Victoria’s plague of vandalism, break-ins and arson attacks has come perilously close to the electoral office of state opposition police spokesman Brad Battin, with an attempted firebombing at the restaurant next door.
Talk about an example of what Battin laments is a crime crisis landing practically on his doorstep.
The incident occurred on Monday night at the eatery next to Battin’s electorate office in Berwick in Melbourne’s south-east.
We hear that while the crooks fled, an accelerant was left at the scene, and it may not have been the first time the venue has been broken into. Battin’s office did not sustain any damage.
“Police are investigating an attempted firebombing at a restaurant in Berwick on 12 October,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
“It is believed two unknown offenders attended the premises on Wheeler Street just before midnight. Offenders threw an object through the window before they were confronted by a staff member inside and fled.
“They were last seen fleeing in a silver vehicle. There were no injuries and the investigation is ongoing.”
Police are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed or has CCTV footage of the incident.
We checked in on Battin on Tuesday, figuring that as the opposition’s police spokesman he might have a bit to say about the attempted firebombing. While he was measured, he was clearly concerned.
“We have seen the crime crisis escalate across Victoria and in Casey crime continues to rise, and it is these kinds of events that send fear through the community,” he said.
We hear a police camera was positioned in Wheeler Street on Tuesday afternoon following the damage the night before. Watch this space.
J-Bish’s advisory link to Trump
She is already a noted jetsetter, but former foreign minister Julie Bishop is spreading her business wings and has hitched her wagon to a Trump-linked advisory firm in the US.
Bishop revealed on Instagram on Tuesday that she had formed a “strategic alliance” between her Julie Bishop & Partners advisory firm and American Global Strategies, which is chaired by Robert O’Brien, a US national security adviser from 2019 to 2021 and current member of Donald Trump’s President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
The chief executive of American Global Strategies, which bills itself as advising clients on geopolitical developments, is Alexander Gray, who was previously a director for Oceania security at the White House.
Bishop will be among old friends in the connecting of the businesses.
Former PM Scott Morrison, her ex-government colleague, is a non-executive vice chairman at American Global Strategies, while former top Australian intelligence official Nick Warner is a senior adviser to the company, as is former Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos.
“The firms will draw on their respective experience and regional perspectives, with particular relevance for companies operating in strategically important sectors including mining and critical minerals, energy, defence, and technology,” a press blurb explained, as well as providing “senior corporate leaders with strategic guidance”.
CBD sought comment from Bishop’s team to find out more about this bonding, asking why she selected this organisation to partner with, if she was a supporter of Donald Trump and if her old mate Morrison had helped connect the parties. We’re waiting to hear back.
Bishop stepped down as chancellor of the Australian National University in May after six years in the chair. Meanwhile, she has been keeping those curious up to date with her recent international travels, posting regularly to social media.
There was a trip to Italy, a week at the United Nations, and then a couple of days in the south of France to attend the lavish wedding of Australian-born fashion designer Tamara Ralph.
Ralph, whose pricey designs are red carpet favourites for celebrities of the calibre of Angelina Jolie and Taylor Swift, married billionaire businessman Bhanu Choudhrie in an extravagant four-day celebration at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc this month.
‘Toorak Tom’ returns after suspension
“Tom for Toorak”, the pothole-obsessed Stonnington councillor also known as Tom Humphries, is back on deck after serving a four-week suspension from the council and is now calling for changes to the Local Government Act.
Humphries, who memorably addressed his constituents as “my fellow Toorakians” when breaking the news online of his suspension, had urged his fellow councillors at a meeting in council chambers last December to support his push to install a menorah at Malvern Town Hall.
However, his robust presentation and use of words including “antisemitic” and “unlawful” while making his case against an attempt to delay the decision led to him facing arbitration after four fellow councillors – Stonnington Mayor Melina Sehr, Deputy Mayor Samantha Choudhury, and councillors Jami Klisaris and Steve Stefanopoulos – claimed his behaviour brought discredit on the council.
Meanwhile, the menorah was approved and installed a week after the heated debate.
In a report later tabled in council documents, arbiter Diana Price found Humphries was “able to use language that was forceful. However, his statements went well beyond the concept of robust debate in a democracy.”
While his suspension, which came into effect in mid-September, ended this week, he can’t seek the mayoralty or deputy mayoralty, which are up for grabs in November, and must apologise to council colleagues.
In an Instagram video, he said he would not fight the decision as he reckoned it would cost roughly $250,000 to appeal in the Supreme Court.
Far from taking a back seat on his return to the council front line, Humphries is now planning to push for changes to the Local Government Act, saying his suspension deprived his constituents of representation for a month.
“This process has shown me how the Local Government Act works in practice, and it needs to change,” he told CBD on Tuesday.
“A complaint by fellow councillors is heard behind closed doors, there’s no right to legal representation, and the result can be that an entire ward loses its elected voice for months.
“Toorak Ward has gone a month without the councillor it elected, and I’ll be making up for lost time in delivering the agenda I promised to my residents.”
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