The Fifth Estate: Recent Episodes
The Fifth Estate
The important stories of the day – off the front pages. Sally Warhaft hosts a dizzying array of guests from the worlds of politics, culture, international relations and beyond, in a witty and revealing analysis of current affairs.
Senator Sam Dastyari is among the youngest politicians in Canberra, but in just a few years, he’s attracted more attention than many politicians garner over their entire careers. The combination of compelling backstory – told in his new book, One Halal of a Story – and industrial-strength audacity has meant he’s never far from the limelight.
Dastyari was born in Iran to student activists and arrived in Australia aged four. He joined the ALP shadow cabinet in his early 30s and quickly rose to prominence in the media too, especially for his campaign against corporate tax avoidance. In 2016, however, he resigned from the Labor frontbench after it was revealed he’d allowed a Chinese-linked company to pay a travel bill. In a radical move, Dastyari now calls for a blanket ban on political donations.
At this Fifth Estate session, Sally Warhaft meets a controversial figure in Australian politics. They talk about the inner workings of Parliament House, multiculturalism, memoir and more.
Sally Warhaft and Sam Dastyari — Photo: Sophie Quick
Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans was at the centre of Australian politics for much of his 21 years in parliament, serving as cabinet minister in both the Hawke and Keating Labor governments. His term as foreign minister, from 1988 to 1996, marked a pivotal time in Australian foreign affairs – and the start of an increased engagement with our Asian neighbours.
Since leaving politics, Evans has applied his talents to major posts in international relations, working on crisis resolution, genocide prevention and curbing nuclear proliferation.
What does Evans – whose memoir, Incorrigible Optimist, has just been released – make of the growing rumblings of discontent with the political establishment across the western world? And does he believe we can regain faith in political actors and institutions?
In recent times, it seems the Australian Constitution has been in the headlines more often than not. Accordingly, the High Court has been in the spotlight, too.
What are our expectations of the judiciary with regard to keeping the other branches of government in check? How well do citizens, and legislators, understand the constitution and the High Court’s role in interpreting it?
Sally Warhaft is joined by John Hewson and Adrienne Stone for an episode that delves into recent matters facing the High Court, and its role in Australian democracy today.
Sally Warhaft, Adrienne Stone and John Hewson
Sally Warhaft, Shashi Tharoor and Meena Kandasamy — Photo: Sophie Quick
In 2014, Narendra Modi swept into power as Prime Minister of India; he did so on a pro-business, pro-development platform and on a wave of Hindu nationalism.
It was a spectacular victory and, if the decisive recent state election results for his party in Uttar Pradesh are any indication, he remains a popular figure with many Indians – around 80% of whom are Hindus – several years into his leadership.
But India is a country with significant populations of religious minorities. Among other religious groups, especially Muslims, and among some concerned Hindu Indians too, there is deep concern about the rising tide of Hindu nationalism in the population. Of particular concern are Modi’s alignment with the extremist nationalist groups, his history of turning a blind-eye to acts of right-wing violence and vigilantism and the growing culture of media censorship.
Join authors Shashi Tharoor and Meena Kandasamy as they talk politics and religion in the world’s largest democracy, with host Sally Warhaft.
Presented in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival.
Photo: Sophie Quick
Judith Brett
Alfred Deakin, Australia’s second Prime Minister, spent 32 years in politics. Renowned for his oratorical ability, superb negotiation skills and workable minority governments, he served as Prime Minister for three separate terms in the turbulent first decade of the new Commonwealth.
As questions of dual citizenship threaten the Commonwealth Government’s majority today, Sally Warhaft speaks to Judith Brett about Deakin’s legacy and the link between the early days of federated Australia and the contemporary situation.
What does it take to govern successfully without a majority? And, if minority governments are the norm in many advanced democracies, why does the prospect loom as a bogeyman in Australian public conversation?
Sally Warhaft and Judith Brett
Robert Fisk, Timothy Lynch and Sally Warhaft — Photo: Emily Harms
The Syrian War is the most deadly conflict we’ve seen in the 21st Century so far.
And with 12 million Syrians displaced since 2011 and world powers intervening on all sides – it’s far from a regional problem. The Syrian War is a crisis with ramifications that reach across the globe.
Now in its seventh year, the conflict that began during the Arab Spring has become appallingly complex. The involvement of world and regional powers has served to intensify and prolong the hostilities, turning Syria into a proxy battleground, and casting the possibility of peace further into the distance.
For this Fifth Estate episode, recorded live at the Melbourne Writers Festival, join the Independent’s revered correspondent Robert Fisk and American politics expert Timothy Lynch for a discussion of foreign political involvement in the region. How are the interventions of world and regional powers exacerbating the conflict? Who are the various rebel groups involved and what are their activities in other parts of the region? How are global dynamics shifting – and are we witnessing the collapse of American power in the Middle East?
In this conversation, we’ll bring together three writers and academics who have examined themes of alienation and social estrangement in their work. William Maley, author of What is a Refugee?, Susan Carland, author of Fighting Hislam, and Rebecca Huntley, author of Still Lucky?, join Wheeler Centre host Sally Warhaft to examine how the idea of ‘stranger danger’ plays out in Australian culture and politics – from media reporting to foreign policy and refugee law.
Which groups of people are routinely represented as strangers? And who benefits from demonising these people? What happens when fear outweighs the social, ethical and economic benefits of tolerance? And are we more, or less, tolerant than we think we are?
Presented in partnership with Bendigo Writers Festival.
Immigration has long been among the most contentious, and highly politicised, areas of Australian public policy. The past 20 years have seen a drastic increase in Australia's intake of migrants, as well as an increasingly punitive approach to managing asylum seeker arrivals; an approach that has attracted censure from human rights groups.
Does the recent outcome of the class action between Manus Island detainees and the Commonwealth represent a turning point? And what impact will new changes to 457 visas and the Australian citizenship test have on the fabric of our communities?
For this episode of The Fifth Estate, Sally Warhaft meets human rights activist, former refugee and orthopaedic surgeon, Munjed Al Muderis and GetUp!’s human rights campaign director, Shen Narayanasamy. Join them for a discussion of the Australian immigration experience and its broader implications.
Sally Warhaft, Munjed Al Muderis and Shen Narayanasamy
Australia has one of the world’s most educated populations. We have stable institutions, a strong economy and advanced technology. Yet we seem to face endless obstacles when it comes to solving our problems with good public policy. Is it the ideas, the culture or the political contest that get in the way?
And if we can’t solve problems – even those with broad agreement for solutions – how can we possibly create space for innovation?
In this conversation, we examine how public policy is shaped today and how the avenues to reform have changed in recent times. How do global political shifts impact on governance and public policy in Australia? What part do vested interests, changes in the media landscape and declining rates of political participation play?
Join host Sally Warhaft and two speakers who are uniquely qualified to tackle these questions: Geoff Gallop, former premier of Western Australia and Peter Hartcher, political editor and international editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sally Warhaft, Geoff Gallop and Peter Hartcher
The Australia21 report, ‘Can Australia respond to drugs more effectively and safely?’, released in March of this year, argues that it’s time to bring an end to the costly, unavailing campaign of criminalising drug users – and to instead adopt a wide approach to harm reduction.
Sally Warhaft and Bob Carr — Photo: Jon Tjhia
The report’s 13 key recommendations are groundbreaking, and drawn from conversations between people with legal, law enforcement, prison, public health and policy backgrounds. Drug users and their families have endorsed it. So, how have the recommendations been received? And what hope is there for true policy reform?
Alongside former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, Australia21’s report was launched by former Australian foreign minister and former NSW premier Bob Carr. Carr joins Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft for a discussion of the so-called war on drugs, and the push for decriminalisation in Australia today.
More broadly, Carr also offers his thoughts on political developments around the globe – including the US, China, Syria and Pakistan.
Sally Warhaft, Georgina Downer and Mary Gearin — Photo: Jon Tjhia
In 2017, Europe is in a period of heightened uncertainty: the rise of populist politics, the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the prospect of a weakened European Union and an increasingly assertive Russia on its doorstep.
French voters recently rejected both major parties to elect an unknown quantity in Emmanuel Macron, who has never before held elected office. The UK’s new Prime Minister Theresa May has made a virtue of being an ‘unclubbable’ Conservative, but after riding high in the lead-up to the June election on a manifesto of 'country and community', her campaign has begun to falter in the wake of two terrorist attacks and the resulting debates about security and rights.
