89 Emergency! Catastrophe! What Next?

Topic 89 Emergency! Catastrophe! What Next? 24 January 2020

1. What do you think are the most dangerous places & situations in Australia? What would you do if you were caught in such a situation?

2. Who do you think should be responsible for helping in an emergency? Just the government? Family & friends? Anyone who is nearby? Why do you think this? [There are cultural differences here]

3. What would you do if you were a) attacked by a shark; b) bitten by a snake or spider? [Both of these are fairly common in Australia].

4. If you are in a car crash, what are your responsibilities in Australia?

5. Newspapers use the word 'hero' a lot. What is a real hero?

6. If you lose all of your property and money in a disaster, how would you try to start again? For example, so far, about 2000 houses have been lost (so far) in this summer's bush fires. Most of those people were not rich. Of course, this sort of thing happens in other countries too (e.g. from war).

7. Recently we hear a lot about 'climate change', and now 'climate emergency'. Do you think climate change is a) real, and b) an emergency? How should we manage climate change?

8. How much of its total income should a government spend on medical care for its citizens? Australia has national medicare health support for citizens. In many countries, personal sickness often causes families to go bankrupt and become poor. (e.g. 38 million Americans have no health cover).

9. What is a personal emergency you have experienced in your own life? What happened?

10. How much insurance do you want? Why? Some people buy insurance for everything - their health, their cars, their houses, even loss of employment. Other people think it is better to pay for bad luck if and when it happens.