Secretive Australia: A Rational fear LIVE
Australia is the most secretive liberal democracy in the world. We’d love to tell you more about it, but need our lawyer present. In this special edition of A Rational Fear where we’ll rip into Australia’s most closely-guarded secrets. How did ▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ drown? And why can’t you say a ▓▓▓▓ has arrived from ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓?
Join comedians and journalists for this paced comedy panel show that could see everyone involved going to jail without due process.
Damien Cave
Damien Cave has been leading The New York Times’s Australia bureau since 2017. He’s written extensively about everything from climate change and politics to books, theater and bachelor and spinster balls in small towns. His coverage of Australia has also included several analytical pieces assessing where the country stands in comparison to other democracies on issues from gender to secrecy in government. Before coming to Australia, he was an editor in New York and a correspondent in Latin America and the Middle East. He is also the author of a book about Australia called “”Into the Rip: How the Australian Way of Risk Made My Family Stronger, Happier … and Less American.”
Lewis Hobba
Lewis Hobba is a comedian, writer, presenter and host of triple j’s Drive show, Hobba and Hing. He got his start in TV on ABC’s Hungry Beast and has written and directed TV for The Comedy Channel, Network Ten and the ABC. Lewis has appeared on shows such as Spicks and Specks, The Feed, Gruen Transfer and The Chaser’s Media Circus. He also co-hosts the political comedy podcast A Rational Fear with Dan Ilic (Winner Best Comedy Podcast 2020 & 2021 Australian Podcast Awards) which performs live shows around the country from Splendour in the Grass to the Sydney Opera House.
Image: Cole Bennetts
David McBride
Major Dave McBride is a former military officer who served with both the Australian and British Armies, deploying to Northern Ireland and twice to Afghanistan, once with Australian Special Forces, the notorious ‘Task Force 66’. A vocal critic of the ‘Global War against Terror’ and the expansion of ‘Information Operations’ against the Australian public, from both within and outside the Defence, he gave classified documents to the ABCs 730 report which formed the basis of the first major story that suggested large incidents of war crimes were being covered up in Afghanistan (The Afghan Files). After a brief period ‘on the run’ in Spain he was arrested and is facing ‘unlimited’ years in jail, a fact he is proud of in a black humoured way.
Kate McClymont
Kate McClymont is an investigative journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald. She is a nine-time winner of journalism’s most prestigious award, the Walkley, including the Gold Walkley for her coverage of the Bulldogs salary cap rorts. She was named the 2012 NSW Journalist of the year for her investigations into the fraudulent activities of Michael Williamson, the head of the Health Services Union and the business activities of former NSW Labor minister, Eddie Obeid.
Amber Schultz
Amber is an investigative journalist and associate editor at Crikey covering politics, social affairs and gender. She won the 2022 Young Walkley journalist award for her on-the-ground coverage of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, was the 2021 Mumbrella Young Writer of the Year for her coverage of parliamentary reckoning and the 2019 Jacoby-Walkley scholar. She holds Masters’ degrees in Journalism and International Relations.
Dan Ilic
‘Investigative Humourist’ Dan Ilic is one of Australia’s most prolific comedy voices, known for his work across TV, film, radio and stage. He raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to shame the Australian Government’s record on climate action in Times Square, New York City before the Glasgow climate talks in 2021. Co-host of the popular podcast and live comedy show A Rational Fear, Dan Ilic and Lewis Hobba brings together industry leaders to use comedy to explore big issues. A Rational Fear won Best Comedy Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards in 2020 and 2001. He has sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House, entertained with seasons on ABC Radio National, and performed stand-up under rocket fire in Kandahar. As a journalist, Dan broke the news of Heath Ledger’s death to the world and covered the US election for Fairfax Media, was appointed the senior satire producer of Al Jazeera’s youth publisher AJ+ and in 2016 he covered the US election while Executive Producer of Satire for Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group in the USA. He landed back in Australia as the Executive Producer and Showrunner of the daily satirical TV show Tonightly with Tom Ballard (ABC), the AACTA nominated At Home Alone Together (ABC).
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We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country in which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
While we believe in freedom of speech, the views and opinions expressed by the speakers are not necessarily the views of The Ethics Centre and our partners.