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One Nation Senator heads to the High Court Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The High Court is considering if West Australian One Nation's Rod Culleton was ineligible to stand for Parliament because he had been convicted of larceny when he was elected to the Senate. Constitutional law experts say that the case will be a tricky one because there's no precedent.
Topics: political-parties, crime, australia
After care provider Camp Australia on blacklist in NSW Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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After school care provider Camp Australia has been placed on a blacklist in New South Wales for failing to meet quality requirements. It is now banned from tendering for new contracts in government schools or from renewing existing ones. The company, which started as a sports coaching business, has 700 centres looking after 100,000 children each week.
Australian education system slipping in international rankings Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Over the past 15 years, our year nine students have been getting worse at science, maths and reading, according to the latest PISA report on Australia's education system. The Programme for International Student Assessment study is held every three years and shows Australia has been outperformed by countries including New Zealand, Japan and Canada. Singapore's students ranked highest.
Topics: schools, education, secondary, primary-schools, public-schools, secondary-schools, australia
PM: Full Program Audio
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On PM: On Tuesday's program: The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory has been told Aboriginal people need to have control over reforms to the corrections system. Newly released data from the child abuse Royal Commission has revealed some staggering figures on the number of complaints lodged against the Catholic church in the Newcastle-Hunter region, and the amount of compensation that's been paid to victims. And a brain tumour survivor will lead a new Senate committee inquiry into the survival rates of rare cancers.
Topics: australia
Brain tumour survivor to lead Senate inquiry into rare cancer survival rates Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A brain tumour survivor will lead a new parliamentary committee into rare cancer survival rates. Labor Senator for Tasmania, Catryna Bilyk, has spoken out about her experience where she had two benign tumours removed just months before she was due to take office in 2008. The committee has been welcomed by medical groups, who say funding for rare cancers needs to be overhauled.
Topics: brain-tumor, government-and-politics, health, brain-and-nervous-system, australia
Shinzo Abe to visit site of Pearl Harbour bombings Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Tomorrow will mark 75 years since Japan staged a surprise attack on the US naval base in Pearl Harbour - an action the then US President Roosevelt described as a 'day of infamy', and prompting him to declare war on Japan. Now Shinzo Abe will become the first sitting Japanese Prime Minister to visit the site of the bombings and pay his respects to all those who died in World War Two. He'll join President Obama at the memorial in Hawaii. The two leaders hope to book-end 2016 as a year of significant progress in reconciling their difficult histories.
Topics: world-war-2, history, japan, united-states
Outpourings of emotion for Indian movie-star turned politician Jayalalithaa Jayaraman Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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In India, a much loved and controversial female movie star turned political leader has died, triggered enormous outpourings of emotion. Sixty-eight-year-old Jayalalithaa Jayaraman was admired for giving up acting to navigate southern India's treacherous politics, becoming a six-time leader of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. But critics say the cult of personality she built also enabled corruption and have left a potentially damaging leadership void.
Topics: government-and-politics, film-movies, india
Federal Government concedes problems with remote work-for-the-dole program Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Federal Government has admitted some of the concerns in scathing report about its Community Development Program were 'quite legitimate'. The Australian National University study said the scheme's work requirements were higher than other work-for-the-dole programs and financial penalties for breaches were crippling some families. The Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion rejected many of the report's findings but said changes would quickly be introduced to Parliament next year.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, community-and-society, government-and-politics, work, australia
BMW Australia Finance agrees to repay millions to customers after ASIC investigation Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Car loan provider BMW Australia Finance will refund millions of dollars to customers in what's believed Australia's largest ever consumer pay-back scheme. The company has agreed to pay $77 million after an investigation by the corporate watchdog discovered serious problems with its lending practices.
Topics: consumer-finance, business-economics-and-finance, money-and-monetary-policy, australia
Royal Commission data shows millions paid to Catholic Church abuse victims Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Newly released data from the child abuse Royal Commission has revealed some staggering figures on the number of complaints lodged against the Catholic Church in the Newcastle-Hunter region. The previously unpublished information shows more than $25 million in compensation to victims. One payout was $3 million.
Topics: royal-commissions, community-and-society, child-abuse, law-crime-and-justice, newcastle-2300, australia
NT Royal Commission: departmental dysfunction ends with 'human tragedy' Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory has been told Aboriginal people need to be given control of corrections system reforms. The author of a scathing report about the Territory's corrections system has finished his second day of evidence at public hearings this week. Keith Hamburger says continued departmental dysfunction will result in more human tragedy.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, nt, australia
Remains of returned Tasmanian Aboriginals to be re-buried Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The remains of three Aboriginal people from Tasmania that were taken to the Australian National University in Canberra have been brought home. The remains were taken from a burial site by archaeologists in the 1900's. In a rare event, the indigenous community knows exactly where to rebury the remains but the location will remain secret for cultural reasons.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, community-and-society, tas, australia
Jobs and growth: the argument behind the proposed Adani coal mine Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Jobs and economic stimulus. That's the mantra politicians from both sides have touted in Townsville today, as they announced more detail for the proposed Adani coal mine. Townsville is the regional headquarters, but other north Queensland regional centres are assured they'll also benefit from a jobs boost. As Katherine Gregory reports, some experts question the economic viability of the project and discount the jobs growth forecast.
