Episodes

  • Annastacia Palaszczuk on resilience

    Annastacia Palaszczuk on resilience
    May 1 2026
    When Annastacia Palaszczuk led a Labor opposition to win government in the 2015 Queensland election, she was labelled an ‘accidental premier’. She later became a three-term premier who ended on her own terms. In conversation with political editor Tom McIlroy, she speaks about how her resilience was formed by profound personal loss through miscarriage and IVF treatments – which she describes in her new memoir. Palaszczuk also discusses how ‘heartbreaking’ it is to watch David Crisafulli’s government reverse her renewable energy policies and attributes Pauline Hanson’s long political career to being ‘relatable’. Note: This interview was recorded before police charged Palaszczuk’s partner, Vahid Reza Adib, with rape, sexual assault and deprivation of liberty. Adib was granted police bail and will face court at a later date. He made no comment outside the police station on Friday afternoon
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    33 mins
  • Guardian Essential poll: Pauline Hanson has another breakthrough

    Guardian Essential poll: Pauline Hanson has another breakthrough
    Apr 30 2026
    The One Nation leader now has a higher job approval rating than Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor, and for the first time in the Essential poll – the right wing populist party is outperforming the Coalition. After Anthony Albanese confirmed on Wednesday that the upcoming federal budget will not include a tax on existing gas export contracts, political reporter Josh Butler and columnist Peter Lewis examine voters’ support for taxing profits on gas exports. They also discuss the government’s challenge of preparing a budget for an electorate that is increasingly pessimistic about the country’s economic future this year
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    26 mins
  • The minister for veterans' affairs on Anzac Day, Ben Roberts-Smith and increased defence spending

    The minister for veterans' affairs on Anzac Day, Ben Roberts-Smith and increased defence spending
    Apr 24 2026
    Before his trip to Papua New Guinea for Anzac Day commemorations, the minister for veterans’ affairs and defence personnel, Matt Keogh, speaks with political editor Tom McIlroy. Keogh discusses the government’s progress after the royal commission into defence and veterans’ suicide, which handed its recommendations to government two years ago. The Perth MP also responds to the continued display of Ben Roberts-Smith’s military uniform and medals in the Australian War Memorial – despite the recent war crime charges of murder, which the former SAS soldier strongly denies
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    29 mins
  • Disability minister Mark Butler on the 'necessary' cuts to an NDIS under pressure

    Disability minister Mark Butler on the 'necessary' cuts to an NDIS under pressure
    Apr 23 2026
    Nearly 15 years after Julia Gillard introduced the national disability insurance scheme, the Albanese government announced the most significant reforms to the scheme on Wednesday. It’s expected that the billions of budget savings will mean at least 160,000 participants will no longer be able to access the scheme within the next four years. The minister for disability, health and ageing Mark Butler speaks to political editor Tom McIlroy about how the cost of the NDIS became ‘not sustainable’ and the material impact of the reforms on participants. Butler’s announcements have already been widely criticised, and he responds the government’s decision to announce sweeping cuts while also increasing defence spending considerably last week
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    29 mins
  • Ask me anything: the future of Aukus, sanctions on Israel and more ACT senators

    Ask me anything: the future of Aukus, sanctions on Israel and more ACT senators
    Apr 17 2026
    What’s the line in the sand for Albanese to rethink the multibillion-dollar Aukus agreement? Why won’t the government implement sanctions on the US and Israel – similar to those imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine? And should the Senate expand to better represent the needs of a growing population, such as in the ACT? Tom McIlroy, Dan Jervis-Bardy, Krishani Dhanji and Josh Butler from Guardian Australia’s politics team in Canberra answer questions from listeners and readers
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    30 mins
  • Gabrielle Chan on farmers managing fuel and fertiliser shortages during a war

    Gabrielle Chan on farmers managing fuel and fertiliser shortages during a war
    Apr 10 2026
    Journalist, author and farmer Gabrielle Chan speaks to Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy about the experiences of rural and regional Australians whose work and everyday life have been upended by supply chain disruptions caused by the war in Iran. The former political reporter also talks about the rise in Pauline Hanson’s popularity ahead of the Farrer byelection, which is expected to be a strong contest between a One Nation and independent candidate
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    27 mins
  • Energy minister Chris Bowen on the impact of the fuel crisis

    Energy minister Chris Bowen on the impact of the fuel crisis
    Apr 2 2026
    The minister for energy and climate change, Chris Bowen, tells Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom McIlroy, that despite shortages at petrol stations around Australia, there have so far been no disruptions to the country’s fuel supply. Bowen responds to criticisms about the Albanese government’s communication to the public, as the second month of the US-Israel war on Iran continues to send shockwaves around the world. The minister also argues that rationing fuel is not necessary for now, and that having a staged plan with the states is good government at work
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    25 mins
  • Guardian Essential report: Australians don’t want the war on Iran – Australian politics podcast

    Guardian Essential report: Australians don’t want the war on Iran – Australian politics podcast
    Mar 26 2026
    After Australia became one of the first countries to back the US’s war on Iran, this month’s poll shows voters are questioning Canberra’s relationship with the US and an increasingly unpredictable Donald Trump. Political reporter Josh Butler and Essential Media executive director Peter Lewis discuss why Australians want the government to broaden our diplomatic relationships and if voters are blaming the government for being dragged along on Trump’s latest alarming intervention
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    28 mins