About Us
Australia Talks Back is a daily national talkback program. It's a forum for the discussion of a specific topic with the involvement of expert guests, Radio National specialists and listeners, who can call on the toll-free number 1300 22 55 76 (1300 CALL RN) .
You can hear the views of people in capital cities, provincial towns, on farms and in remote communities responding to a broad range of issues – everything from politics, economics, social and international affairs to sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
From Monday to Thursday, we discuss each topic in depth and then on Fridays we have the 'Week in Review', where you have another chance to have your say on the week's four topics.
Paul Barclay
Paul Barclay is a Walkley-award winning broadcaster and journalist with ABC Radio National. For the past six and a half years he has been Executive Producer of Australia Talks Back. He also regularly deputises as presenter of ATB, in the absence of Sandy McCutcheon.
When circumstances permit, Paul makes radio documentaries for Radio National’s Background Briefing. Over the years he has acted as Program Director at 612 ABC Brisbane (then 4QR), written for Rolling Stone magazine – among other publications – presented current affairs program for ABC Local Radio in the Northern Territory and Brisbane, and produced countless stories for many programs on most ABC Radio networks.
Sandy McCutcheon
Sandy McCutcheon was brought up in New Zealand and moved to Australia in the 1970s. Most of his working life has been spent in either radio or theatre. Sandy has worked as an actor and director and has written 22 plays that have been professionally produced. He is also a best-selling author.
Sandy was the founder of the Illusion Farm Community, a Buddhist centre in the mountains of Tasmania that provided rest and retreat facilities free of charge for people in need. The Farm also provided the base for the Illusion Circus Theatre Company which toured many of his plays.
In his broadcasting career, Sandy has worked in both commercial and public radio with the highlights being his time on Double Jay and his present position as the producer/presenter of Australia Talks Back, heard every weekday around Australia on ABC Radio National and overseas through ABC Radio Australia. He also presented and produced a monthly book discussion program on Radio National called Australia Talks Books, which attracted some of the world's best-known writers including Peter Carey and John Le Carre.
Sandy has produced radio documentaries in many parts of the world including Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Mozambique, South Africa and North and South Sudan. In Finland he has worked with the Finnish National Broadcaster. He has a strong connection with Finland where he lived and worked on a scholarship from the Finnish Government. Sandy's radio work has been recognised with awards in Australia and at the prestigious New York Radio Festival Awards.
He has also been awarded the International Kalevala Medal by the Finnish Government for services to Finnish culture. Sandy's first novel, In Wolf's Clothing, was entered in the HarperCollins National Fiction Prize in 1995 and was runner-up out of a field of 400.
Sandy's subsequent novels, Peace Crimes, Poison Tree, Safe Haven and Delicate Indecencies are all bestsellers. He has also written two non-fiction titles and an illustrated children's book called Blik! Two new novels are due out next year.
Sandy McCutcheon currently lives in Brisbane.
