Four Corners

This week as Four Corners returns in its 50th year the spotlight falls on the nation's leader. Prime Minister Julia Gillard may be instantly recognisable but many Australian's say they don't really know her or what she stands for.

While WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange has been cast as a heroic champion of free speech, his ongoing expose of US foreign policy would not have been possible without the work of Private Bradley Manning. It was Manning who allegedly stole the classified documents published by WikiLeaks. It is Manning who now languishes in a US military prison.

With access to guerrilla activists and their undercover filming, Matthew Carney reports on the coalition of farmers, local townspeople and even a corporate titan who want to halt Australia's gas rush.

The story of a baby girl plucked from the rubble of the Haiti earthquake and the British doctor who made the momentous decision to evacuate her. A simple act of mercy with profound consequences for everyone involved.

Tony Hayward, BP's former Chief Executive speaks out in a wide-ranging interview, reliving every aspect of the crisis: from being under the US media spotlight and running a multinational in financial meltdown, to dealing with a US President who was making the crisis personal.

First came the massive earthquake; then the monstrous tsunami, sweeping thousands to their deaths. Disasters of such magnitude they almost defy comprehension. But there was more to come. Twenty four hours after the earthquake struck Japan, the roof blew off the Number One reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, triggering a nightmare nuclear scenario. As the days have passed the news from Fukushima has grown more and more worrying and the appalling human tragedy of the tsunami has almost been eclipsed as world headlines focus on the unfolding drama at the crippled nuclear plant. Quentin McDermott reports on how this nuclear emergency began, the increasingly desperate efforts employed to bring the situation under control and the worrying history of the plant's operators.

When 440 passengers boarded Qantas Flight 32 bound for Sydney last November, they had every reason to feel confident. They were flying an airline boasting a unique safety record, on the world's newest, most sophisticated civilian aircraft, powered by prestigious Rolls Royce engines, famous for their reliability. But six minutes into the flight all that would change, when an explosion sent pieces of searing hot metal shooting out of the engine faster than the speed of sound. Four Corners tells the compelling story of the frightening hours that followed.

"We haven't brought you justice... No-one's been called to account." This is the unflinching judgement of Gary Jubelin, one of the nation's leading murder investigators. He's reflecting upon the search for the killer of three Aboriginal children whose murders have haunted the small NSW town of Bowraville and left families torn apart. "Should the murders have been solved? Yes, they should have. Could the murders have been solved? Yes, they could have." Jubelin's verdict calls into question the actions of NSW police involved in the initial hunt for the killer. Reporter Debbie Whitmont takes several of the police officers involved back through the investigation to try and uncover why no-one has been convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Colleen Walker, 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup & 16-year-old Clinton Speedy in 1990 and 1991.

A grand vision or a grand folly? Four Corners sizes up the largest infrastructure project in Australian history.

How 33 miners in Chile, who dodged death, have come to terms with the horror they experienced and their second chance at life.

In the weeks before the death of Osama bin Laden senior US officials claimed that Al Qaeda in Afghanistan had been all but eliminated. Now a courageous Afghan journalist embeds himself with a unit of fighters swearing allegiance to Osama bin Laden. While spending time with them he tries to see if Al Qaeda is making a comeback to the battlefield, how many fighters there are and who is supplying them with weapons and equipment. His name is Najibullah Quraishi. He is the journalist who eighteen months ago told the world what it was like to live with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The documentary was called "Behind Enemy Lines". Back in the capital of Afghanistan, Quraishi began to hear rumours that Al Qaeda fighters were moving back into the country preparing for what might be called "the fighting season". If this is true it will be information that would be of great concern to the West. Having made inquiries Quraishi is told by a source that it might be possible to film behind enemy lines with a band of Al Qaeda fighters.

The Articular Surface Replacement hip or ASR created by DePuy and marketed by the Johnson and Johnson company was sold to doctors and patients as a giant step forward in joint replacement. Its creators boasted it would give greater mobility and help patients get back on their feet quicker. Now reporter Quentin McDermott investigates claims that the metals hips are disintegrating and making patients sick. Australians spend over $7 billion a year on medical devices that are supposed to make their lives better. In most cases they do. Pacemakers, hip and knee replacements can transform a patient's life. But who tests these devices to make sure they are safe? Now some doctors and policy makers say our regulation and testing regime is failing us and they are calling for greater scrutiny being directed to this essential industry.

An explosive expose of the cruelty inflicted on Australian cattle exported to the slaughterhouses of Indonesia.

The story of strife-torn Yemen, seen through the eyes of a young English-born Muslim returning to the place he believes is his homeland. He's in for a shock.

Australian Defence Force personnel tell how they have been brutalised and abused while the system that was supposed to protect them let them down, or in some cases chose to punish them.

An investigation exposing how Italy's most ruthless organised crime syndicate has taken over one of the country's most beautiful cities, killing its citizens and poisoning its water, making massive amounts of money and effectively operating an alternative government. Italians are no strangers to organised crime and violence. Each region of Italy has spawned its own version of the Mafia. In Sicily, it is the Cosa Nostra. In Calabria, it is the Ndrangheta. The Camorra is the Naples mafia. Over the past three decades it has been responsible for the death of 3,000 people. Anyone who opposes the Camorra's rule becomes a target. Few are brave enough to resist its demands. Despite suffering setbacks at the hands of a few committed investigators, it remains as strong as ever. The Camorra is into drug trafficking, racketeering, business, politics and even the garbage disposal industry. Naples' recent waste crisis was in part blamed on the crime syndicate. Its grip on the city is far reaching. Talking to Camorra insiders who have never spoken to the media before, and drawing on interviews with Camorra victims who are fighting back, reporter Mark Franchetti investigates Italy's most brutal crime gangs and tries to understand how they have survived so long in a country at the heart of Europe and asks what it will take to defeat them.