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37 Episodes 2003 - 2003
Episode 1
30 mins
Kerry Armstrong has led a life like one of the roles she's played - a roller coaster ride of triumph and tragedy. The success of her recent roles as Heather Jelly in the ABC series Sea Change, and as the wife in the acclaimed Australian feature film Lantana are in sharp contrast to the sackings, the lack of work and a reputation for being "difficult". Her personal life has also been traumatic. A single mother with three children, she lost the love of her life to cancer and then had her uninsured house burnt down. Kerry started her career while still at school as a TV weathergirl in Melbourne and became well known on the soap Prisoner before ending up in New York. Then just as her career in America was set to take off she called off her engagement to Hollywood star Tim Robbins and returned to Australia. Despite her sometimes eccentric and lightweight image Kerry Armstrong is a serious actor a person described as being part of the small percentage of actors who are "cursed" because they are born to act. Introduced from Los Angeles by Lantana co star Anthony La Paglia.
Episode 2
30 mins
On the night the Australian cricket team is scheduled to play its controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe, Australian Story focuses on a new twist in the Zimbabwe situation. "A Farm Somewhere" is the heart-warming story of the Australian bush welcome extended to two families - one black, one white - fleeing the troubles in Zimbabwe. Andrew Van Veen owned a tobacco farm in north-eastern Zimbabwe until it was taken over by black war veterans late last year. He's now living in the tiny Victorian town of Berriwillock, having been sponsored into Australia by a local farmer who wants to utilise his skills. Members of the Berriwillock community banded together to set up a house, food and furniture for the Van Veen family, who arrived in Australia with virtually nothing. Dumisani Mhlanga left Zimbabwe after the farm that employed him was also occupied by war veterans. He's now working on a stone fruit orchard near Swan Hill, after obtaining sponsorship to Australia on the grounds of his special skills in horticulture.
Episode 3
28 mins
In a two part series on March 3 and 10, Australian Story goes inside a sometimes controversial dynasty. Doug Moran escaped a life of grinding poverty in the back blocks of Emmaville in rural New South Wales to build up a private nursing home business now conservatively valued at more than 300 million dollars. The Morans are one of Australia's richest families. But their success in business - and their philanthropic work - haven't always been matched by family harmony. Two years ago Doug and Greta Moran found themselves at the centre of a bitter and public legal battle over the suicide of their third son, Brendan. Since ending the case with a confidential out of court settlement, the Morans have always declined to discuss family matters. Over the next two weeks, they break that silence ...
Episode 4
29 mins
Tonight's episode concludes the story, started last week, of one of Australia's wealthiest families, the Morans. Last week's episode showed how Doug and Greta Moran overcame early adversity to build up a health care empire conservatively estimated to be worth at least 300 million dollars. The Morans have been generous with their philanthropic good works. But within the family circle, tensions over money have brought grief and conflict - culminating in the suicide of the Morans's son Brendan which was followed by a highly publicised court case in which his widow sought compensation from the family. At the time, it must have seemed things could not get worse. But tonight's episode concentrates on the events of more recent months which have seen further acrimonious splits ...
Episode 5
33 mins
"A Policeman's Lot" tells the remarkable story of former NSW Police Commissioner Tony Lauer and his family. Now 65 and 67 respectively, Lauer and his wife Joy have taken on the responsibility of raising a new family of three young children. They are the children of the Lauers' adopted daughter, Tanya, surrendered by her because of her ongoing heroin addiction problems. As Australian Story reveals, Tanya's problems first surfaced a decade ago when her father had not long taken over as Police Commissioner. It was an especially turbulent time for the force with ongoing controversy over corruption issues, as well as allegations of racism and bungling of investigations. Joy Lauer describes her mounting concern as she observed the effects of the negative press coverage on Tanya. She watched as her daughter's behaviour became more bizarre - all the time struggling to keep her suspicions from her husband because of his position and the pressures she felt he was already under. Ultimately, she says, "I did the dreadful thing of searching her room. That was when I found the methadone bottles and I confronted her." It was then she rang her husband and told him "Tony just get yourself home. It's an emergency." In 1995, weary from work and family pressures, Tony Lauer took the decision to step down as Commissioner and retire from the job he loved. But the Lauer's retirement plans were soon upended when Tanya relapsed into addiction. With Zac (five), Alex (twelve) and baby Isabel (18 months) facing foster care without family intervention, the Lauers applied to the courts for legal custody of their grandchildren ...
