Inside Politics: Why the environment is MIA in this election

Salmon farming is not something most voters consider when they go to the polls on election day. But for Tasmanian voters, it is a huge and often divisive issue. This debate about the environmental effects of salmon farming is playing out in an election where any other discussion of the environment is pretty much non-existent. Which is curious because energy policy goes hand-in-hand with the environment and that is a decisive topic of this election. It’s also curious that the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has been very quiet during the campaign. National environment and climate reporter Bianca Hall and energy correspondent Mike Foley join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For decades, modern-day Welcome to Country ceremonies have been an established ritual in Australia, performed by Indigenous elders, far and wide. But on Anzac Day last Friday, during the hush of the dawn service remembering war veterans, Bunurong and Gunditjmara elder Mark Brown was booed, and jeered at, while performing the ceremony in Melbourne.  And then that night, a planned Welcome to Country ceremony was ditched at a high-profile sporting event. Today, federal politics reporter Natassia Crysanthos, on how - and why - the ritual has become weaponised. And Kamilaroi elder Uncle Len Waters, on what all Australians should be asking themselves now.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, is one of Australia’s natural wonders and every year, almost half a million people enjoy its wild and sprawling environment. But as visitor numbers swell, the question of how tourists coexist with some of the island’s oldest residents, the dingo, becomes more important. Twenty four years after a nine-year-old boy was fatally mauled by two dingoes on K’gari, strategies to manage the animal - and humans - haven’t stopped attacks from occurring. Today, we speak with Brisbane Times journalist Courtney Kruk on the story of the dingoes of K’gari/ on the danger that can’t be tamed on K’gariSubscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we are doing a special podcast about our complicated relationship with political polls. As journalists, we like them because, maybe, they can tell us something about what voters are really thinking. But we are a bit wary of them too. Especially after the federal election in 2019, where the polls were wrong. That caused a massive rethink in how polling is done, and how we in the media rely on it. Jacqueline Maley is joined by chief political correspondent, David Crowe, and special guest Jim Reed, who conducts the resolve political monitor poll for our papers.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six days ago, American president Donald Trump signalled, with frustration, that he was prepared to walk away from trying to broker a peace deal with Russia over Ukraine, and leave the country to its fate. And then, yesterday, we got the news. Russian president Vladimir Putin had a new offer. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on where this leaves Ukraine. And what the latest negotiations mean for the rest of us.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It wasn’t uncommon, in the 19th century, for women to be given the diagnosis of ‘hysteria’ and admitted to mental health asylums if they didn’t do what their husband said, or, if they swore, or had sex outside of marriage. But did you know that women are still being involuntarily sectioned in Australia? Today, investigative reporter Aisha Dow on what has led many women to end up in this terrifying situation, against their will. And the consequences of being misbelieved, and, often, misdiagnosed.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The threat teal independents pose in this election - to the dominance of the two-party system, to the stability of our parliament and to the Liberal Party’s base - is very real. Today, we focus on two of these seats: Bradfield in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne where the teals and the Libs are neck and neck. City reporter for The Age Rachael Dexter and NSW political editor Alexandra Smith join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has died at the age 88. Francis, who had led the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics since 2013, had been in increasingly poor health and pain. We are re-publishing this episode, recorded in February, with former religion editor at The Age, Barney Zwartz, on Pope Francis' mixed legacy and the impact he has had on lives, whether Catholic, or not.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians love a ‘battler’. Images of shearers, Anzacs, and gold diggers are deeply entrenched in our history. Politicians know that too. Why else do we see them in hard hats and high visibility vests? But a couple of moments in this election campaign have hit a nerve. They came from a blue blood Liberal candidate in Melbourne, and the opposition leader’s son in a press conference in Brisbane. Today, Frank Bongiorno, professor of history at the Australian National University, on what happens when members of the political class play down their wealth, in order to commune with the common people.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 1800 women have shared experiences of feeling gaslit, being dismissed by doctors or being told their pain was in their mind as part of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s investigative series into medical misogyny in Australia’s healthcare system. Among the most alarming stories are those of almost 60 women who detailed their delayed cancer diagnoses. Some spent years in pain or with symptoms that they said were fobbed off, treated with suspicion or misdiagnosed. Jenny Piper’s story is a powerful and harrowing example of this.In this special episode, the Sydney woman explains how her cancer was missed by medical professionals. And how she is now facing the end of her life. For more, read the medical misogyny investigation here.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.