Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth: Recent Episodes
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, a podcast by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), gives a voice to parliamentarians, civil society experts and activists across the Commonwealth to discuss common democratic challenges and share their ideas on what can be done to solve them. The CPA promotes knowledge of the constitutional, legislative, economic, social and cultural aspects of parliamentary democracy. Our work enables Commonwealth Parliamentarians and officials to uphold and strengthen parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, sustainable development and human rights.
In this episode, we’re joined by Hon. Mmabatho Tembe, Deputy Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature and one of the youngest to ever hold the role. Her story charts a compelling rise – from community organising and council chambers to presiding over legislative proceedings in one of South Africa’s most dynamic provinces. As a young woman navigating political power, public service and institutional change, Hon. Tembe shares insights on leadership that’s grounded, forward-looking and inclusive. This conversation dives into the evolving face of democracy in South Africa, and what it takes to lead with both conviction and care.
Hon. Mmabatho Tembe was speaking with Miral Pankhania, Communications and Office Administrator at the CPA Secretariat during the CWP Workshop in the Bahamas.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform:
https://www.cpahq.org/knowledge-centre/podcast/
Recorded in May 2025.
This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, speaks to Hon. Donna Skelly, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Canada – the first woman in Ontario to hold this prestigious position.
We speak about her role as a Presiding Officer and Member of Parliament; the barriers facing women in politics and how to overcome them; the role of ‘modern’ Commonwealth; and how her previous career as a journalist has helped in political life.
Hon. Donna Skelly was speaking with Jeffrey Hyland, Editor of The Parliamentarian, the CPA’s Journal of Commonwealth Parliaments.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in July 2025 at the 61st CPA Canada Regional Conference in Québec.
This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, was made in association with ‘Human Coined’, a Podcast series hosted by Geoff Dubrow, Founder and Principal Consultant at Nexus PFM Consulting Inc., a consulting firm specialising in horizontal approaches to policy issues, bringing together Parliaments, Ministries of finance, civil society organisations and others.
(https://nexuspfm.com/podcast/)
How can governments ensure that their public projects are good value for money, that spending is economic and efficient and that the public know where their money is going?
In this episode, Geoff Dubrow examines the role of Public Accounts Committees in the Commonwealth’s smallest jurisdictions. He spoke with Hon. Seve Paeniu, a Member of the Parliament of Tuvalu and a former Finance Minister. They discussed the special challenges facing Tuvalu’s Public Accounts Committee in a Legislature of 16 Members, the role of the Opposition and Government in legislative scrutiny and how Tuvalu’s setup differs from PACs in other jurisdictions.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in August 2025.
In this episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA spoke with three young people shaping the future of politics.
Hon. Eve Borg Bonello MP became one of the world’s youngest elected Legislators in 2022, when she was elected to the Parliament of Malta at the age of 18. Zaria Ingham and Kemuel Pascall represented Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago respectively at the 12th Commonwealth Youth Parliament, hosted by the CPA and the Parliament of New Zealand in 2024.
In this Podcast to mark International Youth Day, they discussed the barriers and advantages of being a young person in politics, how the voices of youth can be adequately represented and their hopes for the futures of their countries and the Commonwealth.
This podcast was hosted by Marshall Tisdale, Programmes Officer at the CPA Secretariat, ahead of International Youth Day 2025.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
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Democracy is in retreat across the globe. To try to understand why, we talked to His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of the Seychelles and Professor Maya Tudor, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
Danny Faure discusses his role as the head of several Commonwealth Election Observation Missions stretching from Antigua and Barbuda to Gabon. He outlines some of the key day-to-day threats to democratic transition, including AI deepfakes, incumbents refusing to give up power, or unrest during elections. He also outlines the key role of the Election Observation Missions, and how elections can be supported by key institutions like the courts, the police and the media.
Professor Maya Tudor discusses how we should go about defining democracy, the impact of colonialism on democratic transition, and how different varieties of nationalism can either enable or prevent a democratic transition. She also discusses some of the reasons for democratic backsliding across the globe.
This episode was researched and recorded by CPA Communications Officer, Oz Russell, with additional research by CPA Deputy Head of Programmes, James Pinnell.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform:
https://www.cpahq.org/knowledge-centre/podcast/
Recorded in May and June 2025.
In this episode, we sit down with Hon. Shrimati Nayana Motamma, the youngest woman in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, legal professional and trailblazing Dalit woman redefining Indian politics. She discusses her route from corporate lawyer to grassroots political campaigns, and how her political career has been defined by courage, identity and generational legacy. We explore how she navigates complex intersections of caste, gender and power, and how she has consistently challenged expectations of what women’s leadership in India can look like.
Hon. Shrimati Nayana Motamma was speaking with Miral Pankhania, Strategic Communications Coordinator at the CPA Secretariat during the CWP Workshop in the Bahamas.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform:
https://www.cpahq.org/knowledge-centre/podcast/
Recorded in May 2025.
