Madeleine Grummet

Menopause and abortion access on NSW Health agenda

The infamous Robodebt scheme was rolled out by the Liberal-National Coalition government back in 2015 as a cost-saving measure. But what transpired was an automated debt recovery system that saw half a million Australian welfare recipients illegally pursued over false debts and some take their lives, in what was later described by the Royal Commission's report as a 'massive failure of public administration' caused by 'venality, incompetence and cowardice'. Guest: Rick Morton, award-winning journalist and author of 'Mean Streak' examining the Robodebt scheme Producer: Madeleine Hanger  

With the global space race heating up and becoming an increasingly contested and competitive frontier, Australia's first female astronaut says it's time Australia steps up in the global space renaissance. GUEST: Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Australian Astronaut and Space Systems Engineer

A growing phenomenon known as “Dark Tourism” is seeing thousands of people travel to the sites of atrocities, massacres, war zones and disasters for guided tours. GUEST: Juliet Rogers, Associate Professor Criminology, The University of Melbourne

A new report from Climate Energy Finance finds that while private Chinese investment in Australia's cleantech sector is at a multi-decade low, there are big opportunities for Australia-China collaboration with the right policy settings. Guest: Tim Buckley, Director, Climate Energy Finance

More than two million Australians delay or avoid dental care because of high costs. The Grattan Institute says patients pay much more of the cost of dental care than they do for other kinds of health care and are calling for urgent Medicare policy reforms and government-funded universal dental coverage. Guest: Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute Producer: Madeleine Hanger

Emerging from the gritty streets of Bristol in the early '90s, Banksy made his mark - quite literally - with his simple yet provocative images of rats, policemen and other symbols of rebellion, sprayed on walls in cities across the planet. Yet despite his fame, Banksy's true identity continues to be one of the art world's best-kept secrets. Guest: Kemal Gurkaynak, Curator, Banksy 'Without Limits' exhibition which is currently showing in Melbourne, Victoria

Rob Waters, Gomeroi poet and storyteller told RN Breakfast poetry is "one of the essences of history". The Australian Poetry Slam Champion shared a special live performance of his poem 'Writers Block.' August is Poetry Month with celebrations and workshops happening right across Australia, including the 'Contains Strong Language' performance festival, and National Poetry Gala showcase, so to shine a light on verse in all its forms, RN Breakfast brings you a brand new poem every Friday, commissioned by Red Room Poetry. Guest: Rob Waters, Gomeroi poet and storyteller, 2023 Australian Poetry Slam Champion Producer: Madeleine Hanger 

Last week the Albanese Government released draft legislation to reform Australia's merger rules and grant new powers to the ACCC. The government says the new reforms will make the merger approval system "faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and more transparent". But multiple leading Australian venture capitalists alongside competition lawyers, corporate investors and local startups have criticised the bill, saying the government did not consult widely enough, and they will stifle innovation and competition in Australia. Guest: Paul Naphtali, Co-founder and CEO, Australian venture capital firm Rampersand

In new research out today, Human Rights Watch has revealed that personal photos of Australian children are being used to create powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools without the knowledge or consent of the children or their families. One hundred and ninety photos of Australian children scraped from the internet have been included in the datasets used by several AI image-generating tools including Stable Diffusion creator Stability AI and Midjourney, which in turn can be used to create mal…