On 25 July 2022 the ABC broadcast a Four Corners program titled “Psyched Up”. The program included footage of a cactus walk with Julian Palmer and participants, as well as an interview with Mr Palmer during the walk. A second interview occurred in the ABC studio, where Mr Palmer was questioned about a Facebook post he made in 2017, and allegations of “inappropriate sexual behaviour” reported to the ABC. In the program Mr Palmer vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The ABC did not intend to suggest that the questions constituted anything other than inquiries into allegations and apologises if any viewers, including Mr Palmer, understood or inferred otherwise.
Four Corners: The Forever War will air at 8.30pm on Monday 11 March on ABC TV and ABC iview. See more on the ABC News website and on ABC News social media platforms.
This war will be etched in the memories of generations to come: the brutality of Hamas’s October 7 attack, and the ferocity of Israel’s retaliation.
In this Four Corners, ABC’s Global Affairs Editor John Lyons asks the tough questions; challenging some of Israel’s most powerful political and military voices about the country’s strategy and intentions.
The result is an engaging interview-led piece of public interest journalism about one of the most controversial wars of modern times.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak says Benjamin Netanyahu can’t be trusted, and cabinet minister Avi Dichter makes a grave prediction about the conflict’s future.
Is there any way out of what’s beginning to look like the forever war?
Four Corners - Ukraine’s War: The Other Side, will air at 8.30pm on Monday 18 March on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Two years since Ukraine was invaded by Russia, Four Corners brings you a rare insight from the other side.
Filmmaker Sean Langan’s groundbreaking documentary offers a human perspective on life on the Russian frontline.
He explores what it’s like to be both a Russian soldier risking their life, and a Russian civilian under daily threat of bombardment.
It’s extraordinary access and a compelling exploration of a conflict which has killed or wounded an estimated 500,000 soldiers on both sides — and one which refuses to subside.
About Ukraine’s War: The Other Side
This is a Journeyman Pictures production released in the UK in February 2024.
Sean Langan is a Bafta-nominated British journalist and documentary filmmaker. He covered the breakup of the Soviet Union as a foreign correspondent more than 30 years ago.
Ukraine’s War: The Other Side is a challenging but legitimate documentary, made by reputable journalist Sean Langan and first aired last month on the UK’s ITV, that offers a rare insight into the lives of Russian soldiers during the war. It adds to our understanding of this tragic conflict and shows the full, horrific impact of the war. The reporter challenges the Russian soldiers and civilians featured in the film about their beliefs and opinions.
The documentary is being seen internationally and is considered an important contribution to the reporting of the war. We believe Australian audiences also have the right to watch it and make up their own minds.
Four Corners has broadcast several programs exploring aspects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such as:
Ukraine has been the beneficiary of some very supportive coverage of their side of the invasion, which isn’t hard given Russia is acting like dicks, but they can’t be glass jawed about coverage that might not be as glowing as they would like.
It does have a feeling occasionally that the coverage is so one-sided that we’re not getting anywhere near the full picture of whats happening.
Four Corners goes behind the scenes of David McBride’s fight to clear his name.
The former Australian military lawyer is credited with exposing war crimes in Afghanistan — but was that his intention when he released government secrets?
Reporter Grace Tobin has spent months with McBride, through his public court battle to his private moments with his family, and now, as he waits to be sentenced.
She also interviews Dan Oakes, the investigative journalist who dealt with McBride for his reporting of ‘The Afghan Files’, which led to the AFP’s high-profile raid on the ABC. This is the first time he’s spoken out about what really happened.
It’s exclusive access and the full story for the first time.
Four Corners: Rules of Engagement will air at 8.30pm on Monday 25 March on ABC TV and ABC iview. See more at abc.net.au/news and on ABC News social media platforms.
Ozempic … Mounjaro … they’re the weight-loss wonder drugs in high demand and short supply.
Some pharmacists think making their own versions of the injectable drugs is now the answer, but as Four Corners reveals, it’s leading to an unregulated black market and the potential for dangerous side effects.
In this investigation, the ABC’s national health reporter Elise Worthington meets desperate patients trying to access the medications, and exposes an Australian-based scam illegally exporting the suspect drugs overseas.
Four Corners: The Ozempic Underground, will air at 8.30pm on Monday 1 April on ABC TV and ABC iview.
McBride’s legal team has accused the ABC of breaching an undertaking not to broadcast a story about him until he is sentenced. According to McBride’s lawyer Mark Davis, the ABC had repeatedly assured him the program would not go to air until after McBride was sentenced. But after McBride’s sentencing was delayed to May, the producers texted Davis that the episode would air on March 25.
“Someone comes along and says, ‘Trust me, I’m a doctor, I’ll take your pain away’, you would believe them.”
More than three million Australians are living with chronic pain, and it’s become a breeding ground for exploitation.
In a major investigation, Four Corners brings together a team of international experts to look inside the multi-billion-dollar pain industry and expose the ugly side of medicine.
With access to data from thousands of patients, ABC Investigations reporter Adele Ferguson reveals how some medical professionals are able to drain our health system.
She also meets the patients who are in worse pain after having surgery, where lives are being put at risk.
Four Corners: Pain Factory will air at 8.30pm on Monday 8 April on ABC TV and ABC iview.
See more at abc.net.au/news and on ABC News social media platforms.
Four Corners brings you the inside story of one of America’s biggest national security leaks.
The documentary exposes the inner circle — and the young US Air National Guardsman at the centre of it — who leaked classified defence documents on an online chat platform.
Reporters from The Washington Post investigate 21-year-old Jack Teixeira’s motivations, ask why he wasn’t stopped, and examine the role of platforms like Discord.
The Discord Leaks is a PBS Frontline production with The Washington Post.
The Discord Leaks, will air at 8.30pm on Monday 15 April 2024 on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Australia’s addiction to crystal meth or ‘ice’ is having devastating consequences, but beyond the street dealer, most are unaware of the drug’s murky supply chains – and the faceless figures profiting at the top.
Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal has spent months investigating the crystal meth pipeline, travelling from the streets of Melbourne to a major source of production in South-East Asia.
He gets rare access to those who are from this dangerous underworld – including a dealer, cook, runner and enforcer – and names for the first time a man suspected to be a key player in the Australian meth trade.
“It’s honestly like a zoo. That’s how crazy it is … I just couldn’t cope.” - Will, student
“There will be people saying, ‘that woman just needs to tell her kids what’s what’. Before it happened to me, I was one of those parents.” - Symone, parent
A growing number of children in Australia are struggling to attend school – many of us know a family affected.
These are children who want to go to school but feel like they can’t because of anxiety and stress.
Four Corners follows families battling the blame, shame and fear of missing out on education - and visits some of the schools doing things differently.
Four Corners: The kids who can’t go to school , will air at 8.30pm on Monday 29 April 2024 on ABC TV and ABC iview. See more at abc.net.au/news and on ABC News social media platforms.
“I believe the public has the right to know the secret world.”
For the first time ever, a former spy for China’s notorious secret police – one of the most powerful arms of the country’s intelligence apparatus – goes public, exposing the covert and illegal operations he was ordered to carry out on foreign soil, including in Australia.
In a major investigation reported by the ABC’s Echo Hui, the spy comes out of the shadows at great danger to himself, revealing his face to expose how China has used its global network over the last two decades to surveil, silence and kidnap those it deems enemies of the state.
The spy divulges his double life and the secrets he’s been guarding. He reveals the inner workings of the secret police, including the companies they use as cover, who his targets were, and the tactics he used to hunt them down.
It raises tough questions about China’s global reach and Australia’s national security.
