2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full Show August 1st 01:50:43

On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon Sydney, I hope you're keeping warm. It is freezing outside today, a fair bit of rain around Sydney too and there is lots and lots to talk about. Now what about this one? Imagine you're a teacher, right? And imagine you sign up to a teaching program on the promise you could be fast-tracked to become a principal.

But the catch of the program is to do that, you must move to a country town first. You think to yourself, okay, you go and do it. And then a few years later, government changes and the education minister, Pru Kaur, pulls the rug out and shuts the program down.

and you've wasted your time. It is all so very ordinary, and I'll explain all about it soon. The Chinese swimmers, they're claiming there's no cheating at all, the Chinese. And they say that any positive tests that may have popped up are because of steroids in Australian beef. Please, we'll ask a butcher about this one. And still on the Olympics, the Matildas.

They've had a shocker. But do we love our women's Australian soccer team so much that we've set them up to fail? Are our expectations higher than their abilities? It's an interesting question right now. 14 degrees at Edelon Beach and 14 degrees at Marsden Park.

It's eight and a half past three, 131 873 is the open line number. You can email me drive at 2gb.com or the text line 0460 873 873. Some concerning news out of the Sutherland Shire. So further charges have now been laid.

As the Joint Counterterrorism Team continues to investigate an incident at Miranda Fair Shopping Centre. Well, it's just Miranda Shopping Centre now. Westfield's Miranda. So this happened last Wednesday. And emergency services were called to the bathroom on level one of Westfield Miranda. And there were reports of a man throwing bottles around. Now...

Officers from the Sutherland Shire Police Area Command, they located these bottles, they seized them for further examination, they established a crime scene and arrested a 21-year-old man nearby.

So they found on that guy, allegedly, a knife, a bottle and other items. He was taken to Sutherland Police Station, but they've subsequently executed police, a search warrant at a home in Loftus, and they seized electronic devices, mobile phones and chemicals. Now, the Joint Counterterrorism Team, this is a big deal, this, and their investigations and analysis of the seized items...

means that an additional two Commonwealth offences will be laid at Sutherland Local Court today. And they include knowingly collect or make a document connected with terrorism and act in preparation planning for a terrorist act. Scary, right? Now, it's unclear what type of ideological beliefs this 21-year-old from Loftus has...

or doesn't have, and police will allege in court that he had a mixed and unclear set of ideological beliefs. But he is next due to appear in Downing Centre local court on Wednesday 25th September.

And the man does remain on remand behind bars. All very curious and very concerning, right? 131873. Now, the federal government is urging all Australian citizens that if you are in Lebanon, leave. And it comes as tensions in the Middle East. It's not getting better over there. See, you've got terrorist group Hezbollah continually firing missiles into Israel, one of which killed 12 children and teenagers, don't forget.

And of course, Israel is responding as they seek to defend the territory. So they killed Hezbollah's military chief of staff yesterday, plus the leader of Hamas in Iran. Now, the prime minister says there are thousands and thousands of Australians in Lebanon right now, and he cannot guarantee their safety if it goes pear-shaped.

I take the opportunity to say to Australians, do not travel to Lebanon at the moment. We have a very clear statement that has been issued through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. And for those Australians who are overseas, they should take the opportunity to come home to Australia. There is a risk that...

that the Beirut Airport might not be open for commercial flights. And given the numbers of people who are there, there's no guarantee

that we can just guarantee that people will be able to come home through other means if that airport is shut. So we say to people, listen to the warnings which are there and please, over recent months, we've seen people continue to go travel to the region and we have made very clear warnings about that.

That's the Prime Minister in relation to what's happening in Lebanon. But what do you make of this one? I thought this was interesting while we're on the Middle East. Nasser Mashni, he's a chief Palestinian sort of advocate here in Australia and is the president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network. Now, he always talks about peace for Palestinians. You would have thought that he would have been pretty happy that the head of terrorist organisation Hamas has been killed.

But yesterday, Mr Mashni's organisation not only called for the death, called the death of Hamas's leader, a grave war crime, he went on Turkish TV and said this about Israel's right to exist. It just speaks to what we've been saying for a long time, that Israel is a rogue, genocidal state.

hell-bent on taking the world to the World War III, that it doesn't belong. The genocidal apartheid Israel does not belong amongst a nation of nations. It doesn't belong in the UN. Apartheid Israel has to cease to exist. It's now incumbent upon the rest of the world to enact

the policies that they have so frequently enacted against the global south, whether that's Iraq or Libya or anywhere else, to intervene with every diplomatic and military source available to them to stop this genocidal regime from descending the entire world into war. So that's Nasser Mashni, the president of the Palestinian lobby here in Australia, often seen meeting with Foreign Minister Penny Wong yesterday.

Ultimately, you know, how are the Israelis supposed to end this conflict if the other side of the conflict doesn't think that they should exist? You would have thought that's a pretty big barrier in any ceasefire, right? It's just terrible. 131873. Now, speaking of the Matildas, guess what's happened? Head coach Tony Gustafsson, well, he's been sacked.

So his four-year contract with Football Australia has come to an end by mutual agreement. The Matildas head coach, Tony Gustafsson, so the Matildas now on the lookout for another coach. And it's as a result of the Matildas being out of the Olympics. They were hopeless. It's a shame, isn't it? Because I reckon the Matildas have done extraordinary things, not just for soccer, but for female sport more broadly in this country.

There is no doubt about it, and the Matildas, they're superstars, and they are hugely popular. But again, they have had a shocker in Paris, and I reckon they might have read their own press. So the Matildas were seen as a dead-set medal chance, yet they conceded 10 goals in three matches, and they were beaten to the next round of the Olympics by Canada, who had six points docked because of the drone cheating scandal, yet they beat the Australians.

Now, it is the first time the Matildas haven't made it out of the group stage of the Olympics since Sydney 2000. So it is the worst the Matildas have performed at an Olympics for 24 years. So I think it's clear that we may well have overachieved when we were at home in the World Cup last year by finishing fourth. Maybe that was an overachievement. And the lording of the Matildas after that fourth-placed effort...

Well, maybe, maybe this group of footballers just got ahead of themselves a little. They didn't have any excuses in Paris. They were flown from Spain to France by a private jet, all paid for by Football Australia. And as Australians, our country, even without Sam Kerr, we all thought they could grab a medal. And I thought ESPN writer Marissa Lordanich, she gave a great, great quote on this. And she said, it's the hope that kills you.

Arguably even more so when that hope has no right to exist. I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. So have we, Australians, set our Matildas up to fail with a level of expectation that does not match the team's results? Look, the Matildas have been to eight World Cups, the best result being fourth at home. Awesome result. We've been to five Olympic Games, best result was fourth in Tokyo, and we've won the Asian Cup once in 2010.

Can I be completely honest on the reading of all of these results? It seems to me the Matildas on an international scale and an international standard are an above average women's soccer team. They're ranked 12th in the world. North Korea, they're ranked 10th. Look, I think that we are doing the Matildas a disservice by speaking about them as if they should dominate the sport.

So here's a question. What makes you eligible for a bronze statue at Suncorp Stadium or a mural, permanent mural, on the side of a core stadium? Is it about capturing the hearts and the minds or the vibe of a moment? Or is it solid sporting success and results?

I can make a very strong argument for a statue of Jess Fox. Very strong argument. She is the most successful Australian Olympian of all time in individual events after winning a sixth individual medal with her canoe slalom gold overnight. Nobody has ever won more individual Olympic medals as an Australian than Jess Fox. Emma McKeon, 12 Olympic medals, including six gold medals.

While two of them may have come only in individual events, she's won Australia's most medals ever. No one's talking about bronze statues or murals of Fox or McKeon. Betty Cuthbert, Australia's most successful athlete on the track with four gold medals. She has a statue outside the MCG and rightly so. In France, they honour people like Joan of Arc with a statue.

Joan of Arc. At 19 years old, she commanded a battalion of soldiers to retake a French town from English invaders and she was martyred for her troubles. They built a statue of her. Fair enough. Look, I love our national sporting teams. I do.

Be it the Wallabies, be it the Kookaburras, be it the Diamonds, the Dolphins, the Opals, the Socceroos, the Kangaroos, and of course, the Matildas. I will barrack for them. I will barrack for them until I am hoarse. Now, this has got nothing to do with gender. We've spent the last two years ripping into the Wallabies and Eddie Jones and their woeful performance in the World Cup in France. But the Matildas are in the big league now.

They are prime time material and they are one of the most popular sporting sides in this country, if not the most popular. And when they underperform on the world stage, I think Australians should not be afraid to raise it.

What do you think? 131873. Send me a text. 0460873873. It's 20 past three. It's 25 past three. Plenty of text. Three, the Matildas. Anne says, Chris, thank God. You've said it like it absolutely is about the Matildas. Ranked 12th and a bronze statue. Thank you, Anne. Kate says, Chris, the public didn't set the Matildas up to fail. They failed all by themselves. Self, sorry. The current failure doesn't belong to the coach. It belongs...

To the players, they are too caught up in their own promotion. Well, Kate, I don't know whether that's true or not, but, you know, whatever it is, they should have made it to the next round, right? Enrico, Chris, Matilda's been going backwards since they punted Alan Stajic. He built that team to see others break it over the years. Well, they still went pretty good in the World Cup, Enrico. It's a bit harsh.

Jenny says, Chris, everything you said about the Matildas is spot on. We loved it when they performed so well here at the World Cup, but they really aren't a top five team in the world. Thank you, Jenny. Let's go to Michelle at Tarahumara. Hello, Michelle. Hi, Chris. Look, in all fairness, the Matildas didn't ask for the statue, but that's another point. Sure. That's a good point. That is a good point.

Instead of building statues for anyone, we can't build venues in Brisbane for 2032. Supposedly we don't have money, but we've got money for statues. But if they built a venue and named it after the Matildas, like we have the Ian Thorpe pool, like we have the Emily Seaborn pool, right? We have venues that are for other generations, but name it after them. Not build a statue. They don't deserve the statue, but...

Australia deserves better venues. I'll tell you what, they could even just have a home of elite women's soccer and call it, I don't know, the Matilda's Centre of Excellence or something. That's a good idea, Michelle. Well done. Jess is in Orange. Hello, Jess. Chris, how are you going? Good, thank you, Jess.

