• Inside Politics: Help to buy, build to rent. Will the government's housing agenda work?
    Sep 19 2024

    The Albanese government came to power promising to ease the housing crisis by increasing supply. But has its housing agenda stalled?

    This week, the Greens hardened their opposition to two key elements of the government’s housing policy.

    The Prime Minister has urged the Greens to “get on with it” and wave the plans through. So will Labor be able to secure its agenda? And if not, who will pay the political price?

    Plus we have a look at the war of words between the business lobby and the government. Is this just the usual tension we often see between a Labor government and corporate interests? Or is it something more significant?

    Joining Jaqueline Maley to discuss, is federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal and chief economic correspondent Shane Wright.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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    19 mins
  • Social media 'crackdown'
    Sep 12 2024

    Snapchat is officially on notice. As are Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

    This week the Prime Minister and his communications minister Michelle Rowland announced they will introduce a ban on young people using social media. But they were short on detail, including exactly what age the government would require teens to be before they could access social media.

    Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton promised the minerals industry that a Coalition government would be the “best friend” of miners.

    Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss, are chief political correspondent David Crowe and shadow communications minister David Coleman.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    24 mins
  • The Treasurer v The Reserve Bank
    Sep 5 2024

    This week’s National Accounts figures showed that GDP growth was the weakest annual figure since the 1990s recession, not counting the pandemic.

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the soft growth reflected the “impacts of global economic uncertainty, higher interest rates and persistent but moderating inflation”. But Chalmers also seemed to blame the Reserve Bank, saying the RBA is “smashing” the economy with interest rates.

    Meanwhile, The Age and SMH exclusively reported this week that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vented his frustration to his cabinet colleagues over the mishandling of the possible new census questions about gender and sexuality.

    Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss, is chief political correspondent David Crowe, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright, and national affairs editor James Massola.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    19 mins
  • Foreign students and the economy
    Aug 29 2024

    The Albanese government has told the university sector it has to slash foreign students by 53,000 places by next year. The universities say this will financially devastate them, but the government has pledged to halve net migration by next year, and something has to give.

    Plus, this week, members of the militant CFMEU hit the streets in major capitals to protest the Government’s decision to place the controversial union into administration.

    Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe and Australian National University professor Andrew Norton.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    22 mins
  • A chat with Treasurer Jim Chalmers
    Aug 22 2024

    In this special episode of Inside Politics, Treasurer Jim Chalmers sits down with Jacqueline Maley, chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright to talk about tax, housing and the cost of living crisis.

    The Treasurer acknowledges how high mortgages are impacting ordinary Australians, and talks about what the Government is focusing on in the upcoming mid year budget. Plus he shares some words of wisdom he lives by every day.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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    27 mins
  • Dutton goes hard on visas for Palestinians
    Aug 15 2024

    After a six-week break over winter, the Parliament was a fiery place this week.

    Labor framed the next election as one between the “mainstream vs the maddies”, and the opposition is homing in on its framing of the prime minister as dishonest.

    But, as has been the case so many times in the past year, the parliament again convulsed over the war in Gaza. Opposition leader Peter Dutton started a sharp immigration row when he called for Palestinians to be blocked from Australia because they may sympathise with Hamas. The vehemently pro-Israel leader sought to portray Labor as weak on the Gaza issue by questioning their approach on the refugee intake.

    But how will this play out in electorate, and how has the government responded?

    Joining Paul Sakkal are chief political correspondent David Crowe and home affairs and immigration reporter Natassia Chrysanthos.

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    24 mins
  • Lonely men on the internet and why the terror threat was raised
    Aug 8 2024

    This week the boss of the Australian spy agency, ASIO, lifted the terror threat level from possible to probable. The last increase in the threat level was in 2014, and it was in response to Islamic extremism.

    This time, the risk to society is different - it is the risk of young men, especially, being radicalised online by a grab-bag of conspiracy theories and far-right grievances, and carrying out a lone wolf attack.

    So what are the social conditions that have led to this evolving threat to our safety? And what can our security agencies do to make us safer?

    Plus, we take a look at the decision by the Reserve Bank to leave rates on hold and the effect this will have on the fortunes of the Albanese government.

    Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    21 mins
  • Inflation 'Doomsday' dodged, but what happens now?
    Aug 1 2024

    Australians are buying way less stuff. Households are draining their savings.

    Yet at the same time, we’ve been hearing months of warnings that the Reserve Bank might again hike mortgage rates.

    That all changed on Wednesday when a key data set was released. It showed the prices of goods and services were still rising higher than we would like, but not quite as quickly as some feared.

    Today, senior economic correspondent Shane Wright joins Paul Sakkal to unpack what the latest data tell us about our economy, and whether mortgage holders might see some relief.

    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    20 mins