Dear Australia, from Hong Kong, China

Australia's January 26 traditions; William Cooper's protest against Nazi attacks on Jews; Lunar New Year starts down under

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 07:49:19 GMT

Reporting on the three great traditions of January 26 since John Howard named it a holiday in 1994 - a long weekend, Invasion Day protests and Murdoch media culture wars. Upon the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz a discussion of William Cooper, Aboriginal leader who led the only public protest against the Nazi Kristallnacht in 1938, supporting the Jewish people of Germany. He also was part of the campaign begun in 1939 to make January 26th a day of mourning for Aboriginal people.

Here in 2025 on January 28th Australia begins Lunar New Year Festivals in all its major cities as well as many of its suburbs with prominent Chinese and Vietnamese communities. Hear of the big events planned in Sydney and Melbourne while in the north of Australia people face the rare occasion of five cyclones forming in the oceans from the north west of Western Australia all the way to the north east of Queensland.

Music played on RTHK3:

Thelma Plum - The Bown Snake

The Beefs - Red-Bellied Black Snake

Yothu Yindi - Jailbreak

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Aussie oligarchs and Trump; on-off court drama of the Australian Open; nuclear TikTok and GenZ

Jarrod Watt — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 05:52:55 GMT

This week the Australian Federal government appointed two women as ministers and thus for the first time in Australian history its national government achieved gender parity in its Cabinet. Meanwhile in Washington, among the US tech broligarchy frotage there was West Australian billionaire mining oligarch Gina Rinehart, whose coal interests in Canada bely one of the reasons for her attendance and support of Trump. In Melbourne, the dull thud of tennis balls being whacked has been interrupted by all sorts of dramas involving players, a heavy drinking crowd and a TV reporter whose antics have been seen as an insult to the nation of Serbia. It's been a nice distraction from the usual culture war leading up to January 26...

Music played on RTHK3

Midnight Oil - US Forces

The Seven Ups - New World Monkeys

King Stingray - Cat 5

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Arson about in a viral video; Dutton launches “GABOT”, the Aussie MAGA; Albo pokes Musk, massive new funnel-web spider

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 08:25:31 GMT

Talking about the East Donnie video which went viral involving an arsonist charred with crime, and enquiries about whether this put arson hospital; opposition leader Peter Dutton launches his Australian version of MAGA, although this one spells GABOT. Phil points out this is Tagalog language for “ripped out/weeded out/pulled out”. Interestingly Peter Dutton launched his campaign in electorate stood for and lost by Hong Kong born Gladys Liu in the last election.

Meanwhile, scientists have identified three species of funnel-web spider, including one from the Newcastle region that is larger than them all, albeit with a not very creative name.

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Australia cabana drama; phony election campaign begins, end of two party system beckons; a gender reveal burnout

Jarrod Watt — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 03:52:44 GMT

Just days before Australians are implored to celebrate British soldiers marching up a beach and planting a Union Jack flag in 1788, the nation is arguing over how to share space on its beaches. Is it unAustralian to set-up a cabana on a beach early in the morning, go away and then come back when you're read to use it? Or is it the foundation of Australian identity to simply claim a bit of land as yours? The 2025 Federal Election is yet to be announced but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in campaign mode, while analysts suggest electoral trends indicate this year's election will mark the end of the two party system and the beginning of a new era of minority governments. Meanwhile in Adelaide, a burnout 210 metres long was delivered by a Commodore as part of a gender reveal party while mulleted petrol-heads gathered in Canberra for the annual Summernats and national burnout competition.

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A political gamble: social media ban goes to parliament, Bluesky and Australia's word of the year

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 07:19:31 GMT

A year after a Federal Parliamentary inquiry into the impact and influence of gambling ads on Australian people, and having received 31 proposals for banning advertising and controlling its impact on young people, the Albanese government has decided to... spend three hours debating a social media ban for the under 16s after giving the public 24 hours notice of a 12 hour public submission period before introducing legislation... backed by Peter Dutton's Federal Opposition.

With two media oligarchs also making hundreds of millions of dollars each year from gambling advertising, it's plain to see the Albanese government is not going to start a fight just before an election... Meanwhile the rantings of Elon Musk are fading down under as millions of Australians join the X-odus from Twitter to BlueSky and media organisations set up new social media presences. All of this in a week where the Macquarie dictionary people have announced the Australian Word of the Year - coined by Cory Doctorow in 2022, the word "ensh**ification" received both the Macquarie and people's choice vote for 2024's word of the year.

