Latest Episodes
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Greg Barns on the battle to free Julian Assange
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is facing extradition to the United States after this was given the green light by the British Government. Assange faces charges of espionage over the publication of classified information about US actions in the Iraq War. Barrister Greg Barns has worked pro bono on Assagne's case for the last nine years as part of the Australian Assange campaign. Barns argues…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: On interest rates, people smugglers, parliamentary sitting, and Julian Assange
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. Politics editor Amanda Dunn and Michelle discuss Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe's Tuesday statements about the economic outlook. Lowe has again warned of more rate rises, indicating the bank is determined…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tony Wood on the unprecedented energy crisis
As the energy crisis continues to grip Australia's east coast with consumers told to limit their consumption and warnings of blackouts Tony Wood, director of the energy program at the Grattan Institute, speaks with Michelle Grattan about why this has happened and what can be done to fix the system. The crisis is unprecedented, Wood says. "We've certainly seen situations where things have got very tight…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Bowen says "bumpy" time ahead for power supply – but don't turn the heater off
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. This week Michelle and politics editor Amanda Dunn discuss the apparent early signs of a thaw in China's attitude towards Australia. But Anthony Albanese has responded by saying China needs to do something…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Warm smiles in Indonesia, but chillier news at home
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. While Anthony Albanese this week continued to receive a warm reception abroad, at home the new government faced more difficult news. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tony Burke advocates on wages and arts
Tony Burke is the minister for employment and workplace relations and minister for the arts, as well as the leader of the House of Representatives. One of his first tasks is the government's new submission for the minimum wage case, which will say these workers should not be left behind, as inflation has spiked. If the Fair Work Commission gives a 5.1% rise, in line with inflation, is there a case…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Albanese's ministry mixes stability and surprise
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass Anthony Albanese's ministry, with its record number of women in cabinet but one woman, Tanya Plibersek, having her portfolio unexpectedly…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Treasurer Jim Chalmers on the 'spiky' parts of Australia's inflation problem
New treasurer Jim Chalmers has been in multiple briefings since Sunday, and the message he sends in this podcast is that he is not going to try to gild the economic lily with the Australian community. He intends to deliver a "pretty blunt, pretty frank" assessment of Australia's challenges in an economic statement to parliament soon after it returns in June or July. Chalmers highlights two particularly…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Biden impressed by Albanese's energy (even if the Liberals weren't)
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass new Prime Minster Anthony Albanese's climate pitch to the Quad, China's reaction to the Labor government, and what the election defeat…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Historian Frank Bongiorno reflects on elections present and past
Every election is unique, but each also presents comparisons and contrasts with elections past. In this podcast, Australian National University history professor Frank Bongiorno gives his insights into the current battle but also takes the long views of campaigns. Bongiorno talks about the role of leaders in what's often dubbed the "presidential" election age ("a kind of proxy for judgements about…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Five seats to watch on Saturday night, and getting the hang of a hung parliament
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass the Coalition's "super" housing pitch, five seats to eyeball on Saturday night, and what would happen if the parliamentary numbers…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Grattan Institute's Danielle Wood on election's thin policy debate
Danielle Wood is the CEO of the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank, Its purpose is to research and advocate policies to improve Australians' lives. Wood laments the dearth of policy debate in this election. "There was a lot of optimism when we were coming out of COVID that this might be a period of genuine policy reform. It certainly was a period that laid bare a lot of challenges. We saw…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Word from The Hill: Scott Morrison defends Katherine Deves (again), but slips up on surgery detail
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass how the interest rate rise has played against the government, Scott Morrison defending Katherine Deves (again), the major parties…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Dave Sharma, Allegra Spender, and Kerryn Phelps on the contest for Wentworth
In the Wentworth Project, sponsored by the University of Canberra's Centre for Change Governance and The Conversation, we are tapping into voters' opinions in this seat, which appears to be on a knife edge. In this podcast we talk with the two main candidates, Liberal incumbent Dave Sharma and "teal" independent Allegra Spender, as well as with Kerryn Phelps, the former independent member in the seat…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: On the rate rise, Albanese's launch and what a Frydenberg loss would mean for the Liberals
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass the Reserve Bank's increase in interest rates, and which side wins or loses from it, as cost of living is centre stage in the election…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Economist Saul Eslake on why Reserve Bank needs to raise rates next week
After Wednesday's larger-than-expected inflation number, all attention has turned to the Reserve Bank's meeting on Tuesday. If the bank moves next week, it will be the first time there's been a rise in a campaign since 2007, the election John Howard lost. Pointing to recent rate rises overseas, independent economist Saul Eslake says: "If the Reserve Bank were to do nothing in the face of this much…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Ray Hadley's shouty assault on Albanese; the intractable Solomons issue; and the wider play of Deves
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass the latest (static) polls, apparently unaffected by Anthony Albanese's COVID absence, or indeed by much else in the campaign so far…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Andrew Wilkie invites independent candidates to call him for a chat about approaching a hung parliament
Andrew Wilkie, MP for the Tasmanian seat of Clark, has "lived" a hung parliament. In 2010, Wilkie did a formal "deal" to support Julia Gillard. When later she didn't deliver on his key issue of gambling reform, he broke it off. In this podcast Wilkie explains how he would approach the situation if the election produces no clear winner. No deals. But maybe a letter on giving confidence and supply. He…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: On Katherine Deves, a hung parliament, and the new silence about COVID
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass the controversy surrounding Katherine Deves, the Prime Minister's hand-picked candidate for Warringah, who posted transphobic comments…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Joe Hockey on Trump, Biden, and the federal election
In this episode, Michelle Grattan speaks with Joe Hockey about his newly-released memoir titled Diplomatic: A Washington Memoir. Hockey, treasurer in the Abbott government and former Australian ambassador to the United States, picked early that Donald Trump had a good prospect of becoming president and reached out to his team, something that went down badly at the time with the foreign affairs bureaucracy…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Morrison suggests voters judge him as they would their dentist
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass the fallout from Anthony Albanese's lapse when asked to nominate the unemployment level and the cash rate. Meanwhile Scott Morrison…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Court saves Morrison's NSW preselections but what sort of campaign will Liberals run?
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn talk about Tuesday's court ruling in the NSW Liberals' factional fighting. It has given Scott Morrison a get-out-of-jail card. But it still…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Election expert Antony Green on the election map
With the announcement of a polling date imminent, Michelle Grattan speaks with the ABC's election analyst Antony Green about the national electoral map, with its variations between the states. The latest round of opinion polls are strong for Labor, but there's still a long way to got before polling day. Green says:"I think if the opinion polls are correct, then the swing will be large enough for Labor…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Josh Frydenberg is optimistic about wage growth
The tax offset for low and middle income earners (LMITO) will not be extended beyond this financial year, so does this amount to a tax increase for these people? Treasurer Josh Frydenberg tells the podcast the offset was a "temporary measure" that was extended as fiscal stimulus, due to the pressures on the budget from COVID. It's being removed "now that the economy is normalising". With unemployment…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Next step for Morrison is visit to governor-general
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes "Word from The Hill", where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team. In this podcast, Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn talk about treasurer Josh Frydenberg's 'big spend' budget, Anthony Albanese's coming budget reply speech, a Liberal senator's scathing review…
1 Host: Michelle Grattan