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Guardian Australia’s political editor, Karen Middleton, speaks with the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, about whether his third budget can really provide cost-of-living relief without fuelling inflation Exclusive: Labor to run $45m taxpayer-funded Future Made In Australia advertising campaign

Almost all children have them by the time they are 11 years old – and some get them at four. But are they ruining childhoods? Blake Montgomery reports

Editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and political editor Karen Middleton speak to Nour Haydar about the budget Labor hopes will bring down inflation, ease cost-of-living pressures and win the next election

In February, the Queensland police service sacked its First Nations advisory body after their refusal to sign a contract with a gag clause. Queensland state correspondent Ben Smee tells Nour Haydar how members of the group had repeatedly raised concerns that the police leadership had stalled on cultural reforms following a damning inquiry in 2022 into police responses to family and domestic violence You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Earlier this month, Cumberland city council in western Sydney passed a motion banning books about same-sex parenting from its libraries. Nour Haydar speaks to NSW reporter Catie McLeod about the controversial decision and backlash to the ban You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers will next week present his government’s third and possibly final budget of this term. He has said it won’t be one of ‘scorched-earth austerity’ and will take into account hardships caused by the cost-of-living crisis. But the 2024 Australian federal budget is not without its economic and social challenges and the government needs to convince voters that the economy is in safe hands. Bridie Jabour speaks with editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about the Albanese government’s budget narrative You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport