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Katie Woolf spoke with CDU Vice Chancellor Simon Maddocks · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Two weeks ago, I think it would have been. We
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: had a number of international students arrive in the Northern
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Territory to go into quarantine, ready to then be released
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  Speaker 1: and study at Charles Darwin University. Joining me on the
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  Speaker 1: line to let us know where things are at at
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  Speaker 1: the moment is the Vice Chancellor, Professor Simon Maddox. Good morning,
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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Professor maddex as I understand it those students
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  Speaker 1: came out of quarantine a little earlier this week, didn't they?
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  Speaker 2: They did. They completed their quarantine requirements on Monday and
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  Speaker 2: we're able to move into their arranged accommodation. And then
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  Speaker 2: we welcome them all onto the Casualina campus yesterday morning
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  Speaker 2: with a very special ceremony with a welcome the country
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  Speaker 2: and a smoking ceremony from Larkie Elders and a wonderful
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  Speaker 2: morning introduction with the Deputy Chief Minister. And I was
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  Speaker 2: in attendance as well.
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  Speaker 1: Fantastic And are they all pretty excited to hit the
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  Speaker 1: ground running? Are they going to start before Christmas their studies?
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  Speaker 2: Oh yes, yes, so I have to say a X
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  Speaker 2: three very happy and very healthy international students and all
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  Speaker 2: commence a range of programs so some of them are
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  Speaker 2: brand new students. This is the first time. Some of
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  Speaker 2: them are returning students, so undergraduates, a mix of postgraduates
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  Speaker 2: and vet students areas such as law, nursing, it teaching, engineering, accounting.
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  Speaker 2: So some of them will have some preparatory programs that
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  Speaker 2: will run through the rest of our summer semester, and
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  Speaker 2: certainly others will pick up components of their existing program.
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  Speaker 2: Perhaps some of them have been engaged online with US
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  Speaker 2: already through the earlier part of this year, but certainly
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  Speaker 2: all here already to engage and prime for the start
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  Speaker 2: of the first semester next year, even with some summer
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  Speaker 2: semesters engagement.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, now, are you keen to try and get more
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  Speaker 1: international students here to the territory to study.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we realize that we've obviously got to be considered
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  Speaker 2: as part of the broader Australian government repatriation program. Ares
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  Speaker 2: still many Australian stuck overseas, and we've been very careful
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that we're not jeopardizing any of that opportunity,
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  Speaker 2: and the Government's made it clear what their priorities are.
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  Speaker 2: But it was important that this pilot was able to
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  Speaker 2: be run so that the government could test a number
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  Speaker 2: of the requirements. We do liberates in students from five
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  Speaker 2: different source origins to make sure they could test all
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  Speaker 2: of those opportunities, and we have submitted plans for more
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  Speaker 2: flights commencing from January next year right through the middle
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  Speaker 2: of next year, but it will very much dependent upon
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  Speaker 2: how they can balance the demand on facilities like how
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  Speaker 2: It Springs. These students were allowed in as an extra
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  Speaker 2: quota above for current government mandated quotas on normal repatriations
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  Speaker 2: from overseas, and they will put in a special allocation
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  Speaker 2: at how It Springs. So subject to all of those
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  Speaker 2: issues being appropriately managed, we certainly have plans to bring more.
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  Speaker 2: We've got some fifteen hundred students now on a waiting
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  Speaker 2: list with an opportunity to come back, so that big.
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  Speaker 1: Demand sixteen hundred that want to actually get here to
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  Speaker 1: either complete these studies, to get back to study, or
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  Speaker 1: to start at Charles Darwin Uni.
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  Speaker 2: Yep. Absolutely, When we.
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  Speaker 1: Know when will you get a bit of a better understanding.
