2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe – Full show July 3
01:51:24 Share

On Sydney's 2GB, this is Drive with Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Good afternoon, it is Clinton Maynard here for Chris O'Keefe. Chris is back on Monday, 131873. What is going on with Sydney's weather at the moment? It was pouring overnight at my place. Showers forecast all week. There's been showers on and off throughout the day. I'm looking out the window now towards the western suburbs. There are some patches of blue sky, but then in other parts of the city,

It's raining again. Now, Sydney doesn't seem to be able to cope anymore with wet weather.

The northern beaches yesterday afternoon basically paralysed because of heavy rain. Don't get me started on the potholes that I had to dodge on the way to work today. And then when it's wet, it seems we completely forget how to use umbrellas. You walk down the street, you cannot help but bump into other people with their umbrellas. The etiquette's gone out the window. Plenty coming up on the program today. The way we handle mental health is in the spotlight. And a woman's shining the light on this issue.

is the mother of one of the victims of the Bondi Westfield stabbing. She is worth listening to. She says the mental health system is in crisis and we need to act now. We'll look at that. More speculation about interest rates today. Mixed news, which just adds to the confusion about what will happen when the RBA board meets in August. New car sales are down.

but we're spending more in the shops. So what does that mean for rates? I'll take you through that. And at a time when high-end restaurants are struggling because of the cost of living, more of us are going to local pubs and clubs for a decent meal. Where can you find...

the best grub we'll take your recommendations throughout the program as well so a packed show for you i want to hear from you if you see something we need to know about send me a text message 0460 873 873 and you can have your say on 131 873

But firstly, as we go to air, New South Wales Police are now addressing the media about the manhunt in our north-western suburbs. This is focused around Northmead. You would have been following this throughout the day. Police have now confirmed a vehicle was stolen and several armed robberies took place this morning throughout Northmead. Now, we've spoken to the cops recently. They've told us they're still looking for the suspect. They believe the suspect is still armed.

Christ the King Primary School has entered into what they call a voluntary lockdown. That was this morning during the operation. We will follow this up shortly with Nine News reporter, Masilia Ali. 131873, if you're in the area around Northmead, give me a call if you've seen anything today. Let me know what is happening.

Well, new car sales figures have been released for June, and that is significant because, firstly, it's the end of the financial year, and we can look back on the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year and compare. And overall, across those six months, sales are actually up. But if you look at June itself, the June sales figures year on year have gone down. They've gone down by 4.2%.

and i wonder whether that's because finally the high interest rates are starting to bite the motoring market and what that means for the rba when they meet in august when they set rates but interestingly ev sales are also down and reasonably significantly james ward is the director of content at drive.com.au and joins us g'day james g'day mate how are you good mate ev sales electric vehicle sales they're down 13 percent why do you think that's occurred you

Yeah, so look, what we're seeing is, and look, let's look at it year on year. So June 24 compared to June 23, we are back 13%, but year to date. So 24 from January to June versus 23 from January to June, we're actually up 16%. So we're sort of looking at

June should normally be the biggest month of the year, and it has been for years. And even some of the things you said in the intro, we're sort of saying the canary in the coal mine, the canary is starting to get a bit of a tickle in its throat, I think, here, because normally June represents a 30-odd, roughly a 35% increase on the average of the previous five months. June's usually a runaway.

This year, June was only 17% up over the previous five months. So it's not as big as we expected it to be. EVs, we've sold just on 60,000 almost this year. But

Yeah, I think we're at the point now, and we're seeing that plateau off. We're seeing hybrids take away, EVs are slowing down. They're still growing, but I think there's a point now where if you wanted one, you bought one. In the last three years, we've sold roughly 200,000 electric cars. In that time, and for context, so far this year, so in six months, we've sold almost that number of double cab utes. So the idea that...

If you bought an EV or you wanted an EV, you bought one, but they don't suit everyone. Not everyone's ready. You can't get a twin cab ute. You can't get really a sort of a full adventure off-road four-wheel drive that's full electric at the moment. So they only suit a certain set of the market. But we're waiting now for that next generation. So new technology, new sort of applications.

But I think a lot of people are waiting for the government to catch up. We want more charging infrastructure. We want better support for electric vehicles to put them through. So yes, they're growing. They're just not growing as quickly as they were. And if you remember a year ago and two years ago, there were incentives. You were getting a $4,000 kickback from the government just for buying a car. So that's all gone now. You're kind of on your own. So if you want one, there's still some new products coming through. There's great cars coming.

But I think we're in that kind of plateau between growth phases. And it's just an interesting one to watch. So those government incentives have disappeared. But I do note that it depends on the brand, but particularly the Chinese brands. Their prices have actually been coming down. And Tesla and a lot of their vehicles are actually made in China. The big discounts on Tesla's at the moment.

Yeah, absolutely. And the majority of electric vehicles that we buy in Australia are made in China. Every Tesla that we have here, the Model 3s and the Model Ys, they're built in Shanghai. You've got Volvo, you've got BMW, you've got Mercedes, you've got some of the big European brands, they're building cars in China. So we are benefiting from a price position of...

And remember the old adage, people say, why are cars so cheap in Europe or the US? And we're getting stung here in Australia. In fact, if you do the currency conversion, we're paying less for electric vehicles than you do in other parts of the world because we've got that supply chain sort of proximity to China. We actually... It works in our favour. But I think where we're seeing... The idea... You know, we're seeing more cars coming in under $40,000. We're seeing some new models coming through, more choice. But...

They're not everything. You look at the cars that sell in Australia in the big numbers, double cabutes and medium-sized SUVs. And hybrids, you can now, in pretty much all of the medium-sized SUVs, you can get a hybrid option. So there's a hybrid X-Trail, there's a hybrid RAV4, there's a hybrid CR-V. So for buyers who are thinking, well, maybe I need that cross-step, if I'm downsizing and cost of living pressures...

They're real. We're seeing people go from a two-car family to a one-car family, and that one car needs to be effective at doing a lot of things. And if that can be a hybrid to save on the weekly fuel bills, people are looking at that because it's not a techno play to have an EV in the garage. It's got to be a car that can do a bit of everything. So a petrol-electric hybrid is where a lot of people are looking at the moment. Toyota's moving most of their fleet over to hybrid as well, and not the Hilux, but the Toyota.

the stage of the Land Cruiser, but all their passenger vehicles are now hybrid. Yeah, you can no longer buy a petrol Camry. So if you're buying a Camry, it's hybrid. If you're buying a Corolla, it's hybrid. And we will start to see more and more of that. You're seeing the European brands are putting mild hybrids in everything. Volvo is still holding strong to become a fully electric brand by 2026. So there will be some more changes over the next couple of years. But the slowdown, I think it's...

Yeah, we need to see the other parts of this new technology catch up. So if we start seeing more charging being put in at the local shops, if we start seeing the technology, and we know that every week we're reporting on battery technology taking another step forward. So give it another year. You think how quickly the electric vehicle sort of conversation has moved in the last...

two, three years. Give it another two, three years and we'll be having a completely different conversation. So look, it is interesting because I dare say I'm not surprised, but I am surprised at that June sales figure. It is nowhere near as high as we would have liked, but it's a kind of painting the picture that we know has sort of been happening all along is that people are saying, you know, rather than go and spend 70 grand on a new EV, I'm just going to keep the car I have for now and just

see what happens with interest rate rises, with how we're going with cost of living, with some of these tax and energy pressure relief coming through. How will that affect my household? And then what do I need to do? So yes, an interesting time for car buyers, but good deals to still be had. And that's an important thing to remember too. That's great. Given we're now into a new financial year, good to talk to you, James. We have a full analysis on drive.com.au of all the new car sales figures for June. Thank you, mate.

Excellent. Thank you. James Ward from drive.com.au. So EVs as of June make up 8% of the market, but they were down 13% June on June, but over the first half of the year up 16%. And as James says, it looks like a lot of people are deciding to maybe take a pause and interest rates have a lot to do with that. And that's the overall car market. Take a pause and see how the technology develops over the next 12 months.

17 past three, NRL journalist Paul Kent has appeared in court today. He has pleaded guilty to a fray. Now, this is in regards to what you would have seen the video of what occurred in April outside the Sackville Hotel in Roselle, where he was filmed clashing with a stranger and he admitted in court that he'd been drinking schooners for 11 hours. Now, he had put forward a mental health claim, but that was rejected by the court.

So, and of course, he had been through domestic violence charges, which were later cleared last year. But he has now pleaded guilty to these charges. These are charges of affray, which relates to the street brawl. He was left with six broken ribs and a collapsed lung. The sentencing is still to come. This week, Paul Kent, though, has been relieved of his duties at News Corp.

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. 21 past three. I'll come to your calls in a moment on 131873. And you can have your say for less with Amazing. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco and escape to better value with the Escape Plan by Amazing. Yet another person has been charged with the Blockhead Australia protests.

in the Hunter Valley, which had been disrupting trains day after day throughout the Newcastle area. Now a woman has been charged over a protest in Maitland. It occurred on the rail corridor at Singleton. Reports a person had allegedly entered the rail corridor and was obstructing trains. Officers from the Hunter Valley Local Area Command, with the assistance of Police Rescue, attended the site. They arrested a 22-year-old woman. Guess where she was from? Was she from Newcastle? Was she from New South Wales? No, she was from Victoria.

So this is an organised campaign by Block Aid Australia, Blockhead Australia I should call them, that's involving mostly people who are coming here from interstate. Most of the people who've been arrested, and it's now I think more than a dozen over the past week, are not from New South Wales.

She's now before the courts and of course the courts so far have just given everybody a slap on the wrist. 22 past three. Thank you for your text message, Brenda. Just on Paul Kent, as I mentioned, the Saksville Hotel in Roselle, he had been drinking at the Saksville Hotel for 11 hours. The altercation he was involved in then occurred outside the Three Weeds Hotel. He has pleaded guilty. Paul Kent has pleaded guilty to those affray charges.

The court rejected his mental health claim. Let's get to your calls. 131873 on electric cars. G'day, Dean.

Yeah, g'day, Clinton. I think all EV drivers need to be charged with fuel excise of some sort. It's not fair that all us petrol car operators are charged with excise. If EV drivers want the infrastructure, they've got to be taxed so it can be paid for, the infrastructure around the city. The problem they've got, though, Dean, is they introduced a tax for electric vehicle drivers in Victoria...

A smart lawyer then went to the High Court to challenge it, and the High Court has knocked it over. So they've had to tear it up. So all the state governments around the country are having to go back to the issue and figure out how they can actually make EV owners pay their fair share.

Well, perhaps they need to put a tax on the purchase of the vehicle. Don't make it a government tax. It's a tax on the vehicle to go towards the infrastructure. Well, the electric vehicles certainly cause the same amount of wear and tear on the roads, on highways, local roads, motorways, as petrol-driven cars do. In fact, electric vehicles are actually a little heavier.

Thank you for your call, Dean. 131873. Barbara says... Barbara says...

Probably following the trend of actually converting most of their fleet now to hybrid vehicles. Michelle says on the text line, of course, you can send me text messages 0460 873 873. Regarding electric cars, the electricity is now far too expensive to charge them. The prices are going up at a rapid rate and will continue to go up. And that's true. The electricity rates are going up, but it's still cheaper than petrol.

Now, I use 98 petrol, for instance, and you're lucky to get it much less than, say, $2.30, $2.40 a litre. So electric vehicles in that sense are still cheaper, but there's a higher purchase price. And when the battery needs to be replaced after eight years, and I, for instance, drive a 12-year-old car, I like to keep my cars long-term, the battery, depending on what style of car you have, can cost you a hell of a lot. 131873, hello, Hans. Hello.

Hello, mate. Just a quick one on those EVs. They should get a weight tax because that's legal. Trucks, cars, everything has a weight tax. And interestingly, in Europe, you can't put the cars in old car parks because those post-World War II car parks, they're not strong enough to take the cars.

Great point. 100% the point. Now, that's causing a greater pressure on the roadway network, which in the end means that the budget is further stretched for the maintenance budget. And the EV owners at the moment are not paying for that. Good on your hands. David. Hello, David. Hey, Clinton. Can you hear me? Sorry. Yes, mate.

It's there already, right.

Thank you mate, thank you for your call. This issue in Northmead at the moment, we're just getting some information through the police. Barry Vincent has just spoken about this, who's from the local area command. He can update us about these robberies that occurred in Northmead. Shortly after 5am this morning, police were called to a business premises on Windsor Road at North Rocks, following reports of a motor vehicle that had been stolen.

Police responded and were investigating that incident when police were called to a further incident in Mons Road in Westmead. Correction, Mons Road in Northmead. It's alleged that at that time a 47 year old woman was walking down the street when she was approached by a male from behind. And after a short wrestle her personal items which included her bag were taken from her. And a male described as just wearing dark clothing

of slim build and aged in his late teens was seen to return to a white vehicle before leaving the area. Whilst responding to that incident, police were called to a further incident within Cornelia Avenue in Toongabee where it was reported that a 19 year old female was approached from behind by a male of similar description where it's alleged that he produced a knife where a number of personal items were stolen from this woman as well.

This male was seen to return to a white vehicle which is confirmed to be that taken from the address in North Rocks before leaving the scene. About 15 minutes later police responded to a call where a female aged 27 was walking on Windsor Road at North Parramatta where again she was approached from behind by a male who demanded property from her before he produced a hammer and took that property from her. The property consisted of her personal items and a mobile phone

With the assistance of some witnesses known to the victim, they were able to track the phone to a nearby street in North Rocks Road at North Rocks. The two witnesses confronted a male person of similar description to that provided earlier, whereupon it's alleged that he allegedly assaulted one of those males with a hammer. The male was seen to run from the area and a number of police resources responded.

Following an extensive search over a number of hours by Parramatta Police Area Command, Raptor Squad, Pol Air, Dog Squad, Strike Force Sweetenum and officers from the Hills, following that protracted search we were unable to locate the offender. A number of items including the motor vehicle used during the offence have been located and seized for forensic examination and we're calling on members of the public who may have any information

either at the time of the offence or we believe prior to 5am in the Northmead or North Rocks area to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. That is Superintendent Barry Vincent updating us on the situation throughout Northmead and quite frightening for the victims that were involved in this. The man has not been found, the offender has not been found, Polair was involved in the search along with the dog squad. Obviously if we are

bring you any developments in that case we'll certainly bring that information to you first throughout the afternoon let's check our news headlines

And with all the latest, Rhiannon Sullivan-Marin. G'day, Clinton. A manhunt is underway in Sydney's north-west over reports of a series of armed robberies across Northmead and North Rocks. The police minister says a 14-year-old boy who's been arrested over a stabbing at Sydney University had been participating in a de-radicalisation program. Retail trade has increased more than what was forecast, growing 0.6% for May, partly due to shoppers searching for a bargain in early end-of-financial-year sales...

And firefighters have raised more than $200,000 in donations to help children with serious burns. A cheque's been presented to the burns unit at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. In sport, Rugby League is mourning the loss of former Bulldogs forward Jeff Robinson, known as the Wild Man. He won premierships in 1980 and 1984. Robinson was 66 years old. In Clinton, there'll be more news at 5.

Thank you, Rhiannon. News today that formally the deal to save Armour Guard, so at least Armour Guard can continue to operate, has been signed off on. The big four banks, ANZ, NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth, have come together along with some of the major retailers, including Coles and Woolies.

to provide a $50 billion deal that'll be in place for the next 12 months. The ACCC has actually approved this deal. So what it means is Armour Guard can continue delivering cash to those retailers and with the banks. Now, why this is critical is because if Armour Guard went under and there was the very real risk of that,

We are, of course, moving towards a cashless society, but I know a lot of you aren't happy with that, but it would be even harder to get our hands on cash if Armageddon wasn't operating. Now, they're in financial difficulty because more and more of us are using digital payments. The number of people using cash is dwindling, so they're struggling to make a business of it.

But if they disappear completely, try and use cash after that. 131873, there is increasing speculation that Fatima Payman, the Labor Senator, will resign, not from the Senate, but from the Labor Party within the coming days. And the speculation comes from the Prime Minister.

Anthony Albanese has been quizzed about Senator Payman in the lower house question time and asked whether Labor's actually referred her complaints to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. That's because she claims she's being exiled by her colleagues. Well, Mr Albanese has replied...

Senator Payman, of course, has made the decision to place herself outside the Labor Party. That is a decision she has made. I expect further announcements in the coming days, which will explain exactly what the strategy has been now for more than a month. So reading between the lines, that's an indication from the PM himself that

that Senator Payman may well resign from the Labor Party within the next couple of days. It's 24 to 4. The Labor Party at a state level made a big fuss during the last election campaign about restoring local manufacturing.

And when I talk about local manufacturing on the program, many of you wanted to return. We want to actually be able to buy Australia. Labor promised, for instance, they'd restore local train building here in this state. But you'll note that with the replacement of the Tangara fleet, it's being delayed. And I suspect, firstly, that's because it's very expensive to build trains here.

But secondly, because we've actually lost the skills that were developed over decades and decades to build trains in this state. So those skills have got to be restored. People have been trained again. Investments got to be made.

The state government is significant within the economy when it comes to actually buying goods and services. But are they doing the right thing and buying locally or are they themselves going overseas for supplies? An inquiry is underway at State Parliament looking at this very issue. And Union's New South Wales boss, Mark Morey, gave evidence today. Thank you for your time, Mark. Thanks, Clinton. How are you? Good, mate. This, I know, was an issue at the last election campaign. Why is it important to you?

Well, I think you've touched on it already. Having a manufacturing capability in the state is really important for us. One of the things we pointed out when COVID hit, there was only one company in the whole of New South Wales that made masks.

that were appropriate to be used by our medical staff and hospital staff. We are leaving ourselves exposed if we aren't able to manufacture the things that we need if there's another crisis. - So we're talking just big ticket items, like I mentioned Tangara replacement trains there or other things, you talk about masks. This is a range of things. - Yep, yep.

We're talking about all things that can be purchased from massive billion-dollar projects all the way down to $5 or $6 million projects. And why the small ones are important is because we want to see small to medium-sized enterprises have an opportunity to get government work so they can upskill and grow and become larger enterprises here in Australia. And that's very much about ensuring they have the opportunity to

to win contracts that enable them to upskill their workforce, buy the machines and the materials they need, and also remain competitive. Master's a really good example that we weren't making them here. There are a range of other things, though, that we need that simply we don't manufacture here.

Well, I think there's a whole range of things. And I think the issue for us is about the government using its money in its tendering processes to make sure we're getting a value for money and secondly, ensuring that we're able to have the capacity to do it here. I think you make a good point. The trains and the ferries that we sent overseas to be made

there were massive costs blowouts in those and it would have been better off just spending that little bit extra money to have them made here to maintain a manufacturing industry and maintain the technology and the skills here. We leave ourselves exposed if we don't have that capability here. And secondly, we need to spend that money here because it generates not just immediate jobs, but jobs throughout the economy. So what do you want to see the government do? Should there be a certain percentage, for instance, of contracts that need to go to Australian businesses?

Well, we're saying up to 50% for the really large ones. And what we don't want to see is local labour. So workers' hours counted in that. We want to see real material costs in those major projects weighted towards New South Wales and Australian companies. We want to make sure that there is a process by which

the companies who then get the money from the government have ethical working standards, like pay people properly, have proper safety standards. And then secondly, that they have a plan for how they're actually going to use that money for not only economic good, but for social good. And when I say social good, I'm talking about

If we're giving them government money, surely they have to put on X number of apprentices and train them while they're doing that to keep that skill going. These are really minimum things. They're not securely in place at the moment. And we think those things will do two things, bolster manufacturing and provide social and economic outcomes for our communities. But on the flip side, Bart, can we afford it as taxpayers? Because there's no hiding from the fact it is more expensive to manufacture in this country than it is Vietnam, for instance.

Well, that's correct. We had a report done by the Mackell Institute for us and four of the six major projects, I'm talking about the inner city rail, suburban rail, metro light rail, when those things were manufactured overseas, many of the rail carriages came back with asbestos in them. They had to be refitted. The inner city fleet didn't meet safety requirements here, had to be refitted. There's a lot of slowdown. There's

There's a lot of money lost during that and there's a lot of wastage. And I think although the previous government said it was cheaper to do it overseas, in the long run, it's cost them more overseas than if they'd done it here. I'd imagine you'd actually have business support. You're obviously loggerheads with business groups sometimes, but they no doubt want those contracts as well.

No, absolutely. And the people we're talking to across the business community are saying the same thing. And particularly for small to medium-sized businesses, how are they going to grow? How are they going to expand to become larger businesses that are internationally competitive if they don't get access to these government contracts? So I think it's safe to say there's a unity ticket between business and us on this one.

No doubt. Thanks for your time, Mark. Thanks very much for the opportunity, Clinton. Good to speak to you. Mark Morey, who's the Secretary of Unions New South Wales, he gave evidence to that Upper House inquiry today. That will put some pressure on the Labor government to do so. But they certainly went to the last election with that promise to start promoting local manufacturing.

But there's got to be the skills here to be able to do it. And I think the fact that the Tangara fleet has been extended, its life has been extended by about 10 years, and there'll be upgrades, and those upgrades will be carried out here to extend the life of the Tangara. But I think that's proof that some of the skills have disappeared, and it is damn expensive.

So, look, it all might be well and good to put a percentage figure on how much we need to be manufacturing here in terms of government's goods that they're purchasing. But are we going to be able to afford that? Because reality is it's a lot more expensive to manufacture goods and services here in this state than it is in Southeast Asia.

News today that the online bookseller Booktopia has entered voluntary administration. This has been on the cards for several weeks and the shares had been suspended on the stock market but it's now been confirmed. The voluntary administrators are unable to find emergency funding so it's not looking good for Booktopia.

