2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full show July 26 01:51:06

On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon Sydney and thank God it's Friday. Yep, it is Friday and 12 hours. Only 12 hours until the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. I think it's fair to say we're in the mood now, aren't we? We'll cross to the City of Love to get a feel on how things are shaping up over in Paris. Plus,

Here in Sydney, trading hours have been extended so people can enjoy themselves and enjoy our athletes, hopefully winning some gold medals. So we'll have all of that covered. I'll also speak to Alistair Henskins. He's the Shadow Attorney-General about Gladys Berejiklian's failed attempt to appeal her seriously corrupt findings.

So the court ruled that ICAC's ruling that Gladys Berejiklian is seriously corrupt, well, that stands. But does anyone really deep down think that the former Premier is seriously corrupt?

That's the same standard as Eddie Obeid, for God's sake. Kate Sobrano. Kate Sobrano will join me to play a few hits in the studio. And if you want to come to lunch on Dee Dee's waterfront with me, your best Sydney shout-outs win it. Right now, 20 degrees at Hurlston Park and 16 at Dural.

It's eight and a half past three. 131 873 is that open line number. You can text me 0460 873 873 or the email address, of course, drive at 2gb.com. Well, a major win for Liverpool Council today in the land and environment court. They have had a big win over the men's government and its local government minister, Ron Honig. Ron Honig, of course, won.

a former barrister, well, he isn't having a good day today when it comes to the law. So Liverpool Council initiated legal action against the state of New South Wales, against the Minister for Local Government, as well as three others, who, after Minister Ron Honig decided he would suspend Liverpool Council...

and postpone council's elections because of allegations of maladministration from a report from the office of local government but they've lost they've lost at the first hurdle in the land and environment court ned manoon is the mayor of liverpool council he's on the line mayor thanks for your time thank you chris can you explain what happened today in court

So we all know what happened last week, and they said there was this big urgency around us in psyching the council.

We went out there and saw an injunction where we said, your report is unlawful, that you have acted in a way that has denied natural justice for those people that are mentioned in that report. And the minister has acted politically because he knew exactly what was going to happen by doing this just before an election. So we took that to the court today. And before the court started, the government conceded on every single point

that we raised. They didn't even want the judge to hear it, and they were happy to concede today. We will be back on the 7th of August, where the judge will make his opinion. We will actually have a hearing, and we will get proven that this was a political hit job from the beginning. Okay, so as it stands right now, Mayor Mnoon, there will be no sacking of Liverpool Council like Ron Honig said.

Correct. And they agree to all of that. So it's not like they didn't want to fight it.

They did not even want to fight it. But this just goes to show, Chris, that this was always a political hit job on myself and the people of Liverpool. Why is the government, why is the minister using taxpayer money to do this? He knew exactly what he was doing. And part of our argument is he's been a barrister for 43 years. He knows what natural justice is and he's denied it to us. So the public inquiry that has been initiated by the Office of Local Government or prompted by,

Is that going to be suspended too for the time being? They agreed to suspend everything because their whole basis in taking all these actions was based on this interim report. They, yesterday, as you reported, they removed that interim report from their website. So that interim report is there. If there is no interim report, then why are you having a public inquiry for it?

We welcome all the scrutiny in the world. I've got no problems with that. But go out there and do it properly. If you did a proper interim report or proper report, you would find there's nothing to look into. It's just a bunch of people who are upset, former employees of council, union members who are upset, and that's what that report is based upon.

I'm interested where this goes next. So you've got the 7th of August and there'll be a two day hearing on the 8th and the 9th of August. Is that right? And ultimately the conclusion that the judge comes to will determine what steps come next.

Correct. Now, we are in an election period. We are there already. We've obviously had this terrible week where they've been out there attacking me and using taxpayers' money and the cover of the Office of the Liberal Government. But we will still continue on. But look at it like this, Chris.

Why couldn't they defend themselves today? They were there. They could have said, no, no, no, we disagree with Liverpool Council. This is urgent. We need this inquiry. We cannot have an election. We need an administrator. They weren't even prepared to argue it today. They conceded every single point. It is outrageous. Now, if you even look at this, you've got to ask yourself, what was the minister doing? Why would the minister go out there and function like this? And Chris Minns should answer for him. Chris Minns should say, is this the behavior that he accepts of his ministers?

It is wrong. And I tell you what, I'll be waiting to the Premier, ask him to look at whether the Ministerial Code of Conduct was breached. Ned Manoon, I appreciate you coming on. Thanks so much. Cheers. Thank you, Chris. The Mayor of Liverpool Council, Ned Manoon. It is a black eye, whichever way you look at it, for the Minns government, but more importantly for Ron Honig, unfortunately. Good fellow, Ron Honig, but he's had a shocker on this one. So the court has granted a series of injunctions in favour of Liverpool Council.

There is no public inquiry to be done until the last day of the final hearing. And the minister is restrained until the last day of the final hearing from suspending council or postponing the election of the council and appointing an administrator. A declaration that the Deputy Secretary of Office of Local Government had no power to make an interim report before the conclusion of his investigation into council.

This is what council has sought in the Land and Environment Court. A declaration that in reporting adversely about Liverpool Council, the Office of Local Government failed to observe the requirements of procedural fairness and exhibited actual or apprehended bias. A declaration that in publishing the interim report, the Minister for Local Government, Ron Honig, exhibited actual or apprehended bias. Terrible, terrible embarrassment for the Minns government.

Live, local, Aeon 2GB. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe. A little bit more information about what occurred at Dover Heights yesterday with these two guys who allegedly had guns outside John Ibrahim's place. So the Daily Telegraph, Brendan Hills, has done some good work on this. And a family member of one of the balaclava-clad men...

20 years old, this guy, says that he is an innocent 20-year-old who was likely acting on the instructions of others. So he's a Bankstown plumber, Yusuf Zraker. He was one of the two men arrested in that dramatic police chase through the eastern suburbs.

and his family member, Yusuf Zraka, declined to be identified, said this, quote, Now, there is some suggestion, too, that a neighbour who drives a similar car

has a similar car to John Ibrahim. Well, the person who drove that car, the neighbour, he said he looked up and saw a guy with a balaclava pointing a gun at him. Thankfully, you know, the police got these two guys and what will be from here? 131873. Now, the opening ceremony is tonight or 3am tomorrow morning.

And it's ahead of hopefully a successful Olympics for Australia. We're all hoping for a successful Olympics for Australia. I love the Olympic Games. But I'm very anti-something that the Australian Olympic Committee has done. And I think it is frankly unfair that the AOC is making athletes leave the Olympic Village just 48 hours after their sport finishes. Now this is especially rough on swimmers who always compete in the first week.

but they won't be able to stay for the second week because the swimming will be finished, yet the games will be going on. Now, I reckon it undermines the entire spirit of the Olympics. Not letting them stay in the Olympic Village. Just let them go and have a drink and party. Let their hair down. Who cares? Seriously.

Same goes for our men's rugby players. They're killing it right now. They play Fiji on Sunday morning for a place in the final, our men's rugby seven players. If they win gold, rather than being able to soak it up for two weeks, they get to watch the women and then they're kicked out 48 hours later. The justification from the Australian Olympic Committee is that if the athletes' village becomes party central as the week progresses...

It becomes unfair for the track and field athletes who need sleep and silence to try and prepare properly. It's also apparently to stop infections coming into the village, as well as for bed numbers. But the problem with this justification is that booting the Aussies out won't stop noise and carry on because the other country's athletes, they do not have the same rules. And as far as infections go, come on, please.

It's especially rough on swimmers because they traditionally cannot attend the opening ceremony. They need to stay fresh for the opening night of competition. Thanks to COVID, they were forced to return straight home after Tokyo and complete two weeks of hotel quarantine when they got back to Australia. So they didn't get the Olympic experience in Tokyo and now they'll be robbed of it again. Ariane Titmuss, she told News Corp that it was a rip-off.

She said, after you've worked so hard to go to the Olympics, to be removed from the entire environment as soon as you finish, we literally miss out on our Olympic experience other than racing. That's Ariane Titmuss. Kayleigh McEwan. It makes me mad. It makes a lot of us athletes mad. There's not really that COVID reason anymore. Just let us experience an Olympic Games. Now, the reason for it is that the AOC is tied as a fish as you know what.

It's been reported that athletes can return for the closing ceremony if they want to, but they've got to go and find and pay for their own accommodation and buy tickets under their own steam to watch fellow Aussies in action because the AOC doesn't provide free tickets anymore. Now, I wouldn't think it's a cheap nor an easy thing to do just to grab some accommodation in Paris in the middle of the Olympics, do you?

Now, the Olympic Committee says that they've only got an allocation of 474 beds in the village. Australia needs 567. But natural attrition would mean that who wants to stay there would be able to stay there. Not everybody would.

Matt Carroll, the CEO of the AOC, said that the other aspect is the high performance one. We've always said we need to ensure that the athletes coming in the second week have the same support services that we provide to the athletes in the first week. But can we just work something out? Please. The Athletes' Village is designed to be a hub of camaraderie and support.

Kicking athletes out so quickly is a major rip-off. I absolutely agree with Ariane Titmuss on this. They've worked their entire lives in many instances for this opportunity to represent Australia at an Olympic Games, and now they've got to be hurried out because of some arbitrary rule and tight arsery. It's very, very unfair.

Let the kids play. Surely they've worked hard enough. What do you reckon? 1-3-1-8-7-3. If you're an athlete in the second week, would you just want your peace and quiet so you could run or do your track and field? Even though the rest of the countries will be Yahooing, yet you've got the Australian athletes there being told by the Olympic Committee of this country, hey guys, once you've raced, get going.

20 past three. It's coming up to 25 past three. 131873 is the open line number. Now, I know we're talking about having a rugby league team, an NRL team in Papua New Guinea, but this story's in the Daily Mail. And 26 people have been slaughtered in a shocking massacre in the Angorum district in Papua New Guinea with women and young girls sexually assaulted.

So the violent attacks on three remote villages in the Angorim district of East Sepik in PNG's north, they reckon it's likely killed 26, including 16 kids. Several people were forced to flee after attackers set fire to their homes. This is from the United Nations.

