The Australian Bite

Wombats, cakes and women on boards

5 November 2009

Listen and download: MP3

 This week on the Australian Bite, reporter Sarina Locke heads out to Braidwood, near Canberra, to find out why wombats are a hot topic of debate.  Former Qantas director Margaret Jackson gives us her take on suggestions by the Federal sex discrimination commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick that companies should set voluntary targets to boost the number of women sitting on their boards.   And we catch up with the final year bakery students at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, as they prepare thirty cakes each for the end of year exams.  Yum!

Getting more women on board

The federal sex discrimination commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, has put forward a radical plan. She says companies should set voluntary targets to boost the number of women sitting on their boards. But she’s also said if that failed to lift numbers, then the government should force them to do it by imposing quotas. Business groups don’t agree with the idea but it does have the backing of some powerful women, including former Qantas director, Margaret Jackson.  She spoke with ABC Radio National business editor, Sheryle Bagwell

Read Elizabeth Broderick’s article Make way for women at the table 

You can hear a slightly longer version of the interview with Margaret Jackson at the Radio National website here, and a related interview with Gordon Cairns, non-executive director of Westpac and Origin Energy and ex-CEO of Lion Nathan, here.

Wombats – friend or foe?

Kangaroos and koalas are probably the most well known and loved Australian animals. But the humble wombat is also a favourite – for example they’re the subject of many Australian children’s books.  However not everyone is fond of these stout furry burrowing marsupials. Farmers around Braidwood, about an hour’s drive east of Canberra, are finding wombats a pest. Wildcare volunteers disagree, saying that wombats are being persecuted. So what’s the story?  Reporter Sarina Locke went to investigate.

Find out more about wombats here and here

For some students, exams are a piece of cake!

It’s final exam time for many students around the country. That typically means racing the clock at a small desk in exam room silence. But not so for one group of final year students at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory.  For the students in the bakery course at CDU, after three years of study, their final day comes down to creating around 30 cakes each; including everything from a lemon chiffon to a traditional mud cake complete with handmade truffles on top. And they’re racing the clock, because the “cafe” opens to the public at two. Nicole Humphris speaks to senior lecturer Robert Schwert, and some of the students as they prepare their delicious fare.

You can see photos of the students and their cakes at the ABC Darwin website.

Music (not in podcast)

Former Australian idol winner Guy Sebastian has just released his fifth Australian album. The title track from the album “Like it Like That” has been number one on the Australian charts, and the follow up single Art Of Love”, featuring Jordin Sparks, looks like it could be heading in the same direction.

Artist: Guy Sebastian

Track: Art of Love (feat. Jordin Sparks)

Album: Like it Like That (2009)