The Morning Edition
Episodes
CGT shemozzle, risk thrown around like 'fairy dust' and...a Teal party?
28 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are officially in week two of budget backlash, and both sides seem pretty dug in. Today we’re talking about the disagreements about the capit...
How Gen Z in India turned an insult into a political uprising
27 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Gen Z in India are rebelling. Millions of young Indians have signed up to a movement that’s pushing against the unfair advantages that their eld...
The most powerful man in sport is about to get more powerful
26 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
State of Origin is rugby league’s night of nights, with Queensland and New South Wales battling it out for supremacy. But as the teams take to t...
Why running the sniffer dog gauntlet at festivals could be over
25 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drugs and music festivals have gone hand-in-hand for decades. In recent years – especially since a string of overdoses – authorities have ...
A secret, a revelation and a life forever changed for cop turned alleged victim
24 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As a police officer who investigated sex crimes, Graeme Simpfendorfer was accustomed to helping victims on what might be the worst day of their life. ...
Most people don’t have trusts, or multiple houses: Bill Shorten on the budget’s tax changes
21 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We’re officially in our budget backlash era, with claims of death taxes, of aspirations killed, and the outraged cries of crypto bros across the...
Now, it’s Putin’s turn. Will Xi Jinping encourage Russia to end the Ukraine war?
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed in China to meet Xi Jinping, days after the Chinese leader hosted US President Donald Trump. Will Putin gu...
Almost 20 years of NAPLAN data has revealed something shocking
19 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s like clockwork. Every March, countless parents, children and teachers across Australia grip their foreheads, wondering about how their NAPL...
What Angus Taylor's immigration plan would really mean
18 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With the Liberal Party in a political death spiral, it was perhaps inevitable that when Opposition Leader Angus Taylor gave his budget reply speech la...
Teens recruited, and a Fagin-like mystery leader: Melbourne’s nightclub attacks
17 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Melbourne’s nightlife industry has been beset by violent crimes for much of this year.Under the cover of night, well-known venues - including an...
Does a broken promise matter in a broken system, and Angus Taylor’s migrant plan
14 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The federal budget was pitched as a big moment for a progressive government that wants to equalise wealth and home ownership. And one of the main atta...
Taiwan, trade and the balance of power: What’s at stake when Trump meets Xi Jinping
13 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When US President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping this week, it will be a geopolitical heavyweight match-up with enormous stakes,...
Zoomers, boomers and a federal budget that could fix housing
12 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government has delivered one of the most anticipated budgets in recent history, with the focus on shifting wealth from Boomers and opening...
Will One Nation push Labor to reshape our society?
11 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We’re only hours away from the federal treasurer handing down the government’s much-anticipated budget. All eyes have been on Prime Minist...
A fiery air crash in the Top End – and a miracle by Aussie doctors who saved a US Marine
10 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Travis Reyes, a 21-year-old US marine, remembers feeling smug as he sat with his feet dangling out the door of a military aircraft, soaring high above...
‘Popcorn out’ for Farrer by-election, plus the RBA’s pointed comments on government spending
07 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The electorate of Farrer is holding a by-election this weekend and we’re expecting the contest will be a good one. The NSW seat, which hugs the ...
Once dominant fascist powers, Japan and Germany are now saving democracy
06 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump never fails to miss an opportunity to punish his allies. This week, it was Germany after Trump announced he’d be pulli...
David Attenborough is 100. His legacy may be very different than you think
05 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For millions of people, David Attenborough was the man who introduced us to the wonders of the natural world.But, with Attenborough turning 100 years ...
Kylie Moore-Gilbert on why Australia's hostage strategy must change
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kylie Moore-Gilbert was imprisoned in Iran for more than years, accused of being a spy. Five years after her release, the research fellow in security ...
'This is far from over’: The case of Kumanjayi Little Baby
03 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On the evening of Anzac Day, a man is alleged to have set in motion a series of events that sparked a national outcry, broke hearts, and ignited rage ...
Why young people are so angry about housing, and whether this budget will fix it
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Inflation figures were out this week, and it wasn’t good news. Next week’s interest rates figures from the Reserve Bank aren't looking cra...
Mark Butler on the NDIS, private health and vaccine hesitancy
30 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created in 2013, it was proof that a rich society could find the money to help people living with a ...
Peter Hartcher answers your questions about Iran, Trump and the state of the world
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Regular listeners will know Peter Hartcher – he’s our international and political editor and a weekly voice on The Morning Edition, helpin...
The Australian philanthropist and the alleged $1.6 million sequin-studded fraud
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's shaping up to be a story of profound betrayal – if the allegations are proven in court. On the one hand is one of Australia's most influent...
Trump and the Washington attack: this shooting is different
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Within hours of the shooting, right outside where US President Donald Trump was dining at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, the American president was v...
Airtasker of the underworld, offshore gangs and the uniquely Australian crime
26 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Prohibition-era gangs, mafia dons, the notorious Melbourne’s gangland wars and the rise of flashy outlaw motorcycle gangs.Crime in Australia has...
Labor’s baby a ‘honeypot of fraud’ and the gas tax’s viral moment
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we are talking about one of the federal budget’s trickiest customers - the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Labor was once like a pr...
The ‘axis of upheaval’ that's forming against the West
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Cold War ended more than 35 years ago, many of us have likely not given much thought to Bloc warfare. Those nuclear threats that the Western...
The likely change to the capital gains tax and the 'Ponzi scheme' of housing
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is slated to make a big change to the tax system, with the centrepiece of the May budget a change to taxing capital gains on pr...
The uprising in women's basketball
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There’s been something of a revolt in women’s basketball in the United States – and two Australians are among the biggest winners.To...
How Lego became the black market’s hottest trade
19 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Just picture it: under the cover of night, police detectives raid a clandestine drug lab in Melbourne belonging to an organised crime gang. But i...
No ‘drill baby drill’ moment: Chris Bowen on oil shock’s impact on green Australia
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A fire at a Geelong oil refinery - one of two refineries left in Australia - has heightened anxiety around fuel supply. Energy Minister Chris Bowen jo...
Trump or Netanyahu – who pushed who into the Iran war?
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Seven weeks into the US-Israel war with Iran, the narrative that Donald Trump was pushed into the war by Benjamin Netanyahu, and that the US president...
My niece needs the NDIS. Yes, it must be cut – but with a scalpel, not a chainsaw
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As our journalist James Massola put it, his niece Mattea is like most three-year-olds: boisterous and bursting with energy.Mattea is also not like mos...
"Harry and Meghan’s grifting”: What they’re doing Down Under
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For years, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have been tanking in popularity polls. Meghan is now the second-most disliked royal, beaten...
Albanese’s gambling reform – big money versus the 'nanny state'
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed – over the course of years – for failing to crack down on the more than 1 million gamblin...
Matt Canavan on his love of EVs, and calling out Pauline Hanson
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The new leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, is a former Marxist from the suburbs who was once a Productivity Commission economist and then, a fireb...
Peter Hartcher: Donald Trump is now a ‘genocidal tyrant’
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump has backed down, at the eleventh hour, from his horrifying threat to - as Trump put it himself - unleash destruction on Iran...
Nick McKenzie on the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Australian Federal Police today arrested war hero Ben Roberts-Smith over the war-crimes murders of five unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners dur...
The court judgment that could change the treatment of Australian women giving birth
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There was a significant judgment in a Victorian court last week, one that is causing a great deal of controversy in the medical community.The case cen...
An Australian study linked vaping to cancer for the first time. Why all the backlash?
05 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us probably have a hunch that vaping is bad for our health.Questions about just how bad have been around for years.So why, then, has there bee...
A national address, nailing down the budget, and Hastie’s ‘striking’ interview
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week we debate the merits of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s national address before getting stuck into what’s happening with the b...
Peter Hartcher: Donald Trump is on the cusp of walking away from Iran
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump says he’s nearly done with the war in Iran, declaring: "We will be leaving very soon." His secretary of state also sai...
Nick McKenzie on how North Korean spies are infiltrating Australian companies
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie logged on to a Zoom call to meet the man who said he was Aaron Pierson. McKenzie was also hiding his real identit...
Albanese has a petrol plan. Will it help, or boost inflation?
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The government has finally announced its national fuel security plan to help us cope with one of the worst global oil crisis the world has seen.After ...
The dramatic end to the hunt for Dezi Freeman
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a sudden conclusion to one of Australia’s most intensive manhunts, self-described sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman was shot dead by police on M...
After the flood: Exploring the link between disasters and dementia
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the murky and fast-flowing water surged into their house in northern Victoria, Brian and Glenys Mulcahey were determined. They would save their h...
The EU trade deal, and One Nation’s South Australian election
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week, while we were all freaking out about the oil crisis – and rightly so – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visit...
Peter Hartcher on why the Iran conflict is spiralling out of control
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How can we make heads or tails of where the Iran war is headed, and when it might end, when Donald Trump changes his strategy with whiplash speed? One...
