#transitzone: Recent Episodes
Peter Clarke, Margo Kingston and Tim Dunlop
Margo Kingston, Peter Clarke and Tim Dunlop come together to talk through the transitions and transformations happening in the world at the moment as we all deal with Covid-19 pandemic. With regular guests from a range of occupations and disciplines, with minds wide open, and a heartfelt desire to see the best of what is possible at this weird moment in the history of the world, we hope #transitzone becomes your alt podcast of choice.
transitzone theme is by Ivan Clarke © at Pang Productions.
This is #transitzone USA Election Update 10, recorded on Wednesday 2 October 2024.
Just 35 days to go to the 2024 voting day on November the 5th.
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke watched the vice presidential debate between The Democrats, Governor Tim Walz, running mate to Kamala Harris, and the GOP’s, Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump’s VP pick. The debate was hosted by CBS News in their New York studios.
Neither Peter nor Margo scanned nor consulted other media takes or analyses. including from social media, before recording. What you’ll hear are their uninfluenced comments.
The larger “real world” context was stark. The still unfolding loss of life and widespread destructions from Hurricane Helene. And the threatening regional Middle East war with Israel and Iran, now facing off again after Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and ostensibly Hezbollah.
The contrast between the style and "mood" of this event and the Donald Trump, Kamala Harris debate was striking. This was almost an "old school" encounter with both Vance and Walz choosing, strategically and tactically, at least the veneer of a kind of comity and reasonableness, even fleeting moments of agreement, as opposed to the unrelenting Trump style of bitter, curmudgeonly denunciations and declarations of impending American dystopia.
THE 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE REPLAY:
https://www.youtube.com/live/hWva-5l_qB0?si=goqOOF5XGyhG_6gF
This is #transitzone USA Election Update 9, recorded on Saturday 27th of September, 2024.
This last week of the election campaign has seen Donald Trump become even more overheated in his rhetoric. His fixation on whether Kamala Harris had a summer job working for McDonalds about 40 years ago, as she claims, has become a recurring feature of his rally rants. He has not relented an iota on the Springfield, Haitian attacks or his 2020, “rigged” election Big Lie, even as the voting machine company, Smartmatic, settles at the last minute a defamation case with far-right outlet NEWSMAX. Fox News is next in that litigation queue
But gradually, economic policies are coming into focus with Trump emphasising his across the board tariffs policy and 15% corporate tax offer to encourage manufacturing in the USA plus a grab bag of other throw it against the wall policy promises.
Kamala Harris delivered a major speech followed by a solo cable TV interview around HER economic policies. And yes, "opportunity economy" and ‘middle class” were repeated themes from her as you’d expect. There was some detail.
Peter Clarke, Margo Kingston with their guest, Nicholas Gruen, discuss the "competing" economic policies of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump (such as they are), with under 4o days to go to the USA election voting day on 5 November.
We are now in the fifth year of the corona virus pandemic. New waves of infections are occurring.
From those earlier years, starting in January 2020, before vaccinations were available, until today, has been a turbulent history of public health measures, including stringent lockdowns, vaccine and mask mandates and socio, economic, political debates and disagreements around “living with covid”. There has been a plethora of often conflicting or at best, ambiguous information and, from certain political actors outright denialism and disinformation about the pandemic and the nature and character of the disease.
Today, despite the persistence of the corona virus in our communities, and the widespread evidence of various forms of “LONG COVID”, we find ourselves in a situation where, overall, complacency rules. People go to work with covid symptoms now! A long way from those days of government enforced quarantine hotels.
Whereas, once we had easy access to daily data on infection numbers, ICU patients and deaths etc., we now have little idea. That data has been submerged.
Hospitals themselves, once strictly fortressed from SARS-CoV2 infections, are now places where being infected is often highly likely. More veiled are the continuing infections and deaths in aged care facilities. They still seem to be ground zero for covid19 deaths.
Back in August 2020, we released our first #transitzone PANDEMIC PRIMER PODCAST. Four more followed examining the VIRUS itself, its variants, vaccines and global responses to the pandemic.
#transitzone's expert guide was Professor John Potter, UK born, Australian raised and educated, but now based in Nelson, New Zealand. Previously, John worked in a range of overseas institutions including as Senior VP and Director, Public Health Sciences Division at the renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre, in Seattle, in the United States.
Professor John joins Peter Clarke again, from Nelson, for this #transitzone PANDEMIC PRIMER PODCAST, 2024 UPDATE.
RESOURCES
This podcast is intended as an incentive for you to seek further high quality information on the covid19 pandemic especially around "LONG COVID", in the form of academic papers and well researched journalism.
"Long Covid in Aotearoa NZ: Risk assessment and preventive action urgently needed."
https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/long-covid-aotearoa-nz-risk-assessment-and-preventive-action-urgently-needed
"Potential for an avian influenza pandemic: Time for NZ to ramp up preparedness'
https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/potential-avian-influenza-pandemic-time-nz-ramp-preparedness
This is #transitzone USA Election Update 8, recorded on Wednesday, 18 September.
It is a week since the Kamala Harris, Donald Trump nationally televised debate, which most saw beforehand as a pivotal media event. It was certainly a revealing one. The #USA media journalism sector has been awash with post debate analyses and opining ever since.
When Trump dropped his meme quality, “they’re eating the dogs”, during the debate, it was perceived primarily as part of his unravelling under the repeated needling from Harris. But it’s clearer now that the Springfield Ohio, “they’re eating the pets” lie is central to the Trump, GOP, cult campaign, propaganda operation. GOP VP nominee, JD Vance, in a testy interview with Dana Bash on CNN, admitted that he, “creates these stories” for effect. There has been no credible evidence for the claims.
Springfield has been deeply affected by bomb and other threats against Haitians and lockdowns.
And this week, an armed lurker in the bushes on the perimeter of a Trump golf course was flushed out by the Secret Service shooting in his direction and later arrested, charged with firearm offences. He apparently fired no shots and Trump, who was playing golf there at the time, was unharmed. But the incident has been described almost universally as an “attempted assassination”.
Of course, Trump and the GOP cult campaign have exploited it to the full, again blaming the “inflammatory rhetoric”, criticising Trump, from the Democratic Party, for inducing the violence. Trump's career long, personal hallmark has been vitriolic, inflammatory rhetoric and "insult politics"
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke look back on another febrile week in the USA 2024 election campaign as the Springfield, Ohio situation worsens and GOP propaganda becomes even more bizarre and deceptive.
FORTY SIX DAYS TO GO TO VOTING DAY.
#TRANSITZONE, USA election update 7, recorded on Wednesday, 11 September, 2024 ,immediately after the ostensibly “pivotal”, live telecast of the presidential debate between former president, Donald Trump, and the current Vice President, Kamala Harris, hosted by the ABC television network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home to the cracked Liberty Bell, location for the first and second Continental Congresses leading up to the war of independence from Britain, where the USA Declaration of Independence was issued and where the American constitution for a federal republic was debated, forged, and ratified at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention.
The city was also the nation’s capital until Washington DC was built and established.
That same USA constitution, via “a compromise” with the then slave owning states, embedded a now antiquated electoral college, that prevents a direct popular election of America’s key national office holder, the president, and makes a joke of “one person one vote”.
That’s why today, there’s such an intense campaigning and media focus on a tiny number of US voters in a handful of “swing states”, including the crucial one of Pennsylvania itself.
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke watched the live debate, then recorded this podcast without scanning or consulting any other media including social media. What you hear is their unalloyed take on this crucial media event before it was sliced, diced, interpreted, framed, labelled, “decided upon” within the USA and wider media, journalism ecosystems including social media.
A personal, "objective" response to the presidential debate.
THE DEBATE IN FULL
We decided not to include any audio clips of the Harris, Trump presidential debate in this #transitzone episode. We felt, as a 90 minute, complex encounter, that was essentially a VISUAL and audio presentation, brief excerpts may be misleading. So here is the debate, in full, from ABC News, for your perusal and personal analyses.
https://www.youtube.com/live/GdSDngmDLmY?si=fR0mljXivJQSM3p5
This is the sixth #transitzone USA election update.
It was recorded on Friday 30 August. (Please see news update below.)
Vice President Kamala Harris, since emerging as the presumed then formally nominated Democratic presidential candidate, has been under considerable pressure to do some formal media interviews and full cry media conferences.
Some of her "critics" have suggested Harris is OK on the teleprompter doing rally speeches but less accomplished and confidently communicative when she is extemporising under journalistic questioning.
Another more substantive aspect of doing more interviews was to “explain” shifts in her policy positions including around, for example, fracking and how to deal with the border.
Historically, candidates from both parties have shifted their overall policy profile once they face a general election after the primaries are done with.
Harris, and her VP pick, Governor Tim Walz, have been touring the crucial swing state of Georgia in their emblazoned campaign bus. They chose veteran journalist, Dana Bash, from CNN, for their first sit down interview.
Bash pre-recorded the interview in a plain unadorned room with that bus visible parked outside the glass doors before the two candidates headed to a rally in Savanah Georgia.
Peter Clarke and Margo Kingston appraised Harris's first formal journalistic interview and the current state of the competing campaigns.
NEWS UPDATE
Former President Donald J. Trump said on Friday that he would vote against a ballot measure in Florida that would expand abortion access in the state, clarifying his stance after having suggested a day earlier that he might support the measure.
“I’ll be voting no,” Mr. Trump told Fox News, even as he said he disagreed with his home state’s current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/us/politics/trump-florida-abortion-measure.html
RESOURCES
GEORGE LAKOFF
Peter and Margo referred to the linguist, activist, George Lakoff.
https://x.com/georgelakoff/status/1829010468327080438?s=61&t=LsaW4g5LZrmuvsdTgt2l2w
LAKOFF WEBSITE: https://george-lakoff.com
KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEWED BY DANA BASH AT CNN
PART 1 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-1-digvid
PART 2 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-2-digvid
PART 3 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-3-digvid
This is the fifth of the #transitzone, USA 2024, presidential election campaign updates, recorded Saturday 24 August.
It has been 34 days since Joe Biden withdrew from the race. A truly extraordinary month in USA political history.
The Democratic Party held its national nominating convention in Chicago for four days this week. But there were only the most minor echoes of the turmoil and police brutality of their roiling 1968 convention, held there in the midst of the Vietnam War and in the aftermath of the withdrawal of Lyndon Baines Johnson from the presidential contest and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy.
The expected Pro Palestine protests were muted and overall, non disruptive.
