Warsh Vows to Remain Independent From Political Pressure; Tillis Demands DOJ End Powell Before Vote On New Chair; Iran-U.S. Blockade Is Act Of War And Violates Truce; War Taking Major Toll On Global Travel Industry; Londoners Turn To Lime Bikes During Tube Strike Disruptions. Aired 4-5p ET
[16:00:20]
bells are ringing on
we were down most of the session and then we are just off the lows, but not
really because we are at the lows, sort of, if you like.
Sir, bring us to an end on a hard day of trading and one and a two and a
one, two, three four. Trading is over. We are off the lows. That's the way
the markets are looking, and these are the events well be talking about in
the next hour.
hearing, the
Oil prices have jumped back up after Vice President Vance puts his trip to
peace talks on hold.
And a tube strike here in
I will be speaking to the CEO of
a spin.
We are live in
Good evening. We start tonight with
who says he will not be the subject to the president's wishes. The nominee,
of course, is
He told lawmakers he never promised the President that he would move to cut
interest rates. He was also asked about his own financial disclosures,
bearing in mind he is worth over
those assets.
He earned praise from
maintained that he would still block the confirmation on other grounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN.
cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation just a few months before
the position was going to be open.
Let's get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, a few details about
confirmed, he would be the wealthiest Fed Chair in history, worth more than
billionaire,
heiress,
He served on the Fed Board during the 2008 financial scandal and became a
critic of Q.E. -- quantitative easing.
Rana is with me.
anybody seriously thinks that just because
rates down, he is going to do his bidding.
thing.
The man is an extremely respected economist, former governor. But and this
I think is core he does want to make major changes at the Fed.
interesting moment and he is a fascinating candidate. You know, as you
know, Richard, I too was a critic of too much Q.E. I thought that
particularly rounds three and four were a bad idea. I actually really
respect Warsh for standing up and saying that.
But here is the thing, I am going to be watching very, very carefully to
see if his decisions are data driven because he stood up to the left back
then and said, you know, just to buoy wages at the
are going to create inflation later. Assets are going to be high. That was
a good idea.
Is he going to do the same thing if he is under pressure from the right now
and from the President in particular? That's a big question and it is also
a time when the data itself is going to be murky. You know, Warsh hopes
that A.I. will create the kind of dot-com effect that we saw during the
Greenspan era where you really do get this tailwind of productivity that
allows rates to be kept low. Is that going to be the case with A.I.?
QUEST: Right. I mean, the argument being that the productivity gains will
mop up the otherwise inflationary pressures that would spill over. But here
is the -- he is in favor of forward guidance. Now, forward guidance has
been the backbone of communication for the last 15 years.
FOROOHAR: Yes, and you know, it is interesting, he also says he wants to
depoliticize the Fed and that you know, it needs to be more independent.
Well, you know what?
[16:05:11]
What does that constitute? Does that mean it becomes more secretive? Does
that mean that it works more closely, you know, if not being under pressure
from the President, is it going to be working with the
and Bessent have a good relationship. There has been some discussion that
maybe fiscal policy and monetary policy would be more intertwined. That
too, I want to just say, is something that I thought maybe could be a good
idea, but you don't want to see it happening in a way that is perceived to
be politically compromised at all. Otherwise, boy, the markets are not
going to like it.
QUEST: Here is another problem.
Powell. Now, if and there is the if -- if
Attorney genuinely believes, that there is an investigation that has to be
had, then she should not bow to pressure from Tillis to actually drop the
investigation. You can't have it both ways.
I agree with what -- I mean, the judge said there is no evidence. But if
Pirro truly believes that the Powell investigation is warranted, then she
is duty bound to continue it.
FOROOHAR: Well, look, having it both ways, to be honest, is what this
administration has always been about. There are so many ways in which the
Trump administration is trying to have it both ways, but when it comes to
the Fed, as we know, this isn't just a domestic American politics, this is
international markets.
And
QUEST: All right, I want you to listen to what
about those companies, those who do and those who don't apply for refunds
of the tariffs. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
do that, I will remember them. I will tell you that because I am looking to
make this country strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: In other words, if you don't apply, I will remember that. And in
other words, I will look upon you favorably, the ergo being, if you do hit
reply, nice company you've got, shame if something were to happen to it.
This is mafioso, pure and simple.
FOROOHAR: I was just thinking, am I watching "The Sopranos" or am I
watching The
years ago, I remember watching the ticker on a Russian oligarch's oil
company go down as Putin was saying, he has a cold. You won't see him for a
while.
It is the sort of thing that you hear -- you used to hear in other
countries and you are now hearing it in the
call the EMification, emerging marketification of America, and I hope it
stops with this President.
QUEST: Rana, always good to speak to you. Lovely. Thank you very much
indeed.
In a few moments, I will be talking to the former Fed Vice Chair,
Clarida
eight news conferences each year is too many. It is all part of the
communications strategy.
Now, Vice President J.D. Vance's trip to
on hold. The V.P. who leads the
ceasefire is expected to expire on Wednesday, although there is some
confusion about whether it is
whether to resume talks. The Foreign Minister says the
Iranian ports amounts to an act of war.
ceasefire expires, I mean, when the actual deadline is and secondly, nobody
seems to be very willing or keen to go to
a lot in play at the moment, Richard. I mean, it is quite literally in flux
as you and I are having this conversation. Sources I have here feel
optimistic, perhaps we may be hearing things in a few minutes.
There has been a sort of a lot of sort of negative impressions created in
mediators here in
As far as
And what is it now? We are right now, we are 1:09. So there is less than
four hours to go, about 3.5 hours to go or so before the deadline expires
and the Information Minister a few hours ago said, look,
to respond before that deadline.
come to the talks. We don't know.
[16:10:07]
But I think what I can tell you in these minutes, and I stress minutes
right now, things may be about to change.
QUEST: All right, but Nic, on that point, it really -- it doesn't -- at the
end of the day, it doesn't come down to whether they can finish -- whether
they can find, you know, change this word or change that word. It really
comes down to whether they want to because if they want to do it, they will
find a way to do it.
And at the moment, I am not clear whether the
ROBERTSON: I think both sides want it. I mean, that seems to be clear
because they've both held to a ceasefire pretty much to get to this point.
And neither side sort of, you know, thrown in the towel so far.
The cost for both sides are huge. It is a matter of an utter lack of trust;
it is a matter of both sides, neither side has been defeated and punished,
you know, to the point that they've absolutely collapsed and both sides
want to be able to portray a victory at home, you know, for a variety of
reasons. None of that is unusual in a negotiation.
I think we are in a position where both sides actually don't want to go to
have a war, because
forward.
situation with the rest of the world.
potential political consequences through all of that.
And I think there was a sense that a week-and-a-half ago at talks here,
they got a broader understanding. They kind of know where each other are on
issues. If you keep it really simple to a memorandum of understanding and
not try and repeat the Nuclear Deal of 2015, the JCPOA under
Obama
might just deliver something that both sides can walk away from and try to
sell at home as something of a victory.
QUEST: Nic, right and while you and I are talking, in my ear, I've just
been told that
Ronan, tell me anymore that or do you have any more details on that? We are
getting the post up there, but even while you and I are talking, apparently
the deadline is being extended, Nic, whilst you tell me the significance of
that, I will get more information.
ROBERTSON: This is -- yes, I am going to jump in here, Richard, you know, I
was saying to you minutes, things are changing at the minute. Yes, this was
coming. I didn't know the text of it. I knew it was coming. This is what we
are getting from sources and here we have it. So let's digest it.
The President is extending the ceasefire. That's what
Minister called for. This potentially does give an opening here for
take a beat,
perhaps come forward to the table.
You know, it is anyone's guess. As I said, this is all in play minute by
minute by minute right now, the Iranians are just getting this, they are
going to digest it. Let's see what they have to say.
QUEST: All right, I am going to read it to you to what it says. It is a
statement of
attack on the country of
cetera et cetera. "... I have therefore directed our military to continue
the blockade and in all other respects remain ready and able, and will
therefore extend the ceasefire until such time as their proposal is
submitted and discussions are concluded."
It is a very long post, but essentially it is an open-ended extension here.
ROBERTSON: And I think this gets to your fundamental point, doesn't it? Do
both sides want to avoid going back to war? And it does seem that this
creates the space to have the diplomacy that the negotiators here, that the
moderators who are doing it in
get something that both sides can hold on to and turn the President's post
here.
As you say, an open-ended ceasefire into something a little more solid that
can endure. Look, the cost to the world, as you've been reporting and you
know better than anyone else, all the financial details and the
downs of the markets and how it all looks and the cost to the airlines and
the cost to the economies of all the nations of the world. There is a
little more time here to get it right.
This doesn't give
wanted the end to the blockade of the
blockade of its ports. The President is not lifting that. That's very, very
clear.
[16:15:08]
But earlier on today,
law that it would get reparation money to repair its energy infrastructure,
to repair much of the country. That was signaling from
to get money at the table as part of the deal. It wanted that -- are these
things in play? These are going to be the inducements that will bring
back.
Does what the President said tonight throw some trust into the mix again
for the Iranians? Probably a little, but not much really. The lack of trust
is so deep, but can it get them to the table?
QUEST: All right --
ROBERTSON: That is the moment. That is where we are at right now.
QUEST: Nic, I'm grateful. Thank you. You were there where we needed you and
you brought us up-to-date. When we have the price of oil, we will put it
into perspective as well. Thank you.
Let me just refresh your memory or remind you what we just heard, that the
ceasefire is being extended. It seems to be an open-ended extension by
submission, talks have to take place, and those talks have to be concluded.
As we continue our conversation together tonight,
that the Fed officials talk too much. All right, the Fed's former Vice
Chair
talking too much? Do you all talk too much? You'll give us your answer
after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Our top story tonight, the Fed Chair nominee,
the
hearings that took place.
Warsh suggested that the Fed's bond buying spree mainly helped Americans
with financial assets. He said monetary policy is best set through interest
rates, and he suggested that Central Bankers hold fewer news conferences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
personal opinion right now, Fed Chairs and other Central Bankers around the
would say this, I think truth seeking is more important than repetition.
If one has a press conference, one wants to deliver some important news.
SEN.
taking questions at those press conferences?
[16:20:04]
WARSH: If a press conference were held, I think it would be incumbent to
hear what the reporters of the day had in mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST:
Richard is with me now and what do you make of it? I don't want us to get
bogged down in, you know, is he going to do trumps business or not? Because
I think most sensible people believe that, you know, he is a man of his own
mind. And that's going to go forward.
But there are philosophical issues with Warsh on things like forward
guidance and monetary policy.
credit him with that since leaving the Fed. He has been critical of
quantitative easing, the balance sheet expansion and he has been critical
on forward guidance, which was a real emphasis of the Bernanke, Yellen and
Powell Fed and actually, went further than I expected today, uh, in terms
of not committing to continue to do the regular, press conferences.
I think the important point to note is there is a First Amendment and so
give speeches, and so the real question is not less communication from the
governors and presidents, the real question is how will
his communication with markets and the public?
QUEST: You see the problem with not liking Q.E. is that there is a very
strong argument that says Q.E. saved the ship from sinking. When you go
back to those days, that was -- the bond buying method was the only way to
get rates lower.
CLARIDA: Well, thank you for that, Richard. I mean, important for your
viewers to know, as Kevin knows, is that the two main episodes in which the
Fed's balance sheet expanded were the global financial crisis and during
the 2020 COVID pandemic collapse.
I think, perhaps a more nuanced critique is not to criticize the use of the
balance sheet in those episodes, but the fact that the Fed maintains a very
large balance sheet and did not really shrink it to Kevin's satisfaction in
the 2010s and then obviously the Powell Fed since the pandemic collapse and
he actually gave more insight today than we've heard from him on his
approach.
He seems focused on shrinking the balance sheet from here and moving it to
holding more short dated securities.
QUEST: What about this idea also of back to monetary policy? He doesn't
believe that the Fed -- there is a lot of the Fed research taking into
climate control, climate change, taking diversity, other issues which in a
strict definition of monetary policy would not be part of it. He thinks
they should be put aside. That's not the job of the Fed.
CLARIDA: Well, my own sense, you know, I was there from 2018 to 2022, the
Powell Fed was labor focused on supporting the economy. The economy is in a
very good place in January of 2020, and then supporting the economy with
the pandemic, collapse. And so I think it would be an exaggerated critique
to say that the focus got diverted by those other issues.
QUEST: Last thing I just want to talk about away from Warsh, in your role,
Global Economic Advisor at PIMCO, how much economic trouble are we in? We,
being, however you want to define it, the world, you know, the western
world, how much economic trouble are we in at the moment as a result of the
war in
CLARIDA: Well, let's start with it is a very big shock. The IEA said its
potentially the biggest shock to the global energy market ever. I think
historically, and you've seen the
we know now, and importantly, Richard, based upon where the oil futures
markets say the oil market is going to be, it looks like a big shock, but
one that is manageable. That shouldn't tip the global economy into a
recession.
