7am

Ben Roberts-Smith was once held up as the face of Australia’s war in Afghanistan. This week, he was arrested and charged with war crimes.

Ben Roberts-Smith maintains his innocence.
For journalist Chris Masters, the road to that moment began almost two decades ago, when he travelled to Afghanistan to report on the war up close. Over time, he began hearing whispers that some elite soldiers had crossed a line.
Those whispers turned into a years-long investigation, alongside Nick McKenzie, into allegations that would later be tested in one of the biggest defamation trials in Australian history.
Today, veteran investigative journalist Chris Masters on how that story began, why soldiers finally started talking, and what Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest means for how Australia reckons with the truth about its war in Afghanistan.

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Guest: Investigative reporter and author of Flawed Hero: Truth, lies and war crimes, Chris Masters
Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
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Eighteen years ago, Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations and said those injustices must never happen again.
But in that same year, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts was taken from her family at just 10 years old.
Now, as a lawyer and advocate, she says Australia is still taking First Nations children from their families – and that the number in out-of-home care is today higher than the estimated number removed during the Stolen Generations.
Today, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts on her own removal, the pipeline from child protection to prison, and what it would take to keep First Nations children with their families and communities.

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Guest: Human rights lawyer and former ACT Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts
Photo: AAP Image/Jeremy Ng
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It’s been a war of shifting deadlines for President Trump. And now, his latest one expires this morning.
Trump is threatening that if Iran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US will strike the country’s bridges and power plants in what he’s calling "Energy Plants Day and Bridges Day” – stating 'a whole civilisation will die tonight' if Tehran ignores his ultimatum.
But indiscriminately targeting infrastructure that civilians rely on to survive could amount to war crimes.
Today, Rachel VanLandingham – a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former military lawyer – on whether the US can lawfully target civilian infrastructure, and what it would mean for international law if it did.

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Guest: National security law expert and former active duty judge advocate in the US Air Force, Rachel VanLandingham
Photo: EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
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The first official report from eSafety on how the government’s under-16 social media ban is going has been released. And the early picture is grim.
Kids are getting around the ban, and eSafety says it has seen no drop in cyberbullying or abuse reports involving children on those platforms.
So is this just a messy start, with the government right to ask for more patience? Or is it proving that you can’t fix platforms built to hook young people simply by trying to lock them out?
Today, associate editor for Crikey, Cam Wilson, on why the ban isn’t working – and whether Australia is focusing on the wrong solutions.

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Guest: Associate editor of Crikey, Cam Wilson
Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
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Under one of the most remarkable landscapes in Australia is one of the world’s largest undeveloped reservoirs of onshore gas – and a Texas oil man wants to get it out.
Project Valhalla would drill an initial 20 fracking wells across an area twice the size of Victoria in the Kimberley. And after the WA EPA recommended it for approval, the proposal is now one step closer to going ahead.
The Kimberley is also the largest and most intact tropical savanna in the world – a place of living songlines, deep cultural significance and extraordinary biodiversity, where campaigners say no local species has ever been recorded as extinct. And communities are divided. More than a record 8000 appeals have been lodged with the state government in an effort to stop the project.
Today, journalist Katherine Wilson on the fight over fracking in the Kimberly – and how Project Valhalla made it this far.

If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.

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Guest: Journalist Katherine Wilson
Photo: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright
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