The Australian Bite

Potoroos, soldiers & Indigenous politicians

12 August 2010

Listen and download: MP3

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.

Good news for long-nosed potoroos

At Cape Conran Coastal Park in the far east of Victoria, a fox baiting program has lead to the revival of several native species including the endangered long nosed potoroo (a species of small rat-kangaroo.) The program, known as the Southern Ark Project has been running for six years, and students from Deakin University have been assessing the success of the project over their term break, joining staff from the Department of Sustainability and Environment. Reporter Kath Sullivan travelled to Cape Conran and met with the students and Southern Ark Operations Manager Andy Murray.

You can watch a video of Andy and the students (with potoroos and other native animals) at the ABC Gippsland website

Election 2010: the Indigenous candidates

In 109 years of Federal Parliament there have only been two Aboriginal Senators, and no indigenous politicians ever in the House of Representatives.  So it is probably not surprising that academics and indigenous leaders have criticised the major political parties for not running indigenous candidates in winnable seats. So what is the problem, and why is it that more than 500 000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people don’t have one of their own in Federal Parliament? John Barrington from the ABC’s youth radio network Triple J went to investigate, and spoke to some of  the five indigenous politicians contesting this month’s Federal Election, who include: the Greens’ Warren H. Williams and Barb Shaw, Labor’s Tauto Sansbury, Liberal candidate Ken Wyatt and Country Liberals candidate Leo Abbott.

You can listen to this story and other election-related stories at the Triple J Hack website

The men who came out of the ground

Journalist and author Paul Cleary speaks with Fran Kelly about his new book The Men Who Came Out of the Ground, which tells the story of a small group of rough and ready Australian Special Forces troops and their remarkable exploits fighting the Japanese in Timor during World War Two.

Music (not in podcast)

Omar Musa is a poet and hip hop artist of Malaysian heritage who hails from Queanbeyan, New South Wales (just out of Canberra.)  He has won a number of awards for both his poetry and music, and with hip hop he can marry the two.  He has just released his debut full length album World Goes to Pieces.

Artist: Omar Musa

Track: If the World Goes to Pieces

Album: World Goes to Pieces (2010)