The Fifth Estate

In this conversation, we’ll bring together three writers and academics who have examined themes of alienation and social estrangement in their work. William Maley, author of What is a Refugee?, Susan Carland, author of Fighting Hislam, and Rebecca Huntley, author of Still Lucky?, join Wheeler Centre host Sally Warhaft to examine how the idea of ‘stranger danger’ plays out in Australian culture and politics – from media reporting to foreign policy and refugee law.

Susan Carland, William Maley and Rebecca Huntley — Photo: Peter Weaving Photography

Which groups of people are routinely represented as strangers? And who benefits from demonising these people? What happens when fear outweighs the social, ethical and economic benefits of tolerance? And are we more, or less, tolerant than we think we are?

Presented in partnership with Bendigo Writers Festival.

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Immigration has long been among the most contentious, and highly politicised, areas of Australian public policy. The past 20 years have seen a drastic increase in Australia's intake of migrants, as well as an increasingly punitive approach to managing asylum seeker arrivals; an approach that has attracted censure from human rights groups.

Does the recent outcome of the class action between Manus Island detainees and the Commonwealth represent a turning point? And what impact will new changes to 457 visas and the Australian citizenship test have on the fabric of our communities?

For this episode of The Fifth Estate, Sally Warhaft meets human rights activist, former refugee and orthopaedic surgeon, Munjed Al Muderis and GetUp!’s human rights campaign director, Shen Narayanasamy. Join them for a discussion of the Australian immigration experience and its broader implications.

Sally Warhaft, Munjed Al Muderis and Shen Narayanasamy

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For this episode of The Fifth Estate, Sally Warhaft meets human rights activist, former refugee and orthopaedic surgeon, Munjed Al Muderis and GetUp!’s human rights campaign director, Shen Narayanasamy. Join them for a discussion of the Australian immigration experience and its broader implications.

In this conversation, we examine how public policy is shaped today and how the avenues to reform have changed in recent times. How do global political shifts impact on governance and public policy in Australia? What part do vested interests, changes in the media landscape and declining rates of political participation play? Join host Sally Warhaft and two speakers who are uniquely qualified to tackle these questions: Geoff Gallop, former premier of Western Australia and Peter Hartcher, political editor and international editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia has one of the world’s most educated populations. We have stable institutions, a strong economy and advanced technology. Yet we seem to face endless obstacles when it comes to solving our problems with good public policy. Is it the ideas, the culture or the political contest that get in the way?

And if we can’t solve problems – even those with broad agreement for solutions – how can we possibly create space for innovation?

In this conversation, we examine how public policy is shaped today and how the avenues to reform have changed in recent times. How do global political shifts impact on governance and public policy in Australia? What part do vested interests, changes in the media landscape and declining rates of political participation play?

Join host Sally Warhaft and two speakers who are uniquely qualified to tackle these questions: Geoff Gallop, former premier of Western Australia and Peter Hartcher, political editor and international editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Sally Warhaft, Geoff Gallop and Peter Hartcher

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The Australia21 report, ‘Can Australia respond to drugs more effectively and safely?’, released in March of this year, argues that it’s time to bring an end to the costly, unavailing campaign of criminalising drug users – and to instead adopt a wide approach to harm reduction.

Sally Warhaft and Bob Carr — Photo: Jon Tjhia

The report’s 13 key recommendations are groundbreaking, and drawn from conversations between people with legal, law enforcement, prison, public health and policy backgrounds. Drug users and their families have endorsed it. So, how have the recommendations been received? And what hope is there for true policy reform?

Alongside former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, Australia21’s report was launched by former Australian foreign minister and former NSW premier Bob Carr. Carr joins Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft for a discussion of the so-called war on drugs, and the push for decriminalisation in Australia today.

More broadly, Carr also offers his thoughts on political developments around the globe – including the US, China, Syria and Pakistan.

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The Australia21 report, ‘Can Australia respond to drugs more effectively and safely?’, released in March of this year, argues that it’s time to bring an end to the costly, unavailing campaign of criminalising drug users – and to instead adopt a wide approach to harm reduction. Alongside Jeff Kennett, Australia21’s report was launched by former Australian foreign minister and former NSW premier Bob Carr. Carr joins Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft for a discussion of the so-called war on drugs, and the push for decriminalisation in Australia today. More broadly, Carr also offers his thoughts on political developments around the globe – including the US, China, Syria and Pakistan.

Sally Warhaft, Georgina Downer and Mary Gearin — Photo: Jon Tjhia

In 2017, Europe is in a period of heightened uncertainty: the rise of populist politics, the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the prospect of a weakened European Union and an increasingly assertive Russia on its doorstep.

French voters recently rejected both major parties to elect an unknown quantity in Emmanuel Macron, who has never before held elected office. The UK’s new Prime Minister Theresa May has made a virtue of being an ‘unclubbable’ Conservative, but after riding high in the lead-up to the June election on a manifesto of 'country and community', her campaign has begun to falter in the wake of two terrorist attacks and the resulting debates about security and rights.

What will happen when Germany goes to the polls in September? Angela Merkel's popularity has been waning since 2015, but 21st-century Europe has become hard to imagine without her steady, predictable presence.

To discuss the state of play in the UK and Europe – and for the 100th edition of this long-running Wheeler Centre series – Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Mary Gearin and Georgina Downer.

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As the UK heads to the polls and elections across Europe return uncertain fates to voters, Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Mary Gearin and Georgina Downer to discuss what's happening.

In previous Quarterly Essays, David Marr has turned his merciless pen to powerful men of the establishment: George Pell, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten. In his new biographical essay, however, Marr’s subject is a self-styled populist outlier and a woman: Pauline Hanson.

As Australian political figures go, they don’t come much more colourful than Hanson. Her divisive speeches and curious catchphrases are etched into the memories of many Australians, from the maiden speech to Parliament (‘we are in danger of being swamped by Asians’) to the famous response to the question of xenophobia on 60 Minutes (‘Please explain?’). Then there was the prison stint, the Dancing with the Stars stint, and the extraordinary recent comeback. The former fish-and-chips shop owner is both loved and loathed. And she’s a serious threat to both major parties, with climbing national approval figures.

Today, Hanson has much in common with other anti-immigration, protectionist and populist political figures gaining traction across the world. Join David Marr, one of the finest minds in Australian journalism, as he discusses Pauline Hanson and the uniquely Australian strain of the politics of resentment. Hosted by Sally Warhaft, and recorded live at Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove.

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