So this is from the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk. He said in a statement, quote, I am horrified by the shocking eruption of deadly violence in Papua New Guinea, seemingly as a result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights. 200 people had to flee their homes after it was torched in the attacks. You got 33 men from a youth gang called, this is what the youth gangs called, I Don't Care.

burning houses, murdering elderly people and a five-year-old boy in another village. And they reckon, oh, that's all good. We're going to put an NRL team in Papua New Guinea. I just hope they know what they're doing.

Just on the AOC telling the athletes once your sport is over, you've got 48 hours to vacate the athletes village. I reckon that is very, very stiff. What do you think, Keith? Keith's in Narellan.

G'day, mate. How are you? Good, thanks. Listen, I want to know, when they've told all these kids after they've worked their bums off to get into the position where they are to go home, are the officials that are looking after them going to go home as well, or are they going to hang around and lap up the luxuries? Well, I'm assuming that once the sport's done, that includes the officials, but the officials are staying in the Athletes' Village. We just checked that with Clinton Maynard, Keith, who's in Paris for us.

So I would have thought that surely you can find enough beds for everybody who wants to stay. And I mean everybody, the athletes, Keith. Yeah, but don't forget you need the cheer squad. What's wrong with having an Australian cheer squad then? Why send half your cheer squad home? That's a good point, Keith. Do you reckon it's a bit rough?

Oh, it's a bloody disgrace. They work themselves to an absolute lather to get into where they are for gold medals for Australia, and they're treated like rubbish. And even when they do win gold, they get nothing for it, nothing at all. In America, they get hundreds of thousands of dollars for winning the gold medal. Here, we give them a see you later. Good on you, Keith. I appreciate your call. I think that sentiment is shared across the Australian Olympic team, no doubt. James is in Hornsby. What do you think, James?

Yeah.

You know, because you need it because those administrators, do you know how much bottles of wine cost over in France? Really good ones. You know, and steak tartare and the snails, you know, their meals, they've got to eat. That costs a lot of money for their keep those administrators in that sort of lifestyle. You know, someone's got to make the sacrifice. Just ask Eddie Jones. What did Eddie Jones spend? One and a half million dollars over budget in France.

Yeah. Look after administrators because, you know, they're the ones that the sport is all about. You go and ask any of them, they'll say they're more important than anything else. So look after them, that's what I say. Good on you, James. I appreciate you being sarcastic. You have a good afternoon. Enjoy the Olympic Games. 131873, I think we all agree. Dave says, Chris, this is all about the cost of the Olympics becoming expensive. It'll eventually be no more, no country can afford to run them.

Good on you, Dave. We've been saying that for years, but people still put their hands up to host them, right? Roz says, Chris, so Ariane Titmuss would never be able to be a flag bearer because the swimmers can't attend the opening ceremony and are gone before the closing ceremony. Unfair. Well, they can attend the closing ceremony, Roz. They've just got to pay for their accommodation for the week that they're not swimming. What do you reckon that'd cost you? You know, a one bedroom something or other in Paris. Be impossible.

Very, very hard. I reckon it's really, really rough. And I hope that Molly O'Callaghan and Ariane Titmuss and Kayleigh McEwen, there will be beds there, guaranteed. If there are beds open, let our gold medalists and our Olympic athletes soak up the Olympic experience. They've worked hard enough for it.

A news update. With great gas deals for your home, there's a bright side to winter. Call Energy Australia today on 133466. Conditions apply.

In the newsroom, Zach De Silva. G'day. G'day, Chris. Former Premier Gladys Berejiklian has failed in her bid to overturn ICAC's finding she engaged in serious corrupt conduct. The Court of Appeals has dismissed her case in a split decision. Liverpool Council has scored a major legal win with the state government walking away from some court action. New South Wales officials are threatening to suspend the council over allegations of corruption, but Liverpool Council claims the state government has acted unlawfully.

Hundreds of Sydney Morning Herald staff have gone on strike demanding a better pay deal from Nine Entertainment and an urgent recall has been issued for a range of McCain's frozen products sold in Indian grocery stores. In sport, just one more win stands between Australia's men's rugby seven side and an Olympic medal after they stormed into the semi-finals in Paris. They'll play Fiji on Sunday for a spot in the gold medal match. And Chris, there'll be more news at four o'clock.

Thanks, Zach. Coming up, Alistair Henskins, Shadow Attorney-General, former colleague of Gladys Berejiklian. She's gone to court. She's lost. According to ICAC, she's still seriously corrupt. I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement.

Visit compareyourretirement.com today. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. It's 26 to 4. Now, Gladys Berejiklian is still seriously corrupt. That's according to the New South Wales Court of Appeal today, upholding ICAC's findings. It wasn't a slam dunk for the Corruption Commission, though, because the decision of the Court of Appeal was split between

And it was the president of the Court of Appeal holding that the ICAC report was beyond power and that the findings of ICAC should be quashed. But the other two disagreed. So the former premier remains seriously corrupt. Gladys Berejiklian, she released a statement recognising that the limited nature of a challenge...

can be made to ICAC findings by any citizen. And she said that serving the people of New South Wales was an honour and privilege which I never took for granted. I always worked my hardest to look after the welfare and interests of the people of New South Wales. Look, I'll be honest. Gladys has wasted her time and wasted her money here. The majority of the public does not believe she is corrupt. And they're happy just to let her get on with her life.

And after covering ICAC inquiries and politics for a long time now, here's what some politicians don't understand, in my opinion. A corruption hearing is a public relations battle first and a legal fight second. Gladys won the PR fight. She won it hands down. And the hundreds of thousands of dollars that she spent on this appeal in court was futile. These lawyers, they all get very excited about this stuff, but this is stuff that has no real consequence whatsoever.

other than the billable hours of their representatives. Alistair Henskins is the Shadow Attorney-General and a former colleague of Gladys Berejiklian. He's on the line. Alistair, thanks for your time. Good afternoon, Chris. Do you think that Gladys Berejiklian is seriously corrupt?

Well, I've always found it curious in this matter that the ICAC made no findings of any arguable criminal misconduct by Gladys, made no findings that she received one cent of personal financial benefit, yet she's been found seriously corrupt. And I think that's why, as you said in your introduction, most people think Gladys...

was an outstanding Premier. She has great public popularity because I think they judge her by what they know of her and the things that she did in public office. And the case that was brought against her by ICAC, as you said,

it didn't resonate with the public. So the public still... I think you said it was a public relations battle that she won, but I would say that in the court of public opinion, people always thought Gladys was very hardworking, diligent and earnest person, and I must say that's how I've always found Gladys to be in my dealings with her. When the former Premier did say that there is...

It is limited in its nature, the way that any citizen can challenge an ICAC finding as a shadow attorney general and a member of the bar yourself. What does that mean? Okay. So, Chris, if you run a case in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in front of a judge and you're unhappy with the decision, you can take that to the Court of Appeal, usually by right, and

And you can challenge all the findings of fact as well as the findings of law made by the judge who heard your case. ICAC is not like that. So an individual that's brought before ICAC actually has fewer rights than they do if they actually have a case in court.

And when you have a hearing before ICAC, the only grounds that you can get a court to review the findings of the ICAC is very limited. And it's not based on the merits of the case, the factual findings in particular. You can only really challenge findings of law and not findings of fact.

So it's a very limited form of appeal. And I've for a long time, I must say, thought that that's quite unfair. So it's not the substance of the allegations that ICAC has deemed you corrupt on. It is how ICAC conducted itself. Is that right?

Exactly. How ICAC got to that decision. And by the way, in New South Wales, there are other states where they're ICAC equivalent. You can challenge the merits of their findings as well as legal matters on appeal. So our ICAC actually has a much more limited form of appeal than some ICAC equivalents in other states. Right.

anywhere from here for Gladys Berry-Jickling, could she go to the High Court? So she doesn't have an appeal as of right to the High Court. She would have to do what's called seek special leave to appeal to the High Court. Which is what Margaret Canaan did, correct?

Correct. Well, actually, ICAC appealed Margaret Kenean's decision because Margaret Kenean. But Chris, the point is that usually when you have a split decision like this, that gives you a much better chance to go to get laid by the high court.

than if it's a unanimous decision. So I'm sure that's something that her lawyers will be looking at. She had Brett Walker, who's probably the best, if not one of the best, barristers in the country representing her. So I'm sure that's something that she will no doubt get advice about. Not to, you know better than anyone, what roughly would have this cost her?

Well, I've been out of the game for a while, Chris. But, look, there's no cheap way to appeal... Hundreds of thousands? I would think it would be in that order without knowing. A lot of coin, isn't it? Look, it is, but you raised Margaret Kenean. Nick Griner also appealed his corruption finding. It is...

unfortunate that when Gladys did so much for our state, guided us through the pandemic and so on, that that will be, that rather than her being remembered for those things, there will be

you know, historically a notation that she was found seriously corrupt. And I think, as you said earlier, I'm not sure that she deserves to be in the same class as some of the other people that have been found seriously corrupt, particularly when she has not arguably committed a crime. Alistair Henskins, I really appreciate you coming on. Thanks as always.

Thanks very much, Chris. Shadow Attorney-General Alistair Henskins, what do you reckon? 131873. Is Gladys Berejiklian seriously corrupt? The same finding made against Gladys that was made against...

Eddie Obeid, do you really think that passes the pub test? 1-3-1-8-7-3. It's 18-4. It's 14 minutes to four. The Canadian Olympic Committee have sacked the women's national football head coach, her name's Bev Prieston, for the remainder of the Paris Games. And this is following the alleged drone spying scandal when the Canadian women's football team, their soccer team,

put a drone up to spy on the New Zealanders in practice. So they're defending gold medalists, the Canadians, in women's soccer. And the allegation is, up went the drone from a member of the Canadian camp to have a look at how the New Zealanders, the Kiwis, were practicing. And they were due to play them. So they won. Anyway, they beat the Kiwis 2-1.

So it'll be fascinating to see how this progresses and whether the Canadians will be seen as having a bit of a tainted medal if they do get that far. Why would you bother? If you're the defending gold medal champions, just go and play and win. 131873. Now, I said I'd keep a close eye on what's happening with transport for New South Wales and Josh Murray. Now, Josh Murray, of course, the secretary, the boss...

He came from Llangow Rorke in the construction company. And Josh Murray was appointed boss of Transport for New South Wales via a very, very shoddy process. You know the story. So he was a donor to the Mins campaign. He was a member of the Labor Party, a former staff member to Morris Yemma, laboured to his bootstraps, and he happens to get a $500,000 job as the boss of Transport for New South Wales.

He'll be working in corporate affairs or something with Lange O'Rourke. Anyway, on balance, I reckon Josh Murray's done a pretty good job, to be honest. He hasn't had too many shockers, has he? The train network seems to be going okay. You've got the sort of run-of-the-mill industrial and technical stuff, but, you know, that pops up. But here's something a little curious, because we are keeping a close eye on what is going on in transport for New South Wales. So they've just handed a $90 million contract to Lange O'Rourke.

So it's related to the rail infrastructure upgrade as part of the More Trains, More Services program managed by Transport for New South Wales, 90 million bucks, awarded to Kellogg Brown and Root, P-T-Y-L-T-D, and Langeau Rock. Now, Josh Murray used to work at Langeau Rock. As I said, he spent 14 years there.

And on top of the $90 million, there is also a contract worth $272 million that's been handed to John Holland and Langeau Rourke. So Transport for New South Wales has handed Langeau Rourke a share of $362 million when the boss of Transport for New South Wales used to work at Langeau Rourke.

Now, I asked Josh Murray about all this, and to be honest, he gave a very, very good answer. So Mr. Murray said, quote, I have recused myself and delegated all matters relating to Lango Rourke since joining Transport for New South Wales. So he hasn't had anything to do with them.

That was public at the time. The usual period is six months, but I agreed with the Premier's Department to do a minimum of 12 months. That process is managed by the Cabinet Office, now with the Transport General Council. I have no contact with Lango Rourke and no engagement on contracts. Any commercial matters involving them are directed to others without engaging me.

So the men's government might have handled his appointment without a shred of credibility, but clearly Josh Murray is no deal. Live on 2GB, have your say. 131 873. Looks like Joe's seen something on the roads. Joe, g'day.

Well, I'm a right on lawnmower. Well, a crane went past and pulled the power lines down in front of me, and I'm standing in the middle of the road trying to direct traffic. They're live power lines on Luddenham Road. Tell anyone not to come down Luddenham Road from Elizabeth Drive or Memory Road and very dangerous. So what? You were using the right on mower on your property and someone... I'm a right on lawnmower. A crane went by and just nicked them, and they just fell down in the road, and the cars are trying to drive past here in the...

And now some emergency services just turning up now. Thank God for that because I can't direct any more traffic because they just want to come through some people. Joe, just don't get anywhere near that live wire, okay? No, I'm on the side stopping. Coppers are here now. Thank God. Now they can direct traffic instead of me. I'm on a ride on lawnmowers. Good on you, Joe. I appreciate that. Well done on just keeping things in place.

Checked there until the police showed up. But that's on Luddenham Road at Luddenham. If you're coming from Elizabeth Drive or Mamre Road down Luddenham Road, beware. A crane has just clipped some power lines. Those power lines are now across Luddenham Road. Joe has done an extraordinary job ensuring that everyone remains safe. But those are live power lines, 131873. Just on the Gladys Berejiklian issue, Lincoln's called in from Quakers Hill. Hello, Lincoln. G'day, Chris. How are you going? Well, thanks.

Yeah, just with Gladys, she'll go down, in my opinion, one of our best premiers. My dad used to work for the Liberal government back in the 90s, so I know enough in the premier side of things. But she's delivered the Metro, North Connects, and she'll not be held in the same lot. Sorry, Lincoln. I've got the guts of that, but your line's a bit... And I think most people...

We'll agree with you mostly that she did a great job. The question is, was she quote unquote seriously corrupt? So what is the definition for the layman? For people in the community, what is the definition of corruption? And did what Gladys Berejiklian, not disclosing a relationship with Daryl Maguire, does that fit the definition of seriously corrupt? Michael's at Kellyville. Michael, g'day.

Yeah, g'day, Chris. Love the show. Yeah, I've got a different view. I think Gladys has been treated rather lightly. I'm a little bit over the general empathy that she's shown in regards to the great work that she supposedly did during COVID. That was a job. She was the Premier. If anyone can honestly say...

Hearing those ICAC hearing tapes, that she wasn't in breach of a certain standard that I accept from my Premier, I'm delusional. Now, I don't know whether she did or didn't receive anything personally. Well, she didn't. Michael, Michael, ICAC found that. She didn't receive anything personally.

Yeah, OK, I'll accept that. But in terms of the standards that should be set by our premier, which is the highest position in the state other than the governor general, I'm gobsmacked just by the empathy that we show towards our politicians when they find themselves in these circumstances.

We don't usually. It's just for her. Oh, well, I don't know about that. I mean, there's been plenty of Labor guys that have gone under the hammer. For what? Far worse. What appears to be far worse circumstances. But let's not lose sight of the fact that Gladys was handing out millions and millions of taxpayers' dollars to, let's face it,

certain associations which by any average person's expectations wouldn't be in receipt of those funds. And of course the personal benefit for her would have been a seat, a local seat, one which contributed to a re-election of her coalition party. That's pork ballering, Michael. I know you say they've all done it and that's sort of now it's...

it's not part and parcel of politics anymore because, but, you know, I'll tell you who did pork barrelling the best of all time, Scott Morrison, the best I've seen. Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with you. I mean, it's part and parcel of all parties. I'm not, I'm not naive on that front, but yeah, just my, it's just my view on the whole situation. I do take your point on, she breached her own standards and she breached the standards that the ministerial code of conduct, uh,

set for her as the Premier and set for her as a Minister and she breached it because, you know what, she wanted to keep mum about a relationship that she was clearly uncomfortable about sharing. She should have shared it and she would have been able to avoid a lot of this grief. Ultimately, if you are in a position of power, be it in the private sector or in a government, and you're in a relationship with someone, you need to disclose it. It's how things work. It's five to four.

The four o'clock news with Zach De Silva is coming up very, very shortly. On the other side of that, I'll check in with the rail tram and bus union secretary, David Babineau, because they're pushing a motion to re-nationalise our buses here in Sydney. Now they'll privatise. He wants to bring them back under government control. And we'll also cross to Paris to get all of a bit of a feel of what is going on in the city of love ahead of the 2024 opening ceremony.

All I wanted in retirement was to feel confident with my money. So I picked an income account with my industry super fund. Now I take enough for day-to-day things, splash out when I fancy, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you.

Now back to Drive with Chris O'Keefe on Sydney's 2GB. It's seven minutes past four. Thank you for your company on this Friday afternoon. 131 873 is my open line number. You can text me 0460 873 873 or email me drive at 2GB.com. Now coming up, I've got a stack of stuff to give away. Not only is Kate Sobrano Aussie music icon,

playing for us in the studio, I've also got a whole bunch of tickets, tickets for two mind you, to the DD's Waterfront Group to have lunch with yours truly. Our Sydney shoutouts, we'll do them shortly. The inside word on everything Sydney. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB. And do you see what the FBI director out of the United States said?

He's copying a whole bunch of Republican backlash, the FBI director Christopher Wray. So he's given testimony that the former President Donald Trump may have been hit by shrapnel and not been hit by a bullet in the attempted assassination a couple of weeks ago.

So, Ray was appointed by Donald Trump back in 2017, and he was giving his remarks to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the shooting. And he reckons that Donald Trump might not have been shot. He wasn't hit in the ear by a bullet. So, Ray said this, quote, I think with respect to former President Trump, there's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.

And he's copying it in a big way after saying that. And you've got Republican Representative Ronny Jackson. He's a former White House doctor. And he examined Trump's year after the shooting and said that the FBI director's testimony was, quote, a politically motivated move and that the FBI director had weaponized his office to bring down Trump. Imagine after all that he wasn't shot.

1-3-1-8-7-3. What did I say about conspiracy theories earlier in the week? Now, what would you say if I told you that there is a push to re-nationalise the bus system? You know, all of the bus services and all the bus routes that were once state transit and then sold off under the Liberal government.

would be brought back under the control of the New South Wales government once again. Would you be pro or anti that? 131873. Because a recent report released by the Bus Industry Task Force found that 235 Sydney bus routes fell short of minimum standards.

235 of them, short of minimum standards. You've got buses not showing up, they're late, heavily delayed, taking the wrong routes. Plus you've got an exodus of bus drivers from the industry itself. 131873, do you think that our private bus operators have done a worse or better job since taking over? And do you agree with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union that they should be renationalised?

They're pushing it pretty hard. So they're going to raise this at Labor's state conference on the weekend. And how that works is if a motion is supported by the delegates at state conference, then the men's Labor government must adopt it formally as a policy position. If the bus union put it to a vote, it will mean that both members of parliament and other unions who are on the conference for will have to say either, yep, we want it nationalised and brought back under public control or nah,

We're unions, we like privatisation. It's a funny one, isn't it? David Babineau, Secretary of the Tram and Bus Union. He's on the line for us, David. G'day. G'day, Chris. You're likely to get support for this? Uh...

Depends on where you're talking from. It's a fraught sort of topic as much as it seems cut and dried. It's, you know, look like anything that's attached to politics. There's a lot of movement behind the scenes and there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. We'll see how we go on the day, really. Why have you decided to bring it to conference for?

Well, ultimately, you know, the Labor government in opposition and in government has held a position of anti-privatisation. That is...

Well and good, and we absolutely back that. But ultimately, if you don't have any kind of agenda to reverse what's done, what will happen is there'll be no privatisation while you're in power. The opposition gets in and then they privatise things and you're left ultimately with a policy of opposing privatisation and everything's been privatised because you're not doing anything to push it back. There has to be some substance to that conviction. Is there any practicality, though, with renationalising things that have been sold off?

