2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full show July 1 01:50:31

On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon. Monday the 1st of July it is. Clinton Maynard back with you filling in for Chris this week. 131873, it is the start of a new financial year. Stage 3 tax cuts have now kicked in. The $300 energy rebate applies from today as well. But news those Stage 3 tax cuts will be wiped out in a couple of years as more workers are pushed up into higher tax brackets.

and the number of people needing help with their electricity bills has doubled. And, of course, from today, you pay more to use Sydney's roads. Yes, tolls are up. And opal fares on trains, buses, ferries and trams have also increased by 3.6%.

So are you really better off today or not? The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, joins me in the first hour of the program. Also coming up today, it is not just the sale of vapes that is rife. Illegal vapes. The sale of illegal tobacco.

is exploding. Is that because of the price? The price of legal cigarettes? The federal government has today appointed an illicit tobacco and e-cigarette commissioner to lead a crackdown. The first thing that comes to my mind, has the horse bolted? I think it might have. We'll look at that. News today that bus routes in Sydney along the new metro line are being axed. Five of them will be axed. The rail, tram and bus union is not happy. We'll talk to them. I don't think they can be shocked.

The government's hardly going to spend $22 million, billion dollars make it, on a new metro train line and then continue to run buses. And Barnaby Joyce on the show today, he says life's no fun anymore now that he's given up drinking. He actually has to talk to people at functions, the former Deputy Prime Minister.

on later in the program. If you see something this afternoon that we need to know about, send me a text message, 0460 873 873. Emails via the website 2GB.com. Click on feedback. Have your say. 131 873. Drive on 2GB. Seen something? Send a text. 0460 873 873.

Nine past three, it is Clinton filling in for Chris O'Keefe this week. Well, finally, Anthony Albanese, the PM, has taken action against the Labor senator, Fatima Payman. She has been suspended from caucus indefinitely after, of course, yesterday she conceded that she would cross the floor again if there was another vote on the Palestinian issue in the Senate. Zach DeSilva has been following events in Parliament this afternoon. Thank you for your time, Zach.

Question time underway. Has the matter been raised in question time yet? I know it's a lower house question time. Yes, it has. It's been raised both in the lower house and the upper house. The PM was asked about it just in the last few minutes and spoke more generally about the war in Gaza and the risks of importing some of that division here.

But Penny Wong was asked about it in the Upper House question time, and I thought her argument was quite interesting. Now, Fatima Payman, at the moment, seems to be pretty unpopular in the Labor Party because she last week voted against them, as we've said, on this issue of Palestinian statehood. And Labor has this policy of solidarity, which means members can thrash it out in private, they can have the debate in the caucus room, but in Parliament they vote as one, and she didn't do that. So...

penny wong today was asked about this in the senate and said well labor has achieved all of these social reforms and rattled off a whole list of them things like medicare things like improving rights for lgbtq people and said the only reason that they were able to do that was by presenting a united front and it's particularly pertinent coming from penny wong someone who is of the lgbt community and was forced to vote against a motion for gay marriage

when it was brought forward in a previous parliament because of this rule of party solidarity, essentially saying, if I can do it, you have to do it as well. So the other issue that the government is raising today is, as you mentioned at the start of the show, we've got all these cost of living measures kicking in today, the Stage 3 tax cuts, energy bill relief, paid parental leave,

That's what the government wanted to be talking about. They wanted this to be a free kick for them today. And instead, their argument is Senator Payman deliberately derailed that by giving an interview yesterday saying she would promise to continue crossing the floor on this issue of Palestinian statehood. And that's why we've seen her now indefinitely suspended from the Labor Party room. There was some talk this morning that she would actually make a statement of sorts in Canberra today. Is that going to happen?

This is the question that we're all trying to figure out at the moment. I haven't heard anything yet. We're chasing it up as we speak, trying to figure out if she is going to say anything and if she does, obviously we'll bring that to you here. But this is the big question. What

will she say about her future in the Labor Party given the ball is really in her court now? She hasn't been expelled, which under Labor rules, the government could have expelled her from the party for breaching this rule of solidarity. They haven't done that.

But by suspending her from the party room, she won't attend the party room meeting tomorrow. I've seen reports she's also been left off all of the mailing lists for things directing the party, how they're going to vote. She's having to make up her own mind on all of those. She's really on the outside, and they've left the ball in her court.

for if she wants to resign from the Labor Party. And that's now going to be the question over Fatima Payman. Will she try and stay in the Labor Party? She says she has Labor values, to quote her speaking last week. We'll see if she follows through on that and wants to remain a part of the Labor Party, despite this pretty significant split on the issue of Palestine. Zech, if she does speak, we'll be back in contact. We'll certainly want to hear what she has to say.

Of course.

She, of course, was elected as a Green, but she now sits as a Senator as an Independent, despite the fact people in Victoria voted for the Greens. They didn't vote for Lydia Thorpe directly. They voted for the Greens. Well, it's the same with Senator Payman. Most people in WA at the last election in the Senate for the Upper House voted above the line.

And she would not have been elected to the Senate if she ran as an independent. In fact, she was very lucky to be voted in as a Labor member. She was effectively what was thought to be an unwinnable position on the Labor ticket. But because Labor did very well in WA, the libs are on the nose, she actually got the seat, which was a surprise to many people. So she would not have been elected without Labor Party endorsement.

So what then happens if she's either booted out or if she makes the decision to resign? You then have somebody sitting in the Senate who effectively has not been elected. It's Labor Party supporters who ticked or voted one Labor above the line in the Senate. They didn't vote for her.

So effectively, it'd be fairly undemocratic if she was to remain. 14 degrees across Sydney. As you've heard with Michael, there is still an outage with NAB, the National Australia Bank. Their internet services are down. Now, that includes the app.

We'll be right back.

We will be speaking to NAB after 4.30 about scams, so we might ask them about this as well. Also reports of Macquarie Bank outage. They've said, we're aware of some issues impacting the login to the mobile and online banking services. We're working hard to fix this. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you are having troubles, and it may be beyond NAB, if there are other services you've got issues with at the moment, let me know. 131873 is the number. 19 past three. The Coalition in New South Wales

sure knows how to shoot themselves in the foot. When I wrapped up the program on Friday, civil war was just breaking out between the Libs and the Nationals. And the tensions over the weekend have only grown. This is over the whole drama of Leader Mark Speakman visiting Wagga Wagga, the Riverina, and thanking the local independent MP, Joe McGurr, for taking him on a tour of the local hospital.

The Nationals MP Wes Fang, he's in the upper house. He was angered by that. Now, he's not the local MP, but he lives in Wagga Wagga. So he's the closest thing you might say to a coalition representative. He took to social media, basically ripped into Mr. Speakman and questioned how long he could be leader.

And that's a pretty big deal in politics. They're on the same side. Well, I say they're shooting themselves in the foot because while it's probably unlikely, governments in New South Wales don't usually serve only one term. It is not impossible for the coalition to win the next election because Labor does not have a majority in Parliament. They rely on independents to pass legislation, to run the state.

So the coalition does have a chance. It might only be a small chance, but they do have a chance based on the numbers. But in politics, disunity is death. Mark Speakman was on air on this program last week, on Thursday. It's actually the last time he's spoken publicly about this issue. And I asked him about his leadership.

And I asked him about Wes Fang. Well, his behaviour is unacceptable, and I've spoken to Dougal Saunders about that. But my focus is on the issues and on the people, and I don't think, frankly, the electorate is interested in tiffs between politicians. They want to know that we're listening to their concerns and we've got an action plan to deal with them. They might not be interested in the tiffs between politicians, but tomorrow at a quarter past nine there will be a meeting of Liberal Party MPs at Parliament House.

And they're telling me they're seriously thinking of splitting with the Nats. It's not some idle threat. Because Mark Speakman then went to sack Wes Fang as an assistant shadow minister. It's not a role that pays any extra money, but it's a title. He went to sack Wes Fang. He put a statement out late in the program on Friday. But then Dougal Saunders, the Nationals leader, he responded by saying Mark Speakman didn't have the right to sack Wes Fang.

So what's going to happen tomorrow? We'll obviously follow this tomorrow. There'll be a meeting of Liberal Party MPs. They've been called to Parliament House to sort this out. And I've been told they are very serious about splitting the coalition, at least for now, over a catfight. They both need each other. Neither can win an election without the other. They're not big enough. So what's the point of a split? I mean, what'll happen is they'll blow up with each other.

They'll play games for a month or two and then they'll get back to it with each other because there's no point of going to an election without the other side. They can't win government without each other. And it's three years away from an election. It does cause Mr. Speakman some issues with his leadership, probably. But when I was at Parliament earlier today and talking to Liberals, they are saying that this is about showing that Mark Speakman's actually a strong leader.

It's about showing that Mark Speakman has strength over the Nats because there are going to be issues down the track, for instance, on renewable energy. And some Liberals, for instance, are very much in favour of renewable energy projects in the bush that Nats aren't happy with because it's in their backyard. So there's going to be fights, internal fights over issues like that in the next 12 months. So this is about showing the National Party will know we're in charge.

And they're willing to fight on this particular issue. There's then the point about who is there to replace Mark Speakman if it came to that anyway. There's relatively few alternatives. Natalie Ward is in the upper house. You can't be the leader of the Liberal Party in the opposition from the upper house. There's been a suggestion that she would run for Matt Keane's seat of Hornsby because he's resigned. I've been told she won't contest pre-selection, but if she was parachuted in, perhaps she'd take it. But she won't contest a vote because...

Before the last election, she lost a pre-selection ballot. She doesn't want to be put in that position again. Kelly Sloan, a former TV host, she could be an option, but she's only been in government, in parliament for a year. Alistair Hempkins has ambition, but most people don't know who he is. He's tougher than Mark Speakman, but like Mark Speakman, he doesn't have a big profile. So there's going to be plenty to play out in the next 24 hours. The Libs aren't backing down. And nationals I've spoken to this afternoon, they're saying bring it on.

So there might be a hell of a barney tomorrow. Bottom line is you've got both sides of conservative politics in New South Wales doing their best to shoot themselves in the foot. 27 past three, it's not only tax cuts that kick in today, the minimum wage has also gone up by 3.75%. So what that means, if you are a low-paid worker currently on the minimum wage, which is $23.23 an hour, which equates to $882.80 per week,

It increased to $24.10 per hour or $915.90 per week. It's a little bit more for casuals because it includes the 25% loading as well. So the Fair Work Commission, the Fair Work Ombudsman is saying to employees, make sure

You make that change or you will be needing to make back pay at some point in the future. 131873, you can have your say for less with Amazing. Don't play too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco and escape to better value with the Escape Plan by Amazing. G'day, Ryan.

Quentin, how are you, mate? Good, mate. You got problems with the banks? Yeah, Macquarie Bank, getting an error on their app, not being able to log in. Unexpected error has occurred in the last half hour or so. Okay, so was that for a general Macquarie account?

