Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has labelled the government’s Park Masterplan as a ‘tax on the Territory lifestyle’

Transcript

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has labelled the government’s Park Masterplan as a ‘tax on the Territory lifestyle’ · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Last week, we spoke extensively about the Northern Territory Police Association,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: calling for the Northern Territory Government to urgently commit to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the three hundred additional officers needed to meet policing demands.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: The Northern Territory Police Association President Paul McCue had told
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: us on the show that the Deputy Commissioner had confirmed
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: during last week's coronial what members had been telling the Association,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and that is that the Northern Territory Police Force is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: critically understaffed and struggling to deal with the staggering levels
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: of crime, harm and violence in our community. Now joining
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: me on the show is the opposition leader Lea Fanocchiario.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Good morning to your leader.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: I'm morning Katie and your wonderful Listenersnaliah.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Last week when you and I spoke, we talked about
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the latest Northern Territory Police Association survey, which obviously outlines
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: serious concerns from police when it comes to staffing and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: their ability to do what's expected of them with the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: resources that they have available now. Since then, the Deputy
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Police Commissioner confirmed during the coronial what a number of
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: members had been telling the Association that they're critically understaffed
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: and that they're struggling to deal with levels of crime
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: and various other issues. Leah, you have been calling for
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: an inquiry into the force for some time after hearing
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: these numbers. Why do you think that an inquiry into
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the police force is so critical when the Northern Territory
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: government says that they're just getting on with getting the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: job done well.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: Katie, the non territory government says a lot of things,
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: but its words don't match its actions. What we know
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: is that ninety six zero point seven percent of our
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: police force don't believe there are enough police and don't
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: believe they are supported by their government. We've had that
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: followed up, of course, with the Deputy Commissioner saying there
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: needs to be three hundred more police and five hundred
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: million dollars more investment into policing. So how is it
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: possible for Kate Warden and Natasha Files, the people responsible
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: for this police crisis, to then turn around and say
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: they are not going to hold an inquiry. It is
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: absolutely ne leigent and unacceptable for leadership at the top
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: to turn their back on our police force when what
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: is absolutely needed is a forensic review of resourcing and
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: service delivery.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: We want to get this really straight.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: So the last inquiry was held in two thousand and eleven,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: wasn't it.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: Yes, that's right now this Sullivan Review and what that
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: did is go through every element of the police force.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: So this isn't just about police numbers. It's about police infrastructure.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: It might be about vehicles, new and better technology, other
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: protective measures that police can take, all sorts of things.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: This is a wholesale review of the force, even around
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: structuring of rosters, all sorts of ways in which you
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: can enhance or deliver capability, and that is what is required. Equally,
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: we also need a forensic look at why morale is
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: so low.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: We had the Chief Minister on radio with.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: You Katie last week saying that there were hundreds of
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: police on mental health leave and being seemingly pointing to
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: that as a reason why police aren't on the ground,
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: which is shameful. You know, we've had a Natasha Files
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: tell our police to step up, and yet where's Kate
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Wooden and Natasha Files when it comes to stepping up,
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: backing our police, giving them the power they need and
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: holding an inquiry. They are failing in their duty to
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: serve and protect the community. This is the files government
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: and ultimately to protect and support our police.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Lea, do you think that we need an additional three
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: hundred police officers?