Look, for me, it's not about whether the Matildas are winning or losing. It's more just the hope and the confidence and the fire they gave to young kids, especially girls. We came out of COVID lockdown. You couldn't do anything. And if you weren't vaccinated and then went to the voice and everyone was really divided. But when they play, everyone sits down and we watch as a nation and we get behind them together. And I just think that was really nice about the Matildas.

So you think that's why there's recognition of a mural or a bronze statue? Do you think that's deserving of that?

I do, because I think it's a moment in history everyone will remember, especially for girls. And you've got record numbers of girls taking up sport and soccer especially. And I think they'll be remembered perhaps more for that than their abilities, maybe. Jess, I reckon you're probably spot on there. Fair enough. That's your point of view. I really appreciate you calling in. I think many people share it. Sam's at Wetherill Park. Hello, Sam.

G'day, Chris. You were spot on about what you said there. But, I'm sorry, a stadium? No chance. They haven't earned it. The mural and the statue, again, they haven't earned it. I mean, if that's the baseline of what you earn a statue or a mural on the side of a stadium for, well, what are we supposed to say about Anna Mears? Jess Fox, Emma McKeon, Dawn Fraser, it's a long list.

Yes. And, you know, you put in, I'm sorry, but if you've got the honour of wearing the green and gold for your country, and it is an honour, OK, if you've got that honour, I'm sorry, but you leave blood on the field. You play like it's your last game you're ever going to play. All right, Sam, appreciate your call. Kirk's at Mawillumbah. G'day, Kirk.

Hey, how you going, Chris? Good, mate. Mate, I'm blown away. I didn't think you'd get the support that you just got there. I thought you were treading on dangerous ground there. But I totally agree with you.

Totally agree. I didn't think it'd be the popular thing, but I've got my other two boys two girls But my two girls absolutely adore the Matildas and yeah as that lady was saying before about getting people together and everything Yeah, they've done a great job, but to do the other side of what you're saying That it's undeserving. It's not deserve it. It's it's an acknowledgement of what you're you achieving a sporting prowess and

And they haven't achieved that yet. So, yeah. Good on you, Kirk. I appreciate that. And I just think, too, you know what? I think it was Michelle from Tarahumara. She made a really good point. It's not like you're seeing the Matildas out there, you know, asking for statues or murals. Like the individual players, nor the team, nor Football Australia is demanding any of this stuff. So then it switches to...

Okay, well you've got politicians making decisions, riding on the popularity to make themselves look a bit more popular. That's what it's about too, isn't it? And ultimately, I don't know, I like excellence. You know, I'm not the number one radio show on my time slot. I strive to be.

You wouldn't see my face on the side of a course stadium or a radio station or a bronze statue. But that's okay. You strive to be the best you can be. And I think as Australians, don't we expect excellence? And all you have to do is turn on the television or listen to the radio and listen to some of the Olympics. And I'll tell you what, we've got a lot of Australian women who are doing us very, very proud at the moment. Hugely proud. Seven Olympic gold medals, all of them.

Coming from Australian females. And I'm proud of that. In the newsroom, Josh Bryant. G'day. Good afternoon, Chris. The Matildas have officially parted ways with coach Tony Gustafsson after the Aussie women failed to make it out of the group stage at the Paris Olympics. A man has now been charged with terrorism-related offences as part of investigations...

following his arrest in the bathroom of a shopping centre in Sydney's south. The Prime Minister says Rex's expansion into capital city's roots has likely caused its financial trouble, and a class action is being considered which could see thousands of Australians who developed health complications from a heartburn

drug, be able to sue its manufacturer. In sport, thunderstorms have forced a delay to the start of the action on day six at the Paris Games. The men's 20-kilometre race walk pushed back by at least half an hour. We'll have more news in sport at four. Good on you, Josh. 131873. Peter makes a good point. We'll wrap it up like this. Chris, the problem is the media. Everyone's got to be a legend or a hero. Yeah, it's true. Mick says the same thing. Chris, unfortunately, the...

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. Tildes were emotionally built up by journalists and now being cut down by the tall poppy syndrome. Maybe that's right, Mick. I know we've got tall poppy syndrome. All I'm saying is they're the most popular sporting team in Australia. And if they don't perform, you're allowed to raise it.

It's 28 to 4. It's 24 to 4. Now, we often speak to Manuel Donores of Pride Meats here on Drive. In fact, he sent the team some lovely meat yesterday. I'm looking forward to cooking it up. It looks absolutely delicious. But today I wanted to get his perspective on this story.

And it was in the Daily Telegraph this morning. So China is accusing Australian beef of being the reason as to why some of the Chinese swimmers have tested positive to steroids two years ago. Now, the whole debacle revolves around two Chinese swimmers.

One's 20-year-old and is a female swimmer, and she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the 4x200m relay. The other is a male swimmer who's not currently at the Paris Games, nor has he even made his Olympic debut. But both of them tested positive for an anabolic steroid, commonly used by bodybuilders.

Now, at the time, China suggested to the World Anti-Doping Agency that these two Chinese swimmers were training together, and after training, they stopped for a bite to eat. Hamburgers with Australian beef in it. And they claim that is the source of the steroid. Now, what's weird about this, the World Anti-Doping Agency, they accepted that version of events. And now today, Australia is being accused of contaminating its meat with

with an anabolic steroid. Maybe there is anabolic steroids in Australian beef. I don't know. Manuel Donores from Pride Meats. He's on the line here. No, Manuel, g'day. G'day, Chris. How are you? I'm all right, mate. Do you juice up your beef? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Is it even slightly feasible? Mate, no, not at all. Like, I mean, you know, you're talking about, you know, saying that, you know, we're putting...

anabolic steroids in our beef. Can you imagine the consequences if that was true? Our meat is sourced around the world globally as the best in the world. Why would we sacrifice and jeopardise that? Do we add any preservatives to the meat, be it when it gets to the butcher's shelves like your shops or when we export it?

No. Look, there's no preservatives added to the beef that I know of. Firstly, there's so many allergies people have. And these day and age, the industry can't have preservatives in our beef, mate. It just costs too much money, you know, to find and people's health and well-being. You know, you've got to look after that as number one. So that's a no-no. Now, so there's no preservatives at all, no hormones in cattle production, stuff like that?

No, there's no hormones added to cattle. Look, I speak to a lot of farmers, and it's not ethical to do so. Like, you know, take an example, the big companies, Coles and Woolies, they've banned any meat with any hormones, and I would say most butcher shops are in sync with that as well. Just not allowed. Hey, so we're seeing Australian beef as, what, the gold standard internationally?

Oh, I'd say they're the best in the world, 100%. I mean, you can go all over Europe, America, Asia, anywhere you like. If you go into a high-class restaurant, you're going to see Australian beef marked down there definitely as the best product. And one thing that I would say that might be difficult for the Chinese is version of events.

that Joey's just raised, Manuel, is that China banned Australian meat imports from 2020 to 2022 and only lifted them in May 30 of this year. So the hamburgers, don't think there was any Australian beef in them. Like one famous person says that we all know his name, but it's fake news, I'd say. It sounds like fake news.

Amazing that WADA accepted it. Yeah, you're not wrong. Hey, Manuel, before I let you go, I just want to talk to you about the Olympic Village because this is bothering me, right?

Yep. 60% vegan. And there was a report from James Magnusson that there was this giant weightlifter, big, big guy that was offered one chop, one lamb chop. That was it. When he went to the, when he went to eat at the Olympic village. Now, surely meat is important for elite athletes like these.

Look, I totally agree. Look, I'm not against vegans, right? Each to their own. But I think meat is a must in your diet. It's just something that you need to have. All athletes, like I look after a lot of the footy boys and let me tell you, they're big and strong and powerful and their main food is meat. What kind of stuff?

Mate, steaks is definitely beef. Ones without hormone or antibiotics or anything. So beef is definitely the number one on the list for most trained athletes. For the proper elite guys. Yeah, the proper elite guys. They love a good steak. You know, plenty of protein because protein is everything, man. Helps your body, helps muscle recovery, everything.

Manuel, I appreciate you jumping on and thank you for putting that to bed for us. The Chinese are lying. Who would have thought? Have a good afternoon. It's a pleasure. Thanks, Chris. That's Manuel Donores from Pride Meats, P-R-Y-D-E Meats, 131873. Hard to fathom how the World Anti-Doping Authority, agency I should say, would buy that story from the Chinese swimming team, right? That the source of the anabolic steroids in two of their swimmers is

was a hamburger made from Australian beef. Now, I did notice the guy that absolutely flogged Kyle Chalmers and the rest of the men in the 100 metres freestyle, the Chinese swimmer, he beat them by a whole body length if you watch the race. Now, there are some suggestions that there's no possible way that he could have raced that fast against that field. He set a world record. However, I also note

He submitted 26 tests in the last 12 months or something and zero of them came back with anything untoward. So what do you do? And I noted, Cole Chalmers said, well, you know, I just do it to the best of my ability. I'm clean and what will be, will be. Good luck to the Chinese guy for winning the gold medal. And I think there was a French teenager. I think it was a French teenager who came third in the race. And all he said was,

I have nothing to say other than innocent until proven guilty. It's 18 to 4. It's 14 minutes to 4. Did you see this crash in the United States? It was a fatal crash, unfortunately. 28-year-old man died, and he was in a Tesla. And the Tesla was in self-drive mode. And it was a motorcyclist, Jeffrey Nissen, who passed away in the April crash. And this was near Seattle. And...

A police officer revealed this week that investigators had confirmed that the Tesla Model S had been using the full self-driving mode and it downloaded information from the event data recorder. So that's how they figured that out. The driver who was 56 told police he was looking at his mobile phone when his car hit the motorbike. So he's driving. Well, not he's not driving. He's sitting in the seat. The Tesla is driving itself. He looks at his mobile phone.

bang hits and kills the 28 year old motorcyclists so the full self-driving feature uses cameras to have the car follow the curves in the road and you sort of stop at intersections make left and right turns navigate roundabouts enter exit highways but tesla does warn that the driver must still be fully attentive and monitor their surroundings at all times however

They usually hit the brakes if stuff the computer does hits the brakes. If all of a sudden there's something in front of the car. Now, I've always thought that this was going to happen. It was a matter of time and I'm sure it's happened before. I wonder whether this potentially could lead to some sort of lawsuit. And I noted Elon Musk. He said that the company's full self-driving system will be run without human supervision at all.

