EASYPRINT SCRIPT
15/11/05
French Riots
Krista Eleftheriou, reporter
Parts of the normally beautiful and peaceful country of France have been turned into battlefields over the past week
or so.
People have been fighting with police and setting fire to cars and buildings.
But why?
Well, as I found out it started for one reason and then spread because of others.
Ah, France: long days holidaying on the Riviera, that's the Mediterranean, baguettes, pastries, the arts,
romance and of course the Eiffel Tower.
Now explosions of a different kind have replaced the carefree image and the festive fireworks.
Rioters have taken control of the streets in some of the poorest parts of France, burning cars, schools
and other buildings and clashing with police. It all began when two teenage boys, who mistakenly thought
police were chasing them, hid in a power station and were electrocuted. Many young teenagers in the
same area of Paris blamed police for the boys' deaths and responded with violence.
The rioting quickly spread to more than 300 towns and cities across France. About 1700 people were
arrested and more than six thousand cars set alight. What began as a protest against the police
expanded into a protest against poverty and racism as this person explains.
"Because they don't have work, they don't have, there is a lot of racism and they become violent." Man.
The majority of people living in these suburbs are of North African or Arabic descent. Unemployment
here is at almost 40 percent. Even those who go to university are far more likely to be unemployed than
French people of European origin. Many claim they are not considered for jobs because of the colour of
their skin and their religion.
"What is happening here is difficult to explain I think we are all partly responsible. I think politicians are at
the root of it." Man.
The Government condemns any form of racism. But it recently banned all religious headwear in schools,
which affected Muslim women most. This has made the Islamic community unhappy with the
government.
These people live in the rioting suburbs in Paris and held this march to show their opposition to the
violence.
"It's not a solution to burn cars that's not a solution, frankly I don't understand it."
Florent Yapo, owner of destroyed car.
The Government has responded by imposing night curfews on all people under the age of 16, so they
can't go out after 9pm without an adult. It's also come up with some ideas for creating jobs and education
opportunities for young people. And the Government has promised to try and stop racial discrimination.
It's all aimed at restoring the calm and to return France's image of a peaceful country with opportunities
for all.
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The Dismissal
Sarah Martinelli, Reporter
In Australia, the prime minister is in charge.
But what if lots of people were unhappy with him and he wasn't able to run the country properly?
Usually we'd have to wait for the next election before the Australian people could vote him out.
But as Sarah explains there is one very radical solution, but it's only ever happened once.
Could you imagine if the Prime Minister were sacked?
"I've been fired"
"It couldn't happen, right? Well, not quite like that anyway. But would you believe that 30 years ago, it did
happen? The Prime Minister back then was sacked by the Governor General, and it was a very big deal!"
It made headlines around the world... the first time ever an Australian Prime Minister has been sacked.
This man, Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister. He was the leader of the Labor party. He was sacked
by this man, Sir John Kerr, the Governor General, the Queen's representative in Australia.
"Well may we say God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor General.”
Gough Whitlam
Ever heard this before? It's a famous speech Gough Whitlam gave after he was sacked. He was pretty
angry. So were a lot of other Australians
Australia has two houses of parliament. The House of Representatives, which is where you'll find the
Prime Minister and the opposition leader, is green. The senate is red. In order for a law to be passed, it
has to be given the thumbs up by both houses.
It's easy to get the thumbs up in the House of Representatives, because the government has the majority
there, that's why the government is in charge. But the senate might not be the same. Often, the senate is
a place where the opposition and minor parties are in the majority.
"And that was the case back in 1975. The opposition, led by Malcolm Fraser, had the majority in the
senate. So in order for laws to be passed, the government, run by Gough Whitlam, had to get the support
of the Opposition in the senate."
Problem. The Opposition didn't like the way the government was running the country. The opposition
wanted Gough Whitlam to call a full election. Gough Whitlam said: "no way." So the Opposition refused
to pass laws to give the government enough money to run the country.
Enter this man in the hat, the Governor General, Sir John Kerr. The Governor General gets to do
ceremonial type things, but doesn't actually run the country. But: the Governor General does have
special "reserve" powers, that can be used if needed. These reserve powers give the Governor General
the ability to sack the Prime Minister and force an election.
