Accused gold thief Hayley Terei allegedly lied about being Aboriginal to make bail

A Heidelberg mother who allegedly lied about being Aboriginal to get bail over an alleged $470k gold and cash heist is trying to have evidence thrown out of court.

Hayley Terei became notorious for claiming she was Aboriginal to get bail.

A Heidelberg mother will argue recorded phone calls that allegedly prove she lied about being Aboriginal to get bail are inadmissible as evidence.

Hayley Terei, 33, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with perverting the course of justice after allegedly faking being an Aboriginal woman to take advantage of softer bail laws designed to keep First Nations people out of custody.

Ms Terei was granted bail in the Supreme Court last year on charges relating to a burglary in which guns, gold nuggets and $470,000 cash were stolen from a Hastings home.

The mother-of-four claimed in the Supreme Court she was an Aboriginal woman of the Yorta Yorta nation and that her cultural heritage had been “whitewashed” by her father following her Aboriginal mother’s death.

Hayley Terei allegedly lied about being Aboriginal in order to make bail after being remanded on charges that she was involved in a gun, gold and cash heist.

However, police analysis of recorded prison phone calls between Ms Terei and her associates while she was in prison, allegedly revealing she was not Aboriginal.

The calls revealed Terei’s mother was not Aboriginal and was in fact alive and living in New Zealand.

Ms Terei’s bail was revoked and police subsequently arrested her again, with the accused fake Aboriginal woman appearing from Dame Phyllis Correctional Centre.

The defence argued the evidence gathered from recordings police claimed exposed the alleged “conspiracy” through conversations Ms Terei had associated with was “hearsay” and indicated they would argue over the admissibility of the recordings as evidence.

Ms Terei’s new lawyer told Magistrate Suzanne Cameron the defence would argue there was a lack of evidence to prove she had lied to her previous lawyer about being Aboriginal, claiming the recorded calls only allegedly provided “vague admissions”.

Ms Cameron said the defence would be making an “inference the size of a house” that her previous lawyer had committed “fraud” and had “made up” Ms Terei’s Aboriginality claim if the defence argued Ms Terei had not instructed her lawyer to tell the court she was Aboriginal.

Ms Terei’s new lawyer assured Ms Cameron the defence was not implying her previous lawyer had made the whole thing up.

The court heard Ms Terei was still recorded as Aboriginal in the court system.

When asked about the status of Ms Terei’s Aboriginality, Ms Cameron put down “unstated or unknown”.