24 May 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:16):
It's just gone 5:00. And while some political parties are
channeling Neil Sedaka and breaking up is hard to do,
maybe we'll channel a bit of Bryan Ferry. Let's stick together.
Thank you for sticking to Leslie here on Vision Australia
radio 1197 and Adelaide online at Radio Nova Radio digital

(00:38):
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(00:59):
can find out much more about them including Get Ledge
link at Powered media. P o w e media Peter
Greco saying thank you so much for being with us today.
Really looking forward to the program, this program coming to
you from Ghana and come to you very shortly. We'll
catch up with Minister Tom Koutsantonis, Minister for transport here

(01:20):
in South Australia. Big changes happening to the Access Cape situation.
They've just been brought in. Tom will tell us about that.
We'll also catch up with that. Jennifer McIntyre, who's going
to tell us about calisthenics and a great award they
won from Victorian Sports Award. They're called Karli Stars. We'll
find out about them and at least one will join

(01:40):
us along with Joe Pearce. They're just back from the
trek to New Zealand helping Vision Australia. Also speak to
Professor Lucy Morgan, who's a lung specialist raising awareness about
the dangers of RSV and what you can do to
minimize your chances of being impacted by it. Will meet
Julia Overton. Julia has just taken over as CEO of Cera,

(02:02):
say they do a great job. We'll find out a
little bit about Julia. We'll also be joined by Cade Matthews.
They've also won an award from Sports Victoria. It is
the Peter Norman Inclusion Award. They're doing some great work
in the area of LGBTQ plus and including them in
sport and some great events that really big public venues

(02:26):
that Cade would tell us about, that we'll also catch
up with the deputy mayor for the Moonee Valley Council. That,
of course, is Fran Cosgrove. And Fran will tell us
about an inclusion program that they're running and a chance
for you to get involved with a couple or so
days to go. Well, we touched on last week on

(02:48):
the program, the fact there were changes to the access
cab situation here in South Australia. I'm really pleased to
welcome to the program, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
here in South Australia, Tom Koutsantonis. Tom. If I might
call you that. Thank you for your time.

S2 (03:02):
Thank you. Of course you can call me Tom. That's
my name.

S1 (03:04):
Okay. Now, um. Now, what's the change that took place
from Monday? Do you want to run through what they are?

S2 (03:11):
Yeah. So we've got basically 100 access cabs in South Australia.
And if you order an access cab through the central
booking service, that job comes with a lifting fee, which
is a $25 sort of bonus, uh, for the work
the driver has to do. Now, what's been happening is

(03:33):
that drivers have been getting preference by some customers, which
means that some people, some drivers are operating only a
couple of hours a day and making 3 or $400
with multiple jobs with the same person while being preference.
And often it's a case of, you know, shopping centre, pharmacy,

(03:54):
bottle or whatever it might be. It's not stopped being preference,
the client never getting a car, and the driver receiving
a $25 lifting fee for each and every time the
job's booked. The result is that the other people who
are calling for access cabs, who don't have a personal

(04:15):
relationship with the driver are missing out. And I suspect
there's a large cohort of people with disabilities who could
access and access cab access the access lifting fee, but
aren't getting a chance because they don't have a bilateral
relationship with the driver. They've got no one to preference

(04:35):
these drivers. Some of them are making up to $300,000
a year with 1 or 2 clients, and that means
that they're not servicing the industry. So I've put an
end to the preference thing, but I've given a flight
clause there which allows people who may have a particular

(04:56):
reason for needing an individual driver. There are some people
who are neurodivergent, some people who've got other disabilities that
might need to have for whatever reason, and we're asking
for those people to contact us through an email address
which I've made public, which people can then contact me on,
and we'll go through that and allow exemptions to be

(05:16):
put in place for particular clients. But it's important to
know what I'm trying to do is to stop the
rorts and to make sure that when you call an
access cab, it turns up.

S1 (05:26):
So some people can still have their relationship if you like,
but there won't be a lifting fee. Is that the situation?

S2 (05:32):
No. They'll have a lifting fee. If they can explain
to to the government why they need to have the
same driver over, and if there's a medical reason, then yes.
Otherwise then no, they can't preference the driver and keep
the lifting fee. Because if you want to just do
a bilateral arrangement, of course you can just have the
metered fare, but the lifting fee only goes to a

(05:53):
a driver that had the dispatch from the central booking service,
and that means he can be preferenced. But if there
is a particular reason, if you can email me at.
Administration at f dot, you can email that address and

(06:16):
email that address and get us an explanation as to
why you need to preference a particular driver. And there's
a medical reason for it and it can be substantiated
and we'll consider it. But if it's just well, this guy,
I had him for the last 20 years and he's
been working for me. Well, well, no, we need to
have our drivers out in the field making sure that

(06:38):
anyone who calls for an accident can get one. And
I've got to say, the early results are in. It
has been a dramatic improvement in performance. And these are
the end of the reforms. There'll be more reforms on
the way that I think a lot of your listeners
Lucille would be very interested in. For example, there's a
legal requirement for access camps to log on from 730

(06:59):
in the morning to be available. Now, from what I
can tell, about 30% of access camps just aren't logging on. Now,
they're either not on the road or they're just doing
ordinary taxi work. That's unacceptable. And if that's the case,
there are penalties and procedures in place for us to
find them or even take away their accreditation. So I'm

(07:24):
looking at a major expansion of the penalties in place
if we do not operate the way they're meant to.

S1 (07:30):
Is this something that's happened over a period of time?

S2 (07:32):
I have to say, for me, it's the straw that
broke the camel's back was we've gone about the process
of reforming the taxi. We're going to buy these taxis back.
We're out to tender right now to try and have
a better service for access cabs, where there might be
an employee based model where People will just be directed
through the central booking service where they have to go.

(07:53):
And it's not based on individual owner of a taxi.
But I've got to say there are there are fun
people who, to use a really poor analogy, are, you know,
just taking the Mickey out of us. There are people
out there who are making a lot of money, loving
our cabs, doing a little bit of work and aren't
doing the community service and don't understand that there are

(08:17):
legal obligations for having an access taxi. It is a
small minority, but that small minority makes a big difference.
That's the difference between going out to a family event
and being able to get home after the prescribed hours
are over. That's the difference between some of the letters
I've received, where people have missed out on going to
their spouses funerals because the actress cab just hasn't turned up.

(08:40):
You know.

S1 (08:41):
We need more access.

S3 (08:41):
Cards. If I said we probably do, we probably do.
But until the reforms.

S2 (08:48):
Are enacted, which is later this year. I'm going to
make sure we do everything we can to improve the system.
And I got to say, I think I've had enough,
the community had enough, and we can't have this continue.
The impact on people not being able to leave their
homes and get an access taxi and go to a

(09:08):
family event, or just a dinner, or have a social
life because of the fear of not being able to
be taken home, is the anxiety that must caused the
mental health stress that must add to already very difficult life,
if quite frankly, unacceptable. You know, access to participate in
our community is not a privilege. It's a right. And

(09:29):
I should feel it is a civil right.

S1 (09:31):
I'm sure many people would agree with that. Just to
clarify the situation. So if someone's using an access club
in a cabin, it's got a relationship with their driver.
They can still continue to do that. But the driver
won't get the lifting fees. That right?

S3 (09:43):
That's right.

S1 (09:44):
Okay. Because Because, I mean, I know people that establish
really good relationships with their cab drivers and okay, that
I guess it tests the relationship. If the driver says, well,
I'm fully prepared to forgo the 25 bucks just to
continue picking you up and being a reliable driver.

S2 (10:00):
Well, this is going to be careful of right people
who are claiming that a relationship with clients, is that
a relationship with a client, or is there a relationship
with the lifting fee? And I want to make sure
that people aren't being taken advantage of simply because of
the unreliability of the system. If I can make the

(10:21):
system reliable, you won't need to have personal relationships with drivers.
It'll be like everyone else. You call a taxi and
it comes and you shouldn't have to worry about it
not coming. You shouldn't have to worry about having the
same driver over and over again, and a lifting fee
applying to get a driver. They shouldn't have to be
the case and that's got to change.

S1 (10:42):
What about the things like school runs because you touched on,
you know, people who might, you know, feel vulnerable in
catching attack situations. So they would want to make sure
they know their driver or their parent knows their driver.

S3 (10:55):
Yes.

S1 (10:55):
What happens with something like the school runs?

S3 (10:57):
Look.

S2 (10:58):
I'm not as fussed about the school run because I
am about everything else. School runs, I understand, are important
work for a lot of drivers and are important for
the for the client. So I'm not really interested in
interfering with that too much. What I'm interested to happen
is what happens after the school run. What happens at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00,
12:00 in the afternoon? What happens after 6 p.m.? They're

(11:19):
the ones. That's what I'm really interested in. The school runs.
I agree with you. They're established. We should continue those.
I have no problem with them continuing, but I want
those drivers to be available to operate other disability work
once they've completed the school run. But I don't want
is sporadic operation of the vehicles on the basis that

(11:39):
they've got bilateral arrangements for clients that give them enough
money to work a few jobs a day with a
few clients a day, and mean they can go home
when they're finished. I expect access cab drivers to be
available from 7:30 a.m. in the morning to 6 p.m.
at night as the prescribed hours, and those who aren't
will will face severe penalties.

S1 (12:00):
What sort of feedback have you had from drivers?

S3 (12:02):
Some drivers love it, some.

S2 (12:04):
Drivers hate it. The drivers have had it good, really
dislike it. The drivers who are struggling to get work
and they're struggling to get access to a lot of
clients who are being forced to do ordinary taxi work.
They love it. So I think it's been a good
mixed reaction, which makes me feel we're doing the right thing.

