You Cannot Be Serious: Recent Episodes
Sam Newman & Don Scott
Sam Newman chatted to the legend Gavin Wood about his career and more.
Television“Countdown” - ABC Voice and occasional host for 7 years.
- “Hey, Hey it’s Saturday” - 9 Network – Host “Pop Report” 5 years.
- “Personality Squares” - 10 Network – Square and Audience warm up - 2 years.
- “The Love Game” - 7 Network – Host
- “Nightlife” 10 Network - Segment Host - 4 years.
- “The Price is Right” – Network 10 – Voice and audience warm up – 4 years.
- “All Star Squares” – Network 7 – Square and Voice – 2 years.
- “Children’s Hospital Appeal Telethon” Network 7 – Host and panel member.
- “Lotto Draw Host” – Network 7 – Powerball, Oz lotto and Saturday Lotto – 13 years.
radioGavin’s media credits form a long list covering every television network and numerous AM and FM radio stations around Australia.
His credit list is several pages long but in a nutshell his association with “Countdown” for 7 years, to over 3 million viewers each Sunday night lead to his number one breakfast show on EON FM. He has hosted his own show on another 10 radio stations across Australia, provided the voice, audience warm-up and presentations for tonight shows, game shows and variety specials around the country.
Having one of the most “tuned-into” voices in the country, Gavin has provided the voice for scores of TVC and radio commercials.
On the corporate front he hosted events including Bridal Shows, PR Product Launches, Award Nights, fashion parades, Press Conferences, Trade Promotions, Conferences, Balls and dinners.
Gavin was CEO of his own Media Company for 25 years.
George Jack Donikian (born 15 December 1951) is an Australian former radio and television news presenter/personality. He has worked at the SBS as well as the Nine network and Ten Network.
In 1968, some months after separating from his wife, Mooney lured a 16 year old girl into his car. When she screamed and tried to escape, he punched her in the face, breaking her nose. He then raped her and a short time later, raped her a second time. Mooney was convicted of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two counts of rape. At sentencing, he was supported by a Catholic Priest, Father Kevin Toomey. Mooney was sentenced to 12 years goal with a minimum of 9 years and was sent to HM Prison Pentridge.
Wilbur Wilde (born Nicholas Robert Aitken on 5 October 1955) is an Australian saxophonist, television personality and radio presenter. He is best known for his work on Hey Hey It's Saturday. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55 and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons.
Music careerWilde was the tenor saxophonist (and did some vocals) with Ol' 55 from 1975 until 1977. Wilde then joined Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons in 1977 as saxophonist and backing singer. He still remains in that role to this date.
Television careerHe is most famous for appearing as part of the house band on Hey Hey It's Saturday, from 1984 until 1999, and again from 2009 until 2010.
Wilde has made numerous other TV appearances throughout his career on shows including The Flying Doctors, MDA, The Paul Hogan Show, Blankey Blanks, Sale of the Century, Celebrity Squares, MTV, Getaway, Postcards, Prisoner, Temptation, Spicks and Specks, The Russell Gilbert Show, and commercials for the Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency. From 1992 to 1999, Wilbur toured with The New Rocky Horror Show, contributing to more than 750 performances along the way. His CV also boasts a string of movie credits including Trogan Warrior, Mad Max, The Coolangatta Gold, City of the Damned, Jenny Missed Me, Dead End Drive-In and Cool Change.
Radio careerBetween 2000 and 2004, Wilde presented the Classic Cafe on Gold 104.3 Melbourne. In December 2005, Wilde joined Vega 91.5, hosted a drive show, The Wilbur Wilde Drive, between 3 - 6pm. departing the station in 2008. Wilde also previously presented radio shows at 3UZ and 3XY.
Glenn Maxwell Robbins (born 30 December 1957) is an Australian comedian, writer, actor, television and radio presenter. He is best known for The Comedy Company, portraying Kel Knight in Kath & Kim and adventurer Russell Coight in All Aussie Adventures. Robbins has appeared on The Panel, Thank God You're Here and Have You Been Paying Attention?
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for Burwood from 1976 to 1999. He is currently a media commentator.
He was previously the president of the Hawthorn Football Club, from 2005 to 2011 and again from 2017 to 2022. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national mental health advocacy organisation.
Early life
The son of Kenneth Munro Gibb Kennett (1921–2007), and Wendy Anne Kennett (1925–2006; née Fanning), he was born in Melbourne on 2 March 1948. He attended Scotch College; and, although an unexceptional student academically, he did well in the school's Cadet Corps Unit. He also played football (on the wing) for the school. His failure to rise above the middle band academically almost led him to quit school in Fourth Form (Year 10 – 1963), but he was persuaded to stay on. His Fifth and Sixth Forms were an improvement, but he was still described in school reports as "[a] confident and at times helpful boy. Sometimes irritates. Sometimes works hard" (1964), and "[a] keen, pleasant, though sometimes erratic boy" (1965).
After leaving school, Kennett was persuaded by his father Ken to attend the Australian National University in Canberra, but lost interest and left after one year of an economics degree. He returned to Melbourne and found work in the advertising department of the retail giant Myer – kindling an interest for advertising that would one day earn him his living.
Kennett's life in the regular workforce was cut short when, in 1968, he was conscripted into the Australian Army.[9] Kennett was selected for officer training and graduated third in his class from the Officer Training Unit, Scheyville (OTU), near Windsor, New South Wales, outside Sydney. He was posted to Malaysia and Singapore as Second Lieutenant, commander of 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR). This military career (and his earlier experience in the Scotch College Cadet Corps) has been noted by many biographers as an essential formative influence on the adult Kennett's character. His sense and regard for hierarchical loyalty, punctuality, and general intolerance of dissent or disobedience may be traced to this period.
Kennett returned to civilian life in 1970, reentering a divided Australian society, split by the Vietnam War, of which Kennett was a firm supporter. Having returned to Myer, Kennett became impatient with his work, and so with Ian Fegan and Eran Nicols, he formed his own advertising company (KNF) in June 1971.
Thereafter, in December 1972, Kennett married Felicity Kellar, an old friend whom he had first met on a Number 69 tram on the long trips to school. Their first son was born in 1974, followed by a daughter and two more sons.
Political career
Kennett was elected as a Liberal Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Burwood in 1976, having had an interest in local politics since the early 1970s.[14] His preselection for the seat reportedly irritated then Premier Dick Hamer, who disliked Kennett's campaigning style, and had endorsed the sitting member, Haddon Storey. However, by 1981, Kennett was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Housing and Minister of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. He was one of several younger MPs whom Hamer promoted to Cabinet in a bid to renew his government. Kennett retained his post when Hamer was replaced as Liberal leader and Premier by Lindsay Thompson in June of that year. Following the defeat of the longstanding Liberal government in 1982, Kennett was the leading candidate to replace Thompson despite being the youngest member of the outgoing government. On 26 October, he was elected leader of the Liberal Party and hence Leader of the Opposition. He took an aggressive posture against the Cain government, and was often criticised for his "bull-in-a-china-shop" style and his anti-government rhetoric.
Under his leadership, the Liberals were heavily defeated by Labor in 1985. Afterwards he faced a challenge to his leadership of the party from Ian Smith. Kennett survived easily, but increasingly, he was seen as an erratic and unapproachable leader. He faced two more challenges to his leadership in 1986 and 1987. In 1987, in one notable incident Kennett referred to the Federal Liberal leader John Howard as a 'cunt' in a mobile telephone conversation with Howard rival Andrew Peacock. The car-phone conversation damaged both Howard and Kennett politically, but aided Peacock in his push to return as Federal Liberal leader (1989).
Toward the end of its second term the Cain government had lost support and the Liberals were expected to win the 1988 election. The Liberal vote indeed rebounded strongly – they won a majority of the two-party vote – however much of this margin was wasted on landslide majorities in their heartland. As a result, the Liberals took only one seat from Labor in the capital, and were left four seats short of a majority. Failing to become premier, Kennett was again criticised within his own party, and in 1989 he was deposed in favour of a little-known rural MLA, Alan Brown.
Kennett's performance during his first stint as Liberal leader is a matter of debate. Economou sees his 1985 and 1988 election campaigns as weak, while Parkinson believes he was a significant asset in pushing the Labor government of John Cain in several key seats.
First term as premier
Kennett publicly pledged never to attempt a return to the Liberal leadership. However, when Brown proved unable to challenge the government effectively, he allowed his supporters to call a spill in 1991. Brown realised he didn't have enough support to keep his post and resigned, allowing Kennett to retake the leadership unopposed.
With Victoria facing billions of dollars of debt, Kennett was seen as "Premier-in-waiting" from the moment he retook the leadership. Cain had resigned a year earlier in favour of Deputy Premier Joan Kirner, who was unable to regain the upper hand despite being personally more popular than Kennett. The Liberals' advantage was strengthened by an important decision taken during Brown's brief tenure as leader—negotiating a Coalition agreement with the National Party. The Liberals and Nationals have historically had a strained relationship in Victoria; they had sat separately for most of the second half of the 20th century. It had been believed that Kennett had been denied victory in 1988 due to a large number of three-cornered contests in rural seats.
The Coalition went into the October 1992 state election as unbackable favourites, having been ahead in opinion polling by large margins for almost two years. They stoked the voters' anger with a series of "Guilty Party" ads, targeting many Labor ministers and highlighting concerns in their portfolios. In the second-largest defeat that a sitting government has ever suffered in Victoria, the Coalition scored a 19-seat swing, attaining a 16-seat majority in the Legislative Assembly. The Liberals won 52 seats, enough for a majority in their own right. Nevertheless, Kennett supported his coalition partner, retaining the Nationals in his cabinet.
State school closures
In the first three years of office, funding for public schools and the Department of Education was substantially reduced. 350 government schools were closed, including every Technical High School ("Tech") in Victoria, and 7,000 teaching jobs eliminated. The Tech School closures had a widespread, delayed effect two decades later when a skilled labour shortage in the state was declared by the government, attributable largely to the generation of children who were denied a trade-focused high school education, significantly reducing the number of school leavers commencing trade apprenticeships. The few who did so were insufficient to counterbalance the number of retiring tradespeople in the coming years. This directly resulted in the number of Skilled Migrant (subclass 190) visas being made available each year increasing to 190,000 from 2012 and an active campaign to entice migrants with trade qualifications to Victoria.
Public transport
Other controversial moves included the sacking of 16,000 public transport workers in a major technological upgrade of the system, and the initiation of a major scheme for privatisation of state-owned services, including the electricity (SECV) and gas (Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria) utilities, the ambulance service, as well as several prisons and other minor services. The sale of the Totalisator Agency Board raised $609 million. Between 1995 and 1998, $29 billion of state assets in gas and electricity alone were sold to private enterprise (for statistics, see Parkinson, Jeff, 1999) In the wake of these changes, investment and population growth slowly resumed, though unemployment was to remain above the national average for the duration of Kennett's premiership. While the benefits to the State budget figures were indisputable in the short term, the social and longer-term economic cost of the Kennett reforms have been questioned by many commentators, academics and those who suffered economically through the period of reform. This campaign of privatisations and cutbacks led to governmental acts of privatisation by splitting up Melbourne's rail (Hillside, Bayside, V/Line and West Coast Rail) and tramways (Yarra and Swanston) or budget-cutting becoming popularly known as being "Jeffed". He also cut back many regional rail services including The Vinelander (ran to Mildura, services later restored to Maryborough as a regular V/Line service in 2011) and services to Leongatha, Bairnsdale (returned in 2003), Dimboola (services later returned to Ararat in 2004).
The largest public protest in Melbourne since the Vietnam War Moratorium occurred on 10 November 1992, with an estimated 100,000 people marching in opposition to the retrenchment of many workers and the large State budget cutbacks. Kennett was undeterred by this protest, and famously commented that though there were 100,000 outside his office at Parliament that day, there were 4.5 million who stayed at home or at work.
High-profile capital works projects
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The Kennett government also embarked on a series of high-profile capital works projects, such as the restoration of Parliament House, construction of a new $250 million Melbourne Museum and IMAX theatre, and a new $130 million Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Other projects included a $160 million expansion of the National Gallery of Victoria; $100 million for refurbishment of the State Library of Victoria; $65 million for a new Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC); and $130 million for the construction of a new civic square on the site of the old Gas and Fuel Buildings, to be known as Federation Square.
The relocation of the Formula 1 Grand Prix from Adelaide in 1993 was a particular coup for Kennett, who had worked hard with his friend Ron Walker, the Chairman of the Melbourne Major Events Company, helped deliver Melbourne the hosting rights for the event from Adelaide in 1993.
The most controversial project of the Kennett era was the $1.85 billion Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex, a gambling and entertainment centre on Melbourne's Southbank. Initial plans for a casino had been made under the Labor government, however the tendering process and construction occurred under Kennett.
A$2 billion project to redevelop Melbourne's derelict Docklands area to include a new football stadium was also undertaken, in addition to the large CityLink project, a project resurrected from the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan, aimed at linking Melbourne's freeways, easing traffic problems in the inner city, and reducing commuting times from the outer suburbs to the CBD.
Macedonian name dispute
Kennett speaking at a event
In the mid-1990s, Premier Kennett backed the Greek position over the Macedonian question in his attempts to shore up local electoral support. Kennett's stance gained him supporters from the Melburnian Greek community, whereas he was referred to as "Kennettopoulos" by the Macedonian community.
At Kennett's insistence, his state government in 1994 issued its own directive that all its departments refer to the language as "Macedonian (Slavonic)" and to Macedonians as "Slav Macedonians". Reasons given for the decision were "to avoid confusion", be consistent with federal naming protocols toward Macedonians and repair relations between Macedonian and Greek communities. It was accepted that it would not impact the way Macedonians self identified themselves. The decision upset Macedonians, as they had to use the terms in deliberations with the government or its institutions related to education and public broadcasting. The Macedonian Community challenged the decision on the basis of the Race Discrimination Act. After years of litigation at the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), the Federal Court and High Court, previous judicial rulings were upheld that found Kennett's directive unlawful as it caused discrimination based on ethnic background and was struck down from usage in 2000.
Second term as premier
Kennett's personal popularity was mostly average to high through his first term, though that of the government as a whole went through peaks and troughs. Without a by-election in the previous four years, the 1996 state election shaped up as the first test of the 'Kennett Revolution' with the electorate. The Coalition was expected to win a second term at the 30 March election, albeit with a somewhat reduced majority. At the federal election held four weeks earlier, while Labor was heavily defeated, it actually picked up a swing in Victoria.
However, to the surprise of most commentators, the Coalition only suffered a two-seat swing, allowing it to retain a comfortable 14-seat majority. The Coalition actually picked up modest swings in Melbourne's outer suburbs, which have traditionally decided most state elections. Several negative trends (for the Liberals) were obscured somewhat by the euphoria of victory. The government's sharp cuts to government services were particularly resented in country Victoria, where the Liberals and Nationals held almost all the seats. The loss of the Mildura seat to independent Russell Savage was an indication of this disaffection, and when in February 1997 independent Susan Davies was elected to the seat of Gippsland West, this trend seemed set to continue.
However, the verdict of many was that the 'Kennett Revolution' was far from over – indeed it was seemingly set in stone with the opening of the Crown Casino in May 1997. Kennett's profile continued to grow as he became a major commentator on national issues, including urging the new government of John Howard to introduce tax reform, and actively opposing the rise of the One Nation Party of Pauline Hanson. In this last case, Kennett did not shy away from criticising the media, but also the decision of the Howard government to not actively oppose Hanson's agenda.
Kennett was influential in Melbourne bidding for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Three cities initially expressed interest in hosting the event; Melbourne, Wellington and Singapore. Singapore dropped out before its bid was officially selected by the Commonwealth Games Federation, leaving only two candidate cities. In the weeks prior to the announcement of the 2006 host, Wellington withdrew its bid, citing the costs involved with matching the bid plan presented by Melbourne, which became the default host without members of the Federation going to vote.
The government lost ground over the next few years, with high-profile disagreements with the Director of Public Prosecutions Bernard Bongiorno, and Auditor-General Ches Baragwanath fuelling criticism of Kennett's governmental style. Kennett's perceived antipathy to Baragwanath led to 1997 legislation to restructure the office of the Auditor-General and set up Audit Victoria. While Kennett promised the independence of the office would be maintained, many saw his government's actions as an attempt to curb the Auditor-General's power to criticise government policy. Widespread community debate and substantial public dissent from Liberal MPs and Party members ensued, with MLA Roger Pescott resigning from Parliament at the height of the debate; citing his disagreement with this Bill and Kennett's style in general. The Liberal Party lost the by-election in Mitcham.
Further scandals involving the handling of contracts for the state emergency services response system damaged the credibility of Kennett in 1997–1998, while rural dissent continued to grow.
Personal difficulties also began to affect Kennett and his family. The strains of public life led to a trial separation between Felicity and Jeff in early 1998 (patched up by the end of the year), while earlier in Kennett's first term, public scrutiny had led to the forced sale of the KNF Advertising Company, despite all Kennett's involvement having been transferred to his wife's name. There were rumours in 1998 that Kennett might retire from politics; these were mostly centred around Phil Gude, his party deputy. These eventually came to nothing.
In July 1998, Liberal MP Peter McLellan, Member for Frankston East, resigned from the party in protest over alleged corrupt Liberal Party Senate preselection, changes to WorkCover and the auditor-general's office. Again, Kennett failed to pick up the warning signs of declining support for his style of leadership.
Labor leader John Brumby took care to capitalise on each of Kennett's mistakes over this period, though his absences in rural electorates were misunderstood by many Labor MPs, and led to his replacement by Steve Bracks in early 1999. Bracks, who came from Ballarat, was popular in rural areas and was seen as a fresh alternative to Brumby, who nevertheless remained a key figure in the shadow Cabinet.
1999 election loss
Despite Bracks' appeal, Kennett entered the 1999 election campaign with a seemingly unassailable lead, and most commentators and opinion polls agreed that the Coalition would win a third term.
However, in a shock result, the Coalition suffered a 13-seat swing to Labor. While there was only a modest swing in eastern Melbourne, which has historically decided elections in Victoria, the Coalition suffered significant losses in regional centres such as Ballarat and Bendigo. ABC elections analyst Antony Green later said that when he first saw the results coming in, it looked so unusual that he thought "something was wrong with the computer."
Initial counting showed Labor on 41 seats and the Coalition on 43; a supplementary election had to be held in Frankston East following the death of sitting independent Peter McLellan. The balance of power rested with three independents-Russell Savage, Susan Davies and newly elected Craig Ingram. Negotiations began between the Coalition and the three independents. While Kennett acceded to all but two of their demands, his perceived poor treatment of Savage and Davies in the previous parliament meant that they would not even consider supporting a Coalition minority government headed by Kennett. On 18 October, two days after Labor won the supplementary election in Frankston East, the independents announced they would support a Labor minority government. The agreement entailed Labor signing a Charter of Good Government, pledging to restore services to rural areas, and promising parliamentary reforms.
Kennett's supporters urged the Coalition to force a vote of 'no confidence' on the floor of the parliament in a last-ditch effort to force Savage, Davies and Ingram to support Kennett. However, with the Liberals divided on Kennett's future role, Kennett retired from all of his offices, saying he wished to have no further involvement in politics. Labor won the ensuing by-election in Burwood.
Rumoured returns to politics
Following the Liberals' second successive defeat in the 2002 election, rumours began that Kennett was planning a comeback to politics. The issue came to a head in May 2006 after the sudden resignation of Kennett's successor, Robert Doyle, when Kennett announced he would contemplate standing in a by-election for Doyle's old seat of Malvern and offering himself as party leader. His stance was supported by Prime Minister John Howard, who rated him as the party's best hope to win the November 2006 state election. But within 24 hours Kennett announced he would not return to Parliament rather than running against Ted Baillieu, whom Kennett had been grooming for the top post since 1999. John Howard was reported to have been "embarrassed" by having publicly supported Kennett before his decision not to re-enter politics.
In 2008, it was rumoured that Kennett was planning to stand for Lord Mayor of Melbourne. Despite endorsing future Lord Mayor John So in the 2001 mayoral elections, Kennett was quoted as saying "I think the city is ready for a change". Kennett claimed he had been approached by "a range of interests" to run for the position, but in the end did not do so. Former Liberal leader Robert Doyle ultimately won the election.
2020: Indigenous voice to government
On 15 January 2020, it was announced that Kennett would be one of the members of the National Co-design Group of the Indigenous voice to government.
Life after politics
Kennett at the 2018 VFL Grand Final
In 2000, Kennett became the inaugural chairman of beyondblue (the National Depression Initiative), a body that was largely formed by the efforts of the Victorian State Government. On 24 June 2008, he announced that he would be stepping down from his role at beyondblue at the end of 2010. This did not happen. After 17 years as the chair of beyondblue, he stood down in 2017, handing the reins to former PM Julia Gillard. He stated "beyondblue is part of my DNA, outside my family, it has been my most important role.
Kennett has previously served on the boards of Australian Seniors Finance, a reverse mortgage company, and SelecTV, which was a satellite television group.
Kennett has said in an interview that he rarely thinks about the media or "bloody history", though he regrets the "disastrous" introduction of the Metcard ticketing system for trains and trams.
Kennett angered gay rights groups in July 2008 when he supported the Bonnie Doon Football Club in their sacking of trainer Ken Campagnolo for being bisexual; and compared homosexuality to pedophilia. Anti-discrimination campaigner Gary Burns pursued an action in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal against Kennett for making the following statement:
"The club felt that once this had been pointed out and you had this gentleman there who was obviously close to young men – massaging young men – it ran an unnecessary risk, and that's why it decided it was best that he not perform those duties again. So the club was trying to do the right thing,"
The case was dropped due to Gary Burns' lack of funds to pursue the case.
Hawthorn FC presidency
On 14 December 2005, Kennett was made president of Hawthorn Football Club, taking over from Ian Dicker.
Following the exit of the St Kilda Football Club from the Tasmanian AFL market in 2006, Kennett was president when the Hawthorn Football Club negotiated a five-year sponsorship deal with the Tasmanian state government. The sponsorship deal was worth an estimated $12 million for which the Tasmanian government bought naming rights to the club's guernsey, and the HFC committed to playing an agreed number of pre-season and four regular season "home games" at York Park.[56]
Kennett was instrumental in Hawthorn's 2007 5-year business plan titled "five2fifty", the core idea being that in the next five years the club will target to win 2 premierships and have fifty thousand members. As part of the plan, the football club wants to be seen as the most professional club in the AFL, and places great emphasis on the welfare of the people associated with the club.
Following Hawthorn's 2008 AFL Grand Final victory over Geelong, Kennett claimed that the Cats "lacked the mentality to defeat Hawthorn", this being in reference to the Cats' inability to counter-attack the running game of the Hawks in the aforementioned Grand Final. Kennett's comments led to the subsequent eleven-match losing streak for Hawthorn against Geelong becoming known as the "Kennett curse".
He stepped down at the end of his second three-year term in 2011, he also changed the club's constitution so that presidents could only serve two 3-year terms.
Second stint
Kennett at an AFL Women's match in 2023
In what Fox Footy described as a "stunning return",[59] Kennett was announced as the president of the Hawthorn Football Club on 4 October 2017 following the sudden resignation of the incumbent president Richard Garvey. Garvey had taken criticism on the hiring and later sacking of club CEO Tracey Gaudry. Kennett subsequently appointed Justin Reeves as the club's new CEO.
On 4 October 2017 he announced that he would serve the position for a full 3-year term.
Soon after his re-appointment, Kennett and the club released a vision statement outlining the future of the club up to 2050. The first five-year strategic plan titled 'Dare to be Different' will drive the club's priorities from 2018 to 2022.
Kennett said:
"Hawthorn we aren't ones to sit back and wait, we work hard to achieve and deliver exciting results, on and off the field. Our vision for our strategic plan, "Dare to be Different", encapsulates this as we continue to strive for excellence. "We have set ourselves some ambitious targets but all are within our grasp if we continue to innovate, grow and forge new frontiers within the AFL industry."
On 6 July 2021, Kennett and the Hawthorn board announced that they would not be renewing head coach Alastair Clarkson's contract following its expiry at the conclusion of the 2022 AFL Premiership season. It was announced that Box Hill Hawks and Hawthorn development coach, former player Sam Mitchell had been chosen by Kennett and the board to become the Hawthorn coach at the end of Clarkson's reign.
Chairman of The Original Juice Company
On 12 December 2022, The Original Juice Company announced that it would appoint Kennett as Chairman and Non-Executive Director.
