Background Briefing
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Background Briefing tells true stories not everyone will want you to hear. We infuse investigative reporting with captivating drama, following the thread of an individual story only to find that it leads us to something bigger. It's the only podcast in Australia that does this week in, week out.
Hosted by Thomas Oriti.
We want to hear from you too. If you have a tip-off, please contact us at backgroundbriefing[at]abc.net.au
Hosted by Thomas Oriti.
We want to hear from you too. If you have a tip-off, please contact us at backgroundbriefing[at]abc.net.au
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 1, 2022 • 43min
Summer Season: 'The ghosts are not silent'
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.This is a repeat of a program that aired in September 2021.
Dec 25, 2021 • 41min
Summer Season: The death Uber Eats disowned
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.This is a repeat of a program that aired in June 2021.
Dec 18, 2021 • 44min
Summer Season: The place where people mysteriously disappear
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.This is a repeat of a program that aired in March 2021.
Dec 11, 2021 • 43min
The giant wind farms clearing Queensland bush
There’s growing community backlash over the locations chosen for a number of massive new windfarm projects in Northern Queensland.And as Mayeta Clark discovered, its coming from unlikely quarters.
Dec 4, 2021 • 42min
The infiltrator who helped hatch a terror plot
A young Melbourne man got ten years' jail after attempting to buy a gun in preparation for a possible terrorist attack.Now his family is speaking publicly for the first time, raising questions about who escalated the plot.Mahmood Fazal investigates.
Nov 27, 2021 • 40min
The biggest financial scandal you've never heard of
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.
Nov 20, 2021 • 41min
Boom time in carbon farming country
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.
Nov 13, 2021 • 41min
The hidden terror that's splitting people's identities
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.
Nov 6, 2021 • 37min
Vulnerable, unvaxxed, and running out of time
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.
Oct 30, 2021 • 45min
How a conspiracy and a question led to 18 years jail
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.