Episode 6
30 mins
"Marriage Matters" tells the remarkable story of a lawyer pursuing the case of a lifetime - with much more than usual at stake. Rachael Wallbank found herself at the forefront of international law reform when she fought a case for a young Sydney couple, "Kevin" and "Jennifer" (they can't be identified because of court restrictions). What made the lawsuit unusual is that "Kevin" was a man of transsexual origin. He started life as a girl but underwent "gender reassignment" surgery later in life. Rachael argued the couple had the right to be legally married. In October 2001, the Family Court of Australia agreed, delivering a landmark judgement against the Federal Attorney General and in favour of "Kevin" and "Jennifer". The judgement was affirmed again last month when the Full Court of the Family Court dismissed the Commonwealth's appeal. What many observers would not have appreciated was the deep personal significance of the win for Rachael Wallbank herself - because Rachael was once Richard, successful Sydney lawyer, loving husband and father. "Marriage Matters" tells the story of Rachel, her court battle, and the sometimes difficult path to acceptance she's shared with the children she fathered as a man.
Episode 7
32 mins
"Double Bind" tells the story of a notorious murder case, unresolved after 30 years, and now back in the headlines because of moves for the law itself to be changed. At issue is the 800 year old principle of double jeopardy which prevents a person being tried twice for the same crime, even if there is new evidence. It's arisen because of the case of Deidre Kennedy, a baby girl found strangled on the roof of a public toilet block in Queensland exactly thirty years ago. One man, Raymond John Carroll, was convicted of the murder twenty years ago but subsequently cleared on appeal. Thirteen years later, after the emergence of new evidence, Carroll was tried again - for allegedly committing perjury at his original murder trial. A jury convicted him but he was again acquitted on appeal - this time on the basis of "double jeopardy". Deidre's mother, Faye, who has never recovered from her daughter's death, has had the ordeal of sitting through both trials, witnessing the guilty verdicts and then seeing both verdicts subsequently overturned on appeal. But her tribulations don't end there. In a final twist, Carroll, who still lives in the area is accused of taunting Faye by regularly turning up at the supermarket where she works. She describes it as "one of the hardest things I have to contend with". "Double Bind" tells the story through the eyes of those most closely involved including the original trial judge, police, forensic experts and the Kennedy family. It examines the issue of double jeopardy and the arguments for and against significant reform. The case for a change in the law is being led by NSW Premier Bob Carr. Also interviewed is a significant new entrant to the saga - barrister Tim Carmody, funded by a sympathetic newspaper, who may hold the key to a final resolution ...
Episode 8
28 mins
27 year old Gayle Shann was working with her husband putting in fence posts on their property "Cantaur Park" when her glove became entangled in a drilling machine inflicting shocking injuries and nearly ripping her apart. It would take half an hour for the nearest neighbour to arrive and a further two hours for the flying doctor to get there. Luckily for Gayle that neighbour was a former nurse - but she was shocked by the extent of the injuries. Gayle's right arm and shoulder and had been ripped from her body, the left arm paralysed, her face slashed and a leg fractured. It's left Gayle physically dependent on her 24 year old husband for almost every need - from putting on her make-up to being fed meals - a bitter blow for a young woman who excelled at physical tasks and was a top competitive horse rider (camp drafting). The couple's predicament has galvanised the local community. They've raised about $200,000 - nearly three times their original target - to help with medical and rehabilitation costs. Australian Story details the drama of the combined rescue effort which saved Gayle's life - and relates the love story which is making it possible for her to cope with her injuries and stay on the land.
Episode 9
30 mins
In the Tasmanian Midlands four sisters, aged from 41 to 54, have pooled their resources to buy back the beloved family farm where they grew up. They're the Harvey "girls" and, after many years, they're back on "Fonthill", a 6000 acre sheep property containing historic buildings dating back as far as the convict era. Fonthill was originally sold out of the Harvey family after a messy and protracted court case. Now they're back Di, Susan, Rose, Patsy and their partners plan not just to work the property but recover the peace of mind that they say has eluded all of them ever since they left .
