Think Again

The violent attack on beloved Independent for Indi, Helen Haines, has been followed by an avalanche of commentaries on the poor state of our society, our democracy and public discourse. The presenters reflect on the main themes in these responses, namely:poor standards of behaviour and debate set by political leadersloss of civility in the 'public square' of the Internet and social mediapervasive...

Kevin Brennan shares his knowledge and experience in democratic community governance, including the forms this might take and what is required to make it happen. He draws on real-life examples from his involvement in Moonee Valley Sustainability References Moonee Valley Sustainability website: https://mvsustainability.org.au/Lyn Carson & Stephen Elstub 2019, Comparing participative and deliberativ...

The presenters return to the theme of democracy and the rather undemocratic political system we live in. They argue that restoring democracy 'of the people for the people' is more urgent than ever, especially given the 'overlord' threat of Artificial Intelligence. In our current political system, mainstream parties have very small memberships and largely operate on centralised command-and-control...

Artificial Intelligence is back in the news with a vengeance, as OpenAI broke into a Medicare statistics website, and tech bosses called for a slow down in AI development until we can be assured it is safe. Meanwhile there is widespread community opposition to data centres to power AI.Jacques and Jennifer talk about two key factors stopping AI being regulated properly: (i) our society being run fo...

Veronica Sherman talks about Zionism, Christian Zionism, and the ideological bubble that people in Israel live in. This ideology includes their elite status as ostensibly chosen by god, and the dehumanisation of the Palestine people. It also includes an adopted victim status, in denial of the considerable power that the state of Israel wields. Veronica talks from her own experiece as a Swedish-Isr...

Parts of Australia's mainstream media have been replete with ominous bits of news about recent election victories of the far-right neo-Nazi party in Germany, the AfD – or (The) Alternative for Germany. The party reached over 43% of the vote in the state of Saxony Anhalt formerly part of East Germany and another state there has also seen the AfD become the strongest party. Like in Australia and els...

Dr Albert Palazzo from UNSW-Canberra explains why the AUKUS deal that Australia has with the US is not in Australia's interests. In other words,'the US was smart to do it and we were dumb to do it'.AUKUS allows US military bases on our soil to contain China and underpin US dominance. This makes Australia a military target and puts us in danger. Meanwhile Australia loses its autonomy and sovreignty...

This program is about the Four Red Lines campaign, calling on Federal Parliament to review and pass a package of 4 Bills. If enacted, the 4 Bills will ensure that Australia doesn't fund, arm or invest in illegal settlements, war crimes, or genocide anywhere in the world. Jacques and solicitor Rita Jabri  Markwell discuss the broad-based campaign and the details of each proposed piece of legislatio...

The presenters re-visit the housing crisis, with rental affordability at a crisis low point for employed people and those living on Centrelink payments. Many renting long-term still require a stable home, and government policy needs to recognise this. In particular, the government needs to commit to and build more public housing, and enable alternative forms of home ownership such as cooperative h...

Dr Charles Livingstone from Monash University talks with Jennifer about the new gambling legislation just passed by the federal parliament (Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026).While it was meant to build on the late Peta Murphy’s landmark parliamentary inquiry report (You Win Some, You Lose More), this legislation will do little to reduce gambling harm. In fact, the substan...

The presenters talk about the growing authoritarianism in Australia, and how it is being appeased to our peril. Capitulation to and accommodation of One Nation is a case in point, with our political leaders too timid to call it out. Meanwhile mainstream parties shift further to the right as a result, while migrants are increasingly scapegoated. We see all the signs of authoritarian takeover, and w...

Jose Ramos talks with Jacques about the massive invasion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into all areas of our daily lives and systems and the profound implications of this takeover. As Jose points out, AI steals from our common human knowledge selling it back to us for private profit, rapidly and hugely increasing already existing inequality. Even so, the 'intelligence' in 'Artificial Intelligenc...

Have you ever wondered why interacting with governments and companies has become so complicated and time-consuming? Madison Moffatt gives an insider view of how governments came to offload regulation compliance work onto companies from the 1990s, and how companies subsequently developed ways to offload administration work onto customers. At the same time, governments have increasingly required us...

Claire Weekley from Friends of Merri Creek talks about the campaign to create the Wallan Wallan Regional Park about 45 kilometres north of Melbourne CBD.The area includes wetlands, waterways, and grasslands, as well as astonishing grassy hills that are volcanic cones, and stony rises formed by old lava flows. This provides habitat for various threatened species including the Growling Grass Frog  a...

The presenters discuss the dramatic breakdown of the separation between church/religion and state in the US, especially from the 1980s, under the influence of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). The NAR is key part of President Trump's support base, and he isn't too shy to bring it right into the White House and the Government's policies, actions and public performances. The NAR is reportedly the...

Sarah Sacher from the Human Technology Institute (HTI) explains the expanded provisions for automated decision making in the new NDIS Bill before parliament, that lack human oversight and proper guard rails. This decision-making relates to the supports that people with disability can access. While certain types of decisions may be appropriate for automation, those that require human discretion and...

Whilst we only very occasionally hear or view on our mainstream media about what's going on in Sudan, the civil war in that countrry has been and continues to be one of the most violent in recent history and still with any possible resolution in sight. It is known that the United Arabic Emirates have been funding and continue to support the rebel militia, the details remain obscure. What is too of...

Jennifer and Jacques have a closer look at why citizens are losing faith in political systems and processes, and the idea that democracies are working in their interests. This is a world-wide trend. Meanwhile, on the home front, tone-deaf representatives of wealth and power tell a senate committee looking into tax changes, why they should pay lower tax to normal income earners. Against all the evi...

Ex Member for Wills, Kelvin Thomson, talks about his passionate connection with nature dating back to childhood, and current projects he is leading and is involved in to protect local habitats and waterways. These include the Moonee Ponds Chain of Ponds collaboration, and the 'Adopt a Creek' initiative that involves community members keeping small patches of creek litter-free. Kelvin suggested com...

In this radiothon special, the presenters discuss the origins and 'reason for being' of Borderlands Cooperative and its program at 3CR, 'Think Again'.Themes have included:peace and how this is best folded into everyday relations and organising (while countering 'command and control' managerialism)developing and celebrating community, and generating change from the grassrootsexploring alternative a...

Jennifer and Jacques unpick what is happening in the Australian electorate with some big shifts in community sentiment and voting trends, such as a move to One Nation and the demise of the National-Liberal Coalition. They argue that the changing voting patterns are not temporary anomalies, but a response to the inequity that has grown over several decades of market-rules neoliberalism. As argued b...

Jennifer and Jacques weave together a few threads relating to Israel's occupation and genocide in Palestine, including the complicity of the US and western powers, Zionism, Christian Zionism, big money, and the media. For their analysis they are helped by Jewish scholars and historians. The presenters warn against pro-Zionist forces which are working to suppress free speech and critique of Israel...

Nour Salman, who leads the Anti-Palestinian Racism project, talks about a preliminary report on incidents recorded through a national online register (by APAN).Anti-Palestinian racism includes racial vilification and dehumanisation, suppression of political and cultural expression, and denial of identity and equal rights. It is often directed at people standing in solidarity with Palestinian peopl...

Jacques and Jennifer continue their critique of pro-Israel hegemony, which is an active scourge on free and informed public discourse in Australia affecting our media, our legal system and our universities, to name a few institutions. For this program the presenters particularly focus on the pro-Zionist bias underpinning the current Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, and the pla...