No Palace manipulation here

To say the British monarchy, and by implication Queen Elizabeth II, is “divisive and dividing our nation” would puzzle a lot of Australians. But the Australian Republican Movement has found a way. Recently featuring in the UK’s Express, the movement noted how the royals had undermined Australian trade negotiations, delegated unfair powers to the Governor-General and now drifts out of touch with “four million voters [who] have come onto the electoral roll” since the 1999 republican defeat. These are all familiar republican arguments. And all buckle under examination. The claim of “sending Prince Andrew out on trade missions to secure […]

Continue reading

Episode 40 – Testing our Koala assumptions with Vic Jurskis

Here I talk with Australian ecological historian Vic Jurskis on what constitutes a healthy, stable koala population, the importance of Indigenous land management practice, the history of koalas on the continent and just how true it is that koalas are endangered. Vic has featured on ABC and 2GB radio, and is the author of The Great Koala Scam (Connor Court Publishing, 2020). Show highlights The great irony – how healthier forests can actually mean less koalas. ‘More’ isn’t always better – sustaining a healthy, more stable koala population Australia didn’t always have ‘millions’ of koalas and how they’re actually quite […]

Continue reading