2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full show June 28 01:48:32

On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Clinton Maynard, filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon, it is Friday. Clinton Maynard driving you towards the weekend, 131873. Another stunning Sydney winter's afternoon. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Mixed forecast for the weekend, partly cloudy tomorrow, but of course for a Sydney weekend, we do need some showers, don't we? There are a few showers forecast for Sunday.

Almost three times the monthly average for June in rain so far because it has been dry since last weekend. Let's hope, and it looks okay for the moment, that it's going to be dry tomorrow so the kids and the grandkids can actually play sport as long as the local councils don't close the grounds. Coming up on the show today, some analysis of the US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. If you missed it, it was broadcast live in the middle of the day on most TV networks. You know that I'm not a fan of Donald Trump.

But I'd suggest he's almost unbackable now to win the election. Joe Biden mumbled and stumbled and may not be the presidential candidate for the Democrats anymore. We'll look at that in a moment. Also on the show, the transport minister, Joe Halen. Finally, weekend track work on Sydney's trains has come to an end. We'll talk to Joe about that. And the prime minister has announced plans to spend $283 million on Australian athletes.

in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Games. We'll look at that because I know the expenditure of public money on sport can be contentious. Plus, the Angels are back. Their 50th anniversary tour is coming up and they have released a new album today. So John Brewster, their founding guitarist, is on the program today. If you see something we should know about, send me a text message, 0460 873 873. You can give me a call, 131 873.

If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Drive on 2GB. Nine past three, we haven't heard from Jared Hain for years, the former NRL star. Well, we now have. He has thanked his supporters, his loved ones, after his sexual assault charges were formally dropped inside a Sydney court today. Our reporter for Nine News, Tiff Genders, was inside the district court today. Tiff, thank you for joining us.

Hey, Clinton. What transpired inside court? Oh, so it was merely just a formality. Three days after the DPP announced that it wouldn't pursue a fourth trial for Jarrod Hayne, he turned up to court as part of his bail conditions. All done in a matter of seconds. The Crown confirmed that it would be withdrawing the charges and that there'd be no further proceedings.

against him. So, you know, fairly procedural in court, but an emotional day for Jarrod Hayne. He broke down, shed tears outside court because this has been six years, three trials, two convictions,

and two successful appeals. As you said, he thanked his supporters that have stood by him from day one, his wife in particular. He thanked the boys on the inside and on the outside that stood by him. And we know that he is a religious man, so he thanked God for keeping him sane during this six-year saga. He thanked the boys on the inside, so his cellmates, I presume.

Yeah, yeah. It certainly appeared that way. He only left jail two weeks ago. And this is the first time that we have heard him speak after he won that appeal. And then the DPP announced that it wouldn't be pursuing that fourth trial. And that if there had have been a fourth trial, that would have been unprecedented.

Yeah, look, three trials is usually seen as the maximum. A fourth trial would have been rare, even unheard of. This is a man who, as I said, has faced three rape trials. One jury couldn't decide the allegations. Two juries convicted him, but he then appealed those convictions twice and successfully. He has spent almost two years behind bars in two different stints.

So the DPP weighed up its options and made the decision that a fourth trial would not be in the interest of justice. Tiff, he's 36-year-old, so he's a relatively young man, but he has spent his entire adult life and many of his teenage years in rugby league and the NRL. Did he give any indication what his future holds?

Look, he wouldn't be drawn on what his future entails, but he did have a bit of a laugh, actually. You know, the question, like, could there be a return to football? And he said, I look more like a front row now, you know,

His legal dramas aren't quite over. Relating to the same case, his rape accuser has brought civil action and is suing him in the Supreme Court. So there is still that chapter to play out. For now, you know, he's just returned to being a family man with his wife and children. Tiff, we'll see your story on Nine News tonight.

Thanks, Clinton. Tiff Genders from Nine News. This is part of what Jarrod Haynes said outside the court. You know, I stayed true to myself the whole time, the whole process, and, you know, today's a bit of an indication for myself and my family and my loved ones. So I just want to say thank you to all those that supported me from day one and stood by me, stood next to me, and it's, yeah, it's been a rollercoaster. And the boys from the inside that stood by me, my mates on the outside and everyone that...

and they still shot on the shot with me. I appreciate that. And I thank everyone that prayed for me. I thank God for keeping me sane through this season. Not only myself, but my wife as well and what she had to go through. It's been, yeah, it's been tough. But yeah, I just want to say just thankful for today for everyone's support. Jarrod Haynes, let's also just remember when that decision was handed down a couple of weeks ago, he was not acquitted.

The conviction from the third trial, it was quashed. And as part of the arguments that were put forward towards whether there would be potentially a fourth trial, the alleged victim and the impact on her had to be taken into consideration of whether she herself would want to be put through the trauma of a fourth trial. 13 past three.

If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Drive on 2GB. It is Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe this week. The US presidential debate is done and dusted. Remember, the election in the US is not until November. And I know that we do focus a fair bit on November.

US politics, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, but this is important because it does affect us. They are the most influential country in the world. They're one of our closest partners. So the future direction of the United States is actually important to what happens in this country as well. But the election is still a long way away and so much could actually happen between now and then. And given what happened in the debate today, there's now a very real question about

of whether Joe Biden is going to be the Democrat candidate. I don't think it's tenable. After watching most of the debate, I don't think it is possible that he can be the candidate.

He is going to struggle to win over the American public now. Some of the key takeaways from the debate. There wasn't a lot of fireworks. There wasn't a lot of colour, to be honest, because what could work here was a CNN debate. And there were two CNN presenters who were asking the questions. There was no audience. So that actually took away a lot of the fire and the passion, I think.

And the two CNN presenters sat in front of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who were standing at lecterns. I wonder what would happen in the commercial breaks. They'd actually talk to each other. Would they say, hey, what's happening on the weekend? I doubt it somehow. So there was tension there, but it did lack a bit of colour. Now, they weren't allowed to speak from notes. And clearly, Donald Trump is a far better orator than Joe Biden. For Joe Biden, it was pretty clear, whether it's his age or his nature...

He mumbles. He stumbles. At times it appears he doesn't quite know what he's talking about. It was actually, I thought it was hard to watch in parts. The moderators had the ability to mute their mics. So there were times when both were trying to interject with each other's statements and they couldn't. Well, it didn't start well for the president. Have a listen to this. Joe Biden was asked about national debt. And look, as far as I can tell, he was talking about raising taxes for billionaires. Well, was that what he was saying? It was a bit of a disaster.

We'd be able to wipe out his debt. We'd be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with. Look, if

We finally beat Medicare. Thank you, President Biden. Oh my goodness. He's going to be the leader of the free world. He is the leader of the free world at the moment. Now I'm saying that as somebody, I'm not a big fan of Donald Trump at all. I think the guy's a loose cannon. I think he's crass. I think he exaggerates everything. But Joe Biden's currently the president and he wants to remain as the president. Why is he running for president? Why hasn't someone within the Democrat Party tapped him on the shoulder?

In terms of policy, culture, some of the key points. Firstly, there's a border crisis in the USA and it's hard to believe that

Mr Biden is actually trying to defend what he's done on the border with Mexico. More than 8 million illegal immigrants, equivalent to more than 2% of the entire US population, have entered the US under Joe Biden. It's a disaster and that allowed Donald Trump to let fly. We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in South America, all over the world. They come from the Middle East everywhere. All over the world they're pouring in.

And this guy just left it open. And he didn't need legislation, because I didn't have legislation. I said, "Close the border." We had the safest border in history. In that final couple of months of my presidency, we had -- according to Border Patrol, who is great, and by the way, who endorsed me for president, but I won't say that, but they endorsed me for president.

Brandon, just speak to him. But look, we had the safest border in history. Now we have the worst border in history. There's never been anything like it. Donald Trump, the war in Ukraine, it did begin while Joe Biden has been in office. He hasn't been able to resolve it. But Donald Trump promised he will.

I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelensky as president-elect before I take office on January 20th. I'll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled and I'll get it settled fast before I take office. Now, I see that as part of Donald Trump's exaggeration. He really does have the power to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine even before he's sworn in. Stretching it a bit, isn't it?

Third key headline, was Donald Trump defending his guilty verdict in New York? Where, of course, he was recently convicted of 34 charges related to the hush money payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels. Bill Clinton once said, I do not have sex without women. Well, now we've got Trump's version.

I didn't have sex with a porn star, number one. Number two, that was a case that was started and moved. They moved a high-ranking official, a DOJ, into the Manhattan DA's office to start that case. That case is going to be appealed and won. We had a very terrible judge, a horrible judge, Democrat. The prosecutor were all high-ranking Democrats, appointed people, and both the civil—

And the criminal. He basically went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me. But when the public found out about these cases, because they understand it better than he does, he has no idea what these cases are. But when they found out about these cases, you know what they did? My poll numbers went up way up. You know that because you're reporting it. I did not have sex with Stormy Daniels. Now, there are 333 million Americans. Either Donald Trump or Joe Biden would be president. Or...

Will Joe Biden stick around? So who won? Well, come on. Donald Trump won. And I'm saying that again as someone who doesn't like Donald Trump, because clearly he is sharper. There's only three years difference in age. Donald Trump's 78. Joe Biden's 81. But he's sharper than Joe Biden. It is hard to believe that if Joe Biden is reelected, how does he see out another four years? I don't want to be ageist. There's nothing wrong with an 85-year-old being the president of the United States if he's got his marbles.

But you have to wonder whether Mr Biden still does. Now, in fact, on CNN, CNN you would term as being Democrat friendly. They're already talking about getting rid of Joe Biden.

It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials, it involves fundraisers. And they're having conversations about the president's performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket, and they're having conversations about what they should do about it. Some of those conversations include, should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside? Others are, other of the conversations are about, should prominent Democrats go public with that call?

because they feel this debate was so terrible. They do say in moments in the debate later, the president got better and got his footing. But then at the end, even his closing statement was a little halting the contrast between the two candidates. But I can tell you, it started minutes in. It started with the first couple of answers and it has continued throughout the night from, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. So what do we do about this? That's what the Democrats are thinking. The Democrats are now saying, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. What do we do about this?

It pretty much sums up a terrible night for Joe Biden. Now, his staff are saying he had a cold. He had more than a cold. A man who's clearly past his best. 25 past three, police have arrested a 34-year-old man over a massive car theft racket. They've seized $2 million in cash, luxury cars and watches as well. This was following raids in Wetherill Park. And the police have sent us some of the photos of the cash. It's

It's bags full of cash, but also the watches. And I know high-end watches are very collectible these days, so they can be worth a lot of money. The man is a 34-year-old business owner. He has been charged with knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime. He is facing several serious charges as well and appearing in Parramatta Local Court. I have a stack of messages here about the presidential debate.

