The Yarn

Ahead of Australia's federal election on May 3rd, we’re bringing you another episode of Voters’ Voices. 

This week we're focusing on Marginal Melbourne — the city’s most tightly-contested electorates. Our reporters investigated the seats on a knife’s-edge this year and the hot-button issues that could decide their futures.

Featuring pieces by Ruby Perryman, Daniel Gawne, Ashleigh Wyss, and August Mikleus. 

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Last week, we focused on young, disaffected voters ahead of the federal election on May 3rd. For episode two of Voter’s Voices, our reporters zoomed out. They went to a broader mix of voters, from retirees to small business owners. They found values were front of mind this year – like political honesty and social and environmental concerns.   

Featuring reporting by Maxine Ford, Morgan Reinwald, Kai-wern Koo, Daniel Gawne, and Nicole Wang.

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Ahead of Australia's federal election on May 3rd, we're launching a new series — Voters’ Voices. Episode one is all about what young voters really care about.  

Gen Z and millennial voters will outnumber baby boomers for the first time this year. It’s being called a cost-of-living election and our reporters investigated whether that’s true.They learned that young Australians feel poor, alienated, and not represented by major parties.

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After more than a decade apart, a disabled 14 year old in Indonesia will be reunited with his parents in Australia. Despite being born in Melbourne, Jonathan Lumintang was later denied residency due to his cerebral palsy. A ministerial intervention has allowed him to stay — but other families aren’t as lucky.   

Our student Kristian Oka Prasetyadi reported on this issue for The Citizen and the ABC. For today’s episode, The Yarn spoke to him about the family’s struggles, and Australia’s ableist migration policies. 

Show notes

Kristian Oka Prasetyadi's article for the ABC

 Kristian Oka Prasetyadi's article for The Citizen

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Australia's first ever Christian terrorist attack — that's how Queensland police classified the 2022 mass shooting in the rural township of Wieambilla.

This week, producer Kirralee Nicolle revisits the incident in detail. She explores how Christian fundamentalism can turn deadly, especially in tandem with online conspiracies and mental illness.

This episode contains a high degree of violence and references to sexual assault. 

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Today we're focusing on the ties between the University of Melbourne and weapons manufacturers. While the University has downplayed these ties, our reporter James Costa has found it’s still pursuing new defence partnerships. In particular, the university is spruiking its forthcoming inner-city campus at Fisherman's Bend. The University’s behaviour during student protests last year has also come under scrutiny, particularly its use of wifi to surveil students; one critic is calling it "twenty-first century McCarthyism".

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We’re continuing our centenary celebrations by revisiting highlights from our News Bites series. Over the last three years, we’ve featured more than 40 of Australia’s top journalism experts.  These include newspaper editors, podcasters, war journalists, and our very own staff. Today you’ll hear some of their top tips for aspiring journalists, from making your first pitch to covering conflict zones.  

Thanks to Jeff Sparrow, Bernadette Nunn, Louisa Lim, and Sami Shah for conducting the interviews and organising News Bites events.

Show notes:
News Bites playlist

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Today marks the 100th episode of our award-winning student podcast, The Yarn. In the three years since we started, we’ve featured work from 151 emerging journalists and won the Climate Award at the Australian Podcast Awards. 

To celebrate our centenary, we’re revisiting the highlights from our environmental reporting. From the centre of a bee swam to a trip along the Murray River, we’re taking you to unexpected places. We're also airing the voices of young Australians as they muse over eco-anxiety — and what can be done to counter global heating.  

Show notes:

Making the Murray River Sing

Tales of the Environment Part 2: Our Disappearing Forests

Climate Generation: Eco-anxiety

Swarm Episode 7: Pest or Protected?

Not Natural: Disrupting Decline

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Intimidated, lucky, chaotic: this is the emotional rollercoaster of the first days working in a newsroom. This episode is our survival guide to starting out in journalism, as delivered by three of our graduates. Gwen Liu from the Ballarat Courier, Harry Sekulich from the Daily Aus, and freelancer Wing Kuang speak to Senior Tutor Bernadette Nunn about how to survive and thrive when starting out in journalism. "The only way to do better is just by doing," says Harry, while Gwen's advice is simple, "you need courage, you need to be brave."

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The Baillieu Library is the largest library here at the University of Melbourne. Walking through the library, the shelves are filled with books on everything from philosophy and history, to science and computing, all from a Western Eurocentric perspective. But the library also holds one of the largest collections of Rare East Asian books and materials in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Throughout this episode, Jiaxuan Zhu explores how knowledge has been built here at the University of Melbourne and reflects on the importance of diversity and looking past just Eurocentric knowledge foundations. 

INTERVIEWEES:

Dr Shiqiu Liu

This podcast is on the exhibition “Learning Beyond Borders: Thomas Chong’s Study and Practice of Medicine”, presented by the Archives and Special Collections of the university.

MUSIC CREDITS 

Epidemic Sound: Sowing the Summer Barley by Francis Wells
Epidemic Sound: Shrines by David Celeste

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