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

Episode 48: Gladys locks down for another month, Morrison gives a little more but still no wage subsidy as food prices rise. Canavan and the capitol hill riot link. Good news about plastic and PFAS

Van Badham and Ben Davison, still separated by hard borders and COVID lockdowns, analyse what is happening as Sydney locks down for another four weeks, Victoria starts to cautiously reopen and Morrison decides to let 400,000 Sydneysiders both pay their rent and eat!

Ben breaks down the jump in cost of living and how the failure to see through support for working people may be taking fresh food off many household menus. 

Matt Canavan is appearing on the Bannon show while George Christensen's right to support people being organised by far right groups in Germany is defended by Scott Morrison.  That's right folks, the evidence is in and the marches on the weekend were orchestrated as part of a global far right movement. 

Van and Ben discuss how the Capitol Hill hearings are exposing the dangers of pretending tolerance for the intolerant is anything other than a danger to democracy as both Democrats and Republicans take the stand.

And there is good news about making corporations pay for the environmental cost of plastics and on the elimination of cancer causing PFAS.

Weekend Wrap 25th July

Ben responds to the march of the traitors, COVID updates, the need for Australians to stand together as one Commonwealth against the agents of Murdoch.

Episode 47: Gladys "Mockdown" fails, Morrison's leadership failings continue, Is the UK opening up or giving up? And the good news is about oil and gas in Greenland!

Van Badham (locked down in Sydney) and Ben Davison (locked down in Melbourne) examine how the Glady's "mockdown" failed to stop the spread of the Delta variant and now more than half of Australia is in lockdown with almost 1,500 COVID cases in NSW.  Sadly hospitalisations, ICU admissions and ventilations have almost doubled since last week's episode.

Morrison holds a press conference to tell Australian's what a good job he's doing, lie about vaccination rates and pretend $350 a week from the government is somehow a generous act from a man who lives in a waterfront palace and collects over $500,000 a year.  But he's not going to say sorry for failing to roll out the vaccine.  No matter how many times we ask him, no matter how many cases there are and no matter how clearly he has failed.

Boris Johnson has declared "Freedom Day" by removing all COVID restrictions at the same time his health minister, who is vaccinated, gets COVID in what is widely seen as Boris simply giving up on trying to keep people safe.

The good news is from Greenland.  The new Inuit led government has decided to keep the oil and gas in the ground in an act of global solidarity with genuine consequences for their own sovereign goals.

Weekend Wrap 18 July 2021

Morrisons vaccine failures allow 105 new COVID cases in Sydney as Gladys finally suggests people should wear masks outside.

7 are now ventilated and another person has died.

Victoria carries the cost of Morrison's politicking with 16 cases linked to the NSW outbreak.

Australian Unions are calling for Jobkeeper to return but Morrison has refound is ideological goggles are is refusing to help people keep their jobs.

Can you believe that no Morrison Minister has resigned over abandoning 36,000 stranded Aussies overseas?  Well, they've just let in well known British racist Katie Hopkins and Republican politician/Kardashian Caitlyn Jenner for Channel 7.

Sign the megaphone petition to have them booted out.  The ministers and the dangerous right wing loons.

 

Episode 46: Gladys extends Sydney lockdown, Morrison puts party before nation, China watches our wargames and good news about goats!

Van Badham, in lockdown Sydney, and Ben Davison, fresh from a Tier 1 exposure, breakdown Glady's Sydney lockdown extension, the pressure on workers in Fairfield and the growing impact of the Liberal's "confusion first" approach.

Morrison's decision to increase payments to Sydney, in a way not open to Melbourne during Victoria's lockdown, has incensed people as partisan politicking gone mad.  Morrison's government has tried to justify the favourable treatment using the same tricks it has offered up over car park rorts, sports rorts and Sydney airport land payments but even liberals are furious!

Dutton throws a dead cat on the table as China sends the same ship to watch our regular war games with the USA, "Talisman Sabre", as they sent in 2019 and 2017.

And the good news is about how we can turn feral goats into fertiliser!  

Weekend Wrap 11th July 2021

Glady's lockdown lite results in 77 case today, 52 in hospital, 15 in intensive care and 1 death.  Morrison continues to fail with on 9% of Australian's vaccinated

The RBA acknowledges that manipulation of migration policy has resulted in lower wages as the failure of neo-liberal economics continues to be exposed

Ash Barty wins Wimbeldon! 

Episode 45:Coronavirus versus the world, Scott Morrison is "Menacing Wallpaper" and the good news is about.... Antelopes!

With Van Badham stuck in Sydney lockdown while Ben Davison remains in Victoria, we consider how Australia has managed to stuff its vaccine rollout even without the problems that have caused crisis in Indonesia and Russia. We ponder how some of the country's most privileged private schoolboys have been vaccinated... but their teachers haven't - oh, and remote communities haven't, either. Former MP Julia Banks unloads on the sexism culture of the LIberal Party, and tips a bucket on Scott Morrison. The good news is about the antelopes of Kazakhstan... and there's an update with some MORE good news about hybrid airships. Enjoy!

Weekend wrap Jul 4, 2021

Morrison’s failure sparks a four stage plan to pretend everything is ok NSW lockdown continues with aged care outbreak Stranded Aussies now six months past due but big business come and go as they please Morrison’s finance Minister goes on Insiders to praise car park corruption saying “Australians had their chance..” Julia Banks reveals the darkness beneath the Liberal Party masks.

Episode 44: Morrison vaccine failure locks down millions! $330 million spent on car-park election pork-barrelling! Medicare cuts start tomorrow!

Van is trapped in a locked-down New South Wales and doesn't know when she'll see Ben again, but the podcast continues through the miracle of technology and a fervent desire to discuss Scott Morrisons many, many, many failures. How many? SO MANY: on coronavirus vaccines, quarantines, Astra-Zeneca, jobkeeper, Medicare, the inter-generational report... just for starters. Meanwhile, the good news is about the transformational regenerative agriculture of Inga trees and tropical rainforests. Also, Van misses the dog.

Special LIVE from Wagga Wagga: Glady's gold standard sparkling COVID cluster, Morrison trades jobs for Bentley's and Blue Label, workers stand up against oppression

Van Badham and Ben Davison take The Week on Wednesday on the road recording a LIVE episode at the Wagga Wagga Interesting Festival.

Recorded on Saturday June 26th moments before Sydney entered COVID lockdown, Van and Ben discuss the issues Glady's handling of the outbreak and take questions from a live festival audience.

This special episode also looks at the impact of the Australia-UK free trade agreement on jobs, the economy and broader social structures with the audience asking; Is Tony Abbott a traitor?

The win for General Mills workers and the secure jobs senate inquiry report are discussed in the context of working people standing up against exploitation.  The audience asks questions about the benefits of being a union member and the gendered impact of the gig economy.

The good news is about the floating gardens of Bangladesh, which if we can't stop climate change, might help save us all!

So tune into this very special LIVE edition of The Week on Wednesday (on a Saturday at the Interesting Festival in Wagga Wagga)