Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard – Full Show June 24th
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On 2GB, this is Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard. Tuesday, June 24, 131873. Our number, it is Clinton Maynard here. A little over an hour has now passed since the ceasefire between Israel and Iran was meant to kick in. Donald Trump announced it, of course, that it would be phased in over 24 hours. Two o'clock our time was the indication we were given.

The Iranians initially said that they hadn't entered into an agreement and then via Iranian state TV, would have been about an hour and a half ago, they said, yes, the ceasefire will take place. But we're now receiving reports, and these are still unconfirmed around the world, that there has been a sixth round of missiles fired at Israel.

and that those rounds have actually been fired post the ceasefire time. So we'll keep you up to date throughout the program on that. A lot coming up on the show. We're going to try and make some sense of today's state budget. There is a lot of focus on housing and the billion-dollar plan for the government to become guarantor to encourage developers of big housing projects. But this has jumped out at me, and it's the future of the $60 toll cap.

And it's not promising. More on that in a moment. There's been a slowdown in the sale of electric vehicles. Despite there being more variety on the market now, they are cheaper than they've ever been. Why? A lot of it has to do with servicing. We're going to look at that. Holly Hughes joins me in studio for Straight Shooters today. She's now left Parliament.

I might have found something for her to do in retirement. Keep listening for that. Mark Guy with all the sport. And I'm going to spin 2GB's winter wheel. This is the chance for you to win hundreds. In fact, this is the chance to win thousands. We have a very good record on this program of giving away a lot of money. So you've got to keep listening for me to spin the wheel a little later. You are our eyes and ears when it's happening in Sydney now. If you see something we need to know about, send me a text message. 0460 873 873. And then have your say. 131 873.

Well, in Sydney now, Merriton has just put a statement out in regards to the wild brawl that took place at Castle Hill. Now, Mark Levy broke the story this morning. Go to our website, if you haven't seen this video, 2GB.com, and there is video of, it would be 20, 30, maybe even more, tradies, all dressed there in high viz, fighting with each other.

Well, Merriton has put out a statement because it was outside of a Merriton work site, Secton Avenue in Castle Hill. And their statement says Merriton promotes safety and does not condone any violent or threatening behaviour on its job sites, whether employees, subcontractors or visitors. No direct Merriton employees were involved in this incident that took place on the street outside the Castle Hill construction site. Appropriately, the local police were called, who have since intervened.

and we have ascertained there were no serious injuries. Two people were treated by paramedics, but Meritan says not serious industries. The contractors involved in the fight have been terminated immediately. I want to bring in James Wilson from Nine News. He's been on the scene throughout the day. James, do we have any idea what sparked all of this?

G'day, Clinton. Yeah, I popped my head down there a few hours ago and spoke to a few of the tradies who witnessed this brawl, and you're right, this thing was huge. There were like 20 or 30 workers having a huge go around 7am this morning on Sexton Avenue. Now, how did this brawl start? I'm hearing a few different things. One of the lines of inquiry that I've been told is potentially a pay dispute. I know that it did start between two people or two men originally. When they kicked off, well,

Well, all their other colleagues and all the other boys jumped in. I've been told that these are the form workers. So there are a certain crew that works on this site doing form work.

And as you just mentioned, they've all now been blacklisted and booted off the site not to return. I'll tell you who else is looking for them as well, Clint, and the police. They all scattered and got out of there before the cops rocked up. So some serious questions to be asked of them. And, yeah, there were two people that were actually taken to hospital. And if you look at his vision, which you mentioned is on the 2GB website, one man gets booted in the head with a steel cap boot and then other people are getting bashed on the head with hard hats

Crazy, crazy stuff indeed. The video, and you'll play it on Nine News tonight, you see some of these guys, and those two men that were injured, 43 and 55-year-olds, so a lot of these men are middle-aged, and there's one bloke, he rips off his white hard hat, and he goes along and then just thumps another bloke in their head who doesn't have a hard hat on, and they're all wearing the high visit. I don't know if this is an accurate description, James, but it looked like on the surface it was fluoro yellows versus fluoro orange. Yeah.

Yeah, we're trying to figure out if that means anything. If any tradies out there know if different high-vis means anything on the job site, maybe they could point us in the right direction. But certainly that line of inquiry, a potential pay dispute, maybe that does divide this brawl and bring in those numbers where you've got the workers against management and all the rest of it. But, of course, police need to ask questions. A lot of the people down on that site...

talking to the cops and obviously those that dispersed are now being looked for. But these are serious charges and we're dealing with genuine assault cases here and in the vision it's clear that there are a lot of people involved. So this isn't the last we're going to hear of this story, Quentin. This is going to keep going for some days. We'll see your report tonight on Nine. Thank you, James.

Thank you.

If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard on 2GB. 12 past three, the state's treasurer, Daniel Mookie, has now handed down his third budget and it is in deficit, which was fully expected. So the deficit for this financial year is $5.7 billion. That's a $5 billion improvement since 2023-2024.

It forecasts the budget papers, forecasts a surplus by $27.28 of $1.1 billion. Now, that's just a forecast. It doesn't mean it will happen. But there is a plan, though, to get back in the black, which is encouraging. A key part of this budget is a massive billion-dollar housing plan. And this is something that hasn't been done, we're told, in this country before. Josh Bryant, our senior reporter, was in the budget lock-up today and has been following this at Parliament. Hello, Josh. Hello.

Good afternoon, Clinton. The billion-dollar housing plan, so it's a guarantee the state government is going to provide for some major projects. How's this going to work? Yes, that's right. The pre-sale finance guarantee, and as you said, they're spruiking it as something that's an Australia first ever being done by a state government before. Essentially, what this means is, you know, you'd see developers that sell off the plan and they might have sold, say, 50% of the properties, but it

if, for example, the bank needed them to have sold 80% of the properties before they'll give them the finance so they can start the construction. The government's saying in these select circumstances there'll be strict criteria. They'll guarantee that 30% say that they're missing so that the bank will give the finance, work can start, and then the developer will continue selling the homes, and then if...

it gets to a point where those homes aren't sold, then they can call the guarantee, the government will purchase the dwellings at a discounted rate and they'll then either be sold

from there or turned into affordable or social housing. So essentially, it's just designed to, I guess, speed up that gap so that when these developments are underway, they can get the financing quicker, which means starting the project quicker. Yeah, so it's to encourage more risk effectively by reducing the risk for the developers. The other major plank of the budget, and there's a lot of detail, obviously, in the budget that's going to cover a lot of areas of government work, but the other big highlight is

is $1.2 billion in a child protection package. And this is to increase the number of staff who work in this area. It's a very sensitive area of government, but in particular to ensure that kids who may need foster care, children who have been left behind by the system, are not living, unbelievably this happens, are not living and kept in hotel and motel rooms.

Yeah, absolutely. And this is something the state government has said that, you know, as soon as they took office, this was that sort of emergency care in a motel or similar was something they... Well, they say they have now effectively no longer... That no longer happens due to reforms that have been made. But then this funding, $1.2 billion, a large proportion...

Proportion of that to go towards reforming the out-of-home care system. There's also close to $200 million to recruit new caseworkers. And as you touched on, foster carers as well. For the first time in 20 years, they're going to get a major increase to the foster care allowance going up by 20%. So a not insignificant increase, particularly given how long it's been since that allowance has increased. So hopefully making it easier for

for those people who do make that decision to be foster carers. They have a little bit more financial support when they do. Yep, we certainly can't have kids living in motel rooms. Josh, we'll be covering this right throughout the program. Thank you for your information. Thanks, Clinton. Our senior reporter, Josh Bright, who was in the lock-up this morning.

131873, I'm getting some feedback about what occurred outside this Meritan building site in Castle Hill. I'll come to that in a moment. But the unfolding situation in the Middle East, okay, so the latest information we had was that Israeli state had agreed to the ceasefire and then Iranian state television had announced, and this was several hours later, that they'd also agreed to the ceasefire after initially saying that they hadn't.

But that was supposed to kick in now more than an hour ago, two o'clock our time. Since then, there have been reports of more airstrikes that have been launched, more missile strikes from the Iranians. Now, there's no confirmation at the moment of damage caused by those strikes. The Israeli Defence Force released on social media, this was after the ceasefire. They released a message, sirens are sounding in Israel due to a missile launch from Iran.

So the Israelis were expecting this to occur. So we don't have confirmation yet that the ceasefire on the 12th day of this war has actually taken hold. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, has been asked about the ceasefire on Sky today. What we want to see is the ceasefire announced by President Trump implemented.

We think that we do want to see dialogue and diplomacy replace any escalation. I somehow suspect the Iranians and Israelis won't be listening too closely with what Albo has to say. Nevertheless, that was his statement today to Sky News. Should there be developments over the coming hours, we'll certainly bring those to you. Plenty coming up on the program today. I'd like to hear from you. Our number 131873. This is Sydney Now.

21 degrees in Sydney in Bankstown, 22 degrees. Lovely afternoon. The judge in the mushroom murder trial in Victoria is spending the afternoon instructing jurors. So at the moment, Justice Christopher Beale is going through the case, but also highlighting various aspects that the jurors need to take care with during their deliberations.

Of course, Erin Patterson is being tried on three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. She is pleading not guilty. Now, the judge has told the jury that this is not their responsibility and not his responsibility to decide the verdict. The verdict must be unanimous.

They're the only ones who've been in the court the whole time who can make a decision on the facts. He says the jury must make a decision solely on evidence and ignore feelings of prejudice. This is probably going to be the most anticipated court decision this year. If you have a look at podcast download numbers right around the country with podcasts that have been produced on this particular case, they are through the roof. There is so much interest, of course.

She claims that, no, this was completely an accident, that, yes, she cooked the mushrooms, but she was not responsible for the deaths of her loved ones and the others involved in this case. We'll continue to watch that with interest.

Sydney Now on 2GB. 23 past three. Now, I'm getting some messages that are being sent to me about what's occurred at Castle Hill today. The video that Mark Levy broke this morning, and you can see it on our website, that shows 20, maybe upwards of 30 construction workers involved in this wild brawl from one of our listeners. And this is all subject now to a police investigation about what sparked it. One of our listeners says, I do have information about this. The fight had to do with two crews of formwork.

There was one crew mostly made up of tradespeople of Middle Eastern descent and a supervisor. The other crew is made up of islanders. Now, you can see in the video, it does appear to be a fight between tradespeople of Middle Eastern descent and there's tradespeople of islander descent there as well.

An argument kicked off between the formwork supervisor and the boss of the other group who haven't been paid. And James Wilson, our reporter from Nine, indicated there are issues here about payment. The rest then joined in to back each other up. The actual fluoro colours themselves don't have anything to do with it. Now, Max is a tradie, might have a bit of information about this. Hello, Max. Hey, mate. How are you, Clinton? Good, Max.

Ah.

And so on. So, yeah, with the shirts, mate, it's just whatever the company policy is. And it looks to me like, though, that you've got one group who's wearing orange, the other group's wearing yellow. So they would be these two different formwork contractors. Mostly via the video, they're all using the white helmets, Max. What does the white helmet signify?

