As Australia wraps up its hotel quarantine program, one group of people will remain confined in hotel rooms indefinitely: people seeking asylum.

For the past year the Australian government has been forcibly detaining asylum seekers in an inner-city Melbourne hotel.

They have no access to fresh air and limited space to exercise.

Then Covid-19 hit. The virus spread rapidly through the building, infecting many who are immunocompromised and unvaccinated.

The outbreak has raised serious questions regarding the safety and treatment of those inside.

Today, 7am producer Elle Marsh on who is responsible for protecting the detainees, and why the government should have seen this outbreak coming.

Guest: Producer for 7am, Elle Marsh.

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Inside Australia’s most dangerous hotel

A daily news show from the publisher of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. Hear from the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

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At the end of the day, the people who decide what path Australia takes to solve the housing crisis are those in government. In this episode, we speak to the federal minister for housing, Julie Collins.
Does the government think we’re in a crisis? How does she plan to ensure we all have a safe and affordable place to call home? And how will she convince voters in the next election that Labor has the boldest ideas?
In this final episode of 7am’s five-part series, we dive into what the government is doing and whether there is more that could be done.

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Guest: Federal minister for housing, Julie Collins

The Great Housing Disaster: The minister for housing

A solution to the housing crisis is one of the most sought-after ideas in Australia.
Political careers, fortunes and the fate of a generation will rest on how we respond to the increasingly dire housing market, which means there are countless solutions to this crisis being debated throughout the country.
In this episode of 7am’s five-part series, we explore four of these possible solutions to the crisis. You will hear from finance expert Alan Kohler, Greens spokesperson for housing Max Chandler Mather, housing advocate Maiy Azize and former deputy lord mayor of Sydney and author, Jess Scully.

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Guest: Finance expert, Alan Kohler; Greens spokesperson for housing, Max Chandler Mather; housing advocate, Maiy Azize; former deputy lord mayor of Sydney and author of Glimpses of Utopia, Jess Scully.

The Great Housing Disaster: How to fix it

With federal, state and local governments promising to build more Australian homes, it’s fair to say that all levels of government want to fix the housing crisis.
But are they building enough? Are they listening to the people they’re building it for? And who really benefits from the way we build housing in Australia?
In this episode of 7am’s five-part special series on the housing crisis, we find out who gets a say when it comes to housing, and why that can get in the way of building the homes Australia needs.

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Guest: Public housing tenant, Carolyn Ienna; Housing expert, Nicole Gurran; Sydney Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Koziol.

The Great Housing Disaster: Who gets a say?

With home ownership out of reach, more and more younger Australians have no choice but to rent for much longer than their parents ever did – maybe for the rest of their lives.
That puts younger Australians at the mercy of landlords, making some intensely angry and leading to what might be described as a “renters resistance”. 
In this episode of 7am’s five-part special series on the housing crisis, we meet the people who are trying to make it better: the people who are mobilising, taking matters into their own hands and fighting back.

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Guest: Tenant, Blake Hesketh; founder of shitrentals.org and social media figure, Jordan van den Berg; Senior lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney, Dr Sophia Maalsen.

The Great Housing Disaster: The renters' resistance

This is the first episode of 7am’s new five-part special series on the housing crisis.
What happened to housing in Australia over the past few decades wasn’t by chance. It’s the result of decades of deliberate decisions that have turned us into a nation of landlords and property speculators.
This episode uncovers who broke the housing market, and introduces one of the few people who saw what was coming and tried to warn us.

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Guest: Economist Saul Eslake; Television producer Julian Cress; Housing expert Professor Nicole Gurran

Inside Australia’s most dangerous hotel

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