Peter Dutton wants to slash thousands of government jobs in an Elon Musk-style purge of the public service. But this is not the first time an Australian politician has promised cost-cutting before an election and we don’t know much about the potential policy or its consequences. Bridie Jabour talks with the editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about the threats to the public service and finding facts during an election campaign