Yeah, General Macquarie personal banking account. Okay. Thank you for letting us know about that, Ryan. Macquarie says they're working on the problem. They're sorry for any inconvenience. NAB's also confirmed their issue is continuing. NAB's been down for some time. Linda on the text line, if you'd like to send a text message, 0460 873 873. Linda says Macquarie's been down for hours. I'm hoping it's only because it's the first...

of July. I mean, that's an interesting one, whether it's because of the new financial year, it's affected systems because we've got NAB Macquarie and had some reports about some problems with Suncorp as well. Stephen makes the point, Macquarie Bank no longer accepts cash. So they've now shot themselves in the foot. And let's remember with Macquarie, they operate very differently. I mean, primarily they're investment bank, loan type bank. They don't have as big a customer base as the big four. However, they did make a big song and dance a little while ago about the fact that they were

closing down their access to Cass. On Senator Payman, Senator Payman has not made a statement this afternoon. However, the Prime Minister's obviously confirmed, as we reported a little earlier, that she has been suspended indefinitely from caucus. Richard on the text line is a former member of the ALP. He was a member for 40 years. And he says, where was the Senator's concerns when Afghanistan's women...

by the thousands were forced to be deported from Pakistan recently. It is completely hypocritical of her. She should actually go and join the Greens. Richard, I understand your frustration as a Labor member, but that's the problem. If she goes and joins the Greens, it means Labor is without a vote.

And it means people who voted for the Labor Party in WA are not getting their fair representation because they didn't vote for Fatima Payman. They didn't vote for the Greens. They voted for the Labor ticket in the main. Let's check our news headlines.

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. And it's good afternoon with all the latest Rhiannon Solomon-Marron.

Hello Rhiannon. Good afternoon Clinton. Police are searching for the driver of a car which hit and killed a man at Melon Bar. Officers say the 79-year-old was struck by a small dark-coloured sedan or coupe. The Federal Government's $300 energy rebate is among what's kicking in from today, along with a rise to the minimum wage to $915 a week.

500 homes will be built on the part of Carriageworks Precinct near Redfern Station to help meet the state's new housing targets. Half of the dwellings will be social or affordable housing. And the bowel cancer screening age has been lowered from 50 to 45 amid an increase in the number of Australians being diagnosed with the disease.

In sport, Dolphins utility Kurt Donahue is facing a suspension of up to four matches after being charged with a careless high tackle in his sides loss to the Dragons. An early guilty plea will see him miss three matches. And Clinton, there'll be more news at four. Thank you, Rhiannon. Steve on the text line 0460 873 873. Regarding the split between the Liberals and the Nationals, his pending split,

Steve says...

There is no way they can win an election without the National Party. The Nationals have 10 seats, I think it's the Liberals have 25, so it's a reasonably large portion of their representation. I think what will happen is they'll fight for a couple of months and then they'll realise, no, we've got to get back together again. And if you cast your mind back to when Gladys Berejiklian was Premier, the same thing happened, although it was probably more colourful, with John Barillaro.

over koalas. But for the good of those that support the conservative side of politics, it's actually no good them fighting about something like this in public. It's Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe this week. Chris is back next Monday. Some breaking news from our court reporter, our senior reporter Josh Bryant. He tells me a police officer has been convicted this afternoon and handed a 22-month suspended jail sentence over a fatal crash in Landilo in the western suburbs.

Jostein Wong pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, occasioning death over a collision, which ended up killing a bus driver, a 76-year-old man by the name of Andy Leonello. It was at Lendilo two years ago. The judge noted the 42-year-old wrote a letter of apology...

where he expressed his sincere regret over what happened. It's 24 to 4. The federal government has today announced the creation of an illicit tobacco and e-cigarette commissioner. Erin Dale will fill the role on an interim basis until a full-time appointment is made. She's currently with Border Force and she leads the Tobacco and E-Cigarette Task Force. Her job is to lead the fight against the illegal sale of vapes.

But also illegal tobacco. Since the ban on the import of disposable vapes, which started on the 1st of January, 1.9 million vapes have been seized. Reality is, and we heard about this on the weekend, as soon as those vapes are seized, they're replaced. There's not enough inspectors to keep up with the problem when it comes to illegal vapes. But tobacco is just as big a problem. And it's fuelling a lot of crime, particularly in Melbourne. There are regularly firebombings in Melbourne because of the illegal tobacco trade.

Over the first four months of the year, 112 million tonnes of tobacco has been seized, 608 million cigarettes. Over the weekend, I read a really honest piece by the Daily Telegraph's chief crime reporter, Mark Morey. Now, Mark knows the Sydney underworld better than anyone, and he explained why he buys illegal tobacco himself. He joins us in the program. Thanks for your time, Mark. Yeah, good afternoon. As someone who doesn't smoke, and I guess I'm not part of that world,

You really provided, I think to me, a real insight into illegal tobacco. I mean, why do you buy it? I've got to the point now, I'm from a generation that didn't get bombarded with all the facts and all the health campaigns. And I've tried to give up 100 times over all the years. But the fact is, a packet of cigarettes that I was buying was $60. I can get something that isn't much worse quality for $20.

Now, I'm not a pack-a-day smoker, but a lawyer I know who actually took me into it, he said, mate, I'm saving $10,000. He said, we'd all love not to smoke. That is the amount of money that's being saved. And you make that point about all those vapes. I know young people who are saying vapes are getting harder to get. They're

They're thinking of going back to tobacco at $20 because it's going to be cheaper than vaping again. It's a vicious circle of problems that we're creating, and I honestly don't know the answer. But that's why I do it. You can't afford. It's an addiction that a lot of people would have, especially older people. And the price now, they've priced people into breaking the law, which is...

It's a bit unusual. And how do you feel about that, Mark? As somebody in your day job, you're reporting on criminal activities 24-7. How do you feel that you are breaking the law by not paying the tax effectively? Well, I actually did speak to a retired policeman who does the same thing. And he said, technically, you're not breaking the law. Buying cigarettes and smoking is not.

They're untaxed. You don't know that. Well, we do, but those cigarettes, it's not paying the tax that it's illegal. But yeah, I don't, it is a bit hypocritical, I suppose, because people who go buying cocaine, I know, who think that they're only doing it recreationally, what they're doing, I say, and I've written, is that they're giving profits to the cartels. I suppose in some way, I'm feeling a little bit like, am I doing the same thing?

Because we've seen what's been happening in Melbourne. The fire bombings in Melbourne are obviously terrifying. Hasn't been to the same extent here in Sydney, has it?

No. New South Wales police have really looked into it. They've done a whole lot of investigations and challenge gathering. They've found that the suppliers here, it's a lot more diverse, whereas in Melbourne there are two gangs going hammer and tongs at each other for profits here. And as I said to me, to be quite honest, it's just the little crews making the money. There's so much money to go around. No one's fighting over it. I've been making the point in my progress for a while, Mark, that there's...

There seems to be tobacconists popping up everywhere. In my suburb, I'm down south, in my suburb, three new tobacconists have opened in the past 12 months, yet smoking rates are going down. Are they the sort of places people are buying the illegal stuff from?

Yes, yes. Look, as I said, I was put onto it by a lawyer and a retired policeman and then find out that my son and half his mates are all buying their vapes from these places and are thinking that they're going to go to tobacco. Now, I mean, that young generation's a big problem. For a lot of us older people, it's too late. We've done our damage. But we're creating this huge market now and it's now going to be affordable again. So authorities have to get all over it and start really enforcing

law and I'm going to be hated by half the people that I know. The guy with the cheap cigarette, none of them are very happy about what I wrote.

It was really open for me. On the vaping market, of course, we know that since the 1st of January, the disposable vapes have been illegal. The legislation passed through the Senate last week that's going to apply for the, well, you won't need a script from a GP, but you'll have to go to a pharmacist. If those vapes become harder to buy, are we just going to be seeing more young people who've never smoked in their life take it up?

Yeah, we are. And the other thing I've just recently been told is there are millions and millions of those vapes that are in warehouses everywhere that now are going to be dumped onto the market because of these. But I've also been told by vapers, which I'm not, that they are getting harder and going up in price, and that's why they're going to turn to the cheap vapes.

untaxed cigarettes which is you know not just a health danger but the government is missing out on millions of dollars which they need either for health or campaigns to try and fight smoking so they're just going around in circles without really coming up with a proper solution at this stage. Just lastly Mark and thanks for your time what's the answer?

Don't smoke. I've tried. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's education from a very, very young age. We'd eradicated, you know, smoking had plummeted. We now have this new problem with vapes. So now maybe we've got to try and use all those tactics all over again on the new generation. Thanks for your time, Mark. Enjoyed reading the comments. Mark Morey, who's the chief crime editor of the Daily Telegraph. It was a piece he published over the weekend and it just, it spelled it out.

It comes down to dollars. A packet of cigarettes will cost somebody who has been addicted to smoking for decades $60. But you can go into any of these tobacconists that we know have popped up everywhere and ask for a particular brand that comes in from overseas illegally and they'll sell them to you for $20. So yes, you are breaking the law, you're not paying your tax, but you're saving $40 at the time. 131873 says,

Have you found yourself in this position that you are addicted to smoking, that you've tried everything? You've tried the patches. You've tried hypnosis. You can't stop, but you can't afford $60 cigarettes. On the text line, yep, I smoke and I vote. But I clearly see this as a government scam on taxing cigarettes. It's a total warp. It's an absolute rort from the government. So I love buying black market cigarettes. To hell with the government. Rip off the taxes from one of our listeners there.

I'm certainly not advocating you go out and buy illegal tobacco, but I can understand why people end up doing it. 131873 is our number. Now, on the issue of the NAB outage, but also Macquarie Bank, who are having issues at the moment with their internet systems, the ATO crashed. I shouldn't laugh, but they're the government. The ATO website has crashed today. I think it's back up and running now. The reason it has crashed is

is because so many people on the 1st of July, the first day of the new tax year, financial year, are trying to submit their tax returns and seek cost of living relief. Aussies putting in their tax file numbers have encountered delays because of the pressure on the system.

A message has been read for thousands of people, hang tight, you're in the queue, to ensure the best experience. When you gain access to our online services, we're currently managing the number of people who can log on. Thanks for your patience. So they simply haven't been allowed to log on. Those who are hoping to submit their return today are being advised to wait.

And a message can be read, to keep your place in the queue, don't refresh this screen or close the browser. To avoid the queue, try again. This is the reality of the cashless society. It's a call to the 4131873. G'day, Shane. Oh, good afternoon, Clinton. Listen, I'm just wondering, I live in Collar War and up on Collar War Plateau, they've put one of those tobacco shops across...

in the shops of Collingwood Platter, straight across the road from the puppet bill, where everybody crosses. I don't understand why the authorities or the police can't go into these tobacconists, search the place, and if they find any of them, shut them down. They can. They can. They don't have enough inspectors. So the health department, this was confirmed over the weekend, that they simply do not have the resources. And Ryan Park, the health minister, is actually employed through his department, more people to do this job. They don't have enough numbers to do it.