What the Kyle and Jackie O split says about Australians
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As much as we love to hate Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, who for so long ruled Australia's most expensive radio program, the implosion of their show i...
Explaining the petrol problem and whether gas is next
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve noticed the hike in prices at the petrol pump, but how high might prices go? And are we at risk of running out of petrol?Today, energy re...
'Looksmaxxing’ is the dark new trend and Australian men are leading it
22 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Looksmaxxing" is a trend on social media where, as the name suggests, men aim to "maximise" their appearance in sometimes extreme ways. There are tal...
Is it really time to panic about petrol supply?
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re talking about the enormous global volatility the government is dealing with, courtesy of the US-Israel war on Iran, and whether ...
Trump unloads on Australia, and MAGA official quits over Iran war
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For someone who has said he’s already won the war in Iran, US President Donald Trump sure is angry.On Tuesday night, he lashed out at allies, in...
“We don’t know what the harms could be”: when medicinal cannabis doesn’t work
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Go to any family or professional gathering these days, and there's a good chance you’ll be in a room with someone who’s used medicinal can...
How the 'Great Australian Dream' of home ownership has changed
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Housing affordability in Australia is at an all-time low, and it’s left young people rethinking the dream of homeownership – something pre...
Do the Oscars ever get it right?
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
By now, you’ve probably seen the Reddit threads blowing up over which movie should win the best picture Oscar today. How can Ryan Coogler’...
The extraordinary story of the Iranian women's soccer team
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we talk about the incredible story of the Iranian women's soccer team, some of whom defected and were given asylum in Australia. It was a w...
Trump's 'need for violence'. And have we joined the war on Iran?
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It could be argued that no American president has been as enamoured with violence as Donald Trump. He appears to relish all of it: the spectacle, the ...
How the Iranian women’s soccer team escape unfolded
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Five female Iranian soccer players, in Australia competing for the Asian Cup, escaped in the night from their handlers to seek refuge from their home ...
Reporting from Lebanon: How far will the Iran war expand from here?
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of people in Lebanon have fled their homes due to Israeli airstrikes and forced evacuations as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah esc...
How a group of Australian gamblers beat the Texas lottery
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The lieutenant governor of Texas has called it “the biggest theft from the people of Texas in the history of Texas”. He was referring to t...
Mickey the 'monster': Sinister allegations behind spectacular corporate unravelling
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Micky Ahuja catapulted his company MA Services from nothing to the big time to become the security provider of choice to the federal government retail...
The politics of war, and why Peter Dutton was so upset over leaked Liberal Party review
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Israel and the United States are at war with Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict that Australia seems to be trying to avoid as much as possible.&nbs...
'The MAGA base is splintering': Might Iran break Trump?
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Only six days since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, the destruction is mounting. More than 800 people have been killed, including Ira...
Regrets? There are none. David Littleproud on Coalition split and what Nats do next
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode of Inside Politics, we’re joined by the Nationals leader David Littleproud.He’s a man under pressure – comment...
The energy vampires next door: Life next to an AI mega-factory
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If leading figures of the AI boom, like OpenAI chief Sam Altman, have their way, much of the world (or better yet, space) will be covered in data cent...
Abuse claims against Trump in the missing Epstein files: will it bring him down?
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Only days before US President Donald Trump declared war on Iran, another Epstein files bombshell dropped — this one, relating to allegations aga...
US-Iran war: Iran’s government has been ‘decapitated’. What now?
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump's declaration of war on Iran at the weekend seemed inevitable but nevertheless shocking. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and civilian...
Tim Wilson accused the treasurer of pouring fuel on the inflation flames – is he right?
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week we had some not-so-great inflation figures and also reports that there'll be another interest rate rise right before the government hands do...
What Ukraine’s four-year resistance against Russia teaches us about survival
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Pentagon once said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could succeed in three days. So, as the war rages on, more than four years later, what ...
Inside Dr Jamal Rifi's mission to bring 'ISIS brides' and children home
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jamal Rifi is the Sydney doctor at the centre of a controversial mission to repatriate the so-called ISIS brides – 34 Australian women and child...
Kidnapped, body found: The case of Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A scream in the night, glass smashing, and dogs barking - these were the first signs that something terrible had happened in a suburban Sydney street....
What it will take for police to charge Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody on his 66th birthday last week, it was the first time in nearly 400 years a British roya...
Designer babies: Healthier, better DNA? Or a gateway to eugenics?
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Every parent has the same fiercely held wish for their unborn child: that they're born healthy, and continue to thrive. But how far would you go to ac...
