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Keeping yourself fit and healthy and in shape is vital for life’s long game. And no-one understands that more than celebrated chef Neil Perry, who chats with organisational psychologist Dr Amanda Ferguson about what it takes to survive the demanding restaurant game for more than 40 years. About the episode – brought to you by Australian Seniors, in partnership with RSPCA. Join Jean Kittson for the seventh season of DARE: The time of your life (formerly Life’s Booming), called Better With Age. Too often ageing is painted as decline. In reality, Australians are living longer, healthier lives and reshaping what “older” looks like. This series flips the script and shows how ageing is not a dirty word but rather a time to be embraced, featuring interviews with extraordinary over 50s refusing to slip quietly into the background, who instead continue to survive and thrive in the long game of life. Neil Perry is Australia’s most decorated chef. The culinary genius behind Rockpool and winner of the 2024 World’s 50 Best Icon Award, Neil has spent 40 years at the very top of his craft, including his latest venture, the Margaret Family Group. Staying there hasn’t been accidental. It takes relentless passion, resilience, and an unwavering belief that what you put on the plate – and into your body – genuinely matters. Dr Amanda Ferguson is a registered psychologist, organisational psychologist, author and speaker, whose three-decade career has been devoted to helping people find meaning, motivation and wellbeing in work, life and relationships. – Watch DARE: The Time of Your Life on YouTube Listen to DARE: The Time of Your Life on Apple Podcasts Listen to DARE: The Time of Your Life on Spotify For more information visit seniors.com.au/podcast Produced by Medium Rare Content Agency -- TRANSCRIPT:​ Jean Kittson: DARE the time of your life, formerly Life's Booming, is brought to you by Australian Seniors in partnership with RSPCA. For more episodes of this and our Life's Booming series, visit seniors.com.au/podcast. Hi, I'm Jean Kittson. Welcome to the latest season, Better with Age, where we are celebrating Australians who are living, working, and ageing on their own terms. No ageing stereotypes for them. This week's episode is called Playing the Long Game, and no one exemplifies what that means more than our first guest, Neil Perry. With a career spanning more than four decades, he is one of our most influential chefs. Indeed, he's the only Australian to receive the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants Icon Award, the food oscars. The culinary genius behind Rockpool, and his latest venture, the Margaret Family Group, Neil has survived the often brutal hospitality world without disappearing or burning out. And joining him is Dr Amanda Ferguson, registered psychologist, organisational psychologist, author, and speaker whose career has been devoted to helping people find meaning, motivation, and wellbeing in work, life and relationships. Neil and Amanda, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Neil Perry: Thanks, Jean. Good to be here. Jean Kittson: Neil, the restaurant business is often very brutal, long hours, highly competitive, stressful, fickle market, lots of pressures, all that, not that I want you to feel any pressure from me about this, but you've not only survived, but you've thrived for over 40 years. So, what do you think is the key ingredient or the secret ingredient to your longevity? Neil Perry: Well, I think just the enthusiasm of which I approach every day because, I mean, you know, it is an old cliche, but they say if you find a job you love doing, you'll never work a day in your life. And I am lucky enough to have found, you know, something that's intrinsic in lifestyle. So I kind of dream about food. I eat food, I wake up, I work in it. You know, my whole focus on a daily basis is about my restaurants, my staff and how we grow and continually evolve. So, I've kind of spent the last 51 years in the industry continually evolving rather than, you know, sort of deciding, oh my God, I've gotta change what I'm doing. I'm just day by day trying to do better than I did the day before. And that's a kind of mantra that we roll into the entire team so that they're always thinking about getting better and more focused and getting the best out of themselves and growing as people, which is really important. So, I think that's helped me keep an edge to continually keep thinking that. You know, I've got a role in the industry and I wanna keep moving forward. And, you know, tomorrow is another day and it's another day that I get an opportunity to be better than I was the day before. Jean Kittson: And you translate that to your teams by the sound of it, that is important. Neil Perry: Until I was 25, I was working front of house and managing restaurants and running restaurants, which has kind of helped me become a restaurateur rather than just a chef. And then at 25 transitioned into the kitchen and it was really obvious to me that there tended to be a kind of ‘us and them’ culture in the restaurant business. And we see with a lot of things at the moment on chefs and the way they treat people and they have treated people, and particularly in Europe, that it can be a very hard place to be. But, I made a very conscious decision to try and make it, you know – more about the way my personality is anyway – but to make it a place where it was really, everyone working together as one team, no front and back of house. It was, you know, really everyone coming together to make sure that the most important person in the room was the customer – and that we were supporting each other. So through the care philosophy, which, you know, is a really simple word, but it embodies itself in so many things that we do. So, you know, we care about our incredible suppliers. They're the lifeblood of our restaurant. Our amazing farmers and fishermen and, you know, incredible vignerons and so forth. And then it's really about caring about the place in which we work, because I really love to have a restaurant that's as beautiful 10 or 15 years down the track as it is the day that it opens. More patina, of course, but like a great pair of shoes – loved and comfortable – and that's really important to me. And then core to, I guess, the whole thing is we gotta care about each other. So we try to make sure that, you know, we're checking in. Are you okay? You know, are you doing your mise en place or can I help you set up the restaurant? And make sure that if we think somebody's coming in and they've got issues at home or with relationships, or even with a relationship within the restaurant, that we're trying to solve that and make sure that we can get to the point where we're all pulling in the same direction. And then for us, community's key. So caring about our community. We've always been involved in fundraisers and trying to help people that are less fortunate than us. We're in a very privileged position to be able to do that as restaurateurs and chefs. And then care about the environment because if we don't have clean air and clean water and clean earth, we can't get that amazing produce. It's my role to make them better chefs, better waiters, better sommeliers, better managers. But I like to make them better people. I always say at every large staff gathering, probably most of them under 30, that, you know, my generation kind of sucked the marrow out of the world, and it's up to them to make sure that the next generation of leaders are held to account. So, I do try to get them to think about community, you know, sustainability and politics – and their role in it. And that makes them hopefully, you know, more rounded people. Jean Kittson: Well, it sounds to me that longevity we're talking about and that success, so it would go the other way too. Do you get a lot of support from them? Because you give them so much care and attention and your expertise and you're bringing them up. And do they support you when there's challenges as well? Neil Perry: Yeah, of course. I mean, I always say that I'm kind of like a vampire. So, you know, I run this amazing team of people with huge amounts of energy and youth and they need to be guided and sort of, you know, given opportunities in life. But in return, I get so much energy and so much joy from them that that actually keeps me young. I look through my eyes and I actually think that I'm their age, you know? Jean Kittson: And Amanda, in your work, in different industries, do you see this teamwork as part of an essential ingredient as well in different industries? What helps your clients? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Every industry is different in terms of how much teamwork you're gonna have and gonna need. Certainly in Neil's area, you can see the necessity of people there physically, and yet we've got a lot of remote working now and a lot of organisations have pivoted that way. But I think, Neil, you were talking beautifully about a whole lot of organisational psychology concepts like growth mindset; that the growth factor of helping these younger people moving forward and growing. And we know that the growth mindset is important for all ages and you know, fundamental to performance anyway, but then to ageing performance, this engagement Neil's talking about, what makes him engaged and motivated internally. That's what we know, as we get older, matters even more than when we're younger. So a lot of your younger staff, they're really motivated by extrinsic, which is external reward, which is building their careers and gaining money and being able to put down any roots that they can do at the time of their lives. And yet, these internal motivations are what are driving us as we age increasingly, which is about contributing, which is the influence you're having, the legacy you're creating. And that clearly motivates you as well with the care concept there, which is a wonderful driving factor. Jean Kittson: Do you think that keeps people more engaged with the work they do and able to meet challenges better? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Well, as long as you shift with your motivation. So we change across the lifespan, and Ericsson talked about the tasks of different ages and stages of life. Those travel with us during, staying at the top of our game. And so as long as we keep negotiating them, which is where our motivation's gonna change. So now, you know in our 60's, the main motivation there for the life stage is about legacy, and then it's gonna become wisdom, and moving into the wisdom part that we're negotiating with. So it's like in any generation pivoting, continuing to pivot even in older age. And you know, not giving up, you know, that there is a choice there that people make and have to be conscious of. Ericsson said at 63, it's a real challenge of; are you gonna regenerate or are you going to degenerate? Jean Kittson: Right. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yes. Neil Perry: I think it's really important for people to recognise that a lot of things that happen to them are within their control. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Mm-hmm. Neil Perry: So for me, you know, I'll be 70 next year, so in 10 years I'm 80. So, you get a choice of thinking, well, you know, I've got 11, hopefully, very mobile years ahead of me. Because there's no guarantee physically, particularly when you've worked as many hours as I have and worn out most of the joints in your body, that you're going to be fabulously mobile. But it's important for me now, like, as we all know with longevity, like muscle mass is very important. So it's important for me to do enough exercise and it's really important for me to also think about balance and also flexibility. The three things that probably give you the most opportunity to get into your 80s and live the sort of life you'd still love to lead. And I know people who I always say are very inspirational to me who are like that hitting their eighties and, you know, still going out and playing golf and going on holidays and still working and doing things and I think that'll always be a very important part of my life. I couldn't imagine retiring. I could imagine taking it a little bit easier, you know, maybe not working every weekend, but I couldn't imagine not having the motivation mentally to come in and set parameters and talk to the chefs and speak to the wonderful fishermen and the farmers and the people that are the most important people in my life. So I just think for me, it's a matter of kind of putting the energy into those things that will give me the kind of outcome that I want. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And that's your internal motivation. Neil Perry: Yeah. There's a very traditional, you know, big pharma way of thinking about medicine and the body. And we now know that there's a very well documented and proven, you know, functional way of looking at it. We know diet's really important, so I eat really well. I mean, one of the things that's great for me is I don't eat really any processed food at all, probably except for bacon, which I love. Jean Kittson: You said processed. That's not processed. It's just dry. Neil Perry: Not really. It's like when I make our hamburgers, people say, ‘oh yeah, you eat a hamburger.’ Yeah, it's like freshly ground beef. That's what it is. It's got properly made sauces and it's got a bun, you know, so it's actually pretty good for you. I'm not sure about the other processed ones but, you know, I do think if you eat a lot of whole food, it's really important. I mean, my probably one sin in my life is I love red wine. So, I'm thinking a lot about, you know, how much I drink and maybe I should cut back. But every time I think about that it's just, you know. Jean Kittson: Too hard! Neil Perry: I think is it worth an extra couple of years? Maybe not. Jean Kittson: No, that's right. Benefit. Neil Perry: You gotta get the balance. Jean Kittson: Risk benefit. Risk benefit. Amanda, do you see that people with longevity in their chosen careers, do you see that as a psychological important part of them surviving, you know, playing the long game? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Oh, absolutely. And look, most of those people will either have really pivoted in their careers away from say, line management to supervising or training in a corporate kind of job. Or if you're lucky enough, I think as both Neil and I are, to actually love what you do and live to work because we get so much like a vampire back from the… Jean Kittson: Yes. Dr Amanda Ferguson: The beautiful energy of what we give out and what comes back. And that's engagement, that's called employee or work engagement, where we love and like our work. So clearly the cognition side that Neil loves, you know, the way he thinks about all his work as well as emotionally, what he's gaining and giving, and giving out cognitively – so everyone has a different long game. You know, I'll often say to people who have worked to live; ‘don't just retire, retire to something.’ And that's when they may sort of, you know, think of buying another business that is actually non-corporate, where they can have their staff if they're similarly engaged or creative outlets where they can really be more creative in the workplace or in hobbies or pursuits or golf. So, you know, the long game may be pivoting to being the brilliant golfer in your peer group. Jean Kittson: Right. Using your energy in your, yeah, well that sounds pretty good. but use that drive… Neil Perry: Frustrating game though. Jean Kittson: Yes. Frustrating game. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Well, yes, use the pivoting drives because as we age, the reason that we are motivated changes. So it's typically becoming, as we are entering post 50s, we're moving from – and certainly from late forties – we're moving from being really motivated by caring for others to wanting to build a legacy. And so if you feel your legacy is in the community, say, of having the surf club managed really that legacy may matter. And even having a plaque for yourself or you might become an elder to the local surf group. So, it's the pivoting and noticing and negotiating the lifespan changes that you have to go through in order to keep this motivation, engagement, growth mindset and risk failure – and have fun along the way. I mean, all those basic performance motivations and factors, they all still apply in older age. We draw on that breadth of knowledge and survive and thrive because of that, you know, it doesn't matter that the cognitive decline is happening. If you are pivoting, if you're compensating with all of that knowledge and ability and, you know, even muscle memory that you would have, definitely for your work. Jean Kittson: I think they call it crystallised experience. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yes. Jean Kittson: Have you heard that expression? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yes. Jean Kittson: Yes. So that's very valuable to workplaces. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Absolutely. Jean Kittson: I know you've been talking about legacy and I would think that Neil's already got an enormous legacy. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Exactly. Jean Kittson: And you could, you know, leave the business tomorrow and you'd still be as renowned and as admired and respected. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Except the care of the younger people. Neil Perry: Yeah, absolutely. Getting young people to care. I mean, it starts really with kind of, you know, you get young 16, 17-year-old people coming and working with us. I mean, we're very lucky through COVID that my daughters were in year 9 and 11. And when we came out of COVID and staff was very difficult, we'd already been doing, sort of, takeaway and burgers and everything we possibly could to survive. And one of the things that all these young kids loved, they loved coming and working for us because they're very social. And all of a sudden, for four months of their life, they were like, you guys cannot be together. So, for them to come and work and putting little bits of sources in containers and doing all that stuff. But to see them sit around a table, eight of them, and laughing and, you know, engaging and being social was just so wonderful because I know, with my girls, you could really sense that they were struggling and they really missed that. So they then came on to be, you know, the kids who worked in our restaurants, all of their friends, and they were anywhere from 15 through to 17. And we've put many of them through university. And so, they're a really important part of what Margaret is, and that makes it an incredible family restaurant beside the fact that my three daughters and wife worked there as well. So what was really wonderful was for their parents to come in and have dinner and just say, ‘thank you, you've really taught our daughters what it is to, or our son, what it is to strive,’ you know, to try to be the best you possibly can. And I just thought it was a really wonderful impact to have on young people. And then other times where we get young kids in the kitchen, 16, 17, and they're, you know, used to eating processed food and cans of drink and, you know, all the sorts of stuff that I dislike immensely. We don't force them, but we try to make them appreciate real food and whole food. And, you know, every day we have a family meal when we're open and it's not leftovers, it's a planned meal. We buy food in and our kids, you know, get in pairs and they get to prepare a family meal. We have some fantastic… Dr Amanda Ferguson: Wow. Neil Perry: dinners because we have kids from Korea and Indonesia and Singapore and China, Greece and Spain and Italy. And so we just get these amazing, very traditional meals cooked with real food. My motivation is to move the goals for those kids and to show them not just restaurant food, but what good eating is, to value and how to enjoy because, you know, part of their training is really tasting everything that we make and making sure that everything's perfectly balanced. But I want them to understand what, you know, eating and enjoying life is really all about because we have to eat to survive. So it's really wonderful. We can get great joy out of that as well. You know, it's the icing on the cake. Jean Kittson: That is a wonderful legacy, but also then they will learn and pass it on. I mean, do you see your role as a chef and a restaurateur, in the broader community, as education as well about food? Neil Perry: Yeah. Oh, very much so. And that's been like, I think I've got 11 cookbooks that I've put out since 1994 was the first one. Jean Kittson: And your recipes are fantastic, by the way. Neil Perry: Yeah. I wrote for Good Weekend for, you know, 15 years. Nearly every book is the same, in essence, because it all starts out with good cooking is good shopping. So, you know, if you buy beautiful produce, you'll end up, and that doesn't mean spending a fortune, it means cooking with a season, and often that'll be the cheapest way to buy fruit, vegetables, whatever it might be. And, you know, eating fresh food. You know, if you prepare fresh food or eat lovely fresh food when you go out, again you know, from a lifestyle point of view, it's just so much easier to process, so much better for you. You know, I really learned how to wash, dry and dress a salad properly at Stephanie's. And that's been very fundamental to all the things that I've done through my career and like people come to my place, they go, ‘oh my God, the salad's amazing.’ Well, it's just, you know, really well washed, dried and dressed and seasoned lettuce. I hope to impart on the next generation is just the fundamentals of doing stuff properly. Jean Kittson: Properly. I'm going to make sure I dry my lettuce properly now. Neil Perry: You must have a salad dry. You must dry your lettuce properly. Jean Kittson: Yes. It's pretty old. My salad dry. But to think that even three months with an elder in your business, like Stephanie, had such a big impact, shows what an elder and that experience has… Neil Perry: Well, she was older, but she wasn't that much older than… Jean Kittson: Oh I'm sorry. Neil Perry: Steph must be like, she would probably hate it if I said it, but, you know, approaching 80 or in her eighties. Jean Kittson: Oh, not that much older… Neil Perry: But back then she was probably in her early forties or whatever, and I was 26. I guess the reason it was so impactful for me is that because I'd run restaurants and managed restaurants and my father kind of taught me pretty much everything about food. Because he was a butcher, you know, mad keen angler. So we went fishing all the time on our holidays and he came from the country, so we were lucky enough to have a small garden and grew vegetables. So he taught me all about the seasons. But when I did my year of working with a whole lot of great chefs in Australia, I was 26, I'd run restaurants, you know, I'd been buying the wine, you know, doing lots of wine tastings, buying fish for the seafood restaurant I worked for, running the books, doing everything. So as soon as I jumped into that environment of working with chefs, I was like a 26-year-old, highly motivated, knew the business really well, so it really focuses you. Dr Amanda Ferguson: You've adapted and you've pivoted with the times, like you said with COVID and, you know, that's where you regenerate all the time. Neil Perry: Yeah, well, I have a nasty habit of opening restaurants in like – if I'm about to open a restaurant, anyone in the stock market should look at it and go like, ‘okay, where's my investment opportunity or divestment?’ Because when I opened Rockpool in– I started building in 1988. I opened it in the middle of the recession. We had to have, in 89, we had 18% interest rates. We'd borrowed 1.8 million, you know, Trish and I had to pay 360,000 in interest. I mean, made $0 for working 18 hours a day, six days a week for the first year. And we were just lucky that it all of a sudden hit the spot. So we were full. And I suppose the positive was unemployment was about 10%. So, it was easy to get staff. And then when I was opening Rockpool Bar and Grill in Sydney and Spice Temple, you know, we spent $11 million on that project and the GFC came along. And then the day that I was about to open Margaret in June, 2021, Gladys got on the TV and said, ‘okay, the Eastern Suburbs is shutting down.’ And then the next day she went, ‘the whole of Sydney's shutting down.’ And about a week and a half into that, feeling very sorry for myself, and this is the first time I'd owned a restaurant, 100%, you know, my own. I'd had partners before that since ‘83 all the way through. And I just remember that feeling of like, hang on. You just cannot sit here and feel sorry for yourself anymore. You've got staff to worry about, you've gotta get yourself back into action. So it was like, you know, zoom calls, getting all the staff, getting all the management team, making sure that everybody who worked for us was having the opportunity to engage in any government relief that they possibly could through the job keeper and workforce scenarios with state and federal. And importantly recognising what we could pivot to and how we can engage with the community. And it was incredible. We worked our butts off for four months. I made absolutely $0, but I didn't lose anything. And that was with a whack of government assistance. I'd been lucky enough to do some trials and have some corporate sellouts before they shut us down, before we were supposed to officially open. And it was an extraordinary time, but it meant that those 50 people that we were all working together every day, albeit not running the restaurant, but we were living in the restaurant. We were moving through the kitchen. We were cooking, we were doing all this stuff. And then we got to retrain again, and then we opened. And it's the best restaurant opening I've ever done. So we were under restrictions, we couldn't do as many people, but it was just extraordinary. And, to this day, like in the entire, probably open 27 restaurants in my life. So, that was just, you know, the most extraordinary opening ever because we had the time to do it properly. Dr Amanda Ferguson: So, that's a beautiful vignette I think of self-compassion, which is that hang on, you know, you can't feel sorry for your self courage. And the wisdom that, you know, I’ve done it before, pivoted before with major world crises. Do it again. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And you did it. Jean Kittson: Do you find that as a common experience for people who can… Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yes. Jean Kittson: Have longevity? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Absolutely. Because again, we've got the wisdom. We may not have as much cognitive capacity. We've got the wisdom. If you can find the courage, you know, and a lot of elderly people don't have that. They lose it because of ageism around us. It's having a big effect, the loss of self-esteem, but we have more ability to self-regulate, the research shows, generally, most of us. And so, you regulated yourself, which is very much about resilience and self-management and, you know, the wisdom that you drew on. And so it's leaning into the database that we really have inside ourselves, and the knowledge that isn't just about conscious ability. It's about, okay, I've been there before. Obviously you must have cast back to oh, we did the GFC, we did the other challenges. This is just another one. And age gives us that perspective that, okay, we are looking now from here to death, whereas people earlier– sorry younger than us are looking from how long I've been alive to where I am now. So that perspective… Jean Kittson: Right. Neil Perry: There is an end to this game. Yeah. It's interesting because, you know, you're right. I mean, I probably, it's only about five years, so probably since I was 64 or 65, I just started, you know, having these odd moments not of, you know, not of depression or, you know, dark thoughts. I've only got so long to achieve what I want to achieve. You know, so before, you're right, you were kind of looking forward, just going like, oh, there's no end game to this. Let's just keep forging forward. It's certainly a life perspective change that happens to you. Jean Kittson: So do you think the long game turns into the shorter game maybe? Neil Perry: Yeah. Gotta get this done game. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Or have fun while we can game! Jean Kittson: Or how do I ensure, really. When people– I'm just a little bit confused 'cause there's self-compassion. But what Neil mentioned kept him going was not self pity. So, what’s the difference? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Self-compassion is completely different. And this is where we are finding a lot of, you know, high performing musicians and elite athletes cringe at the idea that they should take on self-compassion. No, it's about beating yourself up to get to move forward. Yeah. And then when you really counsel them that it's about courage. It's about wisdom that you're going to keep tearing your muscles if you keep pushing forward when you are actually having a weak day. Take some wisdom there and just back off a bit on the training. It's not, you know, feeling sorry for yourself. You know, a lot of people think, oh, self-compassion is self-soothing and positive talk. And if you dig deeper into the current research, it really is about this courage mindset, this wisdom mindset, even at younger ages. And once these younger people wrap their mind around it, and they take it on, they perform better. Look at Roger Federer. You know, look how he had to develop this self-compassion of courage and wisdom to learn how to play the ball. You know, he didn't retire till 41, but he was burning out and he was focused on performance and any failure, he was visibly, you know, having tantrums. He had to pivot his mindset to this courage, determination, grit, but also this mental resilience factor where it's not emotional now. And that's what you would've done too. You would've gone into the mindset that was needed, which is a growth mindset. It's like, how do we pivot? How do we learn? And Federer is a great public example, as are you, of course. Jean Kittson: When people lose their confidence as they get older because they are undermined, there is ageism, they probably feel that they are not achieving what they used to achieve on certain levels. Maybe it's, you know, they lose their confidence because of the way they talk to themselves, but also the way, external factors, some people are retrenched. How do people– how have you found that people overcome that lack of confidence? Dr Amanda Ferguson: So many different ways, Jean. You know, again, it's play to your strengths. I've counseled people who've been retrenched seven times, you know, it's like, you know, sick of that now the corporate burn and churn wheel, you know, is it time to pivot into something different if you're that jaded? And others are like no, I'm gonna start my own business. I've got a podcast on how it's an internal external conundrum – confidence. It's what you're thinking, so yes, the mindset, but it's also what you're doing to keep your confidence because the research shows that most of us know we're losing cognitive capacity. And if you’re then pivoting, accordingly, rather than feeling unconfident about that, that's just a part of life. Where’s all the rest of your confidence? Because we do know that if you do compensate with all the other confidence areas that we've got in wisdom, knowledge, expertise, experience, you know, the perspective of we’re looking towards the end of life now and that gives us a fantastic perspective that we need in our phase of life. Jean Kittson: Yes, and to pass on to others. Yeah. When you say we are losing cognitive capacity. Is it capacity or function? What ability? Dr Amanda Ferguson: It’s capacity. Yeah. Jean Kittson: Capacity. That's a scary thing because I think, oh, you mean we can't think as clearly, but I feel like I can make better decisions now than I ever could. So what is that word? Cognitive. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Information processing. It's very much up-skilling, re-skilling. We know that older people typically don't want to retrain. They don't want to relearn new things unless you can pivot them to what motivates them. Now, you are motivated about passing on and standards and excellence and your influence continuing. And so you've probably, you know, you are relearning as you go, what's happening with the economy, so that I can continue to be confident and have my capacity working for me. So, it's an unconscious thing we are doing, really, that we're compensating from capacity, which is about information processing, about retraining to, well, I'm willing to retrain. I'm willing to understand what's happening for the farmers, for the economy, for the fuel supply, for what organisational psychology calls VUCA times that we're in which is volatile, uncertain, challenging, ambiguous. You know, I'm relearning about the state of the world because my motivation is helping people of course. And so, if I wasn't motivated by that, I wouldn't use my cognitive ability that I do still have left for that. So, it's the combination of so many different factors at play as we age. Neil Perry: So Amanda, is that in speed of processing or is that just capacity of processing? Dr Amanda Ferguson: It's in speed. We don't want to work an 80 hour week anymore. So, that lack of cognitive ability that the twenties has – when we're in our twenties – we happily do an 80 hour week. We're just not interested and it's harder. The labour for that cognitively is harder because of our loss of capacity. And so, we have to keep pivoting. We have to keep drawing on the growing skillset that we do have, which is more about the wisdom and knowledge base that is so broad that we don't even realise what we're using often. And that continues to grow in middle age. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Into older age, and the research shows we can perform as well as people in their twenties. Neil Perry: By using that capacity of what we know as opposed to what they don't know. Dr Amanda Ferguson: That's right. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And you're not even conscious a lot of the times what you're drawing on. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: That body of research is so robust. There's this concept that's totally misconstrued that we are less able as we get older. Jean Kittson: I think that whole cognitive decline is so loaded. I really, find... Neil Perry: Well, we live in the age of Alzheimer's and dementia and, I mean, you know… Jean Kittson: Yes, of course. Neil Perry: I just don't ever remember growing up, when I was younger, and ever hearing that term. And of course now it's like ADHD and everything that's happening with kids now, and everyone on the spectrum – and that just was not happening when I was younger. I just don't ever remember it even in my forties. But now, in the last 20 years, everything seems to be so focused on all of the various mindsets that can happen to a person. Jean Kittson: I just feel that the restaurant industry has retained so much of its human content. Neil Perry: Yeah, absolutely. Jean Kittson: Humanity, eating together with your team. And the care of food and the environment, it all goes hand in hand. So you are very lucky to be part of… Neil Perry: Yeah. Jean Kittson: That sector, rather. Neil Perry: Well, you know, somebody said to me the other day, ‘oh, when do you think you'll start using Tesla robots?’ And I said, ‘well, how about never?’ Our main focus is to create great memories, right? I tell everybody, ‘yeah, sure we're in the restaurant business,’ but our main focus is to create great memories. And that's what drives our business – word of mouth. People say, ‘oh my God, I have the best time at Margaret.’ And it was interesting because in 2002, I got a phone call from Scott Bowles, who is still doing Short Black, which is the gossip column in the Sydney Morning Herald for food. And he said a magazine in London, they asked 300 people their five favorite restaurant experiences in the world. And Rockpool finished fourth. And I thought, wow, that's incredible. And I spent seven years on that list. But, I came back to my team and I said, ‘see, we're in Sydney and most of these people would not have been to Sydney, so we must have got a lot of hits on the ones that did.’ So, that's living proof that great memories are created in this restaurant. By having you feel like this is your second home, you know, like our regulars are so important and anybody who's a first time visitor is a great opportunity to create a regular. That's how we look at it. Jean Kittson: Yes. Neil Perry: And we want people to feel like this is their second home. They're so comfortable here. You know, we know what they drink. We know what they like. We know the interactions and conversations and we want people to just think, oh, I've just gotta get back to Margaret, because I not only love the food, but I just love this whole experience of feeling like I'm part of the family. I don't think you'll ever be able to AI replace that. And I hope I'm well dead and buried if it ever happens, because it would break my heart if that happened. Jean Kittson: If we all had to do everything online and then, well, even the QR code doesn't code, doesn't… Neil Perry: Drive you crazy. Jean Kittson: In the pubs, now you order your food on the QR code. Neil Perry: I'm lucky enough to be well positioned to know people in restaurants that I want to go to or even around the world. So, I just never get online and make a booking. You know, it's always a phone call or a quick text or something, but all that stuff just takes the romance. I mean, I almost, I thought I wanted to give up restaurants when I got to the stage where we had to bring the EFTPOS machine over and leave it. I just thought romance is dead. Okay. I got over that. We moved on, and the technology works really well for everybody now. And, I guess the one thing about the stuff of the ordering and what have you as more and more restaurants move towards – potentially not even that – but different opportunities with technology on table, you'll still have waiters and all that stuff, but, you know, you get the walk, the check ability and all. It's just making life more convenient. But again, a lot of this is at the expense of the romance of what it's all about. And, you don't have a great memory of a seamless experience. You have a great memory of an interactive experience. Dr Amanda Ferguson: But you seem to be compensating for that with the care mentality. Neil Perry: Yeah. You have to. Jean Kittson: So Amanda, when Neil was talking about creating memories, do you think that translates into other businesses as well? Or even socially? I suppose, if we all thought that every interaction, we were creating some sort of memory, maybe we would get more pleasure ourselves from life and give other people more pleasure. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Well, that's one of the internal motivators for our age group is the fact that we're connecting socially with other people for those memories, for the feel good in ourself. If that's about creating memories for others, maybe having memories for ourselves as well. That's driving us more at this age group. It's about memories and it's about pleasure and enjoyment and having fun. Neil Perry: And all those experience, kind of, industries are obviously doing the same thing, you know, whether that’s in the travel industry or events, airlines, you know, whatever it might be. That interaction that you have, you want people to get a lot of joy out of it. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And you want them to remember. I want them to remember, ‘oh, that's right. Amanda said 10 years ago,’ you know, because we’re in the people business. Neil Perry: Absolutely. And conversely, the fundamental thing that you have to get is job satisfaction. If you are already enjoying what you do, all the stuff we talk about with care, it's just not gonna come through. You know, all that has to be delivered with a genuine spirit of hospitality and that can't be done unless you are loving what you do and you're getting a lot of joy out of it. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Job satisfaction is engagement. That was my PhD area, that you love and like your work. So it's cognitive and emotional. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And that's where you're giving memories. Creating memories. You're making memories for yourself. Jean Kittson: And so do you ever say to people who have not enjoyed their work and they're now in their fifties, do you ever sort of suggest they may like to find something they like doing? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Absolutely. Yes. If they've not enjoyed it, but they've worked for reasons that are external motivators like money, providing that kind of thing, they've now got an opportunity – especially with the perspective of, okay, we are now living to the end of our lives. What's gonna be important to you now, so that when you're on your deathbed, you can look back at the memories and go, I have got no regrets. Neil Perry: You crystallise that very well, Amanda. When you're on your deathbed. Jean Kittson: Is there something you would've told your 50-year-old self, which you were 20 years ago? It's hard to believe, isn’t it? Neil Perry: I know it is. Jean Kittson: Is there anything that you would've told your 50-year-old self that you know now that you would've thought, I would've done that differently or anything? Neil Perry: Look, you know, I've made a couple of mistakes in the past two years that I wish I hadn't, but experience told me that I shouldn't have done it, but I did. And it was partly, you know, just being drunk on the success of Margaret and vesting a lot in Double Bay that I probably shouldn't have done. You know, I'm happy where I am now, so I always managed to fight my way out of these things. But yeah, look, I would probably just sit back and say, ‘hey, just run the numbers one more time and remember all the things that you said that you were never going to do.’ Because there were a whole lot of red flags on what I did. And I’d never do a restaurant where it’s got da, da, da. Never do da, never do this, never do that. Did all of them because I really wanted it. And I think back then, I was 50 when I started, or a little bit younger, when I started building the Rockpool Bar and Grill part of our life, which was the business that I managed to sell for quite a bit of money and set myself up for life really. But, I was very focused on not making those mistakes. So maybe my 50-year-old self should be telling my almost 70-year-old self – or my 67-year-old self when I made these decisions – stay by your code of conduct and don't get over enthusiastic. Jean Kittson: Yeah, dry that lettuce. Neil Perry: Dry that lettuce. Exactly. So interestingly, I don't regret anything in my life, really. But I do think that when you are in a situation where you've lived as long and you've been in the industry for as long as I have been, and you've managed to have as much success, it's really very satisfying to look back and think about. And it was hard work, all the hard work that you put in, but, you know, all the rewards that you got from it. Jean Kittson: All the rewards that other people got too. Bringing training and mentoring and bringing up such a team. For someone who mainly works on their own, I just admire that so much and I feel that that must be one of your greatest legacies. Not only educating us all about food and introducing us to wonderful recipes and experiences and memories, but just what you've contributed to the following generations. Neil Perry: Well, I've got to, I've worked with an enormous amount of people. I mean I don't even know how I could figure it out, but it'd be, I don’t know, 50,000 people over my career probably. Jean Kittson: Wow. That's amazing. Congratulations. Well, Amanda, like you were saying before, so we don't have regrets on our death bed – I'm gonna have quite a few. Don't you worry about that. And, I may be seeking your advice on how to manage those regrets. But, most of us will have regrets and part of the resilience of getting older is how to manage, you know, mistakes we've made and how to sort of, I suppose, work out in our minds why that might have happened and forgive ourselves or move on. And do you find that that's a very important part of getting older and keeping on going? Dr Amanda Ferguson: Well, yes. Good that you mentioned resilience because that, in the research, is about self-regulation. So, managing ourselves and social competency. So, being able to manage dealing with other people and communication, relationships, conflict resolution. So yeah, resilience is the key factor to prevent burnout, to help with engagement. It's very important, and to avoid regrets. Yeah. Your example, Neil is exactly one of those that you manage yourself better now and we learned through failure. I mean, you can't avoid failure if you’re going to keep growing in your life and stay at the top of your game, failure's just part of it. Neil Perry: Oh, you've gotta embrace failure. Yeah. I mean, you know, you learn 10 times more from failure than it is from success. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Neil Perry: So yeah, that's failing and then not being afraid to reengage, that's really important. Because some people fail and it causes them to overthink a lot and it causes them to not take the opportunities that are in front of them. So, it's really making sure that you look at the next opportunity and how do I make sure that those things aren't engaged in the thing going forward. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Exactly. Jean Kittson: Well, I think that is a really great way to end this conversation about continuing to fail is not a failure. Like continuing to fail is a good thing because you're taking risks and you're growing. And you have the confidence to not be damaged by it. Dr Amanda Ferguson: As Neil says, you can't avoid failure. If you fail to continue to be at the top of your game, there's a failure. But if you’re going to stay at the top of your game, you're gonna have to face failure. And that's a growth mindset. And welcome it because you're learning. Neil Perry: Yeah. Dr Amanda Ferguson: And you're still learning as you're getting older. How fabulous. Jean Kittson: How fabulous. Neil Perry: It's really about the amount of happiness that you have. So, there's no, no point in living an extra 10 years if you're not happy. Jean Kittson: Yeah. Neil Perry: So that's the key to life is like get to the end and be happy with where you've been, what you've done, and where you are. Dr Amanda Ferguson: Yeah. Agree. Jean Kittson: I agree too. That's fabulous. Thank you so much. Thank you, Neil. Thank you, Amanda. Thanks to our guests, Neil Perry and Dr Amanda Ferguson. You've been listening to Better with Age, season seven of DARE: The Time of Your Life, formally Life's Booming. Please leave a review and share this show with someone you know and visit seniors.com.au/podcast for more episodes. May you dare to live your best life. I'm Jean Kittson. Thank you. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global reactions grow against Israel's mandatory death penalty for Palestinians; Reserve Bank to ban surcharge fees for EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa transactions ; and in sport, FIFA rejects Iran's request to have World Cup group matches shifted from USA to Mexico

