#NoFibsPodcasts

Current episode Featured image by, Amber Trax. Previous episode Save Bulga Forest archive: https://nofibs.com.au/?s=%23savebulgaforest Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Ken Henry and I reside in Comboyne, the village on the Comboyne Plateau north of the Bulga Plateau. Ken’s father was a logger and he grew up in Taree before becoming Treasury Secretary for Peter Costello and Paul Keating and chairman of the NAB.  Ken, his wife Naomi and I joined citizen scientists in the […]

Comedian and former Triple J Breakfast host, Alex Dyson is contesting the federal seat of Wannon for the third time and his support has been growing since his first run in 2019.

CITIZEN ASSEMBLIES Tasmania has just had an election called by disgruntled premier, Jeremy Rockliff, who wanted to escape the “chaos” (his words) of an unstable, minority government. The election did not go well for Rockliff. The Tasmanian Liberal party did gain the most seats in the new parliament but below an absolute majority. However, the […]

“This new community has formed based on radical trust and now I have to actually live up to that trust and indeed do politics differently” Kate Chaney MP No Fibs has helped document Kate Chaney’s campaign for Curtin since I accidentally scored the first interview with her post announcement.  Wanna know why @ChaneyforCurtin has a […]

Jan’s Westender retirement piece, followed by links to her archive, is:  Farewell and gratitude: reflecting on four years as editor at the Westender Since then Jan has helped chronicle the rise of the Greens in Queensland, and recently interviewed the Greens candidate for mayor at this month’s Brisbane Council election in:  Jan Bowman interviews the […]

IN THIS EPISODE No Fibs talks with Gregory Andrews who’s currently on a climate hunger strike outside Parliament House in Canberra. Andrews is the owner and founder of Lyrebird Dreaming, an adjunct professor with the University of Canberra’s applied ecology, a former Ambassador and High Commissioner in West Africa and was a diplomat in China, […]

WHEN I INTERVIEWED Mary Crooks in May, the Victorian Women’s Trust was finalising its ‘Together, Yes’ Kitchen Table Conversations package for Australians willing to host get togethers of up to ten people to discuss The Voice without the noise.  Four months on, we discuss the project’s rollout, under the auspices of the Yes23 campaign, and why Mary […]

AFL LEGEND AND anti-racism campaigner, Michael Long on Monday told a crowd gathered at Marmungun Rock (Apex Park), Wangaratta a “contingent” will be sent to London seeking support for the ‘Yes’ campaign from, King Charles III. Long is on The Long Walk to Canberra and he was joined by Nova Peris. In 1996 as part […]

FIFTY VOTERS IN the seat of North Sydney will meet on October 29 for a Deliberative Democracy people’s summit to determine what they think should be done to solve the housing crisis.  During our interview half way into her term, North Sydney’s #IndependentsDay MP Kylea Tink said she’s organising the experiment under the mentorship of New Democracy, […]

DR SOPHIE SCAMPS: INDEPENDENT MP FOR MACKELLAR | RSS.com JUST OVER A year ago, on 21 May, 2023, Australia experienced a seismic shift in its political landscape with a federal election that saw six community independents, six women, elected to parliament by defeating sitting Liberal Party members in affluent, blue ribbon seats in Sydney, Melbourne […]

IN THIS No Fibs episode I talk with Phil Haines and Lesley Howard, two of the 12 authors of the recently published book, THE INDI WAY. “THE INDI WAY is a revealing account of a community using values-based, respectful processes to rewrite the political playbook. Featuring contributions by @helenhainesindi, @latingle, @barriecassidy, @Indigocathy, and more.” Scribe […]

ON JUNE 19 last year at the Lindfield Football Club debrief for volunteers, Nicolette Boele announced that Voices for Bradfield had re-endorsed her as its candidate for the next federal election. After all, an all-volunteer campaign on a tight budget in the Indi Way tradition had achieved the biggest swing against a sitting Liberal MP […]

