7am
Episodes
The Saturday Quiz: Shari Sebbens and Gemma Bird Matheson
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Actors Shari Sebbens and Gemma Bird Matheson take on the quiz this week. Gemma can tell you how many minutes there are in half a day, and Shari knows ...
Albanese draws the political battlelines
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In his budget reply speech last night Opposition leader Anthony Albanese outlined his response to the economic crisis and criticised the federal gover...
After the virus: Lidia Thorpe wants to change the system
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lidia Thorpe entered the Senate this week, becoming the first Aboriginal Senator representing Victoria. Today, she talks to Ruby Jones about rebuildin...
Budget 2020: Getting on with the jobs
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Frydenberg’s second budget is a world away from the surplus he was predicting last year. Now, in the middle of a pandemic, debt is on track to ...
Jacqui Lambie fires up
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The future of Australia’s universities hangs in the balance, with radical reforms to funding and student fees due to be voted this week. The governm...
Helen Garner’s lockdown diaries
04 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Garner is one of Australia’s most celebrated authors, and today on 7am she talks to host Ruby Jones about the diary she kept during lockdown i...
The Saturday Quiz: Ali McGregor and Claire Hooper
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a truly collaborative effort, host of online cabaret “Choose Your Own Variety” Ali McGregor and comedian Claire Hooper are let down only by the...
“The most important budget since World War II”
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Treasurer prepares the upcoming federal budget he’s facing pressure to spend big and keep the economy afloat. But can a government historical...
The journalists siding with the virus
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the pandemic, there’s been a vocal group of journalists who are adamant the risk of Covid-19 is being overblown. But what drives this kin...
The NSW Koala War
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When the NSW National Party threatened to break up the state’s Coalition over the issue of koalas many were mystified. But behind the political fire...
Welcome to the dumb country
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s universities have been hit hard by the pandemic, with thousands of job losses. Now the federal government wants to change the way the se...
The new virus hotels
27 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Victoria’s second wave has been attributed to an outbreak of Covid-19 amongst private contractors working in hotel quarantine, and now government do...
The Saturday Quiz: Anne-Louise Sarks and Sean Kelly
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fearful of geography-based questions, this week’s guests – theatre maker Anne-Louise Sarks and political commentator Sean Kelly – nevertheless m...
Escape from Tony Abbott
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison has spent the week untangling himself from Tony Abbott’s policies, on both climate change and the NBN. Today, Paul Bongiorno on new r...
Kids' radio: live from lockdown
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Staff and students at Brunswick North West Primary School have endured one of the longest school shutdowns in the world, and they’ve created their o...
The truth about hospital transmission
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Confidential documents leaked to The Saturday Paper show that hospitals remain a key area of coronavirus transmission, while doctors and nurses in Mel...
The grey pyramid scheme (part two)
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A Royal Commission has heard hundreds of aged care centres are facing financial collapse, as the crisis in the sector takes its toll. In the second ha...
The grey pyramid scheme (part one)
20 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, we’ve been warned about a crisis in Australia’s aged care sector, and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed its failures. In the first...
The Saturday Quiz: Belinda Bromilow and Tony McNamara
19 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do Walloons, Novak Djokovic and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all have in common? They’re all questions that stump actor Belinda Bromilow an...
The cliff and the climate
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The federal Opposition is seeking to capitalise on the current economic downturn by arguing that the government’s policies are making things worse. ...
The calm before the recession
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s economy has taken its biggest hit since the Great Depression, but so far government stimulus measures have cushioned most people and bus...
Rupert Murdoch's next move
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has one of the most concentrated media markets in the world, and that concentration could worsen as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp launches a ...
The politics of a coronavirus vaccine
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A coronavirus vaccine is the best chance the world has of returning to some kind of normal, but the stalling of one of the most viable candidates last...
Exclusive: Brett Sutton’s leaked call
13 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A leaked briefing from Victoria’s chief health officer has contradicted public statements on contact tracing, and highlighted flaws with the privati...