However, the longer this lasts and the more uncertainty there is about safe
passage through the Strait and the future approach that
controlling the Strait, then this then has a cumulative effect over time.
So right now, based upon what we know and what the what the oil traders
expect, it looks to be manageable, but the longer it goes on, then the more
of a concern it is. It is a classic textbook stagflationary shock. It will
slow growth and push up, at least for some time, inflation.
[16:25:01]
QUEST: And the problem with the stagflationary shock is what do you do with
monetary policy to bring it back to full circle? Because stagflation, by
definition, either movement will hit the other side really badly.
CLARIDA: Exactly, right, so if you cut rates to support the labor market,
inflation may move up. If you raise rates to try to lower inflation caused
by a supply shock, you can really create a very, very significant economic
downturn, which is why the first inclination of modern Central Bankers is
to look through an adverse supply shock that pushes up energy prices.
But everyone has read the textbook and I began my career as a student in
the 70s, that did not work out well in the 70s. Oil went from
prices in a decade and Central Banks fell behind the curve and the
inflation genie got out of the bottle. So that's why they are very closely
and carefully looking at measures of inflation expectations.
QUEST: On that final point, if you're going to get rid of forward guidance,
what are you going to replace it with?
CLARIDA: Well, see, that's the
out of the bottle, I think it may be difficult -- more difficult than maybe
soon-to-be Chairman Warsh believes to put forward guidance back on the
shelf.
Now, let me stipulate, it is entirely possible to run a successful monetary
policy without a lot of forward guidance. I don't want to say zero. There
has always been winks and nods, but Volcker and Greenspan, for most of his
years ran policy with very little forward guidance. It would -- but we had
a forward guidance regime in place in the
25 years and it will be a shock or would be a shock to markets if Warsh
really is serious about eliminating forward guidance.
And that is why it will be important to see what he does in terms of the
Fed communication around press conferences and economic projections.
QUEST: Richard, thank you so much for joining us. It is exactly what we
wanted to talk about tonight. I am very grateful to you. Thank you.
CLARIDA: Thank you, sir.
QUEST: Thank you,
Now, how did I get to work? Well, I sort of did a bit of both. I got a bit
of a train and then I got a bit of a bike because there is a tube strike in
- I know it is not very stylish, a Lime Bike and I will talk to the CEO of
the company who got a couple of bucks out of my pocket today.
quest means business.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:52]
QUEST:
heard that at the beginning of the program. He says the
from attacking
he says the
Now the tenuous ceasefire is forcing businesses to improve over the short
term. Lufthansa says it is canceling 20,000 short haul flights to save jet
fuel. United told investors it will have to be nimble with capacity in
response to higher fuel prices.
Now if you can still find flights, but you will certainly pay more to get
on board. The consultancy Teneo says the cheapest economy seats are now a
quarter times more than last year. The disruption is, of course,
threatening the growth of travel booking platform Get Your Guide. It used
to book tours, attractions, excursions and so forth. The platform earned
its first ever profit in 2025.
Now
Let's talk about, first of all, the -- I mean, we are now getting the real
evidence of what's going to go wrong here. Lufthansa, 20,000 flights. And
they haven't put that forward. I imagine IAG and I imagine
will follow suit, and we're all paying more on the way, too.
great to be on the show. Those are definitely some very interesting times
to be in online travel. And I wouldn't have believed that a couple of years
after the pandemic, you know, we're again in a situation, you know, that is
very dynamic. But, you know, to speak to the upside first, this is a much
more regional local crisis at this point in time and not a systemic issue
like COVID.
And people, at least from what we can see, are certainly traveling this
summer. They're prioritizing spending on travel and experiences over, you
know, physical goods or staying at home.
QUEST: Right.
RECK: And we see a lot of bookings to shorter term destinations at lower
prices.
QUEST: But this Lufthansa announcement this morning is interesting because
it's as if we want to get ahead of this before the really difficult stuff
comes. And, I mean, this is all assuming the situation doesn't get worse.
So the capacity is going to be reduced. They're cutting out less profitable
flights. Fares are going up. It is going to be hard to find a bargain this
year.
RECK: That's right. But, you know, I'm German, so I wouldn't read too much
into the local German situation on a global scale. You know, experiences --
the market we're operating is a
fast. And, you know,
piece of this. At the same time, you know, there are multiple ways of
getting somewhere.
