19 Jul 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:24):
It's just gone 5:00. And with Prime Minister Albanese getting
the band to play a bit of midnight oil in China.
Peter Drucker saying the power and the passion is on
in the next 90 minutes. Here on Lesley on Vision
Australia Radio 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide. Online at. Radio,

(00:45):
digital and adelaide-darwin to the Community radio plus that look
for Vision Australia Adelaide, also through the Reading Radio Network.
Our friends listening through 103.9 FM in estimates in Western Australia,
and also the tremendous support we get from Disability Media Australia.
You can find out more about them at. Peter Greco

(01:10):
saying thank you so, so much for making time to
tune in. This program come to you from Garner Land.
Coming up very shortly, we'll catch up with Ben Hood,
the shadow minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Talk about e-scooters.
What about them coming onto the streets and footpaths? What
does Ben think about that? Also see if we get
a chance to talk about the taxi subsidy scheme and

(01:33):
access cabs. We'll catch up with Lesley Heaney from Queensland Brewhouse.
The Dickinson Memorial Competition is open for you to enter.
If you can write, you might be winning some money.
We'll catch up with Brett Matthews from Guide Dogs in Queensland.
They've just launched a kitchen, an accessible kitchen, a really

(01:53):
state of the art kitchen. Brett will tell us about that.
Pat Mitchell will join us. Talk about diabetes in particular
type one diabetes. We'll catch up with Aaron here from
Guide Dogs SA. NT podcast is on very soon. A
chance for you to get out and about with your
friends and your pets, and maybe getting a little fitter,
helping raise funds for a great cause. Felicity steer will

(02:15):
join us. Felicity is got work at the Sala exhibition.
Coming up. Felicity is at the Henley South. And you
might be able to get a chance to get along
and see Felicity paint and speak about. Sala will catch
up with Tamlyn Weatherald and also Monique Russell. They are
from the creative organisation and they've got together to put

(02:38):
on their Sala exhibition. You might like to attend that
as well. We highly recommend it. Well, I'm really delighted
to welcome to the program, Ben Hood here in South Australia,
who is the Shadow Minister for infrastructure, transport, hospitality and
a few other things. Ben, great to meet you for

(03:00):
the first time. Thank you for speaking to us.

S2 (03:02):
Wonderful to be with you. And hello to all your listeners.

S1 (03:04):
Yeah, Ben, there's some interesting changes that took part as
far as how I was going to say our roads,
but more our footpaths in South Australia last weekend.

S2 (03:11):
That's right Peter. So last weekend it was gazetted that
personal mobility devices or what your listeners would probably know
as e-scooters are now legal on South Australian roads. Prior
to July, they weren't. You could operate one on a
private property, but you couldn't write it on the road,
although some people still did do that. So this was

(03:32):
passed through Parliament last year. The government moved that through
and now people can utilise their personal mobility devices on
public roads. They can also be ridden on footpaths, as
you've said, and there is a number of rules around
that with regards to speed and, you know, not operating
a mobile phone at any time, making sure you wear
a helmet, have flashing lights and all of those things

(03:54):
as well. So this is now in effect all through
South Australia.

S1 (03:58):
What are your thoughts about that? Because obviously, as far
as this program goes, this radio station has been obviously
very much focused on people with disabilities. People might be
blind or low vision. I guess we've got to kind
of take into account what, uh, the majority of the
public want to do. But also the safety angle is
so important as well.

S2 (04:13):
It certainly is. Peter, look, and I think we've seen
some reports throughout Australia of some tragic cases of especially
young people losing their life on these devices. And it's,
of course, incumbent on the person who is utilising them
to ensure that they have the capacity to ride them,
that they're doing so in a sensible way, in accordance
with the law. But you do raise a good point,
and it's something that we asked the minister many times

(04:35):
throughout the debate with regards to safety of pedestrians, most
importantly on the footpath. Now, of course, councils can say
that these devices, through their own bylaws and regulations, cannot
be ridden on footpaths. Now that's up to individual councils.
And that was advice that we got from the government.
But in terms of recourse for someone who is maybe

(04:56):
inadvertently struck by one of these scooters, there currently isn't
any insurance products that really cover these. And this is
something that the Aria spoke about. It's something that we
spoke about as well, and we moved some amendments or
attempted to move some amendments to this legislation to include
e-scooters in the nominal defendant scheme. So for your listeners
who might not know what that is, the nominal defendant

(05:18):
scheme exists that if you're in a car accident and
the person who caused that accident flees the scene or
they're unregistered, there is recourse for someone who is injured
to be able to get some compensation from the nominal
defendant scheme. And we, as the opposition, believe that until
there is such insurance products that these scooters should have
been included in that. Now, the government didn't support that.

(05:39):
They had their reasons for it, which was disappointing. But
the government did say that they would conduct a 12
month review of this legislation. So we would be looking
at July next year to see if there would be
any changes to it. But it is at the front
of mind to ensure that all of our pedestrians are safe.
And of course, that especially means those with disability to

(06:00):
be able to feel safe on our footpaths. And that's
something we'll be going to be watching very, very closely
as these laws have now come into effect.

S1 (06:08):
Because I guess one of the things that happens in
situations like this then, is that the critical incidences are reported,
but we never hear about the misses or we very
rarely hear about the misses.

S3 (06:17):
Well, that's right, because the.

S2 (06:18):
Misses might be known just by the person who got
involved or their immediate family. And of course, this is
something that we urge the government to do, was to
ensure that there is a very strong education package around
the use of these devices and to ensure that people
know what is expected of them when they're riding around. Now,
of course, we do have bikes on our roads and
people can get a fair old clip, but it's incumbent

(06:42):
on the fitness of that person to depending on how
quick they're going. Of course, on e-scooters. You don't necessarily.

S1 (06:48):
Yeah.

S2 (06:48):
Good point. You can you can get it up to
a fair old clip. Now of course there are laws
in this new legislation and in, in what has been
passed by regulation on set standard speeds and those types
of things. And that will certainly be something for Sapol to, um,
to enforce. force, and we certainly encourage the government to
continue that education piece to ensure that people are doing

(07:08):
the right thing. But we need to understand, of course,
and you made this point that we balance what the
majority of South Australians would like to see, and a
lot of people did want to see being able to
use these personal mobility devices. They're a good last and
first mile mode of transport, getting to a place that
you need to, that you don't necessarily need a car.
I'm always encouraging of other modes of transport because we

(07:29):
are in a cost of living crisis, and public transport
is a cost of living measure. But of course, that's
not just for e-scooters. That's to ensure that most especially
our disabled community, have access to clean and affordable and
efficient and safe public transport as as much as anyone else.
And we know that that's been an issue, um, with
the access cabs over the last, um, well, for quite

(07:51):
a long time, actually, it has been an issue, and
we've seen that to raise its head a lot, uh,
in recent times.

S1 (07:57):
You sort of come back to that point in a second. But,
I mean, the other thing is with the, uh, with
the sort of The legislation and the rules, if you like,
that are in. I mean that's great, but and and
the police do a wonderful job but you know, they
can't be everywhere.

S2 (08:09):
No, they can't be everywhere. So it is it is
incumbent on the people that, uh, that are using these
devices to do a proper job in how they operate
them and ensure that they're doing it in a safe
way and keeping their eye on, um, the people that, uh,
that are on mobility scooters and are just hoping to
use the footpath, uh, in a safe manner. Again, this
is why we are wanting to move some legislation to

(08:30):
ensure that people, if they did come foul of, uh,
an accident with a, with an e-scooter, um, not riding one,
but being hit by one, that they would have some
recourse there. But unfortunately the government didn't support that. And, uh,
the government does have, uh, the numbers in the lower
house to be able to do whatever they would like
to move. And uh, and crossbench, um, also supported the
government ensuring that, um, there would be a 12 month

(08:52):
review as well.

S1 (08:53):
Cross our fingers and hope nothing happens for the next
12 months. And I guess if that's the case, then
they probably keep going on after that. But you you
touched on the access cards issues. I've been doing this
program a fair while, and I mean, there's never been
a time when it's been really good. Yeah, sometimes it
gets worse and sometimes it's just bad. What are your
thoughts regarding some of the changes, particularly regarding drivers and
who they can pick up and how people can use

(09:15):
the the drivers of their choice?

S3 (09:17):
Yeah, it's a it's a great question, Peter.

S2 (09:18):
And look, it's something that, um, has come across my
desk since, um, I've been in the portfolio of transport
and infrastructure, talking with the access cab industry, but also
talking with users of access Cabs and, you know, the
disabled community advocacy groups that have been contacting me on
that as well. Now, the government had a Public Transport
Act review, uh, which finalised in August last year. It

(09:40):
did pinpoint the real structural and fundamental issues in the
in the access cab industry. Uh, but when they moved
their legislation through to amend the Passenger Transport Act primarily
to um include the taxi buyback scheme, uh, and to
open up Uber to all of South Australia, there wasn't
a lot in there for access cabs, which we found surprising.
And of course, we had that terrible incident on North

(10:02):
Terrace where that mother was trying to get her son
to an appointment. Um, they'd flown down from Darwin or
Alice Springs, I believe, from the Northern Territory and, uh,
or maybe Queensland even. And, uh, they just couldn't get
an access cab, and they had to rely on a
good Samaritan, a truck driver, to get them to where
they needed to be. Now, that caused the minister, uh, Mr. Koutsantonis,
to very quickly move and to remove, uh, the, um,

(10:25):
preferred driver, elements of access cabs. And while I know
that the minister was, um, had every good intention, um,
in what they were doing, they've had this opportunity before
to do something about access cabs and they have missed
that opportunity. And now we're seeing a very reactionary response
to these issues, which is causing some real distress for
people in South Australia. I only met with a disabled

(10:45):
fellow by the name of Ian, who, um, had a
preferred driver for five years, felt comfortable, felt safe. He
was always punctual. And now that Ian can't rely on
that preferred driver, uh, he's had some really terrible situations. One,
in fact, where he ordered an access cab for the
next day. One rocked up, two minutes later, the other
rocked up, and then they proceeded to have an argument

(11:06):
for 20 minutes, although they couldn't get to his appointment.
I've heard from others in the disability sector, where they've
been to a concert and has got close to maybe
11:00 at night, and they just haven't been able to
get a cab, and they're now booking accommodation in the
city because they just can't rely on it. So there
is some fundamental issues that we need to address here.

