Politics with Michelle Grattan

Mick Tsikas/AAP As the election starter’s gun is about to be fired, Tuesday’s budget announced modest income tax cuts as the government’s latest cost-of-living measure. The Coalition has opposed the tax relief, with Peter Dutton’s Thursday budget reply to put forward his policy counters on the cost of living. Meanwhile, the domestic economic debate is being conducted as President Donald Trump prep...

Mick Tsikas/AAP The Greens have heaped a lot of pressure on the government during this term, from issues of the environment, housing, and Medicare, to the war in the Middle East. With the polls close to a dead heat and minority government appearing a real possibility, would the Greens push a minority Labor government even harder in pursuit of their agenda? To talk about the Greens’ policies and pr...

Diego Fedele/AAP On current opinion polls, we are looking at a very close race at the May election. As voting day draws near, Peter Dutton will face more forensic questioning about his policies and how he would run government. At the same time, he’s fending off Labor’s attempt to define him as Trumpian. The opposition leader joined the podcast to discuss what a Dutton government would look like an...

A group of independents give a press conference at Parliament House Canberra. Mick Tsikas/AAP The 2022 election catapulted a new movement into Australian federal politics, with the election of six “teals”. The teals are part of a broader wave of “community independents” who are challenging the major parties, especially the Liberals and appealing to voters who want politics done differently. As the...

Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA The Trump presidency is turning much of the world order on its head. Tne United States president is arm-twisting Ukraine, playing nice with Russia, and using protection as an economic and political weapon. The Australian government is pessimistic about escaping American tariffs on aluminium and steel when a decision is announced next week. Meanwhile, the message from the US is cl...

Mick Tsikas/AAP We see the political parties’ frantic election campaigns, but behind the scenes the Australian Electoral Commisison is working just as hard. An often overlooked part of Australia’s democracy, the AEC is vital in ensuring our elections are both efficient and fair, a task full of challenges. We’re joined today by Tom Rogers, recently retired as Electoral Commissioner. As commissioner...

Lukas Coch/AAP Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are strangling the builder industry just when it needs to be stepping up. The productivity Commission, the government’s independent think tank, has a new report report pointing to ways go...

Diego Fedele/AAP With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but it also claims a Coalition government would be better place to deal with Donald Trump. Joining us on this podcast, Nationals leader David Littleproud says if L...

Lukas Coch/AAP As Australia gears up for the election, the incoming government’ Labor or Coalition, will face global challenges, geo-political and economic, especially with Donald Trump starting to impose tariffs on selected countries including China, To discuss where Australia is placed to meet new circumstances we’re joined by two experts. John Blaxland is Director of the ANU North America Liais...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dumped – for the second time – the government’s controversial “Nature Positive” legislation, which had run into strong opposition from the Western Australian Labor government. Albanese, speaking on The Conversation’s Politics podcast ahead of a fortnight parliamentary sitting starting next week, said there was not enough support for the legislation, which had be...

Lukas Coch, Mick Tsikas/AAP Appropriately, we finish our podcast for 2024 talking to Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his shadow, Angus Taylor because, as the saying goes, “it’s the economy, stupid!” This week’s mid-year budget update showed Australia’s economy in poor shape and the buget’s trajectory mired in a decade of red. Chalmers acknowledges the problems, but looks for positives: yes there are pr...

Mick Tsikas/AAP The attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne and another car torching in Sydney have dramatically heightened political tensions over antisemitism. Amid criticism the government has been too slow to act in the past year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this week announced an Australian Federal Police taskforce to combat antisemitism, visited the Melbourne synagogue (though...

Lukas Coch/AAP Opposition Senate leader and former senior minister in the Coalition government Simon Birmingham has announced he will quit parliament . Birmingham, one of the few remaining moderates in the Liberals’ ranks, is shadow foreign minister. Now , aged 50, he’s defecting to a (yet to be announced) commercial job. He joins the podcast to talk about the highs and lows of his time in politic...

STEVEN MARKHAM Steven Markham/AAP The just-ended COP-29 in Baku, and the election of Donald Trump, have put the global response to climate change in the spotlight. Meanwhile back home, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen this week reported Australia is on track to meet its 2030 target to reduce emissions as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. But the government won’t say whether it will reveal it...

Mick Tsikas/AAP The government says it will take “big money” out of election campaigns – or, more realistically, curb it – with its legislation imposing donation and spending caps and real-time disclosure. But crossbenchers and other critics are up in arms, about the effect on small players and the fact the package is being rushed through parliament in a fortnight. On this podcast we are talking w...

Mick Tsikas/AAP The government has embarked on a raft of new online safety measures aimed at protecting Australians from the excesses of misinformation and social harm online. However, these policies have been met with backlash. Experts criticise the plan to enforce an age limit of 16 on social media access. Both the federal opposition and several crossbenchers have come out against Labor’s misinf...

Lukas Coch/AAP Trust in politicians is at an all-time low, not only in Australia but across the world. Now more than ever, people are demanding a higher standard for our elected officials. The row over flight upgrades and the Qantas lounge has reinforced distrust. So has the strong criticism of the head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Paul Brereton, in his conduct over referrals from t...

John Locher/AP Days from the US presidential election, the polls are showing the outcome of the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remains a nail biter. With the United States our closest ally, the result could have potential implications for Australia in areas such as climate change policy, defence and the economy. If there is a Trump victory, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also ha...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Australian Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen greet Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group Innes Willox and Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Sally McManus. 2022 Lukas Coch/AAP Industrial relations will be hotly contested at next year’s election. Labor has introduced a raft of new worker protections and pushed for wage increases...

David Clark/AAP Queenslanders vote on October 26 when, according to the polls, the almost decade-long Labor government is expected to be defeated. Last year, in a bid to improve its chances, Labor dumped long-time premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in favour of Steven Miles. Miles has handed out or promised extensive and expensive cost-of-living support, including $1000 rebates on electricity bills, 50...

original Dean Lewins/AAP “Productivity” might sound a nerdy word to many, but improving it is vital for a more affluent life for Australians in coming years. At the moment it is languishing. Investigating ways in which our national productivity can be improved is at the heart of the work of the Productivity Commission, headed by Danielle Wood. Wood is an economist and former CEO of the Grattan Ins...

David Crosling/AAP Governments around the world are battling to regulate big tech companies. As the world becomes more interconnected, people are increasingly aware of the vast, often negative, influence these companies play in our lives. More generally, many corporations extend their power over their employees to their non-work lives. Josh Bornstein is a lawyer specialising in employment and labo...

Joel Carrett/AAP For many Australians, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a fading memory as the world has moved away from lockdowns and masks. However, its lasting impacts, including persistent inflation, remain. Academic economists Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden, in their just-published book, Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism , examine how Australia fared in handling the COVID crisis in its...

Mick Tsikas/AAP The government has found many of its key measures stuck in a legislative quagmire, with both Greens and Coalition playing hardball with Labor’s plans. This week the government’s housing legislation has stalled in the Senate. The Greens are pitching for radically expanded initiatives such as scrapping negative gearing and support for controlling rent rises. Greens leader Adam Bandt...

Lukas Coch/AAP The Albanese government has announced it will ban children from accessing social media. This follows work by the South Australian government, which commissioned a report on implementing a ban. That report was done by Robert French, the former High Court Chief Justice and current chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Though it was prepared as a basis for SA legislation,...