The Saturday Quiz: Miranda Tapsell and James Colley
12 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Actor Miranda Tapsell describes her partner, James Colley, as a little nerd. His performance on the quiz doesn’t do anything to dispel that. If you ...
Scott Morrison’s shattered cabinet
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison is waging a war on two fronts this week. He’s locked in a battle with state governments to reopen borders, and he’s increasingly bl...
How to collect coronavirus
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As coronavirus transforms the country before our eyes, cultural institutions are trying to record what is happening in real time, as part of a movemen...
Death tax for booty
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Inheritance taxes are a feature of most advanced economies, including the UK and the US. But in Australia they haven’t been levied for 40 years, and...
5 Reasons Facebook Is Ditching News (You Won't Believe Number 3)
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After lobbying from the Murdoch press and Nine newspapers, the government is trying to force Google and Facebook to pay for journalism. The tech giant...
The doctors, the Scientologists, and the journalist
06 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A federal court has been re-examining controversial psychiatric treatments used in a Sydney hospital in the 1960s. The treatments drew the attention o...
Bonus: How we make 7am
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate 300 episodes, we produced a special, behind-the-scenes feature on how we make 7am. We followed host Ruby Jones and senior reporter for Th...
Here comes the recession
03 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Treasurer Josh Frydenberg started this week by launching an extraordinary attack on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, and ended it by presiding ov...
How branch stacking helps conservatives
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Serious allegations of branch stacking and factional warfare have engulfed both major parties in recent months, and the latest example even implicates...
Profiting off the unemployment boom
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Australia grapples with an unemployment crisis corporate job agencies are benefiting from a boom in government payments. Some agencies are also bei...
Scott Morrison’s snapback to normality
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For months the prime minister has been projecting a return to normality. But it’s become increasingly clear the world around us has fundamentally ch...
After Christchurch: the calm before the storm
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last week the Christchurch terrorist was sentenced to life without parole, the first time the sentence has ever been handed down. But even though he’...
The Saturday Quiz: Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The creators and stars of Rosehaven – Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor – attempt to answer the questions from The Saturday Paper’s quiz. Unfortu...
The minister for not caring
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a week where the minister for aged care was unable to answer questions about the crisis in his portfolio, and details emerged about a branch stacki...
The phone call that caused the aged-care crisis
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The ongoing crisis in aged care has become one of the defining elements of Australia’s second wave. There are currently over 1500 active cases linke...
Bob Brown and the end of the environment
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the federal government tries to hand power over environmental regulations to state governments, parallels have been drawn to the battles fought bet...
Why coronavirus could mean fewer nurses
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As our hospitals face pressure from coronavirus outbreaks, we’re relying on nurses more than ever. But at the same time, the pandemic means many nur...
Spying in the age of coronavirus
23 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus is ushering in a new era of international relations of a kind we haven’t seen since 9/11 and the War on Terror. National intelligenc...
The Saturday Quiz: Briggs and Tim Minchin
21 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Multi-hyphenates – actors, writers, musicians – Briggs and Tim Minchin take on The Saturday Paper’s quiz. It’s a battle of brains rather than ...
Look over there! A vaccine!
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As a number of inquiries interrogate how prepared state and federal government’s were for the coronavirus pandemic the Prime Minister has evaded cri...
Another death in detention
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Australian government is currently holding over fifteen hundred people in immigration detention centres across the country. Some are convicted cri...
Inside the Ruby Princess: What went wrong
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An inquiry examining the Ruby Princess saga has delivered its findings, six months after the ship docked. The cruise ship remains Australia’s larges...
Inside the race for a coronavirus vaccine
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government has announced that Australia is in “advanced discussions” with a number of companies over acquiring a potential coronavirus...
Australia’s love of cops
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a story about Australia’s psyche and the way our connection to policing makes us unique. During this pandemic, police have been handed unpre...
The Saturday Quiz: Zoë Coombs Marr and Kate Jinx
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Comedian Zoë Coombs Marr and programmer for the Melbourne International Film Festival Kate Jinx work their way through The Saturday Quiz. Bonus point...
Scott Morrison, a man of inaction?
