2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full Show August 9

Publish Date: 2024/8/9

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On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon Sydney and thank God it's Friday, hey? Thank God it is Friday. We've got lots to give away this afternoon and lots to get through too. There's plenty of news around. And there's been quite an extraordinary exchange between Peter Volandis and Mark Latham in the New South Wales Parliament.

I'm talking claims of sexual harassment, toxic cultures, bullying, Latham v Volandes. They went toe to toe, that's for sure. I'll play you all of the audio in a sec. Trust me, you don't want to miss this one. The Warringah Freeway on the northern side of the Harbour Bridge. How we drive on the Warringah Freeway is about to change substantially. So it's going to be completely different. The lane make up for 18 months. So I'll walk you through that with the Transport Management Centre.

Tanya Plibersek, she's my special guest this afternoon. What does she have to say about the Reserve Bank's assertion that sticky inflation is her government's fault? I've also got tickets to the Eels versus the Panthers game tonight, and I'll give that away shortly. Your Sydney shout-outs will win vouchers to DD's restaurants, and I've also got passes to go and see Marcia Hines and Daryl Braithwaite. Right now, 19 degrees at Collaroy Plateau and 22 at Smithfield.

It's eight and a half past three, 131. 873 is our open line number. You can text me 0460 873 873 or email me drive at 2GB.com. Now, you would have heard this mentioned with Michael McLaren a little earlier, but if you missed it, Karen Webb, this is Gin Gate.

has released more details on the purchase of the Commissioner's Gin. Now, you know my view on this. I think it's all a bit, you know, it's a bit of a lot to do about nothing, really. But there's more detail here, so I'll read it out. And the Commissioner says she released a statement on Wednesday regarding an initial order of 50 bottles of Commissioner's Gin and following a review of stock...

And of the gift register in the last 24 hours, I can confirm 32 bottles have been distributed as gifts or donated for charity purposes. And the full gift register is provided in the attached email with names redacted to protect the privacy of the individuals. And she's also asked for the remaining 18 bottles to be donated to Police Legacy for fundraising purposes. And she also says this is the interesting bit.

After the review, she can confirm that a second order of 50 bottles was identified, but it had not yet been paid for. And they will be returned, and this process has already begun. So when Rod Roberts said that there was 100 bottles of gin that were purchased by the commissioner...

She said it was 50. Well, turns out he was right. It was 100. Now, the Commissioner's Gin Gift Register. I'll read out. It dates back to the 15th of February, 2023. So she's given out gin at a Pearls in Policing meeting to somebody. Again, names redacted. Executive Director of Public Relations.

The police minister, Yasmin Catley, a PCYC executive, an officer who was retiring, a whole bunch of dignitaries. There was one for corporate etiquette. There's a few corporate partners, consulate visit, New South Wales police legacy, corporate etiquette, welfare support officer. Look, if you think this...

should be redacted or not, or maybe those people's names should be out there. I don't think they'd all be all that embarrassed or offended that they'd received a bottle of gin from Karen Webb. But clearly, by redacting the names, the Commissioner is now going to have questions asked about why those names need to be redacted. But if we peel back all the details, they are just bottles of gin. 131873.

Now, Australians are being forced to spend more of their income on transport, with spending on driving, petrol, tolls and public transport fares growing at almost three times the rate of inflation.

So our transport costs are helping fuel inflation. So transport costs rose by 10.5% across the board in the 12 months to June. We know this. That's well above inflation, which is 3.8%. And the typical Australian household spent 17% of its income on transport in the year to June 30, and that was up from 15.9% now to...

Tolls, petrol, without a question, right? But insurance is definitely one of the driving factors, pardon the pun, as to why...

the cost of transport has just increased so exponentially. And I've been talking a lot about insurance recently, haven't we? And seriously, it is just getting obscene. And they're finding it more and more difficult to justify. 131873. Now, I did notice this media release has just come through from the Minister for Housing and the Minister for Local Government, also the member for Heffron. And there's been a significant milestone...

in renewing the Waterloo Housing Commission estate. So Waterloo Estate, it's one of the largest social housing estates in the country. And it's going to be renewed in stages. This has been... I reckon this was first touted 10 years ago by Mike Baird. They still haven't got very far with it, but here we are. So...

Waterloo South, 750 older public housing properties will be replaced with new, well-designed, fit-for-purpose housing. And they've issued a contract for this to be done. So over the next 10 to 15 years, the Waterloo housing estate will be effectively bowled over and rebuilt with 2,000 or 3,000 tenants.

to be relocated and then moved back in when they do get those new facilities. So I think most of us would say that that is well overdue and those facilities themselves, the Waterloo Towers, just aren't up to scratch anymore. Live, local and only on 2GB. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe. All right, there have been some very ordinary scenes and smears heard in New South Wales Parliament today.

And it all revolves around Peter Volandes. Now, Peter Volandes fronted an inquiry and the inquiry's into Rose Hill Racecourse being sold and turned into apartments. Now, I just want to start this by saying this, right? The reason this is such a scandal is it's a stuff-up by Peter McGoran, the chair of the Australian Turf Club, and it's a stuff-up by the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns.

That's it. Those two are the only people who should be embarrassed by the fact that we are where we are. It was terrible management and even worse politics, but they know that already. Anyway, we all make mistakes. But the inquiry into whether Rose Hill should be turned into a 25,000 unit city and the stuff that has followed, well, it's turned into a kangaroo court.

So the inquiry is not really into the process, but it's turned into a kangaroo court trying to kill Peter Volandes and smear his reputation. It is truly ridiculous. Listen to this. So Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, she put to Mr Volandes that sexual harassment complaints may have been made against him

And as CEO of Racing NSW, Mr Volandis had entered into a private settlement agreement with a former employee, the basis of which, well, there wasn't any.

A comment made around, and the exact term was scuttlebutt gossip around sexual harassment complaints. Do you have a response to that? Complete and utter rubbish. Again, it's a smear with no evidence whatsoever. I have never had a complaint against me for any situation at any time in my career. And for someone to suggest that is the lowest form of life.

And the other thing it does is it takes away credibility from people that genuinely do have complaints about people that they don't bring it forward. There has never, ever, ever, ever, ever been a complaint about me. So you have never entered into a private settlement with a former employee? No, I'd like to answer that. Absolutely not. Never, ever, ever. I have never paid assent. I'm aware before my time that there was a person at Racing NSW, a non-disclosure agreement, but I have never had a complaint. Never, not once.

I've worked my life for 20 years. I have three young children, and they're going to hear from this inquiry that I've done this, when I haven't? Did Mr Latham do domestic violence? No, he didn't. Well, what are you on about? You're not saying that about me. You're complaining about people smearing you, and that's your best response to someone like that. Well, I'm just giving you an example how you can be smeared...

And I'm not saying you did, but you can be smeared that way. Mr Volandis, back to the question, please. But you don't understand my point, Mr Latham. Yes, I do. No, you smear me with no evidence. I've got evidence. No, you don't. Mr Volandis, Mr Volandis, the question... Mr Volandis, Mr Volandis, if I draw... All you do is... Mr Volandis, Mr Volandis, if I draw you back, you're being asked questions by the Deputy Chair. It didn't end there. So Mr Volandis unequivocally said he's never, ever interfered with stewards' inquiries as the CEO of Racing NSW...

And the people behind these smears are powerful breeders who are potentially cruel to horses. Now, he said that Mark Latham is in cahoots with the powerful breeders, and that's when the two men just went at it.

Now, there's no way in the world the ATC is going to take the money and invest it in Tamworth Course or Albury. Why would they do that? So any logical person reading that element of the minutes would think there must be a proposal for someone to allocate money beyond the ATC tracks around New South Wales to benefit the racing industry as a whole. But if you look at the previous minute, Mr... I know what it says about the ATC. You said they're not much chop. Mr Latham...

I'd like to respond to your question. That's one of the standing orders is to allow the person to answer the question. If you're going to speak over me all the time, I would like the chairman to overrule you because you can't overspeak to the witness. If you want to intimidate and bully me like you normally do, fair enough. But I've put up with bullies all my life, so I know how to handle it.

Very unedifying anyway. Peter Volandes then went on the attack while defending the culture at Racing NSW. Again, Mr Latham, you can smear me all you like, but there is absolutely zero...

credibility to what you're saying. Well, these are not my submissions, you see. These are submissions that have been made against you to this committee and I'm raising them with you. Well, who are they? Well, my question to you is... Now, who are the submissions? Put up the evidence. Someone can say that, you know, you got charged for domestic violence. Do you...

I've got no proof of that. So how can you make allegations and smears against somebody with absolutely zero evidence, Mr Latham? Zero evidence. Zero. Zero. Mr Volandis, no one's made a submission about me to this committee, but many, many people... Have you ever been charged with a... OK, OK. Both of you, please come to order, because... No, I'm not withdrawing it, because you have smeared me... I'm not asking you to withdraw. Mr Volandis, please. There you go. Anyway...

Anyway, when it came to Rose Hill Racecourse, which is the actual point of the inquiry, mind you. Now, there was a little bit of scuttlebutt that Peter Volandes was somehow the idea behind the sale of Rose Hill Racecourse. Now, I've said countless times on this program that is false. Not because Peter Volandes told me to, because I know it's false.

It was a financially strapped turf club and a desperate and novice state Labor government that wanted a shallow headline around building housing, which they seem incapable of doing, mind you. It had nothing to do with Peter Volandis. But it was racing New South Wales' idea to sell Rose Hill.

Completely false. When I found out about Rose Hill being sold, I was actually in Washington. Unless it was Joe Biden's idea, it certainly wasn't mine. Look, he also said there needs to be a replacement track for Rose Hill for the sale to proceed. And they're looking at the brick pit at Sydney Olympic Park. I'm telling you, that will not happen. There's not going to be horse racing at Sydney Olympic Park. Maybe an updated Warwick Farm, but look, that's about it.

Look, the board of the Australian Turf Club too admitted that the $5 billion figure that was spruiked by the Premier and Peter McGoran at the press conference, that figure has never been formally put to the board. I revealed that. I told you weeks ago because it's not true. They're not going to raise $5 billion. There's no developers telling them that they can.

The only dollar figure that was put to the board was $1.6 billion. Long way off five, right? Plus the full board of the Australian Turf Club was only told about the sell-off of Rose Hill after they'd spruiked it to the Labor government. Again, amateur hour. And you can see why the members of the Turf Club will dismiss this proposal outright, as they should too at this point.