S1 (12:23):
You talked about sending an email off. I mean, that's
kind of, you know, okay, for most people, for some
find it might quite difficult to send an email and
explain their situation. How much sort of, uh, extra, uh,
material will be needed with that letter to kind of
to prove their, uh, their point.

S2 (12:41):
Well, they can call my office or he my number. It's, um,
it's seven one, double three, double one, 0071, double three,
double one, double zero. Give us your name and give
us your card details. And we'll be more than happy
to help you and hear your story. But I don't
want to build a system for an individual. I want

(13:05):
to build a system that's reliable for everyone. I want
anyone who needs an access code to be able to
call it and know that it's coming. We can't have
a situation where access cabs only serve the people that
they know. It is a booking system through a telephone
or online. I've got to be able to respond to

(13:25):
everyone who applies, and it just can't be for the
lucky few who happen to know their driver and got
a relationship and have built up these preferential systems where
the customer's not even getting out of the car. So
I am really concerned about Ford. And is that also
a criminal element here? You know, some of this behavior

(13:46):
could be your label. So, you know, I'm protecting people
as well from potential criminal charges to make sure that
you can't be taken advantage of, knowingly or unknowingly by
a driver to do something you shouldn't be doing. I've
got to put a stop to it. It's not the
right thing to do. What's been happening? And anyone who
thinks that access cabs have worked well, just need to

(14:09):
come to my office and read some of the horror
stories that I get every week from families and people
who've missed out on significant events in their lives, or
just are just can't leave. I'll give you one example,
and your listeners would know about these sorts of things.
It was a client who got taken by an access
cab to a birthday party, arrived at the birthday party

(14:34):
at just after 6 p.m. on a Friday night. The
access cab did not come to pick them up and
take them home. The central booking service could not find
a single access cable operator to take them home. Now
think of. I bet you plenty of your listeners have
been in that situation before. The anxiety that caused the client,

(14:54):
how that made the family feel, how that made the
client feel about being, you know, not being able to leave.
In the end, we had to send an ambulance to
pick this person up and take them to a hospital
to wait until the morning until we could get them
an access cab. Now, you might think that's a rare
type of letter that I get. They're not rare. I

(15:15):
get letters like that all the time, and I can't
let it continue. And I won't let it continue.

S1 (15:20):
So is this the trial period? Is it in for
forever and a day? How's this working?

S2 (15:24):
It's informal today. It's gone. The reports are over. I'm sorry.
I know some people are quite anxious about this, but
I just can't allow it to continue.

S1 (15:33):
Just one quick one before you go, Tom. I know
the head of the state budget is coming up next month. The, um, uh,
the taxi subsidy scheme has been capped at $40, with
$20 from the government and $20 from the passenger for
quite some time. Could that be going up this time around?

S2 (15:50):
You'll have to wait and see, mate. I'm sorry, I can't.
I can't spoil your anticipation.

S1 (15:54):
You can give me an exclusive. Tom, does that mean
that no one's listening? There's only you and I. And
we are both poor supporters.

S2 (16:02):
No, no. Sorry, man, I can't help you. Sorry.

S1 (16:05):
That's not know, though, is it?

S2 (16:06):
It's not your father.

S1 (16:08):
Tom. I really appreciate you speaking to me. I was
just looking up before. You've been in Parliament for 28 years.
I've been doing this program for 33 years, and we've
never spoken before, so I hope it's not 33 years
or 28 years before we speak again.

S2 (16:22):
Long overdue. Reporter three.

S1 (16:24):
All right. Thank you. Tom. Tom. Really appreciate it.

S2 (16:26):
All right. Cheers. Bye.

S1 (16:27):
That's the Minister for transport, Tom Koutsantonis. And we'll put
those details up, that phone number and that email address,
if you want that exemption, if you like, or if
you want to retain that relationship, we'll put those details
up with our show notes.

S4 (16:41):
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

S1 (16:46):
It's really great to welcome to the program Jennifer McIntyre,
who's the CEO for Calisthenics Victoria, who won an important
award at the Victoria Sports Award for one, the initiative
for Sport and Active Recreation, sponsored by Vic Health. Jen,
welcome and congratulations.

S5 (17:02):
Oh, thank you, Peter. I'm very happy to be here. And, um. Yeah,
thanks for recognizing, um, that we were lucky enough to
win the award a couple of nights ago.

S1 (17:13):
Well, I think lucky is probably a little bit, uh,
underplaying it, Jen. But we we like people that are modest, so.
Well done. Well, tell us about tell us about your program, then,
because you've involved a number of people with disabilities. And
I think for the first time. Is that right?

S5 (17:25):
Yeah. 2024 was the first year that we ran, um,
Kelly's Stars, which is a, um, program for, uh, people
with a disability to get involved with our solo product.
So we ran it again in 2025 and have expanded
it a little bit more. So I'm really proud of
the work that we've been doing in the inclusion space.
Still plenty to do, but, um, it certainly has been

(17:48):
embraced by our community and by the local competitions that
assisted us in 2025 to develop the program even further.

S1 (17:55):
How did it start or how did the initiative get launched,
if you like? Or whose brainwave was it? Yours, I guess.

S5 (18:00):
Uh, no. I'm sure it was definitely a team effort,
but Kelly Vic's I guess vision in our strategic plan
is through innovation and participation. Calisthenics can be a creative
sport for all. And I think for a long time
we haven't done as much as we needed to do
in the inclusion space. So getting a product that is
solely for people with a disability, being able to compete

(18:22):
in a competition, um, it's not just a recreational display
is super important to us. and it's really been embraced
by all age groups. So we've had young performers right
through to adults, which has just been fabulous. And also
the families have been able to get involved and see
their performers on stage doing what they love. It's been
a really special product. It's probably, I think, the favourite

(18:45):
thing that we've done at Kelly while I've been here,
and we're hoping to expand it in further years now.

S1 (18:51):
I guess the fact that you had more this year
than last year, because as you said, we're talking about
the 2024 awards, obviously the year that's gone. But the
fact that it's expanded, uh, sort of affirms your initiative
in the first place.

S5 (19:04):
Yeah, I think so. And we've had a long when
I say we we've had clubs and people, individuals in calisthenics,
doing incredible work with people with disability for a long time.
And I think calisthenics Victoria, you know, are catching up
and finally running a product which enables them to do
that on like a state stage and, And some clubs

(19:27):
that come to mind are K and K, who have
been working with performers with disabilities for a really long
time and just done some amazing things. So, you know,
shout out to those people who've really helped us push
this product. And in 2025, we've been able to expand
because we only offered 1 or 2 performance opportunities for
our Kelly Stars in 2024. But in 2025, we were

(19:49):
able to double that and have more opportunities. So I think,
you know, moving forward, it's how we can continue to
improve and to grow it and potentially to provide a
team opportunity so that, um, these um, kids and young
adults can also, if they choose to have a stream,
Kelly Stars, which is a more team orientated. But, you know,

(20:10):
obviously super important to that. Our Kelly stars are integrating
back into the community and performing with their mainstream clubs
as well.

S1 (20:19):
One of the things that we talk about on this
program a lot is that the kind of message it sends,
and it's not just the fact that you as an
organization are inclusive and the people with disabilities getting involved,
but if they're on stage or, you know, whatever they're doing,
what they're doing, if members of the general public can't
see it. Yeah, it's a great sort of strong message
to be sending. And people are kind of learning, learning

(20:39):
about it without necessarily knowing they're learning, if I can
put it that way.

S5 (20:42):
Yeah. And I think credit to our adjudicators who have
been really, um, keen to learn the best way to
adjudicate Kelly stars or to make sure that they are
adjudicating appropriately for people, for these performers who who do
have some, you know, a disability or extra challenges. And,
you know, we need to do some more education in

(21:03):
that space. But I love the fact that, um, calisthenics
is all about perfection. So it's been really, um, I guess,
refreshing for our, um, sport to, you know, embrace a
product where everything won't be perfect and things might look
a little bit different. But, um, as I said, probably
my favorite competition for the whole 2024 year was definitely

(21:26):
Kelly Stars. And and just being in the audience, sitting
with the families, it meant a lot to them, which
I think is is super special and really important for
sports to consider.

S1 (21:35):
Yeah, we mentioned the general public, but I guess to
say for the families themselves, I mean, they might have
other kids that are in the program like this, you know,
why shouldn't their child with a disability or a member
of their family with a disability also have that opportunity?

S5 (21:48):
Yeah, 100%. And we've had lots of people in the
community really keen to help us, you know, grow this
product and to grow our inclusion across our whole sport,
how we can do things better. And I'm really grateful
to those people. Lots of them have got lived experiences,
either as a performer or as a parent of a performer. So, um, certainly,
you know, the job's not done yet. There's still, you know,

(22:10):
heaps more to do. And we'll keep pushing to make
sure that we can be as inclusive as possible in
as many ways as possible.

S1 (22:17):
You talked about the judges. What about the people that
are I know are they coaches, they're training or whatever
the title is for the people that are kind of helping.
Those that are in the classes come through how they
kind of adjusted to that role as well.

S5 (22:31):
Yeah, absolutely. We have got, um, a new coaching programs
and we have coach education about, um, coaching people with
the disability, all sorts of obviously disability is so broad.
So at the moment, I think the opportunity for us
is to fine tune our categories where it's pretty raw
at the moment. It was just all in, in a

(22:51):
melting pot and everyone was in together. So I think
moving forward, that would be something that we would look
to further refine. We certainly are working with our coaches
and our clubs to educate them on, you know, different
skills and different ways to include and coach people with
a disability. So certainly, again, as I said, lots to

(23:13):
lots to do, but certainly we're moving in the right direction.

