A welfare agency gives their response to the budget. Despite the turmoil roiling in Istanbul, Turkiye's President Erdogan has been in power for 22 years. How?

What’s the verdict on the 2025 budget, announced this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, from those who work with Australia’s most vulnerable people? SUE KING is manager of advocacy and research at the faith-based welfare agency Anglicare Sydney.

Mass demonstrations have roiled Turkiye’s biggest city of Istanbul. Protesters are angry at the jailing of the popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges that they say are concocted. The mayor was shaping up as the strongest rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been in power for 22 years. While public support for Erdogan has slipped markedly, for much of his rule, he’s been popular. In large measure, that’s because Erdogan’s leaned heavily into Turkiye’s religious culture. David Tonge is author of the new book, The Enduring Hold of Islam in Turkey: The Revival of Religious Orders and the Rise of Erdogan.