The latest Sydney radio Survey still shows SMOOTH FM continuing to run the show

The latest Sydney radio survey still shows SMOOTH FM continuing to run the show on 13.2 overall, well clear of NewsTalker 2GB which raises the question for industry analysts: is this just a minor setback for GB, or are we seeing a long-term trend with SMOOTH taking over as the Big Boy of Broadcasting?

Ben Fordham is still successfully defending the castle, holding on as number one in the Breakfast arena. He's pulled the draw-bridge up so far but those FM-ers are now trying to swim across the moat. It's a jungle out there!

It is 42 years since one of the most notorious gangland incidents in Sydney... The Milperra Bikie Massacre. September 2, 1984 -- Fathers Day -- when two gangs, the Commancheros and the Bandidos, clashed at the Viking Tavern, turning the car park into a Downunder version of the shoot-out at the OK Corral.

The two groups clashed using shotguns, rifles, iron bars, baseball bats, lead pipes -– whatever they had. And their wives and girlfriends were smack in the middle of the riots, giving as good as they got. When the dust had settled there were six dead, including an innocent bystander, 14-year old Leanne Walters. Another 28 were injured.

The Milperra Bikie Massacre is one of those events: very few people don't know about it. It's in our memory bank forever... Part of suburban folklore. The thing I really recall from the time was the amazement of police, ambulance and other witnesses who all reported the same bizarre behaviour. The drinkers in the bar at the Viking Tavern hardly batted an eyelid as the mayhem continued out in the car park. Gunshots, screams, even a bikie collapsing inside the tavern with his arm half shot-off... Nothing interrupted the locals. They just continued sitting, doing what they were there for... Drinking.



It was inevitable I guess that I'd eventually be drawn into the Great Sex Saga of 2026, "The Pullman Five" in Melbourne. These are the five Sydney Swans footballers who stayed the night in a Melbourne Hotel and decided they needed to hire a group of lap dancers(?) for extra entertainment. People who know these things tell me there are lap dancers, pole dancers and table dancers: all are connected by one central economic rule, ie. in order to make money they have to sexually excite men. As I understand it, the women went to police complaining that they'd been too successful. The men had got too excited. Truly, I don 't know what the real story is here. We may never know. All that's left to say is the end results are very. very sad.

I 'm sitting here, keeping an eye on the state of the world, and watching a train come sweeping down the track, realising that it's going too fast to make the curve at the bottom of the hill... I'm watching a train wreck. We have two categories involved here. Number one are the Greens who are demanding urgent, immediate action on climate change. They want the end of coal, gas and all the other fossil fuels along with the withdrawal of nuclear power. It's all about solar panels and wind farms, even though information tells us that the production of green energy is hardly able to meet 60% of current demand. The category one devotees have been incredibly successful in their campaign over the last decade. They're basically on board the Green train coming down the hill. Waiting at the end of the curve is category two, who are calling for the world to produce more and more energy to meet the demands of AI.

There are thousands of these massive AI data centres being built all over the world. They have the same objectives in common... An insatiable demand for energy to keep them going and water, lots and lots of water. There's no common ground here. One side is based on making severe cuts to our energy demand, the other is seeking a 20-30% increase. All this is currently playing out in a suburb near you. I know a train wreck when I see one.

I was sipping on a coffee at the local shopping centre recently and I saw another old bloke nearby, looking a bit average. "Are you ok, digger," I said. He nodded and smiled. This is classical Australiana. I could have said, "Are you okay, old soldier," or "mate", because the phrases are interchangeable, coloured by our history. You've got to go back to the 1850s for the original which started at the gold diggings across the country. These were our early diggers. The word transferred to World War 1 over sixty years later when our soldiers spent much of their days digging defensive trenches across France and Belgium. "Digger" remains an endearing term... A badge of honour downunder.

"Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye, Cheerio here I go on my way,
Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye, not a tear, but a cheer, make it gay.
Give me a smile I can keep all the while, in my heart while I'm away.
'Til we meet once again you and I, wish me luck as you wave me goodbye."

(The wartime classic sung by Gracie Fields, as only she could sing it. But here's the thing. "Wish me Luck" by Phil Park and Harry Parr-Davies was from Gracie's movie "Shipyard Sally", which was made in 1939 just before the war. The song is about Gracie saying goodbye to all her chums in the shipyard. Amazingly, just a few months later those lyrics transferred perfectly to WW2 as Britain had to say goodbye to all those soldiers heading off to war.)