The Australian Bite

Kangaroos, internet scams & a house made of hemp

1 October 2010

Listen and download: MP3

This week on The Australian Bite, the Australian Competition and Comsumer commission has been scouring the internet for fake sites and scams, and we find out some of the tricks used by criminals trying to trap you into parting with your money. We also look at a new book on one of Australia’s favourite animals – the kangaroo, and travel to Tasmania where a British doctor is building his dream house – made of hemp.

Search on for internet scams

Scams, or dishonest attempts to trap you into parting with your money, cost Australians more than $1 billion a year; and consumer watchdog the ACCC – that’s the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – says internet-based scams are a massive part of that. The ACCC receives thousands of complaints from Australians under the age of 25 and a couple of weeks ago it did an internet sweep for dishonest websites that target young people. John Barrington from the Hack program on the ABC’s youth network JJJ reports.

New book spotlights favourite Aussie animal

Kangaroos are unique and beautiful animals, which are known as a symbol of Australia. A new book called “Kangaroo: Portrait of an Extraordinary Marsupial” looks at the kangaroo’s evolution, at the places it has occupied in Australian culture over the past 40,000 years, and at its future. Co-author of the book, zoologist Dr Stephen Jackson speaks with Michael Cathcart.

Read more about the book at the ABC Shop

A house made of hemp

A doctor who spends his time living between London and Tasmania is building the Southern Hemisphere’s first house made of hemp. Roger Bodley’s sloping land at Table Cape overlooks Bass Strait, and he’s hoping the house will inspire a local hemp industry. Eliza Wood paid Roger Bodley a visit, and also spoke to the supplier of the raw materials, Queenslander Ben Maggiolo.

More on this story – including photos – at the ABC Rural website

Music (not in podcast)

The Audreys hail from Adelaide, South Australia, and this track is taken from their forthcoming third album, Something in the Stars

Artist: The Audreys

Track: Troubles Somehow

Album: something in the Stars (release date 8 Oct 2010)

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