Live from Bateman's Bay. This is Paul Murray live our town. Can I can? I Bateman's Bye?
How are you hi?
It up and ready? Our first outtown in the year you got love out. Thank you so much. Batemans Bay. What a magnificent place. We are looking forward to celebrating it tonight. We're here at the Catalina Club and people are fired up tonight you're ready to go? When? When? When? All right? Now? We have been having a great time in Bateman's Bay over the past couple of days. It's the start of what is going to be the biggest week on the road we've ever had. It starts here,
it goes via a bit of federal politics. It's off to Vegas and maybe on our way towards an election. We have I played with an African rhino. I got around on a jet boat. We've had plenty of fun and we'll talk to some of the local heroes here. All in a couple of moments time as we celebrate all that is regional Australia. Thanks the wonderful people of Harvey Norman, without whom we cannot do what we are doing. And this year they step up to celebrate those local
heroes in a particularly special way. But as always my love letter to the Prime Minister that you get used to at the start of each and every show. By this time next week there's probably going to be the Prime Minister will have called an election. Now, yes, that means we've got the next few days of will he won't he? But generally speaking, the reason they call an election on Sundays is because it's the biggest TV ratings for the six pm news, it's the biggest newspaper day.
That's changed a little over the years. But of course it means that we will be in the best season of all and that is election season, the opportunity for you to be making the decisions, for you to be in charge of where the country goes. And all of that, of course starts with the Prime Minister visiting the Governor General. Remember the handpick governor General that it now is paid even more than he is. Her salary. Now, what's seven
hundred thousand dollars? Okay, well he's paid six hundred thousand dollars. And how many pay rises here in Bateman's made in the past three years. That's what I would have thought. Remember they got three in the past since the election now in terms of prospective dates, by this time next week, if an election is called, will be all in all the data will do all of the full coverage that will be because the election will be on Saturday, fifth
of April. If for whatever reason it's all delayed for another week, the most likely one before we start getting into school holidays, public holidays, all the rest of it will be April twelfth. But he absolutely has to have it, whether he wants to or not, and wait till I show you some poll numbers, which might mean he might want to go and hide or pretend to have COVID for another week, because the seventeenth of May looks like it is obviously that the last time that he should
be getting up and into it now. As always, whenever you pick a day, there are people who say that's the wrong day because it's important to my community, or my availability or my ability to vote, and just adding a little bit more insult to injury. It looks like that will be passover for the Jewish community in Australia, and that community has said that they don't want the fifth to be the date. But of course, the great difference between elections in the past and now is like
half of people vote early. So even if it's you know, the first Saturday of the school holidays, the point is lots of people they get up and vote early. In fact, can I show you this, which is have look at one of the screens of you in the room, or just keep looking at what you're looking at right now at home, Have a look at this. This is the total number of people who've hated early. In the last federal election. Seven point three million people or forty two
percent of people voted before election day. Previously, that was about three almost four million in the twenty nineteenth. So generally speaking in Australia, if you want to play you know, soothsayer all the rest of it. If there's more early votes, then generally speaking, obviously people have made their mind up and generally that is about getting rid of a government.
So we'll watch this day to day and see whether certain seats like Gillmore, which of course is in and around this area, which is very tight, if there's early votes, what can you read into it? And as you know, I love the data, we'll get nice, deep and dirty because we know that you're interested in it, because it's
about the future of our country. Also, I just want to get in with all of this because in a week's time there'll be this all this other information floating around that there is a very significant number, literally hundreds of thousands of people that are going to be voting for the first time. And no, they weren't all people who joined the country in the past two weeks thanks to Tony Burke, of course, it's a collection of people over the past three years who have become eighteen I
think we have one in the room right now. That's okay. We'll tell you how to fill out your form exactly in the order it should be filled out. But also there are hundreds of thousands of people, of course that have come to the country. It's a four year process for citizenship. But that means this eighteen million people will be voting in this upcoming election. There'll be a new electorate well as two existing seats that get the hive Hoe.
There'll be half a million households which have moved from where they did at the last election, meaning that perhaps super Lefty from Victoria has now moved up to Supernational Party area in country Queensland. Obviously they bring their politics with them. Overall, you need to know that Australian voters are older, because we're all three years older than the previous one. But there's also more of us than ever before. There's a very significant growth in the number of people
in Western Australia. So all of this is going to be fascinating to see in the election. And again when we're just trying to work out what's going to happen at the election. And I'm not going to be a happy talk person. I'm not going to sit there each and every day and say going to happen, going to happen, going to happen. Because what's the lesson we learned in twenty nineteen when all the yebiyaba was oh Bill Shorten next Prime Minister of Australia, what do we say? Nothing's inevitable,
Nothing is inevitable. It doesn't matter what the polls say today, with the bookie say tomorrow, doesn't matter what you're best made over the fans. You you will decide what's going to happen. Okay, not just with your first preference, but
with your second preference as well. Your number two is as important as your number one as always, but it is certainly something you have to think about if you're going to stray away from major party voting, about how quickly you get back to a choice of someone to govern. All Right, we can all hide behind they're all terrible. Sometimes that's true, sometimes that not. But at some point
in time a choice has to be made. There is a big fault line in the Australian electorate that we will be discussing a lot between now and election day. There are just as many people under the age of fifty as over the age of fifty on the electoral role. Okay, there is basically fifty to fifty, slightly more, but fifty to fifty in terms of men and women. But the opinion polls are showing us blokes are heading in a
direction and ladies are heading in a different one. So there'll be certain seats with more women more men, and that'll again give us an idea of what's happening right now. Latest to peace im Pultage came through in the Turbul Times otherwise known as The Guardian, was that when it comes to blokes, they're leaning a little more towards the Liberal Party. That's the blue squiggly line of DNA. The Labor Party, these little sort of ups or downs like
one to two points. Okay, but essentially that's been the way it's been for a little while. However, when it comes to female voters, you'll see a significant reversal of fortune here where the Labor Party ends up being slightly in front. Now, if I can ask our control room back at sky News that gray line at the bottom, can we go back to the male figure as well? You can see there between five and ten percent of undecideds in females and less than five percent of undecided
in males. So it's all really tight. We're looking for the numbers, it's all kind of fifty to fifty, where one hundred people this way a thousand people that way is going to have an obvious effect. Now, that gender gap is really important because when we talk about an election, who sways an elect particularly females thirty five to fifty five.
We'll have a look at this. There are seven and a half thousand more female voters and male voters in the seat of Kuyon, So if they're leaning away from the Liberal Party and there's a TLMP, that's how you start to see the predictions of this seat's going to move this way. This is not going to move that way. Now you've all lived life and you all know this information.
But I wanted everyone to see in the room and at home that there are very significant they say, the seat of Boothby in South Australia one where the Liberal Party would like to win it. Nicole Flint, she'd be a fantastic member of Parliament. I don't know if you would agree or not, but she I think she's a ripper. Well, she's got work to do when there's that sort of gender imbalance. Also, what about the sizes of the electorates.
It's not one size fits all. So to win the seat of Longman you have to get fifty point one percent of one hundred and forty one thousand people. Now Longman is in and around Kabulcha, just on the very northern fringes of Brisbane. Have a look at this, one hundred and forty one thousand. The biggest in New South Wales is Kauper Parks. See these big numbers right, plus big pieces of land. Well, you can get elected in
the seat of Lions with forty four thousand votes. So the size with which and the number with which you need to convince people. So again, this is why Jackie Lamby matters in Tasmania, because while they've only got eighty eight thousand people, forty four thousand, you need to convince that number two matters. So if you think all electorates are the same, it's about one hundred and fifty thousand. It's the same everywhere kind of fIF it is this
granula and I explain all of that. So when we get into that great Sunday Night segment which I hope you've joined the bandwagon on where we talk about the details of elections and get deep into it, that's where we're going to go. So yes, we're, in my view, going to surprise anyone that i'd like to see change. But whether that's going to happen rather than just what you want to happen, well you only know that by following the data. As we say. Now, an opinion pole
dropped up today. Good way, I'm on television. Everyone wave you're on TV. It's okay, you can wave. Don't worry about it, all right, you can always say ta ta hi, all right, you're all on telling excellent. Now he started a trend that bloke up the back security note there was an incredible poll which came out six o'clock Canberra time, which is a huge jump towards Peter Dutt. Now this is you very big, very good, very good. So this thing's put out by the Channel nine. People have a
look at this. This is the number of the votes in the election from three years ago. Labor Party thirty three Liberal Party thirty six percent. The pole that has just dropped tonight. The Labor Party has gone from thirty three percent to twenty five percent. The Liberal Party has gone from thirty six to thirty nine percent. So interesting to see where all of that is. James Campbell, writing in the Herald Sun today, well, I think he believes
that the momentum is going to go Dutton's way. In fact, he wrote a little bit about this today about the tenor off what we will be potentially talking about a week from now, which of course will be a month out from when it's time to get on with it. Every poll makes absolutely clear that people have had a long hard look at Anthony Alberanezi and decided he's basically rubbish of this job. He wasn't pulling punches normally. This
will be a problem for a first term Prime minister. Normally, you would expect a Prime minister in this position to be desperately keen to tell us about all the exciting things that he's going to do for us and give him another go. However, he's underwhelmed us in the way he's done the job, and he's going to underwhelm us potentially on the way out. So no mystery which way James thinks all of this is going to go in
the next couple of days. Which brings us to the first of the major pre campaign campaign events, which was the Prime Minister today. I believe in Tasmania because again, lots of labor seats there, but smaller numbers, which is why constantly you're in Wa, you're constantly in Tasmania. And he was there and it was all about banging on about Mediicare and another billion, eight billion dollars of your money, roll tape and hold it in as long as you can.
An eight point five billion dollar commitment to deliver stronger medicare everywhere, saving people hundreds of dollars in out of pocket costs, no asterisk, no fine print, no terms and conditions, just one hundred percent bulk billing covered by medicare.
Okay, enough great cool, YESO, Toto up? Can I get an upgrade? You know you have a look at a new joint. Anyway, this was really all about trying to move the conversation from the number one thing that's cost living, trying to move it to medicare Why liberals bad Ugenborger, Peter Dutton all the rest of it. You know the video that I've showed you where they literally just cut up what he said and Frankenstein something to make it
look like he was going to kill off medicare. Well, even though they know that's not true, it didn't stop the Prime Minister from dropping this. Today.
When they talk about efficiencies, they mean cuts. When they talk about economic surgery, they mean cutting bulb Billy off at the news.
Ah Man, he's openly said that it's not going to happen, but they're just going to pretend that you can ignore it. They'll still do this silly videos. But Peter Dutton very clever today in terms of political stratum. Because the government said, oh, eight point five million they're going to rip medicare apart, Darton turns around and says, okay, not just eight point five now nine billion, because I'm going to throw five hundred million, which will be their major promise in and
around mental health. Here was the pushback from Dunton today as he hasn't just matched, but bettered what Labour's wanting to do on Medicare.
The Coalition government is committed to nine billion dollars worth of investment into our general practice network. It will provide support to training, it will provide support to mental health services, and it will provide support to making sure that practices are viable and can provide a mix of services to patients. And it'll help build those billing rates back up to what they were under a coalition government.
Now, before we celebrate the good people at Batman's Bay, can I just make one little point on the behalf of Australia that has to pay for this, the future generations that will have to pay even more for it. The Prime Ministers January has made twenty seven and a half billion dollars worth of promises. The election hasn't even started, So on the behalf of everyone, how the hell are
you gonna pay for it? The Intergenerational Report says we are in deficit for the next forty freaking years and you want to add twenty seven and a half billion dollars. I don't think people are gonna believe you, but we'll all wait and see together. All right, Bateman's Bay, We're fired up, ready to go. We've got the red meat, we've got the fire up, we got the fight pipe pipe. So let's celebrate Bateman's Bay. Bateman's Bay about a four
hour drive from Sydney. It is a spectacular part of Australia. A little further south is Mogo, not too far from Canberra. So yeah, the odd lefty. But that's okay, that's okay, that's fine. You know, just just sure, sure, sure Shaw, go for swing. No, it's a beautiful part of the world and it is fine. Ohso many things, including, of course the beautiful Clyde River, the Clyde River oysters in particular, some of the best, if not the best in the country.
I think you're going to say the best in the country, right, I thought so. Picturesque National Park here, kayaking, snorkeling, there's the finest seafood that's dished up at waterfront restaurants, the sculpture walks that you can go and do here, but most importantly, the single best thing about Batman's Bay are the people who live here. Twelve thousand, two hundred and sixty three future friends with a median age of fifty three, and the leading place they were born apart from Australia
was in England. As you know, about five years ago, pretty horrible fires that there are still obvious scars the some we've had chats about all of that, but also there's plenty of heroism and there's lots of comeback. The place looks amazing. We were here about five years ago. I think the local council has done a pretty good job of tarting things up in the streets. Things look pretty good and back together. And I know it's painful for some ev and with us today to see those
sorts of images. But on top of that story of five years ago was think about having to not just a movie family, but say moving a zoo. It's exactly what happened when it came to the Mogo Zoo and obviously we went down there, had to chat about that and then got on with the fun that is this part of Australia. When the fires were ripping through this part of Australia five years ago, there were so many
frightened people. Those scars are still obvious today, and while the trees have grown back, there are other scars that are worth talking about, including the emotional effect on the beautiful animals of the Mogo Wildlife Park. It was incredible to hear about the dedicated workers and what they did to keep this place standing during the devastating Black Summer fires back in twenty nineteen, because let's be honest, without them, we'll be talking about a very different story today. Now
you've been here for five years. The timing of that is, of course, it's five years ago since the fires in this region, and you took over just as basically all of that was happening, and you took an incredible photo of this, which was giraffes and the area on fire. It's so good to see that things have come back. How the hell do you move a zoom in.
A fire, Well, that was kind of the thing.
You don't.
And so the job was to protect them, protect this site because here you can't call in trucks to put ten riff on. At different times, that whole tree line was on fire. We were getting spotfires everywhere, and if we hadn't just stayed on top of it. This place was gone.
The dedicated workers all share their own unique bonds with these incredible animals, whether they've been raised literally by hand, from birth all the way through to the latest stage in their life. The love never stomps. Now, we were rolling, but I just saw something amazing. So let's see if it happens again. He'll respond to a call of his name. Watch this, just watch this extraordinary. Please Jobari, come on,
good boy. That is amazing. More than three hundred animals called the Mogo Wildlife Park home, and it's been carefully designed to mimic their natural habitats. What I like to eat, Well, they are.
A scavenger, yeah, so that's why you often see them digging in so much. And we've got all these tunnels here like Insects are by far their favorite, yep, but they do have quite a lot of vegetable in their diet as well.
He was so great to see all of these animals and how far they've come from the fires in this area might be home to all of these beautiful little meercats. But you want size, you want power, You want to get on a jet boat where our pool's worth of water goes through the engine every minute. All right, let's talk about what we're about to experience this mofo. Give me an idea. How big, how powerful? Ten thirty foot long, we can take twelve people.
We've got eight hundred and eighty horse power, very strong, solid pill boat ocean tours.
All right, well, throw me around.
Like a rag doll. All right, let's go.
This is so much fun but also an incredible way to see things that you've got to see with your own eyes. These islands are incredible, the colors of the ocean unbelievable, and if you really look hard, some penguins I've written on a.
Camel written motorcycles, jet boating, new favorite.
How good was that you could see the little inner bogan going bang bang, Nick? Thank you very much made a wonderful man. All right, Matthew Hatcher is your local man. Give it up for him. Why are you loving to see king? It's out now, Matthew. This is a really special part of Australia. It's a place that wants to continue traditional while also making sure that it's as up to date as everything. How do you approach being the person with the most local power to do something here?
Yeah, I think it's all about bringing people together constantly, and this community post fire is obviously really banded together, the whole shire and the region really not only counsels and state and federal governments, but you know, your neighbors really had to come together. And I think it's just that having that constant dialogue and you know, really keeping your finger on the pulse, I guess, and getting out about and trying to find that happy medium. There's always a balance.
Because it's that thing where inevitably there are going to be some people that probably want to go a bit too far in some of the development. There are some people who maybe don't want to perhaps move anything from where things are, so you have to balance that. But your view of Bateman's Bay and the whole ship over the past five years, so once fire recovery takes sort of a couple of years, where are you sitting now, how do you feel about where the joints position.
I think we're in a fantastic position. We've had sort of this migration as well because of COVID from the cities down to this area, so we've seen a lot more I guess money flowing in as well. Obviously, new developments happening. There's always going to be I guess, you know, and there'll be people in the room who want to see high rises and people who want to see nothing happening. And I've got a great balance. My mother in law lives next door to me, and she reminds me that
nothing should change. And I think as a council we're there to sort of set vision and it's really about what we're going to deliver for our children, and I think we're as a group that's what we have to constantly keep. And I think just with the access to Sydney Canberra as well as the having airport locally here as well, we're in a fantastic position going forward to sort of see the benefits.
If you sort of hear a little faint something, yeah, there's a little Alabama in this boy. In fact, there was for many of the early years of his life before you came here. Does that give you a different perspective about growing up in a place where say, executive authority. We talked about this the other night when ran into
you at the Chinese restaurant, which was just wow. Obviously, executive power is different in Australia competiti to the United States, but you were exposed to the weights sitting on one person's shoulders. Does that do you think give you a little bit of an extra insight into how to do it now? Yeah?
Shout out Raymond's restaurant.
Raymonds, how good to Ravens A wow, order everything, Ceazling and then just order it again? Okay? Did I to everyone who was there? Yeah?
No, it is hard and I think you know, I've only been in government, local government for two terms now, and previous to that I kind of had no idea what government did. So you sort of assume the mayor has got all this power. And we talked about this the other night. In Australia particularly, you don't have that much. So it's more about setting vision and I think quite quite often locally people just sort of say, oh, this is a council needs to fix this, the mayor needs
to fix this. And I'm sure people in the room would see me get tagged on things on notice spoorts all the time. I think having that responsive this community really feels like they have access to people I guess in power and making decisions. But ultimately there are a lot of a lot of red tape on everything and bureaucracy, but we do. I think you always at my level, are always focusing on trying to deliver the best thing for the most people, and ultimately you're always going to
have people upset at every decision. And I've had people, you know, since I got this role that we're very good friends who are upset about ace something that was approved or a decision made on something. And I think as long as you're just keeping that at the fore front of always trying to do the best.
Thing, sounds like my life. A few people are not my friends anymore. So you take a position, you do what you've got to do. But good on your Matthew, excellent leadership, beautiful part of Australia and so good to have a chat both on.
The best place.
Thank you give him around them clause A good man re elected bigger margin. That's the most reason we got lucky gone elections. So this week is back in UNI. You appreciate it all right, quick bake back with more thanks to the wonderful people of Harvey Norman. This is ourtown, coming to you from the Carolina Club right here in Batmans Back in a second, can you believe that the people of Bateman's they have been clapping for that long, like all the way through the ad Breage, loving for
you guys. We're having a great time at our first outtoun. We'll do this, of course, each and every month around the country. It is only possible because of the wonderful people of Harvey Norman. We've been doing this for years now and it is a thrill every chance we do it. Every year that we get the chance to plot where we're going to be going around the country is awesome. And this year we bring a particular bit of love from Harvey Norman, but that love is decided by locals.
Our mates it Harvey Norman are always looking for new ways to help those in need, and their commitment to this part of Australia goes a long way back. It was five years ago when we first visited Bateman's Bay, and with the help of Harvey Norman, they were here in the aftermath of the horrific Black Summer bushfires, helping as many as they could. It's true that at the height of everything you were coming back to the shop
to double check that nobody was looting. Sadly was happening but also you were giving people a chance to charge their phone.
Yeah, we were charging phones off a bit of supports and food border It's just such a big thing for them. So for a few staffroom was down, we didn't have power inside the shop. We actually had it outside running a generator charging their phones.
Harving Norman is always finding new ways to help communities and one of their really important charity partners are the incredible people at Good three point sixty. This is an organization which helps people get back on their feet after a crisis with things most of us take for granted.
We work with suppliers and businesses across Australia to get those goods to give out to communities. So again they can can bring the goods to our warehouse and we distributed those to charities across Australia, or charities can go to those stores and pick up the goods in their local communities and give them to people in need. At the moment, we have over fifteen million dollars worth of stock here in the warehouse, but we've donated over almost half a billion dollars worth of stock.
In particular here in Bateman's Bay. They were instrumental in the recovery efforts after the twenty nineteen Black Summer Fires.
So the bushfires is really a great example of what happens during disasters. So we all know in the immediate time of bushfires the spotlights on those communities. But a disaster is a marathon, not a sprint. So partners like Harvey Norman have been with us for the long term rebuild of those communities. They have helped us with communities and families have access to goods that they need during the rebuild.
Just one of the people that Good three sixty helped during the fires was Greg Franklin, a father of five beautiful children, two of whom live with autio, and that did make their recovery from the bushfires even harder. I had the chance to go to his house, meet the kids, and sit at the table to hear his story.
When our house ran up, a fire ball hit it, but I was outside for a while. Fiada and the kids had already left because I saw it up on the ridge at about in the morning. I said, just go, don't take anything, just go. So I staying there, and you think I get a hose and find it. It doesn't even into your head. Here in. I don't think people understand that the temperature, it's not forty degrees. I walked back into the house to try and get some things,
but the paintsplustering off the walls. Wow, So yeah, you're talking about temps fifty sixty degrees. The kids in Theiada moved to try to get into the first area of it, which is blocked off. Why people parked the cars and some of it was ride away. She then went to the evacuation center. She couldn't get in there, and then the fires looked like I was going to hit the
so she moved to Catalina Public School. So they were stuck in there and they were going to evacuate them from there, but they could, so she had a little factor differently so far as well, they were there, you're studying a bit.
I'm sorry, that's right.
That happened.
To me about good three sixty and about the tangible help that they were able to offer.
They came up and said, look, we can get you all these good things.
Which is great.
We just moved into the home, so television in there, we've got nice toaster's still over there. We've still got things we're using, and they were all practical things, and Harvey Norman brought them up. Here was something tangible new that wasn't secondhand and a mess up being tud described that it was a tangible, real new thing.
And that brings us to where we are in twenty twenty five. What a great idea Harvey Norman's come up with, which is to let the people of local areas like Bateman's Bade select their local heroes. In return, they will be honored with a pretty significant give bouta for the store, which again goes back into the community to celebrate time to go inside. Harvey Norman has always supporting good people doing great things in their community. Congratulations, thank you, Paul,
very well done. Well, don't take me think they're good people of Harvey Norman. How good, good on you, Thank you, Caleb, really appreciate it. Congratulations they're great, aren't they all right? Congratulations to you, well done, Thank you so much for support. And the great man Mick, Hello, big fellow, how are you?
I love this man, I love what he does and Harvey Norman love regional Australia.
Well I feel an on and Flivor it should get that phone call a surprise peign call on Thursday. But look, as a business owner myself, I think most of us are doing something for the commune already. And as for Harvey Norman, which is such a big company, it's I'm too grateful for this. Get Basha and I'm sure this would be shared with other people as well.
And thank you.
Great.
This is such a great initiative from Harvey Norman. And the great news is gets happening all year long. Everywhere we go, the local store will be searching for local heroes. Next up is to Woomba in Queensland. So go into the store, think about the local hero and support them for supporting you. They are great. It is a great idea. Congratulations for all of the local winners and all about Harvey. People over here, thank you very much. I do appreciate it.
Now here have the Catalina Club vis Joint five stars. They have been spectacular behind the scenes. They have been excellent at helping set everything that we're up here. But you've got to come here. When you come to Bateman's Bay, you know I love a club, and here the Catalina
Club is incredible. It boasts a twenty seven hole championship golf course, Yes, you heard me right, twenty seven and it has some of the best places in town to sit back, relax and what's your favorite sports, get a cool beverage from one of many impressive newly renovated bars. And this is a place which has been the heart of this community since nineteen twenty.
Catalina Club has one hundred and forty five team members that call it its place of employment pay a little over six million dollars in wages per anum, so obviously all that moves back into local economy. We support over seven local sporting community groups as well.
This golf course had humble beginnings back in the nineteen twenties. It was just an eight hole course, but look at it now, twenty seven of the most amazing championship holes possible. It was even the home to the very first place Greg Norman ever won a golf tournament. This was back in the nineteen seventies at the South Coast Open.
We've got over a thousand golfing members and that ranges from our juniors all the way to our seniors, I suppose are eighty nine year old. Twenty seven holes is great. Having that flexibility to cope with both members as well as visitation.
Has always mentioned my name paipl Bryce. Beautiful people, good people. This is a great part of Australia. Fatland more will celebrate more from Vatman Stack. Welcome back to Catalina Club here in Vateman State. Who loved voices all right? Who thinks you're soft if you don't eat oysters? Might talk about the bit that a bit later. We have the opportunity to spend some time with a lovely couple who are fourth generation oyster farmers five o'clock every morning, seven
days a week, absolutely beautiful in their product. World famous. Bateman's Bay is famous for some of our nation's best oysters, all farmed here on the Clyde River is part of the Nissobel South Coast. We were shown how every bit of this process is done by our mates Jade and Greg at the Oyster Shed Ray. Thank you very much for having us. Oh it's my pleasure for now. I love that you've got the retail business that people can come here, have a coffee, have an oyster or seven
if they'd like to feel free. But tell us how long have you been on the river and oyster farming?
So I'm a fourth generation oyster farmer here in.
The Clyde River.
Our little shared was actually built by my grandfather in nineteen fifty seven and his my dad took over at twenty one. My husband and I have just boarded in the last two years, so we've got a little bit of knowledge about the oysters and the industry.
So you've got it well trained. Is just the work, Shut up, I get it.
Somebody's got to be the listener.
How does one go about farming oysters? How long is it? You know? Howgi becomes food? Tell me the process?
The process, so oysters are quite woke, I should say, is that they actually start out as males until they reach two years of age and then they go to female and revert back to male. So that's that's the start of their little life, so their journey, that's right.
The truth.
They naturally reproduce in the water, so depending if they are at the male or female stage.
We'll relieve they will release the sperm or.
The egg into the water and then the fertilization, so that's the birds and bees of it. They then float around and we actually.
We catch our oysters wildly. So this is the Sydney rock species.
The native species to Australia that I'm talking about. We catch them on a plastic slats. That's what we call the.
Single seed method.
So what we have here is some beautiful Sydney rock oysters that will be about three years old.
So of all of the places in all of the world, why Bateman's Bay, why is Batman's Bay the place for oysters.
Well, we're lucky in the fact that we are one of the cleanest waterways in Australia. We're ninety eight percent state forest in national parks, so there's no pollutants here in our river system. We're fed from the beautiful Tasmin Sea, so we've got that beautiful salty water. But you can see the mountain ranges here behind me fresh water right at the very top. So it's that brackish water system that creates an amazing growing environment for oysters.
Now's the moment of truth.
Now's the moment of truth.
So there's two ways you can actually open an oyster, and I'm going to show you the very first way, so it is the chef preferred way. What you do is he putting the oyster knife in between the hinge there. Now I'm just wiggling the knife until the oyster knife will hold itself up. So that's how you know you've got a good amount of leverage underneath the oyster. There, I'm going to push the handle down and bring the blade up.
So do you use it as a lever? Wow?
Just like that?
Oh wow?
So moving the knife around to the right hand side, because that's where.
The adductive muscle is.
It's attached to the top and the bottom of the shell. We've just pil that mask.
So beautiful.
Look at that beautiful ocean water.
It was a beautiful day out on the water. You've got to make sure that you get down here and experience this incredible part of Australia, but also make sure you sample the product. Show me how it's done.
Look, everyone has a different way of doing it, but me personally the.
Way it is.
Oh good on your join the shed, n Ray lovely, lovely people and a beautiful product. Please go down and check it out. Keep it going for Richard Adams is here along with Sam Steiner. They are both people committed to the local community and I'm very pleased to say they are here. Best mustache I've seen, by the way, how did this get hit until now, Like I'm waiting to look at the tash on the bay. It's a good looks there. I appreciate it. Richard. How long have
you been in and around the bay at fourteen years now? Right? So when do you become a local? Fifty years? Yeah? I thought so that might be theky, but still I am business leader. Tell us about what this area means to you and the types of things you like to do to help it. It's home.
I grew up in central New South Wales. This is like a bit of that, but on the cave, so you've got the best.
Of those worlds.
Yeah.
What I like to do is just help people during fires. Like prior to the fires, we're helping businesses in Maga, we start a business chamber to help assist grow the town and liaise with local government. So that worked really well, and then unfortunately the fires hit, so we transformed from a business chamber more to a community chamber. So we met with so many different government entities to help source help.
And when you know, you watch something on the news, you see the politicians roll in, they'll have the photos all the rest of it. Right, did it take longer than you expected? For what they promised to turn up right, Like I know there's other examples where they haven't even
turned up on certain things. But do they if they turn around and say, oh, we're going to bring this little shed down, we're going to do this for you, we'll make sure we help you with this to rebuild relatively quick, or give us an idea what it's like on the other side of the TV after something like that.
So some things in a reasonable time frame you can imagine, especially the cleane up that resonates with me a fair bit is when the government promised to come down and clean up, and they've done a great job. However, there's someone who's going to be first and someone's last. So that time frame to clean up that much mess, it's going to take a long time, not only the infrastructure that's laying on the ground and all that's right, And I think everyone's first, so you've got someone I should
be first. So I remember one mate and I said we'll go last. I'm happy to go last to everyone else, and everyone stopped.
So they realized that.
Someone's got to be last, someone's going to be second last, and it was.
It's no yeah.
And same with the other infrastructure with pal poles. That was the same. I think the torn frame was given to me the Torn because so many probaties it without power. Mostly you're Adela. They said about three months and I thought, man, that's fired a long time. They've done it in less time.
Wow.
I've never seen a team of guys work so well together.
That's cool.
So there were some amazing things, some not so amazing things, some things. We've got a lot of plans floating around for here. Hopefully we can deliver some more over the next few years.
Well, stay in touch and not kick some mass for you at all the levels it's needed. It's a very solid boot. Don't worry. It seems to have some effect every now and then. Sam, you're part of the RFS forine Rescuing, so Foreign Rescuing you South Wales. So to be able to help a community. I talk about this a lot about emergency services people, right, which is that I think you guys and girls are the best of us because you see people on their worst possible day.
You see people when others would want to run the other way. What does it mean to you you to be able to help day to day a community that you live in that you love, that your family loves. What does it mean to.
You means everything to me.
I absolutely love it.
I've been in the job for aden years, and you know, there's been obviously hard times like the fires, where you sort of come out the other side a bit scarred and want to quit. But it's our community came together in such a strong way that I think even if I was faced with the exact same circumstances, I'll be prepared to do it again just because of that support. I think the biggest thing we had then was we
didn't know that we had support. What we've had and learned since the fires is the amount of support from the community, and then watching the community support itself as well.
I don't know whether you want to go there, but I'll still ask anyway. Part of that support, emotional right is built into the modern firefighter, the availability to have the emotional support or do you seek it out in other places? Because you have seen some awful things over a long time. Even if there wasn't what happened here five years ago? So what did it do for you?
