Michael is joined by Dr Kevin Donnelly, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University & the co-author of the Review of the Australian Curriculum, to discuss the Vatican’s bid to tackle what it calls “an educational crisis” by launching into the debate on gender ideology and publishing an educational document called “Male and female he created them” in a bid to tackle what it called “an educational crisis”.

As reported in The Guardian, ‘the paper is intended to help Catholic school teachers counter ideas which “deny the natural difference between a man and a woman”, and is subtitled “Towards a path of dialogue on the question of gender theory in education”.’

With the NAB reporting that the retail sector has continued  to deteriorate and declaring it  "clearly in recession", Michael is joined by Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association.

Mr Zimmerman says that rather than accepting slowing conditions in the face of global economic headwinds, state and federal governments should be proactive in identifying & executing opportunities for a new reform agenda.

“When Australia has some of the highest rates of business taxation in the developed world, for example, cutting the company tax rate to 25% is an absolute no-brainer – especially when this would still leave Australian businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to their international counterparts,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Listen to Wake Up Australia with Michael McLaren, the Full Show Podcast here.

Michael talks to Stuart Greene, Sydney’s State Theatre historian about 90 years of the icon theatre’s history.

Heritage-listed, the State is located at 47-51 Market Street in the Sydney central business district and was designed by New Zealand theatre architect Henry Eli White, the designer of some 120 theatres in Australia and New Zealand & built from 1926 to 1929.

During its first week patrons were offered "entertainment of unparalleled magnificence" opening with the Ernst Lubitsch, (mostly silent) film THE PATRIOT on 7 June 1929, accompanied by Price Dunlavy billed as a "debonair genius" playing on the wurlitzer organ. The first sound film screened was Paramount's A DANGEROUS WOMAN on 29 June 1929.

The State hosts film screenings, live theatre and musical performances and since 1974 it has been the home of the annual Sydney Film Festival.

Listen to Wake Up Australia with Michael McLaren, the Full Show Podcast here.

Michael speaks to Jodi Rowley, Curator of amphibian & reptile conservation biology at the Australian Museum & the University of NSW, featured in an article by Melbourne journalist Ricky French as she tries to find the peppered tree frog which hasn’t been sighted since the 1970s and is believed by some to be extinct due to chytrid fungus.

French writes ‘being about the size of a fingernail and coloured mottled brown, Rowley admits it’s the ultimate needle in the haystack. So why bother? Because, she says, the richness of life is worth fighting for. Every species lost punches another hole in the ecosystem. Often we don’t know what we’re losing, or what we could stand to gain. “Frogs are actually beneficial to crops and farming, but that’s a lot harder to quantify for your average Joe,” she admits.’

 

Ricky French’s full article can be read using this link

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/why-are-our-frogs-disappearing-and-is-it-too-late-to-save-them/news-story/3497ecc586c1f2e24b8d7db27e50d885

Listen to Wake Up Australia with Michael McLaren, the Full Show Podcast here.

Rugby international Israel Folau has launched legal proceedings through the Fair Work Commission against Rugby Australia, with his lawyers stating that under Section 772 of the Fair Work Act the sacking was unlawful on the basis of religion.

Michael is joined by Nicholas Marouchak, director at MKI Legal who has experience in all aspects of employment law, workplace relations & unfair dismissal, for his opinion on whether Folau has a chance of success.

Listen to Wake Up Australia with Michael McLaren, the Full Show Podcast here.

Michael is joined by Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy & Public Ethics, who recently launched a Chinese- language version of his book ‘Silent Invasion’ in time for the Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary.

Professor Hamilton’s book, which explores China’s influence in Australia, has been strongly criticised by the Chinese government.