Pidgin Politics

Show notes to come.

We’re back for the first sitting week of the new parliament. Paula was unavailable, so this week Margo and Wes are joined by Dale Clisby, who mixes and edits the podcast each week and is also one of the co-hosts on Pidgin’s ‘A Troublesome Thought.’ We start by taking in what the government proposes to pass in the next few weeks, namely the $6.5 omnibus bill that springs from its as yet unconsummated budget. Will Labor give it the rubber stamp, or are there some things - like the ARENA cuts or clean energy supplement for welfare recipients - that might hold the whole process up? What’s in a mandate? The government has been claiming they have one since before the result was even confirmed in their favour… but is this just grandstanding? We wonder at whether anyone can claim a mandate if they can’t pass policy, and with the ABCC legislation - which was the alleged drive for the double dissolution election - potentially unlikely to pass, can a government with one majorit

After a short post-election break, Wes, Paula and Margo return to unpack the new government and shadows ministries, Turnbull's rebuke of Rudd's UN pitch, the state of the juvenile detention in the NT and the already bungled Royal Commission into it, and the rise of Pauline Hanson in the wake of the SBS documentary "Please Explain".

We’re back for our final of this special election series of Pidgin Politics. We start by counting the votes to find that just as we started to record the government hit its majority. But Bill Shorten had already conceded and Malcolm Turnbull has found himself back in government, but narrowly. So why would the independents agree to supply and confidence without a little bit of wheeling and dealing on the side? Is it all in the name of stability or do we imagine we might have seen (and might still see) a bit of pork being thrown their way in the new parliament? We then turn to the makeup of the new parliament… Malcolm Turnbull has called for stability, but how easy will it be for the government to pass anything in the 45th parliament, with an increased and more diverse crossbench in both houses and a reinforced ALP? And then, of course, the major thing we’re wondering about for the upper house - how will the One Nation vote be won and how volatile will that be for Malcolm Turnbull? Remember

Pidgin Politics is back for the final week of the election campaign! As we enter that final week Margo, Paula and Wes unpack the Coalition “rally” that saw the party finally launch its official campaign - just six days from the actual polling day in an 8 week campaign. There were policies on offer, but the intrigue for many was the elephant in the room - Tony Abbott - and the new slogan that seems to have emerged post-Brexit chaos: “stick to the plan”. We stay on Brexit to discuss what impact we think the referendum in the UK - and its subsequent resignations, recriminations, calls for Irish unity and Scottish freedom - will have on our own upcoming vote. Is it a good thing for the incumbents or will the future the Labor party is putting forward look like a good alternative to the similar conservative/liberal infighting that seems to typify the Turnbull leadership? The Labor party released their costings on Sunday, which saw a projection for higher deficits in the short-term but proje

As we enter the penultimate week of the campaign, Paula, Margo and Wes get together to unpack the big events defining the playing field as pre-poll votes already begin to flow in. We start with the Facebook Leaders debate, which saw Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull head to what host Joe Hildebrand called the “Facebook bunker” to answer questions from within the room and online, as punters evaluated their responses via “reactions”. It seemed like the loosest we’ve seen both leaders but did the format add anything new? Next we turn to the Labor launch, which saw famous past leaders (with the notable exception of Kevin Rudd) sit down with current party faithful to finally officially launch the campaign. Bill Shorten gave the pep talk of his career but is it enough to put gas in the tank for the final few weeks? With twitter and news sites abuzz about an ad featuring an allegedly fake trade (who, as it turns out, is not fake) we turn to a wrap up of an analysis of the ads that defin

This week on Pidgin Politics Paula, Margo and Wes try to follow the flow on preferences, which - after weeks of scolding the Greens for allegedly planning to do the same - saw the ALP make a deal with the Liberal party which would see Labor preferences above the Greens in all seats for the low, low price of preferencing the Libs above the Nats in some regional seats that are sure to cause ructions in the Coalition. Why is it okay for Labor to do deals but not the Greens? And what’s going on in the Coalition? Does it matter if the Greens get Labor preferences in the end? We then turn to the revelation that Liberal party MPs have been using their tax-payer funded electorate allowances to pay for “feedback” software - which tracks voters’ comments and intentions - from a company that has donated significantly to the party in recent years. And apparently electorate office staffers have been doing free work for Parakeelia, the company that provides the software, too. Finally we talk NBN - t

Wes, Paula and Margo are back this week for week four of the campaign, still puzzling over what parts of the week were gaffes and what was actual strategy. We start by analysing both of the major debates hosted at the National Press Club by Chris Uhlmann. First the Treasurers’ debate, which saw Treasurer Scott Morrison and his shadow, Chris Bowen, debate who had spotted the biggest black hole, and secondly the Leaders’ Debate on Sunday, which saw both Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull struggle to convey who they actually are. We then turn to the media coverage of the election thus far - why are we still seeing the photos of the bus, the pre-arranged grabs and the pressers we can all get from the wires when we have veteran journalists on the trail? Why aren’t we seeing more seat specific coverage? Who cares if the PM faved your tweet? In our policy section we discuss Labor’s backflips this week which saw both the school kid’s bonus and opposition to the assets test on pensions axe