That's just a standard helmet to come onto a construction site. Okay, okay. Hey, thanks for that information, Max. If you know anything more about what's occurred at Castle Hill, let us know, 131873. When the Labor Party campaigned at the last state election, 2023, central to their campaign was their promise. If they were elected, they would reduce the burden of tolls, motorway tolls on us, Sydney's drivers, that they would make tolls fairer.

They've now been in power for more than two years, two and a half years now. And what's changed with toll roads? Just have a think about it. They've increased the toll on the Sydney Harbour Bridge twice. Hadn't been increased for years, and of course we paid it off years ago. What else did they do?

they introduced the $60 a week toll cap. So every dollar that you spend on a motorway toll over the course of a week, above $60, you're entitled to a refund. You've got to put an application in. And it's worth tens of millions of dollars. And when I've reminded listeners about, you can do it every three months, when I've reminded you to do it, I've had people get in contact with me telling me they didn't realise and they've been owed thousands of dollars and they've had refunds worth thousands. Great. Well, the budget that's been handed down today, guess what? There is no money left.

None whatsoever for the $60 toll cap to continue past the end of this calendar year. Now it was only meant to be temporary, but that was on the basis of a complete overhaul of the way tolls are charged in Sydney, a fairer system. What's happening at the moment is there are negotiations going on between the government and Transurban. And the fact that we're not hearing anything about this issue, and now quietly in the budget, funding for the $60 cap is not continuing...

That raises my suspicion. That raises my suspicions that negotiations between the state government and Transurban aren't going too well. And you can't actually blame Transurban here. They have contracts that last for decades to run Sydney's toll network. And they're not going to accept less revenue. They're not going to accept less money. And to be honest, nor should they. They entered those contracts in good faith. But the government also went to the election promising to help us, the drivers, by having a fairer system, by reducing the load. And what's happened?

Well, other than the $60 toll cap and two increases on the Harbour Bridge, there's been no change. And now the budget today confirms the $60 toll cap will not continue beyond this year. And the initial plan was until the end of 2025, fine. But that was going to be on the basis of major reforms to the rest of the toll network. And it hasn't happened yet.

Alan Fels has completed a very detailed report and made recommendations, and there are negotiations going on behind the scenes right now with Transurban. But at the moment, we have no details about what's going to happen. And given the toll cap ends now, 31st of December, there should be a system in place on the 1st of January where it completely changes the way you pay tolls on the road. And what are we hearing from the government? Silence. Crickets. Nothing.

Sydney Now on 2GB. They owe us an explanation and it needs to come now in the next month or so because we're now heading into the back half of the year. So we need to know how we're going to be paying for tolls into the future. I should point out in the budget, it does say that toll revenue will increase from $159 million to $283 million. That would be the extra money they're generating on the Harbour Bridge and the Harbour Tunnel.

Would you be willing to pay $3,000 to see Julia Gillard as a hologram? Alongside Hillary Clinton, there's a big summit coming up and you, if you've got that sort of money to spend, you could actually spend it on a Julia Gillard hologram speech. Peter Ford will have all the details shortly. Let's check our news headlines. MUSIC

And good afternoon, Katie Fuller. Good afternoon, Clinton. Workers involved in a fight on a building site at Castle Hill have had their contracts terminated. Meritan says none of its staff was involved in the early morning brawl, but action has been taken against the contractors who took part.

The IDF says Iran has launched another missile attack on Israel despite a ceasefire coming into effect. It's now the sixth wave of missiles launched today. More than $5.5 billion has been set aside in the state budget for road projects in Sydney's west. The Minns government's third financial blueprint includes funding for the 15th Avenue upgrade between Liverpool and the new Western Sydney airport and Mona Vale Road west.

And the eSafety Commissioner has raised concerns about YouTube's exemption from the planned under-16 social media ban, arguing 40% of Australian children have been exposed to harmful content on the website. In sport, former Melbourne Storm winger Marcus Byer has been named on the inaugural board for the NRL's new Papua New Guinea franchise. Born and raised in PNG, Byer won a premiership with the Storm in 1999.

Clinton, more news at four. Thank you, Katie. 21 degrees in the city, 21 degrees in Penrith at the moment. On the emails, if you'd like to send an email, go to our website, 2GB.com. On tolls, Michael says what you need to do if you can't beat them, join them when it comes to paying tolls.

Transurban. I bought Transurban shares and they've gone up in value substantially. Now, we're not providing any financial advice, but it's the same time when we complain about bank fees. One of the best ways of dealing with that is actually buy some bank shares. Steve on the text line says, why do my taxes have to go to pay someone's tolls?

I don't want to pay the toll and don't use the toll road. Living in an area and having to use tolls is a lifestyle choice. Well, if you live in Penrith, Steve, and you work in the city and you have to use the M4 every day and then the West Connects, you're paying an absolute fortune. Now, that might not be a lifestyle choice. You might not be able to find work that's actually closer to Penrith. Chris is asking the question regarding the budget. Has the state government received their $105 million from the Queensland government for their COVID hotel stays?

Revenue NSW should be involved Treat it like a big parking fine No, they've not been paid back the money If it matters to you, you'll hear it here Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard until 6 There's going to be a significant federal court decision announced tomorrow A decision made on Antoinette Latouf and her issues with the ABC Peter Ford will be across all the details Hello Peter

Yes, Clinton, finally it's coming to a head tomorrow morning at about 10 o'clock in the morning. Obviously, Mark will be across it on this station as it happens. But it's going to be interesting because it's gone on for a long time now. Long story short, this is the story of Antoinette Latufu who's a journalist. She was employed on a one-week...

casual engagement to work on ABC radio. She only got to do three days and her services were terminated because of tweeting and retweeting that she'd done on the issue of Gaza. Now, there was great outrage about how she was treated, certainly from her point of view, there was.

And eventually, of course, what we have seen is the inner workings of ABC management exposed and what has gone on. And some will say that, you know, she was treated very unfairly. Now, it is in many ways, it's quite odd that this pretty simple thing of a casual one-week contract

has ended up in this major kind of case which will, to a large degree, determine the rights and the responsibilities of employees in the media. And certainly if you are employed on a casual basis, what you are entitled to do or not do, what are your freedoms and what are your responsibilities? And is retweeting something endorsing it? All of those questions have been...

part of this story. So tomorrow morning, we'll get some sort of answer. Now, the union which covers journalists who work in the media is MEAA, and they've asked their members to turn up at 9.30 in the morning at the federal court in Phillips Street to cheer Antoinette as she walks in to face that judgment being handed down. What is the chances that once the judgment's handed down, once the legal proceedings are done with, that another media company

is ever going to employ her yeah i think she always knew that was the risk that she was taking but i think she felt that she didn't have a choice she had to pursue this um

You know, many people say she's wanted to be a martyr. Let's see how it all plays out. But it is quite a fascinating case. And, you know, I wish her well. She's actually a very talented journalist. But you're right, she's kind of got herself into this situation now where she may have become untouchable for mainstream media employment. Now, Peter, if I save up all my pennies over the next couple of months and I put together $3,000, will it be worth my time to hand over that cheque to go and see Julie Gillard as a hologram? No.

No, I wouldn't have thought so, and nor would I, but I don't think they want either of us. This is very much a summit meeting which is being held for women. It's the Women Unlimited Leadership Summit, and it's being held at the end of September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sussex Street. And it is a very expensive event to go to. It's a two-day official event and then some post-seminars about it.

at all, various speakers involved. The two high-profile ones, or three high-profile ones, actually are Hillary Clinton and Julia Gillard and Lee Sales. Now, in Sydney, at least, if you are going and you are forking out that approximately $3,000, you will get to actually hear and see Hillary Clinton in the flesh. But in the other parts of Australia, she's not going to be there at all. Now, Julia Gillard is not going to be there

anywhere, she is going to be there as a hologram. Now, don't ask me because I don't know how that works. All I know is about the ABBA holograms in London. But she's not going to be there. Lease sales is not going to be on in every city where the leadership summit's being held. So, look, I'm sure it's going to be very much about...

and networking, and I'm sure there's going to be great tips, but, gee, you'd have to be travelling pretty nicely anyway to have the $3,000 to hand over to go to it. I'm not a massive ABBA fan, but I think I'd prefer to spend the money on ABBA than holograms. Exactly, yeah. Good on you, Peter. We'll talk tomorrow. Thanks, Clinton. Peter Ford. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

Well, the prices have now been released for ACDC's tour. So these tickets will go on sale on Thursday for their show in Sydney, which is in November. And look, it's not cheap, but it probably could have been a lot more expensive. You can buy B Reserve seating for the ACDC show. And this is at the Core Stadium for $132.45.

Now, that's very high up in the stands of a core stadium. A-reserve seating is $203.80, and there'll be booking fees on top of that. Unlimited A-reserve seating. So that's the really good one. $407.70. If you want to go along to CACDC and you want to stand, and usually if I go to one of those big concerts, I like to stand. If you want to be at the front, $305.75.

General admission for the rear, they'll divide the feel basically in two parts, $203.80. So, look, it's a lot of money, but I've got to say it's probably on the reasonable side. Now, I'm going along to see Oasis in – it's around the same time of the year. It's either October, November. So it's late year. It must be around within a couple of weeks. And I think I've paid – just a single seat in the stands, I think I've paid $175 or $180.00.

So ACDC is probably roughly in line with that, maybe a little bit cheaper because the standing tickets for Oasis were all sold out by the time I logged on. And I think there are a lot more than 305 or 203. So that's how much you'll pay if you want to see Akadaka later this year. If you've been to one of those big concerts just in the last couple of years, how much have you paid?

Intrigued to know, because obviously it's nothing like it was even, say, pre-COVID. The prices have gone up for big ticket entertainment acts massively in the last two or three years. But if you went along to Paul McCartney at Allianz Stadium a couple of years ago, if you saw maybe Taylor Swift, if you're into Taylor Swift, what do you pay for the big stadium gigs at the moment? I think it's $175 I paid for Oasis, but...

but maybe it's to be expected. Bee Reserve, 132.45. It's a quarter to four. If you live on the Central Coast, you live at Long Jetty, you might have noticed a string of broken windows on shop fronts on the entrance road, Long Jetty, over the weekend. Middle of the night, very, very early Saturday morning, someone's gone along and they've broken at least the windows of seven of the shops there.

Well, police have arrested a man. They've now charged a 32-year-old. He is facing eight counts of destroy or damage property. He's due to appear in court later next month.

Sydney Now on 2GB. 131873, I've got so much feedback here about how much you pay for concert tickets. Rochelle on the text line says, we paid $250 a ticket for Lady Gaga in December. We had level six at a core stadium, so basically nosebleed. So $250 for nosebleed. So ACDC's a fair bit cheaper than that. Sue, Sue, you went and saw Paul McCartney? I did, Cleanson. How are you? I'm good. How much? $250.

$410. Each? No, I went on my own. Yeah. Whereabouts were you in the stadium? Gold Coast, in the Gold Coast, you know, whatever that stadium's called. And I only bought them like a week before. And I don't know whether you know this little tip, but when you go on your own, it's very easy to get last-minute tickets because it's a one seat. That makes sense. Well, I'm going along to Oasis on my own because none of my friends and family like them.

