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Just a week after taking charge in the wake of the Liberals’ disastrous election result, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley now finds herself without a coalition partner. Nationals leader David Littleproud says he walked from the agreement after the Liberals refused to lock in a list of policy commitments, while Ley accused the Nationals of holding the agreement “hostage”. The split is...

Thousands of children from South Korea have been adopted by Australian families over decades. In many cases, these children were raised to believe they were orphans – and their adoptive families believed they were doing something loving and selfless by giving them a home. But a much more sinister truth has been laid bare: South Korea’s own Truth and Reconciliation Commission exposed ho...

Two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his plans to step up his country’s attacks on Gaza, with “extensive ground operations”. Israeli officials have described the strategy as “conquering” and occupying the strip. That plan is now underway, with ground operations in the north and in the south. In the past week, hundreds of Palestinians have...

Larissa Waters is the new leader of the Australian Greens. She steps in as the party reels from its election wipe-out, losing three of its four seats in the House of Representatives – including that of Adam Bandt. Senator Waters’ task is to repair the Greens’ image: Labor has painted the party as obstructive and militant, and that perception has cost the Greens votes. Today, nati...

Josephine Rowe’s writing has been described by the  New York Times  as “gorgeous” and “precise”. This is particularly evident in her latest novel,  Little World ; a slender book that offers a deeper, denser exploration of ideas than its modest page count might suggest. This week on Read This, Michael sits down with Josephine to discuss the genesis of&nb...

When Labor insiders are asked who was responsible for their thumping election victory, one name keeps coming up: Paul Erickson. Even though Erickon likes to keep a low profile, Anthony Albanese made a point of thanking him in his victory speech on election night. So, who is Paul Erickson? And what is next for the quiet force behind Labor’s landslide win? Today, special correspondent for The...

Three years ago this month, Sussan Ley stood beside Peter Dutton as his deputy, the newly installed pair projecting confidence about the contest ahead. Ley backed Dutton enthusiastically. But now, in 2025, she faces the public as the Coalition’s new leader after voters rejected the Dutton-Ley project and handed the Liberals its worst defeat on record. The task before Ley is threefold: unite...

When Anthony Albanese’s new ministry was sworn in this week, it was overshadowed by the axing of Ed Husic and Mark Dreyfus. Husic in particular didn’t go quietly, calling Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles a “factional assassin”. After a landslide victory – with 93 seats and counting –  the prime minister could choose from a significant talent pool to ass...

Today, the Liberal Party will elect a new leader. Whoever is chosen will have to figure out how to attract women back to the party – both candidates and voters.  But Julia Banks thinks that ship has sailed and it’s time for a new coalition. Today, the former Liberal MP on what it’s like to be a woman in the party – and why she’ll never go back.   If you enjo...

Just before 4.30pm last Wednesday, Antony Green called it for the ABC: Greens leader Adam Bandt had lost his seat. Fifteen years after Bandt won the inner-urban seat of Melbourne from the ALP, Labor has taken it back – along with two of the Greens’ other three seats – leaving the party with just a single MP in the House of Representatives and without a leader. The wipeout came as...

In addition to being an established novelist, James Bradley is also a journalist and writer of non-fiction, much of it concerned with the natural world and the myriad threats it faces. Set in the near future, in a world that is in the grips of climate catastrophe, his latest novel,  Landfall , is a crime thriller at its heart. On this episode of Read This, Michael and James discuss what it me...

A week ago, most pundits were predicting a hung parliament as the likely outcome of Australia’s federal election. Instead, Labor has secured one of its largest majorities in recent decades – eclipsing even Bob Hawke’s first-term result. Anthony Albanese now commands near-unquestioned authority within his party. But as the celebrations subside, questions are already emerging about...

In 1999, Ali Jafari fled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and was resettled as a refugee in Australia. But then, while visiting Pakistan, his permanent residency was suddenly cancelled. Now, 12 years later, he’s still stranded – separated from his family and fighting ASIO’s allegations that he is a people smuggler. In court, Jafari’s family and legal team are up against it...

In January, Katie Tangey was killed in a Melbourne house fire believed to be part of the ongoing “tobacco wars”. Police say she was an innocent victim and the arsonists got the wrong address. The tobacco wars are driven by rival gangs fighting over a black market worth billions, and have been marked by firebombings, extortion and murder. While headlines focus on the violence, skyrocket...

As Peter Dutton conceded his 24-year hold on the Brisbane seat of Dickson, he said the Liberal Party will “rebuild”. The party’s soul-searching has begun, as it looks to select a new leader and consider its future direction. But a return to the Liberal Party’s traditional values is complicated by Peter Dutton having led the party further to the right and the election having...

Karen Middleton has known Anthony Albanese for more than 30 years – since before he entered parliament. She’s watched his rise, and documented the moments that have shaped the leader he is today. And Karen says this election is going to change Anthony Albanese, in ways that will change the country too. Today author of Albanese: Telling it Straight Karen Middleton, on why Anthony Albane...

The mood inside Labor HQ was jubilant as it became clear that against all expectations, Anthony Albanese had led the Labor party to victory, with a significantly increased majority. For the coalition the outcome is devastating, and Peter Dutton is out of a job. On top of that, the next generation of Liberal leadership has been wiped off the electoral map, setting the party back for years to come....

It’s election day! While Anthony Albanese’s campaign has been modest and predictable, Peter Dutton’s has been marked by missteps and backflips. It seems the traits that powered Dutton’s rise are now holding him back. Today, columnist and former adviser to two prime ministers, Sean Kelly, on the decisions that shaped both leaders – and what killed Peter Dutton’s...

Since the election was announced, just five weeks ago, at least five women have been killed by their partners in Australia. Yet this crisis has barely received a mention in either of the two major parties’ campaigns.  Dr Tracy Westerman, a Nyamal woman from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, has worked as a psychologist in remote communities for 25 years. She says where she works,...

There’s one question Grace Tame is asked all the time: when is she going into politics? And her answer is always the same – never. Like many younger Australians, Tame is disillusioned with the two-party system, which she says serves a dwindling minority of morbidly wealthy players rather than the general public. But as Australia heads into an election where Gen Z and Millennials outnum...

Under Peter Dutton’s leadership, the Coalition has placed One Nation candidates second on scores of how-to-vote cards across the country. In return, Pauline Hanson has switched One Nation's how-to-vote cards to preference the Liberals second in seats where the Coalition is under threat. The decision goes against decades of principled condemnation of Hanson and One Nation inside the Liberal P...

If things go the Greens’ way this weekend, the party could hold the balance of power in a minority Labor government. But given the prime minister’s famed antipathy towards the Greens – and the Labor Party’s continual approvals of new coal and gas projects – questions remain about whether they’ll really have any power at all. Today, Greens leader Adam Bandt, on w...

As we head to the polls this weekend, election analyst Ben Raue has been calculating the path to victory for the major parties.  The Coalition needs to pick up 18 seats to win, while if Labor loses four seats, they lose their majority. But as the electorate shifts in all kinds of surprising ways, the path to victory is becoming increasingly complicated for the major parties. Today, analyst at...

The opening scene of Chris Flynn’s fourth and latest novel,  Orpheus Nine , came to him in a dream. Not long after, he had the whole story down from start to finish. On this week’s episode of  Read This , Chris and Michael sit down for a conversation about the falsity of certitude, how trauma can re-shape a community, and what  The Exorcist,  the Bible, and  Wi...

Paul Bongiorno is one of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics who mourned the loss of Pope Francis this week. As he read tribute after tribute of the impact of the Pope’s life, he noticed what wasn’t on the front page – Peter Dutton’s last-minute policy announcements. “The Pope is a world figure… and of course, it swamped the world’s media, including here in A...