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From anti-protest legislation to funding cuts, this government has waged war on dissent. In recent weeks, its rhetoric has intensified. Mike Seccombe on the erosion of democratic freedoms under the Coalition. Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. Background reading: The decline of political freedoms in Australia in The Saturday Paper The Monthly The Saturday Paper For...

The NDIS was meant to provide better care to people living with disabilities. But a stalemate over funding responsibilities has forced 500 families to forfeit their children into state care. Rick Morton on the unintended consequences of a flawed system. Guest: Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading: Exclusive: 500 children forfeited to state in NDIS standoff in The...

Australia’s relationship with international investment, especially from China, has been remade in the past six years. What was once a question of business has become one of national security. David Uren on how ASIO helped transform the Foreign Investment Review Board. Guest: Journalist and author David Uren. Background reading: Our Sphere of Influence in Australian Foreign Affair The Saturday Pape...

The Liberal Party is sliding further on climate change, claiming it will meet targets but without policy to do so. At the same time, the Labor Party is fighting an internal push to abandon its climate platform. Paul Bongiorno on the politics of doing less. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading:  The Saturday Paper   The Monthly For more information on today’s e...

Each year, The Monthly assembles a panel of critics and artists to nominate 10 standout pieces of Australian culture from the past 12 months. These works are named as the winners of The Monthly Awards. We spoke to the magazine’s editor, Nick Feik, and critic Alison Croggon, who was one of the judges. Guest: Editor of The Monthly Nick Feik and critic Alison Croggon. Background reading: The Monthly...

The latest IPCC report says current farming practices are unsustainable. But there are solutions, if farmers want to change. Matthew Evans on how the way we grow food could change the world. Guest: Farmer, chef and former restaurant critic Matthew Evans. Background reading: The need for sustainable farming in The Saturday Paper The Monthly The Saturday Paper For more information on today’s episode...

The aged-care sector is on the brink of collapse. The major providers have been propped up by a government bailout, but without reform they cannot keep operating. Rick Morton on how a string of nursing homes became too big to fail. Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading:  Exclusive: Aged-care sector at risk of collapse in The Saturday Paper .  The Saturday Pa...

Scott Morrison shares a rhetorical lineage with Robert Menzies and a suburban one with John Howard. Like Menzies, he has no clear policy agenda. But, as Judith Brett points out - what worked in the post-war boom might not work now. Guest: Author and emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University Judith Brett. Background reading: John Howard’s heir in The Monthly The Saturday Paper The Month...

As Scott Morrison tried to shift Australia’s focus to the drought, and the cash rate fell below 1 per cent, Donald Trump’s paranoia followed the prime minister home. Paul Bongiorno on the week Alexander Downer became a Clinton spy and the phone call that might haunt The Lodge. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading:  The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more infor...

Penny Wong is the intellectual leader of the Labor Party. Her politics is shaped by her experiences of difference and her belief in compassion. Her biographer, Margaret Simons, on what drives the most guarded woman in politics. Guest: Associate professor of journalism at Monash University and author of Penny Wong: Passion and Principle Margaret Simons. Background reading:  Penny Wong: Passion and...

The Murray–Darling Basin is being ruined by cronyism and incompetence. Entire towns are running out of water. But a new crop is exploiting the system even further: almonds. Mike Seccombe on how a tree nut boom is drinking the river dry. Guest: The Saturday Paper ’s national correspondent, Mike Seccombe. Background reading:  NSW farmers’ class action on water  in  The Saturday Paper  The Saturday P...

The judge who sentenced Jaymes Todd for the rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon was asked to consider mitigating factors that included Todd’s age, his autism diagnosis and his early guilty plea. Sarah Krasnostein on the legal argument that preceded that decision. A warning: this episode contains discussion of sexual assault and pornography. Guest: Writer and sentencing law expert Sarah Krasnostein....

