BtN: Episode 35 Transcript 29/11/11
On this week's Behind the News.
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The dangers of DIY shows why doing it yourself could land you in trouble.
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How safe is your information? We find out what makes a good password.
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And we unwrap a Christmas tradition. Why do people eat so much turkey on
Christmas Day?
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News.
Also on the show today with summer holidays on the way we head to the beach to
find out what it takes to be a surf life saver.
Now it's getting to the end of your school year so no doubt you're looking to put your
feet up and wind down a bit. But do you know who else is getting to the end of their
work year? Politicians. And they finished off theirs with a bang. With that story and
some of the other big news from this week, here's Tash with the Wire.
The Wire
Twists this big are usually reserved for movie thrillers but last week parliament
hosted one that would make any director proud. Harry Jenkins was speaker of the
house and as speaker it was his job to keep pollies in order.
The only catch with this job is that you can't vote so he couldn't ever help his side
Labor, to pass any new laws. So he decided to step down meaning he gets his vote
back. But then who would volunteer to fill the speaker's chair and lose their own
vote?
Well this guy put his hand up Peter Slipper from the Liberals. And that's left the
opposition with one less vote than they had and the government with one more. A big
deal when the balance of power is so close.
*****
In New South Wales, floodwaters have stranded around 2 thousand people - leaving
many trapped. One of the main towns hit is Moree, where 120 homes have been cut
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off. The Mehi River, which runs through the town, peaked at more than ten metres at
one stage that's the deepest it has been in a decade.
*****
And a fire that was started by government workers to burn off foliage ahead of the
bushfire season has been blown out of control destroying 40 homes. It all happened
last week in the Margaret River region of WA south of Perth.
The people who live in this house were lucky their next door neighbours lost
everything. The burn off was hit by high winds which caused all the destruction.
Mining Tax
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Well all that political drama you saw earlier came after an important week
in parliament. The government used the last week to try to approve their mining
tax and the opposition did its best to try to stop it. So how did they go? Let's find
out.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Last time we heard from the battle that is
parliament, the government was aiming to push through a whole lot of laws. Since
then, they've had some success. But there was one war medal still eluding the PM mining tax victory. Let's find out more about this battle-hardened soldier and what's
standing in his way.
Explosions, big machines and huge craters. This isn't war, this is mining. Mining has
hit Australia in a big way, as more and more valuable resources are found under the
surface of the country. There's coal, lead, zinc, iron ore, gold, silver, uranium and
natural gas to name a few. And right now, all of those commodities are wanted
around the world.
Countries like China are exploding with growth. They're building and manufacturing
their way through a boom. But to feed all this activity, they need raw materials something we have lots of. So mining companies have hit a boom of their own.
All of this trade equals cash and lots of it. Mining companies are getting rich and in
turn, that means more jobs and more money for the government. So there are a lot of
positives coming out of the mining industry. But the government feels there should
be more in it for the whole country.
Resources are found under the ground, so the government says really we all own a
slice of them. So their argument is that we should all get a bigger cut of the profits
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when they're sold. And to fight this fight, they brought in a crack soldier - General
Mining Tax.
Originally, when Kevin Rudd was still commanding the troops, General Mining Tax
was a lot stronger and meaner. He would have had a big effect on mining companies.
But he came under some heavy fire.
So then, when Julia Gillard was appointed Commander, she took away some of his
power. And that's managed to get most mining companies to be allies in his mission.
So what's he trying to do?
His mission is to capture some of the profits mining companies are making. He's
allowed to take 30% of any of the profits they make over $75 million. But he's only
allowed to do it on iron ore and coal mines.
But there are some people trying to stop General Mining Tax in his tracks. First,
there are the Greens who'd prefer him to be much stronger again, meaning he can
take heaps more from mining companies. Then there is the Opposition, who think he
should be killed off altogether, saying he's bad news for the industry.
So that's how it stood for General Mining Tax, as he fought for success. And despite
some setbacks and a few compromises, he managed to achieve victory giving him the
promotion from General, to a fully fledged tax.
