Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

The coronavirus crisis is posing new questions and serious challenges to Australia’s political leaders. And those leaders are responding assertively – closing borders, slowing the economy, and working hard to keep infection numbers down. But are they making the right choices? On this Democracy Sausage Extra Mark Kenny talks with the insiders who ask the tough questions of those leaders every day –...

Has a failure to properly value care led to poor decisions driven by profit, and in doing so entrenched inequality for women? On this Democracy Sausage we take a look at the crisis unfolding in Australia’s aged care sector, the gendered dimensions playing out in the pandemic, and why we need to rethink how we value human beings in society. Even before the coronavirus hit, it was clear that the age...

On this episode, academic and author Dr Liz Allen joins us to talk about the myth of the Australian ‘fair go’ and why COVID-19 could be leading Australia into demographic disaster. Political leaders often pitch Australia as the land of ‘a fair go’. But with real social mobility so hard to come by for many Australians, is this more national myth than reality? What can policymakers do to ensure demo...

What does it take to be a political leader? What’s the magic mix of talent and time? And do Australia’s treasurer and shadow treasurer have that mix? Joining Mark Kenny to talk about what it takes to do the top job are commentator Niki Savva and Marija Taflaga. After botching the bushfire response, many argue Prime Minister Scott Morrison has performed strongly in the pandemic. But while he’s ridi...

Days after a presidential interview with one US-based Australian correspondent went viral, Mark Kenny chats with another stateside Aussie journalist Matthew Knott about the Jonathan Swan interview and Trump’s chances of reelection in November. Electoral surprises may have become the norm in recent years, so US presidential hopeful, Joe Biden, may not be resting as easy as many think. But with post...

On this special Democracy Sausage we launch a new book on governance systems in China, Taiwan and Australia with its co-editor Andrew Podger and ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop, and discuss how COVID-19 is affecting Australia’s elderly. What does reform look like in China and how does the country’s governance stack up against Australia’s? Has reform in the country actually gone backwards under Xi Jinp...

Mark Kenny talks with Annika Smethurst about the police raid that changed her life and her new essay, On Secrets . On 4 June 2019, Federal Police raided the home of Walkley award-winning journalist Annika Smethurst, changing her life forever. Smethurst was expecting a cleaner - instead it was the federal police with a warrant. Five of them turned her place inside out, including going through her u...

On this Democracy Sausage Mark Kenny is joined by actor David Wenham, theatre producer Caroline Stacey, and performer-producer Tracy Bourne, as well as regular guest Marija Taflaga, to talk about how COVID-19 has affected the dramatic arts. Few industries have been impacted as severely by the coronavirus restrictions as the performing arts. And while the government has set aside $400 million to at...

On this special Democracy Sausage Second Serve Mark Kenny and Peter Martin discuss today’s economic update from the Treasurer and the impact of the corona-crunch on the nation’s future. The economic update given by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg today made for a sobering read, with net debt expected to rise to $677 billion by 30 June 2021, GDP down seven per cent in the June quarter, and unemployment e...

On this Democracy Sausage we take a look at how the arts world has been impacted by COVID-19, plus whether the crisis has changed what Australians want from their governments, with historian Paul Pickering and composer and musician Kim Cunio. Even before the coronavirus crisis struck, artists were doing it tough – with crushingly-low incomes, and a sector withering from low funding, a reliance on...

The Palace Letters – finally released to the public this week – detail the long road to one of the world’s great constitutional crises. On this Democracy Sausage , Mark Kenny is joined by Frank Bongiorno and Chris Wallace to discuss what we now know about The Dismissal. On 11 November 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed from his role by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. Nearly 25 y...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage we take a look at the rising infection rate in Victoria, the optics of Scott Morrison going to the football on the weekend, what the modelling tells us about the virus’ trajectory, and Trump’s troubles in the US. With Melbourne in lockdown and rising rates of community transmission in Victoria and beyond, did Prime Minister Scott Morrison play it badly by going...

