The Briefing

Thursday Headlines: 

• At least 68 killed in Spanish high-speed train crash 
• Chance of a rate hike firms up after inflation rises 
• Ashley Paul Griffith extradited from Queensland to NSW to face further charges 
• Netanyahu's bloc loses majority
• Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate touches down in the US
• Melanie Lynskey cast as Erin Patterson

Deep Dive: The horrific abuse of infants at a remote Queensland childcare centre has once again exposed deep, systemic failures across Australia's $20 billion childcare sector.   

It's revealed hundreds of providers that are currently operating completely outside national quality framework standards.   

In this episode of The Briefing, ABC investigative journalist Adele Ferguson sits down with Sacha Barbour Gatt to break down the investigation and ask how these dangerous regulatory blind spots are able to persist. 

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Wednesday Headlines: 

• Record voter turnout for Israeli election
• Almost 800 threats made against MPs in six months
• PM admits golf club grant is not to fix sewage issues
• ASX closes higher as US shares rise in response to Anthropic IPO
• Meghan Markle to return to Australia to judge Junior MasterChef

Further listening from headlines: Is this the end for Netanyahu?

Deep Dive: For most Australians, the end of life has meant a choice between a plot or an urn.  

Now New South Wales has added another option, after MPs voted unanimously last week to legalise terramation, or human composting.   

Backers pitch it as an answer to shrinking burial space and rising funeral bills. But questions remain about how the process works and where all that soil ends up.  

So is Australia ready to rethink how we say goodbye?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by independent Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich, who wrote the law, to unpack how terramation works, what it’ll cost families, and when it might actually become an option. 

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Tuesday Headlines: 

• Federal Politicians promise to continue honouring Haines
• Coalition releases $31 billion savings package
• Queensland's wild weather turns deadly
• Historic elections in Brazil and Serbia
• Jacinda Ardern lands lecturer role at Sydney Uni
• Victorian prisoner told he has no right to Vegemite

Deep Dive: Pregnant women and working parents are continuing to face discrimination in the workplace in a major way, according to a new report by Australia's Human Rights Commission.  

The laws to protect them – covered in the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work Acts – are majorly outdated according to the commissioner, with calls for significant changes to the legislation to ensure women who want to work and raise a family, can.  

In today's episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by the commissioner to discuss what discrimination against pregnant women and working parents looks like in 2026, the continuing pervasiveness of 'sham redundancies' and how the government can act to clean up the space. 

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Monday Headlines: 

• Anthony Albanese to lead messages of support for Helen Haines as parliament resumes
• Coalition to introduce 'Cash is King' bill 
• Severe weather for Australia's east
• Australia's newest airport officially open to passengers
• Aussies through to semis of RL World Cup

Deep Dive: Israelis head to the polls this week in their first national election since the October 7 attack, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, is fighting to hold on to power.   

With polls showing neither side close to a majority, could this be the end of his long reign?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by Dr Eyal Mayroz, Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. He explains why this election isn’t a simple contest of left versus right, who’s trying to topple Netanyahu, and what the result could mean for Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran. 

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We’re back with this weekend’s installment of Our Take, our looser, goosier look back at the week that was.  

We kick off this weekend with The Inbox, talking all about what we can and can't report in the media after one of our posts from the biggest news story this week caused a bit of a stir. 

Then we jump into The Debrief to unpack why the internet needs to leave Miley Cyrus alone after her Hollywood Bowl concerts. 

Plus, Curtis from Triple M NRL is back to try and take on the quiz AGAIN, while Chris kicks off his campaign to get Strawberry Kisses to the top of the Triple M 1000 countdown! 

The Weekend List: 

• To Try: Eucalyptus oil to get a stain out (listner Spinksy) 
• To Do: Warehouse Sales (Tessa) 
• To Do: Vote for Nikki Webster's Strawberry Kisses in the Triple M 1000

The Weekend Quiz:  

1. Why were curfews enforced in parts of France this week?
2. Why did Prince Harry make headlines after an interview with GQ?
3. The main river of a major Australian city is aiming to become safe and swimmable by 2050 – which city and river?
4. The BOM’s radars have been showing rain where there isn’t any for the last month – what is causing the error in the sensors? 
5. Which Emmy-winning TV show is getting a reboot?

