2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full Show July 30th

Publish Date: 2024/7/30

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On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon, Sydney. It's a cold old Tuesday, isn't it? Jeez, the winter weather is bitterly cold at the moment. But in terms of the news, there is lots and lots going on today. Rex, Regional Express, the airline, is on the cusp of going under.

The new Metro train from Tratswood to Sydenham, well, that's been delayed. We've got no new opening date either. A bit of an embarrassment for the men's government. They're supposed to open...

on the weekend. Well, it's been delayed now and the triathlon at the Olympics has also been postponed because the water quality in the River Seine is terrible. They spent $2 billion trying to clean it up and they can't run the race. We'll have all of that covered. Bill Shorten, he'll join me, Minister Shorten. He reckons wait times and general service when you ring Centrelink or Medicare, he reckons it's improved out of sight.

Is that your experience? 131873, tell Minister Shorten how you've been going getting onto Services Australia or Medicare. And then New Zealand, well, they've abandoned its emission reduction program for 2030. That target for 2030 has been scrapped. You know why? They can't hit it. I'll explain all of that too right now. 16 at Warrington and 15 at Waverley.

It's eight and a half past three, 131. 873 is the open line number. You can text me 0460873873. My email address, drive at 2gb.com. Well, this isn't good news. This is not good news. You know, the Metro train that's been built for many, many years.

$21.6 billion worth spent on it. $21.6 billion. Coalition government, they did a good job. They got it through and started building it and supposedly going to transform Sydney. And then the Minister, Joe Halen, they announced August 4. So it was to open to passengers this Sunday. All they had to do was cut a ribbon, but now it's been delayed. Minister Joe Halen's on the line for us. Minister, thanks for your time. Good afternoon, Chris. Touch embarrassing.

Look, it's not embarrassing when you talk about safety. And look, I appreciate people will be disappointed that they can't jump on board on the weekend. I'm disappointed too. I was really looking forward to it. The excitement has been building, but unfortunately people will have to wait

a little longer, but safety's gotta come first. And ultimately, as we said, Chris, this was a target date and we needed the sign off of the National Independent Safety Regulator. As soon as we found out that, look, we weren't gonna meet their requirements yet for that date,

I wanted to make sure that the travelling public knew that it wasn't going to be this weekend. But look, it is, I appreciate that's disappointing, but it is not far off. It's not far off. So if you sell a house and you settle with someone and you name a date and you don't hit that date, you don't settle it, you're probably better off not naming the date, right? Look, I appreciate the analogy, but this was a target date, not like a settlement where your bank's there and your lawyer's there. It's a bit different. We announced this date at the time. Well, the customers of New South Wales were there.

Well, we announced this date as a target date because when you open any big piece of infrastructure like a railway or a road or, indeed, when you're planning for any big complicated event, you've got to have a timeline to plan to. And this is pretty complicated. Look, I appreciate, you know, in your opening, you said it was just cutting a ribbon. It's a long way away from that. We've got to make sure all the buses, bus rosters and timetables are changed. We've got to make sure that the trains connect. We've got thousands of people that work across transport. So...

Look, I'm not trying to make excuses here, but it is a complicated process and you do have to have a timeline for these things. And that's why we announced the target date. So it's important to have a date. Yeah, I understand that. So when is it going to open? If it's so important to have a date, what's the opening date? Okay.

Well, today I announced that it won't be this weekend and I'm disappointed about that too. So what is it? Well, as soon as we have the information from the regulator... But isn't it important to have a date? ..and from Fire and Rescue, it's absolutely important to have a date. But I want to make sure that we have all the information and as soon as I have that... Chris, in fact, I'm very happy to come on your show and make sure that your listeners and the travelling public

No, as soon as I know what that date is, it's not far off. The good news is that this railway is 99% ready, but we have to have it 100%. And when we're there, when the regulator gives us the tick of approval, we'll open it very soon after that.

What's the date? You know it. We know you know it. So what is the date? Chris, if I had the date, I'd tell you. Absolutely. And I'd want to tell your listeners because they're the ones that want to get on board this railway. And I want to get on board it too. It's actually going to really transform our city for the better. I want more people to be able to choose public transport. And I know this is disappointing, but this railway is going to run for 100 years. So it's just a little bit longer to wait.

All right. Important to have a timetable, but we don't have an updated date. I understand that. So what was the sticking point? Why couldn't we open it?

Well, there were a few things that happened along the path that we were on. So we were on a critical path that we were working with Fire and Rescue, the regulator and all the different components of transport, the buses, the trains, et cetera. And a few things did happen. Firstly, we did have the incident on the northwest. I'm sure your listeners remember. In fact, several hundred passengers were stuck on that system and that's not good enough. That did mean that the regulator had to

have some paperwork to assess that, to work out what happened so it doesn't happen again. They need time to assess that. We also had some industrial action that meant that some of the

The exercises, the scenarios where we test things like evacuating the train or smoking the train, alarms and drills needed to be redone. Only four of those need to be redone of some 200 exercises, but that has meant that we need a little bit more time. Okay. Minister, I appreciate you showing up. Are we talking weeks? What are we talking? Weeks, months, days?

As soon as I know, Chris, I'll tell you and your listeners. Have you got a ballpark, roughly? It's not going to be long. Weeks, not months. I wish it was only just days. It's not going to be long, but I appreciate it's not what we wanted, but we will get there in the end. It's going to be worth it. It's going to be fantastic, Chris. All right. Look forward to it. I won't hold my breath. Thank you very much. Thanks, Chris. Bye-bye. That's Jo Hale, the Minister for Transport. 131873, what do you make of that? Supposed to open Sunday.

Now likely to be a few weeks delayed. Not having a good time of it, you know.

Roselle Parklands, remember that? That was supposed to be open. Roselle Interchange, yeah, that was a beauty. It was going to be worth it. Nah, didn't open very well, did it? Still got problems. Roselle Parklands. Took years and years and years to build. They open it. They find asbestos all through the mulch. They've got to close it for another six months. And now a $21.6 billion Metro rail line promising to reshape the CBD and dozens of Sydney suburbs due to open August 4th.

Now it's been delayed. 131873. Well, speaking of the Minsk government, we've shaken the tree on this Education Department ICAC scandal. And a lot of stuff fall out this tree too. And unfortunately, it's not good news for the Education Department, nor is it good news for the Education Minister, Pru Karr.

Now, to refresh your memory, 30 new and upgraded school projects and 100 new public preschools, they're at risk because the New South Wales government mysteriously terminated a major three-year $39 million contract just four months after signing it. Three years it was supposed to run. They pulled the pin on it four months after they signed it. And they referred a former senior bureaucrat to the Corruption Commission.

Now, I have a letter in my hand from a whistleblower, and it alleges that breaches of the department's code of conduct by senior executives within the department, suspected fraudulent activity and corruption within school infrastructure in New South Wales, misappropriation of public funding, blackmail by public officers, failure by the department to act in good faith whilst under contract.

Now, it doesn't name any individuals, this letter. And I'm not suggesting they relate to the CEO, Anthony Manning, the former CEO, Anthony Manning. What I am saying, though, is he has been referred to the ICAC. But this letter does not name him whatsoever. It was, however, forwarded to Prukar on the 20th of February 2023, a few weeks from the New South Wales election. And then after Prukar became the Education Minister...

Contact was made again to Prukar, making her aware of allegations of improper conduct within Schools Infrastructure NSW. Now the Department of Education told us in a statement yesterday, while the contract was not terminated because of an ICAC investigation, concerns have been raised on how the tender was undertaken for this work and they've referred those concerns to the ICAC.

And the department and government take allegations of corrupt conduct very seriously. So the Department of Education, they confirmed, they referred allegations of corrupt conduct to the ICAC. And we know with this letter that the Education Minister, Pru Karr, was made aware of similar allegations within Schools Infrastructure NSW. Now here is the issue, right?

The Education Minister and the Education Department knew ICAC was looking at general concerns around the CEO of Schools Infrastructure New South Wales, Anthony Manning, because they were the ones who referred those concerns to the Corruption Commission. They knew it because they referred the concerns. Yet they still paid Anthony Manning, they paid him out hundreds of thousands of dollars when they let him go on a restructure.

There was evidence in Parliament which heard that the Department of Education paid Anthony Manning 38 weeks salary plus entitlements. You're talking close to half a million bucks in his severance payout. Again, there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Manning, only that he's been referred to ICAC. Of course, an ICAC referral doesn't mean an investigation will follow. And I've also texted and called Mr Manning for a comment. I haven't received any response.

However, the New South Wales Government, the Education Department and its Minister Prukar handed a guy the best part of half a million dollars in a termination payment when they themselves referred allegations about him to ICAC. Does that pass the pub test to you?

This is the same government with the Education Department Secretary Murat Dizdar and Education Minister Prukar who just tore up a $39 million contract to build schools. Us, the New South Wales taxpayer, didn't get any schools built. Instead, we will hand over $3 or $4 million in compensation because of their decision to rip up that contract. What is going on in education? What is going on in the Education Minister's office?

Well, hopefully ICAC gets to the bottom of it because surely this is not good government. It's 19 past three.

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It's 23 past three and there's terrible news out of our airline industry. It's being reported that Australian regional airline, of course, Regional Express, REX, is set to appoint EY as administrators. Looks like they're going under. So they've suspended bookings on their 737 services with flights beyond Tuesday coming up as unavailable.

You've seen Rex shares fall 35% just this year. They're in a trading halt right now. And this is even though they recently added services between capital cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. We've already seen one airline fold this year with Bonza. Now it looks like Rex may well be going the same way, but I think Rex is a bit different.

It's the only way you can get to some country towns in Australia. Well, Michael McCormack, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and a member for the Riverina, he's on the line for us. Michael, g'day. G'day, Chris. Terrible for your areas.

Oh, this is disastrous, Chris, and you only read reports like Seduna in South Australia where they need wrecks to fly in and fly out their professional medical staff, their doctors. But for wrecks, they would be out on their own, and it's not just Seduna, it's so many of those dozens upon dozens of country destinations that only wrecks flies to that are going to be left high and dry if wrecks goes under. And, you know, what's the government doing about it? They really need to stump up

if this continues, because we can't have regional centres left in the lurch like this. What would you say, bailout package? Well, it's going to have to be something. And I know that the Prime Minister had a bit of a swipe when he said there were no conditions placed on the money that I gave on behalf of the taxpayers to Rex during COVID. But they were unique circumstances and seriously...

