Thursday Breakfast

Acknowledgment of Country//News Headlines//Helen Haines// Sudan// Ethiopia / Tigray//Gaza and West Bank// CW: This segment contains mention of colonial state violence including genocide and ecoside. If you need support, you can call mob only helplines 13 YARN on 13 92 76 and Yarning Safe'n'Strong on 1800 959 563, or Lifeline on 13 11 14 which is open to anyone.//We heard a statement from Disrupt Wars about events on Djab Wurrung land this Tuesday 20 October. Defenders of sacred birthing trees and a Djab Wurrung lore keeper were raided and arrested whilst working to protect the sacred women's site from destruction by Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) contractors. Police proceeded to assist VIDA in cutting down a number of sacred birthing trees, a shameful act of cultural genocide. Please support Djab Wurrung community at this time by donating to the Djab Wurrung Arrestee Fund and the Djab Wurrung Sovereign Fund.// Peter Marshal, National Secretary of United Firefighters Union (UFU), joins us to discuss the recent independent report by the Victorian Auditor General 'Managing Victoria’s Firefighting Fleet'. The damning report identified serious shortcomings in Victoria's firefighting appliances - confirming firefighters’ longstanding concerns over ageing trucks, maintenance failures and inadequate fleet replacement funding. Only ~$390 million — about a quarter of what was needed — had been allocated in grant and budget funds so far, an investment shortfall of more than $1 billion. We discuss the dangerous impact this has and what is needed in the upcoming state election.//Cameron Bloye, CEO of Tenants VIC joins us to talk about the biggest issues facing Victorian renters, trends across the state's electorates, and what the non-profit organisation would like to see political parties commit to for renters as we approach the state election. Cameron is an experienced community-sector leader driven by a strong commitment to social justice and to creating systemic change to address structural barriers for people experiencing disadvantage and marginalisation.//Australian Unemployed Workers Union member Jessica Harrison joins us to speak about the looming resumption of payment cancellations under the federal government's punitive Targeted Compliance Framework. Multiple elements of the framework, which governs the cancellation of social security payments, are set to re-start from the 26th of October after being paused since March of 2025 in the face of revelations of the TCF's unlawful operation and catastrophic impacts on people living below the poverty line. The AUWU is organising a protest on Tuesday the 27th of October outside DEWRVIC at 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne to fight back against the resumption of TCF measures. RSVP at the event page. If you need support, call AUWU advocacy line between 10am-2pm on 1800 259 848 or email [email protected].//Tori Ball, one of the organisers of the Conference Against Nuclear and Militarism (CANaM), speaks with us about the impetus for creating this event, the importance of creating a broad base of knowledge and community solidarity against militarism and nuclear expansion, and what's in store for attendees. CANaM is running across Friday the 30th of October to Sunday the 1st of November at Schoolhouse Studios in Coburg, and you can get your tickets here. Support CANaM speakers by donating here.//

Acknowledgement of Country// News headlines:Death of Jayda Allen Bonner Airstrike kills 72 civilian mine workers at Egypt/Sudan border A potential win for Brazilian workers ahead of second round presidential electionVictoria's auditor-general report on state’s aging fire trucksNT Gov decision to close Darwin's largest homeless shelter// CW: Please be aware that the following news broadcast contains graphic descriptions of violence, if you’d like to skip, come back in 15 minutes. For support, call Lifeline (13 11 14) or Suicide Callback Service (1300 659 467).We heard an excerpt from last week’s Electronic Intifada newscast with Nora Barrows-Friedman and Roqayah Chamseddine. The report took us through the events in Palestine and Lebanon each day of the week leading up to Thursday 8th October, which marked day one-thousand and ninety-eight of the war on Gaza and the 4th year of genocide.// CW: The following segment contains themes of alcohol and other drug use and overdose, which some listeners may find distressing at this time. Skip this segment and retrn in 15 minutes, and remember support is always available for you through the the National Alcohol and other Drug Hotline 24/7 on 1800 250 015 and Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467.Dave Taylor, Advocacy and Media Manager at VAADA, the Victorian peak body for AOD services, joined us to unpack the new report from the Coroners Court of Victoria showing that the number of fatal overdoses in Victoria continues to rise, with the highest recorded deaths - 632 - since the data first began being collected in 2000. We also unpacked different cohorts that are experiencing higher rates of overdose, and for the first time Greater Geelong became the local government area with the highest number of fatal overdoses, surpassing Melbourne.// We played a segment from Tuesday's webinar 'Compounding poverty: Three issues to learn about this Anti-Poverty Week', featuring Dr Josie Douglas, General Manager of Professional Services at the Central Land Council, and Roxanne Kenny and Maryanne Malbunka, Central Land Council Elected Delegates. Josie, Roxanne and Maryanne speak about the exorbitant cost of living in remote communities and the blatant inadequacy of the Remote Areas Allowance, which has only been increased two times and by less than three dollars since its introduction in 1984. 'Compounding poverty' was facilitated by Simon Schrapel, Anti-Poverty Week National Co-Chair and Chair of the Accountable Income Management Network, and hosted by Antipoverty Centre in collaboration with the Central Land Council and Single Mother Families Australia.// We were joined by Tom Hvala, PhD candidate at Melbourne Law School, whose research adopts an intersectional feminist approach to improving women's access to reproductive healthcare from a labour law perspective. Through his research, he has also explored dynamics between labour law and climate change, recently co-authoring a paper with Dr Gabrielle Golding and Phillipa McCormack, 'Interrogating the Case for Climate Change Leave in Australian Labour Law'. We spoke with Tom about the impact climate change is likely to have on workers into the future, whose responsibility it is to cover the costs of these impacts on workers, what Spain’s ground-breaking climate change leave looks like, and the possibility for the implementation of such leave in Australia.// Jay Coonan, co-coordinator of Antipoverty Centre, spoke with us about key grassroots campaigns in the fight to re-politicise and end poverty in Australia during this year's Antipoverty Week, running from 11-18 October. Australia's main unemployment payment, Jobseeker Allowance, is $412 a week – 40% below the poverty line. More than 1 million people rely on unemployment payments, around 40% of whom are disabled.//