Oh, really? That's my life. But the whole stadium sold out pretty quickly anyway. Actually, everybody here in the office, when I said that, Sue's laughing at me because I'm going by myself. I like to go to those sort of things by myself. Clinton, I'm 74. I went on my own. And you love it as well.

Love it. Nothing wrong to go and see a concert by yourself. Good on you, Sue. Zach on the text line says, I went to see ACDC last time they played at Sydney Olympic Park. It was a few years back. My tickets were free. We were standing and it was an absolutely crazy concert. Stephen Newport says, Mark Knopfler, 2019 in LA at the Greek Theatre, 320 US. My wife never asked. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

Well, if you want the top tickets, the top ticket is $407.70. I reckon there's probably also some special VIP packages. They call them VIP packages, but it's usually just a reason to charge you a lot more. So the tickets are going to go on sale on Thursday morning. That's just for one Sydney concert. I reckon they'll end up announcing a few more of them. It's 13 to 4.

Look, a lot more people, whether you're a fan of them or not, are thinking about buying an electric vehicle. There are more EVs on the market and the prices have been coming down. There's a lot of choice. But there's been some information released today which shows that there are still serious concerns about battery longevity and the overall cost of ownership of an electric vehicle, particularly around issues of service, warranty repairs and if you have an accident.

MyCar Mobility Index has been released and I'm joined on the program by Adele Coswello, who's the Chief Customer Officer with MyCar. Hello, Adele. Good afternoon, Clinton. It's great to be here. Really good topic that you've raised today and you have released this information through MyCar. It has found that a lot of Australians are still worried about batteries.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's not only battery life, it's ownership costs and resale value. I mean, some of the comments you mentioned as I was just tuning in. Now tell me, you and this is what my car's all about, they do run service centres across the country. I've heard there's a significant issue with having people trained to actually repair EVs at your chain. Are you repairing EVs now and servicing them?

Yeah, we absolutely are. We actually have an existing relationship with BYD, which began in 2021. And so we ensure that, you know, our technicians receive specialised training to service those BYD vehicles. And we actually have 43 EV stores already. So those EV vehicles, of course, are more than welcome to come and visit us at a Mycar store. And we are in a position to service them. So it is possible to service them. Is it right that EVs generally...

need less servicing than a standard ICE engine? Yeah, that is certainly correct. But there are similarities between servicing of, you know, a current ICE vehicle and, of course, an EV. And never forget tyres, no matter what, we'll always need to change tyres on whether it's an ICE vehicle or an EV. How long can you expect an electric vehicle battery to last? Because that is what people are worried about. Yeah.

Yeah, and look, I think that's really up to the different manufacturers. And so I think as time goes on, we'll learn more and more about that. But the mobility index, really, that was just kind of showing us the sentiment towards electric vehicles. And as you would have noticed, you know, in the research, it showed that

The same question that we've asked year on year around how Australians feeling around transitioning to EVs. We did see that come down 12 points from last year. So there's still certainly interest is growing, but there are certainly more questions now. And I think it's not that people are against the idea. It's just more about uncertainty. So what are the concerns that people have other than batteries?

Well, as we mentioned, it's really just still around the ownership costs and resale value. I think that for us, you know, we really need to be clear. We need to provide probably jargon-free information to those EV owners around how to care for their battery solutions. But I think it's not just that. There's obviously charging networks.

and how we can prioritise innovation to build on those tech advancements. It's just more around the education and how we can bring that to life and have people feel more confident about driving EVs and understanding their vehicles. And I think some of that's going to take time once there are now more electric vehicles on the resale market as well. Thank you for your time, Adele.

No, thank you. Adele Coswello, who's the Chief Customer Officer of MyCar. Now, MyCar, they are servicing EVs now, but they service mostly internal combustion engine cars. I think the biggest issue with giving people confidence in buying an electric car is going to be what happens on the second-hand market. Yes, of course, you can now buy electric vehicles on the second-hand market, but...

But you don't see a lot of, say, eight-year-old, nine-year-old Teslas. Is that going to give you confidence buying a Tesla that has a battery that's eight or nine years old? The servicing costs, because there are effectively fewer moving parts in an EV, over those initial years that you have an electric vehicle, they should be lower.

than a petrol-driven car or a diesel-driven car. The problem is going to be what happens when they say reach nine, 10 years of age. I drive a 13-year-old car and I had a big service last week. Costs a lot to keep your 13-year-old car on the road, but it's going to cost a lot more when you need to get a new battery after eight years. If you've got a bit of experience, I'd love to hear from you if you've got an older electric vehicle

Or even a Toyota Hybrid that you've had to put a new battery in. How much did it actually cost you? Let me know. 131 873. We were reporting in the news yesterday the death of a little boy at a Port Stephens home in the afternoon. Well, the Telegraph is now reporting the two-year-old's death is not suspicious, but they're reporting how the little boy has died. And this is just horrible. They've confirmed with the police that...

He died of misadventure. His clothing tightened around his neck. So it appears this two-year-old was wearing a hoodie, a hooded jumper. And that hooded jumper has become caught on a curtain rod. And tragically, the boy has died. His distraught mother called triple O and paramedics were fairly quick to the scene. They commenced CPR. Care flight doctors arrived there as well.

But the little boy couldn't be saved. Just a horrible, horrible story. Word on the street thanks to Temper. A great night's sleep, night after night. The difference is Temper. Yesterday we brought you the story about what's happening in the neonatal intensive care ward unit at Westmead Hospital where the nurses and midwives are pulling their hair out because of under-resourced department work.

where they don't have simply enough room for all the babies they need to treat. Well, a word on the street for Tempur, and this has come to my attention from a senior gastroenterologist at Westmead. They are going to have an extraordinary meeting of the medical council on Thursday at 5.30. There will be a vote of no confidence in the chief executive of the hospital. They're asking all the specialists to attend. So this is far just beyond the nurses of Westmead Hospital.

This is from a specialist, a gastroenterologist, and this is separate from what we were talking about yesterday with the neonatal unit, but it does demonstrate the problems that are now within Westmead Hospital. There will be a vote of no confidence in the chief executive, and not just from the staff, the nurses, the orderlies. This will involve a meeting of the medical staff council, which includes some of the most senior doctors within that hospital, including specialists.

Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard. If it's happening in your city, you'll hear it on Sydney Now 2GB. So research released today shows that people are still concerned about buying EVs because of the longevity of a battery. Paul, would you buy an electric vehicle?

I'll never buy an electric vehicle. I just, I don't like them. My son's 13. We've got a BS Commodore. That's a project car for him, which would be all good to go when he's 16. Nice Aussie car with a big, nice engine in it. So,

I'm one of those. I'll just never touch one. And if you do it up nicely, it might be worth a lot of money one day, being a Holden. Good on you, Paul. This one from Ross. I drive a BYD. Now, I charge my car until it's full. Tells me I have 480km around the town. I'll probably get maybe 420km before I need to recharge. If I take it out on the open road, I only get 200, 220km. So it means that every two hours I'm having to stop to charge. And it's for 50 minutes. I recently went to Melbourne. Should have taken me eight hours to drive to Melbourne. It took me 12.

And unfortunately, they don't tell you that in the brochure. Oh, look, hopefully you get some other benefits maybe from driving around the city in the BYD. Some of those BYDs are pretty good-looking cars. I've just received a text message, 0460 873 873 from one Mark Levy. Says, $2,500, baby. Yee-haw. I'll be spitting the winter wheel a little later.

This is Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard on 2GB. Beautiful winter's afternoon across Sydney. 131873 is our number. The US President Donald Trump has now used his own social media service, Truth Social, to issue a statement about the ceasefire between Israel and Iran. And he writes in capital letters, the ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it.

Now, there's very little confirmation coming out of either Iran or Israel other than Iranian state TV, and this was before 2 o'clock our time, had accepted that there would be a ceasefire. But there were six missile strikes and very little information about damage, but the Israeli Defence Force had issued a statement via their social media to warn their citizens that there were missiles on the way, and that was after 2 o'clock our time.

But Donald Trump says the ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it. The impact on us has been with flights. Now, this morning, there were two Qantas flights that were flying over the region. And this had come after there had been an attack on a US space in Qatar.

Now as a result of that Qantas had to take action with their two flights QF9 which is Perth to London Heathrow had to be diverted to Singapore 199 customers on board passengers 14 crew as well

QF33 is Perth to Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport. It was first forced to turn around completely and travel back to Perth. There are 216 passengers on board with 14 crew. Virgin Australia has just released a statement and Virgin says, now just bear in mind, they are now in partnership with Qatar.

Virgin Australia's scheduled services to Doha, operated by Qatar Airways, are expected to operate today with delays following the reopening of Qatar Airspace. These services are operated for guests travelling to Doha only. With more than 25,000 impacted passengers currently in Doha, the immediate priority is clearing the significant backlog of these passengers and flying them to their final destination.

Now, Virgin says we are offering free booking changes or cancellations to guests who are booked on Virgin Australia's Doha services with onward connections in the coming days and up until and including the 30th of June. So if you do have a Virgin flight booked via Qatar and you don't want to fly anymore, up until the end of this month, you can cancel it.

You need to contact Virgin Australia's guest contact centre. Their number is 136789. Flight VA1 did take off from Sydney this afternoon just after three o'clock. It was about 20 past three. Now, we saw some vision courtesy of Niner, that plane actually taking off from Kingsford Smith. So the airspace is now open. Obviously, the airlines around the world and the authorities will be keeping a very close eye on exactly what's occurring. Money, money, money.

Must be rich man's fault

Well, Daniel Mookie is the man who controls our money at a state level, the state treasurer. Today, he's handed down his third budget. He's presented a deficit for this financial year of $5.7 billion. So we're in the red, $5.7 billion this financial year. It is an improvement since 2023, 2024 of $5 billion. So there was a deficit of more than $10 billion. But remember, those late years of the former coalition government, this isn't a defence of the coalition government.

But I think it's important to note that that was coming off the back of COVID, where all governments of every political persuasion around the world had to spend unprecedented amounts of money. But the reality is we are now facing years of deficit as a hangover of that, let alone debt. Based on what the budget papers say, there is a forecast for a budget surplus of $1.1 billion in 2027-2028. So it's a few years away. And that's simply a forecast. That's not locked in.

What's also important is the state of our debt. So New South Wales government debt by June 2026 will be $178.8 billion. Now that will be an improvement of $9.4 billion compared with the 2023 pre-election budget when they did forecast $188 billion. So what does that actually mean? Well, what Daniel Mookie is saying is what that means, and it's not great that we have so much debt, but it's a reality of the way governments are being run lately,

We will save, according to Daniel Mookie, $400 million every year in interest payments. Now, that's a good thing. And interest rates are coming down as well. So that should mean there is $400 million to the government to spend on other things. They will be spending more money on housing. They have released what they say is an Australian first plan. This is what they're calling their pre-sale finance guarantee. It's where the government will guarantee residential pre-sales for up to $1 billion worth of housing projects.

$5 million to $50 million in a pre-sale guarantee. The state is going to go guarantor for 50% of approved housing projects. So it's a means of encouraging big developers and developers of home unit buildings to take the risk and have more security in being able to apply for loans through a bank because they're going to have the government guarantor. So if, for instance, they don't sell all the apartments, there'll then be a mechanism for the government themselves to buy some of those apartments.

