TOUGH TREATMENT
For any parent, a sick child is always a concern. So imagine the devastation of Perth parents Angela and Colin Kiszko when they were told their six-year-old son had an aggressive brain tumour. They put their trust in the doctors and were relieved when he came through gruelling surgery. But when Angela and Colin were told their boy would need chemo and radiotherapy, they refused to give consent. What followed was a bruising and protracted battle â over a doctorâs duty of care and a parentâs right to choose. And all the while a little boyâs life was left hanging in the balance.
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Mary Ann Jolley, Alice Dalley
THE WRITE STUFF
Hereâs a terrible statistic: there are one million schoolkids in this country who canât read properly. As a nation we should be ashamed. But if weâre 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. Childrenâs author Andy Griffiths is happily â and defiantly â disgusting. In his page-turners, no bodily function is too repulsive: pooing, farting and vomiting rule. Itâs guaranteed that kids will be revolted. Theyâll probably laugh a lot too. But best of all, without even realising it, theyâll be reading.
Reporter: Ross Coulthart
Producer: Rebecca Le Tourneau
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. Sheâs 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. Wooley was one of the fortunate ones though when the Northern Lights â the Aurora Borealis â deigned to greet him in all her heavenly splendour. And when he did manage to speak, all he could say was ⌠aaaahhhhh.
Reporter: Charles Wooley
Producer: Nick Greenaway
The alleged kidnapping of two children in a botched child recovery operation, and 60 Minutesâ involvement, is threatening to turn into a diplomatic incident according to ABC Middle East correspondent Matt Brown. He says that Lebanese authorities say they have uncorroborated evidence for a member of the recovery team that Nine paid $115,000 for the operation. He said on AM today that if the people involved in the operation (including mother Sally Faulkner and 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown) are found guilty of deprivation of liberty, they could face anywhere between 3 years jail and life imprisonment.
I really donât have a good feeling about how this may turn out. There are so many things that are unknown or are unconfirmed but IF (and its still a big IF) it is true that 60 Minutes paid for the recovery of the kids then thats pretty poor form and a massive misjudgement on behalf of a producer somewhere along the line. Whether the kids should be with their father or mother is a completely separate issue at this stage, and my own thoughts on that aside, we cannot have TV shows paying for things like this surely? Guess time will tell of it is even true or not.
Perhaps I am speaking too soon⌠and just to clarify in advance that NO WAY WHATSOEVER am I saying or implying that I am happy or glad that the crew and Tara are currently in this situation or that they are getting what they deserve. It is awful and hoping for a good outcome.
If the payment is true then this is the risk they took. I wouldnât have any sympathy for them.
what kind of precedent would it be if we were ok with Australians going into another country, taking the law into their own hands, deliberately breaking their laws for the sake of ratings then expecting DFAT to use diplomatic bargaining to bail them out.
another question is whether the mother was coaxed into it by the 60 mins crew.
What were 60 Minutes intentions? To report on the story or to actually âbringâ the children back to Australia? The answer to that will make a whole lot of difference.
reports say a minimum 3 years and up to 20 years!!
while there were 4 crew directly involved and on the ground there must be a whole office in Australia that had some involvement. I wonder how all of them are feeling about it now?
Iâd be surprised if this situation reached that stage. Lebanon will do what is best for Lebanon and that is to make an example of the 60 Minutes team for a couple of months and then cut them loose. Itâs all purely political.
The charges seem a stretch to me. Obviously Lebanon has its own laws but snatching children off the street isnât illegal in this country if itâs being done by the childrenâs own parent. Iâm not sure exactly what they are all being charged with but I imagine the whole case would hinge on the snatching itself being proven to be illegal and I canât see how it would be given that the mother was (reportedly) present the whole time with her children.
Perhaps it would have been wiser for the mother herself to physically take the children while the hired help prevented the grandmother/nanny from fighting back to avoid any ambiguity around who was doing what (again, no idea what Lebanese law says).
What I do know is that the Lebanese legal system is a joke and prosecutors are notorious for overreaching in their charges. Add some diplomatic pressure and I donât see any upside to Lebanese officials taking this to a point where long prison terms are a serious possibility. Obviously I might be totally wrong, who knows what is really going on.
Heads are expected to roll at the Nine Network as the broadcaster begins the internal process of naming and shaming guilty parties in an international incident.
Insiders said a group of current and former executives and producers were coming under Âincreasing scrutiny over a botched child-abduction attempt.
The groupâs roles or previous jobs put them at the heart of the level of command at Nine that must have known about an alleged payment to a specialist child-Ârecovery agency. There was strong speculation at Nine last night that some executives were unlikely to last in the firestorm, however, facts have been elusive because key people remain under arrest in ÂBeirut.
While there is growing pressure for key Nine executives to front up, they have been advised by criminal lawyers to stay silent or risk upsetting the Lebanese authorities.
BEACONSFIELD: THE WHOLE STORY
There are few stories of survival more incredible than that of Todd Russell and Brant Webb. When disaster struck at the Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania ten years ago this month, the pair dug deep to defy the odds. A massive rock fall had claimed the life of workmate Larry Knight, and Todd and Brant knew their number could be up at any moment. For two nerve-wracking weeks they lay entombed deep underground as the nation held its collective breath. And when it finally came, their rescue was an extraordinary moment of elation. But it didnât end there.
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producer: Nick Greenaway
DESPERATE MEASURES
When George Pickering visited his sonâs deathbed last year he had plans to do more than just say goodbye. His beloved boy Georgie had been declared brain dead after suffering a stroke and medical staff were about to switch off life support. Wracked by grief, the 59-year-old father was determined that wouldnât happen. He stormed the ward with a loaded gun and threatened to kill everyone. A SWAT team surrounded the hospital as the standoff dragged on for three terrifying hours. But what happened next took everyone by surprise.
Reporter: Michael Usher
Producer: Phil Goyen
CHARGES will be dropped against a Brisbane mum and the 60 Minutes crew involved in a botched kidnapping attempt in Beirut.
News Corp has learned a deal has been reached between Sally Faulkner and her estranged husband Ali Elamine. The deal is believed to involve a catch: Ms Faulkner would give up custody of her two children in exchange for her freedom.
A separate deal between Mr Elamine and 60 Minutes will involve compensation being paid by the network to the father-of-two.
Pleased the crew is returning home.
Some serious lessons need to be learned from this mess, not only from 60 Minutes but all Australian journalists and crews. The ramifications from this botched operation could have been enormous for those in Lebanon. The heads of those who allowed this to occur should roll.
Yep I generally have to agree with that. As you say, hopefully the investigative journalists and crews from ALL media outlets in Australia will learn some serious lessons from this debacle.
Now thatâs out of the way, letâs just hope that the Australian media wonât hound Tara Brown and crew when they get off the plane in Sydney. YeahâŚthatâs just wishful thinking isnât it?
While I am pleased to hear that the 60 Minutes crew and Sally Faulkner have regained their freedom, it is hard for Sally to give up custody of her two children, because it means she may not get to see them again perhaps until they reach 18. This saga is not only a lesson for media outlets, but also for couples from different countries and cultures. When they have kids then end the relationship, custody battles can be very, very messy.
Iâm not entirely pleased with the release of the 60 Minutes crew, to be honest. What if it had of been someone who was not associated with the media, an everyday person. Would they have been released? No, of course not. They would of had to of served the maximum prison sentence of 20 years and no one would have been able to bail them out. But of course, television crew are not treated like the rest of us. Laws donât seem to apply to them because they have one thing that ordinary, everyday people donât haveâŚmoney. They are able to âbuyâ themselves out of situations, which is morally unethical IMO.
The fact of the matter is, they entered a foreign country; the laws should apply to them. We are often told that we must abide by the laws and customs of other countries when we travel overseas. Now, why is it that the 60 Minutes crew can travel to Lebanon and the laws of imprisonment, which apply to everyone else, do not apply to them? Itâs absolutely ludicrous. They should be serving a twenty year prison sentence right now, not on their way to returning back home to Australia.
so much about this has been about the 60 Minutes crew, Channel 9 and the parents.
To use a classic quote⌠wonât someone think of the children? Has their situation been considered at all or are they just collateral damage now that Nine has got their crew out of trouble.