By the end of the year, I think the way we're, the path we're heading down, sitting behind the wheel of a car and letting a computer drive a car when there's all human beings around you on bikes, on scooters, in cars, driving old fashioned is just craziness. Absolutely craziness. 131873. Now the deaths of a man and a woman, you would have heard this break with Ben Fordham this morning.

This was in Camaray and they were on board a yacht when police found their bodies. Now, detectives have said today that they are being treated, their deaths, as suspicious because Detective Inspector Siobhan Munro has said that there was no obvious cause of death. And she said that at this stage we are treating it as suspicious because we don't know what's happened. There is no obvious cause of death. It's more...

It's not suspicious in that there is a knife or something like that. It's more that we have to look at every piece of available evidence. So if you missed this, they were found on the 47-foot yacht just off Camaray.

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. Off Tunks Park, to be exact, before 9pm because someone called in a concern for welfare.

So it's, I'm not sure if it's husband and wife, but it's a man and a woman believed to be aged in their 50s and 60s. It's terribly sad, but police are treating this as suspicious. A Paris 2024 Olympic Games update. Thanks to Harvey Norman, proud to be Australia's official retail partner. Powered by LG, partner of Nine's Olympic broadcast. Good afternoon, everyone. Adam Hawes with your Olympic update.

And it's a stormy start to day six in Paris. The men's and women's 20k walk has been delayed by half an hour due to thunderstorms in the area. The Australia Stingers are proving a real danger in the women's water polo competition. They've stung the previously unbeaten Dutch with a dramatic shootout victory. Goalkeeper Genevieve Longman with the crucial save. And Norrhelmsen lines up and saves!

The Australians have snuck through. Tonight it's a tough task for our men's team, the Sharks. They're taking on host nation France. Men's golf starts later this afternoon. Minwoo Lee and Jason Day are flying the flag for Australia. Tara Rigney is on display in the semi-finals of the women's single skulls. Our women's 3x3 basketballers are taking on China. To the medal tally going into day six. China clear at the top with nine golds. Australia is in fourth with seven golds.

I'm Adam Hawes. That's the latest from Paris. That metal tally update was thanks to Toyota, Australian Olympic and Paralympic team partner. Oh, what a feeling. Good on you, Hawsey. It's nine to four. Phil's called in from Kincumber. Phil, you want to talk about the Chinese steroids tests? Yeah, I was just wondering. So for the two Chinese athletes that tested positive to Australian beef with steroids or something,

Does that mean that all our Australian athletes, they must be vegetarians or pescatarians? Because wouldn't they be eating the same beef? A very good point. We'd be chock-a-block with the stuff, you'd think, right? Well, it just goes to show how stupid their illogical argument was. Illogical. Good on you, Phil. I'm going to go to Brett at Oakdale. Hello, Brett.

Yeah, it's a bit... Do you think that it's... You know, the scientists and the sports scientists, they've had a long history of just trying to get one or two steps ahead of the testing regime, right?

Yeah, and they're always going to be behind. The drug people have got two drugs ahead of what the sports scientists are going to be. And we've got each individual nation does their own testing. And then within that, you've got each individual sport decides how they're going to do the testing. So it really is a dog's breakfast of disorganisation and very organised drug dealers that are pushing the stuff. Good on you, Brett. Appreciate your call. Ken's at Kemp's Creek. Hello, Ken.

Yeah, g'day, Chris. I just wanted to comment on the drugs and the beef. Mate, I worked on a farm in 1999. It was a dairy and a pigry.

And I know for a fact that the pigs were injected with steroids. The pigs were? In the pigry. The pigs were. And also the cows, the male cows, we couldn't use them. So to fatten them up for slaughter, we gave them what was called calf booster. Now, I'm not sure if that's a steroid or anything, but it's a powder that goes into their feed that makes them put on weight very rapidly so that they can go for slaughter.

All right. Good on you, Kent. I appreciate that. Calf booster. I've heard. Maybe that's where. Anyway, I won't go into that one. Peter's at Central Coast. Hello, Peter. You there, mate? Yeah, I'm here, Peter. You got me? Yeah, got you. Mate, years ago, I sold my farm about five years ago. And I'm in my 60s, so I'm going back to when I was a teenager. We used to inject like a capsule into the back of the neck of the cows. And I'm pretty sure it was called row growth.

And what was in it, do you know? That used to just make them grow faster and get them off the market quick, but, gee, it doesn't happen today. Yeah, right on. Good on you, Peter. Thanks for that insight. I appreciate that. Row Grow and Calf Booster. Hey? This sounds like it was quite a while ago, but still. The fact that China banned Australian meat imports from 2020 to 2022, even if Australian meat was full of steroids, which clearly it's not anymore, clearly it's not,

There was no Australian meat going into China anyway for the Chinese swimmers to eat. Six to four. Well, King Charles is no longer answering Prince Harry's calls or even responding to Prince Harry's letters. And there are friends of Prince Harry who have told the Daily Mail or the Daily Telegraph this. So the issue of Prince Harry's request for increased security has now led to a wall of silence between Harry and King Charles.

And supposedly, Harry's tried to reach out about his father's health. He is, of course, battling cancer. But those calls go unanswered too. And the last time that he saw Prince Harry Sawry's dad was in February when they met for 45 minutes. Now, it is possible there will be reacquainted at the funeral of Prince Harry's uncle, Lord Robert Fairbanks.

who was married to Princess Diana's sister, Lady Jane Fellows. And Lord Fellows was, of course, Queen Elizabeth's private secretary for a time. 131873. Coming up, I've got a major drama in the Department of Education. Our teachers, or a certain portion of them, have been treated appallingly by the Education Department. That next. ♪

Now back to Drive with Chris O'Keefe on Sydney's 2GB. It's seven minutes past four. Thank you for your company on this Thursday afternoon. 131 873 is my open line number. My text line 0460 873 873 or an email address drive at 2GB.com. Coming up, there is quite a despicable thing that's happened to...

Dozens and dozens of New South Wales teachers. I'll explain shortly, but to be honest, I am outraged on their behalf. Plus, there's a bit of talk that the Albanese government is going to take an ownership stake in Rex. Yep. They're going to have an equity position. What do you think of that? I'll speak to Shadow Transport Minister Bridget McKenzie.

Now, we know that the new Sydney Metro has been delayed. It was supposed to open on Sunday. Unfortunately, they shouldn't have announced dates if they didn't have that date set in stone. So they made a blue there. And I heard the Premier, Chris Minns, saying that was part of some learnings. I love that word. Learnings for the new government. Just an invented word. But anyway, it's a learning. Don't announce a date.

if you haven't quite locked it in. Anyway, the problem they've got, and I think for us to be aware of, is that there will be changes to the bus timetable from Sunday, regardless if the Metro is open or not. So the most important advice Transport for New South Wales is giving bus passengers in our north-west and north shore is that a new bus timetable will start this Sunday.

So extra bus services will operate in the interim before the Metro City line is open from the northwest, including the 610X, that'll be on the M2 from Castle Hill to the city, as well as the 119, which will operate on the Pacific Highway between Gore Hill and North Sydney. See, in the period before the Metro opens, they say that bus passengers can continue to connect to Metro stations between Tallawong and Chatswood.

And also Chatswood, St. Leonard's and North Sydney train stations, of course, by the existing heavy rail line. And for those passengers who are intending to head to any of the new metro stations, they're going to put teams at them to ensure people know where they are going. But from Sunday, if you are using the bus on the North Shore or on our Northwest,

Make sure you check the timetable because a new timetable will be in operation from Sunday, 131873. Now, I want to tell you about the Fast Stream program for teachers. Now, the Fast Stream program was brought in by the Gladys Berejiklian government and it basically fast-tracked outstanding teachers to become principals. So I picked the best and the brightest and said, you're pretty good. You can go from being a teacher to a principal quickly.

And we'll do it in half the time. But one of the qualifications was you had to work in a country town for a while. So you might have had to ship off to Wagga Wagga or Broken Hill, whatever it may be. So you had to live in one of those country towns for a period and work for a period to qualify to be fast-tracked to becoming a principal. So it was really a win-win. So regional schools who are desperate for teachers to get some of the best in the state teaching their kids...

And then the teachers, they get the training and the experience to become a principal in half the time. Now, why am I telling you about this? Well, on Monday, the men's government and the education minister, Pru Karr, axed the program with no warning, just axed it. And that means...

There are dozens and dozens, if not a hundred odd teachers, who've jumped at the chance to fast track their careers, move their lives, move their families' lives, hundreds of kilometres for the opportunity, and all of it's been for nothing. The rug's been pulled out from under them. So after years of hard work, not only do they not get the chance to become a principal, they don't get any of the qualifications they were promised when they signed up to the course, even though they've completed a few years already.

Now, I've got James on the line. Now, James was a part of the Fast Stream program. His name's not actually James. He's asked to remain anonymous, but he spent two years living regionally as part of this program, and he joins me live. James, g'day. Hey, Chris. Nice to be here. Thank you for coming on. So you heard about the Fast Stream program. Why did you apply?

I applied because I thought it was a terrific opportunity. My boss at the time suggested that I apply for it. They thought I'd be quite good for the program. And so I just jumped at the chance to accelerate my leadership journey in the Department of Education. And don't tell me where you went because we want to keep you anonymous, but you uprooted your life, your family's life and moved to a country town?

Yes, we did. We moved to a country town, picked everything up, drove out there and started our lives out there. Did that have a big impact on you and your family to make that decision?

Yeah, it was a big impact. We put off doing a lot of things, put off having kids, didn't see a lot of our family for a couple of years, except for when we had the chance to get away and spend many hours in the car getting back to see them. So it was a big impact. And then going to a country town, you know nobody and everybody's looking at you, wanting to meet you. So it's a big pressure in the spotlight. So it was a big change for our family.

And you did it knowing, you know what, this will be worth it because there's a cherry at the end. There's an opportunity at the end of this process. Yeah, yeah, that's right. It was a big incentive to be able to accelerate that sort of that leadership journey. So I jumped at the opportunity, thought it would be terrific. Yeah. When do you find out that it's all over? It was all a waste of time.

It was Monday morning in an email. So all of us got an email together, I suppose, and found out that they'd be finishing us up. What did it say, the email?

I said to the effect of that, you know, because the government's moving around money, because there's budget difficulties, the program won't be viable anymore. So they've decided to, you know, bring it to a close. So the qualifications you were expecting as you were doing this, what happens to those? What were the qualifications, firstly, and what happens to them?

So as we went through the program, the idea would be that you'd engage with lots of professional learning, certain institutes within the Department of Education, and you'd end up with a credit to half a master's in leadership. And then you could finish that in your own time. You could finish that maybe the following year or during your fast stream time, but there's obviously not that anymore. So there's no prospect of having credit towards that training. And you were banking on that?

Well, yeah, I really do enjoy the study and knowing what I'm doing, if I'm going to be in charge of a school one day, which, you know, maybe I will hopefully one day. But, yeah, it'd be really useful to have that sort of knowledge. But there, it's not there now. Do you feel betrayed?

Yeah, I feel it's very hard to, I guess, rely on promises now. I do feel a bit betrayed. I feel like going forward, it's a matter of how far can I trust what's on offer anymore if I'm going to continue down this path. Does it make you think, well, maybe I'm better off just going into the Catholic system or the private system?

Yeah, I think that conversation's already, you know, across my dining room table and I'm sure lots of others across, you know, among my colleagues. And what about your partner and your family? Are they looking at you? They must feel terrible for you.

Yeah, I don't think I've spoken to anyone about it who hasn't felt really gutted for me and everyone else involved. It was a real surprise for all of us, I think. And no one ever picked the phone up? No one from the department said, look, mate, I'm sorry about this, James, but look, it's out of our control. No one, just an email? No, we just had emails. No one's picked up the phone. We've had some big group Zoom meetings later on, but no one's spoken to us. No one picked up the phone to call us.

And so there's teachers all around country New South Wales now and all around, and in Sydney too, because I'm assuming some of them have come back, who are thinking to themselves, well, what now?

Yeah, well, we've been told that what now is really you can take a teaching job somewhere within about an hour of where you live or you can try to apply for a job in the meantime. And if you want to have a middle leadership position, apply for it now. They're giving us a bit of time to secure them, but it's all up to us really. Otherwise, take a teaching job.

All right, James. I'm very sorry this happened to you. I really am. It's a terrible way to treat our teachers and to treat any human being, to be honest. And Murat Dizdar, the Secretary of the Department of Education, should be ashamed of himself and so too the Education Minister. James, I appreciate you jumping on. My pleasure. Thanks for having me here. You don't treat human beings like that. Sarah Mitchell, she's the Shadow New South Wales Education Minister. She was the one who came up with this program. Sarah, what do you make of this?

Chris, I'm just sitting here shaking my head listening to what James is saying. I cannot believe that there is nobody within the Education Department, the Minister's Office or even the Minister who wouldn't pick up the phone to these people and, like you say, apologise, explain to them what's going on. To get a Monday morning email that a really successful program that recognises our best and brightest teachers has just been axed, it's appalling.

Do you reckon the union's got their hands on this? Because they don't like meritocracies, the union. They just like whoever's on the shelf.

Yeah, look, I think you're 100% right. You know, any time that we in government tried to do anything like this, whether it was fast stream, paying your best teachers more, looking at opportunities for people to excel, they were always dead against it. So I suspect that that's the case. But, you know, what I'm concerned about, where is the minister? Why didn't she make an announcement on Monday and say, we're not doing this program and tell these teachers why? You know, you wonder why people get disheartened or disengaged with the public education system. Well, here's the reason why.

You couldn't blame teachers like James for just going, you know what, maybe either teaching's not for me or I'll go somewhere where I'm treated properly, like the Catholic system or the independent system. Yeah, I mean, and he just said that. That's already a conversation across his head. You couldn't blame him, could you?

No, not at all. And the reality is we all know we need great teachers in the system. But I'd also say someone who lives in a regional area, my kids go to our local public school. This was a program that, as you said, put some of the best teachers into our regional schools as well and gave them that exposure, gave them a fast track to school leadership. It was always well over subscription. So a lot of teachers really wanted this opportunity to do it in the couple of years that it was running.

And now it's just axed. And, you know, to say it's because of budgetary decisions, well, governments of the day make decisions about what they fund and what they value. And I think this sends a really poor message out to any teachers who have aspirations for leadership or who want to do something a bit more innovative. This government's not interested in anything like that. It's all about what the union are telling them to do.

And I did notice the other day, you know, they just ripped up a $39 million contract to build schools. They've received no schools from that contract yet paid out $5 million for

in compensation for nothing the taxpayer got nothing for that they refer allegations of corruption to icac and the individual at the center of those gets a five hundred thousand dollar payout as part of a restructuring deal and someone told me the other day sarah and i don't know if you agree with this statement but you probably do that the men's government seemed to know the value the the the cost of everything and the value of nothing and this seems case in point

Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's been a good week for Prukar and education, and I think they've got a lot to answer for, frankly. I did say Prukar said, you know, she said, oh, it's not good enough and all the rest of it. You've been in that minister's chair. You know what it's like. She would have been aware of this, no?

Oh, absolutely. And, you know, either she's signed off on it or someone in her department has. And either way, there should be a recognition that this is not just the stroke of a pen of a minister. As we heard from James, people's lives are impacted, their families are impacted, they've made decisions, and they should be accountable and honest and open about that. They should be announcing why they've cut this program and having the decency to talk to these people as individuals. As you say, it's human beings.

and explain what's going on. Just before I let you go, Sarah, when you tried to introduce the Fast Stream program, was it met with any pushback from the Teachers' Federation at the time? Oh, look, Chris, everything we did, frankly, was met with pushback from the Teachers' Federation. They didn't like this. We had a rewarding excellence program, which was about paying your best teachers more in the classroom as well. They didn't like that. They want tenure, not talent. That's always been the way that they are, and I don't think anything's different. Sarah, appreciate your time.

Thanks, Chris. That's Sarah Mitchell, Shadow New South Wales Education Minister. Now, just for the record, this is a quote from the Education Minister, Pru Karr. We want the best and brightest teachers in front of our students and my government recognises the sacrifices some have made to participate in programs such as this one. I've instructed the department to call every teacher and work with them to ensure they can continue their careers in our schools as leaders. We can't afford to lose teachers.

Good teachers. Well, then don't shut the program, Minister. No justification as to why it's being shut, mind you. And here's a spokesperson from the Department of Education. For those participants who move to more remote areas, we will work with them on a case-by-case basis. Participants remain permanent employees of the department and will continue to receive support and advice from the School Leadership Institute during this process.

Murat Dizdar, remember that name. He is the Secretary of the New South Wales Department of Education. He largely acts with impunity and clearly in this instance he treats people appallingly. 21 past four. It's 26 past four. Now I reckon the Trump campaign seems to have got the slows a bit. I think they've been caught totally off guard by Kamala Harris.

I don't know how, but he's certainly not as effective as he was against Joe Biden, was he, Donald J. Trump? So just a few weeks ago, it seemed like it was a done deal. Trump returning to the White House. But then Biden drops out and Trump just can't seem to get back on the front foot against his opponent, Kamala Harris. And you hear the latest one? This is from the former president talking about Kamala Harris's ethnicity. It begs beggars belief.

I've known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black.

So I don't know, is she Indian or is she black? She is always identified as a black woman. I respect either one. I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't. Because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she went, she became a black person. Just to be clear, sir, do you believe that she is a black person? I think somebody should look into that, too, when you ask a continue in a very hostile, nasty town. Look, I shouldn't laugh. Oh, my God. Now, look.

If you want to make the criticism that a candidate is only successful because of identity politics, sure, go ahead. But questioning whether or not she's black, ridiculous. Is that really going to win Trump votes where he needs to win them? He's got plenty to play with when it comes to campaigning against Kamala Harris. She's a massive lefty. Terrible record of campaigning and winning elections. And how about you just look at the fact that she was supposed to be the chief in charge of the southern border?

Start there and end there. I wouldn't have thought questioning her ethnicity and whether or not she's black or she's Indian is very good politics. 131873.

Here's a text. Chris, I really feel for the school teacher, James. I felt depressed listening to his story. Can't imagine how he feels. He sounds like a completely deflated individual. I think he is, Stu. Very shoddily treated. Chris, is it Lilyfield? Chris, what do you make of it all? Hi there. Well, I think it's pure insanity. First off, we've known for years that it's very difficult to get teachers out into the country areas.

Because, let's face it, it's a little harder to deal with all the stuff that's happening out west. And also, Chris, smaller populations means less of a pull to be able to generate teachers from, right?

Yes, that too. And the next thing is, well, okay, what are those poor towns? 130 of them, I think I heard you say, or somebody said on the radio. 130 teachers are being ripped out of those places. What's going on? How do the people out there put up with that loss? I mean, that's just crazy. It's a very, very good point, Chris. Maybe it's political. Maybe it's political. It's a union.

The union doesn't like the idea that you're going to halve the time it takes for a teacher to become a principal for a select grouping of people who the government and the department deemed as bright and willing to sacrifice and move to country towns. The Teachers' Federation, as Sarah Mitchell said, like tenure over talent, i.e. who's got the most dust on them on the pantry shelf.

And who's the next up? That's who gets promoted under the Teachers' Federation model, nobody else. Chris, I've got to run, but I really appreciate your call. Andrew is from Eleanora Heights, and you've seen something on the roads, Andrew. Yeah, there's a couple of sheep on the road at the top of Powderworks Road at Eleanora Heights. Sorry, did you say sheep, Andrew? Yeah. Eleanora Heights is what, 10 minutes to the beach? Yeah. What are the sheep doing there? Eleanora.

What did you say? What are the sheep doing there? Is there a farm there or something? There is a couple of sheep in someone's backyard there. There's a couple of big backyards. And, yeah, they've obviously got out. But I haven't seen that before. I've lived here forever. And they're definitely not... They've got no road sense, that's for sure. All right. So sheep... It's getting into that busy time. I just drove past and I thought it was going to run out on the road, but it didn't. So Powderworks Road...

Eleanora Heights, 10 minutes from the beach on the Northern Beaches. There's sheep. There is two sheep. Thought I heard it all. Good on you, Andrew. I appreciate that. 131873. Just repeating, if you're in and around the area and you've seen Barber, Powderworks Road, Eleanora Heights, give us a call. 131873.

In the newsroom, Josh Bryant. G'day. Good afternoon, Chris. The Matildas have parted ways with their head coach less than 24 hours after the side was knocked out of the Paris Olympics. The deaths of senior figures in both Hamas and Hezbollah have prompted a fresh warning for Australians to leave Lebanon while they can due to concerns about the flow-on effects of escalating tensions in the Middle East. People in cities north and northwest are being reminded that bus services are still changing this weekend

And there will be a new timetable from Sunday, despite the delay to the opening of the new Sydney Metro line. And the latest data shows more workers are heading back to Sydney CBD, but office vacancy rates are still stubbornly high. In sport, Panther star Brian To'o is putting to rest rumours he wants to leave the three-time defending NRL premiers. He's taken to social media saying he's not going anywhere. We'll have more news in sport at five. Thank you, Josh. 131873.

