Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Tiwi Island band B2M frontman Jeffrey ‘Yello’ Simon is calling out bad behaviour by youth in his community and is urging elders to do more

Transcript

Tiwi Island band B2M frontman Jeffrey ‘Yello’ Simon is calling out bad behaviour by youth in his community and is urging elders to do more · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Last week on Friday, we did get contacted by a
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  Speaker 1: couple of people who had heard our next guest during
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  Speaker 1: an interview on another radio station on the ABC and look,
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  Speaker 1: I don't usually follow what others are doing, but I'd
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  Speaker 1: had a bit of a listen to that interview and
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  Speaker 1: I thought, this is something that we definitely need to
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  Speaker 1: talk about. This is a bloke that we definitely need
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  Speaker 1: to get on the show because there has been so
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  Speaker 1: much discussion about crime and the different issues that we're
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  Speaker 1: seeing in Darwin, and it seems although we've had quite
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  Speaker 1: a nice weekend, there's been minimal crime, but the concerns
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  Speaker 1: have been causing a real sense of unease across the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory. And joining me on the line right now
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  Speaker 1: is a well known Territorian who's using his vice voice,
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  Speaker 1: I should say in a different way. He's urging tribal
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  Speaker 1: group leaders to take action to put a stop to
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  Speaker 1: the violent crime that we are seeing in Darwin. He
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  Speaker 1: is a tee Wee man and his name is Jeffrey Simon.
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  Speaker 1: You'll also know him as Yellow from Teewee Island Band
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  Speaker 1: B two.
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  Speaker 2: A good morning to your Yellow.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, good morning Katy, and good morning listens.
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  Speaker 1: Mate, thanks so much for your time this morning. It
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  Speaker 1: is wonderful to have you on the show. Why have
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  Speaker 1: you decided to stand up and use your voice to
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  Speaker 1: really urge some action on some of the terrible things
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  Speaker 1: that we are seeing when it comes to crime in
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  Speaker 1: the territory.
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  Speaker 3: I guess the separator put it, Katie is I'm very embarrassed. Embarrassed.
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  Speaker 3: I'm very embarrassed about my people coming in and darn
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  Speaker 3: and acting silly. So I just want to pour it
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  Speaker 3: out and yeah, do it the right waytty much, but
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  Speaker 3: also not beat around the bush.
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  Speaker 2: I love that, you know.
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  Speaker 1: I think that at the end of the day, you
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  Speaker 1: can't beat around the bush when this kind of thing
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  Speaker 1: is happening. And some of what we have been seeing
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  Speaker 1: has has been really bad behavior, has Nash.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look absolutely. I mean I can only speak and
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  Speaker 3: belt for my people, the TV Island people and the
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  Speaker 3: TVs so respecting cultural dynamics, cultural boundaries, however, I can say, look,
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  Speaker 3: we do have a drinking problem. There's there's no way too,
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  Speaker 3: you know. So it's look, you can hear to my
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  Speaker 3: voice and a bit dumb, a bit, you know, I'm
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  Speaker 3: a bit nervous, but I'm also you know, very passionate
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  Speaker 3: about you know, you know everyone, not not only just
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  Speaker 3: my people, but the drug and autcoholic issues in and
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  Speaker 3: around Darwin is just a complete, complete Embarrassment's gone too far.
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  Speaker 1: But I can hear the nerve in your voice that
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  Speaker 1: I can actually hear the emotion in your voice because
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  Speaker 1: you you're standing up and you're saying that it's not okay,
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  Speaker 1: and you're, you know, like you're doing it for your community.
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  Speaker 2: And I would imagine that you're doing.
