Podcasts about wahroonga

Dave Taylor from Sovereign Grace Church Sydney in Wahroonga, Australia, preached this sermon at Covenant Fellowship Church on January 5, 2025. Series: Non-Series Sunday Scripture: Isaiah 41:10

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things… He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Psalm 98:1a, 3 The Lord has done many marvellous things, including in the last year amongst us here in Wahroonga. Take a look at some of the things our church family was thankful for in 2023, and spend a moment thanking God for the past year yourself.

Welcome to the Propertybuyer Podcast – Unveiling Sydney's Luxury Real Estate World with Darren Curtis of Christies International Welcome to our next edition of the Propertybuyer Podcast, where we delve into the captivating realm of Sydney's luxury property market. Nestled amidst iconic landscapes and prestigious neighbourhoods, Sydney boasts some of the finest real estate in the world. Picture the allure of Point Piper, Rose Bay, Double Bay, or Vaucluse, where expansive waterfront mansions command breathtaking views of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Imagine the allure of Mosman and Cremorne, with cityscape vistas, or the elegance of Balmoral slopes offering panoramic views stretching to the Heads. And then there are the sprawling estates on the Lower and Upper North Shore, from the leafy suburbs of Roseville and Lindfield to the opulent precincts of Wahroonga and Warrawee, surrounded by renowned private schools. These areas embody the essence of real estate dreams, but in such exclusive markets, discovering hidden gems and seizing the best opportunities is a pursuit that demands expertise. What do luxury buyers truly desire, and from which corners of the globe do they emerge? What is the current state of the top-end market, and how can one navigate these tightly held enclaves? To unravel the mysteries of prestige real estate, we are joined today by a distinguished guest, Darren Curtis from Christies International. With a wealth of experience and insights, Darren is poised to provide timely perspectives on the ever-evolving world of luxury property. Questions that we will cover in this Episode Podcast Topic – Sydney's Luxury Property Market Insights: Darren Curtis, Christies International: Introduction to Darren: "Darren, can you share what inspired you to enter the real estate realm? How long have you been in the industry, and what was your inaugural role?" Christies International's Position: "Currently at Christies International, and working closely with Ken Jacobs, could you shed light on Christie's position in the Australian Real Estate Market?" Coverage and Demographics: "What suburbs and areas do you consistently cover? How would you describe the amenity and demographics of those areas?" Prestige Market Categories: "In terms of price bands, how do you categorize the prestige market? Do you have specific terms like luxury, prime luxury, super luxury, and ultra prime?" Reflection on 2023: "Reflecting on 2023, what were the major influencers in the market, especially at the top end? How would you summarize the year?" Predictions for 2024: "Looking ahead to 2024, what are your expectations and predictions for the property market?" Luxury Buyers' Approach: "Could you elaborate on how luxury buyers approach the real estate game? What key features are they typically looking for?" Expats and Foreign Buyers: "Dealing with expats and foreign buyers, could you share insights into their preferences? How do you guide someone unfamiliar with the Australian market?" Trends in Eastern Suburbs: "What trends are emerging in the Eastern suburbs market? What types of buyers and properties are in high demand?" Setting Realistic Prices: "When listing a property, how do you determine a realistic and relevant price in the current market?" Off-Market Sales: "Off-market sales are prevalent. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach for both buyers and sellers?" Vendor Hesitations: "What factors are holding vendors back from listing properties? Are these reasons rational?" Buyer Reservations: "Similarly, what impediments do buyers face? What might be causing hesitation in the purchasing process?" Negotiation Dynamics: "How do you approach the negotiation process with potential buyers? Any advice for buyers dealing with sales agents?" Memorable Sale: "Reflecting on your career, what has been your most memorable, interesting, or intriguing sale?" Darren's Property Experience: "Can you share your personal experience in buying property? Are you an active property investor yourself?" Best Investment Advice: "Finally, what is the best piece of investment advice you've ever received?"

When was the last time you had your drains checked for blockages and damages? Would you like to know that your property is prepared for the La Niña rainfall? If you're in Wahroonga, Sydney, get in touch with Sewer Surgeon (1300-734-677) today! Visit https://sewersurgeon.com.au/tree-root-intrusion-in-your-sewer-line-sydney-how-to-dissolve-clear-and-repair-your-blocked-drains (https://sewersurgeon.com.au/tree-root-intrusion-in-your-sewer-line-sydney-how-to-dissolve-clear-and-repair-your-blocked-drains) 

The early years of a little girl's life will shape your daughter's future in powerful ways. Maggie Dent, Australia's queen of common-sense parenting, has investigated the development period from birth to age eight. In this podcast interview, Maggie shares some amazing insights into what we can do as parents to support our daughters and help them become more resilient and capable.Drawing on nearly 5,000 survey results, the latest research, and her own extensive experience as an educator, counsellor, facilitator, mum and grandmother, Maggie shows us how to help our girls build an emotional and psychological base for life.Secure foundations, Maggie argues, will help insulate our girls against anxiety and other mental health challenges as they grow into their teens and feel more capable and resilient while keeping their own authentic voice as they enter womanhood.Live Seminar with Maggie Dent: GirlhoodMaggie Dent is will be talking at a live presentation on Monday 17 October in Wahroonga.At this event, Maggie will show us how to help our girls build an emotional and psychological base for life. This event offers both a deeply practical guide to raising girls birth-8, as well as a celebration and intimate meditation on the state of being female, which women of all ages will relate to. Tickets are $40. Book online.#theparentingcouch #theparentingcouchpodcast #parenting #northshoremums

Sermon preached by Andy Farmer on Galatians 5:25-6:5 on 20th March 2022 at Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga.

Despite the surge in electronic book publishing there remains an ongoing thirst for the printed page, the tactile and tangible experience you can only get from paper and board. Lifeline hosts a massive annual Book Fair 1-4 July at Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga, in Sydney with over 110,000 titles. We meet Michael Cleary who tells us all about it and how the books are culled, collected, cleaned, priced, sorted and stored and the difference this enterprise makes for Lifeline. www.lifelineh2h.org.au

