05 Jul 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:25):
It's just gone 5:00 and with Congress passing the one big,
beautiful bill. I welcome you to the one big, beautiful
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(00:46):
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(01:09):
Peter Greco saying wonderful to be here. Thank you so
much for making time to tune in. This program coming
to you from Garner Land. Very shortly we'll speak to
Sally Duncan, manager of the Pearl's, our mighty basketball team.
How do they go? They're just back from overseas. We'll
also catch up with Deb from Blinds Australia wrapping up

(01:30):
their 50th anniversary convention. Tegan Henderson will join us. A walk,
steps to the Sky. Coming up, helping a young people
with dementia and also Sanfilippo condition. David Mitchell will talk
to us about the ice breakers going into the sea
on cold mornings. Can that actually be good for you?

(01:50):
Would you rather stay in bed? We'll catch up with
Belinda Hillier from Brood by Belinda The Brew. That is true.
Talk about reading tea leaves. Mhm. Look forward to hearing
about that. We'll speak to Hilaria Paul talking about the
digital divide particularly in rural areas. For medical practitioners and
patients it could lead to better outcomes if it's done better,

(02:12):
we'll find out about that. We'll also be joined by
Tom Worsnop from an organisation called Guardian Living. Talk about
specialist disability accommodation. You or someone you know. Someone you love,
someone you care for may benefit from this. Well, our

(02:33):
body post home an Australian women's basketball team. Let's find
out how they went and chat to their manager, Sally Duncan. Sally,
welcome home and thank you for speaking to us.

S2 (02:43):
Thanks, Peter. Thanks for having me on again and, um,
sharing our great news.

S1 (02:48):
Well, how did we go? Uh, I've got a bit
of an idea that we did particularly well. So tell
us all about it.

S2 (02:53):
Well, I'll jump to the very end first. Um, we
came home with two gold medals and one silver medal. So, um,
all of the players who are in the pearls teams, um,
came home with the big rewards, I suppose. Yeah. And, um,
coupled with that, we had no injuries to speak of,
so that was pretty good. Um, yeah, it was an

(03:15):
amazing experience.

S1 (03:17):
It was about, uh, they went to Kazakhstan.

S2 (03:19):
Yes. Um, we went to Astana, which is the capital
of Kazakhstan, a fascinating city. It's, um, one of it's
the youngest capital city in the world. So it's only
been going for a while. Um, 20 years or so. And, um,
the city was amazing. Some of the structures the girls
got to see being in a muslim country, also the

(03:41):
mosques and things like that were, were absolutely fascinating. Yeah.
So and the local organising committee did an amazing job
and they, they had us, you know, free transport for
us to travel around the city so that we could
get to see all these places, which was really great.
So from a cultural perspective, being in such a foreign country, um,
was an amazing experience for the girls and for the

(04:03):
staff as well. But on the court, we competed in
the first ever v the IBF World Championships, so vibes
stands for International Basketball Federation. It's a newly formed arm
of Vertis focused solely on basketball. And it's been, um,
it was instigated to assist us with our bid for

(04:23):
the Paralympics. So that goes in next year. And they
just ran an amazing competition. Everything was catered for, the
communication was terrific. The transport was great, accommodation, food, everything
they did was to showcase how good basketball can be. And,
you know, it was it was a terrific tournament. I

(04:45):
could tell I'll tell you a bit about the games. Yeah, yeah.
So Australia entered to three on three teams, two teams
of five players. And then after the three on three
competition had been played, we entered into the world five
on five championships. So we had one team of 11
girls playing in that. And as I mentioned at the start,

(05:06):
we won gold in the in the five on five
and in the three on three competition. We came head
to head in the grand final. So we won the
gold and silver medals in that. So yeah, it really was.
We played on a three on three court was played
underneath a freeway. Can you imagine? It was just like
real three on three basketball with all the hype and

(05:28):
the music and the the pop up grandstand and the
synthetic surface and, um, yeah, that was really amazing. So
that was a great experience for us. And we had Poland, Spain,
France and Japan all competing as well. So we had
six teams in the three on three competition. So that
made for a very busy couple of days, playing 2

(05:50):
or 3 games a day each team. So yeah, the
girls really worked hard there. Both teams went through the
rounds undefeated, except for when we came head to head
in our round matches and our green team won that
one and then repeated the same thing in the finals,
but both teams worked hard in the fight to get
into the very final game, um, which was great. In

(06:11):
the five on five, we had one team, and Spain
were the only other team that that had sufficient players
to compete. So we had a three series against Spain
and we won all of the games in that as well.
But the Spanish team were very grateful that, um, you know,
we turned up to play as well because it helps
the development of the program in their, in their country. Um,

(06:35):
and they were talking about coming out to Australia to
see and learn a little bit more about our program
and how it works. So just building those relationships around
the world has been great. As you know, last year
we went to New Zealand and helped them out a
bit with some training programs. So we're doing as much
as we can to keep or to expand the the
women's basketball around the world with other nations. So yeah,

(06:57):
it was a pretty exciting time.

S1 (06:59):
You talked about the kind of atmosphere at the three
on three. What about the the locals if you like. that.
Did they get involved? You talked about the organizing committee
really being wholeheartedly as far as embracing the whole thing goes.
Did you get some local support?

S2 (07:12):
We did, we did. We had um, oh, look, sort
of fascinating experiences. We when we were training the the
very first day we were there, we were at, um,
I don't know, it was sort of like an outside
park with an outdoor court. And these men came up
and were taking photos. So I interrupted and sort of said,
you know, maybe not appropriate. And they explained their story.

(07:32):
He was the dad of a boxing coach who was
living in Los Angeles, and he didn't speak any English,
but he did it all through a translator. And, um,
he just wanted to get a photo of the girls
to send to his son to say, look, look at
the team I'm supporting. So that was great. And we
met people from all around the world. Um, obviously part
of the basketball community, people that we've met year after

(07:54):
year when we go to these events, but also that, um,
they had a band of young, um students who were
there as interpreters for us and they were unbelievably helpful.
They were there like for so many hours every day,
just making sure that, you know, the bus was going
to the right place and we had everything that we
needed and they were terrific. Really terrific.

S1 (08:15):
I spoke to Robin Smith and I felt on my
sheepish asking the question, I said, well, you know, we
just spoke to Adriana Petrarca, who had been to Kazakhstan
for tennis, and you guys were leaving for basketball. I said,
Why Catholics? They're like, you know, I'm feeling bad asking,
but why? And and Robin was explaining that someone came
out here, or Robin hooked up with someone from Kazakhstan

(08:39):
and kind of, uh, they were imbued by the enthusiasm
of the idea of putting something like this on, and
it kind of just grew from that. So that's tremendous,
isn't it, that, you know, one person or a group
of people can make such a difference to their country
and athletes in their country?

S2 (08:54):
It is. And you read the local information that they
provide when you go to countries and they've on they're very,
very proud of the fact that they're not only inclusiveness
with sport, but also expanding the types of events. So
they're really pitching that they're a great sporting venue or
event management organisation. And as I said, they did an

(09:16):
amazing job. It's one of the best events I've ever
been to in 27 years. So, um, yeah.

S1 (09:22):
I believe I believe that the Basketball Australia were very
supportive as well, in a sense remotely or from a distance.

S2 (09:28):
Absolutely. We've we've had great support this time. Um, which is,
which is another step forward for the program and for,
I think, the knowledge of people, um, within the organisations like,
you know, we're a volunteer led program, if you like. Um,
all our staff are volunteers and sometimes you can you're
not necessarily in the spotlight, but, um, we had some,

(09:51):
some wonderful support from Basketball Australia. And as I mentioned, um,
before we came on, Peter, the the mechanisms that swing
into place, particularly with communication and the promotion of what
we were doing. We had so many other, uh, Facebook
and Instagram places or people who picked up on our
story and, and spread it out across the world, which

(10:13):
was great. So we were getting wonderful messages. We had
a lovely, lovely message from Lauren Jackson prior to our finals. Oh, fantastic. Um, yeah.
She popped on and said some great words to the girls.
We had, um, lots of emails and other messages that
came through that we shared with the girls. Um, on
the daily basis, you know, just to make sure that

(10:34):
they knew that even though we were far from home,
we were uppermost in so many people's thoughts. Um, yeah.
And it was always very encouraging to be able to
do that. Yeah.

S1 (10:43):
Well, it's the basketball community, isn't it? I mean, basketball
is the sport. Uh, you know, maybe there's a few
differences in who plays and how you play. But, you know,
the sport at the center of it is basketball.

S2 (10:54):
That's right. Yeah. And you hear so many people and,
you know, everyone has a similar story. You know what
basketball brings to their life and the people that they've
met and the friendships that they've had forever, you know,
playing basketball or administrating or whatever, whatever people are doing.

S1 (11:09):
So you talked about obviously Australia doing very, very well.
And obviously some countries are sort of trying to tap
into our IP and sort of, you know, what's your
secret sauce? How come you do so well? Kind of
what can we learn from you? Did you find that
was happening as well?

S2 (11:24):
Absolutely. It was amazing to see our teams walk in
at the opening ceremony. And the girls are fit and
they're strong. They looked fantastic. They know they've got good experience,
so they know how to conduct themselves. And you see
some of the other countries come in and and look
at us and go, oh, wow. And you sort of think, yeah,

(11:46):
you can this can be you as well. Um, if
you put in the if you put in the work
and you do do the, you know, there's a couple
of things that are part of the formula for success.
And even though obviously the girls and all the players
and and what they put in is paramount to our success,
they have to do all the training and the hard
work and be elite athletes with all of that that brings.

