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November 4th, 2009

Mark - Breakfast E-P: …

Well … we got HALF the Exacta here on ABC NewsRadio yesterday.

Firstly — with help of National Australia Bank’s Dave de Garis — we faithfully promised you a quarter-percentage point increase at 2:30pm Eastern Summer Time.

And the Reserve Bank of Australia duly delivered.

Bit of a different story in the Melbourne at 3pm.

Deb Spillane & our Racing Editor Helen Thomas said “Go Bart”.

Ah well, it’s not like we were alone in tipping “Viewed” & “Roman Emperor”….with “Allez Wonder” as an outside chance.

Not that any of that should take away from a terrific run by “Shocking”, a faultless preparation by Mark Kavanagh and a brave ride by Corey Brown.

But what really struck me about yesterday was the “Australianness” of it all:

+ The tormented jockey who finally cracked the Cup on his ninth attempt

+The long queue around the corner in the ABC Newsroom as young and old lined up to get their horses in Cup sweeps.

+The idiot-proof Melbourne Cup betting slips in the TAB for the once-a-year punters.

+The glasses of cheap champers passed around in plastic cups in offices all around the country.

+The nation glued to a TV set or a radio for an agonising three minutes.

+The frocks and fascinators at Flemington.

+The early starters crashed out in the car park.

+My 5-year old winning the “Best Dressed Lady” award at her sweltering kindy Cup Day BBQ.

A great national celebration.

What got me thinking about all this?

I was listening to the BBC via ABC NewsRadio last night and I heard that in France, President Sarkozy’s government has launched a “grand” debate about what it means to be French.

“The national soul-searching will bring together students, parents, teachers, unions, religious leaders and others to mull over such questions as whether youths should be required to sing the national anthem at least once a year, how to integrate immigrants, and whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear veils”, according to Ireland’s Independent newspaper.

The aim, according to the Christian Science Monitor, is “How to define French tradition at a time when France faces burgeoning African, Arab, and Asian immigrants, and other changes in a globalising world.”

Is one of the world’s great cultures, with its amazing tradition of gastronomy, literature, art, music, architecture, philosophy and political thought really facing such a crisis of confidence that it feels the need to define exactly what it is to be Gallic?

That it feels that there’s no symbol or occasion that everyone in France could rally around and celebrate?

Maybe they could start by declaring a national holiday for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe…..

November 3rd, 2009

Helen Thomas - Racing Editor: …

A day is a long time in the life of a racehorse, especially at this time of year.

Anything can and often does go wrong before a race, which makes the fact that our grand trainer Bart Cummings has three runners in the 2009 Melbourne Cup even more astonishing!

The two miles will test every runner, but Bart’s trio - VIEWED, ROMAN EMPEROR and ALLEZ WONDER - have a genuine chance of giving him his first trifecta in the event.

Of the three, VIEWED is aiming for consecutive victories - a huge task.

But it’s fair to say he’s the best horse in the field; Reg Fleming, Bart’s foreman in Melbourne, says he’s the toughest horse he’s ever worked with.

So the stallion should create yet another piece of history for this wonderful stable!

But watch for the mares DAFFODIL and LEICA DING to be flying home too…

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Debbie Spillane - Sport ..

This may well be one of those blogs that, around 3:05pm (EDST) today I’ll wish I hadn’t written. But here goes.

It really has me puzzled how some good horse racing judges I know (yes, I’m looking at you Scott Wales and James Coventry!) can be talking up the chances of Alcopop in today’s Melbourne Cup.

Nobody loves a romantic racing story more than I do and it’d be wonderful stuff if the horse trained on a beach in South Australia by rookie trainer, Jake Stephens, could win Australia’s greatest race after an unconventional career that’s involved being used to muster cattle and having a stint as a polo referee’s horse. What would make it even more real life “National Velvet” is that his jockey Dom Tournier has never ridden in any race at Flemington, let alone something as high-pressure as the Melbourne Cup.

If this was the story behind a 50-1 chance I’d be tempted to have few sentimental bucks on Alcopop myself, but I’m sorry, having a dollar on a horse with a CV like that to win maybe $6 when he’s up against three horses prepared by the old master, Bart Cummings just doesn’t seem like value to me.