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  Speaker 1: It for your kids and for the young ones that
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  Speaker 1: are in the community that you want to say it's
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  Speaker 1: that's not the kind of behavior that we want.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look absolutely so. Look I'm the last two stabbings
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  Speaker 3: in Darwin, you know, ended up in murder. So the
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  Speaker 3: last two corporates of that, we're young TV men. What's
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  Speaker 3: the solution, I don't know, send them back home. But
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  Speaker 3: then again, you know, the communities are not in a
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  Speaker 3: good shape as well Paradise, but there's a lot happening
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  Speaker 3: in Paradise. I mean, the tiv Islands have got more
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  Speaker 3: drama than Home and away there it's you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, it's I laugh, but it's not funny.
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  Speaker 1: It's actually bloody terrible, you know, to think that that
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  Speaker 1: is going on.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, do you think do you think there needs.
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  Speaker 1: To be more of that on country and cultural sort
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  Speaker 1: of learnings and that some of those types of programs
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  Speaker 1: could be the answer.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Look well, programs come and go on board of
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  Speaker 3: bread and community lived. All my life I've said, programs
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  Speaker 3: from the government come and go. What what I've seen now,
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  Speaker 3: which is a trend, is that these gatekeepers of our culture,
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  Speaker 3: the elders of the Tivy Islands, holding the culture to
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  Speaker 3: too close to themselves and not sharing it and not
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  Speaker 3: teaching it at schools or you know, ceremonies and stuff
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  Speaker 3: like that. So this is a call to our elders.
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  Speaker 3: They need to step up. We need we need leaders,
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  Speaker 3: and leaders need to get along. Our leaders back home
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  Speaker 3: I'm arguing with each other, and when they don't get along,
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  Speaker 3: the community suffers. So this is what I've seen, and
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  Speaker 3: it's a common trend. And if you're if you're a
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  Speaker 3: person that stands up, but guess what, there's a target
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  Speaker 3: on your back to shut you up. And I'm not
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  Speaker 3: that kind of person because I'll keep talking and try
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  Speaker 3: and at least ignite change somewhere.
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  Speaker 1: May do you worry there is going to be a
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  Speaker 1: target on your back because you are standing up and
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  Speaker 1: you're you're calling it.
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  Speaker 2: Like it is.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, Katie, I've had a tough life growing up,
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  Speaker 3: so nothing doesn't really phase Now. I'm forty one. I've
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  Speaker 3: seen both sides of the law. I've been the prison twice.
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  Speaker 3: I've learned the hard way to come out of you know,
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  Speaker 3: how to break the cycle. But also, you know, I've
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  Speaker 3: had time to where I re and I went back,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, I've sort of worked out that I
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  Speaker 3: have a good insight, whether it be in the prisons,
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  Speaker 3: in the community, on the streets, you know, working with
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  Speaker 3: stakeholders and stuff like that. So this is the time
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  Speaker 3: where people like myself and others we need to stand
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  Speaker 3: up and call this for what it is. We are
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  Speaker 3: pissing and shitting on the streets. We are singing ancient
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  Speaker 3: song lines that have been left behind for us from
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  Speaker 3: our ancestors. We use them song lines were singing the
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  Speaker 3: streets to bussing in the streets, grab that money, go
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  Speaker 3: to the pub, get drunk, akkerfool. That's got to stop.
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  Speaker 2: So Yellow, what changed in your life?
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  Speaker 1: Mate? You said that you know that you like you
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  Speaker 1: have been in prison, and that you know that that
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  Speaker 1: you are that you've learned, you know, like what is
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  Speaker 1: acceptable and what is good behavior, and you've obviously used
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  Speaker 1: your life experience to get there.
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  Speaker 2: What sort of changed in your life?
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  Speaker 1: And do you think that any of those learnings can
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  Speaker 1: you know it can be utilized to try to get
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  Speaker 1: some better decisions made for us in the territory.
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, kat, I've said I haven't got the answer. However,
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  Speaker 3: I've got the experience real life, you know, real world
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  Speaker 3: experience that that tells me that this cycle is at
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  Speaker 3: balling point. What are we going to do? I remember
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  Speaker 3: a few years ago John Howard threw the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 3: into intervention. Now we're seeing a lot more bad stuff happening.
