4BC Drive Podcast Monday 19th August

A review of the sentences handed out for animal cruelty offences in Queensland has found just nine per cent of those convicted spend any time behind bars.

The Queensland ­Sentencing Advisory Council looked at what happened to the more than 1,000 people who fronted court between 2005 and last year.

It found two-thirds of offences were committed by men, the average age of those charged was around 36 and 93 per cent entered guilty pleas.

QSAC chair John Robertson tells Mark what interesting is that the number of cases going to court has doubled since 2014.

A big increase in the numbers of people living in inner-city Brisbane has forced the Queensland Electoral Commission to redraw ward boundaries ahead of next year’s local government elections.

The proposed changes would strengthen the Greens grip on Woolloongabba, while Labor has been given some hope in another three wards held by the LNP.

Political scientist Adjunct Associate Professor John Mickel from QUT tells Mark with Labor only currently holding five of the city’s 26 wards a change of government remains a very high mountain to climb.

When Doris Day passed away earlier this year at the age of 97 the world lost one of the last true legends from the golden years of Hollywood.

She was a star of the silver screen, the stage and of song.

During her career she recorded more than 650 songs which leaves those wishing to pay homage to her with some difficult decisions.

No-one is better versed than Australia’s Melinda Schneider who caught up with Mark ahead of her show at QPAC next month ‘A Farewell To Doris.’

https://www.farewelltodoris.com/

A new report has found that about 1 in 100 ex-ADF personnel have had to deal with homelessness issues after leaving the military.

The Australian Institute Of Health And Welfare figures show 46 per cent of who accessed homeless services didn’t have a roof over their head.

The RSL in Queensland set up a special service for homeless vets in mid-2017 and the man behind it Rob Skoda tells Mark there are a variety of reasons that Ex-ADF personnel run into trouble.

Methane is 25 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere and one of the biggest sources is the gas expelled by cattle.

It has been discovered that a seaweed which grows prolifically off the Queensland coast stops cattle producing methane if it’s added to their feed.

Assoc Prof Nicholas Paul from the University of Southern Queensland is leading a project by the Seaweed Research Group on Bribie Island to find ways of farming the seaweed.

He tells Mark the cattle love it and if it can be scaled up it could one day cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by ten per cent.

Economists and academics, the Productivity Commission, Infrastructure Australia, various think tanks and government tax reviews have all called for stamp duty to be replaced by a broad based land tax.

Politicians have long put the proposal in the too hard basket.

Trent Wiltshire, the chief economist at Domain, has reignited the debate with an opinion piece on the real estate website.

He tells Mark there would be winners and losers and it would be difficult but it would provide a significant boost for the economy and home buyers.

For ferroequinologists, otherwise known as train enthusiasts, there are few more attractive destinations to indulge their passion than Japan.

The country boasts more than 27,000 kilometres of track, pioneered the bullet train and has taken punctuality and reliability to an unbelievable level.

Journeys Worldwide has put together a special tour for enthusiasts led by train buff and Japan resident Lawson Dibb.

He tells Mark that what’s striking is how fundamental the railways are to life in Japan.

There are Elvis impersonators and there are those who are almost a reincarnation of the King of Rock and Roll.

One of those is Ben Portsmouth.

In 2012, he made history when he won the Elvis Presley Enterprises “Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Memphis, the first artist from outside the USA to ever win this title.

Mark caught up with Ben aheads of his upcoming Australian tour, which will see him play a run of dates across southeast Queensland in October.

https://benportsmouthaustour.com.au/

For around 50 years Fred Andrews was a fixture in the stables at the Ekka.

In the early 70s he was a harness racing competitor before spending 40 years as an RNA trotting and swabbing steward.

He retired last year aged 92 and this year he has been honoured as an official Ekka Legend.

Fred tells Mark that if his blood pressure hadn’t let him down he’d still be working in the stables at the exhibition.