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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.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry
Photo: AAP Image/David Mariuz
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This week, Pauline Hanson took to the National Press Club stage with a greatest hits collection of the grievances that have fueled her political career.
Immigration. Multiculturalism. Trans rights. Indigenous Australians. The “political elite”. The changing face of the country.
The backlash from the government, sections of the community and commentariat was immediate.
But that may no longer be enough. For years, Hanson has survived controversies that would have ended most political careers. And as One Nation support grows, one thing is becoming more evident: we are now entering a political era where outrage carries no penalty. Where the shock of what politicians say matters less than the anger they channel.
Today, columnist Sean Kelly on Hanson’s resurgence, the opportunities it creates for politicians of every persuasion, and what becomes possible when voters decide the old political order is broken.

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Guest: Former Labor advisor and The Age & SMH columnist, Sean Kelly
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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This week, Pauline Hanson called for multiculturalism to be replaced with monoculturalism.
At the same time, the Soccerros were capturing the hearts and minds of Australians everywhere on the biggest stage of all, the World Cup.
It’s a team filled with players from multiple cultural backgrounds and one, that if Hanson’s vision of the nation came to bear, simply wouldn’t exist.
Today, former Soccerroo and refugee advocate, Craig Foster. On the team that’s quietly challenging one of the most divisive debates in the country, simply by taking the field.

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Guest: Former Socceroo and refugee advocate, Craig Foster
Photo: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP
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Parkinson’s is the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world.
And in some Australian farming communities, doctors are questioning why so many seem to be getting it.
For years, some farmers and doctors have drawn a link to paraquat – a powerful weedkiller still used widely on Australian farms, despite being banned in more than 60 countries, including the UK, China and Brazil.
This month, Australia’s chemical regulator is expected to decide whether paraquat can keep being used here – after a review that’s been going on since 1997.
Professor Wesley Thevathasan is one of about 50 neurologists who made submissions to that review, calling for paraquat to be banned. But he says the regulator has ignored them – as well as some of the strongest evidence linking exposure to the chemical to Parkinson’s.
Today, Associate Professor Wesley Thevathasan, on the farmers who fear paraquat made them sick, and whether Australia’s regulator is listening.
Farmer audio courtesy of ABC rural.

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Guest: Parkinson’s disease specialist, Associate Professor Wesley Thevathasan
Photo: ABC / Jake Hamilton
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For three decades, Pauline Hanson has built a career on grievance.
In all that time she hasn’t fronted to the bastion of political journalism, the national press club. That was until yesterday where she appeared for the first time.
In a long address she laid out how she aims to turn her politics of grievance into policy; targeting immigration, the ABC, multiculturalism, renewable energy, transgender rights and journalists.
It was a performance that will play to her base and one that helps explain her rise in the polls. But she also gave her opponents a clearer picture of what they’re running against and what to target in the two years until the next election.
Today, press gallery journalist Karen Middleton, on Pauline Hanson’s big moment, and the fight now coming for One Nation.

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: Press gallery journalist Karen Middleton
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.