Nights with John Stanley

00:07 And now on 2GB Sydney and network stations across Australia, it's time for Nights with John Stanley. 00:15 Good evening everyone. Welcome along. Welcome to Wednesday night. We've got a lot ahead of us tonight. We'll talk cars a little bit later on. 00:22 We'll trip down memory lane later as well. We'll keep across all of the news of the day. Our news hour guest today is going to have some thoughts on quite a few issues, including there's some issues on the health front. One of them has just broken in the last hour, and I'll share the information shortly. It is, of course, the third anniversary of the horror of October 7th. 00:44 And where are we three years on? There have been a number of vigils held today to mark the horror of what happened. Remember the lives that were lost in the horror, which was launched by Hamas. And they, of course, are tools of Iran. And the problem you have now is if you describe this as what it is, a barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas, which has been dedicated to the destruction of Israel. 01:11 without much concern about the people of Palestine. If you raise that and then you get people who'll contest it. And then on the other side, if you then talk about the response in essentially turning Gaza into rubble with tens of thousands of people losing their lives and a humanitarian crisis, that then gets contested because people have these entrenched positions. And then you've got the situation where hardliners on both sides, the hardliners on the Palestinian side, River to the Sea. It should be Palestine from the River to the Sea. 01:44 And then on the Israeli side, Benjamin Netanyahu and many of the hardliners in his government, they want River to the Sea for them. 01:53 Now, are we surprised? This has been the situation there for a very, very long time. But you would think that people living in this country should be thankful we're living here and not bringing that kind of conflict here and not having that conflict and that entrenched conflict, but it is there. Although I do suspect that under the surface, and this might be a, might be a very, very dewy-eyed view that there are people of good faith, people who are Jewish people living in Australia and people who are Palestinians or people who are of the Muslim faith who today might be putting their arms around each other and comforting each other and being thankful they live in this country. 02:34 So that would be the way I think we should be looking at it. And unfortunately, three years on, that isn't where we're going now. We're going to talk to our news hour guest who, in fact, devised a policy which the last budget was going to unpick. This was the private health insurance bonus for over 65. So your private health insurance is subsidised. There's a government subsidy. So it's subsidised by 30%, but for the last 20 years or so, there's been an extra subsidy for people once they get over 65 and that subsidy starts to go up. 03:09 Now in the budget, the government decided to cut that because it's gonna save money and they'd be able to put that money into aged care. But the truth is, as anyone who thinks this through knows, it would mean that people who are relying on that private health cover, they get pushed out of private health cover. They then go into the public hospital system and that's being paid for by the state government. So the federal budget looks better, but it's just transferred it from one side of government to another. That seems to have now filtered through. 03:40 And indeed, Coalition's been opposed to this all along. But now the Greens, who've seen their support going up to 15% of the last poll, and they probably figure we need some of the action here. Because at the moment, everyone's moving away from the major parties. One Nation's getting support. Greens support now going up. And they think, well, we need to do a few things that people are going to be happy with to try and... boost our support. So the Greens are now uniting with the coalition against this plan to scrap the private health insurance bonus for over 65. 04:13 Now, as I said, Terry Barnes will join us shortly. He devised that many, many years ago. So whether it's going to be locked on the head altogether or devised in some way so that the most vulnerable can hang on to their private health insurance, we'll talk about that shortly. That might become clearer in the next few days. And then there's the ongoing question of aged care beds. 04:34 because you've had the state's health minister in New South Wales, and this is the health ministers all over the country, talking about the lack of federally funded aged care beds, the biggest issue facing health systems across the country. There's no doubt about that. Go into hospitals. You'll find people in corridors. You'll find people in beds that, well, they can't get into aged care. They can't go back home. There's a long wait list for home care packages. This is a big issue. We'll talk about that with Terry shortly. And... 05:04 We've got a constitutional lawyer, Anne Toomey. She's described as Australia's most prominent constitutional lawyer. Well, she's put a submission into the inquiry into these grants. The grants, and everyone knows about the grants now because of the Merrickville Golf Club and Anthony Albert Easy and the money that was given to that golf club and the way that grant scheme was devised. Obviously, it was dodgy and was designed to go to Labor-held seats. It was so obvious. Now, she's described this as grey corruption. 05:33 Well, I've got no law degree, but grey corruption is probably a very mild way of putting it. I'll talk about that shortly because increasingly people are starting to see a lot of dodgy stuff and it's becoming more and more obvious. And so we'll get to that one shortly as well. 131873 is our number. 12 and a half minutes past eight. If you're in Queensland, 12 and a half past seven. We'll get into all of this shortly. If you've got something else you want to raise with us, and I'll, after the break, give you an example of, we do this on a regular basis, stories where they push the stable door closed after the horse has bolted. 06:11 There's another example tonight. 06:13 13 minutes past. 06:19 16 past 8 past 7 if you are in Queensland. It's our News Hour. Our News Hour guest every week, Wednesdays, Thursdays. He's back from the UK where he's been on a trip and he's returned back to his home in sunny Melbourne. Mr Terry Barnes, former senior advisor of the Coalition, both in government and opposition. He writes for The Spectator magazine. He appears with us. He's a political consultant. Terry, good evening once again. 06:43 Good evening, John. 06:43 I've identified you as the man that put together this private health subsidy, the extra bonus subsidy for those aged over 65. I think we've talked about it since the day after the budget. that it's designed to help people as they get older keep their private health insurance and the government was saying we're going to save three billion by not giving them this extra subsidy but as you and i have discussed you don't need to be a genius they dropped their private health cover they moved to the public hospital system and so federal government saves three billion but they then have to get looked after in the public system by state governments and it's the same taxpayer 07:21 Well, that's right. And don't forget, the federal government actually chips in about 40, 45% of what the states actually pay for that patient when they're in the public hospital as well. So it was always a false economy for Mark Butler, the health minister, to push this. But certainly back in 2004, when I was involved in... 07:40 doing the modelling for it for the election campaign. 07:44 That was the intention, to help people who had really contributed to their private healthcare, most of the, if not all of their working lives, to actually keep their private health insurance, but also knowing that at that stage of your life, you're at the high-end need part of your life, to actually stay in the private system as much as possible and not put pressure on public hospitals. And it appears from the committee report into these changes that came out this afternoon that even the Greens Party, of all people, they hate private health. 08:14 They hate private health insurance. That's true. But they think that this rebate, this higher rebate should be kept. 08:20 Yeah, that's the significant part of this because there was a Labor-led Senate inquiry and the majority have said we approve of this. But the significant thing is the Greens have come out and said that the significant number of people who are living on something like $37,000 a year, that is most of the older Australians hit by this change take home less than $37,000 a year, that they're the people to be hit hardest by this. And so now if the Greens say, well, we're going to oppose it as well as the coalition, it won't get through the Senate. It won't happen. 08:50 Almost certainly, because the Greens actually have the balance of power as far as Labor goes in passing legislation. It seems to me, John, that this is the new leader of the Greens party, David Shoebridge, actually flexing his muscles, showing that I'm not going to cosy up to Labor. I'm not just going to wave the legislation through. I'm actually going to actually... really take them up and make them work hard for what they pass. 09:14 And certainly, I think, though, latching onto private health insurance is so out of the norm for a green senator, for a green political leader of any sort. But look, I think as older Australians should take it because Really, it's their rebate. It's their private health insurance. They're the ones who are propping up the private health system. They're the ones who are going to demand it in terms of services the most. Let's look after them. That's what this was all about in 2004. 09:44 And things have not changed. 09:46 And if you do a fair and objective sweep of social media, to what extent that can be an indication of public opinion, you do find, as much as you find people who are flaying Anthony Albanese constantly, and we hear a lot of it here, you do also hear people on the other side of politics, on the left side of politics, are unhappy about the policies on climate change, on a whole range of issues, and on bread and butter policies in terms of people's income and wellbeing. 10:17 And so the Greens figure, well, we'll tap into this in relation to these people who are on these $37,000 a year. Maybe they're not, the group will necessarily vote for them. Their votes are all equal, but they've got kids and grandkids that might vote. 10:33 take some notice as well so that's part of it's part of the political game we've got now isn't it and it is a political game it's not an ideological game is it because the greens believe that private health insurance and private health care generally is evil they don't like it they want everything to be nationalized But I think they've realised also, and Jordan Steele, John, the health spokesman for the Greens, seems to have realised that the public system alone cannot sustain the demand, particularly of the ageing boomers coming through, not just now, but over the next 10, 20 years. 11:05 And certainly they're anticipating that private hospitals are a necessary evil as far as they're concerned. But as far as the rest of it's concerned, they're just necessary. Yes. 11:14 We'll have to watch this one because, of course, without the green numbers, they can't get anything through the Senate. So that's the existing situation. And then we've got this broader question of aged care and the fact that the states that run the public hospital systems, they feel that they're being made patsies by the federal government for the new aged care reforms. And then, of course, the NDIS, where the government wants to make big savings. have the states pick up some of the people that might be tipped off the NDIS. But the New South Wales Health Minister, Ryan Park, he was on the drive show in Sydney today with James Willis. 11:47 He was talking about aged care demand in hospitals. Just have a listen to this. 11:52 Well, this is the biggest challenge I face, but more importantly, it's the biggest challenge our healthcare workers and our patients face. We've got, as of this morning, James, 1,347 beds. 12:06 we cannot use in New South Wales hospitals because they're taken up by people who need aged support or NDIS support, but the vast majority of them needing aged care support. That's the equivalent of two Sydney hospitals. Now that is not sustainable when coming through the front door of our hospitals, as you know, is big increases in demand. So we're calling on the federal government to do far more, to release far more home care packages to ensure these people can get out of our hospital beds back home where they need care. 12:40 It's a terrible situation for them and their families that they're languishing in a hospital bed when they should be either back in their residential aged care home or in the comfort of their own home receiving support. Hospitals are never designed to be aged care facilities. And they're not funded like that. They're not designed like that. They're not built for that. And we don't want to see a group of older Australians stuck languishing in our state's hospital beds. And we need assistance in this. 13:07 That's the New South Wales Health Minister. And look, I might sound cynical here, but I think it is a fair and I think an objective assessment because I'm... Said repeatedly, you're going to be finding the Minsk government looking for ways to distance themselves from the Albanese government and have conflict with the Albanese government ahead of next year's election because they don't want this blowing back on them, the unpopularity. But that's straightforward there, isn't it, Terry? That's a massive issue. It's affecting so many people. 13:34 It is. And of course, what the federal government will say, especially after this report today, is that, well, the money from the private health insurance rebate changes was actually going to go into buying more of those community aged care packages, so actually taking the pressure of public hospitals. But the bottom line, though, is that it's still cutting off your nose to spite your face. 13:55 Really, I think it's one of those things that... I think when it comes to actually setting priorities, making sure that you focus on what's really needed, that you actually make some pretty hard choices and unpopular choices, for instance. Why should you spend hundreds of millions of dollars subsidising, say, a weight loss drug on the PBS when that hundreds of millions of dollars could be better spent with aged care packages? These are the sort of decisions that I think federal governments of both sides, but certainly the current federal government, just don't like making. 14:23 Yeah. And one of the one of the fascinating parts of that conversation this afternoon was also James Willis was reminding the Minister of the Minns Government's pledges to reduce waiting times. And you've seen this over the years, Terry. State governments, oppositions make pledges to reduce waiting times and reduce the waiting times in emergency departments and the like. and they do everything they can to engineer a reduction in wait times. But wait times are blown out in all public hospitals around the country. 14:54 It's difficult not to tie that to the surge in our population post the pandemic. 15:01 Well, that's part of it, I think, in terms of new people coming into the country and settling here. But it's also the age profile of the population too, John. I mean, the fact that the baby boom generation is now either dropping off the twig or getting to the high need end of their lives. 15:18 Some of them are travelling very, very well, if I could just throw that in. 15:22 That is true. As a tail end baby boomer myself, I'd like to think I'm okay. 15:28 And I know you are. But seriously, I think as a group, as a cohort, as I like to say in the demographic business, in the population, it's a huge cohort washing through. And I think the pressures over the next 10, 20 years, as I said before, are going to be difficult for governments, federal and state to manage. But certainly it's easy to make glib promises about cutting waiting lists and waiting times. And every opposition does it. I mean, the Victorian opposition, the Liberal opposition down here in Melbourne has done exactly the same thing. 15:59 It's sort of like the same textbook over and over again, but doesn't necessarily achieve long-term results. 16:05 Now, I did touch on immigration and the people that came into the country, and we know that the system, since probably the early part of the century, there's a whole range of aspects of the immigration system which is uncapped. And so you've got the students and you've got a lot of the working holiday visas and the rest. And so you've got Angus Taylor now talking about 100,000 for net overseas migration. I saw a pretty... I think a pretty smart analysis today, which was saying that if unemployment remains where it is now, and it's relatively low, then businesses are gonna be crying out for more people and you won't be able to get to the 100,000. 16:44 But that's all academic really, because people want to see a cogent plan to reduce the numbers. 16:52 Angus Taylor, you did a few interviews on television this morning. I know he did some radio interviews. He was with Michael McLaren on our network this afternoon going through how they came to that 100,000. Just have a listen to some of that. 17:03 Well, it is the biggest cut to immigration in our history. But the reason for that is we've seen the biggest surge of immigration under Labor in our history. Over 1.5 million people In four years, that's more than the population of Adelaide. And that's why we need to make a sharp cut to give the country breathing space so that we can catch up with housing supply, with infrastructure, with services. And as a country, we need to catch up with immigration that's been out of control. 17:35 I mean, Labor's lost control of our borders. But critical to this is also making sure we get the skilled people we need. 17:44 And that's why there's two objectives here, cut the numbers and raise the standards, retain control of our borders and get the people we need. So the key cut here is the temporary visas, as you say, 650,000 less. We have a guest worker economy right now, 3 million people, more than 10% of our population are temporary visas. And frankly, that makes Australia more of a hotel than a home. 18:16 It's like an Airbnb. I mean, this has got to change. 18:20 But we think these numbers get the balance right. They give us the breathing space. We can still get the skilled people we need in critical sectors like health, aged care, construction, but we can get control of our borders and our immigration policy again. 18:37 Look, it is fair to say that a lot of the loosening of the visas and the arrangements were made by the coalition government in the aftermath of the pandemic when employers were screaming for more people to come into the country. Then we saw the surge of people coming in and then there was a change of government and they hoped that no one would notice because they just didn't do anything about it. And so for four years, nothing was done because that number kept the GDP up and so it kept that artificial growth happening. And then finally, finally, they were pushed into doing something, Terry, and it was too late. 19:11 So what do you make of what the coalition has done here? 19:13 Well, certainly, I think you're right. The coalition did sort of set the conditions for change in terms of the surge. But the surge actually happened under Labor, and Labor basically has to take responsibility for it, which is what I think Angus Taylor was saying. 