KRISTIN O’CONNELL AND her colleagues at the Antipoverty Centre are on a mission to break ‘the poverty machine’. O’Connell talks to No Fibs about pre-budget kite flying, raising the rate and explains what the poverty machine is. I wish I could say something optimistic on that front. I’m a very cynical person and I feel […]

YES TO THE Voice can’t happen without widespread engagement at the local level on a subject people who disagree generally steer clear of. Simple as that.  Yes there’ll be big ad spends, famous Australian endorsements and sophisticated polling informing highly targeted social media messaging. But, like the community independent movement’s success at the last election, […]

FRED CHANEY TALKS with Margo Kingston the day after the federal Liberal Party decided to officially oppose the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Chaney helped establish the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia before entering the Australian Parliament as a Senator for WA. He was Aboriginal Affairs Minister in the Fraser government. After leaving politics at […]

IN THE UPCOMING NSW election the Liberal Party is facing a strong challenge from community independent, Helen Conway in the safe seat of North Shore. The seat was last held by an independent between 1988 and 1991 when Robyn Read was the local Member. North Shore is currently held by Felicity Wilson who won 46.6% […]

THIRD GENERATION Liverpool Plains farmer Rosemary Nankivell has been active for more than a decade trying to save the top NSW food bowl, the Liverpool Plains, and the surrounding Pilliga nature reserve and State Forest, from coal and coal seam gas mining. The campaign united farmers, environmentalists and the Gomeroi people to successfully stop proposed […]

No Fibs coverage of the Elands community’s campaign to end native forest logging in NSW. My very long Twitter thread starts here https://twitter.com/margokingston1/status/1612289978830327808?s=20 The time is NOW to stop Forestry NSW logging our native forests. #SaveBulgaForest the #NSWVotes frontline + a divinely beautiful legal campsite with lots of room beside a swimming river & close […]

IN MARGO’S FIRST podcast for the upcoming NSW election, she chats with the independent candidate for Lane Cove, Victoria Davidson. Davidson is seeking to win the seat of Lane Cove from the deeply conservative Liberal MP, Anthony Roberts. Roberts is the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Homes in the Perrottet government. At the […]

Sue Higginson first fought on the frontline to protect State old growth native forests from logging in the 1990’s. She then studied law and became head of the Environmental Defenders Office to help enforce new laws passed by the Carr Labor Government, and watched legal protections fall apart. So she became an Upper House MP in 2022, […]

IT’S BEEN AN unexpected start to the new year for me, having been called into service by my best friend Susie Russell to live-tweet actions and arrests to try to save native forest on the Bulga Plateau, her home. New year, same horrifying behaviour by loggers in the Bulga Plateau. Locals’ August 2020 protest against […]

I FIRST ENCOUNTERED Tim Dunlop when he joined Webdiary in 2001 after completing his doctorate, “Towards a Theory of Deliberative Democracy’, the idea that civil discussion and debate among citizens should determine political decisions. An intellectual who has always put theory into practice, Tim sent me an epically long  critique of dairy deregulation which triggered a robust […]

HERE IS MY interview with journalist Margot Saville on her book ‘The Teal Revolution’, exclusively focused on documenting the origins and progress of the campaigns of what the MSM and Simon Holmes a Court now call ‘the Teals’, defined by Margot as “middle class white women who live in and now represent very affluent communities”. […]

IN THIS NOFIBS podcast, Margo Kingston chats with artist, author, political scientist and Dr Monique Ryan’s campaign manager at the 2022 federal election, Dr Ann Capling. Dr Capling is originally from Canada and arrived in Australia in 1985, worked as a professor of political science and in 2015 took early retirement to become a water […]

WANT AN IN-THE-MOMENT under-the-bonnet account of the roiling, sprawling, seat-of-their pants crash through campaigns of #IndependentsDay candidates and exciting first attempts by voters in regional and rural seats?  Want to know how the #IndependentsDay movement began, what it became, and the knowledge to speculate what it might become? Want to dig deep into the operations […]

