Australian Politics

This month’s Guardian Essential poll shows signs that One Nation’s primary vote continues to plateau. But Labor can’t breathe a big sigh of relief just yet. Guardian Australia political reporter Josh Butler speaks with Guardian columnist and executive director of Essential, Peter Lewis, about the health of the government at the halfway point of Anthony Albanese’s second term as prime minister

Speaking with political editor Tom McIlroy and chief political correspondent Dan Jervis-Bardy at the 50th Labor conference in Adelaide, Peter Malinauskas talks about his own state contest with One Nation and why progressives should avoid speaking down to Pauline Hanson’s supporters. And despite the US admitting this week that the production rate of Virginia-class submarines has not increased, the SA premier argues that abandoning Aukus would pose an even greater risk than the controversial agreement’s potential problems

Paul Kelly speaks to political editor Tom McIlroy about his new book on the turbulent era of the Liberal party under prime ministers Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. In The Twilight of Exceptionalism, Kelly writes about how the Liberal leadership changed hands from a conservative, to a progressive and then a transactional centrist. The Australian’s editor at large argues that this period demonstrated the party was fractured over its values and confused about its identity in a changing world

Darcy Byrne is the Labor mayor of Sydney’s Inner West Council and he’s helping lead a grassroots movement on curbing gambling harm in the community – including pushing for a reduction in the number of poker machines in licensed clubs in New South Wales. This momentum comes while the federal Labor party continues to face criticism about the scale of its commitment to online gambling reform. The rising Labor star speaks to Guardian Australia political editor, Tom McIlroy, about why he compares the poker machine lobby to the US National Rifle Association, and his successful motion at this month’s NSW Labor conference on gambling policy at the next state election

The 2026 political year has already been surprising. Labor passed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, which they had previously ruled out. The Liberals changed leaders again, and One Nation has seen a surge of support in multiple polls. Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to press gallery colleagues Michelle Grattan, the chief political correspondent at The Conversation, and Melissa Clarke, political correspondent with ABC Radio National. They discuss their report card on the year so far, and the political contests to watch in the second half of the year