Some Sundays start softly, with stories that linger long after the radio is off. A caller in the studio explaining how a single layer of carbon — graphene — might help roads last longer than the people who drive them. A woman from Albany speaking quietly about scattering her father’s ashes along the Rabbit-Proof Fence, fulfilling a promise to a man who had worked that lonely line as a teenager. And a father in Wangaratta saying he’s grateful Australia is finally giving kids a chance to grow up without the weight of social media on their backs. By the time the morning found its rhythm, you could feel how these scattered voices — thoughtful, tender, practical, hopeful — were all part of the same gentle Sunday mood.
Pete Flying Over Lake Eyre
Pete called from the cockpit, still carrying the exhilaration of another flight over Lake Eyre. He has watched the lake shift week by week, and this season has been unlike any he’s seen. “The colours are just incredible,” he said — deep red in Madigan Gulf where Cooper Creek’s fresh water mixed with salt, a green streak in Jackboot Bay, and the surreal blue-green layer in Belt Bay, framed with bright white salt crust. Earlier in the year it was 70 to 75 percent full. Now it’s maybe half, yet still astonishing.
Cool weather lingered longer than usual. “Only had mid-40s once this year,” he said. And with a November cyclone forming near Darwin — the first in fifty years — he laughed gently, “We don’t do averages in Australia. Just droughts, flooding rains and the odd bushfire.”
Ed was looking out over Carrickalinga Bay from a lonely phone box on the Fleurieu Peninsula. “Just wonderful to be alive,” he said, describing the soft orange light behind him. Yesterday brought one of those perfect farmer’s rains — “just drizzled all day” — and it lifted the whole region after a dry stretch.
He spent the afternoon in the shed with the cricket on and the rain pattering on the roof. “I’m retired,” he said, “but I’m busier now than when I was working.” There was a cosy contentment in the way he said it.
Cheryl and the Life Saved at 38,000 Feet
Cheryl wrote in with a story that married skill, timing and a touch of fate. A decade ago, she was a Qantas hostie on a Brisbane–Los Angeles flight when a woman collapsed just before breakfast service. Cheryl had refreshed her CPR not long before. The trainer’s words stuck with her: “Don’t worry about breaking ribs — just save a life.”
“I had carpet burns on my knees to prove it,” she said. The woman had only a one-percent chance of survival. It turned out to be a pulmonary embolism followed by cardiac arrest. She lived, and they’ve remained in touch. On 13 March 2026, that woman will turn 100. “Do that CPR training,” Cheryl urged. “It matters.”
Margaret and the Chilean Sheep-Eating Plant
Margaret from Armstrong near Great Western has been tending three unusual South American plants for twenty years. One of them — a two-metre-high Chilean sheep-eating plant — finally flowered. “We called it the alien,” she said. Its spear shot straight up like a giant asparagus, its long leaves lined with rows of backward-facing spines.
She later learned why shepherds in Chile fear it: sheep can become trapped, die, and nourish the plant. “We’ve got orphan lambs,” she said, half laughing, half worried. “This may not end well.” Macca told her not to let it go to seed. She promised, “Don’t panic, Ian. I’ll be very sensible.”
Val Singing at the Enmore Theatre
Val from Woonona had a voice that carried its own music. She’s nearly 90 and had just sung at the Enmore Theatre with Astrid Jorgensen’s Pub Choir — “two thousand one hundred people!” She has sung all her life, following her mother and sister into choirs.
Astrid organised the crowd into three parts, and while Val is a soprano, she stayed in the mezzo section because “there were too many people to climb over.” She still sings with the U3A choir and had attended a moving concert earlier in the week with the Sydney Male Choir and the Arcadians Lamplighters. One of the Lamplighters was 93. “It brings tears to your eyes,” she said.
Colin and Lily Driving the Monaro
Colin was driving his 1969 HT Monaro to a car show in Geelong with his daughter Lily beside him. The old Holden burbled beneath them as they talked about its rising value. “Eighty to one-fifty, even unrestored,” he said.
“It’s stylish,” he added. “Not comfortable — but stylish.”
He joked about passing Teslas — “They look like wheelie bins.” Lily will inherit the Monaro one day, and you could hear how much that meant to him.
Debbie and the Illegal Tobacco Crisis
Debbie Smith, an independent grocer, called with a sobering report. Tobacco sales in mainstream supermarkets have crashed from around ten percent to as low as two. For independents, the collapse has been catastrophic — some stores dropping from $20,000 a week to $1,700 as illegal tobacco floods the market.
She described criminal syndicates, vanishing tax revenue, menthol cigarettes arriving by the container load, and enforcement tied up in health regulations that require multiple agencies to act together. “We’ve lost billions that should be funding hospitals,” she said. “And smoking rates are going up, not down.”
Chris Weighing Caravans Across NSW
Chris had just finished weighing 37 caravans in Wentworth and Balranald with Transport NSW. “The heaviest was four-hundred-and-fifty kilos overweight,” he said.
People pack caravans like houses — washing machines, extra gear, the comforts of home. “If you want all the comforts of home,” he said, “maybe stay home.”
He’ll be in Mudgee next for another round of free checks. His main message was simple: “Take your time. You’re on holiday. The trucks are working.”
Matthew on Graphene and the Roads of the Future
Sitting in the studio, tech commentator Matthew Dickerson explained graphene — a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like a honeycomb, discovered experimentally in 2004 with sticky tape and graphite. “Two hundred times stronger than steel,” he said.
Mixed into bitumen, it strengthens the binder so roads last longer — two and a half times longer in some trials. “The rocks become the weak part,” he said. They talked AI, potholes, overloaded roads, and the impossible task of maintaining 877,000 kilometres of Australian road with a growing population.
Jim Marking Lambs in Ballarat
Jim rang from Ballarat with the sound of sheep filling the background. They were marking lambs — vaccinating, tagging, checking the season’s survivors — but sixteen wedge-tailed eagles had descended on the lambing paddock.
“They know we’re the last to lamb in the district,” he said. He admired the birds, but the losses hurt. Ravens, crows, foxes, eagles — no easy answers. One by one, the eagles perched on stumps waiting for movement. “Magnificent things,” he said. “Just too many for us this year.”
Betty and the Pianola That Sings Again
Betty from Nunderi sounded delighted. Her 100-year-old pianola had just been restored by her tuner, Jed, who gave it a test run. “He peddled it and sang ‘Some Enchanted Evening’,” she said.
She has a new turntable, vinyl records, cassettes — “everything old is wonderful.” The pianola came from Newcastle forty years ago and still brings joy to visiting children. “Their eyes pop out,” she said. “They can’t believe it plays itself.”
Flynn and Mum After Cyclone Megan
Young Flynn joined the call from the Tiwi Islands after his first cyclone. “Lots of wind and rain,” he said. School was closed and being used as a shelter for people with weaker homes. His mum, Heidi, said the tide surge hit at the same time as the storm passed. Despite the chaos, Flynn had been fishing for barra, camping and settling into island life. He spoke with the calm resilience kids often have after wild weather.
Yvette, Her Dad, and the Purple Fairlane
Yvette from Jindabyne had lost her father the week before. He was a truckie and listened to Macca every Sunday. “In the purple Fairlane with the white leather seats,” she said. He’d drive with the windows down, no air-con, letting the wind do the cooling.
She used to pick up the CB and sing to the passing truckies. “Your voice was home to him,” she told Macca. She has passed that ritual to her own boys. She also shared pride in her niece, Josie Bath, who is heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics for snowboard cross. “We’ll be there in our pink helmets,” she said.
Lee on Kids, Screens and Real Friendships
Lee from Wangaratta, a father and educator, saw hope in the new laws restricting social media for under-16s. “It’s a chance for real connection,” he said — kids knocking on doors again, talking face-to-face, learning to navigate friendships without the constant pressure of private messaging.
“Technology just went too far,” he said. “This brings balance.” Matthew agreed — saying the change might be one of the best gifts a country can give its young people.
Suzanne at the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Suzanne from Albany, a bird photographer, had been visiting a remote property north of town when she stopped near the Rabbit-Proof Fence. On a gate she found a damp plastic bag tied carefully to the metal. Inside was a handwritten letter — three pages — asking the station owners’ permission to return.
The writer’s father had worked on that stretch of fence at 15 years old. Before he died, he asked that his ashes be scattered there. When the family returned, they placed a small cross on a rise overlooking the fenceline. “It was very moving,” she said quietly — a simple act in a quiet place that carried decades of meaning.
By the time the morning wound down, the callers had woven a picture of the country that felt both familiar and surprising — pilots tracing colour over the desert, singers raising old rooms to life, farmers watching the sky, parents guiding kids into gentler futures, and families honouring memories in far-off corners of the land. It was the kind of Sunday where ordinary people, just by doing what they do, made the whole morning feel quietly extraordinary.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
Some Sundays start with a smile you didn’t expect. A man from Sydney cheerfully admitting he rang Santa twice last year — just to make sure the number still worked. A 68-year-old who pushed himself through storms and thin air to reach Everest Base Camp, sounding almost surprised at his own courage. And a woman from Victor Harbour who helps feed thousands every month, offering warmth and strawberries in equal measure. Before the morning settled into its rhythm, you could already feel how these voices — hopeful, generous, quietly proud — were shaping the kind of Sunday that stays with you.
Katerina and the Sugar Gliders
Katerina from Shellharbour had just come out of the bush after a 4.30am start. She’d been checking Elliott traps in the Illawarra lowland grassy woodlands, baited with rolled oats, peanut butter and honey. “We have to become nocturnal too,” she said, because every glider must be processed and released before sunrise.
Her team takes tiny ear clippings for genetics, brushes pollen from soft fur to track feeding trees, and studies how habitat fragmentation shapes their movements. “They’re still common,” she said, “but the more broken the landscape, the worse it is for them.” You could almost hear the early-morning damp still clinging to her boots.
Jo and the Storm Near the Sunshine Coast Airport
Jo woke to a yard soaked by a night of “driving rain.” She tipped 80 millimetres from her gauge, one she’s been checking since her farming days. Nearby suburbs had burnt meter boxes and outages from the electrical storm.
Her voice had the calm of someone used to standing outside at first light, tapping the gauge and taking note of what the night decided.
Greg Waiting Out the Weather in Port Victoria
Greg from Port Victoria sounded like a man who has spent a lot of time looking upward lately. Lentils were ready, wheat still a few weeks off, and showers kept interfering. “We won’t be today,” he said.
But his mood lifted when he described Port Victoria’s upcoming 150th celebration in March 2026. Two tall ships — the One and All and the Søren Larsen — will visit for cruises and heritage displays. He spoke with easy hometown pride, as if the whole town was standing a little taller already.
Bill and the European Wasps
Bill from Blackburn remembered watching European wasps sting empregum caterpillars when he was a boy. “Haven’t seen them since the 1960s,” he said.
He told the story of tackling a nest with a torch wrapped in red cellophane so the wasps couldn’t see the light. “Buzzing for a while… and then silence.” A neat little snapshot of backyard problem-solving.
Mario and the Santa Line
Mario called with the joyful energy of someone who genuinely loves Christmas. “Hash 464646,” he said immediately — the number kids can dial from any public phone box to call Santa.
He confessed, laughing, “I rang twice last year myself.” The first time was to check it still worked. The second time, he said, was “just for fun.” He described the surprise of hearing Santa’s voice burst through the receiver in a phone booth on a Sydney street, catching him off guard like he was eight years old again.
Mario also spoke about Sydney’s Gadigal Station being named the world’s best-designed station by a French architectural institute. “They said it was something out of this world,” he said with pride, as if the win belonged to everyone who has ever changed trains there. The whole call brimmed with warm enthusiasm — the kind of moment only radio can catch.