This convention was a smooth, slick, crafted affair with highly co-ordinated rhetoric emphasising the Kamala Harris, Tim Walz themes of freedom, moving forward, renewing democracy and relentlessly describing, attacking, ridiculing their Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
"Fraudster, Philanderer, Felon" was one piece of alliteration a Democratic speaker used. But there was much, much more, including even a suggestive hand action from, of all people, the ever serious Barack Obama about size: crowd size that is.
At the end of the week, the so-called scion of the Kennedy dynasty, Robert F Kennedy Jr, suspended his presidential campaign, as an independent, to endorse Trump.
In his typically fickle way, Trump, who had earlier blasted Kennedy as a “dangerous radical”, now heaps praise upon him.
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke, who followed the Democratic Convention closely, listened to the speeches, observed that very American, often cheesy, saccharine sentimentality, hoopla and razzle dazzle, discuss this pivotal week in the upturned 2024 presidential campaign.
RESOURCES
Margo Kingston, in her commentary, drew upon a range of USA podcasts and other sources. She's including this selection for your information and reference.
"Kamala Harris Wants to Win". The Ezra Klein Show
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/kamala-harris-wants-to-win/id1548604447?i=1000666403310
"A.B. Stoddard: Only in America". The Bulwark Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/a-b-stoddard-only-in-america/id1447684472?i=1000666394258
"Kamala Harris is not going back to the failed politics of 2016". Nate Silver - "Silver Bullet" Blog
https://www.natesilver.net/p/kamala-harris-is-not-going-back-to
This is the fourth of the #transitzone USA 2024 presidential election campaign updates recorded on Saturday 17 August.
It has been 28 days since Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
Next Tuesday, 20 August, Australian time, the Democrats head to Chicago for their national convention to formally nominate Kamala Harris as their presidential nominee.
Then, we think, a national televised debate between the two contenders, hosted by ABC, on the 10th of September.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced for criminal fraud, in New York, on the 18th of September, although he and his legal team have been submitting a constant stream of filings to the court, seeking to avoid that ultimate conclusion to his criminal trial and guilty verdict by that jury.
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke look back over another extraordinary week of two sharply contrasting election campaigns, marked, on the Republican side, by increasingly unhinged and incoherent (not to mention politically reckless) rhetoric from their ("Let Trump Be Trump") candidate, Donald Trump.
This is the third of the #transitzone USA 2024 presidential election campaign updates, recorded Friday 9 August. It has been 18 days since Joe Biden withdrew from the race. 25 days since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke have been tracking some of the key events and developments in this extraordinary fast forward campaign.
The Republican candidate, former president, Donald Trump, has just held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Disciplined, focussed, rational, it was not. It was the typical Trump ranty mix of lies, self-infatuated claims and vitriolic invective. He is still fixated on his rally crowd sizes even claiming his January 6 2021 Washington, Ellipsis address was bigger than that for Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in 1963.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris and her VP running mate pick, Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz, are on a multi swing state rally blitz attaining a huge amount of “earned media” coverage from the networks, cable news outfits and online entities.
Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance is shadowing them city by city.
The Democrats’ national convention starts in Chicago on 19 th of August.
And THE NEWS is apparently Trump and Harris have come to some kind of agreement to meet for a nationally televised debate hosted, as was originally planned with Joe Biden, by the ABC network on 10th of September.
Margo and Peter discuss Kamala Harris's VP pick, the latest unhinged speech from Trump, his apparent self-sobataging in the state of Georgia by attacking its popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp and the looming national televised debates.
RESOURCES
First combined Kamala Harris - Tim Walz rally in Philadelphia:
https://youtu.be/eBRFGMw38zI?si=VGLfgB1zoBXwYVVn
Trump press conference, 8 August, Mar-a-Lago:
https://www.youtube.com/live/McXjpQFFN90?si=1Z8szclourbZwCu2
Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke take stock of the unfolding USA presidential election at the end of the second week of the Kamala Harris presumptive candidacy for the Democratic Party.
Donald Trump appeared for a tense and heated interview with three Black women journalists at the annual convention of the National Black Journalists' Association. It did not go well. The former president questioned whether Kamal Harris was, "Indian or Black": a self-evident false binary. His campaign is going all out to define his opponent as "fake". Meanwhile, Harris addressed a wildly enthusiastic 10,000 strong rally in Atlanta, Georgia, delivering her evolving stump speech with "Freedom" as its rhetorical leitmotif. She also fired back at her GOP opponent's racist attack.
With Harris's choice of VP running mate looming, Peter and Margo try to predict that choice.
This year marks a significant anniversary in Australian political history. But few Australian citizens will be celebrating it mainly because they simply don’t know what it is. In 1924, as Australia entered its third decade of federation, our federal parliament passed legislation mandating compulsory voting. 100 years later, that innovation has been meshed into our political lives and democracy as utterly normal. The “democracy sausage” effect. Our turn out for elections is persistently high, unlike most other democracies we might compare ourselves with.
How has compulsory voting shaped our democracy over the last century? What are the positives and negatives? What might we lose if we abolished it as has been tried relatively recently in Australia by the Liberal Party under John Howard.
Emeritus Professor of Politics at Monash University, Paul Strangio, co-edited the 2021 book Compulsory Voting in Australia : Genesis, Impact and Future. He speaks with Peter Clarke about the history, current status and potential future of compulsory voting in Australia.
RESOURCES
Compulsory voting in Australia is 100 years old. We should celebrate how special it makes our democracy by Paul Strangio
https://theconversation.com/compulsory-voting-in-australia-is-100-years-old-we-should-celebrate-how-special-it-makes-our-democracy-234801
Compulsory Voting in Australia : Genesis, Impact and Future
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-33-4025-1
From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting by Judith Brett
https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/from-secret-ballot-to-democracy-sausage-how-australia-got-compulsory-voting
Ultimately, it happened at lightning speed. After weeks of apparent digging in, USA president, Joe Biden, finally bowed to the inevitable and withdrew his candidacy from the presidential election contest, endorsing his Vice President, Kamala Harris, as he did so. She, within 24 hours, had secured sufficient Democrats' delegates to the upcoming national nomination convention to instantly become the putative nominee. Harris immediately started campaigning with feisty, speeches, taking on her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, frontally and laying out her policy themes under her slogan "We're Not Going Back!" to counter Trump's, "Make America Great Again", making the intensely fractious, febrile contest ostensibly about the past versus the future. Peter Clarke and Margo Kingston take stock of the first days of this utterly transformed and crucial US presidential election contest.
Denise Shrivell is an Australian democracy activist, media critic and analyst. Her background is in advertising and public communications. More recently, Denise has worked on political campaigns including as an advisor to "community independent", Kylea Tink, now the independent federal MP for North Sydney. She produces and presents a weekly, "live" podcast titled, Spinproof, and curates a daily newsletter, TrueNorth, which aggregates Denise's sections of quality, independent, Australian journalism.
She is in conversation with #transitzone anchor, Peter Clarke.
DENISE SHRIVELL TWITTER: @DeniseShrivell
https://linktr.ee/deniseshrivell
TrueNorth: https://linktr.ee/truenorthnews
@TrueNorthNewsAU
SpinProof Podcast:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spinproof--4577848
Tasmania has just had an election called by disgruntled premier, Jeremy Rockliff, who wanted to escape the "chaos" (his words) of an unstable, minority government. The election did not go well for Rockliff. The Tasmanian Liberal party did gain the most seats in the new parliament but below an absolute majority. However, the Tasmanian Greens gained significant ground adding new seats , as did the Jacqui Lambie Network. A sprinkling of independents made up the rest. Peter Clarke, Margo Kingston and guest, Nicholas Gruen, discuss the prospects for this inevitably more deliberative parliament (if it can be formed and sustained). Nicholas then lays out his visions for a standing Citizen Assembly, made of citizens not elected but sampled from the population. And, with the roiling USA presidential and congressional election campaigns now well under way (with about seven months to go to voting day) Peter, Margo and Nicholas take a brief look at the looming possibility, Donald J. Trump could return to the Oval Office.
NICHOLAS GRUEN is CEO of Lateral Economics and Visiting Professor at King's College London? He publishes a regular newsletter, and is a podcaster.
https://nicholasgruen.substack.com/about?utm_source=subscribe_email&utm_content=learn_more
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/uncomfortable-collisions/episodes/Democracy-doing-it-for-ourselves-e2c6q47?%24web_only=true&_branch_match_id=1306783627365838322&utm_source=web&utm_campaign=web-share&utm_medium=sharing&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXLy7IL8lMq0zMS87IL9ItT03SSywo0MvJzMvWT9U3LotK8XAPyE7zTAIAMhH1vTAAAAA%3D
Just over a year ago, on 21 May, 2023, Australia experienced a seismic shift in its political landscape with a federal election that saw six community independents, six women, elected to parliament by defeating sitting Liberal Party members in affluent, blue ribbon seats in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Late in the campaign, the media, catching up on what the polls were saying about those seats, by way of a shorthand tag, started calling them “teals” because some of their campaigns, not all, featured turquoise, not teal, livery. That “teals” label has stuck.One of those six was Dr Sophie Scamps, who spoke to us in the #transitzone way back in October 2021 BEFORE she became a candidate. Sophie became the independent MP for Mackellar north of and adjacent to Warringah where Zali Steggall had defeated former prime minister, Tony Abbott, in the previous federal election. Steggall was re-elected in 2022. One of the key policy planks of the community independents, along with climate change and the nature of representative democracy itself, was integrity, and the creation of a federal ICAC. The newly formed National Anti Corruption Commission has just opened for business. The independents were active and prominent in its design.But their influence has been clear in other policy areas too. They have not been sidelined in the political debates and the processes of forging legislation, although climate change and the grip of the fossil fuels industries on the Labor government remain very contentious.So what has it been like entering the crucible of Canberra politics as a community independent with very limited support staff and no political party backing?Sophie Scamps spoke to Margo Kingston, Tim Dunlop and Peter Clarke about her first year as a federal parliamentarian and her hopes and expectations for the future with more community independents in the Australian democracy. DR SOPHIE SCAMPS: https://www.sophiescamps.com.auMARGO KINGSTON'S SITE, No Fibs: https://nofibs.com.auTIM DUNLOP'S SUBSTACK SITE The Future of Everything : https://tdunlop.substack.com/TIM DUNLOP'S LATEST BOOK, Voices of us: The independents' movement transforming Australian democracy: https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/voices-of-us-178349/
Tim Dunlop, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke meet in the Zone to gauge what 2023 has brought us so far and what may lie ahead. They touch on the Alabanese Labor government one year in, the USA presidential contest just starting, artificial intelligence, the recent coronation in the UK and prospects for an Australian republic.
