The Empower Hour Episode 18 19th November 24 - Scooter Patterson

New work rights and higher wages are helping to close the gender pay gap in Australia. The gap has fallen to a record low of 11.5%, thanks to new government reforms. However, more needs to be done to completely close the gap. The Prime Minister has reaffirmed his commitment to workers during a meeting with the UK PM. Most of Australia's threatened species are not being protected by a government scheme designed to reduce carbon emissions. The scheme supports projects in arid areas, leaving out habitats for 94% of threatened species. A data analyst has been named Queensland's 2025 Australian of the Year. He co-founded a company that employs neurodivergent individuals and aims to expand to 1,000 employees by 2030. The Blind and Low Vision Ashes Series is currently underway in Queensland, marking the 20th anniversary of the event. Australia has won a 2020 series against Pakistan, with Marcus Stoinis scoring an unbeaten 61. Paraly Good morning, I'm Laura Dubois. New work rights and higher wages are helping to close the gender pay gap. Calum Sayre reports. The gender pay gap has fallen to a record low of 11.5%. The Australian Council of Trade Unions says the introduction of new work rights and wage reforms by the federal government is contributing to the narrowing of the gap. A new report by the ACTU found the gap has been closing at a rate of 1.3% a year under the Albanese government compared to less than half a percent a year under previous coalition governments. However, women are still essentially working for free 42 days a year. The ACTU says while the situation is improving, more needs to be done to completely close the gender pay gap. The Prime Minister has reaffirmed his commitment to workers during a meeting with the UK PM. Anthony Albanese and Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil. They discussed AUKUS and progress of the climate and energy partnership signed by Australia and the UK's energy ministers at the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan. Mr Albanese says he and Mr Starmer reiterated their commitment to progress negotiations on the bilateral AUKUS treaty. That's about the creation of the subs in both South Australia and Barrow in the UK and getting that agreement in place. Most of the habitat of Australia's threatened species is not being protected by a federal government scheme designed to reduce carbon emissions or store carbon. The first national assessment of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit scheme by James Cook University shows species most in need of habitat protection are least likely to get it. Launched in 2011 as the Carbon Farming Initiative, the scheme supports projects which avoid releasing greenhouse gas emissions or remove and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Now researchers say these projects are primarily located on marginal arid and semi-arid areas which support habitat for just 6% of Australia's threatened species. Data analyst Geoffrey Smith has been named Queensland's 2025 Australian of the Year. He co-founded Australian Spatial Analytics which provides geospatial and engineering services for the tech industry. About 80% of its employees are neurodivergent and 61% are in a job for the first time. Mr Smith hopes to expand his team to 1,000 people by 2030. The Australian of the Year will be announced at a ceremony in January. Australia and England's sporting rivalry is on show in Queensland this month with the Blind and Low Vision Ashes Series underway. Shannon Kirkwood has the latest. It's been eight years since the last Blind Ashes Series. England gained bragging rights in 2016 and with the 2020 series missed due to COVID, this time around the competition is fierce. The series, a combination of one days and T20 internationals, got underway at Tamborine Nelson on Sunday with England winning the opening game. The second of the three ODIs gets underway on the Gold Coast today. There will also be a T20 series to be held in Palm Beach. The first of those matches begins on Friday. This year's sporting fixture is significant as it marks the 20th anniversary of the Blind Ashes which was first played in England in 2004. Staying in cricket, Australia has completed a 2020 series win over Pakistan with victory in Game 3 in Hobart. Marcus Stoinless scored an unbeaten 61 of 27 balls. However, the win was soured by a hamstring injury to Glenn Maxwell. National Radio News, produced by Charles Sturt University, the Community Radio Network and supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. This weather update is proudly brought to you by First 5 Forever, a Cairns Libraries program for under-fives helping parents find your village. Read, learn, create and discover. Google First 5 Forever Cairns for details. Good morning Lexner, welcome back to the show. Before we begin, it's time for some weather from the weatherman DJ Jesse. In the city it is 28.6 degrees today. Expect a maximum of 32 degrees. Overnight of 23 degrees. Overnight the minimum of 23 degrees, sorry. The wind is from the south east at 13 kilometres per hour. With the wind gusts up to 22 kilometres per hour. The barometric pressure is 1,013.7 hectopascals. The relative humidity is 65%. Low isles near Port Douglas, 24 degrees. Maribyr Airport, 25 degrees. Sunset will occur this evening at 6.31pm. That's your weather report, now on with the show. Legend. Hey everyone, I'm Joe. And I'm DJ Jesse, your co-host with a unique perspective on life. Join us for the Empower Hour where we celebrate the disability community every week. We'll share powerful stories, expert