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June 11, 2025 43 mins

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In this episode of A Healthy Shift, I take you through my journey—from being a 16-year-old Kiss fan camping outside Waverley Park to spending 40 years with Victoria Police. Along the way, I saw just how hard shift work can be on your body, mind, and relationships.

That’s exactly why I created A Healthy Shift—to help shift workers like you take back control of your health, reduce fatigue, and thrive in demanding, unpredictable work environments.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

✅ How my career in policing shaped my passion for shift worker wellbeing
✅ Why women in shift work need more targeted support—and how I help
✅ The real reason so many organizations fail their shift workers
✅ The origin of “D24” and the early days of police radio comms in Australia
✅ Why crime prevention must focus on people, not just weapons
✅ My take on modern parenting, discipline, and social accountability
✅ What “VKC” means and how police call signs are assigned

I’ve seen firsthand how shift work can impact your health, your family, and your future. This episode is packed with real talk, practical insights, and some behind-the-scenes stories you won’t hear anywhere else.

Support the show

----------------------------

ANNOUNCING

"The Shift Workers Collective"

https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective

Click the link to learn all about it
-----------------------------

YOU CAN FIND ME AT

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_____________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Carolee.
Thank you, hello Blake.
Do you know what D24 was?

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning everyone .
Welcome to Australia Overnight.
And now here's my grandpa.
Australia's quiet.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
The night rolls on.
Voices, echo till the break ofdawn, echo till the break of
dawn.
Through the dark there's aguiding light.
3aw keeps us close tonight.

(00:36):
Overnight we share the air,stories and laughter everywhere,
from city streets to theoutback skies.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Australia dreams as the station flies wherever you
are throughout Australia, I'mTony McManus.
If you would like to join theprogram, now would be a really,
really good time.
You can do that 133693.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
The city wakes.
The heart goes numb.
Tony's voice, like a friendlyhand, brings the country close.
Across this land Overnight, weshare the air, stories and
laughter.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Everywhere.
It's a big welcome to everybody.
Fire 6PR in Perth, of course.
Hello to 5AA in Adelaide.
Welcome along to the Ace RadioNetwork.
You can join us.
It's all part of AustraliaOvernight Midnight hours it's

(01:59):
our free home.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
The city wakes, heart goes numb.
Tony's voice, like a friendlyhand, brings the country close,
across this land Overnight.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
We share the air Each and every week, every couple of
weeks we go.
We haven't seen him for a monthor so is the one and only Roger
.
Now, roger, in his hot littlehand, has his tickets lusting
from about 1980 for the KissBand.
Have a listen, have a littletickets.

(02:42):
Where are we going to see it?
Which stadium?

Speaker 4 (02:49):
I want my tickets to kiss thanks, Thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
That'll be $4.50 for those tickets.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Roger Sutherland.
Does that bring back memories?

Speaker 6 (03:06):
Oh yes, 1980, Waverley Park, the 5th of
November, 5th of November.
You even remember the date.
Oh yes, the 5th of November.
Did you buy any merch?
No, I did not.
No T-shirts, no, I know onething I can tell you.
Yeah, dennis was talking aboutqueuing.
He was Two days I queued to getinto Waverley Park.

(03:28):
Yep, we camped there.
We camped at Waverley Park.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
As a 16-year-old, I was so your mum and dad said oh
well, off you go.
Go and camp there for a coupleof days, See if you can get your
tickets.
Really, I ran away.
You left home.

Speaker 6 (03:44):
I left home.
Yeah, I was going to see Kisscome hell or high water, that
was how it was.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
And this is not long before you became a long-serving
40-year member of the policeservice here in Victoria Four
years later, yeah, four yearslater I was a cop.

Speaker 6 (03:56):
Yeah, that's bizarre, isn't it?
That was great training.
I didn't realise it was soclose now that I put it like
that Four years, that's crazy,isn't it, I know.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
So you're only 20, you reckon you hadn't had your
21st.

Speaker 6 (04:06):
I was 20 when I started Yep Unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Come and join us.
Roger's here.
For those that don't know,roger is a regular contributor
to the program.
Looks after a website called AHealthy Shift.
We talk about all things to dowith being a shift worker.
Well, you call this beinghealthy.
Look at me, look at me, look atme, look at me A picture of
health.

Speaker 6 (04:26):
You're looking well.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Although I've got to say I lost a couple of kilos.
But you look well and so I feelpretty good.

Speaker 7 (04:31):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
And you've got to get the right sleep and the right
lighting and all that sort ofstuff, yep, but feel really good
If I could little cough, whichDan's got as well.

Speaker 6 (04:43):
Yeah, but I've been warned, I've been given the note
.
Don't make.
Tony laugh on air.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
No.
Do not make Tony laugh on airtonight, because that's when I
start to cough chronically.
He'll cough Tears.
We'll talk about firstresponders in just a moment.
Do you want to take some ofthese great?

