# Paul Murray Our Town: Port Macquarie | 29 March

An episode of [Paul Murray Live](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/376966263), 29 Mar 2026, 49 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/be3abd48-25e5-45a6-aede-ac2a00524a12/f010a592-22bf-4582-b8cd-b41c00bd9815/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=95971714-8fe6-4855-b1fe-ac2a00524a12

The PM leaves the door open to halving fuel excise temporarily, Victoria and Tasmania make public transport free. Plus, Hastie calls out Donald Trump over the Iran War. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Live from Fort mcquarie. This is Paul Murray, live out town. Hello,
[0:11] Speaker 1: the one or a magical group of people here. It's
[0:14] Speaker 1: on the magnificent Big molstat he miss up Wales. We
[0:17] Speaker 1: are at the Spectacular Settlers in, one of the great
[0:20] Speaker 1: pubs around the area. We'll meet there a little bit later.
[0:23] Speaker 1: Now we've had an awful lot to get to including
[0:25] Speaker 1: celebrating this magnificent part of Australia. This is a place
[0:29] Speaker 1: that look, you've got to come on holidays. In a
[0:31] Speaker 1: couple of minutes, I'll have some ideas about how we
[0:34] Speaker 1: could make it through the next few weeks and months
[0:36] Speaker 1: as a result of what's going on when it comes
[0:39] Speaker 1: to petrol and talk about a lovely touch mat How
[0:43] Speaker 1: many TV shows get the local mayor to be on
[0:46] Speaker 1: the tongs and working making a bit of barbecue for
[0:49] Speaker 1: us while that is happening. As we speak out the
[0:52] Speaker 1: front of the Settlers in I will have a little
[0:54] Speaker 1: taste tests but you guys will as well. Are you
[0:57] Speaker 1: glad we're in town? Paul mcquarie, how happy, lovely to
[1:02] Speaker 1: see you, Lovely to see you all right, there's one
[1:05] Speaker 1: bloke who didn't answer, but okay, that's fine. We'll we'll
[1:09] Speaker 1: get to that Green's voter later. All right, Now, let's
[1:11] Speaker 1: talk about everything that's in and around the news and
[1:13] Speaker 1: the news this weekend. So petrol, Are we all happy
[1:17] Speaker 1: paying as much as we are for petrol right now?
[1:20] Speaker 1: You wouldn't be thinking so. All right. Well, as you know,
[1:23] Speaker 1: I've been banging on for some time that the government,
[1:25] Speaker 1: which takes fifty two cents elita of everything you're getting
[1:29] Speaker 1: at the moment when it comes to fuel, needs to
[1:31] Speaker 1: stop taking fifty two cents elita. Now, yes, that is
[1:35] Speaker 1: less money for the budget, but here's an idea. Perhaps
[1:38] Speaker 1: they could spend less money. Now, believe it or not,
[1:41] Speaker 1: it is an idea that has now made it onto
[1:43] Speaker 1: the political table. It was done by the Coalition. They
[1:46] Speaker 1: are planning or at least trying to put pressure on
[1:48] Speaker 1: the government to cut the fifty two cents in half.
[1:53] Speaker 2: I've written to the Prime Minister and I have called
[1:55] Speaker 2: on the government to slash the fuel excise to half
[2:00] Speaker 2: the fuel exercise for Australians. That will mean twenty six
[2:03] Speaker 2: cents a leader off at the bowser for all hardworking Australians.
[2:11] Speaker 1: Now they have echoed this announcement over the weekend. It
[2:13] Speaker 1: was made on Friday. Now, what about the Prime minister.
[2:16] Speaker 1: Now you remember in detail I showed you on Thursday
[2:18] Speaker 1: how he was asked a pretty direct question about whether
[2:21] Speaker 1: or not we should or shouldn't get rid of the
[2:23] Speaker 1: tax that is there when it comes to fuel fifty
[2:25] Speaker 1: two cents and he took well two minutes to blatherer. Well,
[2:29] Speaker 1: this is his actual response to the media on Friday. Again,
[2:33] Speaker 1: this is an assumption that you are stupid. Now, this
[2:36] Speaker 1: issue has been coming for some time, We've been talking
[2:38] Speaker 1: about it for a long time. But remember he in
[2:41] Speaker 1: opposition was arguing for such things when the price was
[2:44] Speaker 1: well basically half of what it is. Now here is
[2:47] Speaker 1: the Prime Minister playing the left a Jedi mind trick
[2:50] Speaker 1: that this is not the fuel crisis.
[2:51] Speaker 3: You know it to be the oppositioner calling for some
[2:56] Speaker 3: having sat in Parliament all week and had the opportunity
[3:00] Speaker 3: to raise whatever issues they wanted, they didn't.
[3:07] Speaker 1: So they're not allowed to raise it because they didn't
[3:10] Speaker 1: raise it in the week of parliament where of course
[3:13] Speaker 1: you were asked directly by our mate Dye, and you waffled,
[3:16] Speaker 1: you bs, you look for any other answer. Now I
[3:20] Speaker 1: know that right now, the fancy people referred to any
[3:22] Speaker 1: ideas such as the cutting of the tax on petrol
[3:26] Speaker 1: as drongo economics. I were stupid. We don't understand that
[3:31] Speaker 1: this is important money that needs to be pissed against
[3:33] Speaker 1: the wall on all of their election promises. Right. The
[3:36] Speaker 1: reality is is that I understand that government needs revenue.
[3:40] Speaker 1: I understand that our politics has largely become about what
[3:44] Speaker 1: have you've done for me lately, and that means they
[3:46] Speaker 1: need the revenue. But at a time when this is
[3:49] Speaker 1: as high as it is for the government, who want
[3:52] Speaker 1: to pretend that a five dollars a week tax cut
[3:55] Speaker 1: has somehow changed your lives when they themselves are the
[3:59] Speaker 1: one who have the full power to be able to
[4:02] Speaker 1: pull this thing back. I want it done. I want
[4:04] Speaker 1: it done sooner rather than later, because if they don't,
[4:07] Speaker 1: there's going to be even more pain in the community.
[4:10] Speaker 1: Port you with me, let's ax tax here with me?
[4:15] Speaker 1: Good in fairness, in fairness in politics. That's got a
[4:22] Speaker 1: pushbowl that would have been super awkward if it was silent.
[4:24] Speaker 1: So thank you for playing along, regardless of how you
[4:27] Speaker 1: may actually feel. Well. The Prime Minister is apparently starting
[4:30] Speaker 1: to show a little bit of leg here, which is
[4:32] Speaker 1: he might be doing something about this. At least that's
[4:35] Speaker 1: the prep that's starting to go towards parts of the
[4:37] Speaker 1: friendly media, including the one that you may pay for
[4:40] Speaker 1: but you do not watch. Well, what are the prices
[4:42] Speaker 1: for fuel right now tonight in Port Macquarie unlettered two
[4:45] Speaker 1: dollars fifty six E ten is two dollars fifty diesel
[4:49] Speaker 1: diesel three dollars twenty three cents? Hands up? Who's been
[4:53] Speaker 1: whacked by diesel? Right now? I know I am up
[4:55] Speaker 1: and down crazy right. It's even way higher depending on
[4:58] Speaker 1: where you go. But that was our little have a
[5:00] Speaker 1: look at petrolspy this evening. For her part, Pauline Hanson
[5:04] Speaker 1: is saying that it's not just about the fuel tax,
[5:06] Speaker 1: but maybe the tax on top of the tax as well.
[5:09] Speaker 1: Maybe there should be some sort of a pause on
[5:11] Speaker 1: the GST that is charged not on per leader, but
[5:14] Speaker 1: of course ten percent on top of the total spend,
[5:18] Speaker 1: So tax on top of attacks. This is what she says.
[5:23] Speaker 4: With the increase in the fuel, of course they're getting
[5:25] Speaker 4: more in GST. Apparently the federal government is making three
[5:28] Speaker 4: hundred million dollars a month off the GST extra three
[5:32] Speaker 4: hundred million a month extra and GST from the fuel crisis.