19:26 But I think in terms of managing the growth in our population from migration, I think he actually came up with a relatively sweet spot in terms of 100,000 net. 19:39 But he has to keep explaining it's about the quality of the intake as well as the quantity. And he was doing it there. But what we've seen from the coalition, I think, particularly since the rise of One Nation in the last 12 months, is that they will put the announcement out. They will do a round of media immediately following it. Then they'll go away. They'll think, oh, we've done it. Tick. Off we go. And they really need to go out and sell it and explain it and then sell it and explain it again. And if they've got any doubts, sell it and explain it on top of that. 20:10 They're just not doing that, the coalition, right across the board. But this is the crucial issue. This is the one that... 20:16 defines them in terms of where they are with one nation and where they are with labor if they don't actually get that right they're cooked yeah now i'll take that criticism on board and that you've done a lot of this over the years but they did only announce this yesterday so what you're saying and i know i've spoken to people in politics and because i when when you're covering it terry And day after day after day, you're hearing them say something. I mean, how often did we hear Tony Abbott stop the boats? He went through that list of things that he was talking about as opposition leader. 20:48 And the political hardheads will say, when you've got sick of hearing it, because you're going out there holding the mic up, The punters, that is people listening, the people they're trying to get to, they're only just starting to tune in. 21:01 That's exactly right. And that's the thing I think that the Coalition has not learnt since it lost in 2022. It puts out good ideas. It puts out good thought bubbles. It starts a conversation, then it basically disappears. It moves on to something else. It gets distracted. And I think Peter Dutton fell into that trap. I think Angus Taylor certainly has fallen into that trap. I mean, it's not just immigration. Look at what the coalition said about tax reform, particularly bracket creep straight after the budget. Where has that gone? We're not talking about it anymore. 21:33 You need to keep talking about it. You need to actually seize the agenda back from One Nation and Labor. And I just really think that Angus Taylor needs a bit of help, a bit of real advice. And if he really wants to talk to somebody who knows what they're talking about with this, you should talk to his missus, Louise Clegg, the barrister, who actually makes a better case for change, a better case for reform than he does. Absolutely. 21:54 All right. Okay. Very good. 21:56 That's it. 21:58 Over the years, I've seen a couple of examples of that over the years. Terry, you and I have talked about it privately. Let's see how all of this pans out over the next week. I want to take a break, but it was a few months ago and I'm pretty sure, I mean, we in the media, you know, it's like, oh, I told you this first, but I'm pretty sure it was a few months ago and I came in here on a Monday with Stephen Fenwick and I'd found these Kmart smart glasses that looked like they were knockoffs of the ones that Meta was selling for hundreds of dollars. And Stephen's saying, oh, no, no, no. And I looked at all the bits and pieces and they looked like very good knockoffs for $89. 22:31 And then I had a look again and that sold out. So they had huge numbers of them. And people started asking questions, as Terry legitimately have been asking, about people wandering around with glasses and filming people. 22:45 Now, there's now the privacy regulators launched an investigation. into the company behind the technology used in the $89 smart glasses. 22:55 They've sold out. Haycan is an app used in the Anko smart glasses. There is some of the other ones in Big W and Amazon, but today they've withdrawn. Kmart said, well, we're not going to sell these again. 23:08 But how many have been sold up till now, Terry? 23:11 A bit late, isn't it? I'd hate to think, John. And yes, I mean, the cat's out of the bag, isn't it? But look, if Kmart has made a spectacle of themselves, I mean, they've got to take some responsibility for that, don't they? 23:20 Oh, you were waiting for that. I knew you were waiting to drop that in. Very, very good. 23:24 Let's take a break, come back. There's more to talk about, including this definition of corruption and corruption. 23:31 I want to get your thoughts on what's happening in Victoria, where the Victorians are going to go. I talked last night to our fantastic guest on a Tuesday, Keith Wallerhound. I know he's a friend of yours. He was talking about the Victorian election revolving around potholes, of all things. I know you agree with this, that potholes could play a big part in the Victorian election, astonishingly. So we'll get your view on that. And also the United States, where people are lining up to make predictions about what will happen in their election next month. And I just wonder, is it deja vu? 24:01 Because everyone making predictions and the polls there have got it wrong on a number of different occasions. Whether they do it this time, we'll find out straight after this at 25 to 9 or 18 Queensland. 24:20 It is, of course, on 4BC2GB. We've got network stations all over the country listening to us tonight. I hope it's going well for you, of course. Cars in the next hour, and looking forward to that. We talk about cars, but we also try and lighten things up a little bit. Terry Barnes is our NewsHour guest. He's based in Victoria. The countdown's on to that Victorian election. I've characterised this as a very important election because it's going to be literally millions and millions of people who've been telling pollsters that they're going to vote for One Nation and we'll find out, number one, will they vote for One Nation? 24:52 But number two, because of compulsory preferential in Victoria, we'll see where those preferences go, where the Liberal preferences go, you know, where the One Nation preferences go, depending on where they finish on the ballot paper. It is going to be fascinating, Terry, but there is this expectation the Coalition will win. 25:09 I think it's a lay down misere now. I mean, I know I've had my doubts right up to pretty recently, but no, you don't need the polls until you just go out and talk to people in the street. This government, this Labor government down here in Victoria is finished. The question is whether it'll be a minority coalition government or a majority one. And Jess Wilson, the... Liberal leader is making it very clear that she's campaigning for majority. And that's the only thing she can really do. She shouldn't worry about One Nation. She shouldn't worry about preference deals. She should just worry on getting enough seats. And they need 16 seats in an 88-seat parliament to actually get a majority. 25:43 That's a big ask. And they're focusing on that. But certainly, I think, in terms of the mood in the electorate, It is there for a change. And I think it is going to be... Well, if I was Ben Carroll, the Labor Premier, I'd actually be dusting up my CV. But you're talking about potholes. Yeah, that's right. It is the pothole election. 26:04 And it's not just Keith Wollohan. I think I was saying this to you months and months ago. 26:09 Mm-hmm. 26:10 that potholes have become the symbolic thing when it comes to the state of Victorian government and politics, that there are so many potholes to be filled, including on main roads and highways, including especially the Hume Highway up to Albury, that are absolutely humongous. And every rainstorm there is, there's a few more. But because Labor has spent so much on these big-ticket infrastructure things with all their problems and all their rorts around them, The basic infrastructure, like potholes, like school buildings, like police stations and so on, they're being neglected. 26:44 They're being run down. And people have actually realised that. And to their credit, the Liberals in Victoria have run on potholes for a few months now. Labor has realised what a pothole they're in and actually promising billions to fix potholes themselves. I think at the end of the day, it's not going to be the number of seats that are going to determine this election. It's the number of potholes. 27:06 Well, and I have mentioned this while you're away, that if you're a new Premier and you're trying to say, well, look, there's a change here, you're looking for a change, well, there is a change because I'm now in the job. But if you then say, if we're re-elected, we're going to be massively increasing our repair of potholes, doesn't that work against you? Because they're going to say, you've been there for 12 years and you're suddenly discovering these potholes. It's just an admission of incompetence, isn't it? 27:32 Absolutely right. It's basically admission they got it wrong, that they put their eggs in the wrong basket. And certainly, I think, as I think the American Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, once said, all politics is local. There's nothing more local than potholes in your home street or in your local highway. So... 27:51 The Liberals have cottoned on to that. And I think they've actually realised that you don't have to spend humongously in terms of promising. You just promise to fix the small stuff and people will actually say, hey, they understand what we're on about. 28:03 Yeah. Now, again, I think it's always dangerous to make predictions. And I mentioned earlier in the show, there's a conga line of people now making predictions about what will happen in America in November. I think in the end, it just won't. Wait and see the numbers come through. 28:17 In Australia, of course, with compulsory voting, maybe it's easier. But you think the coalition will win. But you're also suggesting that if they do win, they've made a whole lot of promises that might not help them govern effectively because you think they're going to do some really tough things to get the budget in shape there. 28:34 Oh, look, we're talking about the worst economy in the country. We're talking about the biggest bucket state budget deficit in the country. I mean, we're talking about $200 billion plus now. 28:46 But what is happening at the moment in the election campaign in Victoria is both sides are throwing around spending promises. 28:53 then the Liberals are doing it, whether it's health, whether it's hospitals, whether it's police, whatever. They're basically promising here, there and everywhere. And they're saying, well, we're going to cancel these Labor programs. We're going to cancel the Aboriginal parliament that was set up last year. 29:10 And they're going to put the money into funding some of this. And we're also having a public service hiring freeze. 29:16 But the reality is, That's treading water, if that. What they really have to do is some very tough stuff. And I think the Victorian voting public is actually ready to be told that. They know it. I mean, we look at the potholes and we know it. And I think if Jess Wilson is brave enough to say, look, I can't promise the earth... and I'm going to have to do some things you're not going to like very much. But working together, we can get through this. 29:47 I actually think that is genuine and real political leadership that will not only get them elected at the end of November, but will get them re-elected in four years' time. 29:56 OK. Can we, at 17 minutes to nine... I'm getting some interesting feedback, because we'll get to shortly. In terms of predictions, I notice that... 30:05 Joe Hockey, the former treasurer now, he's involved in consulting. I know he does a bit of consulting in the US, so I suppose in the end, if you're doing consulting there, you probably don't want to be teeing off on the present administration if you think they're going to be there for a long time. 30:20 But he was on the 7.30 report, was asked about how Donald Trump might go. He thinks he'll lose the House. I think everyone thinks that, and possibly even the Senate, and then how it'll go over the next couple of years and how much corruption there is in American politics. I found it interesting. Just have a listen. Here we go. 30:35 There's no doubt there will be certain issues where it will be very uncomfortable for Donald Trump over the next two years, including a higher level of scrutiny and accountability around behaviours by members of the administration and also members of the wider family group and friend group of key people in the administration. 30:58 Are you talking about the potential for hearings into government individuals involved in corruption? 31:04 I think it will be an extraordinary period of scrutiny over the next two years under the Democrats, and there needs to be that level of scrutiny here in Washington DC. I think it's good for America to have that proper accountability and proper scrutiny, which has been lacking over the last two years. 31:25 Has there been corruption during that period? Has it been allowed to flourish, I should say, rather? 31:31 Yeah, there's no doubt. It's a very grey line here in Washington DC between proper government processes and corruption. I think scrutiny and the transparency that comes with sunlight will be much appreciated. But, you know, from my own experience of 20 years in Australian politics and even longer, you know, Australia has essentially a corruption-free government and thank God for that. 32:07 Because here, even in the United States, there is a high degree of greyness between government and personal enrichment. 32:20 Yeah, so that was Joe Hockey. And Terry, you know what it's like. He's got his business there. You can hear his... As the words are tumbling out, going, oh, I've seen this... Because ultimately, this is all predicated on Democrats at least having control of the House. He's talked about us being corruption free. And yet tonight I've got Anne Toomey, constitutional lawyer, accusing the Albanese government of grey corruption over this grant scheme headlined by the Merrickville Golf Club grant. And you and I have talked about the system of buying access to politicians, which I think is not grey corruption. 32:54 I think it's pretty straightforward. What do you make of that? 32:56 Well, firstly, when it comes to Joe Hockey playing golf with Donald Trump, I don't think that's going to happen in the future. No, that's right. That's right. But look, I think in terms of what Professor Anne Toomey said about those grants and what she called grey corruption, I I'm very careful about the C word. I just don't think that's necessarily helpful. But in terms of their dodginess, politically speaking, they are dodgy indeed. I mean, the Prime Minister can try and explain the Marrickville golf cover way. 33:27 Good on him for trying, but I don't think he's going to get away with it. Yeah. But the problem is, I think, this type of scheme, this idea that if you fund a sports club or you fund some local facility, if you're a federal government doing it and it's not your core business, I mean, why are you doing it at all? You're doing it to buy votes, basically. You're doing it to make your local members look like they're doing something useful or your candidates in an election. 33:56 But really, it achieves nothing. And it is basically trying to bribe organisations to back your side, whether it's a sporting club or a local council or whatever. 34:08 But it's also trying to say to local voters, especially in marginal seats, that, you know, if you stick with us, good things will come. I mean, I think as far as that goes, morally speaking, I think Antumi is right. That is a form of grey corruption. 34:22 Yeah, I wonder, does this go back, because I'm intrigued by what you were saying there, because like, for instance, I think the Whitlam government, one of the things it did was talked about putting sewerage into Western Sydney. A lot of things that they did should have been done, and they did make some significant changes, but then you go, say, to the, I think There was a footpath program set up under the, might have been the Gillard government, Rudd government, after the global financial crisis. And then we had the school halls program. 34:54 So some of this local spending, which was designed to keep the economy going, and the theory was people will get work and things will be done at that local level. Has that now become almost part of the system where the federal government gets its nose into these areas, does things, and of course it's always accompanied by pictures of the the local MP and maybe the local candidate standing there saying, how good are we? 35:17 Well, that's exactly right. I mean, it's basically putting money into things that aren't federal government's core business. And state governments too, they do it. I mean, it should be local government's core business. 35:28 They do it because they get their pictures in the local rag. They can actually put it in their own campaign material or campaign propaganda and They can go and sort of say, look, if you vote for us, we deliver things locally. But the thing is, and I really would... 35:47 think that somebody should sit down and do a study of it, but my gut instinct, having worked in politics for a long time, is that it doesn't win any votes. People just take the money and go with it. That's right. And certainly it doesn't even buy gratitude from the organisations that benefit from it. So the reality is I think these types of grants should, if not going to be outlawed legally, they should be outlawed morally. Yeah. 36:15 Right. 131873 is our number. We're going to go through some of the feedback we've got here. We've covered a lot of ground here tonight. We're going to wind up shortly. It is our Wednesday night news hour with Terry Barnes at ten and a half to the hour now. 36:33 Seven and a half minutes to nine. It is our news hour here with Terry Barnes. Corruption has always been part of American politics. I think we've known this. The NRA, National Rifle Association, owns certain members of Congress and they're up for election every two years. in the United States. Also, this one, Terry, you ready for this? You must have rocks in your head when you're talking about where the savings are. He says, this is one of our listeners saying, waste, fraud and abuse. Wherever we find it, if you're not involved in waste, fraud or abuse of government funds, you've got absolutely nothing to fret about. 37:05 That is what his argument would be that they should say and then go in there and cut. But there's a huge number of people involved in the public sector in Victoria. A lot of those people... would find themselves without work? Would that be what you'd be doing? 37:21 Well, certainly I think that's the real consequence of any decision to make hard calls on what a government does and how it does it because it involves people. That's the bottom line. But yeah, basically what they need to do is track down waste and fraud and basically ask why things are being done. And what the Kennet government did when it came in in the 90s was to have a commission of audit What the Howard government did was actually do the same thing with the same person who did the audit, a fellow called Bob Opperson. 37:52 And I think that's what the Liberals of Victoria did. If I was Kelly Sloan in New South Wales, that's what I'd be promising as well, that you get independent experts running through the books line by line and asking questions about why is this being done? How is it being done? Could it be done better? Should it be done at all? 38:08 All right. Can I just, because often when we do this segment, because you and I have worked in politics for a long time, we sound like a couple of old farts talking about how it was better in our day. 38:17 I did last night play a fair bit of an interview I did a couple of years ago with Lord Geoffrey Archer, who's passed away this week, and I was due to speak with him about his new book. I've spoken to him actually dozens of times, but can we just play, this is part of the interview that I didn't play last night that I've saved for tonight with you. Just have a quick listen to this. 38:38 Well, it's so unattractive to go into politics now. 38:42 The pay is usually lousy. The public are rude to you every single day. 38:47 Because I think of the quality of the people, and you go back to when Bob Hawke was Prime Minister, Reagan was the US President, Margaret Thatcher was the leader of your country. We had Gorbachev making great change in the Soviet Union and then Russia. And then you look at what's in charge now. 39:06 Well, I think if we look at your country, dare I say... 39:10 Way back when I was a child, you had Mr Menzies, unquestionably a great prime minister, and I think John Howard was a great prime minister. So, yes, I do feel, not just in your country, right across the world, giants are not going into politics. 