Living longer, learning STEM and Diana's memoir

0:00Thanks for your company this afternoon. The government's intergenerational report is being delivered by Treasurer Jim Charmers today and the 40-year economic forecast reveals Australians are set to live longer despite the world becoming more unpredictable and unequal. Joining us on the debrief today, Annabelle Brett from Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast and Ben O'Shea from the nightly in Perth. Good afternoon to both of you. So Annabelle, what do you think of this trade off living longer but in a more unstable world? I just love that they've got the next 40 years planned for me. I don't even know what I'm having for dinner yet at this point tonight. But my 90th is all set to go. I mean, we've got to take some wins with this. It seems like the report shows that we're going to have more in our super and there are some positives, but obviously population growth and whatnot is a concern. I live on the Sunshine Coast. The Bruce Highway is barely hanging by a thread as is, so I'm concerned about that one going down the track. Ben, we give politicians a bad wrap for not thinking far enough ahead,

1:04but this is a really long-range forecast. It is. Last week, we were all going to die in the next 10 years because of AI. So pick a lane, people. What is it? But honestly, honestly, I'm very reluctant to believe anybody who is telling me what Australia is going to look like 40 years from now. Think back to 2022. We couldn't have predicted what it would have looked like four years from then. You had chat GPT launched in 2022. Donald Trump only took office last year, and the world is unrecognizable to where it was in 2022. So let's just get the next six months right. And then we'll worry about what 2066 looks like. Okay, we're going to get more on that report later in the program. Moving on, the Science Teachers Association is calling for maths and science to be mandated for all students in your 11 and 12 to prevent them being dropped for easier subjects. Ben, I feel like journalists are the wrong people to ask about it. Yeah, look, maybe science and maths was an outstretched at university. But I think this is important to, I think, really focus on and talk

2:10about because Gen Z is the first generation to perform more poorly on standardized testing than the previous generation. That's never happened before in the history of standardized testing. So I think this generation coming through with AI, that's only going to get worse. So I think we have to find the balance between making sure kids are having a foundational learning in these important STEM subjects. But you got to engage them. Don't just beat them over the head with it because they're going to lose interest and drop out. You got to find ways to reach them in ways that are interesting to them. And let's try and bring them along and get the next generation of Australian kids actually, you know, thinking for themselves. Annabelle, it's a tough sell-off for kids, isn't it? Because AI, computers even basic calculators, you know, it makes the job fairly easy. I'm going to struggle to get my kid to be interested in it, to be honest, because I wasn't great at maths and science. I tried my hardest and it hasn't affected me that much as an adult. I'm going to put it out there. Sorry, I haven't, you can go to the shops with a calculator on your phone if you really, really need. I haven't had to learn how to circumnavigate the Brisbane River with a certain tank of fuel.

3:12It hasn't come up that much in my real world. So yes, I do think there is some merit in making them important to kids, but it's not the be all and end all. And we can definitely, I don't know, adapt and adjust education to suit every child better. And that will have them fundamentally being more interested. Okay, happy to be judged, but hands up didn't do maths in year 12. So that was a while ago. Mathsay. That's not the same anyway. Hey, finally, palace insiders have accused Earl Spencer of peddling what little remains of his late sister's privacy with the release of his memoir Swan Song Diana, my sister. Annabelle, look, Earl Spencer, we wouldn't know who he was if it wasn't for his sister. And now he's going to make a bucket load off this book. He just saw what Harry did and was like, hold my beer. I've got my thoughts on this one. I mean, go on. Wait, it may as well. Let him tell his side of it. It keeps it entertaining for us. And the people that are winning the most out of this are the producers of the crown. Ben, he really laid into the press out her funeral all those years ago saying that the paparazzi

4:18effectively took her life. And now he's selling extracts of this book to the Daily Mail. Yeah, I'm with you on that. It's a bit hypocritical. I think poor old princess day, you know, she was handed to her death when she was alive. And now in the afterlife, she can't get any peace either. I think Earl Spencer is milking it for an easy payday. Are some of the things that he claims King Charles did and said around her death accurate? Well, who knows? I would believe them. But at the end of the day, I honestly don't care either way. Like let the poor woman rest. Okay, Ben, you're not buying the book. Annabelle, we're going to buy. I think they'll find a way to blame Meghan Markle for it in no time. Poor Meghan. Poor Meghan. Annabelle, Ben, good to see you. Thank you. Thank you.