insights and practical tips, all the while serving up some delectable tunes. Don't miss out. Tune in, empower yourself and be a part of our vibrant community. Catch the Empower Hour every Tuesday at 9am on KMJFM 89.1. See you there. That's right, see us here right now. Welcome back to you, wonderful listener. You are tuned in today for a very special episode of the Empower Hour. Last week I sat down with a chat, for a chat with none other than Grant Scooter-Patterson, local legend and Paralympian. So without further ado, here is that interview. We hope you enjoy it. Grant Scooter-Patterson is a celebrated Australian Paralympian and Cairns local, known for his incredible determination, skill and larger than life personality. Born with diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, Scooter never let his physical challenges defy his potential. Representing Australia in paraswimming, Scooter has competed on the world stage in numerous championships, including the Paralympic Games, the World Paraswimming Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Most recently, he brought immense pride to the nation with his stellar performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, where he secured two bronze medals. Also after nabbing a silver at Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, he remains on the hunt for that elusive gold medal. Scooter is not only an athlete, but also an advocate for inclusivity, an inspirational speaker and a beloved member of the Cairns community. With a knack for humour and a drive to motivate others, Scooter inspires people of all abilities to embrace challenges, live boldly and pursue their dreams. And here at the Empower Hour, we are lucky enough to have him join us today. Scooter, thanks so much for joining us brother. Thanks for having me. That introduction was probably the best ever introduction I've heard. No way. You've done your research. I have done my research. Although, I did win a silver and a bronze at Tokyo. You missed one medal, but no, it was good. That's right. It went out perfect. That's what it's all about, having fun. I definitely needed to put the silver medal in there. You have done a lot of research. I'm very happy. I've got more in here too. Now, Scooter, you have been on our radar at the Empower Hour ever since we started the show, and we followed your Paralympic journey very closely. We had a small segment each week called Rooting for Scooter, where we would inform people of your progress in the competition. We even had a term for Scooter supporters called the Scooter Rooters. We quickly abandoned that one very quickly. That's dull. Chilling out with the wide community of these guys. Not like that. You have been a top target of ours to have on the show, and our first ever guest, Sean Bean, I believe, is a mutual friend, having gone to... His brother went to the State High School. I don't remember exactly, but me, Christopher, his brother, and I swam at the same pool out at White Rock, TAF. That was back in 2000 to 2002 when I first started. That's where that dream of one day representing the country and Australia for the Paralympics first ignited. Right, okay, so you had been about 13 then? Yeah, it was about 11 to 13. Interesting. Yeah, a long time ago. And who sparked that interest? Was there anything in particular or somebody that set you to try swimming? Yeah, why I got into swimming in the first place was more so to do with medical reasons. It was good for my body, like all my joints, because I've got like a rare form of dwarfism called diastrophic dysplasia. It leaves me a lack of cartilages on my joints. So that's pretty much like a small form of arthritis. And then, yeah, lack of cartilage, and then all the bones are curved. So swimming was recommended for my body. And back when I was younger, they said, if you get into swimming, it will probably help you, not so much prolong your life, but make you more flexible and independent on the land. And I'll tell you what, it's helped, because there's a lot of people like me overseas, even in Australia, that have had, not thousands, but like, you know, multiple operations on their backs and their knees and ankles to try and fix them because they've got nerve pain from their spine, tensing nerves. But swimming has done wonders for me. I've had operations on my ankles, when I was three, and that's the last one. So I'm actually lucky I had the parents I have, Steve and Shelley, and they've obviously made me the independent man I am today. But with them, with their mindset back then saying, not unless he's dying, let's just take every year by year and see what happens. And obviously hopping in the swimming was the best thing ever. You're not the first guest to say that to us, because we had a gentleman on a few weeks ago, his name is Jonas, and he's a C6, C7 quadriplegic. And he actually completed a swim from Townsville to Magnetic Island using backstroke. And that all began through swimming as an alleviation of his pain. So yeah, you're not the first to say this to us. And like, I'm in off-season right now, but I'm doing three swim sessions during the week, mornings, and then I've got two gym, but I'm only doing it because of one, it's good for me, and two, I'm trying to get in the go-kart, but work's getting in the way. But it's just good for my body to be able to move around and be an independent person in society. If I didn't do it, I'd probably seize up and I'd probably have a lot more trouble with my spine. So it's in my best interest to be fit. But I recommend it to everyone. I have people come in to work and they're like, oh, they're backstroke or something's