Morning guys? Monday morning. Oh, let me just check if this has been on a wallace. There we go. Well good, morning everybody? Jason here stopping by for another morning coffee and a chat, I hope everyone's well. For those jumping over for the first time, Jason Witten's my name. One of the founders of the Positive Real Estate been helping property investors for over 18 years, building a property portfolios and across Australia, New Zealand and one in Belinda, been investing over 20 years myself. Today, I wanna have a little yarn about the 16, most valuable buildings. Valuable properties I've ever built and I'll tell you a little bit of a story. When I first started out investing, the reason I started investing many years ago, not only to create some wealth but I actually wanted to build schools. I used to be a teacher at a school in Sydney called Knox Grammar School and I loved it. I loved teaching. I loved helping young people and the problem with being a teacher for me was I didn't earn very much money and what sometimes I don't know if any of you guys listening in get this but sometimes you do something that you love, it's awesome. But the financial rewards for it, are poor, they're not great and you're looking into the future and go gee, but it's in the next 40 years earning this much or doing this much then I'm not gonna have much to show for it and that's where I got to when I was teaching at Knox Grammar School and a buddy of mine gave me a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I don't know if anyone's read this. I might've talked about it before, but he gave me this book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and sort of said, well the job I'm not doing any investing, morning Alison, morning Haime, I'm not doing any investing. You know, I love my job but my income is pretty insignificant at that point in time when I was a teacher in Sydney, it was $36,000 a year. So 36 grand I'm living in Wahroonga and if anyone knows Sydney or all that but it's a pretty flash place, Wahroonga. You know, I'm living in a one bedroom studio flat with my partner, Shay. When we're just having a nice time, we're getting pie but we're not, you know, growing our wealth. So I really wanted to, you know make a change in the education system. Also, I was really passionate about it. I still am very passionate about education. I love education. I think it's one of the keys to changing anybody's life. A good quality education about a subject that can, that matters. So I was a teacher. I read the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I had a bit of an Epiphany. Wow. This could be for me. I could actually buy some investments and investments can grow my wealth and do you know what went on? When I've got some money I'm going to build schools. I'm going to build a school in Australia 'Cause I think the education system could be done a little bit differently especially for young fellows, but you know for anybody, girls or boys I think the education system needs an upgrade personally that anyway, that was my plan. That was my passion and off I went. And a few of you guys might know the story but I bought a few properties. You know, some of them went well some of that didn't go well learned a lot of things skinned a few days. Anyway, fast forward, you know, literally sort of 10 12 years, you know, around the 2012, 2013. And I started in 2001 investing for myself. So 2012, 2013 and I'm feeling completely lost despondent. I just feel my life has just gone in the wrong direction for those sorts of things. I've made some money, absolutely started the business. It's going really well. But I don't know about you guys. Like sometimes when you've got all these things and things seem to be going well over there purpose, the value, the real value, wasn't as meaningful to me. Money is really important. I'm very, very, I'm very, very happy and focused about making good money, a lot of money. 