This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, features Rt Hon. Dame Emily Thornberry, UK MP continually since 2005, in conversation with Natasa Pantelic, who has been working in and around the UK Parliament for over 20 years.
The conversation explores the global challenges we face in 2025 and their impact on multilateralism, the role that the ‘modern’ Commonwealth can take in geo-politics, the many barriers facing women in entering political life and also the positive aspects of being an MP.
Dame Emily Thornberry is the current Chair of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and her previous roles have included Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade and Shadow Attorney-General.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform:
https://www.cpahq.org/knowledge-centre/podcast/
Recorded in April 2025.
This special episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’ speaks to Hon. Khurram Ijaz Chattha, a Member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Pakistan.
In 2024 Hon. Chattha was selected as the winner of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year because of his "dedicated promotion of good governance, placing strong emphasis on the rule of law, transparency and accountability throughout his political career. His proactive approach in Assembly debates has contributed to the creation of laws that prioritize the public interest and his leadership in the development of public policies has also focused on improving governance systems that protect the rights of citizens and promote social equity."
He speaks about his family's legacy in politics, his commitment to social equity and what winning this award means to him.
Nominations for the 2025 Parliamentarian of the Year Awards are open now: https://www.cpahq.org/what-we-do/2025-parliamentarian-of-the-year-awards-nomination-form/
Khurram Ijaz Chattha was speaking with Oz Russell, Communications Officer at the CPA Secretariat.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in February 2025.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
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In this episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, South African MP, Hon. Steve Letsike discusses the enduring impact of colonial laws on LGBT+ rights in South Africa and across the Commonwealth. Drawing from her roles as Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, and Founder of Access Chapter 2, Hon. Steve Letsike speaks to the paradox of legal progress and lived realities, the pre-colonial history of gender diversity in Africa and what meaningful change looks like from within and beyond Parliament.
Hon. Steve Letsike was speaking with Miral Pankhania, Strategic Communications Coordinator at the CPA Secretariat.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in February 2025.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
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This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, speaks to Nusrat Ghani, MP, UK Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Recorded at the 1st joint CPA Asia South-East Asia Regional Conference in Lahore, Pakistan February 2025, Nusrat Ghani speaks about her path into politics, how best to support MPs and get the right type of people interested in public service, what the stakes are in regulating Artificial Intelligence, and how the Speaker's Office in the UK interacts with the Commonwealth.
Nusrat Ghani was speaking with Oz Russell, Communications Officer at the CPA Secretariat.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in February 2025.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
Follow the CPA on social media:
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This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, speaks to Hon. Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Pakistan.
We speak about his path in politics towards becoming Speaker, how to encourage sustainable and inclusive growth across the Commonwealth, the historic occasion of the first CPA Asia South-East Asia joint Regional Conference and the governance of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence.
Hon. Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan was speaking with Oz Russell, Communications Officer at the CPA Secretariat during the Asia South-East Asia joint Regional Conference.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in February 2025.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
Follow the CPA on social media:
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This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, speaks to Senator Crystal Drakes, a Member of the Senate of Barbados.
Recorded at the 67th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in New South Wales in November 2024, Senator Crystal Drakes speaks about the recent transition from a monarchy to a republic in Barbados and what it means for democracy and national identity; her background in economic and international development and how it led to her parliamentary career; and how international conferences like the CPC can provide a platform for smaller jurisdictions in the Caribbean and beyond.
Barbados will host the next 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in October 2025.
Senator Crystal Drakes was speaking with Marshall Tisdale, Programmes Officer at the CPA Secretariat.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in November 2024.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
Follow the CPA on social media:
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-parliamentary-association
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This episode of ‘Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth’, the CPA’s Podcast, speaks to Hon. Kate Doust, a Member of the Legislative Council from the Parliament of Western Australia.
We speak about her role as a Presiding Officer and Member of Parliament; how her trade union background has helped in her career; the barriers facing women in politics and how to overcome them; the role of ‘modern’ Commonwealth; and being the first recipient of the CPA Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award.
Hon. Kate Doust was speaking with Jeffrey Hyland, Editor of The Parliamentarian, the CPA’s Journal of Commonwealth Parliaments.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Recorded in August 2024.
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
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In The Juggle: How Politicians Prioritise, a special World Parliament Day mini-series of Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, we peel back the layers of what Parliaments do and consider a simple concept that lies at the heart of parliamentary democracy – representation.
As an elected representative, the job of a politician is to collect the views of the people they represent, and use them to dictate their actions and decisions in Parliament. It sounds simple in theory, but the reality is that the views of the wider public are not often defined, ordered or presented to politicians in a simple way.
Their challenge is to constantly juggle the competing interests of different groups of people, all of whom want to talk to them, talk at them or even shout at them, and have a right to do so in a representative democracy. Successfully fulfilling a responsibility to represent others requires a constant balancing act.
