The Karl Stefanovic Show

00:01 I've spent 20 years living in the city, but these ringers' western boots, they bring me back to my roots. Years on the back of horses and out in the fields north of Cairns. You know this brand means a lot to me? Built by patriotic Aussies for Aussies who love this country. It's more than clothing. It's a lifestyle. Built for hard work on the farm and even harder work in the studio. Get 20% off your first purchase with the code CARL20 at ringerswestern.com. 00:34 Coming up on The Carl Stefanovic Show, you're about to see a great bit of Australiana. Fred Brophy's famous boxing troupe, one of the only left in Australia in the world. And look at the crowd, everyone. Say hello. 00:51 Come on, give us something! You're going to enjoy this folks, I guarantee. Fred Brophy, an Australian legend. 00:59 The next member of the combination, Kid Quick! And the next member of the combination comes from Cloncarrie. He's a big heavyweight, the Cloncarrie Bobber. 01:19 Fred Brophy, as I live and breathe. God, it's good to see you. How are you? 01:24 It's good to see you too, Carl. It's a pleasure. 01:27 And well, you represent Australia and I do too. You sure do. And the crowds outside, the young people. Why do you think it's still so incredibly popular? 01:38 Well, because this is the last one left, not only in Australia, but in the world. In the old days, there used to be 30 boxing tents getting around Australia. You know, there's boxing tents in Western Australia that wouldn't have even heard about. In Tasmania, it's the same. 01:53 Everywhere, every show you went to in the old days, there was one or two boxing tents. And they all faded away because their fathers bought rides and all that sort of stuff. And they stopped working them. so they didn't have to, you know, do what we're doing, live entertainment. So I've always been passionate about the boxing team and ever since I've been five when I was fighting. 02:15 When I first saw this last year, I came to the rodeo and I was just... 02:19 blown away because I think this kind of Australiana is dying. You just don't see it anywhere. And I was so thrilled to come in here and feel it. And you come into this tent and you can almost sense the history. 02:34 If the walls, if you had walls and what they'd say. 02:38 Yeah, well, that's true too. Because if this tent could speak, there's a lot of things happening in this ring. 02:46 And well, it's fully air conditioned. You're only going to look up there. And then I tell them it's fully air conditioned, but when you come in, you better bring an umbrella just in case it rains. 02:57 I can see the holes. I reckon every hole's got a story. 03:00 Oh, yeah, everyone has. 03:01 Yeah. How did it all start, my man? I mean, I've heard many, many stories about you, but how did it start? Me or how boxing started? No, you. 03:11 Oh, well, I was only five, and, you know, me old man and my uncle, Selby Moore's Boxing Trip, they used to have the tent, and I used to stand out the front. when I was about five and I looked at it and I was just so fascinated in the spruiking in that. And I said, that's what I want to do one day. Spruik. Yeah. And then Uncle Selby would get me up on the board. And in those days, there'd always be two young blokes that have a fight. And they'd throw pennies and apennies and sixpences and two bobs on the mat. 03:42 It was before the big fellas come out. 03:45 And I thought, that's pretty good. Anyway, that was a bonus, actually. Anyway, I used to find a young bloke my age to fight. And we'd go in and we'd have a fight. 03:56 And in those days, I think the fighters were getting about a pound a fight. 03:59 So they'd throw all the money into us, and we'd put a towel down, and it was always a draw. Never won a fight, it was a draw. So they threw all the money we put on the towel, took it out the back in the tent. They used to live in tents out the back in those days. And we'd split it up. And then we'd go out and buy show bags and all the way to ball. And then we'd come back and wait for the next one. So the next one had come. They'd get me up again. Anyway... 04:31 after it was all over. And they was getting a pound, and we was getting about two pound each in those days. We was getting more than the fighters. And I was five years of age. Five years of age. Yeah. So anyway, after that, they looked at me and seen all the money there. And they said, I want to show you something, Fred, after the fight, see. I said, what? He said, come out here. So I went out in the tent, out to their tent. 04:52 And Alan Moore and Paul Moore, they're me cousins, they said, come out here. I said, oh, yeah? And they said, we're going to play poker. We'll teach you how to play poker. And I've never played poker before. I was only five. Anyway, and we're going to play for money. I said, oh, we'll add all this money there, see? You know? 05:12 We're betting away, and they'd take it all off me. 05:15 A whole lot. Dirty, rotten scandal. 05:17 I'd end up with nothing, and that made me cry. And they said, well, you'd better get out and wait there for the next fight. And that's what they used to do. I'd go out and I'd wait for the next fight, and they'd take all my money off me again. I didn't realise in those days that I was doing it purposely for me to get up there and have a fight. Yeah. And one day, I said, when am I ever going to win? Oh, he said, when are you about 15 or 16 or something? 05:43 Oh, Jesus Christ, that's going to be a long time. Anyway, that's how I sort of learned how to fight. 05:50 You're also spruiking at the front. That's an art of its own, the performance side of all of this. It is. When you're born into this kind of thing, connecting with a crowd is interesting to me. 06:01 Yeah. 06:01 But you're born into it. You see some things. You're on the road all the time. You've got to make money through your own show. Yep. And performance. 06:09 And spruiking at the front. And in those days, there was Cy Joe Alley at all tent shows. You know, the tattooed pig, the fat lady, the Siamese twins, the headless girl, the striptease. And that was the sideshows, see? And I was fascinated. I said, go along. And they all had spruikas. I said, one of these days, I'm going to do that. And they had the Wall of Def, the Globe of Def. 06:34 And they had a few rides. But the main thing was the sideshows. And people, these young blokes go to the show now, and they say, oh, we're going down to Sideshow Alley. 06:42 Well, there's more rides, there's no sideshows left. 06:46 They all faded away. 06:47 And so I said, look, I'm just going to keep it going, you know, because I'm passionate about it. You know, this tent here, I've run it for a long time, and I'm nearly 74 now, and... 07:04 It belongs to Australia. Everyone in Australia owns it. I'm just running it for them. And I'm pretty proud of it, and they're still going now. It's the last one left, last 10th show in the world or in Australia anyway. So that's the reason why I'm doing it. You ever have a date with a headless woman? 07:21 No, because she couldn't talk to you. 07:23 Actually, the headless woman was married, and she come from Tasmania, and her husband was chopping wood. A wood chopper? Yeah, yeah. He's a tree lopper. Yeah. And it was 10 o'clock in the morning, and they used to bring out a tray of coffee and biscuits and that. So he's cutting the tree down, and she come out there and said, here, darling. And he accidentally turned around and half cut her head off. 07:50 with the ax. And anyway, she went to the hospital and they're lucky they had a neon surgeon from Copenhagen that was there. And he actually amputated the head and put blood transfusions through it. And she's sitting in there and it saved her life. She was laying in there for a few months and a mate of mine said, that Sheila's up there. You should get her and put her in a tent shape. 08:17 I said, she hasn't got a head. 08:20 I said, well, I've never seen one without a head before. 08:22 So I went up and the husband left. 08:26 Right. Well, he couldn't talk. 08:28 She couldn't talk. Anyway, he left her. And she's laying up in the hospital and no one, you know, she could move her legs and everything, in her arms. And I said, well, I felt sorry for her, so I'll give her a job as a headless girl. I had her at the Brisbane Exhibition, the Sydney show, and people was paying money to see her. And at night time, I had to put her away, you know, like I'd booked into a motel. And, you know, I had to sort of put her to bed and everything. She had a nice body. And I tell you what, she wasn't a good sort because she couldn't see her head. 09:02 Anyway, she's the only girl to lose her head without, you know. Anyway, I really felt sorry for her. 09:10 And she was with me for a few years. It cost me a fortune for the blood transfusions. You have to, you know, keep them up. 09:16 Mate, this is a whole story about something. Oh, my God, what a time. Yeah. 09:22 Also, there's these fables about you that you had a big croc that you used to... No, it was an alligator. Oh, so it was from Florida. 