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Episodes
Australia’s first women’s advisor on why she left the country
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia can claim a significant world first: a special government adviser on Women’s Affairs.Fifty years ago, Elizabeth Reid stepped into the newl...
Inside the inquiry into the Lehrmann trial
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The trial of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins never reached a verdict – and Lehrmann still strenuously maintains his innocenc...
Farewell, Stuart Robert. We hardly knew ye.
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There comes a time when politicians say ‘enough is enough’ and they leave parliament.Often they depart the stage without anyone really noticing, o...
The middle class vs. the poor: Why the Coalition wants them to fight
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the budget dropped on Tuesday night, the Coalition and some parts of the media have begun to pick a very strange fight.It’s over whether some ...
Peter Dutton’s Liberal party is turning on its closest ally
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s one relationship the Liberal Party has always prized: its relationship with business.Other support bases for the party have ebbed and flowed...
Budget 2023: Explained
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised a responsible budget, and one that helped Australians as costs soar.There was some relief, but it wasn’t as generous...
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher reveals the toughest budget decisions
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tonight’s budget promises relief for Australia’s single parents, who will receive extra income support until their youngest child turns 14.It’s ...
So, the coronation was pretty weird – with Craig Foster
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If, over the weekend, you watched the coronation of King Charles, stood up in your living room and read out a pledge of allegiance – you were probab...
The Weekend Read: Quentin Sprague on shocking reports in the Aboriginal art industry
06 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, writer Quentin Sprague, with his piece from The Monthly. He examines the recent revelations of “white hands on black art” – reports of W...
Is Albanese going to ignore young people?
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The economic news got worse this week, with the RBA unexpectedly raising interest rates and some dire economic forecasts.So far, it looks like the eco...
Why is the ADF ‘not fit’ to deter China?
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Missiles that can precisely target enemy forces 500 kilometres away are the future of the Australian defence forces, according to the recent defence s...
How HECS became a debt trap
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you went to university, there’s an increasing likelihood you could be carrying HECS debt for several decades.There are now more than 300,000 peop...
From fatal negligence to a new $33 million contract
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine being arrested, put into custody – and in desperate need of medical care.Who is responsible for helping you? Who are you meant to turn to f...
How to fix the budget to lift people out of poverty
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
‘We don’t have enough money.’That’s what governments always say this time of year. But the case is being made for the poorest and most disadva...
Why can the government spend money on weapons but not welfare?
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the way the government chooses to spend its money was put into sharp focus.On Monday, it announced a bold new plan for military spending, b...
Just how ‘elite’ are the people behind the Voice?
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Criticism of the Voice to Parliament from the conservative side of politics has ratcheted up ever since Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose it.The mai...
Why the Murdochs settled Dominion and abandoned Crikey
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From settling the biggest payout in US libel history, to the abandoned defamation claim against Australian website Crikey – It’s been a tumultuous...
Spotlight: The search for the very first star
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Something going on far above us, in orbit, might be doing more to shape the future of humanity than any events here on earth.Up there is one of the mo...
When Julian Assange’s lawyer met Penny Wong
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He published secret documents that gave us damning insight into the West’s military conduct inIraq and Afghanistan, and for that Julian Assange will...
The Weekend Read: Richard King on how ChatGPT is changing how knowledge is shared
22 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today on the show, writer Richard King, with his piece ‘Machine Learning’ about the AI chatbot ChatGPT.He begins his story with discourse sweeping...
51 ways the RBA has to be better
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s independent of government, has enormous power over our lives and hasn’t been reformed in 25 years.But yesterday, the Reserve Bank bowed to a ...
Who is Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price?
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a week that forced a reshuffle on the Coalition front bench, Peter Dutton had to announce a new spokesperson for Indigenous Australians – he n...
A mental health crisis at Australia’s mental health commission
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has a body that’s supposed to look after all of our mental health, and make recommendations to the government on how to make the situation...
#MeToo and Canberra’s reckoning: how a mix of scandals and leadership led to change
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Jenkins has wrapped up a distinguished term as Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner.In her seven years in the job, we’ve seen the glob...
We were told to recycle plastic. Now it’s stockpiled around the country.
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It was meant to transform the way we deal with waste.Australians were told to sort through their bins, and take plastic bags and packaging to drop-off...
