Having fought his way to the top of the South Australian Liberal ticket, Alex Antic is working to reshape the party as a radical outfit more interested in ideology than governing. The Liberal senator calls himself an irrelevant backbencher, but he’s installed allies, toppled moderates and is pushing the party’s politics to the edge.

His playbook mirrors Donald Trump’s: dominate the narrative, fight the culture wars and never aim for the centre – and moderates fear he will keep the Liberal party unelectable.

Medicine in Australia could soon become more expensive and harder to come by. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – the safety net that keeps our prescriptions cheap – has been drawn into Donald Trump’s trade war after the US president signed an order saying the United States should not pay more for medicines than its peer countries.

Now drug companies have paused new PBS listings and warn some treatments may never reach Australian patients.

When Anthony Albanese first became prime minister, he began dismantling the Home Affairs super-ministry, which had been overseen by Peter Dutton.

Now, in a spectacular reversal, and without explanation, Albanese is making Home Affairs even more powerful than the super-portfolio first created in 2017 – and it’s all under the control of Tony Burke.

As the search to explain the Coalition’s disastrous election results continues, there’s one group being singled out inside Liberal campaign headquarters: the right-wing lobby, Advance. Flush with a multi-million dollar war chest, Advance promised to “take back” the country – yet Labor won 17 new seats and the Greens vote barely moved.

As Advance and the Liberals blame each other for the failures, there are questions about whether the two will ever work together again.

Just days after the Coalition’s devastating election loss, Tony Abbott phoned the president of the Country Liberal Party to say he wanted Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price brought into the Liberal Party fold. For moderates, it was another sign that the former prime minister and his confidante, Peta Credlin, are still pulling the party’s levers from the outside.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on Tony Abbott, the shadow network steering the Liberals and why insiders say it’s a cancer on the party.

Just a week after taking charge in the wake of the Liberals’ disastrous election result, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley now finds herself without a Coalition partner, after Nationals leader David Littleproud walked from the agreement. The split is a setback for the Liberals, but it may be worse for the National Party – now relegated to a minor party on the crossbench.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on why the Coalition broke up and what it will take to bring them back together.

When Labor insiders are asked who was responsible for the party’s thumping election victory, one name keeps coming up: Paul Erickson. Even though Erickson likes to keep a low profile, Anthony Albanese made a point of thanking him in his victory speech on election night.

So, who is Paul Erickson? And what is next for the quiet force behind Labor’s landslide win?

When Anthony Albanese’s new ministry was sworn in this week, it was overshadowed by the axing of Ed Husic and Mark Dreyfus. Husic in particular didn’t go quietly, calling Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles a “factional assassin”.

After a landslide victory, the prime minister could choose from a significant talent pool to assemble the ministry. But the process was limited by longstanding factional rules.

The mood inside Labor HQ was jubilant as it became clear that Anthony Albanese will remain prime minister. The Australian Labor Party recorded strong swings across the country. Meanwhile, Peter Dutton lost his seat – and the coalition lost its next generation of talent.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on the disastrous outcome for the Coalition and why Labor won.

The market chaos and escalating tensions between China and the US may have once seemed like the last thing Labor needed during an election campaign.

But insiders now believe they’ve been granted a rare opportunity: to hold firm in the face of uncertainty and prove that changing government in this global political climate is too great a risk.

Anthony Albanese won the first leaders debate of the election campaign last night. But it was a tight contest – with both leaders well prepared and polished – as they faced undecided voters in Western Sydney.

Anthony Albanese spoke of a country rallying in spite of difficult global conditions. For Peter Dutton, it was about painting a dire picture of economic pain – and blaming Albanese for it.

“We made a mistake” are tough words for any politician, but in the heat of an election campaign, they can really hurt.

In a spectacular reversal, Peter Dutton has walked back his policy to sack 41,000 public servants, saying he’ll now wait for people to quit and will no longer force those who remain back into the office.

Australian defence officials are preparing to choose between a German or Japanese supplier for Australia’s $11 billion general purpose warship fleet – and the decision is about far more than ship design and cost. Given Japan describes Australia as its most important security partner after the United States, our decision will send a signal about whether the relationship is reciprocated.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on the frigate deal that could cement the Japan-Australia alliance, or sink it.

