Fighting the good fight?

Political journalist and author Sean Kelly joins Democracy Sausage to discuss his Quarterly Essay examining the Albanese government and asks what today's Labor actually stands for. Why has Labor become a graveyard of lost futures, discarding reform policies after political failures? Can Anthony Albanese's vision of 'kindness' translate into material policy? And has Labor's 94-member caucus become toxically obedient, failing to provide the internal opposition necessary for good government? Sean Kelly is a political journalist, author and former adviser to prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. His Quarterly Essay The Good Fight: What Does Labor Stand For? is the landmark 100th essay in the series, published by Black Inc. Dr Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations. Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the University after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times. Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We'd love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au . This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Fighting the good fight? is an episode from Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny by The Australian National University.

This episode is 59:21 long.

This episode was published on Nov 26, 2025.

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