Simple as that. Right. It's a shame they've got to fight them because, you know, at the end of the day, it's going to start killing those kids. Of course it will. They're all human. And what I find scary, I mean, we've been talking about vapes for some time and the dangers of vaping, but as Mark Morey just explained there, the vape prices are now going up because of the restrictions. And I'm not saying they shouldn't be restricted. It is because the government had their heads in the sand years ago. But the vape prices are going up.

So if vapes are, say, $40 and the equivalent of tobacco is $20, what do you reckon the kids are going to start doing?

Oh, yeah, I know. It's just appalling. They're going to have to find a way very quickly. It's all because, Shane, governments had their heads stuck in the sand on this particular issue years ago. Rosemary in Parramatta on the text line says, regarding illegal cigarettes, my neighbours make regular trips to China. They leave without a suitcase and return with suitcases. And those suitcases are filled with cigarettes and vapes. It's 9 to 4131873.com.

Big day for the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. He is today implementing Stage 3 tax cuts. They are costing the government $23 billion. It'll be money in your back pocket, but it looks like it's going to be gobbled up fairly quickly. The Treasurer joins us on the program. Thank you for your time, Treasurer.

Thanks for having me back on the show, Clinton. Significant tax cuts today. Are you concerned, though, based on you would have read the story in the Herald today, that based on some ANU research, that within a couple of years, most of the benefits will disappear? I'm not concerned about that because the reason we're providing these tax cuts from today so that every single Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut is...

is because we want to get those average tax rates down and that's what we're doing. So the highest they've been is was actually in the last 35 years or so was actually under John Howard. They're a little bit lower now and we want to get them lower still. Now we know, and I read that story in the Herald, of course, about average tax rates. We know that there will always be people who say that we should cut taxes more. I understand that. That's a healthy feature of a

political and economic discussion in a country like ours, but we are making a meaningful difference today. These tax cuts are an important part of a broader suite of cost of living policies.

which are all about recognising people are under the pump and doing something about it. So the cost of living relief is meaningful, it's substantial and it's responsible in the context of a budget which is tight and we're providing as much relief as we can in the most responsible way. How do you ever really get around bracket creep? Because it's obviously been a problem for governments of every political persuasion. The original plan was to really try to reform bracket creep

Yeah, this is one of the, I think, misconceptions or misunderstandings about what we changed. So you know and your listeners would know in around about January this year, we took the old stage three tax cuts and for the same price tag, we made them fairer. So everyone got a tax cut rather than just people who are already on higher incomes. And we're proud that we did that. But there's been this kind of misunderstanding, I think, that what the former government was proposing all those years ago was returning bracket creeps.

and what we're doing isn't. But the reality is we are returning bracket creep for more people. Now, we found a better way to return bracket creep, which is to return bracket creep right up and down the income scale rather than just to people who are already doing pretty well. And that's because we understand the tax system's got a role to play in feeding and fueling people's legitimate aspirations to earn more and keep more of what they earn and provide for their families.

But we found a way, a responsible way, to do that for every taxpayer rather than just some who are doing a bit better than others. But if based on that ANU research, that for 80% of taxpayers, that by 2027, which really isn't all that far away, that the average tax rate will be where it is as of yesterday, does that mean you'd have to go and do it all over again? Well, I think obviously governments of the future, you know, will look at the budget and look at the tax settings and, you know, typically...

Governments of both political persuasions have tried to cut taxes where they can. I guess the point that I'm making about that research, I don't dismiss that research either. That's a serious crowd and it's a serious newspaper that reported it, so I don't dismiss it. But I guess the point I'm making is absent what we changed in January, the situation would be a little bit worse than that and we're doing what we can.

We're turning bracket creep where we can. We're cutting a couple of rates. We're lifting a couple of thresholds and we're providing cost of living relief right up and down the income scale. And the other thing that's really important to your listeners, Clinton, is the tax cuts are a big part of what we're doing but not the only part. We've got the energy bill relief. We've got cheaper medicines. If you're on an award, you get a pay rise today. If you're having a baby, you get another couple of weeks of paid parental leave. All of these are ways...

that we're providing this meaningful and substantial cost of living help because we know people are under pressure and that's what we're responding to. But on the flip side, based on CPI last week, 4% above market expectations, if there is an interest rate increase in August, and that could well now happen, is that not going to hurt those middle income earners who you adjusted the stage three tax cuts to benefit so much? Doesn't that mean, again, much of that tax cut is going to be gobbled up by an interest rate increase?

Well, I put it a slightly different way. I mean, I don't, as Treasurer and Treasurers before me, don't get into kind of pre-empting or predicting decisions that the Reserve Bank takes. But I think if we throw it back a little bit, you can see that the interest rate rises in the system are already putting a lot of pressure on a lot of people. I think that's self-evident. You know, and our economy's a bit slower as a consequence as well. And so we understand that. And so the responsibility for us...

is to try and roll out this cost of living relief in a way that's part of a solution to inflation rather than part of the problem. So the energy bill rebates will take some of the sting out of electricity prices. The rent assistance, which comes in a bit later in the year, will take some of the sting out of rents and put downward pressure on inflation.

And also we're doing it in the context of a budget where we're getting the budget in much better shape as well. We turned a couple of big Liberal deficits into a couple of Labor surpluses. And the Governor of the Reserve Bank has said publicly that she thinks that those two surpluses that I've delivered so far in two years are helping in the fight against inflation. So that's important too. But when you handed down your budget a couple of weeks ago, based on the Treasury, a new Treasury analysis, you're predicting an inflation rate between 2% and 3% going back to the Reserve Bank target.

Given the 4% of last week, do you have to now revise that at some point soon? Well, I'm not anticipating that. But at the end of the year, in the mid-year budget update, the Treasury redoes all their forecasts anyway. They would normally do that. There's nothing unusual about that. But the monthly number that we got the other day, the monthly inflation number, inflation is higher than anybody wants it, but it's much, much lower than it was a couple of years ago when we came to office.

and we know that our policies are helping and we know that that monthly number can be a bit volatile. The other thing which is really important here

If you look at what happened around the world, in a lot of countries where their inflation peaked higher than ours and where it peaked earlier than ours, what you see is the last percentage point or so before you get into the target is often the most difficult. And inflation has come off pretty substantially, but it doesn't always come off in a perfectly straight line. And that's what we're seeing here. We want to see inflation lower significantly.

We want to see it moderate further and faster, but we've made a heap of progress and we know that our policies are helping. Jim, just as another issue, as a senior member of the Labor government, just some breaking news that Senator Payman has confirmed she'll abstain from all votes this week. She says she has been exiled. She's not in any contact with her caucus colleagues. Is she being treated fairly?

I believe so, but I haven't... You know, I've been focused today on these tax cuts and the energy bill relief and the pay rise that people are getting. As a member of the team, I would say that I respect all of my colleagues, including Senator Payment, but all of my colleagues. And I believe that we get more done when we act collectively rather than individually. And so I think that the response that the PM announced yesterday, I thought that was appropriate. I support that.

But my focus has been on other things today. Understandably. Thank you for your time, Treasurer.

Appreciate it, Clinton. All the best.

But reality is, and we'll talk to the ANU after four o'clock, based on their research, by 2027, 80% of us will be back to where we started with the tax cuts because of bracket creep. And governments of both political persuasions have tried to address bracket creep for years. And in the end, it always catches up with them. I'm sure most people who will enjoy a bit of a bigger pay packet will.

Over the next couple of months, we'll enjoy that. But if interest rates then increase as well in August, and of course the Treasurer wouldn't comment on that, that enjoyment is going to be very fast-lived. 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 Clinton Maynard on Sydney's 2GB. It is a chilly Monday afternoon across Sydney, just 12 to 13 degrees depending on where you are around the city. The Labor Senator Fatima Payman has now put out

A statement. Now, she's confirmed she will not vote in the Senate this week. She will abstain from voting in the Senate. And this is after the comments she made on the ABC yesterday that if it came to a vote again in the Senate about the Palestinian issue, she would be willing to cross the floor once again. Anthony Albanese, of course, responded by suspending her from caucus, from caucus meetings.

Fatima Payman now says she is being exiled. She has released a statement. She says,

She says, I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of WA. These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate. Well, perhaps she'll resign from the Labor Party and continue to sit in the Senate as an independent. It's nine past four. If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Drive on 2GB.

NAB says they're still working to restore their internet banking services. They say,

in our digital banking channels and across social media. Well, the last time I logged into the NAB site, the NAB site, there was no banners warning of a problem, but you'll find that now for several hours, NAB has not worked digitally. Same problem with Macquarie Bank at the moment. 131873.

Well, we just spoke to the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, before the news, and we are receiving a tax cut today. That means your pay will increase a little. For instance, if you are on a salary of $50,000 a year, you'll receive an extra $929 extra a year. It's about $17 a week. If you make double that, say $100,000...

That's an extra $2,179 a year, or $40 a week. If you're on $150, you'll receive an extra $3,729. That's $70 a week. But there's also some research from the Australian National University, and it shows that for 80% of us, by 2027, based on average tax rates, we'll be back to their current levels, if not higher. It's because of bracket creep.

Now, I spoke to Dr Chalmers just before the news and he acknowledged bracket creep hits our incomes, but he's confident the federal government's doing enough. Well, I think obviously governments of the future, you know, will look at the budget and look at the tax settings and, you know, typically, you

Governments of both political persuasions have tried to cut taxes where they can. I guess the point that I'm making about that research, I don't dismiss that research. That's a serious crowd and it's a serious newspaper that reported it, so I don't dismiss it. But I guess the point I'm making is absent what we changed in January, the situation would be a little bit worse than that and we're doing what we can.

We're turning bracket creep where we can. You know, we're cutting a couple of rates, we're lifting a couple of thresholds, and we're providing cost of living relief right up and down the income scale. So what about inflation? It is higher than we want. Is the cost of living relief he's announced today, so there's $300 in energy bill relief, won't that just drive up inflation? Well, the Treasury disputes that. He says the government is bringing inflation down. We know that that monthly number can be a bit volatile. The other thing which is really important here...

If you look at what happened around the world, in a lot of countries where their inflation peaked higher than ours and where it peaked earlier than ours, what you see is the last percentage point or so before you get into the target is often the most difficult. And inflation has come off pretty substantially, but it doesn't always come off in a perfectly straight line. And that's what we're seeing here. We want to see inflation lower significantly.

