"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Ben Davison gives a breakdown of the Jobs and Skills Summit.  Looking at the outcomes, the positioning, the deal making and the politics behind the biggest step change in how Australia's economy is set up since the Howard era. Australian Unions made huge progress towards multi-employer bargaining, tripartite decision making on the transition to net zero as well as skills and policies that improve...

Van Badham and Ben Davison devote a BUMPER EPISODE to talking through: the modern Australian workplace ahead of Labor's Jobs and Skills Summit, the leadership of Sally McManus, Australian unions AND small business to get multi-employer bargaining back into the national discussion, and the *insane* suggestion of sending 13-year-olds into the workforce, and the origins of such a dopey idea.  Ben and...

Ben Davison takes a look at the Morrison Inquiry's role in safeguarding our democracy, the Robodebt Royal Commission's role in safeguarding our social democracy and Sally McManus's ideas to get wages moving again. Start by joining your union at australianunions.org.au/wow The government has announced an inquiry into Morrison's shredding of democratic convention to be conducted by a former High Cou...

Van Badham and Ben Davison breakdown the solicitor general's findings about Scott Morrison's shadow government of one, himself.  There will be an inquiry and Morrison says's he'll participate but looks to be imposing conditions.  Van explains how Morrison's conditions are a Trump tactic to shift blame and stall any real progress. As Labor's support surges ahead of the Jobs and Skills summit the AC...

Ben Davison dives into the Morrison Modern Manufacturing Initiative Scheme that saw $828M handed out, including in five announcements during the election. Insiders had former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce on for a car crash interview where between calling for modular nuclear power plants in every town he admitted he didn't confront or make public Morrison's secret portfolios because he had been given mi...

Van Badham and Ben Davison try to unpack the Morrison secret shadow government as the full extent of his additional portfolios is exposed. While Morrison flatly denies any wrong doing most of the country thinks he should resign from parliament and that he has undermined democratic processes. Van and Ben breakdown what happened, why it is a problem and what might happen next.   While the legacy of...

Ben Davison reviews how Insiders failed to discuss one of the biggest political stories of the week; Scott Morrison SECRETLY making himself health and finance minister during the early stages of the COVID pandemic.  Ben breaks down why Morrison might have done it, asks who knew and would Peter Dutton do the same if he gets the chance? Chris Bowen gave a masterclass interview on Insiders where he o...

Van Badham and Ben Davison breakdown why Peter Dutton has refused the invitation to attend the Jobs and Skills Summit at the same time his junior coalition partner and own shadow Treasurer are demanding an invitation.  While the Liberals seem determined to call everything a "stunt" Labor's ministers are consulting with stakeholders from business and the union movement on how to get the economy goi...

Ben Davison gives a wrap up of the "end of the climate wars" (its not really), the culture war being built to oppose the Voice, Dutton's union bashing and his nuclear folly.  Don't forget to join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow (you know Dutton will hate it) With Paul Karp's Guardian piece exposing the "Pay to get paid" Uber platforms in the NDIS Ben discusses how Uber style "contracting...

Van Badham and Ben Davison give a quick update on the goings on at parliament (Aged care reforms, workers in the halls, cultural policy, a review of defence and attempts to claw back the "Workforce Australia" program) before jumping into how the economic establishment has gotten things so very wrong during the cost of living & inflation crisis. With inflation climbing and interest rates rising but...

Ben Davison looks at Prime Minister Albanese's Insiders interview from Garma where he outlined his plan for the constitutional referendum and the enshrinement of the indigenous Voice to parliament. How the Voice comes into being will depend on winning the referendum and Ben analyses the approach Albo is taking to make sure he wins the debate. The 1st week of the 47th parliament saw a flurry of leg...

Van Badham and Ben Davison take a look at why Anthony Albanese's government faces some significant challenges as the new parliament sits for the first time. Van and Ben discuss the emotional opening of parliament and why Labor's time in government, particularly under the current circumstances, is so important. With neo-liberal economic ideologues dominating the institutions of our economy the Labo...

