7am

James Button spoke to scores of people about climate change and what it means to them. He found deep anxiety – but also a contradiction between how people thought and how they acted. Today, what a conversation about ecological catastrophe could look like. Guest:  Author and contributor to The Monthly James Button.  Background reading:  The Climate Interviews in The Monthly   The Saturday Paper   T...

The Labor Party has committed to zero emissions by 2050, but hasn’t said how it will get there. And, its coal commitments contradict that target. Mike Seccombe looks at how Labor lost its nerve on climate policy, and what that means for Australia’s climate future. Guest: The Saturday Paper’s national correspondent, Mike Seccombe. Background reading: Political warfare over climate action in The Sat...

The murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children has once again put Australia’s failure to grapple with domestic violence on the national agenda. There are steps we could take to better protect people, but governments are failing to act. Bri Lee on the changes we need to make to keep women and children safe.  Guest: Author and writer for The Saturday Paper Bri Lee. Background reading: Queensland...

Description: A consortium of powerful religious doctors has made it impossible to choose a surgical abortion in one of NSW’s largest regional towns – even in the public hospital there. Justine Landis-Hanley on how faith and fear can control access to reproductive rights. Guest: Freelance journalist Justine Landis-Hanley. Background reading: The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on to...

Coronavirus has provided Scott Morrison with an opportunity to re-establish his leadership credentials, but will it work? Today, Paul Bongiorno on how the prime minister is making the most of this crisis.  Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno.  Background reading:   Scott Morrison's quest for immunity in The Saturday Paper The Saturday Paper   The Monthly   For more information o...

The panic generated by coronavirus has reignited an older, deeper panic about Chinese migrants. Ruby Schwartz on how a medical emergency has unearthed Australia’s fear of the other – and how this fear cycles through different targets. Guest: 7am producer Ruby Schwartz. Background reading: COVID-19: Racism, economics and the aftermath in The Saturday Paper Christmas Island and the rise of mandatory...

In today’s episode we speak to Luke Macaronas, a former St Kevin’s student. He wrote for The Saturday Paper about the way toxic masculinity defines elite private schools and other powerful institutions, and how it stops them from addressing issues of abuse. Guest: Former St Kevin’s student Luke Macaronas. Background reading: St Kevin’s College, abuse and the language of pain in The Saturday Paper...

A riot caused by the intense summer heat in Alice Springs shows how vulnerable our justice system is to the impacts of extreme weather. Prison reform advocates are calling for change to improve the living conditions inside jails. Stella Maynard on how climate change is impacting the incarcerated.  Guest: Writer for The Saturday Paper Stella Maynard. For more information on today’s episode, visit 7...

In the past year, the government has directed nearly $5 billion to various schemes using a process lawyers say is likely unconstitutional. Karen Middleton on a system that avoids parliamentary scrutiny, and why one Liberal senator has become a leading critic of it. Guest: Chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper Karen Middleton. Background reading:  Government spends ‘unlawful’ billion...

Sandwiched between the climate deniers in his government and growing public pressure for real action on climate change, Scott Morrison has edged closer to unveiling a new climate policy. Could the technology investment target solve Morrison’s political problems, or will it leave both sides underwhelmed? Paul Bongiorno on the climate dilemma faced by the PM. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper...

Keith Pitt is a climate sceptic and coal evangelist. He is also the minister for Water and Resources. Mike Seccombe on how the parliament’s most strident nuclear advocate ended up with a portfolio that will help decide Australia’s stance on uranium. Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. Background reading: Canavan’s successor apt to fuel energy wars in The Saturday Pa...

More than 60 former asylum seekers are seeking compensation for the psychological trauma they endured in Australia’s notorious Baxter detention centre. Now the lead case has stalled in the court system, delaying a decision. Rick Morton on the legacy of John Howard’s desert camps. Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton.  Background reading:  Government stalling on Howard refugee...

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding among thousands of asylum seekers living in Australia without work rights and in some cases without housing. The impact on mental health is enormous. One program in Melbourne is supporting asylum seekers by giving them the opportunity to grow their own community garden. Zoë Morrison on addressing trauma in unexpected ways. Guest: Author and writer for The Monthly...

There is a successful model to de-politicise climate change. It works in Britain, and a private member’s bill says it could work here. Paddy Manning on independent MP Zali Steggall’s proposal to end the climate wars.  Guest: Paddy Manning, contributing editor (politics) at The Monthly . Background reading:  Warringah warrior at The Monthly  The Saturday Paper   The Monthly   For more information o...

The upcoming Queensland state election is shaping Canberra politics and tearing the Nationals apart. Paul Bongiorno on what the elevation of Llew O’Brien to deputy speaker really means - and how it’s set the clock on nine months of dysfunction for the Coalition. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading: The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today’...

The Morrison government has bought part of a farm in Kimba, South Australia, where it intends to build a nuclear waste dump. Millions have been spent trying to secure community support – but some see this as a bribe and say the risks to health and land are too great. Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper Royce Kurmelovs. Background reading: Nuclear waste site selected in South Australia in The...

Description: Scott Morrison’s re-election campaign received a huge boost from one of Sydney’s most reclusive families. So what prompted a 92-year-old man to donate $4.1 million to the Liberal Party? Rick Morton on the Wakil family and the biggest individual political donation in Australian history. Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading: The biggest party don...

Clive Palmer spent $84 million of his own money on the last federal election – and didn’t win a single seat. But his campaign still played a key role in helping elect Scott Morrison. In this episode, Mike Seccombe speaks to Palmer’s candidates and explains why our donations system needs reform. Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. Background reading: Inside Palmer’s...

Australian author Heather Morris has made millions selling books about the Holocaust. But the people she writes about are in many ways unrecognisable, to their families and the historical record. Investigative journalist Christine Kenneally on the dangers of falsifying history. Guest: Author and investigative journalist Christine Kenneally.  Background reading:  The fabulist of Auschwitz in The Mo...

Barnaby Joyce lost his leadership tilt but has reopened a schism in the Coalition on climate policy. Paul Bongiorno on what Joyce promised - and the challenges he has created for Scott Morrison. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading: The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au. See acast.com/privacy for privac...

The federal government is refusing to adopt stronger climate-change policies, but it turns out that might not matter. In this episode, Mike Seccombe reveals the de facto target set by all states and territories – to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. Background reading: States defy Commonwealth on emissions in The Saturday Paper Th...

As coronavirus shuts borders and creates global panic, there is a risk it will reach a point where it cannot be contained. Rick Morton explains where the virus originated and looks at the scientific breakthroughs behind the attempt to combat it. Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading: Anatomy of an epidemic in  The Saturday Paper The Saturday Paper The Monthl...

Bettina Arndt has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, in recognition of her work for “gender equity”. Feminist academic Eva Cox considered giving back her AO in protest – and says it’s more evidence the system needs to change. Guest: Author and academic Eva Cox. Background reading: Bettina Arndt and the Australia Day honours in The Saturday Paper The Saturday Paper The Monthly For m...

Don Watson on why Scott Morrison is not really a politician, and how the collapse in difference between the major parties has created a vacuum of meaning. Guest: Author and speechwriter Don Watson. Background reading: Leaders and dung beetles in The Monthly The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-ou...

  As Scott Morrison pivots to the coronavirus evacuation and deploys the military to the fire zone, questions are being asked about the management of both responses. In this episode, Paul Bongiorno assesses the prime minister’s attempt to reset his agenda.  Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading: The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today’s epi...