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The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Group 1-winning jockey Noel Callow under investigation over racist videos in Darwin
A racially-charged video has emerged of Group 1 jockey Noel Callow ridiculing an Indigenous man. This masthead has confirmed a street talk-style exchange, understood to be recorded in Darwin this time last year, is currently under review from Queensland Racing Integrity Commission officials. 'A video was recently brought to the attention of the Commission,' a QRIC spokesperson said. 'It is presently the subject of an investigation.' • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! This masthead has contacted Callow for comment. A second video has also been circulated, however, Callow is only heard not pictured in the frame. In the 17-second clip, Callow, riding a bicycle on the footpath with a jockey whip in the left hand, fired extremely offensive racist four-letter slurs at pedestrians after inaudible verballing. The leaked videos were initially shared privately but have since been circulated more widely. Callow is again in Darwin to reunite with out-of-sorts Bear Story in the $200,000 Darwin Cup on Monday. Callow last year placed third on then favourite Bear Story in the Northern Territory feature. The 50-year-old also has two rides in Darwin on Saturday. The Queensland-licensed ex-Victorian made a winning return to the races on Wednesday in Darwin. Callow has only just completed a two-month suspension for a physical altercation with another rider in the jockeys' room during a race meet at Doomben on May 28. The street talk video has a playful start, 'what's doing crackers', with the Indigenous man and then escalated. Noel Callow screen grabs for story. Callow: 'Have you showered? F--- you stink like F---.' Man: 'Nah, I haven't got a job (inaudible)'. Callow: 'You stink like f---. Have some pizza. Take the pizza. Eat. Eat the pizza.' Man: 'I don't want to eat.' Callow: 'Have a shower then, do me a favour. Have a shower. You stink like f---.' Man: '(inaudible) I sleep on the street.' Callow: 'So you don't want a pizza … what do you want?' Man: 'I want a beer.' Callow: 'You want a beer … if you have a shower, I'll buy you a beer.' Man: '(inaudible) I don't have a shower. There's no shower in the friggin area.' Callow: 'Well jump in the f---ing creek … for f--- sake man.' The conversation continued with an inaudible exchange before Callow said: 'Good to have you on the show. What's your name?' Unable to understand the name after two attempts, Callow made up his own version before going with 'Yothu Yindi! Yothi, that's you, Yotha, ole Yotha'. The man responded to Callow with 'what's wrong with you?' after the jockey started singing Treaty, the famous Yothu Yindi anthem. Callow ended the clip with 'Good to have you on the show, man'. The exact timing of the videos is unclear, other than separate night and day interactions. The daylight racially-fuelled clip started with Callow riding a bicycle up behind pedestrians. 'Look at these c--ts,' Callow said. After an inaudible exchange, a pedestrian shouts 'watch out where you're riding your bike'. Callow fired back with venom. 'Stop walking on the f---ing footpath, you f---ing c--ns,' Callow said. 'Get up the c--ns.' Gilbert Gardiner Sports reporter Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun. @gilbertgardiner Gilbert Gardiner
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Man charged with murder over wife's kayak drowning death claims pair not wearing life jackets as they were ‘eaten by rats', court told
A former Australian Army major charged with the murder of his wife after she drowned on a kayaking trip told police they were not wearing life jackets because they had been 'eaten by rats' at their old home, a court has been told. Jacqueline Davidson, 54, could not be revived after she drowned while kayaking with her husband Graeme Davidson on Lake Samsonvale, near Forgan Cove in Queensland's Moreton Bay region, on November 27, 2020. Following a protracted police investigation, Mr Davidson, 55, was arrested earlier this year while visiting from Thailand – where he now lives – and was charged with her murder. He is also facing charges of fraud and attempted fraud, which relate to allegations of trying to claim more than $1m in life insurance after his wife's death, including a sum which was not paid out. During a bail application at Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday, defence barrister Craig Eberhardt KC said there was no evidence Jacqueline had been 'violently assaulted' in any way. While there were some minor bruises, these were consistent with CPR attempts and Mr Davidson's attempts to recover his wife's body, the court was told. Through an affidavit filed to the court, Mr Davidson described how he and his wife were '10m apart' on the water when he attempted to 'show off' by standing up on his kayak. 'Jacqueline became distressed about that and used the 'safe word' … designed to let him know that she was concerned about what he was doing,' Mr Eberhardt read from the court document. The court was told Mr Davidson saw his wife 'fall off the kayak' and he went into the water to find her – but could not see because the water was 'murky' and full of grass weeds. 'He managed to find her after some period of time, and he dragged her out,' Mr Eberhardt said. Mr Eberhardt said his client attempted to revive her and frantically yelled to get the attention of bystanders, one of whom called an ambulance. According to Mr Davidson's statement, the pair were not wearing life jackets because they had been 'eaten by rats' at their house in Bondi before they moved back to Queensland. 