ABC News Daily

For a long time to buy a home in Australia you needed a 20 per cent deposit or you’d have to pay a big lender's mortgage insurance fee.

It’s asking a lot, given house prices in our major cities are around the million-dollar mark or more. 

This week, the government expanded a five per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers, with no income caps and more expensive homes now eligible. 

Today, finance expert Alan Kohler on how it works, what it means for house prices and why he’s a huge fan of the scheme. 

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Alan Kohler, ABC finance expert

Victorian police officers had gone to execute a search warrant on a Wednesday morning in a sleepy alpine village. 

But the day turned to tragedy with self-identified ‘sovereign citizen’ Dezi Freeman allegedly killing two of the officers and wounding another. 

Today, Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal who recently spent months investigating the movement and speaking with sovereign citizens on what’s unfolded and what we know about the anti-government movement. 

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Mahmood Fazal, Four Corners reporter

The spy agency ASIO has revealed Iran orchestrated at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia last year and now all ties with Tehran have been cut.  

The attacks in Sydney and Melbourne terrified the Jewish community and were aimed at undermining social cohesion. 

Now the Iranian ambassador has been expelled and Australian diplomatic staff have quickly left Iran. 

Today, Greg Barton, professor of Global Islamic Politics on why Iran would order these attacks and what could happen next. 

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Greg Barton, professor of Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University

The growth in the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is making it financially unsustainable. 

But is moving some children with autism off the scheme really a good idea? 

The government plans to have a new program called Thriving Kids in place by July next year to support children with mild to moderate developmental delays and autism. 

Today, we speak with Jess Otter, whose son has autism and to the ABC’s disability affairs reporter Nas Campanella. 

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Jess Otter, mother

Nas Campanella, ABC disability affairs reporter

If you happen to visit Washington DC anytime soon, you could notice troops and even armoured vehicles on the streets.

No, America is not at war, President Donald Trump has deployed hundreds of members of the National Guard to crack down on crime.

Today, Geoff Kabaservice from the centre-right think tank the Niskanen Center in Washington on whether DC is actually dangerous and what Trump hopes to achieve. 

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Geoff Kabaservice, vice president for political studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington, DC

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Anthony Albanese is a weak leader who has betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews. 

But do we really need to be in lockstep with Israel as it broadens its assault on Gaza?

Today, global affairs editor Laura Tingle on the dramatic slide in relations.  

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Laura Tingle, ABC Global Affairs Editor 

Why have so many hand car wash services replaced automatic machines?

It has to do with immigration policies and there are implications for Australia’s productivity which is among the worst in the developed world. 

Economists insist boosting productivity is the only way to improve our living standards, but could delivering higher wages first actually help to fix the problem?

Today, chief business correspondent Ian Verrender on the key factors left off the agenda at this week's economic round table in Canberra - population and property. 

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Ian Verrender, ABC Chief Business Correspondent

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been to the White House before in what became an infamous encounter with Donald Trump. 

This time he took an entourage of European leaders as backup as the US president pushes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine. 

At the heart of the talks are security guarantees from the US and a possible meeting between Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  

Today, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst on why it could actually be a step forward towards peace. 

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John Herbst, fmr US Ambassador to Ukraine and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center

If the Putin-Trump meeting on the weekend brought about anything, it was a closer relationship between the two leaders. One an accused war criminal, the other a convicted felon. 

So, with the US president rolling out the red carpet for his Russian counterpart, what will Vladimir Putin do next? 

Today, Russia expert Matthew Sussex from the Centre for European Studies at the ANU on Putin’s ultimate aim and how Trump’s helping him achieve it.   

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Dr Matthew Sussex, Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies at the Australian National University

In the month of April, China installed more solar power than Australia ever has. 

China is also now home to half of the world’s wind power and half of the world’s electric cars.

Despite this, China remains the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

So, is it a climate hero or villain and how has the Chinese Communist Party managed to roll out green energy tech so quickly?

Today, climate reporter Jo Lauder on why China is becoming the world’s first ‘electrostate’. 

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Jo Lauder, ABC climate reporter