'Cause I can do some good things with it that that's like I don't have a problem with money. Some people do. Some people think, oh, money is evil, rubbish. It's the people who do stuff with the money that they've got a problem . Anyway, I was there. I felt off track with my purpose in life and I'm feeling quite despondent. Actually. I was on my way to Adelaide and I was going to one of our mentoring workshops in Adelaide, feeling a little bit down and walking in through the airport, I saw a book on the shelf, just jumped out, you know those airport bookshops, leaving Microsoft to change the world. And it caught my eye a lot. Okay, cool. I'm gonna grab a book to read. And I read this book on the plane and it literally changed the direction of my life. And I, I suggested it the other day to a few people to read for me, it was an absolute game changer. And that's it like, I don't have to build a school probably cause it's quite hard to build a school in Australia. I could do, I could build schools elsewhere and have a huge impact. So after that I read the book, went to Adelaide. I actually canceled going to the seminar and I actually locked myself in my hotel room and I wrote a new plan for the next decade. And it was about creating wealth for myself, but also when I can and then magnify and multiply in another life. So we started a relationship with a room to read the foundation and started building schools. We built a school in Nepal and 500 kids went to school. Okay. It costs $30,000, 30 Grand. We built a school. It was amazing. Okay. And it's really cool. Like it, read the room to read philosophy. It's about a co-investment in a community and the community has to put in the land and the community has to do some stuff and it was brilliant. I love it. It was really, you know, 98% of your contribution gets to the community and funds the community going forward. And so to today 16 schools, 6,000 kids, 6,000 go to school every day again. 6,000 kids. Imagine the return, imagine the yield imagine the growth on that. Yeah. Into the future. And we're building our 17th school right now. And you know, like I don't I don't tell the story to show off or say how good am I or whatever. And thanks Gang. Like, I really appreciate your feedback, but for me and maybe for you too, like sometimes, you know, the pursuit of money, like, Oh, did your property go up in value? And all of this other stuff it kind of seems a bit fucking naff, don't you reckon? If you get wealth in whatever way then for me it feels great to grow that wealth and then reinvest it in other places that had this exponential return gives you the warm and fuzzies anyway, so that, you know, yeah. Giving back man, you know, because this is what I believe. I believe it's our duty. I believe if you get a concept If you get it Your job is to teach and give back in one way, shape or form. You might don't do it directly as an individual But carry your family and making sure you're safe take some dosh and do something good with it. Change the world in a little while pretty is for you. 'Cause I think that's, I think that's good. I think it's cool. And you know that's the philosophy really that is founded positive you know, Sam and all of the coaching team. they love this stuff too. And you know, we let them mention clients now as well. That's part of our philosophy. So, you know yeah. And like , Shay said like we haven't like we don't sort of go visit them. It's something that community gets to do without it feeling like charity, let's be honest, we give we add value and we know the universal pay that forward expedientially, which is awesome. So we love doing that. I thought I'd just share that one today. They are the most valuable 16 buildings I've ever built. For me they're like they're the ones alright they my best investments ever. Dollars and cents, I get returns from other things. But for me the compounding future value, I think just imagine that six thousand, eight thousand, ten thousand kids going to school. One of those kids would be probably many of them be brilliant, amazing and change the world in ways I'll never get to see. So that's what I love about that stuff. So that's what for me, that's what money can do. Alright? Annoys me, these Facebook warriors sitting there carrying on like pork chops, being negative about people who've got some resources that they've got no idea what's going on and I don't have to answer them and nor do you, just do something important, useful, meaningful whatever it is like don't my thing as your thing like do your thing, but don't hold back, don't ever hold back. 'Cause you might find yourself one day a bit sad and despondent in an airport like Adelaide. Hopefully pick up a book and read it and change the direction of your life, might be nice. Anyway, Gang, hopefully. You're awesome and well. I thought I'd share about share that one today. 'Cause it was sort of bouncing around in my mind and hope you all have an awesome day and check back in tomorrow for another coffee and a chat, awesome gang. Alright. Take care hey. See ya. Bye-bye.  

