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At the G7 summit in Canada, Anthony Albanese had prepared carefully for a meeting with Donald Trump – even reaching out to Trump’s golfing buddy, Greg Norman. But just before they were due to meet, the US president walked out of the summit and flew home to address the conflict between Israel and Iran. In some quarters, the snub has been portrayed as a personal slight against Albanese....

Medicine in Australia could soon become more expensive and harder to come by. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – the safety net that keeps our prescriptions cheap – has been drawn into Donald Trump’s trade war, after the US president signed an order saying the United States should not pay more for medicines than its peer countries. Drug companies have now paused new PBS listing...

Abortion was fully decriminalised across Australia in 2023, meaning people can end a pregnancy without fear of prosecution. But that hasn’t stopped abortion being weaponised against women in the courtroom. Writer and producer Madison Griffiths, who has spent a decade covering reproductive rights, was shocked to learn that abortion records were surfacing in custody battles in the family court...

On Friday, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, sending roughly 200 fighter jets to hit more than a hundred sites across Iran – including parts of its nuclear program. Israel says the attack was “pre-emptive”, meant to address an immediate and inevitable threat on Iran’s part to construct a nuclear bomb. As attacks from both countries continue, scheduled talks between Ira...

A quiet transformation is underway at Australian universities. Behind closed doors, powerful consulting firms are helping to reshape higher education; cutting courses, centralising power, and outsourcing staff.  One firm in particular, Nous Group, is now embedded in some of the country’s most prestigious institutions. At the Australian National University, its role in a $250 million res...

On the surface, Kaliane Bradley’s debut is a time-travel novel — it’s speculative fiction meets romance and espionage. But underneath? It's a sharp, satirical exploration of institutional control — of what happens when government red tape meets the impossible. On this episode of Read This, Michael sits down for a conversation with Kaliane Bradley to discuss her bestselling...

As Anthony Albanese heads to the G7 summit, the future of Australia’s most important defence pact is suddenly uncertain.  The Trump administration is reviewing AUKUS, pushing for more military spending, and condemning Australia’s new sanctions on Israeli ministers – all signs of a once stable alliance under pressure.  Today, press gallery journalist and columnist for In...

Elon Musk and Donald Trump were once political partners – sharing praise, power and ice-cream parties. Now the pair have been trading insults on their own social media networks. In what started with Musk’s opposition to the president’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”, that proposes extensive tax cuts, the feud has sparked threats that could ground NASA missions and blo...

US President Donald Trump’s agenda of mass deportations has reached a tipping point. After ICE raids in Los Angeles sparked street riots, the president dispatched the National Guard and active duty Marines to confront protestors, while threatening to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom if he stands in the way. Today, senior political correspondent for  Time magazine, Eric Cortelless...

When Anthony Albanese first became prime minister, he began dismantling the Home Affairs super-ministry, which had been overseen by Peter Dutton. Labor had long opposed a model which saw such significant power contained within one portfolio – and removed ASIO and the AFP from Home Affairs. Now, in a spectacular reversal, and without explanation, Albanese is making Home Affairs even more powe...

At the recent election, a generational shift became undeniable.  Nearly half of all voters were Millennials or Gen Z – and their votes helped deliver Labor its biggest lower house majority ever, returned a sizable crossbench, and left the Coalition reeling.  But despite their decisive influence, young voters are still waiting for answers – especially on one issue they’v...

Torrey Peters’ debut novel,  Detransition, Baby , was an instant sensation. Longlisted for the Women’s Prize in the UK and named one of the New York Times’ best books of the 21st century so far, the book catapulted Torrey into the limelight. Her second and latest book,  Stag Dance , is a collection of four stories that are brutal, funny, and brilliant. On this episode o...

Donald Trump’s return to power is testing Australia’s decades-old reflex to stand with the United States. When the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, demanded Canberra nearly double its military spend, Anthony Albanese answered that Australia will decide its own defence policy – and has been vocal in his criticisms of Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium. With public sup...