(12:09):
But it's part of our community here in Australia that
I think makes our program so, um, so successful. The
families that support the girls and their friends and, and
other people that are in their lives and, and what
they bring. And it's not just about fundraising. It's the
support to get to training every week or 2 or

(12:31):
3 times a week, uh, or to, you know, get
the new sports garments or whatever, whatever it is that
people are doing to support the programs, they it all
adds up. And I think I'd be safe to say
our program has been one of the most successful sporting programs.
I read a a little comment that somebody wrote on
one of the feeds that, um, Australia should be exceptionally

(12:54):
proud of the girls because our program's been the most
successful women's sporting program in the history of Australia. Now.

S1 (13:02):
Oh, wow.

S2 (13:03):
I just I think I nearly cried when I read that.
And I said, well, look, I can't think of any
anyone else we've won. You know, we've been competing since
1992 and we've won 11 gold medals, 11 silver medals
and multiple bronze medals as well. We've we've medaled in
every international tournament we've ever been in, and it's an

(13:23):
incredible record. But the and the record belongs to the
80 or so women who've been at the Australian pools
over that time and the staff who've looked after them.
But it also belongs to the families and the extended
extended community that we have that's so supportive of the
girls and what they do.

S1 (13:40):
And results like this kind of that's reward for them
as well as that they can share in the reward.
You know, they they kind of have been part of
this gold medal or the silver medal that the families
have been part of it.

S2 (13:51):
Absolutely. They have. Yeah. And and we work hard to
try and make sure people stay connected while we're away. Um,
it's not easy, especially in remote countries like Kazakhstan, but.
But making sure that they understand not only it's not
just about the result on the scoreboard, it's about the
experience that the players have having and what we went
and saw. So, you know, our Facebook page is we

(14:12):
post every single day to make sure that we keep
people in tune with what's going on and, and what
we're experiencing. So, you know, the experience belongs to more
than just the people who are in the country necessarily.

S1 (14:23):
You threw out a little teaser before you talked about
next year and Paralympic Games. Can you expand a bit
on that?

S2 (14:29):
Yes. So basketball is trying to or are putting in
a submission with the support of Fiba to go in,
be re-included into the Paralympic Committee.

S1 (14:38):
That would be magnificent in 2032.

S2 (14:41):
Yeah. So it's a it's a little way away, but
every year it gets closer. Of course. Yeah. So, um,
the competition that we just held was there was so much, uh,
focus around promoting what it is and the achievements and
the successes of of what that our basketball competition is
and the stories of the basketball players. So lots of

(15:02):
the girls got interviewed across the course of the week,
which was great to get their individual stories out as
well as the the team stories. Um, so yeah, inclusion. Um,
back into the Paralympics would be an amazing thing.

S1 (15:16):
Well, I think it would be the right thing to
without going too much into the politics of the last
20 odd years, but it would certainly be the the
right thing to do before you leave. Is it fair
to mention any individuals in terms of how they performed
or recognitions that they got during the tournament?

S2 (15:30):
Well, there were 11 players, um, and five staff who
put in all the hard work and and got the
ultimate reward, which was great. But we did have, um,
they selected all star three from the three on three,
and we had two girls selected into that. So we
had Jessica McCulloch, um, who's a Victorian girl, and Brittney Anderson,

(15:51):
who is from New South Wales. Jess also won the
MVP for the three on three tournament and she really
she really was an outstanding player. And then when we
went into the five on five, they do a similar
sort of thing. They had an all star five and
because it was just Spain and ourselves, the coaching staff

(16:12):
wanted to make sure all of the players got, um,
you know, recognized. So we had three girls named in that. Um,
Jess and Britt again were named as All Star five,
but we also had Alicia Bamblett. She's a Victorian girl,
a 16 year old, and she had a fantastic tournament. Um,
so those three girls were named in the All Star five,
along with two of the Spanish girls. And then Britt

(16:34):
Anderson won the MVP for the five on five and again. Oh, wow. Yeah,
it's the first time we've played five on five since
we stopped playing in 2013. I think it was. So
it's been a long time. We've been playing three on
three all of that time at an international level, so
it was nice to have both tournaments played at the
same time in the same country with the same girls.

(16:58):
Oh yeah. Very good.

S1 (16:59):
That's a wonderful, comprehensive report. Now we'll catch up with
the guys next week. The Braves, well, we'll let people
sort it out for a week and we'll let you
know next week how the men went. But, uh, tell
you what, if it's anything like the women did, they've
got a high standard to live up to. Sally. Welcome home.
Thank you so much for sharing that information, that great
information with us. And I look forward to the next
time we catch up.

S2 (17:19):
Thanks, Peter. Thanks for sharing our story.

S1 (17:22):
To share what? It's good news that Sally Duncan, the
manager of the Pearl, is coming back with two gold
medals and a silver medal from Astana. That's a trivia
question for you. The newest capital city in the world, Astana.
So you have to go to a quiz night. Put
that in the back of your mind. Well, the 50th
anniversary convention for Brian says Australia has wrapped up. I

(17:45):
think the CEO is just catching her breath after it. Deb,
great to have you back with us and welcome.

S3 (17:51):
Hi, Peter. Hi, everyone. And yes, I think that's, uh,
probably a good way to describe it. Just catching my
breath after following. Wow. What was an extremely enjoyable. And
from what we're hearing from our members feedback successful 50th
anniversary convention.

S1 (18:08):
Well, I was lucky enough to be there, uh, virtually.
And certainly the bits and pieces I heard was excellent. So, uh,
but you don't need me to tell you. I want
to hear from you. So what were some of the highlights?
What came out of it for you?

S3 (18:20):
Lots of things. But yeah, probably the most heartwarming and
I had said this on the Sunday afternoon was just
the vibe. Absolutely brilliant. You know, you could feel it
throughout the whole kind of two and a half days.
And the joy of that, reconnecting with members, you know,
people who haven't seen each other for possibly even more

(18:42):
than six years because our last convention was in 2019,
making new connections as well. Again, another highlight for me
was welcoming so many new first time attendees. I thought
that was absolutely brilliant. We'd done a lot of, you know,
promotion of that, but when you actually could hear how
many people it was their first time convention, that was

(19:05):
just a highlight to to hear that people were coming
together for the first time and at such a milestone
occasion as well. And then that's continued to, to be reflected.
In fact, we had in form, um, two nights ago
and we had some of those new attendees attend in

(19:25):
form and also those that have completed our survey. We've
had about 45 people complete it, which has been brilliant.
So just that I think renewed connection as well, which
I really kind of feel that was, you know, something,
something that we needed here at BCA. The opportunity to
go beyond the virtual table. We spend a lot of

(19:46):
time around the virtual table, which is excellent, but actually
being in person and how valuable that is to be
in the same room with other people, sharing the same information,
you know, discussing the same information, you know, there were
12 sessions in total. They seem to be very positively

(20:07):
received from the feedback. But also you could feel feel
that in the room, couldn't quite feel it in the
zoom room. But when we had the opportunity to take
questions and have that connection, that live connection, you certainly
could could hear that as well. And that's been reflected
in the feedback too. They're probably some of those those highlights.

(20:28):
And well, also having the board together in person, I
know that we had a few of our directors that
were unable to travel, but they were online, so you
could certainly feel that. And they'd sent me text messages
throughout the day that a couple of days, which was
lovely to to hear their thoughts. I really appreciated that.

(20:49):
And of course, always having the team of staff, it's
a rarity that we also come together in person. Some
of them were meeting for the very first time, and
so they're thrown into this wonderful event, and that vibe
was really beautiful to to feel that too, and that
connectedness of the team. And it's really strengthened us even further.
So again, I can only imagine how that's really strengthened

(21:12):
some of those relationships and connections for our members. And
we can't forget our sponsors and we can't forget those
that really, even if it's from afar, observe us on
our socials and really promoting the work of the past
50 years of BCA, and that we are continuing to

(21:33):
be here into the future. So we can't do those
things without, you know, our sponsorships and people championing us
in the background. And then the other organizations that, you know,
some of them have received emails from saying, you know, congratulations.
I hear that it was a really great convention. I think, oh,
that's brilliant. You know, we haven't had a lot of contact,
but and then we want to continue those building those

(21:53):
relationships as well.

S1 (21:55):
It's a great point you make about, you know, six
years since the last one because sometimes you can kind
of forget how good it was or if you hadn't
experienced it. The same for new people. You know how
valuable that is to be able to sort of catch up.
And I mean, particularly these days with email lists and
social media and stuff, you kind of think, you know everyone,
but you know, when you meet them in person, it
is it is different. You can't see.

S3 (22:17):
Them. Absolutely. And you know, just I don't know, it's
just yeah, that vibe that you you feel we don't
need vision to see that you can just feel it.
And someone described it as electric and and it was just. Yeah.
The whole time I didn't sense that there was a lull.
And of course, people would continue into the evening. The

(22:37):
bar was open, you know, each night and people continue
with that. Have, you know, there were some spaces where
people could go and have some more, just kind of, yeah,
discussions away from some of that vibe. But you could
also sense that, yeah, just the enjoyment that was coming
from those conversations and brilliant to have people coming from overseas,

(22:58):
you know, having an international guest was fantastic, not just
online but in person was wonderful.

S1 (23:06):
Yeah, but being on the sidelines, as they say in
the classics is a good thing. Yeah. One of the
things that I think was really great, I mean, I
guess by virtue of the fact that a these people
were young enough to get involved at the time and thankfully,
50 years later, they're still around. The fact that some
of them were still around from the the very early
days made a really special because they could kind of really,
literally connect the 50 years from day one to now.

S3 (23:29):
Mhm. Absolutely. And I think there may well have been
just a little tear in David Blythe eyes when he
was handing the David Blythe Award over to John March,
and it was a really special short.

S1 (23:43):
Of course. John was the original member on the original
board of, uh. Uh, well, I think it was called the, uh,
was National Federation for the blind, I think, or. Mhm.
But I mean, you know, like it's easy in hindsight
to look at and think, oh yeah, of course that
that was going to work or that was a great
idea at the time. You know it's kicked on since then.
But when you're in that moment 50 years ago, you've

(24:04):
got no idea what's going to happen in the future.
You can kind of think or predict or project, but realistically,
you don't know. No one knows. And the fact that
it survived the 50 years is testament to the the
great work that the the people did and continue to do.

S3 (24:18):
Many hands have got us to where many hands and
minds and hearts have got us to where we are.
And just having that opportunity to celebrate, recognize that, you know,
we have a little token from that, our coaster, you know,
a little memento that we sort of pulled together. And
I appreciate that doesn't sort of speak to the whole

(24:39):
all of those people. But, um, it's nice to sort
of have a little token to take away. It's a
bit of a memorabilia from our 50th celebration. So sort
of like a square poster that actually has our logo
on it as well. Very tactile image on the right
hand side. And then of course it says Blind Citizens Australia.
And then our 50th celebration, which is in larger sized

(25:01):
print and in Braille as well.

S1 (25:04):
From here then the work kind of continues. You catch
your breath and you kind of maybe have a little
bit of a, a sort of reflective time. But, you know,
life goes on, challenges go on. Advocacy needs to go
on 100%.

S3 (25:15):
So yes, we did close the office for for a week,
and obviously some work still took place over that time
just to make sure that things were still ticking along.
Because as you say, Peter, you know, really we blink
and then there's there's something else that we must attend to.
It's the end of the financial year. It's a really
busy period, making sure that, you know, we're well set

(25:36):
in place for the six months. So whilst you're in
it at the moment, it's always looking over the hill
to make sure that we've got everything in place. Advocacy
is the heartbeat of what we do. We've talked about
that before and that will absolutely continue. Our representation continues on,
you know, multiple just over 60 different seats. So we

(25:56):
are busy. There is never a quiet moment at BCA.
You know our peer connect groups, they continue. We're always
looking for new ideas. So if any members have any
thoughts about what would be a great Peer Connect group,
please reach out. Let us know. You know, lead that
peer Connect group as well. We're looking for our members
to be engaged as much as possible. We often put

(26:19):
opportunities to represent BCA in our weekly member updates. So
if you've not actually subscribed to receiving that, please reach out.
But also, you know, please put your hand up, send
through expressions of interest when there are opportunities to. So
work does absolutely continue, but it doesn't always feel like work, Peter,
because it's a passion for for all of our team

(26:41):
and our directors.

S1 (26:42):
Well, I think that's kind of the the hallmark of BCI,
isn't it? It is a passion of film. After calling,
it's kind of something you want to be involved with,
even if you're, you know, if you're not directly involved
with it. But they basically say work goes on at
the NDIS. That has come in in the last 10
or 12 years, that that kind of probably presents the
challenges the uppermost in your mind.

S3 (27:03):
It does. Peter, very involved in the representation. It is ongoing.
And I think the best thing to for us to
remember is that it is a five year plan. You know,
it will take time for some of those areas to,
you know, to kind of land. Um, I think every
week I'm at be it accessible communications, be it one

(27:28):
of the co-design groups, you know, we have, um, reform
for outcomes every quarter. We have the Disability Representative Carer
Organization forums as well, you know, directly with the leaders
in the agency. So we're very much in the space,
very much focused in on what are the needs for
our members. And we also have to learn to be

(27:50):
patient that not all changes can happen overnight. And if
it's a change that we don't feel is in the
best interests of our members, I assure you, our listeners,
that we don't give up, and we are continuing to
advocate with the agency around what is best for our
members who are blind or have a vision impairment. So,

(28:12):
you know, it's a long standing relationship that we'll continue
to have with the agency and collaborating with other organizations.
We're doing some collaboration with other organizations, too. So always
looking for opportunities to be able to enhance our advocacy. And, um, again,
what's in the best interest for our members?

S1 (28:31):
And of course, the extension. Is that a way? why,
in a way, of course, there's also the employment opportunities
for more people are blind or low vision to get
good jobs and work as much as they'd like, rather than, uh, the,
you know, the, the sort of, uh, morsels that they're offered.

S3 (28:46):
Absolutely. And I'm really thrilled we just popped it in
this week's member update to our members that the eye
to the future project that we have had going for
a few years now, we did receive an extension through
the Department of Social Services just like last week. So
we are very excited that we're able to continue to
provide that program for the next 12 months. Very much

(29:09):
sticking within the current priorities, but we're looking at some
adaptions so that we can really focus in on, you know,
supporting our leaders to make sure our current leaders and
future leaders as well in the space of employment.

S1 (29:21):
Well, the BCA is a great example of, you know,
people that have come through the system that have become leaders.
I mean, we've talked in the past about, you know,
obviously Mary Anne Diamond, I mean, other people that have
been through the organization in leadership roles have gone on
to bigger and better things as well. So it's a
great kind of breeding ground and a place for people
to be able to, you know, share those, uh, those

(29:43):
opportunities to be able to, to be leaders in their
field because it's very important as well.

S3 (29:48):
Totally agree. Totally agree.

S1 (29:50):
Alright. And, you know, doth come out every week. It's
always a great read. So people can have access to emails.
If they subscribe to that, they'll get some great information
every week as well as things that are coming up. Deb,
thank you so much for speaking to us. We'll obviously
keep in touch. It's been great to catch up with, uh,
some of the people involved with the conference over the
last couple of months, and I'm sure that will continue

(30:11):
long into the future. And a big congratulations to John Mason.
And also to, uh, Geordie Howell on the kind of
Broad Aspirations award two very, very worthy winners. As is
always the case, I don't think there's been a dud
amongst those winners in the time that's been going. And
certainly Geordie and John are right up there as far as, uh,
very deserving winners.

S3 (30:31):
Go, I tell you. Great, Peter, thanks very much. And again,
if our listeners haven't subscribed to our member update, please do.
Or if there's anything you need, please reach out to us.

S1 (30:41):
One 800 0360.

S3 (30:43):
Thanks very much.

S1 (30:46):
Great to catch up. We'll speak again soon.

S3 (30:48):
You too. Thanks, Peter. Thanks for your time.

S1 (30:50):
As the CEO for BCA, wrapping up the 50th convention
and are safer here in 50 years time. Probably not,
but you never know.

S4 (31:01):
Hi, I'm Melissa Perin, four time Winter Olympian, bronze medalist
and co-captain, and you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter
Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S1 (31:11):
Well, it's always a regular catch up with Typekit Henderson,
who set up steps to the sky. Hope the sky
quite some time ago for childhood dementia. And I think
they're about to get underway for another year thinking good
to catch up. Thanks for your time.

S5 (31:23):
Thank you for having me.

S1 (31:24):
You're coming along. You've, uh. I think this is your
sixth time now.

S5 (31:28):
Yes, it's my sixth year running it, so it's really exciting.

S1 (31:32):
Yeah. For those that might have missed our chats in
the past, tell us how and why you set this up.

S5 (31:36):
Um, I set this up because I care for a girl, Sky,
who has a form of childhood dementia. And I've actually
met a few kids now with Sanfilippo syndrome. And I
just want to try and Sanfilippo syndrome, basically.

S1 (31:51):
Yeah, it's interesting you say that because when we first
spoke 5 or 6 years ago, I kind of half
heard about it, if there's such a thing. Uh, childhood
dementia Sanfilippo. And it's kind of interesting how when someone
makes you aware of something, you know, all of a
sudden you seem to take more notice next time it
pops up in the news or, uh, you know, pops up, uh,
where you can pick up on it.

S5 (32:11):
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's getting out there a
bit more now. Like, there's so many people aware of
it and letting everyone know. And yeah, it's very good.

S1 (32:20):
It's quite uncommon. But by the same token, too many
people or too many young people in particular are impacted
by it.

S5 (32:26):
Yeah, exactly. Way too many people impacted, that's for sure.

S1 (32:30):
Yeah. Well, how do you go about raising funds? What
do you do and what do you get your group
of friends and caring people to do?

S5 (32:36):
Stirling walk 15,000 steps a day for the month of
August individually or in a team. And yeah, we're all
for raising money and raising awareness for Sanfilippo. But also
this year we've joined with Childhood Dementia Initiative. So we're
raising money for all kind of childhood dementias.

S1 (32:57):
Fantastic. Now, I was doing a bit of math before
coming to er. Tegan, you've done this for five years
in a row now. 31 days, 15,000 steps. So for
465,000 steps, times by five, that's over 2.3 million steps.

S5 (33:12):
Oh, wow. Yeah. That's crazy.

S1 (33:14):
Yeah, that that sounds a lot. That sounds a lot
like that.

S5 (33:17):
Yeah.

S1 (33:18):
Now you're both in Ballarat, so you get a bit of, uh,
kind of, uh, local support. Community support?

S5 (33:24):
Yeah, absolutely. We actually have so much support from family, friends,
work colleagues everywhere. I remember it and it goes further
than Ballarat. The people in Melbourne. I've got an aunt
in Port Douglas, she's always doing it. And then Childhood
Dementia Initiative up in Sydney. So yeah, it's very broad,
which is awesome.

S1 (33:42):
Now, I don't want to be, uh, sort of, uh, state, uh, rivalry, uh, situation.
But you're based in Ballarat. I'd say August and or
Ballarat and August probably. That doesn't match up as far
as nice weather goes.

S5 (33:56):
Not at all. It actually is freezing during all this,
so I think I've picked the hardest month to do it,
that's for sure.

S1 (34:03):
But in a sense, there's that kind of, um, sort
of test people's resolve and, you know, you kind of
feel even better about the fact that you're, you're doing
something rather than doing something easy or you're doing something challenging.

S5 (34:13):
Yeah, exactly. It definitely pushes people. There was a few
years ago, I remember my brother going out for a
walk and he left. It was sunny and then rained
and then it snowed on him, all in the one walk.
So hopefully we don't end up with snow this year
on our walk.

S1 (34:28):
You didn't laugh at him when he got home, did you?

S5 (34:31):
Definitely.

S1 (34:32):
I take it. How does it work, like with the
childhood dementia and Sanfilippo? Because, as you said, it affects
young people. And we're talking about really young people, aren't we?

S5 (34:42):
Yeah. So I, for example, was diagnosed 4 or 5
years old. So it can really be affected from any
age from but real young. Usually people are picking up
on the signs. A lot of people start to think
it's like a developmental delay, speech delay or just autism.

(35:02):
And then, yeah, a lot of kids get genetic testing
done and then it comes back as Sanfilippo syndrome, unfortunately.

S1 (35:09):
So is it the sort of thing? Is it the
sort of thing that, um, you know, you need genetic
testing or there is genetic testing to kind of prove
it beyond doubt? Because often with things like this, it
takes a bit of time for a diagnosis to come through,
which we must be very concerning and a stressful time
for the families.

S5 (35:27):
Yeah, definitely. It does take a while. Um, it is
all done through genetic testing, um, as well. And after
birth as well. So it's not done before birth. You
need to wait until the child is born, and then. Yeah,
that's when people are finding out when their child. Yeah.
Three years old, four years old, five years old, etc..

S1 (35:45):
And of course, the times that we've been speaking to you,
we've learnt that Skye's birthday's on Christmas Day, which I'm
not sure what the word is for that, but it's
certainly pretty impactful that, you know, a day like Christmas
Day is Skye's birthday.

S5 (35:57):
Yeah, exactly. Christmas definitely has two meanings for us, that's
for sure. And we like to celebrate her birthday halfway
through the year as well.

S1 (36:04):
Just so that's a cool idea. Yeah. So what about
the funds that I guess you don't know too much about? The, uh,
the intricacies of the research that's going on? Is that
sort of Australia wide, or is there research going on
across the world in this sort of area?

S5 (36:21):
I know childhood Dementia initiative is just Australia based. There
is definitely research happening in America and other parts of
the world, um, which is good and everyone. There's so
many Sanfilippo families that are pushing for funding to happen,
so it is good, but it is hard to get
funding that we need.

S1 (36:41):
Speaking up for your care for Skye as part of
part of your everyday work, if I can call it that.
What about the families of people with a child with Sanfilippo?
What's the kind of support service or the support services
in place for people like that? Because I guess, you know,
if they're lucky, they've got someone like you in their lives.
And I know a number of your friends, etc., and

(37:02):
colleagues can help out, but do you know much about
what the sort of set up like is for people
who might have family members with Sanfilippo?

S5 (37:09):
I know there is a couple of other families that
don't have support workers and that don't have much support,
and it is hard to find people that are, yeah, in,
in and wanting to do what the families family's need.
But I think once you find the right people and
the right fit for your family, like then people are
getting support. But it's definitely hard to find support workers.
And especially when your children are so vulnerable, you want

(37:32):
people that you trust and pretty much. Yeah. Become a
part of your family. Like you need to trust people
to be able to do that.

S1 (37:38):
There's been such a powerful point. And what about for you?
How has it changed you over the. Well, the 5
or 6 years that we've been chatting and the maybe
ten or so years that you've known Sky, has it
kind of changed you as an individual or. I guess
your attitude to life.

S5 (37:51):
Definitely changed me as a person. But even with Sky
and her condition that affects you and how like you've
seen her change over the ten years that you've known her.
Definitely has a huge impact on people and people that yeah,
have known her for that long. And her family, her
carers at school, everyone. Yeah, can definitely see the impact

(38:15):
and feel the impact that it's having on them.

S1 (38:17):
Yeah, I guess you're probably thinking it's not fair, but sadly,
you know, life isn't always fair for everyone.

S5 (38:22):
Exactly right. Yep.

S1 (38:24):
So how can we help out? Because I know that, uh,
obviously people can actually walk, I guess. Doesn't matter, as
you pointed out, where they live. They can. They can
try and get to the 15,000 steps each day on
their own or away from Ballarat.

S5 (38:37):
Yeah. Exactly. Right. Um, anyone can join in and we
want anyone to join in, which is awesome.

S1 (38:42):
Uh, where do we go to join in this?

S5 (38:44):
Yeah, we are heading to the Childhood Dementia Initiative website.
And when you go into that, there is a search
bar and you can type in sepsis guy and then
that'll take you to straight to the website and you
can register there or scroll down and you're able to
donate as well.

S1 (39:01):
All right. We'll put those details up with our show notes.
And if people have trouble finding it there, they can
always give us a call at the station steps. The
sky and sky is filled sky.

S5 (39:11):
Yes, definitely.

S1 (39:12):
Thank you and good luck. I hope it's my hope.
It's a little bit warmer than average. Maybe for August
for Ballarat and all those people that are taking part,
because you also get some local industry and local businesses
to help out as well, don't you?

S5 (39:25):
Yeah, we do, and we have a local business again
helping us this year. We're in the middle of working
it all out, the finer details, but my cousin's company
is Stitch Nest and last year they did merchandise for us.
And we're going to be doing that again this year,
which is exciting.

S1 (39:40):
We'll put those details up on our show notes as well.

S5 (39:43):
Yeah, awesome. That'd be great.

S1 (39:45):
Good luck. Thanks for speaking to us.

S5 (39:46):
Thanks so much, Peter.

S1 (39:47):
That's Teagan Henderson there, along with some very caring and
very close friends there, helping us through our sets of
Sky guide this year, helping raise awareness about Sanfilippo and
childhood dementia. It's that time where we catch up with

(40:08):
the health expert and health commentator David Mitchell. David, welcome again.
Thank you Peter. Now we've just gone past the winter solstice.
And one of the things that happens in Tasmania, and
I should point out that we've got some very loyal
listeners in Tasmania. So no disparaging comments about Tasmanians. We're
on the shortest day of the year. They go into

(40:29):
the sea and kind of do their swim. Is this madness?
Is this a good thing? What do you think?

S6 (40:34):
Well, it's interesting because every year about this time of
the year, you ask me to to tell people about
what they can do to stop getting winter colds, flus
and other diseases, ailments and funny conditions. Yeah. And usually
we trot out and go out and we try that
exercise and we trot out all sorts of pills you
could take. But this year you've actually nailed it. It

(40:57):
took took two heads, not yours and mine, but Tasmanians.

S1 (41:01):
And I think we had good listeners down there. David,
you just made them all turn off.

S6 (41:06):
Well, yeah. Both sides are listening. We don't start an argument.

S1 (41:13):
Do you want to get.

S6 (41:13):
Back on track? But they had taken the European concept
of the ice breakers of actually diving into freezing cold
water in a lake, in a European lake, or in
the sea, because there are in Australia has, has sort
of matched or not matched it, but copied it. And
they often called themselves the ice breakers. So a group
of them will go swimming, uh, at some stage during

(41:37):
the day when right through winter and sometimes right through
the year. Um, and there's some there's some fantastically good
estimations about what it's all about and what it can
do for you. And as an example, they've found that
when you when you jump into, walk into or, or
flock into very, very, very cold water, there's an immediate

(42:00):
shock to the body that raises the cortisol, the stress hormone,
which makes you more stressed in inverted commas. But it
also activates a whole series of immune system protective Active
chemistry called corticosteroids, which are quite useful. And with what's
called habituation or continuing to do it, the stress effect

(42:23):
disappears and you just end up with a good boost
to the immune system, which is pretty darn good just
in itself. The second thing it does is it actually
improves circulation. That's pretty hard to believe that when you
usually you think, well, when I get cold, my blood vessels,
particularly in the skin, shut down and just squeeze up.

(42:45):
So it makes the heart have to work harder to
push the boat through it and diverts blood to other parts.
But what they've found that when when it does happen
like that in an ice bath, in a footy club
or in an open sea in the ice breakers, that
bit by bit when you're doing it and exercising it,
and when you come out afterwards, you're actually releasing a

(43:07):
whole series of extra healing type chemicals that heal up
muscles and Tools and joints that have been strained or
torn or weakened or upset in some way in that
sporting activity. So you actually end up with with better,
fitter muscles and you makes you ready to go either
swimming the next day, playing footy the next, next time around,

(43:29):
but quite useful in that way. That does explain why
sports clubs will often put their players into ice baths
after a match, because it speeds up the recovery. But
it does more and more and more because there's a
whole lot of extra chemistry that gets involved, that becomes positive.
And it's simplistic level because you're out, uh, particularly in,
in winter, where there is less sunlight if you're out there,

(43:52):
instead of being inside rubbed up, you're still getting some sunlight.
And the sunlight generates melatonin, which means you get a
better sleep. But melatonin is also a very powerful anti-inflammatory
and immune positive influence on the body, as well as
helping the to sleep, but on the way to max melatonin,

(44:14):
we need to make serotonin. And serotonin is the anti-depression
chemical in our in our bodies and people that get
to what's called Sad. There's seasonal affective disorder or the winter,
the winter blues and so on. Are are the people
that are not making enough melatonin, but also not making
enough serotonin and often, often have to take pills or something.

(44:36):
But by virtue of being out and getting some sunlight,
it activates more melatonin, which activates more serotonin. So you
feel better during the day and beyond and right through
winter just by doing that alone, like there's more chemicals
that get involved, interestingly, are dopamine, and dopamine is a

(44:57):
reward or pleasure neurochemical that's released from the brain that
rewards us for doing things. And going swimming in icy
cold water is one such example. That part of the
shock and then the completion of it. We release this dopamine,
which makes us feel good. And so we come out

(45:18):
and we're boosting, and we're going nurse at that hour
of the day to, to do things or, or to
get things done or to think more clearly or put
the world back in, in the proper order. All of
those things come from dopamine. And there's more by doing it.
And one of the warnings is you never go swimming
by yourself. So your aim is to join with a

(45:40):
with a group of other, I was going to say
idiots or madmen or women. And I might add, I
don't like water and I don't like swimming. I have
a certificate. When I was ten, I got the certificate
for swimming ten meters and I've never swum longer. So
any further than that in my life. There is a

(46:02):
personal bias about all of this, but on the other
side of it is the realization there's a hell of
a lot of good things that I could and should
be doing. But it comes back to in joining a group,
you start to release another neurochemical called oxytocin. And oxytocin
is socialization hormone. It makes you want to mix with

(46:22):
other people. It makes you better at mixing, and you
more easily join in and become more affable or more, uh,
what's the word? Expansive in your speech and in your
sharing of yourself with others? So it's fantastic to do that.
So not only you, by the time you finish, you
come out feeling like you know more with, with, with

(46:47):
good health and good energy and so on. But also
you want to want to stand around and have a
natter with the people with you or, or go for
a coffee to warm up a bit, but that, that
improves that whole bit. So your day just gets better
and better and better and wait, there's more. In doing
all of this and doing it habitually or making it

(47:10):
a habit. More and more and more, the body becomes
more resilient to shock and stress. So that means that
we are not so affected. If there's if there's an
accident or if there's drama or this or if there's
a death or anything. All of these chemicals that are
happening are all positives, and they all decrease your overstressed

(47:33):
reaction or your overreaction to stress. So you and you
come and you just you just a good, healthy dude,
which is fantastic, mate. And all for the sake of
of a few shivers. And then slowly it settles down.
I do make the warning that that as we get older,

(47:53):
it shocks to the system if they're big enough, can
stir us up and make us worse. When if we
would do it full on straight away. So you wouldn't
necessarily go pick a day when it's three degrees and
go belting into the into the surf. Nah. You need
to slow down from that and just slowly acclimatize your

(48:15):
body and you to it, bit by bit by bit.
You bring out all of these positive reactions and effects
that lead us to being happier and healthier all at
the same time. It's actually a pretty good deal in
the sense that other than the petrol or the electricity
that gets you to drive down to the beach, that's

(48:37):
all it costs. So it's a remarkable thing to do.
And you're not swallowing a pill just for the sake
of it or in the hope of something. You have
a much better warranty, I guess, on on this particular bit. Now,
I do mention that most of the councils around Adelaide
now are opening up their pools for winter, but it
is taking a bit because they eat apples. So you're

(49:00):
not quite getting that same shock effect that that's the
most important part of the icebreaker. So yes, it could
be good for the for the art, for the lungs
and for the muscles in tuning up and down and
splashing up and down and a heated pool. Not as good.
And I lastly mentioned that vitamin D is is the extra.

(49:22):
If you are swimming outdoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
you are going to be making more vitamin D, and
vitamin D is also a powerful chemical I guess internally,
which is manufactured from exposure to the sunlight. It is
a powerful component of our immune system that again makes

(49:43):
us healthier and happier. It also helps our hormonal system,
and it also is a parcel on the background of
our emotional levelling, for want of a better word. So
it's less depression and anxiety and more positivity that happens.
So you get a win win win in practically every direction.

(50:04):
The only thing is you just got to do it.
That's the hardest bit. Starting is always the hardest bit.
You do it with a group. Always works better.

S1 (50:12):
Habituation. I David, we've obviously got to know each other
maybe a little bit too well because I was going
to ask you about the shock factor particularly, you know
on things like your heart. So if you're perhaps getting
older or if your heart isn't as good as it
used to be, you'd want to be doing this a
bit more carefully than just gung ho.

S6 (50:30):
That's exactly it. Yep. That's it. Do it. Do it slowly.
It's easy for the Army to go building Australia, but
as we get older, it's moving slowly. And that would
probably even mean walking in rather than diving in water.
And just that little bit of acclimatisation day by day
gets better and better. The initial shock, if it's done

(50:52):
dramatically at total body immersion in something, can shut the
shut the blood vessels down too much, including blood vessels
in the heart.. That's pretty rare, but it does make
sense to to just do it slowly.

S1 (51:06):
Well, Dave, just before you go and I mean, I'm
always one for convenience. What about a cold shower?

S6 (51:14):
Not cold enough. Well, you find yourself automatically reaching for.
But that's again. That's cheating. If there's nothing instant heat wise,
whether it be the the only swimming centre with its
heated pool, or whether it be the tap at home,
that they're both not going to give you the full, full,

(51:35):
the full on benefits that we're talking about. It's essentially
is is either a great big call that's open and
room for a group, rather than just the splashes that
go up and down the north, honestly, in their lanes,
or it's the open sea.

S1 (51:51):
And are you part of you're part about the vitamin
D is really important, David, isn't it? Because, as you say,
between 10 and 4 and even in the middle of winter,
if you do it during that time and there is
some sunlight. That conversion to vitamin D does actually happen.
It's not the heat, it's the sunlight that is the
critical factor.

S6 (52:07):
Yeah, you got, you got. I once remember I had
this this an old guy, uh, and he was brown
as a nut, and he, he was an ice breaker
and a walker on the beach. And his vitamin D
was two and a half times greater than any of
the any of the so-called normal, healthy people. He was

(52:28):
he was a Malibu. I got so frightened because I'm
a young GP in those days at the team, off
to a specialist, and they couldn't work it out and
couldn't see anything wrong with it and nothing was happening.
So keep doing it. And he did. And he's still
alive and kicking. So yeah, yeah.

S1 (52:43):
I like that advice from a doctor. You know you
go and you test all come out good. And they
say I don't know what you're doing, but whatever you're
doing keep doing it. That's great advice isn't it.

S6 (52:53):
It it certainly is. I sometimes hope my wife will
say that to me.

S1 (53:00):
Well, we might leave that there. We've offended just about
everyone today, so we might quit while we're behind and
and come back next month.

S6 (53:08):
Yeah, indeed. I'm still here.

S1 (53:10):
Okay. That's it. David Mitchell then if there's a topic
you'd like David to cover, maybe, uh, if you're in
Tasmania or maybe not, get in touch and we can
put David to work. But certainly that was a fascinating
insight into, uh, the icebreakers and what they do around
the winter solstice. Ah, there's the ever reliable Polly put

(53:46):
the kettle on, which means only one thing. Belinda Healy
is on the line. Belinda from Brood by Belinda. The Brew.
That is true 97. A old port road at Queenstown. Belinda,
great to have you back with us.

S7 (53:58):
Hello, Peter.

S1 (53:59):
Now, you've received an email from someone by the name
of Jonathan, who has got a bit of an unusual request.

S7 (54:06):
Yes. Thank you. Jonathan, this has been very interesting. Jonathan
wanted to, um, learn a little more about tea leaf reading.

S1 (54:15):
Okay. That's probably not your area of expertise, Belinda, I'm guessing.

S7 (54:19):
Oh, look, it might become become the area of expertise because, um,
it's been really fun to do a little bit of
research into this to share today.

S1 (54:29):
In fact, I've done a little bit of research as well.
And there's actually a kind of a formal name for it.

S7 (54:35):
Yes, I believe it's also known as Tasseography. I think
that's how you'd say it. What do you think?

S1 (54:40):
Yeah. Tasseography. And apparently, uh, Tass is the French word
for cup.

S7 (54:45):
Yes. And I believe tassa is the Arabic word for cup.

S1 (54:49):
Oh, Belinda, we're going one for one here. This is fantastic. Well,
we must be reading the same Information. All right, what
about from there? What else can you tell us? Well,
I guess we've kind of established that it is a thing.

S7 (55:05):
It's certainly a thing that's been around for many, many.

S3 (55:09):
Many.

S7 (55:09):
Years, I guess, you know, it's part of this whole
sort of, you know, popular idea of being able to
find ways to see into the future. Um, so it's
another way of fortune telling or psychic, you know, phenomenon
that we can, you know, explore. But yes, I have
I've sort of done a little bit of research and

(55:30):
understand it to be a way that we intentionally kind
of brew tea leaves in a cup, and then once
all the liquid has been removed, you can kind of
look for, I guess, symbols that, you know, can tell
you about things that may happen in life. And there's

(55:52):
all sorts of, you know, things around that in terms
of where the leaves sit in the cup can tell
you how soon this thing might happen or not. Yes.
So it's all based on symbols, the shapes that the
leaves form, how close they are to the rim, how
close they are to the handle, and all of these
different things, you know, can be determined by somebody called

(56:15):
a seer who is a, you know, tea leaf reader
and experienced in that. And then, you know, if you're
the one having your leaves being read, you are called
the sitter.

S1 (56:24):
Okay. The fair and the sitter. So the second season
to the future and the sitter may be is sitting
there having their fortune told and probably at the end
of it having to hand over some money. I'm thinking.

S8 (56:36):
You know, I'm thinking and there's a few little.

S7 (56:40):
Things that I learned about, you know, what kind of
equipment is needed for this. So apparently, you know, it's
a wide, shallow plain cup with a white interior so
that any symbols and things can be seen clearly. Sometimes
a saucer is involved in the reading as well, but
sometimes the seer will discard the saucer. But the saucer

(57:01):
is important for kind of getting rid of the last
little bit of, um, liquid once you've brewed, because you
actually brew the leaves in the cup, you put tea
leaves directly into a cup rather than in a pot
or anything. Yeah, fill with water. SIP the cup down
until there's only a little bit of liquid left, and

(57:21):
then do a little sort of fancy twist three times
to the left, and then turn the cup over onto
a tea saucer. Yes. And sometimes the leaves are red
on the saucer, and sometimes the saucer parts are discarded.
And it's just the shapes in the cup that's red.

S1 (57:38):
Okay, now I guess the sort of things that, um,
I read into it depends on either what the CSCS
or what the city wants to know about.

