In this bonus episode of Inside Politics, we’re joined by the Nationals leader David Littleproud.
He’s a man under pressure – commentators, Liberal MPs and some of his own colleagues blamed January’s split on the 49-year-old from Chinchilla in regional Queensland.
Today, chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and Littleproud discuss the Coalition rupture and what’s next under the leadership of Angus Taylor.

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This week we had some not-so-great inflation figures and also reports that there'll be another interest rate rise right before the government hands down its federal budget in May.

Newly-minted shadow treasurer Tim Wilson, aka the "energiser bunny", accused Treasurer Jim Chalmers of pouring fuel on the economic flames, but what is the government saying about the situation?

Also in this episode, we discuss the extraordinary situation where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had to be evacuated from The Lodge in Canberra.

Joining host Jacqueline Maley is chief economics correspondent Shane Wright and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia's ISIS brides - the women trying to return home with their children from Syria - are not getting help from the government, but it seems there is more to the story.

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is senior writer Michael Bachelard, who has followed the story for years, and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

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Tony Wright, the associate editor of The Age, has been writing for 50 years. He is the master of what we call the political sketch. Sketches are akin to a verbal cartoon, and when done well, capture a moment in politics.
Today, we bring you Wright's latest sketch, titled: 'Nation’s worst government? Jane Hume’s hyperbolic historical claim'.

Read Wright's columns, and sketches, by clicking here.

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We're bringing you an extra episode of Inside Politics today because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had an opening in his diary, and he's granted us an audience.

His interview comes off the back of a difficult week, with a state visit from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Herzog's visit was welcomed by the victims of the Bondi terror attack and their families, but his presence in Australia also sparked protests with shocking clashes between police and protesters in Sydney.

Host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal ask Albanese whether the police response was heavy-handed, and whether his invitation to Herzog caused further division.

The conversation also traverses other issues bubbling along in the background, including the Coalition leadership tussle, as well as what policies the prime minister plans to implement this year ahead of May's budget.

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There’s a bit going on with the Liberal Party this week, but while that unfolds we are going to look at some bigger issues.

Interest rates went up recently, for the first time in two years, and there’s a question as to whether government spending contributed to inflation.

So we're testing that today, with host Jacqueline Maley, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos.

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Today on Inside Politics, we welcome back former opposition leader Bill Shorten, who is now the Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra.
It's a timely moment to have Shorten on the podcast as he obliquely (very obliquely, we stress) came up in the Epstein files this week.
Strangely, in the massive dump of new documents from the files, there is a text message exchange between Steve Bannon, the former strategist for Donald Trump, and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In the messages, Bannon boasts that he spoke to Australian billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer on his disruptive $80 million advertising campaign during the 2019 federal election.
This was the election contested by Shorten, and we asked him what he thought.
Joining host Jacqueline Maley for this discussion is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

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The drama between the Liberals and the Nationals continued this week with what seems to be a total breakdown in the relationship between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud.

Meanwhile, Ley's leadership remains in mortal peril, and in a plot twist, Littleproud faces his own leadership challenge next week.

Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal joins Jacqueline Maley in today's episode.

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