7am

Last week, countries including the UK, Canada and France announced plans to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In the past, Australia has joined its overseas allies in actions on Israel. This time it’s different – with Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, saying Australia isn’t considering joining the ban. 

So – why not? 

Today, Commissioner on the UN’s Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, Chris Sidoti, on Australia’s responsibilities, and its failures. 

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Guest: Commissioner on the UN’s Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Chris Sidoti

Photo: AP Photo/Leo Correa

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In the last week, AI bosses around the world have suddenly grown a conscience – urging a global slowdown amid fears the race to develop artificial intelligence could outstrip humanity’s ability to control it.

For Dex Hunter-Torricke, that realisation came a little sooner. The big-tech insider walked away last year, disillusioned, after spending 15 years inside the belly of the beast.

He wrote speeches for Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, worked with Elon Musk at SpaceX, and most recently helped Google DeepMind explain the rise of artificial intelligence to the world.

Now, he says society is making the same mistakes with AI as it did in the social media era – sleepwalking into what comes next.

Today, founder and president of The Center for Tomorrow, Dex Hunter-Torricke gives us a glimpse inside the big tech firms shaping our future.

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Guest: Founder of The Center for Tomorrow Dex Hunter-Torricke

Photo: @dexhuntertorricke via Instagram

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The numbers are almost incomprehensible – last month US debt hit 40 trilliondollars. With an interest bill of more than three billion dollars a day.

And that’s before Donald Trump’s trillion dollar promise to hand every adult in America a cheque for five thousand bucks!

Now, as global debt levels rise to record highs, and the cost of paying that debt rises too – experts are sounding the alarm – warning the economic storm that’s brewing is starting to look an awful lot like the 2007 global financial crisis.

Today, Senior Economics Correspondent at the Age and SMH, Shane Wright on the chance of another GFC and what it means for Australia.

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Guest: Senior Economics Correspondent at the Age & SMH Shane Wright

Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew

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One by one, the Aboriginal leaders, organisations and watchdogs the Northern Territory government is supposed to work with are walking away.

The Children’s Commissioner has resigned. An Indigenous MP has left parliament after more than a decade. And now almost the entire Aboriginal side of the Territory’s Justice Policy Partnership has suspended its involvement.

They’re all making a remarkably similar complaint – that the government isn’t listening, and that the structures supposedly designed to give Aboriginal people a say have become meaningless.

Today, National Indigenous Times journalist Dechlan Brennan, on how relations got this bad – and whether a government can tackle the Territory’s enormous problems if the people most affected no longer believe there’s any point in sitting at the table.

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Guest: National Indigenous Times journalist, Dechlan Brennan

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From afar, Alice Springs is a whirlpool of myth and truth. A town with competing interests and few solutions, marked by chaos and decades of government overreach.

In cities and towns across Australia, we read about a “crisis” about “rampages”. One newspaper described the children of Alice Springs as “tiny menaces stuck on a turnstile of trouble”.

In this first episode of our three part series This is Alice Springs, Daniel James visits the town at the heart of our nation, to find out how all the interventions, big and small, by governments of all persuasions have led to this chaos. What he finds is that almost all of it leads back to one thing.

This series was originally published in October 2024.

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Guest: Hosted and reported by Daniel James

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In 2020 Anthony Albanese called for the sacking of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie over her involvement in the infamous sports rorts – which he labelled a farce. Not long after, she resigned.

But now that similar pork barrelling claims have been levelled at the Prime Minister, he’s come out swinging – refusing to admit any wrong-doing over his failure to declare membership at a golf club which received a six million dollar grant.

Also coming out swinging this week was Andrew Hastie. The Liberal MP delivered a masterclass in how to take on One Nation as he labelled Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce lying cowards over a party-backed cartoon calling him a traitor.

Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno on a fiery week in parliament, and who came off second best.

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Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno

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When Donald Trump was sworn in for a second time, some of the most powerful men in the tech world had the best seats in the room.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg – a display of just how close silicon valley had aligned itself to the administration.

But within that world, journalist Gil Durán says, is a smaller, more radical group with a much bigger ambition: get rid of democracy, and use technology to build a new order in its place, controlled by a wealthy elite. And in his new book, The Nerd Reich, Gil traces how these once-fringe ideas have moved closer to the White House than ever before.

Today, Silicon Valley journalist and author Gil Durán, on the group he’s dubbed the “Nerd Reich’, the ideas driving them, and how they became part of Trump’s political project.

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Guest: Author of The Nerd ReichGil Durán

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Last month, an emotional Jacqui Lambie revealed a private health battle connected to her time in the army – a debilitating prolapse that required surgery.

The Tasmanian senator called out gaps in health care services for female veterans, and raged against the government’s plans to introduce a $5,000 cap on allied health services for veterans.

This week fellow veterans joined her calls, laying down their war medals outside parliament house in protest, as Lambie promised to continue the fight.

Today, Senator Jacqui Lambie on why veterans are getting a raw deal.

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Guest: Independent Senator for Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie

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One Nation is copping heat for a proposal that would let Australians take some of the money going into their super as extra pay instead.

For up to three years, renters and mortgage holders could choose to take home a quarter of the money that would normally be put into their retirement – worth about $44 a week for someone on the average full-time wage.

At the same time, the Coalition has been looking at its own ways to give people greater access to their super now – and some of its MPs want to go further.

So why is superannuation suddenly being pitched as an answer to Australia’s cost-of-living and housing problems? And is it a good idea?

Today, economist Greg Jericho, on the growing political fight over what our super should actually be for.

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Guest: Chief economist at the Australia Institute, Greg Jericho

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In imposing scenes in the UK over the weekend, hundreds of masked men belonging to the hard-right group Patriot Platform stopped traffic.

Around the same time, political party AfD was making history in Germany – becoming the first far-right party to win in the country since World War two.

And on the other side of the world, Australia’s high court will today hear from our most high profile Neo-Nazi group in a challenge, legal experts say could see the federal government’s ban on White Australia (formerly known as the National Socialist Network) overturned.

Today, Associate professor of politics at Deakin University Josh Roose on Germany, the UK, and Australia’s high court challenge – as the far-right continues its march across the world.

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Guest: Associate professor of politics at Deakin University, Josh Roose

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On the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Labor has promised a vast new national park to protect more than 12,000 koalas.

But there’s a catch.

The New South Wales government wants carbon credits to help pay for it. By ending planned logging, it could generate credits that are then sold to companies to offset their emissions.

For the Greens, that creates a dilemma at a moment when both major parties are bleeding voters – voters who are walking straight past the Greens as an alternative.

They want the forests protected, but have long opposed carbon offsets that allow big polluters to keep polluting. Now those two positions are about to collide.

Today, co-chief executive officer of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss on koalas, carbon offsets and whether the Greens are still willing to pick the big fights.

