Radio National Breakfast

A spate of arson attacks on licensed hospitality venues in Melbourne in recent weeks has Victoria Police investigating whether illegal alcohol is the motivation behind the attacks.

The National Drug Research Institute recently found 30 per cent of bottle shops in Melbourne and regional Victoria are stocking illicit liquor.

• Guest: Dr Nic Taylor, alcohol policy researcher at National Drug Research Institute
• Producer: Grace Stranger

The US has launched what it's calling a humanitarian mission to protect freight ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Project Freedom - as US President Donald Trump has dubbed it - aims to free some of the 2,000 ships currently stuck in in the Strait, with 20,000 seafarers believed to be stranded on board in dangerous conditions.

• Guests: Manoj Yadav, General Secretary of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India and Salman, Indian Seafarer
• Producer: Eddy Diamond

The Reserve Bank delivered another whack to borrowers yesterday, hiking interest rates another quarter of a percentage point - for the third time this year.

It comes one week before the federal government delivers a high-stakes budget, with inflation running hot and financial distress growing across the country.

• GUEST: Jim Chalmers, Treasurer.
• PRODUCER: Tom Crowley

The federal government and the Greens are demanding answers after a Liberal-led Senate inquiry allowed tobacco giant Philip Morris to deliver evidence behind closed doors yesterday.

Liberal Senator Leah Blyth chairs the committee looking into illegal tobacco in Australia and granted the closed hearing - to the dismay of several health organisations already giving evidence.

We hear from one of the organisation's who gave its evidence publicly. 

Then, what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz? A former US Naval commander shares their insights. 

And we ask the government about gambling reform. 

Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap.

Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of preventable blindness, and in Australia the burden has been felt largely in regional and remote First Nations communities.

But in recent days the World Health Organisation declared Australia has finally eliminated trachoma as a public health problem — a landmark achievement and a huge step in preventing avoidable vision loss.

Guest: Laureate Professor Emeritus Hugh Taylor, founder of the Centre for Eye Research and founder of the Indigenous Eye Health Unit at Melbourne University.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a new agreement with Japan will help secure energy supply lines for Australia.

Mr Albanese met his counterpart - Sanae Takaichi - in Canberra yesterday, signing separate deals on energy, defence, critical minerals and economic cooperation.

Plus, the government has announced its pairing back the tax discount for electric vehicles. 

• GUEST: Dan Tehan, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction
• PRODUCER: Isadora Bogle 

The federal government is finalising the budget a week away from handing it down. 

The Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says there will be quote "savings and re-prioritisations in every portfolio". 

• GUEST: Anika Wells, Minister for Communications 
• PRODUCER: Isadora Bogle

In Iran, at least 22 prisoners have been hanged in the last six weeks - according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran - including 10 people who were detained during the anti-government protests in January. 

Iran's most famous human rights campaigner - Narges Mohammadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 - has been in prison in north-west Iran since February. 

Her family says there's been a sharp deterioration of her health in recent days - and fear she will die if she doesn't receive adequate medical care.

• GUEST: Hamidreza Mohammadi, brother of detained Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi
• PRODUCER: Pip Cook

The federal government and the Greens are demanding answers after a Liberal-led Senate inquiry allowed tobacco giant Philip Morris to deliver evidence behind closed doors yesterday.

Liberal Senator Leah Blyth chairs the committee looking into illegal tobacco in Australia and granted the closed hearing - to the chagrin of several health organisations already giving evidence.

• GUEST: Dr Danielle McMullen, President of the Australian Medical Association

Borrowers are preparing for a possible interest rate rise today, which would be the third this year.

The predicted point 2.5 percentage point rise from the Reserve Bank would be another financial hit for households with inflation now running at a two-and-a-half year high.