We want to see it moderate further and faster, but we've made a heap of progress and we know that our policies are helping. Yes, inflation's come down since COVID, but it was at record, well, recent historic record levels. It is now going in the wrong direction. Associate Professor Ben Phillips is the Principal Research Fellow at ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods. He is the man behind this research into bracket creep and he joins us on the program. Professor, thank you for your time. Good afternoon, Clinton. Can you take us through the research? What's it essentially show?

Yeah, so what we've looked at is we've looked at the tax rates of households in the past and where they are now, where they're going effectively today and where they're going into the future. And what we really find is that

is that tax cuts, what are happening right now, pretty much makes up for the tax bracket creep that we've had over the past sort of two or three years. And if you move forward about sort of three or four years into the future, we'll be pretty much back to where we are just prior to the tax cuts if there's no further tax cuts. And that's pretty much, I think, in a nutshell what we've found. So does it mean that governments, and it doesn't matter which political persuasion group,

we're living under, they all face this dilemma. Do they have to keep changing those tax brackets, changing those tax rates?

Yeah, so if I say something like welfare, like say the age pension, every single year, every six months, we index the rate of payment. So that sort of overcomes this issue around inflation and wages increasing. But for the tax system, we don't do that. So you get this thing called bracket creep where every year or every couple of years, people pay a higher rate of tax because they're moving into higher brackets. So we have to overcome that. And what treasurers tend to do or governments tend to do is every couple of years, they change the system a little bit.

to overcome that and they call it tax cuts and technically I'd say really it's just sort of adjusting the system to keep it where it was in the past. So it's not reform as such is it?

No, it's a, well, frankly, it's a little bit of a charade. Look, every treasurer, every government's done it since I can remember, since pretty much year dot. So, look, it's really just making some small adjustments that, they're important adjustments, but they're really small adjustments that just keep things in line with inflation, really. Did your research look at potentially what needs to happen to address this longer term? Because surely, you know, three or three years, it's going to happen again.

Yeah, look, this is something that often gets debated and you can, but the governments could potentially just increase the tax thresholds or the tax brackets every year or every couple of years with inflation or wages. That's something that many people think could be done. We didn't look into whether that sort of needs to be done or not. The current system, it tends to pretty much work, but it does sort of mean that every couple of years governments do make decisions

some pretty big claims that they're making big tax cuts, and in reality, they're really just sort of adjusting things with inflation. So, look, yeah, you could argue that maybe that you could index it every couple of years or every year, but the governments have typically not done that in the past. And do you think they've not done this for political reasons? Because if they're indexing them, they're then tied to changing those rates every year. Well, probably the argument for not doing it, there's pros and cons with it, but the argument for not doing it really, I think, is that

Government does face different fiscal situations and fiscal pressures. There's concerns with what you do in terms of fiscal policy, just like we do. We change monetary policy with regard to the economic cycle. So they're kind of... It's not necessarily a bad thing to leave them as they are and adjust them on an ad hoc basis. But, look, they do, of course, make claims, and they're a bit political that they're making big tax cuts, and I'd probably argue that it's not really what the kind of claim that it is. That's a very fair analysis. Thank you, Ben. Thank you.

My pleasure. Professor Ben Phillips, who's from the ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods. So he's the man behind this research. And Jim Chalmers himself told me before the news he actually respects the research because it's a body, it's not a fly-by-night organisation that Ben leads.

But I've got a message here from Nick, and we just touched on that with Ben, and Nick made a great point. It's easy to eliminate it completely. Our government should do what they do in the United States. It is index the tax scale thresholds upwards every year to account for inflation. It's actually a no-brainer. But I think there then comes to be the political side of it, that they will have different obligations, but then they'll have different motivations when it comes to the politics of the matter.

131873, we can take some calls on this and if you'd like to send a text message 0460 873 873. Now this might help you in the next few months but if the interest rates go up in August well your tax cut may well be wiped out. Do you appreciate what the government's doing here or do you see through it?

Do you think you'll benefit from these changes? So the lowest tax rate goes from 16%, was 19%, it's cut to 16%. This is the overall tax changes. The 32.5% tax rate reduced to 30. The 37% tax rate, the threshold increases from 120 to 135,000 and the 45% tax threshold increases from 180 to 190. Are you going to benefit

But do you simply fear that it's just going to add to inflation? That the tax cuts, the energy rebates and the other cost of living measures the Treasurer mentioned will simply drive up inflation even further? Because in the end, the RBA really only has one tool to counter that, and that's putting interest rates up. 16 past four. 21 past four. Hope you're staying warm. It's only 12 degrees at the moment in Sydney. Yes, it's happened again. There are more protests happening.

across the train line in the Hunter Valley. And Transport for New South Wales has now told us due to safety risks because of the protest activity, buses will continue to replace trains overnight. So from 7 o'clock tonight...

Until it is safe to reopen the lines sometime tomorrow, buses replace passenger trains between Newcastle and Dungog and also Newcastle and Scone. This will impact passengers travelling on intercity services, some XPT services as well. Some will still run when they can perhaps get through that area at a reduced speed. But Transport for New South Wales says passengers need to allow extra time.

They tell us protesters are leaving debris on the train line. They're damaging infrastructure and that may delay the reopening of the line tomorrow. So they warn morning services and school services are also likely to be impacted. School students will be prioritised with the temporary bus arrangements. They are seeking the advice of New South Wales Police on how to protect critical infrastructure. As you know, arrests have been made every day for the past week.

People of a variety of ages, usually people in their 20s or 70s, mostly from interstate, have appeared before the courts.

And in all those cases, yes, they're released on bail. And the state government, of course, has penalties of up to $22,000 fines and two years in prison. But in their wisdom, our courts don't seek to use those penalties. 22 past four. Cost of living and tax cuts. Is it going to help you? Let us know. Ken. G'day, Ken. G'day, Colin. How are you? Good, mate.

Clinton, over the last few weeks, you know, Albanese and Sharma have been spruiking this $300 rebate for electricity and that. But nobody's mentioned that as of today, the price of electricity and gas has gone up. And

And I got a letter from my provider that I'll be getting $230 to $240 a year extra. So there goes a $300 rebate that we're supposed to be getting. Who's your provider? Nobody's mentioned that. Who's your provider, Kent? Who's your provider? Simply Energy, but we've gone to Engie now. Yeah, look, it depends on who you're with. I'm with Energy Australia and I actually did receive a letter in the mail last week to say my...

because I'm on the default market offer, my rates are actually going to go down. Now, I haven't received a bill yet to actually see evidence of it, but they gave me the per hour kilowatt figure and it has gone down on what I was paying. But it's a very good point, Ken. A lot of people's energy bills continue to go up.

up but it's not only energy bills opal fares for instance are increasing today by 3.6 percent and i have a message here from davo thanks for your call ken davo says with opal cards going up that's a tax that's going up with a 50 cap the weekly cap remain or do they increase the cap also i've just checked davo the 50 opal cap is remaining in place so you'll reach that opal cap faster

But when I caught the train this morning, suddenly my ticket that was $5 something, something like $5.60, I think it was, it's now above $6. So, yes, they take with one hand, give with the other. 131873. Hello, Ren. G'day, Clinton. How are you, mate? Good, buddy. I'm in the car. I'm in my new Tesla. So you're talking about it getting cold. I'm in the garage. Yeah, you're charging it up.

No, it's already fully charged. Good. It's 15 degrees outside, but it's 23 in here. Nice. And I'm sitting here with a seat warmer. Mate, if you buy a Tesla just to keep warm, it's great. I don't understand the concept of seat warmers. We've got them in our car, and my wife loves it. I don't understand it. Yeah, after a while. No, when you get in a coal car, it's not comfortable. Come on, Red, toughen up. Yeah, toughen up, mate. Yeah, look, well, I've just turned 73. I was 73 on Friday, and...

I've been retired 12 years, and I'm so glad I'm not in the workforce when I hear people like the good doctor, Dr. Jim. And I'll send you a text. I said, Dr. Jim is the master of spin, Clinton. You've got a doctorate in politics. Never worked... Never been in business. I ran electrical engineering business for 25 years. And all they do is get in the way, you know? And I just hate it when they just...

Is it just me? He sounds so smug. Look, I think he comes across as a nice bloke. I didn't call him doctor during our interview, you might know. Very disrespectful, Clem. I have been criticised for calling him doctor previously. He's actually a doctor. He is a doctor in politics, and I believe his thesis was on Paul Keating. Fair enough. Jim Chalmers is well-meaning. I think he actually is in the business for the right reasons.

Yeah. But unfortunately, too many of our politicians, and you raise that good point, never having a real job,

probably the majority of our politicians have spent most of their working careers in politics, working for other politicians. And I think we'd actually be in a better position overall if we had a rule, it'd need to be part of the constitution, that you actually have to have a real job or run a business or be part of the real world for 10 years minimum before you run for public office. Thank you for your call, Rem. We were talking a little earlier about black market tobacco. And I mentioned that $60 a pack is what's

legal cigarettes are selling for but the black market packs are $20 well Steve says I'm paying $12 for a pack of 20 so you can get them cheaper than $20 it's an explosion the black market cigarette market is exploding at the moment and I'm all for cracking down on vapes but a consequence of the crackdown on vapes may well be young people

who've never smoked a cigarette in their life may well and then develop a nicotine addiction, they may turn to cigarettes as a result. Leon points out, don't forget, tolls are going up today as well. I made that point at the start of the show, Leon. It's not only public transport fares. Transurban increases most of their tolls quarterly. So if you use the West Connects, the West Connects doesn't go up today. It's an annual increase for the West Connects.

But all the other toll roads that are operated by private business, so it's Transurban in the main, they all go up today. And reality is most of you driving at the moment won't realise yet how much you're paying because you need to actually log on to the Transurban website, and it is there, but you've got to dig a little to see exactly how much the toll is. But under their contracts, you can't blame Transurban for it. Under their contracts, they're allowed to do it. 27 past four. G'day, David.

Oh, yep. Okay. Hello, David.

Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm just thinking that. Remember Rudd gave us that economic stimulus back in 2008, 2009? Yep. Well, I put into my inflation calculator online $900. And about now, it's probably about $1,600. And I was just thinking, instead of like, you know, saying that everybody's gone in this bracket of tax or whatever, if they just give across the board $1,500 economic stimulus,

and just say, well, this is just like the same as Rudd did, but considering the rate of inflation over the last 15 years, I think a lot of people would be very happy with that as well as just their normal tax returns. I'm sure they'll be very happy with it, Dave, but the problem is if the government actually hands out cash, so a $1,500 figure, that just goes straight to the bottom line of your household budget. You just go and spend it. And that's where in 2008 when Kevin Rudd did that, it was during the global financial crisis.

and the economy was facing recession, so they had to pump up the economy really, really quickly. If they did that now, inflation goes up straight away, and that's what the government's got to try and avoid. Through doing tax cuts, yes, tax cuts will add to inflationary pressure as well, but not quite to the same extent

As a cash handout, and that's the real fear for Jim Chalmers. It needs to be a fear for the government through all their spending at the moment. And let's remember, state governments are spending a lot of money, particularly in Queensland, because it's an election year. All that puts pressure on inflation. But cash handouts do that to an even greater extent. 131873, as I mentioned, the Labor Senator, Fatima Payman, has released a statement saying she has been exiled by her colleagues and she'll now consider her future.