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Guest: Co-chief executive officer of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss

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For years, Australia has made cigarettes increasingly expensive in an effort to drive down smoking. Now, the Coalition wants to dramatically reverse course.

It's promised to slash the tobacco excise by 80 per cent, arguing that soaring cigarette prices have fuelled a violent black market. It also wants to legalise and regulate vapes and nicotine pouches.

Labor says there’s no evidence the tax cuts would draw smokers away from the black market, while public health authorities warn it could undo decades of progress in reducing smoking.

So, who’s right?

Today, Martin McKenzie-Murray on how Australia’s public health success helped create the conditions for a deadly tobacco war – and whether making cigarettes cheaper could actually help end it.

This episode was first published in May, 2025.

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Guest: Martin McKenzie-Murray

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Paul Keating has been out of office for thirty years. But he’s never really left the national conversation.

Keating wanted Australia to find its security in Asia, not from it, and to stop defining itself through bigger powers in the Anglosphere.

That vision now sits uneasily alongside AUKUS, a more powerful China, and an Australia tied ever more closely to the United States.

Today, historian and author of Grand Ambition James Curran, on Keating’s argument for a more independent Australia – and why it continues to challenge the modern Labor Party.

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Guest: Historian and author of Grand Ambition, James Curran

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Speaking at the Press Club this week, consent education advocate Chanel Contos outlined how social media companies are feeding misogynistic content to young men online. 

Now, she wants the government to compel social media companies to give people the option to restrict their algorithm. 

So can, and should, the algorithm be contained? And would social media companies even comply? 

Today, CEO of Teach Us Consent, Chanel Contos on the damage the algorithm is doing – and the next tech frontier. 

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Guest: Teach Us Consent CEO Chanel Contos

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They’ve been dubbed pervert glasses. And with good reason  – women around the world are reporting being sexually harassed, filmed without their consent, often without their knowledge.

But this week, the federal government ruled out an import ban on smart glasses – as concerns about the technology rise and examples of their misuse flood the internet.

Today, Associate Dean of Interaction Technology & Information at RMIT Dana McKay,
on the rising popularity of smartglasses, how to regulate their use, and the dangers if wearable surveillance tech becomes widespread.

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Guest: Associate Dean of Interaction Technology & Information at RMIT, Dana McKay

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One Nation has declared that “politics has changed” after snatching a formerly safe Labor seat in a surprise by-election victory in WA over the weekend.

Until now, it had been the Coalition feeling the effects of the orange wave, but now Labor officially has a Pauline problem of its own.

So what does this mean for the government, and the country?

Today, WA political reporter for Business News, Gary Adshead on how One Nation won over WA voters and whether it can replicate that victory elsewhere.

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Guest: Political reporter for Business News, Gary Adshead

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A wall of grey, silted water tears through a Himalayan Valley. 

People look on in shock, disbelief and fear as buildings are swallowed. Cars are swept away and people run as the flood surges down below. 

In its aftermath, more than 800 people are dead and thousands are missing, including 43 Australians.

In the search for answers, scientists now believe the disaster began high in the mountains, when an enormous mass of ice and rock, weighing around 500 million tonnes, collapsed and unleashed a torrent of water down the valley. 

Today, glaciologist at University of Sunshine Coast Adrian McCallum, on how this disaster unfolded, and why the Himalayas and some of the world’s other great mountain ranges are becoming more vulnerable to events like it. 

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Guest: Glaciologist Adrian McCallum

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On day one of his role as communications director for the White House, Anthony Scaramucci sung Donald Trump’s praises. 

He would serve in that role for just another ten days, a span of time that has become known as a “mooch”.

Since leaving the White House, Scaramucci has become one of the president’s most vocal and scathing critics. Now, he says Trump’s return to power is the product of deeper failures in American politics, and a warning about what happens when economic anger goes unanswered.

Today, The Rest is Politics US host Anthony Scaramucci on why Trump came back, the limits of his power, and how Australia should deal with the U.S. president.

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Guest: The Rest is Politics US host Anthony Scaramucci

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The latest NAPLAN results show around a third of Australian students are still falling short in literacy and numeracy – results that have barely budged since 2023.

At the same time, Australia is settling a decades-long fight over how children should be taught to read.

For years, many schools relied on outdated methods that encouraged children to work out words using context, pictures and other cues. Now, some classrooms are increasingly moving towards phonics and explicit instruction.

But the evidence for that approach has been around for decades. So why is it taking so long for classrooms to catch up?

Today, journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray on why the old methods lasted for so long, and how children should actually be taught to read.

This episode was first published in August 2024.

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Guest: Associate editor of The Saturday Paper, Martin McKenzie-Murray

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Australia has changed in ways our politics is still struggling to understand. 

We are now a majority migrant nation. Professional women have overtaken blue-collar men as the largest group in the workforce. And the two countries Australia has relied on most, China and the United States, have become less predictable. 

Labor has adapted to parts of this new reality. The Coalition, so far, has struggled to do the same. 

Today, author of Three Shocks, George Megalogenis on the tectonic plates reshaping Australian politics. 

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Guest: Author of Three ShocksGeorge Megalogenis

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Over the past two weeks, allegations of sexual assault involving some of the country’s most powerful institutions – the Swans and Sydney’s Scots College – have forced an uncomfortable question about how Australia responds when women say they have been harmed.

But behind those cases is an even more troubling shift. New research suggests some young men are becoming more hostile towards women, while misogyny and sexual violence is being normalised online. 

And with pressure building on leaders and governments across the country to confront it, the question is whether the response is keeping pace with the problem.

Today, Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek, on the institutions failing women, the forces shaping a generation of boys, and whether governments are doing enough to stop it.

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Guest: Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek

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As Trump’s war with Iran reaches the six-month mark, the US is increasing its economic pressure – threatening harsher sanctions not just against Iran, but against anyone else who does business with it.

That puts China, the country’s most important trading partner, directly in Washington’s sights.

But how much of this is just bluster? And has Trump lost the ability to turn this conflict in his favour?

Today, The National Interest’s editor-at-large, Steve Clemons, on the dwindling options available to the US – and what that means for its increasingly unpopular president.

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Guest: Editor-at-large of The National Interest, Steve Clemons

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Bird flu has reached a new milestone, crossing over to infect and kill a seal in South Australia. 

It marks a new phase of the outbreak, and has sparked fears for many endangered wildlife species, which face the possibility of extinction. 

So how does the way we farm, eat, and live make us vulnerable to viruses like this? And could humans be at risk with the next mutation? 

Today, journalist and author of Sentinel: when diseases spread between animals and humans, Michael Dulaney on the root cause of the virus - and the future of animal pandemics in our times. 