S1 (23:16):
Yeah. The award was sponsored by Vic Health. I guess
that's kind of appropriate too, isn't it? In terms of
the the health of the individuals that benefits both physical
and mental health?

S5 (23:26):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Vic Health do some incredible work
and as Vic Sport in that space over here in
Victoria and we are, you know fully committed to trying to,
you know, include everybody not just, you know, people with
a disability, but people who have got, I guess, backgrounds
that don't necessarily lend themselves to sports. So we've developed

(23:46):
an inclusion action plan with Vic Sport. And we are
two and a half years through implementing that. So it's
really rewarding to see some of these programs coming to life.
And I guess the cherry on top was the Kelly
Stars being recognised at the awards on Wednesday night.

S1 (24:04):
It's a great day, isn't it? Kelly stars I mean,
it kind of says it all, doesn't it? Like they're stars.

S5 (24:09):
Yeah, they they absolutely are. I certainly think anybody, you know,
getting up on stage by themselves is pretty brave. And um. Yeah,
they were just, you know, amazing to watch. They were
the joy and how much fun they were having, being
physically active and remembering routines like, yes, it was a super, um,
it's a super product. We're really, really proud of it.

S1 (24:28):
And it says that the kind of disabilities represented, if
I could put it that way. Was it across the board? Yeah.
Different sorts of disabilities.

S5 (24:34):
Yeah. There was all sorts of different things. Um, some
were um, I guess learning difficulties, some had physical disabilities. So, yeah,
there was a whole raft of, um, different disabilities. And um,
I think, yeah, that is the opportunity for us to
perhaps further refine that in the future on on how
they might be, I guess, how they compete. They all

(24:55):
just competed against each other. And it was really important
through the work we did with the people with the
disability working group, it was really important to them that
the event was a competition. So, um, yeah, it's how
we refine, I guess the the categories, if that's the
right word of of who competes against who. But nobody
was complaining. Everybody had a great day. Loved the experience.

S1 (25:18):
Well, good on you also for having a working group
made up of people with the lived experience. I mean,
that's very genuine as far as your attempt to make
it inclusive. And Jen, what about as far as I know,
Victoria is not a big state size wise, but you've
got big towns or big cities outside Melbourne. Did you
get some representation in that area as well?

S5 (25:36):
Yeah, no, I think they were mostly metro kids, which
is certainly an opportunity to, I guess, grow our footprint
and make sure that, you know, children in or or
young adults or anyone who's interested in callisthenics around the
state has an opportunity to get involved with Kelly stars.
So I think, um, it was a pilot in 2024,

(25:57):
and then we were able to expand it in 2025.
And I think moving into 2026, you know, we'll really
be able to continue to grow the the program. We're
lucky it doesn't rely on any funding. I mean, funding
is always nice and a partner would be amazing, but
we've been able to self-fund it and make it sustainable
without a grant or, you know, a naming rights sponsor

(26:20):
or anything like that. But yeah, certainly we want it
to to be across the whole state and make sure
that we can offer, you know, people that live outside
of Melbourne, equal opportunities.

S1 (26:30):
Alright. We'll put up details about your organisation on our
show notes so that if people are interested in maybe
think this would be a very worthwhile thing to get
involved with from a sponsor's point of view. We'll put
those details up there. Yeah. And you know, if much
is going on similar to this in other states.

S5 (26:47):
Um, yeah, I'm not too sure. I think there is
some work being done. Um, which is important. Like hopefully
it's happening in every state. It absolutely should be. And um,
you know, we'd be happy to talk to anybody who's
thinking about starting a program and I guess give them
the the benefits of our wisdom having done it. And, um, yeah,
I mean, I think all the collaboration in this space

(27:09):
is important, and we certainly have been looking at other
sports and what's happening in that space as well. So
you can always learn from what other people are doing.

S1 (27:18):
Well, you've certainly said a very good benchmark. So thank
you so much for speaking to us. Obviously a very
deserving winner. Enjoy the moment and go from strength to strength. Jan.

S5 (27:27):
Yeah. Well, thanks so much for your, um, your interest.
And I enjoy talking to you. Thanks, Peter.

S1 (27:32):
That's Jim McIntyre there. Who's the CEO for calisthenics? Victoria,
tell us about their Victoria Sports Award. Obviously very richly deserved.
And as I say, I think it'll be going from
strength to strength and even more people getting involved. And
we go around Australia on the Australian Radio Network. If
you're listening in another state and are involved, get in
touch and have a chat to you to say.

S6 (27:54):
Hey, this is Andrew Edmondson from the Australian Steelers. Thanks
for listening to leisure. Link with Peter Greco on Vision
Australia radio network.

S4 (28:06):
Well.

S1 (28:08):
If you're a regular to the program, and I hope
you are. Recently, we caught up with an Englishman who
was about to take off for New Zealand and do
the trek for Vision Australia. And that is back. And
that is also with us who took part. So good
to meet you for the first time. And thanks for
your time.

S7 (28:23):
Yeah. Thanks, Peter. And how are you, Annette?

S8 (28:25):
Yeah, it's really good. Thanks, Dale. And you?

S7 (28:27):
Yeah. Great. Thank you. Great.

S1 (28:28):
Have you both recovered well? And how have you gone
with the recovery?

S8 (28:32):
Uh, I've recovered quite well. Uh, I really spent a
lot of time getting fit before the trek, and I
think that's helped a lot in my recovery. And, uh. Yeah,
it was all worth worthwhile.

S1 (28:45):
And now you're kind of naturally fit or. Yeah, you're
fairly active. So, uh, it was a, I guess, more
of a, uh, a sort of community event for you
rather than, uh, sort of a physical exertion.

S7 (28:55):
Yeah. I guess for me, physically, I coped really well. Yeah,
I'm quite active doing running and all those type of things,
but for me it was very much a, um, emotional
and mental type of recovery because, um, to download after
the week after was it was emotional to rethink of
all the things and the fun times and the, you know,

(29:17):
the challenges we all faced over the course of that week. So, um, yeah,
it was a whole different process, I think, for me
in those aspects.

S1 (29:24):
Yeah, we spoke to Annette before doing it. So we
had a bit of an idea of why that got involved.
What about for you? What made you get involved?

S7 (29:30):
So I guess, Peter, I've only been vision impaired a
couple of years, and I gave myself a promise that
when this all happened, that I was going to live
life to the fullest and explore things and do things
I've never done before and explore the world, and I've
developed a love of trails and getting out there, whether

(29:53):
that's just hiking or whether that's trying to run events
and things like that. And New Zealand was a perfect
opportunity to one get out to another country to explore
some amazing land and also be part of a great
team that went over. So it was perfect opportunity for me.

S1 (30:11):
Now, I think when we spoke, you didn't know many
of the people that are going to be involved. I
guess you've got to know them in the interim.

S8 (30:17):
Oh, absolutely. I didn't actually know anyone. So we had
there were five people with low vision and seven supporting people,
and then we had three local guides. Uh, but, uh,
now I've got to meet all these wonderful people. I
just will remain, I hope to remain friends with this

(30:40):
group forever. We were just all so, so inspired by
each other. It was quite challenging. Uh, I've got to say,
the supporting people, they were just absolutely amazing. And I think,
you know, the the amount of concentration for them to
keep all of us was safe would have just been amazing.

(31:00):
They must have been really tired by the end of
the day, but but everyone just kept going. And, uh,
you know, we just had such a wonderful time and
we made such great connections, and it was absolutely amazing.

S1 (31:14):
What about some of the challenges, I guess, particularly terrain wise,
if you like, and sort of getting across the ground
safely and comfortably. How did that all pan out?

S8 (31:22):
Uh, well, there were some challenges on the tracks. Uh,
there were lots of tree roots, um, knobs. And there
were these water channels which were, um, made from wood, um,
wooden boxes that went through the tracks. And, um, so
our trusty guides, who were like, each of us had
someone in front of us that was supporting us, that

(31:44):
was guiding us. And they'd say, root knob, uh, box
and a hard left, hard right. Um, we're coming up
to a tree root on the left. And yeah, it
was just amazing. But with, um, without the support of
our wonderful supporting guides. I know for one, that I

(32:06):
wouldn't have been able to do it because there were
quite a few challenges.

S1 (32:10):
Now, what about for you then? If there was a, um,
you know, being supportive, if you like, you're fairly fit.
So did you sort of enjoy the sort of friendship
side of it as much? And was there much communication
during that show days themselves?

S7 (32:24):
Yeah. So I, I was able to actually switch off
a little bit because I had so many people around
us to support us. It actually took the pressure off
me a little bit, because I'm so used to doing
things a little bit solo sometimes. And, um, it, it
enabled me to sort of go just sort of outsource the,
those things a little bit. So it actually helped quite

(32:46):
a lot. And it was also good for me to
be able to also occasionally assist some of the other
low vision people. Just in some advice here and there
on how I approach things as I go as well.
But the one thing that really stood out for me,
or one of the things with the five low vision
people on the track, we all operated differently to still

(33:09):
do the same thing. And what I mean by that
is there was, um, one different eye conditions, but two
different techniques. So I used an all terrain cane and
a hiking pole for stability. And that just had a cane.
There was a couple with hiking poles. And we also
had a seeing eye dog on board. So we all
had different techniques in traveling across the terrain, but I

(33:32):
thought it was so amazing to see how we all
operated and still kept ourselves safe with our teams around us.

S1 (33:39):
Now, I guess with something like that, you're kind of
learning a fair bit about each other. I mean, the
preferred method of travel, if you like, is different to yours,
but you can kind of learn from each other.

