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Date On-Air: 7th September 2004
Athletes Parade
Australia's most successful Olympic team ever has arrived home to a hero's welcome.
Plenty of emotion as their jet touched down in Sydney. For families and loved ones the long
wait was over.
And there was a huge reception at the first public welcome home parade.
Swimmers Grant Hackett, Jodie Henry and Leisel Jones among the Brisbane crowd
favourites.
Tomorrow, it's Melbourne's turn to say thanks, with Sydney's parade on September 15.
Looklive Interview
And Emma caught up with one of Australia's newest Olympic celebrities. At just 18 years old,
she blitzed the pool in Athens.
Emma, who have you tracked down for us?
Reporter: Well Emily, I'm here with one of the most successful Athens Olympians,
Alice Mills.
Alice, thanks for joining us, I bet you're happy to be home!
Talent: Yeah very happy it's been a long trip home but I got to sit in business class so
that's good.
Reporter: You left Australia obviously a champion, but you've come home with two
gold medals and a world record. How do you feel about that?
Talent: Ah, pretty good, sometimes I don't think it's sunk in yet, I try to take everything
each day at a time, it's all coming together okay.
Reporter: What was the whole Olympic experience like, being there with your
teammates, your friends, how did you celebrate that?
Talent: Um, we didn't really get to celebrate until the second week of the Olympics
and, but apart from that it was just so much fun there was a whole group of us girls
who used to go out together and do whatever we wanted.
Reporter: Did you ever suspect in your wildest dreams that you would do so well?
Talent: Um, I hoped that we could win the relay and when we did that on day one I just
thought, anything else is just a bonus, so ..
Reporter: And for all those guys out there who are swimmers themselves do you have
any strategy? Do you carry a good luck charm or have any crazy superstitions that
you follow?
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Talent: I'm not a superstitious person and I don't really have any good luck charms,
but whatever people think they need to get them to swim well, just do it.
Reporter: What got you through? Do you think about your family and loved ones at
home, is that what sort of drives you to suceed?
Talent: Um no I don't really think about much - I just swim.
Reporter: Just focus?
Talent: Yep focus on what you've got to do and think about the other stuff later on.
Reporter: And what's next for you? Do you get a holiday or do you have to go straight
back into the pool?
Talent: Um I've got 'till October off so - a whole month off!
Reporter: Awesome what are you going to do?
Talent: I don't know - sleep!
Reporter: And what about those gold medals, were are they going to go?
Talent: Oh probably in a safe somewhere not on display ... too risky!
Reporter: Yeah! Well, thankyou for joining us .. Australia is really proud of you!
Talent: Thank you.
Back to you Emily.
Paralympics History
From September 17 we'll again be watching sporting excellence in Athens.
The Summer Paralympic Games brings together 4000 athletes from 146 countries. Yet it
began less than 60 years ago.
On September 17, Athens Paralympic Games will bring together 4000 athletes from 146
countries.
Unlike the Olympics, which had it's origins in Greece for the Paralympics, the first games
were in Rome in 1960 with just 400 athletes.
The idea for the Paralympics was the brainchild of English Doctor Ludwig Guttmann.
Many of his patients had spinal injuries from World War Two, and he realised that
sporting competition provided real physical and mental benefits.
So, in 1948 he staged the International Wheelchair Games to coincide with the London
Olympics. By 1980, the Paralympics reached the ultimate goal of world competition every
four years.
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The 2000 Paralympics in Sydney was their most successful Games ever. Australia
dominated the medal tally with 149 medals - 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze.
So there are great expectations for Athens...
Talent: I think like most athletes and as an elite athlete myself, now retired, you always
have very high expectations going into an Olympics. You train for years, you give up
everything for four years, every minute of every day you're thinking about the
Olympics or Paralympics.
For many Paralympians, it's more than the honour of representing Australia. Like Karni
Liddell, it's a case of survival.
Diagnosed with a muscle wasting disease at birth, Karni was not expected to walk or live past
her teenage years. She had other ideas.
