Hi, I'm Francis Keany - author and broadcast journalist.

Welcome to The Trough, your daily news feed.

This podcast is a bit of an experiment - a daily ten minute bite-sized wrap of all the political stories you need to know before you get to work each morning. It's something I've been keen on doing for some time and I hope you guys will love it. I'll be running this for the next few weeks as I explore the world of freelance journalism.

For those wondering about the name, The Trough is a nickname given to the Parliamentary Staff Cafeteria in Canberra, where politicians, staffers and journalists can dine for breakfast, lunch or dinner. There is the occasional complaint about the serving sizes of the Beef Stroganoff