BtN: Episode 28 Transcript 15/10/13
On this week's show:
· Should kids who commit crimes be named and shamed in the media?
· We learn about the Nobel Peace Prize and meet a kid who was one of the nominees.
· And I’m at an egg farm where I’m finding out if free range eggs are what they’re cracked up to be.
Sorry for the bad pun and welcome to BtN. My name’s Nathan Bazley and there’s heaps more on today’s show. But first, here’s Matt.
The Wire
This is the man you'll now see popping up as the Opposition Leader in all of our political stories. His name is Bill Shorten and he's just been elected as the Leader of the Labor Party. To get the job he's been campaigning his heart out for the past month against Anthony Albanese. Bill Shorten replaces Kevin Rudd who stood down after losing the election.
Still on the subject of politicians, does going to someone's wedding sound like an important part of the job? Well according to some, it is. The whole issue came up after it was revealed some politicians had asked for taxpayers to pay their travel to friends' weddings.
Since the news came out many politicians have repaid the cash.
But the new PM Tony Abbott hasn’t repaid some money that he claimed for going to a few running and cycling events. The fitness freak says they were genuine community events, so it's OK for the taxpayer to help foot the bill.
And in the US have you ever been in an argument and no one would back down? Well, that's what's happening to politicians over there. Downside is the rest of the country is caught in the middle.
The Opposition Party there is against President Barack Obama's plans for healthcare so they've refused to continue paying many of the country's bills until it’s ditched. Some landmarks have had to close and government workers have been put on unpaid leave until it's sorted out.
Name & Shame
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Next up an interesting issue for you to have a think about and maybe vote on in our poll later on. Kids who commit crimes could soon have their faces and names splashed all over the media. Normally kids identities are kept secret but one state has plans to change that. It's really controversial so is it a good move? We'll let you decide.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: How would you feel if all the bad decisions you made as a kid followed you around for the rest of your life.
They're there with you at uni. There when you apply for a job. They're even there when you go on a date. Finding out about your past mistakes can make people think twice about what sort of person you are. And that means you could miss out on great opportunities in the future. That's something adults have to live with when they break the law, because they're well aware of those consequences. But what about kids?
Our justice system has always said kids should be treated differently, because they can't properly weigh up all of those future consequences. For that reason, kids can't usually be named if they are charged with a crime. Their identities are protected so their futures won't be affected by the mistakes of their past. But should kids be treated differently to adults?
Well some people in QLD think maybe not. Youth crime has been a bit of a problem here recently. Crimes committed by 10-14 year old boys went up 13% last year. And the State Government has decided naming the kids involved might help. They say naming kids could shame them into not doing the wrong thing again. That's why many people call the plan 'naming and shaming'. They also say the community deserves to know which kids have been in trouble with the law, especially kids who are repeat offenders.
But there are other people very much against the naming and shaming of kids. Some say it won't work because the young offenders may be proud of being named, like being given a badge of honour for breaking the law. Others say it breaks the rights that children all over the world have been guaranteed by the United Nations, especially the right to privacy and the right to protection from cruel punishments.
But most of all, they say that kids aren't identified now for a reason. Because kids, by their nature, make mistakes! So that's what the experts have said about the plan. But they're all old and talking about something that won't affect them. Let's see what you think.
KID: Kids need to know that they're doing something wrong, because if they're just let go, then they're just going to keep doing it... so they get punished for what they do, by putting it on media. And embarrassed! yeah!
KID: If it wasn't such a big offence, everyone wouldn't need to be told about it. But if it was a big offence, like they robbed a place, then people would need to know about it.
KID: What if it was an accident in what they were doing. If they did it by mistake?
KID: If it was me as the kid then I wouldn't want it to be, but being someone else, like if they came to your school, you'd want to know.
Online Poll
Okay now you've heard the story so what do you think? As promised our poll this week. Should kids who commit crimes be named?
It's a simple yes or no jump on the website to take part.
Peace Prize
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: One of the world's biggest prizes has just been announced. It wasn't an Oscar and it had nothing to do with a footy grand finals either! It was the Nobel Peace Prize. Sarah tells us more about it and about the kid who became the youngest ever nominee.
Mother Teresa
Doctors Without Borders
Martin Luther King
The United Nations
They're famous names from different places and different times, known for doing different things. But they have one thing in common. Each is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. And now there's another name on that list. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
For more than a decade the OPCW has been working to stop countries making and storing deadly chemicals to be used as weapons. Recently its inspectors have been in Syria, making sure the government there destroys chemical weapons which were recently used against its own people.
Winning the Nobel Peace Prize is a huge deal. It's one of the world's richest and most prestigious prizes, given each year to the person or organisation that's thought to have done the most to make the world a more peaceful place.
And it had an unlikely beginning. Back in the 1800s there was a Swedish chemist and engineer called Alfred Nobel. His most famous invention was dynamite; an explosive which could be moved and stored safely.
It was important for many reasons. Dynamite would make it easier to mine for minerals and build to canals, roads and railways. But it was also used for war.
Nobel was never proud of that. He was a pacifist which meant he didn't believe in fighting. One day a newspaper accidently published news that Alfred was dead (he wasn't) the article said he'd got rich from killing people. It made Alfred really sad.