The more concerning thing with the current situation is that you still
can't really route through the Gulf States, which is 15 percent of global
air capacity. So that is really the thing that we're watching.
QUEST: The ability for low cost airlines to continue to be low cost is
going to be fascinating. And, you know, I think we all know Michael will do
whatever --
RECK: Yes.
QUEST:
rock bottom. But it could get ugly and there could be a lot of money lost
by less profitable carriers who could ultimately go under. And I'm not
talking about Ryanair or
RECK: Look, you know, I think those low cost carriers like Ryanair,
and others have proven to be so resilient over much greater shocks that I'm
pretty sure that they have planned for a scenario like this. And we will
see them coming out strong on the other side. And I have a lot of
confidence in these business leaders navigating this challenging situation.
QUEST: Yes. Right. Now, the old platform is all about booking tours,
experiences, attractions, and it's sort of about enjoying the destination
when you get there.
[16:35:03]
What now? What can you tell us about the trend in what you're seeing people
want to do when they go to places?
RECK: So we've seen the experience economy rebounding incredibly strongly
after COVID.
tells you something about customers really prioritizing spending on
experiences over physical goods. And what we are seeing is that across all
of the many verticals within the experiences economy, whether that's food
tours, sightseeing tours, attraction tickets, people are really leaning
into those type of experiences because in the age of A.I., the human
connection truly matters.
QUEST: Yes. Finally, so as you look towards your summer, what experiences
are you looking to do? Where are you hoping to go, and see and enjoy? So we
all know to go in the opposite direction.
RECK: I have my flights booked with Lufthansa, by the way, to
couple of weeks with the family. So I'm looking forward to doing lots of
great experiences in
QUEST: Thank you very much, sir, for joining us.
RECK: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: I'm very grateful.
Now, in terms of getting around
drivers' strike, major travel disruption, as you can imagine. Several lines
are delayed. If we take a look at the tube there, you can see just severe
delays. There were a couple of trains that I managed to get. So I did get
here by train. Some like the circle line -- I've never quite understood
that one -- have stopped completely.
Members of the
hour week across four days and better working conditions. Now because of
that, people were traveling, taking Lime bikes. Instead, the demand was so
high today. This is roughly where we are at our studios here in east of
area. Instead, all the bikes were out in residential areas.
So if you wanted one, you had to literally hunt, peck and do whatever you
could. I went out. Somehow I found a bike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Trying to get a Lime bike today has been almost impossible because
of the tube strike. They're either being taken, used, hidden or reserved.
Finally, though, success.
When using the Lime bikes in the big cities, the ability to find somewhere
to park that's convenient has now become so much more difficult. The red
zones seem to be everywhere, and there are rumors that some people are
basically stopping in a green and then dragging the bike into their back
garden.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: All right. Not the most elegant, as you can say, but that helmet is
really cool. It collapses. I bought it recently. And many Londoners were
doing Lime during the tube strike last September. 54 percent increase in
trips.
The Lime CEO,
Wayne, what have you learned in terms of bike management when you have a
day like a strike? Because you're not like Santander bikes or the
Bikes
bikes all around the city as necessary. What do you do?
mentioned, during the September tube strike, we saw traffic go up by more
than 50 percent week on week, which means that so many more users are using
us, and they're using us for longer distances. So what we've done is we
also scale up our operational team on the ground. Our foot patrollers who
are moving around greater
are parked in a way that is tidy and respectful.
And we're doing that today as well in
see an increase in demand, so we're scaling up our operations to meet that
demand.
QUEST: Right. Lime has grown so phenomenally across
declare the conflict of interest here. Now I'm a firm user of Lime and I
have the Lime path and all that sort of nonsense. But I find it very
annoying when I get to my destination and that particular city has decided
to put reserve, you know, you've got to go another X, Y, or Z before you
can park. You can't just stop anywhere these days.
TING: Yes. So I think one of the things that I think is actually a strength
of Lime is that we work with cities and we partner with cities.
[16:40:02]
That includes creating parking zones and mandatory parking zones and slow
down zones and no go zones. What that allows us to do is to ensure that we
show up in a way that is safe and respectful, according to the local
regulations, but we do also work closely with cities to ensure that we are
expanding the number of parking bays so that riders like you, Richard, can
find a parking spot once you get to your destination.
QUEST: And the other issue, of course, is just the sheer plethora now of
bikes, scooters. If we take Lime. And let's talk about your competitors,
whether it's Bolt or whatever, or Forest, there are so many of you now that
controlling it, is there a commonality between you? I'm not suggesting a
collusion, but, you know, you all sort of recognize that together as the
shared vehicle industry, you have to be more responsible.
TING: Yes, I think, I mean, I mean, I can only talk about Lime. So we take
being a responsible steward and take that, being an operator in a city,
that relationship very seriously, which also means why we continue to
invest in things like new hardware. In fact, we just launched our new Lime
bike here in
rider in mind. It feels lighter.
It has a lower center of gravity and it's allowing us to reach new riders,
older riders, women riders, who may not have taken a chance on micro-
mobility before. But that relationship has to be taken with a lot of care.
And I think Lime approaches that with a humility that we got to be a great
operator to earn the right to be in the cities that we serve.
QUEST: The other fascinating thing is your pricing structure. The LimePass,
so to speak, you know, 60 minutes over three days, 200 minutes over a month
or whatever it might be. And obviously, like everything else, you have used
clever algorithms that work out what is the most price sensitive advantage
like everything else. It's a pretty sophisticated way of doing it.
TING: Well, Richard, we actually heard that feedback from a lot of people
that our LimePass requires just a little bit of math and planning.
QUEST: Exactly.
TING: So we recently launched a new product called
monthly subscription product. It's a low monthly subscription fee. And for
that, writers get unlimited flat rate. So in
than two quids for any trip under 20 minutes. So now what you get is a
predictable low affordable rate for any trip that you want to do. So we are
improving even our offerings so that it's easier for riders to access and
understand.
QUEST: I am grateful, sir. Thank you for coming and talking to us tonight.
I appreciate it. Thank you.
TING: Thank you for having me, Richard.
QUEST: Good to talk to you.
And that is our show tonight. That's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm
Quest
profitable. Up next,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:54]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): It's time to embrace new adventures.
Doesn't get much better than this.
(Voice-over): Seize the moment. In this
Good lord, look at this. The sheer amount of stuff. And there it is. And
this is all, of course, come from
service.
(Voice-over): It is another beautiful late summer morning, an hour's drive
north of
the post doesn't walk, cycle or drive. It sails. Riding the ripples aboard
JUSTIN PIGNEGUY, OWNER, THE RIVERBOAT POSTMAN: We deliver between sort of
400 to 600 articles of mail each day, and that can be from a postcard
through to a fridge.
Who orders a fridge online?
QUEST: Morning.
(Voice-over): Since 1910, the Riverboat Postman service has delivered
everything, parcels, letters, those dreaded bills.
Oh, I've got the good stuff.
(Voice-over): In doing so, it brings a healthy dose of community spirit to
the hundreds of people who live along this river. Today's swift couriers
are Justin Pigneguy with his wife Catherine and brother Ben. They took over
the service in 2012.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?
PIGNEGUY: Welcome aboard the Riverboat Postman. My name is Justin. I'm up
at the pointy end in the wheelhouse with our skipper, Rhett.
QUEST (voice-over): The floating postman is also a tourist attraction. Last
year, nearly 30,000 paying guests joined this gentle, meandering cruise
along the Hawkesbury.
PIGNEGUY: As we leave Brooklyn behind us, the open ocean is only about four
and a half nautical miles off to the right.
QUEST (voice-over): The Hawkesbury begins at the junction of the Nepean and
at
we see the sandstone cliffs and admire the mangroves.
PIGNEGUY: Now the HMAS Parramatta,
QUEST (voice-over): There are even shipwrecks.
What's the experience that you want people to have from this?
PIGNEGUY: Because we're so close to
can actually hop on a train or drive a car and be here within an hour, and
you're like a million miles from nowhere.
QUEST: So what are you delivering here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All that stuff.
QUEST: I'm going to help.
PIGNEGUY: Look, that's nice and light. Someone has got a party.
QUEST: Just here? Where'd you leave it?
PIGNEGUY: Just around the corner there, mate. You'll see where all the post
boxes are.
QUEST: Oh, yes. Wow.
PIGNEGUY: Yes. So here you go. This is the --
QUEST: Oh, wow. This is the other side of it.
PIGNEGUY: This is the other side of it. So you've got locals here at that
point, but you've also got a few settlements we can't get into. Thanks for
all that.
QUEST: Thank you.
PIGNEGUY: See you later. Yes. So this is also you'll find around the river.
There's a whole heap of these sheds.
