This weekend 60 Minutes has a story on being trapped in another country, the housing crisis and a look at the next big thing in the air force.
TRAPPED
This tale almost defies belief. When Australian Amaal Finn took her daughter to Egypt on a family trip, she could never have imagined the terrible chain of events that would unfold. Once there, Amaal’s husband convinced her to sign documents written in Arabic. She did as she was asked, but what she was signing was a form, banning mother and child from leaving Egypt. This single act of betrayal has sentenced Amaal and her six-year-old daughter Zareen to a life removed from everyone and everything they have ever known. For nearly three years they have battled bureaucracy and the courts to see this travel ban overturned. Meanwhile her former husband, Mazen Baouimy, has returned to a comfortable life in Australia where he defiantly refuses to assist Amaal and his daughter in any way.
Reporter: Michael Usher Producer: Steven Burling
HOME GROANS
Here’s the good news: for the past 30 years we’ve all enjoyed watching the value of our homes skyrocket. Now the bad: the housing boom is about to end, and for many Australians – both homeowners and investors – it’s going to end in tears. While you think you’ve heard this all before, remember we now have the highest household debt in the world. Worse still, we have become so blasé about the way we borrow money, we’ve forgotten the consequences – most importantly, that we need to pay it back. So if you have a home loan and you want to stand any chance of surviving a wipeout, you need to be very, very careful.
Reporter: Ross Coulthart Producer: Grace Tobin
SKY HIGH
There are 20 billion reasons why the federal government had to get the decision right in selecting the F35 as the next fighter for the Royal Australian Air Force. It is by far our biggest defence purchase ever, but with 72 F35s on the way we are apparently getting a great bang for our buck. The sales pitch boasts that the combat jet is a flying supercomputer loaded with so much weaponry and “gee whiz” stealth technology that no enemy can see it and won’t stand a chance against it. C Critics complain the F35s are badly designed and are an expensive waste of money. The only Australians who know for sure are two RAAF test pilots posted to the Arizona desert to train on the new aircraft. Tara Brown accepted their invitation to take a close-up look at their deadly new toys.
Reporter: Tara Brown Producer: Howard Sacre
8:15pm Sunday on Nine
