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In recent weeks, Australian researchers began receiving a questionnaire. Sent by the US government, it asked things like “can you confirm that this is no DEI?” and “Can you confirm this is not a climate or environmental justice project?” The questions were seeking to determine whether Australian research, co-funded by the United States, was complying with Donald Trump&rsquo...

Tanzanian-born, London-based author Abdulrazak Gurnah was midway through writing his latest novel, Theft , when he received a call letting him know he’d won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. After more than a year of events and literary obligations, he finally returned to Theft , with more enthusiasm than ever. On this episode of Read This , Michael sits down with Abdulrazak to discuss hi...

In his press conference announcing the May 3 federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians have a choice, warning Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will cut “your job, your wages, your child’s education and… your Medicare”.  In response,  Dutton asked voters to consider if they are better off now than they were before Labor came to power. In thi...

While Peter Dutton’s electorate braced for Cyclone Alfred, the opposition leader flew to Sydney to attend a $25,000 dollar-a-head dinner at Justin Hemmes’ Vaucluse mansion. It was a choice that’s been pilloried in the media – and the government. But as Labor sets about to raise money in similar ways, it raises questions about who has the ear of our leaders – and what...

Traditionally, the idea of bail meant that someone accused of a crime had the right to be free until their trial. But over nearly fifty years, that has shifted dramatically, with bail now used as a tool for crime prevention. Jurisdictions across Australia are adopting more punitive bail laws – with Victoria just passing what it calls “the toughest laws in the country”. The govern...

Jim Chalmers has handed down the Labor government’s election budget. Front and centre was a surprise tax cut for all Australians, along with many of the measures we’ve been promised, including a boost to Medicare, energy bill relief, housing support and student debt reductions.  As the government makes its pitch for re-election, gross public debt is forecast to hit $1 trillion nex...

The ceasefire in Gaza collapsed a week ago as Israel launched a series of airstrikes. Since then, more than 600 people have been killed, including children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Israel says the attacks were aimed at Hamas’s surviving leadership – and just a few days ago, Hamas confirmed its top political leader is dead. As the war reignites, Israel’s Prime M...

When footage of a CFMEU “health inspector” assaulting a woman was made public last week, it shocked a lot of people. But many union members weren’t surprised. It’s been six months since the CFMEU, one of Australia’s most powerful unions, was put under federal administration. But now, the lawyer tasked with investigating corruption within the union is openly saying not...

Tasmanian writer Robert Dessaix is a man of many talents when it comes to the written form – from travel memoir and fiction to biography and philosophy, he’s done it all. He became a household name for many listeners to ABC Radio following a long stint hosting the beloved show Books and Writing . Now, at 81, Robert is back with a new memoir. This week, Michael is joined by Robert for a...

Kos Samaras spends hundreds of hours listening to what voters really think. In focus groups and in surveys, his research and political strategy firm, RedBridge Group, gathers the opinions of everyday Australians to paint a picture of the national mood: What is worrying us? What do we think of the prime minister’s mansion, or the opposition leader’s share portfolio? Which politicians ca...

Over the past month, a flotilla of Chinese military ships came close to Australian shores unannounced. They conducted live-fire drills off the coast of Eden, New South Wales – disrupting dozens of flights out of Sydney airport. The Chinese ships have arrived at a time when Australia’s ability to rely on the United States for defence is questionable, and their presence has sparked conce...

Are Catholic priests employed by the Church, or by the hand of God? This question was at the heart of a five-year legal battle between a survivor of child sexual abuse seeking compensation from the Catholic Church and Bishop Paul Bird of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. The High Court’s decision last November – that the Catholic Church does not employ priests and therefore is not liab...

In December last year, a group of crossbenchers dialled into a secret call with the Albanese government. It was to get a briefing on a government-commissioned report on the national security risks posed by climate change – a report the government has been sitting on since early 2023. Described by one senator as “frankly terrifying”, the Climate Risk Assessment report has not been...

The discovery of an abandoned caravan full of explosives on the outskirts of Sydney earlier this year triggered widespread panic and fear.  There were reports of a list of Jewish targets – and right away, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it terrorism. In the months that followed, discourse concerning the caravan became increasingly politicised, with Pet...

Acolytes of Elon Musk, working in the Department of Government Efficiency, are currently gutting the US government, with Musk claiming he’ll find savings of up to US$2 trillion. Department by department, DOGE staff – mostly young men from the tech world – are sacking federal employees and gaining access to some of the government’s most sensitive information. Vittoria Elliot...

Donald Trump’s full-throated support of Elon Musk continues, despite more and more people questioning why an unelected billionaire is exerting enormous power over the future of the American government. While Musk claims to be bringing his business expertise to cutting government waste, his true motives are becoming clearer. WIRED reporter Vittoria Elliott has discovered Musk’s actions...

Novelist Sonia Orchard was in her 40s when a revelation during a therapy session turned her life upside down. Could the relationship she’d had in her teens with a man more than a decade older in fact be abuse? In her new memoir,  Groomed , Sonia investigates her own story, sharing her gruelling journey through the justice system, and shines a light on the failures – social, struct...

Australia’s Chinese community proved to be a powerful voting bloc in the last election.  And as the time draws near to vote again, a growing number of politicians have realised that appealing to the country’s 1.5 million Chinese Australians is key to electoral success.  But as journalist Wing Kuang has found, the major parties’ attempts to court Chinese voters are provi...

Donald Trump’s trade war is escalating, as his wide-ranging tariffs take effect.  Australia had hoped to avoid a 25 per cent tariff on our steel and aluminium – but we now know there’ll be no exemptions. As Canada and the EU retaliate with counter-tariffs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is focused on stemming the damage, by arguing other large industries – that would...

When Launceston nurse and midwife Amanda Duncan appeared at a Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry into ambulance ramping last year, her testimony was macabre and shocking.  Duncan claimed hospital management at Launceston General Hospital had altered death certificates – meaning deaths that should have been investigated were quietly recertified. Those revelations triggered a public inquiry,...

As Trump’s radical reshaping of the US pulls into focus, so too has the list of those who have gained entry to his inner circle.  That list includes not only Australia’s richest person – but also Australia’s largest private arms supplier.  Robert Nioa isn’t yet a household name, but the weapons mogul is a close confidante to Peter Dutton, married to a Katter...

Most Australians have been targeted by a scam attempt, from spam text messages to intricate love fraud. The scams have cost us billions. But behind these attacks is a highly organised and secretive industry – fuelled by human trafficking.  It’s believed hundreds of thousands of people are being held against their will in so-called “scam factories” across South East Asi...

Julie Bishop built her career as a politician representing Australia on the world stage.  Now, she’s taken on a new lobbying role, working for a China-linked resources company who are attempting to mine uranium in Greenland.  Bishop’s gig comes at a time when China and the US are ramping up their fight for domination in the Arctic – and if she’s successful, the be...

In Andrea Goldsmith’s ninth and latest novel,  The Buried Life , she unpicks the relationships between people and the undercurrents of doubt and faith that define a life. But more than anything else this is a book that is first and foremost concerned with death. It’s a subject that has long fascinated Andrea, something she discusses deeply with host Michael Williams on this episod...

Cyclone Alfred hits as we gear up for the federal election, bringing back memories of the floods and bushfires that tore through the country last time we voted. How Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton handle this moment could be crucial, as voters refocus on the increasing impact of climate change and closely scrutinise the plans both parties have to address it.  Today, national correspondent f...