The electorate of Farrer is holding a by-election this weekend and we’re expecting the contest will be a good one.

The NSW seat, which hugs the border with Victoria, belonged to former opposition leader Sussan Ley for 25 years. Now, it’s a microcosm of the pressures the Coalition is under from independent candidates and One Nation.

And as Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley puts it, Labor has grabbed the popcorn and is sitting this one out.

Also this week, RBA boss Michele Bullock made some unusually pointed remarks about inflation and government spending when she raised the cash rate again. Plus, we’ve been reporting on tax relief that’s expected to be announced in next week’s budget.

Joining Maley today is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

Background reading:

• '‘F’ the lot of youse: Inside the deep political bitterness of the Farrer byelection.'
• ‘That’s assault’: One Nation volunteer grabs Liberal senator’s phone in clash outside polling booth

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US President Donald Trump never fails to miss an opportunity to punish his allies. This week, it was Germany after Trump announced he’d be pulling 5000 troops from the country after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the US had been humiliated by Iran.

But away from the front-page news, Germany and Japan – another former enemy of the US – have been on the rise.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on the stunning turnabout from the two countries that have threatened world peace the most in the past – and how all this will affect us.

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For millions of people, David Attenborough was the man who introduced us to the wonders of the natural world.

But, with Attenborough turning 100 years old on Friday, some are rethinking his legacy, and realising that his biggest achievement might have been missed entirely.

Today environment editor Nick O’Malley and former BBC arts director Jonty Claypole talk about how the world’s most famous naturalist changed our culture.

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Kylie Moore-Gilbert was imprisoned in Iran for more than years, accused of being a spy.

Five years after her release, the research fellow in security studies at Macquarie University is calling on the Australian government to change its strategy towards hostages.

Today, Moore-Gilbert speaks about how the era of "quiet diplomacy" is – in some hostage cases –over.

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On the evening of Anzac Day, a man is alleged to have set in motion a series of events that sparked a national outcry, broke hearts, and ignited rage in Alice Springs.

Today's episode comes after the news that 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis was charged on Sunday with the murder of a five-year-old girl in a tiny Alice Springs community.

We cross to the Northern Territory to journalist Hannah Murphy, from WA Today, on the case of Kumanjayi Little Baby.

Background reading:

• Jefferson Lewis charged with murder over death of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
• A week on, Alice Springs is a town forever changed.

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Inflation figures were out this week, and it wasn’t good news. Next week’s interest rates figures from the Reserve Bank aren't looking crash hot either. So how do these results impact Jim Chalmers’ impending budget and what are the chances the treasurer will press ahead with changes to taxes and housing?

We also chat about the government’s new favourite buzzwords from ‘intergenerational equity’ to ‘resilience’ and what they really mean.

And finally, we discuss whether Angus Taylor’s argument that Welcome to Country greetings were overused was a dog whistle from the opposition leader, or reflects a broad sentiment in the community.

Joining host Jacqueline Maley this week are chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright.

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When the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created in 2013, it was proof that a rich society could find the money to help people living with a disability. This was social democracy at work.

Twelve years on, it has turned into a $62 billion behemoth, on track to cost more than the age pension.

The Albanese government last week admitted the scheme was at risk of collapse. It announced a root-and-branch overhaul to remove 300,000 Australians from the scheme in the space of a few years.

The man leading the contentious reform agenda is Health Minister Mark Butler.

The 55-year-old South Australian has emerged as one of Labor’s most energetic ministers, taking on big tasks in aged care, tobacco control and disability support.

He’s also been asked if he might be the next Labor leader after Anthony Albanese.

He joins this bonus episode of Inside Politics with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

Background reading

• Natassia Chrysanthos and Paul Sakkal – New NDIS eligibility tool will be ‘relatively blind’ to diagnoses.
• Natassia Chrysanthos – ‘Am I disabled enough?’ The question autistic participants are asking after NDIS overhaul.

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Regular listeners will know Peter Hartcher – he’s our international and political editor and a weekly voice on The Morning Edition, helping us dissect and process the extraordinary times that we’re living in.

Every week we get a lot of comments from our listeners, so we put a call out for the burning questions you’ve wanted to ask Hartcher. Today we've collated a selection of them for this special episode.

Background reading

• Peter Hartcher's latest column – Trump says he’s won the war. No one has told the Iranians.
  
  

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It's shaping up to be a story of profound betrayal – if the allegations are proven in court.

On the one hand is one of Australia's most influential and richest philanthropists, a woman who doesn't use email or indeed a computer. 

On the other is her personal secretary, whom she entrusted with access to her intimate personal and financial details.

Today, chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont on the case of Judith Neilson, Annalouise Spence and the alleged $1.6 million sequin-studded fraud.

Background reading

• Kate McClymont's story – 'Profound betrayal’: The billionaire and her secretary’s $1.5m sequin-studded fraud.
• And ‘Overwhelming case’: Billionaire’s ex-secretary refused bail over alleged $1.6m fraud.

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Within hours of the shooting, right outside where US President Donald Trump was dining at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, the American president was venting his anger.

Not, notably, about the gunman firing shots in the lobby of the hotel. But at a journalist who read out what the suspected shooter allegedly thinks about Trump. 

Today Bruce Wolpe, a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, on why this shooting differs - in such a crucial and dangerous way - from the two attempts on Trump's life during the 2024 election campaign, and the reckoning that is now spreading throughout Washington as a result.

Further reading:

• Inside the pandemonium at the Washington Hilton
• ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’: Alleged shooter’s manifesto says he was targeting Trump officials

And just a note, after recording this episode, Cole Tomas Allen, was charged - on Tuesday, Australian time - with an attempted assassination of Donald Trump. According to a note Allan reportedly sent family members minutes before the attack, he believed that it was his duty to target Trump administration officials. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, has said that additional charges would be brought against him.

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Prohibition-era gangs, mafia dons, the notorious Melbourne’s gangland wars and the rise of flashy outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Crime in Australia has had a few iterations, and has mirrored crime occurring in the rest of the world.

But now we’re in a new era.

Today investigative reporter Marta Pascual Juanola on how organised crime has changed and the uniquely Australian trend that has emerged.

Read Marta's story on organised crime here. 

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