Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Scouts NT Board member Andrew Mackay says it’s disheartening the volunteer group which teaches kids vital survival skills has had $15,000 of items stolen

Transcript

Scouts NT Board member Andrew Mackay says it’s disheartening the volunteer group which teaches kids vital survival skills has had $15,000 of items stolen · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: But look joining me on the line right now to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about what happened yesterday at
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  Speaker 1: that Palmeston meeting. But some of the issues at Scouts
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: MT have been dealing with when it comes to crime
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  Speaker 1: is Andrew McKay, who is indeed from the Scouts Scouts
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  Speaker 1: INT one of the board members.
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  Speaker 2: The good morning to you, Andrew.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, thanks for having.
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  Speaker 2: Me, Thanks so much for your time.
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  Speaker 1: Mate. Tell us a little bit about why you decided
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  Speaker 1: to attend that meeting yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: It was a bit late minute, but I got an
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  Speaker 3: email about it. Another side is to head on down
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  Speaker 3: and see what was all about. It's on the top
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  Speaker 3: of my mind as crime at the moment because last
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  Speaker 3: week Warrabinder, which is a Scout run campground the end
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  Speaker 3: of Howard Springs Road, it was targeted and a number
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  Speaker 3: of items adding up to about fifteen grand with stolen
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  Speaker 3: and for a volunteer run organization, we don't have a
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  Speaker 3: lot of money in the bank for items like these.
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  Speaker 3: Now hopefully insurance comes through, but it's just it's just
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  Speaker 3: really disheartening to see a youth organization targeted.
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  Speaker 1: Oh you sport on and you know we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: kids that are involved in you know, in different programs
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  Speaker 1: with Scouts that are giving them lifelong skills and they're
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  Speaker 1: doing the right thing, you know, like their kids that
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  Speaker 1: are out there doing the right thing.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's it. Like Scouts and Tea and Scouts around Australia.
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  Speaker 3: It's all about developing young people and giving them skills
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  Speaker 3: and helping them become great members of our society. And
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  Speaker 3: it's just a shame to see someone target them. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: it's really disheartening.
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  Speaker 2: Andrew. What exactly was stolen?
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  Speaker 3: The number of items were stolen. The most significant was
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  Speaker 3: a green eight y five single axle trailer and have
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  Speaker 3: read twenty sixteen Tyro zero turned moa, so quite an
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  Speaker 3: expensive moa, Quite a nice trailer with cages on the side.
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  Speaker 3: They've also stolen some weeds prayers, they stole some trailer
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  Speaker 3: learning rants. They stole a toolbox full of pools. They
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  Speaker 3: also decided to all the lock box with all the
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  Speaker 3: keys in it, which means that we had to have
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  Speaker 3: a lot locksmith come out on the Sunday when it
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  Speaker 3: was discovered and replace all the locks on site. So
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  Speaker 3: we don't have easy targets. But when they come back,
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  Speaker 3: if they ever come back, and that was quite an
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  Speaker 3: expensive fair as well.
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  Speaker 2: What a bloody debarcle.
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  Speaker 1: And you think the impact then that that has on
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  Speaker 1: you guys, I'm imagining would be enormous.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's a it's a real shame because you know,
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  Speaker 3: they were a binder and scouts into it's pretty much
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  Speaker 3: all volunteers. So we've got people who go out there
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  Speaker 3: every week and they mow it, they spray, they make
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  Speaker 3: sure there's no mission grass, no gamber grass. And for
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  Speaker 3: some reason someone's decided that they be better suited stealing
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  Speaker 3: this stuff. We're really hoping that someone listening or someone
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  Speaker 3: out there will see someone driving around with a brand
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  Speaker 3: new trailer or a nice new mile they didn't have
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  Speaker 3: before and get in contact. Because I stuff steal from kids,
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  Speaker 3: why won't they steal from you?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, it's a it's a terrible situation, mate, What
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  Speaker 1: what do what would you like to see happen here?
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  Speaker 1: And firstly, I guess, how are you going to go
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  Speaker 1: about replacing all that stuff? By the sounds of it,
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  Speaker 1: You're waiting to find out from insurance if you can.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. So we originally got most of this material through
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  Speaker 3: government grants. A couple of years ago, and we're hoping
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  Speaker 3: that insurance comes very quick and we'll be able to
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  Speaker 3: replace them. You get a similar size a mole. And
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  Speaker 3: now because our bend is quite big, it's twenty eight
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  Speaker 3: acres and we mile about three to keep it well maintained.
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  Speaker 3: The school group and other community groups that might use
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  Speaker 3: the area camp and we're now hoping that insurance hopefully
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  Speaker 3: comes soon. But as you know, Katie, this time of year,
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  Speaker 3: when it starts the rain, is when the grass is growing,
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  Speaker 3: and if you don't stay on top of it, you
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  Speaker 3: easily start losing nice clean fields of state.
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  Speaker 1: Oh your poor buggers, what a bloody well. Look honestly,
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  Speaker 1: what a pain in the neck. And you know, a
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  Speaker 1: real loss to you for an organization that is all
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  Speaker 1: about you, it's all about teaching on those lifelong skills.
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  Speaker 1: What do you want to see happen here, Andrew, before
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  Speaker 1: I let you go.
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  Speaker 3: Well, ideally, whoever stole it, you know, if they could
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  Speaker 3: have a turn of conscience and return the year, that
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  Speaker 3: would be ideal. I've got not a lot of faith
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  Speaker 3: in that happening, but I'd love for it to happen.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we are running on a shoe string budget
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  Speaker 3: because we want to put as much money into the
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  Speaker 3: youth and not into the buying items like this. Yep.
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  Speaker 3: And it's just a shame because at the moment we're
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  Speaker 3: going through a period of trying to upgrade Wiribinda and
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  Speaker 3: make it more appealing for different groups to use it.
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  Speaker 3: That's quite central to Darwin. It's a great place for
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  Speaker 3: kids to go, get mori enteering skills, get them outdoor skills.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, we had people out there on the
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  Speaker 3: weekend with a government grant. We're installing new air cons
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  Speaker 3: for the kitchen, we're installing new water bubblers and now
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  Speaker 3: everything's going to be overgrown in about two weeks. It's
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  Speaker 3: just really disheartening.
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  Speaker 2: It is bloody disheartening.
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  Speaker 1: Well, look, if there is anybody out there listening this
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  Speaker 1: morning who's able to help you guys in any.
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  Speaker 2: Way or put the call out out there. Eight nine
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  Speaker 2: four one.
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  Speaker 1: One O four nine Andrew, I'm really sorry that that's
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  Speaker 1: happened to you guys, and that it is going to
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  Speaker 1: have an impact on all the wonderful kids that obviously
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  Speaker 1: our scouts here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Please keep us up to date with how things are.
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  Speaker 3: Going or thanks for having us, Katie, thank.
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  Speaker 2: You, Thanks Andrew. I appreciate your time.