Border Security: Australia's Front Line
| Border Security: Australia's Front Line | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Reality |
| Narrated by | Grant Bowler |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| Production | |
| Running time | Approx 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Seven Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | 2004 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Homeland Security USA |
Border Security: Australia's Front Line is an Australian television programme that airs on the Seven Network. The show follows the work of officers of Australian Customs and Border Protection, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship as they enforce Australian customs, quarantine, immigration and finance laws.
Most of the programme is filmed at Sydney and Melbourne airports. Occasionally, the program features other locations such as Brisbane Airport, Perth Airport, seaports, international mail centres, raids on workplaces suspected of employing persons contrary to the restrictions of their visa or immigrant status and the work of Customs vessels and aircraft in the waters of Northern Australia.
Contents |
[edit] Broadcast
The show premiered in Australia in 2004 and became a ratings hit [1]. The first season was hosted by Grant Bowler, who stopped appearing on camera in subsequent seasons. However, Bowler appears on the show again in 2010 at the beginning of the show. In all seasons, Bowler provides the voice over for every story. The show has continued to air since then, and airs on Wednesday nights in 2010. It is classified PG. The show was moved to a Sunday Night slot for Season 7 in 2011. The show premiered on Sunday 6th of February 2011, at 7:30pm time slot. The show continued high ratings.
The show is also broadcast in New Zealand on TVNZ's TV1, in the United Kingdom on Sky Living, Pick TV, and in Ireland on TV3 (airing as Nothing to Declare in both the UK and Ireland), on Tele 5 in Poland (in Polish), on Veronica in the Netherlands, where it features a Dutch voice-over, on Kanal 9 in Sweden, on JimTV in Finland, on the TV 2 channel in Denmark and also on DMAX in Germany with German voice-over. It is broadcast as Grensevakten in Norway on TVNorge. It is also broadcast on the Australian Pay TV channel The LifeStyle Channel and on the Australia Network across Asia in countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Macau.
[edit] Criticism
Writer Bob Burton in his book Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry expressed concern that the television show, by being subject to post-production editing, allows the producers to remove anything that shows any mistakes made by the government agencies concerned. Instead, Burton argues, the show gives the viewing public the sense that the government is effectively and fairly administrating border security policy.[2]
In 2009 Media Watch suggested that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship used its working relationship with Seven as leverage for an apology to its National Communications Manager, Sandi Logan, who had appeared in an unflattering light on a Today Tonight report. Media Watch's sources claimed that persons in the Department threatened to cease co-operation with Seven in the production of future Border Security episodes.[3]
[edit] External links
- Seven Network Official Site
- Border Security: Australia's Front Line at the Internet Movie Database
- Border Security: Australia's Front Line at TV.com
- Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
- Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
- Department of Immigration and Citizenship
