Trigger warning: This episode includes discussion of domestic & family violence. Australia's national helpline, 1800 RESPECT is available for sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling and information referral service, 24 hours a day, every day of the year and we encourage anyone who is personally affected by this episode to call.

In this episode of The Good Vote, Tim Costello and Mel Wade speak to Natasha Stott Despoja about women.

Podcast guest: Natasha Stott Despoja

Natasha Stott Despoja AM is the founding Chairperson of Our Watch (the Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children). She has been Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls December which involved 45 country visits between December 2013 and 2016 to promote women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership and reduce violence against women and girls.

She is a member of the World Bank Gender Advisory Council and, currently, sits on the UN High LevelWorking Group on the Health & Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents. She is a former Senator for South Australia (1995-2008) and former Leader of the Australian Democrats.

In 2011, Natasha was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the Australian Parliament, education and as a role model for women. She is still the youngest woman ever to enter the Australian Federal Parliament. In 2001, she was made a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. Natasha has held the positions of Australian Democrats’ Leader and Deputy Leader and is the longest-serving Democrat Senator in the party’s history.

Natasha is an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at The University of Adelaide; a columnist for The Adelaide Advertiser, and was a guest panellist on Channel 10’s TheProject. She is a former Deputy Chair of beyondblue, a former Burnet Institute Board member (now Patron); served on the board of the South Australian Museum (SAM) (2009-2013), the Advertising StandardsBoard (ASB) (2008-2013) and the Museum of Australian Democracy (MOAD) (2010-2013). She is a member of the Australian Privacy Foundation Advisory Board and the Global Women's InstituteLeadership Council.

She has been Patron or Ambassador for a number of not-for-profit groups including The Orangutan Project; Ovarian Cancer Australia, and ENUF the HIV/AIDS anti-stigma campaign. She lives in Adelaide with husband Ian and their two children Conrad and Cordelia.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

In this episode of The Good Vote, hosts Tim Costello and Mel Wade speak to Mark Yettica-Paulson about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Podcast guest:

Mark Yettica-Paulson is an Indigenous man from the south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales regions. He is the Workplace Relationships Manager at Australians Together and the Creator of Ngalpa Ngiya War Cry performed by AFL player Adam Goodes.

Mark founded the Yettica Group, a leadership consultancy, and is a former chief executive of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre and was the joint campaign director of Recognise, working towards recognition of Australia's First peoples in the constitution.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

In this episode of The Good Vote, hosts Tim Costello and Mel Wade speak to Dr Susan Carland about the issue of Islamophobia.

Episode guest: Susan Carland

Susan Carland is an academic, author, and social commentator. She has a PhD from Monash University’s School of Social Sciences, where she is a lecturer and researcher at Monash University’s National Centre for Australian Studies. Her teaching and research expertise are in gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, and the modern Muslim experience.

Susan is a regular reviewer and Friday panellist on ABC TV’s News Breakfast, and was also the host of the ABC Radio National Series Assumptions. She has appeared on the Agonyseries, Lateline, Q&A, The Drum, Home Delivery, and has featured in InStyle, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Dumbo Featherand Sunday Lifemagazines. She's married to Waleed Aly, who hosts the Ten Network show The Project and is arguably Australia's most well-recognised Muslim.

Susan’s first book The Research Process(7th edition), co-authored with Professor Gary Bouma, was published by Oxford University Press in 2016 and she released her second book Fighting Hislamin May 2017 with Melbourne University Publishing. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, in academic publications, and numerous anthologies.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

In this episode of The Good Vote,Tim Costello and Mel Wade talk to Dr Tim Flannery about the environment - one of this election's most hotly debated issues. 

Podcast guest Tim Flannery:

Dr Tim Flannery is one of Australia’s best known scientists. A mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmental and global warming activist, explorer and conservationist, Flannery was awarded Australian of the Year in 2007.

