Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Stuart Hotel Katherine Manager Athol Schmidt says they’ve put big cement blocks around the business in a bid to prevent ram raids

Transcript

Stuart Hotel Katherine Manager Athol Schmidt says they’ve put big cement blocks around the business in a bid to prevent ram raids · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now Catherine bottle Shop is ramping up their efforts to
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  Speaker 1: protect their premises from ram raids following an incident at
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  Speaker 1: another bottle shop near the Woolworths. Photos have been circulating
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  Speaker 1: on social media have some pretty big concrete blocks around
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  Speaker 1: the bottle ow entrance. And joining me on the line
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  Speaker 1: right now is Athol, the manager of the Stuart Hotel
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  Speaker 1: in Catherine. Good morning to you, Athold morning Katie, thanks
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  Speaker 1: so much for your time this morning. Mate. Tell us
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  Speaker 1: what's going on with the bollards? How come you decided
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  Speaker 1: to put those up?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, we're sitting duck here after what's happened in
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  Speaker 2: Katherine the last couple of months. As you know, you
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  Speaker 2: would have heard Woolwors got ram rated about a month ago.
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  Speaker 2: So since then they still can't replace their doors as
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  Speaker 2: obviously a shortage your product and other stuff, so we
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  Speaker 2: had to do something. It was a rather drastic measure.
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  Speaker 2: So we've since ordered removable bollards, but once again it's
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  Speaker 2: a month turnaround before we get them. Then we've got
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  Speaker 2: to get them put in as well, so it's probably
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  Speaker 2: a six week turnaround by the time we get that done.
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  Speaker 2: So in the introm we got well, probably they're about
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  Speaker 2: a ton and a half cement block, and we've got
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  Speaker 2: six of them in front of the front of the
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  Speaker 2: roller doors because we've going to oversized roller doors.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and you sort of go fair enough because if
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  Speaker 1: there's been other ram raids and it's taken ages for
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  Speaker 1: them to then be able to get the damage, that's
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  Speaker 1: you know, that's been done fixed. You've got to actually
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  Speaker 1: make sure that your business is protected.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And once they start, they won't stop.
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  Speaker 2: Now they've got a bit of a taste for it,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to keep going, you know, and this one
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  Speaker 2: of your tivity Iceberg, I sort of feel going forward.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so mate, where did you get the big concrete
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  Speaker 1: ballards from? There might be other businesses thinking, hey, hang
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  Speaker 1: on a sect, this sounds like an all right idea, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: We didn't know what we're going to do. We're panicking
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  Speaker 2: because when it did happen, we were sort of like said,
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  Speaker 2: we're sitting up. So we implored a security guard. So
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  Speaker 2: we had to put a security guard there of a
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  Speaker 2: night time and it was obviously costing a lot of money,
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  Speaker 2: so we had to come up with another idea. So
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  Speaker 2: I spoke with build a friend of mine, and he said, well, look,
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  Speaker 2: we can probably get some concrete blocks label with me.
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  Speaker 2: So left it to him and I don't know where
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  Speaker 2: he got holding. We got hold of me, So I've
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  Speaker 2: got some blocks coming your way. So we come with
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  Speaker 2: the booox and we put them out every night after
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  Speaker 2: bottle shop shuts and bring them in every morning before
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  Speaker 2: we trade.
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  Speaker 1: So ethel to those out there listening who maybe haven't
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  Speaker 1: seen the photos doing the rounds on the socials, tell
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  Speaker 1: us again how big are they?
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  Speaker 2: They're about a ton and a half block. So there
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  Speaker 2: are a big cement block like I. Build a friend
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  Speaker 2: of mine got hold of them. I'm not sure what
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  Speaker 2: they were used for. They look like they could have
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  Speaker 2: been used for maybe part of a retaining wall or
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  Speaker 2: something for roadworks. And we've got them on pallette, so
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  Speaker 2: we just move them in there with a forklift on
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  Speaker 2: a daily basis.
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  Speaker 1: I was just about to ask, how are you moving
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  Speaker 1: them in the morning each day?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, now we've got to use a forklift. We can't
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  Speaker 2: manually move them. Unfortunately, that's the whole idea, because we
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  Speaker 2: could manually move them, they would do.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I have second thoughts as they see the blocks you know.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, mate, Look it is a pretty extreme measure to
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  Speaker 1: have to take, but by the sounds of it, it's
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  Speaker 1: you know, you are genuinely worried that you know that
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  Speaker 1: you're going to be ram rated. So you've got to
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  Speaker 1: do what you've got to do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got to do something, and you've got to
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  Speaker 2: be proactive and reactive. There's no since complanning up they
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  Speaker 2: broke India when you could possibly do something to get
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  Speaker 2: on mainta You've got to have a chop and have
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  Speaker 2: a go at it and do your best. And look,
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  Speaker 2: if they do get in, they get in. We can't
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  Speaker 2: do any more than what we've done, you know what
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  Speaker 2: I mean.
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  Speaker 1: Appel, How have things been going for you guys in
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  Speaker 1: Catherine in recent weeks? I know there've been some concerns
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  Speaker 1: like Joe Hersey, the local member, had raised some worries
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  Speaker 1: about you know, people potentially coming to Catherine to access
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  Speaker 1: alcohol from other areas where they were no longer able
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  Speaker 1: to How are things going from your perspective, Look, we're.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty safe at this stage unless things change. Obviously, we've
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  Speaker 2: got pallets in the bottle shop so they get through
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  Speaker 2: and do the bedding process, and if they're from another area,
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  Speaker 2: another community and to drink, they turn them away. So
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  Speaker 2: we're pretty lucky in that respect that we've got that,
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  Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So so far say good,
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  Speaker 2: it's fairly caught at that. Tommy UK did always his
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  Speaker 2: general for every March. But like I said, with the
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  Speaker 2: pallet and the bottle shop, they do a great job
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  Speaker 2: and they just get if they're from a community or
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  Speaker 2: somewhere where they led drink there refuge service and they're
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  Speaker 2: turned away.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Appel, just on you'd said before that you know
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  Speaker 1: that you're having to deploy security to sort of be
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  Speaker 1: there overnight as well. Was it becoming a real like
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  Speaker 1: quite a high expense for the business.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, it's become, it's good to a stagerists an expense
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  Speaker 2: and we have never budget I have never had the
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  Speaker 2: budget into it. We've got a budget security into that
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  Speaker 2: portfolio now because we've got to have someone you know,
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  Speaker 2: we've got alarms and stuff like that, but we've pretty
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  Speaker 2: well got to have someone on site all the time
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  Speaker 2: just to try and nip in the budge, you know,
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  Speaker 2: even just just the matter of them getting over a
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  Speaker 2: fence and going through motel rooms or trying to get
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  Speaker 2: in somewhere else. They're always they never in, They're always
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  Speaker 2: trying to get in some way, you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 2: So it's an a an expense of the business that
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  Speaker 2: we've just got to got to take into consideration and
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  Speaker 2: they added into the p and LS. That's all we
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  Speaker 2: can do. But we can't claim it back. There's no
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  Speaker 2: way we can gather it back, you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well fair enough, I thought, mate. I always
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  Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you for having a chat with
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  Speaker 1: me this morning. And yeah, I'm sure there'll be people
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  Speaker 1: jumping online to have a look at the innovative way
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  Speaker 1: that you are stopping people from run raiding the business.
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  Speaker 2: So far, so good, Cardie anyway put it that.
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  Speaker 1: Way, Yeah, thank you, thanks so much having a chat
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  Speaker 1: with me this.
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  Speaker 2: Morning, always a pleasure. Candy, thanks for me.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you,