7am

KPMG is one of the biggest, wealthiest and most powerful consulting firms in the country – auditing and advising everything from major companies to governments.

It is trusted with some of the most sensitive information in Australia. Now that trust is at the centre of a major scandal. 

A whistleblower raised concerns that confidential client information was being used to chase new work. What followed has forced out senior leaders, exposed the treatment of the person who spoke up, and raised bigger questions about the firms governments have come to rely on to do the work once done inside the public service.

Today, ABC business reporter Daniel Ziffer on KPMG, the scandal inside one of the Big Four consulting firms, and why the fallout reaches far beyond one company.

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Guest: ABC business reporter Daniel Ziffer

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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When the teal independents swept through Liberal heartland, their pitch was simple: they were not like the major parties.

They were community-backed, locally accountable, and free to vote how they wanted.

Now, two of the best-known teals – Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender – are forming a political party. They say Community Strong Australia is a home for the politically homeless: people who want climate action, integrity, sensible economic management and a pro-business agenda.

But can you build a party out of independents without sacrificing what voters liked about them in the first place?

Today, independent MP Zali Steggall, on why the teals are becoming a party – and whether they can hold the centre as Australian politics becomes more divided.

 

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Guest: Community Strong Australia MP Zali Steggall

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia – like many countries – saw protesters take the streets.

They weren’t just protesting lockdowns, they were rallying around a tangle of fears and conspiracies.

Those threads fused into a broader worldview that pulled people down a pipeline and built a small industry of influencers.

Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson on the conspiracy pipeline: how it works, who benefits, and where it’s heading now.

This is part one of a two-part series that was originally published in August 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: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle

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It’s easy to dismiss conspiracy theories as fringe or imported.

But conspiratorial ideas are gaining traction with everyday Australians – about one in three endorse at least one conspiracy belief.

They’re also being echoed by people in power, and have spilled into real-world violence.

Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle on how conspiracies leap from the fringe to the mainstream – including all the way to Parliament house.

This is part two of a two-part series that was originally published in August 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: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle

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Pauline Hanson’s call for Australia to become a monoculture was meant to draw a line around national identity. Instead, it opened up a new split inside the Liberal Party.

This week, the idea left Opposition Leader Angus Taylor looking bewildered, unable to say clearly where he stood on multiculturalism.

Andrew Hastie took the opposite approach in navigating the challenge presented by One Nation, launching a full frontal assault on One Nation from inside the Coalition party room. 

And as the right fights over Hanson’s rise, a new party from two teal independents is trying to offer voters another way out.

Today, news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden, on a week of conservative confusion, One Nation pressure, and the teal independents trying to turn disillusionment into votes.

 

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: news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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Karl Stefanovic has spent decades as one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television. 

A household name from the largely inoffensive world of breakfast television. 

Now, that multi-million dollar career at Nine is officially over, after Stefanovic published an interview with Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist with a long criminal history, who has built a large following based on hate-driven rhetoric towards Muslims, immigrants, the changing face of Britain; and on the claim that he’s being silenced by the establishment.

But the fall out from the podcast, including his split with Nine, may have worked in Stefanovic’s favour as he tries to forge a new career in outrage podcasting. 

Today, Crikey’s media reporter Daanyal Saeed on Karl Stefanovic, the interview that ended his time at nine, and the audience he may have been chasing all along. 

 

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Guest: Crikey media reporter Daanyal Saeed

Photo: The Karl Stefanovic Show

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Bird flu has reached mainland Australia – with cases first confirmed in WA and now South Australia.

The strain, detected in three seabirds, is H5N1 – a deadly form of the virus that has swept through wild birds overseas, forced farmers to slaughter millions of chickens, spread to mammals, and, in the United States, infected dairy cows and farm workers.

Authorities in Australia say the risk to the public is low – but for wildlife, an outbreak could be devastating.

Experts fear it could become the tipping point for species already endangered or close to extinction.

Today, CEO of the Invasive Species Council Jack Gough, on the race to stop bird flu becoming a wildlife disaster in Australia.

 

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Guest: CEO of the Invasive Species Council, Jack Gough

Photo: PR Handout/Lori-Ann Shibish, Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary.

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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 Green Institute Executive Director Max Chandler-Mather on whether the Greens can mount a comeback and tap into the progressive version of Pauline’s populist politics.

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: 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. 

 

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: 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.

 

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: UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland

Photo: WA Police

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.