The Briefing

In last week’s federal budget papers, we discovered the government plans to keep our international borders closed until at least mid-2021.   When can we realistically begin to plan to go back overseas?  We’re joined by Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews – and we ask why the government is not providing more information on the timeline for international travel.  We...

Tanya Hennessy is one of the funniest (and busiest) people in Australia. As well as being a podcaster, radio host, TV presenter, comedian and author, Tanya also counts makeup guru and an “adults should be able to eat children’s meals” campaigner in her pursuits. Jamila Rizvi and Tanya discuss her latest book Drum Roll Please, It’s Stevie Louise , women in comedy and whether...

In March/April last year, 33,000 homeless people were given emergency Covid accommodation around the country. It was amazing to watch; thousands of people taken off the streets or from couch surfing situations, put in nice hotels.    At the time, people in the sector were hoping this moment would be a circuit breaker that could end homelessness.   We’re joined by Katherin...

We go right to the top today to question the Finance Minister Simon Birmingham about Tuesday night’s budget.    Some key questions:  Where was the money for a quarantine facility; will we all be vaccinated by the end of the year; when will the borders open; and what about our struggling uni sector?   Following up from Wednesday’s episode focusing on what’s in...

Last night’s federal budget was handed down by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.   What does it mean for you?  Why do we no longer focus on surpluses?  How much impact has the pandemic had on the nation’s bottom line?  And has it addressed the critical issues facing ordinary Australians – things like housing affordability and the cost of living.   On today&rsquo...

A story of courage, perseverance and bare-knuckle fighting.    From seven years detained on Manus Island... to elite fighting in America... this is the story of Ezatullah Kakar    Two weeks ago, Ezatullah stepped into the ring for his first fight in America’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship... and he won in 33 seconds!!!   Eza joins us from the US to tal...

Imagine a world where humans are infertile. Where technology is the only way to conceive. Where sperm counts get to zero.   It sounds like the plot of a bad sci fi film but according to American Professor Shanna Swan, it’s real life … and it could happen sooner than we think.    Dr Shanna Swan is a professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Mount...

Australia fell in love with Rob Mills on Australian Idol ’s first season in 2003. He’s since gone on to nab some of the most coveted roles in musical theatre, appear on numerous television shows including his iconic role of Finn Kelly on Neighbours and more recently, dabble in storytelling.   Jamila Rizvi and Rob ‘Millsy’ Mills discuss his journey post- Idol, his meet-...

250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders met at Uluru in 2017 and hammered out what’s called the Uluru Statement, which outlines a path towards recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution.   It was shot down by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.    We’re joined by Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, who has written a new book calling for a conser...

Kangaroos could hold the key for sport stars looking to overcome career-ending ligament injuries.   Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries in the knee are common in many sports and can often derail the careers of professional sport stars. We’re joined by Dr Nick Hartnell, an Australian surgeon working on a way to use the longer and stronger ligaments of kangaroos to help humans overc...

Australia already has one of the worst uptakes of electric vehicles...for example, last year Germany and France both grew their electric vehicle fleet by more than 200 per cent.   In Australia, fewer than 7000 electric vehicles were sold in 2020 representing just a three per cent jump from 2019.    We’re joined by Jake Whitehead, a transport expert at the University of Qu...

The whole world is watching India right now. Its daily case numbers of COVID-19 hit 400,000 this week. The death toll is also rising rapidly with India's health ministry reporting more than 3,600 deaths in the past 24 hours.   We speak with James Oaten; the ABC’s Indian correspondent from Dehli to the get the latest from India; and we speak with Dr Pradeep Teneja from the Australia Indi...

US President Joe Biden announced last month American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11 this year.    Our PM quickly followed suit confirming the 80 remaining Australian defence personnel still in Afghanistan would also leave.    Around 80,000 Australians have been deployed to Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001.  41 of them lost their liv...

Prepare to see Any Lee uncut as he delves into personal territory with host Jamila Rizvi. He opens up about his mum's disability, the hard conversations of working in the popular radio duo Hamish & Andy , and his engagement plans with longterm girlfriend Bec Harding.   THE WEEKEND LIST: Do: Daniel Sloss’ Hubris Watch: RuPaul’s Drag Race re-runs on Stan Listen: Sixty Summers by...

On January 20 Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.    On today’s episode of The Briefing - Biden marks 100 days in office, let’s see how he’s going.     Prof. David Smith is an Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.   We sift throu...

Why are Australians so fascinated by Married at First Sight?  It’s the show we love to hate, or is it … hate to love?  Ever since MAFS appeared on our screens in 2015, it’s consistently been one of the highest rated shows on Australian television.   We’re joined by four guests to take us through our deep dive.  David Dale, a Walkley Award winning j...

Twelve of Europe’s top soccer clubs planned to shake up the sport. Instead, the project collapsed spectacularly in just 48 hours.  How did the power brokers mis-read the market ….and fans?   Murad Ahmed is a reporter for the Financial Times in the UK.  He’s been following this lead for years.   He joins us as we learn what the big clubs’ motivation...

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been representing Australia at a virtual summit of world leaders discussing climate change.  The summit was convened by US President Joe Biden, who has put tackling climate change at the centre of his administration's agenda.   Joe Biden promised to halve America’s emissions by 2030.  Australia went to the summit without a firm target on reduc...

Tensions between Australia and China are at their worst in decades.  Our global campaign to blame China for the Covid-19 pandemic pushed our relationship to the brink.   The Australian Financial Review’s China correspondent Michael Smith was woken by China’s secret police on a September night last year.  Days later he was on a plane back to Australia – forced to le...

Jamila Rizvi sits down with Internet sensation and ultimate millennial “slashy” Lillian Ahenkan, otherwise known as Flex Mami.   She’s a DJ, TV presenter, podcaster, author, entrepreneur and “Professional Opinion Haver” who you can find hosting panels at the Sydney Opera House, sharing her thoughts on Pedestrian. TV or hosting on MTV among much more.   More...

PART TWO - The UK, Europe and the United States are forging ahead with mass vaccines.  Australia is well behind in terms of progress. So, what is life like in London, Washington and Madrid now the vaccination numbers are climbing?   Today’s briefing is part two of our transatlantic peek over the vaccination horizon. We’re joined by Adam Creighton in Washington... he&rsqu...

The UK, Europe and the United States are forging ahead with mass vaccines.  Australia is well behind in terms of progress. So, what is life like in London, Washington and Madrid now the vaccination numbers are climbing?   Today’s briefing is part one of our two-part transatlantic peek over the vaccination horizon. We’re joined by Bevan Shields in London... he’s the Euro...

The Prime Minister has announced a Royal Commission into veterans’ suicide.  Will it be enough to stem the number of returned servicemen and women taking their own lives?    We’re joined by Heston Russell - a 16-year army veteran and former Special Air Service Regiment commander and founder of Voice of a Veteran.   41 people died serving in Afghanistan... but ten ti...

The Briefing kicked off on April 20, 2020, amid a global pandemic.  No one was sure what the future would look like.  Many of us were working from home for the first time, our computers perched on boxes of toilet paper.   On today’s Briefing we look back….and forward.   It’s been a crazy year – and we can’t wait to celebrate with the people that m...

Did you know an Australian is leading one of the teams behind the Mars rover?     Australian geologist Dr Abigail Allwood is the first woman and the first Australian to ever be a principal investigator on a Mars mission.   Perseverance is the fifth NASA rover to explore the Red Planet and it’s being sent with the explicit goal of working out whether there is - or has ever...