Past Programs
Community and Society - 2008
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Parched: the politics of water Read Transcript
21/11/2008
Efficient shower heads are not enough to solve our water problems. As the world warms, weather patterns are changing, and rain falls in all the wrong places. We need to find new ways to save and share water or it could become a primary cause of global conflict. This public forum on the politics of water was recorded at Melbourne's Capital Theatre on Saturday 30th of August as part of the 2008 Melbourne Writers Festival.
What's going on in WA politics?
09/05/2008
Between declining lunch invitations with Brian Burke, sniffing chairs, lifting tops, and snapping bras it looks like politicians in the west might be gearing up for an early election. The recent budget certainly appears generous. We ask how women will fare, and if there is really talk of a new alternative to the Liberal Party in Australia's biggest state.
Is Australian Democracy Ailing?
02/05/2008
Is there too much power concentrated in the hands of Australia's politicians? Do we need to expose them (and their policy decisions) to more scrutiny, and lose some of the 'she'll be right' attitude? Perhaps we'd be better off if we held business leaders in higher regard, and were less apathetic about public debate - in short, a little more like the United States. Would civil society then be in a stronger position to challenge government and public authorities, leading to more rigorous debate and as a result to better public policy?
The National Interest cuts to the 2020 chase Read Transcript
18/04/2008
You've heard the spin, the cant, the rhetoric - but who do you turn to get to the heart of the issues on the 2020 Summit table? Sure, all policy is politics, but the National Interest's coverage will radiate light, not heat, by tracking the one issue that underlies all others: governance. Democratic participation, transparency, institutions, citizenship, federalism... These are NI staples and presenter Peter Mares will be asking a panel of Summit participants how to translate big ideas into accountable institutions and processes.
Extra audio
The Sunday 20 April edition of the National Interest contains material not broadcast in the Friday program. How did the 20/20 Summit work on the day? In the 20 April edition we touch base with Governance summiteer Kate Crawford to see how her proposals went down, how the debate was managed and just how many seconds' worth of debate each idea was granted. Download the 20 April program as mp3All Chinese to us Read Transcript
28/03/2008
Australia has its first Mandarin-speaking prime minister - it's hardly surprising, therefore, that the new government wants to boost the number of students with a foreign language. But have we missed the boat? Is Australia now so far behind that our exporters are already facing a skills bottleneck? Can we crack the Chinese market if we don't have enough Australian sinophones ready to hit the ground running? If the debate's sounding familiar, it could be because our language crisis was first highlighted almost 20 years ago. What can be done? How do we fire up linguistic excitement in potential students?
One-armed bandits fight back Read Transcript
21/03/2008
The Easter holidays are sacred for Australia's casinos, so you can forget about shoving the rent money down the pokies on Good Friday. Well, at least for part of the day. Melbourne Crown Casino is closed - very closed - between 4am and 12 noon... So, plenty of time for a church service and a hot cross bun before resuming the gambling schedule. Last week we spoke to public health researcher Charles Livingstone about ways of making the pokies safer; today we get the other side of the debate from the manufacturers of the machines. Just how addictive are the multi-buttoned bandits, and do makers have a social responsibility to protect those who use them? Do people lose money or do the pokies lose it for them?
CUGs (Cashed Up Gamblers)
14/03/2008
The one machine in the Melbourne casino you can rely on to pay out loads of cash is the ATM. Well, the Victorian government has moved to change that, by banning automatic teller machines from gambling venues. The hope is that once problem gamblers are out in the fresh air they'll think twice about shovelling the rest of the rent money down the slot. Premier John Brumby's announcement, which followed discussions with pokie-sceptic PM Kevin Rudd, could put pressure on other states to follow suit. But does it go far enough?
Mega mayors
07/03/2008
Municipal elections are, by definition, parochial affairs. But what happens when local governments become big - really big? Next weekend, Queenslanders will vote in the first local government elections since the recent, painful, council amalgamations. In what amounted to a brutal game of musical chairs last year, half of the councils were scrapped in one, fell swoop by the Beattie government. The mergers created 36 new mega-councils, and some of them are so large that the outcome of the March 15 polls will take on national significance.
