Episodes

  • 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
  • Andrew Hastie on Trump’s 'overconfident' Iran war and resurrecting the Liberals

    Andrew Hastie on Trump’s 'overconfident' Iran war and resurrecting the Liberals
    Mar 26 2026
    This week, as fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran continues, a fuel crisis lashed Australian hip pockets harder than ever before. All while the Liberal party faces its own existential reckoning: voters moving moving further right towards One Nation. Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to the shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability, Andrew Hastie, about Australia’s response to the global fuel shock, why he thinks we need to re-industrialise and his vision for the Liberal party’s response to One Nation
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    29 mins
  • How the war on Iran is disrupting Australia’s national security and politics

    How the war on Iran is disrupting Australia’s national security and politics
    Mar 20 2026
    With the US and Israel’s war on Iran continuing to send waves of disruption around the world, Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to two guests about the impact of the conflict on Australia. Jennifer Parker, a defence and national security expert who has served three times in the Middle East with the Australian navy, talks about the US strategy for the conflict and what the chokepoint in the strait of Hormuz means for Australia’s economic and defence stability. Phillip Coorey, the political editor of the Australian Financial Review, discusses the political challenge for Labor – as Jim Chalmers responds to this week’s rate hike by the Reserve Bank, while also managing predictions of economic shocks caused by the war
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    39 mins
  • The social responsibility of tech with new shadow minister Aaron Violi

    The social responsibility of tech with new shadow minister Aaron Violi
    Mar 13 2026
    Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to new shadow minister for the digital economy, science, innovation and cybersecurity Aaron Violi, who was promoted to the frontbench in a reshuffle by opposition leader Angus Taylor. Prior to politics, Violi worked in the digital economy and says the government has been unprepared for the disruption of AI. Violi also discusses the Coalition’s policy challenge of balancing concerns about immigration and the cost of living, as the opposition tries to rebuild trust after months of internal conflict over their leadership
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    30 mins
  • Yanis Varoufakis on Donald Trump, global conflicts and the AI revolution

    Yanis Varoufakis on Donald Trump, global conflicts and the AI revolution
    Mar 6 2026
    The economist, author and politician Yanis Varoufakis speaks to political editor Tom McIlroy about his blunt assessment about the ability of the global economic system to address the biggest challenges of the 21st century. They also discuss Europe’s failures in Russia’s war on Ukraine, the candid admissions of Donald Trump on the reality of climate change and how AI has changed the relationship between individuals and capital. Speaking from Athens before his national tour with the Australia Institute this week, the former finance minister for Greece also speaks about his recent charge for the alleged promotion of recreational drugs and why he thinks this was politically motivated
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    37 mins
  • The Coalition’s view on the IS families stuck in Syria, with Jonno Duniam

    The Coalition’s view on the IS families stuck in Syria, with Jonno Duniam
    Feb 27 2026
    Hardline exchanges over the 34 Australian women and children stuck in Syria have continued this week, with the opposition saying the group should be blocked from returning due to their ties with Islamic State. Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to shadow minister for home affairs and immigration Jonno Duniam, who argues that the government has had a ‘hands-off’ approach so far. In the lead-up to next week’s return to parliament with a new shadow frontbench, the Tasmanian senator also discusses the Coalition’s plan to propose laws that would make it an offence to help people linked to terrorist hotspots and organisations
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    30 mins
  • Guardian Essential report: One Nation woos progressive voters

    Guardian Essential report: One Nation woos progressive voters
    Feb 26 2026
    Since October, the Guardian Essential poll has been following the rise in support for One Nation but this month’s results might also ring alarm bells for Labor. This is because nearly half of Labor voters said they would be open to voting for One Nation at the next federal election. Political reporter and chief of staff Josh Butler and Essential Media executive director Peter Lewis discuss why One Nation’s surge is more than just a ‘noisy’ protest about the Coalition, and why Pauline Hanson’s party is attracting voters across the political spectrum
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    29 mins
  • Why does the RBA only have one blunt tool? We ask the deputy governor

    Why does the RBA only have one blunt tool? We ask the deputy governor
    Feb 24 2026
    Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Andrew Hauser speaks to economics editor Patrick Commins and business and economics reporter Luca Ittimani about the 2025 surprises that led to the first interest rate rise in two years. Hauser also responds to last week’s criticisms by Tim Wilson, the newly appointed shadow treasurer, that the RBA has not down enough to curb inflation. And we put to the deputy governor your audience questions about house prices, economic inequality and how shoppers can respond when they think companies are ‘taking the p’
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    42 mins