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Guest: Journalist and author Michael Dulaney

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Last year, the Prime Minister was ambushed in his hotel lobby by far-right figures boasting of being fed “private intel” during the last election campaign. 

The incident was one of about a dozen stunts targeting Labor, the Greens and some Independents. 

It turns out, this wasn’t just about influencers trying to generate content. It was actually a co-ordinated campaign allegedly paid for by a wealthy Christian sect. 

Today, investigative journalist at The Age Sherryn Groch on the Exclusive Brethren, its bags of cash, and connections to the Liberal Party. 

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Guest: Investigative journalist at The Age & SMH Sherryn Groch

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Donald Trump has found a new way to make money. Trump Media and Technology Group is monetising the president’s social media posts, selling Wall Street firms early access to them for as much as $100,000 a month. And in the world of traders, a few milliseconds can mean millions of dollars.

Now, Trump is being sued over the arrangement, amid claims it gives paying customers preferential access to official presidential communications.

At the same time, Trump Media is also moving into prediction markets – a fast-growing corner of finance that can turn political events into betting opportunities. 

Today, Reuters journalist Anirban Sen, on the extraordinary collision of presidential power, private profit and a booming industry where almost anything can become a wager.

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Guest: Reuters journalist, Anirban Sen

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Almost one year ago, the Supreme Court of Victoria allowed a television camera to broadcast a sentencing for the first time ever – the hearing for convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson.

Justice Christopher Beale imposed life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years for murdering three in-laws – and attempting to murder a fourth – by lacing their beef Wellingtons with poisonous death cap mushrooms in 2023.

Now, Patterson has been back in court appealing her convictions, while prosecutors argue her sentence is too lenient and that she should never be released.

Today, we revisit our conversation with investigative journalist and author Lucie Morris-Marr on the sentencing of Erin Patterson, the suffering her crimes caused, and how the judge decided her punishment.

This episode was first published in September 2025.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and author, Lucie Morris-Marr

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For more than a decade, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has been talking about gambling addiction.

His advocacy means he’s become a lightning rod for people to share their stories.

Now, as the government this week passed legislation aimed at reducing gambling harms, Wilkie is among an angry group of dissenters who say the bill is a “national shame”.

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Guest: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie

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In 2022, Masha Alyokhina escaped Russia disguised as a food delivery courier. 

She had spent years being arrested, imprisoned and watched by the state for her work with punk rock protest group Pussy Riot and for speaking out against Vladimir Putin.

But Alyokhina says the Russia she fled wasn’t transformed by one dramatic moment. Repression came piece by piece, until fear, censorship and eventually silence became part of everyday life. 

Now, she says the same pattern is taking hold elsewhere, as people become overwhelmed, disengaged from politics, and complacent that the freedoms they inherited will simply endure. 

Today, Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina on what Putin’s Russia can teach us about authoritarianism, and why democracy can never be taken for granted. 

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Guest: Pussy Riot’s Maria (Masha) Alyokhina

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When news broke this week of an alleged sexual assault involving the Sydney Swans AFL team in Melbourne, old faultlines in the way the sport handles accusations against its players re-ignited. 

Everything from the players involved, to the language used by the club, and the way the media reported the allegations, came under the microscope. 

So how much has changed when it comes to footy players doing the wrong thing. And what would a good response from the AFL look like? 

Today, journalist and author of Night Games, Anna Krien, on the way forward for the AFL. 

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Guest: Journalist and author of Night GamesAnna Krien

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Over six days of public hearings, Australians with a disability told parliament what losing NDIS support would mean for their independence, their families, and their everyday lives.

Despite more than 4,000 submissions and calls for reforms to be paused, the government’s overhaul of the scheme passed the senate yesterday, with support from the Coalition.

By tightening access and reducing some supports, the changes are forecast to save $37.8 billion over the next 4 years. But advocates warn the cuts will leave people worse off, and shift the costs onto families, hospitals and the states.

Today, CEO of Women with Disabilities Australia Sophie Cusworth, on what these reforms mean for people who rely on the NDIS, and if the scheme can be made sustainable without leaving people behind.

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Guest: CEO of Women with Disabilities Australia Sophie Cusworth

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Last week Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines, sprouting links to autism – which have been definitively disproved by scientists and health organisations around the world.

During Trump’s second term, the misinformation from the president and his health secretary, RFK Jr, has been relentless – undermining public trust in vaccines, as outbreaks of previously eliminated diseases flare up again.

Today, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney’s Infectious Diseases Institute Julie Leask on the politicisation of antivax sentiment, and the implications for Australia

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Guest: Professor of Public Health Julie Leask

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For most of Australia’s recent history, preparing for war has meant preparing the military. 

Now, the government is turning its attention on the rest of us. 

A new parliamentary inquiry will examine Australia's civilian preparedness and whether we could keep fuel flowing, supply chains moving and essential services running through a major conflict. 

It comes as the government warns Australia is facing the most threatening strategic circumstances since the Second World War. 

Today, Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, on what major conflict would actually mean for Australians, and whether we’re preparing for the right threats.

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Guest: Director of Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, Sam Roggeveen

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Whistleblower David McBride has been released from prison on parole, after serving 27 months for leaking classified Defence documents to journalists.

Those documents helped expose allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Years on, he’s still the only person to have been sent to prison over the Afghan Files.

Today, as McBride is released, we’re returning to an interview Ashlynne McGhee recorded with him just before he was jailed – on why he leaked those documents, whether he had any regrets, and how Australia keeps its secrets.

This episode was first published in May 2024.

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Guest: Whistleblower and former military lawyer, David McBride

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After years of pressure to tackle gambling harm, the Albanese government is trying to get its long-awaited reforms through parliament, looking to cut a deal with the Opposition, sparking a debate over just how far the government is prepared to go to get its reforms through. 

Meanwhile, immigration is becoming one of the defining battles in federal politics, as One Nation’s growing support and hardline approach force both major parties to confront how they respond to its agenda. 

And amidst it all, Barnaby Joyce declared One Nation “one of the gayest parties in Australia”, after a former One Nation candidate called homosexuality a mental illness. 

Today, SBS Chief Political Correspondent, Anna Henderson, on a hectic week in parliament; the fight over immigration, gambling reform and a warm conversation between the PM and President Trump.

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Guest: SBS Chief Political Correspondent Anna Henderson

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For decades, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has helped shape politics and public debate, and in doing so, has often left lasting consequences for some of the people caught in its sights, from politicians, to public figures to everyday people. The consequences can be devastating. 

Journalists Matthew Ricketson and Andrew Dodd have a name for what happens when that attention becomes a campaign, they call it ‘getting Murdoched’.

Today, co-author of their new book Getting Murdoched, Matthew Ricketson on the people who’ve found themselves on the receiving end, and the media culture that could outlast Rupert Murdoch himself. 

