Seabed mining controversial frontier
An Australian entrepreneur says he hopes to be the first to commercially mine the international sea floor as part of a push by Donald Trump to secure critical minerals worth trillions of dollars.
Mark Willacy
Mark Willacy is a reporter for Four Corners, based in Brisbane. A former Middle East and North Asia correspondent, Mark has reported for the ABC in more than 30 countries. He's a seven-time Walkley Award winner, and has been awarded Australia's highest honour in journalism — the Gold Walkley. His book ROGUE FORCES, which exposed alleged SAS war crimes, won the 2022 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He's twice been named Queensland Journalist of the Year and in 2019 he won a Logie Award with Four Corners for his story on the Thai cave rescue. Mark was also the reporter on the ABC political docuseries Nemesis. For more secure communication, email Mark at markwillacy@protonmail.com
Latest by Mark Willacy
He's been called Australia's Elon Musk. This is his 'trillion-dollar' plan
He has the chic of a Silicon Valley tech bro and a clean energy pitch for investors, but will Gerard Barron's deep-sea mining dream do more harm than good?
Kilometres below the waves, a global fight is brewing
A push to extract minerals from the depths of the Pacific Ocean is gaining momentum. Here is how it works and why it has become a global flashpoint.
Submerged
As the US launches a review into AUKUS, Four Corners examines the future of the $368 billion submarine deal.
Deep risks ahead for AUKUS submarines
Key defence figures in the US and UK are warning of the deep risks with $300 billion dollar AUKUS submarine deal - far beyond the Trump Administration's recently announced review of the pact.
'No penalties, no refunds': US quitting AUKUS would leave Australia high and dry
Key defence figures on both sides of the Atlantic warn the risks to AUKUS run deeper than whether a review finds it is "America first" enough for Donald Trump.
Fears Australia's 'solemn' war memorial risks becoming a 'Disneyland of war'
Will a massive expansion of the Australian War Memorial allow it to evolve or destroy what makes it special?
Critics slam weapons makers' war memorial funding as 'disgusting'
The national symbol for Australia's fallen soldiers has taken large sums of money from weapons makers, a move former staff call "inappropriate".
Endurance
With Donald Trump vowing to end the brutal war in Ukraine, Four Corners travels to the front line to investigate: Is peace even possible?
Fear that Trump's push to end Ukraine war could end up rewarding Putin
The three-year war is in one of its most dramatic and deadly phases, as Russia desperately tries to gain territory ahead of any negotiation.
Russia intensifies military on Ukraine
Russia has intensified its military offensive in Ukraine ahead of an expected push by U-S president Donald Trump to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table.
This Russian soldier has been spotted by a Ukrainian drone. He has nowhere to hide
Inside a secret bunker with the Ukrainians launching kamikaze drones at Russian troops.
Wong warns Russia over reports captured Australian killed in Ukraine
Foreign minister Penny Wong warns Russia that all diplomatic options "are on the table" as officials scramble to verify reports that Australian man Oscar Jenkins has been killed in Ukraine.
ABC journalist reveals moment his blood ran cold during Qantas take-off emergency
ABC journalist Mark Willacy describes the unexpected moment when the Sydney to Brisbane Qantas flight QF520 was forced to make an emergency landing.
Trump's giant red border wall snakes its way through a ranch in Arizona. Then it stops
Where Trump's unfinished wall ends on Jim's ranch you can simply walk across the border into Mexico. It's the centre of a political battle that will shape the US presidential election.
Retribution — The Battlegrounds
Ahead of the increasingly fraught presidential election in November, reporter Mark Willacy continues his journey across the country for a Four Corners special.
Lynn has been protesting outside abortion clinics for 51 years. She's 'definitely' voting for Trump
At stake in the upcoming US election is something Americans once took for granted — and Donald Trump helped take away.
If all goes to plan this man will make Donald Trump one of the most powerful presidents of all time
Trump's march to re-take the White House continues with renewed determination. If he wins he'll have an "army" of 10,000 recruits at his disposal to help implement his controversial agenda.
Retribution — The battle for democracy
There has never been a US president like Donald Trump — and now he's back, this time with a detailed plan for his second coming.
Four Corners reporter Mark Willacy travels to Washington for the first of a special two-part series.
What is Project 2025?
After yesterday's shooting, Trump supporters say nothing will stop the former president's march towards re-taking the White House and if he's re-elected this November, Donald Trump will have an army of more than 10,000 recruits ready to push his controversial agenda.
'He was winging it': Insiders from Trump's time in the White House tell all
People who worked with Donald Trump are speaking to Four Corners as he makes a bid for his second coming as US president.
'I don't think, I know': The story behind the infamous French sledge about Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison reveals the covert diplomatic manoeuvres behind the biggest deal of his prime ministership and how he kept it a secret from the man who could torpedo it.
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were friends, colleagues and housemates. But there was something the PM had not told his treasurer
Josh Frydenberg tells the ABC political docuseries Nemesis that Scott Morrison having himself sworn into the Treasury portfolio did lasting damage to their relationship. For his part, the former PM says he apologised to his former treasurer and the pair remain friends.
Turnbull’s old colleagues have laid out in gobsmacking detail how they brought him down
Senior Liberals lift the lid on the "week of madness" that consumed Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministership and elevated an unexpected contender to the top job.
Senior Liberals asked to describe Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison in one word reveal intriguing theory
Speaking with dozens of Coalition insiders during the making of the ABC docuseries Nemesis, one PM provoked the most polarised responses, writes Mark Willacy.