'There's evidence to that effect in a statement of (a woman) … she had been told prior to the death that the life jackets had been eaten by rats,' Mr Eberhardt said. After Mr Davidson's arrest, police said they would allege in court the relationship between the army major and his wife was breaking down. Mr Eberhardt told the court Ms Davidson had discovered her husband was having an affair with a woman in Papua New Guinea in 2019. He said the discovery caused significant matrimonial upset between the pair but Mr Davidson was 'committed' to staying in the relationship. There was no evidence of domestic violence between the pair. Addressing the allegations surrounding his client's life insurance claims, Mr Eberhardt said mutual policies were taken out by the Davidsons in favour of each other in mid-2020. 'There is no evidence the setting up of the insurance policies was the applicant's idea,' he said. Mr Davidson sought access to his wife's life insurance after her death but Mr Eberhardt said this was 'unremarkable' and would have been more suspicious if he had not accessed it. The court was told Mr Davidson was captured on CCTV burning 'a small number of documents' in the backyard of his home – done while one of his children was home – but this was 'not evidence of anything' as no-one knew what the documents contained. Mr Eberhardt said his client had also purchased a new car after Jacqueline's death, but submitted this had been done following discussions for some time. 'The gloss … put on this evidence simply isn't there, when you look at the actual statements,' Mr Eberhardt said. The bail application will resume on Friday.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
ASIO chief Mike Burgess says foreign espionage costing Australian economy $12.5bn a year
Foreign espionage is costing the Australian economy at least $12.5bn a year, with the ASIO boss warning against complacency against the 'real, present and costly danger'. The director-general of security agency Mike Burgess has for the first time publicly put a dollar figure on what foreign spies are costing Australia and espionage remains one of the country's principal security concerns. 'This is critical because I believe that we need to wake up to the cost of espionage – which is more than just financial,' he said in the annual Hawke Lecture at the University of Adelaide on Thursday night. 'We need to understand espionage is not some quaint, romantic fiction; it's a real, present and costly danger.' Mr Burgess released a new report that ASIO developed with the Australian Institute of Criminology, to try to count the cost of espionage. The report found espionage cost the Australian economy at least $12.5bn in the 2023-2024 financial year, an estimate Mr Burgess called 'conservative'. 'This includes the direct costs of known espionage incidents, such as the state-sponsored theft of intellectual property, as well as the indirect costs of countering and responding,' he said. 'As just one example, the Institute estimates foreign cyber spies stole nearly $2bn of trade secrets and intellectual property from Australian companies and businesses in 2023-24. 'The report includes a case study where spies hacked into the computer network of a major Australian exporter, making off with commercially sensitive information. 'The theft gave the foreign country a significant advantage in subsequent contract negotiations, costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars.' Mr Burgess said too many were complacent about the cost of espionage and urged 'all parts of our system – public and private, federal, state and local – to recognise the threat'. 'I've lost count of the number of times senior officials and executives have privately downplayed the impacts of espionage,' he said. 'I've watched corporate leaders literally shrug their shoulders when told their networks are compromised. 'I've heard sensible security measures such as taking burner phones to high-risk countries described as unreasonable inconveniences. 'Most recently, a trade official told ASIO there's no way the Chinese intelligence services would have any interest in his organisation's people and premises in China.' He again listed China, Russia and Iran as three of the main nations behind espionage in Australia and said Russia remained 'a persistent and aggressive espionage threat'. 'Last year, two Russian-born Australian citizens were arrested and charged with an espionage-related offence,' Mr Burgess said. 'Separately, I can confirm in 2022 a number of undeclared Russian intelligence officers were removed from this country. 'But Russia is by no means the only country we have to deal with. 'You would be genuinely shocked by the number and names of countries trying to steal our secrets. 'The obvious candidates are very active … but many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information.' Mr Burgess revealed ASIO had disrupted 24 'major espionage and foreign interference' operations in the past three years alone. 'Nation states are spying at unprecedented levels, with unprecedented sophistication,' he said. 'ASIO is seeing more Australians targeted – more aggressively – than ever before.' While AUKUS and military technology secrets were targets, Australia's intellectual property and cutting edge research was also in the sights of foreign agents. He said an overseas delegation visiting a 'sensitive Australian horticultural facility' snapped branches off a 'rare and valuable variety of fruit tree' in order to steal them. 'Almost certainly, the stolen plant material allowed scientists in the other country to reverse engineer and replicate two decades of Australian research and development,' he said. He said foreign intelligence services are 'proactive, creative and opportunistic' in their targets. 'In recent years, for example, defence employees travelling overseas have been subjected to covert room searches, been approached at conferences by spies in disguise and given gifts containing surveillance devices.
