Latest Episodes
Politics with Michelle Grattan: The Battle for Eden-Monaro – interviews with Kristy McBain and Fiona Kotvojs
On July 4, the voters of Eden-Monaro will give their judgment on the performances of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese. The seat is held by Labor on a margin of just under 1%. Labor is campaigning hard on JobKeeper ending in late September, while the Liberals are hoping the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis will outweigh Scott Morrison's poor conduct during the bushfires. In this podcast…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Clive Hamilton and Richard McGregor on Australia-China relations
After its calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, Australia has found itself targeted by China with trade retaliation as well as sharp rhetoric. In this podcast, we talk with two prominent China experts about the superpower's wider ambitions and tactics and the bilateral relationship. Clive Hamilton, from Charles Sturt University, has just coauthored, with Mareike Ohlberg, Hidden…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Trust, democracy and COVID-19: A British perspective
Democratic Fundamentals podcast on "Political Trust in Times of COVID-19 A week ago, the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that the number of people killed by the coronavirus in the United Kingdom stood at 32,313, the second highest death toll in the world. Health experts believe that the real figure is likely to be closer to 50,000. The number of deaths from COVID-19 in Australia currently…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Mark Evans
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Pat Turner on Closing the Justice Gap
Pat Turner, for decades a strong Aboriginal voice, is the lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, which brings together about 50 Indigenous community peak organisations. In this role she is part of the negotiations for a new agreement on Closing the Gap targets. Unlike the original Rudd government targets, the refreshed Closing the Gap agreement, soon to be finalised, will set out targets for progress…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Michelle Grattan: David Gruen and the race for real-time data
Perhaps at no point in Australia's history has the demand for real-time figures been stronger than during the coronavirus crisis. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stepped up its efforts to get data fast, to help inform the government's COVID-19 decision-making. David Gruen, the Australian Statistician and ABS head, in this podcast tells how the bureau has used small, quick surveys to mine timely…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on saving Australia's tourism and construction industries
As Australia slowly emerges from isolation, the nation's economy is reopening, and even looking rather better than expected. But Australia still faces grim months ahead as unemployment numbers grow and the true extent of business survival rates emerge. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described the economic data as sobering when he recently gave an update to parliament. In this podcast, Frydenberg says there…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers on JobKeeper's flaws and the Eden-Monaro byelection
Labor will campaign on the flaws in the JobKeeper program in the Eden-Monaro byelection, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says. "There will be so many people from Eden-Monaro who would have heard the Prime Minister say that there would be wage subsidies only to find out that they've either been deliberately or accidentally excluded from those wage subsidies, who can't understand why someone who might…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Democratic Fundamentals: the role of the APS in a post-COVID-19 world
In the latest Democratic Fundamentals, Renée Leon, former Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Human Services, and Peter Shergold, former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, discuss the challenges and opportunities for the APS as the world eases restrictions with hosts Mark Evans and Michelle Grattan. Democratic Fundamentals is produced in partnership with Democracy…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Mark Evans
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Paul Kelly on the risk of a COVID-19 second-wave
Speaking as an expert in epidemiology, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly is candid about the prospects of a second-wave of coronavirus in a society that hasn't developed herd immunity. "There is a very large risk of a second wave. We need to do this very carefully," he says, as Australia starts to roll back restrictions. "We are potentially victims of our own success here because we have been…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Nev Power on the role of business in a post-coronavirus world
Nev Power, former head of "Twiggy" Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, is now the Chairman of the government's National COVID-19 Coordination Commission. The commission, set up by Scott Morrison in March, is working on mitigating the effects of the virus on jobs and businesses, and exploring opportunities to help get the country moving again in the post-virus future. This week the national cabinet was…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Katy Gallagher on the Senate's coronavirus watchdog
Labor's Katy Gallagher is chair of the Senate committee that will assess the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, both its economic and health challenges. It is set for the deep dive, having a final reporting date of mid-2022. With parliament currently sitting only in fits and starts, Gallagher considers the committee a "key accountability vehicle". "We don't want political grandstanding…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his autobiography, 'A Bigger Picture'
In this episode of Politics with Michelle Grattan, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gives his frank assessment of Scott Morrison as a former colleague and as prime minister, warns about the right of the Liberal party, and tongue lashes News Corp. As Treasurer, Morrison at times infuriated then PM Turnbull by leaking to the media and "frontrunning" positions before decision were made. "Morrison…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: MPs Tim Watts, Fiona Martin, Clare O'Neil and Helen Haines talk about serving their electorates during the coronavirus crisis
Michelle Grattan talks with MPs Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Victoria), Fiona Martin (Reid, NSW), Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Victoria) and Helen Haines (Indi, Victoria) about how they do their job during the pandemic. They discuss the operation of their electorate offices in light of isolation requirements, and recount how the crisis is affecting their constituents. New to podcasts? Podcasts are often best enjoyed…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Democracy 2025 - How does Australia compare: what makes a leading democracy? With Michelle Grattan, Mark Evans and Ian Chubb
In this special hour long podcast presented by Mark Evans, professor of governance and director of Democracy 2025, the panel discusses Australian democracy with Emeritus Professor Ian Chubb and Michelle Grattan. The panel dissects the Australian trust in government, compared with other modern democracies around the world. Drawing on the world values survey, the report notes the sharp focus on the quality…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Mark Evans
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty on the coronavirus crisis and the timeline for a vaccine
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, has infected nearly half a million people and taken the lives of more than 21,200. No person in Australia is more qualified to speak on the science of this global pandemic than Professor Peter Doherty. Professor Doherty was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1996 for his work studying the immune system. The Doherty Institute, now at…
2 Hosts: Michelle Grattan and Peter C. Doherty
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy on COVID-19
With 100 domestic cases as of March 10, federal and state governments and health authorities face daunting challenges posed by COVID-19 in coming weeks and months - securing a workforce of nurses and doctors to treat the sick, ensuring enough testing facilities to meet a rapidly growing demand, and stemming the spread of the virus, to the maximum extent possible. As Chief Medical Officer for the federal…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Keith Pitt on the Murray-Darling Basin
Appointed minister for resources, water, and northern Australia in the Nationals reshuffle, Keith Pitt was handed a diverse portfolio with some highly contested issues. As water minister, he'll soon have a report from Mick Keelty on the Murray-Darling Basin, which could spark more fighting between states, and the ACCC report into water trading, expected at the end of the year. "We do need to ensure…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Mark Butler on Labor's 2050 carbon neutral target
Mark Butler, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, is optimistic that Labor is better placed to prosecute its climate policy at the next election, compared to the last. "I think we are better positioned now for two reasons." "Firstly, I think the business community has shifted substantially over the last couple of years, and that's a global shift that reflects particularly the fact that regulators...and…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Phil Honeywood on the coronavirus challenge for universities
The coronavirus is presenting a major threat to Australia's education export industry, which is highly dependant upon the China market, and a huge challenge to the universities. Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia says: "At the end of the day, China is the most heavily populated country in the world, it's on our regional doorstep and it has an incredible appetite…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Adam Bandt on Greens' hopes for future power sharing
Adam Bandt began his political journey in the Labor party, but the issue of climate change drew him to the Greens. Last week he became their leader, elected unopposed. Asked about his ambitions for the party, Bandt aspires to a power-sharing situation with a Labor government, akin to the Gillard era. "Ultimately Labor's got to decide where it stands, and if Labor decides that it does want to go down…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Michael McCormack moves on from his near-death experience
Starting the year with a leadership spill will be seen by many, especially those hit by the bushfires, as the Nationals being particularly self-indulgent. Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack admits as much, but notes he wasn't the initiator of his party's bad behaviour. "We should not have been talking about ourselves. This was never of my making or doing. And we should have…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Grattan and Martin on the year that was, in politics and economics
Last week, Michelle Grattan and Peter Martin (economics editor at The Conversation) were in Sydney to launch the 2019 Conversation Yearbook. The event was held at Glebebooks and presented an opportunity for readers to hear Michelle and Peter's discussion about the year that was, and ask questions. This podcast is an edited recording of that event. New to podcasts? Podcasts are often best enjoyed using…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Mathias Cormann and Jim Chalmers on the mid-year budget update
The mid-year budget update has seen the government downgrading its forecast for Australia's economic growth in 2019-20 by 0.25%, and slashing the projected surplus by A$2.1 billion, to $5 billion. The forecast for wage growth has also been reduced, and unemployment is projected to be slightly higher than was envisaged at budget time. The figures indicate a worsening economy, but the government has…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Andrew Hastie on foreign influence, security and veteran mental health
Chinese government influence and interference has been a contentious issue in Australia politics in the past year. Weighing up concerns about foreign money in state and federal campaigns, candidates' direct relationships with arms of the Chinese Communist Party and the defection of a Chinese spy operating within Australia, against the fragile trade relationship we have with our largest export market…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Minister David Littleproud on bushfires, drought, and the Nationals
Bushfires continue to burn across NSW and Queensland, the death toll has risen, and the damage to properties, wildlife and the environment is devastating. With conditions predicted to worsen over the summer, climate change has inevitably come into the frame. The Prime Minister and Opposition leader have said policy arguments should be avoided until the immediate crisis has passed, but many - including…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan