Kurt Fearnley's Tiny Island

I am the product of Australia's world-leading and renowned public education system. Teachers changed my life, offering the support, direction and fight to guide me where I am today. They inspired me and two of my siblings to become teachers. My belief in public education is due to the work of teachers from day one that lived by the belief of equality. This weeks guest is Elaine Masters, a primary...

If it is possible to have Australian Sport pumping through the veins of an individual, that person has to be Lynne Anderson. Lynne was born into the renowned Canterbury Bulldog Rugby Leagues, Moore family, & has carved out a career in building sporting brands and fostering the family approach to every sport that Lynne has touched. Now the CEO of Paralympics Australia Lynne has continued to build t...

Michael Groom is an Australian mountain climber who is the fourth person ever to reach the summits of the four highest mountains in the world (Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, K2 and Everest) without the aid of bottled oxygen. He proceeded to climb the fifth-highest, Makalu, in 1999. In 1987 he lost the front third of his feet to frostbite after descending from the summit of Kangchenjunga. He later managed...

Kevin Mitchell is an Australian singer-songwriter; Mitchell uses the name Bob Evans for his primary solo project. He is also the founding lead vocalist for the alt rock band Jebediah. Kevin's music would be the soundtrack to the lives of a generation of Australians & he takes it all in his humble creative stride.

There's an elite club of 15 athletes who have competed in full medal events at both an Olympic and Paralympic Games and one of them is an Aussie. In 2016 Milly Tapper wrote her name in the history books when she represented Australia in Rio, playing table tennis in both games, a few weeks apart. I guarantee after today's episode you will have caught some of Milly's infectious laughter and learned...

Craig Foster played football for Australia in the 90s, honing his craft in leagues across Asia, Europe and here in Australia. These days he is a sports analyst for one of Australia's state broadcasters, and recently came to prominence campaigning on behalf of Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who was granted protection as a political refugee in Australia but was detained upon arrival in Thaila...

Osher Gunsberg might be best known these days for handing out roses on the Bachelor Australia but his most important work happens away from the camera. Osher is an active advocate in the mental health space, sharing his own journey openly and trying to help others as host of the Osher Gunsberg podcast. We sat down a few weeks ago, and a week later Osher welcomed his first son, Wolfgang into the wo...

It's hard to drive through a town in NSW without seeing the names of our first Governors Phillip, Hunter, or Macquarie on a sign for a landmark, but who are our most recent Governors? And what is the role of a modern Governor? My first exposure was as an 11 year old when I entered the residence of the NSW Governor, known as Government House on the door step of the Opera House. One of the few trips...

Recognition for the work and life has never been something that has sat comfortably with me. But being named as one of the four recipients for the various categories of NSW Australian of the year has been an incredible honour. In particular, sharing the honour with 3 powerful people. Jarred Wheatley, Sophie Smith & Heather Lee OAM have an amazing message. This conversation covers the power of opti...

Do your kids enjoy a bit of downtime in their bedroom with their phone? Have you ever considered that someone posing as 'Justin Bieber' could get your innocent, clever daughter to do unimaginable things online? Nobody is immune to online crime, even our children. People like Queensland Australian of the Year DI John Rouse, are playing a leading role globally investigating and acting on crimes agai...

Kevin Coombs  is an Australian wheelchair basketballer and athlete who competed at 5 Paralympics including the first Paralympic Games in 1960. He is also the first Indigenous Australian  Paralympic competitor. He is the most resilient man that I have met and I feel grateful to have grown up within the Australian Paralympic family that Kevin Coombs helped create. Affectionately known within the com...

Gladys Berejiklian is an Australian politician serving as the 45th and current Premier of New South Wales and the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal party. Berejiklian was born in Sydney, the eldest of three daughters born to Armenian immigrant parents. Berejiklian spoke only Armenian until she was five years old, when she began learning English. We speak about gratitude and a strong since of d...

George King is the 5th generation of his family to run Coombing Park, one of the founding homesteads of Carcoar. Carcoar is in the central west of NSW and where I grew up. My connection to Coombing Park is deeper then the location. My grandfather worked the property as the head stockman for around 40 years.  Today we speak about how farming is changing, life in the bush and the nobility in farming...

P hil Kearns captained Australia 10 times of the 67 he pulled on the Wallabies' jersey but his impact on our nation goes well beyond his rugby career. Phil is a successful businessman and the founder of the Balmoral Burn, a charity foot race that has raised more than $30 million for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, who supply medical equipment to childrens' hospitals across Australia. We spent some c...

On 3 January 2003, I was in my car, pulled over, teeth clenched, sweating a little, ears tuned to what would end up being one of the most memorable moments in Australian cricket history. In a test Australia lost. This week I get to chat through this moment with the man who created it, Steve Waugh, Australian cricket legend, perhaps our greatest ever captain, philanthropist and all-round good bloke...

I often say the 10 years of not winning was one of the major factors in my success when I eventually got there in 2004. But what if you never get that individual success because you keep coming up against the best athletes your sport has ever seen? How do you keep going?   Enter Daniel Kowalski, dedicated swimmer, champion bloke, but known most for his minor medals than anything else, behind messr...

Have you woken up at night wondering 'Am I doing enough'? Kumi Taguchi uses that question to drive herself. A familiar face on our screens, Kumi is an ABC TV presenter, and current host of Compass. We speak about work goals, race, the view of Australia from abroad and the changing landscape of Australia. 

I'm fast learning that leading an interview is an art and not something you pick up overnight. So it was a pleasure to sit down with one of our best, Andrew Denton. Currently hosting The Interview on Channel 7, Andrew has a gift of drawing unheard insights from filmstars, politicians and even the occasional wheelchair athlete... A Rabbitohs tragic and driving force behind their reinstatement to th...

When you ask an Aboriginal woman what it means to her to be Australian and she responds that she's never identified as Australian you step back a little... Learn why Teela Reid, a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman from Gilgandra, takes a different view on our nation and growing up in Australia. A lawyer, a Harvard emerging leader, Teela wears many hats and it was great to sit down and have a yarn

Geoff Trappett OAM is a former Paralympic Athlete. Competing in 2 world championships, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Paralympics. He won Gold in Sydney, being the first person to dip under the 14 second mark for the 100m wheelchair sprint, holding this world record through his retirement in 2005. Following on from sport, Geoff has transitioned to working professionally in multiple senior executive r...

After 5 minutes with Peter Helliar, in person or through one of his many exploits, you've undoubtedly had a laugh and probably learned something too. Peter is an Australian comedian, actor, radio and television presenter, writer, producer and director. He is one of four regular hosts of The Project on Network Ten & previously he was known for his work on television on Rove. He's an AFL loving self...

Reaching the pinnacle of one sport is incredible. In two? That's something else. After an Olympic Games representing Australia in hockey, Georgie Parker made the leap to play AFLW at the highest level with the Collingwood Magpies. A fierce, determined athlete and one of my favourite larrikins, Georgie now also hosts the sports commentary podcast "That's what she said". Loved this yarn and everythi...

Craig Bellamy is one of the most successful coaches in Rugby League history. His record while at the helm of the Melbourne Storm is incomparable. We speak about what drives him and how he gets the best out of the people around him. We also chat about Craig's history before the coaching role including his experiences in bush football and journey through the sport as an athlete.

Thérèse Rein is one of Australia's leading entrepreneurs.  She founded Ingeus, an international employment and business psychology services company, is the recipient of the human rights medal, a mother of three, and part of the Paralympic family as the daughter of one of Australia's first Paralympians. And she's lived in the Lodge a couple of times with her Prime Minister husband. 

Father Rod Bower is an Anglican Priest at the Archdiocese of Gosford. He gained national notoriety with billboards supporting social justice issues that conflict with the beliefs of more conservative approaches to Christianity. He speaks about what drives him towards activism & what he believes is the main message of Easter.