Join us for a bonus barbecue, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with Mark Kenny about his first two years in the top job.

What’s it really like being Prime Minister of Australia? What lessons did the PM take from the Voice campaign, his recent budget and other key policy agendas? And how can we improve the often partisan state of political discourse in this country?

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Anthony Albanese joins Professor Mark Kenny to look back on two years as Australia's leader.

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP is the 31st and current Prime Minister of Australia.

Mark Kenny is the Director of 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.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.

This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economics professor, Sean Turnell, and writer and surgeon, Ma Thida, join us to discuss their experiences as political prisoners and their hopes for Myanmar’s future.

Sean Turnell and Ma Thida have both experienced the terror of being locked up in Myanmar. So how did they survive? What do they think were Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s missteps during leadership and prior to the 2021 military coup? And how hopeful are they that democracy may return to Myanmar?

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, previous political prisoners, Sean Turnell and Ma Thida, join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss imprisonment, democratisation and the future of Myanmar.

Sean Turnell is an Honorary Professor of Economics at Macquarie University. He has been a Senior Economic Analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia, a policy adviser for institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He served as the senior economic adviser to Myanmar’s government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and was imprisoned for 650 days after the 2021 military coup.

Ma Thida is a Burmese human rights activist, surgeon and writer. She was imprisoned for six years in Insein prison in the 1990s for her pro-democracy activism. Currently, she is the chair of PEN International Writers in Prison committee.

Mark Kenny is the Director of 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.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.

This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this post-budget special, Elizabeth Ames and Peter Martin join us to break down whether this budget will allow a soft economic landing to cost of living and inflationary pressures.

As the government has thrown the switch to spending in this budget, what will the impact be on our economy? How does this budget set up for an upcoming election year? And what are some of the policy inclusions (and exclusions) that are baffling economic experts? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Peter Martin and Elizabeth Ames join Professor Mark Kenny to cut through the quibbles and get to the story behind the new federal budget.

Peter Martin AM is a Visiting Fellow at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy and the Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation.

Elizabeth Ames is Chief Executive Officer at advocacy firm Atalanta, Board Director of the Britain-Australia Society, and Chair of the Menzies Australia Institute at King’s College London.

Mark Kenny is the Director of 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.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.

This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.