At least 90 jobs have been made redundant in the past 18 months and the co-founder was actually axed from the business as well. And I think it's disappointing because it does show that the world of books is a very difficult business. Surprisingly, if you compare books to say CDs, you

you can still go to a major shopping centre and you'll usually find one or two bookstores in your local shopping centre, but you don't find record stores anymore or those that were selling CDs or DVDs or Blu-ray. Now, Booktopia, which also operated Angus and Robertsons,

online presence they weren't a bricks and mortar store and they took off online during COVID because people were locked up and locked down for so long they were looking to read books they couldn't go to the local Westfield to buy a book so they were going on to websites like Booktopia and they experienced a lot of growth it may have something to do with the fact that with the end of lockdowns people are willing to go to shops and actually buy books but it's quite sad that people are losing their jobs and that's no longer an option if you do actually want to buy a real physical book

Great to be with you this Wednesday afternoon, 131873. I'll come to your calls in a moment. But on the text line, on this issue of governments buying locally so they can support local manufacturing, Fred says the one thing governments forget about having local manufacturing is those workers pay tax benefits.

In Australia, they do. And so that generates more revenue. But those workers are also paid a lot more than those who are in Southeast Asia. From a surgeon who works at a New South Wales public hospital who wants to remain anonymous. And this is a good point. All surgical masks that we have here in the hospital are from China. And as Mark Morey from New South Wales explained, they discovered that during COVID that they weren't manufactured properly.

in this country. And that caused an issue on EVs and EV sales have gone down significantly in the last month. That does raise the question about taxing the drivers of EVs because the High Court last year threw out the tax that was introduced by the Victorian government because if you drive an EV, you're not paying fuel excise. Anthony says, before they start taxing EVs, how about the federal government actually spends all the fuel excise they raise on the roads that you know that the excise is actually meant for?

maintaining roads. At the moment, it's about 70%. Good point, Anthony. They could certainly start with that. There's a renewed focus today on the plight of businesses in the CBD, whether it's restaurants or cafes or shops, and they're still to fully recover from the COVID lockdowns. One of the key reasons customers have not returned to the city in the same numbers is because of the switch to working from home.

Mind you, electricity costs have a lot to do with their troubles as well, wages and inflation. It's also why CBD businesses are struggling.

But there are those who say that now that the lockdowns are gone, it is time to end work from home. Get workers back into the office five days a week. Figures show 100,000 people have not returned to the office full time. There's been some research that's been released today by MacRindle Research. And again, it identifies, and this is not a shock, but identifies Fridays are the problem.

Based on the research, Sydney office workers particularly work hard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But then on Friday, when it's work from home day, in many cases, they're actually spending plenty of time at home doing chores. In between the working hard, of course, maybe mowing the lawn, mopping the kitchen floor, but they're getting away with it. And then on the weekend, it's feed up.

Perhaps the guise of working from home on a Friday is a bit misleading. Maybe there's not a lot of work going on. Look, I think working from home is here to stay. The world has changed since COVID.

And a lot of workers find it significantly cheaper to be at home rather than going to the office. Public transport fares went up by 3.6% in Sydney this week. The tolls increased. You need a mortgage to park in the CBD these days. So workers do save good money from being at home. And then from an employer's perspective, when leases expire in the city, they

They're going to save a lot of money in the coming years by renting less office space. So I don't think we're going to be going back for a lot of those who can work from home being in an office five days a week. But it's going to be up to the employers themselves to make sure they're getting the value, that they're actually getting productivity from workers, whether it's on the Friday or in the days prior. If they aren't, it should be simple. That's when they force them back or dismiss them. It should be that simple.

And as for the businesses suffering in the CBD, yes, there is less foot traffic on Fridays. But maybe it's up to the businesses and governments to come up with new ideas to encourage people back into the city.

There's been a call from Business NSW this week to reintroduce the dining vouchers that the former coalition government had success with. And when I say had success, they always say, well, people love these. Well, of course, it was free money. Of course, people were going to love being thrown a voucher so they can go out to a restaurant or even McDonald's for free. They won't be returning. The men's government does not like vouchers. And secondly, they can't afford the vouchers. So that's not going to happen. Perhaps there needs to be some more creative solutions, like maybe free

free or discounted public transport on a Friday. Public transport is cheaper on a Friday than a Thursday, but not significantly so. Maybe that'll get people back to the city.

Claire on the text line says, in regards to attracting people to the city, I agree that we need to make it more of an arts and music hub to attract people. Can we light up the city's parks and trees and the water on the harbour side with more coloured lights like we see in Venice or the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas? Make it more like a city of colour and light. And look, it certainly was very successful during Vivid. Look at the huge crowds that went into the CBD during Vivid.

And then the crowd crushed on the night the drone display was on. Yeah, the lights were certainly successful. I somehow doubt the governments can afford to run a vivid-style event for 12 months of the year, but it's a nice idea. What about the story that I mentioned to Michael McLaren a little earlier? In Greece, they're going in the opposite direction from working from home. As of Monday, the Greek government is introducing a six-day working week.

So formally, it will be a 48-hour week rather than, say, a 38- or 48-hour week in Greece. And Greece has had a lot of financial issues over the years. They're actually doing OK these days. The Prime Minister has said it's an initiative because they have a shrinking population and they have a shortage of skilled workers in Greece. And it's part of a range of new laws that have been passed. The unions, Mark Morey from New South Wales would not be happy with this strategy. The unions in Greece say it's barbaric.

But that would be a way to get people back into the city. A six-day working week. Somehow, I don't think it's going to happen in this country. 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. 15 degrees in Sydney at the moment, 131873 is the number. On the issue of working from home and whether we've come to the point where we just need to accept that a lot of people, if they have the ability to do it, are going to work from home long into the future because from a business point of view, they save money on leasing costs and they save money on

And from the staffing point of view, they save on transport costs. Well, Chris listens to us online in Victoria and she says, working from home has saved me so much money. It's also enabled me to live in a regional town where the cost of housing is affordable. A commute to the city office one day per week is sufficient. And of course, we spend so much time, we're going to focus on a little later about the housing shortage in all of our big cities at the moment.

If you can encourage people to live in regional areas, and it might be, for instance, might be Wollongong, might be Goulburn, a lot of people live on the central coast and work in the city, but only travel to Sydney once a week because they can work from home, you are giving people that opportunity to live in cheaper housing.

And perhaps that would actually work. 131873, on housing, Ilan says the only solution is to turn Sydney's CBD and many of the commercial buildings there into residential buildings.

To do that, though, we need some courage. Can we find some courage in Sydney? I doubt it. Thank you, Ilan. Look, that has been a matter that's been discussed really in the last 12 months. And I've spoken to some experts, some real estate, some engineering experts as well and architects, because I think on the surface, it makes complete sense. We have a lot of office space in Sydney that's underutilised. The problem they've got, I'm told, is plumbing. Now, it's not insurmountable.

But a lot of money would actually be needed to be spent on some of those near-vacant office buildings because the plumbing would have to be completely reworked to cater for residential homes. I'd hope that one day it would be a possibility. But it will certainly take vision and it would certainly take a fair bit of planning. Roz says people prefer to work at home so they don't get sick and then spread it throughout the family. And absolutely, it has changed the thought of people. That's COVID.

COVID changed the way we deal with a lot of issues. 131 873 is our number. Coming up after the news, we're going to have a look at the issues within our mental health system. Now back to Drive with Clinton Maynard on Sydney's 2GB.

Thank you for joining me for The Drive Home this Wednesday afternoon. It is Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Chris is back on Monday. 131873 is our number. All eyes are currently on the Labor senator at the moment. She's a Labor senator, Fatima Payman. She is speculated within the course of the next couple of days...

to resign from the Labor Party and that speculation has come from no less than the Prime Minister himself. He's been questioned about Fatima Payman in Parliament because there has been some suggestions that maybe she would make an official complaint

to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. Why would she make a complaint? Well, she said earlier this week in that statement that she has been forced into exile, that she's been snubbed by her Labor colleagues. Well, any wonder. She hasn't towed the Labor line. This is what's unfolded in Parliament. My question is to the Prime Minister...

Have Labor Senator Fatima Payman's claims of being intimidated by members of the Labor Party been referred to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service? I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her question. It comes straight after the Leader of the Opposition last week was criticising us for the fact that we had taken a great deal of care

to give consideration to Senator Payman. Senator Payman, of course, has made a decision.

to place herself outside the Labor Party. That's a decision that she made. I expect further announcements in coming days, which will explain exactly what the strategy has been over now more than a month. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in the lower house a short time ago. So what he is saying there, he expects further announcements in the coming days.

That further announcement would be from Fatima Payman that I am resigning from the Labor Party.

But what she won't be doing, and we've heard revelations about her negotiations with other Muslim groups in the past 24 hours, what she won't be doing is resigning from the Senate. Now, the problem there is, is that democratic? Well, under the Constitution, under the rules, she is actually able to stay in the Senate for the course of her term as an independent, just like Lydia Thorpe has. However, as I've been talking about during the week...

The voters at WA voted for the Labor ticket. The majority of voters in WA voted above the line on the Senate paper. So they were voting for Labor. They weren't voting for Senate payment as an individual. And she was third on that ticket and she was not expected to take up a seat, but they did so well. The Labor Party did so well in WA at the last election over the Libs. She scraped in, but she did so under the Labor banner.

So in the end, the good folk of WA are not going to be represented by the party they wanted to be represented by. And whether you like the Labor Party or not, that's what WA voters voted for. They didn't vote for Senator Payman and they certainly didn't vote for her being affiliated to a Muslim group. 10 past four. What needs to be done to fix our mental health system? 131873, give me a call on this today. How has your interaction with the mental health system in our city been?

Because this is a topic that needs to be discussed. We are seeing a huge surge in alleged crimes being committed by those who need help. Now, let's start with yesterday's stabbing at Sydney University. A 14-year-old boy allegedly attacking a 22-year-old student at Sydney Uni. The boy was already known to the police. Allegedly, he'd been involved in a de-radicalisation program. Now, he is yet to be charged. That is expected to come.

But we've learnt more about his background and there are mental health issues at play. Last week, a 19-year-old Newcastle teenager, allegedly dressed in full camouflage and again armed with a huge knife, you would have seen the video, charged with terrorism offences. The magistrate told Newcastle Local Court the matter had strong overtones of mental health issues. And let's not forget what happened at Bondi Westfield. A man suffering from mental health problems, murdering six innocent people. How do we fix this?

Elizabeth Young is the mother of Jade. Jade was one of the six people killed in Bondi. She spoke outside Parliament House this morning and it's very powerful. Have a listen. After the horror of the Bondi Junction stabbings, the federal and state and territory governments committed to a national mental health ministers meeting to discuss joint action on mental health reform. Currently three months on, no date and no agenda has been set for this meeting.

Please, in the long shadow of the horror of Jade's death, I beg you as the voice of three shattered households, please actually do something about the discrepancies, the disparities, the inconsistencies in current mental health funding and management between the federal government and states, and between states.