Ian at the Eye Doctors Conference
Ian was in Melbourne for an eye specialists conference and planned to head to Torquay afterward. “Dip my toes in at Bells Beach,” he said, ready for the cold.
He spoke about macular degeneration — “family history, ageing, smoking,” he said — still the main risk factors. His voice had that steady clarity that comes from years in a caring profession.
Karen Feeding Thousands in Victor Harbour
Karen from Victor Harbour spoke with gentle firmness about the Three Angels Messages Ministry. “Between four and five thousand people a month,” she said — a number she repeated softly. Students, families, older residents, travellers, people without homes. “We’ve got everyone.”
Everything is free and self-funded. They’re planning to offer hot meals next year. And in the meantime? “We’ve got strawberries in abundance,” she said — vibrant, sweet, locally grown fruit in a time when many need the simple reminder that good things still exist.
Kelvin Sailing Near 1770
Kelvin and his wife were ten kilometres off the coast near 1770 on their 42-foot yacht, sailing south toward Bundaberg with 15 knots behind them.
They’d left Lake Macquarie in winter, explored Cairns, and were cruising home, spotting dolphins, turtles and dugongs gliding alongside. “We absolutely love it,” he said — a man content in the rhythm of sea and wind.
Phil and the 1,200 CPR Students
Phil from Mildura said they had just trained their 1200th CPR student. “Most of them older primary school kids,” he said proudly. Lions Club volunteers had raised the funds through weekend sausage sizzles, and other towns were beginning to adopt the model.
Wally and the Sheepdog That Reappeared in Caloundra
Wally from Borowa told a story with the shape of folklore. A friend’s English sheepdog disappeared and was eventually found months later in Caloundra. “Wouldn’t say anything,” he joked. “Kept it all to himself.”
He also talked about a tough cropping year, hay being a safer bet than grain, and wool needing “another twenty or thirty percent.” His call rambled in that lovely way rural conversations often do.
Grace and Shane at Everest Base Camp
Grace and her husband Shane had just returned from Everest Base Camp, and the altitude was still in her voice. “Five thousand three hundred and sixteen metres,” she said slowly, as if still convincing herself.
They trekked for ten days through wind, rain, storms and the kind of cold that makes your breath feel sharp. “Minus twenty-two degrees,” she said. She described the long switchbacks, the tea houses, the thin air that forced them to take ten steps and rest, ten steps and rest again.
Shane, 68 years old, joined in quietly: “If I can do it, anyone can put it on their list.” He talked about turning a corner one morning and seeing the line of prayer flags fluttering — Base Camp finally in sight. You could hear the wonder in both their voices.
Nathan Searching for Arnie
Nathan’s voice carried a different kind of weight. His German Shepherd, Arnie, was in the back of his Toyota Hilux when the ute was stolen in Wynnum. “I don’t care about the ute,” he said. “I just want my dog back.”
He described the vehicle in detail and said he’d chased countless leads. “I’ve found everyone else’s German Shepherd — except mine.” His hope hadn’t dimmed.
Mick from Wollongong spoke about the Illawarra Convoy rolling down Bulli Pass — trucks polished, rumbling, raising money, with people lining bridges and roadsides to wave them through. “Great turnout,” he said. You could picture it clearly.
Alan Walking From Ballarat to Canberra
Alan was fifty kilometres from Canberra after walking all the way from Ballarat for men’s mental health. “Four pairs of shoes,” he said. He’ll lay a pair for his dad among the 2,500 representing the men and boys lost to suicide last year.
Eldert and the Jacarandas in Adelaide
Eldert from Adelaide talked about jacarandas “going off in a purple haze.” Sometimes there’s even a second bloom in April. He laughed about his unusual name — his daughter keeps finding Eldert Street signs in New York.
Justin Watching Planes at Heathrow
Justin was outside Terminal 4 at Heathrow, “250 metres from the third runway.” Planes roared overhead as he spoke. He’d spent 16 days showing his son around Devon and Cornwall. “Blew his mind,” he said. Storm Claudia had passed through, knocking down a tree in his daughter’s yard, but he sounded energised.
Richard High in Papua New Guinea
Richard called from a goldmine in Papua New Guinea, 2,800 metres above sea level. “One of the best jobs I’ve ever had,” he said. He loves the people, the mountains, and the rugby league culture. “Broncos and Cowboys fans everywhere.”
Gaz Closing Up in Broken Hill
Gaz from Broken Hill had closed his tobacconist after seven years. “Lost seventy-five percent of revenue,” he said, as illegal tobacco surged. He wasn’t angry — just tired and sad about what it meant for the town.
Some Sundays wander from storms to sugar gliders, from Base Camp triumphs to strawberry generosity, from sailing breezes to the simple joy of calling Santa from a phone box. And woven through all of it are the voices of ordinary people, steady and honest, quietly doing the things that make a Sunday feel just a little extraordinary.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
It opened like a front bar on a Sunday morning: people leaning in, swapping notes about work and weather, prices and patience. From Brisbane’s flight path to snowy Perisher and the salt air at Tathra, the calls piled up into a portrait of Australia right now — inventive, weary, funny, stubborn, hopeful.
“It’s Like a City With No Petrol Stations”
Brendan, under Brisbane’s early-morning freighter traffic, runs a cottage industry with a grand title and a very hands-on reality: boutique spare parts for personal electric vehicles. “About twenty percent goes to the States,” he said — a market that can’t get parts thanks to tariff tangles. “It’s like having a whole lot of cars and no petrol stations.” He does it largely alone: “Had someone last week work one day and never came back.”
Macca riffed on prices doing the long march upward — the $20 litre of oil, the coffee that’s quietly dearer, the grocery total that no longer makes sense. “We’re earning more,” he said, “but the money doesn’t buy nearly as much.”
The Beach That’s Beautiful Until It Isn’t
Down in Loch Sport, Steve had a fisherman’s bulletin from Ninety Mile Beach: spring is the crankiest season — wind, a slick of fine weed that makes casting a farce. His YouTube channel Steve Outside posts a Friday weekend outlook and a Tuesday mid-week update. “If you’re driving two or three hours,” he said, “you’d like to know before you go.” He’s walked other long beaches, too — Eighty Mile Beach in WA — but he knows when to tell people to stay home.
UV Light and Underground Rivers
Jason’s crew had come up from Victoria to reline Ipswich stormwater pipes — 375, 600, 675 millimetre mains. “We pull a fibreglass liner in, inflate it, then cook it with UV,” he said. Rain can stop a whole day’s work. He’s noticed something else: “You don’t see rubbish on the roads up here. In Melbourne, it’s truckloads.” Sunday was the day off: a designated-driver run to Kingaroy with his brothers. Between jobs he hunts for Tillandsias — air plants that cling to trees and power lines, “no soil, no roots,” a small, stubborn kind of magic.
Strawberries Don’t Taste the Same Anymore
A throwaway lament — “Why don’t strawberries taste anymore?” — turned into a proper paddock-to-plate reckoning. Doug Moore, once a Navy clearance diver, grew strawberries through the 1980s. He remembers NSW’s lethal yellow disease and the scramble at the Gosford research station to find clean plant stock. In came selector varieties — including lines imported from South Africa — that solved one problem and created another. “They picked for keeping quality,” Doug said. “Not sweetness.”
That choice echoes down the cold aisle today: big, glossy fruit that can ride a truck and sit in a fridge, but rarely sing on the tongue. Doug’s rule of thumb is old-fashioned and accurate: pick or buy to eat today or tomorrow. Beyond that, you’re bargaining with texture, sugar and scent.
Callers added their fieldcraft. Gail in Melbourne said she watches with her nose: “If you can’t smell it, don’t buy it.” Macca linked it to roses and tomatoes — breed for beauty and travel and you bleed away the thing itself. And later, Rick — a grower straddling the Yarra Valley and Queensland — gave the production view: tunnels and hot houses let you coax softer, sweeter fruit, but outdoor crops often need tougher skins to survive. “Some of the best-tasting varieties are harder to grow,” he said. “Keep buying though — the Victorian season’s on and I need the income.”
The strawberry became a metaphor for half the morning: cost-of-living, trade barriers, design choices that travel well but land thin. What’s the premium now — flavour or logistics?
Hay Like Money in the Bank
On the Fleurieu Peninsula, Taz called between bales: half the usual rainfall, perfectly timed, and the shed is filling fast. “Hay in the hay shed is money in the bank,” he said, channelling his grandfather. At 70, he’s still camp-drafting — “a disease” he laughs — sorting a beast from the mob and running a clover-leaf pattern around pegs in 40 seconds. The family worries. He saddles up anyway. “You only live once, mate.”
Sugar, Flood Debris and a Thin Labour Line
In Ingham, Pino Lenza started at 3 a.m. with daughter Zara and young Preston. The harvester eats cane and, this year, whatever the floods left behind: kegs, pods, 44-gallon drums, timber. Miss a scrap and it jams in the base cutters. He’s short of reliable hands and thinks seasonal workers should have a different tax bracket so they can follow the harvests without getting smashed on PAYG. Costs? “Since COVID, everything just keeps going up — tyres, engine oil, filters, labour.” Sugar prices are ordinary. Break-even is a good week.
Cliff looked out over Perisher Valley: roofs sugared white after a snap change. After 35 years at The Sundeck — the country’s highest hotel — he’s sold and turned to the coast, where the Tathra Hotel now has a pocket-sized theatre. He invited Macca to play. “I’ve written that down,” Macca said — the kind of promise that turns into a community night within months.
Letters from Everywhere
The inbox sounded like a town meeting: Spotify up to $15.99, Adobe up 11% (“the dollar”), arguments for the old BOM layout at reg.bom.gov.au, and a nod to Weather Chaser founders Kath and Paul Barrett in Frankston for building clearer radar tools when users got lost in the redesign. Brett in SA pointed at the trade shortage: “Why would you do an apprenticeship when you can make $72/hour pulling beers on a public holiday?” Another note listed the four aluminium smelters — Tomago, Bell Bay, Boyne, Portland — just to set the record straight.
The Bells of Remembrance
Noel Bridge wrote from the Hawkesbury, rallying churches — St Matthew’s in Windsor (our oldest Anglican church), Ebenezer Uniting (1809), Windsor, Richmond, Kurrajong Heights — to toll their bells until 10:59 a.m., then fall silent for the 11 a.m. minute. Macca replayed historian Les Carlyon, who gently pressed a truth we often duck: 8,700 Australians died at Gallipoli; over 50,000 fell on the Western Front. If memory were proportional, Remembrance Day might eclipse Anzac Day. But myth, like a strawberry variety, is something we once chose — and now live inside.
“Larry” to Christchurch
Harness-racing lifer Kevin Seymour rang from WA en route to Christchurch. His pacer Leap to Fame — “Larry” — is the richest Australian pacer ever, nudging $4.7 million, eclipsing Blacks A Fake. The New Zealand Cup is two miles at Addington, a 25,000-person day with a field that includes Republican Party, Merlin, and Kingman. There’s even an AI-generated song about Larry by Robert Marshall. “My wife heard it and burst into tears,” Kevin said. The talk slid, as it must, to what AI means for real songwriters — clever tools that remix the world, and the uneasy theft some artists feel.
Guitars, Break-ins and the Line in the Sand
Nigel Foote came down from Blackheath with two Martin guitars and a story: a dawn break-in, a Holden Commodore with “GUITAR” plates gone in seconds, the keys later found in another stolen car. The cop’s bleak comfort: Commodores are theft magnets now that Holden’s closed and parts are scarce. Nigel played “Both Sides Now” like a benediction anyway — proof that one thing AI still can’t counterfeit is the air moving in a room when a human hand makes a string sing.
