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Today on Inside Politics, we welcome back former opposition leader Bill Shorten, who is now the Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra. It's a timely moment to have Shorten on the podcast as he obliquely (very obliquely, we stress) came up in the Epstein files this week. Strangely, in the massive dump of new documents from the files, there is a text message exchange between Steve Bannon, the former strategist for Donald Trump, and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In the messages, Bannon boasts that he spoke to Australian billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer on his disruptive $80 million advertising campaign during the 2019 federal election. This was the election contested by Shorten, and we asked him what he thought. Joining host Jacqueline Maley for this discussion is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The drama between the Liberals and the Nationals continued this week with what seems to be a total breakdown in the relationship between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud. Meanwhile, Ley's leadership remains in mortal peril, and in a plot twist, Littleproud faces his own leadership challenge next week. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal joins Jacqueline Maley in today's episode. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are akin to a verbal cartoon and, when done well, capture a moment in politics. Today, in a bonus episode of Inside Politics, we bring you Wright's sketch on the disintegration of the Coalition, titled: It’s a mess of Titanic proportions on the Coalition’s ship of fools. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One Nation is having a bit of a moment. Pauline Hanson’s outfit, accused by both major parties of exploiting racial anxiety over her career, has faded into irrelevance at points since she burst onto the scene in the late 1990s. But two new polls have recorded record-high primary votes for One Nation. One of them saw One Nation’s vote rise above the Coalition, which split in spectacular fashion this week, over new hate crime legislation in the wake of the Bondi massacre. The break-up of the Coalition, and the rise of One Nation, may point to a tectonic change in conservative politics. At same time, the attack at Bondi has further sapped trust in our political system as politicians have brawled in the wake of a tragedy. I’m Paul Sakkal, and you’re listening to Inside Politics, from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. From Parliament House this week, we recorded an interview before the Coalition split, with One Nation’s newest recruit, Nationals defector and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are back with a special episode of Inside Politics as a few things have happened this week – namely the break-up of the Coalition, a century-old political alliance. Nationals leader David Littleproud announced the split on Thursday morning, blaming Liberal leader Sussan Ley in the process. Federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos joins chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal in today's episode. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inside Politics is still on a break, but we’re set to return in two weeks.   Today, we return to an episode released just after Anthony Albanese’s successful meeting with Donald Trump, and one in which we had a special guest -  former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten. Bill also has some advice for the opposition, and its leader Sussan Ley, before a slight diversion to discussing the dress sense of our chief political correspondent, Paul Sakkal. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re on a break over summer, our dear chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal is probably off to a yoga retreat somewhere in Bali, and we return at the end of January for another fun-filled year of Inside Politics. Well, we can’t ignore the impact that Donald Trump had on domestic politics last year and for this episode, we return to a point in time when most of the press pack was obsessed with whether Anthony Albanese will meet with the US president. It finally happened, and we recorded this episode about a week before the meeting would take place. Paul is joined by our special guest star, and economics correspondent Shane Wright, to forecast the details of the meeting, before they argue about Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ abandonment of superannuation reforms. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy New Year. We’re on a break over summer - lucky us - before we return at the end of January for another year of Inside Politics. Today, we’re returning to an episode recorded in the wake of the divisive ‘March for Australia’ protests, which became the vehicle for a hodgepodge of causes, including immigration, an issue that would lead to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s sacking from the frontbench.  The episode features chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi and Merry Christmas! Your Inside Politics team is on a little hiatus over summer before we return at the end of January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy some of our favourite episodes of the year, starting with a trip down memory lane to election night with our former chief political correspondent David Crowe before he passed the baton to BFF of the podcast Paul Sakkal. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week it feels wrong to talk about politics in the wake of the horrific antisemitic massacre at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Australians and Sydneysiders in particular are still trying to make sense of the senseless.  But the fact is that the response to the massacre has been deeply political, and things got divisive very quickly.  So this week on Inside Politics we are going to discuss the political response to the incident and how it might affect our national life in the months and years to come. Jacqueline Maley is joined by political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode of Inside Politics, former primer minister Tony Abbott joins host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal. Abbott has penned a new book, Australia: A History, describing a more positive view of our past. He also discusses the current political and cultural challenges facing the Liberal Party, as well as reflecting on his own political career, including his relationship with Julia Gillard and the accusations of misogyny. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we're delving into the expenses scandal, if indeed we are calling it a scandal, that has engulfed the Communications Minister Anika Wells. A $100,000 taxpayer funded flight to New York snow-balled into a drip-feed of information about flights to the Formula 1 grand prix, the Boxing Day tests and even a family reunion at Thredbo. All of this dropping at precisely the moment the minister wanted to be talking about the social media ban that was instituted this week.So, what are the rules around taxpayer-funded travel for MPs? And do the pass the 'pub test'? Joining host Jacqueline Maley is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal, and chief political commentator James Massola. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was on his honeymoon after his low-key Lodge wedding last weekend, while Senate estimates rolled on in Canberra, uncovering some interesting secrets. Notable was the head-scratching amount that Communications Minister Anika Wells spent on flights to New York, made public ahead of the mammoth social media ban coming into effect. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos join host Jacqueline Maley for this week's Inside Politics. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, Barnaby Joyce finally announced his resignation from the Nationals this week, paving his way to join One Nation, in a week where Pauline Hanson recycled a burqa stunt from 2017. And it’s amid this turmoil that we have a special guest with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and Jacqueline Maley - Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently on this podcast we have been highly fixated on the problems within the Liberal opposition and we have neglected the government somewhat. So this week we are going to focus on Labor, and to that end we have a real treat for listeners. Sean Kelly, a columnist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, was previously a Labor staffer with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. He is the author of a book called The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison, and he has just published the latest quarterly essay – which is called The Good Fight, What Does Labor Stand For? Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.