"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Weekend Wrap 8 January: Republicans finally settle on McCarthy, Dutton’s polyphonic press conference to undermine the Voice

Ben looks at how the dysfunctional Republican Party took a record number of ballots to finally elect the only candidate they had for speaker and why the next two years may be ungovernable for the Party that once saw itself as the "natural party of government".

Peter Dutton has kicked on 2023 behind in the polls and desperate to find a pathway into government.  Today's press conference on The Voice was a classic polyphonic speech, talking to multiple audiences with a different set of meanings.  It was crass, it was disingenuous, it displayed how he remains beholden to far right ideologues and it had a touch of cooker sprinkled into the middle.

Ben breaks down why this double speak will fail to win back the Menzian centre right and further entrenches people's distrust of Dutton and his conservative rump.

Plus if you worked over the recent public holidays you should have received penalty rates, check your payslip and join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow to make sure you are getting the wages you've earned.

Episode 116: Dutton falls off millennial cliff, ACMA proves the case for change, MAGA madness consumes congressional Republicans and garbage powered cars!

Van Badham and Ben Davison return in 2023 by breaking down the collapse in support for Dutton's Liberal/National Coalition, why the post Gen X generations are not buying the culture wars and how the combination of material pain caused by insecure work, housing affordability & neo-liberal economics has joined the existential threat of climate change to alter generational voting patterns.  

Van and Ben also look at how the ACMA letter to the ABC exposes the neo-liberal success at "institutional capture" and why the fallacy of "non-political" appointments has seen ideologues who oppose policies of the elected government exercising power in Australia. 

The chaos engulfing the US Congressional process to appoint a speaker is a stark example of how important continual vigilance and engagement is in protecting democracy.  While Murdoch issues demands via Fox News the Republicans STILL only have one candidate but won't use their slim majority to appoint him if he doesn't bend the knee.

Van and Ben discuss how involvement in your union, join at australianunions.org.au/wow, and engagement with what is happening in your community is vital for democracy to thrive.

Plus there is good news about garbage powered cars!

And we give shoutouts to our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters who have gone to www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday to help us grow our audience. 

Episode 115: Morrison fumbles at robodebt royal commission, Cookers turn to terrorism, Pampas workers strike for job security and good news for renewables

Ben Davison looks at Scott Morrison's performance at the Robodebt Royal Commission and isn't surprised to learn that Morrison has not regrets, is still pitting groups of Australian's against each other and is avoiding answering the questions.

A terrible act of terrorism in Queensland have resulted in the deaths of three innocents and three suspected terrorists.  Police were ambushed by conspiracy cultists at a property in Queensland.  Ben does discuss what happened but more importantly why it happened and what we need to do to stop QAnon and other conspiracy cults from inciting violence.  HINT: it involves a higher level of journalism, among other things.

At the other end of the political spectrum Ben speaks with Annabel, a Pampas worker of 33 years service, who is on strike for better job security for casuals and a decent pay increase.  You can show support to Annabel and her fellow strikers at https://chuffed.org/project/pampas-strike and join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow

The good news is a $10 Billion renewable investment fund that will give the public a stake in the success of a raft of new wind, solar and battery projects.

Plus we give our supporters from www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday a shout out and congratulations on what has been a MASSIVE 2022.

Van Badham and Ben Davison will be back with an end of year wrap up and more episodes and live events in 2023!

Weekend Wrap 11 December: Labor announces EPA, Albo gets energy deal and the Pampas workers latest target of multinational greed

Ben Davison looks at the Albanese Labor government announcement of an Environmental Protection Agency to improve our natural environment and meet the zero extinctions target.

The national cabinet has agreed a new national energy policy to cap fuel input costs and reduce energy costs in 2023 for households and businesses.  Ben explores how a decade of Coalition mismanagement and failed privatisations has made our domestic energy market a mess and contrasts that with the Western Australia experience where they have maintained ownership and control.

The Pampas workers are still on strike and Ben takes a look at both the local owners, Goodman Fielder, and the multinational corporation that owns them, Wilmar International.  The chain of greed stretches into some surprising places. 

Remember that the only solution to organised greed is organised workers so join you union at australianunions.org.au/wow

Episode 114: Chris Minns, NSW Labor Leader, joins Van and Ben to discuss the state of NSW, bad news about burritos and good news from Georgia

Van Badham and Ben Davison sat down with NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns to discuss his campaign, why privatisation doesn't work, why his former school teacher dad inspires him to respect the power of education to change lives and what it will take to fix the gig economy, workers rights and local manufacturing.

Join Van, Ben and the NSW  Labor leader as they discuss the need to put workers at the centre of reform, how each of us can improve our communities by talking with people about the issues we face and why being opposition leader is a hard job but doesn't have to mean always being negative.

