Laura Tingle

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

One of the great political traditions is how Friday is known as "taking out the trash" day. That is, if you have some bad, dodgy or unpalatable news that you are obliged to deal with, you release it in a flurry late on a Friday, when people are less likely to be paying attention. Australia's major political parties are not ones to hold with tradition though, it seems.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Fran Kelly |Patricia Karvelas |Laura Tingle |Lara Heaton |Catherine Van Extel

Amid a spate of anti-Semitic attacks, the Prime Minister bowed to mounting pressure and called an emergency National Cabinet meeting. But the Opposition slammed the Government for being too slow to act, with Peter Dutton suggesting Anthony Albanese hadn't shown leadership on the issue. And with US President Donald Trump now officially back in the White House,  how will Australia's relationship fare?

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

There's always a bit of pomp and circumstance around the meeting of the federal parliament. But in recent years, the number of "traditions" has been growing. The "traditional" church service before the first meeting of parliament for the year has been a thing for a while. More recently, the "traditional" attendance of leaders and politicians at the Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial the day before parliament sits has become a tradition.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

There was some rare, good news for households — and the Albanese government — this week: inflation seemed to finally be curbed enough to put a February rate cut into official contention. It was news that shone ever so briefly in the news firmament, buoyed by predictions from all four big banks — and the financial markets — that they were now all tipping a 0.25 percentage point cut when the Reserve Bank meets on February 17 and 18.

Jan 24, 2025 | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

When Donald Trump left the White House after the 2020 election, what had become a daily habit for millions around the world upon waking — checking Twitter with dread to see what wild new idea was floating forth — gratefully came to an end. With his return this week, there's a 2025 version of the same phenomenon, though one that is also significantly different.