Condoms and other contraceptives are set to become more expensive in China, as the Communist Party tries to boost population growth.

With the economy slowing, birth rates declining and the population ageing, the government is now trying all kinds of ways to make women have more babies – from taxing contraception, to new laws on marriages, to cash bonuses and propaganda campaigns.

Reproduction is now seen as a national security issue, and the success or failure of the new policies will have far-reaching consequences – for China’s economic and military strength, and for countries like Australia, who rely on China continuing to grow.

Today, senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, Daria Impiombato – on the threat to women’s autonomy in China’s new phase of population control.

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Guest: Senior analyst at The Mercator Institute for China Studies, Daria Impiombato

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Over the past week, Labor Minister Anika Wells has become the face of a new debate over politicians' perks.

Revelations about a near-$100,000 trip to New York to talk up Australia’s teen social media ban at the UN, followed by reports of taxpayer-funded family travel to grand finals, ski fields and overseas sporting events, have seen her refer three-and-a-half years of expenses to the parliamentary watchdog.

The prime minister insists her claims are “within the rules”, but the backlash – and even more questions over the spending of MPs from all parties – has opened up a bigger argument about whether the rules are fair, and whether they match public expectations in a cost-of-living crisis.

Today, press gallery journalist Karen Middleton, on parliamentary entitlements – and whether this scandal will force change.

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Guest: Press gallery journalist Karen Middleton

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AUKUS is moving full steam ahead. That was the promise made in Washington, as Richard Marles and Penny Wong stood beside their US counterparts, stating the alliance is stronger than ever.

But behind those assurances is a Pentagon review of AUKUS that the public isn't allowed to read – and in Canberra, a hand-picked AUKUS committee that will mostly meet in secret, raising questions about what our government is trading away to stay friends with our most powerful ally.

Today, former Director of War Studies for the Australian Army and adjunct professor at UNSW, Dr Albert Palazzo, on the US military’s plans for expansion on Australian soil – and what the secrecy around AUKUS is really hiding.

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Guest: Former Director of War Studies for the Australian Army and adjunct professor at UNSW, Dr Albert Palazzo

Photo: EPA/LUKE JOHNSON

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