00:07
And now on 2GB Sydney, 4BC Brisbane and network stations across Australia, it's time for Nights with John Stanley.
00:17
Good evening, everyone. Welcome along. Welcome to Thursday night. If you've been listening the last couple of nights, I've had a scratchy throat. I've been struggling a bit and seem to have had a miracle recovery since about late morning. I'm ready to go. We've got a lot ahead of us. Big news hour coming up and later in the program because... You do get the sense, we're still, of course, got a few weeks left of winter, but you get the sense that things are just starting to warm up a little bit. The weather's improving, it's a bit drier. In the next hour, the duck is literally in the middle of nowhere. I was talking to him earlier, just a spectacular sky and the moon, and he's going to take us there and give us a taste of what a lot of people are doing.
00:56
They're getting away from the city, they're going inland, they're travelling. No longer is it just...
01:03
Great nomads. People of all ages and people are wanting to get away from it all and doing it in a way that they feel that they can afford because things are very, very tough. And if you listen to the news and you hear the political discourse, it can be very, very depressing. But we're going to get into all of that this hour of the program. And there is a fascinating experiment in Victoria right now where you've got a government that... Really is on the nose. The word toxic keeps coming forward. You've had, according to polls, the most unpopular premier in the history of Victoria.
01:34
And now there's a new bloke who's putting on a show that, well, actually I'm a completely new government. There's been a change of government. The things you don't like...
01:44
Seemingly, he's either considering or axing or changing in the hope that if people think, well, you know what, we wanted some change, we'll go with you. That is a fascinating exercise. I know that our News Hour guests will have some thoughts on all this because it provides a big challenge to the coalition and also to One Nation. And then in New South Wales, again, the things that completely erode confidence in the political class, the Corruption Commission Inquiry in New South Wales, which looks like it's going to claim some scalps and it's going to be a real challenge for Kelly Slane, the opposition leader, who she's divorced from all of this.
02:29
There are people within her group who are part of it. So the way she handles it will be crucial because she's got an election to go to in March of next year. We've got the Commonwealth Games again. Everything seems to be touched by this notion of political incompetence because the Commonwealth Games have been wildly successful. And particularly, you get up early in the morning, you see our swimmers and our runners. Very, very inspiring. But you'd like to be a fly on the wall.
03:00
where some of the swimmers might be going along to the pubs.
03:03
And people say, weren't you supposed to be hosting these games?
03:08
And the runners who are breaking Australian records and would have hoped to have done it in Australia, but because the Victorian government that we've just talked about decided we can't do this. And so they're paying $200 million for these games to be staged on the other side of the world. It's a weird, weird world in which we are living, and then you've got the situation coming out of Iran where no one's quite sure what's going on. It does look like it's going to be an entrenched situation, and we're being told to batten down for even higher petrol prices.
03:40
So if you've got something you want to tell us that'll perhaps divert us from all of that, give us a laugh, 131873 is the number, 0460 873873. We have our News Hour guest joining us shortly at 11 after 8.
03:56
I founded the Ornota in 2013 and made a vestuário for cyclists. For me, the best part of Shopify is the possibility of a business even not having technical knowledge. We managed to do everything, from back-end to front-end, and make online vendas, without complications. If Shopify was a cyclist equipment, I would say that it would be a bike. It's what allows us to get where we want. It's on Shopify that we manage our business. Come on your free evaluation at shopify.com
04:27
Fourteen past eight. We'll keep across any breaking news for you, of course, tonight. 131873, of course, is our number. If you'd like to call in and have your say, or you just want to use our feedback line, 0460873873. Two of the Victorian Labor Ministers who were supporters of Jacinta Allen, the deposed Premier, Russ is saying they both wear the big Labor-issued spec-saver eyewear. So I'm assuming there's specs that look... Very, very similar, common among them. That wasn't something I was keeping an eye on in all of the turmoil of the week.
05:01
Terry Barnes, of course, is a former senior advisor to the coalition, both state and federal. He's a member of the Liberal Party. He is a commentator with us. He's also a political consultant and writes for The Spectator magazine. That's a long CV, but he's with us every Thursday night. Terry, good evening once again.
05:19
Good evening, John.
05:20
What about the spectacles? I mean, people, it's weird what people notice. I hadn't noticed that, but I might go and have another look.
05:28
Well, look, I think I got my glasses from Specsavers at some stage. So, look, I won't hold that against them, but the two ministers, Lily D'Ambrosio and Harriet Schring, not Frank Schring, but Harriet Schring, are both resigning because they're diehard Jacinda Allen supporters. But I think they also realise that writing's on the wall as far as the Labor state government's going in November when the election is due to be held. So they're getting out. They're creating room for new blood.
05:58
for four months. I mean, what's the point of actually taking up the job if you get offered it?
06:02
Yeah, that's right. That's right. The presumption, because in the end, they're still up against it in terms of trying to win the election, but I'm going to get your thoughts, because you've still been giving Labor, even under Jacinta Allen, a chance they've got to win 16 seats. You've talked about the Coalition's habit of blowing itself up. So, I want to look at what's happened this week. You've got a new Premier. He's from the right wing of the party. He's said he's not Daniel Andrews. He's not Jacinta Allen.
06:33
So he almost tried to characterise himself as an opposition leader who'd just taken over the government and said, look, things are going to get better because you've got a different government. Do you get away with that?
06:46
Well, certainly he's an opposition leader in waiting because I think that's still...
06:49
Actually, now I am convinced it's going to be the result in November.
06:54
But I think he's also a furniture salesman because I think...
06:57
Ben Carroll, the new Premier, is, as you say, from the right wing of the Labor Party. He's connected with the Shopees Union. My sense is that he will save some seats that were otherwise going to be lost under Jacinda Allen, including Jacinda Allen's own seat, Bendigo East, as it turns out. But really, I think, given the chaos that Labor has caused over the last, well, certainly this year, and the fact that the opposition leader, Jess Wilson, is doing really well in terms of establishing herself, in terms of making the case against Labor and holding them to account.
07:33
And actually starting to show a bit of policy leadership. I mean, she is the one to beat. The question in my mind is whether she will get over the line in November as a majority, getting those 16 seats and maybe a few others. Or is she going to have to rely on One Nation getting a couple of MPs up? And from what Pauline Hanson was saying on Sky News this week, we will know who their candidates are as early as tomorrow.
08:00
OK, well, that is interesting. And I want to get to that. with you in just a moment, but the idea... He's talking about changing the work-from-home laws. He's picking through a lot of the unpopular things, and then he's saying, I'll announce a royal commission into the corruption and the big bill program. I'm going to look at this rail link, which looks like we can't afford it. He's talking about stopping it in its tracks. All of those are coalition policies, and so in that sense...
08:32
People might be going, well, you're trying to convince us not to vote for the coalition by telling us you're going to do what they'd do, so why don't we let them have a go rather than you because you've been stuffing it up. I'm guessing that might be the thought.
08:43
Well, I think he's actually been reading from the Peter Beattie playbook, John, in terms of, oh, we stuffed up, but trust us to fix it, because we know what we did, so we know what we have to do.
08:54
But the reality is that Ben Carroll, as a minister, has been around the Victorian cabinet table for a decade. He first became a minister in 2016. He has a portfolio of portfolios that he's been in, including the most recent one is education.
09:12
where last week he had a teacher strike in government schools. But certainly, I think the thing that he did that got him over the line with his caucus is that he realised that The anger in Victoria about the big build and the corruption allegations, and more than corruption allegations, the hard evidence of it, and that $15 billion number that corruption buster Geoffrey Watson KC came up with has really resonated in Victoria, whether it's fully accurate or not.
09:43
He realised that if there's going to be a Royal Commission after the election... It's better to actually announce it before the election and have Labor set the terms of reference and not the coalition, because the coalition would go hard, not just for the CFMEU or for the officials who are doing the deals and making the contracts, but for the politicians who are overseeing it, including Daniel Andrews and Jacinda Allen.
10:07
But you can, well, there's two things you could say about that. You can change the terms of reference. And you and I know over the years, there have been Royal Commissions where governments have tried to set terms of reference. And when the commission starts, it goes into areas they weren't expecting. And that's always been the case, hasn't it?
10:22
Well, that's true, but if you look at it in the politics, though, John, if the terms of reference are already there before the election and Jess Wilson comes in as Premier, it looks petty and vindictive if she tries to change the terms of reference. So it's actually smart politics to try and do it before, frame the Royal Commission as Labour wants it to be framed. and then make it very hard for an incoming coalition government to change it. I think that's the only smart thing that Labor could have done. But Jacinta Allen just did not realise that or did not accept it.
10:56
Yeah. Look, again, rather than... I mean, often we sound like a couple of blokes who've been around the block a few times, but if you go back far enough, I'm sure this is right, the Painters and Dockers Royal Commission, which was Malcolm Fraser set that one up, and it was targeted at a union...
11:12
But it ended up going into bottom of the Arbour tax schemes, which caused problems for the Conservative side of politics.
11:18
Well, that's right. I mean, the old Sir Humphrey Appleby line about don't establish an inquiry unless you know what it's going to say. Exactly. That holds true. But this is pure politics. I mean, if there's going to be a Royal Commission, and I think Victorians want a Royal Commission, they want to get to the bottom of this. Labor is going to at least try and control the narrative as much as they can before the 28th of November when the election's held. I mean, whatever you say about it, that's the only real smart move they can make, and they've made it.
11:51
22 minutes past eight. For those of us in the northern states, because we don't follow this as closely, it's a very Melbourne story, this suburban rail loop. And for those of us and people who lament the fact that the Bradfield plans of so many years ago, we're going to have train lines going all the way through various parts of Sydney. You go, the links that would have occurred through different parts of Australia, every part of Australia, Brisbane, everyone would have benefited from stuff that could have been done a long time ago. So there is this rail link that's linking all the suburbs, a big loop around the whole of the Melbourne suburban area.
12:25
So I look at that and I think prima facie, these things are good. It's good public transport, but it costs an absolute bomb, number one. And number two, is it actually, has it happened? I mean, can you stop it? Is there part of it built already? Do we know?
12:40
Well, some of the preliminary works have started. In fact, one end of it is just up the road from where I live in Bayside, Melbourne, at a place called Sheltonham. And they've started works there. They've started works of other parts of the route.
12:56
But certainly it looks good on paper, and Daniel Andrews is on the back of an envelope with a few people like Sir Rod Eddington advising him. But the reality is that the Parliamentary Budget Office down here in Victoria has estimated that the total project cost at the moment, and we're talking a decades-long project, is about $250 billion, of which about $35 billion would be spent in the next few years. That's a huge amount.
13:26
And people are doubting whether the benefits of it are worth the cost, because what they're hoping to do is that more housing will spring up along the route, but more out of...
13:40
Hubs would actually develop in terms of commercial and shopping centers.
13:44
But the reality is that's a huge debt-driven, and we're talking $200 billion of debt for Victoria by the end of next financial year. That's a huge debt-driven boondoggle that nobody can see an end of.
14:01
So if you cancel it, you save a lot of money that you're going to spend, but I'm presuming there are contracts and you'd have to basically pay people out, so there's probably a cost of cancelling it as well.
14:12
Well, that's right. But if it's a question of spending a few billion to save $250 billion, maybe that's a cost that's worth having. But it's also, and this is another thing that Ben Carroll, the new Premier, has decided to do, is actually to see if they can divert some of the contract money into other things, particularly the airport railing, which has been talked about down here in Victoria for decades. Because if you, those people, listeners who come to Melbourne know that if they don't catch a cab, they have to catch...
14:41
Campbell the bus. The sky bus. The sky bus, that's right.
14:44
And it's, well, it's expensive and it's never convenient. But certainly I think if you want to have a world-class city, you need a world-class airport and a world-class airport connection. And the Coalition is keen on it. I think Ben Carroll is keen on it. But extricating the government, the state government, from all those contractual obligations is going to cost a hell of a lot. Yep.
15:08
25 minutes past eight. Look, I just wanted to get an overview of that because it's extraordinary. The polls, I think the poll, the news poll was showing 52-48, two party preferred. Still very, very tight. But let's get to what you alluded to a moment ago with One Nation at 25 past eight because...
15:25
You've been sceptical about One Nation. We've seen this week they've released a couple of policies. They've released a policy on the ISIS fighters. They say they can put legislation in to slam the door shut. That's high court proof. Government says it wouldn't last a few seconds. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know. You're telling me that as early as tomorrow, they could actually front up people who will be candidates in Victoria. So they'll have a face to the people who are running. Is that what we're looking at?
15:54
Well, that's what Pauline Hanson told Paul Murray on Sky News the other night when he did a special with her.
16:03
And certainly she said tomorrow or Monday, and she said that while focusing on the Victorian Upper House, where they do have one MP at the moment, that she's got candidates lined up for 70-odd seats, or 75-odd seats, I think. out of 88 in the lower house. So she's actually going to spring this all on us, including a leader. They don't have a leader down here in Victoria for One Nation. So they'll unveil a leader. See who they pick.
16:29
But certainly... Certainly, I think she's saying that there's going to be candidates, there's going to be policies, there's going to be bells, there's going to be whistles. But the reality is, I think, less than four months out from the election now, it's going to be very hard for those candidates to become known. It's going to be very hard for them to do door knocking. It's going to be very hard for them to sell policies. I mean, it goes back to what we were talking about, I think, last week, that...
16:54
Who's going to be on the ballot might be Joe Bloggs and Mrs Kapooks, but people are going to be voting for Pauline Hanson.
17:02
Well, that's right. Everyone's going to vote for Pauline Hanson. And so these people might have a role where they'll have to provide the numbers in a minority government if Jess Wilson wins the election. So that's going to be the issue. But again, I've got people, everyone's saying to me, And this is people, including listeners who are in Victoria, we're going to vote for Pauline Hanson. I don't really care who the candidate is going to vote for Pauline Hanson because it's a statement against the existing system and they would prefer to have a role for One Nation in whatever new government is formed.
17:38
And that's fine. And certainly I think if it's a minority government, depending on One Nation MPs for supply and competence, it's going to give them a lot of leverage, a lot of power. But the bottom line, I still think with One Nation in Victoria, John, is that if those MPs get up, they'll be not taking their orders from the local leader, whoever that may be. They'll be taking their orders from Brisbane and Pauline Hanson directly. Yeah.
18:02
All right, I want to take a break, come back in a moment. There's a couple of things I want to talk about. I've got feedback coming from our listeners. And look, if you want to talk to Terry, you can ring 131873. A lot of messages on our feedback line, which I'll get your reaction to, Terry, as well, and what you might think the new government might look like. But also, just on this question of the Commonwealth Games, because, look, I've really enjoyed watching the Commonwealth Games, and I... You must wonder whether some of these young athletes are wondering why they're not doing this at home. But we'll touch on that very shortly, because I reckon even you've got involved.
18:36
I know you have, haven't you? Come on. Come on.
18:38
Maybe a little, but as a Victorian taxpayer, I think that you and everybody outside Victoria should thank us.
18:45
No, no, because I keep getting messages that you're getting your unfair share of the GST from those of us in the northern states, and so we've got a stake in it as well, all right? 29 past eight now.
18:58
28 minutes to nine. It's our news hour here with Terry Barnes. 131873 is our number. Look, there's a bit of feedback coming through here. One of our listeners is saying if Victoria had had the Commonwealth Games, Jacinda would have been saved. The spotlight would have been moved. It would have been a distraction. Terry, I think it was meant to be September, the Commonwealth Games in Victoria. So they'd still be, what, six weeks away, the Commonwealth Games. She might have been cooked already.
19:25
possibly but I think it would have been a great distraction because at the time you know that was due to happen the election campaign in Victoria is due to start so it would have been a great distraction if we had the gold rush that we're having in Glasgow down here in Victoria there's that sort of that warm glow that sort of rubs off on politicians when sports people actually succeed where politicians don't so So my sense is that, yeah, $194 million of our money went to Glasgow.
19:56
But on the other hand, I mean, look, we're enjoying the results just as much as everybody. And really, it's been impressive, particularly the swimmers in the pool.
20:05
Yeah, it has been. Look, I know I wasn't able to see it. I'm told the CFMEU administrator was on the 7.30 report tonight. This is where this story is because it's not just a Victorian story. It's a broader story as well because you've got the CFMEU corruption. It's on the front page of the Courier-Mail a couple of times a week. You've got union involvement in corruption, really, and in the building industry.