Episode 10
28 mins
Episode 11
31 mins
Sydney brain surgeon Dr Charlie Teo has been described as celebrated, controversial and charismatic. He's loved by his patients but other doctors are often reluctant to even talk about him. Filming started in March with the launch of Dr Teo's "Cure for Life Foundation," a fundraising gala dinner featuring the Governor of NSW and a host of celebrity performers including INXS. Yet the crowd of several hundred guests included only three of Dr Teo's fellow neuro-surgeons. "The medical establishment has an unwritten code of silence," says general surgeon Dr Stanley Chen, who has known Charlie Teo since they both went to boarding school at Scots College. "You don't appear to be any sort of high flyer or to stand out from the crowd".. But Dr Teo has an unusually close relationship with his patients. Many have become personal friends, something which also raises eyebrows among fellow doctors. His unconventional approach even extends to singing along to 'ABBA' music during operations. In the program, Charlie Teo is typically frank about his critics and his own faults. "I have a terrible ability to rub people up the wrong way," he says. "It's a failure of mine that I freely admit is a flaw in my personality." He is known for his aggressive attitude to removing brain tumours, and says he will not be changing his practices. But his wife thinks this should be his last TV appearance...
Episode 12
31 mins
As a brand new year started on January 2, 1999 Victoria Friend's life took a tragic turn and would never be the same again. The nation learned of her tale as her heart-breaking story made headlines for weeks. For more than 40 hours she waited in dense Australian bush severely burned with horrific injuries for rescuers to save her and her fiancé Geoff Henderson. Their small single-engine light plane had crashed in bad weather, 15 minutes before their destination in Merriwa, NSW... They were on their way from Walgett to visit his two young daughters - from his first marriage. That day his daughters lost a father and Victoria lost the love of her life. Geoff died shortly before rescuers reached the injured couple. More than 30 rescue planes were involved in the search. For the past four years Victoria has undergone 18 operations for her burns and injuries, however she remains both physically and emotionally scarred. She has found it almost impossible to deal with the aftermath of both the crash and losing the one man she truly loved. But hope could be on the horizon.... Victoria has never spoken publicly - until now. For the first time she tells her story exclusively to Australian Story as do the men whose lives she's touched and changed along the way - rescuer Stephen Gray, surgeon Peter Haertsch and psychiatrist Dr Robert Hampshire.
Episode 13
28 mins
Never before has an Australian run 100 metres in under ten seconds... at least not until just two weeks ago when it was done in a most spectacular fashion. When we first brought you Patrick Johnson's story he was a rising sprint star aiming for the Sydney Olympics. His journey since then has not been easy and is all the more remarkable when you discover how he started.
Episode 14
29 mins
"About a Boy" is the "Seven Up" style story of fifteen year old Dan Halloran. Dan's life was first documented by television cameras when he was a nine year old growing up in a household dominated by his mother's schizophrenia Now, on the verge of adulthood, Dan has helped write a book - to try to assist other families going through some of the same experiences. In doing so he has kept a promise and fulfilled his mother's last wish. Virginia Halloran wanted to be a good mother but her behaviour sometimes terrified her son. There were suicide attempts and real fears that she might hurt Dan. Virginia had to be separated from Dan. But when Virginia became ill with cancer, the family took her back in and before she died a year ago, a quite remarkable and moving reconciliation took place - much of it recorded on home video. Also featured in the story is cricketer Michael Bevan who has kept in touch with Dan since the cricket mad youngster first wrote to him seven years ago...
Episode 15
30 mins
Jacki Weaver is one of Australia's best loved, most enduring and most successful actors - in film, TV and on the stage. She has been a major figure in the Australian arts community for more than forty years. But the passions and tragedies on stage have sometimes been eclipsed by dramas in her own life - in particular her highly publicised relationships with men - from legendary theatrical director Richard Wherrett to controversial television and radio presenter Derryn Hinch. In 'Secret Life of Jacki' she talks candidly about the struggle to get over a devastating recent period in her life when grief and depression drove her into difficulties she believes she has now overcome... difficulties discussed in detail in the program. In a moving episode, Jacki Weaver, now 56, also reveals details of her long relationship with Richard Wherrett, who died of liver failure in December 2001 after a long struggle with HIV. Wherrett was openly gay but during his lifetime he acknowledged Jacki as the most important relationship of his life. The passionate personal and professional relationship between these two icons of the arts world has been the subject of a great deal of speculation over the years. Jacki Weaver now reveals the truth about that remarkable relationship...
