Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Property Council of the NT’s Ruth Palmer is calling for public intoxication and anti-social behaviour to become criminal offences as part of review into the NT’s alcohol laws

Transcript

Property Council of the NT’s Ruth Palmer is calling for public intoxication and anti-social behaviour to become criminal offences as part of review into the NT’s alcohol laws · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Just before Christmas, the Northern Territory government announced a three
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: year review of the Liquor Act for.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Twenty nineteen now.
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  Speaker 1: The Minister for Alcohol Policy, Natasha Files, said at the
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  Speaker 1: time that the review would help to drive continued efforts
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  Speaker 1: to minimize harm associated with alcohol, as well as ensure
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  Speaker 1: that the Act is effective in recognizing the public's interest
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: in the sale, supply, service, promotion and consumption of liquor. Now,
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  Speaker 1: as we know, a lot has happened since then. We've
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  Speaker 1: been discussing that throughout this morning, and you know, a
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  Speaker 1: lot's happen when you talk about alcohol and the issues
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  Speaker 1: that we've seen with its misuse. But nonetheless, this review
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  Speaker 1: is underway and in my opinion, it's incredibly important that
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  Speaker 1: feedback is received so that concerns when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: alcohol are heard. Now, the Property Council of Australia's NT branch,
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  Speaker 1: they've raised some concerns as part of their feedback for
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  Speaker 1: the review. But we've also had a number of business
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  Speaker 1: owners and property owners on the show in recent well
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  Speaker 1: in recent months, i guess, she'd say, And we've heard
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  Speaker 1: a couple of them over the last couple of weeks
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  Speaker 1: and joining me in the studio right now is the
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  Speaker 1: Property Council's executive director, Ruth Palmer.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Ruth, Morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Ruth, I know that some of these concerns about
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  Speaker 1: anti social behavior issues are ones that the Property Council
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  Speaker 1: is hearing quite loudly. You know, how do you feel
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  Speaker 1: as though the situation is at.
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  Speaker 2: The moment, Yeah, thanks, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: We need to understand that when measures are put in
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  Speaker 3: place like turning switching off the grog to communities, we
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  Speaker 3: will inevitably see that sort of influx of any social
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  Speaker 3: behavior as people come to town. And you know, it
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  Speaker 3: has been noted that that's what we are seeing now.
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  Speaker 3: So there is that increase in the public drunkeness, the
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  Speaker 3: behavior around the CBDs and other area as well, but
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  Speaker 3: it's also the damage that's then done to properties as well.
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  Speaker 3: So there's the crime, but there's also the human you know,
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  Speaker 3: the human feces that end up on these premises as well.
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  Speaker 3: And that's the one thing that we really strongly advocate
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  Speaker 3: for against around that public unness behavior, that intoxication, but
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  Speaker 3: also that any social behavior that comes with that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting that you mentioned that because even yesterday
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  Speaker 1: we had on the show an owner of a property
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  Speaker 1: or sorry, an operator of a business out in Yarrawonga,
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  Speaker 1: and he had said that, you know, that's something that
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  Speaker 1: his wife was dealing with that in the tap area
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  Speaker 1: that they've got, that there's people washing themselves in there,
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  Speaker 1: defecating there, and that it's becoming really difficult for them.
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  Speaker 2: It's not the first time we've heard it either.
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  Speaker 1: We spoke to Sentinel last week I think it was,
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  Speaker 1: and they were talking about the enormous bill that's associated with.
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  Speaker 2: Thatsh Yeah, that's right, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: And a lot of this has got to do with
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  Speaker 3: the people that are coming into town don't have a
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  Speaker 3: safe space to go to or housing housing requirements for them,
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  Speaker 3: so they are coming in, they are sleeping rough and
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  Speaker 3: they are consuming those large amounts of alcohol and then
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  Speaker 3: with nowhere to go and nowhere safe to be. So
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  Speaker 3: that's why we are seeing that public drunkenness behavior, but
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  Speaker 3: also the other sort of behaviors that come with that,
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  Speaker 3: like you've just highlighted there.
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  Speaker 1: Now we know that the government have announcestore before Christmas,
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  Speaker 1: they announced this alcohol review. What concerns does the council
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  Speaker 1: does the property council have when it comes to the
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  Speaker 1: review of that act or what feedback of you hoping
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  Speaker 1: gets through.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So, over the last couple of years, Katie, you know
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  Speaker 3: that we have spoken about the Liquor Act and the
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  Speaker 3: changes that were made in twenty nineteen. They removed the
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  Speaker 3: public intoxication and any social behavior off of that as
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  Speaker 3: a criminal offense at the time, regarding it as a
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  Speaker 3: health issue and that it should be treated as such.
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  Speaker 3: Now we have seen an increase in that public intoxicated
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  Speaker 3: behavior and also that any social behavior. We know that
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  Speaker 3: at the moment, Alice Springs is ranked number one when
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  Speaker 3: it comes to that sort of any social and crime
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  Speaker 3: behavior and Darwin sits at number four in the crime index.
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  Speaker 3: And you know that unenviable positions that we're holding. So
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  Speaker 3: we've been calling for a review to this for the
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  Speaker 3: last couple of years now.
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  Speaker 2: We have had to wait till the review time was up.
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  Speaker 3: Disappointing for us because you know, these were measures that
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  Speaker 3: could have been enacted a couple of years ago.