20:33
right across the country and suspicion that some of this is adding, not suspicion, I think pretty well it's obvious that it is contributing to the cost of construction everywhere in the country and that some of these unions are involved, particularly the CFMEU. So if a Royal Commission starts, Terry, it'll spiral across more than Victoria in the year leading into the next federal election.
20:59
Oh, that's right. And don't forget that $15 billion figure from Geoffrey Watson I was talking about before, that actually was given not to Victoria and Victoria's government, but it was actually given to the Queensland government in a report in that they're inquiring into CFMEU up there. And certainly I think the way this plays out, once the Royal Commission in Victoria is established, on whatever the terms of reference may be, the people who really have to be nervous about it are not just the state government down here in Victoria or other state governments, it's the federal government, Nancy Albanese as Prime Minister.
21:36
And look, there's something just popped up on the Financial Review website. It was alluded to at the ALP conference last week. But we know the area in New South Wales where you would think the Labor Party is most vulnerable to One Nation is in that Hunter Valley area. Now, the Tomago smelter, there's been question marks over – it's controlled by Rio Tinto. It's an aluminium smelter. The question is, is it going to be viable? beyond 2028. And so this story has just popped up tonight.
22:04
There's going to be a negotiation with Chris Minns and Anthony Albanese about how much money will be contributed by New South Wales to keep the Rio Tinto-controlled Tomago aluminium smelter open beyond 2028.
22:15
And it would seem the federal government is going to use taxpayer-subsidised power bought from Snowy Hydro and there are people suggesting that this would involve a deal over the next month.
22:28
Tomago employs about 1,000 people, accounts for 12% of New South Wales' electricity demand. This is in the Hunter Valley area, lots of jobs there as well, and the cost, as I see here, would be over 10 years. It may be a $300 million a year subsidy to provide the power for the smelter to keep those jobs going, but also to prevent...
22:50
an erosion of confidence in Labor in that area where it's already teetering.
22:55
Well that's a good point and certainly I think $300 million a year indefinitely you'd have to assume is a huge subsidy. And certainly if you're talking about the power needs, the energy needs, we're talking about 12% of the whole state consumption. That is absolutely phenomenal. And that is something, presumably, a subsidy would be linked somehow to providing that energy and electricity.
23:24
My sense is that that's the way that politics are playing out these days. If you want to actually save something, you actually bail it out. And that's certainly... It's not just a Victorian thing or a New South Wales thing. I think it's happening around the country. And go back a decade to what was done to try and keep the heavy industry in Wales or in South Australia going. I mean, it's a default option for politicians of both sides, but especially for Labour politicians.
23:50
Just from our feedback, because a lot of people are critical of you for being too critical of One Nation.
23:56
If One Nation discovered the secrets of alchemy, Terry would still say they're good for nothing. His undying devotion to the Liberal cause, well, you'd probably wear that like a badge of honour, could do with some nuance. That's from...
24:07
Well, I have let my Liberal Party membership lapse, John, so I don't know if that says anything.
24:11
Okay, well, I misintroduced you earlier. Just Russell's on the line. He's from Queensland, because there is an issue in Queensland involving One Nation's registration, and this is to do with the audits of their payments over the last three years. Russell, you're across that one, are you?
24:33
Yeah, actually, I was just ringing up. I was talking to your lady who answered the phone. I was a little bit confused. She hasn't paid her costings for the last three years.
24:45
Well, they're saying – I tried to look across this. I don't know if you've watched this, Terry. They're saying for the last three years their financial accounts, and I think it has to be done by the Department of Fair Trading because of the nature of the way –
24:59
They have to give audited accounts to the Department of Fair Trading in Queensland, which oversees companies.
25:05
And they haven't done that. And they could actually lose their registration, basically operating licence on that side, but also their registration as a political party.
25:16
It's a real issue.
25:19
And if I was critical of One Nation, I'd say if you can't govern yourself, you can't govern the country.
25:23
See, I'm surprised because they're campaigning over the last year, and you have to acknowledge this, Terry. It's been very, very good, even down to this week where they've had these release of policies. They're going to release candidates. They come up with a good candidate in Farrah, and they won. Their social media campaigns are good. The way they deal with the media, I think, has been very fantastic.
25:46
very effective i'd be really surprised if something like that was allowed to slip through surely well from what i understand their secretary it isn't exactly huge in terms of people and if i suppose that if you're focusing on the bigger things you don't sweat the small stuff and actually making sure that you comply with companies and fair trading legislation in your state of registration which is queensland is pretty fundamental so somebody has taken their eye off the ball yep
26:13
A couple of people are asking about appetite for a Royal Commission into the building industry in the CFMEU in New South Wales or Queensland. I think the point I was making earlier was the nature of these Royal Commissions into corruption and building, they usually spread their tentacles. I'd be really surprised if it didn't become a much more national inquiry, Terry.
26:34
Well, even if it doesn't, John, I think whatever comes out of Victoria will have shockwaves right across the country.
26:41
um whatever is recommended from this commission in victoria could well be picked up by other states and by the federal government yep at 20 minutes to nine of course the corruption commission the icac in new south wales has opened a very very lengthy inquiry now a group of people they're being characterized as uh the right wing of the uh of the new south wales liberal party then you've got the center right grouping uh and then you've got the the moderates but this right wing group that was, according to the information and the allegations and the information that's been emerging at this inquiry, the claim is that David Elliott, they were targeting him because he was raising questions about a particular developer.
27:22
This bloke's absconded offshore. The allegation is money was being paid by him to essentially bribe Liberal Party operatives to try and get people into position where then his buildings and developments could be approved. There's so many different aspects to this.
27:44
It was being run out of the Catholic Education Office. People linked to the brothers of the New South Wales Premier. Sir David Elliott... who's denied categorically some of the allegations in what was described as a shit sheet that was being sent around about him. And look, all the evidence is that it was untrue. But David Elliott was targeted. You could say David Elliott's out of the parliament now because of all these shenanigans. He's a very good operator, David Elliott. He was on Clinton Maynard's show in Sydney this afternoon, gave a lengthy interview.
28:17
He did say he was talking about the Premier Dominic Perrottet's position. And then, of course, his two brothers are involved in all of this. And then some of the other Liberals who may find themselves at least having to answer questions about this. Just have a listen to this, because a lot of people around Macquarie Street today were having great interest in this. Have a listen.
28:39
My only observation, which I've made publicly, was that, yes, Dominic is not accused of wrongdoing, but Dominic and his brothers Charlie and John Claude were joined at the hip. Everybody knows that. Everybody knows that these two were very, very close. Now, did the two brothers work independently? That's going to come out, and without advising Dominic, that's going to come out. I suppose, when it comes to the evidence that's presented over the next eight, nine, ten, some are saying 18 weeks.
29:07
But I think it's fair to say that that faction, that religious right-wing faction of which we've seen Anthony Roberts mentioned, we will be hearing – if I was looking into my crystal ball without giving any judgment – I think you'll be hearing a lot more about Damien Chute Hope, Anthony Roberts, and I suspect those that haven't been mentioned yet that will be mentioned will include people like Peter Ganjemi and Robin Preston. Now, I'm not saying that they're going to be charged with anything.
29:37
I'm not saying they're guilty of anything, but they're all self-confessed members of that right-wing faction, and we've seen evidence of that already displayed. I suspect also... What I'm concerned about, again, is that 1,500 people have been stacked in to the Liberal Party. Pre-selections have been compromised. And so we have people like Monica Tutehope. Do you recognise that name? So I think we need to be very, very careful about how we now go forward, because there is my distinct belief that there are people pre-selected at the moment.
30:11
that have benefited and are only there because of this branch stacking. This isn't just run-of-the-mill branch stacking that the Labour Party and the Liberal Party and even the National Party have been guilty of over the last hundred years. This is branch stacking paid for, allegedly paid for, by people who had been donating illegally from prohibited donors and the Catholic Church.
30:34
Yeah, it's an extraordinary story, this one, Terry. And I think you're saying there, you're talking about there's months of this to come at the ICAC, which takes you toward the end of the year. And of course, the state election, New South Wales is next March. The Liberals and Nationals are trying to get people to come back to the fold. Those who are saying they're going to vote for One Nation makes it very hard.
30:56
Well, it certainly does. I don't think it was necessarily wise to name names that haven't been named, at least at this stage, by ICAC. But putting that aside, and certainly just looking at it as a political issue, I hate to be Kelly Sloan, the New South Wales opposition leader at the moment, because this is going to make it very hard for her to take any initiative in terms of getting on the front foot, trying to get as many a coalition or Liberal Party MPs elected as possible.
31:27
I mean, they're already up against a very popular Premier in Chris Minns. And yes, effectively, I think politically, electorally, he's a one-man band.
31:35
But he must be on track to be re-election. That's what the polls are saying. Now she's got this...
31:41
It's not a headwind, it's a bloody hurricane. It is. And how she deals with it, how she deals with the rancid maximalism that's behind all this over the next six months, not just for the period of inquiry, but right up the election. It's going to be a real test of not just her politics and her political ability, but her actual character.
32:02
Yeah, I think it's easy for me to sit on the sidewalks, of course, doing these things. But I look at this and I think it's probably at a point where you've got to say, I'm the leader of the party. Anyone who's got any taint on this or potential taint... I need them to not run at the next election. I need a team that's free of all the taint of this because the issues are too important in terms of people's cost of living, the things that we're going to do. We want to focus on policy. We don't want to talk about it. So I'm putting my leadership on the line here.
32:33
These people have to go and take a stand, a dramatic stand like that. You've got to do something. You don't want to carry this into an election.
32:40
No, I think that's right. I think what you say is pretty right. But you've got to do it in a way that doesn't have blowback, particularly if you're talking about people's livelihoods, careers and reputations. And if you actually make the wrong call in terms of pushing the wrong people.
32:57
then that can actually destroy you as a leader. I mean, it's a really diabolical situation that Kelly Sloan's been put in through no fault of her own.
33:06
All right, 131873 is our number. It's 14 to 9. Lots of messages coming in in relation to this. I'll get to those shortly. Interesting comments also on how we prop up things like the Tomago smelter and where the power comes from. But I want to take a break because I just want to dive into just an issue of sport. I did notice, Terry, you were, you bought into this. They're calling it, They're calling it clicky ponting. This is this guy who's been trying to con the umpires by making a clicking noise and conning the umpires into thinking that a batsman has nicked the ball.
33:38
And I'm astonished that there's even a debate over this.
33:44
I just want to get your thoughts on this because I've got pretty strong views on this one myself. And I know you have strong views on things like this. So why don't we dive into that because cricket's not far away. The cricket season really starting to wind up. I wonder how often this might have been happening. I wonder if it's happened more than with this one.
34:03
I'll get your thoughts at 13 to nine. And just quickly on the football, this is the rugby league tonight. I tipped North Queensland, the Cowboys. And so I'm in good form because it's half time. The Roosters are leading 48 points to six. They almost got to 50, but the bunker overruled a try. And they look like they're just running. It looked like a touch football. So it's pretty extraordinary. And that is being played in Townsville as well at 13 to nine.
34:32
Let me just go through some of the feedback we've got here. It's our news hour tonight with Terry Barnes.
34:37
I'm bracing myself for the inevitable pronouncement that most people enter politics for honourable reasons and honourable politicians quickly becoming an oxymoron. I know, Terry, you'll have a different view on that, but that is the view in the community right now and you can understand why it's there.
34:49
Oh, I actually do. And I think most politicians are honest as the day is long because they know the consequences of not being.
34:57
But certainly there are some in there who are there to make a buck or to give their mates a break, even if their mates are not in the CFMEU. So, look, I just think... The political class, whatever you want to call them, have really blotted their copybooks over the last decade or so on both sides of politics. And that's the reason that One Nation is surging, because people are sick of it.
35:23
Now, if they can prop up the white elephant, they'll have to save Tomago. And then how can they host IO centres if they're having problems with Tomago? Also, I was just reading that story from the financial review about this deal to provide power for the Tomago smelter, $300 million a year over a number of years, coming from the Snowy Hydro. Now, we're not talking about Snowy 2.0. We're talking about the Snowy Hydro that's there now, Snowy 2.0. We know the cost of that's blown out, but a lot of work has gone on that.
35:54
So it does raise questions, Terry, right? Because we've seen what's happening in Victoria with that rail line, where you get to a point where you think, oh, we can't afford this. But once you've gone past a certain point, you probably should finish it, shouldn't you?
36:08
Well, that's the thing with the snowy 2.0, but with the suburban rail loop, I mean, it may have destroyed my Elizabeth's favourite playground park at Cheltenham, but that's about as far as it's gone. So they can stop it before it's too late. But there are going to be transaction costs and huge transaction costs in doing that. But they've got to weigh that against the cost of the billions, the tens, the hundreds of billions that they're going to spend otherwise. Yeah.
36:35
Two quick ones to finish. Just an observation on that to make myself again seem like I'm talking about things in the past. If we go back far enough, when Neville Ram was elected in New South Wales in 1976, he won by one seat and the M4, for those outside Sydney, the M4 is the freeway that essentially goes west from the base of the CBD, but it had been built to Concord at that point and there was land reserved for the extension of the M4 from Concord into the city through the inner suburbs. Neville Rand had promised not to build it. So when he was elected, he went through with the promise and sold off the land that had been put aside for it, which meant that all those years later had to spend a lot of money...
37:15
digging tunnels, which are, of course, built by the private sector and are very heavily told. So that's one story. The other one I noticed, Australia Post, they were laughing at me out here, Terry, because I haven't posted a letter for so long, and I was surprised to see, and I know our listeners will probably laugh as well, that the stamp...
37:34
It's $1.70 by 2025. It's now going to jump again. This is the latest increase in the cost of a stamp to $1.85 from September 1. Now, I would have probably said 50 cents because I haven't posted a letter for 20 years. But it strikes me because they're saying fewer and fewer people are posting letters. But would I be correct, and maybe this is just an assumption, that...
37:59
The lion's share of the people posting letters are older people who still write letters to other people, probably the people who can least afford an increase.
38:08
Well, I think that's right. I think the reality is that hardly anybody who writes letters anymore gets them. I mean, the only people I get letters from are people like the electricity company sending bills. Yeah, that's right. Or junk mail.
38:21
But certainly, I think, you know, I think there is a community service obligation that is on Australia Post, and they...
38:30
presumably undertake to keep the postage costs as low as possible. But nonetheless, I think you're right. We're talking about providing a loss-making service, but a service nonetheless that's very essential.
38:41
Yeah, I just worry about the people who get caught up with this technological change who, when we saw it when, for instance, everything went online, people couldn't do anything with their phones. So anyway, that's the situation with the stamp. And finally, at five and a bit minutes to nine, this situation in the UK where there's a low-level cricket, this bloke, he was clicking his fingers to coincide with the ball going past the bat to try and con the umpire into thinking that the batter had actually snicked the ball. Now, to me, that is absolute outright cheating, isn't it?
39:13
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, if the umpire thought the batsman had sticked it because somebody clicked his fingers. I mean, he's not a very smart umpire, I will say that, though. But certainly, I mean, as they say in the classics, it's not cricket, John. It's just not cricket. No, it's not.
39:31
I think about golf where golfers call themselves. There's an ethical situation with golf where you say, oh, look, the ball moved there. I have to call a penalty against myself, unless you're Donald Trump. You actually, you know, you police yourself. And I think a guy who's standing there for hour after hour as an umpire...
39:51
Everyone knows how distracted I am, and I've always wondered if I was ever an umpire, I know what had happened. I'd look up, there'd be people appealing, and I'd go, oh, I wasn't paying any attention. So I'd figure, you know what, they look very convincing, so I'll put my finger up. How often would that happen?
40:04
Well, look, in my day, my nickname was Boycott Barnes, because they opened the batting, and I couldn't do more than a forward defensive shot. But the thing is, the sound of a ball hitting a cricket bat is a bit different to the sounds of fingers clicking. So I would have thought that an umpire, even if they were bored or had been concentrating too long, would actually tell the difference.
40:24
You wouldn't be surprised someone had a little recording on a phone of a ball hitting a bat. There's an idea. All right, Terry, we'll talk to you again next week. Thank you, mate.
