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38 Episodes 1998 - 1998
Episode 1
28 mins
Interviewed for the story are Elle's sister Mimi, her mother Fran and her father, leading Sydney businessman, Peter Gow. Mr Gow and Mrs Macpherson underwent a difficult divorce when their children were young and have never previously agreed to be interviewed about personal and family matters. Elle is obviously the best known member of the family and her worldwide fame as a model, actress and businesswoman has impacted in both positive and negative ways on the rest of her family. They have all reacted in strikingly different ways. Mimi Macpherson talks with considerable candour about her struggles to escape from the tag of being "Elle's sister" and establish herself in her own right in the fields of tourism and conservation. Fran Macpherson talks about the difficult circumstances of her teenage marriage to Peter Gow, a man who describes himself as "from the wrong side of the tracks", and the births in quick succession of Elle, Mimi and Brendon. Now divorced from her second husband, Mrs Macpherson has recently abandoned a corporate career in Sydney to work with Mimi in Queensland. She talks openly about the changes and difficulties she's gone through and her efforts to forge a new life and identity for herself as an independent woman. Peter Gow talks emotionally and candidly about his famous brood and the mistakes he now feels he made with them. A warm and candid insight into one of Australia's most famous families including many previously unpublished family photographs.
Episode 2
27 mins
This is the remarkable tale of Billy Longley, member of the notorious Painters and Dockers Union and one of the most feared men on the docks during the 1960's and 1970's. Longley has always observed an unspoken "code of silence" but has agreed to publicly discuss details of his past for the first time. Described by police as an "evil genius", Longley spent thirteen years in Pentridge Gaol for the murder of union rival, Pat Shannon. During his lifetime, he was also charged with one murder, manslaughter, three attempted murders and, what was then, Australia's biggest holdup. Now aged 72 and living quietly in suburban Melbourne, Longley goes ballroom dancing and counsels school children against getting involved in violence. "Looking back on my life, I regret the violence I've been involved in. But, the 1970's were dangerous times on the waterfront. If you were a member of one faction or another, you could finish up with your head shot off," says Longley, who was known as "The Texan" because he wore a Stetson and carried a Colt .45. In 1983, Longley was subpoenaed to give evidence to the Costigan Royal Commission into the Painters and Dockers Union. The Royal Commission was set up after a violent struggle in the union left as many as forty people dead. Also interviewed for the story is Brian Murphy, the former Victorian detective whose evidence helped convict Longley of murder. He and Longley subsequently formed a rather unlikely friendship and business partnership. The pair became friendly after Longley's release from gaol in 1988, and now offer their services as industrial mediators.
Episode 3
26 mins
With no male heirs to take over the 6000 acre sheep station, Kaloola, in northern New South Wales, Sally Loane's father is in the process of sorting through nearly 100 years of family history in preparation for the property's sale. Amongst the family memorabilia are snapshots of Australia's history, including century-old letters from former Prime Minister Billy Hughes to Sally's great grandfather. Through her columns in the "Sydney Morning Herald", Sally's memories of life in the bush have struck a chord in the national consciousness and generated a big response from readers. Her family's story is a reflection of what's happening around the country, as the golden years of Australia - riding on the sheep's back - become a distant memory. Australian Story joined Sally and her family as they gathered at Kaloola for a final bush Christmas. It was a time of very mixed emotions ... joy and celebration, but sadness too with reminders of an old family tragedy whose repercussions that are still being felt today. It was also an opportunity for Sally to visit for the last time, the places of her childhood with her own young children, such as "Hell Hole", a place where bunyips are rumoured to live. Despite her years as a respected and senior journalist in Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney, there is one part of Sally's rural past she can not escape, the fact that she was the winner of the Tenterfield Miss Showgirl competition and third placegetter at the Sydney Easter show in 1976. PLUS: Diana and Me It's a mind boggling image. Self styled charity queen Marie Sutton sprawled on the bed telling the world how she had the shingles when she negotiated to bring Princess Diana to Australia. While this sort of brazen tactic hasn't endeared the housewife from Singleton to the Sydney social set, royal journalist Judy Wade says Marie has succeeded because she is "nakedly honest" and "totally without airs and graces" Whatever people think of her, Sutton unquestionably outgunned them all in the quest for the ultimate charity guest. And if you think that's impressive, wait till you hear how La Sutton also scored a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican, a privilege normally reserved for VIPS and Heads of State.
Episode 4
30 mins
Camilla Cowley is a pastoralist from South West Queensland who hit the headlines last year when she broke ranks and spoke out in favour of co-existence with native title claimants. On Australian Story this week, Mrs Cowley relates her personal story for the first time on TV. The saga starts with her anger and dismay when she and her family first received a document in the mail notifying them that a native title claim had been lodged on their property by the Goongarrie people. "We believed thoroughly that we were in terrible danger of losing title to our property" she says. Mrs Cowley attended an angry public meeting in the local shire hall organised by the United Graziers' Association. Only one person spoke out in dissent at that meeting - an aboriginal woman who is also a grazier, Ethyl Munn of the Goongarri people. Mrs Cowley was impressed by Ethyl's bravery but voted along with everyone else for extinguishment of native title. But that chance encounter with Ethyl Munn was the beginning of an extraordinary and deep friendship between the two women which, in due course, brought about a complete change of heart on Camilla's part. Not only does Camilla now accept the argument for native title, she has become an active campaigner for co-existence and reconciliation - at considerable cost to herself and her family who have suffered a backlash of hatred in the bush where she is viewed as a traitor and a turncoat.