In times of crisis, you act accordingly. And this is a crisis for Rex, you know, and the government really needs to put politics aside, put, you know, they spent $450 million on a, you know, unnecessary referendum we didn't need. Well, here's the vital regional carrier which kept the nation's regional areas, remote areas, going during COVID.

And, you know, yes, we gave them a big support package, a big rescue package. But again, it looks as though Rex is in a bit of strife and we can't afford to not do something. I don't often agree with Michael Cohn from the TWU, but when he says this is a sign that the aviation industry is broken and it's actually in crisis, then he's right. He's absolutely right.

Are you concerned? I know former Federal Minister John Sharp, he's heavily involved with Rex. It's clear that them diving into the metro routes, the Sydney to Melbourne routes and the like, was a mistake. Well, I'm not about to give corporate advice to Rex, but Rex is hard as in the country. That's its slogan. I noticed that Wagga Wagga, it employs 160 people. That pumps $12 million just in wages annually into the local economy. They've got a pilot academy there too?

Absolutely. Australian Airline Pilot Academy, which is supported, started, hosted by Rex. Look, I'm not too interested in the Melbourne to Sydney, the Sydney to Brisbane routes that Rex runs. I'm interested. I'm primarily and only interested really in the regional routes. And, you know, as a regional carrier,

The government needs to absolutely promote and support whatever it needs to do to get wrecks continuing to be in the air for those regional communities, those remote centres which, but for wrecks, would not see medical support that they do now. Obviously, I've flown wrecks a lot, Michael, and, you know... Of course, they do a great job. And, like, for Broken Hill, for argument's sake, if you live in Broken Hill, is there any other way to get in and out of it via air outside of wrecks?

Oh, not that I know of. I mean, obviously, you know, you've got the Royal Flying Doctor Service that does a great job if you're medically stranded. Yeah, as a passenger. We can't rely on the Royal Flying Doctor Service for, you know, all these appointments and these, you know, just getting people to vital medical services in capital cities. And sometimes when in pain, it's catch the plane. They need to be able to catch a Rex plane.

And if Rex isn't in the air, those treatments will not be able to be possible. And so, you know, the government needs to stop talking and needs to start acting very, very soon. What does country Australia look like, these country towns look like without Rex, if it goes under?

Oh, it's bleak. It is absolutely bleak. We can't afford not to have wrecks. And I know even when wrecks started in 2002, the pilots were bringing in food for the flight attendants to be handing down the aisle. So, I mean, you know, it really was a family carrier. It started off very, very small. It's built into something very, very special. But

But even then, after Don Kendall and Max Hazelwood had their great airlines, went into ANZ, ANZ collapsed in 2001. We built from nothing a great airline, and we need that airline to be great again. And the government is going to play a key part in that. All right, Michael. Thanks so much for your time. Good luck. Any time at all. Thanks, Chris. That's Michael McCormack, former Deputy Prime Minister of this country and the member for the Riverina. 131873, what do you reckon?

Do you think it deserves a bailout? Do you think we should bail out Rex or should we just go, you know what, throw your hands up in the air and say, well, if you guys can't make it work, that's on you. That's how the free market operates. We're sick and tired of bailing out small business. I don't know. I'm of the view that Rex is a bit unique in how it operates. You can't have small, tiny little country towns and regional centres with people

no reasonable way to get into the city or get in between each other. And Rex is the way that most do that, but still it's taxpayer money. So if a bailout package is handed over, there must be, there must be some conditions placed on that. Stephen's in Gladesville. Stephen, what do you reckon?

Yeah, I agree. Well, first of all, the strategy to challenge on the main routes was a very poor strategy to start off with. And whoever devised that strategy, well, they've done them a bad service. If you were going to give them more money, I would say make sure Rex only does regional flights. That does not do any of the mainline flights.

I agree with that, Stephen. I think it was folly. You know, if I'm sitting there going, all right, well, I've got to go to Melbourne on the weekend for work or I've got to go to Melbourne during the week for work, whatever it is. I've got Qantas, I've got Virgin, I've got Jetstar to get down there. I'm not looking out for a Rex flight, you know what I mean?

That's absolutely correct. And so if I was going to give them money, as I said, I would make sure that they were handcuffed to only do what they were originally doing, which they did very well, which was regional flights. Good on you, Stephen. I think most people will agree with that and probably Rex do now with the benefit of hindsight. You have a good afternoon. 131873.

In the newsroom, Josh Bryant, g'day. Good afternoon, Chris. The state's transport minister says when she knows, she will tell the public of the new opening date for the Sydney Metro after the weekend's planned opening was delayed. A police officer has pleaded...

not guilty to assault after a 92-year-old man was injured south of Sydney. Organisers remain hopeful the men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics will be able to go ahead tomorrow after water quality in the River Seine forced the event to be postponed for today. And Swedish researchers say a blood test may be more accurate at detecting Alzheimer's disease

than current cognitive tests and CAT scans. In sport, day four action at the Paris Games kicks off in about 90 minutes' time. The first Aussies will be in about half an hour's time. Rather, the first Aussies will be in action in the beach volleyball and at the trap shooting in about 90 minutes. We'll have more news in sport at four. Thank you, Josh. 131873, that open line number if you want to have your say. Now, if you live on the northern beaches, I think you'll find this interesting.

It looks like Northern Beaches Council is proposing to introduce an Indigenous voice to council. Yep, I'm not joking. We'll get into that next.

It's 25 to 4. Now, do you think that on the Northern Beaches they should have an Indigenous voice to council? I'm not joking. Again, I'm being serious. The Federal voice to Parliament, obviously that failed, the referendum. But the Northern Beaches Council is now proposing an Aboriginal community advisory group. And they say the group would be there to engage with local Indigenous issues. For example, renaming landmarks.

in Aboriginal language, creating a reconciliation plan. Now, this idea is from the mayor, Sue Hines, and it's divided the council. Some reckon there's no need for it. I'm on their side. They say it's just adding another layer of bureaucracy. And federally, in McKellar, at least, that's the federal seat that everyone voted for, voted on in the referendum. So it was 50.8% who said yes and 49.2% who said no.

In Warringah, which takes in sort of the other half of the Northern Beaches, it was closer to 60% yes and 40% no. So overall, the Northern Beaches did vote yes to a voice to Parliament.

But do they want a voice to council? Well, Mayor Hines, we asked her to come on the show. She never got back to us. But 131873, what do you reckon? Would you want your council to add an Indigenous community advisory group, i.e. a voice? David Walton is a Northern Beaches Liberal councillor. He's on the line for us. Councillor, thank you for your time. Thanks for having me, Chris. Can you explain what the Aboriginal community advisory group would do?

So this notice of motion that the Mayor, Sue Hines, has put up has caused management to come back to us with some options. Two of those options are associated with creating opportunities

an elected group of local aboriginals for a period of time with a significant cost associated with it to provide advice to council on a whole host of issues that are not clear in the report

My concern particularly is that we already consult heavily with a metropolitan local Aboriginal land council, which have elected board of directors. They're all very skilled, have skilled executives. They're significant landholders on the northern beaches. And we also currently pay for an Aboriginal heritage office with skilled people. So this is just another costly duplication

But what is it supposed to do? What's it supposed to achieve? What is it supposed to solve?

Exactly. So that's the question that I'll be again asking tonight. What is the problem that we're trying to solve here? Because we already consult with the peak bodies, the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council and other Aboriginal groups when we come across issues that may need significant or some input from Aboriginal groups and community.

What's it going to cost you, this thing? So it's a bit unknown at this stage, which is scary, but I think some of the costing is somewhere between $150,000 and $300,000, depending on the path that we go down on this. And it's creating another elected body, potentially. So duplicating the role of councillor. It is a voice, isn't it? It's effectively a voice to council. Yeah.

Look, if it smells like a voice and looks like a voice, it probably is a voice to counsel. I haven't called it that. No, of course I haven't called it that. Have they proposed that these elected people would be paid for their time?

There's no proposal there, but if you read in between the lines, there's a lack of information. I would suggest that they would have to be remunerated for the amount of time that they will have to give up to undertake this duplication of roles. I just had a look. I did some back-of-the-envelope maths because a few people are asking, well, how many Aboriginal people... How big is the Aboriginal community on the northern beaches? So, according to the 2021 census...

There are 1,706 people of Aboriginal descent living on the northern beaches. That's out of 267,921. So 267,921. So what, 0.63 of a percent of the northern beaches population. That's my understanding. Your research is correct. That seems like it's overkill somehow.

And it's not necessary. It's just another layer of potentially bureaucracy. And again, so with just all of the councillors being contacted by the CEO of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Council,

via email rating their concern with this proposal and certainly indicating that they are not handing over any of their responsibilities under the relevant acts, the Aboriginal Land Council Acts. They do a good job. They exist for the purpose of doing exactly what the Mayor is proposing to be done on the Northern Beaches, but they do it across metropolitan Sydney.

already yeah that's right and and they're skilled and they've got skilled executives very skilled people and uh and they're resourced and it doesn't cost it doesn't cost council anything the rate payers cost them nothing because they're resourced themselves

Yes, that's correct. And they are a significant landholder on the Northern Beaches, so we respect and consult with them and we should just continue to consult with them and in compliance with the Act that they operate under. Councillor, where to with the process now? Is it likely with the make-up of the Northern Beaches Council that this could be voted through?

It is. So we're a majority of independents and Greens that operate in a block manner, particularly voting the mayor. So it's likely there's a good chance it will get through, but certainly receiving an email from the CEO of the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council may...

may sway some councillors' opinions on this. To use their brains, use a bit of common sense. It already exists. Councillor, I appreciate you coming on. All the best with it. Thanks for your time. That's Councillor David Walton. He's a Liberal councillor on the Northern Beaches. Many people are asking me...

How many Aboriginal people live on the Northern Beaches? What percentage of the population is it? Well, just if you missed, I just said to Councillor Walton then. So the 2021 census says 1,706 people who identify as Aboriginal live in the Northern Beaches Council area. That's from 267,921. So my mathematics tells me 0.63% of the Northern Beaches live

of Aboriginal descent. Now, hopefully the Metropolitan Land Council, they exist for this exact reason. The Northern Beaches Council does not need an Aboriginal voice to council. It's duplication and it's a waste of money. All it does is make you feel good to all the Teal voters. That's all it does. It won't achieve anything.

It won't make anyone's lives better. You have a body there. Continue to use them. What's your view on it? 131873. 17 to 4.

It's 13 minutes to four. 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 an Olympics update.

The Opals are licking their wounds after making a forgettable start to their campaign. The Aussies, no match for a physical Nigeria going down 75-62. Australian basketball great Shane Heal says it's potentially the worst loss in Opals history. Five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson also wasn't mincing her words. It was a disaster. We've got to get back on track, otherwise it's...

could be over in a flash. In upcoming action on day four, Jessica Fox is out to defend her Tokyo gold in the women's canoe heats. In men's water polo, the Aussie Sharks face the Mount Everest of challenges when they take on Serbia. In 17 previous encounters, Australia has won on zero occasions. And no rest for our latest gold medalist, Molly O'Callaghan.

The 200 freestyle champion will contest the heats for the 100. The medal tally going into day four and Japan leads with six gold. Australia is fourth with five. I'm Adam Hawes. That's the latest from Paris. That medal tally update was thanks to Toyota, Australian Olympic and Paralympic team partner. Oh, what a feeling. Good on you, Hawesy. Well, the federal government has advised Australians not to travel to Lebanon.

And DFAT is warning Australians in Lebanon at the moment should leave immediately while commercial flights are still available. Now, Australia, along with the United States, UK, France and Germany, have issued warnings to their citizens because tensions are escalating between Israel...

and Hezbollah, a terrorist group based in Lebanon. And this was after this rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers. So flights in and out of...

Beirut's international airport were cancelled and delayed on Monday. And previously, the airport's been targeted in civil war, as well as you'll remember, of course, the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. So DFAT says, quote, we continue to advise that Australians do not travel to Lebanon due to the volatile security situation and the risk of the security situation deteriorating further.

Australians in Lebanon should leave immediately while commercial flights remain available. The security situation could deteriorate rapidly throughout Lebanon with little or no notice. Further flight cancellations and disruptions could occur with little or no notice. Beirut airport could close and you may be unable to leave for an extended period. The Australian government may not be able to assist you to leave in such circumstances. So

major problems obviously in Lebanon at the moment and the war in that part of the world does still rage. A broader regional conflict between Israel and Hezbollah after you've already got you know Hamas and Israel added in Gaza. That spells disaster for the region. Disaster. Peter Dutton is in Israel at the moment. He's on an official official visit and he left for Australia a

left from Australia for a four-day trip to Israel, and he'll meet members of the Israeli government as well as people who were affected by the October 7 attack. But whether or not there is full-blown war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, well, we hope not. That's all we can say. We hope just some calmer minds can reach a sensible conclusion.

Now, just back to the voice to council on the Northern Beaches. If you're just tuning in, Northern Beaches Council is proposing an Aboriginal community advisory group, an elected body, to engage with local Indigenous issues that will cost around anywhere between $150,000 and $300,000. It is, in effect, an Indigenous voice to council.

The mayor wants it, and with Greens and Independents on Northern Beaches Council, it sounds like it may well get up. Christina's at Palm Beach. Christina, what do you make of it? I've never heard of anything more ridiculous. We all have a voice up here, and let me tell you, no one is listening. Council should look after rates, roads and rubbish. The rubbish...

..up here, and the potholes... I mean, you know councils are broke. Do you know how much they are in debt? And since the amalgamation was the worst thing that ever happened for us, particularly on the upper northern beaches, all the money's going to Manly and elsewhere, and we're not getting anything done up here till about...

if we're lucky. We're all joking about potholes and trying to form something wherein we don't even pay our rates. You know, it's just...

grandstanding from the Greens and the independents, they can't look after, and we're short staffed, so they can't look after DAs that are all being, you know, people come up here and do whatever you like and over and above that, they don't enforce

any of the rules here, whether there's a big crane coming and you have to do this and that. To talk about a voice is divisive. We all have a voice. And we've already done this, Christina, haven't we? We've already done it. We just voted on it and it was a big N-O from the entire country. Christina, I've got to run, but you have a lovely afternoon. I appreciate your call. David's in Avalon. David, g'day.

Yeah, but I don't know who the council's going to talk to because the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council took over all the Indigenous sites because there's, by their own admission, there's no direct descendants of those tribes here anymore or exist. 0.63% of the Northern Beaches population are Indigenous, according to the census. 0.63%. But no direct descendants of the area. So why wouldn't you just rely on the Metropolitan Land Council? They're the de facto body that's taken over. Everyone's agreed. Yep.

So they're doing the job, but there's no direct descendant. So what are we going to ask for Indigenous people from other areas, from other regions, to speak on the area that we live in? Good point, David. Margaret's on the Northern Beaches. Hi, Margaret.

No, I think the council should just concentrate on their main job, which is roads, rubbish and rates, etc. The roads are terrible. When they reseal them, they don't do a very good job. The potholes, they just dump a whole pile of tar in and whack a pecker in and then half an hour later, the hole starts again. The Aboriginal Council has received a lot of land, crown land, and when they get given the crown land, they just sell it off for development. Mm-hmm.

So they don't need a voice and the council has really got to pay attention to its main job, which is looking after basic necessities in the area. Hear, hear. Well said, Margaret. Very, very briefly, I'm going to go to Felicity at Manly. Hello, Felicity.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I've just written to all the councillors before the meeting tonight, just very briefly making a few points, including the fact that there is already a mechanism in place to consult with local ATSI groups, that there is a...

I think there's, sorry, I was just looking for the numbers here. You're right, it'll be up to $200,000 to $300,000 a year to carry out either the second or the third option. If they pay for it with rate rises, well, people are already struggling. Or else they'll have to cut services that might benefit the community as a whole.

Well, hopefully they listen to you, Felicity. Sorry, I've run out of time. I've got to go to the news, but hopefully they listen. But with the Greens and the independents and the grandstanding that goes with those kind of people and those kind of political movements, I don't hold out much hope. It's five to four. On the other side of the news, Minister Bill Shorten, he reckons that the wait times are dramatically improved. Is that your experience? Yes.

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 Tuesday afternoon. 131 873 is my open line number. You can text me 0460 873 873 or email me drive at 2GB.com. Coming up shortly, Minister Bill Shorten. He's the Minister for Government Services. He reckons that wait times at Services Australia...

have dramatically improved. But you tell me, what's your experience been? 131873? Now, just before we get to Minister Shorten, I've just received this media alert from the Nurses and Midwives Association here in New South Wales. And North Shore Private Hospital, there will be a strike tomorrow.

So Ramsey Healthcare nurses and midwives from North Shore Private will walk off the job for four hours tomorrow. And they're ramping up this historical industrial action. So North Shore Private, very popular maternity hospital. There'll be a lot of women booked in tomorrow expecting to give birth.

Unfortunately, the nurses and the midwives will be walking off the job. Now, surely there'll be a skeleton staff to do some of the work, but clearly not all of it.

So they're highlighting unacceptable pay and conditions. It's a four-hour stoppage. Operating theatres will be closed, some of them, and there will also be bans on working overtime and roster changes. And I made the point when they walked off the job at St George Private the other day that of all the professions that we are talking about giving pay rises to, like the nurses, of course they deserve it.

So more power to them if striking gets them the money that they deserve. It's a hear hear from me. 131873. Now, I got a press release this morning from Bill Shorten's office. And it was curious to me because the headline said this. Services Australia slashes claims and wait times.

Now, is this true? 131873. Because when you've been on the phone to Services Australia, have you had your claim sorted? And have you had your on-hold wait times slashed? Like Minister says, you have. Because we've been on this for the last couple of weeks.

And the most recent data that we were provided by the opposition back in June showed that it took 400% longer for prescription shopping claims to be processed by Services Australia under the Albanese Labor government than it did the coalition government. And it's up from nine days in 2021, 2022 to four days, 45 days, sorry, on the most recent figures. So from nine days to 45 days.

Aged care claims, the wait time blowout was 345%. Medicare eligibility claims, 242% longer. You're waiting. PBS patient refunds, 215% longer. Services Australia were also sitting on more than 232,000 claims that were yet to be processed after more than 90 days. So they weren't even in the system yet.

And it didn't end there. Almost 601,000 Australians who tried calling Centrelink between January 1 and May 1 this year, January 1 and May 1, 601,000 Australians, they were on hold for longer than an hour. Now, Minister Shorten, he reckons that it's all being fixed or maybe not fixed, but certainly it's on the turnaround. He's on the line for us. Minister, g'day. Hey, g'day, Chris.

You reckon it's on the turnaround? You reckon it's on the improve? What proof have you got?

Oh, just the numbers, mate. Listen, I am sure, let me say this at the outset to your listeners, there's still a lot of problems, OK? I ain't saying we reached utopia at all or nirvana. But on behalf of the thousands of extra staff that we've put into Service Australia, they're doing a very good job. Listen, I hear you're reading out the opposition propaganda and they, of course, picked the COVID benchmark. And during COVID, we even solved homelessness. There was no-one homeless.

But I think what a lot of people thought, including the previous government, was that things would go back to pre-COVID, but it hasn't. What we've done is put in thousands of extra humans back into human services. And the reality is that my crew are doing a good job and nothing's perfect and I want to see some further improvements. But on the other hand, when the news is good, yeah, I'm going to run it up the flagpole and say that, yep, we are doing better than we were doing.

Um, 601,000 Australians kept on hold for longer than 60 minutes. I've had my own experience, Minister. When I ring, they say, hey, look, we're too busy, and it just hangs up on me.

Mm-hmm. The congestion rates, though... And I'm sorry that you had that experience. It's not just me. But I tell you what. Well, no, no, but you raised yourself, so I'm saying sorry to you. And that's just a human thing to do. I appreciate it. It's an arrogant thing to do. No, I know that. Thank you. But the reality is congestion rates are decreasing.

The truth of the matter is that for too long we've used human services, delivering government services to people as something that can simply be all put online or replaced by some new Marvel software. That's not the truth. I was able to convince my colleagues in the Cabinet to give me thousands of extra people because if you want a call answered or if you want a payment process, you still need a human. And what we're seeing are some improvements. Here's Peter on the text line, Minister.

Hey, Chris, I've been attempting for 10 days to get onto Services NSW. I just tried again and they hung up on me. That's Peter. Well, Services NSW, as you well know, Chris, is the NSW government. No, Services Australia, sorry. Oh, okay. Well, do you know what? Let's get his details and we'll sort it out, mate. Okay. I'm not saying everything's... Chris, you've got to be careful here. Well, you don't have to be careful at all. You've got the microphone. But...

I'm not saying everything's right, but the trend is our friend. And I know that the average waiting time on a Medicare payments call is down by nine minutes because we measure it. I know the average waiting time on a social welfare call is down six minutes. I know that at the beginning of the year, we had 1.35 million outstanding claims. And because of the hard work of the crew we've hired, it's down to 450,000 claims waiting. Why? Yeah, sure. But why do you hang up on people?

