In deciding not to probe robodebt, the National Anti-Corruption Commission seemingly failed its first big test. But the NACC has been given a second chance to reconsider an investigation into the unlawful scheme and six people referred for possible corruption by a royal commission. Former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson was approached to review the decision, but the offer was withdrawn over concerns it might offend a former Coalition minister who is among the people referred. Today, senior...

Santilla Chingaipe has always been a storyteller. The Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author spent her career exploring settler colonialism, slavery, and contemporary migration in Australia and she has just released her first book of non-fiction. On this episode of Read This, host Michael Williams is joined in the studio by Santilla to discuss Black Convicts, which offers a fresh understanding of the ways in which empire, slavery, race and memory have shaped this nation.

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, does not appear to like Donald Trump – and the feeling is mutual. Speculation about Rudd's ability to work with the incoming Trump administration has flared, as Rudd’s historical criticisms of Donald Trump have caught the eye of some in the US president-elect’s inner-circle. This week, speculation peaked when a senior adviser to Trump reposted Rudd’s congratulatory statement to the president-elect on social media with a GIF of an...

When US President-elect Donald Trump claimed victory last week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first to congratulate him. Trump and Netanyahu have a close relationship and Netanyahu’s far-right national security minister has said he’s sure Trump would see “eye-to-eye” with Israel. Meanwhile, president-elect Trump claims he will end the war in the Middle East, but has not revealed how he plans to do so. Until December, Dana Stroul was the most senior civilian at the...

The Albanese government has been accused of pork-barrelling after an analysis of $1.35 billion in grants found almost 90 per cent of seats that Labor held or gained at the election received a grant. Labor has defended the grants, saying they were campaign commitments that had to be met. Today, independent MP Helen Haines on pork-barrelling by the major parties and how the Albanese government rates on accountability and integrity as we head to a federal election. Socials: Stay in touch with...

The re-election of Donald Trump is likely to have alarming consequences for the climate. He was, after all, elected on a promise to “drill, baby, drill”. Trump is already preparing to pull out of the Paris Agreement, again. But this time he could also withdraw from the underlying convention, making it much harder for any successor to change course.  Climate diplomat Thom Woodroofe was there when the Paris Agreement was signed – and when Trump rescinded the first time around.  Now, as COP29...

When Donald Trump took the stage to claim victory in Palm Beach, Florida, he was joined by a football team sized contingent of family and friends, including the chief executive of the Ultimate Fight Championship, Dana White. White, who has admitted to assaulting his wife, took the mic to thank some people he regarded as crucial to delivering his friend Donald Trump the presidency. They included online streamer ​​Aidin Ross, comedian Theo Von and podcaster Joe Rogan. Trump’s appearance on...

It is more or less impossible to imagine Australian literature of the past half century without Tim Winton. From his debut, An Open Swimmer to his epic Cloudstreet, the four-time Miles Franklin Award winner is beloved by generations of readers. On this special episode of Read This, host Michael Williams sits down with Tim to discuss his latest novel, Juice, a gripping tale of determination, survival, and the limits of the human spirit.

After the Country Liberal Party came into power in the Northern Territory, they scrapped a number of key portfolios. Among them was the climate change portfolio, with responsibility for the environment now sitting under lands and planning. It indicates the NT government is prioritising the economy, in particular big development projects. And now, according to a leaked consultation paper, the NT government wants to give itself new powers to fast-track major developments, sidestepping...

As the US election began to rapidly slip away from Kamala Harris, it became clear that the presidential candidate wasn’t going to speak at her election night rally in Washington D.C. That’s when people started slipping out of the event, including Dr Emma Shortis. Donald Trump is projected to win not just the presidency, but also the popular vote. Today, senior researcher at The Australia Institute Dr Emma Shortis on Donald Trump’s projected return to the White House, and what it means for the...

On the eve of the American election, polls say Harris and Trump are neck and neck. Of course, Donald Trump says that’s not true. It’s nothing new for the former president to deny facts. What is new is the way America’s biggest cable news network is handling it: Fox News has started cutting away from rallies when Trump lies. The network’s support of the big lie – that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, led to a defamation lawsuit that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to settle. And...

One of the first things David Crisafulli did when he became premier of Queensland was order the state’s Truth-telling inquiry to stop immediately. The Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, which launched earlier this year, was examining the impacts of colonisation on First Nations people. Work was underway, with witnesses already having testified about racial discrimination and abuse.  The premier gave the order to stop in a press conference, without talking first to the man running the...

