The Briefing

Jamila Rizvi sits down with Benjamin Law, a man of many talents in the Australian media industry. He is the creator and writer of SBS’s award-winning ‘ The Family Law’ and the maker and subject of the ABC documentary ‘Waltzing the Dragon’ . Ben is also a radio broadcaster, podcaster, author and speaker.   Every Saturday for the Good Weekend magazine, Ben asks his...

Are we witnessing another big flashpoint for the BLM protests...?  When George Floyd was killed by a police officer last year... it sparked that wave of protests around the world including here in Australia.    Well in a very dramatic confluence of events... right at the same time that former officer, Derek Chauvin, is being tried for murder, another black man has been shot dead by...

Over the last two months here in Australia there’s been a number of sexual abuse and harassment scandals that have forced a rethink about the way women are treated in our society.    Right in the middle of that lands a new book. 'The Light Of Days' by Judy Batalion tells the incredible story of the young Jewish women in Poland who fought back when the Nazis invaded. Judy Batalion i...

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, created by the Hawke Government in 1987.   We’re joined by Warren Mundine... former Chair of the PM’s indigenous advisory council during Tony Abbott’s time as PM; and Taylah Gray, an indigenous lawyer and academic, who come from different perspectives, but tell...

A listener wrote to say Victorian paramedics are spending hours waiting outside emergency departments rather than back on the road responding to more emergencies. This is not a problem affecting only Victorian ambos. There’s been a big jump in response times right around the country.   We’re joined by Danny Hill, secretary of Victorian Ambulance Union; and Chris Kastelan, Presiden...

NZ PM Jacinda Ardern last week announced that as of Monday April 19 the travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand will reopen.   And the response has been huge!   There was a “100-fold increase” in ticket sales between Australia and New Zealand after that announcement was made.    Aussies are keen to head over but before you book your tickets though...

Jamila Rizvi talks to Abbie Chatfield who rose to fame as the runner up and perceived villain of The Bachelor Season 7, chasing the heart of Matt Agnew.   She’s since turned the public’s opinion around to become one of Australia’s leading body positivity influencers, a podcast host and social media icon. Abbie was even crowned the 2021 Queen of the Jungle in I’m A Cele...

A poll released last week showed the PMs approval rating dropped 10 points in a fortnight to 57 percent and what’s interesting is that his approval with women voters is down 16 points since the Britney Higgins story broke - but with male voters his approval rating has remained relatively unchanged.   Dr Sarah Cameron, a political scientist in the School of Social and Political Sciences...

The Nine Network was hacked last month.  Australia has increasingly been the target of hacks. Is Australia fighting back... with our own hacking attacks? Or are we only playing a defensive strategy?    We’re joined by Dr Suelette Dreyfus - Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne.   You’ll be surprised by her re...

The Morrison government promised the vast majority of Australians would be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of October.   It’s now been revised to the end of April 2020.   Paul Cross runs three online trade magazines focusing on the pharmaceutical industry.  He’s been watching developments closely and says the Commonwealth, while wanting to shine in the spotli...

The gender wage gap is at more than 13 percent.  But it’s not always a woman being paid less for doing the same job as a man, it’s often the type of roles women do.   Meggie Palmer developed what’s called PepTalkHer, a site for teaching women the skills needed to get a better deal in the workforce.   So how do we secure fairer and more equitable pay for people like...

On today’s Briefing you’re going to meet a real life Jason Bourne... or James Bond...    It’s very rare that spies speak out publicly, as you’ll hear, when they join a secret service they basically have to ghost their old life... stop contact with all their friends and family.    But the former French spy we're speaking to, has moved to Australia and he&...

Jamila Rizvi talks to Rosie Waterland, a best-selling author, award-winning podcast host, screenwriter, comedian and actress.   She became a household name for her satirical recaps of The Bachelor ten years ago, before going on to tour her stand-up comedy around Australia and writing two popular memoirs about her harrowed childhood, all before the age of 31.   Jamila and Rosie discuss he...

Christianity is on the decline in Australia.  In 1966, 88 percent of the Australian population identified as Christian. In 2016 - 50 years later - that figure was down to 52 per cent.    But there’s one Christian denomination bucking the trend, Pentecostalism. Aka the religion of our current Prime Minister Scott Morrison.  Prof Andrew Singleton, from Deakin University joi...

We received an Instagram message from Melissa Smith who asked why farmers are never included in the discussion about climate change, when they’re a key part of the country’s net-zero emissions ambitions.   We invited Mel onto the Briefing to pose the question herself, and then invited Adam Coffey from Coffey Cattle - a beef producer from Miriam Vale, halfway between Rockhampton an...

What’s the difference between locking a child in a cage... in a chain linked partition... or in a child migrant facility?     Those words are part of a war over the Mexico border... where President Biden is being called a hypocrite from both sides of politics for detaining migrant children in detention facilities.  The ABC’s US correspondent, Kathryn Diss has just r...

In June, 2019, hundreds of thousands of protestors lined the streets of Hong Kong.    China has jailed many of Hong Kong’s loudest progressive voices.  Almost two years later, the news cycle has moved on.      We’re joined by The Atlantic’s Tim McLaughlin who writes on politics and societal change in Hong Kong.     What...

The federal government’s Covid subsidy, JobKeeper ends today.   We’re joined by Professor John Quiggan from the University of Queensland’s School of Economics to talk about what’s likely to happen once the subsidy is cut.    We’re about to enter a post Covid economy.  What does the future hold, and how many people will lose their jobs once the hand...

Jamila Rizvi talks to Wil Anderson, the award-winning stand-up comedian, television host, writer and podcaster. Wil’s about to take his show Wilegal to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after the event was cancelled last year – the first time in 25 years he hasn’t attended.   Jamila checks in on how his year without touring has been, his personal philosophy for lif...

We’re all talking about consent! And with good cause!   It lies at the heart of the reason 100k plus women hit the streets last Monday. That march for justice was responding to the issues around sexual violence that have been raised through the Brittany Higgins and Christian Porter allegations... and the way they’ve been handled.   Broadcaster, podcaster and author...

More and more women are freezing their eggs to have a baby later in life.   In fact, there’s been a 20 percent increase in the number of women freezing eggs, and it prompts the question….why?   Musician and broadcaster, Linda Marigliano’s podcast is called Tough Love.  This week she talks about HER egg freezing journey.  To give us the medical facts and...

Covid showed people they could work from home – live in a regional centre or on the coast, and work in the city.   It’s meant a massive rise in house prices pretty much across the country.  It’s also meant locals are being priced out of their own market.  We’re joined by Byron Bay local Nicqui Yazdi who’s had to move to Lennox Head to find affordable ho...

Tens of thousands of women marched in rallies and protests across Australia last week. They sought a renewed dialogue about misogyny, sexual assault and respect.   New Zealand established a specialised court ten years ago to deal sensitively with victims of sexual assault. Angela Lynch from the Women’s Legal Service of QLD joins us to talk about how the court works and why she’s l...

Brooke Boney and Linda Marigliano, two of Australia’s most connected entertainment tastemakers, tell you what to think about the most important moments in culture this week.   Brooke & Linda’s Dream Club is a book club for film, TV, fashion, politics, society and culture, food, literature, gaming, travel, relationships and mental health. From the biggest stories of the we...

News bulletins all weekend featured stories about an emerging Covid crisis in Papua New Guinea. We’re told hospitals are overwhelmed and doctors and nurses are becoming infected daily.   We’re joined by Dr Gideon Kendino MBE, Manager of the Covid-19 National Control Centre in Port Moresby; and Kate Lyons, the Guardian Australia’s Pacific correspondent, to find out what&rsquo...