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of the pandemic Prime Minister Scott Morrison was keen to project himself as a unifying leader, coordinating the nation’s response....
Supercharging the generational wealth gap
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the federal government’s most controversial decisions during the coronavirus pandemic has been allowing workers to access their superannuatio...
Anatomy of a state of disaster
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ten days ago, Melbourne entered the strictest shutdown the country has seen so far, and one of the harshest lockdowns currently taking place in the wo...
The young Australians suing for climate action
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two Australians have launched court cases in an attempt to radically overhaul the way our government and big corporations are responding to climate ch...
“I am always going to be an ex-prisoner.”
09 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As calls for police reform and prison abolition grow across the world, a new campaign in Australia led by formerly incarcerated women is seeking to co...
The Saturday Quiz: Sarah Snook and Dave Lawson
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recent Emmy nominee Sarah Snook and the guy from the 7-Eleven ads, Dave Lawson, solve The Saturday Paper’s quiz. What’s the best use for a Logie? ...
Morrison’s coronavirus backdowns
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While most of the attention has been focused on Victoria’s handling of the latest coronavirus outbreak, behind the scenes the federal government has...
What happens if you survive coronavirus
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are new signs that Covid-19 can cause a range of serious, long-term health problems. Today, we look at the evidence that the virus can cause neu...
Reaganomics is back, baby
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Treasurer Josh Frydenburg praises Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’s economic policies, a controversial recovery plan is gaining traction....
The Covid crisis in aged care
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Aged care has been one of the hardest hit sectors during this phase of the Covid pandemic, with residents and their carers making up a large proportio...
How Morrison is using coronavirus to destroy his critics
02 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison’s Prime Ministership has been dominated by a series of rolling crises, but what can we learn about the ideology that drives him from ...
The Saturday Quiz: Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney from Get Krack!n solve The Saturday Paper’s quiz. Who would invite Hitler to open the Olympics? Does the existence ...
Pandemic politics: Morrison vs. Andrews
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the Covid pandemic traditional political hostilities have been dialled back, with governments of all political persuasions trying to projec...
Coronavirus and the rise of "zombie charities"
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With two-thirds of volunteers staying at home due to Covid and donations drying up, there are serious concerns about the viability of Australia’s ch...
Who is Neville Power, the man leading Australia's coronavirus recovery?
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday the Prime Minister announced a revamp of the National Covid Coordination Commission, the body he tasked with leading Australia’s pandemic ...
Penny Wong on what happens after coronavirus
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Penny Wong warns that coronavirus could unravel the rules-based system on which the modern world is founded. The shadow foreign minister says we must ...
Face masks – the million dollar question
26 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As face masks become compulsory, doctors and public health officials are working to find consensus on their efficacy. But in the rush to contain coron...
The broke and the brittle
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the government reveals the extent of the budget deficit, Scott Morrison has become increasingly short in answering questions. He no longer meets wi...
Scott Morrison and the invisible woman
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The decision to pull subsidies from childcare has caused alarm in the sector - especially because it is the first place the government cut support. No...
A night at the opera: How Whitlam and Kerr fell out
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After a 10-year legal battle, the “palace letters” were finally released last week. In full, they show how Gough Whitlam’s relationship with the...
The moment Australia almost beat coronavirus
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the middle of last month, Australia had its last chance to contain the coronavirus pandemic. One strain of the virus was all but defeated in the co...
Why we need to “feel” climate change
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As climate models predict even worse outcomes for the planet, some scientists believe the way to change what is happening is for people to “feel” ...
The Prime Minister for NSW
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the pandemic worsens in Victoria, Scott Morrison has been careful to distance himself from bad news. He chooses when to be the face of the response...
If you are queer - or care about queer people - listen to this story
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel van Roo spent 18 months trying to convince his doctors he was sick. They continued to test only for STIs - he says because he was gay. By the t...
Setting up for the second wave
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With Victoria one week into its second shutdown, and NSW on high alert, there are new fears about what a second wave could mean for Australia’s coro...
The man inside (part two)
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The sentencing of Ramzi Aouad to life without parole came at a tense moment in racialised policing. There are now people asking if the evidence was fa...
