In just three books Robbie Arnott has established himself as a writer to trust. Flames (2018), The Rain Heron (2022) and Limberlost (2022) were all rapturously reviewed and garnered a hefty swag of award nominations and wins. On this episode of Read This, Michael Williams sits down with Robbie to discuss his new novel, Dusk, which explores loss, redemption, and survival in Tasmania’s high country.

On a street in downtown Beirut there’s a five-storey building – a derelict hotel.

It was empty for years, until recently, when hundreds of displaced people started arriving.

Their experience of fleeing southern Beirut to find safety in the city’s busy neighbourhoods is being repeated across Lebanon right now as Israel’s bombardments continue.

There has been a massive effort to help shelter the one million displaced Lebanese, but in this building and in many others they aren’t always welcome, with religious divides from the civil war still palpable, decades on.

Today, journalist Heidi Pett on the old wounds being re-opened in Lebanon.

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Guest: Journalist Heidi Pett

When the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme handed down its findings, the commissioner in charge went to great lengths to refer six individuals to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation.

What followed outraged many, particularly the victims of the scheme: The NACC announced that it would not act on the referrals.

That decision generated so many complaints that it has since been investigated by the inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness.

Now, that investigation has found that not only should the decision be revisited, but the head of the NACC himself engaged in “officer misconduct”.

Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton, on what this means for the integrity of Australia’s corruption watchdog.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton.

In a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, just over a week from the election, Donald Trump took to the stage with a vision for the first day of his presidency.

Trump is promising to deport more than 11 million people if he wins, making it “the largest deportation program in American history”.

Immigration has been one of the most pressing and divisive issues of the presidential race, with fears of “border chaos” and misinformation about immigrants eating pets dominating headlines.

But the facts about immigration tell a different story. 

Today, investigative reporter for ProPublica Mica Rosenberg, on the real ways immigration is affecting America.

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Guest: Investigative reporter for ProPublica Mica Rosenberg

When West Australian mining billionaire Chris Ellison was accused of a decade of tax evasion, his lawyers responded by trying to cut a deal with the Australian Taxation Office. 

The terms of that deal included an 80 per cent reduction in the penalty payable and an assurance that his conduct wouldn’t be referred to police or the corporate watchdog. 

The reason that Ellison, managing director of the company Mineral Resources, would push for those terms is obvious. The real question is why the tax office would agree to it. 

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on how the ATO protects the rich. 

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Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe

When Elon Musk took the stage at a pro-Trump rally in Pennsylvania to announce he would start giving a million dollars a day to randomly chosen people who had signed an online petition, it begged the question, is this legal?

To win, people had to be registered to vote in one of the seven key battleground states and have signed the petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments, which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. 

The stunt attracted huge publicity, but for Musk these million dollar cheques are just the tip of the iceberg.

Investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal Dana Mattioli has uncovered years of secret donations by Musk that upend the idea that he’s a recent entrant into Trump’s orbit.

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Guest: Wall Street Journal reporter Dana Mattioli

Melanie Cheng began her writing career as an author of short stories. Her first collection, Australia Day, was published in 2017 to much acclaim. Her second novel, The Burrow, follows a Melbourne family forced to confront the tragedy of their shared past. On this episode of Read This, Michael sits down for a conversation with Melanie about family, connection, and the power of narrative medicine.

King Charles’ first visit to Australia as monarch laid bare a lot of unfinished business.

Moments after the king sat down following an address to the Great Hall in Parliament House, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was escorted out after shouting “you are not our king” and “this is not your land”.

It didn’t just bring home the fact that, despite a failed referendum in 1999, the Australian republican movement is still alive – it also highlighted that the more recent failed referendum on a Voice to Parliament has far from settled any of the issues around Truth, Treaty and justice.

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno, on the demands from Australia and other colonies for justice and reparations.

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Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper, Paul Bongiorno.

The fight over abortion in Queensland had seemed settled. It was decriminalised in 2018 and has since attained wide public support.

But with Katter’s Australian Party promising to introduce a bill to repeal those laws in the new parliament, it’s become a surprise issue heading into this weekend’s election.

The leader of the Liberal National Party David Crisafulli has insisted he has no plans to change the laws, but if enough of his MPs choose to vote with their conscience, the decision could be out of his hands.

Today, reporter and director of F+K Media Kaitlyn Sawrey, on the brewing fight over abortion rights and how it might affect who governs Queensland.

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Guest: Reporter and director of F+K Media, Kaitlyn Sawrey

This week, a group of Stolen Generations survivors visited a site from their childhood that holds a lot of painful memories: the notorious Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home in New South Wales.

The gathering marked 100 years since Kinchela was opened – a home that institutionalised hundreds of Indigenous boys, and subjected them to torture, abuse and reprogramming, in order to assimilate them into white society.

Now, the survivors and their families want to take ownership of the site, to make it a place of healing for future generations.

Today, Gunaikurnai and Wotjobaluk writer and contributor to The Saturday Paper Ben Abbatangelo on the enduring legacy of the Kinchela Boys Home. 

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Guest: Gunaikurnai and Wotjobaluk writer and contributor to The Saturday Paper Ben Abbatangelo