A few text messages on this. And Kim says she just said it herself that she will be there to look after the constituents in WA. Yes, just do that, Ms Payne. So does that mean she should resign from the Senate? Because in the end, the constituents in WA voted for her as a Labor senator. They did not vote for her individually because most people in the Senate vote above the line.

Now, she was considered to have an unwinnable position on the ticket heading into the last election, but Labor did much better than they were expecting in WA, so she was elected. So ethically, if she does not want to remain part of the Labor Party, and she says she's been given the cold shoulder now by Labor, she's not even part of their WhatsApp group anymore, how will she survive? If she ethically wants to stand by her beliefs, good on her for that.

Really, she should not just resign from the Labor Party, she should actually resign from the Senate. Let's check our news headlines. And with all the latest, good afternoon, Rhiannon Solomon-Marron. Good afternoon, Clinton. A man accused of murdering his partner at Casino in the States North will remain behind bars until his next court appearance, while an independent investigation is also underway into the police response time.

Labor Senator Fatima Payman says she's been exiled from her party after the Prime Minister suspended her from caucus meetings for siding with the Greens on a push to recognise Palestinian statehood. NAB says it's working to resolve a major outage affecting its app and online banking services. Thousands of customers started reporting issues earlier this afternoon.

And trivial complaints to Triple Zero are adding to wait times for patients with urgent health issues. New data shows ambulances received hundreds of calls from people with minor concerns like toothaches, earaches and boils. In sport, the NRL is investigating allegations of racial abuse levelled at Eales Prop Junior Barlaw by a spectator in Newcastle. The incident occurred after the Eales narrow loss to the Knights on Saturday. And Clinton, there'll be more news at 5.

Thank you, Rhiannon. Freezing. Not quite freezing, slight exaggeration, but it's damn chilly this afternoon. Only 12 degrees across most of the city and the rain is coming in.

It's Clinton Maynard with you for a Monday afternoon. Thank you for your message, Peter, and also David. I'm getting a few texts now. If you'd like to send me a text message, 0460 873 873, that NAB's banking services, their digital banking services, are back up and running. Apparently Macquarie still has some issues. Have you become better at spotting scams? I was sent a text message, and this is not rare.

At two o'clock this morning. Now, of course, it was one of those ones we probably get a little too often, claiming to be from a toll company that I hadn't paid my tolls on time. And where I'm now spotting them is the fact that if I'm sent one at two in the morning, I'm thinking, no.

That can't be right. Why would an Australian business send one of their customers a message at 2 o'clock in the morning? Well, according to NAB, customers have abandoned more than $100 million in possible scam payments. And this is actually good news. More and more people are reporting scams. Customer scam reports increased by about 10% between October 2023 and March 2024. So there are more scams. But we as consumers are reporting them more often...

And it seems we're getting better actually avoiding suspicious payments. We know what the red flags are. Now, the red flag in my one this morning was the fact it was sent at two o'clock in the morning. Chris Sheehan is from NAB's executive group investigations and joins us. Thank you for your time, Chris. Good afternoon. Are we getting better overall at spotting the scams?

Yeah, we really are. And the research says that people are more aware of what a dodgy text message or a dodgy WhatsApp message or phone call or email looks like. And not only are they recognising it, but they're realising what they need to do when they receive them. So like you, I received a toll road text message today. So we're clearly on the same mailing list for somebody. But people are wising up to it and it's great to see. Now, I actually usually work in the middle of the night.

Chris, but when you think about it, if you receive a message from the ATO, claiming to be from the ATO, or a bank, or a toll company, and it's at 3 o'clock in the morning, if you give it some thought, you think, hang on, that can't be right, can it? That surely is coming from an overseas-based source.

100%. And the key thing there is you've recognised the thing that seemed wrong, the red flag. And what we really need people to do, and we're seeing it starting to happen, is once they see that red flag, just delete the text message. Don't do anything. If it's a truly important and a real thing, the bank, the ATO, whoever it is, will reach out to you through other means. So just don't get fooled. What are the red flags you need to look out for?

Look, there's a range of things. So you talked about messages coming at a time of day that doesn't line up, but poor spelling or grammar, the use of famous people's images to try and sell an investment product to you.

Generally speaking, there's a thousand different ways I can try and hook you, but there's a couple of key things that are common. They'll try to create a fear that you're going to miss out on something, or they'll offer you an opportunity where the value, the price, the return on investment is way above the odds of what you'd normally see. So fear of missing out, too good to be true. If it's either of those two things, it's probably a scam. We've mentioned that the tolls, what are the common ones you're seeing right now?

So right now we're, um, we're seeing the supermarket chains with their, um, uh, reward programs, the reward programs, the criminals have got into those and trying to get people's information through the, the links in those, which is one of the reasons we took links out of all of our text messages. Um,

because it just makes it too easy for the crooks to impersonate a legitimate company like NAB. And we're going to start to see the tax time scams. So criminals reaching out via text messages or emails telling you that you can get your tax return more quickly if you pay a fee or trying to create a fear that you owe the taxman money and hook you that way. They're very opportunistic. They'll look for something that's happening

and then try and get onto the back of that to steal money from people. We've obviously touched on text messages here, but you really need your wits about you with emails, don't you? Because with the way they physically put the email together, they can replicate the look. For instance, if it was from NAB or another major institution, they can replicate that very well these days.

Yeah, they can. And, of course, artificial intelligence is something that we're all talking about. We're watching it very closely in our industry to see what the criminals and what those organised crime groups might do. You do have to have your wits about you. And I think that the key thing there is, well, banks like ours, we do what we can to try and be as preventative as possible. So you mentioned...

the $100 million in payments that have been stopped or prevented since March. So that's because we put in questions and alerts into the payment process so that when customers are making a payment, if it looks concerning, they'll get a pop-up message whilst they're in the payment and they have to interact with that message before it can proceed. And putting that sort of friction in place, those sort of speed humps to slow customers down before

before they commit themselves to making a payment, that's key to getting this right. If you have been scammed or you suspect you've been scammed, what do you do? Look, as soon as you think that you've fallen victim to a scam, the number one thing, the very first thing you have to do is call your bank immediately. Now, the reason that's important is one,

Once you hit send on that payment, it will go off to another account that the scammer has set up somewhere, and then it'll probably bounce out to another account somewhere else after that before disappearing into crypto or overseas. The quicker you tell us what's happened,

the quicker we can react and start contacting the other banks where those accounts are being maintained to try and recover your money. But the reality of this is that the criminals are sitting there, they move very, very quickly. If you delay by a few hours or a day, the chances of us being able to get your money back are...

They just reduce precipitously with every minute that passes. So act, act. Thank you for that information, Chris. Just on another issue, NAB has been subject of an internet banking outage today. Do you have any information of what the status is at the moment? Yeah, look, first thing I'd say is, yeah, I'm aware of it. And we know it's causing inconvenience and we know it's causing dramas for our customers. We're very apologetic and we're doing everything

everything we can to get it fixed as quickly as possible. I understand that the mobile banking app is up and running now, so that's good news. Internet banking is still down. We're working as quickly as we can to fix it, and we're not going to stop until it's back up. So

You can keep yourself up to date by checking our website or on our Facebook page. We'll keep putting updates there. I guess the best I can say for our customers is we're sorry, but we're moving as quickly as we can. Okay. So mobile app is back up, but the desktop not functioning at the moment. That's correct. Thank you for your time, Chris.

Good morning. Thank you.

And I realised that, hang on, I owe the bank a lot more than I thought I did. I checked through the details of my credit card and I'd fallen victim to a scam. I think my card had been skimmed possibly when I was in Bali a few months prior and $800 had been spent in

the US, in New York. I'm a photography gear of all things and I'm a bad photographer. So I got in contact with ANZ straight away. They had the money back to me within 48 hours. So, you know, we do bash up the banks regularly and with good reason, but they actually, in my particular case, responded very quickly and put me at ease. So that's the best advice.

But you've just got to have your wits about you. You've got to look out for the warning signs. And Emma on our text line makes a great point. You need to be aware, for instance, if you aren't a customer of a particular company, for example, Linkt. So Linkt is Transurban's toll system, the electronic toll road system. I'm not a customer of Linkt.

And Emma makes the point that it should be obvious if you're not a customer of that particular company and if they contact you about money that you owe them, it's got to be wrong. So I use the e-tag system, which is through Service NSW, not linked. So that's a warning sign right there, as is the time of the day when they send you that information. 131 873 17 to 5. G'day, Todd.

OK, Clayton. I'll just point out all utility companies that we use, that includes every single bank utility, everything we use, we are getting...

to the point where we're not allowed to get mail sent to us unless it costs you money. We need to go back to that system because I don't trust anybody. I'm sorry, I do not trust any department of any government department, utility departments, even like the transport company you're talking about, because you get so many dodgy emails, so many dodgy things on your phone. I believe you should get a...

Any government department wants to talk to you, you need to get it in writing, in the mailbox. Criminals are not going to sit there and mail out you hundreds and thousands of mailboxes, mails out to people. They don't have that information. They're doing as cheap as possible. We need to get back to the old days where...

When you want to look at your statement or whatever, the bank should be sending it out to you. You shouldn't have to look up the email because this is where we're all getting flustered because we go into our bank system and we don't even realize it. Hang on.

We should at least be given the choice and the option, Todd, because if you don't feel comfortable with that electronic correspondence, I can completely understand your point of view. I made the point last week when I mentioned on air that I'd had an interaction, you might say, with a ticketing inspector on the train. And yes, it turned out that I had not tapped on my Opal card, so I'm in the wrong.

And one of my friends immediately sent me a message when I mentioned that on air saying, why don't you just do your direct debit? And I just have an ethical problem with...

handing out my credit card details for direct debits. I like to be in control of my money, my account. So wherever possible, I like to pay my bills on time rather than have the direct debit. So the same system with a top-up to your Opal card. Now, there are some circumstances you've got no choice. I think I have a direct debit for Foxtel and maybe Netflix because I just don't have the option. But where I have the option, I'm a little bit like you, Todd. I still go with the old ways. Hey, I tell you what, we are going to send you a double pass to

to go and see the new Midnight Oil movie, which is in cinemas this week. From July 4, the trailblazing story of the oils, the hardest line. 45 years Midnight Oil's been around. Well, for the first time, there's a film about their amazing career. It's in cinemas July 4. We're going to have double passes to give away all this week. Todd, you are our first winner.