[5:38] Speaker 1: Now, of course, truckies and I don't know if we've
[5:40] Speaker 1: got any truckies in the room tonight. We've got people
[5:42] Speaker 1: that are in the transport logistics industry. Good on you,
[5:44] Speaker 1: thank you. I appreciate what you do. Certainly areas like
[5:48] Speaker 1: you know, the wood and timber industry, they're all getting
[5:51] Speaker 1: bashed around right now. The National Roads Chief Executive has
[5:55] Speaker 1: had a crack today at the Prime Minister on the
[5:57] Speaker 1: behalf of truckies. It's simple. If you don't have the
[5:59] Speaker 1: funds to buy fuel, which is double in cost for most,
[6:03] Speaker 1: you're not able to meet your financial obligations and you
[6:06] Speaker 1: are cooked. Now we constantly see the federal government trying
[6:10] Speaker 1: to say the problem is, well, not the supply, more
[6:13] Speaker 1: than there's ever been before, right, but why is that
[6:15] Speaker 1: one running out? Well, that's because your local neighbor is
[6:17] Speaker 1: apparently going to bummings and taking too much. Well, of
[6:20] Speaker 1: course this is not happening to any great extent when
[6:23] Speaker 1: it comes to diesel. It's because there's that much of
[6:26] Speaker 1: it that needs to be brought in any one day.
[6:28] Speaker 1: But are you surprised the bloke is only experienced in
[6:30] Speaker 1: the private sector was working as a freaking bank teller
[6:33] Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty four. Is not quite across how the
[6:36] Speaker 1: logistics work. You see, of course, he is driven around
[6:39] Speaker 1: in the taxpayer funded car with the fuel that is
[6:42] Speaker 1: paid for by the taxpayer. The treasurer drives around in
[6:46] Speaker 1: the car that is paid for by the taxpayer, with
[6:48] Speaker 1: the car fuel that is paid for by the taxpayer,
[6:50] Speaker 1: So they don't even notice the problem. The problem that
[6:54] Speaker 1: they see is the little people just making a little
[6:57] Speaker 1: bit too much noise. And remember our job is to
[6:59] Speaker 1: shut up work and pay taxes. Well, screw them where
[7:03] Speaker 1: not and they should cut this particular tax is my
[7:07] Speaker 1: view now. Interestingly, communities like Paulacori and one thing that
[7:11] Speaker 1: we have been very aware of in the lead up
[7:14] Speaker 1: to coming here and being here this weekend is that
[7:16] Speaker 1: there are a lot of businesses that absolutely rely upon tourism.
[7:20] Speaker 1: The expectation is that the weather it's all still pretty
[7:24] Speaker 1: good in and around the Easter long weekend and also
[7:27] Speaker 1: the school holidays around it. But there are a lot
[7:30] Speaker 1: of people that we've spoken to who are in the
[7:32] Speaker 1: accommodation game who are saying that a couple of weeks
[7:34] Speaker 1: ago they had like seventy five percent bookings. It's now
[7:37] Speaker 1: down to twenty five percent. Why because people don't want
[7:40] Speaker 1: to make the ride presumably up from places like Sydney. Well,
[7:43] Speaker 1: that of course will end up costing maybe one hundred
[7:46] Speaker 1: dollars more because of the filling of tanks. So here's
[7:50] Speaker 1: my solution. Well, the federal government is turning around and
[7:52] Speaker 1: talking constantly about going after petrol stations for price gouging,
[7:58] Speaker 1: no examples of it or the a triple C. There's
[8:01] Speaker 1: a role a lot I think state government can play here,
[8:03] Speaker 1: which is that state government were able to put on
[8:05] Speaker 1: table during COVID. Remember those travel vouchers. Now, they were
[8:09] Speaker 1: relatively small in amount, and they could be fifty dollars
[8:12] Speaker 1: a year and one hundred dollars there. But if that
[8:14] Speaker 1: is the difference between somebody taking the money that may
[8:18] Speaker 1: well have gone on accommodation and then they've had to
[8:20] Speaker 1: choose it with fuel, it helps level that back out
[8:23] Speaker 1: and for communities like this as soon as this week,
[8:27] Speaker 1: that sort of support needs to be taken in place, because,
[8:30] Speaker 1: of course, while places like Port mcquarie make an awful
[8:34] Speaker 1: lot of money over summer, they make an awful lot
[8:36] Speaker 1: too in and around this period of time. And unlike
[8:39] Speaker 1: the professional political class, who it doesn't matter what happens,
[8:42] Speaker 1: what the weather, whether people like them or not, the
[8:45] Speaker 1: money keeps turning up on the fifteenth. Well, places like
[8:48] Speaker 1: this need people to turn up, and government need the responsibility.
[8:51] Speaker 1: Regardless of whether people voted red, green, orange, didn't vote
[8:55] Speaker 1: or whatever, they all pay tax, they're all citizens, and
[8:58] Speaker 1: they deserve more support, in particular in my view, from
[9:01] Speaker 1: state government when it comes to those travel vouchers. We'll
[9:04] Speaker 1: be on the phone to the Nissawel's premiere this week. Now,
[9:07] Speaker 1: how are some people dealing with what is happening right
[9:10] Speaker 1: now with the fuel blowout? Well, you might have the
[9:13] Speaker 1: same feeling that I do, which is that slightly creepy
[9:16] Speaker 1: COVID feeling starting to come back. There'll be a national
[9:18] Speaker 1: Cabinet meeting tomorrow where hopefully they won't be telling us
[9:21] Speaker 1: whether we can stand up or sit down while having
[9:24] Speaker 1: a drink, remember those wonderful days. They won't be setting
[9:27] Speaker 1: the police on us if we walk outside, but there
[9:30] Speaker 1: may will be a conversation about just how much you
[9:32] Speaker 1: can buy, how frequently you can buy, but also about
[9:36] Speaker 1: how far unnecessary travel could take place. So the AFL
[9:41] Speaker 1: is starting to talk about going back to the COVID
[9:44] Speaker 1: bubble scenario as an example, where rather than traveling all
[9:48] Speaker 1: over the country, all the fuel associated essentially plut their
[9:52] Speaker 1: bums in Adelaide and be there for well a couple
[9:54] Speaker 1: of months. The same could happen with other sports no
[9:58] Speaker 1: word yet, but hopefully Rugby League. That of course kept
[10:01] Speaker 1: things going and one of the main reasons we were
[10:03] Speaker 1: able to come back was because they wanted to get
[10:05] Speaker 1: away from that as soon as possible. But we'll see.
[10:08] Speaker 1: There's also I was loving the media start reporting on
[10:10] Speaker 1: people who don't have a lot of money, like I'm
[10:12] Speaker 1: surprised here, right, So what are some people doing? Well,
[10:15] Speaker 1: of course they're working longer if they can. They're pulling
[10:18] Speaker 1: back on what they must. The Victorian government today has
[10:22] Speaker 1: made a decision for free public transport new so Wales
[10:25] Speaker 1: won't be doing that. Tasmania will avert your eyes. But
[10:29] Speaker 1: here's the Victorian premiere.
[10:32] Speaker 4: It takes pressure off the demand at the petrol pump.
[10:36] Speaker 1: It also too takes cars off the road. Alright. As
[10:42] Speaker 1: for what is causing all of the trouble, well we know,
[10:44] Speaker 1: of course, it's what's happening when it comes to the
[10:46] Speaker 1: strait of hm wors. How many people didn't know that
[10:49] Speaker 1: straight of humus was a thing until about two months ago,
[10:52] Speaker 1: and now you very much know that it is, and
[10:54] Speaker 1: you know that it's not a flavor of shit cheese.
[10:56] Speaker 1: You know that it is something that is going to
[10:57] Speaker 1: cause big trouble around the world. World. Now, this of
[11:01] Speaker 1: course was meant to be four weeks. Well, we are
[11:04] Speaker 1: now at the four week mark. The expectations are and
[11:07] Speaker 1: they come from the Donald himself, get ready for at
[11:09] Speaker 1: least another month as well. Now, remember, if the fighting
[11:12] Speaker 1: stops tomorrow, there's still multiple weeks before the effects start
[11:16] Speaker 1: to move through. Here is what the Great One had
[11:18] Speaker 1: to say today. Right from the beginning, we projected for
[11:22] Speaker 1: to five weeks. Yeah, he's also made an announcement that
[11:26] Speaker 1: remember there was the deadline of last week that was
[11:28] Speaker 1: now pushed out for at least another ten days. So
[11:32] Speaker 1: presumably they're trying to find a way, but this thing
[11:34] Speaker 1: can become pretty frustrating. As for the Secretary of State,
[11:38] Speaker 1: who seems to be getting a little more clarity, this
[11:40] Speaker 1: is what he says about how long all this keeps
[11:43] Speaker 1: going matter of.
