In the new episode, we examine political vision and division after more than a decade of Australia’s climate wars.

While the Australian government shifted its rhetoric on climate change in the wake of the bushfires, have leadership ructions in the National Party halted any movement on climate policy? Would a conscience vote on Zali Steggall’s climate bill give the prime minister an ‘out’ of his political bind? And does Australia need to be more comfortable with a ‘messy’ debate to encourage political and policy foresight?

On the new episode of Democracy Sausage, hosts Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga are joined by former Federal Opposition Leader and Honorary Professorial Fellow Dr John Hewson AM and former ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris for your weekly fry-up of politics and public affairs.

Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Dr John Hewson AM is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at Crawford School of Public Policy. He is an economic and financial expert with experience in academia, business, government, media, and the financial system. Dr Hewson joined ANU in 2014 and is Chair of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute.

Dr Marija Taflaga is a lecturer in the ANU School of Politics and International Relations. Her major research is on political parties and particularly the Liberal Party of Australia. She has previously worked in the Australian Parliamentary Press Gallery as a researcher at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Meegan Fitzharris is a Senior Fellow in Health Policy and Leadership at ANU College of Health and Medicine. She is a former Labor Member of the Legislative Assembly for Molonglo and Yerrabi and was the ACT government’s Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

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