Past Programs
Government and Politics - 2008
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Carpenter the untouchable Read Transcript
25/07/2008
You'd expect any premier who is forced to plead for people to switch off their heating in the midst of a man-made gas crisis to be heading for electoral oblivion. But Alan Carpenter is Western Australia's teflon premier and his management style during the crisis has just added to his community cred. It's an amazing political story because nothing seems to stick: not the Brian Burke scandals, not the ministerial sackings, not the factional biffo within the Labor Party. With an election expected by early next year and a state opposition in disarray, 'Carps' could well be on a winning streak. We take the Premier through WA's political landscape and ask him for the secret to his Midas touch.
Murray River Flows Read Transcript
02/05/2008
Federal Water Minister Penny Wong announced the government would spend $3.1 billion buying back irrigation licences as part of a 10-year strategy to secure the nation's water. But the plan relies on farmers volunteering to sell their water rights - and for the Murray that could be too little too late.
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 mp3Howard's battlers go missing
11/04/2008
Here's one group of people you know all about - or at least, you think you do. Howard's 'battlers'. Remember them? The socially conservative, blue-collar (yet upwardly mobile) workers who abandoned Labor in 1996? When Prime Minister John Howard rose to power, the legend was born of the working-class voters who abandoned their Labor roots. But did Howard's battlers ever exist? And if so, just how loyal were they to the Coalition, and why?
The best democracy money can't buy Read Transcript
11/04/2008
Good thing Australia has campaign finance laws: by February next year we'll find out who donated to whom at the 2007 federal election. That's right: 15 months between donation and disclosure - and even then, only amounts of $10,500 or more will be revealed. Minister John Faulkner has promised reform - but how far is he prepared to go? The Rudd cabinet may consider a study tour to New York city, where all political donations appear - almost instantaneously - on line, for the world to see. And the Canadians also know a thing or two about money, politics and transparency.
Tired, not grumpy: Rudd-era public servants Read Transcript
14/03/2008
You've heard of a meal allowance - but what about a pyjama allowance? Some union wags have suggested that our public servants may be entitled to one, now that they're spending long hours at the office trying to keep up with 24-Kevin, the prime minister who never sleeps. Work-life balance issues aside, just how is the Australian Public Service faring under the Rudd government? Early reports suggest that in spite of the workload the mood is upbeat among Canberra's mandarins. But is it just honeymoon bliss, or will the Labor government's relationship with the country's bureaucracy truly mark a break with the past?
Adjust the Speaker
08/02/2008
Victorian Labor MP Harry Jenkins knows a thing or two about the role of Speaker in the House of Representatives: his father, Harry Jenkins Sr, held the post in the early years of the the Hawke government. Next week, the junior Jenkins is set to take up the Speaker's 200,000-plus salary, along with all of the lurks and perks of office. Early indications suggest he's serious about making the speaker more independent of government. Of course, the road to parliamentary perdition is paved with the good intentions of incoming speakers, so it may come down to how tight Prime Minister Kevin Rudd holds the leash. Unless there's a bit of slack, Mr Jenkins could be facing years as the languid lapdog of the executive.
