30 Apr 2025

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:15):
Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here on Vicious Radio,
radio 1190 7 a.m. and online at Via radio.org via
Radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin through the Community Radio
Plus app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide also your
favourite podcast or streaming service and through the Reading Radio Network.

(00:36):
Peter Greco, on behalf of Phillip Napier, saying thank you
so much for joining us. A big shout to Wendy
McDougall listening in a very big happy International Guide Dog
Day to you. If you've been involved with Guide Dogs
from conception to post retirement. A big thank you to you.
This program come to you from Garner Land. Come to
you very shortly. We'll catch up with Courtney Lewis, who

(00:59):
did something on the cricket field last week that no
one else has ever done. We'll hear from Courtney very soon.
We'll catch up with Minister Blair Boyer, Minister of education
here in South Australia. Seems like some really good news.
Extra funding for students with disabilities. Jeremy Muir will join
us from Physical Disability Australia. They've got some concerns regarding

(01:19):
some of the expansion of airlines into Australia and locally,
and also new airlines. What might that mean for people
with disabilities? We'll find out from Jeremy and Phil Vanderfield
will join us, co-founder and co-presenter for Focalpoint. I wonder
if Phil has got election fever. If you're listening through
1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide at 8:00 for your listening pleasure.

(01:42):
Lizzie and Sam here with studio one. Just before we
hear what's on studio One, message through from Tony Starkey
regarding the Glenelg tram from 9:00 this Sunday evening till
the last service Sunday, there'll be no tram, but there'll
be alternative buses or buses as an alternative. If you
want more information you can give Adelaide Metro a call. 13030110813031108.

(02:12):
This will be the case for a few months now
as far as disruptions to the tram service goes. But
from 9 p.m. this Saturday evening through until the last
service on Sunday, no trams alternative buses will be in place.
And before we talk to Courtney about the fact that
cricket was on last week, a series against Pakistan, a

(02:32):
big thank you and well done to Phil Penn and
also to Rosette Zarrella, who were the two umpires throughout
the whole series against Pakistan. Pakistan played Australia. Uh, Phil
and Rosette were the two umpires, both from South Australia.
Both did a tremendous job. As they say. The game
can't go on without them. Before we go on, let's

(02:53):
find out what's on studio one tonight.

S2 (02:58):
For International Guide Dog Day, we ask, what would your
dog say if it could talk.

S3 (03:03):
We also catch up with Leicester Cream, the client services
manager for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, and Lisa and Anthony
share their experiences as guide dog handlers.

S2 (03:13):
So join us at eight for Studio one.

S1 (03:16):
What a wonderful week it's been for our blind cricketers
in Queensland. A woman brought clickers who have made history.
Let's chat to Australian player of the series Courtney Lewis. Courtney.
Lovely to meet you. Congratulations and thank you for speaking
to us.

S4 (03:31):
Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

S1 (03:33):
What's it like? Uh, you had a chance to kind
of pinch yourself. Are you still trying to wake yourself
up from the dream? How's it all going?

S4 (03:39):
Oh, I definitely did not feel it in the moment
I was. I was kind of just taking it all in.
But no. Once I've gotten home, it's all kind of
just hit me. So, um, roller coaster of emotions at
the moment, just about.

S1 (03:51):
Well, just let's talk about your 101st, because that's that's
the highlight of the whole week. Uh, tell us all
about it, Courtney. Tell us how you did it.

S4 (03:58):
Oh, well, it's definitely been a long time coming. I've
put all the months of, you know, weights training and
sprints training and, you know, five K run runs along
the river and not in the net. So I definitely
think it's, um, you know, long time coming and it's
just still very surreal for me. But, um, I'm definitely
very proud of myself for reaching a goal that I

(04:20):
was definitely intending on planning.

S1 (04:22):
So how long has it been in the planning? I
guess you've been training and wanting to do something like
this for a long time.

S4 (04:28):
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I've, you know, always dreamed
about getting my first 50, let alone 100. But no,
it was definitely something I didn't think I'd get so soon.
So it was a massive relief and a massive moment
for me.

S1 (04:41):
First, about the training and the preparation. You talked about
five K runs and sprints and weights. I mean, people
might just not necessarily associate that with cricket. Who's helped
you through that?

S4 (04:52):
Oh, so I have a personal coach here in New
South Wales. His name is Jason Stubbs and he's basically
someone of all trades. He'll you know, he's he's helped
me with my long, uh, five K runs. You know,
something that I'm not very, uh, particularly good at, but he's, um,
he's helped me with that. And, you know, he's taught
me the importance of you need to kind of every

(05:14):
strength for for cricket because, you know, with the five
K runs, you know, being out there for 20 overs
is definitely not an easy task. So you need that endurance.
And then, you know, with the weights training, with my batting,
like you need to be able to have that power
in your stance and in your hitting, you know, and
that's that's just all skill based. Like I need to
be able to have those skills to, um, execute with,

(05:36):
you know, the strength of my, my power and my
and my arms as well. So everything kind of all
comes together in the end. So, you know, he's taught
me the importance of everything, uh, tying into your overall
performance in cricket. And he's been there since day one.
So I definitely commend him for, for everything that he's
had to put up with me, because I've definitely complained

(05:56):
the whole time.

S1 (05:57):
So Unless you're on a score like that. It talks
about the, the the innings itself though. Did you feel
good right from the start? We kind of feeling good
about yourself right from the beginning.

S4 (06:08):
Um, you know, going into the series, I'm always nervous,
but I definitely knew I had the capability of performing
well just based off my preparation. But no, the first
game it was for me personally, it'd be a little
disappointing getting out so early. Um, maybe not early to
the team, but for me personally it was. But no.
Going into the rest of the week, I was determined

(06:28):
to stay out there a little bit longer and get
them some more runs. And, um, I definitely think I
pulled through on the Wednesday when we did get back.
But yeah, no, I felt pretty good personally. Um, but
as a team, you know, we took the loss a
bit hard on the Sunday. We thought we would get
through that first game, but we didn't, um, get there.
So we just had to make sure we were reflecting

(06:49):
on that and, you know, adjusting where we could. But, um,
I definitely think we pulled through that next day for sure.

S1 (06:56):
It was the first game against Pakistan.

S4 (06:58):
Yes.

S1 (06:58):
Which Pakistan won?

S4 (06:59):
Yes they.

S1 (07:00):
Did. Yeah. Well that's cool. What about, uh, your release, though?
Tell us a bit about it. Uh, how many followers
did you feel like you were playing better and better
as the innings went on?

S4 (07:11):
Oh, absolutely. I take a while to get my rhythm in.
Just just confidence wise. Um, but, no, the longer I went,
the more comfortable I was with my, um, with my
batting and where I knew where fielders were and how
quickly they could get the ball in, where I could
take my risks. But yeah, the longer I was in there,
obviously the more tired I was getting. But it was

(07:32):
definitely the more empowered I felt with my own skill
set for sure.

S1 (07:36):
What about who you batted with? How important was that?

S4 (07:38):
Oh, that is a crucial part of any kind of,
you know, batter individually as well, because, you know, I
was out there first with, um, our captain, Courtney, way back.
She had a massive hand in my century. She opened
with me. And we really got a good rhythm going with, um,
just like talking between the wickets and, you know, finding

(08:00):
the fielders, finding the gaps, talking strategy and all that. But, um,
unfortunately she did get out just before drinks, so, but
she came back out with, uh, another be with our
B1 ash. She stayed in for a little bit. Um,
and then she unfortunately got run out. And then to
finish it off, it was our next B3 bow, who

(08:21):
is a fantastic batter as well. So we just made
sure to keep up the talk, make sure we were
confident in what we were doing. And um, yeah, she
really pushed me through. We were I was struggling at
the very end to, to push on, but she was
telling me to keep going, keep going because we're almost there.
But no, I really appreciated her, you know, encouraging me
and and keeping me going. So partnership is incredibly important

(08:43):
when it comes to, um, the team total.

S1 (08:46):
Because you were playing in Queensland. So I guess the
heat would have been pretty sapping.

S4 (08:49):
Oh it was, it's a very, um, direct heat right
on the right on the body. So it's definitely important
to kind of. It's a mental game for sure.

S1 (08:57):
What about playing against Pakistan? I guess you didn't know
much about the team beforehand, and I guess they didn't
know much about us either.

S4 (09:03):
No. Pakistan is a very new team to the game. Um,
we weren't sure at all what they'd be like. What
fitness level, what you know, site, what kind of skills
they had, um, at hand. We know that the the
men's team, they're incredibly talented. So we didn't know if
that would carry through if it, you know, the girls
were just completely new to the game, but we, you know,

(09:25):
became friendly, friendly with them very quickly. They're very nice girls. Um,
they're definitely very competitive. And we really appreciated that as well.
But yeah, as soon as we kind of did that
first game, we knew what we were up against and
we kind of adjusted accordingly to get through that first win,
which we did, and we were confident that if we would,
we got those other two games, we could have definitely, um,

(09:48):
pushed through for the for the next wins as well.

S1 (09:50):
So Courtney, you made 100. I think it's the first
hundred by an Australian women at, uh, at cricket level.

S4 (09:56):
That's correct. That's Australian women to reach 100. In the
blind cricket.

S1 (10:01):
No one will ever take that away from you, regardless
of what happens in the future.

S4 (10:04):
No, absolutely. Like I said, it was very disappointing result
for the team, but I think that's something that I
can take away and really work on and really appreciate
for the future.

S1 (10:13):
They've got a vision impairment. How do you know what's
going on, or do you know what's going on? How
do you kind of how does all that play out?

S4 (10:20):
That's uh, that's actually a really funny story for me because, um,
I reached my 50. I'm very known for not knowing
what I'm on when I'm out there, even when people
tell me, um, I reached my 50 and people were
screaming out, but I just couldn't hear. I was just
too focused. So I was kind of in my zone.
And then I think about two runs later, I heard
someone yell out from the boundary 50. And I'm like, oh,

(10:42):
I've been out here for a while, it's probably me. So.
And then I had a little celebration and I heard,
I heard, um, the some of them laugh on the side.
I'm like, okay, that's definitely me, but no. Then I
kept asking throughout the overs. I'm like, what am I on?
What am I on? And it was getting higher and higher.
And then when you know, the sidelines finally like just
blew up. I'm like, that's definitely me. That's definitely my hundred.

(11:05):
And I just couldn't help it. I dropped to my knees.
I'm like, this is insane. Like I'm still here. So no,
it was it was, uh, it's very 5050 with me
when when I know what I'm on.

S1 (11:16):
So you got to ask someone. Obviously, you can't see
a scoreboard.

S4 (11:19):
Yeah. No, I'm always asking questions. I never actually know
what I'm on.

S1 (11:23):
So did the nervous 90s make an appearance? Did you
know when you were in the 90s?

S4 (11:27):
Uh, I think, um, I think during the 15th over,
I had the, the 12th run out some drinks and
I was asking, oh, you know, what am I on?
And someone told me, I think it was late 80s,
early 90s and I, I, I kind of took it
on at the moment, but I didn't really focus too much.
I just said, you know, I just got to stay
out here. I just got to keep partying. I got
to keep getting these runs for the team. Um, so

(11:47):
I didn't really think about myself too much just because
I knew I had a job to do. But no,
I definitely got excited the more I ran. So yeah, no,
it was it was big.

S1 (11:58):
I guess big a T20 match, I guess you can't
sort of think, well, I'll, you know, block a few
straight ones until I get one to hit. You got
to sort of go for everything because it's a T20 match.

S4 (12:07):
Oh absolutely. My my mindset was aggressive batting. So I
had to make sure that I was taking every opportunity
that I could, especially knowing that, um, they had even
the Pakistan team, they were running all around the place
to to try and get their balls in as much
as we could, because we were we were batting really
aggressively and attacking every single ball. We were taking those

(12:29):
twos like almost every single time. So I just, I
knew I had to keep going and keep pushing. And
it was, um, it was tough, but I, it was
something that we just had to do now.

S1 (12:38):
Um, obviously, uh, it's great that, uh, we play a
team like Pakistan and make history on our home soil
for the first time, and it seems like almost every
player contributed throughout the series. I mean, sadly, the rain
intervened too much, but it seems like most players had
a contribution to make.

S4 (12:55):
Oh, absolutely. We had our you know, we had our
top bowlers, you know, Bo got best bowler and we
we've got, um, you know Jennifer Perry from New South Wales, she, uh,
got best be1 bowler. You know, she took a lot
of wickets for us. And we had Sam, Sam Hall from,
from New South Wales as well. She took two catches
on both the games. So you know everyone contributed. We

(13:16):
had our batters like everyone had something to do with
um our win and and our, our success. So it
wasn't it was not just me that, you know, contributed
to our success. It was everyone who put their, you know,
put their foot in. And I'm really proud of everyone
that contributed to to it. Yeah.

S1 (13:36):
Millie Millie Hart we spoke to a couple of weeks ago,
did some, made some runs in the first innings. I
think Alan Rice in South Australia took a run out.

S4 (13:43):
Yeah. Like even from like every everywhere like Millie did
some fantastic batting on the first day I think her
and um, another, another, uh, player got, I think, an
80 run partnership, which is fantastic. Um, I think we're
really developing our players very well, and everyone's going back
in their states and just, you know, pushing and pushing and, um,

(14:05):
developing their skills where they can. And it's really showing
when it comes up to these kinds of series and
the camps that we go to. But no, everyone, you know. Yeah.
Like even Ingrid, like she was, she was keeping and
it was really tough because, um, we only had the
two games, but she was really pushing for us as well.

S1 (14:23):
What about from here recording? I guess everyone's kind of
energized and hungry for more.

S4 (14:28):
Oh, absolutely. Considering we only got our two out of
the five games, we're ready to go again. Like, I
feel like I've just gotten home and I've. And I've, um.
I'm ready to go next week already, so, um. No,
we've we've got, um, a World Cup coming up in
November that we're definitely working towards. But I think after these,
these two games against Pakistan, I think, um, the whole

(14:48):
team is ready to dive deep into another series or
whatever else is coming up next.

S1 (14:54):
Where's the World Cup held?

S4 (14:55):
I believe it's held in India and possibly Nepal as well.

S1 (14:58):
Fantastic. Well, Nepal, particularly the men's cricket, is very well represented,
which is tremendous.

S4 (15:03):
Yes, yes. Um, the teams are definitely building, um, over time, rapidly.
And I'm really keen to see by November, like how
many teams and how many players are participating for sure.

S1 (15:15):
And with the Pakistan team, do you kind of get
a sense that they were appreciative of the fact of
what they were doing? And I guess also perhaps what
that might mean for young women coming up in the world,
in Pakistan who might be blind or have low vision,
both in cricket, but just life in general, that they're
kind of role model roles, if I can put it
that way.

S4 (15:33):
Oh, absolutely. You know, I found out that the majority
of the team, they were, you know, teenagers and the
oldest was 29, I believe. So they they were definitely
a very young and impressionable team. But I think that
we did a great job at hosting them. and making
them feel comfortable and, you know, introducing them into the
world of blind cricket, especially us being so new as well.

(15:56):
But we really wanted to make that connection with them and,
you know, show them what, you know, healthy, blind cricket
can look like and how amazing it can be to
come together as a community, just as blind cricket in general.
So I think that will definitely go back home and,
you know, continue what they're doing and develop as a
team and as individuals. Um, and then I think there

(16:18):
will be even stronger the next time that we see them.

S1 (16:21):
Courtney, what do you do away from cricket?

S4 (16:22):
Away from cricket? Uh, well, I currently work in childcare,
and basically all my free time is spent on training. Um, no,
but in my free time, like, I, I live with
my partner, who. And I take time apart, um, together
as well, to just spend time together. Because the last
couple of months have been very intense. Um, just full

(16:43):
of my studies and training. So, yeah, I kind of
take time with him as well.

S1 (16:47):
Terrific. Well, thank you for taking time with us.

S4 (16:50):
No worries. It's been amazing chatting with you.

S1 (16:52):
Well, congratulations to you on the team. We've enjoyed the
short but very productive times at the Australian Women's Blind
cricket team has done, particularly on the international stage. And
it's great to know that this is just the beginning.

S4 (17:04):
Oh, absolutely. No doubt for sure.

S1 (17:06):
That's Courtney Lewis. They're part of the series as far
as Australia went and their series against Pakistan. Sadly cut
short by rain but certainly sounds like a wonderful life
experience for both teams. Well booya. Booya is Minister for education,
Skills and Training here in South Australia and I'm really
pleased to welcome to the program Blair, if I may

(17:27):
call you that, to thank you for your time.

S5 (17:28):
You certainly may. And thanks for having me on.

S1 (17:30):
Now you've got some very exciting news, a recent announcement
regarding quite a bit of funding for schools and students
with disabilities.

S5 (17:36):
That's right. And I was really pleased to announce it recently, um,
at Trinity Gardens Primary School, which has got a very
well regarded special options unit there, the Saint Maurice unit,
and it seems to be perfectly blunt. There is a
lot of need out there in terms of whether it's
a special options class or a in a standalone disability unit.

(18:00):
We've got a fair bit of work, I think, still
to do here in South Australia, to make sure we
can not just offer high quality options to families who
might have a child with disability, but offer them one
that is close to their home and in. In light
of that, we announced a $14 million boost to our
ability to offer more places and that is across the

(18:21):
next four years. So $3.5 million of additional money coming
online each year for four years. And we think that
will be able to provide an additional sort of five
special options, for instance, classes or not places. So classes
each year across those four years, which may not seem

(18:42):
like a lot, but that would contribute to significant growth
and uplift on in terms of what we currently have
available in South Australia and the public education system. So
my message to families out there is certainly not that
we think we have solved the issue of place availability,
and we still have a long way to go, but
this $14 million of new money we are offering, I hope,

(19:05):
will be taken as a sign of our commitment to
doing better, to growing the number of special options, places
and classes and, um, you know, not just in metropolitan
parts of the state, but in regional parts of the
state that have often missed out so that we can
look more parents in the eye and say that we
will not just offer you a high quality place, but

(19:25):
it will be one that I hope you will not
have to drive a long way to get to.

S1 (19:29):
Well, in recent times, of course, we've had the Royal
Commission into disability. How much of a role did the
report and I guess some of the findings, some of
the stories indeed that came out of it, how much
of that play a role in an announcement like this?

S5 (19:41):
Yeah, it played a lot. It did play a lot. Um,
you know, they're pretty strong recommendations, to be honest. I mean,
it's a pretty powerful Royal Commission report. We didn't accept
all of the recommendations. There are recommendations in there about,
you know, completely ending segregation in special options or disability settings.
I think by 2050, which is a lot of lead time,
but it would mean a seismic change for the system

(20:02):
in terms of, you know, the removal of disability units
and things like that. And I think we've got a
bit more work to do before we could commit to
something like that. But there are a lot of the
recommendations that we did agree with and that we have accepted. And,
you know, in no small way it has contributed us
to us looking at issues like this and saying, listen,
we need to provide more places and we need to

(20:23):
provide places, particularly in regional parts of the state, that have,
up until this point, often just tried to get by
without having them. And I would point to Naracoorte and
Victor Harbour as two areas where in the last 12 months,
in response to actual direct questions from members of the
public that were asked of me at country cabinet forums
where they asked why there isn't a disability places or

(20:45):
special options places available at their local public school. We
responded by making sure we did exactly that. There's a
lot more cases where we need to do likewise, but
certainly I think, uh, the Royal Commission report has provided
some really strong motivation and has really pushed us in
a positive way to do better.

S1 (21:04):
You talked about the announcement being made at the Trinity
Gardens School. Uh, there's something like four times, uh, increase
or four fold increase over the last five years of
students with disabilities at that particular school.

S5 (21:15):
Yeah, it's a very good example, isn't it, of, of
of the pressure that the system is under in terms
of the demand for places, and particularly I think probably
for the Saint Maurice unit, it has an excellent reputation.
I've met the staff and talked to them, and I
often say that our special educators are, uh, some very,
very impressive people who do hard work, but they are

(21:36):
so critical to the lives, not just of those young
people that they educate and care for, but for their
families who rely on them as well. Um, so that
is the next example of, you know, the growth we've
seen in just that one unit there in a suburban
public school, albeit a big one. And it shows, I think,
the pressure that the system is under. And I know
that as a when I was just a member of

(21:57):
Parliament who didn't have a portfolio. Uh, one of the
things that I was written to about the most by
members of the public was by the parents of young
people with a disability who were being put through a very, um,
drawn out and protracted process to find out what placement
their child might have for the next year. And although

(22:17):
I think ultimately we we do do a pretty good
job of finding an appropriate place. It's a long and
drawn out process that I think is, uh, puts more
pressure and emotional stress on the family than we need to.
And part of my commitment as part of this $14
million increase in funding is to also try to do
better in terms of reducing wait times so families don't

(22:41):
have to go through that really tough intervening period where
they're wondering whether or not their child will have a
place in a disability class or unit next year. And then,
you know, waiting to find out exactly where that unit
or that place will be.

S1 (22:56):
That fourfold increase is that partly due to early earlier
diagnosis or mainly also due to, uh, sort of an
approach for more mainstreaming of kids?

S5 (23:05):
That's a very good question. Uh, I reckon it's probably
a bit of both, to be honest. You know, I
think part of the reason that we've seen that growth
is certainly, I think, through earlier diagnosis, and that's maybe
a good thing, because I think part of making sure
that we can give young people with disability the education
they they deserve are entitled to is making sure you

(23:26):
get that diagnosis early so you can put the supports
in place. But I think, you know, there is a
push out there to to as best as we can
accommodate it as an education system, have young people with
disability in Mainstream settings. Although that's not always the feedback
that I get from families. So quite often I get
the opposite feedback. And I drew on that quite strongly

(23:48):
in how we responded to the Royal Commission recommendations around
ending segregation. You know, I don't have lived experience in
this in this case, but I've spent a lot of
time out visiting schools, and whenever I visit schools, I
always make sure that I go and have a chat
to the special educators or see the disability unit and
talk to them and hear about how they're going, but
also really importantly, try to speak to the parents. And

(24:09):
there are certainly those who are seeking to have that
kind of option available to them, um, as well. But
I think the other factor too, though, in terms of, uh,
Trinity Gardens and the Saint Maurice Unit specifically, is it
is undoubtedly a very, very highly regarded unit that people
seek to access. The other one that I know from
my own part of the world where I live is

(24:30):
the Discovery Centre at Golden Grove High School, um, where
parents are making a real effort to try to get
their child in because they've heard such great things about it,
which is a credit to both those schools.

S1 (24:39):
Well, it's like any other school setting, isn't it? If
people hear good things about it, they all want to
go there. That's exactly the same. Yeah. You touched on the, uh,
the Naracoorte and Victor Harbor. I mean, that is so
important as well because, you know, our country cousins have
got plenty to deal with. Full stop. But then when
you've got a child with a disability, you kind of
want to have them close at the same time as
getting a good education goes.

S5 (25:00):
Exactly. And all these things are harder in the country.
And I say that as someone who went to a
primary school with 38 kids and grew up in a
country town with a couple of hundred people on a farm, okay.
You know, it's, um, you know, you are very isolated.
A lot of the things that people take for granted
in the city just aren't available to you. And I
think there's been a real societal shift, and it's a
positive one. Whereas in the past, people have just sort

(25:20):
of copped it on the chin and said, ah, that's
part and parcel of living in the country. I think
with things like childcare and access to disability places, just
as as two examples, I think people are standing up
and saying, actually it's not good enough, and putting it
on government and putting it on ministers like me to
do better. And I can hand on heart point to
both those examples of recently announced special options places at

(25:41):
Naracoorte and at Victor Harbor as having come about by
members of the, in some cases, staff of our schools
and parents of young people with disability standing up at
a forum of 5 or 600 people and asking a
question of the government about why this was the case
and and whether or not we were going to fix it.
And Martin Westphal, the chief executive of the department, I

(26:02):
went away and said, we just have to find a
way of doing better here. And in those two cases
we have, but it does really stretch us. And I
would have to say, if I, you know, it was
to talk to people about, you know, why that extra
Gonski money that we talk about, that extra billion dollars
that South Australia will get as a result of the
agreement between the Albanese government and the Malinauskas government over

(26:23):
the next ten years. Why it's so important is it
goes towards things like this that money can flow into classrooms,
can flow to schools, you know, in regional parts of
the state to make sure that we can offer more
places and things like this. That's the best use of
that money. And that's why, you know, sometimes actually money
does matter. And money actually is the difference between being

(26:44):
able to offer high class education for people no matter
where they live or what their background is.

S1 (26:49):
So $14 million over the next four years. There's a
state budget, I think, coming up in June. Is this
kind of an early announcement or will there be more
in the state budget in June? You probably can't tell
with that bit, but.

S5 (26:59):
Well, I can tell you a bit about this. This
has been funded by the Education Department. So we have
done this internally. We have found this money ourselves. So
we have prioritized it and said we we need to
do it. So it's not so much new money from
the budget. Although, you know that will come online as
the Gonski money over the next ten years ramps up
and up and up towards that extra billion. We will
have more of that in in the bank accounts of

(27:21):
our schools so that they can, you know, use it
to employ staff or provide special options places. But in
this case, it's about education Department of South Australia finding
the money locally to make sure we could do it.

S1 (27:32):
Because you touched on the earlier diagnosis In the early intervention,
that is the catchcry that is so important for kids
with disability. So I guess that the kind of, uh,
other spectrum of your portfolio that also feeds into the
training and skills that after they leave school, if they've
had a good start to education, they can go on to, um,
something more substantial in terms of education than preparing themselves

(27:53):
for the workforce.

S5 (27:54):
No. Exactly. Exactly. Right. I feel very lucky to have
not just the education portfolios, but the skills and training,
including TAFE. So, you know, it gives us a good opportunity,
I think, to have sort of line of sight across
everything up from childcare through to preschool, primary, secondary and,
and whether you go and do TAFE or another training
provider and making sure that we link it all up
so that young people, including those who might, you know,

(28:15):
be living with disability, come out of our schools and
our training systems with the skills they need to get
the jobs that are there and available now. And that's
the work that I'm kind of focused on. I think
with unemployment and things as low as they are in
South Australia, we've got a real skills crisis nationally. The
upside of that is it's a good time for young
people to be looking for work. You know, it's tough

(28:36):
for employers. It's tough for the economy. I find it
really hard as a minister because we've got shortages all
over the place. But I always say to young people,
and this, of course, equally applies to young people with
a disability who want to move into work, that it
is a good time because employers are bending over backwards
to try and get your services.

S1 (28:52):
You know, we've had Nat Cook on the programme a
few times over the years and indeed before that with
Michelle Lenarcic. I mean, it's also about the employment situation.
It's also on the government's own list, if you like
to employ more people with disabilities as well, because if
they're skilled and up to the ability to be able
to do a job, then the government kind of set
the set the tone as well.

S5 (29:12):
That's exactly right. We can't be out there telling people,
you know, do as we say, not as we do.
We need to be leading the way. And I absolutely
believe in that 100%.

S6 (29:19):
I know we're running out of time or no, you're not.
Haven't got a lot of time.

S1 (29:23):
Just one quick one with the situation regarding, uh, mobile
phones in classes, etcetera. Uh, I guess it's a bit
early for hardcore evidence, but anecdotal evidence, just in terms of,
I guess, mental and physical health of the kids. This
band having been in for a while.

S5 (29:37):
Yeah. I mean, I think heaps of upsides, uh, and
not just the ones that are probably, you know, pretty
obvious on the face of it, around less distraction in class.
But for me, the big surprise packet here has been
the feedback that I've received from teachers and principals about
the demands that have been put on them by students
to have more activities put on at recess and lunchtime.
That's really overwhelmed us. And one principal, it was actually

(29:59):
at Golden Grove, said to me, he's taught a long time.
He said, Blair, the schoolyard reminds me of how it
looked in the 1990s when he started teaching, and that's
when I went to high school, and that's a great thing.
I think we had kind of been this slow decline
that we hadn't really noticed of kids stopping doing things
like kicking the footy, talking to mates, whatever it might be,
and instead sitting next to each other on their phones.

(30:20):
And we've seen a real reverse of that, which is great.
And when you couple it with the work that the boss,
Peter Malinauskas has done with, with, um, the federal government
around trying to ban social media, I think we can
see some really positive things where we get kids out,
just doing more of the old fashioned kind of physical
exercise and socialization stuff that we used to do, because

(30:40):
that's all there was to do.

S1 (30:41):
Well, thanks so much for spending some time. It's really
appreciate it.

S5 (30:43):
Thanks.

S1 (30:44):
Thank you. That's Blair Boyd, the Minister for education, Skills
and Training. With that good news regarding a 14 extra
million dollars over the next four years for students with disabilities.
On 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide on VA radio, digital
and through the TuneIn radio app. This is Poker Point.
Thanks for joining us today. I'm really delighted to work

(31:08):
with program Jeremy O'Neill who's the CEO for Physical Disability Australia. Jeremy,
great to meet you. Thanks for your time.

S7 (31:14):
Hi, Peter, great to meet you. And I'm very happy
to be here.

S6 (31:17):
Now.

S1 (31:17):
With some news regarding airlines. More planes, more flights, cheaper flights.
This all seems good news.

S7 (31:23):
On the surface. That sounds like great news, particularly for
most Australians. I would say that they would think this
is wonderful news.

S1 (31:29):
But from your point of view, a few things that
need to be pointed out.

S7 (31:33):
Yeah. Look, I think any arrangement where, you know, you've
got a domestic airline partnering up with an international airline,
what does that actually look like for travelers with disabilities
when they travel on those airlines? And are they going
to be treated without any discrimination when they do that travel,

(31:54):
which is what the concern we have with the, uh,
the Virgin Australia and the Qatar Alliance that's been announced
in March.

S1 (32:02):
It's a great point, and I must have not really
thought of it until I read your, uh, release. Uh,
I mean, obviously in Australia there's the Disability Discrimination Act.
I mean, they take on board what you were with that.
But how does that kind of apply when sort of
an international player is on the scene?

S8 (32:17):
Well, and.

S7 (32:18):
That's the question, isn't it, Peter? Sure. We have the
DDA and we have the transport standards, and we have
the aviation white paper, which all of those when you
put together, you would hope and you would think that
they provide better standards and less opportunity for discrimination against
travellers with disabilities. But does that actually translate to international airlines? Well,

(32:42):
and the answer is yes. No and maybe but the
reality those airlines, um, usually are governed by their own
country and their own laws and their own standards. And
every international airline that I've ever travelled on always has
a different way or a different process. Some have some
policies and procedures in place around how they, um, cater

(33:04):
for travellers with disabilities, but they're very inconsistent and you're
never quite sure what's going to happen to you and
to your mobility equipment when you do travel on an
international airline.

S1 (33:16):
And with all due deference to our lawyer friends, Jeremy, uh,
you know, you get to ten lawyers in a room
and they'll come up with 11 different answers.

S7 (33:24):
At least it's clear, right? It's right. And and that's where,
you know, when you're a traveler without a disability, you
pretty well know the process, you know. And barring any
natural disaster or computer, you know, breakdowns or or outages,
usually you know the process and you know, you're given
all the guidelines when to get to the airport and

(33:44):
what you've got to do and how you check in
and what you can travel with and and so on
and so forth. But when you're a person with disability,
you can still follow all those, those normal or the
norms around travel. But there's this all this added layer
of what's going to happen when I get to the airport.
How am I going to be received? Do people know

(34:04):
I'm coming? Are staff going to be aware of what
my mobility needs are? What's going to happen to my equipment?
Am I going to be experiencing any discrimination getting onto
the plane or prior to getting on the plane, getting
onto the plane? Once I'm on the plane, getting off
the plane, all those things occur and all those feelings

(34:24):
and thoughts and fears occur because the reality is that's
when people with disabilities, particularly those with my my ability devices,
struggle with. I'm not sure what the process is going
to be and whether I'm going to be treated fairly
and humanely sometimes.

S1 (34:41):
Because that's the sort of thing where, you know, that
heightened anxiety leads to other issues as well. I mean, maybe, uh,
perhaps being able to communicate your point as well, or
perhaps people not being able to understand your point as well,
if it's kind of a bit of a stressful, anxious situation.

S8 (34:56):
Exactly.

S7 (34:56):
And, you know, if I'm someone that supposedly is articulate
and intelligent and when I travel, I still have trouble
getting my message across about what I need in relation
to getting on and off airplanes. If I'm someone that's
not that confident, if I someone.

S1 (35:12):
Has.

S7 (35:13):
A barrier, then that becomes more problematic around how do
I communicate what my needs are and how do I
ensure that I'm safe and treated humanely and not just
like a piece of luggage, which commonly happens, you become
luggage when people are talking about you on how you
get on and off an airplane.

S1 (35:34):
Now you've had a recent instance, not you. Personally, I
don't think. But you know, of a recent incidents that
someone has had. Not such a good experience. Yeah.

S7 (35:42):
It happened to, um, a young 12 year old boy
who lived with cerebral palsy in, uh, Victoria. Him and
his family were travelling from Melbourne, uh, to the Middle East. Um,
they had flights booked on Qatar and another airline from
Qatar to another part of the the region, and had
numerous communications with that airline about a booster seat device

(36:06):
or a seat that that for that young, uh, young
man helped him sit comfortably. The airline couldn't give any
reasonable answers and then in the end just said, no,
you can't travel. That's we we can't accommodate your needs
and the time frames attached. That was like that was
the day before they travelled. So despite all this communication

(36:26):
back and forth, um, and Qatar Airlines gave no, uh,
reasonable alternative or response, just said, oh no, no, no,
we can't do that or no, no, no, that's not suitable.
You know, in the family, not only were the stress
and the anxiety and the worry about the fact that
they were going home for, you know, for family reasons,
you know, eventually they had to book with another airline

(36:46):
that came up with a solution and agreed to their
solution and said that was the best solution they could find.
And it worked really, really well. But Qatar were not
willing to come to the party. And the the not only,
you know, like I said, there was the discrimination, the
the loss of money and funds, the anxiety and the
stress attached to that. You know, that the family never

(37:06):
really got home. And I think it was for, you know,
a grandparents birthday or celebration. And they had to book
another airline and one more out of pocket.

S1 (37:15):
And the thing with that, that would really annoy me, Jeremy,
is like, if I can do it, why can't be,
you know, like if there is a solution, why this
has to be so hard or why can't the airline
that wouldn't do it. See the you know, the airline
that could do its point of view.

S7 (37:29):
And you're exactly right, Peter. This is where you get
when an inconsistency and it gets down to the the
willingness of airlines wanting to provide reasonable and adequate and
appropriate support for travelers with disabilities. Um, you know, if
you put a cost on that for the airline, you know,
they're missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars. That's

(37:51):
not just from that family. That can be from other
people who go, well, why would I travel with Qatar
Airlines if they're not willing to support me, you know,
or provide a solution or just go, yeah, that's fine.
We can do that. And and sometimes it does come
to that willingness of, uh, of approach.

S1 (38:07):
Yeah. Word of mouth can work positively or negatively, as
you point out.

S7 (38:11):
Yeah, exactly.

S1 (38:12):
I can't I mentioned earlier that more airlines, uh, more
planes again, should be good news, but not necessarily so again.

S8 (38:19):
Yeah. Again.

S7 (38:20):
And it comes back to say, you know, Qantas and
Jetstar have announced that they're getting new airplanes from Airbus. Um,
over the next, you know, 3 to 5 years. And again,
you wonder, so is there any inclination or design to
have these aircrafts where people can, you know, stay in
their chairs for those flights, particularly if they're used on

(38:43):
short haul flights, you know, in country, then why isn't
that being looked at more strongly? And why isn't that
being considered? And why aren't plane manufacturers designing cabins? You know,
they can put a tube in the air that can fly,
they can engineer marvelous airplanes. And and you can't tell

(39:06):
me that the airline manufacturers can't, um, come up with
a design. And there are designs out there that have
been created by non airline companies, um, where people can
stay in their wheelchairs whilst on the plane. Surely if
every other transport system in the world has done it
and can do it. Surely it can be done on

(39:28):
an airplane. If you can have a military plane that
can strap a tank down. Surely it's not too difficult
to strap a wheelchair down on a commercial airline and
come up with a cabin design that could do so.
And you know, if if companies are buying buses for
council buses, for example, and a lot of buses come

(39:49):
out of, um, Europe and out of Germany, I believe. And, um,
you know, I might not be 100% correct, but they're
all low floor buses. They all have to be low
floor buses. And all those buses come with accessibility, uh,
fit out. Okay. And and, you know, you can customize
that a little bit to yourself, but that's what you're
purchasing and that's what you're buying. So why aren't airline

(40:10):
companies doing the same. Why are they saying to those
that purchase the airlines that purchase them. These are our
cabins design. These are the cabin design with accessibility wheelchair accessibility.
and that's what you have to buy. It just makes
no sense to me that that doesn't happen in 2025.

S1 (40:26):
Well, that's a bit like, you know, buildings now. I mean,
the building standards, for example, if you're building a new hotel,
it's got to be a bit different than it might
have been 50 years ago.

S8 (40:35):
Yeah. And and, you know.

S7 (40:37):
I think if you talk about those hotels that have
done that and are putting accessibility rooms or rooms with
accessibility features, they get the custom, they're not missing out
on any custom because of it. They're not missing out
on dollars because, you know, the monetary value in the
disability market, if we want to call it that, is huge.
There's lots of people out there and lots of people

(40:58):
out there with disabilities, all types of disabilities who have
friends and families and partners and children and so on
and so forth who want to travel, who want to
stay in hotels. Um, their money's as good as anybody else's. So.
So why wouldn't you cater for that market?

S1 (41:14):
Well, that's the point, isn't it? It's not just the
person that might be travelling, but their family. And as
you touched on, you know the word of mouth. If
you're telling other people you've got other friends with disabilities
that might be thinking about traveling. They're going to benefit
in the long term as well. If, uh, if good,
if good things are being done in that space.

S7 (41:30):
And you'll know yourself if you go somewhere and you
have a really good, accessible experience, you tell everybody and
you highlight it and you know, everyone knows. So because
we want to know that information, don't we? We want
to know where it's accessible. Where are you treated really
well and and where were your needs. Just sure that's
not a problem. We can do that. Oh, sure. Not

(41:52):
a problem at all. That's what you want to do,
don't you? That's what you want to experience. Because. Because
when you're when you're traveling or you're going on holiday,
you almost want a break from, from your disability.

S6 (42:05):
So great point.

S8 (42:06):
Yeah, yeah.

S7 (42:06):
If you can go somewhere where you know that it's
going to be a really easy, accessible experience, then you're
going to go there again, because what you don't want
to you don't want to go away somewhere for a
holiday or an experience and have that more difficult than
being at home.

S1 (42:23):
Well, you know, with that extra layer of stress, when
you're when the reason you're going away to get away
from the stress.

S7 (42:29):
Exactly, exactly. Right. Peter.

S1 (42:31):
Jeremy, I know you're mainly talking about people with physical disabilities,
but I guess in a sense it kind of also translates,
if you like, to people with dog guides, etc. or
assistance animals as well.

S7 (42:41):
Exactly. And you know, we like you, said Peter. We
have laws in Australia that, uh, you know, prevent with
companies or, uh, from preventing people enter their premises or
use the premises if they've got a registered guide dog.
But we still know what happens, don't we? We still know. And,
you know, I'm sure you know, of people that have
been told the cab wouldn't take them because of their

(43:04):
guide dog. Mum wouldn't let them in because of their
guide dog. Even though we know that there's laws there
that prevent that from happening, we know it still occurs.
And that's about a lack of education, a lack of understanding.
And again, back to what I said before. It's a
lack of willingness.

S1 (43:19):
Yeah. And I mean people I well, I guess unless
you've got that lived experience and I often use the
line about, uh, people say, oh, the NDIS doesn't apply
to me. I say, well, everyone is potentially but a
heartbeat away from being a potential participant of the NDIS.
So I guess it's the same sort of thing with this.
I mean, you might be fine today, but you never
know what might be the case tomorrow and you might

(43:41):
want to be travelling, or you might be in need of, uh,
a little bit of, um, a bit of extra thought
going into accommodation or travel or whatever.

S7 (43:48):
And we see that with the ageing population, don't we? Yeah.
One day, one day they're, you know, they're just getting
on a plane at any time on, you know, at
any flight on any day and staying at any accommodation.
Then suddenly their needs change because they're aging and their,
their health is a little bit different or they're not
as active as they used to be and they start
looking for alternatives. And then that becomes a little bit

(44:09):
more difficult. And then it's like it's not as easy
as it used to be. And again, you're just, you know,
a heartbeat away from Perhaps living with some sort of
disability that has an impact on every aspect of your
life and whether whether you're a participant in the NDIS
or not, that doesn't mean that you still can't be
impacted in other aspects of your life in relation to

(44:31):
how you get from point A to point B, or
how you do things, how you you know, how you
get things done in your life and how much you
can do in your life gets, uh, gets impacted as well.

