Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wanted to talk about the budget surplus and the crack-down on the big supermarkets over their alleged ill-treatment of customers this week, but that was derailed by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

While the government struggled to find the right form of words to respond to the crisis between Israel and its neighbours, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton labelled the Prime Minister weak, and said he needed to stand more firmly with Israel.

The result was an ugly week where both men vied to position themselves to voters as the best leader to handle a crisis, showing off their very different styles.

Deputy federal politics editor Nick Bonyhady and federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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Federal politics got interesting this week when our very own James Massola and David Crowe reported that the Labor government has asked the Treasury to model cuts to negative gearing tax concessions, a policy that has previously caused Labor plenty of electoral pain.

The Prime Minister and his frontbench are being very coy about any proposed changes to the tax treatment of investment properties.

Are changes to negative gearing an option the government is really considering? How would they argue the case to cut the concessions this time, given they have tried and failed to do so before? And would changes to negative gearing make any difference to house prices anyway?

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss are chief political correspondent David Crowe and national affairs editor James Massola.

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The Albanese government came to power promising to ease the housing crisis by increasing supply. But has its housing agenda stalled?

This week, the Greens hardened their opposition to two key elements of the government’s housing policy.

The Prime Minister has urged the Greens to “get on with it” and wave the plans through. So will Labor be able to secure its agenda? And if not, who will pay the political price?

Plus we have a look at the war of words between the business lobby and the government. Is this just the usual tension we often see between a Labor government and corporate interests? Or is it something more significant?

Joining Jaqueline Maley to discuss, is federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal and chief economic correspondent Shane Wright.

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Snapchat is officially on notice. As are Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

This week the Prime Minister and his communications minister Michelle Rowland announced they will introduce a ban on young people using social media. But they were short on detail, including exactly what age the government would require teens to be before they could access social media.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton promised the minerals industry that a Coalition government would be the “best friend” of miners.

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss, are chief political correspondent David Crowe and shadow communications minister David Coleman.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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This week’s National Accounts figures showed that GDP growth was the weakest annual figure since the 1990s recession, not counting the pandemic.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the soft growth reflected the “impacts of global economic uncertainty, higher interest rates and persistent but moderating inflation”. But Chalmers also seemed to blame the Reserve Bank, saying the RBA is “smashing” the economy with interest rates.

Meanwhile, The Age and SMH exclusively reported this week that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vented his frustration to his cabinet colleagues over the mishandling of the possible new census questions about gender and sexuality.

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss, is chief political correspondent David Crowe, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright, and national affairs editor James Massola.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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The Albanese government has told the university sector it has to slash foreign students by 53,000 places by next year. The universities say this will financially devastate them, but the government has pledged to halve net migration by next year, and something has to give.

Plus, this week, members of the militant CFMEU hit the streets in major capitals to protest the Government’s decision to place the controversial union into administration.

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe and Australian National University professor Andrew Norton.

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In this special episode of Inside Politics, Treasurer Jim Chalmers sits down with Jacqueline Maley, chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright to talk about tax, housing and the cost of living crisis.

The Treasurer acknowledges how high mortgages are impacting ordinary Australians, and talks about what the Government is focusing on in the upcoming mid year budget. Plus he shares some words of wisdom he lives by every day.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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After a six-week break over winter, the Parliament was a fiery place this week.

Labor framed the next election as one between the “mainstream vs the maddies”, and the opposition is homing in on its framing of the prime minister as dishonest.

But, as has been the case so many times in the past year, the parliament again convulsed over the war in Gaza. Opposition leader Peter Dutton started a sharp immigration row when he called for Palestinians to be blocked from Australia because they may sympathise with Hamas. The vehemently pro-Israel leader sought to portray Labor as weak on the Gaza issue by questioning their approach on the refugee intake.

But how will this play out in electorate, and how has the government responded?

Joining Paul Sakkal are chief political correspondent David Crowe and home affairs and immigration reporter Natassia Chrysanthos.

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