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Guest: Co-author of Getting MurdochedMatthew Ricketson

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Just when you thought world politics couldn’t get any more ridiculous: tonight, far-right British politician Nigel Farage is set to face a by-election of his own making. His main opponent? A joke candidate by the name of Count Binface, who says he’s an alien space warrior, and wears a superhero costume featuring a bin for a head.

The contest has turned into a circus, but the five-million-pound donation scandal which prompted it, is deadly serious.

Today, European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett, on the contest, the scandal behind it, and the parallels between Farage and Australia’s far-right offering, One Nation.

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Guest: European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett

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The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent: a relief for those with a mortgage. 

But as the bank weighs up future interest rate hikes to try and combat inflation, some economists say there’s a fairer way to keep spending under wraps and spread the pain around. 

And the alternative could leave us all with bigger retirement nest eggs.

Today, independent economist Saul Eslake on whether superannuation could be used to manage inflation, and what it all means for the future of housing. 

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Guest: Independent economist Saul Eslake

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As One Nation’s political clout rises, so too does its bank balance, courtesy of the very elites Pauline Hanson often rails against.

Now an investigation by the Brisbane Times and SMH has detailed some of the places One Nation’s cash is coming from: from exclusive parties hosted at Gina Rinehart’s mansion, to movies, to merch.

But perhaps even more pertinent are the contributions hidden from public view.

Today, SMH Investigative Reporter Patrick Begley on the sources of One Nation’s wealth. 

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Guest: SMH Investigative Reporter Patrick Begley

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In the early hours of July 5 last year, a group of masked people allegedly broke into a defence manufacturer in Melbourne’s north-east. 

Three cars were set alight. The building was vandalised, and later, a video message appeared online with a masked man claiming responsibility; warning workers involved in the weapons supply chain that they were being watched. 

Waleed Aly has a PhD in global terrorism and says the message left behind is crucial to understanding what happened and what might happen next. 

Today, Waleed Aly on what makes political violence terrorism, and whether this attack is a sign of something much bigger taking hold. 

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Guest: Monash University terrorism expert Waleed Aly

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This week, Alan Jones went on trial in Sydney, more than 20 months after his arrest.

The once-powerful broadcaster is now facing 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching involving six complainants. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.

When we recorded this episode, Jones had just been charged with 24 offences involving eight complainants. Since then the case has narrowed, with a number of charges withdrawn or replaced before the trial began.

Today, we revisit our conversation with investigative reporter and author of Jonestown: The Power and Myth of Alan Jones, Chris Masters, on the fall of one of Australia’s most powerful men, and what it tells us about the nature of power itself in this country.

This episode was first published in November 2024.

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Guest: Investigative reporter Chris Masters

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In Australian politics, access can be bought, factions can operate beyond public view, and conduct can be deeply troubling without ever meeting the definition of corruption.

None of it is especially new, and maybe that’s the problem.

Meanwhile, people are becoming more disconnected from the institutions that shape their lives, and less convinced that those institutions are working in their interests.

Today, columnist for The Age and SMH Sean Kelly, on the money, secrecy and private power shaping our politics, and what happens when voters stop trusting the system itself.

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Guest: Columnist for The Age and SMH Sean Kelly

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Almost 30 years ago the Howard government shut down Australia’s public employment service and privatised the system that helps unemployed people find work.

Since then, repeated inquiries have found the system is failing the people who need it, while the companies paid to run it rake in huge profits.

Now, the Albanese government has admitted the system isn’t working and promised its biggest overhaul in decades. But Labor says these private providers will still remain part of the system, even as a new report has followed the billions of dollars flowing through the industry

Today, ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens, on how helping unemployed Australians became a massive money spinner, and whether Labor can fix the system while leaving private companies at its centre.

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Guest: ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens

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Alan Jones is used to attracting attention. But not like this.

At 85, the once-powerful shock jock who for decades acted as judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion, is now the one on trial.

Jones is accused of historical offences involving the indecent assault and sexual touching of teenagers and young men – claims he’s always denied.

Now, a judge will decide, with the trial slated to run over the next four months.

Today, National Affairs Editor at Ten News, Hugh Riminton on how the first few days of the Alan Jones trial played out in court, and what comes next.

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Guest: National Affairs Editor at Ten News Hugh Riminton

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For decades it’s shone a light on corruption of the highest order, even toppling premiers: Now NSW ICAC, the state’s corruption watchdog, has set its sights on a secretive right-wing Christian faction of the Liberal Party, “the Reformers”, and its cashed-up group of backers.

Already the public inquiry, codenamed Operation Rosny, has heard of shit sheets, sham payments, phone taps, and dodgy deals with fugitive developers – with the reformers' connections reaching all the way to the top of the Liberal party.

Today, The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont unpacks the tangled web of players at the centre of what she’s calling ICAC’s Game of Thrones.

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Guest: SMH chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont

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What do Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson, Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock all have in common?

Usually not much. But they're part of an unlikely group of politicians backing former senator Rex Patrick in a legal fight with the Albanese government over information the government does not want released.

At the centre of that fight are documents about potential sites for nuclear waste storage from AUKUS submarines, a bill that could see Patrick forced to pay $150,000, and a warning about what happens when ordinary Australians push too hard for answers. 

Today, transparency campaigner Rex Patrick on the case that has united some of parliament's most unlikely allies. 

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Guest: Transparency campaigner Rex Patrick

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It’s the largest institutional emitter in the world. A bigger polluter than 140 countries. And yet its emissions are hidden from sight.

Now a new documentary ‘Earth’s greatest enemy’ is exposing the impact of the US military empire on the planet: the waste, the billion dollar budgets, and the political maneuvering that’s kept it all out of the public eye.

Today, Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, on what the world’s biggest war machine is doing to our Earth.

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Guest: Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin

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This week, 7am spoke with former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, as he returned to public life with a memoir defending many of the decisions he made during his final years at the airline.

Joyce said the company was fighting for survival during the pandemic and that, while mistakes were made, the difficult decisions taken under his leadership were necessary to keep Qantas from going under.

Today, we revisit our conversation with journalist and author Joe Aston, recorded after Qantas was handed a record $90 million penalty for illegally outsourcing 1,800 workers.

It asks what those decisions cost, whether they really were necessary, and whether the airline has actually changed since Joyce’s departure.

The episode originally aired in August 2025.

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Guest: Rampart founder and author of The Chairman's Lounge: The Inside Story of How Qantas Sold Us Out, Joe Aston

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In America, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has turned anger over rent, groceries and childcare into a powerful movement on the left. One with real momentum. 

In Australia, that same anger is increasingly being captured by Pauline Hanson and the populist right, while Labor retreats towards the centre. 

