Billy and Percy

The story of Bob Hawke - Australia's most loved Prime Minister as he faces his greatest challenge: a battle within his own party. As he fights for his life, we discover his incredible transformation from a hard-drinking womanising trade union leader into a visionary world leader. For a man who once sacrificed his family to his job, he must now rely solely on his friendships and allegiances to defeat his challenger and remain in power.

A small Australian island town burned to a cinder one night. Why? In this short you will learn about the history of the autonomous municipality of Hinterborough. A broadcaster breaks down the reasons the preventable disaster that ravaged the island took hold.

1941. A country in crisis. A new man in power. Leadership demands and personal demons are set to collide. The story of John Curtin as he faces his first six months as Prime Minister, confronting in quick succession, the tragedy of Pearl Harbour, the fall of Singapore, the bombing of Darwin and a furious battle with Churchill over the deployment of Australian troops. This is a raw and intimate story of a driven and inspirational leader - a man who struggles to battle his own personal demons while serving and protecting a country at war.

This is a story of coal, communism, and the Australian prime minister who went to war against his own during the national miners' strike of 1949. Using rare archival footage and re-creations, this dramatised documentary shows how Labor Party leader Ben Chifley took on and defeated the growing forces of communism in Australia. The film examines the complex issues that the conflict raised and introduces the major players in the dispute. A former train driver from Bathurst, Chifley was a working-class hero, a Labor Party icon and 'man of the people'. But his actions flew in the face of Labor values and tradition when he believed it was in the interests of post-war Australia. Chifley introduced draconian laws to prevent unions accessing funds to support the strike and sent in the army to replace striking miners-so defeating the Communist Party leadership that controlled the militant union. This is a fascinating era of Australian history rarely seen on screen.

Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen reigned over Queensland for 19 tumultuous years (1968–1987). Hugely popular, he presided over enormous growth, but corruption raged under his tenure, as did electoral manipulation and often violent suppression of dissent. This film tells Joh’s story through rare archival footage and revelatory interviews, exploring a life shaped by a hard yakka, god-fearing upbringing on his family’s farm. Trump’s spectre is evoked in Joh’s famously mangled and meandering way of speaking – brilliantly dramatised by Richard Roxburgh – alongside his unyielding execution of power and the desperate denial of his final days in office.

On November 15, 1938 the steamship Dalfram berthed at No. 4 jetty Port Kembla to load pig iron for Kobe, Japan. Ted Roach, Branch Secretary, addressed the men at the labour pick up for the Dalfram. He told the men of the destination of the pig iron and the use of the pig iron in the use of weapons – first to be used against the Chinese and they feared that eventually - against Australia. At 11 am the men walked off the ship declaring they refused to load pig iron for Japan to turn into weapons. It led to an eleven week lock-out, with incredible pressure being applied by the government of the day. On the 11th of January 1939, Robert Menzies Attorney General at the time, came to Wollongong to sort out the dispute. He met with an angry crowd where a lady screamed out Pig Iron Bob for the first time. It lasted his lifetime.

Queen’s Land tells the oft forgotten history of drag, repression and resistance in Queensland’s queer scene during the Joh Bjelke-Petersen dictatorship. With glitter and glamour Destiny Rogers describes the ups and downs of life under Australia’s most conservative police state through the 60s to 80s. Petrified jelly, bribery, and gay bikies. Despite living in “pig city” a community was able to persist. To complement, Sel Dowd provides a history of the activist struggles of the era which inform our ongoing struggles today.

Across a 45-year career ‘The Oils’ helped shape modern Australia with anthems like “US Forces”, “Beds Are Burning” and “Redneck Wonderland”. Featuring unseen footage and interviews with every band member, alongside signature moments including the outback tour with Warumpi Band, their Exxon protest gig in New York and those famous “Sorry” suits at the Sydney Olympics, Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line traces the journey of Australia’s quintessential rock band.

In this short tribute to silent cinema and Italian cannibal movies, tree huggers start a confrontation with forest workers that turns violent!

Casey Bennette's KEATINGI tears through the reign and fall of the Placido Domingo of Australian politics, Part French farce, part Greek tragedy and all Australian history, KEATINGI transports us back to a time less politically grey. Flip the switch to vaudeville in this recording of ABC TV's August 2008 broadcast of the musical we had to have from Company B.

Follow Australian politician Paul Keating's 1996 election campaign told from the perspective of Santo Cilauro who traveled in the media pool.

A graphic, compelling and factual account of the life of John Joseph Curtin, one of Australia's greatest leaders. This documentary traces Curtin's life from his birth in 1885, through his 'hell fire' youth, his problem with alcohol, his early chequered political career, to the highest position in the nation. All the drama of Curtin's wartime leadership unfolds as he battles to save Australia from Japanese invasion. Narrated by Leo McKern.

Dame Victoria Market, under instructions from the Queen, holds an enquiry into why the Australian ecconomy does not work.

Since 1989, before many of you were born, John Clarke and Bryan Dawe have broadcast a weekly interview in which prominent figures speak about issues of the day. After 20 years this idea is getting into its stride nicely. In the interviews, John makes no attempt to look or sound like the person he is pretending to be, but deals with matters as he sees fit. Bryan persists with dignity and strives for understanding.

A short documentary following the story of a local pub in Adelaide facing threats of demolition.

The story of Fred Paterson, member for Bowen in the Queensland parliament in the 1940s and the only Communist Party member ever elected to any Australian parliament.

A journey through the dark, chilling and frequently unbelievable tales of power-broking and deceit from inside the nation's capital. Australian political journalist and commentator Annabel Crabb goes in search of Canberra's secrets over the past century, exploring the passionate interplay of sex, secrets and subterfuge that has long been carried out in the shadows of the national stage. How have our secrets changed over the past century and what does this reveal about us as a society? This is the history that Canberra has tried to hide.

This bold live performance explores the controversial legacy of John Howard with humour and unapologetic honesty. The show is a mixture of the Jordanism’s recognisable from Friendlyjordies, weird impersonations, a ton of stats and you leave with the niggling feeling that you… learnt something?!

Malcolm Turnbull’s bio begins with his great grandfather in the fledgling colony of Sydney, back then known as ‘Brisbane’. It details Malcolm’s early years, though few records about his 8th week as a foetus are available. Nonetheless, two thirds of the show is devoted to that specific week. The rest focusses on Malcolm’s triumph after triumph adult life. Well may you ask, ‘Is our PM actually Vinny from Entourage?’. Years ago, Jordan physically bumped into Malcolm. MT reeled back, delicately wailing, “MAHahaw”, as though a plague-ridden pleb had sneezed. Since that day, Jordan has been dissecting the origins of MT’s response. Now he believes that fate has inextricably linked him with MT to tiptoe this velvety biographical path together. Malcolm knows you love him…so this show you’ll love.

At a weeklong camp for teenage girls, a counselor leads the campers through a series of exercises that blend the language of female empowerment and body positivity with the kind of radical transparency that makes for good reality TV. The exercises culminate in a bizarre group confessional.