(11:27):
Now the minister has said, you know, there he is saying,
you know, some corruption and other things in in the
access cab industry. That may be true, but we also
need to take into account that our disabled community, some
of our most vulnerable Australians, need the surety of having
reliable and safe transport with the access cabs. And we
think there there must be a better way to ensure

(11:48):
that people can still utilise their preferred drivers.

S1 (11:51):
Ben, we had Mr. Koutsantonis on just after that announcement
was made and I asked him about the point of
safety or, you know, people get a good relationship with
their driver and that's really, really important. You know where
I'm going. I know you're going to turn up. It
all works out really well. And he said, well, people
can write to us and we can sort of examine
case by case, but okay, that's kind of cool. But
some people aren't in the position to be able to

(12:14):
kind of put their case articulately that it can be considered.
And they probably think, well, I'll just yeah, I'll just
put up with it for now. So it's probably not the, the,
the best solution that could be come up with.

S3 (12:25):
No. And I think.

S2 (12:26):
Peter, that solution really was um, very much like how
quickly the minister, um, moved to change the preferred driver rules. Uh,
this email system, it just seems to be a little
bit of an afterthought. And I don't think that it's
right that our disabled community, most especially, are treated as
an afterthought. We've known the access cab industry has had
some real issues for a long time. We know that

(12:48):
disabled people need to be able to get around and be, um,
and live the life every other South Australian lives Leaves.
Disabled people love. Still love. You know, going to music
and cinema and getting out with their family and enjoying nature.
And it's important that they have that ability to do that.
And we know these issues have been bubbling along for
a long time, and I don't think that the email
system and being able to get a, um, you know,

(13:10):
a leave pass to have preferred driver isn't a particularly
good measure or a well thought out one. And I
think the government there really needs to go back to
the drawing board and reconsider how they are going to
handle this, because it does come down to safety. It
comes down to just the knowledge that this is someone that,
you know, a friendly face, um, that, that you can
rely on. Uh, and I'm not saying that other access

(13:32):
cab drivers aren't, but we know that there is, uh,
real issues with people not turning up if they don't
think they're going to get a lifting fee and, and
all of those other issues. So those preferred drivers have
really been giving an avenue for disabled people to to
get out into the world and to enjoy their life
as they should be able to. And, and that seems
to have now been taken away for, for a great

(13:52):
number of people.

S1 (13:53):
Just before you go. And I'll give you something more
time than I said I was going to, uh, the, uh,
the taxi subsidy scheme, it's been set at $20, so
you pay 20, and then the government makes up the
other 20 for anything over a $40 fee that's been
capped at $20 for a while. Any thoughts regarding particularly
going to the next election, what the Liberal Party might do?

S2 (14:13):
Yeah, we're looking at, uh, all of these things, Peter,
because again, it's it is important that, um, that our
disabled community feel heard and that they have access, uh, to, uh,
to the things that that other South Australians have access to.
As I said, we were all human beings. We love
to enjoy our family, get out in nature and and
enjoy the pursuits that we have outside of, uh, our

(14:33):
work or our duties at home. So it is something, uh,
that I'm looking very closely at how we can improve
the access cab industry, how we can ensure that, um,
those lifting fees are affordable. Uh, everyone is, um, hurting
at the moment. Um, uh, you know, energy costs, uh, rents,
It's mortgages. All those types of things affect the disabled

(14:54):
community as much as affect, um, South Australia as a whole.
So we need to ensure that, um, that, uh, things
are put in place, uh, that, that people can get
access to, uh, to the transport needs, uh, that they require.
And that's not just access cabs as well, but that's
thinking about our whole public transport system. How does it
work best? Um, for all South Australians, including the disabled community,

(15:18):
how can we ensure that um acts better and serves
a purpose there? I'm, uh, I'm a regional, uh, MP. Uh,
we don't have particularly good public transport here in Mount Gambier.
We do have a system, but it's 9 to 5
and it's not is not particularly good for disabled community
here in Mount Gambier. Uh, and I am very passionate
about ensuring that, uh, public transport works not just for

(15:41):
those in Metro, um, but throughout South Australia, not just
for those who are able bodied, but for everybody.

S1 (15:46):
And again, thank you so much for all your time.
We appreciate that. Hopefully we can speak to you again
in the future.

S2 (15:51):
Wonderful. Thank you. Peter.

S1 (15:52):
That's a bento there. Ben is the shadow spokesperson for
infrastructure and transport and a few other things. And, uh. Well,
great event to join us this afternoon. Well, it's been
great news for the, uh, in Queensland. They've just launched
their Dickinson Memorial Literary Competition for this year. Let's chat

(16:15):
about it with the, uh, manager for business development and fundraising,
Lesley Heaney. Lesley, lovely to meet you. First time we
spoke and thanks for your time.

S4 (16:23):
Hello. It's nice to meet you as well, Peter.

S1 (16:26):
Yeah. This is very much a time honoured event, and
that's a bit of a cliche, but I love the fourth, uh, iteration.

S4 (16:32):
Absolutely. I think just a bit older than me.

S5 (16:36):
Well, I'm.

S1 (16:36):
Nearly as old as it.

S5 (16:37):
Or not quite. But anyway.

S4 (16:39):
It's a real honour for us to host this beautiful event.
Has been the owner of this beautiful, beautiful event since 2014. And,
you know, we're really, really proud to have it in
its 104th year.

S1 (16:50):
Who can enter? What are you looking for? All that
sort of stuff?

S4 (16:53):
Yeah, absolutely. So who can enter? We're all about inclusivity
here at Braille House, so actually everyone can enter. But
there's six categories. The first five are open only for
people in Australia who are blind or have low vision.
And there's different categories for adults senior students, junior students
and even a People's Choice category, which is open to everyone,

(17:16):
including sighted readers as well.

S1 (17:18):
Okay. And then there's different categories within those categories as well.

S4 (17:22):
Absolutely. So it's a creative writing piece, you know. So
we want to keep it broad to encourage that beautiful
creative writing, which I think we all should practice more often.
So you can do a story, a poem, a song lyric,
a Limerick. You don't hear many of those these days,
but we've been practicing writing, some in our team here
and even a blog. So, you know, we're not too
critical on the exact creative writing format. We just want

(17:45):
to really encourage, you know, that creative writing. We think
it's good for the brain. If you are a Braille writer,
it's a really great way to practice and, you know,
be encouraged. But, you know, all in all, particularly in
the world of AI, which is not allowed, it's great
to step back and actually take some time to use
your mind to write creatively.

S1 (18:02):
Well, Mao, I congratulate you on not allowing AI. I
think that's so very that's very, very progressive.

S4 (18:07):
It is, isn't it? You know, although AI has its place,
this is about humans writing stories. So.

S1 (18:13):
So you can choose your topic and you can choose
your kind of format if you like. What about from there?
What happens from there? I put in my entry. Well,
we'll let people know how they can enter in the
first place, but what about from there?

S4 (18:25):
So there is a theme. We choose a theme every
year and before. Note the very first year, the theme
104 years ago was self-reliance. So we always take that
into account. It's voted on all of that. So this
year the theme is discovery, which, you know, we think
is a really cool theme. It's still really broad. Uh,
you know, it involves, you know, things of discovery, whether

(18:46):
those internal, educational, imaginative, geographical. Um, you know, it's amazing
what you can apply that to. That's your starting point.
But after that. So we'll close entries on Friday the
19th of September at 4 p.m.. And then after that,
judging and public voting for the People's Choice. So we'd
love people to get involved in that run until mid October,

(19:08):
when we'll announce our winners on the 24th of October.

S1 (19:11):
Fantastic. So that's great. So you've got your kind of
official judges, but also a public opinion category as well.

S4 (19:17):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. So I can't wait to read
some of those and see what other people have come
up with. It's one of the very special parts of
our role, and we hope there's lots of them, and
we hope it takes us a long time for sure.

S1 (19:28):
And across the, uh, the age range, as well as
there is a category for very young writers, but also, um,
you know, some not so young.

S4 (19:35):
Maybe not 104 years old. That would be blessed if
we had one from someone who was submitting from the
very first year again.

S1 (19:41):
So, uh, 1921, it would have been 104 years ago.
I've done the math still for like. I mean, in
a sense, the more things change, the more they stay
the same.

S4 (19:50):
You're absolutely right. And it is a you know, it's
a beautiful thing.

S1 (19:53):
Yeah, terrific. Now, um, I guess without putting the cart
before the horse. Leslie, there's, uh, there's some nice prizes
if people are successful.

S4 (20:02):
Yes. Absolutely. Right. So each category is of all six categories.
The first place winner will take away $350, and the
second place is $150 as well. So not only that,
you also get a bit of notoriety where you are
published in a special anthology as well. So people get
to see your work and read it and make sure

(20:23):
that your voice is heard.

S1 (20:25):
That's tremendous, isn't it? So, uh, things have opened now.
People can enter now.

S4 (20:30):
Yeah, absolutely. So you can enter. We keep it nice
and easy so you can submit your entry in a
way that suits you. So we do have an online
platform for submitting entries on our website which is brailowsky.
But we also do accept entries via email. You could
post them in as well if that's suitable to you,

(20:51):
particularly if you're, you know, doing this on a traditional bra.
But you can also submit your entries in word so
they don't have to be in Braille. As I said,
you can do them in Braille or even a Duxbury
reader file. We accept all of those.

