Hungry Beast: May 11

In this week’s episode of Hungry Beast the team plugs into the theme of Power.

Here are two of the stories it will cover:

THE BEAST FILE: HAZELWOOD
While Australia debates a carbon tax, we continue to host the most polluting power station in the industrialised world. The Hazelwood power station in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley burns dirty brown coal, pumping millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year. On its own, it emits more C02 than 120 different countries. The Beast File exposes the full horror of Hazelwood and how poor government planning has lumbered us with it for many years to come.

DO WE CARE ABOUT MEN BEING RAPED?
If you knew that a young man was going to be raped, would you want something done to stop it? Now, what if that young man was in prison? Estimates on the sexual assault rate inside Australia’s prisons range from 2-14%. But the truth is, we don’t really know, because most of our various state-based Corrective Services Departments don’t ask. And even when they do, most prisoners are too scared to report it. The majority of men sexually assaulted in prison are not powerful, violent criminals. They are young and vulnerable, like the man with cerebral palsy who tells Hungry Beast his story of being raped after going to prison for driving without a license. This investigative report reveals a culture of rape inside Australia’s prisons that we – government and citizenry – seem to ignore. Do your human rights really stop just because you’re behind bars?

It airs 9:30pm Wednesday on ABC1.