wrong. And I say, I know you're not going to like this, but seriously, the best thing for you is going down to the pool for a swim. And there's no weight on your body, your buoyancy in the water, you're floating. And weightlessness. Yeah. And then you can exercise, do a few laps. You don't have to do thousands of kilometres like what I do, but you just do a few hundred metres and it helps the body stretch out and relieves pain, I think. I tried to swim a kilometre about three months ago. Yeah. You sunk? Impossible for me. My bum's too low into the water, you know. I don't know how to swim properly, really. I can just, I manage. I found it. Yeah, it is challenging. But I've had a few people like my brother and close mates come and join me throughout my career. And yeah, they just end up sinking and they'll do like 50, 100 metres and they're dead. They're gassed. And it just shows how elite swimmers are, especially in the Paralympics and Olympics. Yeah. On the coordination to breathing and stroking and, you know, being aerobically fit to carry out whatever race it is. Yeah. There's sort of a, I don't know if it's a myth, but at least to a layman, swimmers notoriously don't have much hair, but you've got a full beard on you. Well, I've got a full beard. I'm actually losing my hair at the top. I've got some cold effects on it. I think that's just genetics. But it depends how rough the chlorine is and if you don't wash your hair. Yeah. I don't think so. There's not many bulls. Oh, there's one fella on the team who shaves his head. Right. But that's one person. Yeah, I thought it was just a bit of a myth. Yeah, I think it's a myth. Yeah. So we were speaking about mutual friends there, obviously, the Sean team, and also the door was opened to you coming on the show by none other than our morning radio host, Dan Best. Mr. Best. Mr. Best. He was my maths teacher in high school. You did the accents. Yeah. Grant, are you listening? Mr. Best. And I was walking down the street the other day. No, not walking the street. I was at the Esplanade with some friends for a mate's party. And yeah, he'd come up behind me and I remember that moustache from anywhere, that golden slightly sort of mouth on his front lip. And then his classmate said, oh, Mr. Best. I said it just like that. How are you, mate? You know, long time no see. And we got talking and he mentioned that he's doing this radio at the, I forgot what it's called. Dan's FM. Dan's FM. 89.1. And he said, oh, if someone would love you to come on. Yeah. And I gave him my number and then you'd then call me and we'd make it happen. And now here we are. Amazing. So yeah, he was your teacher at school. I didn't do well at maths. Didn't do well at maths? Don't blame him. I just didn't like maths. I can appreciate that. I didn't do well at maths either. What was life like for you at school? You're only a couple of years older than myself and when I was at school, things were certainly a little different back then. Can you tell me what school life was like for you? I was fat back then. So was I. Me too. Really? Yeah, I was a fat school kid, yeah. I stopped swimming in 2002 and that's when I was in Grade 8. So I went through my high school career no swimming. Yeah. Put on a lot of weight. I was about 65 kilos. I'm about 48, 49 now. Okay. And I was into fishing. I loved kicking the AFL football at lunch with me mates. And I had a good sport teacher there, Andy Turf. And I was definitely like sport orientated. I just didn't do any actual training or exercise myself, hence why I put on a lot of weight. Right. But I remember one time one of the girls come up to me and said, you know, because obviously she was wondering how life was at my house, and she said, what's it like at home? Do you get special meals or special dessert? Do you get more ice cream than your brother? And I was like, why are you saying that? Because I'm fat. But it's interesting because some people think that and I must say in today's society I see a lot of parents that, you know, wrap their disabled kids up in bubble wrap and it's the worst thing to do. The best thing is to get them out there, let them experience everything they can do. Let them achieve goals that who knows if they're achievable or not, but let them find out if it doesn't work. Because that way they learn things along the way. But if you sit there and say, oh, little Johnny's missing his arm, he can't open that can of tuna. No way. Reach the thing between his feet and get the other arm and pull the thing up. You know, when there's a will there's a way. I live at home, I've got my own house and I live by myself. And I'm how tall? I'm three foot eight, three foot whatever. I can't reach a lot of things. And you drove here today as well, right? I got two cars, you know what I mean? I got a shed full of toys. But it's because I have that willpower and drive to want to fit into society, be part of society, not make society change for me. Where there's a lot of people out there these days, not just disabled people but other people too that, you know, feel entitled and they want the world around them to change. When really you need to fit in. Many people need to listen to that last two minutes of our conversation. Let's get into your recent success in Paris and your stellar career as a whole. In Paris, you achieved incredible success. Only a small percentage of the population, the world population can speak on that experience of standing on a podium at one of the most important sporting events in the world. You've managed that feat multiple times. Can you tell us what that's like, standing up there, singing the national