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The Labor party has been making promises. The latest is that it hopes to end domestic and family violence within a generation. But ahead of the budget, the leadership of the party are in a tricky position by promising no tax hikes, no excessive borrowing, but fixing funding to services. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on the storm clouds gathering as we go into budget week....

It's been two weeks since millions of Australians learned their data might have been compromised in the Optus hack.  Since then other data breaches have been revealed, and the precarious nature of the way our personal information is often stored is becoming clear.  So what actually happens when someone tries to steal your identity?  Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper , Emma Phillips, on how...

What happens when an organisation founded on radical activism decides to work with, instead of against, authorities?  For Captain Paul Watson that conundrum has led to an acrimonious split from the organisation that he started, Sea Shepherd. Watson has been hailed by some as a hero for his exploits against whaling ships on the high seas — but others say he’s an ‘eco-terrorist’ who has given enviro...

The notorious Evin prison in Iran, which holds the Islamic Republic’s political prisoners, was on fire over the weekend. Around the country, protests that began over the death of a woman in police custody have now morphed into a broad anti-government movement – the most significant in years. This time, protesters are being more daring than ever before. Some are calling for the death of Iran’s supr...

Xi Jinping is ascending to a historic level of power. He is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, which has 95 million people who are members, and is the most powerful President of China since Chairman Mao. Now, he is becoming what some experts have called China’s ‘leader for life’. That makes him one of the most powerful men in history. Today, former prime minister of Australia Kevin Rudd on...

Today, author Cate Kennedy reads her piece from the latest edition of the Monthly.  Beginning in the first months of lockdown, it asks the question: why did so many people turn to collective song and music, while stuck in isolation? Choirs conducted over video chat and jam sessions in the digital world might not be a perfect replacement for the connection of performing together in a room – but it...

Arts policy in Australia has been virtually non-existent for ten years, and in those ten years the arts have suffered enormously. Today, we bring you an exclusive one-on-one interview between the editor of The Monthly , Michael Williams, and the man who says he wants to save the arts: Arts Minister Tony Burke. The challenges are huge. From music and live gigs, to literature and publishing, to film...

The Labor party keeps saying this coming budget is full of hard decisions. We know the budget is already in deficit, but services are underfunded and if the government wants to improve childcare, disability care and more, then money will have to come from somewhere. Anthony Albanese has vigorously ruled out dumping the expensive stage three tax cuts. So what is left on the table for Labor to turn...

Much of the country has been hit by torrential rain, and communities across Victoria and New South Wales are inundated with floodwaters. But this is just the start, as according to the Bureau of Meteorology we could be facing an entire summer of floods and cyclones. As Australia braces for the worsening effects of the climate crisis, experts say we are still too focused on disaster relief and that...

Yesterday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers offered a grim warning to Australia: we could be on the brink of a global recession. While Australians are already familiar with inflated prices and rising interest rates, the global financial outlook is getting worse. What does it mean for Australians? And if a downturn happens, who will be worst affected? Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike...

Labor has been shy to propose any major changes to the unemployment system. During the election, it ruled out raising the rate of unemployment benefits and while in opposition, it offered support to the coalition’s new ‘Workforce Australia’ scheme for the way job services operate. But now we have new insight into what Labor is saying behind closed doors and the new government appears far from happ...

Ten years ago the then-prime minister Julia Gillard delivered a speech to parliament about misogyny. At the time, the speech was poorly received by the Canberra press gallery and described by some journalists as "desperate". But online, it took on a life of its own. Now, what has become known as the misogyny speech can be found on merchandise, in TikTok videos, and is used as shorthand for a parti...

They are the tax cuts Scott Morrison promised and Anthony Albanese said he would deliver. If Australia cancels the stage three tax cuts, experts say we could properly fund services like the NDIS and raise unemployment benefits above the poverty line, among other desperately needed measures. If Australia keeps the cuts, some of the wealthiest tax payers will benefit and our tax system will become l...

Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin held a rally in Moscow. Even as Russia continued to lose ground in his war in Ukraine, he was defiant; calling the west satanic and making the case for a greater Russian empire. But the most significant thing about what Putin said that day was what it represented: a turn to the ultra-nationalism of the Russian far-right. Today, Associate Professor at the ANU Strat...

For decades now some of the most important public policy that's shaped our country hasn’t been designed by politicians or public servants – it has come from think tanks. Among the most influential in Australia is the Institute of Public Affairs, the IPA, a right-wing think tank that prides itself on being the policy brain of the conservative movement. But the organisation is in decline, it’s gener...

All of us know that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a person’s life – and a bad one can be a disaster for a young person who’s trying to find their way. So how do we make sure the best people become teachers? That’s the question that obsessed Julia Gillard when she was Education minister in 2008. The answer she came up with has had some unforeseen consequences that teachers are still...

The right-wing anti-immigration politician who led the Brexit campaign in Britain is currently touring Australia. Nigel Farage has become increasingly irrelevant in British politics, but he is commanding speaking fees and being given a hero's welcome by Sky News presenters and One Nation politicians It could be a cynical money grabbing exercise, a play for political influence in Australia… or both...

Mothers whose families were torn apart by the robo-debt scheme have welcomed the start of the long-awaited royal commission into the policy this week. One, Kath Madgwick, said her son took his own life just hours after learning he owed a Centrelink debt through the scheme – she’ll be making a submission to the royal commission. But this week’s hearings are only the beginning of an attempt to hold...

Millions of Australians will need new drivers licences and passports, after Optus’s lax data management exposed the details of around 10 million Australians to a hacker. Anthony Albanese has announced Optus should foot the bill for new ID documents and has called the hack a ‘wake up’ for corporate Australia. But why did Optus hold so much data on millions of Australians? Why wasn’t it held more sa...

As populations move and grow, communities are in desperate need of more hospitals. But what good is a building without staff? What good is a bed without the nurses and doctors to care for someone in it? That’s the question one state is facing, after it was revealed that NSW Health believe they will need billions more in operational budgets to sufficiently staff the new hospitals that are being ope...

If you are ever jailed for a crime, you would hope to do your time in jail and be released at the end of it. For a small number of people who are deemed to pose an exceptional risk to society, such as sexual offenders and terrorists, that hasn’t always been the case – and in some jurisdictions they can be kept in jail or given harsh restrictions long after they leave. But now those exceptions are...

Last week on the public holiday to mourn the Queen's death, there were protests against the monarchy in major cities across Australia.  The marches represented many who harbour a resentment towards the British crown and the unhealed wounds inflicted by the British Empire. In the UK, some people feel the same way and not all Britons participated in the scenes of public grieving that have been seen...

Police and security agencies often have access to a wealth of personal information about the people they’re investigating — including phone calls, texts, emails and metadata. Access to that information is supposed to occur under very controlled circumstances. But there’s evidence that’s not what’s happening.  A report has found that police and other agencies routinely break the law in handling pri...

After a 10-year legal battle, the “palace letters” were finally released. In full, they show how Gough Whitlam’s relationship with the governor-general broke down - and how involved the Queen was through this collapse. Today, we revisit our episode from 2020 with chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Middleton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next year will be 10 years since Australia began offshore processing – sending refugees that arrived by boat to places like Papua New Guinea and Nauru. It would be easy to assume that with a change of government, and deals with the US and New Zealand to take refugees – that offshore processing was a thing of the past. It’s not, and the Albanese government looks like it is on the verge of signing a...