Murray Olds: Australia correspondent on Sydney fireworks display, Woolworths buckle to Australia Day merchandise, Aussies warned to reinstall cards in mobile wallet

Sydney saw in the New Year with nine tons of fireworks. 

The city hosted two fireworks displays, at 9pm and midnight. Australia correspondent Murray Olds tells Tim Beveridge the earlier show allows young families to bail out early. 

Meanwhile, Woolworths has buckled and will now sell Australia Day merchandise, in a reversal of its 2024 policy. 

The supermarket chain will offer Australian flag-themed merchandise such as hats, sunglasses, bunting and a “clip-on ribbon” through its online stores. 

And, Australians are being warned to reinstall their cards in their mobile wallets. Up to 60,000 could be affected by a reset. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Happy New Year, Murray Olds, very good morning. It happened
new year, Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Did you manage a tipple to to see in the
new year or are you tucked up in bed?

Speaker 4 (00:28):
No, no, no, I had a couple of shippit's and
I have to golf and saw in the new year.
Stagger off to bed and crash and up again this
morning having a chat to you, my dear boy.

Speaker 5 (00:39):
Good on you. Hey.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
In Auckland, we had half a ton of fireworks at
sky City and Sydney. You guys had nine tons.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
The fireworks was nuts, It was nuts. I did watch
it on television.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
There were two shows, one at nine, another one at midnight,
the nine o'clock one. It allows a few people if
they want to to bail out early. We've got young
families and so on. Most people hung around for the
massive display at the end.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
And you know it depends that you'd talk to.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
I mean, there are those who say, oh, bar humbug,
what a waste of bloody money, dreadful. You know money
should go and you know provide homes for homeless people.
It should go and feed people, and you know, I get,
I completely get that. The other side of it is
that lots of thrusters and boosters for Sydney say it

(01:32):
shows the city on the global stage and it will
attract tourism, and tourism means jobs and all the rest
of it. But I mean, anyway you cut it, it
look terrific. They had a whole bunch of you stuff
this year. They were banging at fireworks off the bridge,
of course, off the top of the Opera House and

(01:54):
the first time a whole bunch of city skyscrapers during
in too. The cost you don't know, I watering, not
those bleeds, the whole lot lot.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
But look it's it's done in dust for another year.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
And the train unions, well, we're bullied into we're bullied
into working.

Speaker 5 (02:21):
You know.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
One hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of staff, thousands staff
and a half thousand stuff were on deck to make
sure people got in and out of the city safely.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Hey, Willworths is buckled and are now going to sell
all that all that crap merchandise to Mark Australia day. Oh,
I think we've lost Murray. They're actually on the connection.
But never mind. Hey, just a note on those fireworks.
The fireworks half a ton of half a ton we

(02:50):
let off at sky City and in Sydney, as I mentioned,
there was nine tons of sparkling smoking explosives. Interesting that market.
Murray was talking about the people who say, look, you
should spend this money on the poor and not spend
all that money on fireworks and things, and then then
the others who say that, look, this is a great
way to promote Sydney. I'm with the latter. It just

(03:13):
makes Sydney look like the place to be. The image
that I've seen of the fireworks going off over the
Harbor Bridge in the Opera House absolutely spectacular. But the
BBC's got a piece and I'm not sure it's to
rain on our parade. But you know, there's always another
aspect of things. But they're talking about the amount of
fireworks that we pump into the air right around the globe.

(03:36):
They talk about in London there's twelve thousand fireworks but
blasted into the sky each year, and although bad weather
threatened to put a stop to it this year, I
think Hogman, as we know was pretty much canceled in.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Scotland.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
But every year Americans set off three hundred million pounds.
That's one hundred and thirty six thousand tons of one
hundred and thirty six thousand tons of fireworks.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
And actually I.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Think we've got I think we might have murray back here?
Have we got murray back there? Oh, we're just going
to get murried back and just to tack now. But
the story is all about the amount of fireworks that
are let off, But the question is actually around air quality,
and there are people who are saying, actually it does
have quite a marked effect on air quality there because

(04:29):
the fireworks up might have to confess, I quite like
the smile of fireworks.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Something about you.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
I haven't had have a whiff of a double happy
or a thunderbolt for a few years. But the fireworks
actually produced not only a lot of smoke, but there
are pollutants such as heavy metals and alloys that can't
be easily seen, and you know, can be a bit
of a spoil a kill joy when you think about
those things. But just a few bits of interesting information
on that, I think we've got to hang on a second.

(04:54):
Let me just click on stand by we've got Murray
back Murray.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
Yeah, Revalins, good morning once again.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
And look, Ossie's are going to have being warned they
need to reinstall their cards on their mobile and wearable
devices or risk not being able to use them in
just ours.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
Well that's it, and apparently it's ticked over this morning.
Then no one warned me.

Speaker 6 (05:23):
But then I've got very little access to any of
the any of the household money. I mean, I'm not
sure it was like at your place, but I'm told
what I can spend, where i can spend it, and
how much I've got. There's an organization there here called
the Australian Payments Plus. It's warning this morning that if
you haven't already, and it doesn't apply to everybody, our.

Speaker 5 (05:45):
Physical post cold by the petrol and so on, those
physical cards will still work, but for those people who
haven't updated them. As you say, the cards and anibobile
telephones on your watch, if you haven't updated those, they
might not work. Well. This is not very bloody good

(06:07):
news for people who perhaps haven't had access to their
emails for a while, or they have simply not got
around to it. It only applies as I say, too.
They're saying sixty people. Well, if you're were those, you're
going to be pretty I think it'd be pretty upset
if you fill the car up and sell on the bloat.
But in the service station you fill up the country

(06:28):
thing won't work. How many it's going to affect, We're
not sure, no doubt. When the sun comes up over
here this morning, there'll be plenty of people baking headlines
forund the country. Where do you meet? The can's not working,
so just wait for that explosion on this side of
the ditch. Mane.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Hey, what's the story with Walworths buckling and selling the
crap merchandise? Saw to my Australian Day?

Speaker 5 (06:50):
Australian because they got bullied into it all the you know,
all the intentionally patriotic Assies who insist on getting a
ten dollar T shirt made in China. They'll just intigorate
the first time you ever wash it. You know, those bloody,
idious cork tipped hats all made in China. But no, no,
we're gonna celebrate Australia Day. What work set the temerity

(07:13):
to suggest you might not sell this tax this year
because it is really not Australian. Dad's invasion Day for many,
and it is invasion day for a lot of Australians.
But you know, the woke, you know, all the do
good was started howling and whining and you're going to
tell this stuff. I mean as if they haven't got
drawers full of them from last year. And you wear
it once seven away again if you want, but I mean,

(07:37):
what was not so long ago. They're on all our
evening television newsers proudly saying no where we've read the
room and I don't think Australians want us to sell it.
Well apparently all the Aussie flags.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
You're going to have a mate, Yeah, cheers may look well,
the reception is a bit dodgy there, so we'll leave
it there. But happened to you.

Speaker 5 (08:04):
Mary.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Really appreciate talking to you this morning, and we'll be
back and

Speaker 1 (08:08):
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