A national address, nailing down the budget, and Hastie’s ‘striking’ interview

This week we debate the merits of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s national address before getting stuck into what’s happening with the budget. With the world in a bit of a shambles, we found it interesting that the PM hasn’t totally killed off the idea of reforms in the budget to things such as capital gains tax and negative gearing. But, as our guest and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright says, this is the most difficult budget to piece together since the response to the global financial crisis in 2008. Finally, host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal talk about a fascinating interview Andrew Hastie gave recently.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump says he’s nearly done with the war in Iran, declaring: "We will be leaving very soon." His secretary of state also said on Wednesday that he can "see the finish line". This would be significant, but only if the Americans were in control of the war. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher argues the United States has leached power in this war, while the Iranian regime is in its element.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie logged on to a Zoom call to meet the man who said he was Aaron Pierson. McKenzie was also hiding his real identity, posing as a recruiter for an Australian tech company. The whole thing was a set-up, a trap for someone McKenzie suspected to be a spy for North Korea. Today, McKenzie talks about the new way spies are targeting Australian businesses, and what happened in that Zoom call.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has finally announced its national fuel security plan to help us cope with one of the worst global oil crisis the world has seen.After meeting with the heads of all states and territories in a special meeting of the national cabinet, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was acting now to be “overprepared" for any worsening of the crisis that has resulted from the war in the Middle East - now in its fifth week, and showing no signs of stopping.Today, hear federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos on what relief Australians will get out of this plan, and whether the government’s measures will boost inflation.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a sudden conclusion to one of Australia’s most intensive manhunts, self-described sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman was shot dead by police on Monday morning. For more than 200 days, Freeman evaded police after killing two police officers at a rural property in Porepunkah, in Victoria’s High Country, on August 26 last year. In a bonus episode today, crime reporter Melissa Cunningham on how the deadly saga of Dezi Freeman came to an end. For all the latest on this story, visit theage.com.au or smh.com.au.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the murky and fast-flowing water surged into their house in northern Victoria, Brian and Glenys Mulcahey were determined. They would save their home of more than 50 years.In the end, they couldn’t. But what they didn’t know then, during that devastating flood in 2022, was that the worst was still to come.For Brian Mulcahey was never the same again; the previously active man slid into a state of listlessness, and was later sent to a mental health facility.Today, regional editor Benjamin Preiss on the link between dementia and natural disasters.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, while we were all freaking out about the oil crisis – and rightly so – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited to finalise a trade deal between Australia and the EU. Negotiations for this have been on and off for eight years, so it was not a moment too soon that we signed it. But, as Jacqueline Maley and Paul Sakkal discuss, this wasn't just about delicious foodstuffs from Europe, and indeed, Europeans getting access to our delicious foodstuffs; it was also about shoring up our strategic security in a very uncertain time. And, we also talk about One Nation's election unexpected result in South Australia.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we make heads or tails of where the Iran war is headed, and when it might end, when Donald Trump changes his strategy with whiplash speed? One minute, the US President says he’ll drop more bombs on Iran, “just for fun”. The next he decides to lift sanctions on Iranian oil and says that he’s having “productive” negotiations with his enemy. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on whether this war will lead us all into a recession, and what Trump said that reveals how much political trouble he’s now in.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As much as we love to hate Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, who for so long ruled Australia's most expensive radio program, the implosion of their show is consequential. And not just in a business sense – although if Sandilands is successful in the lawsuit he launched against his former employer this week, it could take the entire radio network down. Today, media writer Calum Jaspan on whether Sandilands might take his brand to another platform, and turn it into a political force, with an even greater focus on the grotesque and vulgar – and what’s happened to Jackie O.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve noticed the hike in prices at the petrol pump, but how high might prices go? And are we at risk of running out of petrol?Today, energy reporter Nick Toscano on what plans our government and the fuel companies have to manage this crisis.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.