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  Speaker 1: I guess we all understand that you know that we
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  Speaker 1: wanted we need to repatriate Aussies that need to get
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  Speaker 1: home and they should be top priority. But when will
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  Speaker 1: you get a better understanding from the federal government and
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  Speaker 1: the territory government as to whether it's going to be
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  Speaker 1: possible to bring some of these students across I looked.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're planning as well advanced. We have a
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  Speaker 2: weekly or bi weekly meetings with the various officials. You know,
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  Speaker 2: the logistics of this are highly complicated. We had to
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  Speaker 2: arrange connecting flights from five different source origins to all
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  Speaker 2: had to be brought into Changi Airport within you know,
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  Speaker 2: a period of about four hours before our charter flight
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  Speaker 2: then left. Every student had to provide a test showing
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  Speaker 2: that they tested negative for COVID in seventy two hours
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  Speaker 2: before they began that move back here. They then get
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  Speaker 2: tested once they're back and how it springs, and they
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  Speaker 2: get tested again before they leave. So all of the
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  Speaker 2: logistics of this you have to get approval from the
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  Speaker 2: Singapore government for the flight to leave Singapore. We specifically
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  Speaker 2: charted a plane that the students paid for their own
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  Speaker 2: tickets on that plane, so that we weren't taking up
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  Speaker 2: seats on commercial flights that other returning Australians might have
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  Speaker 2: been able to have access to. So you know, the
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  Speaker 2: logistics are complicated and we very much are working closely
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  Speaker 2: with the government and they've got their priorities obviously to
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  Speaker 2: meet first and foremost, and will take our part in
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  Speaker 2: the qure of that.
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  Speaker 1: Where would those students be coming from if you are
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  Speaker 1: able to make this happen.
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  Speaker 2: So look, this first cohort came from mainland China, from
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  Speaker 2: Hong Kong, from Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia. We have a
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  Speaker 2: number of students from Nepal who are keen to get
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  Speaker 2: back here, but until the Nepalese government is able to
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  Speaker 2: facilitate transfer flights out of Nepal, that won't progress anytime soon.
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  Speaker 2: We have many students from the subcombinent India who are
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  Speaker 2: obviously also keen to engage. So you know, it all requires.
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  Speaker 2: They've got to have the capacity to get local medical
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  Speaker 2: testing done, They've got to get local visa arrangements managed.
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  Speaker 2: They have to be able to be connecting flights from
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  Speaker 2: their point of origin to somewhere like Singapore for a
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  Speaker 2: transfer to meet a charter. So there are many, many
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  Speaker 2: levels of government and other official requirements that have to
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  Speaker 2: be lined up before we can progress. But we've got
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  Speaker 2: CDU has an international student profile from sixty nine different
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  Speaker 2: nations around the globe, and so I guess, on the
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  Speaker 2: one hand, we have to anticipate that there's potentially sixty
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  Speaker 2: nine sources of embarkation that students would be looking to
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  Speaker 2: come back and join. But I think, you know, the
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  Speaker 2: fact that we've run this pilot successfully has certainly put
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  Speaker 2: us Darwin and the Northern Territory globally on the map.
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  Speaker 2: We've had messages from around the world celebrating this successful
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  Speaker 2: pilot because I think it's given everybody hope that maybe
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  Speaker 2: through the course of next year we'll see more of
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  Speaker 2: this opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Delis well and it is a very important part of
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  Speaker 1: the growth of Charles Dalen University as well, isn't it
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  Speaker 1: that international student study?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. You know, for the last couple of years we
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  Speaker 2: haven't had the ability to have domestic growth because the
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  Speaker 2: government had kept those places. The government has now moved
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  Speaker 2: to new policy structures that will see US grew domestic
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  Speaker 2: Australian engagement at least five percent year on year, and
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  Speaker 2: this year, with COVID and everybody having to rethink their futures,
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  Speaker 2: we've had a forty percent increase in first preference applications
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  Speaker 2: from across Australia to study at CDU, but there's no
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  Speaker 2: doubt the international market is still as a giving and
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  Speaker 2: growth opportunity. So these students aren't taking up places that
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  Speaker 2: Australian students could have a CDU. They're completely independently funded
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  Speaker 2: and we see it as an important market and I
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  Speaker 2: think the relationships that Australia maintains with countries to our
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  Speaker 2: north are absolutely supported by strong educational linkages, so we're
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  Speaker 2: keen to grow that. These students are also a very
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  Speaker 2: important part of the Darwin local economy. Many of them
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  Speaker 2: you know, we'll purchase from and will workforce more businesses
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  Speaker 2: in Darwen. So I know we've had strong support from
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  Speaker 2: the local business community wanting to see students back in
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  Speaker 2: town because they are an essential part of this economy.
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  Speaker 2: Also getting back on a seat so important for the university,
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  Speaker 2: important for Darwin and for our springs where we've got
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  Speaker 2: students going as well, and important for the.
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  Speaker 1: Territory Professor Maddix. We did just get a message from
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  Speaker 1: one of our listeners asking Katie, could you please ask
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  Speaker 1: Simon why only sixty three students came over when they
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  Speaker 1: were okayed for a hundred is that the case?
