The Australian Bite

Solar power, jackaroos & a story of East Timor

18 February 2010

Listen and download: MP3

This week on the Australian Bite, solar power – we’ll hear some thoughts on why it’s not really taken off in Australia. I’ll be chatting with Steven Horne the author of a new Australian novel – a thriller set in East Timor.  And we’ll meet some young people doing a jackaroo training course in Dubbo, New South Wales.

The challenges for solar power development.

 Last year, plans to build the world’s largest solar power plant in Mildura, Northern Victoria, fell in a heap when the company behind it collapsed. And while there may still be hope for the project – the remnants of which were recently bought by solar panel manufacturer Silex Systems, the question remains: with so much sun and land in here Australia, why are we still struggling to have a successful large scale solar industry? Michael Cathcart put that question and more, to Gerry Morvell, consultant advisor on climate change, energy and environment.

The Devil’s Tears – a novel set in East Timor

Former Australian Army officer Steven Horne has written a very gripping novel, which takes the reader right into the heart of East Timor; firstly at the time of the Indonesian invasion in 1975, and then some 22 years later. The book, called The Devil’s Tears, gives great insight into what happened during the 24 year occupation, when around 100,000 people died from fighting, disease and starvation. It does so through the telling of two intertwining personal stories – a Timorese family fleeing the violence, and a young Australian journalist whose doctor father was killed there in 1975. Steven Horne talks to Heather Jarvis about the book, which was inspired by the time he spent in East Timor as a peacekeeper with the Australian Army. (Published by Pan Macmillan Australia)

School for Jackaroos

There’s nothing quite like the life of a jackaroo. It’s hard, dirty work with livestock, often working alone and in remote areas. That hasn’t stopped young people from as far away as New Zealand and Western Australia, coming to Dubbo in Western NSW, to learn the ropes of jackarooing. TAFE’s Western Institute trains 50 students a year in horsemanship, sheep and cattle mustering and all the skills you need to be a jackeroo – or jillaroo, as female jackaroos are sometimes called. Reporter Aimee Volkovsky met some of the students.

Music (not in podcast)

Sydney rock outfit Wolfmother burst onto the music scene back in 2005, with their self-titled album going five times platinum in Australia, and the single Woman winning them a Grammy award. Late last year they released their follow up album Cosmic Egg and this is the new single from it – White Feather

Artist: Wolfmother

Track: White Feather

Album: Cosmic Egg (2009)