December 21, 2024 • 54 mins
In this deeply moving episode, Paula McGrath sits down with Bruce Morcombe, a father, grandfather, and co-founder of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Bruce shares his family’s journey of unimaginable loss and their unwavering fight for justice following the tragic abduction and murder of his 13-year-old son, Daniel.
Bruce discusses his life before that fateful day, the years of resilience it took to secure justice, and the monumental task of turning pain into purpose. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation, established by Bruce and his wife Denise, is now a cornerstone of child safety education in Australia. This year, they celebrate 20 years of Day for Daniel, a national child safety initiative that has touched millions.
Beyond the headlines, Bruce reflects on the importance of creating a safer world for kids both online and offline, the challenges of parenting in a digital age, and his advocacy for an Australian public sex offender register. His poignant mantra, “Don’t waste your pain,” echoes the strength and grit he embodies.
Join us for an inspiring conversation that underscores the power of resilience, community, and a commitment to protecting the most vulnerable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Pure Grit with Paula McGrath. If you search
the word grit, you'd see that it means to have courage,
show strength of character, passion and perseverance. Throughout the series,
paul chat to guests from all walks of life who
have shown pure grit to get to where they are now. Paula, Paula, Yeah, look,
(00:26):
he looks fine. I've done the intro, so ready for
you to talk now? Yeah, you do your talking things.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to another episode of Pure Grit. This episode, I'm
actually really proud to present my guest today. I admire
so much. I think that I say this on behalf
of our whole entire country. I've had the honor to
interview several times in my radio career. He's a father
and grandfather first and foremost, and so rightly a recipient
(00:55):
of the Australian of the Year, best known for his
incredible grit and resilience through soum much grief and stress
when his thirteen year old son Daniel was crully abducted
on the Sunshine Coast. Through this horrific ordeal, he and
his wife Denise set up two years later, the Daniel
Morcambe Foundation, which has become Australia's leading organization advocating and
educating children in child safety. This year we celebrate twenty
(01:18):
years of Day for Daniel, Australia's largest awareness day for
child safety, not only physical but also online. Please welcome
to Pure Grit Bruce Morcambe. Yay, great to be Hey, Bruce,
thank you for joining me on Pure Grit. I've been
wanting to have you or Denise or both on Pure
(01:41):
Grits since its conception years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I've been wanting you to.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
No, that's pretty awesome. We have a big profile, probably
bigger than we wanted, we expected, But what's really important.
It's not about Denisia miself, Daniel's legacy and here is
twenty years after the inception of that, and you know,
I'm pretty proud of where we've been and pretty excited
(02:10):
about where we can take this.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Oh it's incredible, but price what I wanted to Australia
or everybody knows you. Everybody, the whole country knows you
through through Daniel, and this is Daniel's legacy, but not.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
A lot of people know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So where did you grow up? Where were you born?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Well, It's a bit of a long story, but I
was born in Adelaide too, but only I was there
for my first year, so had one. My parents and
the rest of the family relocated to Brisbane in quentn
and spent the next decade or so there before we
relocated to Melbourne at about eleven or so. Yeah, it
(02:58):
became a Melbourne person.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I was going to say we were.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Both born in Adelaide, but I sort of had my
childhood in Adelaide before I came to Queensland, so I
still have a bit of the Adelaide accent.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I was thinking, you don't have any Adelaide accent.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
You've got the four that I don't follow Port or
the Crows, so we'll leave that.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
The Lions, do you.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Well, yeah, I'll back I'll back them their premier So yeah,
both the ladies and the men so amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
So Bruce, So then you so you went to Melbourne
and then back to Queensland, did you?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah? Well, obviously we. I was schooling in high school
down there, then had my first job down there, working
in the CBD of Melbourne, and obviously met Denise around
nineteen eighty believe it, all those years ago. Wow, and yeah,
(03:57):
we've been together ever since. But you know, we started
a Jim's mowing business in Melbourne and we're pretty good
at it. Not just cutting grass, but it's about customer
relations and building the business and finding new clients. And
at the end of about twelve or fourteen months were
(04:20):
talking to Jim there is a gym, gym mate, what
is it we can do business wise that keeps us interested?
And anyway, there was a franchise or on Sunshine Coast
in Queensland that had relocated from Melbourne and his family
(04:41):
had was not healthy that situation, so he wanted to
return to Melbourne and so we bought a bit of
a rundown Jim's Mowing franchise or territory being the sun
Joint Coast and a little bigger than that, but here
we made a go of it. Obviously, relocated with three
young children ourselves and yeah the rest is history, I suppose.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And that's when you moved to Palm Woods, was it?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Well, initially we went to Mountain Creek.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Which is well Mountain Creek, yep. Okay, So before Daniel
and the boys go to Mountain Creek, did they initially?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, Well, we actually you know back in the day,
we are talking thirty years ago, back ninety three, we
relocated here, and yeah, Mountain Creek was almost an isolated
suburb at that stage. It was, Yeah, only a couple
of kilometers to my little bar's. There was no school.
(05:41):
They were very fortunate. They were the very first intake
at prep as the school was built. Wow, just a
couple of hundred meters away, and so they were able
to walk and ride their bikes when they became a
little bit older to do their primary school. Yeah, just
round the corner.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, because I was I came here out at Sunshine Coast.
I moved to the Santa Coast in nineteen eighty eight, and
there weren't I went to Saint John's and Namble. There
was not that many schools really compared to what there
is on the Sunshock Coast now, such a.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Selection of schools.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
But yeah, so yeah, I remember what it was like.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I remember I didn't I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That that Mountain Creek had just started.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Not long after that.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, so then you moved, then you moved from Mountain Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
From Mountain Creek, we actually went to Bedina for a
very short We built a house on a canal there. Yeah,
and I was really had all the bells and whistles
and were pretty proud of what we had achieved. But
at the end of the at the end of the day,
it wasn't us finally, so we just wanted space, we
(06:55):
wanted acreage, so we shipped onwards. The boys wanted some
ponies and a third bikes.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
They had dird bikes and yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
They did so they had a bit of a blast
around their place and neighboring farmland and typically enjoyed life. Yeah,
in the in the hinterland.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, well I speak my son now, Bruce is thirteen,
so it's like a for me, it's quite a like
he was born probably twenty eleven when you just started
Daniel Moore Foundation. I think like around that time. Wasn't
that when you launched Daniel Morkham Foundation eleven?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
No earlier?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Now we lost Daniel in December two thousand and three
five you started foundation.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, my son is this morning. We talked about it
before he went to school and it's just it hits
me that he's that age, that age they're quite independent,
they're quite independent.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
At this age, really independ it.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But he's very aware always of Daniel because most of
the school kids on the Sunshine Coasts are they're very
aware of David Daniel. They all have been involved. And
every time we drive you know, to basketball past you know,
past Umbai, you know, it's we've always mentioned Daniels. It's
(08:21):
really it's really it just hit me this morning looking
at him, looking at gem and thinking his his the age,
what Daniel was. It's just quite point that I'm talking
to you and he's that age. But these days, I
don't know what we think about it. But with all
(08:42):
the information you have on child safety, you know, these
days we have space talk watches and things like that
where if kids do ride to school or they have
you know, a watch that can press so os or
you know which. I think things have come a long
way in giving you children some independence, but they still
(09:03):
have a way of being chapped.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Yes, ye kind of like yeah, it's it's more than
a decade ago that one of the projects that Daniel
Morkan Foundation initiated was an app. And this is absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Common absolutely now everyone.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, but way back a decade or so ago, as
iPhones were just being rolled out, we created an app
and it's called the help Me app and basically you push,
you know, you just initiate that, and it indicates to
a nominated person within your phone, typically your mum ifuring yeah,
a bus stop or waiting at school or after sports,
(09:45):
I am here, I need help. So so it doesn't
it could be it's very suitable for elderly people as
well that might have a fall in the kitchen or wherever.
And we are aware of, in fact, a very large
franchise real estate firm that also have downloaded the app
to all their start So they're doing appraisals in somebody's house,
(10:07):
as you can appreciate, you know, yeah, that's a safe environment.
But they are walking into people's homes, that's true. These people,
So they have the ability to push the button and
it either nominates whoever they wish, their boss maybe, or
a family member. I need help and I am here,
so it identifies where they are with the typical pulsing
(10:29):
blue dot on a typical map.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Wow, that's amazing, Bruce, because I am a bit I'm
very very strict. I wasn't going to let my son
have a phone tool fifteen, which is really really hard
these days because it's all peer pressure so he did
have have this watch that I wouldn't let him have
(10:53):
a phone because I don't want him online. I didn't
want him online and it's too young and you know, oh,
but I need phone because I'm riding to school. No,
you can have this watch and you can notify me
or Nana. Just you just nominate a few people that
they can contact or you know, and I can see
it on a map and GPS. But then they get
(11:14):
to the age where they want a phone, and then
you've got a whole nother it's the online online issues
a huge bruce.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
With these they don't have any idea who they're talking to.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Frightening, that's awful.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I don't let any like I'm shocked that he says
to me, No, Mum, some of my friends allowed their
phone in their bedroom. Is it You're never ever having
your phone in your bedroom ever?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Yeah, No, that's that's one of the first things we
always say. There is no need to have any of
those in your bedroom. There is not take them in
the common room such as the lounges of family room, kitchen,
that sort of area. If they're charging up at night,
don't charge them up in the bedroom, charge them up
in that common area and.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Tried it on me last night.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Bruce, I want to have this sleep app, I said
it not. We talked about it in religion, about this
sleep app. I said, you're not having it because you're
never having your phone in your room because he has
to charge his phone downstairs on the dining room table
near the charger.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
That's just the rules.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Never allowed any devices in his room, not even computer.
I won't let him have a computer in his room,
even school computer. And he's, oh, you're so strict.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
He's so strict.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
No, I'm not strict. Everybody should be the same, Bruce, but.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
From themselves. But kids being kids, they do want to experiment.
They do want to push the boundaries. It's human nature.
You know, the tallest mountain, why do we want to
climb it? But some people want to because it's just
in their DNA? And why do you want to take
(12:56):
risk online?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It acts like it's so mature, Barista.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Act like they know you know, well, I can certainly
share with yourself there, Paula. That we were driving our
seven year old grandson just in Malaney and the hinter
end on the Sunny coast. He was in the back seat,
Denisa and I in the front seats, and he was
he was playing Roadblocks on his eye in the back seat,
(13:26):
and then suddenly he burst out and said, oh, Nana, Pa,
this person knows my name. And Denise and I look
at each other, thinking, well, who the hell is is?
And so we took over the conversation and took some screenshots.
And you know, our grandson did the right thing by
(13:48):
identifying is this okay to talk to this person? It
is not. But all of those games, many of the
games that the kids naturally want to play, there are
pop ups with conversations of people that are chatting to them.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Absolutely, I've been through all of that.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
They don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And I said, Jim, you know, the average person on
Roadblocks some of them are men forty year old.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Absolutely they are. So we took some screenshots, we took
the conversation over and told him to you know, we
know who he is and to stop chatting to kids. Wow.
And I hope it puts shiver in his in his
spine and hopefully he's corrected that sort of behavior because
(14:41):
it can only lead to bad things, obviously, but that
happens in the confined of our car.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
That's right, and you you and Denise knows so much
more than the average parents.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
That's right. Lots of parents would say, oh, that's great
that this person knows you or if they had that
device in that conversation in the bedroom, that conversation continues
and we all know with Denise and I have been
to some eight hundred schools in Queensland and around the
country chatting to teachers and parents and obviously kids. And yeah,
(15:19):
the vulnerability of the youngsters is overwhelming when we know
that adults create an atmosphere where they feel not pressured,
but they make the youngsters feel value so that they're
(15:40):
they're looking for the most vulnerable in our community that
perhaps don't have a lot of friends that are interested
in sports or whatever it is, music or something, and
it just leads the conversation. You know, I'd like to
you know, what do you look like? What are you wearing?
Send me a photo? And of course they're they're wearing
their board shorts and T shirt whatever. But it gets
(16:01):
more risky send me a photo tonight when you're in pajamas.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, when you're in the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
It just goes down that path. You and the youngsters
are trapped. Oh you sent me in your underwear last night.
How about you take the underwear off tonight. If you don't,
I'm going to send or upload that photo of you
in your undies. So they're trapped, and as kids.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
There's teenagers going through that for reason, and they suicide
because they don't know a way out.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Because but we always say, it's never the youngster's fault.
So please, if you are in a bit of a
hole and you think I've made a blue heir, it's
still not your fault. Sure you took that photo, but
you wouldn't taken that photo if that person didn't gain
your trust.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, or pretending to be a girl or.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
You know, ask you to send that. That's right. They say,
I'm a thirteen year old girl. Oh you look pretty funky,
you see it? Yeah, and it's some old dude. Know
that you're not pulling the wall over our eyes, but
you do over the youngster's eyes.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
So you've bought so much awareness to child protection and
child safety over all these years in Daniel's legacy. I
find myself and I really hope all my listeners do too.
When I'm driving to school or just driving and I
see a child, for example, at a bus stop. It's funny.
(17:27):
I always look and I always am aware, like it's
just something I look at. I look and just say, oh,
they're okay. Or see one walking and someone walking behind them,
I go, I just double check, and I just think,
I hope everyone in Australia does that, and I just
take a little mental note.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I always do, just to just glance.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
And go, you know, yeah, you never know. You just
spot something. Yeah, bicycle, Yeah, someone in a vehicle that
parked in an unusual spot, you know, just at the shopping
xenner outside of preschool. Just what what's that person up to?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
First?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
You think over the years, has it has this predator
predator behavior? Has it got words?
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Well?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I do.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Actually, it's certainly more open and and social media is
a is a true beast out there and what it
what it has done is normalized predatory behavior. So these
largely male population of offenders find others online that they
(18:45):
can chat to and and they normalize that sort of
behavior in and they boast and and also uh, preps
make it okay, well if you do this, I can
do that, and the problems escalate from there. But I
(19:05):
have no doubt. It's not the situation when I was
growing up, which is a long time ago. I appreciate that.
You know, the the bad predator is lurking in the
public toilet or lurking you know, the flasher in the tray.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Which I experienced all the time.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Yeah, yeah, you know. But you know that is almost
a myth. The predators of forty and fifty and sixty
years ago were known to the families. You know that, well,
that was the neighbor next door, it was a soccer coach,
whoever it was. It was known to the children. And
that is still the case today. Albeit we have the
(19:41):
added issue of the online person that is gaining the
trust of the youngster, and there are more and more
predators out there and more and more unsavory material for
adults to to get excited by that the youngster. We
(20:04):
have heard it, We have heard court confessions. The youngsters
enjoyed it. I don't think so. They're absolute. You know,
in our day we'll call them creeps, but you know,
these are child rapists. Let's call the elephant in the room.
It is. They are hideous creatures and I hate.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Them and I hate them too.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Bruce and is is the convictions getting stronger for child
The biggest one we have known of late has been
that that awful, awful predator that the years and years
at the at the kindy, at the preschool, at the Kinney's.
(20:48):
Oh my god, it completely horrified.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Me, totally like, oh my god, how did that happen?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I know? But you know, where there's a will is away,
the are attracted to kids. They will find a way
to gain the trust of those youngsters, whether it's the
swimming coach, whether it's it's the the the preschool center.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That was horrific.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I don't know how many you know.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
How many, Thank goodness, there are Ace the Australian Senator
account a child exploitation. There are fantastic police officers, dedicated
police officers that the comb and sift through what must
(21:36):
be horrendous material for them, and it's to identify some
of the victims that are out there and obviously to
put some of these predators away.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
People that have been through child abduction or missing children,
do they reach out to you as a you know
other people who have gone through so they reach out
to you, Bruce fa support Often.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Yeah, it's not a daily occurrence. But I would say
at least a dozen times a year, and we bump
into somebody, sometimes someone makes contact with us. It's not
a similar case to Daniel being abducted by someone he
didn't know. On the side of very brazen, a very
(22:25):
violent attack. Often often perpetrators groom children, they say they
love them, and you down that path to have a
violent pedophile, fortunately is incredibly rare. But the damage on
that youngster is life long. It is for the whole
(22:49):
their whole life from that incident right through unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
But Bruce when it because it took so long to
two catch Daniel's horrid did you have horrid offender? And
kill now his jailed, thank goodness, and hopefully he's never
released and we never see him ever again.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But it took so long it was there?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Because because I would.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Have thought, you know, I remember it distinctively. I remember
seeing it in the news, and I remember seeing did
you see this car? Like it was quite a public
it was position on the road on a busy road.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Yeah, it's just one of those things. You know, we
all look back in hindsight and say, you know, he
was pretty obviously he nearly glowed as but we are
going back, you know, ten and even twenty years ago
and beyond to the incident. You know, record keeping by
(23:54):
by the police of known pedophiles was in its infancy
back then. But fortunately each of the services in the
states and territories we understand have substantial records of what
these people get up to, what their history of offending
(24:16):
has been, and so one imagines that should another cow
and service, they'll be able to track this person quickly,
because he of course was a twice convicted pedophile living
on the Sunshine Coast, and he did became investigated by
(24:38):
the Task Force within about ten days of Daniel's subduction,
so it was before Christmas in two thousand and three
that yeah, they.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Were started investigating.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Him, checking out his car is whereabouts. In hindsight, we
would always say you could have done more. They were. Yeah.
One of the things that Denise and I often say
is that we actually were too good at generating publicity. Now,
(25:12):
while that's the crazy things to say, we were so anxious,
as your listeners could car would be to get the answer.
So at every possibility we would ask the public, please,
if you've seen anything, come forward and what happened? Was
there was just a proliferation of information through to police
(25:35):
and crime stoppers, and of course police have to tick
all that off so that your mental task. So in
some ways we muddied that water. But you know, at
the end of the day, he was in the picture,
and he did resurface a couple of other times, but
each time he was perhaps like a fish just nibbling
(25:59):
at the bait, actually getting hooked.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Ye yep.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
One way, you know, the family cope with the extended
period and we're talking a decade before Cowen's arrest and
the finding of Daniel's remains. If back in December two
thousand and three, so around that Christmas time, when Daniel
(26:24):
had been missing for about two weeks, if Cowen had
been arrested, we would never and charged, etc. We would
never have found Daniel because he would never have said, oh,
by the way, you'll find him down the dirt track
over there. It's only through that incredible covert police operation
(26:45):
where the police gained sufficient confidence from Cowen that he
re enacted that particular horrendous crime and took police officers
under cover to where Daniel had been murdered.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And otherwise there would be no we would.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Have found nothing. Yeah, so you know, there is some
peace of mind that it was painful, it was slow,
it did take a decade, but we got Daniel.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, thank goodness, thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Honestly.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Yes, so there is some comforty in that there is.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
And you know, I sort of wanted to ask you, Bruce.
