Afternoon Light

Does Australia's utilitarian constitution reflect a lack of inspiration on the part of our founding fathers?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Ben Saunders to unpack the intent behind the framing of Australia's constitution. Something which eschewed grand value statements and a Bill of Rights, in favour of trusting the Australian people to 'breathe life' into the 'dry bones' of constitutional machinery. Under the understanding that it's ultimately the quality of the electors, rather than the theoretical designing of the institutions, that ultimately determines the success or failure of a democracy.

Dr Ben Saunders is an Associate Professor at Deakin Law School. Ben’s principal areas of research interest are constitutional law, especially executive power and responsible government, law and religion, and public sector governance. He recently published Responsible Government and the Australian Constitution: A Government for a Sovereign People (Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law, 2023). In 2024 he co-authored an Australian Journal of Politics and History article on ‘The Australian Constitutional Framers and the Languages of Virtue’, with Simon Kennedy.

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Amidst seemingly unending crises of social cohesion, cost of living, and in the party system, how is Australia's democracy holding up?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Lydia Khalil and Zachary Gorman to unpack the conditions under which democracy thrives, and issues which currently threaten Australia's democratic health. Offering both timely warnings and enduring optimism about the strengths and weaknesses of Australia's political institutions 125 years on from Federation.

This discussion is based on the Robert Menzies's Institute's new policy paper, authored by the Institute's Historian Dr Zachary Gorman, which you can access here.

Lydia Khalil directs the Transnational Challenges Program at the Lowy Institute, overseeing the Digital Threats to Democracy Project. Her career spans governance, technology, and security, with expertise in terrorism and political violence. She is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University’s Alfred Deakin Institute, co-convening the AVERT Research Network, and leads the Crisis Points project at the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies. Lydia has advised the US Department of Defense and New York Police Department.

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Before Dan Andrews, who was Australia's most polarising state premier?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Bruce Kingston to discuss one of Australian history's most beloved and bemoaned Queenslanders, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. The man who turned the Sunshine State into a modern economic powerhouse, yet who is contrastingly reviled for allegedly representing all of its maroon shades of reactionary conservatism.

Bruce Kingston has some 35 years experience in management, marketing and public affairs in Australia in corporate, consulting and government roles working in various States and Territories. He was Senior Director Community Partnerships with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority co-managing Australia’s largest community consultation program.  He has also been a University lecturer, a Ministerial speechwriter for two Ministers in Bjelke-Petersen Cabinets, a political campaign consultant and a restaurateur. He authored the Australian Biographical Monograph on Johannes Bjelke-Petersen.

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Did you know that Captain Cook's Endeavour was originally a coal ship?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Denis Porter to explore the crucial role the coal industry has played throughout Australian history, from the earliest days of British settlement right up until the present. A story of triumph and tragedy, in which economic growth and political controversy have often gone hand in hand.

Denis Porter was CEO of the NSW Minerals Council (1998 to 2001) and a senior staff member of the Council and the NSW Coal Association (1989 to 1998). He was also Joint Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association (1998 to 2001). Denis had an ongoing association with the coal industry after he left the Council, for several years as a consultant, and also as a trustee director of the industry superannuation fund, Mine Super, and as a director of Mine Super Services. He is the author of the two-volume history Coal: The Australian Story.

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Does offering financial support for Prisoners of War risk incentivising surrender?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Christina Twomey, to discuss how the Australian government dealt with returned World War II POWs who had been deeply scarred by their time spent in captivity. Revealing the brutal realism of military commanders who feared that offering too much assistance might reward surrender. But more importantly, uncovering the stories of the soldiers themselves, who were forced to document their trauma in order to try to win support.

Christina Twomey is Professor of History at Monash University. Her research focuses on the social and cultural history of war, with a particular interest in imprisonment and internment, gendered violence, trauma, Australia-Asia relations, humanitarian and aid programmes, and visual cultures of atrocity. Her most recent work focuses on Australia's Asian garrisons and regional engagement during the Cold War period. In 2018 she published The Battle Within: POWs in Postwar Australia.

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