The United Nations calendar has 15 days dedicated to women and girls. It has zero for men and boys. That, says David Maywald, is where this conversation starts — not with grievance, but with an audit.

In Australia he points to six times more public spending on women's medical research than men's, almost one million children growing up without an actively involved father, and male teachers now making up less than one in five primary school staff.

David Maywald is the author of "The Relentless War on Masculinity" and has made a submission to Australia's current parliamentary inquiry into educational attainment.

JOIN DAVID MAYWALD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmaywald/

Substack: https://celebratingmasculinity.substack.com/

ICMB: https://www.menandboys.net/

Book: "The Relentless War on Masculinity" — https://books2read.com/trwom

TIMESTAMPS

00:01:33 Why "father" comes before every other title

00:05:51 Missionary parents, a feminist mother

00:06:38 Women overtook men at university in 1987

00:07:55 What made him start speaking up

00:10:55 The six waves of the men's movement

00:14:11 What he tells his own son and daughter

00:17:48 Is advocating for men anti-feminist?

00:19:43 "Six times more spent on women's medical research"

00:20:26 The $990m suicide prevention audit

00:21:17 Divorce, custody, and children's outcomes

00:23:14 What is the ICMB?

00:23:49 The 12 disparities: education and health

00:25:26 False allegations, violence and partner abuse

00:27:56 Homelessness, workplace deaths, media

00:29:58 Which disparity is most ignored?

00:30:59 India's Section 498A: "legal terrorism"

00:33:10 Why the male suicide ratio keeps climbing

00:34:24 Did no-fault divorce change the numbers?

00:37:22 "But men dominate the boardrooms"

00:38:02 "Sixty times more health funding to women"

00:39:11 What he means by male disposability

00:42:52 Gynocentrism defined

00:46:44 Inside Australia's boys' education inquiry

00:49:40 The ten groups of boys being left behind

00:51:07 Programs that actually work

00:54:32 What can parents actually do?

01:00:53 Why are male teachers disappearing?

01:01:23 A million kids with no involved father

01:05:37 Advice for the parent of a disengaged son

01:07:07 Rites of passage and the bridge of adolescence

01:10:11 Men's health envoys: real change or symbolism?

01:12:10 Saving a quarter of a million lives

01:14:12 Why men die by suicide

01:18:09 What Finland did differently

01:21:42 Reaching migrant men who won't talk

01:25:45 110 countries now mark International Men's Day

01:29:42 What women and mothers of sons can do

01:32:50 One thing to change today

01:35:13 Where to find David Maywald

⚠️ This episode discusses suicide and mental health. If you or someone you know needs support in Australia:

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78

In an emergency call 000.

#MenAndBoys #BoysEducation #MensHealth #AustralianPolitics #Perth #MaleSuicide #Fatherhood #PerthDialogues

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In 2018, the Australian Senate ran an inquiry into dowry abuse. Among the submissions was one from an organisation based 8,000km away in New Delhi — arguing Australia should not introduce a dowry law at all. Wasif Ali co-founded that organisation. In this conversation he explains why.

WHAT WE COVER

- How an engineer became a men's rights activist after his own marriage broke down

- What Men Welfare Trust actually does — the helpline, the counselling, the advocacy

- Section 498A: what the law is, and why he argues it is misused

- The Arnesh Kumar judgment and what changed after it

- Why India's 2023 criminal law overhaul (BNS) changed less than it appears

- The marital rape exception, the split Delhi High Court verdict, and the pending Supreme Court appeal

- Why a Delhi NGO made a submission to Australia's 2018 Senate dowry inquiry

- NRI cases — impounded passports and men caught between two legal systems

- Male suicide in India, and the case for a National Commission for Men

CHAPTERS

00:00 "In India, a bad marriage is a recipe for disaster"

02:12 Why an Australian podcast is asking about Indian dowry law

04:23 From engineer to activist: what happened to his own marriage

08:33 The first man he helped — and what these calls sound like

10:47 What is Men Welfare Trust, and what does it actually do?