A caller named Susan said it plainly: “What AI does is steal from every artist’s life’s work.” Macca’s line in the sand was simple: live. Be in the room. Know it’s real.
Ordinary Sunday Doing Extraordinary Things
A ten-year-old named Ily from Mansfield — a student at Mansfield Steiner School — tucked a phone under her mum Fenella’s elbow and played “Down by the Sally Gardens” on the violin. She busks sometimes and once made $102 in a session. Asked why she plays, she shrugged through the line: “I just do it for fun.”
And there it was again — the strawberry test for everything: if you can smell it, it’s worth taking home; if you can hear it in the room, it’s worth remembering.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
It was another Sunday stitched together the Macca way — easy, curious, and full of life. From Nhulunbuy’s tropical edge to the cool valleys of Yackandandah and the wheat fields of Brookton, callers chimed in with stories of travel, work, music and memory. There were yarns about old cars and missing church bells, about vineyards, fiddles and faraway cemeteries, all bound by the familiar warmth of voices meeting in the early morning.
Dave from Nhulunbuy
The morning began in Arnhem Land, where Dave Mitchell rang from Nhulunbuy to talk about jobs and the future of local industry. “I just wanted to say hello to our friends at Tomago Aluminium Smelter,” he said, lamenting the loss of Australian manufacturing as overseas ownership grows. Macca listened as Dave traced how decisions at the top can ripple through small communities: “Unless we start to look after ourselves a bit better, our grandchildren are going to really suffer.”
Their chat drifted, as Macca’s often do, from heavy themes to lighter ones. Dave reminisced about a young singer Macca once played on air — “You warned us she was unusual, but gee she was enjoyable” — and how musical careers can flare and fade quickly. They laughed about meeting performers in Tamworth and then moved on to Dave’s pride in local success stories. “We’re still rocking along up here with King Stingray,” he said. “They’ve gone from strength to strength.”
Before hanging up, Dave thanked Macca’s unseen crew: “They’re a well-oiled single-sail machine.” He also recalled Macca’s visit to Nhulunbuy back in 1999, when he’d kept a copy of The Yackandanda Panda poem from that trip — a reminder of how long these Sunday voices have been crossing paths.
Andrew from Congarinni
Further south, Andrew was up before dawn shifting cattle near Congarinni, west of Macksville, after returning from Europe. He’d spent time in Normandy, where a visit to an American war cemetery left a deep impression. “It was absolutely stunning, very solemn,” he said. “You can’t turn your back on history — what they achieved over there was incredible.”
He and Macca talked about unity and disunity in the modern world and how Europe still carries the echoes of its past. The tone then lightened when Andrew confessed to a recent “pathetic” motorbike spill near Menindee. A patch of bulldust sent him airborne, and he ended up thanking the “lovely nurses at Menindee District Hospital” and the Royal Flying Doctor Service for piecing him back together.
Ernest on the Newell Highway
Cruising between Jerilderie and Narrandera, Ernest was towing a vintage Alvis car — “A-L-V-I-S, built in Coventry” — and revelling in the quiet of the Newell. “After Spain’s mountain passes and endless roundabouts, it’s lovely driving here,” he said. He’d just finished a touring rally through the Pyrenees and felt grateful to be home, where the horizon stretches “to ground and sky and nothing in between.”
Dennis Jagmic in Perth
Macca’s conversation with Dennis Jagmic stretched longer, the tone that of two old hands swapping stories over the vineyard fence. Jagmic, now a Swan Valley vigneron and accountant, once kept wicket for Western Australia and South Australia during the 1970s. “We were amateurs back then,” he said. “Forty-five dollars for a Shield game — four days’ work — but we loved it.”
He grew up across from Houghton Vineyard, playing backyard cricket with Tony Mann, who would go on to play Test cricket. Later, Jagmic found himself second in line behind Rod Marsh. “Everyone said, you’re wasting your time here, so I went east,” he recalled. After a stint in Adelaide under Ian Chappell’s captaincy, he still rates Chappell “number one — a man’s man, hard but fair.”
These days, his challenges come from a different field. “The wine industry’s had a wild ride,” he said, citing export troubles with China and rising production costs. “I’ve got people from the Pacific Islands working for me now — locals just don’t seem to want to do the manual stuff.” He worries that schools push university over trade and that “determination counts more than a degree.” For Jagmic, whether in cricket or on the vines, “you’ve got to have it in the heart.”
Tricia Flannery of Mangrove Mountain
Children’s author Tricia Flannery started writing during the pandemic, drawing inspiration from the casuarinas on her 70-acre property at Mangrove Mountain. Her self-published series The Adventures of the She-Oak Critters uses real photographs of local flora and fauna. “It’s all Australian,” she said. “I refuse to have them printed overseas.”
She writes for children aged four to ten, encouraging them to look up from screens and into the bush. “So much out there is cartoonish,” she said. “I wanted something real — where they sit around the fire and look at the stars.” Her next book will take the critters from country to city, sailing down the Hawkesbury to the Harbour Bridge. “The bush is spiritual,” she added. “It’s peaceful. Friends come here and feel it straight away.”
Peter Denahy from Yackandandah
Peter Denahy checked in from Yackandandah, still bleary after a U.S. trip. “I lost a day on the way back — the universe owes me October 31,” he joked. He’d spent weeks performing around Tennessee and North Carolina under a new entertainer’s visa, playing Nashville’s legendary Station Inn thanks to Kristy Cox and The French Family Band.
He met bluegrass icons like Larry Cordle, writer of Highway 40 Blues, and James Monroe, son of Bill Monroe. “The musicians are phenomenal,” he said. “Kids over there play fiddle like pros.” For Denahy, the trip was a reminder of why he plays: “It puts a firecracker under you — you come home wanting to write.”
He’ll soon appear at Majors Creek Festival near Canberra and later at the Yackandandah Folk Festival. “They got the songs and the humour,” he laughed. “I just had to explain the word ‘dunny’.”
Jean from Paterson (near Gympie)
Jean Davis, 80, rang to help listeners navigate the Bureau of Meteorology’s redesigned website. “You can still get the old one,” she said cheerfully, giving the link reg.bom.gov.au. The new site, she complained, “took away all the town names.” Macca agreed that sometimes “change for the sake of change” leaves people worse off. Jean hoped that if enough users went back, “they might be wary about turning it off.”
KJ in Blackburn South
Among the most heartfelt calls came from KJ, walking through the early sun in Blackburn South. He arrived from India in 1993, after years working in oil and gas. “Slowly you change and become Australian,” he said. “My heart says this is where I live.”
KJ described the courtesy and openness he’d found in Melbourne, contrasting it with a recent tram encounter where someone told him to “go back.” His calm reply: “This is my country. I’m here.” He spoke too about rapid immigration growth and the importance of balance — “Criticize the policy, not the people.”
Macca called him “my Australian of the Year,” saying KJ’s story captured the essence of belonging. “We’re all Australian-made,” Macca said, echoing the old song.
Tim from Mollymook
Driving home from Kangaroo Valley, Tim smiled about an evening spent playing cards with his grandchildren. “These kids don’t use devices,” he said. “They made up a game with three cards in five minutes.” For him, a deck of cards teaches imagination, patience and arithmetic — “a one-stop shop.” Macca agreed: small games, big lessons.
Cheryl from the Blue Mountains
Long-time racing fan Cheryl called ahead of Melbourne Cup Day, relishing the theatre of it all. A former costume-maker, she loves “the whole spectacle” but treats it like a science. “You whittle them down — horses that don’t stay 2,500 metres can’t win,” she said. She praised jockeys Jamie Kah and Rachel King and promised to study the form once the weather settled.
Cara in the Hunter Valley
Cara, once from St Kilda and now in the Hunter Valley, phoned with her Cup tips and a memory of saving a stranded Christmas beetle — “fed her up for nine days and let her go.” Expecting a wet track, she fancied Flatten the Curve, winner of the Bowling Green Gold Cup in Kentucky, and Half Yours, ridden by Jamie Kah. “It’s the race that stops the nation,” she said. “Everyone comes together for it.”
Brian on Bribie Island
Brian remembered attending the 1971 Melbourne Cup with friends, carrying eskies of champagne, beer and Kentucky Fried Chicken straight onto the lawn. At the time, he was working on the tunnel under Arthur’s Seat for the Melbourne Sewerage Scheme. “We just spread out rugs in front of the main stand — you couldn’t do that now,” he laughed. He’s lived on Bribie Island for nearly 30 years and still loves a flutter. This year he’s backing Absurd. “I came over from New Zealand, sold everything, and never looked back.”
Jan from Brookton, WA
In Brookton, Jan reported a strange theft: both the Anglican and Catholic church bells had vanished. “The Anglican bell had hung there 130 years,” she said. “The Catholic one for 70.” Fearing they’d been stolen for scrap, she appealed for their return. Macca mentioned Peter Olds’ foundry in Maryborough, one of the few places still casting new bells, but Jan said that wasn’t the point — “They were gifts to the community.”
Richard on the Road to Melbourne
Truck driver Richard was hauling two huge tractors south from Far North Queensland. “It’s lush up here,” he said, after chatting with cheerful service-station staff that morning. He noted that Australia’s population had grown by 1.25 million in two years, then joked that many were now living on wheels: “We’re not house-os or wheel-os — we’re wheelies living in our bloody vehicles.”
Richard also carted vintage Studebaker army trucks built under the 1945 Lend-Lease Program, and finished his call with a grin about a lucky $61 bet that came good at the marina bar.
Joan from Skye
The last call of the show came from Joan in Skye, still glowing from Derby Day at Flemington. “The fashions were beautiful — lots of black and white,” she said. She’d met Michelle Payne — “a beautiful young woman” — and watched Pride of Jenny win by ten lengths. “Sometimes I just make up my mind and go,” she laughed. “The roses, the weather, the people — it’s wonderful.”
Ordinary Sunday Doing Extraordinary Things
From Nhulunbuy’s red earth to Brookton’s wheat fields, from Yackandandah’s fiddles to a truck stop near Hay, the voices on Macca’s show carried the sound of a country still connected by conversation. These callers spoke of work and weather, of bells gone missing and beetles saved, of old cars and new songs, of belonging and gratitude.
What ties them together isn’t distance or background but attitude — that easy warmth that starts with “G’day.” Week after week, Australia All Over reminds us that ordinary people, simply telling their stories, make the nation extraordinary.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
It was the kind of Sunday that only Macca could conjure — a cross-country chorus of voices stitched together by warmth, wit and the occasional weather report. From the Hay Plain to the Swan Valley, from Eden’s rain-washed shore to a humming beehive in Camberwell, the calls rolled in like postcards from every corner of the continent. What unfolded was a chatty, generous conversation about the roads we travel, the work we love and the country we share.
From Bundaberg to Bunbury — Jason’s Long Drive
Somewhere along the wide hush of the Hay Plain, Jason rang in from the cab of his ute. He and his wife were driving from Bundaberg all the way to Bunbury, chasing down an old F-Series Ford. He laughed that he could never afford a new one, so he buys “a cheap old one and brings it back to life — no black boxes or sensors, just a 351 Clevo and call it good.” Macca pictured the long haul across Balranald and Iron Knob, warning about roos on dusk, while Jason talked about the pleasure of doing something with your own hands. “You can see what you’ve built,” he said, “and it’ll probably outlast the new ones.”
David from Cropper Creek — Harvest Season
Up on the border between Moree and Goondiwindi, David was on the header cutting barley when he took a quick call. He reckoned they were “getting sevens a hectare” — a good year — and told Macca he’d just traded up to a 2005 Kenworth SAR. Back home in Rochester, he said, things were drier and windswept. “It’s patchy, mate. One side of the fence looks alright; the other’s burnt off.” Macca chuckled, “That’s Australia for you,” and David agreed, the hum of the harvester steady in the background.
Shelley at Marom Creek — Accidental Brahmans and a Lost Wetland
Near Lismore, Shelley and her husband were living proof that sometimes the land has plans of its own. When they bought a run-down 50-acre block at Marom Creek, they inherited a few straggly cattle from a deceased estate. “Turns out they were pure-bred Brahmans,” she told Macca, amused. “We’d become stud owners without even knowing it.” What started as a fluke turned into a passion for soil health and regeneration. She wished more city folk understood what life on the land demands. “Everyone should spend a year or two out here — then they’d get it.”
The chat turned to Tuckean Swamp, once a world-class wetland now drained away. “It’s tragic,” Shelley sighed. “We’re trying to restore it before we expire.” Macca promised to look it up; you could hear the admiration in his voice.
Sandra in Eden — CWA Gardens and Grateful Rain
On the far south coast, Sandra called from Eden, rain pattering on her jacket as she threw a ball for her kelpie. “Haven’t had rain for months,” she said, delighted. Between throws she mentioned the CWA Open Garden day coming up on 2 November — six gardens, ten bucks entry and, of course, scones and tea at the hall. “Small communities are incredible,” she said. “We all pull together — that’s what it’s about.”
Dez from Panania — Punting, Phone Boxes and the Old Days
From Panania, Dez rang in full of mischief. The chat turned to betting, sparked by The Punt Song, and he remembered his dad phoning in wagers from the red phone boxes of the sixties. “He’d push the A-button and say the code word — Lucky — before the operator cut him off,” he laughed. These days he’s part of Ciaron Maher Racing, but the romance of the old days sticks. “It was community, really,” he said. “And Macca, your show’s the only one left that feels like that.”
Tim on the Bourke Road — McDonald’s and Memories
Half an hour out of Bourke, Tim was trying to pick up the ABC while harvesting wheat and chickpeas. “Reception’s dodgy,” he grinned, “but I bribe the kids. They could have McDonald’s if I got to listen to you.” The kids are grown now, but he reckons they still tune in. “It’s part of the weekend.” Macca laughed — he’s heard that deal before.
Keith the Beeman — Where Have All the Bees Gone?
Regular caller Keith had bee news from Bilpin, saying the poor apple crops weren’t from Varroa mite at all. “The bees are busy in the gums,” he said, “why bother with a few apple trees when there’s thousands of blossoms next door?” He suggested backyarders keep native stingless bees, which stay put and “don’t sting the neighbours.” Macca loved it — practical and poetic, like most of Keith’s calls.
Helen Jane in Camberwell — Backyard Honey and Blue-banded Bees
In Camberwell, Helen Jane reminisced about the hives she once kept in her city backyard. “Ten kilos of honey a year and the garden looked incredible,” she said. Downsized now, she plans to try native bees. Before hanging up she mentioned she’s off to Kangaroo Island soon — “to swim with wild dolphins.” Macca wished her good weather for it.
Bruce Rocks Out — Suzi Quatro at Rooty Hill RSL
Bruce, also 75, was still buzzing from Suzi Quatro’s concert at Rooty Hill RSL. “She’s seventy-five too,” he told Macca, “and still rocks like she’s thirty.” They laughed about how many times she’s toured here — more than forty visits — and agreed that Australia must feel like her second home.
Charlie Orr — Winchelsea’s Home-Grown Village
From Winchelsea, Charlie Orr told one of those stories that makes you proud to live in a small town. Locals wanted older residents to stay close, so they built ten independent-living units themselves, with help from the Surf Coast Shire, Lions Club, Hesse Rural Health and the local Community Bank. “A retired architect designed them,” Charlie said, “nine-star energy rating and everything.” The project frees up family homes and keeps the town’s heart beating. “We just got on with it,” he added. Macca called it a blueprint for everywhere.
Wren in Townsville — Heavy Lifts and Light Skies
Far north in Townsville, Wren was on the docks unloading a heavy-lift ship. “Bit of everything,” he said. “Wind-farm gear, ADF stuff, sometimes aid shipments.” He also runs a crane business, a children’s brain-cancer charity and somehow finds time to fly planes. “It’s about pride in the job,” he told Macca. “You finish the day and know you’ve done something solid.” He’s even catching Suzi Quatro when she hits town next month.
Raoul at the Perth Show — Seeing Australia Through the Radio
At the Perth Royal Show, Macca met Raoul, a support worker originally from India, accompanying his vision-impaired client. “Every Sunday we drive through the Swan Valley with you on the radio,” he said. “You take us around the country.” He spoke fondly of Perth, where “you can live in the bush and still be twenty minutes from the city.”
Chris Greaves — Across the Desert in a Land Cruiser
Chris Greaves was mid-journey in his classic FJ45 Land Cruiser, driving from Perth to Caboolture for a vintage meet. He’d dropped by Macca’s Noosa broadcast earlier in the year and was now looping back via Canberra to collect his wife, who’d just medalled at the Masters Games. “We’ll probably swing by the Gunbarrel Highway and the Lambert Centre on the way home,” he said. He works with Chevron on Barrow Island, where, as he put it, “it’s barren, hot and full of snakes — but beautiful in its own way.”
Angus Gill — From Nashville with Heart
When Angus Gill stepped into the studio with his mum Tanya, Macca grinned like he was greeting family. The singer-songwriter had just returned from Nashville, where he’d been recording with Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers. He’s also written a novella, Departure and Arrival, drawn from his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s journey. “Dementia Australia helps over four hundred thousand people,” he said, giving out their helpline — 1800 100 500 — before playing a re-imagined version of his song Freckles.
Jock Schmishen — From the Poles to Outer Space
From Adelaide, explorer Jock Schmishen had an extraordinary yarn about Eric Phillips, the polar adventurer who’s now been to space. Phillips joined crypto-entrepreneur Chung Wa’s private SpaceX Dragon flight, orbiting over both poles — making him the first person to have reached the North Pole, South Pole and space under the Australian flag. Jock’s next expedition will lead the Royal Geographical Society through the Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre. “Just keeping my boots dusty,” he joked, and Macca roared with laughter.
Kel from Ocean Shores — Making Things That Last
To close the morning, Kel from Ocean Shores rang in about her small business, Coastal Clotheslines, making stainless-steel, plastic-free lines built to last decades. “We survived the wet years,” she said, “and people are over rubbish — they want quality again.” She added with a grin that turning socks the right way before hanging them “saves nine years of life.” Macca loved that one, promising to quote her forever.
Closing
After a morning that wandered from the Hay Plain to outer space, Macca signed off in his usual way: if you see him on the road, stop and say g’day. Another Sunday stitched together, another reminder that the heart of Australia still beats strongest on the open line.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
It was the kind of Sunday that only Macca could conjure — a cross-country chorus of voices, stitched together by warmth, wit and a weather report or two. From the sunny banks of the Noosa River to calls from Vietnam, the morning rippled with stories of horses, bells, buffalo, fiddle tunes and quiet acts of generosity.
Horses, Hopes and 100-to-1 Chances
The day began on the grass at Noosaville, where Macca met Deb from Bellye Park and her red cattle dog, Chilly. Deb spoke fondly of the thoroughbreds she still tends on her farm, saying that when one dies she digs a big hole and plants a tree over it — a living memorial in the paddock. The talk drifted naturally to the Caulfield Cup. Macca had thrown ten dollars on a roughie at a hundred-to-one that almost came through, and they shared a laugh about the joy of a flutter when fate smiles. Deb, who grew up on a stud with the Freedman boys, reckoned the thrill of racing isn’t about favourites at all — it’s about heart, luck and the stories that stay with you.
The Bell That Rang Again
A few minutes later the conversation turned from horses to hand-bells. Bell-maker Peter Oz had restored a cracked ship’s bell, and when he struck the new casting a visitor cried. “A good casting’s as sound as a bell,” Peter told Macca — a line that felt like a proverb for craftsmanship and care. In that clear tone, Macca heard the echo of security once offered to sailors far from home.
Little Miss — Big Stories
Then came a call from Melbourne and a voice brimming with pride. Filmmaker Angelo reported that Signorinella (Little Miss), his documentary on Italian migrant women, had secured a national cinema release. He spoke of his mother, a seamstress at thirteen, who dared to tell her boss she deserved an adult’s wage, and of women such as Carla Zampatti and Tina Arena whose success grew from the same grit. The film, he said, honoured “the unsung heroes who came here with no language, no safety net — just determination.” Macca agreed that migration is stitched into Australia’s DNA. As they talked, Angelo reflected on prejudice, persistence and the patience it takes for a culture to make room. “Everybody just wants a better life for their kids,” he said. “Give them time to show what they bring.” It was one of the morning’s longer conversations — warm, thoughtful and deeply Australian.
Buffalo at Maleny
Back in the park, mother-and-daughter team Margaret Thompson and Steph described running Queensland’s only buffalo dairy on the hills near Maleny. Dairy deregulation had pushed them to rethink everything, so a spontaneous cheap flight to Darwin became a $20 000 plunge into buffalo farming. Their Mediterranean-bloodline herd now produces rich, low-cholesterol milk for boutique cheesemakers from Byron Bay and Brisbane to Sydney. The animals, they said, are docile as long as you keep the bad-tempered ones out of the gene pool. Their laughter carried across the crowd — proof that innovation in farming still begins with a leap of faith and a good sense of humour.
Greg the Dentist — Forty-Eight Years Bent Over
Among the listeners sat Greg, a dentist from the Gold Coast who has rung Macca for decades. After forty-eight years bent over patients, he’s ready to hang up the drill. “That’s a long time to be hunched over,” he said, rubbing his neck with a grin. He’s watched the trade shift from handmade crowns to computer-milled precision and marvels at how expectations have changed. Macca reminded him of old-timers who’d told stories about brides having their teeth out before marriage — a strange ritual from a world that no longer exists. They laughed, grateful for progress and for the lightness that comes when you can finally straighten your back.
Fiddles, AI and Singing Mushrooms
Later, fiddler Phoebe called in with a yarn from a gig that went sideways. The lead singer, she said, kept insisting he’d written thousands of songs — “all in the key of Steve.” Every one sounded the same. She and Macca riffed about the flood of AI-generated music and even a study claiming mushrooms could make melodies through their electrical pulses. “The mushrooms are making a song,” Phoebe insisted. Macca laughed, half-believing her, half-delighted by the idea that creativity sprouts wherever curiosity does.
Skies Wide Open
Under the All Over News banner, Macca crossed to Perth pilot and teacher Graham McGinn, who said the aviation industry was taking off again. Airlines, he explained, were desperate for trained staff, from engineers to flight instructors. The trick, he said, was “stickability” — the discipline to hold an aircraft steady and the persistence to stay the course through lean years. It’s a lesson, Macca noted, that fits almost any trade in Australia today.
Spud’s Garden and the Music of Birds
From planes to plants, the next voice belonged to gardener Spud Carroll in Western Australia’s hills. He compared the east’s fussy waratahs with the west’s hardy kangaroo paws and described a landscape so diverse that a single kilometre in the Darling Range hosts more species than the whole of the UK. He spoke tenderly about magpies, butcherbirds and cuckoos, the bush alive with music. “It’s all about observing,” he told Macca. “You learn something new every day.” They lingered on that thought — the patience of gardeners and radio hosts alike, both listening for what blooms next. For Spud, the bush is teacher, workplace and orchestra all at once.
Diving Into Another World
Back by the river, English-born Richard from Narangba had come after a scuba trip was cancelled. He told Macca he’d rediscovered diving after decades away and now spends weekends exploring reefs and the scuttled HMAS Brisbane. “You look underneath and there’s a whole new world,” he said. “And no TikTok down there.” “Or Macca,” came the reply, “blessed relief.” The exchange was quick but memorable — a reminder that wonder often hides just beneath the surface.
