What makes Australia’s Constitution so effective, and why do so few people understand it? In this interview, Ian Callinan and Mark Fowler unpack the origins of our legal system, the role of philosophy in shaping law, and the importance of keeping power accountable.

They also tackle modern challenges: the push for a Human Rights Act, the rise of postmodern thinking, and the growing tension between individual “truths” and objective justice. The result is a powerful discussion on the future of law, freedom, and society.

Mark Fowler is an Adjunct Associate Professor at his alma mater, the University of New England School of Law, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Law, Sydney. He is an Appeals Panel member for the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) involved in international development and humanitarian action. He is the author of Beauty and The Law.
The Honourable Ian Callinan was appointed as a Justice of the High Court in February 1998. He remained a Justice of the High Court until 1 September 2007. He has mediated and arbitrated in an extensive range of commercial, energy, revenue, mining, construction, regulatory, IT and other disputes throughout Australia and overseas.

Aidan Morrison and Derek Bush join John for a frank conversation about Australia's cumbersome renewable energy transition, and the real costs being borne by the communities expected to host it. They make the case that rural Australians are being overrun by a policy conceived in cities and imposed on regional areas, exposing the considerable gap between the government's 2030 targets and what the national grid can realistically deliver.
This is a timely warning that Australia's energy policy is being driven by political ambition rather than engineering reality, and that the consequences will be felt by every Australian as power bills continue to rise.
Aidan Morrison is a leading researcher into Energy Systems and currently the Director of Energy Research at the Centre for Independent Studies. In 2023 he exposed how the famous CSIRO report “GenCost” excluded vast costs required to integrate and firm renewables by treating them as “sunk” costs. In 2024 he was amongst the strongest voices calling for nuclear energy in Australia and was a leading critic of the ‘Integrated System Plan’ (or ISP): Australia’s blue-print for a transition to an energy system dominated by wind and solar.
Derek Bush is a farmer from Bookham in southwest New South Wales, where his family has worked the land for many years, growing flowers and other produce. He has become an outspoken advocate for rural communities navigating the impacts of wind farm development and Australia's energy transition.

Former Japanese Ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami joins John for a frank conversation about the bilateral relationship between Japan and Australia. Yamagami makes the case that this relationship is essential to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region, especially in light of an assertive and expansionist China.

The discussion calls for a refusal to cower beneath China’s authoritarian demands, while warning that Australia may not be adequately prepared for a potential conflict over Taiwan. Yamagami argues that internal political and economic pressures within China could create a dangerous window for them to take more aggressive action in the Indo-Pacific. This is a sobering reminder that Australia must renew its commitment to its allies and remain vigilant in protecting its sovereign capabilities.

Shingo Yamagami is a Japanese diplomat who served as the Ambassador to Australia from December 2020 to April 2023. Yamagami worked in Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for four decades, also serving in Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Geneva and London. He is now the special advisor to the Japanese corporate law firm TMI Associates, and is the Senior Fellow of Sasakawa Peace Foundation.