In this special election edition of 7am, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis traces the battlelines of the upcoming election and tells us which leader is most ready for the fight ahead.

While Peter Dutton’s electorate braced for Cyclone Alfred, the opposition leader flew to Sydney to attend a $25,000 dollar-a-head dinner at Justin Hemmes’ Vaucluse mansion. It was a choice that’s been pilloried by some in the media and the government.

But as Labor sets about to raise money in similar ways, it raises questions about who has the ear of our leaders – and what Australia’s wealthiest people are getting in return for their donations.

Paul Bongiorno has covered 35 federal budgets. In this special edition of 7am, he breaks down what’s in last night’s budget for you – and how key measures like tax cuts, a record spend on Medicare, investment in women’s health and energy bill relief will shape the upcoming election.

The discovery of an abandoned caravan full of explosives on the outskirts of Sydney earlier this year triggered widespread panic and fear. There were reports of a list of Jewish targets – and right away, NSW Premier Chris Minns called it terrorism, while Peter Dutton blamed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

But all the while, police were warning the whole thing could be a hoax. Today, what happens when a criminal con job becomes a political football.

As Trump’s radical reshaping of the US pulls into focus, so too has the list of those who have gained entry to his inner circle. And that includes not only Australia’s richest person, but also Australia’s largest private arms supplier.

Robert Nioa isn’t yet a household name, but the weapons mogul is a close confidante to Peter Dutton, married to a Katter, as well as a fishing and hunting pal to Donald Trump Jr.

Australia faces its most “difficult threat environment” in 50 years, with larger and more varied plots than ever before. That was the message from the director-general of ASIO, Mike Burgess, when he gave his annual threat assessment on Wednesday night.

According to Burgess, foreign interference and espionage are at extreme levels, with ASIO foiling five major terror attacks against Australians last year.

Anthony Albanese has finished the year with his lowest approval rating yet. The prime minister’s popularity has been crumbling ever since his party was elected to government in 2022, with some polling suggesting that he is now as unpopular as Scott Morrison was heading into that election.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on Anthony Albanese’s image problem and whether he can turn it around.

In 2019, Scott Morrison’s government managed to narrowly win a third term after bringing in a pair of New Zealand election strategists armed with a new weapon: low-quality memes. The duo, known as Topham Guerin, have been hired by Peter Dutton ahead of the next federal election. But their methods – including a recent embrace of deepfakes – raise questions about the ethics of political campaigning in the digital age.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on the rise of Topham Guerin and the political power of bad memes.

In Anthony Albanese's political universe, personal relationships are everything. High on the list for Albanese is his bond with Peter V'landys, the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission and chief executive of Racing NSW.

That relationship has been central to the government’s decision to again delay reforms of gambling advertising, which V’Landys strongly opposes.

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, does not appear to like Donald Trump – and the feeling is mutual. Speculation about Rudd's ability to work with the incoming Trump administration has flared as Rudd’s historical criticisms of Trump have caught the eye of some in the US president-elect’s inner-circle.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on whether the incoming US administration will seek retribution and if the Albanese government will stand up to them.

Speculation about what a new book called The Chairman’s Lounge would reveal about the prime minister’s relationship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has been swirling for months. But when it was released last week, Albanese seemed unprepared.

The saga has entangled politicians from both major parties and raises questions about how much our leaders love a freebie, and whether the prime minister in particular has lost touch with voters’ expectations.

The assessment from the Labor wise men who gather for lunch in Sydney once a month – Paul Keating, Bob Carr, John Faulkner and other warriors of the past – is that the Albanese government is too cautious and defensive. For many Labor insiders, the carping from the sidelines is an annoying distraction.

But there are some within the Albanese government who say the comments are providing the debate and contestability that the “broken” party sorely lacks. Today, Jason Koutsoukis on Labor’s war with its old guard.

With Australia’s terror threat level at “probable”, the need for all states and territories to be working with the federal government is greater than ever. But that’s not what’s happening.

