There’s been another strike against whistleblowing.

Richard Boyle was a tax office employee when he raised concerns internally about a scheme to garnish overdue taxes directly from people’s bank accounts. When that didn’t work, he told journalists.

A court in Adelaide yesterday upheld a ruling that he’s not a whistleblower – which means he now has no defence for leaking that confidential information.

Today, Macquarie University professor of journalism and whistleblower advocate Peter Greste on why the government talks big on open democracy, but hasn’t acted to fix the system.

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Guest: Macquarie University professor of journalism and whistleblower advocate Peter Greste

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There’s no nice way to put it: Australian childcare is broken, and not just for those with children.

It’s prohibitively expensive, getting the days you’re after is like winning the lottery and if you do get some government subsidy, you have the pleasure of hours on the phone to Centrelink.

We’re at a critical point though. The government has promised a huge overhaul of the system and the prime minister is considering reducing the cost to just $10 per kid, per day.

Today, CEO of The Parenthood Georgie Dent on the problems at the core of this broken system and the Centre for Policy Development’s Katherine Oborne on one way to fix it.

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Guest: CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent; The Centre for Policy Development’s program director Katherine Oborne.

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Peter Costello’s legacy was set. He was the longest serving treasurer in Australian history and under the then prime minister John Howard, he transformed our economy into what it is today.

That was until he appeared to push a journalist asking pesky questions at Canberra Airport earlier this month and all of it was caught on camera. 

Three days later, he resigned as Chair of Nine amid a storm of scrutiny around its workplace culture.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on Peter Costello’s reign at Nine and the enemies he made along the way.

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Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe.

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Barely a week goes by when the Department of Home Affairs isn’t under the blowtorch of media or political scrutiny.

In one way, the level of scrutiny is to be expected. When a department is so huge it takes in security, intelligence, immigration and policing functions, with some 14,000 staff under the one secretary – it’s inevitable.

The question is, should one department have so much power? 

Today, chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper Karen Barlow on the inner workings of the super department.

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Guest: Chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Karen Barlow.

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Two years ago, on the day after the Labor government was sworn into office, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen called a press conference.

In those very first remarks, the new minister said the climate wars were over.

Some scoffed at the time. There were still plenty of political fights to be had over how Australia would reach net zero – but there was nonetheless a belief that Australia would move forward with climate policy. This week that changed.

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on the week Peter Dutton promised to tear up emission targets for 2030 and why the next election will be a climate election after all.

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Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper, Paul Bongiorno.

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The US has a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, and this one seems to be gathering momentum.

It’s not much different to the previous plans, except that it’s backed by the UN Security Council.

The council’s resolution says Israel has accepted the deal, and Hamas has welcomed its adoption, but it hasn’t been signed. So, why not? What’s preventing an agreement on a ceasefire?

Today, senior foreign affairs reporter for the Huffington Post Akbar Shahid Ahmed on whether Gaza is any closer to a ceasefire.

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Guest: Senior foreign affairs reporter for the Huffington Post Akbar Shahid Ahmed

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If you were a public service chief picking a firm to run ethics training, would one of the big four consulting firms be your first pick?

They have faced intense scrutiny both in the media and in a recent senate inquiry, which will today release its report with recommendations to keep the private consultancy sector in check.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on what the crackdown might entail and why the public service still thinks a consulting firm is best placed to teach ethics to its leaders.

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Guest: Special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis

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Australia is about to receive a visit from the most senior Chinese leader we've had on our shores in almost a decade.

But this visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang comes at an interesting time for China. President Xi Jingping is contending with economic stumbles and looming sanctions, making his vision for the future more precarious than ever.

So what is going on inside Xi's inner circle? And what message will Xi’s close political ally bring with him when he lands in Australia?

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Richard McGregor, on the rumours that are swirling about China’s leadership and what they reveal about Xi’s grip on power.

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Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper and senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, Richard McGregor

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When the robodebt royal commission’s final report landed, it was scathing. It condemned the entire scheme, the individuals who rolled it out and the government culture that enabled it.

The commissioner went to significant lengths to refer six people to the then very fresh National Anti-Corruption Commission.

But last week, the NACC decided to drop the investigation, essentially saying it had nothing to add.

So, what’s the motivation behind this shift? Why not take a swing at the architects of such a discredited and damaging scheme?

Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper Rick Morton on why no one is being held to account for the scheme and the impact on victims.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton

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Over 90 years ago, a Swiss astrophysicist theorised there was an unseen, unobservable force that sits behind the universe we know.

He called it ‘dark matter’, and today we’re not much closer to understanding it than he was.

But that could be about to change, as a group of Australian researchers are part of our most promising effort yet to uncover the nature of this unseen force

Today, Atticus Bastow will read his piece, ‘The search for dark matter’ from The Saturday Paper.

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Guest: The 7am podcast’s technical producer, Atticus Bastow

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