S8 (33:47):
Absolutely. And, uh, we got the opportunity to try each
other's different methods of, uh, of, um, tackling the track. Uh,
so there was one day that I had, uh, the
opportunity to use someone else's cane. There was another person
with low vision who was using a cane and, uh,

(34:10):
walking pole. So I tried that method. Um, and there
we had another lady who actually didn't use any, um, method.
She was using, um, walking poles. But Dale actually, uh,
gave her a lesson in using the cane, so it

(34:30):
was it was just fantastic. We all helped each other,
and we all tried each other's methods, and and we
got there each day. We got to the end, and
we got the opportunity to spend some lovely time in
the two lodges that we stayed in.

S1 (34:45):
Where was it held? What part of New Zealand did
you go to?

S7 (34:48):
So it was the Abel Tasman trek on the South Island,
which is in the northern section of the South Island,
and we stayed for two nights at Meadowbank Lodge and
then another two nights at torrent Bay. So yeah, it
was just amazing environments. The the accommodations were fantastic. The
guides were fantastic and inevitable. I think you'll agree with me.

(35:09):
I don't think we've laughed so hard for a week outright,
as we did that week ourselves, because it was just
a barrel of laughs getting to know everyone.

S1 (35:17):
And what about the kind of evenings and the social interaction?
Tell us a bit about that, I guess. Yeah. Trying
each other's mobility tricks while you're out and about. But
but at evening time, I guess that's when a lot
of the laughter sort of comes into play.

S8 (35:30):
Ah, yes, that was a lot of fun. So it
wasn't really like, uh, hardcore trekking where we were camping
each night. The lodges were more like five star accommodation,
so we had a three course meal each.

S1 (35:44):
Night.

S8 (35:44):
And then after the the meals, we'd go into the
lounge area and, uh, one of the sighted trekkers are
possibly the youngest member of the group. She was very
energetic and she had a couple of games for us
and that was, uh, fun. I don't know if we
should say what the games were, but it was a

(36:05):
lot of fun and.

S1 (36:08):
I know you're not going to get all of that.
And you said too much without saying enough, so come on.
What were the games?

S8 (36:13):
Oh, okay. So one night we, we did, uh, a game, um,
where we had to, uh, place two, two coins in our, um, crack.
Is it okay to say that? Spit it out. And
then we had to, uh, walk towards, uh, a cup, um,
you know, without dropping the coins and then drop the

(36:34):
two coins into the cup. So that was one. And
then the other night, it was, uh, like a big
container and people had to bend over, um, pick the
container up with their mouth without putting their hands on
the floor. That's right. Dale, isn't it?

S7 (36:51):
Yeah.

S8 (36:52):
Without hands on the floor.

S7 (36:53):
Hands on, knees on the floor. We couldn't go on
the floor. So you had to be sort of squat
down and and try and maneuver yourself to pick up
this weetbix container. So you have to be very flexible. Well.

S1 (37:04):
There are certainly different games, aren't they.

S7 (37:06):
Yeah. And then there was a quiz night as well
on one of the nights, which was great.

S8 (37:09):
So the quiz night was great. The um, local Kiwi guides, uh, they, uh,
prepared the quiz. And so we all should have, um,
taken more, paid more attention to what we were being
told because a lot of questions were based on the, um,
what we learnt on the way on the trek.

S1 (37:27):
What about that side of it? Dale, I think you've
got a little bit of site. Did you get a
bit of a chance to kind of see or not?
You're looking out for obstacles, etc., but you get a
chance to kind of pick up the scenery.

S7 (37:37):
Yeah. So there's bits and pieces that I can pick
up obviously. Um, which is I've got enough sites to
sort of make out quite a few things, but to
be honest, a lot of I was able to take
a whole lot of photos, and I'm still sifting through them,
and I put them on my TV when I get
home so that I can have them at stupidly large size.

(37:58):
And that's how I relive any of my adventures, including
the trek. So every day I'm looking at 1020 photos
and just going, oh, look at that scenery. Oh, the
Silver Ferns or the beach or whatever it may have been,
or photos of the group, and I can reminisce a
little bit. So while we're immersed in it, we probably

(38:19):
don't all appreciate how beautiful it is, because we do
all have low vision. But those moments of looking at
those photos up close, whether it's on a tablet, PC
or on a TV like I do, you really, truly
appreciate the beauty of it.

S1 (38:34):
Oh, lovely word pictures. And that as we learned from
you in the past, you like birding by ear. Did
you get a chance to do that?

S8 (38:40):
Uh, a little bit. So a little bit about a
couple of the local birds. and one was called a tui.
And there was a bellbird, uh, that was um, only
in New Zealand, in that particular area of New Zealand.
So after a while, after they were pointed out, we
could actually pick those two birds. The sounds of those

(39:03):
two birds out. Um, but it was mostly just the two.
Two birds that, um.

S7 (39:09):
And the weka. Don't forget the weka.

S8 (39:11):
Oh, of course, Diana, of course.

S7 (39:14):
The New Zealand version of a bean chicken.

S8 (39:17):
Oh that's right.

S7 (39:18):
They will take opportunistic stealing of any food possible.

S1 (39:22):
Go. All right. Well, I think that they might have
liked an invitation to a three course meal each night, but, uh,
there you go.

S8 (39:29):
Our next Dale. That's great. The dale's here because I've
forgotten that.

S1 (39:36):
Well, thank you for both being here, and that's great
to catch up again. Keep up the great work that
you do. I know you do plenty of away from
the track as well, So keep up that work and go.
Nice to meet you for the first time, and I'm
sure we'll speak to to you again in the future,
but it's been great to catch up with both of you.

S8 (39:51):
Thanks, PJ, lovely to catch up again. Thanks, Dale. See
you soon. Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Dale.

S1 (39:57):
At least when there are no. So Dale is telling
us about the attack in New Zealand. Helping raise money
for Vision Australia. Having a very good time, but also
with some really powerful memories and messages to take away.

S9 (40:09):
You're in elite company listening to Leslie here on Vision
Australia Radio, radio, digital radio.org and through the TuneIn radio app.

S1 (40:20):
Professor Lucy Morgan is chair of the Lung Foundation and
also a respiratory physician. And it's great to welcome Lucy
to the program. Lucy, if I might call you that,
to thank you for your time.

S10 (40:29):
Of course you can, Peter. Thank you for having me.

S1 (40:32):
Yeah. You've got a very important message and certainly, I guess,
very seasonal in a sense. So coming into winter.

S10 (40:37):
I have Peter. The message is become familiar with the
with the initials are SV. So RSV stands for respiratory
syncytial virus. And it's a nasty, uh, respiratory illness, a
bit similar to influenza and a bit similar to Covid
19 or SARS-CoV-2. Um, but a virus, uh, quite a

(41:01):
separate virus. And it's one that's, um, that's really very,
very common. And it's we're seeing a lot of it
across Australia right at this moment. And in fact, coming
into winter, we're likely to see even more. And this is,
I guess, a call to arms. This is to make
sure that our community knows about RSV. And I guess

(41:22):
it's just aware of just what a serious illness it
can be and what you can do to protect yourself,
I guess.

S1 (41:28):
Call to arms. Arms being a very important word.

S10 (41:32):
Well, it's one part of the solution. Um, Peter, of
course I know what you're referring to there. And that's vaccination. Explanation.
Certainly there are vaccines available for RSV. And as I said,
there's a there's a swathe of other things that we
can do to help protect ourselves from getting RSV and
then from becoming very sick from RSV. And certainly vaccines

(41:55):
play a one, you know, play one part in that.
Of course, what we learned from Covid 19 was from
the pandemic was just all the other things we could
do to help protect ourselves. So it does include things
like keeping our hands clean. What hand hand hygiene. It
does include, um, having nice manners when you cough and sneeze,

(42:15):
just like our grandmas tortoise. And, um, and it does
include thinking about times when you choose to or not
to be in close contact with someone who's got viral symptoms.
And I guess that takes me to the next really
important point about RSV, and that is that it is very,
very common as a cause of, a febrile illness for

(42:40):
little people. So little, little babies and toddlers. In fact,
by the age of two, every Australian child, in fact,
every child will have been infected with RSV at some point,
at least once.

S5 (42:53):
Wow.

S1 (42:54):
That's amazing.

S10 (42:55):
That is amazing. Now, we've kind of known that for
a very long time. And anybody that's a parent or
a grandparent will probably have, you know, they'll probably have
a story about a little person in their lives who's
had RSV. Mostly that RSV illness in little people is
relatively mild. But, um, you know, more than a thousand, um,

(43:16):
kids would present to a hospital with RSV illness in
a given year. In Australia, most of those illnesses, of course,
are very, you know, are mild and short lived. And
even if they do go to hospital, they usually go
home in a day or so. What the community is
less familiar with, I guess, is that those little people

(43:37):
can infect their, um, their adult family members, particularly their
older adult family members. And of course, if you've cuddled
a snotty, febrile little person, um, they just want to
snuggle in and they, they just want to share their
droplets with you. And so it's a, you know, it's
a highly contagious virus. So in fact, carers of, of

(43:59):
sick little children are highly likely to catch their, their bugs.
And so I guess this is a this is particularly
a call out to even very fit and active and
busy grandparents who might be in their 60s and 70s otherwise. Well,
that that you're, you know, you're at real risk of
catching RSV from your grandchildren or great grandchildren and that

(44:23):
it can have very severe consequences for you. And so
this is this is another really important part of the messaging.
RSV in older adults can be a very severe illness.
So whereas little people get a little bit sick, might
go to hospital, but usually get better very quickly and
mostly have no consequences. An older person with Rs who

(44:45):
is more likely to catch RSV, and if they do
catch the virus, they're much more likely to get really
crook and end up in hospital. And if they do
end up in hospital, they're much more likely to stay
for a long time. And even people who are otherwise, well,
who feel fit and fabulous and late middle age in

(45:06):
their 60s and 70s, can have such a severe illness
that even when they're home from hospital, they're really below
par for a long, long time.