How Peter Dutton’s ‘No’ is tearing the Liberals apart
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If the Liberal Party’s announcement that it would oppose the Voice to Parliament was meant to take attention away from fractures in the Liberal Part...
Forget inflation. Inequality is the real economic problem.
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cost of living pressures and interest rate rises mean that millions of Australians are struggling.But what often isn’t acknowledged by the Reserve B...
Why Australia won’t ban TikTok before the US does
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia isn’t the first country to ban TikTok from government devices.In fact, all of our closest allies have already taken steps to keep the app ...
Can Penny Wong stop us from going to war?
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Penny Wong has assumed the Foreign Affairs portfolio at a crucial time in Australian history.For years China has been on the rise, but now it’s chal...
Spotlight: How counter-terrorism turned a blind eye to the far right
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In recent weeks, we’ve covered an appearance by neo-Nazis at a rally in Melbourne, as well as ASIO’s decision to steer away from labels like ‘ri...
The Weekend Read: Lucianne Tonti on the battle to stop wasting brand-new clothes
08 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today on the show, author of ‘Sundressed’ and fashion editor for The Saturday Paper Lucianne Tonti reads her piece on confronting the hundreds of ...
Spotlight: How death became the fight of Andrew Denton’s life
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia is one of just a handful of countries around the world that have legislated in favour of euthanasia. Every Australian state has now legalis...
No Voice and no votes: the future of the Liberal Party
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberal Party has finally come to a position on the Voice to parliament: No.Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s announcement comes in the wake of t...
Can a deal be done to get us affordable homes?
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Renting or buying a home is not getting any easier in Australia – and the future could get even worse if we don’t do something.With the population...
The state locking up more children than any other
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One state in Australia locks up more children than any other: Queensland. And new laws will send more children into custody than ever before.The laws ...
Is Murdoch media about to turn against the Voice?
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A scare campaign is gathering momentum in the conservative media.Will the Voice to Parliament dictate policy? Are elite interests behind the referendu...
Inside Peter Dutton’s leadership test in Aston
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberal Party is in a state of disarray.After the NSW election loss, powerbrokers and former strategists were airing dirty laundry – has the par...
Trump 2024: Why Republicans want to vote for him, even if he’s arrested
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump officially launched his campaign to be president again on a stage in Waco, Texas.Despite the likelihood of an imminent arrest and a campa...
It won’t stop climate catastrophe. So why are the Greens voting for it?
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Bandt stood in front of TV cameras this week and announced a decision that could define the future of the Greens.The party will support Labor’s...
Banks are failing around the world. Could it happen here?
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you think about a bank run, you might think of lines around the block – of regular workers eager to get their hard-earned wages out of a troubl...
Why is Australia importing anti-trans activists?
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A speaking tour claiming to quote ‘let women speak’ has been at the centre of disturbing scenes across Australia.Last week in Melbourne, neo-Nazis...
The Weekend Read: Sophie Cunningham on the cost of native logging
25 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today on the show, author Sophie Cunningham on why we’re still logging native forests.She begins her story with the last sheafs of white office pape...
The dissent in Labor ranks over the US alliance
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s AUKUS deal was meant to have unanimous support, but it has thrown up unexpected challenges for the Labor government — with senior part...
We tried to fit all the NSW scandals into 20 minutes. Here's how far we got.
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Saturday, the longest-reigning Coalition government in the country heads to the polls.Dominic Perrottet hasn’t been premier of NSW for long, bu...
The climate protestor who beat a 15-month prison sentence
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, Deanna ‘Violet’ CoCo was standing on top of a truck on Sydney Harbour Bridge with a flare in her hand.She was prepared to be arrested; ...
‘Treating private jets like Ubers’: Inside the Hillsong papers
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie stood up in parliament and dropped a bombshell on the Australian megachurch Hillsong.He tabled a cache o...
Bob Brown on the fight Tanya Plibersek needs to have
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Brown, the founding leader of The Greens, is ready to make a plea to Tanya Plibersek: stand up in cabinet and be a voice against coal and gas.Whil...
Will Albanese and Dutton agree on the $368 billion question?
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The AUKUS agreement has brought a rare political sight this week: the government and the opposition are agreeing with each other.Both major parties su...
Why the AUKUS submarines will never arrive
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The single biggest defence spend in Australian history was announced this week, with the government committing up to $368 billion over the next 30 yea...
