The Scoop: Former bikie boss’s shock move after Bunnings bashing

A former bikie boss who was viciously bashed outside a Bunnings in an act of retaliation is out to prove his doubters wrong.

Former Nomads bikie boss turned influencer Moudi Tajjour is still smarting from his bashing by alleged outlaw motorcycle gang enemies outside a Gold Coast Bunnings store in 2022. Tajjour was set upon outside Nerang Bunnings in what a court heard was retaliation for using his podcast to “call out” one of his attackers, alleged Mongols bikie associate Harley Cranston.

Former bikie turned influencer Moudi Tajjour. Photo: Instagram.

Tajjour referenced the attack this week on social media as he accepted a challenge from convicted criminal turned world-renowned artist Nathan Paddison, for a charity boxing bout. Tajjour said people questioning his fighting abilities based on viral video footage of his relentless bashing were “talking s--t”. “Youse weren’t in my shoes that day,” he told followers

‘Too perfect’ wedding photos

A Gold Coast fitness influencer’s idyllic Italian wedding pics have been blasted for being a little “too perfect”.

The high-profile union between Insta-famous Rachel Dillon and Tobi Pearce - who is the ex-fiance of that other fitness sensation, Kayla Itsines - is under scrutiny by digital detectives, with some questioning whether the photographs taken during the nuptials on Italy’s Amalfi Coast didn’t have a helping hand.

Rachel Dillon and Tobi Pearce tie the knot in Italy. Picture: Instagram.

One Reddit user labelled one of the photographs as looking “like AI,”, with another person liking it to a “promo photo for another Twilight movie.”

Others noted the unnatural sharpness and gloss, typical of AI-generated imagery, and questioned whether the couple might have overly relied on digital enhancements.

Comments range from amusement to outright disbelief, with many pointing out the over-processed look that gives the wedding a “sh*tty romance novel cover” vibe.

The couple has not responded to these accusations, with the newlyweds currently enjoying their honeymoon on the Greek Island of Crete.

Best agents named, kinda

The local real estate world was sent into a frenzy this week following the publication of a list ranking the state’s top agents.

Well, sort of.

The REB list – which relies on agents submitting their own financial details – purports to rank the Top 50 Agents in Queensland.

Gold Coast deal-maker Michael Kollosche secured the No.1 spot, revealing he made a grand total of $453,902,500 in sales last year.

Mr Kollosche, whose headliner sales include a Southport mansion sold under the hammer for $24.8m in 2023, trumped McGrath Paddington bigwig Alex Jordan, who had topped the list for the past two years running.

Mr Jordan, an accomplished musician who grew up in housing commission, moved to No.2 this year after selling $281.55m worth of property.

Belle Property Bulimba principal Tony O’Doherty fell from second in 2023 to third place.

The rankings were determined on three key metrics – the number of properties sold, the total dollar volume of properties sold, and the average sale value.

A lot of the top agents in Queensland don’t participate in the list because they regard it to be self-certified.

Scoop asked one of Brisbane’s top agents, Matt Lancashire, principal of Ray White New Farm, why he wasn’t in the top five.

Mr Lancashire declined to comment but was happy to hand over his numbers in which his total sales amassed $239,084,000 from 57 properties sold at an average sale price of $4,194,456

For the record, that would have put Mr Lancashire ahead of Mr O’Doherty for total sales.

Despite being pipped from the state’s top post, Mr Jordan said he was thrilled to be Brisbane’s No.1 guy.

Just too beefy

Beef Week is getting too big for its britches.

The tri-annual, six-day festival which ended on Saturday is one of Queensland’s stunning success stories when it comes to the world of tourism and events.

But Rockhampton’s infrastructure is clearly not keeping pace with what is now globally recognised as the largest beef exhibition in the southern hemisphere.

The event grew organically after a 1988 bicentennial year celebration in which about 2000 head of cattle were mustered for Prime Cattle Show and Sale at the Gracemere Saleyards south of the city.

Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Beef Week in Rockhampton.Pic Annette Dew

Some garden picnics and strolls through the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens were arranged while local restaurants served up a Salute To Beef dish every night.

This week, 36 years on, no fewer than 50 charter jets touched down at Rockhampton Airport alongside the regular commercial flights.

More than 120,000 people moved through the turnstiles at the showgrounds over the six days as visitors arrived from Algeria, Columbia, Botswana, Indonesia, Canada, the US and across Europe, not a few of them cashed-up investors looking to profit from Australia’s booming beef industry.

But for many, there was no room at the inn.

Every room in the city was booked, forcing thousands to head to Yeppoon which, in turn, led to daily traffic snarls at the northern approach to the city.