Hopefully the audio is coming through. Good morning team, good morning gang. See how we're going here. While all your all Facebook Live is warming up. Did a quick intro, morning everybody. Jason Whitton here. Morning Allison, this one's for you today. Yes, Happy Friyay, Friyay indeed. Love a good Friday. It's a fun day. Hang out with the kids tonight. It's pizza night tonight at my house. Pizza and a movie night. Hey, quick intro is Jason Whitton's my name for those who are joining, morning Megan, for the first time, welcome along. Those coming back, welcome back. Been property investing 20 years, coaching property investors across Australia and New Zealand. I have the right team. Actually, it was interesting. Just pull some figures the other day about how many property deals we've helped people do. In our system, it shows that we've helped people purchase 10,137 properties over 18 years. I'll say that again. 10,137 properties over 18 years. Pretty bloody cool. Pretty bloody cool. So yeah, that's pretty sweet. I love that. So anyway, again, good morning. Morning Philippa, morning Nicole, Alex. Great to see all you guys here. So today I was going to do a little bit of coffee and a chat about furniture. Allison asked yesterday is it worth putting furniture in a property, and positives and negatives to that? So let's talk it through, furniture packs. Listen, I'm a big fan of furniture packages because for me in the past they have been, I have been able to rent my properties for another, it's often between 15 and 30% more, depending on the time length that you rent those properties for. Let me sort of explain better. So a good furniture package, not a rubbish furniture package, is pretty, pretty important. You need to make sure you speak to your property manager if you're going to put a furniture pack in any property. And they number one, the property manager needs to be experienced in letting furnished properties. And number two, you need to ask that property manager, what would you furnish? All right, don't go over the top. Don't under furnish, don't over furnish. Have a chat to a property manager about the furniture that you need to put in there. And often, it's the big pieces of furniture that you need to put in there. Fridges, dryers, washing machines, microwaves, beds, et cetera, et cetera because there is a little bit of a trend with the sort of the 20s to 30-somethings of they like to be very mobile, and they like to try out lots of different places and areas for living. So their lifestyle, they like to try them out. And so if they only have to come with some suitcases, like they're moving into a university dorm, and they're sharing with friends, making that easier, is actually quite rewarding for you as a property investor. So the answer is yes, I love furniture packs. I love furniture packs in the right location, in the right property. Now for me, I've found the right location and the right property have been properties close to the CBD, properties close to where multiple people will want to share that apartment together, two or three people together sharing a property because those people they don't take usually move around with lots of furniture in tow. The location of that property that has been very successful in furnishing. I've got some fantastic properties in Brisbane and Melbourne furnished, renting off their chops. But they're close to the city. They appeal to young mobile, white collar workers let's say, or students who are studying or a combination or whatever it is. Very good, I love them. It's fantastic. And like I said, anywhere between 15 to 30% increase in your income. And another advantage of a furniture pack is that you get to write off the value of the furniture literally within two years, like depreciation is massive. It's fantastic, and I love it. I've even in the past, don't tell anyone this, statute of limitations has passed, I think. Even in the past I have gotten furniture off the side of the road, I don't know does anyone live in Sydney? And their throw out days? The throw out days are amazing in Sydney. I used to drive around, I used to live in a suburb called Wahroonga in Sydney, and Wahroonga is a very flat place. And I used to drive around Wahroonga in my old car. And I used to pick up furniture that was amazing that people were throwing out from their mansions, and I would grab the furniture. My wife was so embarrassed. She was like so embarrassed, she'd hide in the car. She wouldn't come driving with me. And I grabbed the furniture, and then I would go and put it in my investment properties and I'd depreciate it. So I'd get free furniture then I'd get tax deductions. How's that? Crazy. So gang, listen. Throw out days are so good. I take my kids dumpster diving and throw out days still to this day and just teach them about recycling. We actually built, our family, just built a whole, we've got a little farm down south, 100 acres. And we built our whole little cabin down there out of fully recycled scavenged materials. And it was awesome. It reminded me of my childhood days when I used to live in a small town, there was no hardware store, no nothing. And you used to have to, the only way you can have stuff to fix things that broke was to go to the rubbish dump. This is a true story, this is not bullshit. We had to go to the rubbish dump and find old stuff, and get the old stuff, and either cut it apart or re-weld it together, or old thrown out stuff from other people, we would grab, and then we would fix broken things because we didn't have a hardware store. The closest hardware store was two hours away. And we only went to town once every fortnight. So there you go. Anyway, I think I've gone off track. This was meant to be about furniture. So I'm a big fan of furnishing properties in the right location. Big fan. Let's talk about the downside of furnishing. The downside of furnishing is this, number one, yeah exactly, Nicole, with the bikes. The downside of furnishing is this, number one. It's going to cost you cash money from somewhere. You can't include it in the price of the property. You can't borrow it. You can take it out of your equity, out of your home, or something