Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

Despite a clear result in the US election, Donald Trump is refusing to accept that his presidency will come to an end on 20 January. So will the Trump campaign's legal challenges achieve anything? On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Mark Kenny speaks with expert in judicial politics, Zoe Robinson. The United States presidential election has been called, but President Trump is refusing to accept the...

After days of waiting the US finally has a new president. But while Donald Trump may have been comprehensively beaten, Trumpism, and Trump’s supporters, are far from defeated. So what comes next for this toxically-intensified partisan polity? Mark Kenny is joined by US analysts Jen Hunt and Charles Miller, as well as regular podleague Marija Taflaga. Arguably the most contentious election of our t...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new month-long lockdown as the country grapples with high COVID-19 infection rates and a stretched National Health Service. But will the British people and its politicians – so compliant and supportive of the threat first time around – be as willing to back the new measures? Mark Kenny talks to Democracy Sausage UK regulars Elizabeth Ames and Bevan S...

The bushfire royal commission report released last week put climate change at the front and centre of its analysis, if not its recommendations. But as Australia has achieved such success in using scientific advice to respond to COVID-19, can it also start following the advice of scientists on tackling climate change? Mark Kenny is joined by Arnagretta Hunter, Mark Howden, and Marija Taflaga to tal...

From health concerns over obesity to drug dependency, governments have the power to creatively solve widespread societal problems. So why does the blame for these issues so often fall at the feet of individuals? Mark Kenny talks to Keith Dowding about his new book, It’s the Government, Stupid . While individuals can and do make bad decisions, governments have the power to influence behaviour and t...

Australia’s two most populous states – New South Wales and Victoria – are facing intense political leadership questions for very different reasons. So what does the future hold for Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian? Mark Kenny discusses ministerial judgement, controlling narratives, and asking the right questions with Kieran Gilbert, David Caldicott, and Marija Taflaga. In New South Wales Prem...

On this Democracy Sausage Extra , we talk to Indigenous experts Professor Ian Anderson AO and Dr Virginia Marshall about the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the importance of shared decision-making, and whether Australia is taking meaningful steps towards genuine reconciliation. Will the commitment of governments to sharing decision-making with Indigenous Australians through the new Nat...

The elections in New Zealand and the Australian Capital Territory delivered strong results to incumbent governments. But with Jacinda Ardern poised to govern without needing to form a coalition, and with a rising Greens vote in Canberra, what challenges are ahead for the victors? Plus we look at accountability in government and why there is no federal version of ICAC.   New Zealand’s election...

On this  Democracy Sausage Extra  during Anti-Poverty Week, Mark Kenny discusses creating a future without poverty with three of the world’s leading voices on poverty measurement, research, and eradication – former United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Oxford University’s Sabina Alkire, and Crawford School’s Sharon Bessell. How can policymakers better measure and und...

The COVID-19 pandemic has given the government the chance to reshape the economy. But by slipping on the hi-vis of infrastructure spending and ‘real jobs’, has the government missed a golden opportunity? Mark Kenny talks tax, ‘credible’ women, and class-based values and priorities with Helen Sullivan, Robert Breunig, and Marija Taflaga. The Federal Budget shovelled vast sums of money out of the do...

On this post-budget episode of Democracy Sausage Extra , we’re joined by an outstanding panel of scholars - Liz Allen, Miranda Stewart, and Marija Taflaga - to examine the new federal budget, whether it does enough to help those struggling during the pandemic, and the demographic changes shaping the country’s future. While this budget may include massive spending, is it investing in making Austral...

In this special episode of Democracy Sausage , recorded live at the National Press Club, Indigenous leader and activist Pat Turner AM discusses the struggle of Indigenous peoples in Australia to be heard and why 2020 is a defining moment for the nation . Why is Australia lagging behind other democratic nations in developing the institutions and structures that allow Indigenous peoples to be heard?...

