Curtin’s Cast

🎧 New #CurtinsCast episode - Kos Samaras is back with Brisbane Lions tragic & premiership celebrator Nick Dyrenfurth to dissect the week in politics: 🇬🇧 The rise of alt-right & MAGA politics in the UK and Australia 🛠️ Andrew Hastie on migration, housing & slaying the neo-liberal dragon ⚠️ Wayne Swan’s warning to Labor on its shallow base in a time of electoral volatility…  and much more besides.

🎧 New Curtin’s Cast Episode With Nick Dyrenfurth still away, JCRC board member & leading constitutional lawyer Dr Shireen Morris joins Kos Samaras for a rich, personal and political conversation. 🌏⚖️ 💡 From her Indian-Fijian family roots and early acting dreams to the frontlines of law and advocacy, Shireen shares the journey that shaped her fight for justice and belonging. 🗳️ They dive deep into the Uluru Statement and the Voice referendum: • Lessons from working with First Nations leaders • Why constitutional design matters more than slogans • A frank autopsy of the 2023 Yes campaign—what worked, what didn’t • Where recognition, treaty & reform go next A candid, insightful episode on law, culture and the future of Australia’s democracy.

#CurtinsCast host Nick Dyrenfurth takes a well-earned spell from the microphone as John Curtin Research Centre board member and constitutional lawyer Dr Shireen Morris joins Kos Samaras to lead a searching conversation with "proud Westie" and emergency physician Dr Stephen Parnis. From the frontlines of emergency medicine to the fraught politics of end-of-life care, Dr Parnis reflects on the class politics of medical care, dealing with dying patents and what makes for a “good death,” the limits of autonomy, and why Victoria’s voluntary assisted-dying safeguards still trouble him. The discussion widens to COVID’s class divides and the paradox of highly-educated, generally affluent anti-vax movement. It’s a candid, compassionate exploration of clinical ethics, public policy, and how we might rewrite the script on death and care in Australia.

This week’s Curtin's Cast features the excellent ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth explore her working-class upbringing in north-west Sydney, the parallels between the rise of One Nation in the 1990s and today’s hard-right, neo-Nazi currents, and whether her attraction to the labour movement was a matter of nature or nurture. We cover the cultural left milieu she emerged from, the eye-opening experience of being the first in her family to attend university, the ACTU’s pioneering Organising Works program, the influence of mentors like Tom Macdonald and Tas Bull, and her path to the top job leading a resurgent union movement through seismic challenges from Covid to AI and intergenerational inequality. And yes — we also dive into Sally’s lifelong obsession with martial arts and how it’s shaped her leadership. A rich and revealing conversation you won’t want to miss.

This week we’re joined by Professor Sean Scalmer — one of Australia's leading historians based at the University of Melbourne, Fellow of the Academy of Social Science, and author of A Fair Day’s Work: The Quest to Win Back Time. We dive into: ⏳ The fight for the eight-hour day and Australia’s pioneering role 📉 How progress stalled from the 1980s onwards 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 The hidden burden of unpaid work, especially for women 💻 Technology, productivity and the “always on” culture 🗳️ Why politics has failed to act on overwork ✨ What a fairer future — maybe even a four-day week — could look like A revealing look at the crisis of work-life balance — and how we might win back our time. Grab a copy of Sean's book here: https://www.mup.com.au/books/a-fair-day-s-work/9780522880816

This week’s Curtin’s Cast features the thoughtful and formidable former Liberal MP Keith Wolahan. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed Keith’s Irish Catholic working-class roots in Dublin, his childhood in suburban Melbourne and education at Ringwood Secondary College, through to his academic achievements at Melbourne, Monash and Cambridge and career as a barrister. Our conversation delved into his two decades of military service including the elite 1st Commando Regiment, deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan, and the loss of close friends in combat that shaped his reflections on leadership, sacrifice and ethics. We unpacked his pivotal preselection contest against Kevin Andrews in the seat of Menzies and his brief time in federal parliament, with Keith providing some raw and super interesting insights into modern political life. We also explored the lessons of defeat after Menzies turned red in 2025, his honesty in taking responsibility, and his vision for a Liberal Party that must reconnect with urban voters – especially professionals, women, younger Australians and migrant communities. Keith spoke candidly about his family life, his values, and whether a political comeback might lie ahead alongside his work at the Bar. This is a conversation not to be missed. Check out a preview which is running in Nine Media's The Age and SMH: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/canavan-leads-group-of-five-demanding-coalition-debate-now-on-scrapping-net-zero-20250826-p5mpvo.html

In a competitive field we think this week's Curtin's Cast might be the best yet featuring the super impressive South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed Peter's upbringing in Adelaide, his career as a unionist rising from the Woolies shopfloor to become state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and journey from becoming SA Labor Opposition leader to Premier during the Covid years. Our conversation spanned artificial intelligence and productivity, housing, social media policy, the end of woke and anti-woke politics, Labor connecting better with disillusioned young men and Australians of faith, and the deteriorating geopolitical environment.

We are very fortunate to have the one of the brightest and most innovative economists in Australia as part of our team - Dr Dominic Meagher. He's our latest guest on Curtin's Cast with Kos Samaras discussing the finer details of our recently released paper co-authored with Nick Dyrenfurth - 'Innovation Nation: Powering Australian Productivity in the 2020s and Beyond'. On this episode we get to the core of what productivity actually is and why Australian growth is now at its lowest in 60 years, mostly as the result of the old playbook of cutting costs, deregulation, and squeezing workers being no longer fit for purpose, and deep dive into the JCRC's bold, practical and distinctively social democratic blueprint for a more dynamic, resilient, and fair economy with productivity the means by which we can realise rising real wages and better living standards.  Read the entire report here: https://lnkd.in/ga2xad8J

The great 'Kung Fu' Kos Samaras is back with Curtin's Cast co-host Nick Dyrenfurth discussing the post-election environment and the crisis of the Liberal-National Party.

This week's Curtin's Cast is a ripper featuring Gautam Raju, Global Director, Policy & Advocacy – Programs with Movember. Gautam, as listeners will discover is a ripper bloke talking about an issue Australian society is slowly but surely confronting - bloke's health, whether mental or physical well-being. Nick Dyrenfurth and Redbridge's Simon Welsh covered a smorgasbord of topics from Gautam's work co-leading the United Nations Secretary General campaign response to combat misinformation on COVID-19 which has reached over 1 billion people to big topics from the state of play in 2025, the usefulness of terms such as toxic masculinity, sport and male role models, the online world and social media influencers including right-wing populist types, and what political progressives and those on the left of politics need to do better in these spaces. A big thanks to Simon for filling in for Kos Samaras these past few weeks. Enjoy episode 23!

This week's Curtin's Cast is a powerful, at times moving episode featuring Ronnie Hayden, Australian Workers Union Victorian Branch Secretary. Hosts Nick Dyrenfurth and Redbridge's Simon Welsh chatted to Ronnie about his upbringing in Ireland, diverse working life as a cafe owner and construction worker, life as a Dad to five children and fostering 55 (!) kids, personal challenges he has overcome on the way to leading the Victorian AWU and the issues facing working people which fire him up.

History nerds and labour movement aficionados we have a cracker of a Curtin's Cast for you this week! Nick Dyrenfurth was joined by Redbridge's Simon Welsh to yarn with historian and author Dr Liam Byrne, discussing his new book, No Power Greater: A History of Union Action in Australia. Liam is a distinguished biographer of the great John Curtin and another Labor prime minister Jim Scullin - his first book was Becoming John Curtin and James Scullin: the Making of the Modern Labor Party (Melbourne University Press, 2020) so we naturally traversed his earlier studies of these Labor icons, Liam's own Irish-Scottish family background and attraction to labour history and union activism, why people came together to form unions and purpose of unionism itself, the progression of unionism in Australia over nearly two centuries, the big and lesser known heroes of his story, and just how crucial unions have been in shaping modern Australian society - especially the struggles of women workers, culturally and linguistically diverse and First Nations' workers, and more recently LGBTIQA+ toilers, as well as how unions are enjoying something of a resurgence especially amongst younger people. No Power Greater is fascinating and compelling history - enjoy the pod and make sure to buy Liam's book. Read an extract and secure a copy here: https://byrnel.substack.com/p/no-power-greater?

This week's Curtin's Cast is a special edition featuring Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's 2025 Curtin Oration in Sydney on Saturday 5 July on the 80th anniversary of John Curtin's passing and the PM's expansive Q and A which followed with our centre's Chair, Sam Almaliki.

We had a fabulous chat this week on Curtin's Cast with one of Britain's finest young historians, authors and leading political commentator, David Swift. Co-hosts Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras deep dived into Dave's latest book, Scouse Republic: An Alternative History of Liverpool (Constable). We explored what makes Liverpool unique culturally and politically and touched on all manner of other subjects from Nigel Farage, why "Tory" is such a venomous insult, and what the left gets right and wrong about working people. Enjoy!    

This week's episode is a cracker featuring Basem Abdo, the newly elected Labor MP for Calwell in Melbourne's outer north-western suburbs. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth deep dived into Basem's back story, the son of Palestinian migrants growing up in 'Broady' who went from flipping burgers to sitting in federal parliament in 2025, his previous work in the private sector and government, and fervent working-class passion for rebuilding opportunity and secure, well-paying jobs for Calwell's young people through manufacturing and reindustrialisation.

