Join notorious Guardian columnist Van Badham and her labour activist co-host (and partner!) Ben Davison. As they deep-dive into the big news themes of the week and provide fresh, irreverent analysis about what's really going on in Australia and around the world.
Episodes
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Ben Davison looks at (rants about?) how Insiders managed to spend three quarters of the show talking about submarines in the same week that the robodebt royal commission ended, the national reconstruction fund became law, the RBA put up interest rates for a record 10th consecutive time, the Aston by election is only three weeks away and the NSW election is only two weeks away!
Ben discusses how the unions in NSW that have been racking up wins across education, healthcare, transport as part of the campaign and the flow on effects for working people across the state. You can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
The Robodebt Royal Commission has wrapped up and despite Insiders discussing the cultural problems of the public service without mentioning that culture flows from the top, Morrison, Tudge, Porter, Stuart Robert, Ben discusses what the lack of billionaire owned media coverage says about the state of public discourse.
The RBA and Productivity Commission continue to kick working people. Ben makes clear that Labor government's need to intervene to support working people. That a former Liberal staffer running the Productivity Commission is unacceptable and that the RBA continues to use a broken ideology rather than economic reality to set monetary policy.
Ben reminds listeners that the FINAL Week on Wednesday LIVE at Adelaide Fringe is on THIS WEEK and the special guest will be Kyam Maher, Attorney General, Industrial Relations Minister and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, who passed the first Voice to Parliament in Australia. tickets here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
And the podcast would not be possible without the support of our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday supporters. Whether a one off or a regular contribution, all funds help us grow our audience.
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Van Badham and Ben Davison LIVE from the Adelaide Fringe Yurt cover the broccolini boycott, Qantas refusing refuelling workers pay rises and the 10 big wins for women that unions have won in the last 12 months.
Van and Ben discuss the socialist foundations of International Women's Day, the struggles that are still to be won and Van's view of why being a woman shouldn't be an "economic class" but has been made one by men in grey suits.
Whatever industry you’re in you can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
The outrageous "bro" behaviour of Elon Musk is brought into focus as he picks a fight with a hero of the Icelandic people. Van and Ben explore how ego made a man who paid $44 Billion for Twitter ended up having to admit on Twitter that Twitter is not great for "communication.
As the Australian people wrestle with inflation, driven by profiteering, the RBA governor has admitted that the record increases in interest rates are being driven by "the vibe" of their "business liaison" rather than the stats of the ABS. Van and Ben pull apart what the latest rate rise might mean and how it could impact working people.
And the good news is about a new deal for the world's oceans.
Van and Ben will be doing the FINAL edition of their AWARD winning Week on Wednesday LIVE next week with South Australian Attorney General Kyam Maher to talk about The Voice in South Australia and the upcoming referendum. Get tickets at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
And Van gives a LIVE shoutout to our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters who have helped us grow the podcast via www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Ben Davison takes a look at Angus Taylor's dreadful performance on Insiders and the disproportionate focus on tax concessions for the wealthiest at a time when more people than ever are working multiple jobs and wages are making up less and less of our national income. Unions keep raising these issues and reminding us that superannuation is for retirement, not tax evasion, and you can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
Stuart Robert is the opposition spokesperson for superannuation but was to busy avoiding media scrutiny over his time as the minister responsible for Robodebt to get involved in the attacks on Labor's reforms.
Ben looks at how the Robodebt royal commission has exposed the media's lack of focus on the material reality of millions of Australians and how that allowed a consequence free environment for the Morrison ministers.
The NSW Labor Party is launching it's state election campaign in Hurstville TODAY and Mary Doyle launched her campaign for Aston on Saturday. While neither story was covered on Insiders, Ben looks at why these are crucial campaigns and very winnable for Labor.
More broadly Ben laments that the Insiders panel wants reform but remains addicted to the gotcha moments and feeding of the Murdoch/Stokes outrage machinery.
Also this week we won an Adelaide Fringe AWARD for "best workshop and talks". You can still get tickets to our FINAL two LIVE shows here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
We hope to see you at the Yurt on Wednesday!
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Van Badham and Ben Davison are LIVE in the Yurt at Adelaide Fringe talking about how the week's news shows us that, for some bosses, if they can get away with it they will and that we need strong, democratic movements to curb the excesses that create greed-price spirals, shorten people's lives for the sake of a kitchen bench and funnel our commonwealth to the 0.5% richest people in the country at the expense of working people's retirements.
You can join you union at australianunions.org.au/wow to make sure your super is paid, your workplace is safe and your rights are always getting stronger.