S1 (21:04):
Oh, that's very 2025, Leslie. You've got all all bases covered.
How are things going at Brown House? I mean, I
know you do some wonderful work, and I personally know
of a number of people who do, uh, get, uh,
services from you guys. So how are things going there?

S4 (21:18):
Yeah, things here at Brown House are brilliant. We probably
our most notable thing that people access is our libraries. So,
you know, we're always keen to grow our, um, our
membership base, working really hard to add books that aren't
available in other locations as well. You know, we know
that there's other libraries, but we want to make sure
we complement each other. And, uh, yeah, library loans are

(21:40):
going up, which is just something that warms our hearts
so much. Evolving with digital files and all of that
education programs. You know, people learning Braille. Um, you know,
in a super flexible way. Um, all of that's growing, too.

S1 (21:53):
In terms of accessibility. There's so much more now as
far as accessibility goes. You talked about, you know, conventional
Braille if you like, but the digital braille, that Braille
if you like. And of course, that's much more compact
than uh, than, uh, you know, a post office full
of books are delivered to your home.

S4 (22:09):
That's right. Like, I think it's the Harry Potter order
of the Phoenix is 37 volumes long. So I'm not
a very tall person, Peter. And it probably is nearly
as tall as me. Um, but, uh, you know, we, um. Yeah,
we love having a good variety. And, uh, you know,
people still do borrow those physical books, but Braille, as
you say, is, you know, really popular, really convenient. Um,

(22:30):
you know, in the same way as, you know, people
have different options now to consume literature, which is, um,
you know, only a positive thing.

S1 (22:36):
Or having a quick chat before coming to ER. And
I said, I'm certainly a great advocate for Brown and
its organizations, its people like you that kind of keep
it alive. I mean, occasionally someone pops their head up
and thinks, oh, what do you need Brown for? Well,
you know, I just I just shout them down because
I'm not very polite, but, you know, it's it's it's
those that really love it that use it. I mean,
they're the ones that can really talk about it with

(22:58):
some authority or with some lived experience.

S4 (23:00):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I think someone said to
me the other day, Braille is their pen and paper,
you know, and even when I go to a lot
of business meetings and, you know, most people look, the
younger generation might, uh, might prove me wrong, but, you know,
everyone I know who's a similar age to me, you know, 104, um,
you know, they they always bring a pen and paper
still to a meeting, and, um, you know, that really

(23:23):
hits home to me. Um, you know, they make notes.
It's part of their thinking process and, uh, you know,
and all of that, it's it's a really powerful tool
for those who, um, you know, those who access it. Um,
and for us, we just see it as, you know,
a gateway to, to literacy, which, you know, opens up
a huge world of opportunity and, um, you know, and,
and delight as well. You know, um, we focus on

(23:45):
leisure reading as well as education. So, you know, it
goes across both those categories.

S1 (23:50):
Well, long may it be so. In fact, may it
be so forever now. Leslie, if people do want to
find out more, if they want to submit their entry,
or maybe someone's listening in and thinks, I know someone
that would be perfect to, uh, put an entry for that. Uh, what?
Where do we go? How can we find out more?

S4 (24:04):
Absolutely. So we've got our website, which is. Um, you
can find a page dedicated to the Dickinson Literary Memorial Competition. Um,
you can give us a call on 07 3848 5257.

S1 (24:23):
All right. We'll put those details up with our show notes.
So people have missed that. They can consult those notes
to get them. Leslie, good luck. And it'll be good
to keep in touch with you. Maybe when the winners
are announced, maybe pick out a winner that we can
speak to and get a bit of an idea of
what made it so we can maybe have a bit
of an advantage for next year for the 105th year?

S4 (24:40):
Absolutely. 105. That's right. So I can't wait to discover
the winner.

S1 (24:44):
All the best. Thanks for speaking to us.

S6 (24:46):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (24:47):
Leslie, have you there? Bit of a character. And certainly
if you're a character or if you could write like
a character, then how about have a go for that?
And all those things go up in our show notes.

S7 (24:57):
You're in elite company listening to Leslie here on Vision
Australia Radio, radio, digital radio.org and through the TuneIn radio app.

S1 (25:07):
Or really fantastic sounding event happened during the week thanks
to Guide Dogs Queensland. Let's chat about it with the
person who is right there, Brent Matthews. Brett, great to
meet you and thanks for your time.

S8 (25:17):
Pleasure to meet you as well. And thank you for
having me.

S1 (25:18):
Tell us about this. The launch of a kitchen hub.

S8 (25:21):
Yep. So yeah, we, um, had the big unveiling of
the new kitchen hub here at Guide Dogs Queensland. Uh,
was one of our grants from community Bank Sanford that
was very generous to be able to help us in
setting this up. It's quite an amazing space.

S1 (25:34):
Yeah. Well, great to mention, uh, that community Bank Sanford,
because obviously without support like this, it's pretty hard for
things like this to happen. What? Just a bit about it. Uh,
do you know much about the work that's gone into it?
We can talk about the the day and how that went. Uh,
but do you know much about the kind of background
of this? Have you had much of an input into that?

S8 (25:50):
Unfortunately, no. This was, uh, kind of. Yeah, we knew
it was in the works, which is probably as much
information as we had. I think they wanted it as
a bit of a let's wait and see. We have
something really big planned. And yeah, we have the big
unveiling on Monday.

S1 (26:03):
So it's kind of an accessible kitchen or it is
an accessible kitchen.

S8 (26:06):
It is. It's got a bunch of different varieties, a
bunch of new, um, really good, uh, appliances that are
just about completely accessible.

S1 (26:14):
Because that's one of the things, isn't it, Brent? I'm
sure you'd be aware that a number of, if you like, uh,
off the shelf items, uh, that, you know, people are
blind or low vision maybe don't find so accessible. So
it's good that there is stuff out there that is.

S8 (26:27):
Uh, 100%. I'm in that boat at the moment trying
to redo my kitchen. And, you know, some of the
things I have to look for, you just can't find
that in day to day appliances.

S1 (26:35):
Which is why some of the stuff that is in
this kitchen that makes it good.

S8 (26:38):
So I'll tell you the best thing that's in this
kitchen that I personally am going to buy one this weekend.
There is a talking air fryer in this kitchen. It's
got raised tactile buttons on the LED display. But when
you hit the buttons, it will actually tell you what
the button is and what's changing. So because of that, yeah,
I've got so many more options now. Um, and it's

(27:00):
something I'm definitely going to get. But that talking feature
has been an amazing addition to the kitchen.

S1 (27:05):
That's a great thing. And of course, air fryers are
becoming more and more popular. And I guess they've got
a bit of a healthy angle to them as well.

S8 (27:11):
I think they do. I'm I'm an air fryer convert.
I've had mine about four years and I do not
stop talking about it. It's the biggest thing I use
in the kitchen. So to finally have an accessible one,
it's just made my week.

S1 (27:21):
Okay, so what have you done until now without being
kind of rude, kind of just battered on and tried
to make the best of it.

S8 (27:27):
So I've got little tactile buttons on my on the
buttons on my air fryer, but I've got the buttons
for on start and air fry. So I don't know
what else the air fryer does. Other than those three buttons.
But with this new one, I can actually use every
single feature so I can start experimenting with the way
I cook and finally take control of that cooking.

S1 (27:47):
It's a great point, isn't it? Because as we kind
of touched on, sometimes it's hard to find these things
or you find something that is kind of okay, and
then you make your own sort of personal modifications to it,
which is kind of okay, but it's not really the
way it should be.

S8 (28:00):
Well, that's one of the beautiful things about this kitchen
is that some a lot of these appliances are actually
just straight off the shelf, but we're able to use
them in a way that makes them really accessible. Best
tool I can say would be the washing machine and
the dryer. I've had times where the dries finished and
I've realized I put that on the wrong setting. There
goes a whole load of washing. But these ones you

(28:21):
can actually use on an app on your phone. So
once you've made your phone accessible, the app becomes accessible
as well. So things like that straight off the shelf
can be really, really useful.

S1 (28:31):
That's a great point as well, isn't it? Because a
lot of apps these days with your with your smartphone,
they can be made accessible and they can be quite
easy to use because we all use our phones all
the time. So it's just a matter of navigating your
way around an accessible app. And it's it's pretty straightforward.

S8 (28:46):
Yeah, 100%. I think those accessible apps can be really,
really useful. And as you said, we all use the
phone every day. It's going to be the one thing
that's the most accessible to your needs. And being able
to put an app under your perfect accessibility conditions, I
think that's just a match made in heaven.

S1 (29:01):
Brett, tell us a bit about the day then who
was there. And I think you had some media coverage
and it seemed to have been quite positive as well,
because that's really important as well, isn't it, that that
the story that the media comes out with kind of paints?
People are blind or low vision in a positive light
that that's really important, isn't it?

S8 (29:16):
100%. It's getting the word out there that, hey, there's
these opportunities, there's this choice that you can have, and
it's not some crazy science fiction kind of theory to
have Accessible Kitchen. But on the day we were really lucky,
as you said, to have channel nine come out. Yeah,
that was absolutely amazing that they came out and they
wanted to be involved and engaged for letting not just

(29:36):
the low vision and blind community, but the general public
aware that such a kitchen hub exists. But we had
channel nine. We had some members of the community Bank, Sanford,
they came out and then we had some of our
OTS as well, some of the people that will be
teaching in that room. So they yeah, they showed us
what the room was about and what there is. And
it was quite a nice day.

