BtN: Episode 22 Transcripts 18/08/09
On this week's Behind the News:
· Why are pollies arguing about laws to try to stop climate change?
· Why emergency triple zero has its own emergency?
· And what is National Lamington Day?
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to another week of Behind the News.
Also on the show today – why surfing the net could soon be a lot more costly.
But first let’s look at a story that’s been dominating the news.
Plane Crash
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Last week, specialists from the Australian police and the defence forces rushed to a place called Papua New Guinea where 13 people were missing in a plane crash.
Sadly everyone on the plane had died and 9 of them were Australians.
But the crash has extra significance because the Aussies were on a sort of pilgrimage to a place called Kokoda. Here's Sarah to explain.
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: This is Papua New Guinea. It's an amazingly beautiful but very rugged place - lots of steep mountains covered in thick jungle. To get there you travel north of Australia. Its capital Port Moresby is just a short flight from Darwin. But while Port Moresby looks like some Aussie cities, parts of the countryside are very different.
Those steep mountains make it very difficult to get around. It's one of the world's least explored places. Quite a few villages don't even have roads to them. If you want to go visiting its means a good walk or sometimes a plane is the only way in and out. Many people in those villages still live traditional lifestyles, living by growing crops and hunting.
Australia still has very close ties to Papua New Guinea because we actually used to run it until it became independent in 1975. And there's another reason for the strong link between the two countries. In World War Two Aussie soldiers fought against the Japanese in the mountains along something called the Kokoda Track.
As well as battling each other they had to fight extremely difficult and dangerous conditions trekking through mud and rain up and down steep mountain sides. The Australians stopped the Japanese forces getting to Port Moresby and it because one of the most famous campaigns in military history.
Today many Aussies travel to Papua New Guinea to walk the Kokoda to see what it was like. Many are honouring their parents and grandparents who fought in those battles. That's what the Aussies were doing on that plane crash last week. It's a terrible tragedy and the families of everyone on the plane are very upset.
Australia sent specialists to the site to help find the plane and work out what went wrong. But those steep mountains and heavy rains have even made that difficult. And investigators think that might have contributed to the crash. When you're up this high with lots of jungle creating moisture there's lots of clouds.
And in this sort of tropical area the weather can change really fast. That can make it very difficult for pilots to see where they're going. But investigators won't know for sure for quite a while because they'll have to examine all the wreckage to try and work out if there were any problems with the plane.
But eventually they hope they'll find the answer so they can avoid any more crashes and give some answers to families of the victims. And they also want to make it safer for other Aussies who want to walk the Kokoda Track.
Emissions Vote
Reporter: Catherine Ellis
INTRO: There was another big story last week and it was all centered around climate change.
There was a big vote to bring in new laws designed to slow it down - but the vote was lost when some politicians voted 'NO'.
So why would anyone vote against something that's supposed to help the environment?
Well Catherine discovered it's not quite that simple.
CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: Forgotten what the ETS is?
Here's a quick re-cap.
It stands for Emissions Trading Scheme.
Basically, the government wants to bring in laws where businesses have to buy permits for every bit of pollution they make. They're only allowed up to a certain amount. If they go over, they have to trade with others who've managed to reduce their emissions.
KID 1: Oh that's right.
KID 2: So basically you make it expensive for people to pollute.
KID 1: That way they'll try harder to reduce their carbon emissions!
KID 3: But that all sounds good so why are some pollies against it?
KID 2: Yeah! Wouldn't they all want to reduce carbon emissions?
Well most of them do!
The major parties all want to reduce carbon emissions, it's just that there are lots of different ways to reach that goal and they can't agree on the best way to get there.
KID 1: Surely they can just pick one.
KID 3: Why is it such a big deal?
Well because the ETS is going to affect a lot of people.
Here's how.
If you're making businesses pay extra to pollute then they're going to have to pass that cost on to us, so their products become more expensive.
Electricity bills will go up, petrol prices will rise and so will our grocery bills.
CATHERINE: And here's another huge problem; If all our Aussie products become really expensive, but the imports from overseas stay the same, what are you guys going to want to buy?
Yep the cheap stuff and Aussie products won't be able to compete.
There's huge concerns that businesses will end up shutting down, people will lose their jobs and Australia's farming industry will disappear.
CATHERINE: But hang on, how are farmers polluters? Well, there's the diesel from their machinery, fertilisers for their crops but the big problem is these guys. Cows release harmful greenhouse gasses.
But cows aren't the biggest polluter in Oz. Can you guess what is? Electricity!
Electricity generates almost half of all CO2 emissions because mainly dirty energies, like coal, are used to produce it.
It's hoped by making pollution expensive, cleaner energies that cost more now, will be able to compete.
And maybe more of us will start using it to power our homes.
The down side is the coal industry will suffer - mines may close and miners will lose their jobs.
The opposition and some other pollies reckon they've come up with ways of making the scheme better.
CATHERINE: One of the ideas is not to include farmers in the scheme so they're not paying for pollution and can still compete with overseas products.
They also have other ideas they say will make the ETS better for the environment, cheaper for us and safer for business.
KIDS: And so the big debate continues.
Yes. All the pollies will try to agree on the best way to reduce emissions to help the environment, while not hurting our economy too much in the process.
Presenter: A tricky bit of planning there. We’ll let you know as soon as they agree on a compromise.
Quiz 1
Ok, while we’re waiting for that, let’s chuck in a climate change quiz.
