2012-11-18

A Cure in Sight The world applauded three months ago when it was revealed Australian scientists had won the race to produce the first implanted bionic eye. The prototype was implanted into Melbourne mum Dianne Ashworth. With her help, scientists are now fast tracking the next device, which could transform the lives of millions of people around the world. Among them is Rachael Leahcar, the blind teenager who captivated the nation as a contestant on The Voice and could be a prime candidate to receive a bionic eye. But incredibly, on the cusp of making medical history, the entire Bionic Eye project is under threat from a lack of cash. When the money former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged runs out at the end of the year, key scientists will be forced to leave the unfinished project. Rudd risks the wrath of Julia Gillard by telling Sunday Night guest reporter Peter FitzSimons why the government must continue to back the bionic eye. Living with Danger Imagine having a polar bear as a pet. What about a pride of lions in the backyard or a cuddly grizzly bear of your very own? The sale of dangerous and exotic pets is a booming industry, but it’s a practice with a dark side as the animals are a threat to their owners and can languish without proper specialised care. Rahni Sadler meets the expert who has to rescue and relocate dozens of these animals every year, and who blames the late Steve Irwin for fostering this interest in wild animal ownership. In this Sunday Night investigation, Sadler also discovers the sad fate of arguably the world’s most famous exotic pet – Michael Jackson’s former pet chimp Bubbles. Dustin Hoffman It’s been 35 years since a young Dustin Hoffman became an overnight star thanks to his on-screen seduction by the much older Mrs Robinson in The Graduate. Now, the two-time Oscar winner reminisces with Ross Coulthart about his incredible career. Hoffman is at his charming best when he re-enacts his Oscar-winning role as an autistic savant with extraordinary mathematic abilities in Rain Man. And while his 1982 cross-dressing caper Tootsie is one of the best comedies of all time, even funnier is his story about walking into a bar dressed as Tootsie and trying to pick up a male friend. But Hoffman isn’t all about the Hollywood high life. In this deeply personal interview he also opens up about his difficult relationship with his father and the self-doubt that made him beg to drop out of Rain Man.