BtN: Episode 15 Transcript 4/6/13 On this week's Behind the News: We turn the spotlight on malaria it's a big killer in some countries so what's being done to fight it? Community radio has launched many young people's careers but its own future is less certain. And how do you go dog sledding with no snow? Well hopefully not like this. Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today we meet an inspirational women's footy team who are making their mark in the sport. But first today let's get a wrap up of the main news stories this week. Here's Matt with the Wire. The Wire The US has been hit with more tornadoes. At least thirteen people have died; among them three professional storm chasers. Tim Samaras and his team were part of a tornado research company. It was their job to get as close as possible to the storms and take photos and measurements. While the tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma nearby states have also been hit with severe storms. There have been huge protests in the country of Turkey. It began as a protest against a property development in the city of Istanbul. But now, it's become something much bigger. Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the Government. They want Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, to resign. But he says they're just trying to cause trouble. .... There's a risk people have been exposed to dangerous building material asbestos at some NBN worksites. Several sites in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have had to be shut down after asbestos was disturbed by workers. The Government's looking at what it can do to help those affected. .... Mandawuy Yunupingu, the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, has died at the age of 56. He was well known for his award-winning music. His band released six albums between 1988 and the year 2000 and in 1992 won song of the year with Treaty. 1 In 2012 he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Yunupingu also broke records outside of music. He was the first Indigenous Australian from Arnhem Land to get a university degree and in 1990 became the country's first Aboriginal school principal. Aussie Cars Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: Recently Ford said it is going to close its factories in Australia. Many people will lose their jobs and communities will be affected. So why is Ford closing its doors and what does that mean for the future of the car industry here? Sarah finds out. Here in the urban jungle, it's possible to spot a species that many describe as endangered. KID: There's one. The Australian made car, capable of causing fierce passion amongst enthusiasts. FORD SUPPORTER: Ford rocks. And bouts of national pride. They're getting harder to spot amongst the introduced species but that wasn't always the case. Australia got its first car factory way back in 1925 when the Canadian Ford Motor Company opened a factory in Geelong, Victoria. A few years later a former Adelaide saddle maker called Holden joined up with America's General Motors and went into the car business. At first they made copies of overseas models but then they started designing cars just for Australia. Like the world's first ute from Ford and Australia's own Holden. OLD HOLDEN AD: Australia. The time, 1945. The challenge to establish a full scale automotive manufacturing industry. Being able to drive a car made from scratch in Australia was a pretty big thing for a young country. It meant more jobs and more profit for Australian businesses. And people loved their big tough Aussie machines. OLD HOLDEN AD: We love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. Models like the Ford Falcon and the Holden Kingswood became the country's top selling cars. And other companies started their own factories in Australia. But times changed, cars changed. Aussie factories started to struggle and one by one they closed. Now there are only three left, Toyota, Holden and Ford. KID: I wonder why they all disappeared. There are lots of reasons. One was that governments made it easier and cheaper for overseas companies to sell their cars here. For customers, that meant more choice and better value but it was hard for Australian factories to compete. Workers here have to be paid more than in some 2 overseas factories and when the Aussie dollar is high it's much more expensive to make cars in Australia. Plus, tastes changed. Instead of the big Aussie models more people started buying smaller cars from overseas. In the past ten years sales of Ford Falcons have gone from more than 70,000 a year to less than 20,000. The company is losing money. And in three years, it will close its doors forever. 1,200 people will lose their jobs. Then there are the many businesses who make parts and supply equipment to Ford and the community that's built around the factory. For them it's devastating and for Ford fans it's the end of an era. And things aren't good at the other factories either. Some reckon there will come a time in the not-too- distant future when no cars at all are made in Australia KID: Has anyone tried to stop them from disappearing? They have. In the past few years the Government has spent billions on trying to help the struggling car makers. Some say that was a waste. The say car makers are businesses like any other and they shouldn't get handouts from taxpayers when they don't make a profit. Some reckon the Government should be focusing on more modern and innovative businesses that are doing things better than they're done overseas. But others say the country can't afford to lose its manufacturing industry. They reckon the Government needs to do more to keep Australian made cars from going the way of the dinosaur. Online Poll OK let's make that our poll this week. The question is: Should the Government give money to help car manufacturers? To vote just head to our website. Malaria Reporter: Nathan Bazley INTRO: The disease malaria is one of the biggest killers of children in the world. So why don't we hear more about it? Well this week one of the world's richest people visited Australia to raise awareness about the disease and what can be done to fight it. NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: There is a disease that can strike anywhere, at any time. It is baldness. Okay so baldness is probably more of an affliction than a disease. And at worst, it might cause some minor scalp coldness. But despite this, $3.5 billion dollars is spent each year trying to fix it. 3 Now here's a disease that is infinitely more serious. It's called malaria and it's most common in some of the poorest countries on earth. Each year, 219 million people contract it and 660,000 die from it, most of them kids. You'd expect that the world would be throwing money at this horrible problem. But the total is $547 million, far, far less than the money spent on baldness, which to the best of my knowledge is rarely fatal. One man who's trying to bring this unfortunate fact to the world's attention is Bill Gates. He's the man who made a ridiculous amount of money starting Microsoft. Now he donates a ridiculous amount of money to charity. BILL GATES: When you're lucky enough to have substantial wealth, what are the possibilities? You can build a pyramid, you can have 400 people fan you, there's kind of a limit to consumption. If you feel like a citizen of the world and want to help humanity, then you ask, where is the greatest injustice? He says the biggest tragedy of malaria is the fact that it can be prevented and treated, but the funding just isn't there to do it. Let's find out how the disease is spread and how it can be stopped. In Australia, mozzie attacks are all too common. They can be annoying but they're not usually a big deal. But overseas, one bite can be the difference between life and death. You see, malaria is actually a parasite that's carried by mosquitoes in some countries. They infect people through their saliva when they bite. So the first key to stopping this disease is stopping mozzies. Two of the most effective weapons are bed nets and spraying. Bed nets stop the mozzies biting people at night, when they're often on the hunt for blood. And spraying houses and still water with chemicals can help reduce their numbers. But these two tactics won't stop malaria for good. So that's where medicine comes in. Quite a few drugs have been discovered that are effective against most types of malaria. But there is a problem that keeps coming up again and again. Over time, malaria can develop a resistance to them, so new ones need to be uncovered. That's why a vaccine would be really handy. With a vaccine, aid groups say they would stand a good chance of wiping out the disease. But while scientists have announced they're close many times of over the last decade, a vaccine still hasn't been released.