Billy says, I've just checked the betting on the election. Trump is now at $1.71, Biden $5.70. But interestingly, the betting agencies are now touting other Democratic candidates. And mind you, Biden has the nomination. So there actually is not another candidate at the moment. Biden would need to quit suddenly. Gavin Newsom, who is the California governor, $9.80. Michelle Obama, $18. Would she be a prospect? Would she really?

This one from Lyle. When Trump was president, there were no wars. How are we doing under Biden? Lester says, Donald Trump is indeed a loose cannon, which is how I view him.

He has more screws loose than a hardware store in an earthquake. Thank you, Lester. 131873. Let's get to some calls. Adam. G'day, Adam. How are you going, Clinton? Good, mate. Mate, I've been saying for quite a while, it's basically Weekend at Bernie's with Biden. Like, he was an absolute train wreck today and they had an opportunity to replace him a few months back and they didn't do it. I don't know what they're thinking. Like, it's something they could have taken care of a little while ago. I think the problem for them, the Democrats, is the fact he is the current president.

And it would probably be against history and quite obviously insulting if they were to give him the hee-haw when he wants to do it. But somebody needs to have, surely it's happened, the quiet word in his ear and say, mate, it's probably time to retire. Hello, Bruce. Yes, Clinton. Now, look, a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. I mean, she's the one who can't stop laughing.

And I wouldn't even let Joe Biden drive me around the block, never mind make him the leader of the Western world. I mean, you know, he was out there today. But anyway, at least he's having a go. But he's no match for the Trump train. The problem is he's having a go with...

the most significant country in the world whether we like it or not whatever happens in the united states influences what happens in our country and certainly the western world and then the security of areas like the middle east it's it is that important beverly on the text line says i'm trained in phonics transcriptions and honestly i could not understand what mr biden said

It's not the age. I know people of that age who are as sharp as a tack. And look, there's only three years difference from them. Donald Trump's 78. Joe Biden's 81. Beverley says that there would appear to be something wrong with Mr. Biden. And he seems to have muddled. It's a muddled mind. He's totally confused. He loses his train of thought. Thank you, Beverley. And the explanation from Joe Biden's staff is he has a cold. But this isn't the first time that he's performed like this. 131873. Hello, Mal. How are you doing?

Hey, Clinton. Pretty much what everyone else was saying. Surely they can't be serious about trying to get him re-elected as a president. It's just not going to work. You can hear by the... I listened to it on the radio today, and you can... There's such a big difference between the two of them. Yeah. He just... Well, he just doesn't seem like he's got his marbles there. And I understand what you're saying. I know there's a three-year difference in age, but he just...

It's just such a vast difference. And they can't be serious about him trying to re-elect, you know. Well, they're four-year terms. So he's 81.

He'll be 85 at the end of the next term. So he's probably not going to improve, is he? Thank you, Mal. From Edward on the text line, no, they can get rid of Joe Biden on medical grounds. The Democrats actually wanted to get rid of Trump on medical grounds. Well, the Democrats, are they actually going to do it to one of their own, though? And Kerry's got a different view about Donald Trump. Well, now, I actually agree. I don't like Donald Trump, Kerry. I've been criticized for that stance in the past. I'm not going to hide from it. I think the guy is crass, okay?

But Kerry says, I don't agree that he's a good orator. Well, I thought he was a good orator today, I've got to say. He performed without notes and I thought he did well. He's a motor mouth. He is about retrovision and violence. He is a threat to democracy. If he loses, his abusive character came out loud and clear. Thank you, Kerry. And certainly many people do agree with your position as well. Coming up to 3.30, let's check our news headlines.

a news update for our friends at Hoyts Herbs and Spices, a 100% Australian family-owned company.

And with all the latest, good afternoon, Rhiannon Sullivan-Marin. Good afternoon, Clinton. A man accused of killing his housemate at Russell Lee hasn't applied for bail during an appearance in court. Former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden have gone head-to-head in their first election debate. The overturning of abortion laws, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the capital riots were among what dominated. ANZ will soon become the nation's third largest bank with a deal to buy out Suncorp, given the green light by the federal government.

And high schools across the state will be able to deliver financial literacy lessons to students in Year 9 and 10 as part of a program led by the Greater Bank and Newcastle University. In sport, LeBron James is now officially teammates with his son. Bronny has been picked up by the LA Lakers with pick 55 in the NBA draft. And Clinton, there'll be more news at four. Thank you, Rhiannon. She was just talking, Rhiannon was just talking about that education program after five o'clock.

I'm going to have a look at some programs that are now beginning in Sydney's west. Bankstown Workers is behind one of these to try to help kids who fell behind during COVID. If you've got children or you've got grandchildren of school age, you may well have noticed the impact that the lockdowns had on them.

I can tell it with my 13-year-old twins who started high school last year. And even at their high school, which is a public high school, but it's got a pretty good reputation. The talk around the place was their year, their year seven, was one of the worst year sevens in terms of academic standards for years. Why? Because they finished primary school through those COVID lockdowns.

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It's 24 to 4. I've got so many messages about Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I'm not going to get through them all, but a taste of some of them. Tony says, look, you might not like Trump, but when he was president, the whole world was doing well prior to the pandemic. Thank you for your thoughts, Tony. Peter says, there's always been something wrong with Joe Biden. He's propped up by a party. Nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't even know what day it is.

Denise says, I think it was awful watching the debate today. Neither is a good candidate. I think President Biden would be happy to go. It's his wife, Jill, who I think controls the show and is keeping there. She likes the role. She'll do anything not to lose it. Tim says, mate, it's not like Biden's running things now. He does what he's told. Might be right there, Tim. Live on 2GB. Have your say. 131 873.

If you regularly catch Sydney trains like I do, you'll know every weekend for the past year there's been a major track work operation. It seems that every weekend a different line, sometimes multiple lines have been closed. Buses have replaced trains. There's been a lot of disruption. That's now just about completed and the focus is switching to the trains themselves, the actual carriages. Transport Minister Jo Halen joins us. Thank you for your time, Minister. Good afternoon, Clint. Just on the weekly track work to start with, is that just about done now?

In fact, it's officially finished. Our rail repair plan is done, and I want to thank passengers. Like yourself, Clint, there are millions of people that catch trains each and every day. They have been inconvenienced by that track work, but it has resulted in fantastic on-time running improvements. Passengers are spending less time waiting for trains or seeing them cancelled because of those faults and failures, and that's a good thing. Was it actually that big a problem that you had to work on it every weekend for a year, though? It's a lot of disruption.

We fixed more than 2,100 defects. We had a five-year maintenance backlog. And because of the thousands of workers that we had on track overnight, on weekends, we were able to remove those faults and failures, fix 468 kilometres of track. We removed 193 of these temporary speed restrictions so trains can run faster more often. And all of that is good news for Passy.

So that now means that trains in those particular areas that had speed restrictions are running faster now, are they?

Well, that's right. It's like when you see road work on the side of the road and it says 40 k's. Well, those speed restrictions are gone and the pothole equivalents on our tracks are gone as well. Can you try and fix the potholes while you're at it? Well, we'll definitely get onto that as well. But I'm focused on the trains for now. I know there was a lot of some upset passions, particularly during Vivid, where there was some track work during Vivid and some major events over the past year. Was there no way around that?

Well, we have lots of events in Sydney and that's a great thing, but we really had to get this train repair plan work done. Unfortunately, with that maintenance backlog that we inherited, we just didn't have a choice here and we know it was inconvenient at times. We did endeavour to make sure there were alternative rail replacement buses, but we know that sometimes those journeys do take longer. Every day we want people to always check their travel apps to make sure they have the most up-to-date information.

- So you're now moving your focus to the trains themselves. Have we got a lot of poor condition trains on the rails? - We have, while we've seen an improvement on our rail infrastructure, we have now actually seen an increase of train faults

We've got 372 trains that make up our fleet. And over the past year, there's a 28% increase in some of those faults and failures, things like engine faults, braking system issues, doors not opening and closing as they should. And that's resulted in 595 service cancellations. So we really need to now focus on the trains themselves

to improve that reliability again, to get it to the next stage. This is the next part of our plan so that people can feel confident to choosing a train more often. Is that mostly the Tangaras? And I know you recently announced that you'll keep the Tangaras in service longer, but I was in high school when the Tangaras first moved to the tracks. It's a long time ago now.

Well, a huge investment is going into our Tangaras. In fact, that's a separate piece of the trains program. In fact, it's almost a half a billion dollar investment to extend the life of those trains. This is about the rest of the fleet. And while the Tangaras make up 25% of the fleet, we need to make sure that all our sets are running efficiently. Okay. The disruption to passengers through this, are we going to notice these trains are off the tracks while they're fixed? Yes.

This will only result in very few minor timetable changes. Passengers are unlikely to notice any disruption as a result of this train repair plan. That's good. Minister, just briefly on a couple of other issues, it was announced yesterday this proposal for a third light rail network in Sydney will align along Parramatta Road from the inner west

through to the central part of Sydney, apparently 11 kilometres long. If Clover Moore is willing to put money into it, will the state government put money into it? Well, I think the Lord Mayor needs to be clear about how much money she's willing to put in relative to the cost of this project. $100 million.

Well, relative to the multi-billion dollar price tag, look, we took a really clear plan to the election and that was to continue to deliver new metros and new light rail across Sydney, like Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2. And that's a multi-billion dollar project that we, in fact, dedicated $2 billion in the most recent budget to and we're committed to start in this term of parliament. Look,

upgrading the public transport services on Parramatta Road is a priority. In fact, we'll be delivering bus lanes between Haberfield and Burwood thanks to this government's investment in this budget. But the new light rail proposal is not a priority. We didn't take it to the election and we'll be...

continuing with our current projects. I think it's pie in the sky stuff just for the simple fact that Parramatta Light Rail Network itself, you only came to the decision to go ahead with Stage 2 last year or so because it costs billions of dollars. Could you look at maybe a cheaper alternative, trackless trams for instance? Our best

alternative on Parramatta Road is efficient bus lanes. In fact, so many people catch buses along Parramatta Road right now and what we want to do is make sure they have dedicated lanes and priorities at traffic lights. That means that people will be able to choose public transport more often and if you're sitting in a bus that's moving faster than a private vehicle, you'll probably choose public transport and that's good for everybody. Just one last one for you, Minister. There's been more arrests this morning.

because of blockades, protests that have affected train lines in Newcastle and train lines in Newcastle have been affected all week, hopefully not passengers, but a lot of other coal services and so forth and some passenger services as well. Are you disappointed that we've got people coming in from interstate conducting these protests? And then I know the government, the previous government, with your support, Labor support, increased penalties. It doesn't appear that the message is getting through to these protesters.

