Peter Dutton’s first major promise when he became opposition leader was to build nuclear power plants.

It was a curious idea with no cost attached and and without much community support, according to polling. 

Now, the Labor government has signalled it wants the next election to be fought on the viability of these plants, with the release of a new attack ad focusing on how expensive nuclear power would be.

Beyond the cost, questions remain about the legality and safety of nuclear power in Australia.

Today, emeritus professor and former head of the School of Science at Griffith University Ian Lowe fact checks Peter Dutton’s nuclear promise.

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Guest: Emeritus professor and former head of the School of Science at Griffith University Ian Lowe 

Politics was changed at the last election in a way the major parties are still grappling with.

Now, the record crossbench it delivered looks set to grow even more, with a hung parliament looking ever more likely.

In the lead up to the next election, Labor is courting the teals, knowing the relationship could be crucial to forming government and keeping Coalition MPs out of inner-city seats.

Today, chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Barlow, on Labor’s plan and the fight that could derail it. 

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Guest: Chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Barlow

The Albanese government’s long-promised National Anti-Corruption Commission was met with high hopes that it would weed out corruption within our institutions and restore faith in politics.

But when it came to its first big test – investigating the robodebt scandal – it took the commission a year to decide it would do nothing.

Now, there are concerns that the NACC is failing to live up to its obligations and has been marred by silence and secrecy.

Today, special correspondent in Canberra for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on what the National Anti-Corruption Commission has achieved one year on and whether it’s enough.

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Guest: Special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis

Gerald Murnane doesn’t have readers, he has acolytes. The New Yorker described him as “the reclusive giant of Australian letters”. He’s written 10 novels, several collections of short stories and essays, and a memoir about horse racing. Together these books represent one of the most formidable and singular bodies of work in literature. On this episode of Read This, Michael drives out to the Goroke golf course to chat with Gerald on his home turf.

Bill Shorten has wanted to be the prime minister since he was a teenager. 

Yesterday he finally gave up that ambition, announcing his resignation from politics. 

Shorten spent almost two decades in parliament – rising to be opposition leader and contesting two elections, but never winning.

As an architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, his legacy is significant. But his political failures have also shaped the country in enduring ways.

Today, Schwartz Media’s editor-in-chief Erik Jensen on how Bill Shorten’s career has changed Australia.

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Guest: Schwartz Media’s editor-in-chief, Erik Jensen

At a Senate committee last year, the NRL and Football Australia acknowledged the link between head injuries in contact sports and the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

But a core member of the NRL’s concussion research group is also one of the most outspoken critics of the link between repeated head injury and CTE, calling it an “invented disease … conjured out of thin air”.

His views corroborate the Australian NRL’s multimillion-dollar research program into former elite-level rugby league players, which to date has concluded there is no link between concussion and depression or other cognitive problems.

So how does the NRL justify advancing a position that most scientists don’t agree with? 

Today, journalist and contributor to The Saturday Paper Wendy Carlisle, on the brain epidemic killing ex-athletes and why the science is still being contested.

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Guest: Journalist and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Wendy Carlisle.

Although Australians voted resoundingly against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Thomas Mayo – one of the Voice’s key campaigners – has not given up hope.

He says while the “Yes” campaign lost the referendum, what they gained was resilience and a new generation of Indigenous leaders ready to take up the fight.

He’s also written a new book, Always Was Always Will Be: The Campaign for Justice and Recognition Continues – outlining a vision for what comes next. 

Today, Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander activist Thomas Mayo.

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Guest: Today, Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander activist, Thomas Mayo.

The census is meant to reflect the country back to us – to give vital data on who makes up Australia. 

But this week it’s become a political landmine for the federal government, who first cancelled questions on sexual orientation and gender identity, only to partially reverse that decision amid tense backlash. 

But the question of data isn’t just academic. This debate is coming at a time when the Victorian coroner has specifically asked for more data on the transgender community following a number of young trans women taking their own lives.

Today, writer and co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia Sam Elkin, on the government’s decision to exclude trans people from the census and why counting them could save lives.

And just a warning, today’s episode discusses suicide. Please take care while listening.

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Guest: Writer and co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia Sam Elkin.

It’s been almost a decade since Jacqui Lambie dramatically quit the Palmer United Party.  

Since then, she’s become a political force in Canberra and in her home state of Tasmania as the leader of the Jacqui Lambie Network. 

At the last federal election, Lambie’s longtime staffer Tammy Tyrrell won a senate spot – and at the last Tasmanian election, just a few months ago, the party won three seats.

But now, the JLN is imploding, after Tyrrell resigned and two of the three Tasmanian MPs were sacked.

Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton on the allegations Lambie spied on her colleagues and why she hasn’t been able to hold the party together.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton.

Writer, artist, and filmmaker Miranda July has a devoted – even rabid – following, through her writing, her work on the screen, and her collaborative art projects. On this episode of Read This, she and Michael discuss her new novel, All Fours, which explores desire, intimacy, dance, and an often overlooked part of the ageing process.

The most damaging controversy the Indigenous art sector has experienced in years started with a video.

The Ngura Pulka exhibition was set to open in June last year, featuring 28 new paintings by three generations of Aṉangu artists represented by the APY Art Centre Collective in South Australia.

The footage shows white studio assistants working on canvases from an APY Lands artist, which became the linchpin for a vicious media campaign and provoked a series of investigations.

Today, art curator Bruce Johnson McLean and reporter and contributor to The Saturday Paper Gabriella Coslovich on the APY art scandal and the complicated question of authenticity in the Aboriginal art world.

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Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Gabriella Coslovich.