Australian Story Season 4 Episodes

Episode 1

Something About Pauline

28 mins

Australian Story attempts to get beyond the hype and the hysteria to answer the question - "just what is it about Pauline?" Australian Story started filming with Pauline Hanson at the end of 1998 after One Nation's disastrous Federal election showing. The program includes emotional, candid and personal material and contains fresh insights from family members and associates who have not previously been interviewed.

Episode 2

Brown Skin Baby

28 mins

In 1970, Bob Randall unveiled the government practice of taking Aboriginal children from their families, to ABC's controversial 'Chequerboard' documentary program. Aged 30 at the time, Randall had also written a song, My Brown Skin Baby They Take Him Away, reflecting his own experience as a child stolen from his natural home in central Australia. The song became an anthem for others like him. Almost 30 years later, Bob Randall had told Australian Story about the long search to find his family - a search which brought happiness, heartbeak, and the interest of a feisty, American "spiritual healer" who fell in love with Randall, his story and made the move to Alice Springs to write about it. "Brown Skin Baby" reveals the next chapter in this intriguing man - and woman's life story; a story that challenges the idealised image of Aboriginal culture beyond your wildest dreamings. Australian Story this week revisits the man whose story launched the issue of the stolen generation of Aboriginal children almost 30 years earlier.

Episode 3

Ben's Gift

30 mins

When 10-year-old Ben Harrison died after an operation that went tragically wrong, his parents made the decision to donate his organs. His kidney went to a man called David Ridoutt. Ben's gift gave new life to David Ridoutt, a talented baritone, who has gone on to sing for the Pope. Organ donation takes place in strict conditions of anonymity but, in their own ways, both David Ridoutt and Ben's parents - Graham and Elaine Harrison - felt a deep seated need to find each other. "Ben's Gift" traces the amazing journey which led to the first face to face meeting between Graham Harrison and David Ridoutt - and the consequences which have since developed .

Episode 4

The Next Big Thing/The Beetle

27 mins

18 year old Alex Hartman is the son of a Sydney obstetrician. Since the age of 14 he has run his own company from his home in Mosman. It all started when he got the idea of designing "the next big thing" a program which would enable people to hook on to the Internet at the click of a button. He sold the program to Telstra for an undisclosed sum and set up as managing director of his own company Amicus Software. His aim now is to turn the company into a $50 million to $100 million enterprise in the next 18 months. Australian Story filmed with Alex as he was making the transition from the classroom to a full time business career, juggling the normal schoolboy pre-occupations with the extraordinary pressures and tensions of his corporate career. PLUS: The Beetle A lot of people reflect back on their first car and think, what a pity I haven't got that car now - and aren't we lucky? Some people have a love for horses, boats, caravans, we're just lucky that we've got the Beetle. Maybe we should have given it a name...it's our love bug! Ivan Hodge BeetleThe Beetle tells the story of Ivan and Beth Hodge who, when newly married in 1960, travelled overland from London to Calcutta in their trusty Volkswagen Beetle. Thirty five years later, the Hodges, by now in their sixties, set out to complete the journey all over again and incredibly in the same car. Although they haven't lost their sense of adventure, they see the world through older eyes, without the arrogance of youth. As they travelled along a similar route, they discovered what had changed and what remained the same, not just in apolitical and social context, but within themselves.

Episode 5

All Souls Day

26 mins

Twenty-five-year-old Mercina Halvagis, due to be married in the new year, was killed in a knife attack in a cemetery as she tended her grandmother's grave. Police have no suspects, no motive, no leads. It is one of the saddest and most puzzling cases they have ever encountered. In the aftermath, the Halvagis family have gone to extraordinary lengths to try to help police solve the mystery and rebuild their own shattered lives.

Episode 6

Driving Dame Elisabeth

31 mins

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who this year celebrated her 90th birthday and she is the subject of a special edition of Australian Story on March 25. In a family often caught up in controversy, Dame Elisabeth is that rarest of individuals - a prominent and well-to-do woman of whom nobody speaks ill. In Victoria, where she still lives, she is universally loved and admired for her tireless philanthropic work. The worst criticism that has ever been levelled at her is the suggestion, in a biography of her son, that she was a somewhat distant mother to Rupert...an accusation she indignantly rebuts in the Australian Story profile. Dame Elisabeth, who still drives her own car, talks about her childhood, her marriage, her family and her ideals - above all a belief in hard work and dutiful service to the community that she learned as a child at the beginning of the century in Edwardian Melbourne. Australian Story was given access to never before publicly released Murdoch family photographs for this special program at home with Dame Elisabeth in Victoria.