39:28 Yeah, look, I always loved talking to him because of his observations, the way he spoke. He was very entertaining, apart from, in fact, the way he wrote. There's a good point there, isn't it? 39:38 Well, there was an old line about pygmies standing on the shoulders of giants. And when it comes to politics at the moment in Australia, I think we've got a lot of pygmies. 39:46 OK, that's our version of what's better in our day tonight. Terry, I'm sure we'll do it again next week, won't we? 39:53 Look forward to it. Thanks, John. 39:54 Terry Barnes, you can read him, the Spectator magazine, the morning double shot. You can subscribe there and get that into your inbox every morning. He'll be back with us again next week. A bit more feedback I'll go through shortly. Three and a half minutes to nine or eight in Queensland. 40:17 A lot of feedback. Roz says it was better in our day. Also, a few people not all that impressed with Joe Hockey, if you happen to see him there on the 7.30 report. A lot more feedback as well, but we're talking cars in the next hour. I'm told there are a few things that were said last week, but I'm not going to ignore them. Let's just have a sensible conversation coming up after this. 40:42 And now on 2GB Sydney, 4BC Brisbane and network stations across Australia, it's time for Nights with John Stanley. 40:52 Good evening, everyone. Welcome along. If you're joining us now for the first time, of course, if you're in Queensland, it's just after 8 o'clock, just after 9 o'clock in the southern states. And, of course, as you move across Australia... different times and if you're listening to us in different parts of the world we've got a lot coming up we'll talk cars as we always do in this first hour and of course we have got Bathurst coming up this weekend so for some people I'm just intrigued actually is it because we have people who are obsessed with Formula One and I've been kind of infected by it with my colleagues here who and I've started to understand it a little bit more and then there's Bathurst which is this annual ritual where people go and and they park themselves on the mountain. 41:33 How much do you see is another question, but we'll talk a bit about that tonight. We will talk about cars. I am intrigued also. I wonder if, maybe you can tell me, I know that in relation to the Tour de France, there are people who set themselves up because you can get those indoor. So you put your bike on that machine indoors and people sit themselves on the bike and they have the indoor trainer and they have the TV on and they even put their Lycra on. 42:03 And when the Tour de France starts, they actually watch it while they're riding their indoor bike trainer. 42:09 So they're actually, they feel they're getting the experience of watching the Tour de France. So I'm wondering, is there anyone who this weekend is going to get themselves into a chair that resembles a Holland or a Falcon Commodore or a Falcon chair? Maybe pick up a large plate or a sawn off a tennis racket and pretend they're driving. 42:34 I mean, Nikolic has got a look on his face. I reckon he might have done it. So anyway, if you want to, and I'd love to hear if there are any rituals, because I know with the Formula One, it's usually the middle of the night, but I wonder if there are rituals where, I know people have barbecues and they watch it, but are there rituals where people are silly enough to sit in chairs and maybe even pretend they're doing the driving? 42:59 Give us a call. Let us know. Dob yourself in. 1318730460873873. Let's get into it right now. 43:10 And now on Nights with John Stanley, Drive. 43:17 Leech, who is our weekend host and also, of course, motoring editor here at the network. But before we get into him, we're going to have my theme as well. 43:32 That's my theme. And we'll have Sean Mackle will be joining us from costacar.com.au shortly as well. So the three of us will be kicking these issues around tonight. And when Sean's here, you can get your car valued. So that'll happen in about 10 minutes. But Trent's here with all of the news. 43:47 Hello, mate. Trent, good evening. Hello, mate. Have you ever done anything like that when you're sitting there watching Bathurst? Have you ever felt your arms going up and pretending you're driving? 43:55 Yes. Just before I answer that question, just before I answer that question, out of a mark of respect to you, last week when I was hosting, you'll be pleased to know when you were on leave, I was filling in for you. In the way that you retire a jersey when a great's played for the team, we didn't play the Mr Magoo theme. Oh, really? No, you weren't here. And that's your theme. So we didn't play it. 44:18 I have not strapped myself into a chair. I hate playing computer games and pretending I'm doing things. However, unless I'm actually doing it. However, I do have one of those stationary bicycle trainers. 44:32 But as you can tell by the look of me, I don't use it enough at all. So I do have one of them. Now, let me tell you something that I don't know if you knew about this. Formula One and cycling intersecting. So Valtteri Bottas, who drives for the Cadillac Formula One team, used to drive for Mercedes-Benz Lewis Hamilton's teammate. I don't know how many of your listeners know his girlfriend is a professional Australian cyclist, Tiffany Cromwell. They've known each other for a while. They've been together for quite a long time. Tiffany just retired. She's a legend of Australian cycling. So, of course, her passion has infected Valtteri. 45:04 And because he's so fit as a Formula One driver, he's a pretty bloody good cyclist. So he qualified for the International Cycling Tour gravel racing, right? So it's basically like the Tour de France, but on dirt. Very, very difficult. And he qualified for the over 40s, I think it was, or the over 35s or something. They raced on the weekend in Sepang in Malaysia. All the other Formula One drivers got into private jets to fly to Singapore. Him and Tiffany are riding bicycles to Singapore. Wow. 350 kilometres. Fantastic. 45:35 They're in the middle of doing it now. Really good. 45:37 How good. You did say, yes, you haven't actually sat there with a plate or something, have you? 45:41 No, no. I pretend I'm driving a car, usually, just to annoy people in the room with me. But no, I haven't strapped myself into one of those simulators. Okay. 45:48 Steve's got a question for you from Brisbane. I know he's going to tell us what he's done at Bathurst. I like it. He has actually got a question. I like it. Hello, Steve. Hello. 45:57 Go, guys. How are you going? Good, mate. Good, mate. Yeah, good. Hey, Trent, a couple of years ago I asked your opinion about the Genesis GB60, and I ended up buying one. Yes. And I've had it for four years now, and it's been a great car. Wow, four years ago that we spoke. Wow. It was. Yeah, I got it in 2022. And I've done four years, 83,000 Ks. It's been a great car, best car I've ever had. Excellent. And I haven't had any range anxiety. I've never had to use outdoor charging because, you know, I can get 430, 450 Ks out of it, so it's pretty good. 46:27 Charge at home, yeah. 46:29 is next year it comes up for replacement and I'm kind of getting to the retirement age and I'm thinking look you know for the low balloon that I've got I should keep it and I think it'll be a great car but I'm just wondering your thoughts of all these Chinese brands coming in and Genesis you know I won't say they're struggling but they're not making the impact that they should be in as a as a prestige brand. Just wondering what your thoughts are. If you had it and you liked it, would you keep it? Or would you think, look, I'll get out of it while I can and go and buy another prestige car? Such a good question, Steve. 47:00 No, such a good question. I'll tell you what. Number one, I'd keep it, first of all, because the GV60 looks great. I think it looks quite futuristic. So in the four years that you've had it, it hasn't aged. It doesn't look old. It still looks good. And it's a lovely car to drive. But all of that aside, A few people have said to me, Nissan tried what Hyundai's done with Genesis. Nissan tried with Infiniti and it failed and Infiniti disappeared. 47:28 The big difference is Hyundai's got vastly deeper pockets than Nissan had at the time. And the other thing is, if anything happens with Genesis, Hyundai's going nowhere in this country. So Hyundai will set it up in such a way that you would just take your car to a Hyundai dealer and have it checked there instead of a Genesis service center. So I would have absolutely no concerns at all about having it long term. And I think you're in a position where you've had the car since new, you know the history of the vehicle, you're the only person who's driven it, you still really love it. 47:58 So I would hang on to it, mate. Absolutely. 48:01 Okay. Oh, thanks, Ron. I really appreciate that. I mean, they've got the new Magma model out, which looks fantastic. It does. I don't know whether you've driven or not. It does, yeah. I'm tempted, but it's just so expensive. Correct. Yeah, correct. If you look at the resale, it's just like, hmm. 48:15 I'd hang on to the one you've got, Steve. Yeah, I really would, mate. 48:19 Very good. All right. He's happy? 48:21 He's happy. I can't believe... I remember talking to Steve, but I can't believe it was four years ago. Yeah, time just absolutely flies. We're getting old, mate. 48:27 Oh, you're surprised. You didn't notice, hadn't you? Just on the... And look, we're going to talk potholes when Sean comes in. Until we have to. It's going to decide... I'll tell you two things. Right. I've mentioned this before. Victorian election... Yep. 48:42 Potholes have become a central point. Yeah, yeah, sure. And then, and I've mentioned this before, and people blanch at some of his policies, but the mayor of New York, Mamdani, he's a socialist. He's got a 70% approval rating. And the reason he's got it is, well, there's a whole lot of reasons, but the reason he's got it, he went out... And announced a program to fix the potholes because they've been terrible. 49:06 New York roads were horrible. 49:07 So he went out and did this big picture opportunity, all politicians do. 49:11 Shovel. 49:11 And he with the shovel. Yeah, of course. And he put it up there on social media. And of course, you know, the response was, well, hang on. And so people started posting, what about this one out the front of my place? But he had a team monitoring. 49:23 Yep. 49:24 And they went out and a lot of those people came home in the evening and found the pothole that they'd reported had been fixed. And so that's what you do when you're a mayor or a local council. 49:34 Yeah. And with all that in mind, if you're in power in Victoria, I've got a really left field suggestion for you. Fix them. Because then you might get reelected. It's pretty simple. 49:44 They're saying they're going to fix them if they get reelected. They're going to be there for 12 years. It's too late. Now, this is a fascinating one. Yep. And can I just put something into context? Because for our listeners in other parts of Australia know, I think there are tolls in Brisbane. There are tolls everywhere. There are tolls everywhere now. But Sydney's the toll capital. Yeah, we love them. Maybe even of the world. We love them. Sydney's the toll capital. When the Cross City Tunnel was open... I remember I said, shouldn't the toll, wouldn't it be smarter to have the toll on the surface road? 50:13 I remember you and I talking about this. 50:15 And actually have the new road free. Might encourage people to use it. Well, then we had North Connects where they're forcing the trucks to use it and they have to pay a toll. 50:25 I remember us talking about that as well. 50:27 That's right. So now we've got Stony Creek Road in the southwest of Sydney because things are getting tough. And so a lot of trucks are getting off the M5 to avoid the toll and using Stony Creek Road. Now, you don't want those big things. And there's an argument about big cars on roads, which we'll get to when Sean joins us. Great. and continue that conversation. Looking forward to that one, yep. But just on trucks on Stony Creek Road, so now they're going to find the truckies $241 if they use Stony Creek Road because they're using it to try and get off and avoid the toll on the M5. 50:58 And isn't there a social benefit to all of us of giving the trucks a discounted or even ultra cheap or maybe even free run through the, maybe in the middle of the night, have a discounted period or a free period in the same way that Amazon, Deliver stuff at 4am. Yeah, of course there is. Why are they doing it at 4am? Because there's no one on the road. 51:21 No one on the road. Of course there is, mate. Once again, once again, far too smart for most politicians to come up. You're far too smart for most politicians to come up with that idea. Absolutely. I remember you and I talking about the North Connex tunnel and you saying to me, it's absolutely bloody ridiculous that the trucks are being forced into it. They're going to have to pay a lot of money. They don't have another option. It's typical of the way governments work. You're absolutely right. And just one thing on the cross city tunnel, the best part about that was when it opened, everyone in the eastern suburbs said, where does that go? 51:51 Why do I need to go there? They don't head west. They don't know anything exists past the Sydney CBD. So, yeah, you should have made it free. Because I remember when it first opened, no one was in it. Because who leaves the eastern suburbs? 52:01 Well, look, I'm sorry. I have mentioned this before. I'm going to say it again. The cross city tunnel it was built. 52:06 Yes. 52:07 It intersected with, and for listeners outside Sydney will probably hear this, but just to explain, it intersects with the Eastern Distributor. Correct. And so what happens is if you are going from the west to the east and on the Eastern Distributor, you get off the Cross City Tunnel, you then get on the Eastern Distributor, and then you then go across to the football stadium or up Moorpark Road to go to Bondi. Correct. 52:32 Correct. 52:32 The problem was that the intersection's done in such a way that it was quite dangerous to do that. And then coming the other way, the same thing. And so for the first few months of the operation, cars are sort of coming. You go straight across. You've got about 100 metres to go across three lanes. So they've eventually stopped you from doing that. And if you looked at that, you thought, how could they have signed off on this? Correct. Because it's a really ridiculous intersection. And I did make the point that the Premier of New South Wales at the time was Bob Carr. 53:02 The treasurer was Michael Egan. 53:04 Michael Egan, that's right. 53:05 Now, I don't know, because the cabinet signs off on these things. Neither of them drove cars. No. Remember? That's right, they didn't, of course. And if you didn't drive... How would you know what the road was like? If you didn't drive, you wouldn't have thought, hang on, if I'm trying to go to the SCG, this is no good. 53:20 That's right, I forgot that Egan didn't drive either. I knew Bob Carr didn't. Who'd have thought politicians having absolutely no clue what they're doing? 53:27 But wouldn't there be a Sir Humphrey in the room going, hey boys, that's not going to work there. 53:31 Yeah, yeah. so anyway there you go echo chamber so all right so um i'm not sure how you fix that though the situation i think what we've got to do is the premier in new south wales and maybe if you're listening in queensland let us know what your reality is like but the premier down here has got the toll cap so that you only spend a certain amount of money but at the moment with sydney roads the way they are and melbourne's a shocker as well trust me it's traffic's almost as bad as sydney if not as bad At the moment, the only way to get anywhere efficiently is to use the toll roads. 54:02 So you have to cop whatever they cost because otherwise you're just sitting in traffic going absolutely nowhere. That's right. That's right. Ridiculous. 54:08 Look, I've got calls, texts, but all I do is take a break. We're going to bring Sean in and we're going to continue this. And if you've got an issue with a car, you've got a question about a model that you're looking at, such as the question we had, where questions also follow-up questions on the Genesis, or you've got a car that you want to get valued, maybe you've got... Maybe you've got one of those original Bathurst cars going all the way back. We like hearing about them. They are worth a bit. So Sean's going to join us shortly from costacar.com.au at 21 past 9 or 8 in Queensland. 54:46 in Queensland. I'm not sure what's going to happen over the next 40 minutes or so because Trent's here and Sean Mackle from costacar.com.au is here. Can we have his theme? We always want to hear his theme first. 54:57 Now on Knights. 55:03 Looking to buy or sell a car? Get trusted, independent advice for your next vehicle purchase at costacar.com.au. Yeah, lots to talk about tonight. 55:12 And if you've got a car that you want costed, I've got to be careful as I go through that little time, a car that you want costed. 55:18 131873, whatever it might be, 0460873873. Good evening, Sean. How are you? 55:26 Very well. Thank you, John. 55:27 Trent, how are you? 55:28 Listeners? 55:29 Now, look, someone's saying last year it had cost about $20 billion to buy back all the roads from Transurban and abolish the tolls. I don't know. 55:37 See, I'd argue, and your listeners have heard me say this before, John, Government's job is to supply essential infrastructure for us to do what we need to do. I would have thought that roads are essential infrastructure. So for us to pay to build them, because they use our money to build them, and then Because of that, our reward for building them is that we also have to pay to use them. It's outrageous. It's completely outrageous. It's called a pyramid screen, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. 56:02 Yeah, in their favour, exactly. 56:04 Barb just sent me something. She's on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. I was reading my emails at 6 o'clock this morning. Couldn't believe my Temu order, which was delivered at 5.22am. There you go. There it was. But in the city of Sydney in particular, Amazon will drop your thing off at 4am. Isn't it? 56:20 Isn't that half the fun? You go into the office the next day and you see what you've ordered. But it's smart because they're moving around. At 11 o'clock at night when you're half asleep in bed. 56:28 But they're moving around the city when there's no traffic. When I drive home here after midnight sometimes, you think, wow, it's so different. People talk about us being a 24-hour city. Place goes to sleep. 56:41 I definitely don't think we are. Late at night. 56:43 No. 131873 is the number just for our Sydney listeners, and I think this reflects probably the view. You guys are wrong. Michael says people from the eastern suburbs don't go further west than Edgecliff Tower. Sorry, Michael. You're right. That is right. No, he's right. Hang on. 56:56 What about Rushcutters Bay? That's about as far as they go. That is by the water. I mean, the CYC is down there. It's a very lovely spot. 57:02 Yeah. I've seen some of those funny memes when they opened the grounds of Alexandria and it said hordes of women from the eastern suburbs have gone to the grounds thinking they're visiting the west. Michael's right. My apologies, Michael. Sorry. Don't they run bus tours there? I think so. 57:15 Thanks for advice on the Mercedes, apparently. Someone sent us some advice. Now they want a coffee mug, so we'll have to work. 57:22 Last week I threatened to autograph, I'd autograph your coffee mug and I had a few takers. Okay. Yeah. 57:27 All right. Very good. It's our motor racing grand final this weekend. It's Bathurst. 57:32 It's the one race that everyone gets ready to watch in Australia, John. Even people who don't watch supercars religiously through the year, they all strap in to watch Bathurst. 