Rebecca Lewis reports.

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This song comes from a talented young pianist, singer and composer who's studying at the Victorian College of the Arts. Sophia Exiner is currently completing her Honours year of the Bachelor of Music Performance in improvisation at the VCA. Here's a live recording of her performing her own composition which she calls, You Played A Game On Me.

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Sophia Exiner is pianist, singer and composer who's studying at the Victorian College of the Arts. She's currently completing her Honours year of the Bachelor of Music Performance in improvisation at the VCA. Sophia Exiner chatted to Greg Dyett in between tickling the ivories in one of the VCA's rehearsal rooms.

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In today's podcast: ** The brother of an Australian man arrested in Thailand is preparing to fly to Bangkok as his mother warns Australian travellers to watch what they say about foreign royals. **In our focus on the environment, the Greens express disappointment that the coalition has blocked a tax on higher polluting luxury cars. ** And we look at a green traffic plan which minimises pollution.

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Our film critic, Tim Hunter, reviews Funny Games. He's with Greg Dyett.

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A number of prominent Australian political figures have written letters of support for an Australian author arrested in Thailand for allegedly defaming the country's royal family. Australian Foreign Affairs officials have confirmed the 41-year-old Harry Nicolaides was arrested at Bankok airport on Sunday on possible lese majeste charges. These are believed to relate to a book he published two years ago, in which he made claims about members of the royal family. His brother, Fotis, will fly to Bangkok at the weekend on behalf of the family, but when we contacted him, he declined to comment. When Andrew Kruger reached Harry's mother Despina Nicolaides, she had a warning for Australians travelling to Thailand.

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he Rudd government's plan for a hike in the luxury car tax has been skittled by the Opposition and Family First Senator Steve Fielding. It means the current rate of tax -- of 25% - will NOT rise on vehicles costing more than 57-thousand dollars. According to Senator Fielding, farmers and tourism operators who use four wheel drives will be protected. The Greens say that the environment is definitely NOT a winner! Senator Christine Milne is the party's spokesperson on Climate Change and Energy. She told Caroline Davey that the Greens are very disappointed because the rejection has also blocked a disincentive for people to keep on buying gas guzzlers. NOTE: At the time of going to air, the federal government had declined World View's request for an interview with the relevant minister responsible for the Green Car Fund, Senator Kim Carr.

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Australia is home to a largely invisible underclass. They live in substandard accommodation, they're sometimes the victims of racially motivated crimes and they're employed in jobs that pay sweatshop wages. They're the victims of an industry that's worth 5 billion dollars a year... it's the lucrative trade in international students attending Australia's tertiary institutions. Of course, not all international students are exploited in this way but many are and in this week's forum we're focusing our attention on the plight of overseas students from India. The forum moderator is Greg Dyett.

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Internal polling by the WA Labor Party shows support for the ALP has slipped in the past week... to below 50% on a two-party preferred vote. The Liberal Party polled 55%, widening their lead over the government by 10 percentage points. Other polling, however, has shown that more than 60% of respondents expect Labor to win, contradicting the poll on voting intentions. So, what's going on ... and is it more a sign of a protest vote? Caroline Davey asked David black - a veteran political analyst from Curtin University - how he reads these contradictory polling results?

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In today's podcast: Western Australia could see Labor's first major political loss since the Rudd government took office. And we look at how high school student culture can influence eating disorders and what athletes need to do to come down from an Olympic high.

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The mayor of a major municipality in metropolitan Perth has criticised a Federal Government plan to introduce welfare quarantine for the families of children who do not attend school. The plan -- announced last month by Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin -- covers the City of Cannington in Perth's south-eastern suburbs.... and it's the first time that the idea has included a capital city. But the local community believes they can deal with the issue of truancy themselves and DON'T need outside intervention. Our WA Correspondent Ken Boase explains the background to the proposal to Caroline Davey...

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In this podcast: A preview of this weekend's by-election in the federal seat of Mayo. And the National Farmers Federation says more than seven billion worth of fruit and vegetables could be left to rot unless temporary workers are brought in from overseas.

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James Oaten investigates the ins and outs of the proposed Pacific Worker pilot scheme.

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