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There is fresh momentum behind the Adani mine in central Queensland, as the state government pushes through approvals and native title is extinguished. What happens next could define Australia’s relationship to climate change both here and globally. Anna Krien visited the Adani blockade and spoke to the people fighting there.Guest: Writer and journalist Anna Krien.Background reading:Inside the Adani blockade in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has heard evidence of dysfunction, inflexibility and underfunding. It has also heard personal accounts of what it is like to care for someone with a mental illness. Thornton McCamish on the people who are trying to stop the revolving door.Guest: Author and writer for The Monthly Thornton McCamish.Background reading:Spiralling admissions in The MonthlyThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Morrison government has been flatfooted by public outrage over its plan to deport a family from Biloela. Attempts to recapture the narrative have seen clumsy, anti-asylum seeker stories placed in The Australian. Paul Bongiorno on the political panic that has accompanied compassion for a Tamil family whose town spoke up.Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno.Background reading:The Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Frydenberg’s appeal for companies to address wage stagnation underscores the lack of government policy in the area. It also highlights how the Australian market preferences dividends over innovation. Mike Seccombe on the distorting realities in the pay debate.Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe.Background readingStalemate on stagnant wage growth in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Brian Toohey releases his major book on national security in Australia, he reveals that American spies have been working here without detection. Karen Middleton on secrecy and the state of the alliance.Guest: Chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper Karen Middleton.Background reading:CIA agents in Australia in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Panama Papers were the largest leak in financial history. They helped expose tax evasion and misdeeds that ensnared major companies and foreign governments. The reporter who first got the documents, Bastian Obermayer, on how he handled the leak and what he has found in Australia.Guest: Investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer.Background reading:The Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Months before the latest mass protests began in Hong Kong, the Chinese government shut down an art exhibition in the city. The work was by Badiucao, a Chinese-Australian artist living in Melbourne. He has since been harassed and intimidated in Australia, and his work has become a key part of the pro-democracy protests. Guest: Chinese-Australia visual artist and political cartoonist Badiucao.Background reading:Hong Kong's fight for freedom in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Scott Morrison celebrates Timor-Leste’s independence, tension over the Witness K case continues to undermine the relationship. At the same time, Canberra is standing up to Beijing over the imprisonment of Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Paul Bongiorno on the political calculus that separates the two.Guest: Columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno.Background reading: Timor-Leste independence and press freedom in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a communications agency started contacting members of the Muslim community for social media training, it seemed like their intentions were to elevate new voices. But the program was funded by the Department of Home Affairs, and the messages being positioned were from the government. Shakira Hussein on what it’s like to be pulled into a propaganda machine.Guest: Writer and academic Shakira Hussein.Background reading: Strategic communication’ and Muslim communities in The Saturday PaperThe Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Greens is a party with a leader who many think is too mainstream, struggling with the growing pains of infighting and factionalism. The party’s biographer says it is also on the cusp of another step change. Paddy Manning on Richard Di Natale and his third force.Guest: Contributing editor (politics) for The Monthly and author of Inside the Greens Paddy Manning.Background reading: Inside the Greens, by Paddy Manning, published by Black Inc.The Saturday PaperThe MonthlyFor more information on today’s episode, visit 7ampodcast.com.au.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.