At just 33, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young already has eight years of experience serving as a Greens Senator for South Australia in the federal parliament. Once a protégé of Bob Brown’s, Sarah now holds the portfolios of Immigration & Citizenship, LGBTI rights and Youth, Early Childhood Education & Childcare for the Greens.
In this chat, recorded just before Sarah took to the stage at a Rally for Refugees in Melbourne, we discuss the future of her party, her path from student politician to youthful senate candidate, the 2009 CTRS decision, party donations and the horrible shit she’s seen in her visits to offshore detention centres.
The Sydney Just For Laughs Stand Up Series
Danny Bhoy at the State Theatre In Sydney
Article: Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young partied at Mardis Gras with taxpayer money
Sarah on The Chaser's The Hamster Decides
Cause of the Week: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (asrc.org.au), No Business In Abuse (nobusinessinabuse.org)
It's been almost a year since a magistrate gave whistleblower Freya Newman a two-year good behaviour bond for “unauthorized access to information” under the NSW Crimes Act. Her leaking of private information about Frances Abbott, the prime minister’s daughter, receiving a $60,000 undeclared scholarship at the Whitehouse Institute, a private design school, ignited a furious public debate about privacy, privilege and the public’s right to know.
At the National Young Writer’s Festival in Newcastle, I got to sit down with Freya and asked her to reflect on exactly how it all happened, what it’s like to be in the centre of a media shitstorm, the failings of the media’s handling of the issue, gaps in the law and whether or not she holds any regrets about the whole episode.
RJ Mitte event at the Athenaeum Theatre
My shows at the Republic Bar in Hobart, Fresh Comedy in Launceston
Rally for Refugees this Sunday October 11th
Article on Freya: The Whistleblower
Cause of the Week: Students Support The Aboriginal Communities (on FB), Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation (dumbartungaboriginalcorporation.org), Kyol Blakeney for Cleo Bachelor of the Year