Radio National Breakfast

Maverick federal MP Bob Katter has been recognised for 50 years of service to state and federal parliaments with an official portrait in parliament house.

The Liberal Party has set itself a deadline to resolve the unanswered question about what it will do on net zero commitments, after their coalition partner, the Nationals, pulled out. 

"From Bigots Island to the Rainbow Isle." That's how long-time LGBTQIA+ advocate Rodney Croome describes Tasmania's path to equality.

While the state was the last to decriminalise homosexuality, yesterday it became the first jurisdiction to offer compensation to those charged and convicted — with bipartisan support in parliament.

"The time has come for a reckoning in Australian higher education." That's according to a newly published essay by George Williams, the Vice Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University.The constitutional lawyer and distinguished professor says public trust in universities is at an all-time low and it's "now or never" for institutions to reclaim their mission for the public good.

Australia's national criminal intelligence agency has outlined the impact and scale of serious and organised crime in Australia... as a new report estimates the cost of organised crime to the country is now up to 82 billion dollars.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission is warning crime is becoming "increasingly violent and visible"... and the costs of serious and organised crime continue to increase each year. 

• Guest: Heather Cook, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission CEO
• Producer: Isadora Bogle

Pressure is mounting on the Australian delegation to COP30 to resolve an impasse with Türkiye over hosting rights for the next global climate talks in 2026.

But Australia's bid remains in doubt, as global leaders begin to question why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won't be making the trip across the Pacific to personally vouch for Australia's case.

• Guest: Surangel Whipps Jr. , President of Palau
• Producers: Eddy Diamond, Grace Stranger  

The government's major environment reforms have passed the lower house, and will now need to be negotiated with the Coalition or Greens before passing the upper house.

Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt says he wants parliament to approve the package of bills before Christmas.

But Greens spokesperson for the Environment and Water, Sarah Hanson-Young, says the reforms should be referred to a Senate Inquiry for further scrutiny. 

• Guest: Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson for the Environment and Water and Senator for South Australia
• Producer: Isadora Bogle 

It's been six months since the Coalition lost a landslide election to Labor.

So has the Liberal Party learnt the lessons it promised to follow after the election, or is it doomed to keep repeating history?

• Guest: Charlotte Mortlock, Executive Director of Hilma's Network,  an organisation to recruit women to the Liberal Party 
• Producer: Grace Stranger 

French police have launched an investigation into sex trafficking allegations linked to late billionaire, Mohamed Al Fayed.

Mr Al Fayed died two years ago and was the former owner of the Ritz Hotel in Paris and Harrods in London.

The investigation comes after scores of women in the United Kingdom,  most of them former Harrods employees, accused Mr Al Fayed of rape or sexual assault.

• Guest: Tom Bower,  investigative journalist and author who wrote the unauthorised biography of Mohamed Al-Fayed 
• Producer: Anne Barker

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his top officials to draft plans for a possible nuclear test, something Moscow has not done since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The order comes after US President Donald Trump's announcement last week that the United States will also resume testing.

• Guest: Jeffrey Lewis, Professor at the James Martin Centre for Non-proliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, in California. Also hosts "Arms Control Wonk" podcast
• Producer: Anne Barker