Very interesting especially the First Buddhist society of NSW.
The major objective appears to be using Buddhism as the ammunition against Christianity.
The president did not like meditation and she thought Buddhist monks were parasites!
Well, it appears the Australians has come a long way since.
Brings back memories of Rick Field’s “How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America.”
Quite a mish-mash of viewpoints, not to mention the curious musical background snipits (Eastern and Western) used in the podcast.
At one point the background soundtrack (beginning at 18’ 55” and going on behind the voice for about 30”) features Pali chanting which, from having heard many youtube sessions of his talks, I suspect might be the voice of V. Sujato, clearly chanting the opening of the Karaniya Metta Sutta. The surround material is also dealing with representatives of Theravada in Australia.
Another interesting aspects of these interviews is noting (to the ear of an American English speaker) what seem to be various different shades of Australian accents to the English language.