Past Programs
Government and Politics - 2005
Football and Asia
26/11/2005
When Australia takes the field in next year's World Cup in Germany it will do so as the newest member of the Asian Football Confederation. But the significance of representing Asia in the world game's premier international competition goes well beyond the football field. This new sporting relationship with Asia could create new opportunities for commercial, cultural and political engagement.
Washington Politics
05/11/2005
Pundits are quick to announce that George W Bush has become a lame duck president, as his approval rating sinks to record lows, but he is back on the front foot according to John O'Sullivan. Hurricane Katrina may have been a setback, showing him to be indecisive, but his nomination of Judge Alito for the Supreme Court is a good one, and will focus attention back where he wants it to be.
Government Debt - back in favour?
22/10/2005
The philosophy of small government has reigned supreme for two decades, but it may be coming to an end. We have historically low levels of government debt, and our infrastructure needs have become urgent across the states. Economists of all political persuasions are urging state governments to start borrowing again, and to get some big projects underway.
Liberal Party Power Plays
03/09/2005
The unanimous election of a new leader of the NSW Liberals, Peter Debnam, has not put an end to the instability in the party, as politicians speak out about their dismay at the treatment of John Brogden by others in the party.
And attention has focussed on a group that has been quietly expanding its power base over the past few years - the conservative faction of the party, which seems likely to become the most important force in the NSW branch.
Murder of Olof Palme
20/08/2005
These days it's hard to imagine the prime minister of a country taking an evening stroll without a bodyguard. Twenty years ago it was a different story. In 1986, Swedish prime minister Olof Palme was walking home from the cinema with his wife when he was gunned down by an unknown killer.
As Palme lay bleeding on the pavement, the killer disappeared into the night. The case was to become Sweden's great political murder mystery of the 20th century. Despite a plethora of theories as to what happened on that cold night, we still don't know the truth.
Papua New Guinea
13/08/2005
The Australian government is about to set up an Eminent Persons Group to advise it on its relations with Papua New Guinea. Our aid program is temporarily suspended, and there is less interest from Australians in the fate of our nearest neighbour and ex colony than there was 30 years ago. Hugh White says that the government should consider a range of ways of encouraging Australians to engage with PNG - through rugby league competitions possibly.
Hiroshima Day - 60th anniversary Read Transcript
06/08/2005
On the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima, there will be the usual solemn ceremonies in that city and testimony from the survivors. The Hiroshima bomb, known as 'Little Boy', devastated an area of 13 square kilometres. More than 60% of the buildings in the city were destroyed
and at least 140,000 people died. As the memory of the devastation fades, a debate is growing within Japan about whether her pacifist constitution should be altered to allow it to play a more active role in world affairs.
Natural Advantage
18/06/2005
The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century is an outstanding book about developing a sustainable economy and society. Packed full of international and local innovations and solutions, it has contributions from more than 50 authorities in the field. The book was put together by The Natural Edge Project, a think tank of young Australian engineers and scientists. We speak with the book's co-editor, Michael Smith.
China flexes its muscles
04/06/2005
The anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre is always a nervous time in China, there is generally a round-up of dissidents. This year is no exception, except that this time a Hong Kong based journalist has been detained. Ching Cheong is the Singapore Straits Times correspondent and he went to China to collect some documents relating to Tiananmen Square. He was arrested just over a month ago and has allegedly confessed to spying - a charge his paper finds hard to believe.
Comment - Tom Harley
12/03/2005
The debate about the relationship between the States and the Federal government never really goes away. Tom Harley thinks that the States should concentrate on delivering services, and building up infrastructure - especially now as they have a guarenteed income stream through the GST. They shouldn't be afraid to take on big, long term projects, especially in partnership with private enterprise.
Clean Green Pulp Mill or the Son of Wesley Vale?
12/03/2005
Tasmanian Company Gunns Ltd plans to build a $1billion pulp mill at Bell Bay on the Tamar River near Launceston. They claim it will be low impact and exceed the toughest environmental guidelines in the world. Community concern is mounting around the use of chlorine dioxide, high water use, as well as air and water pollution. We speak with pulp mill General Manager Les Baker and Green Senator elect Christine Milne.
Irish Republican Army in turnoil
05/03/2005
The centenary conference of the IRA's political wing - Sinn Fein - has kicked off in Dublin under a cloud
Since last December it's been one PR disaster after another for the paramilitaries and Sinn Fein's leader, Gerry Adams. Adams' personal approval rating in the Irish Republic has plummeted by 20 per cent, according to one recent poll. The crisis started with the £26.5m bank heist last December, allegedly carried out by the IRA.
The investigations that followed shed light on the organisation's money laundering activities south of the border and shocked many - as did the alleged murder by IRA and Sinn Fein members of the nationalist Robert McCartney in a Belfast Pub on January 30. The brutal killing sparked anti IRA protests by McCartney's family and inhabitants of the staunchly republican Short Strand area.
Environmental Collapse
29/01/2005
Tim Flannery discusses the new book by Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Chose to Fail or Succeed. And Jared Diamond speaks about the concept of his new book while in the process of writing it in 2000.
