60 Minutes - Season 17 / Year 2025

60 Minutes returns on Sunday with a story which centres around the tragic deaths of tourists, including two Australians, following methanol poisoning at a backpacker hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos.

Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles knew each other their entire lives. They grew up as the very best of best friends. Last November, the two 19-year-old women from Melbourne did what hundreds of thousands of young people over the world do every year. They went backpacking through Asia. But in communist Laos, they struck trouble. Adventure turned to tragedy when Bianca and Holly inadvertently consumed alcohol tainted with deadly methanol. Days later they lost their lives. And so did four other travellers who drank from the same batch of bad spirits: three young women from Denmark and England, and an American man. In the 2025 season premiere of 60 Minutes the heartbroken parents of the Australian, Danish and English victims tell Tara Brown of their determination to do all they can to expose the dangers methanol-laced alcohol poses to travellers around the world. They also reveal their frustration with authorities in Laos who have been less than transparent in sharing information about how this tragedy happened, and who is responsible.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producers: Serge Negus, Sheree Gibson

THE MONSTER OF MAZAN
On 60 MINUTES a story so deplorable it redefines the meaning of immorality. Mazan used to be an unremarkable little village in southern France. Today it's better described as a place of evil because it's now known that among its residents lived a monster. Dominique Pelicot pretended he was a loving family man when in fact he was a sexual deviant. His victim was his unsuspecting wife Gisèle, who he repeatedly secretly drugged and raped. That's horrific enough, but Pelicot also recruited more than 70 other men to join his criminal depravity that went on for almost ten years before it was discovered. However, while Gisèle Pelicot suffered terribly, there was no way she going to let the torture she endured ruin her life. At her husband's trial, she bravely agreed to waive her right to anonymity so the full extent of his nefarious behaviour would be exposed. Caroline Darian is the daughter of Gisèle and Dominique Pelicot, and in an exclusive interview with Dimity Clancey, she gives an insider's account of the case that shocked the world. 
Reporter: Dimity Clancey
Producer: Natalie Clancy

BIG DEAL
What makes Luke Combs such a big deal is that he's not. Sure, he's a country and western megastar, but as Adam Hegarty discovered, when you meet him off stage he's so disarmingly normal it's just like having a natter with a neighbour over the back fence. It's no wonder millions of people around the world love this bloke from North Carolina. For the past few weeks Luke has been touring Australia, playing to record crowds in packed-out stadiums. Seeing the joy he brings to his fans is, well, a joy to behold.
Reporter: Adam Hegarty
Producer: Garry McNab

Taken for a Ride
Along with politicians, real estate agents and journalists, taxi drivers are much-criticised. Like those employed in the other professions though, more cabbies are honest and hard-working than not. But the ratbags take rorting to a new level. In a 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald investigation, Nick McKenzie has uncovered shocking cases of taxi drivers not only ripping off their customers financially, but also physically abusing them. The story includes McKenzie's own frightening run-in with an angry cabbie after he queried a fare, with the footage of the incident being enough to make anyone thinking about jumping into a taxi think again.
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Producer: Amelia Ballinger

At Home with the Duttons
Unfriendly. Unlikeable. Unelectable. For those who oppose Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, he's easy to characterise. If you believe recent polls though, being unpopular isn't all bad. And that's because what was once thought impossible has now happened. Dutton has overtaken Anthony Albanese as preferred Prime Minister. With a federal election looming, it's a very good position to be in. But for someone who is all too regularly making headlines, Peter Dutton remains a mystery to many Australians. On 60 MINUTES, Karl Stefanovic travels to the Dutton family home in Queensland to get the lowdown on the man aspiring to our highest office from those who know him best: his wife Kirilly and children Rebecca, Harry and Tom.
Reporter: Karl Stefanovic
Producer: Hannah Bowers

Facing our Threats
As our top spy, ASIO boss Mike Burgess prefers to do his work away from the public gaze. But so concerned has he become about the increasing threats to Australia's security that he has a message he wants all Australians to see and hear. Speaking to Nick McKenzie, Burgess says now is the most dangerous time our country has experienced in the last 50 years. He warns our enemies are everywhere, and unless we all start taking the nation's security seriously, we're in for a world of pain.
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Producer: Laura Sparkes