[11:44] Speaker 5: Weeks, not months, and the progress is going very well.
[11:50] Speaker 1: And the hoofies the people that have been causing a
[11:51] Speaker 1: lot of trouble to the west of things. And there
[11:54] Speaker 1: is another strait which can cause even more, probably the
[11:57] Speaker 1: problems in the Strait of Humus. Well, all of that
[11:59] Speaker 1: looks like that could become a problem as well, as
[12:02] Speaker 1: soon as this week, or maybe as the Iranian version
[12:04] Speaker 1: of putting the pressure on the Donald. So everything is awesome, right. Interestingly,
[12:10] Speaker 1: Andrew Hasty, who was of course fort War was in
[12:12] Speaker 1: the Middle East. He was on taxpayer funded Telly today
[12:15] Speaker 1: over on Insiders calling out the President for what he
[12:18] Speaker 1: believes is the mistake of even going into Iran.
[12:22] Speaker 6: I don't know why we went in now. I thought
[12:26] Speaker 6: last year we did the job. So you can take
[12:29] Speaker 6: issue with Donald Trump's hetorick it's all priced in mean
[12:31] Speaker 6: tweets and whatever else. As a close friend of the
[12:34] Speaker 6: United States, I think that we can be honest and
[12:38] Speaker 6: we can ask hard questions.
[12:41] Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about one nation. The surge continues.
[12:44] Speaker 1: Newpol has just been dropped by my mate cos Samaris
[12:47] Speaker 1: at the Red Bridge Organization via the Australian Financial Review,
[12:51] Speaker 1: and it shows the lowest number for the coalition ever
[12:54] Speaker 1: at seventeen percent. Of course, that is after changes in
[12:59] Speaker 1: leadership changes when it comes to policies, One Nation exactly alike.
[13:02] Speaker 1: In the Sky News pulse, Poul just three off Labor
[13:06] Speaker 1: right now currently twenty nine percent, Labor at thirty two
[13:11] Speaker 1: in terms of two party preferred. Essentially, remember the last
[13:14] Speaker 1: selection was fifty five forty five. Well, things are starting
[13:19] Speaker 1: to get slightly more balanced, but effectively, there is no
[13:21] Speaker 1: difference in two party preferred right now, regardless of who
[13:24] Speaker 1: it is that is the other side. But Labor would
[13:27] Speaker 1: still be winning. They wouldn't be winning by the same margin,
[13:30] Speaker 1: but they would still be winning. In terms of the
[13:32] Speaker 1: politicians that we like, well, apparently the Prime Minister is
[13:37] Speaker 1: only negative by one percent. I doubt they've surveyed anyone
[13:40] Speaker 1: in this room for a while. Taylor has a positive
[13:45] Speaker 1: rating of four percent. Pauline Hanson more popular than Labor
[13:49] Speaker 1: as well. Keew Orange in the room. What are the
[13:53] Speaker 1: issues people care about? Well, again the biggest marker here,
[13:57] Speaker 1: Labor wins on cost of living, but one Nation a
[14:00] Speaker 1: couple of points behind. Also the housing affordability, Labor just
[14:04] Speaker 1: in front, but one nation building when it comes to migration,
[14:08] Speaker 1: Australians only have one choice, and one choice only by
[14:10] Speaker 1: marginov two to one, two to one. It is one
[14:14] Speaker 1: nation that is being backed in when it comes to
[14:15] Speaker 1: matters to do with that. The same when it comes
[14:18] Speaker 1: to a lead that they have on crime and safety
[14:20] Speaker 1: and the best hope for the Libs and the Nats.
[14:22] Speaker 1: And I know that this is a NATS town. That
[14:24] Speaker 1: is the economy, and of course the economy, well, it
[14:28] Speaker 1: gets worse before it gets better. Also a shout out,
[14:31] Speaker 1: We're going to be doing a special pub test. We'll
[14:34] Speaker 1: be doing it in Farah, the seat that will decide
[14:37] Speaker 1: who is going to be replacing Susan Lee. If you
[14:40] Speaker 1: want to join us, we'll give you the details of
[14:41] Speaker 1: that throughout the week. But the last bit of news
[14:43] Speaker 1: on this I want to get to before we celebrate
[14:45] Speaker 1: our town is the betting markets have changed. Now this
[14:49] Speaker 1: is not that scientific, but it's an indication about what
[14:52] Speaker 1: people think. Remember I told you that it was the
[14:54] Speaker 1: Nats that were running second. Well, according to a quick
[14:57] Speaker 1: check of the app tonight, the Independent is still the
[15:00] Speaker 1: favorite of the dollar ninety five, but one nation has
[15:03] Speaker 1: virtually halved and is now coming through a second favorite,
[15:06] Speaker 1: the that's blowing out and the Libs all the way out.
[15:09] Speaker 1: Labor is not running. So of course a bits responsibly,
[15:12] Speaker 1: but more importantly, vote responsibly, vote responsibly. All right, we
[15:17] Speaker 1: are here on the beautiful mid north coast of New
[15:19] Speaker 1: South Wales in Port mcquarie. I've been coming here for
[15:22] Speaker 1: decades of God, dear friends, virtual family that are here,
[15:25] Speaker 1: and this is a great place to celebrate. We're being
[15:27] Speaker 1: made feel so welcome no matter where we go by
[15:30] Speaker 1: all sorts of people. Of course, Sydney being the nearest
[15:34] Speaker 1: capital city a little drive up the road to Newcastle,
[15:37] Speaker 1: halfway between Coffs and Newcastle means Port McQuary has often
[15:40] Speaker 1: been a place for people to stop on their way
[15:43] Speaker 1: as they go up or down the coast, and it
[15:45] Speaker 1: is a sensational place to be. About eighty six thousand
[15:47] Speaker 1: people live here, the median age is forty seven, and
[15:50] Speaker 1: an awful lot of people have a connection back to
[15:53] Speaker 1: a mother country of England. Now there are some magnificent
[15:57] Speaker 1: places to come, eat and play, including there is a
[16:01] Speaker 1: spectacular little place called the Little Shack, which is just
[16:05] Speaker 1: over off the main drag. It is one of the
[16:07] Speaker 1: best places to have a drink, have a mark, have
[16:10] Speaker 1: a coconut marg if that's your thing. It's part of
[16:13] Speaker 1: the group that also owned the settlers in where we
[16:16] Speaker 1: are right now. Alistair is the man who is responsible
[16:18] Speaker 1: and he's wearing the team jacket. He's sitting in the
[16:20] Speaker 1: front row. Love you to see you, thank you for
[16:22] Speaker 1: having us both here, and import Maccorio very much to
[16:24] Speaker 1: appreciate him. He's a beautiful, cuddly bear. And speaking of
[16:28] Speaker 1: let's talk koalas. Where are After the fires of twenty
[16:32] Speaker 1: twenty an awful lot of people put a huge amount
[16:34] Speaker 1: of money into donations to take care of animals to
[16:37] Speaker 1: be able to bring them back. That money has now
[16:41] Speaker 1: seen one of the best facilities you will ever see
[16:44] Speaker 1: for these amazing animals. And we check them out just
[16:46] Speaker 1: a bit earlier this weekend. Welcome to Guleibar, place of Koala,
[16:57] Speaker 1: where you can meet my mate and his friends. Now
[17:00] Speaker 1: his friends had a rough time before they turned up here.
[17:02] Speaker 1: Because there are many rescued koalas around this part of Australia.
[17:06] Speaker 1: The facility that has been built to take care of
[17:08] Speaker 1: them unbelievable. The people who do it are sensational, including
[17:13] Speaker 1: the lady you're about to meet Kay. This is this
[17:16] Speaker 1: is gorgeous.
[17:17] Speaker 7: Yeah, welcome to Gulbar place of Koala and our wild
[17:20] Speaker 7: Koala breeding visitor center.
[17:25] Speaker 8: It's home to.
[17:25] Speaker 7: Our breeding koalas, which you can't see because they have
[17:28] Speaker 7: to be kept away from people so they can go
[17:30] Speaker 7: back to the wild and live a good life away
[17:32] Speaker 7: from us. But you can see our permanent residents who
[17:35] Speaker 7: have come into care, to the hospital and can't be
[17:37] Speaker 7: released back.
[17:38] Speaker 1: To the wild. Now I was tipped off that by luck.
[17:43] Speaker 1: Nero is here.
[17:46] Speaker 7: Yes, so this is Ocean Drive Nero. He's one of
[17:49] Speaker 7: our local koalas, so he's come from the port and
[17:51] Speaker 7: quarry township. So our permanent residents, they come into the
[17:56] Speaker 7: hospital for various different reasons, often accidents or dog attacks
[18:01] Speaker 7: or disease and can't be released back to the wild.
[18:04] Speaker 7: Sometimes that's always our aim, but unfortunately, Nero, could it.
[18:07] Speaker 1: Be how do you manage to know one koali goes here,
[18:11] Speaker 1: one koala goes there.
[18:12] Speaker 7: So these enclosures, it's all about their aerial height, so
[18:15] Speaker 7: having access to the trees. Some of our koalas can't
[18:19] Speaker 7: climb well. They might be blind from disease or a
[18:22] Speaker 7: car accident, or have neurological problems. So those koalas will
[18:25] Speaker 7: go in our enclosures that have lower pieces of furniture
[18:29] Speaker 7: that we call them, whereas our other koalas who can
[18:31] Speaker 7: climb very well will be right at the tops of
[18:33] Speaker 7: their trees sometimes, so it can be quite difficult to spot,
[18:36] Speaker 7: and that's sometimes the hardest part of the volunteer shift
[18:38] Speaker 7: is finding the koala fares.
[18:41] Speaker 1: Obviously, those fires a few years ago really reminded us
[18:46] Speaker 1: about how perilous the population can be sometimes, how the
[18:51] Speaker 1: how nature can bite as well as provide such beauty.
[18:55] Speaker 1: But the reality is is that those donations that came
[18:58] Speaker 1: in and around that time, in part the lasting legacy
[19:01] Speaker 1: is a place like this.
[19:03] Speaker 7: It really was a lot of people making a small
[19:06] Speaker 7: difference that added up to just a huge difference in
[19:09] Speaker 7: what we're able to do for koalas. And the breeding
[19:12] Speaker 7: program itself is an example of that, because we can't
[19:15] Speaker 7: wait until it's too late to make a difference for them.
[19:25] Speaker 1: Obviously, this is something that you can come see with
[19:27] Speaker 1: your own eyes, lots of photos, great experience, but we're
[19:30] Speaker 1: about to show you something behind the scenes. Now. The
[19:32] Speaker 1: public doesn't get a chance to see this, but you're
[19:35] Speaker 1: about to show us a little bit of how the sausages,
[19:39] Speaker 1: or in this case, the leaves are made right.
[19:41] Speaker 7: Yes, they're very picky eaters koalas, and every day we
[19:44] Speaker 7: have to provide them with fresh leaf. So come along
[19:47] Speaker 7: with me to meet Claire, who'll show you how to
[19:48] Speaker 7: do it.
[19:49] Speaker 1: Thanks Kate, lovely to meet you. Let's make some k.
[19:56] Speaker 5: Thank you, chev So what we're going to do today
[19:58] Speaker 5: is prepare a few branches.
[20:00] Speaker 8: Of food for them.
[20:01] Speaker 5: So when we're feeding our koalas, we bring in again
[20:05] Speaker 5: a variety of species for them. We always offer at
[20:08] Speaker 5: least two species fresh plus an extra two in their yard.
[20:12] Speaker 5: So they're incredibly spoilt. Yes, but that is because they
[20:15] Speaker 5: are quite picky with their.
[20:16] Speaker 1: Food, so they like to sleep. They're picky eaters. This
[20:21] Speaker 1: is my animal. This is me an animal love in
[20:24] Speaker 1: the kala.
[20:29] Speaker 5: What we'll do from here is just start trimming our branch. Now,
[20:34] Speaker 5: depending on how long you've been doing it, sometimes you
[20:37] Speaker 5: can eyeball the correct amount of leaf.
[20:41] Speaker 1: But to make sure that we're.
[20:42] Speaker 5: Getting it right for every koala, the next step is waiting.
[20:45] Speaker 5: And what this light here tells us is whether we
[20:47] Speaker 5: have the correct amount of leaf or not.
[20:50] Speaker 9: There we go.
[20:54] Speaker 1: We done? Clear? All right, so clear. I appreciate the lesson.
[20:57] Speaker 1: I also appreciate your training. But let's how I do
[21:01] Speaker 1: at this task. Okay, my money is not on me,
[21:05] Speaker 1: but let's go. Okay, so I'm just gonna go here.
[21:08] Speaker 1: This is going to be too much. I know it's
[21:10] Speaker 1: going to be too much. All right, let's have a look.
[21:13] Speaker 5: Screen where let's go.
[21:16] Speaker 1: First, go nails. Now, once you've seen these beautiful animals,
[21:26] Speaker 1: you can take care of these beautiful animals yourself. You
[21:29] Speaker 1: can adopt a koala and I called ahead with the
[21:33] Speaker 1: girls and Asheron's ady say we are backing in Campbelltown. Ella.
[21:38] Speaker 1: Fifty dollars will get you one year of support. You'll
[21:42] Speaker 1: get updates about how the koala is going. And for
[21:45] Speaker 1: just six dollars extra, you can have a magnet on
[21:49] Speaker 1: the fridge. You can't go somewhere without going through the
[21:55] Speaker 1: gift shop. And we went through the gift of the lovely,
[21:58] Speaker 1: lovely thing to be able to do it now. It's
[22:01] Speaker 1: always got to thank Harvey Norman, wonderful people who are
[22:03] Speaker 1: put together what we're able to do. We've been doing this,
[22:06] Speaker 1: of course, for the best part of ten years. A
[22:08] Speaker 1: little later we'll meet one of the special people here
[22:10] Speaker 1: in Port mcruarie when it comes to Harvey Norman and
[22:12] Speaker 1: we'll have a little look around. But next get ready
[22:15] Speaker 1: because the mayor of this area is going to be
[22:19] Speaker 1: cooking up a barbecue storm. And by that I don't
[22:22] Speaker 1: just mean throwing on a sayger. He's been in the
[22:25] Speaker 1: car park of the settlers in since about two o'clock
[22:28] Speaker 1: this afternoon and this award winning bit of meat is
[22:32] Speaker 1: coming my way next on Pal Murray Live. Thanks for
[22:37] Speaker 1: the good people of Harvey Norman were alive in Port McCrory.
[22:40] Speaker 1: Thanks for watch the welcome back here, the Port McQuary,
[22:49] Speaker 1: lovely eyes, the Hay Streets region me a magnificent part
[22:54] Speaker 1: of Australia. And Harvey Norman, of course, are the people
[22:56] Speaker 1: who are no regional Australia best. Peter and the team
[23:00] Speaker 1: were very welcoming to us. He's a little bit of
[23:03] Speaker 1: a look of his knowledge of the place and the
[23:05] Speaker 1: people who work alongside of meet you every day. Hello, everyone, welcome,
[23:18] Speaker 1: Look at this a welcome and committee for the ages.
[23:21] Speaker 1: I love it the best and brightest and all the
[23:23] Speaker 1: Port Macquary Peter, Paul lost meet you. Awesome me. Let's
[23:26] Speaker 1: meet you too, all right, these wonderful people. Yeah, and
[23:28] Speaker 1: who we are?
[23:28] Speaker 6: Okay, we'd like to introduce Kerry from furniture.
[23:31] Speaker 1: Hello Kerry. We've got Sky here from bedding.
[23:35] Speaker 8: We've got Glenn here from flooring.
[23:36] Speaker 1: Hello, John here from electrical. No, I'm from computers. I'm Peter.
[23:41] Speaker 1: Look at this. I'll tell you what I want to
[23:43] Speaker 1: come to your Christmas party and this good own fun.
[23:45] Speaker 1: All right, let's go have some fun. Show me around
[23:47] Speaker 1: this beautiful town. Love you to meet you, all right,
[23:49] Speaker 1: I want one of everything. Send the build of Peter.
[23:51] Speaker 6: Oh all right, this.
[23:53] Speaker 1: Is very exciting.
[23:54] Speaker 8: I got a guy.
[23:56] Speaker 1: What a personal service I've done. Definitely turned on the
[23:59] Speaker 1: weather today?
[24:00] Speaker 8: Is so?
[24:01] Speaker 1: Or maybe you brought the weather with us? No, no, no, no, no,
[24:03] Speaker 1: you turn it on for me. I have no such luck.