This is not how good governments or organisations do businesses or deals of such significance. And the lack of a critical lens being put on this proposal by people who should be is quite frankly very disappointing. But I've had many people ask me why Peter Volandis is being targeted. What's all this about? Even people in government, members of cabinet going, why are they attacking Peter Volandis? I don't understand all this. Well, you want to know what this is actually about? Power and ego.

So breeders who are worth in some instances hundreds of millions of dollars, they don't like the new races like the Everest. They don't like those races. And they don't like them because they compete with traditional races in Melbourne. And winning traditional races like the Cox Plate or the Manicato make breeders' bloodstock supposedly more valuable. And if you've got new races like the Golden Eagle, they can erode that value because they dilute the strength of the traditional races.

So to put it really succinctly, we have a fight between old and new money.

That's what it is. Peter Volandes, new money. The breeders, old money. Peter Volandes has disrupted their fiefdom and he probably thinks a bit of it is his fiefdom now. I'm aware of an email that's going around that's basically saying this is your chance to get rid of Volandes, so make up whatever you can, put a submission in, doesn't matter if it's the truth, doesn't matter if it's lies, but just smear him. And I don't think this inquiry is what...

The intention is to smear people. It's to look into Rose Hill. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, Peter Volandes, they did smear you. It was very unfortunate. But today, you got your own back. It's 26 past three, 131873, our open line number. Now, that Titan, you know, the people going down to look at the Titanic in the Titan submersible, well...

I'm looking at this lawsuit and the Daily Telegraph is reporting on it. Now, this lawsuit has now claimed that the crew of the sub, which imploded during the Titanic expedition, likely endured overwhelming, quote, terror and mental anguish. And they would have been fully aware that they were about to die.

Now, the family of one of the victims who died in this submersible disaster has filed a $90 million wrongful death lawsuit on the submarine's operator, OceanGate. And OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, remember him? And there were three other explorers who went down in this submarine to try to get a glimpse of the Titanic. But in the court documents...

They argue that Ocean Gate purposely concealed key information of the vessel, but they may have died loving what they do, but the death was wrongful and they would have known...

that they were about to die, enduring terror and mental anguish in the final minutes and hours. Terrible stuff, right? 131873. Now, Austrian security authorities say they found Islamic State and al-Qaeda material at the home of a 17-year-old suspected of planning to attack three Taylor Swift shows.

So this guy's an Austrian citizen and he's got Turkish and Croatian roots. And he was arrested by special forces in Austria, 19 years old. And they say he was planning to attack three Taylor Swift shows. And in his home, there was Islamic State and Al-Qaeda material.

Now, they're alleging preparatory attacks were underway. And as a result, I think they got some information to the organizers of the Taylor Swift concerts and she canceled all three of them.

So I thought that jihadism was sort of got to be quiet there during the pandemic and pre and post pandemic too. But now it looks like it's certainly still a problem for authorities right around the world. 131873.

In the newsroom, Josh Bryan. G'day. Good afternoon, Chris. Kevin Naismith, who was jailed for murdering two men in Newcastle and burning their bodies, has been granted parole after 25 years behind bars. Racing NSW boss Peter Volandes has clashed with MP Mark Latham during a hearing into the proposed Rose Hill racecourse redevelopment.

The police commissioner says she's now ordered a comprehensive review of the police force's gift policies following the controversy surrounding the purchase of the commissioner's gin bottles. And a report shows the cost of commuting in Australia has climbed more than 10% in a year. In sport, Day 14 action begins this hour at the Paris Olympics with two Aussie men among those taking part in the 10km marathon swim in the River Seine. We'll have more news in sport at four.

Good on you, Josh. 131873. Now, if you use the Warringah Freeway semi-regularly, you're going to want to listen to this next segment because there are some major changes to the way you drive on the Warringah Freeway. On top of that, this weekend in the city, it's going to be a little bit problematic. The City to Surf is on. I'll have all that next.

I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. It's 26 to 4 and it's going to be a tricky weekend on the roads in Sydney. And there's some major changes I thought we'd get into on the Warringah Freeway. And this will be happening for the next 18 months. So how you drive on the Warringah Freeway southbound into the city is about to be completely overhauled.

On top of that, you've got the city to surf on Sunday too. Well, here to make sense of it all is Craig Moran. He's the Executive Director of Customer Journey Management from Transport for New South Wales, and he's with me on the line. Craig, g'day. G'day, Chris, and good afternoon to your listeners. Warringah Freeway, can you just tell us how the changes will work and what we need to know?

Yeah, look, we are making some temporary changes on the Warringah Freeway, particularly in the Mount Street area. Now, what is going to happen, and this will come into place from around 11 o'clock tonight, 11.30 tonight, sorry, and be in place for about 18 months, as you suggested, is

For people heading north from the Harbour Bridge and heading up towards Mossman and Manly, the lane that they currently use will move slightly to the right. There'll still be one continuous lane as they have today, but when they come near Mount Street, it'll move to the right. So they just need to be a bit aware of that and cautious.

The main change, though, to facilitate that is in the centre of the Ring Expressway, there's some lanes there that we refer to as reversible lanes. They head towards the city on a weekday morning peak and all other times they head north. Now, where there's two lanes there at the moment, they will be merging to one. So it will have some localised impact in that area. So...

People heading towards the city in the morning in those lanes, they'll go from two lanes to one about half a kilometre before they do today. And people heading out of the city at other times, particularly during the PM peak, as they come off the Harbour Bridge and head toward Mount Street, they will merge from two lanes to one as well. So when we've got...

I noticed, remember years and years ago when you used to get off the Warringah Freeway going north in your left-hand lane and then all of a sudden overnight you had to get off on your right-hand lane to access Military Road and it was a complete and utter debacle. What have you guys got in place to ensure that doesn't happen?

Look, the way that people come off the bridge and head towards Mossman and Manly up onto Falcon Street and Military Road, that largely won't change. There'll just be a bit of a kink in that lane as they head in that direction. And people were heading further towards Chatswood and Epping where they go through the centre reversible lanes. They can still go the same way. It'll just merge from two lanes to one for a period and then widen back out to two lanes. Okay.

Will you have people in place just to be able to ensure that it's not chaotic? Look, we will have extra resources on the ground, particularly if something untoward happens, like an incident occurs in that location. But it will also be very closely managed from the Transport Management Centre across the entire period that this is in place. 18 months, yeah?

Yeah, 18 months is the timeline for this change to be in place. There's been a lot of work going on. I suppose not everybody would know what it's for. Can you brief us on that? Look, this work is all related to the Warringah Freeway upgrade project. This is a project largely to untangle the Warringah Freeway and get it ready for when the West Harbour Tunnel comes into play in around 2028. OK.

And so you can expect probably for what, the next five years, the Warringah Freeway to have construction, some sort of construction occurring because it feels like it's been going forever already. Yeah.

You're right, it has been going for some time. The Warringah Freeway upgrade works is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2026. And then, of course, the West Harbour Tunnel will come into play around 2028. OK, let's move to the city to surf on Sunday. If you're not running, don't go into the city. Is that probably fair to say?

I wouldn't necessarily say don't go into the city, Chris, but, you know, it's fantastic. 90,000 people registered for the city to surf. Great news for our city, great news for our state. But there will be a range of road closures in place, particularly around the CBD and out towards Bondi Beach.

They'll progressively come into place from about 3.30 on Sunday morning, and then they'll start to reopen from 1 o'clock and later when you get down towards the Bondi area, where it will be around 4pm. Now, there will be diversions in place, so traffic will be very heavy. But for those people heading out to participate in the City to Surf,

The best thing is public transport's the best way to get there. There'll be extra services in place. And, of course, travel and public transport's included in your registration. You running, Craig? I'm personally running, Chris. I think my role's a bit more overseeing, making sure we've got it working properly. Good on you, Craig. All the best. Thanks, Chris, and thanks for helping us get the message out. No, you're very welcome. That's Craig Moran. He's the Executive Director of Transport Management at Transport for New South Wales. Now...

I know it feels annoying, right? All the construction that's going on on the Warringah Freeway at the moment, on the northern side of the Harbour Bridge, it's hard to navigate.

But when it's all done, it will be a lot better. You will then be able to have, effectively, the Western Harbour Tunnel will be another crossing of Sydney Harbour. So if there's an issue in the Harbour Tunnel, over Hightruck, for instance, or there's a bad praying on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, what the Western Harbour Tunnel will allow is that the entire city won't come to a stop. So it is a critical piece of infrastructure that we've needed for a really, really long time. Go along your path.

Good on you, Para. Well, I've got a family pass to go and see the Parramatta Eels play the Penrith Panthers. They're on tonight at Combank Stadium. So we thought we'd...

give the tickets away a little earlier. So I've got four tickets to give away right now. Parramatta playing Penrith at Combank Stadium. Do you want to go? 131873. 131873. All you have to do is answer this question. Starting in tonight's game, which player has played for both the Eels and the Panthers? Which player has played for both the Eels and the Panthers today?

And he's playing in tonight's game. If you have the answer to that, call the open line 131873 and the tickets are yours. It's a quarter to four, 131873. Well, a mega earthquake is likely to rock Japan. Authorities are warning.

So authorities are saying that a mega earthquake is increasingly likely to hit Japan. Now, the caution was issued after a powerful earthquake with a magnitude 7.1. Magnitude of a 7.1. That hit southern Japan on Thursday. No major damage was reported and only relatively minor tsunami waves lashed the coast.

So the Japanese Meteorological Agency warned that there was an increased risk of a major earthquake in Japan now. And it's the first time ever such a warning has been issued. Now, I know that there's 125 people in the Japanese archipelago.

And they get about 1,500 jolts from earthquakes every year. It's about 18% of the world's earthquakes occur just in and around Japan. But we know when there are bad ones, there are really, really bad ones. And given now we have seen a warning for a mega quake likely to rock Japan, not from just anyone, but the Japanese Meteorological Agency, I reckon that's a definite one to watch this space.

If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Drive. On 2GB. You're on your far right, you're from Fowle. You're fighting tears of blue, I'm not your way to go. And when we see the other side, slowly start to yield. We raise our voices to the side.

All right, here we go. Who's got the answer to these questions? Who has the answer to this question? Starting in tonight's game, which player has played for both the Eels and the Panthers? If you want to go out to Combank Stadium, I've got four tickets to give to one lucky person. David's at Oakhurst. David, what's the answer? What is that cargo? No, it's not right, David.

Oh, okay. His brother's playing for Parramatta and Isaac plays for Penrith. Oh, David. It's all right. I think there's probably still tickets available. Mate, jump on Ticket Tech. Geoffrey's at Cobbity. Hello, Geoffrey. Hello. How are you going, Geoffrey? I'm good, thank you. How old are you, Geoffrey? I'm 12. And who do you support? Penrith. You love the Panthers, do you?

Yeah. All right. Which player has played for both the Eels and the Panthers and he's playing tonight? Regan Campbell-Gillard. Oh, you would be correct. Geoffrey. Well done. Hey, I've got a family pass coming your way, so make sure you go and see mum and dad because you'll have to get in the car or on the train or wherever you're headed because kick-off 8pm tonight. Enjoy it, okay? Yep.

Thank you. No worries. Even though it's top of the table versus the bottom of the table, Penrith should do away with them pretty easily, you'd expect. But I don't know. You never know with these sort of games. And I noticed that Parramatta sort of had a little bit of a, how can I say, reasonable game last week. You never know what they could do against their local rivals, 1-3, 1-8, 7-3. Well, Craig McLaughlin, did you see this?

Craig McLaughlin has linked up with celebrity agent Max Markson and he's looking to hit back on the stage. So obviously he had all that drama with the sexual harassment complaint and there was criminal charges related to his conduct on the Rocky Horror Show. All of that was found to be unfounded and he was acquitted of those criminal charges. However, he has now signed up with Max Markson and

to do an interactive show in relation to ABBA. So the gig's at the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane. 3,000 tickets have sold. It's nearly a sellout. And Craig McLaughlin is doing an interactive ABBA choir tour. And it's dubbed The Ultimate Celebration, where you're not just a spectator, you're part of the show. Here I go with Gary Sizz, Mamma Mia!

Good afternoon, Danny Geddes back with your latest from the Olympic stage.

It's been a quieter day for Australia on the medal count, but there's still a silver lining in Paris. The men's K4 500m canoe sprint team narrowly missed gold, securing silver just behind Germany in a photo finish. Meanwhile, Moesha Johnson delivered in the women's marathon swim, fighting to the very end for another silver as she was edged out at the finish line.

The Stingers delivered an absolute nail-biter in the women's water polo, defeating the USA in a dramatic penalty shootout. They're now set to compete for gold. Over in the track and field arena, Jessica Hull is also in with a shot at gold for the women's 1500 metres. She kept the pace, scorching in the semi-final, finishing in her second fastest time ever.

And coming up this hour, the men's marathon swimming final gets underway with Aussies Kyle Lee and Nicholas Lohman. As we glance at the medal tally, the USA clings to the lead just ahead of China with 30 medals. Australia remains in third with 18. I'm Dani Geddes bringing you the latest from Paris. That medal tally update was thanks to Toyota, Australian Olympic and Paralympic team partner. Oh, what a feeling.

Thank you for that, Dainey. Well, CCTV has exposed a female chess champion allegedly poisoning her rival. So it's extraordinary, right? So her name is Amina Abakarova. She's 40 years old and she's a Russian chess professional. And her longtime enemy is a Dagestan chess champion from the south of Russia.

Anyway, there's this grainy CCTV and her arch nemesis is walking tentatively across the room and then starts badmouthing the Russian chess champion. She then approaches the desk, this is the Russian chess champion, of the lady who's been badmouthing her and then puts a nondescript carrier bag that she's carrying underneath the desk.

Now, that's where her arch nemesis is sitting, right? And it looks like she then smears a substance onto the wooden game board using one of the chest pieces. And next thing you know, there's major, major issues. So the powder was mercury, right?

And it's a dangerous powder. It can cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system, and the kidneys if ingested. So she put mercury, effectively, on one of the chest pieces of her arch rival. Now, you know, I would have thought a game of chess probably doesn't warrant one being poisoned, but nonetheless, there we are. 131873. Melanie's called in from Liverpool. Melanie, you've seen something on the roads.

Yeah, just outside Moorbank. On Moorbank Avenue outside the bakery, everybody will know it. The two lanes heading towards the M5 are blocked. There's been a bad accident there. And the lanes heading towards Liverpool is going down to one lane now because everybody's trying to get around it. Okay, so Moorbank Avenue near the bakery, did you say? Yeah, right near the M5 on-ramp. M5 on-ramp. Two lanes are out of action, are they?

Yeah. Okay. Hey, Melanie, did you see, is anyone hurt or anything in the accident?

All the airbags have gone off on one car. The lady and baby and a few, they're all just standing around. But the ambulance and fire brigade were just getting there when I went past. Melanie, I really appreciate you giving us the tip on this. Hey, by the way, I don't know if you want to go, but you've got a double pass coming anyway. Total legends at the Sydney Coliseum, Rudy Hill, Wednesday the 25th of September. I've got two tickets for that news tip.

Daryl Braithwaite, Baby Animals, Marsha Hines, all live and in concert. Double Pass coming your way. The four o'clock news is coming up very shortly with Josh Bryant. On the other side of that, I'll speak to Tanya Plibersek. Minister Plibersek is my special guest this afternoon. I'll talk about sticky inflation. I want to talk about the CFMEU, childcare subsidies, wage subsidies for childcare workers, and working from home too. We've got a lot to cover.

131873. Couple of texts here. Two car crash, middle lane of the Cumberland Highway between the M4 and Maryland's Road. That's from Angela. Two car crash, middle lane of the Cumberland Highway between the M4 and Maryland's Road. And Jack says there's a bad accident halfway up Macquarie Pass.

Cars gone off the road into a tree. Probably eight to ten police and emergency vehicles there. Really dangerous road. People travel too fast down it. So bad accident. Halfway up Macquarie Pass. Car has gone off the road and into a tree. 131873. Don't forget later in the program, your best Sydney shout-outs. Make sure you start thinking about a few.

because they will win vouchers to the DD's Waterfront Group. They have some of the best, and I mean best restaurants in Sydney, beautiful waterfront restaurants. And I will give you, if you get on air, a $200 voucher to go and enjoy yourself. All that and more coming up soon.

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

Now back to Drive with Chris O'Keefe on Sydney's 2GB. It's seven minutes past four. Thank you for your company on this Friday afternoon. 131 873 is the open line number. The text line 0460 873 873.

Or of course, you can email me, drive at 2GB.com. Now, planning coming up, my special guest this afternoon is the Federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek. Lots to get through, including what does she think about the idea of wage subsidies for childcare workers? As a principal, I'm not offended by it. I think that childcare workers should be paid more money.

But what does it mean for the broader economy? Are there now going to be other industries putting their hands up for wage subsidies? We'll dive into that next. Well, the Reserve Bank made the decision to keep rates on hold this week. So it means the cash rate remains 4.35% as it's remained for the past six meetings.

Now, the result wasn't unexpected, but it does point to the fact that the RBA, well, it's meant to have been reining in inflation and there's been economists predicting rate cuts by now. That still hasn't happened. Now, the Reserve Bank governor has said that she believes that federal government spending can be attributed to the fact that inflation is sticky.

Not the entire reason, but part of the reason. Now, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, he flatly rejected the idea. He reckons the government's spending isn't the sole factor determining prices in our economy. A whole lot of back and forth. We just want to know when we can get inflation where it needs to be. Well, Tanya Plibersek is the member for Sydney and the Minister for the Environment and Water. She's on the line now. Minister, thank you for your time. Always great to talk to you. What

What's your view on Jim Chalmers v. Michelle Bullock? Is it your fault? Are you spending too much money? Why inflation hasn't come down as we expected?

Well, I think the Reserve Bank governance also said that the fact that we've had two back-to-back surpluses for the first time in almost two decades has actually taken pressure off interest rates. We've been very careful not to spend money in a way that contributes to inflation. We're helping households with the cost of living. Things like the electricity bill relief is absolutely...

absolutely deliberately designed to bring down inflation. And we're not saying for a second, job done, and we're happy with the inflation rate where it is. Of course, we want to see inflation falling further into that target band that the RBA has set. But

Don't forget, we've got about half the inflation rate that we inherited on coming to government. So it's heading in the right direction. It's definitely not job done. We're not saying that, but it's heading in the right direction. You didn't really inherit it. I'm not going to say it's your fault. I think it's when people say alboflation and all the rest of it, I think that's spurious. This is a global phenomenon and Australia couldn't expect to be immune from it. But what I would say...

It hasn't come down anywhere near as fast in Australia as it has in other parts of the world. Canada, 2.7% inflation. 3.3% in New Zealand. 3% in the United States. And we're just a tick under four. It's taking a long time here. Why? Well, ours is peaking lower and later. And there's all sorts of global reasons, as you say. And I suppose, Chris, at the end of the day, you know, people are saying...

it's because we're paying people too much or it's because of the tax cuts in the economy. Well, I'm not going to apologise for giving every Australian taxpayer a tax cut and I'm not going to apologise that aged care workers and childcare workers who do some of the most responsible, difficult work in our community and everybody acknowledges they've been underpaid, that they're getting a pay increase. Understood, understood. But it's futile if inflation eats it up, right?

If you can't get inflation down, you may as well just be putting it straight into the incinerator, those pay rises. Yeah, and that's why we're so focused on continuing to bring it down. That's why we made sure that we had two back-to-back surpluses. Yeah, and it's why we've designed the response to inflation in the way that we have. I think it's clear that the Reserve Bank governor in the past has said that fiscal policy...

The way we're running the budget is actually helping with inflation because of the back-to-back surpluses that we've had. I just don't understand this argument, Minister Plibersek, because 2% inflation is in the UK, 3.3% in New Zealand. I'll read these again. Canada, 2.7%. 3% inflation in the United States. We're still almost at 4%. Why is it taking so long here?

Well, as you said at the beginning, we've got a lot of international factors that are working here. And they had much higher inflation than us. They peaked earlier and they're heading down. We've peaked later and we're heading down. And...