14:55 Why they intervened in the marital rape case

16:38 Who calls the helpline? "12,000 calls in one month"

18:24 Did India's new criminal code (BNS) change anything?

20:42 "Legal terrorism" — the Supreme Court's 2005 remark

23:03 The Arnesh Kumar judgment and the drop in arrests

24:48 The conviction-rate argument — and the counter-argument

28:04 What reforms does he actually want?

29:49 Why an Indian NGO wrote to the Australian Senate

32:53 Australia said no to a dowry law. What does that signal?

34:23 "What about the woman in Perth who says it happened to her?"

35:26 NRI cases: impounded passports, two countries, no way out

39:05 What do most people get wrong about dowry law?

40:46 The marital rape case — what it was about

43:18 The split verdict and where it stands now

45:33 Consent, and why he says rape law can't apply inside marriage

49:18 Male suicide and the case for a National Commission for Men

54:08 Where to find his organisation

Men Welfare Trust: https://www.menwelfare.in/

Save Indian Family: https://www.saveindianfamily.org/

Australian Senate Report on 'Practice of dowry and the incidence of dowry abuse in Australia': https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/DowryAbuse/~/media/Committees/legcon_ctte/DowryAbuse/report.pdf

SUPPORT

This episode discusses domestic violence, legal distress and suicide.

- Lifeline Australia — 13 11 14

- 1800RESPECT (family and sexual violence) — 1800 737 732

- MensLine Australia — 1300 78 99 78

- In India: Tele-MANAS — 14416

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#PerthDialogues #DowryLaw #498A #IndianDiaspora #AustralianPolitics #MensRights #FamilyLaw #India #Australia

$50,000 invested in 2011 could be worth $9.4 million today. Almost no Australian would have made that bet.

Mihir Bhatt is the founder of Artha Academy, a Perth-based share-market education platform. In this conversation he makes the case — as one voice among many, not as personal financial advice — for why Australians, and migrant communities in particular, tend to put everything into one asset class, and what a more diversified approach could look like.

In this episode:

- Why Australia is one of the most property-concentrated economies in the developed world

- The "asset rich, cash poor" trap — and how families end up there

- Why migrant communities lean so heavily on property, in Mihir's experience

- Diversifying beyond the family home: shares, ETFs, gold, and self-managed super

- Investment vs speculation — and the psychology of market timing

- How to spot share-tip and "signal-selling" schemes

- What Mihir would tell his own son about the road to a first home

Guest links: Artha Academy: https://arthaacademy.ai

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:50 Who Is Mihir Bhatt? From Banker to Founder

03:08 Why Trust a Share Market Educator? (The Disclaimer)

04:07 The Father Who Built a Portfolio in Secret

06:34 Why a $100K Salary Still Can't Buy a Perth House

07:40 Don't Get Asset Rich, Cash Poor

08:38 Inside Artha Academy's Four Pillars

10:51 Why Doesn't Australia Build Its Own Apple or Nvidia?

13:10 The Leverage Argument: Property vs Shares

16:44 Already Got a Mortgage? Here's How You Still Invest

17:52 Why Do Migrant Families Only Ever Buy Property?

20:19 What Schools Get Wrong About Money

22:03 Investing vs Speculating: The 50% Rule

25:14 Can Anyone Actually Time the Market?

26:33 Bitcoin, FOMO, and the Psychology of Fear and Greed

27:55 How Do You Spot a Share-Tip Scam?

31:19 Why Is Artha Academy Free (Mostly)?

33:19 Mihir's Final Message: Learn Before You Invest

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A Victorian court recently ruled that a vaginal examination performed without consent during labour was assault and battery. Dr Marian Dover says it's the most important case in her specialty in years — and she has strong views on why it happened.