And then the government can resell them or the government could use them for social housing and rent them out. Tom Forrest is the chief executive of the Urban Task Force and joins us. G'day, Tom. What do you think of this plan? It's a really big surprise and it's a positive surprise it's come out of the budget today. One of the big constraints has been difficulties associated with securing pre-sale facilities.

off-the-plan purchase commitments from buyers with uncertainty associated with interest rates, with concerns associated with making such a big commitment. This is the state government coming in and backing what the Commonwealth have done.

Taking a similar approach, the Commonwealth backed the buyer by underwriting their deposits for first home buyers. The state government has backed the supply of housing by doing effectively the same thing, underwriting the developer and the buyer.

builders who are building the supply. So you've got the Commonwealth supporting the buyer, the state government supporting the seller. Both of those things together make for a more positive environment for housing supply and that's what we need. The state government has done a fair bit with changing planning laws and putting more pressure on local councils to approve developments faster but not a lot has actually happened in terms of boosting housing numbers. Do you think this is going to make the change?

This is going to make a big difference, Clinton. It's been a real problem that we've had where interest rates have been starting to come off now, but still, when you're a developer, the sort of interest rates that you're being charged are somewhere between 8% and 13%, sometimes even higher from non-bank lenders.

And one of the things the banks who charge the lesser end of that range, what they require is lots of pre-sale sign-offs from purchases. So you've got your off-the-plan purchases and they've all been signed off. What this does is it steps in and rather than having to have 50%, 60% of your entire development

pre-sold via off-the-plan purchases, you might only have to get 10% or 15%, and the rest will be covered by this guarantee. That means you can get the cheaper interest rates, which flows on then to cheaper house price sales at the end of construction. Good news for everyone involved. Hopefully it works. Thanks for your time, Tom.

Thank you. Thank you, Clinton. Tom Forrest is the Chief Executive of the Urban Task Force. Look, there'll be a lot of analysis needed for this particular policy and the opposition says there are holes in it already. At least it's something creative. At least it's going... thinking a little bit outside the box. Now, what's happening on our roads? I told you at the start of the program about the future of the $60 toll cap. This budget confirms that it will not continue beyond the end of this year. There is no funding in it for next year.

But there is obviously a fair bit of capital expenditure for roads. $7.5 billion will be spent. Hopefully that's going to fix some potholes. Peter Coorie is from the NRMA. Peter, are you happy with this plan?

Well, $7.5 billion, good afternoon, isn't as high as $9.1 billion, which is what it was last year. So we've actually seen a fall in road funding this year. And I mean, $7.5 billion can fix a lot of potholes. But what we also know is there's a huge gap between what councils are getting and

to maintain our roads to a safe standard and what they need. And unfortunately, all of this is happening at the same time that the road toll is going up. Already 179 deaths this year. That's 26 more than the same time last year. And so, yeah, what we want to be doing is investing in our road infrastructure. And we have seen is a drop this year.

So there has been a drop, but I do note, and you've pointed out, there's going to be an increase in the amount generated through traffic fines.

Yeah, so traffic fines will go up about 9% this year on last year and then it will go up again next year, a slight increase next year, based on the government's own forecasting. Now, obviously, we're going to be looking at that really closely because there'll be more cameras rolled out in that time. We also know that there are cameras catching people not wearing seatbelts, which is very important. People should be wearing seatbelts. But all of that means that the revenue fine will be going up and it also means that we'll be spending more on tolls over the next few years as well, in fact.

a significant increase in money collected from tolls that the government runs. The toll collection, so that it'd be the Harbour Tunnel, that'll also be the bridge, will go up from $159 million back in 25-26, so this financial year, to $283 million by 28-29. As I was mentioning, Peter, that the $60 toll cap, and this has been foreshadowed, but this is confirmation. It's going to come to an end soon.

at the end of this calendar year. There is no money in the budget next year, but there's also no detail of what the planned toll reform is going to be. The government's going to need to come out and say something on this quite soon. Yeah, so look, the rebate was, you know, we welcomed that, and I know that there's still $100-and-something million left to be claimed. So if you've got access to that, it's really easy to claim. So please go and claim the money back because you spent it and it's yours, and get it back.

So that's the first thing. The second thing is we're not surprised that there wasn't longevity in that approach. What we wanted to see, however, is, as you said, there's been a long time coming, this toll review and the reforms into the tolling system in New South Wales. The NRA played a big part in that. We did our submissions. We were part of the community consultation.

processes, we've been meeting with government. I think it's more important that we land that because if we do that, if we can come out of this with a fairer and more equitable system, and we believe at the NRMA the way to do that is to have consistent tolling right across the network. So if you're using tolls, you're paying the same amount per kilometre no matter where you are, who you are, where you live, what suburb you're from and what you're driving on. So we think that's the way forward.

You do that, and I think that provides transparency and fairness in the system. Our members will use toll roads if they feel like they're getting value for money because it gets them home quicker. We don't have a problem with toll roads. We need them to reduce congestion. But what this system was meant to do, what this review was meant to do, was get us to a place of fairness and equity. It's been going on for a long time now. We need a solution. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Peter.

Cheers, mate. Peter Currie from the NRMA. Other major plank of the budget, and there's a lot of detail that needs to be analysed in this, is a $1.2 billion for child protection package. What this is going to do is fill 200 vacant positions in the child protection area. It's going to encourage more families to become foster parents. It's going to give a pay rise to 2,126 caseworkers. But this is what it's going to, we're told, prevent kids living in motels.

So when children are in need of foster care and when they're between families, and these are kids who don't have parents, these are kids whose parents are in jail, these are kids whose parents have abused them. Sadly, in the past, these are children who've been living in hotels and motels, unaccredited accommodation.

Just a couple of years ago, 2023, 100 were living in motels. This funding is designed to prevent that. It's 19 past four. 23 past four, New Zealand's foreign minister, the very colourful, he's been around for a long time now, Winston Peters, has signalled the country is going to crack down on migration. He says, we do not need more Uber drivers or chefs, as if we're going to eat our way to wealth like Hansel and Gretel. He's the leader of the New Zealand First Party, but he's in coalition with the...

than our conservative government. He says the country must prioritise migration for the benefit of New Zealanders. He says we have the most irresponsible immigration system. We need to bring people in to help New Zealand, not those that need us. We do not need more Uber drivers or chefs, as if we're going to eat our way to wealth like Hansel and Gretel. There has been a drop in immigration numbers up year on year because sweeping visa reforms have actually been introduced over the ditch.

Sydney now on 2GB. 131873 is our number. On the issue of toll roads, John, how do you cope with toll roads?

Well, I like what Peter said, you know, we'd like people to use toll roads, you know, if they're getting value for money. But I live on the northern beaches and we haven't got an option. We're going to be tolled on the bridge now both ways and we haven't got an option. We've got to pay a toll, you know. And that hasn't been confirmed by the state government yet, but it will happen. There will be a toll in both directions of the bridge.

Yeah, but we don't have an option. Correct. So how is that fair? Yeah, good point. Well, the way the system will probably change, it'll be towards more of a distance-based user pays system.

But it will have some caveats because the government doesn't want people who live in the far western suburbs to be paying distance-based. It'll be a sliding scale. But we need the detail of what this is going to be because time is now running out. Labor came to power in 2023 promising to do something about tolls.

So they gave us the $60 toll cap, but this budget released today confirms the toll cap ends this year. There is no funding for next year whatsoever. So it can't continue. Talking about electric vehicles, and we were speaking about the fact that a lot of Australians are still dubious because of battery life. From one of our listeners on the text line, I've got the latest GTS V8 Commodore, one of the last ones, so I'll never buy an electric car. The car will be left to my son.

When I pass on, Dave says, my favourite drive is an HQ V8 Premier. See me in another 20 years with the BYDs and the Teslas have been replaced three times and the HQ just keeps on keeping on. Good on you, Dave. Now, Rod's got a question here.

He says, look, I wouldn't go near an eight or nine year old EV because it's going to be more expensive to insure. Comprehensive insurance is more expensive for EVs. There's no question about that. Now, comprehensive insurance for every vehicle has gone up. I know because I paid mine on Saturday.

It doesn't matter what you're driving at the moment. You're paying through the roof for comprehensive insurance, but it is more for EVs. Chris says, why are you asking the NRMA about roads? Well, for very good reason. The NRMA stands for the National Roads and Motorists Association. So when it comes to representing the interests of drivers, that's what they're there for. Chris says, why not ask them about reducing insurance premiums rather than ripping off Australians? Well, Chris, I should point out,

The NRMA, the Roads and Motorists Association, is actually completely different to NRMA Insurance. They use the same branding. NRMA Insurance is a company known as IAG, Insurance Australia Group, and they own a lot of the brands that offer insurance. NRMA, who we just spoke to there, Peter Currie, is not NRMA Insurance. Two completely different companies.

You can send me text messages 0460 873 873. Gary says, I think the New South Wales Labor Government are getting away with broken promises like tolls because Chris Means is a good bloke. I think it is all smoke and mirrors. They haven't broken the promise yet. But unless they announce a plan this year that will start on January 1, they will have. Because as of January 1, the toll cap's gone.

And as things stand at the moment, there's no change to tolls. So the negotiations are going on, we understand, right now with Transurban. But Transurban's under no obligation to accept less revenue, less money. So there's a lot of pressure on the government through John Graham, who's still handling this, even though he's not the roads minister anymore, to get this right. Let's check our news headlines.

And with all the latest, good afternoon, Katie Fuller. Good afternoon, Clinton. Thousands of passengers are still stranded around the world following the closure of airspace in the Middle East. Qatar Airways has resumed operating services, but the airline is only taking passengers heading directly to Doha due to a significant backlog at the airport.

The state budget is forecast to return to surplus in three years. Treasurer Daniel Mookie says the state is already back in a cash surplus, meaning we don't have to borrow for day-to-day expenses. The judge presiding over Erin Patterson's triple murder trial has instructed the jury not to let sympathy for her alleged victims' families cloud their judgement.

Christopher Beale also directed members to not let the unprecedented media attention surrounding the case influence them. And a person's education level could indicate their life expectancy. Monash University researchers have found men and women who completed a degree are more likely to live longer than those who finish school in year 11 or below.

In sport, in cricket, Josh Inglis is still waiting to find out where he'll bat in Australia's line-up just two days out from the first test against the West Indies in Barbados. Clinton, more news at five. Thank you, Katie. 19 degrees on the coast, it's 18 degrees in Terry Hills. 131873. Wes, you've come across a traffic drum. What have you seen?

Ooh, OK.

Yeah, and it's a traffic jam anyway, right down the other end. I just come up from West Hoxton and it's banked all the way right through virtually through to, um, uh, Hoxton Park, mate. It's just a bank up a mile. OK, OK. Look, hopefully they can move that truck quickly, but sometimes when those big trucks break down, it takes a while to get the crews out there. So, corner Green Valley, Cow Pass Road southbound, and that's in the Hinchinbrook area. Thanks for letting us know about that, Wes. MUSIC PLAYS

Now also in the budget there is a $40 million allocation for the Metro.