09:29 There's a difference between a crocodile and an alligator comes from America. Yeah. 09:35 and the crocodile comes from Australia. This is Mickey the Alligator. He comes from the Yoki Pinoki swamps in Florida, and my grandfather got him out to show him in the tent. He's never seen an alligator before in Australia. No. How did he do that? Well, he just got him out, built a big cage for him. 09:49 Yeah. 09:50 He had an import license. 09:52 and build a big cage for him, and they put up a tent. It was a tent show, see? And he used to drive a peg into the ground, put a chain around his neck, and never used to do much. And he had it up on the top of the truck in those days. There was no Pantac, and it was in a big cage. He used to walk in. And Mickey would walk in, because there's water down the inn. He'd come in, have a drink of water, and go to sleep. 10:14 Anyway, they put him on show. 10:18 And people paid the money to come in and see them, all these young louts and that. Ah, that's a dead alligator and that. And I'd be there walking past about five of us. 10:27 Well, you'd go from the boxing ring to the alligator. Yeah, yeah. 10:30 You were a busy kid. I used to go to Slim Dusty and then I grew up with that. Slim? Yeah, Slim Dusty show. I used to work for my uncle. 10:36 and the Siamese twins and that. Anyway, I loved the tent shows. I always went to them in between the fights. 10:43 And I'd be walking past and these blokes would be blowing about the dead alligator, see? They thought it was stuffed. Anyway... 10:52 Grandfather said he'd jump on the back of this first. I used to jump on Mickey's back. 10:57 And he'd say, we've got them kewpie canes. He'd tap him on the nose. And Mickey would turn around, open his mouth, his jaws, and growl at the people watching him not shit himself and run outside. He was alive all right. Wow. 11:13 Something happened to him. He fell off the back of a truck in Cairns or something. 11:16 Yes, when we got to Cairns. Because they used to wind him up. He was the last thing on the truck. 11:20 And they wound him up. When they got into Cairns, they were going to let him go. So I was taking him off the top of the truck. It was a pretty big drop. Anyway, the cable broke. Down had come. And it killed him. It's pretty old. It killed him, yeah. So up in Cairns, the museum found out about it. 11:41 And they said to me, grandfather, look, we'll put him in the morgue. hospital morgue was he said we'll we'll take it back to brisbane and uh we'll get a stuff for you because i want to do an autopsy on it because none of the vets have ever done an alligator before so he said it'll cost you nothing so yeah take him so they took him back to done an autopsy on him and uh because they've never seen an alligator before and uh they ended up after that they taxed the dermis you know stuffed it with sawdust and all that. 12:13 And then me grandfather got it back out of here and he kept showing it. 12:17 It was actually dead. Yeah, I was dead then, yeah. What stories, Mr Brophy? What stories? You know, it's, yeah, I mean, you could go on for hours, couldn't you? What do you miss about those days? I miss the sideshows. Yeah. 12:31 The tent shows, you know? And all the locals say, oh, you know, we're going down the sideshows. That's not sideshow alley. That's right alley. There's no sideshows left. that actually get out and sprig in front of them. And that's why I've kept this going, because I'm very, very passionate about it. It's 100% Australian. And I'll keep going while everybody can get up on that board out there. 12:52 I mean, I want to talk about the boxes. So when did you take over? I think I was about 21. Yeah. 12:57 Yeah. 12:59 I had the headless girl, and then I said, no, I want those. Well, me uncle died, so I'll be more than Alan and Paul more. They won the World Wide Title of Australia, the only two brothers. And they took it over for 12 months, and then they was going to put it away. I said, well, it's my turn now. So that's when I went out and done it. Got me own tent, done me own banners, and I've been here ever since. 13:28 And those days, were they wild out in the road? 13:31 Yeah, it was a bit harder in those days because there was no phones around. You know, it's not these idiots crossing the road, you know, on the phone, you know, they run them over. 13:40 You go to a restaurant and there's a bloke there with a phone talking to his girlfriend on the other side. 13:46 You know, there's none of that around. They used to go and play sport, football, rugby, soccer. And, you know, You know, or in the police boys club. Everyone boxed in those days too. Everywhere you went, there was always a club. So, you know, they was tougher in those days. Yeah, these blokes these days, they're like powder puffs, I suppose you could say. 14:08 I think you can say that fairly safely. I'll say that. But don't look at me, mate. Don't look at me. I'm up for it. 14:13 No, you look pretty tough with that hat on. 14:17 You do. 14:19 Listen, I'm going to get in the ring later, so we'll get onto that soon, because I want you to name me as a fighter. 14:25 But I wanted to ask you, these fighters come in, some of them have really hard backgrounds, some of them have done time. When someone walks in your tent... Up on the board. 14:38 How do you judge them? 14:39 I can judge by the time they start walking up the ladder, the way they walk. And when I get them up, they ask them where they come from. And the answers they give me, you've done any boxing before and that, and you can usually tell. 14:51 And that's my job. Done it for years. I'd usually pick it out. Well, okay, you can have the Black Lizard or something, or the Barramundi Kid. 14:59 And usually it's pretty right. See, that was a good match. My bloke might be a bit smaller than the other bloke, but that's what we do and I'm pretty good at it. It's the same as a car salesman. They're pretty good at robbing people. 15:16 Don't get on the lawyers. Well, I wanted to ask you too about that because if you're used to being in Sideshow Alley, about every moment of your working life, reading people, selling to people, you must be fucking good at analyzing them. 15:36 Yeah, sort of, it's a trade, you know, like after many years, you sort of, you can, by the time they, the way they walk, the way they stand. So what do you look for? 15:46 Well, it's pretty hard to explain. In a fighter, he's pretty cool. 15:50 Yeah. 15:50 And you ask him some questions and he'll tell you a liar. It was just straight away. And I said, well, you never got the nose for picking tomatoes for a start. 15:59 So, you know, I can match them up pretty good. 16:01 Yeah. So tell, for the uninitiated, for someone who hasn't been to your tent, what is it about? And people will be watching this around the world. And it's, you know, you don't see it around the world either. So tell them about it. 16:14 Well, it's just, we fight anyone in the town, everywhere we go, we've done that all our life. 16:20 it's uh it's uh now it's it's on everyone's bucket list all the pro fighters and everything because it's the last tent to come and have a fight in there and uh whether they win or lose it it's irrelevant whether you win or lose whether you're a local or or you know a pro fighter or whatever and uh once they've had a go they can say well yeah i better go in the tent you know whether they win or lose it doesn't make any difference yeah it's on their bucket list 16:46 You've seen some great fighters and outside the tent there are these great names. How do you name the fighters? It's the way they look. 16:58 again it just comes to you so tell us about some of the names and some of the fighters oh i got the black lizard the clon curry bomber the famous cowboy the birdsville mauler the reason why i call him that he was bronco johnson's son bronco johnson was one of the toughest fighters to come out of mount isa he worked in the mines out here and he had a son called glenn johnson And he's always wanted to be like his father, and he was. He fought like a frashing machine. He's had that many fights here, and he's never, ever lost one. 17:30 And then he's got a son, Colby Johnson and Javon Johnson. So they fight for me, and he's got a daughter, too, that fights for me. So that's all the mobs from Mount Isa. And, you know, they've got names for them all. Barramundi kid, you know, the Black Lizard. 17:47 They're all here. You know, I look around and I've been out the back here and you invited me back after you gave me a bit of stick last year for being a city folk. 17:56 And I went out the back, and you started telling some yards. I mean, you've run into some pretty ordinary things over the years as well. You've been shot. Can you tell me that story? 