I know you've been an advocate to getting a registered
sex offender.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Publics. Will that ever happened for us? All?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Yeah, Look, the momentum, the political will, the appetite for
it has come and gone several times over the last
fifteen or so years.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, I just don't understand why we don't have it.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
But it's on the way. Oh that's so good as
we all will is coming up.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I don't think there's anyone that doesn't want to.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Doesn't want it is one of the curiosities. But I
think I think we'd find that there are too many
do good as out there that think, you know, this
person has been rehabilitated. Ah, the crimes that he committed
were ten and fifteen or five years ago whenever, But
(28:27):
he hasn't been caught in those fifteen years since. But
he's probably probably done stuff or downloaded material that he
shouldn't have in those fifteen years. He just hasn't been caught.
But I think it will come. I think, really, I just.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
That's something I really want to ask you more.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
The strength of the public Accessible Sex Offender website. You know,
the Accessibility WA does have a model that works quite efficiently.
It wasn't the ideal model that perhaps we were tracking
or Megan's Law and there's a number you know in
(29:07):
England Megan's laws us. But in some ways I have
moderated my position. You know, we couldn't and it would
never get up either. There's no point in flog and
a dead horse. If it's not going to get up,
why waste your energy. Find something that is moderate, that
(29:28):
will serve its purpose, but not create barriers or difficulty
for the people that have done something in the past,
and you know, they've got new lives, they're probably new relationships,
they may have kids of their own, which is also
a worry, but they've got probably got a new career
(29:51):
or business or work colleagues, that sort of thing. So
if they have cleaned up their act, thank goodness for that.
They should not be on a accessible register unless you
make application through the police online and you know, because
your neighbor, they are the sports coach of your kids,
(30:12):
you can make application, perhaps in certain circumstances and find
out the history of that particular person.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, which is I think, which is that's very fair?
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Yeah. I always use the example that that if if
you had a sister, for argument's ake, she's she's thirty
years old with a couple of kids, a four and
a six year old, and she has a failed relationship
with the father of those children. But she wants a
(30:43):
new love of her life, so she goes on a
new partner, goes on an online dating service, which is cool,
and she finds somebody. Nobody knows that person's true past,
do they? And we talk to police often and they
say that is the typical access to the kids, that
(31:09):
if it is a male, that male person is not
interested in the relationship with many at all. No, they're
going to They're going to gain the trust and say,
why don't you go spend the night out. You go
to the pictures, have a couple of drinks and a
feed with your girlfriends. I'll look after the kids exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, Wow, have a fun night.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Yeah, and you know that it's it's the wolf in
charge of the chickens, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
It is so so prius.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
What do you do you think that for everyone listening,
the William Tyrell case will.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Ever be solved.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I'm sure it will. Yeah, I have I have faith
that that. Sometimes it's the most obvious. I think in
Daniel's case, you know, we we and the police, we're
looking very broad at you know, lots of hypotheticals, but
(32:06):
really the answer was relatively simple and under our noses.
And I suspect that that William Tyrell's case is possibly
quite similar. So I think there may well be an
answer that's not far away. We just haven't yet. That's
(32:30):
so good. Yeah, I'm confident that I have faith in
the system. It might take a while, we know that,
but the answer will be there. Having said that, you know,
we travel around the country. We are involved in supporting
those left behind after something is missing, and I'm well
(32:51):
aware like we created for the first seven and a
half years a monument at the abduction side.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
We didn't know Daniel was abducted, but at the last
known spot, Daniel was saying, we created a monument there
just for we had nowhere to go. There's no body,
there's no We didn't have a funeral service or a
gravestone or a headstone. We didn't have anywhere to go.
And all those missing persons are exactly the same. They
(33:25):
are in limbo. It's unresolved loss. So sometimes as we're driving,
you see a monument over there, and that is possibly.
I can think of several that stand out, you know,
around the country where I have paused for a moment
and thought, wow, that person's missing. Or you watch TV
show a strange story or something like that, and they
(33:46):
reflect on somebody, a loved one that's missing and their
efforts as a family and police to find what had
happened to that person. And sometimes it is the most
obvious thing that's happened. Sometimes, these these adults that are missing,
you know, they do take them and make it difficult,
(34:08):
difficult for their loved ones to actually find the answer.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
But I just ad my my youth so much.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Bruce, you undernease, like what you know, everybody that's listening,
all of us can put ourselves in your shoes, and
what you both have done is so remarkable, you know,
twenty years of day for Daniel, like where everyone registers
and where's red and schools go out and walk on
(34:36):
the Sunshine Coast. They go and walk.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
In the past we've had dozens and dozens of walks
from from Weber in Townsville Okay, yep okay. And sometimes
obviously we have the walk on the Sunshine Coast the
last Friday of October huge and sometimes you know someone
in Port Macquarie or wherever it says, and sometimes you
(35:02):
know it could be in the state and even just
in Brisbane. We have our walk on day for Daniel
Glass Friday of October. Any chance you could come to ours,
I'd love to, but we're involved in activities here on
the Sunshine Coast locally. But what we've said some years
ago was if you haven't maybe the week before or
(35:23):
the week after or two days later. And there was
one time. I'm never in peak physical conditions. There are
a lot of bakeries and but yeah, we went from Bunderberg,
you know, all the way down to Coffs Harbor. It
was we had about six or eight walks for Daniel,
(35:46):
like one or two days apart over a couple of weeks,
which which was pretty magical really all of those people
thinking and supporting of of Daniel and Daniel's legacy, but
most importantly in their community one to protect kids. And
at the Foundation we have a huge array of free
(36:07):
educational resources for moms and dads and kids and grandparents
to pick up if you listen to read. Sometimes they're
fact sheets or parent guides off in their videos. And
in fact, just a couple of weeks ago we launched
on David Daniel a book, an online book. It will
(36:28):
be a printable book next year. It's all dependent on
money and also time, but anyway, it's an online book.
It's called Wobbly Jelly. Wobbly Jelly, and you're thinking that's
a cookbook. What's this about. Jelly is the name of
a cat, and the cat gets its body glues when
(36:51):
it's frightened by a barking dog. For argument, say so,
it's teeth exposed and it gets wobbly knees. So that's
why we called it wobbly jelly. And of course the
cat has it recognizes potential danger, as we will do
as human beings and youngsters. We recognize through our body clues.
(37:11):
We feel something that's not right. Butterflies in the tummy,
we're shaking, sweating, whatever they do something, so they react,
they get to a safe place as quick as they can.
What a cats do well, they run up a tree tree,
so they get to a safe place as quick as
they can, and then of course they report. So cute.
In the book, we say the cat climbs down when
(37:33):
the coast is clear and tells all the neighborhood cats
and youngsters as well. In cat language, look out for
the big bad dog. So recognize potential danger, know how
to react, which can be run or shut down that
but clear off and most importantly report. Please tell and
at any time you feel unsafe, could be your mom,
(37:55):
your dad, your uncle, could be the name, or your teacher,
and of course police. Pretty handy.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Oh that's amazing, very you know you ever have a podcast,
aren't you too?
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Yeah, we we have done several along that scene.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
I've seen it online.
Speaker 4 (38:13):
Like, yeah, there are a few out.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
There seeing you by the mic. I've seen you by
the mic.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Yeah. We don't like talking about ourselves too much, I know,
but you're amazing. You should make a difference to others,
And that is one of the the differences maybe that
I'm happy to share is that you know, there are
many charities and government organizations within the child protection sector
(38:43):
and they're all doing great work. Some we reach out
to and we share projects and knowledge. But the magic
that the Daniel Morgan Foundation has how we've been able
to keep going for twenty years and we hope for
another twenty years. It's not Denise and Bruce, it's not
(39:04):
necessarily our staff, but that they do incredible work and
have fantastic ideas and initiatives. But the difference that the
art between the other charities and the Daniel Morgan Foundation
is Daniel Morcambe himself a real boy who who didn't
go looking for trouble, but trouble found him and he
(39:26):
didn't know what to do. So we set up the
Daniel more Com Foundation to educate all Australians. So that
starts with teachers and law enforcement officers, police of course,
but also mum's dad's grandparents, cares and the kids and
everything is free on our website.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
So if someone, if people listening they want to help
the Daniel Morcambe Foundation, what do they do if?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
Yeah, look, it's not always money. Money is helpful. It
certainly greases the wheels, yes, but you know, sometimes just
being a volun tier, whether that if you're on the
Sunshine Coast, please contact us just a simple email at
Bukhambe dot com dot A. You'll find us very easily.
But sometimes you live in Perth or la places. What
(40:16):
is it they can do? Well? How about you get
the local schools in your suburb, your town, your area
to be involved in day for Daniel. We would love that.
As we say, we try and make it as easy
as possible for that person, that school, that school principal,
that police officer to say okay, I want to support
you guys what he wants to do. Get the schools
(40:38):
involved in a safety day, typically Day for Daniel, but
it can be any day.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Of any day.
Speaker 4 (40:43):
A sporting club Queensland surf Life Saving clubs and there
are fifty three I understand they have a paint the
clubhouse red day which is all the nippers and and
the surf life saving youngsters being involved in a safety lesson.
(41:05):
So this is many tens of thousands of youngsters in
Queensland being involved in David Daniel. So Denise and I
the Daniel Markin Foundation. We are relatively small. We don't
have the ability to knock on everybody's door. Drive comes
if the appetite is there, from the community leaders, from
the sports leaders. Of course, mom and dad, the carers
(41:28):
utilize the material that we have online. It's all free,
it's up to date. It is awesome and something as
adults themselves. You know, there was one one and we
were talking a little while ago about you not allowing
devices such as a phone in their bed at night.
Of course, and we understand that sometimes family life could
(41:53):
be chaotic. It's not necessarily you know, it can be
a single parent situation whatever and name and fourteen year
old pull the wool over mom and Dad's eyes a
little bit. We all we were twelve and thirty and
the one ourselves, and sometimes you know, it becomes a
battle of wills. Oh you know, I want a phone.
(42:15):
You give me a phone. Now I'm going to use
it in my room. No you're not, Yes I am.
And like it just escalates into an untidy family situation.
And somebody we're out of school, and they said, well,
what was what would you recommend? What have you heard
that I could use? Well let them have the device.
This is a little obscure, not for everybody, this is
(42:37):
a little obscure if they insist on having the device
in their bedroom, take the door off their bedroom, which
is like you don't have to unscrew the hinges sometimes
and often it's just a simple pin in the corner
of the hinge and like you can undo that in
like thirty seconds and Okay, do you want the door
(42:58):
on or you're going to put the ice back in
the kitchen.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
To do exactly.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I love it and that's why I find it easy
to just say no, that's the rules. It's hard because
they do buck and you know, but I think you
just have to stand your ground because it's getting worse, Bruce,
It's getting worse and worse. There's you know, schooling is
all on computers now, like you have to you know,
laptop iPads. You know, it's constant. There's so much screens
(43:31):
that there's so much potential. I remember an incident.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Very young.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I think my son was in prep and they accidentally
says something at school by looking up a certain word
on an iPad. But they wasn't advanced yet then to
block security wasn't and that word led to something too
little preppies should never have seen. You imagine like Siri,
(44:00):
they spoke to Siri.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's right, sire.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
They hadn't got the filters yet. You know, every school
has a lot of filters and stuff. Now it's just
so much online, you know. It's we didn't go up
like that, Bruce.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
You and I don't know. You're right. It was we
were a different world.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
We were outside until sun was gotten down. You know.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
One of the initiations that I had, and it was
possibly even before the foundation started, was we were doing
a fundraising thing and it was a wine and cheese,
you know, fundraising evening, that sort of thing we're looking at.
So I just wanted to free hand a sketch of
(44:47):
some wine glasses, like a goblet and you know whatever. Yeah,
and you know, a mouse nibbling at cheese, that sort
of thing. So I went on fine book twenty one
years ago, and anyway, I typed in from memory, you know,
wine glass, and then I went to images and there's images,
you know, photos of wine glasses, there's sketches whatever, and
(45:09):
that's what I was upter and I'm happy to share
it with you. I'm not sure it will last in
the edits, but last one of the photos that was
exposed to me and I remember looking at thinking what
the hell is this world that's online? And it was
(45:29):
a naked lady in high heels urinating in a wine glass.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
I typed in wine glasses, and I thought.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
That image popped up. I thought it can't be right
that the wine glass pretty two innocent words and bang,
there you go. What's this about? And and here we are,
twenty odd years later, all bizarre than that.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
So my son was prep, so, you know, very very young.
He is now pretent prep. They had asked Siri to
show them who as boys, you know, and you can
imagine what came up. Yeah, I did say, you know,
like that is so it's worse now that they can
tap something in and it can go yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
But in our day, Yeah, on your grandfather's age, No,
you're not.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
You're not actually what you were you born in Bruce.
Speaker 4 (46:28):
We would look up whoo in a dictionary.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
That's right, at last, there it.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
Is in like a dozen words. Whatever.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
That's that was curious behavior back in the sixties. I'll
give you that.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Well, I'm born in the early seventies, so it can't
be my grandfather.
Speaker 4 (46:51):
Yeah, but anyway, I was just identifying that it is
a totally different world, and you know, we we can't.
We can never, we can't put the genie back in
the bottle. That genie is out. We don't like that
genie necessarily, but we've got to live with it, and
we've got to make some some ground rules around that
(47:11):
genie so that it doesn't damage our kids and and society. Really,
that's that's my fear that you know, we there is
great fear on my part. What are the youngsters and
young teens exposed to?
Speaker 2 (47:29):
It's it's it horrifies me because I'm I'm just leading
into that territory now where I be as open as
I can with my son. I have have to be.
And some it was are you two a bit close?
But I think being close is the best way for me,
as a solo parent to be with my son because
(47:52):
I need to teach him what have a respect and
what's not responded, and that is the role over parent largely,
I think I last decade or so parenting has been
that device.
Speaker 4 (48:08):
Yeah, go and learn good behavior by watching you idiots,
you know, at the skateboard park or jumping in in
a shopping trolley and getting wheeled around Wallworth Like that's
stupid foolish behavior, but there's so many copycats out there.
They think that's normalized. Or standing up in the trolleys
(48:31):
as the skateboard going through the card bat. We've all
seen those videos and yeah, like you want to be
an idiot, we'll go ahead, But don't expose our children
to that sort of behavior because it teaches them bad things.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Well, Bruce, I've been I'm so honored to have you
on Pure Great and every guest I had I always
ask what's their favorite life saying or life motto?
Speaker 3 (49:00):
What do you what would piece of I have?
Speaker 4 (49:04):
I have one that was it was told to me,
and I've shared it with many many people that are
going through a tough time themselves. Perhaps they're adult survivors of,
you know, something horrendous that's happened in their life, or
maybe it's not necessarily a criminal act. Maybe you know
(49:24):
it's it's a road accident, perhaps it's you know, a
medical condition. But anyway, my saying that I'm happy to
share is don't waste your pain. So that's wow, that's
our mantra. That that's what how we get up each
and every day. It's never easy.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
And the pain never goes away.
Speaker 3 (49:47):
Bruce either and.
Speaker 4 (49:49):
You can you can you can see behind me, Yes,
I can see Daniel all behind part of our logo.
It's a red T shirt of course, yes, it's all
also the images of Daniel. So we see the thirteen
year old Daniel each and every day, and it's a
constant reminder. Here we are, like twenty years later that
(50:10):
you know, Daniel should be thirty five years old, but
he's not yet. He's not with us.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
So you know that is he's around Bruce, that he's
not well, he's Lady is here.
Speaker 4 (50:21):
Yeah, and that is the magic, as I said earlier,
that you know he's he's something we can all learn by.
And I know many many parents and kerrs and grandparents.
They say, you don't want to remember Daniel morcamb he
didn't have enough skill. Or let's sit down and watch
this video together. Or has there been something in your
(50:43):
life that's affected you, whether it's online or somebody you
know personally in the in the physical world. Let's have
a bit of a chat. So be that person, be
that adult, be that care for that youngster, and you'll
be surprised that they will open up and and it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
I love that saying I've never heard that, so you
never heard it. I love it.
Speaker 4 (51:08):
Yeah. So what we want for all those survivors out
there of something perhaps terrible that's happened to them and
they're coping, and the best way they can is share
your story because you know you will, you will benefit
in your own health by sharing that with somebody that
(51:32):
you know, maybe you might put them in a better
place in their life.
Speaker 2 (51:37):
So it makes me feel really teary because this is
exactly why I decided many years back to do my
pure group podcast, was purely to share stories to my listeners.
Speaker 3 (51:51):
And that is exactly why, because.
Speaker 4 (51:54):
Don't waste it. You're an important person and your journey
may be different to somebody else's, but you will have
them on their path as well.
Speaker 3 (52:01):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
And what about a song? Bruce always asked, I ask
my guess a song like, if there's a song that
sums up Bruce Markham. If someone your best mate said, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:11):
No songs, Bruce, Now I've got I'm a bit of
a metal head actually.
Speaker 2 (52:19):
That actually I would pick a.
Speaker 4 (52:21):
Few people, but I do like Metallica. There's many others,
but wow, but I did I did highlight it at
our major fundraiser at the Brisbane Town All a very
salubrious bow tie event.
Speaker 3 (52:35):
Oh I've never had the honor to go to that.
Speaker 4 (52:37):
Looks of it's the twentieth happening March next year. But anyway,
the song is nothing else matters, and you know it's
a it's not a true heavy metal song, but you
know it does have one particular line open mind for
a different view. So one line within a song by
(52:59):
a a hugely successful band open probably nearly forty years yes, yeah,
open mind for a different view. So look outside, don't
have a tunnel vision, yeah.
Speaker 3 (53:13):
Look broad have a look around.
Speaker 4 (53:16):
Yet and yeah, anyway that you Bruce, I love it.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Thank you so much for being on Pure Grit. I
really really appreciate you coming up. You know it's an
honor and I can say on behalf of everyone in
Australia how much we admire you and Denise and what
you've done where.
