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

Episode 84: Morrison promises wage cuts, Labor to reform NDIS, COVID rules changing and good news on solar storage

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at Morrison's promises on workplace laws and what the real impact will be for working people. They also give a roundup on the changing COVID rules and election state of play.

Morrison's campaign continues to take place in workplaces where workers are being offshored, wages cut, temporary migrants exploited and former Liberal Minister's chair the board.  The work of unions in exposing these travesties while also fighting for better wages, safer workplaces and more secure jobs might be why Morrison wants to double the fines on unions, it is certainly why you should join your union australianunions.org.au/wow

Van and Ben look at how Morrison could put forward policies that will cut wages by up to $14,000 when wages have already been going backwards and we are in a cost of living crisis.  They explore how the cashless debit card, and Morrison ideological framework for "welfare", combine with his anti-worker agenda to create the kind of trickle up society he wants for Australia.

Labor has announced their NDIS reform agenda.  Ben shares the story of GT to demonstrate how broken the NDIS has become for participants, workers and families.  Van shares her experiences with the MyAgedCare system. The need for Labor's changes to get rid of the "cowboys" is highlighted by one foreign private equity backed "platform" making a 14% margin from NDIS and Aged Care services!

The good news is about solar power being stored on a microchip that lasts for up to 18 years!

As always we give shoutouts to our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters who've gone to www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday to make regular contributions.  

 

 

Weekend Wrap Easter Election: Insiders calls out Morrison’s bigot strategy, Morrison dodges ICAC, a new health minister & disinformation warfare

Van Badham joins Ben Davison for an election special weekend wrap.  The end of the first week of the election campaign has seen a change in the way the media reports the campaigns, the topics that are being covered and the insights being offered.

On ABC's Insider's program the panel openly discussed Morrison's decision to install a bigot into a seat he does not expect to win in order to help gain communities in other seats. Meanwhile his own Foreign Affairs Minister refused to endorse the candidate during their interview on the program.

Van and Ben discuss the Morrison agenda, laid out so far, as being almost entirely based on fear, continuing to drive down wages and job security, avoiding anti-corruption commissions being established and creating disinformation about Labor.

The expected announcement of Anne Ruston as Morrison's pick to be Health Minister, if he wins the election, is analysed with her recent extreme ideological positions against women, unemployed workers, taking advice and Medicare raising concerns for her suitability.  

Van discusses the "Disinformation window" beginning to open.  For Morrison to tell a big lie about Albo and Labor on election day he needs to have created an openness to that lie within the electorate.  People are already reporting lies about policy, statements, people and Labor's agenda.

Ben and Van are both still sick but manage to get through the whole episode with only one or two coughs (we just couldn't edit them all out)!

Don't forget two of the three ways you can increase your wages and job security involve joining your union at australianunions.org.au/wow and the third is a combination of natural talent, lifetimes dedication and the vagaries of popular sport.

We also give a shout out to our supporters who have been making a contribution at www.buymeacoffee.com/WeekOnWednesday to help us keep reaching new audiences despite the election period.

Episode 83: Morrison ”hosts” the media, election campaign highlights and low lights, good news about solar panels at night

Van Badham and Ben Davison discuss "horse race" political journalism in light of the revelations that Morrison is "hosting drinks for the media" during the campaign and that the "cash rate gaffe" was based on a question asked after a visit to a nursing home that needed nurses but where the media wasn't interested in asking about aged care policy.

With disinformation campaigns having shaped national elections in Australia, the UK and the USA in recent years Van and Ben discuss why trust in the media is so important and how recognising the potential for bias by being up front with your views, values and interactions is so critical to democracy.

There have been some policy announcements in the first days of the election, on Medicare from Labor and on jobs from Morrison (though the details might be better news for workers in Vietnam than in Western Sydney). There have also been revelations about Liberal travel rorts and George Christensen locking in his $100k severance by jumping into an unwinnable senate spot for One Nation.

Australian Unions have put out a secure jobs policy paper which shows 1 in 3 workers in Australia currently has no job security.  Union jobs are more secure jobs and you can join your union at Australianunions.org.au/wow

The good news is that solar panels are being designed that collect energy at night!  

Plus we give a huge shoutout to our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters who have allowed us to keep promoting the show, despite the spike in advertising costs due to the election.  Check out www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday to make a contribution and read the posts.

Election kick off special: Morrison has called the election!

Van Badham joins Ben Davison to discuss the opening salvo's from Morrison and Albo on the first day of the election.

They take a brief look at some of the battle ground seats around the country, the key issues that have been put forward by the leaders and seperate some of the spin from the reality.

