Dr Emma Doyle, Wool Science Lecturer & Wool Scholarship Coordinator University of New England, joins Michael discuss Australia’s sheep numbers that are expected to fall to its smallest size since 1904 amid warnings the drought's impact on the economy and the agricultural sector will linger for up to a decade.

Michael speaks to Matthew Hall, Sydney University PhD candidate who is studying the rapid re-emergence of brush-turkeys in the harbour city and has developed a smartphone app to crowdsource sightings.

 

Brush-turkeys are on the march from the north shore Sydney and set to reclaim the southern end of their natural range, which extends from Cape York in the north right down to the Illawarra.

 

Adult birds aren't good flyers, he says, and are only able to get far enough to cross rivers like the Parramatta or Lane Cove, meaning their expansion into western, eastern and southern suburbs has been largely on foot.

 

"The last two years we've started to have sightings south of the harbour, and around Ryde and Parramatta," Mr Hall said.

Listen to the full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

Listen to the full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

Listen to the full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

With the first light rail passenger service commencing this weekend, Michael is joined by Peter Kahn, Sydney Tramway Museum Public relations officer, to find out more about the history of tram services in Sydney’s past.

 

Sydney’s large system began in 1879 before motor cars when houses were small and packed closely so that people could walk to work and to shops.

 

People liked the new trams, even though these early versions were pulled by little steam motors… and soon there were many lines and as these spread out, new homes were built further from the city.

 

But by the 1950s, increased numbers of cars on the roads caused motorists to blame the trams for traffic jams, so they called for the replacement of trams by buses.

 

Even though tram passengers disagreed with this, governments listened to the car drivers and in 1961, Sydney’s once huge tram system was closed.

Michael is joined by Damien Kelly, Senior Manager, Public Affairs & Communications - NSW Business Chamber, who are supportive of calls for greater focus on the under-utilisation of the workforce, but say business must be consulted in designing the solutions.

 

It’s an important issue and one that the NSW Business Chamber has been speaking out about over many years, but the only way to get more people into the workforce, and to work more hours, is to genuinely consult with and listen to business in relation to the barriers to increasing employment, rather than convening academic think tanks or just blaming the policies of the other side of the House.

Listen to the full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

Suzette Meade, President of the North Parramatta Residents Group, joins Michael to talk about Parramatta’s historic Willow Grove House which has been set for destruction.

 

Last week it was revealed that heritage buildings Willow Grove and St George's Terrace would be demolished under the NSW Government’s plan to relocate the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta.

 

State Heritage listed Willow Grove was built in the 1870s and serves as a great example of a Victorian Italianate two-storey villa. Originally a private villa, Willow Grove served as a maternity hospital known as ‘Estella’.

 

Similarly, according to the State Heritage Register, St George Terrace is significant for the Parramatta LGA for ‘historical and aesthetic reasons’ and serves as a ‘representative example of modest Victorian period terraces constructed during an early wave of development in the area.’

 

The North Parramatta Residents Action Group (NPRAG), in conjunction with supporters across Sydney have organised a petition to help save Parramatta’s heritage from demolition.