Inside Politics

We are officially in week two of budget backlash, and both sides seem pretty dug in. Today we’re talking about the disagreements about the capital gains tax - the most controversial part of the budget - and if, as some critics said, it will kill business aspirations. The other news that sparked our interest was the tantalising prospect of the Teal independents forming a party to consolidate...

We’re officially in our budget backlash era, with claims of death taxes, of aspirations killed, and the outraged cries of crypto bros across the nation. Not to mention, of course, the genuine anxiety from regular small business owners and shareholders who are unsure of how all of these changes will affect them. Our guest this week is former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten, who is n...

The federal budget was pitched as a big moment for a progressive government that wants to equalise wealth and home ownership. And one of the main attacks from the opposition is that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has had to break a promise in order to get there. So will the broken promise line resonate if the changes are broadly supported by the public? Also today,  Inside Politics host Jacq...

The electorate of Farrer is holding a by-election this weekend and we’re expecting the contest will be a good one. The NSW seat, which hugs the border with Victoria, belonged to former opposition leader Sussan Ley for 25 years. Now, it’s a microcosm of the pressures the Coalition is under from independent candidates and One Nation. And as  Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley put...

Inflation figures were out this week, and it wasn’t good news. Next week’s interest rates figures from the Reserve Bank aren't looking crash hot either. So how do these results impact Jim Chalmers’ impending budget and what are the chances the treasurer will press ahead with changes to taxes and housing? We also chat about the government’s new favourite buzzwords from &lsqu...

When the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created in 2013, it was proof that a rich society could find the money to help people living with a disability. This was social democracy at work. Twelve years on, it has turned into a $62 billion behemoth, on track to cost more than the age pension. The Albanese government last week admitted the scheme was at risk of collapse. It announced a root-...

Today, we are talking about one of the federal budget’s trickiest customers - the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Labor was once like a proud parent of the NDIS, but now even the minister in charge, Mark Butler, is describing the scheme as a honeypot for organised crime. Also this week, an inquiry about taxing offshore gas exports went kind of viral due to a David Pocock question about...

A fire at a Geelong oil refinery - one of two refineries left in Australia - has heightened anxiety around fuel supply. Energy Minister Chris Bowen joins the Inside Politics podcast today to address the impact of this fire and the scramble for petrol and diesel imports as the nation grapples with one of the most severe oil shocks in history. The pugilistic minister, a lighting rod in the debate ab...

The new leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, is a former Marxist from the suburbs who was once a Productivity Commission economist and then, a firebrand right-wing senator. Canavan joins  Inside Politics today with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal at a time when the Nationals are battling for survival against an ascendant One Nation. The pair discuss Australia's over-reliance on th...

This week we debate the merits of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s national address before getting stuck into what’s happening with the budget. With the world in a bit of a shambles, we found it interesting that the PM hasn’t totally killed off the idea of reforms in the budget to things such as capital gains tax and negative gearing. But, as our guest and senior economics...

This week , while we were all freaking out about the oil crisis – and rightly so – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited to finalise a trade deal between Australia and the EU. Negotiations for this have been on and off for eight years, so it was not a moment too soon that we signed it. But , as Jacqueline Maley and Paul Sakkal discuss, this wasn't just about delici...

This week we’re talking about the enormous global volatility the government is dealing with, courtesy of the US-Israel war on Iran, and whether we need to be worried about things like our fuel supplies. Also, with this global instability and an interest rate rise this week, will Treasurer Jim Chalmers water down his budget ambitions, or press on with major changes to intergenerational equity...

This week, we talk about the incredible story of the Iranian women's soccer team, some of whom defected and were given asylum in Australia. It was a wonderful story, and a great public relations coup for the government.  Plus, the legacy of outgoing Nationals leader David Littleproud, and we examine the somewhat controversial style of the incoming leader Matt Canavan. Joining host Jacquline M...

Israel and the United States are at war with Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict that Australia seems to be trying to avoid as much as possible. Today, we'll talk about how viable it is to be neutral these days, and whether Australia is doing its duty as a middle power. We'll also discuss the Liberal Party review that Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and others tried to keep it secret, only t...

In this bonus episode of Inside Politics , we’re joined by the Nationals leader David Littleproud. He’s a man under pressure – commentators, Liberal MPs and some of his own colleagues blamed January’s split on the 49-year-old from Chinchilla in regional Queensland. Today, chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and Littleproud discuss the Coalition rupture and what’...

This week we had some not-so-great inflation figures and also reports that there'll be another interest rate rise right before the government hands down its federal budget in May. Newly-minted shadow treasurer Tim Wilson , aka the " energiser bunny ", accused Treasurer Jim Chalmers of pouring fuel on the economic flames, but what is the government saying about the situation? Also in this episode,...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia's ISIS brides - the women trying to return home with their children from Syria - are not getting help from the government, but it seems there is more to the story. Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is senior writer Michael Bachelard, who has followed the story for years, and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: http...

Tony Wright, the associate editor of  The Age , has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are akin to a verbal cartoon, and when done well, capture a moment in politics. Today, we bring you Wright's latest sketch, titled: 'Nation’s worst government? Jane Hume’s hyperbolic historical claim'. Read Wright's columns, and sketches, b...

We're bringing you an extra episode of Inside Politics today because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had an opening in his diary, and he's granted us an audience. His interview comes off the back of a difficult week, with a state visit from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Herzog's visit was welcomed by the victims of the Bondi terror attack and their families, but his presence in Australia also sp...

There’s a bit going on with the Liberal Party this week, but while that unfolds we are going to look at some bigger issues.  Interest rates went up recently, for the first time in two years, and there’s a question as to whether government spending contributed to inflation. So we're testing that today, with host Jacqueline Maley, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright and fede...

Today on  Inside Politics , we welcome back former opposition leader Bill Shorten, who is now the Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra. It's a timely moment to have Shorten on the podcast as he obliquely (very obliquely, we stress) came up in the Epstein files this week. Strangely, in the massive dump of new documents from the files, there is a text message exchange between Steve Ban...

The drama between the Liberals and the Nationals continued this week with what seems to be a total breakdown in the relationship between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud. Meanwhile, Ley's leadership remains in mortal peril, and in a plot twist, Littleproud faces his own leadership challenge next week. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal joins Jacqueline Maley...

Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are akin to a verbal cartoon and, when done well, capture a moment in politics. Today, in a bonus episode of Inside Politics , we bring you Wright's sketch on the disintegration of the Coalition, titled: It’s a mess of Titanic proportions on the Coaliti...

One Nation is having a bit of a moment. Pauline Hanson’s outfit, accused by both major parties of exploiting racial anxiety over her career, has faded into irrelevance at points since she burst onto the scene in the late 1990s. But two new polls have recorded record-high primary votes for One Nation. One of them saw One Nation’s vote rise above the Coalition, which split in spectacular...

We are back with a special episode of  Inside Politics as a few things have happened this week – namely the break-up of the Coalition, a century-old political alliance. Nationals leader David Littleproud announced the split on Thursday morning, blaming Liberal leader Sussan Ley in the process. Federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos joins chief political correspondent Paul...