anthem, being celebrated for an amazing achievement and representing your country? It's definitely one in a million lifetime achievement. Very special. Obviously Tokyo is where I first experienced it. I remember when I touched the wall in the 150 IM and I looked up at the, it was on the block, so you've got little red lights. First is one, second is two, third is three. And I remember looking up at the block as my mate Ahmed swam past me. I said I'm either third or fourth. I remember touching the pad and then I went back to look at the lights and I had three bright red lights. I said, oh, that'll do me. And then obviously two days later, the silver. And then pretty much Paris, the same thing happened, except I made a bit of a booboo in the 50 breast this year. The heat was an amazing swim. Fastest 50 I've done in a year or two. I was starting to get a bit worried at the start of the year. Things weren't working my way. Anyway, but it sort of changed and I worked on a few things. Bit of fine tweaking. In the 50 breast final, when I got bronze, I was happy with it, but my gondolas filled up halfway down the pool. Obviously they weren't sitting right and that sort of put my, like my jet perception in front of my hands. Like I started to rush, but I had to tell myself to slow down mate, you've done plenty of practice. I didn't panic or anything, but obviously it wasn't ideal and therefore I didn't swim as fast as I did in the morning. But anyway, that's sport and I'm just over the moon that I could get up on the dice and get two bronze medals. There's a team of 30, 30 that went over. Only 15 athletes won a medal. So I'm happy in speech. I know I'm still chasing an elusive gold medal, but it'll happen when it happens. And there's no point crying over spilt milk or something that didn't work. It is the way it is for a reason. Well you just touched upon what I was going to get onto next. You are still chasing that elusive gold medal and you're 35 now, is that right? Yep. And as we all know, time and ties waits for no man. With the next Paralympics in Los Angeles four years away. 28. Is it the allure of gold that keeps you motivated? I think so, because this year I tipped off another goal that I'd love to talk about and that was getting my long time coach Herbie Howard, who's been with me for 17 years. Amazing. Had not made an Australian Paralympic team in all that time and to get the call up this year was, that was probably more special than winning the medals. But to win the medals while he was there, that made it even more special for him to experience it. To have any athlete that does well at maybe a local competition or state titles or nationals, but to go away on the Paralympic team and watch your athlete that you've been coaching for the past 12 years, watch him win the medal, I reckon that's pretty cool and pretty rewarding for him. And I think it inspires a lot of people out there that expect to get everything overnight when anything worth doing takes time. Absolutely. And those that wait, hopefully are rewarded at the end. Sometimes you're not, but at least he knows that he put in the hard work and I think that friendship and that relationship that we've had over 17 years is worth more than medals, you know what I mean? Absolutely. Because we've created such a good bond and when we do speaking to other coaches and athletes, it sort of resonates and just spreads. Like him on that team, everyone loved him, no one had a bad word to say about him, and you know why? Because he did it the hard way, he waited, he didn't whinge and complain when he missed out on London, Tokyo, he just put his head down and back to work. And we weren't sure if it was ever going to happen, but before Paris my goals were the gold medal and Herbie. Herbie's on, so there's only one left. But I've given myself until Brisbane, so I'm penciled in for another eight years and whatever happens, happens. But I think Brisbane would be a pretty awesome stage to say goodnight Australia. Hang the togs up in Brisbane. Drop the mic. Yeah, drop the mic, the gold medal in the other hand. We'll see. Well, I hope so. How do you mentally prepare for high pressure events like the Paralympic Games? I can imagine the nerves would be off the charts, but on the flip side of that, you've done it so many times that perhaps you're used to it. Do you still get butterflies before? That's what they tell us, click on the bell. What are you filming that? We always have a film camera rolling, bloody hell. You'd have got $250 for that. Bloody Nora, pressure. You know what, obviously they're small butterflies. Yeah. But I go in so confident because I do all the work properly and correctly. I train nine, well not now, but before I pass, nine sessions a week, two gym, seven swim. Wow. This year, really cut down on eating correctly, had the sports nutritionist fine tune my diet, going to bed before 10, 9.30. That's hard. It's tough, isn't it? Well, when you work full time and you get home and after you... I get home at 7pm when I train at night and I just play with the dogs for 20, 30 minutes, cook dinner. Before you know it's 9.30 or whatever, you're like, I've got to go to bed. And you're at home at 4.15 the next day. Yeah, you're only for some morning. Yeah, so I want to sit down and just look at the TV or watch a bit of crap on TV for a bit, but you can't. Yeah, I don't blame you. And it's tough. So that's why right now I'm not doing any afternoons. I'm enjoying life, like going home and playing with the dogs, cooking dinner a bit earlier. But back to the pressure thing, I think it's just because I back myself. Yeah. And I do the hard work in the