What will happen when Germany goes to the polls in September? Angela Merkel's popularity has been waning since 2015, but 21st-century Europe has become hard to imagine without her steady, predictable presence.
To discuss the state of play in the UK and Europe – and for the 100th edition of this long-running Wheeler Centre series – Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Mary Gearin and Georgina Downer.
In previous Quarterly Essays, David Marr has turned his merciless pen to powerful men of the establishment: George Pell, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten. In his new biographical essay, however, Marr’s subject is a self-styled populist outlier and a woman: Pauline Hanson.
As Australian political figures go, they don’t come much more colourful than Hanson. Her divisive speeches and curious catchphrases are etched into the memories of many Australians, from the maiden speech to Parliament (‘we are in danger of being swamped by Asians’) to the famous response to the question of xenophobia on 60 Minutes (‘Please explain?’). Then there was the prison stint, the Dancing with the Stars stint, and the extraordinary recent comeback. The former fish-and-chips shop owner is both loved and loathed. And she’s a serious threat to both major parties, with climbing national approval figures.
Today, Hanson has much in common with other anti-immigration, protectionist and populist political figures gaining traction across the world. Join David Marr, one of the finest minds in Australian journalism, as he discusses Pauline Hanson and the uniquely Australian strain of the politics of resentment. Hosted by Sally Warhaft, and recorded live at Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove.
Sally Warhaft and Kerry O'Brien — Photo: Shannon Hick
We’ve all heard the ‘jobs and growth’ mantra, but what are the specifics of the Turnbull Government’s vision for the country?
At this special Fifth Estate discussion, the day after Treasurer Scott Morrison delivered the 2017 budget, Sally Warhaft and veteran journalist Kerry O’Brien unpack the implications of the government’s economic plan and take the pulse of the nation.
How does this year's budget sit against those of the past – and those potentially to come? What does it reveal about the state of politics and the media … and what remains to be seen? Join us for post-budget analysis with one of Australia’s most respected political journalists.
A lot has been made of the importance of an American president’s first 100 days. That period has long been considered a crucial measure of their intentions and abilities – and a distillation, in many ways, of what’s to follow.
The idea dates back to President Roosevelt – who, taking office during the Great Depression in 1933, immediately launched a series of bills to reignite a flagging economy. Reagan made sweeping revisions to budget and tax policy in his first 100 days; Obama used the time to pass a $787 billion economic stimulus package and to expand children's health insurance coverage.
At almost 100 days into the Trump presidency, Sally Warhaft chats with Don Watson – author of the Quarterly Essay 'Enemy Within: American politics in the time of Trump', and the acclaimed American Journeys. They assess the state of the States under Trump so far. How has the Trump administration framed its 100 days? What have been its key policies and accomplishments thus far … and how has America and the world responded?
Sally Warhaft and Chris Mitchell in conversation
Last year, when Chris Mitchell released his memoir, Making Headlines, much was made of the book’s more gossipy elements: the fancy dinners, brazen ultimatums and the sometimes bitter quarrels with various powerful figures. In this conversation, Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft goes deeper with the former editor-in-chief of the Australian.
Mitchell was at the helm of Australia’s only national daily newspaper for 12 years; a period of seismic change in the media landscape. How does he see the future of the Australian specifically, and the role of daily newspapers in Australia more broadly? What does he make of criticisms of ‘crusading journalism’ and the increasing partisanship of major news sources? And how might our current crop of political leaders perform better in today’s perilous media environment?
Join this towering figure in Australian journalism for a discussion broaching the relationship between sources and journalists, the revolving door of political leaders and the mysterious nexus of power in Australia today.
In 2017, Australia finds itself in a very strange position on the issue of marriage equality.
With the Federal Government’s proposed plebiscite defeated in the senate last November, we now have a bizarre situation in which leaders of both major political parties want reform but are unable to deliver it. There’s a sense of frustration and fatigue in the electorate – where do we go from here?
At this Fifth Estate discussion, Sally Warhaft is joined by two speakers, both steeped in the marriage equality debate at federal level, and both with quite different takes on the issue: Liberal MP and former Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, and Labor MP and Shadow Assistant Minister for equality, Terri Butler.
Is it possible that we will somehow break the gridlock this year? Is there a need, and an appetite, for further debate around this issue? Join us for a discussion of public sentiment versus political processes.
Sally Warhaft, Tim Wilson and Terri Butler
The shock election of Donald Trump has forced a period of reeling and reckoning in the United States. How have the failures of previous administrations led to the election of such an unorthodox candidate? And how will Trump’s exploitation of scapegoats – both inside America and outside – play out now he’s actually in office?
Sally Warhaft, Cynthia P. Schneider and Thomas Frank — Photo: Jon Tjhia
In the first Fifth Estate discussion of 2017, Sally Warhaft hosts two heavy-hitting American experts. Thomas Frank is the author of Listen, Liberal, a blistering appraisal of recent Democratic administrations and a liberal professional class seemingly indifferent to widening income inequality. Cynthia P. Schneider is a foreign policy expert at the highly respected Brookings Institution in Washington and an active, eloquent advocate of ‘soft power’ and cultural diplomacy, especially with the Muslim world.
The pair explore a wide range of questions around America’s recent past, present and future, and provide a unique perspective from the inside. How might Trump work to serve the interests of those who voted for him in protest against the establishment? And how are his efforts likely to affect those well beyond American borders?
Sally Warhaft, Cynthia P. Schneider and Thomas Frank — Photo: Jon Tjhia
Mark Colvin is one of the most trusted and revered figures in Australian journalism today. In this Fifth Estate discussion with Sally Warhaft, he reflects on the release of his memoir, Light and Shadow, discussing the unlikely convergence of family and foreign affairs in his personal and professional lives, as well as four decades at the forefront of news reporting.
Colvin has won the respect of generations of Australians through his work at the original Double J, his stint as the ABC’s correspondent in London and for his reporting on Australian politics and international conflicts. Today he’s known as the voice of ABC Radio’s current-affairs flagship PM and the darling of Australian Twitter. What nobody knew until very recently, is that he’s also the son of a spy.
Mark Colvin
‘Democracy is the worst form of government,’ Winston Churchill famously said, ‘except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time’.
Greg Sheridan, Gareth Evans and Sally Warhaft
But democracies come in very different shapes and sizes. And they’re always evolving; sometimes in response to pressure from within the body politic, and sometimes because of shifts outside sovereign control. Lately – with the emergence of Donald Trump, the shock Brexit result and Australia’s confusing recent turn at the polls – talk of democratic dysfunction has been on the rise. But are things really worse than they were in the past? And what can we learn from other models of democracy around the globe?
For this conversation, host Sally Warhaft speaks with two observers deeply familiar with democracy here and abroad – academic, lawyer, international policymaker and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, and the Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan.
Earlier this year, Philip Ruddock declared his intention to retire from politics after a 42-year career. As ‘Father of the House’ – the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in Canberra – Ruddock has served in Fraser, Howard and Abbott/Turnbull governments, as a key player in several turbulent and transformative periods of Australian politics. Best known as the architect of the controversial ‘Pacific Solution’ during his time as Immigration Minister in the Howard era, Ruddock has also been a vocal advocate on several human rights issues, especially the abolition of the death penalty.
After the election, Ruddock will take up a new role as Australia’s Special Envoy for Human Rights. As Ruddock opens a new chapter, and Australia seeks a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for 2018, what are Ruddock’s aspirations and priorities in the role – and how does he respond to criticism of his new position? Hear from this elder statesman of the Australian conservative movement, in the first days of his post-political life.
In conversation with Sally Warhaft, Ruddock discusses human rights, the death penalty, and the changing Australian political landscape.
Sally Warhaft and Philip Ruddock
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In a new collection of essays, It’s Our Country, editors Marcia Langton and Megan Davis bring together diverse ideas from leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander thinkers and leaders including Dawn Casey, Noel Pearson, Patrick Dodson, Nyunggai Warren Mundine and Mick Mansell. Each offers a perspective on what constitutional reforms could – and should – achieve for Indigenous Australians.
In this episode of the Fifth Estate podcast, host Sally Warhaft is joined by Marcia Langton and Megan Davis for a conversation exploring the political and philosophical intricacies of recognition, and the real-world implications for the lives of Australia’s first peoples.
Sally Warhaft, Megan Davis and Marcia Langton
Why should Indigenous Australians be constitutionally recognised, what form should recognition take – and how will it affect Australian society?