One ABC crew was forced to bed down in Gladstone to cover the event, giving them an hour-and-half drive each day to get to work. Cabs were scarce, as were Ubers, and toilets at the venue (the local showgrounds) were not adequate for the size of crowds.

Given the last major piece of major infrastructure to be built at showgrounds in the past decade is the Robert Schwarten Pavilion, more permanent buildings are going to have to be erected before the 2027 Beef Week.

It’s a magnificent event, and it costs about $22m to stage. But the hard work over nearly 40 years to build a world-class exhibition should not be compromised in the years ahead by a failure to keep pace with the ever-expanding interest in this signature event.

TICKET shemozzle

As Rockhampton’s Beef Week drew to a close on Saturday, the much-anticipated Gala Beef Ball dazzled attendees, cementing its status among locals as the Met Gala of the Beef Industry.

But not all was smooth in the lead-up to this glittering event.

Two months ago, when tickets for Beef Week were released on March 19, a kerfuffle left some of the industry’s most prominent figures without access to the gala and other key events in the program, despite shelling out $1000 for Beef Australia memberships that promised earlybird deals.

The issue arose from a premature release of the ticket link by a local organisation, which allowed the general public to snap up nearly all the tickets to the ball, priced at $350 each, before VIP members could access them.

This blunder not only undermined the value of these pricey memberships but also sparked outrage among the high-profile cattle community.

This fiasco was compounded by the decision to release tickets at 10am, a time most inconvenient for those actively working in the fields and pastures. This timing, arguably more suited to the schedules of city-dwelling corporate types than those of the rural cattle-raisers, has been criticised as out of touch with the community it serves. Despite ticket turmoil, the Gala Beef Ball itself was reported to be a resounding success, with those lucky enough to attend celebrating into the night following a three-course dinner featuring Australian beef and a premium beverage package.

A First Nations first

The first Indigenous woman appointed to the Supreme Court will deliver the Mullenjaiwakka (Lloyd McDermott) Oration in Brisbane this month.

ACT Supreme Court Justice Louise Taylor, a Kamilaroi woman, was appointment to the bench last year – the second time she made history after becoming the ACT’s first Indigenous magistrate in 2018. She has a particular interest in women’s issues especially in relation to family, domestic and sexual violence.

The Oration, hosted by Queensland Chief Justice Helen Bowskill in the Banco Court on May 28, raises awareness about legal issues affecting First Nations people. It also honours the memory of Mullenjaiwakka, Australia’s first Aboriginal barrister.

Boba Fett misses latest target

Star Wars actor Temeura Morrison – he played the galaxy’s best bounty hunter in the film franchise – is on a quest of a different kind, hunting for a Queensland trophy home.

The New Zealand-based star, who played Boba Fett, wants a luxury Gold Coast holiday home, and was spotted inspecting a Broadbeach Waters mansion on May 4th – the unofficial Star Wars day.

Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett in Star Wars. Picture: Supplied.

Morrison was already familiar with the four-storey waterfront trophy home, which had served as a set for his 2023 film, Sons of Summer.

“When I want to get away, have a bit of a break, holiday, de-stress, this is my favourite place to come now,” Morrison said on the property’s balcony. “Broadbeach, the Gold Coast, Australia – here, at the house of whispering waters.”

But the Force was not with him, as the homeowner’s $9m-$10m asking price for the Lakeland Key home was more than he wanted to splurge.

Amir Prestige agent Alex Fleri, who moonlights as an actor and stuntman, arranged the private inspection.

“Temuera loves the house but it was a little bit more than he wanted to spend,” he said.

The home is currently off-market, with property records showing it was last listed in 2023 with a price tag of $9.9m.

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Call for overdue rethink

More than 500 of Australia’s top business leaders assembled at the Sofitel Brisbane Central for the annual Chief Executive Women dinner last Friday, uniting to address the slow pace of gender equality in the workplace.

With a star-studded line-up of leading ladies in business, the event, marked by a strong call for action, shone a spotlight on the need for urgent, substantial reforms.

During the event, prominent female executives said that, while there has been some progress towards gender equality, the change was happening too slowly. Central to their agenda is a revamp of the paid parental leave policies to incite fathers to more actively engage in early childcare.

Despite recent federal enhancements that introduced an additional four weeks of earmarked parental leave for both parents, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz argued this did not go far enough. She proposed six weeks of the 26-week paid parental leave allocation should be reserved for the secondary carer.

“Countries where this has been done before, such as Spain, have seen real shifts in men’s participation in care work and women’s participation in the workforce,” she said.