RaeAllen.net

Tag: video

  • Pine Gap protests

    Covering Pine Gap demonstration
    Covering Pine Gap demonstration

    In 1987, the lease on the satellite monitoring base, Pine Gap, near Alice Springs was up for re-signing by the Federal Government.
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  • Barra classic

    It wouldn’t be the Top End without a bit of barramundi fishing.

    While a keen fisherman myself, in 1987 I covered the annual Barra Classic, on its return to Corroboree Billabong.

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  • Victoria River murder

    In June 1987 I was asked to take a camera crew and helicopter to Victoria River to cover the search for two Western Australian fishermen who had gone missing.

    The two men, father and son Marcus and Lance Bullen, had left their wives at the Victoria River Roadhouse to go fishing. They had spent the night at the roadhouse and were expected to be back in time to move on that day.

    Soon after we arrived the police made the grizzly discovery, the two men had been found murdered.
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  • Pig-nosed turtles returned to wild

    Growing up in the bush I’ve always enjoyed doing stories on wildlife.

    In this case the story was about some unusual pig-nosed turtles, something I had never come across before.

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  • Pope John Paul II vists Alice Springs

    Pope John Paul II in Alice Springs

    In 1986 Pope John Paul II visited Australia.

    My colleague Phil Smith got the job of covering the Pope’s visit to Darwin while I was sent to Alice Springs to cover his visit to the Centre.

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  • World heritage listing of Kakadu

    Jumping crocodile – East Alligator

    While the original section of Kakadu National Park had been granted World heritage listing, it didn’t stop the 1986/87 debate over the listing of stage 2 of the park.

    Probably the most famous quote came from then Minister for Mining and Energy, Gareth Evans when he described it as “clapped out buffalo country.

    By the end of 1987 Stage 2 would be listed, and by 1993 stage 3 and therefore the entire park had been listed on the World heritage register.

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  • Bushfire research

    On 16 February 1983, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110km per hour (68 mph) caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia. According to Wikipedia, the fires were the deadliest in Australian history, until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

    In Victoria, 47 people died, while in South Australia there were 28 deaths.
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  • Barramundi disease

    While I like my fishing, and in particular barramundi fishing, this was under threat in 1986 with a disease running rampant through top end fish stocks.

    The disease was call red-spot, or more accurately by the scientists, Epizootic ulcerative syndrome, and concern was raised that it may affect both commercial and amateur stocks, as well as the NT tourist industry itself.

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  • Feral horses

    You sometimes forget how big the Northern Territory is until you find yourself engrossed in a story like this about feral horses.

    It’s estimated the number of feral horses in the Territory is in the hundreds of thousands, and considering how much a horse eats, you can imagine the impact on the environment.
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  • Mary River closed to commercial fishing

    Barramundi fishing is not just a recreational sport, but big business in the Northern Territory.

    The tension however has always existed between the recreational and tourism aspects to barramundi fishing, and the commercial imperatives of our restaurant tables.
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