Speaker 3 (53:38):
You've come from.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
It's been good. PAULA, thank you, Thank.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
You, Bruce, Well thee thanks for listening to Pure Grit
with Paul McGrath. Now the web guy's been a very
busy boy. You can now visit the website Pure grit
dot com dot Au, search Pure Grip podcast on Facebook
and Instagram for the fun behind the scenes stuff and
I was wondering why paul It's of wearing makeup. Turns
(54:01):
out all the chats are now on YouTube as well,
so make sure you give that a subscribe
Welcome to Pure Grit with Paula McGrath. If you search
the word grit, you'd see that it means to have courage,
show strength of character, passion and perseverance. Throughout the series,
paul chat to guests from all walks of life who
have shown pure grit to get to where they are now. Paula, Paula, Yeah, look,
(00:26):
he looks fine. I've done the intro, so ready for
you to talk now? Yeah, you do your talking things.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to another episode of Pure Grit. This episode, I'm
actually really proud to present my guest today. I admire
so much. I think that I say this on behalf
of our whole entire country. I've had the honor to
interview several times in my radio career. He's a father
and grandfather first and foremost, and so rightly a recipient
(00:55):
of the Australian of the Year, best known for his
incredible grit and resilience through soum much grief and stress
when his thirteen year old son Daniel was crully abducted
on the Sunshine Coast. Through this horrific ordeal, he and
his wife Denise set up two years later, the Daniel
Morcambe Foundation, which has become Australia's leading organization advocating and
educating children in child safety. This year we celebrate twenty
(01:18):
years of Day for Daniel, Australia's largest awareness day for
child safety, not only physical but also online. Please welcome
to Pure Grit Bruce Morcambe. Yay, great to be Hey, Bruce,
thank you for joining me on Pure Grit. I've been
wanting to have you or Denise or both on Pure
(01:41):
Grits since its conception years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I've been wanting you to.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
No, that's pretty awesome. We have a big profile, probably
bigger than we wanted, we expected, But what's really important.
It's not about Denisia miself, Daniel's legacy and here is
twenty years after the inception of that, and you know,
I'm pretty proud of where we've been and pretty excited
(02:10):
about where we can take this.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Oh it's incredible, but price what I wanted to Australia
or everybody knows you. Everybody, the whole country knows you
through through Daniel, and this is Daniel's legacy, but not.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
A lot of people know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So where did you grow up? Where were you born?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Well, It's a bit of a long story, but I
was born in Adelaide too, but only I was there
for my first year, so had one. My parents and
the rest of the family relocated to Brisbane in quentn
and spent the next decade or so there before we
relocated to Melbourne at about eleven or so. Yeah, it
(02:58):
became a Melbourne person.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I was going to say we were.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Both born in Adelaide, but I sort of had my
childhood in Adelaide before I came to Queensland, so I
still have a bit of the Adelaide accent.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I was thinking, you don't have any Adelaide accent.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
You've got the four that I don't follow Port or
the Crows, so we'll leave that.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
The Lions, do you.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Well, yeah, I'll back I'll back them their premier So yeah,
both the ladies and the men so amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
So Bruce, So then you so you went to Melbourne
and then back to Queensland, did you?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah? Well, obviously we. I was schooling in high school
down there, then had my first job down there, working
in the CBD of Melbourne, and obviously met Denise around
nineteen eighty believe it, all those years ago. Wow, and yeah,
(03:57):
we've been together ever since. But you know, we started
a Jim's mowing business in Melbourne and we're pretty good
at it. Not just cutting grass, but it's about customer
relations and building the business and finding new clients. And
at the end of about twelve or fourteen months were
(04:20):
talking to Jim there is a gym, gym mate, what
is it we can do business wise that keeps us interested?
And anyway, there was a franchise or on Sunshine Coast
in Queensland that had relocated from Melbourne and his family
(04:41):
had was not healthy that situation, so he wanted to
return to Melbourne and so we bought a bit of
a rundown Jim's Mowing franchise or territory being the sun
Joint Coast and a little bigger than that, but here
we made a go of it. Obviously, relocated with three
young children ourselves and yeah the rest is history, I suppose.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And that's when you moved to Palm Woods, was it?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Well, initially we went to Mountain Creek.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Which is well Mountain Creek, yep. Okay, So before Daniel
and the boys go to Mountain Creek, did they initially?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, Well, we actually you know back in the day,
we are talking thirty years ago, back ninety three, we
relocated here, and yeah, Mountain Creek was almost an isolated
suburb at that stage. It was, Yeah, only a couple
of kilometers to my little bar's. There was no school.
(05:41):
They were very fortunate. They were the very first intake
at prep as the school was built. Wow, just a
couple of hundred meters away, and so they were able
to walk and ride their bikes when they became a
little bit older to do their primary school. Yeah, just
round the corner.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, because I was I came here out at Sunshine Coast.
I moved to the Santa Coast in nineteen eighty eight, and
there weren't I went to Saint John's and Namble. There
was not that many schools really compared to what there
is on the Sunshock Coast now, such a.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Selection of schools.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
But yeah, so yeah, I remember what it was like.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I remember I didn't I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That that Mountain Creek had just started.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Not long after that.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, so then you moved, then you moved from Mountain Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
From Mountain Creek, we actually went to Bedina for a
very short We built a house on a canal there. Yeah,
and I was really had all the bells and whistles
and were pretty proud of what we had achieved. But
at the end of the at the end of the day,
it wasn't us finally, so we just wanted space, we
(06:55):
wanted acreage, so we shipped onwards. The boys wanted some
ponies and a third bikes.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
They had dird bikes and yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
They did so they had a bit of a blast
around their place and neighboring farmland and typically enjoyed life. Yeah,
in the in the hinterland.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, well I speak my son now, Bruce is thirteen,
so it's like a for me, it's quite a like
he was born probably twenty eleven when you just started
Daniel Moore Foundation. I think like around that time. Wasn't
that when you launched Daniel Morkham Foundation eleven?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
No earlier?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Now we lost Daniel in December two thousand and three
five you started foundation.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, my son is this morning. We talked about it
before he went to school and it's just it hits
me that he's that age, that age they're quite independent,
they're quite independent.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
At this age, really independ it.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But he's very aware always of Daniel because most of
the school kids on the Sunshine Coasts are they're very
aware of David Daniel. They all have been involved. And
every time we drive you know, to basketball past you know,
past Umbai, you know, it's we've always mentioned Daniels. It's
(08:21):
really it's really it just hit me this morning looking
at him, looking at gem and thinking his his the age,
what Daniel was. It's just quite point that I'm talking
to you and he's that age. But these days, I
don't know what we think about it. But with all
(08:42):
the information you have on child safety, you know, these
days we have space talk watches and things like that
where if kids do ride to school or they have
you know, a watch that can press so os or
you know which. I think things have come a long
way in giving you children some independence, but they still
(09:03):
have a way of being chapped.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Yes, ye kind of like yeah, it's it's more than
a decade ago that one of the projects that Daniel
Morkan Foundation initiated was an app. And this is absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Common absolutely now everyone.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, but way back a decade or so ago, as
iPhones were just being rolled out, we created an app
and it's called the help Me app and basically you push,
you know, you just initiate that, and it indicates to
a nominated person within your phone, typically your mum ifuring yeah,
a bus stop or waiting at school or after sports,
(09:45):
I am here, I need help. So so it doesn't
it could be it's very suitable for elderly people as
well that might have a fall in the kitchen or wherever.
And we are aware of, in fact, a very large
franchise real estate firm that also have downloaded the app
to all their start So they're doing appraisals in somebody's house,
(10:07):
as you can appreciate, you know, yeah, that's a safe environment.
But they are walking into people's homes, that's true. These people,
So they have the ability to push the button and
it either nominates whoever they wish, their boss maybe, or
a family member. I need help and I am here,
so it identifies where they are with the typical pulsing
(10:29):
blue dot on a typical map.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Wow, that's amazing, Bruce, because I am a bit I'm
very very strict. I wasn't going to let my son
have a phone tool fifteen, which is really really hard
these days because it's all peer pressure so he did
have have this watch that I wouldn't let him have
(10:53):
a phone because I don't want him online. I didn't
want him online and it's too young and you know, oh,
but I need phone because I'm riding to school. No,
you can have this watch and you can notify me
or Nana. Just you just nominate a few people that
they can contact or you know, and I can see
it on a map and GPS. But then they get
(11:14):
to the age where they want a phone, and then
you've got a whole nother it's the online online issues
a huge bruce.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
With these they don't have any idea who they're talking to.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Frightening, that's awful.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I don't let any like I'm shocked that he says
to me, No, Mum, some of my friends allowed their
phone in their bedroom. Is it You're never ever having
your phone in your bedroom ever?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Yeah, No, that's that's one of the first things we
always say. There is no need to have any of
those in your bedroom. There is not take them in
the common room such as the lounges of family room, kitchen,
that sort of area. If they're charging up at night,
don't charge them up in the bedroom, charge them up
in that common area and.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Tried it on me last night.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Bruce, I want to have this sleep app, I said
it not. We talked about it in religion, about this
sleep app. I said, you're not having it because you're
never having your phone in your room because he has
to charge his phone downstairs on the dining room table
near the charger.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
That's just the rules.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Never allowed any devices in his room, not even computer.
