The Grapevine

On this episode of The Grapevine, Shane Dunlop Channel 31 General Manager gives an update on the community broadcaster’s last minute licence extension at the 11th hour and discusses the future of the station and community television going forward. 

 Plus Dylan speaks to Associate Professor Laurie Berg, Co-director of Migrant Worker Justice Initiative, about their new report’s findings that systemic wage theft and exploitation of international students and migrant workers is still rampant in Australia.

And Kate Griffiths, Budget Policy & Institutional Reform Fellow at the Grattan Institute explains their new report ‘The Recovery Book’, outlining innovative plans for Australia to get out of recession, and discusses the future of public support spending for those affected by the pandemic.

As the National Cabinet is set to replace COAG as a forum for collective decision making, what do these changes mean for Australia’s democracy? Journalist George Meglogenis unpacks the impact of COVID-19 on Australian politics that his article discusses in The Age.

And following the demolishing of the Hazelwood coal mine chimneys, Dylan speaks to author Tom Doig whose book ‘Hazelwood’ provides an eye opening account of the 2014 fires that choked the community of Morwell for weeks in the La Trobe valley and the events following the disaster.

On this episode of The Grapevine La Trobe University's Emeritus Professor Judith Brett, tells Kulja and Dylan how a nation can suffer from being rich in natural resources and explains how Australia can move away from its economic dependency on fossil fuels,  as explored in the Quarterly Essay ‘The Coal Curse: Resources, Climate, and Australia’s Future’.

And austerity or stimulus? Independent journalist Michael West explains the problems with the Government’s rationale for their policy making towards economic recovery which he highlights in his article ‘Do the grandchildren really pay the debt? The problem with Scott Morrison’s plan for recovery, and MMT’.

Then, country living editor at The Weekly Times, Hannah Driscoll, talks about the impact of the shutdown on regional sports, particularly football, and how they’re looking now around the uncertainty of when seasons can start back up again. 

As the outrage over police brutality towards minorities and the call for accountability intensifies globally, Dylan and Kulja speak to journalist and documentary-filmmaker Santilla Chingaipe, about the current state of police conduct towards minorities in Australia she covers in her article published in The Saturday Paper ‘Law Enforcement and Racial Profiling’.

Then, how will our lodging be affected in the aftermath of the economic shock caused by the pandemic? Director of Darkwave consulting, Meredith Fannin, gets on the line to give some clarity on what’s going to happen at tax time.

On this episode of The Grapevine, Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth gets on the line with Kulja and Dylan to discuss the likelihood of a gas-lead recovery from pandemic recession, Friends of the Earth remote Stay In Paddle Out action against off-shore drilling and the brumby issue. 

And why was Australia’s education system hit so hard by the pandemic? Professor John Quiggin from the University of Queensland talks about his article in Inside Story explaining how the business model of higher education set the system up for failure during a crisis like the pandemic.

Then, will social housing packages follow the Government’s HomeBuilder Scheme? Associate Professor from Swinburne University, Wendy Stone, explains the mixed reactions to HomeBuilder and the effectiveness of the Government’s approach to stimulus spending.

Kulja Coulston flies solo on this week's edition of the grapevine, chatting with Market Forces' Asset Management campaigner, Will Van De Pol about how companies like Rio Tinto have come under pressure for their “lackluster approach” to matching their business strategies with the Paris Climate Agreement’s emission reduction goal.

Also on the line, the CEO of VACCA, Professor Muriel Bamblett, explains how First Nations and Aboriginal communites are coping with the on-going challenges of the pandemic and the effectiveness of the Commonwealth’s National Redress Scheme to provide reparations to stolen generation survivors of institutional child sex abuse.

Then Michael Simic, aka Mikelangelo, digs deep into his live stream series, The Maneki Sessions, a collaboration between Infidel Studios, The Noise Floor, and Foundation Media. Simic believes live streaming music may be here to stay, and The Maneki Sessions is an experiment in a different approach to live performance.

This week on The Grapevine, Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear (ICAN), Associate Professor Tilman Ruff, explains the global efforts towards global denuclearization in their report, ‘Enough is Enough: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending 2020’.

And NITV journalist, Rachel Hocking, jumps on the line to talk with Dylan and Kulja about a story she is working on following the Victorian Government’s announcement of a redress scheme concerning stolen generation survivors of institutional childsex abuse and how First Australians can access reparations. Hocking also describes her interview with Warwick Thornton about his upcoming new doco screening on NITV.

Then, Executive Director at Per Capita, Emma Dawson, talks all about the recent $60 billion Jobkeeper forecasting error, post-Covid economic recovery, and Per Capita’s new report on underemployment in Australia.

This week on The Grapevine, professor Verity Burgmann, adjunct professor of politics in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, talks to Dylan and Kulja about the life and influence of Jack Mundey, union leader and environmental activist, and the history of union movements and activism during the green bans.  Jack Mundey passed away earlier this month, age 90.

Plus John Martinkus, journalist, foreign correspondent, and author of The Road, explains the uprising in West Papua and the constant struggle for independence between the Melanesians and the Indonesian administration of the island as their most easterly province.

Finally, Adam Morton, The Guardian's Australian environment editor, discusses climate change amid the pandemic and his work on helping launch a new grassroots journalism project, the Tasmanian Inquirer.

This week on The Grapevine, writer, researcher, and author, Peter Mares, gets on the line with Kulja and Dylan to explain Labor’s rhetoric shift on migration he explored in his article ‘Labor’s mixed migration message’ for Inside Story.

And Kate Robinson, Feminist in Residence at Queen Victoria Women’s Centre gives an insight into her practice as a community lawyer, supporting women through the court system.

Then, what is a Social Credit System? Head of Research and Emerging Practice for Science Gallery Melbourne and Research Fellow in the interaction Design Lab at Melbourne University, Dr Niels Wouters explains.

This week on The Grapevine, award winning author Tony Birch reflects on his essay, ‘Things of Stone and Wood and Wool’, published in The Griffith Review and finding solace from grief in a collection of small but meaningful objects following his brother’s death.

And will Australia use the economic recovery process following the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for industry innovation? Editor of Renew Economy Giles Parkinson discusses the upcoming smart energy conference and what direction Australia can take with stimulus spending.

Then, author Nick Brodie phones in to discuss his book Under Fire: How Australia’s violent history led to gun control and the importance of remembering the role of guns in Australian culture.