S1 (45:15):
Okay.

S10 (45:15):
And so, you know, anything we can do to protect
ourselves from the consequences of that kind of illness is
is really important. So not and not only healthy people.
Of course, if you've got an underlying chronic lung problem
or a heart problem or more diabetes or any one
of a number of, you know, chronic problems where you

(45:35):
have to take medication all the time, then you're at
particular risk that the RSV illness will lead to some
kind of flare up or decompensation of that of that problem.
So if you've got heart disease, have a bit of
what we call heart failure, where you have to take
some fluid tablets to stop your ankle swelling, or you

(45:56):
get very puffed when you lie down flat. So if
you've got a cardiologist who says you've got some heart
muscle problems, then catching RSV can be particularly severe if
you've got COPD. So emphysema or chronic bronchitis and you
get RSV, you can get really bad flare up of
your of your underlying lung disease. And that can cause

(46:19):
you to be in hospital for a long period of time.
It does even have a risk of, you know, it
does have a mortality risk for people who catch RSV,
sometimes die, and we don't have any specific treatments for
this virus at the moment.

S1 (46:32):
Can you get it more than once?

S10 (46:34):
Yeah you can. And in fact, that's one of the
one of the tricky things. So you do get a
little bit of immunity to the virus once you've had
an illness. But that wears off in a few short months, right?
So you're at risk, then, of getting it again and again.
And as we get older, in fact, our immune systems
do get a bit weaker and tireder and, uh, and

(46:58):
you're more likely to catch it again and again. So, uh, yeah,
you're right, Peter, um, you can catch it more than once.
And having it once doesn't mean the next time will
be a milder illness either.

S1 (47:09):
With the vaccines that are available, can you get one
that covers more than just RSV? I mean, I'm thinking
in terms of Covid because I noticed the other day
an ad regarding a test that you can have that
can pick up Covid and RSV. I mean, the vaccines
do the same thing.

S10 (47:24):
No, unfortunately not yet. Um, that wouldn't that be a
wonderful thing for us. That's kind of a holy grail,
I think. Um, to be able to have one vaccine
that would protect you against. We don't have that at
the moment. We do have very good, um, testing, though,
now that, as you say, can test for the you
can test for RSV, can test for influenza A and B,

(47:49):
and it can test for um, for Covid, for SARS-CoV-2,
the Covid virus. So we've and we've we've come a
long way in a very short period of time when
it comes to testing. So we can test for lots
of viruses. And that's important because the the symptoms of
RSV are very similar to the symptoms of influenza or

(48:10):
even of Covid, a severe Covid illness. So it's the
common things, you know, it's headache, it's sore throat, it's
runny nose. It might be cough. Um, it's often aches
and pains and feeling just really, really exhausted. Fatigue, lack
of appetite, things like that, and high temperatures. And that
could be any of those viruses. There's nothing about the

(48:31):
symptoms that tells you this is RSV, but we can
test for it. And I think knowing that you've got
it really does make a difference, particularly in being able
to predict, is this likely to get better in a
couple of days? Is that are we at risk of
you ending up needing hospital care? So we think it's

(48:53):
really very important that we make the diagnosis.

S1 (48:57):
You talked about, particularly in older people, and you're a
lung specialist, obviously a respiratory physician. So does that damage
your lungs? That may be it's kind of damage that
you might not recover from fully. Is that kind of
what are the dangers.

S10 (49:12):
So one of the um, it's not so much that
it does that what's more likely to happen if you've
got an underlying lung disease that might be a scarring
lung disease like fibrosis, or it might be an airways
disease like asthma or COPD, or a chronic recurrent infections

(49:33):
like something called bronchiectasis. So if you have a chronic
lung problem and then you get a nasty virus like RSV,
it can trigger your underlying problem to go haywire and
require a lot of special treatments. And some of your
listeners who have those diseases would be familiar with needing

(49:54):
to take prednisone, which is a steroid, might be through
a drip or a tablet. Now that does help people
with lung problems, but it has lots of side effects.
And you, you know, means you in hospital if you're
having intravenous if you're needing intravenous therapies, you there is
a high rate of complications such as pneumonia. So developing

(50:17):
a bacteria a bacterial illness on top of your viral illness.
And if that happens again, hospital intravenous antibiotics oxygen sometimes
and feeling really crook. So the virus itself does damage
the the lungs. But you know we hope that you

(50:37):
will recover from that. But during that time that you're
really crook there's a you know, you do you feel
very sick and you need lots of treatment. And if
you're in hospital, of course, the chances of complications, both
the illness and of the treatment, go up and up
and up. We, um, we all know we want to
stay out of hospital if we possibly can.

S1 (50:58):
Lucy, is there a place we can go to find
out more? I guess, obviously, you know, if you see
your GP regularly is a good thing.

S10 (51:05):
Yeah. Look, I, I look, um, personally, I think, um,
a good relationship with your GP is, um, is a
is a golden thing. So talking to your GP about
about RSV is worthwhile. The other place you can go
for For information because I'm, you know, I'm wearing my
lung Foundation of Australia hat here. So Lung Foundation of
Australia is a patient support and advocacy organization. So we're

(51:30):
here for patients. And on the Lung Foundation website you'll
find information about viral illnesses, including RSV. You'll also find
A18 hundred number where you can call and speak to
a nurse about, uh, about your concerns or any questions
you have if reading a website is difficult for you.

S1 (51:51):
Alright, we'll put that information up with our show notes. Lucy,
thank you so much for speaking to us. Hopefully we
can speak to you again in the future.

S10 (51:57):
I'd love that. Thanks so much for having me, Pete.

S1 (51:59):
It's, uh, Professor Lucy Morgan, who's a respiratory physician and, uh,
a very important message regarding RSV. So be alarmed, but
certainly be very much alert. With Victorian Sports Awards have
just their nine day winners, and certainly a very prestigious

(52:22):
award is the Peter Norman Inclusion Award. And it's gone
to an interesting organisation called um, pride to play. And
they're all from pride to play. Kate Matthews joins us. Kate,
thanks for your time and welcome.

S11 (52:35):
Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for having me on
for a chat.

S1 (52:37):
Now, uh, before we talk about, uh, you and what
you do named after Peter Norman. That's a pretty cool
name for, uh, anyone involved with sport.

S11 (52:46):
Yeah, absolutely. Like, it's a it's a great award to get.
There's been a whole heap of fantastic winners of the award,
and and, you know, having Peter Norman's name on there
is definitely sweetens the deal.

S1 (52:57):
What about the, uh, the award and and what it
means to your organization? Then we could talk about it,
about your organization and what you do.

S11 (53:04):
Um, yeah. The the Peter Norman Inclusion Award is the
Victorian Sport award for inclusion of all types. So, um, disability,
people of different cultures, LGBT people, people with disabilities. Abilities,
and it's a really competitive field. Like I've been obviously
working in the inclusion sector in sport. I've been following
it for years and and every year there's a there's

(53:25):
a whole heap of really good programs that get nominated.
And I think it's a really competitive category. So winning
the award, we won it for our, um, pride hub
at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, um, which was
the world's first pride hub at a Formula One Grand
Prix event. And, um, yeah, we created this space with
the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and an organisation called Racing

(53:48):
Pride that does pride in Formula one and motorsport, which
is based in the UK and just created a space
where people could come in and and feel welcome at
the Grand Prix. So our focus is on LGBT inclusion,
but really it's for friends, family, allies, anyone to walk in.
So it's been wonderful to win it and have that

(54:09):
recognised and and have that space be recognized as a
really inclusive space.

S1 (54:15):
You talked about the award being very competitive. I guess
that's kind of a good thing, isn't it? Maybe makes
the winning even more meritorious that, uh, you know, you
kind of entered, if I can put it that way.

S11 (54:24):
Yeah, absolutely. Like, you know, we've we've been nominated a
few times. Um, I think this is the first time
we've won it. And like, I know that we do
great work, and I know that many of the other organizations,
like a lot of times when I've seen previous winners,
it's been like, yep, you deserve that. There's there's no
hard feelings. It's just like, yeah, that that's that's awesome.

(54:46):
Like that's great work. So like, I hope people feel
the same about us as well.

S1 (54:52):
Well, maybe after hearing you they they will. Okay. Tell
us a bit about the Grand Prix event that this
is the one in Melbourne. Of course.

S11 (54:58):
Yeah, yeah. So we've done it. So the first year
that we did this was 2024, which is what this
award was for. And we did it again in 2025.
So the Pride Hub space is just a it's a
large sort of marquee key space where we do a
range of talks with motorsport. Motorsport people. Um, we have
sort of a lounge sort of feel to it, so

(55:20):
people can just come and connect with other Andretti people,
learn more about LGBT contributions in motorsport and, and, you know,
just to have a chat by some pride merch at
the Grand Prix. And we've found it to be really good.
Like this year we built on that. We had, um,
the Rainbow Shoelace project BMW, which is a, an amateur racecar, um,

(55:42):
done by a guy named Adam Krupsky. So we had
some people who were able to interact with a car
that had the rainbow colours on it. We had some
talks by Christina, who is a engineer, a computer computer
fluid dynamics engineer, I think is the full title with, uh,
Sauber Formula One team and their Melbourne based and a

(56:03):
queer woman. And we did a whole heap of other talks,
and we even had Fatboy Slim come in and, um,
you know, have a chat to us. Just before they
were about to perform on the main stage at the concert. Okay.
We had them come along and watch the Grand Prix
with us as well. So plenty of plenty of stuff
going on. But since then it's expanded to. There was
a pride hub, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and um, yeah,

(56:27):
we're looking to sort of take the concept to other
sporting events in future.