you redraw, but it's probably going to cost you between 15 and $25,000 to furnish something very nicely. So don't skimp on it. So it is going to cost you money and you can't borrow that money technically, as part of the purchase price of the property. Number two, it does take, I wouldn't call it a specialist specialist, but it does take an experienced property manager to let that type of property. So not every property manager is capable of letting a furnished property. It's just not their skillset or not their experience. So make sure you get the right agent who understands, who they're letting those properties to, and how to get them let. That's important because often if you make it difficult for an agent, your property won't rent, or you won't get the highest income for it. And you're like, why, what happened? Because one of the agent around the corner, et cetera, et cetera. So there you go. And number three, probably the one that is kind of the downside, which is annoying, what happens when you can't furnish it, and then you want to turn it back to long term unfurnished rental? Well, you've either got to sell the furniture or you got to store it somewhere. And then you kind of, then it's kind of counterproductive. You go and store it somewhere for 15, 20, 50 bucks a month and now it starts to eat into your cashflow. So there's some upside. I love the upside. I don't have any issues with storage if I need to because I can just chuck it at my farm, but a lot of people don't have that choice. We're storing stuff for a furnished property. Absolutely, Allison, chat to the Aria team about letting a furnished apartment. Now often, a three to six month letting cycle for a furnished apartment gives you that optimal high cashflow. So six month kind of gives people the chance to get in and get out. So but you've got to make sure that that works for you as a property owner. So I sort of try and aim between the six and 12 month. I had a long term tenant up in one of my Brisbane ones. It was a doctor, they were on to the hospital and it was a nice one bedder furnished apartment, they loved it. And they just did it a full 12 month lease fully furnished, which was awesome. So you never know. They can be a little bit lumpy for letting, so they can be vacant for a little bit longer. So just to understand that, gang, as we go. Yeah, Brahman, I reckon. I reckon you'd be in for a good improvement in your rent in the Windsor, for sure. So reach out to the Richardson ranch team in Brizzy, and talk to them about it, Brahman, because it's close to the hospital, that's like the biggest hospital in Brisbane. And professionals, nurses, doctors, all sorts of even, yeah even people staying at the hospital, et cetera, et cetera, with people who are sick, they need somewhere to stay as well sometimes. So and I'm not talking about Airbnb gang, I'm not talking about short term Airbnb letting, I'm talking about regular residential letting, but with furniture. Because I think that is kind of the sweet spot for those who don't like the sort of the up and down risk of something like Airbnb, and the high intensity of really short term letting, like two or three days at a time. So by and large, I'm a big fan of it, but don't underestimate the downside. It can be a bit annoying, be prepared for that as you go, and have a good chat to your property manager whether it's going to be right for you. So I think that made sense this morning, hope it did, gang. A good conversation. Carolyn, I would say Bellbird Park is too far out. It is a bit far away. Yeah and listen, Matt brings up a really good point there, he put a fridge, a washer, and a dryer in. Now sometimes it's not like the whole house, sometimes it's just a couple of bits. You bring up an excellent point, Matt. I used to do just put in a washing machine and a microwave oven, microwave, and charge an extra 10 bucks. So there you go, gang, and you get good depreciation. So great chat this morning. This is the nuance. Imagine earning an extra 20, $30 a week for your property. You get the depreciation 100% deductible all the way back, the whole thing, 100% deductible within two years. And away you go, yes. Roman, that is one of those little extra excellent ways of using your property for self-use, as well as getting some income going on then. Sam and I used to do that on one of our properties up in Brisbane. But then the body corporate said we couldn't do short term letting anymore, as in like three nights and four nights at a time. But yeah, that's a good one, absolutely, you can do that for sure. There you go. Anyway, gang, hopefully that makes sense. For all of those of you who are in mentoring, reach out to your coaches and have a bit of a chat about just talking through the strategy, making sure you do the numbers, and get it right. If you're not in mentoring, if you don't have a coach, well, you need one. And that's what we do. So if you need some coaching, you need some support, you need some help, then reach out. Send me a direct message here if you want. I'm happy to help you, happy to have a chat about what it might take to get some coaching, and really take your investing to the next level. A bit of a shout out, gang, for tonight, wine and wisdom is on tonight. We've renamed it, wealth, wine, and wisdom, just so you guys know we've added an extra w, rounded it out a bit. So join us again tonight, myself and Andy Fenton talking all things property and all things, stock market, the two behemoths collide, and we're debriefing the week. We meet every Friday, four o'clock Queensland time, five o'clock everywhere else. And I don't know about SA and WA, but you guys can work it out. Join us for wine and wisdom. We debrief the whole week, the marketplaces, and make sure we're all keeping an eye on things, and have a good chat and a bit of a yam. So all good, gang. That's it from me, coffee and a chat, done and dusted. Have an awesome weekend. And join me again on Monday next week for another coffee and a chat roundabout eight o'clock. All right, gang, hope you're all well. Have an awesome one. Join me tonight, four o'clock, five o'clock, wine and wisdom if you're there. All right, adios, bye.  