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  Speaker 2: But we have got a.
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  Speaker 3: Submission to go to the government around re examining that
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  Speaker 3: specific thing that was taken out around having public intoxication
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  Speaker 3: and any social behavior as a criminal affair.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is.
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  Speaker 1: Something that always comes up, and I know that you
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  Speaker 1: know that people are sort of going, well, if there's
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  Speaker 1: that two kilometer rule in place, and if you're not
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be drinking in public, why does it still happen.
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  Speaker 1: That's a big question people have got.
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  Speaker 3: And the problem is that the moment, Katie, as we
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  Speaker 3: just mentioned before, when you are putting measures in place
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  Speaker 3: that are deterring people from alcohol or deterring people from
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  Speaker 3: going to get their alcohol, they will seek it from
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  Speaker 3: other places. So this is what we really need to
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  Speaker 3: be mindful of and have the immediate measures in place
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  Speaker 3: to be able to then deal with those behaviors that
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  Speaker 3: are going to happen where the police have more power
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  Speaker 3: to be able to then criminally charge the people that
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  Speaker 3: are causing this bad behavior within with in the territory.
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  Speaker 1: Now reads, I also want to ask you about I
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  Speaker 1: know that the Property Council of Australia's Northern Territory Office
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  Speaker 1: Market report has been released now. It looks at vacancy
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  Speaker 1: rates within the office market in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: What's it found this time round? Yes, So what we're.
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  Speaker 3: Seeing, Katie is we've seen a takeup of our premium spaces,
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  Speaker 3: which which you naturally see, you know, you sort of
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  Speaker 3: a to B grade space, which are the newer buildings
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  Speaker 3: or buildings that have had like some really major refirms,
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  Speaker 3: and they're usually buildings that are taken up by government.
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  Speaker 3: We know government takes eighty percent of tenancy around the
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  Speaker 3: DAH and CBD, so this is DARH and CBD specifically,
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  Speaker 3: But what is concerning to us is our sort of
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  Speaker 3: C grade space, the lower grade, So this is sitting
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  Speaker 3: at fifty six percent vacant across the CBD, and that's
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  Speaker 3: just under twenty buildings that are sitting vacant within the city.
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  Speaker 2: So they're the ones that we really need to focus on.
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  Speaker 3: So while the numbers seem better at a fourteen point
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  Speaker 3: nine percent vacancy across the whole CBD down from seventeen,
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  Speaker 3: it is just that movement around businesses going into those
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  Speaker 3: high grade spaces, but obviously leaving those C grade spaces vacant.
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  Speaker 3: And when a building has been left vacant for quite
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  Speaker 3: some time, it is obviously going to get older, it
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  Speaker 3: will get more run down. There's more cost associated with
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  Speaker 3: keeping the mechanical works up, your air conditioning and the electricity.
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  Speaker 3: So that's what we nearly need to start looking at
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  Speaker 3: by way of reform and by way of some exemptions
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  Speaker 3: around meeting the code accessibility requirements.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I know that a few years back, I thought
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  Speaker 1: that the Northern Territory government had introduced some kind of
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  Speaker 1: you know, like you're meant to try and beautify outside
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  Speaker 1: your building if it was vacant or your block of land.
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  Speaker 2: Is that still something that happens.
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  Speaker 3: No, So that, well, that was a levee that was
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  Speaker 3: enforced a few years ago and that has been scrapped.
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  Speaker 3: But basically what that then can do is basically people
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  Speaker 3: can board up their windows and that's considered beautification. So
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  Speaker 3: to us, we see that as a band aid solution.
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  Speaker 3: We need to be looking at what we can actually
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  Speaker 3: do to activate these spaces. And you know, the things
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  Speaker 3: that we can look at is conversion of these buildings,
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  Speaker 3: but also short to medium use of those buildings, so
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  Speaker 3: only having something specifically used for eighteen to twenty four
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  Speaker 3: months where you may be able to get an exemption
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  Speaker 3: from the government to be able to get those buildings activated,
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  Speaker 3: and then if that building gets activated, you would likely
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  Speaker 3: see a lot more investment into that building to then
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  Speaker 3: further do the upgrades required to meet the code accessibility requirements.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah right, all right, lost Bos. It's an interesting one.
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  Speaker 1: It's always interesting and difficult. I guess if you've got
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  Speaker 1: too much of that office space that is vacant, because
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  Speaker 1: it has a real impact then on the businesses that
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  Speaker 1: are in our CBD and the foot traffic, I guess.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, we're in a position at the moment
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  Speaker 3: where we're trying to attract you know, eight thousand students
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  Speaker 3: to come and you know, live, work and play within
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  Speaker 3: the CBD with the brand new university. So why aren't
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  Speaker 3: we having those spots for them to then go to,
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  Speaker 3: you know, whether it be cool funky bars or something
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  Speaker 3: like that, that we can use these sort of lower
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  Speaker 3: grade buildings to be able to revitalize but make them
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  Speaker 3: a bit unique and funky and be able to give
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  Speaker 3: you something in the territory that is quite unique. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we need to really be brave and bold
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  Speaker 3: and innovative with our ideas and sort of get the
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  Speaker 3: government to get rid of this culture of no and
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  Speaker 3: adopt a culture of yes.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Ruth Palmer, we are going to have to leave
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  Speaker 1: it there the Executive Director of the Property Council here
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for your time today. Thanks Katie