Scandals of the past 30 years: Business collapses, fires, political scandals and affairs
Business collapses, political fights and sportsmen behaving. They are the scandals that have resulted in royal commissions, resignations, suspensions and sackings. Here are the biggest of the past 30 years.
Victoria
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WE all know Victoria is a great place to live but that doesn’t mean we haven’t had our share of scandals since the Herald Sun first rolled off the presses 30 years ago.
PYRAMID BUILDING SOCIETY COLLAPSE, 1990:
When Geelong’s Farrow Group of companies crumbled with debts of more than $2 billion, Victorian taxpayers paid more than $900 million and a fuel levy of 3 cents a litre was introduced to help depositors. People lost their life savings, businesses and homes in the collapse.
TASTY NIGHTCLUB RAID, 1994:
Tasty was little known outside the gay and trans community … until the police raided it, subjecting patrons to humiliating searches. Class actions resulted in compensation payments totalling more than $10 million and an official police apology finally came in 2014.
ESSO LONGFORD GAS EXPLOSION, 1998:
Two dead, eight injured and the state’s gas supplies crippled, delivering a hit to the state economy of about $1.3 billion. Many Victorian endured 20 days without gat, hot water or heating. And the average compensation to users on their subsequent bill? A princely $10.
KEROSENE BATHS, 2000: There was uproar when it was discovered Riverside Nursing Home had bathed 57 aged care residents in diluted kerosene baths to cure a suspected outbreak of scabies. The Federal Government closed the home and those involved were later disciplined.Nearly two decades later further problems in aged care were investigated by a royal commission.
ANSETT COLLAPSE, 2001-2002:
When airline Ansett Australia collapsed after more than 65 years, about 16,000 people lost their jobs, thousands of passengers were stranded and everyone blamed everyone else. More a train wreck than a plane crash, really.
WAYNE CAREY-KELLI STEVENS AFFAIR, 2002:
When it emerged Kangaroos great Carey had had a fling with teammate (and great friend) Anthony Stevens’ wife, the outrage was loud and furious. With your mate’s wife, Duck? Really? He stepped down from the club and the fracture in the friendship group is still felt today.
HOLLINGWORTH RESIGNATION, 2003:
Melbourne-raised Archbishop Peter Hollingworth was 1991 Australian of the Year and Governor-general in 2003 – but when a church inquiry revealed he had allowed a paedophile to remain a priest, he had to go.
SHANE WARNE’S DRUG BAN, 2003:
Warnie was found to have taken a prohibited substance before the 2003 World Cup, sent home and copped a year long ban. He famously said the diuretic, to aid weight loss (these were SKW’s porky years), had been given to him by his mum.
KIRSTIE MARSHALL EJECTION, 2003:
FORMER Olympian and Labour MP Kirstie Marshall caused uproar in 2003 when she was forced to leave parliament for breastfeeding her baby.
Ms Marshall brought her daughter Charlotte, who was just 11 days old at the time, into the Legislative Assembly on her first day back at work after giving birth.
Despite doing well to even be there such a short time after giving birth she was ushered out of the male dominated chamber after she tried to feed the newborn.
Looking back on the scandal, Ms Marshall told the Herald Sun she felt confused over the reaction.
“I was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about but also there were no other options that were presented to me that could have changed that situation,” she said.
“Nobody actually provided me with other options to do anything other than what I did so I was a bit confused as to why there was such a furore at the time.”
In the seventeen years since the story, Ms Marshall believes that times have changed dramatically.
“I think there’s a real understanding of the commitments people make to balance work and life,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s a female thing or a male thing, the roles have become far less defined and structured.
“The adaptability and the endurance that we’ve seen through COVID is a reflection of those changed attitudes.”
When asked if she believes her experience was a catalyst for change, Ms Marshall said she does believe it played a role in changing the view on work life balance.
“I don’t really think it was about breastfeeding, I think it was about the challenges and the juggle to work,” she said.