A feature interview with the author of, Voices of us: The independents’ movement transforming Australian democracy.
Peter Clarke speaks with his fellow #transitzone podcaster, Tim Dunlop, about some of the key themes in Tim's latest and fourth book that charts and analyses the rise and electoral successes of the "teals", those community independents, all women, who won a swag of formerly blue ribbon Liberal Party seats from coalition incumbents in the 2022 federal election.
The overarching theme is the health of and future prospects for the Australian democracy as this form of governance is severely stress-tested globally and in many cases, eroded and corroded.
Was the last federal election, with about a third of voting Australian citizens opting for candidates not from the major parties, a kind of "reprieve" and, if so, how can we best use it for our collective democratic futures?
PUBLISHER'S LINK https://unsw.press/books/voices-of-us/
The micro-blogging, social media platform, Twitter, emerged into the media ecosphere in 2006, almost simultaneously with Facebook (now Meta). The era of pervasive social media, as we now know it, began.
Since then, Twitter has evolved through many changes and difficulties. It has always been much smaller than Facebook but its reach and influence has been globally significant.
The demagogue, Donald Trump, used the platform as his own personal broadcast channel. (He was later banned after the 2020 USA presidential election for contravening Twitter "rules" around disinformation.) It gradually became de rigueur for many politicians, corporations, governments and celebrities to issue statements and media releases on the platform.
More recently, the oligarch, Elon Musk, finally took Twitter private via a 44 billion US dollar purchase after a fraught period of trying to back out of the acquisition and a legal battle with the Twitter board and management.
Almost instantly, Musk started firing Twitter operational staff and key executives in crucial roles including privacy and security. Other top level executives resigned subsequently.
Historically, Musk has said, "I hate advertising" and advocated an absolutist "free speech" ideology. A spooked advertising industry has recoiled from a now chaotic platform with Twitter's authentication protocols now severely corroded (there has been a sharp uptick in "impersonations" and hate speech on the platform) and a Musk directed US$8.00 monthly charge for a "blue check" (without any identity verification) now in bewildering disarray. Musk has also said he is aiming for at least half of Twitter's income to flow from subscriptions. It appears non-paying Twitter users will be algorithmically "sidelined"?
Are we witnessing the demise of Twitter? Musk himself has raised the spectre of 'bankruptcy" as early as 2023. If the platform survives, what form will it take? And for whom? Could it become a right-wing hell-scape?
On this latest #transitzone podcast, Margo Kingston, Tim Dunlop and Peter Clarke, all long term Twitter users, discuss the unfolding plight of Twitter.
Photography as a media invention emerged in the early decades of the nineteenth century, over sixty years before that cluster of other communications technologies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including cinema, audio recording and replay, television and radio. We still have the first photographic images as we still have the first cinematic sequences.War played a key role in boosting the evolution of photojournalism & documentary photography, as it did later with the strengthening of aviation during the first world war. The American civil war and the Crimean war were clear examples of that.Newspapers themselves gradually drew upon photography more and more as a visual staple. Wire photos and later colour printing on newsprint amplified its potency in news and journalism.There was a golden era for photojournalism and pictorial print media with weekly large format news magazines that were extremely popular.Then came the digital revolution and the internet. Journalism has been transformed, its business model, previously so dependent on advertising, upturned.Inevitably photojournalism has been part of that disruption. Recently, during the first days of the new federal parliament, there was a photographic image in the Guardian newspaper of Tasmanian Liberal MP, Bridget Archer, crossing the floor in the parliament during a significant vote on climate change legislation. Community independent, Zali Steggall, has been snapped in the act of welcoming Archer with her arm outstretched. Greens MPs sit nearby.The photo journalist who captured that moment and many others in Australian politics, especially in parliament house itself, was Mike Bowers, now photographer-at-large for the Guardian newspaper (in Australia an online news outlet only) and earlier in his career, picture editor for the Sydney Morning Herald. Many know Mike too as the host of the regular segment, Talking Pictures, within ABC television’s Sunday morning program, Insiders*, where Mike and a guest scan the week’s offerings in that other strand of visual journalism that’s been transformed by digital, political cartoons.Mike Bowers joined Peter Clarke in the #transitzone to discuss the art and craft of photojournalism, its ethics, history and possible future in teh digital era.RESOURCESJACOB RIIShttps://pictolic.com/en/article/jacob-riis-photographer-immigrant-who-was-shot-an-unknown-half-of-new-yorkhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/jacob-riis-photographs-how-the-other-half-liveshttps://jacobariismuseum.dk/en/jacob-a-riis/DAVID MOOREhttps://davidmoorephotography.com.auGEORGE BELLhttps://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/george-bellHAROLD CAZENEAUXhttps://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/harold-cazneauxRUSS MCPHEDRANhttps://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/russell-mcphedranOLIVE COTTONhttps://hundredheroines.org/historical-heroines/olive-cotton/MAX DUPAINhttps://monovisions.com/max-dupain-biography-australian-photographer/https://www.maxdupain.com.auTALKING PICTUREShttps://iview.abc.net.au/show/insiders-talking-picturesMIKE BOWERS INSTAGRAMhttps://www.instagram.com/mikepbowers/?hl=enHISTORY OF PHOTOJOURNALISMhttps://mymodernmet.com/photojournalism-history/SUMMARY: THE ETHICS OF PHOTOJOURNALISMhttps://www.routledge.com/The-Ethics-of-Photojournalism-in-the-Digital-Age/Silva-II/p/book/9781138586307*https://photo-journalisme.org/en/ethics/
The 2022 federal election voting day is almost upon us.This has been a relatively dismal campaign for ventilating and illuminating, in detail, the parties' and independents’ actual policies. There’s a kind of media lip service paid to the theory that, in our democracy, we should get to judge whom to vote for around their policies, but sadly, the reality is otherwise. We, as citizens, are left mostly in the dark with broad generalisations and abstractions wrapped in slippery promises.However, in this last week of the election campaign, the great steaming mess that is the housing crisis in Australia, including home affordability, homelessness, rental stress and the acute shortage of housing stock has become a slightly more prominent point of contention between the coalition and Labor.Unfortunately, their actual policy focus has been very narrow, you could say almost paltry.Peter Mares is a leading researcher and writer on the housing crisis in Australia.His book No Place Like Home: repairing Australia’s housing crisis* was published in 2018.Peter is Program Director with the Cranlana Centre for Ethical LeadershipHe speaks with Peter Clarke about the competing Housing* policies, such as the are, of the major parties contesting this election but much more.RESOURCESAnglicare Australia Rental Affordability Snapsot 2022https://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/rental-affordability-snapshot-https://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/rental-affordability-snapshot-2022/2022/Time to Rethink the Great Australian DreamA podcast at Inside Story - Peter Clarke with Peter Mares and Wendy Stone *https://insidestory.org.au/time-to-rethink-the-great-australian-dream/Peter Mares has written several articles for Inside Story on Housing. Simply search his name at the site.https://insidestory.org.auNo Place Like Home: repairing Australia’s housing crisis https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/no-place-like-home-repairing-australia-s-housing-crisis*Earshot at ABC Radio National with a four part series on Housing in Australia with Peter Mares.https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/housing-the-australian-nation/12290346Repairing Australia's Affordable Housing Crisis by Peter Mareshttps://assemblepapers.com.au/2022/04/12/repairing-australias-affordable-housing-crisis/Peter Mares websitehttps://petermares.com.auPeter Mares posts on Twitter @MaresPeter His timeline has many more links to Housing articles and resources.
