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Katie Woolf spoke with Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If you want to know what's happening on the local
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: political landscape, Kay Wolf has it covered on three sixty.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Every one is listening mixed one O four point nine, as.
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  Speaker 1: He does about this time every Tuesday morning, the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Mayor convat scarlets, Good morning Corn.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katya and Christo Sesti. Happy Greek ister.
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  Speaker 3: We've had it the beautiful explosive ister this weekend. I
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  Speaker 3: know there were a few foreigners that never experienced before.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: They're complaining about the noise of the fire crackers and
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: as somebody said.
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  Speaker 2: Well you reasten the arrival. So this has been going
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  Speaker 2: on in down.
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  Speaker 1: For ten twenty thirty forty years and get used absolutely absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: And I tell you what I saw some vision over
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  Speaker 1: the weekend. It looked like there was thousands of people
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  Speaker 1: walking through the city as part of Greek Easy there.
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  Speaker 3: I went down to the Funny Bay, it's the usual
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  Speaker 3: spot of the Greek families called. There were lots of
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  Speaker 3: them down there, and it was a great time, great weather,
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  Speaker 3: great feeling in around the city.
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  Speaker 2: And of course I'm so proud of my council.
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  Speaker 3: I have to tell you we scooked the awards in
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  Speaker 3: the MV Technology awards done at Victoria.
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  Speaker 1: So what awards did you win?
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  Speaker 3: Well, there's actually awards done by the municipal Victoria, but
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  Speaker 3: everybody can participate from around Australia.
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  Speaker 2: So we did.
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  Speaker 3: So we got the Australian Achievement of the Year award,
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  Speaker 3: we got the Smart City Achievement of the Year award
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  Speaker 3: and we got the Digital Leadership Achievement of the Year award.
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  Speaker 3: So here little Darwin putting against places like Melbourne and
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  Speaker 3: Sydney and everything else and we come tops with three
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  Speaker 3: fantastic awards.
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  Speaker 2: Well done guys, you've.
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  Speaker 3: Done a tremendous job and we wave the flag everywhere
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  Speaker 3: in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: All good stuff. Well that is great to hear. I
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  Speaker 1: always enjoy a good news story. Now con we know
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  Speaker 1: the casual in or Acordic and Leisure Center. There's a
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  Speaker 1: lot happening in terms of consultation at this point, isn't there.
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  Speaker 3: We went out, we wanted people to have a look
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  Speaker 3: at it, didn't tell us what they think if they
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  Speaker 3: wanted any changes, and yes they did want some changes.
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  Speaker 3: So now we had five lanes in the big swimming pool.
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  Speaker 3: Now we've got eight because that's what people told us.
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  Speaker 3: They want more LANs for competition. We brought closer all
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  Speaker 3: the clubrooms and everything else. We remodeled the change rooms.
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  Speaker 3: The lagoon style remains the same. We're now going to
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  Speaker 3: have an open air cinema and we're going to have
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  Speaker 3: a half basketball court as well, plus all the facilities
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  Speaker 3: for a cafe restaurant, and also we think of bringing
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  Speaker 3: a light health and considering even bringing the Casarina childcare
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  Speaker 3: center there because it's the existing one. It's all needs
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  Speaker 3: to be renovated. Why we don't combine everything to one area.
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  Speaker 3: Whi's our property and we can do it really well
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  Speaker 3: and we get touch on it really well.
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  Speaker 1: Con How soon is that we're going to get.
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  Speaker 2: On the Why.
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  Speaker 3: Look, we're planning to turn the shod sometime in the
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  Speaker 3: next two or three months. It will take about eighteen
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  Speaker 3: months to be completed because a really big job. The
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  Speaker 3: only thing you have to remember is that was a
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  Speaker 3: fifty year old project. We've got pipes now bursting because
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  Speaker 3: old we can't find parts. The technology is also we're
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  Speaker 3: going to redesign from scratch and we're going to do
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  Speaker 3: really well well to last more than fifty years.
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  Speaker 1: Sounds like it's going to cost an arm and a leg.
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  Speaker 3: How much is it going to crist five million dollars
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  Speaker 3: but twenty five million investment for a fifty year project.
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  Speaker 2: It's a very very good investment.
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  Speaker 1: And it does sound as though and I always think
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  Speaker 1: that this is incredibly important to you when I speak
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  Speaker 1: about keeping kids active. I think it's really important to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that it's also a pool where the club
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  Speaker 1: and where others are able to do labs. And it
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  Speaker 1: sounds like that's what you've heard.
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  Speaker 3: We need to do that one because we've got to
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  Speaker 3: puer up when it was the competition pull, but people
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  Speaker 3: have to be training. The other tidy, forget is the
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  Speaker 3: issue you have brought up you before, another mother's toddless pull.
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  Speaker 2: So we're going to actually.
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  Speaker 3: Make sure that there would be an area they are
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  Speaker 3: suitable for toddlers, but also suitable for families and older kids.
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  Speaker 3: They're going to be facilities for little kids five to
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  Speaker 3: ten year old other than ten year old and families.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Con we know that today is a big day
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  Speaker 1: actually for the Northern Territory, given the fact that the
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  Speaker 1: government is going to be handing down their budget. Is
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  Speaker 1: there anything that the Council is going to be keeping
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  Speaker 1: a close eye on when it comes to that budget delivery.
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  Speaker 3: Well, absolutely, because first of all is the Stage Square
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  Speaker 3: that we had a lot of promises. Now we actually
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  Speaker 3: had inquiries from the government that says they want to
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  Speaker 3: talk to us because at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 3: sixty percent of the land that the Stage Square will
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  Speaker 3: take place belongs to the Council and we have to
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  Speaker 3: be partners also.
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  Speaker 2: We want to be partners how it's going to be run.
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  Speaker 3: I we don't want to be put an association or
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  Speaker 3: an administration on top of us without has been part
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  Speaker 3: of it. If it's going to be run properly, it
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  Speaker 3: has to be done by the city and the government.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be a beautiful place. We look no
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  Speaker 3: doubts about it, and I said to the Chief Minister,
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  Speaker 3: We're all for it.
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  Speaker 2: We will support you, but we have to be part
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  Speaker 2: of it.
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  Speaker 1: Sounds you've still got some concerns about it.
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  Speaker 3: I don't have concerns. I've got I want to see
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  Speaker 3: it because we have seen anything yet. My understanding is
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  Speaker 3: there might be some money this budget for the Stage Square,
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  Speaker 3: but as I said to the Chief Ministers, the Council
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  Speaker 3: is actually putting a new civic center in that area
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  Speaker 3: that we want to do it in such a way
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  Speaker 3: to compliment the stage square. You can't do all at once.
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  Speaker 3: I know that one. It has to be done in stages.
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  Speaker 3: But let's talk about it.
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  Speaker 1: How do we look in the fact, So do you
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  Speaker 1: think that they could be a double up here? No?
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, we work.
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  Speaker 3: We'll be working together with the government on that one.
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  Speaker 3: I always try to avoid dumbling up. If we're going
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  Speaker 3: to do it, let's do it well and let's do
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  Speaker 3: it together, rather than I'll do a little bit, you
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  Speaker 3: do a little bit and at the end we feel
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  Speaker 3: the same thing, spending the same money for the same project.
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  Speaker 2: Let's do one thing partnership. It can work out really well.
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  Speaker 1: Well combat scarlets. It's always an interesting day, Old budget day.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be keeping it very close on things and we
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  Speaker 1: will head across live to Parliament House just on eleven
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  Speaker 1: o'clock and find out exactly what we're going to say after.
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  Speaker 2: That would be our budget. He has to remember the country.
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  Speaker 2: We has to bring our budget.
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  Speaker 3: We'll be going out for public circulation and I'll tell
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  Speaker 3: you what this year, we're going to have a massive
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  Speaker 3: capital work programs. When I first was elected, there was
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  Speaker 3: seventeen million dollars in capital works. I took them in
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  Speaker 3: the first year to twenty seven, then to fifty five,
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  Speaker 3: then to to seventy two million dollars a year.
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  Speaker 2: You give you a hint this year is going to
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  Speaker 2: be even bigger.
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  Speaker 1: And does that mean there's going to be a right rise.
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  Speaker 3: Nope, it's going to be what we've done. You have
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: to remember last year we didn't increase the rates. We
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  Speaker 3: put a lot of money in the economy with my voucher.
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  Speaker 3: If it's going to be a rate rise, it's going
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  Speaker 3: to be one that's very, very modest in order to
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  Speaker 3: cover our courts, which are not because we don't want
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  Speaker 3: to go down to being solvent. We're going to actually
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  Speaker 3: make a healthy economic future for our citizens. But also
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  Speaker 3: we want to deliver project for our citizens that will
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  Speaker 3: make the city pretty, that make the people want to.
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  Speaker 1: Go out well combat Scarlus. We will wait and hear
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  Speaker 1: all of that detail a bit closer to the date.
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  Speaker 1: Always good to catch up with you. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Very much.
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  Speaker 1: Kate.
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  Speaker 3: It's not going to be a seven percent rise as
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  Speaker 3: I hear it's going to be in Catherine.
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  Speaker 1: Oh well, we'll have to ask him about that combat Scarlus,
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  Speaker 1: good on you, Thanks for catching up with us this morning.