40:32
Thanks, John.
40:34
Yes, thank you. Pensions apparently get their stamps for 65 cents with their pension cut, which is a good thing.
40:40
We've got the news coming up. Lots more after this.
40:55
Now it's back to John Stanley, right across Australia.
41:00
Good evening, everyone. Welcome along. Seven minutes past nine is the time. Thanks for all the feedback. Thanks to our caller, Michael, who always enjoys hearing Terry here on our Thursday night news hour. Just on the question of the Tomago smelter, that story's emerged tonight, so there'll be a conversation about that one. They're talking about power from the snowy hydro that's there now, not the snowy hydro...
41:24
2.0, which, well, who knows when that'll begin. It is still very much literally in the pipeline. So thank you for that. Also, Cherie says she posted a letter and two birthday cards today. More next week. Thanks. Thank you very much, Cherie. Enjoy the rest of the week of programs. And there is that confirmation that pensioners can have stamps for 65 cents. That does help the people who are on a very, very tight budget. And just on the question of One Nation and Queensland and some of these administrative questions of their financial accounts over three years where the Fair Trading Department in Queensland is still looking at that, we've got this one from Russ who says...
42:03
Six months ago, the One Nation office in Queensland was being run by volunteers on a shoestring budget, and then they were overwhelmed by the surge. Now, they have had a surge in membership because, remember, toward the end of last year, One Nation in the public polling was something like 6%, 7%.
42:22
And it is simple logic, which has been confirmed by some of the specialists in the field who do say that as soon as people started to see the numbers go up, that is the support, up into the teens and the high teens and even into the 20s, and then they won that seat of Farrah, people who were always flirting with the idea, well, I might give my vote to someone else just as a protest, they were then thinking, well, this time the vote might count.
42:51
because they've always thought, well, if I vote for someone else, it's not really going to count. And so they go and vote for one of the majors. This time, people feel it will count, which is why I think a lot of those votes will stick. But thank you very much for that also, Russell. We'll keep across all of the news of the day over the next hour or two. We've got Kel joining us with the Word Clinic in the next hour. But right now, we're going to take you to a very remote part of Australia. And I think we... We've got Duck himself singing this very famous song to introduce himself. Let's have a listen. Here he is.
43:29
On the road again Just can't wait to get on the road again Life I love is making music with my friends And I can't wait to get on the road again
43:58
And now on nights, it's time to duck out there somewhere with the duck. Thanks to Oz Off-Road Penrith, four-wheel drive builds, accessory fitting and camping store. Oz Off-Road, your ultimate adventure centre.
44:12
And on a glorious Thursday night, here he is, the duck who is somewhere in the centre of Australia. Duck, good evening.
44:19
Yes, good evening John and good evening everybody. Not quite in the centre of Australia just yet. We will be there in a few weeks time or another week's time probably. But we are currently coming to you from the South Australian outback on the Oodnadatta track. And we are camped at a place called Coward Springs. And I've got to tell you what a magnificent set up it is here.
44:40
And here's the good news John. The place, it's a campground, so there is an enormous amount of sites. You can't see anyone. They're all secluded spots where we are. I mean, everyone's scattered around on these sites. The place is booked out.
44:54
We were lucky to get in here. I had to mention that I knew you and pull a few strings, John, to get this exclusive spot. I'm sure you have.
45:00
Can I just – I do this and I make sure – I hope people are doing this. If you can have an iPad, a laptop, whatever you have, your phone with us when we're taking you into these places with the duck, I've just opened – quickly, I've just put in Coward Springs. I've never heard of it. And it looks magnificent, this website. I mean, they obviously get the photos and they do the best they can, but they've got an overhead shot. They've got historic walks. They've got a natural spa on the edge of the wetland.
45:31
It looks quite amazing.
45:32
It's incredible. It's heritage listed, actually, this police property. And let me say this to you, John, what they do do is they – mate, and I've already ordered mine for the morning – They bake a lot of baking here. It's actually a date farm as well, so they grow fresh dates here.
45:52
But let me say this to you, John. In the morning, I've already put in my order for the homemade Rocky Road. How good is it? Breakfast? Not for breakfast, but, I mean, it won't be ready for the morning. The chocolate's being done. It's probably been done now. And it's letting it all set. And for the morning, it'll be nice and fresh. for me to take with us when we leave you tomorrow. And I can tell you I'll be for a little bit of a treat, you know, just for later on. But they do all sorts of jams and pickles and all homemade here on the property as well as biscuits.
46:31
Oh, it's an incredible place. They've got it all going on here.
46:36
And I'll just mention that the place is booked out.
46:39
How good is it that it is booked out? Because what it does, it indicates that people are travelling in the outback, and we are in the outback here.
46:49
It's certainly pretty raw where we are. We were treated to a magnificent outback sunset earlier. And we've got a fire going, and we've had a camp oven roast in a camp oven cooking on the fire tonight, trying to bake dinner. And so we're certainly living that lifestyle. We call it the Oz Off-Road lifestyle, but that's what we're doing. Obviously, we're out here filming. We're making our way to the Red Centre, and we've got a lot more to do yet. But, geez... And it has been very good to see so many people travelling.
47:21
But I've got a bit of breaking news, John, because I am in the middle of absolute... We are in the middle of nowhere out here.
47:27
Yeah, if you've got your map out, you'll see just how remote this is. Middle of nowhere.
47:30
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Middle of nowhere. We are in the outback of Australia. It is the middle of nowhere. And today, well, obviously we're filming. So there's three Oz Off-Road caravans on this trip. My young bloke's on the trip as well. The roof tent, the camera crew are in swags and a roof tent on a camera vehicle. So they travel ahead of us and they come across this water crossing. They wanted us to have cameras to film us towing the veins through the water. And a car travelling in the opposite direction pulled up and said to our cameraman, where's the duck?
48:02
This is in the middle of nowhere.
48:05
And obviously I'm used to that sort of stuff, John, anywhere we go. But hang on, it gets better. So he crosses the water because we had to get out of shot. He pulls up where I'm parked and says, I was listening to you and John Stanley last Thursday night. I knew you were coming out here. So there are people listening all over Australia on the 2GB app, obviously. And we are in the middle of, can you believe it, in the middle of nowhere.
48:30
Absolute middle of nowhere. Well, we've got a little oasis in the middle of it. What they've shown on their website, a fellow I know will be listening tonight, so we'll send him a cheerio, and good on you, mate.
48:42
Even another fellow, a young fellow, they're in an F-350, I think it was, or an F-150 truck, and out here enjoying, although they may be locals on a property or something, I don't know.
48:51
But it looks...
48:53
It looks greenish, but I'm imagining how to – just paint us a picture because it's quite flat, but it is – I can see a bit of greenery here on their website. What's it look like?
49:04
Yeah, look, unbelievable. It's not as green because obviously we're heading to where all that is.
49:10
They tell me up through Mount Dare and along the edge of the Simpson Desert. We will be there. I'm not sure exactly when, but we will be going through there. But I can tell you that they have had some rain here and there was some water and it is fairly green. The drive up here was incredible, especially when...
49:28
We went through Parachilna on the edges of the Flinders Ranges, and it was just the colours there, just amazing, quite incredible.
49:40
Green as – and I've got to tell you, we stopped at the Prairie Hotel, and the Prairie Hotel is actually famous. They've got the roadkill menu, which I'm not sure it's not actually really roadkill. But I've been to a lot of outback pubs all over Australia. And you walk in and they've got that unique Aussie character. All the pubs, there might be, you know, 300 Acuba hats, you know, stapled to the ceiling or stickers everywhere, people signing the walls that they've been there.
50:09
Anyway, so this pub you would expect, there's nothing at Parachilna except a campground, which used to be the school, long gone, the school is long gone, it's now a campground, and the pub. When you walked inside the pub...
50:25
It was like the Shangri-La inside. I couldn't believe it. It was unbelievable. Everybody that was with us went, are you for real? It was like five star. It was just incredible. And this is in between.
50:43
Just spell for our listeners where that is again. Parachilna. Parachilna.
50:48
Yeah, you want me to...
50:48
In South Australia. You want me to spell it? Yeah, I'll find it. Yeah, P-A-R-A-C-H-I-L. Yeah, I've got it here. Anyway, yeah, so Parachulna. So we were there, and then obviously we've been filming. Last night we were at Marie. Now, Marie is a very historical railway town. When the railway went into Marie, it actually ended the town of Farina, which is now a ghost town of ruins and the like, and there's a bakery that opens there. Throughout the travel season, we actually missed it by about a week because they've got the underground bakery there, but we've been there many times, so we weren't too fussed about it.
51:27
But Maree is basically on the bottom of the Birdsville track.
51:32
and on to the east of the Oodnadatta track, which is what we are on now. We're on the Oodnadatta track, and we're off to William Creek tomorrow, then Oodnadatta, and then we will head up towards, past Dalhousie Springs, up to Mount Dare, on the edge of the Simpson Desert, and then through a little place called Fink, and then make our way to Ayres Rock. So it's one hell of a trip. I've got to say to you about this, anybody who has travelled the Outback will tell you.
51:59
I was talking to Mrs Duck yesterday and she said, what are you on? I said, what are you talking about? She said, you just sound different. You sound like you're on a high. And I said, I'm in the outback.
52:12
I'm telling you now, your mood changes. You get out here and your mood changes. Although the phone's ringing all day and we can take phone calls because we're obviously on Starlinks and stuff running permanently. But it is just me out here, John. I've got to say, because the land is so flat...
52:30
The sky just looks enormous. It's just so big. And you've got this beautiful cloud in the squinty. It's Clancy just here trying to jump up on me while I'm talking to you. He loves the Outback too, John. But the sky looks absolutely amazing. It's just so big. The big blue sky and the colours of the landscape just red and green. And it's just incredible. It is no wonder that this place is actually booked out full of caravanners and in here because everybody is out here just experiencing that Australian outback.
53:05
There's nothing like it. Nothing beats it.
53:07
Yeah, I've just had a quick look at the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna. In fact, they've got a website. In fact, they've had stories done in major newspapers around the country. It's some locals going back, I think, more than 30 years, decided, OK, we'll buy the pub.
53:21
and decided to do it up, but do it up in a really, really elaborate way. So it's high-end, 12 rooms. It looks absolutely amazing. And on their website, there's an image of the pub at night lit up. Then the sky over the top of it is like the Milky Way. It looks amazing.
53:38
It's just incredible.
53:40
We were there the other night and out the front, you know, on the road, on the road, out the front of the pub, there was a big fire going and there was a few people standing around that. And we met a few of the people that had been camping in the Flinders who had come out of the Flinders Ranges and spent a night there. We met people that were camped at the campground, which was basically... As I say, the old school, very small school, I will say, I think one building, maybe two, but it was very basic. It had a very unique outback camp kitchen and some moderate facilities, dongers there with toilets and showers and the like.
54:18
But certainly, there's nothing like the outback. And then obviously the Maori, again, like I said, it's a railway town. It's with a gun. They've got a couple of old locomotives there in the middle of town, the Garn Railway, and there's a lot of Garn history there. And a great pub, a fantastic country pub there, right at the bottom of the Birdsville track. All the great pubs.
54:39
I want to come back, because I know me and others, we hear this, we think, gee, it'd be good to go there, just to find out how you get there, how long it takes, and then what is nearby. So we'll get all of that shortly, plus Lake Eyre, which you're going to talk about, and you're going to be going through part of Lake Eyre as well. But I've got to do one of your commercials. You ready? Yeah, they'd stuff it up, John. Along the coast, of course, we know the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort. This is for people who are anywhere near the central coast of Sydney, or if you're anywhere near the central coast at any time, you need to remember the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort, shores of Shelley Beach on the central coast of New South Wales.
55:16
They've been doing this since the 1960s. Family holidays, summer memories, beautiful bushland, beach right at the doorstep. And as soon as you get out of the car, the whole holiday begins. It's the only holiday park on the Central Coast with an absolute beachfront location. The Blue Lagoon Beach Resort has everything. Studios, family cabins, garden cabins, beachside vans, camper and tent sites. And the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort, perfect place to switch off. They have an outdoor heated pool, a spa complex right on the beach. They've got a modern cafe. You can get involved in activities or just kick back.
55:46
weekend, week or even longer, go to the website, bluelagoonbeachresort.com.au. You can call 0243321447 to book your next getaway. Blue Lagoon Beach Resort, more than just a caravan park. It is a lifestyle.
56:02
Look, I'm in a very good mood tonight, John, because I'm in the Outback. That's a four out of ten.
56:07
Okay, we'll come back in a moment here on this Thursday night.
56:10
It's camping and off-roading. We've got the duck who's in a beautiful part of Australia, not far from Lake Eyre. How far away from Lake Eyre are you, duck?
56:19
Well, we're in that region. We actually pulled up this afternoon on the side of Lake Eyre South, and it looks amazing. Now, I'm talking to – I've obviously been speaking to locals and – And Trevor Wright from Wright's Air at William Creek, where we're heading to tomorrow, who tells me that there is more water in the lake now than there has been for decades. It is amazing. And he conducts the slights over lake here. Yeah, that's amazing.
56:46
I just want to play something because on Ben Fordham's breakfast show on 2GB in Sydney today, he was just talking about a few issues and he did reference Dick Smith, Lake Eyre. Now, I think part of this involves a description of what it's like there. So just have a quick listen.
57:01
Yeah, you can't believe what the South Australian government have done. They've now banned you're not allowed to go to the shore of Lake Eyre. I mean, Lake Eyre is huge. It's two-thirds full at the moment. I was there about two weeks ago. There are great big signs up with fines and you're not even allowed to paddle in Lake Eyre. Now, years ago, I went there with my kids and we went swimming there and I thought, wow, the Aboriginal kids for thousands of years would have swum in this most beautiful place. Well, now it's completely banned by the South Australian government.
57:33
I can't fathom out the reason. Our yacht club, we have these beautiful little 12-foot skiffs. We're not allowed to sail on the lake. Well, I'm maybe to accept that, but not to accept that kids can't have a paddle in it. But what's the point? What's the argument from the South Australian government? They say it's muddy. It's muddy. But when it's full, it's not muddy. It's a lovely, sandy, beautiful place to swim.
57:56
And the point there, I think there's an issue there that Dick Smith was raising, but he paints a picture there right at the end of a beautiful, beautiful full lake with these sandy shores. That was what you were telling me earlier today is what you've seen.
58:10
Yeah, Dick Smith's 100% correct. And why, John, this gets back to the old saying for the governments around Australia, get out of our lives. Yeah. And he touched on the fact that Aboriginal kids for thousands of years probably swam in there.
58:28
And, like, when there was no South Australian government telling people not what to do. I mean, like, seriously, it was where we were today. There were signs telling us that we weren't to go into the water. You weren't allowed to swim and all of this stuff.
58:42
We weren't going for a swim. We didn't have time for it anyway. But there were a lot of tourists there. And I'm sure that they would have loved it. It looked amazing. And what? Dick Smith's saying is correct. And let me say, I mean, Dick Smith knows a fair bit about regional Australia and outback Australia because he's an explorer.
59:00
That's right.
59:00
Apart from being a very successful businessman, Dick Smith's an explorer. That's true. And really, I mean...
59:08
You know, and he's flown over these places and travelled to these places. And that's what happens, John, in a lot, not just in the outback, but in many places, in the bush in particular, with national parks and rules and all this other nonsense, where for years you were going somewhere, then you go back and it's fenced off, there's a car park, and you can't go in there anymore. You go, oh, hang on a minute, what harm were we doing? Yeah.
59:30
But you can get along the shore, and it is spectacular to look at, and you're going to take one of these flights over the top of it, because when it's full, it's pretty amazing from what I can gather.
59:39
Well, it is full, and the thing about Lake Eyre and what we were talking about today is it is quite incredible to think that all that water came from the north.
59:50
It is just incredible. It's not as if it was a downpour of rain here and it filled it up. This water has travelled for miles, thousands of kilometres. It's just incredible, really. It's just through the Diamantina, through the Channel Country, from up the top end, this water has travelled down through Birdsville, all down into there. And it is quite amazing. And then what happens is water breeds life, John. They tell me the bird life is just, mate, we can't wait to see that. And it was funny, I was talking to one of the fellas today because I remember years ago, I asked a question on the radio, has anyone ever seen a baby pelican?
60:27
Have you ever seen... You've got your mansion up there on Smith's Lake.
60:31
I've got a tiny cabin on the end of the lake.
60:33
I mean, this nonsense about you've got a garden shed up there is a joke.
60:37
It's on Smith's Lake where there are a lot of pelicans. But it's a very good scenery. No, I don't think so.
60:42
That's right, because, you know, guess where they come from? Where? Lake Eyre.
60:45
Oh. There you go. That's what I've been told.
60:47
So the babies are born there and then they fly across the country?
60:49
They fly across. Seriously? You know what? Let's go here because the lake's lit up at night time from this bloke's back lights of his property. Okay. It's beautiful here. We can see in the dark here.
60:59
People actually wanted to hear some information. So the babies are born and then they go across. As far as I know.
61:05
Yeah, look, I might be wrong. I'm not a pelican expert, although I have been accused of being called a pelican.
61:09
Because you know someone's going to pull you up on this, so...
61:12
Well, look, that's what I've been told in the past by a number of different people. I mean, I've been known to be a bit of a pelican in mid-day, John. That will surprise you. But I can tell you that's, yeah, and the pelicans actually then migrate to those coastal places where, I mean, you go to the entrance on the New South Wales Central Coast, they have pelican feeding. The pelicans are everywhere. But I've been up there and I've travelled everywhere up that coast where there's been a massive population of pelicans. Well, I've never seen a baby pelican. And I don't think, and I asked that question to the fellows here with us today.
61:45
I said, I'm led to believe the pelicans come from out here.
61:50
Why is it every time you hear the term pelican, certain people in our industry, we immediately hear in our heads, listen you pelican, because it's a lovely expression, isn't it?
62:02
And I think that's probably your and my mutual mate. Listen, you pelican.
62:07
That's a lovely expression, isn't it?
62:09
Where did that come from? I don't know, but nobody could call anyone a pelican as good as Ray. No. He was the best. There's no doubt about that.
62:19
It was almost a badge of honour for people who were called a pelican. Being called a pelican. That's right. From him. That's right.
62:25
That's right. So just where you've described, because any of our listeners who've heard you talk about this place, this fantastic Prairie Hotel, Mari, which these are all old railway towns, which have got certain aspects that they survive on and people come through. So to get to the places you're at today, how long do you have to be on the road?
62:45
Oh, look, today we have a travel, because we're filming, and so we didn't travel a lot of kilometres today, because it's all about us getting the... No, I'm talking about to get there from Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra.
62:56
Oh, well, it's a long way.
62:57
I mean, for us, I mean, our first day of driving was 1,100 kilometres, I think, from home to Broken Hill. Yeah.
63:04
Let's say Broken Hill. Broken Hill to where you are now, is it just one long drive, or are there places you can see along the way? How does it work?
63:11
Well, No, there's plenty to see along the way. I mean, you go through some beautiful towns like Peterborough in South Australia. Some of those South Australian towns are fantastic. No, look, you wouldn't do it. It's a long way, John. I mean, I'm not sure how many kilometres from here back to Broken Hill, but I can tell you that our first day from home to Broken Hill was about 1,100 kilometres. And we knocked that over. We had 1,600 kilometres to get to Parachulna from our place. And then from Parachulna to here, I'm not sure.
63:41
It's not that far from Parachulna to here, into Maureen and out to where we are now. isn't far, it's probably 200 or 300km, isn't that far. But certainly to get out to the outback, you've got a bit of a driver ahead of you. But certainly along the way, there is little towns, there are little bush pubs, little communities, plenty of things to see. And one thing I've said on the radio ever since I started doing this type of show was that there is Australian history lying on the ground everywhere.
64:16
For a country that's only a couple of hundred years old, We are very rich in our history, and you can – you go – the ruins – I tell you, through South Australia – That's modern Australia, and then you've got – of course, you've got the ancient history. Yeah, I understand that. I understand that. I know.
64:31
This is what you're saying, because the old – when you talk about ancient rotting, I've seen them. When I say ancient, old railway carriages and some of the stuff in these towns you've talked about tonight, which are – I guess remnants of when in early modern Australia you're seeing the railway lines that became the link between various parts of the country and that's all gone by the wayside.
64:56
Oh, no, but it's everywhere to be seen. You can pick it up off the ground. And, I mean, in particular around South Australia, there were a lot of ruins. So you're driving along, and then all of a sudden there's, you know, what's left of a brick house. Yeah. That was built, you know, probably 150 years ago, and it's still there. And the thing that amazes me, everything's gone, the fireplace is still sitting there. It's incredible, really. But, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about indigencies. I've got to say to you, I've been privileged to see. I have been privileged. We have been doing this job.
65:27
We have been privileged to see some of the Indigenous paintings and all that stuff, the paintwork, all that. We've seen all of that.
65:36
And it's fantastic. And look, I'm a big, as you know, a big advocate for exploring Australia. I forget Europe and cruising and, you know, and Bali. I mean, who cares about all that stuff? Get out and see Australia. It's the real deal.
65:51
And the more kids that do it, the better, John, because if you want to get a good respect for the country, understand the history and go out and have a look. And you will then have a respect of how it was and how people lived. You see these ruins. You think, how do people live out here? I actually said it today to the boys on the CB radio. I said, imagine living there. We're just driving in the middle of nowhere. There was a ruins of an old property there.
66:14
I thought, imagine living out here.
66:15
You get to talk to each other and read books. You know, that's what you do. See, even here looking at Mari, you have an old house. There's a story around that. There's a truck out the front. It looks like a vintage truck out the front. There's stories associated with all of that.
66:31
Well, you ready for this, John? You ready for this? Yep. Australia's first mosque was at Mari. Really? It's all there.
66:36
Wow. Still sitting there, yep. Wow, okay. Look, we'll take a break, come back in a moment, because we've got Wilco with his gig guide, and I've got to do another of your commercials for OptiVan. Now, when you're going through central Australia, going through a place where there's a lot of dust, there's all the things that can happen with your caravan camper, RV, or motorhome, you want to protect it. And keep that brand new look for years and years. The one product helps you do that is OptiVan. It's the strongest, thickest, most durable protection for exterior and interior surfaces on the market. OptiVan's revolutionary exterior ceramic paint protection protects your vehicle from all kinds of nuisances like bird and bat droppings, tree sap, road grime, bugs, of course, damaging UV rays.
67:16
And with OptiVan interior, protects against the spills and the stains like food, coffee, makeup, pets, and plenty more. OptiVan... Confident in their product, they offer an unmatched lifetime warranty, no hidden fees or annual inspections. And this is the good part. The warranty is fully transferable should you sell your vehicle. This is a blue chip product to have the OptiVan applied to your caravan, camper, RV or motorhome. Website is OptiVan, O-P-T-I-V-A-N, optivan.com.au. You quote, duck 4x4, you get OptiVan, 50% off, that's half price, thousands of dollars in savings. You get the Deluxe Wash Kit as well, detailing spray, citrus multipurpose interior cleaner, so plenty of extras as well.
67:53
OptiVan.com.au or contact your local OptiVan dealer. Terms, conditions, exclusions and limit supply.
67:59
Hello? Oh, look, I think that's another, I think that's probably, you know what, I'm going to be generous, 4.5.
68:07
We'll be back in a moment here on this Thursday night.
68:11
Here we are camping and off-roading on this Thursday night with The Duck, who's in the middle of Australia. Well, he's near Lake Eyre, so he's moving into the central part of Australia. And Wilco, well, Wilco, I think is at home at Blue Collarville, where there's a lot of celebrations there tonight. It's the He's Away Again Festival, where they're all celebrating, I don't know what it's about. For some reason, someone's not there, and they're all very, very happy. Let's bring his intro in. Dave Wilkins, one of Australia's leading musicians. Wilco with his gig guide. Wilco, good evening.
68:40
Good evening, John. Good evening, Doc. How are you gentlemen this fine night?
68:45
Well, Wilco, how do you think I am? I've travelled just over 1,900 kilometres with my caravan in tow to sleep on the ground under the van because I remember a little while back when we were in the van and John said, now you've pulled up, you're off the road, you've pulled up in a reserve. Where do you sleep tonight? No.
69:07
Do you remember that imbecilic question?
69:09
On the ground under the van, where do you think we sleep? But that's where we are. I've travelled 1,900 kilometres. Because he asked me where do we sleep. I mean, hello, there's a queen-size bed in there.
69:21
He's never going to let this go. He's never going to let this go.
69:24
Listen, Cupcake.
69:26
Listen, Cupcake, I'll tell you what, Wilco, we've got a great campfire going out here tonight, Wilco. And what about this? We've got young Kobe who works for us as a crew assistant. And I'm going to put you in touch with Kobe because he actually produces and records music. He's got a guitar here, Wilco.
69:46
He's here. Fantastic. And we've got the campfire. And you're not going to believe it, Wilco. I've got the harmony. Because then what we're going to do, we're going to treat John very shortly. Because when I get back, you and I are going to record a song together. But we'll tell John about that after you do the gigs, I think.
70:01
We'll do this in a moment. The gig guide. And Wilco's got... So Wilco's, of course, you've got to get... He's had quite a few people in that Blue Collarville area saying, can you just make sure you can confirm that he is away? So you'll be able to give them the good news. Oh, listen.
70:15
Before I forget, Wilco, can you just duck up and feed the fish, mate, in the pond out the front, please? Will do, mate. Will do. Those barramundis, we're fattening them up up there, mate.
70:24
Come on. Sounds right. All right. Okay, we're ready to go. The gig guy, what's happening?
70:30
And you can hear Jack in the background.
70:31
Jack, you've got to be quiet, mate. No, that's no good.
70:35
That's no good. You've got to go, sit down. Sit down.
70:39
There you go.
70:42
We love Barnaby. I'll tell you about Barnaby too on this trip a bit later when Wilco's gone.
70:49
Here we go, guys. So for our listeners on 2CC, the Harmony German Club is celebrating the International Blues Music Day, which comes around every year on Saturday. So Blues Guitar Roadshow featuring renowned blues guitarist Anna Popovic. Now, she's hailed by Bruce Springsteen as one of the new great guitar players, guitar players of the world, plus Australian blues legends Jeff Atchison, Ray Beadle, Simon Kinney-Lewis and a jam-packed roster on that one.
71:20
That's 3 till 6 next Saturday at the Harmony German Club. Tickets available via the website. That's going to be a cracker. Also on Saturday night, Hayley Jensen's performing her brand of country at the Royal Hotel in Queanbeyan. 7pm doors on that one. Tickets via AusTix. Pharrell, this is on 4BC. Tomorrow night's a cosy night in with the James Morrison Quartet. That's going to be a fantastic night at the Ruby Jazz Club in the Fortitude Valley. Tickets are available via the website and doors are 6.30. Tomorrow night also, the Mighty Radiators in Cleveland Sands Hotel.
71:53
That's going to be a cracker. Tickets via AusTix, 8pm doors. And Jessica Malboy is performing at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Now, tickets are via the QPAC website on that one. It's a big two-hour show, and that's just about to sell out. So if you like Jess Malboy, jump onto the QPAC website tonight and grab your tickets. Now, for our listeners on 2GB, there's been a great selection of gigs around the country this week.
72:21
If you're a rock fan, you can't beat the angels on there. Am I ever going to see your face again? 50 years on tour. Now, they're at the Highfield in Carring Bar on... That's tomorrow night, and doors are 8 p.m. Tickets via Moshtix.
72:35
Once again for International Blues Day on Saturday, Clayton Dolly's Blues Bayou Billabong, Kate Lush, Dom Turner and the Royal Blues Project. They're playing at the Marrickville Bowling Club. And gee, they're great supporters of live music. Doors open at 6.30 on that one. Try Booking is the...
72:55
Ticketing platform, Brad Cox and the Vans and Max Jackson are at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday night. That's going to be a cracker. Tickets via Ticketek on that one. And on the radar, guys, the Regent Theatre next week in Richmond has Tim Friedman from the Whitlam's. And then there's a show that you want to mention, Dark September 19, is Casey Chambers and...
73:19
Casey Barnes, and now they're playing at the Evan Theatre. That's a few weeks away. That's about six weeks away, but that's the Evan Theatre in Penrose. That's going to be a cracker. Very, very good.
73:28
That will be a cracker. Now, there's breaking news, John, because I've been, obviously, when we're out here, especially when we were doing the big drive, I was playing a bit of music, and I played this track by the Dingoes. Now, everyone knows the song Way Out West with James Rain and James Bundell. But the Dingoes, the original version, the blokes who wrote that song, is a mate of Wilco's, believe it or not. He knows everybody.
73:49
We've got it here. Can we have a little bit of the song? We're going to get the song just to... This is the one I know. This is the original, Way Out West. Yeah. The Dingoes. So...
74:06
I think you fancy yourself as doing the harmonica, but just have a listen, hear a listen. That reminds people of the song we're talking about. You've got something, you're going to do something with this, are you, Doug?
74:20
Yes, Wilco and I. It's going to be our new signature song, John. He's going to play the guitar and sing, and I'll be on the harmonica. In fact, I may even back him up on the vocals.
74:31
And when's this going to be done? When are you doing this? When I get back. When I get back. Wilco's going to Wilco's studio. Am I going to be involved?
74:38
No. Why not? Sorry, you will be involved. You'll be playing it. Do you want to do some backing vocals too, John? I can do some backing vocals. No, no, no.
74:46
Is there a tambourine or something I can play? Kidding, aren't you?
74:49
You bet. Actually, you know what? What about the triangle? Can you just hit a little ding at the end of the song?
74:57
I have actually played the triangle. It's another story. Cool.
75:00
I will go. He's played the flute a few times. Sorry about that, champion.
75:07
I did play the Triangle in the Sydney High School Orchestra, and it only had to be hit once, and I sat there through an entire symphony. Anyway, just quickly, Wilco, next Friday, the beautiful Bridge Hotel at Roselle for our Sydney listeners. Here Come the Beatles. This is next Friday.
75:20
That is tomorrow week. Is that right? It is. It's got the great Kevin Bennett singing and Eliza Olmbach. She is amazing. And it's the band that basically plays at the Opera House for the Let It Be shows. So we've got a double pass to give away on that one.
75:35
131873, call the open line, first person to call through. If you want to go tomorrow week, Bridge Hotel Roselle, that's a very good show. The Beatles, that's Here Come The Beatles. So we might watch that again next week as well. Hey, Wilco, we've got to go. He's got to go. We'll do it again next week, mate.
75:53
Thank you for having me on and supporting live music. Cheers, guys. Cheers, guys.
75:57
See you, mate. Another of your commercials, though, Duck, quickly before we get moving. Off-grid caravan. Looking for one to get you where the Duck is right now. Oz Off-Road caravans, 100% Australian built, ready to explore Australia. Huge range, 14-foot caravans up to the 24-foot vans. The club lounge vans for the ultimate in off-road touring and comfort. They've got the couples, family vans with the multiple internal layout designs. It means you can organise it the way you want it. Range of colours as well. Check them out now. Oz Off-Road headquarters at Penrith is where you can see them.
76:28
Oz Off-Road's also a four-wheel drive fitting centre. Qualified fitters there set you up for towing, tough tracks, touring, the bull bars, suspension, driving lights, winches, recovery gear, the rooftop tents, awnings, canopy fit-outs and trays for the trade. They've got absolutely everything. It's Oz Off-Road at Penrith in Western Sydney, 1300 760 131 or ozoffroad.com.au.
76:50
Look, you know what, John, I'm going to give that one a three. But it wasn't bad.
76:53
Back in a moment. It's better than a two. Go back in a moment.
76:57
Camping and off-roading. We've got a couple of minutes left here, Duck. You're in the middle of Australia. But, look, we don't do politics here. But you want to say something about Barnaby. You've also got, and I'll let you do it, a quick burst, you've been testing the political temperature.
77:12
in inland Australia absolutely I mentioned Barnaby because let me tell you we meet a lot of people in these travels and not just locals obviously we do meet a lot of locals but we meet people who are travelling and they're travelling from Queensland Victoria South Australia and this is the thing John we get into conversations and a few yarns everybody everyone I'm telling you everybody we have spoken to wants our boat to go and the next breath is it's Pauline and Barnaby all the way It is incredible.
