Voices of Wentworth: Recent Episodes
Voices for Wentworth
Wentworth electorate is a vibrant and thriving area of Sydney. From iconic Bondi Beach to leafy Centennial Park, chic Paddington shops and bustling Bondi Junction. Voices of Wentworth is a space for Wentworth voters to get connected, find information, and contribute to important conversations about this country's future. It is our shared responsibility to engage with these issues when we ask our political leaders to act. Climate Change: The biggest challenge of our time. Find out what we are doing to promote political action to protect our own futures and those of future generations.Democracy: Previous generations fought and died to protect freedom and democracy. Find out what “democracy” means in Australia, why it matters and how to protect it. For more information on what we do and how you can help, please visit https://voicesofwentworth.org/about/
As Wentworth residents we’re so lucky to have extraordinary pristine beaches and parks to enjoy! But behind the scenes there’s a volunteer group that has picked up over 500,000 pieces of litter in just over two years…
Voices of Wentworth chats to Mylene Turban about her volunteer for Responsible Runners Bondi and Climate Fresk
Mylene moved to Australia from France just two years ago, she is a Process Engineer within the sustainability, water and renewable energy sectors and a consultant on the circular economy, climate change and carbon emission reductions.
Passionate and positive about the impacts our daily actions can have she says, “many people start their environmental journey with waste reduction, they start to understand there is an issue…where is my waste going, and what are the consequences of the waste I generate?”
Mylene’s top tips on what we as Wentworth residents can do to protect our environment and mitigate climate change? - Educate ourselves on the key issues - Reduce single use plastic - Join a local community garden
Mylene also suggests to: - Use our vote to elect representatives who have positive policies on climate solutions - Divest our money from banks and superfunds that invest in fossil fuels - Walk and use public transport for our daily commute
http://www.transitionbondi.org/initiatives/#rr
Recorded Live at a Town Hall meeting Thursday 25 November
We were informed and inspired by our panel, who were clear with the message: yes to more action (fewer consultant reports), yes to more funding and a very big yes to changing the face of our representation.
Guests speakers
Dr. Belinda Smith - University of Sydney
Eleanor Campbell - Bondi Beach Cottage
Licia Heath – CEO Women Election Australia
Yvonne Weldon - Candidate, Lord Mayor Sydney
This was recorded as a virtual Town Hall meeting on October 28
Greenwashing is when political parties - and the media - make misleading claims about the impact of climate policy, technology and carbon accounting.
You know that the winner will be votes, and the loser will be our future. It’s time to set the record straight with our guests:
Tim Buckley, Director of Energy & Finance at IEEFA,
Alia Armistead, climate and energy researcher at The Australia Institute
Jonathan Holmes, journalist and former Media Watch Presenter as we go fact-diving into the economic, political and technological realities behind the deluge of greenwash.
Voices of Wentworth volunteer, Delia Burrage, gives a 6 minute wrap of how your elected MP represented you in parliament this week.
Key message of the week? Write to Mr Sharma & say 'Support the Stopping PEP11 Bill regarding gas exploration off Sydney's coast.
MP Dave Sharma on PEP11:https://www.davesharma.com.au/news/pep-11
Opposition Leader's net zero motion: https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1449954932300288006
Christian Porter's blind trust: https://theconversation.com/government-shuts-down-move-to-refer-christian-porters-secret-funds-to-privileges-inquiry-170300
Voices of Wentworth volunteer, Delia Burrage, gives a 6 minute wrap of how your elected MP, Dave Sharma, represented you in parliament this week.
Recorded on 6th October 2021
Kath Naish and Delia Burrage of Voices from Wentworth spoke to Anthony Whealy QC about the resignation of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian following news that she will be the subject of an investigation by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
We discussed the timing of the ICAC's announcement, whether Ms Berejiklian was required to resign, the NSW ICAC process and supervision/oversight of its activities. We also discussed the need to balance the potential harm to the reputations of individuals against the need to uncover corruption and maintain trust in our elected officials. Finally, we looked at what lessons can be learned from the various State and Territory ICAC models around Australia to build the most effective Federal Integrity Commission.