Episode 7

A Track Winding Back

28 mins

A story about an enduring love and a poisonous family feud which started with a dramatic kidnapping. But, above all, it is the previously untold story of the community of Jackson's Track - an almost utopian community of white people and Aboriginal people living and working happily together in the timber industry from the 1930's onwards. In time Daryl became the unofficial patriarch and protector of the community. In a scandalous and unpublicised episode in the sixties, Jackson's Track was bulldozed at the instigation of local Christian groups and the people who lived there were forced to disperse. Now only Daryl is left to tell the amazing story of Jackson's Track.

Episode 8

Night Train/No Mean Feat

28 mins

His years of macabre imaginings failed completely to prepare Robert Hood for the horror of his own stepson's violent death in a shocking train accident one year ago. Luke Westbury, only 16 years old, was killed when he rushed across railway tracks during an impromptu end of Year 10 celebration with a group of friends, at a country station. Robert Hood and Luke's mother, the poet Deb Westbury, along with Luke's teenage friends, are still struggling in their different ways to come to terms with what happened that dreadful night.

Episode 9

Climb Every Mountain

30 mins

Amanda, formerly a Brisbane-based teacher, was paralysed in a skiing accident on Aspen seven years ago. She was left a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair. She believed she would never ski again. But now she leads up an organisation called Challenge Aspen, which has won global acclaim for its work enabling people with all sorts of disabilities to experience the exhilaration and liberation of the mountains, through everything from rock climbing, to para-gliding to skiing using specifically modified equipment. Amanda's work has won her support from many prominent people. Jimmy Carter is a friend and supporter as is British actor Michael York. Amazingly her story has never been told in her own country. Climb Every Mountain is a classic tale of triumph over adversity. It is also the story of how a stunning, attractive woman confined to a wheelchair found true love against all her expectations.

Episode 10

The Fishmongers's Son/Our Three Boys

27 mins

Sandy McCutcheon is known as the presenter of 'Australia Talks Back' on ABC Radio National. He is also a novelist. He was adopted into a wealthy New Zealand family at the age of two and he says he grew up without affection and never really knowing what his origins were though family and friends suggested he was from a European refugee camp. Four years ago, Sandy says his mother finally handed over his adoption papers. With this Sandy says he discovered he was far from being a European refugee child, but actually the son of a Christchurch fishmonger - and he had a brother and sister. A book tour of New Zealand flushed out fresh information and unexpected controversy. His real relatives heard him on radio. But so did his adopted McCutcheon relatives. And they tell a very different story to the one Sandy recalls. PLUS: Our Three Boys Looking back now on the daunting task of raising triplets who have lost their sight it seems to me that God picked the right woman for the job. Mike Willesee Mike Willesee introduces the story of the Roles Triplets whose birth 24 years ago made big news in Australia. The boys were all born blind, presenting an extraordinary challenge to their parents Bryan and Pat. When the boys turned eight Willesee made them the subject of a top rating one hour documentary called 'My Three Sons'. Australian Story has revisited the Roles family to see how the boys and their parents are coping with the challenges of adulthood. The results are powerful and heart-warming. All the boys are leading full and physically active lives. Two of them have recently qualified as solicitors. And Bryan and Pat continue to be activists and pioneers in the area of rights for the disabled.

Episode 11

Nothing Like a Dame/The Last Picture Show

27 mins

Dame Rachel Cleland, 93, assisted by her 90-year-old twin sisters, has mobilised some of Perth's leading lights in a fierce campaign to try to stop logging of the old growth forests in the south west of Western Australia. Doctors, fashion designers and sports personalities have all rallied to her cause in recent weeks much to the fury of Western Australia's Liberal Premier Richard Court. It's all made more surprising by the fact that Dame Rachel has impeccable blue ribbon political credentials herself. Her late husband was one of the co-founders, with Menzies, of the Liberal Party. Over a tea party one afternoon, she initiated the move that led to the ousting of Senator Noel Chricton-Browne, the man who once controlled the party machine in W.A. Dame Rachel grew up beside Swan River and as a little girl loved and admired the big trees. "There will be nothing left for posterity, if this logging continues," she says. PLUS: The Last Picture Show The Heddon Greta Drive-In, outside Newcastle, is one of only a handful of such theatres left in the country. When the Seddons went to inspect the Drive-In it was like walking into a time warp. Untouched by vandalism, the chip cups were waiting to be filled, the fryers were ready to be used again and the movie projector was in perfect working order. Slowly over the past couple of years, the Seddons have been bringing the Heddon Greta back to life for a whole new generation of movie goers.

