60 Minutes: Dec 3

On Sunday’s 60 Minutes a major investigation into the failings that risked compromising operations and lives of AFP cops.

Breaking Cover
Being a police officer can often be dangerous, but within the Australian Federal Police there’s a special division of cops whose role is so constantly treacherous that every day is a matter of life and death. They’re undercover operatives who work at the very front line of crime-fighting in Australia and internationally. The protection of these officers should be a priority, but remarkably, when the AFP conducted a high-level inquiry into its own undercover program, it found major failings that risked compromising operations and lives. In a major investigation by 60 Minutes, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Nick McKenzie reports that police insiders are now so worried about the safety of their brave colleagues they’re breaking cover in the hope of achieving long-term accountability and reform.
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Producers: Amelia Ballinger, Hannah Bowers, Serge Negus

First Aid
Over the past 15 years Australia has given the Solomon Islands more than three billion dollars in aid – far more than any other country has given. Without doubt the help is much needed, but whether it’s appreciated is another matter. It seems the Solomon Islands government is much more grateful for the far less aid it receives from China. In a special report for 60 Minutes, Eryk Bagshaw, North Asia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, travels to the Solomons to investigate the very determined battle between east and west to win hearts and minds in this strategically important Pacific nation.
Reporter: Eryk Bagshaw
Producer: Natalie Clancy

Sole Destroying
When someone goes to a doctor or a surgeon for treatment, the expectation is they will be seen by a professional with a properly accredited medical qualification, right? Well, it’s hard to believe, but that’s not always the case. In Australia there’s a group of practitioners performing complicated operations who don’t have medical degrees. They quite lawfully call themselves podiatric surgeons and they say they have their own special credentials which enable them to treat foot and ankle problems. But in this joint investigation with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Amelia Adams meets patients who have been left in chronic pain and with life-long scars, after surgeries they wish they had never agreed to.
Reporter: Amelia Adams
Producers: Serge Negus, Charlotte Grieve

7pm Sunday on Nine.