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IS recruiters target isolated Somali Australian youth Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Isolation and discrimination by the Muslim community in Australia are two factors driving the radicalisation of young Somalis, a Background Briefing investigation has found. One Somali youth leader says there's a perception even amongst other Australian Muslims that Somalis are the 'lowest common denominator', and the community is unsupported and isolated.
Topics: terrorism, immigration, religion-and-beliefs, islam, unrest-conflict-and-war, refugees, australia
Scott Morrison accuses Labor of 'fiscal arson' on the budget Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Aged pensioners will today get a $5.90 increase in their fortnightly pension payments but rises could be more modest in the future, with Government plans to change the way they're indexed. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison spoke to AM this morning about pensions and the wider budget problems.
Topics: welfare, community-and-society, aged-care, budget, abbott-tony, australia
Refugees fear violence on Nauru Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A series of violent attacks has heightened tension between refugees and locals on Nauru. The most recent attack came earlier this week where a man was hit by a baseball bat. Several days before a refugee was injured when he was hit by a rock allegedly thrown at him by a local. The man's wife fears it's only a matter of time before sometime is killed.
Topics: refugees, immigration, prisons-and-punishment, nauru, australia
New e-Safety Commissioner to target online bullying Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Children who are being bullied online will soon have more protection with the appointment of Australia's first e-Safety Commissioner. It's believed that as many as one in three kids at school have experienced some form of cyber bullying, and the problem is growing. The new office will be able to demand social media sites take down offensive material, at the risk of fines and court action. AM speaks to the new top cyber cop, Alaistair MacGibbon.
Topics: bullying, internet-culture, laws, police, prisons-and-punishment, social-media, australia
Death of Uruzgan police chief could mean setback in Afghanistan Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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One of Australia's most significant allies in Afghanistan, Uruzgan province police chief Matiullah Khan, is believed to have been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul. There are fears his death may be a setback for the war against the Taliban insurgency in the region, where Australian troops spent more than a decade years battling militants.
Topics: terrorism, international-law, unrest-conflict-and-war, afghanistan
Committee says legal and housing budget cuts hurting women and should be reversed Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A Senate committee has told the Government to reverse its budget cuts to legal services because they are increasing the danger of domestic violence. The interim report was released yesterday to pressure the Government as it prepares its next budget. Labor and Greens Senators are using it to push for funding to be restored to community legal centres and housing services. Liberal committee member Cory Bernardi says the committee should also have factored in the Government's strategy for addressing domestic violence.
Topics: domestic-violence, budget, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, women, australia
Radio Rentals gets half its revenue from Centrelink Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The ABC has discovered that Australia's biggest consumer leasing company, Radio Rentals, reaps $90 million of its revenue from Centrelink. Consumer advocates say the company is exploiting a lack of regulation in the industry.
Topics: consumer-protection, consumer-finance, retail, poverty, welfare, australia
Nuclear royal commissioner officially appointed, denies bias Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The newly appointed royal commissioner for investigating the nuclear industry in South Australia says he is not biased towards the industry. Former governor, Kevin Scarce, has been accused of speaking in favour of the industry in the past. The terms of reference for the royal commission have been finalised and the inquiry has officially started. Mr Scarce says he will be looking to hold public hearings around the state as part of the commission.
Topics: nuclear-issues, sa
Pakistani lawyer connected to US hunt for Bin Laden killed Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A Pakistani lawyer who defended a doctor who helped CIA agents hunt down Osama bin Laden was shot and killed this week and the dead man's colleagues say they too are receiving death threats.
Topics: judges-and-legal-profession, death, pakistan
Aboriginal people call on NSW to protect cultural fishing rights Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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More than 250 Aboriginal people have been prosecuted for fishing offences in New South Wales despite the Government agreeing to protect Aboriginal cultural fishing rights in 2009. The law passed both houses of Parliament but has not yet come into force and the Greens and Aboriginal groups are calling on both major parties to support the change ahead of the election.
Topics: indigenous-culture, land-rights, indigenous-policy, nsw
Thousands rally in protest of remote community closures Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Thousands of people have turned out at rallies and marches across the country to mark Close the Gap Day and protest against plans to close up to 150 remote communities in Western Australia. The biggest was in Perth, where the Premier Colin Barnett came face to face with protesters during an intense and at times hostile rally.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, australia
Riot police clash with protesters as ECB celebrates opening of its new billion dollar skyscraper Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Protesters have clashed with riot police during the ceremonial opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters in Frankfurt. The protesters say they're fed up with the harsh conditions Germany has imposed on the Greek economy, and are taking their anger out on the organisation responsible for those policies. ECB president, Mario Draghi, said the protesters were missing the point by blaming the ECB. He said that some countries had to go through a difficult period of adjustment but that it was a consequence of their own past decisions.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, banking, germany, european-union
No word from eight Australian volunteers in Vanuatu since cyclone Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Australian Government is working with authorities in Vanuatu to locate a group of Australian teachers on an outer island who've not been in contact since Tropical Cyclone Pam struck on Friday. The eight volunteers were on Pentecost Island nearly 200 kilometres north of Port Vila.
