Four Corners Season 54, Episode 21: Democracy for Sale

1

This Trucking Life

Long haul truckies say they're being pushed to the brink by big business and government with lethal results.

45 min

2

Stone Cold Justice

Violence is part of life in the Middle East but have children now become a new target for Israeli security forces? A special investigation by journalist John Lyons.

45 min

3

Inside North Korea

Follows the journeys of a small group of North Korean secret film-makers, revealing what life is really like under the new leader Kim Jong Un.

45 min

4

Little Boy Lost

A little boy lost and a family's search for answers; how did the police get the investigation so wrong? Geoff Thompson reports.

45 min

5

Tales from the Organ Trade

Faced with death, would you illegally pay for a heart, lungs or kidney? Thousands do and the international black market is booming.

45 min

6

The Boy with the Henna Tattoo

The inside story of an investigation to rescue an Australian child from an international paedophile ring. Caro Meldrum-Hanna reports.

45 min

7

Drawing the Line

An investigation of the intelligence operation that's caused friction in Australia's relationship with East Timor. Marian Wilkinson reports.

45 min

8

The Dancing Shiva

Quentin McDermott investigates the scandal that's engulfing the National Gallery. Were our finest art experts duped?

45 min

9

How China Fooled the World

An investigation of the Chinese debt binge that's left economists holding their breath. What will be the impact on Australia?

45 min

10

A Lender of Last Resort

How does a mortgage broker, whose work has prompted multiple complaints and is the subject of ongoing police investigation, continue to operate? Linton Besser reports on Australia's shadowy world of unregulated lending.

45 min

11

End of the Road

The car manufacturing industry is on the way out, so what's the real impact? Stephen Long reports.

45 min

12

Day of Days

Four Corners commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

45 min

13

The Manus Solution

Geoff Thompson puts together the most comprehensive account yet of what took place at The Manus Island Regional Processing Centre in February 2014.

45 min

14

Banking Bad

Putting the spotlight on a top bank's financial planners. Was it bad advice or just greed? Adele Ferguson reports.

45 min

15

Streets of Shame

A shocking insight into the sexual exploitation of many thousands of poor and vulnerable children in Pakistan, one of the world's most important Muslim nations.

45 min

16

Lost: MH370

How did Malaysian authorities lose a plane, search in the wrong place and ignore significant evidence for so long? Caro Meldrum-Hanna reports on the Mystery of Flight MH370.

45 min

17

The Walking Wounded

It was a high-tech hip replacement that failed. The company tried to cover it up. Now they're exposed. Quentin McDermott reports.

45 min

18

The Pope's Revolution

Can Pope Francis reform a Church weighed down by scandal and controversy?

45 min

19

Chamber of Horrors

With ample evidence of sex abuse in the military, why don't the top brass deal with the abusers? Michael Brissenden reports.

45 min

20

In the Shadow of the Stadiums

Brazil splurged billions to host the soccer World Cup while many live a life of poverty and crime. What price the "beautiful game?"

45 min

21

Democracy for Sale

Democracy is a powerful concept. But it doesn't come cheap. Reporter Linton Besser delves inside the investigation that blew the lid on corruption within Australia's major political parties.

45 min

22

Rupert, Rebekah and Andy

She was the queen of the British tabloids, a faithful and trusted servant of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He was the top aide to the British Prime Minister. But for the past eight months, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson have been the focus of one of the longest-running criminal trials in British history.

45 min

23

Power to the People

While the rest of the world moves to embrace renewable energy why is Australia drawing back? Four Corners documents the revolution in power generation taking place across the globe.

45 min

24

Rosie's Story

It was a crime that left Australians horrified. The tragic death of Luke Batty, killed by his father. Could his brutal murder have been prevented? Luke's mother Rosie tells her story.

45 min

25

Generation Like

Thanks to social media, today's teenagers are able to interact directly with their culture and their heroes, dispensing approval to music, videos, food and clothes, as well as each other. They say that's empowering because they can deliver a verdict instantly. But is this empowerment or a new form of slavery? And are teenagers being manipulated by big corporations and the marketing moguls who see social media as the ultimate marketing tool?(Australia, English)

45 min

26

Cult Of Horrors

He is a self-styled evangelist who told his followers he was The Anointed One, chosen by God to convert the world to his beliefs. In reality, Scott Williams was a cult leader who used his own brand of religion to warp biblical scripture in the pursuit of sex, money and power. Reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna investigates the rise of Scott Williams and his incredible path around the world and back to Australia, exposing how he created a hell on earth for many followers.(Australia, English)

45 min

27

ISIS Terror in Iraq

They're known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and they are sweeping across Iraq with frightening speed. They brutalise anyone they perceive as an enemy and then show the results in graphic detail, through a co-ordinated campaign on social media. BBC reporter Paul Wood goes into the front lines of this shocking conflict to investigate how and why ISIS or Islamic State, as they now call themselves, are ripping Iraq apart.(Australia, English)

45 min

28

In the Name of the Law

They were sexually abused by the clergy and then found themselves targeted by the Church's lawyers. Why did it happen and who was responsible for the strategy? Reporter Quentin McDermott reveals the systematic way the Catholic Church sought to conceal the sexual abuse of children, using lawyers to minimise the potential financial impact to the organisation.(Australia, English)

45 min

29

Battle for the Reef

Testing claims the Reef is at risk and should be on the UNESCO World Heritage 'in danger' list. Marian Wilkinson reports.

45 min

30

The Hand that Holds the Scalpel

He was a highly paid neurosurgeon, addicted to cocaine and obsessed with sex. Yet despite significant evidence he was running out of control, and the death of a call girl he'd hired, Suresh Nair continued operating in a private hospital. In a joint Four Corners/Fairfax investigation, reporter Tracy Bowden analyses what the NSW Medical Board, Nepean Public Hospital and the Nepean Private Hospital knew about the rogue doctor.

45 min

31

The White Widow

The story of the woman dubbed the White Widow, now one of the world's most wanted terror suspects.

45 min

32

MH17 - Caught in the Crossfire

The horror of flight MH17 and the shocking war that resulted in the plane being shot down. Stephen Long reports.

45 min

33

High Rollers - High Risk?

Australian casinos that target Asian VIP gamblers to boost their profits could run a serious risk of exposure to organised crime, according to a range of law enforcement and security experts. Reporter Linton Besser investigates the drive to entice foreign gamblers to Australia and the implications of that strategy.

45 min

34

Made in Thailand

Inside the surrogacy industry. Debbie Whitmont reports.

45 min

35

The Seduction of Smoking (1)

The tobacco industry is pouring vast amounts of money into developing electronic or e-cigarettes which are claimed to be safer than conventional cigarettes and could save millions of lives. (Part 1 of 2)

45 min

36

The Seduction of Smoking (2)

The tobacco industry is pouring vast amounts of money into developing electronic or e-cigarettes which are claimed to be safer than conventional cigarettes and could save millions of lives. (Part 2 of 2)

45 min

37

Privacy Lost

How governments use internet providers to spy on you.

45 min

38

Fat Chance

This week, reporter Geoff Thompson goes to the Victorian town of Ararat to see if an ongoing community intervention to promote weight loss and better health can work.

45 min

39

Ice Rush

This week on Four Corners, reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna travels through the regions of two states, riding with police and users, to tell the shocking story of towns and people in the grip of ice.

45 min

40

The Enemy Within

Investigating the Green on Blue killing of three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. Quentin McDermott reports.

45 min

41

Gangster Jihad

Khaled Sharrouf: jihadist or simply a criminal? Marian Wilkinson reports.

45 min

42

Ireland's Lost Babies

The shocking story of how young unmarried Irish mothers were forced to work in work-houses to atone for their sins while their children were taken away from them.

45 min

43

Being Me

The story of girls and boys, born in the wrong body and their struggle to be who they are. Janine Cohen reports.

45 min

44

In Our Care

How caregivers preyed on the vulnerable, unable to defend themselves. Nick McKenzie reports.

45 min