On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Mark Kenny speaks with BBC New York correspondent Nick Bryant and Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt about the first presidential debate, America's future, and its deep divisions. After a presidential debate that many found disheartening, even disturbing, what’s next for Joe Biden and Donald Trump with the election fast approaching? What...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , journalist Sarah Ison, political scientist John Warhurst, Marija Taflaga, and Mark Kenny discuss the federal budget and the return of ‘fibre to the premises’. After years of political battles over the National Broadband Network, why has the government now decided to build ‘fibre to the premises’? What lies ahead in next week’s federal budget, possibly one of...

On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Director of ANU Energy Change Institute Kenneth Baldwin joins Mark Kenny to discuss the five priority technologies in the government’s new Technology Investment Roadmap, and whether they will put Australia on the right track to quickly and effectively reduce emissions.  This week, as part of its Technology Investment Roadmap, the Australian government reveale...

On this Democracy Sausage , Sharon Friel, Helen Sullivan, Meegan Fitzharris, and Marija Taflaga join Mark Kenny at the hotplate to talk about improving health and wellbeing beyond the coronavirus crisis, and whether Scott Morrison’s gas plan is more than just hot air. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, more Australians are focused on health policy now than possibly at any point in the country’s c...

Once an outsider to win the last Australian federal election, Scott Morrison’s ‘miracle’ 2019 electoral victory put him at the helm during one of the most difficult years in the country’s contemporary history. So what has the COVID-19 crisis revealed about the prime minister, and Australian politics and society? Recorded live as part of the ANU/Canberra Times Meet the Author series, Guardian Austr...

Mark Kenny is joined by Arnagretta Hunter, Marija Taflaga and Frank Bongiorno to take a look at how conservatives have responded to the coronavirus crisis and how that compares to responses to the climate crisis. Conservative governments have had a mixed record on dealing with COVID-19, from Australia’s relatively effective response to public health disasters like in the UK, but underpinning strat...

On this episode, Chris Wallace chats with Mark Kenny about Labor’s 2019 election loss, the machinery of politics, and her new book, How to Win an Election . The 2019 Australian election produced a surprise result showing, not for the first time, that every election is there for the winning - including the next one. Labor's surprise loss in 2019, like the Liberal and National parties' defeat in the...

On this episode, we chat with Katrine Beauregard and Marija Taflaga about the impact of the crisis on women, truth in political advertising, and political donations. In part two, Peter Martin joins us to talk about Australia’s recession and where to from here. Officially in recession and with households holding onto their money at an unprecedented scale, what does the future hold for the Australia...

On this special bonus Democracy Sausage Extra , we’re joined by one of Australia’s most preeminent China scholars, Professor Jane Golley, to help us understand China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and what it means for Australia. A three-decade, $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan that currently involves over 60 countries, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a vast economic and foreign...

On this episode, Mark Kenny chats to former New South Wales (NSW) Greens politician Ian Cohen about his life in politics, Australia’s history of environmental activism, and grabbing onto the front of a US warship in Sydney Harbour.  Rising to prominence after surfing the bow wave of a US Destroyer during a nuclear disarmament protest, Ian Cohen became the first Greens politician to be elected...

On this special 100th episode of Democracy Sausage , we’re joined by Frank Bongiorno, Jacinta Carroll, Marija Taflaga, and Mark Kenny to talk Australian attitudes towards COVID-19 surveillance, security agencies on social media, and accountability for former political figures. What do Australian attitudes towards surveillance amidst the COVID-19 crisis suggest about trust in society? After weeks o...

While the coronavirus crisis in the United Kingdom has abated somewhat in recent months, is life in the country going to get tougher if winter brings about a growing risk of transmission and Brexit negotiations falter? With us this week to discuss the challenges facing Britain are Remainiacs and The Bunker host Ros Taylor, pod regular Elizabeth Ames, and Brexit researcher Georgina Wright. It has b...

On this week’s fry up of politics and public affairs, our outstanding panel of John Hewson, Quentin Grafton and Marija Taflaga join us to talk about the COVID-19 aged care inquiry, tensions over state border closures, and whether or not a coronavirus vaccine should be mandatory. It was a “week of hope” in the words of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after signing a letter of intent to ac...