7am

Almost 30 years ago the Howard government shut down Australia’s public employment service and privatised the system that helps unemployed people find work.

Since then, repeated inquiries have found the system is failing the people who need it, while the companies paid to run it rake in huge profits.

Now, the Albanese government has admitted the system isn’t working and promised its biggest overhaul in decades. But Labor says these private providers will still remain part of the system, even as a new report has followed the billions of dollars flowing through the industry

Today, ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens, on how helping unemployed Australians became a massive money spinner, and whether Labor can fix the system while leaving private companies at its centre.

 

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Guest: ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens

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Alan Jones is used to attracting attention. But not like this.

At 85, the once-powerful shock jock who for decades acted as judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion, is now the one on trial.

Jones is accused of historical offences involving the indecent assault and sexual touching of teenagers and young men – claims he’s always denied.

Now, a judge will decide, with the trial slated to run over the next four months.

Today, National Affairs Editor at Ten News, Hugh Riminton on how the first few days of the Alan Jones trial played out in court, and what comes next.

 

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Guest: National Affairs Editor at Ten News Hugh Riminton

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For decades it’s shone a light on corruption of the highest order, even toppling premiers: Now NSW ICAC, the state’s corruption watchdog, has set its sights on a secretive right-wing Christian faction of the Liberal Party, “the Reformers”, and its cashed-up group of backers.

Already the public inquiry, codenamed Operation Rosny, has heard of shit sheets, sham payments, phone taps, and dodgy deals with fugitive developers – with the reformers' connections reaching all the way to the top of the Liberal party.

Today, The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont unpacks the tangled web of players at the centre of what she’s calling ICAC’s Game of Thrones.

 

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Guest: SMH chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont

Photo: PR Handout/Supplied by NSW Police

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What do Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson, Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock all have in common?

Usually not much. But they're part of an unlikely group of politicians backing former senator Rex Patrick in a legal fight with the Albanese government over information the government does not want released.

At the centre of that fight are documents about potential sites for nuclear waste storage from AUKUS submarines, a bill that could see Patrick forced to pay $150,000, and a warning about what happens when ordinary Australians push too hard for answers. 

Today, transparency campaigner Rex Patrick on the case that has united some of parliament's most unlikely allies. 

 

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Guest: Transparency campaigner Rex Patrick

Photo: AAP Image/Jono Searle

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It’s the largest institutional emitter in the world. A bigger polluter than 140 countries. And yet its emissions are hidden from sight.

Now a new documentary ‘Earth’s greatest enemy’ is exposing the impact of the US military empire on the planet: the waste, the billion dollar budgets, and the political maneuvering that’s kept it all out of the public eye.

Today, Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, on what the world’s biggest war machine is doing to our Earth.

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Guest: Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin

Photo: US Central Command

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This week, 7am spoke with former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, as he returned to public life with a memoir defending many of the decisions he made during his final years at the airline.

Joyce said the company was fighting for survival during the pandemic and that, while mistakes were made, the difficult decisions taken under his leadership were necessary to keep Qantas from going under.

Today, we revisit our conversation with journalist and author Joe Aston, recorded after Qantas was handed a record $90 million penalty for illegally outsourcing 1,800 workers.

It asks what those decisions cost, whether they really were necessary, and whether the airline has actually changed since Joyce’s departure.

The episode originally aired in August 2025.

 

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Guest: Rampart founder and author of The Chairman's Lounge: The Inside Story of How Qantas Sold Us Out, Joe Aston

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In America, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has turned anger over rent, groceries and childcare into a powerful movement on the left. One with real momentum. 

In Australia, that same anger is increasingly being captured by Pauline Hanson and the populist right, while Labor retreats towards the centre. 

So attention is turning to who in Australia could make a Mamdani-style case for economic change, and to whether the Australian left has the organisation, discipline and ambition to build a movement around them.

Today, freelance writer, political commentator and host of RRR's Spin Cycle Rachel Withers, on the political figure the left is searching for, and whether the conditions exist to produce an Australian Mamdani.

 

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Guest: Writer and political commentator Rachel Withers

Photo: AP Photo/Heather Khalifa

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Victoria’s new premier Ben Carroll has announced a royal commission into the state’s building industry.

It follows years of reporting exposing alleged corruption, organised crime links and misconduct within the sector, and years of resistance from the government and former premier Jacinta Allan.

The commission now has the potential to examine what happened and who knew about it, forcing powerful figures in politics, unions and the underworld to answer questions under oath and in public.

Today, The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, on what the royal commission must uncover and the big names who could be called to testify.

 

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Guest: The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie

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Next election the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will have a new contender for his Sydney seat, with commentator and Cheek Media founder Hannah Ferguson announcing she’s taking a tilt.

She says she’s started canvassing locals to find out what they want from their representative, and that she’s already been warned that attempts to build a dirt file on her have begun. 

Today, we speak with Hannah Ferguson, and political journalist Karen Middleton, about what it takes to actually oust a PM, and what else could be in store. 

 

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Guest: Candidate for Grayndler Hannah Ferguson and press gallery journalist Karen Middleton

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After a chaotic 24 hours of backroom plotting and mounting pressure, the Victorian premier resigned.

Jacinta Allan’s replacement, and former deputy leader Ben Carroll, now has just four months to turn Labor’s fortunes around in what’s shaping up to be the most unpredictable election the state has ever seen.

Polls show an unprecedented three-party contest – with voters split, almost equally, between the unpopular Labor government, an Opposition ridden by scandal, and a rising One Nation.

Today, ABC Melbourne Mornings host Raf Epstein on what Labor’s change of leader means for an already chaotic election race and whether Australia’s most progressive state could turn orange.

 

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Guest: ABC Radio Melbourne host Raf Epstein

Photo: AAP Image/James Ross

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