7am

Earlier this year, authorities found something extraordinary inside a Cambodian scam compound: a fake Australian Federal Police office.
There were Australian flags, AFP-style logos, and desks staged to look official – all part of a six-storey compound used by scammers impersonating police forces from around the world.
It was a reminder that the scam messages Australians receive are often connected to a far more sophisticated and exploitative criminal industry.
New figures show Australians reported more than $2 billion in scam losses last year, and a recent UN report has detailed how people are trafficked into scam centres, held against their will, and forced to target strangers online.
In early 2024, Ben and his wife were kidnapped and trapped inside one of these Cambodian scam factories. This is the story of how they escaped – and why so many others can’t.
This episode was originally published in March 2025.

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Guest: Ben Yeo, ambassador for the Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA)
Photo: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
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Tony Abbott is back at the centre of Liberal Party politics.
The former prime minister has been elected unopposed as federal Liberal Party president – a role that sounds administrative, but carries real political weight at a moment of deep trouble for the Coalition.
The Liberals are watching voters drift to One Nation, while Abbott argues the answer is to take the fight directly to Labor. But his return sharpens a deeper question inside the party about whether the Liberals can rebuild by reviving the politics of the Abbott era, or whether that only deepens the crisis they’re trying to escape.
Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno, on Tony Abbott’s comeback, the future of the Liberal Party and how the government is trying to turn the opposition’s crisis into a test of its own authority.

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Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno
Photo: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
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In Melbourne, few names carry the weight of Mick Gatto.
For decades, he’s been known as a survivor of the gangland wars, a man whose influence has stretched from the city’s underworld into the heart of the construction industry.
This week, police raided his home. Gatto and his wife were arrested, then released without charge. He says it was all over a driving infringement. Police say they’re investigating alleged financial offences.
But the raid has landed in the middle of a much larger fight over corruption, intimidation and alleged underworld influence inside Victoria’s building sector.
Today, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, on Mick Gatto, corruption in the construction industry, and the reckoning now facing the state’s Big Build.

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Guest: Investigative reporter for The Age and SMH, Nick McKenzie
Photo: AAP Image/James Ross
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29 women have been killed in Australia so far this year - most allegedly by their intimate partner. Their names sometimes hit the headlines, but often not. And even then, the outrage seldom lasts.
We’ve known for a long time that Australia has a problem with violence against women. Little seems to work to change the statistics. For some advocates - a Royal Commission is the only chance at making a difference.
A petition calling for that - now sits at more than 110-thousand signatures.
Today, writer and advocate Jess Hill on whether it will ever happen, and what it could achieve, if it did.

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Guest: Writer and advocate, Jess Hill
Photo: Ye Myo Khant / SOPA Images/Sipa USA
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For decades Pauline Hanson has been on the fringe of politics. Sometimes mocked, often ignored, occasionally courted.

Even from that position she’s been influential: her presence can be felt in our immigration policies, dating back to Howard.
But her power and her popularity have never been greater than they are today. A recent poll has one Nation as the most popular party in the country, surpassing Labor in primary support.
So just how possible is an Australia governed by One Nation?
Today, host of The Conversation’s The Making of One Nation podcast, Ashlynne McGhee, on the party’s popularity and what it will try to do with it.

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

And you can check out The Making of One Nation podcast here

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Guest: Making One Nation podcast host, Ashlynne McGhee
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.