Music played on RTHK3:

Ella Thompson - Jigsaw

King Stingray - What's the Hurry

Emily Wurramurra - Boom Biddy Bye

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Albo's social media ban; Trump's impact on Australian politics, Murdoch media and economy

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:32:20 GMT

Anthony Albanese has finally united Australia to one point of view: his plan for social media bans on under 16 year old is being panned at all levels of society while Albanese tries to tell Australian parents their kids should be riding bikes like the 1970s and not being educated about electronic media and responsibility. There's an important background to this policy idea, though: the deal forcing the owner of Facebook and Instagram (Meta) to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to selected Australian media organizations, predominantly Murdoch-managed News Corp, ended after three years earlier this year. Meanwhile, the election of Donald Trump has lead to a) Australia's ambassador to the US Dr Kevin Rudd to delete a number undiplomatic tweets b) Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong to tweet their fealty to Trump c) News Corp to begin its campaign to remake Peter Dutton in the style of Donald Trump and d) at least one person to ask questions about Australia's $200 million dollar export market in vaccines to the US now that Robert F Kennedy Jr looks to be put in charge...

Songs played on RTHK3:

King Stingray - Light Up the Path

Night Parrots - you Tried To Let Me Down

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King Charles wasn't heckled: analyzing historical facts and the biscuit crime at a Royal reception

Jarrod Watt — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 01:03:30 GMT

What really happened when a democratically elected Senator from Victoria with Aboriginal heritage shouted at the descendant of a European dynasty of Kings and Queens in Canberra? Hear how Senator Thorpe a) did not heckle and b) raised issues of fact in her short and loud serve delivered to King Charles III in the Great Hall of the Australian Parliament, including the tens of thousands of Aboriginal artefacts still not returned from museums across the UK, the King's refusal to issue a similar apology to that of Kevin Rudd in 2008, the facts of the Mabo decision in 1991 declaring no such thing as "Crown land" in Australia and the bigger issue of a "treaty" - promised in 1988 but yet to be delivered, making Australia the only nation one of few not to have one with its First Nations people.

But are we missing a bigger scandal? Keen-eyed observers have noticed an item on the canape menu for the Royal reception that might just be cause for a criminal investigation behalf of the ANZAC spirit...

Songs played on RTHK3

The Cruel Sea - Just a Man

The Angels - Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again

The Seven Ups - Machine Learning

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Shock as republicans unveil "last reign" merch for King Charlie down under - but why won't he visit the Big Tractor?

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 11:43:42 GMT

The BBC, the British/Murdoch press are up in arms about Aussie humour in advance of 75 year old King Charles the Third making his brief visit to Australia on his way to Samoa for CHOGM; PM Albanese's republican and working class credentials in doubt after the last referendum and a multimillion dollar property purchase; Aussies don't care about royalty - it's climate change, cyclones and snakes they're worried about; the West Australian town of Carnamah joins the pantheon of Aussie towns with Big Things with the unveiling of their Big Tractor.

Songs played on RTHK3

Midnight Oil - Stand in the Line

Gut Health - Uh Oh

Horns of Leroy - It’s About Time

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Australia marks October 7; Aussies plan to sell a new kind of tea to China; an NRL rugby opera in 3 tweets

Jarrod Watt — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:28:08 GMT

Protestors turn out in their tens of thousands in Sydney and Melbourne to call for ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, while Australian mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest sends hundreds of millions in aid to the people of Gaza and Peter Dutton's Opposition flatly rejects a Parliamentary motion in favour of humanity; meanwhile a pair of Aussie women have developed a new kind of brewed tea drink to sell to Asia and GenZ who are favouring non-alcoholic drinks; the NRL rugby final brings one of the great Aussie operas told in three tweets, and what could possibly go wrong with a new Crocodile Dundee film?

Songs played on RTHK3

Hayley Mary - Primordial Glow

The Fauves - The UnAustralians

Cruel Sea - Straight Into the Sun

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Footy Grand Finals; Chalmers in Beijing, Barnaby says China might detonate EVs and solar cells

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:08:41 GMT

Looking back on the massive 10 goal victory in the AFL Grand Final, the French roots of the Lions' team song and wondering did the AFL management really pay HKD$20 million for each song Katy Perry performed in her pre-game set; Australian Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers comes back from a visit to Beijing unable to say when Aussie lobster exports will again resume, while reformed drunkard and clown politician Barnaby Joyce declares all Chinese-made EVs and solar cells are potential weapons, given Israel's use of booby-trapped pagers in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Sydney moves ahead with refurbishing new ferries for Sydney Harbour with electric motors - and wasn't Hong Kong supposed to be trialling electric ferries by now?