[24:05] Speaker 1: Don't put that pressure on me. So how long have
[24:07] Speaker 1: you been important?
[24:08] Speaker 6: So I'm born and raised Port McQuary, So like you,
[24:12] Speaker 6: I'm a nineteen seventy eight boy. We've gone from this,
[24:15] Speaker 6: you know, very lazy beach town where people just literally
[24:19] Speaker 6: come for like you know, holidays and things like that.
[24:22] Speaker 6: And you can see how much the town has grown,
[24:25] Speaker 6: so you know, it's it's rapidly going from a regional
[24:30] Speaker 6: town to a regional citye. You know, we've got a
[24:35] Speaker 6: really strong business community here through like the local Chamber
[24:39] Speaker 6: of Commerce, which Harvey Norman is a part of. Right,
[24:42] Speaker 6: We've got great relationship with the businesses in town.
[24:46] Speaker 8: But beyond that, you know, we've got good.
[24:48] Speaker 6: Relationships with like the council. We've got good relationships with
[24:52] Speaker 6: like our local MP. When Harvey Norman, particularly in Port McQuary,
[24:56] Speaker 6: goes out and says, you know, we're here to help
[24:58] Speaker 6: the community, We're here to make change.
[25:00] Speaker 1: People listen and people trust us. Can people come in
[25:03] Speaker 1: and support us? So here we are.
[25:07] Speaker 6: We're now in the main street of Port mcquarry.
[25:09] Speaker 8: But what we're going to have a look.
[25:10] Speaker 6: At now, We're going up to displace called Saint Thomas's
[25:12] Speaker 6: Church that was originally built by the convicts, and I
[25:16] Speaker 6: think it was about eighteen twenty four, so this will
[25:19] Speaker 6: be one of the oldest, you know, buildings in Port mcquarry.
[25:23] Speaker 1: So let's go check it all out, all right, all.
[25:31] Speaker 6: Right, So this is Saint Thomas's Church, been here since
[25:33] Speaker 6: about eighteen twenty four, originally built by convicts, is. You
[25:38] Speaker 6: know when you go back to like the you know,
[25:40] Speaker 6: the early eighteen hundreds, you know there was nothing, nothing
[25:43] Speaker 6: but dirt all around here prior.
[25:46] Speaker 1: If you bought all that property, I know as five millionaire.
[25:51] Speaker 6: It was in the early eighteen hundreds very much to
[25:53] Speaker 6: convict town. But then you know, pretty much as it
[25:56] Speaker 6: started getting into the eighteen fifties, they wanted to shake that.
[25:58] Speaker 6: They wanted to make it more of like a coastal
[26:01] Speaker 6: living town. We're of a holiday destination. And then very
[26:04] Speaker 6: much by the nineteen hundreds, this is what we were
[26:06] Speaker 6: known for.
[26:07] Speaker 1: Right there is this lovely, lovely vibe to it.
[26:09] Speaker 6: You know what everyone's getting on, like in terms of
[26:12] Speaker 6: the community is getting on, The business community is getting on.
[26:15] Speaker 8: The council is great to work with as well.
[26:17] Speaker 6: So we've got a community that's looking out for each other.
[26:25] Speaker 6: Where are we're off to now, right, we're going off
[26:27] Speaker 6: to the Headlands, the most beautiful part of Port mc quarry.
[26:32] Speaker 6: I remember being sixteen years old, Dad sat me down
[26:35] Speaker 6: one day and said, Pete, I want you to do
[26:38] Speaker 6: a business plan. I want you to come up and
[26:40] Speaker 6: show me what's the kind of business you want to
[26:42] Speaker 6: be and what do you want to do with your life.
[26:44] Speaker 6: So sixteen years old and I came up with a
[26:46] Speaker 6: business plan on how I could run a computer store
[26:50] Speaker 6: in Port McQuary. Wow, all right, and through the power
[26:53] Speaker 6: of Harvey Norman, that dreams now become a reality. My
[26:56] Speaker 6: dad then opened up a grocery doors in the main
[27:00] Speaker 6: street in the nineteen seventies. Everyone knows my dad and
[27:05] Speaker 6: he'll be there for the live show excellently.
[27:07] Speaker 1: Yeah mate, my dad that we're doing this already. Yeah, yeah,
[27:12] Speaker 1: I know.
[27:15] Speaker 6: People come to corner Quie because you know, we've got
[27:17] Speaker 6: like seventeen beaches in the local area, right yeah, and
[27:21] Speaker 6: to you know, escape somewhere like out of Sydney, you know,
[27:24] Speaker 6: to be able to drive around town anywhere within ten minutes.
[27:31] Speaker 1: Oh wow, what do we remember this bench? But yeah,
[27:36] Speaker 1: it's a town beach.
[27:37] Speaker 6: Wow, I know, very popular tourist destination. Normally you'll see
[27:43] Speaker 6: everyone swimming out there, you know, during the summer months,
[27:46] Speaker 6: everyone's swimming. During the winter months, everyone's going out there
[27:49] Speaker 6: on boat. You'll see sea turtles going through there, You'll
[27:53] Speaker 6: see whales going through there.
[27:55] Speaker 1: Wow.
[27:55] Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a pretty magical spot to be in the world.
[27:58] Speaker 1: This is gorgeous just gorgeous. Look at this. I mean,
[28:03] Speaker 1: this is one of those moments where and I'm going
[28:06] Speaker 1: to use some host's privilege here. Let's all have a
[28:08] Speaker 1: five second holiday together. Just have a look at this
[28:12] Speaker 1: for five seconds only interrupted, no talking, no music, all right,
[28:15] Speaker 1: have a holiday in Port mcquarie.
[28:28] Speaker 8: I to go walking up down here with like my
[28:30] Speaker 8: wife and my kids.
[28:32] Speaker 6: And as we're walking along here, we'll see dolphins, We'll
[28:36] Speaker 6: see sea turtles.
[28:37] Speaker 8: Like, what a great way to start the day.
[28:40] Speaker 1: See, everyone at home can work out here. That people
[28:44] Speaker 1: get to paint the rocks along here. I think it
[28:46] Speaker 1: started what thirty years ago or something.
[28:48] Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's been around like let's say early
[28:50] Speaker 6: nineties or something like that. But people coming to Port Macquarie,
[28:53] Speaker 6: you know, but their holidays, they'll write their names up
[28:56] Speaker 6: here if they hear the New Year's eve.
[28:57] Speaker 1: You know, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much,
[29:00] Speaker 1: thanks for coming to our beautiful town.
[29:01] Speaker 8: We love it here.
[29:02] Speaker 1: We love showing it off to anyone we can and
[29:05] Speaker 1: as always walk in the store mentioned my name and
[29:07] Speaker 1: pay full project. All right, thank you, taking you home mate.
[29:13] Speaker 1: In such a nice bloke. There's any people from hard
[29:15] Speaker 1: and the hormones. All right, I'm speaking of Adam is
[29:17] Speaker 1: the local mayor. I love you to see you, sir.
[29:19] Speaker 8: Thanks having me, Baul.
[29:20] Speaker 1: Excellent. Now, of course you are the local mayor. We
[29:22] Speaker 1: could talk about infrastructure, and we could talk about all
[29:25] Speaker 1: sorts of things, and we might get to that, but
[29:27] Speaker 1: let's also focus on the fact that you are a pitmaster.
[29:30] Speaker 1: You know what you're doing when it comes to a
[29:32] Speaker 1: good old fashioned barbecue. You've been doing this for hours, Adam.
[29:36] Speaker 10: I haven't been grinding away just to cook you in
[29:39] Speaker 10: the perfect steak. I've got to wag you tomahawk, which
[29:41] Speaker 10: will be the centerpiece of our tasting tonight.
[29:44] Speaker 1: Oh fantastic. So what got you into barbecue?
[29:47] Speaker 10: I just love cooking over fire generally. I started out
[29:50] Speaker 10: with low and slow American style barbecue, cooking the breastkads,
[29:53] Speaker 10: the pork ribs, pork shoulders, that sort of thing, and yeah,
[29:56] Speaker 10: just felt like just trying a few different things. So
[29:59] Speaker 10: then I moved into the open flame pits. And as
[30:01] Speaker 10: you can see, it's really cool to play with fire,
[30:03] Speaker 10: but also highly visual and it's really challenging.