18:08 Oh, when I got shot? 18:09 Yeah. 18:10 Oh, that was quite a few years ago. Yeah, it's all right. 18:12 You just tell me that story. 18:13 Yeah, it was at a show called Bowen. 18:15 Yeah. 18:16 Anyway, there was this bloke on the other side of the bar. He told me, see me, I'm going to fight you, bro. I'll get you. And I'd go around, and he'd take off, see? So anyway, he's the son. I got sick of this place. So I went around the other way. And he saw me, so he took off. So I chased him about five years younger than me. So he took off. He went into his caravan and locked the door. And I just pulled the door off the hinges and got into it. Well, he's going to kill me. Anyway, a mate of mine pulled me off him. And I let him go, see, because he's going purple. 18:47 Anyway, I went back out the fire. I went back out to the fire. 18:54 Anyway, it was late at night, about 12 o'clock, the moon was up. Anyway, I'm at the fire, my sister was behind me. Anyway, oh, yeah, this boy, I'm gonna get you now, bro. That's the worst thing he's ever said. And I turn around, you can see the shotgun, double barrel shotgun. And then, well, I just jumped out of the way and it got me in the legs. He got seven, or 85 in that one, 17 in that leg. Pellets? Yeah, pellets. I've never shot a duck ever since. And then, my sister, she got a few in it too. And that was there to take me to hospital. That's wild. 19:26 Yeah, so I was lucky then that I jumped back out of the way, yeah. Did you catch up with him later? Yeah, I did. A bit of a square up. 19:33 Two weeks later, I seen him in a pub in Cairns. 19:36 Yeah. 19:37 And he came up and stood, I was on the crutches, he came up and stood next to me, smiling and that, so I just hit him on the chin. 19:45 He broke his jaw. Down he went, and I'm after it. He got up and he said, buggy you, bro. He said, I'm going. He took off. I couldn't catch him. He's a young bloke. I couldn't catch him. And the next time, my sister seen him, she flogged him. And now I've got another four brothers. They all flogged him. He was the showman's son, see? Yeah. On the showgrounds. 20:06 So that's what happened, see? And then I seen him about three years later at the King and Roy show, and I was around the fire. And he was, you know, six or seven of us having a chat. The next thing we all went quiet, and I'm just sort of looking around, and he's standing right next to me. So I went over the fire, picked a log of wood up that was out of Burton. I aimed for there, and I got him on the shoulder. I broke his collarbone. He's like his hand was going everywhere. And he took off. He took off, and I haven't seen him since. 20:37 Well, you wish him the best out there with his limp arm hanging. 20:40 Well, I don't know, but he'd be out of action for a while. 20:43 I heard also, I mean, you've put your hand up before and you've lost a bit of a finger. Is there a story there? Which one? 20:49 I've got two of them. 20:50 Oh, you've got the other one done too. Yeah, that one happened first, that one. What happened there? 20:55 Well, I got into a bit of trouble, and I sort of got into a bit of trouble. First time in trouble. 21:06 And that heap of blokes are going to kill me in the nightclub and that. And they're all waiting for me out the front to fight me. 21:13 And I said, I'll be out there in a minute. Go and wait out there. And he was all out the front and formed a big circle. And he made barbecue jackie out in the nightclub, see. He said, you better drink up. They're trying to get in, see. And they put a chain on the door. Anyway, we're trying to get in. 21:30 And I said, well, He said, finish the drink. I said, I better have another one, you know? So he gave me another one. And he's standing up looking at me, smoking a cigar. I said, see you later, alligator. I'm going out the back. So I went out the back of the nightclub. And they had wire cages over the top. There's no back way. There's no way out. You have to go out the front door. 21:51 So I come back. He said, There's no way out, Fred, that door. 21:56 I said, well, you better give me another drink. Give me another drink. 