Well, and this was actually some of our work when Newcastle was privatised, is that across the board, and we're talking the global experience, and Britain is sort of a little further down the track, and they are bringing things back into the public service in this way.

Yeah, absolutely. Rail in particular is coming back in a big way because what happens is the first lot of contracts, there's a great savings. Money's ripped out, savings all round, a bit of profit. The second round of contracts, not so much. The third round of contracts, everything falls apart. And we really want to get to the point where, you know, we grab a hold of things and try and maintain a bit of the public service that we had that served the people of Sydney for so long before we ever get to that stage. Is there any doubt in your mind

The privatisation has made the travelling public who use buses have a worse experience. Absolutely not. There is no doubt. There is no... By no quantum can you say that this has worked. I mean, even when they talk about, you know, there's less cancelled buses, for example, there's less cancelled buses because the timetables were altered. So instead of five trips, two of them not turning up per hour, they simply took the two that weren't turning up out of the timetable.

So, you know, it's not a level playing field in that respect. And really, we need to never forget that service delivery is the whole point of this. It's not supposed to be a commercial enterprise. It's not supposed to rake in, you know, profits for private companies. It's there to provide a safety net of transport for people that have no other option. That's its job. Well, they're not like it's some major cash cow running a bus service, is it? It's just, you know, it's a loss leader in many cases. Yeah.

Well, and in this case, even with, you know, the first rank of contracts off the block, there's no company making money out of the XSTO regions. You know, and that's what we're talking about specifically because there are regions of Sydney that were never privatised because they've always been private and that's just how they've worked. But for the XSTO,

STA regions, there's no company making money. Some of them are losing significant amounts of money. And the whole idea for the government, for us, the taxpayer, is just to get the cost of running a bus service off the books, right? Well, here's the thing. To a degree, all public transport is subsidised.

It has to be because the cost of running it is simply more than fares. You'd never charge people the full amount because you'd never get it used. There has to be a difference, though, as the next report will show. Buses are by far the most economical mode of transport when you look at the difference between fares and subsidisation. There is no reason why this shouldn't be brought back in-house and really run for the public's benefit. You could certainly run things a bit tighter...

You always can. But you can't get to that point where running things super tight makes the service fall over, and that's kind of where we've gone. You're going to be pretty brave doing this. So you'll be standing on conference floor looking at other unions, other delegates who...

Talk a big game when it comes to be anti-privatisation and you're going to put this straight on the agenda to say, hey, we want you to vote against privatisation by doing something practical, that is renationalising the Sydney bus network. And if they say no, it's a bit embarrassing for them, isn't it?

Look, my job when I stepped up to become a union official and I ran an election was to preserve the principle of doing the right thing and fighting for the wages conditions of people who were my colleagues, my co-workers as a bus driver. That doesn't change. And to be honest, I don't care who I've got to stare down and put forward. This is the right thing to do. And...

Good luck to anyone that wants to put their hand up and say they're opposed to it. Let them explain that. Have you had anyone from the Minsk government try to coerce you away from putting this motion forward? Look, I wouldn't say coerce. I'd say there's always discussions going on behind the scenes. Would you say pressure? I'd say, as with other unions, I have robust discussion across the board. Have you had any robust discussions with anyone from the Minsk government? I may have. Would you say they're strong-arming you, Mr Babineau?

No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say they're strong. I mean, I would, however, say that this is perhaps not something that's being considered. And because of that, you know, there's probably a fair bit of caution around it. And I understand that and I'm willing to cater to that. But we can't be in a situation where we do nothing. Minister Halen, did she pick the phone up?

No, no, we've been in touch with the minister. She's always been very, very proactive in terms of pushing for things related to drivers and for the general public. She's always been good in that respect, definitely. Is she anti-privatisation though? She is. Is she going to re-nationalise the Sydney bus network?

Well, I dare say that's probably not a decision up to her and her alone. Yeah, sure. All right, David Babineau, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out and whether or not some of these unions will vote to keep privatisation in place. Thanks for coming on.

Indeed. Thank you, Chris. That's David Babineau, Secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union. He's from the Bus and Tram Division, of course. 131873, what's your experience been like? I've got a text here. Chris, I live in Eastwood. The buses here are much, much worse since they were taken over by a private operator in 2022. What's your view? Do you think things like, and I've got a pretty simple view on this sort of thing.

For electricity, for assets that we need and core assets, I think that there is a real argument that putting them in the hands of private operators makes things worse for us, the average citizen. And that's what my concern is. I don't think that there was any reason to privatise the bus network, some of those regions.

Yeah, maybe a couple of the regions, but all of them? I don't know. You tell me. 131873. Have the services and the experience significantly deteriorated since the private operators came in? It's 18 past four. It's 22 past four. 131873 is that open line number. This is an interesting story Andrew Bolt has written in the News Corp papers about

He hasn't written to the News Corp papers. It's been written in the Sydney Morning Herald, but it's been reported that Andrew Bolt says he will quit the company, as in Sky News Australia, should Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan lose control of the family media empire to the more politically moderate James Murdoch. So the brothers have clashed over the company's editorial slant, James and Lachlan,

And Andrew Bolt said during his Sky News show on Thursday evening, James could sack me if he did take over, but he wouldn't need to. I wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't work for him.

It's a values thing. It's a freedom thing. I don't know if he gets that. I haven't been asked to say this. I haven't even talked to Lachlan for a couple of years. I didn't ask for permission to say this. That's Andrew Bolt talking on his Sky News show, saying that if James Murdoch somehow wins the succession battle...

over the top of his brother Lachlan Murdoch, then Andrew Bolt, well, he'll quit the company. 131873. Victoria police have charged two teenagers with vandalising Josh Burns' office. Jewish Labour MP, remember that? And there was all that anti-Israeli graffiti on it. Police caught up with them. So, 18-year-old woman, 18, and a 17-year-old man were charged over the attacks. And the attacks occurred both in June and July. Police say...

They're both responsible. The 18-year-old woman and the 17-year-old boy were responsible for both attacks. So they've been charged with two counts of criminal damage as well as burglary. And it was all the red paint and the schwoz stickers and everything else that was sprayed on Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns' electorate. Victoria Police, well done. They've managed to arrest the two alleged offenders, but...

Man, they're really young. 18 years old and 17 years old. 131873. Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB. Just on privatise, the privatisation of our bus network and the union's push to renationalise it. Simon's at Redcliffe. What do you think, Simon?

Yeah, I reckon they should. In Brisbane, the buses are controlled by the council. I read a report when I was at a airport in Newcastle about a year ago and it said privatising all the buses was an actual disaster. That's what it said. What's your view more broadly, Simon? I'll get your view on this. More broadly about critical assets like water, like electricity, like trains, like buses.

We should start buying all of them back. I mean, it was Gladys who did the buses, so we maybe can get her on a contract to come and undo the damage that she's done, for one thing. Well, they've got the ferries, too. Yeah, well, the ferries as well, and you've got these new-generation trains that are sitting on the sidings who don't even have lights on in the side. They've been there for about three years. They're brought better. So, you know... With these policies, we've got to be held accountable. I agree with you, Simon. I reckon all essential services...

should be in public hands. I just think that, you know, we gave the whole deregulation free market thing a go. To a point it works, but not to the obvious conclusion, and that is fattening the pig for market and just milking these things for profits wherever you can. Because the only people that are darted are the customer. And that's us. We rely on these things. Mark's at Camden. Mark, what do you think?

Yeah, Chris, you're right on the money. Well, anything that's been privatised over the years, it hasn't turned out to be a good news story. I mean, the last person that they consider is the customer. I mean, they go into these privatisations and they want to make money, of course, and then they put off staff to try to get the... ..to make the money, and the people that lose out at the end of the general public. We need you to run for government, Chris.

Well, I don't know about that. I just don't like the... Mark, I just don't like it. And you can't tell me it's worked. Can you tell me that privatising the poles and wires and the electricity generators and the retailers has made our power bills any cheaper?

No, and the same thing is going to happen with the wind farm 20 kilometres off Wollongong. That's not a good news story at all. That's not helping out nature. That's to no one's benefit. And they reckon that's going to be privatised and it's got to come back at a high cost to the user. It's not right.

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Mark. You have a good weekend. Thank you for your call. 131-873. Now, I did read a very interesting story just before about Nando's. You know Nando's? The...

Chicken shop. They're doing some really interesting stuff where in a couple of the Nando's stores, they're opening it up for live music. You wouldn't think you'd walk into a chicken shop, say a Nando's shop. I know there's one in Penrith you walk in and you think someone's sitting there

banging away at a guitar or playing a violin or whatever it is. Anyway, they are. And it's all about engaging the local community and young artists and giving them a shot and somewhere to play. So Nando's have done a really good thing. And you know who's thrown his weight behind it all the way from the United Kingdom is Ed Sheeran. Now, why would you think Ed Sheeran and Nando's? That's a strange little matchup.

Well, the only reason Ed Sheeran loves Nando's is because he loves eating Nando's so much, he had a Nando's stand at his wedding. I just wanna tell you I am so honey now.

Well done to the management at Nando's for getting behind our young musicians, giving them somewhere to play. Well done. 131873. Let's check the news headlines. Zach De Silva, g'day. G'day, Chris. Federal police have charged three Perth men over an illegal marriage between two teenagers. The children wanted to date, but it's alleged the trio, who are related to them, forced them into a religious marriage ceremony.

The state opposition is defending Gladys Berejiklian after the former Premier lost her bid to overturn ICAC corruption findings. The Coalition says Ms Berejiklian improved the state significantly and her legacy shouldn't be overshadowed by ICAC's ruling.

Fences around the new Barangaroo Metro station will be taken down on Monday ahead of the line's opening next month. And it's hoped an artificial titanium heart developed in Australia will be able to be used long term. A patient in Texas was given the device and lived with it for eight days before receiving a donor heart.

In sport, the Matildas will have to beat Zambia on Monday to be a chance of automatically qualifying for the next stage at the Olympics. A pedestrian performance against Germany saw them thrashed 3-0. And Chris, there'll be more news at five. Good on you, Zach. 131873, just on the privatisation discussion, let's finish up with Paul at Neutral Bay. Hello, Paul.

