7am

It was the second of March 1996. After 13 years of Labor in power, Paul Keating’s government had been defeated in a landslide, closing the door on the Hawke-Keating era and opening another on a new political age.

John Howard’s victory marked the beginning of a prime ministership that would run for eleven years – redefining the Liberal Party, reshaping the economy, hardening the culture wars and changing the way power is exercised in Canberra.

In this three-part series, Amy Remeikis – contributing editor at The New Daily takes us back to Howard’s years in power.

Amy has just released a new book on Howard, Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard. In this series she traces his improbable rise to the prime ministership, the way he consolidated power, and how he reshaped the nation in his own image.

This is Part 1 of a three-part series.

 

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Guest: Author of Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard, Amy Remeikis

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The United States has entered a new war in the Middle East – alongside Israel – launching strikes inside Iran.

Iranian authorities say civilians have been targeted, including in a strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab – killing more than a hundred children. Israel says it’s targeting the regime’s military and nuclear infrastructure. And across the region, Iran has already fired missiles and drones at Israel and at Arab states hosting American forces.

Then came the most consequential announcement of all: Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead.

Khamenei was the centre of Iran’s power for decades – and his death leaves the country’s leadership in flux, at the exact moment the conflict is spreading.

Today, Dr Bader Mousa Al-Saif – a Gulf politics expert, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University and non-resident fellow at The Arab Gulf States institute – on the goal of regime change in Iran and whether Gulf states will pick a side.

 

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Guest: Gulf politics expert and assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, Dr Bader Mousa Al-Saif

Photo: EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

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Immigration is back at the centre of federal politics – again.

The Coalition’s new leadership is arguing Australia needs lower numbers, tougher rules, and a clearer cap on how many people we bring in each year.

It’s a familiar conversation. In the lead up to the 2024 election, Peter Dutton tried to put a hard number on it – promising to cut migration by 100,000 a year, saying it would help free up housing for Australians.

But critics say a large cut would hit the workforce Australia relies on, including the people needed to build more homes.

Abul Rizvi was a senior official in the Department of Immigration from the early 90s to 2007, when he left as deputy secretary.

He says the argument we keep having – election after election – skips the bigger question: Australia’s need for a long-term population plan, and what we want it to achieve.

Today, Abul Rizvi on the politics of population growth.

This episode was first published in April, 2025.

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Guest: Former deputy secretary of the department of immigration, Abul Rizvi.

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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In Canberra, a fight both major parties have tried to avoid is back.

The Senate is examining the capital gains tax discount – the Howard-era change that slashed tax on asset profits and helped turn housing into a national obsession.

It’s long been considered untouchable, especially after Labor’s bruising 2019 election defeat. But with house prices entrenched, inequality rising and the budget under strain, pressure is building on the government to do something.

Today, economist and Executive Director of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss, on why the concession exists, the vested interests resisting change, and whether the politics around it are finally shifting.

 

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Guest: Executive Director of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss

Photo: EPA/LUONG THAI LINH

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Whistleblowers have exposed some of Australia’s biggest scandals – from Robodebt and misconduct in the banking sector, to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan – stories that often only come to light because someone inside decides to speak up.

But for the people who do, the personal cost can be devastating: retaliation at work, legal threats, even prosecution. And that fear keeps others silent, leaving wrongdoing to fester.

The Albanese government came to office in 2022 promising a stronger integrity agenda, including “immediate improvements” to whistleblower laws and broader reform to follow. But years on, what’s actually changed for whistleblowers, and why do so many still feel unprotected?

Today, lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender, on creating Australia’s first specialist legal service for whistleblowers, and what’s wrong with our laws.

 

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Guest: Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender

Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

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Full of hubris and bravado, the State of the Union Address was classic Trump – the showman who knows how to work a crowd. 

In the chamber there was plenty of love, but on the streets of America the President’s popularity has been falling.

Today, US journalist Steve Clemons, editor at large of The National Interest- on the speech and the spectacle – how did Trump’s state of the union go down, and what does it all mean for the midterms.

 

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Guest: Steve Clemons, Editor at Large of The National Interest

Photo: Kenny Holston/Pool/Sipa USA

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When Russia struck Ukraine four years ago it kicked off the first full scale war in Europe since World War II.

Now, as Russia knocks out Ukraine’s power grid, and people freeze at temperatures of below minus 20 – is it time for President Zelensky to cut a deal?

Today, Kateryna Argyrou Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations on travelling through a war torn country and whether it is time for Ukraine to cut a deal.

 

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Guest: Kateryna Argyrou, Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations

Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Sipa USA

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By the time a wide-eyed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was slumped in the back of a Range Rover on his way to the police station last week, the reality had hit home. The man who was once a prince, watching his life crumble before his eyes.

Now, as the world reels from Andrew’s arrest, and the royals scramble to protect themselves from one of the biggest crises the palace has ever faced – a warning from a royal biographer: that Charles could go down too.

Today, royal historian Andrew Lownie, who literally wrote the book on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, on what’s next for the former prince – and whether the King could be forced to abdicate the throne.

 

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Guest: Andrew Lownie, historian and royal biographer

Photo: Richard Pohle/The Times Pool via AP

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Elon Musk and his SpaceX team want to launch up to one million satellites as part of a proposal to power massive data centres in space.

They pitch it as a clean, green alternative to regular data centres. But as Earth’s orbit becomes increasingly crowded, what will Elon’s mega constellation do to our night sky? And could a crash between satellites set off a catastrophic chain reaction?

Today, Associate Professor of Astronomy Sam Lawler on the potential for disaster, the need for new space laws, and the time a huge piece of space junk landed in her home town!

 

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Guest: Associate Professor of Astronomy, Samantha Lawler

Photo: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters Images Europe/Pool/dpa

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Coles and Woolworths are now in court.

The case, brought by the consumer watchdog, came on the back of hundreds of angry posts on X, TikTok and Reddit from shoppers archiving the supermarkets giants’ prices – and accusing them of gaming their “Down Down” and “Prices Dropped” promotions.

The ACCC alleges some of those promotions were misleading –  with the “discount” price the same as, or higher than, what had been charged just weeks earlier.

Today, economist and journalist Peter Martin on the “illusory” discounts – and how a Cadbury Caramello Koala helped fuel the outrage.

 

This episode was first published in October, 2024.

 

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Guest: Economist Peter Martin.

Photo: The New Daily

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