Episode 16
30 mins
Golfer Jack Newton introduces the story of twenty year old Tom Nash, who has survived a catastrophic case of a feared illness against seemingly overwhelming odds. Tom, a talented musician, was a happy healthy nineteen year old uni student in 2001 when he started to feel unwell with classic symptoms of a cold. He went to bed to shake it off but when he woke up in the morning he could scarcely move and had to crawl to the door to let his sister in. He was immediately admitted to hospital and diagnosed with meningococcal disease. He went into a coma, had two heart attacks, kidney failure and then gangrene in all four limbs. Doctors did not expect him to live. Tom pulled through - one of the most severe cases ever to survive - but both his arms and legs had to be amputated. Over twelve months, he endured skin grafting for 80% of his body, and a long and painful rehabilitation, to finally walk again. Now he is helping with an awareness campaign to warn other young people about meningococcal.
Episode 17
28 mins
Australian Story filmed with Simon Crean, his confidantes and his family as the crisis over the leadership of the ALP built. The struggle was both brutal and personal, featuring, as it has, two men who've been friends since childhood. The fall out has been felt as all levels - professional and personal. Our story presents a different perspective of the unfolding drama - from inside Simon Crean's stronghold.
Episode 18
28 mins
If there's one Australian bird that we've all watched with awe it's the pelican. But as we've admired this bird we are mostly oblivious to the tragedy that the nation's most popular hobby, fishing, is visiting upon our feathered friends. Accidental hooking by recreational fishing, discarded hooks and fishing line have become the birds' most lethal enemy. Bills, legs and wings are being hooked or entangled. The result, all too often, is a painful death. Tonight's Australian Story is about one man, a Ballina based former police officer called Lance Ferris, who's dedicated his life to fixing the plight of the pelicans. With spectacular physical agility, he "bribes" the pelicans with fish and then dives to catch injured animals so they can be treated and saved. Over the past 12 years, often living well below the poverty line, he has rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of birds and conducted educational workshops in schools and fishing clubs up and down Australia's east coast. Featuring stunning wildlife images, Australian Story retraces the rough, tough and exciting life of Lance Ferris. We see first hand his unconventional but effective pelican catching methods and the extent of this problem along with the solutions he has employed.
Episode 19
28 mins
Two years ago a child abuse case in Queensland captured attention around the country. A young mother and her defacto were jailed for killing eighteen months old Beanca Newman. Beanca suffocated after her mother left her tied and bound "like a pig" in her bed. The court heard it was an act of "unimaginable cruelty" - the culmination of months of neglect and ill treatment of both Beanca and her older brother, Chris, then two and a half. Australian Story goes behind the distressing headlines and reveals an unexpected sequel, still unfolding in Melbourne. In the aftermath of Beanca's death Chris faced a bleak future. On top of the trauma of his early life, the little boy has been diagnosed as autistic. But his paternal grandmother, Jenny Newman, jumped on a plane from her home in Melbourne and flew to the rescue. Despite daunting difficulties, she is now raising him. Jenny is a single mum in full time work with four other children of her own, including Chris's father, still dependent upon her to varying degrees. But she didn't hesitate to seek legal custody of Chris whose only other option would have been institutional or foster care. As a traumatised and autistic child, Chris has special needs which are very expensive. But in an especially unkind twist, the little boy is ineligible for victims of crime compensation - because of anomalies in the different state laws. It has been left to friends and sympathisers to come to the rescue with volunteer fund raising.
Episode 20
29 mins
Australians have a big appetite for armchair travel. We love to read about other people running off to Europe, renovating crumbling cottages and eating fabulous food. Mary Moody is a grandmother and Gardening Australia veteran who achieved success with a book she wrote about an extended holiday in France. But the sequel which she is now preparing has unleashed unexpected and devastating consequences, long before hitting the bookshops. At issue for Mary, her husband and her children - the truth - and how much should be revealed and how much held back
Episode 21
28 mins
Australian Story takes a look at the surprising emergence of former Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell as an activist on behalf of asylum-seekers. To the amazement of some of his old cricketing mates, Chappell is now patron of an organisation called 'A Just Australia' which seeks better treatment of those seeking asylum in Australia or being held in detention centres. Wanting to do more than just add his signature to a letter to the government, Chappell has been lobbying political leaders in Canberra, visiting the Baxter Detention Centre and meeting refugee groups. Some say that Chappell - often described as the 'hard man' of cricket - must have experienced some sort of political awakening. Others say his new-found activism is consistent with his earlier battles against the cricket establishment over players rights. Chappell's brother Greg, who succeeded him as Australian captain, reveals that Ian was also unafraid to take on Kerry packer in the days of World Series Cricket. "I don't think Kerry had too many people speak to him like Ian spoke to him on a couple of occasions," Greg told Australian Story. "And Kerry was just left standing there - the look on his face was quite amazing."