Speaker 9 (04:57):
calls that we've got.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Plenty of people to talk to.
Anything to do, anything to do.
Anything on.
The program is open line, ofcourse, but come feel the.
I'll say that again.
Come and jump on board and bepart of it.
Have you ever been to Israel?
You and I should go to Israel?

Speaker 6 (05:12):
I have not been to Israel.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
We should take a whole bunch of people to Israel
at some point, we'll do the showfrom the pyramids.
Oh, that's Egypt, that yeah.

Speaker 6 (05:21):
Sorry.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Excellent work.
I haven't done well, have I,david.
Good morning.

Speaker 10 (05:30):
Good morning.
If you did it from the pyramids, you'd be in Egypt.
I wouldn't tell the Egyptiansthat you're in Israel, but
there's plenty of great placesyou can From here too.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
I've made a big mistake.
We're going to have some ofthat Beautiful wine that's been
producing, have some of thatbeautiful wine that's been
producing on some of those oldvines in Israel for many, many
hundreds of years.
Gee, they do some cracking winein that part of the world.

Speaker 10 (05:55):
Yeah, good wine here , and if you do it, you can do
the show from my living room andI will fire you with good
Israeli wine, beer and pavlova.

Speaker 6 (06:03):
Sold.
It'd be better than that.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Okay, so complimentary accommodation.
All we need really is airfares.
Where's Koshy?

Speaker 10 (06:11):
3AW should have man's air.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
That's right, we'll get Nathan Kosh to fly us over
on the private jet Nathan Koshcan fly us over.
It's going beautifully so far.

Speaker 10 (06:20):
This has been a really worthwhile gig today it's
been a great show we can go nowIf you buy your own Stephen
Beers private jet.
I mean, surely you've got one?

Speaker 1 (06:29):
You would think you would have access to one.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 10 (06:37):
Anyway, I'll tell you why I called, because I'm
not sure I'm going to be up toget on tomorrow, and it's
already the 12th in Australia,even though it's still 1110,.
I wanted to wish you a happyearly birthday, a Friday, and
hope it's a beautiful day andthat you are treated very, very
nicely by the callers, and bythe family and by the friends.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
David, that's very very kind of you.
You're the first cab to do that, and that's much appreciated.
Can you believe it?
This is not my first.
This is now my second birthdayhosting this program and, as you
well know, david, it's gonevery bloody quickly.
Yeah, really quickly.

Speaker 10 (07:09):
Yeah, you've done a good job.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, that's still to be decided, david.
There's a lot of people sayingbring back Simon, but that's
fine.

Speaker 10 (07:19):
Look, you share it around.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
We do share it around and I appreciate you saying
that.
It's very kind of you.
All else is well in the world.

Speaker 10 (07:28):
All else is well in the world.
Yes, yes, all right.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Hopefully we might talk tomorrow.
You look after yourself andthank you for putting up your
room for rent Room for rent andwe'll come and have a stay and
do the broadcast from there.

Speaker 6 (07:39):
And opening the bar.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
And opening the bar with some of the cracking wine
that he's got in stock andenjoys the occasional little
whiskey as well.
What could possibly go wrong?
Graeme Yokine Morning.
Graeme.
How are you, tony?
We're well.
Thank you, roger's here, rogerSutherland, from a healthy shift
.

Speaker 13 (07:57):
Good morning, Graeme .

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Roger's a policeman, is he?
He's a former cop, 40 years inthe service.

Speaker 13 (08:02):
Yeah, I did 40 years 40 years, my God, you'd have
seen as many things as I've seen.

Speaker 6 (08:08):
Whereabouts.
What have you seen?
No, don't start.
I did a little stink with EllenBond in Carnet.
Oh, you would have seen plenty.
I learned plenty.
Don't worry about that, I'vegot no doubt about that at all.

Speaker 13 (08:22):
You know, the good thing about going to jail is you
learn that the major problemand I think this was like 24
years ago the major problem wasdrugs.
Like criminals, they don'treally want to steal your money
for any other reason except tobuy drugs.

Speaker 6 (08:40):
I agree I could not agree more with you.
Everything comes back to that,doesn't it Look?

Speaker 13 (08:47):
it's sad.
It's sad really.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
It was interesting, it was actually being talked
about on 3RW in the last 24, 36hours, Graham, where some of
those people that would haveworked inside you.
Oh, okay, you missed it.

Speaker 13 (09:00):
I was getting my chemo treatment.

Speaker 5 (09:02):
That's what I was going to tell you.

Speaker 13 (09:04):
But the WA public system here at Charlie Gardner
is brilliant.
I was in there for eight days.
They gave me all the treatment.
They looked after me like abloody king.

Speaker 9 (09:18):
I had all the nurses running around cracking jokes
with them and drinking threecups of tea and three furs.

Speaker 13 (09:23):
We'll be back at work painting the outside of the
house tomorrow, so it'll begood, it'll be good.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
And how are you feeling, Greg?

Speaker 13 (09:29):
Great, I feel fantastic.
So this is this new trialprogram where they've got a
mixture of chemo with somethingelse you know and they just give
you a needle in the stomach.
Oh, okay, and only on thefourth day and the eighth day
and the rest of the day you takepills, eat the free food and
get the free coffee and checkout all the good-looking nurses

(09:49):
Tell you what life couldn't getbetter mate?