S1 (56:30):
Well, it's a bit of, uh, recognition, the fact that
it's been duplicated, isn't it? What is imitation's the greatest
form of flattery or something?

S11 (56:37):
Yeah. I you know, between this award and that, I
feel very flattered.

S1 (56:41):
Yeah, well, you should I just take a lot of
work to kind of, you know, get the idea to
be accepted. Yeah.

S11 (56:47):
So, um, in a good way. Yes. So, like, we
had been sort of working on the concept and sort
of knocking on the door of the Australian Grand Prix
Corporation and sort of other offices, and it took them
a while to sort of come around, but not not
in a negative way. They just really wanted to make
sure that their diversity and inclusion Policies and and with

(57:09):
strong and genuine and that are in a position to
actually do it in a really genuine fashion. And they
weren't going to do it, you know, it wasn't just
going to be, you know, wheeling out some drag queens and,
you know, stuff like that. I really wanted to, to
make a good space for us. And they wanted to
make sure that they were ready to do that for
us so they could really engage. So it took a

(57:29):
couple of years from when we were knocking on the door. But, um, once,
once they, they sort of were ready for it. It
really came along really fast and had some great support
from the Grand Prix Corporation, have engaged in education behind
the scenes. We've had input into a lot of the
policies around, you know, all gender bathrooms and stuff at
the Grand Prix and signage about harassment, because obviously some

(57:51):
of our community get harassed and, and stuff like that.
So we've had some a lot of behind the scenes
input that's went sort of behind this Pride Hub concept
as well.

S1 (58:00):
We talked about the inclusion Award and obviously a number
of organizations, uh, if you like, representing or including people
with disabilities are a part of it as well. And
I mean, I know there are people who have disabilities
who sort of identify as being gay as well, but
the kind of two movements that can put it that
way do have a lot in common, don't they?

S11 (58:19):
Yeah, they definitely do. Like I'm proud to play. We
have a, um, we have a, uh, a partnership with
Disability Sport Australia as well. Um, so we're really focused
on that, that disability and queer identity focus as well
as other sort of intersectional identities as well. But, you know,
it was important to us to make sure our pride
hub space was accessible for people with disabilities because there's

(58:42):
such an overlap. And, you know, we want to make
sure that they have the right to enjoy this space
just as much as anyone else. And we want to
make sure that that's really welcoming for them and make
sure that we're, you know, sort of just looking, even
though we do LGBT inclusion, that we're looking sort of
beyond that and looking at sort of more complex Identities,

(59:04):
you know, because people, everyone is made up of a
whole heap of different communities and different identities and strengths
and weaknesses, and we want to be there for all
of them and celebrate all of those differences and all
of those identities that goes into people. So that's been
really important to us to make it really accessible for everyone.

S1 (59:24):
Now you're hitting mainstream, which is a great thing because
it kind of makes much more people aware you're at
the MCG during the week.

S11 (59:30):
Yeah, yeah, we've been at the MCG. So, um, you know,
Grand Prix, we've got the MCD now. We're taking over
all the venues. So, um, yeah, we, we did an
event with Nikki Dryden and our ambassador, who's a Paralympian
who's a Paralympic player, and we did this event and
we really sort of wanted to do an event for

(59:52):
the Victorian sporting community about how human rights intersect with sport,
because especially for our our trans and gender diverse community
and the LGBT community. There's a lot of conjecture about
their right to play in community. Um, and I think
a lot of misinformation out there, and I think our
community sport is all about participation primarily. That's that's what

(01:00:15):
it's about. And we want to sort of just get
that messaging through to a lot of our sporting organizations,
clubs and so on that community sport. Let's let's look
at a people centric focus and let's bring that through.
So the event, the event that we had on Thursday
went went super well. We had a really engaged crowd.
We had a great view of the G. We had

(01:00:37):
some great food and um, yeah, it went really fantastic.
So I hope that all the learnings that everyone learned
there have been brought home and, and makes a better
sporting community for all of us.

S1 (01:00:47):
And when you're getting organizations or venues like the Grand
Prix and the MCG, you know, I don't like using
the word, but it kind of normalized that. We just
got to be a good thing as well, you know,
normalizing in a very positive way.

S11 (01:00:59):
Yeah. Well, the the sort of, um, link to the
MCG for us is, uh, we actually created or helped
curate a, um, pride showcase at the Australian Sports Museum. Mhm. Um,
which has, like, Joshua Carvalho's jersey. Yeah. Pride items.

S1 (01:01:16):
Adelaide United. Yep.

S11 (01:01:17):
Yeah, yeah. So it kind of built out a little
bit of a pride presence within like the MCG and
Melbourne Cricket club and the Sports Museum and all that
sort of associated spaces there. But there have been a
really great partner, um, not only, you know, for stuff like,
you know, helping us get such a great location, but
also promoting pride and also their clubs that are associated

(01:01:39):
with the Melbourne Cricket club that, you know, are just
not cricket, but lacrosse clubs and hockey clubs and all
that sort of stuff that falls under that area, getting
education and advice and so on to them. So they've
been really great partners, and that's really validating to have
someone like that at those organisations involved in our work.

S1 (01:01:57):
Okay. I'll say this very much tongue in cheek. Your
next mission is probably getting out to the US and
sorting a few things out over there.

S11 (01:02:02):
I'm off to Seattle on air. I'm an ice hockey player,
and I'm playing in a queer ice hockey tournament in
Seattle pride classic. So, uh, you know, I'll sort him out.

S1 (01:02:14):
Well, I was going to say, if you if you
bump into, you know who, maybe just have a quiet
word in his ear.

S11 (01:02:18):
Yeah, yeah I try. Well I've got I'll listen.

S1 (01:02:21):
Yeah.

S11 (01:02:23):
If I, if I get, if I get kicked out
of us. That's a badge of honor.

S1 (01:02:26):
Yeah, exactly. I'll tell you. You can ring us and we'll, uh,
we'll be your rescue.

S11 (01:02:30):
Yeah. Excellent. Great. That's. That's all I need.

S1 (01:02:33):
Okay. You got a sense of humor, which is great.
Thank you so much. And again, just 5 or 10
minutes with you is really give us an idea of
what you do. Long may it continue. Congratulations on the award.
And thanks for speaking to us.

S11 (01:02:43):
Excellent. Thanks a lot, Peter. Thanks for having me on.
It's always a pleasure.

S1 (01:02:46):
That's okay. Matthew, that's a very worthy recipient of the
Peter Norman Inclusion Award at the Victorian Sports Awards.

S9 (01:02:56):
On the Vision Australia network through your favorite podcast service.
On 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, you're listening to leisurely.

S1 (01:03:06):
We've had a wonderful relationship with care, as I say,
over many, many years, maybe more years than I care
to remember. And late last year we fell well. David
Miller at the beginning of this year Julia O'Riordan has
taken over. Juliet, lovely to meet you. Congratulations on your
position and thank you for joining us.

S5 (01:03:21):
Thank you very much.

S12 (01:03:22):
It's lovely to be here.

S1 (01:03:23):
What's it like a few weeks or a few months in?
How are you settling in?

S13 (01:03:27):
Yeah. Really good. It's a great team here at carers
SA so committed to the purpose of the organisation. It's
really wonderful to see that sort of, um, embodiment of
values in everything that the team do and, um, really
focused on supporting carers.

S1 (01:03:44):
And that's one thing you've done so well over the
years and people that we've spoken to, like Rosemary and
David and others at the head of the organisation, you know,
that that's their kind of well, their raison d'etre is
their raison d'etre, if I can use this tautology.

S13 (01:03:58):
Absolutely. You know, so many of our own staff are carers,
as you know. As am I. We know we understand that, um, perspective.
We know that every carers journey is different, however, and, um,
try and build the support around their individual needs.

S1 (01:04:15):
I suppose their journeys are different, but they've still got
a lot of things in common.

S13 (01:04:18):
Absolutely. And it's those connections that mean that we can
all sort of work together. And whilst, you know, a
lot of our service delivery is aimed at supporting individual
carers to, um, within the moment that they find themselves in, um,
we also, of course, are the peak body for carers

(01:04:39):
in South Australia, which gives us this amazing opportunity to
advocate on a systemic level for the needs of carers
within South Australia and of course, then feeding into the
national sort of picture, which is an honor and a privilege.

S1 (01:04:54):
Yeah, I've been doing this program for a while. We
go back a while with Kara's essay and other organizations.
Do you think? Well, I'll get you in trouble straight away, Julie,
but do you think political parties and governments are a
bit more aware now than maybe ever, as far as
the the importance of the roles that you you do?

S13 (01:05:11):
Absolutely. I think they absolutely recognise that carers provide millions
and millions of dollars worth of support to the, the,
the community services sort of sector health, disability and ageing
and that carers themselves are then by the very nature
of the support that they provide, more at risk and

(01:05:32):
more vulnerable for a whole range of other issues, and
that supporting carers, um, does help to keep, um, everything going.

S1 (01:05:41):
We have to share a little bit about where you've
come from to get to this point in your life.

