Peter Dutton says family of four ‘not owed protection’ after they were removed from deportation flight in Darwin thanks to court injunction
A Tamil asylum-seeker family whose deportation was halted in mid-air on Thursday night do not deserve protection from Australia, Peter Dutton has said.
The family of four were put on a non-commercial flight from Melbourne bound for Sri Lanka about 11pm on Thursday.
Continue reading...Former Vatican treasurer, and most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of child sexual assault, maintains innocence after losing appeal
The most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse, Cardinal George Pell, has lost his appeal against his conviction, but maintains he is innocent.
In a brief statement issued after the decision the Vatican reiterated that Pell maintained his innocence, and that it was now “Pell’s right to appeal to the high court”.
Continue reading...Appeal dismissed by a majority of two to one for the 78-year-old who will remain in prison until October 2022. He was sentenced in March for sexually assaulting two choirboys in 1996
By the way - this is a huge testament to the value of the jury system. I will have so much to say about that. There is NO strong evidence judges alone are less biased or more correct than a jury of 12. #Pell.
Interesting that Morrison said the decision to strip Pell of his honours is independent to the government. Back In February my colleague Paul Karp was told that if Pell lost the appeal the prime minister would write to the Council of the Order of Australia recommending it review and revoke the honour, a decision made on its recommendation by the governor general.
Related: PM to strip George Pell of Order of Australia honour if cardinal loses appeal
Continue reading...Victoria police say they will not tolerate ‘those who break the law or engage in antisocial or violent behaviour’
Two men have been interviewed by police after a clash between pro-Hong Kong and pro-China demonstrators at a rally in Melbourne’s CBD turned violent.
Hundreds gathered outside the State Library on Swanston Street from about 7pm on Friday for a planned rally in solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong. It turned violent when a group of pro-China protesters arrived. The event was estimated to have attracted 600 people at its peak.
Continue reading...Couch surfing 50-year-old says welfare agency told her she wasn’t in financial hardship
A Melbourne woman battling homelessness says her entire $3,500 tax return was swiped by Centrelink last month, despite the fact she disputes the alleged robodebt.
But when Sue Prgic, 50, complained to the agency that the money had been taken without her knowledge, she said staff had asked to know what she would do with the cash if it were returned.
Continue reading...Strong and gusty winds to bite parts of New South Wales as frosty temperatures sweep Victoria
Wild weather conditions are predicted to lash parts of New South Wales on Sunday afternoon, with conditions in Victoria expected to remain icy as the state is swept by another cold front.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast weather conditions in NSW would ease on Sunday morning before picking up again with strong and gusty winds in many areas of the state for the rest of the day.
Continue reading...Delays at Melbourne and Sydney airports, Frankston pier ripped from its moorings and snow at the AFL as polar blast strikes
Icy winds up to 120km/h, snow, wild surf and rain continued to lash South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Waleson Friday, and snow fell at the AFL in Canberra.
The “strongest weather system this winter” to hit south-east Australia has continued its path of carnage across the country, grounding flights in Sydney and Melbourne, and leading to hundreds of calls to the State Emergency Service across all three states.
Continue reading...Melbourne gangland widow freed on bail after being charged with kidnapping and death threat
Gangland widow Roberta Williams has been given bail by a Melbourne court after allegedly kidnapping and threatening to kill a television producer making a show about her life.
The 50-year-old widow of convicted killer Carl Williams, who was killed in prison in 2010, is one of four people charged with assaulting and threatening to kill producer Ryan Naumenko at Collingwood on 9 July.
Continue reading...Former premier says he objected to Will Fowles ‘using the coverall of a mental health illness’ when explaining his confrontation
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has accused a state Labor backbencher who kicked in a door at a Canberra hotel of wrongly playing the mental health card.
Will Fowles smashed a door at the Abode hotel during a confrontation with staff over his luggage on Thursday morning. Police have questioned the MP for the Melbourne seat of Burwood but he has not been charged over the incident.