The return of 'ISIS brides’ raises so many questions about what it means to be Australian
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia's ISIS brides - the women trying to return home with their children from Syria - are not getting help f...
The Sketch: Tony Wright on 'Nation's worst government? Jane Hume's hyperbolic historical claim'
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are ...
Trump won’t shelter us. But does Australia really need nuclear weapons?
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are in a dangerous new nuclear age, according to a growing number of world leaders. The signs are not just in Russia’s threats to use its nuc...
A Sydney mother, the big bank and the court stoush over $44.11
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It should have been a time of celebration for a Sydney woman, who had bought a new home for herself and her daughter.But as settlement loomed, her app...
How far will Angus Taylor go to crack down on immigration?
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“Our character is essentially Anglo-Celtic and Judaeo-Christian. That's what has made our country attractive to migrants, and we should keep it ...
The CFMEU ‘crime gang’: A honeypot of money, and a government that looked the other way
15 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie’s 2024 exposé of the criminal infiltration of the construction sector prompted a slew of investigati...
Anthony Albanese interview: Police prayer disruption at Herzog protest needs ‘full explanation’
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We're bringing you an extra episode of Inside Politics today because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had an opening in his diary, and he's granted us ...
Is government spending really driving inflation?
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a bit going on with the Liberal Party this week, but while that unfolds we are going to look at some bigger issues. Interest rates...
Japan’s new PM is the 'Trump whisperer'. Will she compel Albanese to follow suit?
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is so pro-Donald Trump she’s become known as the “Trump whisperer”. She also just gai...
Who is Isaac Herzog and why are there protests everywhere he goes?
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The violence that unfolded outside Sydney Town Hall on Monday night was ugly. Protesters were punched, kicked and trampled as they tried to breach a p...
The politics of Bad Bunny and the Super Bowl’s half-time show
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve taken a passing glimpse at news over the past week, you would have come across the name Bad Bunny.The Puerto Rican musician recently w...
Gina Rinehart, the disability pensioner and a fight over 12km of fencing
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We all know how a neighbour with irksome habits can drive us to distraction. Maybe their leafblower is their best friend. Or they blast their music at...
Bill Shorten on his random, oblique reference in the Epstein files
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Inside Politics, we welcome back former opposition leader Bill Shorten, who is now the Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra.It'...
The Epstein files troubling Trump and who he’ll threaten next
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Another tranche - amounting more than 3 million pages - of the Epstein files has been published.The US Department of Justice says this is the final dr...
Why our obsession with interest rates and cost of living is a problem
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate for the first time in two years yesterday, to 3.85 per cent. Exactly as mortgage holders have been fearing.But w...
'A crazy week' ahead: Leadership spills and more Liberal defections
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Can the Coalition reunite, after two weeks of political infighting? And will the Liberal and National parties’ leaders, Sussan Ley and David Lit...
Forged via Facebook. The anti-vax parents faking child health records
01 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"No jab no play” policy means unvaccinated children can’t be enrolled in childcare or preschool in most Australian jurisdictions. But some...
A funeral, secret plots, and 'wayward children' — another messy week for the Coalition
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The drama between the Liberals and the Nationals continued this week with what seems to be a total breakdown in the relationship between Liberal leade...
‘Numbers, numbers everywhere’: Interest rate rise likely, but what does it all mean?
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Inflation has risen again, and the markets are already tipping interest rates are likely to increase next week in response. Today, senior economics co...
Beyond the Alex Pretti video: On the ground in Minneapolis
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two Americans have now been killed by federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis in less than three weeks.Their families say they were sweet, passio...
Nude processing sessions and alleged sexual abuse: The cult still operating in Australia
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
She was given the pseudonym XC, by a court, to protect her identity. And she’s never spoken publicly about her experience. But the court documen...
The remarkable story of how Timor-Leste is tackling cervical cancer
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
More than 25 years ago, photojournalist Kate Geraghty travelled to Timor-Leste to document the struggles of the Timorese people as they wrestled back ...
The Sketch: Tony Wright on the Coalition’s 'ship of fools'
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch.Sketches are akin t...
Barnaby Joyce opens up on his defection to Pauline Hanson's One Nation
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
One Nation is having a bit of a moment. Pauline Hanson’s outfit, accused by both major parties of exploiting racial anxiety over her career, has...
Littleproud fired the gun, but Ley set it up: The spectacular Coalition break-up
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are back with a special episode of Inside Politics as a few things have happened this week - namely the break-up of the Coalition, a century-o...