As the final, febrile week of the 2022 federal election campaign begins, we touch base with Suzie Holt, the "Voices for" community-based, independent candidate for the electorate of Groom, centred on Toowoomba in regional Queensland. It is the second safest seat in Australia, held by Liberal National Party MP, Garth Hamilton.Suzie has a distinctly different story to tell compared to urban independents. Hers is a very conservative electorate with quite the mix of city professionals and agricultural voters and everything in between. There's also a strong religious dimension and a vocal cohort of "anti vaxxers". And it is* Queensland with its own ingrained take on politics and "perogatives"!Suzie speaks with Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke as the 21 May voting and "decision" day looms ever closer.EARLIER INTERVIEW WITH SUZIE HOLT JULY 2021https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/transitzone/id1512522030?i=1000528087733SUZIE HOLT WEBSITEhttps://dashboard.whooshkaa.com/e549916b/episodes/994045/edit*
Ninety years ago, in July 1932 a radio announcer, Conrad Charlton, said these words into a microphone: “This is the Australian Broadcasting Commission”. Public broadcasting was born in Australia.In 1956, the year of the Melbourne Olympics, his son, Michael Charlton, did the same for the launch of ABC television in Australia.So for more than sixty years the ABC was an analogue, free-to-air, strictly advertising free, national media service, first radio then television as well. In the city centres, where most of us live, and across rural and regional Australia, it became a national fixture in many, probably most, Australian lives.Then came the digital revolution which fundamentally changed everything. And along came the internet. Global media, apart from public broadcasting, were intrinsically based on advertising as the business funding model alongside subscriptions and direct payments.Faster than most had imagined that* media world unravelled.Fast forward to today. We are in the middle of a federal election campaign. The national broadcaster, for a few decades, has been much more intensely contended politically and ideologically. The very existence of the ABC and public broadcasting remains an open question and a highly politicised one.Into that cultural and political space comes a new book, one that advocates in detail for the continuation of a strong vibrant national broadcaster and public broadcasting – WHO NEEDS THE ABC? why taking it for granted is no longer an option.Its co-authors are Dr Patrick Mullins, a Canberra based writer and academic and Mathew Ricketson, Professor of Communications at Deakin University in Melbourne. A former journalist, Matthew also sat with Ray Finklestein QC in the Independent Media Inquiry that reported to the federal government in 2012.They discuss the past, present and future of the ABC and public broadcasting with Peter Clarke.RESOURCESSCRIBE WEBSITE:* https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/who-needs-the-abc-9781922310927*MATTHEW RICKETSON WEBSITE:* https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/matthew-ricketson*PATRICK MULLINS WEBSITE:https://patrickmullinsauthor.comABC ALUMNI WEBSITE:https://abcalumni.netArticle by Peter Clarke remembering Cyclone Tracy 1974 and the ABC in Darwin in the aftermath.https://abcalumni.net/2022/03/16/through-flood-and-tempest/REPORT BY QUENTIN DEMPSTER AND FERGUS PITT"INSIDIOUS AND INTENTIONAL: POLITICAL INTERFERENCE AND HARASSMENT OF THE ABC"https://cdn.getup.org.au/2871-_Insidious_and_intentional-_political_interference_and_harassment_of_the_ABC.pdfOPINION/ANALYSIS: "No-one is talking about ABC funding in this election campaign. Here’s why they should be"https://theconversation.com/no-one-is-talking-about-abc-funding-in-this-election-campaign-heres-why-they-should-be-181948OPINION/ANALYSIS: "The ABC’s budget hasn’t been restored – it’s still facing $1.2 billion in accumulated losses over a decade"*https://theconversation.com/the-abcs-budget-hasnt-been-restored-its-still-facing-1-2-billion-in-accumulated-losses-over-a-decade-176532
Here in the #transitzone we have documented and examined, in some detail, the rise and evolution of the “Voices for” independents movement across Australia. We have spoken to founders of movements in specific electorates and independent candidates, including pathfinder, Cathy McGowan in Indi, in NE Victoria, and the independent who defenestrated former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, from his long held seat, Warringah, in Sydney, Zali Steggall. And we spoke with Mary Crooks the pioneer of the kitchen table conversations, community building methodology that was eventually fundamental to McGowan’s success in Indi and has been adopted by the independents’ movements.And now the 2022 federal election campaign is approaching its half-way point, the independents movement’s significance is stark with mainstream media increasing its focus on and coverage of it by the day. The prospect of a “hung parliament” and the potential for a crossbench, including "Voices for" independents, to hold the balance of power is a constant topic for speculation.This time in the #transitzone, a more behind-the-scenes look at creating an independents movement and, via community building, an actual election campaign.The nuts and bolts of doing that.Our guest is Louise Hislop. She was right in the centre of the campaign for the Zali Steggal Warringah win and is now an adviser to the independent Sophie Scamps' campaign right next door in Mackellar, currently held by Liberal, Jason Falinski.Louise is speaking with Peter Clarke and Margo Kingston.ARCHIVE RESOURCESLouise Hislop's articles about the Warringah, Zali Steggall campaign at the NoFibs* website:https://nofibs.com.au/series-not-happy-tony-winningofwarringah-part-1/#transitzone podcast interview with Dr Sophie Scamps at the NoFibs* websitehttps://nofibs.com.au/podcast-birds-eye-view-of-mackellarvotes-for-transitzone/Transcript of Dr Sophie Scamps' launch speech for Mackellarhttps://nofibs.com.au/transcript-dr-sophie-scamps-tells-mackellarvotes-theres-no-cavalry-theres-only-us/An ABC Television 730 Report: "The so-called 'teal independents' challenging sitting government MPs this election"https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/the-so-called-teal-independents-challenging/13857480
It has been looming for months but now it is upon us in all its febrile intensity and messiness: the federal election 2022.The #transitzone team, Tim Dunlop, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke discuss the out-of-the-blocks phase of the campaign. It hasn't been pretty, especially the media coverage which has focussed largely on "gaffes" and journalism "gotchas". The discussion's nub is about democracy itself and its future in Australia and the role and influence of the centre-right, "Voices for" independents in the unfolding alchemy of the campaign's electoral politics and what some of them may face, if elected, and there is a "hung" (or "deliberative") parliament as the election's outcome. The #transitzone team examines and critiques the approach of the media and the "quality" of political journalism we have seen so far in this campaign.TWITTER:Peter Clarke: @MediaActiveTim Dunlop: @timdunlopMargo Kingston: @margokingston1
Dr Hanabeth Luke is challenging Kevin Hogan in the regional seat of Page in north eastern NSW, currently the scene of intense and devastating floods especially in the city of Lismore. Hogan is defending a two party, preferred margin of 59.4% from the 2019 federal election.Hanabeth Luke spoke to Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke from Evan's Head as her electorate was reeling from a second major flooding event in a month.HANABETH LUKE'S WEBSITE:https://www.hanabethluke.com.au(Since our recording this podcast, the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal has decided to reject the appeal of Matthew Camenzuli of the NSW Liberal Party's state executive challenging the right of the Liberal Party's federal executive to intervene in NSW pre-selections. The calling of the next federal election, as of 5 April 2022, is imminent.)
Andrew Wilkie Is the independent Member for Clark (formerly Denison) in Tasmania. He took the seat of Denison from the Labor Party in the 2010 federal election before Cathy McGowan presaged the rise of the current crop of community-based, centre right "Voices for" independents by winning the North Eastern Victorian regional seat of Indi from the Liberal Party in 2013.Earlier in his political career, Wilkie, as a Greens candidate, challenged then Prime Minister, John Howard, in the Sydney seat of Bennelong, forcing him to preferences and paving the way for Labor's Maxine McKew to wrest the seat from Howard when Kevin Rudd won government at the 2007 election.Before entering politics, Wilkie was an officer in the Australian Army reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was seconded to the Office of National Assessments, an Australian intelligence agency. He vigorously opposed Australia's involvement in the Iraq war and later resigned from the ONA.Andrew Wilkie has advocated strongly for gambling especially poker machine reform and recently introduced in the federal parliament a Cleaning Up Political Donations* private member's bill.He speaks with Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke about political donations, the provisions in his "cleaning up" bill and integrity in Australian politics.This edition of the #transitzone is one of a new series on aspects DEMOCRACY in Australia and globally as the next Australian federal election approaches.ANDREW WILKIE WEBSITE*https://andrewwilkie.org
Mirranda Burton is a graphic artist and writer based in Melbourne. Despite delays caused by the corona virus pandemic and lockdowns, she finally succeeded in having her graphic novel, Underground, Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of Australia’s War in Vietnam,* launched in fine style recently at Melbourne Trades Hall.Underground is a finely wrought graphic novel with a real density of layered content that melds the personal journeys of activist and former Victorian Labor MP, Jean McLean, Vietnam war veteran, Bill Cantwell, and Vietnamese refugee activist, Mai Ho . Australian artist, Clifton Pugh also features. And Wombats.Most of us are used to absorbing historical detail and interpretation through words on the printed page or perhaps television documentaries. The graphic novel form, redolent of comic book visual language, is a distinctly different experience for many. How does a graphic novel of 272 pages, focussed on the Vietnam War and the profoundly vexed policy of conscription, come together coherently and meaningfully?Mirranda Burton speaks to Peter Clarke about the research underpinning Underground* and the creative process that produced it.MIRRANDA BURTON WEBSITE: https://www.mirrandaburton.comPUBLISHERS WEBSITE FOR "UNDERGROUND"https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/Underground-Mirranda-Burton-9781760631475"THE NIB" WEBSITEhttps://thenib.comARTIST KATHE KOLVITZhttps://illustrationchronicles.com/war-and-compassion-the-art-of-kathe-kollwitzARTIST OTTO NÜCKEL:https://alchetron.com/Otto-NückelARTIST LYND WARDhttps://bookpatrol.net/the-library-of-america-goes-wordless-the-novels-of-lynd-ward/"GUARDIAN" ARTICLE ON ART SPIEGELMAN AND "MAUS"https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/05/art-spiegelman-maus-book-ban-interview-life-career
The #transitzone is currently producing a series of podcasts examining aspects of the evolving concept and practice of contemporary DEMOCRACY.The Human Rights Law Centre is an Australian non-government organisation with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. As part of its remit, it’s running a campaign to bolster democratic vitality and practices in Australia.As one part of that campaign, the Centre has released a report titled –Selling Out: How powerful industries corrupt our democracyOf course, this is a very broad topic but the report focuses on three industries: the fossil fuels sector, gambling and the tobacco industry.The report's author is a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, Alice Drury. She discusses her report with Peter Clarke.READ THE REPORThttps://bit.ly/3HVlyaEHUMAN RIGHTS LAW CENTRE WEBSITEhttps://www.hrlc.org.au
The Sydney inner metropolitan electorate of Wentworth is affluent and diverse. Geographically, much of it hugs Sydney Harbour.The current Liberal Party incumbent is Dave Sharma who won the seat back from independent MP, Kerryn Phelps, at the 2019 election. Sharma bills himself as a moderate but his voting record belies that.Earlier MPs for Wentworth were, former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull and Liberal opposition Leader, John Hewson.Now, Allegra Spender, a dynastic, Liberal Party blue-blood is standing as one of those “Voices of” centre-right independents who reflect a dissident, out-of-parliament, wing of the Liberal Party - now, under Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, comprehensively captured by the hard-right.Margo Kingston speaks with Allegra Spender for the #transitzone.