Honours
In the Australia Day Honours of 2005, Kennett received Australia's then highest civilian honour, when he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC). The honour was for "service to the Victorian Parliament and the introduction of initiatives for economic and social benefit, to business and commerce, and to the community in the development of the arts, sport and mental health awareness strategies."
In May 2000, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate – DBus (Honoris Causa) – by the University of Ballarat.
Media work
For a brief period during 2002, Kennett was a radio presenter for Melbourne station 3AK, continuing an interest in mass communication which was also a feature of his premiership.
Since 2010, Kennett has been a regular contributor to Neil Mitchell's 3AW radio program every Thursday, as a social commentator.
On 28 March 2013 it was announced that Kennett had joined the Seven television network as national political commentator which will involve him appearing on breakfast show Sunrise every Tuesday and on Seven news as required.
On 12 February 2017 Jeff Kennett engaged ex-Seven West Media employee on Twitter over leaked documents potentially breaching the company's own gag order on Amber Harrison.
Lester Ellis (born 15 March 1965) is a British-born Australian former professional boxer. He is one-time world champion and four-times minor titles winner, having also held the Australian and Commonwealth (twice) titles.
At the age of 19, In 1985, Ellis fought and beat then-reigning IBF, super featherweight champion Hwan-Kil Yuh over fifteen rounds. In 1993 he won the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) welterweight title against Rocky Berg. Ellis faced and defeated Al Coquille in 1994 for the vacant IBO light welterweight title. Ellis went on to win another two IBO world titles, both in different weight divisions. One in 1995 against Amado Cabato at lightweight and Cabato at lightweight and another at light middleweight against Eric Alexander.
YOUR VOICE NEEDS TO BE HEARDParents, Grandparents, Teacher's past and present even students past and present. Your voice needs to be heard. Please email in your accounts and experiences with your school, it is vital our stories are told. The more accounts we can get in and publish on this site will give further weight to our message. Or if you would like to contact us to assist with the campaign and find out what you can do.
Email us at info@leaveourkidzalone.org
This site is dedicated to informing parents of the immoral and depraved agenda, being perpetrated on our innocent children, by providing access to resources that are imperative to use, to raise awareness to every morally obliged and protective parent.
The sexualized indoctrination of your children and grandchildren, is an attack on their innocence and also an attack on the moral fabric of our society.
Unbelievably, Governments and politicians enable and encourage this attack on innocence.
The Victorian Education Department is one of the main protagonists in this push to sexually indoctrinate your children, all under the lie and trojan horse of Diversity and Inclusion.
Your rightful concerns are met with contempt and disdain from Principals and Teachers, who are fully aware of what they are implementing and are happy to do so
Are you going to keep accepting this? Your children need you to stand up stronger than ever before.
The intent of this site is to collate and gather as much information as possible, to have as a point of reference for you to increase your awareness and knowledge of the real extent of the situation. Also suggestions of what you can do to push back and stand up for the moral rights of your children.
Are they important enough or are you going to keep accepting?
Over to you…
Roderick Owen (born 31 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda, Melbourne and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).
Owen, who had only recently turned 16 when he made his league debut for St Kilda in 1983 against North Melbourne at Arden St Oval, suffered from various injuries early in his career and missed the entire 1985 VFL season. Owen had to wait until his 17th game, in 1986, to experience a win, with St Kilda having lost the previous 16 games he had played in. A Mentone Grammar recruit, Owen kicked a career high 39 goals in 1987, the second most by a St Kilda player that year behind Tony Lockett.
After leaving St Kilda in 1990 Owen played out the season at Victorian Football Association (VFA) club Frankston and was then traded to Melbourne for Stephen Newport. He kicked two bags of five goals for Melbourne in 1991 against Carlton and North Melbourne. After just one year at Melbourne he was traded to Brisbane for the 1992 AFL season. Owen had a particularly strong game against Fitzroy at Princess Park when he kicked eight goals and six behinds, a club record against the Lions.
Once he finished in the AFL, Owen played for Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) side Wanderers Football Club, where he was club leading goalkicker in the 1994/95 season with 39 goals, also at Broadbeach Cats Cairns, Noosa Tigers and Cheltenham Football Clubs.
As a child in the 1970s, Owen attended Beaumaris Primary School, where he was one of a number of children to have been sexually assaulted by the school's librarian and sports coach, Darrell Ray. Trauma from these events, combined with the party culture at St Kilda in the 1980s, led to a decades-long battle with addiction to amphetamine and pain killers. In December 2000, Owen was sentenced to nine months in prison for assault, which he served at Dhurringile prison farm. Owen entered rehabilitation for his substance abuse issues in 2018, and has discussed his experiences with the media since the allegations against Ray from his time at Beaumaris PS become public in around 2020.
In later years Owen has worked as a concreter and boxer. In 2021, he received a written apology from the St Kilda FC relating to a lack of support for his personal issues during his time at the club. He has also pledged his brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank for post-mortem research
Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course at Port Douglas, Palmer Colonial Golf Course at Robina, and the Palmer Gold Coast Golf Course, also at Robina. He owned Gold Coast United FC from 2008 to 2012. Palmer created the Palmer United Party in April 2013, winning the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax in the 2013 Australian federal election and sitting as an MP for one term.
In 2018, after formally deregistering the party on 5 May 2017, Palmer revived his party as the United Australian Party, announcing that he would be running candidates for all 151 seats in the House of Representatives and later that he would run as a Queensland candidate for the Senate in the 2019 federal election, despite extensive advertising, he and his party won no seats. His party later contested the 2022 federal election, and won one seat in the Senate. The party was formally deregistered again in September 2022.
Palmer has frequently been involved in legal cases relating to his businesses, and once listed litigation as one of his hobbies in Who's Who. He at times has been involved in complex cases, and journalist Hedley Thomas has written that Palmer's "lawyers take legal steps, presumably on his instructions, that prolong litigation and rack up costs for the other side" which can result in his opponents being unable to continue their case due to a lack of resources. Palmer has argued that the litigation he is involved in is justified as it rights wrongs. Palmer also attempted to use litigation as a gag order against his workers in his now defunct Queensland Nickel refinery, promising to pay the money he owed them only if they agreed not to make any disparaging comments about him.
As of May 2023, Palmer was the fifth richest Australian, when The Australian Financial Review assessed his net worth at A$23.66 billion on the 2023 Rich List.
Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for Victoria from 2016 to 2019.
Hinch was elected to the Senate representing Victoria as the head of Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, at the 2016 federal election. Aged 72 at the time, Hinch was, when elected, the oldest federal parliamentarian ever to be elected for the first time. He lost his senate seat in the 2019 election.
He remained host of his weekly program Hinch Live until the election campaign period officially commenced, in a decision supported by Sky News Live. He has been the host of 3AW's Drive radio show, and a National Public Affairs commentator for the Seven Network on Sunday Night, Today Tonight and Sunrise.
Hinch has been convicted of contempt of court three times, serving two prison sentences and one sentence of house detention.
Desmond Vincent Tuddenham Desmond Vincent Tuddenham (born 29 January 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Early lifeTuddenham was born and raised in Ross Creek, Victoria, a country town near Ballarat. He and his twin brother, Basil, were two of a large family consisting of nine children (seven boys and two girls) to parents William and Anne Tuddenham.]
Tuddenham's upbringing was typical of country footballers who came from farming families. Before and after school and during weekends, he had to help with various farm chores. Sport, usually football or cricket, was played on Saturday, and the family attended church on Sundays.] The daily grind of farm work helped to strengthen Tuddenham's shoulders and arms, and a fanatical attitude to fitness hardened his body.
Tuddenham played cricket with five of his brothers for Ross Creek, and football for the Young Christian Worker's club in Ballarat. In the space of three seasons, he went from the under-14s to the under-19s side, and won the league's best and fairest trophy at 16. This attracted the attention of several VFL clubs.
Football careerTuddenham made his VFL debut in 1962 against North Melbourne at Arden Street Oval. His brand of football was fearless and tough, with a habit of grasping the football to his chest with his elbows sticking out dangerously. In recognition of his toughness and skills, Tuddenham was appointed Collingwood captain in 1966. In the semi-final against St Kilda, he kicked seven goals on Daryl Griffiths in a tense 10-point win to advance to the grand final. But St Kilda reversed the result two weeks later to take out the 1966 VFL grand final by one point, winning their first and only premiership so far.
Collingwood were eliminated from the 1967 finals by eventual runner-up Geelong in the first semi-final. The Magpies trailed by one point at three-quarter time, but the Cats kicked six goals to one in the final quarter to win by 30 points. Tuddenham was reported for striking Geelong defender Geoff Ainsworth on the head with his forearm in the last quarter by field umpire Jeff Crouch. He was found guilty and suspended for four matches.
In February 1970, Tuddenham and his deputy Len Thompson were involved in a pay dispute after they learned that Collingwood had recruited its first interstate player, Peter Eakins, from Western Australian club Subiaco for a sign-on fee of A$5,000 and A$5,000 a season for three years. That was A$2,000 more than Tuddenham was receiving as captain.] Tuddenham asked for A$8,000 over three seasons, and Thompson A$30,000 over five seasons, threatening to walk out if their demands were not met. Three weeks later, during which time there had been no negotiations, both players returned. Although their demands had not been met they did obtain a slightly improved salary; under the clubs terms, Tuddenham would receive A$125 per match plus VFL provident fund payments, and Thompson would earn A$105 per match.
Although Tuddenham was confident the little episode would not affect his chances of retaining the captaincy, the Magpies committee announced Terry Waters as captain for the 1970 VFL season and Tuddenham accepted the decision. Collingwood finished on top of the ladder with 18 wins and defeated arch-rivals Carlton in a semi-final by 10 points to advance to the grand final. However, as had happened four years earlier against St Kilda, Carlton would reverse the result in the 1970 VFL grand final, coming from 44 points down at half-time to overrun Collingwood in the second half. Tuddenham was regarded among Collingwood's best players on the day. During the game he accidentally floored teammate Peter McKenna in the second quarter with a hip-and-shoulder bump meant for a Carlton player. McKenna had kicked five goals up to that stage of the game and would only add one more for the rest of the match.
In an interview 40 years later, Tuddenham cited a lack of fitness, as well as inaccurate kicking for goal, as the main reason Collingwood lost:
"I suggested to (coach) Bob Rose after we lost the 1966 Grand Final to St Kilda by a point that he do the coaching and I look after the fitness along with my friend John Toleman. The idea was that I would be an assistant coach, and I'll tell you what, I would have got the buggers fit."
In 1971, Tuddenham became the first player to be named captain of the VFL representative team whilst not captain of his own club. When asked about this, state coach Tom Hafey replied bluntly: "We are not here to talk about Collingwood's mistakes."
Tuddenham stayed with the club for a further season before moving to Essendon as captain-coach. He played four seasons for the Bombers before returning to Collingwood for his final two seasons.
In 1978, Tuddenham was appointed senior coach of South Melbourne for a season, replaced by Ian Stewart when he failed to take the club to the finals. He coached VFA second division club Werribee to the finals in 1988, but left after he and the club concluded a playing coach would be better suited to the club's needs.
Post-football careerTuddenham ran a plastics manufacturing business, which he sold in 1979. He later worked as a scrap-metal dealer.
ControversySince retirement, Tuddenham has been in trouble with the law on several occasions.
- In December 1980, he was found guilty by a County Court jury of having received stolen tyres valued at $30,000 and was remanded in custody.
- In June 1989, he pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to defraud the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce of $13,000. He told the magistrate that he was "guilty on the grounds I was helping out a friend in trouble".
- In July 2004, it was reported that he had received a two-month sentence suspended for two years for his third drink driving offence. He was ordered to pay a A$500 fine and had his driving license cancelled for 30 months.
- In December 2017, he pleaded guilty and was convicted of drink driving, having been found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.055 after drinking "three beers" at a football function.
Personal lifeTuddenham has four children. One of them, Paul, played 40 games for Collingwood from 1987 to 1991.
LegacyTuddenham was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008.In 2009, The Australian nominated Tuddenham as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow Medal.
Aisha Paris SmithSomatic sexologist, bodyworker and life coach. Aisha blends her conscious approach to life with the profound experience of being in a body. She embraces all that it means to be a human with flesh, blood, bones, ego and eros. She experiences every day the wisdom of her body and has seen clients transform through the power of somatic methods.