Speaker 6 (09:52):
They provide you with scenery as well as all that.

Speaker 13 (09:56):
Getting back to you, roger, though you're right.
When I came out I did ahalf-hour show with Fred Mafrica
.
I came out in 2000, november2000.
I told him then the biggestproblem is going to be drugs in
the bloody thing, because youcould see it right in the system
.
There was no.
See Carnet never had a fencearound up then.

(10:17):
That was quite easy for peopleto just drop bloody stuff up
there, they throw them over intennis balls now, don't they?
I went out one day.
I was out near the SerpentineRoad and there was this big
silver package right elf oil andI picked it up and it's
compressed cannabis and I put itback again.
And I went back in and Alansaid did you report it?

(10:39):
I said do you know how long I'dlast if I reported that, for
Christ's sake?
Yeah, it's an interestingobservation, graeme.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Thank you for that.
We'll leave you there, exceptto say I heard on 3RW Rog that
there was inside the culture of,say, prisons, for example,
there was a level ofsatisfaction with those if
certain medications drugs, ifyou like were available, because
then there was no, there wasless damage and violence in the

(11:06):
prison, I've got no doubt.
And so there was this mixedemotion about it.
Whilst it's wrong, whilst it'sillegal, you and I say well, why
would you?
The reality is it was a way ofkeeping a little bit of peace
and quiet.

Speaker 6 (11:18):
Kept order.
Kept order.
Kept order.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, it just keeps a bit of order.
It is when we come back we wantto talk about given that you've
beautifully kicked it off for us, graeme, in terms of first
responders A massive dayyesterday.
We'll talk about it again thismorning.
First responders, how importantthey are right across Australia
.
Wherever you're tuned in mightbe 5AA in Adelaide, we're here
at 3AW in Melbourne, of course,at the Ace Radio Network and 6PR

(11:43):
in Perth.
Come join us.
133693.
Perth listeners.
133882.
I'm Tony McManus.
Roger Sutherland is here.
It's a healthy shift to all partof Australia overnight.
We love being here.
I hope you love being part ofthe program as well.
I encourage you to do so.
133693.
Roger Sutherland, a longserving police officer here in

(12:06):
Victoria, survived it for 40years.
These days specialises in arange of things.
A veteran law enforcementofficer, he now coaches people
to well, you'd almost say thrive, not just survive, because many
of us go through life trying tosurvive, but it's more about
thriving.
And he works with shift workersto provide energy to do the
things they love.
Of us go through life trying tosurvive, but it's more about
thriving, and he works withshift workers to provide energy

(12:27):
to do the things they loveoutside the shift work.
It's an interesting program andone that's still got a long way
to play out.
But going well, are you allowedto make that announcement as yet
, or you'd rather not?
What's that one Returning tothe fold for a little bit.

Speaker 6 (12:41):
Yeah, yeah, no, I've actually been invited.
This week I'm going back intothe fold at Victoria Police,
which has taken quite a bit forme to do, but I've been invited
to go and speak at the Women inPolicing event and I'm just so
looking forward to doing thisbecause women do shift work a

(13:02):
lot harder, or females do shiftwork a lot harder than males do,
and I focus predominantly onfemales and helping them with
shift work.
I'm well read in that area.
Once again, I'll never knowwhat it's like, but I study it
pretty hard and I'm going to goand help and educate at the
women in policing about howfemales can go about doing shift

(13:24):
work a lot better.
I'm actually I'm nervous, butI'm really excited about it.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Which is fantastic.
Is it about the peoplethemselves, or is it about the
leadership group that you'vealso got to embrace?
And they need to embrace someof those things about which
you've been talking now for atleast a couple of years.

Speaker 6 (13:42):
Yeah, the leadership is something that what I'm
trying to do is bring brandawareness, bring my awareness,
because managers don't know thatI exist if people don't put it
up to say you know, we've got abloke out here that's done 40
years of shift work.
That is actually educating onhow to go about shift work.

(14:03):
Organizations not just VicPol,but I'm talking all
organizations, nursing andeverything don't educate their
staff at all about how to goabout shift work, when they
should eat, when they shouldsleep, and then they don't
actually consolidate it.
Everyone just learns from onething to the next.
So what I'm trying to do ischange that.

(14:23):
I want people to be educated onhow to go about doing shift work
.
Because I can tell you, tony,now the seminars, the feedback.
I've just been invited back toPort Ferry to go back and do a
seminar down there at Sunfarmer.
The feedback out of that hasbeen absolutely unbelievable.
The unplanned leave has reduced, the morale has improved in the

(14:46):
place.
People have all said, oh, I hadno idea I could do it this way
and it would be so much easierand they are all coping so much
better in that organisation.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
So historically it hasn't been addressed at all, at
all, at all, no no, and yetit's such an important part of
Australian culture andAustralian work life, but it's
such an important part ofAustralian culture and
Australian work life.