Continue reading...Court of appeal orders former getaway driver be immediately released due to miscarriage of justice caused by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo
Melbourne gangland getaway driver Faruk Orman will be immediately released from jail because of a “substantial miscarriage of justice” caused by his double-agent lawyer Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X.
Victoria’s court of appeal ordered Orman be released without delay after a hearing in Melbourne on Friday found he should be acquitted due to Gobbo’s actions while she was representing him.
Continue reading...Charges yet to be laid against former Melbourne nightclub promoters William Cabantog and David Van Iersel
Two former Melbourne nightclub promoters are being held in Bali amid reported links to a cocaine-trafficking operation.
The men have been named in media outlets as William Cabantog, 35, and David Van Iersel, 38.
Continue reading...Sydney and other airports have experienced delays caused by problems with the electronic smart-gate passport processing
A nationwide security outage believed to be linked to Australian Border Force terminals is causing delays at airports across Australia.
The outage caused delays of between 15 and 30 minutes at airports including Sydney and Brisbane on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Steven John McGillivray pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and inappropriately accessing woman’s details
A former Victorian police officer has avoided jail after repeatedly misusing the force’s database to look up a woman’s details and then turning up at her house.
Steven John McGillivray, 50, was convicted in Melbourne magistrates court on Friday after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office and inappropriately accessing the woman’s details four times between 2014 and 2017.
Continue reading...Crystal-lee Wightley dies at her family’s home three days after getting sick
A Melbourne family say they are heartbroken after a 13-year-old girl died from the flu late last week, as the national death toll nears 300.
Crystal-lee Wightley had the flu for three days before she died at her family’s home.
Continue reading...The Illustrated City: In a multicultural city, soccer gives children like my daughter a common ground
Continue reading...Christopher Boyce accidentally says victim’s name, which is suppressed, during Thursday’s hearing
Prosecutor Christopher Boyce struggled through questions from three judges presiding over the appeal of Cardinal George Pell, finding it difficult to answer their inquiries about the victim’s evidence and the case.
Pell, 77, is appealing his conviction on four charges of an indecent act on a child under the age of 16, and one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16. On Wednesday his legal team, led by Bret Walker SC, argued it was improbable that Pell assaulted two 13-year-old boys after presiding as archbishop of Sunday solemn mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, and then a few weeks later assaulted one of the boys again.
Continue reading...The appeal court judges listened intently as Bret Walker SC ransacked the English language to try to prove his point
Rule number two on these occasions is not to trust the look in their eyes. Judges are masters of disguise. Baleful can be applause. Smiles can be the kiss of death.
But the verdict at the end of the first day of George Pell’s appeal has to be that the bench is listening to the case being argued on his behalf by Bret Walker SC with a little more than respect.
Continue reading...Cardinal George Pell has appeared in a Melbourne court to appeal his conviction on charges related to child sexual abuse
Cardinal George Pell’s lawyer Bret Walker SC has told three judges presiding over his client’s appeal that the timing of Pell’s offending was a “critical matter” in deciding whether his conviction should be overturned.
Walker is appealing Pell’s conviction on three grounds, the key one being that the jury came to an unreasonable verdict based on the evidence before them during the trial.
Continue reading...The CBD reached just 10.6C while Ballarat also had its coldest May day in 19 years
Melbourne has shivered through its coldest May day in nearly 20 years, with snow falling in Ballarat and widespread icy roads making conditions slippery.
The CBD reached just 10.6C on Wednesday, making it Melbourne’s coldest May day since 2000.
Continue reading...Twenty-seven-year-old to face court accused of ‘particularly horrendous attack’
A homeless man has been charged over the death of Courtney Herron, who was brutally murdered in a Melbourne park two days ago.
Victoria police said the man, 27, of no fixed address, had been arrested on Sunday and charged overnight with one count of murder, and would appear in Melbourne magistrates court on Monday.
Continue reading...