The case for Alcopop is that he’s unbeaten this campaign and was very impressive in winning the Herbert Power Stakes on October 10 over 2400 metres. That form was made to look even better when Shocking, the horse who finished behind him in that race, streeted the field in the Saab Quality at Flemington on Saturday.

But the question for me is, how does a rookie trainer prepare a horse to be ready for the Cup’s 3200 metres? Two mile races are such a rarity most trainers don’t know until the race is run whether their horses can last the distance, they just learn from experience what sort of preparation gives them the best chance. That’s what makes Cummings so formidable. Everyone’s talking about his 12 Melbourne Cup winners, but there would be dozens and dozens more that he’s prepared over the past four decades that haven’t won that he’s learned just as much from.

Alcopop’s trainer is undoubtedly an experienced and accomplished horseman, but he’s facing an incredibly specialist challenge today. Alcopop is undoubtedly a horse with an amazing turn of foot, but plenty of horses who’ve been brilliant over one and a half miles haven’t had the stamina to win over two. Jockey Dom Tourneur says he’ll treat the Melbourne Cup as just another race but tell that to sports stars of all stripes who’ve felt the paralysis of big occasion nerves.

If you really like the Alcopop form line go with Shocking who looked great in the Herbert Power and was sharp as a tack in his win on Saturday. He’s prepared by Mark Kavanagh who’s at least trained a Cox Plate winner and will be ridden by the very experienced Corey Brown.

Me, I’ve had a bit on both Roman Emperor and Viewed, so it’ll probably be Bart’s third runner, the mare Allez Wonder, who wins. Or Alcopop. If he does, then I’ll learn something I suppose - namely whether losing face hurts more than what I usually lose: money.

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Marius Benson - Politics …

If you are keeping a diary of Australian politics you should circle Melbourne Cup Day 2009.

It is the day things changed. The day that after two years of spinning their wheels and slipping further and further into the electoral mud, the opposition finally got some traction - Newspoll finally showed the numbers changing.

It was apparent the day before the Newspoll came out that something was up.

Government ministers are a daily part of the NewsRadio news diet and it is my happy task to line them up each evening for interviews the next morning. Those requests meet with general but far from universal success.

What almost never happens is that ministers volunteer themselves for a chat. On Melbourne Cup eve that general rule was broken.

And the enthusiasm of the ministry to get the message out was dwarfed by the Prime Minister who managed five radio interviews in an hour before heading for the studio to do the 7:30 Report.

There was a clear sense of “all hands on deck” and you’d suspect that was prompted by an early word on the Newspoll reversal.

Kevin Rudd has been under pressure from some quarters to use some of the political capital which he holds as Mr 70% to take some moral leadership on the asylum seeker issue. Union leaders have been urging him to bring the 78 people on board the Oceanic Viking to Australia.

The PM has rejected the calls to scale those moral heights, but the issue has still seen him come if not crashing to earth to at least settle into a terrestrial orbit. He has become Mr 59% without winning any praise from the moral high ground advocates.

And if there was any chance of the 78 refugees at the eye of the storm being brought to Australia, it vanished with the Newspoll numbers.

November 2nd, 2009

Glen - Breakfast Host …

I’m just back from a few weeks in the US making the most of the exchange rate and the beautiful Autumn weather.

Highlights were plentiful - here’s an edited version.

Kandinsky retrospective at the Guggenheim museum in New York - a stellar collection that refuses to be overshadowed by one of the best designed art spaces in the world.

The Metropolitan Museum in NY and its Robert Frank exibition of photographs from his book ‘The Americans’

The new Highline walk on an old train line above the Meatpacking district of NYC. Coffee, deckchairs and a view of the Hudson river.

The astoundingly comprehensive Newseum in Washington - the history of media and journalism over 6 floors that takes at least two days to absorb ( ticket is valid for two days)

A city where cabs charge by distance not time so its in their interest to get you there fast. $10 cab rides cross town !

The East Village and Soho and their bargain bohemia.

