BTN: Episode 27 Transcript 19/09/17

Hi, I'm Amelia. Welcome to this week’s BTN!

Coming up today:

• We meet some kids from Florida whose home was in the path of Hurricane Irma.

• Find out why school uniforms have been making the news.

• And learn more about the famous Aussies on our new ten-dollar notes.

First, let's have a look at some of the big stories that've been making headlines over the past week.

This Week in News

World leaders have criticised North Korea for firing a missile over Japan last week.

It landed in the Pacific Ocean, around 2 thousand kays east of the island of Hokkaido.

While no-one was hurt, many leaders said it was a dangerous and threatening thing to do.

It came just a few days after the UN security council decided to bring in new sanctions against North Korea.

Sanctions are trade restrictions and they were designed to pressure North Korea into stopping its nuclear weapons program.

Now, leaders will meet to talk about what they're going to do next.

The Cassini spacecraft has ended its epic mission to explore Saturn.

These were the final pictures it took before plunging into the planet's atmosphere on Friday night.

The Deep Space Communication Complex in Canberra picked up the last radio contact.

COMMENTATOR: Hanging on, it's gone.

©ABC 2017 GLEN NAGLE, CSIRO: I think it was a bittersweet moment. It’s not like losing a family, friend or anything, it’s the end of the greatest TV show you’ve ever watched.

On the other side of the world NASA scientists said goodbye.

NASA SCIENTIST: This has been an incredible mission, an incredible spacecraft and you're all an incredible team.

They said, since it was launched 20 years ago Cassini has changed our understanding of Saturn and it's many moons.

Aussie actress Rebel Wilson has been awarded a record pay-out from the magazine publisher which was found guilty of defaming her.

Bauer Media published a series of articles which said Rebel had lied but the court found that wasn't true and that the articles had damaged her reputation.

It ordered the company to pay more than 4.5 million dollars which is the biggest defamation payout in Aussie history.

Rebel says she'll give some money to charity and some to the Australian film industry.

And some of Australia's best young artists have been recognised in this year's Young Archie awards.

They're the junior version of the Archibald which is a really famous portrait prize.

The youngest award winner was eight-year-old Poppy who drew herself.

Claire took out the 8 to 12-year-old category with this portrait of her cousin

And Jessica won the 13-15 award with this picture of her sister Eva.

JESSICA: Well, I wanted to capture a whole other side to her because usually we usually see her laughing and smiling, she’s so bubbly and colourful. I wanted to show a more solemn thoughtful side of her.

The 16-18-year-old section was taken out by Chantelle who painted her mum.

CHANTELLE: I did it to show gratitude for everything she’s done for me, all her support.

The judges said they were really impressed by all of this year’s entries.

©ABC 2017 Hurricane Irma Recovery Reporter: Ruby Cornish

INTRO: People in the Caribbean and the US have been cleaning up after Hurricane Irma. It was one of the biggest storms ever to hit the region and it affected tens of thousands of people. We've caught up with some kids from Florida who are still waiting to go back home. Take a look.

It's been a big week for sisters Gaby and Bella. While they've been here in North Carolina, their home state Florida faced one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.

BELLA: When I first heard the hurricane was coming it made me feel frightened because I realised I could have lost my whole house and everything I owned.

Gaby and Bella weren't alone.

Tens of thousands of people left Florida as the storm approached.

These guys spent a day driving to their holiday house with their family and their super cute doggo Chelsey.

GABY: She was very excited, I don't think she knew there was a hurricane really coming.

With so many people preparing for the storm, supermarkets were cleaned out pretty quickly.

GABY: I knew there was not going to be a lot of the water left but the whole aisle, everything from the bottles to the smallest things of water, it was all gone.

BELLA: And during the evacuation some cars were just left on the road because there wasn't enough gas to fill them and get them places.

From the safety of North Carolina, Bella and Gaby watched the story unfold on TV.

They know they were lucky compared to some other people. Irma did huge amounts of damage in places like Cuba where people are still coming to terms with what's happened.

WOMAN IN CUBA: I have lost everything. All my appliances, the furniture. Everything is wet. The cushions, the clothes and here I am waiting for help.

A third of all the buildings on the island Saint Martin, a Dutch Territory in the Caribbean Sea, were flattened by the storm.

