Last week on this podcast we talked to Ken Wyatt about the government's plan for a referendum – hopefully this parliamentary term – to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. This week, we continue the conversation on Indigenous recognition with Megan Davis, a law professor and expert member of a key United Nations Indigenous rights body on the debate about an Indigenous 'Voice' which…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Megan Davis
The first Indigenous minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, says on the government's proposal to constitutionally recognise Indigenous Australians: "I'm optimistic about achieving the outcome because if the words are simple, but meaningful, then Australians will generally accept an opportunity to include Aboriginal people in the Constitution." But he concedes Indigenous leaders would not take…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Frank Brennan, Jesuit priest and member of the expert panel on Religious Freedom set up by Malcolm Turnbull, says the Israel Folau matter is a "simple freedom of contract case regardless of Mr. Folau's religious views". "I think the question is, did he voluntarily, and for a very large sum of money, agree with his employer to follow a work code which included an undertaking not to make statements on…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The ACTU leadership has pushed controversial construction boss John Setka to quit his union job but its president Michele O'Neil says the final decision on his leadership rests on the union membership. She told The Conversation "members of unions elect their leadership and that's an important principle". In this podcast episode O'Neil denounces the government's plan to bring back to parliament the…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
University of Tasmania political science professor, Richard Eccleston, says a lack of a coherent energy policy could count against the Coalition in the island state. "The party which seems to offer the more compelling commitment to climate change and renewable production will probably be well placed to capitalize on that [Tasmania's environmental interests]." Eccleston told The Conversation the volatile…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Inside Story's Tim Colebatch says three Victorian seats are seen as "pretty certain" wins for Labor - Dunkley, Corangamite and Chisholm. A number of others "are really open" - Casey, La Trobe, Deakin, Flinders and possibly even Higgins. "It does strike me that [the Liberals] they’ve done a lot to show the flag in Victoria. Morrison has been down there frequently". Colebatch tells The Conversation climate…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Western Australia-based William Bowe, who runs The Poll Bludger website, says "there is a feeling that there is a Labor resurgence in the state". Bowe told The Conversation a "floundering" state economy after the mining boom downturn, with falling house prices and rising unemployment, has created a sense that "prosperity has been lost. And that sense of downward mobility is very dangerous for the government…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
ANU marketing lecturer Andrew Hughes says this is the first election where the advertising spend and activity has been more focussed on digital. He told The Conversation that on Monday, the first day of pre-polling, there was a surge in social media ads - the Coalition had over 230 different ads on Facebook while Labor had over 200. "The sheer volume of ads is probably the highest we’ve ever seen in…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Andrew Hughes
While the major party leaders seem to have curated their images, University of Canberra assistant professor in communications and media Caroline Fisher says they can't always control how these could be manipulated. Fisher says there has been "a real attempt to soften" Scott Morrison as the "daggy dad" through candid personal selfies. In contrast, Bill Shorten has opted for more professional shots which…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Caroline Fisher
Shadow Finance minister Jim Chalmers said Labor was looking for ways to make things fairer for low-income earners who were "largely left behind" in the government's budget. He told The Conversation the measures "would be through the tax system and would most likely be around the low and middle income tax offset which the government introduced". New to podcasts? Podcasts are often best enjoyed using…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
From inside the budget lockup, The Conversation's Business and Economics editor Peter Martin and political and economic journalist Tim Colebatch from Inside Story shared their reactions to the pre-election budget. Martin said the budget featured a substantial tax cut "that goes back in time" and that while the government was forecasting "good times around the corner," there has been barely any sign…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
