''60 Minutes'' is an Australian version of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

television

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

show ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

,'' airing since 1979 on Sunday nights on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. A New Zealand version uses segments of the show. The program is one of five inducted into Australia’s television Logie Hall of Fame.

History

The program was founded by veteran television producer Gerard Stone, who was appointed its inaugural executive producer in 1979 by media magnate

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

. Stone devised it to be an Australian version of CBS's US ''Sixty Minutes'' program and it featured well known reporters Ray Martin, Ian Leslie and

George Negus George Edward Negus AM (born 13 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian TV journalism, first appearing on the ABC’s groundbreaking T ...

. Its prominent early programs included a 1981 interview Negus conducted with UK leader

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, during which the prime minister aggressively countered his questions. Negus asked Thatcher why people described her as ''pig-headed'' and the Prime Minister demanded he tell her who, when and where such comments were made. In 1982, Jana Wendt interviewed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and asked him why he had been so often described as a terrorist, a butcher, a gangster and a madman. In 2019, the program produced a report on the infiltration of organised crime into listed Australian casino firm

Crown Resorts Crown Resorts Limited is Australia's largest gaming and entertainment group that owns and operates two of Australia's leading gambling and entertainment complexes, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth. It was listed on the Australian Securities E ...

. It led to multiple state and federal inquiries, including the NSW Bergin Inquiry, that recommended Crown Resorts may be unfit to hold a casino licence. In March 2021, the Nine Network launched a one hour one story studio-based ''60 Minutes''

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

''Under Investigation'' presented by Liz Hayes and produced by Gareth Harvey that features a panel of guests.

Staff

Current correspondents

Liz Hayes Elizabeth Hayes (née Ryan, born 23 May 1956) is an Australian reporter, journalist and television presenter. Career Hayes is best known for her work as a reporter on ''60 Minutes'', and as a former co-host of ''Today''. Hayes was born in Ta ...

(1996–present) * Tara Brown (2001–present) * Sarah Abo (2019–present) * Tom Steinfort (2018, 2020–present) * Amelia Adams (2022–present)

Former correspondents

(1979–1986) * Ray Martin (1979–1984) * Ian Leslie (1979–1989) * Kate Baillieu (1979, resigned before show went to air) * Jana Wendt (1982–1986, 1994) * Jeff McMullen (1985–2000) *

Jennifer Byrne Jennifer Victoria Byrne (born 5 March 1955) is an Australian journalist, television presenter and former book publisher. She hosted the monthly ABC television program '' The Book Club'', originally titled ''First Tuesday Book Club''. Early li ...

(1986–1993) * Mike Munro (1986–1992) * Richard Carleton † (1987–2006) * Tracey Curro (1993–1997) * Ellen Fanning (1999–2000) * Paul Barry (2004–2005) * Peter Harvey † (2003–2013) *

Michael Usher Michael Usher is an Australian television presenter and reporter. Usher presents ''Seven News Sydney'' on Friday and Saturday with Angela Cox and ''The Latest: Seven News''. Career Usher graduated from All Saints' College, Perth in 1987. He we ...

(2009–2016) *Ross Coulthart (2015-2018) * Charles Wooley (1993–2005, 2009–2019) *

Liam Bartlett Liam Bartlett (born 30 June 1961) is an Australian journalist and reporter, best known for his career in radio and television. Career Born in Perth, Western Australia, previously, Bartlett had a six-year stint with ABC radio station 720 ABC Pe ...

(2006–2012, 2015–2022)

Contributing reporters

* Peter Overton (2001–2009 full-time, 2009–present) * Karl Stefanovic (2005–present) * Ray Martin (2010–present) *

Deborah Knight Deborah Knight (born 23 November 1972) is an Australian television and news presenter, radio host, and journalist. Knight is currently a radio presenter on 2GB and host of '' A Current Affair'' on Friday and Saturday. Previously she has been a c ...