©ABC 2017 RESIDENT: The situation in our neighbourhood, there's a lot of roofs gone, a lot of people lost their homes, cars are destroyed, all the trees are down.

Last week, the king of the Netherlands, Willem Alexander, visited to have a look at the damage and meet residents.

WILLEM ALEXANDER: We are doing our best to help everybody who needs assistance.

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, was there too visiting French territories in the Caribbean.

EMMANNUEL MACRON: What I want to do is to have a very fast recovery.

Meanwhile in the US, Gaby and Bella are waiting until traffic into Florida eases up before they head back home.

BELLA: The power of many places is still gone and there's not food so hopefully once the power is generated to the east coast of Florida, supermarkets can get food shipments, gas stations can get gas.

They still don't know exactly what they'll find there, but they've heard promising news about their neighbourhood.

GABY: Not like really bad but it's a few feet of flooding.

GABY: We're very happy that nothing happened to our house or community that really damaged it really hard. There's only easy to fix damage and all our friends and family are okay.

School Uniform Debate Reporter: Nic Maher

INTRO: Now to a story about school uniforms! What you wear to class has been in the news recently because of some new rules brought in by the Western Australian government. It's made it compulsory for state schools to let girls wear pants, rather than skirts, if they prefer and now Victoria's thinking of bringing in similar laws. Let's have a look.

STUDENT 1: I like our school colours they're blue red and white and they look really nice in the uniform

Like many kids around Australia. These guys go to a school with a strict uniform policy.

STUDENT 2: We're not allowed to wear any socks that aren't the school socks and we've got to wear a hat during summer so that’s term 1 and term 4.

©ABC 2017 But when it come to the girls’ uniform there are a few options. They can choose to either wear pants or skirts.

STUDENT 1: I just like the skirts because they're just what I've been wearing and I'm sort of use to it.

STUDENT 3: Well I really like the pants because they're really comfortable and to me they look really good.

While lots of other schools have a similar policy it's not the case everywhere. At some schools, girls’ uniforms mean dresses and skirts. While the boys wear shorts and pants and that's been causing a lot of debate. Recently a study from the University of Melbourne found that there was more chance of kids being active at lunchtime if they were wearing shorts or pants.

LAURE ROSEWARNE, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE: Research shows that you're more likely to be running around at lunch times if you're wearing shorts or pants as opposed to something like a dress which is more restrictive.

It's something these girls are pretty passionate about uniforms.

SOPHIA: Hi I'm Sophia

SOPHIE: And I'm Sophie

SOPHIA: And we're both 11 and from Perth

SOPHIA: Sophie and I believe girls should have the option of wearing shorts or trousers at school.

Recently Sophia wrote a letter to the Western Australia Education Minister. Saying it wasn't fair that she wasn't allowed to wear shorts or pants except during PE.

SOPHIA: A few months later we got a call from the education department and they told us that they were going to change the policy and that was really good news for me, my mum and all my friends.

Not only did Sophia's school change its policy, Western Australia's government made it compulsory for all state's public schools to offer girls a choice between dresses and pants and last week Victoria said it might bring in similar rules. The group called 'Girls Uniform Agenda' is campaigning for other states to follow.

SOPHIA: I think it will be great for every girl in Australia to have the choice of shorts or trousers including private schools because they like to do sport as much as we do and then everyone can be happy and free.

©ABC 2017 But not everyone agrees. Some reckon it should be up to individual schools to decide what their students wear and that kids should respect the uniform policy whatever the style.

Did You Know?

Did you know, Christ's Hospital School in the UK claims to have the oldest school uniform in existence! It says it's been using the same style of blue coat skirts or knee breeches and yellow socks for around 460 years!

Kangaroo Control Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: When you think of iconic Aussie animals, kangaroos are right up there. Our unique bouncy marsupials are loved around the world but some experts say in some places there are just too many off them! They say roos can actually do quite a bit of damage to the environment, and that we should think of culling them. But that's pretty controversial.

They're the Aussie icon that can be found just about anywhere like here, here, here oh and of course here, here, here, here. Yup, there are quite a few of these guys hopping around the country. In fact, according to the government there are around 47 million Kangaroos in Australia that's around 2 kangaroos for every 1 person. Hey guys. But experts say that's actually putting a big strain on the environment.