first place. The people that suffer pressure are the ones that don't bring the hard work beforehand. Yeah. Because if you've done all the work, and I learnt this back in 2012, because I remember 2012 I was ranked second in the world going into London Paralympics. And I remember I got caught up on a few other athletes that were in my class that I thought shouldn't have been in my class. It's another kettle of fish that I won't bore you on. But I was trying to control the uncontrollables. And I remember having a talk with the sports site after the event that I didn't do well in, my 50th breaststroke in London 2012. And they said, Greg, you've done the hard work in the pool. You said all your friends and family are not going to care if you don't win a medal or win a medal. They're going to still support you no matter what. All your speaking opportunities and sponsors, whatever you're trying to get out of it, obviously if you win a medal, well, that'll happen in time to come. But if anything, if you obviously keep going and your swimming career goes for a long time and you might win some medals later on, think about the story you get to tell then. Yeah. And like when I missed out on Rio, that was another big boost of resilience learning for me, because I should have been on that team. Like I was going not just to go on the team to Rio, but I wanted to win medals. And I missed out on the team altogether. And you know, it's just my thing. I tell a lot of people, Paralympic sport will never be a fair thing. There's always, because you've got different people, you know, you've got me with short stature, messed up, like I've been in the washing machine. And then you have someone that has, I don't know, muscular dystrophy or CP or whatever, mild form, but they've got long arms. Yeah. So it's very hard. And soon as I understood what my psychologist said, and then obviously what happened to me missing out on Rio, I remember it was a big turning point. Obviously I learned a lot at London. And that's where I refocused myself and did the 150 IM and I come sixth. That's the one I won a bronze medal at Tokyo. And back. But I come sixth at London. But I was happy because I swam the best I could. I did a small PB, no medal obviously, that's a little bit disappointing, but it is what it is. And keep going. But fast forward to missing out on Rio, I remember sitting at home, talking to my parents. And they said, Grant, we understand you're pissed off. I was pissed off. And they said, you know, you can ring up Carnifair, ring up Tracey Grimslow and say, you know, you're off the top of the mountain, how unfair it is. You can whinge and complain all you want, but you'll be remembered for that whinging midget. Or you can shut up, go back to work, go back to the grind in the pool, get in the gym, keep working hard, not knowing if that chance of winning that elusive Paralympic medal, not knowing if that chance of winning that elusive Paralympic medal will ever come up, let alone making another team. But think about if it does, think about the story you'll get to tell. And mate, that story there from London, missing out Rio, holding on, fighting for it and then going to Tokyo 30 years later, winning a medal, that's the proof of the pudding right there. That means just hold on, you never know what happens. Keep working hard. You often hear of people who achieve great things, often have those failures early on in life. Correct. You know, and that's so important to build so many things, that resilience that you need. I'm so happy, there's athletes out there that have won multiple gold medals, and that's great, good on them, well done. But my path, I've learnt so many other different things and it's made me so humble and grateful for all the small things that I do achieve. And for example, me winning bronze medals. A lot of the athletes are disappointed if it's not gold. It's like, yeah, it's not gold, but be grateful that you've got something. There's a lot of athletes out there, but you know, how many athletes in the Paralympics? 5,000 athletes. There's probably about, I don't know, 1,500 medals to give out. Not everyone gets one. Yeah. Hence why, you know, you've got competition. There's a first, second, third and then come back next time, four years. And that's why it's so amazing if you get the chance to win one, because it's, yeah, I've been that person where I've made a team, not won a medal, missed a team, waited another four or five years, COVID, and then come back. You know what I mean? And that's what makes the story so powerful. And what you said at the start of this conversation where people like hearing me and watching me talk, it's because I think I can feel the compassion and that I've really worked on my journey and obviously without sending coffee in, but deserve the outcome. And I'm still going because I've got that elusive gold medal, remember? Who knows what will happen, but at least I'll go out swinging. I'm absolutely enamoured by you now. Wow. What an amazing story. Thank you. I wanted to speak a little bit more about things that were going on behind the scenes in Paris, such as your election as the unofficial mayor of the Aussie village. You're obviously a very charismatic character and you clearly have a great relationship with your teammate Ahmed Kelly and with Alex O'Leary as well. And the media certainly enjoyed your energy too. How did the unofficial election of mayor of the village come about? I think, I'm actually, I don't know any, I'm just a social person and I think out there, I include everyone and I have fun. And I think they obviously like that. I'm actually going down to Paralympic