Speaker 6 (15:05):
If I save one shift, if I was to save one shift
worker for VicPol, it would savethem $100,000, right, because
it's that year salary.
They wouldn't have tore-educate, they wouldn't have
to retrain do everything else.
And yet when I tell them whatmy seminars were, oh no, it's
too expensive.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Too expensive.
Are you kidding?
We haven't got the budget forthat.

Speaker 6 (15:25):
We haven't got the budget for that, and VicPol have
closed down health andwellbeing centres.
Now as well, which has beenpublic, they're closing their
health and wellbeing centres.
So are we really caring aboutour people?
We've got to start well.
One of the principles of VicPolis valuing our people.
How are we valuing them ifwe're not supporting them and
educating them?

Speaker 1 (15:45):
on how to go about it , From womb to tomb in that
sense.
Really, David in Mount Waverley, hello.

Speaker 10 (15:52):
Good morning gentlemen.
That lovely piece that you sentthrough was very, very funny
about the story of Grumpy Tony.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
It'll never get in the airplane, but it's very,
very clever.

Speaker 10 (16:01):
It's very clever.
I hope you like it.
I consider it a birthdaypresent.

Speaker 15 (16:06):
Thank you.
Now I ring to say Roger.

Speaker 10 (16:13):
I camped out at the showgrounds for three days to
get tickets.

Speaker 6 (16:20):
I can understand that .
Have you still got your ticket,david yes, I do too.
I've still got your ticket,david yes.

Speaker 13 (16:25):
I do too, and tell my friends.

Speaker 6 (16:27):
No, I've still got my ticket.
I still have my ticket.
Unfortunately, it doesn't havethe price on it, which I wish it
did.
Do you have any idea what thatwould have been in 1980?
I think from memory and you cantell me, david, would it have
been $19?
I've got a feeling $20.
20.
1990 or something like that, itwas 20 bucks, yeah for the

(16:48):
ticket.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
Yeah, it was 20 bucks for the ticket.

Speaker 6 (16:51):
We all camped out for days to get the tickets and
then we had to camp out again.
We had to camp out again toactually get in because it was
general admission.
Do you remember how hot it wasin the food fight?

Speaker 13 (17:05):
It was horrible.

Speaker 6 (17:06):
It was, and they were throwing ice buckets all over
the people standing there andthe food fight.
Once you got inside, it wasactually.
You can YouTube that.
If you YouTube food fight,waverley Park, kiss it comes up.
It's unbelievable.

Speaker 15 (17:20):
Food fight, a food fight, and then the MC comes out
and says you idiots, you needto calm down.

Speaker 6 (17:25):
Yeah, otherwise, kiss , aren't coming out, correct?
Yeah Well done.

Speaker 13 (17:29):
Otherwise kiss aren't coming out Correct.

Speaker 6 (17:30):
Well done, I'm talking to a brother here.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
This can go anywhere.
Just explain to somebody whowas not there around Australia
what happens at a food fight.

Speaker 6 (17:41):
People were heaving anything.
I don't know how it started.
The stupid thing was we went tohide behind one of the cops.
Dumb, don't do that.
Don't ever hide behind the cops, because they're the ones that
have been having the food thrownat them.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Such fun.

Speaker 6 (17:57):
Oh, so uneducated at 16.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Memories are made of this David.

Speaker 6 (18:03):
And someone else has put a text up here as well David
Steve from Northcote.

Speaker 5 (18:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
I camped there on the Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
On the Wednesday.

Speaker 6 (18:12):
Now it was on Saturday night the show and I
was there from the Friday.
He was already there two daysbefore me.
Now he would be one of thepeople that was burning the pine
poles to keep warm as well,overnight that went really well,
David lots of love, those Trudypine poles See you.

Speaker 8 (18:26):
Arnie morning, mr Miyagi Good morning, mr Miyagi,
good morning Tony Roger andAction Jackson.
Now you mentioned D24.
Am I allowed to answer?

Speaker 6 (18:35):
that, or do you want it for later on?
The question was going to behow did D24 get its name?

Speaker 8 (18:44):
So go ahead.
I don't know how it got itsname, but I went out with a few
cops.
I believe it was D24, which isa communications line to call
the police, and it was a quickerresponse to VKC.

Speaker 6 (18:54):
Yeah, yeah, okay.
So D24 is the nickname that'sgiven to the communications
centre.
I want to challenge anybody outthere do you know why it is
called D24?
It's only called D24 here inVictoria, not interstate.
So unfortunately we'll rule theSouth Australians and the West
Australians out?

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Would they have their own version?

Speaker 6 (19:15):
They don't have a D24 .
I don't know, maybe they do,maybe they do.
Vkc is the allocated call signby the Department of
Communication.
So they say VKC, this is or VKCto the Malvern van or VKC to
whatever, but their nickname isD24.
How did they earn that nickname?
Why did they earn that nickname?