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: I absolutely believe that that number is accurate, and that's
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: why if I was Chief Minister at Katie, we would
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: immediately have a review into policing. I would hold the
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: police portfolio as the Chief Minister to make sure that
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: the police crisis is resolved, that law and order is
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: the most front of mind issue of our government, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: that we're supporting our police with the powers and equipment
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: they need to protect the community.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, I know that it's very easy to sort
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: of say things like that when you are in opposition,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: but how on earth would you fund an additional three
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: hundred officers.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: Well, we'll start with that review and look at it
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: in a wholesale Wow, this is not about just picking
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: and choosing areas that you need to fix. This isn't
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: The entire police force is in crisis on a various
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: range of levels, and we need to be supporting them
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: and looking at that. So we will do that work, Katie,
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: mark my words. But you know, equally, we have to
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: drive down crime and that's where we can support our
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: police better by making sure there are consequences for offenders.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: And that's something I know the community is crying out
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: for and it's something we will deliver.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Leah, what about aging infrastructure, because the other figure that
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: had been rolled out was five hundred million dollars into
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: aging infrastructure. I mean it's clear to me that we
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: need a significant investment into the Northern Territory police. All
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: you've got to do is have a bit of a
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: look around and you can see that it's top of
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: mind for a number of Territorians, Like for a large
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: majority of Territorians right across the place. There is also serious,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: serious issues when you look at things like family and
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: domestic violence, and then you're looking at this aging infrastructure,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: not enough police. I mean, do we need the Territorians
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: need some kind of levy to pay for the additional
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: police needs? What do we need to do here?
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: Well, certainly under a CLP government, I leave you won't
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: be seeing new taxes for Territorians, but I wouldn't put
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: it past labor.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Katie.
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: Look, ultimately, what we need is to stop spending you know,
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: tens of millions of dollars on things like Nightcliff Police Station,
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: which is a glorified office space, so that the Chief
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: Minister can trot around and pretend that she's met her
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: election commitment which she hasn't, and ultimately start spending money
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: where it's required. There needs to be a plan. You
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: cannot just spend taxpayers money like it's your own. There
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: is a responsibility to deliver for the greater good and ultimately,
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: what we've seen from this government is a total lack
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: of priorities.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: When this government is more prepared to.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: Spend one hundred million dollars on a blowout for Tiger Brennan,
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: or millions of dollars on a shadeless shade structure, or
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: tens of millions of dollars on an above ground underground
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: car park in Darwin, what we have is a total
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: lack of priorities from a government that's asleep at the
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: wheel Leah.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately, we're not alone. The police are certainly not alone
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: when it comes to these staff shortages. We know that
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: paramedics are being recruited from around the world in an
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: effort to fill the staff shortages that they've got in
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: remote Northern Territory towns, and we've certainly spoken before about
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the hospital in Alice Springs and the staff shortage that
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: they are facing around one hundred and thirty staff. Is
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: my understanding, what else do you think that we could
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: be doing to fill some of these staff shortages, Because
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: they are critical, like we're talking frontline here, nurses, police
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: and also the paramedics. They are definitely needed and you
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: don't have to look too far or talk to too
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: many people to realize that they are needed right now.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Without question, and this goes to the heart of our
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: no confidence motion in the files government. They are failing
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: to do the basics. Our nurses, our doctors are under pressure,
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: our paramedics, our police, every critical area, our teachers, every
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: critical area of service delivery is understrained, and this government
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: is falling to support them and failing to provide the
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: services that territories deserve now. Ultimately, this comes back to
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: a large number of issues. Part of it is law
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: and order. People are sick and debt to the sick
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: and tired of it. They are leaving because of it.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: It's about economic opportunities. People are not seeing the project
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: delivery that government keeps pretending is happening, and so those
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: jobs and that security for the future isn't there.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Cost of living is through the roof.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: They see the government failing to address those issues like
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: we tried to with our fuel legislation. So it comes
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: you know, we are losing good people, people we desperately need,
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: because this government is not providing the very basics that
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: a government should and that's a safe and enjoyable place
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: to live.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: We are going to have to move along because there
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: is a bit to cover off on the Master Plan
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: on the Future of the Northern Territories eighty five Parks
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: and Reserves.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: It's now complete.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: The Northern Territory government announced yesterday that it sets out
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a number of targets for the next thirty years around
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: nine themes tourism, park access and Aboriginal economic development. It
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: develops a plan as well for new tourism products, as
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: well as a climate change strategy and new short walks,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: swimming areas and four wheel drive tracks with camping sites.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: They're all among the goals over the next two years.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Have you had the opportunity to have a bit of
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: a look at the plan and what do you.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Make of it?