Asbestos Danger
Reporter: Alfie Tieu
INTRO: You could probably make a list of dangerous things around your home,
electricity, knives, boiling water. But there's something that we don't often see that
can be just as dangerous. What is it? It's a building material called asbestos. And as
Alfie reports some people are warning that our love for DIY might end up being
harmful to our health.
ALFIE TIEU, REPORTER: Shows about renovation and do-it-yourself projects are
great for giving you ideas.
GIRL: And I thought we could take the ceiling off and make a kind of alfresco
sleeping experience.
And these shows are often careful to make sure viewers know how to do things safely.
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But amongst the screwdrivers, hammers and hacksaws there's something far more
threatening and it could be lurking inside these walls. It's called asbestos.
Asbestos is a building material that was used a lot when building homes in the past.
It's fireproof, it's water-proof and it's great for keeping your home warm. So you find
it in lots of things like walls, water pipes, floors and roofs. Sounds pretty good
doesn't it? Well that's what lots of people thought but then experts found out that it
could be dangerous - even deadly.
ALFIE TIEU, REPORTER: This is one form that asbestos comes in, in the form of
cement sheeting. It might look like a pretty harmless piece of board, but the real
danger happens when the tiny fibres break off and can be breathed in.
When it's left in one piece asbestos can be completely safe. But if it's broken up,
these tiny fragments can be released and carried in the air, which can get into
people's lungs. They're like microscopic needles and can cause damage to your lungs
and even lead to cancer.
That's what happened to Adam. His parents had been renovating their house and as
a toddler Adam had been playing around in the asbestos dust. By the time he was in
his twenties, Adam had developed lung cancer. He eventually died.
Unfortunately Adam's case wasn't a one-off. Lots of people were made sick by
breathing in asbestos while going about their everyday work. Most of the time they
had no idea it was dangerous. Some businesses were even taken to court for failing
to protect their workers - and had to pay millions of dollars in compensation.
For a while now, it's been illegal for companies to use asbestos in new homes and
buildings. But in older buildings you can still find a lot of it about. It could be in
your house or even in your school.
And if asbestos needs to be removed, you have to call in experts in protective suits
and masks to make sure it's done safely.
And this is when we get back to our DIY show. These shows encourage everyone to
have a go themselves. But some people reckon that enthusiastic DIY-ers could be
heading for trouble if they mess around where there's asbestos. So if your parents
have been inspired to do some rennos, be sure they've checked with an expert first
before they reach for the tool kit!
That brings us to this week's top tip for BtN Do-it-yourself.
Actor: Don’t do it yourself until you’re sure it’s safe.
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Password Power
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Most people know that keeping your valuables safe from thieves is
important. We put locks on our doors, close the windows when we go out and even
use alarm systems. But when it comes to information some people are leaving the
door wide open. They're choosing passwords that aren't secure and as Sarah
reports, that's a problem.
Soldiers: Centurio, we have returned from battle. We are weary and wounded and
seek entry.
Centurion: What's the password?
Soldiers: I don't know the password. Do you know the password? I thought you knew
the password!
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Passwords have been around since ancient times as a
way of making sure only the right people were allowed to get access to places or
information.
Soldier: Is it Roman?
Centurion: No
Soldier: Is it Sandals?
Centurion: No
Soldier: Jelly beans?
But here in the 21st century, passwords are a bigger part of every-day life than ever
before. That one word can be all that stands between you and your personal
information, even your bank accounts!
So it's important to use passwords that no one else could possibly guess.
Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.
Soldier: Is it antiquing?
Centurion: No
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Last week, an IT company published a list of the 25 worst passwords it'd taken from
cyber criminals who'd been caught stealing info. Top of the list were things like
"Password" or rows of keys like 12345 or QWERTY. There were also some weirder
ones that lots of people had like Superman and Dragon.
It's pretty easy to see why obvious passwords are bad passwords. They're the first
ones that a cyber criminal is going to try. Recently Hotmail had to ban the password
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 because too many people were actually using it! But not all risky words
are quite so obvious
Soldier: Banana
Centurion: No
Soldier: Apple pie
Centurion: No
If a person was trying to guess a random word it would take forever but computers
can guess much, much faster. A piece of software could guess all the words in a
dictionary in just a few minutes that's called a dictionary attack. Another risky move
is using a word that means something to you.
Soldier: Is it big nose?
Centurion: No
Soldier: Beardy?
Centurion: No
With a bit of searching it's not that hard to find out your birthday or your brother's
name, your dog's name or your favourite sport, but lots of people use those things as
their passwords.
And it doesn't help to change an e into a 3 or an "s" into a dollar sign. Cyber crims are
all over that one. The best passwords are the most complicated with letters and
numbers and symbols. But of course, you've got to be able to remember them
REPORTER: Here's a trick that you could use. Think of a sentence that you can
remember like, "I was in Mrs Thomas' class in year nine" then use the first letter
from each word as your password (IwiMTciy9). Easy to remember but hard to crack!
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You should have different passwords for different things and change them every so
often. And you need to guard them closely that means not sharing them with anyone,
even your best friends.
Soldier: good evening sir, I'm with the Roman password protection office and I want
to check that your password is secure. Can you please tell me what it is?
And watching out for phishing; criminals posing as legitimate companies and asking
for your personal details. You should also watch out for shoulder surfers; people who
watch what you're typing. Some sites use alternatives to passwords, like a
combination of images or even fingerprint recognition, which is thought to be much
safer.
But passwords can still be a good way of keeping your info safe as long as they're
used in the right way and, of course, you can remember them!
Presenter: From passwords to personal identification numbers let's have a quiz.
Quiz 1
The question is:
What does the T stand for in ATM?
Teller
Transaction
Takings
Answer: Teller
ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine. Australia got its first one in 1977.
Christmas Turkey
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Now, in the time leading up to Christmas, it's interesting to think of all the
things that we use at this time of year and then never again for a whole 12 months.
One is turkey, a meat that usually only makes it onto the dinner tables in Australia
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once a year alongside all those other Chrissie favourites. But what happens to the
industry for the rest of the year? Let's take a look.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: What do you think Christmas light manufacturers
do for the rest of the year? How about 'Santa stop here' sign makers? And how busy
could it possibly be for Santa robot factories in mid February?
NATHAN: Christmas is a time when most of us get together and share special
Christmas traditions, like trees, decorations and food. And then we go back to our
normal habits until we do it all over again next Christmas. But what happens to all
those Chrissie-related industries in between? Well as it turns out, one of them at
least is dreaming of taking over the rest of the calendar as well.
THE SIMPSONS: How about a Thanksgiving feast? You can carve the Turkey! You
eat turkeys? Yeah, it's delicious! REVENGE!
As The Simpsons has shown us, in America, turkey is a much more popular meat
than it is here. In fact, Americans bite into around 45 million turkeys on
Thanksgiving Day alone! In Australia, turkeys were brought here right back on the
first fleet. But the meat of these big birds hasn't become nearly as popular as it is in
the States. A lot of families enjoy it once a year at Christmas, alongside other
traditional meats like ham and seafood. But for the rest of the year, there aren't a lot
of turkeys being 'gobbled' up.
CHRIS PRIESTWOOD, AUSTRALASIAN TURKEY FEDERATION: It's always been
a turkey farmer's thing. You run out of money in November and you've got that much
at the end of February that you don't know what to do with it.
So that would make turkey farming a pretty unstable business to get into. But there is
another downside too.
JOHN WATSON, FREE RANGE TURKEY FARMER: Most probably the brain is the
only part of their body that doesn't really grow that much from the day they arrive,
so, yeah, they're incredibly stupid.
So between the stupidity and the seasonal income, turkey farming's a pretty tough
gig here in Australia. But there is an upside. While their brain clearly isn't sprouting
much, their bodies certainly are.
JOHN WATSON: That is exactly 10 kilos for those two pieces, breast fillet, five kilos
each side.
PRUE ADAMS: Wow.
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JOHN WATSON: A big bird.
And that means lots of meat. That's one of the reasons that eating turkey became so
popular on Christmas day, because with all the rellies getting together to celebrate,
they needed a bird big enough to feed the whole family!
But one day a year is no good for the turkey business. So the big challenge for them is
to find ways of selling all that meat to us year round. And the solution they've come
up with is to package it up in lots of different ways.
