For more than thirty years, the Bathurst Branch of the Labor Party has been holding an annual dinner in honour of Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley called the Light On The Hill Address. This dinner has previously seen guest speakers like Paul Keating, Wayne Swan, Gough Whitlam, Julia Gillard, and Anthony Albanese. The 2019 guest speaker was Jim Chalmers. Jim entered Parliament as the member for Rankine in 2013 and is the current Shadow Treasurer of Australia.

As part of the International Labor Conference, we have an amazing interview with Harriet Harman, elected as Labour MP for Peckham in the United Kingdom in 1982, and is UK politics’ most prominent champion for women’s rights, introducing the National Childcare Strategy and the Equality Act, changing the law on domestic violence and increasing female representation.

One of the highlights of the 2017 NSW Labor Annual Conference was the Life Members Address by Graham Richardson. A veteran of the Party machine, the Senate, and the Cabinet, Graham used this address to pay homage to the personalities and events that shaped his half-century of involvement.

Former Speechwriter for many leaders, Graham talks about how he got his start and how politics has changed over the half century he has been writing speeches for State and Federal leaders.

Bob Carr was reluctant to serve as Opposition Leader when approached in 1988. And yet he went on to be NSW's longest-serving Premier, before achieving his childhood dream of becoming a Labor Foreign Minister in the Gillard Government.Former Premier Bob Carr sits down with Assistant Secretary Pat Garcia to talk about his life in politics.

Susan Ryan AO was the first female Senator from the ACT, the first female minister in a Labor Government, and the first Age Discrimination Commissioner. Serving in portfolios including Education, the Status of Women, and Special Minister of State, Susan was a key advocate in the Hawke Cabinet for major bills that furthered gender equality. Most notably, the Sex Discrimination Act (1984) and the later Affirmative Action Act (1986) grew out of a private members' bill drafted by Senator Ryan.Later, Susan was appointed by the Rudd Government as the first Age Discrimination Commissioner, where she fought for workplace rights for ageing workers. Under Tony Abbott's Liberal Government, she served concurrently as Disability Discrimination Commissioner as well.This interview covers the life of a great champion for human rights.

The foundation of good government is good policy. But how does a Labor Government pick the right issues to fight on in order to deliver results and win elections?Michael Cooney was appointed Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre in 2014. Prior to that, he was Speechwriter to Julia Gillard, Policy Director at the progressive think tank Per Capita, and Principal Policy Advisor to Kim Beazley and Mark Latham.

The present housing market reflects a dangerous public policy failure where a worthwhile national aspiration – the so-called ‘Australian dream’ of owning your own home – has combined with generous tax concessions, poor government planning and a lack of investment imagination to pose a serious threat to our ‘fair go’ economy and society.Misha Zelinsky is an author, lawyer, and economist. He currently serves as the Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union and as a director of Cbus Super Fund.

With: President of the Council of Trade Unions, Ged Kearney. Secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Morey. RTBU Secretary, Alex Classens. Australian Services union, Natalie Lang. Member of the NSW Legislative Council, John Graham.

NSW General Secretary Kaila Murnain speaks with Chris Bowen MP.