You see out beloved national emblem can be a bit of a pest in some areas. Here at Sandy Creek Conservation Park kangaroos are over grazing which means they're eating too much. That's a problem because a lot of these plants provide homes and food for other animals and if they're all eaten they might not grow back. It's something ecologist David Paton and his team have been monitoring. 15 years ago, they fenced off an area to keep out the roos. Today the plants here are thriving.

DAVID PATON, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE ECOLOGIST: You've come inside an area that's had exclusion fence put around which stops kangaroos from eating these plants, and this was as bare as bare like the outside is here, 15 years ago, and this is now established and re-established, and this is exactly how I remember it, when I used to come here in the 1970s and 1980s.

David says something needs to be done now to control the kangaroo population and protect the ecosystem in this area. While it might sound pretty extreme, he says the best solution would be to kill some of the kangaroos.

DAVID PATON, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE ECOLOGIST: I'm sure there'll be people who'd say, oh you can't cull a kangaroo, well, the argument against that is if you don't

©ABC 2017 cull the kangaroos or don't reduce their populations in some way, then you're going to lose a lot of other biodiversity, which is actually unique to this region.

Culling kangaroos isn't a new idea. Back in 2008 there was a kangaroo cull in Canberra because there were too many roos near a high security defence base and they were causing a lot of problems. But it's really controversial. Some say there's no need to kill kangaroos and they should be moved to another place instead.

SALLY SUTTON, ANIMAL LIBERATION SA: We're against all culling of kangaroos we don't believe that it's a good solution for problems of over population. We would advocate instead of doing a cull why not try re-locating.

Others say that a good way to keep roo numbers down is to encourage more people to eat kangaroo meat. And while eating our national emblem might seem a bit weird it's pretty common and some experts say it's a much more sustainable meat than beef for instance because there are so many kangaroos in the wild. But for some the best place for these guys will always be out here in the bush.

New $10 Note

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

If you're lucky enough to get your hands on a ten dollar note in the next few weeks you might notice something a little different! Australia's tenners have just been given a make-over! They have some very cool new features along with two familiar faces. We thought it was a good time to find out more about the famous Aussies who star on our ten-dollar notes.

When you're a bank note, people are always touching your face. Stuffing you in their wallets, and exchanging you for, well, whatever. Hopefully something fun, like donuts.

Luckily, bank notes don't have feelings. I think. And being on the front of one of these would actually be pretty awesome. This week, one of our much-loved bank notes is getting a makeover. The $10 note. And no, I am not on it.

It's got some super fancy improvements, like a tactile feature to help visually impaired people recognise which note is which. And security designed to make it hard to copy, like a big transparent window, complex holograms and areas that are only visible under UV light. But there are also some familiar faces, two Australian writers who have played important roles in the history of our nation.

First up, this guy with the hat. Banjo Paterson. Real name, Andrew Barton Paterson. He called himself Banjo because it was the name of his favourite horse. He was born in 1864. He became a lawyer and a journalist, and even a war correspondent. But most famously, he was a bush poet!

©ABC 2017 Banjo wrote about Aussie life as he saw it, in poems, short stories and novels.

He wrote Waltzing Matilda, and The Man from Snowy River.

REPORTER: And it's this poem you can read on the existing ten-dollar note. Although it is microprinted, so you need a magnifying glass, or some freakishly good eyes to read it. I still can't read it.

Anyway, that famous saying about there being two sides to every banknote is true here. This writer may not be quite as famous, but she's just as legendary. Dame Mary Gilmore was born in 1865. She became a schoolteacher, and was really passionate about social issues, like helping the poor and fighting for the rights of Aboriginal people. As well as women's suffrage. That is, their right to vote.

She wrote articles for newspapers, and published stories and poems, many about country life. One of her most famous works, 'No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest', is on the ten-dollar note as well. She wrote it during the second world war to inspire Australians.

VOICE OF LLOYD LAMBLE, ACTOR: We are the sons of Australia, of the men who fashioned the land. We are the sons of the women, who walked with them, hand in hand.

Mary became a hugely famous literary figure, and kept writing throughout her later life, publishing her last book when she was 89! She died in 1962, at the age of 97.

Both Banjo Patterson, and Mary Gilmore were hugely influential Aussies who have earned their spot on the ten-dollar note. So soon you'll have the chance to carry around an updated version of these icons, and touch their faces. Or just buy stuff with them. Whatever.

