Perth Dialogues

About Perth Dialogues

Perth Dialogues is a long-form interview podcast exploring the issues shaping Australian life — housing, healthcare, tax, democracy, identity, and community. Host Nirmal Singh brings together policymakers, advocates, entrepreneurs, and everyday Australians for honest, unfiltered conversations. New episodes every Monday.

Publisher

Perth Dialogues

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Feb 2023

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

49 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Mining Royalties, Payroll Tax & a $4.2B Bond: WA’s Economic Reckoning | Jonathan Huston MLA #E49

   A $4.2 billion WA Government bond matures October 21, 2026. WA collects $10 billion a year in mining royalties — but sends $30 billion a year to Canberra. Independent MLA Jonathan Huston joins Perth Dialogues to explain how Western Australia's tax system really works, and what one bold reform could change everything. Jonathan Huston is the Independent Member for Nedlands in the WA Legislative Assembly. ▶ CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome & Introduction 02:25 Payroll Tax Explained — $6 billion a year tax on jobs 04:00 WA's Royalty System — how mining is taxed 06:13 Iron Ore Margins vs Small Business 07:54 The Alcoa Bombshell 10:48 The Plan: Abolish Payroll Tax by 2035 12:25 Alaska Model & Sovereign Wealth Fund 13:25 The $4.2B Bond & WA's Hidden Debt 15:45 Investment Protections for New Miners 18:55 Federal Super-Profits Tax 23:46 Public Sector Reform (First Time on Air) 31:23 The GST Fight 37:10 The $30B Annual Drain to Canberra 39:07 Zero WA Representation on Federal Boards 44:22 One Takeaway for 2029 📬 CONTACT JONATHAN HUSTON MLA Email: jonathan.huston@mp.wa.gov.au #WesternAustralia #PerthPodcast #MiningRoyalties #PayrollTax #WApolitics #PerthDialogues #JonathanHuston #WApolicy #GST #AlaskaModel #Nedlands #WAmining -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇 Support us Here: https://perthdialogues.au/ Join on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Youtube Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/PD-ApplePodcasts Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/PD-AmazonMusic -------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow our host, Nirmal Singh, at Website: https://nirmalsingh.au/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/nirmalsingh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nirmalsingh.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nirmalsingh.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psknirmal/

2. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Are They Elected — Or Selected For Us? | Metin Pekin on Breaking Democracy's Chains E48

   With one average salary in 2005, you could buy 2.5kg of gold. In 2025, half a kilogram. 90% of the UK's printed press is owned by three companies. 40% of American voters identify with neither major party. Author Metin Pekin (Breaking Democracy's Chains: Freeing and Fortifying Democracy Against Hidden Capture) joins Perth Dialogues to make the case that it isn't any one party letting voters down — it's the party system itself. We push back hard on it: can independents actually govern without collapsing into gridlock? Don't they just get bought the same way parties do? What actually stops them re-forming into new factions? In this conversation: - Why the party "whip" system means your MP may answer to their party before their voters - Money in politics — from union funding to billionaire donors - Metin's proposed "No-Party" model: independent MPs, a directly elected leader and shadow leader, and issue-by-issue voting - A real stress-test: Australia's Teal independents and Climate 200 funding - The corruption risk when independents replace parties - Two-party vs multi-party systems — the Netherlands and Israel compared - Why Metin himself stopped voting for major parties after the Iraq War About the guest: Metin Pekin holds a degree in Political Economy from the University of Greenwich and spent 30 years as an entrepreneur before writing Breaking Democracy's Chains. Find the book and his socials at metinpekin.com, or on Amazon. Book 🔗 https://www.amazon.com.au/Breaking-Democracys-Chains-Fortifying-Democracy-ebook/dp/B0G1TY9MCP Disclaimer: This conversation covers contested historical and political claims. These are the guest's own arguments and interpretations, not positions endorsed by this show — we'd encourage viewers to weigh them against other sources. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open 01:31 Welcome & introducing Metin Pekin 02:20 Metin's background — business, and why he wrote the book 06:25 Defining democracy — and where it breaks down 09:00 The party whip system (Boris Johnson and the 21 MPs) 11:04 Money in politics — Reform UK's billionaire donor 13:49 Donor influence, Trump, and the Jerusalem embassy 15:23 Julian Assange and media capture 22:24 The green grocer: performing belief in a broken system 27:14 Why don't people see the chains? (Maslow, political apathy) 33:44 The werewolf game — how a small minority controls the majority 36:20 Metin's three-step solution 41:22 How to "break the chains" without banning parties 50:59 Devil's advocate: why do we need parties at all? 53:11 Who really funds parties — unions vs billionaires 56:38 Should power be decentralised to the states instead? 01:00:14 Won't independents just re-form into factions? The Teal MPs test 01:09:44 Can independents be bought too? The corruption question 01:16:00 Two-party vs multi-party — Netherlands and Israel 01:22:38 Could 150 independent MPs actually govern? 01:35:07 Voter turnout and apathy — Metin's own voting story 01:44:30 Long-term policy without party continuity — China vs India 01:52:51 The one thing every voter should take away 01:55:29 The pushback Metin actually gets 01:57:15 Where to find the book -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇 Support us Here: https://perthdialogues.au/ Join on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Youtube Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/PD-ApplePodcasts Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/PD-AmazonMusic -------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow our host, Nirmal Singh, at Website: https://nirmalsingh.au/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/nirmalsingh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nirmalsingh.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nirmalsingh.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psknirmal/

3. 

   8 Sept 2026

   "The State Hasn't Given You Rights Yet" — Should WA Scrap the Lord's Prayer? | Matthew Ogilvie #E47

   "The state has not given them those rights yet." That's what Deng Xiaoping reportedly told a reporter after Tiananmen Square — and it's the moment that shapes how today's guest thinks about where human rights actually come from. WA Parliament has opened every sitting day with the Lord's Prayer since 1928. A WA Labor MP now wants to replace it with a moment of silent reflection. Returning guest Prof. Matthew Ogilvie (Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia) makes the case for keeping it. In this conversation: - The strongest argument for scrapping the prayer, steel-manned in full Genesis, human dignity, and where Matthew traces the roots of Western human rights - Tiananmen Square, Deng Xiaoping, and what happens when the state becomes the only reference point - Would a Sikh, Muslim or Buddhist prayer do the same job as a Christian one? - The Acknowledgement of Country as a parallel case — Matthew calls it "lighting a fuse" - A live controversy in the 2026 Census: some faiths get several tick-boxes, others get none - Christian affiliation is down to around 44% of Australia — does the heritage argument still hold? Disclaimer: Perth Dialogues doesn't take a party-political position — the job here is to ask the hard questions on behalf of everyone listening, whatever their faith or none. Views expressed are of individual speakers and must be interpreted in the context of the bigger discussion in which they have been expressed. Referenced in this episode Matthew Ogilvie article in The Spectator Australia: https://www.spectator.com.au/2026/08/wa-parliament-should-keep-the-lords-prayer/ WA Parliament Inquiry: https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/(EvidenceOnly)/2952D1C29D83B7E648258E67002FF956?opendocument#details TIMESTAMPS 00:00 "The State Always Misuses That Power" 01:32 What Is the Lord's Prayer, and Why Does It Matter Now? 02:51 The Prayer as a Building Block of Civilisation 04:14 Genesis, Human Dignity, and the Roots of Western Rights 10:12 Is Australia a Christian Country? Multiculturalism vs "No-Culturalism" 14:47 Steelmanning the Case to Scrap the Prayer 17:37 "No Other Workplace Does This" — and the Premier's Response 22:52 Church, State, and Section 116 27:17 Can Human Rights Exist Without God? 29:03 Tiananmen Square and Deng Xiaoping's Chilling Answer 35:41 "Chopping Down the Tree While Demanding Its Fruit" 40:24 Acknowledgement of Country: The Parallel Debate 45:04 Would a Sikh, Muslim or Buddhist Prayer Do the Same Job? 46:50 Australian Values, Identity, and the COVID Test 50:36 Christians Are No Longer the Majority 55:59 The Census, Denominations, and a Flawed Question 58:43 The Kirpan, 9/11, and What Ignorance Breeds 01:01:15 A Hindu Neighbour, Halloween, and Learning to Laugh 01:03:45 Should Canberra Be the Model? 01:04:49 Designing Parliament From Scratch 01:07:58 Closing Message: Assume Good Faith -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join and Subscribe to Perth Dialogues on our channels 👇 Support us Here: https://perthdialogues.au/ Join on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Youtube Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/PD-Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/PD-ApplePodcasts Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/PD-AmazonMusic -------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow our host, Nirmal Singh, at Website: https://nirmalsingh.au/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/nirmalsingh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nirmalsingh.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nirmalsingh.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psknirmal/

Who has been a guest on Perth Dialogues

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Matthew Ogilvie
• Vern Hughes
• Mark Ratcliff
• Melissa Molinari
• Alan Dolphin