Just when you thought world politics couldn’t get any more ridiculous: tonight, far-right British politician Nigel Farage is set to face a by-election of his own making. His main opponent? A joke candidate by the name of Count Binface, who says he’s an alien space warrior, and wears a superhero costume featuring a bin for a head.

The contest has turned into a circus, but the five-million-pound donation scandal which prompted it, is deadly serious.

Today, European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett, on the contest, the scandal behind it, and the parallels between Farage and Australia’s far-right offering, One Nation.

 

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: European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett

Photo: PA/Alamy

Just when you thought world politics couldn&rsquo;t get any more ridiculous: tonight, far-right British politician Nigel Farage is set to face a by-election of his own making. His main opponent? A joke candidate by the name of Count Binface, who says he&rsquo;s an alien space warrior, and wears a superhero costume featuring a bin for a head.
The contest has turned into a circus, but the five-million-pound donation scandal which prompted it, is deadly serious.
Today, European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett, on the contest, the scandal behind it, and the parallels between Farage and Australia&rsquo;s far-right offering, One Nation.
&nbsp;
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at <a href="http://7ampodcast.com.au/support">7ampodcast.com.au/support</a>.
&nbsp;
Socials: Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a>
Guest: European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett
Photo:&nbsp;PA/Alamy

An independent daily news show. We feature the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

An independent daily news show. We feature the country&rsquo;s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

How Nigel Farage ended up facing off with a bin

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/384ed41f-5972-47db-8aa5-b4a4006926a5/transcript

From afar, Alice Springs is a whirlpool of myth and truth. A town with competing interests and few solutions, marked by chaos and decades of government overreach.

In cities and towns across Australia, we read about a “crisis” about “rampages”. One newspaper described the children of Alice Springs as “tiny menaces stuck on a turnstile of trouble”.

In this first episode of our three part series This is Alice Springs, Daniel James visits the town at the heart of our nation, to find out how all the interventions, big and small, by governments of all persuasions have led to this chaos. What he finds is that almost all of it leads back to one thing.

This series was originally published in October 2024.

 

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

 

Socials:Stay in touch with us on Instagram

Guest: Hosted and reported by Daniel James

From afar, Alice Springs is a whirlpool of myth and truth. A town with competing interests and few solutions, marked by chaos and decades of government overreach.
In cities and towns across Australia, we read about a &ldquo;crisis&rdquo; about &ldquo;rampages&rdquo;. One newspaper described the children of Alice Springs as &ldquo;tiny menaces stuck on a turnstile of trouble&rdquo;.
In this first episode of our three part series&nbsp;This is Alice Springs, Daniel James visits the town at the heart of our nation, to find out how all the interventions, big and small, by governments of all persuasions have led to this chaos. What he finds is that almost all of it leads back to one thing.
This series was originally published in October 2024.
&nbsp;
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at <a href="http://7ampodcast.com.au/support">7ampodcast.com.au/support</a>.
&nbsp;
Socials: Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a>
Guest: Hosted and reported by Daniel James

This is Alice Springs: Children of the Intervention

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/8d10045c-4da2-40e9-8e51-b4c200518494/transcript

In 2020 Anthony Albanese called for the sacking of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie over her involvement in the infamous sports rorts – which he labelled a farce. Not long after, she resigned.

But now that similar pork barrelling claims have been levelled at the Prime Minister, he’s come out swinging – refusing to admit any wrong-doing over his failure to declare membership at a golf club which received a six million dollar grant.

Also coming out swinging this week was Andrew Hastie. The Liberal MP delivered a masterclass in how to take on One Nation as he labelled Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce lying cowards over a party-backed cartoon calling him a traitor.

Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno on a fiery week in parliament, and who came off second best.

 

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

 

Socials:Stay in touch with us on Instagram

Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno

Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

In 2020 Anthony Albanese called for the sacking of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie over her involvement in the infamous sports rorts &ndash; which he labelled a farce. Not long after, she resigned.
But now that similar pork barrelling claims have been levelled at the Prime Minister, he&rsquo;s come out swinging &ndash; refusing to admit any wrong-doing over his failure to declare membership at a golf club which received a six million dollar grant.
Also coming out swinging this week was Andrew Hastie. The Liberal MP delivered a masterclass in how to take on One Nation as he labelled Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce lying cowards over a party-backed cartoon calling him a traitor.
Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno on a fiery week in parliament, and who came off second best.
&nbsp;
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at <a href="http://7ampodcast.com.au/support">7ampodcast.com.au/support</a>.
&nbsp;
Socials: Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a>
Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno
Photo:&nbsp;AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Did the PM dabble in pork barrelling?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/474dd8a0-4065-48e2-aecd-b4c2005056f5/transcript

When Donald Trump was sworn in for a second time, some of the most powerful men in the tech world had the best seats in the room.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg – a display of just how close silicon valley had aligned itself to the administration.

But within that world, journalist Gil Durán says, is a smaller, more radical group with a much bigger ambition: get rid of democracy, and use technology to build a new order in its place, controlled by a wealthy elite. And in his new book, The Nerd Reich, Gil traces how these once-fringe ideas have moved closer to the White House than ever before.

Today, Silicon Valley journalist and author Gil Durán, on the group he’s dubbed the “Nerd Reich’, the ideas driving them, and how they became part of Trump’s political project.

 

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

 

Socials:Stay in touch with us on Instagram

Guest: Author of The Nerd Reich Gil Durán

Photo: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

When Donald Trump was sworn in for a second time, some of the most powerful men in the tech world had the best seats in the room.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg &ndash; a display of just how close silicon valley had aligned itself to the administration.
But within that world, journalist Gil Dur&aacute;n says, is a smaller, more radical group with a much bigger ambition: get rid of democracy, and use technology to build a new order in its place, controlled by a wealthy elite. And in his new book,&nbsp;The Nerd Reich, Gil traces how these once-fringe ideas have moved closer to the White House than ever before.
Today, Silicon Valley journalist and author Gil Dur&aacute;n, on the group he&rsquo;s dubbed the &ldquo;Nerd Reich&rsquo;, the ideas driving them, and how they became part of Trump&rsquo;s political project.
&nbsp;
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at <a href="http://7ampodcast.com.au/support">7ampodcast.com.au/support</a>.
&nbsp;
Socials: Stay in touch with us on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/7ampodcast">Instagram</a>
Guest: Author of The Nerd Reich Gil Dur&aacute;n
Photo:&nbsp;AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

“Nerd Reich”: Are big tech billionaires at war with democracy?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/db4f04e4-a484-49d0-a155-b4c1005f6c42/transcript

How Nigel Farage ended up facing off with a bin

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