The Morning Edition SMH & The Age

It was always going to be a particularly tricky federal budget. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, the Albanese government had been tasked with providing relief to Australians, but without causing inflation to rise. Which would have the dreaded impact of leading to yet another interest rate rise.So, did treasurer Jim Chalmers nail his brief? And what are the government’s priorities? Is it women, those suffering amid the housing shortage, and students with debt, as it had previously promised, among others? And who’s been left in the cold?Tonight in a special episode recorded in the lock-up in parliament house, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright on the main winners and losers of this year’s budget. And if this budget is really an early election pitch for the Albanese government.
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In the case of Elon Musk versus Australia’s E-Safety Commissioner, the billionaire owner of social media platform X had a win in court on Monday.

A temporary order that forced the site to remove videos of the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney last month, was lifted ahead of a trial showdown between the tech giant and the Australian regulator.

The court case has reopened debate about how much control a government can exert over these tech companies, but also, whether age restrictions should be placed on social media use. 

Today, federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal takes us inside this court case, and how governments across the world are using tech to implement age controls.
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About two weeks ago, a council in Sydney’s west voted to ban books about same-sex families.

A former mayor and current councillor led the charge, brandishing a book he said his constituents complained about. Though he hadn’t read the book himself, he claimed residents wanted their kids kept safe from “sexualisation."

The motion prompted immediate outrage, including from the NSW Arts Minister, who said when civilisations turn to burning books, or banning books, it was a very bad sign.

Today, state political editor Alexandra Smith on what wider implications this local decision could have for all Australians.

To read Smith's full opinion piece click here.

Other audio used in this episode include from:


The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
MSNBC
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The Federal government will hand down its third budget on Tuesday, May 14. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has promised the budget will be about cost of living relief and also reform. The Treasurer says people should also expect ambitious investment from the government on housing supply.

Today, in a special episode, chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright speak to the Treasurer in Canberra, covering migration, housing pressures, the future made in Australia and the Treasurer’s focus ahead of next week’s budget.
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For months now, anger over Israel’s military operation in Gaza has spilled over into mass unrest at universities across the United States. 

This culminated in disturbing scenes last week, when police in riot gear stormed the campus at Columbia University, setting off flashbang grenades and eventually arresting nearly 120 people, many of them hauled away, their hands handcuffed with zip ties. 

This won’t be the last of it, says North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin, who has spoken to protesters from both sides at campuses across the US. 

Today, Tomazin discusses whether these protests ever lead to cultural change, in a country that has a long history of them, some of them deadly. And whether they might help determine the outcome of the American presidential election in November.
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For years now, Donald Trump has been shooting off inflammatory messages on social media, and shouting invective about his foes, from lecterns. But as for his actual plans for how he would lead the United States, should he be elected president on November 5?

They’ve long been thin on the ground. Or they were, until the other week, when Trump offered a surprising interview in which he revealed, perhaps for the first time, a detailed vision of what he wants to achieve in a second presidency. And just how far he would be planning to go, to attain his goals.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on what Donald Trump’s desire for revenge might look like for Americans on the ground. And why he's more threatened by his own people, than America's traditional enemies.
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