The Morning Edition

With the budget backlash era moving on to something like begrudged resignation, or budget fatigue, we’re expecting Treasurer Jim Chalmers to soon make a few announcements around the tax changes.
While this bubbles along, the only story in politics continues to be One Nation.
Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal debate whether the media and the near-daily reporting on polls are driving more support or exaggerating Pauline Hanson’s true popularity in Australia.
Outside of this, the hard-right party purportedly raised $1.5 million in a single day via a crowd-funding campaign called Fire the Liar. And the Coalition is squabbling over whether to preference One Nation in the next federal election, which is still two years away.
In the meantime, Labor by way of Foreign Minister Penny Wong says in the face of chaos, the government wants to go back to basics and focus on health, education and all the policies it says the other parties are lacking in.
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea this week has put the world on notice that Kim Jong-Un's nuclear program, and ambitions, are stronger than ever. But has Donald Trump taken note?
Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on how North Korea has gone from global pariah to earning the respect of some of the world’s great capitals.

Background reading
The Chinese president has arrived in North Korea. The world is watching
Xi Jinping is feted in Pyongyang as Kim Jong-un swivels to Moscow
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Earlier this week, it looked as though tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran had jeopardised a two-month ceasefire. The new hostilities threatened to once again place the Middle East on the precipice of a full-blown regional war.
And then Donald Trump stepped into the fray.
Today Middle East and security analyst Rodger Shanahan discusses what led to these strikes, and what they mean for the fragile negotiations between Iran and the United States.
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When one of Australia’s most infamous Victorian gangland figures was arrested last week over an alleged traffic infringement, it raised some eyebrows.

So given Mick Gatto’s centrality in the building industry, was this the Victorian police pulling at straws in some last ditch attempt to crack down on suspected corruption?

Today, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie on whether this arrest was, as Gatto asserts, “a load of crap”. Or if it’s illustrative of a new dedication by police to clean up an industry that’s been rife with alleged corruption for decades.
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The fertility rate in Australia is at a record low, and there is judgment all around.

Today, senior journalist Matt Wade and reporter Bronte Gossling on what our exclusive polling tells us about the global population plunge we’re all inching towards; what challenges it will throw at us; and why the demise of the third child may not be a great thing.
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