Canberra Sentinel - the podcast

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has dealt with the ATO problem by delaying the ATO credit card ban. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe

The ATO credit card surcharge debate tells us everything about how institutes treat taxpayers as if they are mugs. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe

Avarni is a firm that provides services to companies needing to report on emissions for compliance under law, Its co-founder, Misha Cajic, tells Tom Ravlic about the reporting trends his firm has observed with the first wave of reporting by tier one entities. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.subst...

Canberra Sentinel founder Tom Ravlc gives the ATO a reminder it needs to talk to people a bit more about its decisions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe

Michael Shoebridge, the founder and director at consultancy Strategic Analysis Australia, is a former bureaucrat and adviser who has held the highest clearances in government. He has seen life from within a department and ministerial wing, and he wonders why anybody would flag they want to withdraw consent from having footage or images used on social media of a public hearing on matters involving...

The Australia Institute’s governance guru Josh Bornstein takes time out with Canberra Sentinel to talk all things accounting, auditing and what it believes should happen to clean the joint up. Bornstein argues that firms should be broken up into distinct components and also - where possible - turned into incorporated entities that are easier to regulate by the Australian Securities and Investments...

Senator Richard Colbeck has spent a more than 12 months grappling with the crisis of illegal tobacco. He and his lower house colleague, Mary Aldred, led a process of finding out what needed to be done to reduce the illegal trade in tobacco and vapes as well as ensuring budget revenue is secured over time. Colbeck argues that the excising excise level has performed poorly and the time for change is...

A defence department official sought to deny consent on behalf of her staff for the publication of audio and video outside of the parliamentary proceedings. That request generated a bit of heat at the start of a hearing looking at the sale of defence assets. Here's a look at that episode with grabs from the actual hearing. Have a listen ... you pay for it. This is a public episode. If you'd like t...

This episode's guest for Canberra Sentinel Deep Dive is Pav Gill, a lawyer who worked for Wirecard and he found himself as a whistleblower needing to tell people about a great financial mess unfolding within a company. He found himself under great psychological threat and death threats. He spoke to Canberra Sentinel about his story, and what governments must do to improve conditions for whistleblo...

The interim report from Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell has been released and it contains 14 recommendations. Member for Fisher, Andrew Wallace, provides his reaction to the report to Canberra Sentinel, and the need to keep the 15 people killed in our minds. He talks about some issues related to communication between agencies and his concerns about the way in which communications issues can creat...

Non Disclosure Agreements can be useful when organisational IP is at stake, for example, but they can be disempowering when used to silence people. Three women with lived experience of what NDAs mean - Julia Delaforce, Kirsty Prince, and Anna Hough - each have a unique story but they have a uniform objective: to end the use of NDAs in situations where they stop people from telling their personal s...

Former Senator Cory Bernardi is getting ready to start a new stint in parliament in South Australia' Upper House. He talks to Tom Ravlic about the things parliaments do well, what happens when conventions fail, how estimates can get things clarified, and the challenges of resourcing parliamentary offices to handle the task of keeping governments accountable. This is a public episode. If you'd like...

A former chief of staff to our deputy prime minister, Jo Tarnawsky, has been through the process of settling a workplace dispute with the Commonwealth. Tarnawsky might have dealt with her case, but she remains highly critical of the absence of progress in areas of workplace health and safety. What are some of the solutions? Listen to the podcast he see what she thinks. This is a public episode. If...

Humanitarian advocate Pat Ryan has spent several years since Australia left Afghanistan trying to get his former colleagues - locally engaged employees - out of the region. Ryan is deeply concerned about the seven individuals and their families who remain in danger overseas. He speaks with Tom Ravlic about his recent approach to Home Affairs minister Tony Burke to bring these people to safety. Rya...

The Federal Opposition has appointed a new Shadow Minister for Productivity and Deregulation, Senator Jane Hume, who is yet to get back to me on an interview request sent last week to her office. BUT as we await a response from the good Senator Hume, Canberra Sentinel has had a natter with another expert on the subject matter of productivity, CPA Australia's Gavan Ord, to get a better understandin...

Andrew Wallace is the Member for Fisher for the Liberal National Party. He has an electorate that spans 1198 square kilometers with more than 140,000 electors. How does one person manage to deal with the concerns of more than 140,000 people? Tune in and have a listen to how a local member does their job when they are back in their electorate and away from the building on the hill in Canberra. This...

Assistant minister Andrew Leight joins Tom Ravlic to discuss taxation, randomised trials, and what the PwC scandal means three years on. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe

New laws have passed the Federal Parliament that change gun law regulation in the wake of the Bondi massacre. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett talks to Tom Ravlic about the numbers of guns out in the community right now, and why she and AI believe the new rules are of benefit to the community. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get ac...

Senator Jono Duniam is the shadow home affairs minister, a Senator for Tasmania, and a member of the intelligence and security committee of the Australian Parliament. He spoke to Tom Ravlic about a series of reservations he and the coalition have with the legislation the Albanese government wants to pass next week that it says must pass to deal with the aftermath of the Bondi massacre. Duniam outl...

Barrister Greg Barns SC provides some analysis of the draft law the government wants legislated next week that impacts on gun laws, freedom of expression, migration, and a range of other matters in the wake of the Bondi Massacre. The issues Barns tells Tom Ravlic about are only a few that are on his laundry list. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

The Australia Institute’s Allan Behm speaks with Tom Ravlic about the recent US activities in Venezuela and what consequences, if any, they have for Australia’s positioning on the world stage. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canberrasentinel.substack.com/subscribe