77:42
It is just incredible, really, that everybody is just, everyone, even I'm talking all ages, young blokes, young people, older people, it doesn't matter.
77:52
Trust is gone. It's quite incredible if I see anything like it.
77:57
And people who voted for Albo. Never again. And they're not saying they're going to vote for Angus. It's all Pauline and Barnaby.
78:07
You did say this to me earlier in the day, and that's why I wanted to let you have that say, because it's a really interesting test of what's going on out there. Just on Barnaby, these days you think of Barnaby, you think of the dog. Clancy, is he with you?
78:20
Your dog? Clancy is with us, and he had to look, and I will say this, Barnaby, I'm with you, mate. Clancy's been told to sit down a couple of times. I can imagine. But let me say to you, look, no, I'm serious. It's quite incredible. It's blown me away. You're standing outside of a fire around a pub in the bush, and people that have travelled from Victoria and South Australia, Queensland, everywhere, all saying the same thing.
78:45
They've got a problem. Okay.
78:46
All right, mate. Very good. You, Clancy, your team, look after yourselves. I'm really looking forward to hearing where you are next week. There's a big fat moon sitting up there at the moment in the sky. Enjoy tonight, mate.
78:57
Yeah, can't wait, John. I don't know where we'll be next week, but we certainly will be closer to the centre of Australia, the heart of the country, and we are in the outback and we're loving it and we can't wait to tell everybody about it. Thank you, mate.
79:07
All right, there he is, the great man, the Duck, speaking to us from, well, back in the Now, Mari was the winner of the tickets double pass to that great show, Bridge Hotel Roselle. That is tomorrow week, that Beatles show which Wilco was talking about. You can have a look at the Bridge Hotel's website for more details on that if you want to go. It sounds like it's fantastic. Five to ten now.
79:31
Don't forget, tomorrow night, straight after the continuous call team, we'll have OnlyFans. We talk to fanatical fans. Football fans are weird people. There's a fellow who texts me. He's a Bulldogs fan. He's just saying this is an extraordinary game. Roosters have won 82-12. 70-point margin. Quite remarkable. That's happened tonight in Townsville. This bloke's decided to send me a note about the performance of the Cowboys fullback because he's going to the Dragons next year and he's taking a shot at the Dragons. Really? Really?
79:59
That's what we're like, football fans, but well done. Now, just coming up to the news at 10 o'clock, before we get there, I should tell you about Mr Vitamins, one of our great, great sponsors. Mr Vitamins has the Witsby range, W-I-T-S-B-B, Witsby. Whether you're supporting growing kids, staying on top of your own wellbeing or keeping the whole household healthy, Witsby, Mr Vitamins has got you covered. From everyday vitamins to targeted nutritional support for children and adults, there's a Witsby product for every stage of life. Visit your Mr. Vitamins store where qualified health practitioners and nutrition experts can help you find the right Witsby products for your family's needs.
80:35
Witsby, health for the whole family, available now at Mr. Vitamins. Just go to the website, Mr. Vitamins. It's mrvitamins.com.au. Great website. That's where you can find out where your nearest store is as well. And of course, as they say, always read the label, follow the directions for use. News, brain game, Kel Richards after this.
81:01
Now it's back to John Stanley, right across Australia.
81:25
Good evening, everyone. Welcome along. It's Thursday night right across the country, wherever you're listening to us tonight via the radio. You might be listening on a smart speaker on an app. We, of course, heard an hour ago from the duck that a fellow middle of nowhere was listening to us on the app or a smart speaker last week and knew the duck was coming through. a very remote part of Australia. So you could be listening anywhere. Welcome along. I hope it's going well for you. I'm getting some notes from people asking me what happened to the Cowboys tonight. This is in the rugby league. Well, I've been doing the show. I have had half an eye on it, number one.
81:57
And number two, I'm not really in a position to assess it. They look pretty confused, though. They've been flogged by the Roosters. And my mate who keeps sending me notes, he's a Bulldogs fan.
82:09
Who are the Roosters playing next? Oh, they're playing the Bulldogs. Look forward to seeing how that one goes. That's the nature of being a fan or the fan. The barbs that you have between fans is what I think makes life go around because it takes away from some of the toxic exchanges we have and haven't got a lot of those at the moment. 131873 is the number now. It is nine minutes past ten.
82:34
Now it's time for John Stanley's Brain Game. Call now, 131 873.
82:41
Now, our prize, of course, on a Thursday night is the fantastic Macelle Hamper. Gourmet stocks, and it's still a chill in the air, so the gourmet stock and the various gravies that you can get from Macelle, just add the flavour to that food, quality you can taste and of course they've got the premium stock which they describe as a flavour bomb. You get a big Macelle hamper and you get the John Stanley Mr Magoo mug as well. All you need to do is answer this question. I like to have a word question or a literary question on a Thursday night because our man of letters is joining us shortly.
83:14
So how about this one?
83:17
It's the famous first line of a famous novel, and I reckon it might even sum up our situation right now.
83:25
Simply, it opens with, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
83:31
very famous opening line of a very famous novel. It was the best of times.
83:36
It was the worst of times. You could almost apply that to right now, but all you need to do is tell me the name of that novel. First person to call through with the answer I'm looking for, which is the correct answer. You win the prizes at 10 minutes past 10. So many little snippets of our show that I look forward to every week, including hearing that little Lydia, which is so good. The old Groucho Marx. I think we're going to win it. And... We're looking for the name of the novel, opened by It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times.
84:08
Anne, what's the name of the novel?
84:10
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
84:13
Exactly. That's what it was.
84:15
Very famous. In fact, there's more to that opening line, which our man of letters will talk about shortly. But congratulations, Anne. You've got yourself that fantastic Macelle hamper coming your way. The premium stock. So when you go to the supermarket, you can find all the Macelle products. Make sure you look for the premium stock. It stands out. They call it a flavour bomb. It's got premium ingredients on it. all-natural flavour, Macelle gourmet stock. It is quality that you can taste. At 12 past 10.
84:53
And now on Nights, Words with Kel Richards.
84:58
Yes, Kel Richards, of course, he's our word expert, our word guru who joins us every Thursday night. Ozwords.com.au. Ozwords.com.au is his website. You can find great links there to all of his great publications. You can subscribe to his word of the day. But he's with us every Thursday night. Good evening, sir. Good evening.
85:15
Good evening, sir. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. We had everything before us. We had nothing before us. We were all going directly to heaven. We were all going directly the other way. In short, the period was so far like the present period that some of the noisiest authorities insist on it being referred to only for the purposes of comparison.
85:52
Just remarkable, isn't it? So that entire paragraph is just one sentence with commas. That's right, isn't it? That's right.
85:58
It's a paragraph-long sentence. It's great.
86:01
And you can have a sentence that just keeps going and going with commas in the way of that.
86:07
If you're as clever as Charles Dickens, for the rest of us, short sentences are a really good idea.
86:12
Because with novels, and I know I was reading, like Tim Winton, when he writes, he doesn't have any quotation marks. So a lot of people write and it's so that you consume it. They write in a certain way and there's a rhythm to the way they write. And that's part of the joy of reading, isn't it?
86:27
But you've got to be clever. I mean, Tim Winton is an exceptionally clever writer. He's probably the most talented Australian writer of fiction alive at the present time. We're not as good as that. And our goal when we write is clarity. We want to be understood, not misunderstood, and we want to motivate people. And I'm really big on short, clear sentences, short, clear paragraphs. That's what the rest of us mugs do. Yeah.
86:50
All right, now, 131873, here's your chance. You can talk to Kel if there's something you've been worrying about. You may have an argument with someone that you want to sort out. You may have someone who is constantly wheeling out, oh, yeah, you know where this came from, and you want to be able to tell him you're wrong. He's here, 131873. You can also use the text line 0460 873873. So much to get through tonight. I do like your word of the week, though.
87:20
Because I wonder whether this word is often used properly. So let's get to it.
87:25
Well, the word is satire, and the reason I chose it is because of the brouhaha that's going on with the ABC at the moment and that video that was screened attacking Gina Reinhart. Their defence was it's satire. Now, I've seen the video, and you've got to ask yourself, what does satire mean? So I thought, for everyone's benefit, not just mine, it's worth having a look at the word. Satire came into English from a French source word a few hundred years ago. And I checked a whole lot of dictionaries, and every definition says pretty much the same thing.
87:57
Something along the lines of, satire is... criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way. So it needs to be, it's got to have those two elements. It's got to be A, critical, and B, funny. It's got to be humorous or something like that. And we've all seen bits of satire. There are things I was trying to call to mind today, but there are very clever bits where the two Ronnies and people like that made fun of something as a way of criticising it. That's satire. The problem the ABC has got is this little thing that they showed, A, contains no criticism.
88:31
It just kills Jenna Wright. There's no criticism. And B, it's not even remotely funny. It's not humorous. So it doesn't count as satire. If that's their defence, then it doesn't work. But knowing what satire is is worth knowing.
88:48
You say that because... Times have changed, but for those who are listening through 2GB, and I've mentioned this a few times, 4BC has had a 95th birthday and all of our network stations have had various birthdays. But 2GB is getting up to 100. And you and I, I was actually working as a political reporter. You were on air. And Mike Carlton did a satirical bit involving Neville Rann. who'd actually commented because there were all these people saying, oh, Neville was on the phone or Neville this, Neville that.
89:19
So he said as a kind of a humorous thing, and I was there, he said, well, I might change my name to Marmaduke. And so Carlton did something, and I think my memory was something where, oh, Marmaduke's on the phone, and it was done in that very comedic style. Well, he sued him.
89:35
And the defence was that, well, this is satire. And it was obviously funny. And the jury was hung, which is essentially how he wasn't convicted, which meant the satire stood.
89:48
And that was the right decision. It was. Well, Mike Carlton, who we both worked with and both knew, was very clever and very funny. And he actually did real satire. He did stuff which was A, critical, and B, humorous. It was satire. What the ABC does these days falls a long way short of his standard.
90:08
Yeah, because he was doing the Friday News Review, The Whistles of Bob Hawke.
90:14
Well, you had George Fungus, and you had Ian Loosley from 60 Minutes, and you had Rex Messup, which was Rex Mossop, and all of these people were being satirised. Yes.
90:26
They loved it. They loved it.
90:28
Actually, I've got an idea Alan Jones did not like being satirised, but most of them did.
90:32
Well, that was a different story, and I think there was – More to it. I'm not sure that was satire necessarily. That's only a view that I've got. But anyway, I'm talking about the 80s as opposed to what happened probably about 15 years later.
90:46
I've got a different view on that. Now, so satire, interesting that one. We did have, you've got into this one, Up Himself.
90:55
Yes, because there's nothing actually that's going to be, that couldn't be broadcast on a family show. Up Himself is Aussie. We coined it here. It just means someone who thinks more highly of themselves than others do. And they keep letting you know it. They're up themselves. There's nothing vulgar about it. I mean, if there was some vulgar action being suggested, it wouldn't work as a label for someone who thought they were doing really well. So it is just a label for someone whose self-esteem is way, way up so that it's off the scale.
91:31
That is all it means. And don't worry about anything else because it's not there.
91:36
It is a wonderful expression. Yes. A wonderful expression. Up yourself. An Australian expression, I'm assuming. I'm hoping it is. If it's not, can you just use it? No, no, it's Australian. It's Australian. Please. Okay. And just before we go to the break, and we'll start getting the ones that we've got here from our listeners, and we'll go through that.
91:52
One that I'm not all that keen on, because I just noticed it, and I was wondering, silence is golden. Now, a lot of these things come quotes from the Bible, quotes from Dickens, quotes from Shakespeare. Where did silence is golden come from?
92:05
It's a proverb, and the thing with proverbs is we don't know who composed them. They simply grew out of the folk. This one started in German. It seems to have started in Switzerland, but it was a German proverb. And to the best of my knowledge, the first person to translate it into English was Thomas Carlyle, the great writer of the 1800s. And the full proverb says, speech is silver. but silence is golden. That's the full proverb.
92:33
Silence? Well, it's not for us, is it? Silence is not necessarily golden. No, in radio silence means dead airtime is what it means.
92:40
No good. All right, let's come back at 20 past 10. Kel Richards is here, 131873 or 0460 873873.
92:49
23 minutes past 10 is the time. Kel Richards is here. Wordsmith, broadcaster, author. Don't forget Ozwords. Ozwords.com.au is his website. Pushing the envelope. These are among the ones I think we've touched on before. He's pushing the envelope.
93:04
It comes out of flying. So the idea was that you had a set of specifications for the aircraft. If you tried to push the aircraft... Beyond its specifications, you were pushing the envelope. So the idea, the specifications are like the edges of an envelope. That's where the metaphor, the figurative language comes from. And if they told you it had a top speed of 650 kilometres an hour and you pushed it to 750, you're pushing the envelope. So, yeah. Yeah.
93:36
We talked about people being up themselves, variations of this.
93:40
You have tickets on yourself, which we know what it means.
93:43
Yes, that's actually English, not Australian, and goes back to the early 1800s. There's been a lot of speculation amongst the experts as to where it comes from.
93:53
One theory is it was born about the time of the Great Railway Boom in Britain, which is about the 1840s, and what you needed to travel on a train was tickets.
94:05
So if you are fully equipped with tickets, you had tickets on yourself. Now, that's the only theory I've come across that explains it. A lot of experts, if you ask them, will say, we've got no idea. But I quite like the right ticket idea.
94:17
I like that too. Pam's called in with one for you, which I think is a very interesting conversation coming up, I hope. Hello, Pam.
94:24
Hello, John. Kel, I get so upset when I hear the word conservative used these days, as if it's some... almost weird, extreme term, and I just feel it's being misused.
94:43
Yes, you'd have to look at the context to understand that. The word conservative actually means to preserve, to keep, and politically people who are conservatives are people who see themselves as being part of a sequence of generations. The people who came before us, the generations who came before us, many of them were wise. They've left us a lot of good stuff, which is wise. Our task is to preserve the best of what's been handed down to us and improve on it a bit if we can and hand it down to the next generation.
95:15
There's a sequence of generations. That's the conservative.
95:19
The other side of politics is progressive. They tend to see most of what we have as not nearly good enough or pretty bad. So consequently, you need to start again. And their focus is on totally reshaping the future. So it's either we're part of a chain of generations or we're going to start again and go in a new direction. So those are the two. They're the two key words, progressive and conservative.
95:42
Thanks, Pat. Just on that, it's a conversation in relation to that. Now, in Britain, of course, they have the Conservative Party.
95:50
We have the Liberal Party. And in the US, Liberals are seen as being on the left. And then they talk about, do they use the term Conservatives in the US?
96:00
But if you're talking about Conservative wanting to keep things as they are...
96:04
No, no, no, no, no. That's not what they're doing. The conservatives are seeing themselves as heirs to the generation that's come before, and they are trying to preserve the best of that, add to it, and pass it on to the next generation. So that's not trying to keep things as they are. That's not the goal of conservatives.
96:23
But what I'm saying, I guess, is for a lot of conservatives or people who might be seen as being on the right, this is where I can't – I just don't like all of this. It's just someone who says, I think this is, for instance, a tax system. I could sit here right now and work out a better tax system on the back of this piece of paper. which I'm sure would be better. But am I conservative? Because I want to change it. It's radical, but it would mean people would be paying less tax. We have a more efficient system.
96:52
That's change. And there's a lot of things that we do need to change at the moment. I guess we could have an argument about what we want to change and what we don't want to change.
97:00
Yep. And what you want to conserve may depend on where you are at the time. So if you've had a very progressive government in and they've brought in lots of different progressive eccentric laws, you know, saying a man can become a woman and all kinds of weird things, then when you come in, you don't want to conserve it. You want to fix it.
97:18
That's right.
97:18
And you want to say, we want to do something which makes more sense to us in terms of common sense. Maybe it should be a fixer. Actually...
97:25
Wasn't it Christopher Pyne, wasn't he, did a famous interview where he said, I'm a fixer. I'm a fixer. I think it was him. Remember that fixer interview? There was a whole lot of weird interviews at the time.