Aisha specialises in hands-on sex coaching, offering her clients a direct and practical approach to reconnecting with and reclaiming all aspects of their bodies. For Aisha, this work is about more than pleasure - it’s also about finding safety, freeing self-expression and integrating shadow.
She works with the principle that when we can be with and integrate all parts of ourselves, we will each have a greater sense of who we are, where our individual purpose and pleasure lie and how to create a life we love.
She came into this work inspired to support couples create a relationship that works on all levels. Today, her clientele ranges from couples to teenagers and the elderly - people of all ages, descriptions and identities.
Aisha is fully accredited by the ACSB and a professional member of the Association of Somatic & Integrative Sexologists.
There are few Australian performers who deserve the title of ‘genuine entertainer’ as much as Bobby Valentine. The larger-than-life Valentine is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, band-leader and raconteur who has been, as the title of his new show notes, ‘getting paid for it’ for thirty years.
Anyone that has witnessed Bobby’s talents first hand will tell you that he most certainly earns his money! His huge, soulful voice and charismatic stage presence hark back to the era of the ‘song and dance man’ and he has no difficulty doing justice to the works of great artists and singers from Ray Charles to Hank Williams.
For 30 Years of Getting Paid for It, Bobby has put together an all-star 5 piece combo from the colleagues that he jokes “are still talking to me”. The show itself covers music from much of the twentieth century in styles ranging from jazz and blues to country, rock, pop and soul. In typical Valentine style it will be all about the audience – and all about the music.
David Mann AM
December 17, 2023 marks 50 years at 3AW for David Mann. Mann is potentially the longest serving person at a single radio station, and perhaps also for the multiple roles he has held there either full time, part time, or now as Mann About Town.
Mann started as an office boy just before Christmas in 1973, before being promoted to panel operator, then given a journalism cadetship. The cadetship led to an on air role for two decades. He also was production manager, creative director and the promotions and marketing manager for 23 years, holding other positions such as Chairman of the Victorian Radio Time Club.
During the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 3AW dropped all regular programming and used their immediacy to offer on the spot assistance. A fundraiser that followed, which Mann was heavily involved in, raised more than $1 million to distribute to people who had been left with nothing.
Mann also supports people during and after disasters in an operational capacity with more than three decades of service to the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Ambulance Victoria and the Victorian Police Force. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2006 for “service to the community through a range of police, nursing, heritage and emergency services organisations” and in June 2018 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). This year also marks the 35th that Mann has been a volunteer part of the Pensioners Christmas Party, conducted every Christmas day and looking after senior citizens and single parents.
Mann said:
“When the world is bad, radio is good. The 3AW team, listeners and sponsors make a difference to those in need. It’s still one of the most powerful mediums around and I’m very proud to be a part of the number one station in Melbourne.”
Nicky Whelan is an Australian actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Laurie Mitchell in Chosen (2013), and Pepper Steiger in Australian soap opera Neighbours (2006–2007).
Before Neighbours, Whelan hosted a number of shows, including Coxy's Big Break (Seven Network), Beyond the Boundary (Network Ten), and Melbourne Woman (Seven Network), and played the fictional celebrity "Chrissie Grant" on Russell Coight's Celebrity Challenge, a spin-off of All Aussie Adventures.[citation needed] Whelan is also known as the face of the rural Victorian city, Shepparton, and she hosted the night racing at Moonee Valley for eight years.[citation needed] Whelan has also posed for a number of Australian magazines, including FHM (in October 2007), Ralph (in November 2005) and Inside Sport. In November 2007, Whelan made a special appearance in Harrow, London, to promote sustainable transport and initiatives that benefit the environment. She also shot some photos for Harrow's 'It's Up to All of Us' campaign.
After leaving Neighbours, Whelan moved to Los Angeles. She made guest appearances in episodes of Entourage and Melrose Place, before securing a role in the final season of Scrubs as Maya, an Australian medical-school student, Whelan also stars in the 2010 film Hollywood & Wine alongside David Spade. In November 2010, Whelan appeared in a viral advertisement for Rökk Vodka alongside The Lonely Island. Whelan got her "big break" in the 2011 film Hall Pass, in which she played Leigh, the love interest of Owen Wilson's character. In October 2011, Whelan guest-starred as an attractive telemarketing temp in the episode "Temp-Tress" of the American sitcom Workaholics.
In 2014, Whelan starred in the short-lived action drama series Matador, as well as the apocalyptic thriller film Left Behind as Hattie Durham. The following year, she appeared in comedy film The Wedding Ringer and Terrence Malick's drama film Knight of Cups. In 2017, Whelan appeared in the horror film Tragedy Girls. She also filmed the 2020 mystery drama film Love by Drowning in which she plays the lead.
Whelan starred in betting advertisements on Australian television for BetEasy.
Whelan was born in Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is the granddaughter of Marcus Whelan, who played in the Victorian Football League between the 1930s and 1940s.
In 2016, Whelan became engaged to American football player Kerry Rhodes. Whelan and Rhodes were married in Los Angeles on 15 April 2017. In October 2017, Whelan confirmed that she had left Rhodes and the couple had separated. They divorced that same year.
In her spare time, Whelan also trains boxing as well as Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Paul L. Weston (born 9 April 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as Glenelg, West Torrens and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.
Weston started his career at Glenelg whilst still studying at Glengowrie High School. He quickly established himself as a key player, winning the club best and fairest in 1976 and taking the captaincy in 1979 at only 21 years of age. However, premiership success was elusive; during his time with the Tigers, Weston was a member of five losing grand finals – in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981 and 1982. Frustrated by the lack of premiership success in his home state, Weston decided to try his luck in Victoria. Essendon won the race to recruit Weston and he relocated to Melbourne in January 1983 to begin training with the club. However, there was a disagreement with the transfer fee; Glenelg had asked for AUD 175,000, but Essendon's offer was around AUD 90,000. The case was taken to the National Football League Appeals Board, which in March 1983 set an undisclosed compromise fee that both Essendon and Glenelg were expected to agree on. Weston said afterward: "I am very relieved and happy ... I can now get on with the business of playing football instead of worrying about court cases."
Weston had played mostly as a centreman at Glenelg, but became a key defender while at Essendon. Weston made an immediate impression at his new club, winning the most consistent player award in his first season. But it seemed the curse of losing grand finals had followed him; Essendon were thrashed by Hawthorn in the 1983 VFL Grand Final. Weston, and Essendon, had their revenge when they won back-to-back premierships against Hawthorn in 1984 and 1985. He was a South Australian State of Origin representative and won a Fos Williams Medal in 1982 for his performance against Western Australia at Football Park. Weston returned to South Australia in 1986 to take up a captain-coach role at West Torrens for three seasons, one of the last of his kind. He finished his football career with Norwood.
Joseph Dolce; born October 13, 1947) is an American-Australian singer, songwriter, poet and essayist.
Dolce achieved international recognition with his multi-million-selling novelty song, "Shaddap You Face", released worldwide under the name of his one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, in 1980–1981. The single reached number one in 15 countries. It has sold more than 450,000 copies in Australia and continues to be the most successful Australian-produced single worldwide, selling an estimated six million copies. It reached No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for eight weeks from November 1980.
1947–1977: Early yearDolce was born in 1947 in Painesville, Ohio, the eldest of three children to Italian American parents. He graduated from Thomas W. Harvey High School in 1965. During his senior year, he played the lead role of Mascarille in Moliere's Les Précieuses Ridicules for a production staged by the French Club of Lake Erie Frie College, which was his first time on stage, acting and singing an impromptu song he created from the script. The play was well-received and his performance was noted by director Jake Rufli, who later invited him to be part of his production of Jean Anouilh's Eurydice.
His co-star in Les Précieuses Ridicules was a sophomore on a creative writing scholarship at Lake Erie College, Carol Dunlop, who introduced him to folk music, poetry and the writings of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Dunlop later married the Argentine novelist Julio Cortazar. Dolce attended Ohio University, majoring in architecture, from 1965 to 1967 before deciding to become a professional musician.
While attending college at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, he formed various bands including Headstone Circus, with Jonathan Edwards who subsequently went on as a solo artist to have a charting hit song in the US ("Sunshine"). Edwards subsequently recorded five Dolce songs including, "Athens County", "Rollin' Along", "King of Hearts", "The Ballad of Upsy Daisy" and "My Home Ain't in the Hall of Fame", the latter song becoming an alt country classic, also recorded by Robert Earl Keen, Rosalie Sorrels, JD Crowe & the New South and many others.
1978–1984: Move to Australia, "Boat People" and "Shaddap You Face"Dolce relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1978 and his first single there was "Boat People"—a protest song on the poor treatment of Vietnamese refugees—which was translated into Vietnamese and donated to the fledgling Vietnamese community starting to form in Melbourne. His one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, was performed in cabarets and pubs with various line-ups, including his longtime partner, Lin Van Hek.
In July 1980, he recorded the self-penned 'Shaddap You Face", for the Full Moon Records label, at Mike Brady's new studios in West Melbourne. When in Ohio, Dolce would sometimes visit his Italian grandparents and extended family—they used the phrases "What's the matter, you?" and "Eh, shaddap", which Dolce adapted and used in the song. He wrote the song about Italians living in Australia and first performed it at Marijuana House, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in 1979. It became a multi-million-selling hit, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for eight weeks from November 1980,in the UK from February 1981 for three weeks, and also No. 1 in Germany, France, Fiji, Puerto Rico, the Canadian province of Quebec, Austria, New Zealand and Switzerland. Dolce received the Advance Australia Award in 1981. The song has had hundreds of cover versions over the decades including releases by artists as diverse as Lou Monte, Sheila (France), Andrew Sachs (Manuel, of Fawlty Towers), actor Samuel L. Jackson and hip-hop legend KRS-One. In 2018, the first Russian language version was released by two of Moscow's most popular singers, Kristina Orbakaite and Philipp Kirkoroy. The song has been translated into fifteen languages, including an aboriginal dialect.
By February 1981, it had become Australia's best-selling single ever selling 290,000 copies, entering the Guinness Book of World Records and surpassing the previous record of 260,000 copies by Brady's own "Up There Cazaly".
"Shaddap You Face" has continued to be licensed and recorded by other artists and companies since its release in 1980 with its most recent appearance, in 2021, as part of the US series The Morning Show (aka, Morning Wars in Australia.)
Follow up single, "If You Wanna Be Happy" was released in 1981 and charted in Australia and New Zealand. In December 1981, Dolce released the album Christmas in Australia, which peaked at number 92 on the Australian chart.
1984–presentWith Lin Van Hek , he formed various performance groups including Skin the Wig, La Somnambule (1984) and the ongoing Difficult Women (1993). Van Hek and Dolce co-wrote "Intimacy", for the soundtrack of the 1984 film The Terminator, now part of the US Library of Congress collection. He was a featured lead actor in the Australian film Blowing Hot and Cold (1988). He has continued to perform solo and with Van Hek as part of their music-literary cabaret Difficult Women.
In 2010, two of his photos were selected for publication in the US journal, Tupelo Quarterly.
Since 2009, he has been a prolifically published poet in Australia. In 2010, he won the 25th Launceston Poetry Cup at the Tasmanian Poetry Festival. His poems were selected for Best Australian Poems 2014 & 2015. He was the winner of the 2017 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Health Poetry Prize, for a choral libretto, longlisted in the same year for the University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Poetry Prize and included in the Irises anthology. He longlisted for the 2018 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Poetry Prize and was included in the Silence anthology. He was Highly Commended for the 2020 ACU Poetry Prize] and included in the Generosity anthology. He was selected as the August 2020 City of Melbourne Poet Laureate.
Since 2018, he has been the television and film reviews editor for Quadrant magazine.
Russell Greene (born 30 May 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
He was just sixteen when he made his VFL debut in round 1, 1974 for St Kilda. After playing eight games with St Kilda in 1980, he joined Hawthorn for the rest of that season and was a key player during a successful decade for the club. He won the VFL Players Association. Most Valuable Player award, now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, as well as Hawthorn's best and fairest honours in 1984. Greene was chosen in the All-Australian team in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Greene's last game was the 1988 grand final win over Melbourne.
Greene has been involved at a few different clubs over the years, in 1994 at North Melbourne, Greene was the fitness advisor, a position he also held in 1997 at St. Kilda.
Since retiring from football, Greene has worked as a PE teacher, first at Melbourne Grammar School, and currently (2011 – present) at Marnebek School in Cranbourne.
