This week, the federal Opposition ruled out co-operating with the government on legislation to cap the number of international students coming to study at Australian universities. 

Both Labor and the Coalition say that international student numbers need to come down, to ease pressure on housing and infrastructure. But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Labor’s bill was flawed because it favoured the big Group of eight universities at the expense of regional unis. 

Dutton promised the Opposition will impose bigger cuts on international students than Labor, and he said that the best way to bring down migration numbers is to vote for the Coalition at the next election.

So what will the central issues of the next election be? When is it likely to be?

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal politics reporter Natassia Crysanthos.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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A new geopolitical order has been slowly rearranging itself, beneath our feet. Though many of us might not have been looking closely enough to notice it. It’s a new, so-called “axis of evil”, made up of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

For the first time since the Cold War ended, these four autocracies are working together in an aggressive military partnership. In the latest instance, it’s to fight a proxy war against Ukraine. 

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on how a Donald Trump presidency might impact the West’s fight against this “axis of evil”. And the events in the last week that illustrate what Australia and its allies are up against.

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Health officials have warned us of the potential health risks of vaping for a while now. But, a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes has uncovered an even bigger problem. Organised criminals, infuriated pharmacists and a government struggling to crack down on vaping, particularly among young Australians, are at war.

Today, investigative journalist Eryk Bagshaw, on whether this perfect storm is creating a new generation of nicotine addicts. And undoing decades of work by health officials, who have, until now, caused cigarette usage to plummet.

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On the same radio station that Alan Jones wielded his extraordinary power, his arrest played out live on air.

Just after 8am, during the middle of his old radio spot, investigative journalist Kate McClymont broke the news that the former broadcaster - who was the most successful and feared of his time - was in the custody of police. 

McClymont, whose work sparked the police investigation, revealed in our mastheads last year that the controversial broadcaster allegedly indecently assaulted, groped or inappropriately touched multiple young men.

Today, Kate McClymont brings us the latest on this significant development and what happens from here.

And just a warning, this episode contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732.

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Women in Afghanistan have had their freedoms crushed by the Taliban, which has enacted rules that chip away at their basic human rights.

They’ve long been banned from studying, working, going to a salon or a gym.

But over the last few months, the regime has cracked down even further, by implementing a raft of new “vice and virtue” laws.

Women are now forbidden from speaking or even praying in public. They’re also not allowed to show their bare faces in public, or to be heard singing or reading aloud. Even from inside their own homes.

Today, Australian National University scholar Susan Hutchinson, and human rights lawyer Azadah Raz Mohammad, on what these new laws have made life like for women in Afghanistan. And the global push by countries, including Australia, to hold the Taliban to account.

Read/watch/listen

• 'If we can't speak, why live?' - BBC meets women after new Taliban law.
• Malala: what’s happening to Afghan girls and women is ‘gender apartheid’, MSNBC.

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In recent Facebook ad scams, con artists tricked a Queensland retiree into selling her house, swindled a GP who believed he was investing in a fixed-term deposit scheme and stole about $700,000 from a new father.

A months-long investigation by our papers has heard from devastated victims, cyber-fraud investigators and scamming syndicate insiders, including scammers themselves.

Today, investigative reporter Aisha Dow on how networks of sophisticated criminal groups deploy social media ad campaigns to fish for new victims, fleecing Australians and other victims worldwide.

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As much as we can know anything these days, we can probably say the next election is going to be very close. 

But what about the Greens, often called the third party of Australian politics? How are they faring with the Australian public? Have they successfully rebranded from being the party of the environment to being a broader based movement?

National Affairs Editor James Massola and Federal Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal joins Jacqueline Maley for Inside Politics.

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Have we completely misunderstood why Donald Trump won the American election?

An avalanche of political commentary has convinced us that Trump clinched the presidency because of a simple message.

He was just better than Kamala Harris at managing the economy.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on what the broadest American exit poll tells us really drove Americans to choose Trump.

And how this might play into the upcoming Australian federal election.

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Three years after  a landmark review of the workplace culture in Parliament House found that it was “revolting and humiliating”, a new report suggests that the building where our laws are made might still be an unsafe environment.

A new watchdog at Parliament House, has revealed more than 300 complaints - made over a nine month period - including sexual assault, stalking and intimidation.

Today, workplace relations and federal breaking news reporter Olivia Ireland, on this new report. And what Brittany Higgins, the former parliamentary staffer whose allegations of rape led to this report, has to say about it.

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It’s been nearly one thousand days since Russia launched the attack on Ukraine,  which shocked the world, and marked the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.

Over the weekend, two new developments have dramatically altered the nature of this conflict.

Ukraine attacked Moscow, and other Russian regions, in its biggest drone attack yet.

And 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops have amassed ahead of an expected assault. 

Today, Deputy Foreign Editor Lia Timson, on the significance of North Korea joining this fight. And what impact this might have on American support for Ukraine.

Read/listen/watch:

• 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops mass ahead of attack, US intel, Julia E. Barnes, Eric Schmidtt and Michael Schwirtz, New York Times.

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We’ve all heard a lot about how Donald Trump won the presidential election, which voters he managed to draw in, and where.

But what about the big picture, and the long game? What does Trump’s victory say about how safe America’s democracy is? And what, in turn, this might mean for the safety of the rest of us around the globe? 

International and political editor Peter Hartcher has been covering politics for more than 40 years, and reported from Washington for four years of those, covering George W Bush’s presidency.

Today, Hartcher discusses what Washington insiders, including a renowned political scientist and the journalist who broke the Watergate scandal, have told him about all of this, and more.

Read/listen/watch:

• 'If George Washington was the father of America’s democracy, Donald Trump is its undertaker', Peter Hartcher, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
• 'Don't give up on American democracy' after Trump's re-election, says Bob Woodward, ABC's 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson.

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