Health authorities report the death toll in Gaza has reached 40 thousand. Meanwhile a deal to bring home the remaining Israeli hostages remains elusive.Peace talks continue in hopes of securing a ceasefire and averting an escalation of the crisis in the wake of the assassination of Hamas’s political leader. So what is the outlook for the Middle East? This week on The Discussion I talk with former Australian Foreign Minister, Bob Carr.

Blood products designed to save lives in the 1970s and 80s did the very opposite. They were contaminated with HIV and hepatitis. It left over 30,000 people infected. An enquiry in the U.K. has recommended a large-scale compensation scheme, but will it deliver justice to victims? And what lessons can be learned to ensure it never happens again?In this episode of The Discussion I talk with Mark Ward, a lead-advocate for victims of Infected Blood products.

Children are suffering in conflicts across the globe.Globally, over 43 million children have been forced to flee their homes. Wars in places like Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and Haiti - just to name a few - are having a devastating impact on young lives.So how safe is the world for children? What’s being done to help those in need? And is there a political will to prevent the suffering?In this episode of The Discussion I talk with Tony Stuart who leads global relief agency UNICEF in Australia.

More than a decade of abuse scandals have rocked the Catholic Church, and shifting social values have alienated its flock.In the west, Catholicism is in decline. Just 17.5-percent of Americans identify as Catholic. In Australia young people are abandoning the church.So why are people seemingly losing faith? Is it all bad news, or does the church have a future? And might a reforming Pope Francis turn the ship around?In this episode of The Discussion I talk with Paul Collins. He is a former priest, broadcaster and Catholic scholar whose books include “Absolute Power - How the Pope Became the Most Influential Man in the World”.

The Holy Land is at war this Christmas. Israel and Hamas are engaged in a bitter battle. As is so often the case, civilians are caught in the cross-fire.So is peace possible in the Middle East? Might the road to peace run through Belfast.In this edition of The Discussion I talk with Eddie Jackson,  a policy maker who was part of the peace process that ended the bloody feud between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.

Global hunger has reached unprecedented levels. A combination of war and climate change is having a devastating impact on the food security of over 22-million children across the globe.Can hunger and famine be beaten?World Vision is the World Food Programme’s largest food distribution partner. In this episode on The Discussion I talk with the Australian CEO, Daniel Wordsworth.

In the last 50 years, China has lifted more people out of poverty than anywhere else in human history. Chinese society has been transformed, and so too has the economy. Indeed, it’s now second only to the United States with a GDP of almost 18-trillion US-dollars. The sleeping dragon has awoken, but how will that shape the future? I speak with international affairs analyst, Dr. Keith Suter.

The end of the cold war promised a golden-age of peace and human rights, but the reality has been quite different. From the brutal war in Ukraine, to authoritarian governments cracking down on citizens. I ask international jurist Michael Kirby if human rights are under threat.

Is social media compatible with democracy? Across the western world democracies are riddled with division, much of it blamed on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.Signing off from his late-night talk show, James Corden lamented: “I've watched divisions grow, and I've seen and felt a sense of negativity grow, and at points boil over.”So what’s caused this negativity, why the polarisation and can democracies sustain it?In this episode I speak with retired British politican Alistair Burt.

The Voice is a proposal to give Australian first nations people a constitutionally enshrined right to be heard by government.It's provoked heated debate: Is the Voice needed? Will it undermine democracy? Will it  improve life for Aboriginal Australians.Journalist and producer Jason Kerr speaks to Rev. Bill Crews, a long-time advocate for Aboriginal Australians.

Can the World's economy keep growing, regardless of the impact on natural resources and the environment?Is long-term economic growth sustainable? Do the wealthy  benefit most from it? Can capitalism survive the 21st century without reform?In this podcast I speak with international economist and former Australian politician, Prof. John Hewson.

Last year the Worldwide aid budget topped 179-billion US-dollars. It was an all time high, but is it delivering for the World’s poor? Most of the poorest people on the planet live in subsaharan Africa, yet poverty remains entrenched. Indeed, over a trillion dollars in aid has been provided to Africa over the last 60 years, and critics say it hasn't worked. In this podcast I ask international aid veteran Tim Costello if the foreign aid model is broken.