ABC News Daily

Married at First Sight is the highest rating show on Australian television.

It’s been around for a while but the toxic relationships it features are increasingly being called into question, with one incident this season being investigated by police. 

Today, Beverley Wang, host of the ABC’s pop culture podcast Stop Everything, on why so many Australians are drawn to the reality show and whether it’s fit for television. 

Featured: 

Beverley Wang, ABC national culture correspondent and host of Stop Everything! 

If the Coalition wins the federal election, Peter Dutton wants to appoint his own Elon Musk to cut government spending. 

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is now the shadow minister for government efficiency, a title that echoes the Department Of Government Efficiency in the United States. 

So, what will be on the chopping block? And do Australians really want a Trump-style DOGE?

Today, Mark Kenny, director of the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University, on whether slashing the public service really saves money in the end. 

Featured: 

Mark Kenny, director of the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University and host of ‘Democracy Sausage’ podcast

It’s a $20 billion industry charged with the care of almost one and a half million Australian children. 

But is the child care sector being run by the wrong people? Can parents trust their kids will be safe when they drop them off each day? 

Today, Adele Ferguson on her Four Corners investigation into how profits are often put ahead of care and how some centres are not what they seem. 

Editor's note: Adele's investigation 'Betrayal of Trust' goes to air on Monday 17 March at 8.00pm on ABC TV and ABC iview

Featured:

Adele Ferguson, ABC investigative reporter

Donald Trump, a long time electric vehicle sceptic, is now the owner of a brand new Tesla. 

But can the US president’s new found love for EVs save the brand, with Tesla stock tumbling since CEO Elon Musk took on his high profile role in the Trump administration?

Today, an EV expert on all things Tesla and where EV sales are heading in Australia. We also speak with an Australian Tesla owner who’s struggling with having a Musk-mobile in her driveway. 

Featured: 

‘Vanessa’, Tesla owner

Giles Parkinson, founder and editor of The Driven

The Prime Minister has agreed insurance companies are ripping us off and there are many Australians who would have experienced that firsthand.

So, how will they respond as tens of thousands of claims are lodged after flooding in the wake of ex-Cyclone Alfred? 

Today, national consumer affairs reporter Michael Atkin on why premiums keep rising and what can be done to level the playing field.   

Featured: 

Michael Atkin, ABC national consumer affairs reporter

Donald Trump will impose tariffs on Australian aluminium and steel imports this week, but in the lead up, the government was still hoping for an exemption. So, how should we be dealing with the US president? 

The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, for one, isn’t holding back. His criticism of Donald Trump has landed him in the president’s firing line.

But the real casualty of Trump’s trade policies can be seen on the stock markets, which are suffering heavy falls as the president refuses to rule out a recession.

Today, chief business correspondent Ian Verrender on what’s got the markets so worried and what a Trump recession could mean for all of us.

Update: After we published this episode, the White House confirmed Australia would not be granted an exemption on aluminium and steel imports. 

Featured: 

Ian Verrender, chief business correspondent

The world was shocked by Donald Trump’s oval office clash with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The US president has been aligning himself with Russia’s view of the war in Ukraine and pressuring the Ukrainians to start negotiating, without any iron-clad security guarantees. 

As Donald Trump takes a less adversarial approach to Vladimir Putin, who else wins? 

Today, Dan Blumenthal, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a centre right think tank, on what it all means for China’s ambitions in our region and around the world. 

Featured: 

Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

Just before midnight on Friday millions of people living in south-east Queensland were told to take shelter, to go to the strongest room and stay there. 

Tropical Cyclone Alfred was coming their way and for most residents it was the first time they’d faced such a threat. 

By the next morning Alfred would be downgraded to a tropical low, even before it reached the mainland. 

So what happened? How did it unfold and how should we assess the warnings, preparation and response?

Today, we speak to a cyclone expert and go to Lismore in northern New South Wales where the community is breathing a sigh of relief. 

Featured: 

Jonathan Nott, professor of Geoscience at James Cook University

Jenny Dowell, Red Cross deputy team leader and former mayor of Lismore

For so many experts and politicians, the answer to Australia’s housing crisis is simple. Rejig zoning rules, build more homes and get Australians into increasingly dense developments. But is the supply ‘solution’ the cure-all it’s made out to be? 

In this final episode of our series, ABC business editor Michael Janda looks at what really needs to be done on supply and demand to make it just a little bit easier for people to buy a home. 

We’ll also take you to Melbourne, where apartment prices have flatlined over the past five years and first home buyers are flooding into the market. 

We’ll explain what it will take to finally free Australia’s housing hostages. 

Has a housing bubble ever burst without devastating pain across the economy and society? 

New Zealand is in a recession and home values are more than 17 per cent lower than the post-COVID peak. In Ireland, a massive house price surge and crash in the 2000s saw house prices in Dublin more than half. 

So, does Australia need a crash and what would that mean for all of us? 

Some economists think recessions are needed occasionally to reset the economy. In this episode ABC business editor Michael Janda explains how a shock wave would ripple through the economy if the housing bubble bursts. 

Is the medicine worth the pain?