Van and Ben discuss the reforms to superannuation tax concessions which will raise $2BILLION from the 80,000 accounts with more than $3million, the Murdoch media's meltdown over this "communism" and why Ben and Van think this modest reform gets super closer to the original purpose that unions set it up to achieve; dignity in retirement for working people.
Van and Ben congratulate the quick reaction to the union campaign to stop sillicosis and point out that 1 in 4 stonemasons may have already been exposed to "popcorn lung" by bosses who have gone so far as to to refer to the victims of silica dust as "dogs".
The scourge of "greedflation" continues to ravage Australia, and much of the world, as prices surge on the back of profiteering and outdated economic ideologies that keep whacking working people.
There's also good news about endangered animals!
And Van again does the Cadre and Extend the Reach shout outs LIVE for those who are making contributions through www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Ben Davison wraps up a huge week where the scale of corporate profiteering, what Sally McManus calls the Greed-Price Spiral, has been exposed as driving 69% of inflation, the nation is debating whether 11,000 people who have more than $5M in super should get a tax concession or whether that money is better invested in the 24,000,000 other people struggling under a 4.5% real wage cut, record rises in interest rates and underfunding in our public schools.
The From the Heart YES campaign launched in Adelaide and Unions for YES launched online (you can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow) as the vast majority still support recognition and consultation being enshrined in the constitution.
At his 35th Mardi Gras parade Albo became the 1st sitting PM to march at Mardi Gras as towards the back Tsarina Thorpe, self proclaimed "Movement Leader", staged a one woman protest and had to be removed.
Sadly Insider's became a turgid mess when Speers became fixated on "Florence" the bogged drill as Chris Bowen attempted to discuss emissions reduction policy, then for the second week in a row Speers obsessed over a minor detail in the Voice referendum working group that guest Mark Kenny called a "phantom argument" and finally Speers managed to round out the show by spending less than 10 seconds on the largest cut to real wages, record corporate profits and the greed-price spiral by throwing to the Murdoch journalist who made a quip about airline prices.
As you can imagine, Ben gets fired up today.
Ben also covers off the remaining dates to see The Week on Wednesday LIVE at Adelaide Fringe tix here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
And you can catch Ben in conversation with Stephen Donnelly over on the Socially Democratic podcast.
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Wednesday Feb 22, 2023
Van Badham and Ben Davison deliver The Week on Wednesday LIVE! from the Adelaide Fringe! Live from the Yurt Van and Ben expose that "broccolini" is a trademarked term and that some of the agri-corp businesses, many around Adelaide, may not be all they seem. The United Workers Union are encouraging people to contact Coles and Woolworths to demand that exploitation doesn't make it on Australian tables. Don't forget you can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
The Murdoch organisation has boycotted the Adelaide Fringe, Australia's largest arts festival, after a dispute about advertising. Van and Ben look at what Australia's NINTH largest newspaper boycotting Australia's largest arts event has to do with Trump, Fox News, Sky News and the cultural war that has turned news audiences into market segments.
With The Statement from the Heart YES campaign launching and the Unions for YES campaign underway Van and Ben open the show with a traditional acknowledgement of country and discuss how Murdoch's NO campaign is as much about about subscription and advertising sales as it is trying to stop the referendum.
Albo spoke at the National Press Club about the concepts that underpin national security and Ben and Van explore how a broader understanding of security, security of employment, of pay, of opportunity and community participation comes together as the counter to the Murdoch organisation's project and Dutton's "Noalition".
Plus there is good news about renewable energy batteries.
You can get tickets to the next Week on Wednesday LIVE in Adelaide here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
And Van acknowledges our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters who have helped make these live events possible and reach an ever bigger audience, you can become a supporter at www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Ben looks at the first two weeks of the parliamentary sitting for 2023 where Labor introduced housing policy, manufacturing policy and emissions reduction policy all of which were opposed by Dutton and the Greens. Plus our friend Mary Doyle is running for Aston following Tudge's retirement.
The bosses pamphlets have argued against working people being involved in the running of the country but you can have your say by joining your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
Adam Bandt went on Insiders and couldn't name one country that has banned new coal and gas, couldn't say how much it would cost and wouldn't support his own Senator's statement that the government should arbitrarily override the RBA. Ben discusses why the RBA is wrong and how the government can systemically address the issues without random interventions.
