Afleveringen
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In 2017, billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration, becoming known as the “saviour of steel”.
There was hope in this small South Australian town that steelmaking – and the thousands of jobs tied to it – would survive. But since then, Gupta has lost control, the South Australian government has forced the steelworks into administration, and taxpayers are now underwriting the rescue to the tune of $2.4 billion.
Now, the sale of the steelworks is in its final stages, but the question of whether Whyalla becomes the green steel town politicians promised, or whether public money is being used to keep an ageing steelworks alive, remains.
Today, investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry, on the billionaire who brought Whyalla to the brink – and what it would really take to save the town.
This episode was originally published in January, 2025.
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Guest: Investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry
Photo: AAP Image/David Mariuz
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This week, Pauline Hanson took to the National Press Club stage with a greatest hits collection of the grievances that have fueled her political career.
Immigration. Multiculturalism. Trans rights. Indigenous Australians. The “political elite”. The changing face of the country.
The backlash from the government, sections of the community and commentariat was immediate.
But that may no longer be enough. For years, Hanson has survived controversies that would have ended most political careers. And as One Nation support grows, one thing is becoming more evident: we are now entering a political era where outrage carries no penalty. Where the shock of what politicians say matters less than the anger they channel.
Today, columnist Sean Kelly on Hanson’s resurgence, the opportunities it creates for politicians of every persuasion, and what becomes possible when voters decide the old political order is broken.
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Guest: Former Labor advisor and The Age & SMH columnist, Sean Kelly
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This week, Pauline Hanson called for multiculturalism to be replaced with monoculturalism.
At the same time, the Soccerros were capturing the hearts and minds of Australians everywhere on the biggest stage of all, the World Cup.
It’s a team filled with players from multiple cultural backgrounds and one, that if Hanson’s vision of the nation came to bear, simply wouldn’t exist.
Today, former Soccerroo and refugee advocate, Craig Foster. On the team that’s quietly challenging one of the most divisive debates in the country, simply by taking the field.
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Guest: Former Socceroo and refugee advocate, Craig Foster
Photo: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP
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Parkinson’s is the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world.
And in some Australian farming communities, doctors are questioning why so many seem to be getting it.
For years, some farmers and doctors have drawn a link to paraquat – a powerful weedkiller still used widely on Australian farms, despite being banned in more than 60 countries, including the UK, China and Brazil.
This month, Australia’s chemical regulator is expected to decide whether paraquat can keep being used here – after a review that’s been going on since 1997.
Professor Wesley Thevathasan is one of about 50 neurologists who made submissions to that review, calling for paraquat to be banned. But he says the regulator has ignored them – as well as some of the strongest evidence linking exposure to the chemical to Parkinson’s.
Today, Associate Professor Wesley Thevathasan, on the farmers who fear paraquat made them sick, and whether Australia’s regulator is listening.
Farmer audio courtesy of ABC rural.
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Guest: Parkinson’s disease specialist, Associate Professor Wesley Thevathasan
Photo: ABC / Jake Hamilton
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For three decades, Pauline Hanson has built a career on grievance.
In all that time she hasn’t fronted to the bastion of political journalism, the national press club. That was until yesterday where she appeared for the first time.
In a long address she laid out how she aims to turn her politics of grievance into policy; targeting immigration, the ABC, multiculturalism, renewable energy, transgender rights and journalists.
It was a performance that will play to her base and one that helps explain her rise in the polls. But she also gave her opponents a clearer picture of what they’re running against and what to target in the two years until the next election.
Today, press gallery journalist Karen Middleton, on Pauline Hanson’s big moment, and the fight now coming for One Nation.
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Guest: Press gallery journalist Karen Middleton
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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Over the weekend, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire.
It came after his company, SpaceX, was publicly listed, reaching a valuation of more than two trillion dollars.
Elon’s wealth is now the equivalent of the bottom one-third of the entire globe’s population. It’s more than the entire annual GDP of Belgium, Sweden or Ireland.
But while some are celebrating Musk’s milestone, for others it’s jarring to see in the hands of someone who uses their power for political purposes – and at a time where so many are living with so little.
Today, author of Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire, Carl Rhodes, on what the world’s first trillionaire means for the distribution of power and wealth.
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Guest: Author of Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire, Carl Rhodes
Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
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Donald Trump said what he wanted for his 80th birthday was world peace
And now, alongside the UFC spectacle on the White House lawn, he appears to have given himself the headline he wanted: a so-called peace deal with Iran.
