On this episode of Democracy Sausage , political historian Frank Bongiorno joins Mark Kenny to discuss whether it is Trumpism that has undermined Australian politics or whether Australia’s problems are primarily of its own making. Has Trumpism been the cause of a decline in Australian ministerial responsibility or has this degradation been a result of a longer-term trend? Are Australian political leaders a product of the Trump era, or do some just strategically employ Trump-like tactics? And has...
Feb 18, 2021•46 min
On this Democracy Sausage , Mark Kenny discusses the state of Australia’s university sector with education policy expert Andrew Norton, head of Australia’s science and technology peak body Misha Schubert, and the father of Australia’s HECS system Bruce Chapman. While universities had a very tough 2020, what does the continued closure of international borders mean for the future of the sector? Will the government’s plan to produce more ‘job-ready’ graduates achieve the intended result? And with t...
Feb 16, 2021•42 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Jennifer Hunt joins Mark Kenny to discuss the Senate trial of former President Donald Trump, the future of the Republican Party, and whether President Biden’s new cabinet is a case of ‘back to the future’. He is the only president to be impeached twice, but will Donald Trump be held to account in the wake of the riots at the Capitol building on 6 January? Will the Republican Party change course now Trump has been voted out of office? And will the new Biden admin...
Feb 11, 2021•40 min
Australian policymakers may have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic effectively so far, but can they heed the lessons of this crisis in order to be ready for those still to come? Joining Mark Kenny on this episode of Democracy Sausage to discuss public policy in the wake of the pandemic are Helen Sullivan and Warwick McKibbin. Australia has managed the joint health and economic crises brought on by COVID-19 better than most countries. But with the pandemic far from over and the damages of climate ...
Feb 09, 2021•46 min
On this episode of Democracy Sausage , Mark Kenny is joined by infectious diseases expert Sanjaya Senanayake to discuss what we’ve learned about the disease. The COVID-19 pandemic caused over two million deaths worldwide and turned life on its head for billions more. While pandemics aren’t a new phenomenon, many governments were unprepared for the severity and scale of this new virus. So what have health experts and policymakers learned over the last year? What remains uncertain? And what impact...
Feb 03, 2021•44 min
On this Democracy Sausage , former Liberal Party leader John Hewson, health and policy expert Arnagretta Hunter, and physicist Kenneth Baldwin join us to discuss the need for political leadership and better policy to strengthen Australia’s efforts to tackle climate change. Despite the impacts of climate change becoming increasingly real for many Australians in the wake of the Black Summer, the country still lags behind many others on international commitments to reduce carbon emissions. While th...
Feb 02, 2021•52 min
On the first episode of Democracy Sausage for 2021, journalist and author Stan Grant joins Mark Kenny to discuss whether President Joe Biden can address the serious challenges facing the United States, plus the trajectory of the Australia Day debate. It was meant to be a reset, but will 2021 actually be a year of reckoning in the United States, with the country struggling to address its deep divisions? Can Biden do what his predecessors couldn’t (or wouldn’t) and tackle entrenched inequalities? ...
Jan 28, 2021•51 min
Dust off the tuxedo, bring out the ballgowns, and prepare your lengthy speeches. In the final Democracy Sausage for 2020, we reveal the winners of our first Annual Awards. Who were the big winners, and the biggest losers, of 2020? Our panel rip open envelopes and reveal all. Who performed the biggest political backflip of the year? What was the most risible explanation for a government failure? And what has been 2020’s maddest moment (outside of the Trump presidency)? They are all hotly-conteste...
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Politics and policymaking can feel very distant from people’s everyday lives, and that disconnection can make individuals and communities feel powerless. So how are people helping to bridge this chasm and put the personal back into policy? From the community push to get an independent elected in the Victorian seat of Indi, to the knitting nannas of northern New South Wales challenging coal seam gas, citizens are finding new ways of connecting community to policy challenges. Are there lessons in ...
Dec 14, 2020•59 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Ian Dunt - host of the Oh God, What Now? podcast and author of How to be a liberal - joins Mark Kenny to discuss the history of liberal thought, how it has shaped present day politics, and the origins of the ‘culture wars’. Have the culture wars emerged out of the failures of liberalism? Why haven’t contemporary political actors done more to protect people from prejudice and the tyranny of the majority? And is liberalism a natural corollary to democracy? On this...