Txij hnub tim 1 lub 10 hli ntuj xyoo 2026 no mus ces Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yuav txwv tej lagluam tsis pub tsub cov surcharge fees rau tej bank card li debit, credit thiab EFTPOS lawm, thiab txawm tau pom zoo nrog American Express los yuav tsis raug txwv raws li cov kev tej cards ntau yam li tau hais no. RBA hais tias yuav pab txuag tau tej neeg yuav khoom siv nyiaj ib xyoos twg txog $1.6 billion thiab pab txuag tau tej lagluam nyiaj ib xyoos twg txog li ntawm $900 million. Ua ke no los yuav pab kom tej neeg yuav khoom tau them tus nqe yuav kiag pob khoom ntawd lawm xwb.

2026 മാർച്ച് 31ലെ ഓസ്ട്രേലിയയിലെ ഏറ്റവും പ്രധാന വാർത്തകൾ കേൾക്കാം...

PayWave and card surcharges are back in the news today. Those are the fees you pay when you choose not to put your card into the EFTPOS terminal. Today the ACT party said that the Government's proposed ban on surcharges is dead, however Commerce & Consumer Affairs Minister, National's Scott Simpson, has said he's hopeful the ban will be in place by May. So here to help us work out what's going on, and how the surcharges actually work, Jesse is joined by Professor Claire Matthews. Claire is the head of Massey University's School of Accountancy, Economics & Finance.

There's been a lot of chat about AI replacing jobs lately. And I get it, there are signs it's happening. For certain roles, especially more junior ones, the threat is real. But there are some things a computer will never know and never be able to do. Like reading somebody's emotions. Burger King in the US, this is a story out this week, is trialling AI software to judge how courteous and friendly its staff are. They've got an aptly named AI assistant, Patty, apparently doing this task. Party lives in their headsets, monitoring their every word. If you're handing out Whoppers at a drive thru, Patty will apparently record how many times you say welcome, please, and thank you. Patty then delivers the Whopper crew a daily friendliness score. Apart from sounding like a peak micro-managing pain in the ass, Patty, with respect, actually doesn't know what she or it is talking about. Can Patty detect sarcasm? Does Patty know if you're dead in the eyes while welcoming the next hungry customer? Customer service isn't so much about what somebody says, but how they say it. It's a glint in the eye. An affectation of the face. In Japan a polite bow of the head. In New Zealand, too much talking and fake friendly could be seen as rude. We're more of a smile and polite hand gesture-type country. Human interaction is intricate and unique and takes even trained humans time to properly figure out. We humans have more than 40 facial muscles and using them in different ways can apparently convey 10,000 subtle emotional messages. I went to the bank yesterday to order a Eftpos card. The bank manager came over to say hello and I can't tell you most of she said, but I know she was lovely. I went home and told my partner about her. Is this a job AI can master? I mean really? Even if Patty had a camera on our eyeballs, a microphone, and pulse checker, I don't it could truly tell what we're really thinking in a way only other humans can. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. We can argue for hours, we can have online debates, we can write letters to the editor about whether extreme weather events are the result of anthropomorphic activity or whether we're just in the middle of a natural cycle that's occurred for millennia, but ultimately, what we think about climate change doesn't really matter. It's what banks and insurers and councils and the Government thinks that matters. And when they decide climate change is making some homes uninsurable, there's no arguing about it. Insurance companies just will not insure you, which means you won't be able to get a mortgage, which means you won't be able to buy a home in certain places unless you can buy it on your EFTPOS card, like Westport. There's a story on Radio New Zealand's website today. A major insurance company has temporarily stopped offering new home insurance policies in Westport because of the fact that the town floods and floods again. AA Insurance, which has approximately half a million New Zealand customers, wrote to Buller District Mayor Chris Russell at the end of 2023 to tell him AA would halt new business home and landlord insurance policies for properties in the 7825 postcode, which covers Westport, Carters Beach and Cape Foulwind. The company said existing policies would stay in place and it had put a transfer policy in place for anyone looking to buy or sell a home that was currently insured with AA. Tower Insurance is another one. People who own properties in locations where Tower deems the risk is too great are now being denied insurance cover outright. Beware signing up to a sale and purchase agreement before you can be sure you have insurance. A couple of legal firms are saying would-be buyers have found when they apply for a mortgage that they've signed up for a property on an insurer's red-lined list. Because they can't get insurance, they can't get the mortgage. But with no insurance condition in their sale and purchase agreement, they still have a contractual obligation to settle on the purchase. Back to Westport. The West Coast Regional Council Chief Executive said the first stages of the Resilient Westport project involved building 17 kilometres of stopbanks. Most of that work's in the planning and design stages, but two sections have been built already and that will be protecting around 30 houses that hadn't had that protection before. And in the next few months, they'll be progressing more of the flood bank, which will result in more houses being protected. And the council plans to show that to insurers who'll be visiting the town at the end of next month as different stages of the flood protection scheme are completed. So AA has said to Westport that if its flood exposure drops below the maximum exposure limit in the future, if they believe the flood banks will do the job of protecting the homes, then they'll reopen books to new customers. But they're not the first insurer to stop insuring where they deem the risk is too great, and they certainly won't be the last. So as I say, we can argue all we like about climate change and who's responsible and whether anyone should be held responsible at all. It really doesn't matter because policies are being drafted, policies are being enacted that take climate change into account. And whatever we believe, we will be denied insurance, paying the increased premiums, reshaping our towns and communities as a result of what the banks, the insurers and the council believe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Bean There Done That, host Phil Di Bella sits down with Larry Prosser, Executive Director of Beyond Payments, to unpack the Reserve Bank of Australia's proposed ban on card surcharges. They break down what this policy really means for consumers, merchants, and banks—and why the supposed “savings” for customers might actually backfire. Larry explains how surcharges evolved, why compliance matters, and the hidden costs bundled into merchant fees. Phil pushes the conversation into real-world territory: shrinking café margins, the politics behind RBA decisions, and the practical steps small businesses must take now. It's an eye-opening look into the payments industry, packed with insights every business owner and everyday consumer needs to hear. Key Topics and Themes The history of surcharging and RBA policy shifts Why banning surcharges may increase prices instead of lowering them The impact of shrinking café and hospitality profit margins How banks and POS providers bundle hidden fees into merchant services The ethical approach Beyond Payments takes with transparency and compliance The bigger picture: industry bodies, political motives, and small business survival About Our Guest Larry Prosser is the Executive Director of Beyond Payments, Australia's first fully compliant “fee-less” EFTPOS provider. Since 2013, Beyond Payments has helped thousands of merchants recover 100% of their merchant service fees through transparent and compliant surcharge mechanisms. Larry is a passionate advocate for small business, pushing for fairness, compliance, and practical solutions in the payments space. More at: beyondpayments.com.au Key Takeaways The RBA's proposed ban on surcharges may sound good for consumers but will likely push prices up across cafés and restaurants. Merchant fees are not “free”—bundled POS solutions often hide costs in other ways. Debit card fees remain one of the most unfair charges facing consumers today. Transparency, compliance, and constant vigilance are essential for small businesses when choosing merchant service providers. Small business survival depends on understanding merchant fees and demanding fairness from banks and fintechs. Links and Resources Beyond Payments – beyondpayments.com.au The Coffee Commune – coffeecommune.com.au Time-Stamped Highlights: 00:31 – Introduction to guest Larry Prosser and Beyond Payments 02:19 – The rise of surcharges since 2013 and consumer adoption 06:15 – How shrinking profit margins make merchant fees critical 09:20 – The RBA's proposed surcharge ban explained in plain terms 12:10 – Why the ban will likely push prices higher, not lower 14:28 – Interchange fees, card schemes, and hidden costs 20:05 – The double-dipping problem with debit card fees 26:00 – What business owners should do right now to protect themselves 31:00 – Horror stories: POS providers forcing payment gateways 33:45 – What the ideal system for merchants, banks, and consumers should look like 36:40 – The risk of more café closures and the pressure on small business Tune in now to understand the truth behind card surcharges, the RBA's proposed changes, and what it all means for your local café or business. Bean There Done That is available on all major podcast platforms. Produced by The Podcast Boss #Coffee #Hospitality #SmallBusiness #Payments #Australia #Fintech #Podcast

