Episodes

Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
156 - History of a bigger parliament
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Ben was joined by Frank Bongiorno and Chris Monnox to discuss the history of Australia's federal parliament being expanded, in 1949 and 1984. We discuss the motivations for these changes, the positions taken by the parties and why it happened when it did. We also discuss efforts to break the 'nexus' which links the size of the House to the size of the Senate.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 (plus GST) or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Thursday Sep 11, 2025
155 - Queensland's state redistribution
Thursday Sep 11, 2025
Thursday Sep 11, 2025
Ben was joined by Matt Dennien from the Brisbane Times to discuss the Queensland state redistribution, specifically the first round of submissions. The conversation focuses on the Labor and LNP submissions, and also run through some of the other public submissions.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 (plus GST) or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
154 - Tasmania votes for another hung parliament
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham and Chris Monnox to discuss the results of the Tasmanian state election and prospects for the formation of a new government.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
153 - Tasmania's election landscape
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to discuss the latest Tasmanian state polls and go through Tasmania's five electorates one by one, discussing the race and possible winners in each division.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
152 - Who will fill the Lambie vacuum?
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Ben was joined by Tasmanian political observer Mike Lester to look at the state of the campaign and the announcement of candidates for the Tasmanian state election. We particularly look into the Tasmanian Nationals and the shadow-boxing around who takes the blame for the calling of the election and who has the best prospect of forming a majority government.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Monday Jun 16, 2025
151 - Tasmania goes back to the polls
Monday Jun 16, 2025
Monday Jun 16, 2025
Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham to discuss the collapse of the Tasmanian government just 15 months after the last election, and to look at some of the early moves for independents to find a new party home.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Monday Jun 02, 2025
150 - Bradfield was a draw, for a moment there
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
For this podcast Ben interviews two scrutineers about their experience in the recounts: Adelaide, a Liberal scrutineer from Bradfield, and KJ, an independent scrutineer from Goldstein. Ben also discusses the recount procedures he saw in Bradfield last week and the latest count updates from Monday afternoon.
- Ben's blog post about visiting the Bradfield recount
- The podcast features the song 'It's a Draw' by Nick Craft.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Monday May 12, 2025
149 - The most complex count ever?
Monday May 12, 2025
Monday May 12, 2025
Ben was joined by Kevin Bonham to run through the close seats and the Senate race that have dragged out, one week after the election.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Sunday May 04, 2025
148 - A record-breaking election
Sunday May 04, 2025
Sunday May 04, 2025
Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to discuss the results of yesterday's Australian federal election, which produced Labor's best result since 1943. We talk about the close seats, how multi-party politics is transforming local electorate contests and what is likely to happen in the Senate.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

Wednesday Apr 30, 2025
147 - What might a hung parliament look like?
Wednesday Apr 30, 2025
Wednesday Apr 30, 2025
Ben is joined by Peter Brent and the ABC's Tom Crowley for the final pre-election episode of the 2025 federal election campaign. We discuss how a hung parliament might play out and the experience of riding Peter Dutton's campaign bus. For our seat of the week we discuss the NSW seat of Werriwa.
This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon for $8 or more per month. And $8 donors can now join the Tally Room Discord server.

