Have Your Say

TRANSCRIPT: SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAINS WITH DAVID EISENHAUER, 22 MAY 2025

22 May 2025

E&OE 

STARTS 8:38am 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Twenty-three to eight on this Thursday morning. And nice to see a little bit of rain around the region, in parts, as we mentioned, Batlow and Tumba, and through the Upper Murray, where we‘re broadcasting, still to come, but the bureau does say we’re seeing some. But it’s something we talked about last Thursday with the Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack and the drought conditions. This will not stop the drought conditions, particularly because we’ve only had between 2 and 7mls. Certainly not drought conditions up the coast way. But of course, local Member for Riverina Michael McCormack, he’s on the line. Michael, thank you very much for your time today.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Pleasure David, and I was talking to, Tony Clough this morning out at Wantabadgery, I visited his farm with Dugald Saunders, the New South Wales Nationals’ Leader, just on Tuesday, and his paddocks were dry as chip and I phoned him this morning, he’s had 5mls overnight, so of course he wasn’t cheering or doing rain dances to keep it going. He was happy. He was satisfied that finally the skies have broken. And certainly, they’ve broken up north, David. My goodness, you can’t believe that it’s two different, well, one State, but two different scenarios with the Northern New South Wales virtually under water, getting inches of rain and down here we’ve got about 5mls and we’re celebrating the fact that it’s that the skies are finally opened up after months and months of nothing. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Exactly right. And for those areas that haven’t got any rain yet, little bit set to come, particularly tomorrow. We’ll see a bit more tomorrow, 10 to 20 mls or so, or even more. We might even see up to 40 mls in some centres. You mentioned the Clough family, great farmers out there in the district, out there through the Wantabadgery and Eurongilly region. But I’ll tell you what, watching the dry spell out there, the farmers put on a big brave face when they do that because they’re just hoping that we do see that this won’t help hugely, but it’s better than none at all. And it won’t do anything to change the feed situation. It’ll just lessen that waking up every morning, Michael, as a farmer does, and looking at those barren paddocks day after day after day. So hopefully that’ll bring the, we talk about the mental health of farmers. That’s so, so important. Dugald would’ve been the first to mention that, and I do, I went to school with Dugald Saunders, and I think will be the first to recognise that.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Indeed. And you know, you mentioned the Cloughs, they are good people. His granddad was a fighter pilot in World War II, and his Dad was a Rotarian for… gee, the best part of his 90 years. And, you know, they’re volunteers, they’re doers, they’re people who are salt of the Earth. And speaking of volunteers, of course, it’s,  

National Volunteer Week this week, and our SES are doing a tremendous job, up north, as they always do. And they had a celebration of sorts in Wagga Wagga early this week with 70 years and they were there in their brightly coloured uniforms and, trying to recruit and trying to tell people exactly what they do and why they do it. And I always admire those people who just go out and selflessly serve when, you know, when disaster strikes, if it’s a road crash or floods or fires or whatever the case might be, and not just them, but the behind-the-scenes people who support them, their families, they’re true Australians. They’re great people. And we should be very thankful for them, not just during National Volunteer Week, but every week David. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Isn’t that the truth? And you watch the SES on their boats, you need these independent groups, the SES is one group and all the different agencies working as a group, as a team, but with specialist skills that they possess. And they’re saving lives up there. And we’ve got family up there in Hastings, just outside of Port Macquarie, Julia and Stuart Redmond are up there and they’ve had a number of times when the floods have come right up. There’s a whole host of things we could talk there on a Local Government level, as far as planning and building on flood plains and all that sort of things. But we’re not, because today, we talk about the wonderful work done by the volunteers and they’ve got a huge amount of work ahead of them, because it’s not just once the water subsides, it’s that clean-up. All those pictures of houses underwater and things. It’s a horrendous journey ahead. We know that from the bushfires. It’s a different situation, but it still has the same effect, again, on mental health.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Indeed. And Australia proves once again it’s a country of droughts and flooding rains. Dorothea Mackellar should have written a poem about it. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

That would’ve been a good idea wouldn’t it! But a great, true story that poem is.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Core of my Heart, indeed.  