It’s the third week of what has become an incredibly contentious campaign and Paula, Margo and Wes are back again this week to unpack just what is going on in between the raids and gaffes. We start by examining Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s call on Peter Murray’s Sky News show that increasing the refugee intake to 50,000 people would open the doors to “illiterate and innumerate” refugees who would both steal our dole and our jobs. Was it a gaffe or was it a little bit more calculated? We then turn to the AFP raids of the offices of former Labor communications minister Stephen Conroy and other Labor staffers last Thursday night. Was this politically motivated or just very bad timing? And does it even matter, politically, in the grand scheme of things? For our weekly look at policy we open up the hood on the ALP’s bid to unfreeze the indexation of the MBS and why this might just be a vote winner. In light of the 4 Corners special on political donations we talk about wha

Paula, Margo and Wes are back for week two of the election campaign, wiping their brows after a slog of a week that somehow included a leaders debate, a national press club appearance from the shadow treasurer and a week’s worth of media coverage of a single question on Q&A. First up we go over the entrails of the People’s Forum: the first debate of the campaign and an open forum for 100 (allegedly) undecided voters to ask questions of the two leaders. The room called it for Bill Shorten, and we tend to agree, but what about the mechanics of the debate itself? And where were the Greens?   Staying on the Greens, as their numbers across both the lower and upper houses increase, isn’t it about time we started to see them at events like this? We talk about the cut-through the Greens are getting despite this seeming oversight and ask whether it’s actually playing into their hands to omit them from the discussion.   Asylum seeker policy caused quite the headache for Bill Shorte

Pidgin Politics is back for a special election series to take you through right up to the closing of the polls. New panelists Margo Kingston (@margokingston1)and Paula Matthewson (@Drag0nista) join host Wes Mountain (@therevmountain ) this week to talk about the state of play for Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and the new senate micro-parties following Malcolm Turnbull calling the election on Sunday 8 May, what we can expect in the coming weeks and where our own personal biases and preferences may lie. So join us each week as we take you through the policy announcements, the tactics and give the parties some much needed - but perhaps unwanted - advice about what we’d like to see them do to win over the hearts of the electorate.

A little late for this week due to some significant technical issues (thank you copper network - a topic for another week!). Wes and Ed take the reigns for Tim and look this week at the proposed GST changes which have state support but in the end, it seems no support from the government. Why put it up? Why not? Is there another solution to our revenue problem? Next we look at political donations and ask why it takes so long to get our hands on this data in Australia and what it means to have a political system funded on obscured donations. Is it just par for the course in democracy or, as Ed suggests, is there an alternative? Next we look to Iowa and speak to Professor Anthony Gaughan who was on the ground at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, as the caucuses occured to find out the ins-and-outs.  And, of course, bits and pieces.

We're back! After what seems like ages, Tim and Wes are back to give you some auditory political stimulation. However the status quo only remains for about 13 seconds as Ed Butler joins the gang this week, and will be doing so for the next six months while Tim turns his hands to other Pidgin-y projects.  In actual substance, the boys deal with the ensuing period between the last show and this one, and turn their hands to predicting the future both in Australia and abroad.  Links can be found at pidgin.net.au

In the last Pidgin Politics for the year, Tim and Wes discuss the MYEFO statement released on Tuesday, the shennanigans and back room dealing surrounding Ian Macfarlane's unsuccessful defection from the Liberal Party to the National Party and Wes Widmaier joins us to discuss the US Federal Reserve interest rates decision.  Links to the things that we spoke about are available at pidgin.net.au

As world leaders descend on Paris for the United Nations Climate Change talks, Tim Clare and Wes Mountain are joined by Tim Dunlop to devote this week's episode of Pidgin Politics to the politics of climate change. We start off by discussing the government's approach to the issue, and the talks, and how Malcolm Turnbull is handling tensions with the conservatives in the party. Secondly, we examine how the Labor Party is seeking to score political points from the government's division and how much spine is in the "heroic" targets that Bill Shorten has announced.  We are joined from Paris by Celine Ramstein, who is directly involved in the talks for the IDDRI at Sciences Po University. She gives us the view from the conference, and what we can expect from the next two weeks  Finally we round out the show with Bits & Pieces. Check out pidgin.net.au for further links to everything that we spoke about, and don't forget to leave us a review in iTunes. 

This episode of Pidgin Politics comes a little later in the week due to some heartbreaking technical difficulties, so please excuse some of the audio quirks.  Wes Mountain and Tim Clare discuss the possibilities around media ownership reform, the rising fear of Muslim refugees in the wake of the attacks on Paris, and Robert Kelly from Pusan University helps us understand the latest talks between North and South Korea.   (Yes the Gomez music toward the end is deliberate)

It’s just Tim and Wes on Pidgin Politics this week, as we say farewell to Gaby D’Souza who has had to leave us due to other commitments. You will be missed, Gaby!  We start by discussing the proposed changes to the family tax benefits system, including Family Tax Benefit A and B, and what impact this could have on various family types. Next, we pause to consider the attacks on Paris and the impact they may have on the citizenship legislation the Turnbull government hopes to pass in the next few weeks.  Finally, we spoke to Tal Schneider - a Tel-Aviv based journalist and political blogger - about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington, the first since he made an extraordinary trip in March at the invitation of the Republican House Speaker Jon Boehner.  And, as always, Bits and Pieces. 

Tim, Wes and Gaby discuss the rumoured changes to the GST and how the Knights and Dames reversal is just another in a long list of clean-up jobs by the Turnbull government of Tony Abbott’s policies.