[30:07] Speaker 1: So you're the type of person who quite likes the
[30:10] Speaker 1: zen out of how long this good cooking can take
[30:12] Speaker 1: where you sort of said to the family today, look
[30:14] Speaker 1: appreciate it, but this is what I'm doing someday afternoon.
[30:18] Speaker 8: Yeah.
[30:18] Speaker 10: Look, most of the cooks are anywhere from three five
[30:21] Speaker 10: eight hours, so it's a lot of patience.
[30:23] Speaker 8: There's a lot of technique as well.
[30:25] Speaker 10: And as you can see, i'm burning a steak over here,
[30:27] Speaker 10: so I might just jump in there and.
[30:28] Speaker 8: Please save that one.
[30:30] Speaker 10: But there's just so many things you can cook over fire.
[30:33] Speaker 10: I've got a little bit of everything today, so I'm
[30:35] Speaker 10: happy to go through.
[30:36] Speaker 8: What have you got for us?
[30:37] Speaker 10: So as you can see, I've got a better charcoal.
[30:39] Speaker 8: I've got some iron bark wood at the back there.
[30:41] Speaker 10: I'm actually just charring off some cabbage for a beautiful
[30:44] Speaker 10: little cabbage and red onion slore.
[30:46] Speaker 8: But what I've been cooking away.
[30:48] Speaker 10: For about four hours now, Paul, is beautiful Hastings River
[30:53] Speaker 10: mud crab and a bloody Mary sauce in there. Wow,
[30:56] Speaker 10: So that's going to be a beautiful little dish on
[30:58] Speaker 10: its own. What we do like to do is a
[31:02] Speaker 10: little bit of reverse searing of our steaks.
[31:04] Speaker 8: So what I do with these stakes.
[31:05] Speaker 10: Paul, is give them a nice season let them hang
[31:08] Speaker 10: for a couple of hours, and then I'll give them
[31:10] Speaker 10: a nice seer off at the end.
[31:12] Speaker 1: Can we just pause and just have a look at
[31:14] Speaker 1: this thing. Just give me an idea again, how long,
[31:17] Speaker 1: how much love, how much rub went into this?
[31:20] Speaker 10: So this has been seasoned a couple of times throughout
[31:22] Speaker 10: the cook So I've hung it, just got it cooked
[31:24] Speaker 10: up nice and gentle too, about medium in the middle.
[31:27] Speaker 8: That I've let it rest for a little while.
[31:29] Speaker 10: I've given an extra seasoning and then a flash over
[31:31] Speaker 10: the charcoal, just to get that nice little crunchy bark
[31:33] Speaker 10: on the outside.
[31:34] Speaker 1: How often do people just say to you, hey, Adam,
[31:36] Speaker 1: we've got a twenty first coming up. We'd really love
[31:38] Speaker 1: you to come over. By the way, can you cook
[31:41] Speaker 1: for us?
[31:42] Speaker 10: I have been out here for hours and I've had
[31:44] Speaker 10: a dollar for everyone who asked what was on for dinner.
[31:46] Speaker 8: I'd be a very rich man, I can tell you.
[31:48] Speaker 10: But yeah, I think I just really enjoy sort of
[31:50] Speaker 10: catching up with people out and about and cooking over
[31:53] Speaker 10: fire is just real communal. It's something you can share
[31:56] Speaker 10: with friends and family and just sit back, relax and
[31:58] Speaker 10: have a good time with it.
[31:59] Speaker 1: So give me an idea, right, Adam Roberts pittmaster slash
[32:02] Speaker 1: local mayor. What got you into local representation?
[32:05] Speaker 8: I think just Paul mcquarie. It's the best place on Earth,
[32:08] Speaker 8: I reckon. And to have the privilege to represent the best.
[32:12] Speaker 10: Place on earth, I mean, why wouldn't you take that up?
[32:14] Speaker 10: But you know a lot of friends of mine do
[32:16] Speaker 10: forty teams and netball teams, coaching and that sort of stuff.
[32:19] Speaker 10: But for me, I wanted a real significant challenge and
[32:22] Speaker 10: trying to run a local area it's a big challenge.
[32:25] Speaker 8: I can tell you.
[32:25] Speaker 1: I've been coming for about thirty years. My beautiful friend Peter,
[32:28] Speaker 1: who's in the audience this evening, So I've seen this
[32:31] Speaker 1: place change, right, I've sent it up, I've sent it down,
[32:34] Speaker 1: but it feels like it's on the up. Now what's
[32:37] Speaker 1: your sense here? Right? And it looks like everyone else
[32:39] Speaker 1: it's lots of cities in one but yeah, what's your sense?
[32:42] Speaker 9: So?
[32:42] Speaker 10: I think we're a regional city now. I think it's
[32:44] Speaker 10: fair to say that.
[32:45] Speaker 8: When I moved here in nineteen eighty six, I was
[32:46] Speaker 8: about seven.
[32:47] Speaker 10: It's about thirty thousand population, but now we're about ninety
[32:50] Speaker 10: four pushing one hundred thousand people, so you know, the
[32:53] Speaker 10: pressures on infrastructure. That sort of stuff is, I guess,
[32:56] Speaker 10: a real positive challenge for us, but at the same
[32:58] Speaker 10: time growing so fast, so we've got to do what
[33:01] Speaker 10: we can to keep out in front.
[33:03] Speaker 1: I love it. I love your passion for the area.
[33:05] Speaker 1: I love your passion for this and everyone watching us
[33:07] Speaker 1: inside right now at the settlers in you are about
[33:10] Speaker 1: to taste all of this as well. All right, so
[33:13] Speaker 1: free ish dinner on us here the seat. Oh we
[33:18] Speaker 1: got to jump into this way here in the meantime, just.
[33:20] Speaker 8: Look, oh, look at that.
[33:22] Speaker 1: Goodness me beautiful. I'd imagine if you cut me, this
[33:25] Speaker 1: is what it looks like.
[33:26] Speaker 10: I reckon, look at that, Just a beautiful, nice little
[33:29] Speaker 10: if peace.
[33:30] Speaker 8: You have a little slice, sir, absolutely, I reckon.
[33:33] Speaker 10: You probably go from that and look at that pool.
[33:35] Speaker 1: Oh yes, please into it back in a moment here,
[33:41] Speaker 1: Oh wow, get it in there. Time all theseus on
[34:00] Speaker 1: here to up. I like it.
[34:01] Speaker 11: I like it.
[34:02] Speaker 1: I like it. One of the great things that a
[34:06] Speaker 1: lot of people get to do. In fact, we've met
[34:07] Speaker 1: some people just this weekend who were traveling from around
[34:10] Speaker 1: the world. One of their bucket lists was that they
[34:13] Speaker 1: wanted to be able to to ride the camels. Now
[34:15] Speaker 1: they were going to go to Cable Beach in Western Australia.
[34:18] Speaker 1: It's said no, they would do it right here, important corn.
[34:27] Speaker 1: This is Lighthouse Beach, an absolute gem of a beach.
[34:33] Speaker 1: Excellent for bodyboarding, amazing for surfing, great for just lazing
[34:37] Speaker 1: about and also a place to ride camels. Diday, Michael.
[34:54] Speaker 1: We've been looking forward to this, mate. Here you going, Paul, good,
[34:56] Speaker 1: Thank you very much for having us. Very welcome. All right,
[34:59] Speaker 1: now they can take the away.
[35:00] Speaker 10: They'll be okay, I'll be perfectly fine.
[35:02] Speaker 1: All right, excellent. So let's get a bit of safety
[35:03] Speaker 1: and do something special.
[35:09] Speaker 8: Best office this one.
[35:10] Speaker 1: Look at this.
[35:11] Speaker 12: Come on over, we'll introduce you to Morgan.
[35:20] Speaker 8: Morgan, whoa up we go?
[35:26] Speaker 1: Okay, sorry, kids, Uncle paula used a bad word.
[35:49] Speaker 11: So if diesel is too expensive and electric cars aren't
[35:52] Speaker 11: you go this might be the way to get around
[35:55] Speaker 11: for weeks. All right, Michael. Some technical questions. What does
[36:02] Speaker 11: a camel eat?
[36:06] Speaker 12: Camels prefer to eat bushes and shrubs, anything with thorns
[36:10] Speaker 12: or pistols, like blackberries and prickly caation, that sort.
[36:12] Speaker 1: Of thing they love.
[36:13] Speaker 12: We feed them a lot of loosen and grain. Just
[36:15] Speaker 12: try and keep their diet up because they're working all
[36:17] Speaker 12: the time.
