Program: ABC Rewind

Source:ABC Radio National

Latest Episode

Brought to you by

ABC Radio National

The home of gripping narrative history series. Dive into true stories told by the people who lived through them.

Broadcast on ABC Radio National: Sundays 4pm.

Episodes

Sorted by latest

05 | The end of the road

It’s 1994 and fugitive billionaire tycoon Christopher Skase lies in a Majorcan hospital bed under police guard. A Spanish court has ordered he is well enough to be extradited back to Australia to face corporate crime charges. But Skase is appealing.

Published: YesterdayFri 17 Oct 2025 at 2:00am

An illustration of a white man in a suit, with brown hair, against a purple background.

Duration: 42 minutes 55 seconds

04 | The Chase for Skase

In June 1993, the Australian Federal Police get a call. Someone from Christopher Skase’s inner sanctum, someone who knows all the ins and outs of his business dealing, who knows exactly where all the bodies are buried, is defecting.

Published: 10 Oct 2025Fri 10 Oct 2025 at 1:00amwith Mark Humphries

Duration: 37 minutes 12 seconds

03 | Flying too close to the sun

It’s April 1989 and Christopher Skase is reclining on his private jet, sipping a flute of champagne as he flies home from Hollywood. He's just made a $1.2 billion bid for the MGMUA/United Artists film studio.

Published: 3 Oct 2025Fri 3 Oct 2025 at 2:00amwith Mark Humphries

Duration: 32 minutes 14 seconds

02 | Building a Mirage

In the 1980s, Christopher and Pixie Skase are headline news, right on top of the billionaire food chain. Australia can’t get enough of them. Skase builds the luxury Mirage resorts in Queensland and throws epic, over-the-top, star-studded parties.

Published: 26 Sep 2025Fri 26 Sep 2025 at 3:00amwith Mark Humphries

Duration: 36 minutes 19 seconds

01 | The Confidence Man

Christopher Skase wants to be a corporate cowboy. He’s handsome and elegant, with Hermes ties and flowing locks. His wife Pixie is beautiful, in a 1980s kind of way, with bouffant blonde hair and more diamonds than a high street jeweller.

Published: 19 Sep 2025Fri 19 Sep 2025 at 1:00amwith Mark Humphries

Duration: 28 minutes

INTRODUCING — Skase: Fall of a Tycoon

It's 1980s Australia and everyone wants to be seen with billionaire power couple Christopher and Pixie Skase. They have it all — money, power, fame and big hair. Then, in the blink of an eye, they don't.

Published: 5 Sep 2025Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 1:45am

Great Aussie Cons - My Mother the Spy

Mercia Masson is one of Australia’s longest serving undercover spies in Cold War era Australia. But her double life remains a secret to those closest to her, including her family, for nearly 50 years

Published: 3 Sep 2025Wed 3 Sep 2025 at 4:00am

Stylish female from the 1950s with a orange hat and cigarette

Duration: 29 minutes 3 seconds

Great Aussie Cons | The Lady Imposter

Young Alexandrina Grant is an audacious liar. Host Richard Roxburgh follows this clever and ambitious crook as she travels from the alleys of Aberdeen to a convict cell in Van Diemen's Land, then onto the streets of colonial Melbourne.

Published: 1 Sep 2025Mon 1 Sep 2025 at 6:00am

Great Aussie Cons | The Qantas Hoax

It's May 1971, and Qantas flight 755 takes off from Sydney on a routine flight to Hong Kong. Then a man calls the airline, saying he wants a half a million dollars, or else 'the plane will blow up'.

Published: 30 Aug 2025Sat 30 Aug 2025 at 1:00am

suspicious looking man in orange cardigan

Duration: 29 minutes 2 seconds

Great Aussie Cons | The Tichborne Claimant

Is he a baronet or a butcher from Wagga Wagga? Can he claim the estate of an English aristocrat thought to be lost at sea?

Published: 23 Aug 2025Sat 23 Aug 2025 at 1:00am

Duration: 29 minutes 1 second

Feature articles

New evidence about 1998 waterfront dispute

Former prime minister John Howard has always downplayed involvement in the waterfront dispute, but new evidence raises more questions about the government's knowledge of the events leading up to it.

Peter Reith and John Howard in the House of Representatives.

Published: 2 Apr 2025Wed 2 Apr 2025 at 7:00pmby Geraldine Fela

Conspiracy? War on the waterfront

On 8 April 1998 Australians woke up to the startling news that dogs and men in balaclavas were invading the docks around the country, locking out workers.

Published: 25 Aug 2025Mon 25 Aug 2025 at 1:07amwith Jan Fran

01 Conspiracy? If it quacks like a duck

When Patrick Stevedores locks out and fires 1400 wharfies overnight on April 8, 1998, it divides the country. But behind all this is a story of high drama and political intrigue, a complex web of double dealing and high-stakes leaks.

Duration: 35 minutes 8 seconds

Published: 16 May 2025Fri 16 May 2025 at 2:22amwith Jan Fran

02 Conspiracy? Bosom Buddies

When the Opposition Labor Party breaks the news in Parliament about a secret group of ‘industrial mercenaries’ training in Dubai to take over the wharfies' jobs some big questions are asked: who exactly is behind the training operation, and is the…

Duration: 32 minutes 41 seconds

Published: 16 May 2025Fri 16 May 2025 at 2:22amwith Jan Fran

03 Conspiracy? The farmers come to town

After the collapse of the Dubai plan Patrick Stevedore's boss Chris Corrigan turns to Plan B, training fresh-faced farmers to work as wharfies.

Duration: 35 minutes 39 seconds

Published: 16 May 2025Fri 16 May 2025 at 2:22amwith Jan Fran

Discover more podcasts

Download the ABC listen app to hear more of your favourite podcasts

Program: ABC Rewind

05 | The end of the road

04 | The Chase for Skase

03 | Flying too close to the sun

02 | Building a Mirage

01 | The Confidence Man

INTRODUCING — Skase: Fall of a Tycoon

Great Aussie Cons - My Mother the Spy

Great Aussie Cons | The Lady Imposter

Great Aussie Cons | The Qantas Hoax

Great Aussie Cons | The Tichborne Claimant

New evidence about 1998 waterfront dispute

Conspiracy? War on the waterfront

01 Conspiracy? If it quacks like a duck

02 Conspiracy? Bosom Buddies

03 Conspiracy? The farmers come to town

Discover more podcasts

Footer