So in his will he dedicated his fortune to an annual series of prizes for the people who did the most to change the world for the better. There was a Nobel Prize for Physics, for Chemistry, for Physiology (or medicine) and a Nobel Prize for Peace.
The prizes are decided by a panel in Norway and each year there are hundreds of applicants. This year saw the youngest ever. Malala Yousafzai is only 16 years old but she was one of the favourites to win this year's peace prize.
Since she was 11 she's been publicly speaking out for the rights of children to get an education, despite the fact that the town she lived in, in Pakistan, was controlled by the Taliban a brutal group of religious extremists who didn't believe girls should go to school.
Last year when Malala was on her way to school a member of the Taliban shot her in the head. She was flown to the UK for emergency surgery. And she survived. Now she's living in the UK with her family, going to school, and continuing to speak out against violence and terrorism.
MALALA YOUSAFZAI: They thought that the bullet would silence us but they failed. Nothing changed in my life except this, weakness, fear and hopelessness died and strength, power and courage were born.
Last week Malala won a human rights award from the European Union. Many were disappointed that she missed out on the Nobel but Malala said the chemical weapons watchdog deserved the prize.
It's not the first time a popular candidate has missed out on the Nobel which is often controversial. But while not every agrees on who is the most deserving some say it's still one of the best ways we have of honouring those who try to make the world a better place.
Quiz 1
OK, quiz time.
The question is:
Which person never won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Mahatma Gandhi
Mother Teresa
Dalai Lama
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi campaigned for independence for his country, India. Later the Nobel Committee said they regretted not giving him the award.
Free Range
Reporter: Natasha Thiele
INTRO: Now we're heading to a farm. In particular, an egg farm. Lots of people are happy to pay a bit extra for free range eggs because they think they're kinder to chooks. But in the news this week some people were saying that free range eggs might not be all they're cracked up to be. Tash will explain more.
STEVE SIMPSON, EGG FARMER: How you going? My name's Steve Simpson. This is my egg farm, free range egg farm and these are two of my girls.
NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: Egg farming is in Steve's blood. His hens produce more than 50-thousand eggs a week!
REPORTER: So Steve, this is where your hens lay their eggs?
STEVE: Yeah this is where they lay their eggs behind the red curtains and they go in there and lay them generally in the mornings.
REPORTER: And what does free range mean to you Steve?
STEVE: Free range means to me that the birds can run 24/7, they can run outside or inside, whichever they prefer, it's all about preference.
While this is what Steve believes free range is, there are other farmers who see it as something else. The problem is here in Australia, it's not really clear what free range actually means. There are a heap of different groups who can give eggs the free range tick of approval and they don't always agree with each other on what makes an egg free range. There can be different ideas about how much time the chooks spend outdoors during the day. And some disagree about the number of chickens that should be allowed in a certain area. Most guidelines recommend that free range farms have only 15-hundred birds per hectare, which is what Steve has here. But some would like to see farmers be allowed up to 20-thousand birds per hectare and at the end of the day all these eggs can be called 'free range'.
So, why don't they just make the rules tougher? Well, there's a worry that it could force some free range egg producers to go back to putting hens in cages. You see, it costs more money to farm free range eggs and tougher rules could force some of them away. But farmers like Steve think there should be no lowering of standards.
STEVE: If you want them just to lay eggs, they don't need a lot of space but if you want the hen to have a decent life, as you and I expect to have a decent life, I believe they need to have the 15-hundred birds per hectare.
Consumer groups would like to see clearer laws for Australian egg producers, such as an agreed limit on the number of chickens allowed in one space. They'd also like to see clearer labels on egg cartons, so people know more about the eggs they're buying. Because in the supermarket free range eggs are sometimes double the price of caged eggs. And for that extra money, people deserve to know what they're getting. So next time you head to the supermarket to buy some eggs, you might want to have a think about just how 'free' your free rage eggs are and whether these guys have been put first!
Voyager
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Recently NASA paid tribute to two of its hardest working employees. The Voyager spacecraft have been exploring the planets and the space between them for 36 years. And now Voyager-1 has just said goodbye to our whole solar system in search of other adventures. Here's Sarah.
BTN PRESENTER: Hello and welcome to Behind the News
In 1977 Television looked like this. Computers looked like this. And pop stars looked like this. The world was a different place.
But this was the year when the human race set of on one of the most amazing voyages of exploration that we'd ever see. Two robotic spacecraft called Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 were launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida and sent into space with the mission of exploring Jupiter and Saturn.
They were about the size of small cars, equipped with instruments to take photos and measurements so we could learn more about the planets. In 1979 both spacecraft passed by Jupiter sending back close-up pictures showing the planet's red spot. Voyager-1 took this photo of an exploding volcano on one of Jupiter's moons.
REPORTER: Imagine how exciting that would have been! In an age before search engines and smart phones there we were looking at pictures from other worlds!
They then went on to explore the rings of Saturn and in the 80s Voyager-2 gave us the first close-up views of Uranus and then Neptune.
Voyage-1, the faster of the two craft went even further. In 1990 its cameras were turned on for one last photo looking back at the Earth as a tiny blue dot. And it kept going. Last year it passed the very edge of the area that's still affected by the energy of the sun, where scientists say the solar system officially ends. It sent back the sounds of vibrating particles the space between the stars, an area that we know very little about.