Monday, 27 February, 2023
All about The Voice; All-Black makes history; Aussies win World Cup; and bugs on toast for brekky.
LINKS
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Today’s Quick Links:
International Polar Bear Day: https://polarbearsinternational.org/act-now/awareness-events/international-polar-bear-day/
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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You’d have to have been living under a rock not to know that The Voice is a really big deal.
No, not the TV singing show. Though for many, that is a really big deal. I’m talking about the indigenous Voice to Parliament – which, in a nutshell, is a way for Indigenous Australians to have their voices heard by the politicians in Canberra whenever decisions are being made that impact them.
Sounds pretty straightforward right? At your school, you probably have a student council – where students can tell the principal what sorts of improvements they’d like to see at the school.
But there are lots of people with lots of opinions about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and between now and October – when something called a referendum will be staged on the Voice – it’s going to be in the news a lot.
What’s a referendum? It’s a vote on whether we should change the Constitution – which is kind of like the rule book by which the country is governed. All Australians will be asked whether they support changing the Constitution to give Indigenous people a say in matters that affect them and their communities.
And yes, it’s complicated, and not-all-that-complicated all at the same time – in that way that stuff in the adult world can be. Which is why we’re planning a Squiz Kids Shortcut on the Voice to hopefully explain it as only we think we can. Stay tuned.
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 across the ditch in New Zealand, where a little bit of history has been made with the first rugby player to play for the national team, the All Blacks, telling the world he is gay.
Campbell Johnstone played for the All-Blacks back in 2005 – and was also a high-profile player with the Crusaders and French team Biarritz. The All-Blacks are the most popular sporting team in New Zealand, where rugby is part of the country’s DNA – and the All-Blacks are considered celebrities in their home country.
Campbell said he hoped being truthful with the world about who he was and who he loved would inspire others.
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Meanwhile – here in Australia – Aussie PM Anthony Albanese made a little bit of history himself, becoming the first sitting Prime Minister to march in the Sydney Mardi Gras.
The mardi gras is the main event in the World Pride festival calendar, a big and colourful march through the streets of Sydney celebrating and pushing for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community.
SPORT TIME
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And it’s three in a row for the Australian women’s cricket team who defended the World Cup title against South Africa in T20 cricket overnight.
In front of a record crowd, Beth Mooney was unstoppable with the bat, hitting 74 runs off 53 balls to help steer Australia to an unbeatable 6-156. In return, South Africa could only muster 6-137 … leaving Aussie captain Meg Lanning to once again hold aloft the world championship trophy.
It’s the third year in a row that the Aussies have won the T20 World Cup – and get this: out of the eight T20 World Cups that have taken place, the Aussie women’s team has won six of them.
That my friends, is what we call world domination. And a massive Squiz Kids Salute to our women cricketers.
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD
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When you open your lunchbox at school today – I’m going to bet there’s only a really small chance you’ll have insects on your sandwich … unless of course the ants have gotten in there and started helping themselves.
But if a South Australian university experiment takes hold, we could all be chowing down on bugs with our sangers each and every day.
Insects – including meal worms, grasshoppers, beetles and moths – are high in protein, and therefore a really good source of nutrition. Birds and reptiles have known this for eons.
Of course, insects are already a part of people’s diets in other countries – especially in lots of countries in Africa. And of course, wijuti grubs are an established item on the Aboriginal bush tucker menu here in Australia.
And given how little land they need to exist and reproduce, and the fact there are already loads of them in the world around us, they’re also a food source that doesn’t put a strain on the environment.
Bugs on toast? Yeah – sure, why not?
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On the subject of food … a sailor from the country of Domenica has revealed he survived at sea for more than three weeks with only some garlic powder, stock cubes and a bottle of tomato sauce.
The man was found by the Colombian Navy drifting at sea with the word HELP scratched into his boat’s hull.
And no: that’s not an excuse to cover everything on your dinner plate tonight with tomato sauce …
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 name of the New Zealand men’s national rugby team?
- On which continent do people from lots of different countries eat insects on a regular basis?
- What’s the name of the rule book by which Australia is governed?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s February 27 – today is Internationa Polar Bear Day – I’ve stuck a link in today’s episode notes to a website explaining the importance of conserving these amazing creatures.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Harry from Cannon Hill, Jesse from Seaford Rise, Harriet from The Rock, Rory from Leichhardt, Sullivan from Logan Reserve, Sammy L from Boronia, Matteo from St Ives, Jacob L from Helensvale, Aaliyah from Burpengary, Ben from Sutherland, Jesse from Cambridge Gardens, William from Wingham, Florence travelling around Australia and Timmo listening over in Japan.
Belated shoutouts go to… Zahra from Floraville, Will from Pitt Town, Jai M from Burpengary, Heidi, Stevie and Kevin from Austinmer, Jessica from Leeton and Lyla from Broken Hill.
Classroom shoutouts go to class 5/6C and Mrs Charles at Plumpton Public School, class 4K and Miss Khan at Canberra Girls Grammar School, class 6UM and Ms Uhr (pronounced u-ah) and Ms Munn at Farrer Primary School, classes 5c and 5d with Mrs Clarke, Mrs Souter and Mrs Few at Yarrawonga College P-12 and lastly years 5/6 in room 7 with Ms Wyllie at Wickepin Primary School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- All Blacks
- Africa
- The Constitution