Quiz

Ok, let's do a money quiz!

How many women appear on Australia's banknotes?

The answer is five! There's a woman on every one of them.

Daniel Ricciardo's taken out 2nd place at the Singapore Grand Prix.

DANIEL RICCIARDO: A little bit disappointed obviously to miss out on a win but I still gotta be pretty grateful and happy with another podium.

He finished behind Lewis Hamilton whose biggest rival, Sebastian Vettel, was involved in a crash early in the race.

But it was this smelly incident during the post-match media conference that got heads turning for all the wrong reasons.

Try to keep it together now that this mate next to me just farted!

Finals footy is heating up. The Giants are a step closer to the grand final after beating the Eagles by 67 points.

They'll play Richmond on Saturday but go in as underdogs. Geelong take on Adelaide after thrashing the Swans on Friday night.

In NRL both the North Queensland Cowboys and The Brisbane Broncos have made it through to next week's preliminary finals.

The Cowboys defeated the Eels 24 to 16.

And the Broncos got up over the Panthers 13 to 6.

To tennis and Australia's crashed out of the Davis Cup in Brussels after taking a 2 -1 lead in the semis, the Aussies needed just one more win to make it through to the final against France.

But it all came to an end with Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson both losing their matches.

And the Matildas have defeated Brazil 2 -1 at a friendly match in Sydney. They played in front of a sold-out crowd and dominated all the way.

It's the first of a 2-match series.

The BTN Happiness Survey finishes this Friday so if your class hasn't filled it out yet make sure you jump online.

All it takes is 6 minutes to share your thoughts on what life is like for a kid today and in return you'll be a part of international research into the lives of children.

We've had more than 38 thousand responses, which is a record making it the biggest survey of kids' mental health in Aussie history.

But we want as many as possible, so please jump onto our website and share your feelings today.

Minecraft Playground

Reporter: Ruby Cornish

INTRO: How would you like to design a whole playground that kids? Well, you're about meet some school kids who got to do just that. A few years ago, they won a competition asking them to design a park using the game Minecraft and now they're getting to see their ideas come to life. Let's have a look.

It's definitely not your average play equipment. This new timber playground at Morialta Conservation Park in South Australia is way bigger and probably a lot trickier to navigate than most play equipment you're used to. And that's not the only unusual thing about these awesome climbable creations.

ISABELLE: Over there is the kookaburra's nest, and over there is frog island a snake maze and an eagle's nest.

A group of tech-savvy kids helped to design them! Way back in 2015 we spoke to some students from Linden Park Primary about a competition they entered. They had to design a National Park using the computer game Minecraft.

Well, drumroll please. They won! And the prize was pretty awesome. Professional designers joined forces with the winners to help bring their vision to life.

LISANA: Minecraft is about building and using your imagination, and it's fun to do that.

ISABELLE: Children have more different ideas, more out-there ideas.

They took the best ideas from the Minecraft project, did some modifications and turned them into real-life pieces of play equipment for a real-life park. It’s made out of re-used wood from an old out-of-action bridge.

This dizzy-making maze has become a giant snake to climb on or through. The Minecraft duck pond has transformed into Frog Island, with a creek to rock-hop over and shelters to hide in.

It also features some designs by a local Aboriginal artist.

As for this gigantic leafy sea-dragon. Well it was way too big to build for real, so instead they created the towering Eagle's Perch with a climb to the top and a slippery-dip to the bottom.

I tested this one out myself to make sure it was as fun as it looked!

REPORTER: This Minecraft creation shows us how it can be useful to use computer programs to design things like parks before we bring them to life. It gives us a sense of how things will look and feel before they're actually built.

The designers say they're really happy with how their park's turned out.

ISABELLE: It's safe for everybody but everybody can have fun as well.

ALEXIS: Some of the ideas we used, we didn't think that little kids like this would like it. We thought that maybe it was for older kids. But everyone likes it and it's for all ages and I'm glad that everyone likes it.

And watching other kids enjoy their creation is the best prize of all.

ISABELLE: It's actually exciting for all 30 of us, all 30 students.

LISANA: It makes me really happy how everyone really likes it and how it turned out so it's really cool.

Closer

And that's BTN for this term. We'll be taking a break over the next few weeks but you can still check out the news every weekday on BTN Newsbreak.

Enjoy the school holidays and we'll see you soon!