The Briefing

Most Australians agree that consent is key to healthy sexual experiences. But what does consent mean? What does it look like in action? Before we can talk to our kids about consent, we need to talk to each other.

In this special series, made in partnership with the Australian federal government as part of its Consent Can’t Wait campaign, The Briefing invites iconic Australians to unpack how they feel about consent, what their understanding of it is, how they're having conversations about it with loved ones, and unpacking some of the myths about consent that we can all fall victim to.

In part two, Bension Siebert is joined by Matt Okine, comedian, author and host of Matt & Alex - All Day Breakfast, and ambassador and youth advocate Daniel Principe to hear their thoughts on consent in 2024.

Check out your understanding of consent, and get help learning how to talk about the topic at Consent.gov.au.

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Headlines: Australia in spat with China over racism and climate change, BRICS leaders call for ceasefire, Revelations about Rudd and Gillard deal in new political memoir, and what are the top Halloween costumes for 2024 according to Google?

Deep Dive: Israel claims the number of people killed in Gaza – the steadily rising and horrific number we hear on the news just about every day – is inflated.

Others say true number of people killed is far more than what’s being reported.

On this episode of the Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with Professor Michael Spagat, chair of Every Casualty Counts, who explains how deaths in Gaza and other active warzones are verified.

He makes a passionate case for acknowledging the individual humanity of everyone who dies in war, rather than thinking of them as a number on a page. 

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Senator Lidia Thorpe made international headlines when she shouted at King Charles, rejecting the monarch’s sovereignty and accusing him of genocide, in Parliament House this week.

The Gurnai Gunditjmara and Djab-Wurrung woman has since claimed she did not really swear allegiance to the late Queen Elizabeth’s heirs, as in King Charles, but to the Queens’ “hairs”. Senator Thorpe has rejected calls for her to resign after she disavowed – however absurdly – her oath of office.

But several real questions remain: What does the Constitution have to say about all this? Can Senator Thorpe be forced from parliament? Is it fair to ask a First Nations person to pledge allegiance to the monarchy? What about all those MPs that want Australia to become a republic? On this episode of the Briefing, Bension Siebert dives into all of these questions with Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law at Monash University.

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Headlines: Lidia Thorpe says she didn’t swear allegiance to the King, terrorist attack in Turkey leaves four dead, Xi and Modi hold first formal talks in five years, Coles and Woolies deny tricking customers with dodgy sales, and the sun has hit peak solar energy!

Deep dive: International intelligence last week revealed North Korea had sent between 10,000 and 30,000 of its own troops to Russia, to bolster its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president says this signals the start of a world war, but is that true? And what does this new development mean for the conflict and international relations?

In today’s episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with geopolitical expert Dr Keith Suter to find out.

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Sometimes, what happens in one part of Australia says lot about the direction of the country as a whole.

Right now, that’s exactly what seems to be happening in Queensland, as the state’s voters head to the polls this weekend. Will the state be the latest in a swing towards more conservative politics in Australia?

Archie Milligan is a LiSTNR journalist based in Queensland. He joins Bension Siebert on this episode of The Briefing, as Labor vies for a fourth term in government, and we ask how the results might impact the rest of the country.

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Headlines: Royals wrap up Australian tour, over 20 world leaders meet with Putin at BRICS summit, former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO arrested on sex trafficking charges, the Murray River named in a global top travel list, and a Cockatoo has been rescued from a Sydney Coles after a month trapped inside.

Deep dive: Few crimes in Australia in recent years have been as shocking as the murder of Bruce Saunders, who was fed into a woodchipper on a property north of Brisbane in 2017.

A new LiSTNR exclusive investigative podcast, released today, has uncovered details about the woman behind the death, Sharon Graham, including how she convinced a man to kill Saunders, and another to help in the coverup.

How did she become the kind of person capable of such a crime? Were there signs this was going to happen and did anyone miss them? Tara Cassidy is a journalist and host of Crime In Focus: Killer Charm. She joins Bension Siebert on this episode of The Briefing to unpack the story behind this new investigative podcast series, and how reporting on it has impacted those touched by the death of Bruce Saunders. 

Listen to Crime In Focus: Killer Charm exclusively on the LiSTNR app, click here: 
https://play.listnr.com/podcast/crime-in-focus/episode/01-the-accident-killer-charm

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America is heading to the polls on Wednesday, November 6, to decide between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for the presidency. With polls showing a razor-thin race, it raises a critical question: can we trust them?  

In 2016, polling failed to predict Trump’s stunning victory. Have things changed? Are polls more accurate now, or should we be sceptical?

In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert breaks down the state of election polling with US political journalist, polling expert and host and producer of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Galen Druke.

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Headlines: Lydia Thorpe and the royals, Meta and Google could face ‘big tech tax’ under Labor plan, Moldova narrowly votes in favour of joining the EU and an Italian surfer has been killed by a swordfish in a freak accident.

Deep dive: Another week, another story of misogynistic behaviour in sport. 

Last week 13 Greater Western Sydney (GWS) players were slapped with sanctions, following their decision to dress as “controversial couples” for the club’s end-of-season function. 

Players dressed in costumes referencing the September 11 terrorist attacks, and Josh Fahey dressed as the former NRL player Jarryd Hayne, performing what the AFL described as “inappropriate acts” on a sex doll. Several players, including Fahey, copped multi-match bans, and captain Toby Greene was among those hit with significant fines.   

But is all this condemnation from the code ultimately futile? As the dust settles on yet another indecent like this in a major sporting code, it is time to admit there’s always been a place for misogyny where male sports stars get together behind closed doors? 

Marnie Vinall is a sports reporter at ABC Sports. She joins Bension Siebert on this episode of The Briefing to unpack what happened, and if she thinks things will ever change.

 

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How long you might have to wait for a bathroom in public spaces looks set to change in Australia.

The Australian Building Code Board wants businesses to provide 1.8 times the toilets for women than they provide for men to help shorten the queue.

But why is the line for women’s bathroom almost always longer than the line for men’s? And what is some of the thinking behind changing how many are available to access?

On this episode of the Briefing, public toilet expert Katherine Webber joins Bension Siebert to explain how the plan would work, and how we design these public spaces with equality and accessibility in mind.

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Headlines: King Charles and Queen Camilla kick off royal tour, As many as 87 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on northern Gaza, ACT election, Elon Musk giving away $1 million US to Trump supporter everyday until the election and an airport in New Zealand has introduced a time limit on hugs.

Deep Dive: How much should you be paying for a bottle of milk? More than a decade on, there are fears a second round of milk wars might be coming our way.

In 2011 the Australian dairy industry went toe-to-toe with our national supermarket giants over how much they should be charging for a bottle of milk at the checkout. In recent weeks, the cost of milk in major Australian supermarkets has gone backwards for the first in a long time – with Coles and Woolworths reducing the price of its generic fresh milk last month by 5 cents, to $1.55 per LR.

Supermarkets are clearly reading the room of a cost-of-living crisis that is impacting consumers shopping in their stores daily, and when almost everyone is finding it tough, it’s difficult, as a consumer, to argue against paying less for something as essential as a bottle of milk.

What do those in the industry think of the squeeze? In this episode of The Briefing Helen Smith is joined by Australian Dairy Farmers Association President Ben Bennett, and former dairy farmer Adam Jenkins to explore what they think the impact of prices lowering might be.

 

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