She was also told, as a child, that she was "less worthy as a human." Dr Marian Dover's family fled religious persecution in Egypt when she was young. She's now a rural generalist working in one of the most remote parts of Australia — 827km from Darwin — delivering babies, running emergency departments, and flying in specialist care by air because the roads are too far.

In this conversation, Dr Dover talks with host Nirmal Singh about:

- Growing up in Egypt's persecuted Coptic Christian minority, and arriving in Australia as a child

- The extra hurdles overseas-trained doctors face to practise in Australia — and the everyday racism that comes with it

- Choosing one of the remotest postings in the country as a "second migration"

- Inside Gawthrop v Bendigo Health — what the ruling means for consent in childbirth across Australia

- Why rural maternity units have halved since 1990 while births have doubled

- Her frank, personal perspective on Closing the Gap and First Nations health outcomes

- Doctor burnout, vicarious trauma, and why she thinks mental health leave should be built into medical contracts, not optional

Disclaimer: This conversation touches on legal and medical matters. Nothing in this episode is legal or medical advice — views expressed are Dr Dover's own professional perspective and experience. Read full Gawthrop v Bendigo Health [2026] VSC 157 judgement here: https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2026/157.html

Follow the conversation:

02:51 Who Is Dr Marian Dover?

03:00 Fleeing Religious Persecution In Egypt

04:47 A Migrant Interviewing A Migrant: What Do You Remember?

06:02 Arriving In Australia: "This Government Must Really Care"

07:43 Honouring Her Parents' Sacrifice

09:19 How Her Childhood Shapes The Care She Gives Today

11:34 Do Migrant Doctors Have To Perform At A Higher Standard?

13:19 Why Australia Makes It So Hard For Overseas-Trained Doctors

15:36 Migrating Again — Choosing One Of Australia's Remotest Towns

17:31 Convincing Everyone She Could Do This As A Woman

20:04 Her Advice To Young Female Professionals

22:22 Moving To The Kimberley: Childcare, Family And Community

24:49 A Day In The Life Of A Rural Generalist

27:00 Why Rural Hospitals Keep Going "On Bypass"

30:21 The Gawthrop Case: "That Was Assault"

34:00 What Needs To Change In Maternity Policy

35:54 Rural Maternity Units Have Halved Since 1990 — Why?

38:14 Her Unfiltered Take On Closing The Gap

43:39 Western Medicine vs Traditional Healing

45:36 Living With Life-And-Death Pressure

47:44 Why Doctors Are Their Own Worst Critics

50:03 How She Manages Her Own Mental Health

53:04 What Would Get More People Into Rural Medicine?

54:52 Her Legacy: "Every Postcode Deserves The Birth They're Owed"

56:28 A Message To Her Younger Self

57:54 How She Wants To Be Remembered

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A West Australian council spent an estimated $180,000 a year on disputes it never actually resolved.

One ratepayer was prosecuted for pulling weeds and planting native trees — then billed for his own prosecution.

Gavin Waugh is the founder of the Melville Shadow Council, a volunteer-run "council in waiting" set up to hold the City of Melville accountable between elections.

In this conversation, Gavin walks Nirmal through what pushed him to act after more than a decade of unresolved disputes, how local government oversight bodies actually work, and what he calls "crimes of participation" — the pattern he says councils use against residents who speak up.

A candid, occasionally uncomfortable look at how one of Perth's local councils operates, and what genuine community engagement could look like instead.

🔗 Melville Shadow Council: melville.shadowcouncil.org

Timestamps:

00:00 Cold Open: "I Pay for My Own Prosecution"

00:28 Welcome: Gavin Waugh, Melville Shadow Council

01:07 What Is Local Government Actually For?

03:00 Enter the Shadow Council: Bridging the Gap

04:26 One Volunteer, No Pay, No Access — How Does He Cope?

06:01 Are the Watchdogs Actually Independent?

07:12 12 Years in the Making: Why He Finally Acted

08:30 Answering the Mayor's "We're Already Transparent" Claim

11:04 The "Double Whammy": Paying to Be Prosecuted

12:09 Prosecuted for Planting Native Trees

14:02 What Is a Shadow Council, in Plain English?

