Events That Changed Australia

Our national game used to be available to only half of the population - until women became an unstoppable force on the Australian sporting field.

Unfolding across the late 1990s and 2000s in a series of violent and very public confrontations, Melbourne's gangland wars was a time of true fear for Melbournians. What began as underworld rivalries over drugs, money, and power spiralled into an all out street war, with more than thirty murders linked to the conflict. The ordinary suburbs of Melbourne became the backdrop for brazen executions, drive-by shootings, and daylight ambushes that shocked ordinary Australians. Central to the bloodshed were figures like Carl Williams, the Moran brothers, and Alphonse Gangitano, whose names became synonymous with violence, excess, and the media-fuelled glamour of organised crime. The gang wars left a permanent scar on Melbourne's identity, shifting the way Australians viewed criminals: no longer folk heroes or larrikins, but dangerous men whose violence spilled into everyday life.

How Australia's richest man disrupted cricket - and amateur sport - in this country forever, and created professional sport as we know it.

From the riots that inspired mardi gras, to homophobia in the 1980s, celebrities coming out in the 1990s and monumental stand-offs in the most powerful corridors of power just last decade, the 2017 vote for marriage equality in Australia is the story of a changing nation. From a place where being gay was still against the law, to one where everyone is now equal, this episode features perspectives from all sides of the Same Sex Marriage issue, and uses the window of popular culture to look at the key events and characters that tested our ‘fair go' nation.