A federal agent has revealed plans to fight allegations he stole a cryptocurrency fortune seized from a steroid trafficking ring in Melbourne.
Australian Federal Police officer William Wheatley appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday, pleading not guilty to using information obtained in his role as a public officer to benefit himself, theft and dealing with the proceeds of crime.The raid was conducted as part of Operation Viridian, a joint AFP and Victoria Police investigation targeting drug trafficking through the postal service.
Australian Federal Police officer William Wheatley to fight crypto fortune theft allegations
Alexander Smirnov falsely reported in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $US5 million ($7.67 million) each in 2015 or 2016, prosecutors said. An executive claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” prosecutors said.
Smirnov in fact had only routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he “expressed bias” against Joe Biden, who was then a presidential candidate, prosecutors said in court documents.
FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden's ties to Ukrainian energy company
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Facing a grilling from an ABC journalist over allegations of price gouging and the deep-rooted issues with "Australia's highly concentrated supermarket" sector, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has walked out of the interview, exclaiming "I'm done".
Woolworths CEO 'walks out' of ABC grilling: 'I shouldn't have said that'
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Ex-senior watchdog staffer says NSW asbestos crisis ‘destined to happen’ after decade of regulatory failure
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The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets. “In a country like the Netherlands where parents like my sister receive ample parental leave, childcare stipends, a four-day work week, and universal healthcare, the low-level anxiety that many American parents feel isn’t as common.”
It’s time to clean up our councils
Bevan Shields
My first job in journalism was to cover Orange City Council for the local newspaper, the Central Western Daily. During those three years I saw the best and worst of local government, and quickly learnt there are two classes of councillors: those who have the community’s best interests at heart, and those more focused on their personal or political interests.
Last year, the long-serving mayor of Orange, John Davis, died after a battle with cancer. It was a big loss. John was a can-do guy, a force of nature and a man with vision. He hated small and short-term thinking. If you walk or drive around Orange today you will see the John Davis effect everywhere. The city is a better place thanks to his energy and passion.
Such leadership is sadly lacking in many Sydney councils, which are failing the public in a multitude of ways. Not all councils are bad, and many have some excellent staff and elected representatives. But with NSW local government elections slated for September 14, I think it’s time to start an honest conversation about the litany of council shortcomings and how to fix the system.
The shambolic renovation of the North Sydney Olympic Pool is a prime example of councils at their most inept. The total project cost is now expected to blow out to an extraordinary $100 million – double the original estimate – and take years longer to complete than planned. The Titanic took less time to build! Those responsible for presiding over this shameful episode deserve to be thrown out by voters in September.
We also saw last year what happens when party politics and personal ambition strangle suburban councils. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is almost certain to launch public hearings into the Hills Shire Council and the relationship between Liberal councillors and fugitive property developer Jean Nassifand his now-collapsed Toplace group. Separately, Canada Bay’s longstanding mayor Angelo Tsirekas was sacked from the council in December and banned from holding civic office for five years, after ICAC found he engaged in serious corrupt conduct by accepting perks from property developers.
Most councils are not corrupt but a growing number are certainly being strangled by grubby party politics. Councils have long been made up of Labor, Liberal or Greens members but the intensity of politicking at the expense of the public interest is a disturbing trend that will only get worse without intervention.
Councils hate change and always cry poor. There is some truth to that complaint, given they are being asked to do more than ever. But rates are extraordinarily high and basic service delivery seems to be going backwards. Last year, 17 councils were given special permission to hike certain levies above the 3.7 per cent cap set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.
Armidale Regional Council got the nod for a cumulative 58.8 per cent hike over three years, Bega Valley Shire Council a 48.3 per cent increase over two years, City of Canada Bay Council 32.53 increase over four years, Hornsby Shire Council 31.05 per cent over four years, Strathfield Council 92.83 per cent and Woollahra Municipal Council 22.23 per cent over two years. The Minns government last month announced a review into the way councils are funded, with the potential for big reform. Councils will want more money at the end of that process, and voters will rightly want better services for their often exorbitant rates. Something will need to give.
The city also needs councils to do a better job of planning and housing approvals. The Herald’s Michael Koziol has done an outstanding job over recent months in exposing some truly absurd rejections of quite reasonable housing projects – decisions that mean we aren’t building enough houses to meet demand. The NSW government’s Urban Development dashboard shows the 34,253 approvals in Greater Sydney in the 2022-23 financial year were 6.5 per cent below the previous five years’ average.
Planning department secretary Kiersten Fishburn recently cited data showing 41 per cent of elected councillors in NSW are 60 or older, while 53 per cent are 30 to 59, and just 4.2 per cent are 18 to 29.
“You have a really disproportionate number of decisions being made at a local level that don’t have the representative voice of young people there,” Fishburn said.
The low representation of 18- to 29-year-olds was a particular problem as they were “literally the people who are really priced out of the rental market”, she said.
Under the fig leaf of protecting their communities, too many councillors have embraced a NIMBY mentality that is more about protecting their political interests. Meanwhile, new generations of residents unable to afford to buy or rent are a distant thought.
Sadly, the collision of council elections in September, and the Minns government’s plan to lift housing density around 31 suburbs serviced by rail stations, will only exacerbate this problem. Planning will undoubtedly be the big issue at these elections but the conduct of councils deserves to be put under the spotlight.
I have been thinking deeply for several months now about how the Herald newsroom can play a role in examining the good and bad of our councils and would love to hear from you if you have any thoughts. Please shoot me a note at cleanupourcouncils@smh.com.auand I will make sure I include your feedback as we plan to tackle this really important topic.
