Cut Through

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a surprise announcement before the Easter long weekend – the government’s long-awaited proposal for gambling advertising reform was finally ready and intended to come into effect from January 1, 2027. So, where will gambling ads be banned, and how?

Crikey media reporter Daanyal Saeed joins the podcast to unpack the proposed gambling ad reforms, including three big recommendations from the Peta Murphy report that the government has ignored, and how “vested interests” from gambling companies, sporting codes and mainstream media broadcasters have slowed down the process.

At the end of the day, a proposed bill will not pass without the support of non-Labor senators. Who will they negotiate with to get it through?

Read more:
‘Really disappointed’, ‘betrayal’, ‘bare minimum’: The reaction to Albanese’s long-awaited gambling advertising reforms
‘It’s fucked … most people know that’: Sports podcasters speak out over gambling ad influence
Has Albanese done anything at all on sports betting ads?
Here’s how much gambling money is worth to Crikey, and why we won’t take it
‘Lost in the product’: How the gambling industry creates problem gamblers
The gambling ad ban isn’t about gambling. It’s about the future of the media
What the media earns from gambling — and what it costs the rest of us
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Originally labels for a person’s economic perspective, “left” and “right” have been transformed into social markers that are not only wielded as weapons in political discourse, but actually tell us very little about how someone will vote. In fact, most Australians prefer to call themselves “centrist” regardless of their beliefs. So does the left-right political spectrum still apply to Australian politics in 2026?

That’s the question debated in today’s episode by Crikey politics editor Bernard Keane and RedBridge Senior Insights Adviser Alex Fein. We cover the generational divides, economic transformation and total erosion of trust that has almost all voters, from orange to blue to red, united against the “ruling class”.

So, what’s the alternative? And does it even matter?

N.B.: The quote at 44:36 is by Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Lucas.

Read more:
Are ‘left’ and ‘right’ useful anymore or do we need a new political alignment?
Left and right, forward and back, in and out: labels for a new political world
The Political Compass
Alex Fein: Polarisation is a Myth
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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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It’s been one month since the US began its war on Iran, which means one month that the critical oil passageway the Strait of Hormuz has been closed. As a result, the price of crude oil has shot up, taking the price of fuel with it. At petrol stations across Australia diesel is more than $3 per litre, with unleaded creeping up to $2.50 in metro areas and well beyond that in regional areas.

Economics correspondent Jason Murphy joins the podcast to answer some crucial questions: is the rising cost due to price gouging? What can the government do to keep the price of essentials, like groceries, from spiralling out of control? And is Australia actually at risk of running out of fuel altogether?

Read more:
Do we actually need to panic about fuel?
With petrol prices rising, so is Australia’s interest in EVs. We should strike while the iron is hot
The Iran War is costing a lot more than higher petrol prices
Painful as it is, the rate rise was the easy part. Trump has turned economic policy into a lottery

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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.

After 10 years, more than 470,000 wrongly-issued debts, six separate investigations and $2.4 billion in compensation to victims, the National Anti-Corruption Commission handed down its final report into the unlawful debt recovery scheme known as robodebt. Two public servants were found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, but will not face criminal investigation. The other four individuals – including Scott Morrison – were cleared.

The reaction from victims, their families and the advocates campaigning for accountability was one of disappointment and frustration. Rick Morton, the journalist who has followed robodebt most closely, says he was “shocked, but not surprised" by the NACC report.

Morton joins the podcast to unpack the NACC’s robodebt report, what the saga reveals about the public service, and why covering this story has changed him forever.

Read more:
The NACC robodebt report: A heartbreaking work of staggering incompetence
NACC’s robodebt investigation conjures offensive and stupid excuses for letting Scott Morrison off
Not ‘newsworthy’: Why the NACC decided not to update the media for 63 days
Does the NACC have any hope of regaining public trust?
Exclusive: Robodebt architect remains employed in a senior governance role in the public service

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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.

Can “good people” make change in Australia’s political system, or will power always corrupt? That’s the question that Jo Tarnawsky — former diplomat and chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles — is answering with her series exploring how power protects itself.

Tarnawsky joins the podcast to discuss what it’s like to be “in the room” when big decisions are made, how power is maintained by either weaponising or rewarding silence with gag orders, NDAs and party rules, and the biggest obstacles faced by independent voices attempting to challenge the major parties.

Plus, in light of the robodebt corruption report, how do institutions like the National Anti-Corruption Commission hold us back from good governance?

Read more:
Swimming with narcissists: What power looks like up close
Why good people leave politics — and what it costs us
Setting the standard? Parliament still doesn’t take workplace harm seriously
Power and silence: The strategy of saying nothing
Labor MPs quietly alarmed by Albanese government’s response to US-Israel strikes on Iran
NACC’s robodebt investigation conjures offensive and stupid excuses for letting Scott Morrison off

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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.