Dec 10, 2020•50 min
Australia’s relationship with China continues to deteriorate, whether that’s through inflammatory tweets or trade troubles. And while there may be bipartisan support for Morrison’s response to the latest Twitter provocation, what is the government’s end game in its relationship with China? Australia’s relationship with China has been spiralling downwards, seemingly hitting new lows each week. So what are the strategies at play, and can the tensions be dialled back? Joining Professor Mark Kenny t...
Dec 07, 2020•54 min
What has 2020 taught us about Australia’s political leadership? From the devastating bushfires that affected so many in the early part of the year, to the states leading the charge on border closures to tackle the coronavirus, this year has seen dramatic challenges and some difficult choices from the country’s leaders. Insiders host David Speers joins Mark Kenny to take a look back at the year in politics. What started as a bad year for Prime Minister Scott Morrison – marked down by a poor bushf...
Dec 03, 2020•45 min
John Kerry being appointed as President-elect Joe Biden’s special climate envoy has the potential to encourage much stronger action by the world’s nations to tackle climate change. But it comes at a time when the great powers of the US, China, and Russia are at loggerheads on a wide variety of issues. So how will the global climate change, and what does this mean for Australia? President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the US election, and his appointment of John Kerry as his special climate envoy, cou...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 1 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra , award-winning journalist and author Malcolm Knox joins Mark Kenny to discuss the saga of Israel Folau - former star rugby union player sacked for sharing anti-LGBTQ views on social media - and how free speech got so complicated. The sacking of former star player Israel Folau by Rugby Australia for his comments on social media once again revealed faultlines which had recently been laid bare during Australia’s marriage equality plebiscite. So what did the saga rev...
Nov 26, 2020•48 min
A study released last week looked at the true numbers of COVID-19 infections based on mortality rates. In doing so, it painted a grim picture for a number of countries including the United Kingdom. On this Democracy Sausage , we hear from one of the authors of that report, Professor Quentin Grafton. Australia may have the coronavirus largely under control for now, but elsewhere in the world countries are still suffering staggeringly high numbers of infections and deaths. But a study published la...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 3 min
From Brexit Britain to Trump’s obsession with the stock market, and from era-defining infections to ideology vs interests, this week on Democracy Sausage Extra we look back over some of our favourite bits of the podcast from the last 18 months. Why do some Brits have a ‘yearning for chaos’? Is it really ideology that drives government spending decisions? What do Donald Trump and stock market ‘day traders’ have in common? And how has disease defined human progress? These questions and many many m...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr
On this Democracy Sausage , we discuss how policymakers get their messages right (and so badly wrong) with government media and communications experts Fiona Benson and Jannette Cotterell, plus pod regular Marija Taflaga. How can governments build public trust at a time when following public health directions is literally a matter of life and death? With COVID-19 vaccinations showing promising signs, how can governments convince citizens that it’s safe and beneficial in the midst of a vocal anti-...
Nov 16, 2020•55 min
Despite a clear result in the US election, Donald Trump is refusing to accept that his presidency will come to an end on 20 January. So will the Trump campaign's legal challenges achieve anything? On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Mark Kenny speaks with expert in judicial politics, Zoe Robinson. The United States presidential election has been called, but President Trump is refusing to accept the outcome. So will the president’s legal strategy work? Is the partisan nature of the United States’ l...
Nov 12, 2020•47 min
After days of waiting the US finally has a new president. But while Donald Trump may have been comprehensively beaten, Trumpism, and Trump’s supporters, are far from defeated. So what comes next for this toxically-intensified partisan polity? Mark Kenny is joined by US analysts Jen Hunt and Charles Miller, as well as regular podleague Marija Taflaga. Arguably the most contentious election of our time has been concluded – pending legal cases – and Donald Trump has become a one-term president. And...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new month-long lockdown as the country grapples with high COVID-19 infection rates and a stretched National Health Service. But will the British people and its politicians – so compliant and supportive of the threat first time around – be as willing to back the new measures? Mark Kenny talks to Democracy Sausage UK regulars Elizabeth Ames and Bevan Shields. In the face of staggeringly high infection rates, a track and trace system that has long sin...