The federal election draws closer. We can all sense generally and across the media-scape the political electoral processes, including, partisan propaganda, intensifying.Here in the #transitzone, over the last few months, we have put a particular emphasis upon the historic phenomenon of a number of centre-right, community based, independent candidates challenging incumbents in urban, regional and rural ostensibly “blue ribbon” Liberal Party seats. Many of those candidates are on the ground campaigning right now or perhaps “community building” would be a more accurate description at this stage?In one way or another all these “Voices for” movements across Australia have drawn upon and continue to use the “kitchen table conversation” approach to activating and gathering authentic community insights into the key issues for these electorates and how they view an ideal democratic representative.Margo Kingston for the #transitzone speaks to two women integral to the back story of the role of "kitchen table conversations" within Australian electoral politics and grassroots democracy: Mary Crooks, the Executive Director of the Victorian Women's Trust, who forged, improved and adapted the technique over twenty-five years and Alana Johnson, the Chair of the Trust and founding member of "Voices for Indi", the pathfinding regional electorate in north eastern Victoria, first won from senior Liberal MP, Sophie Mirabella, by independent, Cathy McGowan, in 2013.HERE IS THE LINK to the Victorian Women's Trust'sKitchen Table Conversations: a guide for sustaining our democratic cultureby Mary Crooks AO and Leah McPhersonhttps://www.vwt.org.au/projects/kitchen-table-conversations/
The “Voices for” community based movement of centre-right, independent candidates challenging Liberal Party incumbents in ostensible “blue ribbon” seats is clearly an historic, political movement in Australia. And will play a significant role in the next federal election due in a few months. One of the reasons we’ve been reporting on it and analysing its attributes, candidacies and implications here in the #transitzone.We’re used to meeting the front-of-house people connected to the movement including candidates and current and past independent MPs but, this time, one of the back-room operatives and a key figure in what became a model for the movement when Cathy McGowan won the north eastern, Victorian, rural seat of Indi from then leading, Liberal MP, Sophie Mirabella, in 2013. That model kept operating. Helen Haines, the current Indi MP, is also a”Voices for” independent. A key figure in forging that approach and that series of electoral successes was "community builder", Denis Ginnivan. He speaks with Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke in the #transitzone
Zoe Daniel is only 48. She has been a journalist most of her adult working life including long stints as a foreign correspondent in Africa, South East Asia and the United States with a front row media seat observing the rise of Trump, investigating the Trump presidency and the American citizens who support him. She travelled widely in the US pursuing grassroots insights as well as the bigger picture political stories. Back home in Australia, Zoe has made the switch from "objective" reporter to political player as an aspiring federal MP. She's challenging Tim Wilson, the Liberal Party incumbent of the electorate where she lives, Goldstein, a cluster of affluent suburbs along and near Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne. She's running as a "Voices of", centre-right, community-based, independent candidate. She spoke to Peter Clarke about why and how she decided to enter electoral politics, the issues and policies that animate her candidacy and how she sees her prospects for winning this ostensible "blue ribbon" coalition seat. Zoe Daniel website: https://www.zoedaniel.com.au
The #transitzone podcasts started in August 2020 at the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As Tim Dunlop, currently in Nice, France, Margo Kingston in her new home in Comboyne, regional New South Wales and Peter Clarke in Melbourne, Australia, reunite to reflect on another year of covid, politics and the media, the Omicron highly transmissible variant is causing huge concern globally and in Australia. The actual severity of the disease this variant causes is still being analysed by epidemiologists and other medical scientists around the world. Its emergence coincides with a general "opening up" of borders and wholesale relaxing of restrictions including facemasks and social distancing in Australia although still with clear differences across the Federation as the country faces another uncertain Christmas and New Year. Tim, Margo and Peter discuss the pandemic, a looming federal election, the patent corruption of the Morrison federal government, the phenomenon of the "Voices of" centre right, community-based, independent candidates challenging Liberal party incumbents in ostensible "blue ribbon" seats in cities and regional electorates based on their "four pillars - climate change, a federal integrity commission, gender equity and democratic representation itself. Tim, Margo and Peter speculate around what a hung federal parliament might look like and the potential role of current and any new independents in forming a minority government and the crucial role of political journalism to our democracy during the impending inevitably intense election campaign. Will the media meet the challenge in a Trump induced "post-truth" era in Australia? This next election will be pivotal to the future of our liberal democracy. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
On an overcast Melbourne morning, Dr Monique Ryan launched her "Voices for" campaign in the seat of Kooyong held by the federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg. Ryan is a "Voices for" centre-right, community based, independent candidate. Her campaign launch took place in a grand and historic room in the Hawthorn Arts Centre, scene of prior such events for former MPs representing Kooyong: Robert Menzies, Andrew Peacock and Petro Georgiou. This "taste" of the event includes some comments from Monique Ryan supporters at the launch.
Dr John Hewson was the Liberal Party, Federal Opposition Leader from 1990 to 1994 and architect of the 650 page policy and details rich Fightback economic document, who lost the "unlosable election" to Prime Minister, Paul Keating in 1993, largely because of the successful anti-GST election campaign by Keating (who himself early on during the Hawke administration had advocated for a Goods And Services Tax). Dr Hewson is currently a professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University and adjunct professor at a range of other universities. More recently John has been increasingly outspoken via the media *about the state and the details of Australian politics especially under the Morrison government .With Labor stalwart, Barry Jones, he is now a joint honorary patron of the not-for-profit Truth and Integrity Project which has a self acquired remit of tackling and debating the state of Australian politics, including corruption and the impoverished quality of political debate and discourse. THE TRUTH AND INTEGRITY PROJECT WEBSITE: https://www.thetruthandintegrityproject.org.au*https://crawford.anu.edu.au/people/visitors/john-hewson
Here in the #transitzone, because we believe it is significant in Australian political history, we have been examining and documenting the “Voices for” movement around Australia, the phenomenon of centre-right, grass roots democracy candidates targeting Liberal Party incumbents in what are ostensibly blue ribbon seats.You’ve already met some of those candidates, all women, here in the Zone.The launches of new independent candidates in these electorates continue apace. Celebrity candidate, Allegra Spender, daughter of the late Carla Zampatti and wealthy Liberal blue blood, John Spender, is the independent candidate for the affluent and diverse Sydney inner city seat of Wentworth, held previously by John Hewson, Malcolm Turnbull and before the current Liberal incumbent, Dave Sharma, by independent, Kerryn Phelps.The large and diverse NSW rural and regional electorate of Hume, held by the federal Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor now has an independent candidate too – Penny Ackery. Her candidacy was launched in Goulburn recently.Margo Kingston, usually based in Comboyne regional NSW, has hit the road for the #transitzone to observe some of the independent candidates’ launches and check out the candidates themselves. She caught up with Penny Ackery on her rural property near Goulburn.OPINION: Writer, Brett Evans at Inside Story online magazine: https://insidestory.org.au/the-battle-for-hume-heats-up/
We have a federal election looming in Australia. Sometime in May 2022 seems the most likely date. But the phony war phase of that approaching campaign is already upon us. Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is trying out some potential lines and slogans such as “can-do capitalism” in relation to climate change and seeking to find a wedge point against Labor wherever he can conjure one up. He is using "freedom" as a clear over arching catch-cry and playing a very ambiguous game around vaccination mandates especially in light of the right-wing street protests against compulsory vaccination around Australia and guerrilla dissent tactics from his own hard-right MPs in the federal parliament.Labor have markedly increased the intensity and tempo of their responses and critiques in the federal parliament and via the media. Labelling Morrison a consistent untrustworthy liar and accusing him of “doublespeak”, especially around his recent response to right-wing protests against covid vaccination mandates in Victoria and elsewhere, are central themes of their attacks. For his part, the PM recently avowed on Victorian radio that he believed* he had never lied publically.And he’s increasingly calling Opposition Leader Albanese, “sneaky”. Offence as defence. If you often wonder who Scott Morrison actually is, what he definitively stands for, are befuddled, confused even disturbed by his hallmark, shape-shifting rhetoric, you are not alone.As the partisan propaganda war plays out now and into the election campaign proper and the daily journalism, with varying degrees of success and authenticity, tries to make sense of it all via reportage and analyses, a new, non-fiction political book has hit the market as a potential guide for assessing the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, as he seeks another term in office, based on his record in government since 2019, including his management and leadership of Australia's response to the covid pandemic.* It's, The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison by Sean Kelly.*Sean was a political adviser to former Labor Prime Ministers, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. He is a columnist and op-ed writer for Channel Nine mastheads, The Guardian and for the Black Inc stable of writing and journalism including The Monthly. He speak’s with the #transitzone’s, Peter Clarke.*Black Inc have published, *The Game.https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/game"Inventing 'ScoMo'" by Sean Kelly at Inside Story*https://insidestory.org.au/inventing-scomo/
Margo Kingston, Tim Dunlop and Peter Clarke have been speaking with centre-right activists within blue ribbon, Liberal Party held seats around Australia to examine and document this growing, grass-roots, community-based, #democracy movement now starting to intensify as the next federal election draws closer. Three key political figures in the independents' movement, Cathy McGowan, who won the northern Victorian regional seat of Indi from senior Liberal incumbent, Sophie Mirabella, Helen Haines who succeeded McGowan in that seat and Zali Steggal who ousted long time MP and former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, from Warringah, have already spent time in the #transitzone. This time, the first independent candidate to be selected and start campaigning for the next election, Kylea Tink, who is seeking to replace Liberal incumbent, Trent Zimmerman in the seat of North Sydney, an affluent electorate with extensive harbour front suburbs, bordering Warringah. At the 2019 election Zimmerman achieved a two-party preferred percentage just under 60%. With public communications, professional background and originally from the NSW regional, north-western town of Coonabaraban, Tink says she is ready to face the rigours and unknowns of political campaigning. KYLEA TINK WEBSITE: https://www.kyleatink.com.au/
Mandy McKeesick, in her own words, is a "bush kid". She has lived, worked and travelled around more settled and remote Australia most of her life. She is a writer and photographer exploring and documenting through her words and images the less travelled tracks and meeting the people and "characters” of Australia's "fabled" Outback. Currently, Mandy is "putting a foot" in all ten Australian deserts, some of the most isolated and intriguing landscapes and environments in this vast, arid, eroded, island continent. Peter Clarke caught up with Mandy, on the road, in the remote opal mining town of Andamooka in South Australia.USEFUL LINKSMandy McKeesick at Opal Heart Media: https://www.opalheartmedia.com.auMandy on Instagram:* @opalheartmediaR.M. Williams OutBack Magazine: https://www.outbackmag.com.au*GeoScience Australia: listing all ten of Australia's deserts:https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/landforms/deserts10 Deserts Project: an Indigenous led project to connect rangers throughout the 10 deserts - https://10deserts.org/Andrew Harper: http://www.andrewharper.com.auOutback Camel Company (commercial): http://www.camelexpeditions.comThe Mala: https://alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/connect-with-nature/animals/animals/malaThe Barking Owl: https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/barking-owl