Episode 12

A Man for All Seasons

28 mins

Until now Wayne Bennett has shielded his family and his personal life from public view. Two of his three children are disabled but Wayne is fiercely proud of them all. Bennett is the son of an alcoholic father who deserted the family when Wayne was just nine years old. Despite this Bennett himself grew up with strong nurturing and mentoring skills. Elizabeth and KatherineHe became a "Father of the Year" and is something of a surrogate father to many young footballers who have gone on to become legends in the game. In an exclusive interview with Australian Story Wayne's wife, Trish, and children, Elizabeth and Katherine, face the cameras for the first time to talk about their lives and the difficulties of living in the public eye. "Poker faced", "deep thinking", and "big hearted" are some of the descriptions commonly applied to him. League is a brutal business, but Wayne Bennett is regarded as personifying some of the old fashioned virtues that are supposed to have disappeared from the game.

Episode 13

The Long Day's Task

28 mins

The program looks at the refugee crisis through the eyes of Australian volunteers and records their experiences and their reactions to the unfolding daily dramas. How they cope, how they adapt and how they hang on to their sense of humour and identity in the midst of such extreme and harrowing conditions. Australia has a long and honourable history of volunteering and the program looks at the distinctive approach Australians bring to overseas aid work. Governor General, Sir William Deane, official patron of CARE Australia, has agreed to introduce the report.

Episode 14

She Shall Have Music

28 mins

Jenifer Eddy is the number one managing agent of performing artists in Australia. She looks after soprano legends such as Yvonne Kenny and Suzanne Jonston and she regularly works with major overseas stars such as Bryn Terfel who features in tonight's story. But what's not generally known is that Jenifer was herself on the verge of international greatness as an opera singer when in 1968, a mystery illness effectively silenced her for good. She has never sung again. After a period of despair and depression, she decided that one way or another she would have a musical career and she pioneered what was then the new concept of opera management in Australia. Even then there were problems, her illness left her with severe phobias. She couldn't use lifts and she was afraid to fly. She's had to conquer her fear of air travel but still refuses to use lifts. "She shall Have Music" features backstage action from the recent, highly successful Bryn Terfel and Yvonne Kenny tour of Australia.

Episode 15

The Priest and the Prodigal/Daughter of the State

29 mins

Episode 16

Every Breath You Take

32 mins

It was the day a white flake of pollution fallout caused an acid burn on the head of her baby grand-daughter, that Helen Hamilton knew her community had a health crisis she could not longer ignore. Pollution conditions unheard of anywhere else in Australia, were bringing the people of Port Kembla to their knees. For Helen, it was not so much the obvious damage to houses, cars and her washing that concerned her most, but the hidden long term impact on the health of her family and the people of her community. She soon learned it would take a "good fight" in order to attain the health information and genuine protection she and her community were entitled to; neither the smelter company, the Environment Protection Authority nor the State Government could spare the time or energy. What Helen didn't know was just how dirty a fight this community campaign would become. But it didn't stop her. Last November, Helen Hamilton was nationally recognised for her community achievements, winning the Avon Spirit of Achievement Award. Joan Kirner who presented Helen with the award said, "Helen was holding up a light... standing for democratic rights and responsibilities for all Australians,"

Episode 17

Laying Down the Law

29 mins

Dale McMillan, 39, owns the licence for "Crystal Lodge" and employs thirty women. He says he's gone into it for one reason - money. When he was in the Armed Robbery Squad he got to know a number of very successful property developers who used to fund their more legitimate businesses by operating brothels on the side. Dale's wife Gynette, is ambivalent about his new career but says nothing he does could ever really shock her. His mum only found out about Crystal Lodge a little while ago and says it's certainly not her cup of tea. Colin, an ex-Naval Police Officer, is unhappy about it all because of the possible effects on Dale's four kids. PLUS: A Woman's Face Astrid Sandfort was a beautiful young South Australian woman but, in the prime of her life, she was burned beyond belief in an accident in the Clare Valley in 1988 She and her partner at the time had gone away for a romantic weekend at a country B&B. That evening when Astrid went to the cellar to select a bottle of wine, she couldn't find a light switch, so decided to light a match to guide her. She was instantly engulfed in flames... there had been a gas leak and the entire place exploded. Astrid suffered full thickness burns to 60 percent of her body... her hands, her face and her upper body were literally a mess of melted flesh. Eleven years on Astrid has rebuilt her life but to to get there she's undergone seven years of constant reconstructive surgery. Ironically the medical profession considered it to be cosmetic. "I might look different, I still sound the same but what I've learnt from all of this is that I've just got so much power inside and I never knew I had it," she said. The accident robbed Astrid of her youthful beauty, but she refused to let it take away her life. She's now spreading her message to others, that if you have the desire you can do whatever you want in life and that beauty is more than skin deep.