Targeting Australia
The plot was as sophisticated as it was evil. ISIS terrorists had decided to target Australia. It was eight years ago and their nefarious ambition was to inflict maximum fear and loss of life by planting a bomb on a packed passenger plane and detonating it over New South Wales. If they'd succeeded, hundreds of people in the air, and probably more on the ground, would have been killed. On 60 Minutes, Amelia Adams investigates just how close their plan came to succeeding, and frighteningly, why Australians still need to be alarmed. Speaking from a death-row prison cell in Iraq, the terrorist mastermind of the plot issues a chilling warning that ISIS remains a deadly threat and is inspiring a new generation of radicalised zealots, ready to once again reign terror on the west.
Reporter: Amelia Adams
Producers: Laura Sparkes, Toni Ambrogetti

Where there's a Will
Forget the palaces, the priceless jewels and all those forever-fussing servants. Being the King is not an easy job. In the two and a half years Charles the Third has been monarch, royal watchers say he's been impressive, especially considering he has been fighting cancer for much of that time. But although the thought is dreaded, King Charles' illness is a reality check for the Firm, as the royal family is known. It means there is added impetus to ensure Prince William, 42, is match-fit for a possible call-up to the top job. So how would he wear the crown? In London, Dimity Clancey speaks with some of the Prince of Wales' closest confidants to find out if he is really ready to reign.
Reporter: Dimity Clancey
Producer: Natalie Clancy

Where There's Smoke, There's Firebombing
Where there's smoke, there's firebombing is now an unwelcome reality for tobacconists, predominantly in Victoria, but increasingly elsewhere around the country too. In the last 18 months, as many as 200 of their shops have been destroyed as criminals try to wrest control of the lucrative illegal tobacco market. What's worrying though is not only the level of violence, but why this thuggery started in the first place. As Nick McKenzie reports in this joint 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald investigation, by taxing cigarettes so exorbitantly in an attempt to stop people smoking, the Federal government has inadvertently created a thriving black market worth five billion dollars a year.
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Producer: Serge Negus

Albo & Jodie
In Canberra the distance between the Prime Minister's home, the Lodge, and the Governor-General's residence at Yarralumla is about four kilometres. Anytime now, in the next few days or weeks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be taking the five-minute trip to visit Sam Mostyn to officially call this year's federal election. Of course, unofficially, the campaign has been pretty much in full swing for months. Two weeks ago, Opposition leader Peter Dutton and his family talked to Karl Stefanovic about the highs and lows of a life in politics. Now it's the turn of Albo and his soon-to-be bride, and possible secret weapon, Jodie Haydon.
Reporter: Karl Stefanovic
Producers: Natalie Clancy, Hannah Bowers

MH370: Third Time Lucky?
In a few days there will be another grim anniversary for the families of the 239 passengers and crew who were aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. On March 8, it will be 11 years since the Boeing 777 disappeared, somewhere in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean. But now there is renewed cause for hope for some long-awaited answers. As Dimity Clancey reports, another search for the aircraft is currently underway. However, unlike the previous two failed searches, this one is using much more advanced technology to map a comprehensive picture of the ocean floor. Could it be third time lucky in the attempt to solve one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time?
Reporter: Dimity Clancey
Producers: Sammi Taylor, Nichola Younger

The crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein are well known. The two rich and powerful men inflicted horrendous abuse on young and vulnerable women who had had the misfortune of entering their orbits, both voluntarily and not. Now, however, a new name can be added to this roll call of despicable abusers, Mohamed Al Fayed. Until now he's been better known as the father of Dodi, who died alongside Princess Diana in 1997. At the time, Al Fayed senior revelled in baseless conspiracy theories that Dodi and Diana were murdered at the behest of the Royal Family. What wasn't known back then though was that Al Fayed, the formidable billionaire owner of department store Harrods, was a serial sexual predator. And as Tara Brown reports in a special edition of 60 Minutes, among the hundreds of women he preyed on there were at least 14 Australians.

Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Anne Worthington

60 Minutes Nick McKenzie revisits the CFMEU saga, revealing new information.

Building Worse
Eight months ago, in a series of award-winning stories, 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, exposed endemic corruption and criminality at Australia's most powerful construction union, the CFMEU. Nick McKenzie's reports, "Building Bad", so horrified federal and state governments that immediate action was promised. Police investigations were launched, an administrator was appointed to take over the running over the union, and influential union figures, including bikies who'd wheedled their way into the organisation, were sacked. It looked like the rot was finally over. However, as McKenzie now discovers, that's far from the case. In fact it's business as usual for many of thugs associated with the CFMEU as they continue bullying and ripping off anyone who stands in their way.
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Producers: Amelia Ballinger, Hannah Bowers

Why I Killed My Mother
You're unlikely to encounter anyone sweeter than Gypsy-Rose Blanchard. She really is charming. But she's also a convicted murderer. With help from a so-called boyfriend she met online, she killed her own mother. The brutal crime – Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard was stabbed 17 times – happened ten years ago, and Gypsy-Rose was imprisoned. But now she's free. On 60 Minutes, Amelia Adams meets a controversial young woman very determined to let the world know why she did what she did.
Reporter: Amelia Adams
Producers: Nichola Younger, Sheree Gibson

Pride & Prejudice
It can't be understated just how momentous January the 6th 2021 was for American democracy. It was the day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The lead up to this dark moment in history began two months earlier when Donald Trump lost, but claimed he won, the 2020 Presidential election. The lie became Trump's mantra and the catalyst for the attack on America's most important institution. One of the instigators of the violence that day in January was Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right, neo-fascist group, the Proud Boys. He ended up being imprisoned for 22 years for seditious conspiracy. One thousand five hundred others were also sent to prison. But remarkably, now they're all free, beneficiaries of Trump Presidential pardons. And as Amelia Adams reports, armed with their ‘get out of jail' cards, Tarrio and his Proud Boys are not only empowered, they say they're invincible.
Reporter: Amelia Adams
Producer: Garry McNab

Mismatch of the Day
According to Rebecca Loos, soccer superstar David Beckham was not only a player on the field, off it he was one as well. Back in 2004, when she was his 26-year-old personal assistant, she publicly admitted they had a torrid affair. At the time, and unusually for such an attacking footballer, Beckham was defensive. He pleaded it was ludicrous to suggest he was unfaithful to his Spice Girl wife, Victoria. The denial infuriated Loos because she felt it implied she had lied. Eventually her anger gave way to resignation, but two years ago a rather vainglorious David Beckham obliquely referenced the liaison in a Netflix documentary. As Rebecca tells Dimity Clancey, his comments were an own goal that has given her a free kick to strike back.
Reporter: Dimity Clancey
Producer: Sammi Taylor

Tragedy in Tamworth
The pain is unbearable and the frustration immense. Baylen Pendergast's father, Luke, can't fathom how 11 years on from his toddler son's mysterious death, no one has been held responsible. There have been no arrests and no charges laid. That's despite overwhelming medical evidence suggesting the 21-month-old boy suffered horrific, non-accidental injuries. It's a tragedy that has stunned the country New South Wales community of Tamworth where Baylen lived. On 60 Minutes, Adam Hegarty investigates why, after more than a decade, there are still no answers for his dad.
Reporter: Adam Hegarty
Producers: Laura Sparkes, Toni Ambrogetti

Oops
It's easy to understand why actress Madeleine West is so committed to protecting children, and not just because she's a mother of six. As 60 Minutes reported last year, when she was a young girl Madeleine was the victim of a serial paedophile. For 40 years she kept the abuse secret, but then, in the performance of her life, she helped police collect the evidence they needed to charge the perpetrator. Peter Vincent White was subsequently imprisoned for 15 years for crimes against seven children. Now there is a new chapter for Madeleine West. She has a remarkable and wonderful surprise she wants to share – one that started with oops.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Nichola Younger