Talent: If I exercise I can walk and if you ever ask a paraplegic if they would have a
choice if they had to exercise for the rest of their life to be able to walk, would you do
it? And that's my choice and I'm very fortunate that's the case.
The Paralympics uses six disability categories:
amputees
cerebral palsy
intellectual disability
les autres... a French term meaning 'the others' for disabilities that don't fit neatly into
any category
vision impaired; and
wheelchair.
Within these categories, athletes are classified according to their level of impairment. Each
sport is different.
For example, swimmers are rated from S1 to S10, 1 being the least disabled and 10 the most.
Talent: S10 will be athletes missing their hand or foot... only one amputation.
The paralympic swimmers are hoping to bring home some medals. And of the 20 strong
team, six are just fifteen years old.
Talent: We like to concentrate on personal best times and swimming the best we can.
Obviously with youngsters we're hoping to get longevity out of them; Athens and
beyond that.
Talent: Some of our athletes are training as much as the likes of Ian Thorpe and
Hackett.
Like first time paralympian Ricardo Moffatti...
Talent: I train seven times a week in a pool and 2-3 weight sessions out of the pool I
find it quite tough, but I cope.
Leading the way is 22 year old Marayke Jonkers.
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Reporter: How did you get involved?
Talent: I got involved when I was a child. I was in a car accident and, far from ending
my sporting career, it started it and my parents thought if she's not going to walk then
she better learn to swim.
Reporter: What have you gotten out of competing?
Talent: It's such a wonderful feeling to know you've done the very best you can do
and, to be the fastest in the world, that's my ultimate goal.
Reporter: I've noticed you've got your nails ready.
Talent: Yeah the southern cross.
Reporter: And your toes.
Talent: Just because you haven't got the body, like an Ian Thorpe body, Thorpe was
obviously born to be an athlete, it doesn't mean you can't compete. So everybody in
the world has the chance to compete and that's what the Paralympics is all about.
Pedestrian Protest
We're all concerned about staying safe on our roads.
In Melbourne, School kids took to the streets demanding action over a pedestrian crossing.
It's the same crossing where a 13 year old girl lost her arm after being pinned under a tram.
St Kilda Primary school students get the green light to walk, but the tram isn't stopping and it
doesn't have to.
Adding to the danger, the signals don't stay green long enough for pedestrians to cross the
eight lane road, often leaving them waiting in the path of oncoming trams.
Maria Sokolovao knows the perils only too well. Nine weeks ago her arm was severed when
she was pinned under a tram.
Talent: It was real hard and I just don't want that happening to other kids. I was
actually lucky to survive and other kids might not be that lucky.
On a National level, road safety statistics show that every week, one child is killed on
Australia's roads. Another 25 are admitted to hospital. That's about 1300 children injured
each year. Boys are twice as likely to be casualties. Children aged 10-14 are the highest
pedestrian casualties.
The students from St Kilda say it's time their voice, appealing for a safe crossing, is heard.
Talent: After Maria got her arm chopped off by the tram, I don't feel safe crossing the
road.
Reporter: Do you feel safe crossing the road?
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Talent: No.
Reporter: Why not?
Talent: Because people won't stop speeding. They don't obey the road rules, which is
40 kilometres, because it's out in front of a school.
Speed limits outside schools are set at 40 kilometres an hour in all States and Territories,
except South Australia, where it's 25 kilometres.
The protest paid off for the kids at this school. Transport authorities are working on a
detection system for oncoming trams.
Talent: This is certainly something we'd like to try and implement hopefully in the next
couple
of weeks.
Maria Sokolova hopes it's soon.
Talent: We don't want little kids walking around with one leg or one arm, do we?
Experts say children under 10 should always be supervised around traffic.
Remember, always 'stop, look, listen... and think' before crossing a road.
And, always wear an approved helmet when you ride your bike.
Global Goss
In Global Goss, "sound" help for a seven metre humpback whale trapped in a dam in Nova
Scotia, Canada.
The whale followed fish into the dam. Whale recordings were used to try and lure it out.
*****
There's two new planets found outside our solar system. The pink and blue bodies, yet to be
named, are far larger than Earth.
