Acknowledgement of Country//
Jarni Blakkarly, Senior Investigative Journalist with CHOICE, joined us to discuss the release of The Collapse, a podcast series produced by CHOICE and Super Consumers Australia. The series investigates the collapse of Shield and First Guardian Master Superannuation Funds, follows the stories of Australians who lost thousands of dollars in retirement savings, and explores the need for reforms to the superannuation sector to prevent such losses happening again in the future.
The podcast series can be found here.//
Richard Tanter, Senior Research Associate at the Nautilus Institute, and Honorary Professor in the School of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Since the 70’s he has worked on peace, security and environment issues with a research focus on militarisation, intelligence, and nuclear issues across East Asia, Southeast Asia and so-called Australia. Richard has authored and co-authored a series of major studies on the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility…Pine Gap…located in Mparntwe-Alice Springs, Northern Territory. In part 1 of a conversation Leila had with Richard, he unpacks Australia’s devotion to British and US imperial alliance, neoliberal militarism and our structural involvement in US-Israeli war on Iran. You can hear Richard Tanter speak this Saturday at the Conference Against Nuclear and Militarism (CANAM) at Schoolhouse Studios, 28 Victoria St, Coburg.//
In Part 2 of the conversation, Richard and Leila discuss how AUKUS coordinated deep space radars being built in Exmouth could prelude space war, the risks of allowing US commanded Virginia-class attack submarines to homeport in Australia, and loopholes in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. Richard Tanter will be speaking live alongside an excellent lineup of other people organising against militarism and nuclear expansion this weekend at the Conference Against Nuclear and Militarism (CANAM) at Schoolhouse Studios, 28 Victoria St, Coburg. Please support the speakers by donating to the CANAM Travel Fund via Chuffed.//
Tom Sulston, Head of Policy at Digital Rights Watch, spoke with us about the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026, which the Australian Government was seeking public submissions on until late last month. Tom took us through some of what was included in DRW's own submission on the Exposure Draft, including what is missing from the Bill as it currently stands, and how we define digital harm.//
Transdisciplinary researcher, planner, and practitioner Nícolas Guerra, a founding member of The Alliance for Praxis Research, joined us to break down the historic runoff election victory of Brazil's incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), who defeated far-right opponent Flávio Bolsonaro to win a fourth term in office. Nic spoke about how this win represents something much greater than electoral politics, and was driven by grassroots anti-fascist organising for alternative futures to form the horizon against which Lula's next term will be held to account.//
Emily, Inez, Leila, Priya, Kate
