Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

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-contested categories in what has been a memorable and testing year. But on the final Democracy Sausage Extra for 2020, our panel – Professor Mark Kenny, Dr Marija Taflaga, and Professor Frank Bongiorno - reveal the nominees and winners of the first – and possibly last – Annual Democracy Sausage Awards.Frank Bongiorno AM is the Head of the School of History and Professor at The Australian National University (ANU). He is an Australian labour, political and cultural historian.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.

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 these cases that could be scaled up and rolled out for other communities, and to tackle other challenges? Joining Professor Mark Kenny and regular podleague Dr Marija Taflaga are two of the authors of the new book Mending Democracy, Associate Professor Carolyn Hendriks and Dr Selen Ercan.Carolyn Hendriks is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance at Crawford School of Public Policy.Selen Ercan is Associate Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at University of Canberra.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 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 Democracy Sausage Extra, author, political journalist and broadcaster Ian Dunt joins Professor Mark Kenny to discuss the history of political thought, present day politics, and liberalism’s trajectory.Ian Dunt is a British author, political journalist and broadcaster. He is the Editor of Politics.co.uk and a host on the Oh God, What Now? podcast. His most recent book, How To Be A Liberal, was published in September 2020.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.

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 to discuss these questions and more are China experts Professor Jane Golley and Yun Jiang, as well as regular podleague Dr Marija Taflaga.Yun Jiang is a researcher at The Australian National University (ANU) Australian Centre on China in World and Co-Editor of China Neican, a newsletter that decodes China issues with concise, timely, and policy-focused analysis.Jane Golley is an economist, Professor at ANU, and Director of ANU Australian Centre on China in the World.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.The 2020 Australian Centre China in the World Annual Lecture, 'Five Eyes, One Tongue and Hard of Hearing – Australia and Asia in China’s Century' by Professor Louise Edwards, is available here. 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.

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 bushfire response and ill-judged comments about going to the footy during a pandemic – seems to be ending on a high note, with stronger than expected economic growth and a virus largely under control. But he’s not been the only leader learning on the job – with Victorian Premier Dan Andrews and opposition leader Anthony Albanese also having testing years. In this special Democracy Sausage Extra, Professor Mark Kenny is joined by Insiders host David Speers to run the rule over the performance of Australia’s leaders in a difficult year.David Speers is an Australian journalist. He has been the host of PM Agenda, The Last Word, and Speers, and is currently host of ABC’s Insiders.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.

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, could finally shift global action to tackling climate change more assertively. But can the world come together to tackle this emergency even as its great powers divide on issues such as trade and the coronavirus? And where does this rapidly changing global environment leave Australia? On this Democracy Sausage, Professor Mark Kenny is joined by Professor John Blaxland and Dr Siobhan McDonnell to talk climate change, the history of disaster in Afghanistan, great power contestation, whether Australia can rise above its climate wars, and more. Siobhan McDonnell is a legal anthropologist with over 20 years of experience working with Indigenous people in Australia and the Pacific on land use, gender, and climate change. She is a Senior Lecturer at Crawford School of Public Policy, and the lead negotiator on climate change for the Vanuatu government.John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies and former Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University (ANU).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 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 reveal about freedom of expression in Australia? What is the significance of groups like the Australian Christian Lobby in Australia’s public discourse? And, with ‘free speech’ very much a political battleground, what might the future hold? On this Democracy Sausage Extra, Professor Mark Kenny speaks with Australian journalist and author Malcolm Knox about the Israel Folau issue, Australia’s evangelical movement, and the ‘culture wars’. This episode was recorded live as part of the ANU/Canberra Times ‘Meet the Author’ series.Malcolm Knox is the former literary editor and an award-winning journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald. Malcolm is the winner of three Walkley Awards. His novels include A Private Man, winner of the Ned Kelly Award, The Life, The Wonder Lover, and Bluebird. His most recent book is Truth Is Trouble: The Strange Case of Israel Folau, Or How Free Speech Became So Complicated.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.

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 last week ‘backcasted’ true rates of infections based on mortality. In doing so, it found infection rates in some countries far higher than official statistics suggest: in the UK the study suggested infection rates are 16 times higher than the published numbers. On this Democracy Sausage, Professor Mark Kenny is joined by regular podleague Dr Marija Taflaga and one of the authors of the report, Professor Quentin Grafton. The panel talk about Europe and the US’ COVID-19 challenge, Australia’s response, and Quentin makes his pitch to Netflix for a new documentary called The Clown.Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics, Australian Laureate Fellow, Convenor of the Water Justice Hub, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. He is also chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance and Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.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.

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 more are answered on this week’s very special Democracy Sausage Extra. With Mark Kenny away, Martyn Pearce takes charge of the barbecue tongs as we take a look back at some of our favourite interviews over the last 18 months of The Sausage.Kieran Gilbert is Chief News Anchor for Sky News, co-anchor of First Edition and anchor of AM Agenda on Sky News Live.David Speers is an Australian journalist and outgoing Political Editor at Sky News Australia. He has been the host of PM Agenda, The Last Word, and Speers. Beginning in 2020, he now hosts ABC’s Insiders.Brian Schmidt AC is Vice-Chancellor and President of The Australian National University. He was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.Liz Allen is a demographer and social researcher with quantitative and qualitative expertise at The Australian National University and author of The Future of Us: Demography gets a makeover.Stan Grant is the Vice Chancellor’s Chair of Australian/Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University. He was formerly ABC’s Global Affairs and Indigenous Affairs Analyst.Jim Chalmers has been the the Shadow Treasurer since 2019 and the Member for Rankin in the Australian Parliament since 2013.Richard Denniss is Chief Economist and former Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He is a prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator, and former Associate Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy.Ros Taylor is Research Manager for the LSE Truth, Trust & Technology Commission and Managing Editor of the LSE Brexit blog.Bevan Shields is Europe Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He was previously Federal Editor and Canberra Bureau Chief.Fintan O’Toole is one of Ireland’s leading political and cultural commentators. He is a columnist and writer for The Irish Times, the 2017 winner of both the European Press Prize and the Orwell Prize, and author of Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain.Jonathan Swan is National Political Reporter for Axios, covering Republican leaders in the United States federal government and the White House.Jane Golley is an economist and Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at The Australian National University.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... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-vaccine movement? And how has the changing media and social media landscape impacted the way governments communicate with their constituents? On this special episode of Democracy Sausage presented as part of the GovComms Festival, we discuss the dark art of government communications with former ministerial press secretary Fiona Benson, government relations consultant Jannette Cotterell, and regular podleague Dr Marija Taflaga.Jannette Cotterell is a Managing Director of Executive Counsel Australia, a government relations and media consultancy. Prior to entering strategic communications and lobbying, she was a television producer with the Nine network, BBC Television in London, and Seven Network in Australia.Fiona Benson is founder of FJ Partners Strategic Advisory. She is a former press secretary to two federal cabinet ministers, and specialises in devising innovative stakeholder engagement, media, and communications strategies.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.Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android 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.