Explore every episode of the podcast From Pillar to Post

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made headlines in January for his speech promoting principles of collaboration beyond the typical global superpowers we've come to rely on. Mr Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum was criticised by the United States, but middle powers around the world have voiced their support including Australia. So where does that leave us? Will we reconsider the long history of following the lead of the US?

Featured: Adam Kamis (CJSW Radio Calgary), Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Featured: Major Bruce Harmer (The Salvation Army), Dean Carlton & Dinah Facius (EdgeFM presenters), Mark Pearce (Volunteering Australia CEO)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Men are less likely to be openly queer in professional sport around the world compared to women or non-binary players. So what does it mean when there has been a sudden increase of former sportsmen in Australia coming out as gay and bisexual in the public eye? Could this be a widespread shift in stereotypes for men in professional sports?

Featured: Jacqueline Shields (JOYfm, Game On!), Samantha Lewis (President, The Flying Bats), Ben Cork (Pride in Sport)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Australia Day this year has brought forward old debates to change the date of our national holiday, but has also ignited new concerns as alt-right groups have used the day to protest immigration. What was January 26th actually like this year beyond the headlines? And what is Australia missing by celebrating an historic day of colonisation and not a moment of unity?

Featured: Micah Kickett, Dr Kaz Ross, Rev. Peter Mbakwe

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Many Australians saw the result of last year's election as a sign of things to come. The broad support of the country should have given Labor the chance to go full throttle on reform and new policies. But that hasn't been the case. So why is Labor acting so slow? Is it intentional?

Featured: Sean Kelly, Quarterly Essay - The Good Fight: What Does Labor Stand For?

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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After 5 years as the National Children's Commissioner, Anne Hollonds has been a first-hand witness to the slow pace of change in politics, even when it's a matter of keeping young Australians safe. While the social media ban for under-16s suggests there is the ability to move quickly, it seems pretty unlikely the government will keep up the momentum and confront shortfalls in child safety.

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change, energy policy and net-zero targets became a key feature of the post-election political debate as the Opposition sought to rebrand itself. It sparked hours of internal meetings for the Liberal party, but also provided a unique opportunity for climate activists and a chance for experts to correct some of the lasting myths around net-zero.

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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D-day for the under-16s social media ban has come and gone to much fanfare. The national push to let 'kids be kids' and get them off social media has been well spoken about for over a year. But a few days in and it seems nothing much has changed. Will the government use this momentum it has created to continue developing policy for some of the most vulnerable people in Australia, or have we seen the pinnacle of commonwealth action to protect children?

Featured: Lochie Antoniazzi (SYN Media), Gabriel Shipton, Former National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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As all eyes turn to users of music streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music, questions of ethics and supporting artists cannot be ignored. We speak to those in community broadcasting to find an alternative to the well-engrained culture of streaming and an artist who hopes others will follow his lead in ditching the platforms altogether.

Featured: Jas Moore (3RRR Breakfasters), Andrew Khedoori (CBAA Music Director), David Bridie (Frontman Not Drowning, Waving) 

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Recent years of domestic violence advocacy and protest have fallen from prominence as rates of fatalities decrease. But away from the east coast policy is changing and organisations are pushing to keep the momentum going. South Australia established the only Royal Commission into family, domestic and sexual violence in the country which handed down its final report earlier this year. Can we expect governments across the country to take further action or will it fall on the community sector to step up?

Featured: Emma Wotzke (Radio Adelaide, TheWIRE), Christine Owen (Former Rotary District Governor)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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You could easily be forgiven for thinking the state of climate policy was a bit dire in Australia after weeks and months of speculation over the Coalition's eventual decision to dump net-zero targets. Despite all that, it appears emissions will continue to go down as state and territory Liberal parties have reaffirmed their support to meet net-zero in coming decades. Experts say the world is moving in the same direction to a low-emissions future with the decision of the federal Coalition only opening up opportunities for Labor and the crossbench to tear them to shreds.

Featured: Kate Hook (Climate 200), Sean O'Shannessey (RiverFM, Environmental as Anything), Dr. Niranjika Wijesooriya Gunarathne (University of Sydney)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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50 years on from the Whitlam dismissal fewer and fewer people can recall exactly what happened and why it was such a critical moment in Australian political history. It's a story of holding up democracy, the human impact of politics, and something we should all remember so it isn't repeated it in the future.

Featured: Maryanne Gore (1RPH, Canberra local in 1975), Mike Lewis (Whitlam dismissal eye-witness)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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Shouldn’t we all have a right to clean air? It’s a question being asked by some in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Air quality monitors sit amongst the vast scale open cast coal mining, but are they adequate, and are they really protecting locals' lungs in an area where a medical trial suggests asthma levels are higher than elsewhere. 

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Reporter/Producer -  Martin Davies

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It isn't reasonable to say there is one sure-fire way to fix the housing crisis here in Australia. For all the federal government's talk of supply shortages, it isn't the only barrier of entry for people trying to buy a home. UTS Professor Alan Morris explains some of the missing pieces in our national housing system and the unfair split between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'.

Presenter - Noah Secomb, Producer -  Martin Davies.

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Home ownership is increasingly difficult across the country with many young Australians simply giving up at the idea of saving up a deposit. Vulnerable households are further from the services they need and the identity of our towns and cities are changing as essential workers are being priced out of the inner suburbs. Under the current investment model for the housing system communities are being defined by who can afford to live in them instead of the communities created for generations.

Featured: Elissa Delfs (New Home-owner), Mark Phillips (Brunswick Voice editor), Prof. Alan Morris (University of Technology Sydney)

Presenter - Noah Secomb
Producer -  Martin Davies

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It's hard to comprehend the importance of over one-million square kilometres of land and even harder to keep track of what's going on throughout 'Australia's foodbowl'. Communities are facing unique and existential challenges at each stage of the largest river system in the country.   

Presenter - Noah Secomb, Producer -  Martin Davies.

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 Presenter - Martin Davies Producer -  Noah Secomb

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The looming under 16s social media ban could change the way we engage with the internet and the security of some of our most personal information. What will the government do to improve the online safety not just for young Australians, but all Australians?

Presenter - Noah Secomb, Producer -  Martin Davies.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we return to Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod and her journey to becoming the world's leading researcher in early developmental speech pathology. While we spoke to Professor McLeod about the impact of free higher education, the impact of her work internationally goes far beyond the day-to-day politics of university reform.

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More Australians are reaching out for mental health support, but service providers are at capacity. Just what can we do to help our friends and family in times of crisis? 

With World Suicide Prevention Day and R U OK Day just around the corner, we take a look at where we're at across communities, advocates, and the politicians pushing for change in Canberra.

Presenter - Noah Secomb, Producer -  Martin Davies.

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Recent statistics suggest that 6% of all nurses in Australia were trained in the Philippines. The country encourages this exodus upto a point, and has support systems in place to ease their passage away from home, and then connect and support them as they settle here. But for some it's tough, lonely, and is challenging, as they are tasked with proving themselves in skills they had already mastered, back home. 

Presenter - Martin Davies Producer -  Noah Secomb.

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The federal government's attempt to ban social media for children under the age of 16 years old has been met with scepticism across the country. Despite assurances the responsibility lies with the tech giants, parents are unsure what role they'll have to play when the ban kicks in later this year. Meanwhile younger Australians are feeling ignored throughout the process with some worried tech literacy will only get worse.

It's a sticky situation which has to be resolved in less than four months.

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Year in, year out we see outcomes worsen in First Nations communities in Australia. Although the federal government has committed to further funding, it isn't reaching where it is needed most. Meanwhile, Indigenous representatives are calling for the government to act on existing recommendations from a royal commission from over 30 years ago as incarceration and suicide rates continue to rise.

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Understanding destructive algal blooms, the mayor who wants to improve health with his communities new smelter, and the political analyst saying Tasmania has learned its lesson. These are the issues explored this week, as From Pillar to Post updates you on some of the big community based issues that we have brought to you over the past months.  

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The federal government has committed to keeping manufacturing in Australia to weather international developments and to tackle slow productivity growth. But with industries struggling to stay afloat and communities facing existential threats as the market shifts, what can the government do to keep this essential sector sustainable?

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Federal politics has returned to Canberra for the first time since the May election with reforms to student loans/HELP debts the first thing to hit parliament. The 20-percent reduction is a welcome change for the three million Australians managing a student debt.

But is this the first change of many, or the last we can expect for a while? 

We take a look at how the nation and the world has benefited from fee-free university, and what can be done to ease the burden on graduates forced to grapple with cost-of-living pressures.

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Australia's smallest state in size and population is facing yet another vote, just 16 months after the last one. Experts and polls suggest the Tasmanian parliament is heading for another minority government after Saturday's state election made up of many of the same politicians. It raises the question of just who the election is for, how did Tasmania end up here so soon, and why is the proposed Macquarie Point AFL stadium dominating the debate again?

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In the two months since the federal election, attention has been largely on internal party reshuffling and straining international relationships. So what is on the agenda for the second term Albanese government as it prepares to return to parliament?

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2025 has been dominated by increasing pressure from the United States on international allies to boost defence spending and bear the brunt of widespread tariffs. As the Prime Minister struggles to meet with Donald Trump face-to-face to talk these issues through, some are suggesting Australia ought to look elsewhere for stable support.

But just how does we go about shifting focus to our own backyard? 

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The Prime Minister has voiced his support for universal early childhood education and care for much of his first term in office. Now faced with a second term, just how much can be achieved in the next three years to improve accessibility for low income households and confront increasing 'childcare deserts'.

CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, talks through some of the challenges facing the sector and families under the current industry settings. 

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Australia's community of people living with disability has been promised a new set of supports to work alongside the NDIS. The Federal Government said it will role out Foundational Supports later in 2025. And seeing as the same Labor Government has been returned to office, it begs the question, what is now in their way?

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Australia's Minister for the Environment, Murray Watt, has used the World Ocean's Conference in France to tell the world, how in his view, Australia is leading the way in maritime protection. But a community media investigation has been hearing a very different perspective from divers, as they  return to the surface with stories of maritime degradation and threat, posed by commercial mussel farming in Jervis Bay. From Pillar to Post hears from such divers and from the journalist seeking answers for her community,  and meets a scientist who challenges the Minister Watt's claims . 

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U.S President Donald Trump is causing global reconsideration. So amongst the threatened tariffs, the changing stance on defence, and the falling out with Elon Musk, where does this leave Australia?

From Pillar to Post goes in search of different experiences and reactions across the country, talking to Australian Tesla owners, community media organises that are close to military bases, others involved in supporting young musicians to make it in America, and hears from an academic who has been watching geo-political ebbs and flows for a very long time.

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As the nation faces the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and stalling productivity, families and parent groups are calling for the government to take action to deliver universal early childhood education and care.

The Prime Minister has committed to universal childcare for years, and as the Labor government returns with a thumping majority, family advocates want to see action. This episode explores the realities of managing a job, raising children, navigating the childcare system, and looking at what lies ahead for the sector.

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Australia's National Party has moved from being potentially part of Government just over a month ago, to undergoing an on, and then off, separation with its coalition partner the Liberal Party, to potentially slipping into third place in politics and not even featuring as the formal opposition. All of this happening at a time when some of the regional electorates where they are in power have been undergoing hardship with extreme flooding. So what is going on in traditional National's heartlands and what are voters feeling ? From Pillar to Post takes you on the journey to find out.

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Australia's community of people living with disability has been promised a new set of supports to work alongside the NDIS. The Federal Government said it will role out Foundational Supports later in 2025. And seeing as the same Labor Government has been returned to office, it begs the question, what is now in their way? A major conference to provide more clarity about what they will consist of and how they will work will take place in Melbourne. Pillar to Post finds out more, collecting the views of those who might benefit from them as well as those at the heart of their design and works closely with Powerd Media the community experts in news for those living with disability.

Home page: https://powerd.media/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PowerdMedia/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerdmedia/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerdmedia.bsky.social

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In the just concluded federal election, Independent candidates have proven that they were not one term wonders, by not only retaining the seats they won in 2022, but by increasing their margins in many instances.

After largely announcing their arrival three years ago at the federal election, the number of teals has risen this time, especially in metropolitan areas at the expense of Liberal party candidates. This 15 minute podcast explores what has made them popular in such electorates, but also goes to the rural seat of Wannon, where things didn’t go their way and hear from a historian who argues  the Independents are not Australia’s first political party disruptors.

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While the leaders of the two main parties in the Federal Election were daily seen, heard, and covered in great detail by the media, its likely that one third of voters will have put their first choice against another party. Many such voters might well be feeling that issues that issues that matter to them did not figure in this election campaign.  They won't be alone, as different sectors and communities have been expressing how they have felt excluded by the rhetoric of the 2025 campaign trail. In this second episode, the Community Radio sector's Political Reporter, Noah Secomb, listens to such views before getting a telling insight into the staged circus tour that the two main party leaders conduct in order to "define" their take on the election. 

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Are you feeling that the politicians have not been talking about the things that matter to you in Australia's Federal Election? Then you might be like at least a third of the electorate that feels the issues that matter to them have not been discussed. So what has been missing from this campaign and what would various communities around Australia like to have heard instead? Join Community Radio's Political Reporter, Noah Secomb, as he goes in search of the answers. 

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