Episode 18

A Child Is Born/The Scottish Doctor

28 mins

In her late thirties Susanna Lobez realised that all her many achievements in her professional life were not enough. She decided she wanted a baby. For two years she and barrister husband Danny, lived through the ups and downs of IVF - a monthly cycle of hope and disappointment. In desperation she also consulted a Chinese herbal gynaecologist and brewed noxious smelling potions. On holiday in Japan she dragged Danny to Shinto shrines in the belief that one of them was consecrated to a fertility god. All to no avail. "I felt like I was doing a deal with the Almighty, saying I will put up with all of this, I will even cope with miscarriages as long as I get a baby in the end. It was grim determination. Danny would probably say, probably a bit of an obsession, but I wasn't going to give up," Everything changed for Susanna on a trip to the Kimberley. Still using the hormones for IVF, Susanna was visiting a remote Aboriginal community for the "Law Report" when a local Ngyaranyan woman offered to help her conceive. A fertility ceremony was conducted at a special billabong. Susanna says she enjoyed the sense of sisterhood, but thought little more of it. Two years of IVF had until then produced nothing, but upon her return from the Kimberley a successful pregnancy finally developed, and Baby Alec was born. The Ngyaranyan were thrilled. They feel a strong "spirit connection" to Alec. Susanna recently returned to the Kimberley, with Alec and Danny, to meet the people she believes assisted her son's conception, and to have Alec take part in an initiation ceremony. Susanna is a convert, Danny remains wholly unconvinced. He thinks that Susanna is indulging a quaint fairy tale. "I don't think that Alec was conceived because of spirits that lurk in the lagoon. There are times when I wonder whether I have a say in things. Australian Story follows Susanna as, filled with curiosity and with sceptical husband in tow, she goes on a journey of discovery. PLUS: The Scottish Doctor The second story is introduced by Federal Minister John Anderson and reflects the critical shortage of doctors in the Outback. It is the story of Dr Heather Dalgety, originally from Scotland who has become the local GP for the town of Bourke in Outback New South Wales. She loves her "country practice" and declares that it is only in the bush that doctors are able to perform their traditional role.

Episode 19

The Foundling/Life's a Drag

28 mins

Now an 80-year-old woman, Dorothy Bedson has only just discovered her true family through a combination of extraordinary coincidence and the wonders of DNA testing. Dorothy relates how she was found wrapped in a shawl and a grey coat on the corner of Queen and Nelson Streets in Woollahra. She was initially named Queenie Nelson after the crossroads where she was discovered. Subsequently adopted by a policeman's family, Dorothy was always tormented by the mystery surrounding her past. Two years ago she appeared in an article about foundlings in a woman's magazine. Nothing happened for many months until across the continent, in Adelaide, two copies of the same old edition of the magazine turned up in the same household around the same time. The family thought they noticed a family resemblence in Dorothy's photograph and got in touch with the Post Adoption Resource Centre. The chances of the two families being related were put at a million to one but the hunch was confirmed when DNA scrappings from Dorothy were matched to those of the Adelaide family. PLUS: Life's a Drag Victor is a man of many talents - a farmer by occupation, a car collector by inclination, and an ambitious and successful drag racer. He is currently Australia's fastest man over the quarter mile and is second fastest in the world. However he is not a man to be satisfied with being runner up and attempted to regain his World Championship status at Willowbank earlier this month. Victor still has every car he ever owned. They decorate his farm, signposting his journey through life. He bought his first car from the proceeds of a pumpkin patch. He put his pedal to the metal in a paddock and soon paddock thrashing became street racing and eventually drag racing. The entire operation is a family affair with wife and daughters helping to sell merchandise from the Victor Bray stand on race day. Victor's 15 year old son, Ben, is following his father's footsteps and is Australia's number one mini-drag racer. Victor has his own web site and a dedicated following of fans. He writes for a variety of magazines including "Street Machine". Victor gets passionate about tomatoes and drag racing. He is a warm-hearted, larger than life character with a driving passion that should translate into six minutes of home-grown, piston-pumping, family -loving celebrity. We look under the bonnet to discover what makes Victor tick.

Episode 20

In Search of Kings/Going the Distance

30 mins

What started as an oral history session with Tony de Bolfo's 88 year-old uncle three years ago has turned into a massive search for missing links in the stories of Italian families from opposite ends of the world. Tony's grandfather and two uncles arrived in Melbourne aboard the ship Re d'Italia (The King of Italy) in 1927. Of the 600 who made the trip from Italy to Australia, 110 disembarked in Melbourne and it is their subsequent journeys that have become Tony's obsession. So far, Tony has managed to track down the stories of 95 of the 110 Italian passengers. He has gone to great lengths to discover the fates of these people, including the tragic tale of a young man called Antonio Gnata.. Of the arrivals, only two are still alive, one of which is his uncle, who lives in Melbourne and another, who is 95, and living in Sydney. The remarkable lengths that Tony has gone to tracking down these very personal histories, including many late night calls to Italy although Tony is unable to speak Italian, has brought great joy to a number of people who had not known what had become of their loved ones.

Episode 21

The Wild One

32 mins

Seldom out of trouble, always in the headlines Julian O'Neill is notorious for loutish off field behaviour, drunken escapades and most recently the trashing of a motel room. Just a few short years ago he was a prodigiously gifted teenage player, pursued by all the big clubs. Now he's on what is probably he last chance with his last club, South Sydney. So what went wrong and who or what, apart from O'Neill himself, should be held accountable? Through a series of candid interviews with family, friends , rugby league figures and Julian himself, Australian Story pieces together the essentially tragic tale of a young man with "an almost obscene amount of talent" that has never reached its potential. O'Neill was the son of a prominent gynaecologist and nursing sister. He lost his mother in a car accident when he was six and his father died of a heart attack a few months later. Young Julian was with him when the fatal attack happened. His uncle was appointed guardian and Julian was sent off to boarding school, something his maternal grandparents were fiercely opposed to. They provided his main emotional support through childhood and are still devoted to him, as he is to them. His outstanding sporting talents emerged in his early teenage years and young Julian soon found himself on an incredible rollercoaster - large sums of money in his pockets, a lot of attention, and bouts of drinking and gambling, egged on by older players who should have known better. The rest is tabloid history. During the period of filming, Julian became a father with the birth of his son Ethan, something he sees as a turning point in his life and further incentive to redeem himself on the field while he still has the time.

Episode 22

Born to Buck/The Lone Star

30 mins

For more that 100 years the Gill family name has been a central part of rough-riding in Australia, from the old tent show days to the modern rodeo circuit. From their base at "The Rock" near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, through rurual Victoria, to outback Queensland, five generations of Gills have kept the show on the road. Their bulls and buckjumpers have made many a cowboy shake in his boots and we meet the legendary "Bambi" who is now retired on the family property, heading up the breeding program of future champion buckers. But it's not just the stock that they breed tough - Jason Gill was a very successful bull rider until a near death experience finished his career as a cowboy Led by John "Happy" Gill and his wife Margaret, herself a very successful buckjump rider until women were banned from the rough riding events in the sixties, Jason and his tow brothers, Jarrod and John Junior, travel thousands of kilometres every year. From the Brisbane "Ekka" Show to the high country foothills of Tumbaruma and the Victorian town of Wangaratta, this story is a ringside ticket to see the thrills and spills of one of Australia's oldest sports. The story is introduced by legendary singer and entertainer "Smokey" Dawson, who used to perform with the travelling Gills Wild West Show, many years ago. PLUS: The Lone Star About 400kms south of Perth, just near Albany, lies the small town of Gnowangerup. With a population of around 2000 people, the town has one local paper - The Gnowangerup Star - which has been run by the same family for nearly 100 years. Run by two brothers, Rod and Bill Walker, the paper still uses the old hot metal presses. Their mother, Margaret, in her early 70's still writes some of the copy and all three hand deliver the paper once a week. Unlike it's bigger metropolitan brothers, the paper has a policy of only reporting good news, after all it would be embarrassing to run something bad about someone you might see the next day in town! On the brink of extinction The Star is a wonderful example of how, the small local papers in rural areas reflect the social fabric of these communities. However, with a distribution of only 800 the paper is facing an uncertain future as the information technology revolution catches up with the Walkers.

Episode 23

The Last Hurrah

29 mins

Australian Story accompanied Mr Fischer, his wife Judy and sons Harrison and Dominic as they travelled to the Northern Territory on the Government jet for a flurry of final engagements, with Mr Fischer filling in for John Howard for the last time. Along the way the program recorded candid interviews not just with the Fischers but also with Tim's sister, Vicki Baudry and his brother Tony Fischer. There are moments of relaxed family life interspersed with the never ending official round. And there are flashes of the famous Fischer "idiosyncrasies" around events such as the auctioning, in Darwin, of one of his famous hats raising an "all time world record price for an Akubra". The story provides fresh insights into the man who has been hailed as one of the few genuinely original characters on the Australian political scene and yet according to Mr Fischer he is walking way, seemingly with no regrets. The story ends at Sydney airport on Sunday night (July 25) when Mr Fischer hands his formal letter of resignation to Prime Minister, John Howard, returning from overseas. Judy Fischer, however, makes it clear she has never really adjusted to aspects of public life. "I'm looking forward to being out of the spotlight so much I can't tell you. I've always found aspects of public life very, very difficult. Tim seems to have been there long enough that he's become immune to a lot of it. But I still find it very, very hard having people pointing at you when you're sitting in a restaurant or people talking about you when you walk past. I find all that sort of thing very difficult so that for me will be one of the greatest bonuses of this decision." Discussing son Harrison's autism, she says: "Tim has been asked what he will say when Harrison grows up and says 'well, did you resign because of me?' And Tim will say to him 'No I got a life back because of you and Dominic.' And I think that is exactly how we see it. Our children are giving us a chance to have a better quality of life. Mrs Fischer also relates another telling anecdote: "There were a number of incidents in the last few months with the children that I know affected Tim very deeply. One time he'd come back from an overseas trip and the children hid behind the chairs. Tim said 'Where are you?', and they said, 'We're scared Daddy, We're scared,'. And he got really hurt but it was perfectly natural with little children. Tim's always larger than life. He comes bounding in and I think he took it in a way they hadn't meant but I knew it affected him."

Episode 24

Mr Burrows Goes to Blackwater/Secrets and Lies

33 mins

Australian Story catches the magic of the great Don Burrows as he visits the youngsters he calls his "musical grandchildren" in the declining mining town of Blackwater in Central Queensland. It's actually a return visit for Don. Last year, he coached the little high school band and they went on to win the State Championships. It's a little known facet of Burrows' glittering career. Over the years he's met and influenced more young band players in more school jazz bands than perhaps any other Australian musician. Some, like James Morrison, have joined Don on the world jazz stage. Others, in small schools, back blocks and mining towns across Australia have been inspired by the man with the big smile and the self effacing style. The trips to the bush give Don Burrows a chance to explore two other passions - photography and aboriginal culture and reconciliation.

Episode 25

A Genius in the Family/The Long Haul

31 mins

Simon Tedeschi played at the Sydney Opera House when he was only nine. His were the hands of the youthful David Helfgott in the movie Shine. Now just turned 18, Simon has played all round the world and won the attention of opera star Luciano Pavarotti.

Episode 26

The Man Who Saw Too Much/Down by the River

29 mins

David Brill's chosen path has led him to many of the world's major upheavals over the past three decades. When the Falklands War broke out David was there. He was filming the night the Berlin Wall fell. Even when Australia won the America's Cup David was there, capturing history. His journey has also taken him to many African countries where he witnessed the unbearable suffering of famine victims. He has worked for most of the big international news services. His images have been seen all around the globe and through his lens he has brought a unique perspective on major world events home to a generation of Australians. He has worked with many of the top names in Australian television, including Ray Martin, Mike Willesee and Jeff McMullen. But it's come at a price. David BrillDavid feels the horror and brutality of the things he has witnessed have left a mark on his soul. He has suffered crippling bouts of depression and alcoholism. But he has continued to work because he believed that his pictures could move people. David believes he has dealt with the ghosts and problems of his past. He says he has overcome his depression and his need for alcohol and can now look back with some clarity on what is, by any measure, a remarkable life.

Episode 27

The Mango Tree

28 mins

The story of Choi Tang, an 18-year-old Cambodian refugee, who, it's claimed, was unfairly singled out to take the blame for a terrible crime. But it is also the story of the victims, the Laxalle family who lost a loved father in a melee that started with the purloining of a few mangoes from a backyard tree. The Laxalles have no sympathy for Choi Tang. But they too believe that justice has been unevenly applied and that three other boys who were at least as guilty are still walking the streets. Choi Lang would almost certainly have been left to languish anonymously in jail were it not for a group of middle-class white Australians who know him well and have taken up his cause. They are pressing for a retrial. It started two years ago when Choi leapt a backyard fence, raided a mango tree and threw the fruit to three waiting friends. David Laxalle, the son of the householder, spotted them and gave chase. There was a melee and David was fatally stabbed. The other three boys pointed the finger at Choi and in return for their evidence, the DPP reduced their murder charges to assault. All three, including one boy with a long list of serious prior convictions, walked away on good behaviour bonds while Choi was jailed for 15 years. The Mango Tree is a powerful and disturbing story of a senseless crime and its shattering and continuing impact on several very different communities.

Episode 28

Raising the Rafters

33 mins

As he is the first to acknowledge, one of Pat Rafter's great weapons is that he has always had the love and support of a large dynamic family behind him. Australia Story goes behind the headlines and takes a deeper look at the unusual family which has produced and sustained a sporting superstar. Raising the Rafters profiles Pat's parent, Jim and Jocelyn and the nine surviving Rafter siblings (a tenth died in infancy). What quickly becomes apparent is that this is a real clan, a tribe, a very close and self sufficient one family community - of the kind that has become a rarity in the western world. Pat's family always had a fierce belief in him - even when no one else did. So much so that when he won his first US Open in 97 there was a sense of depression in the family. They admit to wondering what they would do with their own lives now the supreme goal had been reached. The family friendships are so strong that in their adult years some of the Rafters haven't felt the need to find partners. Their brothers and sisters are their best friends and they want to stay together. Says Maree Rafter: "When I got married it was probably the hardest moment of my life. Not because I wasn't marrying the most wonderful man in the world, because I was, but I found it very difficult to have my own family and to live my own life with someone else."

Episode 29

Home on the Range/You Can't Hurry Love

30 mins

Home on the Range looks at this small agricultural town where there are at least thirty folk who can claim to be part of Roger Woodward's family, and in the last few years the pianist has been rediscovering his roots and his relatives. It all comes to a climax when Roger visits to play for the whole town in a huge celebration - and no effort is spared by the townspeople to ensure a truly memorable evening. A bus has been organised so Roger can take a personal tour of all his second and third cousins on surrounding farms. They've even uncovered an old piano his mother used to play. It hasn't been tuned since 1934 but they're busy dusting off the cobwebs and squashing the mice! It all started a few years ago when local auctioneer David Bearup discovered the connection and contacted Roger. The two men, from two different worlds are now firm friends - David recently visited Roger in London and has stayed with him in his Sydney house. PLUS: You Can't Hurry Love Ayr based mango farmer Henry Petersen reckons he's the loneliest guy in Australia. He says no one in the world has tried harder than him to find a wife. he's been a professional wife hunter for six years gaining national publicity with his Wife Hunt One, followed a few years later by Wife Hunt Two. In that time he's had hundreds of letters and inquiries. Wife Hunt One was successful - he found a girlfriend for 15 months. A close friend of Henry's says they broke up because she made him choose between her and his racehorses. He also wonders whether Henry really wants a wife - or if he just likes the publicity he gets from women's magazines.

Episode 30

The Big Blue

29 mins

Australian Story has joined Hayden Kenny and the rescue team to witness first hand some of the dramatic events, including the rescue of a mother and her young child. That's just part of Hayden's life. He introduced the Malibu surfboard to Queensland, and Prince Charles to the surf, as his 'surf minder' during the 1974 Royal visit. He swims and works out to meet the rigorous requirements of his job, and as younger ironman, son Grant says: "He does a lot more than I do now, it almost seems like I'm getting behind and now would be a bad time for me to race him, because he'd probably come out on top at the moment." But success has come at a price for the Kenny family. For the first time the Kenny's talk about a major upheaval in their lives which ended in their walking away from the lifesaving club, which has been the centre of their lives for so many years. PLUS: The Trouble With George The story of Perth Uniting Church Minister George Davies, who after more than thirty years of working with street kids and trouble youngsters, has lost his job.

Episode 31

A True Calling

30 mins

Millions of television viewers around the world witnessed Dr John Crozier's tears on CNN as he broke down during an interview in the aftermath of the PNG tidal wave disaster. He also served in Rwanda at the height of the civil war there. Now he's on his way to Darwin, ready to move into East Timor to provide urgent medical attention whenever circumstances allow. Back home in Sydney his wife, Britta, and their two daughters, confess to very mixed emotions as yet again they watch him head off into uncertainty and danger amidst an unfolding crisis of distressing proportions.

Episode 32

Mission Impossible

31 mins

The "Rabbitohs" and their supporters believe they have been deliberately and cynically targeted by the NRL, seeking to meet News Limited's post Super League push for a streamlined 14 team rugby league competition by the end of this season. Australian Story goes behind the scenes and follows the desperate manoeuvring as decision day approaches.

Episode 33

Never Say Never/The Fiddler

31 mins

After an accident Janet Stumbo was left with severe brain damage, near blind and with no short term memory. The doctors were unanimous: she would never have a normal life again. But Janet Stumbo refused to accept the doctors' verdict. With an obsessive determination that has amazed everyone and drawing on a diverse range of theories about the brain, she has slowly clawed her way back to normality. Initially unable to remember what she'd read at the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end, she graduated with her MSc with higher marks than she'd received as an undergraduate. But she has had to accept that her supreme goal of returning to her work as a vet will never be possible and now she is pursuing a new career as a published writer and public speaker. PLUS: The Fiddler Chris Duncan is a motor mechanic from Medowie, a laconic Aussie bloke who just happens to be one of the finest Scottish fiddlers in the world. While well known overseas, he's only recently been discovered in Australia. Chris has been playing the fiddle for nearly 30 years. He fell in love with it when his mum sent him to Scottish dancing classes at the age of eleven. Traditionally, people think of the fiddle as an instrument which is dragged out in a pub for people to dance to. But Chris has lifted this music to a form of high art. Amazingly he has attained this world class standard while still working full time as a mechanic and indulging his love for motorbikes.

