60 Minutes

Security Breach It's been a hell of a year for everyone. But for Victorians, and in particular people living in Melbourne, the resurgence of coronavirus COVID-19 and the return to lockdown has been especially tough. Up until a few weeks ago things had looked so different and there was even cautious optimism that the virus was being beaten. But by escaping containment it has now proved how devious it really is. What remains both galling and inexcusable though is how the state government of Victoria lost control of the disease. Sarah Abo reports on an appalling breach of security that's causing a catastrophe. 'Til Depp Do Us Part It's a Hollywood drama like the world has never seen. With an A-list cast, it's full of intrigue and fiery dialogue, and topped off with lashings of sex and drugs. There is even a pivotal scene set right here in Australia, starring politician Barnaby Joyce. But this production isn't playing at any theatre. Centre stage is a London court where actor Johnny Depp is suing an English tabloid for calling him a wife beater. As Tom Steinfort reveals, no one is going to win an Oscar, but Depp and his one-time bride, actress Amber Heard, have been putting on the performance of their lives, airing every sordid detail of their bizarre and doomed marriage. Order of the Court For three decades, Karen Simmons kept a terrible secret. As a young girl she was a victim of traumatic sexual abuse. In 2017, she bravely decided it was time to speak about her ordeal. She went to the police, and last year also told her harrowing story on 60 Minutes. Now there has been a significant development in the case: Karen's alleged attacker has been charged with 11 counts of historic child sex abuse. But while this courageous woman feels relief, she is furious because a court has ordered the man's identity to be kept secret.

Mary Trump The president of the United States is often referred to as the most powerful man in the world. But Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump says the current POTUS is really the most dangerous man in the world. She is so troubled by Trump's abuse of his position that she says it's her patriotic duty to take him down. And to do that she has written a brutal tell-all memoir. As Liam Bartlett discovers in an Australian television exclusive interview, the book is the ultimate insider's account of a truly dysfunctional family. But it has added substance because Dr Mary Trump is also a clinical psychologist. Her analysis of how her Uncle Don became Uncle Sam is not just a page-turner, it's a horror story. What Now? For more than six months coronavirus COVID-19 has proven to be a sneaky and formidable opponent. However, Australians were doing well in the battle, and up until a few weeks ago the national plan to combat the virus by suppressing, but not necessarily eradicating it, seemed to be working. What's now happening in Victoria though is not only a grim reminder of how easy it is for the disease to spiral out of control, it's a call to rethink our strategy about how to fight it. Most of the debate is about whether to stick with suppression or leap to elimination, to try to rid the country of the virus once and for all. But Liz Hayes reports that, as controversial as it is, there is also another way. Enemy of the State: Update Federal MP Bob Katter and University of Queensland philosophy student Drew Pavlou make an unlikely duo. But they formed an alliance after Katter watched last week's 60 Minutes and saw the treatment dished out to Pavlou by his university. The 21-year-old student was the organiser of a pro-democracy rally on campus which turned violent when Chinese communist thugs attacked him. But instead of cracking down on the unruly mob, the UQ punished Pavlou. Following the 60 Minutes story Drew Pavlou was overwhelmed with support, most notably from Katter, who tells Tom Steinfort he's so angry he is now demanding a parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference at all Australian universities.

Enemy of the State When 21-year-old student Drew Pavlou organised his first-ever protest at his university campus in Brisbane, little could he have imagined the extraordinary chain of events he would set off. His criticism of China's record on human rights saw him bashed by pro-Beijing protestors and branded an enemy of the Chinese state. What's worse, he and his family were deluged with death threats in a disturbing campaign of intimidation designed to shut him up. You'd think the University of Queensland would race to the defence of its student, but it appears instead to have gone on the attack. The accusation that it has sided with the communist regime raises serious questions about its reliance on Chinese money and how deep Beijing's influence on campus goes. Fire and Ice Making fire from ice may sound like the impossible. But that's exactly what scientists have been able to do in the wilderness of the Arctic as a sleeping giant begins to stir. Ground that's been frozen for thousands of years is rapidly thawing out, releasing dangerous gases on a colossal scale. The result is not only wreaking chaos on local communities but has the potential to rapidly accelerate global warming. Just before the planes stopped flying, Sarah Abo travelled to spectacular Alaska to investigate this worrying new environmental threat that has profound implications for us all.