Insiders

With less than a week until Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers his third budget, David Speers sat down with the former boss of Treasury, Ken Henry, to discuss the state of the Australian economy and whether the government should use the budget to try and crimp stubborn inflation.The longer-term challenge for the Treasurer lies in re-shaping the economy as it transitions to a net-zero future – and re-shaping the Budget to be more sustainable as spending pressures rise. The government's Future Made in Australia industrial policy will be a key feature of those plans, but Dr Henry remains unconvinced about the merits of taxpayers subsidising Australian manufacturers.

Last weekend – demands for more action to keep women safe – spilled onto the streets.

Barely a week goes by when the great energy transition isn’t making news of some sort. This week the government announced feasibility licences for a bunch of developers to work on plans for Australia’s first offshore wind zone in waters off Gippsland in Victoria.At the same time, Energy Minister Chris Bowen was talking up the need to seek new supplies of gas to support renewables. The government’s been making all sorts of announcements under its new Future Made in Australia policy – to subsidise the local manufacturing of solar panels and other green technology. While the Coalition continues to talk up its plans for nuclear energy – even if it’s unclear when those actual plans will be unveiled or whether the opposition will make any sort of commitment to a new emissions target. And this week we also saw a concerning report from the Grattan Institute – warning the great energy transition is “not going well”. So – are we on the right track? And how bumpy is it likely to get?David Speers interviews Kerry Schott, chair of the Carbon Market Institute and AGL board member, among many things, in the latest episode of Insiders: On Background. 

In the lead-up to this year's budget announcement, the Albanese government is struggling to maintain the public's focus and clear air to announce their plans. 

The crisis of male violence against women in this country is escalating, as an average of one woman every four days is killed so far in 2024. The murder of NSW woman Molly Ticehurst allegedly at the hands of her former partner has sparked community outrage and calls for governments to act urgently to protect women against intimate partner violence. We’ve seen these calls before, but the numbers of dead women continue to be a national shame, so what can and should be done? The panel Bridget Brennan, Karen Middleton and Shane Wright discuss.Elsewhere this week, Australia is pushing back at the power of social media giants. The battle over who can watch video of a violent stabbing - has become an important test – being watched around the world. What control can a nation state wield over big tech? David Speers interviews Independent MP for Fowler in Sydney’s southwest Dai Le about her community’s social cohesion following the stabbing of a bishop. Mike Bowers talks the week in pictures with Lewis Hobba.

While Anthony Albanese says we're in a "race for jobs" with other countries offering big government subsidies and can't afford to be "left behind", Productivity Commissioner Danielle Wood isn't sure it's a race we should even be in.

The Prime Minister has already made it clear what will be the centrepiece of the next federal budget. His second term agenda centres around a Future Made in Australia. Everyone loves the idea of more stuff being made in Australia, particularly Labor Prime Ministers - but the question is at what cost to taxpayers and to consumers. Now, we still don't know all of the details of this plan for a future made in Australia. But we do know it will involve government subsidies and tax incentives aimed at trying to encourage more manufacturing of things like solar panels, batteries, and other green tech that's going to be needed in the transition to net zero future.Various former Productivity Commissioners have warned about a return to the bad old days of protectionism, throwing money around on uncompetitive industries. And even the current Productivity Commissioner Danielle Wood, appointed to the role by the treasurer late last year, has raised some concerns. David Speers speaks to Commissioner Wood in the latest episode of Insiders: On Background.

The Insiders panel of Samantha Maiden, Phil Coorey, and Lenore Taylor discuss the judgement in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial, with Justice Michael Lee ruling that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in a ministerial suite inside Parliament House in 2019. The judgement was hailed by journalist Lisa Wilkinson as a vindication of her story, but it also included strong criticism of key parts of the The Project’s broadcast – particularly the suggestion that members of the Morrison government and their staff had covered-up the sexual assault. David Speers interviews Opposition Leader Peter Dutton about the government’s role following the week of violence in Sydney, nuclear power, and the Lehrmann verdict. The panel also discuss defence spending and delays to the EPBC act. 

Sydney has been reeling this week from two horrific attacks. Both the Bondi Junction and the Wakeley attacks have raised all sorts of questions about terrorism, mental illness, the spread of misinformation on social media, and community cohesion.There’s also a big question over the safety of women. The Bondi Junction attacker – Joel Cauchi – killed 5 women and one male security guard. The majority of those injured were also women. The NSW Police Commissioner says it’s obvious he was targeting women. This attack may not have been declared an act of terrorism – but it certainly is terrifying, particularly for women.David Speers speaks to Australia’s Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin about whether this aspect of the horrific attack is likely to bring about any policy change.If this conversation raises concerns for you:1800 Respect National Helpline: 1800 737 732Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114Victims of Crime Helpline: 1800 819 817Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578

Given these two horrific attacks happened within days of each other in the same city, the debate over how they've been differently labelled is perhaps inevitable.