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Katie Woolf spoke with SkyNews Matt Cunningham regarding the redactions to the renewable energy report · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Matt Cunningham, Sky News reporter and also a regular contributor
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  Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory News.
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  Speaker 2: GETO, Matt Katie, how are you not too bad? Mate?
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk about this front page of the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: News today, one hundred and eighteen page reporting to the
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  Speaker 1: cost of renewable energy under the Northern Territory's Freedom of
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  Speaker 1: information laws. Only problem is one hundred and sixteen of
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  Speaker 1: those pages have been redacted.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, completely blackout. Will be quite remarkable given the commitment
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  Speaker 3: that the government made before it came to office in
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  Speaker 3: twenty sixteen about how it was going more open when
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  Speaker 3: it came to government information. But it seems that they
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  Speaker 3: were just empty words. Certainly if this example of anything
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  Speaker 3: to go by, actually put this FOI this requesting a
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  Speaker 3: little while ago. This report was done by a mob
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  Speaker 3: called Houston Kemp Economist, a Sydney firm and taxpayer has
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  Speaker 3: actually booked out more in two hundred and eighteen thousand
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  Speaker 3: dollars for this report WOW prepared. It was about how
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  Speaker 3: the government should go about achieving its fifty percent renewable
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  Speaker 3: energy target, so I thought it'd be interesting to have
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  Speaker 3: a look at. However, after we put in that freedom
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  Speaker 3: of information request. What we got back was simply the
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  Speaker 3: front and back cover of the report. The other one
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  Speaker 3: hundred and sixty pages were completely blacked out.
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  Speaker 2: It is unbelievable.
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  Speaker 1: It's unbelievable obviously when you talk about the openness and transparency.
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  Speaker 1: But Matt, we're talking about renewables here. This should be
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  Speaker 1: a good news story.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's a story that's complex and probably
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  Speaker 3: needs to be looked into a little bit further. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: there've been a couple of reports now that they've come
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  Speaker 3: from the Utilities Commission bit of ray serious concerns about
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  Speaker 3: the government fifty percent renewable energy target, about the impact
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  Speaker 3: it could have on the security of the electricity grid.
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  Speaker 3: The Utilities Commission, in its last report that was released
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  Speaker 3: in June, said that the fifty percent renewable energy target
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  Speaker 3: was unrealistic. That was the commissions. It also said that
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  Speaker 3: if the government did want to achieve it, it would be
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  Speaker 3: both complex and expensive. So this report that was done
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  Speaker 3: by a Houston temp economists, I think with outlining to
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  Speaker 3: the government how complex and how expensive it would be,
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  Speaker 3: what needed to be done to achieve this fifty percent
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  Speaker 3: renewable energy target. Clearly it's information that the government doesn't
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  Speaker 3: want us to know. We know that it's champions this
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  Speaker 3: fifty percent renewable energy target. We know people support renewable energy,
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  Speaker 3: but I think at the same time we need to
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  Speaker 3: know what it's going to cost and what's required, because
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  Speaker 3: I don't think a lot of that work has been
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  Speaker 3: done at this point of speaking to people in the industry, they're.
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  Speaker 4: Concerned that the roadmaps renewable which was put out in
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  Speaker 4: twenty seventeen, has not been followed, and we're looking at
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  Speaker 4: a situation where we could run into some serious issues
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  Speaker 4: with how our actrivity supply it means, aren't it and
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  Speaker 4: adjusted very quickly?
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  Speaker 2: Well, and Matt, you know this is the whole point
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  Speaker 2: of it.
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  Speaker 1: Like you'd said, most people are really supportive of renewables.
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  Speaker 1: Most people support the fact they want to go fifty
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  Speaker 1: percent renewables by twenty thirty. But I think everybody has
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  Speaker 1: deserves the right to know how much it's going to
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  Speaker 1: cost and what technicalities, what difficulties there are going to be.