Episode 34

The Fall of the House of Foster

30 mins

As Peter Foster sits in jail, awaiting almost certain extradition to Britain on minor credit related charges, Australian Story has been charting the amazing rise and fall of the Foster family ... a rollercoaster ride which has seen the family acquire and lose tens of millions of dollars. Selling was in Foster's blood. His doting mother Louise excelled in real estate on the Gold Coast and by the time he was in his teens young Peter was already buying cheap watches in Asia and flogging them to unsuspecting schoolfriends for inflated amounts. From there the scams just got bigger and the baying of the authorities ever louder. But through it all Peter Foster's biggest fan and most ardent supporter was always his mum. She sees her son as a good boy, led astray by early success and the wrong company and she will stop at nothing in her efforts to save her son from incarceration in Britain. Also interviewed are former Qld Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jan Taylor and Foster's former sales manager who blames Louise Foster for what's happened to her son.

Episode 35

The Last of the Steam Demons

34 mins

HMAS Perth is a steam-driven guided missile destroyer that houses around 330 men in an area that is 133 metres long and around the size of a three storey block of flats. When Perth and its sister ships Brisbane and Hobart are decommissioned, within the next 12 months, it will bring to a close an era of steam ships that have been part of the Navy since its foundation in 1911. Australian Story followed Perth through its last month of service on "Operation Proud Journey" as it sailed from Sydney through the southern ocean to enter its namesake city, Perth, for the last time. The story of Perth is told by four different men on the ship: the Captain, the ship's Navigator, a Chief Petty Officer and a junior seaman, for whom ironically this voyage was his first trip to sea. What emerges in this portrait of life at sea is the dedication and devotion many of these men have for a ship that has been deemed too expensive and too old to retain. Chief Hampson: "I've never had a civilian job, so I don't know what the Ford factory's like but I can't envisage factory workers working sixty hours straight at a problem just because somebody asked them to." Yet despite the agreement of almost every man on board that Perth could respond if she were called upon, the ship itself seems, in it's own way to be saying it's time to go. Chief Hampson: "I'm not a suspicious man but you talk to the guys around the ship and they're all saying: 'She's telling us, she's had enough, she's telling us,' That's the way sailors are."

Episode 36

Kimberley's Wedding/My Favourite Haunt

29 mins

Kimberly O'Sullivan tells her story for the first time on Australian Story. It all started when she was working as a researcher for sex columnist Ruth Ostrow. A reader's letter from a "regular Aussie bloke" called Bob caught Kimberly's eye. She ended up meeting him for a coffee and a few weeks later she confessed that she had been dating him. They will marry in December. Some of her lesbian friends are horrified and have shunned her. Her house mate moved out. Kimberly told Ruth: "I am a lesbian in love with a man. I am not straight because I'm attracted to women, not men. My soul mate happens to have a penis, but it is what's in his heart that I'm so in love with." My Favourite Haunt The story of Reg Ryan and his dream to restore an old, ramshackle hillside homestead called Monte Cristo. Today Monte Cristo houses the biggest private collection of antiques in Australia and draws up to 20,000 visitors from around the world. It has also earned a reputation as Australia's Most Haunted House.

Episode 37

Carve Their Names with Pride

28 mins

The North Mackay High School students became fascinated with the history of the first World War through personal contact with local people who had been directly affected. People like 100-year-old Amy Taylor who was just 14 when her beloved brother Herbert went off to war, never to return. Amy still weeps when she recalls the day she was told of his death. But she has never been able to visit her brother's grave in France - she had never even seen a photograph of his last resting place. The Mackay students decided to do something both to remedy that situation - and to educate themselves about the conflict that so scarred people of their own age, nearly a century ago. StudentsThey embarked on a mission called "Lest We Forget" to raise funds to travel to Europe to visit Gallipoli and the war graves of Belgium and France, and to document and photograph particular graves for family members back in Australia. Their mission will culminate in Mackay later this month at a special ceremony when material they have gathered is presented to relatives. Filmed in Queensland and in Europe, "Carve their Names with Pride" is the story of a group of young people encountering the history of their own country in an intensely personal and emotional way.

Episode 39

Weddings Parties Anything

30 mins