Background Briefing - Abc Rn

From piles of rubbish to leaking sewers, rats, and gas leaks. Pierre the Birdman is on a one-man mission to save his public housing block -- but he doesn’t own a computer, only just got a mobile phone, has never had legal training, and he barely finished high school. Despite this... he’s been winning cases against the NSW Government. Mario Christodoulou reports.

Whistle-blowers from inside Australia's lucrative employment services industry are claiming profits are being prioritised over the needs of vulnerable welfare recipients. This week on Background Briefing, reporter Andy Burns investigates alleged murky behaviour inside the government's 350-million-dollar "Parents Next" program. She follows allegations that some private providers are benefitting at the expense of single mothers, some of whom are homeless.

Leaked documents show the influence the alcohol industry wields over the federal government’s National Alcohol Strategy. Experts warn this will have dire consequences for the nation’s ability to deal with a massive public health problem. With unprecedented access inside one of Australia’s biggest rehab facilities, Katherine Gregory takes on the grim reality of alcohol.

Some paintings by contemporary Australian artists are worth millions of dollars. But what if what you see isn't always what you get? There are claims the art market is plagued with questionable works by Brett Whiteley, Howard Arkley, Charles Blackman and more. Hagar Cohen exposes question marks over three expensive artworks... and traces their origin back to one group of high-profile dealers in Melbourne's art market.

The annual Uluru Camel Cup attracts a prize pool of tens of thousands of dollars, but its largely unregulated under NT law. After a champion camel named “Golden Nugget” won the 2018 race in controversial circumstances, allegations surfaced that the result was rigged. Reporter Alex Mann delves deep into the Camel Cup operator’s colourful past to investigate what really happened that day.

Porsches and $5 million bonuses, drinking and late night strip clubbing — we go deep into one of Australia’s biggest ever corporate investigations. This is an alleged rate-rigging scandal that engulfed our third largest bank, dragging in some of the most senior people in the industry. But has everyone involved been held accountable? Mario Christodoulou investigates.

This election campaign has involved more than political candidates and parties on the hustings. We’ve seen grassroots community groups, political activist organisations and social media players getting involved too. But, just how influential are they? And is there enough scrutiny on them? Katherine Gregory investigates.

They’ve been spat on, punched in the face, and told to go back to where they came from. Minority groups in Australia insist hate crimes are on the rise since the Christchurch massacre. There have been thousands of reports of property damage as well as verbal and physical abuse arising from racial discrimination. So why have so few people been convicted? Hagar Cohen investigates.

The global rise of the alt-right movement has caught the attention of politicians and police in Australia. But few could have predicted its followers would have already found a home in our federal parliament. Background Briefing has obtained leaked messages revealing Senator Fraser Anning has employed staff with connections to fascist groups. The messages also detail a secret plan to disrupt the current election campaign with racist stunts in order to help re-elect him. Alex Mann investigates.

When you place a parent or loved one into a nursing home, you trust they'll be looked after by staff. But sexual abuse in aged care is on the rise and the perpetrators are often the very people paid to care for residents. The disturbing trend has been allowed to flourish in the absence of mandatory reporting and a national register of employees. Anne Connolly investigates.

The 2000s were a great time for Australian live music lovers with some of the biggest artists of the decade touring the nation. It was also a time when many of these acts were financed by an elaborate Ponzi scheme. With an exclusive interview with the man behind the fraud, Mario Christodoulou reveals the threats and behind-the-scenes deals that fans never get to see. Welcome to the brutal and high risk world of concert promotion.

When he rediscovered the elusive night parrot in 2013, John Young became a hero in the bird world. But his reputation is now in tatters after the veracity of his latest fieldwork was criticised by a panel of experts. Did the charismatic naturalist fake evidence of the green and yellow feathered creature? Ann Jones investigates a scandal that threatens to undermine conservation efforts.

On Friday 15 March 2019 an Australian man opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, killing 50 people and wounding as many. There has been much speculation since about where he came from and what his motivations were. A manifesto published online by the shooter before the attacks bears many of the hallmarks of white supremacist rhetoric, including anti-immigrant sentiments and white genocide conspiracy theories – views that align with those of Australia’s Alt Right, which we investigated in a program late last year. In this replay of our investigation into how Australia’s Alt Right has been covertly influencing mainstream politics, Alex Mann tracks operatives from a secretive fight club in Sydney to the moment one member was elected to the NSW executive of the Young Nationals.   He also confronts the men involved and asks: what is their vision for Australia, and how far are they willing to go to achieve it? We’re not suggesting these men were in any way involved in the Christchurch mosque shooting. Si

Jacki Whittaker thought one of the bedrooms in her Melbourne rental home smelt like "cat piss". But the real culprit was something far more sinister. The previous tenants had been cooking methamphetamine in the bathroom resulting in significant contamination. Jacki and her two adult children were told by a testing company they must leave immediately because it wasn’t safe to stay in the house. But no one really knows how many of us are actually at risk from meth residues because even scientists haven’t even worked it out. In this episode, Hagar Cohen investigates how some operators in an unregulated meth testing industry are scamming the public and profiting from our fear.

In this episode, we investigate allegations that staff at a popular Alice Springs hotel managed by Australia’s largest hotel group, Accor, have been segregating Aboriginal guests into inferior rooms. Undercover recordings and a whistleblower account reveal Aboriginal guests being charged $129 for a room with dirty sheets on the bed, and chicken bones and broken glass on the floor. Reporter Oliver Gordon meets the people falling through the cracks of a flawed complaints system.

You've heard of online trolls, but what happens when they share your private data, like your contact details, with malicious intent? ABC Life’s Osman Faruqi found out the hard way. Last August, a far-right activist posted his phone number on social media. Osman was inundated with racist text messages and phone calls that continue to this day. In this episode, which is a co-production with ABC Life, Osman confronts the man responsible. And with the help of reporter Alex Mann, he investigates why law enforcement is seemingly powerless to protect victims.

"Bush Court" is based on a simple premise. If you live in a remote Australia, you won't be forced to travel to the city to seek justice. Instead, justice will come to you. It's kind of like a judicial roadshow with a judge, prosecutor, and defence team touring 30 Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory each year. Unfortunately, despite having dozens of matters to resolve, they don't stay longer than a day or two. But does the fast food of justice deliver the best outcomes? Allan Clarke investigates.

In 2011, Boronika Hothnyang was accused of fatally stabbing her best friend, William Awu, directly in the heart. But when police arrived at the scene of the crime, Boronika's apartment in Dandenong south-east of Melbourne, she was fast asleep. Six men who had earlier been drinking at her place each gave detectives a very different version of events. In this episode, Sarah Dingle uncovers new evidence that raises serious questions about the strength of the case against Boronika.

Australia's national electricity grid has once again buckled under the pressure of a scorching hot summer. Consumers are furious not only about blackouts but rising power bills, too. For decades, politicians have promised solutions they failed to deliver. Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates the toxic politics of energy.

In this episode, Alex Mann investigates how Australia's alt-right movement is covertly influencing mainstream politics. He tracks operatives from a secretive fight club in Sydney to the moment one member was elected to the NSW executive of the Young Nationals.   He also confronts the men involved and asks what is their vision for Australia, and how far are they willing to go to achieve it? This is a repeat of a program that aired in October 2018.