7am

Australians are in for a world of pain, with mortgages and rents set to rise after our second interest rate hike in as many months. It was a line-ball decision from the Reserve Bank – with five members voting for a quarter of a percent jump and four against – putting our official cash rate at 4.1 per cent. RBA Governor Michelle Bullock says high inflation left them with no choice, but others have slammed the call. Today, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, Greg Jericho, on why he thinks the RBA has got it horribly wrong.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute Photo: AAP Image/Lukas CochSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The war in the Middle East has sent Australia’s fuel prices soaring. And people are worried that if the battle between the US-Israel and Iran continues for another month – Australia may have to begin rationing fuel. Already, drivers are panic buying, stockpiling and some country petrol stations are running dry. Global oil supplies are under threat as Iran attacks tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Today, Tim Buckley, the Director of Climate Energy Finance, and the question: as the oil shock hits home, how high could the price at the pump really go?   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance Photo: PR Image/Supplied by Nathan FalvoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month, one of the biggest shows in Australian radio was suddenly pulled off air. For years, Kyle and Jackie O have been treated as untouchable – a breakfast radio juggernaut that could pull huge audiences, generate endless headlines, and weather scandal after scandal. So much so that the Australian Radio Network handed the pair a $200 million deal – one of the biggest contracts Australian media has ever seen – betting Sydney's most popular breakfast show could go national. But that bet turned shaky: The show struggled to win over Melbourne, controversies kept piling up, and the regulator repeatedly found it in breach of broadcasting standards. Now, after an on-air rupture that has blown apart the partnership at the centre of it all, the future of that enormous deal is in doubt. Today, Kyle and Jackie O’s former boss and host of the Game Changers Radio podcast, Craig Bruce, on what happens when the most expensive bet in the Radio business falls apart.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   And you can check out Craig Bruce’s podcast Game Changers Radio here    Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Craig Bruce, host of Game Changers RadioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For some time now, an alarming number of Australian boys have been engaging with, and looking up to, the misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate. This week, the conversation about misogyny and the “manosphere” has resurfaced. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has accused Married At First Sight of platforming coercive control and misogyny, Netflix has released Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere, and fresh research suggests roughly 40% of teenage boys surveyed agreed that women lie about domestic and sexual violence. Tate’s influence is warping classroom conversation, driving female peers to the fringe of discussion and even causing some teachers to quit. So why are misogynistic influencers reaching so many young men? Today, we’re bringing you an episode from 2024 – in which Ange McCormack speaks to author and journalist Anna Krien about the misogynist radicalisation happening in our schools. This episode was first published in March 2024.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Journalist and author, Anna Krien Photo: AP Photo/Vadim GhirdaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Canberra, accountability is often promised in moments of crisis. Much harder is what comes after. Matt Canavan has taken over the Nationals leadership, sharpening his party’s ability to confront One Nation. Former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson has walked away from the government’s antisemitism royal commission, raising fresh questions about a process already under pressure. And years after Robodebt devastated thousands of lives, a final report has landed with a reminder of just how hard real accountability can be to find.  Today, press gallery journalist Karen Middleton, on what Canavan’s rise means for the Coalition, why Richardson’s resignation matters to Anthony Albanese, and what the Robodebt findings tell us about whether the system is capable of holding anyone to account.    If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Karen Middleton, press gallery journalist Photo: AAP Image/Mick TsikasSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Bolton has spent years arguing that bombing Iran isn’t just justified but necessary.  For decades he has argued that American military force can solve the problem of hostile regimes in the Middle East. He backed the Invasion of Iraq, championed some of the most disastrous American interventions of the modern era, and despite that, he is still arguing more force, more intervention and more regime change will bring stability to the Middle East. Now, as the US escalates again, Bolton’s worldview is back at the centre of the debate. A worldview, that when it comes to Iran, our government shares.  Today, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, on the strikes on Iran, and on why a man who backed the invasion of Iraq still sees bombing as the answer.    If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Ambassador John Bolton, Former Trump National Security Advisor Photo: PA/AlamySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Iran announced a new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But who’s really running the country now? We look into the heavily armed elite forces pulling the strings – the Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.Today, Iranian journalist and author Arash Azizi on what direction Iran’s elite armed forces could take the country.