[36:18] Speaker 1: They'll eat grass, but they don't love grass. Are they
[36:24] Speaker 1: hard animal to have on your farm?
[36:26] Speaker 8: No, these guys are pretty good.
[36:32] Speaker 1: It's likens. They mostly look after themselves.
[36:35] Speaker 12: Occasionally we'll ring the vatsine if we've got something that
[36:37] Speaker 12: we're not sure of, but they're a very hardy animal.
[36:55] Speaker 8: The business started in.
[36:56] Speaker 12: Nineteen eighty eight, so early, coming up to.
[36:59] Speaker 2: Forty years of offering.
[37:05] Speaker 12: We don't take any bookings, but you know, we could
[37:07] Speaker 12: be flat out all day doing one person, or we
[37:10] Speaker 12: could do ten full rides.
[37:12] Speaker 1: Every day is a different day. Thank you, Thank you Morgan.
[37:21] Speaker 1: You are fantastic. Seriously, you've got to do it. You
[37:29] Speaker 1: may well see the local MP there as well. Pack
[37:32] Speaker 1: Conahan is here. Give him a round of a pause,
[37:33] Speaker 1: your local MP, Pac Conahan. Love you see you mate?
[37:36] Speaker 1: Hey you Bin Broma? Yeah very well, very well. Welcome mate.
[37:39] Speaker 1: Thank you for having us. I know how proud you
[37:41] Speaker 1: are of this community and how you talk about it
[37:44] Speaker 1: and evangelize every time you get the camera. Give us
[37:47] Speaker 1: an idea about what it's like to represent this place.
[37:50] Speaker 9: Oh look, it's my passion I love it. I'm very,
[37:53] Speaker 9: very privileged to be in this role, as you know.
[37:56] Speaker 9: You know, every three years I have to ask, you know,
[37:59] Speaker 9: my constituents, have it done a good enough job? And
[38:02] Speaker 9: you know, I'd love to keep representing you. But it
[38:05] Speaker 9: is a privilege. But the best part of it here
[38:08] Speaker 9: in Port Marcorini, and indeed the whole of Kaupa, other people.
[38:12] Speaker 9: The people are brilliant. I can walk down the street.
[38:15] Speaker 9: It might take me an hour to get one hundred
[38:17] Speaker 9: meters down the street, but I love having a chat
[38:19] Speaker 9: to people.
[38:19] Speaker 8: They're honest.
[38:20] Speaker 9: Sometimes you know, they can be brutal and they'll tell
[38:23] Speaker 9: me what they think in terms of policy or what
[38:27] Speaker 9: I'm doing.
[38:27] Speaker 1: Sometimes that's just your family members. Yeah.
[38:29] Speaker 9: Well, I made a point earlier that I think my
[38:32] Speaker 9: wife Leona, who is here tonight, she might.
[38:35] Speaker 8: Be voting for one nation.
[38:36] Speaker 1: But I'm just kidding. I like it dancing with an
[38:43] Speaker 1: elephant in the room and I like that. I like that. Now,
[38:45] Speaker 1: give me an idea again about this area, how it's grown.
[38:49] Speaker 1: What are the challenges in front of it? Right now?
[38:51] Speaker 1: It feels like it's on an upswing, but everywhere can
[38:53] Speaker 1: always do with that next little boost. What's the sort
[38:56] Speaker 1: of stuff that you want to get on. Yeah.
[38:58] Speaker 9: Look, I grew up in Kempsey, which is too far away,
[39:00] Speaker 9: and in the seventies that was actually bigger than Port mcquarie.
[39:03] Speaker 9: We're now ninety four thousand people here and he is
[39:06] Speaker 9: growing at a rapid pace. It really is west Port Mcquarie.
[39:11] Speaker 9: Sovereign Hills Thrumpster since twenty twenty one has grown over
[39:15] Speaker 9: seventeen percent. Yeah, once upon a time this was the
[39:18] Speaker 9: retirement belt, but now we're seeing so many young families.
[39:22] Speaker 9: We've got great public schools, we've got great independent schools,
[39:26] Speaker 9: we've got Southern Sorry Charlester University, New South Wales University,
[39:32] Speaker 9: a huge hospital and health precinct. It's grown so much,
[39:36] Speaker 9: and credit where credit is due. Adam Roberts, the Pitmaster,
[39:41] Speaker 9: he's doing a great job as the mayor in terms
[39:43] Speaker 9: of infrastructure and making sure that we grow responsibly and
[39:48] Speaker 9: have those things in place so we can be a
[39:50] Speaker 9: really functioning city.
[39:52] Speaker 1: Again. I mean the frustration that is national is being
[39:55] Speaker 1: felt local as well. Right, and again, you know, these
[39:59] Speaker 1: opportunit it is aren't particularly political when we do the
[40:03] Speaker 1: our town's right, but inevitably there are people who are
[40:08] Speaker 1: going to say, and obviously a teal tried it last time,
[40:11] Speaker 1: that might be my nation next time about this idea
[40:14] Speaker 1: of needing change in order to get better infrastructure, et cetera,
[40:18] Speaker 1: et cetera. But what is it that somebody who knows
[40:21] Speaker 1: the traps is able to do that somebody who doesn't
[40:25] Speaker 1: won't be able to.
[40:26] Speaker 5: Well.
[40:26] Speaker 9: I work on all levels with Adam, as I said,
[40:30] Speaker 9: with the state member, and we work together and all
[40:34] Speaker 9: up and down the coast. We've done that, and we
[40:37] Speaker 9: actually have meetings with all the mayors, all the state members.
[40:41] Speaker 9: And I think it's the local knowledge. Yeah, you know
[40:44] Speaker 9: you area, you know your people, and you know what
[40:47] Speaker 9: each community needs, how Port Macquarie might need something that's
[40:50] Speaker 9: different to Kempsey or Nambuca or Coffs Harbor. So it's
[40:54] Speaker 9: that detailed knowledge of Because I've lived here for fifty
[40:58] Speaker 9: five years, I can talk to people on that same level.
[41:02] Speaker 9: And I think having been in the cops for a
[41:04] Speaker 9: long period of time, I haven't gone through Sandstone Universities
[41:08] Speaker 9: and I can talk to a stump you. So it's
[41:12] Speaker 9: that knowledge and being part of the community and growing
[41:16] Speaker 9: up in the community that helps.
[41:18] Speaker 1: So give me an idea again, because I'm always fascinated
[41:20] Speaker 1: about when you represent an area that can be as
[41:23] Speaker 1: large as this, as disparate as you say, from Nambuka
[41:26] Speaker 1: to war Hoope here and further up, further down right
[41:30] Speaker 1: and like everywhere right in the same way that anyone
[41:32] Speaker 1: who lives in a big city knows. There's apparently a
[41:35] Speaker 1: massive difference between the Hills District and you know, northwestern Sydney. Again,
[41:41] Speaker 1: there are so many personality differences in all of the
[41:44] Speaker 1: different places that represent how do you handle that challenge
[41:50] Speaker 1: because inevitably there would be people from one end who go, well,
[41:53] Speaker 1: we deserve and people from another who say, well where Look,
[41:57] Speaker 1: I've got two cities in my electric coffs Hard and
[42:00] Speaker 1: put Quarry, And I kind of say, it's like having
[42:02] Speaker 1: two children.
[42:03] Speaker 9: You've got to give them the same. You have to
[42:05] Speaker 9: treat them the same, love them the same. But then
[42:07] Speaker 9: in between, coming from Kemps, a small country town when
[42:11] Speaker 9: I grew up, I've got very a soft spot for Kempsy,
[42:15] Speaker 9: but you've always you can't forget the regions, the smaller towns,
[42:20] Speaker 9: the will of Warrens, the Bellbrooks. I get out in
[42:23] Speaker 9: my mobile offices every single week. I might be in
[42:26] Speaker 9: the pub with well, I am in the pub with
[42:27] Speaker 9: no beer coming up, and the locals come and see me.
[42:30] Speaker 9: And I'll go to thora or different places, and it's
[42:33] Speaker 9: actually been available, accessible and approachable, making sure those three
[42:38] Speaker 9: things are there.
[42:40] Speaker 1: People don't like going to.