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: Well, it's terrifying, Katie, I'm telling you this plan is
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: a labour's lifestyle tax, That's what it should be called.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: This is a tax on the territory lifestyle. They are
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: going to be charging people to go to Litchfield National Park,
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: Mantam Dam Recreation Area. If you're a hunter, they're coming
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: after you, Harrison Dam, Howard Springs Hunting Reserve. If you're
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: a fisher, they're coming after you, Corroboree Rock Conservation Reserve.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, how much are the charging people?
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: Well, they're talking about doing this for people from interstate,
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: but I have absolutely no confidence that this isn't the
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: start of a slippery slope for Territorians having to be
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: able to pay for park passes into the future. And
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: we heard from Paul Kirby, the Minister last week, saying
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: that everything is under threat on a daily basis with
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: the budget, and I think this.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Is a very clear exact actually said that they're going
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: to be charging Territorians to use all of those parks
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: right now though, or are you scare mongering here?
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: No, No, this is for This is for interstate and
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: international tourists now. But where is labor going to draw
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: the line? I think this is the start of what
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: will be a tax on the territory lifestyle, Katie. I
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: am really worried that this is just a start of
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: what will be a slippery slope. And I don't think
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: that Territorians can trust that if Labor were re elected
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: in twenty four that we wouldn't be seeing Territorians being
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: slugged to do.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Some of my most facing focamentally.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: That's how they're going to pay for their master plan.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, this is a way for them to claw back money. Again.
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: We've been talking all money about their wrong priorities and
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: we've seen a government turn its back on environmental protection
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: of Lichfield. It hasn't put the investment into tourism that
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: is required. We've just come off the back of two
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: years of COVID where everyone's suffering, and this government is now,
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: in response to what needs to be a bump of
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: tourism season, is now putting extra pressure on people. And
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: you know, it will be very interesting to see the
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: damaging impact this will have on that international and interstate
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: market case.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: There's nothing in that report though to suggest that locals
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: are going to be charged at this stage, So again
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I'll ask Ah, you just fear mongering.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: I am absolutely afraid.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: I am absolutely afraid, Katie, And so should you be
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: if you're listening, because I've got a list in front
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: of me of fifty parks across the territory where interstate
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: and international tourists will have to pay to go to,
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: which include Manton Dam, include Lichfield, include a range of places.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: And I've got no confidence that this government isn't coming
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: after you. This is a territory lifestyle tax by another name,
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: coming to a how whole new youth.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: How much are people going to have to pay?
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: How much of those tourists going to have to pay
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: to attend those fifty parks?
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: And is it fair enough that if they.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Travel into the northern Territory that they should actually have
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: to pay to go to those national parks? I mean,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I know when you go to the likes of Ularu,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: you have to pay to go there.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: Sure, the devil will be in the detail on how
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: much people are going to pay, But ultimately can we
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: afford to be charging as we re emerge back out
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: of COVID as we have the issues of crime dogging
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: tourism businesses where they are losing bookings because people are
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: googling wonderful places like Alice Springs and only seeing bad
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: news come back up? You know, is the time right,
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: Are we actually going to be creating a greater detriment
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: than we are good? And ultimately, this government needs to
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: start prioritizing it's spending. It's turned its back for six
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: years on our beautiful, pristine, natural environment, which is such
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: an important lifestyle piece but also tourism and economic piece,
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: and now all of a sudden they've woken up and gone,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: oh gosh, we've got nine billion dollars debt, We're broke,
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: and what are we going to do about our parks
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: which are becoming overrun by gamber totally falling apart in
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: terms of lack of infrastructure investment. And so now they're
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: going after the very tour as we need to spend
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: their money in the private sector.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Government's going to take that money for its own coffin.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: We did just get a message that come through. It
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: said high KD shooters already pay to shoot on Crown Land.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: That's one of the messages Lea. Just finally, though, we
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: know that the government has awarded a design consultancy contract
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: to Woolbridge Gilbert Aztec to continue delivery of the shiplift project.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: They're going to now focus on delivering expert value engineering advice,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: apparently to maximize the benefits of the project for the
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory and also industry. The government says that this
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: contract is going to further progress the detailed design of
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the shiplift project to ensure the design is optimized to
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: meet the needs of future users.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: LEA. Is this a step in the right direction.