(19:35):
I want to hear from someone.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
Anybody who happens to be listening.
In South Australia, my greatfriend Peter Graham was a
long-serving commissionertowards the end and I'm sure he
worked in comms in SouthAustralia going back to the
early part of the 80s as well,and I'm sure he worked in comms
in South Australia going back tothe early part of the 80s as
well, and I'm sure he'd knowwhether they had nicknames there
in that state, Because evenhere even the junior bunnies

(19:59):
that would have no idea,probably, why D24 is called.

Speaker 6 (20:02):
D24 would still say get onto the board or get onto
D24.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Former Commissioner, of course, in WA, Carlo
Callaghan, who did a lot of workat 6PR in Perth.
He might be listening as well.
He'd have some background onsome of those names in WA Artie.
Thank you, Ian Elphington.
Hello, Simon.

Speaker 15 (20:20):
G'day guys.
I'm just looking at what'sgoing on in America with Trump
and he's hauling in the Marinesand all this sort of stuff.
I hope we never get to thatstage here, but I look at the
billions of dollars that arebeing wasted in Victoria.
Why don't we just double thewages of the police force and

(20:45):
bring in some really top kids toprotect the state and stop all
the crime and make it worthwhile.
Give them a free education ifthey want, you know, to go to
uni.
Just offer them some incentivesto be a police and crime

(21:06):
enforcement officer.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
Yep, I couldn't agree more.
But, simon, I think we're notaddressing it right.
Banning machetes makes it aretail problem.
This is not a retail problem.
Yeah, it's not a retail problem, you and I have talked about
this.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yep, it's not.
So why is it being from agovernment point of view, from a
government position of sort ofsaying the answer to this is
let's ban machete?

Speaker 6 (21:30):
Well, we ban guns.
It doesn't work, does it?
We ban guns and people stillhave guns.
Yeah, but guns don't killpeople and machetes don't kill
people.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
Now you're sounding like somebody in the middle of
America?

Speaker 6 (21:39):
No, but guns don't kill people, it's the person
that's holding onto it.
Right, Right.
And that's what's got to beaddressed, in my opinion.
We have to address that.
We have to address where theseissues are coming from.
I mean, guns are banned You'renot allowed to have a gun but
people have guns and they killbecause the person pulls the
trigger.
Machetes are banned now, butmachetes are still turning up

(22:03):
and they will continue to turnup because we're not addressing
the real problem.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Well, on Tom Elliott's program, I took some
phone calls, I think, eitherearly this week or late last
week.
I was listening on the way homefrom somewhere and lots of
people were saying oh yeah,they're readily available, you
can go online and buy them.

Speaker 6 (22:18):
It's taken Amazon two weeks to decide we won't import
them into Australia anymore,but people are still going to
have them and they're stillgoing to turn up and you can
still buy them for what you want, to buy them for, etc.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Fantastic A lot of calls here Come and join us.
We'll get the calls in just atick 133693.
I'm Tony McManus.
The one and only RogerSutherland is here.
We catch up with Roger everycouple of weeks or so.
All part of Australia Overnightit is 3AW in Melbourne, the Ace
Radio Network right throughoutVictoria and into southern parts
of New South Wales.
Where else are we?
5aa in Adelaide, 6pr in Perthand Katie in Melbourne's on the

(22:58):
phone.
Morning Katie.

Speaker 9 (22:59):
Hi Tony, how are you?
Sorry, I'm not served to askthat, I was just ringing about
the D24.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
Now tell us about your history.
If anything, how much you cansay?
I'm not sure about D24.

Speaker 9 (23:13):
Well, I asked the question oddly last week
following on from a conversationabout Gerard Kennedy, who is
the actor in Gerard Kennedy.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
Gerard Kennedy yeah, yeah, division 4.

Speaker 9 (23:25):
Yeah, so I ended up asking the question at work and
the answer was that it was namedafter the room, Correct?

Speaker 6 (23:31):
Correct.

Speaker 9 (23:32):
Yes.

Speaker 6 (23:34):
Can you elaborate?

Speaker 9 (23:37):
It was where those people worked, the first
responders to the emergencycalls the very, very Victoria.

Speaker 6 (23:45):
We'll give you the prize, cody.
There's no prize there is noprize.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
If we had some debauchery wine, you would have
won it, Katie.
If we had a prize, we'd giveyou the prize, Cody.
There's no prize.
There is no prize.
If we had some debauchery wine,you would have won it, Cody.
If we had a prize?

Speaker 6 (23:51):
we'd give you a prize , but can I just say though,
victoria Police were the firstpolice agency in Australia that
had wireless communication, hadradio communication, and it was
out of Room 24, corridor D atRussell Street.
Isn't that a great piece ofhistory, and that's why it's
known as D24, and still today,even though it's no longer there

(24:13):
, it's still known as D24.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Isn't it a great piece of history, Pete?
Did you have a similar storyalong those lines in Mildalbert?

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yes, I did.
She beat me to it.
Did you serve Pete?
No, no, not at all.
No, I think I saw it onprobably a documentary on TV,
some show I remember just mymind might be playing tricks,
but I think they showed just apicture of the door and D24
written on it.
But I knew from that.
Correct I believed it that itwas the room in the old Russell

(24:44):
Street Police headquarters.
I don't know what floor it was.

