A funeral, secret plots, and 'wayward children' — another messy week for the Coalition

The drama between the Liberals and the Nationals continued this week with what seems to be a total breakdown in the relationship between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud. Meanwhile, Ley's leadership remains in mortal peril, and in a plot twist, Littleproud faces his…

The Sketch: Tony Wright on the Coalition’s 'ship of fools'

Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are akin to a verbal cartoon and, when done well, capture a moment in politics. Today, in a bonus episode of Inside Politics, we bring you Wright's sketch on …

Barnaby Joyce opens up on his defection to Pauline Hanson's One Nation

One Nation is having a bit of a moment. Pauline Hanson’s outfit, accused by both major parties of exploiting racial anxiety over her career, has faded into irrelevance at points since she burst onto the scene in the late 1990s. But two new polls have recorded record-high primary votes for One Nat…

Littleproud fired the gun, but Ley set up the circumstances: The spectacular Coalition break-up

We are back with a special episode of Inside Politics as a few things have happened this week – namely the break-up of the Coalition, a century-old political alliance. Nationals leader David Littleproud announced the split on Thursday morning, blaming Liberal leader Sussan Ley in the process. Fed…

Best of 2025: Bill Shorten on Albanese's Trump triumph, and the opposition's next move

Inside Politics is still on a break, but we’re set to return in two weeks.   Today, we return to an episode released just after Anthony Albanese’s successful meeting with Donald Trump, and one in which we had a special guest -  former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten. Bill also has some advic…

Best of 2025: Albanese meets with Trump next week. Anything could happen

We’re on a break over summer, our dear chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal is probably off to a yoga retreat somewhere in Bali, and we return at the end of January for another fun-filled year of Inside Politics. Well, we can’t ignore the impact that Donald Trump had on domestic politics last…

Best of 2025: The rallies, the neo-Nazis, the flag-draping: How politics on immigration have led to this point

Happy New Year. We’re on a break over summer - lucky us - before we return at the end of January for another year of Inside Politics. Today, we’re returning to an episode recorded in the wake of the divisive ‘March for Australia’ protests, which became the vehicle for a hodgepodge of causes, incl…

Best of 2025: A Labor 'landslide' and disaster for Dutton

Hi and Merry Christmas! Your Inside Politics team is on a little hiatus over summer before we return at the end of January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy some of our favourite episodes of the year, starting with a trip down memory lane to election night with our former chief political corres…

Anger in the aftermath: Albanese and the Bondi attack

This week it feels wrong to talk about politics in the wake of the horrific antisemitic massacre at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Australians and Sydneysiders in particular are still trying to make sense of the senseless.  But the fact is that the response to the massacre has been deeply political, and t…

Tony Abbott on running for Senate, AUKUS and cultural ‘self-loathing’

In this bonus episode of Inside Politics, former primer minister Tony Abbott joins host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal. Abbott has penned a new book, Australia: A History, describing a more positive view of our past. He also discusses the current political and cultu…