Showers across Sydney. It looks like a wet night and it'll be wet again tomorrow. Only 12 degrees at the moment. 131873 is the number on the text line. Dyer says, I also received that toll text this morning. I deleted and blocked it. Steve says, I've tried to log into myGov and it's locked. I'm using my digital identity. So the logger credentials are okay unless myGov ID is compromised already.

Bit of a worry. I only discovered it would have been now two years ago, Steve. I've been locked out of the e-tax system via myGov permanently. And that's because my details were compromised some years ago. So now every time I want to do e-tax or access that aspect of myGov, I actually have to call the tax office. They then give me a 24-hour window when I'm allowed to log on.

On 2GB Drive, sing like an angel. Okay, we are going to have a bit of fun with this this week. I love chatting to John Brewster, the founding guitarist from the Angels, last week. They have a new album out there touring the country. Well, I've got five double passes up for grabs throughout the week for their show coming up at the Factory Theatre. It's this weekend, Saturday night. If you want to win...

All you have to do is to sing like an angel. That's right. We're going to feature you singing on the program. So give me a call, 131 873. You will need to sing for me what happens next in this song. I'm working, I'm working to the end.

That's an easy one, isn't it, to start us off. So you've got to sing the next line from that Angels classic, 131873. I'll come to your calls in a moment. We'll send you along to the Factory Theatre to see the Angels this coming Saturday night. Police have released images of a man...

And a small dark-coloured sedan, a small dark-coloured sedan and a coupe, they believe they can assist with their inquiries into a hit-and-run, which occurred last night. Now, tragically, a 79-year-old man was killed in Melanbar. He died at the scene. He hasn't been formally identified yet.

However, emergency services tell us they were called to Abel Road, Melon Bar, after reports there was an injured man roadside. Now, they believe he was hit by a car, driven by somebody who was in a small, dark-coloured sedan. It might have been a coupe. So they're seeking any information from anybody who may be able to assist them with this one. If you were in that area last night, at around 20 past 11, Abel Road, Melon Bar,

Please contact Crimestoppers. It might be you have some dash cam footage or you were driving past around that time, 20 past 11. Call Crimestoppers 1-800-333-000.

Live on 2GB. Have your say. 131 873. Okay, we're going to have a bit of fun with this throughout the week. It's our chance to send you to see the Angels, and we're going to kick off with Greg this week. Hello, Greg. Hey, Taylor. How are you? I'm good, mate. I'm going to sing you part of an Angels classic, and I might be asking for trouble here. I'm going to ask you to sing the next line, okay? So listen up. Here we go. I want you to be there.

Greg, you are sensational.

Doc Easton was a friend of mine. He was a customer of mine many, many years ago. And I sang, I was a lead male singer in a band called Bad Lot. And my favourite songs were always Angel songs. I love them to death. You have done the late Doc very proud there. And I'm going to send you along to the Factory Theatre on Saturday night. You are sensational, Greg.

Well done, mate. Clinton, thank you for that. Bernie was a very, very good friend of mine. And he was such a legend. And look, I think it's great, even though Doc Neeson's been gone some years now, it's great the Angels are still going because they're certainly a classic of Australian rock and roll and you're going to have a great time. The Angels Factory Theatre on Saturday night. We'll have more tickets to give away tomorrow.

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 Clinton Maynard on Sydney's 2GB. 7 past 5, 131, 873. It is a wet drive home this evening. Very chilly as well. 12 degrees, 11 in some suburbs at the moment. Looks like it's going to be wet tomorrow as well. I reckon most Australians are reasonably intelligent. I think most of us have some common sense. Well, I did until these triple zero call-out stats were released today.

Over 2023, did 515 people really think it was the right thing to do to call triple zero to seek an ambulance because they couldn't do a number two? Seriously, people who are constipated called triple zero on 515 occasions last year. Statistics were released over the weekend that shows a massive number of people use their mobile phones when they go to the toilet.

84% of Gen Zs use their mobile while sitting on the loo. 70% of millennials, 38% of Gen X. I think I'm a Gen X. 16% of baby boomers. So what do they do? Do they sit there while they're on the phone and think, oh, hang on, I'm having trouble here. I better call triple zero because 515 people thought that would be a good idea.

800, 186 people called for toothaches, 51 people called because they couldn't get to sleep at night, and three people decided it'd be a good idea to call for an ambulance because they had the hiccups. Now, it seems laughable, but it's actually a serious issue because we have a public hospital system, as it usually is, but particularly at this time of the year in winter, that's under pressure. We have overloaded ambulances.

And we seriously have people who think it's the right idea to give triple zero a call because they can't do a number two because they've got a broken toenail? Or we may be spending too much time in schools on English and maths when we need to perhaps teach basic life skills.

The Labor Party Senator, or is she, Fatima Payman, is now considering her future in the Senate or within the Labor Party.

She's released a statement after Anthony Albanese confirmed she had been suspended indefinitely from the caucus room. Now, what that means is that she can't go along to the meeting they have when Parliament sits where they discuss policy and they take votes on different policy initiatives. But she can still sit in Parliament and she can still sit in Parliament as a Labor member and she can still vote.

Well, she's released a statement this evening that says, since she was suspended by the PM, and she's been suspended because she told the ABC yesterday that she was willing to cross the floor once again on the issue of Palestine, which is against Labour Party policy. She says, since then I've lost all contact with my caucus colleagues. I've been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats and whip bulletins. Although I noticed that she did have a cuddle with Tanya Plebiscite in Parliament.

I've been told to avoid all chamber duties that require a vote, including divisions, motions and matters of public interest. I've been exiled. These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me from resigning from the Senate. Senator Fatima Payman says, as a result, I will abstain from voting on Senate matters for the remainder of the week, and Parliament rises at the end of the week, unless a matter of conscience arises.

where I'll uphold the true values and principles of the Labor Party. I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of WA. Now, reading that line, I think that's a threat from Senator Payman that she is considering resigning from the Labor Party. You might think, great, but that would mean she sits in Parliament as an independent, unelected. She was elected as a Labor Senator. The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers...

Obviously, a senior Labor MP joined me on the program a little earlier and I asked Jim Chalmers about this situation. I've been focused today on these tax cuts and the energy bill relief and the pay rise that people are getting. As a member of the team, I would say that I respect all of my colleagues, including Senator Payment, but all of my colleagues.

And I believe that we get more done when we act collectively rather than individually. And so I think that the response that the PM announced yesterday, I thought that was appropriate. I support that. But my focus has been on other things today. Now, I think that's Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer. I think that Anthony Albanese made the right call yesterday. He should have acted sooner.

I mean, there is a line of thinking, for instance, that it would be great if MPs could speak their mind, that we'd actually have a truer democracy if that was the case. But I think it's different when we're talking about senators who are elected on a ticket. Senator Payman from WA wasn't expected to actually make it to Parliament. She was actually aiming for the 2025 election.

And running at the last poll was, and she admits this, was basically a bit of a test, a bit of a practice run. But because Labor did much better than they were expecting, she was voted in. So bingo. But she was voted in because Labor Party supporters voted above the line. They went one in the box that says ALP and then lists the names under the ALP banner. And that included Fatima Payment.

So she's been elected to represent Labor, but she may now sit in Parliament. And let's remember their long terms. She may now sit in Parliament as an independent and the likelihood on most issues, she probably will still vote for Labor. But the constituents of WA, and she says she's going to consider the best way to represent the people of WA, they did not vote for an independent. In the same way,

Those in Tasmania who voted Green and who were expecting Lydia Thorpe, for instance, to be their elected representative, they're not represented by her anymore because she also did the dirty on her own party. So we'll watch this with interest this week. Don't be surprised if she, before she's expelled, not that the Prime Minister's actually going to do that, she may leave the Labor Party herself.

If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Drive on 2GB. 131873 is our number and you can have your say for less with amazing. Don't pay too much on your mobile plan. Break free with your expensive telco and escape to a better value plan with the Escape Plan program.

by amazing. We had the NAB, NAB on the program a little earlier in regards to scams. Chris Sheehan joins us but Chris also confirmed that the outage that NAB has suffered, their internet outage is continuing at the moment. So mobile services, the use of the app

Back up and running, but desktop banking is still down. NAB has apologised for the inconvenience and they're working to try to rectify the situation, but they have now been down for hours. So if you try to do your internet banking on a desktop computer, it's not going to work, but the mobile app should work. Sydney's extended metro line will open next month, likely in the early part of the year.

And I think this is a great thing. And as I mentioned last week, I travelled on the Metro from Martin Place Station through the Barangaroo Station under the harbour and to Crows Nest. And it will link Chatswood with Sydenham. And I think it's going to change the way a lot of people travel.

But there's news today that some bus routes in various parts of Sydney that are associated with the metro are going to be axed. And then 11 other routes will change. And effectively what this is about, it's about funnelling those bus passengers onto the metro. Commuters in the Hills, Ryde, Lane Cove, Blacktown, North Sydney will be affected. Now personally, I don't think this should come as a surprise at all.

The government was never going to spend $22 billion on a metro train service, and it was originally the coalition government that developed the plan, but it's now being implemented by Labor. They were never going to implement such a big infrastructure project, but they continue bus services where they could say, well, hang on, those passengers should be catching the train. The unions aren't happy. David Babineau is the secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, joins us. G'day, David. G'day, Glenn. How are you? I'm good, mate. I understand why you're concerned, but you're not surprised, though, are you?

No, no, no. Look, as you say, duplication is not something that anyone expects to go on forever. And the whole point is to actually improve transport generally and uplift the ability for people to get from A to B. The problem, I guess, we have is that...

There's an issue feeding into this behind the scenes, which is that companies in those areas are short of drivers. Yep. Like seriously short of drivers by, you know, we're talking hundreds and they're really straining to meet their schedules and they're

What we feel is happening is that this may be rushed in a little bit to try and help them with their problems rather than you let something bed in, as they did in the east. They didn't act straight away. They let it play out for a couple of weeks, a month, and then they looked and said, OK, everything's working, and then they played it through. So based on what you understand with these five particular routes and the 11 that have the changes...

Is that going to mean it's going to be difficult for people who currently catch those buses, that they're going to have a fair distance to travel before they get to a local metro station? Well, it could be. It could be. I mean, we haven't seen a lot of these changes yet. We've certainly seen a lot of roster changes, you know, for drivers. There's, you know, one depot alone, there's 90 shifts that are being broken apart. It's...

It's, you know, there's a lot of uncertainty about it. This is one of the reasons why we like to see before any new technology comes on or any new part of the infrastructure comes online is we'd like to see a little bit of common sense apply in that you keep the existing proven service working.

while you make sure that the other stuff works in. Public transport is about education as well. There's no point in telling somebody who's mobility challenged or a single mum trying to get a stroller around, but now you get to go from A to B to C to D instead of a single direct route. It's got to be working, it's got to be seamless and already happening before you turn around and make these changes in people's lives. So just to make clear, David, you weren't expecting these bus services were going to continue indefinitely, that they were going to end at some point? No, no.

