Episode 03.2021: Chris Wallace on the Gender Politics of Australian Politics 

A historic rape claim against a senior minister and the alleged rape of a political advisor in a minister’s office are rocking Australian politics and government.

‘March 4 Justice’ rallies were held throughout the country to protest against sexual harassment and violence towards women within and beyond the political establishment.

In this podcast, Martin Thomas talks to journalist and academic Chris Wallace. She describes a chain reaction that began in January when a remarkable young Tasmanian, Grace Tame, was appointed 2021 Australian of the Year.

Listen now via Soundcloud.

Chris Wallace is a journalist, political commentator, and associate professor at the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra. Before joining the national press gallery in the 1980s, she was a political advisor to three parliamentarians. Her latest book is How to Win an Election (2020).

Series Producers: Professor Martin Thomas and Dr Béatrice Bijon

Both Thomas and Bijon have long experience as researchers and lecturers, and previously collaborated as producers of Etched in Bone (Ronin Films), a documentary film shot in Arnhem Land about the theft and repatriation of Indigenous human remains. The film had its UK premiere at the Menzies.

Thomas has been based at the ANU School of History since 2010 and is a regular interviewer for the oral history program at the National Library of Australia. Bijon was curator of the National Library’s centenary exhibition on women’s suffrage in 2018, a project she oversaw alongside lecturing in the ANU School of Literature, Language and Linguistics.

Produced by the Menzies Australia Institute at King's College London, in partnership with the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University in Canberra.

For more episodes see AuSI + Menzies Australia Institute Podcast or visit Soundcloud.