7am

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 Greens Institute CEO 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
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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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
Photo: AP Photo/Thomas Krych
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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
Photo: AAP Image/Dean Lewins
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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.

If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry
Photo: AAP Image/David Mariuz
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.