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.

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Guest: Journalist Katherine Wilson

Photo: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

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In 2007, future United States president Donald Trump stepped into the wrestling ring for a showdown with Vince McMahon, then head of World Wrestling Entertainment and Trump’s close friend.

Trump played the villain perfectly.

For decades now, Trump has been shaped by a love affair with professional wrestling. It taught him how to control and manipulate a crowd, how to speak, and how to respond to criticism.

It also shaped his cabinet, with Trump appointing Linda McMahon, Vince’s ex-wife, to the position of secretary of education.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Joseph Earp on how Donald Trump brought the art of pro-wrestling to politics.

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Guest: Journalist and author, Joseph Earp.

Photo: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File

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For months, Jim Chalmers has been trying to write a budget about the future – productivity, reform, repair.

But events have a way of dragging budgets back into the present. And right now, the present looks expensive.

People are still under pressure. The economy’s been hit by another oil shock. And the Treasurer is trying to make the case for restraint without looking like he’s asking Australians to wear even more pain.

So will Jim Chalmer's upcoming budget be one of reform - or crisis management?

Today, senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Shane Wright, on what kind of budget this moment demands.

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: Senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Shane Wright.

Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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