7am

As a child refugee in India, Harini dreamt of making it to Australia to study medicine and become a doctor.

She arrived in Australia in 2013 when she was 10 years old, leaving behind her two siblings and mother.

Harini did not realise her visa status made her different to her classmates until she received a university offer for a biomedical science degree that required her to pay international student fees of nearly $100,000.

After attempting to self-fund her studies and falling a year behind in payments, the university disenrolled Harini in 2023 – four months before she wa...

When Bill Shorten finally gave up his hopes of ever becoming prime minister, one door closed and another, much more lucrative, door opened. 

In his new role as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, he could earn up to three times as much as the PM. 

His appointment comes amid a fight about the exorbitant salaries Australian vice-chancellors receive and as his government's new cap on international students raises big questions about funding shortfalls in higher education. 

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on how much vice-chancellors earn and how the...

When Jim Chalmers said that interest rate hikes were “smashing the economy” he was either stating the obvious or starting a war, depending on who you ask.

For weeks – in question time and in the news – a picture has been forming of an aggrieved treasurer, angry at the governor of the Reserve Bank. At the same time, senior unnamed Labor insiders have called Michelle Bullock a “nutter” and the RBA board “weirdos”.

But behind the apparent breakdown between the government and the Reserve Bank, there’s a much more bitter feud going on: between Jim Chalmers and Angus...

The militia movement in the United States has a long and bloody history. 

In the aftermath of January 6, it was buoyed by Donald Trump’s praise of those who attacked the Capitol, and the numbers of people wanting to join militia groups grew. With a resurgence in numbers, militia groups are now patrolling the US-Mexico border, forming bonds with active duty police and military and trying to influence the midterm elections.

With the presidential election fast approaching, investigative reporter for ProPublica Joshua Kaplan has gained rare access to the secretive world of one militia, American Pat...

Star investigative journalist Louise Milligan has spent her career working on some of the most high-profile criminal cases in Australia. This incredible breadth of experience informs her first novel Pheasant’s Nest, which follows the abduction of a young journalist and provides a unique insight into the media, policing and politics that surround a crime like this. On this episode of Read This, Michael sits down with Louise to discuss the leap from reporting to fiction and why writing this book was a kind of therapy.

When former inmate Daniel Vansetten heard about the idea of a national newspaper, produced for prisoners and by prisoners, he jumped at the opportunity to be involved.

He says the incarceration system in Australia can be an information black hole and About Time intends to rectify that.

The free paper is available to approximately 21,000 prisoners in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.

It’s tailored to prison life, and with the ambition to shift information in and out of prisons, hopes to create a community among incarcerated peoples.

Today, co...

The United States presidential campaign so far has largely been based on fashioning public perceptions: with the Democrats painting Donald Trump as a threat to democracy, and Republicans calling Kamala Harris a radical Marxist who will destroy America.

And with the election just around the corner, their first and possibly only debate was a chance to tell Americans about their visions for the country.

So with most polls showing both candidates at a dead heat, did we learn anything about what they’re actually offering voters? 

Today, senior researcher at The Australia Institute Dr...

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 hea...

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. 

Soc...

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 achieve...