Later today, we were meant to be hearing Justice Michael Lee’s judgment, in the multi-million dollar defamation case that Bruce Lehrmann has brought against Network 10. But then, in a surprise turn of events on Tuesday evening, lawyers for Network 10 made an eleventh-hour bid for Justice Lee to re-open its defence, and admit new evidence. This is just the latest twist in a case that has its origins more than five years ago, when former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleges that Lehrmann...

One-time Sydney real estate agent Sarah Dougan always dreamed of making a life for herself in the United States. At one time, her goal was to make it as an actress in New York City. That never happened. Instead, she’s become a successful CEO in the US, and the owner of a multi-million dollar mansion.  There’s just one problem. Australian authorities have been combing through her Australian business records since 2011. And the results have been damning. Not only did she leave Australia, in...

When Independent MP Andrew Wilkie made claims of secret illicit drug testing within the AFL, the sporting community went into damage control. At the centre of his parliamentary speech was a whistleblower - a former doctor for Melbourne Football Club who alleged that players in some instances underwent off-the-book drug testing ahead of a game. If they tested positive, he claimed, the player might fake illness or injury in order to avoid match-day testing conducted by the independent...

More than two years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have become accustomed to seeing vision on the news of drone attacks and bombed out buildings. But what of the psychological, emotional and physical toll on the country’s children?  Do they sleep safe at night? Do they go to school? Do they play?  Their experience has been lost in the fog of war, say teachers on the ground, who are struggling to give these children, and their mothers, a sense of normalcy. Today,...

In the final days of Parliament before a long break, the federal government tried to rush through drastic new deportation laws that would give it the power to threaten people with jail if they are not deemed refugees and refuse to leave the country. Labor says the laws close a loophole that prevents the country from deporting people who have exhausted all legal avenues to stay in Australia and are refusing to leave. But the move was met with strong opposition, and in a bruising loss for the...

For decades, a downturn in the Chinese economy has meant a boon for investors in the West. But then came an unwelcome announcement, earlier this month, from the Chinese government. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on why this announcement isn’t just bad for our economy, but is a reminder of China’s dramatically revamped - and dangerous  - geopolitical goals. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s a church that preaches a hatred of people outside of its own flock. Women are treated as second-class citizens. And homosexuality is not tolerated.  So why does the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church have such extraordinary access to political power brokers? And does it actually perform the acts of charity that it says it does? For which it receives multi-millions of dollars in government funding and tax exemptions? Until last week, many remained questions without answers. That is,...

Once one of our most popular prime ministers, before experiencing stunning and repeated political rejection, Kevin Rudd has been out of the spotlight for years. But that was before Donald Trump let rip with a string of invectives against Rudd, in an interview last week.  It was a conversation that unleashed a barrage of think pieces. Why did Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appoint Rudd as the ambassador to the United States in the first place? And how can he possibly advance our interests in...

In the struggle for power and influence in the Pacific, there is one man Australian security agencies have their eye on. He’s allegedly a member of a powerful organised crime network spanning the Pacific. And, according to secret intelligence documents out of Canberra, he’s a potential threat to our national interest. Why? Because he’s also a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party. And his alleged activities are taking place amid China’s growing influence in the Pacific. All this...

It is an issue that has come up for the last couple of governments, and one that none of them have yet been able to resolve.  Religious discrimination laws have been a contentious topic in our politics for the better part of a decade now, with the rights of gay and gender-diverse students and teachers set against the rights of religious schools to teach and hire according to the values of their faith.  During the election campaign, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would settle this...

The world’s biggest information and communications companies dominate our lives, in many ways. Google, Apple, Microsoft, among many others - we use their products to write up work reports, store our photos, and send messages to our loved ones. Sometimes hourly. And yet, these same companies, according to recent research, are arguably enabling paedophiles to commit the most heinous of crimes against children. On a scale never before seen in human history. These companies are also producing...

Many know it as the platform of choice for people who love to share videos of themselves dancing, or, say, combing the fur of their toy poodles. But, to hear politicians and late night talk show hosts discuss TikTok, lately, you’d think the app was a one-way ticket to political and social chaos.It all kicked off, last week, when the American House of Representatives passed a bill that - should it become law - would require the Chinese company that owns TikTok to sell it to an American...

It was just 45 minutes. But what happened in that short space of time has set-off a frenzy of news stories, an aborted criminal trial, and a multi-million dollar lawsuit. In that time, a young Liberal Party staffer says she was raped by her colleague. He says he is innocent. A court decision on whose truth, is the truth, is expected to be handed down soon.  But amid the layer upon layer of conjecture, is a trail of evidence.  Today, legal affairs reporter Michaela Whitbourn what happened...

A new poll suggests that Australians no longer fear nuclear power the way they once did. Is this actually the case, and if so, how come? And are more young people open to nuclear power as a clean energy solution because they didn’t live through disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima? Today, environment reporter Caitlin Fitzsimmons on why we’re talking nuclear and just how realistic it is that nuclear power will be a part of our transition to a cleaner, greener Australia. Subscribe to...

Wealthy Australians should pay more for aged care, and use their superannuation to do so. That’s one of 23 findings from a government-appointed taskforce that has examined how the country covers its rapidly growing aged care costs. Meanwhile, the Albanese government is also mulling an overhaul of a different kind. It’s planning to restrict the amount that can be donated to political parties and candidates, in a bid to limit big-money donations and restrict the influence of billionaires. The...

Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the Republican candidate for the American presidency, leaders around the globe have begun to worry. Can they Trump-proof their countries? In Australia, concerned government officials are turning to one man for advice. Mike Green is an expert on American policy in Asia, who worked in the George W Bush administration. So, what challenges could Trump pose for us? And how could we best combat them?Today, international and political editor, Peter...

It is the oldest fraternal organisation in the world; and began with a group of builders who first gathered in the Middle Ages in Europe to build cathedrals and, later, some of the world’s great architectural structures. But at the heart of the Freemasons, is secrecy, too. It’s against the rules to speak, publicly, about what happens in this order, which has chapters around the world. Today, investigative journalist Charlotte Grieve, about the 31 current and former freemasons who spoke to...

In the early hours of Sunday, February 4, Samantha Murphy left her home in Ballarat for her usual morning run. It’s what so many of us do, every day. But when Samantha failed to show up later, as planned, for brunch, her family raised the alarm. Police soon appealed to the public for help with finding the mother of three, and began searching hundreds of hectares near where Samantha regularly ran. Volunteers later joined in the effort, gathering from around the country to comb the dense...

She is probably the most famous female athlete in Australia. A beloved - and extremely bankable - role model, who helped unite Australia last year, when she led the Matildas into the World Cup semi-finals. So when news surfaced, last week, that Matilda’s captain Sam Kerr had been charged with using a racist slur in England, the fallout was swift. There were questions about her future in the sport and her leadership of the Australian team. But people also questioned the likelihood of Kerr,...

Last weekend the people of Dunkley, in south-east Melbourne, voted in a byelection, and delivered a respectable victory to the Labor candidate Jody Beylea.  Before the vote, Liberal Senator Jane Hume said that “what we’re hearing from voters on the ground is there is this white-hot anger, there is this fury”. But that turned out to be a massive overreach. There was only an average swing against Labor. Today on Inside Politics, chief political correspondent David Crowe and political...

For years now, global leaders have become somewhat accustomed to Russian president Vladimir Putin threatening nuclear attack on his enemies. He’s only picked up on those threats, since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, just over two years ago.  To many, these were simply sabre rattling; a show of strength. And a bluff. But then came the leak, about a week ago, of Russian military documents that give new insights into Putin’s nuclear strategies.  Today, international and...

You know it; I know it, and the politicians sure know it. We’re still in the grip of a cost of living crisis.  But while our two main political parties take pot-shots at each other, and try to score points over who’s doing a better job at providing relief, one main part of the discussion has been lost. What are we spending our money on now? And why? Today, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright on the biggest shift in our spending habits that he’s seen, in his nearly 40 years long...

The alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in a terrace house in the inner city of Sydney, on February 19, stunned the nation. The case began after police found a bag with bloodied contents on February 21, in a skip near a police station in the south Sydney suburb of Cronulla. This led to a manhunt, across Sydney and beyond, after which time Beau Lamarre-Condon, an active police officer, handed himself in at a police station. Exactly a week ago today, Lamarre-Condon led police to the...

Tomorrow marks one of the most important dates on the American political calendar. It’s Super Tuesday, when 15 states hold mini-elections to help determine who will win their party’s presidential nomination, and then go on to vie for the top spot in the White House, in November.  So, which states are voting? And how might they tap into the personal and political vulnerabilities of the three main challengers: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley? Today, North America correspondent Farrah...

David McBride is awaiting sentencing for the leak of classified military documents from his time as an army lawyer in Afghanistan. In a candid conversation with senior Good Weekend writer Jane Cadzow, he speaks about what led him to do it, the personal fallout and his complex relationship with his father William, who blew the whistle on problems with thalidomide in the 1960s before his own fall from grace. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See...