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  Speaker 2: No, So we were given permission from the Prime Minister
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  Speaker 2: for up to seventy two okay, And given the challenging logistics,
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  Speaker 2: and it took you know, it was on again, off again.
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  Speaker 2: We had to get the charter flight lined up and
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  Speaker 2: the commercial flights into Singapore all had to align with
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  Speaker 2: those opportunities. So given all the challenges and five different
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  Speaker 2: countries and five different levels of government to work with
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  Speaker 2: and all of those issues, the fact that we managed
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  Speaker 2: to get sixty three all able to pay their way
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  Speaker 2: and be there and be connected was a pretty incredible effort.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, if we'd had seventy two, we would
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  Speaker 2: have grabbed them. But you know, the logistics are complicated,
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  Speaker 2: so I think we always understood that there was going
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  Speaker 2: to be a potential challenge, but it was fantastic outter
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  Speaker 2: y a.
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  Speaker 1: Cymber maatics. We are going to have to wrap up,
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  Speaker 1: but you are obviously going to be leaving Charles Daleen University.
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  Speaker 1: When do you finish up?
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  Speaker 2: So I officially finish up at the end of December, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: but the university closes this Friday for our standard Christmas shutdown,
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  Speaker 2: so everything's pretty imminent.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what is sad to leave the territory.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. You know, I've had an association with the territory
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  Speaker 2: for going on twenty five years now with the men
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  Speaker 2: she's called a health research and in the last seven
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  Speaker 2: years as nice chance with a CDU. And I love Darwen.
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  Speaker 2: I love the territory. It's a very special part of
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  Speaker 2: Australia and you know it's got lots of challenges, but
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  Speaker 2: by goodness, there's lots of opportunities in front of this place,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the University is certainly putting in shoulder
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  Speaker 2: the wheel and actively contributing to what we can do
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  Speaker 2: to grow opportunities here for territory and to grow trade
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  Speaker 2: another business opportunity. So a really exciting time. But you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's been such a privilege for me to be part
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  Speaker 2: of CDU for the last seven years and to be
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  Speaker 2: able to immerse myself in Darwen and the lifetime.
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  Speaker 1: It's a great form and Professor Maddix, no doubt you
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  Speaker 1: know there'd be some really memorable occasions in your role
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  Speaker 1: and some which have been tougher. I might ask you first,
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  Speaker 1: what have been the more difficult things that you've had
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  Speaker 1: to overcome as the Vice chancellor.
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  Speaker 2: Oh well, I think as everybody is aware when when
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  Speaker 2: funding change of challenges have dropped on you very quickly,
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  Speaker 2: and we've had to do some significant restructuring within the university.
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  Speaker 2: Staff have worked incredibly hard and we had to do
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  Speaker 2: some of this on top of all what challenges that
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  Speaker 2: COVID brought with us. But having to downsize parts of
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  Speaker 2: the operation to bring budges back into line. That's never
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  Speaker 2: a pleasant decision for anybody to have to orchestrate, but
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  Speaker 2: it was really important for the anniversity. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I think those are the difficult times, but everybody understood
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  Speaker 2: what and why we had to make the changes, and
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  Speaker 2: CD is now in a really strong position for growth
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  Speaker 2: going forward, and you know, I think it's got some
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  Speaker 2: great prospects in front of it and the best time
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  Speaker 2: I've always been graduations to see students of all ages,
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  Speaker 2: but you know, best school students through to undergraduate students
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  Speaker 2: for your age, students, PhDs, doctorates crossing that stage. Every
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  Speaker 2: single person that walks across that stage is a life
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  Speaker 2: changed and that changes them, It changes their family, it
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  Speaker 2: changes the community that they contribute to. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: education is a really important opportunity, and I'm very proud
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  Speaker 2: of the fact that CDU has a really strong equity
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  Speaker 2: and strong access to make sure that anybody who wants
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  Speaker 2: an education gets access to it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well, Vice Chancellor, Professor Cymon Maddox, all the
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  Speaker 1: very best. I appreciate all the time that you've given
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  Speaker 1: us on this show. Even when you've had to make
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  Speaker 1: those tough decisions, you have always fronted up and spoken
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  Speaker 1: to us. We really appreciate the time that you've given
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: to us on three point sixty and we wish you
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  Speaker 1: all the very best.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Codie. I really appreciated the engagement of
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  Speaker 2: the support that you've given us too, so thank you
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  Speaker 2: so much.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 1: We will no doubt probably still hear from you at
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  Speaker 1: some point down the track. Thank you, Simon Maddox, look
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: for thanks