Australia Matters

Rumours about America's role in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam have circulated for decades – but is there any truth to them? 

On this special episode of Follow the Money, Dr Emma Shortis explores the state of the Australia-United States relationship under the Whitlam government, the machinations at the time around the renewal of Pine Gap, and the previously untold account of Dr Liz Cham, former executive assistant in the office of Prime Minister Whitlam, who recalls handing over a mystery letter to an American official just before the Dismissal.

The interview with Liz Cham was recorded on Thursday 30 October. This episode first aired on After America on Tuesday 25 November

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ at checkout to save $5 off the price – available for a limited time only.

Guest: Elizabeth Cham, fellow at the University of Technology Sydney and former executive assistant in the office of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @emmashortis

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Scripting and production support: Stephen Long

Sound design and mixing: Simon Branthwaite

Show notes:

Did the CIA overthrow the Whitlam government? by Charlie Lewis, Crikey (November 2025)

What Washington really thought of Whitlam before the dismissal by James Curran, Australia Financial Review (November 2025)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

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If you or anyone you know needs help, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via their website, www.lifeline.org.au.

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If you or anyone you know needs help, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via their website, www.lifeline.org.au.

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Big economic reform probably isn’t as hard as governments think.

On the final episode of Dollars & Sense for 2025, Greg and Elinor discuss why it’s a time for bravery in our economic policy-making and whether rate hikes are on the way in 2026.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 11 December.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ to get $5 off.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

No wonder Michele Bullock’s dramatic departure from the RBA’s interest rate script left markets swinging wildly by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (December 2025)

Gough dreamed of a country that never was, and asked why not? by Greg Jericho, The Point (November 2025)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Traditional custodians are fighting back against climate-destroying gas developments being rammed through by Canadian governments.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Hereditary Chief Na’Moks of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Gwii Lok’im Gibuu Jesse Stoeppler of the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Nations, and Kai Nagata from not-for-profit Dogwood tell us about their fight to stop gas giants including Woodside on unceded Indigenous lands.

Join Hereditary Chief Na’Moks and Gwii Lok’im Gibuu Jesse Stoeppler at the Stop Woodside in Canada event at Victorian Trades Hall at 6.15pm AEDT on Thursday 11 December.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ at checkout to save $5 off the price – available for a limited time only.

Guest: Hereditary Chief Na’Moks,Wet’suwet’en Nation

Guest: Gwii Lok’im Gibuu Jesse Stoeppler, Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Nations and the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition

Guest: Kai Nagata, Communications Director, Dogwood

Host: Leanne Minshull, co-Chief Executive Officer, the Australia Institute // @leanneminshull

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

Yintah | Official Trailer | Netflix

The Fight to Save Murujuga, the Australia Institute (May 2025)

Canadian traditional owners fear Australian-style LNG development by Charlie McLean and Chelsea Reid, ABC (December 2025)

The Ksi Lisims LNG project faces significant infrastructure, regulatory and financial risks, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (June 2025)

Canada, don’t make the same mistake with LNG that Australia did by Mark Ogge, The Globe and Mail (July 2025)

Honest Government Ad | Watch out, Canada!, The Juice Media on YouTube (November 2025)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defense Secretary Hegseth doesn’t want the US military to fight with “stupid rules of engagement”.

On this episode of After America, Allan Behm and Angus Blackman discuss the American ‘double-tap’ strike on an alleged drug boat, Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to share sensitive military information, and why Trump spent a night posting 160 times on Truth Social.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 5 December 2025.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ to get $5 off.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.

Guest: Allan Behm, Advisor, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute

Host: Angus Blackman, Executive Producer, the Australia Institute // @AngusRB

Show notes:

War Crimes: Where do Responsibility and Accountability Start and End? By Allan Behm, the Australia Institute (May 2025)

What legal experts say about second US strike on Venezuela boat by Lucy Gelder, BBC (December 2025)

Pentagon Report: Hegseth Risked Endangering Troops With Signal Messages, The Atlantic (December 2025)

Trump’s night of 160 posts on Truth Social fuels debate about US president’s stamina by Richard Luscombe, The Guardian (December 2025)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rooftop solar and data centres are drivers of Australia’s economic growth, but do they really bring the same value to Australian society?

