How to Make a Whistleblower
Introducing the Australia Institute’s new 3-part podcast mini-series taking you behind the scenes
The latest Australia Institute water research featured on 60 Minutes on Sunday and our senior water researcher Maryanne Slattery appeared as a panellist on a special water/drought themed episode of Q&A Monday night.
It is clear that whistle-blowers are having a big moment. However, it is worth remembering that when a whistle-blower blows the whistle, the public policy debate is improved, but too often their life is ruined.
That is why we at the Australia Institute are so pleased to have Maryanne Slattery as part of the Australia Institute team.
“I don’t actually call myself a whistleblower…”
— Maryanne Slattery, senior water researcher at the Australia Institute
Maryanne Slattery came to the Australia Institute to take up the role of our senior water researcher and spearhead our water research back in 2017, having blown the whistle on the Murray Darling Basin Authority. She was the director of environmental water policy at the MDBA, and after being part of the bureaucracy for 12 years was alarmed at the maladministration of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
Introducing the Australia Institute’s new 3-part podcast miniseries:
Listen to the trailer and Subscribe Now on your favourite podcast app
If you have ever asked yourself what happens after the whistle blows, then subscribe to How to Make a Whistle-blower: the Australia Institute’s new 3-part podcast, following the journey of how one whistle-blower rebuilds their life and makes a big impact.
We speak to Senators, whistle-blowers, farmers, and communities directly affected by one person’s decision to speak out.
We think this is a unique story and the podcast explores a whistleblower’s life after they receive their first flush of publicity, what is next? Through strategic philanthropy — donors large and small — the Australia Institute has prototyped a new and sustainable model for how whistle-blowers can be supported in making a more long-term public policy impact with their wealth of expertise and knowledge.
Listen to the trailer and Subscribe Now on your favourite podcast app
“In our little ignored corner of the world, Maryanne’s a rockstar to us because she’s representing those of us who have been downtrodden and forgotten and voiceless and powerless. And were it not for her, we would feel as though actually, do we exist? She was really a gift from the gods…”
– Councillor Jane MacAllister, Wentworth Shire Council
[adjacent to the Murray and Darling Rivers]
Listen to the trailer of our new podcast mini-series How to Make a Whistleblower, and subscribe now on your favourite podcasting app.
Ben Oquist
Executive Director
The Australia Institute