He has discovered and named more than thirty new species of mammals (including two tree-kangaroos) and at 34 he was awarded the Edgeworth David Medal for Outstanding Research. His pioneering work in New Guinea prompted Sir David Attenborough to put him in the league of the world’s great explorers and the writer Redmond O’Hanlon to remark, “He’s discovered more new species than Charles Darwin.”

In 2002, Flannery received a Centenary of Federation Medal for his service to science and became the first environmentalist to deliver the Australia Day address to the nation.

Flannery has taught at Harvard University, and advised governments both in Australia and Canada. He advised Sir Richard Branson on the Virgin Earth Challenge, and has served on the board of WWF International and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and as an advisor to the National Geographic Society.

In 2011, he was appointed Australia's first Climate Commissioner and in 2013, he founded, and is chief councillor, of the Australian Climate Council, Australia's largest and most successful crowdfunded organisation.

Flannery regularly contributes his voice to ABC Radio, NPR and the BBC, and has written and hosted several Documentary Channel specials, including The Future, and Islands in the Sky.

He regularly writes for The New York Review of booksand The Times Literary Supplement. He has edited and introduced many historical works and has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers. His 32 books include The Future Eatersand The Weather Makers,which has been translated into over 20 languages.

His latest book is Sunlight and Seaweed: An Argument for How to Feed, Power and Clean Up the World.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

In this episode of The Good Vote John Anderson joins Tim Costello and Mel Wade to discuss one of the 'hot-button' issues for Christians: religious freedom.

Episode guest: John Anderson

John Anderson is the former Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister. He spent 19 years from 1989 serving in the Australian Parliament.

Anderson was Acting Prime Minister during the 9/11 attacks and was involved in the decision to provide $1 billion in aid following the 2004 Indonesian tsunami.

Whilst in office, Anderson, a Christian faith, sought to respect the dictum that another’s right to speak should always be defended, even if he disagreed with them, gaining him respect and admiration across the parliamentary spectrum.

When he left politics in 2005, Kim Beazley, his political opponent and Leader of the Opposition at the time, said, “I must say I am deeply sorry to see the honourable gentleman resign his position… I think that the Deputy Prime Minister has made a name for himself in this parliament as a man of great heart —a good-hearted family man.”

Since retiring from politics, Anderson has continued to comment on topics such as civic freedoms, global food security, modern slavery and the economy. In 2011, Anderson was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his support of rural and regional communities.

He's also a sixth-generation farmer and grazier from New South Wales, and currently farms on the family property whilst also being active through various directorships, in public speaking and in the not-for-profit sector.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

In this episode of The Good Vote podcast, Professor Ian Harper joins hosts Tim Costello and Mel Wade to discuss the issue guaranteed to be a key issue in every election: the economy.

Podcast guest Ian Harper:

Ian Harper FASSA FAICD is an Australian economist, economics professor and current dean of the Melbourne Business School. He has a Bachelor of Economics with honours from the University of Queensland and a Master of Economics and Doctor of Philosophy from the Australian National University. Before becoming the dean, he was Professor Emeritus at the Melbourne Business School, a graduate school of the University of Melbourne.

A full transcript of this episode will be available soon at eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote. Be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at this election's key issues.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the thought of voting for the future leaders of our nation, then take heart. The Good Vote, a new Eternity podcast, launches next week with hosts Tim Costello and Mel Wade in honest conversation with prominent Australians about the issues that matter this election.

On the guest list: Former Premier for the Nationals John Anderson; former senator and Ambassador for Women and Girls Natasha Stott-Despoja; scientist, explorer and conservationist, Tim Flannery; author of Hislam and Muslim spokesperson Dr Susan Carland; the Reserve Bank's Prof Ian Harper; and Aboriginal leader Mark Paulson.

Season 1 ofThe Good Vote will drop on Monday, April 29. Subscribe now and be sure to check out Eternity News' Election Guide for a more detailed look at election issues.