HEADLINES
7:15AM // Cher Tan is an essayist and critic whose written work has been published widely. In this interview, Cher delves into the dark side of Spotify; its ties to the military-industrial complex, its role in stripping artists of their rights and dignity, as well as the way it has homogenised art and culture. Listen to the whole conversation on 3CR's Women on the Line, 18 August 2025.
7:30AM // Mel Barker, CEO of Western Port Biosphere, on creating a sustainable future for Western Port bay in Southern Victoria. On 31 July, Federal Environment Minister has approved for a proposed Renewable Energy Terminal to proceed to an environmental assessment stage. Mel joined us to chat about the unique biodiversity of Western Port Bay and what is needed to ensure environmental protections alongside the renewable energy transition.
Listeners are advised that the following segment includes descriptions of police raids and references to violence against sex workers. Support services listed below.
7:45AM // Bee leads the Asian Migrant Project at Vixen, with outreach, support work and advocacy for sex workers. They are also one of the co-founders of Justice for Our Sisters, a collective of Asian and Asian Migrant sex workers in Naarm.
Bee speaks about the ongoing raids by Australian Border Force, targeting Asian migrant sex workers, Vixen's new project called Rising Red Lantern, and what is required to achieve full decriminalisation of sex work in Victoria.
8:00AM // Rosa from Boycott Caltex, a grass-roots collective of activists from the pro-Palestine, climate and environment movement. The collective is campaigning for a free Palestine through a consumer boycott of Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex petrol stations as part of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Rosa is here to talk about how the collective came to be, why they are calling for a boycott of Caltex and actions taken so far. This weekend 22-24 August is the National Weekend of Action, taking place across the country including in Preston.
8:15AM // Part 2 of the conversation with Bee from Vixen.
Find out more about Rising Red Lantern at @vixenworkers on instagram or go to their website, www.vixen.org.au.
If you would like to support the Rising Red Lantern project, head to givenow.com.au/rising-red-lantern
Songs:
If you are a migrant sex worker in need of support: you can reach out to your local peer organisation:
Scarlet Alliance (the peak body) scarletalliance.org.au or Vixen in so-called Victoria at www.vixen.org.au
If you need to talk to someone about the issues covered in today’s episode: you can also contact QLife on 1800 184 527 or go to www.qlife.org.au.
Phuong, Juliette, Fiza, Elena, Julia, Kannagi