Think as ordinary humans. Think as a mother, a father, a husband, a sister or brother. Find the courage to work together to coordinate action on mental health reform and funding. We need a coordinated national approach to mental health care so that no matter where you live you should be able to receive the care that you need.

Australia's mental health system is in crisis and now is the time to act. Good on Elizabeth Young for standing up. The courage she has to speak publicly like this three months after her daughter was killed at the hands of somebody who had issues. What a brave woman she is. Governments of all persuasions dating back years are to blame for this when it comes to our mental health system. They love a press release, the whole lot of them. But when it actually comes to doing something to improve the system,

It often ends up in the too hard basket. And I have some personal experience with this, and I might share that a little later. Tanvir Ahmed is a psychiatrist, a non-newspaper columnist, and joins me on the program. Thank you for your time, Tanvir. Great to be here, Clinton. Yeah, powerful stuff from Elizabeth Young there. It's extraordinary. And look, to think that she doesn't want her daughter's death to be in vain, so she wants to draw attention to the problems in this system. Do you believe the system is fit for purpose?

No, not at all. And look, you alluded to it. Mental health is a very broad category now. So, you know, it overlaps with law and order a lot and disability. And then the things we associate with being anxiety, depressed mood, trauma-related things. Now, look, we've had probably over two decades of mental health awareness campaigns. And the reality is people are

are definitely more aware but in some respects that sort of pushed resources and public opinion to often fairly mild to moderate disorders so that's still important you know people with anxiety type stuff or depressed mood psychologists in the community now that's absolutely important and at its worst it's also almost become something that celebrities and famous people come to sometimes

diminish responsibility or even have a fashionable identity, even have a fashionable identity. So mental has taken on lots of different purposes. But the key area we need the most resources, which is the serious disorders, which often requires the public system. We're talking public hospitals, community health centers and all sorts of workers from psychiatrists, psychologists, allied health workers.

that work in those areas, that's the real pointy end of the system. And you alluded to some of those cases from whether it's the Bondark killer or the kid that recently got arrested. You can guarantee that some of their problems overlapped with that pointy end of the system. And when they've fallen through the cracks, it's

It's because resources in the pointy end of the system, at least an element of the problem, has been that component has not been resourced appropriately. Actually, because I'll tell you, there was a survey, a big survey was done last year, and the average person looking for mental health help at the moment is waiting on average 12 weeks. That's ridiculous. So the waiting times, you know,

whether it's the private or public, are just outrageous. And try telling a kid with a teenager getting help how long it takes them. I see desperate people all the time. So it's absolutely not fit for purpose. I do know from personal experience, which I might discuss later, it's a complicated system as well to know where to seek help because there are so many different avenues. It's actually not very clear to people when they do find themselves in trouble.

That's a great point, Clinton. Yeah, you've got, say, the public system, you've got your GP, you've got referrals to psychologists, psychiatrists, you've got all these phone lines, and it's very easy to get lost in that setup. Absolutely. And hard to find the right help because with mental health issues, often it involves needing to find a connection with somebody and having the right connection for, for instance, somebody who's suffering depression, for instance, to open up to that person.

You need that therapeutic alliance. And what you alluded to, look, there was a budget earlier in the year. One of the key things is more resources in that public community section because we've also, the last 20 years, we've had a lot of people that used to be in long-term places like asylums and they've all come out in the community, which, you know, it's dignified. Was that a mistake, do you think? Do we go too far? Again, they need adequate resources to do that. You need to be strong resources to see these people in their houses, make sure they get their tablets, follow them up, all sorts of stuff. And that's...

And those resources aren't always there. And the other thing we need to do in a big way, Clinton, is workforce. The government really needs to invest more in making sure psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, clinical nurses. One of the biggest areas of potential is nursing specialists, both in the public hospital system and outside, to get trained up better. So there's all sorts of areas, you know, more sort of online stuff. There's lots of potential here.

But it needs, and you are right, sometimes people use it, the government's often used it as a bit of a badge, give them a kind of like a happy stamp, you know, kind of, and they'll announce something. For example, in the budget earlier this year, they announced some online mental health service. And look, that may well be a part of the picture. But, and obviously there's the federal state kind of gaps here. But the pointy end of the system, absolutely, that's where the money really needs to be.

Is there enough money in the system? Does it come down to dollars and cents?

Well, yes and no. But yeah, obviously, money is a big part of it. But then it needs to be sent to the right places. There's lots of money in all sorts of places. You know, Headspace, places like that get lots of attention. And that's not a bad thing. I mean, they do good work. But again, there's all other elements of the system. And we forget, there's sort of been an overtaken of the NGO groups. As you say, it's so splintered, this whole...

this whole sector has become so splintered and possibly too... What's the word? You know, there's so many different groups vying for a buck and attention and the slice of the cake here.

And what's ended up happening is the key part of the system, which is the public component, the public funded component. We're talking hospitals, community health centers and publicly funded help out in the community. GPs, counsellors, psychiatrists. That part is still pretty shaky. And look, one thing I was saying to you, producer Clinton, is.

There's a big shift at the moment where lots of people, the whole system is going towards ADHD and autism assessments. And that's partly driven by a consumer cultural demand. And that stuff is often high priced. And people are, and NDIS sometimes involved. And that's pulling out lots of workers too. In fact, the CEO of the Perth Private Hospital earlier this year, which closed, came out and said, we can't get workers because they're all setting up shops and charging huge amounts.

to diagnose ADHD and autism. So this is another interesting little trend that is actually making it harder for a lot of people to seek urgent care for often more serious illnesses. Yep, you're spot on. It certainly needs an overhaul. Thank you for your time today. Pleasure, Clinton. Dr Tanvi Ahmed, who's a psychiatrist and writes for the Nine Newspaper Group as well. It's...

It's such a complex area because there's not a clear pathway on how to get help when people do have issues. But when the end result is some of the violence that we've been witnessing in our city over the past six months, you know the system's broken. Now, it's not the right forum for me to go into the personal experiences I've had of late, but I have had some experiences of late. And what I can tell you is, thank goodness I'm doing okay financially because I could afford...

for some relatives to seek some help, I could afford to pay. God help people who don't have a little bit of money that can cover some of the costs. Because if they were waiting for help with a public system, they'd be waiting and waiting and waiting and probably sent down the wrong path at the same time. And the end result could be devastating.

All I wanted in retirement was to feel confident with my money. So I picked an income account with my industry super fund. Now I take enough for day-to-day things, splash out when I fancy, and the rest can grow over time. Stick with your industry super fund in retirement. Visit compareyourretirement.com today.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Consider the fund's PDS and whether the product is right for you. 24 past four. I mentioned a little earlier yet another person has been charged to face court over the Blockhead Australia protests across the Hunter Valley. And as we know, about a dozen people have been charged over the past week. They've all gone before the courts and of course they've been released on bail. Well, there could be issues tomorrow.

if more blockhead protesters are arrested tonight, which is likely because these protests are ongoing. Sheriffs in the Hunter Valley, and this actually does not relate to what's happening in terms of the protests. It's actually a different protest. But sheriffs who come under the membership of the PSA, the Public Service Association, are going to down tools for a couple of hours.

Those who work in courts in Newcastle, Gosford and the Hunter will stop work. They will protest outside Newcastle Courthouse from 8.30 for two hours over what they say is a staffing crisis and poor pay. The PSA says this will have a severe impact on the ability of the courts to function.

So even if arrests are made tonight from the Blockhead Australia protests across the Hunter Valley, when they turn up to court tomorrow, well, they'll probably face a longer wait. Maybe that's a good thing if they're currently in the lockup. 131873. Now, lots of messages here about the mental health system. Mitch says, help for mental health is in short supply. I've been trying to book a consultation with a psychiatrist after being referred by my GP.

I'm constantly met with an automated message that they aren't taking new referrals. Even when you actively try to get help, it is simply not there. And I hear that time and time again. Craig says, has anyone ever looked at mental health and illicit drug use? Drug use, from what I see, is a major issue. And there are links. Now, certainly not in all cases, I assure you. But there are proven links between illegal drug use and mental health problems. G'day, Mark.

G'day, Clinton. How you going? Good, mate. Mate, I can tell you what you said is 100% correct. Had I not been able to afford through the 10 visits and get Medicare and everything else, even with that, it's still $140 a throw. Yep. Right? Now...

My tens are up. I'm not handing it up either. I'm still going to go and see my person that I see. And she's been fantastic. But had I not been able to afford it, I'd have still been waiting now to get into hospital. Yep, it's a constant. And I don't know, I honestly do not know where I would have finished up.

And the hospitals... I'm really lucky that I found the person that I found. And that's a crucial point. Now, in what I've observed with some people close to me, it's very hard to find the right person. And it's not to say that the psychologists are the wrong people, but they might not have a connection with the person who needs help. It's a very individual thing. And so that process of finding the right help can be very difficult.

And then you look at the financial cost of it. It can be the upfront costs for an assessment, for instance, a mental health assessment can be in the vicinity of $1,500 or $2,000. That's for a private clinic. And a lot of people simply can't afford that and would then be reliant on the public system that is stretched.

I hope you're doing okay now, Mark. I tell you what, we're going to go and send you to the new Midnight Oil movie, which I'm sure you'll enjoy, The Hardest Line. It is in cinemas from tomorrow, from the 4th of July, of course, for 45 years. The Oil has been shaping modern Australian music. They tell their story for the first time on film. So hang on there, Mark. We will send you out tickets to go and see the new Midnight Oil feature. It's called The Hardest Line. 131873. Hello, Tim.

Yeah, hi. I just wanted to tell my experience. I've got severe depression at the moment because I have some terrible things happen in the past few years. I've been turned away from four hospitals. I'm very depressed and have panic attacks. And basically,

Basically, I would pray to go to a private mental health place. I can't afford it. But, yeah, I've been treated really badly, sent home,

feeling suicidal, just told there's no room for you here. And sometimes once at Katoomba, the psychiatrist says, what do you think, what do you want us to do for you? And just basically walked me out of the hospital. I'm just so frustrated with the whole system because I've tried so many different antidepressants and they haven't worked for me. And

Basically, I was trying to get into a private hospital, but they all refused. They say, you don't have private insurance. Sorry, can't help you. Tim, have you got a good GP? Have you got a good GP? Not really. I've got to find one. That's often the starting point. I can feel your pain and I understand the frustrations you have.

But the key to it, I think, is to start with is to find a GP who you can trust and you can connect with because they can then lead you on the path. And that's a tricky thing to do. But when you're just going from public hospital to public hospital and being turned away, a GP can provide an extra level of personal support. So I'd really urge you, Tim, don't give up. Find yourself a GP that you can connect with. And even if that means when dolls are tough,

that you may have to pay. You might not find a bulk billing GP. Maybe you've got to pay $30 or so. It'll be in your interest because they can then guide you because they'll know you. They can then guide you to the actual expert support services you need. Good on you, Tim. I hope you're going to do okay in the future. Let's check our news headlines.

And it's good afternoon, Rhiannon Solomon-Marin. Good afternoon, Clinton. Police are asking for the public's help in tracking down a man who they say approached and robbed three women in separate incidents across Sydney's northwest. The mother of a woman who was killed in April's Bondi Junction stabbings is calling for greater cooperation between Commonwealth and the states in providing mental health support after the tragedy.

Australia's life expectancy has declined for the first time since the 1990s, going down by 0.1 years for men and women during the pandemic years. At a Queensland koala sanctuary is banning people from cuddling the marsupials. The experience has been illegal in New South Wales, Victoria, the NT and Tasmania for several years.

In sport, Bulldogs players insist it's no surprise to them that they're sitting inside the NRL top eight. A win over the Warriors on Saturday will move the club closer to ending its eight-year finals drought. And Clinton, there'll be more news at five. Thank you, Rhiannon. A few showers about this evening. It's 14 degrees at the moment. On the text line, we were talking about the issues in the CBD of Sydney a little earlier.

And whether we need to do more to attract people back to the city because businesses are suffering. I think we firstly got to accept that working from home is going to be here to stay. People have changed the way they work as a result of lockdowns. And I don't think it's going to go back to having a packed train carriage, for instance, on a Friday morning.

But Dave makes a point, and I said, should we look at perhaps some more discounts for public transport on a Friday to encourage people? Maybe they might not be going to work, but perhaps they could go and watch a movie or go to a restaurant in the city on a Friday evening. Dave, the bus driver says, a few years ago, if you took the train, an Opel card, four days in a row, the fifth day was free. But it's no more. It's penny-pinching. Well, that system changed midway through last year.

So the system was once you clocked up eight Opel trips over the course of a week, and if you caught the trains a lot, you might knock that over in three days. It was free after that point. The new system, which is obviously going to save the government a fair bit of money, is

is that on Friday, the fares are the same level of weekend fares. So they're off-peak fares all Friday. But it's not a huge saving. So it probably doesn't really provide that incentive at all. In Greece, from Monday, the standard working week will be six days. I guess that'll get people back in the city. George says, if I could work six days a week like they do in Greece and be paid the normal wage, I'd do it in a heartbeat. In

in the current economic climate. And under this system, it's not that on the fifth day, sorry, the sixth day, it's going to attract penalty rates. No, it'll just be part of the usual working environment. 24 to 5 on the issues of attracting people back to the CBD, workers who are now working at a home. Edward on the text line says, we may have a lot of vacant office space in the city today, but what happens in six months' time if all of a sudden everyone wants to go back to the city to work?

But the office space has then been leased out, for instance, to residential. I think work from home, Edward, is here to stay. And I think a lot of that will actually be driven by employers because the employers themselves, when they sign new lease deals, will be able to save a lot of money by reducing the floor space that they lease. I don't think we're going to see a change now. 23 to 5, 131873, the talk of the week has been cost of living. It is affecting every industry, including hospitality.

cafes and restaurants are closing down. They simply can't afford it. The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association says rents have risen by 20% in three years. Wages are up by 15%. Insurance bills have skyrocketed. New stats from Credit to Watch show businesses in the CBD are struggling the most because of rents and property prices, and don't forget electricity bills as well. According to that research, one in 11 food and beverage businesses are expected to fail in the next year.

But luckily, registered clubs are still thriving in the suburbs, and I think they're an important fixture of the local community. You would have heard, the hunt has been on for the perfect plate, so the best meal. The votes have been tallied, the results are in, and this is a first in history. It is a tie. One of the winners, Mounties in Mount Pritchard. They've won for their sweet and sour pork with lychee and green apple.

And the joint winner is Cabra Vale Diggers in Cabramatta. They've won for their lobster with salted egg yolk. Sounds like a cracker. 131873 is my number. I'll take some calls on this next. What's your favourite club meal? Where do you get great value? Who do you reckon should have won? Let's chat to the winner. Shane O'Leary is from Cabra Vale Diggers Group in Cabramatta and joins us on the program. Hey, congratulations on the win. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Clinton. Yeah, it's been an amazing night. You are in really good company, I see, because perfect plate winners in the city include Club York in Sydney, which had the Mariana Pizza, and Club Blacktown with the prawn lychee, Balgala RSL, which had the sear scallops. So you're up there.

Well, absolutely. And as you said, Mounties was also a winner in that category. And I think, you know, it's an absolutely great win for the whole of Western Sydney. We got to showcase, you know, some of the best food that we have across New South Wales. So thank you to Clubs New South Wales for that. But here at Cabervale Diggers, we have always been food focused. Our CEO, Boris Boleski, has always driven food here. And the

The Asian-style hawker each street that we have here, District 8 and Horizon Dining, was a vision of Boris's. And here we are. We've won our second award for the food there. But as you said, lobster was what we won with. But we are community.

and we do have something for everyone here at the club. So whilst we may have served lobster, we do have meals also for the whole of the community. You see, Shane, when I think back to my days of going to – I used to, when I was a kid, go to tradies at Guy Meir in the south all the time, right? Oh, me too. It was a good club. You don't get a lot of lobster back in the early 90s.

When do the menus change? Well, that's the thing. I think we're trying to showcase what clubs are capable of and that we're more than just a Snitty or, you know, bangers and mash. And so, like I said, we are here for the community and we have a wide variety of people in our community. So there'll be those who want to try our lobster dish

salted egg lobster and then we also have our daily Monday to Friday meals $11.99 that they have in district day and we have so many of our members come in for those meals as well which are great value. Look people are doing it tough and we've heard about a lot of high-end restaurants and I'm sure you feel for your colleagues who work in those establishments that have closed in recent times. Do you find that people are coming to Cabra Vale Diggers because times are a bit tough and they can get some good value?

Yeah, they absolutely can get a lot of great value. And for those that don't know, we're actually located right in the middle of Cabramatta. So as you would imagine, we're just a couple of minutes away from such a vibrant hub of amazing restaurants. And they serve quality food at really affordable prices. So we have to compete with that. And we are doing that. I mean, our restaurants here seven days a week are jam-packed.

- Cabramatta, I'll tell you, Cabramatta's changed a bit in the last 20 years, hasn't it? I mean, it did go through a difficult time 20 years ago. - Well, it sure did, but right now, Cabraval Diggers has just built a hotel. It's not ready yet. We're partnering with, we've got the Novotel Sydney Cabramatta coming. Possibly it'll be ready for next year. So that has just changed the whole landscape of the area. We've got 140-room hotel, eight stories.

We're bringing jobs to Cabramatta and a lot of tourism to the area. We turn 100 next year. So 1925, we were born with the community. And so, yeah, we really are changing the landscape of Cabramatta. And that's an exciting time for us. Good on you, Shane, and congratulations. Thank you very much. Shane O'Leary, who's from Cabra Vale Diggers in Cabramatta, who won co-winners the perfect plate competition for her lobster dish this year. And I should note,

The Sharks Club at Carrilla actually was one of the finalists. They were up there as well for the pork ribeye, which is sensational. I'm told 131873. Maybe you'd like to share your favourite meal from the suburbs, from the clubs in the suburbs, because the reality is...

When times are a bit tougher, people aren't going to the really expensive places, the high-end restaurants. Clubs are... I mean, seriously, you go to clubs these days, the meals they're serving are next level compared to what you may have experienced, say, back in the 1980s.

into the 1990s. If you'd like to share your favourite spots, 131873 is our number. 17 to 5 news through from the police that a man has been charged following an unauthorised protest near Maitland. This is another Blockhead Australia case.

Police tell us at 4 o'clock this morning they were called to the rail corridor at East Maitland. Following reports, a person allegedly entered the rail corridor and was obstructing trains. Officers attached to the Port Stephens Hunter District, with the assistance of police rescue, and that's right, yes, we're having to use resources that could be saving lives, arrested a 22-year-old man. Guess where the 22-year-old man is from? Queensland. Of course, it's somebody else who is not a local.

He was taken to the police station. He has been charged with a range of offensives, including obstructing a railway locomotive. Now, when he appears in court, there are, if found guilty, there are now maximum penalties of $22,000 and two years jail in place. They've been in place for about a year. Have they been executed once, used once? Not once. The judges and magistrates think that's all a bit too tough.

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.

Clinton Maynard with you for a Wednesday afternoon 131873. You can have your say for less with Amazim. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free from your expensive telco and escape to better value with the Escape Plan by Amazim. Some breaking news before I come to your calls on cafes and restaurants. Late last year, there was a lady by the name of Francesca Albanese. No relation.

And she paid a visit to Australia. And she's been heavily criticised. She's heavily criticised Israel's actions in Gaza and slammed our response to the war. Ms Albanese is the UN Special Reporter on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories. And she's got a fairly significant position on the world stage when it comes to this conflict. Anyway, she spoke at the National Press Club and was welcomed with open arms by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

She came here as a guest of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association. Well, it's being reported that the UN has opened an investigation into allegations that Francesca Albanese illegally accepted funding to the tune of up to $20,000 from a pro-Hamas group to fund this trip. She has quite a history. She is a former lawyer...

With the UNRWA, a group which has had members who participated in the October 7 massacre by Hamas, in fact, of the 12 people implicated, UNRWA immediately identified and terminated the contracts of 10, while two were confirmed dead. She also recently became the first UN human rights reporter in the history of the UN to be condemned by France and Germany for anti-Semitism.

She was also censored in 2022 by the US Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism after it was revealed that she had published a fundraising appeal for the UNRWA claiming that, quote, America is subjected by the Jewish lobby.

In 2023, a bipartisan group of 18 lawmakers condemned her refusal to denounce terrorism against Israelis. Well, she was welcomed into Australia with much fanfare by some. Well, now she's reportedly under investigation by the UN. She is no relation, I should add, to the Prime Minister. Let's get to your calls about the state of the restaurant industry, cafes and businesses in the CBD. Harry, g'day Harry. Hey, how you going mate? Good mate, you own a cafe? Yeah.

Yeah, I own a cafe in the CBD on George Street. We opened late 2022. Yep. There's a big office tower above us and one of the major tenants is a large government body. And when they moved in a couple of months after we opened, you know, we took the punt coming into the...

Back into the city and the cafe business after COVID, hoping that things would get back to normal in the next couple of years. And they have. It's been on the up. But this particular...

government body they they when they moved in they had to be there three days a week and that agreement has now changed to two days a week really and that yes they've got um 10 floors in that building um and obviously that's a it's a big impact on us you know we get that's you know 20 of our trade from that particular group two days a week is it federal or state harry

The government department? Federal, yeah. Okay. And the funny thing was that last, you know, towards the end of the COVID pandemic, Dominic Perrottet, the then premier, was making a big point that workers should return to the CBD as much as possible. But one of the slowest organisations and areas of the economy to return to the CBD was government departments. Now, I hadn't heard that some were only working two days a week in the city.

Yes, and on top of that, some of the older workers in that force are able to work even one day a week. How are you surviving, mate?

