Why Can't They Just...

Janaline, Yassine and Glenn ask why Australians lose more to gambling than any other nationality in the world and what can be done to stop gambling harm. Turns out a lot can be done, so they then ask why the Government isn’t doing it. Here is a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `whycanttheyjust@gma...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn ask why Australian Prime Ministers spend so much time with very tiny island countries, and why Australian governments spend so much development aid in the region. Short answer - geography matters. We make the case for development assistance as an investment in global stability and for delivering it in a way that is less colonial and more collaborative (eg ask people what t...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the history of international climate negotiations and ask why has it all been so hard? Maybe we are asking for the wrong thing - instead of asking countries to give something up (fossil fuel use), what if we asked them to build something new instead, in the form of decarbonised heavy industry supply chains? Something less vulnerable to other people’s wars… Here&#39...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the Safeguard Mechanism - the government's main policy to manage down industrial emissions - and how it can be made more effective. How can it make miners and fossil fuel companies do more of the heavy lifting, and shouldn't the whole thing just be scrapped for an economy-wide price on carbon? Maybe a focus on methane will help? This episode carries a nerd...

Janaline, Luke and Yassine consider the impact of AI on society, how we relate to each other as humans, how it is affecting education and learning, and what it means for our humanity. And because we care about policy, we consider what governments need to do to make sure humans stay in charge and harm is minimised and managed. Here is a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have...

Janaline and Glenn look at the different ways in which AI is likely to affect the Australian economy and ask what, if anything, the government can do to ensure it delivers benefit to the people. Spoiler alert: we see a big role for government policy here. Here is a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at...

Janaline, Luke and Yassine discuss what it's actually like in Australian public schools, what are the challenges for teachers and students and what policies might make things better. Philosophy for children might be an answer. Good news: public schools in Australia are actually pretty good and fixing the roofs would go a long way to making them even better. Here is a transcript . Please leave...

Welcome to Season 3, and welcome to our new co-host Yassine. Janaline, Luke, Yassine and Glenn talk about school funding: why does the government give so much to private schools when public schools are under-funded, and what can be done to make education more equitable while improving academic standards? Here is a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can...

Janaline and Luke are joined by special guest Yassine to talk about social media and its impact on Generation Z - the first generation to grow up entirely on line and the last generation not to be protected. They talk about what the infinite scroll and the outrage machine are doing to their peers and offer thoughts on how to keep people safe. Spoiler alert - we see a significant role for governmen...

Janaline and Glenn look at different mechanisms to hold governments to account and discuss why every Australian should love the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act. They look at the difference between the public interest and what interests the public, and argue that access to decision makers doesn't necessarily mean influence over them. Here is a transcript . Please leave a comment,...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at why the government can't just put dental into Medicare and make specialists affordable. Well, actually they can, but of course, as usual, it's complicated. They talk about different funding models and how the system can be made high quality and accessible while also being financially sustainable. Maybe looking at health care as joined up social policy - whe...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn are joined by former co-host William at the ALP National Conference in Adelaide, where they talk about how the policy sausage is made and debate the pros and cons of behind the scenes negotiations and public stoushes on the conference floor. Is the ALP too tame? This episode was recorded on Friday 24 July, the second day of the 3-day conference. Here is a transcript . Plea...

Janaline and Glenn look at the government's aged care reforms and ask whether they will be sufficient to ensure the system is sustainable in the future, especially given the rate at which Australia's population is ageing. And given the devastating findings of the Aged Care Royal Commission, how does the government ensure that aged care delivers high quality outcomes for people to live in d...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the history of child care in Australia and ask why you might want people to be qualified to look after your children. It won't surprise anyone that we disagree that mothers should just be made to stay home to look after their children (not least because it means a lot of women just won't have them). We also look at how child care is funded and delivered and...

Janaline and Luke are joined by special guest and disability advocate Andy Shim, a member of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council, to discuss the government's proposed changes to the NDIS. Why are they so controversial and are they actually going to work? Here's a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." questio...

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the AUKUS program and ask why the government can't just ditch it. And given the erratic decisions coming out of the current US administration, they ask why we wouldn't just extract ourselves from the US alliance while we are at it. Here's a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us atwhycan...

Renewable energy is really taking off in Australia, but is it fast enough to meet the Government's target of 82% by 2030? The McKell Institute and the Electrical Trades Union have recently released a report calling for a publicly-owned renewable energy entity to provide affordable, reliable renewable electricity to large industrial projects to accelerate the transition of Australia's indus...

Janaline and Luke discuss human rights and why you should care about it. They look at what citizenship means and the importance of not having 'conditional' citizens. They also discuss the importance of the three fundamental principles underlying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - that they are universal, individual and inalienable - and why if one person or group of people doesn&#...

Janaline, Glenn and Luke pick apart the 2026 Federal Budget, particularly the revenue measures, but also its potential impact on productivity. Spoiler alert - we think businesses and asset holders should pay tax just like wage earners. Here's a  transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at whycanttheyjust...

Janaline and Glenn examine the policies of One Nation, a political party that seems to be rising in popularity in Australia, not just in polling but in real elections. Here's a  transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at whycanttheyjust@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Please also feel free to...

Janaline, Glenn and Luke go through the major spending items in the budget and discuss the question of why governments can't just balance their budgets and why do we need all this spending anyway? Here's a  transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at whycanttheyjust@gmail.com. We'd love to hear f...

Janaline and Glenn discuss different ways of raising revenue for the government and the effects of different approaches on how people behave and therefore how much can be raised. Here's a  transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at whycanttheyjust@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Please also f...

Welcome to a new series. In our first episode, Janaline, Glenn and Luke consider why the Government can't just plug the budget's $200 billion worth of tax loopholes (called 'tax expenditures'). There are lots of reasons, and we think they can and should plug some of them. Here's a transcript . Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they ju...

Janaline, William and Ella Haddad MP delve into why they have decided to join and vote Labor. They discuss how Labor governments has prioritised the environment, social justice and support for vulnerable people, and how only governments can set the policy agenda, which limits the effectiveness of minor parties and independents to create real change. Please rate and review us - it helps people find...

Janaline and William discuss the US and Israel attack on Iran, its consequences for the rest of the world and the Australian government's response. Here's the transcript . Please rate and review us - it helps people find the show. If you'd like to send us feedback or suggestions, especially if you have your own 'Why Can't They Just' question, email us at: whycanttheyjust@gm...