Pizza at Sals in Little Italy.

A subway system with regular services and tickets for $2.50

Restaurants, restaurants, restaurants - open all night and anything possible.

Music at The Bitter End on Bleecker St in the village.

The National Gallery on the Mall in Washington and its fantastic permanent collection.

Cut price tickets for Broadway shows with Julia Stiles and Sienna Miller.

Shopping, shopping, shopping - at prices without the hideous mark ups we face here ( all hail Century 21 in NYC and the funky stores of Soho)

The top floor bar at the Bentley Hotel uptown with its killer view of the East river and its many bridges.

Being in NY when the Yankees win the championships and make the World Series.

Central Park in Fall with its stunning golden leaves and colours and miles of open space.

I could go on… and probably will…

___

Mark - Breakfast E.P. ….

Don’t you just hate people who go on and on about their amazing holidays, while the rest of us slave away at the coal-face?

(Sigh!)

But in case you’re saving up for your next holiday, I’ll hope you’ve noticed our Spring Carnival tipping record in this blog…

Well, our racing editor Helen Thomas’ tips anyway.

Helen picked the winner of the Victoria Derby “Monaco Consul” and was spot on when she said the Mackinnon would be a battle between “Scenic Shot” & “Viewed”.

(Of course what she didn’t tell you - or me for that matter - grrrrrr -was that one of her favourite horses, Miss Maren, would poke her head in between the two of those runners, collecting Helen a nice fat Trifecta!)

Helen also tipped “Viewed” would win the Caulfield Cup and said “So You Think” would be in the mix for the Cox Plate.

Given all that, you might want to come back here tomorrow and see what her tip is for the big one.

However, I think you can safely assume she’ll be tipping a horse that’s name begins with a “V” and is trained by a certain J.B. Cummings.

Helen will definitely NOT be tipping “Gallions Reach”.

I got a very amusing email this morning from a well-respected form analyst whose cutting comments on the gee-gees he reckons are no hopers for the Cup are priceless.

Next to “Gallions Reach” he’s written:

“Oh Dwayne (Dunn), what are you doing? Do you really need the riding fee?”

Ouch!

October 30th, 2009

Marius - Politics …

In the 19th century Lord Acton was probably regarded by his pals as a moral giant and an intellectual colossus, but today he is remembered for just one short quote.

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

He apparently wrote this in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887.

If he were writing today he could have added a PS along the lines of: “Over time, power also tends to be centralised into fewer and fewer hands.”

Decades ago Australian governments were made up of a Prime Minister, some key senior ministers and the rest. But the rest were not mute observers, their noses pressed to the windows of the PM’s office as they gazed in awe at the exercise of executive government.

Parliament had a bigger role then and more people were having their say. The former Labor MP Barry Cohen recently pointed out in a column in the Spectator that question time used to involve a few questions to Prime Ministers from Opposition leaders. Then it was the turn of backbenchers to raise genuine local inquiries.

Today question time is substantially an attempted cross examination of the PM by Malcolm Turnbull. The difficulty for the opposition leader is that the witness doesn’t have to answer any questions and can, in fact, spend his time abusing the prosecuting counsel. And he appointed the judge.

Opposition backbenchers are almost never heard in question time while on the government sides their only role is as the stooge who asks the minister a Dorothy Dixer.

“First among equals” has always been a glib phrase for anyone trying to describe the subtle pre-eminence of a PM in cabinet. Like some other revered sayings - “The exception proves the rule” - it is nonsense, a lie.

The “first” part is right, but forget about anyone else being equal to the PM. John Howard was not the only voice in cabinet, but he was much the most powerful, none was equal. Not even close.

The present government has the PM and an inner circle of Gillard, Swan and Tanner, and a lot of planning has gone into ensuring no ill-disciplined outsiders cloud any issues.

At the moment the issue the government sees as the most dangerous is that of asylum seekers. As the days of the stand off with the refugees on board the Oceanic Viking ticked over, fewer government voices were heard on the issue, as the inner circle tried to control a debate with a lot of potential to harm the government.