Meet Anthony Karnasiotis Anthony and his family are resposible for some of Sydney's most memorable venues. Anthony's family have been in takeaway shops, and restaurants for over 30 years. They made their name in a venue that was ahead of its times, in The Butchers Block, Wahroonga 2013 with customers travelling from all over NSW to visit their cafe. They then opened a bar and restaurant next door called The Butchers Apprentice. The family ended up selling both venues to open Goodfields which was built in 2018 and has become an instant hit. Anthony who credits most of his success to his family, in my opinion, is one of Sydney's best restraunteurs. His ability to create amazing venues, with excellent food, service and coffee, while also making sure his business is always running at its maximum potential is what makes him such a great operator. He has an amazing ability to stay very calm even in the most stressful situations, knows how to cover every role in the venue from chef to barista and is always trying to find ways to grow and improve. I love the way how he constantly gives praise to his family especially his father who he says is his biggest mentor.

Each year there is a changing of the guard at Rotary Clubs all over the world. A new Board is elected and in today's episode of Rotary Matters we meet Janelle Speight newly elected President of Wahroonga Rotary Club in Sydney's upper north shore.. Janelle explains how the Club is governed, the areas of focus and priorities for the year ahead.

"Conscience, Relativism and Truth: The Witness of Newman" Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP (Sydney) Response: Thomas Farr (President of the Religious Freedom Institute, Washington, D.C.) These talks were given as part of the Thomistic Institute Conference "Newman the Prophet: A Saint for Our Times" which was part of the official program for the canonization weekend of John Henry Cardinal Newman and held at the Angelicum in Rome on October 12, 2019. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, He was born in Sydney on 10 March 1960. After graduating with first-class honours, Archbishop Fisher practised law at Clayton Utz in Sydney. He took leave from his legal job and backpacked around Europe to discern his vocation. Archbishop Fisher made his perpetual vows for the Dominicans on 18 February 1987, and was ordained a priest at Holy Name Parish, Wahroonga, on 14 September 1991.On 18 September 2014, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Anthony the ninth Archbishop of Sydney. His installation took place at St Mary’s Cathedral on Wednesday, 12 November 2014. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Fisher to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He was also appointed an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas. He has continued as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Thomas Farr, He serves as President of the Religious Freedom Institute, a non-profit that works to advance religious freedom for everyone, both as a source of individual human dignity and flourishing, and as a source of political stability, economic development, and international security. A leading authority on international religious freedom, Dr. Farr served for 28 years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Foreign Service. In 1999 he became the first director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom. He subsequently directed the Witherspoon Institute's International Religious Freedom (IRF) Task Force, was a member of the Chicago World Affairs Council’s Task Force on Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy, taught at the National Defense University, and served on the Secretary of State’s IRF working group. From 2008 – 2018 Dr. Farr was Associate Professor of the Practice of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He also directed the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown’s Berkley Center. A PhD in History from the University of North Carolina, Farr is a senior fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He serves as a consultant to the U.S. Catholic Bishops Committee on International Justice and Peace; on the boards of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, Christian Solidarity Worldwide-USA, and Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School; and on the boards of advisors of the Alexander Hamilton Society, and the National Museum of American Religion. Farr teaches regularly at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute.

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management ServicesDate: 18 December 2018 It’s not often you have local small business royalty in Da Triple H House but we certainly have someone here today who will inspire. Rachel Chappell built her small business from an idea, meeting the needs of her thousands of clients and impeccable technological timing. North Shore Mums started as a Facebook group in May 2012, when Rachel Chappell moved to Sydney’s leafy North Shore with her husband, toddler and new baby. With lots of questions about things like childcare centres, kid-friendly cafes, the best playgrounds and doctors… and only a few local friends to ask, she realised she wouldn’t get the answers from her immediate social circle. So, on a whim, she created a Facebook group called North Shore Mums, to help her connect with other local mums. Rachel proudly hires locally, runs her business, happily gives small business advice and still manages to find the time to meet the needs of her local community. In truth, she never forgets the real meaning of her Why in her business and is here today to inspire others in their small business journey. And that’s why last week received NSW Government Woman of the Year for Hornsby. Welcome to the show Rachel. Topics we’ll be covering: Tell us about your small business journey and what led to you starting North Shore Mums? Why do you think it’s important for businesses to integrate community involvement into their business plan and what’s your top tips on how to grow that relationship? Do you think it’s an advantage to employ locally and what benefits does it provide for your business and also the local community? It’s not always a smooth ride so what Do’s and Don’t wisdom can you impart on those just starting out in business? What’s your ultimate dream for your business? To find out more go to their website: https://www.northshoremums.com.au/ RACHEL CHAPPELL BIO Rachel Chappell is happily married to an English gent, and a mum to three daughters (aged 3, 7 & 9), who were the inspiration behind the creation of North Shore Mums. Originally from Adelaide, Rachel moved to Sydney after leaving school and has made the North Shore her home, living in Waverton, Gordon and Wahroonga along the way, which has given her the broad local knowledge needed to run a website that caters to the needs of women across the community. With a Bachelor of Media and Master of Business in Marketing, and bolstered by her experience working as Marketing Manager on magazines like Grazia, OK! and FHM, Rachel has used her skills, instinct and experience to make North Shore Mums a cyber-village welcoming mums from across the North Shore. Since launching North Shore Mums in May 2012, the website has grown to become an integral source of information for local mums, with the website now attracting over 100,000 visitors per month. In 2017, Rachel was asked to be a contestant in Cancer Council’s Stars of the North (a local fundraising gala event, based on the popular TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Rachel came 2nd overall in the Judge’s Choice and 3rd in Fundraising, raising $18,000 for the charity. Rachel Chappell was a Finalist in the AusMumpreneur Awards 2017 – in the categories of Business Excellence and Influencer. In 2018, she was awarded the Hornsby Local Woman of the Year by Matt Kean MP.