Firstly, I would say to these individuals, this is incredibly risky behaviour. You are risking your lives, but also the lives of train crew. And we've seen train crew explain how dangerous these actions really are. I know that police are monitoring this situation very carefully, as well as ARTC, the freight operators and New South Wales trains, and we'll continue to do that. Thank you for your time, Jo. Thank you, Clint. The Transport Minister, Jo Halen.

opinions that matter. News you can trust. This is Drive on Sydney's 2GB. 0460 873 873 for text messages and I've got quite a few questions that have come in that suggestions of questions for Jo Hale and she only had quite a limited amount of time this afternoon so I couldn't get to all the questions that we have but

Roe is asking here, please ask the minister when the T3 line is closing. So the T3 line to Bankstown, well, I think you will find they won't give a firm date yet. I think you'll find it'll be in September. So it will be after the Metro line to Sydenham opens and once it's been operating for a few weeks, that will open in August. That's been confirmed. A date hasn't been given yet.

They'll then wait a few weeks after that to see how it's operating. Then the T3 will close. It'll close for a year. It's going to be a nightmare. It's going to be horrible because you'll have to catch buses and the travel time will in some cases double.

but I think you'll find that'll be September, perhaps October at the latest, and they will be closed for a long time. Another question about the NIF. The NIF is the new intercity train fleet. It's been held in storage for about four years. Testing is underway for that train fleet. They're the trains that run between Sydney to Blue Mountains, Sydney to Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney to Wollongong. They're at the centre of the previous dispute between the unions and also the coalition government. My understanding is they'll be in service...

hopefully by Christmas, is that, again, the government won't give a firm date because they're currently undergoing testing and some more changes are being made to those ones. I appreciate the comments in regards to the rail maintenance plan. There's a question about can they stop conducting track work when the school holidays are on, when the Easter show is on, particularly for the T4 train line. Now, I'm told now that this weekend...

track work program is complete, you will see a lot less track work in the next 12 months. If you've got a thought on that, 131 873. 131 873. I'll come to your calls on Sydney's trains in just a moment. You can have your say for less with Amazim. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco and escape to better value with the escape plan by Amazim. The mascot towers debacle is just about over. As of this weekend, all

All the owners are actually finally free to move on. There has been this deal with the state government and the owners. I know some still aren't happy with it, but...

A couple of months ago, this deal was settled with 123 lot owners. What it means is they can sell their properties under the terms of the deal. They sell their properties and then they share in about $8.2 million worth of means-tested support from the Minsk government, which is compensation. 18 of the owners decided not to sell in that way. What they will do, because they want to stay there in the Mascot Towers, is

They're going to begin negotiating with a private consortium and then the local council about the actual future of the building. Text messages 0460 873 873 on the presidential debate. Pat says the problem with Donald Trump is he's vindictive and he's deranged loose cannon. Sadly, both are unsuitable, but Biden is a safe choice. I don't know if Biden is a safe choice after watching his performance today. Let's get to some calls. G'day, Simon. Hey, g'day, Clinton. How are you? Good, mate.

Good. Now, I've worked in maintenance with Sydney trains and with Sydney buses, more with Sydney buses a few years ago, and the seats on the trains and on the buses are absolutely filthy. Now, next time you catch one of those Tangaras, Clinton, you have a look where the back of the seat meets the cushion of the seat in that little groove, and you'll see how much...

and junk and dust and muck gets caught in there. When I worked the buses, I used to get compressed air and I just used to blow it really hard on just one of the seats. The dust that used to pour out of just one cushion, just one seat, would fill up the whole bus. And we sit on these things...

all the time. So I'm glad the maintenance plan is happening and I really hope they focus on just doing a once a year steam clean of the seats. Yeah, I catch the T4 a lot and the Tangaras are on the T4 so I understand your pain. Hello, Roger. Hi, Clinton, how are you doing? Good, mate. I'm sick and tired of hearing Jo Halen making out that she's some type of hero for doing maintenance on the rail.

The Labor Party, via the unions, went go slow for the last two years of the Liberal Party and did no maintenance on the rail because they wanted more money. Well, there's a good reason that the NIF, that the interstate, intercity fleets are still sitting in that warehouse. It's because of that dispute with the union for years, isn't it?

That's right, but they also did no maintenance on the rail, and that's why all the rails went to those slower speeds. Yeah, and I know from that electrical point of view, and I've got to move on, Roger, the electrical union as well, the ETU, wasn't just the rail union. The electric union was also conducting that industrial action. Time to crank up the love this Friday. ♪

How good is Olivia Newton-John? Tell me, who are you hopelessly devoted to? It might be Joe Halen, because I've got another $100 voucher for Mr. Roses to hand out. Give me a call now, 131 873. Give me your best love dedication. If you get to wear $100 to spend on Mr. Roses, where you can buy blooming great flowers, visit mrroses.com.au. Some dramas on our roads. Wayne, whereabouts are you at the moment, mate?

Yes, currently doing 15 kilometres an hour on the M7 Northbound and paying a minimum of $12 for the privilege. Now, I do this 15 times a night and the roads minister has got absolutely no clue. She should get out of her comp and get into the traffic with all the...

To thousands of Sydney...

$40 million into the sports precinct around Leichhardt Oval. They'd already announced $10 million of funding for Leichhardt because the state government and the federal government's also putting in, but they're going to upgrade the aquatic centre now, which is good as well. Got to love some of our listeners on the text line. Peter obviously not listening closely to what I've said. He says, you Trump hater.

The stock markets are going gangbusters, or they were going gangbusters during the Trump era. You need to move to Victoria. I simply said, Peter, that I don't particularly like Donald Trump. I don't like his style. And we're all entitled to like who we both wish for. He wouldn't be on my love song dedication list. However, I think he was out and out the better performer in today's debate.

And if it was up to me who I'd vote for between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I'd probably end up voting for Donald Trump, to be honest. I'm not going to move to Victoria. Time for love dedications. Thanks to Mr. Roses. G'day, Rob. G'day, Clinton. How are you? Good, mate. Who do you love? I'm hopelessly devoted to my wife, Nikki. What's wonderful about Nikki?

Married 19 years. I am well and truly punching above my weight. Just been away from home for three months with work, and she's held the fort with two kids and holding down a full-time job herself. So she's just absolutely amazing and beautiful, and I'm very, very much very lucky and very much in love with her.

You are a lucky man, Rob, and I'm going to send you a $100 voucher to spend at Mr. Roses. You can buy bloom and great flowers for Nicky there. Visit mrroses.com.au. Have a great weekend, Rob. This one from Paul. I'm hopelessly devoted to the Koyama blowhole, the berry donut van, and the Cronulla Sharks. No, Paul, you're not the winner.

Sorry about that. Now, coming up after four o'clock, plenty more to come. And you can certainly have your say on 131873. We will have a look a little more closely at the presidential debate. I'll talk to Adam Crichton, who watched the debate in Washington.

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 4, it is Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe this afternoon. If you want to have your say, 131 873 is the number. The text line 0460 873 873. If you see something on the roads that we should know about or anything that's developing over Sydney, let me know. We'll let our listeners know. Ellen is in Burwood and has come across a fire. G'day, Ellen.

Hi, how are you? I'm good, Alan. What have you seen? Okay, I just came off Burwood Road. There's a fire in a flat going, I think it's north on Burwood Road, and it's blocked off one way of Burwood Road. So that's actually in Burwood? Yeah, in Burwood itself, along Burwood Road. Okay, so it's in... It's just north of the train station. Okay, we know that area reasonably well. You can see it in an apartment block, or is it some flats above the shops?

It's flat above the shop. Okay, okay. Is there a lot of people down below?

Not really. There was a fire truck blocking the road, but I did notice a lot of people because I was keeping my eye on the road, basically. Okay. Burwood Road, not far from the train station there at Burwood. And so that's one of the flats that are above the shops there, so it wouldn't be too far away from the Westfield as well. It's a pretty busy area on a Friday afternoon. We will talk to Fire and Rescue and find out some more details about that. 8 past 4pm.

The push is on to increase the age children can legally use social media to 16 and currently it's 13. And I think this is needed because kids are being harmed by social media. Well, not according to Meta. Now, Meta, they're the owners of Facebook and Instagram. They changed the name a year or so ago. Today, they've given evidence to a Senate committee and this Senate committee is looking into the effects of social media.

How about this from Meta's Vice President of Global Safety, Anagon Davis. She says, I don't think that social media has done harm to our children. Hello? She says, I think that social media, this is evidence she has given in Parliament. They have to take an oath for that. She says, I think the social media has tremendous benefits. I think that the issues of teen mental health are complicated.

I think it is our responsibility as a company to ensure that teens can take advantage of the benefits of social media in a safe environment.

There was then a Liberal MP who replied, are you serious? You can't be serious. But she was. Now, social media is certainly not to blame for all mental health issues with teenagers, but it is contributing. And there are plenty of other issues beyond mental health with the use of social media. We know children have taken their own lives because of bullying on social media.

We moved our son out of his high school after year seven because of bullying. It got that bad. The school did a wonderful job to prevent it, but we thought in the end we had to take him out of the school. Some of that was via Snapchat, social media. There are kids who are riding on the top of buses and filming themselves. They're doing the same thing on trains. Why do you think they do that?

Well, firstly, they've got no brains, but secondly, they like to generate likes on social media when they publish the film. One of them will be decapitated sooner or later, but no, social media is not causing any harm. Why is it in regional towns, say Moree, which has had a lot of attention this year, why is it when there's a break and enter in Moree and some teenagers steal a car, why do they take a video of themselves driving away from the scene at 150km an hour and then posting it on Facebook or Instagram?

They're doing it to attract likes, attention, and of course, nothing to do with social media. Meta is seriously telling us social media does not do any harm to children. They are cracking jokes. But they can get away with it. They're a big international organisation. And like most in the digital world, they have very little respect for our way of doing things because they get away with it. We are talking about changing the rules of social media. And we were actually having a chat around the dinner table about this this week. My 13-year-old twins, they are at a legal age to use social media.

And they tell me that almost every one of their friends was using it before they were 13 because it's not hard to get around the rules. So I think the age should increase to 16. But we are kidding ourselves if we think when that happens, and I think it will happen eventually, we're kidding ourselves to think kids won't still access it and to think that Meta thinks, no, social media is not causing any harm.

Live on 2GB, have your say. 131 873. 12 past four, of course, the US presidential debate was underway today. I played some highlights a little earlier in the program. Look, for me, it was a terrible night for Joe Biden because the key question he had to answer

and prove to the American public, and you know what, the world, because they're the most influential nation in the world. The key question he had to prove is, is he fit for another four years in office, from a physical perspective, from a mental perspective? And I don't think he convinced us at all.

Now, there weren't many fireworks because the moderators had the ability to mute the microphones. They had a set amount of time for each question response. They were speaking from notes and clearly President Trump was far better than Biden speaking without notes, I should say.

