You can't trust those old timers

You can't trust those old timers: just when you think they're dead and buried you find out that they've actually been hiding behind a rock waiting to pounce. That's what the Grandaddy of AM, 2GB, has just done to the FM challengers in the latest Sydney survey. And this isn't an isolated trend with another powerful NewsTalk outlet, 3AW, having a bolter in the Melbourne market. GB – after a couple of second placings – got back into top gear, winning overall with a rise of 2.8% and with Ben Fordham regaining Breakfast and Mark Levy repeating the dose in the Morning slot. That old smoothie, Smooth FM, is second overall and number one in the FM arena while Jackie O and Kyle have dipped 1.7, to surrender Breakfast to the consistent Mr Fordham. Not sure where this is going over summer, but we can say rumours of the death of AM have been grossly exaggerated.

A bizarre political drama has been played out across Australia for nearly six months as the Coalition adjusts to a devastating loss to Labour at the last Federal election. Bizarre? Because the Liberal Party seems to have gone into a sort of induced political coma since it voted in Sussan Ley as its new leader. At a time when the opposition is desperate for a path forward, Sussan has gone into a slow death march. Apparently there's going to be a miraculous moment – hopefully soon – when the Leader will emerge with the answers to everything. Sussan just can't give us a hint as to when this'll happen. High profile Libs like Andrew Hastie have given up waiting... He's left the front bench to pursue his battle to win back the voters. Nationals strong man, Matt Canavan, speaks out publically on the major issues but he's not a Liberal... He's from the other side of the partnership... That's if it's still a partnership? I'd love to get trapped in a lift with Sussan for half an hour so I could explain to her just what's going on in Terre Australis... Things are urgent, Miss Ley. You need to act now... This afternoon... Or you might find yourself and your party prancing around in political obscurity for the next twenty-five years. No time for the results of the latest focus group reports from Kew and Strathfield. Time to roll up the sleeves and get stuck into the regeneration of the Liberal Party. There are three key policies you need to enunciate in SIMPLE, DIRECT language:

1. Immigration. Tell the electorate that from the moment you become Prime Minister you will cut immigration to the bare minimum, pending a major overhaul. Millions of Australians hate what's happening to our country but don't say this publically fearing the ruling elite will release their attack dogs. (Anyone remember the Voice referendum?) People will tell you over and over again that all they want are migrants who are decent, ready to work and willing to love and treasure our "sunburnt country".

2. Energy. Can somebody just stand up and say that this current climate change transition isn't going to make it. That solar panel on your roof will have to be replaced in about a dozen years. Those huge whirling wind turbines are not going to last much longer... You're going to have to replace them as well. We have to find a better, more reliable option. At the moment it looks to me as if we should be producing all the gas we can harvest... For ourselves and for the rest of the world... Especially Europe. Somebody in this country has to have the guts to stand up and spell out the reality of the next fifty years.

3. And please, Sussan, tell us how we're going to pay off the interest bill as Anthony borrows more and more money to pay for all these pay rises and increases in welfare. Promise voters that a Coalition Government will stop borrowing and start living within the country's means.

Ok... Ok... You can't hide forever... Sooner or later you just have to man-up and address the controversial issues of the time... In this case the question of the high profile entertainment at the AFL Grand Final... US Rapper superstar SNOOP DOGG. I initially apologise to the AFL and to Mr Dogg's millions of devoted follows around the world, but it was dreadful... DREADFUL! Call it like it is, right? The thing that has stunned me is the reaction from the footy world and from all the commentators and experts that surround it... It was a "blockbuster"... One of the best known commentators in the trade observed that it was "fitting" to have such a prestigious international act at one of our greatest sporting events. "Fitting?"... Sorry, what did it fit? Just shows you how far I am out of touch folks... Lost deep in a time far far away. The only personality who offered me some hope was the Melbourne great/AFL legend and Fox Footy star, GARY LYON, who when asked what he thought about Snoop Dogg's show, sort of rolled his eyes a couple of times and then looked away from the camera as he observed that it really "wasn't his sort of music". 'Nuff said, Gazza... I'm with you mate.

Here I am – with my afternoon cuppa – wandering through a back copy of one of my favourite magazines, The Senior. Obviously, in my late-80's, I'm a sitting duck for this publication but the truth is that such is its level of quality that readers in their 20's and 30's will find it equally interesting. Take the story of film documentary maker Dan Thomas and his in-depth research into the memories people treasured in their golden years, as they reflected back on their lives. No mention here of the three story mansion overlooking Bondi Beach... No mention of the Maserati parked in the garage or the annual trip to Aspen... 80% of Golden Oldies report the things that make their lives truly happy and worthwhile are LOVE and CONNECTIONS. Time after time they underline connections with family, friends, local clubs... Having a clear purpose for getting up in the morning either through work, looking after the grandkids, a hobby or giving back to the community. People regret the words not said and the dreams not pursued. Friendship, laughter and having a reason to go on... That's the stuff that'll get you through.

I still tap out the occasional Letter to the Editor, with little success but thought I'd show you my latest effort which may raise a smile. "The nation salutes Dan ANDREWS, 'the greatest Premier in Victorian History', praising his A-Lister invitation to the recent Beijing Great Military Parade, where he stood side-by-side with some of the planet's leading war lords. Late mail even suggested Genghis Khan might ride in to join him on the red carpet but apparently somebody wrote on Chinese social media that they'd heard Genghis might be dead. We wonder now will Glasgow bestow a similar honour on Dan The Man, inviting him along to the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Heck, he could even carry his beloved Australian Flag in the Opening Ceremony."

I'm writing this as the biggest manhunt ever mounted in Australia continues in Victoria's High Country, searching for the Porepunkah Killer. The gunman – a "Sovereign Citizen" who rejects all authority – ambushed and shot dead two police officers in the tiny, out-of-the way town of Porepunkah. He is armed, obviously willing to kill, and a highly-skilled bushmen/survivalist who locals say could easily evade capture in the thick forest country for years. This is not the first massive search in the High Country: we've been here before, nearly 150 years ago, when police rode through the forest lands in search for the infamous Kelly Gang, led by brothers Ned and Dan Kelly. The two sides finally met head on in the Wombat Ranges in what has entered history as the Shoot-out at Stringybark Creek. When it was over on October 26, 1878 the gang had killed three out of four officers who were on patrol in the areas... A gunfight that just added to all the folk stories and myths of bushrangers in the Colonial area. You can actually visit the historical reserve, just out of Benalla and Mansfield, and retrace the steps of the Gang.



The alarm was raised when the fourth officer managed to escape the bullets, grab a spare horse and ride off for his life to sound the alert.

This is remembered in the poem, Stringybark Creek,by John Manifold.

"Late one October afternoon when rain was in the sky,
A horseman shouting witless words came belting madly by,
Straight from Benalla town he rode, and shouted as he came,
But no one recognised the horse or knew the rider's name
But silence fell on all the farms as down the road they flew,
The horse that no one recognised, the man that no one knew".

– John Manifold, 1941