$100k flights, uncomfortable truth about PM's wedding, and the fight over social media

This week the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was on his honeymoon after his low-key Lodge wedding last weekend, while Senate estimates rolled on in Canberra, uncovering some interesting secrets. Notable was the head-scratching amount that Communications Minister Anika Wells spent on flights to Ne…

Kate McClymont on the fake accountant, the solicitor, and the stolen millions

When Mark Leishman and his wife Kathy first sought out the help of George Dimitriou, they were suffering with cash-flow problems at Mark’s business.  By the time their working relationship with Dimitriou finished - and after they discovered he was only pretending to be an accountant - their Newcas…

Will ‘gentle density’ help fix our housing stupidity?

New figures out on Monday show that the median house values in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane have become, well, kind of insane. They’re the kind of figures that make people who’ve been desperately saving to break into the housing market tear at their hair by the roots. But new research shows that …

Why shark attacks in Australia are increasing

It really was the stuff of nightmares. A Swiss tourist, who was swimming with dolphins off the NSW coast, was suddenly mauled by a three-metre bull shark.  The 25-year-old died from her injuries, despite her heroic boyfriend, an exchange student also from Switzerland, fighting off the shark and ca…

How real is the rise of One Nation?

When Pauline Hanson marched into the Senate last week wearing a burqa, it felt, for a moment, like we were back in the 1990s.  Those were the sorts of stunts – and anti-immigration rhetoric – that the former fish and chip shop owner from Ipswich used to pull when she first swept into power.  But,…

Barnaby defects, Hanson offends and Sussan Ley comes on the podcast

Well, Barnaby Joyce finally announced his resignation from the Nationals this week, paving his way to join One Nation, in a week where Pauline Hanson recycled a burqa stunt from 2017. And it’s amid this turmoil that we have a special guest with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and Jacquel…

'Nice is nice': How a dancing Robert Irwin became America's antidote

We feel like we’ve known him since he was in nappies. But now, at 21, the fame enjoyed by Robert Irwin - the son of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin - has been supercharged after winning one of America’s top reality television shows, Dancing with the Stars. Today, culture editor-at-large Michael Idato…

‘They view it as a contagion’: Why Trump wants our migrant data

Donald Trump has long tried to stamp American institutions - and the daily life of his country’s citizens - with his ultra-conservative ideology, openly waging war on diversity, transgender rights and women, among other targets. But now he wants American diplomats in Canberra to report back to him…

Why the BOM spent $96 million on its website

The Bureau of Meteorology has been plagued with public stuff-ups, including, just a few years ago, a false tsunami alert sent to half of the country. This is a problem because farmers use the site to plan harvests, fisherman use it navigate the seas, and the rest of us rely on it to decide if we n…

'Blood oil': How Australia is funding Russia's war

Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Australia banned the importation of Russian crude oil. Even so, Russian oil is still making its way to our shores, and into our petrol. Kateryna Argyrou calls this blood oil - money from which goes to fund the Kremlin’s war machine. Today, Argry…