Commuters, drivers and Western Sydney students were among the state budget's winners... but what about the losers? Producer Rebecca Cushway dives deep on where the money is flowing. 

On a related note, UNSW has just announced plans to expand their presence in Parramatta by building a new campus. Over ten years the University will invest over $65 million in a multi faculty campus that can accommodate up to 350 students daily. Pro Vice-Chancellor of Precincts at UNSW Professor Zoe Terpening joins the show for a chat. 

You also may or not be aware of the job cuts happening across regional newsrooms right now. According to Ette Media there have been 336 across Australian media just in the last month. Producer Tarni Cruickshank chats to a freshly graduated journalism student.

Meanwhile, the FIFA World Cup has kicked off - a huge point of praise has been the diversity of Australia’s team, the Socceroos, with over 15 different cultural backgrounds in a 26-man team. At the same time, One Nation, a party that aims to “cut immigration by over 570,000 people from current Labor levels” and “withdraw from the UN Refugee convention”, has opened up a primary vote lead over Labor.P roducer Anagha Abhi asks writer, lawyer and anti-racism activist Mariam Veiszadeh why multiculturalism feels uncontroversial in Australian sport but controversial in public policy.

And with AI becoming an inescapable part of modern life, Sydney-based artist Tim Gregory joins the show to weigh in on whether AI belongs in public art. 

This episode was produced by Sana Shaikh, Anagha Abhi, Birdie Rinaldi and Tarni Cruickshank.

Executive produced by Bec Cushway. 

Hosted by Bec Cushway and Nyaboth Chuol. 

Aired 27 June 2026 on Gadigal land. 

 

 

Commuters, drivers and Western Sydney students were among the state budget's winners... but what about the losers? Producer Rebecca Cushway dives deep on where the money is flowing.&nbsp;
On a related note, UNSW has just announced plans to expand their presence in Parramatta by building a new campus. Over ten years the University will invest over $65 million in a multi faculty campus that can accommodate up to 350 students daily. Pro Vice-Chancellor of Precincts at UNSW Professor Zoe Terpening joins the show for a chat.&nbsp;
You also may or not be aware of the job cuts happening across regional newsrooms right now. According to Ette Media there have been 336 across Australian media just in the last month. Producer Tarni Cruickshank chats to a freshly graduated journalism student.
Meanwhile, the FIFA World Cup has kicked off - a huge point of praise has been the diversity of Australia&rsquo;s team, the Socceroos, with over 15 different cultural backgrounds in a 26-man team. At the same time, One Nation, a party that aims to &ldquo;cut immigration by over 570,000 people from current Labor levels&rdquo; and &ldquo;withdraw from the UN Refugee convention&rdquo;, has opened up a primary vote lead over Labor.P roducer Anagha Abhi asks writer, lawyer and anti-racism activist Mariam Veiszadeh why multiculturalism feels uncontroversial in Australian sport but controversial in public policy.
And with AI becoming an inescapable part of modern life, Sydney-based artist Tim Gregory joins the show to weigh in on whether AI belongs in public art.&nbsp;
This episode was produced by Sana Shaikh, Anagha Abhi, Birdie Rinaldi and Tarni Cruickshank.
Executive produced by Bec Cushway.&nbsp;
Hosted by Bec Cushway and Nyaboth Chuol.&nbsp;
Aired 27 June 2026 on Gadigal land.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Your alternative to talkback. Backchat is a weekly show of news, politics, interviews, discussion, satire, and feature reporting.

Hosted by Dani Zhang and Tanita Razaghi. Executive produced by Rebecca Cushway, with producers Dani Zhang, Holly Payne, Tanita Razaghi, Libby Hopper, Sana Shaikh, Lilly Grainger, Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis, Euan Kielly, Elisa Papaioannou, Grace Pittar, Jaspar McCahon-Boersma and Bridgette Donnellan. 

Got an idea for a story? Email us: backchat@fbiradio.com We're also on Instagram @backchatfbiradio and X @BackchatFBi.

Your alternative to talkback.&nbsp;Backchat is a weekly show of news, politics, interviews, discussion, satire, and feature reporting.
Hosted by Dani Zhang and Tanita Razaghi. Executive produced by Rebecca Cushway, with producers Dani Zhang, Holly Payne, Tanita Razaghi, Libby Hopper, Sana Shaikh, Lilly Grainger, Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis, Euan Kielly, Elisa Papaioannou, Grace Pittar, Jaspar McCahon-Boersma and Bridgette Donnellan.&nbsp;
Got an idea for a story? Email us: backchat@fbiradio.com We're also on Instagram @backchatfbiradio and X @BackchatFBi.

Backchat

Your alternative to talkback. Backchat is a weekly show of news, politics, interviews, discussion, satire, and feature reporting from Sydney's best young news journalists.

Hosted by Holly Payne and Tanita Razaghi. Executive produced by Rebecca Cushway, with producers Sana Shaikh, Libby Hopper, and Nic Huntington. 

Got an idea for a story? - backchat@fbiradio.com. We're also on X (Twitter) and Instagram - @BackchatFBi

Your alternative to talkback. Backchat is a weekly show of news, politics, interviews, discussion, satire, and feature reporting from Sydney's best young news journalists.
Hosted by Holly Payne and Tanita Razaghi. Executive produced by Rebecca Cushway, with producers Sana Shaikh, Libby Hopper, and Nic Huntington. 
Got an idea for a story? - <a href="mailto:eamonn@fbiradio.com">backchat@fbiradio.com</a>. We're also on X (Twitter) and Instagram - @BackchatFBi