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: I think this is more fake milestone announcements by a
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: desperate Chief minister. What we know is that this has
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: blown out from a one hundred million dollar project to
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: a five hundred and fifteen million dollar project with no timeline,
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: no details. The government keeps talking in riddles about what
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: it's actually paying for and what is being delivered. We
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: referred this project to the Public Accounts Committee, which is
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: the financial watchdog of the Northern Territory, to review the
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: government spend and the value for territory and ultimately I
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: have not received a letter back from the Public Accounts
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Committee since December last year, which shows the lack of
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: integrity of the files government. In response to that call
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: that this be publicly reviewed by that forensic financial body,
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: I mean eight years later, this government is still talking
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: about a project, and all we know is it's costing
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: more and more every day, and it's eroding business confidence
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: and ultimately we're missing opportunities that should be on the
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: ground already.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Leah. Sorry, just one last quick one.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Nearly five million Aussies are set to receive a major
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: increase to their pension and allowance payments when they're indexed
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: to inflation later this month. So our recipients of the
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: age Pension, Disability Support, Pension and care of Payment can
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: expect that increase of around thirty seven dollars fifty a
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: fortnight for singles and fifty six dollars forty a.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Fortnight for couples.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Now Kota, the Council of the Aging here in the
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory, says the three point seven percent increase in
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: the pension is welcome. It's a welcome relief for senior Territorians,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: but it falls short of properly addressing the financial pressures
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: that older Territorians are facing. Now Kota's Northern Territory Chief
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Executive Sushira is calling on the Northern Territory government to
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: help older Territorians by indexing the Senior's Recognition Scheme to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the consumer Price Index. Do you agree and think that
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: this needs to happen?
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: Well, what I agree with is that CPI is at
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: all time high. We've got the RBA set to have
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: our tenth consecutive rate rise. Today, cost of living is
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: through the roof. I know we've been working hard to
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: try and drive down the price of fuel with legislation
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: that will really hold fuel retailers to account, but ultimately
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: what we've got instead is a files government that slashed
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: the solar feed in tariff, which many seniors would have
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: relied heavily on. We've seen this government also increase power
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: prices and not tackle cost of living. So I'm not
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: surprised seniors are hurting much like many families and cross
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: the territory.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: But do you think that we should actually index the
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: seniors recognition scheme?
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Should there be an increase.
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Well, I fully support an increase to supporting our seniors.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: What that looks like, you know, I'm very happy to
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: sit down with Coder and discuss, and I imagine that's
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: going to be something front and center as we move
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: towards that election period at the start of next year.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: But the reality is we can't afford to lose people
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: from the territory and that this government has done nothing
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: to drive down that cost of living pressure. In fact,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: they've only done things to make it worse. And so
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: it's looking at a holistically around how do we support
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: us stronger economy, how do we keep people in the territory,
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: and how do we make sure that people are paying
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: you as least amount as possible for those key services
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: that we all need to live our lives.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: And certainly you would think that keeping our scene is here,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: keeping our pensions here, some of those grandparents that are
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: helping us to raise our children, you would think that
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: that would be a priority. So by the sounds of it, yes,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: you do support what CODA is calling for.
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: Well, we certainly support increases and happy to work with
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: Coder on what that looks like come election time next year.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: But ultimately, our sceniors are enormously valuable. They are our volunteers,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: they are our blood donuts, they are our babysitters, and
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: they are just wonderful people spending their money in the community,
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: keeping the fabric of the territory alive, and we can't
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: afford to lose them. We need to be supporting them
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: and the rest of the community with cost of living relief.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Lea fan Occhiaro. We will leave it there as always,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: thanks for your time this morning.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Take care everyone,