As a referendum on the issue becomes increasingly likely, those fundamental questions remain unresolved (and sometimes, hotly contested) – leaving Australia as one of the last liberal democracies still to settle its colonial beginnings.
Further listening
Podcast episode
Intelligence Squared Debate: True Reconciliation Requires a Treaty Podcast episode
Lunchbox/Soapbox: Mark McMillan on Indigenous Identity and the Law Podcast episode
Question Time: Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians / Indigenous
Award-winning journalist and author Roger Cohen meets Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft for a wide-ranging spotlight conversation on his memoir, his body of work and his perspective on international affairs.
'There's been a tremendous commitment of blood and treasure to far away places, and the results seem pretty paltry.'
Roger Cohen
Cohen has worked from 15 different countries as a foreign correspondent, reporting for some of the most prestigious news outlets in the globe. His association with the New York Times has spanned 25 years – as a foreign correspondent, foreign editor, and now as an op-ed columnist. Of his trade, he’s said: ‘The journalist moves in the opposite direction from the crowd, toward danger, often leaving the settled majority perplexed.’
Roger Cohen
In the latest of Cohen’s four books – 2015’s The Girl from Human Street: Ghosts of Memory in a Jewish Family – he turns that reporting ethos to his own family’s complex and itinerant history, centring on his mother’s travails with mental illness, geographical displacement and loneliness. It’s a slow-burning account of love, revealed layer by layer; it’s also an intergenerational search for the meaning of Cohen’s complex inheritance, and for ‘Jewishness’, touching on his sometimes controversial views on key issues facing modern Israel.
Immediately after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, British civilian Emma Sky was enlisted as the representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk, one of Iraq’s most volatile areas. She went on to serve in the region longer than any other senior military or diplomatic figure – including as political advisor to the Commanding General of US Forces in Iraq from 2007–2010.
In The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, Sky recounts the years following the fall of Hussein, detailing the corruption, the brutal insurgencies and the often disastrous manoeuvres of both the Bush and Obama administrations. Offering a unique insider’s perspective, it has been praised in the Guardian as ‘adetailed and darkly humorous account that tries to understand everyone involved, Iraqis and Americans, on their own terms.’
Emma Sky (left) and Sally Warhaft (right)
Prior to her time in Iraq, Sky worked in the Palestinian territories for a decade. She is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute, where she teaches Middle East politics. Sky visited Melbourne and Ballarat to talk with Sally Warhaft about the Middle East post-Hussein, the continuing importance of the US and the lessons to be learned about the limitations of power. This podcast episode brings you their discussion in Melbourne.
Join acclaimed journalist Sarah Ferguson (The Killing Season) and host Sally Warhaft for a conversation about Labor, leadership and loyalty.
Sally Warhaft, left, with Sarah Ferguson — Photo: Jon Tjhia
Labor romped to victory under Kevin Rudd in 2007, with a comfortable majority and generous reserves of public goodwill. How did they manage to squander that goodwill, and trash their own brand so thoroughly that they were out of office again within just six years? Alan Milburn, a campaign strategist for Tony Blair and later for Julia Gillard has said he’s ‘never seen anything like it in any country, anywhere, anytime, in any part of the world’.
Milburn was one of more than 100 politicians, staffers, public servants and political insiders journalist Sarah Ferguson interviewed for the riveting ABC documentary series The Killing Season, about this extraordinary period of ALP infighting and implosion. Ferguson had to edit those interviews back to three one-hour episodes – an unenviable task indeed – but her new book, The Killing Season Uncut, goes behind the scenes of the series, revealing material that didn’t make the final cut. The book has much to tell about this turbulent period in ALP history but also provides fascinating insights into the processes of Ferguson– one of Australia’s most celebrated, agenda-setting journalists.
'For me, this story is unfinished … these two great politicians of their generation, by any standards, cut off at their prime.'
Sarah Ferguson
Join Sally Warhaft and senior member of the Canberra press gallery, Niki Savva, for a discussion of political partnerships, party loyalty, the looming election and the state of conservative politics in Australia today.
Sally Warhaft and Niki Savva
Earlier this month, Niki Savva’s book on the political partnership of Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin sparked a flurry of press. There were attacks, counter-attacks, impassioned defences of the Abbott Government legacy – and just as vehement defences of long political and journalistic careers.
This Fifth Estate conversation offers a chance for a deeper dissection of the issues raised in the book – and in the media surrounding it – as well as a broader discussion of the trajectory of the Liberal Party. In The Road to Ruin: How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin Destroyed Their Own Government, Savva argues that while the partnership between the former PM and his chief of staff was effective in opposition, it was catastrophic in government.
Join host Sally Warhaft, Grattan Institute CEO and policy expert John Daley and influential banker and author Satyajit Das for a conversation about change, market forces and aspirations.
The divide between generations is becoming an increasingly apparent faultline in our society.
Baby Boomers came of age during an era of unprecedented economic prosperity, but their children have become adults in a set of drastically different circumstances. Over recent decades, we’ve seen a widening gap between rich and poor, with access to the property market tipped largely in favour of older generations. The workforce has changed drastically, too, with younger people competing in a more fragmented, casualised market – one that discriminates against older workers.
Perhaps it’s time for us all to reconsider our expectations. Can we continue with an economic model that’s predicated on the idea of endless growth? And can we do it while addressing younger generations’ environmental concerns and coping with the economic challenges of an ageing population? Do younger Australians even want what the Baby Boomers have had anyway?
Addressing the media after his successful leadership challenge last year, Malcolm Turnbull stressed his vision for an agile, forward-looking Australia. ‘We can’t be defensive,’ he said, promising a government that would ensure Australia can thrive, ‘as the world becomes more and more competitive and greater opportunities arise’.
But beyond the rhetoric – in practical foreign policy terms – what will it take to achieve a thriving, competitive 21st-century Australia? In this election year, which parties have the smartest foreign policy plans? And, in a more complex, competitive world, does Australia need to be bigger to be better?
Michael Fullilove is an author, historian and executive director of the Lowy Institute. In his recent Boyer lectures, he argued that Australia must be smarter, shrewder and larger to capitalise on the changing world order. In conversation with Sally Warhaft, he discusses why we need a bigger population and a bigger economy. Listen in for a discussion of foreign affairs, population and thinking big.
Can our economy make us sick? David Stuckler thinks it can. Stuckler is an Oxford University professor whose focus is the intersection of political economy and public health. In 2013, he co-wrote The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, arguing that some countries have turned recessions into public health disasters in misguided efforts to get the budget back on track.
Sally Warhaft and David Stuckler
Stuckler has studied large data sets from across the globe to learn how economic upheavals – from the Great Depression to the collapse of the Soviet Union to the Asian Financial Crisis to the Global Financial Crisis – have affected the health of citizens.
Australia’s economy has held up better than most in recent times, so how do Stuckler’s findings relate to us? And what lessons can Australian policy-makers learn from mistakes made in other countries?
For our first Fifth Estate event in 2016, join Sally Warhaft and a fascinating international guest for a discussion of health and economic upheaval.
In our final Fifth Estate of 2015, Sally Warhaft is joined by the authors of The Dismissal, a new book on the abrupt, brutal end to the Whitlam era. One day shy of the 40th anniversary, journalists Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston shed new light on the crisis, discussing the true motivations of key players as well as the scale of collusion.
Australia has had four prime ministers in the last two years, thanks to a series of dramatic leadership spills and coups. Yet the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975 continues to stand out among the most divisive events in Australian political history. As far as political crises go, it remains in a class of its own.
Six weeks into Turnbull’s turn as leader, host Sally Warhaft is joined by revered political journalists Michelle Grattan and Laura Tingle to discuss the new-look Liberals, the weight of expectation – and Australian political culture more broadly.
‘Here’s the rule in the Liberal Party – if you win, you did the right thing.’ Those are the words of former treasurer Peter Costello, describing the brutal party dynamics that allowed Malcolm Turnbull to seize the leadership from Tony Abbott on 14 September.
The Labor Party turned switching leaders into an unedifying team sport, but the Liberals promised Australians something different: stability and ‘grown-up government’. So, how are they doing? Prime Minister Turnbull wants to be a new kind of leader – with a more optimistic outlook and greater respect for the public’s intelligence. The new cabinet, we’re told, will be consultative, communicative and no longer subject to ‘captain’s calls’. The old guard has promised ‘no sniping, no wrecking’.
Warhaft, Pyne and Bowen
If you want a friend in Washington, the famous saying goes, get a dog. Is the same true of Canberra? With a sometimes cynical electorate and a particularly hostile parliament, is it hard to hold onto one’s belief in politics as public service? What keeps long-time politicians in the game?
Sally Warhaft is joined by Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne (who was, until a recent reshuffle, Minister for Education) and Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen to discuss life on the front bench. In a wide-reaching conversation, the two Christophers reveal their motivations, their views on Australian political culture today and their personal political heroes in their respective portfolios: education, industry, innovation, science and treasury.
See also 21 Nov 2012 Note
Saving Native Species and Our Moral Code: With Tim Flannery / Animals & nature
By Jo Case
14 Sep 2015 Note
Malcolm Turnbull: ‘we have to put a price on carbon’ / Australian politics
Guest post by Malcolm Turnbull
Ten years after his internationally bestselling book, The Weather Makers, author and scientist Tim Flannery argues in Atmosphere of Hope that the global climate system is close to crisis.
Following the recent announcement of Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (to be held in Paris in December 2015), Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Tim Flannery alongside Australian Solar Council CEO John Grimes and futurist Katherine Teh-White to provide both a snapshot of the trouble we’re already in – and a discussion of the emerging technologies that give us hope for the future of our planet.
From atmospheric carbon capture to seaweed farming to carbon dioxide snow production in Antarctica and the manufacture of carbon-rich biochar, our guests will discuss not only the depths of the climate change crisis – but the transformative models that might mitigate its effects.
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Defence policy in the age of ISIS / Defence, military & war
As the reach of ISIS continues to unfurl, key strategic cities in Syria and Iraq have fallen to the group and a number of Australians (most often young or vulnerable) have been drawn into its networks. While media attention has focused primarily on the spectacle of ISIS – the beheadings and immolations – and the organisation’s sophisticated online recruitment strategies, true and measured insight has sometimes proven elusive. What are we failing to comprehend about the workings and the ambitions of the group? Not five years since the optimistic first stirrings of the Arab Spring, how did we get here – to talk of an apocalyptic showdown – so quickly?
Sally Warhaft is joined by award-winning journalist Sally Neighbour, author of two books on terrorism and Islamic extremism, and Jamie Tarabay, senior editor of national security and tech at Vocativ, to discuss the growing influence of ISIS and, more generally, the challenges of reporting on global conflict today.
What's it like to be a political reporter today, when breaking news is measured by second-by-second tweets (instead of next-day newspapers)? How has it changed over the decades?
In this Fifth Estate special, recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2015, we hear from Fairfax's Latika Bourke and ABC TV's Barrie Cassidy. Hosted by Sally Warhaft.
In the past decade, Australia’s stance towards asylum seekers has changed radically. No longer assumed to be refugees fleeing persecution, asylum seekers are now often described as 'illegal immigrants'.
In recent weeks, there have been allegations that both major parties have paid people smugglers to return asylum seekers to Indonesian shores. The federal government has come in for particular criticism, with detention centre workers resigning in protest against poor conditions. There have been ongoing accusations, too, that Australian asylum seeker policies breach United Nations conventions. The newly created Border Force, merging the frontline operations of Customs and Immigration, has taken charge of Operation Sovereign Borders – where information regarding 'on water matters' is withheld from journalists.
As the number of refugees and displaced peoples increases around the world, Australia's policies will gain increasing international attention. Join host Sally Warhaft with David Manne, Director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, and Mariam Veiszadeh, human rights lawyer and 'proud refugee', for a conversation about seeking asylum, politics and Australia.
The name Gonski has long been known and respected in business, arts and philanthropic circles. David Gonski AC is a former chairman of the Australia Council, and chairman of ANZ Banking Group, Coca-Cola Amatil and the Sydney Theatre Company. But when he released his Rudd Government-commissioned report into school funding in 2011, Gonski became a household name across Australia.
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The Fifth Estate / History, politics & current affairs
In this rare, intimate glimpse into the life of one of Australia’s most successful people, Gonski discusses his book I Gave a Gonski, Selected Speeches – as well as his ideas on sharing, philanthropy, the life changing experience of education and the dangers of 'short-termism'.
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The Fifth Estate / History, politics & current affairs
With major operations in Iraq and the Middle East, the purchase of new military equipment (including ships, vehicles and planes) and the increase in programs to counter violent extremism, how do we prioritise our defence spending and focus? Is the Government's commitment to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP within a decade warranted? And what will the defence white paper, due for release in August, likely reveal?
Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft talks to defence expert and adviser to Chief of Airforce, Group Captain Catherine McGregor, about the shape of Australia's defence policy in action.
As the dust settles on this year’s federal budget, the Fifth Estate turns its eye to matters economic with Ross Gittins, economics editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and public policy experts Miriam Lyons and Ian McAuley.
While the Federal Government expects to spend more in 2015 than at the height of the global financial crisis, it appears that well-funded health and higher education are inching further out of reach – not to mention an economy that addresses climate change or the growing divide between rich and poor.
Must the ‘path back to surplus’ entail a leaner, meaner government? Doesn’t public sector involvement make sound economics? What is the role of government in Australia today?
Join Sally Warhaft and guests as they illuminate the complexities and contradictions of the modern economy – and its effects on our daily lives.
In the early hours of 29 April, the Indonesian government executed eight prisoners – including two Australians – by firing squad. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were killed despite intense diplomatic efforts, desperate legal manoeuvring and an enormous public outcry.
These executions, and the promise from Indonesia of more in the near future, have created unprecedented public interest in the death penalty. What can Australia now do to help abolish capital punishment in our region and beyond? Is a moratorium – or abolition – possible?
In a special edition of the Fifth Estate, in partnership with Reprieve Australia and its Mercy Campaign, host Sally Warhaft is joined by Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Human Rights Commission, renowned anti-death penalty jurist the Honourable Lex Lasry and Richard Bourke, Director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center and founder of Reprieve Australia, to discuss Australia’s role in campaigning to end the death penalty.
Presented in partnership with Reprieve Australia.
In the past six months, Australia has seen the passing of two giants of the political stage — Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser. Defined by the dismissal, and with vastly different leadership styles, their respective visions and energy for reform have left a lasting legacy.
In this Fifth Estate, Sally Warhaft is joined by former Liberal MP, founding director of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and senior adviser to Malcolm Fraser (amongst others), Petro Georgiou; former Labor MP and friend and colleague to both Fraser and Whitlam, Barry Jones; and La Trobe University professor of politics Judith Brett.
Expect an intimate discussion of the vastly different contributions made by Whitlam and Fraser to the political world, and to Australia as a nation — from free education to immigration to Medicare to arts funding.
How do their legacies inform our understanding of the current political landscape? And can leaders like these, with a clear vision and grandeur of ideals, be seen again?
In this special spotlight edition of The Fifth Estate, we meet one of the most influential investigative journalists of our time. Nick Davies wrote more than 100 articles for the Guardian about scandalous crimes at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, which led to Britain’s Leveson Inquiry into the culture and practices of the press. He was also centrally involved in the publication of secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
How has the media changed since the phone-hacking scandal and subsequent inquiry? What was it like to take on the most powerful media mogul in the world? And what is the future for newspapers, the internet and investigative journalism? Join Nick Davies and host Sophie Black for a unique insight into some of the most important stories about power, freedom and corruption in the 21st century.
Nick Davies is the author of numerous award-winning books, including Hack Attack and Flat Earth News. He also teaches masterclasses on investigative journalism, writes feature films and makes TV documentaries.
This is the second episode of a two-part series; hear Nick and Sophie's earlier conversation here.
In this special spotlight edition of The Fifth Estate, we meet one of the most influential investigative journalists of our time. Nick Davies wrote more than 100 articles for the Guardian about scandalous crimes at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, which led to Britain’s Leveson Inquiry into the culture and practices of the press. He was also centrally involved in the publication of secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
How has the media changed since the phone-hacking scandal and subsequent inquiry? What was it like to take on the most powerful media mogul in the world? And what is the future for newspapers, the internet and investigative journalism? Join Nick Davies and host Sophie Black for a unique insight into some of the most important stories about power, freedom and corruption in the 21st century.
Nick Davies is the author of numerous award-winning books, including Hack Attack and Flat Earth News. He also teaches masterclasses on investigative journalism, writes feature films and makes TV documentaries.
On the eve of the execution of Bali Nine prisoners Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia, Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft speaks with Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch (Washington DC) and Julian Burnside, human rights and refugee advocate, about how we can form effective responses to human rights breaches … and how we can broach the logic of capital punishment in a human rights context.
