Pod On The Hill - Victorian Labor Podcast

On this week's episode of Pod On The Hill, I caught up with Kwesi Chappin from the Color of Change. Colour of Change is the largest online racial justice organisation in the United States and Kwesi is the Political Director. Kwesi talks about his role at Color of Change, life under a Trump Presidency and the impact his administration's policies are having on the African-American community. Kwesi tells us his story of moving from a tropical paradise to freezing Washington D.C, his pathway to become a community organizer and how grassroots organizing is now the drving force behind the progressive resistance.

What’s it like slapping down the Prime Minister when he gets a bit snarky? Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino answers that question on today’s Pod on the Hill. And as Minister for Education, James discussed the devastating impact the Liberals had on the education sector and what the Labor Government has done since to repair the damage.

Former nurse, long-time activist and more recently ACTU President, Ged is now Labor’s candidate for Batman.   For most of our listeners, Ged needs no introduction. In fact, you might remember our chat with her last year.   And *spoiler alert*, she’s still pretty fired up about fighting inequality, schools funding, protecting workers’ rights and preserving Medicare.

Women’s sport has seen an explosion in popularity and mainstream media coverage over the past three years. An early voice in this digital media space is Freya Logan – Labor Party member and host of the highly succesfull podcast Follow Sports Like A Girl.  To coincide with this weekend’s Women’s Big Bash League finals, the start of the AFLW season and the final round before the finals in the W-League we sat down with Freya to talk women in sport.

On this week’s episode Nicola Castleman sits down with writer Shane Maloney, the author responsible for the extraordinarily successful and entertaining Murrary Whelan series of novels. Shane reflects on the changing Melbourne of his northern suburbs, the long and successful life of his books, and the pull of the detective novel on our collective psyche. Find Shane's titles in bookshops and libraries if you haven't already entered the giddy world of the electorate officer sleuth as he 'falls upwards' in his adventures.

It’s Boxing Day and as we polish off the remaining scraps of turkey and ham, a great Melbourne summer tradition kicks off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this morning, so who better to talk to today than former Labor federal staffer and current cricket journalist, Adam Collins?

Penalty rates, Lobster, Marriage Equality. It’s been a massive year for State politics and we thought we’d take a look back at the highlights.   So, for the last official Pod on the Hill for 2017, all of our regular presenters are throwing in their two cents' worth in our Annual State Politics Wrap.

On this week's episode Stephen Donnelly sits down with the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern. Jacinda took the reins of New Zealand Labour just seven weeks out from the general election and immediately had a momentous impact on the campaign and led Labour into a position to form a coalition government with NZ First and the Greens Party. She talked about her ascendancy to leader, her treatment by the media during the campaign, the priorities of her government and her outrageous claims on Crowded House.

Stephen Donnelly sits down with economist and former Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai. He talks about growing up under communism, his elevation to lead his nation through the global financial crisis and the future of the European Union.

We hear about Jacinta's early years living in a Labor household in Spring Gully, what effects an early exposure to politics had on her, the path to parliament and the highs and lows of her amazing 18 years so far in parliament.

Conrad is joined by Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, for Tourism, and Cities. Anthony Albanese and they discuss the weekends Northcote by-election loss and what the means for the Labor party more broadly, growing up in a single parent family and Anthony’s career to date.

In the final week of the campaign, Stephen Donnelly sits down with Labor's Clare Burns to catch up on the tight contest in Northcote as she makes the final push towards election day. Clare reflects on the campaign so far, the amazing people she has met, the important issues she’s campaigned on and the less important ones like Fake Vegan and Secret Cat that preoccupy our opponents time.

On this week's episode, Member for Richmond Richard Wynne and Secretary of Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions, Judy Ryan, join Nicola to discuss the Andrews Labor Government’s planned trial of a safe injecting facility in North Richmond.

Stephen Donnelly is joined by the AWU's Ben Davis following last week's raid by the Australian Federal police on his union office. Ben gives a detailed account of the raid on his West Melbourne office, the political motivations behind the raid and the murky collusion and amateurish cover-up by a conservative government desperate to not talk about itself. ********** There is only 16 days left in the Northcote by-election. To help elect Labor’s Clare Burns sign up for a 2-hour phonebank or doorknock shift add your name at thisislabor.org/clare

Conrad French spoke with Senator Sam Dastyari about his experience coming to Australia, the migrant identity, the 2005 Cronulla riots and discuss his successes and controversies in politics. Join our volunteers on Labor's campaign for the Northcote by-election. Sign up at thisislabor.org/clare or donate at thisislabor.org/donateclare