The National Conservatism Institute of Australia Podcast

My guest today is Dr Bella D'Abrera a well-known Australian academic who was for many years Director of the Foundations of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs. Amongst other things she is now on the Advisory Committee for the Australian National Archives and a regular contributor to The Spectator Australia, the Herald Sun, the Daily Telegraph and The Australian, and app...

My guest today is former deputy Prime Minister of Australia and now One Nation MP, Barnaby Joyce . Today we discuss: How he explains his new party's meteoric rise in the polls over the last 12 months Is One Nation just a protest party? If not, what is the governing philosophy of One Nation and how does it differ from The Liberal Party and The National Party Why the traditional centre-right parties...

Parnell is an insights and advocacy strategist and a senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, an Australian classical market think tank. She also writes a weekly column for the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on politics, policy and culture. Today we discuss: Her well-known columnist father, his political transformation, and whether her views have changed over the years Whether there nee...

James L. Nuzzo, PhD, is an exercise scientist and men’s health researcher. Dr. Nuzzo has published over 80 research articles in peer-reviewed journals. He writes regularly about exercise, men’s health, and academia at The Nuzzo Letter, with additional writings appearing at Reality’s Last Stand and Australians for Science & Freedom. In 2025, Dr. Nuzzo documented his academic cancellation using...

My guest today is David Goodhart, a British journalist who is the author of several influential books including “The Road to Somewhere”, "Head, Hand, and Heart", and most recently “The Care Dilemma”. Today we discuss: 1. Whether there has been any bridging of the divide between the “Somewheres” and the “Anywheres” since he wrote his book 2. The extent to which his work has parallels with Disraeli’...

My guest today is Peter Varghese AO who amongst other things served as the former head of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and who currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Queensland. Today we discuss: How to determine what is important and not in foreign affairs How diplomats generally missed the rise of Donald Trump and failed to properly understand the pressure...

My guest today is Drew Hutton, who was one of the founders of the Australian Greens political party. Today we discuss: The origins of the Green political party in Australia and how it has changed over the years His current dispute with the Greens regarding gender ideology and what explains the differences between baby boomers and younger generations on this issue Whether there are potential common...

My guest today is Leah Blyth, federal Senator for South Australia and President of the Liberal Party of South Australia. Today we discuss: What explains the decline in the Liberal Party's fortunes in her state? Whether the voters blame the Liberal Party for the deindustrialisation and loss of the car industry? Her views on trade policy, Andrew Hastie's comments on "neoliberalism", and what a new p...

Philip Pilkington is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), where his focus is on macroeconomic and geo-economic issues, and he is also a visiting fellow at the Danube Institute in Hungary. Today we discuss: What Viktor Orban's defeat means for Hungary, The Danube Institute, and post-liberalism in that country His book "The Collapse of Global Liberalis...

My guest today is Scott Challen, who is a successful businessman and founder of the "Australia Marches" organization and "Australian Lobby Group". Today we discuss: The upcoming "Australia Marches" protests in Canberra and what they hope to achieve What sort of engagement he has had to date with political parties to date How the nationalist movement here is similar to and differs from those in the...

My guest today is Drew Pavlou, a well-known Australian online influencer and activist. He is regularly retweeted by members of the Trump administration and recently attracted attention with his expose on the fraud and waste in the NDIS. Today we discuss: His political journey from the left to the new right and what explains the change His views on immigration and Angus Taylor's recent speech on th...

My guest today is Dr Simon Kennedy an Australian academic specialising in the history of legal, political and religious ideas. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest in early 2023, and is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Danube Institute, also in Budapest. His first book was published with Edinburgh University Press in 2022, and is entitled Reforming the Law of Nature:...

My guest today is academic Salvatores Babones author of new book "Dharma Democracy: How India Built The Third World's First Democracy". Today we discuss: The extent to which Narendra Modi and the BJP should be part of the global "new" right Is the BJP a nationalist party and how it differs from the traditionally dominant Indian National Congress How minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs an...