Mark Robinson is an Australian sports journalist. He is the chief football writer for Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper, appears on the 1116 SEN radio station's pre-match Australian Football League (AFL) discussion and former co-hosts for Fox Footy's AFL 360 television program.
A junior footballer for the Sandhurst Dragons in Bendigo and the Horsham Saints in Horsham, Robinson began covering football in 1992. Throughout his career he has predominantly covered Australian rules football and has been the chief football writer for the Herald Sun since 2012 following the retirement of Mike Sheahan.
Robinson is former co-hosted the AFL 360 television program on Fox Footy from 2010 until his sacking at the end of 2024. He previously appeared regularly as a panelist on AFL Game Day from the show's launch in 2008 until 2011 when AFL 360 expanded to four nights a week through the AFL season.
Robinson was a panelist on many of the 1116 SEN radio station's shows, including The Run Home and match day AFL discussion until the end of the 2017 season.
In 2018, Robinson joined 3AW as a panelist on the Sunday Sport show alongside Daniel Harford and Jimmy Bartel.
In the latter half of 2021, Robinson experienced multiple cardiac episodes which required medical attention, including open heart surgery.
Robinson has been rumoured to have been involved in a variety of verbal and physical altercations with several fellow journalists, including Damian Barrett, Andy Maher and Michael Warner.
In June 2017, Robinson tweeted about Collingwood footballer Alex Fasolo when his struggles with severe depression became known, suggesting that the quickness of Fasolo's recovery was an indication he was faking his illness. He later deleted the tweet and apologised for what he said, with the Collingwood president later saying that Robinson ignored the club's medical advice when contacting Fasolo.
Sam Newman talks to Craig Willis - The Personal Life of Craig Willis.
Craig Willis (born 1954) is a former Australian announcer who has appeared as the voice of many of Network Ten / One HD and Seven Network's AFL Grand Final, Anzac Day and major Finals Broadcasts from the early 2000s to 2018. He is colloquially known as the 'voice of the AFL'.
Willis has also performed voiceovers at non-AFL major events, including the Melbourne Cup and is regarded as one of Australia's premier announcers. Willis is often a Master of Ceremonies and hosts the traditional Grand Final Breakfast, a fixture of the AFL grand final day. Additionally, he does voiceovers and is occasionally a fill in presenter on Melbourne radio station 3AW.
In 2000, he was the ground announcer at the Sydney Olympic Games, a role he also fulfilled at the Athens Olympics four years later.
Willis is also heavily involved in Tennis coverage and announces the players at the Australian Open. He also narrates the Fox Sports television show ATP Tennis and acted as a player announcer at the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). In recent times, he has become the voice of Bank of Melbourne for directing customers through call queue options.
Doug Hawkins AFL tips on round 24 and see if he wins a car with my bet. If Carlton beat Brisbane I will give him a car.
Fundraiser by Ian Cook : SlugGate: Help Ian Cook Fight Council Corruption In Court (gofundme.com)
Donate to Ian Cook and help small businesses for their rights. I did.
Few players have experienced triumph and trauma in their football careers to quite the same extent as Gary Dempsey. During his career, he was hospitalised with severe burns covering over fifty per cent of his body, caused by a failed attempt to repel bush fires threatening the family farm at Lara. Despite being told he would never play football again, he returned to the playing field where he would go on to win his first club best-and-fairest award in 1970. Dempsey would win the club best-and-fairest award five more times, underlining his importance to the underachieving Bulldogs.
Dempsey finished in the top 10 in the Brownlow Medal 13 times which demonstrates how consistently dominate he was spanning his entire career. Although he had won a number of individual awards, Dempsey yearned for team success and signed with North Melbourne in 1979, winning the club best-and-fairest in his first year there. He played out his career at the Kangaroos, playing 122 games for them, and retired in 1984. Dempsey was named an emergency in the Kangaroos Team of the Century. In 1996 Dempsey was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com.au
03 9917 5458
2/1 Orange Street
Williamstown North Vic 3016
Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open titles in 1997 and 1998, consecutive runner-up appearances at Wimbledon in 200 and 2001, winning the 1999 Australian Open men's doubles tournament alongside Jonas Bjorkman, and winning two singles and two doubles ATP Masters titles.
He became the first man in the Open Era to win Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters and the US Open in the same year, which he achieved in 1998; this achievement has been dubbed the American Summer Slam. To date, only two players have followed this feat: Andy Roddick in 2003, and Rafael Nadal in 2013. Rafter is the third man in the Open Era to reach semifinals or better of every Grand Slam tournament in both singles and doubles, after Rod Laver and Stefan Edberg, and remains the last man to date to accomplish this. Rafter is also the only player to remain undefeated against Roger Federer with at least three meetings, though the meetings took place early in Federer's career. He is also the only player with a winning record over the Swiss on all the three main surfaces: hard clay and grass.
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com
2/1 Orange Street
Williamstown North Vic 3016
03 9917 5458
Dane Swan (born 25 February 1984) is a former elite professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) Swan was drafted with pick 58 in the 2—1 AFL draft, and made his debut in Round 13, 2003 against the Western Bulldogs.
Known as a prolific ball-winner, Swan averaged almost 27 disposals per game over his career. Swan was a premiership player, a Brownlow Medalist, a three-time Copeland Trophy recipient, a Leigh Matthews Trophy recipient, and a five-time All-Australian.
Swan was notably runner-up in the 2017 reality TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!on Network Ten.
Early life
Swan was born in Melbourne to Billy and Deidre Swan. He is a direct descendant of Thomas Flanagan, an Irish convict transported to Australia in 1849. His father Billy Swan was a highly decorated footballer in the VFA, winning the J. J. Liston Trophy twice and playing a competition record 302 games with Port Melbourne and Williamstown from 1976 to 1993.
He grew up playing junior football for the West Meadows Football Club in the Essendon District Football League and attended St. Bernard’s College in Essendon before playing his under-18 football with the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup.
Swan's performances at the Calder Cannons were ordinary and he was perceived by some recruiters to be a larrikin with questionable kicking accuracy and work ethic, however, Collingwood showed an interest in him as a potential late maturer in the mould of his father.
Career
Swan was recruited by the Collingwood Football Club with pick 58 in the 2001 AFL draft. He made his debut in June 2003 at the age of 19, though he only played three games (against the Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Essendon). Swan managed just 30 games in his first four seasons in the system at Collingwood, and although he played some solid football in that time, he was not regarded as outstanding. He played much of this time with Williamstown, which was then Collingwood's VFL affiliate, and he was a member of its 2003 premiership team.
In 2006, he broke through, playing 21 games and finished sixth in the Copeland Trophy voting. Swan mainly rotated through the midfield and moved forward when required. His first nine weeks were productive, averaging nearly 26 disposals and kicked 15 goals, before a hamstring injury suffered against Brisbane Lions in round ten sidelined him until round thirteen.
2007 was considered his breakout season as he placed fourth in the Copeland Trophy and was a surprise packet at the Brownlow, leading for most of the night before finishing sixth with 20 votes.
2008
The 2008 Copeland Trophy winner had a strong year averaging twenty-five disposals, seven marks, three tackles and one goal a game. Swan led the team in total disposals (590) and kicks (368), second in marks (163), and third in handballs (222) and tackles (75). He had 14 games of 25 possessions or more and kicked two or more goals on six occasions. Round 10 against West Coast was one of Swan's best, collecting 34 possessions, 10 marks and two goals. In round 14 against Sydney, he had 30 touches and 13 marks.
2009
In the 2009 season, Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, 7.8 marks, 3.0 tackles and 5.4 inside-50s per game. He was one of the AFL's most prolific ball winners, along with being an in-and-under specialist winning the contested ball at most stoppages whilst also running hard.
In Collingwood's 2009 round 10 clash against Port Adelaide, Swan obtained 48 possessions, 22 kicks and 26 handballs. This was the best disposal count in a decade and was then the third highest-recorded disposals count in one match, behind Greg Williams' 53 and Tony Shaw's 50. It was a record since the length of game quarters was shortened from 25 minutes to 20 minutes in 1994, until surpassed in round 22, 2011 by Adelaide’s Scott Thompson (51 disposals).
He was ranked third for total inside-50s, fourth in total goal assists, first in total kicks, fourteenth in total handballs, first in total disposals, tenth in total marks, fifth in inside-50s per game, thirteenth in goal assists per game, second in kicks per game, second in disposals per game. He was voted runner-up at the AFLPA MVP awards (polling 584 votes), finishing behind Gary Ablett (688). He was regarded as one of the front-runners for the Brownlow Medal but finished outside the top ten.
Swan was selected in the 2009 All-Australia team, but controversially as a half forward flanker, rather than as a midfielder, which is his usual position.
2010
Swan averaged 31.8 disposals, including 19 kicks per game, totalling a then AFL record 820 disposals for the season. On 6 September, Swan won the AFL Players Association MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy) after a vote by the players. That year he was also elected as the ruck-rover for the All-Australian team. His consistent season was a cornerstone to Collingwood's fifteenth premiership, to the point of having his tattoos referenced on the Herald Sun premiership poster. Swan finished third in the Brownlow Medal count, having started favourite. On 31 October in the International Rules Series he won the Jim Stynes Medal. At the conclusion of the season, Swan became only the fourth-ever Collingwood player to win three consecutive Copeland Trophies.
2011
With Swan's contract at Collingwood due to expire at the end of 2011, there was much pre-season media speculation over a possible move to new AFL club Greater Western Sydney. This was put to rest during the lead-up week to the season's commencement when Collingwood announced that Swan had signed a new three-year deal, committing him to the club until the end of 2014. Swan started 2011 in the same good form as 2010. He attained 40 disposals in round 2 against North Melbourne but sustained a quad injury close to the midway point of the season and his form deteriorated. Collingwood decided to send Swan, with teammates Brent Macaffer, Darren Jolly and Nathan Brown, to a high-altitude training camp in Arizona in an attempt to help the players recover faster from their individual injuries. The trip proved effective for Swan, with an immediate effect on his playing performances. In the next six games after his return, he had an average of 35.3 disposals per game with a strong effort against Essendon with 45 possessions and a goal. He later won the 2011 Brownlow Medal with 34 votes—setting a new record for the most votes polled in a count under the 3–2–1 system, which was later surpassed by Patrick Dangerfield in 2016.
2012
Swan received some criticism early on in the 2012 season and was accused of being unfit and "too fat". In the annual Anzac Day clash, Swan won his first Anzac Day medal as best on ground after a one-point win over Essendon, with forty-two possessions, three goals and six tackles during the game Swan missed two games midway through the season due to a hamstring injury, then returned for the Queen’s Birthday clash in Round 11 against Melbourne, where he finished with a game high 42 possessions. Strong performances over the following two months saw Swan rise in the Brownlow Medal betting, to become one of the favourites behind Jobe Watson, Scott Thompson and Gary Ablett. Swan was later found to have broken a pledge made by the playing group to abstain from drinking alcohol for the remainder of the season. He was suspended for two games as a result. Swan had over 40 disposals in six different games, reaching a new career high of 49 against Hawthorn in the round 17 loss, he also didn't have below 25 disposals. Swan over the home and away season averaged 35.7 disposals (career high and AFL record since stats were recorded) and 1.2 goals a game. Despite missing four home and away games Swan still finished fourth in the Brownlow Medal count and averaged more votes per game than anyone else in the top ten. He was named on the bench in the All-Australian team, his fourth selection in his career.
2013
Swan started the season averaging 30 possessions in the first three matches. In round 4, Swan played his 200th AFL game against an unbeaten Richmond, producing an almost best on ground performance (thirty-five disposals, six marks and one goal) and was only bettered by teammate Travis Cloke, who kicked a career best seven goals. At the end of the year Swan averaged 31.2 disposals, 5.7 marks, 3.4 tackles, and 5.2 inside-50s per game. He finished first in overall disposals, and equal seventh in total inside-50s. Swan was selected as the ruck-rover in the 2013 All-Australian team, the fifth consecutive year he was included. Swan finished third in the Brownlow Medal with 26 votes, losing by two to the winner Gary Ablett, and one to second-placed Joel Selwood.
2014
After wrist surgery in the off season, Swan started the season slowly, with an average of 22 disposals in the first three rounds, including just sixteen disposals in round 2. It didn't take long for him to find his form though, including thirty-five disposals and eleven marks against North Melbourne, and twenty-six disposals and four goals against Essendon to earn him his second ANZAC medal.
2015
After 2014, a year that Swan described as putrid. He returned to career-best form in 2015, averaging twenty-nine disposals and one goal per game, as well as reaching the 250-game milestone. Swan notched 30 disposals in 11 games during 2015 and played every game in 2015 apart from Collingwood's round 23 clash against Essendon due to a knee injury he sustained the week before. Although Collingwood missed the finals, Swan arguably proved to critics that at the age of 31 he is still able to play high-quality football at an elite level.
2016
In the round one clash against Sydney, Swan was badly injured after landing awkwardly on his foot, breaking three bones, including a Lisfranc. The injury ruled him out of the rest of the season, and in August he announced his immediate retirement from the AFL.
Statistics
A prolific ball-winner, particularly in the latter part of his career, Swan lead the AFL in total disposals on four occasions and total kicks on five occasions. Swan accumulated an average of 26.85 disposals per game during his AFL career, which at the time of his retirement was the second-highest average of all time behind only Greg Williams (26.88 per game).
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com.au
03 9917 5458
2/1 Orange Street
Williamstown North Vic 3016
Mark Alexander Jackson (born 30 August 1959) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club, St Kilda Football Club and Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Known as "Jacko", Jackson's colourful and enigmatic personality often resulted in clashes with officials and teammates, which tended to overshadow the fact that he was also a capable full forward.
Following his football career, Jackson became notable for several television appearances, including commercials for Jenny Craig, Energizer and Nutri-Grain, along with several feature films. Jackson has also written an autobiography, Dumb Like a Fox, which was released in 1986.
Jackson was born at the Royal Woman's Hospital as one of six children to George Jackson and his wife Frances, and grew up in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Nunawading.
Football careerSouth Fremantle & Richmond (1979–1980)After playing colts and reserves football for Richmond in 1977 and 1978, Jackson started his senior career in the West Australian Football League, spending the 1979 season with South Fremantle. Coach Mal Brown employed Jackson as a forward to protect Ray Bauskis, a skillful but lightweight full-forward. Jackson kicked 53 goals in 22 games and Bauskis 66 in 17 games. South Fremantle finished second in 1979. The night before the second semi-final, Jackson returned to Melbourne after being told that the other players had voted him out of the team. He consequently missed out on playing in the 1979 grand final, which saw the then largest crowd in West Australian football history.
Jackson rejoined Richmond for the 1980 season. However, with Michael Roach and Brian Taylor at the club, there was no room for another full forward. Jackson spent the entire 1980 season playing in the reserves and kicked 131 goals.
Melbourne (1981–1982)Jackson moved to Melbourne for the 1981 season, coached by Ron Barassi. Jackson performed a handstand in front of the Hawks full back, Kelvin Moore, reportedly after Moore had told him he "wouldn’t be a full forward while his arse pointed to the floor". Jackson on Open Mike said it was not pointed at Moore, rather it was directed at umpire Glenn James after he disputed a decision. Jackson kicked 76 goals in each of his two years with the Demons, leading the goal kicking in 1981 and one goal less than Gerard Healy in 1982.
St Kilda (1983)In 1983, Jackson joined St Kilda on a three-year contract believed to have been worth $40,000 per year. He played in the first nine matches (in which the Saints lost the first eight matches in a row) and kicked 40 goals, including 10 in Round 5 against Sydney. However, controversy reared its head again when he was relegated to the reserves for "disciplinary reasons" in Round 10, and then returned for the Round 11 game against Collingwood, where he was held to one goal in a high-scoring 16-point loss. Jackson was again dropped to the reserves, and suffered a bruised chest during the Sunday game. On the Tuesday following that game, the Saints had told Jackson his services were no longer required. It was later revealed that, among other things, he had played a dangerous prank on club legend Trevor Barker by placing a brick behind the brake pedal in his car. He had also placed a lit cigarette butt in the pocket of club chairman Lindsay Fox in the social club.
Jackson spent the remainder of the year playing for the Melbourne Harlequins rugby side. However, his 41 goals were still enough to be the Saints' leading goal kicker for the 1983 season.
Geelong (1984–1986)1984 saw Jackson return to the VFL with Geelong. He led their goal kicking in 1984 with 74. In total during his time at Geelong, Jackson scored 115 goals in 31 games.
Geelong started 1985 poorly with one win in the first four rounds but improved with five wins in the next six rounds to be in fifth position. But after losing to Fitzroy in Round 11 they would spend the remainder of the season hovering just outside the Top Five, eventually finishing sixth on the ladder.
The Round 11 match against Hawthorn at Princess Park was overshadowed by various spiteful incidents, including Leigh Mattews king-hit on Geelong midfielder Neville Bruns behind play, leaving Bruns with a broken jaw. Although this incident was not reported at the time, video footage of the incident resulted in Matthews being charged with assault by Victoria Police and subsequently deregistered by the VFL for four matches. Jackson kicked four goals for the game to be the Cats' main scorer for the day, but was reported four times during the match:
- by boundary umpire Gower, boundary umpire O'Leary, goal umpire Bill Pryde and field umpire Ian Robinson for allegedly striking Gary Ayres in the final quarter;
- by goal umpire Pryde for allegedly striking Chris Langford on two separate occasions during the final quarter;
- by field umpire Robinson for allegedly striking Chris Mew in the final quarter; and
- by field umpire Robinson for allegedly striking Chris Langford in the final quarter.
At the VFL Tribunal hearing on the Monday following the game, Jackson was suspended for a total of eight matches, stemming from outcomes of three of the charges:
- He pleaded guilty to the charge from four umpires of striking Ayres (two-match suspension).
- He pleaded not guilty to striking Mew and was severely reprimanded
- The third charge of striking Langford by goal umpire Pryde was upheld (two-match suspension)
- He pleaded guilty to the fourth charge of striking Langford (four-match suspension).
After kicking six goals in the first round of 1986 and two in the second round, he retired after his omission from the Geelong senior side in the following round. He ended his VFL career with 308 goals from 82 games, leading his club's goalkicking on 3 occasions.
He holds the record for the most consecutive games from debut with at least one goal, with 79 games. His first and only goalless game in his career was in his third-to-last game in Round 21, 1985 against Richmond at VFL Park. Jackson gained a controversial reputation for his on-field antics and was regularly reported: twice at Melbourne and four times at Geelong, including an eight-match suspension following a fight against Hawthorn.
Later yearsAn autobiography of Jackson's football career was published in 1986 and titled Jacko, Dumb Like a Fox, written with the assistance of Melbourne journalist Jon Anderson. Later in 1986 he played a few games for Brunswick Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) First Division, the first of which against Sandringham drew a crowd of nearly 15,000 to Gillon Oval; he was sacked from Brunswick in July after missing training.
Jackson returned to South Fremantle for the 1987 WAFL season and kicked 45 goals from the opening 10 games. This included nine goals against West Perth in round three. South Fremantle won its opening three games of the season, but then went on an 18-match losing streak to win the wooden spoon – the club's first since 1972. Jackson walked out on the club after round 10, where the Bulldogs lost to West Perth by a league-record 210 points. Despite only playing half the season, he still finished as the club's leading goalkicker. Later in 1987, he went to Queensland and played a game for QAFL club Kedron; he was paid a large fee of $2,000 per game, but his presence drew a large crowd which earned more than $12,000 for the club. He had intended to play more games for Kedron, but was suspended for unbecoming conduct after dropping his shorts several times during the match.
Singing careerFollowing his retirement from football, Jackson used his fame and popularity to launch a singing career. His first single, "I'm an Individual" was a hit on the Australian singles chart. A second single, "My Brain Hurts" was not so successful. A 1991 release, "You Can Do This", also failed to make an impression.
Jackson combined a rap-like delivery with lyrics based on Australian comedy and larrikinism.
Acting careerAfter his singing career ended, Jackson began appearing in advertisements, the most successful of which was his role in Energizer battery commercials during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The commercials ended with a manic Jackson yelling "Get Energizer. It’ll surprise you! Oi!". These commercials were shown extensively in the United States, even though few people knew of Jackson, during a period of high American interest in things Australian in the wake of the Crocodile Dundee films. This American infatuation with Australian culture is referenced in The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia" (1995), in which Jackson makes a cameo promoting Energizer. He was the brand's last human spokesman before the emergence of the Energizer Bunny.
There was also a 10 in 1 "Oi! Jacko Gym" action figure toy that could talk, do push-ups, lift weights and ride a skateboard—all battery operated, with Jackson wearing the battery company logo on his singlet. He was also linked with Nutri-Grain amongst other companies, and for a time worked as a professional actor for commercials.
Jackson has appeared in various television sitcoms and movies—one of the most notable being as survival expert "Jetto" in the short-lived American action-adventure series The Highwayman(1988)—as well as being on talkback radio and in various children's programs and talk shows. During 2005 Jackson embarked on a tour with author and renowned criminal Mark "Chopper" Read.
In 2014, Jackson was featured on 7mate's Bogan Hunters as a celebrity judge.
BoxingJackson also appeared in a televised Australian celebrity boxing match in 2002 in which he went up against Australian former rugby league centre Ma. Meninga. Jackson was soundly defeated. Jackson had previously beaten Essendon tough man Ron Andrews in a points decision on 10 December 1984 in a six-round boxing match at the Perth Entertainment Centre.
Ben Fordham is back in full form. He spoke about his interview with Tucker Carlson and lots more. You Cannot Be Serious.
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com.au
2/1 Orange Street
Williamstown North, 3016
03 9917 5458
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com.au
2/1 Orange St
Williamstown North, Vic 3016
03 9917 5458
Air travel in Australia ground to a halt Thursday after all 1,600 pilots flying for the country's three major airlines resigned in a wage dispute and a government airlift failed to get off the ground.
The airlift, the largest ever attempted in Australia during peacetime, was bogged down in red tape and bureaucratic bungling that left tens of thousands of passengers stranded throughout the country.
The civilian pilots began a series of rolling strikes last week to back their demands for a 30 percent pay raise in the face of a government-ordered 6 percent ceiling on wage increases.
The country's three major domestic carriers suspended the pilots Wednesday and then announced plans for the emergency airlift.
On Thursday, the President of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, Capt. Brian McCarthy, announced all 1,600 commercial pilots employed by the domestic carriers had resigned in protest, setting the stage for what could be a long and crippling work stoppage.
The grounding of the domestic fleet caused airport chaos, disrupted internal tourist flights and crippled business.
Aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force had been mustered to help international carriers ease the problem, but the RAAF was unable to get off the ground because of what was described as 'bureaucratic red tape.'
Houdini Plumbing
www.houdiniplumbing.com.au
110 BLACKSHAWS ROAD, South Kingsville Victoria 3015 (03) 9917 5458
Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band that were formed in 1982 by Brian Canham (vocals, guitar, and keyboards), Pierre Gigliotti (bass keyboards and bass guitar), and Tony Lugton (keyboards). Later members included Anthony Argiro (drums), James Leigh (keyboards), and Vince Leigh (drums). In the 1980s, Pseudo Echo had multiple Australian top 20 hits with "Listening", "A Beat for You", "Don't Go", "Love an Adventure", and "Living in a Dream". Their 1986 cover of "Funky Town" (originally by Lipps Inc.) was an international success, peaking at No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand and becoming a top ten hit in Sweden, Canada, the United States, and in the United Kingdom.
Their 1984 debut album, Autumnal Parrk, peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Music Report, Love an Adventure followed in 1985 and reached No. 14. Their third album, Race (1988), peaked at No. 18. In 1990, the group disbanded. They reformed in 1998 and released the album Ultraviolet (2014), Acoustica, and After Party (both 2020). Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described the band as "combining] flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination."
John-Michael Howson OAM (born 8 August 1936) is an Australian writer, reporter, entertainer and Melbourne radio commentator. His involvement in the Australian entertainment scene as a writer, producer and performer spans more than 50 years.
"Captain" Peter Janson (born 10 April 1940 in New Zealand) is an Australian socialite and former motor racing driver.
Janson was born in New Zealand, emigrating to England at a young age. In 1967, he moved to Australia and settled in Melbourne.
Janson, who listed his occupation as "Gentleman", established a playboy penthouse in the Federal Hotel before moving to the Hotel Windsor. In the 1980s he moved to Rutherglen House. Janson is renowned for the parties he throws and was a pioneer in transforming the Melbourne Cup into a major event on the Australian social calendar.
Motor racing
Janson was a competitor in Australian Touring Car Racing. He made 19 Bathurst 1000 starts between 1973 and 1992 primarily in Holden Toranas and Commodores, finishing second in 1979 and 1980 and third in 1977 (all of his podium finishes were with Larry Perkins who would go on to be a six-time winner of the race). With the end of the Group C era in 1984, Janson closed his team but continued to drive for other teams including joining Sydney based privateer Garry Wilmington in a V12 Jaguar XJS in the 1985 and 1986 races. He later scored a class win and fourth outright driving a BMW M3 with fellow Kiwi Trevor Crowe at the 1988 Bathurst 1000 Janson's last appearance at Bathurst was in 1992 where he and Bob Jones finished 20th in a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV.
Always a colourful character who gave his sponsors a plug at every opportunity, especially when being interviewed in the pits, Janson briefly changed his name by deed poll in the mid-1970s to NGK Janson to circumvent a rule that only allowed a driver's name to be carried above the window line. His former co-driver Larry Perkins also told that one year on a parade lap at Bathurst, Janson continually pulled the car off onto the grass in order to throw Cherry Ripe chocolate bars out to the crowd (his major sponsor being Cadbury Schweppes).
An Australian-Russian group has denounced a Moscow propagandist as a “disposable pawn” of the Kremlin after he called on Vladimir Putin’s army to trade him for Australians captured in Ukraine.
But the “Aussie Cossack” holed up in Sydney’s Russian consulate says he is trying to keep Australians from being executed on the battlefield.
Simeon Boikov, known by his online moniker Aussie Cossack, has been hiding out in the consulate since a Sydney court issued an arrest warrant in December. He was on parole for breaching a suppression order and wanted for the alleged assault of a pro-Ukrainian protester when he sought asylum.
Svoboda Alliance, a Russian community group, was disturbed to hear Boikov issue a plea to the commander of the loathed Wagner Group to orchestrate a prisoner swap under which he would be exchanged for a captured Australian.
“The Kremlin tends to see even its supporters more like disposable pawns rather than valuable allies,” Svoboda president Ilya Fomin said.Boikov said he was seeking to save the lives of the Australians he named in a video and prevent Russian troops from “liquidating them on the spot”.
“They’re in danger not because of me but because of their own choice to fight in Ukraine,” he said.
Georgina Damm is the founder and driving force behind Damm Fine Food Co., a Melbourne-based event and catering company that specializes in creating unique and socially responsible events throughout Victoria and beyond.
Damm Fine Food Co. is passionate about food that speaks for itself—sourced from seasonal ingredients, locally produced, and presented with style. Their offerings include:
- World-Class Weddings: From staff and styling to entertainment, premium catering, and beverages, they handle it all.
- Event Administration Consulting: Whether you have in-house caterers or are organizing interstate or overseas events, their team ensures precision and flair.
- Premium Catering: Their in-house chefs design menus matched to the theme and decor of your event.
- Luxury and Fashion Events: Attention to detail is key, from impeccably groomed staff to flavorful canapés.
- Exclusive Venues:
- The George Ballroom: Located in St Kilda, this art-deco venue features wooden floorboards, heritage walls, high ceilings, and designer lighting—ideal for weddings, corporate functions, and more.
Georgina’s journey began with years of experience in the hospitality industry before venturing out on her own. Her commitment to quality and creativity shines through in every event orchestrated by Damm Fine Food Co.
Michael Christian (born 21 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer and media personality from Busselton, Western Australia who played for East Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and Collingwood in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).
Christian played 82 games for East Perth in the WAFL from 1981 to 1986 and then crossed to Collingwood to play out his football career. He played at centre half- back for the majority of his career but was also used sparingly as a forward. Christian was a member of Collingwood's 1990 premiership side and represented the West Australian team on three occasions.
After retiring, Christian became a football commentator and has commentated on radio for Triple M, Geelong station K-Rock (3GL) and 3AW, as well as for Network Ten. He hosted the breakfast program, Prime Time Sports Interactive, on Sport 927 with Angela Pippos and The Fifth Quarter, a post-match show following Saturday night AFL games, between 2004 and 2007 with Andrew Maher and from 2008 to 2011, with rotating expert commentators Michael Voss, Malcolm Blight or Luke Darcy.
Christian also commentated on weightlifting events at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
He compered The Final Siren, a Sunday night football review show, in 2011.
Under reformed procedures introduced by the AFL, Christian was appointed Match Review Officer, the AFL's sole adjudicator for the Match Review Panel, in 2017.
John Shipton is an anti-war activist and architect in Sydney, Australia, and the father of Julian Assange. He founded the WikiLeaks Party and was involved in the creation of WikiLeaks and helped with WikiLeaks for years. He was criticised for meeting with President Bashar al-Assad during a trip to Syria as part of the WikiLeaks Party.
He campaigns and acts as an ambassador for Assange and was featured in the documentary Ithaka, produced by his son Gabriel Shipton.
These 2 Medicos are expressing popularly held views, in some circles, about the COVID pandemic. Many of their colleges saying they are conspiracy theorists - but a hell of a lot don't. We give a voice to conversations that the mainstream media do not wish to be part of because of pressure from certain Government medical authorities. The podcast makes no judgement, one way or another, but believe people should make their own decisions about the COVID pandemic which has had a detrimental effect on the business world and people's health and wellbeing.
John Orcsik (born 3 May 1945), credited also variously as Jon Orcsik, John Orschik, John Orscik and John Crosik, is an Australian actor, screenwriter, director and producer of Hungarian descent, known for his television roles starting from the late 1960s, but also for the film version of the soap opera Number 96. He was married to actress Paula Duncan.
Career
Orcsik, made his debut appearing in the rural drama soap opera Bellbird, in 1967, subsequently he played various guest roles in the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police.
He had a role in serial Number 96 in 1972, and subsequently reprised that role in the feature-film version of the serial filmed in December 1973. He later reappeared in that series late in its run, briefly playing a different character and this time credited as John Crosik. He also appeared in the film Petersen(1974) and played a brief role in action film The Man from Hong Kong(1975).
After roles in other Crawford Productions programs Bluey (1976), and The Sullivans, and an appearance in Chopper Squad (1978), in 1978 he joined new Crawfords Productions police series Cop Shopearly in its run as Det. Mike Georgiou, and quickly became one of the show's most popular cast members. He continued in the role until the end of the series in December 1983. He had married his Cop Shop co-star Paula Duncan in June 1982. They have since divorced although have subsequently worked together in fundraising activities, and later acted together in Paradise Beach.
After Cop Shop ended Orcsik worked as a television scriptwriter, contributing several scripts to the series Prisoner. He also continued acting and through the 1980s played several roles in television movies and miniseries, including Harvest of Hate (1979), The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro(1989), Displaced Persons(1984), Dadah Is Death (1988), Kokoda Crescent(1989). Other roles of the 1980s include an appearance in television series Mission: Impossible(1988), and the film The Edge of Power (1987). With his swarthy, Mediterranean appearance, Orcsik was cast as Middle Eastern characters in many of these productions.
He also had roles in such Australian television series such as The Zoo Family (1985), Home and Away (1992), Paradise Beach (1993), Lift Off (1995), Pacific Drive (1996), and Medivac (1997). He directed the TV movie Academy (1996).
Orcsik's more recent acting appearances include a cameo role as a doctor in miniseries The Day of the Roses (1998), a recurring role in serial Neighbours (1999–2002), roles in Stingers (2000), Blue Heelers (2002), MDA (2002), The Saddle Club (2003), Always Greener (2002 and 2003), Scooter; Secret Agent (2005) and Underbelly – The Man Who Got Away (TV Movie) (2011).
He played the gypsy leader Alexandru Draghici in "Sorrow Song", S5:E2 of The Doctor Blake Mysteries (2019).
After a request by industry professionals in Queensland, John started film and television acting studio The Australian Film & Television Academy (TAFTA) in 1994. He has since expanded to Melbourne and Sydney and continues to run classes online and in-person.
Gary travelled the globe for 30 years interviewing boxing's select world champions. Throughout this time, he has gained a unique insight into the world of boxing and training routines. He shared gyms with the best of the best & watched the pros at work first-hand.
His books can help you reshape your body and will inspire you to take your workouts to the next level.
His latest book, Annie's Boy, is a coming of age story about growing up in Dundee, Scotland, in the '70s & '80s.
John Setka (born September 1964) is an Australian trade unionist.
He is secretary of the Victorian-Tasmanian division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, and Energy Union which also administers the South Australian division under a temporary arrangement.
He is a controversial figure in the Australian trade union movement. He is known for his strong support at a grassroots level, especially among the rank and file of the CFMMEU. His supporters regard him as a strong advocate against political, legal, and industrial opponents; the national secretary of the union, Christy Cain has called him one of the "most fair dinkum union people in this country".
On the other hand, Setka's political opponents have derided him as a bully, and criticized his purported stance that it can be necessary to break the law to pursue union interests. He has also faced strong criticism for alleged public remarks on the topic of domestic violence, and a guilty plea for harassing his ex-wife via text, issues that contributed to his formal expulsion from the Australian Labor Party in 2019.
In recent years Setka's personal life has been the subject of considerable media attention. His marital breakdown, and associated legal issues, have led to additional public criticism.
John Setka was born to a Croatian family. His father was a labourer named Bob Setka, who survived the West Gate Bridge collapsein 1970, one of the worst industrial accidents caused by employer negligence in Victoria's history.
Setka began working as a labourer at the age of 19. He began involvement with trade unionism first after joining the Builders Labourers Federation. He was mentored by state secretary John Cummins.
Under John's leadership, media commentators have noted the "pervasive power of the CFMEU over construction companies".
In 2012 he unsuccessfully attempted to sue the opposition leader Tony Abbott in defamation after Abbott called him a thug.
In 2015, Setka encouraged workers within the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to strike during the Australian Football League finals to "use finals fever to their advantage in their bitter industrial fight with Metro Trains and Yarra Trams". The decision was criticised by Victorian Labor minister Jacinta Allan due to the strike's impact on businesses.
Setka openly criticised the former prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2018. During a speech, he said: 'he's one of the worst fucking Labor PMs we've ever had ... (because) ... he kept the ABCC and coercive powers and he wants to talk about workers and the trade union movement.'
Setka is known for his public condemnation of the ABCC and its staff. In 2017 he publicly threatened to target the home addresses of building watchdog inspectors and lobby local footy clubs so their "kids will be ashamed of who their parents are". These comments were controversial. On the other hand, he is regarded by many in the union movement, especially in the industrial left faction; to be a robust and genuine union activist. He has in the past had strong support from Luke Hilakari, among other prominent leaders in the trade union movement.
In August 2022 a unanimous ballot at the South Australian branch of the CFMMEU brought about a co-operative administration arrangement between that branch, and the Victorian-Tasmanian division led by Setka.
In 2015 Setka was arrested and forced to appear in court to face blackmail charges. On the day of his court appearance, around 2,000 CFMEU members and other unionists gathered outside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 8 December to show their support. Three years later, the Victorian prosecution office dropped the charges, a decision that the Magistrate Charles Rozecwajg described in court as 'very sensible. Setka spoke outside of court saying that he had been the victim of a witch hunt.
He later sued a group of executives from the company Boral, successfully obtaining a settlement after alleging they conspired in the tort of malicious prosecution.
Expulsion from LaborIn June 2019 John attended a meeting of his union's national executive. It was reported by The Age that during that meeting, he made comments to the effect that the work of Rosie Batty had left men with fewer rights. Setka publicly denied that he made the comments.
Following the reporting of these comments, the Australian Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese proposed to expel Setka from the Labor Party.
John publicly objected to this attempt at expulsion and claimed that there was "dirty politics at work". He made an implicit claim that he was the victim of a witch hunt, driven by his "view of where the union should be in regard to the ALP, and some people probably don't share that view".
Reactions to John's behavior and his potential expulsion were mixed. The CFMEU Victoria branch (that he controlled) threatened to cut financial support to the ALP if he was expelled. The NSW and WA branches also expressed their support. Numerous politicians, as well as the ACTU secretary Sally McManus called on John to step down.
Additional pressure upon John arose after the Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie threatened political blackmail, making a demand that he steps down or she would vote for a bill strongly opposed by the union movement. This threat was made during a lunch invitation at her Tasmanian house.