Acknowledgement of Country//News headlines:Three years of Israeli-led genocide in Gaza StripWA Police draconian laws for Land Forces Expo this weekSave Preston Market and redevelopment proposalHighest overdose related deaths in Victoria since 2000 (Listener discretion advised)Maritime Union challenges cruise sector due to ongoing concern about pay and conditions//We were joined by Stop AUKUS WA co-convener Sam Wainwright and Will Shanahan - a community organiser and climate campaigner. In this conversation, we heard the latest on Land Forces 2026, a biannual weapons convention, this year hosted in Boorloo-Perth after widespread backlash that has followed the event across the country. WA state government has spent over 10 million dollars on protecting the weapons convention and suppressing protest including issuing draconian exclusion orders targeting climate activists in an attempt to ban them from joining anti-war demonstrations this week. Hear more on this by going to 3cr.org.au/thursday-breakfast.//Grey, a tenant of 160 Oxford Street in Paddington, Sydney, and Erina, a housing advocate with the Renters and Housing Union (RAHU), joined us to discuss alleged moves by the property's landlord-developer to illegally force tenants from their homes so the site can be redeveloped. Last Thursday the 1st of October, tradespeople were allegedly brought to the site, despite tenants not having been given the legally required notice to vacate.//We heard from Zheng Chin, a member of Save Preston Market action group who has authored a PHD on the Preston Market campaign, and Kim Chow-Evans, a creative arts therapist and filmmaker currently working on a documentary called The People’s Market. Today Zheng and Kim helped us unpack the devastating new draft plan to redevelop Preston Market released on Friday October 7th that could mean 900 new apartments up to 16 storeys high and encroachment from big-business retailers. Please make a submission here to protect our treasured community market by Wed 14th October. Save Preston Market action group has put together a guideline for submissions here.//Jordan Crook, Parks and Nature Campaigner at Victorian National Parks Association, spoke with us about their latest campaign that has seen over 65,000 hectares of central west forests protected under national park laws and 13,000 hectares of new and expanded regional parks, conservation and bushland reserves.We discussed what was involved in this over 20 year campaign, what these protections mean, and how we can learn more! Jordan's work focuses on protecting and caring for our wildlife and natural places. His background in conservation work ranges from the ocean to the tall forest of the Central Highlands, and he has worked with all levels of government to get results for the natural world for many years.//Finally, we were joined by Keith Salter, founder of creative hub, Punk Human, and creator of the Empty Homes Register. We spoke with Keith about his idea behind the register, why so many apartments and houses are sitting abandoned throughout Naarm/Melbourne and Warrang/Sydney, what fuelled the Mass Squatting Action throughout the 80s/90s and similarities seen in today’s housing crisis, and what he thinks the government should be doing about abandoned buildings.//

Acknowledgment of Country//News Headlines//CW: F/DV, AOD, Gambling. If you would like to skip come back in 15mins. 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), National AOD Hotline (1800 250 015).//Meg Bagnall VAADA Lead, AOD and Family Violence and Christine du Toit, Windana Specialist Family Violence Advisor/U-Turn program Manager joined us to discuss the relationship between sporting events like the AFL Grand Final and increased rates and severity of Family/Domestic Violence, and how AOD and Gambling heightens this. We discussed why we keep seeing this, and what we can do about it. If you are at risk of violence and need support: Orange Door, Safe Steps (PH:1800 015 188), or find a community service that can help here.//Christine Carolan, Save Our Community Health, local organising group, joined us to unpack the recent announcement around Cohealth Collingwood! Minister for Housing Nick Staikos announced that the future of the Collingwood clinic is secure. The site will be redeveloped with the community health centre on the ground floor and social housing above. The service will relocate temporarily to Trenerry Crescent during construction. We discussed what it took to get here, the independent review and management, and what's next?//We will be joined by Geoffrey Watson, Senior Counsel with the Centre for Public Integrity, to talk about the deteriorating landscape of freedom of information across the country, increased secrecy throughout Anthony Albanese's two terms, and what should be prioritised as the federal government again puts reforms on the agenda after failed attempts at legislative change in 2025.// CW: Family and sexual violence, online hate, in-depth discussion of mental illness including suicidal ideation. If you'd like to skip come back after 15 minutes. For support, call Lifeline (13 11 14), Suicide Callback Service (1300 659 467), 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners can call 13 YARN (13 92 76) and Yarning Safe'n'Strong (1800 959 563).//October is mental health month and 3CRs Month of Madness - an opportunity to take action, share information and destigmatise.To commemorate this and with the weather warming up, we replayed an episode of 3CRs Earth Matters. In this conversation, Earth Matters programmer Claudia Craig spoke with Dr Cybele Dey to unpack the physical health and mental health affects of hot weather, why heat is linked with increased mental health emergency presentations for vulnerable groups of people such as adolescents or those living with complex health disorders, and the secondary impacts of heat like increased rates of conflict and online hate speech. Find the whole episode of Earth Matters here, and tune into 3CR 855am Sundays from 11-11:30am.// Dale Clough, CEO of Anika Legal, joined us to break down findings from the service's new report Evicted, which reveals the continuing practice and impacts of of retaliatory evictions against Victorian renters. Evicted, which was released this Monday the 28th of October, demonstrates that Victorian renters are still at risk of being forced from their homes for asking for repairs or attempting to assert their rights. You can read the report here. Anika Legal provides free, online legal support to Victorian renters.//

Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines:Yarra City Council votes against North Richmond housing estate demolitionLabor promises incomplete regulation for AI facilities and data centresProtest against Stockland's 2 billion dollar data centre in BrooklynInquiry urges Albanese government to establish mandatory minimum standards for youth justice Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sustain, Nick Rose, and Campaign Organiser of the Not Lovin' It campaign, Andy Miller, joined us to discuss the Northcote community's fight against the development of a McDonald's store along High Street, the public health risks of allowing fast food chains ongoing influence over food environments, the launch of Sustain’s #VoteForFood in the lead up to state elections, and the most recent efforts to strengthen local council and community control over food spaces and public health initiatives, including a petition within Victoria’s parliament.Sustain will be hosting a Fast Food Fight Webinar on 7th October, and if you're interested in signing the e-petition calling for strengthening local council planning powers, follow this link.// Digital justice advocate, writer and researcher Samantha Floreani spoke with us about how the interface between privacy and rental regulations continues to fail tenants around the country, leaving us vulnerable to rampant data harvesting in the process of finding somewhere to live. She also breaks down insights from a recent report by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (to which she contributed) titled 'Key to your data - behind the rent tech interface', which highlights some alarming inconsistencies in protections across Australian jurisdictions. Samantha's PhD research project, The Machine-Readable Renter, examines the role of digital technologies in Australia’s private rental sector, and its impact on renters and housing justice. She is based at Monash University's ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society.// Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Kristin O'Connell joined us to unpack the continued imposition of compulsory income management programs in Australia, despite two decades of widespread opposition since it was first introduced as part of the Northern Territory Intervention. The Community Affairs References Committee is currently undertaking a review into the Social Security (Administration) Legislation Amendment (Income Management and Enhanced Income Management) Instrument 2026, a legislative instrument introduced by Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek in June this year, which removes legislative deadlines for income management programs disproportionately targeting First Nations Peoples. Read Antipoverty Centre's submission to the inquiry here, follow the work of the Accountable Income Management Network here, and read a brief overview of income management in Australia by Dr Elise Klein and Dr Francis Markham here.// Songs//Rupture - Simona Castricum//Not Forever - Mo'Ju//