The Morning Edition

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 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.

We found out, earlier this week, that Buruli ulcer, caused by a flesh-eating bacteria has settled into a coastal town in NSW. Experts say there’s a significant risk that the bacteria could spread to Sydney, and beyond.  Today, health editor Kate Aubusson on how we can stay safe from this disease, which has already gained a foothold in Victoria.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve seen all the headlines. And squinted at the figures. But for god’s sake, what do they actually mean? We are, of course, talking about Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plan. Is it really as radical as some analysts say, relying on “fairly heroic assumptions” about what it will cost? And what will it actually do to the environment? Today, climate and energy correspondent Mike Foley on how the Opposition’s plan compares with the government’s energy strategy. And the straight facts that will help you sound like you know what you’re talking about, at your next dinner party.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the weekend, four Australians were rushed to hospital in Fiji with suspected alcohol poisoning, after drinking cocktails at a resort.  This follows the mass drink poisoning in Laos last month, which claimed the lives of six tourists, including Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles. What’s happening to people’s drinks overseas? And is it all poisoning from methanol, like what happened in Laos? Today, breaking news reporter Jessica McSweeney and Dr David Ranson, a former forensic pathologist, on the latest poisonings.  Audio credit to: Australians hospitalised in Fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning, ABC NewsFather opens up on daughter’s condition after suspected alcohol poisoning in Fiji, Sky News  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It reads like a script from a movie. A small-town boy from coastal new south wales who grew up to rub shoulders with the rich and the powerful and, if all the stories are true, cheating them out of a whole lot of money. Timothy John Alford is accused of being a serial swindler, cheating dozens of people in Australia and in the United States of an estimated $50 million. He has allegedly left a trail of ruin behind him. All while authorities both here, and overseas have been on his case. Today, chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont and investigative reporter Harriet Alexander on following the trail of an alleged con artist.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Albanese was accused of not doing enough to quell anti-Semitism and make Jewish Australians safe. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was accused of politicising the whole issue.  So could the PM have handled the week better? And what did his handling of the firebombing tell us about his powers of leadership? Will Dutton get any blowback for his lack of bipartisanship over the issue?  Plus, Peter Dutton’s rejection of the Aboriginal flag, and Labor’s childcare policy. Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe and political correspondent Paul Sakkal.  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.

The Australian government is expected to announce, today, that it will drop $600 million to help create a rugby league team for Papua New Guinea. Has Prime Minister Anthony Albanese let his love of rugby league go to his head? Announcing this sort of spend during a cost of living crisis? Or is this an uncanny political move? Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott, on the soft diplomacy that will land with the hard thud of a crash tackle. And how effective it might be at combatting the influence of China in the Pacific.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rupert Murdoch’s plan to alter the family trust and cement his eldest son Lachlan as the dominant force in the global media empire has failed after a ruling in Nevada. Murdoch’s representatives say they intend to appeal the decision, delivered after months of secretive court hearings and described by some as ‘unparalleled’ in the family’s turbulent history. Today, media reporter Calum Jaspan on previously unheard testimony from inside the courtroom, including plans reportedly inspired by the hit TV show Succession. And whether Murdoch’s bid for control beyond the grave has had the opposite effect than intended: further galvanising his children James, Elisabeth and Prudence against Lachlan.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shortly after 4am on Friday, the quiet hush of a synagogue in inner Melbourne was broken by what sounded like a sledgehammer, ripping through the place of worship. Glass flew, and one congregant, who was inside the building at the time studying religious texts, was injured. Police have now declared what was an attack that left much of the inside of the building gutted, with twisted steel littering the floor, was likely a terrorist act. Today, regional editor Benjamin Preiss, on how he felt about attending synagogue the day following this attack, and how it’s impacted his community. And later, senior writer Michael Bachelard, on how Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has weighed in on the incident, saying that Labor is partially to blame.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When journalists from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald put a call out to hear from women who’d experienced medical misogyny, they were inundated with stories. More than 500 women responded, within only 48 hours. Many said they’d had their serious diagnoses missed, at the hands of doctors and other medical professionals. Others said they’d been condescended to, or told that what they were feeling was in their head. Some said they’d only narrowly survived, as a result.Today, health editor Kate Aubusson and senior writer Wendy Tuohy, on the invisible epidemic that has its roots in Ancient Greece, but has become, says Tuohy, like the medical version of everyday sexism.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 The 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 promise in the 47th parliament. 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.

We know that many of Donald Trump’s preferred picks for his presidential cabinet sound like the set up for a joke. This is what happens when you nominate a vaccine skeptic to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and a wrestling impresario to become education secretary. But which of Trump's picks should we actually be worried about? And why? Today, Nick Bryant, a former BBC foreign correspondent and author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself, on who is poised to cause the most damage. And how far it could spread.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last night, in a shock televised announcement, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law.  It sent some South Koreans running to their homes, to be with their families. Unsure of what this move would mean. While many others fled to the National Assembly, in protest, even as police and the military surrounded the country’s parliament. In a bonus episode today, North Asia correspondent Lisa Visentin, on how this bizarre situation unfolded and why such an extreme measure was deployed by the president. Audio thanks to: South Korea crisis - President lifts martial law in humiliating U-turn. BBC News.South Korea President Yoon says he will lift martial law. BBC News.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young had allegedly agreed on a massive reform that would establish a federal environmental protection agency. Which they thought would pass through the senate. But then, in an 11th hour meeting, the deal was scotched, according to multiple sources, by prime minister Anthony Albanese.Today, climate and energy correspondent, Mike Foley - who broke this story - on whether Albanese’s captain’s call was personal; a knock to his long-time political rival. And whether it counts as a betrayal of Labor’s election promise.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the last eight years in Syria, a civil war, borne out of the Arab Spring protests, had come to something of a standstill. The frontlines were largely frozen, with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad having control of the major cities, while militant groups wrestled for primacy in the regions. That is, until the attack on the weekend, from a rebel force with origins in Al Qaeda. So what happens now? The last time Assad had his territory and military rule threatened in such a fulsome way, Russia came to his rescue, in a brutal campaign that involved the use of chemical weapons on Syrians. Today, digital foreign editor Chris Zappone on the story behind the rebel group that took the city, why they want to topple Assad, and what role his allies might play again. Audio credit: What happened after the Arab Spring?, Al Jazeera. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been nearly five months since investigative journalist Nick McKenzie broke one of the biggest stories of the year, and exposed what he calls “an unholy alliance” between gangland figures, and one of the most powerful labour unions in the country.He revealed that the CFMEU had become a fiefdom in which bikies and former stand-over men, among others, were given positions of power on building sites - many of them government-funded projects. The culture they created was toxic. Right up the east coast of Australia, the threat of violence was real and omnipresent.Today, Nick McKenzie, on the battle for control of the construction industry, which will be the focus of a court hearing next week. And whether the people in power, who allegedly turned a blind eye to the alliance, will ever be held to account.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe. 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.

Political scandals in the Philippines have long resembled overcooked soap opera storylines. This is the place, after all, where the wardrobe of the former first lady, Imelda Marcos, was discovered, on the day she fled the country, to contain nearly 900 handbags, and around 3,000 pairs of shoes. While half her country lived in poverty. Still, when the current Vice President of the Philippines announced, over the weekend, that she had engaged a hit man to kill her country’s President, it caused many to take pause. Some have argued it's a tactic, to distract the public from fighting for democratic reform. Today, international and political editor, Peter Hartcher, on why this assassination plot is no mere distraction. And what problems it could create for Australia.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Even for those who aren’t political junkies, it’s been a dramatic couple of weeks in Parliament House.  In a stunning capitulation to the Government, the Greens blinked, after nearly a year-long conflict with Labor over housing. But then, in a move that puzzled many, Labor dumped, or delayed, signature bills. If Anthony Albanese calls an early election in the new year, this could be the final sitting week of Labor’s first term in government. And the last chance to get things done. Today, national affairs editor James Massola, on whether the Government’s losses outweigh its wins. And if it could be the first incumbent federal government in 93 years, to serve only one term.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been nearly 20 years since a group of nine Australians were arrested in Bali, for attempting to smuggle $4 million worth of heroin. And now seemingly out of nowhere, five members of this group, who became known as the infamous Bali Nine, have been thrust into the spotlight after a news report said they would be returned to Australia as soon as Christmas.  So what's changed the fate of the remaining five so dramatically? Today, senior writer Michael Bachelard, our former Indonesian correspondent, on the group that once ignited a firestorm of debate around capital punishment, drugs and the ethics of our own police force. And what political and cultural factors might determine their fate.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.