Australia Awards in two weeks and I'm nominated for something and it might be something for Team Crown Award or something, I don't know. But no, I'm just that, you know, like what I do at work, I'm not the manager there, I'm actually being promoted to IC when I go back, but it's the way I carry myself and I've always agreed with the old monkey see, monkey do. You know, you've got to create good leadership skills and lead by example. Lead by example is the number one, yeah. And then have the other younger people follow. Like I had the young rookie on the team, Willis Bishop, he was my roomie for the whole duration. And he's only 19, I'm 35. A lot of people say, oh, that's going to be horrible. But it worked out great and he sort of hopped on board and sort of followed a few of my mannerisms and obviously went there to do his job, trying hard. He won a bronze medal in his first, there's a story there, he won a bronze medal in his first ever Paralympics, so that was pretty special. But he was very grateful and took it back for him too, which you can see in athletes and you can, you know what I mean? And it's good when you can see that compassion and they might have a bit of a tear because they know how much, how hard it's been to get there. All the work you've put in, you know, it's finally the fruits of your labour. Correct. Whilst we're still on the subject of Paris, I used to live in Paris just over a decade ago. Really? I did indeed. Do you like it? When I was there I certainly loved it, but I think it's changed a lot nowadays. What did you think of the city? What were your favourite aspects of the city if you had some? I thought there was no Paris people in here. Good evening! Bonjour! Bonjour oui oui! Oui oui everywhere, look at this! To be honest, I wasn't a big fan. I like open doors space. Right. Everyone, if you live in Paris, it's a bit like Melbourne. You live in a tiny unit. Like my shed is bigger than all the units over in Paris. Yeah. And like where am I going to put my toys? It's like where do I park my car? Do I park on the street? Yeah. It's definitely something to go visit and experience, yeah? But I don't think you'd catch me moving there any time soon. No, fair enough. We're very lucky here in Australia. Oh man. That's why you're here, yeah? Exactly. I've been here ten years now and I wouldn't change it for the world. Yeah, it's certainly a far cry from Cairns in many aspects. Correct. But even in our city, you have a connection to our mayor, Amy Eden, having recently received some stunning gold goggles from the lady herself. After the Tokyo Paralympics, you were also gifted the keys to the city. Yeah. They meant to unlock the naughty doors, but yeah, they didn't work. I was going to ask, what doors can be opened, the keys to the city? Yeah, not much, but I got free entry to the book tour, so that's cool. Okay, great. Is that where you do most of your training? When Herbie's away, I go to the book. Okay. And obviously when I'm with Herbie, it's at Trinity Bay High School. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, beautiful. Oh, close home then. Yeah. Yeah, super close home. Being a Cairns local, you would have presumably used all of the resources available to you here to help you get to the point that you're at now. Now obviously we've mentioned Herbie as playing an instrumental role in your success. What other aspects of the community or people within the community who have had a major impact on the success of Scooter Pallison? Well, obviously my parents, family. Shout out to the parents. Yeah, Shelly and Steve. Shelly and Steve. Great people. My PC, Corinna Jones, she's been with me since 2016. Right. So when obviously I missed out in 2016, I wasn't doing gym before that, and that's when I come back to the blinds and, all right, let's do whatever we can. Let's get strong. So in the gym, and then I've got another friend who helps me in the gym. A lot of the times when Corinna's away, Corinna's retired, so she's on holidays at the moment. So Louise, she helps out. And then I've got my physio, Matt LaTouche, and I ran into him probably mid last year. These are the both. We often go out for breakfast now and then anyway. We're good friends. But yeah, he helps me out when I need a bit of physio. But before Paris, I really fine-tuned myself into all those expertise. And then I had a nutritionist from down south, part of Swimming Australia, but it was important to really pull in all the one percenters and really focus hard. But I'm looking, I really want to go to a Paralympic Games where I'm not working full time because then I can really hone in on more rest and focus even more. Right. 10 years at airline next year. And obviously, swimming is getting more open and broad to the public. So maybe more sponsors might come on board and hopefully I might stay one eventually before I retire. I'm sure something's going to come your way. Yeah. Well, we were talking about last week about, you know, a company called Scoot Airlines. Yeah, I've heard of Scoot. And they're from Singapore. And World Champs is at Singapore next year. And I'll be at a Paralympic distraction. How about we try and organise something? I should make you go for it. I'll give you 20%. Team up with Scoot. Yeah. You know, mate, you and me jumping out the bloody wing or something. You're straight on now. You're perfect. It would be amazing. One other thing I wanted to touch upon. Did the introduction of the NDIS also have a significant role in your success or not? You can be honest. Interesting, interesting topic for you. I don't have any NDIS whatsoever. You don't have any NDIS from this? Zero. Is