14:59 Charged for Information the Law Says Is Free

15:43 What Does "Council in Waiting" Mean?

16:42 Why He Launched on April Fools' Day

17:19 Staying Motivated With Zero Funding

20:16 The "Revolving Door" of Local Government Oversight

22:38 Auditing the Auditors: Conflicts on the ARIC Committee

23:59 50+ "Council Failures" — and Counting

26:29 Volunteers: 1% on the Books, 30% in Reality

31:12 What New Migrants Should Know About Local Councils

33:06 What Real Community Engagement Should Look Like

36:49 Are Decisions Already Made Before You Speak?

37:46 What Are "Crimes of Participation"?

39:11 Is This Just Melville — or Every Council?

40:47 Why State Government Reforms Keep Failing

44:31 Two Changes He Wants to See in Two Years

45:57 The Personal Cost of Fighting City Hall

48:06 You're Convinced. Where Do You Start?

51:06 How to Contact the Melville Shadow Council

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His maiden speech in Parliament became the first in Australian history banned from YouTube. Then it hit three million views.

John Ruddick — NSW Legislative Council MLC, Sky News regular, and free speech absolutist — joins Perth Dialogues to talk about what actually got him banned, the High Court challenge he's leading against the government's under-16 social media ban, and his answer to a bigger question: who actually controls public conversation in Australia today?

John's maiden speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw1zPTDEVxA

In this conversation:

- How a mortgage broker became a Libertarian Party MLC after the COVID lockdowns

- The maiden speech that became the first in Australian parliamentary history banned from YouTube

- Leading the High Court challenge against the under-16 social media ban

- His view on what the ban is really about — and why he doesn't believe it's about child safety

- Who he believes actually controls public conversation today- His opposition to NSW's hate speech laws

- Where he believes the real limits of free speech should sit

- His message to anyone who finds his views confronting

Follow the conversation:00:00 The Maiden Speech That Got Banned From YouTube

01:45 How Did John Ruddick Get Into Politics?

02:17 Why He Left the Liberal Party for the Libertarians

04:43 What Actually Got His Maiden Speech Banned?

07:43 Was He Always a Free Speech Absolutist?

16:13 What Is the High Court Challenge Against the Social Media Ban?

22:01 Do Kids Need Protecting Online — or Is This About Control?

33:43 So Who Actually Controls the Conversation Today?

40:47 Why Does He Oppose NSW's Hate Speech Laws?

45:16 Where Should the Line on Free Speech Actually Be?

48:28 His Message to Anyone Who Finds His Views Unsettling

--------------------------------------------------------------------Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇Support us Here: https://perthdialogues.au/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psknirmal/

He was a team lead in India. In Australia, he had to start over as a junior developer — and rebuild his way to Chief Data Officer.

In this episode, Harpreet Khalsa — Chief Data Officer at a Perth university and author of The Data Playbook — joins Nirmal Singh to trace a 20-year journey from web developer to enterprise data and AI leadership. Harpreet shares his journey of restarting a career as a migrant, why AI still needs data to mean anything, a job-search story that turned around in just three weeks, and what "Sikhi" — the idea of being a lifelong learner — means for how he leads.

In this conversation:

- Restarting a tech career from scratch after moving from India to Melbourne, Canberra, then Perth

- The shift from web developer to data, business intelligence, and now AI

- Why "AI is just intelligence — and intelligence still needs data"

- A job search bet that turned into three offers in three weeks- Reflections on discrimination, mentorship, and what actually helped him succeed

- Leadership, loneliness, and the Sikh principle of being a lifelong learner

🔗 Connect with Harpreet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harpreet-khalsa-2a341011/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Who Is Harpreet Khalsa? From Developer to Chief Data Officer

00:06:00 What Was Harpreet's Toughest Migration Challenge?