The news of the day, politically, is that surcharges are gone, as the Government's just banned them. You know what I'm talking about here, right? They're the little extra amount that you get pinged when you turn up at the dairy and you use your credit card, or you use your paywave - it's gone from May next year. The big sell behind this is basically that it's to help you with the cost of living crisis. Now, I hate to do this because I know you're thinking, "Oh, yay." And I'm totally gonna rain on that parade for you. Don't get excited, this is gonna fix nothing. You are still gonna end up paying that cost somehow, probably just through the cost of the bottle of milk that you're buying. Or your haircut, or your sushi or whatever it is - it's gonna be built into the price because the business still has the cost. Nothing is changing there. They've still got to pay that merchant fee. Now, a merchant fee is a very complicated set of charges which the business gets lumped with. And most businesses actually have no bloody idea what makes up that merchant fee. There's a fee from the credit card companies, there's a fee for moving money from the banks, there's the EFTPOS providers - the whole thing gets lumped into the merchant fee and that has not gone away. What's only gone away is the business's ability to be able to recover the cost of some of that through the surcharge. And by the way, the cost of that thing is actually quite big. I've read about one business - just one shop - that pays about $14,000 in a year just for that, just for the merchant fee, to be able to do business electronically. Now, what's going to happen if you go to that shop is, because that guy can't now pass it on to you with a 2 percent, 0.7 percent, 1 percent surcharge or whatever, he's simply going to add it to the cost of his product so that across the year, he makes that $14,000 back. Also, another reason why you shouldn't get excited about it is that this ban does not include anything that you buy online. So you're buying your Air New Zealand tickets? You're still gonna be paying that little $6 handling fee. You're buying some tickets for a concert from Ticketmaster? You're still paying that handling fee. Maybe you want to head along to Banksy? Yep, you're still gonna be paying yourself a nice little $8 handling fee. And the problem with that is that these are some of the most egregious examples, I would have thought, of surcharges just bearing no resemblance to reality - but they still slip through this. So instead of actually sorting out the backroom problems and the real gnarly issues - what has been charged by the banks and the EFTPOS companies and the credit card companies and really excessive surcharges - the Government's just taken the easy option and brought in a ban on the little stuff you buy from the dairy. Good headline. Unfortunately, though, just a charade. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The news of the day, politically, is that surcharges are gone, as the Government's just banned them. You know what I'm talking about here, right? They're the little extra amount that you get pinged when you turn up at the dairy and you use your credit card, or you use your paywave - it's gone from May next year. The big sell behind this is basically that it's to help you with the cost of living crisis. Now, I hate to do this because I know you're thinking, "Oh, yay." And I'm totally gonna rain on that parade for you. Don't get excited, this is gonna fix nothing. You are still gonna end up paying that cost somehow, probably just through the cost of the bottle of milk that you're buying. Or your haircut, or your sushi or whatever it is - it's gonna be built into the price because the business still has the cost. Nothing is changing there. They've still got to pay that merchant fee. Now, a merchant fee is a very complicated set of charges which the business gets lumped with. And most businesses actually have no bloody idea what makes up that merchant fee. There's a fee from the credit card companies, there's a fee for moving money from the banks, there's the EFTPOS providers - the whole thing gets lumped into the merchant fee and that has not gone away. What's only gone away is the business's ability to be able to recover the cost of some of that through the surcharge. And by the way, the cost of that thing is actually quite big. I've read about one business - just one shop - that pays about $14,000 in a year just for that, just for the merchant fee, to be able to do business electronically. Now, what's going to happen if you go to that shop is, because that guy can't now pass it on to you with a 2 percent, 0.7 percent, 1 percent surcharge or whatever, he's simply going to add it to the cost of his product so that across the year, he makes that $14,000 back. Also, another reason why you shouldn't get excited about it is that this ban does not include anything that you buy online. So you're buying your Air New Zealand tickets? You're still gonna be paying that little $6 handling fee. You're buying some tickets for a concert from Ticketmaster? You're still paying that handling fee. Maybe you want to head along to Banksy? Yep, you're still gonna be paying yourself a nice little $8 handling fee. And the problem with that is that these are some of the most egregious examples, I would have thought, of surcharges just bearing no resemblance to reality - but they still slip through this. So instead of actually sorting out the backroom problems and the real gnarly issues - what has been charged by the banks and the EFTPOS companies and the credit card companies and really excessive surcharges - the Government's just taken the easy option and brought in a ban on the little stuff you buy from the dairy. Good headline. Unfortunately, though, just a charade. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3CR's Subscriber Drive is on now! Subscribe to become a part of the 3CR community, get more involved in the governance of the station, and have your say at our AGM.How to subscribe:Head to 3cr.org.au/subscribe, where you can choose to pay for a single year's subscription or set up a recurring payment online,Phone (03) 9419 8377 during business hours (Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm), orSubscribe in person during business hours at 21 Smith Street, Fitzroy, where you can pay by cash, EFTPOS, cheque or money order.// Acknowledgment of Country// Headlines// Defend Dissent Coalition//Catherine from the Defend Dissent Coalition joined us to talk about the coalition's emergence in the face of the Victorian Labor Government's proposed anti-protest and social cohesion laws. The Coalition is a diverse group of activist organisations and individuals fighting to ensure the right to protest, which has been increasingly threatened in Victoria. In the face of mass protest in solidarity with Palestinians subjected to Israel's 15+ month genocidal assault on Gaza, the Allan Government has already introduced several bills into Parliament which encroach on freedom of expression and assembly, though the proposed legislation represents one of the harshest anti-protest crackdowns in recent years.  The Defend Dissent Coalition is organising a rally against the anti-protest laws on March 19th at 5:30PM outside the Parliament of Victoria - follow them on Instagram at @defenddissentcoalition for updates.// Amin Abbas at Palestine Rally//We listen back to a speech by Palestinian activist Amin G Abbas from the Free Palestine Rally on Sunday 9 February in Naarm, where Amin condemned Donald Trump's announcement of his intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza, and praised the strength of the people of Gaza as they return to their shattered homes.// Slingshot Books on Tabkha//Tess Cullity, founder of Slingshot Books, spoke with us about the process of publishing Tabkha: Recipes From Under the Rubble, a cook book written by Palestinian chef Mona Zahed while under genocidal siege in Gaza and illustrated by artists from Coffees For Gaza. We also play a clip of Mona talking about the book which she recorded last year before the announcement of the ceasefire agreement (our thanks to Mell Chun for editing and sharing this audio).  Mona has always loved cooking, artfully presenting food, and helping her friends prepare for their special occasions. Prior to October 2023 she ran a successful catering business, putting her skills and passions to practice. Tabkha is Mona's debut title, filled with twenty of her most beloved recipes.  Slingshot books is a tiny radical publishing house creating playful and politically potent books for kids and their grown-ups. Tess aims to serve a revolutionary readership, providing people with print objects that ignite their imagination and passion for change.  Preorder Tabkha by heading to tabkhabook.com - all proceeds from book sales (apart from printing and postage costs) will go to Mona and her community in Gaza.// PALM Scheme Worker Exploitation//RMIT PhD researcher Ema Moolchand joined us to discuss the co-authored report, Meat the Reality, which exposes the exploitation of workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme in Australia. People from Timor-Leste and Pacific Island regions working under the PALM scheme form the backbone of the Australian meat industry, but despite their crucial labour, PALM scheme workers commonly face "sub-minimum wages, sham contracts, and punitive deductions." Ema's doctoral research focuses on the ways that modern slavery shows up in local and global production networks, with a particular focus on the cleaning and meat industries.  Learn more about the conditions faced by PALM workers and what needs to change by reading the full report here. You can support the Australian Workers Union's campaign for fair conditions for PALM workers by signing this petition. Ema mentioned an exhibition of photographs taken by PALM workers which will be held at the Australian National University in March 2025 - find out more here.// Queensland Trans Youth Healthcare Access//Content warning: this interview includes discussion of transphobia, suicide and self harm. If you need to speak with someone for free and confidential support, you can call:Lifeline (national, 24/7): 13 11 14Suicide Callback Service (national, 24/7): 1300 659 467QLife (national, 3PM-midnight): 1800 184 527Rainbow Door (Victoria, 10AM-5PM): 1800 729 36713YARN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people only, national, 24/7): 13 92 76 Necho Brocchi, proud trans woman and service manager at Open Doors Youth Service in Magan-djin/Brisbane, discussed the impact of the Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls decision on the 28th of January to pause the provision of puberty blockers and gender affirming hormone therapy to new patients under 18 years old in the state. This decision, which was met with national outrage and protests around the country this past Saturday the 8th of February, forces 491 young people to wait for life-saving care until an inquiry into gender-affirming healthcare and hormone therapies takes place. Further information about the changes, state and federal inquiries, and their impacts are available in this resource developed by Transcend Australia, AusPATH, and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia. Necho shared several calls to action to support trans and gender diverse young people in Queensland:Write to Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls to express your concern about the government's decision to suspend access to gender affirming care for new patients under the age of 18. Contact details for Minister Nicholls are available here.Trans young people and their families can write to Open Doors Youth Service to share their stories about the importance of gender affirming health care here.Donate to Project 491, an initiative led by AusPATH in response to the Queensland Government's decision to restrict gender affirming care for trans and gender diverse children. AusPATH will these funds in collaboration with care providers in Queensland and across Australia (including Open Doors Youth Service) to establish multi-disciplinary pathways to ensure affected young people receive timely, evidence-based care.//  Image credit: Ember L, 2025. Follow and support Ember's work here.//