And Joe Biden, it's pretty clear. I don't know whether it's just because of his age or other ailments he may be suffering. And his staff say he was suffering a cold. But he's mumbling along. At times, it was hard to understand him. He stumbles. You looked at him on the screen. And at times, he's just staring. I'm looking at him now. There's a replay of him on Nine. And he's just looking down. It's like he's frozen while Donald Trump's speaking. Now, Donald Trump, he's fast and loose with...

political norms? He wants to convince us that he's the only man to fix America. Believe what you want, but here's the current president staking his claim to keep the job. Well, first of all, I spent half my career being criticized, being the youngest person in politics. I was the second youngest person ever elected to the United States Senate, and now I'm the oldest. This guy's three years younger and a lot less competent

I think that just look at the record, look at what I've done. Look, I've turned around the horrible situation he left me. The idea that somehow we are this failing country. I never heard a president talk like this before.

We were the NBA. Name me a single major country president who wouldn't trade places with the United States of America. Gee, that's convincing. Make your own mind up. In the meantime, here is Mr. Trump, the 45th president, making his case. I wish he was a great president because I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be at one of my many places enjoying myself. I wouldn't be under indictment because I wouldn't have been his political opponent, you know, opponent because he indicted me.

because I was his opponent. I wish he was a great president. I would rather have that. I wouldn't be here. I don't mind being here. But the only reason I'm here is he's so bad as a president that I'm going to make America great again. We're going to make America great again. We're a failing nation right now. We're a seriously failing nation. And we're a failing nation because of him. His policies are so bad. His military policies are...

INSANE. THEY'RE INSANE. THESE ARE WARS THAT WILL NEVER END WITH HIM. HE WILL DRIVE US INTO WORLD WAR III AND WE'RE CLOSER TO WORLD WAR III THAN ANYBODY CAN IMAGINE. WE ARE VERY, VERY CLOSE TO WORLD WAR III AND HE'S DRIVING US THERE. AND KIM JONG UN AND PRESIDENT XI OF CHINA, KIM JONG UN OF NORTH KOREA, ALL OF THESE PUTIN, THEY DON'T RESPECT HIM. THEY DON'T FEAR HIM. THEY HAVE NOTHING GOING WITH THIS GENTLEMAN AND HE'S GOING TO DRIVE US INTO WORLD WAR III.

Wow. Adam Crichton is the Australian's Washington correspondent. He joins me from DC for his reaction. G'day, Adam. Thanks very much for having me. What was your impression of, firstly, Joe Biden?

Well, look, I think it was a disaster for the president, actually. And look, on a human level, it was difficult to watch, to be honest. I mean, this is an old man who is well past his prime. I mean, he loves his country. He means well. He meant well. But I mean, he regularly lost his train of thought. He sometimes spoke gibberish. He was staring at the ground. I mean, some of the things just just made no sense. And, you know, it.

The sad thing is that it had been so well telegraphed that he prepared so hard. I mean, he'd spent a whole week at Camp David. And then the fact that this was the outcome, this was the performance, I think, you know, is extremely bad for him. I mean, so bad that I think there's now a 50% likelihood you'd have to say that he'll be prevailed upon to step aside in August at the Democratic Convention for someone else.

Adam, I'll ask you about that in a moment, but there's been indication from his staff that he's been suffering a cold and maybe his performance was the effects of his illness. Do you think there's anything in that?

Well, certainly his voice was very hoarse right from the start. He didn't sound like he normally does. I mean, of course, he has the voice of an old man now. That is to be expected. There's nothing wrong with that. But it was particularly bad. And some people certainly were saying that he had a cold. Certainly there were no signs that he'd taken any performance enhancing substances, I must say. I mean, it was not the Joe Biden that we saw back in March at the State of the Union where he was very sprightly and he performed very well. But of course, you know, he was reading then and he was not reading tonight, but in much

much harder thing in a debate. You know, they had no notes. They were both speaking off the cuff. They didn't know the questions in advance. And yeah, you know, the verdict is, you know, just something very, very clear. I mean, I've not seen any polling yet, but I mean, I think the polling is going to be devastating for the president. So you touched on it just earlier in terms of could the Democrats act on him at the convention? Would there be a chance of potentially another candidate coming out of the woodwork? Is that a likelihood?

Well, look, I think it's much more of a likelihood now than it was a week ago. I mean, this is something that I've been saying for a year might happen, but in recent weeks I thought that it wouldn't because the president has said multiple times that he's going to run again and that he won't be dissuaded from doing so. But, look, I think after tonight, I mean, you might find very senior Democrats, including members of his own family, may, you know, suggest that he make an announcement in the weeks to come that, you know,

that he won't be standing again. But this is, you know, this is not an easy thing for Democrats to deal with. You know, it's getting late in the day. They've only got five months to go and the convention is August. That's when it formally would happen. I think it's almost, I mean, it's not going to happen that he's going to resign and then Kamala Harris would, of course, be president in that case. I mean, I don't think that's going to happen. But what might happen is that he does step aside in August for someone else to be the candidate for the November election. Could she be the candidate?

Well, she could be, but I think she'd certainly lose against Donald Trump. I mean, that's just my personal view. So I think what the party would probably do is they would have a very quick open competition and you'd get a lot of Democrat governors throwing their hat in the ring.

You know, most notably, of course, Gavin Newsom from California, who has a very high national profile. He's been governor for a while. You know, he's young and handsome and articulate. So he has all those things going for him. I mean, he, too, is quite a polarizing figure. And so, you know, I'm not sure how he would go against Trump. They're very, very different figures. But certainly Trump did, I think, pretty well. I mean, he was more reserved than normal. I mean, I could tell watching him that...

But I think he was doing what he'd been told to do by his advisors, which is not to be too aggressive. I mean, sometimes he was aggressive, but not as much as normal. And I think it worked very well for him. So on to Donald Trump as well, just expanding on that. The fact that notes weren't part of it, did that help him, do you think? Well, look, Trump is very good off the cuff, I think. I mean, sometimes he doesn't make sense too, but he's very fluent in his own way. And look, I must say, I mean, someone who's been watching him for eight years, I mean, he's...

age-less to me. He's kind of the same as he was eight years ago. He looks the same almost. He sounds the same. He's got his idiosyncratic style, of course, but I thought tonight no one could really fault him for his fluency or

or for his cognitive ability. I mean, of course he exaggerated and bluffed it and he bluffed and all of the usual Trump things. I mean, you know, there were lies on both sides, of course, that's what politicians do. But Trump was just very much himself and I think he performed well. Lies on both sides, but it's so different to seeing in the Australian debate. And when they were talking about border security, for instance, and Trump is there saying to Biden that, well, you know, you have caused the deaths of, you've basically murdered people on the border. Yeah.

Yeah, look, that's an extraordinary weak point for President Biden. And look, it's his own fault. I mean, he very recently, you know, has tried to change some regulations to reduce the numbers. But as Donald Trump said tonight, I mean, it's too little, too late. And I think Trump made the very good point that he didn't have any new special legislation when he was president, but he did manage to get the numbers down very dramatically. And those numbers surged, of course, when Biden became president. And it's only very recently, you know, kind of with the election a few months away, that he's trying to do something about it.

I think that's actually one of the great political puzzles for me is why Democrats have not acted sooner on something that is so unpopular. He also said that he would end the Ukraine war, the invasion from Russia, while president-elect, even before he's sworn in.

Well, look, I mean, I must say I'm rather sceptical of this argument personally. I mean, this is what Trump says all the time. And I think he has to say that because he doesn't actually want to say anything about the details of what he would negotiate with Russia, right? I mean, he doesn't want to say, for instance, and look, of course, I don't know what's going to happen, but, you know, he doesn't want to say, for instance, that, yes, sure, look, I would give some land to Russia kind of in return for peace, you know, which may be his view. And, you know, based on what he said at other times, I think that that

That will be his view, but he doesn't want to reveal that in advance of the election. Adam, appreciate your time. We'll read all about it in The Australian. Just one last one for you. Trump has obviously won the debate. Does he now win the election? Look, I'd have to say now that if it's the two candidates in November, then yes, he's 70% chance won, 80% chance won, I think. And that's a big increase from a couple of days ago where I would have said 55%. We'll read you in The Australian. Thank you, Adam.

Indeed. Thanks very much. Adam Crichton in the United States. It's Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Now, I was speaking about social media a little earlier in the hour. Meta gave evidence today to a parliamentary committee saying that social media does not cause children harm. I would dispute that wildly.

There have been children who have committed suicide because of social media. And then there are children committing criminal acts because they're showing off via social media. Now, Tyson says on the text line, social media is contributing to teen health. Saying that is like saying spoons contributed to people's obesity.

Look, Tyson, it's far worse than that. It is far worse than that. And he makes the point that you can be a D-head on it, but sometimes people just can't help themselves. They're going to be a D-head with or without it. I'll give you an example, Tyson. This is from my own world. So my son was bullied last year and he's 13. He does have access to some limited social media so that they use it as a communication device. We had the bullies from his school come over to our house while we weren't there.

They would go into our driveway. We've got a basketball hoop like lots of families do, and they play basketball on our driveway. They'd then send my son messages to say, hey, look where we are at your house, to intimidate him. Now, back when we were kids, yeah, of course, we were all probably bullied in some way, but they didn't have the technology to intimidate and threaten others 24-7. When I say 24-7, we don't let our kids access technology at night anyway.

But they now take home this sort of stuff. So for Meta to say, oh, social media causes kids no harm, it's rubbish. Social media has lots of benefits. Don't get me wrong. I use it all the time. Use it all day. It's part of what we do. But to say it causes kids no harm is a load of garbage. Now, I mentioned a little earlier with one of our callers, Ellen, the fire on Burwood Road in Burwood. We've just been in contact with New South Wales Fire and Rescue. They tell us two trucks are now on the scene.

The fire has started in a unit above a shop. It looks like it started in the kitchen. Someone has left their cooking unattended. The fire is now out. Now, 50% of fires start in kitchens. So given also the threat of winter with heaters, that's a timely warning.

When you are cooking, be careful when you walk away from what you have sitting on the stove. 131 873. Lots of you want to have your say and I've got a mountain of text messages about the presidential debate. Dave, what was your view, Dave? I think Adam sort of stole my thunder a little bit. The Democrats, they're not dumb. You might not agree with their politics like I do, but they're not dumb. They've got a plan. And I think I understand the plan, but...

Biden has got to go out with some dignity. Yep. You can't flick him. And if he goes out with a medical episode, which Meridna Zeman is fit to become president, he goes out with his dignity. But it also falls in... I don't know the particular time period, but if it falls in a particular time period of the election, they then don't have to go through the primaries for their nominee. OK. Which then stops them doing the damage, because that'll do damage to the party.

So the way I understand it, the Democrats can then nominate... Who they want. ..a person who they want. Well, they're going to need that to happen, obviously, well before November. The clock is ticking on that. The Democrat convention's obviously coming up as well.