Ben Davison examines Tony Burke's Insider's interview where he announced the end of the ABCC misusing taxpayer funds to persecute workers over union stickers, logos and flags. Minister Burke also discussed how some corporations are using "loopholes" to lower wages as an Age/SMH piece finds workers in union agreements are winning higher pay rises than non-union workers. Join your union at australia...

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at how John Barliaro has come totally unstuck as his former chief of staff testifies that the former NSW Nationals Deputy Premier created the New York trade position with every intention of taking the job himself. Tanya Plibersek has released the previous Morrison government's environment report which has some damming facts and figures about the state of Australia's...

Van Badham joins Ben Davison for a very special weekend wrap.  Our hosts got married yesterday!  In a small family ceremony at the beach where Van's father's ashes were put into Botany Bay, Van and Ben have tied the knot. But the news waits for no one. Albo's decision to reinstate paid pandemic leave payments for worker's who have to isolate shows the power of working people raising their voice to...

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at the Albanese Government's announcement of a jobs and skills summit, who might be going, who thinks they are going, what it is supposed to achieve and why the Liberal Party is totally confused about what is happening. Australian Unions are positioning to have the summit fix our broken workplace laws, improve wages, job security, working conditions for women and ac...

In 20 minutes Ben looks at the resignation of Boris Johnson, who remains Prime Minister but is no longer the leader of the Tory party, the political upheaval in Sri Lanka as the President and Prime Minister resign following the citizens taking over the Presidential palace and the assassination of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe by a suspected conspiracy theorist.  Ben has a particular fo...

Van Badham and Ben Davison break down how the Liberal Party and their right wing media allies have attacked Albo doing his job promoting Australia's interests in Europe while they simultaneously forgot that Dutton is literally on holiday. Even NSW Liberal state Premier Dominic Perrottet has defended Albo saying the state and federal government had been working well on dealing with the current floo...

Van Badham joins Ben Davison for a special Weekend Wrap to discuss the rapid rebuilding of Australia's international reputation, the latest Per Capita report on systemic risks of contracting in the NDIS and Australia suffering our 10,000th COVID death. Albo and the Labor government have rapidly rebuilt Australia's international reputation with allies in Europe and pacific embracing the new governm...

Van Badham and Ben Davison emerge from their COVID isolation to breakdown the real story behind the wages debate in Australia. The reality doesn't match the ideological chest beating from the business lobby who were quick to claim a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) mandate for a wages cap (their isn't one) to stop a "wages spiral" and that Sally McManus, leader of Australian Unions, had called the...

Van Badham and Ben Davison have COVID!  But that doesn't stop them from examining how a decade of Liberal/National government gave Morrison the chance to stack out various Australian institutions, ranging from the ABC to the Reserve Bank. While many appointments across government may have been on merit the uniform ideological background of people on the Reserve Bank Board have many people question...

Van Badham joins Ben Davison for the Weekend Wrap and a look under the hood at the Victorian and New South Wales early childhood education announcements this week.  While it was a joint announcement the details highlight the public sector vs private sector approaches of the respective Labor and Liberal governments.  NSW has also announced "reforms" in education which are based on policies that hav...

Van Badham and Ben Davison celebrate Minimum Wage day as 2.7 Million low paid workers in Australia are set to receive at least a 4.6% and up to 5.2% increase in wages.  We look at who will get what and when. As well as the dollars and cents, Van and Ben break down the economic and socio-political realities of the minimum wage decision, what we need to do to help lift the wages of the other 75% of...

Ben Davison looks at Bill Shorten's Insider's interview and his push to fix the NDIS.  With 90% of NDIS providers now unregistered, organised crime infiltrated into the system & foreign private equity extracting profits Shorten has promised that if "you are delivering personal care you have to be registered" that people will be "paid the proper award" and we to "make sure people are qualified". Wh...

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at what's happening in our economy as the Reserve Bank raises rates, inflation spikes and wages continue to go backwards in real terms. Van and Ben get underneath the headline figures to look at what's really driving inflation, who's profiting and why wage increases are exactly what we need to get the economy humming.  You can get your wages moving by joining your u...