2GB Afternoons - Wednesday, June 18th

be back on Friday. But it'll be all as usual today, including the giveaways and the news and everything that's coming across the desk. We'll bring it to you as it happens this afternoon. And there are a few things ongoing, of course internationally. We'll keep an eye on what's happening

in Tehran, the conflict in the Middle East. We've also got the summation of the defect NaN's Council and the Mushroom murder case, and a few other bits and pieces of information, including a very interesting High Court ruling that came out this morning, which I'll give you more detail on in just to tick. But what's on the show. Well, we'll talk soon in the next twenty minutes or so to Robin Ironside, who's an aviation rider from the Australian,

about what does make a good airline? Because they had again the annual I guess you could call it the aviation industry's version of the OSCARS. It's the aviation awards run by Skytracks and a lot of airlines pin a lot of business on this and once again Katar Airways has finished on top. Now I believe they get quite a bit of subsidy in their part of the world. Not airlines are on the same playing field. Not a probably good metaphor there when you're talking about aviation, but anyway,

I think you know where I'm coming from. Singapore Airlines came second, Cathay Pacific third, Coititus jumped up the leaderboard in fourteenth place, but they were twenty fourth. But there are other categories two where the air lines are judged, and Quite has did very very well in a couple of those. We'll talk a bit more with that with Robert Einside about that and also what you think makes a good airline, what you're looking for. I think actually

getting there safely is by a long stretch. Number one. I think we're all agreed on that, especially given events of the past week or so in India particularly. That's the priority. But what are the other things that you are concerned about as an ear traveler? One three one eight seven three, zero four six zero eight seven three eight seven three on the text line, Now here's an

interesting one. Dave will Go Wilkins, who you might know is the gig guide man for the John Stanley Show on Thursday nights and Fridays in the non footy playing season. He'll be talking about a person who he idolizes. That is Paul McCartney. It's his eighty third birthday today. Not will Go, but Paul McCartney. And we'll have a good chat with Wilko, who knows his stuff. He's an accomplished musician with a great pedigree, and he'll explain why he

loves all McCartney. But we'd love to hear from you as well. One through one eight seven three or zero four six zero eight seven three eight seven three. That'll be coming up after one o'clock this afternoon. We'll talk to will Gone. We'd love to hear your stories about whether you went to the McCartney concert, whether you are a McCartney or a Lenin person. It's a bit like

being a dog or a cat person, isn't it. There are Lenin and McCartney people, and there are others who are happy to sit on the fence, and there's nothing wrong with that. And where does he sit in the pantheon of music writers? Some say one of the greatest of all time? That's interesting. How far back do you want to go? You've got guy called Gershwin who was pretty good back in his day, and many many others. These things are argued about all the time, but let

us know, it's really about what you like. That's what it's all about. So we'll talk about that, the legacy of McCartney, and we've got some pretty We've got an interesting story for you about one of our management members. I won't say any more than that, she's a manager here at this radio station, has a great McCartney story, which does lead me to think, you know, what, have you ever met any of the Beatles? What is your

brush with fame when it comes to these things? Her story is quite unusual, and I think we're all very envious when I tell you that story. A little later on, Blake went All joined us from Pretzel Wealth. This is a regular Michael segment. We'll also have Chuck's footy tips. He's not here today in person, but I will pass his tips on to you and for what it's worth, give my thoughts on it. Anita Warren will join us.

She's the CEO of Master Builders Australia and they're calling on the federal government again to try and unlock productivity. They think they're going to make some gains and they have some very bold plans. Now I'm trying to think of the last time any government actually initiated a bold plan. They tend to be rather conservative when it comes to

these things low risk. But we'll see what Anita WARN's got in mind and how successful she thinks she might be because we're really spinning wheels comes to the housing situation. On that subject, we'll have the Winter Wheel, up to twenty five hundred dollars cash in prizes, and a whole bunch of other cool things. I think in Mark Show they gave away fifteen hundred dollars. Am I right, Joel? Yes,

So that's fantastic. Hopefully we'll be able to do that for you in the last hour of the program, and we'll also have our track of the day, which is a regular Michael thing. Incidentally, that's one hundred and fifty dollar vouta from the B store. So we'll get you in there and we'll talk to Matthew Wilson, who's the executive director of Road Maintenance Partnerships of Transport New South Wales.

Why I'm glad you asked. I was driving across the Harbor Bridge this morning on my way to help out here and fill in for Michael, and I noticed quite a few rust patches on the old bridge and it just got me thinking, how do they maintain the bridge? I mean, we've had these stories from time to time. We know there are maintenance schedules, et cetera. But traffic's getting busier, peak hours getting longer. Is it more difficult? Do they have more technology these days to make it

easier to maintain the bridge. It's a big lump of steel over salt water and I saw a lot of RUSS patches, so they must be due for a repaint pretty soon. How do they do that safely? And how difficult is it to maintain the old coat hanger. Over many years, we've got a second tunnel on the way which will relieve the burden of the traffic on the Harbor Bridge. But it is one of the most iconic bridges in the world. It's a symbol of Australia and I thought we might just catch up if you've not

thought about it recently. I certainly was today when I crossed the Harbor Bridge. How do we keep it in shape? So let us know what your thoughts are one three, one eight seven three on anything we talk about or anything you're thinking about too. We're happy to hear it or zero four six, zero eight seven three eight seven three. Text are coming through and calls already. Thank you, and we'll talk very soon to Robin eInsight about these aviation awards.

But also I'll give you an update on that High Court decision very shortly twenty past midday. Thank you for the kind words, Dave and a few other people. I'm definitely in the McCartney camp. There's another Dave because he shares the surname. Good on your Dave. Of course you are now Greg. Whenever I see RUSS patches on the Harbor Bridge, I automatically think of offshore windmills. Yes, that was one thing that came to mind, Greg when I was hearing about all that. Do we really need them

off shore? There's plenty of other places to put them rather than over the salt water.