Topics: coal, business-economics-and-finance, townsville-4810, australia, qld
Federal Govt backs away from 'capital T' banking Tribunal Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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When is a tribunal not really a tribunal, but an ombudsman instead? The Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer says that when the Prime Minister promised a tribunal to deal with consumer complaints against the banks, he was in fact talking about a small 't' tribunal, or an ombudsman. An independent expert panel, set up by the government, has recommended establishing a new ombudsman, to deal with complaints in a timely way, backed by an industry-funded system of compensation. Coalition MP Warren Entsch is critical, saying a new ombudsman will not do.
Topics: government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, banking, australia
Pubic hair grooming linked to heightened sexually transmitted infection risk Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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In the race to be hair free, research has found that grooming in the more delicate areas, could be doing more harm than good. A US study has revealed that those who groom more frequently, or more intensely, have reported a greater history of Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Topics: sexually-transmitted-diseases, sexual-health, sexuality, united-states
Around a quarter of Australians believe torture in war is okay Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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New research has found nearly a quarter of Australians believe that torturing an enemy soldier for information is okay. The Australian survey coincides with a global report on attitudes to war, conducted by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The survey was conducted in 16 countries with around 17,000 respondents. While close to three out of five Australians think that torturing an Australian soldier for military information should not be allowed, 23 per cent were undecided, and as many as 21 per cent thought it was okay.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, community-and-society, terrorism, australia
Measuring concussion's hangover Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A simple blood test could soon help those who've suffered concussion, to know when it's safe to return to work or play. Melbourne researchers are studying a local football team to help develop the test and they're also investigating if an Alzheimer's drug can help reduce brain damage.
Topics: medical-research, health, doctors-and-medical-professionals, medical-procedures, australia
Native Americans celebrating after ruling stops Dakota pipeline Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Native Americans are celebrating, after a ruling to deny a Texas oil company a permit to build a $4 billion pipeline underneath the Missouri River in North Dakota. The native American Sioux tribe, along with climate activists, have been protesting for months in an effort to protect its drinking water and sacred sites. But the decision could be temporary - with President-elect Donald Trump on record as saying he supports the pipeline. And the Texas company says it's seeking a ruling in support of the project from a Federal Court judge.
Topics: land-management, environment, mining-environmental-issues, environmental-technology, united-states
UK Supreme Court faces questions on Brexit Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The UK Supreme Court is facing fundamental questions about the limits of government powers, and whether they're sufficient for the nation to trigger its Brexit strategy. The Government's launched a legal battle, after the High Court ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May needed a parliamentary vote to start the Brexit talks.
Topics: world-politics, european-union, united-kingdom
Royal Commission looks for improvements in Scouts handling of child sexual abuse Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse has begun turning back to some of the institutions it's scrutinised over recent years, to see if they've mended their ways in responding to abuse. Today, a hearing in Sydney is examining changes at Scouts Australia, and Scouts New South Wales since the organisation was the subject of a case study in 2013. So far, the Commissioner has heard evidence from senior leaders that their systems have improved, as a result of the Commission's work.
Topics: child-abuse, royal-commissions, australia
Gouged workers tell ABC of super rip-off by rogue bosses Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Revelations that about a third of Australian workers are being denied all or some of their superannuation entitlements has unleased a flood of new complaints to tax authorities. The ABC has also been contacted from workers, who claim they've been ripped off by rogue employers, who have been holding back the minimum 9.5 per cent contribution. The ABC's senior business correspondent Peter Ryan has been talking to workers who claim they've been denied their fair share of super.
Topics: superannuation, business-economics-and-finance, tax, australia
Court to test Victoria's controversial youth jail policy Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The legality of the Victorian Government's new youth justice policy is set to be tested. The Government is placing some young offenders in a wing of an adult prison after riots led to damage at a youth detention centre.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, youth, law-crime-and-justice, australia
Call for investigation into airlines' business practices Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The consumer advocacy group Choice says that Australia's domestic airlines are ripping off passengers and has called on the ACCC to step in and do something about it. The group has submitted a super complaint to the watchdog that identifies a number of what it called 'systemic breaches' of consumer law. It says the ACCC should undertake a market study in order to shed light on the industry and its practices.
Topics: air-transport, consumer-protection, australia
Townsville the headquarters of proposed Adani coal mine Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Conservationists and locals have been protesting in Townsville this morning, ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting between the Queensland Premier and the head of a proposed coal mine. Indian company Adani has chosen the North Queensland city as the regional headquarters for its multi-billion dollar Carmichael Coal Mine, tipped to be the biggest in Australia. Politicians are touting the economic and employment benefits to Queenslanders, but environmental groups say it'll further damage the Great Barrier Reef.
Topics: mining-industry, mining-environmental-issues, mining-rural, australia
New look banking tribunal Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Government has stepped back from its commitment to establish a banking tribunal, now claiming it was talking about a 'small t' tribunal and not a 'big T' tribunal. The Minister for Financial Services has released a report for the Government suggesting a new ombudsman is a better way to go. In October, the Prime Minister said the government was 'working toward' a tribunal amid calls from Labor and some on the Coalition backbench to establish a royal commission into banks.
Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance, australia
