Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Chris Wallace and Marija Taflaga join Mark Kenny to discuss the 2024 tax cuts, how to be an effective opposition, and accountability in federal politics.Is the Australian Labor Party’s decision to retain tax cuts slated for 2024 a good political decision, an abandonment of core values, or both? What lessons does contemporary political history hold for how to be effective from opposition? And with Australia’s auditor-general finding a $660 million pre-election car park program was not up to scratch, what can be done to increase accountability in government? Associate Professor Chris Wallace and Dr Marija Taflaga join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss these questions and more on this episode of Democracy Sausage.Chris Wallace is an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra. Entering the history profession after a first career as an economic and political journalist in the Canberra Press Gallery, her work focuses on political, international and global history with special reference to leadership. Her book historicising the 2019 Australian federal election, How To Win An Election, is out now.Marija Taflaga is Director of ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a lecturer in the ANU School of Politics and International Relations. Her major research is on political parties and particularly the Liberal Party of Australia.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, inaugural chief executive of the Grattan Institute John Daley joins Mark Kenny to discuss why policy reform in Australia has come grinding to a halt, and what policymakers can do to get things moving again.It’s said that the 1980s and 1990s were the ‘golden age’ of policy reform - but how productive were those years in reality? What impact is the corrosion of institutions like the public service and the swelling ranks of unaccountable ministerial advisers having on the reform process? And have recent governments been less willing to get out on the hustings and convince the public their reform proposals are worth supporting. John Daley, author of Gridlock: removing barriers to reform, joins Professor Mark Kenny to discuss good governance and ensuring policy reform doesn’t become a dying art.John Daley was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Grattan Institute and is one of Australia’s leading public policy thinkers.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, London-based regular guests Bevan Shields and Elizabeth Ames join Mark Kenny to discuss the British Government’s decision to lift COVID-19 restrictions with the prime minister self-isolating and case numbers soaring.Is the United Kingdom’s decision to end COVID-19 restrictions in England a moment to celebrate or a dangerous experiment? With masks now optional, what are the ethical responsibilities for individuals in a situation where case numbers are skyrocketing? And should Britain now be vaccinating school children, or should those vaccines be sent to developing countries to bolster the protection of vulnerable populations abroad? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Europe correspondent Bevan Shields and Atalanta’s Elizabeth Ames join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss ‘freedom day’ in the United Kingdom. Elizabeth Ames is Chief Operating Officer at advocacy firm Atalanta, a Board Director of the Britain-Australia Society, and Chair of the Menzies Australia Institute at King’s College London.Bevan Shields is Europe Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He was previously Federal Editor and Canberra Bureau Chief.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, eminent strategic studies expert Hugh White joins Mark Kenny to examine Australia’s strategy for dealing with rising tensions between the United States and China and the prospect of armed conflict in the region.For decades Australian leaders have said the country doesn’t need to choose between its history and its geography - between the United States and China - but has this position now been abandoned? Is the Chinese Government making an example of Australia by putting it in the diplomatic deep freeze? And how are other governments in the region, such as New Zealand and Japan, managing their relationships with the United States and China? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, principal author of the 2000 Defence White Paper, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies Hugh White, joins Professor Mark Kenny to discuss regional tensions and Australia’s strategy for managing its relationships with China and the United States.Hugh White is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a week of finger pointing between the federal government and some of Australia’s states and territories over COVID-19 management and the vaccine rollout, Mark Kenny speaks with federalism scholar Tracy Beck Fenwick and media expert Margaret Simons about how the federation is functioning.Is the sense of national unity between the federal government and the states and territories, perhaps best demonstrated through the early days of the National Cabinet, now gone? Is federalism the problem in these increasingly fractious relationships or just a convenient scapegoat? And what role does the media play in their reporting on COVID-19, especially around misinformation? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Director of the Australian Centre for Federalism Dr Tracy Beck Fenwick and Dr Margaret Simons from the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss these questions and more.Tracy Beck Fenwick is the Director of the Australian Centre for Federalism and Senior Lecturer in the School of Politics in the College of Arts and Social Sciences at The Australian National University.Margaret Simons is an award-winning freelance journalist, author, and Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times. Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, China experts Yun Jiang and David Goodman join us to discuss the 100-year history of the Chinese Communist Party and what it might reveal about the country’s present and future.On 1 July 2021, China will mark 100 years of the Communist Party (CCP). So how has the party evolved from its formation through to the present day? Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government seeking to eliminate alternative versions of history that challenge the official party line? And with the party and its leader focused on control, what might the future hold for the country? On this Democracy Sausage, Managing Editor of the China Story blog Yun Jiang and Emeritus Professor of Chinese Politics David Goodman join Professor Mark Kenny to look back at the history of the CCP ahead of its centenary, and to discuss the future under Xi Jinping.David Goodman is Emeritus Professor of Chinese Politics in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at University of Sydney and in the Department of China Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.Yun Jiang is a managing editor of the China Story blog at The Australian National University (ANU) and a researcher at ANU Australian Centre on China in World.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times. Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, academic and author Andrew Scott joins us to discuss the effective, progressive social and economic policies of the Nordic countries and how they might work in Australia.Australian policymakers tend to look to the United States and the United Kingdom as examples, but should they be looking further afield? Europe’s Nordic countries perform strongly on a wide range of social and economic indicators and Andrew Scott, Professor of Politics and Policy at Deakin University and co-editor of The Nordic Edge: Policy Possibilities for Australia, says they might hold more lessons for Australian policymakers than many previously thought. On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Scott joins Professor Mark Kenny to discuss how the Nordic countries have got it right in so many policy areas, and why they might hold the key to creating a fairer, happier, wealthier, and more environmentally responsible country.Andrew Scott is Professor of Politics and Policy in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University. His books and articles have been extensively discussed in Australia and overseas and he is the co-editor of the upcoming book Nordic Edge: Policy Possibilities for Australia.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.The Nordic Edge: Policy Possibilities for Australia is edited by Andrew Scott and Rod Campbell, published by Melbourne University Press, and is available in bookstores from July 2021.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, political correspondent Karen Middleton, diplomacy and Afghan politics expert William Maley, and gender equity advocate Virginia Haussegger join Mark Kenny to discuss Australia’s nearly two decades in Afghanistan.Two years into the war in Afghanistan, United States President George W Bush said it was “mission accomplished”. But nearly two decades after the September 11 attacks, the Taliban has negotiated a favourable agreement with the United States and Australia has closed its embassy, citing security concerns amidst the withdrawal of Australian and international forces. So what was it all for? And, crucially, what does this mean for the Afghan people? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, journalist and author of An unwinnable war: Australia in Afghanistan Karen Middleton, scholar of Afghan politics Emeritus Professor William Maley, and gender equity advocate Virginia Haussegger join Mark Kenny to look back on Australia’s time in Afghanistan and discuss what the future may hold for the country.Karen Middleton is Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper.William Maley AM is Emeritus Professor at The Australian National University, where he served as Professor of Diplomacy at the Coral Bell School of International Affairs from 2003 to 2021, and Foundation Director of the university's Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy.Virginia Haussegger AM is an award-winning television journalist, writer, and commentator, whose extensive media career spans more than 25 years. She is Chair of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation and Chief Editor of BroadAgenda at the University of Canberra.Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Scott Ludlam, former Greens Deputy Leader and author of the new book Full Circle: A search for the world that comes next, joins Mark Kenny to discuss what he learnt from his time in politics and Australian climate policy.What role do corporate and private interests play in shaping Australian policy-making? Will the country make changes to political donation rules to make the system more transparent? And how can Australia make meaningful progress on climate policy? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Mark Kenny speaks with former Greens Senator Scott Ludlam about Australian politics, his new book, and Section 44 of the Constitution.Scott Ludlam was Senator for Western Australia in the Australian Senate from 2008 to 2017, and served as Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens. In May 2021 he authored Full Circle: A search for the world that comes next, published by Black Inc.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this special episode of Democracy Sausage for National Reconciliation Week, Virginia Marshall, Peter Swanton, and Tahlia King from The Australian National University join us to discuss why Australia needs to have uncomfortable conversations about its past in order to achieve genuine reconciliation.Are there examples internationally Australia can look to as it goes through its own truth-telling process? Should all Australians be given the opportunity to learn Indigenous Australian languages? And how are some young Aboriginal scholars working to decolonise their fields? This week on Democracy Sausage, lawyer and legal scholar Dr Virginia Marshall, astrophysicist Peter Swanton, and psychology student Taliah King share their personal stories and professional insights in this special National Reconciliation Week episode. Listen now:  Virginia Marshall is the Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with The Australian National University (ANU)’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and the Fenner School of Environment and Society.Peter Swanton is an astrophysics graduate from ANU and Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay man from Mackay, Queensland.Taliah King is a final-year psychology student at The Australian National University and a proud Aboriginal woman from the Yuin and Waanyi people.Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.Peter Swanton’s Sky Stories discussion from 2020 is available on YouTube.In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.