I think just the way things are there. And I guess airline food, if you could really judge an airline on airline food, if it doesn't taste the same as every other airline.

The federal government is now free to crack down even further on the trouble CFMEU. The High Court has dismissed this constitutional challenge from the outst CFMEU officials who are trying to overturn the administration that was applied to the union. This is a judgment delivered by Chief Justice Stephen Gagler. All six grounds of the challenge have been rejected, including claims that the laws infringe the implied freedom of political communication.

Freedom of political communication, that's not something I would have associated with the former administration of the c FMEU anyway. The federal government stepped in last August, as you might know, and the troubled union has been infiltrated by bikies and organized crime groups, and there were broader concerns of other

criminalized behavior. Well, the ruling paves the way now for the Administrator, Mark Irving case to continue his clamp down on the union, and it will, perhaps they say, embolden other people in the construction industry to come forward with more allegations of any corruption or misconduct. I quote now from the Administrator, Mark Irving, who says the decision provides clarity and it paves the way for the greater systemic

reforms necessary for the union and across the industry. Along with the CFMEU, employers, regulators and governments all have a role to play in rooting out malignant and violent actors from the construction sector. This is just another but not unimportant part of the puzzle of getting our housing and construction back on track. We'll be talking to the master builders a little later, not specifically about this ruling, but

they would be pretty pleased about it. I would imagine this administration, according to Mark Irving, is committed to returning the union to the membership as a strong, democratic member controlled union enduringly free of corruption and criminal influence as soon as possible. That's the official statement, and this from the Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, who also commented today

on the High Court ruling. We need to focus on shifting the culture in the construction industry and ensure the bad actors we have seen infiltrating this sector are kept out. Construction workers deserve a union free from criminality, corruption and violence. The administrator and his team can now move forward with confidence and continue their essential work in cleaning up the Construction and General division of the CFME EU. Interesting. Well,

we've all heard stories, haven't we. Let's see how the administration goes and what success they have. And of course we all know that the incumbent federal government is inextricably bound to the trade union movement. But of course I think it's in their interests as much as anybody that it's clean, above board and doing what was always meant to do. Now, very soon we'll be talking to Robin einside. Let us know your stories of your favorite airlines or

why what makes an airline successful? And I think Frank is on the line with another one.

painting the bridge properly these days means writing a report. Well, that's part of the conversation, Linda, Yes, oh, and s these days would be vastly different to what it was when the bridge was first constructed, and so that would have an impact on how they manage maintenance. So many boxes to tick, as they say, the red tape. Quite a few other texts coming in on various things. I'll

get to that text line in just a minute. The other story today is, of course, as I mentioned, Colin Mandy sc is in the spotlight at the Mushroom murder case, and he's been going through a whole range of different

things that's been dutifully reported in the newspapers. And the latest in a very very long summation on behalf of the defense is that he's painting a portrait of an enduring family love that the Pattison family shared even after the separation of the accused Aaron Patterson and Simon Patterson it says his client shared a good and strong relationship with her estranged husband and a loving relationship with her

in laws Don and Gale Patterson. Part of the defense, even though it's not a technical defense, certainly to try and persuade the jury is motive and that was one of the discussions that came up during the summation, and mister Mandy has returned to that theme. Why would she have done it anyway? So many facets to this. Of course, as you've probably heard, it's become a global phenomenon, the Mushroom case. So the jury at some stage I expect today will be allowed to retire and try and reach

a verdict on this. And there's been a whole lot of legal and of course emotional argument back and forth, but it's been reported in great detail today on the Sydney Morning Herald website. Will keep you across that and other stories. I've had a couple of requests actually for some reports on what's happening overseas, so we'll check up

on that too. Because these air strikes that are being traded between Israel and Iran are continuing right through our daytime and also our nighttime as well, so we wake up to news and there is more news during the day, so we'll give you the latest on that as well. In the meantime we'll take a break. We'll be coming

back soon with robin eroinside twenty eight to one. We'll talk airlines in just a tick and we'll also give you an update too on what's happening with some cancelations and delays due to the volcano in Bali, and we'll ask robin eroinside about that as well. So plenty to talk about when it comes to aviation safety, and that's been a big feature of a lot of text we're getting in on what people search for most when it comes to an airline. I think that makes plenty of sense.

We've had some requests about what's happening in the Middle East as well. So the latest news we're getting is that Erans Islamic Revolutionary Guard has warned residents of Tel Aviv toate the city now. This is according to Iranian news agencies. I stress the warnings accompanied by a map that's similar to those issued by the IDEA for ahead of strikes on Iran and Gaza, so the old tit for tat.

Earlier today, they claimed the Fatah missiles had broken through Israeli defenses and they're claiming now complete domination over Israeli airspace, which of course is what the Israelis had said about Iranian airspace earlier today. And this has come after Donald

Trump's comments on the latest situation. I'll give you that Iotola Ali Hamanius reportedly transferred a significant proportion of his power to the Revolutionary Guard's Supreme Council, according to a story in The Australian, amid Israeli threats to assassinate him now, President Trump said earlier today the US knew where Iran's supreme leader was, but had decided not to assassinate him, and I quote yet while Benjamin Netanyah, who has warned

an assassination was not off the table the Israeli Prime Minister, it says. And the Australian continues to call for regime change and was joined in that call this morning by Riza Pallavi, the former Shah of Iran's heir. And the news comes as Israel again sends missiles enter tay Rana, to sending an evacuation warning to residents to near the city's airport, which doubles of course as a military base.

