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

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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.

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: 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.

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: Steve Clemons, Editor at Large of The National Interest

Photo: Kenny Holston/Pool/Sipa USA

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.