"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison Ben Davison

Van Badham and Ben Davison start their Wednesday on a Thursday with discussion of the federal government’s “Future Made in Australia” policy suite, and just what a policy dedicated to local jobs exposes about the people who criticises it and why unions are supporting it.  Join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow
SPOILER ALERT: trickle down economics gets the rightful kicking from Ben that it deserves.
Next, Van’s horror at the massacre in Bondi Junction, turns to rage about the carnage opportunism of online disinformation influencers exploiting the tragedy.
The good news, though, is about solar cars! 
If you'd like to become a supporter and make a contribution go to www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday Remember all our Extend the Reach and Cadre supporters get acknowledged by Van every episode

Baby, we are BACK! Van and Ben return after a super frustrating hiatus to discuss the issues of the day in their inimitable style. 
The recent Tasmanian election has thrown up a complex and divided result, delivering more crossbenchers to the parliament than opposition members, and the Liberals forming minority government with nothing to guarantee the passage of legislation but wild hope. Ben and Van discuss this in the context of Tasmania’s unusual electoral system and the politics of independent representation more broadly.
The analysis continues as Ben breaks down the ongoing good news about the Australian economy, with the unsurprising if excellent news that union members are seeing significant pay increases as the result of the newly legislated frameworks for improved collective bargaining. (If you want in, join your union right now via www.australianunions.org.au/wow  
Ben peeling back the obfuscations of the Liberals and works through why Labor’s successes aren’t more broadly known. The distraction politics of Peter Dutton and the Amazing Modular Nuclear Reactors That Don’t Actually Exist is placed in the context it so duly deserves. 
Finally, the good news is about airships. This is at least the third time this show has celebrated airship initiatives, as Van is obviously obsessed with them, everyone should Be, they are the jewels of the air and the future of all humanity! (It is possible that Van wrote this).
We’d like to thank all of our listeners for their continued support and solidarity with us over this period of Ben’s illness. It means more to this household than you could possibly know.  You can become a supporter and leave us a message at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday 

Ben Davison returns to take a look at a week in parliament that saw the Closing Loopholes bill pass the lower house, the greens and coalition team up to block the new shared home equity scheme, the mess that Labor is trying to clean up from Dutton's unlawful immigration detention scheme and Julian Hill's inquiry into Employment services.
The Employment services inquiry has found a huge amount of waste, an ideological system that punishes people and fails to actually help people get work.
Ben takes a look at the report, Van Badham's latest Guardian article on the topic and the insights of Per Capita CEO Emma Dawson as the Labor government considers changes that Dutton's Coalition has already said they will oppose.
The Labor government's reform agenda is starting to face multiple fronts of inertia, vested interest and a media more interested in a fight and "who's winning" than in the impact that governing can actually have in people's lives.  Ben take a look at why we need to cut through the noise and keep the debate focused on the billions of dollars and millions of lives that are improved by reform.

Van Badham and Ben Davison give and update on the For Every Child public school funding campaign (www.foreverychild.au/postcard) , the Maritime Union campaign to stop wage theft in shipping and take a deeper dive into the progress on Closing the Loopholes for labour hire, casual and gig workers.
it is Go Home on Time Day!  Workers are losing billions in unpaid overtime and through the corporate exploitation of loopholes. Van and Ben discuss how the union movement is tackling this problem and why you should join at australianunions.org.au/wow
The systemic generational and class divides that are being defended by big corporate interests, billionaires and those who believe in the RBA ideology come into sharp focus as Van and Ben discuss some of the latest research showing just how much economic insecurity is impacting people and how disinformation is trying to keep working people divided.  Why?  To slow and prevent changes that would benefit everyone at the expense of the already wealthy and powerful.
The good news is that renewable energy has driven power bills down to almost ZERO in Portugal! Proving that we can, over the long run, take control of our energy emissions and bills.
As always Van acknowledges our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters who have made ongoing financial contributions to helping us build the audience for the podcast.  Become a supporter at www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday 
 

Ben Davison returns with the weekend wrap to look at how corporate share buy backs are further evidence of profiteering driving inflation and why the Closing the Loopholes legislation is needed asap.
You can join your union at www.australianunions.org.au/wow to add your voice to the millions calling for wage increases instead of profit payouts.
The Australian Education Union has released new research that shows our public schools are underfunded by the almost the same amount as the share buy backs that just the big banks are handing out, that private schools are on track to be OVER funded by $3Billion and that the government investment in public education makes a return TWO to FOUR times!
If you want our public schools properly funded go to https://www.foreverychild.au/postcard to send Albo a message.
Finally Ben discusses why Albo needed to go to APEC, why Dutton is attacking him for it and how the Coalition is still desperate to find an existential threat, other than climate change, to justify its existence.  
If you enjoy our podcast you can help us reach more people at www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday 
 

Van Badham and Ben Davison dig into the best wage rise numbers in more than 20 years, discuss why many people will still be going backwards and, as the ACTU Price Gouging Inquiry wraps up, what we can do to help stop the profiteering. 
The union movement wins on minimum wage, awards, for aged care workers and improved collective agreements are lifting wages so if you want to see your pay get above the cost of living join your union at australianunions.org.au/wow 
Peter Dutton is back on the disinformation train, this time using a High Court decision to score political points at the expense of at least 74 innocent people.  Indefinite detention has been ruled unconstitutional and the rules that Dutton put in place during his time in government have been exposed as not just morally without basis but also without legal standing.  As Labor moves to fix these issues Dutton has ramped up mis vitriolic disinformation.  Could it be a handy distraction from his party voting against returning $9 billion in unpaid workers wages? Or the loss of another of his moderate MPs to the cross bench? Or is it just that he bought the Trump/Bannon franchise and is determined to play it out?
There's talk of another surplus budget and the ideas are already flowing.  Ben and Van discuss why Albo's targeted cost of living relief is, in general, the right approach and also why supporting the 98% of public schools that are currently not funded to the MINIMUM level needed for every child is both targetted cost of living support and an investment in the future.  Show your support for properly resourcing every school at https://www.foreverychild.au/postcard 
The good news is that the CFMEU and the broader union movement is winning the campaign to ban engineered stone.  Ikea has joined Bunnings in announcing they won't stock the killer products in the future. A national policy is on the horizon and the campaign to prevent workers dying for bench-tops continues.
Van acknowledges our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters who have signed up at www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday to help us get this podcast into even more ears each and every week.