Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Top End Tourism GM Glen Hingley

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Katie Woolf spoke with Top End Tourism GM Glen Hingley · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf on Mix one oh four
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  Speaker 1: point nine thanks to Joyce Main Darwin, you are listening
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  Speaker 1: to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I tell you Wash, there's some serious, serious confusion here
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  Speaker 1: this morning in Darwin about whether we are included in
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  Speaker 1: this list of regional locations that is going to be
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  Speaker 1: eligible for half priced flights. Now we understand, and we've
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  Speaker 1: understood right from the get go early this morning, that
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  Speaker 1: Alice Springs and Airs Rock are locations which are included
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  Speaker 1: where other Rossies from around Australia can travel too and
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  Speaker 1: obviously boost our tourism numbers. Now we specifically asked the
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  Speaker 1: Tourism Minister, the Federal Tourism Minister, Dan Tien about this
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  Speaker 1: this morning, knowing very well at the beginning of the
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  Speaker 1: show that Darwin had not been included on that list. Now,
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  Speaker 1: obviously we were asking these questions because I was well
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  Speaker 1: and truly ready to have a bit of arji bargie
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  Speaker 1: with the Minister about making sure that Darwin was included
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  Speaker 1: on that list. Now, if you missed Dantean's interview earlier
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  Speaker 1: this morning, take a listen to what he had to
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  Speaker 1: say there. Airs Rock and Alice Springs are included on
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  Speaker 1: that list. Our understanding is that Darwin isn't at this stage.
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  Speaker 2: Is that correct? No, Darwin is one of the locations
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  Speaker 2: that we we've also identified and so it will be
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  Speaker 2: a beneficiary as well. So the Northern Territory is very
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  Speaker 2: well covered by this package.
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  Speaker 1: Darwin wasn't on that list that has come through to us.
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  Speaker 1: But by the sounds of it, what you're saying is
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  Speaker 1: that people will be able to travel to Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: There is and if you go on to the Department
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  Speaker 2: of Transite Transport website you will see that Darwin is listed.
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  Speaker 2: So it says where the TANS program, which is the
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  Speaker 2: travel Assistance Program will reduce the cost of flying to
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  Speaker 2: the following initial regions Adelaide, Broom, Darwin, Great Ocean Road, Hobart, etc.
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  Speaker 2: So it's there on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
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  Speaker 2: Development and Communications website. What we gave initially was a
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  Speaker 2: list of the destinations as examples. Yeah, but quite clearly
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  Speaker 2: Darwin is part of them. So you've done well in
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  Speaker 2: the MT.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio right now to talk
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  Speaker 1: about this from Tourism top Ends, the general manager Glenn Henley.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Glenn.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. What a roller coaster ride.
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  Speaker 1: Wellen, are you as confused as I am this morning?
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  Speaker 4: Beside ourselves? So we wake up when we go to
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  Speaker 4: bed last night and we're not on the list. We
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  Speaker 4: hear the great news listening to yourself this morning, and
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  Speaker 4: Dan teen confirms more than once, in fact three times.
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  Speaker 4: You got him to double down on that that it
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  Speaker 4: was included and it was one of the destinations where
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  Speaker 4: tourists would be leveled to travel too, not from, and
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  Speaker 4: now to be getting pushed back from the pmo's office
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  Speaker 4: to say that he misspoke. That's not fair on the
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  Speaker 4: tourism industry. It's not fair on the on the top end.
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  Speaker 4: It's just a dreadful and it's not what our tourism
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  Speaker 4: industry needs write Now.
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  Speaker 1: I tell you what, Glenn, do you know I feel
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  Speaker 1: really bloody up set that we've got this pushback now
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  Speaker 1: where we As you've said, I've asked three times about this,
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  Speaker 1: and we've been told several times that Darwin is on
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  Speaker 1: the list. Now. The whole reason I asked so many
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  Speaker 1: times is because I was quite confused. I thought, hang
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  Speaker 1: on a second, we haven't been included on this list,
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  Speaker 1: so I continued to ask, Now we're getting this pushback
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  Speaker 1: from the Prime Minister's office. Essentially, we have received a
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  Speaker 1: text message from the Prime Minister's Office saying Tiam was
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  Speaker 1: talking about the fact we already subsidized roots to Darwin
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  Speaker 1: through rand slash Dan's program. I'm sorry, but this morning
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  Speaker 1: we were actually talking about these half priced flights, Glenn.
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  Speaker 1: They need to actually include Darwin on this least died.
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  Speaker 4: They without doubt, this is so important to the territory.
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  Speaker 4: It's so important to our tourism industry. I'm really grateful
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  Speaker 4: that the folk in Central Australia have been able to
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  Speaker 4: be helped by this, but there's so many businesses here
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  Speaker 4: that were never picked up through job Keeper that are
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  Speaker 4: really struggling to keep going and they need that support.
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  Speaker 4: They need that support to be able to get people
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  Speaker 4: from down South back up here traveling. You know, in
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  Speaker 4: twenty nineteen, one in eight jobs in the territory dependent
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  Speaker 4: on tourism vouchers. Have been a great lit episode, but
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  Speaker 4: there's thirty million in an industry that in twenty nineteen
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  Speaker 4: was two point two billion dollars employed so many people,
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  Speaker 4: and the knock on effect of not getting these tourists.
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  Speaker 4: And I think part of this too is we've now
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  Speaker 4: find ourselves as a destination. We're not included. We're in
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  Speaker 4: competition with what the federal government are doing. The federal
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  Speaker 4: government are out there marketing thirteen destinations against the top end.
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  Speaker 4: Tourism industry doesn't need this, The economy of the top
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  Speaker 4: end doesn't need this.
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  Speaker 3: This is dreadful.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and how on earth can we be pitted again?
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  Speaker 1: You know all these other locations everybody else ends up
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  Speaker 1: with these half priced flights, you know, and people are
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  Speaker 1: able to travel to those destinations i e. Broom, you know, Cans.
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  Speaker 1: We're in direct competition with them already. How do we
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  Speaker 1: bloody stand a chance if they've got half priced flights?
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  Speaker 1: And then the minister is going to backtrack on this.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 4: It's these mixed messages are terrible. They're terrible for the
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  Speaker 4: well being of our industry as well. They've suffered such
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  Speaker 4: hard times and for the people they employ. And we
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  Speaker 4: need as much support as we can get because we
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  Speaker 4: everyone knows the tyranny of distance that we suffer, and
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  Speaker 4: airfares are a key component in getting our tourists here.
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  Speaker 4: That's what's going to keep people in jobs. And if
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  Speaker 4: those flights aren't in some way better subsidized as they
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  Speaker 4: are for these other special thirteen locations across the Australia,
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  Speaker 4: then that's going to fall by the wayside. It's not
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  Speaker 4: enough that we've been through enough trouble with Kakadu and
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  Speaker 4: other aspects over the past few years.
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  Speaker 3: It's a real opportunity for us to relaunch here.
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  Speaker 4: If tourism businesses can't stand up, then it's not just
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  Speaker 4: tourism businesses, it's those around it. And I'll give you
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  Speaker 4: an example touring businesses that which take tours. There was
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  Speaker 4: one of our one of Australia's leading touring companies. It's
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  Speaker 4: based here in Darwin. At the onset of COVID last
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  Speaker 4: year it had to cancel its seven day itineries and
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  Speaker 4: had to cancel the whole season for one restaurant in Darwen,
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  Speaker 4: one of Darwin's leading restaurants, where they had one meal
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  Speaker 4: on that seven day. That meant that restaurant lost over
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  Speaker 4: a quarter of a million dollars in forward bookings.
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  Speaker 1: Wow.
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  Speaker 4: So when tourists aren't coming through, the knock on effect
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  Speaker 4: goes right through our community.
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  Speaker 3: And we need this back.
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  Speaker 4: We know that outside of oil mining and gas, tourism
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  Speaker 4: is the number one export earner for the territory two
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  Speaker 4: point two billion, as I said before in twenty nineteen,
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  Speaker 4: with a number one service industry, and so for for
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  Speaker 4: this to happen and then for there to be a
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  Speaker 4: misspoke on something so clear is I find it hard
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  Speaker 4: to fathom how that could be the case.
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  Speaker 1: I actually don't believe that he misspoke. I actually think
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  Speaker 1: that you know that he thought Darwin was included on
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  Speaker 1: the list, which concerns me more. What is it going
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  Speaker 1: to mean for us here in the top end Glenn
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  Speaker 1: If Darwin is not included on these half priced flights.
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  Speaker 4: It means that tourism and tea out there doing a
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  Speaker 4: great job in their southern marketing campaigns. But ultimately Queensland
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  Speaker 4: is too. And so when when it comes down to
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  Speaker 4: that purchase point, am I going to go to Cans
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  Speaker 4: or am I going to go to the top end
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  Speaker 4: fifty percent off? An airfare survey says I'm going to
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  Speaker 4: Cans And I think that's just not fair on businesses
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  Speaker 4: that have got their life savings invested and for the
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  Speaker 4: people of the top end.
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  Speaker 1: But also, how have they gone about actually determining these
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  Speaker 1: destinations And how can you then, you know, have broom
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  Speaker 1: on one side of us and have cans on the
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  Speaker 1: other and determine that Darwin doesn't need it.
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  Speaker 3: That's not clear.
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  Speaker 4: That's been something that through the Australian Tourism Industry Council,
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  Speaker 4: we've been trying to get that information. What matrix, How
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  Speaker 4: is it they've come to these decisions and done this?
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  Speaker 4: Is it related to job keeper? What is the ASP
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  Speaker 4: and you know.
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  Speaker 1: What they were all the questions that I'd actually planned
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  Speaker 1: to ask the minister this morning, but then when he
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  Speaker 1: came out and said that Darwin was included, well, it
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  Speaker 1: totally changed that line of questioning. And I think that
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  Speaker 1: this is the really disappointing part here. It's you know,
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  Speaker 1: he'd said it very loudly and clearly that Darwin was
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  Speaker 1: on that list. I said to him, that is going
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  Speaker 1: to be music to the ears of our tourism industry
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  Speaker 1: this morning, who thought that they were not included. They
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  Speaker 1: cannot backtrack on this now. If they do, it is
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  Speaker 1: going to be absolutely heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 3: For your industry. We'll be doing all we can.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's hope that we're able to you know, get
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  Speaker 1: the Prime Minister if we need to, on the blower
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  Speaker 1: to be able to find out exactly what the goal
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  Speaker 1: is here. But Glenn Hinley, we always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: I know you've got a bit of a frog in
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  Speaker 1: your throat this morning. Hopefully, hopefully you're able to get
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  Speaker 1: your breath back. Eight nine four one one four nine
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  Speaker 1: is the number. And Glenn, thank you very much for
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. Keed