They're going to want to get on with it because there's no way the Democrats, surely the Democrats cannot win the presidential election in November with Joe Biden as their candidate. Patricia says, do you really think Trump is a good president? He's a crook. He's not a very nice man. The things he wants to do as president are really bad. I don't see how he's going to change anything around the world because he just simply says it's Biden's fault. Look, Patricia, I keep on saying I'm not a fan of Donald Trump myself, but I think he's a good president.

But I think Joe Biden's performance was atrocious for the leader of the free world. And he says, let's see the celebrity stars, whether they actually leave the USA if Trump wins. Well, they've all said that, but many of them have said that, haven't they?

Rob says Joe Biden is a gibberer, just as the continuous call team would say. He's basically a head on a stick they roll out as little as possible. The Trump star is going to win and he'll get the world sorted. We need Trump more than ever. We need Trump here. Oh, Rob, we don't want Donald Trump here. I'm sure we can come up with our own leaders, can't we? Actually thinking about it, we don't have a great choice here either sometimes. Coming up to 4.30pm.

And with all the latest, Rhiannon Sullivan-Narren. G'day Clinton. US President Joe Biden has touched down in North Carolina after his first election debate with Donald Trump. He'll hold a campaign rally there in the coming hours. Police are investigating after a man turned up to Bankstown Hospital just after midnight with a gunshot wound. He's been moved to Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition.

There's been an 18% spike in the number of people struggling to pay for power between 2022 and 2023, but the Consumer Watchdog says lower usage during a milder winter kept bills lower than they could have been. And former Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott are a number of Australians who have been sanctioned by Russia. They're accused of steering Russiaphobic policies and being involved in an anti-Russia agenda. In sport, Aussie teenager Johnny Furphy was chosen by the Indiana Pacers with Palladio.

pick number 35 in the NBA draft. And Clinton, there'll be more news at five. Thank you, Rhiannon. On the text line, Paul says about bullying in social media, I'd go and bash the fathers of the morons who bully your son. My son is 12. He was bullied. I threatened the father and the bully stopped. Look, Paul, I'm a lover, not a fighter. So I don't go down that path, obviously. But I actually caught the bullies at our house one day. They turned up on the doorstep.

and I dealt with them verbally of course and they were shaking and they told my son on the Monday morning yep they'd had the encounter with me now they didn't return to our house thank goodness but the bullying and it did continue using technology at school it continued and the school did a great job in trying to control it but in the end the best thing was to actually take our son out of the school which was disappointing because it's a great school

But I've got to say my boy is much happier now and his academic results have improved as well. 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. 24 to 5. Some breaking news courtesy the Telegraph. Fresh charges have been laid against Michael Slater, the former Test cricket star. He's in custody at the moment in jail in Brisbane.

And some matters have been briefly heard in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court today. He was already facing domestic violence charges resulting from an incident on the Sunshine Coast. Well, court documents tendered during the bail application have indicated that the allegations are very serious, that the suggestion is, based on what the police claim, is that he assaulted and choked a woman as she checked on his welfare.

Police allege Slater also broke into the woman's home in April and accosted her. He is now facing more charges. 24 to 5. We are all getting a tax cut on Monday. And while that's going to feel great, there are new findings out today from the Independent Parliamentary Budget Watchdog that shows productivity pretty well stagnated in the first three months of the year. It increased by just 0.1% in the March quarter. The Reserve Bank recently said that it is crucial that productivity picks up.

If we want inflation to come down, that is one of the factors. Next week's tax cuts will reduce the average income tax rate. The average income tax rate drops from 26.1% this financial year to 24.6%. But the report says it will only have a temporary effect. Long term, the government's budget will entirely be reliant on your income.

Right now, revenue from our income tax makes up 47% of total government revenue. The Parliamentary Budget Office says over the next 10 years that'll increase to 52%. So that means we are paying the government more overall. It means over that time, we will end up paying $300 billion more in personal income tax than we currently do. So this is where you might say the rubber hits the road.

Future federal governments will either have to drastically cut spending, their own spending, or increase income tax because you can't have it both ways or we go into even more deficits. Independent economist Chris Richardson joins me on the program. Thank you for your time, Chris. Many thanks, Clinton. Are we basically staring down the barrel of long-term deficits, deficits after deficit after deficit or income tax increases?

Yeah, look, the mathematics are challenging. Now, the good news is Australia currently has a budget surplus. That means we're very unusual on the international stage. And although our government has federal debts, a relatively small percentage

as a share of national income compared to what you see elsewhere. The bad news is, and that analysis that you just went through points it out, we're on unsustainable trends on a few fronts. Our increasing reliance on income tax stands out, but there are also challenges on how much we're set to spend on the NDIS, a very noble cause, but one we haven't got quite right. And defence, a more dangerous world is a more expensive...

Aren't we? Isn't the government, though, very much benefiting from what happens in WA with resources? Oh, for sure. It is making a fortune out of that. Basically, the world has given Australia a pay rise in recent years. War is a terrible, terrible thing. But Russia and Ukraine, between themselves, energy and food...

to the world and as the price of that stuff has gone up in Australia, big producers of both, we are making big bucks. The government gets its tax share of that. That's the key driver of the surpluses at the moment. If tax cuts continue into the future, we obviously have an election on the horizon and politicians will battle each other probably on the issue of tax cuts as well. But governments don't rein in spending.

and there is still deficit after deficit. How bad is that for the country? I guess the debt just keeps expanding. It is, and that's a challenge. You know, I

Ultimately, the national social compact, the federal budget, has to add up. And the trends are not our friend on several fronts. So as a nation, like any other nation around the world, we tax workers, we tax businesses, we spend it on the young and the old and the sick and the poor and the Defence Force.

And getting that balance right is incredibly good. By and large, Australia has done better than other nations. But we are making some key mistakes that run the risk of getting worse over time. That could bite us on the bum down the track. If I could just ask you about a couple of other economic issues. Of course, the CPI figure came out this week, inflation. It was higher than most analysts expected at 4% for the year to May. What was your reaction to CPI?

That was an ugly number. Now, it's a monthly number, but we haven't had monthly inflation numbers in Australia for long. It's the quarterly. We'll find that out basically in a month. That'll be the one that's make or break for whether the Reserve Bank is set to raise interest rates again. But there is, you know, the most likely thing is that they just, interest rates stay where they are for quite some time, but there is a chance that,

that rates go up in a month. And there's actually plenty of economic data, critical economic data, out between now and the August meeting. I know that retail trade figures, household spending, unemployment, all that rolls into their decision as well, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does. And again, just like the budget, it's a balance. We have to get inflation right and the economy right. But it's the what comes first in that. To some extent, we have to get inflation right before we can get the economy right. I have been and I remain a fan of the Reserve Bank's approach. They have been trying to be very careful not to hurt unemployment too much.

In Australia, we have not raised interest rates as much here as elsewhere. But that approach means there's not a whole lot of wiggle room for stuff to go wrong. Recent inflation numbers have been a bit on the wrong side of the Reserve Bank's projections and governments are giving us a fair amount of money. Those tax cuts are part of that story. That starts Monday. That's a challenging combination. Certainly a bit challenging. Thank you for your time, Chris.

Many, many thanks. Independent economist Chris Richardson, who speaks a lot of sense. So we'll all have more money in our pockets from next week. There are income, if you pay income tax, there'll be an income tax reduction. But the issue is going to be what effect does that then have long term?

Live on 2GB, have your say. 131 873. 18 to 5, you will believe this, the train line in the Hunter Valley is closed yet again. Due to safety risks, just being informed by Transport for New South Wales, they say, "...due to safety risks relating to ongoing illegal protest activity in the rail corridor in the Hunter, buses will replace trains overnight and throughout the weekend."

From 7pm tonight, Friday, Saturday, Sunday through until 5 the next morning on each of those days, buses will replace regular trains between Newcastle, Dungog and also the Newcastle Interchange and Scone. This will impact passengers travelling on all intercity services as well, except some XPT services. Passengers need to allow extra time.

Transport for New South Wales says the decision is not taken lightly. It is to ensure the safety of the travelling public, train crew and emergency services workers who need to enter the rail corridor to conduct rescues. So when we say Transport for New South Wales say they need to conduct rescues, that's removing the protesters. So there is actually no protest right at the moment.

But they're planned. They're planned from 7 o'clock tonight and then right across the weekend again. So Transport for New South Wales has to take preventative action to ensure that the travelling public and the train drivers are going to be safe because they're deliberately trying to disrupt trains. Now, just today, three more people have been charged over protests this week. A 25-year-old woman from Victoria, a 77-year-old woman from South Australia,

and a 28-year-old woman from Victoria. This relates to protests in the Cessnock area and then another in the Singleton area. Now, in the case of the 28-year-old woman from Victoria in Singleton, she's been granted conditional bail and she'll appear in court on the 11th of July. She's from Victoria. Is there any chance she's going to actually turn up to court?

And then we had the government a couple of years ago make a big song and dance about the fact that they now have two-year jail terms for those who are convicted of these sort of acts, disrupting infrastructure, fines of up to $22,000.

And it's happening again day after day after day. Why is it happening day after day after day? Because no magistrate or judge at this point has sent anyone to jail for two years. Jack on the text line says bring back the water cannon and soak those protesters and I'll hold the nozzle. Some breaking news out of Macquarie Street. I've just been told by the New South Wales opposition leader's staff that

that action is being taken against Wes Fang. If you cast your mind back to the program yesterday, I told you about the blue between Wes and the opposition leader, Mark Speakman. Basically, Wes Fang was upset that Mark Speakman didn't tell him that he was going to Wagga Wagga, which is his area, and then was touring the local hospital with an independent MP rather than him. Um,

Wes then put out a social media statement himself and questioned Mark Speakman's leadership. They're on the same side, and he was basically saying, how long can Mark Speakman stay as leader?

A statement from the opposition leader. I have terminated his appointment as Shadow Assistant Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional New South Wales, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources with immediate effect. I've invited the leader of the National, Dougal Saunders, to nominate another National's MP to vacate the role. Look, basically, no one probably knew that Wes...

held all those positions, but they do pay a little bit of extra money. They can top up his salary. Look, it's basically saying, look, Wes, what you did is just wrong and it can't continue. Let's be together, together.

Now on Drive. Good old Charlie Brown. For the Harvey Norman clearance ends Sunday. Don't miss unbeatable deals on laptops and mobiles, TVs, furniture, Aussie-made bedding and more. Harvey Norman clearance ends Sunday. Did you know that Apple has a policy that doesn't allow you to access locked devices without erasing everything on it? Well, so for grieving family members, for instance...

can be devastating because it can mean they can't get access to photos or other important memories after their loved ones pass away. But there's a way around it. It's called legacy content. I

A contact, legacy contact. To talk more about this, Charlie Brown, the host of 2GB's Life and Technology, joins me. G'day, Charlie. Hey, Clinton. How are you, mate? I'm good, mate. I've actually thought about this in the past because I've had friends of mine who've passed away at a young age, I'm sure like many of our listeners, and they still have profiles, for instance, on Facebook, which I find a little bit spooky sometimes. But it's actually dawned on me what happens to their phone and all the content on their phone.