QUEST: But the thing about it is it's what I'm finding fascinating is just
the sheer infrastructure that has to exist so that life in
PIGNEGUY: Yes. So --
QUEST: Traditional life.
PIGNEGUY: All the pontoons and everything you've got to have so it's --
yes.
QUEST: Yes. Absolutely. All right. On we go.
(Voice-over): Stop by stop, jetty by jetty, the Riverboat Postman makes its
rounds. For the locals this service is essential. For in a country as vast
as
the tempo of life. Slow, calm. Yes, no worries. The post has arrived.
[16:50:06]
The mail must get through.
PIGNEGUY: The mail must get through. The mail must get through.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST (voice-over): I could look and stare all day, for as I've told you it
is my favorite building in the world. A
icon, an example of triumph over adversity. Beneath its majestic sails is
the restaurant Midden. It is here that the chef,
force in
as his food. Of course, Mark insists I try the lot.
Talk to me. Talk to me.
(Voice-over): Lamb chops topped with saltbush, sea parsley, rosemary in a
river of meat juice. And why not the barramundi with lemon myrtle or
romesco and a sea succulent? The key, it's all in the local herbs.
ice plant. It's got that cross between salt and a little bit of the
barramundi and the lemon myrtle romesco, all of that together. Those
flavors all come together and it just pops in your mouth.
QUEST: Just watching your face then as you start talking about it, you sort
of take on a different energy, a passion.
OLIVE: Oh, boy, this is my passion. I've been doing it for 40 odd years
now. That notion of getting it out there to as many people as I could back
in the day was quite hard. In around '96 all of this happening way ahead of
its time and making things like a relay mignon. Sort of a kangaroo fillet,
a smoked emu. I'd be doing lasagnas, but it'd be crocodile instead of
chicken. The taste and the flavors and everything.
You know, it does take time, but once that sort of like sticks with you and
you get used to it just like anything else, indigenous food is the same.
And you know, we have people that keep coming back now all the time just
for these certain flavors.
QUEST (voice-over): What Mark brings to the plate is an important part of
this country's first nation's history. Beyond the sails, there are
reminders everywhere of how this country was created and developed.
They said, you're going to
that's nice. There'll be bird sanctuary, you know. And then I read about
it.
JANET CARDING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HARBOUR TRUST: We like to think of
layer, the sandstone, which has been here several hundred million years.
Second layer, the First Nations, the aboriginal people of the area who we
know have been living here for more than 20,000 years. Then the layers that
you start to see, the convict layer. So the convicts who were sent here, if
they committed another crime after arriving in the colony, they were sent
here to prison.
They were, during the era of hard labor, they quarried out the stone of the
island. They dug drydocks. They built many of the buildings that were
surrounded by. And then the layer on top, the industrial layer, the layer
that you see, that's the shipyard that followed the convicts. They spent
100 years as a shipyard.
[16:55:07]
QUEST: I almost feel guilty saying this because
going for it, but life does revolve around the harbor.
CARDING: It certainly does. And I think that's because the city grew up
around the harbor. What I would say is that the harbor continues to change.
QUEST (voice-over):
which has turned into a tourist attraction. It's one of nine sites they
manage around the harbor including the
proudly on the coastline as
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got up one stair and then stopped.
QUEST: Yes, because I'm just -- I'm going to count my stairs because
apparently there's 100. 100.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's graceful.
QUEST: There we go.
(Voice-over): Finally, out of this tiny door and
into view. I can almost picture what
Century. Can A.I. help me visualize this more clearly?
OK, I'm chatting with Claude, right? Please create a portrayal, painting,
photograph, whatever, of what this would have looked like when the first
fleet arrived in 1788. I'll create a beautiful HTML artifact that depicts
arrived. Rendered as an oil painting. Oh, we like that. It's taking a long
time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all masterpieces were created in a minute. What is
it?
QUEST: It's crap. It's crap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's like 12 pixels. I said, let me see that.
QUEST: It looks like --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ask a toddler to do it?
QUEST (voice-over): I kid you not. This is the oil painting our A.I. came
up with. I think if
around.
The view from the
perspective of the whole of the harbor, from the built up city center all
the way to the majesty of the
sailed through. And there's something else to notice. Remember Utzon's
opera house, designed to look like sails on the harbor? Well, there's the
real thing. How did he do? Sails on the harbor.
And you'll want to come here and see all of this for yourself. Sailing
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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