On 19th August 2021 Four Corners celebrates 60 years as Australia’s premier investigative current affairs program. ABC Alumni salutes all those, past and present, who have contributed to the program. In this special series, we publish memories from Alumni who have worked in various roles, beginning with renowned archivist Wendy Borchers.

In 1988 the Hawke Labor government was preparing to ratify the Mineral Convention for mining in Antarctica. Environment groups, especially Greenpeace, were adamantly opposed to any mining in this remote and fragile part of the world. Executive producer Peter Manning commissioned reporter Tony Jones and producer Martin Butler to investigate. It was a memorable story in more ways than one.

From time to time, ABC journalists are targeted by hostile governments. Usually the staff, who adhere to strict editorial guidelines, are supported by management. But when 4Cs reporter Andrew Fowler’s “Party Tricks” episode aired in July 2001 he and his team did not expect the harassment they experienced from an irascible ABC managing director.

David Brill is one of Australia’s most respected news and documentary cinematographers, renowned for his humanitarian approach to covering some of the most dangerous war zones and disasters. Mike Willesee, who worked with David Brill on Four Corners covering the Vietnam War in the 1970s, called him “the best cameraman of his era”, with the great ability to capture what was happening in one long take that told you more than the immediate action. Here David Brill recalls some of the memorable times during his Four Corners assignments in Vietnam.

Kerry O'Brien is one of Australia's most respected journalists, with six Walkley awards including the Gold Walkley and the Walkley for outstanding leadership in journalism. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked for newspapers, television and a wire service, and as a foreign correspondent. Thirty-three of those years were at the ABC where he cut his teeth on the trail-blazing current affairs programs This Day Tonight and Four Corners. He was the inaugural presenter of Lateline for six years, the editor and presenter of 7.30 for fifteen years, and the presenter of Four Corners for five. Here he recalls his early days at 4Cs as it transitioned towards the program we know today. 

Wendy Borchers AM worked at the ABC from 1967 until her retirement in 2010. She says one of her proudest moments in her long television career was at Four Corners. She is co-author (with Tim Bowden) of the book “Aunty’s Jubilee: Celebrating 50 Years of ABC”, published in 2006, and is now ABC Alumni’s Rural & Regional Co-ordinator.

Jill Emberson was a hugely talented ABC journalist/broadcaster, and a tenacious fighter for social justice. She was particularly drawn to stories and issues relating to the Pacific, women, Indigenous and First Nations people.  

As she fought her own gruelling four-year battle with ovarian cancer, it came as no surprise to those who knew Jill that she became a fearless advocate for raising both awareness and funding resources for research into the disease, in the hope that no other woman would have to face what she was going through.   

Janie Lalor was an ABC legend; a highly skilled director and producer who made thousands of television shows for the ABC during a 40-year career. As importantly, she made thousands of friends along the way.

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