The man inside (part one)
12 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When Ramzi Aouad went to prison for life, it was on the basis of evidence from one man - a violent enforcer who had been offered financial incentives ...
Morrison to the virus: ‘Ich bin ein Melburnian’
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Victoria enters a second lockdown, Scott Morrison has offered an apolitical response to the Labor state. The economic impact of the closure will af...
Morrison’s rule by ‘Henry VIII’ clauses
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
During Covid-19, the government has been increasingly using legislative powers to bypass the parliament. So-called ‘Henry VIII’ clauses mean some ...
Locked in the nine blocks
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Five days ago, the Andrews government used police to lock down nine public housing towers. Residents are afraid and have limited access to food and ot...
The other side of the glass
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are thousands of young people in aged-care homes across Australia, because they don’t have their own facilities. The NDIS was meant to solve t...
The case for moving Cook
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the renewed focus on colonial monuments, a group of academics and artists is petitioning the City of Sydney to remove Thomas Woolner’s Cook sta...
The Eden-Monaro Missile Crisis
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As both sides of parliament brace for tomorrow’s by-election in Eden-Monaro, it’s been suggested that the timing of Scott Morrison’s $270 billio...
The truth about Australia’s coal curse
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s economy is at a crossroads; but the current dependence on coal is really a continuation of issues we have always faced. Historian Judith...
Existential threat: Murdoch and the ABC
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the ABC absorbs hundreds of job cuts, the government has commissioned another report into its operations – closely mirroring the concerns of Rupe...
Dyson Heydon and the misogyny of the law
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As allegations mount against former High Court justice Dyson Heydon, Bri Lee has written about the way misogyny and harassment are embedded in the leg...
Donald Trump didn’t drop from the sky
28 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Donald Trump comes to the end of his first term, it is clear he has benefitted hugely from America’s divisions - in fact, he is the perfect expre...
Politics and Dyson Heydon
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The harassment allegations against Dyson Heydon have reminded some in Canberra of the royal commission that traded on his “stainless reputation”. ...
It’s not about statues or Chris Lilley...
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Black Lives Matter movement reignites calls for action on Indigenous disadvantage and incarceration, politicians and the media in Australia hav...
Justin Hemmes, the treasurer and the $100m wages case
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Justin Hemmes is one of four businessmen who were consulted by the federal treasurer on the JobKeeper program. At the same time, he is defending a mul...
The last family on Nauru
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After almost a decade in detention, there is only one family left on Nauru. Mustafa and Salah have been acknowledged as refugees, but their resettleme...
What George Pell knew...
21 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the final pages of the royal commission into child sexual abuse have been unredacted, it’s become clear what George Pell knew and when. But for a...
Everything you need to know about the Somyurek scandal
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The end of Adem Somyurek’s parliamentary career is the end of an important chapter in Labor’s factional history. The scandal has now involved the ...
The racism case Victoria Police didn't want
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As debate over police accountability continues, research suggests predictive policing may be targeting racial minorities in Australia. Victoria Police...
How we organised Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter rally
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance had five days to organise a huge Black Lives Matter rally in Melbourne. Under threat of fines and sustained crit...
The power of tradesmen
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Morrison government’s latest stimulus effort is a grants project aimed at home renovations. But there are serious concerns its real focus is on ...
Meet Australia’s marijuana terrorist
14 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
George Dickson is a cannabis law reformer. After an altercation with police, he was also classed as a high risk terrorist offender. Hugh Riminton on l...
Does Scott Morrison want an early election?
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Speaking to his party room, Scott Morrison says the next five years will define a new generation. Looking at the economic realities, some in his own p...
The theme park and the trillion dollar investment scheme
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Scott Morrison resists signing up to the Belt and Road Initiative, China has begun focusing on lower levels of power - the Victorian state governme...
How coronavirus is reopening the wage gap
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In past recessions, women have tended to fare better than men. But now the trend is reversed, with women losing the majority of jobs. There are fears ...
Black Witness, White Witness
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the world protests the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire confronts Australia’s natio...