Cut Through

Crikey
  • 4.9 (111)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Cut Through is Crikey’s spin-free analysis of Australian news, politics and power. Each week we break down the biggest news stories, stripping away the noise to bring you the information that really matters. Join us every Friday to get your talking points delivered the Crikey way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Farrer by-election: A One Nation vs independent showdown

    16 HRS AGO

    Farrer by-election: A One Nation vs independent showdown

    There are just three days until the Farrer by-election and – for the first time ever – it looks like voters won’t be electing a National or Liberal MP to represent them in Sussan Ley’s old seat.. Instead, the frustration with establishment politics has seen independent Michelle Milthorpe and One Nation’s David Farly emerge as the frontrunners in a fierce and unpredictable campaign To help you follow the final days of the by-election campaign, Crikey politics reporter Anton Nilsson and Region Riverina editor Oliver Jacques join this special early episode of the podcast. We discuss the water policy problems that all candidates agree is a top priority for the region, the collapse of the Coalition’s reputation in regional Australia, and how public scrutiny over big donations from the likes of Gina Rinehart has impacted the campaign. Plus, Nilsson and Jacques give their prediction for who will claim Farrer on Saturday. Read more: How One Nation is riding a wave of anger over water towards a federal breakthrough‘You can only sell so many stubby holders’: We asked the Farrer frontrunners about the role of big money in politicsJust how ‘teal’ is independent Farrer candidate Michelle Milthorpe?In the seat of Farrer, candidates are united by their concern for water, and disdain for LaborThe Coalition’s pitch to Farrer voters: only we can topple a Labor government. But can they?Richard Hendrie wants to stop the ‘right-wing slogfest’ in FarrerFarrer could start the duopoly’s downfall — and blare a klaxon horn for the Liberals Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min
  2. Grace Tame: The NDIS overhaul is a missed opportunity

    6 DAYS AGO

    Grace Tame: The NDIS overhaul is a missed opportunity

    Health Minister Mark Butler’s “major overhaul” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme will reduce the total cost of the scheme by $15 billion over the next four years. The majority of the savings will come from the 160,000 people who will be kicked off the scheme – a brutal decision given that the NDIS only supports a fraction of the 2 million Australians with a severe disability. The justification for these cuts is the “social licence” that even supporters of the NDIS believe it has suffered from reports of provider rorting and criminal abuse of the system. So why has Butler’s overhaul focused on reducing participant numbers, rather than scrutinising the business-side waste within the scheme? Grace Tame joins the podcast to challenge the corporate media spin that has made disabled people the scapegoats for what she believes is a poorly designed system.  Read more: Slashing $15bn from NDIS while giving $53bn to Defence. Anyone’s autistic pattern recognition radar wailing? I’m an NDIS insider. Forget rogue providers — conflict of interest is built into the auditing systemNDIS headlines are turning autistic people into the new dole bludgersBelting the disabled, protecting fossil fuel giants: That creaking sound is Albanese’s project under severe stressGillard’s NDIS vision was a promise she couldn’t keep Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    28 min
  3. Is “free speech” an Australian value?

    23 APR

    Is “free speech” an Australian value?

    Is “free speech” an Australian value? We examine the latest developments concerning two state laws attempting to restrict political expression, and how the people are pushing back. First, the verdict is in on the protest-restricting laws introduced by the Minns government ahead of the divisive visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog: the changes are unconstitutional. Grata Fund founder Isabelle Reinecke explains what this means for the protesters who were arrested under laws that have now been overturned.  Next, Queensland’s new hate speech laws criminalising the phrase “from the river to the sea” have been challenged by protesters impersonating… John Farnham. Comedian and Crikey columnist Sami Shah joins the podcast to discuss why banning speech never works.  Catch up on our previous episode about the NSW protest laws here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijjR1SJeFs Read more: Chris Minns is a constitutional vandal. He must apologise for NSW protest laws or resignA view from the ground: As police argued with MPs, Sydney’s protest against Isaac Herzog descended into chaosTry to understand it: John Farnham’s ‘river to the sea’ and Queensland’s war on words by Sami ShahRed flags and ‘the six-word phrase’: Queensland protest arrests are part of an Australian history of crushing dissentOne critical word is missing in Australia’s push to criminalise pro-Palestine phrasesHow Australia became a police state Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min
  4. Why experts suspect insider trading in the White House

    16 APR

    Why experts suspect insider trading in the White House

    If it walks, talks and quacks like a duck… is it insider trading? Journalist Lachlan Keller joins the podcast to explain the suspicious pattern of behaviour that has lead experts and analysts to believe people within the Trump administration are using insider trading to make huge, lucrative bets on global news events. We discuss the major oil commodities trades made just hours before Trump announced the US-Iran ceasefire, how prediction market platforms like Polymarket could be influencing the behaviour of White House staffers, and why the $TRUMP meme coin is the perfect case study for how the Trump family profiteers off his presidency. Read more: $1.4bn was bet on oil falling mere hours before Trump’s Iran ceasefire. It follows a pattern of suspected insider tradingHas $TRUMP pulled off the world’s most brazen crypto scam?Australia urgently needs a debate about the damage the US is doing to us Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min
  5. Australia’s gambling ad ban is here

