Background Briefing

It's been celebrated as Australia's "millionaires' factory".But Macquarie Bank is now caught up in the mother of all tax investigations.Reporter Mario Christodoulou has seen internal company files that show which executives knew what and when.This is a joint investigation made together with German investigative journalism outlet Correctiv.

Graziers are discovering there's millions to be made from their flat red earth.Taxpayers are funding billions to reduce the nation's carbon footprint.Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates whether carbon farming will really undo the damage we're doing from burning fossil fuels.

Reporter Tracey Shelton spent years as a correspondent giving a voice to people in war zones who'd experienced trauma. When she returned to Australia, she was surprised to find people here suffering similar symptoms, so she set out to investigate the cause.

These people were supposed to be near the front of the queue for Covid vaccines.But in Yarrabah, an Aboriginal community near Cairns, local doctors are still scrambling to get the vaccination rate above 50%With only six weeks until the Queensland borders open, reporter Mayeta Clark went to find out why.

He was sentenced for a crime that shocked Australia: the terrorist plot to attack Sydney's Holsworthy barracks. But Nayef el Sayed's family are still confused about why he's doing so much jail time, and they're not the only ones with questions about the law used to convict him.Mahmood Fazal investigates.

As government investigators close in, Asiaciti realises it hasn't been keeping a close watch on some of its risky clients.In this series finale, Mario Christodoulou traverses from Swiss mountaintop chateaux to a Nigerian coup d'etat, to find out exactly what money was secretly flowing through Asiaciti's products.Then, he takes everything he's found to the man who built up the Asiaciti empire from nothing: Graeme Briggs.The ABC reached out to every person named in this story, we received no response from Du Shuanghua.

A rock concert ticket scalper and a controversial entrepreneur turn to Asiaciti for assistance.Using products from Graeme Briggs' company, they lock away their riches on a small Pacific island nation, out of the reach of authorities.But soon, Asiaciti learns it's got its own crisis to deal with: a global media scandal that threatens the company's very existence. Mario Christodoulou reports.

Graeme Briggs enjoys rugby, collecting Japanese fountain pens, and looking after other people's money. The problem for Graeme and his company Asiaciti is that among the many legitimate clients, some of them turn out to be corrupt politicians, fraudsters, and criminals. If that isn't bad enough, nearly two million files from his company's server have been leaked to journalists. So what's Graeme Briggs going to do now? Mario Christodoulou investigates.

There's a landmark project underway in Melbourne to find out whether psilocybin - the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms - can be used to improve end-of-life experiences.But many Australians have already turned to the underground because they're convinced psychedelics improve their mental health.Geoff Thompson investigates whether it's worth all the risks.This is a repeat of a program that aired in February 2021.

Geoff Thompson follows the dangerous journeys of three Afghan journalists as they attempt to flee the Taliban. Two of them succeed with the help of an Australian man who engineers an escape route for them from his house in Sydney.

An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them.

Since the September 11 attacks, Australia has enacted a staggering number of laws to counter the threat of terrorism. Over one hundred people have been charged with terror-related offences here, but very few have spoken to the media.One Australian man who was charged with offences that can carry up to 25 years in jail, shares his story with Mahmood Fazal for the first time.

As COVID-19 cases surged in Sydney's south-west City of Fairfield, the government enforced tougher restrictions on residents there. But as Geoff Thompson discovers, these constraints have had some devastating repercussions on one of Sydney's poorest areas and where more than half its workers are in industries which can't work from home.

Reality shows are a central pillar of the television industry, but for the people who appear on them, the productions can be a gateway to years of mental anguish.As Naomi Selvaratnam found out, for some reality TV stars their moment in the spotlight nearly cost them their life.

A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics. With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements.Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with the top ranks of the white power movement.