I'm not trying to for a second say it's all fine, nothing to see here. I don't say that for a second. I know that people are doing it tough and that's why we're trying to give every household assistance through the tax bills, the tax relief that every single taxpayer is getting and it's why we're very happy to see wages going up. In fact,

The minimum wage has increased by about $7,000 a year since we came to government for those 2.6 million workers that rely on it. Like, of course, that makes a difference. And we're happy to see that. We're happy to see those wage increases.

Only in a low inflationary environment. With inflation high, it just eats it all up, unfortunately. But Minister Plibster, let's move on. I want to talk about the childcare wage subsidies. Are you concerned that you said, I know you had the principle and the precedent was set with aged care, and I don't think anyone's going to begrudge childcare workers and aged care workers getting a pay rise. What they don't probably understand is why the government, the taxpayer, has to subsidise those wages.

Well, the taxpayers are already contributing a huge amount to the running of the aged care system and the childcare system. It's a bit different to your average sandwich shop. You don't rely on taxpayers to pay a subsidy for most businesses, but the Commonwealth Government is already a very large contributor to the cost of childcare and aged care through the subsidies that we support families with.

And what we've said in the childcare sector is that as well as having these wage increases for people who work in the sector, we want to see aged, sorry, childcare workers

prices not going through the roof so we've put a cap on the amount that child care prices can rise so if taxpayers are providing a subsidy we need to make sure that it's making child care more affordable for parents and actually that that money is flowing through the child care wages not just profits for the people who operate these centres

I understand that, but you say that this is because the taxpayer already subsidises aged care and childcare through subsidies. However, the taxpayer, we spend a fortune on schools and a fortune on hospitals, and we're not talking about wage subsidies for teachers, are we? Well, we already pay the wages of teachers. Who pays them other than taxpayers? State and Commonwealth governments. No, well, not independent schools.

Yeah, we are huge funders of independent schools. I know, but the taxpayers don't subsidise a teacher's wages at, say, St Joseph's and Hunters Hill. Yeah, of course they do. What do you think the funding goes to? What do the school fees do?

The school fees are a small proportion of what schools spend. And if you look at the school funding formulas, the Commonwealth Government is particularly the major funder of non-government schools, Catholic systemic schools and independent schools. Taxpayers are very much on the hook for teachers' wages. We pay nurses' wages, doctors in public hospitals. We pay...

the wages of a lot of people who work in these care industries. I guess the difference with aged care and childcare is the way the subsidies flow is kind of different. You know, people feel it when they go to the childcare centre every week and they're handing over the childcare fees because for most families, it's actually the second biggest expense after their rental mortgage. They're really feeling the cost of childcare. But we are...

as taxpayers all contributing to that cost. And there's a reason for that. The reason for that is it's good for kids. It's also really important for our economy. We're now in an economy where we rely on the work of mothers, even when their children are quite young. The skills they bring, the labour they put into the economy is part of our national prosperity. So the contribution we make as taxpayers gets a repayment because those mums are...

out at work, paying their taxes and contributing to our prosperity as a nation. Good segue. I want to talk about working from home. I don't know if you caught this. I don't know if you caught this this week. I've been quite vocal about it. I reckon this is a bad idea for the men's government telling people, no, no, no, no, you've all got to come back into the office. Do you think that unfairly targets working mums?

Look, I think with all of these things, you just need a bit of balance and common sense, right? I think the revolution in working from home has been fantastic for families. I think it's taken a lot of pressure off a lot of families, particularly those with a long commute. And I know that there's a lot of parents who wouldn't give it up for anything. In fact, in lots of surveys, people are saying, "I'd rather have more flexibility than more money."

On the other hand, I represent an inner city electorate. I don't want it to be a ghost town. I like it when there's people going to the local shops and cafes and restaurants after work. So it's a bit of balance, isn't it? You know, in your own life, working from home can be really good if you've got a project where you need quiet and concentration.

But actually catching up with your colleagues, sometimes face to face, can be really good for team building and, you know, the practical, some of the sort of projects that you need to do. Sure. On the working from, with the working mothers argument, though, because there was a little bit of talk out of the men's government that, oh, well, working from home doesn't work as well because women just end up doing housework when at home. Now, I thought that was a bit condescending and a bit.

patronising, to be honest. Isn't it just about being flexible rather than a decree from the Premier that everyone's got to get back into the office?

Yeah, and I think really if you look beyond the headlines, I do think that's pretty much what the state government's saying. They're saying we'd like to see more people in the office a bit more of the time, but we're not going to close off options for working from home. And the truth is we're in a real kind of battle for talent at the moment with unemployment rates as low as they are. There's a lot of employers who are struggling to find staff with the skills they need. I think there's a lot of

..employees who are able to say, OK, I'll come and work with you, but this is the sort of flexibility I'd like to see. And also, the truth is, especially in Sydney, Minister Plibersek, you need two incomes to live. You need two incomes to be able to afford a house. You do. Yeah, you do need two incomes to afford a house, but I think if you're talking about Sydney, the other real true thing here is that it's a big city and people are commuting long distances and that's a lot of hours of... I mean, it's...

It's really frustrating to feel like you're wasting that time when you could be with your kids or you could be doing really productive work. Instead, you're sitting on the train or you're sitting in traffic. So I think actually it's been...

It's been great for employers. It's been great for families. I think it's been terrific to see a lot of jobs that have provided that sort of flexibility. We definitely don't want to throw the, as they say, throw the baby out with the bathwater. But a little bit of balance and a little bit of common sense, I think, goes a long way in these situations. Thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it. As always, enjoy your weekend.

You too. Always a pleasure. That's Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, 131873. The working from home thing, I reckon, has landed like a lead balloon. And I think it's going the way I said it was going to go at the start of the week. That is, the departments are just going to ignore it.

And the workers are just going to ignore it. And everything will just continue on the way it's been continuing on for a certain amount of time. Now, you're probably your five day a weekers who are living in Byron Bay and zooming into their, you know, Department of Planning jobs every day. That'll probably stop. But more broadly, I think the flexibility, the way it was communicated by Simon Draper from the Department of Premier was appalling. Appalling.

And the communication, as always, seemingly with this government was poor. But still, I think the outcome will be pretty well what it's been for the past three or four years. It's 20 past four. It's coming up to 25 past four. 131873 is the open line number. Well, if you like your chocolates, this might concern you because Cadbury has announced that Freddo frogs are set to double in price. And so too caramello koalas.

So Cadbury has announced that Freddo's and Caramello Koalas will cost $2 each from today, up from $1. So this is what they've said. Cost of ingredients, particularly cocoa. Our Freddo Frogs and Caramello Koalas have delighted chocolate lovers for generations, but due to record global price of cocoa and increased input costs, we have adjusted the retail price from $1...

to $2. And Cadbury went on to say that this will be the first price change for Freddo Frogs and Caramello Koalas in more than 10 years.

But you'll still be able to choose a cheaper alternative because the share bags of Freddo's and Caramello Koalas are still available and they offer great value, supposedly. We've covered it already on this program that global production of cocoa is under severe global pressure from climate change, supposedly, plant disease, more importantly, farmer poverty and unsustainable agricultural practices.

And as a result, it's been harder and more expensive to get your hands on cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate. What do you remember a Freddo frog costing you? 131873. I love doing this sort of intellectual exercise. What did a Freddo frog cost you when you went to the milk bar or the corner store, say, when you were 10 years old? Give me a call. 131873. I'm sure as hell wouldn't have been $2. Let's go to Alan at Penrith. Hello, Alan.

They called for a penny, I think they were. LAUGHTER

From memory. I'm getting out of bed. And the other thing is they keep shrinking. I should start saving some of these things and so I can compare them 10 years later, you know? You're a Fred O'Connor, sir, Alan. I love them. They are good, aren't they? Mate, it's like the other day. My birthday, my wife bought me a box of chocolates and I was going to send you half a dozen boxes of chocolates for all the staff to try it out. Mate, they've shrunk and shrunk and shrunk. It's just disgraceful. Yeah.

So it's really adding to inflation because we've got to buy two chocs to cover for one. Seriously. You've got it, you've got it, you've got it. Now what I rang you for was this thing working from home, right? I know people that run employment agencies and I think all these people are going to be a drain on their health system.

Because all they're doing is staying at home, drinking coffee and beer. Sure, they might be doing their work. But then the other thing is entrepreneurial factor. Mate, we were the smartest country in the world. Like inventing the black box and Detroit diesel, which powers 30% of the world's engines and the stopcock for the gas things. And we invent everything. You put them all in an office.

mate they're just no good they're just not going to get together and do inventive things I agree on that one entirely Alan and that's one of the issues because brainstorming is I reckon a foundation for good ideas and good team practice don't you reckon

Yeah, it absolutely is, mate. We were seriously smart, really, really smart. But now I just think we've been dumbed down and I think the government's probably happy with it. Maybe so, maybe so. Look, I'm going to send you some chocolate. Yeah, please do. I reckon they'll probably call you. How much in your money, Alan? A couple of guineas or something? Yeah, something like that. One pound, 13 shillings and half a farting. Okay.

Good on you, Alan. Have a good afternoon. That's made my day. Oh, very good. Dave, is it Croydon? Hello, David. Hi, good afternoon. How are you going? I would dispute that I'm always well on a beautiful day like today in Sydney. I was at a private school today and I noticed that the building was paid for by the federal government in 2010 and the grant was $2.3 million. Now, to the best of my knowledge,

The federal government provides no monies for salaries of teachers at schools. It's all for capital works programs. So I would imagine that, Ten, you might have got that one wrong. Yeah, well, I thought that. I always thought that the money that the Commonwealth government granted to independent and Catholic schools was...

was for uh capital works rather than recurrent costs but i might be wrong yeah but the 20 in 2010 i would say that would have been that building education revolution you know kevin russ i would agree with that yeah so i don't know i'll check that and i'll double check that i had no reason to disbelieve uh tanya plivisek because that's why i didn't bring her i didn't challenge her on it but

Anyway, hey, David, a couple of tickets for you coming your way. It's to see Daryl Braithwaite, Baby Animals, Marsha Hines. It's called Total Legends, and it's at the Sydney Coliseum. Go and enjoy it, all right? That's fantastic. Thank you so much. Quickly, how much did a Freddo cost when you were 10 years old?

One cent, one penny. Good on you, David. Enjoy the show. Tickets available right now from Ticketek, mind you, Wednesday the 25th of September. Total Legends. It'll be a bit of fun.