And back in 1975, after a month of deadlock, the Governor General decided he needed to use those
powers, to break the deadlock. So he sacked the Prime Minister. Malcolm Fraser was made caretaker
Prime Minster, until an election could be held a month later.
The sacking caused a crisis in Australia. Gough Whitlam had been elected as the Prime Minister, not
Malcolm Fraser. Eventually an election was held, and Malcolm Fraser's Liberal Party won by a mile. The
strange thing is, after all the fuss the dismissal caused, the laws haven't been changed, so it could still
happen again!
Pirates
Kerry Staight, reporter
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Just recently pirates attacked a cruise ship full of tourists.
Thankfully they didn't do any plundering because they weren't very good at pirating.
Kerry's been looking at what a pirate is.
When you think of pirates, it's images like these from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, that probably
come to mind. Sword carrying scoundrels wearing earrings, funny hats and eye-patches. Throw in the
odd parrot and a mast sailing ship.
"And voila - a pirate! Oh hang on... Arr me hearties. The name's Captain Kerry. How was that? Okay my
pirate voice needs a bit of work. The good thing is I've got plenty of time to practice. International Talk
Like a Pirate Day isn't until September 19."
Kerry Staight, reporter
While acting like a pirate might seem like great fun, piracy is no game. Pirates are criminals; some are
murderers. They carry out armed robberies at sea, stealing everything from money and cargo to entire
ships.
They've been keeping pretty busy in recent years. The number of pirate attacks tripled between 1993 and
2003. Last year alone three hundred and thirty vessels were attacked by pirates - mainly cargo vessels in
busy shipping lanes. And at least thirty people were killed.
The most dangerous regions are the South China Sea, the Malacca Strait off Indonesia, waters to the
West and East of Africa, South America and the Caribbean.
This year East Africa has overtaken the Malacca Strait as the worst spot. Just recently a passenger liner
was attacked in that region.
Pirates fired grenades at the vessel. Twenty two Australians were among the passengers. Luckily the
liner escaped and no-one was seriously hurt. So far the culprits haven't been found.
Tracking down and punishing pirates is a tricky business. There are navy patrols, but there's also a lot of
water to cover. Many attacks also occur outside a country's sea boundaries, so taking legal action
against pirates gets complicated. Some countries make the situation worse by not working with their
neighbours.
"The other problem is modern pirates don't exactly stand-out from the crowd. For a start they don't really
walk around with a parrot perched on their shoulder and they don't carry a sword like this."
Kerry Staight, reporter
As you can see from this navy demonstration, pirates use automatic weapons and have swapped
massive sailing ships for speedboats. And check out these blokes. They were accused of being pirates
after authorities caught them.
But look not an eye-patch, earring or three-cornered hat in sight.
"The truth is while I may have got away with this outfit in the sixteen hundreds, these days pirates don't
really have a dress-code. They basically look like you or I."
Kerry Staight, reporter
YOUR NEWS - Wanniassa Hills
Young Tennis Player
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
No one really knows who invented it but French and English royalty first played it.
But now anyone can play tennis and some top players make a lot of prize money.
Sarah caught up with a young player who could be the next Lleyton Hewitt - he certainly has the
dedication.
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“Hi I'm Darren, and I love to play tennis!”
Darren Polkinghorne
Twelve-year-old Darren has been playing competitive tennis since he was little. He's a champion for his
age with the medals to prove it! But to play this game, it takes a lot of practice. Hours of it!
"Five hours a week, every school holidays and maybe once a month and it takes about 6 and a half to 7
hours by car."
Darren Polkinghorne
And because Darren lives in Port Lincoln, in country South Australia, there's often a long drive before he
can even get his racket out.
And he sometimes has to play against much older kids.
"When I was nine, I played a 21 year old and he was about double my size and he went on the court and
I beat him and he went off and chucked his racket in the bin he wasn't real happy."