In the latest Curtin's Cast Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth deep dive into the seismic ways Millennials and Gen Z - who collectively make up over 43% of the electorate - are disrupting politics just as the Baby Boomers did post-WWII. Based off exclusive Redbridge polling we look at how the shifting of generational tectonic plates is reshaping the media, advertising and industries such as gambling but is yet to be reflected properly in our democratic institutions and policy settings. There are big lessons for all sides of politics - on the Right but also competition on the left.

This week's Curtin's Cast is a cracker featuring the Chifley Research Centre's (official thinktank of the Australian Labor Party) new Executive Director Emma Dawson, one of the best and most forthright thinkers in social democratic circles. With Anthony Albanese giving his first major address to the National Press Club, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras chat to Emma about her background, from being born in Northern England, working as a political advisor, running the progressive Per Capita thinktank, her new role, and of course what's going on in Australian politics and what's next for the second term Albanese Labor government.  Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre and former Executive Director of Per Capita. She has worked as a researcher at Monash University and the University of Melbourne; in policy and public affairs for SBS and Telstra; and as a senior policy adviser in the Rudd and Gillard Governments. Emma has published reports, articles and opinion pieces on a wide range of public policy issues. She is a regular contributor to Guardian Australia, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, and a frequent guest on various ABC and commercial radio programs nationally. She appears regularly as an expert witness before parliamentary inquiries and often speaks at public events and conferences in Australia and internationally. Emma is the co-editor, with Professor Janet McCalman, of the collection of essays What happens next? Reconstructing Australia after COVID-19, published by Melbourne University Press in September 2020. She is a Fellow of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and an Adjunct Professor at the UTS Business School.  

On this week's Curtin's Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras chat to Michael Samaras (no relation to the latter!), a Sydney-based researcher, writer and historian, who in 2022 uncovered the Nazi past of the founding benefactor of the Wollongong Art Gallery. Michael has just published a fascinating new book, Anti-Fascists : Jim McNeill and his mates in the Spanish Civil War (Connor Court).  Anti-Fascists : Jim McNeill and his mates in the Spanish Civil War by Michael Samaras The Australians who fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War were men and women of conscience. They were prescient in their understanding of fascism’s threat and convinced that taking up arms against it was the right thing to do. They were Australia’ s pioneers against fascism. Jim McNeill, a Wollongong steelworker, stowed away in the bottom of a meat ship to get to Europe and join the famed International Brigades. He was a man of strong political convictions who fought fascism at home and abroad. He was friends with the charismatic hero Ted Dickinson, the conscientious Bill Morcom, the musical Jack Franklyn and the life-hardened Joe Carter. They became part of McNeill’s life. Their stories form part of his story and are told here with his. This book ensures that the memory of these courageous Australians is not forgotten. Anti-Fascists explains why they went to Spain, what happened to them there, and what became of them after the war. John Faulkner, Former Labor Senate Leader: This book is a deeply researched account of the history and motivation of a small band of courageous Australians who, without government approval or support, travelled to Spain in a vain attempt to defeat fascism. A great read for any history buff. Paul Daley, Author and Guardian writer: With a meticulous historical eye and elegant prose, Michael Samaras brings to life the courage and commitment of Jim McNeill and other Australians who fought fascism in Spain. This remarkable book represents the long overdue historical remembrance of an overlooked group of extraordinary Australian women and men.

In the final post-election Curtin's Cast wrap Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed the on-off again Coalition partyroom divorce, why the Liberals stand to gain from a trial separation from the Nationals, the hysterical opposition from some Liberals and right-wing commentators to Labor's tightening of multi-million dollar superannuation tax concessions, and Nick looks ahead to some of the big issues which will dominate the next term of parliament including Artificial Intelligence, while Kos gives us a rundown on the remaining hotly contested electoral contests.

With time and space for more considered reflection on the federal election that was, Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth sat down with one of the doyens of political history and significant public intellectual in Australia, Monash University's Professor Paul Strangio. We deep dived into the election that was, why voters voted the way they did, where 2025 sits in the pantheon of Labor victories, ask is this finally the end of Howardism, and explore the depth of the Liberal Party's troubles especially in Victoria.  About Paul Paul Strangio is Emeritus Professor of Politics in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. Paul specialises in Australian political history, with a particular focus on political leadership and political parties. He’s an author and editor of 11 books, including Keeper Of The Faith: A biography of Jim Cairns, studies of the Australian prime ministers, Neither Power Nor Glory: 100 Years of Political Labor in Victoria, 1856–1956 and, with Nick Dyrenfurth, edited Confusion: The Making of the Australian Two-Party System. He’s been a frequent commentator on Australian politics in the print and election media, including a regular column for The Age, and for a number of years has had a regular segment on ABC Radio Melbourne.