A week ago, most pundits were predicting a hung parliament as the likely outcome of Australia’s federal election. Instead, Labor has secured one of its largest majorities in recent decades – eclipsing even Bob Hawke’s first-term result. Anthony Albanese now commands near-unquestioned authority within his party. But as the celebrations subside, questions are already emerging about how his government will use that mandate and whether hubris could undo it. Today, columnist for&nbs...
May 08, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1557
In 1999, Ali Jafari fled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and was resettled as a refugee in Australia. But then, while visiting Pakistan, his permanent residency was suddenly cancelled. Now, 12 years later, he’s still stranded – separated from his family and fighting ASIO’s allegations that he is a people smuggler. In court, Jafari’s family and legal team are up against it. They have discovered that the evidence behind his adverse security assessment is deemed confidenti...
May 07, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1556
In January, Katie Tangey was killed in a Melbourne house fire believed to be part of the ongoing “tobacco wars”. Police say she was an innocent victim and the arsonists got the wrong address. The tobacco wars are driven by rival gangs fighting over a black market worth billions, and have been marked by firebombings, extortion and murder. While headlines focus on the violence, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes. Today, associate...
May 06, 2025•13 min•Ep. 1555
As Peter Dutton conceded his 24-year hold on the Brisbane seat of Dickson, he said the Liberal Party will “rebuild”. The party’s soul-searching has begun, as it looks to select a new leader and consider its future direction. But a return to the Liberal Party’s traditional values is complicated by Peter Dutton having led the party further to the right and the election having diminished much of its moderate wing. Today, chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper ,...
May 05, 2025•17 min•Ep. 1554
Karen Middleton has known Anthony Albanese for more than 30 years – since before he entered parliament. She’s watched his rise, and documented the moments that have shaped the leader he is today. And Karen says this election is going to change Anthony Albanese, in ways that will change the country too. Today author of Albanese: Telling it Straight Karen Middleton, on why Anthony Albanese won – and what the next three years of Labor government will look like. If you...
May 04, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1553
The mood inside Labor HQ was jubilant as it became clear that against all expectations, Anthony Albanese had led the Labor party to victory, with a significantly increased majority. For the coalition the outcome is devastating, and Peter Dutton is out of a job. On top of that, the next generation of Liberal leadership has been wiped off the electoral map, setting the party back for years to come. Today, we take you inside Anthony Albanese’s election night party with special correspondent f...
May 03, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1552
It’s election day! While Anthony Albanese’s campaign has been modest and predictable, Peter Dutton’s has been marked by missteps and backflips. It seems the traits that powered Dutton’s rise are now holding him back. Today, columnist and former adviser to two prime ministers, Sean Kelly, on the decisions that shaped both leaders – and what killed Peter Dutton’s campaign. If you enjoy 7am , the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7...
May 02, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1551
Since the election was announced, just five weeks ago, at least five women have been killed by their partners in Australia. Yet this crisis has barely received a mention in either of the two major parties’ campaigns. Dr Tracy Westerman, a Nyamal woman from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, has worked as a psychologist in remote communities for 25 years. She says where she works, the silence from politicians has been especially deafening. Aboriginal women face a significantly h...
May 01, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1550
There’s one question Grace Tame is asked all the time: when is she going into politics? And her answer is always the same – never. Like many younger Australians, Tame is disillusioned with the two-party system, which she says serves a dwindling minority of morbidly wealthy players rather than the general public. But as Australia heads into an election where Gen Z and Millennials outnumber Baby Boomers for the first time, she thinks it’s a chance to move beyond the two-party gam...
Apr 30, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1549
Under Peter Dutton’s leadership, the Coalition has placed One Nation candidates second on scores of how-to-vote cards across the country. In return, Pauline Hanson has switched One Nation's how-to-vote cards to preference the Liberals second in seats where the Coalition is under threat. The decision goes against decades of principled condemnation of Hanson and One Nation inside the Liberal Party, and normalises what has for almost 30 years been a shunned fringe voice in Australian politics...
Apr 29, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1548
If things go the Greens’ way this weekend, the party could hold the balance of power in a minority Labor government. But given the prime minister’s famed antipathy towards the Greens – and the Labor Party’s continual approvals of new coal and gas projects – questions remain about whether they’ll really have any power at all. Today, Greens leader Adam Bandt, on working with Albanese and what the Greens have to show for their record win last time around. ...
Apr 28, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1547
As we head to the polls this weekend, election analyst Ben Raue has been calculating the path to victory for the major parties. The Coalition needs to pick up 18 seats to win, while if Labor loses four seats, they lose their majority. But as the electorate shifts in all kinds of surprising ways, the path to victory is becoming increasingly complicated for the major parties. Today, analyst at The Tally Room Ben Raue, on the seats that will decide the election – and why Victoria matter...
Apr 27, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1546
The opening scene of Chris Flynn’s fourth and latest novel, Orpheus Nine , came to him in a dream. Not long after, he had the whole story down from start to finish. On this week’s episode of Read This , Chris and Michael sit down for a conversation about the falsity of certitude, how trauma can re-shape a community, and what The Exorcist, the Bible, and Winnie the Pooh all have in common. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 26, 2025•26 min•Ep. 1545
Paul Bongiorno is one of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics who mourned the loss of Pope Francis this week. As he read tribute after tribute of the impact of the Pope’s life, he noticed what wasn’t on the front page – Peter Dutton’s last-minute policy announcements. “The Pope is a world figure… and of course, it swamped the world’s media, including here in Australia. So it’s not surprising that the death of this pope would overshadow anything that ou...
Apr 25, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1544
In January, Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the trans community by banning some medical care for minors. The move has had a chilling effect across the United States, as doctors withdraw their services for fear of being prosecuted and parents stop accessing medication for their children. But many are fighting back. In one red state, we spoke with a doctor driving across state lines, at great personal risk, to give patients the care she says is needed to save their lives. No...
Apr 24, 2025•17 min•Ep. 1543
When Scott Morrison lost his job as prime minister, it was women who sacked him. A review commissioned by the Liberal Party after the 2022 election found that a decline in support among women was a decisive factor in their loss. The report outlined ways the party might win women back. But three years on, that hasn’t happened. Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Bri Lee, on what women want – and why they’re not getting it from the Liberal Party. If you enjoy 7am , th...
Apr 23, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1542
When Peter Dutton’s son, Harry, fronted the media to talk about his dream of home ownership, it was an attempt by the opposition leader to seem relatable. The 20-year-old apprentice said he was “saving like mad”, but it’s unlikely he’d be able to save enough in the near future. But it seems his father may have failed to anticipate the obvious question: would he help his son with a deposit? As reporter Mike Seccombe observed, “if he said he wouldn’t...
Apr 22, 2025•17 min•Ep. 1541
In a coastal corner of Australia, scientist Saul Griffith has been quietly working away on a plan to turn 500 households completely off fossil fuels. He hopes that what he achieves there can act as a blueprint for the rest of the country. But for that to become a reality, the federal government would need to drastically increase their commitment to renewable energy. Today, chief scientist at Rewiring Australia, Saul Griffith, on the electrification already underway – and what b...
Apr 21, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1540
As a child refugee in India, Harini dreamt of making it to Australia to study medicine and become a doctor. She arrived in Australia in 2013 when she was 10 years old, leaving behind her two siblings and mother. Harini did not realise her visa status made her different to her classmates until she received a university offer for a biomedical science degree that required her to pay international student fees of nearly $100,000. After attempting to self-fund her studies and falling a year behind in...
Apr 20, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1539
Over four decades Niall Williams has made a name for himself as one of Ireland’s leading novelists. In his latest novel, Time of the Child , Niall returns to the fictional village of Faha, in west Ireland, the setting of his previous book, This Is Happiness . Time of the Child centres on the notion of familial love, and as he explains to Michael in this week’s episode, Niall couldn’t have written it without becoming a grandfather himself. See omnystudio....
Apr 19, 2025•31 min•Ep. 1538
At one point during this term of government, Indigenous affairs dominated national debate. Politicians, pundits and the public couldn't stop talking about it. But since the Voice referendum failed, it’s become something of a taboo. Labor is eager to move on, while the Coalition is more focused on scoring points than offering a plan. Now, with the election weeks away, there are glimpses of what might come next. Labor says it’s about delivering jobs. The Coalition says it&r...
Apr 18, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1537
Last year, reporter Mike Seccombe looked into the divide between Australia’s richest and poorest schools to find out why this gap keeps widening. What he found was a broken system. Rich parents are able to get huge tax breaks by donating to opulent building projects at their kids’ private schools. It’s a practice that goes way back, despite many arguing the tactic has become outdated. Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper and a proud state school boy, Mike ...
Apr 17, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1536
Last night, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton went head-to-head in the second leaders’ debate of the campaign. The difference between the two leaders’ visions for the country was stark. Albanese talked about his “optimism” for the future, while Dutton asked voters to reflect on whether they are better off now than they were three years ago, suggesting that most people are not. But Albanese and Dutton were united on one thing: neither leader really landed a blow – an...
Apr 16, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1535
Donald Trump’s presence looms large on the campaign trail, as both leaders face questions about how they would handle his trade war. The market chaos and escalating tensions between China and the US may have once seemed like the last thing Labor needed during an election campaign. But insiders now believe they’ve been granted a rare opportunity: to hold firm in the face of uncertainty and prove that changing government in this global political climate is too great a risk. Today...
Apr 15, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1534
In January, Jonathan Holmes met with the ABC’s then managing director, David Anderson. Jonathan and his colleagues at ABC Alumni wanted to know if Anderson was concerned about funding cuts under a Dutton-led government. Successive Coalition governments have made cuts to the national broadcaster over decades. Now, as Peter Dutton signals he’s looking to cut anything he deems to be “waste” at the ABC, alarm bells are once again ringing. Today, chair of ABC Alumn...
Apr 14, 2025•13 min•Ep. 1533
As a scientist, Tim Flannery says he’s seen climate change kicked around parliament for decades. Australians are now paying for the years of denial, distraction and delay from our politicians, with a decade’s worth of warming just in the past couple of years. While the last election sent the major parties a clear message that Australia should act on climate change, he says this election is all about how. And he says he’s optimistic that this could actually be the last climate e...
Apr 13, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1532
Turkish-born, Paris-based writer Ayşegül Savaş’s third novel opens with a young, ex-pat couple who are apartment hunting. Both foreigners in the city they live in and unburdened from the usual familial obligations, their days are marked by small pleasures: shopping at a local flea market, drinking coffee together before work, and taking long walks in the park. Like so much of Ayşegül’s writing, The Anthropologists is interested not just in foreignness, but what ...
Apr 12, 2025•25 min•Ep. 1531
Peter Dutton says he’ll cut migrant numbers by 100,000 people a year as soon as he gets into office. He says it’s part of his plan to free up housing for Australians, but it could also impact the workforce needed to build new homes. Dutton is putting a number to his plans just days after immigration dominated the first leaders’ debate. Abul Rizvi was a senior official in the Department of Immigration from the early 90s to 2007, until he left while serving as deputy secret...
Apr 11, 2025•16 min•Ep. 1530
Elon Musk is pressing NASA to abandon its planned journeys to the moon – projects that have been decades in the making, with billions already spent and contracts already signed. Despite backlash from NASA insiders and politicians on both sides of Congress – who view his plans as costly, disruptive and politically toxic – Musk remains resolute. Today, Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Glazer, on whether the SpaceX CEO can really upend NASA’s return to the moon. This is pa...
Apr 10, 2025•15 min•Ep. 1529
Donald Trump wants to write the next chapter in US spaceflight history. With billionaire tech CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk by his side, he’s outlined an ambitious agenda: to land the first humans on Mars before he leaves office. Whether or not that goal is achievable, the plan would massively reshape America’s space program to the benefit of Musk’s company. NASA has already suffered from Musk’s efforts to gut the federal government through the Department of Government...
Apr 09, 2025•17 min•Ep. 1528
