r/aussie

Is small business having a lend of us? The card transaction cost was a few cents - 0.25 or so, sometimes less, of a purchase. They’re raising prices by dollars. How about they complain to banks for charging a fake fee for costs they barely incur? And they certainly don’t do a good job of keeping the service reliable and equipment up to date. Rather than yelling at government, maybe they need to remember who is charging them and take it up with them instead of charging us as a way to punish government.

An Australian artist who raped multiple women will be released from prison after being deemed “very low risk” – despite one victim’s fear that he will “seek revenge” against her.

Pierre Raphael Mol, 62, who assaulted six women between 2009 and 2014, was granted parole by the NSW State Parole Authority in August and will be released from prison on October 4.

Mol lured and raped five of the six women inside his studio in Sydney’s north shore by hiring them as “models” for his “art” on Gumtree, where they were looking for casual work.

The sixth victim was assaulted after meeting him at an art competition where he was working as a judge.

The youngest victim was 19. He was 48 at the time.

The board’s decision in August came despite the objections of one of his victims, Ashley Yakimchuk, who submitted a letter revealing how she feared for her life.

“I live in fear that if Pierre gets out he will want to know where the girl is who ruined his life and put him behind bars,” she wrote ahead of their decision.

“Seeing as he confidently continued to rape women after knowing he was under investigation, this man clearly doesn’t seem as though he is afraid of the law.

“I am certain that if he gets out of prison, he will continue to harm more people and will seek revenge on me for going to the police that night.”

In a statement to news.com.au, the NSW State Parole Authority said Mol’s parole was granted after the board was given a pre-release report which assessed him as having a low risk of general reoffending.

A Corrective Services NSW psychologist also assessed him at a “very low risk of committing a further sex offence”.

“...Mol has demonstrated a high level of insight into his offending and the impact of his offending on the victims and accepts responsibility for his actions,” the statement from the NSW State Parole Authority said.

“Having evaluated all the available evidence and expert advice, the Authority determined it was in the interests of the safety of the community to grant parole for a safe reintegration while under supervision.”

During his 2024 sentencing, Mol blamed his actions on his “lifelong mission to understand the human figure” and believed that because the women were art students, they would also be “dedicated” to his “study”.

Mol was a renowned artist at the time of his offending and working as a fine arts professor at UNSW.

In 2015, Mol was sentenced to 14 years for the indecent assault and rape of the three original women.

He was due to be released on parole in August 2025, however, was sentenced again in 2024 after three more victims came forward to police.

He was handed a seven-year sentence, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.

However, the sentence was backdated to July 5, 2022 when he was hit with the fresh charges, allowing him to be eligible for release on October 4, 2026.

Upon his release, Mol will be housed at a NSW Corrective Services managed facility in Sydney.

Mol shot to fame in the early 2000s when he painted the largest mural in the Southern Hemisphere at the request of the Sultan of Brunei before moving into academia.

Ahead of the 2024 sentencing, the court heard how Mol assured the women he hired from Gumtree that the work would be “strictly professional”.

“I want to make this clear. I want people to know I am a professional artist and not a creep,” he told one of the victims.

The court heard how Mol digitally raped one of the women while sketching her, saying he needed to make her genitalia look more “colourful and flushed” for the drawing.

Mol asked if she was “getting aroused” as he did so, to which she replied “no”.

He then dropped her off at the station after the offending and gave her $100 before telling her: “I guess you won’t come back and see me again?”

The court heard how he “chuckled” as he drove away.

In one case, Mol removed the victim’s tampon with a baby wipe before raping her.

He also wrote in his letter that he has paid a “heavy price” for his mistakes through the loss of his art and academic career.

While sentencing Mol, Judge Paul McGuire SC said the rapist “continued” to blame the victims and said that they “gave him the impression they were attracted to him”.

“He lacks insight into the true meaning of consent,” Judge McGuire said.

“He also claimed his interest in his victims was not sexually motivated … but motivated by his want to understand the naked body.

“The offender has acted with complete disregard for their vulnerability.”

One of Mol’s most famous works was the ‘Brown Bear Lane’ mural in The Rocks, Sydney.

The mural was removed in 2024 by the NSW Government after one of his victims started a petition for the artwork to be taken down.

“It is not okay a serial rapist’s art is being celebrated in the city of Sydney,” she told news.com.au.

With the recent surge in popularity of Pauline Hanson and One Nation in both state and federal polling one must ask the question who amongst first, second and third generation migrant Australians are considering voting for One Nation?

This is a valid question worth asking considering that 30% of our population is born overseas and 1 in 3 Australians have a parent who was born somewhere overseas as well. I myself am a first generation immigrant who has become a citizen, not gonna be voting for One Nation or the two major parties but likely independent. But those of said backgrounds who are voting for One Nation would be interested to hear your reasons. Just out of curiosity.

I live in Melbourne and I consider myself to be centre left when it comes to political views and largely align with policies on the left.

One thing that confuses me though is crime, especially in Vic. We’ve seen horrific news after news of stabbing, home invasions, unprovoked attacks, robberies, gang violence…the list goes on and on!

And yet the Labour Party in Vic refuses to get tough on crime and refuses to enact new laws to tackle youth crime. And I just don’t get it!!

People like me are genuinely worried about their safety nowadays and what’s more worrying we see that there’s no accountability any more. Police catch the criminals and yet the judges give them bail and give them soft punishments. So there’s no deterrence any longer!

So my question is - why does the Labour Party not try to tackle violent crime? Do they really think they will get more votes if they don’t tackle crime?
Are there people who don’t want Labour to tackle crime??

Genuine question because I’m baffled as to why they dont introduce new laws to end this madness! I must be missing something

That's all.

An associate of a notorious Islamic preacher linked to the Bondi shooters has called on followers to take up arms against Christians and Jews, putting the spotlight back on radical preachers after the major parties shelved attempts to rein them in.

A young and increasingly popular preacher from Melbourne’s southeast who goes by Abu Ahmad said in a July sermon that adherents should not “take the Jews and the Christians for friends”.

“For the sake of Allah, it includes the obligation to declare enmity for his sake, opposition for the sake of Allah. It is to declare opposition: indeed, to take up arms against his enemies, to shun them and to stay far from them both in word and deed,” he said in a clip posted to his Al Bayyinah Islamic Centre’s social media feed.

“This proves that simple opposition of the spirit is not enough and that it must be complete by honouring of your commitment.”

The Al Bayyinah Islamic Centre was established in Springvale in 2024. It has regularly posted on Instagram with another account called Station of the Seekers, which has featured Islamic State sympathisers.

The Al Bayyina centre has also been supported by Sydney-based preacher Wisam Haddad, who is linked to the Al Madina Dawah Centre, a prayer hall in Sydney’s Bankstown.

Bondi shooter Naveed Akram reportedly attended the Al Madina centre and formed connections with Islamic State supporters through people he met there. Akram and his father, Sajid, are alleged to have killed 15 people at a Chanukah event at Bondi Beach.

The call to take up arms will renew focus on extremism 10 months after one of Australia’s worst alleged terror attacks and raise questions about why hate preachers can still call for violence against Jews and Christians from their unofficial pulpits.

Parliament descended into chaos in mid-January when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tried to pass legislation prohibiting neo-Nazi and Islamist groups and criminalising the promotion of hatred via anti-vilification laws.

The Nationals feared cracking down on violent rhetoric risked inhibiting free speech and giving a future government power to target conservatives, while the Greens worried the move would curtail legitimate criticism of Israel’s bloody war in Gaza.

The lack of support for stronger hate speech laws meant Albanese sliced the bill in half, banning hate groups but dropping laws that would have given authorities more scope to target hate preachers and neo-Nazis who vilify based on race, gender or religion.

Without these extra powers, authorities have been privately grumbling about their inability to target these unofficial suburban firebrands.

The national security community remains concerned about the threat. Former spy boss Denis Richardson declared a fortnight ago that Australia should be able to have an open debate about fringe radicals in the Muslim community without demonising all Australian Muslims.

A few days later, ASIO boss Mike Burgess said the chance of a terror attack was more likely than the terror threat level – “probable” – suggested. Meanwhile, lawyer Josh Bornstein last month questioned why the royal commission into antisemitism did not spend more time probing Haddad and antisemitic neo-Nazis.

The AFP continues to target IS sympathisers. In mid-September, it arrested half a dozen men who had been sharing Islamic State propaganda. On Wednesday, it arrested a 65-year-old alleged member of a terrorist organisation who is accused of sharing thousands of extremist files and ISIS propaganda.

This masthead is not suggesting Abu Ahmad is under investigation or that he supports Islamic State. The Al Bayyinah centre was contacted for comment.
Ahmad gave his talk in mid-July. He said opposition for the sake of Allah was “to feel anger at the enemies of Allah and to struggle against them”. He also mentioned a book famous for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.

“If the aim of the enemies of Islam whether they are atheists or Jews or Christians or modernists or Zionists or communists is the emasculation of … Muslims, and the erosion of their unique character in order to make them the ass of the chosen people … then the urgency of this issue should become clear to every Muslim,” he said.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess.Alex Ellinghausen
Haddad has previously urged his “Melbourne brothers” to show support for Al Bayyinah and attend its weekly players, which are displayed in slick social media videos on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. In early 2025, Ahmad reportedly visited the Bankstown centre linked to Haddad and delivered a sermon that took aim at “infidel” Western powers that colonised the Middle East.

An ABC Four Corners investigation, aired in April last year, also reported connections between Abu Ahmed’s outfit and Haddad.

“Haddad rapidly expanded Al Madinah Dawah Centre, turbocharged his online influence, and re-energised a national pro-IS network, which now includes an affiliated prayer centre in Melbourne, Al Bayyinah Islamic Centre,” the ABC reported in April 2025.

Associate professor Josh Roose, a Deakin University professor who tracks extremism, said Haddad had effectively set up an “outpost” in Melbourne.

“If authorities don’t crack down on these centres as soon as they emerge, then we’re inviting, quite frankly, extremists, Salafists, jihadist Islam, into the suburbs,” Roose said.

“This is the problem with the hate speech laws as they are. Calling to take up arms is more radical than anything Hizb ut-Tahrir ever said, and they were banned.”
Roose said Abu Ahmad could defend any charge by arguing that his call to arms was colloquial or general, rather than a specific call to violence. He said there had been a rise in extremism and atomisation around the world in the social media age, evident in the growth of extreme misogyny and organised neo-Nazi activities in Australia.

Last month, Federal Court judge Ian Jackman called out the judiciary’s “dogmatism” on free speech that he said had given too much leeway for religious extremists to spread hate against Jews, urging a reconsideration of the implied freedom of political communication that gained recognition in the 1990s.

“It would not have occurred to Australians in the 1990s that other Australians would abuse their freedom of political communication to publicly intimidate and vilify Jews,” he said in a speech at the Samuel Griffiths Society, a conservative legal fraternity that has long opposed anti-vilification laws.

A Sudanese refugee involved in a vicious bashing that left an 18-year-old dead has been spared deportation after the Administrative Review Tribunal overturned the cancellation of his visa, in a setback for the government’s attempts to toughen visa decisions in the wake of the Direction 99 ­debacle.

The man, who migrated to Australia at the age of four and who can be identified only as BCQR, was himself 18 when he joined three other men in the late-night pursuit of the victim through Melbourne streets in 2021.

After chasing him by car and by foot, BCQR and his three co-offenders bashed the victim, who sustained eight stab wounds to his buttock during the attack.

Witnesses heard the attackers saying “You dog, you rat, this is what mutts get”.

The man was left on the ground and died two hours later.