It's very rude. Sure. I don't like it either. I'll tell you the problem. We get nearly 60 million phone calls. Basically...

If I had more public servants, then we'd never hang up on anyone. So there's a trade-off. What I managed to do was put on 3,000 extra people. That's why there's less congestion, less hang-up, and there is less waiting time. Did you know, under my predecessors, they used to dodge you the numbers up. They wouldn't count the hang-ups. So all you ever averaged was...

people who got their calls answered eventually. But why do when I ring Telstra or whoever it is, and they say, look, we're really, really busy at the moment. Do you want to call back? Press three and we'll ring you back when we've got someone. Why can't we do that with Services Australia? We offer quite a lot of that. I've never heard it.

Here's Candice. Candice, can never get through when calling, just get hung up on. Here's Diane. How can my husband speak to a customer service officer? Keeps ringing, but just keep getting hung up on. It's very rude, Bill. Mate, when the individuals don't get the service they want, they're right to be annoyed. But what I'm also telling you, if happy people don't ring your show...

These are Facebook comments on your ministerial page. But I'm just saying, it just seems ridiculous to me that we've got a situation where we go, hey, guys, we're really, really busy. Try again later. Beep, beep, beep. You know, surely we could do better than that.

We are doing better than we were. But you know what's ridiculous? When the opposition and conservative commentators say we have too many public servants, if you want a human to answer the phone, then we've got to pay for someone. That's what we've done. We've invested $2 billion. We've now got... We've hired 3,000 extra bodies to do the work, and they're doing the work. And, yeah, I think I started the interview by saying, I don't think we're anywhere where we need to be, but we're a lot better than where we were.

What is Utopia for you? I don't know. I've never been there. But I think when we can answer calls more quickly and when we can process payments accurately and in a timely fashion. What's accurately and timely? What's the benchmark?

Oh, there are benchmarks. Listen, I think we're – I don't have a particular benchmark. I'm going to reel off here because I want to go back and check that. But I do know that in 2018, 2019, you were waiting 75 days to sort out your age pension. Now it's down to 60. I'd like to reduce that. To what? To a lot quicker. What's your KPI there?

Yeah, I said I don't have every individual KPI here with me. But take care allowance. In 2018-2019, before COVID, people were waiting 59 days to get their care allowance. Now it's 13 days. When you were seeking your family tax benefit lump sum in 2018-2019, you were waiting 22 days. Now you're waiting three days. Yeah. I mean, here's a couple of numbers. Medicare. Medicare.

When you put in a Medicare online account claim, we've got it from 11 days down to two days. Paid parental leave, it's 25 days down to four days. Listen, I know Good News doesn't sell media headlines, and I believe every one of your callers and the Facebook people you're saying could well be absolutely having a really frustrating experience. I get frustrated too.

But my point is that we now have 5.1 million people with a MyGov app. My point is we've now reversed the trend of cutting frontline services and put people back in to do the good job. We've stopped closing Centrelink offices. We said we were 318 when we came in. We're going to keep 318 Service Australia offices. I've now got 28 people working out in frontline homeless organisations and rolling people.

The story's not great, but I'll tell you what, the trend is our friend here. And for everyone who's not getting what they want, I can respect that concern. But what I can also say to them is we're working on it. This is bread and butter stuff. It matters. Of course it matters. And I'll tell you what matters, not hearing this when you ring and you're desperate for paid parental leave or you're desperate for a Centrelink claim or you're desperate for something. Welcome to the Centrelink families and parents line. Thank you for your call.

We know you've been trying to reach us. However, we are experiencing a high number of calls at the moment and are unable to take your call. We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you for calling. Goodbye. R-U-D-E. It's rude, Minister. Yeah, and that's why we're reducing congestion. It's called congestion.

And my dude can laugh. I know you do. Look, you say you're doing your best, but this is the reality, right? People are still ringing. They can't get on to anyone. They're getting hung up on. We're not inventing these stories. And whatever Services Australia is feeding you, maybe that's not the reality, Minister. Maybe what you're being fed from your bureaucrats is bureaucratic BS, with the greatest of respect.

Listen, if we want to have a cliche fest, you win. My point is different. You're legitimately saying people are frustrated. I've recognised that about four times in this interview. But I'm making a point which you consistently ignore. We've put on 3,000 extra people and all of the measures show that the problems are less than they were. I am saying we've arrived in heaven, but what I am saying is that we've arrived at a better place than we were at. And, you know, in the last... From February to June, we have...

paid out in excess $2.5 billion in real business, people who are owed money, and that helps in a cost-to-living crisis. You know, the figures are real, and that's why we put them out.

All right, Minister. Well, keep working on it because it's got to improve drastically. If you've employed 3,000, you might have to employ another 10,000 by the sounds of things. Thanks for coming on. But do you understand? But Chris, when you say employ another 10,000 people, I hope you back us up then when everyone goes... I'll back you up when it's fixed because it's not fixed. And you might say the trend's your friend. Well, when you get to Nirvana like you're aiming to get to, then I'll give you a big pat on the back. All the best with it. I don't need a pat on the back, mate. Sounds like you want one. Sounds like you want one. No.

If I wanted a pat on the back, I wouldn't come on your show. I get it. What we're dealing with is the real issues, and there are improvements. That's all I'm saying, mate. Nothing more, nothing less. Bill Shorten, appreciate your time. Thank you for your interest. Bye-bye. That's Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten. Hooroo. 131873. What's your experience been like with Services Australia? Tell me. It's 24 and a half past four. Let's get into it. Anthony's at Blacktown. Hello, Anthony.

You can't get on at all.

For six months, mate. Six months. So I don't know what this minister's talking about. He's full of shit. He needs to go. All right, Anthony. I appreciate that. I understand the sentiment. I'll let it go through today. Aaron's at Penrith. Hello, Aaron. Yeah, I used to work there as well. And, like, there used to be a red flashing light when there was calls waiting, and they took the red flashing light away just because it was giving the staff too much stress because it was always flashing. So you used to work at Centrelink, did you?

Yeah, I used to work in the call centre up there at Tuggera and yeah, the calls can be huge but they need more staff. A lot of the time I'll block my number because whenever my number actually goes through it'll automatically give me the, oh sorry, we can't take your call. But if I block my number,

my number, all of a sudden I get through and then it says, what are you after? And I say, emergency. And the next thing you know, someone's all of a sudden is on the phone. And half the time it's because staff don't know what they're doing because they haven't had enough training. So there's two, three, 400 staff members on hold waiting for a senior to tell them what they need to do. And those operators are then stuck on hold for 30 minutes waiting for another

to actually tell them what to do for their job. It's crazy. All right, Aaron. I appreciate that. Lots of calls to get through here. You have a good afternoon. Ian's at Camden. Ian, g'day. Hi, Chris. How are you? I'm thanks. What's your experience been? My wife went into aged care on the 6th of February last year. She died on the 11th of January. I'm sorry, Ian. This year. And

And the means testing forms that you have to fill in instead of charging $256 a day, it should have been 54. It took over 18 months to get it sorted out. Three calls to Bill Shorten's office, never got answered. I was nearly a mental wreck because I made over 600 calls

and I just kept being put on hold, transferred to people who couldn't give a damn, and it was just an awful time. It was bad enough losing my wife, but the trauma that Centrelink put me through was just unbearable, and the thing is, I don't have any family, so I was doing it all myself, and they just drove me to...

where I was just not eating, I was not sleeping. I was a mess until... And even Carrington, where she was, they even tried to get help and they were told the forms had been lost, you have to put them in again. We submitted the forms 18 times.

and it was just a nightmare. And even the calls, even the calls to Bill Shorten's office and the calls to Hank, Hank, whatever his name is, at Service Australia, I never, ever got any calls back. One day I was feeling really depressed and all the rest of it, and Bill Shorten's staff sent the police around to my house for a welfare check because I was so distraught. That's my story.

it's a bloody awful one ian how you doing now um i'm doing now i um i'm a bit down veteran um and um dba have come in and given me some help which i'm very grateful for but i shouldn't have gone through 18 months of hell it should have been it should have been sorted out and somebody should have taken responsibility

and got it sorted out for me. And it just didn't happen. And even Shorten's office and Hank Jonglin's office, they just, you could never ever get through to them. Bill Shorten's office told us that they haven't got time to talk to me. They'll get someone to call me back and I'm still waiting for a call back. But I don't need it now because it got sorted out about four weeks ago.

I'm pleased it got sorted out, Ian, but you should never have been put through that. Never have been put through that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Ian, and thank you for your service to our country too. We all appreciate it. So you have a good afternoon, all right? Ian from Camden. See? Minister being flippant about it. This is how people are actually being impacted by what is a very ordinary organisation. Let's go to Jen at Castle Hill. Hello, Jen.

Oh, hello, Chris. Look, I worked for them for 20 years in the 80s and 90s and it was a very strict organisation and everything that was put on our desk, we didn't go home that day until everything was signed up. It was pre-computer days.

You know, we had it all coded and then we got the computers. And I'm saying to you, Chris, next time you speak to the minister, tell him to tell the people that are working from home to get off their bums and get back to work in the office. Good on you, Jen. Well said. Hey, do you want to go to the theatre? I'd love to. I've got a couple of tickets to go see Gaslighter, right?

Thank you, Chris. No, you're very welcome. Thank you very much. Have a good day. And to you, Jen. Thank you for your call. It's Gaslight. Is it madness or manipulation? It's a gripping psychological thriller and it arrives at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in August. It looks absolutely sensational. Jen's going. She's got a double pass. 131873. It's half past four.

Josh Bryant, g'day. Good afternoon again, Chris. The Olympic men's triathletes have woken in Paris to learn their race wasn't going ahead as planned due to water quality issues in the Seine. The race has been rescheduled to tomorrow to be held after the women's event, assuming testing shows the water is OK. Rex has stopped taking bookings on 737 flights amid ongoing

ongoing questions about the future of the regional airline. Bus passengers in Sydney's north-west are being warned they'll still see some changes from this weekend, despite the opening of the new metro line being delayed and strike action that was planned for Sydney Airport tomorrow has been cancelled as refuelers and Ampol return to the negotiating table. In sport, a boost for the Rabbitohs ahead of a must-win NRL clash with the Sharks. Captain Cameron Murray returns from a two-match suspension...

After his part in a melee in the state of origin decider. We'll have more news in sport at five. Good on you, Josh. Coming up, we're going to talk to Jacaranda Financial Planning. So if you've got questions about tax, income, super, pensions, whatever it is, give us a call. 131873. The guys from Jacaranda Financial Planning come up next. It's 25 to 5 and every week my mate and dragon supporter...

