7am

Immigration is back at the centre of federal politics – again.
The Coalition’s new leadership is arguing Australia needs lower numbers, tougher rules, and a clearer cap on how many people we bring in each year.
It’s a familiar conversation. In the lead up to the 2024 election, Peter Dutton tried to put a hard number on it – promising to cut migration by 100,000 a year, saying it would help free up housing for Australians.
But critics say a large cut would hit the workforce Australia relies on, including the people needed to build more homes.
Abul Rizvi was a senior official in the Department of Immigration from the early 90s to 2007, when he left as deputy secretary.
He says the argument we keep having – election after election – skips the bigger question: Australia’s need for a long-term population plan, and what we want it to achieve.
Today, Abul Rizvi on the politics of population growth.
This episode was first published in April, 2025.

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Guest: Former deputy secretary of the department of immigration, Abul Rizvi.
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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In Canberra, a fight both major parties have tried to avoid is back.
The Senate is examining the capital gains tax discount – the Howard-era change that slashed tax on asset profits and helped turn housing into a national obsession.
It’s long been considered untouchable, especially after Labor’s bruising 2019 election defeat. But with house prices entrenched, inequality rising and the budget under strain, pressure is building on the government to do something.
Today, economist and Executive Director of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss, on why the concession exists, the vested interests resisting change, and whether the politics around it are finally shifting.

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Guest: Executive Director of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss
Photo: EPA/LUONG THAI LINH
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Whistleblowers have exposed some of Australia’s biggest scandals – from Robodebt and misconduct in the banking sector, to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan – stories that often only come to light because someone inside decides to speak up.
But for the people who do, the personal cost can be devastating: retaliation at work, legal threats, even prosecution. And that fear keeps others silent, leaving wrongdoing to fester.
The Albanese government came to office in 2022 promising a stronger integrity agenda, including “immediate improvements” to whistleblower laws and broader reform to follow. But years on, what’s actually changed for whistleblowers, and why do so many still feel unprotected?
Today, lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender, on creating Australia’s first specialist legal service for whistleblowers, and what’s wrong with our laws.

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Guest: Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project, Kieran Pender
Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full of hubris and bravado, the State of the Union Address was classic Trump – the showman who knows how to work a crowd.
In the chamber there was plenty of love, but on the streets of America the President’s popularity has been falling.
Today, US journalist Steve Clemons, editor at large of The National Interest- on the speech and the spectacle – how did Trump’s state of the union go down, and what does it all mean for the midterms.

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Guest: Steve Clemons, Editor at Large of The National Interest
Photo: Kenny Holston/Pool/Sipa USA
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When Russia struck Ukraine four years ago it kicked off the first full scale war in Europe since World War II.
Now, as Russia knocks out Ukraine’s power grid, and people freeze at temperatures of below minus 20 – is it time for President Zelensky to cut a deal?
Today, Kateryna Argyrou Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations on travelling through a war torn country and whether it is time for Ukraine to cut a deal.

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: Kateryna Argyrou, Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations
Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Sipa USA
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.