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Michael, let’s have a look, and now so much going on with the media at the moment, as far as the Coalition is no longer, temporarily, some say, and let’s hope in a lot of ways, when you read what some, whether it’s Sky News or whether it’s the ABC or the different political, you know, all these different agencies talking about, the National Party and the Liberal Party. Now, Michael, you’ve been Deputy Prime Minister. You were Deputy Prime Minister for quite some time, and you’ve been part of The Nationals for a long, long time. But the person walking down the street, the person out the front here getting a tank of fuel or taking their Toyota to get their car serviced, whatever, what does this mean for them? No-one seems to be talking much about what this means for the electorate. You are out there still, you were out in Binalong, Bowning, somewhere last night. You’re out there in the electorate, still traveling around doing your thing, but what we are seeing from a community point of view is that there’s a lot of … it’s very internal Michael McCormack. 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Indeed. And what does that mean for the average Australian? Well, the National Party will always turn up, will always represent the true interests of the people we serve, whether they vote for us, whether they don’t, in the regions we represent, we will always be there for them. But what worries me is that it looks like we’re just talking about ourselves when we should be listening to the people who are suffering droughts, who are indeed enduring floods, when, you know, when times are really tough, and they are at the moment, the cost-of-living crisis, there’s a whole lot going on in the world. And here all the media is talking about, and all we seem to be talking about, or some of us anyway, is just the internal squabbles. Now, the National Party has made the decision to break away from the Liberals at the moment. Of course, it was quoted yesterday by The Sydney Morning Herald, somebody was in the party room and divulged that I didn’t support the move. And, yes, I am I am disturbed by the fact that we are we are breaking up the best form of government, as John Howard always says, is a Coalition Government, Liberals and Nationals working together. Now, that’s always going to be a long way off when you’ve got a 50-seat deficit in the Parliament, which we have at the moment. But that’s no need for a divorce. So, look, we’ll work through this, and we’ll get it back where it needs to be, hopefully sooner rather than later. And those policy areas that we took to the election we will work through those and, rest assured, I’ll be out there with the people, still having constituency meetings, like I was last night, out at the little Bowning Hall, 150 people crammed in there to, to listen to a proposal to plonk another 90 wind turbines, you know, 250 metres plus, right on their landscape, right on their doorsteps and right in the middle of, some of the best agricultural country in the area. So, you know, they’re quite concerned. Now, they’re the people I want to represent. They are the people I want to stick up for. And I don’t want to be talking too long about internal squabbles with the Liberal Party. I’ve got every respect for Sussan Ley and David Littleproud. I’m sure we’ll be able to sort this through, but the sooner we do it, the better. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Mr Howard was on television and on radio. He was on yesterday, the day before there on various platforms as the past Prime Minister, one of the most successful, for many, many years … 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

11 years.   

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

He was saying things along the lines of, this is this is the words that Mr Howard used, that this was “stupid”.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Yeah, that is correct. But look, it’s been done. I mean, majority rules and majority party room felt that this was the way to go. So, look, we’ll just have to sort through it. We need to be a credible Opposition. And by the time 2028 comes around and it doesn’t take long, yes, it’s three years away, which is a long time in politics, goodness knows three years is an eternity. But a lot of things can change very quickly, as we’ve seen just in the in the past week. But, you know, it’s just the whole timing of it has been awful. Sussan has lost her mother and, you know, there’s a whole lot of things going on that have been said, that have been unsaid, David. So, look, we’ll sort through it. For me, I’m just concentrating on the local things that matter. Attended yesterday, the 80th anniversary of the Kapooka Tragedy Memorial Service where 26 sappers were killed instantly. Or 24 people instantly and two died from injuries sustained in that dreadful training accident. The worst in Australia’s military history, for a training exercise and, you know, the renaming a lot of the streets in this selective precinct out at Bomen after them, which is appropriate, which is very lovely to hear the families and relatives and to see the that’s 80 years old and yet to see the emotion in these people’s faces and the tears in their eyes really brought home that, you know, 80 years ago for so many of the families. It’s it just seems like yesterday… 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

80 years! 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

… 80 years. Yeah, quite incredible. Leonard Pomeroy, whose family lived, at the time, in Beckwith Street. His daughter spoke, she was only very, very young at the time. She talked about that dying on his 31st birthday. He was one of the leads, in that particular platoon that, unfortunately came to an end that day. And, you know no-one really knows what went wrong. No one knows but books written about it. But, unfortunately, because of the timing brought during the middle of the war, the end of World War II, and of course, at the time, you know, these sorts of things weren’t spoken about in the sort of, I don’t like to use the word covered up, but they weren’t given the sort of publicity and exposure that, they probably would, certainly these days, for many, many decades, the event went unheralded. Well, we certainly are making up for it now, the wrongs have been righted and, there’s a lovely, statue and memorial, very near the site. Had a look at the actual site yesterday on the farm owned by Janine Key to the husband, there just opposite Kapooka, basically the front gate and, a little bit towards the north. It was a dreadful accident. Wagga Wagga’s saddest day. Seven thousand people, half the population lined the streets for the moving service that was conducted, to bury the soldiers. But, you know, Lest We Forget.  

