RN Presents

It’s not just Aussies who have mates.

No poofters? They shouldn’t have been there — but they were.

Why do we remember the demonstrators but forget the supporters?

The idea that Australia is a classless society is widely held and very appealing. It’s just not true. Class exists — it’s determined by economic, social and cultural capital — and it has a big impact on our lives but we don’t talk about it. In this four part series, we’re going to do just that.

Part two of Class Act looks at how we got here. The history of class in Australia, and how it has been shaped by immigration and structural changes to the economy.

Inequality has been growing in Australia for three and a half decades. It’s reinforcing class divisions and affecting our health, where we live, our levels of education and employment prospects. It's also prising generations apart. Why is this happening?  And why is social mobility not what it was?

Why don't we talk about class directly? We recognise it when its rendered through language, dress and cultural taste. And a lot of our best comedy, drama and writing is about class. We revisit that rich cultural landscape, and hear how we talk in code about class.

More power is concentrated inside Canberra’s Parliamentary Triangle than anywhere else. The Constitution doesn’t mention the Prime Minister but that office is where the power is. We look at how Prime Ministerial power has changed in the 21st Century. And, over the same time period, another part of the Canberra landscape has gained a huge range of powers: the security agencies. 

The industries and organisations that get what they want from government. In part two we stay in Canberra and look at the lobbyists, the industries and organisations most effective at getting what they want from the government. We also look at the revolving door between politicians and lobbyists.

The different power players in each state. All six states are led by Premiers and have cabinets — they're the same. But they're also different. In part three, we look at the industries, groups and people who have power in each state, including mining peak bodies, radio shock-jocks, the AFL and poker machine operators.

Union membership is a fraction of what it was but people power is finding a voice through new platforms and movements.

In post-war Adelaide, there's a feeling of optimism and relief in the air, but it's mixed with paranoia about the changing world order. And in this mix, on a summer day on Somerton Beach, a man's body is discovered.

A torn piece of paper from a book of Persian poetry leads to the discovery of an elusive young nurse. What was her relationship to the dead man on Somerton Beach? Does she hold the key to cracking the case?

The man who died on Somerton Beach in 1948 went to great lengths to disguise his identity. But he couldn't hide the clues on his body — his peculiar ears, teeth and calves. His DNA. Modern science sheds new light on this decades-old mystery.

Derek Abbott has spent decades trying to identify the man found dead on Somerton Beach. If his theory is correct, he's married to the unknown man's great granddaughter. But to prove it, he needs the Somerton Man's DNA.