Two key areas of policy in Australian politics are coming to a head: climate change and a Federal Integrity Commission or, to put it another way - intensifying corruption in our our system and excessive secrecy, lack of transparency and accountability, two bedrock attributes of a healthy, fully functioning democracy. These intertwined policy areas are also key in those Liberal held seats being targeted by centre-right, community based, independent candidates across Australia in the looming federal election. The independent member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, (successor to Cathy McGowan in that seat) first spoke to us in the #transitzone almost a year ago about her private member's bill for an Australian Federal Integrity Commission. Since then, almost no progress has been made at the government's instigation to progress any integrity legislation despite their repeated promises and long delays. With federal parliament resuming sittings next week, (Monday 18 October 2021) there may be some movement around a form of integrity legislation. But it is very uncertain. Perhaps the government will simply produce some draft legislation, reflecting its earlier, very weak form of an Integrity Commission, refer it to a committee and head off to an election with legislation still unpassed. It's been quite a saga of of deception, delay and industrial strength propaganda. The recent resignation of former NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has only complicated the political push and shove with PM Morrison and his ministers leveraging off her departure to face investigation by the NSW ICAC to denounce this NSW model (as it it were the only model available for an ICAC) and cast doubt on whether federally we need any form of formal integrity machinery at all. Dr Helen Haines returns to the #transitzone to discuss her private member's bill with Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke and to give a few hints what she might do in parliament next week to resuscitate and prosecute her Australian Federal Integrity Commission.HELEN HAINES WEBSITE: https://www.helenhaines.org/bills/integrity CENTRE FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY ANALYSES OF VARIOUS CORRUPTION WATCHDOG MODELS: https://publicintegrity.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Weakest-watchdog-FINAL-4.10.21-1.pdf AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE TIMELINE SINCE 2016 ON A FEDERAL INTEGRITY COMMISSION https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Commonwealth-Integrity-Commission-timeline-Web.pdf
Another episode in the #transitzone continuing series on grassroots democracy in Australia, examining the role of centre-right candidates activating and cohering strong, local community support to take on sitting Liberal Party members in blue ribbon seats especially in Sydney and Melbourne but in other states and regions too. This time, the Sydney seat of Mackellar held since 2016 by Jason Falinski on a 63.2% two party preferred vote. As in other similar seats being targeted, such as North Sydney, the key issues of climate change, integrity in government, including an effectual federal integrity commission and authentic democratic representation are to the fore. Speaking with Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke are the co-founder of Voices of Mackellar and Mackellar Rising, GP, Dr Sophie Scamps and Mark Kelly, founder of Vote Tony Out,* in the adjoining electorate of Warringah which, now federal independent MP, Zali Steggall, won from former Prime Minister and long-time member, Tony Abbott.VOICES OF MACKELLAR https://www.voicesofmackellar.org.au** MACKELLAR RISING https://www.mackellarrising.org.au/general-7*
The Australian Magpie is renowned for its glorious carolling songs. An Australian specialist ground feeder, which can hear even the faint sounds of a worm slithering centimetres under the ground's surface, it is a highly intelligent, very social bird that maintains its territory 365 days a year, not just during the breeding season. Its complex and sophisticated vocalisations are a key aspect of that territoriality. Many in Australia consider the Magpie their favourite bird but not unanimously. Its breeding season attacks on pedestrians and cyclists have cruelled its reputation with the victims and their family and friends. The Australian Butcher Birds are part of the Magpies' broader family and they certainly have the virtuosic vocal dexterity and musical inventiveness of their cousins, the Magpies. VODCAST:Professor Daryl Jones discusses the Australian Magpie with a focus on how to manage its breeding season attacks.https://youtu.be/vr800IR8jXc Jones' book: Magpie Alert: Learning to Live with a Wild Neighbour* UNSW Press, 2002 is out of print but obtainable in libraries and second hand.An article from August 2013 by Professor Daryl Jones about "surviving Magpie season:https://theconversation.com/from-cable-ties-to-losing-eyes-how-to-survive-magpie-season-17579The Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbirdby Gisela KaplanThis book, now in its 2nd edition has received mixed appraisals by various reviewers. It is the only book on the market that offers a comprehensive look at teh Australian Magpie.*https://www.booktopia.com.au/australian-magpie-2nd-edition-gisela-kaplan/book/9781486307241.html
Another podcast in the continuing #transitzone side-bar series on grassroots democracy in Australia and the emerging and evolving "Voices for" independents movements gearing up for the looming federal election. Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke in conversation with Zali Steggall, the federal independent member for Warringah in Sydney, a "safe" Liberal seat until Steggall ousted the incumbent and former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, at the 2019 federal election via a vigorous community-based campaign focussed primarily on climate change. In Parliament, Steggall (described by some as a fiscal conservative and social progressive) has pursued climate change and truth in political advertising by drafting and presenting her own private member's bills, the same way Steggall's fellow cross-bencher, the independent member for Indi In Victoria, Helen Haines (an earlier #transitzone guest), has done around her proposed Australian Federal Integrity Commission.Zali Steggall's personal website:https://www.zalisteggall.com.au
Another podcast in the continuing #transitzone side-bar series on grassroots democracy in Australia and the emerging and evolving "Voices for" independents movements gearing up for the looming federal election. Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke in conversation with Zali Steggall, the federal independent member for Warringah in Sydney, a "safe" Liberal seat until Steggall ousted the incumbent and former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, at the 2019 federal election via a vigorous community-based campaign focussed primarily on climate change. In Parliament, Steggall (described by some as a fiscal conservative and social progressive) has pursued climate change and truth in political advertising by drafting and presenting her own private member's bills, the same way Steggall's fellow cross-bencher, the independent member for Indi In Victoria, Helen Haines (an earlier #transitzone guest), has done around her proposed Australian Federal Integrity Commission.Zali Steggall's personal website:https://www.zalisteggall.com.au
In two parts, an extended conversation with the 29th Prime Minister of Australia, between 2015 and 2018, Malcolm Turnbull, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke. In Part One, the themes and topics include: Australian democracy and the Liberal Party, its factions, prospects for moderate liberal, independent candidates at the next federal election, political corruption and accountability, the influences of Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, media and democracy. Part Two includes the Scott Morrison government's record on coronavirus vaccine procurement and rollout, its dedicated federal quarantine recalcitrance, climate change and renewables, China and Taiwan, the status of USA democracy.Malcolm Turnbull's memoir is titled: A Bigger Picture https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/a-bigger-picture-by-malcolm-turnbull/9781743795637
In two parts, an extended conversation with the 29th Prime Minister of Australia, between 2015 and 2018, Malcolm Turnbull, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke. In Part One, the themes and topics include: Australian democracy and the Liberal Party, its factions, prospects for moderate liberal, independent candidates at the next federal election, political corruption and accountability, the influences of Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, media and democracy. Part Two includes the Scott Morrison government's record on coronavirus vaccine procurement and rollout, its dedicated federal quarantine recalcitrance, climate change and renewables, China and Taiwan, the status of USA democracy.Malcolm Turnbull's memoir is titled: A Bigger Picture https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/a-bigger-picture-by-malcolm-turnbull/9781743795637
This latest #transitzone podcast was recorded on Sunday 25 July 2021 with Peter Clarke in locked-down Melbourne and Margo Kingston in locked-down regional NSW. As the recording began the premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian had just announced at a media conference that the latest number for locally acquired Covid19 cases of the Delta variant in her state was 141 with over 50 of those infectious while in the community. There had been more deaths including a woman in her thirties. Berejiklian was continuing to resist a full blooded lockdown, as in other states previously, to suppress the spreading virus. She spoke of "freedoms" for her citizens. NSW is now cut off behind hard borders from the rest of the federation. Margo and Peter discuss the prospects for suppressing the NSW outbreak, the underwhelming "leadership" of Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, the anti lockdown, anti vaxxer street marches in Sydney and Melbourne, the beating the Australian federation is taking and what the immediate future might hold. Margo also reads her audio essay from the very first #transitzone podcast in May 2020 on the theme of "HOME" during this pandemic and how that notion and experience may have shifted yet again.
This is another podcast in the continuing series in the #transitzone exploring the grassroots “voices for" movement around Australia and the shared themes and ideals of participatory democracy common to the various electorates where this movement is taking shape ahead of the next federal election. Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke speak with Susie Holt, the co-founder of "Voices for Groom" a Queensland electorate centred on the grand inland city of Toowoomba in the ranges west of the capital, Brisbane. One of the topics discussed was the need for a federal dedicated quarantine system across Australia. The Queensland government and Groom locals have been advocating for a facility near their airport with high quality hospitals nearby. Since recording this podcast, the federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has flown to Toowoomba and the Groom electorate to throw his weight behind the proposal.Anthony Albanese@AlboMPWith @AnthonyChisholm at Wellcamp Airport in Toowoomba after meeting with John Wagner - that’s parked 777 aircraft on the tarmac which fly internationally to USA ✈️ pic.twitter.com/SBNYxqb71o 5/7/21, 1:40 pm
This is the fifth episode in the #transitzone PANDEMIC PRIMER PODCAST series with epidemiologist, Professor John Potter based in New Zealand. As we recorded this episode, Victoria was just exiting its latest lockdown and NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, after some delay and attempting a limited hotspot suburbs only lockdown, announced a "full" lockdown (albeit a far less stringent one than in other states previously). Infections have once again entered an aged care facility with the news very few of the staff had been vaccinated. As we publish the episode, NSW is deciding whether to extend its originally forecast two weeks lockdown. The daily new case numbers will be the key factor. In this FAQ episode, the topics include: variants, especially the now globally dominant Delta strain that emerged out of India, vaccines and how the Astra Zeneca vaccine actually works compared to mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and the possible connection to blood clotting events, the role of children overall within the pandemic but especially with the Delta variant - should they be vaccinated, wear face masks too? - and the little discussed "Long Covid" syndrome, the chronic effects of the disease on many patients globally across all age cohorts and will vaccination ameliorate the symptoms for newly infected patients?Professor John Potter is Professor at the Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, as well as Professor and Senior Advisor, Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where he was Director of its Division of Public Health Sciences. He’s also Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the University of Washington.From 2016-2019, he was Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health.John is one of the most cited scientific authors in the world. And closely tracks global epidemiological research into the coronavirus.John Potter's Blog. incl his post on "Long Covid" discussed in this episode:https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/update-on-long-covid/
In 2013, Cathy McGowan surprised the Australian political world by wresting the northeastern, regional, Victorian electorate of Indi from long-term incumbent and Liberal Party member, Sophie Mirabella. McGowan did it again in 2016 and made more political history by successfully passing the baton to another independent, Helen Haines, in 2019. Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke explore with Cathy aspects of grassroots, community based, participatory democracy, the techniques of competitively and successfully campaigning outside the traditional political party structures and brands, the role and strengths of independent MPs and McGowan's new role as an unofficial national leader of and mentor for a wider and growing citizens' movement, across a range of federal electorates, to elect independent members of federal parliament.
On Tuesday 11 May 2021, federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, presented to parliament the 2021/2022 budget. Many political analysts described it as a "cash splash" with a dash to an election by prime minister, Scott Morrison, in the latter half of 2021, now looking very likely. In this context, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke meet Linda Seymour, a co-founder of the grass-roots, participatory democracy movement, WE ARE HUGHES*, in the federal seat of Hughes, in NSW, currently held by the controversial MP, Craig Kelly, a vocal and inveterate climate change denier and peddler via social media of unorthodox and discredited "cures" for Covid. Kelly recently exiled himself from the Liberal Party room in the federal parliament and now sits as a cross-bencher. Seymour describes her personal journey as a newly minted political activist, her views on what she calls "a different politics" that involves listening to and interacting with constituents in a way our entrenched "two party" system often precludes, integrity in political representation and how she perceives the chances for electing an independent candidate in Hughes in the next election modelled on the successes of former MP, Cathy McGowan, in the Victorian regional seat of Indi and Zali Steggall in the Sydney seat of Warringah she snatched from former PM, Tony Abbott, in the 2019 federal election.WEBSITE: www.wearehughes.org*TWITTER: @HumansofHughes
Late 2020 and early 2021 in Australian politics has seen a remarkable roiling around the role and status of women sparked by specific incidents including allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment, one right alleged rape right in the heart of the national parliament building itself. The names, Brittany Higgins, Christian Porter have been in the headlines constantly. And more recently the ousted CEO of Australia Post, Christine Holgate. She claims she was bullied out of her position helming this government owned enterprise by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and the male chair of the Australia Post board. She has delivered blistering testimony to a senate inquiry and in the media. Earlier, large "Marches for Justice" were held in capital cities and regional towns across Australia. The PM under considerable pressure, has formed a "women's task force" within his administration, ostensibly lead by the minister for women, Marise Paine. A summit to discuss and debate women's issues, their status and safety, has been announced for July, 2021. A long suppressed report from Kate Jenkins, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, on "Respect at Work" was finally released by the government but with markedly circumscribed agreement to accept and implement its recommendations. Jenkins is also conducting a review into the workplace culture within the federal parliament house specifically as it affects women. In this still very vexed context, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke spoke with Wendy McCarthy, a veteran Australian feminist, leader and thought leader. She reflects on the history of the feminist movement she has been a part of set against current political events.BIOGRAPHY Wendy McCarthy AO Wendy McCarthy is an experienced manager and company director who began her career as a secondary school teacher. She moved out of the classroom into public life in 1968 and since then has worked for change across the public, private and community sectors, in education, family planning, human rights, public health, overseas aid and development, conservation, heritage, media and the Arts. Wendy was a founding member of Women’s Electoral Lobby, Chief Executive Women and The Sydney Community Foundation Women’s Fund and continues to advocate for women in public life. From September 2018 to October 2018 she Chaired the successful by-election campaign to elect Dr Kerryn Phelps AM as the Independent Member for Wentworth. She continued that role in the subsequent Federal election which Dr Phelps lost by a narrow margin. She has a long track record of campaigning and fundraising for women’s issues.Recently, she led the successful NSW Pro Choice Alliance campaign to remove abortion from the criminal code. The new legislation was enacted on October 2, 2019. Wendy has held many significant leadership roles in key national and international bodies including eight years as Deputy Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ten years as Chancellor of the University of Canberra, and 12 years of service to Plan Australia as Chair, with three years as Global Deputy Chair for Plan International. In 2016 she completed eight years as chair of headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation and in 2017 she completed 9 years as Chair of Circus Oz, Australia’s leading circus. She has established several businesses, including the national consulting practice McCarthy Mentoring which is now owned by her daughter Sophie McCarthy. Her career has been publicly recognised in many ways: · In 1989 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for outstanding contributions to community affairs, women’s affairs and the Bicentennial celebrations. · In 1995 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of South Australia. · In 2003 she received a Centenary of Federation Medal for business leadership. · In 2005 the Sydney Morning Herald nominated her as one of Australia’s Top Public Intellectuals.· In 2011 she was profiled in The Power of One as one of 100 women who have shaped Australia.· In 2013 she was inaugural inductee of the Women’s Agenda Hall of Fame for her contribution to the lives of Australian women. · In 2017 she was made a Life Fellow by the Australian Institute of Company Directors. · Most recently, in a special edition of Who Mattered in 2019, The Sydney Morning Herald named Wendy as one of the people defining Australia right now: “McCarthy’s advocacy and passion for women’s rights has spurred a new generation. We wouldn’t be where we are without her.” Wendy McCarthy is an experienced speaker and facilitator, and is regularly asked for comment on social and political issues. She enjoys writing and is the author of several books including her memoir Don’t Fence Me In published by Random House in 2000. She is currently writing an updated memoir to be published in 2021.
On 15 March 2021 (and in Perth the day before) women and some men gathered in cities and towns around Australia, including the nation's capital, in a MARCH FOR JUSTICE in response to the controversies surrounding allegations of rape in the heart of the federal Parliament House by former Liberal Party staffer, Brittany Higgins, historical allegations against the federal attorney general, Christian Porter, and the wider, deeper experiences of sexual violence and harassment against Australian women and broader gender inequality. Mainly dressed in black, thousands poured into the Treasury Gardens on an autumn day in Melbourne. This is a small sampling of the voices and feelings of those who attended. The question simply was: "What brought you here?"
An UPDATE in the Pandemic Primer Podcast series - "Variants and Vaccines". Various coronavirus vaccines, after an accelerated development, creation and testing period are now in commercial production and being distributed globally. Others are in the pipeline. They offer significant hope towards curbing the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, there are many challenges and unknowns surrounding the global vaccine roll-outs including the precise details of each vaccine's efficacy, how long each vaccine will offer immunity and for what specific age cohorts and whether transmission of the virus will be inhibited by the vaccines. Simultaneously, new variants of the virus are emerging including in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil with the spectre of more emerging as part of the evolutionary process. These variants have already been identified as more infectious and apparently affecting children more acutely. Will the existing vaccines provide immunity against these variants? The practical aspects of rolling out the vaccines on such a vast scale are also very challenging. "Vaccine nationalism", richer developed countries purchasing existing and future vaccine stocks at the expense of poorer developing countries has already become a knotty problem. And there are cultural, political and even religious based societal resistances to wide scale vaccination around the world. Once again, New Zealand based epidemiologist, Professor John Potter, in conversation with Peter Clarke about the science and the issues.Prof John Potter Research: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35380121900SPRINGER: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirusNEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: https://www.nejm.org/coronavirusTHE LANCET: https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus*TRACKERS/DASHBOARDS: https://www.statnews.com/feature/coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6In general but specialist journalism , the science writer at The Atlantic magazine, Ed Yong, has written some excellent articles. Reading his archive helps put the pandemic ia chronological perspective, at least in the United States.https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ed-yong/The magazine has also provided outside its usual paywall a large number of articles on the coronavirus pandemic.*https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus/
As 2020 comes to an end, Peter, Margo and Tim sit down with award-winning journalist, biographer, educator, and public intellectual, Margaret Simons. Simons is not only a key thinker in the area of media, she is one of the few mainstream journalists who have truly confronted the changes to media wrought by digitisation. In this wide-ranging discussion, she discusses the year that was and the role the media played, particularly in Victoria, in framing the debates around Covid-19. She talks about the relationship between the media and their audience, particularly as that relationship is manifested on Twitter, and she gives some thought to where we go from here. Hers is a compelling voice and we think you will enjoy this extended, end-of-year discussion with her.
Today we speak with Independent member for the Federal seat of Indi, Dr Helen Haines. Haines is busy giving politicians a good name by working to legislate for what she calls AFIC, the Australian Federal Integrity Commission, a body designed to hold federal politicians and employees to the sorts of standards we the people expect. However, just as she was about to launch a parliamentary debate on her legislation, the Federal Attorney General, after months of prevarication, called a press conference and released the government's own, much weaker version of an Integrity Commission. We speak with Dr Haines and get the lowdown on how her legislation compares with the government's, what she hopes to achieve in introducing it, and how she will respond to the government's ambush (that's our word, not hers).We also spoke to her about the role of independents more generally, and we think you will find her comments completely fascinating.Finally, we talk, briefly about US politics. The show was recorded before the results of the US election were declared, back when The Donald (remember that nickname?) was still in with a bit of a chance, even though we all felt that the end was nigh. We took the opportunity to consider just how President Trump might react once his Presidency was declared over. Will he just disappear as the power of the office drains away, or does he have something else up his sleeve?Welcome to the #transitzone!
As we were about to record an interview with Federal Independent MP, Dr Helen Haines, to talk about her private members' bill to form an Australian Federal Integrity Commission (AFIC)––colloquially known as Federal ICAC, or Independent Commission Against Corruption––we were interrupted by the Federal Attorney General's press conference, in which the Morrison Government announced its own, belated version of a Federal watchdog. We postponed the interview with Dr Haines until later in the week, after we have all had a chance to get our head around what the Government is proposing. In this brief episode, we discuss the possible ramifications of the Government's ambush announcement.
In our return episode, Margo, Peter and Tim catch up on what has been happening in #coronavirus world in their absence from the airwaves.Tim and Peter are in Melbourne and they discuss what it has been like to be part of the heavy lockdown imposed by the State Government there, and how it feels now that those restrictions have been eased.Margo describes the relative openness of Queensland, and how things are going in her new home in Northern NSW.Our Zoners also talk about Tim’s article in Meanjin, which discusses the way in which audiences and journalists interact on social media. The Victoria lockdown has been ground zero for a rising tension between these two groups, and Tim argues strongly that journalists need to reset the frame through which they see their relationship with their audience.And of course, they discuss the upcoming US Presidential election, the most serious Game Show on Earth, including their thoughts on who might win. They talk about the difference between winning the vote and winning the election in what is looking like the increasingly dysfunctional world of American democracy. Welcome back, everyone!