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Friday Headlines: 

• Global scramble to fix program flaw impacting 70% of the internet
• Man charged after allegedly threatening WA MP 
• Ben Roberts Smith denies war crimes in 2GB interview
• Nationals leader Matt Canavan could be moving to the lower house 
• Reporter saves  driver from floodwaters in Brisbane 

Deep Dive: A Tesla sports car launched off a ramp in Texas last week, flipped mid-air and cleared a row of parked cars. Elon Musk calls it proof the future has flying cars. Back on the ground, Australians are only just warming to EVs, and driverless cars are still being road-tested.  

So are we really ready to take traffic into the sky... and who’s writing the rules if we do?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by futurist Steve Sammartino to unpack what Tesla actually built, who else is racing to make flying cars a reality, and whether Australia is anywhere near ready for them. 

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Thursday Headlines: 

• Helen Haines' husband reveals she has lost both legs
• Man arrested after allegedly taking nunchucks into a WA MP's electorate office 
• US envoy meets with Putin for Russia-Ukraine talks
• Australian e-bike hospitalisations on the rise 
• Glee reboot is coming

Deep Dive: Microsoft Teams knows when you’re online, when you’re in a meeting and, with the right add-ons, how fast you’re typing.   

Workplace monitoring has quietly moved from CCTV cameras into the everyday software we use for our jobs. Now AI is turning that data into dashboards that rank staff on how “productive” they are.   

Most workers have no idea it’s happening, and a few lines buried in their employment contract may be the only warning they ever get.  

So how much is your boss allowed to know about you ... and what can they actually do with it?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Tessa Randello is joined by Professor Edward Santow, co-director of the Human Technology Institute at UTS, to unpack how everyday tech became a surveillance tool and what you can do if you think you’re being watched. 

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Wednesday Headlines: 

• Brendan Nugent to face court accused of intentionally targeting Helen Haines 
• France to deploy troops ahead of further protests planned this weekend
• Pauline Hanson apologises for Jacqui Lambie cartoon
• Prince Harry admits he wants to reconcile with his family
• Moths that are wreaking havoc on weather radars across south east Australia. 

Deep Dive: Australia is reeling following the vehicle attack on Independent MP, Helen Haines, on Monday night.  

The violent incident has sparked nationwide conversations about political violence in this country and how we can turn the temperature down when it comes to how we speak about and interact with politics and our elected officials.  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by Chief Political Analyst at The Australia Institute, Amy Remeikis, to discuss the situation, what’s driving it, and how we move forward. 

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Tuesday Headlines: 

• Independent MP Helen Haines critically injured in apparent vehicle attack
• Israeli police make arrests over settler attacks in West Bank 
• French PM urges curfews after riots
• Hanson tells Lambie to 'lighten up sweetheart' over One Nation cartoon mocking her
• Plans to make Melbourne’s Yarra River swimmable by 2050

Deep Dive: The Greens have been powering ahead with a renewed strategy under new leader David Shoebridge to take up the fight to Labor in a more aggressive approach to policies.  

In the space of just a week, the party has blocked or delayed two crucial pieces of government legislation, with the help of the Coalition.  

But in the same time frame it’s also been forced to confront negative headlines surrounding allegations against WA senator Jordon Steele-John and claims of political point-scoring by factions within the party.  

In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt chats with co-host of the Serious Danger podcast, Tom Ballard, to take a closer look at the Greens’ new strategy, and how recent headlines might help or hinder the party’s future success. 

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Monday Headlines: 

• Jordon Steele-John releases lengthy statement, says he’s not on leave
• Violent cost of living protests sweep France with more than 2000 arrested
• Trump endorses Netanyahu as his administration calls for more to be done over Israeli settler violence in the West Bank
• Pope Leo makes first public appearance since lung surgery
• Katie Zachariah fired after five days in White House press secretary role

Deep Dive: They started out treating type 2 diabetes. Now hundreds of thousands of Australians are taking them, many for a completely different reason.  

GLP-1s. You probably know them as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.  

And the more people sign up, the longer the fine print gets. There are side effects GPs are still learning about, prices many can’t afford, and growing concern about online clinics posting pens to people they’ve never met.  

So, years after they went from diabetes medication to weight-loss wonder drug... what do we actually know about them?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by Dr Michael Wright, President of the Royal Australian College of GPs, to unpack what we’ve learnt about these drugs, who should be taking them, and who definitely shouldn’t. 

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