Australia’s costofliving crisis. As families battle to make ends meet, navigating the tough economic climate and a raft of rate rises, it’s set to be a bleak festive season for some. How much more pressure can people take?

With home ownership now dubbed “the preserve of the rich” and the pandemic, and low rental vacancies creating a “perfect storm” for young people, it’s the next generation who are taking the brunt of the cost crunch. What can the government do to help without adding to inflation?

Meanwhile, a turbocharged debate in Federal Parliament over convicted criminals released from immigration detention has ended with Labor capitulating to Coalition demands for tougher restrictions on the former detainees. What does this say about the government’s handling of such volatile issues?

And online security is again front of mind, with an attack that closed ports across the nation and the annual cyber threat report revealing that more Australians than ever say they’re being attacked by cybercriminals. Are Australia’s cyber defences strong enough? Or are we being left exposed to international hackers?

The alarming report comes after an outage from Optus left millions of customers in the dark and the company facing a potential class action. The telco giant is offering free data to those affected, but is that enough?
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Panellists: Assistant Treasurer & Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, Liberal Senator for WA Dean Smith, Independent member for Kooyong Monique Ryan, Youth Researcher & ANU Academic Intifar Chowdhury and Economist Chris Richardson.

This episode was broadcast on Monday November 20, 2023

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