Sheep on Powderworks Road at Eleanora Heights. I wonder if Steve Carline knows anything about it. 24 to 5, here's a question for you. Do you agree with this? The federal government buying a stake in Regional Express, buying a stake in Rex if they get a bailout. 131873, I know the regional carrier has now been placed into administration.

You've got 600 odd jobs on the line and all flights between capital cities have been grounded. To be honest, they should have never gone down that path in the first instance. But the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has confirmed the government is in discussions about bailing out the airline. But the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, he took a bit of a swing at Rex, blaming their financial woes on management.

No, well, there's a range of issues relating to Rex. One is that a regional airline made decisions to invest in routes that they hadn't previously gone in. Sydney, Melbourne is not a regional route. It's one of the top 10 routes in the world and at various stages has been literally number one in the world.

Now, it's a tough industry, aviation. What my government is focused on is making sure that those people in regional communities continue to have access to aviation services. That's absolutely critical. Well, it's absolutely critical. So then go and do it. Stop sitting on your hands and just go and do it. You've got 600 people...

who are about to lose or probably have lost their jobs, being made redundant. And look, he is right, the Prime Minister, when it comes to John Sharp and Rex deciding to go down the capital city route. Pardon the pun. Now, we've asked the Federal Transport Minister, Catherine King, to come on the show three days in a row. She's refused every single day. I don't know why. And it's the same minister who sneakily backed Qantas. Maybe this is the reason over Qatar earlier this year.

Now, she's had two Aussie airlines go bust under her watch. And I think the time has come, Catherine King, to actually talk directly to the people of Australia, especially those in country towns, and tell them, are their airline services via Rex safe or not? Well, Senator Bridget McKenzie is the Shadow Minister for Transport. She's on the line for us, Senator. Thanks for your time. Great to be with you, Chris. Do you think that buying a stake in Rex is a good idea?

Look, I think you've nailed it in your opening remarks. There's a reason the Daily Telly gave this minister an F on the end-of-year report card last year, and it's because she's just not up to it. And the fact that she hasn't been bothered to turn up and answer questions...

not just to regional travellers, but to the whole travelling public, about what is their government's plan to save wrecks, because it would be absolutely catastrophic for the regions if wrecks went under. But indeed, I think, you know, when the Prime Minister is getting up today suggesting that wrecks didn't have the expertise, skills or even the right...

to go head-to-head and compete with Qantas, because remember, Virgin was grounded then and Qantas was ripping us all off with no competition in that capital city route, says everything you need to know about Anthony Albanese because he's not on your side. Those are Qantas talking points 101. You can't run a successful airline in this country if you don't get access to the Sydney airport.

And we know that access to the Sydney airport is one of a raft of reasons why, you know, Rex found itself in the difficulties it did. And, you know, access to Sydney is controlled by Qantas and Virgin as the major stakeholders in the company that makes those determinations.

A very successful person told me just the other week, Senator McKenzie, that if you're good at shoveling dirt, you should keep on shoveling dirt. Rex, extremely good as a regional service. So why didn't they just continue to do that? Well, they saw an opportunity with Virgin being grounded. And they ballsed it up, to be frank.

Well, I would disagree with you there, Chris. I think there was a raft of issues about why that occurred. When you hear what the evidence to the Qantas inquiry last year about the egregious behaviour of particularly Qantas when wrecks went head to head about the capacity shedding in regional routes, about slot hoarding. I mean, when you look at...

Sydney alone. You couldn't get into the peak hour service. Qantas had 103 slots, Virgin 57, and Rex had seven between 6am and 11. So that makes it pretty hard to compete. So what we want is a more competitive aviation industry, obviously for all travellers, including those from the region. So

You're right, Rex has been incredibly successful and the government needs to put a plan on the table. Everyone has known that this is coming and for Catherine King to not know which way to turn, what's the solution, just says everything you need to know about this government. End of the day, look, there's no point of just raking over the coals on this one.

Whether it was a stuff-up or not, it was a failure. Here we are. It was a failure. So are we going to be able to get flights for people to take in medicine to places in country towns in South Australia? The only way they can get it is via a Rex plane. Or can we be able to access...

Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Broken Hill, whatever it is, is that going to still be a reality for us? We just need a plan, right? Absolutely. It has to be a reality. You make a really good point. A third of Rex's work is in getting medical services in and out of regional communities right across the country, whether it is regional people accessing specialists in capital cities or

or indeed medical professionals flying out from capital cities into those regional areas so that we can have access to basic services that are just taken for granted in the city, that's a third of Rex's work. So if Rex goes under...

This will just be absolutely catastrophic for regional Australia, not just regional New South Wales. We all need to keep flying wrecks as well. Their on-time data is in excess of 80%, as opposed to the other two, right? They do a very good job. Correct. So if you want an affordable ticket to get where you need to go on time, wrecks...

is your carrier. So we need to keep flying wrecks while it's in administration if you're in the regions or heading out to the regions because we need to show them our support. But the government, again...

I want to see the plan. I want to stop seeing thought balloons on what they think needs to happen because everybody, all this evidence was before the Senate nearly a year ago and Catherine King has done nothing to make our aviation sector more affordable or reliable and to stop this happening. Senator, thanks for coming on. I appreciate your time. Always, mate. That's Bridget McKenzie. She's...

A senator and the shadow minister for transport, 131873. Surely Rex won't. They're going to have to bail it out. You can't not have routes and services to country towns in Australia. You just can't. Rex has to survive. It's got a unique position in the airline industry and the aviation sector. He can't go past the wayside. 131873. Coming up soon, we'll have an Olympic update and...

New South Wales schools missing out on billions and billions of dollars. You know who's to blame? Supposedly.

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Today, everyone, Adam Hawes with your Olympic update. Huge news out of the Matildas. Coach Tony Gustafsson is gone after the team bombed out in Paris.

8 out of 12 teams made it out of the group stage and Australia wasn't one of them after a 2-1 loss to the USA. Gustafsson took the team to last year's FIFA World Cup semi-finals but has been under increasing pressure since the 3-0 loss to Germany to start the tournament. In day 6 action, the men's 20k walk is underway after a half hour delay due to storms in Paris. Jess Fox is sounding as hungry as ever after winning her second gold of the Games.

At 30 years of age, she's now the most decorated canoe slalom paddler of all time. Fox says she never gets sick of winning. Do it again today. It was just...

so, so special. There was, there's no getting bored of that feeling. Tonight, Australia's Royals will be going for gold in the men's four final. So to the medal tally early on day six, China leads with nine gold, France and Japan have eight, Australia is fourth with seven. I'm Adam Horse. That's the latest from Paris. That Paris 2024 medal tally was thanks to NRMA Insurance, a help company.

Now, we spoke a little bit before to Manuel Donores because he's from Pride Meats. He's a butcher. Because the Chinese, a couple of years ago, there were two Chinese swimmers who tested positive to an anabolic steroid, both of them, right? And they trained together at the same pool. Anyway, the Chinese authorities said to the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, hey, look, it was inadvertent.

The fact that the steroid was in their system was because they ate a hamburger with Aussie beef in it. They were blaming the anabolic steroid being in Aussie beef. Well, we spoke to Manuel from Pride Meats. He goes, there's no steroids that get injected into Australian beef. Nothing at all. Notwithstanding the fact...

that the Chinese government had an import ban on Australian beef from 2020 until May this year. So that was impossible for them to have ingested Australian beef in the first place. And then it got us thinking, how good is Aussie beef? And wouldn't all the Australians? They eat steak and everything. So if that was true, wouldn't they be...

throwing up anabolic steroid positive tests all over the place. Well, on the back of that conversation, we got a text from the family, the parents of Jamie Perkins. She's an Australian swimmer. She's from Brisbane and she swam in the women's 400 metre final. She's only 19 years old, Jamie.

And there was something on the Today Show this morning where the Australian swimming chef said that Jamie Perkins is a very fussy eater. All she'll eat is steak and tomato sauce. Sue Perkins is on the line for us from France. Hello, Sue.

Good morning. That's not true, is it? Steak and tomato sauce, that's it. Oh, there's a couple more things in there, but she does like her steak and tomato sauce. Did that surprise you? I mean, they were saying that, you know, the Chinese are trying to say that there's steroids in Aussie beef. Oh, I think people always like to find some excuse. They don't, they just... You must have been proud of Jamie. Oh, super proud. First Olympics, it's all been amazing. So, yeah, we're really proud.

And are they getting into their Aussie beef over there? Is she getting enough of it, Jamie? Oh, I think they've got to get there before the boys eat, that's for sure. But, yeah, there's plenty of food out there. And, you know, she's been tested how many times? Thousands, I'm sure? Oh, she got tested twice in the first week of being in France. So no anabolic steroid from her steak and tomato sauce, Sue? No, no, we're all good. What's the experience been like over there, as mum watching your daughter as an Olympian?

I don't think anything can prepare you. It's just amazing, exhilarating, exhausting altogether. Has it been? It must have been pretty cool, though. You must be so proud. Oh, yeah. It was exciting in the stand, even in the heats. It was, like, just mind-blowing in the heats. And everyone's really supportive around you. It doesn't matter what country you're from. As soon as you say your child's swimming, everyone around you is supporting you. So it's quite amazing. And how's Jamie holding up?

She's good. She's excited for this morning's swim. So she just wants to get in there and swim fast for Australia. And is everybody going to get some sort of break? Now you're all the way over the other side of the world. Are you going to go sightsee or do something fun once the meet's over?

Yeah, Jamie's going with half a dozen girls away to have some fun for three days. And we're going to have a few days with a bit of fun and relax after she's finished racing. Awesome, Sue. Well, Sue, we're all very proud of all our Aussie swimmers, Jamie included. And I'm very happy to hear, and I'm sure the whole Australian beef industry, every farmer who's listening right now is very happy to hear that Jamie hooks into a steak. Thank you so much for reaching out.

Okay, thanks. We're happy to support farmers. All the best in the swim today. That's Sue Perkins, mother of 19-year-old Brisbane Olympic swimmer Jamie Perkins. And she said that she was tested twice in the first week. Eats steak and tomato sauce. Very fussy eater, but loves her Australian beef. Yet to test positive to an anabolic steroid. It's extraordinary that WADA believed that, isn't it? Jeff's at Gladesville. Jeff, you want to talk about Rex?

Yeah, Chris, a pretty simple solution, in my opinion, for the federal government. They do a bailout and it doesn't have to be a full bailout. It can be a partial bailout of Rex Airlines. They can put a government rep on the board as a non-executive board member or chairman, whatever they want. And then to get out of it, to back out of it, they can take equity in the regional airline and then sell that back over time. It's pretty simple, isn't it?

That's exactly what I do. And, Geoff, I reckon that's exactly what they will do, isn't it?

Well, I don't know, mate. That's the thing with the Labor government. Their heads will explode because they're caught between their fundamental and symbolic opposition to private enterprise and to privatising government assets and servicing the heartland of Australia. It's a tough one, I've got to admit. But I think that's the solution, right?

It is. It's a critical service, and I think your solution is absolutely where it'll all land. Whether or not they sell the equity stake back...

It's probably two different things. Jeff, I've got to run, but I really appreciate your call. See, common sense. Maybe you should write a letter to Jim Chalmers and give him the idea, Jeff. 131873. Well, the 5 o'clock news is coming up very shortly with Josh Bryant. On the other side of this, you will not believe what a Jewish man had to endure from a staff member at Officeworks.

Yep, a very straightforward request to laminate a Jewish newspaper was met with a no from this staff member at Officeworks because she supports Palestine. It's all on video. I'll play it to you next.

Now back to Drive with Chris O'Keefe on Sydney's 2GB. It's seven minutes past five. Thank you for your company on this Thursday afternoon. 131873, of course, that open line number. Text me 0460873873 or email drive at 2gb.com. Lots coming up this hour. We'll check in with Paul Gallen to get a preview of this weekend's National Rugby League action. Of course, we'll be right back.

Mark Levy will be in to preview Wide World of Sports and his Olympic coverage. Now, have you seen what's happened in Officeworks in Melbourne? It's in the Australian newspaper. Leah Mendez, the journalist, has revealed this. But this is an Officeworks in the suburb of Elston Wick in Melbourne. Now, one of the employees refused to serve a Jewish man because... And he was wearing a kippah.

Because she was, in her own words, pro-Palestinian. Now, is that not just racism and flat-out discrimination? So he was asking to get a copy of the newspaper the Australian Jewish News laminated. So he shows up there, and it's all on video, right? Is it Officeworks? He goes up and asks the lady behind the counter if she could laminate the Australian Jewish News, a newspaper.

And the employee from Officeworks refused. Now, all of this is on tape and she's been outed in a big, big way. You make your mind up. I'm pro-Palestine. That's okay. You're here to do a job of laminated. Yeah, we have the right to deny jobs. Is that an Officeworks position or your personal position? It is an Officeworks. We have the right to deny jobs. So Officeworks position is that you're pro-Palestine and you won't take a laminated job? No, that is my...

That's my position, but we have the right to deny jobs. What's the reason you're denying this job? Because I'm not comfortable proceeding with it. Which part are you not? The entire thing with these articles. Have you read? I'm not comfortable with it. Do you infringe on people's privacy? No, I was looking at... I've looked at the photo, I've looked at the headline. What's that? You're in a Jewish community and we... Israel and Judaism can be completely separate. From what? From religion and...

I haven't heard of it right now, but you can separate the two. So what are you separating? The culture and the religion. Okay, so what's wrong with this? I'm just not comfortable with doing that. Okay, well maybe I can speak to your manager. So you're the manager of this whole store? Of the department, yes. And you're instructing this whole store? No, I'm just not comfortable doing it. I'm not instructing the entire store.

I'm not instructing them, I'm just not comfortable doing it. Okay, maybe there's another staff member that's willing to do... You can wait for Maddie and see if she's comfortable doing it, but I know I'm not. Okay, and the reason you're not again is because... I am pro-Palisade. And that means... For political reasons, I'm not comfortable. Is politics played within Officeworks? Is that a personal staff member's discretion to make decisions?

We can. We have the right to deny it. And what are those reasons? We have to open the website. Right. So what policy am I breaching by getting an article like that? Are you reporting me? Yes, I am. Can you not report me? No, I cannot. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Honestly, imagine just for a second, right, and she's there and, you know, this worker. Just imagine the outrage for one second. If there was somebody at Officeworks...

Imagine the outrage.

Imagine the outrage if somebody went in and wanted to print flyers at Officeworks promoting the yes case in the voice to parliament referendum and the Officeworks worker said, no, no, no, no, I'm not comfortable printing flyers.

those yes flyers can you imagine that same person who is clearly an anti-semite and racist albeit i don't think she's clever enough to figure that out herself can you just imagine what she would have said to the people who refused the service of people who are pro uh the yes campaign or trying to get a photograph of a same-sex couple developed can you imagine it

Well, where is the outrage for this poor Jewish man who's shown up to Officeworks trying to get a newspaper article laminated and effectively told, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's not my political view? Well, if we're doing that, what happens to people who want paraphernalia? Liberal Party people, I want my Liberal Party posters printed at Officeworks. No, no, no, sorry. That's against my political view, so I'm going to refuse your service. Now, I hate to tell this young woman...

She's racist. You are racist. It is discrimination, pure and simple. So the man has since launched legal action in Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. You'd think it'd be a pretty open and shut case. But to Officeworks credit, the managing director, Sarah Hunter, she got in touch with a statement and she's obviously mortified. And rightly so. And I'm not going to hold this against Officeworks.

They said this, quote,

At Officeworks, we do not discriminate against our customers on the basis of their political views, religious beliefs, gender, sexuality or race. We provide ongoing training and education to our team members so that they understand the importance of treating all of our customers with respect and dignity. Arising out of this incident, relevant team members received education through the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

We sincerely regret that this incident occurred and for the distress caused to the customer. Well, that's one good thing that's come out of this. At least Officeworks isn't pandering to the BS and pandering to the quote-unquote political views of the team member. Spare me.

It is a shocking story. And the discrimination that the left in politics in this country so desperately want to stamp out and so desperately tell us is just rampant in this country is being perpetrated by them on a daily basis to the point where Officeworks team members are refusing to laminate a Jewish man's newspaper.

No place in Australia. It is disgraceful. They should be ashamed. Clinton Maynard is our Olympics reporter for 2GB. I'm just going to take a second to just get my heart rate down. That really bothered me. But there's a fair bit going on in Paris at the moment. And I did notice the walking is underway. And I just looked up.

So you know how quickly they walk? So they're walking for every one kilometre, they walk that in four minutes. So they're doing four-minute Ks walking. Clinton Maynard's on the line. Clinton, g'day.

G'day Chris, and they're walking early, it's quite early in the morning Paris time because it gets so damn hot at the Summer Olympics, this is what happens, so they scheduled it early but there were actually some storms this morning and some rain so they've actually had to delay the start of the walker so there's been some disruption but the storm's gone away, it's a clear blue sky at the moment, it's still pretty warm outside but nowhere near as warm as it's going to be. I was going to say the runner from Ecuador, the walker from Ecuador,

Leads the field at the moment from the Brazilian and the Spanish contender. Our man, Declan Tingay. He is currently in 10th position wearing bib 14. He's probably got a fair chance in a top 10 finish. We're probably not going to medal in this event, the walk. But top 10 finish would be a pretty good result for him. Probably a better chance in the women's walk this morning. Bit of beach volleyball going on too. What are the looks of things?

What a venue the beach volleyball is. It is probably – look, it's not quite Bondi. It's certainly not Cronulla Beach. But when it comes to – With the beautiful Caltex oil refinery in the background at Cronulla. Yeah.

Come on. You've got Norlies in the background. You've got Norlies in the background. Shark Park, half built. I've not been to the beach volleyball myself yet, but I have viewed the stadium from the top of the Eiffel Tower just before the start of the games. And it is just an absolute stunning venue, just an amazing venue for anybody

Olympic Games and obviously part of having it there was the pictures but the Aussies at the moment, the beach volleyball, just looking up the score or it's not looking...

Felt looking brilliant at the moment. Our men down to Sweden 2-0 at the moment. Actually, no, they have gone down to 2-0 to the Swedes. What else is happening in beautiful Paris? What can we expect over the next little bit? I noticed the big news, I suppose, off the back of the Matildas, Tony Gustafsson losing his job as the head coach of the Matildas.

Look, it was probably always going to happen. His contract was coming to an end. But the way they've gone out, and I know you had some comments about this earlier in the program, was just stunning. It is almost as if they didn't turn up to these games. Given they went down to Germany in the opening round, in the opening pool match, 3-0, they were then getting flogged by...

And I know that Zambia's got a long, proud history in football, but it wasn't exactly a great performance. They did come back. So then to go down 2-1, they were down 2-0 against the US, given their form early this morning, your time, last night, our time, probably wasn't a surprise. Ridiculous that we were actually sitting there then watching the Canadians and the Colombians go at it last night, hoping that Colombia would...

score a miracle win or draw to go through to the quarterfinals, it would have been ridiculous, honestly Chris, for us to go to the quarterfinals with

with two losses, and that would have only been because the Canadians love drones and spying on the Kiwis. But statement released that Tony Gustafsson is Gonski, that's probably understandable. His contract coming to an end, but they're not going to renew it. He did so well at the World Cup. As you rightly said a little earlier, maybe we have overachieved. Football is genuinely a world game. It's not like the AFL. It's not like the NRL. Correct, correct. And we probably...

given we made the semifinals, top four finish at the World Cup, we probably overachieved. But for this to be our worst performance in more than 20 years, for Tony Gustafsson himself to have a yellow card in the first half probably said a lot about the frustrations of the coach. So he is Gonski. He has said it's been a great honour and privilege to be able to be the head coach of the Matildas for the past four years. The journey with the team has been incredible, incredible moments, memories I will treasure forever. He did say after the match that he felt the team was just coming into form, just getting to a stride.