BCQR was convicted of manslaughter over the incident and sentenced to seven years and six months in jail, with a minimum non-parole period of 4½ years.

A delegate of then-­immigration minister Andrew Giles cancelled BCQR’s humanitarian visa in June 2024, noting that any risk of reoffending was unacceptable even allowing for the fact he had lived in Australia for most of his life.

In a decision published late last week, ART general member Anna Burke, a former Labor MP and parliamentary Speaker, ruled that the man should have his visa reinstated, citing the uncertainty over his future if the visa remained cancelled, the strength, nature and duration of his ties to Australia, and his “full” rehabilitation in prison.

Ms Burke was the same tribunal member whose decision to spare from deportation a child rapist who attacked his stepdaughter while his wife was giving birth sparked intense scrutiny of the Albanese government’s Direction 99, which had given tribunal members greater scope to consider the ties of criminal non-citizens to Australia when weighing whether they should lose their visas.

The government ultimately replaced Direction 99 with a tougher Direction 110 and dumped Mr Giles from the immigration portfolio.

Counsel for BCQR argued during the ART hearing that upholding the visa cancellation would leave their client facing ­either deportation to Sudan, indefinite legal limbo on one of the bridging visas created for the NZYQ cohort, or removal to a third country such as Nauru.

In her decision, Ms Burke noted that not revoking the visa cancellation would leave BCQR in “perpetual uncertainty of his fate” and could make him of even more risk to the public.

“The consequences of living in a state of perpetual uncertainty on the evidence before the tribunal indicates BCQR’s mental health would decline, which in turn could lead to substance abuse, engaging with poor peer choices and further offending,” she said in her decision. She also noted that the man had strong ties to Australia in the form of his fiance, mother, siblings, nieces and nephews, and was involved in the Sudanese community and church.

BCQR is the youngest of seven children who moved to Australia with their mother in August 2006 after fleeing the war in Sudan. His father had been killed by rebels in Ethiopia. He was born in a refugee camp in Kenya and has never set foot in Sudan.

While BCQR’s lawyers argued that their client had been successfully rehabilitated in prison, counsel for the Immigration Minister told the tribunal that a clinician in November 2023 had found the man was a moderate risk of violent reoffending. He had also been involved in several “particularly violent” incidents during his time behind bars.

Ms Burke said BCQR’s remorse, his steps towards rehabilitation and his low risk of reoffending all weighed in favour of overturning the visa revocation. “The tribunal found the evidence clearly demonstrated BCQR has used his time in prison to fully rehabilitate himself, to use every opportunity to learn from this tragic incident and his part in it,” Ms Burke wrote.

“The tribunal found the evidence clearly indicated BCQR was remorseful and took full responsibility for his part in the tragic death of the victim. The tribunal also considers the evidence clearly indicated BCQR is no longer simply being led by others, has clearly been motivated to change and has matured into a considerate, respectful young man.”

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said he believed non-citizens who committed serious offences should not be allowed to remain in Australia. “This is a dangerous immigrant who has inflicted a heinous crime on an Australian citizen. The community expectation would clearly be to proceed with this deportation,” he said.

“Whilst it is a matter for the ART, the Coalition has long taken the view that if you are not a citizen and you commit a crime here, you should be deported.”

>Prices beyond our control, climate change, big tech, crime, the government itself. It’s no wonder people are so furious

A group of teenagers arrested in sweeping raids after the Wakeley attack in 2024 have pleaded guilty to preparing a terror attack in Sydney before they were foiled by state and federal police counter-terrorism investigators.

The group, who The Saturday Telegraph revealed at the time were making plans to use a “stash house” to hold weapons ahead of a “kuffar plan” (kuffar means “disbelievers” in Arabic), appeared on Friday at the NSW Supreme Court and will be sentenced next year.

They were arrested shortly after the April 2024 Wakeley terror attack in which Assyrian bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was set upon in a stabbing attack that was inadvertently livestreamed online.

