The Australian Bite
Archive for August, 2010
Asylum seekers, Green votes & locusts set to swarm
26 August 2010
Listen and download: MP3
This week on the Bite, it’s been called a greenslide – the largest vote for the Greens in Australia’s electoral history. But with the Greens not only winning their first lower house seat, but also soon to hold the balance of power in the Senate, Irene Scott talkes a look at the opportunities and possible pitfalls they’ll face. Also, asylum seekers – calls have been made for a bipartisan approach to addressing this very divisive issue. And locusts – farmers in many parts of Australia are bracing themselves for what’s expected to be one of the worst locust plagues in recent history.
Pine trees, polling and sleep-deprived teens
19 August 2010
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This week on the Australian Bite, Australian teenagers – are they getting enough sleep, and if not, why? We travel to the remote Northern Territory community of Gunbalanya, as a mobile polling booth comes to visit. And we’ll meet a Tasmanian botanist who has been travelling the world collecting the seeds of endangered conifers.
Potoroos, soldiers & Indigenous politicians
12 August 2010
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Not one of these seats in Australia's House of Representatives is currently occupied by an Indigenous Australian
This week on the Australian Bite, we’ll look at why only two Aboriginal people have been elected to Federal Parliament even though it has existed for more than 100 years – and we’ll meet a couple of the five indigenous candidates contesting this month’s Federal election. We’ll hear the remarkable story of a small number of Australian Special Forces troops, and their exploits in Timor in world war two, and enjoy a good news story about a native Aussie marsupial – the long-nosed potoroo.
A shed, an opera & a tame impala
5 August 2010
Listen and download: MP3
This week on the Bite, we drop in on the Dubbo Men’s shed, where men from all walks of life get together for a yarn and a cup of tea. We meet some teenagers who are writing and staging their very own operas. And we travel to Cape Grim in Tasmania, where samples of air are collected and sent all around the world.