With the government in deeply defensive mode the only heads seen above the parapet for days were the PM and the Foreign Minister. Gaffer tape was freely available to any other government member who might feel chatty.

Ministers are now more timid that ever about speaking out, even in their own areas, without clearance from on high.

By the way Lord Acton’s famous quote should be let run for a few more words. After remarking on the corrupting tendency of power he noted: ” Great men are almost always bad men.”

___

Mark - Breakfast E.P. …

Thanks again to Anna Hipsley for piloting the Breakfast ship again this week through a sea of news — from the waters of the Indonesian archipelago, through the shoals of strife in Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the US economy — apparently out of the doldrums and hoisting the spinnaker in a stiff breeze.

I thought I should mention the last item we played on Breakfast this week — an excerpt from BBC World’s “Hardtalk”.

The guest on the confrontational interview program this week?

None other than one John Winston Howard.

Host Stephen Sackur’s questions actually provide a fascinating insight into how Australia is viewed from outside….on everything from Iraq to asylum seekers.

And John Howard provides a feisty defence of his government and its policies.

It’s worth watching in full.

You can see it here on the Hardtalk web-site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/default.stm

Don’t forget Max Presnell, Helen Thomas and Scott Wales will be along on Sunday morning at 10am Eastern Summer Time on ABC NewsRadio with “Weekend Halftime at the Races”, wrapping up a huge day tomorrow at Flemington with no less than four Group Ones, including the Victoria Derby and the Mackinnon Stakes. They’ll also be previewing Tuesday’s $5.5 million Melbourne Cup.

Helen likes Kiwi stayer “Monaco Consul” for the Derby.

Scott agrees.

But Max believes it’s impossible to go past current favourite, “Shamoline Warrior”.

And the Mackinnon Stakes?

Helen reckons it will be between “Scenic Shot” and the Caulfield Cup winner (and last year’s Melbourne Cup hero) the Bart Cummings trained “Viewed”.

Scott likes “Vigor”. In fact this race is make-or-break for the Caulfield Cup place-getter. If “Vigor” wins, Danny O’Brien’s charge gets into the Melbourne Cup.

“If he gets into the Melbourne Cup, he’ll go close to winning that as well,” muses Scott.

Max likes “Rangirangdoo” in the Mackinnon. In fact he suggests taking a Quinella with “Rangirangdoo” and “Racing to Win” to add some value.

My tip?

If you can’t be at Flemington, sit back with a cold beer, turn on the telly, and enjoy what many argue is the greatest day of racing in the world.

Have a great weekend.

October 29th, 2009

Mark - Breakfast E.P. …

Congratulations to John O’Sullivan.

He’s the winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for 2009, which was announced last night by Kevin Rudd at a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra.

Until last night, you’d probably never heard of him - but odds-on you, or a member of your family, is using or has used the wireless technology for computers developed by John O’Sullivan and a team at the CSIRO.

In fact, it’s estimated that nearly a billion people every day use the patented WiFi technology developed by O’Sullivan and his colleagues, which makes wireless LAN systems fast and robust.

John O’Sullivan’s discovery is particularly interesting, because it goes to the heart of the old argument about whether taxpayers (through government institutions, like universities and research bodies) should fund so called “pure” or “blue-sky” research, or only fund specific industry-linked science which would initially appear to have a greater commerical appeal.

His great breakthrough resulted not from working in the IT area, but in fact in the seemingly unrelated area of astronomy.

Using a set of mathematical equations known as Fourier transforms, O’Sullivan developed technology designed to filter out much of the cosmic “noise” and distortion produced by the earth’s atmosphere when observing distant galaxies.

Years later, when CSIRO was looking to commercialise some of it’s research in the area of radio physics, John O’Sullivan and his colleagues realised that their expertise in trying to “clean” up images and radio signals from the furthest reaches of space could be put to other uses.

“We realised that our skills with antennas, signal processing, and radio design might allow us to cut the network cable that linked every office computer,” he says.

Their work eventually led to a computer chip incorporating their technology — a chip that lies at the heart of the LAN wireless connections of most laptops.

So far, their invention has meant nearly $200 million in royalty payments for the CSIRO, with more licencing agreements expected to be struck soon.