We'll keep updating you on that. There's been some specific requests about certain targets too, which we will look into. And I did say months and months and months ago on maybe not this program might have been another one I was filling in for that Israel's long term strategy had to be very important when it came to their retaliation for the initial attacks from Gaza across the border,

those horrific attacks. What is the long term goal? And I suggested at the time that unless they were serious about regime change in Iran, then they would only be stirring up the mud to create a new generation of terrorism. It seems now they are being more decisive about what their long term future is and let's hope that works out well for the benefit of all of us. It's twenty five to one now, don't forget. We're turning up the heat with up to forty thousand dollars worth of

cash and prizes on the Winter Wheel. This is fanto. I'm really excited about this because I haven't been on the program since they started this thing, so this is very exciting for me too. Not that I'm going to win anything. I just like giving stuff away. We're spinning the wheel in Breakfast mornings afternoons. That's us and in Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard. Listen for the queue to call later in this show. It'll be in the last hour and you could spin and win with the Winter Wheel.

This is the que to call.

miss out. So when you get that queue to call later in the program, it'll be in the final hour, in fact, the final half hour actually, so I don't want to give too much away, but make your life a bit easier. That'll be the Winter Wheel. Hopefully give you two and a half thousand dollars or I mean fifteen hundred went off in the last hour. That's pretty amazing. In Mark Leavy's show, okay, let's talk airlines. The Skytracks Airline Awards. They're sort of the oscars of the aviation industry.

They've been announced overnight more than twenty two million customers using over three hundred and twenty five carriers, So it's pretty extensive. Really, it's not just a couple of people sitting in a room making it up, which often happens with media awards. Anyway. They fill out an online survey and from this they in a number of categories determine the best airline, including best overall, and that was CATSA Airways once once again world's best second year in a row.

Singapore Airlines came in second, then Cave Pacific, which was mentioned by an earlier caller. All generally rate quite highly when it comes to service and quality of the flight. In terms of the Australian airlines, well, it's not like the good old days when we're getting a mentioned on Hollywood films. Top ranking airline was Quantus. They came fourteenth

overall twenty fourth last year. Interesting, isn't it, But in saying that they have been recognized as the best carrier in the Asia Australia Pacific region and in the global top ten for best in flight entertainment. So if you want to catch the latest movies on your way to Europe. A quantus flight might be the place to do it, but it does beg the question, what is it for you? What makes a good airline? Robin eroinsight as the aviation editor at The Australian, knowing all the ins and outs.

Since she's on the line. Thanks for your time, Robin. It's a pleasure bill, needless to say, and a few people have pointed this out. It has to be safety. I think let's assume that, let's just say, okay, that's a given. Safety would be the one thing that we're most concerned about. But before we get into the details of what people tend to prefer in airlines, and you might surprise us on that score, Kata, how do they do it?

that I'm saying it's undeserved. I mean, anyone who has phoonn On, Kata or Singapore would be aware that they are very good airlines. They provide a very good service. Everything is sort of first rate, from the seat, the day called, the service, the food, the in financertainment. Everything's top notch. So I don't think it's undeserved. Plus, they do have very good safety records as well.

They went from fifth to seventeenth, and then last year they went to twenty fourth, and so I gathered the fact that they're now up to fourteenth shows that the turnaround under CEO Vanessa Hudson has started to work. It is being reflected, I guess in passengers satisfaction with Quantus.

There's at least sixty airlines that fly in and out of Australia, so it's a much tougher stage I guess for Quantas, But that loyalty it does count for something I think people will often talk about you know, the relief they feel when they see that red kangaroo at the airport when they're getting on a flight.

raise standards of customer service and that sort of thing. Internationally, though, I think we're doing pretty well with such a high number of airlines that are operating in and out of Australia. There's competition on most routes, and fares are probably what they were in twenty nineteen or earlier. They haven't really gone up a lot when you take into account inflation, so no, I think I think the future is pretty good.

And with the entry of Catai Airways raising the bar with Virgin Australia, that has actually triggered quite a lot of airlines to do the same. We're seeing Emirates launch new products into Australia to try to keep their customers happy. Eddie Hads doing the same, Singapore Airlines and New Zealand United, they're all undertaking product upgrades and targeting the Australian market. Definitely a win for.

all keeping an eye on this. So it looks like there might be some delays as volcanic ash keeps spewing into the atmosphere.

eye on it. The things get worse, they will cancel them because volcanic ash does pose a serious safety threat to aircraft. Because it can be ingested into engines and that can cause problems with airflow, and that's the last thing you want when you're thirty five thousand feet And of.

via Doha last June, says Kelly. The flight was awful. Staff were rude, food was gross and service non existent. Was squeezed in like cattle. There you go. See, not everyone has the same experience. The only way to rate an airline, says Maria, is safety. This one from Patrick paid business class to travel recently on Quantas. The windows in the Sydney lounge are all closed off, no view outside. You just sit next to shaded windows. Left the lounge

to avoid claustrophobic, very crowded lounge. So disappointing that what should Bequantus's number one business lounge in the world doesn't even have windows. I'm not aware of that, Patrick, I haven't been in the Business International terminal Quittus lounge, he says, just clarifying in a second text, Thank you, Patrick, I haven't been in the business lounge for a long time. It used to be part of my previous employment. I flew a lot around the world, but not for quite

a long time. Interesting from Paul. So, if regional airlines are not easy to make a profit on, why all these crazy multinational investors always ready to invest. Yes, I wonder about that, Paul. I do wonder about that. A few more texts saying the best airline is the one that doesn't crash. A sobering text from someone with no name. Well done, Billy, You sound just like Netan Yahoo, the war criminal himself. I'd like to think I wasn't that harsh.

Thank you for your text. You're entitled to your opinion on net and Yahoo and me. But I was simply pointing out the fact that a lot of people would like a regime change. They think it would settle the Middle East if they had a regime Iran. A lot of Iranians think that too, But how they go about doing that, where they send their missiles, and who gets hurt in the process. I will not pass judgment on I was certainly not condoning that. Just in case you

were wondering now. Back in the late eighties, says Mitch, I was playing golf with the mate and an English fellow as he was by himself. It turns out he was the pilot of the BA plane that flew through the volcanic ash and the engines stalled. He said that it got to the point that they had one more attempt to start the engines or that was it, and they started up. He thought they were done for What a story. I wonder if the passengers knew that at

the time. Mitch, Oh, there you go. Haven't been oversea since two thousand and nine, says Ben. Yes, well, just HARKing back to our various conflicts. I did see a map the other day online. You might have sent it in one of the newspaper websites as well, which just showed where all the flights are being diverted now due to the troubles of course in Ukraine and the Middle East,

and that has since expanded. And yes, I think there might be a bit more aviation fuel burnt up, and rightly so, I think we're agreed on that to keep away from certain areas. Anyway, Oh, thank you kind words, Bob, Thank you Paul very much appreciate it. We'll had relatively short notice, but we're plowing through thankfully. The Michael McLaren shows just a smooth well oiled machine. When we come back, I'll tell you what that machine will be up to in the next hour. Just a couple of bits of news.

We had a text asking earlier explosions were seen near a moss Ad building outside Tel Aviv, and there are reports that Mossad's HQ has been hit, but they are mostly from Irany and media and unconfirmed by the other side. But that at least is the best we can do for you on the question specifically on that. Now there has been an announcement from the Treasurer. You might know that he's been addressing and still is the National Press Club.

We had albow in last week and this week it's the Treasurer and I can tell you that he's announced he'll be hosting an economic reform round table over three days from August nineteen to twenty one. The Prime Minister will be involved and he's invited the RBA Governor Michelle Bullock, and will invite Danielle Wood that's the Productivity Commission chair,

to participate. The Treasurer says a mix of government, business and unions will be represented and the roundtable will be about shaping the direction for long term economic reform and setting guiding principles. So will it be another talk fest? There was hope this morning. This was flagged actually vaguely in the newspapers this morning, and commentators are saying, are we really going to see some serious reform from this government? Now?

I know you might not agree with that reform, but as I said earlier, governments generally are reluctant to stick their necks out. Will that result in anything later on? Let us know what you think. One through one eight seven three or zero four six zero eight seven three eight seven three. We'll be back to talk McCartney.

the past. We've had plenty of feedback on that, various opinions on different airlines, including a negative one on Katar, which has been voted by Skytracks as the world's leading airline. At least according to a quite large, it must be said, survey of customers around the world. As Robin Einste said to us earlier, it's a very high quality survey according to aviation experts. Now we'll talk in this out very shortly to Dave Wilco Wilkins, who's a musician and a

very accomplished one. I might add also a Paul McCartney fans celebrating McCartney's eighty third birthday, love to get your feedback on that. Whether you're a McCartney or a Lenin person, do your mind have you met him? And I'll tell you a bit of a story about one of a member of our management team here who actually ran into Paul McCartney in a very unusual place. Great story, and you're welcome to tell us of any other brushes you've

had with fame too. It might not necessarily be McCartney, but if you ever met a famous person in an unusual place, we might have to keep that, might have to put a bit of censorship on some of those stories. Perhaps just saying in case you're a big fan of rock bands back in the day and hang out with them. Blake Went will join us. The next half hour after half past will be Pretzel Wealth, as it is all

the time on this day with Michael McLaren. He'll talk about anything you like and one three one eight seven three you have a question for Blake or get him on the text line as well, and come up into financial year all those things you must have a question, make use of that knowledge while you can, so Blake will join us a little later on. Don't forget we've still got the Winter Wheel that's coming up in the

final hour today. We've got one hundred and fifty dollars voucher from the b Store to give away for Track of the day, and we'll also be having a chat with the Master Builders Australia who want the Federal government to do a few things that they think are quite bold to unlock productivity. We'll see what they have to say. So that's a little snapshot of what's coming up for us a little later in the day. Plenty of stuff coming through on the text line, and we're also going

to catch up with a reporter. I think we've got Penelope Lish right now, our nine years reporter who's been covering the so called mushroom case where Aaron Pattisons on trial and her defense lawyer, Colin Mandy sc has been spending quite some time in his closing summation. So, Penelope, thanks for.

different elements. He's told the jurors that Aaron Patterson isn't on trial for Lyne, that while she did lie about a lump on her elbow, that she had a lump, that her in laws showed a lot of attention and concern for that, that disappeared, and she continued to tell them that she had medical appointments regarding that lump to get their care and attention because she felt she was

being isolated from the family at that time. That they can't make any leap from there to find her guilty of allegedly murdering anybody, that they need to look at the specific evidence regarding what she has been charged with. And on Colin Mandy's case, he says there was no intent to cause any harm to any of these lunch guests. He's spoken just in the last few minutes about what he says is an alleged ruse that the prosecution has

put forward. That the prosecution has alleged Aaron Patterson used a fake cancer diagnosis to invite the lunch guest to her home to discuss that, and Colin Mandy has told the jurors that she didn't tell the lunch guest that that she'd only told her estranged husband that she wanted

to discuss health issues. But beyond that, he says that in the second point that he's putting to the jury, that these particular jurors should look at what basically break down that particular argument that if there was a ruse for the lunch guests to come on the evidence the conversation about Aaron Patterson's health, and the evidence from the only surviving lunch guest ian will concern is that she told them she did have a cancer diagnosis after this lunch,

That that conversation happened after they'd come to the home and after they'd eaten. So, if there was a ruse, Colin Mandy put to the jury, what would be the point of having that conversation following the lunch. They'd already been there and eaten the meal. He says, if that was the case, why would she have this conversation with those munch guests at all?

in retrospect. But he has warned the jury about doing that.

He's warned the jury that when the eecution has put certain things to them, like the fact that Aaron Patterson dumped the dehydrator, that they alleged that she lied about feeding the leftovers to her children, that they alleged that she lied about where the mushrooms had come from, that using hindsight to look back at any actions is something they really should not be doing, and they need to see it, he says, in the context of how these individual actions occurred at the time.

covering that case and will continue to do so. I think we'll take a quick break. We'll come back and tell some McCartney stories and hear from the great Wilco himself. Eighteen past one before we do a bit of celebrating of Paul McCartney's birthday with Wilco. We've got a call from Scott. Thanks for waiting on Scott, because we also asked if you had an unusual brush with fame. I think in Scott's case it might have been a tinkle with fame. What's your story, mate?

it was I put mine up about one hundred. You know, I was about one hundred and fifty. He goes, yeah, that blike over.

saxophone there at the end of that chorus. And the reason I played that particular song. I mean, how many songs as could you play? From McCartney? What do you do? We've been listening to what the man has said for many, many generations eighty three today, Sir Paul McCartney, from Beatles to Wings, the solo work, it's been quite a contribution

to not just music but culture in general. And we thought we'd get a bloke who likes him a bit, the great Dave Wilkins Wilco's gig guide of course as a regular on the John Stanley Show on Thursdays, and we thought no one better than Wilko, who's accomplished musician himself, to pass judgment on the McCartney era.

vinyl album was I was in my single digits. I think I was at school and Venus and Mars was coming out, and I saved up all my coins and I went to the record store and bought that. I must have played that until it wore out. You know, it just was one side to the other. I could not stop listening to just amazing.

I'm talking about. We don't want to get too detailed and too musical about it, but a lot of the stuff the Beatles came up with was later copied by a whole lot of They inspired so many other great musicians of the seventies and beyond whose sounds we thought, wow, that's cool. But then if you go back, you might find a back catalog song from the Beatles and one of their albums it wasn't well known, and you'll think, oh, crikey, they've already done that.

the band. And also you George Mark and he was definitely a standout and that I mean, you know, four incredible, incredibly talented musicians in that band, but Paul McCartney felt to me like he was the one in the last couple of albums that was making it all happen.

He involves himself with all sorts of people. And I think that legacy is important as.

just masterpieces. And he was great with getting bits and pieces of songs and putting them, gluing them together to become a hit. They're just his knack of arrangements was uncannon.

for a and technology. But I got a feeling with John Lennon and it was just one of those moments you're never ever going to forget. So yeah, it was a shame he didn't go to that, mate. I've been to a few McCartney shows and each one has just been just, you know, a life altering experience. Ever met him, I've never met him.

or anything. But he must have been taking the sneaky way out after an appearance there for some reason, and she ran into the leading doc.

want to share some time with you. I think that's a that's something that that some of the you know, the superstars that don't have, but he certainly does.

defense and security pact. Optus is apologizing for engaging in unconscionable conduct, has agreed to a one hundred million dollar fine for selling plans to customers who can't afford them, and three Australian cities have been named in the World's Most Livable list. Adelaide in ninth, Sydney in sixth, Melbourne in fourth. Copenhagen took out top spot in sport Tennis Star Arena. Sabolenka has apologized to Coco GoF for making

completely unprofessional comments after the French Tennis Open final. Sabolenka says the only reason Golf won the match was because of her mistakes. And there'll be more news at two o'clock on afternoons.

frost with how that you'd expect. Areas of frost and the chance of fog this morning, but Sunday afternoon wins northeast to southeast, fifteen to twenty k's lighter as the day progresses, and twelve's not too bad because if you're in Canberra, it's only eleven. Also sunny there too, so pretty quiet and again light wins in Canberra. That's a quick look at the weather. It's twenty seven to two.

Don't forget. We'll get your Beatles stories in Paul McCartney stories after the hour, because right after this we'll have Blake went for his regular segment. So one three one eight seven three or zero four six zero eight seven three eight seven three for some free financial advice. It's twenty three to.

will tell. But as they come down, that's great for mortgage holders. Not so great if you're a retiree with cash sitting in the bank.

there's going to be a few more rate cuts. So you know, whilst at the average i'd say twelve month term deposits sitting at about four percent, that's lower than what you can get in a high entred savings account, high indret savings accounts are sort of sitting around that four and a half to four point seventy five percent on average. Some are giving you bonus rates in the five still, but certainly this is on people's minds. They're saying, well, what do we do now? You know, this is the

conversation we're having. As COVID was kicking on when they started cutting rates quite aggressively. Cash was effectively paying you nothing back then, and so alternatives had to be considered. Push people into the stock market, had to get money's invested. And I think that's where it's going to go again.

to seventy percent tax on that inheritance. What I want to know is, therefore I have what they call a taxable component in my superannuation fund, in my accumulation fund. How why do I have to pay additional will my children need to pay additional tax on that? Why is it called a taxable component? And how can I not be in that position?

medicare charge on that. Getting around that, there's two ways. One is, if you're young enough, so under the age of seventy five, you could consider a recontribution strategy. Also subject to I suppose your total superbalance if you're less than one point nine million dollars at the moment you can do these recontribution strategies, moneys would come out of Super. Moneys would then go back into Super subject to contribution limits.

So you can effectively get in one hundred and twenty thousand or three hundred and sixty thousand back into Super. So essentially money's out, money's in. If you're mindful that maybe there's not so much time left, you could withdraw Super in its entirety. So if you can pull the total balance out of Super, then that will negate any death taxes applicable superannuation.

a good point. Bright not too many people are aware of this death tax that sits there in Super. Fifteen percent tax has been paid in. It's in a concessional environment. You're able to start income streams later on in life through retirement and enjoy the benefits of potentially having it all tax free. But the government certainly wants to take their share at the end.

in it. At the end of the day, it just means less money going to kids or whoever you're intending whoever you're intending to have the money's go to.

for you. A lot of super questions today, which is understandable, I suppose, with all that's all the talk around from the federal government.

property within the fund. If we were to sell that property next year when it's moved into pension phase, is a coupital gains tax free with the mediate effect, or is there like a waiting period before it becomes capital gains tax free? Once the property involved.

is just around the timing. So what we want to do is, if we're not segregating the assets inside the self managed super fund, we want to be in pension phase for the full financial year, so that means from one July right through to thirtieth June. We want to be in pension phase through that period because it means that one hundred percent of the time, one hundred percent of the assets are in in pension phase. So that

way you're selling the asset completely takes free. If, for example, you were to go into pension phase on the first of January, well only half of that time that's elapsed throughout that financial year has been in pension phase, and so only half of the game will be wiped essentially,

so there still could be some capital gains. So two things to keep in mind, Mark One is all members need to be in pension phase and the second one is all members need to be in pension phase for the full financial year, so just be cautious of that. Speak to your accountant or the self many superfund administrator. They'll be able to guide you as to what the possible outcomes will look like. But it's a very common strategy. You've got money in super you've got an asset a

house potentially in soup. You wait until getting to retirement phase to then sell that asset. Capital gains tax free, so it's a good move on that side.

be some things that you need to consider. Are you invested correctly? Do they invest on your behalf? Do you have to choose the investment? So just get some advice before moving.

what's happening in the final hour coming up. After the news, we'll get back to the text.

we'll find out what Dnita has to say. Also Matthew Wilson, who's from Road Maintenance Partnerships to Transport near South Wales. How are they maintaining the bridge these days? Is it getting tougher or easier? It looks a bit rusty at the moment, so I reckon we'd you for a repaint. But we'll find out more about that and we'll have the wind a wheel track of the day and a whole lot more. Hope you can stick with us now onto gb and network stations.

We'll hear from them and hopefully we can, as they say, unlock this frozen building productivity. The building industry in a quite a state. Actually, we had these measurements of how well the economy's going, and invariably, as governments do, they trot out the ones that sound good, but there are many other measurements that aren't looking too good at the moment, and that's one of them. Not to mention the fact that we need more housing. Clinton maynardel join us, you'll

drop in, tell us what's happening in Sydney. Now, Big show again this afternoon we'll also have a chat as we normally do at this time of the day with Scott Phillips, the Motley Fool. Matthew Wilson's the executive director of Road Maintenance Partnerships for Transport New South Wales. How are they going with maintenance of the Harbor Bridge? It just occurred to me today driving across the bridge seeing some pretty big rust patches. How has that evolved over

the years. Is it harder or easier now to maintain the Harbor Bridge. We've got obviously evolving technology when it comes to paints and other coatings and treatments for the bridge, but it is a big hunt hunk of metal hanging

over salt water, so it needs constant work. And we'll find out how we go about that these days, and whether they've got any revolutionary new ways of doing it, and what the greater traffic problems that we have in this city despite the fact that we've got a second tunnel being built, you know, do those traffic problems cause more difficulties when it comes to looking after the old

coat hanger anyway, all that's just ahead of us. In the meantime, we've got our footy tips with Chuck now Chuk or Clawed, as is well known, is Michael's regular tipster on a Wednesday, and I have in fact filled in for Michael before and we've had Chuck on the program. He's not available today, but I will be able to

give you his tips. So if you are ready with pencil in hand or whatever it is you write with in this technological age, fingers and thumbs on your keypad, We've got Chuck's tips, starting with State of Origin, where he's tipping the Blues to win, but by nine points. It's an unusual margin, isn't it, Considering in the first match it should have been a lot more than what it was due to the strangeness of their goal kicking. It was such a dominant performance and yet No only

won by a couple of converted tries in the end. Anyway, the Morons have massive incentive to bounce back. There's been all this toing and frowing the whole Aaron Woods Billy Slayter saga that got very out of hand and unfortunate, very sad to have to bring the name of Paul Green into that conversation, unwittingly, I assume, but nevertheless it happened and I hope that doesn't sour things up too much.

But to Queensland need any more incentive than their performance in the first game anyway, Blues by nine according to Chuk. Now let's get onto the NRL itself. We've got the Tigers. That's Michael's team playing the Raiders. Not an easy game for them, it has to be said. Thirteenth versus second, Chuck tips the Raiders there for the match between the Warriors and the Panthers, how well are the Warriors looking

the Warriors and the Dolphins anyway? Warriors is Chuck's tip against Penrith, and when it comes to the Dolphins he also tips them to beat Newcastle. Pretty hard to go past those tips. Then it comes to rabbit Os and Storm. Now I thought the rabbit Os, even though I'm a Canterbury supporter, were flatted by that score on the weekend. They were completely dominated in that match and still found a way to get very close to beating Canterbury through

sheer will. They defended extremely well, scramble well and that twenty five minute delay for lightning didn't help the Bulldogs because they're a team that tends to wear the opposition down, so having had a rest the rabbit O's came out and made a game of it. But anyway, they're playing the Storm and Chuck's tip is the Storm, and I think that's a fair tip. Now onto the Broncos game

against the Sharks. That's an interesting one. Seventh playing fifth, arguably the best game of the round, and Chuck tips the Broncos. Then we move on too the game between the Roosters and the Cowboys. Fairly big round this weekend. A few teams get the bye, but Roosters and Cowboys. Chooks tipping the Roosters to win that one. That's eighth versus tenth should be a good though. And Paramount are playing the Titans. The Eels not looking too bad and

the Titans looking well. It's sixteenth versus seventeenth, but both teams actually starting to look a bit better. Let's put it that way. We don't get too excited about it. Chucks tipping the Titans there. That might upset a few Paramatta fans. So there you go. Chuck's tips for the weekend at twelve past two. Now we'll talk to the Master Builders and just a tick. But I did promise to go back to the text line so thank you

for hanging in there. And Mitch and a whole bunch of other people have been digging into their search engines to check the lyrics of Live and Let Die and if this ever changing world in which we're living is the actual lyric, which of course I stupidly never bothered to check. But I've just heard the way Sir Paul sings it a number of times and I thought it was a bit grammatically incorrect. But there you go. So a lot of people have sorted that out. For me,

I feel so much better now. I can sleep tonight. But it's funny that you get hooked on those things. The other thing about song lyrics, and this is probably a discussion we might hold over for tomorrow, is what is the song lyric that you got wrong? For so long you thought they were singing one thing, but they are actually singing something else. That's another funny chat which we might leave for tomorrow because we don't have a

lot of time in this last down. I've got plenty of things to do, so we might get onto that one tomorrow. If our team can remember that, we might bring that up because there's some very funny examples. What was that one our lips are sealed. A lot of people thought it was Albert the Seal. It was a like a kid's story or something. Anyway, there's a million of them. My son lived in London, says Steve, and met Robbie Williams in a club. He used to ring my son and put him on the VIP list. He

was a great guy. There you go. That's a big touch with greatness. There's a bit on the internet that says Ray where ringos saying that they would be lying around at someone's house this is the Beatles, and the phone would ring and they'd look at each other and say it's him, referring to Paul McCartney being a hard task master. Interesting, thank you, Ray. John Lennon isn't even the second best Beatles, says Greg something my sweet lord,

while my guitar gently weeps. George Harrison says Greg is the Well, he's either the second best or the best according to Greg. Hard to disagree with that, but anyway, it's all a matter of opinion. Enjoying your show. Paul McCartney's been my musical hero for exactly sixty years. What a genius and a lovely guy. No one comes close

to this test. Thank you great to hear you again, says Will Tom Scott in the La Express superb on the live Jney Mitchell album Live Miles of Ales, and he's also recommended a John Coltrane live album for me. Thank you, Will and other music Officionado and jazz Lover and this one. I share the same birthday as Paul, says Sylvia went to see them at the airport in the rain with all the hundreds of screaming girls. Had

my Beatles, boots and hat. Wow, so thrilling. That is a memory, Silvia, which I guess at the time you probably didn't think too much more about, but in hindsight something special part of history. Quarter past two more texts have been flowing in as well, which I will get to soon if you don't mind. We all know people are struggling to find builders of any kind to get

construction work done. It's not easy. The good ones are very busy, as is always the case, but we're being told that profit margins have all but disappeared as builders are dealing with ongoing supply chain disruptions, material costs, fixed price contracts that no longer reflect the realities of the market, and the big thing with fixed price contracts obviously is

that their labor costs are going up as well. According to Master Builders Australia, productivity in the industry has fallen eighteen percent over the last decade, despite the cost of building a home rising by more than forty percent, and they want the federal government to unlock that productivity now through a whole bunch of suggestions that they're calling bold practical reforms that will make a real difference. Well, Anita warn is the CEO of Master Builders and she's on

the line. Anita, thanks for your time.

That means that housing has become more expensive. So from our perspective, it's all about governments streamlining processes without necessarily adversely impacting quality or safety. We want to see a progress in terms of enabling infrastructure so that gets done

more effectively and more efficiently. We want to see tax reforms that actually encourages those businesses that have good business practice and at the same time regulators pulling up those who are doing the wrong things so we then have a level playing fields. So the other types of things that we've discussed. We've had a Productivity commission that has said that our productivity is in a really bad shape and things have got to change for us to be able to build for all Australians.

to make sure it's done right. But I think what you're talking about is yes, of course, but can't we speed up the process by which we adjudicate these things? What is the hold up? Is it simply people on the ground that are able to process this? Is it staff?

You've got a planning portal that has all sorts of problems in it that we know the new Southwalest government is trying to fit. We have a lack of staff in local council in terms of doing proper property inspections, planning and so forth. The list goes on, and everyone knows what the problems are, everyone knows what the solutions are. What we now need is a concerted effort across the country to actually get everyone actually working in sync. That's

where the problems are. There's no one working in sync, right.

with medium density and high density. But to do that, you need to ensure that the infrastructure that was there for us, say you know, twenty detached homes could actually accommodate one hundred units, and so a lot of the time there does need to be that critical infrastructure upgrades even before the builders can come in and start constructions. So there is a lot of components to building and

building more homes to meet our housing targets. And we just need to get this sequencing right because when you've got a piece of land that is underutilized or not utilized, then that is costing someone money and they in turn will then pass it on to the homeowner.

are not actually making them any money. They want to keep their company and their employees still ticking over until they can actually start making a profit on other projects. But at the same time, of course, the people who are commissioning those projects are finding it increasingly difficult to afford them. How can we make those two ends meet?

years and that's simply unsustainable. And so people are just they want to build, but they can't afford to build. So the thing we've got to look at is do we have enough skilled people to do the work. The answer is no, so we're focusing on our apprenticeships, but we've said to the government more needs to be done around skilled migration for trades in building construction. We're competing in an international market and we don't provide priority pathways

for building construction trades. We also know that the builders with fixed price contracts quoting you know, sometimes twelve months in advance, and I've seen a skyrocketing in prices. So there's got to be a greater meeting of minds between clients, between and banks and the builders about what is a reasonable price. You know, we encourage builders not to go and sign contracts when you know you're going to operate at a loss. People have been burnt and that's how

we get higher in solvencies. But you're right, they want to keep the business sticking. Nobox. It's not just about the builder, it's the forty odd trades that they support. In ongoing building in their.

builders greet that information? And does it make it better for Mark Irving the administrator to get things done?

all get focused on cleaning up the union. But I think more importantly for us is that we're seeing from the evidence that's come out of the work that Mark has undertaken as administrator is there are some bad actors in our sector, whether they are unions or people that own businesses in the industry. Enough is enough. We've got to clean up our actors and industry and ensure that everyone is undertaking things lawfully. And this gives us the opportunity. It's a historic moment today.

have any insurance. There's no licensing. Well this has caught my attention courtesy of the Mid North Coast News and it does follow on from my concerns about the e bikes. Ronald John Middlebrook has appeared in court. He has been accused of riding his mower. He has a ride on lawmower through the center of tar REI while eating a burger. He was He was eating a Hungry Jack's burger while he was going around the roundabout can Gara Drive in Tarree.