I won't let him have a computer in his room,
even school computer. And he's, oh, you're so strict.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
He's so strict.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
No, I'm not strict. Everybody should be the same, Bruce, but.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
From themselves. But kids being kids, they do want to experiment.
They do want to push the boundaries. It's human nature.
You know, the tallest mountain, why do we want to
climb it? But some people want to because it's just
in their DNA? And why do you want to take
(12:56):
risk online?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It acts like it's so mature, Barista.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Act like they know you know, well, I can certainly
share with yourself there, Paula. That we were driving our
seven year old grandson just in Malaney and the hinter
end on the Sunny coast. He was in the back seat,
Denisa and I in the front seats, and he was
he was playing Roadblocks on his eye in the back seat,
(13:26):
and then suddenly he burst out and said, oh, Nana, Pa,
this person knows my name. And Denise and I look
at each other, thinking, well, who the hell is is?
And so we took over the conversation and took some screenshots.
And you know, our grandson did the right thing by
(13:48):
identifying is this okay to talk to this person? It
is not. But all of those games, many of the
games that the kids naturally want to play, there are
pop ups with conversations of people that are chatting to them.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Absolutely, I've been through all of that.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
They don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And I said, Jim, you know, the average person on
Roadblocks some of them are men forty year old.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Absolutely they are. So we took some screenshots, we took
the conversation over and told him to you know, we
know who he is and to stop chatting to kids. Wow.
And I hope it puts shiver in his in his
spine and hopefully he's corrected that sort of behavior because
(14:41):
it can only lead to bad things, obviously, but that
happens in the confined of our car.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
That's right, and you you and Denise knows so much
more than the average parents.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
That's right. Lots of parents would say, oh, that's great
that this person knows you or if they had that
device in that conversation in the bedroom, that conversation continues
and we all know with Denise and I have been
to some eight hundred schools in Queensland and around the
country chatting to teachers and parents and obviously kids. And yeah,
(15:19):
the vulnerability of the youngsters is overwhelming when we know
that adults create an atmosphere where they feel not pressured,
but they make the youngsters feel value so that they're
(15:40):
they're looking for the most vulnerable in our community that
perhaps don't have a lot of friends that are interested
in sports or whatever it is, music or something, and
it just leads the conversation. You know, I'd like to
you know, what do you look like? What are you wearing?
Send me a photo? And of course they're they're wearing
their board shorts and T shirt whatever. But it gets
(16:01):
more risky send me a photo tonight when you're in pajamas.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, when you're in the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
It just goes down that path. You and the youngsters
are trapped. Oh you sent me in your underwear last night.
How about you take the underwear off tonight. If you don't,
I'm going to send or upload that photo of you
in your undies. So they're trapped, and as kids.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
There's teenagers going through that for reason, and they suicide
because they don't know a way out.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Because but we always say, it's never the youngster's fault.
So please, if you are in a bit of a
hole and you think I've made a blue heir, it's
still not your fault. Sure you took that photo, but
you wouldn't taken that photo if that person didn't gain
your trust.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, or pretending to be a girl or.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
You know, ask you to send that. That's right. They say,
I'm a thirteen year old girl. Oh you look pretty funky,
you see it? Yeah, and it's some old dude. Know
that you're not pulling the wall over our eyes, but
you do over the youngster's eyes.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
So you've bought so much awareness to child protection and
child safety over all these years in Daniel's legacy. I
find myself and I really hope all my listeners do too.
When I'm driving to school or just driving and I
see a child, for example, at a bus stop. It's funny.
(17:27):
I always look and I always am aware, like it's
just something I look at. I look and just say, oh,
they're okay. Or see one walking and someone walking behind them,
I go, I just double check, and I just think,
I hope everyone in Australia does that, and I just
take a little mental note.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I always do, just to just glance.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
And go, you know, yeah, you never know. You just
spot something. Yeah, bicycle, Yeah, someone in a vehicle that
parked in an unusual spot, you know, just at the shopping
xenner outside of preschool. Just what what's that person up to?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
First?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
You think over the years, has it has this predator
predator behavior? Has it got words?
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Well?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I do.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Actually, it's certainly more open and and social media is
a is a true beast out there and what it
what it has done is normalized predatory behavior. So these
largely male population of offenders find others online that they
(18:45):
can chat to and and they normalize that sort of
behavior in and they boast and and also uh, preps
make it okay, well if you do this, I can
do that, and the problems escalate from there. But I
(19:05):
have no doubt. It's not the situation when I was
growing up, which is a long time ago. I appreciate that.
You know, the the bad predator is lurking in the
public toilet or lurking you know, the flasher in the tray.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Which I experienced all the time.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Yeah, yeah, you know. But you know that is almost
a myth. The predators of forty and fifty and sixty
years ago were known to the families. You know that, well,
that was the neighbor next door, it was a soccer coach,
whoever it was. It was known to the children. And
that is still the case today. Albeit we have the
(19:41):
added issue of the online person that is gaining the
trust of the youngster, and there are more and more
predators out there and more and more unsavory material for
adults to to get excited by that the youngster. We
(20:04):
have heard it, We have heard court confessions. The youngsters
enjoyed it. I don't think so. They're absolute. You know,
in our day we'll call them creeps, but you know,
these are child rapists. Let's call the elephant in the room.
It is. They are hideous creatures and I hate.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Them and I hate them too.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Bruce and is is the convictions getting stronger for child
The biggest one we have known of late has been
that that awful, awful predator that the years and years
at the at the kindy, at the preschool, at the Kinney's.
(20:48):
Oh my god, it completely horrified.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Me, totally like, oh my god, how did that happen?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I know? But you know, where there's a will is away,
the are attracted to kids. They will find a way
to gain the trust of those youngsters, whether it's the
swimming coach, whether it's it's the the the preschool center.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That was horrific.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I don't know how many you know.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
How many, Thank goodness, there are Ace the Australian Senator
account a child exploitation. There are fantastic police officers, dedicated
police officers that the comb and sift through what must
(21:36):
be horrendous material for them, and it's to identify some
of the victims that are out there and obviously to
put some of these predators away.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
People that have been through child abduction or missing children,
do they reach out to you as a you know
other people who have gone through so they reach out
to you, Bruce fa support Often.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Yeah, it's not a daily occurrence. But I would say
at least a dozen times a year, and we bump
into somebody, sometimes someone makes contact with us. It's not
a similar case to Daniel being abducted by someone he
didn't know. On the side of very brazen, a very
(22:25):
violent attack. Often often perpetrators groom children, they say they
love them, and you down that path to have a
violent pedophile, fortunately is incredibly rare. But the damage on
that youngster is life long. It is for the whole
(22:49):
their whole life from that incident right through unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
But Bruce when it because it took so long to
two catch Daniel's horrid did you have horrid offender? And
kill now his jailed, thank goodness, and hopefully he's never
released and we never see him ever again.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But it took so long it was there?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Because because I would.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Have thought, you know, I remember it distinctively. I remember
seeing it in the news, and I remember seeing did
you see this car? Like it was quite a public
it was position on the road on a busy road.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Yeah, it's just one of those things. You know, we
all look back in hindsight and say, you know, he
was pretty obviously he nearly glowed as but we are
going back, you know, ten and even twenty years ago
and beyond to the incident. You know, record keeping by
(23:54):
by the police of known pedophiles was in its infancy
back then. But fortunately each of the services in the
states and territories we understand have substantial records of what
these people get up to, what their history of offending
(24:16):
has been, and so one imagines that should another cow
and service, they'll be able to track this person quickly,
because he of course was a twice convicted pedophile living
on the Sunshine Coast, and he did became investigated by
(24:38):
the Task Force within about ten days of Daniel's subduction,
so it was before Christmas in two thousand and three
that yeah, they.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Were started investigating.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Him, checking out his car is whereabouts. In hindsight, we
would always say you could have done more. They were. Yeah.
One of the things that Denise and I often say
is that we actually were too good at generating publicity. Now,
(25:12):
while that's the crazy things to say, we were so anxious,
as your listeners could car would be to get the answer.
So at every possibility we would ask the public, please,
if you've seen anything, come forward and what happened? Was
there was just a proliferation of information through to police
(25:35):
and crime stoppers, and of course police have to tick
all that off so that your mental task. So in
some ways we muddied that water. But you know, at
the end of the day, he was in the picture,
and he did resurface a couple of other times, but
each time he was perhaps like a fish just nibbling
(25:59):
at the bait, actually getting hooked.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Ye yep.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
One way, you know, the family cope with the extended
period and we're talking a decade before Cowen's arrest and
the finding of Daniel's remains. If back in December two
thousand and three, so around that Christmas time, when Daniel
(26:24):
had been missing for about two weeks, if Cowen had
been arrested, we would never and charged, etc. We would
never have found Daniel because he would never have said, oh,
by the way, you'll find him down the dirt track
over there. It's only through that incredible covert police operation
(26:45):
where the police gained sufficient confidence from Cowen that he
re enacted that particular horrendous crime and took police officers
under cover to where Daniel had been murdered.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And otherwise there would be no we would.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Have found nothing. Yeah, so you know, there is some
peace of mind that it was painful, it was slow,
it did take a decade, but we got Daniel.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, thank goodness, thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Honestly.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Yes, so there is some comforty in that there is.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
And you know, I sort of wanted to ask you, Bruce.
I know you've been an advocate to getting a registered
sex offender.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Publics. Will that ever happened for us? All?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Yeah, Look, the momentum, the political will, the appetite for
it has come and gone several times over the last
fifteen or so years.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, I just don't understand why we don't have it.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
But it's on the way. Oh that's so good as
we all will is coming up.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I don't think there's anyone that doesn't want to.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Doesn't want it is one of the curiosities. But I
think I think we'd find that there are too many
do good as out there that think, you know, this
person has been rehabilitated. Ah, the crimes that he committed
were ten and fifteen or five years ago whenever, But
(28:27):
he hasn't been caught in those fifteen years since. But
he's probably probably done stuff or downloaded material that he
shouldn't have in those fifteen years. He just hasn't been caught.
But I think it will come. I think, really, I just.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
That's something I really want to ask you more.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
The strength of the public Accessible Sex Offender website. You know,
the Accessibility WA does have a model that works quite efficiently.
It wasn't the ideal model that perhaps we were tracking
or Megan's Law and there's a number you know in
(29:07):
England Megan's laws us. But in some ways I have
moderated my position. You know, we couldn't and it would
never get up either. There's no point in flog and
a dead horse. If it's not going to get up,
why waste your energy. Find something that is moderate, that
(29:28):
will serve its purpose, but not create barriers or difficulty
for the people that have done something in the past,
and you know, they've got new lives, they're probably new relationships,
they may have kids of their own, which is also
a worry, but they've got probably got a new career
(29:51):
or business or work colleagues, that sort of thing. So
if they have cleaned up their act, thank goodness for that.
They should not be on a accessible register unless you
make application through the police online and you know, because
your neighbor, they are the sports coach of your kids,
(30:12):
you can make application, perhaps in certain circumstances and find
out the history of that particular person.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, which is I think, which is that's very fair?
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Yeah. I always use the example that that if if
you had a sister, for argument's ake, she's she's thirty
years old with a couple of kids, a four and
a six year old, and she has a failed relationship
with the father of those children. But she wants a
(30:43):
new love of her life, so she goes on a
new partner, goes on an online dating service, which is cool,
and she finds somebody. Nobody knows that person's true past,
do they? And we talk to police often and they
say that is the typical access to the kids, that
(31:09):
if it is a male, that male person is not
interested in the relationship with many at all. No, they're
going to They're going to gain the trust and say,
why don't you go spend the night out. You go
to the pictures, have a couple of drinks and a
feed with your girlfriends. I'll look after the kids exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, Wow, have a fun night.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Yeah, and you know that it's it's the wolf in
charge of the chickens, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
It is so so prius.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
What do you do you think that for everyone listening,
the William Tyrell case will.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Ever be solved.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I'm sure it will. Yeah, I have I have faith
that that. Sometimes it's the most obvious. I think in
Daniel's case, you know, we we and the police, we're
looking very broad at you know, lots of hypotheticals, but
(32:06):
really the answer was relatively simple and under our noses.
And I suspect that that William Tyrell's case is possibly
quite similar. So I think there may well be an
answer that's not far away. We just haven't yet. That's
(32:30):
so good. Yeah, I'm confident that I have faith in
the system. It might take a while, we know that,
but the answer will be there. Having said that, you know,
we travel around the country. We are involved in supporting
those left behind after something is missing, and I'm well
(32:51):
aware like we created for the first seven and a
half years a monument at the abduction side.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
We didn't know Daniel was abducted, but at the last
known spot, Daniel was saying, we created a monument there
just for we had nowhere to go. There's no body,
there's no We didn't have a funeral service or a
gravestone or a headstone. We didn't have anywhere to go.
And all those missing persons are exactly the same. They
(33:25):
are in limbo. It's unresolved loss. So sometimes as we're driving,
you see a monument over there, and that is possibly.
I can think of several that stand out, you know,
around the country where I have paused for a moment
and thought, wow, that person's missing. Or you watch TV
show a strange story or something like that, and they
(33:46):
reflect on somebody, a loved one that's missing and their
efforts as a family and police to find what had
happened to that person. And sometimes it is the most
obvious thing that's happened. Sometimes, these these adults that are missing,
you know, they do take them and make it difficult,
(34:08):
difficult for their loved ones to actually find the answer.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
But I just ad my my youth so much.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Bruce, you undernease, like what you know, everybody that's listening,
all of us can put ourselves in your shoes, and
what you both have done is so remarkable, you know,
twenty years of day for Daniel, like where everyone registers
and where's red and schools go out and walk on
(34:36):
the Sunshine Coast. They go and walk.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
In the past we've had dozens and dozens of walks
from from Weber in Townsville Okay, yep okay. And sometimes
obviously we have the walk on the Sunshine Coast the
last Friday of October huge and sometimes you know someone
in Port Macquarie or wherever it says, and sometimes you
(35:02):
know it could be in the state and even just
in Brisbane. We have our walk on day for Daniel
Glass Friday of October. Any chance you could come to ours,
I'd love to, but we're involved in activities here on
the Sunshine Coast locally. But what we've said some years
ago was if you haven't maybe the week before or
(35:23):
the week after or two days later. And there was
one time. I'm never in peak physical conditions. There are
a lot of bakeries and but yeah, we went from Bunderberg,
you know, all the way down to Coffs Harbor. It
was we had about six or eight walks for Daniel,
(35:46):
like one or two days apart over a couple of weeks,
which which was pretty magical really all of those people
thinking and supporting of of Daniel and Daniel's legacy, but
most importantly in their community one to protect kids. And
at the Foundation we have a huge array of free
(36:07):
educational resources for moms and dads and kids and grandparents
to pick up if you listen to read. Sometimes they're
fact sheets or parent guides off in their videos. And
in fact, just a couple of weeks ago we launched
on David Daniel a book, an online book. It will
(36:28):
be a printable book next year. It's all dependent on
money and also time, but anyway, it's an online book.
It's called Wobbly Jelly. Wobbly Jelly, and you're thinking that's
a cookbook. What's this about. Jelly is the name of
a cat, and the cat gets its body glues when
(36:51):
it's frightened by a barking dog. For argument, say so,
it's teeth exposed and it gets wobbly knees. So that's
why we called it wobbly jelly. And of course the
cat has it recognizes potential danger, as we will do
as human beings and youngsters. We recognize through our body clues.
(37:11):
We feel something that's not right. Butterflies in the tummy,
we're shaking, sweating, whatever they do something, so they react,
they get to a safe place as quick as they can.
What a cats do well, they run up a tree tree,
so they get to a safe place as quick as
they can, and then of course they report. So cute.
In the book, we say the cat climbs down when
(37:33):
the coast is clear and tells all the neighborhood cats
and youngsters as well. In cat language, look out for
the big bad dog. So recognize potential danger, know how
to react, which can be run or shut down that
but clear off and most importantly report. Please tell and
at any time you feel unsafe, could be your mom,
(37:55):
your dad, your uncle, could be the name, or your teacher,
and of course police. Pretty handy.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Oh that's amazing, very you know you ever have a podcast,
aren't you too?
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Yeah, we we have done several along that scene.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
I've seen it online.
Speaker 4 (38:13):
Like, yeah, there are a few out.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
There seeing you by the mic. I've seen you by
the mic.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Yeah. We don't like talking about ourselves too much, I know,
but you're amazing. You should make a difference to others,
And that is one of the the differences maybe that
I'm happy to share is that you know, there are
many charities and government organizations within the child protection sector
(38:43):
and they're all doing great work. Some we reach out
to and we share projects and knowledge. But the magic
that the Daniel Morgan Foundation has how we've been able
to keep going for twenty years and we hope for
another twenty years. It's not Denise and Bruce, it's not
(39:04):
necessarily our staff, but that they do incredible work and
have fantastic ideas and initiatives. But the difference that the
art between the other charities and the Daniel Morgan Foundation
is Daniel Morcambe himself a real boy who who didn't
go looking for trouble, but trouble found him and he
(39:26):
didn't know what to do. So we set up the
Daniel more Com Foundation to educate all Australians. So that
starts with teachers and law enforcement officers, police of course,
but also mum's dad's grandparents, cares and the kids and
everything is free on our website.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
So if someone, if people listening they want to help
the Daniel Morcambe Foundation, what do they do if?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
Yeah, look, it's not always money. Money is helpful. It
certainly greases the wheels, yes, but you know, sometimes just
being a volun tier, whether that if you're on the
Sunshine Coast, please contact us just a simple email at
Bukhambe dot com dot A. You'll find us very easily.
But sometimes you live in Perth or la places. What
(40:16):
is it they can do? Well? How about you get
the local schools in your suburb, your town, your area
to be involved in day for Daniel. We would love that.
As we say, we try and make it as easy
as possible for that person, that school, that school principal,
that police officer to say okay, I want to support
you guys what he wants to do. Get the schools
(40:38):
involved in a safety day, typically Day for Daniel, but
it can be any day.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Of any day.
Speaker 4 (40:43):
A sporting club Queensland surf Life Saving clubs and there
are fifty three I understand they have a paint the
clubhouse red day which is all the nippers and and
the surf life saving youngsters being involved in a safety lesson.
(41:05):
So this is many tens of thousands of youngsters in
Queensland being involved in David Daniel. So Denise and I
the Daniel Markin Foundation. We are relatively small. We don't
have the ability to knock on everybody's door. Drive comes
if the appetite is there, from the community leaders, from
the sports leaders. Of course, mom and dad, the carers
(41:28):
utilize the material that we have online. It's all free,
it's up to date. It is awesome and something as
adults themselves. You know, there was one one and we
were talking a little while ago about you not allowing
devices such as a phone in their bed at night.
Of course, and we understand that sometimes family life could
(41:53):
be chaotic. It's not necessarily you know, it can be
a single parent situation whatever and name and fourteen year
old pull the wool over mom and Dad's eyes a
little bit. We all we were twelve and thirty and
the one ourselves, and sometimes you know, it becomes a
battle of wills. Oh you know, I want a phone.
(42:15):
You give me a phone. Now I'm going to use
it in my room. No you're not, Yes I am.
And like it just escalates into an untidy family situation.
And somebody we're out of school, and they said, well,
what was what would you recommend? What have you heard
that I could use? Well let them have the device.
This is a little obscure, not for everybody, this is
(42:37):
a little obscure if they insist on having the device
in their bedroom, take the door off their bedroom, which
is like you don't have to unscrew the hinges sometimes
and often it's just a simple pin in the corner
of the hinge and like you can undo that in
like thirty seconds and Okay, do you want the door
(42:58):
on or you're going to put the ice back in
the kitchen.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
To do exactly.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I love it and that's why I find it easy
to just say no, that's the rules. It's hard because
they do buck and you know, but I think you
just have to stand your ground because it's getting worse, Bruce,
It's getting worse and worse. There's you know, schooling is
all on computers now, like you have to you know,
laptop iPads. You know, it's constant. There's so much screens
(43:31):
that there's so much potential. I remember an incident.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Very young.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I think my son was in prep and they accidentally
says something at school by looking up a certain word
on an iPad. But they wasn't advanced yet then to
block security wasn't and that word led to something too
little preppies should never have seen. You imagine like Siri,
(44:00):
they spoke to Siri.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's right, sire.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
They hadn't got the filters yet. You know, every school
has a lot of filters and stuff. Now it's just
so much online, you know. It's we didn't go up
like that, Bruce.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
You and I don't know. You're right. It was we
were a different world.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
We were outside until sun was gotten down. You know.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
One of the initiations that I had, and it was
possibly even before the foundation started, was we were doing
a fundraising thing and it was a wine and cheese,
you know, fundraising evening, that sort of thing we're looking at.
So I just wanted to free hand a sketch of
(44:47):
some wine glasses, like a goblet and you know whatever. Yeah,
and you know, a mouse nibbling at cheese, that sort
of thing. So I went on fine book twenty one
years ago, and anyway, I typed in from memory, you know,
wine glass, and then I went to images and there's images,
you know, photos of wine glasses, there's sketches whatever, and
(45:09):
that's what I was upter and I'm happy to share
it with you. I'm not sure it will last in
the edits, but last one of the photos that was
exposed to me and I remember looking at thinking what
the hell is this world that's online? And it was
(45:29):
a naked lady in high heels urinating in a wine glass.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
I typed in wine glasses, and I thought.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
That image popped up. I thought it can't be right
that the wine glass pretty two innocent words and bang,
there you go. What's this about? And and here we are,
twenty odd years later, all bizarre than that.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
So my son was prep, so, you know, very very young.
He is now pretent prep. They had asked Siri to
show them who as boys, you know, and you can
imagine what came up. Yeah, I did say, you know,
like that is so it's worse now that they can
tap something in and it can go yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
But in our day, Yeah, on your grandfather's age, No,
you're not.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
You're not actually what you were you born in Bruce.
Speaker 4 (46:28):
We would look up whoo in a dictionary.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
That's right, at last, there it.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
Is in like a dozen words. Whatever.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
That's that was curious behavior back in the sixties. I'll
give you that.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Well, I'm born in the early seventies, so it can't
be my grandfather.
Speaker 4 (46:51):
Yeah, but anyway, I was just identifying that it is
a totally different world, and you know, we we can't.
We can never, we can't put the genie back in
the bottle. That genie is out. We don't like that
genie necessarily, but we've got to live with it, and
we've got to make some some ground rules around that
(47:11):
genie so that it doesn't damage our kids and and society. Really,
that's that's my fear that you know, we there is
great fear on my part. What are the youngsters and
young teens exposed to?
Speaker 2 (47:29):
It's it's it horrifies me because I'm I'm just leading
into that territory now where I be as open as
I can with my son. I have have to be.
And some it was are you two a bit close?
But I think being close is the best way for me,
as a solo parent to be with my son because
(47:52):
I need to teach him what have a respect and
what's not responded, and that is the role over parent largely,
I think I last decade or so parenting has been
that device.
Speaker 4 (48:08):
Yeah, go and learn good behavior by watching you idiots,
you know, at the skateboard park or jumping in in
a shopping trolley and getting wheeled around Wallworth Like that's
stupid foolish behavior, but there's so many copycats out there.
They think that's normalized. Or standing up in the trolleys
(48:31):
as the skateboard going through the card bat. We've all
seen those videos and yeah, like you want to be
an idiot, we'll go ahead, But don't expose our children
to that sort of behavior because it teaches them bad things.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Well, Bruce, I've been I'm so honored to have you
on Pure Great and every guest I had I always
ask what's their favorite life saying or life motto?
Speaker 3 (49:00):
What do you what would piece of I have?
Speaker 4 (49:04):
I have one that was it was told to me,
and I've shared it with many many people that are
going through a tough time themselves. Perhaps they're adult survivors of,
you know, something horrendous that's happened in their life, or
maybe it's not necessarily a criminal act. Maybe you know
(49:24):
it's it's a road accident, perhaps it's you know, a
medical condition. But anyway, my saying that I'm happy to
share is don't waste your pain. So that's wow, that's
our mantra. That that's what how we get up each
and every day. It's never easy.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
And the pain never goes away.
Speaker 3 (49:47):
Bruce either and.
Speaker 4 (49:49):
You can you can you can see behind me, Yes,
I can see Daniel all behind part of our logo.
It's a red T shirt of course, yes, it's all
also the images of Daniel. So we see the thirteen
year old Daniel each and every day, and it's a
constant reminder. Here we are, like twenty years later that
(50:10):
you know, Daniel should be thirty five years old, but
he's not yet. He's not with us.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
So you know that is he's around Bruce, that he's
not well, he's Lady is here.
Speaker 4 (50:21):
Yeah, and that is the magic, as I said earlier,
that you know he's he's something we can all learn by.
And I know many many parents and kerrs and grandparents.
They say, you don't want to remember Daniel morcamb he
didn't have enough skill. Or let's sit down and watch
this video together. Or has there been something in your
(50:43):
life that's affected you, whether it's online or somebody you
know personally in the in the physical world. Let's have
a bit of a chat. So be that person, be
that adult, be that care for that youngster, and you'll
be surprised that they will open up and and it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (51:03):
I love that saying I've never heard that, so you
never heard it. I love it.
Speaker 4 (51:08):
Yeah. So what we want for all those survivors out
there of something perhaps terrible that's happened to them and
they're coping, and the best way they can is share
your story because you know you will, you will benefit
in your own health by sharing that with somebody that
(51:32):
you know, maybe you might put them in a better
place in their life.
Speaker 2 (51:37):
So it makes me feel really teary because this is
exactly why I decided many years back to do my
pure group podcast, was purely to share stories to my listeners.
Speaker 3 (51:51):
And that is exactly why, because.
Speaker 4 (51:54):
Don't waste it. You're an important person and your journey
may be different to somebody else's, but you will have
them on their path as well.
Speaker 3 (52:01):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
And what about a song? Bruce always asked, I ask
my guess a song like, if there's a song that
sums up Bruce Markham. If someone your best mate said, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:11):
No songs, Bruce, Now I've got I'm a bit of
a metal head actually.
Speaker 2 (52:19):
That actually I would pick a.
Speaker 4 (52:21):
Few people, but I do like Metallica. There's many others,
but wow, but I did I did highlight it at
our major fundraiser at the Brisbane Town All a very
salubrious bow tie event.
Speaker 3 (52:35):
Oh I've never had the honor to go to that.
Speaker 4 (52:37):
Looks of it's the twentieth happening March next year. But anyway,
the song is nothing else matters, and you know it's
a it's not a true heavy metal song, but you
know it does have one particular line open mind for
a different view. So one line within a song by
(52:59):
a a hugely successful band open probably nearly forty years yes, yeah,
open mind for a different view. So look outside, don't
have a tunnel vision, yeah.
Speaker 3 (53:13):
Look broad have a look around.
Speaker 4 (53:16):
Yet and yeah, anyway that you Bruce, I love it.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Thank you so much for being on Pure Grit. I
really really appreciate you coming up. You know it's an
honor and I can say on behalf of everyone in
Australia how much we admire you and Denise and what
you've done where.
Speaker 3 (53:38):
You've come from.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
It's been good. PAULA, thank you, Thank.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
You, Bruce, Well thee thanks for listening to Pure Grit
with Paul McGrath. Now the web guy's been a very
busy boy. You can now visit the website Pure grit
dot com dot Au, search Pure Grip podcast on Facebook
and Instagram for the fun behind the scenes stuff and
I was wondering why paul It's of wearing makeup. Turns
(54:01):
out all the chats are now on YouTube as well,
so make sure you give that a subscribe
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