CSIRO’s head, Dr. Megan Clark, told ABC Radio’s Monica Attard this week that the windfall will all be invested back into research:

“We’re looking at really sort of four or five key areas. Particularly long term research. You know, you’ve seen it took 15 years. Our wireless LANs started in space research. Making sure we reinvest in those sort of opportunities that sometimes need nurturing. We’ll be looking at scholarship areas as we’ve done with the first announcement of 30 new scholarships. Certainly our partnership with Macquarie (University), a new chair at Macquarie - new infrastructure that has a national significance. So we’ll be looking at some key areas. So the national challenges, new frontiers, infrastructure, scholarships and really reinvesting back into areas that might produce the next one.”

Maybe “blue sky” research isn’t so “pie-in-the-sky” after all.

October 28th, 2009

Marius - Politics: …

One of the more engaging recurring scenes in our great democratic pageant is, or are, “the doors.”

This is the scene played out each morning that federal parliament sits, which gives MP’s arriving at the doors of Parliament House their chance to get their eight seconds in the media sunlight.

Doing the “doors” is one of the daily tasks of press gallery journalists. Lying in wait in the expectation of another dissident spray from Wilson Tuckey, or Barnaby Joyce - red faced and dripping sweat in a torn footy jersey - adding some new strain to Coalition relations.

A recent contribution came from Tony Abbott, always a good man with a grab.

With the Government battling to find some way to find at least a temporary resting place for the 78 asylum seekers on board the Australian customs ship, the Oceanic Viking, various Opposition members were volunteering compelling metaphorical links between the ship adrift in northern waters and the Government’s refugee policy. But Tony Abbott narrowed it down.

The Oceanic Viking, he said, was like the “Maria Celeste.” A quick Google before he hit the doors would have reminded him that he meant the Marie Celeste. (In fact, Google says the ship in question was named the Mary Celeste, but popular mis-use has it as Marie.)

But the striking characteristic of the Marie/Marie Celeste when it was found drifting in the Atlantic in 1872 was that, far from being crowded with refugees or anyone else, it was deserted. Sailing in clear weather, in full sail, but nobody - not a soul - on board.

The Marie Celeste is a great, mysterious image, but a more compelling parallel in history with the Oceanic Viking, as it wanders from port to port in search of someone who will take its human cargo, is the St Louis.

In May, 1939 the St Louis sailed from Hamburg for Cuba. On board were more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler’s Germany.

They reached Cuba safely, but were refused entry. They were then bounced around the world. The United States would not let them in and tried to pressure Cuba to review it’s rejection. Finally about two thirds, more than 600, of the passengers were returned to Europe.

Of those, it’s estimated nearly half ended up back in the hands of the Nazi regime they had been fleeing and were murdered in the death camps.

Today, those refugees on the St Louis look out at us distantly from monochrome images, nervous smiles framed by the ship’s portholes.

How could those men women and children be sent back to Hitler’s genocide?

Compassion has always been in limited supply around the world, whether it’s 1939 or 2009.

Mark - Breakfast E.P. …

A minor correction to my piece about Radio Australia yesterday.

I got some of my audience figures a bit mixed up.

Radio Australia has about half a million regular listeners in Indonesia and it’s estimated about 2 million listeners overall.

Thanks to John Westland - RA’s Rebroadcasts Manager - for pointing out my error.

Westie’s an old mate of mine who’s been part of RA for years.

He’s been doing plenty of digging into the archives for the 70th anniversary celebrations and even he’s been surprised at what he’s found out about the organisation at which he’s worked for three decades.

For example, why was Sir Robert Menzies always so fond of Radio Australia?

Of course, “Australia Calling” (as RA was originally called) was set up the Menzies Government as Australia’s own wartime propaganda station.

It was officially opened by Sir Robert on the 20th of December 1939 - which also happened to be Ming’s birthday.

So when he turned 80, Menzies agreed to do only one broadcast interview: with Radio Australia.

Old Bob regarded RA as his baby, and always kept it close to his heart…along with Dame Pattie, the Queen, and probably most important of all, the Carlton footy club.

October 27th, 2009

Mark - Breakfast EP: …

When I came into the foyer of the ABC early yesterday morning, I saw a big display to mark Radio Australia’s 70th birthday.

It made me feel rather mortal, as I was working at Radio Australia when it had its 50th birthday celebrations back in 1989.

For those who don’t know, Radio Australia is the ABC’s overseas service.

Bizarrely, it’s one of the success stories of Australian broadcasting that’s better known overseas than at home.

You may have heard us play a short montage during our programs on ABC NewsRadio this week with tributes to “RA”, as it’s affectionately known, from former PNG Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan, Solomon Islands PM Dr. Derek Sikua, and Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

“It’s a great part of the ABC and it’s a great face and a great voice of Australia offshore”, says Mr. Smith.

It all started in 1939, as the Menzies Government’s own wartime propaganda mouthpiece “Australia Calling” (at one stage it was shared between the Department of Information and the Orwellian-named Psychological Warfare Section) … but was soon taken over by the ABC and quickly established a reputation for independence, accuracy and unparalleled coverage of the Asia-Pacific region.

Often that fearlessly independent coverage of events got the ABC and the Australian government into hot water.

Authoritarian governments, like the Suharto regime, didn’t appreciate RA broadcasting unsanitised and independent news back into Indonesia in Bahasa…or English, for that matter.

It was one of the reasons the ABC wasn’t allowed to base a correspondent in Jakarta for a decade.

When I was at RA in the late ‘80s, we were still mainly broadcasting via the short-wave technology that had been around since the First World War.

One of the most listened-to programs then was the “Propagation Report” — to the uninitiated listener a strange 5-minute listing of solar activity.

In fact, the number and severity of solar flares on the sun had a direct impact on the quality of RA’s short-wave signal around the world.

It meant footy-starved expats in Europe wouldn’t be able to listen to the news or hear Collingwood versus Carlton at the MCG — like I once did on a bus in France.

Now, as well as short-wave, RA broadcasts through a number of local relays, FM transmitters and cable providers in major Asian and Pacific cities.

It was also one of the first radio stations in the world to take internet broadcasting seriously.

There’s no hard and fast numbers of listeners, but here are some pretty impressive figures.

A five-country survey in the Pacific last year showed that 10-15% of the available radio audience listened to RA at least once a week.

In Vanuatu, where a lot of RA material is re-packaged for local radio, that figure is a stunning 58%.

It’s estimated about 2 million people listen to RA in Indonesia every week.

And when RA started broadcasting English lessons on-air about 20 years ago, they were getting hundreds of thousands of letters every year — particularly from China and Indonesia — asking for the free reading material that came with course.

Audience survey experts have estimated that for every letter received, there’s between 20 and 50 more listeners who either couldn’t be bothered or in many cases can’t afford to send letters to request more information.

It’s an amazing achievement in terms of audience reach for a small unit of the ABC in Melbourne that’s been giving the world an Australian perspective for 70 years.

October 26th, 2009

Marius - politics …

What is it about foreign affairs that brings out the ornate, the elaborate, the circumlocutory in a person?

There is in diplomacy a default setting of excessive formality in dress and address which seems to have a powerful effect on all who exercise the craft.

Australia’s longest serving Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, embodied the culture.

A patrician Adelaide up-bringing, topped up with a stint in Foreign Affairs, provided ideal preparation for the role he chose for himself when he stepped down from his brief, if eye-catching, spell as Liberal leader.

There was something about the Downer manner that gave the sense that he had stepped onto the stage of Canberra straight from the court of Louis XlV.

The Downer curls may not have cascaded across the his shoulders quite as luxuriantly as Louis’s. But the well-turned ankle, clad in hose, that Louis revealed in portraits was perfectly matched in the legendary shot of Downer in fishnets.

And there was a lot in the Downer manner that suggested he found many aspects of public life quite wearying, and only bearable when one held a well-perfumed kerchief to one’s nose.

Compared with the baroque manner of the former Foreign Minister, the incumbent - Stephen Smith - seems relatively straightforward. He is the foreign minister from central casting rather than the court of the Sun King.

