Inside Politics

The government announced its 2035 emissions reduction target this week, committing Australia to climate action despite a retreat from the United States. Meanwhile, the Coalition looked a lot like it was about to take up arms in the climate wars - again. Chief political commentator James Massola joins host Jacqueline Maley. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.co...

Controversial Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was sacked from the Coalition frontbench this week. Price left Opposition Leader Sussan Ley with little choice, after she refused to apologise for comments she made about the Indian community, and then refused to publicly affirm her faith in Ley’s leadership. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent N...

Political debate was dominated this week by the topic of immigration after anti-immigration rallies in major cities last weekend. Politicians from both major parties tried to strike a balance between listening to people’s legitimate concerns while condemning the extremist fringe of the anti-immigration movement. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent Na...

This week Canberra turned into a John le Carre novel, with the stunning revelation from the head of ASIO Mike Burgess, that the state of Iran directed at least two attacks on Australia’s Jewish community, on Australian soil. As a consequence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expelled the Iranian Ambassador from the country.  Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss these dramatic developments...

This week was an exciting one in Canberra, especially if you’re the kind of person who digs the philosophy of tax and transfer. We are talking, of course, about the economic roundtable, hosted by Treasurer Jim Chalmers.  Meanwhile Health Minister Mark Butler began the necessary but painful process of reining in the enormous growth of the NDIS. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal,...

This week the Albanese government announced it would recognise Palestine as a state, a huge foreign policy shift that was greeted with approval by many and criticism by others.  Plus, the Reserve Bank assumes a fall in productivity right before the government's productivity summit, and is there tension between the PM and Treasurer? Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political corres...

This week on the pod we are going to delve into what we are calling Canberra’s Coachella - AKA the Productivity Summit, which is happening the week after next.  What is the point of it? And what is productivity anyway?  Here to discuss, we have Chief Political Correspondent, Paul Sakkal as usual, and special guest star and productivity king, Senior Economics Correspondent Shane Wri...

French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian and UK prime ministers Mark Carney and Keir Starmer have all called for Palestine to be recognised one way or another.  But Anthony Albanese remains cautious. So what is the Australian Prime Minister waiting for? This week on  Inside Politics,  European correspondent David Crowe, national security correspondent Matthew Knott and chief p...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces tricky terrain with the government lifting a ban on US beef imports to Australia this week, leaving him open to suggestions he has capitulated to pressure from Donald Trump. We also witnessed a democratic festival in the form of the opening of the new parliament, with former foes Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack putting differences aside to attack the gover...

Well, here we are, a new term of parliament begins next week. There’ll be fresh faces and, hopefully, fresh ideas. So will the government use its massive majority to press ahead with major reforms in housing, or tax, and how will opposition leader Sussan Ley and her team rebuild their battered party? Before we get to that, the news this week has been dominated by Anthony Albanese’s tri...

What do the great war time Prime Minister John Curtin, and current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have in common?  Well, a little bit, according to Albanese.  On the weekend the PM delivered the John Curtin Oration and set tongues wagging with hints about his newly independent stance when it comes to our relationship with the United States.  But how will this land with the Trump ad...

The creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission was a key Labor promise before it won Government in 2022. The Commission was duly created and this week it released the findings of its first ever investigation.  But was it a little anti-climactic? Can we hope for bigger and better corruption-busting in the future?  Plus, interest rate cuts and the confusing matter of the Trump tarif...

She is a former shearer, a pilot and a mother of three children. She has a dark past as a punk in Canberra. She has been one of the only women in the room in successive Liberal cabinets. She was the deputy to former opposition leader Peter Dutton, and following the last election, she took his job.  She is, of course, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Today, chief political commentator James Masso...

This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to the G7 summit with high hopes of scoring a sidelines-meeting with US President Donald Trump. The PM wanted to discuss the AUKUS pact, and the tariffs that the US government has put on Australian aluminium and iron ore among other things.  But events overtook, and Trump left the summit to deal with the escalating conflict between Israel a...

This week the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a big speech at the National Press Club in Canberra, and used it to dangle the prospect of economic reform.  During its first term, the Albanese government was criticised for not being bold enough in its agenda. So is the PM signalling he will use his huge majority to institute major reform? What would a daring economic reform agenda look lik...

The dramatic shakeout from the general election continued this week, this time from the left wing of Australian politics, with WA Greens senator Dorinda Cox defecting to Labor.  It was a coup for a triumphant Prime Minister.  But will the PM live to regret his new recruit? What does Senator Cox’s defection mean for the much-depleted Greens party? And how does it fit with the PM&rsq...

Well, they fight, they break up, they kiss, they make up.  Never before have the lyrics of a Katy Perry song been more relevant to federal politics. After last week’s shock split, this week the Coalition got back together again. But at what cost? What compromises have been made on both sides? And will the Nats and the Libs be able to work constructively together after all the drama?&nbs...

It was high drama this week with the Nationals telling the Liberals they wanted a political divorce. But by Thursday, the separation – like a marriage on the rocks – was placed on hold while further conversations took place.   So what happened? And what’s going to be better for both parties, and the political health of the nation? Here to discuss the drama, we have our...

Newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins chief political correspondent David Crowe and federal political reporter Paul Sakkal for an exclusive interview on Inside Politics. They chat about the new Labor cabinet, Albanese's thumping mandate, plans for the term ahead and a new phrase the prime minister is trying out - progressive patriotism. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.s...

It will go down as one of the most resounding victories in Australian political history. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese out-performed the expectations of just about everyone last weekend, decimating the Liberal party to the extent where even its leader lost his own seat. So, what next for Labor? As the caucus gathers in Canberra on Friday, we look at the new faces in the team and discuss which ar...

Well, that was quick, about two and a half hours after the polls had closed, the election had already been called for the incumbent Labor government. But as the night went on, Anthony Albanese’s win was looking like a landslide, and Labor increased its majority in parliament. For the opposition, it was disastrous, its leader Peter Dutton has lost his seat in parliament and recriminations wil...

Today we bring you a special episode recorded in the south-west Victorian electorate of Wannon. The seat encompasses tourist towns from Lorne along the Great Ocean Road, to Warrnambool.  And who better to tell the evolving story of Wannon than our associate editor and special writer Tony Wright. He was born in Heywood, grew up on sheep and cattle properties in the Western District, went to sc...

Well, it’s finally here. Saturday is election day, and by Saturday night we will have some idea of who is going to govern Australia for the next three years, during this volatile and pivotal moment in global history.  Today, we talk about the seats to watch on election night, the ones that will determine the outcome of the poll.  And we will also zoom out to the bigger picture.&nbs...

Salmon farming is not something most voters consider when they go to the polls on election day. But for Tasmanian voters, it is a huge and often divisive issue. This debate about the environmental effects of salmon farming is playing out in an election where any other discussion of the environment is pretty much non-existent. Which is curious because energy policy goes hand-in-hand with the enviro...

This week we are doing a special podcast about our complicated relationship with political polls. As journalists, we like them because, maybe, they can tell us something about what voters are really thinking. But we are a bit wary of them too. Especially after the federal election in 2019, where the polls were wrong. That caused a massive rethink in how polling is done, and how we in the media rel...