Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

Historian Frank Bongiorno joins the show to discuss coronations, consecrations and policy cremations. Poised to deliver its second budget in under a year, is the Albanese government’s post-election honeymoon period finally coming to an end? Can the Liberal Party be a truly ‘broad church’ or is it now beholden to conservatives and the secret Coalition agreement? And will Australians answer Buckingh...

Chief Executive Officer of the Grattan Institute Danielle Wood joins Democracy Sausage to discuss the pressures facing the Australian economy and to preview the May budget. How can the federal government manage the significant pressures on the budget while at the same time supporting those most in need during the cost-of-living crisis? Can Australia let go of its property investment ‘fetish’ and e...

Former Member for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman joins the show to discuss the current direction of the Liberal Party, the demographic challenges the party faces and how it can engage younger voters. With younger Australians now less likely to become politically conservative as they age, can the Liberal Party connect with this changing electorate? Can the remaining moderate members of the Liberal pa...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Kos Samaras joins Mark Kenny and Marija Taflaga to discuss how the Australian electorate is changing and the Liberal Party’s declining fortunes at the ballot box. Out of government everywhere bar Tasmania, is the Liberal Party suffering from cyclical changes in politics or are its problems structural? Why is the party struggling to hold onto metropolitan elec...

Former Senator Rex Patrick joins Democracy Sausage this week to discuss the Australian government’s “mind-blowingly absurd” AUKUS decision-making. Has the Australian government put all of its eggs in one nuclear basket with the AUKUS submarines deal, rather than investing in the range of capabilities necessary to defend Australia? Will the “highly risky” British-designed submarines actually make i...

This week on Democracy Sausage , we discuss negotiations between the government and the Greens over the ‘safeguard mechanism’ and the findings of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report with experts Mark Howden and Arnagretta Hunter. Having reached an agreement with the Greens over its signature climate policy, is the government finally putting to bed Australia’s so-called ‘cli...

Strategic studies expert Hugh White argues that the AUKUS submarines arrangement is a deeply flawed deal that ties Australia to the United States in the event of a major armed conflict in Asia. Are nuclear-powered submarines the most cost-effective and strategically sound option for Australia? Is Australia paying for the Virginia-class submarines with a portion of its sovereignty as well as a very...

Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton joins the show to discuss what the Robodebt royal commission hearings uncovered and the dire state of Australia’s policymaking apparatus. How was the Robodebt scheme, which illegally and inaccurately used income averaging to calculate welfare debt, allowed to become policy and wreak havoc on some of Australia’s most vulnerable citizens? What did t...

Historian Frank Bongiorno joins us to discuss superannuation reforms, Robodebt and the state of policy debate in Australian politics on this episode of Democracy Sausage . Why has the backlash to the government’s superannuation changes been so fervent, despite an overwhelming majority of Australians supporting the move? What did the illegal Robodebt scheme reveal about the exercise of power in Aus...

Social media expert Jennifer Stromer-Galley joins us to discuss social media, echo chambers and the erosion of democratic institutions on this episode of Democracy Sausage . Effective policymaking depends on people coming together to find common ground, but is that still possible in the increasingly caustic political atmosphere in the United States? What role has social media - particularly Twitte...

International relations scholar Charlie Miller joins the show to discuss Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine and the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Will United States President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv influence Russia’s strategic calculus in Ukraine? Is a decisive Ukrainian victory on the battlefield possible in the second year of Russia’s invasion, or is the current stalemate like...

Journalist Hamish Macdonald joins Mark Kenny to get under the skin of some of the world’s most prominent political leaders. How did Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin make their way to the top of their respective political systems? What does the leadership of Giorgia Meloni suggest about how Italy has grappled with its past? And how does Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power extend ar...