Yeah, there's plenty of discussion had and they always come down from Pet Office and tell us to reach out ring this number, yeah, one hundred percent, But I think the culture is still very much that should be right. We'll just get through it. That Actually, the wheels fell off for me at the end of the fire season and I ended up on leave with post traumatic stress disorder and of course other issues to work through.
And it was probably.
More so the community again that helped me get back into the brigade and back on shift and going again.
It's that thing, and we've seen it from Broom to loncest and the Cans and all. Like when you are a community, right, everyone knows a lot and sometimes not enough about each other, but they can see when somebody's struggling a bit right, and they do reach out. And it could be the smallest thing from a Maine Howe today to what can I do to help? But that seems to be that little special thing in the air, apart from the beaches, the water and all the rest. That's what holds you together, isn't it.
It is.
I've met so many people from our community and from Afar that just give you that little bit of a help and to give you that little bit more breath to go forward, because sometimes you think, wow, I need to give up this, but then something happens and I've got a bit more. So you just keep going, like you said, has an effect on you.
Well, this is this thing where you know, it doesn't matter where we are in the world. I'm always like, you know what, if you've got a grudge, get rid of it. If you've got an opportunity to tell someone you love them, do it right. And that just be the family member, the random person, the person who sort of only ever wants to talk about policy all the rest, because you never know whether that's the the inch that pulls them back or the inch that puts them over
the top for a great day. And either way, on the behalf of everyone here, we love you. We love you. Thank you boys. I do appreciate it. Thank you, Thank you. Frist break back with more here on Paul Murray Light. Thanks for the great people of Harvey Norman were in bat and say month, welcome back Catalina Club here in Vatman faiths with the people have harving on me. Now do you know that I am very honest with you on the Telly always say that we're the most honor
Shine TV. Why because you're gonna know my emotions, Okay, up, down, happy, sad, whatever. I have never eaten an oyster in my life, and I tried, but here's the proof that I have not actually eaten an oyster. So just tip it up.
You just want that beautiful oyster and the natural juice going in there with you. Now, like I said, you're either gonna get, you know, a French kiss by the ocean, or you're gonna feel like you've been dumped by wave at the beach.
Different. It's different, and it's a different texture that's a little different from me. That's a little different from me. I'm sorry. I tried so hard, gone gone, I tried, I really tried. Now, Jarrett, it's just a man who has not like a what feels like a world record, definitely the strained record. Four hundred dozen of these he pulled apart in a day. That's four thy eight hundred in a day. Love you to meet you.
My big friend.
All right, now, let's rip one of these open and let's see if I can eat one. Let's do it.
I'm just about to say, mate, you haven't eaten a noise to say, I think the first os I cracked for you, I think it should be a testament to dedication.
Alright, this is this is a test of my love and Bateman's bay. Yeah, all right, here we go.
These noses are that's massive beautiful from Jaye Rolphan as well done at Ray Street, Oye Farm.
Okay, all right, all right, thank you? All right?
I love that?
All right? Well, can you cut up a few more for us here?
All right?
Ready, all right, you bet.
Give me another one? What done? All right? So when you're shucking four thousand of these in a duck? What do you do you like? How do you maintain concentration? How do you not get bored? How do you not cut yourself? No, I'm not having a third.
Call, to be quite honest with you. To think about the cost of living these days. So I think about my family and the bills we've got to pay. So when you've got a mortgage and kids going to private school, you have to do that. Now I think they left school, so they've got a job.
Good man. All right, Well, let's break as many of these open and get them around the room. You are an expert at it. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Jaron, I love that. Top two. There you go. I finally have had a couple of voice live TV. That's it. You know, nothing focuses the mind like live TV. But you get out past those around whatever you would like to. All Right, Batman's Bay, thank you very much for tonight. Thank you for supporting us all the way through. Thank
you the wonderful people of Harvey Norman. This show is impossible without their support. We're going to be into Woomba next month. So if you can go into the store, celebrate people and literally it's a couple of thousand dollars that comes out as gift cards for each of those people, for each of those organizations. So get into the oysters. Anyone who wants them, hands up. Anyone who wants to make sure that I keep the Oyster down can just follow me for the next few minutes or so. All Right,
that's our show tonight. Thank you very much for watching. Don't forget but a massive week. Tomorrow night a pub test in the seat of Gilmour. Then we're off to Las Vegas. Baby, the Big Fellow will be in Las Vegas, which I cannot wait to do. The Royal reports up in a moment or two times. Thank you to everyone in the Catalina's Club. Thank you to Harvey Norman and thank you Abatements. Fatally love you guys. Get up, Fire up.
How good is that? Will see you getting to Woomba a month from now our sound on a Sunday night here on start you shut up