But there is still something in the job that encourages little verbal flourishes when Mr Smith goes to microphone.

Where a lesser mortal might resort to an ummm, an uhrrrr or a pause the Foreign Minister is more inclined to pepper his remarks with phrases like: “……….in our view…of course….we believe very much…” And dissent is put in the gentlest terms: “Well I’m not sure that’s right….”

They are not the sort of deferential phrases that are necessarily heard from others when they’re busy stacking Labor branches or enforcing factional discipline. But, on the diplomatic circuit, they certainly help to gentle the chat along nicely - and they seem to exercise a seductive appeal for our premier diplomat.

___

Mark - Breakfast E.P. …

Well the Weekend Halftime At the Races team have done it again.

In this blog on Friday, our Racing Editor Helen Thomas predicted the winner of the Cox Plate would come from the trio of Heart of Dreams, Whobegotyou and So You Think.

She was dead right.

Now, after picking the winner of the Caulfield Cup, and narrowing down the top Cox Plate chances, the pressure’s really on.

We’ve locked Helen away until next week, with a year’s worth of form guides, going over all the possible scenarios for the Melbourne Cup, even though the final list of starters still hasn’t been announced.
(Racing Editors’ note: please send chocolate…)

Actually, Weekend Half Time at the Races gave all the racing writers for the major dailies a good flag for this morning.

Leading owner Lloyd Williams told Helen, Scott Wales and Max Presnell about the concerns of a number of trainers and owners about the firmness of race tracks in Melbourne this Spring, after his horse Zipping pulled up sore after its third place run in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

Fourth place-getter El Segundo may not race again, either - although his connections are going to wait to make that decision - and the beaten favourite, Whobegotyou, will be spelled after what sounds like a pretty bone-jarring ride.

“The new track at Flemington drains so well that it doesn’t matter how much water you put on it, it dries out immediately,” was Williams’ ominous warning.
“It is a problem. Maybe Dermot Weld had it right, not bringing his horse (Profound Beauty) out here.”
Yes, it is a problem. Part of the excitement of the Melbourne Cup is that in recent years it has been able to attract top overseas starters, like Weld’s Vintage Crop (the 1993 winner) and Media Puzzle (2002) and the two Japanese horses, Delta Blues and Pop Rock who quinellaed the cup in 2006. Not to mention the odd Godolphin hopeful.
And that excitement has spread.
I’ve been to the area around the Curragh in Ireland where Weld has his stables, and the Melbourne Cup is now a real big deal there.
Vintage Crop even has his own spacious paddock at the Irish National Stud, befitting his status as the horse who claimed the top race Down Under for the Emerald Isle.
It would be a real shame if the race that stops nations only ends up stopping one nation again, because overseas trainers are no longer interested in risking an injury to their hopefuls and keep them at home.
That might be something Racing Victoria and the powers-that-be at Flemington need to think very carefully about.

October 23rd, 2009

Mark - Breakfast E.P. …

Thanks to Anna Hipsley for sitting in for Glen Bartholomew as host this week.

A couple of listeners rang in to ask where Glen is.

Actually, he’s in New York, enjoying the benefits of a relatively strong Australian dollar.

Perhaps he should have waited until next March to book his flight.

You may have heard Rob Henderson - Chief Economist, Markets, with National Australia Bank on the show this morning.

Rob and the economics team at the NAB are now predicting that the Aussie dollar will reach 98 US cents by the end of the year and parity with US dollar by next March.

If they’re right, it would be the first time the $A has been at parity with the Greenback since 1982.

Gee, Duran-Duran and Men at Work were at the top of the charts then.

Don Lane was on the box.

And it was the third time in a row that a certain horse called Kingston Town won Australia’s greatest weight-for-age race, the Cox Plate.

That, of course, is a seamless segue to a plug for “Weekend Halftime At The Races” at 10am on Sunday with ABC NewsRadio’s Scott Wales & Helen Thomas and veteran turf-watcher Max Presnell.

Well, Max and Helen both tipped the winner of the Caulfield Cup this time last week.

What do they think this week?