Sophia Gaston and Mark Kenny discuss balloons in the United States, tanks in Ukraine, and railways in the United Kingdom on this episode of Democracy Sausage . It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a 200-foot-high Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the northern United States (allegedly)! On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Head of Foreign Policy and UK Resilience at British think tank Policy Exch...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , former Chair of the Australian Republican Movement Greg Barns joins Mark Kenny to discuss the Voice referendum and the challenges of running a ‘yes’ campaign. What lessons can the ‘yes’ campaign in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum learn from the failed republican campaign in 1999? How much is too much when it comes to detail ahead of the vote? And...

Treasurer of Australia Jim Chalmers joins Mark Kenny and Marija Taflaga to discuss the future of Australia’s economy and society on the first episode of Democracy Sausage for 2023. Despite the simultaneous and interconnected crises ravaging the global economy, can Australia find a way forward that leaves the country stronger? How can the economy support a more robust and inclusive democracy? And w...

Roll out the red carpet and prepare to get fancy, it’s that time of year again - we present the third edition of the very serious and highly revered Annual Democracy Sausage Awards. Which international leader stood tall in the performance of a lifetime? Who stole the show as Best New Musical Talent? And who selflessly gave it all for the ensemble as Best Supporting Minister? On the Democracy Sausa...

On the penultimate episode of Democracy Sausage for 2022, Benjamin Jones joins us to discuss the future of the republican movement, before Ian McAllister and Sarah Cameron examine the results of the new Australian Election Survey. A referendum to change Australia’s head of state might be off the cards for now politically, but how might the republican movement proceed as its proponents seek to brea...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , author and head of The Australia Institute’s international and security affairs program Allan Behm joins Mark Kenny to discuss Australia’s diplomatic challenges and the fallout from the Victorian election. Has the new federal government changed the way Australia does diplomacy? Will progress in reconciling internal divisions over race and gender change how Au...

With just days remaining before Victorians head to the polls in the first state election since the pandemic, Andrea Carson and Phoebe Hayman from Melbourne’s La Trobe University join Democracy Sausage to discuss the campaign.   In an election that’s included hundreds of promises from both major parties, why has so much of the coverage focused on personality politics? With the statewide l...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Jennifer Hunt joins Marija Taflaga and Mark Kenny to discuss the Republican ‘red wave’ that wasn’t in the United States midterm elections. With the predicted ‘red wave’ of Republican victories at the United States midterm elections failing to materialise, what does the future hold for the party? Will Trump run again in 2024 and, if he does, what are his chanc...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , historian and pod regular Frank Bongiorno joins Mark Kenny and Marija Taflaga to talk about Australia’s political history and his new book, Dreamers and Schemers . How do colonial attitudes towards resource extraction impact Australia’s political culture today? How did events in other parts of the British Empire shape debates in Australia prior to federation?...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , regular UK-based guests Elizabeth Ames and Sophia Gaston join Mark Kenny to discuss the British government’s leadership chaos and the ongoing Brexit fallout. Is the elevation of Rishi Sunak to the prime ministership the end of the Conservative Party’s leadership turmoil? What impact might this instability have at the next national election? And what will a ne...

On this Democracy Sausage , The Conversation ’s Peter Martin and The Australian National University’s Jenny Gordon join Mark Kenny to examine the new Australian government’s first federal budget. Why is Australia experiencing fears of a recession and high levels of household spending simultaneously? Will an ‘honest conversation’ about the economy include the possibility of raising taxes - or scrap...

On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Bill Browne from The Australia Institute joins political scientist Marija Taflaga and host Mark Kenny to discuss what leads to one-term governments, political instability, and the razor-thin margins between success and failure in politics. Why have Australian states and territories seen a rise in one-term governments in recent years while there hasn’t been a...

Climate 200 Convenor Simon Holmes à Court joins Marija Taflaga and Mark Kenny on this Democracy Sausage to discuss the success of independent candidates at the 2022 federal election and his new book, The Big Teal . Why were so many independent candidates successful at Australia’s May 2022 federal election, a number of whom won in traditionally safe Liberal Party seats? Will this shift mean that mo...