No, no, no. The whole – I mean, we don't get paid for carrying air. We're supposed to be carrying passengers 100%. It's just, as I say, there's a lot going on behind the scenes, a lot of leeway being extended to the companies that are operating the bus contracts unsuccessfully because they're not looking after their drivers and they can't attract new ones.

And what we feel is that this is just being a bit rushed and that we're in danger of actually shorting the public, the travelling public, who all this is made for, in the interest of really sort of trying to give a leg up to companies that aren't doing the right thing to begin with. And I have never heard you say this, and in interviews I've had with you in the past and press conferences I've been with you, I haven't heard you say this, but I've actually had a lot of your members, whether they are from the rail side or bus side, when I've spoken about Metro over the past couple of years, be pretty angry about Metro.

that they're concerned it's going to mean fewer jobs. Are you fighting this campaign because you're worried you're not going to have as many members? Because let's be honest, with the metro system, they're driverless. Well, they are. In terms of drivers, yeah, the metro system is actually highly unionised. You've got CSOs, you've got AOs, you've got network controllers. There's a lot of jobs in the metro and we've got a lot of... So metro's good for the union?

Well, I don't know if it's good for the union. The question is really, and always has to be, is it good for the people that use the service? That's really what it has to be. So when we talk about things like driverless trains, we're coming at it from a safety perspective because that's what matters. Do you have safety? And I know you represent the bus side of it, but do you have safety concerns about driverless trains in Metro?

Mate, I couldn't comment on that. Like I say, I'm looking after trams and buses. If they want to make buses driverless, I can absolutely tell you I'll have a few comments on that. I don't think autonomous cars are going to work at the moment and buses. Just an extension of this issue then. When the southwest metro is converted from – it'll probably be about September. The government's still not giving a date when the Sydenham to Bankstown line is going to shut.

the heavy rail line, and buses are used to supplement or replace the trains, are you confident what the government has proposed is going to work? And will there be enough bus drivers to actually run that system? No, I'm not confident it's going to work. At the moment, as is inevitable, where you've got a limited pool of people doing the job, we haven't got enough of them doing route services at the moment. Where are you going to pinch 200 drivers from? There's nowhere to take them from. Yeah.

And to be honest, I've yet to see any reason as to why that corridor needs to be uplifted. You've got, you know, digital systems that will uplift capacity in terms of frequency. You know, currently in testing...

on the Eastern suburbs line. It's and has been for quite a few months now. It's a technology they're looking at rolling out across the network. I've never been convinced that inconveniencing people for two years, inevitably pulling drivers away from normal route services,

regardless of the promises made by the companies, you know, is a good idea. It's never made sense to me, but we'll see how it plays out, I suppose. But they've got no choice. They're shutting it down, the rail line, for a year, and the only other option is to use buses. But if there are not enough drivers, how will commuters cope?

Look, what we saw when the driver shortage was really, really biting was that to facilitate and to stop people from saying, hey, my bus hasn't turned up, look at all these cancelled buses, they changed the timetable.

And so instead of a service coming, you know, five times an hour and two of them getting cancelled, it now is scheduled to come three times an hour. And lo and behold, all three turn up. When all three were turning up beforehand, but the two that get cancelled magically vanish. So I've no doubt we'll see that sort of stuff going on. You won't see a replication of the service that rail provides along that corridor. You'll definitely see a reduction in it because they're just going to look at it and go, we can't do that.

We don't have the drivers. We don't have the buses. When you're navigating Sydney's traffic, and they do admit this, travel times are going to blow out. There's no hiding that. Well, that's it. That's it. You can't get around it. And as I say, if you're going to do something like that to a significant amount of people in the biggest city in the country, then you better have a good reason, and I've yet to see one. Thanks for your time, David.

David Babineau, who's the Secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union. He looks after the buses. So, look, in defence of the union's position, they can see the bus routes that replicate the Metro, they will change. They have to change. There's no point, as he said, having buses with air, i.e. empty buses. His concern is that it's going to happen straight away as soon as the new Metro line starts running, which is likely the first or the second weekend ahead.

I think it's what's more worrying. And this is just inevitable. The government was never going to spend $22 billion on the metro line and continue with the buses. His beef is there should be a period of transition, say, for a couple of months where the buses keep running. I understand his point of view. I think the biggest concern, though, is what's going to happen at the other end of the line between Sydenham and Bankstown over 12 months when there are no trains, when the T3...

is not operating. So if you live in that part of Sydney, you have to catch a bus rather than the train

And as Dave Babineau says, there are not enough bus drivers. The text line 0460 873 873 MM, who lives in Mascot, says, what about the bus service at Mascot and Botany? Nothing to and from the city, only to Redfern Station or Central. It's not good. And all we hear is we're looking into this six months and nothing has changed. And certainly, I think, since the light rail network was installed in the eastern suburbs, the bus service...

even if you're down to Mascot, where the light rail does not travel, has suffered as a result. Basically, the government is not putting the same level of expenditure in the bus services in that part of the world. And that was a decision that was made some time ago. 131873, we formally have a new Governor-General. We have a new head of state as of today. Sam Mostyn has been sworn in. And I must say...

I'm not all that comfortable with her appointment. She's been given a guard of honour at Parliament House, sworn in during a ceremony in the Senate as Australia's 28th Governor-General, only the second woman to hold the highest office in the land. And she was praised by both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton. She has a big resume. She's a lawyer, a businesswoman. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2021 for her service to business there.

And the King's birthday honours list this year, the highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia for the eminent service to social justice, gender equity, sporting, cultural, the business sectors, to reconciliation and to environmental stability, sustainability. That's all well and great. But here's my issue. She's a Republican. Now, we have had Republicans in that office previously. Once. Yes, Bill Hayden was also a Republican.

But how can you have the Governor-General wanting the system of government that we have to be changed? Isn't it hypocritical that she takes on the role as the representative of King Charles? In 2015, she tweeted praise for the then head of the Republican movement, Peter Fitzsimons. She tweeted, She wrote,

In 2020, she gave a speech praising Paul Keating. She said, he was a prime minister of our country, actually able to articulate his ambition for the country. And they were things that I really cared about. He wanted a republic. Clearly, they were things I really cared about. A republic. Now, I would actually like to see Australia a republic one day myself. I don't think it will happen in my lifetime because the republican side can't come up with a model that they can agree on.

And I don't think we should be making a change to the Constitution until we can be thoroughly satisfied we have a Constitution that is the equal of what we have now, because what we have now does work well. So I don't think we should change until we can be sure of that. But I personally, not that it's ever going to happen, I wouldn't put my hand up to be Governor-General because it would be completely hypocritical of me. Now, I'm not suggesting that Sam Mostyn is not going to do a good job as our Governor-General. And for the good of the nation, we need her to succeed.

But is it not hypocritical for her to hold the position as a Republican? 131873, let's check news headlines. And with all the latest, Rhiannon Solomon-Marron. G'day Clinton, a police officer has been handed a suspended sentence and will need to complete community service over a crash which killed a bus driver at Landilo two years ago. The federal government's revised Stage 3 tax cuts come into effect today, which will deliver extra cash to almost 14 million Australians.

Samantha Mostyn is promising to be an optimistic, modern and visible Governor-General after she was sworn into the role earlier today. And scientists at the University of Sydney have mapped the genome of the Australian bilby, which they say will be an important tool for conservation efforts.

In sport, Football Australia has officially recognised the 1975 Australian women's national team as the first Matildas. The honour comes after a comprehensive review conducted by a dedicated working group within Football Australia. In Clinton, there'll be more news at six.

Thank you, Rhiannon. Checking the weather for NRMA. A few showers about this evening and having a look at the radar, there's a fair bit now around Sydney. Tomorrow, more of the same. Cloudy, high chance of showers at the top of 17 degrees on Wednesday. Showers on Thursday. Showers on Friday. Showers, and at this stage, it looks like a wet weekend as well. Right now on the coast, 11 degrees, 13 in the west. A finance update.

Money news coming up tonight with the wonderful Deb Knight. Hello, Deb. Happy new financial year. It's a cold financial year.

Here we thought we'd be warmed up with these tax cuts and the energy rebate and the minimum wage increasing. We're all freezing. Yeah, and there was no market fireworks today either. Unfortunately, there was a really poor lead-in from Wall Street, so it did hurt our market today for the first day of the new financial year. The ASX 200, it dropped at the open, fell 16 points or 0.2%. But the market overall in the previous financial year did grow by 8%.

So that's something to hang our hats on. And that's why we've seen superannuation returns also go really strongly. I'm going to speak to the CEO of one of the big super funds, the Australian Retirement Trust tonight, who've had double digit returns, 11.3% for their high growth funds. So the fact that we've had the US markets doing so well, tech stocks in particular doing so well, has helped the big pot of money that is our superannuation. And yeah, we'll hang on to the good news today.

You're also going to look at the issue of artificial intelligence and how they can help and how the technology can help charities. Yeah, because we know that there's a lot of downsides from AI, and we keep hearing about the scary stuff that it could potentially go wrong, but AI helps to do a lot of the stuff that humans don't either like doing or don't do as well. And for charities, that comes down to pouring through donor lists and targeting specific people who tend to donate more money. And that's what charities do.

need to do because the dollar is so tight, the charity dollar. But the Kids Cancer Project, a great organisation, they fund research to help with cancer treatment for children, have doubled their donations to $2.2 million as a result of resorting to AI. So we'll take a closer look at that tonight. So AI ain't all bad. It can be used for good, not evil. Now, I know we don't provide stock tips on...

the program and the station in general. Make your own financial decisions with the advice. Consult the experts. However, if you were to buy a stock at the moment, I think the manufacturers of puffer jackets and woolen jackets, as we're both wearing at the moment. I know, right? You'd think it's winter that we wouldn't be surprised, but today has gotten colder as the day has gone on. It really has. We are typical Sydneysiders, aren't we? Yeah, exactly. It's cold. Dev Night coming up after 7 o'clock tonight with Money News.

Live on 2GB, have your say. 131 873. Sam Mostyn has been sworn in today as Governor-General and I hope she's a big success. She certainly has an impressive resume, but she is a Republican. Is that not slightly hypocritical? G'day, Paul. G'day, how are you? Good, mate. What's your view?

Well, I watched the ceremony today and she spoke very eloquently, thought about everything Australian. And I just find it a little bit hard to accept that a Republican swearing allegiance and loyalty and faithfulness to the King. I think she's going to have to prove that one. Maybe Peter Fitzsimons or even Craig Foster could be the next Governor-General. What do you think, Paul?