Scientists say they're getting closer to knowing whether there's intelligent life out there.
The newly discovered planets are a mere 331- trillion- kilometres from Earth.
******
In New York, America's Republican Party Convention officially nominates US President
George W. Bush to face Democratic challenger John Kerry, for a second four-year term in the
White House. The President was supported by his twin daughters and Californian Governor,
Arnold Schwartzenegger.
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There was drama outside the Convention though, with an estimated 400,000 people
protesting Mr Bush's Presidency.
Campaign Trail
Back home, our Federal election campaign is underway.
In just one week, Prime Minister John Howard has traveled from the ACT to New South
Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, then back to Sydney.
Opposition Leader Mark Latham has visited New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
And there's still five weeks of traveling and campaigning to go.
Protecting Leaders
All that traveling means security is vitally important. Protecting the world's leaders is a part of
the fight against terrorism. But it's also been a priority for governments for centuries.
As Scott found out, there are complex systems in place to ensure their safety.
By the nature of their powerful positions, world leaders are prime potential targets for an
assassination.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a scare recently when two men with suspected links to
Al Quaeda were caught using high tech surveillance equipment a kilometre from his home,
and deported from the country.
The security network around our leaders is intense. It has to be.
In England, the Prime Minister's direct protection is looked after by the London Metropolitan
Police, whose home base in London is called "New Scotland Yard".
They work in conjunction with MI5, which is the intelligence agency that uncovers threats to
national security.
There's also MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, which gathers secret information to help
make the United Kingdom safe.
In the United States, the Secret Service is responsible for protecting the President.
It was created in 1901 after President William McKinley was assassinated.
Three other US Presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and
John F. Kennedy.
The secret service thoroughly checks every location the President goes to.
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Talent: For example, if he stays in a hotel, all the employees are checked. Anyone
who's checking into the hotel's background is checked.
Former police officer Mark Craig has seen the security presence first hand at a foreign hotel.
Talent: The advance party actually came through and totally gutted the floor that the
President was staying on, at a cost of many dollars, in fact millions of dollars, and what
they're looking for here is any potential bomb or bugging equipment. Then they
rebuild it and pay the bill.
In Australia, the Prime Minister is protected by the Australian Federal Police.
Bodyguards travel with the PM wherever he goes, and state police help out depending on
where he's traveling.
But when traveling overseas, a dignitary's security staff rely on help from the country they're
visiting.
Talent: Any VIP or head of state that travels to this country, their protective personnel
are not allowed to carry weapons.
Reporter: Since September eleven, security has been given vastly more funding
around the world. The entire Downing Street, where Tony Blair lives, is closed
permanently, and the White House in Washington is now bordered by high fences and
concrete walls.
The Australian Prime Minister's official residence at The Lodge in Canberra is also heavily
guarded.
But there will always be dangers.
Talent: In any crowded situation they're vulnerable, you only have to look at what's
happened to PM's in India where they've been killed at close range by, in one case, a
lady offering flowers to the Prime Minister. She was actually carrying a bomb.
Former President Ronald Reagan was shot at close range, but survived.
More recently, Israeli President Yitzak Rhabin was killed in 1995.
New South Wales Labor Senator John Newman remains Australia's only political
assassination, back in 1994.
The security issue is more important in schools now as well. Many American schools have
strict security measures including cameras in class rooms and metal detectors.
Talent: I don't think we're going to go down the track where, we've seen in some parts
of the United States, they've introduced a protective cordon around the schools which
include metal detectors to screen the students for weapons.
In Australia, each state has its own standards on school security, which involves having
things like alarm systems, surveillance cameras and security patrols.
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Youth Speak
Still on security, we asked you what your security concerns are at school?
Various Children:
At school my main concern is that people might take things from my bag.
When I walk home from school I am deeply concerned that a stranger might just pick
me up from an exit that's unsupervised.
I don't have any concerns about being at school because I feel really safe here.
The only time at school when I'm concerned is when the person who's picking me up is
late after school.
At school I'm concerned because when someone enters the school and they won't see
it so they won‟t call a lockdown.
