengthening those relationships, working with the Commonwealth and
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  Speaker 2: of course within my own government to make sure we
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  Speaker 2: deliver the improvements to make it once again an iconic,
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  Speaker 2: world class asset.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, what are you hoping to find or to sort
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  Speaker 1: of discuss while you are there in Kakado.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm meeting with a range of tourism operators as
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  Speaker 2: well as traditional loners and of course visiting that the
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  Speaker 2: health infrastructure that's out there. It's a really important point,
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  Speaker 2: particularly point in time for Jabaru and its future right now,
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  Speaker 2: so it's important to be on the ground and have
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  Speaker 2: those relationships well.
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  Speaker 1: Minister for Health, Tourism and Alcohol Policy, Natasha Files, we
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  Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Thanks for chatting with us today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie,