When Professor Christian Downie appeared before a Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation, he warned that Australia is facing coordinated campaigns designed not to debate climate solutions, but to stall them.

Professor Downie has spent years inside boardrooms and the lobbying world studying how these campaigns are built – tracing the billions spent on messaging by lobby groups, PR firms and think tanks – and outlining what he calls “the climate obstruction playbook”. It’s a strategy refined in Washington and increasingly echoed in Australia.

Today, Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, Christian Downie, on how the obstruction playbook has been so successful in stopping action on climate change.

This episode was originally published in October, 2025.

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Guest: Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance and Director of the Governing Energy Transition Lab, Christian Downie

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Pauline Hanson has spent decades casting herself as the outsider, the voice of people who feel ignored by the political class.

Now, One Nation is surging in the polls and in donations. On Friday their fundraising site crashed under the weight of more than three million dollars in new money, forcing Labor to treat Hanson less like a fringe dweller and more like a direct threat.

But as Hanson’s popularity grows, so does the scrutiny of what sits behind it. This week, she admitted she’s taking policy advice from Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, the billionaire mining magnate she describes as a friend and supporter.

Today, contributing editor at The New Daily, Amy Remeikis, on Pauline Hanson’s growing momentum and the billionaire and corporate backing of her outsider politics.

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Guest: Contributing editor at The New Daily, Amy Remeikis

Photo: AAP Image/Paul Miller

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The scenes in Belfast this week have been horrifying to watch - ugly clashes, masked men rioting in the streets, immigrant families begging neighbours to hide their children - fearing for their safety.

Politicians, far-right agitators, and billionaire Elon Musk have been accused of sparking the riots - weaponising a brutal stabbing attack, to ramp up anti-migrant rhetoric and whip protestors into a frenzy.

Today, British journalist and host of The News Agents, Emily Maitlis on the far-right forces at play in the UK, and why the Belfast riots should serve as a warning to Australia, and the world.

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 Emily Maitlis

Photo: PA/PA Wire

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