Auspol Explained

Welcome to my two-part interview series! In this episode I sat down with the co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, Esther Anatolitis, to ask her what the arguments are for an Australian republic and why we shouldn't stick with our system of constitutional monarchy.

Welcome to my two-part interview series! In this episode I sat down with Alexander Voltz from the Australian Monarchist League, to ask him what the arguments are for Australia to maintain its system of constitutional monarchy and reject the possibility of becoming a republic.

Australia has a system of constitutional monarchy, but the idea of an Australian republic has been around for nearly two centuries. What is the difference between the two ideas? How does a republic work, what would the powers of the president be, and what would a republic look like for Australia?

In this episode I sat down with award-winning social media reporter and presenter for Guardian Australia, Matilda Boseley, to talk about the importance of journalism in democracy and the role of TikTok/social media in general as a platform to get the news out there. The public needs to be informed about what's happening in their parliament so they can scrutinise and make decisions about their elected representatives. Journalism is a necessary part of that process and in the modern day - so is TikTok.

Here's a guide on how to vote in Queensland state elections. It goes over the basics of how to fill in the ballot, when elections happen, and how preferential voting works. Best of luck! Have fun!

Arguing that politicians need to get paid is not the hot take you expected, but trust me I have an important point to make. Members of Parliament in Australia used to be paid nothing. 0 dollars (well at the time it was 0 pounds). This was terrible on multiple levels because it limited who could run, who could vote, limited accountability, limited choice of the public, and also encouraged corruption. While some people today complain about how much politicians get paid, the public in the 19th century complained they weren't paid anything. Join me on a quick history lesson about why it's actually a good thing politicians get paid something.

SPORTS! POLITICS! A numbered list that combines the two! Many Australian politicians have been former athletes with Olympic careers going all the way back to the 1908 Paris Olympics (at least). Here are ten that range from those who managed to go once and didn't win anything all the way to some of the most decorated and successful athletes Australia has ever sent to the Summer, Winter, and Paralympic games.

The ACT Government is a combination of Labor and Greens - and has been for over a decade now. Majority governments are rare and so it has become a long standing agreement between the two political parties to share the cabinet positions, with Labor getting most of them and Greens getting a few depending on their numbers. But how does it work? How do the two parties resolve their disagreements? And how does it impact election campaigns in the ACT when the two parties have different goals yet may share the co-governing fate after the election? Well, I asked the longest serving Chief Minister of the ACT, Andrew Barr, to talk about how the Labor-Greens Alliance works and to explain the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement that is created as a result.