7am

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
Photo: AAP Image/Dean Lewins
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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
Photo: AP Photo/Heather Khalifa
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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
Photo: AAP Image/James Ross
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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
Photo: AAP Image/ Lukas Coch
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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
Photo: AAP Image/James Ross
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