Recorded as a virtual town hall on 23rd August 2021
Featuring:
Craig Reucassel- commentator and Director of "Big Deal"
Anthony Whealy QC - Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity
Professor John Daley- (Melbourne Law School) Chief Executive of the Grattan Institute
Many improvements are needed within our political systems to regain public trust in our national leaders. Moreover, integrity in politics is arguably central to achieving sensible policy on a range of issues such as climate action, women’s safety, national security, environmental protection and economic reform.
We spoke about: - the need for reform of the laws regulating political donations and caps on election campaign spending; - why national policy reform gridlock is a problem and how we can address it; - the current status of the Government’s position on introducing a National Integrity Commission as well as the Labor Party’s recent announcements regarding their own proposals ad how these match up to Independent MP Helen Haines’ existing Integrity Commission Bill; - the need for a new approach in Australian federal politics to deliver much-needed policy reform where the two-party system has failed to do so; - the position of Wentworth MP Dave Sharma on the need for an Independent National Integrity Commission and other integrity measures such as political donations reform and addressing misleading political advertising; - the need for greater transparency from government including through the Freedom of Information laws
Following on from our June Town Hall,
Featuring
Professor Andrew Carr, Director of HIV and Immunology at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney
Professor Kerryn Phelps, former President of the Australian Medical Association and of course, the former Federal Independent Member for Wentworth.
We discuss the current state of play with vaccines, vaccination rates and targets, the Doherty modelling, vaccine equity and quarantine facilities.
Recorded as a virtual Town Hall on Thursday 26 August 2021
Featuring:
Rachel Walmsley - Head of Policy & Law Reform at Environmental Defenders Office. Rachel was a member of the Australian Panel of Experts in Environmental Law (APEEL) and of the Consultative group established by Prof Graeme Samuel for the EPBC Act review.
Basha Stasak- Nature Program Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation. Basha leads ACF's campaigns to protect and restore Australia's natural environment.
Gerard Early - Director of BirdLife Australia. Gerard’s extensive career in environmental and public sector issues has seen him advising the Commonwealth and State Governments, industry proponents and community groups on the processes under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
"Australia’s natural environment and iconic places are in an overall state of decline and are under increasing threat. The current environmental trajectory is unsustainable.” This was the key finding of the independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) led by Professor Graeme Samuel AC, released on 28, January 2021. Eight months later, the Federal Government has still not fully responded, nor has it yet acted on any of the 38 recommendations. Instead it has tabled legislation to hand over Federal environmental approval powers to State and Territory governments.
Meanwhile, the Federal Court has held that the Minister for the Environment owes a duty of care to Australia’s young people to prevent physical harm by way of personal injury caused by climate change impacts from coal mine approvals. The Minister has also overseen the reversal of Unesco’s ‘in-danger’ rating of one of our most precious natural assets, the Great Barrier Reef.
This interview was recorded in June 2021
Kath Naish speaks with His Honour Anthony Whealy QC about the status of government plans for a National Integrity Commission.
This was recorded as an interview in June 2021
Featuring: Cheryl Durrant, Former Director of Preparedness and Mobilisation at the Australian Department of Defence and current Member of the Climate Council.
This was recorded live at a Town Hall Meeting in May 2021.
Dr John Hewson has had several careers in academia, bureaucracy, business, politics, and the media. He is currently a Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU, and an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He has worked for The Australian Treasury (Census and Statistics), the IMF, the Reserve Bank, the UN (UNESCAP), and the ADB, and often advises senior public servants. In Business, he was a Founder of Macquarie Bank, Chairman ABN Amro Australia, and Chair/Director of a host of public and private companies. He is Chair, Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia, BioEnergy Australia, and the Commission for the Human Future, and a Patron of the Smart Energy Council and the Ocean Nourishment Foundation. In Politics he has served as Advisor/Chief of Staff to two Federal Treasurers and Prime Minister, and as Leader of the Liberal Party, and of the Federal Coalition, in Opposition.
Judy Slatyer has spent the last 12 years of her life working with organisations which had climate change as their number one global priority. Firstly as the global COO of the World Wide Fund for Nature and more recently as the CEO of the Australian Red Cross where the humanitarian impact of climate change was evident everywhere - heatwaves, droughts, fires, flood, cyclones - here and across the world. Judy’s focus is on how communities can and need to adapt given the currently forecast overshoot of 2 degrees of warming this century. She is also focussed on the critical importance of decarbonising our economies and reducing existing carbon in the atmosphere. Judy will talk to climate risk in Australia and our region from extreme weather, our responsibility to our neighbouring countries in the Pacific and SouthEast Asia and the importance of Australia’s role in the upcoming COP in November.
Nicki Hutley is a highly experienced economist, with broad-based expertise in both macroeconomics and microeconomic policy, gained over more than three decades in financial and investment markets and in economic consulting. After many years in the corporate world, including most recently as a partner with Deloitte Access Economics, Nicki is now an independent economist and keynote speaker. She also consults with Social Outcomes, developing and supporting social impact programs. In 2020, Nicki was appointed as a Councillor for the Climate Council and admitted as an expert faculty member (economics) to SingularityU Australia. Nicki is a council member for the Economics Society of Australia (NSW) and the Australian Business Economists, and a Board member for One Million Women and the Financy Women’s Index.
The MC on the night was Osher Günsberg is one of Australia’s most recognisable media personalities and has been a guest in the living rooms of Australians for nearly 2 decades. From his work on Channel [V] in the early 2000’s to seven seasons on Australian Idol, Osher was the first Australian to host live network prime time TV in the USA on Live To Dance (CBS). Currently, Osher hosts The Bachelor Australia, The Bachelorette Australia and Bachelor in Paradise, and is the narrator of Bondi Rescue (all Network 10).
Osher has written, produced and hosted several podcasts. His interview podcast Better than Yesterday has been published weekly since 2013 and has over 4.3 million downloads. The show now releases two episodes per week, was a finalist in the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards (Storytelling category) and selected episodes are available on Qantas Inflight Enter
We hear from our expert panel on some of the power imbalances arising from high levels of media concentration in Australia and how that power is used by the biggest media players. For example, we discussed the use of influence to assert specific agendas in relation to climate change as well as other threats to healthy democratic debate. We also discussed the need for greater support for objective and factual news reporting and looked at potential ways to address media concentration such as more transparency around media ownership, an independent media authority and continuing to increase competition within the media market. We also heard that better policy outcomes to address media concentration and other issues may be achieved through increasing the numbers of smart, well-meaning independents in the balance of power positions in parliament because such representatives are likely to be less beholden to and less fearful of media backlash to sensible policy proposals.
With TV and Radio host James Mathison, Guardian Australia Editor Lenore Taylor, AAP Newswire CEO Emma Cowdroy and Associate Professor, University of Sydney Benedetta Brevini.
This was recorded as a virtual Town Hall on Monday 8 February 2021
We were joined by Independent Federal MP for Indi Helen Haines, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity the Honourable Anthony Whealy QC and CEO of Transparency International Serena Lillywhite. We looked at the Government’s proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission legislation as well as Helen Haines’ alternative legislation and discussed the details followed by a Q&A session. Submissions on the Government’s legislation close on Friday 12 February 2021.
This was recorded as a virtual Town Hall meeting in September 2020
Monica Richter is an economist and social ecologist with extensive experience in environmental sustainability with an interest in the role of business in accelerating the uptake of low and zero carbon solutions. Monica’s recent career highlights include establishing the Business Renewables Centre-Australia, a Community of Practice for companies setting Science-Based long term emission reduction targets and recently collaborating with the NSW state government and Lendlease to launch reports on the need to tackle embodied carbon in the building and construction industry. Monica is a graduate of the Future Directors program, an Executive Member of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, Chair of the Mercury Centre collaborative enterprise catalyst, and board member of Pingala community power.
Maria Atkinson is a Director, Activist, Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Consultant to name a few of her roles. Maria is internationally recognised for her work in sustainability and for her work on catalyzing change on the big issues that matter in society. Maria advises clients to help them articulate and then deliver sustainability outcomes for a project or their organisation. She is an impact investor and has over 15 years of experience on not-for-profit, international institution and government boards and committees. She is a global operator with a deep understanding of social and environmental markets and trends.
The virtual Town Hall was recorded in October 2020
We were joined by The Honourable Anthony Whealy QC, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity and Saffron Zomer of the Australian Democracy Network to consider the health of democracy in Australia in 2020.
We looked at the key elements of democracy and how they are being eroded in Australia, with a particular focus on the need to defend our public accountability institutions, establish a federal integrity commission and address undue influence (eg corporate capture) in political processes.