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The federal government has finally released the modelling underpinning its plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

According to the Prime Minister, the economic impact of the plan won’t be that significant. But at the last election Scott Morrison had a very different position when he was opposing Labor’s emissions reduction policy.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on the documents that reveal who’s behind the federal government’s climate modelling - and what it tells us about the way science is being spun for political purposes.

Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Mike Seccombe.

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Australia has become well known as the defamation capital of the world, with many high profile figures regularly, and successfully, suing media outlets.

But recently there’s been a new trend: politicians using defamation law against ordinary people.

It’s become so common that one senior government minister is even suggesting creating a new fund to bankroll the lawsuits, all paid for by the taxpayer.

Today, legal academic and contributor for The Saturday Paper Bri Lee on how the current wave of defamation threats is impacting the ability of regular people to criticise their elected officials, and what that might mean for our democracy. 

Guest: Legal academic and contributor for The Saturday Paper, Bri Lee.

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As the next federal election approaches, the question of whether the Prime Minister Scott Morrison can pull off another ‘miracle’ win looms large. 

But how much do we really know about the man who’s been in charge through a pandemic, a sexual assault reckoning, and a crystallising climate crisis? 

Today, journalist and author Sean Kelly on what’s underneath the persona that Scott Morrison presents publicly, and what his Prime Ministership tells us about our national identity.  

Guest: Author of The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison, Sean Kelly.

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Grammy-nominated musician Courtney Barnett is one the most successful Australian artists performing right now. She’s just released her much-anticipated third studio album, ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’.

This week on The Culture, Osman Faruqi caught up with her as she was gearing up to head on her first tour post-pandemic in the United States. They chat about the creative journey behind the album, writing about love, and ’The Sopranos’.

Guest: Courtney Barnett

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After two weeks, COP26, the international climate summit in Glasgow is wrapping up. The summit has been called the world’s best last chance. So has it worked? 

The primary goal of the conference was to reach a consensus that would keep levels of global warming below 1.5 degrees.

According to research released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), staying below 1.5 degrees is critical to avoid catastrophic climate change. 

Today, climate scientist and one of the lead authors of that IPCC report, Joëlle Gergis, on what happened at COP26, and what it means for the fate of our planet. 

Guest: Climate scientist and author, Joëlle Gergis.

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In a landmark decision, the Fair Work Commission has ruled that every farm worker in Australia must be guaranteed the minimum wage.

The decision comes after years of reports of underpayment and exploitation of workers, particularly in the horticulture industry.

Today, Director of Policy at the McKell Institute Edward Cavanough on how Australia’s farming industry came to depend on wage theft, and whether this decision will finally end the exploitation of Australia’s farm workers.

Guest: Director of Policy at the McKell Institute, Edward Cavanough.

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Over the past few months, Australians ordering goods online have been waiting longer than ever for their packages to arrive. 

In Victoria, parcels sent through Australia Post from interstate are taking up to 14 business days. So what is going wrong at Australia Post? 

Today, journalist and contributor to The Saturday Paper Hannah Ryan, on what these delays tell us about the vulnerability in Australia Posts’ business model. 

Guest: Journalist and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Hannah Ryan.

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Earlier this year, a blistering Royal Commission report found that Crown Casino in Melbourne had links to organised crime, enabled money laundering and behaved in ways that were ‘illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative’.  

Despite all that, Crown managed to keep its licence - for now, though it's been forced into a two year probation period.  

So how has it managed to evade serious consequences for misconduct? 

Today, senior fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity, Tim Costello, on the relationship between politics and gambling, and how Crown Casino ultimately became too big to fail. 

Guest: Senior fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Tim Costello.

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Just one year on from winning the US election, President Joe Biden is in the middle of a political crisis. 

Divisions within his own party have left Biden unable to implement key election promises, and his approval ratings are plummeting. 

And after losing key election races last week, there are now predictions the Democrats could be annihilated at the midterms next year.

Today, former advisor to the Democrats and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Bruce Wolpe on what Joe Biden can do to turn things around and what happens if he can’t. 

Guest: Contributor for The Saturday Paper, Bruce Wolpe.

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Today, Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, will be reading his cover story from the latest edition of The Monthly.

It's called 'The needle and the damage done', and in it, he argues that the federal government’s handling of the pandemic has been the worst public policy failure in Australian history. 

Guest: Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute.

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