One of the terrible facts about the day Jaymes Todd killed Eurydice Dixon is that for him it was almost all very ordinary. Sarah Krasnostein on a crime that made the country pause and ask how these things can happen. A warning, this episode contains a detailed description of sexual assault and pornography. Guest:  Writer and sentencing law expert Sarah Krasnostein. Background reading: A man who ha...

When former Anglican dean Graeme Lawrence was found guilty of child sexual abuse, his victim, Ben Giggins, made the unusual decision to request that the court name him publicly. Anne Manne on the case that convicted a key figure in the Newcastle clergy. A warning, this episode contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault. Guest:  Writer and author Anne Manne. Background reading:  The Newcastle...

As a royal commission into disability care begins, it emerges that key emails relating to the NDIS are held on a private bank server and cannot be accessed. Rick Morton on governance, transparency and a failing system.  Guest:  Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading:  Exclusive: Key NDIS emails held on private bank server in The Saturday Paper . The Saturday Paper ...

The death of Graham Freudenberg comes at a time when politics has all but abandoned speech making. Don Watson on how the loss of big narratives denies us the possibility of bold policy. Guest: Author and speechwriter Don Watson.  Background reading: Graham Freudenberg’s time in  The Monthly The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au . See acast....

Tanya Day was a 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman. She died after being arrested on a train for public drunkenness. Madeline Hayman-Reber on how a coroner is now asking whether systemic racism contributed to her death. Guest: NITV journalist Madeline Hayman-Reber. Background reading:  Waiting for justice in The Saturday Paper . The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information on today's episode, vi...

Tomorrow, Scott Morrison will be received in Washington on a state visit. The trip highlights the special relationship he has with Donald Trump. At the same time, it underscores the difficulty he has with Beijing. Paul Bongiorno on the prime minister’s diplomatic wedge. Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading: The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more information o...

Philip Lowe is the governor of the Reserve Bank. By all accounts, he is a conventional person who’s been pushed by the economy to make unconventional choices. Mike Seccombe on how rate cuts no longer stimulate growth, and how Lowe’s office became political. Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. Background reading: Philip Lowe and Australia’s economy in The Saturday Pa...

Twenty years after Timor-Leste’s vote for independence led to bloody retaliation from Indonesia, the country’s relationship with Australia remains fraught. John Martinkus on what happened after the ballot and what is happening now.  Guest: Foreign correspondent John Martinkus. Background reading:   Remembering Timor-Leste’s independence in The Saturday Paper The Saturday Paper The Monthly For more...

As Scott Morrison announces plans to expand the cashless welfare program and drug test dole recipients, questions are raised over the effectiveness of his approach. Rick Morton on what happens when you treat poverty as a moral problem. Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton. Background reading: Newstart: the human cost of Morrison’s plan in The Saturday Paper The Saturday Paper...

Spiro Boursinos was the impresario behind the rave music phenomenon Earthcore. When he died last year, he left behind a legacy of paranoia, intimidation and financial mismanagement. Martin McKenzie-Murray on tracing the threads of his strange, short life. Guest: Writer and author Martin McKenzie-Murray. Background reading: All tomorrow’s parties in The Monthly The Saturday Paper The Monthly For mo...

While some backbenchers doubt that Gladys Liu can stay in parliament, Scott Morrison has given her his full support. At the same time, he is in the difficult position of attempting to capitalise on ICAC while voting against an integrity commission. Paul Bongiorno on the foreign influence scandals engulfing Canberra.  Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno. Background reading: The p...

When Annabel Crabb decided to find out what happens to men’s work habits when they have children, she discovered a huge store of gendered norms and inequality. The lives of most new fathers change very little when they have a child. But there is policy that could change this – and in some places it already has. Guest: Writer and broadcaster Annabel Crabb. Background reading: Men at Work in Quarter...

As ICAC exposes apparent corruption in New South Wales, focus is drawn on the government’s integrity commission, which, among other things, could not make findings of corruption. Meanwhile, a Greens bill for an anti-corruption body has passed the senate but looks set to be blocked in the lower house. Mike Seccombe on anti-corruption legislation and how politicians avoid scrutiny. Guest: National c...