So attention is turning to who in Australia could make a Mamdani-style case for economic change, and to whether the Australian left has the organisation, discipline and ambition to build a movement around them.

Today, freelance writer, political commentator and host of RRR's Spin Cycle Rachel Withers, on the political figure the left is searching for, and whether the conditions exist to produce an Australian Mamdani.

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Guest: Writer and political commentator Rachel Withers

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Victoria’s new premier Ben Carroll has announced a royal commission into the state’s building industry.

It follows years of reporting exposing alleged corruption, organised crime links and misconduct within the sector, and years of resistance from the government and former premier Jacinta Allan.

The commission now has the potential to examine what happened and who knew about it, forcing powerful figures in politics, unions and the underworld to answer questions under oath and in public.

Today, The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, on what the royal commission must uncover and the big names who could be called to testify.

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Guest: The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie

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Next election the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will have a new contender for his Sydney seat, with commentator and Cheek Media founder Hannah Ferguson announcing she’s taking a tilt.

She says she’s started canvassing locals to find out what they want from their representative, and that she’s already been warned that attempts to build a dirt file on her have begun. 

Today, we speak with Hannah Ferguson, and political journalist Karen Middleton, about what it takes to actually oust a PM, and what else could be in store. 

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Guest: Candidate for Grayndler Hannah Ferguson and press gallery journalist Karen Middleton

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After a chaotic 24 hours of backroom plotting and mounting pressure, the Victorian premier resigned.

Jacinta Allan’s replacement, and former deputy leader Ben Carroll, now has just four months to turn Labor’s fortunes around in what’s shaping up to be the most unpredictable election the state has ever seen.

Polls show an unprecedented three-party contest – with voters split, almost equally, between the unpopular Labor government, an Opposition ridden by scandal, and a rising One Nation.

Today, ABC Melbourne Mornings host Raf Epstein on what Labor’s change of leader means for an already chaotic election race and whether Australia’s most progressive state could turn orange.

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Guest: ABC Radio Melbourne host Raf Epstein

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Cory Doctorow is the author and tech critic who brought us the term ‘enshittification’ – which refers to the gradual decline in the quality of digital platforms and services over time.

Now he’s warning that what we’ve been led to believe is the inevitable march of AI towards world domination isn’t that inevitable after all, and actually what we’re marching towards could be the end of the AI bubble.

Because every time you ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini a question, companies like OpenAI are losing money. The more we use, the more they lose.

And while those AI giants burn through billions of dollars a year, gambling that eventually they’ll figure out how to turn it into a profitable business, the world’s economy is hanging in the balance.

Today, Cory Doctorow, on why the AI boom is being pushed into every part of our lives and what happens when the bubble bursts.

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Cory Doctorow is in Australia this August for appearances at Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and in Melbourne at The Capitol, presented by The Wheeler Centre and Now or Never. His new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, is out via Verso 

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Guest: Author Cory Doctorow

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Alan Joyce was once one of Australia’s most admired business leaders.

By the time he left Qantas, he had become one of the country’s most hated men.

His final years at the airline were marked by unlawful sackings, cancelled flights, withheld refunds and a collapse in public trust. But in a new memoir, Riding the Jet Stream, Joyce defends many of the decisions that made him a symbol of corporate arrogance and public distrust.

Today, former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, on what he believes Australians got wrong about him – and whether he accepts responsibility for the damage done to the Qantas brand on his watch.

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Guest: Former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce

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When Robert F Kennedy Jr was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary, his confirmation came off the back of a fiery questioning from Democrats and Republicans alike about RFK Jr’s record on vaccines. And under oath, RFK Jr denied he was against them.

But now, Reuters reports he considered scrapping the entire childhood immunisation schedule, removing polio and MMR vaccines, and spending five billion dollars investigating the disproven link between vaccines and autism.

Kennedy has spent two decades campaigning against vaccines, using his famous name to become one of the movement’s most prominent figures.

Today, we return to our conversation with investigative journalist Brian Deer, on Kennedy’s anti-vaccine campaign – and the deadly consequences of vaccine misinformation in Samoa.

This episode was originally published in February 2025.

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Guest: Investigative journalist Brian Deer

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Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas.

Over the past 25 years, the value of those exports has increased more than twentyfold. Yet revenue from the tax designed to capture the extraordinary profits made from petroleum resources has gone backwards.

This week, at its national conference, the Labor Party formally acknowledged that Australians deserve a "fairer return" from the resources beneath their land and seas.

But the party stopped short of backing the policy that forced the issue onto the agenda: a 25 per cent tax on gas exports that supporters say could raise up to $17 billion a year.

Today, Australia Institute co-chief executive Richard Denniss, on the unlikely alliance pushing Labor to take on the gas industry – and whether the party’s carefully chosen words will ever become an actual tax.

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Guest: Co-Chief Executive Officer at The Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss

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In the East Room of the White House, Donald Trump made an extraordinary accusation of election interference: Beijing had illegally obtained the voter files of 220 million Americans.

He also accused US intelligence agencies of hiding the extent of China’s activity. 

Later, Trump claimed a Homeland Security review had found around 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote.

Trump’s motivation, critics say, is to sow doubt ahead of the upcoming midterm elections – which he’s already made several attempts to reshape: from redrawing maps, to restricting voting, to firing the entire electoral commission.

Today, staff writer at The Atlantic David A. Graham, on Trump’s campaign to tilt the midterms and what he could still do before, during and after election day.

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Guest: Staff writer at The Atlantic David A. Graham

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A blonde woman stands among smiling children holding lollipops. A foundation banner hangs behind them. She announces that a new orphanage has opened in Africa.

But evidence collected during an ABC investigation suggests that the woman in the video isn’t real. Neither are the children or the banner behind them. The scene appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence.

Millions of people have watched an Australian influencer promise food, shelter and hope to children in some of the world's most critical crisis zones. 

Now, her foundation is facing questions about its humanitarian claims, the money it solicited, and the damage AI-generated appeals could do to public trust in charities.

Today, ABC News Verify journalist, Matt Martino on the Lily Jay Foundation, and the tangled web behind its humanitarian work. 

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Guest: ABC News Verify senior journalist Matt Martino

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For more than a week, Donald Trump has unleashed strikes against Iran, in a worsening cycle of attacks, including on civilian infrastructure.

Trump has defended the strikes as honouring the deaths of up to three American service members in an Iranian attack. But the real goal is to get the Strait of Hormuz open again – something that looks increasingly unlikely. 

So, with the region once again on a knife’s edge, the US appears locked back into an escalating war, unless the interim ceasefire deal can be salvaged. 

Today, diplomatic correspondent at NOTUS Akbar Shahid Ahmed on the threat of all-out war, and who is really in charge of what happens next. 