Look, we're getting through. Midweek is very busy. It's almost like the old days, but the Mondays and the Fridays are just very terrible. The problem is, Harry, I'm sure you realise it, it's not going to change. Working from home at the start and the end of the week is here to stay. It's not going to change now.

Yeah, exactly. We realise that. But I think what needs to happen is they need to give up some of those floors. Someone else can move in and come for more days in the week, you know? Yeah, well, they'll have to eventually, Harry, because it won't make economic sense for that government department to be leasing that amount of floor space with few workers actually there. Good on you, Harry. Good luck with your business in the future. Hello, Laura.

Spot on.

And, you know, people don't come in the night because they don't want to, you know, they don't want to catch public transport at night. And they don't want to, they don't want to, they just want to park in the city. And if it's going to cost them an extra, you know, $50 to $80, well, why bother? 100% Laura, I catch the train all the time, but I'm doing so in the daytime. I don't catch the train at nighttime. It's just not...

what you feel like doing when you're relaxing. But if the option was there to park cheaply, it might be a different story. The problem we've got though, Laura, is that the government doesn't own the parking stations. They're all owned by private enterprise. That's true. But there is a huge government subsidy that they have to pay per parking. The tax of the parking taxes. So they could make some changes there. Good on you, Laura. I hope your restaurant can survive it in the next few months. Hello, Rob. G'day, Rob.

G'day Clinton. Mate, it comes down to supply and demand. It's like there's just an absolute glut of coffee shops and sandwich bars in this city. You know, everyone's got the right to make their living.

But at the moment, it's like every second shop is a cafe or a coffee shop. There's just not the people there to service the supply of what's on offer. And for people like Harry, I feel really sorry for him. He came into a business eyes wide open, obviously knowing that there was a government building above him.

But then things have changed. Yeah, they certainly have. And reality is the market will sort that out in the end because the players who aren't successful, they simply won't survive. Hey, thanks for your call, Rob. Much appreciated. 131 873 is our number. I'm getting plenty of messages here saying we've actually got too many cafes.

in the CBD. And this is a good one here in regards to the way the real estate market works. One of our listeners making the point that some of the leases are long-term. Look, you're right. Some leases can be 10, 20 years, but when those leases finally expire,

they'll have to renegotiate and have smaller areas that they're taking up because it simply won't add up from a dollars point of view. Coming up to the five o'clock news, Greg on the text line says, what is the obsession with city businesses and shepherding people in that direction? Just to name a few, taxis, news agencies, liquor stores, lawn mowing businesses have

have gone under and they're all expected to suck it up. Let businesses go to where the people are. Well, the people are staying in the suburbs. So if you want to have a successful cafe, maybe that means opening up a cafe in the suburbs. Coming up after the news, we'll find out how you can do something about Sydney's problem with potholes.

Now back to Drive with Clinton Maynard on Sydney's 2GB. 131873, 7 past 5, it is Clinton Maynard filling in for Chris O'Keefe. Chris is back next Monday afternoon. A manhunt is continuing across Sydney following a series of quite frightening robberies that occurred early this morning in the Northmead area. The police have told us this afternoon between 4 and 5 this morning

Members of the public notified them there was a bloke trespassing on several properties throughout Northmead. At about 10 past 5, the cops responded to reports of a white Mitsubishi Outlander, which is an SUV, stolen from a service station, Windsor Road, Northmead, whilst the owner had actually entered the store to go and pay for his petrol.

And then 10 minutes later, a 47-year-old woman was walking along Mons Road, Northmead. When that vehicle stopped near her, the driver apparently has jumped out, approached her. She's attempted to run from the scene. She's then tripped over. The man's then stolen her handbag. He's then jumped back into this Mitsubishi that he stole from the service station, drove away. Then a short time later, a 19-year-old woman is walking along Junior Avenue in Toongabee.

And then a man has allegedly tried to steal her handbag that she was carrying. Now, she apparently, according to the cops, put up a fight, which is not what we recommended to do. They struggle briefly. The police then tell us he has then produced a knife. Before taking the bag, he's then got back in the stolen car, this Mitsubishi, and sped away from the scene. A 27-year-old woman was then walking along North Rocks Road. This is all very, very early this morning.

She's walking along North Rocks Road, North Parramatta. She was allegedly struck on her shoulder by a man who was holding a hammer. It's allegedly the same man. The police tell us that the woman then handed over her purse and her mobile phone. She ran into a shopping centre car park to try to find some help. The blokes then left again in the scene in the stolen car. Short time later...

Two male relatives of the victim drove to where that woman was, to that intersection, and they were able to track the phone because the way the GPS works on the phones these days, they can track. Upon arriving at the scene, the male has then allegedly approached their vehicle. Police say he smashed their windscreen with that hammer. There's then been a physical altercation between the man and the wanted man.

The SUV was then dumped nearby and the police now have it. They're using their forensic experts to examine it. They brought in pole air, so the police helicopter was involved, the Raptor squad, as well as the dog unit. They conducted a major search around Northmead, North Parramatta, Toongabie. They have not found this bloke.

He's described as being medium build, he's in his 20s, he was wearing a black beanie, a black balaclava, a black Nike hoodie, black long pants, black gloves and black shoes. Now, it is fortunate that nobody has been seriously injured. Police are also investigating whether this same bloke has been responsible for several break-and-enters, robberies in homes in the same area earlier this week.

Police say if this man is sighted, do not approach him. He is considered dangerous. Call triple zero immediately. Ten past five. We have caught plenty of rain in the past couple of days and the forecast, unfortunately, right through into the weekend. More showers. But what does that mean on Sydney's roads? Yes, there are more potholes. You might be behind the wheel at the moment driving home.

And once the sun goes down, it becomes quite difficult to actually dodge those potholes. 131873, have you noticed in your particular area or your route driving to or from work or taking the kids to school that just in the last couple of days, new potholes have opened up? The problem I think is that we went through the floods of two years ago and Sydney was covered in potholes, particularly in the northwest where the floods were.

And they were repaired. It took a lot of time. Natalie Ward, the former roads minister, actually anointed herself the minister for potholes. Well, unfortunately, a lot of those potholes have simply reopened. I don't quite understand why we don't have the technology when it comes to asphalt, to developing an asphalt that actually stands the test of time. These roads actually, in the end, need to be completely resurfaced.

But there is an app that you can use to report where the potholes are. It's called Snap, Send, Solve. In the last two months alone, there have been 1,653 potholes reported in the state. What you do is you take a photo with your phone and then you can send the picture of that pothole to the local council. It's a good idea because the governments and the councils need help. It doesn't mean they'll immediately fix it, but at least they'll know about it.

Danny Gorig is the CEO, the founder of Snap, Send and Solve. G'day, Danny. Hi, Clinton. How are you? I'm good, mate. There are a hell of a lot of potholes in Sydney at the moment. Your app must be getting a fair workout. Our app is getting a fair workout. I mean, potholes, as you say, are a particular bugbear and a particular groan. But actually, when we look across the board, you know, just for your listeners, Snap, Send and Solve is a free app available to download from the app stores. It works on us.

and Android. And you can report a variety of issues using Snaps and Solve, and that's why the community has embraced it because potholes is one big issue. But actually, when we look at the data that we see from New South Wales and Australia more broadly, things like abandoned trolleys, things like dumped rubbish, things like, you know, potholes, you say potholes, but also trip hazards on the pavement, damaged telco pits,

flooding, flooding, fire hydrants, overgrown trees on the pavement. I mean, there's just a huge amount of,

of issues. And actually, I was just looking. It's very interesting. We've been collecting reports since 2013. And in New South Wales, we're about 50,000 reports shy of hitting a million reports. And most of those reports have come in the last kind of three years. So there's a huge, huge growth. Is there a particular area when it comes to the potholes? Is there a particular area that is worse than others?

Yeah, well, we look at, we sort of don't break it down by council region. So the first thing to note is some potholes are related to council roads and some are related to state roads. When we think about council specifically, we only talk in regions and the south region, which is kind of the inner south, is the region where we've seen the largest growth in potholes.

in the last sort of when we compare the first six months of this year to the first six months of last year. So they're up 55%. So, you know, there's obviously a problem. There's obviously something happening out there. And I think what you said at the start is like, I see lots of potholes getting fixed, but the fix doesn't seem to last. So there's a question on that as well. So you just mentioned that you can, for instance, report trolleys that have been left out by supermarket customers. How else is the app used?

Yeah, so, I mean, trolleys, I mean, I'll let you guess how many abandoned trolleys were reported in New South Wales last year. What do you think? Maybe 2,000? No, nearly 37,000. 37,000? Yeah.

Yeah, and I'll give you one that's higher, though. I mean, parking in cars. So you can report illegally parked cars, whether that's people parking across a driveway, whether it's people parking illegally in disabled zones. There's a whole heap of parking issues, nearly 50,000 of those last year. And so far, we're tracking to probably closer to 65,000 this year.

Just back on trolleys, I think we're probably tracking to close to 50,000 this year, just in New South Wales alone. So, I mean, you know, abandoned trolleys, parking in cars, graffiti is a big one. Rubbish in bins is a huge one. So, again, last year, 30...

7,000 this year, probably looking at closer to 50,000. So just enormous growth across the board. And I think the thing that resonates with the community with Snaps and Solve, there's lots of different ways to report all these issues. You can work out who the relevant authority is. You can find their phone number and you can call them and you can sit on hold if you like, if you're into that. Or you can try to find the website and put all the data in.

But the thing with Snapse and Solve is it's an app that just lives on your phone. So I'd encourage all your listeners to download it today because you're not going to see something today, but maybe you will tomorrow. Have it ready to go. And the process is so simple that it's like literally you take a photo, you confirm your location, you choose an incident type, and based on the location and the incident type, we'll send that message off to the relevant, we call them solvers, and we provide the geolocation, we provide the photos, everything you provide, we provide to them. And then they can go and...

you know, get the issue fixed. And I think when we look at the data, we ask our snappers. So, you know, people like you and me who were putting in the reports, we asked them whether the issue that they reported got solved. And on average, between eight and a half and nine issues out of 10 get solved. Okay. That's very, very powerful. And, you know, we work closely with the solvers. So they're the ones actually doing the fixing. So that's great. Well, that's positive. Good on you, Danny. Thank you for your time, mate. Thanks.

Thanks, Lincoln. Danny Goreg. So the app is called Snap, Send, Solve. You take a photo. So we're talking about potholes in this circumstance. You take a photo of the pothole and then you click the few buttons on the app and

And then the photo of that pothole and the details of where it is, it's all based on the GPS, the location. We'll go to the local council if they're responsible for it or Transport for New South Wales. It's one of the larger roads. Now, there's no guarantee the pothole is going to be fixed. That is still up to the local councils. We know local councils for the smaller roads are underfunded when it comes to this issue. They're probably wasting money fighting political issues regarding the Middle East. But

In the end, it's their responsibility. And the government, the state government, has responsibility for the larger roads and federal government as well. But a lot of these potholes are on local roads, what you call local roads, and councils have the responsibility to do that. So at least then the councils know about it. So it's called snap, send, transport.

solve. I'm being inundated with messages now about potholes and I think part of the issue is the way we actually fix the potholes. It doesn't seem to be permanent. Cameron says on the text line the issue with potholes is they only fill the hole and that's it. To correctly fix it, they need to do a certain section of the road which they're not doing so Ferrier's Road, Eastern Creek is really bad for that.