Well, look, anything can happen. She's definitely got the credentials, but if I had to have the pleasure of meeting Her Excellency, that'll be the first question that I'll ask her. What has changed for you to swear allegiance to King Charles III and to the Commonwealth?

Well, she's in the position now, and I certainly hope she's successful. It's important to our nation, even though it's a ceremonial role, it's an important position. I just find it a tad odd that somebody who would like to see a change in the Constitution would actually be willing to take on that role. 17 to 6, you might have seen the headlines over the weekend that Barnaby Joyce has had a lifestyle change. Our former Deputy Prime Minister, and of course still a leading Nationals MP, has decided to give up the booze, and he's losing weight.

as a result. Now, of course, there was the incident in Canberra last year and that has prompted Barnaby's change and he's joining us on the line. G'day, Barnaby. G'day, Clinton. G'day, 2GB listeners. You've lost a lot of weight, apparently.

Yeah, about 15 kegs. So I'm going, all right, that's knocking off the grog and also farm work. Get out, do some physical work, as I suppose is the claim of your listeners. Get out in the garden or go for a run or grab yourself a crowbar and a shovel and start losing some weight. That'll work. Was it the incident on the footpath last year that prompted you to make the change? 100% yes. When it went stomach to the stars, I just...

The next day I thought, okay, I'm not going to be doing that again. It was just like it wasn't me. I mean, I'd have a few drinks, but I'd never just end up like that. First time wanted to be the last time, and that'll do. It didn't worry me too much. It was just

Didn't drink. I didn't go running around the house looking for half a bottle of scotch or something. I just didn't, you know, I just stopped. Similar to how I stopped smoking. Just woke up one day and said, I don't know. We hear stories about the culture in Canberra because I guess when you're there on a sitting week,

it can be a bit of a bubble. Is there a real drinking culture in the place? I don't know if there is. Look, I don't want to be a wowser. You can drink and you know what you should drink. I mean, just no. It's your own personal choice. You can drink if you want to drink and if you don't, you think it's not good for you, stop. But look, would you leave... Like, if you were at home now, would you go to a function just for the hell of it to listen to some person...

If there was nothing there, they said, oh, no, it's dry. You're just going to go there and drink water and listen to this person. You probably wouldn't turn up. So the way that the burly that they use to try and get you to listen to a person who's lobbying for something, trying to sell something, trying to get policy in their direction is they'll put on drinks and put on party food, party pies in the more expensive form. And that is an unhealthy lifestyle because that would happen. There'd be one on every night. No worries about that.

And if you go to one every night, you're also going to start putting on weight. And yeah, I'd say you're probably drinking too much. But does that mean you've got a chronic drinking problem? No, it just means you're in an environment where you've just got to be a little bit careful, that's all. So when you go along to those functions now, how do you cope with it? I'm not there for long.

You just pull out. I just walk in, grab my one, I don't know, seven or whatever that's been pissed out and listen and leave. I've said disparagingly I never realised how boring I was when I've actually got to think about what I'm saying.

But it's, you know, it's, yeah, well, to be quite frank, they aren't as much fun, to be brutally honest. No, they're not as enticing as they used to be. But I suppose that goes to show that you're more interested in sponging from their bath and listening to what they had to say before. You know, that's being brutally honest. Anyway, that's what...

your listeners are entitled to. So, I don't know, I just don't drink. I'm not saying I'm never going to ever drink again. I'm just not drinking at the moment. If that goes for years or forever, I don't know. But it's not really... It's my choice. It's working for me. Other people make their own choice. Well, you're not alone. Chris Minns in New South Wales, the New South Wales Premier, he was on the front page of the papers yesterday that he's not drinking. He gave up a couple of years ago. And he's not saying he's never going to drink again either. He just didn't feel it was the right thing. If he's got to take a phone call at 3 o'clock in the morning...

In his words, doesn't want to be half cut if he needs to actually respond to an issue.

That's fair enough. I read Chris's story. It sounded very similar. It wasn't like this light from heaven and he was struck down on the road to Gosford or something and that he decided not to drink. He just decided one day he didn't want to drink anymore and that was it. It was very similar to mine, except the night before I totally disgraced myself. I think that's the big difference between the two of us. Barnaby, if I could just ask you about a couple of other issues.

We saw that, what I think is a disgraceful attack on the war memorial by pro-Palestinian, or we believe pro-Palestinian protesters on the weekend. What was your response to that?

It is a disgrace. It's a desecration of our war memorial, our war memorial. And there's one thing that draws Australians together. It's that your listeners have a father, a grandfather, a granduncle, a son, a daughter, or maybe themselves, or their grandmother or their mother was a nurse involved with our servicemen and women.

And when you desecrate a memorial, you desecrate what we are as a nation. And I don't know whatever you're trying to do it for. All it does is infuriate the Australian people. We're really easygoing. We're very easygoing. But there's one day where we are wired a little bit differently. It's called Anzac Day. And anything pertinent to that, we are very, very sensitive about. So when people desecrate our war memorials,

they get the huge 100% switch-off button. And if we find them, if we can corner them, they're going straight to the police, where the police, as the Prime Minister said, and he's on the other side of the fence, will throw the book at them absolutely. So whoever these people are, you disgrace them.

piece of human rubbish. Realise what you have done is contemptible and you have won. I'm not even going to talk about the issue you put on there. But for those who read it, the first thing that goes through their head is, okay, you've got me on the wrong side. And I think it's really incumbent upon those who

might see that what their graffiti, their desecration of the wall might be reflecting on their issue, they should come out publicly and say, we're completely and utterly dishonest, have nothing to do with it. This is in no way, shape or form anything to do with the issue we are talking about. And we have the Greens today. The Greens, let's say, help me, supporting them. We had a right to do it. It's just...

It just blows your mind. Why on earth? There'll be people in the Defence Force. Do you realise people have died for this nation? Do you realise people have been made for this nation? Do you realise people went away to wars and when they came back, their marriages were over? Do you realise they came back and life had just moved on? They were just a drifter in society. Do you realise what it's like just to wander off and not see home for at some time years?

You know what that's like? And you grub, you go and philosophise how someone has a right to basically crap on that. There's a solution, Barnaby. The Greens, if they support them, they can buy themselves an air ticket for these people. They can send them over there. Go sign up. Go sign your name on the line that gives other people, that puts you in a place where other people have pot shots in your head. See how you feel about it then. Send them over there. Well said. Thank you, Barnaby.

Good on you. Thanks. The former Deputy Prime Minister, Nationals MP, Barnaby Joyce. Five to six, dual for fuel time. We have a $200 voucher to give away thanks to Shell V-Power, fueling your drive home. Let's find some contestants. We've got Gary online. G'day, Gary. How are you doing, my friend? Very good. You got your thinking cap on?

I'm in the running in paradise and the cap's fully loaded. Buddy, okay, we've got 30 seconds. Within those 30 seconds, I'm going to ask you some questions, okay? Ready to go? Okay. Question number one, true or false, Michael Hooper is the Wallabies' captain. True or false? Current or old? Current, current. Hooper, no. False, okay, I'm going to give you that one. The Watergate scandal involved which US president?

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Oh, what was your name? It started with an R. Come on. It started with what? You've got five seconds left. I've forgotten. Okay. One more question for you. Which state is Mount Warning in? Bang, 30 seconds. New South Wales. I'll give it to you, okay? I'll give it to you. All right. You've got two. Well done, Gary. Hold the line there for me. We're going to give Tracy a go here. Hello, Tracy. Hello, Tracy.

Hi. You've got two to beat. That's pretty easy, isn't it? I don't know. I wouldn't have got those questions right. Okay, here we go. Your 30 seconds starts now. Which author wrote Oliver Twist and Great Expectations? I have no idea. Okay, Charles Dickens. Steve Jobs is synonymous with which brand? They make phones. Apple. Correct. Joseph Manu plays which NRL side?

Roosters. Correct. You're on two. Prince Philip was married to whom? Margaret. Princess Margaret. Oh, no. It was the Queen. Okay. We are going to need to have a tie-break here, okay? So what we're going to do, we'll put both of you on the line at once, and the 30-second clock is going off there. So, Gary. G'day, Gary. Okay, Gary. Tracy, I'm going to ask you a question here.

And the first that has the answer has to shout it out, okay? Okay. All right. Which Aussie band had a hit with Beds A-Burning? Don't go too quickly, folks.

Midnight Oil. There we go, Barry. Congratulations. Oh, you too. Bad luck, Tracy. You are the winner, Gary. Yes, Midnight Oil. And their film, and we're going to give away some more tickets to this later in the week, their film is in cinemas on Thursday. Had a massive hit with Beds Are Burning 1987. Congratulations, Gary. We are going to send you out a $200 Shell's Coles Express gift card thanks to Shell V-Power. Good on you, Gary. Beauty. Thank you very much. Well done. We'll play again tomorrow.

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. Adam Hawes hosting Wide World of Sports from 6 o'clock tonight. G'day, Adam. Clinton, how are you? Well...

I take the team competition very seriously. I'm running equal second at the moment. And of course, who do I tip? Parramatta and the Knights. The Eels. Yeah, well, the Eels got ripped off two tries by the bunker. And there I'm watching Mitchell Moses tear it up. I'm sending some of my sharks following mates. This is the reason the bloke's in the State of Origin team. He's doing it again. And then he couldn't lead them to victory.

Yeah, it's been a familiar tale for the Eels. The last three weeks they should have got over the line. They haven't. Two runaway Bradman best tries to finish that one from fumbles from the Parramatta outside backs. That really hurts. They needed to win that one. Even for Mitchell Moses, he backed up. He played so well. He deserved better than yet another loss for the Eels. That was a good game, though, wasn't it? That was a very entertaining game. And Best was good. He's certainly found a lot of form. Let's switch it back to your Sharks because they've gone off the rails, mate. They're making a fool of me because I actually...

I actually said they could win the comp. You know, a few weeks ago they beat the Storm. Since then, one win from five. It was there to be won against the Bulldogs. Nico Hines missed one from in front. And Craig Fitzgibbon's now saying he's got to learn from this. It's going to sting, but he's got to rebound from this. He can't dwell like he did last year. You're better to have a form slump in the middle of the year than at the end of the year. They've got a good draw for the back half of the year. I predicted at the start of the season they would battle for 7th or 8th.

And right at the moment, I'm probably looking good with that. What about Parramatta? Is it okay to have a slump the whole year? Looks like a spoon. What's on the show tonight? We've got Freddie Fittler coming on. He's going to talk all things rugby leagues. Some big news around today. Angus Crichton re-signing with the Roosters, of course. And Satili Tupinu, he's off to the Bulldogs. Jacob Little from the Dragons is coming on to talk about the Red V who are into the top eight. Adam Hawes with Wide World of Sports coming up after six tonight. Thank you for your company throughout the drive home. We'll talk again tomorrow.