The Telegraph can reveal that the four teens – who were all minors at the time of the offending and can’t be named – have pleaded guilty to conspiring to prepare a terrorist attack.

Previously, in the Children’s Court, two of those teenagers pleaded guilty to a further charge of sharing violent extremist material, while the third pleaded guilty to illegally supplying a firearm.

The development marks more than two years of investigations and legal proceedings, and the charges are among the most-severe of those filed against a total of seven teenage boys who the NSW Joint Counter-Terrorism Team arrested in April 2024. At the time of that operation, 12 people were raided, seven teenagers arrested and six later charged.

The Telegraph reported at the time of their arrest how the boys’ terror plot was foiled thanks to an associate being arrested about a week prior for an unrelated offence, giving investigators access to their phone and group chats on encrypted messaging application Signal.

In one Signal group chat, called “Plans”, the teens talked about obtaining firearms, including “dirty guns” and a “shotty”.

“I really want to target the yahud (Jewish people)... We will plan it,” one of the teens said in that Signal group.

That teen asked another: “how long will all this planning take?”

As conversations between the boys progressed, the teenagers talked about being excited to “to die and kill”, needing to be “patient”, as their plot needed to be planned “for a while”.

When the teens realised their associate had been arrested they talked panickedly among themselves.

“Oh s..t… we were planning big stuff bro, it’s a conspiracy for a terror attack, I think,” one teenager said when he realised their group chat had been discovered.

One teenager changed their social-media profile picture to the ISIS flag and posted the terror group’s propaganda videos on another account, while also sharing links to websites where the boys could buy pocket knives.

“I’m ready to go to war, don’t worry,” one of the teens told the group.

In late April, after the Wakeley terror attack, police swooped on the network of boys.

In the JCTT’s sweeping Sydney raids, investigators seized – from across the more than 10 teenagers raided or arrested – a knife, mobile phones, laptops, batons, machete, a PlayStation 4, hard drives, two hand-drawn ISIS flags, a large hunting knife and a tomahawk.

The network of teenagers targeted in those raids is broad and disparate. Police also investigated some among the group for violent anti-LGBT offences and bashings, while others have later been arrested for extremism offences and some have ties to known-ISIS extremists.

All four of the teenagers will now proceed to a sentence hearing next April in the Supreme Court on the charge of conspiring to prepare a terrorist attack. The pleas entered at the Children’s Court to the additional offences, as 16BA offences, will be taken into account on sentencing.

One Nation’s billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart has purchased an $8m inner-city Brisbane office building that Pauline Hanson’s party will use as its new headquarters as it seeks to ramp up operations in her home state.

Hanrine Investments, a subsidiary of Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, finalised the purchase of the three-storey building at Spring Hill last week, with the right-wing party due to relocate there once a fit-out is complete.

Hancock Prospecting insists One Nation will not be given free or cheap rent at the 160 Wharf Street building, which features “two upper levels of spacious, light-filled office”, 10 carparking spots, and a large top-floor balcony with “expansive views of the city, perfect for corporate gatherings”.

Revelations of the purchase came as Senator Hanson hit the campaign trail on Sunday, joining her Victorian frontman Warren Pickering for a lap of go-karting at a campaign event in Geelong.

One Nation supporters came under fire at the weekend after cheering on a state candidate who vowed to put former premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan in prison “by Christmas” if the party triumphed at the November 28 Victorian poll.

On Sunday, Senator Hanson declared Labor “finished” in Victoria and predicted the Liberals would rely on her party’s support to form government.

The result in Victoria next month will be pored over by Anthony Albanese, Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan who are all looking to suppress One Nation’s growing support before the next federal election, due in 2028.

Senator Hanson hits the campaign trail in Geelong on Sunday. Picture: Mark Wilson

Last week, Newspoll quarterly analysis published in The Australian revealed the minor party had lifted its primary vote in Queensland to 36 per cent. It also showed a majority of voters in the state would prefer Senator Hanson as prime minister over Mr Albanese.

