ABC News Programs
The most recent 250 transcripts from the ABC's Radio and TV Current Affairs programs.
We appreciate the things that are great after they're gone: fellow Chicagoans on Obama Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
With less than two weeks left as commander-in-chief, US President Barack Obama will give a final thank-you address later today in his home town of Chicago for his farewell speech. AM speaks with some of his constituents, who ponder his legacy and contemplate life without one of their own in the White House.
Topics: world-politics, united-states
Tony Abbott defends Brexit, questions EU future in new report Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Former prime minister Tony Abbott's delivered a rousing defence of Brexit and questioned the future of the European Union, in what the Federal Opposition is describing as a deliberate attempt to undermine current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Abbott's views are contained in a foreword to a report produced for a conservative British think-tank, which says they asked him to write it because of his stature as a former Commonwealth leader.
Topics: government-and-politics, australia
New abuse class action invites former Don Dale detainees Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Northern Territory Government may soon face a flood of compensation claims over alleged abuse in youth detention, after the launch today of a class action by former Don Dale detainees. This is third civil court action that has been started against the NT Government over the issue, but unlike the other cases, the legal firm in this action is inviting all former detainees who believe they've been abused over the last decade to join.
Topics: youth, courts-and-trials, prisons-and-punishment, nt, berrimah-0828
Sounds of Summer Special: The evolution of phone technology Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The phone is a technology that is just changing before our eyes. Of course fixed phones are no longer our primary phones, even if anyone actually has them. The next big innovation was car phones, which have long since transformed into mobiles, then micro mobiles and then smartphones now phone watches. Eleanor Hall spoke to Professor Katina Michael from the University of Wollongong, and business technologist Steve Sammartino.
Topics: mobile-phones, information-and-communication, science-and-technology, australia
Sounds of Summer Special: The future of cash - does it have one? Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The future of cash; does it have one? Certainly the Reserve Bank is optimistic. Last year it released a new bank note into circulation, a $5 bill that it spent millions redesigning. But this seems to run counter to the prediction from Australia's Assistant Treasurer last year that Australia is well on the way to becoming a cashless society, and we wouldn't be alone.
Topics: money-and-monetary-policy, business-economics-and-finance, australia
Growers confused by lack of communication around new backpacker tax arrangements Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Blueberry growers say they're confused and disappointed with the lack of communication on new tax arrangements for employing backpackers. A tax rate of 15 per cent now applies to working holiday makers, introduced on the 1st of January. But employers must sign up to a register with the Australian Tax Office before the end of the month to use this new tax rate.
Topics: tax, tourism, government-and-politics, rural, agribusiness, australia
Radical plan to surrender murderers superannuation to victims of crime Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Murderers would be forced to surrender their superannuation to victims' families under proposed law changes in Victoria. The pledge is part of an overhaul to the justice system announced by the Victorian Opposition, in response to a recent report on victims' rights. Victims of crime have welcomed the idea, but one legal expert says it could have further negative consequences for the criminal and for society.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, superannuation, murder-and-manslaughter, vic, australia
Alarm at overuse and underuse of medical procedures: Lancet report Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A new series of reports by the Lancet has found the overuse of some surgeries and medicines are more likely to cause harm than good, while the underuse is failing to use effective and affordable medical interventions. The authors of the report say the global economic burden of overuse and underuse is immense. The estimates are that up to a third of surgical procedures and medicines are either used to excess or inadequately.
Topics: medical-procedures, health, medical-research, australia
Match fixing likely widespread at regional tennis tournaments: expert Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Tennis's international anti-corruption body has banned Australian player Nick Lindahl for seven years over match-fixing at a tournament in the regional Queensland city of Toowoomba in 2013. He was also fined almost $50,000. Two Brisbane players associated with Mr Lindahl's corrupt activity, Brandon Walkin and Isaac Frist, have also been found guilty of disciplinary offences by the Tennis Integrity Unit.
Topics: tennis, sport, corruption, australia
Federal Government promises reform, after travel expense scandal Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Federal Government is vowing to tighten up the system of entitlements that go to parliamentarians within the first half of this year. It comes after a new revelation that the Liberal MP Sussan Ley tried to buy an investment property more than once, while she was on Queensland's Gold Coast paid for by the public purse. This afternoon, the Acting Special Minister of State Kelly O'Dwyer declared that taxpayers need to know their money is being spent wisely. She's promising the government will bring a new system to pay for parliamentary travel, based on the recommendations of a review presented to the government almost one year ago.
Topics: government-and-politics, parliament-house-2600, australia
Iraqi fighters secure more ground, but asylum seekers freezing Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Iraqi army forces have advanced further into northern Mosul, after pushing out Islamic State fighters. It's an important capture for the army, which hopes to take the country's last stronghold, to the west of the city. Meanwhile, asylum seekers and refugees are facing freezing conditions as snow sweeps across eastern Europe. Around 7,000 people are thought to be stranded in Serbia as they wait for their asylum claims to be processed. However, refugee camps are full, forcing many new arrivals to seek shelter elsewhere.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, refugees, iraq
Call for medicinal cannabis amnesty as parents face charges Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Medicinal cannabis advocates are calling for an amnesty for people using the drug for treatment, as the framework to grant them legal access is established. Some parents in New South Wales have faced criminal charges after supplying cannabis to treat their chronically ill children. It follows a police raid on a pensioner in South Australia who was supplying cannabis oil to more than 100 sick and terminally ill people around the country.
Topics: cannabis, alternative-medicine, australia
New Moon theory: multiple moonlets coalesced over hundreds of millions of years Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A new theory is being advanced by scientists today about the origins of the Moon. For decades it's been believed the Moon was formed from a big chunk of the Earth itself, sheared off in a glancing collision with an object the size of Mars. But now Israeli researchers have advanced a new model to account for why that Mars-like object was inexplicably obliterated in the impact. They contend the Earth once had a number of smaller moonlets, created from a series of impacts which gradually coalesced to form the moon over around 100 million years or so.
What's really behind this latest stock market bull run - and can it last? Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
It's currently a bull market for stocks, but experts are cautious about how long the run is likely to last. There's concern that some of the forces driving shares higher are only temporary; and the higher the market goes, the harder it will fall. So what has been driving the stocks higher - and can it last?
Topics: stockmarket, australia
Political expenses cast a cloud over Government's start to the year Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
The Federal Government continues to face criticism over politicians' perks, with the revelation that a number of ministers claimed travel allowance to attend a New Year's Eve party hosted by the Prime Minister. The focus on perceived ministerial indulgences has delivered the Government a messy start to the year, as it struggles to seize the political momentum. The controversy comes amid renewed calls for Centrelink to halt its debt recovery efforts.
Topics: government-and-politics, welfare, australia
Teenagers become Australia's first world champions for this year Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Australia has its first world champions of 2017. Teenagers Macy Callaghan and Ethan Ewing have taken out the women's and men's World Junior Surfing Championships in Kiama, on the New South Wales south coast. It places Australia in good stead for the sport's debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games in three years' time.
Topics: surfing, kiama-2533
Rugby offering hope to young people in the slums of Nairobi Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
It's said that rugby is the game they play in heaven. Rarely is it played in the massive slums of East Africa. But a foundation based in Kenya hopes to change that - and to teach some valuable life lessons to young players.
Topics: rugby-union, kenya
Australian shares enter bull market territory Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Australian stocks have officially entered bull market territory. The Australian share market closed at a 19-month high yesterday, the All Ordinaries index surging past 5,800 points. The benchmark ASX 200 has lifted an impressive 22 per cent since February last year.
Topics: stockmarket, australia
Funerals, arrests follow Jerusalem truck attack Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Arrests and funerals have taken place in Jerusalem, a day after a truck-ramming attack killed four young soldiers at a popular tourist lookout. However, police say they have no more information relating to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assertion that the attacker was a supporter of Islamic State. Meanwhile, an obscure Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it has no outside links and acted on 'political motives'.
Topics: terrorism, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied
East Timor to capitalise on economic opportunities Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Political leaders in East Timor say they're looking forward to capitalising on the new economic opportunities associated with oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, is on track to establish a new maritime boundary in the Timor Sea, after tearing up a controversial treaty with Australia. Some experts say this move also grants greater political power to the fledgling country.
Topics: agreements-and-treaties, oil-and-gas, east-timor, australia
Acting Health Minister has a big portfolio to get across Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
The complicated health portfolio has been taken over by Arthur Sinodinos, while Sussan Ley awaits the outcome of the investigation into her travel claims. The Cabinet Secretary will take over a range of major reforms that the Government is trying to push through, including reforms to aged care, changes to GP services and private health insurance. The sudden appointment will require him to get across a lot of detail quickly.
Topics: government-and-politics, health, australia
'This miserably fails the pub test': Xenophon to push ministerial expenses legislation Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted | Updated
Scrutiny into ministerial expense claims continues, with four ministers billing taxpayers thousands of dollars while attending a 2015 New Year's Eve party hosted by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Those ministers are Peter Dutton, George Brandis, Mitch Fifield and Simon Birmingham. A further 18 ministers did not claim any expenses for attending the event. The revelation comes after Sussan Ley was forced to stand aside as health minister, pending an investigation into her travel entitlements. South Australian crossbench Senator Nick Xenophon is vowing to re-introduce legislation he first drafted in 2015 to overhaul rules about expenses. He says he was convinced to drop the legislation after the major parties promised that a review into the Brownyn Bishop 'Choppergate' scandal would produce real results. But, with little progress made on recommendations from the review, and with continuing reports of questionable expenses claims, Senator Xenophon says it's time to restore the public's faith in politicians.
Topics: government-and-politics, australia, adelaide-5000
Trump confident of Cabinet nominee confirmations Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted | Updated
With less than a fortnight until Donald Trump's inauguration as US president, a number of his Cabinet nominees are about to face their confirmation hearings. Mr Trump is predicting that all of his Cabinet picks will win Senate confirmation, despite many of them being contentious choices. Mr Trump has continued to hold business meetings in the lead-up to his incumbency and has again lashed out on Twitter, this time against actress Meryl Streep.
Topics: world-politics, united-states
Queensland farmers vow to fight Defence eviction plans Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Farmers in central Queensland have warned the Federal Government that they won't walk away from their land, despite plans to remove them to allow for the expansion of a nearby military training facility. Hundreds of local residents gathered at a fiery community meeting north of Rockhampton yesterday, urging politicians to dump the plans. The Department of Defence plans to acquire land next to the Shoalwater Bay training facility to cater for larger war games and an increased number of Singaporean troops training in the region. Upgrades would be paid for by the Singaporean Government, as part of a $2.2 billion dollar deal signed last year.
Topics: defence-and-national-security, rural, shoalwater-4702, byfield-4703
Michael Chamberlain, father of Azaria, dies at 72 Audio Transcript and Verbatim
Posted
Michael Chamberlain, whose nine-week-old daughter Azaria was snatched and killed by a dingo at Uluru in 1980, has died. The 72-year old former Seventh Day Adventist pastor was officially cleared of any involvement of the crime in 2012, 30 years after he was convicted of being an accessory to murder. He and his former wife, Lindy, faced four separate inquests over the course of 30 years before finally being exonerated.
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