Darren Polkinghorne
But Port Lincoln won't be home for much longer, next year Darren will attend a tennis school in Adelaide,
and will have to live away from his family.
"It's going to be pretty tough for all of us it's gonna be a real adjustment not having him around because
at the moment our life revolves pretty well around the tennis courts and that so that's gonna be a change
of our lifestyle but we also realise that this is what Darren wants to do with his life."
Julie Polkinghorne
"Well I thought while I was out here interviewing Darren I might as well get him to help me improve my
game a bit, so he's going to show me how to serve."
"Hold it like this, with your hands in a "v" and just throw it and hit it"
Darren Polkinghorne
Well I don't think Alicia Molik needs to be too worried about me, but just how far does Darren want to go
with tennis?
"My ultimate goal would be to play in the professional league and play all over the world."
Darren Polkinghorne
Coach Kathleen thinks Darren has a good chance of getting there too.
"Well Darren's very talented he's obviously got all the strokes there just a few things to work on but the
thing I like about Darren is he's got a great mental approach and mentally I think he's very keen to do well
and I think that will go a long way with him."
Kathleen Tyke, coach
Australia has produced a lot of tennis champions over the years.
" I've got a few favourite players I like John Fitzgerald, ‘cos he's from our area and Lleyton Hewitt ‘cos
he's Australian, South Australian, and Andre Agassi ‘cos he's one of the best in the world and won lots of
Grand Slams."
Darren Polkinghorne
"I wanna be one of the best in the world I wanna be the next South Australian tennis player, I wanna play
in Wimbledon in London."
Darren Polkinhorne
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Galapagos Tortoise
Kerry Staight, reporter
Dogs and cats live for about 12 years or so. But imagine having a pet that lives longer than you.
Well it's the birthday of a giant tortoise called Harriet who apparently was the pet of scientist Charles
Darwin, and he died in 1882!
Harriet may be slow on her feet and a bit of a messy eater, but all things considered this gal is looking
pretty good for her age. After all she is 175 years old. Yes that's right, this giant tortoise was actually born
in 1830 - that's way before cars and telephones were invented. That makes her the oldest known living
animal in the world.
While Harriet now hangs out in Queensland, she started life in the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos
Islands are a chain of thirteen volcanic islands west of South America. They're famous for their rare
wildlife, especially the giant tortoise. And I mean giant - these plodders can weigh up to 250 kilos. And
that's not because they're knocking back the biscuits.
Giant tortoises like Harriet are herbivores - they have a vegetarian diet. Grass, leaves, flowers; even cacti
end up on the dinner plate.
"While they're happy to eat all sorts of food, they can also do without it. Tortoises store food and water so
well they can last up to a year without eating or drinking. I get grumpy after a few hours without food."
Kerry Staight, reporter
Unfortunately this made tortoises a target for sailors wanting an endless supply of fresh food and water.
Many of the creatures were killed during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Famous Scientist Charles Darwin took three tortoises back to Britain after visiting the Galapagos Islands
in the 1800's. He kept them as pets, while he was developing his theory of evolution. And here's where
things get really interesting. Some people believe Harriet was one of those three tortoises, even though
the evidence is a bit sketchy.
"She's certainly in the right age bracket to fit the story of meeting Darwin, definitely."
Kelsey Mostyn, Australia Zoo Curator
The Fleay Family certainly believes the story and they know Harriet better than most. The family looked
after the reptile in the 1950's after it was shipped to Australia.
"We always had to go and say hello to our grandparents first and Harriet was always the first animal that
we went to see. We used to hop on her back and have a little ride."
Angela Fleay
These days the old dame enjoys a more leisurely lifestyle at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast. Of
course the big question is will she make it to 200?
"Well I tell ya, the last fifteen years I have known Harriet she hasn't aged a day. So I reckon the next
twenty-five she's got a very good chance of making those."
Kelsey Mostyn, Australia Zoo Curator
The secret to her long life? Well some say the fact she's never mated could have something to do with it!
For more info:
Stewart, Robin. Darwin’s Tortoise Black Inc., 2005. This book is suitable for young readers – and
anyone who wants to know more about Harriet.
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