The relocation of One Nation’s headquarters from Brisbane Airport to Mrs Rinehart’s newly purchased building on the fringe of the Brisbane CBD comes as Queensland once again shapes as the major battle ground at a federal election.

After the fit-out is complete, One Nation will occupy level one and part of level two of the building, totalling about 650sqm of office space. Half of the office suite’s second floor is already occupied by a consultancy business with an existing lease.

It was understood the property, which settled on September 30, sold for upwards of $8m. It was previously owned by not-for-profit API Leisure and Lifestyle, which bought the building in 2003 for $2.4m.

A spokesman for One Nation said on Sunday that the party was “finalising leasing arrangements for its new premises at Spring Hill”.

“Due to the expansion in state and federal staffing requirements, the Brisbane Airport premises are no longer fit for purpose,” the spokesman said in a statement to The Australian.

“The new Spring Hill premises will be leased at commercial market rate.”

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart pictured in 2016.

Mrs Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, is One Nation’s biggest donor. Earlier this year she gifted Senator Hanson a “sexy” Cirrus G7 private plane and bankrolled her European jaunt in June, which included a ticket to the Dolce and Gabbana fashion show.

In a social media post on X in April, Senator Hanson bragged about receiving the $1.5m plane. “BREAKING NEWS – I’ve got a new plane … Yes it was donated. Yes I’m super happy. Yes it’s fast. Yes it’s amazing,” she wrote.

She added: “It means I can visit more regional towns across the country more often. Yes it’s a Cirrus G7. Yes it’s sexy. Yes I have a pilot. No I won’t be doing welcome to country each (time) we land. No it’s not battery operated.”

After the fit-out is complete, One Nation will occupy level one and part of level two of the Spring Hill building. Picture: Dan Peled

Senator Hanson was also spotted poolside alongside Mrs Rinehart at an exclusive five-star resort in Taormina, Sicily, in June. Photos of the pair at the Grand Hotel San Pietro showed the One Nation leader walking across the pool deck as Mrs Rinehart relaxed in the water.

The Queensland senator made the side-trip to Italy to attend the Dolce and Gabbana show with Mrs Rinehart after appearing on UK far-right agitator Tommy Robinson’s controversial podcast.

In the past year, Senator Hanson’s register of interests reveals that Mrs Rinehart and her company, Hancock Prospecting, have paid for multiple flights for the One Nation leader including a trip between Brisbane and Florida in late November.

The trip was for Senator Hanson and Mrs Rinehart to attend a $25,000-a-head, Great Gatsby-themed Halloween event hosted by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

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When asked about their relationship at a business breakfast in Perth earlier this year, Senator Hanson praised the mining magnate, saying she was “wonderful” and said they had bonded over their “tough” origins, building their careers from the ground up. Senator Hanson has also said that she considers Mrs Rinehart “a friend” and turns to her for “very beneficial” policy advice.

“I consider her a friend and I’m very … grateful for her support. She’s an Australian identity, she’s one of the highest taxpayers in the country,” she told ABC radio in June, before adding: “I have a lot of respect for the woman and what she’s done.”

In a statement, a Hancock Prospecting spokesman said: “Hancock Prospecting holds a range of commercial property, and this building is one of them. Hancock is not providing free or discounted space to any outside tenant, political or otherwise”.

One Nation is expected to target a swath of Liberal National Party-held seats in Queensland in coming months, including Wright, Capricornia and Wide Bay.

Traditionally a fortress for the Coalition, Labor made a major breakthrough in Queensland at the 2025 federal election and now holds 12 of the state’s 30 lower house seats.

But a senior Queensland Labor source said the party was bracing for support that the ALP found in outer-suburban seats in 2025 to shift to One Nation because “people are really pissed off at both major parties”.

Greens Senators clash as moment a serving MP joined a ‘Fuck you!’ walkout against the new leader is remembered by colleagues.

>Some experts argue Virginia-class submarines government is buying second-hand are good for fighting American wars, but not for defending Australia