Josh Bright in the newsroom. G'day. Hello again, Chris. The Racing NSW boss, Peter Volandes, has told a parliamentary hearing there are some people out to use a parliamentary inquiry to make false allegations against him. A man who killed two other men in Newcastle and burned their bodies has been granted parole after more than 20 years behind bars. A corrective services officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate in the state's central west. And officials say more than 200

million has been spent on making Paris an accessible and inclusive city ahead of the Paralympics. In sport, round 23 action continues in the NRL tonight. The Titans taking on the Sharks before the clash between the Eels and the Panthers. We'll have more news in sport at five. Good on you, Josh. Grant on the text line says, G'day, Chris. I don't really know. I don't really care how much Cadbury chocolate goes up because I don't eat it. They're the chocolate you buy when you can't get good quality chocolate. Oh, Grant.

Look, I'm sorry, and I don't know if Cadbury are a sponsor. I couldn't tell you, right? All I know is a Freddo Frog or Cadbury chocolate is superior to all the fancy stuff. I'm telling you, it's better than all the Lindt balls and all the rest of it, or Haigs and that sort of thing. Yeah, that's good chocolate, but it is not good as just a bog-standard block of milk chocolate from Cadbury's.

That stuff is God's gift to humanity. And no one can tell me otherwise. David's at Mascot. G'day, David. G'day, Chris. How are you? I'm good, thank you. How much did a Freddo cost when you were 10?

Mate, I couldn't tell you. I had maybe 20 cents or something. But I just think Cadbury's, at least they're being upfront with the cost risk. Because I don't know, when you go into Coles or Woolworths, overnight prices can go from, say, $3 for an item to $4.50 with no justification. So at least they're telling you. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a fair point. That's a fair point, David. And Lisa, but they knew, I reckon they probably knew that if Freddo Frogs and Caramello Koalas went from $1 to $2 overnight, people would be going, hang on a second. So at least they're probably getting on the front foot. Good on you, David. Enjoy your weekend. Rick's at Toon Gabby. Hello, Rick.

G'day. How are you, Chris? Good, thank you, mate. I couldn't afford a Freddo frogman when I was 10. We were too poor. What did they cost, though, roughly? Mate, I'm a pound, shillings and pence boy back when I was about 9, 10, so I reckon no more than probably a penny, I would say. Well, if you went to the milk bar, just for argument's sake, Rick, just because, you know, I'm a young bloke,

So if you went to the milk bar or the corner shop with a penny, what would that buy you? Mate, you could get four lollies for a penny, mate. Four, like, you know, sherbs and things like that. Four for a penny. Back in the old days. I'm talking when I was seven, eight years of age. And would the bloke behind the counter, would he, you know, dish them out for the penny or were you able to serve yourself? No, no, no. You could get your fingers cut off if you served yourself, mate.

Just with the childcare, mate. That was the main thing. I brought up two kids, mate. I'm in my late 60s. Brought up two kids. Didn't get any help whatsoever with the childcare. Sent them to childcare, but only one or two days a week. My wife had a job where...

She could take time off. She worked for me. Now, my argument, my problem is this. I can't get a pension, mate, because I have been able to accumulate sufficient wealth through hard work. I started work at 14 years of age paying tax. I'm now in a situation where I can't get a pension. But my money, my tax money, which I've had no problems paying tax, paid a bucket load over the years, my money is now being used to supplement parents of today's

ability to send their kids off to preschool so they can then go and both go to work. So I put up with the fact that my wife and I couldn't bring two wages into the family for the benefit of my children. How's it fair, mate? Yeah, I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying, Rick, right? But I'll turn it on. How much do you pay for your house?

Mate, I'll tell you what. I've sat down and worked this out. Now, my payments when I first bought a house in 1979 were $218 a month. Okay? It doesn't sound much, does it? $219 a month in today's money, that'd still be a good quid. But I was only earning $80 a week. Yeah, sure.

Okay? But the thing is, mate, I had a secondhand lounge. I had a secondhand black and white television, mate. And we didn't go out to dinner. There was no takeaway with fish and chips on a Friday night, mate. Hey, Rick, I'll tell you something. Don't discount that. The young people of today, the young families of today are doing very similar things. And I think it's simplistic and reductive to assume that, you know, one generation somehow works harder than the others because it's just not true. Everyone has different circumstances. And I think this sort of...

you know, us against them thing is all really unfair. But I do take your point on the childcare subsidy. I absolutely do because, you know, you pay a whole bunch of tax your entire lives and you think to yourself, well, what was that all for? We're going to move on. Rick, you enjoy your weekend. 131873.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. It's coming up to 20 to 5. Well, the New South Wales healthcare system is taking a bit of a hit. Now, we're already facing a shortage of GPs in New South Wales. And now we're being told that shortage is only going to get worse. Now, this is a report from the Department of Health and Aged Care, and it's revealed...

that our state here in New South Wales, we are just not meeting the demand for GPs. And the shortfall is the equivalent of 460 full-time doctors. So we're 460 full-time doctors short in New South Wales. And on top of that, that number is expected to rise significantly.

to 1,000 doctors within the next four years. Well, Dr Rebecca Hoffman is the chair of the New South Wales and ACT faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and she joins me now. Doctor, thank you for your time. Hi, thanks for having me. That is a lot of people who without general practice will not be able to get things treated.

Absolutely. It's really worrying and it's a whole of primary care workforce shortage, not just general practice, but obviously general practice is the space that I'm most worried about. Why? Where are these GPs? Why can't we get them?

Yeah, great question. So about 10 years ago, around 50% of junior doctors came out of medical school wanting to be a GP and going, that's exactly what I want to do. Those numbers have now plummeted to about 11%. So doctors and our junior doctors are not seeing general practice as attractive. And that's for a number of reasons, but the most commonly one that we have cited is

is because they're paid so much better being in the hospital system than they are being in general practice. Right. How much, what's the difference between being a GP and working in the hospital system? Yeah, great question. So it's about $30,000 difference. But also in a hospital, you get your maternity leave, your paternity leave, your sick leave, your annual leave, and you lose all of those things when you then move into a small business. Because you're working for yourself, aren't you?

Yeah, well, you're working for yourself, but you're also moving every six months as a registrar. So you're never there long enough to actually build up those entitlements again. So what Victoria and Queensland state governments have done, so Ryan Park calling out federal, but what the state government has done is they've actually matched that and they've actually said, okay, here's $40,000, which is the difference for every GP registrar. So they're not

taking a pay drop when they move from hospital training into general practice. And what we've seen in Victoria, including in their regional and rural areas, is they've actually maxed out. They've got more GP trainees there than they have space to train. So people want to do it. They just want to be paid properly to do it. Absolutely. They want to do it. They want to do general practice. We just have to appropriately remunerate them. Is it a tough job?

no it's a great job best job in the world of course it's hard no it is that it's all of life so you're there walking with people from the day they fall pregnant to the day they pass away you get to live all of their highs and their lows and all of their challenges it's such a privileged job such a beautiful job um wouldn't do anything else okay so with the 1000 doctors that we're expected to be short in new south wales over the next four years in your mind

Is it just cash? If we throw cash at the problem, will that be solved? So cash will solve a big portion of it. So state government grants will solve a big problem of it. RACGP has capacity to train more doctors in New South Wales, but we're worried if we don't actually match Queensland, Victoria, they're going to move north and they're going to move south.

The other part, when you're talking to federal government, is you don't need to fund hospitals to improve general practice funding. You need to fund general practice. You need to increase patient rebates so when they see a GP, they don't have the same out-of-pocket costs. So there's funding both at state and federal levels that's needed to help out GPs right now.

Dr Hoffman, I really appreciate you jumping on. Have a good weekend and keep talking about this because I think it's hit a critical point where it's just too hard to see a GP because there aren't enough of them. Thanks so much for your time. Cheers. That's Dr Rebecca Hoffman from the RACGP. 131873, what's your experience been like? I tried to book into my GP the other day. We've been seeing her for, I don't know, 12 years or something. Family GP. Tried to book in. It was like a six-week wait.

to get in to see a doctor. And it makes you think, well, and I ended up, because it was just a script that I needed, so I went up to the local medical centre and I could get in there. But it wasn't bulk-billed at the local medical centre, so I had an issue there. But I just think, well, if you are... I'm lucky because I've got no chronic health issues, right?

that need regular attention from my GP, but I'm sure there's plenty of people who do have those regular health checkups that are necessary. And when things flare up, they need to go and get an appointment with their GP and they just can't get in. Have you had an experience like that? 131873. It's 12 minutes to five. Alan says on the text line, Chris, chocolate bullets. You got eight of them for a penny. Used to watch them count two bobs worth. Good on you, Alan. Scott says,

How old was the fella who could buy four Freddos for a penny? Back in the day, there were two cents each. More expensive than cobbers, caramel butters and teeth, which were only one cent. And they came in that little white paper bag on you, Scott. Jenny from the ACT says Freddo frogs were a tuppence each. Two cents at the corner store in the early 60s. Jenny reckons 70 years ago, 10 pence would buy you 10 black cats. And the difference between Cadbury... Oh, this is Kim.

I reckon Cadbury, Cadbury milk chocolate, just your bog standard, is the best chocolate you can buy. And I don't care about your Ferrero Rochers, like Steve reckons. Not interested. Yeah, it's good. Sure. But can you sit there and eat 100 Ferrero Rochers like you can sit there and eat 100 Freddo Frogs? No. Freddo Frogs and Cadbury milk chocolate, it is the superior chocolate.

Gay agrees. Chris, absolutely agree with you. There's nothing better than Cadbury chocolate. Kim reckons the difference between Cadbury and good chocolate is as vast as a barista brew and an international roast. Jeez, you're a snob, Kim. The Inside Word on everything Sydney. It's Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB.

Now, the last weekend of the Paris Olympic Games, hasn't it been just an amazing experience for all us here at home? But more importantly, the success of our Australian Olympic team. I thought we'd check in with our man in Paris, Clinton Maynard, who's on the ground. Clinton, g'day.

Good morning, Chris. And we have events underway already here, very early Paris time. The men's open water marathon in the River Seine. Yes, it's gone ahead. There were some concerns again, but yep, early morning testing confirmed the water was safe, not to drink, but to swim in. This is the final event on the River Seine.

Thank goodness for that. The Aussies just swimming outside the top 10 at the moment. Nick Sloman is sitting in 11th position and Kyle Lee a little further back is in the top 20. So we're probably going to miss out on medals there. They are just about to come up to the 8km mark of 10km. So they've done well to survive the water, let's be honest.

So where are we going now? Are we any chance of any more medals, Australia? Certainly, yeah. Oh, certainly. There could be medals today. I'd suggest there will be medals today. Firstly, kayak. We are looking strong into the semifinals of the women's K2. So this is open water, flat water kayaking. The K2 500 metres in both the men and the women's. We are in the semifinals for both of those. And then

And then the finals later today, I'd suggest we probably have a reasonably strong chance of medals there. Cycling, I think, is going to be good for us tonight. Matt Richardson is into the sprint semifinals. So that's effectively...

to the last three. So the sprint semifinal, the sprint is the event you see at the Velodrome where they race for three laps at the Velodrome, but it's a game of cat and mouse to start with. And you see the two riders, Tom's going very, very slowly and then bang, it's on. Richardson's already broken a world record in the lead up to this and world records have been broken left, right and centre at the Velodrome.

velodrome unlike in the swimming and a lot of that's got to do with the conditions inside the velodrome. He was part of the men's sprint team that won the bronze and he's up against a Netherlands rider in the semi who

who won gold as part of the team. But Richardson is looking pretty good there. That's later today, Paris time. Beach volleyball, we play for bronze tonight. And I think we're going to be a good chance here. Now, my beach volleyball knowledge is still a work in progress, Chris. You seem to have watched a lot of it.

Well, this is why I'm suggesting that we're a big chance for bronze. We were defeated by Brazil. Brazil are very good at beach volleyball. They smash everybody. We took a set off Brazil last night. We're in the bronze medal match. We're playing Switzerland. Now, Switzerland being a landlocked country, to my knowledge, not a lot of beach is there. No, it is not. So surely there's a bronze medal there. What about the water polo, the women's water polo, the stingers? I know we're in the gold medal match. Can we win it?

Well, given that we've defeated the USA in a penalty shootout, which is always, whether it's football, soccer, water polo, it's always difficult in those situations. Given we won that, we must be a massive chance for gold against Spain. Of course, that means we'll get...

at least a silver, so water polo's a good chance. This is one to look out for on the weekend, I think. Athletics. Now, you know, obviously track and field is not our strength in 2024, though we've done well, obviously, we won pole vault. But Jessica Hull is into the final of the 1500 metres. She breezed through her semi-final to make the final. She was second quickest, so she's a big chance of a medal, maybe even a gold in the 1500, which given we've, of course, had a long history many years ago of strength...

on the track, but it's been a while. This is something that I'll be keeping a close eye on tomorrow morning. Oceana McKenzie in the final of the sport climbing, i.e. rock climbing. She's qualified sixth for the boulder and lead category. Don't know if you've seen any of it, Chris, but I've been out to the rock climbing a couple of times. It's pretty impressive. The crabs, they're massive. The crabs, they go burko. They'll love it. Absolutely burko. And starting today, Ray Gunn is in action. What?

Her name's Reagan. The breakdancing starts today. I'll leave you to the breakdancing, Clinton. I'll leave you to the breakdancing. You can give us the rundown on Monday. Hey, thank you for all your work over the last fortnight. You've done an incredible job, as always. You're a consummate professional, and thanks for keeping us all up to date.

Thanks, Chris. See you. Good on you. That's Clinton Maynard, Nine's radio Olympics reporter. Hell of a professional, Clinton, and a hell of a bloke. A Paris 2024 Olympic Games update. Thanks to Harvey Norman, proud to be Australia's official retail partner. Powered by LG, partner of Nine's Olympic broadcast. Good afternoon. It's Danny Geddes bringing you the latest from Paris.

Day 14 of Olympic action is in full swing with Australia diving right into the men's 10K marathon swim final. Aussies Nicholas Sloman and Kyle Lee are hungry for a medal and will be looking to build on yesterday's silver in the women's event.

Shifting gears to the pool, our women's water polo team have booked their spot in the gold medal match after a nail-biting victory against the US. Down 5-2 at half time, they pulled off an incredible comeback, clinching the win in a dramatic shootout. On the track, Jessica Hull is cruising into the final of the women's 1500m, ready to battle for a spot on the podium. Sadly, it's the end of the road for Peter Boll and Joseph Deng in the men's 800m.

And as we check the medal tally, the USA holds the lead with 30 golds, just one ahead of China. Australia stands strong in third with 18. I'm Dana Geddes. That's the latest from Paris. That Paris 2024 medal tally was thanks to NRMA Insurance, a help company.

Big news. Looks like the North Sydney Bears are back. They will rejoin the NRL for the first time since 1999. I'll bring you the details after the news. I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement.

It's seven minutes past five. Thank you for your company on this Friday afternoon. And thank God it is Friday, Sydney. Plenty to give away this afternoon. Your Sydney shout-outs will earn a DD's Waterfront Group voucher. How good is that?

They've got some of the best restaurants in Sydney. And if you get on air, you'll win a voucher to go dine with Con and Kerry. I'll also speak to Charlie Brown and get a preview of what's happening overnight with the Paris Olympic Games. Still a few more days to go and a few more Aussies in contention for medals.

Drive with Chris O'Keefe on 2GB. Now, if you missed it earlier, I played a little bit of audio from an inquiry that's underway right now at New South Wales Parliament. And it's into the sale of Rose Hill Racecourse and into effectively interrogating the process in which Rose Hill Racecourse would be sold and turned into 25,000 apartments.

But I made the point that the inquiry has now turned into some sort of kangaroo court. And it feels like a bit of a smear campaign against Peter Volandes. Now, Peter Volandes and Mark Latham have gone toe-to-toe in quite an explosive way in Parliament today. But firstly, some of the things that were aired at this inquiry were quite astonishing and baseless.

So Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, she put to Peter Volandes when he was sitting there giving evidence that there were rumours of a sexual harassment complaint made against him as the boss of Racing NSW and she claimed that there had been a private settlement with a former employee and Mr Volandes himself.

So to do a settlement disclosure agreement is complete rubbish. This is not intended to smear me. This is intended to look at the sale of Rose Hill. So at the moment, all it is is a smear campaign with absolute zero evidence. There's no evidence that I've ever signed a disclosure agreement with any person, and I take great offence to it, that I've worked my life for 20 years. I have three young children, and they're going to hear from this inquiry that I've done this, which when I haven't,

Did Mr Latham do domestic violence? No, he didn't. What are you on about? You're not saying that about me. You're complaining about people smearing you and that's your best response to someone like that. Well, I'm just giving you an example how you can be smeared...

And I'm saying... I'm not saying you did, but you can be... Mr Volandis, back to the question, please. But you don't understand my point, Mr Latham. Yes, I do. No, you smear me with no evidence. I've got evidence. No, you don't, Mr Volandis. Mr Volandis, the question... Mr Volandis, Mr Volandis, if I draw... All you do is... Mr Volandis, Mr Volandis, if I draw you back, you're being asked questions by the Deputy Chair. Look, it didn't end there. So Peter Volandis effectively said that Mark Latham is in cahoots with some really rich breeders...

who don't like Peter Volandes very much. And Mr Latham is doing the breeders bidding. And when that was raised, the two men just went at it.

Now, there's no way in the world the ATC is going to take the money and invest it in Tamworth course or Albury. Why would they do that? So any logical person reading that element of the minutes would think there must be a proposal for someone to allocate money beyond the ATC tracks around New South Wales to benefit the racing industry as a whole. But if you look at the previous minute, Mr... I know what it says about the ATC... No, the previous minute... Yeah, you said they're not much chop, but that's not... Mr Latham...

Now, there's been plenty more accusations thrown at Peter Volandis. We've put all the audio that you need to listen to on the website, 2GB.com. It's all there if you want to listen to it all. But as I said, this is a fight between old and new money in racing. Peter Volandis, the new money, the old money,

the breeders who've run racing at New South Wales and racing in Australia more broadly as a bit of a fiefdom for quite a long time. Now you can make an argument that Peter Volandis runs racing New South Wales like a bit of a fiefdom. Regardless, the fight is on. Wealthy breeders don't want new races or don't like new races like the Everest and the Golden Eagle and the Big Dance because it dilutes the value of their own bloodstock winning traditional races and

In Melbourne, like the Cox Plate or the Manicato, Group 1 races. Peter Valendi doesn't care about that. He wants competition in the market. And the Everest has been a stand-up success on each and every measure.

Now, the reality is this isn't going to end anytime soon. So expect more of it. And who will win? Well, that's anybody's guess. 1-3-1-8-7-3. Now, if you're a North, speaking of Peter Valendis, ironically, if you're a North Sydney Bears fan or you were once a North Sydney Bears fan, you better listen to this. Because the Daily Telegraph is reporting via Michael Karianis, Pete Bedell and Brent Reid,

that the Bears will be returning to the NRL via Perth. So the Western Bears is what they're expecting it to be called, and protracted negotiations have finally reached an outcome where officials from North Sydney and Western Australia's bid team have signed off on an historic agreement to resurrect the North Sydney Bears. They will return to the NRL for the first time since 1999, and...

While the Perth Bears name was floated, they've agreed to call it the Western Bears. A nod to the Western Reds, I'm thinking. So they'll spend the next few days finalising the submission. There's an August 14 deadline, but they will be the Western Bears in red and white. Red, white and black, I should say.

The 18th team to compete in 2027 with PNG expected to be introduced a year later. So the agreement, according to the telly, is there will be an adaptation of the North Sydney Bears logo. There'll be one heritage match in New South Wales. They're hoping it will be against Manly to be played at either North Sydney Oval, Allianz or on the Central Coast where they will wear the traditional North Sydney jersey. And the main colours will be red, white and black.

However, there will be a tinge of yellow to pay homage to the former Western Reds outfit. A pre-season game will be played at North Sydney Oval. Can you imagine that? North Sydney Oval. 2027, first season, pre-season. Chockers it'll be. And the North Sydney Bears will remain the main feeder club to the New South Wales Cup.

for the NRL side, which is some good news. So the Bears, it's taken a while, but they might finally be back. That's some good news. It's quarter past five, and thank God it's Friday. And now on 2GB Drive, thank God it's Friday.

Yes, and it's time for your Sydney shout-outs. All thanks to our great mates at DeeDee's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. So 131873. Who deserves a special mention in your life? Because thanks to the great folks at DeeDee's, I've got five $100 vouchers to give away.

So give us a call. Who will be your Sydney shout-out? Is it your birthday? Is it your wife's birthday? Is it an anniversary? Has your neighbour been very good to you this week? It doesn't matter. If you get on air, you win. 131873. Give someone a special shout-out on this Friday and you'll win a $100 voucher to Dee Dee's Waterfront.

You're listening to TGIF. Thank God it's Friday on Sydney's 2GB. Well, first shout out is from me this afternoon. And it's a very special shout out to Team Code Blue. They're a team of former first responders and volunteers raising money for current or former first responders who are doing it a bit tough. And just a few days ago, I received this email, drive2gb.com. And it was from Nathan. And it says this.

Chris, my name is Nathan Smith. I'm a former detective with the New South Wales Police and Team Code Blue and I are organising a raffle to support a New South Wales paramedic named James. And in 2022, after the birth of his third child, James was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Due to the severity of his condition, James had to stop working in September of 2022 to focus on aggressive treatments and surgeries, which are still ongoing. Now, the raffle that we're raising features prizes donated by West's Tigers player, Jareem Buller, and it will be drawn on August 15. Any traction you can offer us would help greatly to raise some funds for this beautiful young family. Well, Nathan Smith's on the line for us. Nathan, g'day.

G'day Chris, how are you? I'm good mate, I'm good. Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about Team Code Blue? Yeah sure, so Team Code Blue was established by an ex-Queensland Police Sergeant, Shane Martin. We won't hold Queensland against him in that regard.

to support those that support our community, so our police, fire and ambulance officers. In the back end of 2023, he and I spoke about coming into New South Wales, where I volunteered to assist him in doing that. And, yeah, it led to me hearing about James through a mutual contact that I had and this raffle we got going today. How's he doing, James? Good.

Oh, look, he's very positive in his outlook. He's still definitely got a long way to go on his path to get better. But he's fighting the good fight and hanging in there for his beautiful wife and three kids. It must be hard on his family, Nathan. Yeah, most definitely. Because of the rare nature of his cancer...

He's regularly required to travel from Port Macquarie down to Sydney in return, which means his wife and family have to take days off work and school commitments to make that happen. And, yeah, his wife's very hard working trying to make ends meet. She's working 12-hour shifts up to seven days a week at the moment. What does she do?

She's in the health sector up there in Port Macquarie. So what kind of the money that you're raising to help Nathan, how is it helping him?

So 100% of all money that we raise will go to James and his family to assist in trying to ease that financial burden on his wife having to work those times so she can focus more on supporting James and the young family they've got up there. And is it just for James' needs, his incidental expenses and that sort of thing? Yeah.

Yeah, that's right. So each specialist appointment, I've been told, costs anywhere from $2,000 upwards, which obviously is a very heavy burden on the family. So we're hoping any money that we can raise for this cause will go a long way to trying to pay for a few of those appointments for him or the travel cost of them having to come to Sydney. Oh,

Good on you, Nathan. Look, without organisations like yours, James and his family would just be doing it even tougher than they are right now. So you've got this raffle going. Run us through it. What can we win?

Okay, so we've got 1,800 tickets up for sale, and I had a check just before I come on air, and we've got about 600 left at the moment. So we've had a pretty good response in general, mainly from Port Macquarie. So first prize you can win is one of Jareem Boor's tickets,

debut boots which he signed so he donated that to Shane when the Tigers travelled up to Townsville I think it was in about April or May this year also on that trip they signed a West Tigers footy for him and a junior size brand new football boot and then we lead down in the fourth prize which is two general admission tickets to the

West Tigers versus Parra, which I think is shaping up to be a battle for the spoon. They'll both try to avoid it. Everyone will want to get there to ensure they don't get it. Hey, Nathan, you're doing some great work, mate. You're doing some really, really good work. If people want to donate, raffletix.com.au forward slash letshelpjames2024. So raffletix with an X.

Let'sHelpJames2024. I appreciate you coming on, Nathan.

No worries. Thanks, Chris. You're very welcome. Keep doing what you're doing. Over to you now, 131873. Who's your Sydney shout-out for? DD's Waterfront Group. Tickets up for grabs. All right, it's time for our Sydney shout-outs. It's all thanks to the DD's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business. Five $100 vouchers to give away. Our first, I've got Steve at George's Hall. G'day, Steve. Hey, Chris. Who's your shout-out for, Steve?

Oh, you beauty. She's all clear, is she? Oh, Steve. Yeah, so I just wanted to shout out how proud I am of her and

Yeah, six rounds of chemo and radiation and lost all the hair and yeah. Oh mate. How's that been on the family? It's been very tough on all of us mate but yeah it's hard watching your kid go through something like that. I can't imagine. Yeah, my 30 year old son just stepped up straight away. He was a complete match with his sister and he said I'll do what I have to do. What a young man Steve. So your daughter, she's going okay?

Yeah, she's 21 at the moment and she's had to put her life on pause. But hopefully now things get back on track and she can go back to uni and be a 21-year-old and get in trouble. Yeah, that's all right. She's certainly earned it, Steve. I hope she's doing well and all the best to your son too. What a kid, mate. You must be a serious dad if a 13-year-old son puts his hand up and does that straight away. Good on you. So if there's a $100 voucher coming your way, take your wife out to dinner, all right?

Oh, thank you so much, Chris. Thank you so much. Good on you, mate. Good on you. That's Steve at George's Hall. See? That puts the problems into perspective sometimes, stories like that. Daniel's at the Oaks. Hello, Daniel. G'day, Chris. How are you? I'm all right, mate. Who's your shout-out for? Firstly, what a proud parent they must be for that 13-year-old, and I'm glad to hear his daughter's doing well. But I've got a proud dad story myself. My 8-year-old found out two weeks ago from Guinness World Record that he's a brand-new world record holder. In what? In what?

He built the largest loom band chain in a minute. How's he feeling? Did he get the certificate and everything?

So the certificate's on its way. But yeah, he gets the free certificate and we won't know if he's going to be in the book until later in the year. But yeah, he's over the moon. Absolutely over the moon. That's awesome. Good on you, Daniel. Hey, $100 voucher coming your way. Thank you, Chris. Appreciate it. Good on you, Daniel. Trish is at Gladesville. Hello, Trish. Hi, Chris. How are you going? All right. Who's your shout out for?

What's his name, Trish?

Oh, that's a beautiful name. So grandma will be, I'm assuming, if it's anything like our household, grandma will be conscripted into doing some babysitting duties? Well done. Well, make sure you get away and use this $100 voucher that's coming your way, okay?

Thank you. Thank you. You're very welcome, Trish, and all the best to your daughter and son-in-law and beautiful little baby boy, Bo. Sue's at Bangor. G'day, Sue.

G'day Chris, I'd like to have a shout out to my mum Betty Dawn Roche. She's 93 next month September. She still is at home. She's had seven children. She's lost three of those. She used to teach ballroom dancing and she danced when she was 89. She gave up a license about 88. She volunteered at the Salvation Army for many years.

and she loves the church and the people of the Salvation Army here in Bangor and she's been a wonderful mother and I'd love to take her out somewhere for her birthday in September when she turns 94. She loves your station and she wanted to say a hi. I'm with her here now. Our lovely lady from Baptist Care came to shower her because last year

She had not a reconstruction, but a total shoulder replacement on the right arm and core, Sue. She had a few other issues, but she's a trooper. She's about 5'0 and 50 kilos, and she dresses immaculately, just like the Queen. She always wears her Pubera hat. She's a proud Australian. And I just want to give her a good shout-out for being a great mother. Oh, Sue, that's beautiful. I loved every single word that you just shared with us then. Hey.

I've got a $100 voucher coming your way. This is on Con and Kerry DeeDees for the DeeDees Waterfront Group. Betty Dawn Rowe can get dolled up, and Sue, you can take her into town and have a really nice birthday lunch, okay? Yeah, it's Betty Dawn Roach. Roach, sorry. All right, well, Betty Dawn Roach, almost 93 years old. Sue, I really appreciate you calling in. That's a beautiful, beautiful story, and g'day to Betty. Thank you so much for your call. Final one, I've got Sariah. She's at Glenfield. Hello, Sariah. Hi.

Hi, Chris. How are you? I'm all right. How are you? Yeah, good, mate. Good. I just wanted to shout out to both my mum and dad. They're celebrating 50 years of marriage. 50 years of marriage. How good is that? What's your mum and dad's name? Vijendra and Rosie. Oh, beautiful. What's their story, Sariah? Well, they got married in Fiji and then had four beautiful children and we're all here now. And mum and dad are with us, so...

Mum's a country girl and dad's a city boy. That's awesome. So we're at 50th wedding anniversary. Have you got something big planned? Yeah, we've got a surprise party with all of our siblings coming from overseas. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Sariah, they're not listening, are they?

No, no, definitely not. No, no, no. That isn't a DDP, look. You never know, mate. You don't want to give it away to surprise. I'm 100% sure. I'm 100% sure. Right, $100 voucher coming your way, all right? Enjoy it. Thank you for your call. 50th wedding anniversary. How good is that? That's our Sydney shout-outs for this Friday afternoon. It's all thanks to the DD's Waterfront Group. Good health and good business.

In the newsroom, Josh Bryan. G'day. G'day. Hello again, Chris. A man has been arrested after the discovery of a clandestine drug lab in Sydney's west by police who've been tracking glassware that's linked to the manufacture of illicit substances. A deal has reportedly been reached to see the bears return to top-level rugby league as the Western Bears. The Telegraph.

reporting that a deal has been reached between officials from North Sydney and Western Australia. Racing NSW boss Peter Volandes has had a heated clash with MP Mark Latham during a hearing into the proposed redevelopment of Rose Hill Racecourse and Cadbury says it's being forced to adjust the recommended price of its Freddo Frogs and Caramellos due to rising production costs. In sport after all the doubt and controversy racing in the River Seine is a

Thanks, Josh. I didn't realise I could stick with my industry super fund when I retired. Thankfully, I discovered if I stayed, I could set up a regular income, take money out when I wanted, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement.