57:40 And before we get to a call and some of the questions and some of the news as well, what we have discovered, because we have a bit of fun on a Wednesday night, The one thing that triggers Trent, the one thing that absolutely triggers Trent is anyone criticising or suggesting that these massive SUVs that he drives, it takes up the whole lane and everything. And he really does, you see him, like his steam comes out of his ear. So during my week off, I was watching one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Seinfeld. 58:12 I was going to say Seinfeld. No, Frazier. And it's a beautifully written sitcom, Frazier. And Frazier was having a Christmas party in his building. He's in a big apartment block in Seattle. And he discovered that... And there's a reference to one of the other tenants with whom he'd been having a long-standing dispute. 58:35 And this person was having a counter-Christmas party. But the dispute... 58:40 that Frasier was having with this bloke, as soon as I saw it, I thought, this is Trent. Can we have a listen? I've invited the entire building, including Cam Winston. 58:49 In the spirit of Christmas, I've decided to put an end to our feud. 58:52 What are you feuding about? 58:53 Oh, he parks his SUV right next to Frasier's Beamer. Yes, well, that car is grotesquely oversized. I've often been forced to exit from the passenger's side. Many a time, I've been brought to grief on my gear shift. 59:07 There you go. See? 59:09 It's pretty good. 59:10 There are tretnic glitches everywhere. 59:12 Like I said, I'm going to start parking you in every time I come here in the biggest vehicle. 59:16 How big is the car you've brought today? 59:17 It's small, actually. Compact SUV. Oh, really? Yeah, I'm in a compact SUV. Are you feeling okay? 59:23 I was in a bit of a hot spot. I kind of figured you would have had your order in for the new 8.3 litre Duramax Chevrolet. 59:29 Yeah, that's coming. 59:30 Just big enough. 59:31 No, I'm in a compact SUV, John. 59:34 Let's take something sensible now. Greg's called in. Hello, Greg. 59:38 Oh, is that me, Greg? 59:39 Yes, it is you, mate. 59:40 Yes. John, you're all on fire, but you're on fire more than everyone tonight. It's great. Well, thank you very much for that. I'm having a great time listening to you guys. Had a sweet bit. Yeah. Okay. Look, I bought a new Skoda Kodiak a year ago from the dealer, and... 60:00 They've got these really cute things that come out to protect the doors. 60:04 Yes, little plastic bumper things. 60:05 Presumably from the other people. Yep. But that's why they were to protect your car. Yep. But one popped off, and then my wife was saying something's fallen down when she closed the door and she got it, you know. 60:19 Yeah. 60:20 I was just due for service. And then she didn't do anything. And then they denied. And then I looked up. It's a thousand. They said, no, that's not warranty item. It's a thousand bucks to replace it or something. And I thought, are you kidding me? I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go to fair trading. But because I didn't do anything... No, Greg, I would suggest you keep... 60:41 So it should absolutely be a warranty item. 60:44 Just so listeners know what we're talking about, when you open the rear doors on a Skoda, I think it's just the rears or the fronts? 60:50 No, no, it's front and back, and this was the passenger front door. 60:53 So when you open the door, there's a little plastic guard that pops out to the edge of the door so that you don't scrape the edge of your door on a wall, a column, whatever. Right. That should absolutely be covered by warranty, mate, especially if you can prove that you haven't been smashing your door up against other things, which you will be able to do because your door won't have any marks on it and it'll be like new. So I'd keep pushing it with them. If you don't have any luck, let me know and I'll follow it up with Skoda. 61:20 I was about to say to you, tell me what they've quoted you to repair it. How much have you found it online for? 61:25 $55 and a little cent. 61:27 $55 is the spare part, right? And it's probably a legitimate spare part as well. First of all, it doesn't surprise me they've quoted you an exorbitant amount of money. Keep pushing them to repair it under warranty. If you don't have any luck, give us a call back and I'll take it up with Skoda. 61:41 Can I just make one suggestion? 61:42 Don't go to the dealer, go to Skoda Australia. 61:44 Correct, yeah, go directly to Skoda Australia. The dealer's... 61:48 not going to bend over backwards to do anything that they should do, whereas if you go and open a case with Skoda Australia, it's going to probably expedite your frustration. They'll direct the dealer to do it, yeah, absolutely. 61:57 131873 is number. We're going to get to more calls and texts in just a moment, but I should just mention when I talked earlier about getting yourself a Ford or a Commodore seat. to replicate going to bathys tom who's one of our regular correspondents tom watches movies and when there's a flashback he goes i don't think that uh i think that chair in that restaurant had been made in that year or that's he's one of those people i like it i i like that so tom said he sent me a note saying surely these days uh you'd be getting into a mustang or a camaro seat rather than a falcon or a 62:29 Tom, he's being pedantic, but he's absolutely spot on. And not only would you not be getting into a Ford or a Mustang, you would be getting into a Camaro or Mustang seat. It'd be a very, very exotic carbon fibre shell race bucket because they don't use the seats from the car anymore in the race cars. Seats are probably 10 grand each. 62:49 Bathurst coming up. Ford stopped making cars a decade ago. October 7, 2016. Yeah, they did. That's right. So you've done a little league table, haven't you, here, of the great, iconic Ford vehicles. 63:02 I bet he, just before you get to that, because Sean's originally a Kiwi, I'll be absolutely gobsmacked if he gets through this without reminding us that nearly every year a Kiwi wins Bathurst, not an Aussie. Well, just a talented bunch of individuals, right? 63:15 Yeah. 63:16 You know what they say, both countries get smarter when Kiwis come to Australia, right? Yeah, look, I think this is aptly time, right? It's a trip down memory lane to kind of stop and think about, you know, what your favorite Ford was. It got me thinking, right? So for whatever reason, my favorite ones are an AU1 XR6 with a kit on it, right? Like, which is the ugly duckling of the range. But... you know it kind of it's a really nice way to think about what we used to build or what australia used to build and how good it was right and what was it 4.4 million odd cars rolled out of that line yep right so from what 1950 1954 i think it was off the top of my head the first falcon was 1960 yeah but i think they were starting to assemble cars before that so yeah I mean, it's impressive, right? 64:08 So I suppose it was something for the listeners to text through what their favourite forward is. 64:13 Yep. Okay. So because I remember my mum raised me. She didn't have a car, didn't have a license. But I had an uncle who had one of those light blue, maybe 63, 64 Ford Falcons. Oh, yeah. So he used to take us out on weekends. And then before that, we had a Cortina. I remember you said that. Because they won Bathurst a couple of times the Cortina. Yeah, they did. 64:37 Early 60s. Yeah, I think they did. There you go. 64:41 The one for me, when I think about it, I'm just looking up who the second driver was, but that famous 1-2 finish in the 70s. So Dick, I think it was Alan Moffat. And was it Dick French? Might have been Dick French. I'll look it up. But there was a 1-2 formation finish. I think they were XB hardtop falcons from memory, I think. But that... That era, I mean, look, the phase two, phase three GTHO Falcons were renowned. And then, of course, right into the later model stuff. And now we've got Mustangs doing really well. 65:11 XC. XC it was. Allemov and Columbine. Columbine in the second car. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Like legends, legendary cars, legends driving them. And just, yeah, a one-two formation finish like that. Yeah, I think it just, Sean made the point that it's just a reminder of the history that we had in this country of building things, John, and building good things, you know. 65:32 So if you have one of the, if you have a Ford that, you know, you wish you still had it, you might have it. And we often on this night, we hear from people who've got a very old. Yeah, yeah. And very low mileage car. 65:49 If we've got a listener who's got a Model T, I'd love to know. Because they are hidden in garages around the place. Just don't ask for that. Or to start it. I wouldn't even know how to start the thing. There's a whole process to start them. 66:00 But yeah, I'd love it. Well, we did establish when we found my first show from 1926 that even in 1926, and that was about 10 years on or something, the Model T Ford was... Still in production. The starter made it was an optional extra. Extra. I think it was... 66:15 Turn the handle at the front. 66:16 Crank handle at the front. It was £170. I looked it up. £170 and $50 extra for the starter motor. 66:24 It kind of puts people in perspective as to complaining that cars don't have enough specification nowadays. 66:29 Absolutely. 66:30 Because the Model T went for 13 years before they switched over to the A, I think. But when John said he looked it up, he means he went back to his notes from 1926. Handwritten notes. 66:39 Very good. 131873 is the number. It was Colin Bond. Colin Bond. Was in the second car. 66:45 Colin Bond plays golf at the North Ride Golf Club. 66:48 You've told me that before. Is he better than you? 66:50 I only see him. He walks backwards when I'm coming because no one wants to play with me, surprisingly. 66:55 So anyway. That is like a Seinfeld episode. It is, actually. 66:58 Look, if you've got a really old falcon you want to tell us about, give us a call. 131873 is the number. Let's just go to Ray, who's got a question for you both about the BYD Shark. Hello, Ray. 67:13 G'day, guys. How are you? 67:14 Good, mate. Thank you. 67:16 Okay, BYD Shark, do you discuss any news if there's a new model coming up soon? 67:22 Well, they've just updated... With the performance? Yeah, they've just updated the base model, and now they've got the performance, which has got upgraded towing, more power and torque. Do you mean that one, or are you talking about an all-new model? 67:34 Completely new model, because the way they're advertising at the moment, like... It's like they're trying to get rid of the whole thing. 67:42 No, no, mate. What they're doing at the moment, Ray, is they're basically, they're really trying to make it as competitive as possible because they've got so much competition now. So it's not about, I know what you're saying, it might look from the advertising and the pricing like they're in run out or there's a new one coming. Mm-hmm. 68:02 it's not that it's just that there's a gwm canon alpha hybrid and nissan's coming out with a hybrid and toyota's coming out with a plug-in hybrid and ranger's got a plug-in hybrid so they're just trying to make it as competitive as probably ray's actually in a way got a point as well right the we're used to five and six year life cycles here in australia with chinese manufacturers that will cut down to two or three years so you know you could potentially there's there's nothing um on the horizon but it's a very short horizon, Ray, with sort of BYD and Chinese cars. 68:35 So you could conceivably see it. They have just released a smaller version of the Shark, which is not coming to Australia. So that might be what you're thinking if you've sort of seen anything in the news. 68:45 But I've just checked as well to make sure there was nothing new from what I'd last seen. And yeah, Shark 6 won't be replaced anytime soon. But Sean's point's a really good one, which is their timeframe with manufacturing in China is so fast. 68:59 Okay, let's come back in a moment. We've got an interesting one already for you, Sean, so you can wrap your head around this one. We've got calls, we've got texts, we've got lots coming up here at 20 minutes to 10 or to 9 if you're in Queensland. 69:22 131873 is the number. There's a little story we're going to share with you shortly as part of the nostalgia of Bathurst. Many of you might know this, but let's get to some of the, gee, a lot of correspondence coming in. So let's be as quick as we can on all of this and make sure we can deal with everyone. This one, this is, in the spirit of Bathurst, my favorite Ford is the one in the rear view mirror. 69:45 I have a last run. So he's a Holden fan, that guy. 69:48 So this is Ford. 69:49 You ready with this one? Ready. A 1993 Series 2 Holden Commodore VPSS, 130,000 Ks, HSV option, 180K kilowatt upgrade. Original down to the radio with a thick book of receipts. What's it worth? 70:05 It's from TB. 40 to 45 grand. 70:07 How much? $40,000 to $45,000 is probably the number that comes to mind. 70:10 And they're starting to go up, those cars, too. 70:12 Because for $40,000 to $45,000, that's a viable car, but how much petrol are you going to be using? Who cares? Yeah, who cares? 70:18 You're going to sound amazing while you're burning it. Five litre V8. Life is to be enjoyed. No one wants the silence of a hybrid. 70:25 Let me just go to Mark. I think Mark's on the other side of the mountains because one of the issues is going to be getting to Bathurst. 70:31 Mark, what have you got for us? 70:33 Oh yeah, I travel back and forth from Western Sydney to Bathurst every weekend to go home, and there's about roughly two and a half hour drive. When I come down on Monday, the traffic was packed up quite well, but what the council and the highway patrol did, they actually blocked off all the rat runs, so although you had the traffic queued up, through Morangaroo towards the jail, once you got through, going through town, you were fine. Right. 71:04 Because I know people were, because I joined the queue, I went through there about 3 o'clock, 3.30 in the afternoon, it took me half hour to get through town. Yep. And what they actually did was turn off one of the sensor traffic lights, it causes a lot of drama, because once you got through Lithgow, you're fine. And people are going to realise too, even if with the other road open, you do have a bank up down the bottom of Mount Vic as well. 71:24 Yeah, of course you do. Absolutely you do, mate. Spot on. And I know a lot of the V8 teams were worried about this. I know normally a lot of the drivers, our listeners might not know this, but a lot of the drivers will fly into Sydney because most of them are out of Sydney and drive to Bathurst. They don't all fly out there. A lot of them drive out. Some of them, if they're coming from Victoria, will take an inland run and not come necessarily from Sydney. But a lot of the teams were concerned about getting out there because of this exact problem. 71:52 All right. Now, look, I've got more for you. Sean, you're ready to go with these ones here? I've got best Ford 1967 Falcon GT. 687 were made, all in gold. 72:05 Yeah, nugget gold. That's an XR GT, all nugget gold, yeah. 72:08 Are they hard to price? Because there'd be very few of them around, wouldn't they? 72:12 Yeah. It's about the amount of history with the car, the fact that the car's all together and original and sort of, you know... And that was the first GT, too. Someone hasn't decided they're going to try and do something to it. Yeah. Beautiful car. 72:25 Let's go to Anthony who's got one for you. Hello, Anthony. 72:28 Hello, how are you going? I've spoken to him before, talking about my three cars. He was asking about a Ford with low mileage on it. 72:34 I've got an X-8 out for 1972. 72:37 With 44,000 miles on the clock. 72:39 Wow. 72:40 What model is it, mate? 72:42 XA 1972, fifth month. 72:44 But is it a Fairmont? Is it a 500? What is it? 72:47 Now you want to sit down because it's a GT. A GT with that few kilometres. What colour is it? 72:55 Wild Plum. Oh, purple too. What a colour. That's a great car. A lot of them are red pepper, I think, is the colour. 73:01 You don't want to sell it, though, do you, Anthony? There's only 44 of the Wild Plum made before. Oh, how good. Yeah, how good. So, all right, mate, thank you for that. Sean, I guess with a car like that, you know, they probably wouldn't want to sell it. 73:16 I was going to say, the biggest problem sounds like getting it out of Anthony's. 73:19 Exactly. You need a crowbar. Yeah. I think some of these... He knows exactly what he's got. I think some of these... Dave says he's got a 67 Fastback. Yep, Mustang. Flicked the 289, shoehorned in a 351 Windsor. 73:31 Yep, well done. 73:31 Stoked it to 408. Ooh. Five-speed Tremec. You know I've got no idea what I'm talking about here. 73:36 Yeah, five-speed manual. Tremec's a good gearbox. Carry on. Nine-inch diff. Yep, nine-inch diff is good. Power rack and pinion. Yep, good power steering. Bremi's all round. Brembo's all round. 73:43 Good brakes. We'll do 12s down the quarter if you launch it right. That's fast. 73:47 How's the body still attached to that car? 73:49 Well, he must have done some work. 73:51 Because you think about the amount of twist that that would be creating when he stands on it. 73:55 Yeah, yeah, exactly. Wow, this is incredible. My favourite Ford was an XW GT replica I own, previously rebuilt before I purchased it. Yep. 74:03 candy apple red mirror paint yeah 69 or 70 that'd be yeah mildly worked 351 auto yeah immaculate condition could do 14 seconds yeah back then 14 second quarter miles were fast right now that was very now a porsche 911 is doing it in the low nines a turbo all-wheel drive like they are seriously fast cars now but back then 14 was hang on and strap in 74:25 Okay, fantastic. Not to mention the brakes are probably not quite what the Porsche is. Exactly. I do at 12 minutes to 10 and 9 in Queensland. I want to take another break. Sean, I want you to just cover this issue. We've talked about it before, whether your insurance covers your car. People have asked this question before. So we want to talk about that in a moment. And for our listeners, because I know there are listeners... who tune in specifically on nights when the Dragons are playing and I'm doing the show. So they can hear, they try and sync what's happening on the screen, and then they hear me going, oh, oh, oh, as I'm talking. 74:57 The lack of concentration. So this weekend, Trent's debuting his weekend afternoon show on Saturday and Sunday. So you'll be able to tune in because this bloke will be watching Bathurst. Correct. while he's doing his show, hoping the management doesn't listen, but tune in because when something dramatic happens on the screen, there'll be callers going, Trent, you there? 75:19 Are you there, Trent? Oh, yeah, sorry, sorry. So that'll be happening. 75:24 Listen out for it coming up this weekend at 12 to 10, 9 in Queensland. 75:42 Nine minutes to ten to nine if you're in Queensland. For those in Sydney, Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, this is a Voka Beach. Earlier tonight, there was a report of a man who's been shot, gunshot wound to his leg. 39-year-old police investigating. I'm guessing we can... Look, we report it. I'm sure we'll hear more about it tonight. But when you're working these hours, you're reporting a shooting in the Sydney region on a regular basis. So we'll see what the story is in relation to that one. If someone tells you a conversion, an older car will bolt in, weld it in with a grinder and a welder, one of our listeners say. 76:17 I'm currently in the process of converting a car from left to right hand drive. No such thing as bolt in. You are converting it. I'm having parts of it done, but there's no such thing. You're not doing it yourself, are you? Some of it. Okay. 76:28 Some of it. The Falcon XA, XB and XC are a copy of the Ford Torino 1970 model? 76:33 They're a bit smaller. They're styling elements that are similar, yeah, but they're not the same. The Torino's a bigger car. Okay, all right. 