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Peter Dutton has an uphill battle, even he would admit that. But the Liberal leader known for tough, hardline conservative talking points is trying to appear more like Australia’s next prime minister – by insisting he has a softer side, and striking a contrast with his predecessor Scott Morrison. Beneath Dutton’s attempts to rebrand himself, who is he… and where did his ideas come from?  Today, co...

People counted Dutton’s Opposition out, but Labor’s restrained budget might have opened up some attack lines for the Liberals… with some help from the Murdoch media. A distressed global economy and rising electricity prices are leaving Labor open to Liberal accusations that they’ve broken an election promise to lower power prices. And: an update on Labor’s industrial relations reforms. Socials: St...

Internal tensions at the organisation that tells us about the weather — the Bureau of Meteorology — appear to be going from bad to worse. Among the latest revelations, the Bureau’s daily forecasts, which many of us rely on, might be getting less accurate. We’ve also learned that the renaming of the organisation was called a ‘rebrand’ internally, even though management publicly claimed they never a...

When an inner suburb of Melbourne was hit by flooding a few weeks ago, attention turned to Flemington Racecourse: home of the Melbourne Cup. The track is a floodplain, and in prior floods it had become submerged in water. But not this time. This year, a new flood wall protected it. But could the wall that saved Flemington Racecourse have doomed nearby houses? Or is that debate obscuring the bigger...

Unlike in almost every other country in the world, the Australian government actively helps some of our biggest carbon emitters make claims to consumers that they are “green” or even “carbon neutral”. For consumers looking to sign up for household gas and electricity, it’s hard to know which companies to trust. And more importantly, the system could help prop up fossil-fuel projects that threaten...

The prices of Australian houses are dropping faster than ever before – but is this a blip on the way to higher prices, or an actual value crash? And if it is a real crash… could that be a good thing?  Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper , Mike Seccombe, on the rollercoaster of the Australian property market. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: National c...

After 45 days of economic chaos under Liz Truss threatened the welfare of ordinary Britons, the UK now has a new prime minister: Rishi Sunak. Sunak’s family wealth of over a billion dollars makes him an unlikely figure for the task – he is the richest MP in the British parliament. But he has made history as the country’s first British Asian prime minister. Today, world editor of The Saturday Paper...

Some of the world’s most treasured art works have been under attack in the last few weeks. Paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet have been doused in food by climate activists trying to draw attention to the urgent climate crisis. So is this plea for action working? And why are activists turning to this kind of protest?  Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper , Mike Seccombe, on th...

A Labor government has handed down a budget for the first time in nine years. It isn’t the budget that many might have imagined in May when the party won the election. It lands just as a global economic storm appears to be gathering momentum. Last night, we got the pitch that tells us how this Labor government thinks it can contend with the challenge and what it plans to deliver for Australians. S...

Last Tuesday, while torrential rains brought floods that cut off whole towns in Victoria, Australia’s weather forecasting agency made a strange announcement. The Bureau of Meteorology called on all media to change the name they had used to refer to it: the BoM. Instead it wanted to be called The Bureau. What seemed like an odd branding announcement at first, has led to a series of revelations abou...

An idea that Australia discarded a decade ago will return on Tuesday night. That idea is a so-called “wellbeing budget”. It is being talked up by the Treasurer Jim Chalmers.  Chalmers has promised that Australia will follow countries like Scotland and New Zealand in judging the success of government spending not just against GDP and income per person, but based on whether it improves the wellbeing...

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...