Visit compareyourretirement.com today. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. And now, a weather update. Well, shower or two developing this evening. Right now, 15 degrees in the city and 16 in our west. Temperatures tonight will dip to 12 in the city and 8 in our west. Tomorrow, shower or two. Tops of 19 degrees in the city tomorrow and 20 in our west.

A finance update. Enjoy impossible-to-ignore savings across the Mercedes-Benz SUV range. Well, the All Ords has closed up. It's had a big, big bounce today, the markets. 1.32% the All Ords is up on the Friday close. ASX 200 is also up 1.25%. And one Aussie dollar currently buying 66.01 US cents.

Hello, I'm Daini Geddes with your latest on the final days in Paris.

Minji Lee has entered round three at the women's golf, nine shots back of the lead. She and fellow Aussie Hannah Green are both confident they can still get into medal contention. In a thrilling photo finish, the men's K4 500m canoe sprint team paddled their way to silver, missing gold by a razor-thin margin of just 0.04 seconds.

Over in the boxing ring, Charlie Sr. and Kaelin Parker fought hard in their semifinals, each taking home a bronze. Meanwhile in basketball, the USA's dream team, featuring the likes of LeBron and Steph Curry, pulled off a stunning comeback, down by 13 points at the start of the final quarter. They rallied to defeat Serbia and secure a spot in the gold medal match.

And Spain believes they can end a 32-year wait for an Olympic gold in the men's soccer when they face France in the final. As we check the medal tally, the USA holds on to that top spot with 30 gold, just one ahead of China. Australia sits with 18. I'm Dani Geddes, bringing you the latest from the Paris Olympics.

That Paris 2024 medal tally was thanks to Woolworths, proud fresh food partner of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams. Well, from the Olympics to the NRL tonight. Two games of NRL tonight, starting with the Gold Coast Titans hosting the Cronulla Sharks. And Tom Hackett is from Ladbrokes. He's on the line for us. Tom, g'day. Hello, Chris. What do you reckon? Gold Coast, Cronulla? What are the markets suggesting?

Yeah, it's a very interesting game. I mean, if this game was being played eight weeks ago, the Sharks that would be clear favourites and the Gold Coast Titans, the outsiders. But so much has changed in the last couple of months. The Titans are one of the form teams in the competition. Still a genuine chance of playing finals football. Well, the Sharks, they're clinging on to the top four, but they're on the slide. So the Titans that are the favourites of this game, they're $1.52. Cronulla Sharks, $2.55. I don't mind the Sharks at that $2.55, I think.

the market's being a little bit generous to the Titans here and I think the Sharks do offer a little bit of value to bounce back to winning form. Is any love for Parramatta to beat Penrith tonight?

There is not. It is dominant one-way traffic here for the Penrith Panthers. They're $1.14. Parramatta Eels are $5.75. I think the good news for Eels fans is that during Panthers, the dynasty, the Eels have generally been the side that's given the Panthers the most trouble during the regular season. But tonight, punters aren't thinking that way. One-way traffic for the Panthers. The line, 16.5 points.

Now the Olympics, it's a couple of days to go. We've got a good chance in the middle distance running and potentially, what about the Stingers in the gold medal match against Spain? Yeah, two really, really exciting opportunities for gold medals across the week. And we'll start with the Stingers. They are outsiders, but they're in with a genuine chance. They're $2.15, Spain are $1.70. Both sides needed a shootout to get through to the gold medal.

gold medal match. So the thing is, they're in with a genuine chance of winning our first gold medal in the water polo since Sydney 2000. And then the main event from an Australian standpoint on the track this weekend is that woman's 1500 metres, Jessica Hull, right in the race. Faith Yagon from Kenya, the world record holder, is the favourite $1.33. But Jessica Hull is right there on the third line of betting at $8. A really great chance of winning a medal. And we have seen some upsets on the track. Short price favourites

have been getting beaten, so we're certainly not counting out Jeff Hull. And what about the Swanee's?

They bounced back in a big way, the Swans. They are favourites tonight. Hunters are confident they can return to winning form. They're $1.40. Collingwood, $2.90. Collingwood, this is basically must-win if they want to keep alive their premiership defence. Well, it's not must-win for the Swans, but you feel from a confidence standpoint it is getting close to must-win. They need to find some momentum heading back into finals. And they still need to guarantee that top-four spot as well. So, punters think they can bounce back this afternoon. Good on you, Tom. Really appreciate you coming on. Have a good weekend.

Thanks, Chris. Have a great weekend. That's Tom Hackett from Ladbrokes. The Ladbrokes app is loaded with the best racing features. Take on the fun and download the Ladbrokes app today. What are you really gambling with? For free and confidential support, visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. Now, I've just got a text here. It says, hi, Chris, I'm a water polo tragic, representing the very proud Balmain Water Polo Club. Very proud. Wonderful water polo club, Balmain Water Polo Club.

And he said,

Surely that's un-Australian. Dix has to shut down at midnight. We're devastated as we have club members representing us as players and coaching staff, and we wish to continue our support. Well, I can't read who sent me this, but I've passed your mobile number, I hope this is okay, as well as this text message to John Graham, the minister who's in charge of all this stuff.

And I've also sent John Graham, the Minister, Aaliyah, who's the publican at Dix, who I know really well. I've sent him his mobile number. So I know the game's on tomorrow. Hopefully they can make the Stingers game, the gold medal match, can be put on the exemption list ASAP so you guys can enjoy it. Balmain Water Polo Club, brilliant club and Dix an even better pub.

All right, so it all starts Monday. Your chance to win $1,000 cash in breakfast and drive each day. So I'll give you a code word and you've got to write it down and then Ben Fordham will give you the cue to call. If you know the code word, you win $1,000. Now, the good news is I get to come up with the code words and Ben gets to come up with the code words. We're not handed them like we have been recently. So I know Ben Fordham has a very different view on the police commissioner's gin purchases.

So the catchphrase is gin. My view is it's not a big deal. Ben Fordham's view is it's a big deal. So gin is the catchphrase for

for the $1,000. You've got to be listening to Ben Fordham live on Monday morning, and when he gives you the cue to call, the answer is gin. Call the competition line and you will win $1,000. So Ben will give you a code word that you've got to write down if you want to win a grand with me on Monday afternoon. Just repeating it one more time. The catchphrase you need Monday morning is gin. Always be together, together.

Now on Drive. Good old Charlie Brown. Now at Harvey Norman, up to 20% off Acer and Lenovo laptops, desktops and all-in-one computers. Harvey Norman, best brands, best range, best prices, guaranteed. Well, did you see that a US federal judge ruled that Google has violated US antitrust laws effectively?

It's operating in a legal monopoly when it comes to search engines. Google. Well, Charlie Brown, our resident tech expert, he's the host of Lifed and Technology right here on 2GB, and he joins me live. Charlie, Google, a monopoly. Who would have thought? Yeah, the US antitrust guys ran this case against Google. Started during the Trump administration when he was president, and the judge just handed down his opinion this week. It's a big deal, Chris, because...

When, for example, you buy an iPhone and you look at the default search engine, the search engine that's there when you start using it, you can change it, but it's always Google as the search engine. And that's because Google pays Apple billions of dollars for the privilege. Now, that is all part of the reason why this judge said that they've got a monopoly and he said it's not a good thing for a competition.

Google is going to appeal. The White House said it's a good thing for everybody. And we'll wait till the next round. What's on the show tomorrow? We're going to talk with the guys from Xiaomi. Third biggest mobile phone company in the world is now here selling in Australia. We'll talk about what they're going to offer phone customers. Plus the 3G shutdown.

We're about to see Telstra say goodbye to 3G and then Optus. We will go through the last you need to know tomorrow on the program. Good on you, Charlie. We'll be listening. That's Charlie Brown. You can catch him from 8am tomorrow morning right here on 2GB Life and Technology.

Call me now if you want to play the Jewel for Fuel. Thanks to Shell V-Power. 131873. 200 bucks of free petrol. 131873. We'll do it next. On 2GB Drive, let's Jewel for Fuel. Our contestants this afternoon, I've got Paul at Illawong. Hello, Paul. Hi, Chris. How are you, mate? Love the show. Thanks. Good to hear your voice. Justin's in Newcastle. G'day, Justin. Hello, mate. How are you? I'm good, thank you, Justin. You're kicking us off. You ready? Ready.

All good. Your time starts now. The 2014 Soccer World Cup was held in which country? Oh, that's already got me. I'm gone. Brazil. How many eggs make two dozen? 24. Correct. Which movie did Al Pacino portray the role of Tony Montana? Starface. Correct. Nina Kennedy won gold for Australia in what event? Pole vault. Correct. Thimble, dog and race car are all pieces in which board game? Monopoly. Well done. Four. Good strong outing, Justin. Paul, you ready?

Yep. Your time starts now. A pickle is made from which fruit or vegetable? Cucumber. Correct. A GWS Giants are associated with what sport? AFL. Correct. Horror movie, Living in the 70s and Women in Uniform are songs by which Aussie band? Skyhooks. Correct. My Shot is a song from which legendary musical? Pass. Hamilton. What type of cheese is traditionally used in a Greek salad? Feta. Correct. What is the only flag that does not have four sides? India or Nepal?

Paul. He's got it on the buzzer. Well played, Justin and Paul. Paul, you've got the biscuits. $200 of free fuel coming your way. It's all thanks to Shell V-Power. It is the jewel for fuel. We play every afternoon here on Drive. And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports. Mark Levy's got Wide World of Sports coming up. I know we're going to talk about the Olympics, but just very briefly, Levy.

You haven't got a microphone. Hello, Mike. Hello, hello. Dragon 13+. Who are they playing? Canterbury. Sold out Cogger. Okay, I'm with you.

Cog Gravel, I'll support you. Can you imagine the issues the Princess Highway will have tomorrow? What about them closing the Cross City Tunnel? I can't get over it like 3, 4 in the morning. I'm in tears driving home. What's on? Matt Hill and Jane at the track. Shane McGuinness on the canoe sprint. Jenna Hay on the opals. And Jeff Ogleby talking golf. Good on you, Levy. You're doing an outstanding job. That's Mark Levy with...

with Wide World of Sports coming up. And of course, all the coverage of the Paris Olympic Games right here on 2GB. I'll see you Monday afternoon at 3pm. Anything you'd like me to look into, drive at 2GB.com. Have a safe weekend.

2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full Show August 9