Pilot episode: why are we doing this? 2025 Australian election and what it means for democracy

Janaline, Yassine, Luke and Glenn ask why countries bother with multilateralism and the United Nations, particularly when the big powers don’t seem to care and there is no enforcement of international law. The bottom line is that it is actually in countries’ interests to cooperate and international law doesn’t just constrain them but also their partners and international rivals. And the biggest losers from a big country’s withdrawal from multilateral processes are actually the people of that country… Here is a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `[email protected]`. We'd love to hear from you. Find out more about us and how you can support us at ⁠https://whycanttheyjust.com.au/, which includes a link to our Patreon site where you can sign up for exclusive content. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music: "Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc.

Janaline, Yassine and Glenn ask why Australians lose more to gambling than any other nationality in the world and what can be done to stop gambling harm. Turns out a lot can be done, so they then ask why the Government isn’t doing it. Here is a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `[email protected]`. We'd love to hear from you. Find out more about us and how you can support us at ⁠https://whycanttheyjust.com.au/, which includes a link to our Patreon site where you can sign up for exclusive content. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music: "Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc.

Janaline, Luke and Glenn ask why Australian Prime Ministers spend so much time with very tiny island countries, and why Australian governments spend so much development aid in the region. Short answer - geography matters. We make the case for development assistance as an investment in global stability and for delivering it in a way that is less colonial and more collaborative (eg ask people what they need). Also Pacific island governments are full of smart people with a clear idea of their national interest and a clear ability to pursue it. Focusing on US-China rivalry totally misses this point. Here is a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `[email protected]`. We'd love to hear from you. Find out more about us and how you can support us at ⁠https://whycanttheyjust.com.au/, which includes a link to our Patreon site where you can sign up for exclusive content. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music: "Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc.

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the history of international climate negotiations and ask why has it all been so hard? Maybe we are asking for the wrong thing - instead of asking countries to give something up (fossil fuel use), what if we asked them to build something new instead, in the form of decarbonised heavy industry supply chains? Something less vulnerable to other people’s wars… Here's a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `[email protected]`. We'd love to hear from you. Find out more about us and how you can support us at ⁠⁠⁠, which includes a link to our Patreon site where you can sign up for exclusive content. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music: "Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc

Janaline, Luke and Glenn look at the Safeguard Mechanism - the government's main policy to manage down industrial emissions - and how it can be made more effective. How can it make miners and fossil fuel companies do more of the heavy lifting, and shouldn't the whole thing just be scrapped for an economy-wide price on carbon? Maybe a focus on methane will help? This episode carries a nerd alert, but we hope you will bear with us because it genuinely is so important. Here is a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at `[email protected]`. We'd love to hear from you. Find out more about us and how you can support us at ⁠https://whycanttheyjust.com.au/, which includes a link to our Patreon site where you can sign up for exclusive content. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music: "Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc.