This weekend 60 Minutes has a jam packed show.
HE KILLER STORM
All Australians are used to weathering frequent and ferocious thunderstorms, but the one that raced through country Victoria and slammed into Melbourne on November 21 last year was loaded with unexpected peril. Within a matter of minutes the entire city was left gasping for air in a mass asthma epidemic. Thousands were struck down, including many who weren’t even asthmatic. Emergency services were unable to cope with the number of calls for assistance and hospital emergency departments were overflowing with distressed patients. Tragically, nine people died that terrible day. What caused it was a highly unusual phenomenon called “Thunderstorm Asthma”, but this outbreak was the most severe and catastrophic the world has ever seen. In a special 60 Minutes investigation Tara Brown reveals that what is even more frightening is that it will happen again. The problem though is that no one knows where or when.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Garry McNab, Sean Power
HELTER SHELTER
Confused about the property market? Can’t afford to get in? Can’t afford to get out? Well you’re not alone. Surely, getting and keeping a roof over our heads should not be this hard. But the housing crisis continues to defy all attempts at a solution. It gets more shambolic and divisive by the day. The haves against the have-nots, rich versus poor, even old against young. This week on60 Minutes, the Nine Network’s Finance Editor, Ross Greenwood, gets some blunt advice from those who should know the answers: Australia’s property billionaires.
Reporter: Ross Greenwood
Producer: Jo Townsend
IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
Like thousands of other young mums, newspaper journalist Elle Halliwell will celebrate her first Mother’s Day on Sunday. It’s a joyous time for Elle and her husband Nick, who welcomed a baby boy into their lives last December. But it’s happiness mixed with stress and fear because two days before Elle discovered she was pregnant she was told she had a rare and dangerous leukaemia. Back then she faced an awful dilemma: abort the baby and save her own life, or risk her life by delaying her cancer treatment until after the birth. It’s a decision that is still causing Elle heartache.
Reporter: Allison Langdon
Producer: Stefanie Sgroi
8:30pm Sunday on Nine