Late last year, I counted 17, and there were 17 cars all with damaged tyres and rims parked in one morning. A lot of new luxury cars as well don't come with a spare wheel or a spare tyre these days. That's right, they've got the can of goop in many cars. Now, it's not only high-end cars as well. The NRMA is being called out to thousands of reports of damage to vehicles because of potholes. It's a massive problem at the moment for the NRMA. G'day, Shane.

Hello, Shane. Hello. Shane, potholes. Clinton, how are you, mate? Good, mate. Yeah, look, I live in Bilpin in the Hawkesbury, and, of course, you understand the Bells Line of Roads. Yep. That's a whole lot of potholes. So I had some...

there's workers out here the other day but like you just said before um they just come and fill the holes in it's like a band-aid solution and then of course we get rain and it just washes all away but we have to have our cars to be uh uh non-defectible right to to um to drive on our roadways yet

The roads are making our cars defective. And the reality is that the only real long-term fix until they come up with a better method is resurfing sections of the road, which is obviously hideously expensive and it's disruptive as well. Good on you, Shane. I've noticed just driving home recently from the office, the Grand Parade through that whole Ramsgate area in the south of Sydney. If you are in...

The left-hand lane, you're going to go bump to bump to bump to bump at the moment because so many potholes are opening up. Even the Princess Highway is terrible. Warwick says potholes are just patched with a cold mix that breaks down in water and very fast so that you have loose gravel on the road surface and a bigger pothole than was actually there in the first place. Seems to be exactly what's happened. Warwick 131873, the number.

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. The text line 0460 873873. David has a good question. I just drove past all these brand new trains in Newcastle. When are they being deployed? Well, David, most likely I suspect you're talking about the NIF.

NIF is worth the name for the New Intercity Fleet. They're the trains that were made in Korea that the former government purchased years ago.

They've been in the country for about four to five years. They are meant to be used on the rail lines between, say, Newcastle, Sydney, if the line's actually operating, because, of course, you usually have blockhead Australia protesters blocking the line, but also the Central Coast in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Wollongong and Sydney. They have been subject to changes, safety changes, because the union, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, had been involved in that long-running dispute with the former government.

Hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent changing those trains. They've then been tested on the lines over the past six months. My understanding is they should go into service by the end of the year. But given it's been five years, don't hold your breath. On 2G, sing like an angel. Shadowbox went down to Santa for a while.

Okay, I've got double passes to give away to go and see the Angels live at the Factory Theatre this Saturday night. If you want to win, it's actually really simple. Well, you've got to sing. You've got to sing on the radio. Everybody's going to hear you. But you'll win tickets to the Angels if you get the line right. 131873. You need to sing for me the next line of this song. In the night when the lights are all out She slips off her stockings and shoes

Okay, that's a classic from the Angels. What about...

late 80s, maybe about 87, thinking off the top of my head. 131873. If you get it right, you're off to the Angels on Saturday night. So hit the phones. You'll have to sing in public. You need to be a decent singer as well, but you've got to get the line right. That's the most important thing. 26 past five. News through from the Sydney Roosters. They have now confirmed what we alluded to yesterday.

They've signed Chad Townsend, the halfback from the North Queensland Cowboys, formerly from the Sharks where he won a premiership, to a one-year contract for next season.

Daniel Anderson, who heads up the Roosters recruitment, says it's great to be adding Chad's experience to our 2025 roster. We look forward to welcoming him to the club later this year. So after the season, of course, the Cowboys still a chance of making the finals as well. He's played 65 games to date for the Cowboys over three seasons, but he played 257 games overall in the NRL, mostly with the Cronulla Sharks. He also had a few seasons over there with New Zealand Warriors as well. Made his debut in 2011. Chad,

Chad is a little maligned in rugby league, but I've known him for years. He's a really, really good fella. He's a solid halfback, and it indicates there is a demand for experienced halves in the NRL. So Chad will help Sam Walker and young Sandon Smith as well with his development when he joins the Sydney Roosters at the end of the year. Let's give away some Angels tickets. Now, this is very easy. All you've got to do is sing.

On the radio, the whole world is going to hear you. Hello, Rachel. Hey, Mike. Do you love the Angels? Yes, I do. Well, I may well be sending you to the Factory Theatre on Saturday night. All you've got to do is sing the next line after this. When the lights are out, she slips off her stockings and shoes. She makes you her and lets you discover the smile she keeps. She keeps for you.

She keeps no, she keeps no, she keeps no secrets from you. Well done, Rachel. Congratulations. Congratulations. She keeps no, she keeps no, she keeps no, she keeps no, she keeps no.

Hey, you're a great sport, Rachel. We're going to send you along to see the Angels, hey? Thank you. You'll see them on Saturday night, Thanksgiving.

Factory Theatre they're playing. Congratulations. The Angels celebrating 50 years of their new album. Their new album was released last Friday. It's called 99. They played the Factory Theatre on the 6th of July. Two sets of their classic catalogue, plus they got some new songs as well. Tickets at theangels.com.au. Figures released today show retail sales increased in May. Turnover rose 0.6% in May, seasonally adjusted.

That followed a rise of only 0.1% in April and 0.4% in March. So you think about that, okay? That means we are spending more money at the shops and things are becoming more expensive. But turnover is good. And you think, well, that's good, isn't it? That's great. However...

Does that mean that inflation is going to rise? And will that be an indication perhaps that the Reserve Bank, when they meet in August, is going to put more pressure to increase interest rates? Now, new car sales figures that we spoke about in the first hour of the program, they're actually down in June, year on year. Not for the six-month period. They're up six-monthly. But if you just look at June, new car sales figures are down.

So there's a lot of mixed signs in the economy at the moment, but the Reserve Bank is going to have to consider all of this before they make their decision in August. Their biggest factor will be, though, the next CPI figure, which will be released before they meet. If it goes up again...

What's the bet that inflation will also go up? 131873 is our number. Thanks to Amazim, you can have your say for less with Amazim. Don't pay too much for your mobile plan. Break free with your expensive telco and escape to a better value plan with the Escape Plan. Thanks to Amazim. Let's check our news headlines.

And with the latest, Rhiannon Solomon-Marron. G'day Clinton, a man is on the run suspected of robbing three women across Sydney's north west. Police say he approached them in separate incidents armed with a knife and a hammer. The Prime Minister has hinted Labor Senator Fatima Payman could quit the party in coming days. She's been suspended from party room meetings after voting against her colleagues on a push to recognise the state of Palestine.

US President Joe Biden is blaming jet lag for his poor performance in last week's election debate, despite the last time he travelled being two weeks before he went head-to-head with Donald Trump. And galahs have topped the list of the most common Australian bird species to be killed by planes. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's figures show 727 of them have died in aircraft strikes in the past decade, beating magpies and plovers.

In sport, Australia's Adam Walton has charged into the second round of Wimbledon with a straight-sets win over Argentina's Federico Correa. And Clinton, there'll be more news at six. Thank you, Rhiannon.

A weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance. Showers continuing this evening. Just having a look at the radar. There are scattered showers over some parts of Sydney, mostly moving over the northern suburbs. Just checking the radar. But also part of central Sydney as well. There's a fair bit off the coast and it is heading towards Sydney at the moment. So there will be showers throughout the evening. Right now in the city it's 12 degrees, 14 degrees in the west. Tomorrow the forecast is for a partly cloudy day.

Again, an 80% chance of showers up to 8mm to fall, a top of 18 degrees across the city. Friday, showers as well with 18. Now for the weekend, a shower or two on Saturday, a shower or two on Sunday and continuing showers right throughout next week.

A finance update. 60 years of building experience on your side. Take the value check challenge at masterton.com.au. Deb Knight presenting money news from seven o'clock tonight. Hello, Deb. Hello to you, Clinton. What's happened in the markets today? Well,

Bumpy day again on the markets. Thankfully, though, it did finish in the green. The ASX 200 was up 0.3% or 21 points. Tech and materials were higher. Utility stocks were the worst performing. A lot of concern off the back of the retail sales figures, which I know you've been speaking about already, even though it means for struggling businesses, they have benefited from people splurging a little with the end of financial year sales, stronger retail spending numbers than expected. But it is raising concerns about a possible rate hike in

with fuelling of inflation, with the next meeting of the Reserve Bank Board, and the share market doesn't like the prospect of interest rate hikes. And that's largely what's fuelling a lot of these, the up and down days we've been seeing. But isn't that the paradox of economics? The fact that we've been talking about businesses struggling throughout the program today. Lots of retailers, particularly in the CBD, fall into that category. So we get some figures that are a little bit better than was expected.

But now we're talking interest rate increases. You can't win. You can't win. And this is the problem. We need to see the economy slowing down. We need to see people losing jobs. The unemployment figures will come out before the RBA meets. If they go up, it means maybe no interest rate increase. So we're going to wish people lose jobs? Well, the Reserve Bank Governor, she's very clear on the fact that she wants people to be in jobs, obviously. But we need to see the economy cooling more than it is because it's fueling inflation. But, you know...

Riddle me this is what I often say when it comes to economics because what seems to make sense, businesses doing well has a flow-on effect with inflation and that has a flow-on effect with prices. So we've just got to get – it's a tricky balancing act which we've got to get right. You'll also be talking about some research that shows 42% of workers over the age of 50 –

and not feeling seen in the workplace. They need to wear bright clothes. Well, feeling invisible in the sense that they miss out on job opportunities, they don't get promotions, they don't get pay rises. And it's a big number, 42% saying that they do feel invisible after the age of 50. And ageism is a real issue that a lot of Australians say is real within Australian workplaces and in life in general. But the

The finger of blame is being pointed well and truly at the young people who are being the worst offenders when it comes to perpetrating ageism. The Gen Z, the people in their 20s and 30s, are who the vast majority of over 55 say they're the ones perpetrating the ageism. I went through a phase of my career, you know, working in management for the radio station. We finally got you onto the other side. Yes. Goodness me.

Anyway, I was on the dark side for a little while and I was very frustrated with the amount of turnover in the department that I was managing. And a lot of the turnover came from younger people because younger people like to travel, like to go overseas, like to have different experiences. Didn't have anything to do with your own management. Maybe that was the problem. But I

But I decided I would actually try deliberately for a while to hire some older people who I just felt may stick around for a little longer. Because you go through the process of training people up. You're investing the business's resources in that. And to see people maybe leave after only a year, it's a big waste. And I did find that if I hired some older people, it didn't always work out, but sometimes it did, they'd stick around for longer. Yeah, well, these are concerning numbers, particularly when more and more workplaces are wanting to ensure that they have diversity, that they have...

that they have a broad range of age groups in the workplace. These numbers are a real concern, so we'll take a closer look at that on the show tonight. Deb will be listening from 7 o'clock. Deborah Knight with Money News at 7. 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. 17 to 6, the 14-year-old allegedly responsible for the stabbing at Sydney University yesterday is still to be charged. We may have some news on that in the coming hours and we'll certainly bring that to you. However, more is being revealed about the victims.

