Motive & Method

In the second part of our conversation with former High Court Justice Michael Kirby, he takes us beyond Australia’s courtrooms and into some of the biggest challenges facing the world.
From his work investigating human rights abuses in North Korea to fighting the stigma surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He also explains why AI must never replace human judgement, why Australia needs a national charter of human rights, and why he believes world leaders need to recognise just how precious and fragile our planet is.
Justice Kirby shares the profound influence of his partner, Johan Van Vloten, and the love and support that’s shaped his life and career. When asked to preserve just one piece of writing from his extraordinary career, Kirby’s answer is surprisingly simple: a one-page message about love.
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Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG is one of Australia’s most influential legal minds. During his 13 years on the High Court he stood at the centre of some of the nation’s most significant human rights battles.
In the first part of this very special interview with Tim & Xanthe, Justice Kirby shares how his family, schooling and experience as a gay man shaped his understanding of justice, equality and human rights.
He reflects on his involvement in several major Australian wrongful conviction cases - Kathleen Folbigg case and Andrew Mallard - and explains why Australia desperately needs an independent criminal case review.
Known as the Great Dissenter, Justice Kirby’s career was defined by his willingness to stand alone. This is a remarkable conversation about challenging authority, standing by your convictions and recognising that even the highest courts can get things wrong.
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A hostile former top cop, stonewalled families and an explosive revelation about Ivan Milat’s crimes.
In this series finale for 2026, Xanthe and Tim sit down with NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham fresh off the fiery climax of the parliamentary inquiry into unsolved homicides and missing persons.
Buckingham pulls no punches as he addresses heated clashes with a former NSW Police Assistant Commissioner who dismissed the hearings. The conversation dives into the inquiry’s most shocking revelation: Police linked a 1962 shooting of a taxi driver to serial killer Ivan Milat - yet never charged him.
Buckingham also takes aim at systemic double standards in missing persons searches highlighted by recent cases like Yvonne Weir. He also confronts the inquiry’s glaring omission: the painful lack of First Nations family testimony and the lasting trauma of the Bowraville murders.
Looking ahead to next year's interim report, Buckingham explains why this fight is far from over and his push to reinstate legal powers to compel key witnesses, top brass, and convicted killers to answer under oath.
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It started with a case of mistaken identity - and led to a global search for answers.
When media outlets falsely reported that a Married at First Sight producer had vanished near Bondi, reality TV commentator Josh Fox planned to make a quick awareness post.
Instead, he wound up unravelling a baffling real-life mystery surrounding the actual missing woman, Katie Walker. The trail plunged Josh into a chilling web of shady spiritual retreats, reports of a terrifying encounter with a stalker from Dubai and confusing witness statements and evidence.
Now, he is pushing back against official theories of suicide in the search for answers for Katie’s family.
Josh sat down with Tim and Xanthe to record this episode after meeting at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases in New South Wales between 1965 and 2010.
Listen to the podcast ‘Where is Katie Walker’ here
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Could dark secrets at a games arcade in 1980’s Cronulla hold the key to solving this cold case?

This episode, journalist Kate Kachor joins Tim and Xanthe to discuss her investigation into the 1980 disappearances of Sydney teenagers Elaine Johnson and Kerry Ann Joel.
Kate’s podcast Out From the Cold: Searching For Elaine, has unearthed vital new leads, including a mysterious white car sighting and harrowing witness testimony regarding a sinister local arcade.
She exposes major flaws in the original police investigation, including mismanaged and allegedly lost missing person files. Plus why two friends who vanished on the very same day were treated as separate investigations.

Despite 46 years having passed, she believes a growing groundswell of public awareness and new witness accounts could finally bring long-overdue answers to the grieving families.
Listen to the podcast Out From the Cold: Searching For Elaine.
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