The states and territories have taken the unprecedented step of abandoning the Albanese government’s planned counter-terrorism strategy, in favour of figuring it out themselves.

Peter Dutton is now on TikTok and using words like “demure” to try to appeal to young voters. Around a third of Australian politicians are now on the app, despite both major parties voicing major security concerns about the app’s parent company, ByteDance.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on whether TikTok is actually a threat or just an opportunity for political embarrassment.

When Jim Chalmers said that interest rate hikes were “smashing the economy” he was either stating the obvious or starting a war, depending on who you ask.

But behind the apparent breakdown between the government and the Reserve Bank, there’s a much more bitter feud going on: between Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor who has recently walked away from a bipartisan plan to fix the Reserve Bank.

The Albanese government’s long promised National Anti-Corruption Commission was met with high hopes that it would restore faith in politics. But there are concerns that the NACC is failing to live up to its obligations.

Today, special correspondent in Canberra for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on whether the body has been a failure.

The hard right group behind the “No” campaign is amassing a multi-million dollar war chest to take down its next opponent: the Australian Greens. Advance has called the Greens the “single biggest threat to freedom, security and prosperity in Australia” – and they have big plans to target their voters ahead of the next election.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on who is behind Advance… and why they believe they can flip progressive women to the hard right.

It was one of the biggest corporate scandals the country has ever seen when it was revealed that PwC had used confidential government information to enrich itself and its corporate clients.

Since then there have been more than a dozen inquiries and investigations, yet important questions remain unanswered.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been stressing his closeness to both his home state of Queensland, and to his Coalition partners, the Nationals. Already he has promised to crack down on crime, slow immigration, break up supermarket monopolies, and deliver an energy revolution powered by nuclear. So will the upcoming Queensland state election be a testing ground for Dutton’s federal agenda?

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on how Peter Dutton is marketing himself, and whether Australia is ready to look more like Queensland.

In high-security labs, from Silicon Valley to mainland China, researchers are racing to be the first to achieve what has been dubbed ‘Q-day’. Q-day, after all, is the day the most powerful machine yet comes online: the first fault-free quantum computer.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis – on why Australia wants to join the race, and why one American company got the billion-dollar deal to do it.

Back in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected President, the Australian government was caught off guard. This time around, the government is taking the prospect of a second Trump presidency seriously and has begun making preparations for it.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on what the government thinks Trump 2.0 could mean for Australia and the safety measures that are already underway.

If you were a public service chief picking a firm to run ethics training, would one of the big four consulting firms be your first pick? They have faced intense scrutiny both in the media and in a recent senate inquiry, which will today release its report with recommendations to keep the private consultancy sector in check.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on what the crackdown might entail and why the public service still thinks a consulting firm is best placed to teach ethics to its leaders.

A proposed vaping ban is exposing fault lines within our political parties and pitting their traditional supporters against each other. Professional women, sick of seeing their kids sneaking a vape, are putting pressure on the Coalition, while the Greens fear they will alienate their younger voters if they oppose the bill.

Today, Jason Koutsoukis on the politics of the new vaping ban – and why it will be hard to police.

Nine years ago, the Liberal Party said it was aiming for gender parity by 2025. Since then, the number of Liberal women in parliaments across the country has actually fallen. Now, with another election approaching, the Liberals have a fresh batch of candidates. Some of them look and speak like teals, but will it be enough to win back sceptical voters?

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on whether the Liberal Party’s problem is its candidates or its brand.

When you look at the Al Roj refugee camp in Northern Syria on Google Maps, you can see it’s only a few hundred metres away from an airport tarmac. But for the 40 Australian citizens stranded at the camp – with no water, electricity or real plan for the future – getting on a plane home could still be years away.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on why the government seems to have abandoned its plans to bring them home.

Almost every first-term government gets a second chance, but could the current Labor government be an exception? With so many voters feeling the cost-of-living crisis, and the government facing a slump in the polls, evidence is starting to pile up that Labor will struggle to retain majority government.

Today, special correspondent in Canberra for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on Labor’s strategy to hold on to power.