Why are Australians feeling poorer despite their wages increasing? Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume sat down with the MRC's Centre for Youth Policy Director Freya Leach to discuss why Gen Z in particular are feeling the pain of Australia's cost of living crisis. Senator Hume also shuts down misconceptions that the Coalition's Super for Housing policy will rob potential home buyers of their retirement funding and explains why lifting labour productivity is critical to lifting the standard of liv...
Mar 06, 2025•32 min•Ep. 115
One of the world's most recognisable former statesmen dropped by the offices of the Menzies Research Centre in December to record a bonus podcast with our very own Freya Leach. To mark the recent publication of his new memoir, Unleashed, Boris Johnson sat down with Freya to discuss the reasons behind some of his signature policy positions, from Brexit to his strident support for Ukraine. Boris Johnson also reveals the Australian influence behind his route to the UK prime ministership and explain...
Jan 08, 2025•20 min•Ep. 114
Freya Leach, Director of the Centre for Youth Policy, is joined by Erica Komisar in this bonus episode of the Menzies Research Centre podcast, recorded on the sidelines of the ARC conference in Sydney. Erica is a psychoanalyst who brings fresh insights on how we can better raise our children. Her main work focuses on exposing the link between institutionalised childcare and the rising rates of mental health issues among young people like anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and ADHD. Read...
Nov 21, 2024•16 min•Ep. 113
Freya Leach is joined by the MRC's new policy director and chief economist Nico Louw in this fascinating discussion covering the biggest public policy challenges of our time, from the Covid pandemic through to our current economic challenges. Nico, who was senior adviser to Scott Morrison and did several quarantine stints with the former PM, reflects on the challenges of making big policy decisions with little information during the Covid pandemic. He also shares why our inflation woes are homeg...
Oct 04, 2024•47 min•Ep. 112
Brendan Nelson’s career path would confound any career counsellor. Over three decades he has been a general practitioner; President of the Australian Medical Association; a parliamentarian; Education and Defence Minister; Leader of the Opposition; Ambassador; and Director of the War Memorial. He is currently President of Boeing Global. Across all his fields of endeavour, Dr Nelson has been admired for his integrity and graciousness. In a special Watercooler Conversation with the MRC's David Hugh...
Sep 11, 2024•48 min•Ep. 111
In this special edition of the Menzies Research Centre Watercooler podcast, Senator Jacinta Price joins Freya Leach to address the concerns of young Australians about enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the Constitution. Senator Price, known for her work on Indigenous issues, provides her insights as a Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs. The episode delves into the distinction between constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians, which has had bipartisan sup...
Sep 05, 2023•48 min•Ep. 110
In this series of Watercooler podcasts, we’re attempting something big: to define the virtues that unite Australian Liberals in the 21st century. Our starting point is the We Believe statement issued to mark the 10th anniversary of the Liberal Party in 1954. Each episode examines one of the 17 We Believe statements to discover the abiding Liberal virtues they contain. If a similar statement was to be written today, should the original statements be retained, revised or rejected? In this episode,...
Jul 27, 2023•54 min•Ep. 109
In the True Believers podcast series, Nick Cater revisits the 1954 We Believe statement which attempted to articulate the key Liberal Party virtues. In this episode, he is joined by Australia's 28th Prime Minister, The Hon Tony Abbott, AC, to discuss the influence of government policy on character, individual freedom and the confidence needed to resist the accepted wisdom of our day. Nick Cater is Senior Fellow at Menzies Research Centre. Email us: [email protected] Support these podcast...
Jul 20, 2023•47 min•Ep. 108
In this episode of the Watercooler podcast, David Hughes welcomes Scott Yung, an education entrepreneur and advocate for Robert Menzies' vision for Australia. Scott shares his inspiring story of starting from humble beginnings in Sydney's Waterloo, growing up in a Housing Commission, and attending a public selective school. He worked his way up the corporate ladder before challenging now Premier Chris Minns for the state seat of Kogarah. Despite limited resources, Scott's campaign made the seat ...
Jul 11, 2023•39 min•Ep. 107
In the True Believers podcast series, Nick Cater and Freya Leach revisit the 1954 We Believe statement which attempted to articulate the key Liberal Party virtues. In this episode, they are joined by Keith Wolahan, MP, a former military veteran, the consider the importance of patriotism and a belief in the capability of Australia. Nick Cater is Senior Fellow at Menzies Research Centre. Freya Leech is a research fellow who heads the MRC's youth policy engagement programme. Email us: watercooler@m...
Jun 22, 2023•52 min•Ep. 106
In this special series of Watercooler podcasts, we’re attempting something big: to define the virtues that unite Australian Liberals in the 21st century. The True Believers podcasts are the start of what we hope will become a wider conversation about the ideas that bind members of the Liberal Party as it approaches its 80th birthday. Our starting point is the We Believe statement issued by Robert Menzies in 1954 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Liberal Party of Australia. The 17 points expres...
Jun 08, 2023•49 min•Ep. 105
With Nick Cater, Freya Leach and Georgina Downer. In this special series of Watercooler podcasts, we’re attempting something big: to define the values that unite Australian Liberals in the 21st century. The True Believers podcasts are a forum for free-ranging discussion that we hope will promote a wider conversation about the things we really believe in - the ties that bind us as a political movement - and the principles from which we can develop policy. Our starting point is the We Believe stat...
Jun 01, 2023•53 min•Ep. 104
Liberalism does not have a use-by date. Its principles are tuned to the abiding human condition, rather than the particular circumstances of the day. But the telling of the Liberal story has to evolve to suit the language and temperament of the new millennium. The Liberal agenda must be constantly refreshed to address contemporary policy challenges. The verdict at recent elections is that Liberalism is failing to connect with the millennial generation and subsequent generations. Menzies Research...
May 03, 2023•57 min•Ep. 103
Australians face the prospect of a referendum here in Australia in as little as six months time where they’ll be asked to decide there should be a new institution to represent the views of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people in the corridors of power. It will be known as the Voice, its members will be unelected, and its existence will be enshrined in the constitution making it difficult to abolish. If I sound a little hazy about the detail it’s because I am, along with almost every ot...
Mar 30, 2023•38 min•Ep. 102
For the Liberal Party of Australia, the loss of government in May after nine years was dispiriting, but hardly a novel experience. It was the nature of the loss that shocked - the loss of seats not just to their old rival, the Labor Party, but the loss of once-safe conservative seats in wealthy inner metropolitan districts to a new socially progressive movement known as the teal independents. Henry Olsen joins Menzies Research Centre Executive Director Nick Cater to discuss the great realignment...
Nov 03, 2022•40 min•Ep. 101
The modern world’s dependence on hydrocarbons won’t be ending any time soon, says Mark P. Mills. He says it is physically impossible to switch from coal, oil and gas to solar, wind and batteries in any meaningful time frame. “It is a dangerous delusion to base policies on the idea that such a transition is possible,” he says. “A different understanding of ‘transition’ is required, one that recognises that new energy sources should be considered additives, not outright replacements.” Mills joins ...
Oct 30, 2022•32 min•Ep. 100
The election of a Labor government in Australia has dramatically raised the stakes in the energy debate. Labor’s 2030 target requires the closure of 60% of our coal generation capacity over the next eight years, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator. If we cannot replace this with reliable and affordable fuel sources, the consequences for this country will be dire. Wind and solar have their place to be sure, and batteries can assist at the margins, but the engineering challenge of r...
Oct 13, 2022•36 min•Ep. 99
Fifty years ago in December, a Labor government led by Gough Whitlam signed an historic agreement with Communist China establishing diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing. The price China demanded was that Australia agreed to the One China policy, which demoted the independent nation of Taiwan to the status of a renegade Chinese province. Half a century later, the Communist government demanding that Australia sticks to that agreement, recognising the right of the People’s Republic of ...
Aug 31, 2022•29 min•Ep. 98
The intergenerational wealth gap, driven partly by rising property values, is changing expectations and limiting life-style choices for younger Australians. The security of home ownership is arriving later in life, if it is achieved at all. Family formation is delayed as the 2021 Census shows through a sharp rise in single people aged under 35s. Emilie Dye is a Sydney-based economist and economic adviser who's personal experience of saving for a mortgage deposit is indicative of the home-ownersh...
Aug 16, 2022•33 min•Ep. 97
Malcolm Fraser is Australia’s fourth-longest prime minister, taking office in controversial circumstances amid the turmoil of Gough Whitlam’s dismissal in 1975 and exiting seven and a half years later when Labor’s Bob Hawke thwarted his ambition to gain a mandate for a fourth term. Yet the manner in which he came go power, and the disputes with his own party after he left power, have clouded perceptions. Alan Jones worked for Fraser during his challenging time as Prime Minister. He delivered a f...