The Commerce Commission has issued a draft decision to reduce fees for businesses accepting card payments. It's proposing an estimated reduction of around $260 million a year where costs are handed down from banks to process payments. The commission revealed in July that businesses incur $1 billion in fees to provide card payments. Chair Dr John Small told Heather du Plessis-Allan a few will be annoyed by it, but it's important they strike a balance. He says they've consulted widely on it and believe they're at a point where they can simplify these rates and bring them down. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there's one city council facility in Christchurch that never seems to have a bad word said about it, it's the He Puna Taimoana hot pools at New Brighton. I would actually say that the pools are one of Christchurch's great post-earthquake success stories. What's more, they don't run at a loss. How often can you say that about anything run by a local council? Tell that to city councillor Aaron Keown, though. Because he's come up with this idea of selling the hot pools to try and get some cash in the door, so the council can avoid increasing rates by about nine percent next year. I'm telling you now. It would be the wrong thing to do. And I don't think it matters whether you've been there or not to know how daft an idea this is. Because those pools have become one of Christchurch's absolute gems. I haven't actually been there for a dip myself. But I know plenty of people who have - and they all rave about it. In fact, I was talking to someone this morning who went there for the first time just a few weeks ago. He described it as “exceptional”. And if you're hearing this and thinking ‘oh must give it a go'. Today is your lucky day. Because I checked the online booking system earlier and there are spaces available right now. It's your lucky day because, sometimes, the hot pools can be booked out for days - if not weeks - in advance. That's how popular they are. That was one of the many things that this person I was talking to today loved about going there recently. It wasn't crowded. It was very well controlled. That's a booking system for you. So why is Aaron Keown even entertaining the idea of selling off the pools? It's because the council is really struggling to find ways of avoiding that nine percent rates increase next year. It's not the only idea that's being thrown around the council table. But it's the only one that I'm dead against. Councillor Sara Templeton, for example, has suggested they could sell-off the Lichfield Street carpark. They can do what they want with that, as far as I'm concerned. But leave the hot pools out of this conversation. Because not only is it a success story now. It's been a success story since it opened four-and-a-half years ago. It was late May 2020 and the council was predicting that it wouldn't make any money in its first year. It was executing the pools to run at an $886,000 loss. But it went nuts. And, instead of losing money, it made money. In its first year it turned a profit of $109,000. How many council facilities do that? Not just in Christchurch, but anywhere. They'd hoped to get 75,000 people through the gates. But they had about 120,000 visitors instead. And in March this year, the 500,000th visitor went through the door. At the time, the manager of the pools - Merryn Skipper - said the pools had had a massive positive impact on the local community. She said, since the pools opened, Eftpos spending in the New Brighton area has increased on average by 200,000 transactions a month. Which, all up, equate to about 9.4 million extra Eftpos transactions in the area since May 2020. It's a gold mine! So where is councillor Aaron Keown coming from with this idea of his? He reckons Ngāi Tahu Tourism would be right up for buying the pools. He says: “With another operator it might be better for the area. Especially if we throw them a consent to build a nice big hotel across the road.” Where I think that idea falls over, is the fact that 85 percent of the people who go there are locals. Either way, if the council wants to avoid that nine percent rates increase, it needs to come up with other ideas. Flogging-off the hot pools shouldn't be one of them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealanders can now make contactless payments entirely on iPhones. Any retailer with a supported iPhone can accept payments from cards or digital wallets. It's paid via an app from one of Apple's payments service partners including Stripe, Worldline, Windcave, and ANZ. Ben Hanna, Head of New Zealand at Stripe, told Mike Hosking that it cuts down on the costs of running a traditional Eftpos machine. He says it cuts down on hardware costs, deployment time, and administration. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian's love affair with paying by card - and not cash - has now surpassed 90% of transactions.  And each time we tap our card, the merchant incurs a cost that's passed onto you, the customer, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.So who gets the money? As part of a Review of Retail Payments Regulation, the RBA is expecting the industry - the banks, card companies and payment terminal companies - to cut processing costs by using what's called 'least cost routing'.Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Consulting Company, Payment ServicesWes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe AssociationThe ACCC is seeking significant penalties for Coles and Woolworths in the Federal Court, alleging they systematically misled customers with their 'Prices Drop' and 'Down Down' claims. Neil Rechlin, Partner at NextGen Group

Description: We kick things off at an odd time for everyone this time! Bet you can't tell..

We kick off the pod with Olympics chat, how great was it! Marko doesn't understand something about the cycling, we discuss. Leads to a chat about aerodynamics. Who'd have thought.Raygun. We discuss. Ouch. Ox watched her try-out for the Olympics and describes her as being like under 14's vs an AFL team. She was awful, and Ox believes she should be fined. Ox and Marko watched the closing ceremony and loved it, Marko felt the Olympics were very phallic. He explains.Ox was at a 50th at the weekend, and got home in time to watch the water polo. He noticed something about he commentary which he thought was bizarre. We discuss some of the commentators at the games. Ox and Marko chat about the gymnastics and how on earth the athletes do what they do, and the diving as well.And after the break......Ox rolls out a very ordinary fact that he pretends is a stat. He's incorrect. At this point he is clearly ripping the piss.And then..... The Ox fires tip. He is angry about how his beloved Demons have performed and calls for a review into Simon Goodwin and the entire coaching department. He says that the administration have also leet the fans down and it has been another wasted year. He questions the handling of Angus Brayshaw, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.After The Ox finished ripping the Demons a new one, we chat to one of his mates Waz who tells us a couple of stories about the big fella.We discuss Eftpos charges. Rivetting.Lots of feedback, including a consistent theme of feedback on one thing that you have asked Ox and Marko to stop doing on the pod.A couple of weekends ago, Ox and Marko hosted a fundraiser for Very Special Kids, and something extraordinary happened at the event which had everyone in tears, It's a wonderful organisation, and if you can spare a few bucks, you can find them here.And we wrap up the show, and the season, with a typically appalling joke.Thanks to the wonderful team at the E&S Trading Clearance Centre in Clayton, Melbourne on Dandenong Road - right opposite Ikea. After an incredible deal on amazing gear? You won't believe the prices!We'd love you to follow a Couple of Blokes, and get involved with the show on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. If you've got a comment or feedback, send a voicemail to Ox and Marko here. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast wherever you listen! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acceptance that reviewing the way fees are charged for PayWave and online card transactions in New Zealand is a positive for all. The Commerce Commission is consulting on regulation it says could save Kiwis $250 million. People spend $1 billion each year on fees in-store and online. Small Business New Zealand founder and BSP advisory group director Phil Wicks is questioning whether some retailers are taking advantage. “There is quite a variation in fees. I mean at the end of the day, the retailers shouldn't really be making profits from their EFTPOS. They should be making their profits from the goods and services that they sell.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Laura Schleifer is the Institute for Critical Animal Studies Conference Director, Program Chair at Promoting Enduring Peace, and co-founder of Plant the Land, a Gaza-based vegan food justice/community projects team. A lifelong “artivist” and graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she's performed throughout the Middle East with a circus troupe, taught in China, Nicaragua, and at Wesleyan University's Green Street Arts Center, performed off-Broadway, and arts-mentored homeless youth. Her screenplay, The Feral Child, was a Sundance Screenwriters' Lab finalist. Her essays appear in New Politics Magazine, Forca Vegan, and multiple anthologies, including "Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination; Essays in Solidarity and Total Liberation" (Peter Lang, 2024), "Kropotkin Now! Life, Freedom and Ethics" (Black Rose Books, 2023), "Neoliberal Schooling of Selfishness and Exploitation: Rubricization and Corporatization of Higher Education", (Peter Lang, 2022) and "Fever Spores; William S. Burroughs and Queer Letters", (Rebel Satori Press, 2022).Links:Plant the Land Team Gaza is a vegan food justice and community projects volunteer team based in Gaza, co-founded by Anas Arafat, a Gazan humanitarian aid activist, and Laura Schleifer, a USAmerican vegan, Free Palestine solidarity activist and Total Liberation Campaign Director at the Institute for Critical Animal Studies. Plant the Land Team buys and distributes vegan food, plants food forests, and provides Gazan farmers with seeds and planting tools. Previous fundraising projects have also included providing plant-based insulin to children with diabetes, providing medical treatment, providing warm winter coats and blankets made from plant-based materials, and our yearly vegan food fundraiser for Ramadan. Follow Plant the Land on social media on Facebook and YouTube:https://www.facebook.com/PlantTheLandTeamGaza/  and https://www.youtube.com/@plantthelandteamgaza3395  Animal Liberation and Social Revolution by Brian A. Dominick (free download) https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/brian-a-dominick-animal-liberation-and-social-revolution Institute for Critical Animal Studies https://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/ Promoting Enduring Peace https://pepeace.org/  Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination: Critical Essays in Solidarity and Total Liberation, edited by Nathan Poirier, Sarah Tomasello and Amber E. George. https://www.peterlang.com/document/1298884  Kropotkin Now! Life, Freedom and Ethics, edited by Christopher Coquard. https://blackrosebooks.com/products/b-kropotkin-now-b-br-christopher-coquard-ed  Music we played:Public Enemy: Fight the PowerRebel Diaz: 1-800-GenocideLowkey: Palestine will never die 3CR's Radiothon is coming up for the month of June and this year's theme is Sound on for Solidarity. We need your help to keep fierce and indepenendent radio on the airwaves. Please consider donating if you can.Ways to donate:Online: www.3cr.org.au/donate (Note: you can nominate your favourite shows in the form)By phone: Call 03 9419 8377 during business hours (Monday - Friday 9-5pm) to pay by credit card.Come to the station: Drop by the station during business hours and pay by cash or EFTPOS. 21 Smith Street,Fitzroy.Thank you for your support. We welcome your feedback on our shows and would love to hear from you at freedomofspecies@gmail.com