S1 (44:42):
Well said. Jeremy, people can find out more about the
great work you do. You've got a website, obviously.

S7 (44:46):
Yep. We do. Um, PDA, we're hopefully going to be
upgrading our website over the next couple of months, but
there's lots of information there about what we do as
an organisation, um, how people become a member. And, you know,
what we try to do is, is we try to
look at what, you know, there's lots of disability representative
organisations out there, out there that, um, cater for different

(45:10):
people living with different types of impacts due to their disability.
We try to focus on those living with a physical disability.
But that doesn't mean that the impact that on someone's
life with a physical disability doesn't mean those impacts. Impacts
aren't shared by other people living with different types of disabilities.

S1 (45:26):
Keep up your good work. Hopefully we can speak again
in the future.

S7 (45:29):
Great. Thanks, Peter. I really enjoyed it. Thank you very
much for having me.

S1 (45:32):
He's the CEO for the Physical Disability Australia. Check out
their website and we'll put those details of their website
up with our show notes.

S9 (45:41):
So if that sort of doesn't mean much they're hoping
that well, why not. The governments of the federal government
provide the service anyway in particular looking to go nuclear.
That's quite good. Sometimes it's almost like being next to
the radio station. Yeah, it's an interesting one.

S1 (45:59):
Well, hands up, who knows that boy. Look at all
the hands go up. As they say. It's Phil Vinepair,
co-founder and co-presenter for Folk Point. Feel good to catch
up with you again.

S9 (46:09):
Yes. It's good to catch up with you all. And
you can all put your hands down now.

S1 (46:13):
Grand final day. Sad day for some fool.

S9 (46:15):
Oh, if you can call it that. Uh, probably. Um,
there'll be, uh, misery for the losers and cheering the winners. But, uh,
it's a case of, um, nobody really knowing who's going
to who's going to win it. I mean, most people
are picking Albanese to win this thing, but, uh, there
was a time when I think, uh, and I think

(46:37):
it might have been, I know it was the last
election or the election before when everybody picked one, uh,
one or other of the party in opposition. And they
all thought that. No, the party that, um, is in
will probably get back in and didn't. So, you know,
we just don't know. It's going to be an interesting
one to see what happens.

S1 (46:57):
One of the things that I often say is that
as the date gets closer or as the sort of,
you know, the date gets closer, it, um, you know,
it gets seems to get closer and closer as far
as the result goes. It seems a couple of weeks out,
it looked like perhaps, uh, Albanese had more than his
nose in front, but then it tends to tighten up
as it gets closer to the time.

S9 (47:16):
Yeah. And you know, I sometimes wonder whether or not
that that's a good way to sort of like look
at it, because most people who go to the polling
booth and except for those who go to the polling
booth in which the sitting member is the prime minister
in this case, or the opposition, people will vote for
their candidates for the particular party. So they're not actually

(47:40):
they might sort of inadvertently vote for Tom Albanese or
for Peter Dutton, but they're voting for the candidate to, um,
to stand for Parliament. So that's going to be an
interesting way to see how those candidates come up, because
there's quite a few of them now. I mean, you've
got the trumpet a patriot, you've got the Greens, you've got, uh,

(48:01):
Pauline Hanson's party, you've got, uh, the eels. So we'll
just see where it all goes.

S1 (48:07):
I reckon that's a really good point, because I'm really
curious to see how the members who are in there
now as tills. How'd they go? Because in a sense,
because it's been a majority labor government for the three years,
they kind of hadn't haven't had to. Well, they haven't
had to do much. Their vote hasn't kind of mattered
much because the government hasn't needed their vote. So I'm

(48:29):
interested to see how the electorate reacts to what job
they've done or haven't done.

S9 (48:33):
Yeah. And the interesting thing is that, uh, when you
hear the, uh, the parties, both liberal and labor, both
say that, uh, they want to do it in their
own right. They're not going to do a deal with
any of the other parties or whatever. And come the
hung parliament, they've got no choice but to do a deal.

S1 (48:51):
Yeah, yeah. Yes. Well, what did I say? Politics makes
strange bedfellows. What have you thought of the campaign so far, Phil?
Doesn't seem to have been a lot about disability and
the NDIS.

S9 (49:01):
No, I'm a bit surprised at that. I would have
thought that something would have come about, because I know
that the NDIS is a big thing, and it's. It's
a new thing, particularly for people with disability and for
the the the wider population who supported the the NDIS
because they wanted the best for disability people. So I'm

(49:24):
just a little surprised that they've gone a little quiet
on it. So you really need to sort of like
watch your vote in that respect, because one never knows whether,
for example, Peter Dutton will end up cutting it back,
even though he has said that, uh, he would support it.
Or whether you vote for Albanese, who's gone and sort of, uh,

(49:47):
done some cutbacks, but at least he's kept the, um,
the main focus of the NDIS intact.

S1 (49:53):
And you're right, it is a big thing, particularly as
far as the budget goes or the amount of money
that is spent on it.

S9 (49:58):
Yes, there's quite a bit of money. I haven't heard
the latest, um, amounts that has been mentioned and how
much it's costing the, um, the government of late, but, uh,
I know it's costing a fair whack.

S1 (50:12):
And of course, the, uh, the debates I have tuned
into the three that have been on the free to
air channels. I can't say I've heard every single second
of every single one, but even during those, there hasn't
been much mention of either disability or the NDIS. And
I guess we've got to, in a sense, distinguish the two,
because not every person with a disability is is on
the NDIS.

S9 (50:32):
No, and that probably accounts for why. Perhaps it's not
as mentioned as much as it should have been, because
I know that there are a lot of people with
disability that have, um, and that's another thing we haven't,
I haven't I don't know about you, but I haven't
heard anyone who is either blind or vision impaired who
is actually standing for Parliament. So you know it. It's

(50:57):
going to be very interesting to see how that plays out.

S1 (51:00):
That's a good point. I scan through most of the candidates,
and I mean, there were some familiar names, as in
they've been in other elections. This is particularly for the
minor parties, but no one that stood out. Of course,
apart from Jordon Steele-john, the senator from Western Australia, who's
with the Greens. He's he's up again. But apart from him,
no one that kind of clearly identifies or has made

(51:21):
an issue of disability.

S9 (51:22):
No, that's that's an interesting situation. So we'll see where that, um,
where that goes. But I really think we just need
to sort of sit tight and see just what actually
happened because, uh, but at the same time, just keep
an eye on some of those independent stills and, um,
other party members or other parties, as I should say.

S1 (51:44):
Well, if it is close, there's a lot of people
tipping it to be, then preferences could really come into play.
And of course, as you say, depending on who wins,
how many seats, what sort of bargaining goes on afterwards,
and indeed, what sort of, uh, demands are made by
those that might help form the, uh, the government or
help the government be formed by giving them their support?

