PODCAST: Haines rejects Liberal “Protection Commission” on #transitzone

Integrity in government and a robust Federal Integrity Commission is supported by a clear majority of Australian citizens including in those Liberal-held seats where centre-right independent candidates are targeting the incumbents across Australia. However, the Morrison Government is deeply reluctant to legislate for such an independent, robust federal body. Independent Member for Indi in regional […]

The Man Who Walked into Parliament with a Lump of Coal: Zali Steggall in conversation with #transitzone

Another podcast in the continuing #transitzone side-bar series on grassroots democracy in Australia and the emerging and evolving “Voices for” independents movements gearing up for the looming federal election. Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke in conversation with Zali Steggall, the federal independent member for Warringah in Sydney, a “safe” Liberal seat until Steggall ousted the […]

Turnbull reads Scotty’s COVID report card: Peter Clarke’s view from ‘the bunker’

WHEN we first locked down in Melbourne in mid-March, 2020, I had just finished building a small, state-of-the-art, sound-recording studio in a bungalow in our backyard. The final foam squares and carpet were put in place just before we hunkered down. The project started between the 2019-20 bushfires and the rapid arrival in our lives […]

Stop and consider the slogans: @MediaActive #AusVotes #PropagandaWatch

The Australian Electoral Commission (@AEC) is one of our most trusted national institutions (albeit with a couple of blots on its copy-book, including a re-run of a senate election for Western Australia). Watching the electoral shenanigans in the United States with its state-based, highly partisan voting systems for national elections, we can only give thanks […]

Get off the bus and do some journalism: @MediaActive comments on #AusVotes19 #PropagandaWatch

We frail humans, no matter how savvy we think we are, are all prey to the partisan predations of crafted propaganda. We spend our daily lives immersed in advertising logos, slogans, celebrity, branding, seductive visuals and audio lures. We have psychological scar tissue we hardly recognise. This is despite our supposedly increased awareness of and […]

@MediaActive interviews ABC news director @katetorney

Kate Torney, director of news at the ABC, says she welcomes new news media players into the local scene, celebrates constant change in the news industry and affirms the bedrock principles of a publicly funded news organisation as the digital revolution gathers pace Torney has been director of news at the ABC since 2009. She […]

Brandis free speech fudge: @MediaActive reviews the @albericie interview

ABC Lateline Interview May 7, 2013 Media regulation reform was never going to be easy in Australia. As it turned out, the legislation proposed by the Labor government foundered midst roiling misinformation and hyperbolic claims of draconian state intrusion into media freedoms. It was also not helped by the ham-fisted presentation, timing and advocacy by […]

How Sales dropped the ball on Abbott

Interview with @leighsales about to air on @abc730. Good to chat about our Real Solutions plan for Australia #abc730 pic.twitter.com/nnHOYu2FGF — Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) April 24, 2013 By Peter Clarke, April 25, 2013 Late last year, Leigh Sales interviewed Tony Abbott live on the 730 Report. Sales was sharp and persistent, Abbott poorly prepared and […]

Morrison’s brick wall on how he’ll stop the boats

By Peter Clarke March 26, 2013 Yesterday, we published a detailed de-construction of an interview between the ABC 730’s Leigh Sales and Prime Minister Julia Gillard. It was a critique of Sales for what we opined were her inadequate interview techniques in that specific context and of Julia Gillard for her blatant refusal to answer questions […]

Anatomy of Sales -v- Gillard interview

By Peter Clarke March 26, 2013 A little context … Lady Bracknell: To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness. The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde What would Wilde have had to say about losing a conga-line of ministers, parliamentary secretaries and assorted […]