Episódios

  • Penny Wong on Trump, Putin and reshaping foreign policy

    Penny Wong on Trump, Putin and reshaping foreign policy
    Dec 5 2025
    This week Labor committed additional military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia as part of a Nato-led initiative. The government also announced new sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, which are a source of revenue for Moscow. Amid these announcements and in the last week of Senate estimates, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong speaks to political editor Tom McIlroy about a tumultuous year in international affairs. The senator reflects on attending the second inauguration of Donald Trump and her continued close engagement with Australia’s Pacific neighbours – in an increasingly unpredictable world order
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    21 minutos
  • Sussan Ley is 'still up for the job' of opposition leader

    Sussan Ley is 'still up for the job' of opposition leader
    Nov 28 2025
    Ever since she was elected opposition leader, Sussan Ley has faced strong criticisms from within her party and across the parliament. Some commentators even predicted she’d be out of the job already. But she has made it to the last sitting week of parliament for the year. On the other side of the aisle, the Albanese government managed to meet their own deadline to legislate changes to outdated nature laws – by settling on a deal with the Greens. Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to Ley about her disappointment about the long awaited reforms, Barnaby Joyce resigning from the Nationals and why she thinks ‘it’s never been about me’
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    25 minutos
  • Guardian Essential report: Climate doom and AI anxiety

    Guardian Essential report: Climate doom and AI anxiety
    Nov 26 2025
    Just over half of voters say that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. The same number of voters had the same response more than 15 years ago, so Essential Media’s executive director, Peter Lewis, and political reporter Josh Butler unpack the difference between the science and politics of climate action in Australia. They also explore why self-aware AI – rather than the climate crisis – ranked as our greatest existential threat, and how the overwhelming support for gambling reform exposes the gap between Albanese’s current commitments and the public mood for change
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    26 minutos
  • Will Albanese’s caution become his weakness?

    Will Albanese’s caution become his weakness?
    Nov 21 2025
    Author and columnist Sean Kelly says despite Labor’s overwhelming majority and an opposition largely consumed by its own infighting, there are signs that Anthony Albanese’s government will waste the opportunity handed to them by the Australian people. Kelly talks to Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy about his new Quarterly essay, which examines the Labor party’s move away from idealism towards pragmatism. And the former Rudd and Gillard staffer argues that while Albanese’s caution has won him two elections, it could also become the prime minister’s greatest weakness
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    17 minutos
  • The fear of neo-Nazis and the politics of social cohesion with Mehreen Faruqi

    The fear of neo-Nazis and the politics of social cohesion with Mehreen Faruqi
    Nov 21 2025
    In conversation with political editor Tom McIlroy, deputy leader of the Greens Mehreen Faruqi says a neo-Nazi rally in front of NSW parliament this month caused fear for many Australians – and the federal government is yet to respond to recommendations for a national framework for anti-racism. And with both houses of parliament returning for their last sitting week for the year, Faruqi says a possible decision by Labor to team up with the Coalition – rather than the Greens – to pass nature law reforms next week would lack credibility, especially when the opposition has now decided to ditch a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    24 minutos
  • A new Liberal and Labor MP on their first terms in parliament

    A new Liberal and Labor MP on their first terms in parliament
    Nov 14 2025
    It’s been six months since the May election, which brought new personalities to Parliament House – along with an even larger majority for the Albanese government. Labor MP Renee Coffey, who beat the Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather, and Liberal MP Leon Rebello, a former staffer and parliamentary attendant, join political editor Tom McIlroy to discuss the start to their first terms. In this bipartisan conversation, the two Queenslanders also talk about the Coalition’s net zero debate this week and Labor’s fight to pass new environment laws before Christmas
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    25 minutos
  • Why net zero is dividing parliament with climate minister Chris Bowen

    Why net zero is dividing parliament with climate minister Chris Bowen
    Nov 7 2025
    Speaking at Cop30 in Brazil, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said the ‘consensus is gone’ on tackling the climate crisis. It’s an apt assessment because this week Australia’s two major political parties have had very different commitments when it comes to climate action. The minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, speaks to Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom McIlroy, about Labor’s free solar power scheme for some homes and the Coalition’s continued infighting on emissions targets
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    21 minutos
  • How the EU and Nato are countering a new type of warfare

    How the EU and Nato are countering a new type of warfare
    Oct 31 2025
    From cyberattacks to disinformation campaigns, hybrid warfare is reshaping global security. Visiting the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki, Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom Mcllroy, speaks with its director, Teija Tiilikainen, about how the EU and Nato are confronting covert interference from Russia, China and other non-democratic countries – and what Australia can learn from Europe’s approach
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    21 minutos