The international community could soon bear witness to the ground invasion of Gaza, one of the most densely populated residential areas in the world.

That is how Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel appears to have decided to retaliate after the recent attack by Hamas.

It marked the greatest loss of life in a single day in Israel’s history.

Since then, Israel has laid a “complete siege” on Gaza, shutting off delivery of food, fuel and medicines.

Today, world editor of The Saturday Paper Jonathan Pearlman on what’s happening in Gaza and why this new war could reshape the Middle East.

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Guest: World editor of The Saturday Paper, Jonathan Pearlman

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The “No” campaign’s victory was anything but assured 12 months ago. It’s victory came from the elevation of key spokespeople and talking points, cooked up by a group most Australians have never heard of: the CIS.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on the secretive groups that crafted negative messaging and elevated key leaders in the successful “No” campaign.  

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Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper, Mike Seccombe.

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Australians have resoundingly voted against the Voice to Parliament referendum in every state. First Nations Australians won’t be recognised in the constitution, and they won’t have a Voice. 

It means the Uluru Statement from the Heart has been rejected and the path of Voice, Treaty, Truth is over. 

Today, contributor to The Monthly and The Saturday Paper, Daniel James, on what this result says about our country and how we’ll move forward after voting No. 

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Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper, Daniel James

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Tomorrow, Australia will vote on the future of reconciliation.

It’s a binary question, but we’re being asked to consider the country’s relationship with the First Australians and how we want to conduct political discourse.

The final episode in this series looks at the two different Australias we are choosing between, with someone who has spent her life in the struggle for reconciliation and understanding: Professor Marcia Langton.

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Guest: Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Marcia Langton

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There was a time when conservatives could have supported the Voice, by backing a proposal brought by Indigenous Australians at the request of then prime minister Tony Abbott. 

Instead, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, after months of equivocation, decided to reject the Voice with all the gusto we’ve come to expect from the man who walked out on the national apology.

So how did it come to this? What damage is anti-Voice rhetoric doing to public debate? And do conservatives really want to do anything to close the gap?

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Guest: Federal MP for New England, Barnaby Joyce; Federal MP for Berowra, Julian Leeser

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The “Yes” campaign set out to accomplish a rare feat in Australian politics: to win a majority of Australians and a majority of states. That is, to win a referendum.

It began as a difficult task and has only become more gruelling as bipartisanship was lost and the polls turned.

But this is a grassroots campaign, with tens of thousands of volunteers attempting to reach Australians with face-to-face conversations in time to win a majority on polling day.

So how was the campaign built? And can it really overcome the huge challenge in time for Saturday’s vote?

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Guest: Spokesperson for Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, Thomas Mayo; Independent MP for Kooyong, Monique Ryan; Uluru Dialogue co-chair, Professor Megan Davis

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Over the course of the referendum’s official campaign, the case against the Voice has been dominated by the conservative “No” campaign, led by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine. 

But what is the “progressive No” case – the advocates of which are predominantly First Nations people. The Blak Sovereign movement against the Voice isn’t officially campaigning for its demise and isn’t backed by less-than-transparent fortunes and vested interests.

Their opposition comes from an entirely different place to that of the conservatives, yet reaches the same conclusion: NO. 

Today we speak to the face of the “progressive No”, Senator Lidia Thorpe. 

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Guest: Senator Lidia Thorpe

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On October 14, we will be asked a question to which we must answer yes or no.

While the question itself is simple, the issues in and around the debate over the proposed alteration to the nation's founding document are anything but simple.

To understand how we got here and why we are voting on a Voice to Parliament, it’s important to understand what happened to ATSIC, the last consultative body for Indigenous people. Its failures drive the "No" campaign and its disbandment drives the "Yes" campaign.

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Guests: Mick Gooda, former chief executive of ATSIC; Megan Davis, constitutional lawyer and public law expert. 

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Today on the show, writer and historian Robyn Annear, with her piece from the September edition of The Monthly. 

While researching the opening of the Yan Yean reservoir in the 1800s, Robyn followed a thread, unravelling the history of sewage and sewerage in Victoria.

From cast-iron pissoirs and open-air urinals, to robo-dunnies and the National Public Toilet Map app, our local history of public toilets is rich with squalid detail. 

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Guest: writer and historian, Robyn Annear

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Australia will vote in the historic Voice to Parliament referendum in just over a week.

While the “Yes” camp has lost support throughout the campaign, polls show it’s making a comeback and has even flipped some outspoken “No” voters.

So, what’s behind the change, and will the “No” camp be able to maintain its lead?

Today, contributing writer for The Monthly Rachel Withers on how Voice supporters are convincing voters and what’s in store for the campaign’s final week.

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Guest: Contributing writer for The Monthly, Rachel Withers.

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