So, in this mini-series, we ravel around the Commonwealth to ask Members of Parliament about their processes for listening to and filtering the daily demands on their attention, choosing what’s important or urgent, deciding how their time is best spent and what that means for how they operate on a day-to-day basis.
In this episode, we speak to Rt. Hon. Nelly Mutti, Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia, about how the role of Speaker brings different pressures and priorities compared to other politicians, the need to think about fairness and gender equality when presiding over parliamentary business, and the key improvements she hopes to make to the Zambian National Assembly in her time in office.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
Follow the CPA on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CPA_Secretariat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPAHQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-parliamentary-association
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cpa_secretariat
In The Juggle: How Politicians Prioritise, a special World Parliament Day mini-series of Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, we peel back the layers of what Parliaments do and consider a simple concept that lies at the heart of parliamentary democracy – representation.
As an elected representative, the job of a politician is to collect the views of the people they represent, and use them to dictate their actions and decisions in Parliament. It sounds simple in theory, but the reality is that the views of the wider public are not often defined, ordered or presented to politicians in a simple way.
Their challenge is to constantly juggle the competing interests of different groups of people, all of whom want to talk to them, talk at them or even shout at them, and have a right to do so in a representative democracy. Successfully fulfilling a responsibility to represent others requires a constant balancing act.
So, in this mini-series, we ravel around the Commonwealth to ask Members of Parliament about their processes for listening to and filtering the daily demands on their attention, choosing what’s important or urgent, deciding how their time is best spent and what that means for how they operate on a day-to-day basis.
In this episode, we speak to Shri Anurag Sharma, Member of the Lok Sabha for Jhansi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, about how he manages his focus, time and energy whilst serving more than 2.8 million constituents, and the changing methods that his constituents use to communicate with him.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
Follow the CPA on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CPA_Secretariat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPAHQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-parliamentary-association
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cpa_secretariat
On a special episode of Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, the former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, sits down with CPA Secretary-General and former UK MP, Stephen Twigg, for a wide-ranging conversation.
Gillard, who served as Prime Minister from 2010 to 2013:
- praises affirmative action as a proven solution to increase the representation of women in Parliament (07:16)
- warns that 'we could be back to ground zero' unless world leaders urgently address vaccine inequality (19:10)
- highlights that COVID-19 had left 'unanswered questions' about children's mental health (22:55)
- calls the situation in Afghanistan 'absolutely heart-breaking to watch' (31:12)
- admits that the Commonwealth must 'stare' its colonial history 'in the face' in order to move forward (32:40)
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
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On this episode of Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, we ask: how can Commonwealth democracies be more representative of indigenous peoples?
To discuss this question we are joined by:
- Hon. Lenox R Shuman MP, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Guyana and Member of the Arawak Nation;
- Sheila North, former Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and campaigner for indigenous women in Canada;
- Josiah Tualamali'i, youth indigenous activist in New Zealand and former participant in the Commonwealth Youth Parliament.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Visit the CPA website: https://www.cpahq.org/
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Contact us: https://www.cpahq.org/contact-us/
On World Refugee Day, we ask:
How can we give refugees a voice in our democracies?To discuss this question, we are joined by Hon. Ayor Makur Chuot, a newly elected Member of the Parliament of Western Australia and former South Sudanese refugee; Sally Gandar, Head of Parliamentary Advocacy & Legal Advisor at the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town; and Louise Donovan, Communications Officer for UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, where nearly 890,000 Rohingya refugees live across 34 camps.
To find out more about the CPA, visit www.cpahq.org.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Each year, on 7 April, Rwandans mark Kwibuka, the National Commemoration of Victims of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in remembrance of the estimated 800,000 people who were killed during a campaign of violence carried out by Hutu extremists from 7 April to 4 July 1994.
On the 27th anniversary of the start of genocide in Rwanda, we ask:
What can parliamentary democracies do to remember victims of genocide and prevent future genocides?To discuss this question, we are joined by Lieutenant-General Hon. Roméo Dallaire, the former Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda; Hon. Emma Furaha Rubagumya, MP, Rwanda Chamber of Deputies; Dr. Joseph Ryarasa Nkurunziza, Executive Director, Never Again Rwanda and Dr. Kate Ferguson, Co-Executive Director, Protection Approaches.
To find out more about the CPA, visit www.cpahq.org.
Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
This is a teaser announcement for Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, a podcast by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. We’re about to launch our first episode, marking Kwibuka, the Annual Commemoration of Victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. On the episode, we ask what parliamentary democracies can do to remember victims of genocide and prevent future genocides.
We’re very excited to be launching this podcast, which will give a voice to parliamentarians, civil society experts and activists across the Commonwealth to discuss common democratic challenges and share their ideas on what can be done to solve them. To be notified about the launch episode and stay up to date with the podcast, subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcasting platform. You can also search for CPA Secretariat on social media and follow us to stay up to date with all the work that the CPA does.
To find out more about the CPA, visit www.cpahq.org.