SummarySam went through the ultimate escape room experience this week and spoke to someone trying hard to sell some internet. Find out what happened.We learn about the Trump debt counter website and a mobile app called Minutiae and a chrome extension Chris uses to help with LinkedIn.We learn more woman might actually be psychopaths, some Tesla driver had to be rescued from some water.There was a nationwide problem with payment at petrol stations which just seemed stupid and local news Newshub got told they are shutting out.And we round things off talking about a woman that had her insurance claim denied due to throwing a Christmas tree.LinksTrump debt counter websiteMinutiae phone appLinkedIn Chrome Extension - My Most Trusted NetworkMore woman might be psychopaths then first thoughtTesla owners rescued from water by floating sauna customersProblem with EFTPOS at self service petrol stationsWilly Wonka Immersive experience was crapNewshub closing down Woman loses out on her insurance claim after throwing a Christmas Tree Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Checkpoint's reported on the rise of a new eftpos machine that poses the sometimes awkward tipping question to customers on a brightly lit screen. It's hard to ignore; Do you want to tip 5,10 or 15%? But electronic tipping also raises a bunch of questions such as who is in control of the money and who gets it. Employment lawyer Barbara Buckett from BuckettLaw speaks to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6347428629112

Last night we brought you the story about new, updated EFTPOS machines which are making it a little more awkward for customers to say 'no' to adding a tip. The new machines prompt customers on a brightly lit screen to tip an extra five, ten or fifteen percent. In small print you can opt out. Felix Walton reports. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6347361393112

A Wellington taxi company says it's dropping its flat card fee - which it has been applying to Eftpos payments in order to comply with Commerce Commission rules. But other taxi companies are continuing a charge the commission says is unjustifiable for consumers. Ellen O'Dwyer reports

Could tipping become the new norm in restaurants around New Zealand? A roll out of new, upgraded EFTPOS machines have been posing the awkward "tipping" question to customers on a brightly lit screen, hard to ignore. Do you want to tip 5, 10, or 15 percent? Some restaurant owners and staff believe it's time Kiwis were a bit more generous, while others say it puts pressure on customers. Bella Craig reports.

A blind Dunedin resident says she's had to resort to telling shop workers her pin number because touchscreen Eftpos machines are unusable. Unlike a typical Eftpos machine with raised keys, the Verifone machines have flat touch screens with a voice prompt feature for accessibility. Verifone says it's working on improvements, but an advocate for blind people wants such machines off the counters. Tess Brunton has more.

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Intro- 00:00:00 New Comics- 00:02:13 Petrol Head #1 Superman ‘78: The Metal Curtain #1 Thanos #1 Zawa and The Belly of the Beast #1 Shazam! #5 Dark Ride #9 GODS #2 Phantom Road #6 Amazing Spider-Man #37 Transformers #2 What If? Dark: Tomb of Dracula #1 Punisher #1 Avatar: The Last Airbender trailer- 00:35:08 Masters of the Universe: Revolution trailer- 00:38:37 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire trailer- 00:43:20 Legend of Zelda live-action movie announcement- 00:45:31 Invincible Season 2 Episode 2- 00:51:27 Loki Season 2 Episode 6- 01:00:00 Film Flashback: Alien Nation- 01:04:02

John MacKenzie chats with a talkback caller, Frankie Hogan, about some local businesses that are deciding to go cashless in an effort to protect staff from crime. Frankie was one of many concerned citizens who successfully led the charge against the council's ban on cash at certain facilities. With crime running rampant in and around Cairns, and following attacks and threats against staff members, some business owners are making the tough decision to EFTPOS only, even if it means losing profits.

Hackers have attacked Auckland Transport's HOP system, knocking out a number of services for at least a week. Online top-ups and transactions using Eftpos and credit cards are out while some ticket and top-up machines are also unavailable. AT chief executive Dean Kimpton confirmed it was a ransomware attack, called Medusa, and no personal or financial data was believed to have been compromised. Gorilla Technology chief executive Paul Spain spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

A Wellington business owner is rubbishing claims retail spending isn't being hit by cycle ways. The city council has released EFTPOS spending figures across areas where there have been major changes to street layouts. The figures show spending dropped about 20% along Riddiford Street during the installation of the controversial Newtown cycle way, but recovered immediately after. However General Grocer Owner and Newtown Spokesperson Urmila Bhana says the figures misrepresent reality.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eftpos, the payment system widely used in New Zealand for more than 30 years, is plummeting in popularity. The thought of them disappearing altogether is concerning for some people who don't like using smartphones or want to avoid the extra fees that come with PayWave. But while Eftpos faces an uncertain future, new and cheap forms of payment are starting to emerge. Tom Taylor reports.

The payments landscape has changed a lot over the last few years. There has been a dramatic increase in card and digital transactions, as we move towards a predicted cashless society. In fact, nearly all payments these days are done by card or the digital wallet on our phones.What does this mean for small business? A big increase in transaction fees. Today on the AHC podcast we chat with AHC member Robert Caruana from Smartpay about how to save on your EFTPOS fees and free up cashflow. Because cashflow is everything, as all small business owners know. Smartpay has saved many of our AHC members thousands of dollars in fees for their businesses. If you'd like to learn more, visit the Smartpay website here: https://www.smartpay.com.au/

The rise in the popularity of touchscreen Eftpos machines is leaving some blind low-vision New Zealanders with no option but to share their private details with strangers. The terminals are one of the newer rollouts in a decade of transition towards buttonless self-checkouts. But the advancement in technology means those who are vision impaired can no longer punch in their pin-code, if Paywave is not an option. Wellington's Callum McMenamin, a digital accessibility advocate who has low vision, speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

"This motel ain't big enough for the both of us!" ___ Two families operated a motel together until their relationship deteriorated. 2XD owned the land the motel was operated on and leased it to 1XD, a Co co-owned by 2XD: [2] 2XC had assisted 2XD over the years, and came to assist with the motel: [13] - [17] The arrangements (for 2XC to help at the motel, and to eventually purchase it from 2XD having paid a deposit) were informal and legally unclear - an arrangement defined by “uncertainty, if not confusion”: [24] 1XC (who was in a domestic partnership with 2XC) ran a separate business providing accomodation among other things. After a time 1XC obtained an EFTPOS machine to accept payments: [37] - [41] 2XD stopped payments to the XCs for their work at the motel, apparently planning to set those “non payments” against an eventual purchase price: [42] Sometimes the 2XC used the EFTPOS machine for motel payments: [44] This diverted funds away from the XDs' motel bank account: [46] In early 2020, 2XD decided they did not want to proceed with the sale: [47] In around July 2020, the XDs forcibly evicted the XCs and commenced legal proceedings: [48], [49] The dispute crystallised into arguments which parties owed what money, and why: [51] Complexity arose from the messiness of the legal relationship: [52] The XCs were not employees, nor did they have an “equitable lease”, nor were they agents, nor did any equitable relationship arise: [54] - [65], [92] The Court found the parties had a loose, consensual arrangement whose terms were implied: [66] The XCs claimed their deposit and the unpaid “non payments” for motel work; a total of ~$105K. The Court found no reason existed for payment not to be made and the XCs succeeded in their claim: [86] The XDs claimed (among other things) ~$240K of payments made through the EFTPOS machine. There was no conclusive evidence about which payments related to the motel and which related to 1XC's other business (noting sometimes guests would stay at 1XD's premises if the motel was full). The Court considered the most fair outcome was to award around half the amount claimed to the XDs: [95] - [102] A number of other small claims brought by the XDs failed, including because no fiduciary obligations arose between the parties: [103] - [112] Orders were made that the XCs pay the XDs $132K, and the XDs pay the XCs $105K - a difference of around $27K: [113] The Court invited submissions on costs but suggested an appropriate order may be that each party bear their own costs. Without wishing to be flippant or disrespectful, each party might also bear their own regrets about failing to document their arrangement. ___ If you'd like to contact me please look for James d'Apice or Coffee and a Case Note on your favourite social media spot - I should pop up right away!

Editor of Hawkes Bay Today Chris Hyde talks to Kathryn about Hawke's Bay being named one of the 12 wine capitals of the world, the reopening of State Highway Two to Wairoa and what that means for the community, and the Havelock North coffee shop which gave away free coffees after its Eftpos stopped working. Locals have been quick to pay up. 

Hicaps New Terminals Accessible to Blind or Low vision   These are the EFTPOS terminals you find in allied health centres that you use to pay for your service and/or your private health fund.   I've noticed over the last few weeks these accessible terminals popping up at the Chiropractor, physiotherapist, and Optometrist.   I believe this is part of an upgrade to the new Trinity Terminals that are being upgraded to support blind or low vision.   Ask about this next time you visit the Phisio etc.   https://www.hicaps.com.au   Call Annie   A Chatbot for iPhone you can really talk to and she talks to you.   https://apps.apple.com/app/id6447928709C   Be-My-Eyes   I've seen a few conversations on social media about the fact that the virtual assistant for Be-My-Eyes will not be ready for everyone until September. So for the moment, you will be getting Pending.   How to Hopefully Speed up VoiceOver Launch and running time (no terminal required)   I've tried this and the best I can say is that I think it works. Simply, it gives VoiceOver priority over all other running apps on your Mac.   https://applevis.com/forum/macos-mac-apps/how-hopefully-speed-voiceover-launch-time-performance-mac- no-terminal-required   Some of the Main Stream Tech Stuff That Have disappeared over the last 50 years For Me That I used for Work and Play   Manual Type writer.   Tapes and tape recorders.   Record player and records.   Mini Dictaphone.   Dial up 300 baud modem   Dial up BBS.   Audio Pages.   VCR Player and tapes   Walkman.   Mp3 Players.   iPods.   9 dot matrix printer.   Apple IIE   5.25 and 3.5 inch floppy disks.   4.77mhz, 286, 386, 486 etc IBM compatible PC's.   21 inch CRT monitors.   IBM PS2.   Luggable laptops. Toshiba Laptops for a good 30 years.   MSDOS 3.31.   System 6.07.   Macintosh SE.   Power PC Mac.   Various LC Macs.   IBM OS2.   Windows 3.1.   Brick mobile Phones.   Symbian mobile phones.   First Mac mini running Tiger 10.4.Support this Vision Australia Radio program: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate?src=radio&type=0&_ga=2.182040610.46191917.1644183916-1718358749.1627963141See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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As Te Tai Rāwhiti enters its second week of recovery, many are still struggling. Iwi, community organisations and myriad volunteers are working around the clock, trying to ensure they get what they need.  People who have lost everything now face the reality of not knowing where they'll sleep or get food.    Work to reconnect EFTPOS, internet and cell coverage continues. But it's still patchy, access to banking and cash is limited, and frustration is growing. Māni Dunlop has been on the ground with the volunteers who are co-ordinating support.   