Episode 5
28 mins
Drug addict Terry Walker was in his room, unable to get a hit and suffering withdrawal symptoms, when sat down and started to pray. Terry swears he heard God talk to him. It was the beginning of a most remarkable transformation. Terry now runs the "Tribe of Judah", Australia's only motor cycle ministry. With their leathers and chains and Harley Davidsons, they look utterly intimidating as they roar along the highway. But they're usually on their way to church or to minister to the sick and needy. They specialise in "the dregs of society" ex prostitutes, drug addicts, alcoholics and ex prisoners, the people nobody else wants to know about and they've won acclaim from even the mainstream churches for the good work they do. "Anything I did I want to do it full on, whether it was alcohol, I did it full on, when it was drugs I did it full on and when I became a Christian I did it full on." Terry is now happily married with five children, one of whom is an officer in the Victorian police. PLUS The Lost City In June 1878, the last of the tall ships bringing settlers to Australia, the Loch Ard, lost its way in the night, crashed on to the rocks and sank in a treacherous swell, near the infamous Twelve Apostles, on the South-West coast of Victoria. She joined a number of other ships at the bottom of the sea, an area that is now known as the Shipwreck Coast. At least 15 ships have come to grief here and it is an area that has become the obsession of amateur diver, Ron Cashmore. For 21 years Ron has been extracting the secrets of these stricken ships and he has recovered many priceless relics which now reside in the Shipreck Coast Museum. These artefacts can neither be owned nor sold, and Ron is now their sole custodian.
Episode 6
28 mins
Of the 645 men and boys on board the HMAS Sydney when it sank in 1941 not one survived and only one body was ever recovered. However, three quarters of the German crew, on board the Kormoran, made it to safety. Over the years, new evidence has come to light but, mystery and an alleged official cover up still shroud the key events. Even the location of the battle and the whereabouts of the wrecks is unknown. Conspiracy theories abound. There has been intense speculation surrounding the high survival rate of the German crew, and why no one from the Sydney survived. There is even some suggestion that a Japanese submarine may have been involved and that Australian sailors were put to death. In the midst of this tragedy there are those still grieving. The Captain of the Sydney - Captain Joseph Burnett - was blamed for the disaster. Ironically, both of Burnett's sons followed him into the Navy, yet, they are still struggling to understand why their father, a distinguished officer with an unblemished record, was held accountable. There is the heartbreaking tale of a young widow who lost her husband, of just one month, when the Sydney went down. She and other relatives - wives, sisters and brothers, and children, are tormented by the lack of information about the fate of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the woman tracking the Sydney's history, amateur historian, Glenys McDonald, moved to the harsh North West Coast, near, where she believes, the Sydney went down. Obsessed with the sinking, she has undertaken extensive research to help solve the mystery for the sake of all the men who went "down to the sea in ships".
Episode 7
28 mins
n the The Way We Are , an Australian Story exclusive, Dr. Phelps, her partner and their families, talk about their decision to go public about their relationship, despite the risk to both their careers. As medical editor on Channel Nine's 'Today' show, Dr. Phelps says she has received assurances from Nine's management that the disclosure of her sexual preference will not affect her career. Dr. Phelps describes the "wonderful" support she has received from fellow doctors in her local group practice and says, "Channel Nine have said that it will make no difference to my work with them and that it will continue as normal," "Of course at the Australian Women's Weekly, where I'm the columnist, we have had long, long discussions about the implications and they have been very supportive". Dr Phelps talks openly about how tough her decision to 'come out' was, and how hurtful some of the criticism has been, particularly an attack made by a Sydney newspaper columnist. "We've had no negative feedback about the marriage from anybody who knows us and really I can only take on board the opinions of people whose opinions I respect. "I think criticism about what we have done is very hard hearted. I think that there are people who feel bitter perhaps about their own lives. I found some of the harsh criticism quite frankly offensive at times hurtful but at the end of the day I look at it and I think well you poor hard hearted person." "It was a monumental decision for Jackie and I go to public about our relationship. We've always both been very private about our personal lives. We had a growing awareness that there was a need for people in the community to stand up and be counted - to say I'm gay, I'm happy, I'm successful" We share many intimate moments and also interviewed are Dr Phelp's brother, actor Peter Phelps and her sixteeen year-old daughter, Jamie.
Episode 8
31 mins
In this exclusive television interview, Wayne Goss, his wife, and friends, tell the full story of the brain tumour diagnosis, the operation, and his subsequent full recovery. However, to the surprise of many pundits, Goss shocked the country with his decision to quit politics forever. The man once dubbed "Mr Seventy-four per cent", even surprised the jaded parliamentary press gallery who had already pegged Goss for a seat on Labor's front-bench in Canberra. Equally surprised were Goss's own family. Roisin Goss describes how her husband told her he had made a decision about his future but didn't tell her what it was. She assumed he had decided to go to Canberra.. It was another two days before he told her was quitting. She says she was "amazed and delighted." Close friend and former law partner Peter Carne describes how he wept when Goss told him about the tumour. Carne and other friends, including Goss' brother, Michael, describe their delight at the transformation in Goss's personality since his decision. "It's like having the young Wayne Goss back again," they say. PLUS: The Full Marcus Also, next Thursday night, we hit the boards with a group of young men who haven taken up fairly unconventional careers. A year ago Marcus Pedro was a constable in the Queensland police force with a promising career ahead of him. He was the first Torres Strait Islander community police officer to be inducted into the Queensland Police Service. But, like the characters in the hit movie "The Full Monty" he saw a male strip act in a nightclub and decided he and his mates could do better. So he quit the force and started recruiting would be dancers. The result was Hot Chocolate, an all black male dance revue.
Episode 9
27 mins
In the last ten years Colin Reynolds has single handedly raised more than half a million dollars for the Oncology Unit at the New Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney ... an unprecedented effort by one individual. He also runs special bus trips for the children, some of whom are very ill indeed with cancer, and takes them for laughter filled trips aboard a bus bedecked with balloons. He has become an essential part of regular life at the oncology unit, visiting parents, children and medical staff and trying to find ways to make things easier for everyone. Colin believes hospital staff were wary when he first approached them with his idea of running a special bus trip for some of the children. " I think they must have thought I was some kind of weirdo, a madman," he says. Colin's fundraising has now become indispensable to the hospital. Dr. Luciano Dalla-Pozza says: "If Colin stopped fund raising tomorrow we would be in great difficulty because we have geared up our research effort. Without the support Colin provides we would be not be able to buy the equipment needed for our research." Donations to the Oncolcogy Unit For the New Children's Hospital at Westmead can be made through the Oncology Children's Foundation, PO Box 1047, Rockdale, NSW 2216. All donations will be gratefully accepted. PLUS: Dear Doctor Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki, has long been the face of science to a generation of young people. A regular of Triple JJJ's morning show, as well as numerous other radio and television programs, Dr Karl has been able to explain and humanise even the most complex and difficult scientifc theories. If that wasn't enough, Dr Karl is a fellow in the University of Sydney's Physics Department and can often be found teaching and lecturing at many universities both here in Australia and overseas. However, behind the upbeat, enthusiastic demeanour is a sad family history. Dr Karl discusses his his parents' experiences during WWII in a German concentration camp in Poland and the profound effect this has had on his life. Dr Karl, through his quirky personality and wonderful sense of humour, makes science fun and much less terrifiying for those of us who wonder why the the sky is blue, why world is round, and is the truth really out there?!
Episode 10
27 mins
It is the story, not just of Bob Ansett, but of Reg Ansett and the best known corporate empires in Australia. Now aged 65, Bob Ansett was personally bankrupted when Budget, the car hire company he built up from scratch went into receivership in the late eighties. Last year he faced charges brought by the ASC over issuing an allegedly misleading prospectus. But the jury failed to reach a verdict and the charges were subsequently dropped. In his first television interview since those events Ansett and his second wife Josie talk candidly about their spectacular fall from grace; about Reg Ansett, and the heady days of Budget Rent A Car when Bob Ansett was one of the best known and most successful corporate faces in Australia. Josie Ansett says: "I find it an absolute tragedy that a family can tear each other apart so much. I don't think it needed to be the way it was."
Episode 11
27 mins
Now aged 48 and a grandfather, Joe Bugner is still standing and still fighting, though by most people's reckoning he should have retired years ago. But, his refusal to give in to the passage of time and his easy amiability have made him a hero to many sports fans who revere him as "Aussie Joe" despite his European upbringing. We catch up with Joe and his wife, Marlene, in the nail-biting lead up to his Australian Heavyweight title defence, on the Gold Coast on April 20. On the night of the fight itself, we will see the unfolding events through the eyes of both Joe and Marlene, the anxious wife who says she hates boxing. If Joe beats his opponent, Bob Merovic, he will also collect the Pan-Asian title, which will not only give him a world top 10 ranking but, a crack at a world title that has long eluded him.
Episode 12
28 mins
Steve Roach leads a small breakaway union called the Shearers and Rural Workers' Union with a membership made up mostly of shearers and miners, disillusioned with the giant A.W.U. He says he makes only a "lousy two hundred dollars a week" from a job that takes up practically every waking moment and keeps him away from home (in Melbourne) at least half the year. While he's on the road in his battered old car, staying in the backrooms of pubs for ten dollars a night, his wife Debbie is earning the money to keep their two young children fed and clothed. Debbie says: "I would say he's probably born 100 years too late - working for something you believe in for nothing is just not something many people do, which is charity work, which is basically what it is to him." If the waterside workers are seen by many as an over protected and privileged elite, the people Steve Roach represents are in the mould of the traditional battler. We follow him as he travels to Cobar in outback New South Wales to organise a convoy of miners who've just lost their job and all their entitlements because of a sudden mine closure. And we also join him on the M.U.A. picket line in Melbourne. Through his story, the threads connecting the past and the present are starkly highlighted. PLUS: Wally's Weddings Wally Richards came into this world marching to the sound of a different drum. A local Maryborough identity, Wally stood at 6ft. 4inches, was illiterate, and due to his physical deformities, spoke with difficulty. Yet, the beat that Wally heard all his life was soft and gentle, and didn't include things like envy, greed or hate. Wally liked to go to weddings. Anyone's wedding, and over 40 years he amassed a collection of nearly 20 000 photographs from the weddings he attended in the Maryborough district. It was only after his death last year, that his extraordinary pictures came to light. But, fortunately, his family, with the help of the entire town of Maryborough, painstakingly catalogued all the photos and recently staged an exhibition.
Episode 13
26 mins
Barry Cable's only five and a half feet tall. He's 54 years old and he has a scar from a near fatal tangle with a tractor that would make anyone flinch. Yet, this former North Melbourne rover is ranked among the top dozen all time great players of Aussie Rules. But this fearsomely fit middle aged man is not resting on his laurels. Australian Story joined him on the road in North West Australia as he battled foul weather to attempt to break the record for cycling the 400 kilometres plus between Geraldton and Perth - part of yet another charity fundraising effort. During the course of the record bid, Barry talks about his extraordinary life - being brought up in a family of ten by his part aboriginal mother after the death of their father; overcoming limitations of his height to become an AFL legend, both as a player and a coach; and then the near fatal tractor accident, a year after he retired from the game which left him with shocking leg injuries. Barry not only continues to set records for physical achievement, but he also works quietly and tirelessly in the community, raising funds and taking a particular interest in helping children with self esteem problems in remote aboriginal communities. PLUS: Every Breath You Take At only 33 years of age, Dena Kingsberg has achieved an extraordinary level of mastery in her chosen field - Astanga Yoga. Already she has been teaching for ten years and is one of only 11 practitioners in the world certified by the Indian Government in this form of Yoga. For Dena her practise and her life in general is about finding sanctuary in a busy and overstimulated world.
Episode 14
27 mins
Two years ago Lance Corporal Gerry Bampton was a good looking, super fit highly trained member of the army's elite Special Air Service regiment. He had an attractive wife and two young children. He appeared to have it all. But on the night of his twenty eighth birthday, June 12th 1996, he was on board one of the Black Hawk helicopters which collided and crashed during a night counter terrorism exercise near Townsville. Fifteen SAS soldiers and three airmen died. Gerry was the worst injured of the ten survivors. He was in a coma for one week and when he emerged he found he had been left a paraplegic. He will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Who Dares Wins, coined from the famous SAS motto, is a story about the tremendous courage of one man and his family, and how they have dealt with the consequences of that fateful night.
Episode 15
27 mins
The controversy over just who inspired Paterson's poem has raged for more than a century. Australian Story visited the Snowy Mountains on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of "Riley's Ride", the re-enactment of the last hours of Jack Riley, the man many people credit with being the original inspiration for the poem. But, there are other claimants to the legend and their case is passionately advanced by other protagonists encountered in the story. "Searching for the Man" is a literary detective tale featuring breathtaking pictures of the High Country, passionate controversy and some great characters including Elynne Mitchell, author of the "Silver Brumby" series and local historian Noel Gough who has spent four years researching the issue and has turned up important new material. PLUS: Street where you live The story of Sister Pat and Sister Dorothy, two white nuns living on the edge of the infamous "Block" in Redfern. After spending most of their lives in an enclosed order, they decided to move to Redfern and live amongst the poor. For fifteen years Sister Pat and Sister Dorothy, who are also blood sisters, have worked tirelessly for the aboriginal community, and they are now considered to be "like one of us" - meaning that the black community has totally accepted them. Australian Story ventures into their house and into the community to find there is another side to the "Block".
Episode 16
28 mins
Katie Spurr had been unwell for several months but her family doctor kept reassuring her that there was no need for concern. It was only when her mother demanded that she be referred to a specialist that tests showed she had a particularly aggressive cancer and had only weeks to live. Her doctor estimated that if she had gone undiagnosed and untreated for another six weeks, she would have been dead. Her local community rallied round and special events were organised to raise funds for Katie's treatment. As the story progresses we discover that the prognosis has improved but Katie still has only a fifty fifty chance of survival. She has to undergo a hazardous brain stem cell transplant in the next month. In the meantime she has been trying, quite literally, to have the time of her life and do all the things she may never get another chance to do. But there's been a lot of trauma and strain to contend with in her family life. Katie's mother split from her father a year ago and is pregnant by her new partner. She has Katie's three younger brothers to look after too. Katie says her mother is not coping very well. During the course of filming, Katie had an argument with her mother and went to live with her father. However, Katie also moved out of her father's not long after arriving there and is currently living with friends. She hopes to be reconciled with her mother in the future. The story also raises significant issues about medical diagnosis and the need to question judgements made by G.P.s when there are persistent and serious symptoms.
Episode 17
28 mins
Maria Bordoni began a hairdressing apprenticeship straight out of school . But her father had been a youth worker with Correctional Services and she was enormously impressed by the work he did. In 1989, her father died after a two year struggle with cancer. That crisis motivated Maria and after a period of working with female offenders she was appointed to run South Australia's maximum security jail at Yatala - one of only a handful of women anywhere in the world in such a position. PLUS: Out of Africa The remarkable story of Ethnee Holmes a Court, mother of the late Robert, whose life reads like a cross between Karen Blixen's "Out of Africa" and "Girls Own". Now in her eighties, still riding horses, and still living on the Holmes a Court owned Heytesbury Stud in W.A., Mrs Holmes a Court has been married four times and outlived both her sons. She was born in South Africa and later moved to what was then Rhodesia. Her life in Africa encompassed great adventure and great tragedy. She ran an African game park, piloted light aircraft and managed a stud farm. But she was abandoned by her first husband (Robert's father) and lost her second husband when he was attacked by a swarm of native bees on an African River. Her younger son went missing, presumed killed by bandits. And the sudden death of Robert, at the age of 53, was a final blow.
Episode 18
29 mins
Part of a close middle class family of seven, Eric Wilson took himself to a favourite spot in the Blue Mountains and threw himself off a cliff top. He was not found for almost a month. He seemed to be part of a normal family who were completely unprepared. But, after he went missing, gradually tapes and letters were found in which he declared his plan to kill himself and carefully said his goodbyes to all his family and close friends. Eric had even left precise and detailed instructions for his funeral. This story attempts to identify many of the key issues associated with youth suicide and suggests possible answers to this tragic mystery
Episode 19
28 mins
Tara Smith made what many would consider an unusual decision. Tara had her baby, named her Georgia Chantia, and when Georgia was only seven weeks old, she handed her over for adoption to a couple called Geoff and Annette Mansfield. With the help of an adoption agency, Tara herself had selected the Mansfields to bring up her daughter. Painful and candid letters were exchanged between Tara and the adoptive parents. Three years later, despite the dire warnings of many, this "open adoption" arrangement seems to be working out. Tara has regular contact with Georgia and the Mansfields and their other adopted daughter, Jana. The little girl is thriving. But what will happen as Georgia gets older and develops opinions of her own? Will conflicts develop and how will they be resolved?
Episode 20
28 mins
One Dark Night It happens so easily. A dark night, a quiet street, a couple of people out walking ... a young driver going a little faster than he should be and suddenly there's a terrible accident. It happened in Northern New South Wales on December 21, four years ago. It left one of the pedestrians dead and the other one seriously brain damaged. The driver was 20 year old Andrew Laing, a "kind, thoughtful young man" who'd never before given his parents any worry or concern. Andrew pleaded guilty to culpable driving. The judge sentenced him to 400 hours community service. He said .."simply it was one of those regrettable and tragic accidents that occurred through circumstances." Andrew was stricken with remorse and depression. "I thought what was the good of living. I was very reckless. I thought well I've killed people so I deserve to die and I just went through that torment for years. One night after a party, his girlfriend caught him out with another girl. He climbed out on to the balcony of her flat to escape detection but, he slipped and fell four storeys, sustaining serious head injuries. He was not expected to live. In a deep coma, he underwent what he says was a near death experience. He believes he "saw" Margaret, the woman he'd killed, and that she forgave him and told him to return and get on with his life. At around the same time, doctors noticed a remarkable improvement in his brain scans. Against all their expectations Andrew made an unusually quick and almost total recovery. But his life now has taken a totally different direction. PLUS: Queen of the Road Carlotta was the first and the best Queen of the Desert. Leading lady of the infamous revue Les Girls, Carlotta honed her skills in the bars and clubs of Kings Cross. While admitting she may have stayed too long in Sydney, today, Carlotta can be found taking her troupe across Australia. Australian Story catches up with Carlotta and her colourful retinue on their way to outback Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Episode 21
28 mins
Tracey Wickham set a world record that stood for nearly ten years and a Commonwealth record that still stands, but the Olympic gold medal she was seemingly always destined for disappeared in the mess of the Moscow Games boycott. Tracey was one of our all time greats but her era ended just before huge cash rewards started flowing into the sport. Now thirty five, and a mother of two young children, Tracey talks candidly to Australian Story about her struggles to establish a new life for herself away from the spotlight, the grief of her failed marriage, and the contradictions between the glittering public image and her internal sense of despair. She describes her humiliation at having to queue up at social security to receive the single parents benefit, which had become her only income, and then bursting into tears when someone behind the counter recognised her and asked for an autograph. But, this story is also a celebration of her glory days when Tracey left the rest of the swimming world in her wake as she dominated the pool. A feat made all the more remarkable as she did it during a time when eastern bloc countries were at the height of their drug programmes. Possibly one of the greatest swimmers this country has ever produced we take time to remember when Tracey galvanised the whole nation with her record breaking exploits in the pool.
Episode 22
29 mins
Inspector Chris Ferguson leads the men and women of the Accident Investigation Squad of the Victoria Police. The unit is the only one of its kind in Australia and has been instrumental in halving the deaths on Victorian roads. As head of Victoria's Accident Investigation Section (AIS), Ferguson is on call 24 hours a day, and he is responsible for investigating fatal collisions - at any time he can be called out to an accident anywhere in Victoria. But, Ferguson has had his own share of drama and tragedy, having been involved in some of the most controversial and notorious incidents in the Victorian police. In 1986, Ferguson was one of many officers who were inside the Russell Street Police Headquarters, when a bomb ripped through the building killing Constable Angela Taylor. However, the most confronting situation Ferguson has faced in his career was his involvement in the Jensen shooting. Graeme Jensen was gunned down by police in 1988 during an attempted armed robbery in Melbourne. Five years after the shooting, in a blaze of publicity, Ferguson and seven of his colleagues were charged with Jensen's murder. They were suspended from the police force for two years. Ferguson's life changed. In 1995 all charges against Ferguson were dropped and he was reinstated. Despite this, instead of turning his back on the force, he has embraced the work of the Accident Investigation Section.
Episode 23
29 mins
The Unlikely Dad Peter Downey was an only child, loved to joke and party and had little interest in children. When his wife, Meredith, announced she was pregnant, he was thunderstruck: "It was like she said to me, you're going to live on the moon!" But rather than dwell on his 'terror' of pregnancy and fatherhood, Peter decided to puts his thoughts down on paper. Drawing on anecdotes and experiences, often related over the barbeque with his mates, Peter soon had a book. He sent it off to a publisher and, to everyone's surprise, it was snapped up. The result: "So You're Going to be a Dad". It's an international best seller and is in its sixth reprint. Peter now leads a double life - mild mannered teacher and dad versus parenting guru and media commentator. He's a rapt parent, happy to be a father but proud that he still hangs onto his shiny red Honda bike. The change in his life is revealed through terrific home video footage which records his transformation from long-hair musician through his wife's pregnancies to be-spectacled cardigan-wearing father. PLUS: Bush Smithy Jack Spears learnt the art of blacksmithing in his teens and continued what had been a family tradition. However, the on set of the Great Depression and the gradual motorising of farm work forced him to look elsewhere for a job. In 1939, the Black Friday bushfires claimed seventy-one lives and burnt almost a third of Victoria, and in its aftermath, in the rugged ranges east of Melbourne, the race began to salvage the fire-kill timber. Enter Jack Spears, a tough, no-nonsense character, who spent the next forty years working in the timber industry. One of Jack's greatest skills is the almost forgotten art of tree-climbing, where an axeman scales a large eucalypt using a rope and a pair of of "climbing spurs". Now 82, Jack and his wife live in the picturesque mountain town of Icy Creek, where he continues to train young smithy's and tree-climbing axemen.
Episode 24
27 mins
Back in 1963, Perth was a city paralysed by fear. For eight months a murderer terrorised Perth, killing at random and indiscriminately. There was no pattern, no motive - victims were young and old, male and female. People stopped going out. Husbands came straight home from work. Children were brought into their parent's bedrooms. Nobody ventured out and everything was locked and barred. To this day the time is recalled with fear and loathing. Eventually, after a long-drawn out surveillance operation, Eric Edgar Cooke was arrested following a tip off from an elderly couple who had found his murder weapon. People were shocked to learn that Cooke was a married man with seven children. But no one was more astounded than his own wife, Sally. She recounts the story of Eric telling her to gather the children in the lounge room, to sleep at night, for their own safety. Cooke was subsequently hanged on 26th October, 1964. In the ensuing years, Tony was forced to deal with stigma and alienation. He remembers vividly the day he he decided to "no longer be a victim," . Tony became dux of his primary school and Captain of Belmont High School. He won numerous academic scholarships and has gone on to become one of the trade union movement's leading figures. Both Tony and his mother, Sally, talk candidly about facing the demons of the past. Sally, a devoted mother, tells about the horror of being trapped in a unhappy marriage and the ten years of hell living with Eric.
Episode 25
28 mins
Hot Gossip: She's been described as the Hedda Hopper of Sydney's social scene. She's flamboyant, colourful and not afraid to put people's noses out of joint. She has a sharp tongue and an even sharper pen. She's had famous spats with James Packer, Sonia McMahon, Leona Edmiston and a host of others. She's Ros Reines, gossip columnist extraordinaire for Sydney's Sunday Telegraph. Simon KentHer competitor from Sydney's Sun-Herald is Simon Kent. Simon is somewhat more restrained than Ros - he tends to get one boot in, not two - but he has also received the odd threat in the course of his reporting. Australian Story accompanies Ros and Simon on a whirlwind tour of Sydney's hot social spots - the Cointreau Ball, the Louis Vuitton bash, Tiffany's 4th of July celebrations, cocktails at the MG Garage. Along the way, we get an intimate look at Sydney's social scene and find out the current 'hot gossip'. PLUS: Green Nomad: Five years ago, John Wilson was a psychiatrist with a busy Sydney practice. Inspired by some of his patients, who had expressesd their concerns about environmental issues, he decided to sell his Woollahra home and take off to the bush. John now lives out of the back of a 4WD and has dedicated himself to a nomadic existence. He admits to a need for solitude after having overdosed on "human vibrations" as a psychiatrist but, he has allowed himself a couple of luxuries to compensate his frugal existence, including a solar powered lap top. For John, Australia is a special place, much of which is largely unexplored. He doesn't regret his decision to give up his practice for one moment, and despite being scorned by some of his colleagues, he is gratified to learn that some of them have followed his lead.
Episode 26
30 mins
At 32 years of age, it could be said that Jacqui Katona is quite young to be leading the fight to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine. Nonetheless, more than 2,000 protesters have come north to join a blockade camp in what many call the biggest environmental battle since the Franklin Dam. However, this time, there is no political will on either side of politics to stop the mine going ahead and as such debate has been somewhat stymied. The road ahead is a tough one and it's a battle that Jacqui and her colleagues may well lose. Jacqui is the Executive Officer of the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Association that represents the Mirrar clan - the traditional owners of parts of Kakadu National Park, whose land includes the lease sites for both the Ranger and Jabiluka uranium mines. But, Jacqui is a recent arrival to Kakadu. She grew up down south - in Cabramurra, Canberra and Hobart. Her mother is Aboriginal, her father, Hungarian. She had a western education and upbringing but felt there was always something missing from her life. When she was 18, she visited her grandmother at Pine Creek NT and was shocked at the appalling conditions she lived in. Jacqui vowed, then and there, to gain skills in her life so she could come back and help her family and people. Yvonne MargarulaSince then, Jacqui has involved herself in Aboriginal politics and issues. Two years ago, she was invited by her relative, Yvonne Margarula, the senior traditional owner of the Mirrar clan to come and help them in their struggle to stop the Jabiluka mine. For Jacqui, the fight to stop the mine has become a journey - a journey back to her own land, a journey into the family she never knew she had, a journey to find herself and where she really belongs. A journey home. PLUS: Northern Exposure: Willis IslandWillis Island is in the Coral Sea and is the meterological bureau's most remote weather station. It provides vital information, particularly during the cyclone season. Australian Story looks at the life of three weather men, who live on this tiny little island for six months at a time.
Episode 27
28 mins
Seven years ago Annabel Walsh received a call from the local police informing her that her husband, John, had been involved in a car accident. She wasn't too worried, aware that he often drove too fast and there was no other vehicle involved. However, Annabel was shocked when she saw the extent of his injuries and she realised that her life would never be the same. John was left with serious brain injuries, able only to squeeze her hand. He will never recover and is permanently hospitalised. Consequently, Annabel decided not to sell the farm as she was being urged to do, but stay there with her three children and attempt to run it herself. She has done this with aplomb - managing not only the property and the children, but finding time for community work as well. Annabel resumed her pilot's licence to make it easier to get around and threw herself into the task of making the land pay. Many of the people she meets thinks she is remarkable for running the property on her own, but she sees it as just getting on with life. PLUS: Chariots of Fire Gavin Sandford-MorganMotoring journalist Peter Wherrett introduces the story of Gavin Sandford-Morgan who has turned a passion for vintage cars into an internationally successful restoration business. It started with death of Gavin's wife when he was 62. Anxious to keep busy he set up a workshop in Adelaide to restore his own cars and those of friends. One thing led to another and now cars are sent to him from all over the world.
Episode 28
28 mins
When Tan Le was just four years old she fled Vietnam in a boat with her mother. They endured a dangerous and terrifying voyage before eventually being accepted into Australia as refugees. They had no money, no possessions and no male breadwinner. But both Tan Le and her mother Mai have achieved personal success. Mai was last year voted mayor of Maribyrnong. Tan is in the last year of a law degree. Both have made outstanding contributions of their local community as volunteer workers. Tan is an enthusiastic AFL supporter and is the Bulldogs No.1 ticket holder. Receiving her Young Australian of the Year Award, Tan paid tribute to the acceptance she and her family had received in Australia. "I accept this award as a young Australian on behalf of all Australians and on behalf of all those who have been welcomed and on behalf of all those who continue to welcome," she said. "We are all Australians. We can all be proud of it and work towards a country that accepts everyone, not for the way they look or because they are wealthy or successful but, because of the person they are. And when we have that as a fundamental benchmark I think Australia can be a much better place." PLUS: Top Brass: One hundred years ago Bill and Charles Downing forged a business that has been passed from father to son, and relies solely on good, old-fashioned values and quality workmanship. Alderice Brassfounders survived the Depression, and two world wars, and recently the company held its Centenary celebrations in Warrnambool, Victoria. The business has occupied the same building since 1920, with virtually no modern equipment and only the occassional lick of paint - even the receptionist has been with Alderice for 52 years. This is a lovely story about an enduring family tradition, defying the forces of economic rationalism.
Episode 29
29 mins
He's been called a national disgrace and a racist. He seems never to be out of the headlines. He's been forced to justify his actions to the Federal Sports Minister. He's had major run ins with some of Australia's best loved sporting heroes. Even the Queen has weighed into some of the arguments Arthur has started. But, whatever else they say about him, Arthur Tunstall reckons no one could ever deny his passion and commitment to Australian sport over the last half century. As Arthur was preparing to pack his bags for the Commonwealth Games, Australian Story obtained a series of candid interviews with Arthur himself, family, friends and sporting associates. For the first time we hear the full story behind such infamous incidents as the Cathy Freeman flag saga; the "embarrassing" disabled athlete comment and the rows over Arthur's "racist" jokes. But even as filming concluded, Arthur was making front page headlines yet again with an unrepentant speech to the Australian Olympic Writers and Photographers Association in Sydney during which he reeled off a series of jokes about Jews and Aborigines. He also broke down, choked with emotion, as he paid tribute to his wife and the traumas she has had to endure because of his outspokeness.
Episode 30
28 mins
If it were not for Stuart Littlemore, it's unlikely anyone outside of the Illawarra region would ever have heard of Peter Cullen. But Littlemore's merciless lampooning of "The Merc" turned the paper into a byword for the excesses and frailties of tabloid journalism. It was a notoriety Cullen came to enjoy in a masochistic kind of way. He says he and Littlemore even exchanged Christmas cards. But now, after thirty years in the job, Peter Cullen is retiring and handing over to a handpicked protege. Australian Story joined him for his last fortnight at the helm of "The Merc" and quite a fortnight it turned out to be as Cullen tackled what he describes as the biggest story in the paper's history - the Wollongong floods. As the story unfolds, we also discover that there's rather more to Cullen and "The Merc" than you'd ever guess from "Media Watch". Cullen cares deeply for his local community to whom his love of football and horse racing is well known. But he's also passionate about poetry and opera. In the post Littlemore era, the newspaper has even earned recognition for its work in uncovering the activities of alleged paedophiles including former mayor Frank Arkell who was murdered in his bed in July. It emerges that Cullen paid a high personal price for the campaign, not least in facing accusations of betrayal from his own church.
Episode 31
28 mins
Episode 32
31 mins
Michael Willesee dominated Australian current affairs television for nearly three decades. For a long time everything he touched, inside and outside the media industry, turned to gold, seemingly without much effort on his part. In the late eighties, after a couple of highly publicised controversies, he walked away from his on camera life and pursued a number of outside business interests including a thoroughbred horse stud. The son of a Whitlam Government Cabinet Minister, Sen. Don Willesee, young Michael says he fell into journalism by accident. Now in his late fifties, twice divorced, father of five and grandfather of one, Michael Willesee seems to be engaged on his own search for meaning. He is increasingly committed to making documentaries about subjects he considers important.