97:36
But he belonged to a group that called themselves the Black Hand. Yeah, you know what I mean. Fixer. They were really working behind the scenes in locker rooms to make decisions in unelected ways.
97:47
Let me then go a bit further on that, because the left is the left, so you think the left is socialism and Marxism, and the right is the right going to the other end of the spectrum. Why is right, right, and left, left? Okay.
98:01
In the days before the French Revolution, the French parliament, it wasn't called a parliament, it was called an assembly, I think, but the French assembly in their meeting hall divided themselves, chose to divide themselves.
98:16
Okay.
98:17
physically and stake out their own territory. And the people who wanted to get rid of the monarchy sat on the left of the Speaker and the Conservatives who wanted to keep the monarchy sat on the right of the Speaker. So that has been left and right ever since then.
98:32
Except, so I'm thinking about, I'm imagining whatever that parliament is or that chamber, if it's our parliament chamber, say, got the speaker up the front, so if you've got one group on the left and one group on the right, but if I'm sitting up in the gallery... No, no, no, no. Yeah, I don't know. You know what I'm saying. No, no, no.
98:48
No, the way it was coined was it was coined in the French Assembly and it was people who sat on the left hand of the speaker. So it's from the speaker's point of view or on the right hand of the speaker. So it was always from the, and he wasn't called a speaker, but he was whoever was chairing the French National Assembly at the time. So on the left hand side of that person were all the, you know, let's get rid of the aristocrats. And on the right hand side was, no, no, no, that's going too far.
99:19
All right. Interesting. 131873 is the number. Let's go. Is it Marie on the line with us now? Hello, Marie.
99:25
Oh, yes. Yes, it is.
99:26
Yeah. What can we do for you? What's your question?
99:29
I want to know about an ad that really worries me with the grammar. It's the Cadmus chocolate, and it says there's a glass and a half in everyone, that everyone is one word, which to me means people, but everyone...
99:46
Yes, what they're trying to say is there's a glass and a half in every block of their chocolate. In that case, they should break up every and one and make it clear that they're talking about every one block of chocolate, not about every person. Your point is well taken. You are correct. Their grammar is wrong.
100:03
So is this written or is it just said, the way they say it or the way they write it, Marie?
100:08
Oh, it's printed on the ad.
100:11
On the ad, okay. How did that get through? Because that is so wrong, isn't it?
100:15
Yeah, well, most people in advertising are too young to know grammar.
100:19
Come on. Well, Marie, I don't know how you fix that because they've probably printed a whole lot of wrappers. It might be a while before they change it. Anyway. Hey, thank you very much for that because that is wrong, but I'm surprised. Wouldn't somebody look at that and go, it's not right?
100:34
Maybe they intended it to be wrong to start conversations. You never know what goes on inside advertising agencies. Yeah.
100:40
Well, I think they've also got a conversation starter because how do you know there's a glass and a half of milk in every one of those blocks?
100:48
Well, they've been saying it for 60 years. They must have worked out a way to cover themselves for that, don't you reckon?
100:53
Yeah. I would have thought there would have been some narc decide to take a class action, wouldn't it?
100:57
I've just got this. Is it like the man who tried to count the 43 beans in a bottle of Nescafe?
101:03
They tried to do that, didn't they? 43 beans in every cup?
101:05
No, it's a comedy routine by Bob Newhart.
101:10
Oh, right, right. Because that was the thing for people, Nescafe, I don't know if they're still doing it, but the ad for Nescafe.
101:15
43 beans in every cup, yes.
101:16
And it was instant coffee, wasn't it? It was. So instant coffee, and in every cup of instant Nescafe, it said there's 43 coffee beans in the cup.
101:28
It's just ridiculous, isn't it? Yeah.
101:30
Well, it's advertising. Yes, of course it's ridiculous. Don't say advertising.
101:35
Advertising is 100% correct, Kel. Of course it is. Well, on this program it is. I trust everything I hear you say. Yeah. The difference when call and ring and called and rang. I've got that one there, so we might leave that.
101:50
Call and ring. I can't see what they're getting at. We talk about telephone calls, and you'd say, I called so-and-so.
102:00
Ring just happens to be the sound the machine makes when you make the call. Ah, right.
102:03
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I've rung someone as opposed to – you should be saying, I've called them as opposed to rung them. Right.
102:09
Yes.
102:11
Called is a better verb in that kind of case. Yes, right. Agree with that.
102:15
All right. If I go back, because it's the 100th anniversary coming up at 2GB, if I go back to some of the old tapes of the old Kel Richard show, might I find Kel Richard saying, ring now.
102:26
Instead of saying call now.
102:28
I think we were in the habit of saying call now.
102:31
Oh, I might find.
102:32
If I can find ring now, I'm going to wheel it out next week. So you're saying everyone who says, hey, ring now, 131873, it should be call now.
102:40
I still hear most people on radio say call now. Really? Because as you know, sitting in the chair you're in, the phone doesn't ring. A light flashes. That's a very good point.
102:50
27 minutes to 11 right now.
102:54
24 minutes to 11, getting a bit of correspondence about the blocks of chocolate. Oh, I see. Very good. In fact, I'm just looking here, and I hope he doesn't mind me saying this. This is Ian McRae, one of the legends of our industry, saying Cabriades used to say there's a glass and a half of full cream milk in every block.
103:14
Now they say there's just a glass and a half in every one. So maybe that's how they've smothered the whole thing, because he believes they're now using powdered milk. Oh.
103:24
Okay. That could be right. That's probably right.
103:26
That could well be right.
103:27
Yeah, so if you actually think about the way they're expressing it now, it's a little more...
103:35
But there's obviously got to be milk in some form in milk chocolate. That's what makes it milk chocolate. Yep. Yep.
103:40
I also saw today some conversation about a word that's one of those words, disingenuous, one of those lovely words. So disingenuous is a word you can apply to a lot of the political discourse now, isn't it?
103:51
Well, disingenuous means that you pretend you're really innocent about this and you don't know much about it, but in fact you're running your own agenda and you know what's going on. That is being disingenuous.
104:03
We see a lot of that, don't we?
104:05
Politics, I don't know whether we do see a lot of it in politics.
104:09
When people say, you know, I don't remember, it wasn't me, I wasn't involved, maybe they're being disingenuous, but a lot of the time politicians just deflect these days.
104:20
I remember years ago interviewing a politician about trade, and I raised the subject of China. And he said, look, I'm glad you asked me about China. It's nothing like India. What's happening in India is – and he went off in India for the next minute. They deflect. The prime minister is an expert at this. He just – sometimes just ignores the question. Just answer a different question. He talks about whatever he likes.
104:41
Yeah. And part of that – and look, I've said a few – And that's not disingenuous.
104:44
No, that's not. That's deflection.
104:46
No, that's right. Deflection is where they'll start answering a different question and they'll keep talking because then you think, well, I've got to – this is – so then you come over and say, look, I've just got to bring you back to this. And then you sound like you're interrupting them.
104:57
Yes.
104:58
And so they try and make you sound like you're the bad person because you're interrupting them, but they're not answering the question.
105:04
That's right. That's how the game is played. Yep.
105:05
Yep. 131873 is the number.
105:09
Look, I think we did, because people are still, when these issues come up, people often still want to get some answers on it. So this question about monoculture, can we just go through that again? Because there's a follow-up to that as well.
105:20
It's fairly straightforward. Monoculture began on the farm. It began as an agricultural term, recorded in that way from 1901, originally meant at a farm all the fields shared the same crop. Sometimes it would be a district, a group of farms, where all the farms shared the same crop. That was called a monoculture. And then it was applied to groups of people, not to whole nations, but to groups of people, in the early 1970s. In fact, the first groups of people it was applied to were gangs in Los Angeles.
105:53
And a monoculture just meant any group of people who had a shared culture.
105:58
So if you... I mean...
106:02
Pauline Hanson, for all her positives, is not good at explaining things sometimes. What she's talking about is everyone has their own culture, plus everyone has a shared culture. And people say silly things. Some idiot talked about, oh, well, that's North Korea, that's imposing culture from the top. No, it's not. It's what we share. The shared bit is our monoculture.
106:22
Yeah, that's right. Whereas in North Korea, you've got to toe the line or... You disappear. That's right. Now, just a follow-up to that, because there was some commentary here. One of your listeners talking about a hodgepodge of mixed cultures, so that's multiculturalism, but they were talking about a hodgepodge, which is one of those expressions.
106:40
The term hodgepodge goes back to the 1400s. It originally meant some sort of dish which had lots and lots of different ingredients in it. So it might be one of those, you know, whatever's on the kitchen bench goes in sort of stews or it might be bubble and squeak. But it's just everything in cooked together. And in fact, a very early form of the expression was hotch pot, which makes that quite clear.
107:03
And so from that idea, hotch pot is just a jumble of things, a mixture of things.
107:08
Rob sends me this one, talking about this term, sloppy joe, saying that when I was a child, my mother would say, put your sloppy joe on if you're going out in the cold. So the idea, it's a sloppy joe. We know what it is. It's a kind of a, well, it's not a woolen jumper. It'd be like a fleecy thing, a sloppy joe. I know what it would be.
107:29
Yeah, it's an American thing. It's a loose-fitting sweater, which is why it's called sloppy.
107:36
There is also, by the way, in America, a sloppy joe, which is a hamburger, in which the mincemeat has not been packed together into a patty. It's all loose and sloppy inside the hamburger, which sounds to me like it might be very messy to eat.
107:49
Yeah, very messy.
107:50
But anyway, it's an American expression coined in the early 1940s, so coined during the war. Who coined it or how or why? I don't know. I wish I knew.
108:01
These days we call them sweaters or jumpers. Yeah, but it's got to be really loose fitting to be called a sloppy joe.
108:09
At the risk of going into this, we go down these rabbit holes, cardigan and jumper, are they the same? Oh, no, not cardigans or cardigans.
108:17
Cardigan is button down the front. Button down the front. Yes.
108:21
Jumper is, I think we know it's a.
108:23
Yes.
108:24
And then you've got the V now. Anyway.
108:26
I don't know why it's called a jumper. I don't know that I've ever looked at that.
108:29
Is Cardigan named after... Is there a person named Cardigan?
108:32
There was certainly a Lord Cardigan and he may well have... He may well have worn things like that.
108:40
Cardigans might be coming back. I think they might be. Anyway... Yeah. Sloppy Joe's like a sweatshirt. That's what people are saying here as well. So let's take a break because there's a couple of others we want to get through as well. And I've got a couple to throw your way. We're working through some of the homework and some of the messages we've had from listeners during the week, plus that which is coming through here tonight on this Thursday night with Mr. Kel Richards talking words at 17 to 11.
109:06
14 minutes to 11 here on this Thursday night. I'll do tomorrow's headlines for you in about 20, 25 minutes from now. But if you were listening to the program the night of and then the night after the federal budget, we had Terry Barnes on the program. He's our news hour guest tonight. Terry was the person who actually devised... The seniors supplement where the private health insurance subsidy goes up from 65 over. So once you turn 65, the underwriting of your private health insurance goes up.
109:42
The subsidy you get goes up from 30% and it goes up in stages the older you get. And we talked to Terry about it and the rationale for it, which was pretty simple, that if the government provides assistance for people to keep their private health cover, they are then more likely to patronise the private health system. And if they find it's too hard, they drop their private health cover and they start going to the public health system. And logically...
110:08
more taxpayers' dollars are going to be needed to service those people once they drop their private health cover. We did make the point at the time, of course, that means the federal government has to provide, well, provides less of a subsidy if they drop their private health cover, but it's the state governments that have to pay for their treatment in public hospitals. And Terry was making the point, and he did some numbers, that the cost of the taxpayer by doing this was going to balloon.
110:36
Now, I notice some work's been done on this, and it's on the front page of one of the papers. It's been a bit of a slow burn, this, but many of you are very upset about it. So this is one that has got a slow burn, and I think it suddenly leapt up and bitten them on the proverbial.
110:52
This was in the budget, but there was so much bad news in the budget that people did not digest all the bits of bad news. There's also been very bad news for ex-servicemen and that kind of thing, limitations on what they can get. So there's a whole lot of bad news in that budget, and this is one bit that is finally starting to emerge and get a profile.
111:12
I think we said on the night, because I got Terry on, because he was the one, he talked about how they worked it out. And what the rationale for it was, I think we were saying at the time, the problem here is there's so much other stuff here, this one might be ignored. But it may have come up out of the ether. I'll tell you more about it after the news at 11 o'clock. A lot of people sending me notes about the categories. About the chocolate. Oh, dear.
111:38
Everyone loves chocolate. You can't get away from it. They do. Look, a few others, maybe a very relevant one, and I guess it makes some sense. We hear it a lot, make ends meet, people having a lot of trouble making ends meet.
111:48
It comes from bookkeeping, double-entry bookkeeping. So it's recorded from the 1700s, and I thought, could that really be from double? Because the idea is you've got two columns, and you need the end of each column written. that is the bottom line of each column, to match each other. When expenditure and income match each other, the ends meet. So that's where it comes from. Terrific. And I thought, 1700s, did they have double-entry bookkeeping then? So I did a bit of research. Double-entry bookkeeping was invented in the 1400s, so it's actually very old.
112:23
So there were accountants and bookkeepers in the 1400s?
112:25
Yes, there were banks in those days. Really? Yeah. Extraordinary.
112:29
Now, just in the vein of people who are up themselves and tosses and all of that, lovely expression, stuffed shirt.
112:37
Look at that stuffed shirt there. So the origin of it, because it's another example of someone that's a bit, you know, well...
112:46
Well, clothing has been used to indicate how important you are for a long time. People will dress in order to show what they want to be thought of. So you establish your social rank by the way you dress. And that's been going on for many, many years. So probably less these days than I would think in the past. Anyway, someone who tried to establish their social status by wearing starched shirts in an overly formal or elaborate way was called a stuffed shirt. shirt. The expression's recorded from 1913.
113:18
An American expression, but we can sort of understand it. We can make sense. When I was young, my father still wore shirts that had detachable collars.
113:29
So the idea was the collar, you know, you could change your collar and wear the same shirt again.
113:35
It's not a bad idea. Well, actually, not necessarily such a good idea.
113:39
Well, unless you lose the collar studs, which was easy to do. Exactly.
113:42
Exactly. Now, this is correspondence about this. Cadbury 200-gram block years ago said there's a glass and a half of full cream milk in every 200-gram block, and they changed the block from 200 to 180. It still said there was a glass and a half of full cream milk in every 200-gram block, but I noticed the last year or so they changed it to the equivalent of a glass and a half of full cream milk in every block. Oh, right.
114:07
Has come in. Whatever that means. Can you imagine how many lawyers were involved in going through that?
114:15
Someone comes up with a form of words and they turn to the staff and say, has this been legaled? Has this gone through the legal team? You can only imagine.
114:23
A couple of others. Best thing since sliced bread. Well, when did sliced bread come in?
114:28
Yeah, this is...
114:30
This is really interesting.
114:33
Slice bread was invented in America in 1922. There was a company in Missouri. There was a machine which had just been invented that would automatically cut bread into slices. So in the very early 1920s, they started selling sliced bread.
114:49
And it caught on enormously, swept across America. The bloke who invented the machine sold lots of the machines. And it was seen as the biggest labor-saving improvement for households in 100 years. So the expression, the best thing since sliced bread, was coined and was around from the 1930s. So within 10 years of sliced bread having turned up, this expression has turned up. This is just so good. You know, it's the best thing since sliced bread.
115:18
Yes, and what's interesting about all of that, and I'd like to dig into it a bit more, because when you look it up, it certainly happened that in the early part of the 1940s, after America joined the war, for a brief time, someone...
115:33
I think it may have been in New York, banned sliced bread on the basis that the machines took up a lot of metal and it had to be wrapped in wax paper to hold it together. And so this was a wartime measure to make sure all these things were going to the war effort as opposed... And I've read this every time, and it's not one of those Kel Richards ones where you're going to say, no, no, it's a myth. But what was the basis of that? Who came up with that idea?
115:57
I've never heard about that. I didn't even know that it happened. It did happen. Just briefly. I do know that by the 1930s, 80% of the bread sold in America was sliced bread. So that meant it had basically taken over the entire market. People wanted nothing but sliced bread because it was so good. And Clive Robertson, of course, used to say, the big question, Kel, is what was the best thing before sliced bread?