This is episode THREE in the #transitzone PANDEMIC PRIMER PODCAST series aimed at giving you more in-depth information about the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It examines THE RESPONSE* to the coronavirus pandemic in New Zealand, Australia and around the world plus prospects for a vaccine, the elimination versus suppression, debate, the apparent illusion of “herd immunity”, the chronic health effects of covid and more about children, schools and the corona virus.As we publish this podcast, the USA is about to vote in its presidential and congressional elections. The pandemic, its widespread damage there and “what next?” sit at the centre of those elections.In the northern hemisphere, the infections are surging againand the absolute death toll grows even higher. The renewed waves of infection spread in the UK and USA and across Europe are especially dire but also in South America. In New Zealand, they recently had an outbreak on their North Island mainly around Auckland, which triggered another swift and stringent lockdown to recover their prior status as a largely corona virus free nation.In Australia, the state of Victoria is in the process of easing its severe lockdown restrictions including mandated facemasks after clawing back from over 700 new covid infections a day to about an average of five per day. But it is the detailed contexts around these numbers including the “mystery cases” that public health authorities are parsing intensively.Again, our guide for these Pandemic Primer Podcasts is Australian raised now New Zealand based epidemiologist Professor John Potter.John is Professor at the Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, as well as Professor and Senior Advisor, Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where he was Director of its Division of Public Health Sciences. He’s also Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. From 2016-2019, he was Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health. John is one of the most cited scientific authors in the world. And closely tracks global epidemiological research into the coronavirus.All three PANDEMIC PRIMER PODCASTS are now available for your listening. In total THREE hours of information rich audio journalism. We hope it adds to your understanding of the virus itself and the scope and reach of the pandemic and enriches your consumption of all the other information in general journalism, specialist scientific research and the inevitable polemics and propaganda abounding in our crowded mediascape.Prof John Potter Research: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35380121900SPRINGER: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirusNEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: https://www.nejm.org/coronavirusTHE LANCET:* https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus*TRACKERS/DASHBOARDS:* https://www.statnews.com/feature/coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/*https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6In general but specialist journalism , the science writer at The Atlantic magazine, Ed Yong, has written some excellent articles. Reading his archive helps put the pandemic ia chronological perspective, at least in the United States.https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ed-yong/The magazine has also provided outside its usual paywall a large number of articles on the coronavirus pandemic.*https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus/
In the first episode of this trilogy of special podcasts, we asked the basic question, "What is a virus?" then delved into the characteristics of this most infectious of viruses. In this second episode we explore, with our guide, Professor John Potter from New Zealand, exactly what is a pandemic, whether we are actually in a "second wave" as the common parlance of journalists, medical authorities and politicians would have it, and examine the roles of medical experts intertwined with the imperatives our political leaders face as they try to combine, with decidedly mixed results, the best available science with clear, consistent public communications about the actualities of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, what we need to do to combat its predations and where this journey without a clear destination might be taking us, socially, economically and in terms of our public health.In the third episode we shall dissect what happened in the upsurge of corona virus infections in New Zealand after over 100 days of no community transmission of the virus and try to identify the lessons for all of us. And we'll put front and centre the debate around "elimination", which New Zealand adopted as its strategy, and "suppression" which is ostensibly how Australia has approached the pandemic, trying to steer a course between public health and economic survival. And will there be a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2? When? and how effective might it be?RESOURCESProf John Potter Research: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35380121900SPRINGER: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirusNEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: https://www.nejm.org/coronavirusTHE LANCET: https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus*TRACKERS/DASHBOARDS: https://www.statnews.com/feature/coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6In general but specialist journalism , the science writer at The Atlantic magazine, Ed Yong, has written some excellent articles. Reading his archive helps put the pandemic ia chronological perspective, at least in the United States.https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ed-yong/The magazine has also provided outside its usual paywall a large number of articles on the coronavirus pandemic.*https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus/
With the Australian state of Victoria in a stringent lockdown including a nightly curfew, to try to reduce its still high numbers of new coronavirus cases each day, this is the first of a trilogy of podcasts to focus on detailed epidemiological information about the VIRUS, the PANDEMIC and the global RESPONSE. Our expert guide is Professor John Potter, Australian born but now based in Nelson, New Zealand. John is well across the science of this virus and keeps a close eye on the streams of new research papers pouring out of medical science centres around the world. Inevitably, general and specialist journalism covering the pandemic is somewhat fragmented and disjointed over time. And the experience of being in lockdown distorts our sense of time anyway. So this trilogy is our #transitzone attempt to bring some coherence and consolidation to the often quite complex relevant information available. In this first podcast of the trilogy, we start with "What is a virus?" Some of the answers are surprising. And intriguing. This sub-microscopic "entity" has upset the entire world.RESOURCESProf John Potter Research: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35380121900SPRINGER: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirusNEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: https://www.nejm.org/coronavirusTHE LANCET: https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus*TRACKERS/DASHBOARDS: https://www.statnews.com/feature/coronavirus/covid-19-tracker/ https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6In general but specialist journalism , the science writer at The Atlantic magazine, Ed Yong, has written some excellent articles. Reading his archive helps put the pandemic ia chronological perspective, at least in the United States.https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ed-yong/The magazine has also provided outside its usual paywall a large number of articles on the coronavirus pandemic.*https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus/
Simon Holmes à Court told us a story from his childhood that sounds a bit like a superhero origin story: ”I’ve been interested in electricity for a very long time — some would say obsessed. When I was two-and-a-half years old I stuck a key into a powerpoint. I fried my index finger and have a skin graft to remind me of it daily.” It felt like he could’ve gone onto say, and that is where I got my superpower of being able to clearly explain complex matters about renewable energy.Simon takes us through the pros and pros of shifting, on scale, to renewable energy. He outlines some of the obstacles we face and addresses some of the key pieces of misinformation that continue to clog debate in this area. He talks about how Australia’s experience with nuclear power is different from that of other countries, and he even renews his standing challenge to LNP politicians Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan, offering them 100:1 odds (#winebet) that there won’t be a new coal fired power station operating in Australia by 2030.Also in today’s show is an audio postcard from Jo Lynch, Hunter Community Environment Centre Coordinator, another inspiring young climate activist.
Environmental activist Georgina Woods told us she doesn't really believe in hope. If you see someone drowning in a river, she said, you don't jump in to rescue them just because you hope you might save them. You do it anyway, out of love. Same with fighting for the planet: you don't need to always hope what you doing will be successful. You do it anyway. Georgina spoke to us about many aspects of activism, from the practical, day-to-day stuff, to her underlying beliefs. She brings a poet's heart and intellectual's mind to her work and it is a powerful and inspiring combination. We also hear from Rosemary Vass, who describes herself as a 'Mum, Granny, retired educator' and as being 'Passionate about social justice; educational equity; stopping csg/coal, climate change' as well as 'disability rights and gardening!' Hers is another powerful perspective from someone on the front lines of the endless fight for environmental justice.Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
We don’t know about you, but for us, food has been at the centre of how life has changed since the coronavirus shutdown. From more home cooking, to trying to support local businesses that have shifted to delivery-only, the pandemic has fundamentally changed the hospitality industry and its relationship with customers. In this episode, we are joined by Michael Ryan, Australia Chef of the Year and owner of Provenance Restaurant in Beechworth in regional Victoria. Michael talks us through the ways in which his professional life has changed since the lockdown began, and how he thinks the industry will have to rethink the way it does business. His comments are served thoughtfully and with large side-dish of insight. It was really great to speak with him. Bon appétit!We are also joined by Tammi Jonas, an amazing woman who describes herself as 'an ethicurean farmer, mindful meatsmith, agrarian activist, and cultural theorist with a focus on ethical, agroecological food systems.' She also talks us through how #coronavirus has changed the way she runs her business, and what this pandemic might mean for the future of ethical food.
Our guest today is Axel Bruns, Professor in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation.He speaks with Margo, Tim and Peter about the ways in which social media works, how it helps and hinders democratic debate, and how we might better understand the likes of Facebook and Twitter.We also discuss the role of journalism more generally and, as you will hear, there are quite strong differences of opinion about what should and should not be published.It’s all happening in the #transitzone!
In the #transitzone with Peter, Tim and Margo this week is Queensland University economist, John Quiggin. John has long been one of Australia's outstanding public intellectuals, one who has used modern technologies of communication to reach a wide, general audience. He was a pioneer of political blogging in Australia and is active on Twitter and other platforms. He is the author of several recent books that interrogate his own discipline, most recently, Economics In Two Lessons. Today he talks about the Morrison government's response to the coronavirus-induced recession, and about his own work on alternative approaches, including a Liveable Income Guarantee and a Jobs Guarantee.Also in this episode, we hear from Noely Neate, a small-business owner from the Sunshine Coast, and Moira Cully, a young unionist based in Melbourne. Both provide insight into how these sectors are responding to, and are affected by, #coronavirus world.
Our guest today, author Margaret Morgan, emailed us before the show to follow up on some autobiographical material. She was concerned we would introduce her as, amongst other things, a microbiologist. She pointed out that although she had a degree in the subject, she had never worked as one, and that we should not inflate her credentials. We wrote back and suggested we use the following form of words: “Our guest today to is Her Imperial Majesty, Margaret Morgan of Dystopia, Grand Purveyor of All, Chief Scientist to the Galactic Panel, and Magister Ludi to the Children of the Earth." Yes, that works, she said.
So in this episode, we speak with Margaret Morgan about her book, The Second Cure. In particular, we discuss the themes of politics and religion as they manifest during her fictional pandemic as well as in our own #coronavirus world. It’s a conversation we think you will enjoy. Margaret also joins Peter, Margo and Tim in a discussion about just how well the Morrison Government is handling the pandemic.
As restrictions on public gatherings were enforced, and even now as they are slowly unwound, few industries have been hit as hard––and will continue to feel the brunt of #coronavirus––as the Arts sector.
In this week’s episode, Tim, Margo and Peter speak with writer and critic, Alison Croggon. Alison is an internationally acclaimed novelist, poet and playwright, and she is the founding editor of Witness, one of Australia’s premier sites for arts’ criticism. In this episode, she talks about her experience in lockdown, and teases out the ramifications for the sector more generally. But more than that, she reflects on the place of the arts in Australia, and why the government has chosen this moment of pandemic to all-but abandon a crucial cultural and economic sector.
The show also features performers and triple threats, Sarah Ward, aka cabaret performer, Yana Alana, and Rune Nydal, a graduate of Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University. They speak (and sing!) about their experiences in #coronavirus world.
Author, digital rights campaigner and lawyer, Lizzie O'Shea, joins Peter, Margo and Tim to talk about ways in which we understand privacy in this time of #coronavirus. LIzzie's book, Future Histories, is a must read on the topic of technological development and how corporations and governments use it to create social profiles of we the people. The question then becomes, how do we, as citizens, interact with and maintain our control over these profiles? How do we receive the benefits of technological connection and interaction without giving up our privacy and turning ourselves into mere consumers, subject to online Pavlovian manipulation, where our lives are turned into sites of data mining and exploitation? A deep and engaging dive into all this with one of the world's leading experts.#transit zone is produced by Peter Clarke, Margo Kingston and Tim Dunlop. Show theme is by Ivan Clarke © Pang Productions. This episode's guest is author and lawyer, Lizzie O'Shea. Her book is, Future Histories (Verso, 2019), and looks at radical social movements and theories from history and applies them to debates we have about digital technology today. It has been shortlisted for the Premier’s Literary Award.
Margo Kingston, Peter Clarke and Tim Dunlop kick off the first episode with a catch up on what is happening in #coronavirus world. How are home, family, and work changing as the world deals with a new pandemic?