Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Member for Barkly Steve Edgington about the snap lockdowns occurring around the Tennant Creek community

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Katie spoke with Member for Barkly Steve Edgington about the snap lockdowns occurring around the Tennant Creek community · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Another community in the Barkley region has gone into lockdown,
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  Speaker 1: with Tenant Creek's well expected to be extended beyond today.
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  Speaker 1: Ali Krung, a community with a first I WAS vaccination
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  Speaker 1: rate of forty four percent, was sent into that snap
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  Speaker 1: lockdown yesterday afternoon. Joining me on the line is the
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  Speaker 1: Member for Barkley, Steve Edgington. Good morning to you, Steve.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, and good morning to all the listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Steve, how are things going in Tenant Creek and in
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  Speaker 1: the Barkley this morning?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, look, there's no doubt Tenant Creek is facing
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  Speaker 2: a one of the toughest times that we've ever come
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  Speaker 2: across here in Tennant Creek. We do have seven positive
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  Speaker 2: cases in Tennant Creek. The town is in lockdown, and
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  Speaker 2: yesterday afternoon there was the identification of another positive case
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  Speaker 2: in Ali Krung, and Ali Krung is roughly about one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and seventy kilometers southeast of Tenant Creek. There was
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  Speaker 2: a positive care possibly two cases, and that those cases
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  Speaker 2: are connected with the with the ones in Tenant Creek.
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  Speaker 2: So clearly this virus is moving very quickly around the
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  Speaker 2: Barkley So we are facing some very tough times at the.
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  Speaker 1: Moment, yes, Steve, I mean, are people quite concerned at
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  Speaker 1: this point or how is the community feeling? Well?
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  Speaker 2: There is you know, people in lockdown. People are very
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  Speaker 2: concerned about what's going on. People are very concerned about
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  Speaker 2: the lack of information coming from the from the Gunner
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  Speaker 2: government at the moment, particularly around exposure sites. The coronavirus website,
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  Speaker 2: for example, still does not have any list of exposure sites.
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  Speaker 2: We don't know the numbers of close contacts. So whilst
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  Speaker 2: we know that contact tracing is underway at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: the community has really been left in the dark when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to where are they exposure sites, how many
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  Speaker 2: close contacts are there. This is the information that we
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  Speaker 2: need to know to reassure people. People have been moving
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  Speaker 2: around obviously in Tenant Creek for a number of weeks.
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  Speaker 2: People are very concerned that they don't know whether they've
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  Speaker 2: come into close contact with the people that may be
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  Speaker 2: carrying the COVID virus.
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  Speaker 1: And Steve, are you not getting that information from the government.
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  Speaker 1: I know we've been critical over the weeks in terms
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  Speaker 1: of that website not being updated as quickly as a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people would like, particularly when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: like you said those exposure sites and you know where
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  Speaker 1: you can get tested and things like that. But is
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  Speaker 1: there a lack of information coming to the people of
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  Speaker 1: Tenant at this point.
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  Speaker 2: Well, clearly is, and that's where the frustration is coming
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  Speaker 2: from at the moment, Codie, the lack of information coming
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  Speaker 2: back from the government. Not only is there no information
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  Speaker 2: about the exposure sites, close content, casual contacts. People are
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  Speaker 2: doing the right thing here at the moment. People are
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  Speaker 2: going to get tested. But now what we're finding is
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  Speaker 2: that the results are taking anywhere between three three days
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  Speaker 2: to get a result, and some people that have contacted
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  Speaker 2: me have been waiting longer than three days to get
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  Speaker 2: a result. It's clearly not good enough. Wow, more resources
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  Speaker 2: need to be put into the testing. People want to
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  Speaker 2: know what their results are. But importantly, while the testing
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  Speaker 2: is going on, all of that information around close contacts,
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  Speaker 2: people are worried, people are concerned. We need to have
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  Speaker 2: that information as quickly as possible. And it's simply not
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  Speaker 2: good enough that we went into lockdown on Friday and
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  Speaker 2: none of that information is available to anyone in Tennant
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  Speaker 2: Creek at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's fair enough for you guys to
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  Speaker 1: ask those further questions, and particularly for you to want
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  Speaker 1: those test results back more quickly than three days, as
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  Speaker 1: you've just said, is the case for some territorians there, Steve,
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  Speaker 1: are people generally doing the right thing and getting out
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  Speaker 1: there and getting tested and how the vaccination's going.
