Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  Australia’s native forests are not only home to some of our most vulnerable and threatened species, they hold critical cultural and ecological value. While native forest logging is being phased out in Western Australia and Victoria, other states are failing to take action to protect these iconic and precious ecosystems from logging. This was recorded on Wednesday 4th October 2023...

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  The first person will face trial in relation to Australian war crimes in Afghanistan is David McBride, the whistleblower on trial, not an alleged war criminal. On the eve of David McBride’s trial, a distinguished panel of experts discussed what’s at stake, what it says that whistleblower not a war criminal is facing trial, and the right to truth and accountability when...

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  What if we’re thinking about inflation wrong? Join renowned economist Isabella Weber, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a discussion about the economics and politics of seller’s inflation. This was recorded on Thursday 7th September 2023 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au //...

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  This episode, we're listening back to one of our most popular episodes from the year with our Executive Director Richard Denniss, digging into the cycle of corporate profits, inflation, and low wages.  This was recorded on Wednesday 7th June 2023 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Richard Denniss, Executive...

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  One of the great mysteries of Australian life is that a land of sweeping plains, with one of the lowest population densities on the planet, has a shortage of land for houses. As a result, Sydney’s median house price is the second most expensive on Earth, after Hong Kong’s. Alan Kohler discusses his latest essay and tells the story of how we got into this mess – and how we might get...

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023.  This year has been a doozy in Australian politics, and we need to talk about it. We invited a panel of distinguished press gallery journalists along to our Politics in the Pub live event, to give us the low down on what's happened, and wrap things up for us for the year. This was recorded on Wednesday 29th November 2023 and things may have changed since...

The United Nations annual climate conference, COP28, is wrapping up, and it's crunch time. Is there going to be a mention of actually phasing out fossil fuels? Or will we have more of avoiding the issue? This was recorded on Tuesday 12th December 2023 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Polly Hemming, Director, Climate & Energy program, the Australia Institute // @pollyjhemming Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the...

The Maugean skate, native to Macquarie Harbour, is running out of time. It's facing extinction, due in large part to the Tasmanian salmon industry.  This was recorded on Monday 4th December 2023 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Eloise Carr, Senior Fellow and Contributing Editor, the Australia Institute // @GeneveraE Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett Producer: Jennifer Macey //...

Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men, is suing Australia for at least $41.3bn, claiming it breached the ASEAN free trade agreement in relation to coal exploration permits. But he's doing so...as a foreign investor? Stephen Long explains how Clive Palmer’s controversial legal strategies challenge Australia’s trade agreements and environmental laws. Stephen Long is a Senior Fellow and Contributing Editor at the Australia Institute, and Walkley Award winning journalist, previously at...

In a less than ideal week for the government, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has copped some criticism for how much overseas travel he’s been doing. Most PMs have been subject to criticism for travelling, so how seriously should we take it this time?  This was recorded on Tuesday 21st November 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Dr Emma Shortis, Senior Researcher, International & Security Affairs program, the Australia...

Economic data can tell us a lot about what's happening in society and the economy.  Introducing the Autralia Institute's brand new podcast, Dollars & Sense, with Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. In Dollars & Sense, each week, Greg Jericho will dive into the latest economic figures, and explain what they can tell us about what's happening in the economy, how it will...

Australia is one of the few countries with a developed research sector that does not have a research integrity watchdog, instead relying on research institutions to initiate and oversee investigations into their own researchers. This was recorded on Wednesday 15th November 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Dr Kristen Scicluna, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the Australia Institute // @kristenscicluna Host: Ebony Bennett,...

The RBA has delivered its first interest rate rise since Michelle Bullock took over from Philip Lowe as Governor, up 25 basis points to 4.35%, the highest in 12 years. So what needs to change for the pain to stop? This was recorded on Tuesday 7th November 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @GrogsGamut Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute //...

By exposing human rights abuses, government wrongdoing and corporate misconduct, whistleblowers like David McBride and Richard Boyle make Australia a better place. Yet too often in Australia, whistleblowers are prosecuted rather than supported. This was recorded on Tuesday 24th October 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guests: Kieran Pender, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre // @KieranHRLC Professor Peter Greste,...

Following the Voice Referendum, new Australia Institute research shows that almost nine in ten (87%) Australians want Parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws before the next federal election. This was recorded on Tuesday 17th October 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Bill Browne, Director, Democracy & Accountability Director, the Australia Institute // @Browne90 Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the...

Many Australians are still unsure what the referendum on is even about. What would a Voice to Parliament look like, and how would it help Indigenous people? To help make it more clear, the Australia Institute’s own Kate McBride recently sat down with Pat Anderson AO, Alyawarre woman and architect of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This was recorded on Friday 8th September 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guests: Pat Anderson...

As the Senate Inquiry into the management and assurance of integrity by consulting services continues, Labor senator Deb O'Neill and Greens senator Barbara Pocock have been applying the pressure to consulting firms in the hotseat. This was recorded on Wednesday 4th October 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guests: Rod Campbell, Research Director, the Australia Institute // @R_o_d_C Bill Browne, Director, Democracy &...

The Australia-America economic relationship is one of the world’s most consequential, worth over $2 trillion, yet few understand its depth and scale. This was recorded on Thursday 3rd August 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Joey Herlihy, Research Intern, International & Security Affairs program, the Australia Institute  Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett Producer:...

As the Northern Hemisphere experiences extreme heatwaves and Australia prepares for a “horror summer”, and the new RBA Governor Michelle Bullock warns climate change poses a “particularly acute” challenge for the Australia economy, listen back to the launch of the 2023 Climate of the Nation Report at Politics in the Pub. This was recorded on Wednesday 13th September 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guests: Liz Morison,...

As many Australians are facing rising cost-of-living, which is being made worse by climate change, fossil fuel companies are making record profits. So how can our Government make them pay the bill? This was recorded on Tuesday 12th September 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Liz Morison, Researcher, Climate & Energy program, the Australia Institute // @morison_liz Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Digital Content Producer,...

A new deal to save the Murray-Darling basin has been brokered by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, following another mass fish kill, and a survey finding not a single adult Murray Cod in the Lower Darling-Bakka. This was recorded on Tuesday 5th September 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Kate McBride, Researcher and Parliamentary Liason Officer, the Australia Institute // @Kate_McBride_1 Host: Ebony Bennett,...

The Labor Government has been campaigning for Australia to host COP31, the UN climate conference, in partnership with a Pacific Island nation. But Pacific Islanders have several concerns, mainly due to Australia's track record with new fossil fuels, and lacklustre climate policy. This was recorded on Wednesday 30th August 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Polly Hemming, Director, Climate & Energy Program, the Australia...

While you might not think native duck hunting is a big issue in Australia, it actually has extensive detrimental effects on our ecosystems. And it isn't even that popular among Australians.  This was recorded on Tuesday 6th June 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guests: Rod Campbell, Research Director, the Australia Institute // @R_o_d_C Liz Morison, Researcher, the Australia Institute // @morison_liz Noah Schultz-Byard,...

The lifecycle emissions resulting from Tamboran Resources’ proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) processing and export facility in the Northern Territory would be equivalent to 12 coal-fired power stations every year when operating at full capacity. Not exactly on the transition to net-zero... This was recorded on Wednesday 16th August 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Polly Hemming, Director, Climate & Energy Program,...

The Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment (Using New Technologies to Fight Climate Change) Bill currently before Parliament sounds promising. But as it turns out, the name of the bill is hiding a lot of ugly truths.  This was recorded on Thursday 11th August 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Rod Campbell, Research Director, the Australia Institute // @R_o_d_C Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia...