The Briefing

The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to open last week before the pandemic pushed them back to next year. Australian Olympic Swimming champion Mack Horton would’ve been racing this week, defending his 400m Gold medal from Rio. It would also have been the first Olympics without a Sun Yang drug cloud hanging over it after the Chinese swimmer was banned for eight years after tampering with a drug test. He joins us on today's show as our very special guest. In today's news headlines: Three-week-old baby infected with coronavirus in Melbourne NICU cluster Top lawmakers refuse to #RaiseTheAge Black Lives Matter protesters say they’ll cancel today’s rally – on one condition The ACCC’s world-first case against Google In today's Briefing we ask Mack Horton: How time out of the water was harder than the postponement of the Olympics for him? What was it like not having a pool to train in during lockdown? What's the new sport he’s fallen in love with? What is the physical and psychological impacts of not training? How different the Olympics might look in 2021 in a pandemic world? What was his podium protest really about at the Rio Games?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

27 Jul 202017min

Across Australia children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, hauled before a court and locked away in youth prisons. We’re one of the only western countries that do that. Today Australian lawmakers will have a historic chance to change that. The Council of Attorneys-General will be looking at raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years in line with UN standards. On today’s episode we hear the deeply moving story of Keenan Mundine who was first locked up at 14 and then spent 15 years in an out of prison. He is part of the campaign to raise the age, and runs an organisation called Deadly Connections. Roxanne Moore is a Noongar woman and human rights lawyer and is helping drive the #RaiseTheAge campaign. In today's news headlines: “Anti-maskers” slammed by government, business Premier says Melbourne is “effectively” in stage four already Supreme Court blocks upcoming Sydney Black Lives Matter protest Majority of Australians support legal change to stop putting ten-year-olds in prison In today's Briefing we ask: what is the impact of being locked up on a young person? How does going to prison at a young age normalise it if it happens in future? What does it take to break out of that system? What is a better way to deal with crime than sending children to detention? What would the impact of raising the age of criminal responsibility be? What percentage of young people who are locked up come back to prison?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

26 Jul 202019min

Welcome to a special weekend edition of The Briefing with guest Julia Gillard. In today’s episode, we catch up with Australia’s first and only female Prime Minister about her famous misogyny speech of 2012, how ultra macho leadership styles are letting us down during the pandemic, and her new book Women in Leadership. In today's episode Julia Gillard speaks to us about: The speech that turned her into a feminist hero The fact she never expected her gender to be such a key point in her leadership of the country Her take on some of the more controversial male leaders across the world during the pandemic Whether New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern would ‘make it’ in Australian politics Whether she expected her post-political life to centre around female leadership Where she thinks the gender equality debate will be after the pandemic What male leaders of today can do to pave the way for a more equal future See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

24 Jul 202031min

Today we take a deep dive on JobKeeper rorts and the bosses taking advantage during the pandemic. Common issues include workers being forced to change hours and duties to receive JobKeeper, and workers being pressured into accepting JobKeeper on the employer’s terms. Since the scheme began in March the Australian Tax office has received more than 6168 tip offs about JobKeeper payment issues, and the Fair Work Ombudsman has received 726 requests for assistance. In today's episode we speak to some workers who fall under JobKeeper's provisions and Giri Sivaraman, a Principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn. In today's headlines: A quarter of a million more people will lose their jobs by Christmas Man in his 50s one of five new Victorian deaths as $300 hardship payment introduced Twitter confirms private messages accessed in high profile hack of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Kanye West Bill Gates “doesn’t know” where Covid-19 microchip conspiracy theory came from On today's Briefing we ask: Is your employer allowed to force you into a different role or hours on JobKeeper? What should you do if you're being forced to change hours on JobKeeper? What should you do if you're being forced to change duties on JobKeeper? Are you forced to accept JobKeeper?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

23 Jul 202016min

Shark attacks are at a ten year high in Australia. We’re only halfway through the year and we’ve already seen 18 attacks, 4 of those in the past 5 weeks. 5 of these attacks have been fatal, when the average is usually 1.8 deaths per year. On today's episode we're joined by Dr Vanessa Pirotta: wildlife scientist, marine biologist and last week’s shark attack victim who loves sharks. Our other guest is Dr Vincent Raoult, a marine ecologist at the University of Newcastle. Today's news headlines: Covid-19: We’ll be paying off the budget hit for 30 years More than half of Victorians not isolating while waiting for Covid-19 test results US President Donald Trump asks Americans to wear masks in major backflip In today's Briefing we ask: Why there has been a spike in shark attacks in Australia? What are the best approaches to deal with this?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

22 Jul 202017min

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood up in parliament and gave her misogyny speech in 2012 she had no idea it would become the defining moment of her career. It went viral with 6 million people watching it on YouTube alone, and it made Julia a feminist hero. She was the Australia’s first and only female Prime Minister, coming to power controversially after the axing of Kevin Rudd in 2010. She is our special guest on the show today. In today's news headlines: All the new JobKeeper and JobSeeker changes explained Melbourne security guard claims she was recruited on Whatsapp, given no training Charges laid over 2016 Dreamworld deaths Coronavirus bites with eight iconic Aussie magazines axed In today's Briefing: Julia Gillard has a new book Women In Leadership and joins The Briefing in this episode to talk about what’s unique about female leadership and how ultra-macho leadership styles are letting us down in the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Jul 202021min

Last month our Prime Minister, side by side with the Defence Minister gave us a very strong warning about cyberattacks. Along with that warning here in Australia, there’s been a concerning development in the UK after they accused a Russian hacking group of trying to steal COVID-19 research. On todays episode we find out what harm these attacks could actually do., and what we really need to worry about. Our guest today is Alastair MacGibbon: Chief Strategy Officer, CyberCX and former National Cyber Security Advisor & Head of Australian Cyber Security Centre. In today's news headlines: JobKeeper: payments reduced from October, extended to 2021 NSW at a “critical point” as person in their 30s in ICU Major development in UK Covid-19 vaccine trial In today's Briefing we ask: Why are cyberattacks a threat to us all? How do they really affect our lives? And what harm could these attacks actually do?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 Jul 202019min

On todays episode we interview a disease detective hunting for patient zero and trying to stop the spread of COVID-19. Christian Peut is a Contact Tracer in the Communicable Disease and Control Branch at SA Health. Coronavirus contact tracers or "disease detectives" are the health experts who interview people with COVID-19 to try and work out who they might have got the disease from and who they might have given it to. In today's news headlines: Masks mandatory in Melbourne from Thursday More small business support ahead of JobKeeper tweaks Presidential latecomer Kanye West is holding his first rally today In todays Briefing we ask: How does contact tracing actually work? Is it really possible to track everyone an infectious person has come into contact with? What happens if - or when - the Covid Safe app fails? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19 Jul 202017min