Episode 22
30 mins
Bruce Kiehne has gone from being a $400-a-week boilermaker to the head of a multi-million dollar public company, all because of a needle stick accident to a family member. The accident changed Kiehne's life as he devoted himself to inventing a new safety syringe. He gave up everything and worked night and day, determined to succeed where many others had failed. In tonight's Australian Story Kiehne tells of his deep religious faith following a mysterious 'revelation' several years ago. Not everyone is convinced by Bruce Kiehne's faith but they admit that some remarkable events have happened on the journey to bring the safety syringe to the world market. Along the way Bruce and his team scored a victory in this year's Australian Design Awards with another invention of a safety device. The program "Eye of a Needle" also shows the other side of Bruce. He is a keen race car driver and uses the race team he helped establish to encourage youngsters to make something of their lives.
Episode 23
30 mins
Layne Beachley is the most successful Australian surfer ever - female or male - after securing her fifth world title last year. On this week's Australian Story she talks candidly about battling depression, chronic fatigue and even suicidal tendencies to achieve her dream. This year she is aiming for world title number six and if she wins will equal the men's record, held by American Kelly Slater - only Layne will win her titles consecutively and Kelly did not. Layne commenced that journey in March on the Gold Coast and will finish with the final event of the tour in Hawaii at the end of the year. She describes herself as "the most competitive human being on the planet" and her early years were a struggle. Born six weeks premature she was then adopted out to a family in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly. Last year she split with long term partner Ken Bradshaw, a legendary big wave rider from Hawaii, but now has a new relationship with INXS band member Kirk Pengilly, who is also in the program.
Episode 24
29 mins
Lyn Dawson was a devoted young mother with a seemingly perfect marriage to a glamorous, high profile football star and two daughters she adored. But twenty years ago, she disappeared without warning and without trace. Over nearly two decades, her family and friends continued to look for her, refusing to believe she would have walked out voluntarily without a word. Chris Dawson, a teacher, always insisted that his wife was in touch and just taking some time out. But he was the only one who ever appeared to receive her phone calls. And within a few days he moved his pupil Joanne Curtis into his home. It emerged he'd been conducting an affair with Joanne all along - even moving her into the marital home with Lyn for a period. He married her two years later. It was only in 1997, when a determined police detective called Damian Loone appeared on the scene, that a serious investigation was finally launched. Piecing together evidence from family, friends, the local community - and from Joanne Curtis, now divorced from Chris Dawson - Loone succeeded in getting the case placed in front of the NSW Coroner. After hearing sensational and at times salacious evidence, the Coroner has twice recommended that murder charges be laid against "a known person". Now the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions must decide whether there is enough evidence to bring a case for murder, even though Lyn Dawson's body has never been found .
Episode 25
28 mins
The Chosen One is a story of love, loss and high adventure in the world of Australia's fast jets. The story centres on a young man, Jeremy McNess who fulfills his boyhood dream of becoming one of the Air Force's elite F-111 pilots. But when Jeremy is killed, along with his navigator, in a night time exercise, his mother Jan sets out on a decade long mission to uncover the truth about the circumstances of the crash. In the process she becomes an unlikely expert on F-111s and air force procedures.
Episode 26
30 mins
Steve Irwin, 'the Crocodile Hunter', introduces this "behind the scenes" look at at a bunch of tough professionals, who fight crime on behalf of voiceless victims of cruelty. Tonight's Australian Story follows RSPCA Inspectors Byron Hall and Robert Lewis on an eye opening variety of raids and investigations, as they gather evidence and attempt to bring perpetrators to justice. Hall and Lewis have similar backgrounds - like many RSPCA inspectors, both have served in the military and the police before finding their way into the confronting and poorly funded world of animal welfare. From a raid on a suspect greyhound training operation, to putting a beached shark out of its misery, to finding a new home for delinquent donkeys, the inspectors face a roller coaster ride every day, confronting the best and worst of human nature along the way. And in the midst of it all, Robert Lewis must confront a human tragedy in his own family - a wrenching life or death crisis.
