Cut Through

The 2026 federal budget was one of the more “memorable” in recent history. Despite the vast majority of measures having already been aired in the media weeks prior, Jim Chalmers kept one major reveal for budget night: a three-part tax reform, winding back the favourable settings of capital gains tax, negative gearing and private trusts.

The mainstream media has been bleating about “broken promises”, but do voters actually care if the government changes its mind in pursuit of better policy? Politics editor Bernard Keane and readers’ editor Crystal Andrews discuss what they liked in the budget, what was disappointing and the missed opportunity of the gas export tax.

Plus, does Angus Taylor have any hope of improving the Coalition’s fortunes with his budget reply speech?

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There are just three days until the Farrer by-election and – for the first time ever – it looks like voters won’t be electing a National or Liberal MP to represent them in Sussan Ley’s old seat.. Instead, the frustration with establishment politics has seen independent Michelle Milthorpe and One Nation’s David Farly emerge as the frontrunners in a fierce and unpredictable campaign

To help you follow the final days of the by-election campaign, Crikey politics reporter Anton Nilsson and Region Riverina editor Oliver Jacques join this special early episode of the podcast. We discuss the water policy problems that all candidates agree is a top priority for the region, the collapse of the Coalition’s reputation in regional Australia, and how public scrutiny over big donations from the likes of Gina Rinehart has impacted the campaign.

Plus, Nilsson and Jacques give their prediction for who will claim Farrer on Saturday.

Read more:
How One Nation is riding a wave of anger over water towards a federal breakthrough
‘You can only sell so many stubby holders’: We asked the Farrer frontrunners about the role of big money in politics
Just how ‘teal’ is independent Farrer candidate Michelle Milthorpe?
In the seat of Farrer, candidates are united by their concern for water, and disdain for Labor
The Coalition’s pitch to Farrer voters: only we can topple a Labor government. But can they?
Richard Hendrie wants to stop the ‘right-wing slogfest’ in Farrer
Farrer could start the duopoly’s downfall — and blare a klaxon horn for the Liberals

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Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you.
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Health Minister Mark Butler’s “major overhaul” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme will reduce the total cost of the scheme by $15 billion over the next four years. The majority of the savings will come from the 160,000 people who will be kicked off the scheme – a brutal decision given that the NDIS only supports a fraction of the 2 million Australians with a severe disability.

The justification for these cuts is the “social licence” that even supporters of the NDIS believe it has suffered from reports of provider rorting and criminal abuse of the system. So why has Butler’s overhaul focused on reducing participant numbers, rather than scrutinising the business-side waste within the scheme?

Grace Tame joins the podcast to challenge the corporate media spin that has made disabled people the scapegoats for what she believes is a poorly designed system.

Read more:
Slashing $15bn from NDIS while giving $53bn to Defence. Anyone’s autistic pattern recognition radar wailing?
I’m an NDIS insider. Forget rogue providers — conflict of interest is built into the auditing system
NDIS headlines are turning autistic people into the new dole bludgers
Belting the disabled, protecting fossil fuel giants: That creaking sound is Albanese’s project under severe stress
Gillard’s NDIS vision was a promise she couldn’t keep

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Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you.
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Is “free speech” an Australian value? We examine the latest developments concerning two state laws attempting to restrict political expression, and how the people are pushing back.

First, the verdict is in on the protest-restricting laws introduced by the Minns government ahead of the divisive visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog: the changes are unconstitutional. Grata Fund founder Isabelle Reinecke explains what this means for the protesters who were arrested under laws that have now been overturned.

Next, Queensland’s new hate speech laws criminalising the phrase “from the river to the sea” have been challenged by protesters impersonating… John Farnham. Comedian and Crikey columnist Sami Shah joins the podcast to discuss why banning speech never works.

Catch up on our previous episode about the NSW protest laws here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijjR1SJeFs

Read more:
Chris Minns is a constitutional vandal. He must apologise for NSW protest laws or resign
A view from the ground: As police argued with MPs, Sydney’s protest against Isaac Herzog descended into chaos
Try to understand it: John Farnham’s ‘river to the sea’ and Queensland’s war on words by Sami Shah
Red flags and ‘the six-word phrase’: Queensland protest arrests are part of an Australian history of crushing dissent
One critical word is missing in Australia’s push to criminalise pro-Palestine phrases
How Australia became a police state

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Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you.
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If it walks, talks and quacks like a duck… is it insider trading? Journalist Lachlan Keller joins the podcast to explain the suspicious pattern of behaviour that has lead experts and analysts to believe people within the Trump administration are using insider trading to make huge, lucrative bets on global news events.

We discuss the major oil commodities trades made just hours before Trump announced the US-Iran ceasefire, how prediction market platforms like Polymarket could be influencing the behaviour of White House staffers, and why the $TRUMP meme coin is the perfect case study for how the Trump family profiteers off his presidency.

Read more:
$1.4bn was bet on oil falling mere hours before Trump’s Iran ceasefire. It follows a pattern of suspected insider trading
Has $TRUMP pulled off the world’s most brazen crypto scam?
Australia urgently needs a debate about the damage the US is doing to us

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Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.