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Guest: Diplomatic correspondent at NOTUS and author of Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza, Akbar Shahid Ahmed

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It’s the otherracism inquiry running at the same time as the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion – the inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

But while the royal commission has attracted rolling media coverage and government attention, the Aboriginal racism inquiry has been largely ignored.

The inquiry was triggered by the alleged bombing of an Invasion Day rally – witnesses shining a light on the repeated inaction before, during and after the event as they testified about the fear still hanging over the Indigenous community.

Today, National Indigenous Affairs Editor for NITV & SBS John Paul Janke, on how Australia treats different kinds of racism differently. 

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Guest: National Indigenous Affairs Editor for NITV & SBS John Paul Janke

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After more than two decades at Nine, Karl Stefanovic has left the building.

For years, he was the face of the Today show – surviving ratings slumps, public scandals, internal criticism and a revolving door of female co-hosts.

But after launching his own podcast, and then interviewing far-right British figure Tommy Robinson, Nine finally cut him loose.

Now, people who worked with Stefanovic are speaking out.

Crikey contributor and Fourth Estate host Tina Quinn has spoken to current and former Nine insiders about what he was really like behind the scenes and why the network backed him for so long.

Today, Tina Quinn, on Karl Stefanovic’s rise, his fall from Nine, and whether he can survive without the network that built him.

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Guest:  Host of Fourth Estate on 2SER and Crikey contributor, Tina Quinn

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Earlier this month, in the space of just three days, four women and girls in Australia were allegedly killed by men and boys known to them.

Two months ago, the Prime Minister resisted calls for a royal commission into domestic violence. But women and girls continue to be killed – sometimes within hours of one another.

Today, we’re bringing you an episode from 2024, where Ruby Jones speaks to Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, about why our domestic violence crisis is getting worse – and why years of plans, campaigns and promises have failed to stop it.

This episode was originally published in July 2024.

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Guest: Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody

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The Liberal Party has begun asking what it needs to do to modernise. Its answer, so far, appears to be Tony Abbott.

As Angus Taylor tries to put some distance between the Coalition and One Nation, Pauline Hanson’s party has had a week that looks less like a political revolution and more like a holiday gone wrong.

Away from the political theatre, do the Coalition’s proposed migration cuts stack up economically – at a time when one of the country’s most important systems is still failing the people it is meant to care for?

Today, federal political correspondent for The Age and The Sydney MorningHerald Natassia Chrysanthos, on the Liberal Party’s identity crisis, One Nation’s fortunes and an aged-care system still not fit for purpose.

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Guest: Federal political correspondent for The Age and The Sydney MorningHerald, Natassia Chrysanthos

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The Great Barrier Reef has avoided being placed on UNESCO’s “in danger” list – for now.

But the warning hasn’t gone away. UNESCO says Australia still needs to do more to protect it, including on water quality. And one of those problems starts far inland: when bushland is cleared, soil can wash into rivers that flow out to the coral.

The Australian Conservation Foundation says bulldozing for beef production is a major driver of that runoff. And now, Australia’s new national environment watchdog – the National Environmental Protection Agency – has opened its doors with more than 100 potentially unlawful land-clearing cases already on its books.

Labor says its new nature laws will protect the environment and speed up approvals for housing, renewables and infrastructure. But will they actually stop the clearing – or just speed up a broken system?

Today, CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation Adam Bandt, on the first test of Labor’s new nature laws – and whether they can make an impact before it’s too late.

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Guest: CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Adam Bandt

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The Prime Minister has announced a plan for how Australia approaches AI, with a new office to be created, and new standards expected to be legislated early next year.

As part of the plan new data centres can be fast tracked, but will have to supply their own power. 

And while Anthony Albanese said that artists should be able to control the use of their work, there are still fears about what will happen when potential investment meets copyright law. 

Today, Chair of Digital Rights Watch Lizzie O’Shea on whether the government can walk the tightrope of the AI boom, while protecting and benefiting all Australians. 

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Guest: Chair of Digital Rights Watch Lizzie O’Shea

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When Pauline Hanson was at the previous peak of her political popularity, in the late 90s, one journalist was there chronicling it. 

Margo Kingston followed Hanson on the 98 campaign trail, and has followed her career ever since – pulled back in, even when she wanted to walk away. 

So what do Pauline Hanson’s beginnings tell us about her future? And what are the parallels between 1996 and 2026? 

Today, Margo Kingston, on what Pauline Hanson has come to represent, and how she’s using her past to fashion her present. 

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Guest: Journalist and author of Off the Rails: The Pauline Hanson trip,Margo Kingston

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Is the media’s reporting on Israel’s attacks on Gaza fuelling antisemitism? That’s the question facing the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion – which has been examining the role of the public broadcasters – the ABC and SBS.

Appearing before the commission was Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal – who came out swinging at the broadcasters’ Middle East coverage, reccomending it be overseen by an independent committee.

But do Segal’s claims stack up?

Today, former Media Watch host and ABC Alumni board member Jonathan Holmes, on the submission ABC Alumni put to the commission, and the role of the public broadcaster in reporting on war. 

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Guest: Former media watch host Jonathan Holmes

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New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan is famous for his trainwreck interview with Donald Trump at the height of covid.

Now, he’s exposing the US president again with a forensic look at what he says was the most consequential year of an American presidency in our lifetime.

Donald Trump’s first presidency was defined by chaos – but also by the people around him trying to contain it.

Swan says the second term is different. Trump has returned to the White House with a tighter circle of loyalists, and far fewer people willing to say no.

In a new book Regime Changeco-authored with Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan goes inside the first 14 months of Trump’s return to power, documenting a presidency using the machinery of government to punish enemies, pressure institutions and test what one president can get away with.

Today, Jonathan Swan, on Trump’s second term – and how he’s changed America forever.

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Guest: Co-author of Regime ChangeJonathan Swan

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Another major telco outage has raised the question: what happens when you call triple-zero and can’t get through?

This week, Telstra blamed a software defect for a national outage that disrupted phones, payments and transport – and left more than 300 triple-zero calls failing to connect. The communications watchdog is now investigating.

It comes after last year’s catastrophic Optus failure, when a 13-hour outage blocked hundreds of emergency calls across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and was linked to deaths.

ACMA opened an investigation into Optus, but still hasn’t published final findings.

Today, journalist and Crikeycontributor Michael Sainsbury – on what went wrong at Optus and how the government’s choices led us here.

This episode was originally published in September 2025.

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Guest: Journalist and Crikey contributor, Michael Sainsbury

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Anthony Albanese has, with growing confidence, spent years trying to convince voters he's relatable

But this week that confidence carried him somewhere the office of Prime Minister probably shouldn’t go – a game of “shag, marry, date” on a comedy podcast.

The apology came quickly. Then, as the Prime minister turned to rugby league diplomacy in the Pacific, China tested a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. 

