Think Again

Jacques and Jennifer talk about human rights, including a bit about their history and how their focus has changed over time. There have been three generations of human rights in modern times: (i) civil and political, (ii) economic and social, and (iii) cultural and collective. In recent 'neo-liberal' times the focus has been highly individualistic and commercial. While Jacques and Jennifer conside...

Andreea Lachsz explains the UN anti-torture protocol (OPCAT) which Australia has signed but is dragging its feet on implementing. OPCAT would help prevent torture and abuse happening in our places of detention. It is a unique opportunity to address human rights abuses on the most powerless in our society, including Aboriginal people in police custody. Under the Protocol, independent inspectors cou...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the federal government's various ways of deflecting attention and responsibility away from itself  toward 'outsiders' and those most disadvantaged by the system. This is led by our own PM, commonly known as 'Scotty from Marketing' who has developed it to a fine art level... but more and more of us start to notice that not all is well in advertising heaven...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the expanding underclass in Australia and our growing inequality - and how our leaders are distracting us with phony statements about how well we're going, while they conjure up enemies abroad. In particular there seems to be a complete absence of diplomacy in aggressive public statements aimed at China. Ref:Robinson, I W 2021, What are the real reasons behind the c...

Jacques has a conversation with Meagan Skehill from CISVic, the peak body for the community information and support sector in Victoria. Evidently the much-hyped post-Covid economic recovery is a very one-sided affair, leaving growing numbers of citizens and disadvantaged groups worse off, and in gradually deteriorating situations. This is exacerbated by stagnant wages, lack of meaningful and susta...

In this special fundraiser program, past guests tell us why 3CR and the Think Again program are so important. Amongst the testimonials, Jacques and Jennifer explain what they are intending to do through the program – like ‘joining the dots’ amidst all the fragments of information bombarding us, and providing a platform for  views and voices not heard in the mainstream media. Music played on this e...

In conversation with Jacques, Claire explores her growing desire to discover nature in the middle of what we have come to think about as its opposite: the city. Given that about 3/4 of humanity will soon live in macro-cities, and given that these occupy only 4% of the world's surface, and given that most of the environmental damage humans cause is connected with these facts, we do need to explore...

In a landmark decision, the Federal Court decided that the Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, has a duty of care to protect young people from harm in her decision making. Jennifer discusses this with one of the eight activist students who brought this case to the Federal Court, Bella Burgemeister, and a lawyer representing the students, Jack McLean from Equity Generation Lawyers. They talk about th...

Jacques and Jennifer cast a critical eye over the recent Australian Government budget, looking past the theatre of media announcements and the low expectations of ‘business as usual’.They analyse the budget within the broader context of what’s happening to ‘ordinary’ people in Australia and worldwide in the latest version of neo-liberal capitalism trying to turn to a Keynesian spending frenzy in a...

Jennifer talks with Richard Evans, a criminologist at Deakin University, about the history and role of the police. They discuss in whose interests police operate, and if they are really necessary. Inevitably the program presents more questions than answers, and is hopefully the start of a longer conversation on Think Again    

Borderlands is deeply interested in community, in cooperatives, in localisation and ecological responsibility and how to promote and create living conditions that are mutually beneficial for all, including the non-human species and relationships on which our continued existence depends. Jacques' conversation with Jose Ramos looks across a series of historical and recent attempts at 'experimenting'...

Jacques and Jennifer continue their discussion from two programs ago about five intersecting predicaments facing us: (1) the COVID-19 pandemic,(2) late capitalism and its gross and exponentially growing inequality and destructiveness,(3) racism and how ‘whites’ both socially and culturally seem incapable to acknowledge their racism,(4) the onslaughts our ‘civilisation’ inflicts on our planet’s eco...

Jennifer interviews Nikki Marshall about how community members got together to bring about true participatory democracy in the Hepburn Shire in central Victoria. In the last council election Community Voice had four local people elected out of seven. This grassroots initiative aimed at systems change and the active ongoing participation of community members in key decision making. Nikki shares a b...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about some of the interconnected global-to-local predicaments we’re facing: the pandemic, ecology, racism, and the destructive political-economy of late capitalism.  They talk about some of the directions we need to take to deal with these predicaments. The discussion is based on a book chapter Jacques has recently written in a volume also edited by him and by Linette Haw...

Jacques has a conversation with Matt Lloyd-Cape from the Per Capitathink tank about their research regarding the allocation and distribution ofFederal funds  to victims of the 2019-20 bushfires. Barely half of the promised billions was spent by the end of 2019 and - as we're now gettingaccustomed to with the present LNP federal government - 3/4 of all fundswent to NSW and of that only 1% to Labor...

 Amidst the raging scandals of sexual abuse and discrimination against women at a federal government level, Jennifer and Jacques look at ideas of self-entitlement held by an elite group in positions of power. Where does this notion that they are ‘born to rule’ come from? Jennifer and Jacques take a close look at the role of elite schools in  generating a culture of misogyny and deep disrespect for...

Lately the news has been full of women’s stories of sexual assault and harassment, and the dominant culture that normalises and promotes it. This follows 2020, the year of the Me Too movement, when thousands of women shared their stories of sexual harassment and abuse in shows of solidarity. So it was strange to read about the ‘not guilty’ verdict on the Craig McLachlan case in December, relating...

With the COVID supplement to JobSeeker set to finish at the end of March, the federal government announced it would increase the ongoing weekly payment by a measly $25 per week, leaving people to live on about $307 per week. Meanwhile more than 60 publicly listed businesses became wealthier during COVID while receiving JobKeeper and other government handouts. These handouts to the higher end of to...

 Jacques reflects on the double arrival of reports of two Royal Commissions, a federal one about 'aged care' and a Victorian one about 'mental health services'... What both clearly reveal is two 'systems' absolutely and disgracefully dysfunctional and – in reality – harming those who are supposed to be cared for. If we do need so many reviews and commissions about so many 'symptoms' of our society...

Continuing our investigations of the background to the production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, Jacques has a conversation with Dr. Deborah Gleeson, Co-convenor of the Political Economy of Health Special Interest Group of the Public Health Association Australia. Deborah documents the extraordinary arrogance and selfishness of the wealthy countries pre-ordering the bulk of the billions...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about the big steal by pharmaceutical monopolies that are restricting access to the COVID vaccine for massive private profit - even after being gifted the research and development for the vaccines which has been paid for from the public purse. Jacques has recently translated an article about this from Dutch by Vincent Navarro, and he shares some of the insights from this....

Jennifer interviews David Hayward, emeritus professor of public policy at RMIT University, about the need to invest in caring work, the support sector and the common good. David describes the failure of privatisation in areas such as aged care and childcare, with many private companies using government revenue for property development rather than good quality support! In addition, investment of pu...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about cooperative housing and its shape and history. They aim to open up our thinking and imagination about better and alternative ways of living, together beside the usual private ownership or renting, or social and public housing. This also has implications for the organisation of our work, and the common need to sell the best of ourselves in the market place in exchang...

Jacques speaks about housing - public, social, community, cooperative -with Abigail Lewis from local Think Tank Per Capita. Abigail (and PerCapita) make a strong argument for the inclusion of a strong proportionof public housing in the 5 Billion Dollar injection in the 'social'housing sector by the Victorian Government, as it is the most effectiveway to combat homelessness. She also points at the...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about recent events in the US, especially with the storming of the Capitol. They argue that what happened is no aberration or surprise but the culmination of long term inequality and racism, as well as some pretty immoral strategising by Republicans – something for us all to take stock of…