While the nation is gearing up for the launch of YES to The Voice campaigns (union online launch this Wednesday night https://www.australianunions.org.au/action/voice-campaign-launch and Statement from the Heart campaign launch on Thursday https://fromtheheart.com.au/take-action) Samantha Maiden repeated Dutton talking points about the Voice not "fixing things" on Insiders. Ben looks at how empowerment has improved outcomes in the NDIS and why The Voice will help close the gap.
And finally Ben takes a look at the chaos that is the NSW Liberal state government. From Minister's distributing explicit pictures to undisclosed conflicts of interest in toll roads to MPs banned from entering parliament while facing criminal charges running as an "independant" the Liberal-National Coalition looks on the ropes. UnionsNSW is running a campaign "Essential Workers Deserve Better" focused on the high costs, low wages, high workload approach of the Liberals that Labor has promised to change.
Van and Ben will be doing the Week on Wednesday LIVE! from Adelaide Fringe https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023 for the next four weeks.
Regular supporters from our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday page can also get a special discount code to come along to see us LIVE in the Yurt.
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Van Badham and Ben Davison break down the ideological nonsense at the heart of the Reserve Bank Governor's decision to prioritise bank profits over employment, living standards and the well being of the Australian people.
With the Commonwealth Bank declaring a record profit and 20% increase in dividends Van and Ben breakdown the fallacies at the heart of the neo-liberal ideology.
Of course at the same time mega corporation Visy is trying to give workers real term pay cuts and Ben and Van send the workers who have joined their union, join yours at australianunions.org.au/wow, solidarity in their struggle.
Van looks at "team Jorge" and how bad faith actors have been uncovered undermining democracy around the world at the same time as Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch are getting chummy at the Superbowl.
Oh yes, its an episode where we make the links between ideology, media control, billionaires and how they all combine to both undermine your democratic power and your wages!
But there is good news about grass!
Don't forget that The Week on Wednesday LIVE is coming to the Adelaide Fringe Festival for four shows with tickets available here https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
Supporters from our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday will be getting their discounted ticket information by email THIS WEEK!
Sunday Feb 12, 2023
Sunday Feb 12, 2023
Ben Davison looks at the big stories at the end of the first sitting week of parliament in 2023 and neo-liberal skew that Insiders offered up to the ABC audience.
While mouth piece for the bosses pamphlet, Phil Coorey, was promoting his friends at the Mineral's council advertising campaign the hidden truth that profitable major corporations will be fighting to keep workers divided and wages low during 2023 was exposed. Join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
Jim Chalmer's delivered the good news that power prices won't be going up by as much as they were forecast, due to their price cap mechanism. Ben analyses how the Labor government is having to do a huge amount of heavy lifting on economic reform to try repairing both a decade of Liberal mismanagement and the ongoing capture of our institutions by neo-liberal ideologues. The Reserve Bank's continued assault on working people and dangerous obsession with making more people unemployed, wages lower and economic growth both lower and more concentrated into the hands of a few is proving the Liberals with political talking points and Labor with real problems.
Alan Tudge has quit parliament and, as usual, the truth has been papered over by an emotional speech given by a hypocritical and shameful middle aged upper class white man using his children as a shield from any genuine critique. Tudge has quit in disgrace. End of story.
The Week on Wednesday LIVE! at the Adelaide Fringe festival starts in just 10 days so get your tickets to see Van Badham and Ben Davison in The Yurt now https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
Van Badham and Ben Davison examine former Greens Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe's announcement that she is no longer a Green Party member but is now leader of "a grassroots Blak sovereign movement."
They look at the commentary around her split from the Greens, events leading up to this moment, what "a grassroots Blak sovereign movement" might actually mean based on Thorpe's public statements and the implications for democracy and the Voice referendum.
Thorpe's announcement, made standing alone in a hallway, came on the first sitting day of parliament for 2023 where a large number of issues are being debated, including more improvements for workers rights. You can join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow to make sure you get your proper wages and conditions.
Dark Brandon (a play on a meme about Joe Biden) rose today as Joe Biden nailed the Republican's during the State of the Union Address. Van and Ben discuss how Qanon talking points, culture wars and performative politics have so consumed the Republicans that Biden was able to get them to publicly show support for social security and Medicare while their leaders accuse one another of horrendous crimes, ban books and want to legislate putting sugar in milk.
Plus there is good news from the SEA about both hydrogen and plastics!
Van also gives an on air promise to sign copies of her book Qanon and On for anyone who comes to see the Week on Wednesday LIVE! at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-week-on-wednesday-live-with-van-badham-ben-davison-live-podcast-af2023
There's also shout outs to our supporters who have gone to www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday including special ones for a new arrival to Australia and an Extend the Reach supporter who has become Cadre!