They’re worn by the hundreds of lobbyists who are granted access to the building and the politicians who work inside it.It’s a lucrative business - lobbyists charge handsomely to help big firms get access to large federal deals.

And with billions of dollars of government contracts up for grabs - including $22.7 billion for Labor’s made in Australia plan - a new class of Labor-allied lobbyists has emerged.

This has heightened concerns about the power of top lobbyists and renewed calls for more transparency about the access they get to the country’s decision makers.

Today, Chief political correspondent David Crowe talks to Paul Sakkal to discuss this lobbyland and the rise of Labor insiders becoming guns for hire, as well as the emergence of a new group called The Muslim Vote that is also trying to influence politics.

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After a tumultuous couple of weeks in Canberra, senator Fatima Payman has quit the Labor party. On Thursday, Payman emotionally announced her decision to leave the party that helped her gain a senate seat in the 2022 election, saying she had exhausted every option to raise her concerns about the government’s position on Palestinian recognition. Today, political correspondents Paul Sakkal and Angus Thompson talk to Jacqueline Maley about the split between Payman and the Labor party and its ramifications.

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"My name is Julian Paul Assange."

These were the first words spoken by the Wikileaks founder and high-profile long-time former prisoner as he finally faced court to answer charges this week. Assange accepted a deal to plead guilty of violating US espionage law and appeared on Wednesday in a court in the obscure US Pacific island territory of Saipan.

He was sentenced to time already served and boarded a flight home to Canberra, Australia. He arrived home on Wednesday evening to a cold Canberra evening, a triumphant fist raised.

So how big a political coup is Assange’s release? Who has been working on it and for how long? Why has Albanese made it a project of his government?

And, the temporary defection of Labor Senator Fatima Payman to the Greens.

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe, national security correspondent Matthew Knott, and live from Saipan, North Asia correspondent Lisa Visentin.

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

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