LAST TIME MARGO Kingston spoke to Nicolette Boele and Rob Mills in June, they were over the moon about the Bradfield community, against all odds, winning the biggest swing against the government. Since then Voices of Bradfield have endorsed Boele as the community candidate for the Federal next election. Margo Kingston chats to Nicolette Boele […]

A FEATURE OF the ‘Voices for’ community politics phenomenon, since Voices for Indi pioneered it in 2013, is its particularity. Concepts and values are the common thread, but because each group emerges from local community – and depends on that community for purpose and growth – the groups’ processes, positioning and purpose consequently differ between […]

IN THIS EPISODE Margo Kingston chats with, Denise Shrivell and Kristen Lock who are co-founders of North Sydney’s Independent created to find Kylea Tink, the now independent Member for North Sydney in the Federal Parliament. The group was formed after Voices of North Sydney decided they were not going to seek a candidate for the […]

IN THIS EPISODE, Margo Kingston talks with founding member of Voices For Indi, Phil Haines. He was Cathy McGowan’s campaign manager when she defeated then Member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella and in 2016 when she again defeated, Mirabella standing as the Liberal candidate. Phil is married to the current Member for Indi, Helen Haines and […]

Independent Bradfield candidate Nicolette Boele and her campaign manager, Rob Mills discuss the community campaign that turned the once ultra safe seat marginal. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: RSS

CHERYL KERNOT WRAPS the election campaign with No Fibs. Cheryl Kernot is a trail-blazer for women, a former Senator, leader of the Australian Democrats and former Member for Dickson. Kernot told No Fibs her special seat wins were, Goldstein and Kooyong. At the Kooyong campaign launch Cathy McGowan pulled me aside and asked me to […]

MARGO KINGSTON TALKS with Kate Chaney who’s running in the Western Australian seat of Curtin. She has a background in business and has worked at Boston Consulting Group, Westralia Airports Corporation and Wesfarmers where as Aboriginal Affairs Manager she developed the corporation’s first Reconciliation Action Plans. Chaney is running a strong community based campaign and […]

It’s the culmination of many lessons throughout that history of struggle Thomas Mayor If you want people to change you have to create not only motivation for change but some experience that gives them trust Cathy McGowan What the Greens have done with the Uluru Statement From The Heart or their policy about the Uluru […]

LAST WEEK Guardian Australia’s rural and regional editor, Gabrielle Chan, coined the phrase the ‘The Barnaby Line’ and questioned whether in electorates south of this line, such as Nicholls and Mallee, Barnaby Joyce’s regional appeal was now in the negative “losing his MPs and candidates more votes than he attracts.” Mallee was a bit of […]

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE, NICOLETTE Boele is running in the Sydney seat of Bradfield which is held by Liberal, Paul Fletcher. Margo Kingston caught up with the Voices of Bradfield endorsed candidate who’s ending a mid-campaign period of Covid isolation. Related: A miracle is possible in #BradfieldVotes: the high hopes of Nicolette Boele’s campaign manager Podcast: Play […]

Episode 1 Labor leader Anthony Albanese on the front foot and former Prime Minister, Malcom Turnbull weighs in from the US and makes the case for independents. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: RSS

AFTER THE LAST election I thought, “I’m gunna give up, Australia decided our climate change election so now I’ll have a life”. What made me have another go was the bushfires. And what I found is that the bushfires saw many people begin the ‘Voices for’ thing. It wasn’t, “Okay, May 2019 elections are over, […]

SCHOOL STRIKE 4 Climate students in Goldstein were unimpressed by Tim Wilson’s Twitter response to their protest at his electorate office this week, which one student leader described as “very passive aggressive”. School students are seeking to have their voices heard on climate during the election campaign with a series of protests organised around the […]

THE NATIONALS ARE facing a stiff challenge in the safe rural Victorian seat of Nicholls from community independent candidate, Rob Priestly who sees great opportunities for the electorate in the transition to a low carbon economy. The current Member, Damian Drum (Nat) who’s retiring at the election won in 2019 with 51.27 precent of the […]