S1 (29:54):
That's a great thing, isn't it? Because if you got
OTS that can kind of instruct you the right way
and I guess the safe way because, you know, let's
be honest, sometimes kitchens can be a dangerous place, and
you don't have to necessarily be blind to being the
kitchen to maybe cause yourself some strife. So if you
can be taught the right way, then that's got to
be a good thing as well.

S8 (30:13):
I completely agree, I think the safety aspect of what
this kitchen can do is going to open a lot
of doors.

S1 (30:17):
What about in terms of, um, the sort of response
from from people on the day? What was that like?

S8 (30:23):
I think the response from people on the day was really,
really nice. One, a lot of people were very surprised
to hear that these kind of appliances exist. Some people
knew that these appliances did exist, but they didn't know
it could be used in a way that was accessible.
So I think it was a real eye opening day
for them.

S1 (30:38):
Brent, just a little bit about yourself. Have you been
blind from a young age? What's your situation if you
don't mind sharing?

S8 (30:44):
I'm always more than happy to share. I think that
they don't like how much I share here at Guide
Dogs because I'm always talking about it, but no. So yeah,
28 at the moment, but I got diagnosed with Stargardt's
disease at 16. So it's a form of juvenile macular degeneration.
And it took me until I was about 18 or
19 before I was legally blind. And yeah, so I

(31:04):
had vision to start off with. I did most of my,
you know, teenage years with vision. It's only towards my
later life that I've actually lost it.

S1 (31:13):
What's that like particularly at 16, being told that because
I'm assuming you had just about started to drive or
were thinking about driving, and I guess that then becomes
the not right this day and age. Does it become
something that can happen, but maybe something in the future? Brent.

S8 (31:26):
Oh, it's it was definitely a big one. I actually
had 20 hours on my elves when I got no snow,
and it all kind of made sense why I kept
hitting curbs. We thought I was just a bad driver,
but turns out there was a medical reason and I
shouldn't have been driving in the first place. But it was.
It was a big one, I think. Um, for me
it was really interesting where once you reached that later

(31:46):
end of teenage years, you start to you leave home
and you get that immense independence of leaving home for me.
I left home, got the independence, but went blind and
lost the independence. So it's been a very interesting kind
of journey trying to build up my 20s.

S1 (32:00):
It's a very powerful way to put it. And, you know,
for a lot of people, of course, you know, listening
in tonight might lose their sight in the 60s, 70s, 80s.
It's kind of one thing. But, you know, at 16,
you probably think the whole of your life is ahead
of you or all these plans, and then all of
a sudden they've got to be adjusted, not necessarily, uh,
dispensed with, but they've got to be adjusted 100%.

S8 (32:21):
I well, I was a stereotypical 16 year old. I
was going to take on the world and I was
going to win because I was invincible at the time.
Didn't have to listen to anything that anyone said. But
then the real world came in and it said, you're
going to have to really learn how to do it. And,
you know, I'm just an ordinary guy now. I just
do things a little bit differently.

S1 (32:39):
Do you like the kitchen? Yeah. Getting back to the kitchen.
Do you like it? I mean, do you like cooking?
Is it one of your passions? Because, I mean, some
people really love it. Other people think, oh, gee, you know,
I like to eat, but, uh, can someone else do
the cooking?

S8 (32:50):
I do love cooking. And I think for the kitchen,
I absolutely love with the opportunities that it has and
what it is. I hate that it's only coming about
now because I could have used something like this a
couple of years ago. As I've slowly continued to lose vision,
I've stopped the variety and the different stuff that I'm
cooking because I just don't have that confidence anymore. Like
you look at, how am I supposed to cook a

(33:12):
chicken if I don't know when it's going to be done?
So to see that, hey, there are actually things that
I can do to make the kitchen accessible, it's really
reinvigorated that spirit of cooking. So I'm going to cook
something other than steak, which is going to be amazing.

S1 (33:25):
A lot of people listening in would kind of have some, uh,
things that, uh, they can use in their kitchen that
are kind of accessible. Um, think about, uh, you know,
talking scales, uh, talking thermometers, stuff like that. I mean,
I guess unless you're sort of in the, in the system,
it's like sometimes people don't necessarily know they're out there.

S8 (33:42):
Oh, 100%. Like, unless you know that it's there, you're
never going to know what it is. Like a really
good one that the kitchen looked at is they didn't
look at just the really big appliances. There's the really
small things like could you imagine, can you make a
plate accessible. And they have they've got a lip just
on the side. So you're not pushing food off when
you're going to it. It's really, really, absolutely amazing to

(34:02):
see just those tiny little details.

S1 (34:04):
That's a great point, isn't it? Because as you say,
you know, I mean, it can be a bit embarrassing
if you push it off the plate and then you,
you know, you're thinking what other people are thinking and
that sort of thing. But if it can all be
kept on the plate, then that's, uh, kind of good
for your self-esteem.

S8 (34:18):
100%. And it's a lot easier to clean up if
it all stays on your plate, too.

S1 (34:22):
That's very true. I bet I'm imagining that obviously, with
this hub now being opened, as time goes on, there'll
be a few people or a lot of people that'll
be coming in and part of their training, part of
their kind of, uh, getting back to to life. If
they've lost their sight, it will be part of part of, uh,
being in the kitchen and kind of learning to be
a bit more independent.

S8 (34:41):
Well, I think so. From what I know, there's going
to be, uh, the kitchen is going to have a
variety of different uses. So it's going to be used
if there's ever any camps on premises. So I believe
from school holidays, I might have a residential camp that'll
be used. It'll be used for the cooking classes and
lifestyle and leisure. So people will like re-engaging on how
to cook, or even just doing it in a social way.
That'll be there. You can contact one of the occupational therapists,

(35:04):
and they can give you a walkthrough of the kitchen,
show you the products and you can test them out yourself.
And then I can imagine, yeah, there'll be a lot
of people that will just pop up at reception and say,
I heard about the kitchen, can I check it out?

S1 (35:16):
And of course, getting back to our point about the
media and the way it's covered, of course, you know,
for people who might not know anyone who is blind
or visually impaired. It it kind of can can raise
the awareness for them as well. They might think, oh yeah,
or maybe if my grandma or my grandpa might lose
his sight or, you know, someone I know or come
across in the future that I might be able to
tell them about this sort of thing as well. It's
kind of that almost subliminal message that can get through.

S8 (35:39):
I definitely agree. So I think Subliminal Messages is a
really good way, and it's something that'll stay in your
conscious for a while. And as you get older the
rates of disability increase, especially those for vision loss. So
it's going to be a case of I'm eventually going
to live to a point where I'm going to need
something like this because I'm going to have low vision.
So learning it now is a really good thing. It
might pop up in your mind in 30 years, but

(36:01):
you know that it exists. You know that it's possible.
And I think that's a really good starting point for
the general community.

S1 (36:06):
And of course, technology moves so quickly. So in 10
or 20 years time, who knows what might be in
that kitchen?

S8 (36:12):
I, I wouldn't even know what's going to be in
that kitchen next year, let alone ten, 20 years time
I break.

S1 (36:17):
I know it's a different, uh, Different tab. Media network
channel nine was there. If you had a call from
MasterChef wanting you to be on their next series.

S8 (36:26):
Um, I think if they did, like, a a worst
of MasterChef show, they'd give me a call straight away.
But at the moment, I've got a got a bit
of practice to go before I can get there.

S1 (36:36):
All right, well, maybe that's the next time we speak
to you when you get invited on MasterChef.

S8 (36:41):
I think the problem if I went to MasterChef as
my guide dog would want to come to. And I
reckon she'd make a pretty poor judge on that show.

S1 (36:48):
Oh, she might miss the food, though.

S8 (36:50):
I should think everything is great. That's her problem.

S1 (36:54):
Hey, Brett. It's been good fun. Thanks for sharing that
really important message with us.

S8 (36:57):
Oh, that's right. Thank you so much for having us.

S1 (36:59):
Brett Matthews. This has a bit of a character with
the launch of the, uh, Kitchen Hub by God knows,
Queensland during the week, we'll put some details up on
our show notes. That's a very positive message. And independence.
It's such an important thing.

S9 (37:13):
Hi, I'm Ben Choy, Australia's chef de mission for the
2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Cortina, and you're listening to
Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S1 (37:24):
Well, Salah gets underway, of course, in August and one
person will be exhibiting is Felicity Steer, who's based in
the western suburbs of Adelaide. Felicity, thanks so much for
talking to us and I'm sure you're looking very much
forward to the exhibition.

S10 (37:38):
I'm very excited and very much looking forward to it.

S1 (37:40):
Tell us about it. It's got an interesting name.

S10 (37:42):
It's titled The Affirmation and it's based on the affirmation
for Australian citizens. And that's really been the impetus for
me to actually take this forward, because, um, the affirmation
is something that we can all say, um, wherever we are. And, um,
I'd really like to encourage people to uptake the affirmation.

(38:05):
So I've used my paintbrush to paint part of what
the affirmation means to me and inspired people, hopefully to, um, yeah,
engage with both my artwork and the affirmation itself.

S1 (38:17):
They did a fair bit of kind of groundwork, if
you like, for this. You contacted our governor of France?

S10 (38:22):
Yes, yes, I am one of those things. You think, oh,
will I, won't I? And I just thought, it doesn't
hurt to ask if we have an oath that we
can use for all Australians. And thanks to the governor
and her secretary, they pointed me in the direction of
the Australian Citizenship Oath, which was introduced several years ago

(38:47):
in the 1999, for all Australians to use with the
anniversary of citizenship ceremonies. And it means that we can
all use this oath.

S1 (38:57):
What are the kind of passion or the drive or
the the want to do this kind of come from?
Does it go back a fair way that it sort
of come to you overnight? How did that kind of happen?