I repeat, $40 million. It's not going to get you much when it comes to metro lines. What this money is for, it's to develop a business case for a potential future metro rail line between Tallawong and St Mary's. So why would a metro be important between Tallawong and St Mary's? Because there will be an airport metro between the new Western Sydney Airport, the Western Sydney International Airport, we hosted the show from there a couple of weeks ago, and St Mary's train station. But St Mary's train station is the old-fashioned heavy rail.

So really what's needed is Metro that takes you all the way to the new airport. To do that, they need to link Tallawong to St Mary's, and again, there's no money for it. But in the budget, well, there is an allocation of $40 million to put together a business plan.

We have been reporting in depth about the ongoing situation in the Middle East and as things stand at the moment, both Israel and Iran have agreed to the ceasefire. Donald Trump has issued a statement in the past hour saying, please do not break the ceasefire. Actually, I don't think he used the word please.

But the tensions in the Middle East aren't going to disappear quickly. This is a reality of the Middle East and we've experienced it our whole lives. We know it's going to affect oil prices. And we spoke yesterday about making sure you fill up your car now. And I did that last night. I got petrol. I used 98, so it was $1.88 a litre.

But how's it going to affect other investments? How's it going to affect the share market? How's it going to affect the residential property market? And given that 60% of all Australia's wealth is tied up in residential property, it's an important question to ask. I wanted to check with our sponsors, Freedom Property Investors, and Scott Kuru, friend of the program, joins me. G'day, Scott. Vincent, g'day. With what's happening in the Middle East at the moment, do you think this is going to have an impact on property prices? Absolutely.

- Yeah, I can very say what's going on. Prayers for all the people there. In terms of us and property prices, look, it's all about oil and our biggest trading partner, China, is getting oil from there. So there can be some shocks there if the oil supply is affected. Here's the thing though, whether it's affected or not affected,

interest rates are what are going to drive our economy here. So if we do see some shocks in the global economy, if we see some shocks in terms of China and the trade there, we can always lower our interest rates a bit quicker than probably what the RBA would have originally planned. So that's one big lever. The other thing, we still got this systemic structural supply and demand problem. Now we are hearing news

about ALBO and the government, you know, reducing immigration and all of this, but that is not a reduction in permanent migration or permanent population growth. So we're still going to have that. But the biggest problem we haven't overcome, and post-election we're not really talking about it, is the supply constraints. That's actually getting worse, not better.

The rental crisis is still ongoing. That has not been solved. So when I look at interest rates, yep, things happen overseas, things go wrong. We can adjust those interest rates. That will protect the economy. We've still got a population issue. We've still got a supply issue. So property prices will continue to grow. What do you think about the outlook for the next 12 months, 18 months?

Look, I think nationally, we're probably looking at somewhere between 6% to 9% growth, depending on what capital city you're in. But look, we've now got a capital city median house price. Believe it or not, Clinton, when we grew up in the 90s, you never would have believed it, but the median house price now is $1 million across all capital cities. Yep, the whole country. Yep.

It's nuts. Who would have thought? So look, we're going to see 6% to 9% growth depending on what capital city. The key city investors should be looking at right now is Melbourne. Melbourne has had pretty much no growth since 2022. Perth has taken off. Brisbane has taken off. Adelaide has taken off, gone through the charts. Melbourne has had no growth. So the next area to pop will be Melbourne. Okay, Melbourne, not Sydney, Melbourne. If Melbourne...

If people want to think about investing now, and you are proud sponsors of our program, is now a good time with all the uncertainty that's around, not quite knowing when the interest rate is going to be cut again, is now a good time to think about it? It's probably the best time ever. And the reason I say that is a lot of things are actually happening and don't have time to unpack it right now. There's a lot of things happening in Australia's favor. So we are well positioned for the next five, 10 to 15 years. But if you look at the

Population growth, the wealth of our country, our natural resources, all the growth still going around the world. I know there's a lot of doom and gloom in the media, but we are well positioned. We're cushioned against all of these shocks going on around the world. We've still got a strong partnership with the US. Our local economy is great. Aussies are great. We're working hard. Business is great. Unemployment's low.

And we've got a shortage of property. No matter what happens with AI and technology and all of this, we're always going to need somewhere to live and our population's growing. True. Good on you, Scott. Thanks for joining us today. Cheers, mate. Scott Kuru, who's from Freedom Property Investors, and they are sponsors of our program. But I wanted to talk to Scott, given what's been unfolding in the Middle East over the past week and whether it's going to have an impact. It's certainly going to have an impact economically on it, but does it have an impact on property investment? It's 20 to 5. Yeah.

It's 17 to 5. Don't forget, I'm still to spin 2GB's Winter Wheel. It is coming. Don't call yet. And yes, we did give away $1,500 yesterday. We've got a knack in giving away a lot of money on this program. We've got some great prizes as well. So don't call yet. Keep listening before I spin 2GB's Winter Wheel. On Sydney Now. Who can't handle the truth?

Our straight shooter this afternoon is the outgoing Liberal Senator Holly Hughes. And I wanted to get Holly in studio today because this is her last time on the station as a politician. Well, for now. No, no, no. I'm thinking this will be the last time as a politician. So formally your Senate term is going to come to an end at the end of this week next week? Monday.

Monday, June 30th. How do you feel? How do you feel about that? Look, I'm actually really looking forward to it. It's been a difficult time in the sense that I knew I was leaving for a good sort of 13 months. So it's given me plenty of time to have a think about what's next. I still don't 100% know, but it's certainly given me plenty of time to get ready for it. So it's amazing when you start to see the big blue sky again.

And then you experience a little bit of the Canberra winter and realise you're not having to go back to that. You start to see the upshot. And then couple that with the election result, I think I may have dodged a bullet. Quite potentially. What I certainly admired in you after the election result, and perhaps it was easier for you to do this, was that you were very much, and you really always have been like this, but you were very much willing to speak your mind. I don't think I've ever been different. But you were very public about why the campaign failed. Yeah.

Yeah, well, and I think you've got to be honest with people and I think that's really important and it's probably important more politicians do do that. I mean, it's extraordinary the people that I know and like how they have a very rigid persona in the media, but they're actually really quite good fun if you go out for dinner with them and can be quite entertaining. And I think too many people think as a politician, you know,

being serious means you have to come across as boring or dull. And I don't think that's the case. Both sides of politics, in your experience, who was the most fun politician to go out to dinner with? Without a doubt, Milton Dick, the Speaker. Milton Dick. We have been really close mates since 2004. We did a young political leaders trip to the U.S.,

And we bonded on that trip. It was actually straight after Latham lost the Medicare Gold election. And we were over there for the US presidential election of George W. Bush and John Kerry and became great mates. And he is still one of the most fun people in my life, full stop, end of story. So certainly we'll be looking forward to some more long dinners with him. Is Albo fun? Yeah.

Do you know, I don't know him very well. I never saw that side of him. Never saw that. I really only met him a couple of times and neither time was I particularly enamoured. Neither time did I think he was particularly warm and I certainly didn't see a fun side. But, you know, then again, maybe that's not for me to see. Is it hard for a career politician? And let's be honest, Albo's a career politician. Is it hard for a career politician to be and show the qualities of a real person?

Well, some of them I'm not sure still maintain those qualities. They've kept them hidden for so long. I think they've almost forgotten what being a real person is about and whether Albo's done that or not, that'll be a matter for him. But I think he's been in the game for so long, the ability to turn it off, you know, may not be there anymore. But...

Look, I think more people need to be authentic. They need to be their real selves because for every one of your listeners that's sitting in their car, driving home, cost of living pressures are still so very, very real for many families at the moment. We need to be honest. And, you know, politicians experience the same sorts of challenges that everybody else faces and sometimes more in a different way. You know, I've had to juggle...

being away for, you know, a lot of time each year with three children that were going through school. So, you know, it does come with a price. It's a price that we're prepared to pay, but our families at the end of the day are conscripts and we need to be mindful of that. You see, I think there's a real desire, and maybe this is just the way that because we've been exposed now to reality TV and social media, there's more desire than ever that

for the voters to see the reality in politicians, what they actually really like. But politicians themselves, more than ever, don't want to take any risk. And I guess that's because you can easily be exposed on social media. Well, and I think it's a 24-7 media cycle. I mean, you know yourself, Clinton, and your producers. What are you going to talk about? What's happening today? There's a constant search for the news. You're constantly under scrutiny. And it's not necessarily...

accepting of politicians being human. There almost seems to be a thought that they're able to operate at a level other than that, and that's just not the case. Yeah. The developing story this afternoon is the ceasefire in the Middle East, and Donald Trump has issued a social media statement on his own Truth Social service, and it reads in capital letters, the ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it. Now, I can see you're wearing a lapel pin, which features and...

flag of Israel and a flag of Australia. How do you think the next 24 hours are going to proceed? I think it's really important that this ceasefire hold. I think what Trump did was extraordinary. I think it's peace via strength. You're going to hear that term, I think, a lot. But

what Israel has done and now with the US coming in, I think there's a potential change across the Middle East landscape. And we know that Iran has been the head of the snake. It's funding the Houthis. It's funding Hezbollah. It's been funding Hamas. And so by...

the weakening of Iran. Everybody agrees. I mean, even Albanese and Wong could manage to bring up themselves to say Iran can't have nuclear weapons. Hopefully this is what we see is a reshaping of the Middle East, a Middle East that's more driven by the Abraham Accords where we see peace across Saudis, the UAE,

and a lot of the other Middle Eastern countries with Israel and an end to the calling for the destruction of Israel, which was being driven primarily by Iran and its proxies. The Prime Minister has spoken again today and he spoke yesterday, but it did take him more than 24 hours to actually publicly comment. The statement was released on the weekend, but that statement was not attributed to anyone or even an office. Did it take him too long? Yeah, look, it was appalling. And I mean, the fact they put out this limp-wristed commentary from Tanya Plibersek...

and then Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese would know where to be seen. I think what... We're not a key player when it comes to the negotiations in Iran, Israel and the US, but what we are is a long-time ally and friend of the United States. And I think this inaction, this constant sitting on the fence, that Albany's been so weak when it comes to his support for Israel, let alone everything coupled up with Trump...

I think that inaction, that lack of response is going to be echoing very loudly through the halls of Washington. And that's where I think it's important. What do you think drives this? Because before the election, there was the line that Labor politicians were sitting on the fence on some of these issues because they were so worried about the various independent Muslim groups that would run in Sydney's West. They don't have to worry about that anymore. They've got a thumping majority.

Is this just to the core of the PM that when he was a young radical running around the university yard, this was his belief that he was... And that's what I think sometimes when you look at the way they're conducting themselves. It is like university politics. It is still embracing these old left-wing causes that I don't think are in any way the same shape or form that they were when he was at university. Now, I could get in trouble for this. I'm going to say about 40 years ago.

It would have been 80s, that's right. Probably around, you know, 40 years ago. And, you know, things have changed and moved on, but I'm not quite sure that old socialist left wing, that they can ever really let go of those old hatreds.

Reds under the bed, you know, all of those old things that were floating around. I think they probably still have a little bit of a red centre. Now, just on Mr Albanese, news has broken today that the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister is the one who decides this, has told the opposition it will need to cut 20 staffing roles. 16 senior advisor positions will go within the coalition. And it is, that's a decision for the PM.