Now they sell turkey schnitzels, turkey burgers and turkey mince and then there's the
usual whole turkeys, and turkey rolls you normally see at Christmas. But it's not just
about coming up with new ways to package our turkey; the farmers know that they
mainly need to change our habits. So really, farmers just want us listening to the
turkeys themselves, to hopefully see us gobble, gobble, gobble turkey all year round.
Presenter: OK while we're talking turkey, let's have a quiz.
Quiz 2
The question is:
What's the name of the skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck?
Wattle
Garble
Epiglottis
Answer: Wattle
In the world of turkeys it's good to have a big wattle apparently it can help to attract a
mate.
You learn something new every day! Let's move onto some sport action next. Here's
Matt with the Score.
The Score
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Aussie Mark Webber has taken out the last Formula 1 Grand Prix of the year, at Sao
Paulo in Brazil. His Red Bull team mate, Sebastian Vettel, ran into gearbox problems
giving Webber a chance to pass him. Webber's win meant he finished the season in
third place. Vettel finished first over all.
*****
In the English Premier League the leaders Manchester City held on to claim a 1 - all
draw against Liverpool. Vincent Kompany put City ahead in the first half with this
header! But Liverpool hit back straight away when Joleon Lescott deflected Charlie
Adam's shot into his own goal. City are still the only team that haven't been beaten in
the Premier league this season.
Surf Lifesavers
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Well this is the last BtN before your summer holidays so many of you will
no doubt be hitting the beach soon. But while you're enjoying some sunshine there's
a group of people out there trying to make sure you stay safe. We're talking about
volunteer lifesavers. We sent Sarah to find out what it takes to become one of them.
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: When you head to the beach there's a lot to watch out
for: A sandy place to sit, a safe place to swim.
REPORTER: But you know, as you head out into the water there could be someone
watching you. I'm talking about surf life savers, the guys and girls in red and yellow
who keep people safe all around the country.
It could be treating a jellyfish sting or a dramatic sea rescue. Lifesavers work on the
weekends and public holidays and they do it all for free. They're not the same as the
lifeguards you see on TV shows like Bondi Rescue. These guys dress in blue and
they're paid for what they do. And while they're the ones in the spotlight, most beach
patrols are done by the volunteer life savers.
Surf Life Saving Association has been around for more than 100 years and over the
years surf life savers have become an Aussie icon. Being a life saver takes a lot of
training and qualifications but you don't have to be very old to get started. Kids can
join Nippers which is the junior division. Then, when you turn 15, the serious
training starts.
Daniel Ryan - Surf Lifesaver: Well I've just turned 15 and it's quite a big
responsibility for me because like you get people going up to you asking what's going
on and you have to explain to them everything.
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Some of these guys are training for the Bronze Medallion, which is the minimum
qualification that you need to be a life saver.
Trainer: We've got a drowning patient so we're going to look at the airways now.
They have to know a fair bit of first aid and not just CPR. They also have to know how
to use a defibrillator which is a machine that shock's a person's heart back to its
normal rhythm.
Caroline Kearney - Bronze Medallion Holder: On patrol I have more responsibilities
like I can use the oxygen now and the defibrillator and I go for rescues and stuff like
that.
Another skill is learning to use the spinal board if someone injures their back.
Trainer: They're face down so we need to get them on their backs and hopefully
they're breathing and we can help them to be able to breathe and we need to get the
spinal aboard underneath and to bring them to shore without doing any further
damage.
Then there's mastering the long boards used for rescues.
Swimming through the waves is really difficult and they have to do fitness tests to
make sure they're up to it. There are also some special life saver communication
methods to learn. These flags are a way of signalling to let each other know what's
going on between the surf and the sand.
Trainer: So that one is to return to shore. If we want you to precede further out to sea
we will have both flags up.
While life saving is serious stuff, for these guys it's also about fun and friendship.
Jack Hornibrook - Lifesaver: Oh I've made heaps of friendships most of my friends at
the surf club go down to the coast and have a few surfing sessions yeah.
So while staying safe at the beach is everyone's responsibility, it's good to know that
there's someone else watching out for you.
Presenter: Absolutely.
Closer
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Well, that's it for the show. Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time.
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