So I note the Police commissioner was saying the other day re the surge in youth offending, that it's up to us to do more about it, and look after our communities better. And then hospitality came out and said staffing issues in the sector may be on us as well. What they're saying is that customers are getting ruder these days, that abuse and poor treatment of hospitality staff is getting more commonplace, and that they're sick of it - and we need to do better. It's apparently turning many off the industry now. An industry that used to be fun, is now not so fun. So it's on us, the customers, to lift our game. Now this has of course been a globally contentious issue recently, thanks to late night TV host James Corden and his - now infamous – verbal altercation with staff at a New York restaurant. Furious they got his wife's meal order wrong three times; he told staff he'd be better off going into the kitchen and cooking it himself. Cue the restaurant owner labelling Corden the rudest man he'd ever met. There is no room for rudeness to people doing their best. I witnessed a supermarket checkout operator getting a dressing down the other day. They of course are the other sector complaining that people are getting ruder, and this customer sadly embodied that. He laid all his groceries on the counter and as she was scanning them through, he announced he didn't have his wallet. He said it was in his car and he'd have to go back to the carpark and get it. The supermarket was chocka, heaving with people, and the queues at each checkout were long and full. The checkout operator politely nodded and as he walked off to head back to the carpark, she finished putting his groceries through, packed them for him, then put his trolley of groceries to one side. She paused the sale and said to us, as we were next in line, that she would put our groceries through as she didn't know how long he would be and she didn't want to hold everyone up. Fair enough. As she was finishing scanning our groceries he returned, visibly agitated that she hadn't waited for him, and pushed past me to the EFTPOS machine where I was waiting to pay and said to the checkout operator, “I hope I'm not paying for these as well, where are my groceries I'm ready to pay.” She politely explained they were all packed for him and the sale had been suspended until he returned and he could pay right after this transaction. I tried to get back to the EFTPOS machine at this point to pay, but he wouldn't budge. Without making any eye contact with me, he leaned in further towards her, she was about 15 years old, and started giving her an ear bashing about not waiting for him. I interjected at this point and told him given the supermarket was chocka what on earth was he expecting, and I apologized to the young checkout girl for his rudeness.  I went ahead and paid, he stood there still fuming. The checkout girl just smiled and said to me, “Thanks, don't worry, I'm resigning anyway, this happens all the time.” So another checkout operator sick of being treated badly, leaves the job. Add that to all the others, and the hospo staff who're sick of it, and you can see that the industry leaders saying a lot of this is our fault, may not all be wrong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transport Minister says changes to the way Kiwis pay for public transport will help boost patronage. Michael Wood announced this morning that from 2024, people in some parts of the country will be able to pay for bus, ferry and train rides with an EFTPOS or credit card. There's been some criticism this is too long of a wait for many. But Wood told Andrew Dickens that's because there's a lot of work to do to set the system up. “And we're also conscious we want to measure twice, cut once. We want it to get this right when it's rolled out, we don't want there to be mistakes so we'll take a little bit longer to get it right.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EFTPOS machines were down at the Perth Royal Show on Monday, leaving cash-less punters unable to pay for their showbags and dagwood dogs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The West Live producer Kate Ryan and Ben O'Shea unpack the quirky, unusual and entertainment news for the day. Eftpos outage at Royal Show Tash Peterson back in Perth  Granny five times over the limit on a Maccas run  Perth man stabbed in Malaysia   For more on these stories and the latest in entertainment, head to perthnow.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perth Royal Show punters were outraged after a major EFTPOS outage blamed on Telstra impacted the festival's biggest day.  Organisers said large crowds added to the disruption, with long queues at many of the ATMs working across the venue. Royal Agricultural Society CEO Robyn Sermon said the outage was a Telstra issue and she was seeking clarity if it was fixed in time for show goers today. "Many of the ATMs did get back online last night ... it was a particularly large day yesterday too," she told 6PR Breakfast hosts Oly Peterson and Jenna Clarke.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 125 of Fintech Chatter, Dexter is joined by David Washbrook to talk about the story of Look Who's Charging, one of Australia's Fintech success stories.David shares his journey from bootstrapping to a successful exit and helping the next generation of Fintech founders through Centauri Ventures.About Look Who's ChargingAlong with Stuart Grover and Nicole Grover, David was the co-founder of Look Who's Charging ("LWC").  LWC's technology was adopted by every major banking group in Australia and tech giants like Apple.  LWC's service touched >70% of the Australian population and the business processed 8x the volume of transactions of Visa, Mastercard and EFTPOS combined (>4bn a month).  LWC was sold to Experian PLC (FTSE 100 company) and David left the business at the end of 2021.Since leaving LWC, David has set up a venture fund, Centauri Ventures, which has made over a dozen direct investments primarily in early-stage high-growth companies (see here for portfolio).   In addition, David is the Founder of Helios Technologies, a technology-driven company working on a number of projects to help drive the transition to clean energy including myenergyguide.com.au, solarisedenergy.com and hems.energy.  David has also recently become a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.Connect with David on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidtwashbrook/How you can support the show."follow" on your podcast player and leave a five-star review onApple: Scroll to the bottom of the page (iphone or ipad only), hit 5 stars and write a review - https://apple.co/3D7NsPtSpotify:  in the app click 5 stars - https://spoti.fi/3IzSViQSubscribe and like on Youtube - https://bit.ly/3tBlRmEThanks for your support.About Tier One PeopleFounded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.Connect on Linkedin - https://bit.ly/3DsCJBpTier One People helps companies like Revolut, TrueLayer and 10x build founding teams for launch in Australia. And series A+ / ASX Listed Aussie Fintech like Lendi, Afterpay and 86 400 hire executive talent capable of delivering growth and scale. If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people contact us - https://bit.ly/3Dc1p0B

A big payday for tech entrepreneur Sir Peter Maire. His company Invenco, an EFTPOS systems company, has been sold to an overseas buyer for $127 million.  It's also part-owned by interests associated with NBR Lister Greg Tomlinson. Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Printable lipstick to perfectly match the colour of your outfit.  Air raid alerts directly to your phone.  Play the GENIGMA app and help cancer research.  Monitor the quality of your indoor air with these devices.  Airbus powering aircraft with Hydrogen.  Hang Ten on your surfboard at your nearest inland surfing lake!  CDs are making a comeback after 17 years.  Apple's iOS 15.4 can turn your phone in to an EFTPOS machine.  Less flower, more power with the modern VW Kombi Van. 

Hospitality businesses will continue to ask for government support, as more close their doors. Latest figures from the Restaurant Association show businesses are reporting a 30 percent decrease in year-on-year revenues. Eftpos data also shows a 30 percent decrease in transactions in January, with hospitality being one of the hardest hit sectors. Auckland Restaurant Association President Krishna Botica told Mike Hosking targeted support is their only hope. “We don't know how we can turn the dial. We have safe venues, we are masked, we are vaccinated, we are sanitised and we are physically distanced and people still don't come.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode Tarun Bhasin, CEO of Kunai is joined by Brad Kelly, Managing Director at Payment Services. We continue the conversation on the ubiquity of FinTech and discuss various facets of buy now, pay later (BNPL) and how it will affect the current market, both in America and Australia. Brad lends his expertise to the phenomenon of BNPL, interrogates its role in the Australian banking system, and reflects on the regulatory challenges it will likely face with conservative banks in the not too distant future.Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today's guest Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Payment Services, and our host Tarun Bhasin, CEO of Kunai.An overview of the Australian banking and customer market today, and what the future holds.How the Pareto principle is evident in Australian banking.How banks use the data provided by the Australian reserve bank every month.The considerable growth of debit cards in Australia and how citizens are changing their spending habits.How Afterpay works and why it's not necessarily as profitable as it presents itself to be.A discussion of BNPL and its presence in Sydney, Australia as well as Apple's potential plans for it in the United States.PayPal's presence in Australia and how their transaction fees are structured.The strategies that Afterpay is using to target Millennials.Why Qantas is a serious player in the financial services market, and how they demonstrate that credit cards will continue to grow and be popular. Why Starbucks initially fared very poorly in Australia and how they were eventually able to find a market with American tourists.How digital wallets differ in Australia and America.Why buy now, pay later cards are limited in their revenue potential.How the different regulations around credit in Australia and America affects average spending habits.Tweetables:“Basically, you can apply this 80-20 Pareto principle to all Australian banking, and they've successfully watered off just about every challenge that's ever come at them. The ones that have, they buy them. That's pretty much how it works.” — Brad Kelly [0:02:05]“Australia has a couple of unique quirks besides killer spiders and snakes and people called Hemsworth. What we've got is a very strong banking system, but we've got this indigenous debit payment network called EFTPOS, and it's been around for about 45 years.” — Brad Kelly [0:04:14]“So the Citibank model, for instance, which is a virtual card in a wallet, and it runs on MasterCard rails. So what that means is it just behaves like a standard card or the point of sale. There's nothing tricky necessarily about it. ” — Brad Kelly [0:11:15]“I think the real risk for Afterpay and their cohorts is the risk of regulation.” — Brad Kelly [0:33:52]Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Brad Kelly on LinkedInTarun BhasinKunaiSniipAfterPayMarqetaPayPal

From opening a business at 19 and not knowing to write a cheque or use an EFTPOS machine, to now being prominently featured in Vogue and running a successful atelier in Sydney, Lillian Khallouf shares her A to Z journey. We do a deep dive into who the LK woman represents and what's next on the horizon for the brand. Tune in to also hear how the power of words and manifesting have helped her craft her definition of success & wealth, and a few heart warming moments about her upbringing. If you enjoy this weeks episode, it would mean the world to me if you to share it with someone you think will love it, or leave us a rating/review on your preferred channel ♡ Stay Balanced!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thebalancetheory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the show we wanted to know how EFTPOS works, plus Human Traffic. Plus two girls from our office - one who gave her eggs, and one who's getting her lips done.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.