Well, a lot of good that does at the end of your pool matches. You need to get into form at the start of the pool matches. And, yep, no Sam Kerber. There's still plenty of stars in that team. Clinton, very briefly before I let you go, where are we headed with the swimming? I've got a few texts. What's coming up in the swimming? Everyone's loving it. Yeah, look, the drama, of course, last night with Kyle Chalmers and Panjay Lay, the Chinese 19-year-old who just smashed the field at 100 metres by more than a second. And you don't see that.

that happen in sprints, full body length wins. And I know that Brett Hawke has had a few words to say, saying that's not humanly possible. Brett Hawke, a very respected swim coach. Today, the four by 200 metres freestyle relay team, the women with, of course, Ariane Titmuss, the key swimmer there, Molly O'Callaghan in that one as well. They will start as favourites and, you know,

Given the performance of our women at these games, let's remember individually, all our gold medals have gone to female athletes. The blokes are slow. We're slow. The blokes are a long way to catch up. King Kyle, call him Prince Kyle with his silver, you know? He might keep going as well. He might have another crack. Where we might have a chance, this is out of the pool, and I'm just about to head out there, is the Nautical Stadium.

where Jess Fox has had so much success, and she's just, she's an ornament. She's wonderful, Jess Fox. Tim Anderson is the fifth fastest qualifier for the K1. So that's the race that Jess won on the first gold medal she won. He's fifth, so he is in medal contention. Maybe he can pull a surprise and jag an individual gold. And our rowers, our men's fours,

They are rowing at midday Paris time in the final, and they won gold in Tokyo. So there may well be a gold out at the rowing venue this morning, followed by perhaps a medal in the afternoon with the canoe. Clinton, I appreciate your time. Thanks for all your updates.

Thanks, Chris. He's doing a good job, as always, Clinton Maynard. Nine's radio Olympics reporter. And just a little update on the walk. Our Aussies finished 11th and 12th in the walk. It's 21 past five. It's coming up to 25 past five. 131873. Larry's asked, what time is the 4x200 metres final on tomorrow morning? Larry, I'm just going to get...

a list of all the times and all the events for the swimming for tomorrow morning so you know what time you've got to get up to watch the events that we all want to watch. I've just got the guys compiling that now, and as soon as I have it, I'll bring them to you. Now, I thought this was an interesting story in the Sydney Morning Herald because I immediately thought, geez, it's been cold lately, really, really cold. And it's as a result of a polar vortex happening

over the top of Antarctica. And it's bringing icy temperatures right across southern Australia, including us here in Sydney. So my sister, who's in Melbourne at the moment, ironically, she sent me a screenshot of her weather app and she said it was one degree or two degrees or something at about 9.30 this morning in Melbourne. Leave me out of that. But this year, as the warmer than average air temperatures have been recorded above Antarctica...

The polar vortex, which is a standard sort of swirling, icy wind pattern looking thing when you look at it on a scientific map. And as a result of the warmer than average air temps, the polar vortex has weakened, which has caused it to lose stability.

So the pattern has slackened a bit and its edges have pushed into southern Australia, which has caused these icy conditions and the freezing winds. It's the winds that are the killer at the moment. So we shivered through on Tuesday, temperature of 0.6 degrees, which is the feels like temperature, 0.6 degrees, despite the official reading being 7.6 degrees.

And in Melbourne today, yeah, this is what I'm saying, minus one at Avalon Airport. So minus one at Avalon Airport. And warmer air hits the stratosphere. You get this polar vortex losing its stability and the edges of that swirling polar vortex make its way to Australia. The Antarctic vortex making its way to Australia, causing us to shiver this winter. It's the coldest winter I can remember for a while. 131873, just on the swimming side.

So 4.30 a.m., the final of the women's 200 metres butterfly, the 200 metres men's backstroke final, 4.38 a.m.,

Now, these will be good because Cameron McAvoy, he's a chance of winning gold in the 50-meter free. He flies, Cameron McAvoy. So you've got the semifinals of the men's 50-meter freestyle at quarter to five tomorrow morning. Just after five, you'll have the 200-meter breaststroke final, women's.

And then the 200 metre backstroke semifinals women's at 20 past five. The 200 metre individual medley semifinals for men's at 5.47am. And who was it?

Was it asking about the 4x1? Larry, 4x2, sorry, Larry. Larry, the women's 4x200 metre freestyle relay final is at 6am. You'd think we'd be a good shot in the 4x2 women's relay final given Ariane and Molly O went gold and silver in the individual event, wouldn't you? Let's hope we get there. 131873.

The breaking news you can trust. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB. Now, if you have been following this Newington College story, you know, the Newington College going...

Co-ed? Well, a breakaway faction, again in the Herald, of anti-co-ed campaigners has failed in their bid to stop plans by Newington to enrol girls at the private school. So there was a special general meeting at Newington College's Centennial Hall last night. And you had members of the school's old boy union elect Edward Miller as its new president.

And it defeated the Save Newington group by approximately 1,400 votes to 1,100. So it was a vote, general meeting, special general meeting at the Newington College's hall. And it was the guys who were happy to let girls into Newington. And the Save Newington group who were pushing back on that and the Save Newington group lost 1,400 votes to 1,100.

Well, boys, democracy, hey? It can bite you in the bum. A news update. Pick your favourite Kia from the award-winning Kia Sportage to the street-great delivering Kia Seltos for Kia's most powerful car ever, the all-electric EV6 GT. In the newsroom, Josh Bryant. G'day.

Hello Chris, a man has now been charged with terrorism related offences as part of ongoing police investigations following his arrest after they were called to reports of bottles being thrown in the bathroom of a shopping centre at Miranda. Police say the cause of death of two people who were found on a yacht in Sydney's North Shore is not unknown.

obvious and they are looking at all options as part of their investigation. The federal government's being urged to outline a plan to keep wrecks in business after the airline went into administration and our support for our Olympians will be on full display tonight. Landmarks right across the country including the Sydney Opera House will be lit up green and gold in a show of support.

In sport, the first event of the athletics program at the Paralympics has now been completed. Ecuador claiming gold in the men's 20-kilometre race walk. The Aussies finishing 11th and 12th. The women's race will kick off later this hour. We'll have more news in sport at six. Thanks, Josh. A weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance, a help company.

Partly cloudy, high chance of showers right now. 12 degrees in the city and 13 in our west. Temperatures tonight, 11 in the city and 11 in our west. Shower or two, tops of 17 in the city tomorrow and 17 in the west. A 2GB ski and snow report.

Thanks to Red Energy. Cozy up to a better energy deal this winter. Make the switch today at redenergy.com.au. Well, thanks to a friendly high-pressure system, you can enjoy prime conditions to hit the slopes and make the most of the mountains this week with bright skies and clear visibility.

And as the weekend approaches, brace yourself for a pair of cold fronts sweeping through, and that'll bring a fresh layer of snow to top up the base. So four of four lifts are currently open at Charlotte Pass. Perisher has 45 of its 48 lifts open. 14 of 16 are open at Threadbow today. And in Selwyn, five of nine lifts are now open. That was the ski and snow update, thanks to Red Energy.

A finance update. Enjoy impossible to ignore savings across the Mercedes-Benz SUV range. Well, checking finance, ASX is up 0.28 of a percent. All Lords are up 0.28 of a percent as well. Both the markets not going too bad. One Aussie dollar buying 65 US cents.

A Paris 2024 Olympic Games update. Thanks to Harvey Norman, proud to be Australia's official retail partner. Powered by LG, partner of Nine's Olympic broadcast. G'day everyone, Adam Hawes here with your Olympic update. The men's golf is getting underway on day six in Paris. Minwoo Lee and Jason Day are leading the Aussie charge. They tee off this hour.

The Matildas are part of ways with their coach after their worst ever result at an Olympic Games. Football Australia says Tony Gustafsson's four-year contract came to an end by mutual agreement.

In the pool, Aussies Abby Lee Connor and Elizabeth Decker will be chasing gold in the women's 200 metre butterfly. Ruby Pass will compete in the women's all-around final in artistic gymnastics. While in the tennis, Aussie duo Matt Ebdon and John Pears have kept their medal hopes alive. And it has been revealed a third Australian swimmer has contracted COVID at the Olympics. Zach Stubbley-Cook finished a five-day course of antivirals as he claimed silver.

in the 200 metres breaststroke. Champion paddler Jess Fox's second gold medal of the Games has lifted Australia to fourth place on the medal tally with seven gold. That is the latest from Paris. I'm Adam Hawes. That Paris 2024 medal tally was thanks to Woolworths, proud fresh food partner of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Good on you, Horsey. Well, the round of NRL kicks off tonight with the bottom-placed Wests Tigers. They're hosting North Queensland at the 8th Wonder of the World Leichhardt Oval. Nick Quinn is from Ladbrokes and he's on the line for us. Nick, how's this one shaping up?

Well, punters are unfortunately anticipating more misery for the Tigers. They're a clear outsider at $3.25. The Cowboys $1.33. The line, 9.5. And the over and under, very, very high. Plenty of points expected to be scored. It's set at 51.5 points. Two games tomorrow. First up, we've got the Warriors against the Eels. The Warriors $1.22 with Parramatta 5.

4.25 and the line at 13.5. And on the back of that, the Dolphins host the Chooks. The Roosters a clear favourite here at $1.28. The Dolphins 3.75. The line at 11.5 points. What about the Olympics, Nick? How good is it? So Australia looking for more gold in the pool tomorrow morning?

And we're expected to get a gold medal in the 4x200 for the girls. They're all the rage at just $1.01 to get the job done. Some other fancied athletes. We've got Cam McAvoy at $1.90 to win gold in the men's 50 freestyle. And Kayleigh McEwen at $1.40 in from $1.60 to win the women's 200-metre backstroke.

More gold the merrier, hey, Nick. Now, the Boomers, they're going to try to keep their Olympic campaign alive with a win over Greece tomorrow night. I think the Opals, they've got to bounce back against Canada tonight. How are they shaping up?

Punders are with them. Now, the Opals were just $1.01 when they lost their opening game, but hopefully they can bounce back tonight, and they're a clear favour to do so against Canada. We've got the Opals at $1.30, Canada at $3.35 with the line seven and a half points. All the Boomers have been back from $1.52 into $1.44 to beat Greece tomorrow night. Giannis and Co. at $2.70 outside with the line at $2.50.

Five and a half points. It's going to be a massive 24 hours at the game. Hopefully lots of success for the Aussies. You can check the markets on the app. And as we always say, please gamble responsibly. Hey, Nick, are the Ladbrokes crew loving the Olympics sick like we are?