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Iranian journalist and author, Arash Azizi Photo: EPASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Sunday night, after Iran’s final game of the Women’s Asian Cup on the Gold Coast, protesters surrounded the team bus, banging on the windows and shouting “let them go”. Later, five members of the Iranian squad broke away from their minders. By Tuesday, the federal government had confirmed they had been granted humanitarian visas. The move followed days of concern about what the players might face if they returned to Iran, after several were denounced on Iranian state television for refusing to sing the national anthem at the start of the tournament. The government says the same option remains open to the rest of the team, but for now they look set to return to a war zone. Today, former Socceroo and human rights advocate Craig Foster on what this moment says about football’s failure to protect women players when they needed them most.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Former Socceroos captain and human rights advocate, Craig Foster Photo: AAP Image/Dave HuntSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Independent MP Monique Ryan can remember a time in Australian politics when small breaches could cost a career.  Now she says we’ve been gradually conditioned to tolerate corruption and the loss of transparency in parliament. Over recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of lobbyists with access to Parliament House. Literally thousands move through the building, meeting politicians and staffers; often leaving little public trace of who they’ve spoken to and why.  Today, Independent MP, Monique Ryan on the thousands of lobbyists roaming the halls of Parliament House and the system she says allows them to influence, behind closed doors, the decisions that affect us all.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Dr Monique Ryan, Independent MP Photo: AAP Image/Lukas CochSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who should hold the power to decide how AI is used on our battlefields? That’s the question being debated after a face-off between the Pentagon and one of the world’s biggest AI companies. Anthropic ultimately lost its contract with the US military after refusing to let its Claude program be used for mass surveillance of American citizens, or for fully automated weapons capable of killing with no human oversight. But now that its rival, OpenAI, has stepped into the ring and cut its own deal with the government, what does that mean for how AI is used in our current wars – and the wars of the future? Today, David Wroe from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on tech titans, robodogs and whether AI should be used to kill.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: David Wroe, Australian Strategic Policy Institute Photo: Xinhua/Sipa USASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been revealed this week that Monash IVF has paid millions of dollars in secret settlements, after two nightmare mixups saw women implanted with the wrong embryos – one of them giving birth to a stranger’s baby. At least three families have now received compensation for the bungle, which was caused by human error. But these mistakes – at one of the oldest and most reputable clinics in the country – have had devastating consequences that reach far beyond the affected families, damaging the confidence of anyone relying on fertility treatment in Australia. In this episode, which first aired in June 2025, Ruby Jones speaks with writer and public health campaigner Hannah Bambra on why the IVF industry is so vulnerable to human error.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Hannah Bambra, writer and public health campaigner Photo: AAP Image/Dean LewinsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the United States launched strikes on Iran, Australia was quick to back the move.  Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it’s about defending global security. But critics say that argument sounds familiar. More than two decades ago, another Australian prime minister used almost identical arguments to justify joining America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Back then, Albanese himself warned those decisions would redefine Australia as a willing backer of US militarism no matter whether it is in the national interest.  Today, political editor at Crikey, Bernard Keane, on why he believes the Prime Minister has undergone a remarkable transformation, and what it means for Australia as the conflict grows.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor at Crikey Photo: AAP Image/Mick TsikasSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An effort by Congress to rein in President Trump’s war in Iran has failed. Democrats and a few Republicans tried to use the War Powers Resolution to force Trump to get approval from Congress to keep fighting – but it didn’t pass. Now the war is dragging in more countries, fuelling a global crisis and dividing nations. Today Jasmine El-Gamal, former Pentagon adviser and founder of Averos Strategies, on Trump’s war – is it ego, blind ambition or part of a plan to reshape the world?    If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Jasmine El-Gamal, founder and CEO of Averos Strategies Photo: Abbas Hassan/TASS/Sipa USASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the High Court handed down its Mabo decision, it cracked open the legal fiction at the heart of the nation. Terra Nullius was gone. For John Howard, then in opposition, it provided  an opportunity. He framed the moment not as correction, but as a threat. A story was spun to suburban and regional Australia: your backyard, your lease, your livelihood were suddenly, all under threat. For John Howard, the real battle was over the nation’s conscience. He dismissed what he called the “black armband” view of history and described the violence and dispossession of the past as mere “blemishes” on an otherwise proud national story. He refused to apologise to the Stolen Generations, rejecting the idea that the nation owed a moral debt. In its place, he chose pride over reckoning — and ideology over truth. Author and political commentator Amy Remeikis has spent months tracing the threads of Howard’s legacy,  not just the policies, but the narratives that made them possible. This is the Howard Effect, a three part series from 7am marking 30 years since John Howard's ascent to power. Episode Three - Who Belongs   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest:  Author of Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard, Amy RemeikisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s just over two years into his first term and John Howard is taking the country to another election. In that short time he has seized the mantle of economic credibility away from Labor and rewritten the argument about who could be trusted to manage the economy.  