Or more accurately - a sixty day “pause” – while negotiations continue.
Today Director of the Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs Program Dr Emma Shortis on the latest end of the war announcement - and what could derail it.
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Guest: Director of the Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program, Dr Emma Shortis
Photo: Bonnie Cash/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM
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Aukus is the most expensive defence project in Australia’s history; a project, that at its heart has the plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines through the United States and the United Kingdom.
But the doubts around it are growing: over the cost, over whether Australia will get the submarines it’s been promised, and over what the deal means for our sovereignty.
Now, a public inquiry, in lieu of parliamentary debate, led by former Labor minister Peter Garrett is putting Aukus under scrutiny.
Today, Peter Garrett on why he believes Australians deserve answers, and whether it’s too late to walk away.
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Guest: Lead commissioner of the Aukus Inquiry, Peter Garrett
Photo: AAP Image/Con Chronis
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When Professor Christian Downie appeared before a Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation, he warned that Australia is facing coordinated campaigns designed not to debate climate solutions, but to stall them.
Professor Downie has spent years inside boardrooms and the lobbying world studying how these campaigns are built – tracing the billions spent on messaging by lobby groups, PR firms and think tanks – and outlining what he calls “the climate obstruction playbook”. It’s a strategy refined in Washington and increasingly echoed in Australia.
Today, Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, Christian Downie, on how the obstruction playbook has been so successful in stopping action on climate change.
This episode was originally published in October, 2025.
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Guest: Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance and Director of the Governing Energy Transition Lab, Christian Downie
Photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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Pauline Hanson has spent decades casting herself as the outsider, the voice of people who feel ignored by the political class.
Now, One Nation is surging in the polls and in donations. On Friday their fundraising site crashed under the weight of more than three million dollars in new money, forcing Labor to treat Hanson less like a fringe dweller and more like a direct threat.
But as Hanson’s popularity grows, so does the scrutiny of what sits behind it. This week, she admitted she’s taking policy advice from Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, the billionaire mining magnate she describes as a friend and supporter.
Today, contributing editor at The New Daily, Amy Remeikis, on Pauline Hanson’s growing momentum and the billionaire and corporate backing of her outsider politics.
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Guest: Contributing editor at The New Daily, Amy Remeikis
Photo: AAP Image/Paul Miller
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The scenes in Belfast this week have been horrifying to watch - ugly clashes, masked men rioting in the streets, immigrant families begging neighbours to hide their children - fearing for their safety.
Politicians, far-right agitators, and billionaire Elon Musk have been accused of sparking the riots - weaponising a brutal stabbing attack, to ramp up anti-migrant rhetoric and whip protestors into a frenzy.
Today, British journalist and host of The News Agents, Emily Maitlis on the far-right forces at play in the UK, and why the Belfast riots should serve as a warning to Australia, and the world.
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Guest: Journalist Emily Maitlis
Photo: PA/PA Wire
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Donald Trump is right now following through on his threats to “hit Iran hard again” unleashing another round of strikes.
Trump says he wants a peace deal, but in the past 24 hours, the war has escalated again. Iran and the US have traded strikes, and one of the most important oil routes in the world remains severely restricted. The ceasefire is still supposed to exist, as is the promise of an imminent peace deal. But the closer Trump says he is to ending the war, the harder it is to tell who's actually in control of it.
Today, editor-at-large of The National Interest, Steve Clemons, on Trump's war with Iran, the fragile push for a deal, and why Benjamin Netanyahu may still be the person most capable of blowing it all up.
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Guest: Editor-at-large of The National Interest, Steve Clemons
Photo: Samuel Corum/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM
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When Julia Gillard delivered her now-famous misogyny speech in 2012, it was against a backdrop of some horrendous sexist attacks.
One of the most prominent was “Ditch the Witch” – a slogan on a placard then-opposition leader Tony Abbott was photographed standing in front of at an anti-carbon tax rally.
Now, the ugly slogan is back. This time, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan is the target.
“Ditch the Witch 2.0” has put a spotlight on the treatment of women in politics.
Today, Victorian MP Georgie Purcell on her own experience of sexist abuse, the threat it poses to democracy, and why she’s putting political differences aside to stand up for her rival.
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Guest: Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell
Photo: ABC
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Last month, the federal government announced that the biggest neo-Nazi organisation in the country would be listed as a hate group.
A few days ago, The Age revealed the group’s former leader, Thomas Sewell, has been living in a $2.5 million estate in Melbourne’s suburbs.