Former independent MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott join Sally Warhaft to discuss their impressions of politics from within the minority government of the 43rd Australian parliament – and from life beyond politics.
It has been fifteen years since Indonesia relinquished control of East Timor and the Australian-led intervention supported the successful quest for self-determination. Following the independence ballot, in 2002 Timor-Leste emerged as the first sovereign nation state of the twenty-first century.
Since then, the relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste has been close, with strong trade partnerships and extensive aid programs, but it has also been shadowed by disputes. The contested ownership of Timor Sea oil and gas reserves and scandals over Australian spying on its near neighbour has, at times, tested the friendship. How strong is the Australia/Timor-Leste relationship? When will permanent maritime boundaries be established? And how is Timor-Leste faring as an independent nation?
For our final Fifth Estate of 2014, Sally Warhaft is joined by Timor-Leste’s Goodwill Ambassador for Education Dr Kirsty Sword Gusmão and former Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks, now special advisor to the prime minister of Timor-Leste.
As Australian hornets strike Islamic State targets over Iraq and our special forces remain on standby to once again enter conflict in the Middle East, questions arise about Australia’s defence and foreign policy priorities. Should we be focusing our intelligence and defence resources on global alliances or our own region? How binding is the ANZUS treaty and Australia’s obligations to United States foreign policy objectives? And what has changed within our borders with the rise of homegrown fundamentalists connected to a stateless, criminal terror network with no regard for human life?
Sally Warhaft is joined by James Brown, former Australian Army officer, now Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute, and Greg Barton (director, international, of the Global Terrorism Research Centre and co-editor of the journal Islam and Christian Muslim Relations). These distinguished insiders will lend their experience and insight in a special Fifth Estate on Australia’s defence policy in the age of ISIS.
The prime minister’s chief of staff has a unique role in Australian political culture. With immeasurable influence – some much more than others – as confidantes, mediators, gatekeepers and advisors, the chief of staff steers the prime minister through the challenges and landmines of leadership, fine tuning and coordinating the things that matter to help win the support of cabinet, caucus and country.
What makes a great chief of staff? What are the challenges, pressures and principles that occupy their time? And what matters most in this powerful behind-the-scenes role? Prime Minister Tony Abbott calls his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, ‘the boss’. Kevin Rudd’s chief of staff, Alister Jordan, was referred to as ‘the wunderkind’, not always kindly.
Join Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft with Anne Tiernan, associate professor at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University, and David Epstein, the first chief of staff to Prime Minister Rudd, to discuss the chiefs, past and present, and this singular job in the national capital.
Greg Combet is one of the most influential public figures of his generation. A former leader of the ACTU, and parliamentary secretary and senior minister in the Rudd-Gillard Labor governments, Combet has been at the centre of some of the biggest battles and dramas in recent political history. He led the 2007 campaign against John Howard’s Work Choices and was Minister for Climate Change in Julia Gillard’s second ministry, before surprising many by resigning after the last ALP leadership showdown and retiring from politics in 2013.
Join host Sally Warhaft for this Fifth Estate spotlight interview with Greg Combet, where they discuss the Australian labour movement, the state of our democracy and parliament, the future of the ALP and life after politics for a man many thought a good chance as a future prime minister.
Wayne Swan was treasurer of Australia during an extraordinary period of our politics.
He was at the financial helm when the world recession hit, and steered our economy through a time of unprecedented international economic challenges. Meanwhile, on the home front, the ALP was divided by leadership battles – whilst ruling on a knife-edge, as a minority government.
Sally Warhaft asks Swan about managing the economy, the challenges and compromises of a minority government, and wrangling legislation through parliament in the face of bitter opposition from vested interests (including the mining, banking and hotel industries). They also talk about Australia’s economic past, present and future.
Wayne Swan was treasurer of Australia during an extraordinary period of our politics.
He was at the financial helm when the world recession hit, and steered our economy through a time of unprecedented international economic challenges. Meanwhile, on the home front, the ALP was divided by leadership battles – whilst ruling on a knife-edge, as a minority government.
Sally Warhaft asks Swan about managing the economy, the challenges and compromises of a minority government, and wrangling legislation through parliament in the face of bitter opposition from vested interests (including the mining, banking and hotel industries). They also talk about Australia’s economic past, present and future.
What does it mean to be a whistleblower in the 21st century?
When Edward Snowden released thousands of classified documents in June last year, information he acquired while working as an NSA contractor, he could not have foreseen it would be the biggest intelligence leak since the Pentagon Papers, affecting governments all over the world.
While he remains busy in an undisclosed location somewhere in Russia, one of his lawyers, Jesselyn Radack, and former NSA crypto-linguist, Thomas Drake, are visiting Australia to discuss the issues which surround the Snowden case. What does it tell us about freedom, the individual and the state? And what do we need to understand about privacy, free speech and security in our times?
Join host Sally Warhaft with Thomas Drake, whose own story inspired Edward Snowden to act on his conscience, and Jesselyn Radack, Director of National Security and Human Rights with the Government Accountability Project (GAP), for this special edition of the Fifth Estate in partnership with Blueprint for Free Speech and the Centre for Advancing Journalism.
Was WWI the beginning of globalisation, or simply a precursor to a second global conflict that changed the face of the planet? Christopher Clark and Joan Beaumont explore the origins and impacts of WWI, and question what historical lessons we have learned.
Two years ago, for a small window of time, Australia had a female prime minister, attorney-general, governor-general, finance minister and four other senior ministers. Today there is just one woman in the federal cabinet – foreign minister Julie Bishop – and when she is away, there are none.
How is this possible in a modern representative democracy? What did we learn about the treatment of women in Australian public life from the rise and fall of Julia Gillard? And what is the personal cost for women in politics?
To discuss Julia Gillard’s time as prime minister, and to look more broadly at women with power in politics and public life, Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by two formidable guests, Gold Walkley Award-winning journalist and former state government minister Mary Delahunty, author of the newly released Gravity: Inside the PM’s office during her last year and final days, and bestselling author and journalist Anne Summers AO.
Australians have always loved a punt – on the horses, card games, two up or the lotto – but in recent decades the prolific increase of poker machines, casinos and online betting has given us the sad ranking of number one in the world for per capita gambling losses. Problem gambling and addiction has had devastating consequences for thousands of people. For everyone else, betting has changed our social landscape and intruded in many areas of our lives we cannot control.
Why do Australians love to gamble? What limits should there be on betting and advertising? What can governments and communities do to counter its ill-effects?
On the next Fifth Estate, series host Sally Warhaft is joined by anti-gambling campaigner and independent Senator Nick Xenophon and author Michaela McGuire, whose new book Last Bets examines the gaps between ethics and the law.
At the inaugural Di Gribble Argument, outspoken venture capitalist Mark Carnegie called for Australia to introduce a compulsory (non-military) national service.
His ideas include bringing older Australians and students together for mentoring and wisdom transfer, instituting randomly chosen juries of citizens to deliberate and decide on public issues (taking responsibility for key elements of the government’s work) and giving a voice to ordinary people through crowdsourcing.
He believes this would establish a culture of active participation in society and democracy, and ward off social threat. Describing civic service as ‘our means of defence,’ Carnegie has called his proposition ‘the maintenance program Australia needs.’
In this special spotlight edition of the Fifth Estate, Mark will speak to host Sally Warhaft about the ideas he’s put forward with his argument, and join her in dissecting and negotiating them.
The Di Gribble Argument is a new annual occasion to remember the legacy of publisher, editor and businesswoman Di Gribble, whose impact on the world of books, writing and ideas cannot be overstated.
On 16th May the results of India’s national election were declared and a new government, led by controversial BJP leader Narendra Modi, was elected with an overwhelming majority. Meanwhile, front-runners are emerging for the Indonesian presidential election to be held on 9 July.
Both elections will bring significant shifts in policy and potential power in the region. What will this mean for Australia and its relationships in South and South East Asia? What are the ambitions and challenges for these rapidly changing nations? And how are their relationships with the Coalition government, nine months into its first term?
Sally Warhaft is joined by Professor Tim Lindsey, director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, Dr Pradeep Taneja a fellow of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne and Hamish McDonald, author of Demokrasi, for an enlightening discussion on new governments in the region and what it means for Australia.
Since he resigned from federal politics, former prime minister Malcolm Fraser has capped a long and distinguished career by focusing on human rights and international relations. In this captivating dual edition of The Fifth Estate, host Sally Warhaft sits down with the legendary figure in Melbourne and Ballarat to reflect on his political life and talk about his latest book, Dangerous Allies.