It was a week that moved swiftly from political embarrassment to regional unease, and left Labor managing the Prime Minister’s image at home and Australia’s influence abroad.

Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno on a turbulent week for Anthony Albaense, marked with missteps, a communication breakdown and a focus on Pacific diplomacy in tumultuous geo-political waters.

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Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno

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A call came through with a warning: political operatives were digging for dirt. 

For Amy Remeikis, it wasn’t the first time. But this time, she was told, it was more vicious than usual. 

In Canberra, that kind of warning is part of the machinery: a whisper campaign, a rumour, a file passed around – backgrounding against opponents or perceived threats to vested interests. Enough to make a journalist think twice about who they speak to, where they go and what stories they pursue. 

Too often for women in public life, the tactics are familiar and designed to cut deep. 

Today, contributing editor at The New Daily, Amy Remeikis, on the forces trying to intimidate journalists and why she decided to call it out. 

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Guest: Contributing editor for The New Daily Amy Remeikis

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Survivors say it’s like being stabbed in the back; some were just days away from finally having their day in court against the Christian Brothers when their cases were suddenly put on hold.

The Catholic religious order is crying poor, saying it doesn’t have enough money to pay child sexual abuse victims the compensation they’re owed.

But it’s been revealed that assets worth billions of dollars – that could have been used in the payouts – were instead transferred just out of reach of survivors.

Today, Managing partner at Marque Lawyers, Michael Bradley, on the multimillion-dollar properties sold off for just a dollar, and the crushing court decision that’s left victims in the cold.

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Guest: Managing partner at Marque Lawyers, Michael Bradley

Photo: AAP Image/Eoin Blackwell

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Since the ceasefire was announced late last year, Gaza has faded from the headlines. But the horror of life there has not stopped.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced in October, and thousands more have been wounded, as people continue to face a daily struggle for survival.

Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory, has recently travelled through the Middle East, including the West Bank, and has been speaking to people in Gaza.

Today, Antony Loewenstein tells us what he saw in the West Bank, what he’s hearing from Gaza, and what it means for the future of Palestine 1,000 days on from the start of Israel’s war.

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Guest: Independent journalist and author of The Palestine Laboratory, Antony Loewenstein

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Last year, Tracy Hall was sent a dating profile that sent chills down her spine. The name on the profile was different, but the image was that of notorious conman Hamish McLaren.

He had been jailed for scamming 15 Australians out of $7.6 million – including Tracy, his girlfriend and final victim, whose life savings he stole after meeting her under a fake identity.

Now, as McLaren prepares for release on parole this week, Tracy says the systems that allowed him into her life still haven’t been fixed.

Today, Tracy Hall on the conman who stole her life savings, the growing romance scam industry costing Australians tens of millions of dollars a year, and whether dating apps are doing enough to protect the people using them.

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Guest: Romance scam advocate and survivor Tracy Hall

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For generations of Australians, Powderfinger songs are tied to first loves, long drives, share houses, break-ups and summers that still feel close enough to touch. 

They were written by people, played by a band, and carried by listeners into their own lives. 

Now, that music has been found inside the machinery of artificial intelligence, harvested into vast datasets without permission and without payment. 

At the same time, the federal government is fending off whistleblower claims of a “dirty deal” with tech giants that would give AI access to Australian music and art in exchange for billion dollar investments

Today, Bernard Fanning on what happens when machines are trained on our songs, and who gets to tell Australian stories, us or AI. 

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Guest: Bernard Fanning

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It’s been one year since Kumanjayi Walker’s family gathered in the Central Australian community of Yuendumu, to hear the findings of a coronial inquest into his death.

Kumanjayi Walker, a 19 year old Warlpiri-Luritja man, when he was shot and killed by former constable Zachary Rolfe in 2019.

In 2022, Zachary Rolfe was found not guilty of Kumanjayi Walker’s murder, but his family has always maintained that Rolfe’s racism played a role in Walker’s death – something the coroner said couldn’t be ruled out.

Today, we’re bringing you an episode recorded just after the inquest, with investigative journalist Kate Wild – whose book, The Red House, examines Kumanjayi Walker’s death and how the racist culture of the Northern Territory Police enabled Zachary Rolfe to act with impunity.

This episode was originally published in July 2025.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and author of The Red House, Kate Wild

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Pauline Hanson went to the National Press Club with a party polling like a threat to the old order. Then she had to explain what that party was actually for.

Since her appearance, One Nation’s federal support has slipped. The speech, with its talk of monoculture and its familiar targets – migration, the ABC and renewables – gave voters a clearer look at the movement behind the momentum. 

But the story doesn’t end there. 

In Victoria, where the state election is now months away, One Nation is polling better than the Labor government. And now, Hanson’s message is being carried by a loud cast of celebrity sympathisers. 

Today, founder and CEO of Cheek Media Hannah Ferguson on what happens when One Nation is no longer just a protest vote, and how the Liberals and the Greens have struggled to take advantage of an electorate clearly in the mood for change. 

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Guest: Cheek Media founder Hannah Ferguson

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Donald Trump returned to the White House promising to make America the crypto capital of the world, despite having once dismissed Bitcoin as “not money” and warned it was “based on thin air” in a 2019 tweet.

In his first year back in office, Trump has set that scepticism aside as it has become clear crypto presents an extraordinary business opportunity.

A new financial disclosure hints at just how lucrative those ventures have become, with Trump disclosing more than $1.4 billion USD in income from family crypto ventures last year, raising questions about how far a president can go in turning public office into a money-making machine.

Today, journalist and research director for Public Citizen’s Trump Accountability Project, Zach Everson, on Donald Trump’s crypto empire and the new frontier of political corruption in America.

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Guest:  Journalist and research director for Public Citizen’s Trump Accountability Project, Zach Everson

Photo: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

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The temperatures were so high that roads melted and tram tracks buckled. Some locals even resorted to sleeping in parks and caves to escape the heat.

And at the epicentre of the European heatwave? Paris – which recorded its hottest day in history. 

It’s where Australian author and climate activist Sarah Wilson has called home for the past few years.

Today, Sarah speaks with 7am from Paris, on the heatwave that’s ravaged Europe and what it tells us about how humanity will need to adapt to the extreme conditions to come.

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Guest: Author and journalist Sarah Wilson

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They were some of the biggest stage productions in the country, starring some of the biggest names in the biz. But in the space of just two weeks, Beetlejuice and Waitress: The Musical have had their tours cut short, leaving the cast and crew devastated. 

Now, stars like Nat Bass are sounding the alarm as the industry struggles to stay afloat amid rising costs and slumping ticket sales.

Today, arts executive John Glenn on the crisis threatening the future of theatre and live shows, and what can be done to save the industry.

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Guest: CEO of AANT Centre, John Glenn

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For decades, the Dollarmites program turned schoolchildren into customers. 