CANBERRA’S BEEN A “Game of Thrones’ for almost his entire adult voting life says, Alex Dyson – he’s “sick of the politics of politics” taking priority over things that matter to the people of Wannon and their futures. Dyson was recently selected by community group Voices of Wannon to be their candidate in the South […]

Huw Kingston (@Huw4Hume) the Independent candidate for the NSW electorate of Hume spoke with No Fibs founder Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) in a podcast that covered his campaign and touched briefly on a largely absent Angus Taylor, who since the Watergate scandal went public has largely avoided community forums, except for the meet-the-candidates event hosted by the Goulburn Chamber […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) caught up with Mackellar Independent Alice Thompson (@Indy_Ally) in a brief break from her time at the pre-poll stations in Mackellar, in the final days before the election. I think Mackellar is a sleeper seat Alice Thompson People just don’t know where to place me: I am taking instructions from the Turnbull […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) catches up with Independent candidate Helen Haines (@HelenHaines1) while on the road in the Victorian electorate of Indi for the final No Fibs #IndependentsDay podcast before the federal election. They discuss Helen’s recent panel appearance on ABC’s QandA, and how it appeared to spook the opposition. As Margo notes, a couple of […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) chats with Dr Kerryn Phelps (@drkerrynphelps) in the final days of her campaign as an Independent in the Sydney electorate of Wentworth, and updates listeners that she is sensing a real momentum shift, much the same as she experienced in the previous by-election. I’m sensing a momentum shift in Wentworth in the […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) sat around the kitchen table with Rob Oakeshott (@RobOakeshott1), Kate (Rob’s niece), Beth (Rob’s scheduler), Melwyn (Rob’s fundraising manager) and Jack, Rob’s videographer who has recently posted a fact check response video to the latest Nationals’ advert. Rob Oakeshott has been campaigning in the NSW Cowper electorate as an Independent, facing unprecedented […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) spoke with Julia Banks (@juliabanksmp) in the final days of her campaign as an Independent candidate for the safe Liberal seat of Flinders. Julia on whether there was an ulterior motive behind the decision to run against Greg Hunt:- I made the decision way back in August that I wasn’t going to […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) interviews current Mayor of Albury and Independent candidate for Farrer Kevin Mack (@Mack4Farrer), who has travelled more than 16,500 kilometres in recent weeks just to cover the vast Farrer electorate in south-western NSW. Kevin makes a comment on the “interesting” campaign, claiming that Farrer incumbent Sussan Ley has been acting aggressively and […]

Kate McBride is a fifth-generation pastoralist and the daughter of Rob McBride, owner of Tolarno Station (@TolarnoStation) at Menindee in Western NSW. Together with her father she brought the ecological disaster unfolding on the Darling River to the world’s attention with a viral video of the Menindee fish kill. Kate spoke to Wayne Jansson (@Jansant) […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) checks in with Anthony Pesec (@anthonypesec) — Independent candidate for the second ACT senate seat — as federal election day looms. They discuss the importance and value of strategically voting in order to defeat hard-right Liberal, Zed Seselja, who hasn’t attended a single meet-the-candidates forum. Zed Seselja is widely known for going […]

Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) speaks with #KooyongVotes Independent candidate Oliver Yates (@_Oliver_Yates) on the latest episode of the No Fibs podcast and explores the challenges of campaigning in an electorate where the incumbent has reportedly thrown millions of dollars to safeguard. Josh Frydenberg has put 12 people at the pre-poll centre, basically making it impossible for […]

NSW Senate candidate for Independents for Climate Action Now (ICAN), Rod Bower (@FrBower) is a husband, father, grandfather, author of Outspoken and — until recently — an Anglican priest in Gosford, at a church where he made his signs so famous. Charlie Caruso spoke with Rod about his decision to run for the NSW Senate […]

