Activists around Australia have proven willing to risk jail time and fines of tens of thousands of dollars under new anti-protest laws, as states and territories rush to crack down on climate and environmental protests.

Victoria has said the state will end native logging by 2024, but it remains committed to harsh anti-protest laws aimed at protecting the industry.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Elle Marsh, on the harsh penalties for environmentalism and the people willing to face them.

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Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Elle Marsh

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Personal text messages between Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, have been splashed over the news for days – reopening questions about the lead up to the interview when Higgins first went public with the allegation she was raped in a ministerial office.

The Coalition says the texts show evidence of “collusion” and “weaponisation” on the part of the Labor government.

But as the political scandal spirals, the source of the texts, the motives for the leak and the consequences of them being published have remained mostly unexamined.

Today, contributing editor of The Politics at The Monthly online, Rachel Withers, on the leak of Brittany Higgins’s texts, and what it really proves about our media.

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Guest: Contributing editor to The Politics at themonthly.com.au, Rachel Withers.

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While the push towards a Voice to Parliament continues, decisions are still being made that affect the lives of Indigenous people.

Mines continue to open on traditional lands, in states around the country the age of criminal responsibility remains as young as 10 years old, and the gap is not closing.

There are plenty of things that governments across the country could be doing right now to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, but politicians seem to be focused only on the future.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Ben Abbatangelo, on why governments can’t get away with saying the Voice is the only answer.

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Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Ben Abbatangelo.

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A speaking tour claiming to quote “let women speak” has been at the centre of disturbing scenes across Australia.

In Melbourne, neo-Nazis stood on the steps of Victorian Parliament and openly performed the Nazi salute – while in Canberra, Senator Lidia Thorpe was tackled and held to the ground by police as she tried to protest the tour.

So who is this British woman touring Australia, provoking these scenes? 

Contributor to The Saturday Paper and co-editor of the book Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia, Sam Elkin on the woman who calls herself Posie Parker. 

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Guest: Writer and host of Triple R’s Queer View Mirror, Sam Elkin

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Is Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe pushing Australia into a recession?

That has now become the biggest question in the Australian economy – as household budgets are squeezed even further by an interest rate rise that almost no-one wanted to see.

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno, on Phillip Lowe, the treasurer and the fight over wages.

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Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper, Paul Bongiorno.

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It’s the department that’s supposed to watch over the support system for Australians with a disability – and ensure the care they’re receiving is good. 

But the very people doing this job, at the Quality and Safeguards Commission of the NDIS, could be in an unsafe workplace.

And the strangest part of all: the leadership of the commission has allegedly been pretending there isn’t a problem.

Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton, on how the organisation that oversees the NDIS was gaslighting its own staff, and what that means for those who rely on the service.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton.

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The Australian Tax Office suspected that PwC used confidential information to help their big corporate clients get richer – seven whole years ago.

But they did shockingly little about it. They didn’t even share that information with government ministers.

The reason, they say, is that their hands were tied – that bureaucratic rules kept them from exposing one of the biggest scandals in the history of our tax system.

Today, chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Middleton on whether secrecy really should have kept the tax office from doing more.

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Guest: Chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Middleton

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A new green energy agreement with the US, signed by President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese, will allow the Pentagon to fund mining projects in Australia. 

It’s part of a race to control the energy sources of the future, and associated technologies – everything from computer chips to electric vehicles to advanced weaponry. 

So what does this deal mean for our security, as the US tries to match China’s progress using Australia’s natural resources – and are we getting a good deal?

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on the American military’s plan to secure our minerals.

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

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Ben Roberts-Smith dined with prime ministers, attended the Queen’s funeral as a hero and was held up as an icon of the Australian Defense Force. In fact, a huge portrait of him still hangs in the Australian War Memorial today.

But now, a court has found that allegations Ben Roberts-Smith is a murderer, a war criminal and a bully who disgraced his country have been proven.

Today, Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper and author of ‘An Unwinnable War’, Karen Middleton on how the truth about Ben Roberts-Smith was proven and what it means for the legacy of Australian action in Afghanistan.

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Guest: Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper and author of The Unwinnable War, Karen Middleton.

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To mark the 200th edition of The Monthly, the editor of the magazine, Michael Williams, joins us – to read a piece by the late-Mungo Maccallum from the debut issue nearly 20 years ago.

Mungo was a totally unique character of Australian journalism – once described by Gough Whitlam a "tall, bearded descendant of lunatic aristocrats" – he could deftly bounce from the funny and odd to the great stories and issues of our times.

We very much hope you enjoy us revisiting his first essay for The Monthly: ‘From nation to now’

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