So what are Sewell’s plans for the compound, and who are the wealthy backers making it possible?
Today, crime reporter at The Age Sherryn Groch on the neo-Nazis’ next move.
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Guest: Crime reporter at The Age, Sherryn Groch
Photo: AAP Image/James Ross
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The conversation you’re about to listen to is almost certainly unlike any interview you’ve heard before. It’s unlike any 7am has ever done.
Dr Jeni Haynes has dissociative identity disorder, otherwise known as multiple personality disorder. In 2019 she set a world first legal precedent when her alters were allowed to testify in court against her abusive father, who was later sentenced to 45 years jail.Now, she and her two thousand plus alters are speaking out in a new SBS documentary We Are Jeni.
Today you’ll hear from Dr Jeni Haynes, as well as from some of her alters in a rare glimpse into multiple personality disorder, and how it saved Jeni from her abusive father, who triggered the disorder in the first place.
And a warning, while this story doesn’t go into graphic detail - it does reference child abuse.
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.
And We Are Jeni is available to stream now on SBS On Demand
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Guest: Dr Jeni Haynes
Photo: AAP Image/Jeremy Piper
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Right now, AI data-centre mega-hubs as large as 350 hectares are being planned across Australia – that’s the equivalent of 175 MCG playing fields.
And the energy they need to fuel them is just as huge: more than the total output of an entire coal plant.
The solution? So-called “shadow grids” built in partnership between the data centres and big gas, where gas-fired power plants are placed directly on site, powering the centres and generating huge emissions in the process.
Today, Ketan Joshi, climate expert and co-author of a new Greenpeace report, on the relationship between fossil fuel companies and data centres, and Australia’s vulnerability in the AI race.
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Guest: Climate expert Ketan Joshi
Photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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Earlier this year, authorities found something extraordinary inside a Cambodian scam compound: a fake Australian Federal Police office.
There were Australian flags, AFP-style logos, and desks staged to look official – all part of a six-storey compound used by scammers impersonating police forces from around the world.
It was a reminder that the scam messages Australians receive are often connected to a far more sophisticated and exploitative criminal industry.
New figures show Australians reported more than $2 billion in scam losses last year, and a recent UN report has detailed how people are trafficked into scam centres, held against their will, and forced to target strangers online.
In early 2024, Ben and his wife were kidnapped and trapped inside one of these Cambodian scam factories. This is the story of how they escaped – and why so many others can’t.
This episode was originally published in March 2025.
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Guest: Ben Yeo, ambassador for the Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA)
Photo: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
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Tony Abbott is back at the centre of Liberal Party politics.
The former prime minister has been elected unopposed as federal Liberal Party president – a role that sounds administrative, but carries real political weight at a moment of deep trouble for the Coalition.
The Liberals are watching voters drift to One Nation, while Abbott argues the answer is to take the fight directly to Labor. But his return sharpens a deeper question inside the party about whether the Liberals can rebuild by reviving the politics of the Abbott era, or whether that only deepens the crisis they’re trying to escape.
Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno, on Tony Abbott’s comeback, the future of the Liberal Party and how the government is trying to turn the opposition’s crisis into a test of its own authority.
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Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno
Photo: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
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In Melbourne, few names carry the weight of Mick Gatto.
For decades, he’s been known as a survivor of the gangland wars, a man whose influence has stretched from the city’s underworld into the heart of the construction industry.
This week, police raided his home. Gatto and his wife were arrested, then released without charge. He says it was all over a driving infringement. Police say they’re investigating alleged financial offences.
But the raid has landed in the middle of a much larger fight over corruption, intimidation and alleged underworld influence inside Victoria’s building sector.
Today, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, on Mick Gatto, corruption in the construction industry, and the reckoning now facing the state’s Big Build.
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Guest: Investigative reporter for The Age and SMH, Nick McKenzie
Photo: AAP Image/James Ross
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29 women have been killed in Australia so far this year - most allegedly by their intimate partner. Their names sometimes hit the headlines, but often not. And even then, the outrage seldom lasts.
We’ve known for a long time that Australia has a problem with violence against women. Little seems to work to change the statistics. For some advocates - a Royal Commission is the only chance at making a difference.
A petition calling for that - now sits at more than 110-thousand signatures.
Today, writer and advocate Jess Hill on whether it will ever happen, and what it could achieve, if it did.
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Guest: Writer and advocate, Jess Hill
Photo: Ye Myo Khant / SOPA Images/Sipa USA
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