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  Speaker 2: What we're seeing at the moment is the Intenet Creek
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  Speaker 2: on the main street of Tenant Creek, at the Transit Center,
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  Speaker 2: there's a testing station which is open pretty much every
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  Speaker 2: day of the week, so people can go to the
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  Speaker 2: testing station here in TenneT Creek at the Transit Center.
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  Speaker 2: It's open between seven and eleven in the morning and
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  Speaker 2: between about four and eight in the evening, so there's
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  Speaker 2: plenty of opportunities to get tested and people are doing
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  Speaker 2: the right thing. I've driven past her a couple of times.
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  Speaker 2: There's been a lineup of vehicles. People are able to
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  Speaker 2: walk in there as well, So in general, people are
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  Speaker 2: doing the right thing, and I really congratulate the people
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  Speaker 2: in Tennant Creek. People that are out and about are
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  Speaker 2: wearing masks, they're genuinely doing the right thing. There may
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  Speaker 2: be a small number that I've heard might be gathering
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  Speaker 2: in houses and those types of things, but in the
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  Speaker 2: main people are doing the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So, Steve, how are the vaccination rates going for
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  Speaker 1: you guys? Now, has there been any update in terms
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  Speaker 1: of those numbers?
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  Speaker 2: Well, in regard to the vaccination rates, Look, this has
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  Speaker 2: been a problem as well, Kadie. If you go to
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  Speaker 2: the Coronavirus website, there is no information about the vaccination
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  Speaker 2: rates for Tenant Creek specific, nothing at all. And this
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  Speaker 2: has been a problem right from the start when the
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  Speaker 2: government rolled out their border plans. You know, we know
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  Speaker 2: that the first cut of those border plans was completely
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  Speaker 2: bungled by the Gunner government. But one of the issues
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  Speaker 2: that came to everybody's attention was that initially we were
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  Speaker 2: classed as a low vaccination area. We've had various reports
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  Speaker 2: from the government during press conferences that once we were
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  Speaker 2: sixty nine percent, now it's up to seventy percent. I
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  Speaker 2: do know that ANNANINGI are doing a wonderful job out
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  Speaker 2: in the community giving vaccinations, but at the moment, we
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  Speaker 2: still don't know what the vaccination rate is in Tenant Creek. Now.
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  Speaker 2: This is extremely poor when it comes to communication, because
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  Speaker 2: when you start aiming for a higher vaccination rate, it's
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  Speaker 2: okay to have targets, But if you don't know what
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  Speaker 2: the vaccination rate is, how do you get to that target?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, fair enough. I think that you know that
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  Speaker 1: plenty of people in the community would want to know
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  Speaker 1: as well, exactly where those vax rates are at. Hey, Steve,
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  Speaker 1: I know that all of the eleven cases for the
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  Speaker 1: cluster in Tenant Creek are Indigenous. How is the health
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  Speaker 1: system coping at this point in time? I mean, I'm
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  Speaker 1: assuming that the Tenant Creek Hospital is always a pretty
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  Speaker 1: busy one, like the other hospitals around the territory.