Australia has always been largely dependent on powerful distant empires for its security and for direction in how we should shape our foreign policy. In Dangerous Allies, Malcolm Fraser looks back over our dependence on Britain and the United States and examines how our status as an independent Pacific nation has altered this balance of power.
Sally Warhaft and Malcolm Fraser will discuss the ideas in Dangerous Allies and tackle the current state of Australian politics in this broad-ranging series of revealing interviews.
The politics of climate change has been one of the most difficult and divisive issues of our times. Debates about how – or indeed whether – Australia should act to mitigate climate change have resulted in numerous policies, promises, backflips and casualties.
Why has it proved so difficult to produce a climate change policy that can be implemented and maintained? What really went on behind the scenes in the Rudd and Gillard governments as they tried to legislate a cost on carbon? And what were the obstacles in Australia’s carbon-intensive economy?
Join Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft with Gold Walkley winner Philip Chubb, author of Power Failure, as they discuss Australian leaders’ successes and failures in climate policy – and the strategies they must employ for the future.
Throughout his 18 months as foreign minister of Australia, Bob Carr kept a diary. Chronicling the tumultuous events of his time in office, this personal journal has now been published as a book, Diary of a Foreign Minister.
While he was negotiating Australia’s bid for a UN Security Council seat, dealing with the war in Syria and meeting with officials throughout Asia, the Labor Party was in turmoil. What was really going on during Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s bids for the leadership? How could the party possibly recover in time for the next election? And what is it like to be the foreign minister?
Already the subject of much gossip and discussion, Bob Carr’s intimate memoir gives an unparalleled insight into the culture of government and the work of a foreign minister. Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft sits down with the former statesman for a frank and revealing glimpse into the world of international and local politics, straight from the source.
Since he resigned from federal politics, former prime minister Malcolm Fraser has capped a long and distinguished career by focusing on human rights and international relations. In this captivating dual edition of The Fifth Estate, host Sally Warhaft sits down with the legendary figure in Melbourne and Ballarat to reflect on his political life and talk about his latest book, Dangerous Allies.
Australia has always been largely dependent on powerful distant empires for its security and for direction in how we should shape our foreign policy. In Dangerous Allies, Malcolm Fraser looks back over our dependence on Britain and the United States and examines how our status as an independent Pacific nation has altered this balance of power.
Sally Warhaft and Malcolm Fraser will discuss the ideas in Dangerous Allies and tackle the current state of Australian politics in this broad-ranging series of revealing interviews.
Tim Wilson, former policy director for the Institute of Public Affairs, has been appointed Australia’s 6th Human Rights Commissioner. A fearless advocate of freedom and tireless critic of government intervention, Wilson’s selection was controversial. His supporters, including Attorney-General George Brandis, believe he will bring balance and brilliance to the role.
What is the purpose of the Human Rights Commission? What are the priorities and plans of the new commissioner? And how will Tim Wilson’s beliefs and ideas on liberty and rights influence his work?
We’re supposed to live in a country of equal opportunity for women and men.
Australian women have contributed to every area of our national life and beyond – including science, medicine, the judiciary, the armed forces and, just once, the highest office in the land. Every day millions of Australian women go to work in every imaginable type of employment.
Yet, from the moment they enter the workforce, women are disadvantaged. Their workforce participation and economic security remains starkly out of sync with men’s. Women earn less, they receive nearly half of superannuation payments, and they remain hugely underrepresented in management and leadership. In 2014 there is just a single female in the federal government cabinet. When Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is away, there are none.
How can this be so in a modern, democratic nation of equal opportunity? And what can be done about it?
Join Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft and guests Judith Troeth (former Liberal senator), Paula Matthewson (political blogger) and Danielle Green (Victorian Labor MP) to take a long hard look at women in the workforce – and in government – in Australia today.
What are the foreign policies and relationships that will matter the most to Australia in 2014? And how might the new Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop make her mark at home and abroad? This year we’ll once again take stock, looking at the challenges, relationships and priorities of Australia’s foreign affairs with three of the Lowy Institute’s finest thinkers.
Join host Sally Warhaft with Anthony Bubalo, Jenny Hayward-Jones and Rory Medcalf for an in-depth discussion on Australia’s place in the world.
What is the future of trade unions in 21st century Australia?
Do they suit the needs of workers and the culture of employment in the times we live in?
Australian workers are facing unprecedented pressures: the mining boom may well be over, manufacturing and export companies are struggling or failing to remain competitive, and the newly elected federal government is disinclined to subsidise companies that can’t support themselves.
As Ford, Holden, Toyota and now Alcoa shut their factories in Australia, and Shell and others look likely to follow (with SPC Ardmona spared at the eleventh hour), thousands of workers will look to their unions for leadership and support. At the same time, a royal commission into union governance and corruption will absorb the time, money and focus of unions as they try to help their workers.
The Australian trade union movement has a proud past, but can it survive unchanged into the future?
Joining host Sally Warhaft for this discussion, our guests are Associate Professor John Howe (Deputy Dean of Melbourne Law School and Director of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law), Lisa Fitzpatrick (State Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation), and Justice Alan Boulton AO (Senior Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission).
Australians are living through a period of exceptional prosperity – but commodity prices are dropping and the boom is set to end. Are we ready for the reforms and challenges that lie ahead? The Fifth Estate 2014 begins when Sally is joined by leading economists Ross Garnaut AO and John Edwards, to discuss Australia’s economic history, the resources boom, and what we can expect in the future.
It’s been 192 years since the founding of the British Guardian (formerly the Manchester Guardian) and just five months since the newspaper’s launch of an Australian edition – independent, online and free. So how is Australia’s latest source of news and current affairs faring? How does it fit in with Australia’s media culture? What is the plan for success? And how does this organisation maintain its independence?
Join host Sally Warhaft with Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, visiting from the UK, and Guardian Australia editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, to discuss the news, newspapers and Australia’s latest addition to online journalism.
Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd are two of the most overtly devout leaders in recent political history. Julia Gillard is firmly atheist. So how do the religious beliefs of our leaders influence their work? Is it possible to separate faith and politics? And does it matter?
Australia is a secular democracy, but the beliefs of our politicians sometimes conflict with party policies. Tony Abbott has said he has never made a political decision based on religious grounds, but his Catholicism informs much of his thinking. How do politicians resolve these tensions? And how have our political, social and religious institutions evolved over time?
Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by World Vision CEO and former Baptist minister Tim Costello, and former deputy prime minister and Australia’s first Rome-based Ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer, to discuss Christianity and religion in modern Australia, and to ask just how closely religion and politics are intertwined.
Adoption has been practiced in various ways in almost every community and culture throughout history, yet in Australia it has never been more difficult to adopt a child. Why is it easier for prospective parents to find donor eggs, donor sperm, embryos and surrogate mothers than it is to adopt an abandoned child from an international orphanage? Is it likely to be easier or more difficult for prospective parents to adopt in future? And what influence does government have in international adoption?
In this special breakfast edition of the Fifth Estate, Sally Warhaft is joined by international guests Deborra-lee Furness, acclaimed actress and founder of National Adoption Awareness Week, and Dr Jane Aronson, paediatrician, adoption specialist, and founder of Worldwide Orphans, to discuss national and international adoption policy, programs and problems.
At a state dinner in Jakarta, Tony Abbott’s first foreign destination as prime minister, the new Australian leader said that there have been times when ‘all sides of Australian politics could have said less and done more’. Australia’s recent handling of issues relating to asylum seekers and live cattle exports to Indonesia has at times been light on diplomacy. But does the new asylum seeker policy continue this trend?
How has Prime Minister Abbott fared in his initial dealings with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono? And how will the Australian government fare in balancing its domestic policy agenda on asylum seekers with Indonesia’s desire for a multilateral approach?
Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft will be joined by a panel of experts including Greg Sheridan (the Australian’s foreign editor) and Dr Dave McRae (the Lowy Institute’s Indonesia expert) to discuss Australian-Indonesian relations, and the key responsibilities and obligations of both nations, in this new political climate.
How did climate change action – once ‘the greatest moral, economic and social challenge of our time’ — become political poison? When (and why) did we fall from the giddy heights of the Kyoto Protocol signing, and the rise of emissions reduction schemes around the globe, back to suspicion and resignation?
The environment — and more specifically, climate change — has rapidly plummeted in terms of public priority and political urgency in Australia. And with a new government set to abolish the carbon tax and disband the Australian Climate Commission, what lies ahead?
Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Nobel laureate Professor Peter Doherty, Greenpeace Australia CEO David Ritter and award-winning writer Chloe Hooper to discuss environmental issues, activism and writing — and how best to communicate its importance in a changing climate.
It’s been a stellar year in politics for our Fifth Estate series – and we’re kickstarting Programme Three with one of the biggest (and most beloved) names in political journalism. Sally Warhaft will be joined by revered ABC TV journalist and presenter Kerry O’Brien – of Lateline, the 7.30 Report, and now Four Corners – for an in-depth analysis of the much-hyped federal election. With votes tallied and the campaign at a close, they’ll discuss who remains, what will change – and how we might be affected.
What does the Australian Labor Party stand for in 2013 and in the 21st century? And how can it convince a new generation of Australians that it has found its way? After two terms dominated by internal chaos and an inability to find or sell its ‘message’, the government now faces unprecedented challenges in the forthcoming election.
Senator Kim Carr is the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and Minister for Higher Education in the second Rudd government. With some unexpected time on the backbench following his resignation from Julia Gillard’s cabinet in March, Kim Carr penned his thoughts in A Letter to Generation Next. Join Senator Kim Carr and Sally Warhaft for an in-depth look at the culture of Australian politics, the Labor Party and the life of a federal Senator.
Asylum seekers: what do we do with them? This question has vexed politicians on all sides of parliament for the past decade or more. It’s been front and centre in Australian political debate – and few can deny that the language, logistics, and laws relating to refugees (especially those reaching Australian waters by boat) are complicated, emotive, and political.
Former defence minister Peter Reith and former Guantanamo lawyer and social justice campaigner Dan Mori join host Sally Warhaft to discuss asylum seekers: the global push-pull factors, political pressures, possible solutions and the consequences of current policies.
Trains, planes or automobiles, health, education or indigenous care, welfare or childcare, the young or the old, the fast or the creative, an NBN or hospital beds – how should politicians decide where our taxes should go?
With the election looming and promises flying from all sides of politics, the indomitable Sally Warhaft is joined by special guests Kristina Keneally and John Hewson for a robust perusal of the public purse.
With the federal election fast approaching, Sally Warhaft is joined by pre-eminent political journalist Michelle Grattan for a special spotlight edition of the Fifth Estate. What are the issues and initiatives that will matter the most? How does this federal poll compare to other recent elections? And what have Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott learned since 2010? Join Michelle Grattan at the Wheeler Centre for a conversation on the complicated state of Australia’s political culture three months out from the election.
Last year we discussed Australian defence culture and values with the Chief of Army David Morrison. Now, following budget cuts and the release of the new Defence White Paper, the Fifth Estate looks at the politics of defence, with former defence minister Robert Hill and security expert Professor Alan Dupont.
What are the priorites of the Australian Defence Force? What are its strengths and weaknesses? And who is in charge?
India is booming: everyone says so. The economy is growing to match its massive population, and new industries like IT are creating a thriving middle class. Yet millions of Indians, especially women, are doing it as tough as ever.
Following our spotlight events on Indonesia, Syria and China, the Fifth Estate turns to incredible India.
What are the foreign policy objectives of this rapidly growing nation? And why has its relationship with Australia never quite worked as well as it might, despite strong ties in trade, sport, education and culture?
Join Sally Warhaft and guests Christopher Kremmer and Professor Robin Jeffrey for an in-depth look at India today, its relationship with Australia and the world.
For all the discussion, debate, money and time spent on Aboriginal advancement in Australia, how much do we really understand about indigenous life and politics in the real world? What progress has been made since the Intervention, the apology and the introduction of countless programs and policies directed towards indigenous Australians? What really matters to Aboriginal people in remote communities?
Alison Anderson is one of Australia’s most distinctive and independent politicians. She has served her Central Desert constituency in the Northern Territory since 2005 as a Labor government minister, an independent, and currently as the Minister for Aboriginal Advancement and Regional Development and Women’s Policy, for the Country Liberal Party government.
Join host Sally Warhaft and special guest Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson, for this spotlight conversation about politics and life in northern Australia.
What is the role of the modern ambassador? How much influence do they really have? While the days of Argo are probably long gone, so too is a life of garden parties, cups of tea and private clubs. In a new era of security threats, changing balances of power and global roaming of every sort, what takes up the time of our foreign envoys - and where are the postings that really matter?
Join the Wheeler Centre’s ambassador-at-large, Sally Warhaft, with guests Amanda Vanstone, former politician and ambassador to Italy, and Professor Michael Wesley, international relations expert, as they discuss the work of high diplomacy, Australia’s strengths and weaknesses, and our most important engagements abroad.
At the 1960 games in Rome, the first known Olympic doper, Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen, died after being given Roniacol before his race - a drug intended to increase blood circulation.
Yet from the East German swimmers, to Ben Johnson and Marion Jones, athletes have continued to push the boundaries of peak fitness with illegal doping. When Lance Armstrong finally admitted to Oprah Winfrey last month that for him it hadn’t actually been ‘All About the Bike’, the collective disappointment was palpable.
Now, an Australian Crime Commission report has revealed damning allegations of doping, match fixing and links to organised crime in Australian sporting codes.
What should we make of the ACC report? Should we expect more from our athletes and our sporting organisations? And what are the ramifications of sports science wizardry (and other forms of cheating) for Australian athletes, administrators, coaches and fans?
2013 is an election year and we know that domestic issues will dominate the campaign and decide our next prime minister. But, at a time when the world is confronting major changes, our foreign policy directions are hugely important, too.
In our first Fifth Estate for 2013, we’ll look at the foreign policy hurdles that lurk ahead, with host Sally Warhaft and three Lowy Institute experts in the field: Michael Fullilove, Linda Jakobson and Rory Medcalf.
As the Communist Party of China’s 18th National Congress oversees the biggest leadership transition in decades, join host Sally Warhaft and China watcher and correspondent, John Garnaut, as they examine the world’s largest, and perhaps most complex and intriguing, political system.
What does the handover of power to a new president and prime minister mean for the Chinese people? How will the incumbent president, Xi Jinping, combine economic growth and political stability? Will the Chinese Communist Party clamp down on dissent or loosen control? And how does the changing of the guard affect Australia and the world?
Following last year’s ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched a violent attack on Syrian activists who presented similar demands: for economic prosperity, political freedom and civil rights.
In the ensuing civil war, thousands of people have died, and many more have fled to bordering countries. The Syrian government continues to claim that the opposition are terrorists trying to destabilise the country – and the opposition says this is merely a tactic employed to justify the regime’s attacks. Meanwhile, global leaders struggle to find a diplomatic solution for this war-torn country.
Join host Sally Warhaft and guests Rodger Shanahan, Dr Sally Totman and Brian Stoddart as they discuss the complex situation in Syria – and what, if any, role Australia should play as a ‘good global citizen’.
Romney’s ‘binders full of women’. Pro-choice versus right-to-life. The rise of China and the slump of the American economy. These are just some of the issues that will decide the results of the closely fought American presidential election, for an electorate more polarised than ever, and divided by race, religion and class.
What are the cultural issues that truly matter for the American people? What will drive them to leave their houses and vote? And just how much does the campaign circus of conventions, debates and pressing the flesh influence what happens on election day?
Former Foreign Correspondent host George Negus, author and speechwriter Don Watson and the ABC’s Eleanor Hall, just back from covering the first presidential debate, will talk about the culture, rhetoric and atmosphere of America, as reflected through the presidential campaign.
Read our analysis of the discussion
What does it mean to be Lord Mayor of one of the world’s most liveable cities? And how can we keep that ‘liveable’ status – and the relaxed lifestyle we enjoy – in the face of pressures like a booming population, an upwards-shooting skyline, traffic congestion and crime?
As the Melbourne City Council elections loom, Sally Warhaft will host a robust meet-and-greet with the candidates for the mayoral robes, including incumbent Robert Doyle, Liberal candidates Gary Morgan and Gary Singer, and Keith Rankin, Alison Parkes, David Nolte, Joseph Toscano and Brian Shanahan.
They’ll share their big ideas for Melbourne’s future and take your questions on how they’ll tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
Conversations about sex and sexual identity are constant in our times: from the debate about gay marriage – including this month’s vote in our federal parliament – to the intense discussions and disagreements about consumerism and commercialisation of sex. Yet one conversation that never takes place is that between a straight and a gay man. How do two men, one straight, one gay, see these issues? What are the different ways in which gay men are able to act out sexual desires compared to straight men? What do we mean by the word family? And what do we mean by equality?