Being John Hughes: Inside literature’s plagiarism scandal
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
John Hughes was once hailed as a young literary genius, and won a scholarship to Cambridge.Yet he found himself back in Australia working as a librari...
‘Web of cowardice’: What we learned from the final robo-debt hearings
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The royal commission hearings into robo-debt are over.With over 100 witnesses and nine weeks of hearings, the commission into one of the greatest fail...
How we’re betting our climate future on a scam
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has to act fast to help cut emissions and avoid a global climate catastrophe.After decades of inaction, the Labor Government has brought the...
The Weekend Read: The late Robert Adamson on fishing the river he loved
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, a tribute to publisher, poet and memoirist Robert Adamson.Robert died late last year and to mark that moment, The Monthly decided to posthumous...
Why can't Labor and the Greens get along?
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s climate future is again hanging in the balance.And, once more, it could all depend on a Labor government negotiating with the Greens.As ...
How the family court is failing traumatised women
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The family court is a place of last resort for spouses and parents, to settle the legal, financial and parenting disputes that can sometimes arise. B...
It's all about money: Rupert Murdoch's Fox News deposition
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We now have the clearest insight into the inner workings of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.The mogul was forced, under oath, to answer questions abou...
‘Disaster capitalism’: What’s happening after climate catastrophe
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it’s floods or bushfires, climate-related disaster is something Australia will have to contend with more and more.But so far, Australia isn’...
ASIO is worried you’re helping foreign spies
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our intelligence community used to believe terrorism was the greatest threat to Australians.But today, Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, ASI...
What convinced Albanese to tackle superannuation
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A week ago, superannuation reform was just an idea, a national conversation — the prime minister certainly wasn’t proposing anything.But the conve...
Abortion is legal in Australia, but is it accessible?
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's being called the most important case for reproductive rights in the United States since Roe vs Wade was overturned.A judgement in a court case in...
How corporate profits are making inflation worse
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has seen a series of record corporate profits posted in the last few weeks.They come as millions of average Australians are being squeezed. ...
Exposing robo-debt: Why Rhys Cauzzo’s mother never gave up
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rhys Cauzzo was one of hundreds of thousands of Australians who received unlawful and false debt notices under robodebt.The 28 year old died by suicid...
‘My existence is not temporary’: The refugees who are finally allowed to stay
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Zaki Haidari is one of 19,000 people who Australia has kept in limbo, but will now get the certainty of a permanent place in Australia.Temporary prote...
Weekend Read: Erin O’Dwyer on how to design housing for happiness
25 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As housing becomes less affordable and the search for adequate accommodation more desperate, Erin O’Dwyer investigates how we can escape from the ur...
Superannuation: Is the government breaking a promise?
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the last 30 years, Australian retirements have been tied to superannuation. It’s the nest egg that most of us spend decades building up.While it...
Balloons attack!
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Once the United States military started looking for them, they couldn’t stop finding them. Unidentified balloons were everywhere.The military and Pr...
Chris Minns' recipe for a vanilla victory
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, Labor governments have swept into power in most states across the country… with the exceptions of NSW and Tasmania.But that might b...
What's really happening in Alice Springs
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Violence and vandalism in Alice Springs became a national fascination this year.First Peter Dutton, then Anthony Albanese flew into town, after rates ...
The day the Reserve Bank got grilled
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Lowe, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, has already had to apologise for his forecast that interest rates were unlikely to rise un...
The by-election that will define Dutton’s opposition
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The announcement that former Liberal minister Alan Tudge will resign from the parliament marks the end of a controversial political career, but it's a...
Has Rupert Murdoch actually given up on his legacy deal?
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is cutting 5% of its jobs around the world, with over a thousand employees in the newspaper business about to be l...
‘I complained about abuse and the governor-general vilified me…’
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He was one of the most senior members of the Anglican Church, then became the governor-general of Australia.But last week, Peter Hollingworth sat in s...
What’s behind the youth crime blame game?
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Youth crime has become a national issue once again – front page stories from Queensland, to the Northern Territory, to Western Australia are all rai...
How the Adani empire keeps critics silenced
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He’s reportedly the world’s third richest man. But perhaps not for much longer.Indian businessman Gautam Adani is best known here for the controve...
Weekend Read: Clem Bastow on borrowing life lessons from Dolly, Girlfriend and Seventeen
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Clem Bastow reads her piece about borrowing teen magazines from the library.As a kid, Clem couldn’t afford the monthly price of Girlfriend Magazine,...
‘We can change 500,000 lives’: Jordon Steele-John’s ADHD mission
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you think you might have ADHD, it can take months, maybe even a year to get a diagnosis.A public conversation about the condition, led by advocates...
Lidia Thorpe and the Greens: How did it come to this?
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tension in the Greens over the Voice to Parliament has culminated this week in the abrupt defection of high-profile Senator Lidia Thorpe.Publicly, Gre...
Can artists finally eat?
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Making a living in Australia as a writer, musician, or artist has become an increasingly tenuous proposition. In recent years the arts sector has bee...
Robo-debt: Minister leaked dead man’s data
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You would expect that when you give your personal data to the government, that data remains safe.But that’s not how it was for some people who were ...
The war on drugs’ worst slaughter is going underground
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On Australia’s doorstep, one country has taken the global war on drugs to the extreme.When Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines in 20...
Thought the climate wars were over? A sequel’s out next week
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia is supposed to be reducing its emissions at a rapid pace, and last year, the Albanese government put a new target into law.Now, we will fina...
Why it’s so expensive to see a doctor
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
More and more people have to pay to see a doctor, GPs are leaving the profession, and the cost of seeing a specialist is rising at an alarming rate.Th...
'Catholic Mafia': How George Pell won over Murdoch
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Between his death, two weeks ago, and his burial tomorrow, a furious battle has raged over George Pell’s legacy.If you happen to read The Australian...
The attorney-general on ditching outdated and “deliberately cruel” policy
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australian law is far from perfect.Not only can it be unjust, it’s sometimes simply no longer fit to do what it was intended to.The person responsib...
‘Politicians are naturally weak’: Tony Windsor versus the gas industry
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Windsor was a politician and, as an independent, he helped hand minority government and the prime ministership to Julia Gillard.He says that at t...
Alice Springs: The crisis that shouldn’t have happened
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A crime wave in Alice Springs grew into a national crisis this week, with politicians jumping on planes in a last-ditch effort to listen to a communit...
The case for returning crown land
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been over 30 years since the high court acknowledged that terra nullius was a lie, that this country was not empty – that Indigenous Australi...
What made Jacinda Ardern unique might also explain her shock exit
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to resign as the Prime Minister of New Zealand shocked her country and the world. She had seemed almost universally belov...
Trauma therapy for children in Ukraine
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia has been a battleground for months – and now, it’s the target of Russia’s newest offensive. Fighting there ...
The premier, the Nazi costume and the pokies
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The premier of NSW, Dominic Perrottet wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.Since the revelations, Jewish groups in NSW have told journalists...
How Australian billionaires got richer during the pandemic
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Summer has provided everyone with a respite from politics, even our politicians.But as they return, they’ll need to face up to problems that have be...
Julia Banks on how politics fails women
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Liberal MP Julia Banks quit the Morrison government in 2018, her resignation was cited as an example of how hostile the political environment can...
George Pell could have helped. He made it worse.
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
George Pell’s body is returning to Australia after last weekend’s funeral service in the Vatican. He will be interred in the crypts below St Mary’...
The detail on the Voice is right here
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This year Peter Dutton has begun to spread doubt about the Voice to Parliament. His question is: where’s the detail?One woman has spent years fleshi...
Elon Musk’s guide to losing $US200 billion in net worth
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk has lost more money than any human being who has ever lived.It’s not because of his purchase of Twitter – well, not directly, anyway. It...
Weekend Read: ‘A patch of land’: Gardening with Laura Tingle
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this Weekend Read, chief political correspondent for the ABC’s 7.30 program Laura Tingle, with her piece from the summer issue of The Monthly.It’...
How counter-terrorism turned a blind eye to the far right, with Lydia Khalil
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s domestic security agency, ASIO, says right-wing extremism now makes up half of its priority cases. And the far right, while still fringe...
The search for the very first star, with Dr Alan Duffy
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we talk about the most significant events of the last year, the one that might have the biggest impact on humanity actually took place far above ...
Travel advice and race, with Santilla Chingaipe
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, around a million Australians visit the US . But it's becoming a more dangerous place: firearm murders alone increased by 35% between 2019 a...
How death became the fight of Andrew Denton’s life
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Misinformation, fear and pain: when Andrew Denton was asked to speak on the topic of euthanasia, he found something that he couldn’t look away from....