The Westminster Tradition

In our last episode on Mad Cow Disease, we take our final lessons from the public servicing of this massive health, agricultural and economic crisis. With the benefit of hindsight, we weigh the significant market interventions and public perception against actual transmission data. 
In this episode:
What decision making looks like under radical uncertainty, where its government's job to keep things running.
The massive supply chain repercussions of the beef ban, and how much  expertise policymakers actually need when making interventions.
Whether the public has a realistic understanding of what governments can achieve in a crisis and whether governments can still have an honest conversation about trade offs for the public good.
Why sensing the public mood is not “political”, but a critical source of information about whether policy is working or failing.
Whether more information and transparency actually build confidence in a democratised media environment, including social media and large language models.
Where actual transmission ended up, and how it compares with other risk calculations and personal mitigations. 
What all of this means for modern public servants operating in systems where uncertainty is the norm, not the exception.
Insiders, Chris Bowen - Energy Minister (22/3/2026)https://iview.abc.net.au/show/insiders?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared
The Rest Is History podcast - Revolution In Iran | Fall of the Shah (Part 1) https://therestishistory.com/episodes/fall-of-the-shah-part-1
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Talebhttps://www.penguin.com.au/books/fooled-by-randomness-9780141031484
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected].

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 

'Til next time!

It’s March 1996 and the UK Government announces that mad cow disease has been linked to human cases. Within days beef consumption falls by half, public confidence is non-existent, and ministers begin meeting in chaotic quasi-cabinet groups sometimes twice a day.
In this episode we discuss:
How to brief best in the chaos of things changing by the hour 
Whether policy should change when the risk hasn't changed, but risk perception has. 
The policy process where decisions are not weighed but whittled down by what’s acceptable to industry and public 
Why what seemed like an extreme policy response on Monday suddenly felt inadequate by Thursday
Whether scenario planning is useful when public sentiment in unpredictable and irrational
Why in a crisis it is better to stop complaining about constantly changing decisions and simply focus on being useful
How the EU's hardline and indefinite export ban politically wedged the UK
The difficulty of restoring public confidence when there is no clear wrongdoing to find and fix, and the crisis is largely the product of uncertainty
The realities of how much the contemporary populace can realistically sustain engagement with multiple complex risks at once
New Species of Trouble by Kai Erikson
https://www.amazon.com.au/New-Species-Trouble-Experience-Disasters/dp/0393313190 
Any Ordinary Day - Leigh Sales 
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/any-ordinary-day-9781760893637
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected].

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music.

'Til next time!

Few people come to policy officer positions with specific policy training. They might be teachers, lawyers, front-line workers or subject-matter experts. Who teaches us how to do policy work, and what policy actually is? Enter Salli Cohen’s brilliant new book, 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer.'
In this episode we catch up with Salli about:
Her one-word definition of policy.
What it takes to be a genuinely good policy officer, beyond technical competence.
The difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed. 
Why curiosity, empathy and humility are not ‘soft’ skills but core capabilities.
The importance of an orientation to serving the community.
Keeping your antennae up to context, politics and implementation realities.
The importance of letting people say their bit. 
Speaking up when things are going pear-shaped.
Salli’s hopes for the next generation of policy professionals.
Purchase Salli's book 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer' officer here: https://www.thepolicyroom.com/product/Rollercoaster  
Next week we return with Part 3 of our Mad Cow Disease series. 
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected].

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 

'Til next time!

Part 2 of 4 on Mad Cow Disease: In this episode,  the cracks in enforcement are showing, panic is slowly boiling, and the science is catching up. 
What we cover: 
The panic spike when BSE appears in domestic cats
The danger of stopping at the legislation, without interrogating whether industry is complying and how you would know.
The reassurance cycle – shock, anxiety, reassurance, repeat, and whether the Government could or should have said more.   
The political landscape of EU export pressure, an era of deregulation, and expensive subsidies
From variable, localised enforcement to a centralised Meat Hygiene Service. 
Where we end up by late 1995 – no human cases yet, but the MHS has a horrifying revelation that undermines trust in the controls.  

This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected].

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 

'Til next time!

We kick off a new series on 'Mad Cow Disease', or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), and what it teaches us about governing when the science is uncertain, the consequences are enormous, but the risks are very remote.
Why BSE became a lasting symbol of government failure and secrecy, even though major inquiries later found decisions were largely science led.  
Where to draw the line for regulatory settings with big market consequences. 
Who really decides when portfolios collide, and who pays. 
Why Pedigree pet food had a surprising influence on the risk ‘appetite’
Whether there is the authorising environment to act beyond the scientific advice.
Spoiler alert: “over reacting” and “under reacting” are not opposites, they overlap. 
The brilliant podcast, ‘The Cows are Mad’ by BBC.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rrhy/episodes/player
The West Wing: Season 3, episode 9 (featuring Mad Cow disease).
https://youtu.be/ouBr3F2qWMI?si=uecMkFaQFnMGVvyL&t=220

This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected].

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 

'Til next time!