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Indian farmers unable to plant crops due to currency shortage Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
In India there are fears that nationwide efforts to cut corruption by replacing the country's major banknotes could harm the economy and affect long-term food supplies. With hard currency still short, farmers can't sell their produce, meaning that they can't afford to plant new crops.
Topics: currency, farm-labour, corruption, india
New measures to minimise harm from online gambling Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Federal Government has reached an agreement with state and territory ministers to set up a National Consumer Protection Framework for online gambling. Under the agreement, lines of credit for online betting will be banned and a national self-exclusion register will be established. Financial Counselling Australia has welcomed the agreement but says the ban on lines of credit from gaming providers should be extended to the banks.
Topics: gambling, consumer-protection, government-and-politics, internet-culture, australia
Australia's biggest ever indoor drone racing event opens in Melbourne Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Australia's biggest ever indoor drone racing event, Drone X 2016, is under way in Melbourne as part of the Sexpo exhibition. Although it's still very much a niche pastime, organisers say drone racing is building momentum. Drones are raced through obstacle course of large hoops in the air and on the ground, which pilots must navigate through at mind-blowing speeds. Organiser Terence Boyton says the sport has taken off in the last 18 months. Drone racer Josh Tepper has a bit of an unfair advantage over the competition, because he actually works with commercial drones in his day job. He's just returned from the world championships in Hawaii.
Topics: sport, melbourne-3000
World experts gather in Sydney for mitochondrial disease conference Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Every year around 60 Australian families are confronted with the shocking diagnosis of a mitochondrial disease that will likely cut short the life of a child. This weekend, world leaders in the science and medicine of mitochondrial disease will gather in Australia to discuss the latest research and the breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment.
Topics: diseases-and-disorders, babies, babies---newborns, australia
Proposal to ban combat sports in regional Queensland Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A coroner has recommended the Queensland Government seriously consider banning combat sports in smaller centres without proper neurological treatment. Queensland is the only state without formal regulations or legislation controlling combat sports, such as boxing. This is despite the deaths of two young male boxers after Queensland fights in the past six years.
Topics: boxing, brain-and-nervous-system, qld
Limited amnesty in Cambodia for Australian commercial surrogacy clients Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Cambodia is offering a limited amnesty to Australians who have paid for surrogacy services, saying that they can collect their babies without fear of arrest. The assurance comes a week after Australian nurse Tammy Davis-Charles was arrested in Phnom Penh for operating a surrogacy agency and allegedly falsifying documents. The vice-chairwoman of Cambodia's National Committee for Counter Trafficking says that Australians will not be prosecuted if they come to collect one of the 23 babies conceived under the auspices of the agency.
Australian Islamic State fighter alive in Turkey Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Anti-terrorism experts say that any extradition process to repatriate and prosecute Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash will likely be a difficult and long exercise. It was revealed yesterday that Australian Neil Prakash, a senior member in IS, was alive and in the hands of Turkish officials. The Prime Minister had announced in May that he had been killed in an airstrike. The Australian Government is yet to confirm Prakash's arrest officially, stating that the Government doesn't comment on matters of intelligence or law enforcement operations. Terror experts say Prakash could be a valuable source of intelligence.
'Jimmy Saville looks like a choirboy compared to this fellow': abuse scandal rocks English football Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A child abuse scandal is threatening to engulf professional football clubs in England, with former players alleging the existence of paedophile rings that operated unchecked. Several players have come forward and a hotline set up to deal with the allegations received 50 calls within the first two hours. One player who was abused as a child by convicted paedophile Barry Bennell believes there was a conspiracy among some staff in youth clubs to prey on children.
Topics: child-abuse, soccer, united-kingdom
NZ farmers to benefit if backpacker tax indecision continues Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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New Zealand's farmers say they will be the ones to benefit if the Australian Government imposes a big new tax on backpackers who pick fruit in Australia. The Government is currently at a stalemate over the tax rate. It wants backpackers to pay 19 per cent of their income in tax, but the Opposition and crossbenchers say that it's too high and would prefer a rate of 10.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the head of Horticulture New Zealand thinks that they will be the ones who win out from the political indecision in Canberra.
Topics: tax, government-and-politics, agribusiness, australia, new-zealand
White Ribbon defends itself against criticism from women's movement Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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There've been hundreds of anti-domestic violence events around the country today to mark White Ribbon Day. The campaign's grown every year over the last decade and a half. Along the way it's also attracted critics, who claim it's tokenistic at times, that it marginalises women, and fails to support frontline services. Prominent anti-domestic violence campaigners aired some of these claims with PM today, but White Ribbon Australia has strongly defended itself.
Topics: domestic-violence, community-and-society, women, australia
What will Trump's Middle East policy mean for Israel? Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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One of the many unknowns about the coming Trump Presidency is Middle East policy. Donald Trump has given mixed signals on foreign and defence policy generally, and some of his campaign statements seemed to promise extremely simple solutions to very complex problems. So what will the Trump administration mean for Israel - which has a border with Syria, and which has long opposed the Obama government's policy on Iran?
Topics: foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, israel, australia, united-states
WA council axes Australia Day celebrations for culturally-inclusive alternative Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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For some Aboriginal people, Australia Day is not a day of celebration, but one marking an invasion. The City of Fremantle in Western Australia has axed its Australia Day festivities in favour of a 'culturally-inclusive alternative' celebration two days later.
Topics: events, community-and-society, race-relations, fremantle-6160, australia, wa
Fuel shortage at Melbourne Airport Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A major fuel shortage at Melbourne Airport could cause flight delays, and mean diversions for international flights. The ABC understands a shipment of fuel has failed quality controls, leaving with airport with less than two million litres of aviation fuel.
Topics: air-transport, melbourne-3000, australia, vic
Rheumatic heart disease a 'national shame': Australian Medical Association Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Australian Medical Association launched its national 2016 report card on Indigenous health in Darwin, taking the unusual step of homing in on this one disease. The president of the AMA Dr Michael Gannon labelled the current rate of Rheumatic heart disease a national failure. The disease persists in Indigenous populations at a rate 55 times higher than in the general population. A disease of poverty, caused by squalid overcrowded housing, and untreated infections, the AMA wants to see the disease eradicated by 2031.
Topics: diseases-and-disorders, community-and-society, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, health, australia
Calls for WA and Federal Attorney-Generals to resign over ATO agreement Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Western Australian Attorney-General is this afternoon vigorously defending a deal he did with the Federal Government that would have diverted $300 million from the Australian Taxation Office to the State Government. There are calls today for both he and his federal counterpart, George Brandis, to resign over the agreement, which was thwarted in the High Court by the former Commonwealth solicitor-general, Justin Gleeson.
Topics: tax, government-and-politics, australia
Ministers confident UNESCO will welcome state of reef report Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Federal and Queensland Environment Ministers say they're signing off today on a report on the state of the Great Barrier Reef for UNESCO. Both ministers say they're confident UNESCO will see progress made on protection of the reef. And the Adani Carmichael coal mine in north central Queensland's Galilee Basin, cleared another legal hurdle for its $16.5 billion project today.
Topics: great-barrier-reef, environment, mining-environmental-issues, oceans-and-reefs, coal, qld, australia
Report criticises Barnaby Joyce's plan to move Govt agency to his electorate Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is sticking to his plan to shift a key Government organisation to his own electorate, despite a strongly adverse report on the economics of the move. A cost-benefit analysis released today says moving the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority from Canberra to Armidale will cost more than $25 million for marginal economic benefits. The report says there could be millions of dollars lost to the agriculture industry, and only a handful of staff will make the move. Farmers, vets and chemical manufacturers are all opposed, and the Opposition says it's pork-barrelling, but Mr Joyce is determined it will go ahead.
Topics: government-and-politics, armidale-2350, australia, nsw
Senator threatens to hold up legislation until Murray Darling Basin dispute settled Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has threatened to halt any movement on federal legislation, until the Murray Darling Basin dispute is resolved. It's part of the washup from a bitter political stoush over suggestions by the federal water minister Barnaby Joyce that the Government won't return the full amount of water promised for environmental flows to the river system.
Topics: water, environment, water-management, australia
Tourists are money: Sex Pistols impresario's son to burn memorabilia Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The son of the late Malcolm McLaren says he will burn rare Sex Pistols items that used to belong to his father. Businessman and activist Joe Corr� says 'punk is dead' and no longer relevant to the issues facing young people. He describes his planned conflagration as the ultimate protest against 'the establishment', but not all music lovers are convinced.
Topics: punk, arts-and-entertainment, music, united-kingdom
Wasleys residents commemorate first anniversary of Pinery bushfire Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Communities in South Australia's lower mid-north are today remembering the fierce and fatal Pinery bushfire, which ripped through their towns 12 months ago. The blaze killed two people, burnt more than 80,000 hectares of land and destroyed dozens of homes, livestock, and farmland. Over the last year a new sense of community has risen from the ashes as residents, businesses and farmers rebuild their lives.
Government agency to move to Deputy PM's electorate Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has announced that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority will move from Canberra to the regional New South Wales city of Armidale - a city inside Mr Joyce's electorate. The move, vigorously advocated by Mr Joyce since June, has been criticised by veterinarians and chemical manufacturers, who expressed concern that expert staff will be lost. Labor, meanwhile, has accused Mr Joyce of 'pork barrelling'. The move will cost the taxpayer just over $25 million. Mr Joyce has previously claimed that moving the body to Armidale would contribute about $16 million a year to the local economy and create an additional 175 jobs.
Topics: regional-development, nationals, regional, australia
Victorian Govt forced to back down over Christmas public holiday Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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After a sustained campaign by unions, the Victorian Government has backflipped and made Christmas Day a public holiday. The Government says the move will be worth about $35 million.
Topics: work, public-sector, christmas, australia
PNG Govt raises candidacy fees ten-fold ahead of April 2017 election Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Papua New Guineans are preparing for national elections in April 2017 after a year of political unrest. There may be far fewer candidates in the forthcoming election, as the Government is dramatically increasing the costs of both standing for election and disputing an election result, meaning people will find it more difficult to run for office and complain about breaches of electoral law. The PNG chairman of anti-corruption NGO Transparency International describes the move as 'disgusting'.
Topics: elections, papua-new-guinea
Colombian Government signs peace agreement with FARC Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The President of Colombia has signed a new peace agreement with the country's largest rebel movement, aiming to end a 52-year civil war that has killed over 200,000 people and displaced millions of others. President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed the accord nearly two months after the original deal was rejected in a referendum. The signing ceremony marks the six-month countdown for the 7,000-strong rebel movement to abandon their weapons and form a political party. The deal still faces domestic opposition amid criticism that it's too soft on the rebels.
Topics: international-law, international-aid-and-trade, unrest-conflict-and-war, colombia
ANZ, Macquarie Bank to face court over allegations of cartel conduct Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking the ANZ and Macquarie Bank to the Federal Court over alleged attempts to manipulate the benchmark rate of the Malaysian ringgit. The ACCC alleges that traders at both banks engaged in cartel conduct in attempting to influence the daily rates used for currency trading. The allegations date back to a series of trading days in 2011. The ANZ has admitted to 10 instances of attempted cartel conduct and has agreed to pay a $9 million penalty.
Topics: corporate-governance, business-economics-and-finance, banking, markets, stockmarket, multinationals, australia