“I don’t think my situation was a catalyst in any specific way but I think it added to the growing movement towards change.
“We’re changing, but it’s not always immediate. We just have to keep moving in the right direction.”
JAMES RAMAGE, 2004: Millionaire businessman James Ramage controversially beats a murder charge over the death of his wife Julie. Ramage successfully argued he was provoked when she wanted to end their 23 year marriage. The defence of provocation was abolished as a result of public outcry over the case.
AUSTRALIAN WHEAT BOARD KICKBACKS, 2005:
The AWB breached UN sanctions and Australia law when it paid tens of millions to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime to secure wheat contracts. So heads rolled, right? Wrong. Nobody was charged.
KERANG RAIL CRASH, 2007:
Eleven people died and 23 were injured when a truck collided with a V/Line train just outside Kerang. There had been a previous fatal accident at the site and several near misses. It led to upgrades of regional level crossings. The truck driver was charged but acquitted.
BLACK SATURDAY BUSHFIRES, 2009:
So much tragedy, so many reasons for outrage: ageing power lines, naive views on fuel reduction, distracted public officials … but the way Victorians came together to help, support and rebuild was inspiring.
MELBOURNE TANKING , 2009: The club denied it had deliberately lost games to get a priority draft pick and although an inquiry found it not guilty, penalties were imposed on former coach Dean Bailey and football manager Chris Connolly, while the club was fined $500,000.
RUDD, GILLARD, RUDD, ABBOTT, TURNBULL, 2010-2018:
We’d like our leaders to be responsible adults rather than bickering children but the behaviour of Labor in this period suggests that’s a forlorn hope. At least Turnbull and Abbott didn’t fall into the same trap. Oh wait …
A QUANITA HORSE RACING SCANDAL, 2010-2017: One of the most brazen doping cases in racing history resulted in five trainers and three stable hands being found guilty of administering banned substances on race days. Text messages laid bare the extent of the doping which included a plan to target the Melbourne Cup.
FISKVILLE CONTAMINATION 2016:
The courage of Brian Potter to blow the whistle on the Fiskville CFA contamination led to a closure of the training site and a parliamentary inquiry.
Mark Potter recalls his father’s determination to pursue the issue despite his own failing health, cancers he believed were due to the toxins.
“Working to bring light to the issues at Fiskville and the increased risk of firefighters getting cancer was a challenging period for dad,” he said.
“This was not an attack on CFA today, it was an attempt to profile issues that had unfortunately been swept under the carpet.
“He did this whilst suffering from debilitating cancers and other illnesses and ongoing pain.
“He would often go to bed early completely exhausted but proud that he in some small way had contributed to maintaining the focus on this issue and hopefully preventing the poor treatment he and others had received.”
Sadly the former CFA chief and Fiskville trainer didn’t live to see the parliamentary inquiry announced, passing away two years after the first Herald Sun article exposed the suspected cancer cluster.
“Our family saw the inquiry as vindication for dad. Everything he said was correct.”
Mr Potter said the family was “very proud” of their father’s effort and pleased presumptive legislation had been introduced in Victoria, but their fight wasn’t over.
“We are disappointed that to this day, the Fiskville redress scheme has not been introduced,” he said.
“Numerous promises have been made, we are still waiting.”
SIMON OVERLAND RESIGNATION, 2011:
The man credited with helping end the gangland war had a dramatic fall from grace. An Ombudsman’s investigation of claims that the police Chief Commissioner had selectively released crime figures that reflected well on the former state Labor government left Overland with nowhere to go but out the door. He’s since been embroiled in the Lawyer X controversy.
JILL MEAGHER’S MURDER, 2012:
This was a case that shamed Victoria’s judicial system. Why was Adrian Bayley, a man with an “extensive history of rape and violence”, was on parole for a string of sex offences on the night he raped and strangled Jill in Brunswick.
ESSENDON SUPPLEMENTS SAGA, 2012:
What can you say? The reputation of a proud club sullied irreparably, players misled, Jobe Watson stripped of his Brownlow with the facts of who knew what when forever murky. The Bombers still haven’t recovered.
BAILLIEU SECRET TAPES, 2013: Premier Ted Baillieu resigned after the Herald Sun released tapes revealing government officials had tried to undermine police commissioner Simon Overland and the new anti-corruption commission.
EAST WEST LINK FARCE, 2015:
The most expensive road never built. Noone came out of this mess looking any good but the East West road project’s cancellation and Daniel Andrews paying more than $1.1 billion to not build something is a debacle that takes some beating.
CASEY COUNCIL IBAC PROBE, 2015-PRESENT:
The seemingly boring matter of rezoning land in Cranbourne West has become a bombshell inquiry unearthing alleged shady characters, ignored advice, inexplicable decisions and suitcases filled with cash. Expect much, much more.
HEALTH SERVICES UNION EXPENSES AFFAIR, 2015:
Kathy Jackson, Craig Thomson, misused credit cards, lavish dinners, booze, hookers … the claims and counter claims flew, as did the charges. Bottom line: some of our lowest paid workers were ripped off.
RED SHIRTS RORT, 2015:
After the Andrews Government put electoral staff to work as campaign field officers, Ombudsman Deborah Glass found Labor had misused $388,000 of public money. Labor’s view? Nothing to see here, move on. And they got away with it.
GEORGE PELL CONVICTION, 2018:
Pell professed his innocence from day he was charged and serious concerns his conviction on child sex abuse charges. The High Court agreed this year when it overturned the conviction.
SANDPAPER GATE, 2018: Ball tampering is as old as cricket but when David Warner and Cameron Bancroft damaged the ball with sandpaper, with the knowledge of captain Steve Smith, in a Test in South Africa, they did it on camera. The stupidity was almost as bad as the cheating.
LAWYER X, 2019:
A story years in the making, broken by the Herald Sun and pursued by journalists Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon, who won the right to name Nicola Gobbo as Lawyer X.
Sex, drugs, cops, crims and dodgy dealing, this one is still running.
Gobbo, who has suddenly disappeared from the spotlight, was the lawyer to Melbourne’s baddest criminals.
What they did not know was that before Gobbo graduated law school, she was an informer.
The closer you were to her the more potent the sting.
Her prey included the greedy and the murderous, such as, Rob Karam, Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams.
Gobbo would become what she always wanted to be – the greatest informer in its history.
The execution of Terence Hodson in May, 2004, who was a police informer, alongside his wife, played on Gobbo’s conscience.
She was Hodson’s lawyer when he began informing about police corruption.
At the same time she was entangling herself with the very police officers and criminals he was snitching on.
To this day she has never told the whole truth about what she knows.
The Hodsons’ daughter, Mandy, says her father knew he was a ‘’dead man walking’’.
‘’Hopefully one day we can have some closure,’’ Mandy said.
‘’Dad was ging to expose the other side of the law.’’
More than five years after breaking the Lawyer X scandal, and fighting a wave of suppression orders to tell the story, a royal commission was launched and a flood of appeals lodged.
Jailed gangland figure Faruk Orman remains the only Gobbo client to overturn his conviction, for murder, and is now a free man.
Lawyer X is a legal scandal unprecedented worldwide.
DARREN WEIR BAN, 2019: Most of us didn’t know what a jigger was until the illegal, and cruel, electrical prods were discovered at two of horse trainer Weir’s yards. Weir, trainer of Melbourne Cup winner Prince of Penzance, was banned for four years.
QUARANTINE HOTEL DEBACLE, 2020: A stuff-up so monumental that it not only crippled the state but apparently erased the memories of every official involved. The second wave that escaped the hotel quarantine program has been said to be responsible for 768 deaths and nearly all the coronavirus cases. The real scandal will be if former health minister Jenny Mikakos is the only one to carry any blame.
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