Yeah, this idea of passing on your digital assets once you're no longer walking the earth is one that sort of started coming about maybe five to ten years ago. As you described, people's social media accounts, for example, lingered on and were still there even though the person had sadly left us.

Apple has their system and it's a pretty good system. Basically, you nominate while you're the account holder. You nominate somebody. It could be anybody. They don't have to have an iPhone or they don't have to have an Apple ID even. You nominate them and they are given a unique access key, if you like, or a unique code. And should you pass, then...

Then they basically front to Apple with a death certificate and that unique code within three years of you passing. And they then are given access privileges to your data as the legacy contact. Now, if you don't do this, and there's plenty of examples around on the internet where people have run into this barrier, right?

You can't get access to the person's data unless you've actually got access to the device and the pin code on the device itself. I've actually had listeners come to me and say, "Can you help me?" with various brands, not just Apple, but Samsung, Google, that kind of thing, and they're all just as strict.

And the reason for that strictness is because at the end of the day, your data is yours. You are the owner of it. And just because you've passed on, I guess these companies believe that it's not up to them to pass that information on. It's up to you as the owner of it to put in place the process to have it handed on once you go. I guess this is a very basic way of doing it, Charlie, but I've...

put together a document with all my passwords and it has my Apple codes there as well. And the code to open up my phone, I put that together in documents in a top drawer. So I told the wife that's what to look at. And I'm glad you've thought about it, Clinton, because most people don't. My father-in-law passed away two years ago and it was never even thought about in my family that he was the one that controlled all of his family's digital devices.

access points and when he passed they let his mobile phone number lapse because we didn't need a mobile phone anymore then all of a sudden when my mother-in-law was trying to get things done digitally she ran up against the barrier that his phone number was the two-factor authentication point for all his accounts now because of my job I was able to go to Optus we could retrieve the number because nobody else had

had actually gone and taken that number since it had been released, so to speak. And we were able to get it back. And I obviously put in place a process to ensure that we don't lose that number again. But it shows you that one chink in the chain, and not only are you dealing with the loss of a loved one, Clinton, you're dealing with a lot

of challenges around how to progress from there and, and, and move on and, and, and live your life, so to speak in, in a number of different ways. Almost. Yeah. Almost out of time, Charlie, what's coming up on the show tomorrow.

A brand new Aussie tech startup is coming to talk to us about a new desktop monitor with touchscreen innovation that's actually doing pretty well here in Australia. We'll talk to them. Plus, new AI PCs. We'll talk to the tech company that makes all that tech possible tomorrow on the program. That Apple program, Legacy Contact, is a really good idea. Thank you, Charlie. We'll catch you tomorrow. Thanks, Clint. See you, mate. You can hear Charlie on Life and Technology tomorrow morning from 8 o'clock right here on 2GB.

Coming up after the news, should we be spending hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on our Olympians? I actually reckon it's actually a good investment. 131873.

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. The sun is going down around Sydney. The weekend is almost here and it looks like cloudy tomorrow. Maybe a few showers on Sunday. Let's hope kids sport can go ahead tomorrow as long as the councils keep the grounds open. It's been a pretty tough trip home in the car, particularly on the M7 through Burwood where there was that fire.

But also through Hurstville, Mark Levy is heading to a core stadium, Sydney Olympic Park. The Bulldogs taking on my Sharks tonight. You'll hear that live in the continuous call team. But Levy, there's dramas in Hurstville.

Good afternoon, Clinton. I've just gone past it. So it's King George's Road where it narrows to two lanes either way at Erseville. And there's been some sort of dirt spill there. And it looks quite thick, admittedly, and like a clay-type surface. So I don't know whether they're waiting for a tractor to come along and help pick it up. But you've got three or four people there standing there with shovels.

There's a bloke there from the Transport Management Control on a mobile phone, but they're just standing there looking at it. In the meantime, you've got delays all the way back into Beverly Hills. You've got delays all the way sort of back towards the Tom Uglies Bridge. It's a nightmare. King George's Road I would rank as definitely one of the worst in Sydney. I think it's up there with Parramatta Road and Military Road when there's no dirt on the road.

Mate, the state of it at the moment, you go a little bit further on, they've got all of the roadworks happening at the moment with some of the extensions to roadways and everything else. But I just feel for people on a Friday afternoon, admittedly, people want to get home and enjoy the start of their weekend, but

They drive past this dirt spill and there's four blokes standing there looking at the dirt. Whoever's on the phone to the bloke from the Transport Management Centre, here's a tip. At least start looking like you're doing something so people can get home. If you are heading to the football from the Shire tonight and from the Canterbury-Bankstown region into a core stadium, just bear that in mind, those issues on King George's Road. Just before you go, Levi, a tip for the Bulldogs and the Sharks tonight?

Well, I've actually gone against your Sharks. I think the Bulldogs are one of the big improvers in the competition this year. And, you know, they could really announce themselves as a team that could be on track to play some finals footy. Yeah, they're in the top eight. So I'd tip the Bulldogs to beat the Sharks tonight. Well, as you know from the 2GB tipping competition, I usually tip against the Sharks week after week after week. And it's held me in good stead this year. I've had a bit of word from camp. They're pumped up.

Fitz has not been happy with how they've been starting games. I think they're going to come out on fire after their bye. Well, Nico's got a point to prove as well. Nico Hines dropped from the origin side, so you'd think he'd be up for a big game. But look, you've got to stop tipping against your Sharks. You're supposed to be loyal. Well, that's the point. You've got to tip your Sharks. Because I've had the inside word from camp that they're pumped up, I've actually backed them this week. So they better win.

Goodbye. Thank you, Levi. Mark leaving the continuous call team from 7 o'clock tonight. Now, a warning for you. From Monday, you will pay more for tolls. Again on Sydney's motorways, the tolls are going up every three months, pretty much on most motorways now. Tolls increase.

And a lot of drivers don't realise it because everything's electronic, of course. I was on the Eastern Distributor this morning. I gave up using the train because of my fare evasion problem earlier in the week, so I've been driving for the rest of the week. I'll try the trains again next week. But when I drove through the ED, there was that warning sign, and Transurban, which runs most of the motorways, they do warn you via those LED signs that the toll is going to increase. But the only way you can find out how much the toll will be is going to the website itself for most of the tollways.

They're not hiding the increase, but they're not shouting it from the rooftops either. So from Monday, on almost all the tollways in Sydney, they go up. Now, they aren't going up on the West Connects. So the M4 West Connects, it's not going up because that's an annual increase. But the M2, M7, North Connects, Lane Cove Tunnel, ED, as I mentioned, Cross City Tunnel, they're all going up. Just a couple of examples of now the maximum tolls you'll pay.

The M2, it's almost $10 now, or will be next week, $9.79. The M7, which is distance-based, $9.86, up to $9.86. The ED, $9.63. Mind you, the ED is only one way. The Cross City Tunnel must be the most expensive piece of infrastructure in New South Wales, if not the world. $6.95 from Monday, and you're on it for two and a half minutes.

I should point out the state government's $60 toll cap is in place. And make sure you claim the money. Go onto the Service NSW website and claim the money you are owed.

And you'll now reach the $60 toll cap faster because of these increases. But have a look at your credit card over the next couple of weeks after these toll increases go through, because you'll notice that more of your money is going to top up your toll account. Reality is, what do you do? Use the roads above, or you'll be stuck in a traffic jam like on King George's Road, or use the motorways, and you'll go broke pretty quickly. 12 past five. Thank God it's Friday.

And now on 2GB Drive, thank God it's Friday. It is time for your Sydney shout-outs. All thanks to our great mates at Didi's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. 131873. Who deserves a special mention in your life? Now, thanks to our mates at Didi's and Spiro, I've

I've got five $100 vouchers to Dee Dee's Waterfront to give away. So give me a call. Who will get your Sydney shout out? Now, it might be a local business. It could be someone in your family. Maybe you've been to a hospital of late. Somebody who's helped you in the hospital. 131873. Give someone special a shout out this Good Friday. All thanks to Dee Dee's Waterfront Group. Good health, good business. And I tell you what...

I'm going to kick us off with a shout out. I'm going to give a shout out to the Blacktown Workers Club. Now, if you've got kids or you've got grandchildren, have you noticed that they're maybe behind academically for their age, from where they really should be when it comes to, say, reading or writing?

I think there is now no question that COVID and the lockdowns of a few years ago, when our kids were kept at home instead of going to school, has had a long-term impact on education standards. Have you noticed it? Blacktown Workers Club are doing a great thing, and I think this deserves a shout-out. They're working with local schools. Now, one of them is the Blacktown North Primary School. They're funding a $40,000 program to help kids catch up. Morgan Stewart is the CEO of Blacktown Workers and joins us. G'day, Morgan.

G'day, Clinton. Thanks for having me on this afternoon. Congratulations for this program. How does it work? Well, it's a funny roundabout journey. We've been working with Learning Links, who have been fundraising and working on educational outcomes since the early 70s. So they've got 50 years of experience in the space. And we're a club that's been around, and we're just about to have our 70th year. So we're both interested in similar things. But COVID, as you mentioned, has taught us a number of lessons

And one of the primary runs that taught us is that sometimes kids fall behind. They come up with this brilliant program about working in Blacktown North Public School on resilience with kids, you know, who have trouble coming back from COVID back into school. That might be from families where they're experiencing domestic and family violence, all sorts of different outcomes.

And what this program does is focus in on child-centric whole community responses using child psychologists and one-on-one tutors and teacher training programs and parent interventions. And it's complex and awesome all in the same breath, which is fantastic.

you know not something we get to say very often here is people that cook chicken schnitzels and sell beers for a living but you know we're a community business yeah these kids need a hand learning links do wonderful work they've been doing it for a long time and we were just super proud that they came to us with this thought and we were happy to fund it up and and the educational outcomes that they're achieving from it are just profound and i know it's important for the schools in the blackton area particularly like blacktown north if you think about a lot of the kids are

from non-English speaking backgrounds. And just when I give that some thought, now I think about my own kids when they went through COVID and spent all that time at home, at least they were interacting with teachers a little bit online, but most of the help was coming from us, the parents. So a lot of those parents, they actually wouldn't be speaking English with their kids. So that's got to affect their literacy ability.

100% correct. The Blacktown LGA is one of the largest in New South Wales and nearly 50% of the LGA's residents are English second language. It's got a high migrant population and there's challenges left, right and centre for a lot of people in the multicultural community. More so when you've got kids and education and that's English speaking based. So your point you make is really valid and when these kids get out of sync with the

the educational programs and, you know, the school year and all the things that go on in that space, it's tough to try and bring them back into the fold. And that's where this program works specifically to focus in on direct one-on-one tutoring and lots of other great stuff. And it's a really, really great program. No, congratulations on it. And it's the sort of thing you'd like to see governments fund, but we know governments are limited with their budgets. It's fantastic that clubs like yours, Blacktown Workers, can step in and help. Well done, mate.

Thanks, mate. We really appreciate it. You know, it's teachers, you know, in our emergency service personnel, health and police and fire. These guys, they'll do thankless work. So we try and give a shout out as often as we can. And, you know, the club grants program puts, you know, nine million bucks last year towards these kinds of things. And we're just happy to play our part in our local community and try and give a hand to people who are at the pointy end of the stick, so to speak. So, yeah, we're really, we're humbled to be part of it.

Good on you, Morgan. Morgan Stewart, who's the CEO of the Blacktown Workers Club. And I know clubs in New South Wales do a bit of advertising with the station. We don't hide away from that. But the difference between... And I love pubs and I love clubs, right? The difference with when you go to a club, whether you're playing pokies, whether you're buying the snitzel, whatever you're doing at your local club, a lot of the money, a lot of the revenue is then reinvested into the local community. So those kids at the school, Blacktown North, are now benefiting from that. And clubs do a lot of work in their local communities. So...

Good on Blacktown Workers, and they get my Friday shout-out. Your Friday shout-out, 131873. I have five $100 vouchers for DD's Waterfront Group to give away. All thanks to DD's good health and good business. Your TGIF shout-outs in just a minute. 131873, you can have your say for less with Amazim. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco. Escape to better value with the Escape Plan by Amazim. Just before I take your Friday shout-outs...

this drama between the New South Wales Liberals and Nationals is now threatening to explode. I just mentioned earlier that Mark Speakman has released a statement saying that Wes Fang, who questioned his leadership, has now been effectively dismissed from his shadow assistant ministry portfolios. But I'm just getting in contact with a few National Party MPs who I won't name who they are because I don't want to cause former dramas for them all.

But they tell me that Mark Speakman doesn't actually have the authority to do that, that the leader, Dougal Saunders, only has the authority to do that. Now, Mr Speakman in his statement says that he's asked Dougal to then nominate a replacement for Wes Fang, but Nationals are saying, well, it doesn't work that way because only Dougal can execute a minister or an assistant minister. Look, it's a bunch of politicians fighting. But what is not good here, if you are a fan of the coalition, is...

You've got to be united to have a chance of winning an election. And we have seen this before between the Liberals and Nationals in New South Wales. Think back to John Barillara and Gladys Berejiklian and Koalas. But what we're now seeing, one year into a term of opposition, is some splits now emerging between the Nationals and the Liberals. And as an independent observer, it's not good for either of them. 24 past five. Let's get into your Friday shout-outs, all thanks to DD's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business.

Okay, first out for our shout-outs is Patricia. Hello, Patricia. Hi. Have you got a shout-out for us? Yes, I have. It's for Rhonda, my cousin, who's been helping out at Oz Harvest for quite a few years. She does it on a Thursday and then helps out at the restaurant at Surrey Hills as well on a Friday. She's not a spring chicken. She's in her 70s. Yeah. But she still makes the effort and also helps her elderly neighbours in the complex where she works. She's a very lovely, lovely, generous person and very honest with fish. Oh, thank you.

That is fantastic, Patricia. Stay on the line there. We are going to send you out a $100 voucher thanks to our great friends at Dee Dee's. Hello, Charles. How are you doing? Charles, you got a shout out for us?

Yes, I have my beautiful daughter, Alicia, mother, and I've two children, one born two weeks ago and wife. I've just been through three years of horrendous, aggressive cancer surgery. And from the get-go, she was there for me, supporting me because I live on my own, cooking me meals.

checking in on me and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful daughter. She got me through the last three years which has been pretty tough to be honest and I think the world of her, she didn't have to do it. She's got her own responsibilities as a mother and a wife but she looked after her dad. Hey Charles, are you doing okay now mate?

Mate, I'm on remission again. It is an incurable cancer. It can come back. But you know what? Westmead, Crown Princess Mary, mate, amazing people. And I've got a great medical team. So, mate, I'll keep going, mate. I've been on this journey for 32 years. But the treatment was a lot different, 2022, 23, 24. But I got through it. And Aiden helped with the help of my daughter, who gave me encouragement to keep going. Good.

Good on you, Charles. We're going to send you out that $100 voucher thanks to DeeDee's Waterfront Group. Alison, you got a shout out for us?

I certainly have. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. I'm out here at Camden and there's a coffee shop, Jamaica Blue in the Rowan Town Centre, and they employ a different range of young people and everything. And every time I go there, I don't know them, I have no affiliation, every time I go there, the staff are just amazing, like above and beyond. And today I just was laughing and so happy to see this young man. Some lady's asking to take a photo and it just...

made sure he lined them up, he moved the chairs, he moved the trolley, and he just went above and beyond. I don't know whether I can say his name. I overheard him say his name. But the staff there and the manager there, sensational. Oh, good on you, Alison. Jamaica Blue, they're a great chain of coffee shops, and the staff at Norell are excellent. Thank you, Alison. Let's go to Donna in Leppington. Hello, Donna. Hi, how are you? Who's your shout-out?

Yeah, my father, Alf, he's a 2GB listener. My mum passed away and he has learnt to cook and clean and I just wanted to say how proud I am and how much I love him. Hey, I tell you what, Donna, I think about my own parents like that sometimes. They're not quite in their 80s, they're in their 70s and you just wonder, you know, if one, obviously one's going to go before the other. You wonder sometimes how they get on afterwards. It's great that your dad, Alf, is still getting on OK at 82.

Yep, he's doing great. Thank you. Good on you, Donna. Hang on there. We'll get all your details and send you to DeeDees as well. Let's get one more. Let's try Lorraine. Hello, Lorraine. Hello, how are you? I'm good. Have you got a shout out for us? Yes, I have. Michael is one of the gardening staff at Bunnings Bonny Rig. He is so helpful to not just me, but to all the customers that he meets. How does he help you, Lorraine?

Well, he gives me advice as to whether I make the right choices of what to buy to try and grow. Things like that. What I grow, grows in spite of me. Yeah, I'm a little bit like that. I'm a little bit like that as well. Hey,

Hang on the line there, Lorraine. Good on Bunnings and Bonnie Rigg and all the employees there in the garden section. We are going to send you to the DD's Waterfront Group. We've got a $100 voucher for you. Thanks to DD's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business.

You're listening to TGIF. Thank God it's Friday on Sydney's 2GB. Hey, just another shout out to the Glebe Dirty Reds. An old work colleague of mine was actually involved in reviving the Glebe Dirty Reds rugby league club. Darren, the Glebe Dirty Reds played in the early part of

the 1900s and they've long since gone from top flight rugby league but Darren with some other members they helped revive the club and they now play a couple of divisions down in the NRL but they're having a big day tomorrow at Wentworth Park and

And you'll actually be able to go along there and see three games of footy. They've got a Jersey flag game with the Cronulla Sharks and the Sydney Roosters. And then Glebe play the Penrith Brothers. And then they've got a New South Wales Cup side match there as well. Sydney Roosters up against Newtown Jets. But this is the best bit at Wentworth Park tomorrow. And the Greyhounds are on tomorrow night as well. They've got a galas pieting contest. How good would that go?

There's international food eating contests. I know they have that bloke. Is it Joey Chestnuts, his name? And he's a hot dog eater in the United States. I think he's retired from the game because he's converted. Maybe he's going to be vegetarian. He's going to eat those veggie dogs. Anyway, I'm sure they'll have vegetarian pies at Wentworth Park tomorrow, but there's a galos pie eating competition at Wentworth Park tomorrow.

5pm. And if you get there a little earlier in the afternoon, the Glebe Dirty Reds are playing the Penrith Brothers from 20 past 12, then the Sydney Roosters up against the Newtown Jets. Let's check news headlines. A news update for the seven-seat all-electric Kia EV9, winner of the 2024 Drive Car of the Year. Visit your nearest showroom or find out more at kia.com.au.

And with all the latest, Rhiannon Solomon-Marron. G'day, Clinton. A 34-year-old man's been charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime after police seized luxury vehicles from a business in Wetherill Park. It's alleged the stolen cars were being used by organised crime groups.

There's traffic drama on King George's Road at Hurstville where crews are working to clean up a large amount of dirt that's been spilled on the road. The opposition's Wes Fang has been stripped of his shadow portfolios after the state politician questioned the longevity of Mark Speakman's leadership. And Inner West council members have agreed to dedicate $40 million to upgrading Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre. That's in addition to the $40 million that will be spent upgrading Leichhardt Oval next door.

In sport, the Bulldogs take on the Sharks tonight at Olympic Park to kick off round 17 of the NRL. Canterbury is unbeaten at home so far this season. And Clinton, there'll be more news at six. A weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance.

It will remain dry for the football this evening at a cooler stadium. The Sharks up against the Bulldogs. You'll hear it on the continuous call team. At the moment, the city 15 degrees. In the western suburbs, 12. Now tomorrow for the weekend, partly cloudy. There is a chance of some morning fog in the outer west. A top temp of 20 degrees. But it should be dry tomorrow, which is great because it's been raining so much through June on weekends. It's ruined kids' sports. So hopefully...

Your children, your grandchildren can actually play tomorrow. Sunday, though, we are looking at showers. A cloudy day, the high chance of showers, most likely in the morning atop of 17 degrees. And then there were showers from Monday right throughout next week.

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.

A finance update. 60 years of building experience on your side. Take the value check challenge at masterton.com.au. The All Ordinaries has been fairly steady today. It's closed up 0.14% to 8,013 points. The ASX 200 closed up 0.1% to 7,767. One Australian dollar currently buying 66 US cents. It's 24 to 6. This drama with the Liberals and the National Parties...

It's starting to blow up. So I'm being sent messages from both sides. Mind you, this is... They're on the one side.

They're two separate parties, but they're on the one side. So this is Wes Fang questioning Mark Speakman's leadership. Mark Speakman has reacted by sacking Wes Fang from various assistant shadow portfolios, which doesn't mean a lot other than he has paid some extra money for those positions. Nationals have been in contact with me saying that Mark Speakman doesn't actually have the authority to sack him, only the leader of the Nationals, Dougal Saunders, has that. I'm now getting messages from Liberal Party people saying, no, no.

As you can imagine, Mark does not act without being confident of the rules. The Nationals are wrong. My colleague at the Daily Telegraph, Lockie Leamy, has just published an article as well about this whole drama. And he has some unnamed sources within the Liberals saying that Mark Speakman, who was on the program yesterday, is a great guy.

but he's not tough enough. One says, according to Lockie Leeming, he's a barrister. He takes three days to make a decision. He hasn't employed a decent media person, and I might disagree with that, but he keeps employing lawyers. There's nobody there that has balls to keep the government to account.