On this Democracy Sausage , Mark Kenny is joined by former long-time public servant Allan Behm to discuss community values in the COVID-19 crisis, the “serious vacancies in leadership” around the world, and learning the lessons of history to understand China’s behaviour. In launching Australia’s new Defence Strategy Update recently, Prime Minister Scott Morrison drew parallels between the strategi...

This time on Democracy Sausage we take a look at Southeast Asia: how the governments of the region are responding to Australia’s new defence stance, how they have responded to COVID-19, and how they are balancing the great powers of the US and China. The panel also takes a look at the outcome of the weekend’s Eden-Monaro by-election. Just as Australia is carefully calibrating its relationship with...

The success of the National Cabinet has shown politicians the value Australians place on political cooperation. But can the government use this changed landscape to tackle the policy challenges facing the country and disarm the weaponised political disagreement of the climate wars? Mark Kenny talks to Annabel Crabb of the ABC about how the country’s politics has changed as a result of the coronavi...

On this Democracy Sausage we take a look at tackling the climate crisis as Australia is still battling the coronavirus. Mark Kenny is joined by Kieran Gilbert, Frank Jotzo, and Marija Taflaga. Australia’s attempts to tackle climate change have been a catastrophic failure of public policy. But can Labor and the Coalition park partisanship to find policies that tackle the problem without stumbling o...

In the decade to 2018, 106 local and regional newspapers closed in Australia. As a consequence, 21 local government areas are now without a local newspaper. On this episode Mark Kenny talks to Associate Professor Kristy Hess about the high price of losing local newspapers, and how communities are responding. From death notices to court reporting and holding councils to account, local newspapers an...

Are the government’s changes to university degree funding about getting graduates job-ready, or hostility towards the humanities? The government is changing university funding to encourage students into ‘job-ready’ degrees and away from humanities and the social sciences. But is this about meeting future employment demands or something else? Joining Mark Kenny to discuss the changes are Dr Jill Sh...

From white settlement of Australia and the massacres of Indigenous peoples that followed, to statues commemorating slave traders, around the world protesters are starting important new conversations on history. Joining Mark Kenny to discuss the lessons we really should be learning from the past are journalists Stan Grant and Julia Baird, and historian Professor Paul Pickering. From the blowing up...

The coronavirus crisis has thrown the rule book out on what it means to be a better economic manager. On this Democracy Sausage we take a look at what it will take to chart an economic road to recovery with The Australia Institute’s Dr Richard Denniss. The government is keen to paint the options for economic recovery as a choice between spenders and enablers. But with both Labor and the Coalition...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Mark Kenny chats with Barbara Pocock AM and Trish Bergin about the government’s decision to roll back free childcare and the impacts of Australia’s COVID-19 policy responses on women. The Federal Government’s decision to roll back free childcare has caused much consternation in the community. Still undertaking a disproportionate amount of the unpaid caring re...

Mark Kenny is joined by New Zealand experts Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment and Professor Janine Hayward to talk about the upcoming New Zealand election, and the panel discuss the global Black Lives Matter protests. On this episode we head across the Tasman to talk about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, arguably the world’s most successful anti-Trump leader. Will her high popularity in...

The Australian Government faces some big choices ahead about how to get the economy flying again. Will that include a new ‘Accord’ struck with the unions, and if so, what should be in it?   The coronavirus crisis has hammered global economies, including Australia where for the first time in 30 years it has slumped into recession. But the crisis also offers opportunities to rethink the Austral...

With cities under curfew and the national guard called out, the Democracy Sausage panel take a look at how populism and a president abdicating responsibility is dividing the US. On this episode of Democracy Sausage Mark Kenny is joined by 10 News’ National Affairs Editor Hugh Riminton, Frank Bongiorno, and regular podleague Marija Taflaga to take a look at the violent crisis unfolding in the US, h...

On this gourmet Second Serve , we speak with US-based Australian analysts, Anne Summers and Jonathan Swan, about the COVID-19 pandemic in the US and what lies ahead this US election year. Despite a catastrophic COVID-19 death toll, is Trump’s refusal to play ‘mourner-in-chief’ good politics with a presidential election rapidly approaching? How has the president been able to successfully capture th...