Emma Dawson is an ALP member and a former adviser to the Rudd and Gillard governments on public broadcasting policy. These days she’s the Executive Director of the think tank Per Capita, “an independent, progressive think tank, dedicated to fighting inequality in Australia”.
After very kindly providing me with a nice lunch, Emma explains where her politics come from, the Labor Party's neoliberal legacy, the role of markets in society and her passion for social democracy. She lays out the policy complexities with the #80ADay JobSeeker campaign and the tensions between idealistic, activist politics and brutal electoral math.
(Note: at one point I think Emma accidentally said Linda Reynolds when she was referring to Linda Burney.)
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Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you
You can see my show WE ARE ALL IN THIS at the Newcastle Comedy Festival this weekend
WE ARE ALL IN THIS will be at the Brisbane Comedy Festival in August
ARTICLE: Unemployment doesn't just happen to "other people". It can happen to you by Emma Dawson
ARTICLE: Centrist Joe is precisely the president America needs by Emma Dawson
ARTICLE: Income support 'not the only lever': Labor's plan to tackle disadvantage
The 2021 Per Capita Tax Survey
What Happens Next? edited by Emma Dawson & Janet McCalman
Cause of the Week: The Australian Unemployed Workers' Union (unemployedworkersunion.com)
Jonathan Biggins is a legendary Australian satirist, actor and writer, who is currently performing his one-man show The Gospel According To Paul - a theatrical biography of the reforming Labor Treasurer and Prime Minister, Paul Keating.
I asked Jonathan about his thoughts on Keating's complicated legacy - the good and the bad - and how his (often arrogant, but politically effective) leadership contrasts with the shit we have today. We discuss "economic rationalism", the waging of culture wars and identity politics and Jonathan's grave concern about the effect that social media technology is having on our society..
If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron
Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you
You can see my show WE ARE ALL IN THIS at the Newcastle Comedy Festival in May
WE ARE ALL IN THIS will be at the Brisbane Comedy Festival in August
It then tours to Bendigo and Brisbane
Cause of the Week: The Actor's Benevolent Fund (actorsbenevolentfund.org.au)
Richie Merzian is the Director of the Climate & Energy Program at The Australia Institute.
With Australia embarrassing itself on the global stage when it comes to setting actual reduction targets that might actually do something, this was a great chance to check in with where the climate debate is at. Richie lays out just how lacking our commitments are, what they should be and what other countries are doing, as well giving me the rundown on electric vehicles, carbon accounting tricks, just transition models, fossil fuel subsidies and the (relatively straightforward) path to addressing this existential crisis.
If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron
Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you
My 2021 show WE ARE ALL IN THIS is on at the Melbourne Comedy Festival NOW – just 6 shows left!
My new show WE ARE ALL IN THIS is coming to Sydney for two nights only in May
Or you can see WE ARE ALL IN THIS at the Newcastle Comedy Festival on May
I was on the latest episode of the Confessions of the Idiots podcast and it was great fun
Support Shane Bazzi's legal fund because he's being sued by Peter Dutton
Hot Mess - Richie's summary of Morrison's performance at Biden's climate summit
The US is charging ahead on climate action, so where the bloody hell is Australia? by Richie Merzian
ARTICLE: Labor backs coal beyond 2050
RESEARCH: Australian fossil fuel subsidies hit $10.3 billion in 2020/21
Cause of the Week: The Juice Media (thejuicemedia.com)