Long-time Noosa market growers Maureen and Mike brightened the stage with talk of their heliconias and gingers — tropical exotics they’ve cultivated for decades. Their flowers have taken them to conferences in Panama, Colombia and India, yet it’s the early-morning regulars at the markets they cherish most. Retirement, they laughed, is only half-retirement when you still have fifteen acres and a lifetime habit of nurturing things.
Those Folk from Gympie
The morning found its rhythm again when Claire and Lawrence, the Americana duo Those Folk, took up guitar and mandolin. They met at a Scottish festival, fell in love and now call Gympie home. Their song about springtime in south-east Queensland drifted out across the Noosa River, harmonies rising like sunlight through trees — a small concert in a park that felt like the heart of Australia All Over.
A Maestro Remembered
From Sydney, Vicki Tico phoned to talk about Tico Beyond the Baton, the new documentary on her father, conductor Tommy Tycho. She recalled how he arrived in the 1950s with nothing and went on to orchestrate the national anthem and accompany many of the nation’s greats. Macca remembered hearing Tycho’s arrangements for Mary Schneider’s Yodelling the Classics and mused that migration and music share the same rhythm — people bringing their sound and their soul to new shores.
Bread, Bills and the Cost of Living
The tone shifted when bakery owners Peter and Jocelyn from the Sunshine Coast spoke about running a small business in tough times. Staffing, red tape and rising prices, they said, have worn people thin. “Everyone thinks it’s easy — open your doors and make money. It’s not.” Macca agreed that the official inflation figures don’t match what families feel at the checkout. It was a grounded chat — real, relatable and just a bit exasperated — before the show turned to something gentler.
Therapy Dogs and Quiet Lessons
Christian and Kerry arrived with their dogs Bear and Kelvie, therapy companions who visit aged-care homes. Kerry said Kelvie always seems to know who needs him most, curling up beside lonely residents until a smile returns. Watching them work, she’s learned a kind of forgiveness. “They have a blue, then two minutes later they’re playing again,” Christian said. Macca nodded: lessons in loyalty and letting go, straight from four-legged teachers.
Fraser and Baby Maggie
A few metres away sat Fraser, a form-worker from Torquay, cradling five-month-old Maggie while his ranger partner fetched a hat. He spoke about concrete work, Queensland humidity and the novelty of hearing the show live. Macca joked that Maggie might be his youngest listener yet — a quick, sweet moment that said as much about continuity as any sermon.
Mike McClellan’s Last Long Tour
As the sun climbed, singer-songwriter Mike McClellan took the stage to announce that, at eighty, he’s embarking on his final long tour. He still finger-picks with the finesse that made his name and is finishing both a memoir and an acoustic album. “I’m lucky,” he told Macca. “The voice still works, the fingers still work.” The two musicians swapped thoughts on practice, pain and the persistence that keeps art alive long after fashion fades.
Four Women, One Bike
Teacher Rachel Beaton rolled in next with a tale that made the crowd cheer. She and three friends had just pedalled a four-person tandem from Perth to Sydney — 4 000 kilometres — raising funds for Gotcha for Life. “Everyone we met said, ‘We heard you on Macca!’” she laughed. Their journey across the Nullarbor was equal parts endurance and joy, the perfect embodiment of the community Macca builds each week.
Then came Bob Abbot, once Noosa’s long-serving mayor, now happier to be known as a muso. He reminisced about three decades of local government and his pride in protecting the riverfront where they stood. “I used to tell people I lived two streets up from God,” he said with a grin before lifting his harmonica to play. The tune was rough, real and full of life — exactly like the town he once led.
Giving Back from Hoi An
The final call of the morning came from Peter Quinn, father of Claire from Those Folk, phoning from Hoi An in Vietnam. A retired teacher, he volunteers with a Brisbane-based charity supporting disabled children. “When you give here,” he said, “every little thing is appreciated — it gives you purpose.” His words, floating halfway across the world, brought the program home to its heart: kindness, connection and the quiet satisfaction of doing good work.
Ordinary Sunday Doing Extraordinary Things
By the time Macca signed off, the crowd by the river had swelled, the sun was high and the mood easy. From racehorses to riverboats, from buffalo dairies to dive reefs, it had been a morning of ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things — proof that a Sunday shared in conversation can make a country sing.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
It was the kind of Sunday that only Macca could conjure — a cross-country chorus of voices, stitched together by warmth, wit, and a weather report or two. From foggy Bemboka to sun-washed Esperance, truckies, farmers, and flyers rang in to share their patch of the world. What unfolded was a morning of stories about endurance, kindness, and that unmistakable Australian mix of humour and heart.
Ian from Bemboka – The Road That Never Ends
The first voice of the morning was Ian’s, steady as the diesel hum behind him. He was somewhere between Goulburn and Hay, hauling bricks to Adelaide, when he called through the crackle. From Bemboka, near Bega, he described the fog and the way frost clung to the edge of the road. “Bit of a white one, mate — you could hang your breath on the mirror,” he said. He’d left at three a.m. and told Macca that he liked those dark hours when the world is half-asleep. They talked about the life of long-haul drivers — servo bacon rolls, half-finished coffees, and the comfort of the road’s rhythm. Ian admitted he sometimes pulls over just to listen to the dawn chorus. “Magpies don’t care if you’re late,” he said with a grin you could hear down the line. For a while the two compared favourite routes and truck-stop characters before Ian signed off to keep the wheels turning. “You keep us moving, mate,” Macca said. “Someone’s got to,” Ian replied, and the laugh that followed sounded like gravel under tyres.
Mitch and Roy from Kalbarri – Fences, Floods and Family Humour
A burst of static, then Mitch came through from Kalbarri with his son Roy chiming in from somewhere nearby. “Lost the gate in that last blow,” Mitch said. “Found it two paddocks over,” Roy added, setting both of them laughing. They’d spent the week wrestling with twisted wire and a restless flock after storms had torn through their place. Macca joined the fun, teasing that Roy ought to be on wages. “He’s on one — it’s called dinner,” Mitch shot back. The conversation bounced from weather to wool prices to a story about a neighbour’s sheepdog that chased a fence panel clear across the yard. Between jokes, Mitch talked about how hard seasons test patience and how families hold farms together. “You’ve just got to keep showing up,” he said. Before hanging up, Roy shouted, “Tell everyone Kalbarri’s still standing!” “And laughing,” Macca added, still chuckling as the line dropped.
Danny in Melbourne – Waiting Rooms and Resilience
Danny’s call slowed the tempo. He was phoning from Melbourne, his voice quiet but clear. He’d spent time in hospitals recently and wanted to talk about waiting — not the inconvenience, but the humanity in it. “You see people who’ve been there longer than you, still smiling,” he said. He spoke about strangers sharing sandwiches, nurses who remember names, and the way small talk becomes a lifeline. Macca, listening intently, said, “That’s courage too, mate.” Danny agreed, adding that real strength isn’t loud. “Sometimes it’s just keeping your seat while the hours crawl.” The conversation ended softly, leaving a pause that seemed to linger through the next song.
Clarky from Cambelligo – Wires, Dust and Bush Ingenuity
Somewhere outside Cobar, Clarky was knee-deep in red dust, elbows in a Telstra phone box that had stopped working weeks ago. “You wouldn’t believe what’s in here — ants, dirt, someone’s old lunch,” he told Macca between bursts of static. “Dust gets in everything out here — even the bread.” He works out at the Mount Poppy Gold Mine and said the phone box is their line to the rest of the world. “When it dies, the fellas reckon civilisation’s over.” Macca laughed as Clarky described cleaning the terminals with a toothbrush and coaxing a faint dial tone back to life. “Got her singing again,” he said, and behind him came the sound of miners cheering. “Telstra should give you a medal,” Macca told him. “Just send me a new screwdriver,” Clarky answered. They both laughed, and for a moment listeners could almost smell the dust and grease of the outback, where persistence and humour fix everything eventually.
Chris – Between Accents
Chris, a British expat now living in Australia, rang to talk about language. “Back home you say ‘cheers’ for everything,” he said, “but here ‘mate’ does the lot — hello, sorry, even goodbye.” Macca teased that he’d gone native. “I probably have,” Chris said, laughing. They traded examples of how Aussies stretch vowels until they sound like music. Chris confessed he still catches himself using British slang that earns him funny looks at the pub. “You learn fast,” he said, “if you order a ‘pint of bitter’ in Queensland, you’ll just get bitter looks.” Macca roared with laughter. Then Chris turned reflective. “I still miss the rain,” he said, “but I wouldn’t swap this light for anything.” It was one of those small, smiling calls that show belonging is often found in conversation.
Pete from Watheroo – Machines and Miracles
Pete from Watheroo sounded energised by the season. “The crops are a picture, Macca — best I’ve seen in years.” A machinery dealer by trade, he spent most of the chat describing how the new harvesters talk to satellites and to each other, sending yield maps straight to a laptop in the ute. “They’ll tell you moisture, speed, even how level you’re sitting,” he said, “but they can’t tell you when the weather’s about to turn.” Macca asked if he trusted the tech. Pete laughed. “I trust my gut more. You know it’s a good year when you can hear the bins filling before the thunder.” The pride in his voice made it sound like music — steel, rain, and satisfaction blended together.
Anthony and Catherine from Petrie – The Sunday Market Run
Anthony and Catherine called from the car on their way to the Petrie markets, radio on loud enough for Macca to hear the turn signal clicking. “Not selling, Macca — buying,” Catherine said. “Plants we don’t need.” Anthony laughed that they were “rescuing ferns from neglect.” Macca told them they were single-handedly supporting the nursery industry. The trio chatted about Sunday rituals — coffee, markets, and the small extravagances that make weekends feel earned. Catherine said, “That’s what Sundays are for — spending a little on happiness.” It was a short, sunny exchange that felt like a smile on air.
Ken in Missouri – Flying Far, Listening Home
Half a world away, Ken, an Australian pilot living in Missouri, tuned in before take-off. “Still flying freight across the Midwest,” he said. “Flat country — if you squint, it could be the Nullarbor.” He misses the magpies and the scent of eucalyptus after rain. Every Sunday, before the engines start, he streams the show through his headset. “You’re my bit of home, Macca.” The reply was gentle. “Good to have you aboard, mate.” For a moment, the static between them sounded like wind over open sky, the distance folded small enough to fit inside a radio wave.
Jeff from Palm Beach – A Paddle-Out for Jack McCoy
Jeff rang from Palm Beach, his voice still carrying the hush of the morning. He’d just returned from the paddle-out for surf filmmaker Jack McCoy. “The water was glassy, not a ripple,” he said. “Hundreds out there, boards in a circle, quiet as a church.” He spoke about McCoy’s gift for finding beauty and his generosity toward young surfers. Macca answered softly, “That’s a life well lived.” The silence that followed was brief but full — the sound of listeners remembering someone they might not have known but somehow felt they did.
Rhonda from Esperance – Wildflowers and Wonder
Then came Rhonda from Esperance, her voice bright as the morning she described. “You’ve never seen colour like it, Macca — pink wreath flowers everywhere.” She was calling about the Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show, where tourists lie on the verge to photograph blooms shaped like halos. “We had one couple arguing over which pink was pinker,” she said, laughing. Her family runs a broadacre farm nearby, and she told Macca that after months of dust, the sight of wildflowers lifts everyone. “Even the blokes who never smile start whistling.” They talked about how the show brings the town together, school kids painting signs, locals baking for visitors. “Out here, spring doesn’t arrive,” Rhonda said, “it bursts in.” Macca agreed that Australia could always use more bursts like that.
Alastair Calder from Mildura – Counting Sheep and Sharing Stories
When Alastair Calder from Mildura came on, the pace quickened again. He’d just wrapped the first Sheep Pregnancy Scanners Conference and sounded proud. “We’ve scanned six-point-one million this year,” he said. He explained how scanners use ultrasound now — “From guesswork to heartbeats, that’s the jump we’ve made.” He talked about the camaraderie in a job that keeps you on the road for months, living on thermos tea and roadside lunches. “We might work alone most days, but the community’s real — someone’s always a phone call away.” Macca joked, “That’s a lot of wiggly tails to count.” Alastair laughed and said every lamb’s heartbeat still feels like good news. It was a mix of hard numbers and human warmth — science meeting the paddock with a handshake.
Doctor from Ballina – The Mind’s Gym
The last call of the morning was from a doctor at Ballina Hospital. His voice was calm, reflective. He spoke about mental health in medicine and the need to keep minds fit as well as bodies. “We do all this physical training,” he said, “but the brain needs exercise too — what I call ‘brain gym.’” He explained how laughter, rest, and community can protect doctors from burnout. “We mend others best when we remember to mend ourselves.” Macca paused, then said quietly, “That’s a good note to finish on.” For a heartbeat the air was still — just the faint hiss of the transmitter — before the next song rolled in, soft and slow, carrying the morning away.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
From Perth to Hobart, the Oct 5 edition of Macca’s program unfolded like a road map of Australia — conversations stitched together by travel, music, work and memory. It was a Sunday morning soundtrack of real voices: people doing what they do best, keeping the country quietly alive.
Queensland Divers Take the Leap in Perth
At East Perth, Gary and Anne from Mount Ommaney stood proudly by the pool, watching their grandson William compete in the national elite diving championships. Twenty young Queenslanders had made the trip, each dreaming of a place on the Olympic stage.
“He’s calm, easy to get along with,” Anne said. “He plans, works hard and never gives up.”
They’d come a week early to wander up to Monkey Mia, taking in the Western sun before the competition began. “Wherever our children are, we go,” Gary added. “We trip as far as we can, as much as we can.”
William, barely in his teens, may well be one of those who rise with the 2032 Brisbane Games. For now, it was enough that three generations had crossed the continent together — the kind of quiet, hopeful journey that feels unmistakably Australian.
Stoney on the Nullarbor
Out on the edge of the continent, Stoney keeps watch. Twenty years after Macca first met him at Eucla, he’s still out there, running starling traps that stretch from the Nullarbor Roadhouse to the Eyre Bird Observatory.
“We’ve shot them, netted them, poisoned them,” he said, matter-of-fact. “Most are pushed back to the border now.”
He lives among weather-station workers and fishermen, where the wind whistles off the Great Australian Bight and cliffs rise 100 metres straight from the sea. He fishes from those heights, lowering lines into the swell below. “By the time you get one up the top,” he said with a laugh, “you don’t feel like throwing it back.”
It’s a hard, beautiful life — the sort of self-contained existence only possible in places where the horizon is everything.
The Spell of Lake Eyre
From Stoney’s cliffs, the program turned inland to the shimmering emptiness of Lake Eyre. Macca read from Roma Dulhunty’s The Spell of Lake Eyre, describing mesas and salt plains so stark they seemed carved from another planet.
A small mob of wild camels moved through the mirage, their silhouettes black against gold light. Dulhunty called the place “Little Camel Canyon”, a valley of stillness and sculpted stone. It was a reminder that even the loneliest parts of the map can feel alive when someone takes the time to look and write them down.
Potatoes and the Price of Living
Not far from Mount Gambier, truck driver John was loading 42 tonnes of stored potatoes for Melbourne. The B-double hummed as he called from the road.
“They load you in thirty-five minutes — all bulk now,” he said. Asked about varieties, he chuckled. “Spuds are spuds to me.”
He’s been carting them since February’s harvest, the crop kept fresh in temperature-controlled sheds. But talk soon shifted from logistics to life. “Eggs have doubled in two years,” he said. “Food’s never been this dear.”
Both men remembered the backyard patches of earlier generations — the Pontiacs and Sebagos that came up in every second yard. Those gardens, they agreed, had a kind of quiet wealth no supermarket could replace.
Songs from Newcastle: Bob Corbett
Musician Bob Corbett called from Newcastle, his voice bright with gratitude. “Thanks for playing Long Weekend, Macca. You’ve sent a lot of good people my way.”
He’s a working musician in the Hunter Valley, playing three gigs a week while raising kids. “Spending time together, creating — that’s the joy of it,” he said.
The two reminisced about the old studio days — Slim Dusty recording at EMI, the Beatles in two-day sessions. “You don’t book time in a big studio anymore,” Bob said. “We all have our own now.”
In his backyard studio, surrounded by guitars and the easy noise of family life, Corbett keeps writing songs that feel like travel postcards from an ordinary weekend in Australia.
Bathurst’s Cortina Nationals
In Bathurst, the main street gleamed with vintage paintwork. Paul Geeran had trailered his classic Cortina all the way from Alice Springs for the Cortina Nationals, marking sixty years since the GT500’s famous Mount Panorama win.
“Everyone was on the track yesterday — nose to tail all the way round,” he said, still sounding amazed. Cars from every state, and even Tasmania, had filled the paddock.
Paul’s been in the Alice since 1983. “People think it’s all trouble,” he said. “But we love living there.” The festival of engines and memory, under a crisp Bathurst sky, carried that same sentiment — a love of place that runs on petrol, polish and pride.
All Over News: Roads, Wheat and Bread
The All Over News segment crossed from red dirt to grain fields. There’s a plan to bitumenise the road from Laverton (WA) through Alice Springs to Winton (Qld) — the Outback Way. Advocates say it’ll open a diagonal freight link across the nation; locals fear it could change their remote rhythm forever.
Macca then turned to the story of Gabo wheat, bred from Gaza and Bobbin strains. “To see my father in a field of wheat was to see a man at prayer,” poet Max Fetchin once wrote — and that line hung in the air like dust at harvest.
At the Perth Royal Show, baker Lachie Bisse of Big Loaf Bakery in O’Connor explained the secrets of good bread. “Aged flour absorbs more moisture,” he said. “You get a softer loaf and a better rise.” For Bisse, the dawn starts and warm ovens are a kind of calling: feeding the city one loaf at a time.
Outback Airwaves: Martin Corbin
At the airport, Macca ran into Martin Corbin, a former ABC producer now working with NG Media across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.
“Community radio is hearing your culture brought back to you,” Corbin said. From Wingellina to Warburton, he helps remote broadcasters produce local music and health messages in language.
He spoke too of the Outback Way. “It’ll make travel safer,” he said, “but it’ll also change things — more tourists, more traffic. We’ve got to keep the balance right.”
His own commute — Uluru to Wingellina, four hours on a desert track — shows what connection really means out there.
Deniliquin Ute Muster: Country Pride
Paul from Deniliquin was still buzzing from the Deni Ute Muster, two days of country music and engines under a Riverina sun.
“It’s great for the town,” he said. “They do it tough, but this brings everyone together.” Families and farmers filled the grounds to see The Wiggles, Zac Brown Band, John Williamson and Troy Cassar-Daley.
Visitors had come from across Australia — and even from Wales — proving how far small-town festivals can reach when music and mateship do the marketing.
Ian McDougall and the Music of Snow
From Goulburn, songwriter Ian McDougall phoned in. He’s fronted Canberra’s Acme Jigs and Reels Company for decades and still skis whenever he can.
“The snow here’s heavier,” he said, comparing Australia’s drifts with the fine powder of Colorado and Niseko. His stories of Kiandra and the Snowy Scheme mixed history and affection — the sound of someone who’s spent a lifetime listening closely to both weather and song.
Strings and Feathers: Ian Simpson in Perth
In Perth, banjo master Ian Simpson picked through the difference between Merle Travis’s thumb-picking and Chet Atkins’s alternating bass. Then came the tune that started it all — The Wreck of the Old 97.
He remembered the 1970s, playing three pub shows a Saturday. “You just kept going,” he said. “Now it’s quieter — but the rhythm’s still the glue.”
At home in Armadale, Simpson tends fruit trees and a flock of chooks — recently joined by a stray guinea fowl that simply moved in. “Looks like it’s staying,” he laughed. Music, like birds, finds its own roost.
Speed Cubing in Brisbane
At Eight Mile Plains, Glenn from Bunbury watched his 14-year-old son Declan compete in the National Speed Cubing Championships — a world of flashing hands and memorised moves.
“He’s in the blindfold finals,” Glenn said proudly. “I can’t do it myself.” The two planned a week in a campervan afterwards, exploring Queensland’s hinterland — father and son solving life’s puzzles one stop at a time.
Inline Hockey in Hobart
Down south, Graham from Hobart reported from the National Inline Hockey Championships at MyState Arena. “It’s ice hockey on rollerblades,” he explained. With the city’s rink long gone, players turned to synthetic courts. Twelve age divisions, a thousand competitors — proof that Tasmania’s sporting heartbeat still thumps loud.
The Road Rolls On
When Macca signed off — “If you see me on the road, stop and say g’day” — listeners had already been there: at the diving pool, the bakery, the desert airstrip and the ute paddock. The Oct 5 Show was Australia in real time — voices, distances and dreams stitched together by a signal strong enough to cross them all.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
Spring was in the air and so were the stories. This Sept 28 episode took listeners from recycled timber and the call of East Arnhem Land to quirky island cars, sandstone “cities” hidden in the Top End, and a two-month escape from news and email. Along the way came bravery awards and hugs, vintage motocross, a long-fought medical milestone, the tough world of restaurants, youth brass bands, an Aussie in Nottingham, and wildflowers from Bendigo to “Ravey.” All stitched together with Macca’s banter, asides, and genuine curiosity — it was Australia, all over.
Danny Johnson — Forty-Two Years of Demolition, All Recycled
Danny Johnson’s voice carried the weight of four decades spent pulling down buildings — but also the joy of putting old timber and pressed metal to use again. He spoke to Macca from inside his restaurant, where nothing was new. “Every single thing in here is recycled,” he said proudly. “All of the timber, the doors, the windows, the lining boards… I’ve stripped the paint off, re-polished, re-varnished, re-shellacked. The whole place is a recycled establishment.”
It all began when his dad came home one day and suggested they help a widow whose house had to be demolished. “So dad and I pulled that old house down in Duncan Street, Warracknabeal. Two or three people started coming past, and they started to buy this lining boards and roofing iron and 4x2s and Oregon beams off me. And it was great. I said to dad, hey, gee, we could make a living out of this.” And they did, for 42 years.
Now retired from demolition but not from work, Danny lamented what he sees as over-regulation. “Health and safety has gone right over the top. We’re so overregulated in this wonderful country… all us ordinary guys and girls, who I call the productive people — for God’s sake, give us a go. Stop putting bloody hurdles in front of us.” Macca chimed in, “Too many rules, mate. Too many rules, too many laws, too many lawyers.” Danny agreed wholeheartedly.
What pains him most is the waste when old buildings are bulldozed. “Even in Warracknabeal, our beautiful hospital, 100 years old, smashed it down with a front end with an excavator, smashed it to bits. I nearly cried… that beautiful cowrie pine flooring and jarrah flooring, all just being smashed to bits.” He argued that governments should allow time for salvage teams before the machines roll in. “I’ll do it. I’ll come out of retirement,” he said. And then, with the kind of wisdom passed down through families, he quoted his father: “As long as you got three meals a day and a roof over your head, son, you’ll be right.”