76:41 Lots more feedback on many of these as well. With Colin Bond, a lot of people are saying Colin Bond, he should have won, but the team said to come back because he was number two and Moffat was number one. And they had the one-two thank you ad on Monday. And look, in the next hour, we do nostalgia. We'll remember 1976. 77:00 when 2SM, the biggest station in the country at that stage, they fitted out a Tirana, I think it was, and they got Jack Brabham and Sterling Moss to drive. 77:11 That's pretty good names. Massive, massive hype. They got all this sponsorship. Two Formula One world champions. 77:16 They covered it in the 2SM livery. They got all these extra sponsors, wanted to get involved, because this was the signature of all eyes. Everyone was watching it. I'm looking here. 77:26 Despite the massive media frenzy, The race turned into a historic anti-climax. 77:32 Jack Brabham qualified the Tirana in tense position. As the green flag dropped to start the race, the car's gearbox jammed, leaving Brabham completely stranded on the starting. 77:41 I bet you Brabham said something like, so I believe Brabham is the last person to win... a Formula One World Championship driving a car that he built that's also got his name on it. I bet you the first thing he said was, this wouldn't have happened if I'd built the gearbox. Possibly, yeah. And I said they were both Formula One Championship. Of course, Sterling Moss never won. 78:01 Yeah, and Sterling Moss, the car was badly damaged. They managed to get it back out a few hours later, but Sterling Moss didn't get to drive it. 78:09 So are you looking for a Stanley Nikolic team up next year? 78:12 It's a great bit of history, but that moment where it just didn't get off the starting line was quite incredible. Now, at 6 to 10, Sean, insurance people, how can you do, check to make sure your insurance covers your car? 78:26 This one came up last week or this week, I should say. So a major insurance company would let the client take their car to the manufacturer's authorised repairer because they weren't a preferred repairer of them. So they couldn't actually take their car, which was an expensive car, to the factory repairer. So I think it's important to remember, if you look at your insurance based on what you're paying on a monthly basis, you could get an unfortunate surprise. Because what's going to happen now is that car is going to go to a group repair centre, non-genuine parts, second-hand parts, a whole lot of other different things. 79:04 You know, the paint in the panel is pretty much straightforward. Most people can do that. But what is actually getting fitted to the car? So when you look at your insurance and you're quoting it around and you're looking at the renewal... 79:14 what do you actually get for what you're paying for? Because it could be $10, $15 a month that you're saving. That could be very, very costly. Because when you bring the car to someone like me or you trade the car and it hasn't been repaired properly. 79:27 By an authorized repairer. 79:28 Right, by an authorized repairer, it's a big problem. 79:31 What you're saying, will that be evidenced in the fine print? You've got to look for that. You've actually got to read it, right? 79:38 So I think we've become very, very blasé. We look at the how much does it cost and how much do I save. It's like your health insurance, right? You look at what you save. You don't actually think about it until you go, oh, I'd really like to claim that. I used to be able to claim that, but I've saved myself $10 a week. Yeah. It was a really nice client. They'd been with the insurer for a long time, and it was quite uncomfortable and awkward for them not to be able to do it. 80:02 Especially for an expensive car. 80:04 Let's just reinforce costacar.com.au. People can go to your website. They can find out on costacar.com.au, and you can get as many photos in there. 80:13 As much information as possible, or just call me. 80:16 Okay, all right. I think if I couldn't get to you tonight, you can call this bloke on the weekend. Trent's going to be doing the weekend afternoon show. Sean, you're going in with him, are you? I am. 80:27 I think on Saturday to be... Are you available on Saturday afternoon? I'll see. Yeah, okay. You should call in. 80:31 I might be, but there won't be... The trouble is on Saturday is once he arrives, there's not much room in the car park. 80:38 taken up. It's very possible that the car park will be shucked because he'll have knocked over all the overhead sprinklers. It's happened on a couple of occasions. 80:51 Can you take John for a drive in your car, please? I've done it before. He's incredible. 80:55 He sits in the passenger seat telling me how to use roundabouts. We played tennis in the back of his car. Hang on, you don't use roundabouts, you go over them. That's it. News coming up soon. Thank you, boys. 81:03 Bye, mate. 81:06 Yes, Tread will be doing afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays as of this weekend. So lots of fun with him. But we've got the news coming up straight after this. 81:19 Now it's back to John Stanley right across Australia. 81:43 Evening, everyone. Welcome along. It is just after 10 o'clock in New South Wales, the ACT Victoria, just after nine o'clock if you're listening to us through Queensland and those listening around Australia and right around the world. Welcome along. As we move into this nostalgia hour, we'll have Peter Ford with his bumper entertainment report. Later in the hour, we've got some wonderful snippets of nostalgia for you. And I did allude earlier to a massive, massive radio promotion in 1976 by radio station 2SM. 82:16 This is during its heyday. It was the biggest radio station in the country. They must have been an absolute bomb. 82:23 to bring in two of the biggest names ever in motor racing to get involved in the race at bathurst and it had a funny sequence because they couldn't get off the starting line it's just got jammed on the starting line but we've got some of the promotion of that for you in frank's treasure trove along with some other gyms as well also thank you for all the feedback we've had from you uh the late brian woolship was a bathurst 12-hour class winner yeah he did He was a big fan of motor racing and did some motor racing as well. 82:56 Yes, exactly. And a lot of you also telling me about some of the cars you had. 83:02 Lynn had a UC Tirana, gold-colored, lowered mag wheels, six-cylinder, was stolen in Blacktown and found... 83:11 in an unrecognisable state that often happens, struggling to get a $2,000 insurance payout, wondering what it's worth. We might keep that one and ask Sean what he thinks about that one. You probably don't want to know what it might have been worth. 83:24 And also, for what it's worth, Jeff says his BMW is old man's R1250 RT motorcycle does zero to 100 miles an hour in 6.8 seconds. So thank you very much for that, Jeff. Lots of feedback on cars and particularly powerful cars. And we'll have more of that on the weekend with Trent. He'll be beginning his weekend program on our network. That is Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And Sean will join him, I think, in mid-afternoon on Saturday. So some more of the fun that we have here on a Wednesday, you'll be able to hear it on Saturday afternoons. 83:59 131873 is the number. 10 past 10 now. 84:02 Now it's time for John Stanley's Brain Game. Call now. 131873. 84:11 Yes, have a 2GB or 4BC prize pack, depending on where you are, with the cap and the mug and a lot of other goodies from our prize cupboard. And then, of course, the most sought-after prize anywhere on our network, the John Stanley Mr Magoo mug coming your way if you can answer this question. And I'll have to be very careful not to spit out the answer for this one because... The big race, the big race is on at Mount Panorama this weekend. It actually began, it began as the Armstrong 500. And then I think it became the Hardy Ferrodo 1000. So the sponsorships are there, but it was 500 miles and then it became 1000 Ks. 84:46 But it started in 1960 as the Armstrong 500. 84:52 And in fact, for the first three years, it was raced somewhere other than Bathurst. So all you've got to do is tell me where. I've managed to get through the whole question without spitting out the answer. So you tell me where that race was raced in 1960, the Armstrong 500, which began everything, of course, that's led up to this weekend. First person to call through with the answer I'm looking for, which is the correct answer. You win the prizes tonight at 11 after 10 or 9 in Queensland. 85:38 Heading for the station with a pack on my back. I'm tired of transportation in the back of a hack. I love to hear the rhythm of the clickety-clack. And hear the lonesome whistle, see the smoke from the stack. And pal around with Democratic fellas named Mack. So take me right back to the track. Jack Choo Choo. 86:20 Yes, back to the track. And what track was it, though? Maria, where was that first Armstrong 500 staged in 1960? 86:29 It was staged in Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in Victoria. 86:33 That's right. And it was pretty spectacular. Actually, having to have a look at the winners of that race, the early ones, there was, in fact, I think the third one was won by a Morris Cooper, like one of those minis. And then Cortina's won, and it was a few years before eventually we saw... 86:50 the Ford Holden thing begin. But well done, Maria. You have got yourself, first of all, a 2GB price pack we'll send you with a few goodies from our price covered. You also get the John Stanley Mr Magoo mug coming your way. Well done at 13 past 10. I might check this because, and I might talk about it a bit later, because I actually spent a couple of years in the northwest of New South Wales in Moree and Narrabri is about an hour from Moree in that part of the world, beautiful part of the world. And they tell me that They've actually got a big slug. 87:21 So you know you have all these things, the big bananas, all of this. They've got a, apparently, and the reason I'm mentioning it is it says it's the big K-A-P-U-T-A-R. Now, I think it's Kaputar because Mount Kaputar is an extinct volcano, and you go up into the, it's quite remarkable, near Narrabri. I've been there once, and that was years ago, and apparently this is a pink slug with, just incredible, a land mollusk. 87:49 which is found exclusively in the high-altitude forests on top of Mount Capitar. But I'm thinking, is it Capitar or Caputar? Someone will know. There'll be a narc that'll be able to tell me and solve that mystery for me. But it doesn't look all that flash, the pink slug. Anyway, they've got themselves a tourist attraction there at Narrabri. 14 past 10. We're going to get straight into our time tunnel shortly with Frank's Treasure Trove. 88:17 17 past 10 past nine in Queensland. Andy tells me it's a pink slug with a big helmet on the end. This is this big Capita pink slug. The only reason I say it is I was there for a couple of years and that Mount Capita, and I hope I'm saying it right, is you drive up and it's very flat in the northwest of New South Wales, but this is a Capita National Park and you drive up into this extinct volcano and it's quite spectacular. I've never forgotten it. But what I didn't notice when I went up there a long time ago were the pink slugs, which apparently are everywhere, but they're now endangered. 88:54 18 past 10, past 9 in Queensland. 89:03 Yes, of course, we do this every Wednesday night. 89:09 Frank Houston, who is the radio industry's resident audiologist, he digitizes tapes, sounds, increasingly CDs or DVDs. Even those need to be looked after and digitized. So this is what he does. A lot of people do it. But part of that, he's been digitizing a lot of old material for us. We've gone through some great stuff. Frank, good evening once again. 89:30 Good evening to you, John. And just before we get underway, you mentioned cars before. And I've got to tell you this. I seem to remember my sister's first car back in 1987 was a 1975 Purple Mazda Capella. Absolute rust bucket it was. She got it for probably about a grand or so. And I remember her driving around town and the suburbs with a sticker on the back window that said 0 to 100 in 15 minutes. Oh, right. Yes, I'm not sure how she got away with that. 89:56 Yeah, that's very funny. 89:58 There you are. Euro to 115 minutes. Now, we did mention that in 1976, 2SM, it was in its heyday, biggest radio station in the country. They had a massive budget. They were owned by the Catholic Church. But they were running big promotions in October. And one of the biggest ever was they entered a car... in Bathurst, they got Sterling Moss and Jack Brabham to drive. This was the big story. And there was all sorts of sponsors came on board. They had the denim with the zip. 90:30 All the focus was on this car. Yeah, that's right. Now, of course, as we said earlier, It stalled on the start. Yeah, great. But the lead-up to it, you've got some of the promotional material. 90:43 About three of them, yes. We're going back to 1976 here. They're October 76 promotion they were doing at the time. So three promos here for the Bathurst races. And one of the sponsors I remember was actually Blues Union. That might actually stir up a few memories for you and some of our listeners. So let's have a listen to that now. 90:59 The top of the Bathurst racetrack is a very personal thing. As the driver heads over the hill, he can see no fence, no crowd, no bitumen, just his bonnet and the blue sky. This year's Bathurst Race heralds the opening of Rocktober 76 with all-time great Sterling Moss joining our very own world champ, Jack Brabham. Will these two old-timers learn a few tricks or maybe teach a few? You'll hear full reports from Bathurst with John Crawford for Hank 10. Just keep your eyes on the Blue Denim Tirana, co-sponsored by Blues Union and 1270 2SM. 91:31 On the first day of Rocktober, 1272SM pays your... Bridge Toll, October 3rd, and... Sunday and Monday, part one and two of... We were Rocktober on the beaches. We were Rocktober in the streets. 92:00 Bye. Bye. Bye. 92:26 Sunday, October 3 is Bathurst, and preparations are well underway. 92:31 Very responsive to the throttle, got a lot of horsepower. The tires give extremely, fantastically high road holding capabilities. Although the road holding is tremendous, you're obviously trying to push the car to the limit of its road holding. That's what racing is all about. I went up and saw the Bathurst track yesterday, and I thought it was absolutely superb. I will let you try and feel the road holding going into this next corner, because you don't need anything the power to do it. 92:59 The Hardy Promoto 1000. Grabham and Moss in the race of their lives for Blues Union and 1270 2SM. 93:07 Yes, from what I read, Blues Union came on board. A lot of sponsors clamoured to get involved in all of this. And Stirling Moss actually didn't drive any of the race because the car was damaged on the start. But it was a massive, massive thing. It was huge. And massive promotion for 2SM. And as part of that, as you saw, every Rocktober, and people need to understand that the radio rating surveys would start the last one of the year in that October period. so they used to pay the the toll on the harbour bridge i think from 6am to 9 or something now you asked yourself why doesn't that happen today well uh the the toll then was 20 cents now i know i'm not sure how it would translate but i'm pretty sure that it would be a lot more expensive in today's dollars uh than it would be in the conversion and you'd swipe your credit card anyway 93:53 Exactly. Exactly. Because in those days, you had to throw 20 cents into a basket. That's right. Assuming you've got it in the first place and up on the roadside. That's right. A bunch of 20-cent coins will pile in them up. That's right. 94:03 That's right. Now, this next one, you're going back to 1981. Of course, the legendary Ernie Sigley, who was very well known on television around Australia, but he was a big radio personality in Melbourne. 94:13 He was indeed on station 3DB or 103DB, as they were known then with the big old jingles with the opera singing and all that kind of thing. So... We're about to listen to some of Ernie Sigley and Lou Richards together from September the 1st, 1981. 94:25 Let's just explain Lou Richards was a huge name in AFL and sport in Victoria as well. So these are two of the biggest, biggest personalities in Melbourne at the time on this radio station. So let's have a listen. 94:39 Ten and a half minutes to eight on 103 DB and here's the Franco costo off to rack. Mr. Lou Richards. G'day Lou. G'day honey. Well, I've copped the sun this morning. I saw you on the news last night with all that spaghetti hanging out of you. Yeah. Not very elegant out of a bucket, is it? 94:54 Oh, actually it's very nice spaghetti. Peter Point made a great job of it, honey, the Bolognese. 95:00 It was cooked probably, was it? 95:01 Yes, and he gave me a bottle of Vitties red. 95:04 Yeah? And, of course, I wanted to finish the bucket off, but before I got very impatient. Did he? 95:10 And he let me have it. 95:11 And, of course, that bizarre story, you know, that Gusto bizarre story, I was at the back, I opened up the back of my collar, let the thing all go down the back of my neck. I could have whacked him one. 95:20 How did you get on when you got home? Did you have spaghetti or anything? 95:22 Well, actually, I woke up this morning and I'll tell you what you should do. It's the best shampoo you've ever had in your life. I've got the curliest hair. Have you? Yeah, honestly. 95:30 You'll have to go to the hairdresser and get it done with a form. 95:32 No, it's one of those afro hairdos I've got now. You wouldn't recognise me. 95:36 Actually, you'd look good in an afro because... Well, it's gone afro. It has gone afro? Yeah. Fair dinkum. Yeah. Because I reckon you're looking too much like Robert Redford now. 95:46 George Peppard. George Peppard. That's right. I remember up at Noosa Heads when you and I were up there playing golf, you were walking along telling all the young girls in their bikinis you were George Peppard. 95:54 Yeah. Made believe me too, I don't think. 95:56 Yes, I think they did, Luke. 95:58 Listen, Ian Rice copped it too. He was standing there laughing his head off and making wise cracks, you know. 96:04 I said that earlier on, he got about a $600 suit on, didn't he? 96:07 He had a $600 mocker on, and I poured the bucket over him too. 96:10 What do you think of that? 96:11 Oh, he had to laugh, because there was 2,000, 3,000 people there. 96:16 But he hasn't got a sense of humour afterwards, has he? 96:18 Oh, he has. He's a good guy. He enjoyed it very much. As a matter of fact, he's invited me around to his home Monday week, or next Monday. 96:24 Of course, you're in with all the social set now. Oh, the jet set. The jet set, eh? 96:27 Yeah, I get up the Safeways with all the dear old girls up there and have a yarn. 96:32 Do you? 96:32 Yeah, oh, they're lovely. 96:33 Do you have lunch at Jackson's? 96:35 No, I don't give a Jackson's, no. I can't afford lunch unless someone takes me any. 96:40 It's very trendy around here, you know that. Yeah, well, I drive through on my four-wheel drive, my two-rack tractor. 96:45 Yeah, that's right. You've got to have a Range Rover up here to be in the foam. We've got a little wheelbarrow I push Edna up in. 96:52 Did you take Edna with you yesterday? 96:53 No, she's up at Bendigo with my daughter. My daughter's having a baby and of course she's up there helping out for a week. 97:00 She's having another baby? 97:01 Yeah, Nicole. 97:02 How many is this? 97:03 The second. She's not here to have a chat, but she's been heading us up there for a week with her. 97:07 Well, you've got one grandchild, haven't you? Two grandchildren. 97:09 My other daughter Kim's got a little girl called Amy. 97:13 Mr. Richards, I didn't think you were old enough to be a grandfather. 97:15 Well, actually, I was a child bridegroom. Oh, were you? I was married at 12. 97:20 How are you getting on by yourself around there? Are you all right? 97:24 Pretty good, and two rackers. Only gutters. People knocking on the door all the time. 97:27 You don't want me to pop around and cook your lunch or anything like that? 97:29 I'd like you to pop around. Your wife wouldn't mind if you spent the night Are you with me? 97:32 No, I don't think so, no. 97:33 But you'd be a bit of a bore now, Ron, because you're not drinking. 