From your experience of working as a senior member of the coalition, is that too harsh? I think it's vindictive. I think it's nasty. I actually think it's...

It's almost transparent in his unwillingness to have a strong opposition that's able to call the government out to account. Staffers' salaries, particularly staffers in Sydney, you've got to remember politicians and staff federally get paid exactly the same if you live in Launceston or if you live in Sydney. There's no scale about any of those things. Is there a travel allowance for them? There is a travel allowance for them when they go to Canberra or when they travel.

But, you know, their salaries for their experience don't often reflect what they could be earning in the corporate sector. So a lot of these staff do it out of a sense of public duty and a sense of serving a government or an opposition to make the country better. And...

By having to cut so many senior staff, it'll be interesting whether or not many of them will be able to afford to stay because it will mean. And a lot of these people have families themselves. And that is actually going to affect the way government operates. That's going to way parliament operates. It affects everything. And a good government relies on a strong and effective opposition. And that's just the reality. And if you don't have the staff, you don't have the people to actually research issues. And then on the flip side...

ministers and government MPs, they have access not just to their personal stuff, they have access to the public service. Oh, entire departments at their beck and call and the opposition has nowhere near the resources. Now, one of the things that I was very vocal about and we have done a handover, uh,

to the incoming Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Zoe McKenzie. We had seven policies that we had written, that we had had costed, that we'd put together that disappeared into the policy vortex in the previous opposition. So we've handed those over. And I would hope that every single Shadow Minister

within the opposition is going to whomever used to be the shadow in that area because a lot of people have claimed the same. I actually meant to bring them with me so I could show you the seven bits of documents that I have, the cluster of documents on each of those policies. But

Every single shadow minister who didn't get policies through, that didn't get feedback on them, that disappeared into this vortex, they really need to be passing those on to make sure that hopefully... We did an awful lot of work, so hopefully with reduced staff, they've got a lot of work already done. I'm almost out of time, but you mentioned you weren't sure what's next in your career. I think I've found something.

News today that a woman has quit her corporate lifestyle, her corporate grind, to live on a cruise ship full-time. And she's paying about $300 a week. Now, it's some sort of cruise ship that features a lot of gambling on board, but she's our manager for about $300 a week. Would you consider living on a cruise ship? I've got to say no. It doesn't really... Sorry to use this. People are doing it these days. Yeah, look...

I don't know. It's one way to get away from the kids, I suppose. You know, if you're on the other side of the world, they can't just pop over. It gets you out of babysitting and school pickups. But, yeah, I don't know. But that love boat just...

My mum, God rest her soul, but when I was little, she used to let me stay up to watch the love boat with her. So that brings back lots and lots of memories. I've never been on a cruise. I'm going on a very short three-day one. I've never been on one either. Two weeks' time. I'm a little bit worried. Hey, Holly, thanks. Thanks, Clinton. We'll talk again soon. Straight Shooter, Holly Hughes.

This is Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard on 2GB. Seven past five. Great to have your company this Tuesday evening. 131873 is my number. Don't call yet, but just listen out. We are going to spin the wheel shortly. Now, I brought you the story a little earlier that there will be an extraordinary meeting of medical staff council on Thursday evening. The medical staff council of Westmead Hospital.

Things have become so dire at Westmead Hospital that specialists have called this meeting

for a vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive. Now, yesterday on the program, we spoke about the neonatal unit, and there were reports that babies were being treated in storerooms, that babies were being treated in corridors. And I spoke to my contacts within the government. They said, no, that's not the case. But they conceded that there were resources issues at Westmead Hospital. And Ryan Park, the health minister, has made a vow that he will visit Westmead to meet with those midwives and nurses and the executive of the hospital this week. Well...

Based on the information that's come to me, and this has come from a senior gastroenterologist, so a specialist, an extraordinary meeting of medical staff has been called for Thursday 5.30, a vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive. If you've got your top doctors and the top specialists in a hospital who don't want the boss to stay in that position, very hard to remain in that position. Well, we now have a statement, a formal statement from the Western Sydney Local Health District saying,

And they say Western Sydney Local Health District Management have not been advised of a meeting of the Westmead Medical Staff Council or topics for discussion.

Western Sydney Local Health District sincerely apologises to patients who've been impacted by delays to access care provided by Westmead Hospital's gastroenterology department. And it is a gastroenterologist who's raised these concerns today. During an initial assessment of the hospital's outpatient service, it was identified that there were significant number of overdue appointments that required assessment.

an independent senior clinician has reviewed identities of patients underway to prioritise outpatient appointments patients will be contacted and provided with an update to confirm their appointment so this is just one part of the hospital but obviously there is such concern within westmead hospital at the moment that gastroenterologists and other senior physicians other specialists have called this meeting for thursday night and i'm probably not surprised that the western sydney local area health district management's not been advised because they're probably not invited

because it's going to be a vote against the way they're managing their hospital. The state budget has been handed down today by the Treasurer, Daniel Mookie. Now, a core part of the budget is housing.

and quite an out-of-the-box plan that will see the government act as a guarantor for major projects. Now, not every major project. These will be big residential unit developments, for instance. And what the government has found is that there is some apprehension for developers to go ahead and seek finance and develop property because they're concerned about their return. They're concerned they won't get the finance, take on that risk. So what the government is going to do with... This is a billion-dollar plan...

they will provide guarantees. And if, for instance, units don't sell off the plan, the government may actually step in to actually purchase some of those units and then use them for social housing down the track.

This is the Treasurer Daniel Mookie. Telling the people of New South Wales that a housing crisis that took decades to develop will take time to solve. But each budget we're making progress on why people feel like they're under such pressure. But the Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has also spoken about this now and he says he can see holes in the plan. Who are the winners and who are the losers? Who gets to choose the winners and losers? What are the protections against any corruption risk?

And at the end of the day, it's a very, very modest proposal. OK, so that's one aspect of the budget. And more needs to be known about the details of how this guarantee plan is going to work. There is $2.6 billion in funding for schools. That's down slightly from last year. As we heard from the NRMA, funding for roads is still more than $8 billion, but it was more than $9 billion last year. So there is a reduction in... And this is for Capital Works projects. There is a reduction there.

There's a $1.2 billion child protection package, and this is important. This is going to fund pay rises for caseworkers, but also fill 200 vacant positions. So kids who have parents who can't look after their own children, kids whose parents are in jail, kids who should be in foster care and they can't find foster parents for them, kids who've ended up being looked after by caseworkers in motels.

This is a plan to stop that happening. So they're not held in a motel room, which is quite astonishing to think that's actually been happening in recent times. That's a $1.2 billion package. A key part of the budget is spending on health. It's the biggest part of spending effectively is on our health system. The president of the New South Wales AMA is Dr. Catherine Alston. Thank you for joining us, Doctor.

Thanks very much, Clinton. Nice to talk. Are you happy with what's been announced in the health area today? Look, unfortunately, no. Unfortunately, this health care budget really hasn't set any plan or direction for the future of health care. And we really think that the patients of New South Wales deserve better. What's the main problem here?

- Look, one of the biggest challenges is that a large number of the announcements have really looked at big spends on infrastructure. One of the big problems about infrastructure is that infrastructure doesn't look after patients. And we know that what we really needed was an investment into the workforce. So our frontline doctors,

nurses, allied healthcare staff that actually deliver that care to patients. And I think we just haven't seen that real investment in our workforce in any meaningful way. This budget doesn't address the issues, for instance, and I know you're with the AMA, you're representing doctors, not nurses, but it doesn't address the nurses pay issue. It doesn't address the issue with psychiatrists either.

No, and unfortunately, out of all of this, obviously industrial relations is one complexity of this. But I think what we're seeing is that we know there are more and more acutely unwell patients and they've got increasingly complex healthcare needs. And

The funding component to this just hasn't addressed it as part of workforce. But also we need to look at things like the complexities within the system being driven and led by doctors who can actually tell our patients when and how they need that surgery done. And we need that investment to be able to then perform the surgeries, look after the elective surgical waiting list so that there aren't more and more people increasing

We've seen 100,000 patients waiting for elective surgery, which was close to the record during the pandemic when elective surgery was cancelled. And more than that, you know, these people are... These are all of us. These are mothers and fathers and neighbours, and all of those people need the surgery to alleviate their pain or regain quality of life or independence. And we know that healthcare is the cornerstone of our society, and we really just need to make sure that is actually properly done.

Doctor, we've been told today that there will be a vote held on Thursday evening. There'll be a meeting of the Medical Staff Council at Westmead Hospital where there'll be a vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive. Now, the local area health district management's told us that they have not been advised of this particular meeting or what's going to be discussed. What's your information on this one?

Yeah, look, we know that unfortunately these struggles that are really reflected in the budget from our healthcare staff, so our doctors in this setting but also nurses and allied health staff, are increasingly frustrated that we're seeing the complexity of our patients rising more

We're seeing that there needs to be that investment in how to deliver these services. And the frontline people who then need to deliver these services are really not being heard at the higher levels of the hospitals. And unfortunately, in this case with Westmead, we believe that the chief executive, that they have the vote of no confidence. But again, we know that despite increasingly calling for improvements in these areas, they're just simply not being addressed after years and years of correspondence.

And it's been happening under both levels of government. Thank you for your time, Doctor. Thank you so much for chatting. Dr Catherine Alston, who's the President of the AMA New South Wales. So they're not happy with what's in the budget in the area of health. Now, yesterday on the program, we spoke to May. May owns an arcade in Taree, and she was part of a major rally in Taree involving 3,000 people.

that was protesting about the lack of government assistance following the floods on the Mid North Coast. There is within the budget a $358 million allocation for disaster recovery and relief measures directly related to the floods of last month. Now, I'm still seeking the actual finer details...

My understanding is that's not going to increase the grants from the $25,000, which some farmers and primary producers are now able to apply for, to the $75,000 that they would have if they were Class Category D. But I'll seek some more information. But there is $358 million in disaster recovery and relief measures in the budget. To the GV's Winter Wheel.

Do you want to win some money? Would you like to win some great prizes? I have the wheel next to me. I'm about to spin it, but you need to call me. Okay, we're looking for the fourth caller. 1-300-722-873. That's the competition line. 1-300-722-873. Your chance to spin 2GB's winter wheel. We have up to $40,000 worth of cash and prizes to be won.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now formally agreed and confirmed that he has agreed to the ceasefire with Iran in coordination with US President Donald Trump. He says he reported to Israel's security cabinet on Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals in the 12-day operation against Iran, including removing the threat of their nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Israel also damaged Iran's military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran's skies. Netanyahu says, he says, Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire. Let's spin. Let's see if we can give away some great prizes and cash this afternoon. And let's find a winner. Hello, Wayne. Hello, Clinton. How you going, mate? Mate, I'm fantastic, but I reckon you're going to be even better in a moment.

I hope so. I've got a wheel next to me. I'm going to spin it on your behalf. It has... I just saw an old chocolate wheel. No, no, this is the spectacular 2GB wheel that I think it was developed in 1996 in the old Sussex Street headquarters. It's got a little bit of age on it, but it's lovely. Very modern prices. We've got a great price for National Tiles. We've got $1,000. We've got $500. We've got $750. We've got a lot of money on this wheel. I shall spin now, Wayne. Okay.