I think everyone's loving the Olympics except the sleep pattern. He's put up with it. Good on you, Nick. Thanks, Chris. That's Nick Quinn from Ladbrokes. The Ladbrokes app is loaded with the best racing features. Take on the fun and download the Ladbrokes app today. What are you really gambling with? For free and confidential support, visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. The Ram Trucks Analyzer. Analyzing information. We just need to perform a few more analyses. Thanks to Ram Trucks.

Eat everything else for breakfast.

It's 16-6 and Thursday night footy tonight, which means it's time for Ram Trucks Analyzer segment. It's a cracking one to get us started. Round 22 of the NRL, the Tigers v. the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval. And the Tigers have had a fair bit of success over the Cowboys at Leichhardt in recent years. Joining me on the line tonight is to talk all things footy is Paul Gallen, 9NRL commentator and, of course, a member of the Continuous Call team. Gal, g'day.

G'day, how are you? You loving the Olympics? The Olympics is good. Good fun to watch. Yeah, watch it most nights with the kids. So it's good. It's very enjoyable. What about the footy tonight? What do you reckon? Tigers, any hope?

You know what? They are. They've got a great record here. They went on in their past 11 games here versus the Cowboys. They hammered them last year. They scored 60 or 70 points, I think, last year. They scored against them. So they're coming into the game a little bit confident. They always do seem to play a little bit better here at Leicester. I don't know. For whatever reason, it's the spirit train around the top here, as we know. But, look, I think the Cowboys should be too good. They've got a better side.

They've got more to play for. But this was sort of the time last year where the Cowboys fell over also. They sort of didn't finish the season off well and finished the year with 12 wins and missed out on the semifinals. So big game tonight for the Cowboys. A big one for Stefano too. He's decided to leave the Tigers. He's either going to the Dogs or the Melbourne Storm. He's got a front up tonight on a cold Thursday night at Leichhardt Oval and put in Gal. Is that going to be hard for him to do, do you think? I don't know.

No, I don't think so. He's just walked straight past me. He's a big boy. But he's very cold in here at Leicester. But look, I think, I've got to be honest, I think the Tigers, I don't think it's going to turn around too quickly for the Tigers. He's a young bloke who wants to do the best for himself and his career. So I can't really blame him for moving on. I'm not sure where he's going to go yet. But look, he'll want to finish the season off well for the Tigers and play some good footy. And he's a professional, so he'll just turn up and do his job. I've got no doubt about that. A bit like you, Gal. Let's do this.

So, Gal, you reckon the cows will get it done tonight against the Tigers. Let's move to tomorrow. Warriors and Eels. Who do you think wins there?

No, Warriors should have too much to play for. Dolphins. And they're at Perth taking on the Roosters. Taking on the Roosters. Yeah, I think the Dolphins have taken a home game away. Error, I think. Gold Coast v Brisbane. Oh, this is, you know, I've got the Gold Coast. Yeah, I think Broncos and North Slots at the moment. I think it's going to change that. Gold Coast. Dragons will beat the Storm, won't they?

No. I think you're right there. Sharkies, they'll get it done, I think, over the bunnies, won't they? Yeah, my sharkies, of course, yeah. Sharkies, yeah. And Sunday, Panthers and Knights. Panthers, pump them. And there's one more too, Dogs and Raiders at Belmore. That's a good one. Yeah, look, I'm backing the Dogs. They're playing well, but it wouldn't surprise me if we went the other way. I think the Raiders are still fighting, but I'm going with the Dogs. Good on you, Gail. Appreciate you coming on.

Thanks, mate. See you later. That's Paul Gallen, former Cronulla and New South Wales captain and, of course, member of the Channel 9 NRL team and the continuous call team right here on 2GB. Now, if you want to look your best, do what we do. Get into Lowe's, 100% Australian-owned, still a family business, Lowe's too, with over 200 stores nationwide or shop online at Lowe's, 131873. Now, I have noticed this, and I know everybody sort of puts their nose up a little at Newtown.

you know, the suburb of Newtown, thinking it's all a bit trendy and all the rest of it. But there's some pretty cool things there if you decide to go looking for them. So there is a place called The Pleasure Club, and it's not what you think it is. It's called The Pleasure Club, and they've set up a new residency to champion Australian artists. With all the festival cancellations that have been going on about it for a couple of months now, where are young Aussie artists going to get their break?

So the Pleasure Club in Newtown have decided to set up residencies where the hottest young Australian acts can play regularly in front of live audiences. And I reckon this is a really, really good thing. Because just get this. So this week's top 50 singles in Australia, the top 50 singles in Australia only feature four Australians.

So you've got Girls and Nights Like This by Kid Leroy. That's at 18th. Cyril Stublin In and, sorry, Cyril's Stumblin In. That's at 36. You can clearly see I'm up with it.

But 10 years ago, there was a song called Riptide released by Vance Joy, and somehow that's made its way back to the top 50. So clearly, Australian music needs a real injection with some people giving it some support, like the Pleasure Club at Newtown, to ensure a 10-year-old song doesn't make its way back into the top 50 singles. I'm running down to the river, taking away to the dark side.

when you sing the song

It is a good song, though, I suppose. Riptide. Vance Joy. I think that's about the only one they ever did, though. Time to give away some free fuel now. 131873. Call the open line. It's all thanks to Shell V-Power. The duel for fuel. I need two contestants to play. If you want to win, 131873. On 2GB Drive, let's duel for fuel. I've got Fiona from Marylands and Lynette at North Rocks on the line for the duel for fuel. All thanks to Shell V-Power. Fiona, g'day.

Hi, how you going, Chris? I'm good, thank you, Fiona. Lynette, hello. Hi, Chris, how are you doing? I'm all right, Lynette, I'm all right. That's good. Okay, are you ready to go? Ready to go. All right, you've got to be positive and you've got to be enthusiastic. I know you can do it. Your time starts now. Former tennis player Maria Sharapova was born in which country? Past. Russia. Maggie Mae is by which legendary artist? I wouldn't have a clue. Rod Stewart. Which country is the most western point of Europe?

I'm not doing too well at this. I wouldn't have a clue. Portugal. Tony Gustafson is now the former coach of what team? The Matildas. Correct. How many hearts does an octopus have? Three or four? Three. Well done. You pulled it out. You got there, Lynette. You got two. Fiona, you ready? Yeah, let's go. Your time starts now. Tom Cruise portrays which character in the Top Gun series? Maverick. Correct. Which pizza store came first, Domino's or Pizza Hut? Domino's.

Pizza Hut. Correct. True or false, the Great Ocean Road is the world's longest war memorial. True. Well done. Made quick work of that, Fiona. Lynette, I'm sorry. Feel free to call back any other time if you'd like to play again. You did well. Fiona, 200 bucks of free petrol coming your way. It is the jewel for fuel. We play it every afternoon here on Drive. And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports.

Mark Levy's just sat down. Jeez, he's working. He's working overtime for the great Olympic Games, Levy. How are you? I'm good. I'm sorry for being a bit late into the studio with you, Chris. I've just been sort of mimicking these race walkers down the corridor and I think I've thrown my left hip out. Can you believe? Four minutes for a kilometre. Unbelievable. It takes me four minutes to get to the car park in a lift. LAUGHTER

Give Otis a call. Oh, mate, it's great to watch. It's been hot, it's been wet, it's been windy. What about Prince Kyle Chalmers? What's wrong with Kyle Chalmers? Well, he's not the king, is he? Oh, well, silver medal's still pretty good. Is it? Yep. Yep. Blokes, still slow, but...

A lot of people are talking about the pool, and I might talk to Libby Trickett about this after six, because in between competition, right, and in between races, the pool is just dead flat. But there are still some waves in the pool, which is why a lot of people are suggesting there hasn't been a lot of the records that we were expecting. I don't profess to be a pool expert. If you see the state of mine at home, it's green. It is shocking. PH levels. Mate, there was a frog in it the other day. Not good. Not good.

Well, rather that than in your throat with what you do. But on the slow pool phenomena, I was listening to Stephanie Rice the other day talk about this, and it was her belief that the standard of international swimming has dropped off a little. So the outside lanes, well, they're not great when it comes to technique and all the rest of it. So it's just a chop fest in the middle. So it's like almost swimming in the ocean in some ways. And that's a lot of the feedback coming from some of the faster swimmers. Now...

It is Steph Rice. I don't know if that's true or not. Well, she'd know. She'd know what she's talking about. Yeah, exactly. So, well, it's really interesting. I mean, there's been a whole lot of sort of side notes to all of this, and you've been talking about the whole Matilda's drama as well. What did you think of my take? I think you're spot on. I came in in the middle of it, but I think you're spot on.

It's disappointing. You know, we build up the Matildas for what they did in the World Cup. We gave them a statue and all those sorts of things. And, you know, they've left us disappointed. Look, if I'm to find excuses, yes, there's no Sam Kerr. But what Lucy Zelich has said with us the last couple of days, she just doesn't know where those goals were going to come from in that Australian team. And that ended up proving...

the problem for us this morning. We conceded 10. Well, we conceded 10, but we also scored a few in that remarkable game the other day. So, look, they've got rid of the coach. He probably had used his expiry date. He had reached his expiry date. So now the decision rests on who takes over. I have no idea who that will be. But onward and upward for the Matildas. Now, 4x200 tomorrow. You'd think we're immoral.

We're just sitting here talking about pools and ripples and all those sorts of things. Lad broke out at a $1.01. Something. I don't want to put the commentator's curse on, but it's going to be a great race. Obviously, the girls are in great form, the young women that we've got in this. So how many more legitimate gold medals are we expecting out of the pool? Well, probably two or three, maybe four more.

So Kayla McEwan, she's got a backstroke race to go. She's got the heats this morning. We've got obviously Ariane, Molly and two of their teammates in the relay in the morning. McAvoy in the 53. 53, exactly. So I think probably three or four potential gold medals or another colour anyway. And then it'll go back to the Sahara of the athletics. But no, but

But see, this is the thing, right? When we get through swimming, automatically people say, oh, track and field. We're not usually that good at track and field. We have some legitimate medal chances in track and field this time around. 2,000-metre runner, isn't it? 2,500-metre runner that we're dead set chance. There's distance runners. There's pole vaulters. There's high jumpers. I'll talk to Jane Fleming about that later on this morning. Jane and Shane McGuinness are covering the race walk for us at the moment. So two kilometres in.

And we've got an athlete there from Peru leading the way. Good on you, Delivy. What we know is you'll be all over it. That's it from me. I'll see you tomorrow at 3 p.m. Bye-bye.