哇,窗口太小啦

请调整浏览器窗口大小或者请使用手机查看!

S30 E12 Birds of a Feather – The Twinnies
本集简介

Australian Story was updating its episode on identical twins Paula and Bridgette Powers last month when out of the blue they became a global media sensation. An interview they gave about a gunman who'd crashed a car outside their bird sanctuary went viral and suddenly they were everywhere.

Parodies of them talking in unison flooded the internet and we were filming with them when they were interviewed live by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. But Paula and Bridgette, better known as the Twinnies, are used to being the objects of curiosity.

The Twinnies are the closest identical twins that some experts have seen. They not only talk in sync, they dress the same and even their mother had trouble telling them apart. They've struggled with poor health all their lives but have found purpose in rescuing seabirds on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

"I think a lot of people make the mistake of seeing the Twinnies as being some sort of novelty act because they talk in unison," vet and television presenter Dr Chris Brown tells Australian Story. "But I think you do that at your peril. These girls are experts. They're absolute pros."

After working with the late Steve Irwin, the Twinnies started their bird sanctuary more than 20 years ago. But the running costs are prohibitive and when the property's owner decided to sell recently, the stress became so great that Paula and Bridgette's mother Helen thought they should call it quits.

Enter philanthropist Dr Peter Sherwood – ‘Saint Peter' as the twins call him – who shared their interest in healing and wanted to help.

"Miracles can happen if you stick at something long enough and don't ever give up," their mother Helen tells Australian Story.

Producers: Angela Leonardi and Rebecca Armstrong.

上一集
2025/04/28 S30 E11
Duped - Donna Nelson

In January 2023, Perth grandmother Donna Nelson flew to Tokyo expecting to meet her future husband, following a two-year online relationship. Instead, customs officers found two kilograms of methamphetamine in a suitcase she'd been asked to carry, and she was arrested.

Last November, Australian Story followed Donna's five daughters as they attended her long-awaited trial for drug smuggling. Despite Japan's 99 per cent conviction rate, Donna's daughters were confident she would be among the fortunate one per cent and be home for Christmas.

"Even though I knew what we were up against, I still felt confident," daughter Kristal Hilaire tells Australian Story. "You can't be guilty of something you didn't know and didn't have intention of doing."

Before her trial, Donna – a 59-year-old Nyaki Nyaki woman and community leader – had spent 22 months in solitary confinement with no family contact.

"She's pretty much confined to her cell for 23½ hours a day," explains daughter Ashlee Charles. "She has to eat in her cell, she isn't allowed to talk loudly, she's not allowed to sing, she's not allowed to talk to other people who are detained."

Says her Japanese lawyer, Rie Nishida: "She actually told me she felt she is suicidal at a certain point. She told me she almost forget how to speak."

Donna Nelson was the victim of a sophisticated love scam. Her fiancé, who called himself Kelly, said he was a businessman based in Japan. After two years of daily online contact, he invited her to Japan to meet in person, booking her a flight with a stopover in Laos and asking her to pick up a sample suitcase for his Japanese boutiques.

"With these romance scams, people's usual reaction is, how could you be so stupid," says lawyer Luke McMahon. "But it really lacks an appreciation for how sophisticated these scammers are. It's this person's job. That's what they do. They do it every day."

Donna was sentenced to six years in prison, despite the court accepting she was the victim of a scam. No effort has been made to investigate ‘Kelly' or the syndicate he belongs to, either in Japan or Australia.

In a dramatic and absorbing episode, Australian Story reveals the details of the elaborate scam that led to Donna Nelson's arrest and provides exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage of the family as they attend the trial, digest the shock sentence and prepare for an appeal.