7am

In September of 2012, Australian soldiers descended on the rural village of Darwan in Afghanistan, killing four men.

That raid and the events of that day were central to the defamation action brought by Ben Roberts-Smith. The court eventually found it was substantially true that he had committed war crimes – including kicking Ali Jan, an Afghan villager, off a cliff and ordering his execution.

Ben Roberts-Smith maintains his innocence, and the allegations have never been proven to a criminal standard.

But now, that’s about to be tested.

This week, Roberts-Smith was arrested and charged with five counts of war crime murder. One of those charges relates to the Darwan raid, making the killing of Ali Jan central to the criminal case ahead.

Ali Jan’s family are still waiting for justice and want to testify. But the agency leading Australia’s war crimes investigations is still refusing to take witness statements directly from Afghanistan.

Today, freelance journalist Michelle Dimasi, who travelled to Afghanistan to meet Ali Jan’s family,  on what justice might still look like for them.

This episode first aired in November 2023.

 

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Guest:  Freelance journalist covering Afghanistan and the Middle East, Michelle Dimasi

Photo: AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

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The fighting may have temporarily eased in the Middle East, but the fallout is still moving through the global economy. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, fuel markets are unsettled, and Australia is exposed.

Now, Anthony Albanese is in Singapore trying to secure supply, as the opposition presses the government over how prepared the country really is.

Today, Tony Wood, Energy and Climate Change Senior Fellow at the Grattan Institute, on the state of the Strait, the ongoing risks for Australia, and the politics taking shape around another global shock.

 

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Guest: Energy and Climate Change Senior Fellow at the Grattan Institute, Tony Wood

Photo: AAP Image/Tom White

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Ben Roberts-Smith was once held up as the face of Australia’s war in Afghanistan. This week, he was arrested and charged with war crimes.

Ben Roberts-Smith maintains his innocence.

For journalist Chris Masters, the road to that moment began almost two decades ago, when he travelled to Afghanistan to report on the war up close. Over time, he began hearing whispers that some elite soldiers had crossed a line.

Those whispers turned into a years-long investigation, alongside Nick McKenzie, into allegations that would later be tested in one of the biggest defamation trials in Australian history.

Today, veteran investigative journalist Chris Masters on how that story began, why soldiers finally started talking, and what Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest means for how Australia reckons with the truth about its war in Afghanistan.

 

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Guest: Investigative reporter and author of Flawed Hero: Truth, lies and war crimes, Chris Masters

Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

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Eighteen years ago, Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations and said those injustices must never happen again.

But in that same year, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts was taken from her family at just 10 years old.

Now, as a lawyer and advocate, she says Australia is still taking First Nations children from their families – and that the number in out-of-home care is today higher than the estimated number removed during the Stolen Generations.

Today, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts on her own removal, the pipeline from child protection to prison, and what it would take to keep First Nations children with their families and communities.

 

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Guest: Human rights lawyer and former ACT Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts

Photo: AAP Image/Jeremy Ng

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It’s been a war of shifting deadlines for President Trump. And now, his latest one expires this morning.

Trump is threatening that if Iran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US will strike the country’s bridges and power plants in what he’s calling "Energy Plants Day and Bridges Day” – stating 'a whole civilisation will die tonight' if Tehran ignores his ultimatum.

But indiscriminately targeting infrastructure that civilians rely on to survive could amount to war crimes.

Today, Rachel VanLandingham – a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former military lawyer – on whether the US can lawfully target civilian infrastructure, and what it would mean for international law if it did.

 

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Guest: National security law expert and former active duty judge advocate in the US Air Force, Rachel VanLandingham

Photo: EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

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The first official report from eSafety on how the government’s under-16 social media ban is going has been released. And the early picture is grim.

Kids are getting around the ban, and eSafety says it has seen no drop in cyberbullying or abuse reports involving children on those platforms.

So is this just a messy start, with the government right to ask for more patience? Or is it proving that you can’t fix platforms built to hook young people simply by trying to lock them out?

Today, associate editor for Crikey, Cam Wilson, on why the ban isn’t working – and whether Australia is focusing on the wrong solutions.

 

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Guest: Associate editor of Crikey, Cam Wilson

Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

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Under one of the most remarkable landscapes in Australia is one of the world’s largest undeveloped reservoirs of onshore gas – and a Texas oil man wants to get it out.

Project Valhalla would drill an initial 20 fracking wells across an area twice the size of Victoria in the Kimberley. And after the WA EPA recommended it for approval, the proposal is now one step closer to going ahead.

The Kimberley is also the largest and most intact tropical savanna in the world – a place of living songlines, deep cultural significance and extraordinary biodiversity, where campaigners say no local species has ever been recorded as extinct. And communities are divided. More than a record 8000 appeals have been lodged with the state government in an effort to stop the project.

Today, journalist Katherine Wilson on the fight over fracking in the Kimberly – and how Project Valhalla made it this far.

 

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Guest: Journalist Katherine Wilson

Photo: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

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In 2007, future United States president Donald Trump stepped into the wrestling ring for a showdown with Vince McMahon, then head of World Wrestling Entertainment and Trump’s close friend.

Trump played the villain perfectly.

For decades now, Trump has been shaped by a love affair with professional wrestling. It taught him how to control and manipulate a crowd, how to speak, and how to respond to criticism.

It also shaped his cabinet, with Trump appointing Linda McMahon, Vince’s ex-wife, to the position of secretary of education.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Joseph Earp on how Donald Trump brought the art of pro-wrestling to 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: Journalist and author, Joseph Earp.

Photo: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File

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For months, Jim Chalmers has been trying to write a budget about the future – productivity, reform, repair.

But events have a way of dragging budgets back into the present. And right now, the present looks expensive.

People are still under pressure. The economy’s been hit by another oil shock. And the Treasurer is trying to make the case for restraint without looking like he’s asking Australians to wear even more pain.

So will Jim Chalmer's upcoming budget be one of reform - or crisis management?

Today, senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Shane Wright, on what kind of budget this moment demands. 

 

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: Senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Shane Wright.

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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Readers and writers have been left reeling after a horror novel became the first book to be cancelled over AI claims.

The New York Times has reported that an AI detection program indicated that ‘Shy Girl’ was 71 percent AI generated.

The news has shocked the publishing industry, with the novel discontinued in the UK and pulled from publication in America.

So what are the implications for writers, for readers and for the publishing industry as AI seeps into new and frightening corners of our creative industries?

Today, beloved Aussie author Kathy Lette on how AI slop is threatening the future of young writers, and how to protect our art from the onslaught of bots.

 

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: Author Kathy Lette

Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

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