Angie — Solo Run to East Arnhem Land
Angie rang in from Roma, cheerful and matter-of-fact about the long road ahead. She was on day two of an 11-day drive from her property near Nimbin all the way to Nhulunbuy in East Arnhem Land.
“Today, I’m driving to Longreach, and I’ll probably have a look at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Museum,” she said. From there the route stretched through Mount Isa and Katherine before the last leg — “670 kilometres of corrugated hell, apparently, to Mullenboy.”
She wasn’t travelling light. “I’ve joined the Central Arnhem Road Facebook group and getting lots of advice,” she explained. “I’ve got extra spare tyres, and yeah, I’m just by myself. My husband, he works full-time back home, so this is an adventure of a 12-month work contract I’ve got up there.”
Macca asked if she was in Nursing. “No, no, I’m in Tourism. I’ve been in tourism for about 150 years,” she laughed. Her speciality is fishing tourism, and she’s heading north to help develop “catch and cook” and other ventures, as Rio Tinto prepares to exit the region. “It’s a privilege to get up there and help some tourism and aerospace and aquaculture industries,” she said.
For now, though, it was just her, a “20-year-old Toyota packed to the rafters,” and the open road. “It’s a lovely thing to do, to go driving, especially when you see Australia,” Macca said. Angie agreed: “Beautiful day here, beautiful day. I’m heading out through the canola fields towards Longreach.”
Pete on Magnetic — International Moke Day
“Just hold on, I’ve got to sit down,” Macca laughed when Pete from Magnetic Island mentioned it was International Moke Day. Pete, calling after a sprinkle of morning rain, said the Men’s Shed had put together a small celebration. “We’ve managed to get about 14 people together. So we’ll have breakfast over at the Men’s Shed, maybe go for a bit of a drive and end up at the pub for lunch.”
Magnetic Island was once a haven for the quirky little cars. “In its heyday, they had 124 Mokes,” Pete said, “the second largest Moke hire company outside of Portugal.” Originally built by BMC for the army, they had ground clearance issues but became perfect runabouts. “Well, the old ones were getting a bit tired,” Pete admitted, “but beautiful little car.”
Retired from the Gold Coast, Pete now loves his island life. “We’re only 20 minutes by ferry off Townsville… it really is a beautiful, beautiful place,” he said. Macca added, “That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Not the destination, the friends you’ve got around you.”
Tony Allen — The “Loft Cities,” Kimberley Skies and 10,000 Kilometres
Tony and his wife had just returned from a two-month, 10,000-kilometre trip that took them across northern Australia and back. They weren’t in a hurry, and that was the point. “We set that up for our camping trip and took off, went up to Townsville and then into Hughenden, then up on to the Savannah Way, up to Cobalt Gorge and on from there… and across some fairly abominable roads,” Tony told Macca.
On the road between Burketown and Borroloola they met a cyclist named Michael who had ridden from Adelaide. He convinced them to take a detour into Limmen National Park. “There’s the Southern Loft City and the Western Loft City… amazing columns of eroded sandstone all close together. It’s just the most stupendous place, Macca.”
Macca admitted he’d never heard of it. “Not that I should know everything, but I’ve never heard of that, the lost city,” he said. Tony replied, “Certainly worth visiting.” From there, they went on to Keep River National Park with its own sandstone formations, then on to Broome, where their daughter works with Magabala Books.
Temperatures tested them: “We’d have 13 degrees in the morning, and then 33 in the afternoon. It would just be… a big gradient.” Macca agreed: “That’s huge, isn’t it? But I suppose people in the north are used to that.” On the way home, they took the Tanami Track to Alice Springs, then the Plenty Highway to Boulia.
For Tony, the best part was the mental reset. “We didn’t listen to the news for two months. Didn’t check our emails.” Macca chuckled: “Shock horror!” Tony agreed: “That’s what everybody should do.”
Sally — Bravery, After the Headlines
At Burleigh Heads, Sally introduced herself brightly: “I’m the chief hugger of the Australian Bravery Association.” She explained how the group supports people who’ve risked their lives to save others. “Life after rescue can be quite challenging. We go into an emergency situation with no protective clothing, no training, no tools, no one to help us, no peer support. We just go in with a kind heart, just hoping we can help someone.”
Those rescues often leave scars. “We quite often suffer physical and emotional injuries as a result of our rescue attempt,” she said. Research backs that up — Dr Tom Voight’s study showed family members can also be traumatised, with impacts ranging from flashbacks to strained relationships. “I’m not saying that everyone gets PTSD,” Sally said, “but rescue events can be very traumatic.”
Bravery Awards, she reminded listeners, are open to public nomination: “Anyone in the community can nominate someone for a bravery award. That family might receive a life-changing medal, which becomes part of the family folklore.” The awards are announced on 1 September — Bravery Day — with ceremonies at Government Houses around the country.
The Australian Bravery Association, made up of award recipients themselves, also organises events. “We hold regional events… I just want to chat with you today about the campout we’ve got coming up on the Gold Coast at Ormo on October 25th,” Sally said. “If anyone’s got a bravery award, wants to hang out with other bravery award recipients and tell tall stories, and laugh and carry on, and have some fun — I’d like to invite them.”
Macca teased her about the “chief hugger” title. Sally laughed: “I’m so brave I can go and hug anyone. And a lot of the men can’t do that.” She added: “Anyone needs a hug, I’m available, okay? You need a hug, Macca?” He chuckled: “Well, everyone needs a hug and a cup of tea.”
Vaughan — A Century for the Brisbane Motorcycle Club
Vaughan’s call came from the road south of Ipswich. He and his mate were heading to Queensland Moto Park for a special celebration: the Brisbane Motorcycle Club turning 100. “They’re holding the National Vintage Motocross at Queensland Motor Park this weekend,” he explained.
His own pride was a pre-1970 Ossa 250. His mate was astride a BSA Gold Star in the pre-60 class. “Like a BSA Gold Star is probably maybe $20,000 worth,” Vaughan said. There’d be bikes from pre-60, pre-70, pre-75, and riders well into their eighties still taking to the track.
Sidecars, once a common sight in post-war Australia, were absent this time. “We couldn’t get a field of sidecars for this event, so we had to have a bit of a cry,” Vaughan admitted. Macca reminisced how tradesmen once threw tools into sidecars and rattled off to work. “Exactly,” Vaughan agreed. “That was how you got around.”
The event was free for spectators. Vaughan chuckled as he described himself — retired but still racing at 66. “We’ve got guys out in their 80s that are still racing motocross.” Macca was impressed: “More power to you, mate.”
Rod Martin — Rural Generalists Finally Recognised
From Armidale, Rod Martin brought news two decades in the making. As president of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, he announced that rural generalists were now formally recognised as medical specialists. “It’s 20 years in the baking the cake and six years to ice it,” he told Macca.
He explained the significance: doctors would now have a proper target to train for. “We expect people to be able to look after emergencies, look after people in hospital and look after them in the primary care settings,” Rod said. Training included the option to sub-specialise in anaesthetics, obstetrics, palliative care, paediatrics, and more — twelve pathways in all.
Rod also tackled a health rumour that had unsettled many pregnant women: whether paracetamol use caused autism. “Two and a half million Scandinavians got studied a year and a bit ago, and there was no evidence for it. It doesn’t cause it.” Macca sighed: “News organisations grab hold of anything. It does a lot of harm.”
Rod agreed: “It ends up taking up more time explaining things that are pretty simple and straightforward. When you get washed and washed with the same bit of story, it takes careful, deliberate discussion to correct it.”
Recognition for rural generalists, he said, would give leverage to secure more funding: “We’ve now got the very clear justification to say, we need to fix health outcomes… let’s get on with it.”
All Over News — Muriel Chen and The Taiwanese Table
The All Over News segment spotlighted chef and author Muriel Chen. She told Macca how her family migrated from Taiwan in the late 1980s. Her mother and father knew little English, but carried ambition and determination. Settling in Melbourne, they eventually returned to what they knew best: food.
Muriel now runs the Blue-Eyed Dragon in Pyrmont, Sydney. Her book, Food from the Isle of Formosa: The Taiwanese Table, weaves together family stories and recipes. “For me… this is Taiwanese. My mum cooked it this way. However you like to say it, this is Taiwanese.”
Business has been a rollercoaster. After relocating to a larger venue in 2010, things thrived. By 2019, trade had dipped. Then came COVID — and unexpected support. “The day before lockdown, a customer walked in and said, Muriel, I just want to take away for $300. Here is $500. Cook whatever you like,” she recalled. “And I even had a customer from the UK buy a gift voucher he would never use, just to support us.”
Muriel’s mother, who once ran a 1,000-seat restaurant in Taiwan, joined her in Sydney and helped train the staff. Many are still with her after nearly two decades — Sugi, who began washing dishes, is now head chef; her sister-in-law is the dumpling master; Anita has been sous chef since her teens.
On 30 September, the Blue-Eyed Dragon marks its 20th anniversary with a fundraiser for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Muriel remains committed to her community too, supporting Pyrmont Cares, which furnishes homes for those starting over.
Fergus & Alex — Youth Brass on Tour
From a tour bus in New South Wales, Fergus and Alex gave a glimpse of life in the Victorian State Youth Brass Band. Fergus plays tuba — “the carpet that all the cornets sit on,” he said proudly. Alex, principal percussionist, laughed that he’d been hitting drums since he was three. “It’s the backbone. Playing anything that’s out the back, hitting stuff, it’s always fun.”
Macca joked about the shape of lips dictating which instrument you play. Fergus replied that while “embouchure” mattered, the real key was breath control: “The air is what creates the beautiful tone, having a really consistent support down at your diaphragm and your pelvis.”
With 50-plus members, the band was on its 2025 New South Wales tour. “It’s always the highlight of the year,” Alex said. For Macca, it was a chance to remind listeners of the dedication that goes into youth music.
Mick Gallis — Ange, Forest and a Six-Hour Bus
From Nottingham, Mick Gallis was buzzing. He’d flown over to see Ange Postecoglou coach Nottingham Forest. “I got to meet Ange pre-match,” he said, still pinching himself. “And even the owner, Mr Maranakis.” For Mick, an everyday bloke from Melbourne, it was a thrill to chat with figures most fans only see on TV.
Forest lost 1–0 to Sunderland, but Mick barely cared. “They rolled out the welcome mat,” he said. “I even got interviewed on the BBC.” The only sour note was the transport home. With trains booked out, he took a six-hour bus back to London. “It’s a long way from Nottingham to Melbourne, Australia, Macca,” he quipped.
Macca teased him about hotel showers. Mick confessed he couldn’t work out the taps at two different hotels. “I tried to have scones with the King, but he was busy at Balmoral,” he joked. His itinerary included the Cotswolds, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, the Somme — where he would honour a great-uncle who fell in World War I — and Paris. “I love overseas, but there’s no place like home,” he said warmly.
Mindy — Counsellor Between Two Systems
Mindy called from Bunbury, Western Australia, wrapping up a 10-day campervan trip with her husband and two teenagers. They’d visited Lucky Bay and Esperance, passed through Denmark, and were heading into Perth to catch a flight back to Melbourne.
Her story stretched further than the holiday. An American from Florida, she married a Sydney man after meeting him on a social service trip in Mount Druitt. “We just started emailing back and forth,” she said. Eventually, he moved to the US with her, and they built a life there. Now, two years into what was meant to be a short work stint in Melbourne, they’ve decided to stay.
Mindy works as a counsellor and psychotherapist. She still sees clients in the US via telehealth while trying to build a base here. “There are many, many clinicians out there, but no funding for it,” she explained. Medicare covers psychologists and social workers but not counsellors. “If Medicare could utilise these other clinicians, it could go a long way.”