The Daily Telegraph is reporting he is a 22-year-old psychology student. His name is Melvern Kerouan. He's been studying at the University of Sydney and he is described as having a brilliant mind.

He's been researching disorders of the brain. He was walking to the university's brain and mind centre yesterday, and he'd been completing an internship there for the past five months when police say he was attacked. And the attack, and the police are still trying to figure out a motive and whether there is a terrorist link, whether there is no ideology behind the attack.

But they say it appears to be completely random. He was stabbed in the neck. Now, fortunately, he was treated in RPA and has since been released. And he lives in the Hills District and he's recovering well at home. His mum says he's doing really fine. But...

He's apparently a very, very good student who has now graduated, but continuing his research into disorders of the brain. 131873, our number. We have been speaking a lot this week on the program about the shortage of housing in Sydney and across much of the state. And the New South Wales government has announced various policies to actually address the problem. But is it going to address the problem? We often hear about this term, affordable housing.

And it always leaves me scratching my head. Can there be such a thing as affordable housing in Sydney anyway? Or are we going to have a generation of people who simply rent forever? Mind you, rents have become unaffordable as well. David Borgia is the Executive Director of Housing Now, of course, also the leader of Business Western Sydney, and joins us on the program. G'day, David. Hey, Clinton. How are you? Good, mate. You are launching an updated policy really challenging this issue of affordable housing.

That's right. Look, we came out last year, Quentin. I used to be the housing minister many years ago, but last year we realised things are just... It's a perfect storm. Everyone knows that. The median house price is 13 times the average annual salary.

It's the worst it's ever been. I think there's only a bit over 1% rental availability at the moment in terms of vacancy rates. So we all know it's affecting everyone. And so we launched a bit of a manifesto last year. We formed this group, Housing Now. So unions, a number of unions are there, nurses and shop assistants union, business, universities, YIMBYs, and even the faith-based, that sort of church-based housing alliance as well. We've all joined together because we know we've got to change

the planning system, well, we're going to lock our children out. As the Productivity Commissioner says, I think the 30 to 40-year-olds, they're moving to Brisbane. People from Sydney who do all the right things, make right life choices, work hard, go to uni, get a good job, you can't have a house. So we know we've got to change this. And look, frankly, Chris Minns and...

Paul Scully, they are throwing the kitchen sink at this. They are working hard to try and get more housing up, but the planning system is so slow, and that's where we think the focus needs to be. But certainly essential worker housing, I mean, it's hard to find police officers on the northern beaches at the moment. There's nowhere affordable for them to live. So we think we can up the targets a bit more. I think Paris has got a target of 25%, Hong Kong 30%. Singapore, which is different, has 80%. London is very high.

I think we need to be more ambitious on this. And obviously it's subject to profitability. If the developers can't make a profit, you can get 0% of zero. But we think we need to be more ambitious. What's actually the definition of affordable housing? It obviously depends on what occupation you're working in. Look, it does. I mean, one definition, there's a number of definitions. One definition is you sort of...

For the average rental, the median rent in the area, you can pay 20% less than the market rate. That's the way affordable rents are often given. But generally, we don't want people paying more than a certain percentage of their income in rent or mortgages or whatever. It becomes unaffordable. You're spending so much on the housing costs, you're actually scrimping and saving on everything else.

Governments are still working out that affordability definition, but you would say a minimum of 20% less than the average in these areas because nothing's affordable. If you look at the average income levels across the metropolis, across the 40 or so council areas, there's almost nowhere which is actually affordable anymore. And that means people are escaping the city and that's where we need to work.

very quickly. I'm just interested in your insight also as a former housing minister and the TOD plan that is now rolling out across parts of the city. I know that, for instance, and this is where planning rules are changed around train stations to make it easier for developers to build mostly six-storey apartment blocks. A lot of those TOD areas, not all, but some, are on the upper North Shore, lower North Shore, Karingai area. Is it just a dream to think that we're going to have affordable housing on the North Shore? No.

- Yeah, I think the thing about affordable housing is if only one council and one town centre and one train station were doing it, the answer is no, you will not have it. What we need to do is every council and every town centre and all of these train station areas to be doing it. If you do that across the board, we know, the economists know, they've looked at Auckland with an experiment,

places like Houston, where things happen across the board, over time you will get the supply that will start to impact on rent. A good example, Clint, to be honest with you, is so Parramatta, I live in North Parramatta, Parramatta's had so many units in the last sort of 10 or 15 years that frankly the prices of units haven't gone up much. The rents haven't gone up, well, they've gone up a little bit, but certainly the prices have not gone up much. And the reason for that is we had so much supply. So if you can increase...

supply in Karingai, the same way you've done it in Parramatta, maybe not so much because it's not a city centre, then we know that the rents, the prices, everything starts to get more affordable for people. Damn big challenge. I know you're passionate about it. Keep fighting. Good on you, David. Thanks, mate. Thanks, Glenn. Cheers. David Borgia from Housing Now. There's no simple solution to this.

Bottom line is it's actually going to be up to the private sector to actually build the housing. And there are so many impediments to that. Yeah, the government's trying to change planning rules to help.

But the other big problem is tradies. Do we have enough tradies? And there's certainly been news today that we're not pumping through apprentices through the training system like we should be. We certainly need more of those. I've been talking about these trains and on and off for the past couple of weeks, actually, the NIF. These are the intercity train fleet that was purchased from Korea that's now sitting idle as they undergo testing because a lot of money has been spent upgrading them.

but they're still not on the tracks full time. Bill on the text line says it's an embarrassment what's happening there. Those trains may eventually rust away, maybe. But I've got a message here from one of our listeners who wants to remain anonymous and has some information that he says a lot of people won't be aware of.

In order to keep the certification of these trains current, many components cannot be left dormant, therefore must be regularly turned over. Subsequently, the state government has spent an obscene amount of money having freight trains tow these carriages around the network empty. They're regularly, at least once a week, towed from the New South Wales central coast down to Sydney and then over the Blue Mountains all the way to Lithgow and then towed back less than a week later. The government is spending a huge amount of taxpayers' money

For this, I wonder whether the government would claim that that's part of the testing regime. We'll try and find out. Thank you for your text message. It's time to give away some fuel. It is duel for fuel time. I need two contestants to play. Whoever can answer the most questions correctly in 30 seconds will win a $200 Shell Coals Express gift card. Thanks to Shell V-Power. Jump on the open line right now. 131873. $200 worth of fuel up for grabs next.

Thank you for your text message, Tom. Some traffic problems through Sylvania Waters to Tarram Point. Traffic going from Tarram Point through to Box Road is banked back to the Tarram Point Bowling Club. Very slow moving. Thanks for letting us know about that, Tom. And Paul on the text line says, thanks for hiring older people back when I was in management. Means we're still stuck with John Stanley.

On 2GB Drive, let's drill for fuel. Okay, we are going to give the chance to win $200 worth of fuel thanks to Shell V-Power. Fueling up your drive home, we have two contestants. G'day, Matthew.

Good evening. How are you doing? Good, mate. I hope you've got your thinking cap on. And Chris in Campbelltown. Hello, Chris. How are you, buddy? Good, mate. Matthew is first up. As many questions as you can answer correctly in 30 seconds. Your time starts now. True or false, John Morris played and coached the Sharks. True or false? True. Correct. Which year was Mercedes-Benz founded? The car brand. 1912 or 1926? 1926.

1912. Incorrect. It was 1926. Which Harry was President of America in the 1940s? Truman. Correct. You're on two. What was the colour of the Beatles' submarine? Yellow. Yeah, I'll give you that. I'll give you that. Hold there, Matthew. You're on three. Okay, Chris in Camberton. Hello, Chris. Hello, buddy. Okay, first question. Which fast food chain uses the slogan, I'm loving it?

KFC? No, incorrect. It's McDonald's. How many faces are carved into Mount Rushmore in the US? Four or five? Incorrect, four. Regarding golf, what does P stand for in PGA? Professional? Correct. Dave Grohl is the lead singer of which band? Fee Fighters? Correct. You're on two. Let me get to the third question for you. Who was the first person to step on the foot of the moon?

Your answer? Correct. This means we've got a tie. Okay, Chris and Matthew, this is the way the tie works. I'm going to ask one question.

I want you to shout out your name when you've got the answer correctly. And the first person to shout out their name wins if you answer correctly. Which film is based on the Jamaican Winter Olympic bobsled team? Okay, Matthew. What's the name? Cool Running. Yeah, you're right. Well done, Matthew. Bad luck, Chris. Matthew, we are going to send you out the $200 fuel voucher thanks to Shell V-Power, fueling your drive home. Congratulations, buddy.

Thank you very much. That's great. We'll do more Jewel for Fuel tomorrow. It's time for a sports update with Adam Hawes. Hello, Adam. You've got the Widewater Sports after six o'clock. I sure do, mate. It's a bumper edition as always. We're going to talk to Mitchell Orbison from the Sydney Roosters, the ex-Sydney Roosters player, whose record is about to be broken.

Did you know that? Most number of games for Roosters. Most capped Roosters player of all time. Jared Waria Hargreaves is taking over, which is an incredible achievement given the way Jared plays his rugby league, which is no holds barred, just ripping in. Look, a man who won't break that record for the Roosters, but will be playing for them next year is Chad Townsend. They just formally announced his sign. Yeah, it's certainly caught a few people by surprise when it was floated yesterday. The Townsend, who will be 34 next year, he's coming to Bondi Junction. They've got a pretty handy number seven at the moment called Sam Walker. So...

I'm going to ask that question to Michael Chambers from Nine and the Sydney Morning Herald, who's joining us also about all the player movement that's going on. He might have some news actually on Sam Walker, what's happening with him. We've also got John Manente, the men's sevens rugby coach coming on the program. I'm going to put to him, how tough was it leaving out a man like Michael Hooper? You know, rugby legend who obviously was left out of the World Cup. He turned his attention to the sevens program, wanted to be there in Paris, but he's been told you're not on the play, mate.

That's disappointing for him, but all good things must come to end. Adam, we'll listen to you after 6 o'clock with Wild Water Sports. Adam Hawes with Wild Water Sports coming up after 6 o'clock. On the text line, Emmanuel says, have you heard that Cheer Cheese has been reduced? Their 500 gram block is now a 400 gram block.

Dear, oh dear, oh dear. It should be a reasonably wet night. I'm sorry to tell you that. A few showers around this evening. The temperatures this evening dropping to 11 degrees. The forecast tomorrow, cloudy with a few showers with a top of 18. Showers on Friday and there'll be showers across the weekend. Thanks for your company this Wednesday afternoon. Talk again tomorrow.