My guest today is William Clouston, leader of the Social Democratic Party in the UK. Today we discuss: - What the SDP believes, its history, and why it has not yet achieved the same prominence as parties like Reform UK and Restore Britain - Why the current liberal consensus is failing - Why it is unsustainable position to be a social conservative and an economic liberal - What changes the UK needs...

My guest today is the Hon John Anderson AC, who is amongst other things the former deputy Prime Minister of Australia, successful podcast host, and one of the founders of The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. Today we discuss: What explains the cratering of support for traditional centre-right parties across the western world? What he understands by the "new right" and what changes are need in...

My guest today is Misha Saul, who is a technology investor and co-founder of Dragonfly AI, an investment and advisory firm. Today we discuss: Misha's recent article in the Manhattan Institute's City Journal on "How AI Will Reshape Society" What is likely to mean in selected industries and how likely change is going to occur Which demographics will be hit the hardest, what it means for our politics...

My guest today is David Furse-Roberts a well-known Australian academic who amongst his many books has written a biography on the great 19th Century British parliamentarian and social reformer, Lord Shaftesbury. Today we discuss: Who Lord Shaftesbury was, his background, and his political and religious conversion His criticisms of laissez-faire capitalism, his alternative Tory paternalist approach,...

My guest today is Harrison Pitt, Senior Policy Fellow at Restore Britain. Today we discuss: What is Restore Britain? What does it hope to achieve? What’s wrong with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK? And whether the goal of Restore is to keep Reform honest or genuinely replace them? How he is approaching key new right issues like changes to trade and foreign policy which are not talked about as much as imm...

My guest today is Brian Marlow a well-known policy advisor and campaign director in Australia who has worked with centre-right parties and organizations here for many years. Today we discuss: 1. An in depth assessment of the post-mortem review of the Liberal Party’s 2025 Federal election campaign 2. The change in policy and ideological thinking required in the Liberal Party and why there needs to...

My guest today is Mary Winkels an independent regulatory and policy advisor and mother of 4. Today we discuss: Her recent opinion piece in The Australian Financial Review and what the new advocacy group "Childcare Choice" is hoping to achieve Why childcare policy is likely to be a key issue at the next federal election What explains the ideological divide on this issue Why raising children is so d...

My guest today is Tom Switzer who is a well-known Australian commentator and foreign policy expert. Tom has worked at a variety of publications and think tanks across the Anglosphere including the American Enterprise Institute, The UK Spectator, The Australian newspaper, amongst others. He currently hosts a foreign policy focused podcast called "Switzerland". Today we discuss: The US-Israeli milit...

My guest today is Keith Wolahan former MP for the Victorian Federal Seat of Menzies. Today we discuss: - His recent essay on the future of the centre-right in metropolitan Australia and how our situation, in his view, differs from that of the UK and USA - The challenge that immigration, housing and the changing nature of the workforce pose to the liberal party and how we need to move on from the H...

My guest today is Charles Cornish-Dale aka "Raw Egg Nationalist" who has published a new book entitled "The Last Men - Liberalism and the Death of Masculinity". Today we discuss: Whether liberalism and masculinity are really in conflict Why "new right" in the UK, Europe and Australia have not yet adopted US MAHA style policies and why they should The link between endocrine disruptors and transgend...

My guest today is former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Today we discuss: His new book "Australia: A History - How An Ancient Land Became A Great Democracy" What he means when he says "Australia has been fundamentally a 'liberal' project" Whether Australia would have been different if we had not adopted the restrictive rules on immigration and high tariffs policies at Federation Whether h...

My guest today is Emma Dawson, Executive Director of the Australian Labor Party's think tank, the Chifley Research Centre. Today we discuss: What the increasingly inexact and unhelpful terms, "left" and "right", mean these days as well as what she understands by the term "populist" How the Australian Labor Party has moved on from the Hawke-Keating-Howard era and where it has not Her thoughts on "l...