Aug 13, 2022•58 min•Ep. 96
Australia has benefitted greatly from the two-way trans-Tasman trade in policy ideas in the last 40 years. In the early 1980s, a New Zealand Labour government led by David Lange and his remarkable treasurer Roger Douglas introduced deregulatory economic reforms later adopted by the Hawke government. Thirty years later, the incremental reforms and philosophical clarity of the National Party governments of John Key and Bill English inspired some of the successful policy initiatives of the Abbott g...
Jul 07, 2022•48 min•Ep. 95
John Howard experienced both the highs and lows of politics during 33 years in Parliament, 14 of which were in Opposition. In this Watercooler Conversation with Nick Cater, Australia's second longest-serving prime minister draws lessons from the Liberal Party's 2022 election defeat and urges unity and a focus on Liberal principles and policy. Email Nick Cater [email protected] Support these podcasts by becoming a premium subscriber from just $10 a month: www.menziesrc.org/subscribe Nick ...
Jun 30, 2022•53 min•Ep. 94
The Liberal Party has been ejected from government in Canberra on only four occasions. Paul Kelly has reported on all four, starting with the It's Time election of 1972 through to the defeat of Scott Morrison's government at the May 2022 federal election. In this Watercooler conversation with Nick Cater he draws from the lessons of history to assess the latest defeat and warns of the mistakes the party must avoid in opposition. Paul Kelly is The Australian's Editor at Large. Nick Cater is Execut...
Jun 09, 2022•31 min•Ep. 93
The question, “What is a woman?” has become the barbecue stopper of the 2022 election, thanks in part to the pre-selection of a courageous and outspoken candidate in the seat of Warringah in Northern Sydney. Katherine Deves’ campaign for the rights of biological females not to compete against transgender women in sport has generated a level of media coverage that most candidates could only dream of. The price she has paid, however, is to be subjected to a vicious and intimidating attack which wo...
May 19, 2022•50 min•Ep. 90
Mick Mulvaney describes the sledgehammer approach to Covid-19 that shut down global economies for months as one of the biggest mistakes of the 21st Century. Mulvaney was President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff when the pandemic hit. He says the withholding of information by China and the poor advice Trump was receiving from key advisors including Dr Anthony Fauchi led the US to over-react with economic intervention which set the pattern for other countries around the world. “I think it wi...
May 17, 2022•36 min•Ep. 92
Malcolm Fraser led a Liberal Party Government for seven years and 122 days. When he lost to Bob Hawke at 1983 election, no prime minister except Robert Menzies had occupied the job for longer. Yet his reputation has been overshadowed by the controversy about the way he came power and quarrels with his own party after leaving it. Six years after his death, a fresh appraisal is long overdue, one unclouded or the dismissal of Gough Whitlam that put in into government by the political arguments in h...
May 05, 2022•42 min•Ep. 91
Benny Peiser has been following the climate policy debate for more than a century. In this Watercooler Conversation, he joins Nick Cater to discuss how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed Europe’s chronic energy insecurity and reframed the climate policy debate. Europe is dealing with a full-blown energy crisis, forcing western nations to rethink what practical action can be taken to combat climate change. The problems with relying too heavily on wind and solar have become all too appare...
Apr 28, 2022•46 min•Ep. 89
It might seem strange to be debating the question of what is a woman in an election campaign in which so much is at stake. But the controversy over the choice of a Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Warringah has turned this into one of barbecue-stoppers of the election so far. The rising cost of living and health concerns arising from the pandemic will be crucial issues in deciding this election, as will Australia’s response to rising threats to global stability, in Europe and the Pacific....
Apr 21, 2022•41 min•Ep. 88
The peaceful, western-dominated world order - secured by the victors in world War 2 and an incalculable cost - is showing signs of fraying. Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Communist China’s global ambitions may have already propelled us into a new era of global strategic conflict - what is at stake is nothing less than the cultural and strategic dominance of Eurasia and the Pacific and possibly the world. In this Watercooler Conversation, John Anderson and Nick Cater ask if today’s A...
Mar 31, 2022•35 min•Ep. 87
Australia’s universities are in trouble. A decade or more of chasing revenue from foreign students has changed the character of universities and left them vulnerable to external disruption like the Covid-19 border bans. The rankings system with which rewards research citations more highly than the quality of teaching has distorted the allocation of resources and turned academic research into exercise in citation harvesting. Universities have become top-heavy in administration leading to untold f...
Mar 24, 2022•52 min•Ep. 86
