Last week the government announced they want to make some uni degrees cheaper and others a lot more expensive. On today's episode Annika Smethhurst explains the proposed changes, plus we speak with the Education Minister Dan Tehan and his former cabinet colleague Julie Bishop about this. In today's news headlines: Novak Djokovic tests positive to Covid-19 after hosting controversial tennis tournament Panic buying re-starts in Victoria due to harsh lockdown fears AFL star Eddie Betts’ heartbreaki...
Jun 23, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Could now be the perfect time for a WAXIT and Western Australia to break away from the rest of the country? There’s long been the undercurrent of a breakaway movement in WA, re-appearing when the borders closed for COVID-19 so what does it mean now? In today's episode we find out what one of WA’s most influential people think of Waxit, former Foreign Minster and WA Leader Julie Bishop, and we’ll speak with leader of the Western Australian Party Julie Matheson. In today's news headlines: Former H...
Jun 22, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Victoria has reimposed coronavirus restrictions and extended its State of Emergency after its highest number of new cases in months. On Todays episode we take a look at what led to this spike, and whether this is the right course of action for the state. Catherine Bennett, Professor of Epidemiology at Deakin University helps us understand this tipping point. In todays news Headlines: Victoria reimposes coronavirus restrictions after the highest number of new cases in months World reaches a grim ...
Jun 21, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Welcome to a special weekend edition of The Briefing with guest Andrew Denton. Andrew is one of Australia’s most loved media identities and after losing his father to a painful death a few years ago he’s been Australia’s most vocal advocate for assisted dying. Andrew is passionate about having a choice about how we die and has been working to bring in Assisted Dying Laws so none of us have to go through that. He’s travelled the world seeing how the laws work in some of the six other countries th...
Jun 19, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Today marks one year since Victoria introduced a voluntary assisted dying scheme. It’s the first Australian state to enact Voluntary Assisted Dying laws, so the question is: Should the rest of the country follow suit? We speak to Dr Cameron McLaren, the Victorian doctor who’s assisted in more deaths than any other doctor. And Adam Foreman whose mum chose Voluntary Assisted Dying to end her battle with cancer. In todays headlines: Jamila caught in the Labor branch stacking cross-fire Uni fees ove...
Jun 18, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Millions of you donated to help the bushfire victims. But have we helped the people that need it? Before the pandemic the devastation and the smoke from the bush fires was all consuming. Over 18.6 million hectares of land was burnt, 33 people were killed and almost 6,000 buildings were destroyed. Along with the personal pain it also caused a lot of political tension. In just over two weeks we’re going to find out what people in one of the hardest hit areas are feeling about the response to the b...
Jun 17, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Defunding the police - What does it mean? and why is the US police force so different from our own? One of the demands of protestors since George Floyd’s death is the call to defund the police.Today we dig deeper into this call, and find out what it actually means. We’ll take you to Atlanta where protestors have hit the streets after Rayshard Brooks was shot dead by police and speak to one of the protest leaders Dionisio Tabora - CEO of Atlanta Protest for Justice. We find out more about how the...
Jun 16, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Will COVID produce the opportunity of a generation for young people desperate to crack the housing market? Decades of surging house prices have created some intense intergenerational debates around fairness, with Median home prices increasing to more than seven times the median incomes today. There were pandemic predictions that prices could fall by up to 30% however most banks have scaled back their predictions to a 10% drop. So with mortgage freezes and job keeper stopping in September, is thi...
Jun 15, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 43
It’s a debate that’s happening across the world right now: Should we pull down statues of people whose actions now appear hurtful and deeply offensive in today’s context? Since the Global Black Lives Matter Protests a statue of Christopher Columbus in the US was decapitated, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was thrown into a river in the UK, and in Belgium a statue of brutal coloniser King Leopold was removed. In this episode we take the debate to Australia asking: Should we take down sta...
Jun 14, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Question: What do a former Liberal party cabinet minister and the rave scene have in common? Answer: An appreciation of the drug MDMA. Experts are warning Coronavirus will have a huge impact on our mental health and former Liberal minister Andrew Robb thinks psychedelic drugs might be a solution. MDMA, the key ingredient in party drug ecstasy and psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms have been involved in over 119 trials. With MDMA treating PTSD, and psilocybin being trialled for depression, anxi...
Jun 11, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 41
The record breaking protests in the US have rightly put questions about the way Australia’s indigenous people are treated by police back on the agenda. Indigenous incarceration rates here in Australia are on the rise, and First Nations people are now more likely to be locked up than African-Americans. One recommended way of fixing this problem is by increasing the number of Indigenous people in the police force. In todays Briefing we take you to Australia’s first all Indigenous police station in...
Jun 10, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 40
In this Bonus Episode hear our full interview How does a former ‘Tiger King’ Animal Keeper feel about the court awarding Joe Exotics Zoo to his nemesis Carole Baskin? We speak to ‘Saff’ the former Animal keeper who lost his arm to a tiger attack, and fan favourite of the Netflix series. The recent big news for fans of the series saw a US court awarding Joe Exotic’s bitter rival Carole Baskin ownership of the Oklahoma tiger zoo he set up. Joe is the controversial former tiger zoo operator who’s s...
Jun 10, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 39
How does a former ‘Tiger King’ Animal Keeper feel about the court awarding Joe Exotics Zoo to his nemesis Carole Baskin? We speak to ‘Saff’ the former Animal keeper who lost his arm to a tiger attack, and fan favourite of the Netflix series. Joe is the controversial former tiger zoo operator who’s serving a 22 year jail sentence for attempting to order a hit on Carole Baskin who also ran a tiger zoo, but claimed it was for animal welfare rather than entertainment. In Todays headlines: No locally...
Jun 09, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 38
One of the most contentious issues of the pandemic has been Australia’s state border closures, with 3 out of 4 of us supporting them. Where do you stand? The federal government and the NSW premier want the other states to open up their borders faster... but the WA and QLD premiers in particular are pushing back. Today we speak to Professor George Williams (Constitutional Expert) and Mechanic Chris Jobson, who lives in QLD but works in Tweed Heads NSW. Today's news headlines: The Conflicting heal...
Jun 08, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Welcome to your Queens Birthday edition of The Briefing. Top 5 Briefing Episodes … as downloaded by you While many of you are enjoying a long weekend Tom Tilley and Jan Fran bring you this special episode, revealing the top 5 episodes as downloaded by you. The Briefing started at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, and more recently the focus has been on the race riots and protests in America and around the world! An incredible time in world history to start a daily news podcast. In todays Brie...
Jun 07, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Our farmers have been going through hell with one of the worst droughts in Australia’s history. But with above average rainfall expected for winter, could the drought be breaking? Joining us today we speak to Dr Andrew Watkins (Head of Long-range Forecasts at the Bureau of Meteorology), James Nalder (a young cattle farmer from Coonamble in North West NSW) and Wayne Dunford (a Parkes farmer and the chair of the NSW Farmers Drought Taskforce). In today's news headlines: Australian Black Lives Matt...
Jun 04, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Robodebt is the story the government didn’t want you to hear about, but last week it admitted defeat and agreed to refund thousands of Aussies it sent flawed demands to as part of its controversial robodebt recovery scheme. We speak to Joel Townsend - Program Manager of Economic and Social Rights at Victorian Legal Aid, which has been acting on behalf of people dudded by robodebt and Emma - a student who received a $9k robodebt bill. In today's news headlines: The latest from the U.S: Breaking: ...
Jun 03, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Since the riots broke out in America, small groups of Australian protestors have been raising the uncomfortable question: do we face similar problems here? Today we find out how Indigenous people in Australia are reacting to what’s happening, and what we can learn from it to help solve our problems here. Joining us is Professor Marcia Langton AM is one of Australia’s most outspoken Indigenous voices, she’s a professor who’s been writing and researching about indigenous deaths in custody for over...
Jun 02, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Today we take you to the streets of Washington DC, the heart of one of America's most intense rallies where looters have overrun the streets and fires have been ignited near the White House. Today's headlines: White House protests force President Trump into bunker Hundreds gather for Australian George Floyd protest Youngest man to die of covid-19 tests negative Uber trials new ‘Uber Rent’ service in Australian world-first In today's Briefing: Will the intensity of the US protests increase? We sp...
Jun 01, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 32
On today’s episode we’ll take you to streets of Minneapolis and speak to Aussie journalist Tim Arvier who was detained at gunpoint while reporting on the riots. In today's headlines: Rioting spreads to London, Canada, Germany over George Floyds death Former Robodebt tribunal member doubts the government can pay it all back Our states are continuing to open up Superannuation being spent on bets & booze Space X lands at International Space Station See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...
