Young, Dumb & Politically Disengaged

A founding member of the Greens in Victoria, Janet Rice took her seat as a Greens Senator in 2014. She began her working life campaigning to protect forests as a trained climate scientist and was part of the famous 1983 Franklin River Blockade. As Mayor of the City of Maribyrnong, Janet positioned the council as a leader in reducing carbon pollution and acting against global warming. In Parliament, Janet advocates for federal funding for public transport, bike and walking infrastructure, protecting Australia’s native forests and animals, and proudly fights for the rights of LGBTIQ+ communities.

October saw climate talks, states opening up and borders coming down. We chat about Glasgow's COP26 climate conference, the dark truth about poverty in Australia, and the personal journey Janet shared with her late wife Penny as members of the LGBTIQ+ community.

Louise Crawford was re-elected for a second term as a Labor Councillor for the City of Port Phillip following the 2020 local government election, and was soon thereafter appointed Mayor. Louise previously ran for several different seats across various levels of government, including both state and federal elections. Before politics, Louise was an actor working in film and TV, appearing in many Aussie soaps and dramas. Louise is passionate about her creative community, litter picking programs, flood mitigation and waste transformation, action on climate change and greening, and continued support for early education.

September saw protests turn to riots in Melbourne, unsettling the city and causing dismay and anger among many Victorians. We discuss local vaccination rates, being a first time Mayor during a pandemic and Louise's podcast: Politics Is Not A Dirty Word.

After growing up in Sydney, John Kennedy became a flight lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force in the late 70s before moving to Melbourne. John enjoyed a long career in the education sector, notably serving as the founding principal of Loyola College in Watsonia. Today, John lives in Hawthorn and has resided locally in the Boroondara area for over 25 years now. John was elected as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 2018, becoming Hawthorn’s first Labor MP in over 60 years. Refugees, poverty, health, climate change and public transport are high on John's agenda.

August saw conflict in Kabul and marked an unpleasant milestone for Melburnians: 200 days in lockdown. We delve into lockdowns, our vaccination uptake, mandatory jabs, booster shots, the reopening of borders, and why John's never driven a car.

First elected in 2016 then re-elected in 2019, Tim Wilson's the Liberal federal member for Goldstein in the House of Representatives. Before politics, Tim was a policy director at the Institute of Public Affairs and Australia's Human Rights Commissioner. Tim is proud of what has been achieved over the past five years whilst in public office, including stopping the China Extradition Treaty, reforming MyHealth records to increase medical privacy, improving superannuation policy and delivering marriage equality. Tim has recently published a book: The New Social Contract: Renewing the liberal vision for Australia.

July brought changing financial support, a four-phase national COVID-19 plan and the continued sluggish vaccination rollout. We discuss why so many essential workers are still unvaccinated, how long before we're likely to reach 80% double dose vaccination rates, and the one question that Tim was finally able to ask.

A former Mayor of the City of Bayside, Clifford Hayes has been a Sustainable Australia member of the Victorian Legislative Council since 2018, representing Southern Metropolitan Region. Clifford stands for improved investment in community health and stronger environment protection policies. Clifford is focused on restoring planning powers back to local communities and fighting for better development and infrastructure outcomes, in addition to wider climate issues and concerns around population growth and immigration.

June brought leadership spills, the Delta variant and revised ATAGI advice. We consider the government’s climate policy following the G7 Summit, the increasing pace of our vaccination rollout and the ongoing management of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Brad Rowswell has been an active member of his local community for decades. After graduating from university, Brad worked in private, public and nonprofit sectors including education, the defence industry and as a political advisor. Brad was elected as the Member for Sandringham in 2018, beating Labor's candidate by just over 500 votes, and is now Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, Innovation, Bay Protection, and Fishing and Boating. Brad is passionate about delivering the infrastructure and investment needed for future generations, including upgrading roads, schools, sporting clubs and Sandringham Hospital.

As May draws to a close with Victoria on the cusp of a seven-day snap lockdown, Gen Xers are given the green light to start queuing for their jabs. We unpack the winners and losers of the State Budget, with Victoria spending big on mental health, schools and transport.

First time Greens Councillor and newly appointed Mayor of the City of Yarra Gabrielle de Vietri is excited to be representing her vibrant community. Before being elected to local government, she worked in the arts sector for over a decade, as well as a paralegal providing legal services to refugees and people seeking asylum. She has a long history of community activism and being involved in creating collaborative community projects for social change, human rights and climate change. As a queer woman, Gabrielle is proud to stand for and celebrate the fluidity of sexuality and gender.

April brought us everything from a national vaccine rollout program plagued by problems and clotting chaos to a non-committal virtual climate summit, with yet another apology from Canberra seemingly lost in the mail. We discuss the important role of women in political office, LGBTQIA+ visibility, environmental sustainability initiatives and our most vulnerable community members who have been left behind amongst the inoculation disorganisation.

Josh Burns worked a number of jobs before politics, including as a teacher’s aide and a factory hand, but it was his time serving as a Senior Adviser to the Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews that he says inspired him to move further into the political sphere. Since being elected Labor’s Federal Member of Parliament for Macnamara in 2019, Josh has been a passionate campaigner for support for local businesses and an advocate for tackling Australia’s housing affordability and homelessness crisis.

March saw the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy, a modest increase to the JobSeeker unemployment benefit, a bungled vaccine rollout blame game and a reshuffle kerfuffle. We flesh out what was yet another month of reports of horrific treatment of women in Australian politics and how a government in crisis scrambles to deal with the continued fallout.

As he enters his second decade as Caulfield's Liberal member in the Victorian Parliament, David Southwick understands and values the importance of hard work and appreciating the little wins. Having worn many different hats in his political career so far, David is currently the Shadow Minister for Police, for Community Safety and for Corrections. An active member of the Jewish community, David's focus remains local to his hometown of Caulfield, where he is now raising his own family. With a background in small business, David is passionate about the community sector, housing, employment, education and young people.

February saw Pfizer faux pas, Facebook fights and fiscal stimulus debates amidst a string of allegations of sexual assault in Parliament House. We unpack Victoria's snap lockdown and management of its hotel quarantine system, the toxic treatment of women in politics and the culture that underpins it, Victoria's planned royal commission into Crown Casino and where to bag the best bagels in David's electorate.

Tim Baxter has gone from running nightclubs and a mobile bar business, to banking and finance and finally into local government. A current City of Port Phillip Greens Councillor in his second term and fifth year in office, Tim's a family man and Balaclava local, having lived in the area for over fifteen years now. In his first term on council, Tim pushed for climate action, leading to Port Phillip joining the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project and declaring a climate emergency. This term, Tim's focusing on increasing open space, accelerating the greening of public and private land and continuing to fight for the climate cause.

January brought us everything from Joe the pigeon to Joe the president. We discuss Australia's vaccine rollout plan, the Australia Day debate, the US Capitol riot, protesting amidst a pandemic, Margaret Court's controversial proposed accolades and the successful sale of Tim's walking desk.