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  Speaker 3: Now do we need an intervention? I don't know, but
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  Speaker 3: we need some sort of action by our indigenous leaders.
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  Speaker 3: We can't be pointing at the government for funding and
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  Speaker 3: asking for more money. That's got to stop. We have
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  Speaker 3: This is a black Father to Black Fallow conversation. We
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  Speaker 3: need to tell our mob stop acting silly in the street,
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  Speaker 3: stop being embarrassing. We don't see the Chinese or the
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  Speaker 3: Italians or the Greeks or any other race carrying on
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  Speaker 3: the way we carry on. What's going on? We need
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  Speaker 3: to stop it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's a sad like, it's a sad situation,
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  Speaker 1: and you're spot on. It needs to stop. And we're
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  Speaker 1: such like the thing is about the territories. We are
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  Speaker 1: such a multicultural place where you know, where everybody does
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  Speaker 1: accept and love each other's culture. And so it's actually
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  Speaker 1: really sad the way that things are at this point
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  Speaker 1: in time.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, I feel sorry for you know, the victims of crimes,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the hard working Northern territoridents that have you know,
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  Speaker 3: they've got a beautiful ower, so beautiful, a beautiful car.
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  Speaker 3: Someone comes along stills that actually absolutely fool of themselves
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  Speaker 3: carry on social media. I mean, that's that's that's not on.
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  Speaker 3: That's that's not our culture. We come from the old,
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  Speaker 3: oldest continuous culture on the planet. Yet we're acting very
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  Speaker 3: very immature about it. Our young people are crying out
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  Speaker 3: for love that you know that they're in crisis. Our
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  Speaker 3: young people need help. So this is a call for
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  Speaker 3: us to stand up, have a black fire, black while conversation.
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  Speaker 3: Let's look at this communities, look who's coming into town
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  Speaker 3: and running which tribe is that. Let's work with that tribe,
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  Speaker 3: look at that community and say what is not working
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  Speaker 3: here and what is working now. We can't throw a
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  Speaker 3: blanket on all Indigenous communities case by case.
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  Speaker 1: Yeall, mate, I really appreciate you having a chat to
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  Speaker 1: me this morning. Before I do let you go. Are
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  Speaker 1: you planning on sort of having a discussion with the government,
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  Speaker 1: or with the land councils, or with any community leaders
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  Speaker 1: to try and make that change? Like I think it's
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  Speaker 1: I reckon, it's really brave of you standing up and
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  Speaker 1: telling it like it is and being really honest about it.
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  Speaker 1: Are you planning on sort of having those conversations with
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  Speaker 1: any of those people that are in these decision making
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  Speaker 1: sort of jobs.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Katie, myself and James S. Grimjaw, we run
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  Speaker 3: a business called Code Black Records. It's a therapeutic record
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  Speaker 3: label where we encourage client saw anyone that has and
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: an issue that they want to raise. We can turn
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: that story into lyrics, turn that turn that lyrics into music.
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  Speaker 3: That music ends up becoming, you know, therapeutic healing for
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  Speaker 3: the listeners. So, Mate, I thing on offer, but I'm
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  Speaker 3: having a conversation with leaders. I mean, we can talk
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  Speaker 3: about it, but we need action.
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  Speaker 2: Now, you spot on, I'd love to have.
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to have Did you say it was James
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  Speaker 1: scrimjaw Yeah, James, Mate. Love to have you both in
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  Speaker 1: the studio one day for more of a discussion. I
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  Speaker 1: really appreciate you coming on this morning. I like I say,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's really admirable standing up and having your
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  Speaker 1: voice heard, even when people don't like. Some of them
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  Speaker 1: will love what you've got to say. Some of them
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  Speaker 1: won't like what you've got to say. But I think
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  Speaker 1: it's really you should be really proud of yourself standing
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  Speaker 1: up and speaking that honest.
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  Speaker 3: Truth as Gutty. Thanks for giving me the platform readers.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks mate, I really appreciate it.