Wake Up Australia

William Burke, president & founder of Sustainable Australia Party joins Luke Grants to discuss Labor’s proposed temporary parent visas and the ramifications if it is introduced.

With the federal election looming tomorrow, Luke Grant catches up with Glenn Druery, electoral campaigner & political strategist better known as the ‘Preference Whisperer'. 

Over the last few elections amongst other people, he’s had Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party elected to the Senate.

Listen to the full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

Professor George Williams, Dean of Law Faculty at the University of New South Wales joins Michael to discuss the remarkable rise of pre-poll voting which has become so popular that it is redefining what it means to hold a federal election.

Professor Willams writes “this has happened by accident rather than design. The result is that Australia no longer has a single election day. Voters have been able to cast a ballot on any one of 17 days spread over three weeks, with the final opportunity being Saturday”.

Listen to teh full show podcast with Michael Mclaren

Michael is joined by Stephen Galilee, CEO of the NSW Minerals Council, to discuss the impact of closing the Liddell Power Plant.

Mr Galilee wrote in his in his Daily Telegraph opinion piece “will the NSW government have the first-ever Special Minister for Blackouts?”

He says “considering the growing demand for electricity, our current fleet of ageing power stations and the various half-baked replacement strategies, this could be a reality within the next few years”.

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

Michael is joined by Dr Bob Birrell, demographer at the Australian Population Research Institute to discuss Bill Shorten’s family visa programme.

Dr Birrell has forecast 200,000-plus temporary parent visas under Labor’s first term with Melbourne University’s population expert Peter McDonald estimating up to two million overseas parents could ­potentially be able to come.

Also discusses is Australia's higher education system being undermined by a growing reliance on foreign fee-paying students.

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

The lesson from the Israel Folau affair is not new writes Chris Merritt, The Australian’s legal affairs editor.

He writes “If this sort of treatment can be meted out for espousing Christian belief, a doctrine shared by millions of Australians, what message does it send to minority religions that fall out of favour?"

"If Christians are not safe when they manifest their beliefs, who is?”