97:36 No, no, I'm a good boy now. What about, remember the time we went out and played golf, you, Ron, Casey and I? 97:41 Yeah. We got back to your place and you said, oh, come upstairs with us. And we said, no, we're not going upstairs to try to get you out of trouble. Then we ended up at my place and I said, did Casey come inside with you, Ron? He wouldn't come inside. 97:50 No, I know. 97:51 We're both scared of our wives, aren't we? 97:54 still it's a good way to play well very lucky and we've got good wives you do a great promotion for footy lou i don't know where melbourne vfl footy would be without you feeding him you deserve a knighthood i'd just like to say this seriously the thing that i love most of all doing these little stunts is the being mixed up with the football public they are just tremendous they joined in the phone yesterday and there wasn't any Silly stuff going on, they just join in the humour of it. And that's what I think about these, like when we did that thing down at Geelong last year, there were 8,000 people, they were just marvellous, and so were the people up at Carlton yesterday. 98:25 I think that's the idea of it, eh? You had 3,000 there yesterday, didn't you? 98:28 Yeah, about 3,000, but the idea is for those people to join in the fun, and by go they do, and I just love them all. I think they're tremendous. 98:34 Well, you can always have fun with Lou Richards. Good on you, mate. Thank you, mate. 98:37 Keep the good work up. 98:39 Listen to the show and it's tremendous, eh? Thanks a lot, Lou. Good luck. See you, mate. Lou Richards, six and a half minutes to eight. 98:47 Let's go. 98:52 A million people gather in the streets of Tehran to mourn the deaths of two Iranian leaders, and in cricket, New South Wales batsman Dirk Willem makes a smashing debut. 8 o'clock, good morning, Peter Lee, 3DB News. Shouts of death to America, chanting crowds and demonstrations have marked the funerals of Iran's President and Prime Minister today. Over a million people have gathered in the streets of Tehran to mourn the deaths, and the government has decreed five days of national mourning following the bomb blast yesterday, which took four lives in all, and injured nine others. The bodies of President Rajai and Prime Minister Bahana were so badly burned they had to be identified by dental records. 99:28 The two others killed in the blast have been identified as an employee of the Premier's office and a woman passer-by. 99:34 So there's a little vignette from 1981. Every time we do this, Frank, we say everything old is new again. You come in there at the end of that little clip with a news story about Iran and the leadership being killed in a bomb blast and death to America. Oh, he's changed. Nothing has changed. And Lou Richards was a legend. Louis the Lip, they called him. You could see that big personality he had. He was a Collingwood legend. And he had a big personality, which I think did translate right across the country. 100:07 Yeah, that's right. 100:07 And 3DB also became 3TT in later years and then eventually became KISS 101.1 down there. 100:13 At that stage, I think the great Bill Collins was calling the races there on 3DB as well. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Let's take a break, come back in a moment because we've got one of the biggest names in Brisbane radio over many, many years coming up shortly and something that our listeners on our network will also enjoy as well at 29 past 10 or 9 in Queensland. 100:40 You are listening to us on 4BC TGB, 2LT. We've got stations all over the country listening to us tonight, and many of you are listening to us on smart speakers or on the app. It's Frank's Treasure Trove as we delve into the history. And tonight we've got... One of the biggest names in Brisbane radio, Wayne Roberts, he was known as Wayney Poo. He did actually spend some years in Sydney doing The Breakfast Show on 2UW in the late 1970s when 2UW was trying to essentially keep up with 2SM. 101:12 This was the last few years of really dominant AM music radio before FM started. So he came and you've got some TUW Wayne Roberts. 101:21 We do indeed. From early August 1977, we're going that far back. And there's also ads for a paint shop in Sydney in this, offering rolls for $5 to $6 a hit. 101:30 Let's have a listen. Neil Sedaka and Shalalalalala Amarillo. It's right on a quarter to seven, 6.45. All right, you can check your watches now. Bang on a quarter to seven at the sound of the pip. 101:46 There you go. It is quarter to seven, 2UW. Good morning. An amendment to the forecast. We're going to have snow. No, we're not. It's not going to be 22 now. It will be 20, but that's pleasant, isn't it? 20 degrees, and things are shaping up for a magnificent weekend. I notice the jocks here at 2UW, they're really getting involved with this Liverpool bit, aren't they? Keith McGowan, he's not much of a mug, is he? He's driving a stock car at Liverpool. He can't even drive his own car. That's probably why he's driving a stock car, I guess. 102:12 And Ward's giving away tickets to Liverpool Speedway. So if you're into Speedway, and if you've never tried Liverpool, listen to Ward and take the opportunity. Well, let's hope you win some tickets and get out there and have a look. I've been out there once in a demolition derby. It's well run, that place, isn't it? Liverpool. Good morning to all the people at Liverpool Way. A bit cool, I bet, eh? It's 14 minutes before 7. Are you about to buy wallpaper or paint? Now, see these super stock take saves at the colour shops. We decided on the colour shops. Well, actually, my wife did. She's the smarty when it comes to financing and doing the house up. 102:44 I mean, I would always like to buy... 102:47 this, but she says, no, you're going to have to buy this. So I always go her way, and I'm glad I did this time, because she made the right move with the colour shops. They came out to the house with all of the samples. 102:58 We couldn't pick any on the first range that came out, and so we called them back again. No grumbles, no fuss, no bother. They loved it. They're all over Sydney, the colour shops, but before I tell you where they are, Mayfair full vinyl wallpaper and all the patterns, half price, six $6.50 a roll, or if you're using paint, a lovely weekend to do some painting too. The Colour Shop's Flat Plastic, only $5.50 for a four litre can. The Colour Shops, Hornsby, Eastwood, The Hills Shopping Centre, St. Mary's, Ferry Meadow, Campbelltown and Liverpool. 103:29 And Master Painters, if you're listening, did you realise that the Trade Depots at Campbelltown and Liverpool are now open at 7am in the morning? So there you go, that means they're opening in about, what, 30 minutes time. Peter McCann, and do you want to make love? As you snuggle up to her and she gets your hands, she says, get your hands off me. It's seven and a half minutes before seven o'clock. Actually, it's good weather for cuddling, isn't it? You've got two UW going in one ear and the man's saying it's six degrees, which is pretty cool. It will be 20 degrees today. Lovely. And it might be all right, too, out in the Hobies. 104:00 I spoke to Denny Keogh, the man, the Hobie man of Sydney, and he's phoned me up. He hasn't spoken to me for two months. I said, what's the matter? I've got the plague or something. And he said, no, I've been skiing. He just dropped me like a bit of yeast cheese, he didn't. There I was flogging his hobies for him and saying the right things and he's decided to go to the snow. Anyway, we're getting out next week. A cool to mild, mainly sunny day with light to moderate. North-west and north-easterly winds. Gustier times on the coast. Seas will be slight on a low swell. An expected max today will be 20 degrees for both the city and Liverpool. And at the moment, as I told you, it is 6. 104:31 Actually, it's jumping between 5 and 6. I bet it's freezing out there in the west. It's 7 minutes to 7. I don't know if you're up with it yet. You mightn't be if you've just woken up. Des Renford has thrashed. that young pommy swimmer, Kevin Murphy, in that channel swim. 104:45 We got a phone call, it must be about an hour ago, from his good lady, Mrs. Renford, and apparently it took Des 13 hours and 5 minutes for the channel cross, and the amazing thing about this man, and put yourself in this position, do you think he would be capable of a channel swim at 50 years of age? Well, that's what Des will be in about 3 weeks' time, 50 years of age. So he's won 13 hours and 5 minutes to go from the UK over to... 105:10 Ooh-la-la territory. 105:13 Right, there you go. Ooh-la-la territory. 105:15 Wayne Roberts, Wayney Poo, and that was 1977. And the thing there, of course, is all of these little snippets give us an idea of what you were paying in those days. You do need, of course, to do the calculation, but given the cost of living today, it does stick in the crore a bit. Now, this final one, our own Mike Jeffries, he was on 2UE. 105:33 in 1976. This was at the time when John Laws, I think John Laws was on TUW at that stage and so 2GB I think might have, this might have been at the time that in fact the 2GB was going through its ill-fated music format. The music experiment. It lasted about one year. 105:50 But Mike was doing mornings on TUE? He was indeed and this actually talks about a new Bay City Rollers record he was struggling with and near the end of the air check he actually starts playing it at the wrong speed. Now I don't know whether it was intentional or deliberate or maybe it was just a genuine mistake but you'll hear that happening as well and it also includes a call or two. Okay, let's have a listen. 106:20 Oh, you can tell it's after the long weekend, can't you tell it? Can't you just feel it in your bones? 70 minutes past 11 on TUI. I've got a great choice here now. I can either talk to a wild Irishman or I can play you the new Bay City Rollers record. Isn't that a choice? 106:36 I must admit I haven't heard the new Bay City Rollers record, and you know how I love the Bay City Rollers. 106:42 I just adore listening to Bay City Rollers records. 106:46 It's my second most favourite thing. 106:48 my first most favorite thing is to have a big hairy dog come and sit on my lunch but as a feature of the mike jeffrey show today to keep you in touch with your children you can tell them when they came home from school that you heard the new bay city roller single okay but first the irishman good morning good morning jeffrey mike how are you going i'm going very well thank you you think i'm a wild man a wild man yes you sound like a wild man to me oh not near butternet jelly oh but close right i'm in the Yes. Now, why have you rung me today? 107:18 Because you had another Irishman on there after me. 107:22 Yes, I did. 107:23 And you were condemning me. 107:24 Yes, I was. 107:25 For a disgrace to my country or something. 107:26 You were. 107:27 But I come from the south of Ireland. Mike? 107:30 Yes. 107:31 And now where I come from, I'm the middle of Ireland. 107:36 They're not bad people. They're honest anyway. 107:38 Oh. 107:39 They're hard-working men and they're honest. And the man that I was talking about... 107:46 Are we back to that again? 107:49 I think we covered that pretty well. 107:51 Yes, yes we did. 107:53 We certainly did. 107:56 Did you have something else you wanted to tell me? 107:59 You know what I mean, I'm not afraid to meet you down the street either. 108:02 Are you? What are we going to do when we meet down the street? 108:05 We won't start fighting, Andy. Why have a drink? 108:07 Oh, good. Where do you drink? 108:10 Oh, anything I can lay my hands on is a rule. 108:12 Anything I can lay my hands on. 108:13 Where do you hang out? Where do you drink after hours? 108:16 After work? Oh, I go to different spots, you know. Will you be there, will you? 108:21 I wouldn't mind having a drink. 108:22 How will I recognize you if you're at a drinking spot where I go? 108:26 Oh, I don't know. How did you make me out? 108:28 Yes. 108:28 How did you pick me out? 108:30 Yes, how will I know you? 108:31 I'm well known. 108:33 Apart from that, I mean, how will I know you? What distinguishing features do you have? 108:37 I'm a good friend of Jack Mundy's. 108:39 Oh, are you? 108:40 I'm a great close friend of Jack Mundy's. 108:41 Okay, so if I see Jack Mundy, you won't be far away. That's right. Okay, well, I haven't seen Jack Mundy in ages, you know, but I still think I could pick him out of a crowd. 108:52 You're his friend. You ought to know. Well, you're his mate. 108:57 Oh, you wouldn't know. Maybe he's overseas. 108:59 Well, in that case, there's a good chance I won't be able to recognise you, and that's probably the best news I've had today. It's 19 and a half past 11 until you eat. 109:07 Hello? Julie, how are you? Oh, fine, Mum. Julie, it's your mother. 109:12 Tell me, are you well? 109:14 Never better, Mum. In fact, I've got my good health diploma. A diploma for health? Yes, I'm drinking now. Drinking your diploma? My diploma nonfat milk, Mum. More protein per pint than fresh milk and none of the fats. It's lower in calories too and that really helps my slimming diet. 109:30 Ask my daughter how she is and I get a command. 109:32 Have you got your good health diploma? Diploma instant nonfat milk powder. 109:37 Now it's 20 minutes past 11 on TUE and the temperature in town at the moment is still 18 degrees. It's too above normal. Are you sure I have a P&O commercial hangar? I must have done it. Have a listen to this. I haven't heard it so I accept no responsibility other than it is the brand new record from the Bay City Rollers and I'm playing it before anybody else in town. Dubious distinction. 109:57 So at least you can say to the kids when they come home from school today, I heard the new Bay City Rollers record today. 110:06 Just a moment. I'm being unnecessarily harsh there. It really doesn't sound like that. It should be played at 45 and sound like this. 110:13 Cue Bay City Rollers. 110:18 Yeah, it was a pretty ordinary song anyway. 110:20 That one wasn't really. I'm pretty sure it was intentional. Yeah, so that was from 1976. 50 years ago. Remarkable. All right, another great episode of Frank's Treasure Trove. And don't forget, of course, if you've got something you want digitised, particularly the older it gets, particularly cassette tapes. I know a friend of mine, you did some work for him. I did. So look, they can contact you. 110:40 Yep, at the email, which is frankhouston2. That's I-U-S-T-O-N and the numeral 2 at gmail.com. 110:46 Very good. 110:47 All right, and we'll do this again next week. 110:48 We will, thanks. Frank Houston there, 17 to 11. Let's take a break. Come back with Peter Ford. Someone's corrected me again. Of course, no surprise. It's a regular thing on this show. I'll deal with that as well in a moment. Here on this Wednesday. 111:04 14 minutes to... Look, thanks for all the feedback and Nicholas has sent me a lengthy text with a correction of something I said about Bathurst. I'll have to do that at the top of the hour because right now we're doing this. That's entertainment. That's entertainment. 111:22 Now on Nights, The Entertainment Report with Peter Ford. 111:30 Every Wednesday night we speak with Australia's leading entertainment reporter, Peter Ford. 111:33 Pete, good evening once again. 111:35 Good evening to you, John. 111:37 Now, in terms of television, there is this extraordinary show which began at seven up and then they've been going, what, every seven years. Now the final season of it, which is 70 up, the same group of people. And let me do my maths. So we're talking 63 years on. Quite extraordinary. 111:55 You've had a look. What did you make of it? 111:57 Well, you've got to say it is an extraordinary concept and it's extraordinary that it's happened, that they've kept going. They didn't have, you know, budget problems or networks who lost interest or to have done that show for 63 years. It all, I would suggest, never happened again. To take this group of initially young kids and to follow their lives. And tonight, the final part of... of the latest series which is 70 has begun and it's been on iview actually and in fact if you this is like the ultimate binge watching if you go on to iview you can actually go back and watch it all from day one 63 years ago and follow these people's lives and i wonder if anybody listening tonight has been watching it and be very moving i think for some people who have watched it every seven years and somehow built these connections up with people and watched them grow older and in some cases dealing with illnesses and loss and all those kind of things. 113:00 I kind of think it's a shame they're not doing it again in seven years' time. I mean, realistically, of course, you're probably going to start losing a few as you go, but it's an extraordinary concept. And as I say, tonight is the beginning of the end, as it were. 113:16 I wonder how many people listening tonight who are in that general ballpark, there's probably a few of us, who in the early 60s would have watched the seven-year-olds as seven-year-olds. I guess you might have tuned in when they were 14. Because if you're in that ballpark, you see them ageing and maybe you tune in, you go, gee, they look like they've got old. And then you look across at the mirror and go, oh, that's probably why. It is a remarkable project. 113:41 And it's extraordinary for those people themselves to have had this record of their lives documented forevermore. 113:49 So, yeah, remarkable thing all around. And I'm sure there are people tonight who are kind of sad that the chapter, the final chapter, has arrived. 113:57 Yeah, we played our usual bit earlier in this hour of audio nostalgia. I wonder how many people of that vintage... I put myself in that broad ballpark. A lot of people think I'm a lot older, but who have film, you know, quite visual images of themselves as a seven year old. Because unless it's those old home movie things, there's not much around, is there? 114:20 Well, there's not. And, you know, back when I was growing up, you know, we had an uncle who had a movie camera. I don't know what we called it then, but, you know, it was like the eighth wonder of the world that somebody would have a movie camera and we'd be able to watch ourselves on the screen in the lounge room. But, of course, you know how times have changed. Now we've all got, you know, cameras 24-7. We can film anything anytime we want, for better or worse. But going back those 63 years ago, it would have been extraordinary. I mean, people would have been going around with boxed brownie cameras. 114:54 Now, this term, reality star, there's an army of them. Sam Wood, very much in the news at the moment. So where are we with that one? 115:04 Well, tomorrow will be kind of D-Day, if you like. We may get some more information about what did or didn't happen that has resulted in these charges being laid. And, of course, they are incredibly serious charges of, you know, assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation. You know, both of those are seven-year jail terms potentially. So tomorrow he's got a bail application in. He's been in the Maroochee door lockup. and we will maybe get something new to talk about tomorrow. 115:35 But what we have seen in the last couple of days, just based on untested allegations, is this disintegration of this empire that he oversaw. Now, luckily, I guess for him, he actually sold his business four years ago for $72 million, which even back then I thought was an extraordinary amount of money. So those people who bought that business are kind of lumbered with it now. They kept him on as the front person. Today it was announced they have completely severed all ties with him. 116:07 Up until today, they'd said he's on indefinite leave, but that still didn't sit well with people. People were thinking, oh, he's still pulling in a salary, he's still share profit, all that. So now they have said, no, he's absolutely gone, even though, of course, at this point in time, he's still an innocent man. 116:26 You know, it is one of those extraordinary downfalls. And even if by some chance all those charges were thrown out tomorrow and they opened the lockup cell and said, you can go home, he's done and dusted. You know, that's the reality for famous people who get implicated into something as ugly as this, that the outcome of a trial, if indeed there is going to be one, you know, it's almost irrelevant now. 116:50 Yeah, very well known, of course, comedian, television star, radio star, Judith Lucy. She's been diagnosed with breast cancer. She's made it public, a reminder to us that it's still very much a part of people's lives. We're still grappling with breast cancer. How has she reacted? 117:06 Well, you know, if she was looking for support and love, she's got it in bucket loads. You know, her Instagram account has got thousands of messages of people who've responded to her announcement. And it was so... what's the right word? I was going to say beautifully done, so cleverly done, to take something as, you know, potentially as grim as that and to turn it into a comedy routine. I mean, that's a very clever mind. But, you know, comedians are great at finding humour in dark places and it's not... 117:39 It's not being, I guess it is being irreverent, but it's not being disrespectful. It's a coping mechanism. And, you know, most of us to some degree, I think, do it, but comedians certainly can do it better than anyone else. And here's a little of Judith making that announcement. 117:55 We have moved from, and Dr Fun is amazing, I am in her debt, but we have gone from a lumpectomy to a mastectomy, which I am having Friday week. While you're there, let's get rid of the other one. 118:08 Because you know something? I have had 40 years of, if I do say so myself, large and spectacular breasts. You had your chance, fellas. So I think I'm quite fine with going bra-free for my last chapter. And my last chapter is going to be very long and healthy. 118:28 So, I mean, only Judith could end up with a doctor called Dr Fun, who's treating her at the moment. 118:34 And, you know, she's going to have great material. But how weird is that? You know, you look at what what she's now going through and she's having the double mastectomy next week. You look at what Magda's going through. You look at what Denise Scott's been going through. I mean, that's like the Mount Rushmore of Australia's female comedians all dealing with these very serious illnesses. But, you know, I guess that's the reflection of the, you know, the real world. 119:00 Now, the golden years of Hollywood were those years of probably the 40s and the 50s, two of the greatest films of that era on the waterfront and North by Northwest. Both starred Eva Marie Saint, who's made it to 102 and has passed away today. 119:15 Yeah, she has. And, you know, of course, people throw the term around, a good innings. 119:21 I heard someone, they referred to someone who died in their 70s. They said, oh, it was a good innings. But no, it's not. But 102 is pretty good. And she was a remarkable actress, actually. You know, she was one of the first people who came from the world of television and became a movie star. And what she didn't have, unfortunately, is a string of classic movies. She had those two big ones, North by Northwest and On the Waterfront. And she did do other things, did quite a lot of things, actually. But it kind of wasn't A-list stuff. 119:54 So she, you know, she's not really considered in that category of the legendary movie stars. And yet she had those two massive hits way back in time. But I've seen a lot of reporting today. So she's the last of the golden era of Hollywood. Well, she's not. There's actually a lot of them still out there and still going strong. I mean, none of them are 102, but even people like, you know, Leslie Caron and Shirley Jones, Shirley MacLaine, Tippi Hedren, who was another of Alfred Hitchcock's favourites, Julie Andrews, Sophia Loren, they're all still going, you know, I think in various states of good health. 120:29 But nonetheless, you know, it is a long list and... These days, people are living longer. That's the reality. So she made it to 102, and movie buffs particularly will be saddened at her passing. 120:42 Celebrate tonight by getting out north by northwest and watch the scene with her and the train. 120:47 It's classic. Train going into the tunnel. What a shot that is. Anyway. 120:51 Yeah, and it's one of those movies that, I don't know if you saw it, they adapted it for the stage and it was so well done. I think David Campbell did one of the versions of it. 121:00 That's right, that's right. 121:01 And yeah, really cleverly done using a lot of integration of movie and live on stage. But yeah, no, Eva Marie saying to a terrific actress. 121:10 Pete, as always, great to talk to you. We'll do it again next week. 121:13 Thanks a lot, John. See you then. 121:14 Peter Ford with his entertainment report. We have it every Wednesday night. Right now it is three minutes to 11 or 10 if you're in Queensland. 121:22 11 o'clock, 10 o'clock in Queensland. I do want to just dip into the homeless issue, which is one that we can't ignore. And there are things happening on that front tonight in Sydney. So I'll give you details of that and tomorrow's headlines, which are coming up straight after this. 121:50 Now it's back to John Stanley, right across Australia. 122:14 Eight minutes past 11 is the time. Welcome along here on this Wednesday night past 10 o'clock, of course, in Queensland. Depending on where you are, there has been this cool change that's come through New South Wales. And it's about 10 degrees outside. It's cooler than it has been. And there is... 122:30 There's a fair bit of wind as well. So even if it's down low in the low teens, with that wind and the breeze, if you're someone who is sleeping rough, it's not all that flash. I've got a note here of someone saying the amount of homeless people, for instance, living in Windsor around that area is unbelievable. In fact, there are pockets of people who are homeless and sleeping rough. You can find them... 122:55 in the most surprising places. There's a community of them right across from the new fish markets in Sydney as well. And I know for a fact, they might do a bit more on this tomorrow night. Some of those people have jobs. They work. Some of them, they mightn't work full time. Some of them might say work two, three, four days a week. And so they can actually, they earn some money. 123:18 Some of them might even earn a minimum wage. 123:25 But the money they're earning isn't enough to rent somewhere. 123:31 So it's enough to feed themselves, maybe run a phone, because that's important in terms of connection, and give yourself some warm clothes. 123:43 And then with the rents the way they are, they just find themselves, they live in tents, some people live in cars. So I'll talk more about that later in the program and then tomorrow night as well, because I don't think we can ignore the issue of homelessness. You hear a lot of platitudes about it, but we do need to take action and maybe it needs a bit of a nudge once again. Nine past 11. And Friday night, we'll be kicking off our... 124:12 off-season program where the Duck, who's been with us on a Thursday night, the Duck will be moving to Friday night. So that'll be from 7 o'clock. That is in Sydney time, 6 o'clock for Queensland, if you're listening in Queensland. So it'll be kicking off and we'll have a couple of hours with the Duck. We'll do a bit of camping and off-roading. We'll do a few other things, a bit of entertainment as well and have a bit of fun for the beginning of the Friday night show. And I do mention it because one thing we have talked a lot about with the duck in our Thursday or Friday shows is the huge inland music festivals, the Monday Monday Bash and the Big Red Bash. 124:50 And the Big Red Bash is one that has had problems in the last few years, hasn't been able to be staged this year because the Big Red there near Birdsville, well, that Big Red, which is the rock, it's been half submerged. This massive sheet of water from rain months and months ago, but the nature of the land is it just, it has to evaporate. It's got nowhere to go. 125:11 And so they haven't been able to have the big rebash this year. 125:15 And they are now saying that next year's will be the final year because there has been weather disruptions the last couple of years. And so Greg Donovan, who started all this all those years ago, and he had it with John Williamson all those years ago, he's saying to make a call like this after 13 years, very hard to do. 125:33 But next year will be the festival's last hurrah. That is the last of the big red bashes. So they've had this huge flooding. And some of the images that you see there, the water's still there. 125:44 And so hopefully they'll be able to stage it next year. And I think it'll be a huge event. Maybe the duck and I can go up there for the big red bash next year, the last of them. And we'll try to let you know on Friday night what's happening with the Monday, Monday bash and some of these other inland festivals as well. 126:00 131873 is the number now at 12 minutes past 11 or 10 in Queensland. 126:21 Our front pages tomorrow. First of all, the Courier Mail in Brisbane. Now, a lot of our newspapers are featuring on their front page this decision, this legal ruling that's been made, and it was a High Court ruling which relates to a New South Wales coal mine expansion. 126:38 And the High Court has now made a ruling which has said that overseas environmental impacts need to be properly considered in a mines approval process. Now, obviously, this is a issue where it affects New South Wales legislation, which has now been tested in the High Court. 126:57 One of the arguments is New South Wales could change its legislation. But with that High Court ruling, it's obviously going to have ramifications across the country. So the Courier Mail front page is coal left in a hole. 127:09 Emissions legal ruling sparks fears for future of Queensland mines. Queensland's coal industry is reeling after the High Court ruled overseas environmental impacts need to be properly considered in mine approval processes. Australia's highest court yesterday knocked back a proposed expansion of a coal mine because planning authorities, that is in New South Wales, failed to consider the emissions of the coal. when burnt overseas. Now, one of the responses to this is that there does need to be some change to the New South Wales law, but it has got ramifications with the High Court making this decision for state laws around the country. 127:44 So that's the front page of the Courier Mail in Brisbane. 127:49 They've got this one from the Queensland Children's Hospital. I haven't got too much detail. It says a number of Australian children are falling ill and even suffering burns from popular squishy toys. 128:00 in a major warning from doctors. So when you talk squishy toys, first thing I think of the Ushis and the other squishy toys around the place, there's plenty of them. So whether it's the content of them, whether they get rubbed in such a way that they create issues, So that's one to have a look at for tomorrow if you're a parent or a grandparent. And they also feature on their front page, and this is on the front page of the Sydney Daily Telegraph as well, the decision of the Australian Tax Office, despite representations from business. The Australian tax office is refusing to back down on its ban on credit card payments to the ATO. 128:38 And you've heard all the talk about that. The front page of the Daily Telegraph and Jason Morrison's written this story essentially says, screw you. The Telegraph is summarising the response of the tax office where they're now standing by. their view that small businesses will not be able to pay their payments by credit card. They've got the Minister for Small Business now demanding the tax office come up with a way forward. 129:06 And look, this is Ian Ali, the Minister. So they've obviously got the alarm bells ringing there saying that small businesses should have been consulted before the announcement. 129:16 So that's the government's toughest words on the matter. The ATO holding the line yesterday saying that they are not going to change their mind after they had that meeting with business groups. But now you've got the minister, who's the minister for small business, saying, I'd say to the ATO, expect them to continue to speak to small business and come up with a way forward on this, that they should have been consulted. So, well, who's running the... If you're the minister for small business, well, you have to kind of beg the ATO to... to make a decision on this. So we'll see where all of this happens because the change with the ATO, that will start on November 30. 129:52 So there's now a couple of months. They've got to get this one sorted out in the next couple of months, but there are other areas where this is already being felt very significantly. And I know a lot of you have raised the issue of say, strata payments or payments of rent to that DEFT, which is a very, very big payments hub. It stopped taking credit card payments on October 1, which has affected people who might have to pay strata payments, rent, whatever else it might be. So that is a live story. It's on the front page of The Telegraph. 130:23 The Sydney Morning Herald, they've got on their front page the images of the farewell at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney yesterday of Police Constable Mia Lay. 130:35 Her partner, Daniel, and seven of her colleagues carrying her coffin. You've seen the images of that farewell earlier today and the impact it's had on the police force. They've got the story on their front page of the coal mine. 130:50 Approval for major coal mine expansion has been declared invalid by the High Court, a decision that will force New South Wales planning authorities to reckon with emissions from Australian coal burnt overseas. 131:02 It says legal and industry experts warn the ruling will ripple across the sector, potentially exposing recent coal mine approvals to judicial review and opening a Pandora's box of questions about how Australia accounts for the climate impact of its fossil fuel exports. 131:19 It is a fascinating one because we've been talking about reducing emissions, but at the same time, one of the criticisms has been, we've got all these measures to reduce emissions, but we're continuing to export coal. There's an element of hypocrisy in that if you're saying, well, we're doing our bit, we're reducing emissions, but we're exporting coal that gets burnt elsewhere. Of course, we're all in this together is the argument. So this is going to have to be worked out by not just the federal government, but all of the governments and the New South Wales government, of course, is in the frame here because it's its laws that have been used here. 131:57 And this is, of course, based on a mine expansion in the Hunter Valley. Now, the Hunter Valley is the area which is being targeted by One Nation and is seen by Labor as its most vulnerable area in New South Wales. Remember, there's an election coming up next year. 132:15 in New South Wales in March of next year. And so from the Minns government's point of view, they've got a decision to make in relation to this. They just have to respond. So that's the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. They've also got on their front page, co-pilot had golden years in Australia. 132:34 the Fly Dubai co-pilot accused of trying to hijack an airline bound for Israel, told social media followers his time in Australia was among, quote, the golden years of his religious devotion. 132:45 They've got tweets which were previously unearthed, which have now been revealed, painting a picture of his life in Australia between 2015 and 2017. 132:56 And the Herald has used what they describe as data scraping tools to, to retrieve thousands of posts from his deleted X account, which operated under the handle at Pilot Hamam. 133:10 Published in 2022, offer a window into his reflections on his time in Australia and his religion. 133:17 I consider them the golden years of my religious commitment, the time in Australia, Britain and New Zealand. There's a lot more stuff, including misogynistic commentary and homophobic abuse. So there's more on that in the Sydney Morning Herald. Now, I'll go across to the Australian newspaper. 133:34 They've got coverage on their front page that, of course, have had the devastating reality three years on of what happened, of course, on October 7th, three years ago. They've also, of course, had images and vigils. And a lot of the people involved are people who were survivors of the terror attack at Bondi. And they're also quoting some of the extreme activists who are still siding with Hamas. 134:00 and indeed some of the calls for Hamas to be removed from the list of banned terror groups, which seems quite extraordinary. So that's on the front page of the Australian newspaper. They're also saying that the world's premier ratings agency, this is S&P, they're saying Labor and the Reserve Bank are pulling the Australian economy in different directions, warning the Albanese government's spending is making it more difficult for the RBA government to tame inflation. 134:29 And I'll just look down here because, of course, these ratings agencies, S&P Ratings, has warned the government its over-reliance on revenue windfalls and structurally high spending could present serious issues for the budget bottom line. I'm just trying to find here because I know we've still got a AAA credit rating there. They did downgrade the Queensland credit rating, and so they are saying right now there's a situation where the RBA and the government are in some cases pulling in opposite directions. 135:01 So that's going to be significant there from one of these ratings agencies, because if they downgrade, you have to pay more as a government, and that would add to the bill on the debt. They've also got Tim Wilson quoted, referendum on the economy. Tim Wilson's declared the next election will be a referendum on the economy and economic hope with the coalition sector shift its focus on the cost of living after spending the year finalising policies on key issues which are driving One Nation's support. So they've got that one. They've got the story. on coal where they've got activists claiming victory against coal. 135:37 So there's that one as well. And then I'll move across to the financial review. Again, main story, it says investment at risk after mine ruling. Industry groups have warned that future investment in coal and gas projects across the country has been put at risk by the landmark High Court ruling. that overturned the approval of a New South Wales coal mine extension because authorities failed to properly consider the impact of emissions by its customers. Having a look here, there is some commentary saying that isn't the sweeping victory Greenpeace would like it to be a narrow ruling on a technical piece of legislation. 136:13 If that's the case, that can be addressed by the government. The issue then is, can they get the numbers together to do that? Well, they could in the upper house with the coalition's assistance, but then what would the ramifications be in the Hunter and then in other areas as well? And they've got this one at 22 past 11 or 10 in Queensland. They've got this little audit of the areas that are hardest hit by these rate rises. It says mortgagees in outer suburban Sydney and Melbourne are feeling the brunt of four interest rate rises. 136:45 in the past nine months, with loan arrears in those areas running at more than three times the national average, and they've got a bit more detail on all of that as well. So that's some of what people are going to be talking about tomorrow at 22 past 11 right now. 137:16 Twenty-five and a half past 11 past 10 in Queensland. One of our listeners is talking about the iron ore exports and other things that we export. We know we export most of our gas in terms of fossil fuels and things that might be creating emissions overseas. I think from what I read in the financial review, they're saying it's a very narrow ruling, this one, that affects expansions of mines and coal mines in particular. 