Join Dennis Altman, Jeff Sparrow and host Sally Warhaft to discuss gay and heterosexual life, love, law, politics and sex in Australia today.
When President Obama was welcomed for his ‘night of friendship’ dinner with Prime Minister Gillard in Canberra last year, he feasted on ‘a macadamia and thyme encrusted lamb canon with avocado cream quenelle’ and wattleseed pavlova. Yet on our doorstep in nearby Indonesia – far from the horn of Africa or Bangladesh - one in three children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.
For most of human history food was a source of strength and nourishment: people were concerned with the supply and cost of food, not the colour of their salt. Food trends, food critics and celebrity chefs didn’t exist. In Australia, the change in food culture has been remarkably fast and dramatic. The way we produce, purchase and eat our food has shifted from sustenance to fetish.
How did this happen? And has it gone too far? Or can our obsession with food somehow serve to improve rather than ignore the malnutrition experienced by so many on our planet? Join Sally Warhaft and writer Maria Tumarkin, food writer Richard Cornish and Oxfam Executive Director Andrew Hewett.
Has economic growth become the universal solution for all our problems? Can governments and banks solve the global financial crisis, combat climate change and improve living standards without damaging the environment and depending on debt? As Australia adjusts to its ‘two-speed’ economy and a tax on carbon, can the promise of unending growth really deliver?
Join host Sally Warhaft with risk analyst and author Satyajit Das, and economist, author, and former senior economic adviser to Prime Minister Rudd, Andrew Charlton.
Although many doors have swung open for women in the last half-century, the promise that women can ‘have it all’ seems to be more of a failed joke than a genuine goal.
How have things changed for women in this defining period? Is misogyny a distant memory, or a still-present problem? And what of modern manners – is there such a thing?
Magazine queen and media legend Ita Buttrose talks about the gender revolution, and reflects on her decades of experience working in the media. At this time of tumult and technological change, she talks about where she sees the future – drawing on the lessons of the past.
Don’t miss this incisive evening with host Sally Warhaft and Australian icon Ita Buttrose.
When a jubilant Maxine McKew ousted sitting prime minister John Howard from his own seat of Bennelong on election night 2007, nobody could have foreseen the events to come in the new Labor government’s first term. A star recruit for Kevin Rudd’s team, Maxine McKew left a distinguished career in journalism to experience life in politics. What are her thoughts about the current political scene? How has the media shaped contemporary political culture in Australia? And what is life like after politics for Maxine McKew? Join host Sally Warhaft for a wide-ranging conversation in this ‘spotlight’ edition of The Fifth Estate.
Is it time to rethink Australia’s drug policy? Join Dr Alex Wodak AM, Senior Specialist of St Vincent Hospital’s Alcohol and Drug Service and President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, as he discusses the ‘war on drugs’ with host Sally Warhaft.
A report released in April declared the current approach to illicit drug use to be a failure with devastating consequences. The report was prepared by an independent working group including foreign affairs minister Bob Carr, former health minister Michael Wooldridge, former federal police chief Mick Palmer and Nicholas Cowderey QC. Yet both the government and the opposition continue to advocate tough policing and are critical of recommendations in favour of decriminalisation. Do we need major reform? And what might this entail?
The Fifth Estate is the Wheeler Centre’s new series of fortnightly forums: a more measured approach to news and current affairs. Provocative and studied, authoritative and unhurried, this is real analysis that will be pulling no punches. Hosted by broadcaster, journalist and anthropologist Sally Warhaft, The Fifth Estate is indispensible live journalism. All events are recorded, with podcast episodes posted on our website by noon the following day.
How does the relationship between Australia and Indonesia work? In the past week Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that three Indonesian nationals accused of people smuggling – who claimed to be minors at the time of their detainment – would be released from prison in Australia and sent home. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also approved a five-year reduction in the 20-year sentence of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby.
What does this tell us about the relationship between our two countries, about changes in attitudes and about two very different legal systems? And what implications could this have for the two young Australian men who remain on death row in Bali?
Host Sally Warhaft discusses these issues with defence lawyer Julian McMahon, and Professor Tim Lindsey, director of the Asian Law Centre.
Bad for business, good for ‘struggle street’, sharing the resource boom, hampering overseas investment. This is just some of what’s being said about Labor’s 2012-13 budget.
One week on from budget night, join Stephen Mayne, George Megalogenis and host Sally Warhaft as they explore Australia’s fiscal fortitude. Battling opposition jibes that Labor cannot deliver surpluses – and fulfilling his desire to deliver on a long-held promise – Wayne Swan’s 2012-13 planned budget surplus is here ‘on time, as promised and ahead of every other major advanced economy’.
But is this projected return to surplus genuine, or a result of creative accounting? With households largely escaping the cost-cutting measures, who are the winners and losers – and how do the states fare? Will this ‘election’ budget, wearing its Labor values proudly on its sleeve, win back the heartland? Does the average Australian care?
What is the role of Australia’s Defence Force in the 21st century? In the recent federal budget, defence spending was cut to the smallest proportion of national wealth since 1938. Does Australia have the capacity to defend itself? What are the most important issues in the defence forces? And what are the national security priorities of the federal government? To discuss these questions, and the culture and values of our defence department, Sally Warhaft meets with Australia’s Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison and veteran foreign affairs analyst Greg Sheridan.
What is the future for media in Australia? How can newspapers adapt and survive in the digital age? And what is the role of the national broadcaster in a rapidly changing media landscape? As Gina Rinehart makes her bid for Fairfax and News Limited restructures its mastheads, questions abound about ownership and control, editorial independence and the very survival of media as we know it. Join Sally Warhaft with The Australian’s Editor-at-Large Paul Kelly, veteran media buyer Harold Mitchell, and The Conversation’s Founder and Editor Andrew Jaspan, to discuss these extraordinary times.
Lindsay Tanner, former Finance minister and ALP heavyweight, talks with Sally about the state of the democratic process in Australia. Together they ask: how robust is our democracy?
Australia’s economy is one of the world’s most stable, but the same can’t be said about our government.
Since the knife-edge federal election of 2010, the ALP has held minority government with the support of a loose coalition of very different interests: the two rural independents, anti-pokies maverick Andrew Wilkie and Greens MP Adam Bandt.
Adding fuel to that volatile mix is the uncertainty at the head of our major parties: the recent leadership tussle – and the contrast between public campaigning and party politics it exposed – may have left Australian voters more baffled and disillusioned than ever.
What are the implications of our vote? Has it all just turned into a numbers game? Does it matter who’s in charge, anyway? And is our democratic process in peril?
Join two heavyweights of Foreign Affairs, Gareth Evans and Alexander Downer, in conversation with host Sally Warhaft about the history and nature of the portfolio and its importance in government. How has the portfolio changed over time? What is the importance of various countries and regions both globally and in relation to Australia? How has that changed, and where it is heading? What will be most important for Australia in terms of foreign affairs in the future? Given their different experiences and the different times they were Foreign Affairs ministers, where do they now see Australia’s role in the world and where should it be?
In light of Tony Abbot’s newly proposed policy aspiration to extend the childcare rebate to nannies, host Sally Warhaft discusses childcare and family/work life in Australia with Catherine Deveny and Bernard Salt. How do we compare to the rest of the world? Has the new parental leave scheme had an impact? With women as highly skilled and educated as ever, are we doing enough to lure them back to the workforce after children? Do we need to do more? Or is there enough so-called middle class welfare touted on the political landscape?
The Gonski Report on Australian education funding was delivered to the government last month after an intensive 18 month review process. The biggest review of school funding in decades, the report recommends an injection of A$5 billion to the education sector, three-quarters of which would go to public schools.
Delivered amidst the tumult and shouting of the latest political leadership tussle, public discussion of the report was somewhat deprived of oxygen … until now. Join host Sally Warhaft, and our panel of educational experts and school principals, as they discuss the state of schooling in Australia, the findings of the Gonski report, and the future of Australian education.
How do we compare to the world leaders in education? Does our education system need a major overhaul? Will the funding changes recommended in the Gonski report help achieve this? How can state and federal governments work to implement the suggested changes quickly and efficiently? Is our education system in need of saving – and if so, is this the answer?
Joining us to debate these and other questions will be Lesley Lamb, Paul Sheahan and David Zyngier.