Episode 27
28 mins
Four months ago Australia saw the world's biggest-ever recall of health products when more than 1600 individual vitamin and mineral products were taken off the shelves around the country. The company at the centre of the storm, contract manufacturer Pan Pharmaceuticals, was the biggest of its kind in Australia and the fourth-largest in the world. As well as the recall of products, the company's licence to manufacture was suspended for six months and it now faces likely liquidation. The flow-on effect has seen hundreds of people lose their jobs and many other companies struggling to survive. The besieged founder and former Chief Executive of Pan, Jim Selim, has refused to talk publicly until tonight's interview on Australian Story.
Episode 28
30 mins
Alan Finch is the son of a coalminer and brought up in the north of England in a man's world. Confused about his own sexuality as a teenager and rejected by his father, Alan eventually started living as a woman, but at the age of 21 made a tragic mistake. What happened next is harrowing but with great courage Alan Finch tells his story. It is a story that brings into question the whole issue of transgender surgery and in particular the psychological screening processes that are carried out beforehand. "If gender reassignment is ever to be done, the degree of assessment should be far more than Alan experienced", Dr. Byron Rigby.
Episode 29
31 mins
Geoff Clark has always been a controversial figure and no more so than now because the suspended ATSIC Chairman is under siege. He is trying to stop two allegations of rape going to court. He's appealing criminal convictions after a pub standoff. He's been suspended from his job as head of Australia's peak indigenous body and is now effectively in political limbo. Geoff Clark is now bunkered down with his family in his Aboriginal community outside Warrnambool and for the first time speaks out to Australian Story. We hear from his three sons and wife Trudy who is standing by her man. But as always with Geoff Clark opinions are polarised and his critics are calling for blood.
Episode 30
30 mins
Colourful, controversial, an embarrassment ... that's how Queensland's Sunshine Coast mayor Alison Grosse has been described over recent months. The Maroochy Shire mayor became the subject of a swag of salacious headlines when she took legal action against a former male colleague, accusing him of stalking her for eight years. During the court case, her alleged stalker made accusations that were reported in every lurid detail. The Mayor was accused of prostituting herself, sharing lovers with her daughter, and even having a husband who was a drug-dealer. Alison Grosse and her supporters tell a very different story- a story of dirty politics, trial by media and a stalker whose strategy was to throw mud at every opportunity. And, ultimately, theirs is the story that the judge believed in a court case that not only vindicated Alison, but changed the law in this country. Australian Story traces Alison Grosse's transformation from a respected businesswoman to a pariah in her own community.
Episode 31
30 mins
From a boyhood spent catching snakes and crocodiles with his father and living in a caravan, Steve Irwin, is now a Hollywood celebrity. More commonly known as the Crocodile Hunter, he is seen by over 200 million people in 230 countries. However in Australia he's not as well known and sometimes not as well loved. Politicians have accused him of taking tourism back to the Stone Age and projecting the wrong image of Australia. Steve was brought to the screen by filmmaker, John Stainton and together with Steve's wife, Terri and daughter, Bindi, they now generate millions through television, movies and merchandising. Steve says all of that money is pumped back into wildlife and conservation projects. In this behind-the-scenes look at the Crocodile Hunter you will meet his family, his friends and see what a highly charged and emotional man Steve Irwin really is.
Episode 32
31 mins
For 20 years Mike Munro has been the face of top rating Nine Network Shows such as A Current Affair and This Is Your Life. From a start on newspapers, graduating to Sixty Minutes, his combative style has made him controversial at times. Last year saw a setback when he was replaced as the presenter of A Current Affair after weeks of public speculation. Mike Munro and other leading industry figures talk candidly, and for the first time, about that traumatic period when, as Munro says: "every man and his dog knew I was being axed but I had to sit there and introduce stories as professionally as I could _ and I hope I did." What is perhaps remarkable is that Mike Munro's professional successes have been achieved despite a quite devastating start in life, growing up in grinding poverty with an alcoholic and violent mother...
Episode 33
30 mins
For more than 30 years Mischelle Edmunds lived her life in silence, struggling as a single mum in a string of menial jobs, powerless to obtain decent employment and living. She'd lost her hearing as a young child due to illness. She learned to lip read and raise two children - who are now 20 and 17. But Mischelle has found that life really does begin at 40. Three years ago everything changed when she underwent successful surgery for a cochlear implant. Today she travels the world as the cochlear "pin up" girl, addressing conferences and wining and dining with the world-leading medicos in the field. In Australia she addresses many groups and conferences, often bringing audiences to tears. Personally, her life will never be the same. And it all started one night she went to her local dance hall and was able to hear music for the first time. It turns out she's found more than a dance partner.....
