KITCHEN CABINET Season 8
EPISODE 1 OF 6
TUESDAY 21 JULY 8.30PM
Kicking off the eighth season of Kitchen Cabinet, Annabel Crabb visits The Lodge to cook with the 31stprime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
In an unusually frank and relaxed interview, the PM reflects on his 30-year career in federal politics, the issues on which he’s changed his mind in that time and the day in politics he’d least like to live again.
Annabel and the PM also discuss the role of difficult childhoods, the legitimacy of surf ‘n turf and the question of political courage, on which the Labor leader has surprising thoughts.
What would Young Albo think of Prime Minister Albo? Is it an advantage in politics to be boring? What does it feel like to believe until the age of fourteen that your Dad died in a car accident, and then find out that he didn’t? Anthony Albanese as you’ve never seen him before.
It’s time to head back to the kitchen!
ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb starts this July
Join host Annabel Crabb for a brand-new series of Kitchen Cabinet from Tuesday 21July at 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Australian politics in 2026 feels unprecedentedly shouty. The major party vote is fracturing. Independents and protest parties are jostling for the approval of a seriously cheesed-off population. In an environment of accelerating news cycles and shrinking attention spans, the opportunity to speak calmly and at length with political leaders feels like a rare luxury.
In this season of Kitchen Cabinet, Annabel will visit the homes of six very different politicians from the ranks of our 48th Australian Parliament, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, “Teal” Independent Allegra Spender, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, and Labor MP Josh Burns. Together they cook a meal, share a conversation, and - as always - Annabel brings dessert.
“Frankly, politics feels like a food fight right now,” says Annabel, who has been covering Australian politics for 30 years. “Who’d run for public office? I certainly wouldn’t. But that’s why I’m so interested in the people who do run for office. Who choose to be a part of it, rather than fleeing the scene like any sensible person would.
“In this eighth series of Kitchen Cabinet, I’m learning about federal politicians from across the political spectrum in the way humans have learned about each other for millennia - by sitting down to eat together”.
Production credit:
Creator/Writer Annabel Crabb, Director Stamatia Maroupas, Series Producer Madeleine Hawcroft*,* Senior Researcher Carolyn Cage, Commissioning Editor Jo Chichester.
EPISODE 2
TUESDAY 28 JULY 8.30PM
Angus Taylor – the ninth Liberal leader so far this century – has a Herculean task ahead as he grapples with the growth of One Nation and the collapse in the Coalition’s vote. And now he has to cook on camera!
Annabel visits Taylor on the working farm near Goulburn that he and wife Louise – and their two corgis – call home.Digging deep into the culinary repertoire of his jackaroo days, Taylor boldly makes his own damper and opens up about growing up in the country, going to Oxford, losing a parent too soon, and why it is that every time he posts something on social media at least
There are six episodes but only five politicians have been named. I wonder who is guest no.6? 
It’s not who you think it is. 
The sixth episode is yet to be filmed.
EPISODE 3
TUESDAY 4 AUGUST 8.30PM
Annabel meets with Independent MP Allegra Spender, who - in 2022 - boldly nabbed the Liberal Party’s crown jewel, the affluent Sydney seat of Wentworth, and has held onto it ever since.
Inthe episode we learn about what motivates this serial overachiever, who started working as a kid in the fashion design business of her mother, the late Carla Zampatti. Much later, she became managing director of that business.
Spender also talks about the embarrassment of door knocking with her Liberal MP father, John Spender and explains why she is not a Liberal MP today.
Over bread and an Italian soup, the pair talk tax policy, the country/city divide and the devasting Bondi terror attack in Spender’s electorate.
New promo on Instagram narrated by Annabel
Recipe for episode 1
EPISODE 4
TUESDAY 11 AUGUST 8.30PM
Tonight, Annabel visits Deputy Leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi.
Arriving in Australia as an adult migrant is not a rare story in Australia,butit’sa rare story in our federal Parliament. Annabel visits Mehreen Faruqi, who 35 years ago migrated to Sydney from Lahore, Pakistan, armed with a young family, and engineering degree, and an appetite for adventure. These days, Faruqi is the deputy leader of the Greens and was the first Muslim woman ever to be sworn in as a Senator.
While she cooks her mothers-in-law’s eggplant curry,Faruqitells Annabel about growing up in Lahore,how many engineers are in her family (spoiler: A LOT)and why she only met her first Indian person when she arrived in Australia.
EPISODE 5
TUESDAY 18 AUGUST 8.30PM
Annabel heads off to country Victoria to meet with Labor MP Josh Burnsandhis partner Georgie Purcell,a Victorian state parliamentarian representing the Animal Justice Party.
Josh lives principally in his urban Melbourne electorate of Macnamara, which is where he grew up, the descendant of Jewish immigrants.ButsinceJosh and Georgie have a young baby,they have been spending a bit of time in picturesque rural Kyneton at Georgie’s farm,which features 26 rescue animals, including one grumpy pony.
Josh, who observes a vegan diet, cooks a feast of falafel, homemade pita bread, salad and chips. While chopping and chipping, Annabel learns about his upbringing and why he likes to work behind the scenes to negotiate outcomes.
EPISODE 6 - Final
TUESDAY 23 AUGUST 8.30PM
Darren Chester, Deputy Leader of The Nationals, Member for Gippsland.
Annabel heads off to the Lakes Entrance in Gippsland to meet Darren Chester, Deputy Leader of The Nationals. Chester has been in the Parliament for 18 years, weathering multiple leadership changes in the Coalition and the defection of former leader Barnaby Joyce to One Nation. A relentless advocate for the local produce of his electorate, Chester serves up some local seafood for Annabel and talks about the lessons he’s learned about politics in a turbulent two decades, and the realities of energy transition for a region historically famous for producing coal-fired power
I guess Annabel will be relieved that she has a guest for the season finale.
She was on The Cheap Seats last night to talk about her show, while Tim McDonald brought up funny clips from the past seasons including Clive Palmer spraying oil to a stove which had just been turned on.
Darren Chester has posted BTS video of his episode on his Instagram. He said in the caption that the episode was shot at Lakes Entrance a couple of weeks ago.
Well, ratings were not that great so might be a good time to end it now.