S9 (52:05):
Certainly they need to, um, to, sort of, um, uh,
look at that. One other thing that I will say
is for particularly for blind and vision impaired people, is
to get on the blower and do your telephone voting,
because that's going to be, uh, one way of making
sure that at least, uh, you've got some chance of
your candidate getting up there. Um, so if you've got

(52:29):
an opportunity to give that phone number a call, um, Peter,
I think you've got it there and register for telephone
voting and vote and vote for the the candidate. You
think that's going to do the job for you?

S1 (52:42):
Yeah. 1800 913 993 1800 913 993. So you ring once the register and
then you give them your pin. And then they either
email you, call you or text you your registration number.
So when you ring back a second time on that
same number, you hit option two to vote. Uh, you

(53:02):
give them the two numbers and don't identify yourself because
that has already been done, and I've read on a
couple of email lists, people a little bit disappointed with
the way it's been handled, which I take on board. And,
you know, I'm not. I had a good experience, so
I got to put that out there, but I guess
I'd say don't let the perfect get in the way
of the good. I mean, this system isn't perfect, but

(53:23):
it's better than nothing. And if it isn't supported, then
you know, who knows what might happen in the future.

S9 (53:28):
Yeah, that's that's true. That's going to that's going to
be the biggest problem. All of the experiences that I've
had have been pretty good. It's been very easy to do.
And I mean, you've got someone there that they'll take
the time and, and, and I guess with you, uh,
you've done it. Um, if there are the members or the, the,

(53:50):
at the boat, uh, accounts or whatever, they'll keep reading
them out until you've actually voted for the candidates of
your choice in your preferences.

S1 (53:59):
That's a great point, Phil. I actually did a bit
of preparation, so I was I was well, ready when
I rang through, but they kind of said, look, if
you want me to repeat anything, and they repeated that
more than once, I'm happy to go through it. So
they're not going to rush you or hurry you. So
I think that's a really important point, that they're going
to try and be as supportive as they can be
with without obviously, you know, telling you how to vote

(54:20):
or who to vote for. But that's a really great
point if you can do a little bit of preparation beforehand.
So in the House of reps you vote for or
you put a number next to every candidate depending on
how many there are. And then in the House and
the Senate, there are at least six above the line
and at least 12 below the line. So it takes

(54:40):
a little bit of work to work it all out,
but hopefully you're able to do that and and make
your vote count.

S9 (54:46):
And if you can do that, you know that's going
to be that's going to be a really good. Uh,
I also know that, uh, there are going to be where, uh,
if telephone voting is not available to you, there will
be assistance at the polling booth for, um, uh, blind
and vision impaired to cast their votes if they want
to do it that way. But preferably I'd like to

(55:07):
think that they'd all do it, um, using the telephone.

S1 (55:10):
Yeah. And actually, it's a good point. You've got until
midday on Saturday to register and of course, until 6:00
to vote. But if you don't register by 12, then
you might not get that second number. So up until
12:00 on Saturday afternoon, uh, Eastern Standard Time, 1800 913 993. Phil,

(55:30):
we're getting towards the end of the interview. So you
know what I'm going to ask you? I'm going to
ask you for your prediction. So, um, what's your prediction?

S9 (55:39):
Um, it's a hung parliament.

S1 (55:42):
And and who might be, um, shall we say, feeling
a bit better about things at the end of the
night or who might be feeling a bit better than
the other? Which way do you think it'll go?

S9 (55:51):
Well, you know, everybody went for, um, I think, um,
who was it? Um, I think it was Bill shorten
at the time, who was leader at the time. And
then Scott Morrison got in.

S1 (56:03):
Yeah.

S9 (56:04):
So this could be the same situation. We could all
be saying how Anthony Albanese will sort of just scrape in,
but that might just make it. So that's, that's, uh,
something that could happen. So if you really want my opinion,
I think Albanese will win it.

S1 (56:23):
Yeah. I think Scott Morrison's first words were I believe
in miracles or something. Wasn't it?

S9 (56:28):
Something like that? Yes.

S1 (56:31):
All right. Well, I'm also going to I'm actually going
to be a bit out there. Uh, I'm going to
say that I think labor will actually have a will,
not a clear majority, but a majority. So, uh, I'm
probably wrong. So that's probably the kiss of death on them.
But we'll see how it goes. And I guess, you know,
depending on what happens Saturday night anyway, there's going to
be a lot to talk about afterwards in terms of, um,

(56:52):
deals that might be done. And also what happens to
the respective leaders, uh, if they don't win?

S9 (56:57):
Yeah, that's going to be to, to to see what
actually happened. And it's going to be interesting to see
if Albanese does get back in. Uh, what sort of
cabinet he'll he'll form because he'll lose a couple of
members out of that.

S1 (57:11):
Yeah. Well, a couple of retired or have announced their retirements,
so it'll need to be made. And I'm sticking with
my original prediction back New Year's Day. Just, uh, by
the way, that I think probably the second half of
the year, uh, Mr. Albanese will get married to the
lovely Jodi. And before the next election, I think he'll retire.

S9 (57:28):
Yeah, I think it might be right there, but he'll. Yeah,
we'll see where that goes. Anyway.

S1 (57:33):
That's what.

S9 (57:34):
They say.

S1 (57:35):
Here's one quick one. If they win, if it's a
clear majority and they win, what if he proposes to
Jodi on the night part of the victory speech?

S9 (57:43):
Yeah.

S1 (57:44):
Yeah.

S9 (57:44):
Probably will. Probably will. Ah, yeah. Well, you never know.
You never know what. What the. What's the thing they say? Uh,
what is it? Vote early. Vote often.

S1 (57:54):
Well, vote at least once anyway.

S9 (57:58):
Yeah.

S1 (58:00):
Catch up next month.

S9 (58:00):
Feel certainly will be there.

S1 (58:03):
Co-Founder and co-presenter for. Our audio described show of the
week Sunday evenings at the movies coming up this Sunday evening.
620 SBS World Movie Channel. The Personal History of David Copperfield.
This re-imagines Charles Dickens story of David Copperfield with humor

(58:25):
and storytelling. So it's the Personal History of David Copperfield
coming up this Sunday evening. 620 SBS Movie Channel. Rated
PG with audio description. Couple of birthdays before we go.
Brothers having a birthday on the same day but not twins.
That's 101, isn't it? So happy birthday to Steven and

(58:48):
Bill jolly, both involved with advocacy and radio and many
other organizations for many, many years. Outstanding blind cricketers in
their own right. Just ask them. So happy birthday to
Bill and Stephen Jolly. And before we go, very fond
and happy future to Larissa Bass, who about, oh, about
three hours ago left Humanware for the last time. So, Larissa,

(59:11):
thank you for all you've done, both on air and
off air. I know all your clients love you at Humanware.
You'll be sorely missed, but thank you for all you've done.
We wish you well as you move to sunnier climes.
So thanks so much for your help. Pam Green, thanks
so much for yours. Reminding you that Focal Point is
available on your favorite podcast platform. If you like the program,

(59:33):
please tell a friend. Always room for one more listener.
Be kind to yourselves. Be thoughtful and look out for others.
All being well. Focal point back at the same time.
Next week on Vision Australia Radio and the Reading Radio Network.
This is focal point.