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Angus discuss why the devil is in the detail of the latest economic growth figures and how the Victoria has led the other states on housing affordability.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 4 December.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ to get $5 off.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut

Host: Angus Blackman, Executive Producer, the Australia Institute // @AngusRB

Show notes:

There are two big drivers of Australia’s economic growth – but shape matters as much as size by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (December 2025)

Weaker-than-expected GDP should end talk of budget cuts and rate hikes by Matt Grudnoff, The Point (December 2025)

House prices rise but Melbourne shows a way to improve affordability by Greg Jericho, The Point (December 2025)

Trump’s shutdown power play, After America, The Australia Institute (October 2025)

Financial regulatory framework and home ownership by Matt Grudnoff and Greg Jericho, The Australia Institute (October 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These days, Aussie music is falling out of the charts, leaving local acts wondering if they’ll ever see your face again.

INXS. Kyle Minogue. Even the Wiggles. Australia has an incredible musical legacy, but with declining streaming numbers and revenues heading abroad, will the Aussie musician just become somebody we used to know? On this episode of Follow the Money, former Spotify Chief Economist Will Page and Australia Institute Research Manager Morgan Harrington join Ebony Bennett to discuss how to reverse the decline of Australian music.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ at checkout to save $5 off the price – available for a limited time only.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.

Guest: Will Page, Strategic Advisory, Pivotal Economics

Guest: Morgan Harrington, Research Manager, the Australia Institute // @mhharrington

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

Reversing the decline of Australian music: Australia’s ‘one way valve’ dilemma by Will Page and Morgan Harrington, the Australia Institute (November 2025)

Immy Owusu

RVG

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

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Trump’s statements about resuming American nuclear testing left administration officials scrambling.

On this episode of After America, Dr Ruth Mitchell, neurosurgeon and Nobel Prize winner with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Trump’s nuclear testing claims, American healthcare under RFK Jr.’s leadership, and the misogyny at the heart of key US institutions.

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 19 November 2025.

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A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available for pre-order now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘SAVE5’ to get $5 off.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.

Guest: Ruth Mitchell, Chair, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War // @drruthmitchell

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @emmashortis

Show notes:

Medicine price comparison between Australia and the United States by Matt Grudnoff, the Australia Institute (April 2025)

While the rest of the world rushes to hire US scientists that Trump has cut, Australia follows in his footsteps by Tegan George, The Point (November 2025)

Man collapses behind Donald Trump during White House announcement by Richard Wood, 9 News (November 2025)

As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ by Dhuruv T Patel and Cam N Srivastava, The Harvard Crimson (November 2025)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By offering generous tax concessions to property investors and making it nearly impossible to live on JobSeeker, Australian governments have being making inequality worse.

On this special episode of Dollars & Sense, we discuss the cost of growing inequality with Dr Cassandra Goldie AO, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), Kasy Chambers, Executive Director of Anglicare Australia, and Dr Mark Zirnsak, Secretariat of the Tax Justice Network Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 29 October 2025 at the Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit at Parliament House in Canberra.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available for pre-order now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘SAVE5’ to get $5 off.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.

Guest: Cassandra Goldie, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of Social Service // @cassandragoldie

Guest: Kasy Chambers, Executive Director, Anglicare Australia // @ChambersKasy

Guest: Mark Zirnsak, Secretariat, Tax Justice Network Australia

Host: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Chief, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut

Show notes:

Revenue Summit playlist, The Australia Institute on YouTube (November 2025)

Wealth inequality by asset types. What’s driving wealth inequality? by Matt Grudnoff, the Australia Institute (February 2025)

Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview by Peter Davidson and Bruce Bradbury, ACOSS and UNSW Sydney

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected].

Support Australia Matters: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.