137:43 And then, of course, governments can address the law to fix that if they have a mind to do that. So I think that'll all be teased out tomorrow. The one thing you say about that, there'll be lawyers all over it. They'll be clamouring to get involved in all of that. And so you'll have to pick through all of that tomorrow. Maybe it'll become clearer tomorrow night. 26 minutes past 11 is the time. Past 10 if you are in Queensland. We can't go to our man, Phil, who'll be on air in about 40 minutes without this. Let's go. 138:17 It's a trigger warning for me. When's he going to get rid of it? 138:21 P-H-I-L Phil P-H-I-L Phil P-H-I-L Phil P-H-I-L Phil He thinks it's good. 138:28 I think it's fantastic. I do have something for you as well. Please. 138:32 And this is where you can really try and make a very simple, traditional name like Phil or Phillip. You can make it, just give it a little bit more, I guess, oomph. Pastiche, perhaps, you're thinking of. Well, there was an advertising man. There's an advertising man, Simon Reynolds, very well known. But the thing you know, and he was involved in some big campaigns. The thing I always think of Simon Reynolds by the spelling of his first name. 138:59 Two I's. 139:00 Two I's. Simon Reynolds. 139:02 So I should be feel. 139:03 No, no, no. You should... Instead of PH, just put an F. Phil. F-I-L. And that way, they'll know it's you. 139:12 Not a bad idea, is it? Well, it is. It's a terrible idea. I was thinking maybe I could just call myself Just Do It because that's catchy. 139:19 Yeah. 139:20 I was thinking of you. I saw this story and I thought, oh, I should run that by John. And the story was, how often should you shower over the age of 65? Yeah. 139:30 I thought I'd better tell that to John. 139:32 Why? 139:32 Because, you know... What's the finding? Three days a week. Two to three days a week. Yep. And this is because of your sebaceous glands. When they get to your age, John, your skin gets thinner. And what's going to happen is you need to do a short, lukewarm shower and immediately apply moisturiser. And then you can keep going for another 20 years. 139:50 All right. 139:52 Well... 139:54 Thank you. Any other advice? What else have you got? 139:56 Well, you want me to change my name. I'm trying to let you have smooth... Three days a week. Three days a week. 140:02 So if you shower on, say, a Saturday... I don't have the itinerary. You go and play golf on a Saturday. Yeah, right. Okay? Yeah, but you don't sweat when you play golf. No, no. It's not like a sport. You get yourself, after you've finished, and you get all the sunscreen off you, and you have dinner on Saturday night, and then you come to work on the Monday, what, two days in? Yeah. Come to work on the Tuesday, three days in? Yep. I've got people in the studio with me. 140:26 That's the least of the issues people have with you, John. Don't worry. I mean, I'm your friend. 140:31 All right. What else have you got? 140:33 Do you want me to do up a little roster for you? Yeah, more. Come on. Do you know what tomorrow is? 140:39 Conspiracy Theory Day? 140:40 Absolute more, my friend. So on Conspiracy Theory Thursday tomorrow, we've got two. Dr. Carl Kruzaneski is going to tell us why we're not allowed to go to parts of Antarctica. 140:49 Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. Did you know that? Is that a conspiracy theory? 140:53 It is, absolutely. Have you never heard of that one? 140:57 No. They're on parts of Antarctica, John, that you are never going to be allowed to go to. 141:01 Was the Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica or in the Arctic? 141:04 I think it was Game of Thrones. 141:06 No, the Fortress of Solitude. Never heard of it. Superman. 141:10 Don't you know where the Fortress of Solitude was? What's wrong with me? 141:13 Why have I not known that? Crikey, how have I ever survived? You know, no wonder I'm taking too many showers. Also, are you worried about your car being hacked, John? 141:24 No, I'm not, actually, because the truth is when we had the stories about the Chinese cars being hacked, any modern car can get hacked, and they're keeping all sorts of information about you. So what would they hack with my car? Oh, he went to the survey today, then he drove across the bridge, then he came into work. Well, I'll tell you this morning. 141:42 What information would they get? Well, tomorrow morning, have a listen. Obviously, you're blissfully unaware. 141:47 What would they get? 141:48 Well, I'll tell you tomorrow morning. There's no point telling you now. Otherwise, people will go to bed. They'll go, oh, it's rubbish. I'm not listening to that show. 141:55 So that's later on this morning. 141:56 So you've got your LA Dodgers hat on, just so you know. 141:59 Shooter's Joe Jackson. No, it's Shohei Atani. They won today, the Dodgers. They're the defending World Series previews. And the hat I'm wearing? This is the New York Yankees. Now, our listeners like to know that I'm a bit of a kiss of death. Right. So I'm wearing my New York Yankees hat. The New York Yankees lost yesterday in the divisional playoffs. And by universal acclamation in... every commentator in every story i've seen coming out of new york it is by a country mile the worst fielding performance by the yankees since 1903 in other words it's the worst ever there's no no not even close they were appalling it's not even like cricket fielding like a proper fielding all they do in the course is walk around with one glove It's much more sophisticated filming. 142:48 If you've ever seen a triple play or a double play, I'll have to teach you this at some point. Well, okay. John, after midnight, it's always a pleasure. F-I-L-L would actually be quite, because you would really stand out. 142:59 Oh, I'm going to add an L to it, like Phil. 143:01 Yeah, Phil. 143:02 So not one L, but two. 143:04 Get your fill of Phil. You're wasted on radio, John. 143:07 I love it. 143:08 Seriously. All right. I'll look forward to hearing the story about, what was it? The conspiracy? Oh, the Antarctic. 143:13 There's two. There's great ones. People are going to love it. 143:15 They're going to do it tomorrow. And when you go home, ask Sam. Say, look, can you tell me, what's this Superman stuff he was talking about? 143:21 No, we don't watch films like that. We watch clever films. 143:24 Okay. All right. Good on you. 143:26 He's here in just over half an hour. 143:36 25 minutes to 12 to 11 if you're listening to us in Queensland. If you're in Sydney in particular, a little bit windy, getting down into the low teens and that wind chill is a bit difficult with this cold change. And so the people who are sleeping rough, and I've had some notes since I mentioned this earlier in the hour, that there are For instance, in the area just near the fish markets, this is in Sydney, the big new fish markets have been built. And across the road, there's an old, it's like a bridge that carries the light rail across it. 144:08 And so underneath it, you've got this area where you've got tents and essentially a whole lot of homeless people living there. 144:16 And I've had it confirmed from a couple of people who've sent me notes that there are people who are living there who work. So they may have a job, say, at the fish markets or nearby, and they can earn enough money to feed themselves and keep a few things going, but they can't rent. 144:34 And so their accommodation is, in this case, it might be tents, it might be a spot, a little corner. 144:41 It may well be that they, some people living in cars. This is homelessness in 2026. I'll do a bit more tomorrow because I've also had a note from someone I know who tells me he's been homeless for three years. Just he sent me a note a moment ago and it's given me a bit of a... 144:56 A bit of a shock, actually, just in the last half an hour. But the reason I'm doing it tonight is I've had a note from... This is a fellow who started the backpack bed for homeless, Tony Clark. I spoke to him a few years ago, and he devised this thing which sits like a backpack and then it unfolds. And so it's like a secure place for these people to be able to sleep. And they reckon there's... There's hundreds of people just in the city of Sydney who are sleeping rough. And so there's a group of organisations, St John's Community Services, St Michael's Community Services, the Salvos, Parramatta Mission, Belong Blue Mountains. 145:33 So this is in the case of Sydney, but this would be applying up and down the coast, particularly in Brisbane, around Canberra, wherever there's a large-ish community. where people are sleeping rough. And in this case, they're calling for donations, goodnightsydney.org, to try and get the money to provide more of these things for the people who are sleeping rough. And it's only a couple of hundred bucks, these things, and all of the money that comes in will go out in the form of these backpacks. So I thought I'd have a conversation over this. 146:05 And earlier tonight, I spoke with the founder of the Backpack Bed for Homeless, which are... going to be handed out by these organisations when they get their donations and they're aiming to collect tens of thousands of dollars. I spoke with Tony Clark earlier tonight. hello thank you for the opportunity john yes so these are people who they they find a little corner i've been on i've been on a night out and i've seen you've got to find a place out of the wind somewhere where you can get some shelter and so this provides you with a bed which i'm assuming can fold up you can carry it with you you can set up where you need it uh the the backpack bed for homeless 146:42 That's right. And it just keeps folks alive with a bit of dignity and stops them from losing hope during this really zany weather that we're having through the crossover from season to season. 146:54 And so you're asking some assistance. And I think the cost is, look, I think the total cost would be a couple of hundred dollars. But just tell us what you would get. If you say you donate $200, you can get one of these backpack beds. Just tell us exactly what's involved once you fold it out in a little spot that you found if you are one of those rough sleepers. 147:16 If you are lucky enough to have a backpack bed and you don't need to look for cardboard at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you'll have a backpack. It's ergonomic. It's 2.9 kilos. It's 135 litres. And what's incredible about it is that it rolls out within seconds. It's got a built-in mattress. It's a three-windowed shelter. It's got full-body mosquito mesh in there as well. And then once you're finished surviving that night from the cold, the wind and the rain and the bugs... You just roll it back up, put it on your back and walk to a service. 147:50 And then with that backpack bed, it's $155 and it's treated like gold, but you want a little extra comfort and warmth. And that's why we've provided a fire retardant sleeping bag to go with it. And with that, you can survive four seasons. I've been in conditions of minus 28 degrees and I've broken out into a sweat. And so that's where you realize that those cold snap nights, you're warm and protected. 148:20 So we're estimating 296 people. You can never get the numbers exactly right. These are people who are in the Sydney CBD. I'm guessing there's people in the Barramatta CBD, Brisbane CBD, people right across our listening area. But this would be, I guess, emblematic of what's happening with people who are rough sleeping, who use this in many instances, do they, as a transition to where they might get somewhere more permanent? 148:45 Correct. And it's that whole scenario. No one knows when you may get some secure shelter. And in some instances, you might be lucky enough and very lucky, very lucky. You might get one or two nights. 149:01 in a hotel or something along those lines. And usually that might come up every six months because they've got a bit of a counter system going there. But that's really rare. So while you're in the limbo land or maybe couch surfing or sleeping in your car, which is a bad thing, a lot of agencies are trying to get people to get out of the car because it's bad for the back, you need a secure... environment that you are going to feel private, you're going to feel secure, safe from the elements. And so they keep this and they protect it like gold while they're transitioning between all sorts of different accommodation that they may or may not be able to find. 149:38 Some are able to couch surf, some are not able to. And so for those who are lucky to be on the street, they have that security blanket of a backpack bed and a fire retardant sleeping bag to be able to survive that night. 149:50 I'm thinking about the fire retardant bag. Part of that is to feel safe and secure because I know a lot of what these people do, from my experience, they find a place where they can set themselves up for the night, often with other people around or in a situation where they can't be seen because whatever they've got, they could be a target once they go to sleep. 150:13 you're 100% right. And fire retardancy is very important, not only for safety of, you know, the traditional somebody might be having a cigarette, you know, but you'd be surprised. Not many are doing those because it's just so unaffordable. But if you, and I hear a story a lot, it's incredible. Imagine this, you're so cold. I've had folks on the street tell me this, that I just, I was so cold. I was so cold. And I just needed to do a fire in the park or something like that. And then suddenly the fire brigade comes. 150:45 But here's the scenario. If you are under a bridge or if you've got a little bit of a fire going, your body actually naturally rolls towards warmth. 150:55 And so you can actually harm yourself. But then there's the other horror that sometimes fire can be used as a bit of a weapon out there. So we really wanted to make folks very safe and safe. The fire retardant sleeping bags are airline blanket standards and it's safe enough for children to suck on. There's actually a European standard for that because we didn't want any harmful chemicals to be used. So we made it inherently fire retardant and that's where that safety is so important. 151:24 You've put a lot of effort into this and you've thought it through and you've obviously road tested it a bit. to make these people as safe as possible. So, look, people can go to the website Goodnight Sydney. It's as easy as that. Goodnightsydney.org if you are in the Sydney area. You ought to find out a bit more. You want to provide some assistance. This is one of those where there's a fair bit of bang for the buck in terms of what people get for their donation. I want to do a bit more on this tomorrow night, but how many of these people would be sleeping rough today? but actually have a job. 151:55 They go to a job, but they've got no way of being able to afford any kind of accommodation. So they're sleeping rough and then getting up, finding somewhere to shower, clean up, and then going off and doing some work. 152:08 You're right. A lot of folks in call centres, and I was just talking to a bunch of nurses that actually go under the bridges and into the bushes, et cetera, but they also highlighted, and this is down in Melbourne, there's people sleeping in luxury cars. 152:24 And they are homeless. They've lost everything and they've just got the car that they're in at the moment. So sleeping in cars is one of those scenarios. But, you know, a lot of folks will when there's, you know, we shouldn't judge anybody on the type of, you know, what's happened because we just don't know how they slept or what they did. So some folks will, you know, some officers have a shower system, but sometimes they'll join a gym just to get that. But then sometimes they're not even lucky enough and they just try to wing it because they're just trying to survive with a bit of dignity. 152:57 And that's that whole thing. Imagine if you're, you know, with the rain that comes through, suddenly all your stuff's wet, all of it's wet, and you just cannot dry it, but you've got to go to work. And that's where the backpack bed being so waterproof and windproof. Yes. You're able to protect your goods and you don't have to have that distress of everything being wet because once it's wet, you can't just put it on the line. 153:21 Stuff will be stolen. And those are those things that we've got no idea how to survive. But these folks who used to have a car, used to have an iPhone, used to be like you and me, they're now doing it tough. It has exploded in the last six months. We work with 1,200 agencies. 153:38 it's just exploded it is a horror tony i'll keep in touch with you because as you said people go into a spiral some of them can manage to hang onto their car which becomes where they sleep and then they can go and clean up somewhere and as you say it's interesting can't afford the rent can't afford a house but you might be able to afford a a basic gym membership that gets you access to showers and a place to go it's it's uh people are very resourceful and this is such an important initiative of yours so Thanks for your time. Thanks for your work. And again, people can have a look at all the details there, goodnightsydney.org. 154:13 That's where they can donate and find out the whole story. Thank you, mate. 154:16 So save some lives in Sydney. Thank you again. 154:19 Yeah, Goodnight Sydney.org is where that website is for that fundraising. And of course, those backpacks are a remarkable initiative, but it's a big problem. And just in the time I've been speaking tonight, I've had messages from people about problems in different parts of Sydney, up and down the coast. And I want to do a bit more on it tomorrow, just about these people who are working. 154:42 and cannot get a roof over their head and are in some cases sleeping rough. It is quite extraordinary. 14 to 12, 11 in Queensland. 155:01 At 10 and a half minutes to 12.11, if you're listening to us in Queensland, I did do all of the stories in relation to what's going to be in the news tomorrow. I should have mentioned this because we mentioned it much earlier in our news hour, and I know it does affect quite a few of you. And this is the private health changes that were in the budget. where people over the age of 65, because with private health cover, it's subsidised. There's a 30% subsidy. So there's a 30% public subsidy of your private health insurance premiums. 155:32 But once you get to 65 and over, that subsidy's increased in a number of steps. And we've gone through it before. We had our news hour earlier with Terry Barnes. He actually devised the policy. And the idea is that as you get older, you may find yourself struggling to Keep up with your private health insurance payments. And so this subsidy is increased to provide assistance for people to stay in private health cover. The argument is from the government, we can change this and send $3 billion that we save in the direction of the aged care system. 156:07 But the people who then dropped their private health cover moved to the public system, and that is still being subsidised by taxpayers through state governments. Now, there's been a report on all of this released today. The Labor members of that Senate inquiry have said that they endorsed the change, but significantly the Coalition and the Greens are now saying that they're opposed. They say they've found that the large population Majority of the people, more than two million of the people who are actually affected by all of this live on less than $37,000 a year. 156:39 And so these are people who would be significantly affected and would have to drop their private health cover. And so the Greens are now saying, well, they're not going to support this legislation. Now, it won't get through the Senate. unless the Greens support it. And the Greens are saying that they, along with the coalition, will oppose it. So that's where that one stands. It is going to be kicking in later in the year. But at this stage, for those of you who've been concerned, and a lot of people are concerned about all of this, whether they'll be able to keep up their private health cover, or based on this, today, this announcement, the Greens have serious concerns and they won't be supporting it in its present form. 157:16 So keep an ear out for that, because there's movement on that front. And the unlikely saviour of all this, private health cover, might well be the Greens. Eight minutes to 12 right now.