Thanks, mate. I'm going to go clockwise because it's a lot better clockwise. We've had a lot of luck going clockwise. Here we go. One, two, three, spin. It's spinning, spinning, spinning. Zipping past the $750 mark. It's just gone past $1,000. Slowing down, slowing down. It's slowing down. $750. Oh, mate, thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Clinton. Thank you very much, mate. Hey, Wayne, what does $750 mean to you?

A lot at the moment, yeah. So I've got to give it to the wife and happy wife, happy life. Tell me about it. Now, tell me though, will she spend a little bit of it on you? You're not just going to pay bills, are you?

Yeah, we're going to pay some bills, mate, electricity bills, thanks to Albanese. What about maybe pay off the electricity bill and, hey, $750, that's going to cover most of your quarter electricity bill, I hope, and then go out to dinner. Yeah. Go out to dinner somewhere. Yeah, we'll probably do that, Clinton. Thanks, mate. Good on you, Wayne. We are going to keep spinning the wheel all week long. So tomorrow morning, Ben Fordham in breakfast is going to spin the wheel. Levy in mornings, very chuffed was our Mark Levy this morning because he gave away $2,500.

Mick, Mac, Michael McLaren in the afternoon program and we will spin it again here on Sydney Now tomorrow afternoon. It will be at a different time tomorrow, so you're going to have to listen very closely. If it's happening in Sydney, you'll hear it on Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard.

on 2GB. If you'd like to send me a text message, 0460 873 873. There are new exhilarated NBN plans coming in September. It can be hard to keep up with all the changes with the way the internet works and with the upgrades the NBN has been rolling out. But at the end of the day, what do we want?

reliable internet, fast internet. I just want to check in with our sponsors, NBN. Jane McNamara is with the NBN and joins us. Hello, Jane. Good to be with you, Clinton. It does get a little bit confusing with all the different options there are now and the upgrades that you guys have been rolling out. You have upgraded and you're rolling out full fibre to the premises. What does full fibre to the premises mean?

Absolutely. Look, your listeners will recall that, you know, we finished that initial rollout back in 2019, 2020, connecting every home and business across the country to NBN. And to keep pace with that demand that we have on the NBN, and I love to be online and need to be online, we've been rolling out up

across the country ever since. And nothing beats full fibre. That's fibre optic cable all the way from the street to your front door. So lightning fast broadband, you can't get more reliable and faster anywhere in the world. So, you know, for 1.4 million homes and businesses across New South Wales, you know, this...

Fibre upgrade, full fibre to the home is now available and we've got these amazing accelerated speeds coming from the 14th of September and we don't want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to get that upgrade. In practice, what does the fibre upgrade actually mean to an everyday Sydney family?

So really what it means is we want our listeners this evening to think about the plan that they're currently on. And we know most Australians are on a mid-term

tier plan and what we know is with all those connected devices that we love to use, about 25 at the moment, going to grow to more than 40, usually that mid-sized plan with the number of people in the home, all on those devices at the one time this evening, you might notice that it's not performing how you think it should and that's the perfect sign that an increased

speed plan so going up one plan and getting that fiber upgrade is the perfect solution to make sure it's ready for today and you know 10 years from now i live in the sutherland shire and i've been fortunate we've been connected we're an angadine we've been connected to the nbn probably for about five years now and i must admit i'm on that mid plan i'm not on the top plan i'm on the mid plan but i was reading about um somebody who lives not far from me rob in cornell and

And they upgraded to the top plan, the 100 megabit per second, and the difference it made to them was significant.

Absolutely. And, you know, it was funny. I read this story as well. And, you know, Rob really noticed that the technology he is on, it was part fibre but part copper. And so what we're doing with these upgrades is we're removing that copper. So you've got none of that degrading copper in the mix, making sure that you've got fibre all the way to the home. And it was really simple for Rob. He actually just...

contacted his phone and internet provider, had a conversation, said, "What's available for me? "Because this plan's not working anymore for my family. "I'm noticing buffering and dropouts in the evening, "and, you know, I want better." And, you know, the phone and internet providers, of course, sell the plans to you, me and our listeners, and he was advised that he could get an upgrade to full fibre

placing the order, going up one of those speed tier plans to the 100 plan, and that triggers the upgrade for free. So you don't pay for the five-year upgrade. You might have a couple of dollars difference in your plan or maybe not.

because there's a lot of competition with 150 retail service providers. So you might actually get a better deal and save some dollars by triggering this upgrade. But talking to your phone and internet provider to see if one of these upgrades is available to you is absolutely the first step. And Jane, just lastly, talking about saving dollars, it's end of financial year and so many retailers have end of year financial year sales. And I know a lot of the providers and the resellers of internet services also do.

Super competitive time. And, you know, if you haven't checked your plan in a while, do it. Do it now because we know that the phone and internet providers want your business. You know, talk to them about doing you a deal. They're even bundling some of their services as well. So you might be able to get your...

NBN, you might be able to get your mobile and some of those streaming services all bundled up for a really competitive price. So, you know, do your research, talk to friends and family, talk to your phone and internet provider and maybe go to some of those independent websites that do all the hard work for you. Good on you, Jane. Thank you.

Thank you. Jane McNamara from the NBN. You can go onto the NBN website and actually just type your address in and see what's available for you in terms of upgrades. Great things are happening every minute on NBN. To find out more, visit that website. It is nbn.com.au.

Word on the street for temper. On the bed and night sleep, night after night, the difference is temper. And we brought you this story about Westmead Hospital based on a tip we've had via our Word on the Street segment. And that is that there will be a vote of no confidence held in the chief executive of Westmead Hospital on Thursday night. We've also been discussing what's been happening with neonatal care in Westmead. And a listener's just sent me a text message. And I'm not going to identify the listener, but they say, I do not work at Westmead Hospital.

But I saw with my own eyes today two babies in a storeroom area of the NICU. So the report saying otherwise is incorrect. Now, the midwife I spoke to yesterday said they are caring for babies in what was certainly known as the storeroom. Previously, they've changed the name of it. So that may be where the government is saying it's not a storeroom as such. But certainly in the past, this has been used as a storeroom. Let's check in news headlines. ♪

And with the latest, Katie Fuller. Good afternoon, Clinton. Israel has now formally agreed to the US President's proposal for a ceasefire with Iran, saying it's achieved the objectives of its attacks. Western Sydney's local health district says it has not been advised about a vote of no confidence in the chief executive of Westmead Hospital. Medical staff are due to meet on Thursday evening amid reports of understaffing and under-resourcing in the neonatal care ward.

A new scheme guaranteeing pre-sales for housing developments has been unveiled in the state budget. It's designed to help low to medium level developers secure finance from banks to get projects underway sooner. And a severe weather warning has been issued for damaging winds extending from the south coast up to the mid north coast. Peak gusts of up to 120 kilometres an hour are possible in alpine areas.

In sport, a double boost for South Sydney in the NRL. Star duo Cody Walker and Campbell Graham have been named to return from injury in Saturday night's clash with the Dolphins. Clinton, more news at six. Thank you, Katie. 18 degrees in the city, it's also 18 degrees in the west. MUSIC

I mentioned a little earlier that there is a lady who has quit her corporate career to live on a cruise liner. It's costing her about $300 a week. It's a good deal somehow she's got. But I've actually come across quite a few people in my travels who effectively live on cruise liners. They spend most of the year on a cruise line. I don't think I'd like that personally. I'm going on my first cruise in about two weeks' time. Luke Boner will be filling in for me for a couple of weeks.

It's only a three-day cruise. I'm quite apprehensive about it because I've never been on a cruise before. My wife has convinced me to go. Mary says, thank you for your email, Mary, 2GB.com. Mary says, I would love to live on a cruise liner. Wouldn't be able to afford it. And Louise says, I've actually been on 10 cruises in the past five years. Well, gee whiz. You certainly love it, Louise. ♪

Let's get the latest finance news. Tom Story from our Money News program. Deb Knight hosting Money News from 7 o'clock tonight. Hello, Tom. Hello, Clint. I'm not sure if we're going to take that advice on Money News to live on a cruise ship, but it's certainly one to look into if you want to save a dollar. After COVID, when they started operating cruise lines again, one of the big cruise line companies, so it was probably Carnival or P&O, invited a whole bunch of journalists to visit and go on board the first cruise ship that came back through their heads, and I was one of them.

And I met this lovely couple who had retired and they had retired to a life of cruising. They don't live on the one ship, but they go from ship to ship and they would spend literally 10 months out of a 12 month year on a cruise liner. Wow. And the cost seems pretty reasonable. Well, you know, I guess if your superannuation payouts are okay, maybe if you sell your Sydney house...

You'll be doing okay. Ceasefire in the Middle East, it appears to have been good for the markets. Yeah, well, if you're talking about superannuation accounts, they'll be reliant on what's happening on the markets, and it was much better news today. The ceasefire saw the oil price drop back under $7 a barrel. I just checked it before. It's even going under $68 a barrel. The ASX was flying. It took its lead off Wall Street overnight, closing up 1% or 80 points higher to $8,555.

It was financial and materials stocks that were doing the best there. BHP was up 2.4%. Fortescue was up 4.8%. Rio Tinto was 3% higher. And the banks were also stronger. ComBank up 2.1%. NAB up 2.2%. Westpac 2.6% higher. ANZ also up 1.4%. So a much better day on the markets, and it's all due to that ceasefire. So the dollar's back over 65 US cents. Is that because there's just more confidence in the international economy? Yeah, there's...

Strength in the US dollar. So generally what they say is that the Aussie dollar is what you look for when times are good. Investors pile in when it looks like things are going to be going well. So if not, they tend to pile back in the US dollar, which makes that a bit stronger. Obviously yesterday when things were looking like World War III could be on the brink, we saw investors pile back into the US and that hurt the Aussie dollar. Today it's a completely different story, which saw it push back over 65 US cents. I filled up my car last night because the NRMA advised us yesterday to fill it up within 24 hours.

Do you think this is going to have an effect on world oil prices in a positive way? Yeah, now the lag's usually a couple of weeks or a month or so until it comes through. At $80 a barrel, we were looking at an average price across the country of around $2 a litre for what we pay at the petrol pump.

But given it's back down to $68 now, that's about what we were two weeks ago. So the prices that we've been seeing in the last month or so, it's probably due to repeat when we look ahead to the next month or so for motorists, which is great news. Not so good if you're an energy investor, though. Woodside share price was down 6.5% today. So it all depends on perspective in the markets. The other big market news today is the relisting of...

Virgin, Virgin Australia, the airline. Yeah, now Virgin, people will remember that it went into voluntary administration due to COVID and Bain Capital, they're a private equity firm. They came in and picked up the pieces and they settled in a $3.5 billion deal. Now, private equity firms, they come in, they restructure companies and they look to sell them off, usually at a better price. But the plan for Virgin looked like it was always going to relist on the ASX.

It opened up today at midday. Now, initially, its IPO price was $2.90. Investors looked at that and thought, wow, that's a deal we've got to get in on. It eventually closed up more than 11% to $3.23. So it looks like there's a bit more competition in the airline space now, which is something that's good for Australia. Deb will be hosting Money News from 7 o'clock tonight. She will. Thank you, Tom. Tom Story from our Money News program.

Sydney Now on 2GB. I'm getting lots of messages now about cruise lining. Steve says, when you go on the cruise, enjoy the gastro. Don't say that, cruise. Don't say that, Steve. No. Elizabeth says, there are lots of people who live on cruise ships full time, mostly Americans, because cruises can actually be fairly cheap.

On Sydney Now, a weather update. We'll be here to help in unexpected weather. NRMA Insurance, a health company. It was looking a bit murky earlier today, but the weather cleaned up this afternoon. It was quite a nice afternoon in the end. It should remain dry this evening. There is the chance of a shower or two right now in the city. 18 degrees, 18 degrees in the west. The forecast for tomorrow, a partly cloudy day, mostly sunny in the morning. The slight chance of a shower later in the day with a top of 17.

On Thursday, becoming cloudy and 16, but mostly sunny to start the day. A shower or two on Friday. At this stage across the weekend, it looks like we'll have a few showers.

Want to know what's happening in Sydney? Stay tuned to Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard on 2GB. It is the NRL's Team List Tuesday. Mark Guyer has all the goss on the ins and outs. Hello, MG. Hello, Clint. How are you, my friend? Well, you know what? I'm wondering about the Tigers. See, I've been tipping the Tigers throughout the whole year, and maybe that explains why I'm at the bottom of the ladder of the 2GB tipping comp. I see that they've got a really big out this week.

Yeah, let's go for the outs first. Can you believe it? It's round 17 in the NRL already. Dream Buller, their sensational fullback, has been ruled out for a month with a hamstring tear or something wrong with his hammy, something really bad with the hammy. That means young Latu Feinu will be starting at number seven this week and number six will be Jerome Loy, also out Hudson Young.

He's being rested. Fletcher Sharp, can you believe this? He has ruptured his spleen. He's also done some kidney damage for that tackle against the Dolphins in Perth. He still remains in Perth. So his family... He's a Newcastle player, yeah. Yeah, the poor bloke from there. He's a good player too, haven't you? He is, isn't he? I like him a lot. He's got a bad haircut. I think he needs to have a good look at himself in the mirror. But no, he's a good player. Bad haircut, good player. Yeah.

Yeah, we'll agree on that one because young Jack Bostock also, he's only out for the season with an ACL rupture, so some bad news there. But some good news in the Inns department. We see the Panthers' Origins 5 return.

We see Burton and Sexton named at number six and seven, respectively. Lockie Galvin reverts to the interchange bench. Tommy Turbo being named in the centres. That's going to cause a little bit of controversy, I would imagine. For the Rabbitohs, Campbell Graham and Cody Walker both return. And Dylan Brown is back for the Parramatta Eagles. Okay, good news for Parrot. Now, big NRL news today with the P&G franchise.

Yeah, Ray did. Ex-Bulldog head Honcho has been named the chair of the PNG NRL franchise. He will head the board of seven. One of the board members will be familiar with those who love their rugby league because his name is

Marcus By, who used to play a Melbourne Storm legend. He will be one of the board members, along with Lorna McPherson, Richard Peagum, Stanley Joyce, Wapu Song, and Ian Tartuia. So good work for... They're starting to be a little bit proactive. We haven't heard much of the PNG boys lately. We spoke about them on the weekend on the continuous call, so in Clinton. And they are leaning towards the PNG Angels team.

because of the Fuzzy Wuzzies back in the day. So I think it's a fantastic thing. I don't mind that name as well. Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, as Ben was saying this morning, it might sound a bit soft having the fuzzy in there, but the angels I reckon might work quite well. With Ray Dibb, so Ray Dibb, former Bulldogs chair, so he's the chairman of the PNG. So does that mean he moves to PNG or just goes over there a fair bit?

Well, we still don't know much about the whole franchise because we don't know if they're going to be operating out of cans. They're thinking about building a multi-purpose, inverted commas, compound for all those players that want to go up there. Well, it's not a real safe place, apparently, to live. No, it's not.

obviously the lure of a good tax break and those guys maybe nearing the end of their career instead of going over to the English Super League, this might be more attractive to go to the PNG franchise. But yeah, look, that's one thing. They haven't announced their coach yet. They haven't announced much else except for their

Their chairman of the board will be Ray Deal. Also some breaking news in rugby league. The Dragons have given young fullback or winger Terrell Sloan permission to look elsewhere as they chase, I think.

Selwyn Cobbo, but the latest on Selwyn Cobbo, and this is all breaking this afternoon, he's out of favour with the Broncos. The Broncos have only got about $300,000 to pay him for an extension, so they've signed his replacement for a two-year deal. The Dragons want him before June 30 and are prepared to pay him $600,000 per year. But now the North Queensland Cowboys have jumped in on the fund, and they also want

Selwyn Cobbo before June 30 because of their injury plague to their outside back. So stay tuned because the Selwyn Cobbo saga has not finished yet. Look, if the Broncos are having trouble with their salary cap and can't fit Selwyn Cobbo in, I've got a solution for them. Yep. They could lend us Reece Walsh. Just lend for the rest of the year. What about Payne Haas? Yeah, that'd be nice as well. Actually, you know what? Adam Reynolds wouldn't go astray for the Sharks at the moment. Hey, MG...

Have you ever been on a cruise? No, and I never would. Why not? No, because I'm claustrophobic and the fact of being on somewhere for... So, for a start, I couldn't sleep at night thinking that we're going to tip over. LAUGHTER

You get a tip over. They're big boats. Sometimes when I go to a pub or a club and I'm on holidays, I can go back to my hotel and not be, you know, bothered by some person who wants to have a few drinks with me. Well, on a cruise, there's no escape.

So that's the exact reason I've never wanted to go on a cruise because I figure if I don't like it, I can't get off. But my wife's convinced me. My wife's convinced me we're going in two weeks. You're going? It's only three days. It's very quick. Oh, no. No, no, no. Oh, mate, you know what? A lot of people swear by them. A lot of my mates have, you know, some people live on them because of how cheap it is. Exactly. Now, what I think, I think you should buy your parents a cruise for their wedding anniversary.

Well, it is today. It's the 58th wedding anniversary today. My mum, Maxine, and my father, Ace, or Kevin, but he likes getting called Ace. He made up his own nickname because he was good at cards. Yeah, they celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary today. Mum and dad will be listening right now. Hi, Maxine. Hello, Kevin. And we're going up there on the weekend to have a bit of a dinner with them. Well done.

Yeah, so well done, Mum and Dad. We love you lots, and let's have another 58, eh? Congratulations, Maxine and Ace, for 58 fabulous years, and look what you've produced. MG. Oh, God. There's been a couple of other highlights as well. Look what you've done, Mum. Look what you've created. MG, we will talk tomorrow. I'll see you in studio, buddy. Bye-bye. Mark Guyer.

Let's play the quiz. 131873. I've got a double pass to give away to a fantastic play that's on at the Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli. It's called Primary Trust. It's a comedy. It's really uplifting. It's about second chances. It's about quiet courage. Ensemble.com.au. If you want to play the quiz, give me a call now. 131873. It's nine to six. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is talking tough tonight. He is putting petrol stations on notice.

telling them they can't dud motorists with unjustifiably higher bowser prices because of the Middle East conflict. Now, the price of oil, just given what's happened this afternoon with the ceasefire, it's very unknown what the direction of the price of a barrel of oil is going to be in the next couple of weeks. But Jim Chalmers has written to the ACCC requesting the watchdog be on the lookout for petrol stations attempting to, quote, do the wrong thing by Australian motorists.

I probably would have thought that Jim Chalmers should have written to someone else other than the ACCC because I think they've proven, and seriously, no one's going to argue me here, I think the ACCC has proven for many years they're a complete toothless tiger when it comes to petrol prices. Congratulations, Elizabeth. Elizabeth just told me in the text line it's her 37th wedding anniversary tomorrow. So, MGs, mum and dad, it's their 58th wedding anniversary today. Elizabeth, married 37 years ago tomorrow.

Time to expand your minds. You may begin your questioning. On Sydney Now. Questions, questions, all I get is questions. It's very important you pay attention. I know how smart you are. Answer the question. Get it right. Clinton's Quick Quiz. Let's play the Quick Quiz. I've got a double pass to go and see Primary Trust at the Ensemble Theatre, ensemble.com.au if you'd like to go along. Hello, Kevin. Hi, mate. How are you going? I'm good, my friend. Hope you're feeling clever this afternoon. And Rob's in Killara. G'day, Rob.

Hey, Clinton, how are you? I'm good. You can go first. Your 30 seconds starts now. In the nursery rhyme, what did Jack and Jill go up the hill for? Catch a pail of water. Correct. The national anthem... The national animal of France is a snail or a rooster. Rooster. Correct. Sir Sidney Nolan was famous for doing what? Poetry. No, he's a painter. Bob Marley and the Wailers were from which country? Jamaica. Correct. The Shakespeare play is called, I'll finish it, Romeo and...

Juliet. Correct. All right. Now, just bear in mind, I didn't write the questions today. Adam did. So, Kevin, your 30 seconds starts now. Spell the word budget. B-U-D-G-E-T. Correct. In what galaxy is our solar system located? Milky Way. Correct. Who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird? Pass. Harper Lee. How long is a cricket pitch? Year pass. 22 yards or 20 metres. AFL stands for what?

Australian Football League. Correct. Well, you finished on three, which means, Rob, you're the winner today. G'day, Rob. Well done. Thank you. It's awesome. Congratulations, mate. We're going to send you along to go and see a great play at the Ensemble Theatre. It's called Primary Trust. You can book now, ensemble.com.au.

And now, a preview of what's coming up on Wide World of Sports. With 604 kilometres of range, the Kia EV3 is your 2025 World Car of the Year. Visit your nearest Kia showroom to test drive yours today.

Adam Hawes hosting Wild Water Sports from 6 o'clock tonight. The teams are out for this weekend's NRL games. Yeah, they sure are. Clinton, Nathan Cleary, a lot of interest in him. He has been named by the Panthers, but will he play? That is the question. Ivan Cleary, his dad and coach, certainly didn't sound too confident.

earlier in the afternoon. I believe he's going to finish training today unscathed. Who are they playing, the Panthers, this weekend? The Bulldogs. It's a pretty big game. Pretty big game. And then if he doesn't play, the question is, should he be picked for State of Origin 3? Would you take him in? Is that a big gamble?

Yeah, you take him in because Matt Burton's 18th man, so you've got that there, that luxury, haven't you? So anyway, we'll talk about that. Michael Chambers from the Herald and Nine, he will join me with all the latest, including the Selwyn Cobbo gossip. Paul Gallen will come on the show to talk about his fight with Sonny Bill Williams and we'll also chat with Julie Fitzgerald from the Giants netball side.

Horsey coming up with Whitewater Sports after the 6 o'clock news. Deb Knight will be presenting money news from Seven. John Stanley taking you through the night. Phil O'Neill overnight. Don't forget, we're spinning the wheel all day long tomorrow with Ben in breakfast, Levy in mornings, Mick Mack in afternoons, and I will be spending the winter wheel different time tomorrow, so you're going to have to listen carefully. Thanks for your company over the past couple of hours. That's Sydney Now.