Episode 33
28 mins
John Fitzgerald is a 35-year-old business tycoon with all the trappings of great wealth. He owns and runs a polo team. He lives in a Gold Coast mansion and throws glamorous parties. He's a self-made man and he enjoys his material success. But, John Fitzgerald is a man with a past. His experiences as a fatherless boy who felt abandoned have propelled him in unusual directions in the last few years. He is the sole benefactor and creator of a registered charity called the Toogoolawa Foundation which aims to assist and rehabilitate street kids . Not only does he fund it, he actively participates in workshops and other activities and tries to imbue the kids with some of his own survival strategies and philosophies. His partners in this endeavour are eminent psychologist Dr Ron Farmer and his wife, Swanti. Swanti and Ron FarmerThe Toogoolawa approach is unconventional and mixes Eastern mysticism and spirituality with a dose of old fashioned, right-wing values. Many of Fitzgerald's business associates are unaware of his philanthropic activities which seem to stem from some tough experiences as a youngster - losing his father when he was only eight and being sent off to boarding school where he witnessed systematic abuse of other children. Ron Farmer says: "What struck us about him was that he was a man who knew how to make money but he also had this sense of responsibility to the community. And in fact he didn't regard this skill of making money as his own, he said it's been given to him." Fitzgerald tells Australian Story that his goal now is to set up other Toogoolawa Foundations in other states and persuade other members of the business community to invest in helping kids.
Episode 34
29 mins
Ruth Ostrow has made a sometimes notorious name for herself as a "sexpert". Earlier this year Communications Minister Richard Alston accused her of creating Sodom and Gomorrah on the airwaves. But while Ruth publicly advocates full-on hedonism, her own private life, as she admits, is a lot less smooth than she would like. In Australian Story we encounter her private world; her mother and her sisters, who are still coming to terms with the former finance journalist's penchant for sharing her intimate secrets with the world. And her ex-stockbroker husband Morris who she met in most unlikely circumstances. He used to read her popular relationship columns in The Australian newspaper and started writing fan letters. "I thought the guy was nuts," she said. But she was eventually intrigued enough to meet him - and he turned out to be anything but the man of her dreams. "The daggiest, daggiest guy I had ever met". Nevertheless they married and have a young daughter. Ruth admits that where sex is concerned, it really is possible to have too much of a good thing. "You can overdose on sex the way that you overdose on chocolate." Now she's wondering what to do next.
Episode 35
29 mins
In 1945, a young soldier serving in Papua New Guinea in the dying days of World War Two received an urgent summons from his commanding officer. The young soldier was Hunter Landale, scion of an immensely wealthy squatter family based in Deniliquin in the New South Wales Riverina. The news from the C.O. was bad. The family property was on the verge of ruin, with the banks moving into sell and the family fortune all but gone. Severe drought and the activities of Hunter's playboy dad, with his extravagant lifestyle of partying, gambling and polo playing, had brought the fine old property to its knees. Hunter Landale, who had been somewhat estranged from his father, took on the task of saving "Mundiwa" and turning around the fortunes of the family. He has succeeded beyond anybody's wildest dreams, becoming a pioneer and advocate for irrigation and diversity on the land. What was formerly a pastoral property has now become a showcase for rice production - attracting hundreds of Japanese visitors every year. As this remarkable saga unfolds into the present day, what emerges is not just the story of one family, but a microcosm of farming history in south-east Australia. It is a fascinating evocation of a vanished past in which colonial Australians lived like British lords with scarcely any concession to the realities of the landscape into which they had transplanted themselves. But, as Hunter prepares to hand over to his own son, "adapt or perish" has become the new ethos.
Episode 36
28 mins
In Perth in 1963, notorious killer, Eric Edgar Cooke is about to go to the gallows after a series of gruesome killings which have held the city in a vice of terror for many months. With only minutes left to live before he faces the noose, he apparently has something weighing heavily on his mind. He reiterates a confession he's made before, insisting that he was responsible for yet another murder. The additional victim claimed by Cooke is 17-year-old Rosemary Anderson who died from her injuries after being deliberately hit by a car. But someone has already been tried, convicted and imprisoned for killing Rosemary - her boyfriend, John Button, himself only 19 years old. Thirty-five years later a highly regarded Perth journalist, Estelle Blackburn meets John Button's brother at a dance. That chance encounter sets Estelle off on a long and exhaustive process of investigation that will turn her own life upside down. It's the story of one woman's relentless determination to expose and prove a miscarriage of justice. But it is also the story of a shocking legacy of grief that has endured in several families as a consequence of the terrible events of the summer of 1963. Also interviewed for the story is former High Court Judge, Sir Ronald Wilson who, as Chief Crown Prosecutor, conducted the case against John Button. He has become reacquainted with John Button and tells Australian Story that if there is new evidence he would support a review of the case. If the verdict is proven unsafe, he also believes John Button should be pardoned.
Episode 37
28 mins
Episode 38
28 mins
Former Triple-J shock jock Helen Razer recently hit the headlines in the worst way - persistent harassment by a stalker. Helen speaks for the first time talks openly about her harrowing experience. What happens when a strong, confident person is confronted with events out of her control? For Helen the stalking experience has been so devastating it has destroyed her career as a live broadcaster. On a personal front, friendships have dissolved, as some people found it difficult to understand and cope with her resultant depression and illness. In an attempt to reinvent herself, the blonde grunge girl is gone, replaced by a glamorous redhead looking to the future.