Songs played on RTHK

The Seduceaphones - Darkness

Watty Thompson =- Rock and Roll

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AFL Grand Final preview; Albo and Biden, Chalmers in Beijing; Rupert vs the Murdoch kids

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 07:24:13 GMT

With the AFL Grand Final coming up, a look at the historic match-up between two teams whose last Grand Final together was the year 1899, as well as the Cantonese connection of one of the Brisbane Lions' star players; Aussie PM Anthony Albanese meets with Biden for a Quad meeting which announces a "moon shot" to cure cervical cancer, and why Australia's experience eradicating HPV is important; Aussie Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers heads to Beijing this week, just as the US announces a plan to ban all Chinese-made navigation software from cars, which may be cause for concern in Australia where 80% of the booming EV market is made in China; and a look at the courtroom drama as Rupert Murdoch sues his children to crown his favorite son Lachlan Murdoch as sole shareholder of the Murdoch family trust in control of Fox News and News Corp, and why this may mean his ex-wife Wendi Deng might just call the lawyers and re-open negotiations for her divorce settlement.

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Melbourne protesters vs Land Forces 2024; Musk versus Albo (again); Aussies versus magpies

Jarrod Watt — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 06:35:27 GMT

What happened when a weapons convention of American, British, South Korean and Israeli arms manufacturers was held in Melbourne, a city where thousands have protested against the Gaza "war" every weekend since early October; Elon Musk declares the Albanese government "fascist" for its planned legislation to force the removal of misinformation from social media platforms in Australia; why Aussies are preparing for the "swooping season" as the nation's magpies begin divebombing hapless cyclists and pedestrians.

Songs played on RTHK3:

Guy Blackman - Carlton North

Night Parrots - On Your way to Somewhere Else

The Seven Ups - Free Flying Birds

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AFL finals vs Katie Perry; Albanese's plan to restrict teens on social media; William Barton in Hong Kong

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 06:11:58 GMT

A historic Aussie rules finals season beckons with only one Melbourne-based team left, and questions over why Katie Perry was chosen for the pre-game entertainment for the AFL Grand Final on September 28. PM Anthony Albanese makes headlines with a policy to limit access to social media for teens, but how will it work? Meanwhile his government loses support for their lack of action on climate change or the huge amount of online gambling ads. Hear more about the special Hong Kong/Australian musical fusion of sheng and didgeridoo happening this weekend when composer and didj player William Barton takes to the stage with Hong Kong sheng master Loo Sze-wang for a unique program of music with the Hong Kong sinfonetta.

Music played on RTHK3:

King Stingray - Cat 5

TISM - 70s football

William Barton - Didge Fusion

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Stormy times for Australia; Hong Kong's Paul Chan in Melbourne; Shirley and Jimi

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:18:51 GMT

A 350 km/h jetstream through Bass Strait means floods, windstorms, bushfires - and weirdly, an historic week where more of Australia's electricity was generated from renewables than coal. Hong Kong finance secretary Paul Chan in Melbournf for a keynote speech in Melbourne calling for more investment while the Albanese government announces a crackdown on student numbers and Australia faces down a plunge in iron ore and coal demand from mainland China. Finally: remembering Australian music legend Judy Cannon and her work with Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page.

Songs played on RTHK3:

Waikiki - Here Comes September

A Swayze and the Ghosts - Anthropology

Judy Cannon - Hello Heartache

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Hong Kong to Mallacoota; Australia's right to disconnect; record breaking warm winter (August 27)

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 14:38:50 GMT

Talking in Cantonese in Mallacoota, a tiny fishing town on Victoria's far south eastern coastal tip and how one small brewery in Orbot is making beer from seaweed, sea urchin and oysters; the details and the realities of the new right to disconnect laws protecting Australian workers from forced unpaid overtime and how the pandemic and the history of Melbourne's involvement in the 8 hour work day campaigns of the 1880s are relevant; Sydney celebrates its new driverless train system, some 26 years after Hong Kong introduced the Airport Express; Australia's warmest winter temperature record and how climate change is changing the seasons, and flowering of native flora as well as breeding habits of kangaroos.

Songs played on RTHK3

Emily Wurramurra - Boom Biddy Bye

Jimmy Willing and the Real Gone Hick Ups - Cat Fish Fishin'

Luke Watt - Sell Papa Sell

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Reacting to Raygun; Australian women win the gold; Olympics BMX history (August 13)

Jarrod Watt — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 14:22:11 GMT

Everyone from Australian PM Anthony Albanese to singer Adele and hip-hop legend Ice-T had something to say about Raygun and her zero score breakdance performance at the Olympics (and then there was the social media reaction...) - hear how she is fast becoming an Australian cultural and sporting legend; hear analysis of how Australian women dominated the gold medals in Australia's greatest Olympics outing to date, including 14 year old Arisa Trew in the BMX, and hear how the bull sharks in the Brisbane River might make for exciting triathlons in the 2032 Olympics.

Songs played on RTHK3:

Little River Band with John Farnham - Playing to Win

TZU - Back Up

Men At Work - Touching the Untouchable

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodwatt.substack.com