60 Minutes

Family reasons - wanted to spend more time with them

Sunday 11 December at 7.00 pm

EMMA
Emma Hayes is a smart and beautiful 12-year-old-girl. Karl Stefanovic first met her three years ago when she bravely told him how she had always known she was a girl – even though she was born a boy. Back then, Emma’s parents made the difficult but ultimately obvious decision to let her be their daughter. At the beginning of this year she started high school and now some even bigger changes are happening, meaning Emma can permanently transition to life as a woman. And she’s doing it with inspiring courage and strength.
(Original broadcast: August 14, 2016)
Reporter: Karl Stefanovic
Producer: Steve Jackson

OUT OF THIS WORLD
Charles Wooley is not usually lost for words, but when he met the star of this story for the first time he was speechless. She’s a complete diva, mysterious and unpredictable. She makes visitors travel to the end of the Earth to see her, and then more often than not snubs them by not even bothering to show up. Charles was one of the fortunate ones though when the Northern Lights – the Aurora Borealis – deigned to greet him in all her heavenly splendour.
(Original broadcast: April 10, 2016)
Reporter: Charles Wooley
Producer: Nick Greenaway

60 MINUTES TIMELESS: KATHARINE THE GREAT
As a reporter on 60 MINUTES, there was one interview Michael Munro worked harder to get than any other. It took him years of writing letters and making phone calls from all over the world, but eventually, in 1987, the notoriously publicity-shy Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn agreed to talk to him. And what an interview it was. Hepburn not only spoke candidly about more than 50 years of movie-making, but also opened up about her very special relationship with that other screen great, Spencer Tracy. Even today, almost 30 years later, this interview is still Munro’s all-time favourite and he shamelessly remains Katharine Hepburn’s number one fan.
(Original broadcast: August 30, 1987)
Reporter: Mike Munro
Producer: Ben Hawke

Confirmed:[quote=“TV.Cynic, post:1929, topic:67”]
Liam Bartlett rejoins 60 Minutes as a full-time reporter for 2017 along with Peter Stefanovic, who is stepping in for Allison Langdon while she is on maternity leave.
[/quote]

Great news, Bartlett was/is my favourite reporter for this program.

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Sunday 18 December at 9.15 pm AEDT

WHO KILLED JOSH?
No one deserves the torment Ingrid Bishop has suffered in the last six years. It started when her son Josh Warneke, 21, was attacked and killed after a night out in Broome. But what compounded this mother’s trauma was the incompetence of the West Australian police. They bungled their investigation for two and a half years before they finally arrested a suspect. Gene Gibson is now in prison for killing Josh Warneke but Ingrid is convinced the evidence against him is so flawed, the police got the wrong man. She’s so sure Gibson didn’t kill her son that she’s now fighting to have him released. But if it wasn’t Gene Gibson, then who killed Josh Warneke? (Original broadcast: June 5, 2016)
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Ali Smith

THE WRITE STUFF
Here’s a terrible statistic: there are one million schoolkids in this country who can’t read properly. As a nation we should be ashamed. But if we’re serious about fixing the problem, maybe we need to pay attention to a former punk-rocking anarchist whose formula for the write stuff is to be very wrong. Children’s author Andy Griffiths is happily – and defiantly – disgusting. In his page-turners, no bodily function is too repulsive: pooing, farting and vomiting rule. It’s guaranteed that kids will be revolted. They’ll probably laugh a lot too. But best of all, without even realising it, they’ll be reading. (Original broadcast: April 10, 2016)
Reporter: Ross Coulthart
Producer: Rebecca Le Tourneau

60 MINUTES TIMELESS: V8 SHEIKH
Collecting things is a bug that bites most of us at some stage – it usually ends with something as mundane as stamps, coins or maybe artwork. But if you’re a rich and influential oil sheikh in the Middle East, collecting things can take on truly gargantuan proportions. In 1992, Jennifer Byrne reported her “nuttiest” 60 MINUTES story when she met His Highness Hamad Bin Hamdan Al-Nayan. He lived in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and had built up one of the world’s biggest, most valuable and strangest collections of motor vehicles. (Original broadcast: March 1, 1992)
Reporter: Jennifer Byrne
Producer: John Penlington

Sunday 1 January 2017 at 7.00 pm AEDT

PARENTAL AS ANYTHING
As every mother and father knows, there’s no rulebook for the right way to raise children. Good parenting is as much about good luck as it is about good management. This week Karl Stefanovic meets the parents who pursue a more unconventional path to bringing up their children. And while you may not agree with what they do, remember that like the rest of us, they’re as proud of their children and love them as much as anyone else. (Original broadcast: June 12, 2016)
Reporter: Karl Stefanovic
Producer: Jo Townsend

BAD GRANDPAS
Crime is never a laughing matter, but the sheer audacity and extraordinary ingenuity of a gang of pensioner-aged British crooks has certainly made many people smile. In 2015, the daring villains used their substantial experience to plan and pull off the biggest burglary in English history. The Hatton Garden vault in the heart of London held hundreds of safe deposit boxes, full of jewellery, cash and other treasure. It was said to be impenetrable until the bad grandpas proved that boast a lie. They got away with over $25 million worth of loot. But the old-timers made one mistake, and it cost them dearly. (Original broadcast: May 29, 2016)
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Gareth Harvey

60 MINUTES TIMELESS: INXS
This story is a reminder of another time for INXS. A time when they were known for rock ‘n’ roll glory, not the tragedy we associate with them now. It was 1991 and 60 MINUTES reporter Jeff McMullen was given unprecedented access to the group during one of their sellout North American tours. As everyone knows, in those days Michael Hutchence was the idolised front man of INXS; the rock star well used to the attention of thousands of adoring female fans. Back then though, he only had eyes for Kylie Minogue.
(Original broadcast: March 3,1991)
Reporter: Jeff McMullen
Producer: John Little

Sunday 8 January 2017 at 7.00 pm AEDT

SURPRISED BY FIVE
When Kim Tucci fell pregnant she was as thrilled as any mother-to-be. A brother or sister for her two young daughters, or so she thought. So imagine the shock for Kim and her husband Vaughn when they found out she was expecting not one baby, but five. Naturally conceived quintuplets are extremely rare – a one in 55 million chance. What’s even rarer is the opportunity to watch the remarkable journey of five little miracles, from start to finish. 60 MINUTES follows Kim and Vaughn through the highs and lows of pregnancy, birth and beyond. (Original broadcast: April 24, 2016)
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producers: Garry McNab, Alice Dalley

STORM CHASERS
Most aircraft pilots are trained to avoid raging storms, and we passengers thank them very much for it. But Ross Coulthart meets a group of flyers who do the exact opposite: aim their planes straight for the worst of the worst weather fronts. No, they’re not nuts – well maybe they are a bit – but they take on nature to protect farms. In the mid-west of the United States huge hailstorms can destroy vast fields of crops, but if the brave pilots are able to seed the storm with chemicals its ferocity is reduced and the crops are saved. So fasten your seatbelts. This story is about to encounter some severe turbulence.
Reporter: Ross Coulthart
Producer: Gareth Harvey

60 MINUTES TIMELESS: HIGH VOLTAGE
It’s hard to believe but AC/DC, Australia’s greatest band, has been around even longer than 60 MINUTES. Just. However, after 40-plus years of convincing us that rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution, age and illness seem to have finally quietened them down. It’s sad news for their millions of fans around the world, so tonight a reminder of what AC/DC were like at the very top of their game. In 1996, reporter Tracey Curro went on the road with the band in Spain and met five scruffy blokes having the time of their lives, doing what they love. As well as featuring Angus Young and Brian Johnson, Tracey also convinced AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young to sit down for a very rare interview. (Original broadcast: August 25, 1996)
Reporter: Tracey Curro
Producers: Stephen Taylor

Sunday 15 January 2017 at 10.20 pm AEDT

$KY HIGH
There are 20 billion reasons why the federal government had to get the decision right in selecting the F35 as the next fighter for the Royal Australian Air Force. It’s by far our biggest defence purchase ever, but with 72 F35s on the way we’re apparently getting a great bang for our buck. The sales pitch boasts that the combat jet is a flying supercomputer loaded with so much weaponry and “gee whiz” stealth technology that no enemy can see it and won’t stand a chance against it. Critics complain the F35s are badly designed and an expensive waste of money. The only Australians who know for sure are two RAAF test pilots posted to the Arizona desert to train on the new aircraft. Tara Brown accepted their invitation to take a close-up look at their deadly new toys. (Original broadcast: February 21, 2016)
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Howard Sacre

PARADISE LOST
If you’re thinking of holidaying in Samoa, you’d be wise to think again. The brochures show an idyllic South Pacific paradise and promise a welcome as warm as the sun. But that can never be the truth while a sadistic thug named Lauititi Tualima lives there. He is Samoa’s most dangerous criminal. Remarkably he spends most of his time in prison, but security there is such a joke it’s no deterrent to Tualima’s life of extreme violence. Australian tourists Angie Jackson and Tommy Williams found themselves prey to this man and they’re very lucky to still be alive. (Original broadcast: July 17, 2016)
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producers: Garry McNab, Sean Power

THE MAN WHO SAW EVERYTHING
While you may not be familiar with his name you will certainly know Nick Lee’s work, because if you’ve watched 60 MINUTES over the years, you’ve watched his spectacular vision. Nick is a brilliant cameraman, and was one of the first people employed on the show way back in the late 1970s. For the next 30 years Nick filmed the very best and the very worst of this world. He loved his job but when a sudden illness forced him into early retirement Nick put down his camera and started writing about his great adventures. His memoir is a revealing, sometimes too revealing, look at life on the road with 60 MINUTES. (Original broadcast: July 31, 2016)
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Nick Greenaway

so damn late!!

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Congratulations to Allison Langdon who has given birth to son Mack.

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Sunday 22 January 2017 at 10.20 pm AEDT

PREDATOR
When Allison Langdon was asked to report a story about leopard seals in Antarctica she had no idea it would turn out to be her toughest assignment ever. Just getting to the frozen continent was an ordeal: a three-day journey in a tiny yacht across the Drake Passage, the most treacherous stretch of water in the world. But the sea sickness was quickly forgotten when she saw the beauty of the last true wilderness on the planet, although it meant the most dangerous part of her story was about to begin: diving into the freezing waters of Antarctica and swimming with one of the most vicious and unpredictable predators of the sea, the leopard seal. (Original broadcast: August 7, 2016)
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producer: Nick Greenaway

REBOOT OF THE NERDS
There was a time not so long ago when the geeks at school suffered serious teasing. But these days it’s all changed. Now many students aspire to be nerds. They’re honing their skills in digital technology because they know in the very near future that’s where the important careers – and big money – will be found. In fact almost every job will soon require a substantial degree of digital expertise, including computer programming. Brisbane schoolboy Taj Pabari is a great example of what’s needed and what can be achieved. At just 17, he’s already a businessman, with his own tech company and an international team working towards a big future. (Original broadcast: July 10, 2016)
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Ali Smith

60 MINUTES TIMELESS: WATCH THIS SPACE
From the moment Peter Overton joined 60 MINUTES in 2001 he knew he was in for great adventure. For one of his first trips he was sent into space, well the very edge of it at least. It was to report a story about the ultimate holiday destination, and the race between the United States and Russia to put tourists into orbit.
For a feeling of what to expect in space Overton took a ride in the plane the Russians use to train their cosmonauts. It’s unkindly – though perhaps accurately – known as the vomit comet and its purpose is to acclimatise passengers to weightlessness. Peter managed to keep his lunch to himself, but the trip on the vomit comet remains one of his most memorable experiences. Sixteen years on, space tourism continues to inch towards reality, but Peter Overton’s story is a glimpse at how wonderful it will be when it does happen.
(Original broadcast: April 29, 2001)
Reporter: Peter Overton
Producer: Allan Hogan

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New

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Peter Stefanovic is missing.

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Is he only going to be Allison maternity relief, so I say the position is only temporary.

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Sunday 29 January at 7.00 pm

SWIMMING SOUTH
Australia’s tourism industry, one of the enduring constants of our economy, is facing a tiny problem that is so enormous it could cost us billions. It’s the Irukandji jellyfish, small, barely visible and deadly. Think of a bluebottle on steroids. Officially, two people have died of Irukandji stings here but experts fear the number is going to get much higher. It used to only be found in the waters of far northern Australia, but as the seas have been heating up these jellyfish have been swimming south into far more populated areas – and the frightening news is they’re coming to a beach near you.
Reporter: Ross Coulthart
Producer: Nick Greenaway

BREAKING THE CYCLE
There is a terrible statistic we can no longer hide from or ignore. Every week in this country a woman is killed by her partner or former partner, with many more injured. Just as tragically, thousands of children get caught in their parents’ crossfire. When violence in families becomes the norm the consequences can be dire. Allison Langdon meets a 16-year-old boy who started abusing his mother after witnessing his parents’ volatile relationship. Courageously, he’s speaking out in the hope of stopping others doing what he did.
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producers: Stefanie Sgroi, Grace Tobin

ENDLESS LOVE
Australians used to balance a healthy scepticism for our politicians with a begrudging respect. But now, if you believe the polls, politicians are about as popular as, well, journalists. Malcolm Turnbull’s not a bad bloke but it seems we can’t wait to get rid of him, just like we ditched Tony Abbott and Rudd and Gillard. Without giving any of them much of a chance to be great. Maybe aspiring PMs need to visit the master. Would you believe it is 25 years since Bob Hawke held the top job. Back then we loved him in spite of, or maybe because of, his imperfections, including that he left his wife Hazel for another woman. As you’ll see, today Bob is more popular than ever, and still wonderfully in love with Blanche.
Reporter: Charles Wooley
Producer: Steve Jackson

Sunday 5 February at 8.30 pm

THE PRIME MINISTER
It’s been a tough week for Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. For the latest on Australia’s deteriorating relationship with the USA, the Nine Network’s award-winning political editor, Laurie Oakes, sits down with Mr Turnbull to discuss how to deal with the unpredictable President Donald Trump and where to from here.
Reporter: Laurie Oakes
Producer: Ali Smith

CAN DO BETTER
While parents around the country are undoubtedly pleased the 2017 school year has begun, they’ll get little pleasure in knowing the declining standard of education their children are receiving. Our global ranking for mathematics, reading and science, once a source of national pride, is slipping at an alarming rate. Worse still, students are being crushed by the pressure of academic expectation while more and more teachers are quitting the profession. But across the world in Finland there has been an education revolution. In this icy country they’ve discovered the best way to get top marks is to chill out. It’s a relaxed approach to learning that is starting to work in one school in Melbourne too.
Reporter: Peter Stefanovic
Producer: Stef Sgroi

THE TEST
For their entire lives, sister and brother Ashleigh and Matthew Knox have lived in the shadow of a terrible curse. Three generations of their family have inherited a gene mutation which exposes them to a great risk of cancer and early death. Many of their relatives have fallen victim, but Ashleigh and Matthew no longer want to be burdened by uncertainty. They want to know if they carry the faulty gene or not, and they’ve taken the brave decision to have the test that lets them look into the future – to see if it will be good or bad.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Laura Sparkes

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Sunday 12 February at 8.30 pm

THE JOANNE LEES STORY

It was a crime so shocking it will be remembered forever.

In the middle of the night on July 14, 2001, an attractive young English tourist hails down a huge road train on a remote part of the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The woman is in great distress and pleads with the truck driver for urgent help. She tells him a deranged gunman has taken her boyfriend and tried to kidnap her. Somehow, through a haze of sheer panic and incredible good luck, she’d managed to escape.

From that horrific moment, Joanne Lees and her murdered boyfriend, Peter Falconio, became household names in Australia and around the world – the backpacking couple on the adventure of a lifetime, who fatefully crossed paths with the violent and evil Bradley John Murdoch.

Now, in a 60 MINUTES exclusive, Liz Hayes accompanies Joanne as she returns to the Northern Territory on a courageous journey tackling unfinished business. Peter Falconio has never been found and she wants to search for him and take him home to England. It might sound like mission impossible in the vast Australian outback, but as Hayes discovers, Joanne Lees has an extraordinary will and is determined to honour her partner’s memory by confronting the awful past.

What Joanne has endured over the last 15 years has tested and tormented her to breaking point. She tells Hayes she sometimes felt her treatment was so unfair, it would have been better if she didn’t survive that terrible night in 2001.

The cruel harassment of Joanne Lees began in the immediate aftermath of the highway attack. The NT police conducted a major investigation and manhunt, but there was no trace of her attacker or Peter’s body. In the absence of substantial clues, and with the world’s media desperate for stories, attention shifted to Joanne Lees. In her shock and grief she was reluctant to play the part expected of her by the police and media. Her demeanour was perceived as suspicious.

Even 15 months after the attack, when Bradley Murdoch was identified as the main suspect, the public remained sceptical about Joanne Lees. She bravely faced Murdoch in the Darwin Supreme Court and her evidence in the trial helped to convict him of multiple crimes including the murder of Peter Falconio. After the case, Joanne tried to get on with her life back in England, but unresolved questions continued to haunt her – what had Murdoch done to Peter, and where was his body?

Joanne Lees knew she would one day have to return to where it all began.

But there’s one more surprising twist to this intriguing story…

Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producers: Ali Smith & Stephen Taylor

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Firstly, I thought they’d come back with something bigger, like an interview with Amber Harrison (as was rumoured) or one of the Bourke Street survivors, not rehashing something from 16 years ago.

Second, I do not recall anyone in the media accusing Joanne of murdering Peter at the time.

And third, what are the odds the “surprising twist” turns out to be a non-event?

Third week in and a third different timeslot for 60 Minutes despite CEO Mark Hughs promising a ‘consistent time slot’ in 2017.

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Sunday 26 February at 8.30 pm

MASON’S LAW
Mason Parker’s life was as short as it was tragic. At just 16 months of age he was beaten to death in his own home by his mother’s boyfriend, a despicable man called Troy Reed. It was a cruel and cowardly crime made even worse because warning signs the toddler was being abused were ignored. Days before his death, staff at Mason’s day care centre noticed suspicious bruising on his body. They discussed it with his mother, Cindy Sandeman, but unbelievably neither took any further action to protect the little boy. Even more inexplicable is what Ms Sandeman did in the days after her baby son’s death. As detectives were investigating the crime, Troy Reed asked her to marry him, and she accepted! Her actions are something Mason’s grandparents cannot forget or forgive. They have disowned their daughter and dedicated their lives to making sure their precious grandson’s death wasn’t for nothing.
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producer: Steve Jackson

LOST AT SEA
Thirty-year-old Ross Chapman is probably both the unluckiest man in the world – and the luckiest. He was alone in his boat fishing 40 kilometres off the northern coast of Western Australia, far out of sight of land, when the unthinkable happened. He fell overboard into shark-infested waters. Fear turned to panic when he tried but failed to swim back to his boat. He then watched what he thought was his only hope for survival motor off over the horizon. No one knew Ross was in trouble, let alone where he was, but an incredible series of chance events led to an unlikely and remarkable rescue.
Reporter: Ross Coulthart
Producer: Garry McNab

ALL THE GLOSS
It’s a brave man who ventures into the competitive world of women’s fashion magazines, so when Liam Bartlett was given this assignment it was with some trepidation that he pressed his nicest slacks, put on his best blazer, moisturised, and sashayed off. He had to scrub up because he was meeting Laura Brown and Jo Elvin, the editors-in-chief of two of the world’s glossiest and most influential magazines. And of course, they’re both Australians. In a cut-throat business where print circulations and revenues are falling, these two women are somehow reversing the trend, and the titles they head, InStyle (USA) and Glamour (UK), are thriving. But if you’re expecting something out of the movie The Devil Wears Prada you are only half right, because there’s a whole lot more to the business of beauty mags than just champers and Chanel.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Stefanie Sgroi