The Morning Edition

Inflation figures were out this week, and it wasn’t good news. Next week’s interest rates figures from the Reserve Bank aren't looking crash hot either. So how do these results impact Jim Chalmers’ impending budget and what are the chances the treasurer will press ahead with changes to taxes and housing?
We also chat about the government’s new favourite buzzwords from ‘intergenerational equity’ to ‘resilience’ and what they really mean.
And finally, we discuss whether Angus Taylor’s argument that Welcome to Country greetings were overused was a dog whistle from the opposition leader, or reflects a broad sentiment in the community.
Joining host Jacqueline Maley this week are chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright.
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When the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created in 2013, it was proof that a rich society could find the money to help people living with a disability. This was social democracy at work.
Twelve years on, it has turned into a $62 billion behemoth, on track to cost more than the age pension.
The Albanese government last week admitted the scheme was at risk of collapse. It announced a root-and-branch overhaul to remove 300,000 Australians from the scheme in the space of a few years.
The man leading the contentious reform agenda is Health Minister Mark Butler.
The 55-year-old South Australian has emerged as one of Labor’s most energetic ministers, taking on big tasks in aged care, tobacco control and disability support.
He’s also been asked if he might be the next Labor leader after Anthony Albanese.
He joins this bonus episode of Inside Politics with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

Background reading
Natassia Chrysanthos and Paul Sakkal – New NDIS eligibility tool will be ‘relatively blind’ to diagnoses.
Natassia Chrysanthos – ‘Am I disabled enough?’ The question autistic participants are asking after NDIS overhaul.

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Regular listeners will know Peter Hartcher – he’s our international and political editor and a weekly voice on The Morning Edition, helping us dissect and process the extraordinary times that we’re living in.
Every week we get a lot of comments from our listeners, so we put a call out for the burning questions you’ve wanted to ask Hartcher. Today we've collated a selection of them for this special episode.

Background reading
Peter Hartcher's latest column – Trump says he’s won the war. No one has told the Iranians.

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It's shaping up to be a story of profound betrayal – if the allegations are proven in court.
On the one hand is one of Australia's most influential and richest philanthropists, a woman who doesn't use email or indeed a computer.
On the other is her personal secretary, whom she entrusted with access to her intimate personal and financial details.
Today, chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont on the case of Judith Neilson, Annalouise Spence and the alleged $1.6 million sequin-studded fraud.

Background reading
Kate McClymont's story – 'Profound betrayal’: The billionaire and her secretary’s $1.5m sequin-studded fraud.
And ‘Overwhelming case’: Billionaire’s ex-secretary refused bail over alleged $1.6m fraud.
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Within hours of the shooting, right outside where US President Donald Trump was dining at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, the American president was venting his anger.
Not, notably, about the gunman firing shots in the lobby of the hotel. But at a journalist who read out what the suspected shooter allegedly thinks about Trump.
Today Bruce Wolpe, a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, on why this shooting differs - in such a crucial and dangerous way - from the two attempts on Trump's life during the 2024 election campaign, and the reckoning that is now spreading throughout Washington as a result.

Further reading:
Inside the pandemonium at the Washington Hilton
‘Friendly Federal Assassin’: Alleged shooter’s manifesto says he was targeting Trump officials

And just a note, after recording this episode, Cole Tomas Allen, was charged - on Tuesday, Australian time - with an attempted assassination of Donald Trump. According to a note Allan reportedly sent family members minutes before the attack, he believed that it was his duty to target Trump administration officials. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, has said that additional charges would be brought against him.
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