Greg Bourne, former BP Australasia president, once worked alongside Australia’s biggest LNG venture: Woodside’s North West Shelf. Now a councillor at the Climate Council, he warns extending the project will unleash billions of tonnes of emissions and threaten tens of thousands of ancient rock carvings, while delivering a “pittance” in economic benefit to Australia. Yet Bour...

Labor is poised to move forward with its plan to increase the tax on superannuation balances over $3 million. Critics are calling the idea unfair and questioning why Labor’s super tax will apply to unrealised gains, rather than just money made. But with Labor’s super majority in parliament – and support from the Greens in the senate – their opponents can only complain. Toda...

As the search to explain the Coalition’s disastrous election results continues, there’s one group being singled out inside Liberal campaign headquarters: the right-wing lobby, Advance. Flush with a multi-million dollar war chest, Advance promised to “take back” the country – yet Labor won 17 new seats and the Greens vote barely moved. As Advance and the Liberals blame...

For anyone doubting her ability to rehabilitate the Coalition after its thumping May 3 loss, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has a message: people have questioned her capability and drive before. Ley says she’s proven them all wrong – as a roustabout picking up fleeces in 40-degree heat or piloting aeroplanes low over western Queensland to muster cattle when no one thought she could. Now,...

Kevin Wilson writes weird books about weird people — in the best possible way. In 2019’s  Nothing to See Here , two children have a condition that means they spontaneously combust. In  Now Is Not the Time to Panic , two lonely young artists wreak havoc on their small town, prompting fears of Satanism. This week on  Read This , Michael sits down with Kevin to discuss how...

After a week of turmoil, the Coalition has patched things up and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has unveiled her new shadow ministry. The appointments show the Coalition’s wounds are still raw. Nationals Leader David Littleproud secured key concessions in the renewed pact, but his hardball tactics have colleagues wondering how long he’ll last. Meanwhile, Labor is wrestling with its own d...

Philip Low’s brain-mapping breakthrough made him a billionaire. Now a blistering Facebook post has thrust the neuroscientist into a new fight – with his old friend, Elon Musk. Low called Musk a “narcissist with an obsessive lust for power” in a post shared nearly 50,000 times before it mysteriously vanished. Now Low is claiming X and other social media platforms are silenci...

Until late last year, the United States had a US$10 million bounty on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. A former leader of the al-Nusra Front and al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Sharaa was once an enemy of America. Now Syria’s transitional leader, al-Sharaa has just met US President Donald Trump, who called him “an attractive young guy” with “a strong past” and pledged to lift s...

Tony Abbott was on a layover in Dubai when he phoned Natasha Griggs – the president of the Country Liberal Party – and set off a chain reaction inside the Coalition. Hours later, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defected to the Liberals and a surprise leadership ticket was taking shape. For moderates, it was another sign that the former prime minister and his confidante, Peta Credlin,...

Australia has a new environment minister – and he has a big job ahead of him: fixing the country’s broken environment laws. Murray Watt has replaced Tanya Plibersek, whose efforts at reform were famously thwarted by the prime minister. But before Watt can begin that task, he faces another critical decision: whether to let Woodside Energy extend its North West Shelf gas project to 2070...

London-based Australian author Jessica Stanley’s second novel,  Consider Yourself Kissed , opens with all the beats of a classic romantic comedy – a meet-cute, a grand gesture, instant attraction – but what follows is a book about the next bit, the day to day reality of just living. But Jessica writes it with grace and wit and compassion, finding the romance in what comes ne...

Yesterday we were saying “rest in peace” to the Coalition – but today there are signs it could be reborn. The Liberal and National parties are back at the negotiating table to see if they can repair their broken bond. How Sussan Ley handles this moment will say a lot about the future of the Liberal Party  under her leadership. It’s a choice between a strained partnersh...