May 31, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 31
The coronavirus pandemic has been a financial nightmare for young people. They’ve been much harder hit by job losses and they’ll also be the ones paying back the debt we’ve accumulated in the long term. This week we also found out it is younger Australians who have rushed to cash out their super to get through the pandemic. Today we speak to award winning finance expert Natasha Janssens – Founder of "Women with Cents" and Kirk Pearson, who took out $10k from his Super fund In today's news headli...
May 28, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Australians are keen to get back on the sporting field but given the close contact and the huge numbers of people involved, could it spark a second wave that undoes all our hard work? We speak to Tim Cotter - Head Coach Newcastle City Blues Australian Football Club and Paul Kelly - Deputy Chief Medical Officer. In today’s headlines: 30-year-old man becomes Australia's youngest coronavirus death Annika Smethurst won’t be charged over spy agency story Trump threatens to shut down social media comp...
May 27, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 29
The Gig Economy can provide flexibility and freedom for task by task workers like delivery drivers. Last year an Australian study found that 13% of the workforce had used a digital platform to find work and that number is expected to grow massively, particularly for young workers. But how we can protect independent contractors who work in this free market system? We speak to Diego the Delivery Driver (who says he was terminated unfairly and is fighting back) and Nick McIntosh – Transport Workers...
May 26, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Hydroxychloroquine is the drug at the centre of public debate and Donald Trump has revealed he’s been taking it to try and reduce his chances of getting Covid-19. Professor Marc Pellegrini (Walter & Eliza Hall institute of Medical Research) is the lead researcher on the Australian trial and joins us on today's show. In today's news headlines: Bushfire royal commission hears black summer “not a one-off” Court rules Celeste Barber’s $51 million NSW RFS fundraiser can’t go to other charities Pr...
May 25, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Warning - Adult/Explicit content in this episode. It’s hard to imagine a work practice any more socially non-distant than sex work. To talk about the impact of the pandemic on this racy industry, we speak to sex worker and CEO of Australian Sex Workers Association Scarlet Alliance - Jules Kim. (⚠️ Warning: obviously there is a discussion of adult themes in this episode, so it's recommended not to listen with kids in the car unless you're ready for the birds and the bees chat) Today's news headli...
May 24, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Why is COVID-19 killing more men everywhere? Why do men and women die differently? Why do women outlive men? To find out, we speak to Dr Sharon Moalem - Author “The better half. The genetic superiority of women” and Dr Rebecca Kippen – a Demographer from Monash University. Today's news headlines: QLD Premier not bothered by Pauline Hanson’s threat to take state to High Court Lockdown now eased in every American state Police say car crash into hijab shop that injured 14 not terror-related Austral...
May 21, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Despite advice from the overwhelming majority of scientists, the concerns and conspiracies around 5G continue to get traction with so many people. Today we find out why. This is part 2 of our Briefing on the 5G Corona Conspiracy. Today we find out why the 5G concerns have gained so much traction during this pandemic with Dr Robin Canniford University of Melbourne who researches Human Behaviour. Today’s news headlines: Casual workers are entitled to paid leave: Federal court Chinese state media l...
May 20, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 24
The coronavirus pandemic has sent 5G fear into overdrive, with several conspiracy theories emerging. So we put all the big questions to Professor Rodney Croft from the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bio Effects research at the University of Wollongong. In today's news headlines: Qantas unveils “Fly Well” program: face masks but no spare seats China labels Australia’s inquiry vindication claims as “nothing but a joke” Masterchef contestant charged with sexual assault Aussie music festival ...
May 19, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Health experts believe vaping is more effective than nicotine patches and gum and is the most popular quitting aid in countries where it is available... then why is it illegal in Australia? We’ll explain the key arguments and find out why Australia is taking a tougher stance than other western countries, and why its such a divisive issue here. To find out more we speak to Professor Colin Mendelsohn who is Chairman of Tobacco Harm Reduction. In today's news headlines: China caves and supports ind...
May 18, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Millions of us are currently working from home because of the pandemic, but could working from home become the new normal? Today our guest is Organisational Psychologist Amantha Imber. In today's news headlines: 62 countries back Australia’s call for a coronavirus enquiry Western Australia, Tasmania opening up as Victoria reveals its roadmap Police still not sure how AFL player was stabbed Aussie shoppers flock to stores buying PJs, trackies, casual gear It turns out Dr Google’s wrong most of th...
May 17, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 21