Topics: cyclones, relief-and-aid-organisations, vanuatu
Analysts say an attack on Tunisian museum won't undermine democracy Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for a militant attack in Tunis overnight that left 17 tourists and two locals dead. Analysts are confident the attack on a museum won't hinder the nation's transformation to democracy.
Metadata laws head for the Senate with Opposition support Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Government's data retention laws have passed their first parliamentary hurdle. The Government and Opposition have struck a deal to further amend the laws to treat the information of journalists and their sources differently from other members of the public. The Greens' Adam Bandt, and Independent MP Andrew Wilkie were deeply unhappy with the lack of time in the Lower House to consider the amendments.
Topics: internet-culture, federal-government, australia
Prime Minister compares Opposition Leader to Hitler offsider Joseph Goebbels Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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On the PM program tonight: The Prime Minister Tony Abbott, makes yet another reference to Nazism, comparing the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, to Hitler's minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Hopes that an attack in the Tunisian capital that killed 19 people including an Australian won't hinder the transformation of the nation that was the birthplace of the Arab Spring. And violence flares on the streets of Frankfurt as protesters try to disrupt the ceremonial opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters.
Topics: federal-government, australia
Brisbane healing program brings more Aboriginal children to school Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A healing program in an Aboriginal school in Brisbane has been so successful at raising retention rates that it is now being rolled out in New South Wales. The pilot program is the only one of its type in Australia. It was designed by the school and community elders to reconnect families and help young people cope with the intergenerational trauma that was hampering their studies.
Topics: aboriginal, australia
Fears deadly shooting could affect political stability in Tunisia Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Gunmen opened fire on tourists at Tunisia's national museum last night, killing at least 17 people. There are now fears for what it might mean for political stability in Tunisia and the region. The World Today spoke to Adel Abdel Ghafar from the ANU's Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Topics: terrorism, foreign-affairs, world-politics, murder-and-manslaughter, tunisia
Indigenous funding shakeup puts remote youth centre at risk Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The Federal Government's major shakeup of Indigenous affairs funding has been on the agenda at a Close the Gap day breakfast in Darwin this morning. The head of an Indigenous health group says he's particularly concerned about cuts to a youth centre in the large remote Indigenous community of Maningrida in Arnhem Land.
Topics: indigenous-policy, australia
Lawyers, religious leaders, conservationists say WA anti-protest laws go too far Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Religious leaders, lawyers, farmers and environmentalists have joined forces to oppose the West Australian Government's proposed anti-protest laws. The Government is cracking down on radical protesters who disrupt lawful activity, but there are fears the legislation will criminalise peaceful demonstrations.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, wa
Australia must have a rational discussion about nuclear industry, says SA Premier Jay Weatherill Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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A royal commission into a nuclear industry in South Australia starts today. The issue has already drawn fierce criticism from conservation groups and the terms of reference have been altered in response. The inquiry will now take into account past nuclear experiences. The royal commission will report back in May 2016 and the Premier Jay Weatherill says Australia needs to have a rational discussion about the nuclear industry.
Topics: government-and-politics, australia
Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg commend Australia's cigarette plain packaging Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Two of the world's richest men, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, have joined forces in the global campaign against smoking. At an international conference in Abu Dhabi they've launched a fighting fund to support developing countries in their legal battles with big tobacco companies. Delegates to the conference are also looking at new evidence about the impact of Australia's plain packaging laws.
Topics: smoking, united-arab-emirates
Myer reveals 23pc drop in profits Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Myer's new chief executive Richard Umbers has unveiled a 23 per cent drop in profit just two weeks into his new job. The company has been battered by tough competition in the retail market, while the falling Australian dollar has driven up the cost of its imports.
US rates set to rise as Fed loses patience Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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The US Federal Reserve has given its strongest signal yet that it is considering an interest rate rise before the end of the year. The Fed dropped the assurance it would be patient about considering a rate hike but said any move would be dependent on economic data. The US dollar fell on the news, pushing the Australian dollar as high as 78.49 US cents.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, australia
24 hour jail time proposed to deter violent offenders Audio Transcript and Verbatim
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Academics are calling for 24-hour prison terms for family violence perpetrators who don't comply with court orders. A report by RMIT's Centre for Innovative Justice lists a range of ways courts can intervene earlier, to stop family violence.
Topics: domestic-violence, australia
