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In Australia, if you’re on welfare your payment can be suspended by a for-profit, private company – even if you’ve done nothing wrong. With tens of thousands of jobseekerspeople being affected by suspensions every week, anti-poverty experts are urging the government to act, warning thatit’s putting already vulnerable people are already at risk and are urging the government to act. Today, senior re...

Thomas Mayo, one of the most prominent “Yes” campaigners for the referendum, is still reeling from its defeat.  But after observing a week of silence, along with other Indigenous leaders, he’s had time to reflect on the campaign’s loss and on his own regrets. So, does he think Australia is better or worse off for having had the vote? And does he want another referendum?  Today, author and contribu...

For many Australians, facing the reality of this country is a task that has proved enduringly difficult, both at a public and a political level. For investigative journalist David Marr, finding the right way to tell the stories that allow us to see the truth of our history is a personal quest and one that has led to his latest book. This week, Michael talks with David about shame – both personal a...

After the Voice to Parliament was rejected, attention turned to Canberra this week to ask what’s next. But for those who held out any hope our politicians had a plan prepared to address Indigenous disadvantage, they were sorely mistaken. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper, Daniel James, on whether there’s a path to treaty and what the debate will now look like in a new chapter of Indigenous a...

Australia’s record on climate action places us well behind other countries.  But, at a global summit in New York last month, you’d be forgiven for thinking Australia was a climate leader, after being praised for partnering with a small pacific nation facing the worst consequences of climate change. So, how do our climate representatives manage to sell Australia as an environmental leader, while op...

The US Supreme Court has become extraordinarily politicised.  Judge appointments are watched like a spectator sport and decisions like the overturning of Roe v Wade blur the lines between the judicial and the political.  There’s a growing concern that a movement against the High Court of Australia is borrowing tactics from the United States.  Today, lawyer and author of Courting Power Isabelle Rei...

The international community could soon bear witness to the ground invasion of Gaza, one of the most densely populated residential areas in the world. That is how Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel appears to have decided to retaliate after the recent attack by Hamas. It marked the greatest loss of life in a single day in Israel’s history. Since then, Israel has laid a “complete siege” on Ga...

The “No” campaign’s victory was anything but assured 12 months ago. It’s victory came from the elevation of key spokespeople and talking points, cooked up by a group most Australians have never heard of: the CIS. Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on the secretive groups that crafted negative messaging and elevated key leaders in the successful “No” campaign.   Soc...

Australians have resoundingly voted against the Voice to Parliament referendum in every state. First Nations Australians won’t be recognised in the constitution, and they won’t have a Voice.  It means the Uluru Statement from the Heart has been rejected and the path of Voice, Treaty, Truth is over.  Today, contributor to The Monthly and The Saturday Paper , Daniel James, on what this result says a...

Tomorrow, Australia will vote on the future of reconciliation. It’s a binary question, but we’re being asked to consider the country’s relationship with the First Australians and how we want to conduct political discourse. The final episode in this series looks at the two different Australias we are choosing between, with someone who has spent her life in the struggle for reconciliation and unders...

There was a time when conservatives could have supported the Voice, by backing a proposal brought by Indigenous Australians at the request of then prime minister Tony Abbott.  Instead, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, after months of equivocation, decided to reject the Voice with all the gusto we’ve come to expect from the man who walked out on the national apology. So how did it come to this? What...

The “Yes” campaign set out to accomplish a rare feat in Australian politics: to win a majority of Australians and a majority of states. That is, to win a referendum. It began as a difficult task and has only become more gruelling as bipartisanship was lost and the polls turned. But this is a grassroots campaign, with tens of thousands of volunteers attempting to reach Australians with face-to-face...

Over the course of the referendum’s official campaign, the case against the Voice has been dominated by the conservative “No” campaign, led by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine.  But what is the “progressive No” case – the advocates of which are predominantly First Nations people. The Blak Sovereign movement against the Voice isn’t officially campaigning for its demi...