S10 (39:06):
I just looked around and like, we're hearing so many
things about how we need to respect each other and
we've got so much negativity around us and it really
gets down to an attitude about making a conscious choice
to act in a certain way and respect our democracy
and respect our rights. And I guess just looking around me, yeah,

(39:27):
there's just so much out there. And I just thought
being a positive person, where is the positive and what
light do we have and what could unite us as
a country? So I put the question out there, and
I was really amazed and humbled that I had a response.
And then, um, yeah, I've been able to follow it through.

S1 (39:47):
Tell us about your exhibition. That's obviously going to be
a little bit, well, unique. I guess a lot of
the stuff in Sala is a little bit unique. That's
kind of the appeal of it, just about what you'll
be doing.

S10 (39:57):
So I'm actually I've got 12 key works and then
a number of other, um, works as well. And it's
going to be held in our local news agency. I've
been doing Sala there. This will be my third sala there.
It's been Being renovated and taken over by a couple
who are, well, they're not really new Australians. They call

(40:19):
themselves Australians and they are now. So their energy is
amazing and vibrant. So that's the space that I'm doing in.
It's actually a post office newsagency, so I'll also be
painting out the front to sort of engage with people
as well.

S1 (40:35):
And what about that. Because that's a little bit different
isn't it. I noticed in the information you sent through,
it kind of says weather permitting will by August, hopefully
we're going to get some better days and better weather.
Tell us how that works. That must be such a
cool thing to literacy and artists at work.

S10 (40:51):
I love doing it because it's just very, very engaging
because as an artist actually, um, stand there and meet people,
that's the sort of artist I am. I enjoy that
side of it and for them to see what I'm doing.
So I stand out the front of the news agency
and I pretty much start from from scratch. I'll do

(41:11):
my outline and mixed my paints. Do the whole bit there,
and I do as much as I can in a
two hour window. Out the front. And last year I
managed to get my 13 days in. So last year
I didn't miss a day. Okay, so hopefully, hopefully this
year the weather will be permitting and we'll have the
same sort of. Whereas last year, because that was really
good and.

S1 (41:32):
Engaging and interacting with the with the audience or with the,
with the crowd, what's that like?

S10 (41:37):
It's brilliant because it's not about I find it's not
about me. It's often about learning about them and their stories.
And I just love it because like one person who's
a local would say, oh, her husband used to paint
and he was painting overseas, and he was plein air painting.
And he looked up and all around he was him
with all these children had come out to see what

(41:58):
he was doing and were engaging with him. It's it's
finding out different people's stories and it's a different way
it touches the emotion. When you actually stop and you're
engaging on a different level with art, with paint, you can, um,
communicate in different ways. And, and it's catching up with
people one on one as well, not as a big group.

(42:20):
When you're standing there for a couple of hours, people
are just passing by and they'll stop to have a
chat and see what you're doing. So yeah.

S1 (42:28):
You've you've been around a little while. I guess people, uh,
particularly the locals, kind of know you. But as you say,
that passing traffic probably people think, hang on, what's going
on here? And, you know, the curiosity maybe gets the
better of them.

S10 (42:39):
Yeah, I think it can do. And a lot of
people will say, though, here's the here's the key, though.
A lot of people say, well, I've painted, but I
haven't gone to the next step or I haven't this
or I haven't that. And so it opens up lots
of discussions about art for communication and exploring who we
are and what we stand for and all that sort

(43:00):
of thing. So it comes about. Yeah, about people, about them.

S1 (43:05):
Now, if there's an artist, you've probably got to be
very focused on when you're doing your piece, but when
you're doing it in public and you've got people interacting
and engaging with you, there's that kind of take away
your focus. Does it heighten your focus or change your focus?
How does that work out?

S10 (43:21):
Sometimes I'll get lost in it in my work and
people will be walking past. But if someone stops to engage,
I'll always stop and chat. And it's actually it. It's
part of the experience because when you paint, you're capturing
the moment and the energy around you. So part of
that is the people. It's not just the painting itself.

(43:42):
So I like to try and capture that in what
I'm doing. So it does impact the energy. Like someone
will will say, oh, how I really like this guy.
And that is how the sky is today. And it
just seems to resonate somehow into the work that you're doing.
And it does. Energy of the people around you changes
the way you paint.

S1 (44:01):
I guess every, every, every, every sitting, if you like,
is kind of different because your day is different. Different day,
different audience. Different. I guess you're feeling differently.

S10 (44:11):
Exactly. And you know, you'll start the day thinking that
something's going to turn out like this, and it might
be completely different. Yeah, I've met amazing people like. And
what I really love is the fact that with the
news agency and the post office that are part of that,
that it's the regulars as well, and it's actually engaging

(44:32):
with community and who this community people are. And all
ages have been around for so long and they're so
loyal and respectful, and it's just really nice.

S1 (44:43):
We talk about the local community. I'm sure I'm not
telling tales out of school, but, uh, Matt Cowdrey, oh,
I am the current member for Colton is very high
in the praise for the the work that you do
both in the community as an, as an artist. That
must be nice to get that kind of affirmation if
I can, you know, choose one of your words.

S10 (45:02):
Absolutely. Very humbling, especially coming from such an amazing person
because I respect him so much and all the work
he has done for us down here, it's just incredible
and the support he has given me has just been amazing.
And yeah, I'm just very, very grateful for his contribution
to my path at the moment. It's been amazing. So

(45:24):
and all the work he's done with our beach as well.

S1 (45:26):
I know he thinks very highly of you. Hey, Felicity,
so you've got work that's already been done and will
be in the newsagent post office that people can come
along and see. Is that up for sale?

S10 (45:37):
It will be for sale. It's, um. I try and
keep my work fairly well priced so that it's accessible
for people. It ranges from. I've got some at $60,
some at 200, and the highest is 300, and they're
quite large. The 300 are quite a good size. And
it's oil, um, it's varnished and framed.

S1 (45:59):
So fantastic.

S10 (46:00):
Yeah. So just just makes it accessible for people.

S1 (46:04):
Well, I think that sort of says a lot about
the sort of person that you are. Firstly, just before
we go with your outdoor sessions, do you kind of, um,
you know, do you kind of paint word pictures as
you're painting as well? Do you kind of, you know,
speak to people or kind of commentate? If I could
put it that way as you're doing your stuff. Is
that part of your shtick, if I can put it
that way.

S10 (46:23):
Not normally. I'm not. I don't see myself as a teacher.

S1 (46:27):
Okay.

S10 (46:28):
So I'm really just there because I'm self-taught. I'm really
just there doing things the way I've learned to do things,
or just the way I've done them by process as
I've gone along. So I think, um, most people are
capable of finding their way. They've got the desire to
do so. But yeah, I don't I don't actually give

(46:50):
instructions as to how to do everything, but I'm happy
to share and talk to people, you know, and a
lot of people have experience that they share with me to.

S1 (46:58):
A two way path now. Well, we'll put details up
with our show notes, but, uh, Where's the exhibition? What's
the address for the post office newsagent where your work
is exhibiting. And you'll be outside on days permitting, weather permitting. Days?

S10 (47:12):
Yes. So, yes, I'll be outside. It's on Mondays, Thursdays
and Saturdays from 930 to 1130. And it's at 47
Henley Beach Road, Henley Beach South, just opposite the Henley
High School.

S1 (47:31):
If you do find Felicity. Good luck. Thanks so much
for spending some time with us, and I'm sure it'll
be a very successful time for you and all the staff,
but especially you will enjoy it and hope it's very
good for you.

S10 (47:43):
Thank you. And I'm just going to just say a
big thanks to for Sala. That gave us the opportunity to, um,
get together and do this as a state. It's great.

S1 (47:52):
Absolutely, yes. Thanks for listening.

S10 (47:54):
Thank you.

S1 (47:55):
There's a local artist in the western suburbs and also
doing a live performance or live performances during Salah. Felicity.
Mitchell is our resident councillor and more importantly, Pam joins

(48:17):
us the third week of each month with lots of
interesting topics. Always a unique way of looking at it. Pam, welcome.
Good to have you back with us.

S10 (48:24):
Oh, it's great to be here. And, uh, on this.

S11 (48:28):
Uh, wintry time, a bit of rain. How lovely is that?
To see, though, not not wanting to shoo that away.
But look, speaking today about something that just about everyone
will know someone that is relative to this subject because
it's Diabetes Week, isn't it? And, uh, just wanting to
reach out to all those that experience diabetes with a

(48:50):
little bit of love extended their way because, you know,
this is not something that we choose. This is something
that we sometimes are born with in. Within the gestational
diabetes or something we inherit or something that just comes
our way. It is an absolute condition. It's not because
we've been sitting eating jelly beans all our life, you know?

(49:14):
It happens from a medical perspective. There's lots of stigmas
attached around people that have diabetes. So a special call
out to all of you people today that have diabetes
or are in families where somebody does have diabetes, and
let's say we're here in this little segment anyway to

(49:34):
support what you're going through, whether you're the person or
whether you're the carer. So let's just spread some good
news today. There is some that in the stats I
guess just going to the hard part first. There's about
1.5 million people in Australia that are affected with diabetes.
My research shows me that's pretty hideous. Back in about

(49:56):
the 2020, the figure was going up by about 60,000
people approximately annually. That is huge. But the good news
is that we're now seeing that gradually decrease. We're down
to about 48%, 48,000. And that that's a significant drop. And,

(50:19):
you know, all credit to places like Diabetes Week and
to your program to Peter, of course, with your awareness
on this topic and bringing that to people. But it
is about people just through social media, the good parts
of social media, just spreading the light on this issue

(50:39):
and bringing it to people's attention of the native people
that are in this situation. And as we talk today,
we're aware, as I started this, um, that sometimes this
is from birth, that can be not always that can
be during pregnancy. The issues with difficult pregnancies along the way,

(51:01):
but also many couples now plan their children later in life.
You know, I know when I had my daughter, you know,
I was 23 now. You know, people are more like 33, 40,
43 when they're having their, their children. And there are,
of course, more complications, likely in those latter years. Our

(51:21):
systems don't necessarily work with this endless resource of health
and wellbeing. And you know, I'm okay. So that can happen.
And it can be yes, it can be hereditary in
the family and or it can just happen. So the
treatment plans for this are really important for people to

(51:42):
be aware of. You can just imagine in the school ground,
you know how hard it is for people that have
to inject themselves, you know, diabetes one and how sometimes
kids will be embarrassed about that and they will avoid it,
not have it. And of course then, you know, end
up in all sorts of diabolical because they haven't done that.