00:09:48 How Did He Move From Web Developer to Data Leader?

00:14:56 What's the Real Difference Between Data and AI?

00:18:43 Why Are More Businesses Becoming Data-Driven?

00:22:16 How Much Data Is Too Much? Balancing Privacy and Insight

00:28:38 What's the Biggest Risk in Rolling Out AI?

00:33:29 How Do You Keep Up When Technology Changes Overnight?

00:34:10 Why AI Is Nothing Without Good Data

00:36:45 Is Workplace Discrimination Real — or Just Human Nature?

00:42:44 What Culture Shock Looks Like in an Australian Office

00:49:57 Does Diversity Slow Teams Down — or Strengthen Them?

00:55:47 Should Migrants Adapt — or Stay Authentic?

00:57:46 Who Helped Harpreet Succeed? The Power of Mentorship

01:04:15 His Best Advice for Any New Migrant in Australia

01:11:53 Is Leadership Lonely? Harpreet's Honest Answer

01:15:21 What Would He Change About Australian Work Culture?

--------------------------------------------------------------------Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇

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Australia took 2 million migrants in 25 years after World War II. In the last five years alone, we've taken another 2 million. Same number — one-fifth the time. Is our multicultural framework built for that pace?"Multiculturalism has turned into a dogma — something that cannot be questioned." When the editor of a new book on immigration dares to ask the hard questions, the answers are more nuanced than any political party will admit.Chetna Mahadik is the General Manager of the Robert Menzies Institute in Melbourne and editor of 'Immigration & Multiculturalism: The Past, the Present and the Future' (Connor Court, 2026) — a landmark collection bringing together political leaders, scholars and commentators from across the political spectrum to examine where Australian multiculturalism came from, where it stands today, and where it needs to go.Buy the book: https://www.connorcourtbooks.com.au/products/immigration-multiculturalism-the-past-the-present-and-the-future-edited-by-chetna-mahadikConnect with Chetna:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetna-mahadik-0306902/The Spectator Australia: https://www.spectator.com.au/author/chetna-mahadik/Timestamps:00:00 Is Multiculturalism Becoming a Dogma That Can't Be Questioned?01:13 From India to Melbourne - Chetna's Story04:21 "Did You Experience Racism in Australia?"06:31 Is Multiculturalism a Success — or Has It Become Untouchable?17:06 Why Write a Book on Multiculturalism Right Now?19:12 The Blind Men and the Elephant — And What It Tells Us About Australia22:04 How Do You Bring Labor and Liberal Together in One Book?25:49 From White Australia Policy to Multicultural in 25 Years — How?33:32 Has Multiculturalism Become a Dogma — Not a Framework?37:35 Do Second-Generation Migrants See Australia Differently?42:48 Is Australia Actually Racist — or Is the Narrative Misleading?50:33 Who Gets to Define Racism in Australia?51:41 Why Does the Media Keep Getting Multiculturalism Wrong?56:01 Is Anti-Racism Now a Funded Industry — and Who Benefits?01:00:17 Is Government Funding of Migrant Groups Actually Stereotyping Them?01:05:19 Should we take Pauline Hanson's 'Monoculture' Seriously?01:09:47 How Do You Build Multicultural Communities From the Ground Up?01:14:46 Are Group Rights Quietly Undermining Individual Rights?01:19:22 If Multiculturalism Isn't Working — What's the Alternative?01:21:07 Why Does Chetna End the Book with "Let's Remain Friends"?--------------------------------------------------------------------Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇Support us Here: https://perthdialogues.au/ Join on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Youtube Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/PD-ApplePodcasts Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/PD-AmazonMusic --------------------------------------------------------------------Follow our host, Nirmal Singh, atWebsite: https://nirmalsingh.au/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/nirmalsingh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nirmalsingh.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nirmalsingh.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psknirmal/

Garth Davis turned a $1,000 property deposit into $170,000 in equity — and he's spent the last 20 years helping everyday Australians do the same.