On October 14, we will be asked a question to which we must answer yes or no. While the question itself is simple, the issues in and around the debate over the proposed alteration to the nation's founding document are anything but simple. To understand how we got here and why we are voting on a Voice to Parliament, it’s important to understand what happened to ATSIC, the last consultative body for...

Today on the show, writer and historian Robyn Annear, with her piece from the September edition of The Monthly.   While researching the opening of the Yan Yean reservoir in the 1800s, Robyn followed a thread, unravelling the history of sewage and sewerage in Victoria. From cast-iron pissoirs and open-air urinals, to robo-dunnies and the National Public Toilet Map app, our local history of public t...

Australia will vote in the historic Voice to Parliament referendum in just over a week. While the “Yes” camp has lost support throughout the campaign, polls show it’s making a comeback and has even flipped some outspoken “No” voters. So, what’s behind the change, and will the “No” camp be able to maintain its lead? Today, contributing writer for The Monthly Rachel Withers on how Voice supporters a...

Barely a decade ago the NDIS, the scheme to support Australians living with a disability, was called the social reform of a generation. Last week it was called out the Disability Royal Commission report as a system in desperate need of attention.  Disability advocates say that despite its good intentions, the NDIS isn’t living up to its bold vision.  Today, writer of the latest Quarterly Essay , ‘...

Over the weekend, 85 fires blazed across New South Wales. Fires remained out of control in Victoria’s Gippsland yesterday, and more threatened homes in rural Queensland. It’s a frightening start to bushfire season, and summer isn’t even here yet. For many, it conjures fears about a repeat of the 2019 Black Summer. Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper and former commissioner of Fire and Rescue...

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is hoping to be the next president of the United States. To become the Republican nominee, Ron DeSantis knows who he needs to win over: religious Americans who oppose things like abortion and gay rights. He’s called upon an unlikely figure for help – an Australian preacher known for his outspoken conservative views. Today, author of Beyond Belief: How Penteco...

Australia has a new Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Anna Cody will be tasked with tackling discrimination on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation and gender, as she continues implementing the remainder of her predecessor Kate Jenkins’ Respect at Work project. Today, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody discusses how her work establishing a domestic violence legal service that helps First N...

One of Australia’s top-paid public servants has been accused of trying to pull the strings of senior federal politicians.  Texts from Mike Pezzullo, the secretary of Home Affairs, to a Liberal Party powerbroker appear to show a bureaucrat who wasn’t adhering to his duty of impartiality. The messages show a senior public servant bad-mouthing ministers, attacking political decisions and attempting t...

Dan Andrews was a premier like no other. As Labor’s longest-serving Victorian leader he provoked outrage, conspiracies and adoration beyond his state’s borders. Andrews became a symbol for lockdowns across Australia, but within Victoria he had an unusual ability to write his own narrative and win elections.  Today, associate editor of The Saturday Paper Martin Mckenzie-Murray on the duality of Dan...

Rupert Murdoch changed the face of global media – and now he’s stepping down from his empire and giving it to his son, Lachlan.  Only a few years ago, it would have been an unthinkable succession, as father and son were estranged. But those deep wounds healed, and at 92, Rupert is ready to let his son’s vision take shape. So, what is that vision? And how will Lachlan’s views influence the media in...

When US President Joe Biden was looking at how to make the largest economy in the world switch to electricity, he turned to an Australian… Dr Saul Griffith had a seat at the table as the future of American industry was sketched out. So how will America’s plan affect Australia? Are we adapting fast enough? And what’s the cost if we don’t?  Today, former advisor to the Biden administration on climat...

Today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins us for a special conversation about the Voice to Parliament.  In this episode, the prime minister shares what makes him so personally invested in the Voice, whether he got the timing of the referendum wrong and what he thinks Australia will look like if we vote “Yes”.  Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: The Prime Minister of...