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Today, journalist Nicole Hasham, with her piece from a recent edition of The Monthly .  On top of a hill in a remote Aboriginal community, hours from Alice Springs, is an unmissable sight: a 20 metre high, steel Christian cross. It’s a monument that was a decade in the making, cost 2 million dollars to build, and has attracted the interest of Hollywood star Mel Gibson. But despite the grandiosity,...

After his father’s death, a young Rupert inherits a small newspaper in 1950s Adelaide. There, he teams up with the paper’s editor to save a man sentenced to hang. When the paper is threatened, a ruthless streak emerges in the boy publisher. He brings down the man he saw as a father figure.  In the present day, Paddy finds an unpublished manuscript that sheds new light on how Rupert’s relationship...

As images of the Gaza ground invasion continue to dominate the news, many Australians are distressed and grieving. Divides in the community are also reflected among our politicians – with splits emerging not just between the major parties, but within them. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper , Paul Bongiorno, on how bipartisanship has been lost over conflict in the Middle East and the fault li...

Ian Parmeter was Australia’s ambassador to Lebanon when Hezbollah was fighting Israel in the late 1990s. And although there are parallels between what he saw then and what is happening today in Gaza, the situation is very different. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and prevent it from ever launching another attack like the one on October 7 – but is that even po...

As Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden toasted each other last week, one of the most significant deals in Australian history hung in the background. The AUKUS submarine deal isn’t just one of the biggest spends our government has ever made, it also promises to transform Australia’s military relationship with the United States. Today, spokesperson on Defence for the Australian Greens, Senator David Shoe...

Over the weekend, Israel said it was entering the ‘second stage of war’ with Hamas. Israel destroyed phone and internet capabilities in Gaza, while a large number of Israeli troops crossed the border. The civilian death toll is mounting daily.  Meanwhile, a majority of countries at the UN General Assembly voted in support of a humanitarian truce.  So, why did Australia abstain from the vote?  Toda...

For three years, China and Australia had virtually frozen their diplomatic ties – our largest trading partner and regional superpower was not picking up the phone. But there’s been a rapid turnaround in the relationship. Ahead of a visit this week by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, we’ve seen the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei and the scrapping of trade tariffs. So, what will Albanese...

Rupert Murdoch is the media’s most powerful man. His newspapers and TV networks can topple leaders, change policies and throw into doubt the outcome of entire elections. In this six-part series from Schwartz Media, investigative journalist Paddy Manning charts Rupert Murdoch’s rise from a small newspaper in Adelaide to his reign as the last global media mogul. Find out what drives Rupert Murdoch a...

This week, Anthony Albanese was given the highest honour a guest of the US president can receive, a state dinner – attended by powerbrokers from Washington and Hollywood. But while the PM was riding high in the US, back home his government is polling at its lowest levels since their election. So, is it all downhill from here? Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno, on why Labor is...

Calls are growing louder for a ceasefire, or at least a “humanitarian truce”, in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israeli troops are still on standby at the border, and the Netanyahu government seems committed to pushing into Gaza. But though several hostages have been freed, hundreds are still held by Hamas – can Israel invade without putting their lives at risk? Today, world editor of The...

Independent MP Zali Steggall has used her time in parliament to advocate for stronger climate targets, and criticised both Labor and Coalition governments for not acting fast enough.  Now she’s calling for an urgent change to our climate targets in Australia, to raise them and to include every sector in the economy. Today, Member for Warringah Zali Steggall on what climate action she wants to see...

In Australia, if you’re on welfare your payment can be suspended by a for-profit, private company – even if you’ve done nothing wrong. With tens of thousands of jobseekerspeople being affected by suspensions every week, anti-poverty experts are urging the government to act, warning thatit’s putting already vulnerable people are already at risk and are urging the government to act. Today, senior re...

Thomas Mayo, one of the most prominent “Yes” campaigners for the referendum, is still reeling from its defeat.  But after observing a week of silence, along with other Indigenous leaders, he’s had time to reflect on the campaign’s loss and on his own regrets. So, does he think Australia is better or worse off for having had the vote? And does he want another referendum?  Today, author and contribu...

For many Australians, facing the reality of this country is a task that has proved enduringly difficult, both at a public and a political level. For investigative journalist David Marr, finding the right way to tell the stories that allow us to see the truth of our history is a personal quest and one that has led to his latest book. This week, Michael talks with David about shame – both personal a...

After the Voice to Parliament was rejected, attention turned to Canberra this week to ask what’s next. But for those who held out any hope our politicians had a plan prepared to address Indigenous disadvantage, they were sorely mistaken. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper, Daniel James, on whether there’s a path to treaty and what the debate will now look like in a new chapter of Indigenous a...

Australia’s record on climate action places us well behind other countries.  But, at a global summit in New York last month, you’d be forgiven for thinking Australia was a climate leader, after being praised for partnering with a small pacific nation facing the worst consequences of climate change. So, how do our climate representatives manage to sell Australia as an environmental leader, while op...

The US Supreme Court has become extraordinarily politicised.  Judge appointments are watched like a spectator sport and decisions like the overturning of Roe v Wade blur the lines between the judicial and the political.  There’s a growing concern that a movement against the High Court of Australia is borrowing tactics from the United States.  Today, lawyer and author of Courting Power Isabelle Rei...

The international community could soon bear witness to the ground invasion of Gaza, one of the most densely populated residential areas in the world. That is how Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel appears to have decided to retaliate after the recent attack by Hamas. It marked the greatest loss of life in a single day in Israel’s history. Since then, Israel has laid a “complete siege” on Ga...

The “No” campaign’s victory was anything but assured 12 months ago. It’s victory came from the elevation of key spokespeople and talking points, cooked up by a group most Australians have never heard of: the CIS. Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on the secretive groups that crafted negative messaging and elevated key leaders in the successful “No” campaign.   Soc...

Australians have resoundingly voted against the Voice to Parliament referendum in every state. First Nations Australians won’t be recognised in the constitution, and they won’t have a Voice.  It means the Uluru Statement from the Heart has been rejected and the path of Voice, Treaty, Truth is over.  Today, contributor to The Monthly and The Saturday Paper , Daniel James, on what this result says a...

Tomorrow, Australia will vote on the future of reconciliation. It’s a binary question, but we’re being asked to consider the country’s relationship with the First Australians and how we want to conduct political discourse. The final episode in this series looks at the two different Australias we are choosing between, with someone who has spent her life in the struggle for reconciliation and unders...

There was a time when conservatives could have supported the Voice, by backing a proposal brought by Indigenous Australians at the request of then prime minister Tony Abbott.  Instead, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, after months of equivocation, decided to reject the Voice with all the gusto we’ve come to expect from the man who walked out on the national apology. So how did it come to this? What...

The “Yes” campaign set out to accomplish a rare feat in Australian politics: to win a majority of Australians and a majority of states. That is, to win a referendum. It began as a difficult task and has only become more gruelling as bipartisanship was lost and the polls turned. But this is a grassroots campaign, with tens of thousands of volunteers attempting to reach Australians with face-to-face...

Over the course of the referendum’s official campaign, the case against the Voice has been dominated by the conservative “No” campaign, led by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine.  But what is the “progressive No” case – the advocates of which are predominantly First Nations people. The Blak Sovereign movement against the Voice isn’t officially campaigning for its demi...

On October 14, we will be asked a question to which we must answer yes or no. While the question itself is simple, the issues in and around the debate over the proposed alteration to the nation's founding document are anything but simple. To understand how we got here and why we are voting on a Voice to Parliament, it’s important to understand what happened to ATSIC, the last consultative body for...