Open House Interviews

Professor David Gallagher From Macquarie University walks us through good and bad debt, the issue of housing affordability and the growing divide in intergenerational wealth. I also ask, is there an appropriate Christian faith-based perspective that can help families and individuals to prosper?

A simple farming practice which has turned desert plains into reforested and productive farmland has been described as "probably the largest positive environmental transformation in the Sahel and perhaps in all of Africa," by internationally acclaimed environmental specialist Chris Reij.

Open Doors Australia CEO Mike Gore provides an update on the Syrian civil war and the half a million people displaced in the Bekaa Valley refugee camp in Lebanon.

Professor Fethi Mansouri is concerned the changes to citizenship rules, including the introduction of an ‘Australian values test’, will incite unnecessary public alarm. He argues the best way to improve things is to have a federal Act to recognise multiculturalism, the solution which has worked well overseas and on a state level in Australia.

Workplace bullying comes in many forms and has a devastating effect on victims. We talk to Bruce Burgess from PeaceWise, an Australian organisation dedicated to helping workplaces move from conflict to a peaceful culture based on gospel principles.

Fred Watson is perhaps Australia’s best-loved science communicator. Professor Watson was the obvious choice to explain how the Cassini space probe will wrap up a twenty-year exploration mission with a spectacular series of dives between the rings of Saturn. An astrophysicist, Fred has a fantastic ability to infect others with his enthusiasm for the Universe. He also shared with Open House his own journey through faith.

Bronnie Ware is a nurse, author, speaker and blogger and her second book ‘Bloom’ is an inspiring memoir, reminding us that whether life’s lessons arrive through illness, trauma, or any other unexpected upheaval, life really does love us.

One hundred days in, the only predictable thing about President Trump is that he is unpredictable, however, Professor Michael Ondaatje from Australian Catholic University (ACU) says Trump realises stream of conciseness politicking by social media is a poor substitute for the hard work of policy. Professor Ondaatje believes Australia can work with both China and the US in response to North Korea.

The transformation of Tass Saada from a Jew-hating assassin, to a peacemaker between Jews and Arabs, is nothing less than a miracle.

Defence expert Professor John Blaxland talks about the North Korea nuclear threat to Australia. Is it serious , or just hot air?