My main security concern is just that when I'm walking home from school a stranger
approaches me that I don't know.
At school I don't feel too concerned because I feel really safe at school.
Sports Goss
In Sports Goss, Lleyton Hewitt was the last Aussie standing by the third round of the US
Open.
MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS crashed out in the first round, while it was second round defeats for
Alicia Molik, Samantha Stosur and Nicole Pratt.
****
Serena Williams is the outright scene stealer at the Open, with a 'wicked' fashion statement
on centre court.
Check out.. these boots!
Accessorised of course, with chandeliers for the ears.
Showbiz
Some of the world's biggest music stars walked the red carpet at the MTV music video
awards in Miami, P. Diddy turning the carpet into a dance floor.
Aussie rock band Jet one of the stars of the night.
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Jet “Are you Gonna be my Girl”, the band winning best rock video.
Talent: Ah that's definitely something we didn't expect.
Usher received one of the most amazing receptions, taking out the Best Male Video award.
Beyonce won the best female video.
The big winner of the night was rapper Jay Z, taking home four awards, including Best Rap
Video, while Linkin Park picked up the Viewers Choice Award.
Alicia Keys was stunned to win the prize for best R&B video, then got the chance to perform
alongside music legends Stevie Wonder and Lennie Kravitz, much to the delight of the
audience.
The night had a political feel, with the daughters of American presidential candidate John
Kerry, and President George Bush, urging the crowd to vote for their dads, though the crowd
didn't appear too interested.
Outkast giving them what they wanted to hear, a live performance of their hit, Hey Ya, which
won the top honour, Best Video.
National Child Protection Week
Everyone wants to feel safe and protected, but many kids don't feel that at all.
Each year, thousands of children suffer abuse. Thousands more don't report the abuse
they're suffering.
Emma got some expert tips about how you can help stop abuse and protect yourself.
Everyone has the right to feel safe.
Young people should be able to feel safe at home, at school, in fact just about everywhere.
But sadly, last year in Australia, 40 thousand cases of child abuse were confirmed and many
more were unreported.
That's a 33 percent increase or one third more than the year before.
That doesn't necessarily mean there are more cases of abuse, maybe just that more people
are reporting them.
People can be victims of different types of abuse:
Physical Abuse - almost half of all reported child abuse is physical.
Emotional Abuse - when you're constantly criticised, yelled at ignored or rejected
Sexual Abuse
Exposure to Family Violence; and
Neglect - which is the second biggest type of abuse.
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Talent: Neglect is common and teachers and care workers notice particularly when a
little child is always sick and yet never seems to be seen by a doctor or they're always
turning up with no breakfast - they're always really hungry.
The effects on a young person, who has been through any type of abuse, can be major, from
lack of self esteem, to depression.
Reporter: This week is National Child Protection Week and it runs until Saturday with
events happening right across Australia. The focus is for all of us to find ways that we
can help stop child abuse.
You can start by knowing how to protect yourself first.
Trust your feelings - if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.
Identify and talk to someone you can trust - maybe a friend, grandparent or teacher.
And know that your body belongs to you and no one else.
Talent: There's a difference between having a cuddle with your mum and dad and
feeling great and loved and warm and having a cuddle from someone that makes you
feel like „oh this isn't right, this isn't okay‟.
Also, don't keep secrets you feel weird about keeping.
Tell someone, and keep telling them until something is done.
Talent: If someone threatens you and tells you “you have to keep a secret or you'll get
into trouble” that's really the time to think of someone to tell that secret to.
There are also experts you can call, like phone counsellors at Kids Help Line.
During National Child Protection Week, you could help organise an event at school, like a free
dress day, to raise money for different agencies to help kids in need.
Landcare School
Finally, congratulations to a tiny South Australian school whose students have shown it
doesn't take many hands to make a difference.
Port Vincent Primary School has won the National Landcare Award for its work in protecting
the coastline and educating others about the environment.
They've worked very hard. The school only has 23 students in total!
Talent: I feel very proud and very excited that a school so small could win such a big
award.
Students monitor local rivers and sand dunes and have even produced their own educational
CD.
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