Monday, 12 September, 2022
Australia has a new King; England pays tribute to the Queen; what a weekend for footy; and meet Pickles and Cheese, the Tassie Devil twins.
LINKS
Pickles + Cheese: twin Tassie Devils: https://www.aussieark.org.au/devil-joeys-2022/
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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There was a 21 gun salute, a gathering of the country’s leaders and something called a proclamation as Australia yesterday announced it had a new King.
Wait – what? Australia has a King?
You betcha we do. Until Friday, we had a Queen – in the shape of Queen Elizabeth II – who, unless you’ve been living under an incredibly large rock, you will know by now passed away in the early hours of Friday morning, aged 96 and after 70 years on the British throne.
So, how is it that her son, who until Friday was Prince Charles, but is now King Charles III – is the new King of Australia?
That’s because Australia is what’s called a ‘constitutional monarchy’ – which is a fancy way of saying that while we are our very own country, the Queen or King of England is our head of state.
What’s a head of state? In a nutshell: it’s the most powerful person in the land.
So why would Australia – a country fifteen thousands kilometres from England – have an English King as its head of state? Well – that goes back to when modern Australia was founded – way back to when the First Fleet arrived here from Britain.
It’s too complicated to go into here and now, but it’s enough to say that some Australians think we should be something called a republic – with our own head of state. Others think the current system works just fine and should be left alone.
But that’s a discussion for another day.
Just like the weekend just gone, the next ten days ahead will be all about celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth – who sat on the British throne for a remarkable 70 years.
And to help us reflect upon her life and that incredible achievement, we’ll all have a public holiday on Thursday week – the 22nd of September. (CHEER). I know right?
It will be a National Day of Mourning … that’s mourning m-o-U-r-n-i-n-g. To mourn someone is to pause and express sorrow for their death.
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops … and today we’ve landed in England, where school kids just like you have been doing special things to commemorate – which means to remember with respect – the death of their Queen. Parents all over Britain have been sharing some of the touching things that their kids have decided to do, including one school that collected flowers from all the students, and sent them to Buckingham Palace… a group of siblings who wore their cub and scout uniforms to school, and saluted to show their respect. And, my personal favourite, a five-year-old who wrote the queen a letter: “Dear Queen Elizabeth, I am so sad you died.” She’s decorated it with love hearts and a drawing of the queen wearing her crown. And, because she’s five and still learning to spell, she wrote Queen with a “KW”, and forgot the “e” in “died”. Which means it reads, ‘I’m so sad you did’ .. Which somehow makes it even sweeter.
SPORT TIME
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It’s footy finals season all over the country – and the weekend just gone could not have produced a more exciting bunch of AFL and NRL results if it had tried.
Starting with AFL – Collingwood is one win away from a grand final beth after beating Fremantle by 20 points to charge into an AFL preliminary final.
Their 79-59 victory over the Dockers means they’ll face off against the Sydney Swans next week.
Meanwhile footy fans in Queensland are still in shock after the Brisbane Lions beat last year’s premiers, the Melbourne Demons – for the first time ever at the MCG – to lock themselves into next week’s preliminary final against Geelong next Friday.
There was high drama too in the NRL as the Melbourne Storm fell from finals contention at the hands of a determined Canberra Raiders side – and the Cronulla Sharks lost in a nail-biting, golden point game to the North Queensland Cowboys – forcing them into a play-off next weekend.
The Roosters season came to an end too when they went down against the Rabbitohs.
But footy was the winner on the day. As usual.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Here’s a question for you … what’s better than one Tasmanian Devil baby being born in captivity? Why, two, of course.
Pickles and Cheese – yes, those are officially their names, are a pair of twin Tassies Devils who were born in a special Tassie Devil sanctuary in central NSW four months ago – with photos and videos of the pair released days ago.
They’re part of a special breeding program that has seen 53 Tasmanian Devil joeys born this season. Joey is the name given to a baby devil.
The sanctuary – located near the Barrington Tops national park – is a huge enclosure, in the wilds of the forest, where the devils can roam and breed – free from predators.
It’s also free from a devastating disease that causes facial tumours and which conservationists estimate has wiped out more than 90 percent of Tassie devils in the wild on the Apple Isle.
So to have 53 joeys born this season alone is really, really good news.
I’ve stuck a link to photos of Pickles and Cheese in today’s episode notes – because it’s a Monday and we all need a dose of cute.
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What’s the official name of the new King of England?
- Which team – last year’s premiers – did the Brisbane Lions beat at the MCG over the weekend?
- What sort of native animals are being bred in a special sanctuary in the Barrington Tops?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s September 12 … today is International Crochet Day .. which possibly doesn’t interest you all that much … oh, and it’s apparently National Video Gamer’s Day in the United States – which I’m going to guess interests a whole lot more of you …
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Ace from Rowville, Toby from Brisbane, Kruz from Chinchilla, Joel from Hammond Park, Samantha from Wagga Wagga, Noah from Exeter, and Eliza from Adelaide.
Belated birthday wishes go to Jace from Adelaide, Lucas from Deniliquin, Jackson from Brighton, Matteo from Five Dock, Emily from Five Dock and a special belated shout out to Siobhan also from Adelaide – whom we may have forgotten on Friday! Apologies Siobhan.
Classroom shoutouts go to …class 4HO at Radford College in Canberra and happy birthday to their teacher Ms Oldfields, to class 3W and Mr Gauci and class 4/5B and Mrs Brooks both at Braddock Public School, class 5/6 and Mrs Karthik at Port Curtis Road State School, year 5 in orelia class at Anne Hamersley Primary School in Ellenbrook and lastly to all the students at Gulgong Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- King Charles III
- Melbourne Demons
- Tasmanian Devils