On Four Corners on Monday night, Sophie McNeill reports how Australia is accused of failing to stand up for democracy in Cambodia, as it descends into dictatorship.

"You don't drink champagne with the dictators." Opposition Leader

For more than three decades Cambodia has been ruled by one man, Prime Minister Hun Sen, who came to power in the country's first democratic elections after the horror years of the Khmer Rouge. Australia played a key role in the peace deal that ended the bloody civil war, but the once bright hopes for democracy have long since faded.

"We were tremendously successful in bringing peace to Cambodia, but we weren't at all successful in bringing democracy and human rights." Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans

Ahead of this weekend's elections, the Hun Sen regime launched a ruthless crackdown on the political opposition and free press. On Monday, in her first story for Four Corners, reporter Sophie McNeill travels to Cambodia to confront the man whose political opponents have been imprisoned and assassinated in mysterious circumstances.

Sophie McNeil: The world says this is not a democracy…

Hun Sen: No, no, no. No this is not (right).

While steadily cementing their grip on power, Hun Sen and his family and cronies are accused of amassing enormous wealth through a corrupt and nepotistic system.

"There's nothing that happens there that they don't control, and that is corruption in its most egregious form. That's what it's like in Cambodia. It is a Mafia state." Patrick Alley, Director Global Witness

Four Corners has uncovered evidence of how the regime's wealth has been used to buy properties and businesses in Australia, where some of Hun Sen's relatives have established a base for building support, sometimes through threats and intimidation.

"They allow this foreign government to intimidate our people, Australian citizens, and those who come here to study. This is not right." Hong Lim, Victorian MP

Since 2014, Australia has granted the regime $40 million in additional aid, in return for taking some of Australia's unwanted refugees, and the Turnbull government upgraded ties with Cambodia last year. While the US has begun moves to sanction the regime by freezing assets and blocking visas, international observers accuse the Australian government of cosying up to Hun Sen.

"I would like to see Australia take a strong stance, (to) come out openly and condemn the Hun Sen regime. They're not doing that." US Congressman

While hopes for democracy have disintegrated, China has moved to dramatically expand its presence and power in the country.

"Cambodia has the coast, Cambodia has minerals, Cambodia has forest, Cambodia has a dictator. You can buy it all." Opposition Leader

As Hun Sen prepares to tighten his grip on power after this weekend's elections, Cambodia's democracy campaigners say they feel abandoned.

"Cambodia look up at the people of Australia. We envy you. You live in a world of democracy, but your government is disappointing. Very disappointing." Opposition Leader

"Hi guys! So this is my boob job vlog, I'm sooo excited! This is how you choose your breast size!" YouTube star

Welcome to the new world of enhanced "beauty" where there's nothing natural about the faces and bodies created by cosmetic procedures.

Fuelled by social media influencers on Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, cosmetic surgery has entered the mainstream.

"What I'm finding is, instead of hiding it, like they would have a few years ago, most people are kind of flaunting it...I've had my lips done, I've had my cheeks done. I've had a little bit in my jaw." Social media influencer

The "Insta Effect" of social media has seen growing numbers of young women choosing to alter their appearance, as though it's as simple as buying a new set of clothes.

"The problem I get is that people perceive a cosmetic procedure to have limited or no risk and only upside, and that's not the case." Surgeon

Doctors offering cosmetic surgery are becoming social media stars in their own right and it's redefining the meaning of their doctor/patient relations.

"They write to you... 'Look, here's my Insta page, I've got this many loyal followers. If you perform surgery for me, I will promote you on my page.'" Surgeon

From dermal fillers and Botox, to butt lifts and breast implants, women are undergoing treatments that could change their lives forever, and not in the ways they were expecting.

"It looked deformed. It was sitting way higher than the other one. It was very out of shape." Patient

Reporter Louise Milligan has uncovered cases of women left disfigured and in pain, struggling to find the money to afford corrective surgery to give them back their dignity.

Underpinning the growth in the industry is a business model targeting women who can barely afford the procedures by selling the dream of a dream of a "new you".

"It was all about accessible surgery, advertising price point, that you can change your life for a coffee a day. You know, someone who has low self-esteem, who has low confidence, especially after going through a divorce or being on a single parenting pension."

As this investigation shows, when things go wrong, the physical and financial costs are devastating.

"I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. I couldn't do anything but sit there and cry in agony because it got to the point where it was so bad." Patient

Doctors left to pick up the pieces are warning that the booming industry is creating a dangerous legacy.

"It scares me. This is a big problem. And it's going to get bigger." Surgeon

Beauty's New Normal, reported by Louise Milligan and presented by Sarah Ferguson.