The prime minister’s relationship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and whether he likes a free upgrade, has been the talk of Canberra, prompted by the publication of a new book called The Chairman’s Lounge. Speculation about what the book would reveal had been swirling for months, and it was widely known in political circles that some of it would be bad for the prime minister. But when the book was finally published, Albanese and his office seemed unprepared. The saga, which played out over...

In just three books Robbie Arnott has established himself as a writer to trust. Flames (2018), The Rain Heron (2022) and Limberlost (2022) were all rapturously reviewed and garnered a hefty swag of award nominations and wins. On this episode of Read This, Michael Williams sits down with Robbie to discuss his new novel, Dusk, which explores loss, redemption, and survival in Tasmania’s high country.

On a street in downtown Beirut there’s a five-storey building – a derelict hotel. It was empty for years, until recently, when hundreds of displaced people started arriving. Their experience of fleeing southern Beirut to find safety in the city’s busy neighbourhoods is being repeated across Lebanon right now as Israel’s bombardments continue. There has been a massive effort to help shelter the one million displaced Lebanese, but in this building and in many others they aren’t always welcome,...

When the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme handed down its findings, the commissioner in charge went to great lengths to refer six individuals to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation. What followed outraged many, particularly the victims of the scheme: The NACC announced that it would not act on the referrals. That decision generated so many complaints that it has since been investigated by the inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness. Now, that investigation has found...

In a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, just over a week from the election, Donald Trump took to the stage with a vision for the first day of his presidency. Trump is promising to deport more than 11 million people if he wins, making it “the largest deportation program in American history”. Immigration has been one of the most pressing and divisive issues of the presidential race, with fears of “border chaos” and misinformation about immigrants eating pets dominating headlines. But...

When West Australian mining billionaire Chris Ellison was accused of a decade of tax evasion, his lawyers responded by trying to cut a deal with the Australian Taxation Office.  The terms of that deal included an 80 per cent reduction in the penalty payable and an assurance that his conduct wouldn’t be referred to police or the corporate watchdog.  The reason that Ellison, managing director of the company Mineral Resources, would push for those terms is obvious. The real question is why the...

When Elon Musk took the stage at a pro-Trump rally in Pennsylvania to announce he would start giving a million dollars a day to randomly chosen people who had signed an online petition, it begged the question, is this legal? To win, people had to be registered to vote in one of the seven key battleground states and have signed the petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments, which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.  The stunt attracted huge publicity, but...

Melanie Cheng began her writing career as an author of short stories. Her first collection, Australia Day, was published in 2017 to much acclaim. Her second novel, The Burrow, follows a Melbourne family forced to confront the tragedy of their shared past. On this episode of Read This, Michael sits down for a conversation with Melanie about family, connection, and the power of narrative medicine.

King Charles’ first visit to Australia as monarch laid bare a lot of unfinished business. Moments after the king sat down following an address to the Great Hall in Parliament House, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was escorted out after shouting “you are not our king” and “this is not your land”. It didn’t just bring home the fact that, despite a failed referendum in 1999, the Australian republican movement is still alive – it also highlighted that the more recent failed referendum on a...

The fight over abortion in Queensland had seemed settled. It was decriminalised in 2018 and has since attained wide public support. But with Katter’s Australian Party promising to introduce a bill to repeal those laws in the new parliament, it’s become a surprise issue heading into this weekend’s election. The leader of the Liberal National Party David Crisafulli has insisted he has no plans to change the laws, but if enough of his MPs choose to vote with their conscience, the decision could...

This week, a group of Stolen Generations survivors visited a site from their childhood that holds a lot of painful memories: the notorious Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home in New South Wales. The gathering marked 100 years since Kinchela was opened – a home that institutionalised hundreds of Indigenous boys, and subjected them to torture, abuse and reprogramming, in order to assimilate them into white society. Now, the survivors and their families want to take ownership of the site, to...

When Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister, he made a call that made the then president of the United States very, very angry. Donald Trump called it the “worst call he’d had all day” – a “killer”, “crazy” and “disgusting”. But Turnbull argues that standing up to Trump, even if it means saying things he doesn’t want to hear, is the only effective way to deal with him. Now, as Australia faces the prospect of a second Trump term, Turnbull says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s willingness to face...