22:00 And these blokes had got chains, bottles, and everything waiting for me. 22:06 And I went to pick a chair up, and they're bouldered to the floor. Everything was bouldered down. 22:11 And I said, well, I'm in a bit of trouble here. And he looked at me. He said, no. He said, I'll give you this baseball bat. That'll leave it up. He said, give me a baseball bat. I strapped it to me hand, and they're all waiting for me. Anyway, they pushed the door open. And these are the kingpins. They had three sets of hands down the door, and they've got the bouncer there and the chains holding. I said, what? When I say let them go, let them in. But I said, before I do that, I'll show you something. And so I got the baseball bat, just went bang, bang, bang. Just broke all their fingers and that. 22:42 They're the kingpins on the door with the baseball bat. And they started screaming. I said, now open it now. And that was the kingpins. That was out of action. So when I went out, I was just swinging that. And they're swinging at me. 22:55 And down I went in the middle of the road. And I just about had it, you know, they had me, you know, because they had these bottles and chains and that. And I was going down on my knees and I said, oh, the party's over now, next thing I hear a police siren. 23:08 I said, that's the first time I've ever wanted to hear one of those. 23:13 So anyway, yeah, he backed up the copper, blew the whistles and that, and he opened the door, mate, I just went in there as quick as I could. You lost a finger. 23:23 No, that wasn't the finger. Oh. 23:25 This is when I had a blue in the night. Yeah, but how did you lose part of your finger? When I went in, they put me away for about, you know, a few years. Oh, yeah. Because of what I'd done to them, put them in hospital and that. And that's why I went in. Yeah. 23:41 Yeah. 23:41 And, yeah, so... 23:44 That's how I done it, you know. And then the copper come over. 23:48 Yeah. 23:49 When I was in there and they all want to burn the police station down and get me and everything. He said, we're going to have to charge you for assault and that. I said, well, charge them? No, he's going to kill me. Yeah. And he said, no, the Aboriginal community and all that. Anyway, I ended up going to jail. When I was in jail, I didn't like it because the first time I've been in there and I wanted to escape. So this place, I said, how do I escape? He said, well, he said, if you lose your finger, this is Fremantle Prison. He said, if you cut your finger off, he said, they'll take you down to the Fremantle Hospital, which is just down the road. 24:21 And, you know, they'll sew it back on and you'll get out. And then when you're there, when they take you in to get it done, you know, stitch it or whatever, he said, you just go out the window or whatever. I said, that sounds right. I'll go at that. So we go down there. The two screws took me down. 24:37 And we go in, and we've got the handcuffs on. And the nurse said, take those handcuffs off him. And I said, this is good so far. Anyway, he said, where do you want him? He's in this room. So they took me in there. The screw took his handcuff off him and left mine on. 24:58 And handcuffed me to the bed. No. Yeah. So I couldn't do nothing. So he sewed it back on. I didn't sew it. He had to stitch it up. 25:05 Yeah. 25:06 Anyway, I was only there for about half an hour and they took me back. So I'd done it for nothing. 25:11 I heard the other one was a bit more about love. 25:13 I cut that off from my wife Sandy. She didn't think I loved it. I said, I'll show you I love it. I was at the Mount Gambier show. 25:22 Anyway, I was at the Van Gea View show around the fire. So I cut it off. And I went in and said to her, listen. You are joking. No, I said, that's what I've done for you. She said, you idiot. Go and get it and get it sewn back on. I went back out to pick it up. I couldn't find it. And me mate's doggy, it was a blue heeler, ate it. 25:44 So that was it. I ended up getting stitched up. Yeah. 25:49 Oh, my God, man. I've had a pretty tough life. They need to bottle you up. They need to bottle you up and put you in a museum one day, you know, with the alligator. The alligator? Yeah, they don't want to be stuffed. No, mate, no. 26:03 You've done a lot of good in the community. You have a lot of fighters come in who have had, you know, really checkered past. 26:11 And you changed their lives. 26:13 Yeah, there's a lot of blokes, you know, they get on the wrong track and that. 26:16 Yeah. 26:17 And, you know, bad, badly. And when they come and take them in and I say, mate, there's only one way to get out, you know, get in life is one straight road. Keep on that. 26:30 And don't take any shortcuts. Once you get off that road, you're gonna end up in jail. So just do the right thing. You don't have to go out of your way. Do the right thing. 