Episode 79: Morrison’s cost of living crisis can’t wait until budget night, Malinauskas on path to victory in South Australia, Putin’s War and good news about solar powered water

"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into the cost of living crisis that is smashing Australian households with some people going backwards by as much as $1,500 a year. Morrison may be trumpeting low unemployment but more and more Australians are in lower paid, casual work and having to work more than one job just to survive. Australian Unions are achieving better outcomes in workplaces with more union members both for job security and wage increases.

Van shares her own story of going to work in hospitality while extremely sick in London just to make the rent.

With the Victorian government stepping in to offer a sick pay guarantee to casuals to help stop the spread of illness and address the symptoms of insecure work Morrison has chosen to attack the Victorian government and unions.

Albo is promising that Labor will address the insecure work, systemic low wages and rising costs of early education and childcare that are driving the cost of living crisis.

Morrison's solution? Cheaper beer, from taps, in pubs. Not even Andrew Bolt supports the idea. Even the mainstream media seems to have finally had enough of Morrison's opportunist politics.

Peter Malinauskas looks set to topple a one term Liberal government in South Australia this weekend, in what Ben and Van are calling a microcosm of the national mood, the chaotic, ineffective and mismanaging Liberal government looks set to be punished by the public. And Steven Marshall isn't even as unpopular as Scott Morrison!

Putin's War in Ukraine is failing. Van looks at how his autocratic rule of Russia allowed Putin to build a fantasy world where he only hears what he wants to hear. Now Russian forces are stuck in the mud, Putin is running out of money and the world is laughing at his "retaliatory sanctions" against American officials who have no dealings with or in Russia. But, as Ben points out, sanctions can cut two ways with the oil situation in India a development worth watching.

And the good news is that scientists have developed the kind of technology that might allow us to build "moisture farms" like on the Star Wars plant of Tatooine using solar panels and hydrogels!

Plus we thank all of our Cadre and Extend the Reach supporters. To become a supporter check out our www.buymeacoffee.com/weekonwednesday page.