The podcast aims to bring you insights with political figures, journalists, and subject matter experts from here and across the world. Join Tom Ravlic as he explores a range of issues with his guests, and the occasional editorial.
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Coffee Break Briefing #2 Michael Shoebridge on defence and withdrawing consent
Michael Shoebridge, the founder and director at consultancy Strategic Analysis Australia, is a former bureaucrat and adviser who has held the highest clearances in government. He has seen life from within a department and ministerial wing, and he wonders why anybody would flag they want to withdraw consent from having footage or images used on social media of a public hearing on matters involving expenditure of taxpayers’ funds.
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6 Sept 2026
Canberra Sentinel Deep Dive #2 with Josh Bornstein
The Australia Institute’s governance guru Josh Bornstein takes time out with Canberra Sentinel to talk all things accounting, auditing and what it believes should happen to clean the joint up. Bornstein argues that firms should be broken up into distinct components and also - where possible - turned into incorporated entities that are easier to regulate by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
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6 Sept 2026
Coffee Break Briefing #1: Senator Richard Colbeck on ending tobacco wars
Senator Richard Colbeck has spent a more than 12 months grappling with the crisis of illegal tobacco. He and his lower house colleague, Mary Aldred, led a process of finding out what needed to be done to reduce the illegal trade in tobacco and vapes as well as ensuring budget revenue is secured over time. Colbeck argues that the excising excise level has performed poorly and the time for change is now to start fixing a problem.
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4 Sept 2026
Consent denied? Parliamentarians seek clarity on a Defence department request
A defence department official sought to deny consent on behalf of her staff for the publication of audio and video outside of the parliamentary proceedings. That request generated a bit of heat at the start of a hearing looking at the sale of defence assets. Here's a look at that episode with grabs from the actual hearing. Have a listen ... you pay for it.
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30 Aug 2026
Canberra Sentinel deep dive: Wirecard whistleblower Pav Gill
This episode's guest for Canberra Sentinel Deep Dive is Pav Gill, a lawyer who worked for Wirecard and he found himself as a whistleblower needing to tell people about a great financial mess unfolding within a company. He found himself under great psychological threat and death threats. He spoke to Canberra Sentinel about his story, and what governments must do to improve conditions for whistleblowers the world over.
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1 May 2026
Wallace on the RC interim report
The interim report from Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell has been released and it contains 14 recommendations. Member for Fisher, Andrew Wallace, provides his reaction to the report to Canberra Sentinel, and the need to keep the 15 people killed in our minds. He talks about some issues related to communication between agencies and his concerns about the way in which communications issues can create problems.
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24 Apr 2026
Three women, three unique stories, one cause: Ban the NDA
Non Disclosure Agreements can be useful when organisational IP is at stake, for example, but they can be disempowering when used to silence people. Three women with lived experience of what NDAs mean - Julia Delaforce, Kirsty Prince, and Anna Hough - each have a unique story but they have a uniform objective: to end the use of NDAs in situations where they stop people from telling their personal stories about how certain workplaces - particularly government workplaces - have impacted their lives. All three are part of the Ban the NDA campaign currently running across Australia.
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23 Apr 2026
What makes parliament an effective institution?
Former Senator Cory Bernardi is getting ready to start a new stint in parliament in South Australia' Upper House. He talks to Tom Ravlic about the things parliaments do well, what happens when conventions fail, how estimates can get things clarified, and the challenges of resourcing parliamentary offices to handle the task of keeping governments accountable.
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21 Apr 2026
What remains to be done with Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces?
A former chief of staff to our deputy prime minister, Jo Tarnawsky, has been through the process of settling a workplace dispute with the Commonwealth. Tarnawsky might have dealt with her case, but she remains highly critical of the absence of progress in areas of workplace health and safety. What are some of the solutions? Listen to the podcast he see what she thinks.
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30 Mar 2026
Afghan employees still in danger more than four and a half years on
Humanitarian advocate Pat Ryan has spent several years since Australia left Afghanistan trying to get his former colleagues - locally engaged employees - out of the region. Ryan is deeply concerned about the seven individuals and their families who remain in danger overseas. He speaks with Tom Ravlic about his recent approach to Home Affairs minister Tony Burke to bring these people to safety. Ryan also reveals that some of the individuals brought to Australia in 2021 have already received citizenship while some of their former colleagues are still at risk.
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23 Mar 2026
CPA Australia's Gavan Ord on fixing productivity in Australia
The Federal Opposition has appointed a new Shadow Minister for Productivity and Deregulation, Senator Jane Hume, who is yet to get back to me on an interview request sent last week to her office. BUT as we await a response from the good Senator Hume, Canberra Sentinel has had a natter with another expert on the subject matter of productivity, CPA Australia's Gavan Ord, to get a better understanding of how Australia's largest accounting body sees the issue of productivity.
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16 Feb 2026
How does a parliamentarian get feedback?
Andrew Wallace is the Member for Fisher for the Liberal National Party. He has an electorate that spans 1198 square kilometers with more than 140,000 electors. How does one person manage to deal with the concerns of more than 140,000 people? Tune in and have a listen to how a local member does their job when they are back in their electorate and away from the building on the hill in Canberra.
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22 Jan 2026
Where is the Albanese government's work on closing loopholes for tax dodges at?
Assistant minister Andrew Leight joins Tom Ravlic to discuss taxation, randomised trials, and what the PwC scandal means three years on.
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21 Jan 2026
The Australia Institute's view on gun law reform
New laws have passed the Federal Parliament that change gun law regulation in the wake of the Bondi massacre. Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett talks to Tom Ravlic about the numbers of guns out in the community right now, and why she and AI believe the new rules are of benefit to the community.
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16 Jan 2026
Duniam: more questions that answers arises from the 144-page bill the government wants passed
Senator Jono Duniam is the shadow home affairs minister, a Senator for Tasmania, and a member of the intelligence and security committee of the Australian Parliament. He spoke to Tom Ravlic about a series of reservations he and the coalition have with the legislation the Albanese government wants to pass next week that it says must pass to deal with the aftermath of the Bondi massacre. Duniam outlines a series of concerns that all resolve around the speed at which the government wants a complex web of provisions in the statute books pronto.
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14 Jan 2026
Greg Barns on the government's antisemitism, gun laws and hate speech bill
Barrister Greg Barns SC provides some analysis of the draft law the government wants legislated next week that impacts on gun laws, freedom of expression, migration, and a range of other matters in the wake of the Bondi Massacre. The issues Barns tells Tom Ravlic about are only a few that are on his laundry list.
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7 Jan 2026
Allan Behm from the Australia Institute on Venezuela
The Australia Institute’s Allan Behm speaks with Tom Ravlic about the recent US activities in Venezuela and what consequences, if any, they have for Australia’s positioning on the world stage.
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3 Jan 2026
Introduction to Canberra Sentinel: the podcast
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