Background Briefing

Mineral rich nations are demanding more from the mining companies digging up their resources, and Australia with its mineral resources tax is at the forefront of this trend, known as resource nationalism. The big mining companies don’t like it -- they’re calling it resource nationalisation and they’re fighting it. Reporter: Stan Correy.

The inside story of a law firm’s rise and spectacular fall. Keddies was one of the country’s top personal injury law firms until it was found to have grossly overcharged many of its clients. Those angry clients are suing Keddies former partners for millions and one of the partners has spoken for the first time, to Background Briefing, about what happened. Reporter: Hagar Cohen

The tuna in the Coral Sea could have saved a fishing fleet from extinction. But those tuna will be off limits in the new marine park and the fishers will have to choose – to take their boats and leave, or leave their boats and take compensation.

A spate of construction industry failures has put thousands of sub-contracting businesses at risk and stopped urgent public infrastructure projects. Two state governments are caught up in the collapses and are under pressure to bail them out and rescue the small sub-contractors. But that would set a costly precedent for major building projects across the country involving public-private-partnerships. Reporter: Stan Correy.

The defeat of Gaddafi brought the destruction of corrupt institutions but the power vacuum left by old cronies is being filled by new militias. Armed groups with NATO support helped remove the former dictator and they now threaten to undermine moves to democracy. Many Libyans fear a new era of corruption. The country’s vast oil wealth—and how it is distributed—will be critical in determining political and economic stability. Reporter: Reese Erlich.

A doctor who treated residents at a rundown Sydney boarding house where six mentally ill residents died has been suspended, leaving authorities scrambling for replacement services.

One of Australia’s top music schools is in upheaval. Worsening debt and a very public fight over the direction of teaching has plunged the ANU School of Music into uncertainty and acrimony. Half the teaching staff will go. For some this is a battle between good and evil. For others it is an inevitable cultural shift, away from traditional classical music. Reporter: Di Martin.

Many stem cell therapies are illegal in Australia but that doesn't stop people travelling the world and spending small fortunes on these untested treatments.

There’s rising tension between African migrant communities and police in Victoria. The police say high rates of violent crime justify their stop and search methods. But young Africans accuse Victoria Police of racial profiling and brutality and there’s a mounting caseload of complaints against police, including a class action in the Federal Court. Reporter: Hagar Cohen.

It’s become who I am. If I didn’t do it anymore, I’d feel myself diminished. Why, despite the risks, do journalists choose to work in conflict zones? Is it safer to be a print or broadcast journalist? The latest technology allows reports to be sent immediately but it hasn’t made it easier to get the story. Despite advances, today’s wars are still ‘fought out in a kind of medieval darkness.’ Reporter: John Simpson.