    9 APR

    Australia’s gambling ad ban is here

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a surprise announcement before the Easter long weekend – the government’s long-awaited proposal for gambling advertising reform was finally ready and intended to come into effect from January 1, 2027. So, where will gambling ads be banned, and how? Crikey media reporter Daanyal Saeed joins the podcast to unpack the proposed gambling ad reforms, including three big recommendations from the Peta Murphy report that the government has ignored, and how “vested interests” from gambling companies, sporting codes and mainstream media broadcasters have slowed down the process.  At the end of the day, a proposed bill will not pass without the support of non-Labor senators. Who will they negotiate with to get it through? Read more: ‘Really disappointed’, ‘betrayal’, ‘bare minimum’: The reaction to Albanese’s long-awaited gambling advertising reforms‘It’s f****d … most people know that’: Sports podcasters speak out over gambling ad influenceHas Albanese done anything at all on sports betting ads?Here’s how much gambling money is worth to Crikey, and why we won’t take it‘Lost in the product’: How the gambling industry creates problem gamblersThe gambling ad ban isn’t about gambling. It’s about the future of the mediaWhat the media earns from gambling — and what it costs the rest of usSign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    34 min
  6. Left-Right politics in Australia is dead

    2 APR

    Left-Right politics in Australia is dead

    Originally labels for a person’s economic perspective, “left” and “right” have been transformed into social markers that are not only wielded as weapons in political discourse, but actually tell us very little about how someone will vote. In fact, most Australians prefer to call themselves “centrist” regardless of their beliefs. So does the left-right political spectrum still apply to Australian politics in 2026? That’s the question debated in today’s episode by Crikey politics editor Bernard Keane and RedBridge Senior Insights Adviser Alex Fein. We cover the generational divides, economic transformation and total erosion of trust that has almost all voters, from orange to blue to red, united against the “ruling class”. So, what’s the alternative? And does it even matter?  N.B.: The quote at 44:36 is by Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Lucas. Read more: Are ‘left’ and ‘right’ useful anymore or do we need a new political alignment?Left and right, forward and back, in and out: labels for a new political worldThe Political CompassAlex Fein: Polarisation is a MythSign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min
  7. Do we actually need to panic about fuel?

    26 MAR

    Do we actually need to panic about fuel?

    It’s been one month since the US began its war on Iran, which means one month that the critical oil passageway the Strait of Hormuz has been closed. As a result, the price of crude oil has shot up, taking the price of fuel with it. At petrol stations across Australia diesel is more than $3 per litre, with unleaded creeping up to $2.50 in metro areas and well beyond that in regional areas. Economics correspondent Jason Murphy joins the podcast to answer some crucial questions: is the rising cost due to price gouging? What can the government do to keep the price of essentials, like groceries, from spiralling out of control? And is Australia actually at risk of running out of fuel altogether? Read more: Do we actually need to panic about fuel?With petrol prices rising, so is Australia’s interest in EVs. We should strike while the iron is hotThe Iran War is costing a lot more than higher petrol pricesPainful as it is, the rate rise was the easy part. Trump has turned economic policy into a lottery Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    33 min
  8. Rick Morton unpacks the NACC robodebt report

    19 MAR

    Rick Morton unpacks the NACC robodebt report

    After 10 years, more than 470,000 wrongly-issued debts, six separate investigations and $2.4 billion in compensation to victims, the National Anti-Corruption Commission handed down its final report into the unlawful debt recovery scheme known as robodebt. Two public servants were found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, but will not face criminal investigation. The other four individuals – including Scott Morrison – were cleared. The reaction from victims, their families and the advocates campaigning for accountability was one of disappointment and frustration. Rick Morton, the journalist who has followed robodebt most closely, says he was “shocked, but not surprised" by the NACC report.  Morton joins the podcast to unpack the NACC’s robodebt report, what the saga reveals about the public service, and why covering this story has changed him forever.  Read more: The NACC robodebt report: A heartbreaking work of staggering incompetenceNACC’s robodebt investigation conjures offensive and stupid excuses for letting Scott Morrison offNot ‘newsworthy’: Why the NACC decided not to update the media for 63 daysDoes the NACC have any hope of regaining public trust?Exclusive: Robodebt architect remains employed in a senior governance role in the public service Sign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletter Crikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min
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Trailers

4.9
out of 5
111 Ratings

About

Cut Through is Crikey’s spin-free analysis of Australian news, politics and power. Each week we break down the biggest news stories, stripping away the noise to bring you the information that really matters. Join us every Friday to get your talking points delivered the Crikey way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Crikey
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Crikey
  • Show Website
    Cut Through

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