Episode 34
32 mins
In "First Casualty", the wife, family and friends of ABC cameraman Paul Moran break their silence about sensational allegations which surfaced after his death. Paul Moran, who had just become the father of a baby girl, was killed by a suicide bomb in Northern Iraq in March. He was the first journalist to die in the Iraq war and the first Australian casualty. After his death there were claims in his hometown newspaper, the Adelaide Advertiser, that his earlier work in the region had been part of a propaganda campaign by the American Government and that Paul Moran was a "crusader" working under cover for the CIA. The allegations, subsequently picked up by other media, have infuriated those closest to Moran who strongly dispute them. In "First Casualty" they describe the larger than life character they knew - a man who endeared himself to almost everyone he encountered in a career which took him all around the world. The story has been co produced by ABC foreign correspondent Eric Campbell (with Australian Story's Ben Cheshire and ABC London correspondent Philip Williams) Campbell was with Paul Moran when he died and was also injured. Campbell contributes a harrowing and compelling account of the bombing and the aftermath.
Episode 35
30 mins
Tonight's Australian Story provides new insights into a recent and turbulent chapter in our national history. Earlier this year Governor-General Peter Hollingworth resigned from office after months of pressure, culminating in his public denial that as a young priest, he had raped a Victorian woman. Queensland-based child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston was given the lion's share of the credit - and the blame - for leading the sustained campaign which drove the Governor-General out of Yarralumla. As the program demonstrates, it wasn't the first time that Hetty Johnston had been in the forefront of a successful campaign against powerful public figures. In the mid Nineties she helped unseat a seemingly invincible Wayne Goss, then Queensland Premier. Tonight's program tracks Hetty's controversial trajectory from anonymous working mother to community activist to major player at the centre of national events. And it fully reveals, for the first time, the extent of the excruciating family crisis which set her on her history-making path.
Episode 36
30 mins
"The Usual Suspect" tells the true story of Brenden Abbott, the notorious 40-year-old bank robber, said to have captured the public imagination in the style of a Ned Kelly or Ronnie Biggs. Abbott, who became known as "The Postcard Bandit" is now undergoing what's alleged to be the longest continuous term of solitary confinement endured in an Australian jail. He's serving 23 years for armed hold ups and jail escapes in Qld and he's still wanted for offences in two other states. He is likely to remain in jail until he is an old man. But Abbott and his supporters insist he has never physically hurt anyone. They say his folk hero status has been his undoing. The authorities say he is getting what he deserves. In "The Usual Suspect", Abbott's story is pieced together through contrasting accounts from friends and family - and police, politicians and victims. There are revelations and twists and turns and, at the end, a surprising note of reconciliation and recognition from both Abbott and his victims .
Episode 37
29 mins
As the wife of the Prime Minister in the 1980s, Hazel Hawke blazed a trail by going public with some tough personal issues, which were also community issues and bringing them out in the open. In this episode of Australian Story, Hazel Hawke speaks out about another confronting issue - and looming national crisis - by revealing that she has Alzheimer's disease. In the program, Hazel and her family and her friends describe the effects of the illness on all their lives - and explain the reasons behind the decision to go public. Sue Pieters-Hawke says: "Mum's considered very carefully whether to go public on Alzheimer's. "It's something she's had reservations about. She has mixed feelings. "But in the end I think it's a courageous thing of deciding that maybe it'll be helpful to share something that's a very personal issue but one which she has in common with a lot of other people and that maybe it'll help people with Alzheimer's or their families or their carers. Maybe it'll help raise awareness; maybe it'll help raise money." Hazel and her family and Alzheimer's Australia are announcing a special fund to be called the Hazel Hawke Alzheimer's Research and Care Fund which will raise money for research and to help people living with dementia and their families. Alzheimer's Disease is considered to be one of the biggest medical challenges facing Australians because of the ageing of the baby boomer generation. A report prepared earlier this year by Access Economics claims that the epidemic has already arrived, with 162,000 people with dementia in Australia -- Alzheimer's disease being the most common form. AE says the prevalence of dementia is growing rapidly and forecasts that half a million Australians will have some form of dementia by the year 2040.