The controversial scheme, now axed, gave Australia’s biggest bank access to kids, classrooms and their cash under the guise of teaching financial literacy.

Now it’s happening again. 

A new report has found the country’s biggest fossil fuel companies are using the same strategy – with multimillion-dollar programs and sponsorships targeting millions of Australian children.

Today, Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble on how the tentacles of big coal, oil, and gas are reaching into Australian classrooms and manipulating students.

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Guest: Comms Declare founder, Belinda Noble

Photo: Comms Declare

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KPMG is one of the biggest, wealthiest and most powerful consulting firms in the country – auditing and advising everything from major companies to governments.

It is trusted with some of the most sensitive information in Australia. Now that trust is at the centre of a major scandal. 

A whistleblower raised concerns that confidential client information was being used to chase new work. What followed has forced out senior leaders, exposed the treatment of the person who spoke up, and raised bigger questions about the firms governments have come to rely on to do the work once done inside the public service.

Today, ABC business reporter Daniel Ziffer on KPMG, the scandal inside one of the Big Four consulting firms, and why the fallout reaches far beyond one company.

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Guest: ABC business reporter Daniel Ziffer

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When the teal independents swept through Liberal heartland, their pitch was simple: they were not like the major parties.

They were community-backed, locally accountable, and free to vote how they wanted.

Now, two of the best-known teals – Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender – are forming a political party. They say Community Strong Australia is a home for the politically homeless: people who want climate action, integrity, sensible economic management and a pro-business agenda.

But can you build a party out of independents without sacrificing what voters liked about them in the first place?

Today, independent MP Zali Steggall, on why the teals are becoming a party – and whether they can hold the centre as Australian politics becomes more divided.

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Guest: Community Strong Australia MP Zali Steggall

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia – like many countries – saw protesters take the streets.

They weren’t just protesting lockdowns, they were rallying around a tangle of fears and conspiracies.

Those threads fused into a broader worldview that pulled people down a pipeline and built a small industry of influencers.

Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson on the conspiracy pipeline: how it works, who benefits, and where it’s heading now.

This is part one of a two-part series that was originally published in August 2025.

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Guest: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle

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It’s easy to dismiss conspiracy theories as fringe or imported.

But conspiratorial ideas are gaining traction with everyday Australians – about one in three endorse at least one conspiracy belief.

They’re also being echoed by people in power, and have spilled into real-world violence.

Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle on how conspiracies leap from the fringe to the mainstream – including all the way to Parliament house.

This is part two of a two-part series that was originally published in August 2025.

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Guest: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle

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Pauline Hanson’s call for Australia to become a monoculture was meant to draw a line around national identity. Instead, it opened up a new split inside the Liberal Party.

This week, the idea left Opposition Leader Angus Taylor looking bewildered, unable to say clearly where he stood on multiculturalism.

Andrew Hastie took the opposite approach in navigating the challenge presented by One Nation, launching a full frontal assault on One Nation from inside the Coalition party room. 

And as the right fights over Hanson’s rise, a new party from two teal independents is trying to offer voters another way out.

Today,news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden, on a week of conservative confusion, One Nation pressure, and the teal independents trying to turn disillusionment into votes.

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Guest: news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden

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Karl Stefanovic has spent decades as one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television. 

A household name from the largely inoffensive world of breakfast television. 

Now, that multi-million dollar career at Nine is officially over, after Stefanovic published an interview with Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist with a long criminal history, who has built a large following based on hate-driven rhetoric towards Muslims, immigrants, the changing face of Britain; and on the claim that he’s being silenced by the establishment.

But the fall out from the podcast, including his split with Nine, may have worked in Stefanovic’s favour as he tries to forge a new career in outrage podcasting. 

Today, Crikey’s media reporter Daanyal Saeed on Karl Stefanovic, the interview that ended his time at nine, and the audience he may have been chasing all along. 

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Guest: Crikey media reporter Daanyal Saeed

Photo: The Karl Stefanovic Show

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Bird flu has reached mainland Australia – with cases first confirmed in WA and now South Australia.

The strain, detected in three seabirds, is H5N1 – a deadly form of the virus that has swept through wild birds overseas, forced farmers to slaughter millions of chickens, spread to mammals, and, in the United States, infected dairy cows and farm workers.

Authorities in Australia say the risk to the public is low – but for wildlife, an outbreak could be devastating.

Experts fear it could become the tipping point for species already endangered or close to extinction.

Today, CEO of the Invasive Species Council Jack Gough, on the race to stop bird flu becoming a wildlife disaster in Australia.

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Guest: CEO of the Invasive Species Council, Jack Gough

Photo: PR Handout/Lori-Ann Shibish, Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary.

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Amid the seismic political shift currently underway in this country, there’s been one party missing from the conversation: the Greens.

And it’s curious, because the conditions that have seen One Nation rise – frustration with the major parties, a slip in living standards, appetite for change – should suit the Greens and their anti-establishment politics.

So why are they lost in the political wilderness?

Today, former Greens MP and Green Institute Executive Director Max Chandler-Mather on whether the Greens can mount a comeback and tap into the progressive version of Pauline’s populist politics.

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Guest: Former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather

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The Prime Minister of the UK Keir Starmer has announced his resignation – meaning Britain is preparing for its seventh leader in just ten years. 

Starmer, who won in a landslide victory for the Labor party only two years ago, has been haemorrhaging support from the public and the party for months.

The man likely to replace him: Andy Burnham.  

Today - host of the News Agents Emily Maitlis on Starmer’s downfall, who Burnham is, and how he’s poised to take power. 

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Guest: Host of The News Agents Emily Maitlis

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In Western Australia, police have just started trialling technology that can identify people as they walk past. 

A marked police van will scan faces outside major events, cross-checking them against a watchlist of people wanted by authorities. Police say it’s targeted and that innocent people have nothing to fear. But once this kind of surveillance is switched on, the question becomes how far it spreads, and who decides when it stops. 

Today, UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland, on the scope creep of live facial recognition technology, and the danger of normalising police powers before the public understands them.

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Guest: UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland

Photo: WA Police

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Anti-abortion activists say it was the most successful pro-life campaign in Australia - last week a bill to overturn abortion access after 25 weeks was voted through the upper house of South Australia’s parliament.

It didn’t make it through the lower house, but women's advocates are still sounding the alarm amid a growing push against reproductive rights - led, in part, by One Nation.

Pauline Hanson, once a supporter of a woman’s right to choose, has changed her tune, as her colleague Malcolm Roberts pushes for the party to adopt a blanket abortion ban.

Today, writer, peer-support worker, and reproductive health advocate Hannah Bambra
on the local and international forces looking wind back abortion access in Australia

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Guest: Writer & reproductive health advocate Hannah Bambra

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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