Van and Ben also discuss the Pampas strike and the failure of Zambrero to protect workers in their supply chain.  A deeper dive with workers involved in the campaign will be in next week's episode.  Don't forget wherever you work, whoever you work for you need to be a union member and can join at australianunions.org.au/wow

And the good news is the re-election of Democratic Senator in Georgia Raphael Warnock!

Plus we give shout outs to all our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters. 

Weekend Wrap 3 December 2022: Socceroos do us proud, Albo delivers with more to come and Dutton remains on the fringes

Ben Davison starts by acknowledging our Buy me a Coffee supporters www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday and breaking down some of the achievements of the first six months of the Albanese Labor government.

Ben talks about what's happened with Labor in power, Dutton's move to the political fringe and what we might see in 2023.

With workplace reforms passed and more likely in 2023 nows the best time to join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow

Plus Ben praises the Socceroos not just for their performance on the field but also for their solidarity off the field too!

Episode 113: Morrison censured over multiple ministries, Labor wins promised reforms and the good news is about electric vehicles

Van Badham and Ben Davison examine the historic censure motion against former Minister-for-Everything Scott Morrison and his entirely egregious response to it. They also discuss a refreshingly busy legislative week in the federal parliament, with Labor's IR bill and National Anti-Corruption Commission set to become law. While Australia steps into the future, the National Party remain deeply wedded to the past, committing themselves to campaigning against the First Nations' Voice to Parliament that a majority of Australians already support. Is the Coalition out of touch? Or are they on an ACTUAL ASTEROID shooting out of our galaxy at incredible speed? Decide for yourself when you hear the good news about electric vehicles...

Weekend Wrap 27 November 2022: Victorian state election wrap up and Secure Jobs, Better Pay to become law

Van Badham joins Ben Davison to give a deep dive on the Victorian state election.  How the media narratives were so wrong, the death of the Menzian Liberal Party, the misinformation about the Greens, the quiet success of the Nationals and why Labor has so convincingly won.

Tony Burke, the federal industrial relations minister, announced on Insiders that the Albanese government has come to an agreement with ACT independant senator David Pocock to pass the Secure Jobs, Better Pay laws.

Van and Ben discuss the changes that Pocock and Burke have agreed, why the laws are needed and why joining your union at australianunions.org.au/wow is so important.

Plus we thank all of our www.buymeacoffee.com.au/weekonwednesday supporters and Maurice Blackburn for making the election night broadcast, which is now available on YouTube, Twitter and our Buy me a coffee supporter page, possible.  

Episode 112: Workers asking Pocock which side are you on? Victoria heads to the polls, Musk burns billions for Twitter lols and good news on the NSW Super Battery

Van Badham and Ben Davison RETURN to the podcast following the sad passing of Van's mum, Barb.  With the Secure Work, Better Pay laws before the senate and Barb being a lifelong unionist Van and Ben pay tribute to her life by examining why David Pocock needs to pass the whole package of laws to get wages moving.  And just what the laws really mean for jobs, wages, climate action and social change. 

Joining your union and being part of making this change happen is just a few clicks away at australianunions.org.au/wow

The Victorian election is on THIS SATURDAY.  Van and Ben look at the campaign that has been punctuated by scandals, cookers and a Liberal Party so far removed from the Menzian ideal that top of the ticket candidates are being told they can't sit in the party room while marginal seat candidates are telling people they "don't believe in kinder".  Van and Ben will be doing a LIVE election night broadcast, join the watch party here https://fb.me/e/6NK1MrjXu

Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, saddled it with debt, broken it and invited some of the worlds worst people to slop about on it.  Van and Ben look at the economic, social, political and potential legal ramifications, as well as the history of billionaire takovers of social media platforms.

There is good news about the largest renewable energy storage battery being built in NSW

And we give a special shoutout to all our supporters from www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday who have stuck with us during this difficult time.

Weekend Wrap 13 November 2022: Ben updates on mid terms, Victorian election, Secure Jobs, Better Pay laws and Van’s mum

Ben Davison gives a brief update on the situation with Van and her Mum, thanking all The Week on Wednesday listeners for their support and solidarity.

With Biden's Democrats set to retain the senate and pushing the house elections to the wire its been a good week for democracy.  

Ben also takes a look at the debate on the Albanese Government’s Secure Work, Better Pay laws.  Apparently some people on Insiders and on the cross bench thought "get wages moving again" was rhetoric not a promise to Australian's to get wage moving again. Ben encourages people to send a message to their senator at www.australianunions.org.au/email-your-mp/take-action-send-your-senator-a-message/ and join their union at australianunions.org.au/wow if you want to make sure wages get moving again.

While Van and Ben have been in Sydney the Victorian election has been heating up and Ben looks at Matthew Guy's new promises to bring back fracking and to take policy advice from the IPA.

There's a special big thank you to all our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday supporters who've stuck with us while we take care of our family.  Hope we can get another podcast out soon!