___

Helen - Racing Editor …

In many ways, the W.S. Cox Plate is the defining moment of the Australian Racing Calendar. The winner is usually the most outstanding horse in the country; not necessarily a champion, but a genuine star.

They have to be, as the picturesque track where the race is run - Moonee Valley - and the 2040 metre journey favours only the fearless.

Tomorrow afternoon, that should be Heart of Dreams, a young horse on his way to racing’s top echelon … along with his arch rival Whobegotyou. Of course, the master Bart Cummings’ even younger contender So You Think could run both of them down. But whatever happens, the winner won’t be faint of heart!

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Fiona Ellis-Jones - ‘Out of Africa”:

It’s not too often we’re able to report on good news out of Africa.

Famine, drought, war …

But this week, a change of pace.

The head of UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS program, Jimmy Kolker, has made a rare visit to Australia from New York to hold talks with the Federal Government.

He brings with him with some surprisingly positive news from the continent.

UNICEF has produced new research which shows we are now closer than ever to producing the first generation of children with HIV-positive mothers, born AIDS-free.

Jimmy Kolker says there’s been major progress in the distribution of antiretroviral drugs to stop HIV transmission.

In the past, the cost of delivering these drugs was hindered by stringent patent laws.

HIV/AIDS has infected an estimated 22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

That’s around two thirds of the global total.

In particular, the spread of the disease has had a devastating effect on Africa’s children … leaving behind 15 million “AIDS orphans”.

This week on ‘Out of Africa’, Jimmy Kolker tells us why pregnant women and children are still accessing treatment at a significantly lower rate than the rest of the population - and what Australia can do to help battle the pandemic.

That’s ‘Out of Africa’ …at midday Eastern Summer Time on ABC NewsRadio.

October 22nd, 2009

Marius - Politics: …

There is a quiet conspiracy at the heart of journalism - in Australia and around the world of the free press - which you as listeners, viewers and readers should be aware of.

It is the “leak”.

The “leak” is a cornerstone of some of the great moments in journalism.

Leaks generated Watergate.

Leaks involve the relatively powerless, acting in the public interest, revealing unauthorised material that the powerful would like to keep private.

That’s the idea anyway.

The term now almost never refers to that admirable action.

It is now almost always refers to the powerful - ministers, the Prime Minister - releasing material themselves, selectively, to one or a few journalists, as part of their management of the information flow.

This technique serves a number of purposes. It can allow the government to fly a kite, gauge public reaction to a policy direction, before publicly committing to it. It lets the government gradually release information which it feels might be awkward.

If, say, the government wants to cut a service or increase a charge it “leaks” the plan to a newspaper. The idea is out there but when journalists then quiz the relevant Minister on the issue he or she can say: “This is just speculation, I’m not commenting.”

Then when the matter is declared officially, it has to an extent been defused and the Minister can respond in part by saying they don’t want to go over old ground.

The arrival of asylum seekers is a good case in point. Few issues make a Labor Government more nervous. From the right, they fear a stirring of community anxiety over “border protection”; on the left, parts of the heartland demand Labor take the high moral ground.

The latest Government response has been dubbed “the Indonesian Solution”. It’s understood to mean lobbing a lot of money at Indonesia to stop the refugee flow there. So far, the Government hasn’t officially detailed any new arrangement with Indonesia.

Instead - and this is my assumption, I haven’t asked any journalists about their sources - government press secretaries are privately giving selective glimpses of the policy to a few journalists, including newspapers and ABC TV News which reported it in these terms:

“The ABC can confirm Australia is planning to compensate Indonesia for the cost of intercepting boats… and could pay de facto bounties for each asylum seeker dealt with on Indonesia soil.”

Make of that what you will. It allows Government Ministers to respond to any questions on the material put out by the government:

“……that’s a news report that’s not been substantiated by anybody…” (Immigration Minister Chris Evans)

“I understand there’s a lot of speculation and interest in this..not very helpful….” the Government has to get on with governing…(Finance Minister Chris Bowen)

An incumbent government has enormous power in directing political debate. It is able to turn the volume up and down on many issues and the “leak” - the official “leak” - is one of the best forms of volume control.