With the federal election fast approaching, and two weeks prior to the leadership spill that would see Gillard relinquish the prime ministership, Sally Warhaft speaks with pre-eminent political journalist Michelle Grattan for a special spotlight edition of the Fifth Estate. What are the issues and initiatives that will matter the most to a voting Australia...

In 2009, young Australian traveller Jock Palfreeman was found guilty of the murder of Andrei Monov. Monov was the son of a family well connected in the Sofia legal fraternity. Palfreeman claimed he went to the defence of gypsies being attacked by Monov and a bunch of soccer hooligans. The prosecution claimed what Palfreeman did...

At the 1960 games in Rome, the first known Olympic doper, Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen, died after being given Roniacol before his race – a drug intended to increase blood circulation. Yet from the East German swimmers, to Ben Johnson and Marion Jones, athletes have continued to push the boundaries of peak fitness with...

It used to be that the ability to tell the truth was the keystone to an honourable life, but in the last 20 years that has changed. Today, your integrity is as dependent, if not more so, on your ability to recognise lies. Award-winning journalist Christine Kenneally looks at the nature of contemporary misinformation –...

Once the Apple Isle, Tasmania’s size and isolation made it the butt of mainland jokes. But those qualities – and its stunning natural environment – are now seen as major advantages. And the buzz (and tourism) generated by MONA, and the island’s new identity as a research hub, suggests times are changing. Favel Parrett, Jo...