(52:04):
Most schools are aware of this now, and they organize
for those people, those students that are confronting this, to
be able to come into the, you know, the area
where they care for people, whether it's the wellness section
or whether it's the first aid room or whatever it is,
because they know they're on file, that they need to

(52:25):
have this injection, and so they take stock of that.
But of course, there are always those that will escape
as well as that. We realize the stigmas that are attached. And,
you know, I know that over the years I've witnessed
people that just feel like, oh, that person's so overweight,
they obviously just eat too much. They don't exercise enough.

(52:49):
You know, it's not as simple as that. Diet is
important Portions exercise at the capacity where these people can
is important follow ups, uh, regular medical check ups so
that you can actually know that you're on track and
there's no changes in in your blood sugar levels that

(53:12):
are indicating that there's an extra need for different medications
or different doses of medication, whatever. Checking for things that
are complicate the system, like, uh, lack of circulation leading
to ulcers that are not healing, you know, numbness in toes, etc.,

(53:33):
or discoloration of nails and nail beds. Um, really important
to have podiatry checks, medical checks, teeth checks, all these
things are really important in the care of diabetes. It's
very timely that we're talking about this today in two
of my home visits over the last fortnight to people

(53:57):
that live independently and are in every way other than
their diabetes, capable of living independently. They have had numerous
occasions where they have found themselves on the floor having
had a fall. They live independently. They live on their own.

(54:19):
You know, their sons, daughters, neighbours can't know that they've
fallen and be there other than the days that they
check in. So they, you know, have both been lying
in their state for some hours. Uh, one, uh, overnight, um,
just without help. Now, that is that is terrible. So
we need to work with these people to not just

(54:42):
take away their independence and say, well, you should be
in a home. Um, you should be in a nursing home. Or,
you know, maybe they will need to have that care.
But there are other forms of care that we can
have around these people to check in with them. Buddy
systems calls during the day, just checking in on you.

(55:02):
Maybe there's a couple of people involved in that. And
you take alternate weeks, whether that's relatives or friends or
someone in a in a joint group or a church
community saying, I'll be on the roster, I'll check in
with this person just to make sure. And if they
don't call, and if they haven't called me back when
I left, leave a message. I'll put in an extra

(55:23):
form of call or a visit to make sure they're okay.
So it is important with these people that they have
this awareness that sometimes their blood sugar will dive. And
when that happens, they may experience a dizziness and a
fall that they're not even recognizing is about to happen.
And or if they their blood sugars peak too much,

(55:47):
then they're likely to be cognitively cognitively affected and fuzzy
in the head and start not making much sense to
themselves and not aware that they're in that realm. So
it really is important that these people have information. It's
important that the people living with people with diabetes and

(56:07):
or living on their own take their their blood sugar
levels on a daily basis and preferably at a particular time.
They might set their mobile phone every day that, oh, yes,
I've got to go and do that and check that
and write it on the calendar and take the calendar
to the doctors and say, this is where my blood
sugar is in this last fortnight, week, month, whatever it is,

(56:30):
so that the doctor has an indication of how this
is fluctuating and what they may need to do more
to help and support these these people. That is one thing.
We can do more awareness and certainly clinicians do this
and the people that help in nutrition, but to me,
more aware, especially if these people are living on their own,

(56:53):
that they eat properly, they often feel look frail or
they do look overweight in many cases, but their eating
is not necessarily indicative of that, that they're putting in
their mouth. It is a state of their diabetes. And
if they're not paying attention to regular meals, to the

(57:14):
foods that actually don't necessarily deal with the sugar levels
in their systems and aren't aware of those foods that
can create that propensity to be worse. So we need
these people properly informed, more informed support groups taking relatives
and loved ones that have it to support groups and

(57:36):
to their clinicians and to their dietary needs, just to
be more aware of what they need in their food intake.
Preparation of meals for people to live independently Dependently that
our diabetic prepared like an easy but diabetic inference for
those sort of people or meals on wheels or whatever
it is, just to make that more accessible in our community. So,

(58:00):
you know, in short, it's just to be aware that
these things can get out of hand if we're not
providing this information and keeping checks on these people, their
stress levels can go through the roof. They feel a nuisance.
They feel people don't want to be around them. Let's
make this user friendly. So Diabetes Week to let's celebrate

(58:22):
what is being done in this country toward helping us
to be more aware. And let's do that. Are you
okay thing, buddy? Thing connecting thing to help people live
the lives that they want to live independently. Um, and
in the best way possible with the best resources around them.

S1 (58:41):
Great message. And certainly to anyone that is, uh, with diabetes.
Our thoughts are very much with you and yeah, share
the love. I think it's a great way to start
and finish the segment. Pam, you're a counselor by profession.
If people want to contact you, how can we get
in touch? 0418 835 767 is your phone number?

S11 (58:59):
Always hanging around there, Peter.

S1 (59:01):
Well, keep hanging around for a little while yet, please.
We'll catch up with you next month.

S12 (59:06):
And look forward to it.

S1 (59:07):
Pam Mitchell 0418 835 767. Should you wish to contact Pam, or
if there's a topic you'd like Pam to cover, you
can give us a call and we'll put her to work.

S13 (59:18):
Hi, I'm Vicki Cousins. I read the Australian Geographic magazine
straight after this show. Leisure link with ah, with Peter Greco.
Peter Gecko.

S1 (59:37):
Is coming up. Yes. I said let's chat about it
with the CEO for Guide Dogs SA then. didn't see Aaron. Aaron,
always great to catch up. Thanks for your time.

S14 (59:47):
Likewise, Peter. Thanks again for your support.

S1 (59:49):
Yeah, well, how things are shaping up for Paul. Just, uh,
you've had a few of these, haven't you? For those
that might have not heard about them in the past,
you want to give us a bit of an idea
of what they are?

S14 (59:57):
Yeah. Um, progress is ran for about 4 or 5
years now. Um, this is my fourth focus I'm participating in. And, uh,
you know, when we first started, Peter, it was really
a great opportunity for us to raise awareness for people
living with low vision and blindness and our famous guide dogs,
and also to raise funds for for the much needed work. But, uh,

(01:00:19):
as time's gone on to a thing, the more more
people wanting to walk without a dog, because I think
they're starting to see the benefits of actually doing the
walk themselves, particularly in winter when everyone's slowing down a bit.

S1 (01:00:31):
So that's, I guess, one of the focuses of Paul August.
I mean, yes, uh, obviously, uh, guide dogs work every day,
but if you've got a pet, you probably need to
take them out every day. But if you're not any
of those categories, you can still be walking yourself or
with a friend, or with a family member, etc..

S14 (01:00:45):
Absolutely. You know, as I said before, you know, the
whole idea is really to get out there and I
call it a win, win win. You know, if you've
got a pooch, your dog gets to have special walk
up in winter time. You get to raise valuable funds
for guide dogs. And the third one is that, you know,
you get the health benefits of going out and walking,

(01:01:06):
say 30 minutes a day. And I was actually quite surprised.
And now people talk about the health benefits of exercising
each day sort of thing. But the statistics actually show that,
you know, there's a 19% reduction in the risk of
heart disease if you walk 30 minutes or more a day.
So that's that's straight from the the heart people, you know. So, um, yeah,
I think it's a it's a great opportunity.

S1 (01:01:27):
But of course, I mean, I know sometimes it's a
bit hard to get out of bed or hard to
get outside the door. But once you get out there,
you know, it's pretty. Pretty okay?

S14 (01:01:34):
Absolutely. You know. Yeah. I think it's a commitment that
that you do do it every day. When I first
started doing such a thing. As you said, it's hard
to get out early in the morning, but if you
get out there first thing in the morning, it's really
it's beautiful out there. And, uh, you know, just getting that,
that blood circulating in the morning before you do anything
else and I certainly know wakes me up during the day.

S1 (01:01:56):
Yeah. Well, of course, you're the CEO of Guide Dogs.
I didn't see what about, uh, people say in Darwin? Uh,
we've got a, uh, VA radio digital endowment. People may
be listening in there. Can they be part of it
as well?

S14 (01:02:07):
Yes, absolutely. Actually, Porcus is now run, you know, pretty
much across the country. So a theme, particularly on the
eastern seaboard. We all raise funds for our own states.
So if you register with us and you're from SA,
you're ont you raise the funds for SA ant. And
if you register in New South Wales or Victoria or
Queensland you raise funds for them. So um, yeah. So uh,

(01:02:28):
it's very, very much a almost a national event these days.

S1 (01:02:31):
Well, probably in Darwin, um, maybe a bit more. Um,
what's the word? Uh, the, the climate might be a
bit more conducive to having a walker, you know, the, uh,
the warmer weather and, uh, probably a little bit not
quite monsoonal yet, so probably almost the perfect time.

S14 (01:02:46):
I would say. You're right. I think August would be
a perfect time to go for a walk in, in and, uh, Darwin,
you know, in the NT generally sort of thing because
as you said, not too hot, not too cold, just just. Right.