So settle in for a wide ranging chat about the issues, the leaders, how the systems of our democracy work and some frank confessions about who has eaten chalk and people's favourite cheeses in this "hey ho, lets go" election kick off special.

Episode 82: Morrison’s trust deficit worsens, Liberals with questions to answer, election battle lines drawn, good news about Fortnite and Ukraine

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into the mess that is Scott Morrison's relationship with the truth as the week since the budget has seen Morrison called "unfit to be Prime Minister" by member's of his own government, state Liberals MPs write articles on why they "cannot vote for the reelection of a Scott Morrison government" and ABC Fact Check find him to be "misleading"

All while his intervention in the NSW Liberal Party pre-selections has been called a "debacle" by NSW Liberal Premier Dominic Perrottet. 

When the fish rots from the head it soon spreads to the rest of the body, Van and Ben look at some of the Liberals with questions to answer following exposes by FriendlyJordies, The Guardian and the SMH on Peter Dutton, George Christensen and Andrew Lamming respectively.

As the trust deficit in the Morrison government grows the election battle lines are being drawn with Albo's budget reply focussing on aged care support, wages for workers and "putting the care back into aged care, child care and medicare."  Jim Chalmers, the man who would be Treasurer, has given a Press Club speech and picked up on the themes of insecure work and low wages while pointing out the Morrison era "to gdp" targets on tax etc are "arbitrary" and "all politics and bad economics".

At the same time ACTU Leader Sally McManus has been at a small business conference talking about the need for Australia to be self reliant and that the claim for a 5% increase in the minimum wage is about ensuring a better life for each generation of Australians. 

To help ensure a better life, better work and better wages, you can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow

And the good news is that Fortnite gammers have raised more than $144M for the people of Ukraine to help provide essential food, shelter and other supplies.

We know that people build community and community builds solidarity.  We've seen it in the support for The Week on Wednesday as our podcast has had THREE record months IN A ROW thanks to everyone listening, sharing, downloading and contributing. 

If you want to help us spread the word even further go to www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday 

Weekend Wrap 3 April 2022: Frydenberg’s train wreck on Insiders, Unions are campaigning to lift wages & Putin’s war crimes?

Josh Frydenberg gave a train wreck interview with David Speers on Insiders.

From refusing to fund aged care wages to it being exposed that he had planned to reduce the price of medicines but had it cut from the budget and continually saying he and Morrison were offering "temporary cost of living relief", when what we need is a permanent improvement in living standards, Josh came across as a man who doesn't believe his own spin.

Australian Unions have put in a minimum wage case claim to lift minimum wages by 5%, business lobby groups want a cut, yet the Morrison government won't even commit to funding a regulated increase in aged care wages. Go to australianunions.org.au/wow to join and support wage increases.

The budget showed wages have gone backwards and will keep going backwards.  Ben looks at how workers are standing up against wage cuts and job insecurity from nurses, and printers, McDonalds workers and security guards to carpet makers and aged care workers.

There is also a quick summary of the situation in Ukraine where Putin's forces are leaving a trail of destruction in their withdrawal and accusations of massacres are emerging.

And there's a huge congratulations to our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday supporters who have helped the podcast have our third record breaking month IN A ROW!

Episode 81: Morrison’s election budget misses the point as Liberals expose who he really is, COVID making a come back and good news about wind turbines

Van Badham and Ben Davison breakdown the Morrison budget. This latest instalment of neo-liberal waste and vote buying STILL doesn't address the fundamental issues of insecure work and low wage growth that is dragging down the economy and people's household budgets.

While the average worker has already gone backwards $1,300 over the last 18 months this budget locks in another $1,355 cut to the living standards of the average working Australian. Union member's have been campaigning on the need for more secure work and better pay, you can go to australianunions.org.au/wow to join them. 

There's plenty of pork being slushed around with 123 of the 144 projects announced in the budget not stacking up to the standards set by Infrastructure Australia and $600M going into more gas projects.

While the media focuses on the one off cash handouts and temporary petrol tax cut (that might be eaten up by oil price rises anyway) this waste and vote buying is being paid for with cuts to schools, universities, the arts, public sector workers, climate change prevention and $3 BILLION in cuts "decided but not announced".

These sneaky cuts have been exposed at the same time that soon to be former Liberal Senator from NSW Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has opened the lid on Morrison's take over of the NSW Liberal Party saying "There is a putrid stench of corruption emanating from the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party", claiming Morrison is "a bully with no moral compass" and that party members "don't like Morrison and they don't trust him". 

These claims follow on from Barnaby Joyce calling Morrison a "hypocrite and a liar", Gladys Berejiklian calling him a "horrible, horrible person" and another minister calling him "a fraud and a complete psycho". With the holes in his budget becoming apparent and his own leadership called into question it is clear why Morrison has canceled his appearance on ABC 7:30....