S7 (57:47):
Yeah, I think I think what's lovely about this is
that it is sort of just another way, another beautiful ritual.
You know, there's a lot of intention put into the
way that you brew these leaves and you sort of
meditate on what information you might want to receive from
the reading. And yes, I think it would be what
the what the csc's with their experience of kind of

(58:10):
reading symbols and timelines and, you know, the spatial kind
of distribution of the leaves within the cup and then what? Yeah.
The sitter. Yeah. They want to know about.

S1 (58:21):
But do you know much about the history of it?
I mean, I know you've talked about the history of
tea itself and of course, uh, way back in the
ancient times, maybe, you know, 5000 or so years ago,
Chinese emperor kind of discovered, uh, discovered the tea and
the sort of water dripping into it, etcetera, into a cup, etcetera.
Do you know much about the history of tea leaf reading?
I guess as long as there's been, um, sort of

(58:43):
fortune tellers and people predicting the future. You know, Tea
Leaf has been just another form of doing that.

S7 (58:50):
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I think Tea Leaf
readers were found, you know, in Europe as soon as
tea was introduced there and throughout Asia. And I mean,
the book that I was sort of exploring referred to
a book called How to Read Your Fate in a
Tea Cup from 1922. But they've spent, you know, lots

(59:11):
of different publications. I think this goes back many, many, many,
many years. And yeah, as you say, it's sort of
another way for, you know, exploring what might be in
our future. I think it's called leaf divination, right?

S1 (59:25):
Yeah. There's there terms for everything, isn't there? Because I
guess this sort of, um, you know, reading tea leaves
or I mean, I've heard of people like reading your
palm and kind of being able to gain information about
either your health or your future. You know, maybe if
you're going to win lotto or something like that by
reading your palm. So I guess this is just another

(59:46):
extension of that. I don't know that sort of cult
or that sort of, um, thinking of, um, you know,
being able to see into the future.

S7 (59:54):
Yeah, absolutely. And it's all sort of based on, you know, symbols.
So I actually have a little book here. And, you know,
I can give you a few examples if I look up,
you know, apparently if you see celery, the shape of celery,
then it means a vigorous body and active mind, which
will preserve the energies of youth for a good old age.

S6 (01:00:15):
All right.

S7 (01:00:16):
If you see, let's pick another one. Um, a queen,
a queen upon her throne indicates security, peace and honor.
Sometimes the attainment to a high position through powerful friends.

S1 (01:00:28):
Wow.

S7 (01:00:28):
So, yes. And, you know, a, um, a dictionary, I guess,
of symbols. Yeah. That can be seen in the teacup.

S1 (01:00:36):
I guess we're kind of making a bit light of it, but,
I mean, obviously with something that's been around for as
long as it has been, there's probably been a lot
of kind of history established to it. And even if
they are, um, fables, or if there are parables or
whatever you'd like to call them. There's kind of been
a body of history that's built up. And, you know,
if you if you see this, it means that. And,

(01:00:57):
you know, someone might say, well, I saw that, therefore
this happened and you kind of have this body of
evidence that builds up over a period of time that,
you know, turns into a book.

S7 (01:01:07):
Yeah, absolutely. I think yeah, it's certainly not something to
be dissed. I'm totally into, you know, other ways of
viewing the world and, you know, connecting with higher sources. So, yeah,
I think it's obviously had a long and deep, um, history.
There are people, you know, still in our modern day
world that are, um, specialists in this that read leaves

(01:01:29):
and it's just made me want to, um, maybe go
and have my, my tea leaves read. I have actually
just tried it here myself. I thought, I can't not
try this out. Um, but I'm sitting here with a
cup of Darjeeling leaves and I do not know what
I'm saying?

S1 (01:01:46):
Oh, I was going to say. Well, tell us, tell
us that. Keep it to yourself. But. Alright. You need
a professional tea leaf reader. Or maybe you need to
read a bit more into that book. Uh, Belinda, one
thing that I did find amusing in some of the
stuff that I was reading about, and I guess it
kind of makes sense in a way that when tea
bags came in, the art of tea leaf reading kind of, uh,

(01:02:06):
lost its flavor, if I could put it that way,
because I guess it's a bit hard to read the
tea leaves in a tea bag.

S7 (01:02:12):
Yes, yes, that makes complete sense. The book I was
reading said, you know, it absolutely had to be loose leaf. Yeah.
The popularity of the tea bag for convenience would have
really changed things. But yes, definitely needs to be a
loose leaf situation for this.

S1 (01:02:28):
Well, probably being a little bit sort of cheeky, but
I wonder if the Tea Leaf readers saw the fact
that the tea bag was coming and that might put
them out of business.

S7 (01:02:36):
Oh I wonder.

S1 (01:02:39):
Oh that's fantastic. Well, Jonathan, I reckon you've got more
than your money's worth as far as, uh, as information
about that goes. So, you know, if you want to
maybe Google it a bit more. Or as you say,
there are books that have been written about it. So
there's plenty of information out there about Tasseography.

S7 (01:02:55):
Absolutely. Yeah. It's really opened my eyes. So thank Jonathan
for the question because it's just always exciting to explore
new parts of this, this old tea.

S1 (01:03:05):
All right. Well, let's get back to tea then. If
people want to find out more about the great range
of teas that you have and the way that you
prepare your different designs and and all that sort of stuff,
how can we find you? How can we get in touch.

S7 (01:03:17):
Through my website at Brewed by Belinda. Com.au or you
can find me on Old Port Road in Queenstown at
our tea studio or over the phone 0419 839 702.

S1 (01:03:32):
All right, I'll put it out there. If anyone is
out there that is a tea leaf reader. Maybe you
can get in touch. And I don't know, maybe it
could be a sort of a bit of a side
hustle for you at to your, uh, brood by Belinda? Uh,
might be something that might be worth considering. You know,
if there's a few cities that want to come in
and see their seer, uh, who knows what it could

(01:03:53):
lead to?

S9 (01:03:53):
Yeah, absolutely.

S1 (01:03:55):
Yeah, but you make nice tea, so maybe just stick
to that for now.

S9 (01:03:58):
And. Yeah, I think I will.

S1 (01:04:00):
Oh, that's great fun. Thanks for that.

S7 (01:04:02):
Thank you.

S1 (01:04:03):
Peter, what the hell is that from? Brewed by Belinda 0413 839 702.
If you'd like to contact Belinda. And if you do have, uh,
a tea leaf reader in your family or in your midst,
let us know. And if you've had your fortune read
by Tea Leaf reader, maybe let us know that too.

(01:04:25):
Let's chat to Hilario Paul. He's from an organization called Mastercam. And, uh,
some interesting concerns regarding particularly people in the country or
rural areas. Hello. Lovely to meet you. Thank you for
your time.

S9 (01:04:36):
Thank you. Peter.

S1 (01:04:37):
Yeah. You've got some concerns, I guess, regarding connectivity and
sort of digital access for people, particularly in country areas.

S9 (01:04:43):
Yeah, absolutely. I feel like there are they're really missing
out on the sort of health care they could receive.

S1 (01:04:48):
Why do you think this is? Is it I mean,
obviously not intentional or is it oversight? Is it a
lack of planning?

S9 (01:04:54):
I think that's just a really big digital connect in
our regional communities. It's a combination of the solutions that
clinicians are using. And combine that with the fact that
there's limited access to broadband and things like that.

S1 (01:05:06):
So your concern I guess particularly. Well, no, no, maybe not.
You tell me. But for patients point of view, but
also in terms of the sort of network that the
patient would be dealing with as far as their sort
of allied health professionals and their GPS and specialists, etc..

S9 (01:05:20):
Absolutely. We find that the digital, the digital health disconnect
tends to have a huge impact. Clinicians face challenges in
coordinating care and sharing information, and we find that they're
actually hamstrung in their ability to deliver a high level
of patient care to their clients. And then, on the
other hand, we've got patients who are the ones that
actually end up losing out, and they're the ones that

(01:05:42):
end up needing to travel long distances to access their
services or, you know, things that could have been delivered
remotely they can't actually get access to, which results in
them having delayed consultations, delayed or missed diagnosis, delayed treatment,
and subsequently increases health risks, health risks for those patients.
I'm very tongue tied today.

S1 (01:06:01):
I tried to understand because I guess, like with anything,
you know, early diagnosis is so important. And if you're
either not getting that diagnosis early or if you're having
to jump through more hoops to get it or whatever
the situation might be, then, you know, potentially the outcomes
could be or dire.

S9 (01:06:18):
Yeah, absolutely. We find that our regional and our remote
areas tend to have higher health risks for patients, including
more chronic diseases and death.

S1 (01:06:26):
And actually, that's sort of statistically proven, isn't it, these days.
I mean, it is people in the, you know, city
areas or more metropolitan areas that get a better health outcome.

S9 (01:06:36):
Yeah, absolutely. We people within metro areas have got higher
levels of access to their healthcare. But even they tend
to be lazy. So if they don't have things like
digital health tech at their fingertips to be able to
access and book a doctor's appointment or have a tele
consultation on their phones, even they might delay it. Now
take that entire situation and place that into a community

(01:06:56):
where they don't have that leisure. They don't have that
flexibility because they're limited by their internet access, for example.
It just leads to worse outcomes.

S1 (01:07:04):
Is this the people of all ages? I'm thinking maybe the,
you know, without, uh, you know, stereotyping. Perhaps older people
might be even more impacted.

S9 (01:07:13):
Well, definitely. The elderly are more impacted in the general
use of technology and finding that a little bit more
difficult in some cases. But it's absolutely not just limited
to the senior community. We find that even younger generations
who live in regional and remote areas are limited in
their accessibility.

S1 (01:07:30):
What about as far as, um, maybe people with disabilities
or people who, for whatever reason, aren't as skilled digitally
as might otherwise be the case. Again, sort of a
double disadvantage.

S9 (01:07:41):
Yeah, absolutely. So there's still a lot of people within
not just regional and remote areas, but also metro areas
who struggle with digital literacy or have basic access needs
that aren't being met. And this is why it's imperative
the solutions that are being used within these communities are
co-designed with community members. It needs to take the individuals
that it's addressing and keep them in mind, whether that

(01:08:03):
be the indigenous community, seniors, those with disabilities. Everybody needs
to be involved in saying what the innovation needs to
be and how it needs to be implemented to actually
meet those needs.

S1 (01:08:14):
Are we kind of almost on a bit of a
slippery slope in a sense that the more technology advances,
the more the divide grows.

S9 (01:08:21):
The more technology advances, the more opportunity there is to
be used within areas. But we end up not being
able to catch up because accessibility to broadband or the
fact that we've got mobile blackspots and things like that,
they haven't been addressed. So without addressing the infrastructure. It
is hard to roll out those digital health techs that
are available to improve people's access.

S1 (01:08:42):
So what's the answer? Or where do we go? Or
how do we kind of try and right the ship?

S9 (01:08:47):
There are a number of different ways and directions that
can be approached, but I think the most important one
is that we have government involvement. It is imperative that
our state and federal governments actually commit to digital equity
with the National Rural Health Strategy and put public health
as a priority, and this means investing in connectivity with
broadband upgrades and addressing mobile blackspots, as well as supporting

(01:09:11):
for the implementation and adoption of Australian made digital solutions
like maskless, and funding digital health navigators so that they
can train and support the community in using those digital platforms.

S1 (01:09:22):
The great point you make about people being trained, isn't it?
Because I guess, you know, if they can be trained
or if people are out there with the expertise to
be able to help, that's that's got to be a
good thing.

S9 (01:09:34):
Yeah. And if we don't have people actually training and
the training can come from a number of different areas,
mind you, if we don't have that training there, then
despite having the digital solutions implemented in a regional community,
the individuals will still be left behind.

S1 (01:09:48):
What about the doctors themselves? Are they kind of on
board with this, or are they kind of aware that
they might be, um, you know, at a slight disadvantage
or maybe more than a slight disadvantage to their counterparts
in the city areas?

S9 (01:10:01):
Absolutely. I think doctors are working. Regional and remote areas
are truly superstars. They make the most of a very,
very disadvantaged system that they are using. We find that
in a lot of cases, these sort of clinicians are using, um,
software that is not fit for purpose. It is not
Australian based. It doesn't have Australian billing or funding models

(01:10:21):
in mind. It doesn't have connectivity with other um disciplines
or other practitioners to be able to send data across.
And it's still very much paper based in many cases.
So without empowering our clinicians with the software and the
technology that they need to actually provide better healthcare, we
can't expect them to do more than they're doing, and

(01:10:43):
they're doing as much as they can, considering their limitations.

S1 (01:10:47):
You talk about an Australian solution, Australia's solutions. They're there.
Have we got the the expectation, the skills to be
able to implement such a such, such ways of operating.

S9 (01:10:58):
Absolutely. Speaking from like from our perspective, Mastercard is an
Australian made and built solution. We've been in the we've
been in the company as a company. We've been around
for about 30 years in Australia, and we focus on
making sure that we have software that is designed with
the Australian healthcare market in mind and Australian patients in
mind to address their needs, because we recognise the solutions

(01:11:21):
that are imported from overseas, whether it be from Canada
or the UK or the US, they don't necessarily work
well with high speed internet. They are far too costly
for small clinics to run, and they reflect a funding
model or medico legal models that don't actually suit Australian
care delivery.

S1 (01:11:38):
That's a bit of an indictment.

S9 (01:11:39):
It is a bit wordy.

S1 (01:11:42):
Okay. Well, I mean, so I mean, I guess those
that might be and we go around Australia on the
Vision Australia radio network. So those people living in country areas,
I guess, you know, knocking on their door of their
politician or I mean, you know, doctors maybe getting a
bit more organised in terms of perhaps lobbying can, can

(01:12:02):
is that sort of things that can happen or can
that can help.

S9 (01:12:05):
Any sort of exposure is good exposure, right. We need
to be able to ensure that as a community, we
are vocal about what our needs are and what we
need to be changed to make sure that we are
receiving the healthcare that we deserve. And clinicians who are
at the forefront of delivering this need to also have
a voice and say what their limitations are so that
they can actually be addressed so that the communities aren't

(01:12:27):
left behind.

S1 (01:12:27):
So I guess you feel like you're doing your bit,
but maybe you'd like a bit more support or a
bit more, um, uh, sort of, um, impetus to the
work that you're doing.

S9 (01:12:35):
There is always work to do. Um, you try as
we might, we're not the only cog in this system.
So we can only we can only speak up and
actually make sure that as a community, everybody's aware of
what the limitations are, the impacts of them, and the
fact that there are alternatives available. But we can't do
change alone. It has to be a group effort. Everybody
needs to get behind it.

S1 (01:12:55):
Do you feel like you've got the ear of politicians?

S9 (01:12:58):
We can only hope so. We've done enough of these
to hope that we've had enough visibility. But it's, um,
politicians will always do what they need to be doing
in their current position.

S1 (01:13:07):
Yeah, well, and of course, I guess I when it
comes to sort of proportional representation, there are more politicians
in city areas or metropolitan areas rather than country areas.
So I guess, you know, those in the country have
got to maybe push a bit harder or pull their
weight a bit more, you know, sort of disproportionately so.

S9 (01:13:26):
Well, every, every sort of, um, bit of lobbying, whether
it be from politicians or from the community, everything makes
a difference. So as long as we can all get
behind it together, we can only hope for a change.

S1 (01:13:37):
Yeah, people can find out more from your website.

S9 (01:13:39):
Yeah, our website will definitely invite people to understand a
little bit more about the solutions that are available, whether
that be the global health website or the Masterclass website.

S1 (01:13:47):
And you've got stuff there for for everyone, both patients
and clinicians, allied health professionals. There's something there for everyone
in terms of, um, you know, information that they can
benefit from.

S9 (01:13:57):
Absolutely. We have a number of different solutions available, personal
health records designed for actual patients so they can keep
track of their health and take it with them, irrespective
of which clinician they're dealing with. Connected care solutions to
allow for clinicians to be able to interact with other
disciplines and other clinicians as well, and secure messaging provider
as well. So we've got referral net to ensure that

(01:14:17):
data can be sent from clinicians to other providers in
a secure and encrypted fashion, not relying on faxes and emails.

S1 (01:14:24):
That is a bit yesterday. Is that hello. Good to
talk to you. Hopefully we'll be able to speak to
you again in the future.

S9 (01:14:30):
Looking forward to it. Peter, thank you so much for Mastercard.

S1 (01:14:33):
That's hilarious. Paul, there were some really interesting insights. And
maybe if you're in country areas and we do have
people listening out there, either you can spring into action
or if you'd like to find out more, we'll put
those details up with our show notes. Mastercard. Com is
the website or indeed you can always get in touch
with us and we can put you in touch with them.

S10 (01:14:52):
Hi, I'm Michael Roeger, Paralympic medalist, marathon athlete and multiple
world record holder, and you're listening to Leisure Link with
Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S1 (01:15:03):
Tom Warsop is the community engagement manager for Guardian Living.
When I find out a bit about them and the
services that they offer. Tom, great to meet you. Thank
you for your time.

S11 (01:15:12):
No worries, it's good to be on board with you.

S1 (01:15:14):
Just a bit about Guardian Living then you offer a
specialised disability accommodation.

S11 (01:15:19):
Yeah, so Guardian Living has been going for about eight
years now. Um, we were set up specifically to create
housing opportunities for people with disabilities through the NDIS system.
There's a particular part of that system called SDA Specialist
Disability Accommodation. And so that's the area that we specialise in.

S1 (01:15:38):
And when we talk about accommodation, of course, that's such
an important thing. So much news around homelessness or people
not being able to get into homes. So how does
one qualify to get into an SDA or how does
that kind of side of the equation work?

S11 (01:15:52):
So SDA is the part of the housing system for
people with disabilities that's funded directly by the NDIS itself.
So what people, um, need to do is they need
to be eligible for the NDIS and have a plan.
The usual process then is people identify that they want
to they need a new housing option. And so that

(01:16:14):
becomes a goal in their plan. And then what you
do is you submit what's called a home and living application,
which is actually about determining or describing what sort of
housing you're looking for and usually then what you'll get
in your plan is some resources, like for OTS who
can actually help to put together a functional assessment around

(01:16:35):
what particular housing requirements you might need, and that might
be anything from specialist access elements, um, both physical access
elements and things like communication issues. Um, and it also
might mean why there is a reason why the NDIS
should pay for your housing, rather than you might want
to just have housing from the public housing system or

(01:16:55):
the general market. So you get a house, home and
living application into the NDIS. You get the resources then
to help to describe what housing supports you might need.
And then what you do is you get a decision
from the application for an SDA specific request. So if

(01:17:16):
you can determine that you need a specialist housing response
that the NDIS should fund, then an application goes in
and the Hammond living branch then makes a decision about
what sort of SDA you might be qualifying for or
eligible for.

S1 (01:17:31):
What about the types of disability that people have?

S11 (01:17:34):
Yeah, so there are different types of disabilities that people
might have. As I said, one of the most obvious
ones is if people have got particular access needs. So
if they're in a wheelchair, for example, and they need
wider doors, if they need support with transferring from their
bed to their chair, they might need, um, capacity for
a ceiling hoist in their bedroom. But if they have

(01:17:55):
got communication issues, for example, if they've got limited verbal capacity,
we may need to set up specialist ways in which
they can communicate with their support workers, particularly if those
support workers aren't with them in the house where they're
living at the time. So there's a whole range of those.
The other category of SDA just to, um, mention is

(01:18:17):
what we call robust housing. So there are four different
categories of housing that are funded through the NDIS system,
and robust housing is built specifically for people who may
have behaviours of concern. So they may be somebody with
a complex autism presentation, for example, and they may need

(01:18:37):
ways in which the house itself can be made secure
and that security might be for the person themselves or
it might be for their workers. So, for example, a
robust housing option may have exit doors so that there's
a second door out of a room just in case
somebody's behavior is endangering their staff member or endangering themselves.