(2020–present) * Allison Langdon (2011–2017 full-time, 2018–present) *

Nick McKenzie Nick McKenzie is an Australian investigative journalist. He has won ten Walkley Awards, been twice named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year and also received the Kennedy Award for Journalist of the Year in 2020 and 2022. He is ...

(2019–present)

Commentators

Paul Lyneham Paul Lyneham (13 August 1945 – 24 November 2000) was an Australian journalist, commentator and television presenter. Lyneham was born in Melbourne

† (1996–2000) * Peter Harvey † (2003–2013)

Executive producers

Gerald Stone Gerald Louis Stone (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author. Early years and career Born in 1933 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Stone graduated in poli ...

† (1979–1992) * Kirsty Thomson (2016–present)

Awards

''60 Minutes'' has won numerous awards for broadcasting, including five Silver Logies, one Special Achievement Logie, and received nominations for a further six Logie awards. In 2018, ''60 Minutes'' was inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame. In 2019, its report on the organised crime infiltration of gaming giant ''

'' was awarded a Walkley Award and led to two Royal Commissions. In 2020, its program on political malfeasance, ''The Faceless Man'', was awarded a

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for best long format television reporting.

Controversies

In February 1988, ''60 Minutes'' collaborated with

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010 ...

to create a fictional psychic called "Carlos", played by José Alvarez, for an elaborate investigation into how much free publicity a fraudulent medium could garner through the Australian media, and how such people could manipulate the gullibility of vulnerable people. However, during their investigation and successful attempt at convincing the Australian media that "Carlos" was a genuinely notable medium who had a strong following in America, other Channel 9 programs were caught out reporting on the fake "Carlos" who appeared on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' and '' A Current Affair'' and was featured on ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sund ...

'' and ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

''. An orchestrated incident where his assistant threw water on

during a second appearance on ''Today'' garnered even more attention for "Carlos". When the sting was revealed on ''60 Minutes'', anger at the network was palpable and reports soon circulated about staff sackings as a result. In April 2016, Tara Brown and eight other people (including three other staff members of Nine, David Ballment, Stephen Rice, and Ben Williamson) were arrested on allegations of child abduction in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. According to Lebanese authorities, ''60 Minutes'' allegedly paid $115,000 directly to the Child Abduction Recovery International Agency, despite claims that the exchange was made by the mother of the children. The abduction agency used has also been widely discredited, with fake recovery stories being posted on Facebook and their operators having been arrested all over the world. The recovery involved the team waiting in a parked car on the street and then snatching the children from their grandmother and nanny before driving away. "A Lebanese judicial source" told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' that the group were to be charged with "armed abduction, purveying threats and physical harm" – crimes which carry sentences of twenty years' imprisonment with hard labour. The group were released from custody only after Nine paid a substantial money settlement to the father of the children the subject of the abduction attempt. This operation sparked wide debate about the ethics of the journalism being conducted. In May 2019, a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England d ...

ruled that a ''60 Minutes'' story aired in 2015 about the 2011 Grantham floods defamed four members of the Wagner family, from

Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 202 ...

, by implying they were responsible for the 12 deaths that occurred during the disaster. In November, a

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

ordered Channel Nine to pay $2.4 million plus $63,000 in

interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...

to the family. Nick Cater, a journalist featured in the program, was ordered to pay an additional $1.2 million in

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

. Justice Peter Applegarth, who was in charge of the case, stated that while Cater had information contradicting the program's allegations, he did not include them in the story. Applegarth also concluded that Channel Nine failed to inform the Wagners of the allegations until after the program had been publicised, and when the family did send a statement to Nine, they did not include it in the program.

References

External links

Australia's ''60 Minutes'' official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:60 Minutes (Australian Tv Program) Australian television news shows Nine News 1979 Australian television series debuts 1980s Australian television series 1990s Australian television series 2000s Australian television series 2010s Australian television series 60 Minutes Television shows set in Sydney English-language television shows Australian television series based on American television series