In Myanmar, after a military coup in February this year, mass protests were met with brutal force. Borders were shut, the internet was blocked and it is estimated that around 900 people have been killed by the military. But some brave, young activists have filmed their acts of resistance. As their options close, what hope do they have to win back democracy?Due to copyright restrictions there will be no Background Briefing podcast or transcript for this program.You can listen to the full episode here: BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Myanmar: The Spring Revolution

Bob Montgomery was one of Australia's most famous psychologists.But he was hiding a dark secret.Josh Robertson has the story of how he got away with it for so long.

She died in tragic circumstances, but it seems that the public, her family, even the court may not have been given the full story.Elise Kinsella investigates why.

Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him. Uber Eats says he wasn’t. Patrick Begley investigates

Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him. Uber Eats says he wasn’t. Patrick Begley investigates

When winter arrives there's nothing like curling up in front of a fire heater with a glass of wine. But there's something disturbing in this cosy picture. As Alison Branley discovers, there's a huge risk to our health that we seem determined to ignore, even though it's estimated to kill hundreds of Australians every year

Thousands of Australians went to India back when it seemed like coronavirus was under control. Some went to care for elderly parents. But, as Alex Mann discovers, their noble intentions counted for nothing when they were locked out of Australia and found themselves in a fight to survive and find a way home.

As Australians eat more and more chicken, we need to find places to raise the animals. But as broiler sheds pop up across rural Victoria, the neighbours are learning that there are more downsides than the smell. A chicken shed next door can stop you building on your own land. Rachael Brown heads to Gippsland to investigate why Rosedale locals are worried that their area will soon be nicknamed 'Chickendale'.

Ballarat orphanage superintendent Hylton Sedgman was due to face nine child abuse charges. Buried in a 1964 file is the reason he never stood trial. Charlotte King investigates why.

It was the site of Australia's deadliest coronavirus outbreak. This week, Ashlynne McGhee investigates how Melbourne's St Basil's Homes for the Aged has been funnelling tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into the Greek Orthodox Church.

It’s one of the last affordable caravan parks near Sydney's CBD where people can actually make a home.Many of the residents were driven here in one of life's desperate moments, but as Mridula Amin discovers, not everyone wants to leave.

In the second and final episode of his investigation, Alex Mann tracks down the two youngest candidates who applied to join the neo-Nazi group and tries to find out how they were radicalised.

Secret recordings reveal how a global white supremacist terror group dedicated to inciting a race war recruited young Australian men.Alex Mann investigates.

Peter and Kath were investors in a secret punters' club that turned out to be a multi-million dollar scam.When the kingpin pleaded guilty, there were nearly two thousand victims left desperate to find out where their money went.Rachael Brown investigates whether the middlemen know.

Warren Meyer was a keen bushwalker who always came prepared for a hike. When he vanished in the wild terrain of the Yarra Ranges, police were baffled. Ashlynne McGhee investigates whether his disappearance could be linked to the other unsolved mysteries of Victoria's high country.

For decades people have flocked to a bucolic ashram in one of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs to hear Russell Kruckman spin his folksy brand of meditation, yoga and spirituality. But as Dan Oakes reveals, there's something rotten in this Shangri La: a horrific list of sexual abuse allegations.

Volunteer firefighter Rodney O'Keeffe survived a fire tornado, but it left him with broken ribs and severe burns.A mere 800 metres away, there was a remote area nurse desperately trying to reach him. Jess Davis investigates why she couldn't.

Andrea and Allison formed an unlikely friendship after their daughters died in remarkably similar circumstances.Annie Gaffney investigates how they turned their grief into action to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening again.

There's a landmark project underway in Melbourne to find out whether psilocybin - the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms - can be used to improve end-of-life experiences.But many Australians have already turned to the underground because they're convinced psychedelics improve their mental health.Geoff Thompson investigates whether it's worth all the risks.

Kimberly's sunny, athletic and inquisitive about everything. But for years she harboured terrible secrets about what happened to her. This week, Janine Fitzpatrick investigates why her school failed to heed credible warnings that she was in danger.This is a repeat of a program that aired in October 2020.

These Australians were denied a fair hearing by one controversial judge. Now, for the first time, they're speaking out about their experiences.Hagar Cohen investigates what happens when the behaviour of a judge inside a courtroom is called into question.This is a repeat of a program that aired in February 2020.

Tristan was a kind and gentle 23-year-old surfer from Byron Bay.One night he suffered a drug-induced psychotic episode.And ended up driven to hospital in a small steel cage.Police say it is probably the worst place he could be.Tristan later died in hospital.Mario Christodoulou investigates the series of tragic events that led to Tristan's death that raise questions about how emergency services treat young drug-affected people in New South Wales.This is a repeat of a program that aired in March 2020.

It's a long-running ‘dummy director’ scam that’s siphoned tens of millions of dollars from workers, small businesses and the taxpayer.In Victoria, a small group of accountants spent 15 years signing on drug users and homeless Australians to help their clients cheat the system.Reporter Dan Oakes investigates how this was allowed to go on for so long.This is a repeat of a program that aired in February 2020.

Did you know you're the lucky operator of a rusty oil rig floating in the Timor Sea? You, along with 25-odd-million others, that is. This week, reporter Alex Mann investigates why Australian taxpayers are forking out four million dollars a month for this facility, some 550km off the coast of Darwin.

It's got audiences bigger than the Superbowl. Its star players earn more for a single tournament than the winner of the Australian Open. Mario Christodoulou investigates how esports became such a success with the match-fixers too.

Ronbert has sailed into bustling ports all over the world. But he can't get home or even set foot on dry land. Geoff Thompson investigates how the closure of borders has left 400,000 seafarers stuck on ships and what can be done to save them.

They helped stamp out coronavirus by relying on human intelligence.But as Rachael Brown discovered, there was a weakness in the system.Sometimes people can't be trusted.

On a spring afternoon in Brisbane's Musgrave Park, 18-year-old traditional dancer and amateur boxer Daniel Yock is drinking with his mates. But when a police van arrives, the mood suddenly changes, triggering a dramatic chain of events. Presented by Allan Clarke, Thin Black Line is a deep dive into what happened that day — according to the one eyewitness who saw it all unfold, speaking publicly for the first time in almost three decades.

Bhavesh was in trouble. His wife had just suffered three heart attacks and he couldn't afford treatment.So he turned to trusted members of his spiritual community for help.But as reporter Meghna Bali discovers, Bhavesh soon started getting death threats instead, and he found himself at the wrong end of one of Australia's biggest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes.

The thin walls of Neville Riley’s makeshift tent do little to block the constant sound of passing cars and trains. And if he was living in a different city when COVID-19 hit Australia, chances are Neville would have been given emergency accommodation months ago. This week, Alex Mann investigates whether a historic opportunity to address homelessness in Western Australia has been lost.

Kimberly's sunny, athletic and inquisitive about everything. But for years she harboured terrible secrets about what happened to her. This week, Janine Fitzpatrick investigates why her school failed to heed credible warnings that she was in danger.

One's a former translator for Bob Hawke, the other loves Henry Lawson's poetry. So when Professor Chen Hong and Li Jianjun got caught up in a police investigation into foreign influence, many of their colleagues expressed surprise. This week, Hagar Cohen investigates why ASIO declared them to be a potential risk to Australia.

The FINCEN Files have revealed how Australian businesses are involved suspicious transactions worth billions of dollars.This week, Mario Christodoulou follows the money trail home to downtown Sydney and investigates why the system designed to stop it often fails.

An unprecedented leak of secret US Government reports has revealed how two trillion dollars of suspected dirty money snakes around the globe. This week on Background Briefing, Mario Christodoulou shows how terrorists and mobsters smuggle staggering sums of money through some of the world's largest banks - and often get away with it.This never-before-told story is the culmination of a 16-month-long investigation by 400 journalists for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Human rights advocates describe the pursuit of the Wikileaks founder as "a threat to global media freedom".But when a magistrate decides whether he'll be extradited to the United States, how much will the public's right to know actually matter?This week on Background Briefing, Meghna Bali goes inside his quest for freedom and uncovers never-before-told stories.