Today Sandra talks with Annette Innis, a Sydney based artist whose personal practise specialises in figure paintings and portraits. She was a semi-finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2015.  Annette also works in the arts and health sector, exploring the positive impact of art on health and wellbeing through her involvement with participatory art programs. She is passionate about making art an accessible and enjoyable experience for all. Annette is an artist and project officer on HammondCare’s Arts on Prescription Program and has run creative ageing programs in Hammondville, Wahroonga and The Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre. In 2017 Annette released her first book “Colours of yesterday: A creative colouring book for older people”, an interactive resource featuring 30 original drawings and stories that are physically accessible for older hands and eyes, with nostalgic themes lovingly depicting the way things were. You can purchase Annette’s book on www.annetteinnis.com

Rotary International do an enormous amount of work, both nationally and internationally. Listen to some of the magic these dedicated individuals are able to do when they work as a team for service above self.​ Featured today are the Rotary Clubs of Turramurra, Hornsby and Wahroonga, the Jumbo Flight, Coin Repatriation, Ride a Day in My Wheels and scholarships for St Edmunds and St Lucy's Schools.

The Dharug language covers much of greater and western Sydney and it gives us some distinctive place names that might be familiar: Parramatta, Yagoona and Wahroonga for example.

The Dharug language covers much of greater and western Sydney and it gives us some distinctive place names that might be familiar: Parramatta, Yagoona and Wahroonga for example.

The world has gone mad. Islamic terrorists are taking over swimming pools and dive bombing from the first floor, even though it’s strictly forbidden. The Great British Bake Off has claimed its first casualty in a sordid business over melting meringues, Americans continue to shoot each other and all Brian Haverty can do is hark back to the golden age of cinema in the sixties.The full running order from this week’s Balls Radio:- Swimming pools for Islamic fundamentalists- Coaxed into another war- Threat level in Wahroonga: oblivious- NZ shooting- Richard Kazimer in the USo US economy doing wello Polygamy in Utaho Nine year old gun shootero The bookless libraryo Can we trust Facebook- Can elite universities really charge more?- The secret to everlasting youth- John Dobbie in the UKo Defecting to IKIPo The Great British Bake off controversyo Charles and Diana’s wedding cake …o Gold digging on beacho Medieval Latin – the updated edition- David Campbell in NZo Cabinet resignationso Secret Chinese meetingso NZ – destination for the wealthy- Kids – getting fatter and stupid- Breeding children from women of calibre- Brian Haverty – best movies of the sixitieso His top five

The world has gone mad. Islamic terrorists are taking over swimming pools and dive bombing from the first floor, even though it’s strictly forbidden. The Great British Bake Off has claimed its first casualty in a sordid business over melting meringues, Americans continue to shoot each other and all Brian Haverty can do is hark back to the golden age of cinema in the sixties.The full running order from this week’s Balls Radio:- Swimming pools for Islamic fundamentalists- Coaxed into another war- Threat level in Wahroonga: oblivious- NZ shooting- Richard Kazimer in the USo US economy doing wello Polygamy in Utaho Nine year old gun shootero The bookless libraryo Can we trust Facebook- Can elite universities really charge more?- The secret to everlasting youth- John Dobbie in the UKo Defecting to IKIPo The Great British Bake off controversyo Charles and Diana’s wedding cake …o Gold digging on beacho Medieval Latin – the updated edition- David Campbell in NZo Cabinet resignationso Secret Chinese meetingso NZ – destination for the wealthy- Kids – getting fatter and stupid- Breeding children from women of calibre- Brian Haverty – best movies of the sixitieso His top five