The suggestions of potential alternative leaders. Natalie Ward. Natalie Ward, though, is in the upper house, so she can't actually be the leader. Mind you, Matt Keane has resigned from the seat of Hornsby, so maybe Natalie Ward could run in that by-election. Quite possible. Alistair Henskins, who is the Wurrunga MP, he's from the right faction. He's another lawyer.

Or the Vaucluse MP, Kelly Sloane, former TV presenter, who's in Parliament for the first time. She's only been there for a year, so not quite sure how she'd be able to be the leader at the moment. The Prime Minister's announced a $283 million injection for funding for sport in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, the Paralympics. And the money's actually going to be spent in the next two years, and then it will fast-track preparations for the LA Games and then Brisbane. And this is for the athletes themselves.

And at a time when people are struggling to pay their power bills, we had news today about more people struggling with electricity. Some are going to ask, is this a fair use of public money? Well, you might not agree with me, but I think it is. Think about the enjoyment that Olympic athletes give us every four years. And then beyond that, the kids who are inspired to actually put down a device and play sport because of Olympians. We have a problem with obesity. So I think when we have the Olympics every four years and we win...

I think that helps with issues like that. The vast majority of Olympic athletes, they're different to NRL players or cricket stars. They're not professional. They have to hold down jobs, yet they do a huge amount of training. So I actually think the use of this money is wise.

Governments waste plenty of money, but I actually don't think this is a waste of money. 131873 is our number, and you can have your say for less with Amazing. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco and escape with better value. The escape plan by Amazing. Coming up shortly, the Angels. John Brewster, their founding guitarist, will join me. They've released their brand new album today. They're about to go on tour. Paul, you love the Angels, don't you?

Love the Angels, mate. I Ain't The Ones, one of my favourite songs. And I'll tell you a quick story. I remember back at the Bobs down at North Sydney Oval, a couple of the Angels used to be there with a radiator cheering on the mighty Bears. Oh, they were Bears fans. Good on you, Paul. I Am The One. The Angels, back in the days of Doc Neeson. John Brewster coming up next. It is Friday afternoon. If I was to ask you who your favourite Aussie band is, and look, we've had so many brilliant bands over the years.

If you loved going to pubs, particularly across Sydney, through the 80s into the 90s, actually that's 70s as well, I bet you, you loved seeing this band. That's of course The Angels, and that's the clean studio version of course, because we all, no matter what age group you're from,

Loved singing that song in the pub, didn't we? Well, today the Angels are releasing their 14th studio album. It's the first new studio album in 10 years. It is called 99. And the fellas are back on the road for their 50 night out national tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They're playing all sorts of dates in July throughout Sydney. The Factory Theatre, Marrickville on the 6th. Doylson RSL on the 12th. Mounties the 19th. The Hornsby RSL on the 20th.

and their founding member, the great John Brewster, joins us on the program. G'day, John. Yeah, g'day, Clinton. How are you? I'm good, mate. Thank you for joining us. And firstly, congratulations for a new album, the first in 10 years. What took you so long? Well, COVID got in the way and we had some changes that

Nick Norton has now stepped up to front singing, having played drums with us for 13 years. We've always known about Nick. He's a great singer, songwriter. So we did all those Red Hot Summer shows recently and side shows with our great friends Cheap Trick. And Nick just knocked everyone out. So...

He's actually written and co-written a lot of the songs on the album. My brother Rick has written a few. This is probably the least involved I've been creatively because I had a major health scare and had to sort of be out of the band for a few months. So the boys went in the studio and just knocked all these wonderful songs out. I'm really excited about this album. And I did all my guitars, all my rhythm guitar parts in...

in hotel rooms and the last one I did it in the backstage tent at the Red Hot Summer in South Australia. So you've got Nick Singh for you now. It's a long time since Doc Neeson sadly passed away. What's it like working with someone who's not Doc?

Oh, it's fantastic. I mean, we had 12 or 13 years with Dave Gleeson. Yep, Screaming Jets, yep. That was wonderful. We loved Dave. Dave decided, well, we sort of mutually decided that it was time he moved on because he's just got too many things going on in his life. He's got a radio show and Screaming Jets Angels. And, of course, he's got family as well. And, you know, family, you know, the older you get, the more you realise how, you know, what...

how much family means to you. I mean, I'm not suggesting that it didn't mean in the old days, but in the old days we used to go out on the road for weeks on end. These days it's a lot more balanced. But it was getting a bit unbalanced for Dave. So Rick and I have always known about Nick. He's an amazing musician, great songwriter, great singer. People are comparing him a bit to Doc for some reason. I don't know why that is actually, but...

I can tell you this, he fits the right mould for the Angels. Because a lot of fans obviously miss Doc when they see you, but given that you had Dave there in front of the band for so many years, they're probably understanding now of the change. I know a lot of your fans are just grateful that you can still tour. You mentioned family. I know your boys, you've played with them for years as well. What's it like playing with your boys? I know they're not in the Angels, but when you play together?

It's unbelievable. I've got two of my sons now, and two of my three sons are now actually in the band. My son Tom plays drums, Sam plays bass. He has been for the last, ever since Chris Bailey sadly passed away a year before Doc actually.

So, you know, in this, you know, 2024, the band is... It's just the way it's landed. It's become a bit of a family. I think Norton should change his surname. This is your 50th anniversary tour. Cold Chisel announced their 50th anniversary tour as well a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned Crowded House. There's a lot of acts from the era who are out there performing. Do you think that's because...

I guess some of us people in our middle ages now, we still, and look, you were really big when I was in high school. I got to tell you, John, is it because some of us want to maybe relive our youth a bit?

I think we get a lot of young people to our shows, which I find really exciting. And we get a real mixture, you know. I mean, the difference is people used to, you know, go to the bar and sort of probably, you know, jostle each other to try and get to the bar. These days they go, I think you were first. It's changed, hasn't it? It's

Yeah, it's very exciting. I mean, you know, for us it's always been about the live thing. You know, audiences mean everything to us. And fortunately they're still coming and they're coming in droves and loving the band and we love playing to them. We do a new album. We can't play all those songs live because people are

on probably Monday to come and see the new songs, but we'll slip a couple in there. And the new single, which we're really proud of, and that was written by my son Sam and Nick Norton. Well, I'll play some of 99 Go For Broke in a moment when we wrap up, but I've got to ask you the question. The famous song, Am I Ever Going To See Your Face Again, and then the way that the crowd takes over, how did that all come about?

We have no idea, Clinton. Absolutely no idea. But I can tell you that that spread around the country in the late... Well, probably around about 1980. Yeah, right. And when you think about that, there were no mobile phones, no internet.

So how that got around the country, because it did, because when we only became aware of it in 1983 when we were playing Mount Isa, and we just thought, oh, it's something they just do here in Mount Isa. In Queensland, yeah. So we put the song on the show every night and we worked all the way down the east coast. We went across to Perth, into Adelaide, to Melbourne, back to Sydney.

I left Brisbane out and Brisbane as well everywhere we played they did that chant and that's the way it is and I just think it's great you know that's the Larrikin Australian nothing wrong with that it is and I think after all these years it'll still be shared out at your shows I'll go through those shows again you've got a stack of them and if you

You do put in the Angels into the internet, you'll find that. But the Factory Theatre in Marrickville on the 6th, Doylson RSL the 12th, Mounties the 19th, Hornsby RSL on the 20th. Your album is out now. First one in 10 years, your 14th, 99. We'll play a little bit in a moment. But John, it's been a pleasure to have you on the show. Really appreciate your time.

Lovely, Clinton. Thanks very much. Pleasure to talk to you as well. Thanks for having me. John Brewster from the legendary band, and I really mean that. They are legends of Australian music, the Angels. This is the new one, 99, go for broke. The Angels, their new album is out today. They are touring the country. Just plug in the Angels into Google. You'll see all those dates that I mentioned earlier. Rebecca says the Brewster brothers used to play regular gigs at Star Casino. They were fantastic.

Fabulous in the Globe Bar. It is time for the Jewel for Fuel. We have free fuel to give away thanks to our great friends at Shell V-Power. The winner gets a $200 Shell Coles Express gift card thanks to Shell V-Power. If you are a genius when it comes to news and current affairs and trivia, call the open line now, 131 873. On 2GB Drive, let's Jewel for Fuel.

You know how it works. Thanks to Shell V-Power, we have a $200 voucher to give away. G'day, Brian. Hello, David. Hello, good afternoon. You've got 30 seconds each. The winner with the most correct answers. First up is David. David, where is the big banana located? Correct. Who's the US president? Correct. Buffalo Soldier and No Woman, No Cry are songs by which artist?

What's his name? The guy that sings Don't Worry Me. Someone asked you the question. Marley, Marley, Marley. I'll give you that. You're on three. True or false? Pottery was invented in China.

True. Correct. How about that? You got four. You're smart, mate. Oh, great. Hopefully. Here we go. Brian. Hello, Brian. Hello. Yes. That's got to be tough. Okay. Here your 30 seconds begins now. Cartoon character Popeye loves which vegetables? Spinach. Correct. Sherlock Holmes has a sidekick. What's his name? Watson. Correct. True or false? Ireland won the Rugby Union World Cup in 2011. True.

Incorrect. False. You're on two. Who was the governor of New South Wales? The first governor, Macquarie or Phillip? Phillip. Correct. Okay. Did Brett Kamali play for South Sid? Oh, you're out of time. No. No. You're just out of time, Brian. Sorry, mate. David is our winner today. Congratulations, David. You are going to win $200 worth of free fuel thanks to Shell V-Power. Shell's Coles Express gift card on its way to you.

And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports. Thanks to Lowe's. 100% Australian owned. Still a family business. Lowe's. Over 200 stores nationwide. Or shop online at Lowe's. Adam Hawes is hosting Wide World of Sports from 6 o'clock tonight. Big round of footy on the way. Yeah, Clinton, your boys are up first. Sharks v. the Bulldogs. And of course, starting the doggies. It'll be hard to beat there. Fortress Bulldog, they're calling it. They haven't lost their...

All year. I often tip against the Sharks. I've had mail that they've been pretty revved up by their recent performances. They're going to play well tonight. I'm tipping them. Freddie Fittler is on the show. He's going to preview all the action. AFL legend Jimmy Bartell is on as well. Who can stop the Swans? And can the great Kenny Sutcliffe wrap up the week that was? Good on you, Adam Hawes. We'll be with you after 6 o'clock tonight. I've just been sent a statement. I've just been sent a statement from...

Dougal Saunders about Wes Fang. Oh, there's going to be more dramas. There's going to be more dramas. We're going to cover this next week. It's a long statement. Chris O'Keefe is going to have one more week off. I will talk to you on Monday afternoon.