In this No Fibs podcast I chat with climate action Independent Jason Modica who’s one of three Independents putting in a strong challenge in the safe National-held seat of Mallee. Last week I took a drive through the southern section of the Victorian electorate. Mallee is one of the bigger electorates in Australia. There is […]

Tanya Murphy has worked on the Great Barrier Reef as a diving instructor for SunLover Reef Cruises for seven years. Her love for coral brought her to Cairns. In this interview she talks about witnessing the 2016-2017 coral bleaching events and how this led her to starting Divers For Reef Conservation. My first dive on […]

In the wake of the ongoing #Watergate scandal, Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) talks to Alice Thompson (@Indy_Ally) Independent candidate for the Sydney Northern Beaches electorate of Mackellar. Alice provides further insight and context to Margo regarding her recent Twitter thread about integrity in government. My legacy in the PMO was to reduce the autonomy of incoming […]

Former Minister for Health Sussan Ley is under siege in her ultra-safe Liberal seat of Farrer in rural NSW, where Independent candidate Kevin Mack is putting in a strong challenge. Mr Mack is the Mayor of Albury and has taken leave for the duration of the federal election campaign. He spoke to No Fibs about […]

Former federal Greens leader Bob Brown is back on the campaign trail on the #StopAdani Convoy heading up the east coast of Australia. Brown spoke to No Fibs about the convoy at Albury-Wodonga, where around 200-300 people gathered early on Easter Friday to join the convoy and show their support. Show your support or join […]

Former Olympian Zali Steggall talks to Margo Kingston about her campaign to bring honesty back into politics and take on Tony Abbott for the safe Liberal seat of Warringah

Huw Kingston (@Huw4Hume) describes himself as a small businessman, an adventurer, an environmentalist and a writer. But everything changed for him the day Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as prime minister, and, further influenced by his responsibility as a grandfather, Huw decided to run as an Independent in the NSW electorate of Hume. Huw spoke with […]

Anthony Pesec was born and raised in Canberra and spoke with Margo Kingston about his mission to represent the best interests of Canberrians in the Senate as an Independent.

Rebekha Sharkie (@MakeMayoMatter) was so committed to the opportunity to represent the electorate of Mayo that she took the bold move to take out a second mortgage on her house and quit her job. Thankfully, the story ended well and her dedication to the community was rewarded with a large swing that secured her the […]

This week has been full of devastating news about the effects of climate on the Great Barrier Reef. I interviewed David Cazzulino from Australian Marine Conservation Society Cairns. David talks about the link to climate change and the damage it’s doing to coral. On The bright side he covers the Fight For The Reef campaign. […]

Hi, I’m Wayne Jansson and this is a Margo Kingston’s No Fibs podcast. I came to No Fibs via Twitter during the 2013 election campaign when Margo put a call out for citizen journalists to cover seats where they live. I reported Cathy McGowan’s 2013 Indi campaign, in fact she was my first ever interview. […]

Ray Kingston is one of three Independent candidates running for the rural seat of Mallee. Ray chats with Margo Kingston about why he’s running and what matters will be important when #Malleevotes

Alice Thompson (@Indy_Ally) is running as an Independent for the safe Liberal seat of Mackellar. Alice spoke with No Fibs Founder, Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) on the latest episode of the No Fibs podcast about why she is running and how she’ll be different.

Oliver Yates is a former Macquarie banker, and head of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, who spoke with Margo Kingston about his campaign to run for the seat of Kooyong as an Independent

Margo Kingston interviews Dr Kerryn Phelps, member for Wentworth to discuss why authenticity and delivering on promises is key to her campaign.

Margo Kingston interviews Independent candidate Jeremy Miller to discuss the safe seat of Lyne and his approach to replacing Dr David Gillespie, who this week announced his support for a government-backed coal-fired power plant.

@CharliCaruso interviews New England Independent Candidate @adamblakester and touched on the major issues and concerns facing Barnaby Joyce’s electorate, and the greater state of political dysfunction in Australia