ABC News Daily

The oil and gas giant Woodside has been handed a big win by Labor, with the life of its massive gas plant in Western Australia extended until 2070.

That’s great news for the company that wants to start extracting gas from a new basin off the WA coast. But given that almost all the gas is sent overseas, what’s it in for Australian taxpayers and what about the climate? 

Today, reporter Jo Lauder from the ABC’s climate team on why the Albanese government has approved the extension even though we’re committed to net zero emissions by 2050.

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Jo Lauder, ABC climate reporter

Donald Trump is demanding America’s allies massively boost defence spending and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could be ‘imminent’.

At the same time, the United Kingdom, one of Australia’s closest allies, is rushing to invest billions of dollars in its defence force to make sure it’s ‘war ready’.

Today, Peter Dean from the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University on what that all means for us and whether our defence force is fit for purpose. 

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Peter Dean, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney

Interest rates might be coming down, but house prices are heading in the other direction, once again.

Given there is a major problem with housing affordability and there are so many people who can’t even afford to enter the market, who keeps pushing up prices?

Today, the ABC’s finance expert Alan Kohler on why history is repeating and conditions are ripe for a housing price surge like that in the early 2000s. 

He explains why housing really needs to become a bad investment. 

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Alan Kohler, ABC finance presenter

For a second day, the accused in the keenly watched mushroom murder trial has been questioned in court.

Erin Patterson is accused of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson with death cap mushrooms served at a beef wellington lunch in 2023.

She denies the charges. 

Today, co-host of the Mushroom Case Daily podcast, Stephen Stockwell, on Erin Patterson’s evidence and the key evidence the court has heard over the past five weeks. 

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Stephen Stockwell, Mushroom Case Daily co-host

Elon Musk has spent a lot of time inside the Oval Office since Donald Trump returned to the White House. 

It was from there that the world’s richest man, sporting a black eye, was farewelled from his role in the Trump administration on Friday. 

He insists his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has made great progress, cutting more than $150 billion from the US budget. But that falls well short of his initial wildly optimistic claims that he could slash one trillion dollars in government spending. 

Today, staff writer at The Atlantic magazine, Ashley Parker, on Elon’s exit and whether that’s really the end of involvement with the Trump administration.    

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Ashley Parker, staff writer at The Atlantic

Why would dozens of psychiatrists, dedicated to helping people at times of crisis, walk away from their jobs?

On one hand it’s a simple pay dispute, but those who’ve been inside the system say it’s broken, with a demoralised workforce delivering substandard care.

There’s a spotlight on the failures of mental health care in the New South Wales public system and a doctor has shared fears of another ‘Bondi Junction’ attack after witnessing someone with violent thoughts absconding from hospital.

Today, Four Corners reporter Avani Dias on why dozens more doctors are threatening to quit and what it means for patients. 

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Avani Dias, Four Corners reporter

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Donald Trump has spent a long time praising him, but now the US president’s view of Vladimir Putin is shifting. 

Trump’s high hopes of getting Putin to the negotiating table are fading and Russia has recently launched one of the largest bombardments on Kyiv since the start of the war.  

Now, the end of the war in Ukraine seems as elusive as ever and Trump says Putin is ‘crazy’ and ‘playing with fire’.

Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on why Putin is humouring Trump but will never do as he asks and end the war. 

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Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and senior research scholar at Columbia University

When it looked like heavy rain was on its way, Taree farmer Josh Hack knew he had to act and move his cattle to higher ground.

Now, like so many others, Josh is facing the cleanup from the record-breaking floods that devastated large parts of the NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter regions. 

Today, we consider the plight of Australia’s farmers like Josh, but also those further south fighting their way through severe drought and ask the question; is Australia still fit for farming?  

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Josh Hack, Taree farmer

Jess Davis, ABC climate reporter

Donald Trump is beginning to make a habit of confronting world leaders while the cameras are rolling in the Oval Office.

His latest victim is South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa who was ambushed with Trump’s claims that white farmers are being persecuted in his country.  

Today, Nancy Jacobs, a professor of history at Brown University on why Trump is so keen to spread false assertions of genocide and why white South Africans are moving to the US as refugees.

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Nancy Jacobs, professor of history at Brown University

World leaders are strengthening their condemnations of Israel after it's renewed assault in Gaza and limiting the supply of humanitarian aid.

Anthony Albanese described the ongoing blockade as 'an outrage' after the UK, France and Canada threatened sanctions last week, urging Israel to halt its latest offensive and allow more food and supplies into the besieged territory. 

Nevertheless, Israel's leadership is pressing ahead.

Today, a British surgeon in Gaza about the conditions on the ground, and a peace and conflict expert about what the world can do now.

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Dr Victoria Rose, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon in Gaza

Dr Eyal Mayroz, Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict studies, University of Sydney