Asylum seekers are illegal economic migrants ; axing the carbon tax will reduce power bills; the budget is in crisis; mandatory sentencing does not work . . . Or so we're told. In the age of 24/7 media, we're subjected to a daily barrage of claims, counter-claims and spin on the claims. Fortunately the ABC's Fact Check team are on the case, sorting fact from fiction, checking sources, tackling the fact zombies which will not die, shining a spotlight on the public figures who play fast and loose with the truth. Here they take on the year's burning questions, from political 'truths' to accepted facts about health, education, society and the law.