26:39 Don't do any wrong thing by anyone if you can't help them out. And after they've been with me for a while, I say, you know, you're right, Fred, because I have a lot of different people at me fire and that. And they all meet them and that. And when there was nothing, now there's someone. 26:54 So, yeah, a lot of them have got businesses now, you know, like I've had them for years, and I respect that, yeah. 27:01 I worry about these young kids today, don't you? I mean, just the young fellas, they don't seem to have a direction. Have you got any kind of advice for anyone who's, you know, having it pretty tough out there from 15 onwards? 27:14 Yeah, well, what you've got to do is get rid of your fines for a start and go and get a job. 27:20 And this, you know, these blokes are... 27:23 on the dollar or whatever they call it. 27:26 There shouldn't be that no more, there should be join the army social service. And that teaches them respect and how to talk to people, make their beds in the morning. And then they become a normal person. And there's plenty of work out there. I mean, they say there's plenty of jobs. If I want a job, anyone that wants a job can go out and get a job. 27:51 Yeah. You know, I've watched you with the fighters too, and some of them are big boys, but you've seen that you've got away with them. You've got an authority. 28:01 Yeah, well, me and my wife, we're like a family to them. We treat them like our family. 28:07 And you've got to do that. And they've never been treated like that before. They've had no respect or nothing. And they've been mixing with the wrong crowd. 28:16 You mix with the wrong crowd, You're mixed with shit, you end up shit. 28:21 That's it. How have you been able to keep your doors open? In this modern world of OH&S and regulation and red tape and bureaucracy, you are a beacon of old Australia. 28:36 Well, we're Australians. This is 100% Australian. And they give me, the government gave me a permit to run a tent years ago. 28:48 And they said, you don't need one now, you know? And I've always done the right thing. We're not here to hurt anyone, you know? We'll go along with them. But if they, you know, when they get into it, we just give an extra one and let them know who the boss is. 29:03 Do you like governments? 29:05 Not really. No, I don't. Have you had any prime ministers in? 29:09 Oh, in the tent? Yeah. 29:11 Yeah, that, like, that one we got in now. 29:16 Albanese, I think they call him. 29:19 You are minding your P's and Q's tonight. 29:23 Yeah, no. 29:25 You don't want to get political. You don't need to. 29:27 No, no, no. 29:28 My favourite's Pauline Hanson. Yeah. Yeah. I saw that. Yeah, I've got a photograph of her up there. She's been in the tent. I think she'll be in tonight. What do you think about, given where you've come from, the time you do on the road, talking to different parts of society, what do you think about what sort of shape we're in? 29:48 Well... 29:50 Well, we're not in real good at the moment letting all these people in so they can vote for them. I think that's totally wrong. I think that's treason. 30:01 You know, to get someone in so they'll vote for them. 30:05 I don't think that's right. That's not right at all. So they're going to have to think about that because they're going to have to change it. Because people in Australia are getting sick of it. They haven't even got a house for themselves to go into. And they bring them in and they give them money, they give them this, they give them that. And look after them when we've got people out sleeping in the streets. That's no good. 30:27 Well, I mean, you're an incredible dude. I mean, you're on the road all the time, right? Yeah. Where actually do you live? Where is your base? 30:36 I've got a place on Bribie Island. Oh, dear. 30:39 And I've got one at Berrydale, just between Noosa and Yamundi. 30:42 You had to give up. You went Birdsville, the Birdsville races, which I've been to, which is a wild time. Anyone watching from overseas and... around Australia if you haven't been, you should go to it. You didn't miss a year. You had your last year there, last year. Last year, unfortunately. And you loved it. 30:59 Yeah, it was sad, but, you know, it's got to come to a stage. 31:07 Um, when you've got to say, you know, enough's enough. And it's very hard to go out there, you know, and the hard days are really hard. It's a long way to go, and there's a lot of breakdowns and that, and, um, and then I've got to get all my boys out there. The statistics, the statistics with it is, you know, a lot of money. But, you know, they enjoyed me going out there, and I love the races at Birdsville, and we've got racehorses too. 31:31 You ever had a winner out there? 31:33 No, I've run second in the cup twice and third. But I had a winner yesterday at the Mount Isaac races. Oh, I did? Yeah, one of my horses won, and it's called She Smashes. I love the name. 31:45 What do you think about the future of this tent, and how long can you, as a sprightly 70-odd-year-old, keep doing it for? 31:53 Oh, I'll just keep going until I can't get up the ladder. But then they said they're going to get a scissor lift to put me up there. 32:02 Because you're a hard man to put down. 32:04 Oh, you know, I mean, this belongs to Australia. I've got to keep it going as long as I can. I'm a very lucky person because, you know, people want to be a baker or a butcher or a carpenter. And when they achieve that, they're going good. We'll always want to have a boxing tent. And I've achieved that. So I think I'm very, very lucky. What does it feel like to be up there with the drum? Well, you sort of, it's great. And the drum beats the Outback National Anthem. 32:32 And then when you go out the outback, you'll see blokes playing along on their cars, you know, because they know the beat and that. But it's just, it's an Australian one. It's an Australian, you know, way. 32:44 What do you love about Australia? 32:47 Well, I love everything about Australia. There's nothing I don't like. I really like it around the city, but you've got to come to the Outback because this is the real Australian. I mean, around Melbourne to Sydney and all them sort of places they are, but this is the real Australia. If you haven't been to the Outback, you've got to come out of here. 33:08 Have you had a successful marriage for so long? Sandy's walking around here. I wouldn't want to rub her up the wrong way. No. But she's such a wonderful woman. She looks after the boys. She's adult. 33:22 Somehow she stayed with you. She's not my wife. Oh. No, we're not married. Why not? Because she said... Did you cut your finger off for her? Yeah, I know, but she said, no. I said, well, when are you going to marry me? And she said, well, when you give up drink or win the Birdsville Cup. I said, well, I'll have a go at the cup. Sandy. 33:41 Sandy. 33:43 Sandy. Sandy. 33:46 Why haven't you married him? 33:49 Tell them why. 33:52 No, she's not coming out. She doesn't want any part of it. Yeah. What do you want people to think about when they think of Fred Brophy's tent? 34:02 Well, it belongs to them. This is Australia. That's what it's all about. 34:08 The government's been taking Australian traditions off everyone. 34:13 And, you know, we're going to keep our traditions going. And this is an Australian tradition. So... 34:21 And everywhere I go, they support me, you know, everyone. 34:25 What are you proudest of, Fred? Pardon? What are you proudest of? 34:29 Proudest that they respect me and they love, you know, they love the boxing. They come in and when they go out, if someone hasn't been there, say, what was it like, that show? And they started, you can't explain it. 34:42 No. 34:43 No, every show is different. 34:45 Every single show is different. Every show. You are in live entertainment. You are a sideshow. 34:52 Well, it is a sideshow. It's not a circus. It's a sideshow. 34:57 Yeah. It's brilliant, mate. And may well you continue. Have you come up just finally with my boxing nickname yet? 35:07 Carl Savage. 35:09 Carl Savage. 35:12 From South Remandlin, West Australia. Yeah. 35:16 Did you hear that, fighters? Carl Savage. Carl Savage. That's it. 35:21 Carl the Savage. 35:23 Carl the Savage or Carl Savage. It sounds more. 35:26 Carl Savage. That's it. All right. I've just got a couple of the fighters that will get me in there, so I'm just going to get going. It's a great pleasure to see you. 35:34 May well you keep doing this for decades to come, my man, because I think this is a great bit of Australiana, and so are you. Thanks very much, Carl. It's a pleasure. 35:44 Oh, look out, savage. That's coming out in you already.