Dig - Sirens Are Coming: Recent Episodes
ABC Podcasts
Queensland in the 1950s: god-fearing, morally upstanding, tough on crime. Beneath the surface, a murky world of gambling, drugs and brothels were kept in check by three crooked cops known as The Rat Pack. It was this trio who perfected a corrupt system that would wreak havoc for more than 30 years in the sunshine state.
At the core of the Rat Pack's corruption was a routine of bribery and extortion with the city's underground brothels. A small group of sex workers were crucial to maintaining relationships which generated millions of illicit dollars that kept the wheels turning for these crooked cops. The women were forced to cooperate with police, have sex with detectives and toe the line. But eventually, the same women who helped build a criminal empire were the ones to help break it. Meticulously researched, action-packed and rich with never-heard-before tape, host Matthew Condon (Three Crooked Kings, Ghost Gate Road) exposes the decades-long institutional crime and corruption of the Queensland police force through the stories of five courageous sex workers who dared to take them on.
Unravel presents the new BBC Studios series, Believe in Magic. This series tells the story of 16-year-old Megan Bhari who set up a charity called Believe in Magic, which gained the backing of global celebrities One Direction. The charity granted wishes to seriously ill children. But when her supporters were told that Megan herself had a brain tumour, and needed money for treatments abroad, a small group of parents doubted the claims. Further investigations led by Jamie Bartlett (The Missing Cryptoqueen) and producer Ruth Mayer uncover a disturbing story happening behind closed doors.
Search for the podcast and listen to all seven episodes now.
The Franklin campaign isn't just an environmental conservation story, it's also a story about Aboriginal heritage. Tasmanian Palawa man, activist and lawyer Michael Mansell talks to Piia Wirsu about this chapter in history, his experience growing up in a white Tasmanian society, and why he saw many of the Franklin activists as racist.
Christine Milne is a name synonymous with the Greens in Australia, and for her, like so many others, her environmental career began after she was arrested at the Franklin blockade.In this extended interview, Christine takes us through the highs and lows of her career, and why she believes environmental activists should "just keep going".
The Franklin river's fate all comes down to a legal challenge between state and federal powers.In the final episode of Saving the Franklin: the moment this so-called wilderness war all came to an end.
In this episode of Saving the Franklin, scenes on the West Coast get uglier and uglier, and the campaigners turn to the mainland for support as a Federal election looms.
In this episode of Saving the Franklin, thousands of protesters fly into the sleepy town of Strahan to prepare for the biggest moment in the campaign: the blockade.An army of national media descend, and the first bulldozer is taken upriver, for a shocking confrontation on the water.
The campaigners had painted the Franklin River as an untouched natural wonder, a place free from human interference: a wilderness.But the rediscovery of a cave along the Franklin throws everything into question. The finding is so significant it reshapes modern understanding of human history – and it paves the way for a new strategy to save the River.
The Franklin Dam proposal symbolised a lifeline to struggling communities on Tasmania's West Coast, recovering from the end of a mining era. Yet for environmentalists, it symbolised destruction and greed.In this episode of Saving the Franklin, the battle lines are drawn between pro-dammers and environmentalists and the State Government is caught in the middle, until it's forced to act.
The fight to save the Franklin River started in a totally different part of Tasmania's wilderness: with a proposal to dam the paradise inland beach of Lake Pedder. In this episode of Saving the Franklin, a mystery disappearance and a devastating loss signal to campaigners just how far they'll have to go in the next battle.
Australia's biggest-ever environmental battle was over a wild river in a remote part of Tasmania: the Franklin. Protesters flooded in from all over Australia to stop the Franklin River from being dammed for hydropower. They stood in front of bulldozers and were jailed for it. But for lots of locals, the dam represented a job opportunity at a time of economic crisis. This fight tore apart communities and captured the attention of the nation.Today, more people are concerned about the planet than ever before…so in a fight for the environment, this season of Dig investigates: What does it take to win?
For the first time since taking the stand at the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Katherine James (not her real name) has decided to speak publicly. In this exclusive interview, Katherine describes how she went from a teenage madam to a young mother entering witness protection, and whether, 35 years later, it was all worth it.
There have been some exciting developments since we published Sirens Are Coming, so stay tuned to this feed for further episodes. In the meantime, if you have material or information you believe is relevant to the history of Queensland's police corruption in the sex work industry and beyond, tell us about it by writing to dig@your.abc.net.au
The Rat Pack has its day of reckoning: The Fitzgerald Inquiry. Katherine James is key to exposing the corruption that's infiltrated the Queensland police force for the last forty years, but the cost of speaking out is high.
Fresh criminal networks emerge and flood Brisbane's streets, in an era known as the New Joke. A determined young hustler, Katherine James, rises through the ranks to become a trusted manager and confidante to some of the biggest crime syndicates Brisbane has ever seen. But when she decided to forge her own path, obstacles appear from every angle.
A new generation of madams and sex workers begin to find their place in the Sunshine State. An enterprising Simone Vogel stands out in the crowd, until she disappears.
Just when the Rat Pack look set to crumble, Shirley Brifman is found dead. Meanwhile Dorothy Edith Knight, fresh from taking down Glen Hallahan in the sting operation, realises her ordeal with the police is only just beginning.
In the early 1970s, The Rat Pack faced a challenge. Shirley Brifman — who lied at the National Hotel Inquiry to protect these crooked cops — would turn from their biggest ally to their greatest threat. And Dorothy Edith Knight would take a life-threatening leap, in an effort to make a break from the cop she loved.
In 1958, the Rat Pack were born — three dirty cops who would use bribery and extortion for the next forty years in Queensland to wield power over sex workers. Two of their early recruits were Dorothy Edith Knight, who fell in love with one Rat Packer Glen Hallahan, and Shirley Brifman, who did their dirty work in Queensland's first-ever Royal Commission into police misconduct.
Three crooked cops. Four courageous women. A decades-long power struggle that remains full of mysteries to this day.
What happened to our hapless hero Hayden Haitana and his merry band of race fixers? Before we put our story to bed, there's one more mind-bending twist to consider: the Double Sting.
When a Sydney gangster is gunned down, speculation is rife that he may have been the mastermind behind the Fine Cotton ring-in. But then, a surprise confession from a notorious bank robber and career criminal changes everything.
Hayden Haitana has become the most well-known — and loved — fugitive in Australia. But the law finally catches up with him and the other culprits. But who's taking care of Fine Cotton? And who will be thrown under the bus?
In the wake of Haitana's television expose, new players enter the story — in particular, one dogged racing official determined to get beyond the denials and cover-ups.
When the disqualification is announced, all hell breaks loose and the Gillespie crew scatter to the winds. Soon the failed ring-in is making headlines around the country. Hayden and Gillespie hatch a deal to spill the beans on Australia's biggest current affairs show: 60 Minutes.
By some sort of miracle, the horse (that vaguely looks like Fine Cotton) makes it to the barrier. At 33-1 odds, the gang looks set to make a motza, but suddenly everyone's in on the scam. The odds tumble as bets are placed on Fine Cotton to win from as far away as Sydney, Tasmania and even Papua New Guinea.
A week out from race day disaster strikes. The fast horse meant to replace Fine Cotton is injured and his sub-in is the wrong colour. The creative solution? Multiple trips to the chemist and a long boozy night of applying women's hair dye to a horse.
Meet Hayden Haitana, the lovable, ever-so-slightly dodgy horse trainer who lands himself in Australia's biggest racing scandal. He's going straight, no more shortcuts to win. Until his brother introduces him to conman John Gillespie, and a horse called Fine Cotton.
The Fine Cotton Ring In was one of the biggest scandals in Australian horseracing history. A plan to swap a slow horse with a much faster look-alike involved a motley crew of small-time crooks, a couple of horses and a hell of a lot of hair dye. What were they thinking? Dig is a history podcast with a fresh take on an iconic story from Australia's not-so-glorious past.