Equally depressed Dragon supporter as I am, John Stanley. He talks finance with our great friends from Jacaranda Financial Planning. Now, John, he's on break for the next two weeks as the Olympics in Paris is broadcast in his regular spot. So we will be speaking with Joel Hardy every Tuesday.

If you've got any questions about tax, income, superannuation, whatever it is, give us a call 131873. Now, we are, of course, providing here only general advice and information.

We are, you know, if you're going to get personal advice, make sure that advice meets your personal objectives and overall financial situation. Joel Hardy, welcome to Drive. Thanks, Chris. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming in. So let's start with some news. Inflation figure due tomorrow. That's due tomorrow. What's your prediction? Look, my prediction is it's either going to remain where it is now or it could be slightly elevated from where it is. And that's a problem, right, because you've currently got inflation sticky on a number of core things. So think insurance.

Think housing, think groceries, think fuel, all that stuff that people actually can't control. So my view is that the RBA, when they meet Tuesday week, that they'll be probably looking at either holding rates or raising rates, which isn't good news for borrowers. Tends not to bode well for markets either. But if you've got term deposits and cash, it can be good.

If you're looking at what's happening, I don't know, the markets in the United States, they're pricing in potentially two or three rate cuts. That's right, yeah. Completely different story, yeah. And I think inflation's come down a lot more quickly there than what was originally expected. So the Fed's fairly confident that they can actually drop rates.

and that's going to make a difference. Whereas here, we've just got that stubbornly high inflation, Chris, which can't seem to budge. Interest rate hike, and it hurt people. Oh, it would. Yeah, it certainly would, especially borrowers. You think young borrowers, people have taken on big mortgages, people who are invested in the share market through super or their own shares, where because of the cost of capital goes up, when interest rates are higher, that affects what businesses spend and people consume. Yeah.

Now, the super death tax. I read out the ads for Jacaranda Financial Planning and I hear a lot about it. But just for our listeners' sake, what is the super death tax?

So in superannuation, you've got two components typically. You've got a taxable component, which builds up through things like employer contributions, salary sacrifice, earnings from your fund, so the actual earnings the fund makes. And that builds into one bucket called the taxable component. Then you've got the tax-free component, which is from things like downsize of contributions, larger lump sums that you make. And these two form your total superbalance. Okay.

Now, what a lot of people aren't aware of is that that larger component, that taxable component, is normally 90%, 95% of anyone's given super balance at the time they retire. Now, if you passed away and let's say your adult children go on to inherit that money from the super fund through a binding nomination or something like that, they actually pay 17% tax on that taxable component. So it's quite a big whack, Chris, when you think about it, especially if someone's got

as we were talking off air before, a million dollars and you're paying $170,000 in tax on the balance. It's quite a significant number. So there are strategies and ways that people can reduce this. So it's like effectively it's treated as if that person is still alive, they're still working, not at retirement age, and they're withdrawing. Is that right? That's right, yeah. You imagine when you get over 60 and you retire or cease an employment arrangement, you're able to access that money either through a pension or a lump sum tax-free.

but your beneficiaries can't necessarily do that. So a couple of strategies that people could consider. One would be if you get to 60 and you cease an employment arrangement and you retire,

Let's say spouse one has $400,000 in their account, spouse two has $400,000, and you withdraw $360,000 each. So quite a specific number, but that's the limit of which you can put back into super under the current rules. So you're drawing it out into the bank account, goes into your bank account, and then you contribute it back into super, $360,000 each. That's actually going to remove...

all of that taxable component on that money. And so if that then passes on to your beneficiaries, that's going to save a whopping amount of tax at the time you pass. And so really it's a strategy not a lot of people are aware of, but it can make a huge difference to your estate. Caroline's called in from Roseville for you, Joel. G'day, Caroline. Hello, how are you? Good, thank you, Caroline. What's your question for Joel?

I'm still working, so I haven't accessed my superannuation yet. In one superannuation, I have...

Yeah, look, it's highly likely you can, Caroline, especially if you haven't made large lump sum contributions in the past three years.

I definitely recommend speaking to someone, but there's a high chance that you can put in that $200,000 or $250,000. The limit is $360,000. And what you're doing there is you're bringing forward three years of contribution cap, which is $120,000. So to my mind, you could do it. You're certainly below the cap, which is $1.9 million. And that's the thing, Chris. There's a lot of complexity here. You've got caps of what you can put in. You've got overall balance caps.

So, Caroline, in your case, my feeling is you probably could look at doing that. Definitely speak to someone before you do, though. Good on you, Caroline. Have a good afternoon. James is at St Ives. G'day, James. Hey, Chris. Hey, Joel. This is a bit of a question for the future. I've had another five or six years where I hit the pension. I worked overseas in Sweden for like 16 years. Now, when I claim my pension from Sweden...

I'm not sure if I can claim it earlier or not and still be working here, but is it better for me to say, like, get it transferred directly into my super account so I pay little or no tax? Yeah, look, it depends, James. Let's say you were able to access a lump sum from that and there was no tax on the Swedish side. Because one of the things you've got to be careful of here, and that's with any foreign pension, Chris, is what tax comes from the country or the jurisdiction it's in.

If you're guaranteed that there's not going to be a tax penalty for transferring the money to Australia, that could make sense because it then probably moves it into a tax-free structure over here. In a lot of cases, and particularly a lot of European jurisdictions, those pensions are actually a fixed payment that you get, and they often are taxable. So often a lot of people aren't able to move them across the taxes paid on the income that you receive here. So

Just understand better what you can and can't do with respect to can you convert it to a lump sum? Do you have to take it as a pension payment? It's probably likely there would be tax if it is a pension on a foreign income. So speak to someone, get some advice. But my feeling is you probably will pay some tax on it at some point. Good on you, James. Just a bit of advice for you. Final one. I've got Brett here on the text line. Brett says...

G'day, John. My wife needs an operation, and we were hoping to use our superannuation to fund the operation as we don't have private health cover. I understand we'll be means-tested, but will they consider our outgoings? Depends on age. Depends on if you can access it. So a bit more information would be good there. But if the gentleman's over, or his wife's over 60, for example, they're not working, or if they're still working and over 65, you can take out a lump sum from superannuation

that would be considered normal spending. So if they're also getting, say, a Centrelink payment, it's unlikely that that would be means tested for the Centrelink payment because you are using the money to spend on a service or an operational or something else. So my feeling is you're probably okay there, but just check you can access the funds and that you're over the right ages. Good on you, Brett. Well done on that one. So that's Joel Hardy. I really appreciate you coming in. I enjoyed that. And a little bit of fun fact, I went to school with Joel Hardy. He popped up, he came into the studio and I'm like,

I still look the same? You do, actually. You're going better than I am. I'll give you the tip. That's Joel Hardy from Jacaranda Financial Planning. Again, it is just general advice and information. Check with any of the experts on your own personal objectives, your financial situation. It all needs to be considered when making big decisions like this. But he knows his stuff. Joel131873. Coming up, Brian Toto.

He's a legendary Penrith Panther, but is he on the move? It's 12 minutes to five and here's a little bit of news out of rugby league. So blue star and Panther star Brian Toto could be on the move. Say it ain't so. Danny Wilder's reporting this and Danny's reporting that the Panthers and origin women winger has been shopped to select rival clubs.

And nobody seems to know who is doing the shopping, whether it's representatives of Brian Toto or the Penrith Panthers themselves. I think he's on contract until 2027, Brian Toto. He's made 108 appearances for the Panthers and he's played in four grand finals, won three of them.

He'd be one of the first people picked in the New South Wales Origin team. He hasn't missed one since his debut in the 2021 series opener. He scored two tries in game two and he was among one of New South Wales' best all series. I reckon he's an outstanding player, Brian To'o. I'd have him in a big red V yesterday. He's that good. Now, I know Sania Taruva, he's the other Panthers winger. He's going to the Tigers, Jerome Luai.

is going to the Tigers. James Fisher Harris is going to the Warriors. And I know Jerome Luai and Brian Toto are very, very close friends. I wonder if Benji Marshall can convince Brian Toto to play in the black, white and gold of the West's Tigers. You wouldn't think so. He wouldn't do it to himself, would he, Brian? Couldn't possibly do it to himself. Tell you what, if they get Luai and Brian Toto in there, amazing.

But anyway, that's what Danny Wadler is reporting. I tell you who I... And look, I don't know whether this is legit, right? But this is just a theory of mine. Is it Josh Addo-Karr? He's been a bit injury prone. The dogs are flying without Josh Addo-Karr. Flying. The Fox has still got a bit to give. I wonder, I just wonder. Fox to Penrith and To'o to Canterbury. Starting to get a bit of a sombrero. The old Bulldogs, aren't they?

That salary cap, looking pretty juicy. 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. Adam Hawes here with your Olympics update. And it's a later start to day four of competition than originally scheduled, with the men's triathlon push back until tomorrow. Organisers deciding the River Seine is too polluted.

Dodgy bacteria in the iconic waterway has got nothing on the notorious Tahitian surf break of Chaupo. Just ask Aussie surfer Jack Robinson. Where the two waves collide of the right and the channel and the left of the way that we're surfing, that's the most dangerous place in the whole world. Thankfully, Jack survived. He'll take on Ethan Ewing in an all-Aussie quarterfinal early tomorrow morning. First up today will be our men's beach volleyballers and trap shooters. Tara Rigney will be competing in the quarterfinals of the women's single skulls.

The Kookaburras face heavyweights Belgium in men's hockey. And boxer Harry Garside has apologised to the nation following his elimination, saying he feels like a failure. To the medal tally early on day four. Australia is fourth with five goals ahead of the US with three and Great Britain with two. Japan leads the way with six goals. That's the latest from Paris. I'm Adam Hawes. That Paris 2024 medal tally was thanks to NRMA Insurance, a help company.

Good on you, Horsey. It's nine minutes to five. Well, there's an influencer. She's from Adelaide. Her name's Brooke Robrand. She's caused a bit of a stir. And she reckons that young Aussies have got it really, really hard at the moment. And she has called out older generations saying they have ruined young people's chances of buying their own home.

How are people in their early 20s meant to move out of home now? Generations before us have really f***ed us over here. When people used to go to uni, it was free. Now the people that go to uni have $26,000 on average, heck's debt. People like me in their early 20s aren't moving out of home until closer to 30 now because they can't afford it.

I swear, you have to work like four different jobs to make the amount you need to buy a house now. The people in their 20s are very unlikely to be able to buy a house now. Doing anything to help our situation that we're currently in. And I don't see it getting better anytime soon. Anyone else stressed or just me? Well, that's Brooke from Adelaide. Brooke Robren. What do you think? 131873. Early 20s.

Just leave home, rent, save up for a bit, and then buy a home. You're in Adelaide of all places too. It's not like it's expensive. Dear, oh dear. 131873. Well, speaking of people in their early 20s, did you see this story? So there was an Olympian from Brazil. Her name's Ana Vieira, Ana Carolina Vieira. So she was a member of Brazil's 4x100m freestyle relay team.

And they crashed out of the tournament ahead of the final. They didn't make the final of the 4x100. Anyway, before she was supposed to swim, the night before she was supposed to swim, she and her boyfriend, another swimmer, Gabriel Santos, they sneaked out of the Olympic Village to sample Parisian nightlife, according to Brazilian media. Anyway, so when the Brazilian Olympic Committee said, hey, you've got a race tomorrow. What are you going out on the town for?

She supposedly abused all the Brazilian Olympic Committee officials and they said, right, sorry, I know you've got 25,000 Instagram followers. I know you're a big deal when it comes to how much the kids like the sport and all the rest of it, but no one speaks to us like that. And if you're not going to take the competition seriously, on the plane you get. Immediately, they kicked her out of the athlete's village and booked her on a flight home.

So, you know, she's a swimmer. She didn't do any good in the pool because she was out sampling the nightlife the night before her race. Well, I wonder why. 1-3-1-8-7-3. It's coming up to 6-5.

Five o'clock news coming up very shortly. Now, I know they're on strike, but quite a good story in the Sydney Morning Herald this afternoon. Where the New South Wales ministers went to school. I thought it was interesting. So it just sort of shows an analysis of where our top politicians in New South Wales are.

went to high school. So Chris Minns, Coggramaris, Catholic school. Pru Carr, Caroline Chisholm College at Glenmore Park, another Catholic school. The rest of them, mostly public schools. Penny Sharp, John Graham, Daniel Mookie, Ryan Park, Joe Halen, Paul Scully, Sophie Costas, all state public high schools. And when it comes to the Libs and the Coalition, a bit different. Mark Speakman went to a selective school in Carringbar High,

Dougald Saunders, leader of the Nats, St Andrew's Cathedral in town. And Natalie Ward went to Annesley College. Otherwise Damien Tudor, hope Chevalier. Tim James, Barker, Justin Clancy, St Joseph's College at Hunter's Hill. Whole bunch of public schools there too though. Sarah Mitchell, Gunnedah High, Alistair Henskins, Newcastle High.

And it goes on and on. What else have we got here? Girmesh Singh, Woolgurga High School on the mid-north coast. Good luck to him. It's just an interesting little thing to see who went where of our big politicians. Coming up, we'll cross to Paris and, of course, the Metro train. Not opening on Sunday. It's been delayed.

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 Tuesday afternoon. 131 873 is the open line number. The text line 0460 873 873 or email me drive at 2GB.com. Coming up, we'll cross live to Paris, the men's triathlon.

has been delayed. Reason? The Seine. The river is unsanitary and unsafe. We'll speak to Clinton Maynard very shortly. And have you noticed? Air New Zealand has scrapped its emissions reduction targets. So they had all these targets set for 2030, but they've been scrapped. You know why? They can't hit them.

Now, the big news this afternoon is the New South Wales government delaying the opening of the Sydney Metro, a $21.6 billion project, finally connecting the Northwest Metro from Tallawong to Chatswood. It'll now go from Chatswood all the way down, effectively, the Pacific Highway, underneath Sydney Harbour, up to Barangaroo, snake through the city and

through Waterloo and places like that and bring you out at Sydenham. Now, the idea was, and they announced with much fanfare, they're very happy with themselves, the Labor government, the men's government, that it would open this Sunday, the 4th of August. Everyone's pretty excited about it. Any new bit of infrastructure, especially a new train. We haven't had a piece of infrastructure as significant as this train for probably about 50 years in terms of in the middle of the CBD. But guess what?

It's been put off. And for whatever reason, they cannot tell us, and I had Minister Joe Halen on the program before, they cannot tell us when we'll be able to get on it.

They know. Of course they know the date. They just don't want to let us know. They just don't want to publicise it because they don't want to have to delay it again. Natalie Ward, Shadow Transport and Roads, Ministers on the Line. That should be embarrassing, shouldn't it?

Oh, Chris, you know, this is disappointing, but it is embarrassing for the Gulf Manch. I mean, you know, we're all for safety. We all agree with that. But I think there's a bit more to see here. And to be able to not recognise or say a date says to me there is a lot more going on. I think there's a lot more behind the scenes here that they're not talking about.

The Minister alluded to industrial action. I think there's some far-ease union action behind the scenes here and it seems that they're not able to sort out that chaos behind the scenes. There's a bit going on that they're not telling us about. What's your understanding?

Well, I think that the fact that you can't commit to a date, I mean, we're looking at a code read from the Fireys Union on 11 July where they said they would not undertake testing for the Sydney Metro. That was very clear. There was a, you know, Minister Helen alluded to industrial action. I think that there's some breakdown of negotiations here and clearly the line's ready, the trains are ready, the staff are ready, but

the unions have said no, they are not ready. And if you can't commit to an opening date, that suggests that there's something else going on behind the scenes and they're not putting pressure on the Far East Union to get this done. So I think it's embarrassing and I think that they need to be coming clean with the date and saying exactly what's going on or just come clean, look, we've got negotiations, we can't seem to get there and be upfront with people about it. So you were the Transport Minister in the last government.

And in the very last day, how much work have they actually needed to do since coming to power in the last, what, 15 months? Yeah.

Well, it takes a long time to build a metro, especially when you're going under the Sydney Harbour. And what I'm saying is how much work was left for Labor to complete? It was pretty much finished, wasn't it? We planned it, we funded it, we built it. All I had to do was open it, get the testing done and open it up. I mean, that's embarrassing when all you've got to do is open it up, do the planning, do the testing. We did that on the Northwest Metro. That was done. That came close, but it was done. And, you know, we've proven we can deliver these things. All I had to do was get those things lined up

and you've got to be pretty hands-on about it, but there wasn't a lot left to do on this project. And the fact that they can't even put a date on it says to me that, you know, if this is a week longer, then that's embarrassing. If it's longer than that, I'm saying it's incompetence. I'm saying there's more going on here that they're not being upfront about. And bungling this is just, you know, pretty diabolical. Well, the Minister did say it's not days. She sort of alluded to the fact that it's likely weeks until we can use it.

Well, that suggests to me that there's some negotiations to be finalised with the unions here. I mean, otherwise, if it was a matter of testing, lock in the dates for the tests and then you can announce a date after that. Surely that's not that hard if it's just a matter of testing. I think there's a bit more going on. I mean, I'm hearing it's chaos behind the scenes. It's clear chaos under Chris Minns and he's sending out Joe Howland to do all these things.

I'm hearing Alex Classen and Jo Hallin are not even talking to each other. The EBA negotiations are not going well and I think that there's a bit more happening here and we're not being told the full story. And, you know, I think it's not embarrassing, but the unions are clearly calling the shots in this state and the Minister says she won't put pressure on the safety regulator, that's fair enough, but she won't put pressure on the Faroes union either. And at some point you've got to do your job. I don't think Alex Classen is the Secretary of the RTBU anymore, so...

Well, yeah, I'm hearing that things are breaking down behind the scenes and your job is to get these things done. And if you can't, then be upfront about it. You can understand why Alex and Jo aren't speaking to each other because Alex isn't in the job anymore. But anyway, I take your point. Well, I think that the Faireys have clearly made it. I'm looking at a code read from the Faireys saying we're not doing testing. And yesterday it was all fine. Today it's not. There's something more going on here. And I think people need to just look behind the scenes. I mean, come up with a date.

Tell us when it'll be done. Tell us what you're negotiating, what the challenges are. People want to catch this metro and it's taken years and years of planning, funding, getting it done. All they had to do was open it up. It's just embarrassing. Or don't give us a date and just hold your fire until you know absolutely for sure and certain. Natalie Ward, I appreciate your time.

Good to be with you. Thanks, Chris. That's the Shadow Transport and Roads Minister, Natalie Ward, 131873. Just speaking of trains, just got a text here from Nigel at Mascot. He says no trains operating on the airport line at the moment due to an issue on a train apparently at Walleye Creek. And that says on the T8 Sydney trains, I've just been given this information. So allow extra travel time due to a report of smoke on a train at Walleye Creek.

Stops and platforms may change at short notice and trains will be diverted via Sydenham. Delay travel if possible or consider using other transport options to Sydney Airport. So no trains at the moment, it looks like, on the airport and South Line. Oh, the trains might be running, but...

They may change at short notice and trains will be diverted via Sydenham. If you need to get to the airport, get a cab by the sounds of things because there is smoke on a train at Walleye Creek and it's causing problems. The inside word on everything Sydney. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB. So Air New Zealand just threw in the towel today on its 2030 carbon emissions targets. They said, no, we can't hit them.

So we're not going to continue to spruik them. And this is a classic example of how setting arbitrary pie-in-the-sky goals can sometimes backfire spectacularly. So they had these big, bold emissions reductions targets, Air New Zealand. They announced them with all this fanfare, and then they have to scrap them because they turn out to be about as achievable as landing a plane on the moon.

Now, the airline had to set a target to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2030. It sounds great on paper. Green can rent credentials, shining bright eco-warrior status achieved. And the former CEO of Air New Zealand, Christopher Luxens, now the country's prime minister, of course, he was all for this.

Now Air New Zealand's committed to reducing our carbon impact through having an efficient fleet, through improving our operations and exploring biofuels and finally through carbon offsetting to manage our remaining impact. Now ours is only one story of a New Zealand business thinking about how we can achieve a low carbon future.

And so I want to encourage you to get really involved, to have your say on what future New Zealand climate change policy should look like. What's a gold star to you, Prime Minister Luxon? When you were CEO of Air New Zealand, you thought it was a wonderful idea. We'll reduce our carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 and then reality kicks in.

It has become glaringly obvious that those targets were a bit of a fantasy. The aviation industry isn't known for being easy on the environment, and Air New Zealand, despite all its best efforts, has hit a wall when trying to make those ambitious reductions. It's a bit like a New Year's resolution, right? I'm going to run a marathon every month, but then you can't make it through a week without hitting the snooze button. You don't do any running.

Anyway, so on a typical day, there are approximately 100,000 flights operating around the world. Every day, 100,000 flights. On average, a commercial jet emits around two to three metric tons of CO2 per hour per flight, with aviation accounting for roughly two to 3% of global carbon emissions. So the aviation industry accounts for two to 3% of global emissions. You know how much we make up here in Australia?

Around 1%. So it's three times as big as Australia's total emissions. And what? Air New Zealand's going to save it? Air New Zealand's going to solve it? As if. We haven't got electric 747s or Tesla Dreamliners. We need fuel to fly. Now, they've got this thing called sustainable aviation fuel, and it's made from sort of cooking oil and animal waste fat.

But along with expensive upgrades to aircraft, sustainable fuel is supposed to be the silver bullet for the airline industry to reduce these emissions. Guess how many litres of this sustainable aviation fuel was produced last year? 600 million litres, or 0.2% of the airline industry's fuel needs. That's it. This year, they're supposed to triple that output to 1.9 billion litres of

0.5% of the total aviation fuel supply will be sustainable aviation fuel. Well, no wonder Air New Zealand's thrown its hands up. Keeping an airline afloat, like we've seen with Regional Express wrecks today, it's a bloody hard ask at the best of times. So going on a buying spree of new climate-friendly aircraft and then using fuel that has very little supply is just not realistic.

So its emission reduction target has been scrapped, Air New Zealand. Good. Because you know why? You need to deal with facts and reality, not with ESG scores and statements that make you feel good. They just get pulled off the shelf, they get trumpeted to the world, and then they're proven to be a piped dream and unceremoniously binned, as they should be. So anyway, you've got to give it to Air New Zealand. At least they're fronted up, been honest about it. Hey, this isn't working for us. We're getting rid of it.

I just wish that more companies and more governments would do the same. When they realise they're coming up against a cold, hard reality of fact, that is when we should be changing tack on this stuff.

Because as it stands right now, if businesses just bury their heads in the sand like Air New Zealand tried to do, well, there'll be a time when they've got to pay the piper. It's 19 past five. It's 23 past five. Now, the men's triathlon has been postponed at the Paris Olympic Games due to pollution levels in the River Seine. Clinton Maynard's in Paris. He's all over this one. Clinton, g'day.

This is just stunning, I've got to say, Chris. Good afternoon. I've just stepped away from a press conference where Chef de Mission Adam Mears and the head coach of the triathlon team, Dan Atkins, are now responding to this decision. The decision came at 3.30 Paris time this morning. There was a meeting in the middle of the night between World Athletics, World Triathlon, the Paris 2024 organisers and members of the City Council. So when the triathletes went to bed last night, this triathlon was due to start at 8 o'clock.

this morning, Paris time, which is 4 o'clock Sydney time, when they went to bid, they didn't know whether they'd be racing or not. So not the best preparation. And when the Paris Olympic Committee organisers were asked about that yesterday, whether that was fair, the response was, we don't deal in fiction.

Well, the fiction's become a reality because they have not been able to race. So samples have been taken over the river, and every day, and this is the river that's had more than $2 billion spent on it to clean it up. There's too much bacteria in there, and it's a health risk. Anna Mears says, well, based on that, they've made the right call. We can't have our athletes being put at risk. She's just said that there are various samples that are taken through the course, and it's a 1,500-metre triathlon course for the swim leg. Some areas of the river are actually OK,

others aren't. So that's giving them a bit of confidence that by tomorrow, because it's not going to rain today, the river's going to be okay. So the plan is to race the women's at 8 o'clock tomorrow and then the men's later in the morning. Now, based on the weather forecast, it's going to be about 35, 36 degrees in Paris today, no rain. They're

There is some confidence the river will be clear, but this is the twist, Chris. If the river is not clear and they don't race tomorrow, the thought was there was a contingency plan of Friday. The problem is there's then more rain scheduled for the rest of the week, which would make Friday very difficult because the pollution will probably come back. What's the final resort? What's the last resort? Listen to this. A dual-athlon. They dump the swimming league. Dump the swimming league. Oh, right. All right, right, right. Just do running and cycling.

So you've had these athletes. You can't do that. That's the last resort. That's the last resort. We're number one and two in the world. Hang on a second. Sure, there's got to be somewhere they can go for a swim in all of France. Look.

Talking to some other people who follow triathlon quite closely, they could potentially go to the rowing venue, which is about 20km west of Paris. That might be, but then they've got to come up with a new cycling route, a new running route. And the whole idea was to feature the landmarks of Paris on this event. So they might be allowed to do that. But could you imagine being a triathlete, putting your heart and soul into four years or three years of preparation since Tokyo? Your strength may well be the swim leg.

And then the swim leg is dumped. It's absurd. They can't do that. That can't happen. There's no way. It is stunning. But I've just asked Annamie that question, and she concedes, look at the last resort. That's not her call. This will be the Paris organisers and World Triathlon who will be deciding this. Now, is it true that people have been defecating in the river in protest? Look, I'd heard that. Have you witnessed that, Clinton? No.

I've not witnessed that myself, Chris. But I must admit that, you know, when you're covering these big events as a reporter, you spend a lot of day moving around. No one public talks in Paris. And I have found myself having to hang on for many, many an hour. Too much information. I have not taken that last resort. Too much information. Now, I want to talk about the skateboarding. Skateboarding. I don't really know what's happening with the skateboarding. So I was watching it last night. And it's on because it's on at a good time here, right, in Australia. Yep.

And I was expecting sort of, you know, the Tony Hawk MTV days where they're really, they're doing unbelievable tricks. You're like, wow. All I'll say is it wasn't like that. I went to the venue yesterday, but I just missed the end of the heats where our competitor Shane O'Neill was knocked out. The venue's sensational, I've got to say. It's in the middle of the biggest square in Paris, Lac-en-Côte. That's the location where King Louis was beheaded, unfortunately.

And then his wife, Marie Antoinette, was beheaded during the French Revolution. So the venue's fantastic. And there's so many kids there. The kids love it. Look, the street course is meant to replicate what you see on the streets. So you've got them doing ollies and angle grinds and acid drops and all these various tricks. Maybe the streets in Paris don't facilitate some pretty wild, tiny...

hawk-style air halfpipe flips and so forth, Chris. It's not one of my specialties. And if you have a look on Google Images, you'll see a photo of me pretty banged up when I fell off a scooter years ago. Indeed. And they've got handlebars. I think there was one of them, and it was one of the events. And it was 40 people, right? And they had to land one trick, and only one competitor landed the trick.

I'll tell you now, they land them at the Gleaves Skate Bowl over the road here at Wentworth Park. Have you ever done a daydream slip or a disco? Have you done a disco flip yourself? They're not easy. Yeah, but it's the Olympics, Clinton. Nothing's easy at the Olympics. Just very confused as to what this is all about.

Anyway. You know what, Chris? I get that. But when I was there yesterday, there were so many teenagers there. There were so many kids. And if it gets kids away from the Xbox and off the computer games, it might be a bit hit and giggle here and there. But at least they're getting outside and inspired by some of their heroes to do something.

All right. Good on you, Clinton. I appreciate your time as always. Thanks, Chris. That's Clinton Maynard, our Olympics reporter there in Paris. He's all over the situation in the River Seine. How would you feel if you were the Parisians? You know, $2.5 billion to clean up the Seine. You know, they get a bit of rain. First two days of the Olympics, oh, sorry, we can't run the triathlon. Surely they're not going to dump the swimming leg, right?

131873. And if you know what was going on when it came to the skateboarding, please give me a call. 131873. I was very confused last night. Was I the only one who was confused? You tell me. 131873. A news update. Pick your favourite Kia from the award-winning Kia Sportage to the street-grade delivering Kia Seltos for Kia's most powerful car ever, the all-electric EV6 GT. ♪

Josh Bryant, g'day. Good afternoon again, Chris. A recent incident on the Metro Northwest and industrial action are being blamed as contributing factors in the result that the new Metro line won't open this weekend in Sydney as planned. No new date has been set for when it will open at this stage. As you were just discussing with Clinton, the men's triathlon of the Paris Olympics has been postponed due to the ongoing concerns about the water quality in the River Seine. The race is now due to be held on

after the women's event tomorrow. Australians in Lebanon are being warned to leave immediately while commercial flights remain available, amid concerns there could be disruptions to air traffic due to rising tensions in the Middle East. And an American swimmer has found out the gender of his baby after winning bronze in the 100-metre backstroke at the Paris Games. Ryan Murphy looked over to his wife after the medal ceremony to see she was holding up a sign which read, "'Ryan, it's a girl.'"

In sport, two huge ins for the Bulldogs ahead of their NRL clash with the Raiders. Captain Stephen Crichton and winger Josh Addo-Karr both named to return from injury. We'll have more news in sport at six. Good on you, Josh. Coming up, I'll get a check in with the weather and you've got a snow report coming your way too. It's 26 to 6. A weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance, a health company.

Partly cloudy, chance of showers right now 13 in the city and 13 in the west. Temperatures tonight 10 in the city and 7 in our west. Tomorrow shower or two tomorrow. Tops of 16 in the city and 17 in our 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, there is no snow, unfortunately, on the forecast for the next few days. There is a nice new layer, though, from the cold fronts that pass through over the weekend. So you can take your pick of any day this week and you'll likely get perfect day to perfect your runs down the slope. So four or five lifts currently open at Charlotte Pass.

Perisher has 43 of the 48 lifts open. And all lifts are open at Threadbo today too. In Selwyn, five of the nine lifts are open. That was the ski and snow update. It's all thanks to Red Energy.

Well, it's a funny old day on the markets. All odds is down 0.58 of a percent. ASX 200 is down 0.46 of a percent and 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 Olympics update. Well, they captured the nation's hearts when they won gold in Rio eight years ago. Now our women's rugby seven side are aiming to do it all again. If they can beat Canada in the semis tonight, they'll play either New Zealand or the USA in the final. Captain Charlotte Caslick says her side will leave nothing in the tank. We just want to make everyone proud and make ourselves proud and...

I think the best thing about it is just we love being out there. Other gold medal chances include Kaylee McEwen in the women's 100 metre backstroke final. Elijah Winnington will compete in the men's 800 metre freestyle final. Zach Zabaldi-Cook kicks off his defence of his 200 metre breaststroke crown in tonight's heat.

The men's triathlon has been postponed due to pollution in the River Seine, despite a $2.5 billion clean-up. So to the medal tally early on day four, and Japan leads with six gold. Australia is fourth with five gold. Still no medals for our trans-Tasman cousins, New Zealand. That's 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. Now, on this skateboarding issue, there's many people saying that I'm being extremely unfair, saying they weren't very talented. Well, Carl Langdon, he's from 6PR. He was commentating on the skateboarding last night.