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  Speaker 2: Well, certainly the Tenant Creek Hospital. And again, the feedback
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  Speaker 2: that I've had on the ground is that there's been
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  Speaker 2: additional nurses brought in, an additional police brought in. But
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  Speaker 2: the Tenant Creek Hospital we have had people moved to
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  Speaker 2: Alice Springs Hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: There's at least two patients in the ward here in
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  Speaker 2: Tenant Creek which are being monitored by health staff. At
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  Speaker 2: the moment, the health system seems to be coping. But
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  Speaker 2: should we have any further cases, I suspect that it's
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  Speaker 2: really going to be a struggle to bring on other
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  Speaker 2: beds in the hospital. But that remains to be seen
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  Speaker 2: at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Now, just before I let you go, have you had
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  Speaker 1: much of an update as to how things are going
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  Speaker 1: in Ali Kerraung.
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  Speaker 2: I haven't yet. My understanding is that a team was
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  Speaker 2: heading there last night. I've been told that the Defense
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  Speaker 2: Force will be assisting in Ali Kurung with the roadblocks. Now,
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  Speaker 2: when you look at Ali Kurung one hundred and seventy
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  Speaker 2: kilometers southeast of here, to maintain roadblocks is going to
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  Speaker 2: be a very resource intensive task. But at the moment
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  Speaker 2: that community is in lockdown, and I encourage anyone that
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  Speaker 2: may be listening to stay where they are. All everyone
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  Speaker 2: in the barkley should stay where they are at the
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  Speaker 2: moment until we can get further information on how wide
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  Speaker 2: the spread here is right across the barkley, but very
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  Speaker 2: resource intensive, But there are teams on the ground and
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  Speaker 2: there's a further resources on their way to Eli Current.
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  Speaker 1: Now we are expecting at some point today there to
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  Speaker 1: be an update from the Northern Territory government. But the
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  Speaker 1: Health Minister Natasha Files had flagged yesterday that Tenant Creek's
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  Speaker 1: lockdown could be well, it could be extended. What are
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  Speaker 1: you guys being told at this point.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the only information that we've heard as well
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  Speaker 2: from the Health Minister has gave an indication that the
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  Speaker 2: lockdown will be extended. Other than that, we don't have
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  Speaker 2: any additional information. As I said earlier, one of the
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  Speaker 2: crucial issues is the getting the results of COVID testing,
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  Speaker 2: and I suspect while there's still a whole range of
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  Speaker 2: testing going on and results still in the pipeline so
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  Speaker 2: to speak, it would be difficult to lift the lockdown
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  Speaker 2: at this point.
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  Speaker 1: Can you see plenty of foods in the supermarket and
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  Speaker 1: everything that you need when it comes to resources, though.
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  Speaker 2: At the moment there is sufficient food. One of the
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  Speaker 2: of course, one of the difficulties is that we don't
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  Speaker 2: have a large supermarket that we've been purchasing food from
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  Speaker 2: a temporary supermarket for well over twelve months now. But
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  Speaker 2: that supermarket is well stopped and at the moment they've
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  Speaker 2: increased their number of orders, so there should be sufficient
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  Speaker 2: food there, not only now, but certainly over the Christmas
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  Speaker 2: period and into the new year. We do at the
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  Speaker 2: local caravan park there's a small grocery store there. Service
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  Speaker 2: stations carry grocery lines and I know that yesterday, a
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  Speaker 2: truck did leave Tenant Creek to go and pick up
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  Speaker 2: some more supplies in Alice Springs, and I suspect they'll
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  Speaker 2: be back here sometime today. So at the moment, things
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  Speaker 2: are looking okay. There's been good compliance, there hasn't been
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  Speaker 2: any panic buying, and again I think everybody for the
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  Speaker 2: way that they've conducted themselves through this crisis.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Steve Edgington, the local member for Barkley, we really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much for
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  Speaker 1: having a chat with us and letting all of our
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  Speaker 1: listeners know just how things are going in Tenant Creek.
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  Speaker 1: At this point. I always think we're in this together.
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  Speaker 1: We are all Territorians, and I know that we don't
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  Speaker 1: broadcast all the way down there to Tenant, but I
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  Speaker 1: think that it's really important that we're all aware of
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  Speaker 1: exactly what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, and good morning to all the listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks, thank you,