Australia's home for the best coverage of the biggest breaking news events with specialised analysis of politics, business and sport and agenda-setting interviews with some of the world's leading experts, and change makers.

At the crack of dawn the Prime Minister made an early morning trip to Yarralumla to meet with the Governor-General Sam Mostyn as he called the 2025 Federal Election.

Voters will head to the polls on the third of May.

Meanwhile, as the Trump administration wades through the fallout of the leaked Signal group chat, questions are being asked about whether people in the administration should keep their positions. 

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Salmon farming on Tasmania's west coast will be allowed to continue at its current scale after the federal government's controversial legislation passed the Senate last night.    

The amendments to environment laws prompted a Greens Senator to hold up a dead salmon in parliament in protest. 

On the Breakfast Wrap you'll hear from Senator Sarah Hanson Young. 

Meanwhile, Australia's booming illegal cigarette trade has burned a $6.9 billion hole in the federal budget and continues to fuel organised crime

But despite ongoing calls to freeze any further increase to tobacco excise to combat the black market, the Treasurer has ruled out that option.

And the Treasurer has labelled this budget as the "best combination of affordable, responsible cost of living relief", pointing to sweeping tax cuts for all Australians.

But the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's recommendation to substantially raise JobSeeker benefits above the poverty line has gone unanswered.

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

It was a tax cut few saw coming to the tune of $17 billion  on the eve of an election campaign.

Every Australian taxpayer is set to benefit from this announcement in yesterday's federal budget which also recorded a 27.6 billion dollar deficit this financial year followed by a $42.1 billion dollar deficit - with the budget staying in red for the next decade.

The Coalition says it won't support Labor's $17 billion tax cuts, so what is its vision for the economy?  

Meanwhile Independent Senator for Tasmnia Jacqui Lambie has called out the Federal Government for not providing enough support in the Federal Budget.Senator Lambie says tax cuts and energy rebates needed to be better targeted, and small business help has evaporated under the Albanese Government. 

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Australia's home for the best coverage of the biggest breaking news events with specialised analysis of politics, business and sport and agenda-setting interviews with some of the world's leading experts, and change makers.

The prime minister is set to call the election, as soon as this weekend, once tonight's budget is announced and out of the way.

But the question remains: how will tonight's budget set the path for the campaign, given the government has already made several key policy announcements with big price tags? 

Meanwhile, the Queensland government is set to announce its official infrastructure plan for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics this morning.

This will be the third stadium proposal since Brisbane was announced as host back in 2021, with the construction industry concerned it is now facing a race against the clock.

And the Trump Administration's foreign aid cuts have blown a massive hole in the budgets of global humanitarian organisations and lives are at stake.

But the cuts aren't just coming from the US, with other wealthy countries like Britain, Belgium and The Netherlands are also pulling back on aid funding in real terms.

Now, a new report from the Australian National University's Centre for Development Policy says Australia is spending 10 times more on defence than it is on foreign aid.

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Australia's home for the best coverage of the biggest breaking news events with specialised analysis of politics, business and sport and agenda-setting interviews with some of the world's leading experts, and change makers.

Australians have been told to expect a budget with fewer surprises in it — and a deficit — when Treasurer Jim Chalmers gets to his feet tomorrow night.

According to the government, this year's budget contains $2.1 billion worth of savings, and about a third of those savings are from avoiding the use of consultants. 

But whatever the deficit figure is revealed to be on Tuesday night, it could be a lot worse.

That's because a lot of the spending the government has announced is off-budget spending.

In other news, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a snap election for April the 28th.

Until recently, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre was the clear favourite to win Canada's next general election. But as US President Donald Trump continues to threaten the country's economy - and freedom - the election race has been turned on its head.

And the harmful impacts of pornography will be laid bare today, as New South Wales holds what's been touted as an Australian-first parliamentary inquiry.

The parliamentary committee hearings will focus on the impact of pornography on the mental, emotional, and physical health of vulnerable groups, including children and young people.

Start each day with comprehensive coverage and analysis of national and international events, and hear interviews with the people who matter today

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Australia's home for the best coverage of the biggest breaking news events with specialised analysis of politics, business and sport and agenda-setting interviews with some of the world's leading experts, and change makers.