Speaker 6 (24:49):
It was on a mezzanine floor and it faced when the
Russell Street bomb went off.
Of course all the windows wereblown out of D24 as well and it
was the bomb-proof curtains thatstopped the glass from coming
through.
They were still operatingduring the straight after the
bomb.
There that was operating, butabove the door was literally D24
, because it was in Corridor Dand of course the room next to

(25:12):
it was D23 and the room next toit was D22, and so on and so
forth.
But yeah, it's great history.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
It is a lovely piece of history, peter, well done.
Thank you.
Still in Montelbert, bigMontelbert In.
Montelbert yeah.
Hello Lenny.

Speaker 12 (25:26):
Oh, Lenny, yes, Len, Lenny, yes, Lenny, go ahead.
Yeah, D24,.
No, that lady was absolutelycorrect, but I thought it was
mainly detectives in that areathere.
I know there was also a placein Dawson Street with the CIB

(25:47):
that used to operate all thewhite patrol cars and all that.
Now I still think that behindthere actually is where they saw
the booze buses and that thesedays that's right.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yeah, yeah, good on you.
Len Some great memories aroundthat.
So what's the acronym for?
Just remind me about CIB,criminal Investigation Bureau
Branch.

Speaker 6 (26:11):
Branch or Bureau.
Well, it was, bureau wentBranch.
Then it went to CIU, which isCriminal Investigation Unit.
I think that's what it is nowCIU, not CIB.
No, it's not CIB anymore.
It was such an iconic termthough Absolutely CIB.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Let's be in touch with the CIB.

Speaker 6 (26:30):
It's like the internal investigations, has
changed names as well.
It was B11 when I started andthen it went to D11.
Then it went to PSC and thenESD.
What it's changed?
Well, someone gets a promotionand gets a medal for it along

(26:50):
the way.
An award Design a phone book,get a medal.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
Here's West Footscray , jimmy Morning.

Speaker 11 (26:58):
Good morning Tony Roger Jackson.
We're all here.
What's happening in your world?
Not much, mostly justappointments after appointments
all the time, which I'm sick of.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Good on you, Jim.
Well, you've got to go throughthat process.

Speaker 11 (27:14):
Yeah, I do.
Anyway, good to speak to youagain, Roger, and good luck with
your speaking event.

Speaker 6 (27:21):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 11 (27:22):
I haven't rang up about D24.
In all your years of apoliceman, of 40 years, were you
based in one or several policestations and being a policeman
for 40 years, I suppose you'dstill know a lot of policewomen
and policemen still workingthese days.
But the question I have that Imainly rang up for a while back

(27:47):
I heard on Jackie Felgate's showthat an e-bike had blown up and
held the train for a couple ofhours.
I think it was on the GlenWaverley line when I used to
ride my pushbike all over theplace.
When I used to go far distancesI used to put my bike on and
the high-vis guys were there.

(28:08):
They were guys trying to gettheir motorbikes on and bikes
with petrol motors and the guysused to say why aren't we
allowed to run?
They said because of danger,because of explosion.
So now an e-bike battery isblown up.
E-bikes are going to soon bebanned off trains and e-scooters

(28:30):
.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
It's a very good question.

Speaker 6 (28:32):
It's a great point, because there is a problem.
Did you see the vision of thatship that was carrying all the
electric cars?

Speaker 1 (28:41):
caught fire.
Oh, and they lost all thosecars, about 3,000 cars, yeah,
yeah.

Speaker 6 (28:45):
And they just had to leave it burn out.
They just had to leave it burnout there because of the yeah,
they couldn't do anything.
This is a problem with theelectric cars and obviously with
the e-bikes.
It's quite apart from the factthat they're just a death trap
with the way they're riddenaround.
I a death trap with the waythey're ridden around.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
I nearly got cleaned up by one.
Well, it goes back to your idea.
As you said, it's not the guns,it's not the machetes.
In this case, it's not thee-bikes no, it's not, it's the
dickheads, the dicks thatactually ride them.

Speaker 6 (29:12):
Well, if you put an e-bike right there right now, I
guarantee it won't hurt you.
If you just put an e-bike rightthere just sitting there, it
doesn't hurt you.
It's whoever gets on it andcontrols it.
That's the problem.
That's what needs addressing.
It's like the guns it's not thegun, because a gun can sit
there.
It'll never, ever hurt you ever.
But if someone picks it up andthey squeeze the trigger, then
that's what needs addressing.

(29:33):
You can take guns out ofsociety.
You can take machetes out ofsociety.
People are still going to gethold of them.
The problem's got to beaddressed at who's holding it.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, of course, who's holding it, except that in
America it's out of control.
So what's the differencebetween the standard they take
in America?
Most states in the UnitedStates, even under their
constitution, yep, and so thatallows for that.
And yet in Australia we gaveback all our guns.
We're not a gun culture.
For the most part, we havenowhere near the level of deaths

(30:09):
associated with firearms.

