Merry Christmas everyone! To remind us all of the reason for the season, who better to talk to than the Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Lyle Shelton.

The ACL is a significant political force in Australian politics and Lyle and his team are active and determined about advocating on public policy issues from a faith perspective, from life issues to same-sex marriage to Australia’s treatment of refugees.

In the first part of this polite but passionate conversation, Lyle and I discussed the role faith should play in politics, evidence, reason, marriage, parenting and gender.

The iTunes Top Podcasts of 2015

The World Keeps Happening tour 2016

@LyleShelton

acl.org.au

Buzzfeed profile on Lyle

Kevin Andrews’ Maybe I Do

A “reality check” for the Regenerus study on gay parenting

tangledwebs.com.au

It’s An Urban Myth That Same-Sex Couples And Married Heterosexuals Have Equal Rights by Tracey Spicer

Cause of the Week: ChilOut Sydney fundraiser at Giant Dwarf Theatre

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Activist Ali Hogg is the Victorian convenor of national marriage equality campaign Equal Love. She’s proudly radically progressive and she’s been leading the call for same-sex marriage in Australia for over a decade.

In this chat Ali talked me through her progressive upbringing, her personal experiences with homophobia, the Socialist Alternative, the next steps in the equal marriage debate, the ethics of protest and that time she charged into a restaurant on Lygon Street to confront former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

My 2016 show The World Keeps Happening touring to Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane & Melbourne 

ChilOut Sydney fundraiser at Giant Dwarf Theatre

@alihogg99

The Socialist Alternative

Students stage a protest during Q&A

Article: Abbott not gay about dinner ambush

triple j says It Gets Better

Cause of the Week: Equal Love (equallove.info) 

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Respected journalist and MORTAL ENEMY OF GERARD HENDERSON (not really), David Marr is a self-described “bourgeois do-gooder”. He’s written for Fairfax Media, The Monthly, The Saturday Paper and Guardian Australia, appeared on Q&A, The Drum and Insiders and is the author of multiple in-depth profiles for the Quarterly Essay.

In this first part of our conversation, David tells me about who Bill Shorten is, Labor and the unions, why Australia is so late to progress, drugs, conservatism and right-wing commentators. Hot dang!

A Very Canberra Comedy Festival Christmas

David’s writing for Guardian Australia

David’s writing for The Saturday Paper

David’s Faction Man: Bill Shorten’s Path To Power

Cause of the Week: Maternity Worldwide (maternityworldwide.org)

Peter Reith was a member of John Howard’s cabinet from 1996 to 2001. He served as Minister for Small Business, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Defence. He’s perhaps best known for formulating the GST policy and his roles in the 1998 waterfront dispute and the “children overboard” scandal.

Peter’s just released The Reith Papers, an annotated collection of his diary entries during his time in government. Here we got to discuss (and occasionally lock horns over) the notion of humanising politicians, the recent Paris attacks, military action in the Middle East, Australia’s approach to processing refugees and the role of unions in today’s society.

Me in conversation with Darren Hanlon for MyTunes at Giant Dwarf Theatre

A Very Canberra Comedy Festival Christmas

peterreith.com.au

@peter_reith

The Reith Papers available from Melbourne University Press

Peter on The Verdict 

Peter on ABC News Breakfast with Virginia Trioli

Cause of the Week: Enterprise Victoria (enterprisevictoria.com.au), the French Red Cross (soutenir.croix-rouge.fr)

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