S1 (01:02:57):
Yeah. But Goldilocks uh, situation, uh, Aaron, uh, noticed with
some of the information you said, you make a really
good point, you know, being out and about, uh, and
with your pooch, etcetera, be it, uh, guide dog or
just your family pet. Yeah. If it smells different, uh,
sort of atmosphere at that time of the year compared
to maybe, you know, when you might be out in
the middle of summer?

S14 (01:03:16):
Yes, yes. No. I think, you know, one of the
main reasons for taking your dog out every day is
really to just get the experience of different smells, know
different places. Um, and, you know, give them some intellectual stimulation.
I guess, uh, people forget sometimes that, you know, just
sitting around the home or the backyard, you know, it
gets a bit monotonous for your pooch. And so getting

(01:03:38):
out there is really, really great for them.

S1 (01:03:40):
I think you can often tell when you're getting ready
to go for a walk. You know, the the tail
wags and they get up and they're a little bit
more excited. So I think that says a lot. You know,
the old body language, uh, you know, speaking very loudly.

S14 (01:03:52):
Absolutely, absolutely.

S1 (01:03:54):
What about, uh, the fundraising side of it, then? How
does that happen?

S14 (01:03:57):
Well, you know, you know, it costs a lot more
than $50,000 to raise and train a guide dog. So
in terms of fundraising for this cause, it's a great cause.
And each year it gets more difficult for us to
sort of, uh, you know, provide those funds because we're
over 70% donor funded. So, uh, every dollar counts in
terms of, you know, dollars come through. And those that

(01:04:19):
have been, you know, hearing about the NDIS news, know
that we haven't had any increases for about 5 or
6 years now. So, um, yeah, that gap gets bigger
and bigger each year. But, you know, in terms of
the fundraising, if the participants can actually jump online at cougars.com.au,
you know, register the goal distance. I want to do
share their fundraising page. Uh, get some other people to

(01:04:42):
walk with them, set a goal, and yeah, they get
to win little fun prizes along the way as well.
If they get to certain stages, including, you know, uh, beanies,
t shirts, you know, uh, uh, water bottles and things
like that. But, um, the breaking news is that, uh,
this year, uh, Black Hawk Dog Foods decided to to
donate a year's worth of dog food for a lucky,

(01:05:05):
a lucky participant.

S1 (01:05:06):
Okay, well, that that that wouldn't go astray in this, uh,
cost of living crisis.

S14 (01:05:10):
Absolutely. And it's a it's a really good quality stuff
as well, uh, because they look after our dogs as well.

S1 (01:05:17):
And so it's that kind of a random draw or
how does that work?

S14 (01:05:19):
Yeah, that'll be a random draw at the end sort
of thing to. All right. Uh, when the year's work. Yeah.

S1 (01:05:25):
Right. You got to be in it to win it. And, uh,
I note from your notes, uh, Aaron, you probably think
it's a perfect time to do it.

S14 (01:05:32):
A perfect time it is.

S1 (01:05:35):
I love those plays on word. And as you said, Keith,
that's it's interesting stats. 70% of your funding comes from donations.
That's incredible.

S14 (01:05:42):
Yeah. Well, you know, um, as I've said at different times, uh,
we at Guide Dogs, we, we're driven by our clients needs.
So we're not your typical NDIS business where we only
provide services when NDIS funding is available. And, um, you know,
in fact, a lot of the work we do is pro-bono. Obviously,
that limits the amount of work we can do in

(01:06:03):
that space, depending on how much we can raise. And
so the more we can raise in that space, the
more we can actually fill the cracks, so to speak,
for people that miss out on funding.

S1 (01:06:13):
But of course, the irony is that with a guide dog,
you added people's independence, you older people's mobility, props and
opportunity to get to work, to get to uni, to
do their study, to do their volunteering work, any sort
of setting. You know, if it wasn't for that guide dog, either,
that person would maybe having to get cabs or, you know,
fork money out of their own pockets or, uh, you know,
go on public transport. But that independence, I mean, literally

(01:06:35):
you can't put a price on it.

S14 (01:06:37):
Absolutely. And and as you said, you know, um, we've
said in the past that it's the guard dogs, the
core piece, but we also provide all the services before
and after and even during, you know, in terms of
helping a client out with their independence, be it a
white cane or things that need altered in their homes
and things like that as well. So that's our mission,

(01:06:58):
you know, to to ensure that we we grow that
independence for anyone living with low vision and blindness, and
certainly Guide Dogs is our core.

S1 (01:07:06):
Owner, totally sort of without notice. I actually spoke to
Rachel from Beyond Blindness on Wednesday night on the Focal
Point programme, and Rachel was making the point that you
people from Guide Dogs are going out to Beyond Blindness
to kind of talk about your services. And I think
that is such a great thing when two organizations, uh,
you know, are working together for the benefit of the client.

S14 (01:07:25):
Yeah, yeah. No, I'm really proud of that. And really
something I push really hard, particularly in terms of the
the the age care environment as well. Yeah. I think
people just need to understand, you know, how important it
is for our dogs, you know, to be out there
to ensure that, um, our community can have the greatest
independence possible?

S1 (01:07:45):
Yeah, well, certainly to both organizations. Congratulations on the collaboration.
Because the client benefit, at the end of the day, if, um,
if that's what you should be there for, and I'm
sure that's what you are.

S14 (01:07:54):
Absolutely.

S1 (01:07:54):
So if people want to find out more about, uh,
not not too late, I think, uh, people can already register,
can't they?

S14 (01:08:00):
Absolutely. They can, um, they can just jump online WWE.

S1 (01:08:09):
Of course. How else would you spell it? And, uh,
of course, uh, put yourself in the running for, um,
maybe a year's free supply of dog food, which is, uh,
from Blackhawk, wasn't it?

S14 (01:08:19):
That's right.

S1 (01:08:20):
Yeah. Well, that certainly. And if you haven't got a
dog and you win it, uh, I'm sure you'll find
someone that you can, uh, give it away to. Or
maybe if you're a bit like me, you might maybe
do a bit of dealing and and get a good
price for for yourself, for getting it, but we'll leave
that for another day. Hey, great to catch up. We'll
speak again soon.

S14 (01:08:35):
Thanks again. Peter.

S1 (01:08:37):
See you there from Guide Dogs. So if you're if
you're listening anywhere in Australia, get involved. But those details
up there show notes August p a w just. Com.au
one more time with feeling p a g. Dot com.au.

S7 (01:08:57):
On the Australia Network through your favorite podcast service on
1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide. You're listening to leisurely.

S1 (01:09:06):
Well Thala draws ever closer and Bedford's got a great
association with Salah over a number of years. Let's find
out what they're doing this year and speak to, uh,
Monique Russell from Blend Creative today. Monique. Good to meet you.

S15 (01:09:18):
Good to be speaking with you today, Peter. Thanks for
inviting us.

S1 (01:09:21):
Uh, one of the stars of Salah is Tomalin. Tomalin,
how are you?

S4 (01:09:26):
Yeah. Good.

S16 (01:09:26):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

S1 (01:09:28):
It's a pleasure. We look forward to hearing a little
bit about your work and what you're involved with with
Salah Mali. Tell us about your involvement because you're with
Blend Creative. So how have you and benefits got together?
How has this come about?

S15 (01:09:39):
Yeah. So Bedford, uh, we transitioned underneath the umbrella of Bedford, um,
as one of their social enterprises from July 1st of 2024. So, um,
quite a new relationship with regards to how we fit
within the big family. But it's been a really positive
transition for us. And we've been able to, um, jump

(01:10:02):
into their Salah this year, which is great. We've normally, uh,
done that quite independently. And so to have the support
of Bedford there as well has been has been brilliant.

S1 (01:10:12):
What about this obviously was a huge event but particularly
South Australia wide. It's kind of cool how everyone gets involved.
And we've spoken to Bedford over the years with their
various exhibitions. It's a real, um, sort of team community effort, uh,
you know, sort of a whole of Bedford effort.

S15 (01:10:29):
Yeah. That's right. So this is something that brings together
all of the different sites across South Australia for Bedford.
And we really get to showcase the beautiful artworks and
talents of all of the people that are connected and
engaged with the services that Bedford offer. So that's the
way that Glenn Creative came into it as well, through initially, um,

(01:10:50):
supporting them with the development of theme for this year
and then crafting that into a meaningful artwork that can
then go on and promote the event itself.

S1 (01:11:01):
And is this where Cumberland comes into the picture?

S4 (01:11:04):
Yes.

S1 (01:11:05):
Yeah.

S15 (01:11:06):
Yes, absolutely.

S1 (01:11:07):
Well, tell us a bit about, uh, how Tomlin has
come to be part of this, and then we can
talk to Tomlin about about her work.

S15 (01:11:14):
Sure. So Tomlin has been a part of our organization
for about four years now and has in that time
transitioned through our training and development team into our production
team and has been showing some really great skill sets.
And so when this project came to us to develop
the collateral that was associated to the solar event, that,

(01:11:39):
you know, it went out to our production team and
Tom Lane's artwork was the one that was selected by
Bedford and has gone across all of the collateral, including
the big launch for the Bedford Group this coming Friday.

S1 (01:11:54):
Carmelina, how did you feel when you were told that news?

S10 (01:11:57):
Oh, I was excited, I.

S1 (01:11:59):
Was.

S16 (01:12:00):
I can't.

S10 (01:12:00):
Believe it.

S16 (01:12:01):
When I was first told, actually, I just like I
can't believe it because it's such a big enterprise with.
So it's not just within like, you know, the small
town that is Adelaide, it's across South Australia, across South
Australia is just incredible. From all the way from like

(01:12:23):
reynella to. Yeah, like Pasadena to Mount Gambier to like
Whyalla and across the border. It's incredible to say that
every time I see my graphic I just go.

S1 (01:12:39):
Well, tell us about your graphic. I know this is radio,
so it's a bit hard to print a word pictures,
but we'd love you to try to do that. So
what's your graphic look like? Because the, the, um, the
theme is, uh, Mike touched on his threads of connection.