In the midst of these events, John pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to harass a person in the Melbourne magistrate's court. The victim was identified as his wife at the time, Emma Walters. Following this, more than a dozen individual unions, including the three biggest in the country, renewed their calls for Setka to step aside. Some factional allies of Setka, like the then head of the RTBU Luba Grigorovitch , maintained their support.
In July, John applied for an injunction at the Victorian Supreme Court to stop the expulsion decision. He argued at court that the ALP national executive didn't have the legal power to expel him, and that it was instead a matter for the Victorian State party branch. The court decided in August 2019 that the motion to expel Mr. Setka was 'outside the court's jurisdiction', and that it 'could not interfere with internal decisions of voluntary unincorporated associations'. In October he commenced an appeal of this decision, before withdrawing. After its withdrawal, the ALP immediately expelled him.
Tim Watson-Munro (born 1952/1953) is an Australian criminal Psychologist. His expertise has been used in some of Australia's biggest criminal trials. He has analysed some of Australia's most prolific and violent criminals, including underworld figure Alphonse Gangitano and mass murderer Julian Knight. His work involves determining whether those charged with acts of extreme violence are legally insane. Watson-Munro is regularly called upon to provide expert evidence in court and in the media.
Early Life
Born 1952/1953, Watson-Munro has described being raised in a "privileged academic environment". His father was a professor of physics, and his mother was a scientist. He was initially educated at Sydney Grammar School, where he left to work in a lumber yard. Watson-Munro later returned to a different school to complete his secondary education. He then went on to study psychology at the University of Sydney.
Career
Watson-Munro is described by The Herald Sunas one of Australia's leading and distinguished criminal psychologists. In 1978, he began his career at Paramatta Jail. He then went into private practice. He has assessed over 30,000 people in his career, including 200 murderers. Watson-Munro's primary role when assessing criminals is to determine whether they are legally insane. Three notable individuals Watson-Munro has worked with included Julian Knight, Alphonse Gagitano, and Mr Cruel.
Watson-Munro was the psychologist responsible for assessing and working with Julian Knight after he carried out the 1987 Hoddle Street massacre, killing seven people and leaving 19 injured. Watson-Munro states that the marksmanship during the massacre suggested clear thinking on the part of Knight.
Watson-Munro was assigned to treat deceased Melbourne underworld figure Alphonse Gangitano shortly after his arrest for allegedly murdering petty criminal Gregory Workman. Gangitano was released after the prosecution dropped all charges relating to the arrest after a key witness left the country. Watson-Munro expected Gangitano not to pursue treatment. However, shortly after his release, Gangitano contacted him for an appointment, and treatment continued. Watson-Munro has written that Gangitano had a degree of "intellectual prowess", and that his time with Gangitano demonstrated to him that even career criminals can have "other lives that are seemingly quite normal".
"Mr Cruel" is a pseudonym for the never-identified suspect of several child rapes and the murder of Karmein Chan in Melbourne during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Watson-Munro was contracted by Victoria Police during their investigation to profile the potential offender.
Views
Watson-Munro is an advocate of educating and informing victims of crime about their rights to compensation and treatment.
Watson-Munro in 1996 voiced concerns that the child welfare system in Victoria was in "chaos and on the brink of collapse". He noted truancy and crime being committed by children in the care of the state and called for a royal commission into the government department responsible. Watson-Munro was involved in assessing a 14-year-old boy who, while wandering around at night, murdered a taxi driver.
Watson-Munro has criticised a proposal to ban songs with suicidal themes as "censorship gone mad". He considers such proposals well intentioned, but that real issues of youth suicide in Australia need addressing, such as socio-economic circumstances.
Watson-Munro has stated that individuals who consume true crime media and are socially isolated, mentally ill, or young can become desensitised to violence and gore. He stated, "I think there is a nexus between that and people viewing this material and becoming desensitised to it or wanting to see what it is like".
Controversy
In 1999, Watson-Munro pleaded guilty to using and possessing cocaine. He was fined $1,000 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond, a non-custodial sentence of good behaviour. He was later that year reprimanded by the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria on two counts of unprofessional misconduct after being found to have formed a personal relationship with a female client. In June 2000, the Board refused his re-registration as a psychologist. In 2002, the Board again found it not in the public interest to allow Watson-Munro to practice. Watson-Munro has described the years preventing him from running a clinical practice as "the greatest challenge [he] ever faced". In 2003, Watson-Munro regained registration as a psychologist, on the basis he undertook supervision for a period of two years.
Personal Life
Watson-Munro's first wife Susan, died of cancer. He is now married to his second, Carla. He is the father of five children.
Parliamentary service
- Elected to the House of Representatives for Oxley, Queensland, 1996. Defeated at general elections 1998. Elected to the Senate for Queensland 2016. Re-elected 2022.
Committee service
- Joint Select: Australia's Family Law System served from 19.9.2019 to 23.10.2019; Australia's Family Law System served as Deputy Chair from 24.10.2019 to 22.11.2021
- Joint Standing: National Broadband Network served from 11.10.2016 to 18.6.2018
- Senate Select: Lending to Primary Production Customers served as Chair from 13.11.2017 to 6.12.2017
- Senate Standing: Selection of Bills served from 26.7.2022 to present
Parliamentary party positions
- Independent. Served: 02.03.1996 to 27.06.1997
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation. Served: 27.06.1997 to 03.10.1998, 02.07.2016 to present
- Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Pauline Hanson's One Nation from 2.7.2016.
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation Whip in the Senate from 2.7.2019.
Personal
- Born: 27.5.1954, Brisbane, Australia
- Gender: Female
- Marital Status: Divorced
Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament
- Mother of four.
- Small business owner from 1978 to 1997.
Local Government service
- Councilor, Ipswich City Council from 1994 to 1995.
Publications
- Pauline Hanson, the truth: on Asian immigration, the Aboriginal question, the gun debate and the future of Australia, Pauline Hanson, Ipswich, Qld: 1997.
- Untamed & unashamed: time to explain, JoJo Publishing, Docklands, Vic.: 2007.
- Pauline: in her own words, Wilkinson Publishing, Melbourne: 2018.
- Reasons to vote for Albanese's voice, Pauline Hanson's One Nation, Queensland: 2023.
Michael Zerafa's (32-4) next fight has been locked in according to recent reports.
Michael will take on WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (29-4-3) in a title fight on March 30 (Mar. 31 in Australia), according to BoxingScene.com.
The bout will take place in Las Vegas and is set to feature in PBC’s first PPV event in partnership with Prime Video.
A junior middleweight fight between Zerafa's fellow countryman Tim Tszyu and American Keith Thurman will headline the card, per ESPN.
Meet the new man to lead Victorian local footy forwardAFL Victoria has announced Greg Madigan to lead the game forward as it reveals what he will bring to the role and why he is excited to jump on board.
Greg Madigan (born 24 January 1970) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and Freemantle in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s.
Playing mostly at centre half back, Madigan was a member of Hawthorn's 1989 VFL Grand Final winning side, in only his 6th league game. However, in the subsequent years he failed to establish his position in the Hawthorn team, playing ten or fewer games in each of his six seasons at Hawthorn.
In 1995 he was selected into the inaugural Fremantle Dockers squad with the second selection in the preseason draft. As one of the few players with AFL experience in the new expansion team, he managed the best season of his career, playing in 18 games. He remained with Fremantle for two more seasons, but struggled to keep his place, playing only 4 games in each of 1996 and 1997.
Damien Richardson (born 2 August 1969) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. Since 2021 he has been a political campaigner promoting an anti-vax agenda. A graduate from the Victorian College of the Arts, Richardson has appeared in a variety of Australian films and television shows, including Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters, Redball, The Hard Word, Rogue, Conspiracy 365 and Wentworth. He and co-writer Luke Elliot won the Best New Comedy-Drama award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival for their play The Belly Of The Whale. One of Richardson's best-known roles is Detective Matt Ryan in the crime drama City Homicide, which he played from 2007 until 2011. Since 2012, Richardson has starred as Drew Greer in the Jack Irish television films and subsequent 2016 series. He played Gary Canning in the soap opera Neighbours from 2014 to 2020. In 2021, Richardson quit acting to launch a failed bid to gain a seat as an independent in the Victorian state senate.
Richard Norton (born 6 January 1950) is an Australian martial artist, actor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, security consultant, and fight choreographer. He holds a 5th dan black belt in Goju-ryu karate, a 6th dan black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, an 8th dan black belt in Chun Kuk Do, and a level 6 ranking in American Kickboxing. After high school, Norton worked as a bodyguard in the entertainment business before pursuing an acting career.
Richard appeared as a bodyguard in the 1977 ABBA movie, as they toured his native country, Australia. He had a very minor speaking part.
His first movie screen appearance was in the 1980 Chuck Norris film The Octagon, and he has worked on over 80 feature films and television programs. He appeared in a number of martial arts films, facing off against stars such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Benny Urquidez, Don Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock, and has worked as fight choreographer for titles like The Condemned (2007), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Suicide Squad (2016), Dark Phoenix (2019) and The Suicide Squad (2021).
With fellow karateka Bob Jones, Norton is the co-creator of Zen Do Kai, a hybrid self-defense martial art intended for the security industry. He is also the head of Richard Norton BJJ.
Sam Newman chatted to Jackson Warne about The Shane Warne Legacy that will be officially launched at the Boxing Day Test 2023 with fans able to complete a free four-minute heart test at 23 locations around the MCG.
“Shane would have encouraged everyone to ‘have a crack’ and complete this simple screening and awareness test. Who knows; it could help save your life.”
The medical grade tests focus on cardiovascular health measuring things including blood pressure, heart rate, diabetes risk and body mass index which can be viewed on a screen during and immediately after the test.
Q: What is The Bonobo Gene?
A: A theory linking men's propensity for dumb (aka funny) behaviour to a breed of African apes.
Sharing 98% DNA with a sex and violence-crazed primate might be a bit of a stretch ... but in this laugh-out-loud, intriguing and informative new release, author Steve Marshall makes the link, backed up by research, anecdotes, tall stories and a Blokes' Hall of Shame.
Steve is well-placed to guide readers on this journey into the male brain, having lived and seen it all as a script writer, TV producer, radio performer, podcaster, small business owner, mate, husband and dad.
Like men themselves, The Bonobo Gene as a book evolved over time. It's the culmination of two years of research with academics, business leaders, entertainers, sports stars, friends and family. The book's chapters explore different theories and ideas seeking to explain why men are the way they are.
In deep diving on men and the male appendage, the book skillfully balances the funny and serious. Steve provides insights into some of our best known and most loved sporting heroes and rock stars, toxic masculinity, #Metoo, the Hollywood casting couch.
The Bonobo Gene is available now at all good bookstores or www.wilkinsonpublishing.com.au
About the author (and his alter-ego, Sergio Paradise):
The stories Steve Marshall can and will tell you. A veteran media performer and creator, Steve has worked with some of the biggest names in Australian entertainment and the sporting world. He has worked as a producer on a host of hit shows across TV and radio- Sale of the Century, The Grill Team, The Footy Show - to name just a few. Steve has done it all. The Bonobo Gene is his first book but it very much draws on his wealth experience in the entertainment industry over the last few decades. Steve isn't afraid to share his bonobo gene moments and have a laugh in the process.
In 1994, when Triple M Radio green lit the Saturday morning show, "The Grill Team", the show's three stars, Eddie McGuire, Jane Kennedy and Trevor Marmalade asked Marshall, who was Trev's ex-housemate, to be the show's resident showbiz and gossip correspondent.
"Ëveryone knows you work at Channel 9, so think of a stupid name for yourself", said Eddie.
So Steve unashamedly stole the name from a former D-List Melbourne cabaret singer by the name of Sergio Paradise who still boasts a place in the record collection of Santo Cilauro.
Marshall expected this to last a month at best before getting axed, but in 2023 he is still appearing round the traps under that moniker.
Since The Grill Team finished, Serge has been on Radio SEN ("Ralphy, Serge & The Big Man", The Richard Stubbs Breakfast Show, RSN Breakfast, and more recently 3AW with Dee Dee Dunleavy.
He even spent a year as showbiz reporter on Working Dog's "The Panel", until a Channel Ten exec asked, "Why are we having a bloke on who nobody's ever heard of talking about TV stars when we can have the actual stars?"
Good Point.
Peter Michael Moylan (born 2 December 1978) is an Australian former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Macoto Gide.
He featured a mid-90s miles per hour fastball and threw sidearm.