that too personal a choice or? I think, one, I have a full-time job. And obviously, swimming helps as well. And I don't think it would be fair to the people that really need it. I'm also wanting to create some sort of, this is in the future, but I'm also wanting to create some sort of course where I can go out and help teach and motivate and help people with a disability become more accountable, independent, try and give them more skills like what my parents gave me. Because I understand there's people out there that weren't as lucky as I was to have the parents I had to give me that guidance. And I think NDIS is great in some ways, but it's also bad in other ways because I think it goes too much where it takes away the independence of a person with a disability where they're not sort of always going out to try and how can I do this myself instead of going, oh, support or whatever NDIS plan, I need someone to do this. When you do it, there's no better satisfaction feeling than when you achieve something yourself. I can understand that. For example, like me mind my own horn. Myself, I could probably go out there and get a plan that's in the hundreds of thousands I've been told. I have nothing, but it's because I don't need it because I work full time and I have swimming and all that stuff. But I understand there's people out there that really need support in certain areas that can't do certain things, but there's also other stories where I think it goes too far and I think it would be good. I would actually like to approach the government and the NDIS and say, look, I want to try and do this to try and help maybe save some dollars, but I want to try and help the overall disabled population in Australia to try and be more independent and have their own self, what's the word? Independence. The satisfaction you get when you do something yourself. What's it called? Self gratification. Yeah, I think that's one of the words. You know what I mean? For example, you've met your partner and you go out on a nice date sort of thing. That experience you get with your partner. Or for example, I needed to do some work on my fence at home. I'm good mates with a lot of people, but I grab the manager from work and say, oh Marty, I need to put a rail up on the top fence. I was on one side holding the thing in the air, standing on my ute on the back of the train, and he's on the other side with the Matiga gun screwing the rails in. You know what I mean? But that little operation there, that relationship him and I had, and then that whole experience, that's how you build stories and friendships. I'm trying to figure that word. Because you get all these people that obviously get everything. I don't want to sound too harsh either, but they get so much done for them where they don't get to build these inter-close friendships and build rapport with people because people just come and do it because we get paid to do it, if that makes sense. I see that point of view. It's a tough topic. It certainly is a tough topic. I totally get it. I'd imagine there's a key difference between a physical disability and also a neuro-divergence. It gets into a little bit of a different area, but I completely understand the point of view that you have, that that independence is worth so much and has so much value. It's so valuable to the person like that. For your self-esteem. I feel like they're missing out. I get a lot out of living by myself and doing my own shopping and my own mowing. For example, I go shopping and I meet all the lovely ladies there at the shop and have a talk. That's what makes me who I am. You're filling time. But if you just sat at home all day and everything run around after you, you don't get to build stories or little events that happen throughout the day. Certainly food for thought for many listeners out there. What advice would you give to young people with disabilities who aspire to achieve greatness in sports? Get out there and have a crack. Get off your arse. That's the only easy way to put it. A lot of people go, that's harsh, but I'm serious. It's truthful. For example, me working at my work, there's a bench out the front that's probably about five and a half foot. I'm on a hairdressing stool on wheels. So I buzz around the counter to serve people. Amazing. And then I go to go get something, hop down on the scoot, pull me out the back, go get it, come back, sell it. Adapting to the situation. But I have to work faster than you to keep up with an able-bodied person, if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. Because I have to go down, hop on the scoot, back, more than likely climb up another chair out the back or find someone to help me grab whatever it is and come back. But I'm always jogging or running because I'm trying to adapt to what an able-bodied person does. But all that, what I just said, it should have come from my upbringing. As in, Grant, when you get older and you turn into an adult, you're going to have to work harder, be stronger emotionally, have more resilience because, you know, when someone sees me that has no idea who I am, they're going to treat me different to how they treat you with arms and legs. Of course. Naturally. Absolutely, yeah. And if I can't perform, hence what we were talking about with the whole Indian Ocean before, if I can't perform and talk to people and blah, blah, blah, it would change who I am. No. So I actually have to go far and beyond to impress people. You have to be exceptional to be a normal bloke. Yeah. Interesting. Is there anybody else in Cairns at the moment who's looking to take on that mantle of Paralympian style, perhaps when you