S15 (01:12:52):
Yes. That's right. So threads of connection.

S16 (01:12:54):
Yeah. So when I got first got the job I
was looking at, I kind of like where did all
the credit prices. And I kept coming back to string art.
And I was like, well, I've seen like a physical string,
but I was like, has anyone tried it digitally? And

(01:13:15):
when I researched it digitally, um, I could not find
a single thing. Like I couldn't see much out there differently.
So I thought I would give it a go. And
this is how I came back to Bedford's theme, is
that I actually came back to Bedford and looked at
that logo, and I looked at the logo with the

(01:13:37):
butterfly graphic, and I was like, well, how can I
tie that in? And so that's where I got to
a point of connecting the threads of connection with Bedford
by using the butterfly as a reference to kind of
create the string art version of the butterfly.

S1 (01:13:55):
So how cool.

S16 (01:13:56):
And.

S1 (01:13:59):
Obviously you got very artistic. Tell me, can you remember
how and why you got involved four years ago?

S16 (01:14:05):
So originally when we were with me and I was
with the laundry team, which is now bacon laundry, and
I was there for about six years. So this year
is my 10th year. Yeah. So take it in one company. No,
my dad can do that.

S1 (01:14:26):
Yeah. That's fantastic.

S16 (01:14:28):
So my my support staff at the laundry came to
a realization that my skills were not. They couldn't take
me further. Um. Goal setting. And so I knew that
at the time that the laundry signed with a sub
company within Minda called sage. And so I knew that

(01:14:52):
sage had other enterprises within that. So I looked on
the website website, and that's when the originally bright pink
popped up. Yeah.

S1 (01:15:02):
Firm.

S16 (01:15:02):
And so I looked into it and I was like, well,
I'm autistic. It's in my family. Like family blood with
being autistic. My nana's a painter. So it's like, this
is a dream. Like this is a dream for me.
And so yeah, I submitted like an inquiry and, um,

(01:15:24):
three emails back and forth, and I got the job
like a week after, like.

S1 (01:15:30):
Oh, that's that's wonderful news. You're a bit of a
go getter, aren't you?

S16 (01:15:35):
Yeah. So, like, I kept trying to push me out
of the doors, though.

S1 (01:15:39):
Fair enough. You got other fish to fry?

S16 (01:15:42):
Yeah.

S15 (01:15:43):
That's right. And I think that that's the great thing
is that, you know, Bedford is really starting to unfold
these opportunities.

S1 (01:15:49):
That.

S15 (01:15:50):
Different pathways, you know, the the traditional settings where historically
people with disabilities might have worked or been expanded, you know, um,
and being creative is just, is just one of those.

S1 (01:16:02):
And good for people like Tomalin, but good for the
community like that, you know, that that that should be
happening more and more. Because why shouldn't someone who's got
artistic talents, you know, be able to exhibit them and
and really utilize them in this sort of way?

S15 (01:16:17):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. And to the benefit of,
you know, clients around Australia who just want to consciously
bring inclusion into every element that they, that they have
touch points to.

S1 (01:16:30):
So I noticed on your website inclusion features, uh, uh,
my next uh, congratulations on that. Hey, uh, Tom Moline,
July the 25th. You're doing anything?

S16 (01:16:38):
Um, well.

S10 (01:16:39):
We're.

S16 (01:16:41):
So we're in Brevard. We as, uh, launching our, um, exhibition,
which also happens to be on my birthday.

S1 (01:16:51):
So I heard I heard that it was. They found
out it's your birthday. So they said that's the day
to launch it.

S17 (01:16:58):
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's fine.

S16 (01:17:01):
Slightly delayed.

S17 (01:17:02):
Well, we used your artwork on your birthday, so.

S1 (01:17:06):
That's your birthday present?

S17 (01:17:08):
Yeah, yeah.

S15 (01:17:10):
And so, you know, tickets are going to be available
through Bedford Group.com. Uh, if people are still out there
looking for something to do. On Friday the 25th. Come along.
Let's go party. And and the launch of of Salah
across the state for all of the Bedford group.

S16 (01:17:25):
Yeah. Because my art works going on display to.

S1 (01:17:29):
Okay I was going to ask you about that. So
where's the where's the work available. Where can people see it.

S15 (01:17:34):
Yeah. So that will be um, show on across the
site for Bedford. So if people can't get along to
the launch their then the different regional sites will have
their exhibitions as well which are detailed within the Salah program.
Glenn Creative is going to be at The Joinery this
year from August the 6th through to the end of August,

(01:17:58):
so artworks are going to be there. But then all
of the artists, well, I shouldn't say all of the artists.
The majority of artists have then said that their artwork
is available for sale as well. So if the public
want to get behind it, support an up and coming artist,
then that's something that they can do as well.

S1 (01:18:13):
Well, now, over the years, I've spoken to some of
the artists who have got some nice money for their
work and richly deserved, and they've been very proud of it.
And where is the joinery?

S15 (01:18:23):
The joinery is on Franklin Street in the city, just
near the bus depot there.

S1 (01:18:27):
Oh, lovely. And central. All right. If you want to
send me those details we can put them up on
our show notes as well. So people have got them
to want to check them out a bit more in detail.
Great to meet you and thank you for your time.
Tom Allen, you are a star. Thank you so much
for sharing such a positive story with us. It's made
our afternoon. Good luck and happy birthday for the 25th.

S18 (01:18:47):
Thank you. Thank you.

S1 (01:18:49):
And you behave yourself on the night, Tom. I've got
a feeling you might get a little bit too rowdy.

S17 (01:18:55):
Oh.

S1 (01:18:57):
No comment.

S17 (01:18:58):
No comment.

S15 (01:19:01):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (01:19:02):
Thanks for joining us. That's fantastic, isn't it? What a
great story. That's Monica Russell, who's the account manager at
Blend Creative and also one of the stars of this
year's gala. Tom, check out the details. We'll put them
up in our show notes. If you haven't got access
to them via the interview, you can certainly get them
via our show notes. Tomorrow club. Cool happening at the

(01:19:27):
club from about 10:30. The doors open. That's the Governor
Hindmarsh Hotel in Hindmarsh. Of course, if you want more details,
give Andrew Kyprianou a call 04088486490408848649. Club call tomorrow at
the guv for about 10:30 11:00, through till about 2:30

(01:19:48):
in the afternoon. A good wine, great music, good entertainment, dancing.
A really good day for all. Everyone. Welcome. Very accessible now.
Very sad news during the week. I'm sure many would
have caught up with news that Barry Robin, M.B.E. passed
away during the week champion footballer, but also very much
involved with this radio program and radio station, particularly in

(01:20:11):
the early days, Barry worked for an organization called Foundation SA,
who were, uh, helping sponsor organizations who might have been
otherwise sponsored by tobacco companies. So foundation as they were
set up. And one of the early sponsors was this
particular program here on or as it was then, five PP.

(01:20:31):
So Barry, very much involved then also was a judge
on the Stan Wickham Award for a number of years.
We ran that competition for athletes with disabilities being recognised. Barry,
along with Bruce Liebert, Margot Pat Mickan and I was
very lucky to be a judge amongst that luminaries was, uh,
a great contributor to that for many years. And also

(01:20:54):
Barry was patron of the radio station for quite a
bit of time as well. So certainly a very close
connection and has done some incredible work with Navita Barry,
son Matthew, still at Novita now, and Barry's other son,
Jonathan works for Operation Flinders, who work with at risk youth.
So I guess it shows a bit of a idea

(01:21:17):
of how Barry was as far as a person goes.
And I guess the legacy that he's left through his
two sons and the wonderful work that they do as well.
So rest in peace, Barry. Robin. A life well led.
I remember very vividly going to the launch of Barry's book,
which was written by Bruce Boynton. Barry wasn't there because
that was the sort of person Barry was. He didn't

(01:21:37):
like the limelight. The book was launched at ten minutes
and 10s past ten on the 10th of October, the
10th month in the year 2010. And of course, Barry
wore number ten when he played football for North Adelaide.
No quotes, but quite that Rodney Robin handed down from
Barry in some conversations that he's been having, he said.

(01:22:01):
Barry always said we'll put on this earth to be first.
And certainly as far as football went, that was the case.
But as far as Barry's other side of life went.
He certainly was very much in the background, putting other
people very much before him. So that's a bit of
a quote from Barry and a lovely cartoon. During the
week when Barry arrived at the Pearly Gates and Saint

(01:22:23):
Peter was there to meet him, Russell Ebert was there
in the background. Great mates and the pearly gates weren't
the pearly gates, they were goalposts. So a lovely indication
of how much Barry was thought and what a tremendous,
tremendous footballer. He was good cricketer too, but more importantly,
an even better person. A couple of birthdays before we go,

(01:22:45):
actually going back to the early 90s when this radio
station got started and this program got started, Emma Rebellato
was part of that and Emma having a birthday as well.
So Emma, a very big happy birthday to you doing
wonderful things with the ABC in Tasmania at the moment
covering their state elections. So happy birthday to you Emma.
And also happy birthday to Bart Bunting, winter Paralympian Olympian,

(01:23:08):
bronze medalist, a champion bloke as well. So happy birthday.
But bunting, that's it for the programme. Sam, thanks so
much for your help, Pan-green. Thanks so much for yours.
Reminding you that you can catch leisure link on your
favorite podcast platform. Please tell your friends about the show
as well. Now if you're listening through 1190 7 a.m.

(01:23:28):
in Adelaide, coming up very soon, Vicki Cousins with Australian Geographic.
The program no one misses. All being well let's look
back at the same time next week. Be kind to yourselves,
be thoughtful and look out for others. On Vision Australia
Radio and the Reading Radio Network this is leisure link.

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