How to build a better world

As Alex Wendler came on board as CEO of Landcom four and a half years ago, it was a time of change. The New South Wales government owned land agency, launched 50 years ago, was evolving from a “traditional land developer” into an “integrated land and property developer”.

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Local governments are on the front lines of climate resilience, yet they are often the least resourced to manage critical infrastructure. In this episode, Rory Linehan, director of infrastructure policy advancement at Bentley Systems, joins us to discuss how technology is levelling the playing field. Linehan reveals practical ways regional leaders can safeguard assets, reduce long-term costs, and make informed planning decisions without requiring massive capital budgets or complex technical expertise to build enduring, climate-ready communities. 

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece is just two years into a job that that will be among the most challenging of a career that’s already spanned, policy, politics, economics and business journalism.

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Halfway through her second term as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney Jess Miller, who will take to the stage at our next Big Debate, Carbon Triggers, has wasted no time in tackling the glaring problems that annoy her and many others.

Among them are the “lazy” or empty spaces in many of the city’s commercial buildings, the housing that’s given over to short term/Airbnb style accommodation and the loss of places for arts and creative work.

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Elizabeth Mossop, founding principal of Spackman Mossop + Michaels and former dean of Design and Architecture School at UTS, knows quite a bit about flood disasters and their aftermath. She was deeply involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans in the US in 2005 and she now heads up the academic side of the Living Lab Northern Rivers which is grappling with the reconstruction of Lismore badly hit by two consecutive floods in 2022.

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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 There’s good news for the built environment – one of Australia’s oldest and probably most respected environmental organisations, the Australian Conservation Foundation, will be paying a lot more attention to buildings and cities. 

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Alf Wheeler, founder of innovative plant based materials manufacturer Zeoform, won the Spanish Inquisition pitchfest at The Fifth Estate’s Circular Disruption event in November last year, before a jury of three, Jonathan Hannam of Taronga Ventures, Mick Liubinskas of Climate Salad and Kerry Series of NorthStar Impact. The prize was this article and a podcast interview.

There are few people who can beat Alf Wheeler in an elevator pitch. At Circular Disruption, the audience saw firsthand why he’s already been quite successful in his business. Hear his insights on this podcast. 

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Parnell Palme McGuinness, as a former consultant for the Liberal Party and conservative-leaning columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, McGuinness jokes she’s the “diversity hire” for those left-ish leaning papers. These days, she’s also a senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, a place where we would expect to find very few commonalities. 

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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Infrastructure work is going regional – in water, sanitation, roads and bridges – says Kaushik Chakraborty senior vice president, Asia Pacific & Japan with Bentley Systems in this podcast. It’s part of the big global drift out of cities and into towns and smaller cities that was bolstered by Covid. The trend is reversing the previous super trend that had captured demographers for decades.

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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John King from JGKing Homes Steel, timber, windows and technology to build home. John runs a successful home building business in Ballarat that’s been going for 40 years and employs 350 people.
What’s different about it is that it uses steel construction that it fabricates to specifications, and it also manages to produce 8 star NatHERS homes without many issues and virtually no extra costs. The secret is high quality windows and window frames materials that break the thermal bridge, that allows about 50 per cent of the heat or cold in regular homes. In this podcast, he shares his secrets and views of steel versus timber. 

Host: Tina Perinotto
Produced by: The Fifth Estate
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