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  Speaker 1: And the fact that then you know, this report has
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  Speaker 1: been entirely redacted is unbelievable. In your time as a
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  Speaker 1: journalist and you've been a journalist for an awfully long time.
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  Speaker 1: Have you ever received, you know, a report back, a
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  Speaker 1: redacted report in this way when you've put in an
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  Speaker 1: FOI request.
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  Speaker 4: Not I mean, sometimes a report will get rejected out Rightie.
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  Speaker 4: One thing I'd have a concern about with the way
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  Speaker 4: you can been dealt with as well. All the Church
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  Speaker 4: government's copped the bit of flack even at a national level,
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  Speaker 4: over its record when it comes to Freedom of the
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  Speaker 4: nation requests. In fact, the ant is the worst jurisdiction
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  Speaker 4: in the country when it comes to refuse freedom of
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  Speaker 4: information requests. What worries me about the issues that perhaps
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  Speaker 4: they're trying to tick a box saying that they've released
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  Speaker 4: the information when really they've released no information at all.
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  Speaker 4: All I've done enjoy each the front and the back cover,
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  Speaker 4: which say nothing for the name.
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  Speaker 3: Of the report and who's done it.
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  Speaker 4: So I wonder whether there's a f funny games going
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  Speaker 4: on there as well. But in the way that they've
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  Speaker 4: actually released it, perhaps they're trying to say, well, we
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  Speaker 4: release it. In fact they've released nothing. So you know,
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  Speaker 4: it's all a bit of a fascible situation. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: it's the sort of thing that it'll be at home
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  Speaker 4: and you know, to pleavely show you utopia or your well,
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  Speaker 4: this is what it is. I suppose I make the
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  Speaker 4: mockery of those statements that you know, Characters Labor made
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  Speaker 4: back in twenty sixteen. They're printed in the newspapers today.
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  Speaker 4: Territorians have the right to access government information. It belongs
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  Speaker 4: to all of us. Open, transparent and accountable government is
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  Speaker 4: also the best way to maximize the health and prosperity
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  Speaker 4: of the whole community.
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  Speaker 3: Not only is it the right thing to.
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  Speaker 4: Do, but it's the smart thing to well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you know it's not an overly good look either.
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  Speaker 1: You know, whether people agree with the changes that were
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  Speaker 1: made in Parliament earlier this week by the gunn of
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  Speaker 1: Government when it comes to the scrutiny committees in question time,
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  Speaker 1: they've done that this week. They've obviously, you know, sent
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  Speaker 1: out this this redacted report that after you've put in
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  Speaker 1: the freedom of information request, and you know, I'll also
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  Speaker 1: say that we've also got a situation with the newly
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  Speaker 1: established nt Independent where they won't allow them at press conferences.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's not a great book. No democracy
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  Speaker 4: to open and transparent government, you know, I think that
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  Speaker 4: they probably need to look at all of those things
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  Speaker 4: and really do something about it. I mean, the situation
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  Speaker 4: that you elude to the MP the independence is ridiculous
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  Speaker 4: as well. I know that they have issues. The owner
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  Speaker 4: of that publication are Titans on Facebook. But you know
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  Speaker 4: the way that this sort of whole incresed conference is
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  Speaker 4: basically in secret now to try and avoid journalists from
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  Speaker 4: one organization attending double ship particularly well with me, I'm
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  Speaker 4: going to say.
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  Speaker 1: No, it doesn't well, Matt Cunningham, we are going to
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  Speaker 1: have to leave it there.
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  Speaker 2: Always good to catch up with you. We'll talk to
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  Speaker 2: you again soon.
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  Speaker 3: Wor mate.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That's Matt Cunningham there from Sky News and also contributor
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  Speaker 1: regular with the Northern Territory News as well.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, that front page today doesn't look good.
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  Speaker 1: Blackout and it certainly is when you're talking about a report,
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  Speaker 1: and the FOI report, one hundred and sixteen of the
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighteen pages are blacked out