S13 (01:05:45):
Yes, of course. So I've worked a lot of my
time within the health system as a planner, a system planner.
So designing services also within sort of so within state government,
but also within local government in the aged and disability sector.
And for me, I also have a public health background

(01:06:07):
as well. I lecture in public health as well, just
for just for fun I say. Um, and so I
find it's those interfaces that people really struggle with. It's the,
the interface between health interface, between disability and ageing, the,
the interfaces that are artificial in a person's life. They

(01:06:29):
don't know that they've actually come up against a system
structural kind of change. They just know that they're a
whole person and they need support. And, um, I was
also the CEO of Health Consumers Alliance in South Australia.
And again, that was about that system sort of perspective
and about helping people who have lived experience within those

(01:06:52):
spaces of contributing to better systems and services to get
better outcomes for, uh, within either the health or aged
care or disability sector. And of course, now at carers,
it's really focused on those carer outcomes.

S1 (01:07:06):
So you've seen the health system from a number of
different angles. Just just judging by that a couple of minutes.

S13 (01:07:10):
Yes, yes I have, which is um amazing. And the
most sort of uh, as CEO of Health Consumers Alliance,
it was such a privilege to be invited in, to
share people's experiences and then to support them, to turn
those experiences into better health services and systems. Um, so

(01:07:32):
really gave that depth to my understanding, my planning sort
of background, but gave that depth of understanding about the
different perspectives and views and how important it is to
get the right people into the conversation. We use the
term co-design a lot. It's bandied around, but authentic involvement
of the relevant person in the conversation is so important

(01:07:56):
to getting better outcomes in terms of, you know, the
actual system where our time and our energy is spent. Um,
it saves so much money and so much time in
the long term, but it's also better.

S1 (01:08:08):
Yeah, it's such a powerful word. Authentic, isn't.

S11 (01:08:11):
It?

S13 (01:08:11):
Absolutely. And yeah, again, integrity. You know, to and commitment
to that process, um, is so important.

S1 (01:08:18):
Terrific. Now, uh, I guess it's probably a little bit
early to say what might you do different or what
sort of, uh, areas might you steer carers to say?
It's probably a little bit early still. Yeah. You got
your feet under the desk and sort of acclimatising, if
I can put it that way.

S10 (01:08:32):
Yeah.

S13 (01:08:32):
I think that sort of focus is I really want
to sort of help our carers to become advocates for
the system. So to help them to use their experiences
to help other people who are going on that journey. Um,
but not only those individuals, but actually get the structural

(01:08:53):
changes that will make a real difference. So I really
want to sort of focus on that in my time here.
I also want to really develop our partnerships with those
organizations who aren't carer organizations, but provide supports to perhaps
vulnerable people looking at maybe First Nations, multicultural, um, LGBTQIA+

(01:09:19):
clients that we have who are carers, who we may
not have the absolute level of expertise around their issues,
but we know how to support them as carers. So
to partner in that space with organisations who whose, um,
reason for being is those other issues that we know

(01:09:40):
really influence and impact on a person's ability to get outcomes.

S1 (01:09:45):
That's such a great point, isn't it? Because we kind
of touched on the fact that, you know, everyone's journey
is different, but so many things in common as well.

S13 (01:09:51):
Yes, absolutely. And and partnering with other organizations to support
people in the best way possible.

S1 (01:09:58):
And of course, if there and I'm sure they are
if they are, you know, keen to help out their clients,
their members, their sort of constituency, if you like, then
they're going to welcome that sort of reaching out. And,
you know, let's let's work together.

S5 (01:10:11):
Absolutely.

S13 (01:10:11):
It's a two way street. We learn. They learn. And
and clients, carers you know, all get a better outcome.

S1 (01:10:17):
Julie we kind of are I had a little bit
of a chuckle about your talk about, uh, what you, uh,
you know, your pastime or for fun, you like to lecture,
but that's a pretty powerful position that you've got as
well in terms of, you know, who you're lecturing to
and where they end up when they leave your lecture room.

S13 (01:10:32):
Yes. That's right. So I lecture in program design implementation
and evaluation at Torrens University as well. You know, a
really casual kind of role, which is kind of nice
as well to have that touch point. But a lot
of my students are new arrivals, and so a lot
of our conversations is about the different health systems, the
structures that exist, and how to really design a program

(01:10:56):
that is going to meet the needs of the group
that we're looking at and wanting to support. And then,
of course, so importantly, how do we implement it in
a in the right way and how do we then
evaluate it. And so I'm bringing all of those skills
into care as I say as well. But I do
love working with our new arrivals, and which is a

(01:11:16):
lot of the, um, group that are enrolled in the
courses that I teach. Uh, and so, yeah, it's a
really wonderful, rich richness to the conversation and to, um,
to me.

S1 (01:11:29):
Without breach of confidence. I I'd say they'd be fairly
pleased as to the way we're set up in Australia.
I mean, perhaps from where they come from. Would wood,
that would be a bit on dangerous ground, assuming that.

S13 (01:11:41):
Well, um, I guess we are fortunate here. They don't
have some of the same access that we have yet. They,
you know, often aren't able to access our universal healthcare
system that.

S5 (01:11:53):
We are very.

S13 (01:11:54):
Privileged to have.

S1 (01:11:55):
And to sort of work that. Well, of course, that's
your lecture lecturing job if you like. But, you know,
in in carers, I guess you're touching a lot of
those groups as well, which you kind of touched on
earlier as well.

S13 (01:12:05):
Yes. So you know, the real difference in approaches because,
you know, one of the biggest things we find here
at carers SA is actually helping people to understand that
they are a carer. Um, and that that means that
they're able to access supports and services. Most people don't
think of themselves as a carer. They think of themselves

(01:12:26):
as in my case, you know, a niece or a daughter, um,
or a mother, you know, or, um, someone who's supporting
someone that's a neighbour or, you know, they just think
they're they're helping. But in actual fact, you know, the definition.
If we get into the, the, um, the nitty gritty
of it all is that they are then a carer

(01:12:46):
and we recognize and the system recognizes, federal government recognizes
that a through carer gateway services that they are then
eligible for supports in and of their own right as
a carer and that can, you know, be a whole
range of services, which I'm sure you've talked about with, um, David,
when he would have been talking about Carer Gateway. And,

(01:13:09):
you know, those services and supports are all designed to
help make that help carers keep, um, supporting the people
that they are supporting in the best possible way.

S1 (01:13:19):
Well, I'm sure they would appreciate the recognition because that's
not you know, it's more than just what we do
it because we feel like we need to do it
or we can do it. It's kind of nice when
it's recognised as well, uh, you know, as the way
you put it.

S7 (01:13:31):
Yeah.

S13 (01:13:32):
And that's one of the biggest things we find in
the sort of the national care surveys is that people
carers are seeking that recognition. And so Carer Gateway and
the services that we provide through Carer Gateway, but of
course we also have some state funded services and of
course as the peak body, you know, recognising the value
that carers bring to the conversation around services and support,

(01:13:56):
not only for themselves as carers but also for the
people that they are caring for, is so important.

S1 (01:14:01):
Juliet, congratulations again on the appointment. As I said, we've
had a great relationship. On relationship, I'm sure it will continue.
I look forward to the next time we talk. In
the meantime, if people want to find out more, you've
got a website, you've got a number that people can
call as well.

S13 (01:14:14):
Yes we do. The website is carers SA which has
two S's in it, carers SA and the phone number
is 8291560.

S1 (01:14:27):
Perfect. We'll put those up with our show notes Julia.
Again welcome. Look forward to speaking to you again in
the future. And congratulations on the appointment.

S13 (01:14:34):
Thank you Peter. Lovely to talk to you too.

S1 (01:14:36):
Thank you guys. That's Julie Iverson just recently taken up
the the big role of CEO for care. As I say,
look forward to catching up with Julia many more times
in the future.

S14 (01:14:46):
Hi, I'm Denise Wood from USC. One of Queensland's universities
with a strong commitment to accessibility and inclusion. And I
enjoy being with you and talking about accessibility in technology.
Each month on leisure link with Peter Greco on Vision
Australia Radio.

S1 (01:15:07):
For the very proactive Moonee Valley City Council are doing
some great things. Have just about to conclude a competition
which has involved inclusiveness. Let's chat about it with the
Deputy Mayor, Fran Cosgrove. Fran, lovely to meet you and
thank you much for your time.

S15 (01:15:21):
Oh thank you Peter, lovely to be here.

S1 (01:15:24):
Now the competition is getting towards the end of it.
Give us a bit of background on it. How, how
and why have you done this?

S15 (01:15:30):
Well we're trying. It's part of our accessibility and inclusion
program to see how we're going in Moonee Valley and
what we can be doing better. And so we really
wanted to just put the call out to people in
Moonee Valley to tell us what an inclusive Moonee Valley
looks like to them, what you know, what we're doing well,

(01:15:51):
or what they could see us doing better in the future.

S1 (01:15:54):
And using a kind of an art sort of focus
or through the eyes of an artist, if I could
put it that way.

S15 (01:16:01):
Yeah, we've set it up so that you can kind
of make contributions in a few different ways. Um, and
some of those are so photographs or drawings or it
can be verbal messages or a usual written submission, and
some of the photos and drawings that have been coming
through up until by the team are really wonderful. So

(01:16:23):
that's been, yeah, a really exciting way to get information
from people.

S1 (01:16:27):
And I don't know if you know, but across the
age range, I assume.

S15 (01:16:31):
Certainly open for people right across, you know, the lifespan. Um,
I haven't had any feedback from the team about what
that looks like at the moment, but I'm sure if
we're missing anyone, they'll be trying to target those audiences,
because we definitely want to hear from the whole, you know,
from the start of life to the end, how.

S1 (01:16:50):
We do that from the start to the end and
also in the middle. What about in terms of the response? Uh,
did you get good numbers? I guess it's one thing
to sort of say, well, here we are. What do
you think? It's another thing for the public to kind
of respond and react to your invitation.