It was Shane O'Neill, the Aussie, I was watching, Carl. So he had what we call in Australia a Barry Crocker, a shocker. Everyone else seemed to be going okay. Yeah, so poor Shane. He just couldn't stay on the board, unfortunately, in the two runs that he had. So essentially how it works in Olympic Games, you have two runs where you get 45 seconds to complete as many tricks, if you like, as you can. And then you have the best of...

The two best of five tricks. So you take the best run of the two that you have over 45 seconds, and then you take the best two of five tricks. So essentially he had his two runs. His best run was a 1650, which was the worst of everybody essentially for the whole night. And then of the five tricks that he got to try and attempt to complete, he completed one. So he didn't even get to a scenario whereby he...

would be even close of qualifying for the final, unfortunately. And he ended up in 19th out of 20 in that particular field. What was so amazing, though, is when he went to the final, and that was incredible to see. Yuto Horigame of Japan, he's pulled out a trick on his very... So his first trick he did a 94.16s.

He was down about fourth place, and the next three fell, so he scored zeroes. Because if you come off, if you don't complete the trick and you fall over, then you don't score at all. His last trick he pulls out a 97.08. Out of 100. Out of 100, which catapulted him to .1 ahead of Jagger Eaton of the United States and Nigel Huston, who also from the United States. 281.04.

281, one fork, got him the gold medal. So it was an unbelievable combination of tricks that he did, and he did land it. So what's the difference between the street and the park? Is the park effectively in like a skate bowl, is it? The bowl where, yes. So you've got...

another group of competitors that obviously are going to be coming forward. So the street essentially is where you've got rails and you've got ledges and basically you're doing board slides, nose slides, tail slides. They're flipping the board 180 or 360 degrees. We saw that numerous times last night. So you see an air 360 degrees and landing. So what you don't have is that.

that combination there. They're doing tricks off the edge of the bowl where they're spinning in the air and landing on their board, which is quite incredible given the age of some of these competitors. I was going to say that. Lots of kids. I'm talking, you're sort of talking 12, 13, 14-year-olds. Well, the women's final the night before, there were four, no, there were three 14-year-olds. There was a 15-year-old. What's doing? There were three 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old in the final.

So, and when you think about the Australian girls, there's two 14-year-olds, two of the youngest competitors on it. In fact, the youngest competitor on our team is a 14-year-old skateboarder.

But they start so young and they get so good. And there's so many opportunities in that world these days to travel the world and compete, which is the best part. You know, when we were younger, those sort of opportunities didn't really exist. And I suppose they bounce a bit better, don't they, when they fall off? Well, they do. But they've still got fingers broken and wrist guards on and all that sort of stuff. So they have done some damage to themselves. Good on you, Carl. I've been looking forward to hearing you tonight. I've been really enjoying the coverage too. That's

Carl Langdon from 6PR covering the Olympic Games with aplomb. Expert. 131873. Coming up next, I'm going to speak to Dr Cavazzoni. She's an intensive care professional at Sydney Children's Hospital. And I want to talk about organ donations.

and how donating your organs can help sick children in intensive care. This is one we can all get behind. It's a quarter to six. I've just got a text here. Been sitting on a train at the International Airport...

for an hour. Apparently smoke on a train at Walleye Creek. Yeah, what's going on here? It's anonymous text. Passengers on the T8 airport and Southline are advised to allow plenty of extra travel time because there are reports of smoke on a train at Walleye Creek. Trains are not stopping at Green Square, Mascot or the domestic airport and international airport as services are being diverted through Sydenham instead. So,

So replacement buses have been requested to run between Central and Torella via the airport, but they're not there yet. So if you can get off that train, I would be doing that because it doesn't look like it will be moving anytime soon. 131873. Now, you heard earlier Michael McLaren talk about Donate Life Week. And we're being encouraged to think about organ donation. I'm an organ donor. I've got it on my licence.

And right now there are 1,800 people on a transplant plant wait list in Australia. And plenty of those are children. Take five-year-old Ari Ladd, for instance. He's five years old and he was born with a condition that impacts the body's ability to drain bile from the liver. So he was able to get help at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. They have the biggest pediatric liver transplant plant centre in Australia and he's happy and healthy now.

All thanks to an organ donor. Well, Dr. Eleanor Cavazzoni works at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Sydney Children's Hospital at Westmead, and she's on the line for us. Doctor, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you very much for inviting me. That's an extraordinary story about little Ari. Yeah, it's marvellous to see him today. Kind of completely normal little five-year-old. He's looking great. How difficult is it to get a hold of these organs? I'd

I do think we need to reflect and think that donation only really happens in the context of somebody dying in an intensive care unit. We know Australia has world-class intensive care. We found that out, I guess, and it was made very public with COVID. And when doctors in intensive care units die,

can no longer save somebody's life because unfortunately the treatments can't do that. And the family understands that the person is not going to survive or has died

on a ventilator, the family yet asked whether or not organ and tissue donation and the ability to save somebody's life or many people's lives then gets asked to the family when they're really at the lowest point of their life.

What kind of organ, and it's interesting to think about this in terms of paediatrics, children. Can a child accept an adult's organ, be it heart, be it lungs, be it liver? I mean, you know, we talk about children, but as anybody who's a parent knows that children come in very different size, shapes and forms. You know, they start little and they, you know, a 12-year-old, a 13-year-old might weigh 50, 60 kilos.

And so children can donate to adults and adults can donate to children. The surgical techniques, transplant surgeons and all the team around the transplant group have extracurriculars

extraordinary skills and through every single consent every single family that say yes absolutely the greatest amount of respect is upheld to ensure that as many people can be helped through this extraordinary consent through this extraordinary yes I'm happy to help what's the organ that's most in need at the moment

I think anybody who is listening who is in need of a transplant will say, well, my organ is the most important. I think if we think about the need, we definitely know that of those 1,800 people that are currently active on the transplant waiting list, kidney donation and kidney transplantation is the one where there is –

thousands of people that are waiting. But I really do think that every single person who is waiting for their call, this extraordinary call of saying, you know, you're the match, please come to the hospital, their journeys are very different, difficult and very different journeys. And

transplantation only happens when all other treatment options have been exhausted. There's no other chance and the people that are waiting on that list, it's either a transplant or unfortunately it's their death. So

I think the need is extraordinary, but this only really happens when families consent and families we know get asked these difficult questions. And they're difficult not because we help people, but it's difficult because it's the timing. And it's the timing that is so hard.

Much easier to do it now when things are relatively peaceful and you've got complete autonomy over what you want done with your own organs and your own body. Dr Cavazzoni, I could talk to you for hours and hours and hours. Unfortunately, we've run out of time, but I really appreciate you coming on and keep doing the extraordinary work that you do at Sydney Children's Hospital at Westmead, okay? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Have a good night. Thank you, Doctor. That's Dr. Elena Cavazzoni. You just hope to God you are never in that situation, needing a paediatric transplant. You just hope to God. Now, if you want to do it, donatelife.gov.au is the website. It takes one minute. Donatelife.gov.au. And there's a text here. Do you really have organ donation on your licence, Chris? I don't think so. Well, I don't think you...

They're on your licence. I said that flippantly because that's what it used to be. But I've certainly got the card. When I die, hand on heart...

They can take whatever is worthwhile because I won't need it anymore. I understand people don't like it for religious reasons and that's completely fine. That's up to you. But for me, I've got no opposition to it. If I'm not here, better off going to someone that can use it. On 2GB Drive, let's drill for fuel. $200 of it thanks to Shell V-Power, our contestants. I've got Glenn at Bower Gala. G'day, Glenn. G'day, Chris. How are you going? I'm good, thanks, Glenn. And Richie's at Crow's Nest. G'day, Richie.

Hey, Chris. How are you, mate? I'm good, thank you, Richie. Get ready because you're going first. Your time starts now. Finish this sentence. Where there's smoke, there's... Fire. Well done. In which musical would you hear the song All That Jazz? Cabaret. Chicago. Beach volleyball is played on what surface? Sand. Correct. Scottish flag has two colours. What are they? Blue and white. Correct. Which fast food franchise uses the slogan Finger Lickin' Good?

KFC. Well done. George Lucas created which mega-billion-dollar movie franchise? Star Wars. Star Wars. On fire, Richie. Well done. Glenn, you ready? Are you kidding? Yeah. Well done, Richie. He's got five there. You've got to get six. Your time starts now. Which country was Jess Fox born in? Australia. France. Bill Shorten lost to Scott Morrison in 2019. Who did he lose to in 2016?

Malcolm Turnbull. True or false, the black box in a plane is black.

True. False. Orange. Which 80s band had the hits Africa, Hold the Line and Rosetta? Stop laughing. You're putting me off, Glenn. I give in. Don't know. I give in. See you, Glenn. Well done, Richie. $200 coming your way. I haven't heard anyone laugh through the Jewel for Fuel. Just putting your hands up, waving the white flag. Good on you, Richie. Taking home the gold medal this afternoon. It is the Jewel for Fuel. We play every afternoon here on Drive.

And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports. You ever done that before, Mark Levy? The opener rolls for Wide World of Sports and you go, you know what, I can't do this today, start laughing. I've done it on the continuous call team before. He needs a booby prize or something, doesn't he? Imagine that. And now, on Network Station's Wide World of Sports with Mark Levy. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Imagine someone says something and Peter Overton's here. Now, Nine News with Peter Overton. I've got nothing.

Tonight on Nine News. Anyway. What's doing? Just the Olympics. Mate, you're doing an outstanding job. I loved the equestrian last night. I had a bit of fun. I've never done the equestrian before. Birdo? I said to Ray, he sat us all down prior to Beijing, and we've done it the last few Olympics. We listened to George Griliasich, his call of Kaiba TikTok. So I sort of took my lead from the late George Griliasich.

in saying up and over they go and all that sort of thing. So I renamed the course, had a bit of fun with it, and it was great to see an Australian win a silver medal. So well done to Chris Burton. On your birdo. On your birdo. What's on the show tonight? Well, we're going to check in with Steph Rice for a preview of the swimming tonight. Morgan Tirunui with Women's Rugby Sevens. Andrew Gaze.

on the basketball. Richard Fox with his daughter Jess in action tonight and Will Davies to preview the hockey for us as well. It is all happening day four of competition. It is a gold-a-thon. Gold-a-thon. Good on you, Levy. Can't wait. That's Wide World Sports coming up next with Mark Levy and, of course, the broadcast of the Olympic Games. That's it for me. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.

2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full Show July 30th