Historian Frank Bongiorno joins the show to discuss coronations, consecrations and policy cremations.Poised to deliver its second budget in under a year, is the Albanese government’s post-election honeymoon period finally coming to an end? Can the Liberal Party be a truly ‘broad church’ or is it now beholden to conservatives and the secret Coalition agreement? And will Australians answer Buckingham Palace’s call to swear an oath of allegiance to their new king through their televisions? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Frank Bongiorno from The Australian National University (ANU) joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss pre-budget politics and the coronation of King Charles III.Frank Bongiorno AM is an Australian labour, political and cultural historian and Professor of History at ANU.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chief Executive Officer of the Grattan Institute Danielle Wood joins Democracy Sausage to discuss the pressures facing the Australian economy and to preview the May budget.How can the federal government manage the significant pressures on the budget while at the same time supporting those most in need during the cost-of-living crisis? Can Australia let go of its property investment ‘fetish’ and ensure everyone has access to an affordable, decent place to live? And with the JobSeeker payment failing to meet people’s basic needs, will the government meet the ‘moral demand’ to raise the rate? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Grattan Institute CEO Danielle Wood joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss the government’s options ahead of its second federal budget.Danielle Wood is the Chief Executive Officer of the Grattan Institute.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Member for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman joins the show to discuss the current direction of the Liberal Party, the demographic challenges the party faces and how it can engage younger voters.With younger Australians now less likely to become politically conservative as they age, can the Liberal Party connect with this changing electorate? Can the remaining moderate members of the Liberal party room effectively influence its direction and reorient it towards the political centre ground? And will the party’s leadership address the “number one concern” of voters in inner city electorates like North Sydney - climate change? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, leading Liberal moderate and former Member for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss the party’s direction after the 2022 federal election.Trent Zimmerman was the federal Liberal Member for North Sydney from 2015 to 2022.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Kos Samaras joins Mark Kenny and Marija Taflaga to discuss how the Australian electorate is changing and the Liberal Party’s declining fortunes at the ballot box.Out of government everywhere bar Tasmania, is the Liberal Party suffering from cyclical changes in politics or are its problems structural? Why is the party struggling to hold onto metropolitan electorates? And with the primary vote for both major parties on the slide, are minority governments likely to become the norm? Kos Samaras, former Labor Party official and Director of RedBridge social research group, joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss the future of Australian politics.Kos Samaras is a Director of the social research firm RedBridge and the former Victorian Deputy Campaign Director for the Australian Labor Party. Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Senator Rex Patrick joins Democracy Sausage this week to discuss the Australian government’s “mind-blowingly absurd” AUKUS decision-making.Has the Australian government put all of its eggs in one nuclear basket with the AUKUS submarines deal, rather than investing in the range of capabilities necessary to defend Australia? Will the “highly risky” British-designed submarines actually make it to Australian shores - and what will be the implications for South Australia’s defence industry workforce if they don’t? And after losing the once-safe Aston in a historic by-election over the weekend, what lessons can the Liberal Party learn about its ability to attract moderate voters? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, former Senator Rex Patrick joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and the fallout from the Aston by-election.Rex Patrick is a former Senator for South Australia and a former submariner. Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Democracy Sausage, we discuss negotiations between the government and the Greens over the ‘safeguard mechanism’ and the findings of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report with experts Mark Howden and Arnagretta Hunter.Having reached an agreement with the Greens over its signature climate policy, is the government finally putting to bed Australia’s so-called ‘climate wars’? What role will the expanded crossbench play in climate policy negotiations throughout this term? And what does the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis report show about the world’s ability to prevent the worst impacts of climate change? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, The Australian National University’s Professor Mark Howden, Dr Arnagretta Hunter and Dr Marija Taflaga join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss climate change and the importance of hope in the policy debate.Mark Howden is the Director of the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions and a Vice Chair of the IPCC.Arnagretta Hunter is a cardiologist, physician and the Human Futures Fellow in the ANU College of Health and Medicine.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Strategic studies expert Hugh White argues that the AUKUS submarines arrangement is a deeply flawed deal that ties Australia to the United States in the event of a major armed conflict in Asia.Are nuclear-powered submarines the most cost-effective and strategically sound option for Australia? Is Australia paying for the Virginia-class submarines with a portion of its sovereignty as well as a very large sum of money? And is the Australian government basing its decision-making on flawed assumptions about the United States’ ongoing pre-eminence in Asia? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Emeritus Professor Hugh White from The Australian National University (ANU) discusses the AUKUS deal with Professor Mark Kenny.Hugh White is an Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton joins the show to discuss what the Robodebt royal commission hearings uncovered and the dire state of Australia’s policymaking apparatus.How was the Robodebt scheme, which illegally and inaccurately used income averaging to calculate welfare debt, allowed to become policy and wreak havoc on some of Australia’s most vulnerable citizens? What did the royal commission hearings, which concluded just last week, reveal about the culture of the Australian public service and its relationship with the former government? And what needs to change so that a policy failure of this magnitude doesn’t happen again? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss the Robodebt royal commission.Rick Morton is a Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper and author ‘Robodebt and the empathy bypass’, a new essay in The Monthly about the Robodebt scandal.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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.If you or anyone you know needs help, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via http://www.lifeline.org.au/ or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or via https://www.beyondblue.org.au/.Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Historian Frank Bongiorno joins us to discuss superannuation reforms, Robodebt and the state of policy debate in Australian politics on this episode of Democracy Sausage.Why has the backlash to the government’s superannuation changes been so fervent, despite an overwhelming majority of Australians supporting the move? What did the illegal Robodebt scheme reveal about the exercise of power in Australian politics and society? And what lessons can the Prime Minister and his cabinet learn from past governments if it wants to have a serious, effective conversation about economic reform? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, The Australian National University’s Professor Frank Bongiorno, Dr Marija Taflaga and Professor Mark Kenny discuss policymaking and reform in a febrile - even hostile - media environment.Frank Bongiorno AM is an Australian labour, political and cultural historian and Professor of History at The Australian National University (ANU).Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media expert Jennifer Stromer-Galley joins us to discuss social media, echo chambers and the erosion of democratic institutions on this episode of Democracy Sausage.Effective policymaking depends on people coming together to find common ground, but is that still possible in the increasingly caustic political atmosphere in the United States? What role has social media - particularly Twitter - played in undermining democratic institutions? And what, if anything, can be done to reverse these worrying trends? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Dr Jennifer Stromer-Galley, from Syracuse University in the United States, joins Dr Marija Taflaga and Professor Mark Kenny to discuss the search for common ground in politics in the age of social media.Jennifer Stromer-Galley is a social media expert, author of Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age and Professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University.Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Mark Kenny is a Professor at 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 Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.