We're bringing you an extra episode of Inside Politics today because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had an opening in his diary, and he's granted us an audience.

His interview comes off the back of a difficult week, with a state visit from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Herzog's visit was welcomed by the victims of the Bondi terror attack and their families, but his presence in Australia also sparked protests with shocking clashes between police and protesters in Sydney.

Host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal ask Albanese whether the police response was heavy-handed, and whether his invitation to Herzog caused further division.

The conversation also traverses other issues bubbling along in the background, including the Coalition leadership tussle, as well as what policies the prime minister plans to implement this year ahead of May's budget.

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There’s a bit going on with the Liberal Party this week, but while that unfolds we are going to look at some bigger issues.

Interest rates went up recently, for the first time in two years, and there’s a question as to whether government spending contributed to inflation.

So we're testing that today, with host Jacqueline Maley, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos.

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The new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is so pro-Donald Trump she’s become known as the “Trump whisperer”. She also just gained an enormous amount of power in a historic landslide election win.

What will this do to Australia, if she encourages Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to strengthen our ties with the United States?

Today, Peter Hartcher on how Australia manages this new relationship with the Japanese prime minister, while heeding calls to decouple from the United States.

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