She contrasted systems. “In the US, insurance is very pricey, but mental health coverage is included. Here, you’ve got well-trained people who can’t access the funding.” Macca sympathised: “All we hear about is mental health. Seems like you could never be out of work.” Mindy smiled at the irony: “It’s just the funding that comes to cover it, though.”
Sandy — Bendigo’s Native Flower Show
Sandy rang in from Bendigo, where the Australian Plants Society was holding its annual flower show. “All natives,” she said with pride. More than 400 varieties grown in members’ gardens were on display, alongside books, stalls, and community groups.
She had been busy all day introducing visitors to local mint bushes. “I’d make them just touch the leaves, squeeze them and smell them,” she laughed. “They’re fantastic. Aromatic plants — you walk past them and brush against them, and the aromas just hit you.”
Macca joined in, recalling how mint bushes in his own garden filled the air with purple blooms. Sandy added that Bendigo varieties also flowered scarlet and bright yellow. “The scent of lemon, of mint, of honey, of eucalyptus — it was just a delight walking in this morning.”
For her, the beauty of natives was their resilience. “In the bush, they don’t get pruned or watered or weeded. Just let them go,” she said. Even city dwellers, she reminded, could grow them in pots. “The garden just does it for me,” Macca agreed. “Whether it’s an insect or a bird or a smell or a sight… it restores the soul.”
Dan — First AFL Grand Final
Driving home past Ararat, Dan was still buzzing from the AFL Grand Final at the MCG. A Cats supporter, he’d finally seen his team in the big dance after 50 years of following them. “We come up short, but it was just an experience,” he said.
The official crowd was 100,022, “should have been 23, but the bloke next to me didn’t show up,” he laughed. Dan sat up in the “nosebleeds,” close enough to touch the roof, but loved every minute.
He makes wine in the Barossa Valley and had hosted a breakfast for local farmers before driving over — a casual get-together with bacon and eggs to check in on mates doing it tough. His wife works with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and was heading to Port Augusta as he drove home.
The day itself was a mix of football and showbiz. Dan wasn’t much fussed about the halftime act. “A lot of noise, not my cup of tea,” he admitted of Snoop Dogg’s performance. Macca chuckled: “Depends how old you are.” For Dan, the match itself was the main event, and it was one he’d never forget.
Justin Taylor — ACDC in Katanning, 50 Years On
Justin Taylor rang from Tambellup, WA, still energised by a community event in nearby Katanning. It was 50 years to the day since ACDC played there on their TNT tour. “We set about organising a bit of a reenactment of that Long Way to the Top video,” he told Macca.
Local musos filled in for the band, and they even found a bagpiper, Andy Davies from Alberton. “He blows a mean horn,” Justin laughed. They secured a truck, the shire’s blessing, and police support, then rolled through town blasting rock and roll. “It was fantastic, Macca. You would have loved it.”
Macca laughed along: “Rock and roll ain’t noise pollution.” For Justin and the community, it was proof that regional towns could still put on a show with heart.
Toby Ford — Rowing for Bush Wellbeing
Toby Ford introduced himself as part of Outback Rowing Australia. Next weekend, Longreach and Barcaldine would host regattas on the Thompson River and at the Barcaldine Water Sports Area. “We’re tapping into the rivalry between the two towns — one a squatter’s community, the other a shearer’s community,” Toby said.
But the real goal was health. “The further you live from the ocean in Australia, the shorter your lifespan,” Toby noted, citing Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data. The regatta was part of tackling well-being in the bush. “We spend about $86,000 per adult per year on illness, and only $86 on prevention.”
This year would also include the first bush kids’ rowing program, teaching life skills and resilience. “We’ve now got 10 towns in western Queensland that have started rowing,” Toby said proudly.
Macca reflected that bush kids often develop life skills early — feeding stock, pitching in on farms. Toby agreed, adding that safe decision-making was part of giving children “safe passage to adulthood.” For him, rowing was one way to encourage that.
Enid — Honeyeaters and Geraldton Wax
Enid rang from suburban Perth, delighted by the wildlife in her neighbour’s garden. Two baby New Holland honey eaters had just taken flight from a topiary bush under a veranda. “We’ve been watching them and protecting them for a while,” she said.
She encouraged gardeners to plant dense shrubs where small birds could shelter from larger predators. She also praised Geraldton Wax for drawing in bees. “I walk out my front door and I can hear all these bees.”
Macca admitted he’d struggled to grow the plant in his soil but remembered seeing it flowering in WA, “deep purple and pink along the railway line.” Enid assured him it could work in big pots with proper drainage. “It restores the garden with sound and colour,” she said.
Rhonda — Wildflowers at ‘Ravey’
Rhonda called while driving between Lake Grace and Lake King, heading home to Esperance. She wanted to give a plug for the Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show, held every September. “The best wildflower show in the world, I’m told,” she said.
Locals simply call the town “Ravey.” This year’s show had been a triumph, with displays of the region’s spectacular biodiversity. “Anyone travelling Western Australia should plan to be in Ravensthorpe early September,” Rhonda urged.
Macca laughed: “You should’ve rung a couple of months ago.” But he promised to see her there next year. Rhonda, who runs a broadacre cropping farm with her son, said the season had been kind. “Crops are looking really good in our area, so very thankful for that.”
It’s a Wrap!
And with that, Macca signed off, promising that the full flavour of Australia could always be found on the airwaves each Sunday morning. From Warracknabeal salvage yards to Arnhem Land fishing, from Magnetic Mokes to lost cities of stone, the Sept 28 show carried listeners across landscapes, lives, and laughter.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
Spring was in the air on this week’s program, and Macca’s callers brought with them a lively mix of stories: from kites on Brazilian beaches and four women pedalling a quad bike across the Nullarbor, to Nashville songwriters, disappearing bees, and classic cars in suits. Add in students bound for Kokoda, a squeeze box festival in Queensland, and a surprise call from guitar legend Hank Marvin, and it made for a show as varied as Australia itself.
Danny from Melbourne – Health and Kite Adventures
Danny began with an update on his health, relieved to be clear after prostate cancer surgery but now facing a long wait for a hip replacement. He admitted staying active was difficult, but insisted, “You’ve just got to keep moving. You can’t sit still.” Danny also recalled his days in Brazil flying stunt kites, including a massive 3.8-metre prototype that pulled him barefoot along the sand. Trying the same at Anglesea ended badly: “I came crashing down on the rocks and got cut to pieces. Never again.”
Ride for Life – Quad Tandem Across Australia
Anna from the Gold Coast called from Port Augusta, midway through a national ride on a four-woman “quad tandem” bike. “We’ve had caravanners stopping to take photos, people making donations on the side of the road,” she said. Even a busload of grandmothers gave them fresh scones. The group is raising funds for Gotcha4Life’s suicide prevention programs, aiming for \$500,000 by the time they reach Bondi Beach on 10 October.
Angus Gill – Music, Nashville, and Alzheimer’s Awareness
Angus Gill checked in from Nashville, where he has been collaborating with Marty Stuart and James Burton. His new record Postcards is due out in October, alongside his first novella, Departure and Arrival, inspired by his grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s. “I used to play cards with my nan every night,” he said, “and that’s where the song In the Cards came from.” Gill described Nashville as a city where “there’s live music on every corner,” saying it has sharpened his songwriting and performance.
Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive – Classic Cars for Movember
Organisers Mark Hawwa and Corey Brown explained how the Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive swaps motorbikes for classic cars. Hawwa said, “We started this to break stereotypes — people think bikers are hairy blokes in leather. We put them in suits.” The event has since grown into a global fundraiser, raising over \$100 million for Movember’s men’s health initiatives. Sydney and Brisbane are among hundreds of cities worldwide hosting drivers next Sunday.
All Over News – Bank Closures Across Australia
Journalist Dale Webster discussed the latest wave of Bendigo Bank branch and agency closures, calling it “the biggest mass closure I’ve seen in 10 years.” Despite a government moratorium, dozens of towns are losing their only service. Webster argued the solution is to “re-establish a people’s bank, like the old Commonwealth Bank,” noting that a Senate inquiry recommended it over a year ago.
All Over News – Where Are the Bees?
Veteran apiarist Keith Steele gave a sobering report on Varroa mites. “Backyard hives are down 50 per cent,” he said, with many hobbyists giving up because of the cost of constant treatments. Commercial operators, he added, are paying tens of thousands just to keep their bees alive. Steele warned bluntly: “Without bees, we don’t eat.”
Michael Gallus – From London to Nottingham
Michael Gallus called from London while celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary. He planned to watch Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, only to discover his great-great-grandfather was born there. “I’ve even found some living relatives,” he said with amusement. Gallus also described London as “Disneyland for adults” and laughed about trying Britain’s so-called “warm beer”: “It’s not warm at all — just not as cold as ours.”
Seasonal Dates and Listener Letters
Rob from Maidenhead explained the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons, using solstices and equinoxes to show why dates vary. Another letter came from Oliver DiMarscio in Italy, who reflected on 25 years abroad. He praised Australia’s “mateship and optimism” compared with Europe’s social tensions, adding that listening to Macca gave him a sense of home.
Outdoor Learning – Students on the Kokoda Track
Jason from Guildford Grammar in Perth called before leading 18 students on the Kokoda Track. “Brigadier Potts was a student here,” he said, noting that Potts’ great-granddaughter was joining the trek. Jason described it as “an exercise in grit and resilience” that teaches lessons far beyond the classroom.
McLaggan Squeeze Box Festival
Cheryl from McLaggan promoted the town’s annual Squeeze Box Festival on 11 October. Now in its 22nd year, the event features button accordions and ends with an old-time dance. Despite its small-town setting, it attracts musicians and visitors from across the country.
Skunk Works Community Youth Band Festival
Philippa phoned from a bus heading to Sydney with 45 young musicians from Victoria. The group, aged 13 to 25, will rehearse with professionals from leading orchestras before performing at the Kogarah School of Arts. Philippa said the day was about “showing young people they belong in music.”
Native Bees and a Reset for Honey Production
Sam from near Taree offered a different perspective. With European bees in decline, he said, “Our native bees are thriving. They’re filling the gap.” Some commercial beekeepers, he added, were reporting higher honey yields as competition for nectar eased. While native bees can’t replace Europeans for all crops, Sam described the shift as a “reset” that could help biodiversity.
Leadlight Windows – An Artist’s Eye
Macca replayed an interview with stained-glass artist Keith Little. He recalled that architects often delayed installing his windows until after dedications “so they wouldn’t overshadow the building.” To critique his own work, Little said, “I put it up against a mirror — when you see it backwards, you spot the faults.”
Letters – Rising Power Bills and Remembering Charlie Townsend
One letter described a \$1,346 winter electricity bill, highlighting the struggles of pensioners. Another came from Janine, remembering her father Charlie Townsend, a baker turned cattle station owner in Wilcannia. A replay of his earlier interview revealed his deep love of breadmaking and community life.
Hank Marvin – Gypsy Jazz on Tour
The show closed with a surprise call from guitar legend Hank Marvin. Now touring with his gypsy jazz quartet, he praised accordionist Nunzio Mondale and spoke about the joy of Django Reinhardt-inspired jazz. “It’s challenging, but so rewarding,” Marvin said. He will perform at Chatswood’s Concourse before heading to Brisbane’s Oz Manouche Festival.
Disclaimer: ‘Australia All Over’ is a program produced and broadcast by the ABC Local Radio Network and hosted by Ian McNamara. Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara, the ABC, or the ‘Australia All Over’ program. This weekly review is an independent summary based on publicly available podcast transcripts and episodes. All original content and recordings remain the property of the ABC. Our summaries are written in our own words and are intended for commentary and review purposes only. Readers can listen to the full episodes via the official ABC platforms.