Nov 05, 2020•52 min
The bushfire royal commission report released last week put climate change at the front and centre of its analysis, if not its recommendations. But as Australia has achieved such success in using scientific advice to respond to COVID-19, can it also start following the advice of scientists on tackling climate change? Mark Kenny is joined by Arnagretta Hunter, Mark Howden, and Marija Taflaga to talk bushfires, state vs federal responses, and the roadmap for addressing climate risk. Last week’s re...
Nov 02, 2020•54 min
From health concerns over obesity to drug dependency, governments have the power to creatively solve widespread societal problems. So why does the blame for these issues so often fall at the feet of individuals? Mark Kenny talks to Keith Dowding about his new book, It’s the Government, Stupid . While individuals can and do make bad decisions, governments have the power to influence behaviour and tackle widespread societal issues – from the health issues associated with obesity to problem gamblin...
Oct 29, 2020•46 min
Australia’s two most populous states – New South Wales and Victoria – are facing intense political leadership questions for very different reasons. So what does the future hold for Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian? Mark Kenny discusses ministerial judgement, controlling narratives, and asking the right questions with Kieran Gilbert, David Caldicott, and Marija Taflaga. In New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian still appears to have strong public support, but just how damaging will the I...
Oct 26, 2020•51 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra , we talk to Indigenous experts Professor Ian Anderson AO and Dr Virginia Marshall about the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the importance of shared decision-making, and whether Australia is taking meaningful steps towards genuine reconciliation. Will the commitment of governments to sharing decision-making with Indigenous Australians through the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap be a turning point for Indigenous health and wellbeing? What does...
Oct 21, 2020•55 min
The elections in New Zealand and the Australian Capital Territory delivered strong results to incumbent governments. But with Jacinda Ardern poised to govern without needing to form a coalition, and with a rising Greens vote in Canberra, what challenges are ahead for the victors? Plus we look at accountability in government and why there is no federal version of ICAC. New Zealand’s election delivered a resounding victory to Jacinda Ardern, while in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Labor re...
Oct 19, 2020•55 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra during Anti-Poverty Week, Mark Kenny discusses creating a future without poverty with three of the world’s leading voices on poverty measurement, research, and eradication – former United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Oxford University’s Sabina Alkire, and Crawford School’s Sharon Bessell. How can policymakers better measure and understand poverty? Is ideology the main impediment to poverty alleviation? And are the Sustainable Development Goals insuffi...
Oct 15, 2020•59 min
The COVID-19 pandemic has given the government the chance to reshape the economy. But by slipping on the hi-vis of infrastructure spending and ‘real jobs’, has the government missed a golden opportunity? Mark Kenny talks tax, ‘credible’ women, and class-based values and priorities with Helen Sullivan, Robert Breunig, and Marija Taflaga. The Federal Budget shovelled vast sums of money out of the door of government and into the pockets of Australians. But with little in there for women, climate ch...
Oct 12, 2020•49 min
On this post-budget episode of Democracy Sausage Extra , we’re joined by an outstanding panel of scholars - Liz Allen, Miranda Stewart, and Marija Taflaga - to examine the new federal budget, whether it does enough to help those struggling during the pandemic, and the demographic changes shaping the country’s future. While this budget may include massive spending, is it investing in making Australia fairer and more equitable? What does the document reveal about the government’s priorities, value...
Oct 08, 2020•45 min
In this special episode of Democracy Sausage , recorded live at the National Press Club, Indigenous leader and activist Pat Turner AM discusses the struggle of Indigenous peoples in Australia to be heard and why 2020 is a defining moment for the nation . Why is Australia lagging behind other democratic nations in developing the institutions and structures that allow Indigenous peoples to be heard? Is the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap a turning point in terms of shared decision-making...
Oct 04, 2020•1 hr 11 min
On this Democracy Sausage Extra , Mark Kenny speaks with BBC New York correspondent Nick Bryant and Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt about the first presidential debate, America's future, and its deep divisions. After a presidential debate that many found disheartening, even disturbing, what’s next for Joe Biden and Donald Trump with the election fast approaching? What role did the media play in Trump’s political rise? And with the country’s divisions going far deeper...
Oct 01, 2020•34 min