A couple of weeks ago, now police observed a sixty three year old man allegedly driving a right on lawmower and carrying a takeaway meal. It is alleged he did not have the destration plates which are required for vehicles exceeding four hundred kilogram. So mister Middlebrook has appeared in court where he has defended himself. He had not had an active license since nineteen eighty six. That's a car license,

not a MOA license. Yes, So he was questioned about the hungry Jacks whoppup that was in his hands at the time. There was a fear that maybe he'd gone through the drive through on the right on Moa. Anyway, Well know, his lawyers told the court that often he mowed his neighbor's lawns, and he mode his neighbour's lawns out.

about forty percent around state of origin time. Footy fans are being urged to look out for their mates and be mindful of how they'll handle the emotion of tonight's game. In Sport, the cowbell is causing a ruckus head of the Super Rugby Pacific Final between the Crusaders and Chiefs in Christchurch. Chiefs fans want to bring the noisy instruments into the stadium, but the home team says they will melt them down at the gate. There'll be more news at three o'clock on afternoons.

atribill See have agreed on this penalty. Basically they opted salespeople sold mobile phones and mobile phone plans to people who simply wasn't suitable for a lot of people in First Nations and Indigenous communities as well, basically saying, you know, you dragging people into the sourcing you need this thing, to people who couldn't afford them, even people whose home

address didn't have Optus reception. And I were still selling these things more than four hundred customers at sixteen different stores across the country in the four years from August twenty nineteen and July twenty twenty three when their sword come out to look, they're really sorry that said's inexcusable and unacceptable. It absolutely is. Yea one hundred miniy dollars likely with the penalty. Now the federal court decides in

the actual penalty. Regulator and the telco both say have we think a hundred million is reasonable, so probably we'll get we waved through. But yeah, a reminder of what can happen sometimes and how a little overzealous or a lot overzealz some salespeople can be. In this case, Optics has had to pay up.

old Harbor bridge. The coat hanger looking a bit rusty, Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure they'll fix it up pretty soon, but I thought it might be an idea to catch up with an expert who's involved in all this as to how they do it and how difficult it is these days nineteen to three. And Sydney, of course has so many wonderful landmarks. The world knows us Four Opera House, Darling Harbor, Bondi Royal

Botanical Gardens. But then there's the coat hanger. When you see it in real life, it's not hard to marvel at what an engineering feet it is, all those rivets, and they're big too. And I was sitting in traffic today in the morning, having been called in to help out and fill in for Michael today, and I had to look up and I saw a few rust patches on the old bridge. It's a bit like looking at your own home. You feel very possessive of the Harbor Bridge.

I felt like jumping out with a bit of steel wool and stripping it back and putting a coat of paint on it. But I thought, well, there's someone else's probably paid to do that, and I don't want to take their job. Four hundred and eighty five thousand square meters of steel work though. That's another thing that might put off the average home handy person at sixty football

fields by the way of metal, exposed metal. And it's pretty complicated too, As my old man would say, if we're doing a building job or laying carpet together, that's a bugger of a job anyway. Matthew Wilson's executive director of Road Maintenance Partnerships to Transport for New South Wales. He's on the line. Thanks for joining us, Matthew.

go with it have hugely changed over the years. We will have all seen the pictures of Crocodile Dundee on top of the bridge with his paint brush and bucket and just stood on the top with those safety rails, safety harnesses, nothing, just walking around painting. We definitely don't do that anymore. As you say, you've seen the scaffolding that we've got up at the moment. We provide a safe work space for our guys and they love those

workplaces too. You know, imagine the view every time you come out of your workplace is from the top of the Harbor Bridge. What better office could you have?

into place. How you do it? When you do it, it would take a lot of organization, I'd imagine.

traffic is moving underneath. But we try and minimize the number of lane closures we need. We build the scaffolding overnight so that it impacts fewer people. So we're generally trying to do as much maintenance as possible whilst causing as little disruption to people as we can.

do it in that linear fashion. And the arch is where we're focusing a lot of our efforts now as we come up to that one hundred year anniversary. So out of about nearly half million square meters, we've got one hundred and fifty thousand square meters of the arch we need to paint before the centenary in twenty thirty two,

and that's the bit we'll focus. That's why you're seeing the scaffolding now because that arch hasn't really had any painting done on it since the nineteen nineties, so it's well overdue and painting and we're really looking forward to giving her a new lease of life as we paint that arch.

and spray guns. So depending on the air area that we use, it's either paint brush and roller or like when guys paint their cars, it's kind of a spray gun that puts that on that Every square meter needs four coats of paint to it as well, And.

Maintenance Partnerships at Transport for New South Wales. We're going to give away a little more money actually, well it's a voucher anyway for the Track of the Day coming up eight minutes to three now on afternoons on the Track of the Day. On that subject, the Doobies have gone back together with Michael McDonald and put our an album. Just saying that was a listening to the music, of

course from the Doobie Brothers Track of the Day. I'm about to play you a song, then I'll ask a question about that song or why I chose that song today? If you get it right today, we've got the one hundred and fifty dollars B Store voucher. That's pretty cool. So here is today's track of the day. Ah, Frankie, that's soothing, isn't it? On a Wednesday afternoon. We've got a question here. I knew he gave away the answer in nine at eighty three, doctor Sally Ryde was the

first American woman in space. Right, But on this day in nineteen twenty eight, another American became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Who was that track of the day for the one hundred and fifty dollars voucher from B Store? I'll ask it again, Sally, right on this day in eighty three, was the first American woman in space. But on this day in nineteen twenty eight, another American woman became the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Who was that? One?

got it in too. That's pretty good, pretty pretty good, as Larry David would say, Stay on the line, Emily, thank you. We'll get that b Stoore voucher to you and I'll be right back. Roger on the text line reckons Blues by nine. It's not rugby union. Why would they be up by eight and kick a field goal? He says, there you go. That was Chuck's tip. That's all I'm saying. But anyway, have a great State of

Origin night. Of course, continuous call team. We'll bring you that a little later on, but stand by right after the news for the wonderful Clinton Maynard bringing you Sydney. Now, we'll be back tomorrow. Bye for now.