Van and Ben talk about how the COVID booster program is becoming another "strollout", with the time to reach 90% boosted getting pushed later and later into the year. This mismanagement is happening just as floods once again consume Lismore and northern NSW, making it harder to rollout boosters, and COVID cases rise, hospitalisations increase and more Australian's are tragically dying.

But there is good news about wind turbines!

Plus we give a shout out to all our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters who have signed up to make a regular contribution towards helping us grow the audience through www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday 

Weekend Wrap with Van: Pre-Budget Insiders, Morrison’s Hillsong lies, Putin’s War and good environmental news about cows!

Van Badham joins Ben Davison for a very special edition of the Weekend Wrap to bring you The Week on Wednesday, on a Sunday.

Van and Ben dive into the Morrison government's pre-budget leaks, analyse Insiders and Jim Chalmer's focus on wages and job security during his interview.  The budget will benefit from rising commodity prices but Morrison's renouncement of old policies, leaking of cash hand outs and continued waste on rorts doesn't look like addressing the job insecurity, real wage cuts and increasing living costs that are smashing Australian households.  Australian Unions are taking action in workplaces and communities around the country to make work more secure and lift wages join them at australianunions.org.au/wow

Morrison's record on delivering lines up with his record on lying as he was caught out in yet another needless lie about his connection to the Hillsong Church and its now disgraced former leader Brian Houston.  Van and Ben look at how the 2022 election will be impacted in a very different way by Morrison's trust deficit from the way it impacted 2019.

Putin's four day war in Ukraine enter's its 30th day with another dead general, senior staff missing, field commanders turning on each other, civilians ejecting soldiers from cities and Biden condemning Putin as a war criminal while the autocrat of Russia starts to talk about withdrawing to the most eastern parts of Ukraine.

There is good news for cows, methane emissions and seaweed farming as Chris Bowen points out Barnaby Joyce's call to shoot every cow in the head may have been pre-mature.

We have had two new Cadre supporters join us on www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday since our short Wednesday edition.  Our next episode will have the full shout outs for our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters.

Episode 80: Morrison cuts wages, Albo’s reality signalling, Putin’s war and good news about forests

Technical issues mean that Van Badham wasn't able to join Ben for this week's episode but The Weekend Wrap will be a special extended, post Insiders and pre federal budget Sunday edition.

In a shorter 30 minute episode Ben looks at how Morrison is leading the charge on cutting wages while the reserve bank admits that under the current government policies workers face another wage cut this year, on top of the cut last year!

As Morrison tries to make the election about fantastical culture wars (while ignoring the suspect behaviour of not only his own members but his spiritual advisor!) Albo has doubled down on what Labor is about: Delivering material improvements in people's lives that give space for progressive social policy as we've seen in Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria.

The budget will see an improvement in national income from higher commodity prices driven by Putin's war in Ukraine but while that is good for the budget it is increasing the cost of living here and literally killing people in Ukraine.

Ben gives a quick update on the bogged down mess that is Putin's war as it enters day 28.

Even a shorter Week on Wednesday needs good news and this week it is about International Forest Day!

And as always Ben gives a shout out to all our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters who've headed to our page www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday and to everyone who has joined their union at australianunions.org.au/wow 

Don't forget to check out this Sunday's special Weekend Wrap with Ben AND Van Badham

 

Weekend Wrap 20 March 2022: Labor wins in South Australia, Morrison couldn’t stop a penguin invasion, teachers under strain & pork barrelling backfires

Ben Davison looks at how Peter Malinauskas won the South Australian for Labor focussing on health, ambulance waiting times, public ownership of assets and jobs while the Marshall Liberals, blinded by infighting and scandal, set the wrong, wasteful priorities.

Morrison minister, Simon Birmingham, appeared on Insiders this morning to claim the people of South Australia had been "tricked" and that there were no lessons for the Morrison government.  The Morrison government will be handing out some form of one off payments in the budget but doing nothing to address the systemic issues of insecure work, declining wages or rising living costs.

Greg Sheridan offered the insight that under Morrison and Dutton we "couldn't stop an invasion of penguins" given the hollowing out of our defence capability, despite huge amounts being given out to contractors and offshore suppliers.

Morrison's attempt to pork barrel the flood relief has backfired with one NSW coalition upper house MP resigning in protest and another claiming it would be "hard to vote for him"

And Morrison minister, Stuart Robert, has called public sector teachers duds as new research shows they in fact working 60 hours a week, 1 in 3 is thinking of leaving teaching and the independant and catholic school teachers are now looking at taking industrial action too.

A sharp 20 minutes to wrap up your weekend.