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Isn’t that the truth? I did see, and the local media covered it extremely well, as best they would do and… 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Really good of the Council for doing that, too. I mean, it’s good, it meant so much to the families. But Wagga Wagga, being a military city, of course, and we should always remember that.  

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Michael we’re about up to the news, you’ve had a massive day. You’ve got you’ve had so many media commitments lately because, I mean, there’s so many different platforms, as was highlighted yesterday in the Press Club. But will we see in the, in the short term or long term do you think reunification. What’s your thoughts there as one of the authorities? 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Well, time will tell. That’s a terrible answer to a very serious question. But, look things happen so quickly sometimes in politics. Look, I think we need to get back sooner rather than later. I’d like to see it, very, very soon. But look, the Liberal Party will no doubt, announce their Shadow Ministry this afternoon. And look, we don’t go back to Parliament until the end of July, but at this stage, that’s been slated for when we return. But, you know, we need to be sensible about this. We need to be practical about this, and we need to be listening to the interests and voices of regional Australia. And that’s my concern. That’s my focus. And that’s what that’s who I’ll be working for and working hard for.  

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Indeed. And of course, as you mentioned with National Volunteer Week, that’s taking priority in amongst all this, as those wonderful bright stars … 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

It has to, it just has to. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

… helping out. It’s just a tragedy watching cattle on beaches over there that are tens of kilometres from where they should be that are flooded down, rivers, and horses disappearing into the mist. It’s just a terrible situation up there. But those volunteers, what they will need to realize is that the majority of them are volunteers. A lot of staff. I know there’s been a lot of comments on the Essential Energy work being done, the power supply companies doing a huge amount of work in amongst the rain, some locals from Gundagai up there now. Rachel and Tim Murray had a great post there about the work being done by their power supply services, and the work that’s been done by that. But Michael, it’s really hats off to those volunteers or to the forces and those staff that the amount of training that they do and the amount of preparation they do for these very events. We’re a lucky country in so many ways, that the volunteers and staff of the emergency services are what we want. 

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

We are. And what amazed me the other day, well not amazed me, but impressed me I guess, was the fact that some of these volunteers are so young and just very much, you know, both genders, certainly represented, and some of those young women, they get in and they have a crack. And, you know, once upon a time, and let’s face it, I’m not being misogynistic or anything, but the SES and most of those volunteer organisations were headed up by burly men in the work, firefighting or whatever the case was, was usually and often invariably done by men and often older men. These days these young girls are getting the, they’re signing up. They’re doing some of them, some of them, they’ve got a family connection, but many of them are just doing it because they love community. They love their neighbourhoods, and they want the places in which they live to be safe, to be protected. And they’re getting in there and having a go. And I know, you and I often moan about the lack of volunteering in certain sporting organisations and service clubs, and you go to some of these service clubs and, there’s nobody in there without grey hair, but I’ll tell you what, the SES, they’ve got a lot of young people and good, good on them and good on the, you know, the volunteers for getting in and having a go because that’s, that’s the future and that’s what we need. And you know, they don’t just get in there and have a go for an Instagram moment and stay for a, you know, a week or three. They are getting in and they’re signing up and they, they they’re intending to, I spoke to some of these young women, they’re intending to do it for the you know as long as they’re physically able. And I really take my hat off to them.  

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Michael, appreciate your time, there’s so much we can talk about, and we will because we will be back next Thursday, as we do each and every Thursday fortnight, appreciate you. Steph was unavailable today, so really appreciate you having the time to step in and have a chat to us, especially talking about the amazing work done by volunteers locally and nationally, but also watching, of course, The Nationals splitting the Coalition. I mean, it’s a century-long tradition, but it’s not the first time. We’ll be watching this space with earnest. Thank you for your time.  

 

MICHAEL McCORMACK  

Indeed, we will. Thanks David. 

 

DAVID EISENHAUER 

Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, joining us today, on this Thursday morning. Of course, he’ll be back next week. Steph was unavailable to chat to us today, she had some things happening from a state level, and we love catching up and talking with Steph, particularly as we talk with Abb McAlister on Monday about the saving of the pathology clinic, for up for Cootamundra there and those submissions and signatures, but the region, not just the Cootamundra Electorate but the whole region through this quarter of NSW State and into Victoria too some of the signatures came from, the importance of pathology services in that region. We will be talking about that more with Steph in a fortnight’s time. But when Michael is back, there will be a whole new story to talk about, this is a changing story, day to day to day, and to talk about The Nationals and Liberals getting back together and in what form that might be. But just that importance of these wonderful volunteers. We see the stories in the news and we think about those people up there on the Mid North Coast around Lake Macquarie, Port Macquarie, places like that. 7 to 9, here’s the sport and weather details. 

 

ENDS 8:53am 

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