After more than two decades, Jenny Macklin is in her final days as an MP. Her legacies from her time as a Labor minister include parental leave and the landmark National Disability Insurance Scheme. In this podcast she tells The Conversation a Labor government would fix "one of the worst" problems of the NDIS by abolishing the cap on the number of staff that could be employed in the agency. "There…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The ANU's Australian Election Study has been running since 1987. Its director Ian McAllister says one thing voters will want at this poll is stability. McAllister says that for the first time in a long while, one of the major parties - Labor - has put forward some "very constructive policies". But, he told The Conversation, Bill Shorten is very unpopular: he "ranks below any leader we’ve ever recorded…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The Sydney electorate of Warringah will be one of the most fascinating battlegrounds in the May election, with a high profile independent Zali Stegall challenging former prime minister Tony Abbott. Despite the seat being on about 11 per cent, Abbott describes this as a "full on marginal seat campaign". Abbott is running hard on local issues. He says over-development and traffic congestion are the biggest…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Independent MP Kerryn Phelps, who set the ball rolling for the medical transfers legislation, says its passage is "a remarkable exercise in cooperation". Phelps says that of the about 1000 people on Manus and Nauru "around 70 people require urgent medical evacuation" and "another couple of hundred will require transfer but not as urgently". She describes Scott Morrison's proposal to reopen the Christmas…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack says the banking royal commission report contained a good outcome for farmers. McCormack praised Nationals backbenchers Llew O’Brien, George Christensen and senator John "Wacka" Williams for their role in pushing for the commission, saying he was "really pleased" about major changes recommended in relation to agricultural loans. Acknowledging…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The Labor party has emerged from its three day national conference in Adelaide looking united and projecting itself as "ready to govern". Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek told The Conversation the ALP wants voters to see the party as "responsible and progressive". She says a Labor government would "work cooperatively with the trade union movement cause we share the same objective". "The union movement…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, a senior minister in the last Labor government and briefly deputy prime minister, is preparing to "hit the ground running" if the ALP wins next year's election. But meanwhile the opposition is concentrating on staying focused and on message, fully aware that things can always go wrong. Speaking to The Conversation, Albanese wouldn't comment on Bill Shorten's unpopularity…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Josh Frydenberg, who became treasurer and deputy Liberal leader in the tumultuous events of August, said the party has "big challenges". While the party is "disappointed" by this week's defection of Julia Banks to the crossbench they "remain as a group focused on the challenges ahead. And we have big challenges, there’s no doubt about that." He said he "absolutely" will be keeping in touch with Banks…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) ended with no agreed communique and unresolved tensions between the United States and China on open display. Lowy Institute's Pacific Islands program director, Jonathan Pryke, who observed the forum in Port Moresby, said: "it is distressing for all parties that they weren’t able to find common ground. There is a fear that we’re losing the middle here…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
The Senate this week passed a motion calling for the government to establish a federal anti-corruption commission. The government is more likely to beef up existing institutions but Justice Party senator Derryn Hinch, who has been a strong advocate for a national ICAC, says "that would be wrong." "We have to have an independent national body to look into us [politicians] and to public servants and…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Ahead of the release of the most comprehensive data on loneliness in Australia - by the Australian Psychologists Society - Labor frontbencher Andrew Giles speaks to The Conversation about this "contagious phenomenon". Loneliness is a growing issue, Giles says. It's not just among older Australians, as often conventionally thought, but also a problem for young people - with social media, paradoxically…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Anne Summers, who has worn many hats during her career - journalist, editor, activist, senior public servant, and prime ministerial advisor - is concerned about the slow progress in Australia in addressing sexual harassment and assault. "I don’t know what it is that is holding [MeToo] back here," Summers tells The Conversation. She believes there should be more naming of perpetrators, with the proviso…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Jonathan Biggins, who has been sending up politicians as part of The Wharf Revue for almost two decades, has some sharp words about social media - "the enemy of democracy, not its ally" - and a warning on political correctness. "We are entering an age of a new puritanism that is actually not only driven by the censorious right but by the equally censorious left who are saying this is no longer acceptable…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Some in the Nationals would like Barnaby Joyce back in the leadership before the election. Joyce speaking to The Conversation repeats that if the leadership were offered, he would be up for it - though he insists he is not canvassing. But his critics think he would have a "woman problem" - and Joyce acknowledges that to win support back from rural women he "would certainly have a lot of work to do…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan