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“We made a mistake” are tough words for any politician, but in the heat of an election campaign, they can really hurt. In a spectacular reversal, Peter Dutton has walked back his policy to sack 41,000  public servants, saying he’ll now wait for people to quit and will no longer force those who remain back into the office. Dutton’s backtracking doesn’t just raise...

It looked like a scene from a very different period of history: US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, standing in front of a prison pen filled with gaunt, shirtless men, their heads shaved, staring silently at the cameras.  The footage is from El Salvador, where the US government had whisked away over 200 Venezuelan migrants to be held in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (...

Colm Tóibín is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest authors — and for good reason. With a career spanning 30 years and 11 award-winning novels under his belt, Colm is beloved both at home and abroad. In his latest book,  Long Island , Tóibín returns to familiar territory with a sequel to 2009’s best-selling  Brooklyn . On this episode of&nbs...

It’s only been a week, but the election campaign is already off script.  Trump’s tariffs have landed like a grenade in the middle of the campaign, with the announcement of a 10 per cent tax on all Australian goods bound for the US providing a real world test for both leaders.  While Dutton’s plan to tackle tariffs lacks detail, he’s clear on one thing: he’d...

Barry Berih has lived in the same Melbourne flat for most of his life. He has mild cerebral palsy and is cared for by his mother. He has all the medical support he needs, along with his mosque nearby and his Eritrean community surrounding him. But one afternoon, without warning, Barry watched the then Victorian premier, Dan Andrews, announce on TV that the iconic public housing towers in the city...

Australian defence officials are preparing to choose whether to buy warships from Germany or Japan. It’s an $11 billion decision – and is about far more than ship design and cost. Given Japan describes Australia as its most important security partner after the United States, our decision will send a signal about whether the relationship is reciprocated. These considerations have been s...

Today in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump will unveil his next round of tariffs – an event he’s calling “Liberation Day”. Trump’s first round of tariffs are already causing damage, and there’s more pain to come, as the president enacts what looks like a radical plan to reshape the entire global financial system. Today, managing editor of The Saturday...

As the federal election campaign kicked off over the weekend, chief political analyst at the Australia Institute Amy Remeikis was paying close attention.  While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a crackdown on supermarket price gouging and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton focused on cost-of-living measures, Remeikis noticed there were some big issues that neither leader wanted to confro...

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...