u/Bennelong

Please do not post questions in this thread. Save them for Wednesday night,

Other upcoming AMAs and Video Podcasts:

• Senator Tammy Tyrrell - Australian Labor Party (TAS) - 6:00 pm AEST Monday 17/08/2026 (Video Podcast)
• Senator David Pocock – Independent (ACT) – 12:00 pm AEST Wednesday 26/08/2026 (Video Podcast)
• Dr Monique Ryan MP – Independent, Kooyong (VIC) - 6:00 pm AEST Monday 31/08/2026
• Professor Peter Greste – University Lecturer (Media) and Journalist – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Sean Bell – One Nation (NSW) – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Bill Shorten - Vice-Chancellor, University of Canberra – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Maria Kovacic – Liberal Party (NSW) - TBA (Video Podcast)
• Sarah Martin – Senior Political Reporter, The Guardian – TBA (Video Podcast)
• David Littleproud MP – National Party, Maranoa (QLD) – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Fatima Payman – Australia’s Voice (WA) – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Jacqui Lambie – Jacqui Lambie Network (TAS) – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Barbara Pocock – Australian Greens (SA) – TBA (Video Podcast)
• Senator Leah Blyth – Liberal Party (SA) – TBA (Video Podcast)

This week's episode is an interview with Dr Brian Walker, a Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia for the Legalise Cannabis Party. The questions are sourced from yesterday's AMA with Dr Walker. Clips from the interview have been uploaded as video answers to some of the questions in the AMA.

The following clips are included in the video podcast, and are also available as short clips of 2-3 minutes on YouTube. Click on the Chapter Title to view them.

If you like the video(s), please subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Chapters

• Medicinal Cannabis Driving Laws
• Political Matters Important to the Party
• Medicinal Cannabis for Veterans
• Is Parliament Question Time a Farce?
• Regulation of Cannabis
• Big Corporations and the Medicinal Cannabis Industry
• Personal Views on Politics
• Voting Preferences in Western Australian Elections
• Shortcomings of the Current Political System
• Favourite Music, Movie, TV Shows and Restaurant
• Role Models and Lessons Learnt From Them

There will be a rally against these laws outside Queensland Parliament House at 12:00 - 2:00 pm on Tuesday 25th August.

This is the full video podcast that we recorded using questions from our community members in the AMA thread conducted yesterday. Tom gives his opinions about the various political parties and journalism in Australia, as well as spilling a few secrets about Canberra.

We have uploaded eleven short clips from this podcast into the AMA thread from yesterday, as video answers. You can view them in yesterday's AMA.

If you find this podcast informative, please subscribe to our community's YouTube channel so you don't miss any future AMA Video Podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/@AustraliaAsksOz

This is the full video podcast that we recorded using questions from our community members in the AMA thread today.

If you find this podcast informative, please subscribe to our community's YouTube channel so you don't miss any future AMA Video Podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/@AustraliaAsksOz

Our subreddit started 3 years ago. Yesterday, we received our 200,000th subscriber. Thank you everybody who has taken part over the years. We look forward to the community continuing to grow, and to providing you with a place to have your say.

Our video podcast this week is an interview with Allegra Spender MP and Zali Steggall MP, using questions from the AMA on Tuesday afternoon. If you find this video informative, please subscribe to the Australia Asks YouTube channel so you don't miss future AMA Video Podcasts and special features: https://www.youtube.com/@AustraliaAsksOz

We have also uploaded 9 short video clips from the podcast as answers to some of the questions in the AMA. Please check them out.

It is currently illegal in Queensland to drive with any detectable trace of THC in your system, even with a legal prescription and regardless of whether you are impaired. A petition to the Queensland Parliament (Petition 4561-26) demands law reform. Only Queensland residents can sign. Please share on social media and with family and friends after signing.

This is the full video podcast that we recorded using questions from our community members in the AMA thread yesterday.

If you find this podcast informative, please subscribe to our community's YouTube channel so you don't miss any future AMA Video Podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/@AustraliaAsksOz

This is an AMA with a bit of a difference. The questions won't be answered in the thread. Questions will be used in a video podcast to be recorded on Saturday morning, and answered personally by David.

You can still ask your questions now, but we ask that you be patient until we post the video podcast on Saturday. The thread will be locked on Friday afternoon.

Because all questions have to be approved manually by the mod team, it may take up to an hour for your question to show in the queue. Again, please be patient. 

AMAs are a way for you to communicate with members of parliament. Even if they don’t have time to answer your question, they read every one of them. This lets them know the issues that are important to you. 

Because they are high profile leaders, they are sometimes subject to abuse from small-minded people. We, as moderators, take steps to ensure that there is no abuse in AMAs. 

Every question is automatically queued and has to be manually approved. Anything that is abusive or not in good faith is removed, and the person that posted it is banned. This takes about ten seconds, so is not really an inconvenience to anybody except you. Nobody ever sees your comment.

Usual sub rules apply. Trolling will result in a one day ban for the duration of the AMA.

Only the guest may reply to questions. Any other replies or comments will be removed.

David Ettershank Biography

David Ettershank, is a Member of the Legislative Council in Victoria for Western Metropolitan District with Legalise Cannabis Victoria.

He was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 2022. His political mission is to legalise, de-stigmatise, and reform cannabis laws across Victoria. As a long-term recreational and therapeutic cannabis user living with a chronic auto-immune condition, he knows first-hand how out-of-date our current legal framework is.

Recently, his office has focused on substituting arrests with smart policy. This includes introducing the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Medical Treatment) Bill 2026 to stop discrimination against medicinal cannabis patients, alongside campaigning to turn Victoria Police's cannabis cautioning policy into formal law.

Before entering politics, he spent 20 years in the labour movement as an industrial officer and co-founded Outcomes Plus, a consulting practice that supports not-for-profit aged care providers.

His role isn’t just about cannabis. He actively campaigns for the community in Melbourne's West. He has spoken out heavily against local pollution hazards like the Sunbury waste incinerator, unmitigated data centre expansions, and the broader housing and public transport crises facing working-class Victorians.

He recently announced he is stepping down at the next election to pave the way for generational change. Before he goes, he wants to answer your questions on what it takes to break the major-party duopoly, how we can secure sensible drug laws, or anything regarding local community activism.