Speaker 6 (30:11):
And the other thing as well is too.
Tony, I've always wondered whenwas the last time you heard
that there was an active shooterat a shopping centre, but some
civilian pulled their own gunout and took them out In
Australia, no, in the US.
How often do you hear that?
Never, Never.
They all say that they have gotthe right to bear arms.
But when was the last time thatyou heard that there was an

(30:33):
active shooter at a shoppingcentre or in a car park or there
was an issue going on, but TonyMcManus, the civilian, pulled
his own firearm out and resolvedthis issue?

Speaker 1 (30:43):
But it would be the same with somebody who comes
into your home and you've got agun licence and your gun's in
storage.
Somebody comes into your homeand you go hang on, hold the
foot, just stay there.
Yeah, I've got to go down to mysafe.
There's a great comedian whodid a great sketch on this.
Yep, yep, whose name justescapes, and come back to me in
just a tick.
Stay there, I'm going to go getmy gun.
Don't move.

(31:04):
You race down to the other endof the house.
You open your safe Once youremember the code 24 to the
right 36 to the left.
I'll be there shortly.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
And remember, you can't store your ammunition with
your firearm either.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
That's in a separate part of the house.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
That's in another one , but hang on with your gun.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
I'll get to you shortly.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
Yep, I'll be with you .
It's bizarre, it is bizarre, itis totally bizarre.
That's here in Australia, butthen we talk about in the US,
where I've spoken to people thatthey're just literally wearing
firearms on their hips, likehandguns on their hips, but
they're never, ever the onesthat are resolving these issues.
They're always standing backwaiting for the cops to come in,

(31:45):
and they're the ones that arehaving to take control of these
situations.
Why?

Speaker 1 (31:49):
don't we do this, we'll come back.
We've got a Rob in Richmond andit as well.
Adrian's here.
Maureen, come and join us.
1-double-3-6-9-3.
We love acronyms on the programAcronyms.
We could have a whole lot offun with just acronyms one
morning.
133693.
It is Australia OvernightMorning.
Hey, rob in Richmond, thank youfor being part of Australia
Overnight.

(32:09):
I'm Tony McManus, rob and RogerSutherland from A Healthy Shift
is here.
Hello to you.

Speaker 14 (32:16):
Yes, good morning Tony and good morning Roger.
Good morning to you, rob.
Firstly, roger, thanks for yourmultiple decades of service to
the community and respectingthat you've been part of the
force.
I wanted to run a couple ofideas past you Sure go.
Do you remember the game?

(32:37):
As a child you used to playSpotto.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
Yes.

Speaker 14 (32:42):
Yeah Well, why can't the community get involved,
like the police can publish alist of the stolen cars and what
the number plates are, and ifwe see an Audi in front of us
and it's a black Audi and thenumber plate doesn't match the
VicRoads website, then we cangive you a call and if that

(33:03):
turns into tracking down astolen car, then you know the
person get a $100 reward orsomething like that.
Get the community involved,because you hear often on the
news oh, that car was stolen inBeaumont back in January and
it's been driving around Januaryand it's now dry.

Speaker 6 (33:23):
Yeah, it's been driving around.
Yeah, one of the biggestproblems that we have is the
database of stolen cars.
There's so many cars stolen.
So, many, so many people drivearound.
But you know what?
Tony McManus hears that blackBMW and he remembers something
about the Rego and I hear aboutthe white Audi.
So I remember something aboutthe Rego.
Do you know what I mean?

(33:43):
So you could have a lot ofpeople out there.
I can tell you where theproblem lies.
Who are you going to call whenyou actually see it?
You're going to ring triplezero and then it becomes a
logistical nightmare to try andget and I know because I did
this for 12 years.
It's a logistical nightmare toget a police unit, which we have
hardly any of on the road toget to you, to where you are

(34:07):
with that car driving around.
And don't get me wrong, I cancertainly see people ring, I see
things and I think there's nopoint in ringing.
No one's going to be able toget to me anyway now, and this
is the problem, because we'reabsolutely scared.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Has that always been the problem?
No, I don't know that that's anew problem.
It's always been an issue interms of how we communicate.
How do we effectively get thatinstant reaction that we all
look for when you see something?
And I have to talk to you.
Over many, many times we saw acar race down.
Well, you know where we liverace down there very, very
quickly.
Yep, no number plates on thecar on top of the was a late

(34:42):
model Mercedes Benz.
So I rang and at least reported.
Now I have no idea where thatwent, but I'm not sure anybody
would have investigated it.

Speaker 6 (34:50):
I don't know, it'd be potluck if there's someone in
the area.
The other thing is, at leastyou've rung and reported it.
I think that's importantbecause if that car was to go
around the corner and take outsome child on the road, that's
exactly right.
Tony McManus has seen this cardoing warp nine down that
particular road at that time, soit adds more evidence and

(35:13):
gravity to the incident insteadof just oh, this is an
unfortunate event.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Particularly, as no plates is usually a giveaway.

Speaker 6 (35:20):
It's a good giveaway, Good giveaway.
It's been taken off for agiveaway.
It's a good giveaway.
It's been taken off for areason.
It's a great point.
It's a good idea.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Rob.
Yeah, thank you, hello, annetteMorning.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Hello mate, how are you guys?

Speaker 1 (35:30):
We're well.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
That's good.
Well, jack, can I ask you aquestion, mate?
Of course I lived with apoliceman when I was a young
girl.
I was fostered and had a fosterfather who did a good job as a
policeman.
People thought he was PaulCronin because he looked like
him.
Anyway, that's not the point.
No, it's you, it's my fosterfather who looked like him?

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Medlock yeah, because you used to ride a motorbike as
well.
Dave Sullivan.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, that's him.
The sad part is I feel sorryfor you police, because every
time a criminal goes to court,what's the good of having jail
cells?
You guys are going to be out ofwork soon because they're going
to say bail, bail, bail.
What's the good of having jailcells?
We'll burn them all down.
We won't need them becauseeverybody's out on bail.
I know what the jail cells willbe for.

Speaker 6 (36:12):
I know what we'll use the jail cells for.
We'll all be in them, becausewe'll feel safer in the jail
cells than out in the public.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
Don't suggest that, annette.
Thank you, no, I know what youmean yeah good on you.
In Adelaide.
Hello Adrian, good morning.
Yes, adrian, we'll come back toyou shortly.

Speaker 6 (36:30):
Maureen's in Mullaloo , do you know where Mullaloo is?
No, tell me where Mullaloo is.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Well, Mullaloo's a beautiful suburb.
It's north of Perth andMullaloo's very, very coastal,
so you've got some beautifulhomes right there overlooking
the Indian Ocean.
The Mullaloo Hotel's been there, I reckon probably was
renovated maybe 10 or 12 yearsago, overlooks some beautiful
gardens and, right across theocean, one of the most
spectacular views in Australia.
Maureen, how am I doing?

Speaker 7 (36:57):
Not too bad, Tony, not too bad.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
Good on you.

Speaker 7 (37:01):
Nice to hear your voice.
My opinion of all of this goesback to parenting.
I just see such a difference inthe parents of today to how we
were and I'm in my 90s and mykids and my grandkids to my
great-grandchildren.

Speaker 6 (37:20):
The parents today try and be friends with their
children instead of beingparents.
No consequences there, Maureen.

Speaker 7 (37:24):
No, they're just allowed.
They're little kings and queensand gods and all the rest of it
and I mean they grow up withnobody can tell me what to do,
nobody can touch me, and theyjust do what they really like.
And parents are trying to befriends with them instead of
being parents and discipliningthem.

(37:45):
Oh, I totally agree.
And we stopped all that, and westopped it in the schools, and
the only way you can help achild is to discipline them, and
discipline them hard sometimes.

Speaker 6 (37:56):
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
That's how I was raised,Maureen.
I couldn't agree more with you.
I do honestly think that tosolve the problems in society
today, there's got to be aconsequence for the action,
because once there's aconsequence now that's good or
bad, but there's got to be aconsequence one way or another
to positively or negativelyreinforce the behaviour.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
Adrian Maureen, always good to talk to you.
Thank you, look after yourselfand keep in touch.
Don't be a stranger, adrian, inAdelaide Hello.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Sorry guys, I got caught napping.
That's okay, gotcha.
I was just ringing up inrelation to you talking about
D24 and all that A while ago.
What did VKC stand for?
Because I knew it might havehad something to do with

(38:44):
Victoria.

Speaker 6 (38:45):
No, no, it doesn't.
It's got nothing to do, it'sjust a call sign that's
allocated by the Department ofCommunications.
Vkc yeah, it's original andit's stuck In Queensland.
It's VKR or G, I can't remembernow, and New South Wales is
either VKR or VKG.
So here in Victoria our radiooperators and our units on the

(39:08):
road speaking to D24 will sayVKC, and the reason why we used
to say VKC2 and VKC talking tois because we used to be on a
VHF radio and it used to take alittle bit of time to click and
open.
So you'd say VKC, this isMalvern 311.
And by the time the radio hadopened, you would hear Malvern

(39:30):
311.
And that's why you used to sayVKC, this is, or it was, vkc2.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
We're back the other side of this.
Roger Sutherland goes to quickfrom a healthy shift.
People can have a look at thewebsite, which is called.

Speaker 6 (39:45):
Ahealthyshiftcom.
One word.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Ahealthyshiftcom.
One word On the Insta for thecool kids.

Speaker 6 (39:52):
At A underscore, healthy, underscore shift, and
I've also got the podcast forshift workers, which is A
Healthy Shift.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
A Healthy Shift where you get your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (40:02):
Always good to see you in a couple of weeks.
You absolutely will Thank youfor having me.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
You're a good man, the wonderful Roger Sutherland
leaving the program.
We've got the music quiz that'scoming up next on Australia
Overnight.
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