Straight Talk with Mark Bouris

It’s all very serious today, so it was refreshing to have a funny conversation.
Nikki Osborne didn’t just get the Prime Minister on her podcast. She DMed him, turned up at the Lodge in Canberra wearing a pith helmet, and got him talking about things you’d never hear in a press conference.
In this episode of Straight Talk, I sit down with the comedian behind Bush Barbie to find out how she pulled it off and why her alter ego has tapped into something a lot of Australians are quietly desperate for. It’s a conversation about comedy, character, political correctness, and what it really takes to build a career from nothing over more than twenty years.
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David Pocock is a former Wallabies captain turned independent Senator for the ACT. Born on a farm in Zimbabwe, he arrived in Australia at 14 after his family lost their land in the seizures of the late 1990s, found his feet through sport, and went on to represent the Wallabies before swapping the ruck for the red benches of the Senate.
I sat down with David for an honest conversation about where he came from, how sport shaped him, and why he decided to take on the major parties as an independent.
We speak about:
Growing up on a farm in Zimbabwe and the violence that forced his family out
Arriving in Australia at 14 and finding belonging through sport
The rugby road from Western Force at 17 to captaining the Wallabies
Why he ran as an independent and what shocked him most about Parliament
The widow's tax and how his team found the flaw the major parties missed
His push to rein in gambling advertising and what it is doing to young Australians
A 25% gas export tax and the question of who our natural resources really belong to
The squeeze on small business and how government procurement could back Aussie firms
Why he thinks Parliament needs a lot more long-term thinking
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Steve Baxter is a former Shark Tank investor, ex-Army guided weapons technician, and founder of Beaten Zone Venture Partners, a fund backing Australian defence startups and pushing them into the US market where the real money is.
In this conversation, Steve takes us from growing up in outback Queensland and joining the army at 15, through building and selling one of Australia's biggest dial-up internet providers, to why he believes private capital — not government grants — is the key to Australia's sovereign defence capability.
We get into cardboard drones that took out Russian aircraft in Kursk, robot dogs armed for the battlefield, a hypersonic aircraft built in Brisbane, and why 83% of Australia's super funds won't touch defence investment because of ESG. Steve also gives his blunt take on the Iran war, why he thinks deterrence beats conflict every time, and what he'd say to anyone about investing in the business of war.
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Gerard Rennick, founder of the People First Party and former Queensland senator, joined me to discuss his journey from rural Queensland to politics and why he believes Australia needs more leaders with real-world experience.
Drawing on his background in finance and a Master’s in Tax Law, Rennick shared his views on the economy, housing, taxation, productivity and capital markets. He has since built his own party from the ground up around five policies he believes could fundamentally reshape how Australia handles money, tax, superannuation and infrastructure.
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Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth joins me for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, healthcare, and the future of Australia.
Drawing on his experiences in humanitarian medicine, the COVID pandemic, and the health system, Dr Coatsworth shares his perspectives on public policy, economic challenges, and what Australia needs to do to build a stronger future. It’s a thoughtful discussion on resilience, responsibility, and the lessons that shape better decision-making
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