S15 (01:17:06):
Yeah. Numbers have been really good. So the team, like, they've, um,
a well-oiled machine at getting it out on our social
media and reaching out to different community groups to, to
to make sure we've spread the word as wide and
far as possible. And really excitingly, we've had lots of
people get back to us. It probably helps that, yeah,

(01:17:27):
it's a competition. So we've got some prizes on offer
as well. Yeah. So it's good and it's not quite over,
I should say. I think it's closing, um, tomorrow, Sunday
the 25th of May. So it's still a little bit
of time. If anyone's got an idea.

S1 (01:17:43):
Well, I guess in this day and age, you don't
have to rely on Australia Post to get your entry in,
do you? You can enter in all sorts of ways
that'll get to you very, very quickly and, uh, sort
of avoid any, uh, any postal delays. Has there been
a theme that's kind of emerged or anything that perhaps
you think, oh, actually, we hadn't thought of it that
way or something along those lines.

S15 (01:18:03):
Oh great question. I think that's yet to be seen.
For me at least the team might have a bit
more of an idea they have. I know that there's
quite a range, so we've got people talking about kind
of health and wellbeing activities. And then there's things about
kind of fairness and um, like, you know, leisure, just
getting out to the shops or the sporting clubs are like.

(01:18:24):
So it's been a really broad range of submissions, but
I'll have to ask if there are any that surprised
the team. Certainly we'll, you know, we'll put together a
collation of all of them. And so that'll, you know.

S1 (01:18:37):
You've kind of gone out and asked for it. I
you know, we as people in the community don't expect
you to know everything, I guess more it's have you
thought about this and then how you react to it.
That's kind of the the critical thing in a sense,
isn't it?

S15 (01:18:50):
Yeah, absolutely. And that's so valuable. You know we don't
know what we don't know.

S1 (01:18:55):
Yeah. That's right.

S15 (01:18:56):
Yeah. And people, you know, living with disability or neurodivergence
or who care for people, you know, they they have
their own lives and they face all sorts of challenges
that we might not recognize. And there are all sorts
of strengths that they would like to be better able to,
you know, contribute to the community. So it'll be exciting

(01:19:17):
to find out what we don't know yet.

S1 (01:19:18):
But I think that's a really good point about the
fact that people are really busy. You know, you're kind
of flat out, you know, living your life day to day.
So if people feel strongly about something like this and
they've gone to the trouble to put in an entry,
if I can put it that way, that that says
a lot. I mean, they're obviously very passionate about whatever
they're putting in to, to go to the effort to
do that both the time and the effort and the

(01:19:41):
sort of creativity of it. If they've chosen that sort
of format that says a lot about, you know, how
they feel about the particular topic or area that they've covered.

S15 (01:19:50):
Yeah. You're so right. Um, Peter. And we're so now
I'm so grateful, and I think I can speak on
behalf of all the staff as well for people who
have taken the time to. Yeah, I suppose put in
an entry or give us some feedback or tell us
a little bit about, you know, what their life looks
like in Moonee Valley in terms of inclusivity. Like, it's
such a, um, such rich, valuable information. And we're so

(01:20:13):
grateful to everyone who's taken the time to contribute.

S1 (01:20:16):
And no pressure, Fran, but I guess when you when
you're in a city council or a sort of a
smaller part of government, if you like, then you know
the states and federal et-cetera you kind of maybe got
a little bit more scope to sort of act because, uh,
you know, you're sort of close to the people. Would
that be kind of a fair assumption on my part?

S15 (01:20:35):
Yeah, I would say that we have, um, a good
ability to be targeted. Perhaps. You know, we certainly don't
have as much as much money as the other levels have,
of course, but because we're local, we can be a bit, um, yeah,
targeted or more responsive to the specific needs of, you know,

(01:20:56):
our community and what's going on as opposed to really
broad brush approach. And that's really special. And people really,
you know, I think appreciate that and respond well to
it when we do it. Right. And we're listening. And,
you know, people are really generous in giving them, giving
us their feedback on what we can do better and locally.
And then, um, yeah, we're really keen to do our

(01:21:16):
best to try and deliver that.

S1 (01:21:18):
Well, people can identify with that a lot more as well,
can't they? I mean, if you're thinking, you know, a
federal or a state government initiative or something, you'd like
to see change at that level, that's probably going to
take more time, more effort, you know, jump through a
lot more hoops that the sort of local government level.
As I say, you kind of almost well, you literally
reach out and touch it.

S15 (01:21:37):
Yes. Yeah. And I mean, that's what I love about
local government is, um, you can have such immediate contact
with the community. I mean, you're part of the community usually. Yeah. And, um,
it'd be nice if we could be slightly more nimble.
We still. It feels like still being in government. You get, um,
slow down. But being close to the community, we have

(01:21:59):
really good relationships with lots of community groups, and they're
certainly very nimble and dynamic and, you know, have the
most brilliant ideas. And so I guess the the best
thing I think we often do is in supporting them,
you know, helping them bring their ideas to life.

S1 (01:22:16):
And those things that people get involved with very much
on a day to day basis on the weekend or
sort of after school, after work, those sort of activities,
those sort of facilities that they might use that you know,
they kind of, you know, I'm repeating myself again in
a sense, but they're kind of things that people can
very easily identify with.

S15 (01:22:34):
Yeah, exactly. I hope so, certainly when we're doing it
well and and the community feel like they've got places
to be involved, then I think you're right. That's people
feel very strongly about them and have lots of ideas
and feel quite involved.

S1 (01:22:50):
Now we've got a link to our people can put
in their submission in the last maybe 24 or 36 hours,
maybe until midnight on Sunday the 25th. We've got a
link which we can put up with our show notes,
and people can go there to check it out. But
congratulations on the initiative. I had a great chat to
your mayor over earlier in the year, so it certainly
sounds like the Moonee Valley City Council are doing a

(01:23:12):
lot of work. And this is inclusiveness area, which is
so important, particularly given what's on in other parts of
the world. But you don't have to comment on that
part of it, Fran.

S15 (01:23:21):
Thanks, Peter, and I'm certainly very keen on it. And
Rudy Vallee, everyone who's a part of our community makes
it stronger. And yes, thank you for putting up the link.
We're certainly keen to get any last submissions, photos or
drawings or in writing. It's just on our website.

S1 (01:23:37):
Yeah. Put yourself in for running for a prize as well.

S15 (01:23:40):
Yes. Yeah. We're giving away local gift vouchers to people.

S1 (01:23:43):
Making a difference. And also, you know, being rewarded for
it as well. So win win.

S15 (01:23:47):
Yeah, absolutely. I'm very keen to see what people are
telling us.

S1 (01:23:51):
And the community wins as well. Frank keep up the
great work. Lovely to talk to you.

S15 (01:23:55):
Thanks, Peter. You as well. Lovely to talk.

S1 (01:23:57):
That's friend who's the deputy mayor for the Moonee Valley
City Council. All those details up on our show notes.
But you can also go to the website and try
to work out where your say is and put in
an entry. And you never know, your entry might make
a lot of difference, will make a lot of difference.
And that Leachman has let us know. Just heard earlier

(01:24:20):
from Annette and Dale about their trick in New Zealand.
They've raised over $75,000, which is a mighty, mighty performance.
Annette and Dale and all those involved with track for
revision Australia to New Zealand $75,000 plus is the final figure.
The number for the lung helpline that Lucy told us

(01:24:40):
about Lucy Morgan is 1800 654 301 1800 654 301 for Lung Australia. If
you'd like to get more information now. Tom Koutsantonis told
us about the exemption that you can ask for if
you want to book your cab with your regular driver

(01:25:01):
and still they get their lift fee. So the number
is 7131. Seven one. Double three, double one, double zero.
Or you can email. Now we'll give you this, but
go to our show notes to make it a bit
easier for you. It is simply what? Simply it is
d I t dot s I t s administration. So

(01:25:26):
I guess it's Department of Infrastructure and Transport dot Australian
taxi subsidy scheme administration at SA gov. So it's a
bit of a mouthful but hopefully you've been able to
take that down. If not you can always give us
a call here at the radio station. But very important
that you do avail yourself of that opportunity. Well, the

(01:25:48):
chase that more in the future to just to see
how it is going. A couple of quotes before we go.
Gala sent a quote through gal often sends quotes gal
thank you for this. One gal says, tune out to
the outside world and tune in to your inner feeling.
So Gail, thank you so much for your quote. And
Paula sent one through her old mate Paul from Kenya.

(01:26:11):
Played a bit of cricket in the act. His quote
is you are a piece of the puzzle of someone
else's life. You may never know where you fit in,
but others will fill the holes in their lives with
pieces of you. Paul, that is very, very cool. Love that.
Thank you so much and good to hear from you.

(01:26:33):
Hope things are going all right where you are. Fine,
fine cricketer and an even better human being. So birthdays
before we go. Jayden warn having a birthday one of
our Aussie Steelers. Happy birthday to you Jayden. Sean Stewart,
member of the Aussie Gliders over a number of years.
Happy birthday to you Sharon. And also Brian too. Having
a birthday. One of the great people to help out

(01:26:55):
much as far as technology goes and also listens to
the podcast. So Brian happy birthday to you. That's it
for the program. Sam, thanks so much for your help.
Pam Green, thanks so much for yours. Reminding you that
the link is available on your favorite podcast platform. If
you listen through 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, stay tuned

(01:27:16):
because Vicki Cousins is coming up very, very soon with
Australian Geographic, a program no one misses. Listen to what
the political parties do and then do the opposite. Be
kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and 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.

(01:27:39):
This is Leisureland.

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