116:21
Very good point. Which is clever. Very good point, yeah. One of our list is saying, I thought Cadbury's changed it to equivalent because they now use powdered milk, not the full proper cream milk. A few people have said that. And there is, sometimes someone just comes in...
116:36
With an obvious point.
116:38
It's a glass and a half. Well, glass can be any size. Yes. What's the glass size?
116:43
There's no standard size for a glass. Very good observation. I'm glad you thought of that. We should have thought of that.
116:49
It was one of our listeners. And the conversation about the Prime Minister and the big mansion at Point Piper and the fundraising deal, there was a reference a couple of times to the term shindig.
117:01
Yes. So...
117:04
An American expression born at country dances in the late 1800s. And a shindig, and a dance was called a shindig because what do you do? You move your shins, your legs. And what are they doing? Well, they're going up and down. They're digging into the air and digging into the floorboards. So if you're dancing in a country dance in America in the late 1800s, it's a shindig. Yeah.
117:29
And that would be – because often people talk about a knees up. Same idea. That's a British expression, isn't it?
117:33
And then shindig just became a very broader expression to mean any sort of big do. Yeah.
117:39
And with the sport, because it's a fundamental part certainly of football stroke soccer, rugby league, you're offside or you're onside. In soccer it's huge, but why is onside and offside – why is one one and one's the other? Yeah.
117:54
Okay. The expression offside goes back to the very early 1800s, and it was coined in the code of rugby football at rugby school, where that code was invented. And if you look at the earliest references to it, it's a three-word expression. It's off your side. In other words, what it's saying is you're out of your place. If a...
118:18
One of the team members is meant to be in that place. That's his job, and he's off his place. He was off your side. Right, okay. And in Tom Brown's School Days, which is a novel set at rugby school, that full expression, off your side, is found. It was shortened into offside, and the rules for offside are different for every single sport. Fascinating.
118:39
We've only got 60 seconds left, but I just see, I'm just looking up at the news channels that are up there, and one word we're seeing a lot more of lately is strike, the unions and a strike. So when you withdraw your labour, why is it called a strike?
118:54
It's the idea that you are hitting a blow, you are striking a blow against employers who will not negotiate with you. So that's why it was called a strike. Any blow that you hit is a strike. And so we are striking a blow against the people who will not agree to double our wages or whatever.
119:11
And being on strike. Look, I've got 40 seconds left.
119:15
When 2GB had its 100th birthday, or 60th birthday actually, Kel Richards produced a live radio comedy film performance, play, involving. I mean, the people that are involved in all of this, I'm looking here, we're talking here, you, Jim Pike, Willie Fennell, Smokey Dawson, Gaynor Mitchell. We might talk more about it next week, but we could play a couple of these, couldn't we, on the eve of the 100th anniversary? You're very welcome to. You can tell us all about it. Yep, certainly. Fantastic, Kel. Thank you so much. Your website, oswords.com.au.
119:46
Yep, indeed. And we're going to do this again next week. Please come in. We will. Thank you for that. Three and a half to 11.
119:53
We have the news coming up at 11 o'clock. We'll have tomorrow's headlines. Dr Ross with his weekly consult. If you've been swearing by your body mass index, your BMI, you want to listen to him. He's coming up soon, but the news is next.
120:21
Now it's back to John Stanley, right across Australia.
120:46
Good evening, everyone. Welcome along. It is eight minutes past 11. Thanks for all the feedback we've had on the show tonight. Feedback for the duck from the middle of nowhere. He spoke with us tonight. All of these hours are up as podcasts. You can get them. Our word clinic with Kel Richards as well. And...
121:03
I've got to say, we've got a lot coming up in this hour. Tomorrow's headlines coming up very, very shortly. Also, Dr Ross will look at what's happening in the world of cruising and travel. We'll go to the UK as well. So we've got a lot to get through in this hour. So let's kick it off right now.
121:31
Now, front page is tomorrow. Front page of the Brisbane Courier-Mail. Their headline says, What a cop-out.
121:37
Inquiry asked police to explain why they gave Millard Union a free pass. I mentioned earlier in the night that I reckon twice a week there's a story about the CFMEU on the front page of the Courier-Mail. There are issues all over the country. So while there's a Royal Commission now... Going to be held in Victoria. It'll be started by the existing government, continued by what we expect will be a new government. But I would think it would be looking at a lot more than just the antics in Victoria. So this one says, Police have been asked by the CFMEU inquiry to explain why they repeatedly chose not to intervene.
122:11
in a series of aggressive union protests at the Centenary Bridge construction site. So this is an inquiry in Queensland that's already under way under the CFME. It's why I think what's happening in Victoria may start to spread right across the country. The Commissioner Stuart Wood questioned why there appeared to be, quote, some failure of will to enforce the law, unquote, during the incidents back in 2024.
122:32
Video evidence, including police body-worn footage and recordings by workers show CFMEU officials entering the 335 million centenary bridge site without signing in, blocking truck access and protesting at the entrance. And remember, of course, six years from now, the Olympic Games... And so with, I think, pretty well universal agreement that the cost of construction in this country is higher because of the involvement of this union in particular.
123:04
It's one to watch that story. They've got Queensland's struggling child safety system.
123:10
The underfire minister, Amanda Cam, has pledged it's turned the corner.
123:14
But a vow came as data revealed the number of children under five in residential care had increased. And across the front of the Courier Mail, they've got a lovely picture of the young man, Kai Taylor, who won the gold medal in the 200. He was in lane one, the outside lane. I'm pretty sure Duncan Armstrong did this at the Olympics. So you're in the, you've basically snuck into the race. You're in lane one and he's led all the way and won, but he's the son of Hayley Lewis.
123:44
And there's a beautiful photo on the front page of the Courier Mail of Hayley Lewis embracing her son. Just have a quick listen. This is how Channel 7 caught the finish.
123:52
Kai Taylor, this is phenomenal. He's won this event. Kai Taylor out of lane one. A staggering performance from this young Aussie.
124:04
Wow. Dean Boxall. Wow.
124:07
Charges down the stairs in celebration. He has seen something very special from one of his young chargers.
124:15
Yeah, there's a long history of this. It was Duncan Armstrong, I think, in 1988. And then Kieran Perkins famously did it in the outside lane when he won his second gold medal at the Olympics. So there's a history of this. And I know in sport, there was a short-lived sports radio station and we were doing some work and we went up to Brisbane. And Hayley Lewis was doing some work with us, and we actually went to her. She's got a little shop, a little gift shop called Coming Up Roses in Balmoral.
124:45
I was just having a look here and reminding myself, because we went there, and she was lovely with our son and my wife. The stuff, it's a beautiful shop as well. And she's a really down-to-earth person, Hayley Lewis.
124:58
So it's lovely to see that joy on her face. And the headline simply says, that's my boy. So well done to him and to her as well. Now, the Telegraph in Sydney, they've got this story. This is the NDIS.
125:11
The stories just keep coming. The headline says Ultimate Betrayal. A former NDIS poster boy has been jailed for scamming the system he helped champion, exposing just how easy it is to rip off. 15 years ago, he was celebrated as a disability advocate, but in 2020, while working as an NDIS planner, he falsely amended the plans in a scheme... which then siphoned off thousands. I think we all know there's a lot going on with that NDIS with so much money. This is one example of it.
125:37
He's now been jailed over this $700,000 fraud on the front page of the Telegraph. And they've also got this one. which again is this conundrum about the immigration rate, the unemployment figures, and the fact that people still can't find people to do a lot of work. Headline says, And they've also, in the Telegraph, Across the front page says teenage boy and his parents perish in horror, Sydney house fire.
126:08
That news came through on our program very late last night, and they're still investigating the cause of that fire. It's a terrible, terrible tragedy, but you would hope if anything comes of it that everyone goes and just checks their smoke alarms. Heeds the warnings about charging lithium battery bikes and the rest, all of the things that we know can cause fires while it's still cold, but that's a salient warning that it can end in horrific situations that occurred yesterday.
126:39
The Melbourne Age newspaper, they're featuring, because this is this ongoing change in the government of Victoria, whether they're going to be canning this massive, massive rail project, which is kind of beginning...
126:54
But it's going to cost, well, Terry Barnes is suggesting earlier, it could cost not just tens of billions, but maybe hundreds of billions.
127:01
A couple of the loyal ministers who were serving, Jacinta Allen and Daniel Andrews, they've quit and they're going to leave Parliament. So the new Premier is trying to present an image of a completely new government. We'll see how that goes down. And then we've got the Australian newspaper. Now, this is one that I mentioned earlier with Kel Richards.
127:22
It says PM's big seniors moment. It says Anthony Albanese is facing a fierce rebellion from state governments over his plan to abolish higher private health insurance rebates for over 65s. As new polling shows nearly 40% of seniors in outer suburban and regional electorates are more likely to drop their cover under federal Labor's policy.
127:41
Now, the situation is that private health cover is a 30% subsidy. It's underwritten by the taxpayer of your private health cover. But that subsidy goes up...
127:51
as you get over 65.
127:54
And it was devised, in fact, under the Howard government, and Terry Barnes, who's our regular guest, he put it together. And the idea was that it would make sure that people, once they get over 65...
128:10
If it becomes tough to pay their private health insurance, they've given a little bit of help. The subsidy goes up to make sure that they keep the private health cover. And the numbers are pretty easy and you don't need to be a genius because whatever it costs to subsidise private health cover to keep them in the private system, If they can't afford the private health cover and drop it, they go to the public system and the taxpayer is going to be paying more. But the taxpayer, in the case of people going to the public hospital, it's a state government as opposed to the federal government.
128:40
It's all the same taxpayers. And so it is this cost-shifting thing. It will cost more by doing this.
128:48
And it says the health ministers of Queensland and Tasmania. as well as New South Wales, have told the Australian deeply concerning decision will put further pressure on the Australian public hospital systems.
128:59
in an escalation of national cabinet tensions. Private Healthcare Australia has said that nearly 60% of Labor voters believes pensioners should be exempt and showed the intergenerational equity justification had fallen flat among younger voters. Because the argument was, well, these people are over 65, they've had a pretty good run, we're going to try and take the money that's going to the subsidy, we're going to put it into aged care, and ultimately...
129:24
The younger people see the older people, the boomers, as having had a pretty good run and they're not really going to come to their defence on this one. A document obtained by the Australian shows the Federal Health Department predicted cutting the rebate for over 65s would have had detrimental impact on low-income pensioners and revealed there had been no consultation before the announcement.
129:43
So there's evidence now that a lot of the people who would have kept their private health cover are dropping their private health cover. They're going to the public system and the cost of the taxpayer is significantly more than it would have been by maintaining that extra subsidy for private health cover. We said that the day after the budget when we had Terry Barnes on the program. Let's see what happens here because that's down on the front page of the paper. It's going to become an issue. It hasn't been because there's been so much Other fallout from the budget.
130:14
Let's see what happens there. They've also got this one here.
130:29
In the Northern Territory, you've heard that one all day. And also, this is this question of the new Premier of Victoria. He's been urged to use more than $20 billion in savings from cancelling or overhauling this controversial suburban rail loop to use that money to reduce the state's ballooning debt.
130:49
And that's come from economists as he prepares to unveil a cabinet reshuffle and do some of the things that the opposition has said it would do to try and undercut them and perhaps keep Labor, if not in the game, keep Labor in a situation where they won't lose as many seats. So there's that one there. And then the front page of the Financial Review, again, this ongoing story of housing.
131:11
NAB warns of housing headwinds. Labor's tax changes have collided with higher interest, rising interest rates and broader economic worries caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
131:21
to slash the number of mortgage applications.
131:23
As the bank reveals the demand for new loans has dropped 15% in just the space of three months. The figures came as the Reserve Bank Chief Economist said, although the housing market was weakening, factors beyond the central bank's decision to increase interest rates three times since the start of the year had contributed to the downturn. So there's that one there. And there's also this important story I brought to you earlier in the program, Thank you.
131:55
on how much money will be contributed to keep the Rio Tito-controlled Tomago aluminium smelter open beyond 2028 by using the taxpayer subsidised power brought from Snowy Hydro. Now, Snowy Hydro is operational, of course.
132:09
You've got Snowy 2.0 being built. When that'll finish, we don't know. So they're saying they need to get this thing to continue beyond 2028. Tomago employs about 1,000 people. And interestingly, the Tomago aluminium smelter for 12% of New South Wales power demand.
132:27
And so it has to be powered.
132:29
Now, they have pledged to keep it operating beyond its current financial crunch point. That'll be 2028. And so the suggestion in this story is that the government is prepared to negotiate a deal where there'd be a taxpayer subsidy of $300 million a year to provide that snowy power from the snowy hydro to keep the Tomago smelter going beyond 2028. And the politics is pretty easy. This is an area, the Hunter Valley, where the Labor Party is most vulnerable to one nation. These are jobs that would be jeopardised, and so that's what they're doing in relation to that, and that's why that move is being reported.
133:05
And that's some of the things people will be talking about over the next 24 hours or so. It's 20 past 11 right now.
133:14
23 minutes past 11 is the time. Let's go to Ben Downey, Channel 7's European correspondent, because there have been more pronouncements from the new Prime Minister, which in the sense of AUKUS, if you're a supporter of it, this, Ben, would seem to be good news.
133:28
Yeah, John, it is. It's the first sort of real big announcement we've seen from Andy Burnham in this first fortnight of here. A lot of this stuff's been small beer. This is big, eight and a half billion, effectively, pounds. It's about 17 million Australian dollars in the back of the notepad calculation about putting into the latest sort of stage of investing in these new dreadnought submarines and also maintaining the current vanguard class submarine submarines for now a lot of them are actually sitting on the docks they desperately need this money this is a new money burnham's found out the back of the couch it is part of a new stage development but it is showing that he is very much focused on defense as a key part of his of his premiership really he's got the former defense minister as his chancellor and he's trying to lead this just like every single other one of his announcements, with jobs.
134:17
He's basically front-running it as a jobs program that doubles as a nuclear deterrent, effectively, saying that it's going to support 40,000 British jobs, and it's going to be in areas that are really in the poorest parts of Britain, really, like Barrow and Furness, which is up north near Scotland, where a lot of the submarine manufacturing goes on. These are these kind of neglected regions around the UK that Burnham has promised to revitalise, saying he's only going to be hiring British workers, not just preferring them, but only hiring British workers, only training them up, only using British manufacturers and parts and labour.
134:52
So a big announcement. This is what a lot of people were hoping to see at some stage. And like you say, John, for the Aussies at home that might have been so wary about we moved away from Keir Starmer, who was such a big AUKUS ally. What are we going to get with the new guy? Well, he's just a big supporter.
135:07
Yeah, very interesting, isn't it? So he's still setting himself in a number of different areas. Not necessarily predictable. He's kind of, I guess, each issue is a little bit different. But this one's really important for us. So this is the last time we'll speak this week. So is it cooled down now there?
135:29
I'm standing in front of a pedestal fan, John, so if it's picking up on my microphone, I apologise to the listeners. No. It will cool down tomorrow. It's a bit miserable right now. 32 degrees today, 35 yesterday, so small mercies. But with that, I mean, there's still some fires raging around the UK because of all this stuff. Basically more than half... The entire United Kingdom is in drought right now, and it's looking pretty bleak. But, look, we should hopefully see an end to this heat wave, the fourth one this year, by the weekend.
136:04
Let's hope so. Thanks for your reports. We've seen them, of course, on Sunrise and on Channel 7, and we'll see those tomorrow, and hopefully we can talk again next week. Ben, thank you so much for that.
136:14
Ben Downey there, Channel 7's European correspondent. We were talking earlier about the Commonwealth Games and Kai Taylor, who's Hayley Lewis' son, who came from the outside lane as an absolute rank outsider to win that 200 metres. And I was mentioning there's Kieran Perkins. In fact, one of our listeners reminds me, Bev Whitfield. This goes back a fair way. Beverly Whitfield from Wollongong. She won Olympic gold from lane eight in the 200 metre breaststroke in 1972 at the Munich Olympics. That was when Shane Gould's heroics happened and Beverley's heroics were kind of almost overshadowed.
136:46
Well, had to be because of what Shane Gould did. And we worked with Bev Whitfield in covering a Commonwealth Games. Ray and myself and many of us who were part of the sport did that back in 1990.
136:58
And Beth Wilfield was part of our coverage. And I did mention Duncan Armstrong. He was in lane six when he won the 200 metres at the Olympics. And my memory now, he was in the outside lane in the 400. And he was right over the end. And he steamed home.
137:15
The others couldn't see him coming home. He nearly got the gold. He got silver, Duncan Armstrong. He was a great Australian swimmer. at a time when we were really struggling to get anyone on the dais. 27 minutes past 11. Now, with interest rates, the cost of living going up, it's more important than ever to compare loans. The place to do that is therate.com.au. The rate is a smart, simple way to get personalised loan offers. You get it in just a few clicks. Whether it's a home loan, a car loan, or a personal loan, you can get it all sorted now.
137:46
The rate matches your financial profile to the best rates from trusted lenders. to help you make a smarter choice. With The Rate, there are no ads, no teaser rates, just get what you get, the right rate. So get the rate that's right for you. Compare at therate.com.au applications subject to lender credit criteria and approval and terms and conditions. You can find them at therate.com.au.
138:10
Yes, I had a couple of notes from people listening to us through Lithgow. We are checking to see what's going on with our news bulletins, if there's an issue. We are working on that. In the meantime, our weekly consult with our friend yours and our doctor, Dr Ross Walker, ahead of his show, coming up this weekend. Doc, good evening. Hi, good evening, John. Lovely to talk to you, mate. Now, a lot of people are swearing by BMI, Body Mass Index. They do the calculations. They've probably got machines that do it. And you are.
138:36
Get ready if you're one of those people. He's about to pull the rug right out from under you. Off you go.
138:42
Well, look, BMO, or body mass index, is basically your weight divided by your height, metre squared. And the point about that is a first-grade footballer, except for the St George players, but a first-grade footballer's body mass index would be the same as a fat middle-aged man because of the musculature.
139:01
And so the muscles weigh so much more than fat. So you don't get a great indication of BMI for groups of people. It's not a bad indication across the board, but much better than that is a very simple waist to height measurement. So you basically, you measure your waist around your belly button, you measure your height, and it should be less than 0.5, and that tells you that your overall weight is doing well. And there's an even more sophisticated thing called relative fat mass which is a much more nuanced equation but that's probably even better than waist to height so I think we're phasing out BMI and bringing in these better measurements which are easier and much more accurate in terms of how much body fat you're carrying.
139:47
Okay now we've talked a lot about Alzheimer's and we've got it's a huge huge issue and progress is being made in a number of different areas so what are we talking about this week?
139:57
Well, just out today, they're talking about a new blood test, which I've been talking on the show about for a couple of years, called P-tau-217, because these tau proteins build up in the brain along with these amyloid proteins, and that's basically the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. A couple of new drugs have been released called lacanumab and donanumab. And these are quite good at slowing down Alzheimer's, but 40% of people get little brain bleeds and swelling of the brain. A new drug's about to be released on the market called Trontinimab that basically doesn't do that anywhere near as much cause the brain swelling and the brain bleeds.
140:37
So instead of a 40% incidence, it's a 5% incidence of that. And also there's a new drug that's not available in Australia yet called Obisetrapib. I'm sorry about the stupid names for all these things.
140:49
This was actually used to raise the good cholesterol, but they found when they gave it to people at risk for Alzheimer's disease that it markedly reduced the reduction of this P tau 217, the marker for Alzheimer's disease. So there's quite a few things in the pipeline, not here right now, but not too far away, where I think we're going to see real strides in the management of Alzheimer's.
141:13
Yeah, and I did see a story, and I know you've talked about this, where there can be tests done to show that the things that eventually lead to Alzheimer's are starting and they can find it even 20 years ahead of time. I think that you've talked about this before. They're starting to do that. And I did raise this last night when I saw it. But you've talked about what you then need to do over that next 20 years to give yourself the best chance.
141:41
Well, people don't realise that the risk for Alzheimer's disease, the risk factors are the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease because Alzheimer's disease is basically just a washdown effect from the bigger blood vessels that are starting to get blockages. So you really need to look after your body, practice those five keys that you and I have spoken about for 15, 20 years that we've been talking on the radio. So it's those five keys, no addictions, good sleep, good eating and less of it, three to five hours every week of moderate exertion, which Tragically, only 25% of adults do, and most importantly, happiness.
142:13
They're major things that's stopping you progressing towards Alzheimer's disease.
142:18
That's such an important message. Professor Brodati, of course, puts that message out. We've now seen the international health organisations talking about it, because I think people tend... the younger you get you're thinking you know what i can probably drink a bit more not exercise as much i can need a lot of this crap and i'll be able to then exercise my way back to health because i'm still quite young but this says that if you do all those things you could be setting yourself up for something that's irreversible no doubt no doubt got something to give us a laugh
142:48
Well, John, I just want to tell you this. I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.
142:57
And also, people don't realise this, but autocorrect has been around for centuries. I got mine when I married my wife. Okay.
143:05
Okay, there's more coming. This is another interesting one. We're talking about melanoma, which is again something that we've got to keep stressing because you get new generations coming through posting images of themselves heavily tanned. So what's the latest there?
143:18
Well, as you know, John, I say all the time, it's your genes that loads the gun, but it's your environment that pulls the trigger. And a lot of factors that contribute to melanoma, we all know it's being out in the sun, but there's a strong genetic component as well. And many melanomas are driven by a thing called a BFAF mutation. And this is where the immunotherapy works. You will remember Jimmy Carter, the American president from many years ago. He had cerebral melanoma and was given this thing called Keytruda. And it actually just melted away his melanoma.
143:50
But a quarter of melanomas... It's a different mutation called a RAS mutation. And they've now found that there's a new drug called Daraxasona, is a silly name again.
144:02
But now in phase three trials for things like pancreatic cancer, it doubles the survival. And now they're finding that this particular new drug shrinks these RAS mutation driven melanomas in preclinical trials. So it may be that we now have two different groups of drugs to treat all forms of this genetic melanoma.
144:21
A Thursday night consult with Dr. Ross Walker. Now, I do watch a lot of television, so I'm not sure I want to hear this.
144:27
What is it? You probably don't. And what really annoys me is when my show's on between 7 to 9 on a Sunday night, they always show these ridiculous shows like The Block and Survivor and things like that. And people should not be watching this stuff, John. No. They should be listening to you and they should be listening to me. And this is a study of 1,700 adults.
144:47
Average age 53, it was a two-decade follow-up, so a very long trial, and they did brain MRIs on them at the end of the trial. And there's a big difference between sitting down and working, looking at the computer, whatever you do in your office, as opposed to heavy television watches. And the people who were very strong watchers of television had much smaller volumes in the brain regions associated with Alzheimer's disease and also more white matter changes as well. And so what they're saying is that it's really the watching of television.
145:18
And I say all the time, as soon as you put anyone in front of a flat screen where they don't have to think, you really dumb them down. And this study is actually confirming that. So everyone should be listening to the wonderful John Stanley Show and the Healthy Living Show on a Sunday night.
145:33
And you can just put the, if you're insisting on keeping an eye on things, you can have the closed captions on and you can see bubbles and, you know, Bobo that are being matched up on Married at First Sight or something. You can just keep an eye on that while you're listening to the show. Yeah, absolutely. Now, this is one that obviously a lot of us are interested in, healthy ageing. It is a huge issue trying to stay as healthy as you can as you get older. There's some work on this suggests it starts very early.
146:00
Oh, yeah. And I've been speaking for a long time about health being pre-cradle to the grave. And there's just all of this incredible evidence coming out now showing that even the way you are, even the health of the people, the mother and father, at the time of conception, not even when the baby is conceived, but even, say, three to four months before that, If you're very healthy, you've got good weight, you exercise regularly, you're not stressed out of your brain, you're not using a whole lot of banned and legal substances that are not good for you, that can impact incredibly on your children and even your grandchildren.
146:38
So I'll be going through a lot of this on Sunday night, talking about the factors that we need to think about when we think about conceiving. And the problem is probably half, I don't know what the figures are, but half the people who get pregnant are aren't even thinking about getting pregnant it may be an accident and they're not looking after themselves at the time and that can have a profound effect not just on the first generation but generations to come all right let's go with a couple more okay john well i want to ask you a question what do you see when you drop a piano down a mine shaft a flat minor no And also, this one is probably more just a statement of fact than a joke.
147:17
But politicians and nappies have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly for the same reason.
147:25
That is a very good one. And that's one I'm sure people will be writing down and using over the weekend. You'll be on air on Sunday night. People can have their TVs on with the sound down. And we will talk again next week. Thank you. Good on you, mate. Lovely to talk to you. Yeah, there he is, Dr Ross Walker, with his weekly consult at 19 to 12 now.
147:43
Yes, there have been some heavy strikes by the US against Iran. We'll give you some details of that shortly, but right now it's 16 to 12.
147:53
And now, cruising and travel with Richard Davey. Richard Davey is our cruising and travel expert. We talk with him each week. Richard, good evening. Good evening, John. Now let's kick off with the ship spotting Sydney and Brisbane. What's the story?
148:08
in brisbane there's only four cruises out of brisbane for the month of august um the first is on saturday and the first available the first one you can get on is the 15th of august and that's for four nights up to early beach and back um in september this is where you know crown princess comes back and the resident ships that will spend time in brisbane over the summer they're starting to filter back so the bleak winter is almost over we can see spring from here In Sydney, Adventure sailed yesterday for the port of Numia in New Caledonia, and she will be there on Saturday.
148:43
And then back at home, Splendour is sailing tomorrow on the last cruise of the month. She's back on Monday, and the next available cruise out of Sydney, the next cruise out of Sydney, as Jimmy Barnes might sing, is on the 17th of August, and that's up to Moreton Island and back. To Moreton Island, too.
149:00
We did talk earlier with the duck about Lake Eyre being just about full. Across in Europe, we know there's a lot of drama. There's the wildfires through France and Spain in particular. It's very dry there. And the rivers, of course, river cruising is fantastic. So they're very dry, the rivers. Is it actually affecting the height of the river?
149:21
Yes, starting to become a bit of a worry. You know, the temperatures that we're used to seeing on the Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal and Italy and Athens, you know, in Greece this time of year, we're starting to see this in Austria. It's extraordinary. Beautiful place, but not used to seeing it that hot. The river varies in its depth. Most of these river ships are only drawing about 1.5 to 1.7 metres, so about four or five feet. That's not much, but in some places... This can make transit a little difficult.
149:52
So things are working quite well at the moment, but it bears watching. And I think it looks like the rain will arrive just in time. But there have been issues on the Mosul.
150:02
So, you know, it's all over Europe. And I had a look at a map the other day.
150:07
of world rainfall, and the only place it seems to be raining much at the moment is over the oceans. All right.
150:13
There was a bit of rain in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games, but the northern part of the UK. Now, the nonstop Qantas flights, I saw a big story in the New York Times. It's getting a lot of coverage internationally. Late next year, they say these things will start. You're saying there's still an alternative, are you?
150:31
Look, I've seen these transit times between Australia and Europe really come down. And look, I know we can't do it at the moment or we've got to think twice about it. But if you go into Dubai and you're changing planes, which you will, to fly on to wherever you're going in Europe... The speed at which they can get your baggage to your next plane, the connections that you can get, make it so quick. You can get there in 21 hours from here. And what happens is there's usually a prevailing wind.
151:03
We all know about Australia's jet stream. I didn't want to use that word because of the book launch. But, you know, that time I was on the air and I was going to Perth, it took five hours to... You know, I've come back from Perth in three hours. So the winds can make an enormous difference. And so that's why, you know, you come from Europe back to Australia and it's so, so quick. The interesting thing about this Qantas flight was that when they went back... to Toulouse out of Melbourne they went back across the Pacific and across North America now that was extraordinary to me yes I know that they want to go with the wind but it was so much further in distance that it needs to be I think what they were doing on the way back was testing the scenario for Australia to New York because it didn't take as quick as it can.
151:50
It was more than 24 hours in the air, and that's too long. They reckon that if you're flying from Australia to London or even Perth to Heathrow on that existing Qantas service, by about hour 15 or 16, the cabin's starting to get a little on the nose.
152:06
Really? Okay. I know you don't like the idea and you think maybe with short transit times, not much of a difference. I actually think you get on the plane and you land at the other end instead of having to do the whole get off and get on and transit. So we'll see when it starts. We'll see. We'll be able to test it.
152:23
Yeah, it does make it very easy. One thing is I'm a bit of a traditionalist. And for me, the great tradition of Australian travel, and we are a great nation of travellers, you just can't keep us down, as we've seen, was always to stop off in a place like Hong Kong or Singapore on the way to Europe to hop. And that's a tradition I'd like to see upheld. And yeah, we'll be able to do that. Well, everyone will have choice. Have choice, that's good. Exactly.
152:46
A couple of very quick ones here. Mauritius, get a bit of a makeover, has it, Mauritius?
152:52
Yeah, look, just like places like the Maldives and all these different Indian Ocean islands, you know, development comes along and renewal. And there's some great new hotels and resorts there and services out of Perth at least weekly. So it makes it easy to get there nonstop. Certainly come on since I saw 20 years ago. And there's something for everybody. It doesn't have to be a thousand dollars a night. You can do it for a couple of hundred as well.
153:17
Very good, all right, and just quickly, if you're a Qantas member, you've got points, you're trying to work out whether you use them, you think Philippine Airlines might be one to look at?
153:25
Yeah, we mentioned recently that Philippine Airlines has joined the One World Network, which means that Qantas frequent flyers can get access, potentially, if the partner airline wants to give it, to seats on partner airlines. And I've been looking at people who are flying to the United States, they've got a lot of points, they can now go via Manila with Philippine Airlines, use their points, and that can be for business class.
153:46
so um i know you'd probably go non-stop but uh if you've got a lot of points give it a go okay very good mate thank you very much for that we'll do this again next week and of course your business is richard's travel richard davey thank you thanks john yes richard davey there in that conversation about those non-stop flights the planes that have been built specially for it and i was noticing in the international media there's a lot of a lot of reporting what qantas is doing with this uh these non-stop flights uh from sydney melbourne brisbane going all the way to london And then eventually to New York as well.
154:16
And the conversation there about whether you're better off having a stopover or just sitting on, I just prefer you get on the plane. I know it's a long flight and then you arrive at your destination. That's what I'd like to be doing. But all of that's going to be happening toward the end. of next year. So there's a way to go before we can do the comparison. I did mention what's coming out of the Middle East. The US military say they've completed what they call a heavy wave of strikes against Iran. That's in retaliation for what happened a couple of days ago with the ballistic missile attacks on American forces.
154:48
They say they've hit a whole range of targets within Iran and And so this is continuing the instability there. There is a story coming out of Axios, which is a news outlet in Washington, saying that Donald Trump had met the Saudi Defence Minister, who's saying Saudi Arabia wants to de-escalate tensions. Well, I think everyone does. We'll see what comes of all of that. And thank you also. Richard sent me a lengthy text on the Tomago smelter, the importance for us to make sure these smelters...
155:16
They remain in what is a very uncertain world. So thank you for that feedback as well. It's now eight minutes to 12.
155:24
We have the news coming up. Don't forget tomorrow night, 10.30, we have OnlyFans, John Stanley's OnlyFans. We talked to fanatical rugby league fans. We've had some crackers. Tomorrow night, we've got a really good one for you because it's a Cronulla fan. talking about and obviously they're having a pretty good year so that's tomorrow night John Stanley's Only Fans and you can get onto the website find all of the past interviews with people like the Premier and others and you can also subscribe to John Stanley's Only Fans to catch up with all of those I'm going to finish the show tonight.
155:57
It's Russell Morris, the legendary Australian Russell Morris. It's his birthday. That's happening tomorrow, Russell Morris. And Russell Morris' birthday coming up tomorrow. Some wonderful songs like The Real Thing. I thought I'd finish tonight with this one, one of those songs that came out when certain people were in school uniforms at all boys' schools trying to work out, how do I ever talk to girls? And you'd hear songs like this and think, maybe one day.
156:19
Yes, thank you so much for your company all this week. Mike Jeffery's coming next. Have a great Friday.
156:25
Have a great weekend as well.
