Inside Politics

The threat teal independents pose in this election - to the dominance of the two-party system, to the stability of our parliament and to the Liberal Party’s base - is very real. Today, we focus on two of these seats: Bradfield in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne where the teals and the Libs are neck and neck. City reporter for The Age Rachael Dexter and NSW political editor Alexandra Smith jo...

This week on the campaign saw the release of competing housing policies, and the appearance of Peter Dutton’s son Harry.  But in many ways the campaign continued to be overshadowed by Donald Trump. Labor is making increasingly explicit attacks trying to link Dutton to the US president. And Dutton’s cause wasn’t helped with one of his key frontbenchers aped a Trump slogan. Do...

This week our revered economics editor Ross Gittins wrote an essay for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald, in which he lamented the state of this election campaign in particular, and Australian politics in general.  The essay was titled “They treat us like mugs”, and Ross did not miss with his critique of the timidity and cynicism of the two major parties’ campaigns.  Gi...

No one fell off a stage this week, but we did see the two party leaders face off for their first debate, plus the Coalition released modelling of its gas policy. With energy prices so crucial in this election, we are going to take a closer look at the Coalition’s gas plan - is it credible or is it just a cover-up for a nuclear policy that may never come off?  Chief political corresponde...

US President Donald Trump has officially unleashed chaos on the world's financial markets. It's a strange time to be campaigning for election, but Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton must adjust and carry on. So how is the incredible international volatility impacting the election campaign? Will all this disruption be favourable for the incumbent PM? And do Australian voters really want a candidate...

Week one of the election campaign is done. Albanese has been hammering his Medicare message. Dutton has sought to broaden his image but is still playing to type, telling Sky News that he is ready to “fight” Donald Trump on Australia’s behalf, if necessary. So who won the week? And what is it like to be on the campaign trail with the leaders as a journalist, catching mystery fligh...

When Anthony Albanese couldn't name the cash rate, or the unemployment rate on day one of his last campaign, it was a moment that could have lost him the election. But, as The Age and Sydney Morning Herald ’s associate editor Tony Wright says, he was up against Scott Morrison who was "on the nose" across the nation. And that was before Morrison spear-tackled a child at a soccer match. Campai...

Well, an election date has finally been called and we are staring down the barrel of a five week campaign before voting day on May 3. Here -  from the newsrooms of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald - we’ll bring you our humble podcast twice a week for the duration of the campaign. There’s going to be a lot of news around so we’re here to help you navigate your way throug...

In this early episode of Inside Politics, we come to you soon after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton gave his budget reply speech on Thursday night, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese all but certain to call an election on Friday morning. Did Dutton's speech, which moved to intensify the contest over household budgets, one-up the government's budget earlier in the week? Inside Politics host Jacque...

Just as Treasurer Jim Chalmers puts the final touches on his pre-election budget, the local threat emanating from Donald Trump's global trade war is becoming clearer. Labor is boosting Australia's subsidised medicine scheme, but US big pharma companies want to boost their profits down under. Meanwhile Peter Dutton is under pressure to set out a clear platform before the May election, and next week...

The verdict is in: Australia will not be granted an exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminium, despite hopes President Trump would look favourably on one of its most loyal allies and grant us one. The news was greeted with dismay in Canberra, with the Prime Minister saying the decision the government giving a somewhat muted response, and the Opposition blaming it on the government. So what...

Well, the world order is rocky and looking to get rockier.  US President Donald Trump has had a spectacular falling-out with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and waging a damaging trade war, while China is cruising war ships off the Australian coast. And the conflict in Gaza is unresolved.  Not to mention closer to home, South East Queensland and northern NSW now have Cyclone Alfr...

Remember Anthony Albanese’s Copacabana house drama? The PM was dragged in the media for buying a 4.3 million dollar home on the NSW central coast in the middle of a cost of living crisis.  Well now the opposition leader is facing a few questions of his own. This week, our national affairs editor James Massola has done a bit of digging, and has revealed Peter Dutton’s extensive, an...

Well, the Reserve Bank finally answered our fiscal prayers this week, and announced an interest rate cut of 0.25 percent, providing relief to stretched mortgagees across the land. But arguably no one was sweating on the rate cut more than the Albanese government, which desperately needed a strong sign that the cost of living crisis has turned a corner, and things are going to get easier for workin...

We bring you this episode of Inside Politics on Valentines Day, but right now the trade relationship between Australia and our closest ally is at a delicate juncture. This week President Donald Trump declared his intention to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from all countries, no exceptions. And the pressure was on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to negotiate a way out. Albanese had...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. In this special episode, which aired last month, respected columnist Niki Savva explains why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should retire if he wins the next election. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Ins...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. This episode aired just after Donald J Trump was elected as America’s president - for a second time. In it, Chief political correspondent David Crowe and Nine’s national affairs editor Andrew Probyn delve into what another Trump presidency means for Australia’s trade, cli...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. In February last year, the identities of hundreds of Jewish academics and creatives who were members of a Whatsapp group were leaked by pro-Palestinian activists in the wake of the October 7 attack and war in Gaza. In this episode, Australian National University’s Dr Simon Copland an...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. Last year was a big one for the Greens, often called the third party of Australian politics. They took what was seen as a hardline stance backing Palestinians in the war with Israel, owned the issue of affordable housing, and controversially came to the defence of the CFMEU in the wake of...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. In this episode, which aired last April, we take you to the moment Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong signalled the start of a shift in Australia’s position on the question of Palestinian statehood in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.  Since then, Australia changed its stance,...

We’re bringing you the best episodes of 2024, before we return in early February for the election year. One of the big issues of the federal election will be energy policy, with the opposition backing nuclear power over wind and solar as its path to a greener, cleaner world.  This episode aired just after Coalition leader Peter Dutton first unveiled his nuclear plans, all dissected by c...

If things are supposed to be slowing down for Christmas, well, nobody told our federal politicians. This week we had a mid-year economic update and a contentious debate about the Coalition’s nuclear energy plans.   Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe joins Jacqueline Maley to look back at the political year and explore some of its themes. Cut through the noise of feder...

This week was dominated by the appalling anti-Semitic attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east. There followed more attacks in Sydney - A car was torched in the Eastern suburbs, where there is a strong Jewish community, and houses there were graffitied with anti-Israel slogans.  The violence was followed by political conflict. Prime Minister Anthony Al...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should retire. Not right now, but a “decent interval” after the next election, if he wins it.  So says  Sydney Morning Herald and Age columnist Niki Savva, who joins Jacqueline Maley this week to talk about the government’s prospects of re-election, how well Peter Dutton has performed as Opposition leader and whether the Teal Independents have fulfilled their promis...

This week was the last sitting week of the parliamentary year, and there is speculation the Prime Minister will call an election early in 2025, meaning it might have been the last parliamentary session of the Albanese government, full stop. So what legislation did the government get through this week? And more broadly, how well positioned is it, going into an imminent election campaign? Joining Ja...