Wake Up Australia

Tom Switzer, Political adviser, former senior fellow at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre (2009-17) & Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies, joins Michael to discuss latest polling that shows the Presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden tightening following last week’s Republican National Convention.

The poll conducted at the end of July showed Biden with a lead of a little less than 9 percentage points, whereas in latest surveys, those same registered voters give Biden an edge of just over 6 points (47 percent to 41 percent). 

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Michael is joined by Peter Strong, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia, who writes that the same old faces demanding superannuation contributions from workers increases from 9.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent don’t quite understand that it’s actually a pay rise as that increase is paid for by employers.

It’s money that the employer must find to include in a person’s salary package, so increasing superannuation will decrease jobs even though the worker will not see that pay rise until they retire.

Mr Strong writes, ‘Do those calling for a rise in superannuation understand that if a person doesn’t have a job they don’t pay superannuation? If superannuation is increased there will be another 250,000 people not paying superannuation because they don’t have a job. That isn’t a good outcome.’

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Peter Jennings, Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) joins Michael to discuss Scott Morrison’s announcement that the Australian government will introduce legislation for the ability to cancel deals struck with foreign nations by lower levels of government if it decided that they might violate the national interest.

In a major flexing of its constitutional powers, the Foreign Relations Bill will be introduced to parliament next week which will extend to universities and capture any questionable agreements between Australian public institutions & foreign governments.

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Michael is joined by John Graham MP, Member of the NSW Legislative Council & Shadow Minister for Roads, who has been working towards introducing toll-free periods for new motorways to come into effect before the opening of the multibillion-dollar NorthConnex tunnel in north-west Sydney.

Mr Graham says, "Not having a toll-free period means traffic chaos, it leads to last minute decisions, lane changes and accidents."

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Michael speaks to Philip Almond, Emeritus Professor The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at The University of Queensland, regarding the life and times of Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, who was born 110 years ago on 26th August 1910, and honoured in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje (now the capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After living in Skopje for eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.

In 1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries in 2012.  The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools.

Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also profess a fourth vow – to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor."

Teresa received a number of honors, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, and was canonised on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day.

A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work.

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Michael is joined by Nick Cater, Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre / Columnist with the Australian & Author of 'The Lucky Culture', who warns that ‘whatever the threats posed by covid-19, they are dwarfed by the dangers of trifling with tyranny, as Daniel Andrews is doing right now.’

‘The rolling state of emergency the Premier intends to extend for an unprecedented 12 months grants the Victorian Chief Medical Officer extraordinary powers to intrude into private lives’, Mr Cater writes.

‘He can authorise police to enter any premise without a warrant, where they can search, seize, destroy or dispose of anything they care. He can force any person or group to enter, not to enter, to remain at, or to leave, any particular premises.’

‘The state of disaster provisions, which can be imposed by the Premier almost on a whim, gives the Police Minister power to suspend legislation, take possession of property and restrict movement.’

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Listen to the full show podcast with Michael McLaren. 

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