(01:18:58):
So there's a range of different SDA housing that you
can be eligible for. And then what we do as
an SDA provider is we build certain types of housing.
Either we build them on the basis that we think
there will be demand for them. But more and more now,
we're hoping to be able to identify what sort of
housing people need in particular and then build to those needs.

S1 (01:19:20):
Well, I was it's going to ask you about that, Tom.
That's a great point you make there. Like in terms
of it being, you know, person centered. So it's not
like we've got this. Do you think you can fit in.
You're kind of trying to build or uh, provide what
people are wanting.

S11 (01:19:34):
Yeah. So when the NDIS set up, as everybody kept
on saying it was, you know, building the airplane while
they were trying to fly it. So a lot of
the initial work was done about, okay, well we think
we know what people need. So we build our product
and then what we look for is seeking people who
are eligible for that product. So Guardian living ourselves, we

(01:19:54):
started by building, um, apartment developments. So that's where you
might have a single apartment living on your own in
a big apartment development. We might have, you know, anywhere
between 6 and 10 apartments for people to live in.
And then there'll be an extra apartment in that apartment block,
which is staffed 24 hours a day so that people
can live independently as much as they can, but they

(01:20:16):
can call on a staff member if they haven't got
anybody with them at the time, and there's an unexpected emergency. Or,
you know, they need somebody to help with a particular
activity that wasn't planned.

S1 (01:20:27):
So it's a kind of a fairly flexible thing. Or
what's your kind of NDIS plan is established with this
accommodation being part of it? That's kind of it sort
of almost indefinitely or until circumstances change.

S11 (01:20:39):
So people get, um, they get their SSDI eligibility and
they're then basically what we'd call a market. They go
out to market to look for something that they can
that will suit them. That's the sort of the formal process.
The SDA eligibility stays with the individual. So they get
that SDA eligibility in their plan. And so they then

(01:21:00):
can choose like for example, one of our houses. And
then we can we create a lease for them. Their
their leases like any other public housing lease would be.
And then people, if they choose to stay on there,
they can stay on there for as long as they like.
And then other people may decide after a little while
that they want to find a different sort of housing
solution so they can take their SDA with them and

(01:21:23):
actually set up a new lease with another company. And
it's like everything with any lease, there are conditions around
how much notice you have to give if you want
to leave things like that. But primarily it's trying to
set up a system whereby people can find their forever housing,
and if they can find that, and that's what we
have a product that will suit them, then they'll stay

(01:21:43):
there for as long as they need to. But also,
you know, people's needs change. So they might set up
a lease with us this year and then two years
down the track, they might have benefited from having, you know,
good housing that actually helps support their needs. And they
might find that they want to either move to another
place like anybody else in the community does, so they
can take their SDA eligibility with them and set that

(01:22:06):
up with somebody else.

S1 (01:22:07):
Fantastic. What about in terms of the quote unquote living arrangements?
Are you on your own? Can you choose to live
in a group if there's two of you as a couple,
if you like. How does all that work?

S11 (01:22:19):
So the aim is to give people as much choice
in housing as, as they as we can. So we
have different types of housing. So I mentioned the apartments
where people live on their own, or maybe they live
with a family member. We also have um, houses, which
might be for three people to share. Um, and then
the home and living branch at the NDIS declares your

(01:22:41):
eligibility either to live alone or to live with others,
so that eligibility is partly what determines which sort of
housing you can actually apply for. And we try to
be a bit flexible, though, because often people might want
to live on their own, but they're given a three
person shared outcome, and we then try and figure out
whether we can make that work for them, either from

(01:23:04):
the point of view of the income that's generated because
of their shared eligibility, and whether that matches the, um,
housing that we've developed or, for that matter, if the
supports that are in their plan, if they're given a
like an outcome which says you need to share with
two other people, well, they often need to share their
supports with two other people too. So sometimes a bit

(01:23:26):
of a bit of a puzzle, trying to figure out
whether the support provider can make that support funding work
if they want to live on their own too.

S1 (01:23:33):
You gave a great insight into the beginning of the setup,
if you like. What about in terms of geographically choosing
where you'd like to live? I guess I'm thinking about
people who might have, uh, doctors and other services sort
of close to where they are at the moment, or
indeed if they work that, that sort of thing. What
about the kind of, uh, choice as far as location goes?

S11 (01:23:54):
Yeah.

S6 (01:23:54):
Well, that's.

S11 (01:23:55):
That's a big goal for us is to be able
to provide housing which is well located so that people,
you know, don't have to spend a lot of time
travelling to things that they might do day to day
and that medical stuff, or it could be just, um,
activities or workplace are involved in. And the SDI system
has what's called a location factor, which provides certain amounts

(01:24:17):
of money on return depending on where you live. I
think the biggest challenge, though, is this system is set
up so that the private sector actually funds the housing
and then gets paid back over 20 years through the
NDIS system. And the big challenge at the moment, because
of the cost of land and housing development at the moment,
is some locations are just prohibitively expensive. And while some

(01:24:42):
of the location factors, you know, do make a bit
of a a way of getting sort of more expensive
housing or expensive locations found, we're finding in the market
that unfortunately, a lot of the places where you can
build for a decent return on investment are not exactly
in the most, you know, centralised parts of the major

(01:25:03):
metropolitan centres. But, you know, if you're willing to live
in a place where you've got, you know, like some
people are very keen to live in regional Victoria. Some
people really like living out in the suburbs. Some people
like living in the city. And sometimes the type of
housing that can be built will be determined by the location.
So in the inner city, you probably have to think

(01:25:25):
about an apartment development, because then you can get a
return on investment for multiple units on the one block,
whereas further out you can build like smaller scale housing
and still make that work financially.

S1 (01:25:37):
So many things we take into account. Tom, fascinating. Thank
you so much for explaining that. Really appreciate that. Now
people can find out more from your website.

S11 (01:25:44):
Yeah that's right. It's just ww.com and all of our
contact details are there. Happy to have conversations with people
because it can be more complicated than you want it
to be. And part of our job is to help
people sort of steer their way through into the housing
they need. So very happy to talk to anybody who
might have questions.

S1 (01:26:04):
Brian. Well, thanks today. Thanks, Tom.

S11 (01:26:06):
All right. Thank you very much for your time.

S1 (01:26:07):
That is Tom Warsop, who's the community engagement manager for
Guardian Living. Guardian living. Com is the website, as always,
that information up with our show notes. Very sad to
hear that Matt Cowdrey OAM, champion Paralympian and current member
for Colton, has decided not to contest next year's election

(01:26:31):
in March. Certainly a loss for the Liberal Party, a
loss for the state. Whether Matt comes back in years
to come, we'll find out. But going to be the
assistant chef de mission for the Commonwealth Games next year.
But deciding not to go on as far as, um,
contesting next year's election goes. Big loss for the Liberal Party,
big loss for South Australia. Good luck with whatever you

(01:26:52):
do in the future, Matt. Uh, did our premier, Peter Malinauskas,
stubbed his toe a bit during the week when he
was talked about Frank Pangallo and kind of pointing out
his age. And is this the future? I'm sure many
who might be close to 70, as Frank is, or
in their 70s or 80s ratings feel like they've got
a future, so maybe a bit of a misspeak or

(01:27:14):
a misstep from Premier Malinauskas making a little bit of
fun in a way of people in their 70s and
not being part of the future. I wonder what Nat
Cook might have thought of that. Minister for ageing well
here in South Australia, perhaps a little word in the
Premier's ear. Nat okay. Some birthdays before we go. In fact,

(01:27:36):
before we do the birthdays we would do some quotes
because that's the order that we play this game in.
A quote from Meredith. Thanks, Meredith. Haven't heard from you
for a while. Meredith quote is freedom is nothing but
a chance to be better. So, Meredith, thank you so
much for your quote. And Terry has sent one through Terry,

(01:27:56):
who's been in touch over the years, played 76 trombones
on his 76th birthday. I'm sure Terry thinks there's a
future if you're 70 plus, like Frank Pangallo might be
Premier Terry's quote is do not fear going forward slowly.
Fear only when you're standing still. Terry, thank you so

(01:28:18):
much for that. Some birthdays. Before we go, here's a
list of birthdays or overpriced hashtag Campbelltown senior citizen of
the year. Yoga on the radio with Trevor. Having a birthday. Birthday. River.
Libby Kosmala OAM hashtag nine times Paralympic gold medallist. 13
Paralympic Games. Happy birthday to you Libby. Hope things are

(01:28:41):
going really well for you. Anna Gagliardi spread is having
a birthday very much involved with orientation and mobility for
people with disabilities. Aaron Lyall having a birthday. Champion blind cricketer,
great massage therapist, singer songwriter, guitarist. One of those people
that makes everyone else feel inadequate. Happy birthday to you, Aaron.

(01:29:02):
Hope life is going well for you. And Ginger, the
greatest taxi driver in the world, having a birthday this week.
He'd be pretty happy after Shubman Gill's big 250 plus
in the test match in England. Happy birthday to you, Jinder.
Catch up with you during the week and we'll discuss
Cameron Green batting at three for Australia. That's it for

(01:29:22):
the program. Sam, thanks so much for your help. Pam Green,
thanks so much for yours. Reminding you that link is
available on that favorite podcast platform of yours. Before then, though,
coming up very soon. If you're listening through 1190 7 a.m.
in Adelaide, Vicki Cousins is here with Australian Geographic. Don't
touch that dial. Be kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and

(01:29:45):
look out for others. All being well. Let's look back
at the same time next week on Vision Australia Radio
and the Reading Radio Network. This is leisurely.

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