G'day, Chris. I only just got in the car and caught the tail end of it, so I'm not too sure what has previously been said. But what a lot of people don't realise is in New South Wales, the New South Wales government, through Transport, owns all the bus runs and contracts the running of them to the operators.

all the blue buses that are running around are all owned by the government and leased to the bus companies. And they dictate pretty much what runs are done and when to the bus companies. The question you've got to ask yourself is, Paul, has the service been any better?

Look, I wasn't using the services much before that, so I don't really know. I won't sort of answer that question, but a lot of people think that the bus companies that run the services own everything and they do it at their will, but there's a lot of restrictions on them. I'm not saying it's the greatest thing, but certainly the government has a lot of control in what's done and when.

And if the bus company doesn't do the right job, it's designed so they can just pull the plug and put somebody else in straight away. Yeah, they tried that, remember, down in the Sutherland Shire with Yugo Mobility. So Yugo came in there doing such a poor job that Transport for New South Wales had to install, effectively, an administrator to ensure that Yugo Mobility would get the school runs up and running and the bus services through Miranda and Sutherland and all be it. I just think, Paul, I don't know about you, but...

If we've got an essential service, and I understand the principle, right? And someone's just texted me and said, well, where do you get a better service, Woolworths or Centrelink? I understand the principle. I just wonder whether it works in practice. We've had a really good look at this stuff now when it comes to essential services, whether the private sector can do it better and deliver better.

a better outcome for us here, the consumer, the citizen, than the government can. What's your view on that, Paul?

Well, I think it's probably run better by the private companies. I had some access to information on the operation and management of the bus companies where just before the last few depots were sold by the government... Oh, sorry...

transferred by the government, I shouldn't say sold, but transferred by the government to private operators. The buses, the bus, sorry, the government-owned bus companies ran, say, twice, about twice as many mechanics as a private operator, yet their buses broke down 50% more of the time than the private operators. Sure, sure, sure. And therefore were off the road a lot more. Mm-hmm.

Hey, Paul, I've got to run, but I've got a pillow for you. It's an anatomic aligned pillow from the Rockdale Mattress Factory. It's coming your way, okay? Terrific. Good on you, Paul. Have a good weekend. It's a spinal design anatomic aligned Rockdale Mattress Factory, valued at $219. rockdowmattressfactory.com.au. Coming up next, we're crossing to Paris.

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Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. Well, it's 23 minutes to five and I'm pleased to say the City of Love is about to host the opening ceremony. I'm getting in a lot of trouble about how I pronounce ceremony. So it's the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Clinton Maynard is there.

and he's ready and raring to go. Clinton, how are you feeling about it all? The city of love, Chris. It is quite amazing how many people you see walking down the streets holding hands. It's actually quite nice. It's a very different vibe to Sydney. I'm at the Athletes' Village at the moment. Who have you been holding hands with?

Ray? Luke Davis, our content director. No, Greg Burton. I was with dinner with them last night. It was lovely, Mr. Trent. I'm here at the Athletes' Village at the moment, Chris. This is housing more than 10,000 athletes. There's some in other parts of the country as well. Now, they're not holding hands at the moment, but as you know, in the Athletes' Village, once competition finishes...

Well, it's game on. There are cardboard beds here.

however and that's caused a little bit of angst amongst some of the countries they're a bit concerned that the cardboard beds aren't that comfortable and they're worried about probably post competition activity as well however the Australian athletes say they don't have a problem with the cardboard beds whatsoever but by the the athletes village here is the River Seine the River Seine snakes through this country it's 800 kilometers long but of course the River Seine is the venue for

for tonight's opening ceremony. And, of course, you'll hear that live on 2GB, Ray and Jane Fleming-Libby-Trickett commentating. It's really going to be an opening ceremony, what we've never quite seen before. And logistically, it's obviously a huge challenge. And what I've really noticed is there's been a focus on a few people

violent incidents and some petty crime and of course the alleged gang rape last weekend but there are police everywhere as they usually are at these big events and they're not afraid to display their military grade weapons and that might just be to send a message

to visitors here, whether they're athletes or tourists, that it is safe here. And increasingly, walking around the streets and at the village at the moment, you do feel safe because you see so many police around. You see military officers around. But what strikes me is so different from other Olympic Games, and I was very young covering Sydney many years ago, is for the opening ceremony, the focus is obviously once the torch arrives in the city and the stadium, the focus on security is on the stadium itself. So it would have been out in Homebush for our

for our Olympic Games. Well, security is going to be spread out here across a far greater distance because we have these 90-odd boats with the athletes on board that will travel down the river. And so that means the authorities have had to barricade kilometres and kilometres and kilometres of the riverfront

and then provide security along the riverfront before the end of the procession of boats, portilla, at the Trocadero, where we'll be commentating from. So from a security point of view, it's very different and very challenging. So it'll be fascinating to see if it all works out. I think some people have sort of missed this. So we haven't got an opening ceremony in a stadium as we're used to. Can you just run us through what we can expect at 3am tomorrow morning? Yeah.

So we're going to have about 90-odd boats carrying 7,000 athletes. Australia will have 80 athletes taking part. We've got a big team here, 460. And probably limited a little bit about how many can take part, but a lot of athletes who are, for instance, competing on day one don't want to be part of opening ceremonies. That's standard practice. These vessels will travel down the river, kilometres and kilometres. It's a snaking river journey.

through the city. They will pass, there'll be grand, there are grandstands, small grandstands set up all along the river. Now, 250, 260,000 tickets have been sold to spectators who then fill those grandstands watching along. And then along the river, there's going to be performances involving about 3,000 odd performers.

Those boats then arrive at the Trocadero, and that is just near the Eiffel Tower. The backdrop is going to be sensational. And the athletes, some of them, not all, but some of the athletes will then disembark there and take some seats. For the official ceremony, it's mostly going to be, for instance, the flag bearers and judges.

dignitaries from around the world and then they'll be the speeches in the lighting of the cauldron how they like the cauldron is it's a complete mystery as it always is but we have the Eiffel Tower right there and you would think they will use probably the world's most famous landmark in many respects in some way it's it's logistically just completely different and even from a broadcast point of view particularly from the television it's gonna be very very different to watch

What is your view about the Australian Olympic? I raised this earlier. Our athletes, right? Having to leave as soon as their sport finishes up from the athlete's village. Ariane Titmuss said she feels ripped off. I tend to agree with her.

Yeah, and it's a 48-hour window there, and they can stay until their fellow teammates are finished. So, for instance, if swimmers have events on the first couple of days, they still stay for the opening week. So the sport's finished, right? Yeah, it's the sport, not their actual competition. And the athletes get really excited about being in the village because they get to meet people from all over the world, and it's particularly when their event is finished.

That's when they can let their hair down. Now, I'm at the village at the moment, and there's a stream of athletes who are walking in and out carrying suitcases with their gear and so forth. I've got to say, it's not the prettiest village I've ever seen because what they've done is they've repurposed a lot of buildings that are already here. Some have been built, and that's the nature of this Olympic Games. But I can understand the frustration of athletes because that's part of the Olympic...

and some of them missed out on it. It all started during COVID. But the French have certainly latched onto it. Hey, Clinton, very briefly before I let you go, extended trading hours. I know you're in Paris, but I told you now a fair bit about this extended trading hours push here in Sydney for the Olympics. Mm-hmm.

Very much this is the baby of John Graham, who's the Minister for the Nighttime Economy. Well, basically, John Graham's appointed the Minister of Fun, and he wants to bring back a vibe to Sydney. So when there are... And it will vary from location to location, but given most of these events are in the middle of the night, Matilda's spot, the Resolve, is a good example last night when they were playing three in the morning, our time, Sydney time. So he wants to...

create that vibe, particularly in the CBD. So lots of venues right across Sydney will be allowed to open when those

events are on, which will be great. There'll be the big live site at Cumberlong Park. They've spent that $10 million on what they call the sound shell there. They're hoping to get a lot of people on there. And I think, yeah, and when we get down to that point where, for instance, if we have a hockey team that's in a final, I think you'll find there's a lot of people getting down there. But things are going to happen really quickly, Chris. I mean, on Saturday, Ariane Titmuss, who is one of our absolute superstars,

will likely be racing for gold already. So it might be as soon as this weekend people need to get out and about for those live sites. Good on you, Clinton. Enjoy the opening ceremony. We'll catch up next week. Thanks, Chris. And it's the ceremony, sorry, opening ceremony.

Clinton Maynard there, live in Paris, ahead of the opening ceremony tonight, 3am by the way, if you want to watch it, it's on 9 and 9 now, of course we'll be calling it right here on 2GB. Well there's a fair bit of work going on again on the roads this weekend and on our public transport network, so I'll just run you through the main stuff that you need to know. So,

So from 11 o'clock tonight until 8am tomorrow morning, and this runs effectively through until next Thursday, anywhere between three and five lanes of the Sydney Harbour deck will be closed for maintenance. So 11pm to 8pm, 8am, sorry, between...

Tonight, Friday and next Thursday, anywhere from three to five lanes of the Sydney Harbour bridge deck will be shut. And work on the Warringah Freeway will also result in both southbound lanes of the Sydney Harbour tunnel being closed tonight from 10.30pm.

So you won't be able to get across the harbour with ease this evening, north to south, that's for sure. And it will also be closed tomorrow night, 10.30pm till 6am. You won't be able to use the Sydney Harbour Tunnel southbound. You've got to use the Sydney Harbour Bridge and three lanes on the bridge are closed too. Western Distributor. So for three consecutive nights from Sunday...

Northbound and southbound Western Distributed Lanes from Bathurst Street to Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed. If you're going north from the Anzac Bridge towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you

You're going to have to go via King Street and Clarence Street. What a punish. M6, of course, they are coming. Well, not coming to the end. M6 is still a couple of years away, but the works are continuing there in the St George area. So there are some road upgrades required on President Avenue in Coggera between Lockall Avenue and O'Connell Street.