[42:41] Speaker 9: A federal member's office, so I'm out there on the
[42:44] Speaker 9: ground listening to them and making sure that, you know,
[42:47] Speaker 9: they feel comfortable in a place they live. And you know,
[42:50] Speaker 9: some days I will go Willa Warren. I might have
[42:53] Speaker 9: twenty people there, you know, or Cough Central, even though
[42:57] Speaker 9: I've got an office there, I sit there and people
[42:59] Speaker 9: can come and.
[42:59] Speaker 1: Talk to me. Now, obviously this is an electorate that
[43:01] Speaker 1: is right in the middle of the pay when it
[43:03] Speaker 1: comes to fuel, particularly when it comes to diesel. I mean,
[43:07] Speaker 1: obviously everyone's just panic buying, right, You're all panic buying,
[43:10] Speaker 1: that's all. Yeah. Isn't that a wonderful thing to be
[43:12] Speaker 1: hearing back from our federal government? Right? And especially whening
[43:15] Speaker 1: in diesel, how expensive it is and how desparate it is,
[43:18] Speaker 1: tell me about what in this electorate. The current either
[43:21] Speaker 1: high price or lack of availability.
[43:24] Speaker 9: Don't people are sick and tier being gas lit by
[43:27] Speaker 9: the current government. I've got a young fellow, he's nineteen,
[43:32] Speaker 9: he's an apprentice, he's doing his first year as a chippy.
[43:36] Speaker 9: And for him to fill up his truck, it's two
[43:39] Speaker 9: hundred dollars. That is a third of his weekly waight.
[43:45] Speaker 9: And that's before he goes into anything else. So you
[43:48] Speaker 9: talk about people who have to drive to do retail
[43:51] Speaker 9: all the trade is, they are really hurting. And for
[43:55] Speaker 9: a government to turn around and say, well, there's not
[43:57] Speaker 9: a problem here, stop panic buying. I haven't seen people
[44:01] Speaker 9: with jerry Kans everywhere. They say there's supply there, we'll
[44:05] Speaker 9: get it out, get it out, get it into the regions.
[44:08] Speaker 9: And I make no apology for this. If they have
[44:10] Speaker 9: to ration in the city, do it. There's public transport.
[44:14] Speaker 9: If the government, the state governments wanted to say, you
[44:16] Speaker 9: can travel for free, but get that supply out to
[44:20] Speaker 9: the regions for our people on the farms, for our
[44:23] Speaker 9: people delivering groceries. Because if you don't guess what people
[44:28] Speaker 9: in the city, you won't be eating, you won't be
[44:30] Speaker 9: putting clothes on your back. So it's time to prioritize
[44:33] Speaker 9: the regions.
[44:34] Speaker 1: Thank you a little book, Thank you. How is the
[44:37] Speaker 1: local MP thank you everyone. All right, quick break back
[44:41] Speaker 1: with more thanks you with people at Harvey Norman, with
[44:43] Speaker 1: Kemurray like having you from the senters in right now
[44:45] Speaker 1: and Jeb fire get amount of time to taste that, mate,
[44:48] Speaker 1: the joy that I just hadle it was spread the
[44:50] Speaker 1: joy them on stall. Thanks for watching on a Sunday night.
[45:00] Speaker 1: Welcome back here, so we'll see in thanks to the
[45:02] Speaker 1: people of Harvey Norman. Adam Robertson's are local mayor, but
[45:05] Speaker 1: he's also a pitmaster. I've had the chance. It's now
[45:09] Speaker 1: time for the very good people amongst us here. So
[45:12] Speaker 1: much love, so much dedication. How often do you get
[45:14] Speaker 1: to have a snack cooked by the freaking mayor people?
[45:17] Speaker 1: All right, let's let's start. Well done Adam, all right,
[45:21] Speaker 1: yours man, enjoy succulent and wonderful look at this well,
[45:29] Speaker 1: some quality meat's going to move its way around. We're happy.
[45:31] Speaker 1: I won't put the microphone in front of you while
[45:33] Speaker 1: you hold no vegetarians in the front road, just checking,
[45:37] Speaker 1: all right, we're happy. Language good and.
[45:40] Speaker 10: The green stuff on there, nice little Jimmy cherry.
[45:44] Speaker 1: Right, keep going around if we've got any left there,
[45:46] Speaker 1: keep going through the family here. We're happy. Everyone looks
[45:51] Speaker 1: good eating on TV. That's all I know. Right, everyone
[45:55] Speaker 1: looks amazing while they're eating away on TV. Well again,
[45:59] Speaker 1: I want to thank every one for the chance to
[46:01] Speaker 1: be here this evening, to be able to be in
[46:03] Speaker 1: and around the community as we have. Adam will keep
[46:06] Speaker 1: going with some more food. Oh, in fact, let's send
[46:09] Speaker 1: a little more meat. Who wants Let's go up this way. Okay,
[46:13] Speaker 1: you start here and pass it along, all right, have
[46:16] Speaker 1: one pass it along? Come on, I've only got I've
[46:21] Speaker 1: only got one hand, and I'm hosting a TV show.
[46:23] Speaker 1: So if somebody else good to bring it, take over
[46:25] Speaker 1: with the meat. Very much appreciated, all right now, everyone
[46:32] Speaker 1: enjoying the flavor as we speak. All right now again, Adam,
[46:36] Speaker 1: if people want to get in touch with you, what's
[46:38] Speaker 1: the website, what's the way how do people come and
[46:40] Speaker 1: get some pit master action from you?
[46:42] Speaker 10: It's really simple, pit Master Adam Roberts dot com.
[46:44] Speaker 1: Good stuff, all right? What's your favorite thing to cook?
[46:46] Speaker 8: Tom Ohawk's day? Wag? You got to be wagg?
[46:49] Speaker 1: You're saving that for our crew or you just cut
[46:51] Speaker 1: all that.
[46:51] Speaker 8: On you and me later on?
[46:52] Speaker 1: Yes, let's go all right, Thank you mister Meghan morandovver pause.
[46:56] Speaker 1: All right, that is our show from Port McCaul and
[46:59] Speaker 1: thank you so much for watching. Thank you for everyone
[47:01] Speaker 1: for putting it together. Also thank you to the very
[47:03] Speaker 1: good people of Harvey Norman. Now, remember the point and
[47:07] Speaker 1: purpose of these shows is to be able to go
[47:09] Speaker 1: around when times are normal. Now it doesn't always mean perfect,
[47:13] Speaker 1: and always where we go there are things that could
[47:15] Speaker 1: be done better. But most importantly, something that is absolutely
[47:18] Speaker 1: obvious to me about Port mcquarie, about the wider region,
[47:23] Speaker 1: is about a pride, a pride about the region, but
[47:27] Speaker 1: obviously about our country. This is an incredible joint. It
[47:31] Speaker 1: is the greatest in the world. Ignore everyone who tries
[47:34] Speaker 1: to get you to look the other way. I also
[47:36] Speaker 1: love how many people have got flags either on the
[47:39] Speaker 1: front of the units or out the front of their house.
[47:41] Speaker 1: This is the sort of joint that's proud to be
[47:43] Speaker 1: part of, a country to be proud of. So do
[47:46] Speaker 1: me a favor, do them a favor, which is, if
[47:48] Speaker 1: you are planning a holiday, please continue with that holiday
[47:52] Speaker 1: in Regional Australia in the next little while. Now, obviously
[47:56] Speaker 1: we'll try and push the federal government on the federal
[47:58] Speaker 1: tax we'll try to push the state government when it
[48:00] Speaker 1: comes to the vouchers. But most and most importantly, all right,
[48:04] Speaker 1: I'm not asking you to go without food because you
[48:06] Speaker 1: should go on a holiday. But if you are somebody
[48:08] Speaker 1: who's trying to decide what to do and you are
[48:11] Speaker 1: able to make it for the holiday, come to places
[48:13] Speaker 1: like Port McQuary. Okay, you'll have plenty of people to
[48:16] Speaker 1: say gooday, But more importantly, we'll be propping up those businesses.
[48:20] Speaker 1: So the next time you want to come to Port McQuary,
[48:22] Speaker 1: they'll be here and they will be thriving. So Port,
[48:24] Speaker 1: thanks for the hangout. I do appreciate it. Thank you
[48:28] Speaker 1: for watching the season. We'll be back in the Manchake.
[48:30] Speaker 1: Thanks for the wonderful people of Harvey Norman's from PORTMA
[48:33] Speaker 1: and saying good bye from Port McQuary. New Sight is next.
[48:36] Speaker 1: Thanks dang

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