The memory of Labor's reforms while in government were suddenly distant, and the constant reminder of the devastating recession of the 90s were kept fresh in the mind of voters by Howard and his treasurer Peter Costello. Economic Management became the major selling point for Howard in every election from there on in. This is The Howard Effect, a three-part series marking 30 years since John Howard’s emphatic election victory. Today, author Amy Remeikis on the economic revolution that defined his government — the tax reforms, the housing settings, and the policy choices that helped create the Australia we are all still living in.  This is episode 2 - In the Shadows of the Australian Dream.    If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Author of Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard, Amy RemeikisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was the second of March 1996. After 13 years of Labor in power, Paul Keating’s government had been defeated in a landslide, closing the door on the Hawke-Keating era and opening another on a new political age. John Howard’s victory marked the beginning of a prime ministership that would run for eleven years – redefining the Liberal Party, reshaping the economy, hardening the culture wars and changing the way power is exercised in Canberra. In this three-part series, Amy Remeikis – contributing editor at The New Daily takes us back to Howard’s years in power. Amy has just released a new book on Howard, Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard. In this series she traces his improbable rise to the prime ministership, the way he consolidated power, and how he reshaped the nation in his own image. This is Part 1 of a three-part series.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Author of Where It All Went Wrong: The case against John Howard, Amy RemeikisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States has entered a new war in the Middle East – alongside Israel – launching strikes inside Iran. Iranian authorities say civilians have been targeted, including in a strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab – killing more than a hundred children. Israel says it’s targeting the regime’s military and nuclear infrastructure. And across the region, Iran has already fired missiles and drones at Israel and at Arab states hosting American forces. Then came the most consequential announcement of all: Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead. Khamenei was the centre of Iran’s power for decades – and his death leaves the country’s leadership in flux, at the exact moment the conflict is spreading. Today, Dr Bader Mousa Al-Saif – a Gulf politics expert, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University and non-resident fellow at The Arab Gulf States institute – on the goal of regime change in Iran and whether Gulf states will pick a side.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Gulf politics expert and assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, Dr Bader Mousa Al-Saif Photo: EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREHSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Immigration is back at the centre of federal politics – again. The Coalition’s new leadership is arguing Australia needs lower numbers, tougher rules, and a clearer cap on how many people we bring in each year. It’s a familiar conversation. In the lead up to the 2024 election, Peter Dutton tried to put a hard number on it – promising to cut migration by 100,000 a year, saying it would help free up housing for Australians. But critics say a large cut would hit the workforce Australia relies on, including the people needed to build more homes. Abul Rizvi was a senior official in the Department of Immigration from the early 90s to 2007, when he left as deputy secretary. He says the argument we keep having – election after election – skips the bigger question: Australia’s need for a long-term population plan, and what we want it to achieve. Today, Abul Rizvi on the politics of population growth. This episode was first published in April, 2025. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Former deputy secretary of the department of immigration, Abul Rizvi. Photo: AAP Image/Lukas CochSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Canberra, a fight both major parties have tried to avoid is back. The Senate is examining the capital gains tax discount – the Howard-era change that slashed tax on asset profits and helped turn housing into a national obsession. It’s long been considered untouchable, especially after Labor’s bruising 2019 election defeat. But with house prices entrenched, inequality rising and the budget under strain, pressure is building on the government to do something. Today, economist and Executive Director of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss, on why the concession exists, the vested interests resisting change, and whether the politics around it are finally shifting.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Executive Director of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss Photo: EPA/LUONG THAI LINHSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whistleblowers have exposed some of Australia’s biggest scandals – from Robodebt and misconduct in the banking sector, to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan – stories that often only come to light because someone inside decides to speak up. But for the people who do, the personal cost can be devastating: retaliation at work, legal threats, even prosecution. And that fear keeps others silent, leaving wrongdoing to fester. The Albanese government came to office in 2022 promising a stronger integrity agenda, including “immediate improvements” to whistleblower laws and broader reform to follow. But years on, what’s actually changed for whistleblowers, and why do so many still feel unprotected? Today, lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender, on creating Australia’s first specialist legal service for whistleblowers, and what’s wrong with our laws.   If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.   Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender Photo: AAP Image/Mick TsikasSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.