What gas makes up most of the Earth’s atmosphere?
1. Nitrogen
2. Oxygen
3. Carbon Dioxide
Answer: Nitrogen.
Bet you were thinking oxygen! Nitrogen is about 78 per cent, oxygen about 20 per cent and carbon dioxide is about .038.
000 Emergency
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: What would you do if you were seriously injured at home and needed medical help urgently?
Most of us would call triple zero, the Australian emergency line for the Police, Fire Brigade or Ambulance.
But how would you feel if you were put on hold?
It's a frustrating thought, but we all could be at risk of that because of the amount of people calling the emergency number to play stupid jokes.
OPERATOR: Emergency; Police, Fire or Ambulance?
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: It's a call none of us ever really wants to make - a desperate call to triple zero for help in an emergency.
12.2 million calls start exactly like this each year. But it's where many go from there that's got police angry.
It's incredible but there are hundreds of people out there every day ringing up for non-emergencies, or worse still, for a stupid joke.
The problem stretches across the country, with numbers of joke or hoax calls ranging from 60 to over 90 percent.
And authorities say those jokes waste so much time, they could end up costing someone's life.
The Triple Zero emergency number was only introduced in the ‘60s. Before that you had to call whichever local emergency service you wanted.
NATHAN: In a life or death situation every second counts, and that's what triple zero was designed to do - connect you to the service best able to help you, without having to dive through phonebooks looking for numbers.
The only thing you need to make sure of is that you do dial triple zero and not the emergency numbers of other countries you might hear in TV shows all the time!
You can even call from a mobile if you don't have credit or the phone is locked.
Same deal goes for home phones if the bill hasn't been paid.
But some people are taking this amazing service for granted.
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL: Emergency, police, fire or Ambulance? Yeah I need an electrician thanks. Is this an emergency? Yeah I have some dodgy power points I need replace and need an electrician.
That's just one example of the kind of wasted calls these operators have to deal with on a daily basis.
Many have stories of people trying to order pizza or a taxi.
What you may not know, is that making a call like this can land you in jail!
So when should you call triple zero?
OPERATOR: Emergency, police, fire or Ambulance?
KID: Yeah I've locked my keys inside the house and I've got no way of getting in. Can you help?
This call is not an emergency and this kid could face up to three years jail.
Even worse than this is when people pretend there really is an emergency.
This is a hoax call and is highly illegal. Callers could tie up fire trucks needed in other real emergencies and end up slapped with three years jail.
KID: Aw, someone's graffitied our house!
OPERATOR: Emergency, police, fire or Ambulance?
Triple zero is only for medical emergencies, fires and crimes happening right now.
If a crime has already happened and you just need to report it, it's best to call your local police station directly.
While it's sad so many people are abusing the emergency number, there are many kids that have used triple zero at the right time and it's ended up saving someone's life.
Each year some are recognised for their quick thinking.
STEPHEN: You can't prank it you know, because it's not used for that. People are sick and ya just don't do that, because people are dying you know!
They may only be three digits, but the lives they've saved numbers many, many more.
Presenter: Important message, and some very brave kids that know the importance of it.
Quiz 2
Speaking of phone numbers, let’s test your telecommunications knowledge.
Who invented the first working telephone?
1. Samuel Morse
2. Alexander Graham Bell
3. John Logie Baird
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell.
Bell is credited with inventing the telephone in the 1870’s. Samuel Morse invented the telegraph and Morse code. Baird invented television.
The Wire
Now let’s meet a kid who has done an amazing TV interview.
*************
An 11-year-old boy in the United States has landed an interview with the most powerful leader in the world.
Damon interviewed President Barack Obama for his school TV station.
Damon asked questions about bullying, how parents can improve their kids’ education and if the President could make school lunches better.
The interview has been posted on You tube
***********
And Australia's biggest baby had a big weekend.
Thai and Australian cultures came together to bless the nation's first-born elephant calf, Luk Chai.
The six week old was sprinkled with water by Buddhist monks and a priest burnt gum leaves.
Luk Chai's parents came from Thailand where Buddhism is the main religion.
***********
Presenter: Even though Damon scored an interview with the President he doesn’t want to be a journalist when he starts working – he wants to be an astronaut. Sounds like Sarah really….
Net News
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Our next story is all about the way we get our news and how it's undergoing a revolution.
People are ditching the traditional newspaper and getting their headlines online.
Sarah's found out that has created a big problem for media companies because they're not making enough money, so now they want to charge people for online news.
PAPER BOY: Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: There was a time when this was the first place you went to get the news, but times have changed. Now we don't have to wait for the news to be delivered. When big things happen we know about them straight away. We get regularly updated news, and it’s at our fingertips, 24/7. So where does that leave newspapers? Some say they're going the way of the dinosaur.
Newspapers have been around for hundreds of years. In the days before computers and mobile phones, the job of a reporter was pretty different. All of the letters, the headlines and pictures had to be put together by hand with little lead stamps. It was painstaking work. By the time the ink was rolled onto giant rolls of newsprint, the information on them would be getting pretty old. But for a long time when you wanted in depth coverage of the news, papers were the place to get it. The stories on these pages determined what people talked about and what politicians acted on. They were how people found out about big events. If something huge happened they would sometimes print a whole new edition so that the news would get out there. Running a paper isn't cheap. Reporters need to be paid, along with the photographers, editors, graphic designers and everyone else. Even the ink and the paper to print it on are very expensive. So how do they make money?