do hang up the togs? Is there anybody that you're working with or you've seen? Not that I know of, but I'm hanging in there for another eight years. I'm trying to get someone like me into swimming or even just balance in general. Yeah. Because everyone like me was doused off at the space. It's obviously a bit of a messed up dwarfism because of all the lack of cartilage, blah, blah, blah, all that nasty stuff. It's hard work on the body. Yeah. And when I was at Paris, during the middle of my races, I know a fellow from Spain who come to watch me, so it's pretty cool. And I brought my coach out with me. I actually brought him out just in case someone wanted to pick me up and steal me because there was a lot of talk about when you're outside in a strong uniform, they could pick you up and steal you. Especially me, I'm only 49 kilos. I know I pack a punch, but who knows, if I had two six-foot people running at me, I'd be gone. Anyway, I was actually glad I brought him because he got to come out and see, without serving wine or coffee or whatever, but see how far I'd come, someone with my disability. I was like nearly double the size of this And just like how he moved compared to how I moved was far better, far more range of motion, movement, and just like my strength. It's like I was the size of a, I'm nearly the size of an acorn dwarf, which is like an acorn that they walk. Right. You probably see a lot of them. It makes sense. But it's the normal one that you see the most of. Big head, big butt. Yeah. Well, I'm the washing machine, isn't it? So, it was really cool for, well, I was excited to meet him too, but also good for Herbie to see what he's created with me and where I come from. Yeah, absolutely. A long way. Absolutely, and that's evident in your story as well, you know, even those setbacks, London, Rio, moving on. Yeah, kept going. Tokyo and Paris and then hopefully next year, four years in LA. In LA. Oh, right. Just like, boy, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Well, we're going to take a short break, a musical break. Now, I haven't prepped you for it. Do I get to pick the song? You do get to pick the song. So, just tell me, what are you going to, what do you want to play? It's actually a good song you're going to like. Hang on, I was thinking of it on the way over. Yeah, yeah, you get to choose a song. Wait, wait, wait. I normally like Coldplay, but this song. It's always with our interviewees, but we like to have them introduce a song. It's sung by Take That. Oh, it's perfect. And the song is Back For Good. Don't worry, it's coming up. Take That, Back For Good. Okay, here it is, Take That with Back For Good. Why don't you back for good? I love it. Yeah, I love it too. We're going to be hearing more from the Cairns Paralympic legend that is Grant Patterson. Should I play us out? After the break. It's alright, I've got it on the actual, on the actual video here. A little bit too excited. Yeah, after the break we're going to be hitting Grant with ten quick five questions. Here it is, Take That, and we'll see you after the break. Why don't you just play the chorus real quick? Why don't you back for good? You're a good singer. You've got a good voice. I would love, I would give up everything to be a singer, because I love, I think the big thing about motivational speaking is I love getting out there and entertaining, and I'd just love to be, I think I'd be even better, like Robbie Williams or Elton John, I'd love to do that. It's a talent that you can turn on at any time as well. I've got a sick voice. You know, you can tell people, oh, I'm an amazing swimmer, but there's no pool for you to jump in and prove it. Whereas if you're a great singer, you can just belt out a tune and everybody's just, yeah. Ah, get it. Kiss me back. Kiss me back. I guess now it's time for me to give up. I feel it's time. Got a picture of you beside me. Got your lipstick mark still on your coffee cup. Oh, yeah. Got to fix with your emotions. Got to end shattered dreams. Got to leave it, got to leave it all behind now. Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good. Want you back, want you back, want you back for good. Whatever I wrote, whatever song that I'm singing, you'll be right as understood. I want you back, I want you back, I want you back for good. Unaware, but underlined. I figured out the story. No, no. It wasn't good. No, no. But in a corner of my mind. Corner of my mind. I celebrated glory. But that was not to be. In the twist of separation, you had set it free. Can't you find you're hiding a ruin style from me? Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good. Want you back, want you back, want you back for good. Whatever I wrote, whatever song that I'm singing, you'll be right as understood. Want you back, want you back, I want you back for good. And we'll be together. This time forever. No, no. We'll be five, six, and forever we will be. Don't you think it's our love? We will never be uncovered again. Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn't mean it. I just want you back for good. Want you back, want you back, want you back for good. Whatever I wrote, whatever song that I'm singing, you'll be right as understood. Want you back, want you back, I want you back for good. Whatever I wrote, whatever song that I'm singing, you'll be right as understood. Want you back, want you back, I want you back for good. Whatever I wrote, whatever song that I'm singing, you'll be right as understood. Want you back, want you back, I want you back for good. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 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