Garth Davis is the Founder and CEO of Property Powerhouse, who emigrated from Zimbabwe to Perth in 2002 and has spent over 20 years helping more than 500 mum-and-dad investors build property portfolios across Australia. In this conversation, Garth and Nirmal unpack the federal government's new tax changes — capital gains, negative gearing, and what it means for new builds versus established homes — and what it all means for first-home buyers, investors, and renters caught in the middle.

Meet Garth here:

Property Powerhouse: https://www.propertypowerhouse.com.au/garth-davis/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PropertyPowerhouse/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/property-powerhouse

Phone: 0408 735 9490

0:00 New Federal Budget Has Property Investors on Edge

02:36 From Zimbabwe to Property Powerhouse

05:26 Property Cycles Explained

08:30 Inside the Tax Changes

10:49 Is Buying at the "Top of the Market" a Mistake?

14:03 Can Policy Actually Fix Intergenerational Inequity?

17:00 CGT and Negative Gearing

20:11 New Builds vs Established Homes

22:57 The Hidden Infrastructure Tax

25:35 Interest Rates, Equity, and the Smart Move InvestorsMake

28:41 Where Smart Money Is Moving Next

32:15 What Happens When Property Prices Correct?

37:07 Perth, Melbourne, Sydney — Mapping National Property Cycle

39:47 Rate Rises and Tax Uncertainty: A Perfect Storm?

43:57 Why Rents Have Nearly Tripled

46:14 The #1 Reason Most Investors Never Buy a Second Property

50:13 A 20-Year-Old's First Property Deal — And Why It Matters

53:11 The $1,000 Deposit That Turned Into $170,000

57:49 How to Prepare Before You Enter the Market

01:03:29 The Hidden Risks in New House-and-Land Contracts

01:08:50 Are Property Investors Really "Greedy"?

01:19:39 Garth's #1 Lesson From 20 Years in Property

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Australia is $1.05 trillion in debt, taxing you at nearly 47% — and the government wants more. Jordan Woodhams, President of the Libertarian Party of WA, joins Nirmal on Perth Dialogues to make the case for a 20% flat tax, smaller government, and why Australia's red tape is now worse than India's corruption.

They also reveal a surprising truth: once welfare transfers are included, the bottom 50% of earners pay zero net tax — so who's really footing the bill?

Join Jordan Woodhams: https://x.com/JordanWoodhams_

What we discussed:00:00 Who Is Jordan Woodhams and Why Does He Think Taxes Are Toxic?

02:38 What Does the Libertarian Party Actually Stand For?

05:15 Why Do Religions Advocate for 10% Giving?

08:02 Is Cronyism Destroying Australia's Democracy?

09:11 Can India Teach Us About Economic Freedom?

11:59 How Can We Solve the Housing Crisis?

14:41 Does Taxing More Solve Economic Problems?

17:30 Why Do Migrants Choose Australia?

18:58 Is Progressive Taxation Killing Ambition?

37:09 Capital Gains Tax: Reform or Grab?

44:35 What does 'Intergenerational Equity' actually means?

46:55 Are the Rich Paying Their Fair Share?

51:27 Are We Paying Too Much for Government Services?

57:49 Is a Flat Tax the Key to Fairness?

59:08 Australian economic grease

01:01:08 Is the Government's Budget Helping or Hurting?

01:05:11 Is Red Tape Stifling Australia's Growth?

01:07:15 How do taxes add productivity in economy?

01:11:59 Is government really supporting small businesses?

01:19:17 Is Government Waste the Real Debt Crisis?

01:21:49 Are High Taxes Really Helping Us?

01:24:11 The Burden of Payroll Tax

01:27:15 Inflation: A Hidden Tax

01:29:55 AI, Automation, and the Future of Work

01:33:35 Government Spending and Services

01:36:46 Government Waste and Accountability

01:44:45 Funding Government Services

01:48:12 A Vision for a Libertarian Future

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