And that occurs from 8 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m. on Monday. So there's some problems there. M7 too, they're widening the M7. And the off-ramps to Elizabeth Drive and Cecil Hills will be closed across the weekend. So you will not be able to use the off-ramp to Elizabeth Drive and Cecil Hills from the M7. Turning to the trains very quickly. Essential track work on the T1 North Shoreline.

And there will be also essential track work on the T2 Inner West line, meaning buses will replace trains from Ashfield to Central on the T2 line and between Wynyard and Gordon on the T1 line across the weekend. So if you're thinking about jumping on a train this weekend, T2, T1, forget it.

And there are a whole bunch of fun runs too in town too. So there'll be some local roads in the CBD closed as well. So if you're in and around town, in and around Sydney, across this weekend, the weather is supposed to be absolutely magnificent. Just be aware there are some essential works occurring all over the place. The breaking news you can trust. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB.

Now, we were talking about this in the office before, just ahead of the Olympic Games. What would you think would be the easiest Olympic sport to win a medal in? What do you reckon the easiest of the Olympic sports is? We were just having... Would it be breakdancing? I don't think so. I think it'd be really difficult to win an Olympic medal in breakdancing. What do you think it would be? Because...

Would it be archery? I would have thought archery is really difficult to nail. Gymnastics, forget that. Golf, impossible. Swimming, impossible. What else have we got? Volleyball, maybe. If you had some good players, I reckon volleyball would be relatively, well, certainly more simple than golf and swimming and athletics. Judo? Eh, don't know about judo. Water polo? No way. That's really hard. Handball?

Do you reckon handball would be an easy one to win a medal at? What do you think? 131873. If you had to pick any Olympic sport, fencing, weightlifting, rowing, taekwondo, shooting, what do you reckon you would have the best chance to just have a four-year run-up? So you finish now, you go, I need to win a medal at the Los Angeles Games. What would be the sport that you would choose that would give you the best opportunity to

to win a medal. Give us a call, 131 873. If you had to pick any Olympic sport, what do you think would be the easiest sport to win an Olympic medal in? Jan's at Abbotsbury. Hello, Jan. Hi. The rowing with eight people because there's seven other people rowing with you. Jan, you'd end up like lay down Sally. Remember her? Just lay down in the boat and just everyone could keep rowing for you.

Or the one that yells out, stroke, stroke, stroke. Good on you. Jan, you have a lovely afternoon. 131873. Robert's at Fairfield. G'day, Robert. G'day. How are you, Chris? I'm good, thank you. Robert, what's your sport? What would you choose? Discus or javelin. Why is that?

Because we had some good players, actually. The discus, I think we came second or third last, and then the javelin. We had some people doing, yeah. We had some big guys doing it. Good sport. Good on you, Robert. I appreciate that. I don't know if I could be able to just pick up a javelin and throw it to Olympic standard or throw a discus, but...

You might be pretty big. Good on you, Robert. 131873, just on the Paris Olympics. Maybe we're lucky that we're here in Sydney because guess how much a hot dog? They're charging you for a hot dog in Paris at the moment. This is at the stadium in the Olympics, right? $15 Australian for a hot dog. $18.23 for a cheeseburger. For an egg muffin, it's $14. For a mozzarella sandwich, it's $15. $15.

And for a thing of chips, it's $7. You know how much a zero-alcohol beer is? This is a beer, zero alcohol. $13 Australian dollars for a beer that is zero Australian dollars. So they've got this rule in Paris where you must... It's a 1991 French law...

that you can't sell alcohol without a proper meal. So most of the Olympic venues are unable to sell alcoholic drinks to fans. So they're selling zero alcohol beer. Well, you won't have to worry about it. Just duck outside, go to a bottle shop and pick up a bottle of Paris' finest, 131873. Coming up after the five o'clock news, plenty to give away. And we'll check in with Scott White from the Special Olympics.

I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you.

Now back to Drive with Chris O'Keefe on Sydney's 2GB. It's seven minutes past five. Thank you for your company on this Friday afternoon. 131873 is my open line number. You can text me 0460 873 873 or email me drive at 2gb.com.

Now, I've got a special prize to give away coming up very shortly. It is a listener lunch, and I'll be attending the listener lunch. So it'll be at Dee Dee's Flying Fish Restaurant in Pyrmont, and your best Sydney shout-outs will get you and a guest a seat at the listener lunch. We'll give it all away soon. First with the news only in Sydney, it's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB.

Now, there's a few things going on this afternoon. I've just got Finn who's called in. I think Finn's on a train at the moment. Finn, g'day. Hi, mate. How are you? I'm good, thank you. What's the situation? Oh, we are on a train, Richmond train, just left Central. And it's about 20 minutes we are sitting here and we're just told that train has lost the power and there's no EDA. So just stay within, inside the train. That's the instruction. Is it moving now, Finn? Oh.

Hello? Is it moving? No, it's not moving at all. There's no power. No, no, no. There's no power. Lots of power. Okay, okay. Hey, Finn, I appreciate your call. Just be patient. We'll try to get to the bottom of this. We'll contact Transport New South Wales. Oh, they've sent us this statement because Richard sent something similar in a text. He said that T1 train lines are stopped outside of Redfin, just like Finn said. Lines are down.

Transport for NSW say extra travel time, allow it because there are urgent overhead wiring repairs at Redfern. Trains may stop on platforms or between stations for longer than normal while the incident is ongoing. Stops may change at short notice too.

So I only gave Josh Murray a rap before. T1 trains, major issues. Urgent overhead wiring repairs at Redfern. Stops may change at short notice. This is impacting routes on the North Shore line, Northern line and West Western line. Meanwhile, Janet gave us a call a little earlier too about an emergency at Lidcombe Shopping Centre.

And she told us the shopping centre was being evacuated. Now, police tell us it was a small fire. That small fire is now being extinguished, so not too much to worry about. So if you're in and around Lidcombe Shopping Centre and you saw all the kerfuffle, that is why it was evacuated, a small fire now extinguished. 131873. Well, the Albanese government is hiking the price of beer again. You know I hate this tax. I hate it.

So right now, the beer tax is an outrageous $101 per litre. Significant increase from just a few years ago when in August 2019, it was $86 a litre. And come August 5, it is going up yet again. Here in Australia, we have the third highest tax on alcohol in the world.

And what's even more outrageous, I reckon there is, without a doubt, we are on the cusp of seeing organised crime syndicates, just like you see with tobacco, moving to bootlegging alcohol because people won't be able to afford to buy a drink. Well, Greg Holland is the Chief Executive of Spirits and Cocktails Australia. He's vocally opposing the hike. He's on the line. G'day, Greg.

Good afternoon, Chris. Good afternoon to all the listeners out there. We talk about this semi-regularly because I think it's an important issue. But $101 a litre of beer a tax is, that is outrageous.

Well, just a small correction there, Chris. That's actually the spirits excise rate. We pay double what beer pays and seven times what wine pays. So that's where the discrimination comes in. And that treat, five o'clock on a Friday, that treat that people are going out for this afternoon, that's been taken away from them. It impacts us because it... Talk to us how it works. It's indexed, correct?

Correct. Every six months, it goes up according to the CPI. Now, of course, we've had large numbers of CPI. We've got a cost-of-living pressure across the country. So what is happening, and to your point earlier, this is now going up every six months. The price of spirits is going up every six months, and that's encouraging modern-day bootleggers to come in. A list of alcohol is starting to flood the market.

And that is a very bad thing. I thought that it was only a matter of time until this happened, given what we've seen with vapes and illegal tobacco.

Are you seeing it now, bootlegged alcohol? Oh, look, certainly. And it's recognised by the government that they're estimating that they're losing $700 million a year, $700 million a year on illicit alcohol on missed taxes. That's ridiculous. And the other big worrying thing about this, Chris, is that there's a health aspect to this because that illicit alcohol, not only is it dangerous for you and it can make you very sick, it can actually kill you.

So this is what we're worried about. And the government knows that, but they're not stepping up to the plate to fix this issue.

When you say the bootlegged, talk to me about the bootlegged alcohol, because where do people get it? How are they pushing it through the market, the crooks? Well, only recently, look, the Victorian New South Wales police have identified from small bars to big nightclubs to, you know, pubs out in the bush. People who just make these modern-day bootleggers are just making this illicit alcohol with chemicals. So it's just homebrew stuff?

It's homebrew. It's literally bootlegging. Yeah, homebrew, anything like that. But it's actually the using components that actually are dangerous and, as I said, can make you very sick and in some instances could kill you. Because you wouldn't know what the alcohol content is. Oh, God, no. No, that's right. Exactly right. There's no regulatory framework around that at all. There's no appetite from the Albanese government, it seems, and the Morrison government before it to freeze this excise.

No, look, they're just not stepping up to the plate, as I said before, that they recognise their own official figures already say that they're losing money on this because people are stopping buying premium international products and local products. They're actually losing revenue. So they know it's happening, but they're not doing anything about it. Greg Holland, I appreciate you jumping on. Have a good weekend.

You too, Chris. Look after yourself. That's Greg Holland from the Spirits and Cocktails Australia. 131873. It's terrible. I just don't understand it. There's no justification for it. It's not poured back into alcohol, fighting alcohol harm or anything. It just goes straight into consolidated revenue to pay for God knows what. Anyway, it's 14 past five. Thank God it's Friday. TGIF.

And now on 2GB Drive, thank God it's Friday. And it's time for your Sydney shout-outs. All thanks to our great mates at DD's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. 131873, you know the deal. Who deserves a special mention in your life? Because our special prize today is a listener lunch with yours truly.

Maybe you don't want to ring in if I'm there, but I'll be there. It's join me for lunch at Dee Dee's Flying Fish in Pyrmont. Sensational food. They put on a hell of a spread, the Dee Dee's Waterfront Group, and we are lucky to go to Flying Fish in Pyrmont for this one. So this is your chance. It's in August. I've got six doubles to give away. So you can bring your wife, you can bring your husband, you can bring a friend, daughter, son, whatever it is.

You can give me a call with your best Sydney shout-out. You will win a double. That means you're coming to lunch with me to the Flying Fish in Piedmont, all thanks to DeeDee's Waterfront Group. Your Sydney shout-outs, 131873. It's all thanks to DeeDee's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. You're listening to TGIF. Thank God it's Friday on Sydney's 2GB.

So I'm going first, and this one's got a bit of an Olympics theme to it, this Sydney shout-out. So in a couple of weeks, you can head down to Gunnamatta Bay near Cronulla, and you can take a polar plunge, a polar plunge to support the Special Olympics. Now, it gives people with an intellectual disability the opportunity to compete in sport,

and feel that important sense of belonging and teamwork. Now, the Polar Plunge is being organised by the law enforcement Torch Run charity. So let's find out how we can get involved. Scott White is the organiser and he's on the line for us. Scott, g'day. Good afternoon, mate. How are you? I'm all right, Scott. Gee whiz. Gun them out of bay in the middle of winter. Be cold.

Well, having been down there recently, let me tell you that there seems to be a southerly breeze that blows right up the bay. I think there's a chance it will be just a bit chilly. So what's the idea behind it?

This is an idea that's actually been part of the law enforcement torch-run world for a number of years now. And normally in the US, for instance, they do it by cutting holes and blocks into frozen lakes. We haven't got that. We haven't got that. But what we're doing is...

seeking people who are prepared to come down to Gunnamatta Bay, register for the event and then take a plunge into the fairly chilly waters to raise money to help the athletes at Special Olympics. So it goes to this bit, what kind of money, what will the money be used for by the team at the Special Olympics?

A variety of things. Helping out with training camps, providing uniforms. One of the things that's happening in February of next year is the Special Olympics are having World Games in Turin in Italy and Australia will be sending a fairly small team because it's Winter Games.

but some of this money will be used to help provide assistance in terms of uniforms and travel expenses. On a day-to-day basis, we look after athletes across New South Wales. And, for instance, they may be travelling from Armidale to Coffs Harbour to take part in some sort of sporting event. We'll help them with the cost of, you know, hiring a bus and all that sort of stuff. It's grassroots fundraising at its very best.

How important is it? Give us a bit of an insight into how important it is for an intellectually challenged person, someone with an intellectual disability, to compete at the Special Olympics. What have you seen? I've been involved for getting close to 20 years now and I've had a lot of great experiences out of it. If I just tell you how it started, that'll give you the input. You've probably heard of John F. Kennedy. His sister is

is the founder of Special Olympics. She actually... Had she still been with us, she would have had her 103rd birthday, I think, last week. There was yet another sister who was afflicted with an intellectual disability. And in the 1940s, 1950s, the life for her was sitting on the front porch of their house watching the world go by. So the founder of Special Olympics

"We need to do more." So she actually went about it to find ways to open the world up to people with intellectual disabilities. It now reaches close to 4 million athletes around the world. Wow. And there's quite a few thousand here in Australia. If I can just give a plug to the cops, 'cause I'm a retired one.

Law enforcement torch run started back in 1981 in the U.S., and we've got over 100,000 law enforcement officers around the world doing things to help people with intellectual disabilities. And the amazing number is that last year we reported that in the previous 41 years we'd raised over $1 billion U.S. to help the athletes. Wow.

So it's a good cause. It makes you smile. It's the cops involved who actually get the feeling of contentment by talking to the athletes. We do it for them, but they also do it for us. So they're really great, generous people. Good on you, Scott. Hey, how can we get involved with the cold plunge down at Cronulla? Well,

I just wish you were not going to be on leave because I would have been inviting you to come and join us. But I've got a wedding, unfortunately. No, no, you're forgiven. What I would ask, at this point, we've raised getting close to $50,000 for this event. The very first plunge will involve Police Commissioner Karen Webb.

as well as the commissioner of the New South Wales Fire Brigade. And I'm thinking that there'll be a couple of deputy commissioners from both Rural Fire and SES as well.

A bit of support, a bit of financial support would be wonderful. If I could give you a very simple website that will take people to the fundraiser, it's called polarplunge.sydney. There's no .orgs, no nothing else. It's simply polarplunge.sydney. If people are happy to have a look at that and perhaps throw in a couple of bucks, we'll be very, very grateful. Scott, good on you. All the best. Polarplunge.sydney. We'll get behind it. Good luck with it.

You're a good man, Chris. Thank you very much. And thank you. That's Scott White from the Law Enforcement Torch Run, polarplunge.sydney. If you want to donate and get involved, jump in Gunnamatta Bay to help out the people with intellectual disabilities there.

competing in the Special Olympics. 131873. Very worthy. Righto, your turn now. Who gets your Sydney shout-out today? Six double passes to have lunch with me at Dee Dee's to give away. Your call's next. Thank God it's Friday. All thanks to the Dee Dee's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. Our special prize today, a listener lunch with me. Yep, six doubles to give away for a lunch at...

Aditi's Flying Fish in Pyrmont. Your Sydney shout-outs now. Let's go to Lewis at Campbelltown. Hello, Lewis. Hello, Chris. How are you? I'm good, thank you, Lewis. Who's your shout-out for?

What's he done for you Lewis?

Mate, he's the type of dude that will give you the shirt off his back. He would come and meet you in the middle of the night if your car would break down. And I mean, this is all outside of his duties and responsibilities. He just goes above and beyond. Incredible man. You going to bring him to lunch? Of course. I'm looking forward to meeting him. Lewis, Jethro and you are coming to lunch at the Flying Fish. Good on you. Look forward to seeing you. Judy's at Raby. Hello, Judy.

Hi, Chris. How are you? I'm good, thank you, Judy. Who's your shout-out for? My sister, Beth. Oh, nice. What's Beth been up to? Well, we've just, sadly, had to put our 96-year-old mother into care. Sorry, Judy. And... I know, don't get me upset. We've... Beth's the one that's done all the arrangements, found the place and helped sort out all the financial side of everything.

It should be the Rock. It should be great. Oh, sorry. No, I don't say sorry. I know what it's like. It's a very hard decision to make. And I tell you what, your sister Beth, having had the unfortunate duty to do the same thing with all the administration of it, Judy, it is quite overwhelming, isn't it?

Very, very much so. Yeah, she's been fantastic. She really has. Do you guys want to come to lunch with me? Oh, we'd love to. Well, Judy, I look forward to meeting you. I'll give you a big hug, okay? Okay, thank you, Chris. I look forward to it. Good on you, Judy. That's Judy from Raby. Mark's at Penrith. Hello, Mark. Chris, how you going, bud? Good, thank you, mate. Who's your shout-out for? It's got to be to my beautiful wife, Lauren, mate. What's Lauren doing, mate?

Oh, mate, look, because of my job, mate, I've had a lot of PTSD and mental health stuff going on, mate, over the last little while. And we've got five kids, mate, and she's the glue of our family, mate. She holds everything together. She's just an exceptional human being. Five kids that keep you busy, Mark.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's not get started on the cost of living, mate. Hey, Mark, I'm looking forward to meeting you and your wife, Lauren, I hope. We're looking forward to meeting you too, buddy. Good on you, Mark. We'll see you at the Flying Fish at Piermont. Adam's at Box Hill. G'day, Adam.

G'day Chris, great to talk to you mate. My shout out today is my mother, Lynette Durant, who has just donated her kidney to my father to keep him going. Oh wow. Dad was on the low-hitting list and obviously at his age couldn't get there. So mum stepped up and it's a big operation last week and they're both at home, both doing fine, but a remarkable effort, an incredible woman. And just on the side note, unbelievably Chris, Judy who just called you,

about first they're my aunties oh really and i i can't believe this yeah and and the gram and the mother is my grandmother so it's also lynette's mother who's in care so this has all happened to mum and she all through this with the man going into care and she's still donated to my father so it's uh it's been an incredible family adam i'm looking for it'll be a family lunch i'm looking forward to it hey that's extraordinary what what your mother has done donating her kidney

To her husband and your dad. It would be my absolute honour to meet you both, mate. So I'm looking forward to it. It'll be great. Thank you, Chris. Good on you, Adam. And Claudia's in Balmain. Hello, Claudia. Hi, Chris. How are you going, Claudia? I'm great. How are you? I'm good, thank you, Claudia. You sound a bit young to come to lunch with us. Who's your shout-out for?

My shout out is for my amazing, beautiful, amazing grandparents, Beth and Andrew. Why are they so amazing, Claudia? They're so beautiful and so amazing because they do the most wonderful things with me. They take me out. They treat me. Right now, my nan's driving me to her holiday house for the weekend. I feel like. They're really deserving. Do they spoil you, Claudia? Oh, very much. Do they give you stuff that your mum and dad won't?

Yeah. That's what grandparents are supposed to do. Hey, Claudia, do you want to send them to lunch with us? Of course. Well, they're coming. Good on you, Claudia. Looking forward to meeting Beth and Andrew, your grandparents. 131873. That's a fantastic Sydney shout-outs. That's it from us this week. We've got another one to give away. So we've got another Listener Lunch coming up very shortly, but...

Good health and good business. It's all thanks to the DD's Waterfront Group. It is our Sydney shout-outs for this Friday afternoon. In the newsroom, Zach De Silva. G'day.

Good afternoon Chris. High-speed rail lines in France have been targeted in attacks including arson, throwing the nation's train network into chaos hours before the Olympic opening ceremony. French officials say it's an act of coordinated sabotage.

Back home, police have arrested one man and are searching for another after shots were fired at a home in Sydney's southwest. Bullet casings, a magazine and a gun have been found in Austral. Gladys Berejiklian has failed to overturn ICAC's findings of serious corrupt conduct

And the Home Affairs and Immigration Ministers are expected to be moved into new portfolios when the PM announces a reshuffle on Sunday. In sport, Parramatta will look to avoid six straight losses when it takes on NRL ladder leaders Melbourne tonight, while the Tigers play the Warriors in New Zealand. And Chris, there'll be more news at six o'clock. Thanks, Zach.

I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you.

A weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance. Well, beautiful day today. 15 in the city at the moment and 14 in the west. Temperatures tonight 10 in the city and 7 in our west. Tomorrow, possible shower. Unlikely though. Tops of 21 in the city tomorrow and 21 in the west.

A finance update. The best gets even better. Masterton Homes Ultimate Inclusions now comes with solar. Search Masterton to realise your dream today. Markets went well. All odds is up 0.73 of a percent. ASX 200 is up 0.76 of a percent. And one Aussie dollar currently buying 65 US cents.

Now on Drive. Doodle Charlie Brown. At Harvey Norman, bonus local delivery and wall mount installation on selected TVs. Hurry, offer ends Monday. Harvey Norman, best brands, best range, best prices, guaranteed.

Charlie Brown's the host of 2GB's Life and Technology. He's on the line. He wants to talk about why if you're about to buy a new phone, prices may be about to rise. Charlie, g'day. Hey, Chris. About 10% to 15% is expected over the next 12 months. Now, this is...

If you look at, for example, the next iPhone that comes out and you're buying a quarter terabyte in storage and you're looking at that model versus the current model, we're expecting about a 10 to 15% growth in prices, not just for one brand either. So the premium end.

We're expecting price rises in this area, which, I mean, these are already premium phones as it is, Chris. So there'll be a lot of people who see the prices come through and I think maybe they might think, well, should I just buy last year's model? Maybe. We'll just hold on with what I've got. What's on the show tomorrow?

We're going to talk about, well, funnily enough, a new premium flip phone that's hitting the stores as we speak, plus how the scammers are using last week's CrowdStrike to now try and rip you off. That's on the show tomorrow. Good on you, Charlie. You can catch Charlie Brown on Life and Technology tomorrow morning, 8am, right here on 2GB. Now, a little bit more information. France's high-speed rail network, the TGV network, has been hit by a massive attack yesterday

So this is from France 24, one of the local broadcasters. And they are claiming it's been hit by the high-speed rail network has been hit by malicious attacks, including arson attacks that have disrupted the transport system. And this is directly from train operator SNCF, of course, just hours before the opening ceremony. And this is the quote. This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyze the TGV network.

And they've added that many routes will have to be cancelled and the situation would last at least all weekend while repairs are conducted. Shane McInnes, Nine Radio reporters on the line. Shane, what else do we know about this?

Chris, it's really concerning. This is the kind of incident that organisers have been worried about, that there would be sabotage to try and destroy these games. And this is the kind of incident that's going to cause games havoc because people are trying to get in to the French capital from all over France to be part of this opening ceremony. Parisians are trying to leave.

the Capitol to escape what's going on here at the moment. And they're simply not able to. This has just happened in the last couple of hours. It has only started to be reported in the last few minutes. What are being described as malicious acts. So there are no defined... We don't have the definitions of what exactly happened.

Arson attacks certainly have, whereby fires to signalling boxes and similar have occurred to bring a halt to trains. However, whether there has been a digital or technical attack on the network, that is still unclear at this point in time. But it's clear to say that these were coordinated attacks, Chris, to bring a halt to the high-speed rail network, which really brings France together. Great report. Thank you, Shane. Appreciate your time.

Cheers, Chris. That's Shane McInnes there live from Paris, Nines Radio Reporter. Well, thank God it's Friday, Sydney, and thank God for Kate Sobrano and John Stevens. 32 years on from their incredible Jesus Christ Superstar Show. So Kate and John, they're back on the road together, you know. And they're taking the Superstars live show right around the country and they're doing it this October, including...

A gig right here at the Sydney Coliseum at Rudy Hill. If you haven't been there, it's a hell of a venue. And that one is occurring Saturday, October 19. Superstarslive.show if you want to get tickets. And these two are as good as it gets. And I'm thrilled to say Kate Sobrano is with me live out of the 3AW studios. Kate, g'day. G'day and happy Friday, good people. Tell us about the Superstars Live tour. Why have you got the band back together?

Well, actually, can you believe it? It was out that way when John and I had been invited by Delta Goodrum last Christmas to do a fundraiser for her. And she was such a fan of the whole superstar experience as a kid, she said. It really changed her life, as it did mine. I mean, from that moment forward, my life as an artist in Australia just changed.

I just felt like I got my tires pumped up, you know, it was amazing. And so we performed it and we talked about it then. And when suddenly we just said, you know what, it's 50 years anniversary of

I think they're bringing the show back to Australia. And then I get a call from Mahalia. Mahalia Barnes says to me, Kate, you know, my dear friend Mahalia, she says, I wonder if you'd give me your blessings. It's looking like I'm going to be playing Mary. And I was like, oh, that's perfect. Couldn't think of a better Mary. Michael Painter, another great artist as well, calls John Stevens. So this whole event ended up being, well, you know what? Let's get John and I together. We're going to get out on the road.

We're going to perform music. It won't all be music from Superstar. It'll be music that John and John Farnham and I have sung together. It's going to be all of our hits. And just put the show back up on the road. Superstar will be playing in theatres. We're just going to put it up as a rock concert. And there you go. Just give Australia what it hasn't had in 25 years, which is all of us back together. So it won't be just you guys doing Jesus Christ Superstar. It'll be a whole range of stuff.

Yes. So John, he's been in the 25 years since we've been on stage together. Obviously, he's had the great fortune of being out of front, both Noiseworks and In Excess, and he's been super busy pumping away at that. I've been making albums. I did just a big orchestra tour last year on an album that I just loved, and that took a year out of my life. And

I guess what we just decided, it's really fun to play out there on your own, but there's nothing quite like being together. You're not slowing down at all. No. You've brought your talents to the studio. So what are you singing for us?

Oh, actually, now indulge me a little bit. It may be a bit long because we just made it up on the spot. But my friend Kathleen Halloran, who's also going to be joining the tour, she's a tremendous guitarist. If you haven't heard her, check her out. We just carved up a medley of some of the songs that you're potentially going to hear on the tour. A couple of my hits.

And one little superstar tip. I love it. I love it. So Sydney Coliseum, Rudy Hill, Saturday, October 19. If you want tickets, superstarslive.show. Kate Sobrano, take it away for us. All right, a little medley made just for you guys. In honour of Kate Sobrano at John Stevens' concert. We're joined by Kathleen Halloran here in the house. MUSIC PLAYS

you're a part of me my one obsession from this power you possess i need protection when you're staring through me those eyes those bedroom eyes i must admit i'm not surprised i can feel it in my heart it's about to start with your eyes bedroom

I really love to speak in tongues. Throw into your mouth. Passionate kisses.

Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me. I'm on fire when you, baby, kiss me. Kiss me. I could hear the calling many miles away.

As my heart be filled so silently With things that I can't say My mother used to tell me She said, girl, your time will come So I sit back and I hold her tight And I will never walk away And just be free to stay Hold me to the end And in your arms I'll rise Woo! Woo!

Kate Sobrano, ladies and gentlemen. Not bad for a Friday afternoon. All right, time to give away a bit of free fuel. It's a special Olympics version of the Jewel for Fuel. So we need two contestants to play. And you've got to be up with your Olympics trivia. 131873. All thanks to Shell V-Power. We're doing it next.

On 2GB Drive, let's Jewel for Fuel. Yes, we are Jeweling for Fuel, a special Olympics edition of the Jewel for Fuel this Friday afternoon. It's all thanks to Shell V-Power, our contestants. I've got Marilyn at Marston Park. Hello, Marilyn. Hello, how are you? I'm good, thank you, Marilyn. And Greg's at Shell Harbour. G'day, Greg. Hi, Chris. You ready to go, Greg? Yeah, yeah. Your time starts now. What city are the Olympics in this year?

Paris. Correct. What city are the Olympics in in 2028? Pass. Los Angeles. Have the Aussie women's sevens ever won an Olympic gold medal? Yes. 2016. Correct. What Olympic sport did Kerry Pothast and Natalie Cook win gold in? Beach volleyball. Correct. How many Olympic golds has Ian Thorpe won? Five or three? Five. Correct. Was Olympic gold medalist Tom Slingsby a sailor or a cyclist? Cyclist. He's a sailor. Greg. Pretty good effort for Marilyn. You ready?

Let's go. Your time starts now. Other than Sydney, what Australian city has hosted an Olympics? Melbourne. Correct. Who lit the Olympic flame in Sydney? Cathy Freeman. Correct. Who is the Aussie chef de mission this Olympics? Anamir. Anamir. What sport did Anamir compete in? Road cycling or track cycling? Cycling. Track cycling or road cycling?

We'll go road cycling. She was track cycling. What country did Usain Bolt represent at the Olympics? Jamaica. Well done. All right, it's four apiece. Your names are your buzzers, Greg and Marilyn. So you've got to say your names to qualify to answer the next question. Whoever gets it wins. London hosted the Olympics in 2012. What city hosted it in 2016? Marilyn. Marilyn.

Is it Tokyo? No, it was not Tokyo. Greg, do you want to have a go? Was it Brazil? It was a city, so Rio de Janeiro is in Brazil. Next one. Here we go. We'll go again. Marilyn, you're back in. Is tennis an Olympic sport? Marilyn. Marilyn. Yes. Yes, it is. Marilyn, 200 bucks coming your way thanks to Shell V-Power. It is the jewel for fuel we play every afternoon here on Drive.

And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports. Pick your favourite Kia from the award-winning Kia Sportage to the street-cred delivering Kia Seltos or Kia's most powerful car ever, the all-electric EV6 GT.

Well, Mark, we haven't got long to talk, but I just want to alert you to one thing that I thought was funny this afternoon. Speaking to Clinton Maynard, he said Ray Hadley will be commentating the opening ceremony with Shane Flanagan. He didn't, did he? Shane McInnes. Righto. That audio will be taken off and played...

ad nauseum over the weekend. What's on the show? Well, Anna Mears, the chef de missions on the show, Brad Fittler to preview the footy, and Gordon Bray, who will be a part of our commentary team, will check in with a great Gordie. All the best with everything, Mark. You'll do an absolutely outstanding job, as you always do. That's Widewater Sports with Mark Levy coming up next. That's it from me. I'll see you 3pm Monday. Enjoy the games.