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News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Rare Ferrari fetches $40m at auction
Luxury car collectors are famous for paying extortionate prices for limited-edition cars – but this one sets a new standard. In what might be the world's most expensive case of auto FOMO – the fear of missing out – a fabulously wealthy collector has spent a staggering sum on a Ferrari with a one-off paint job. The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a rare beast that combines the racing mid-engine layout of the brand's most agile supercars with the huge 6.5-litre V12 found in its more luxurious grand tourers. Limited to just 599 examples, the Ferrari SP3 was priced from $US2.2 million ($3.38m) plus options and on-road costs. It was only offered to Ferrari's best customers – folks who might have bought a dozen cars from the brand. A single additional car brought that sold-out production run up to 600 vehicles. Finished in an eye-catching blend of yellow paint and exposed carbon fibre, it has an exclusive livery that includes Ferrari's logo writ large over the top of the car. The brand sold the car through RM Auctions to raise money for The Ferrari Foundation, a charity which invests in education, and recently helped rebuild a Californian school lost to fire. Monterey’s defining snapshot: $26,000,000 USD on the board for the 2025 Daytona SP3 'Tailor Made'. #RMMonterey #RMSothebys #Ferrari #DaytonaSP3 #MontereyCarWeek — RM Sotheby's (@rmsothebys) August 17, 2025 The unique car struck a chord with Ferrari collectors who entered a bidding war during California's 'car week' celebrations. It sold for a staggering $US26m ($39.9m), or more than 10 times the standard car's original cost. Ferrari designer Flavio Manzoni said he was ' speechless ', Octane magazine described the sum as ' frankly obscene ' and Road and Track confirmed it was the highest sum ever paid for a new Ferrari at auction. It's certainly a high price to avoid missing out on a rare Ferrari.
The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
Al Muderis spent $19K on media advice he ignored
Then, Wilkinson's work for Al Muderis abruptly stopped. The PR man declined to comment on how that relationship ended. But according to the receipts, Wilkinson recommended prioritising media over legal strategy, with that particular piece of advice costing a mere $1050. Al Muderis clearly didn't listen. Just imagine the millions in legal bills, and unquantifiable reputational costs he could've saved if he did. MCC members spill the sauce on pie prices Remember when Gillon McLachlan became AFL chief executive and the price of food at the footy went down? Melbourne Cricket Club members do. The MCC held its AGM on Tuesday night, where ex-Tabcorp chair Paula Dwyer, Mental Health and Wellbeing Commissioner Annabel Brebner and the Department of Justice's Kalpana Ramani were re-elected, seeing off challengers in magistrate Tony Burns, school teacher James Kavanagh and corporate spinner James Duncan. The meeting also agreed to a crackdown on members who allow friends and family to use their membership cards to get in, and heard the long-awaited rebuild of the Shane Warne Stand might not start until 2031. Right in time for Richmond's next three-peat, god willing. But it was pie prices that got some members really going. CBD hears there was meaty discussion about why it costs about $6.20 for a Four'n Twenty pie at the MCG, and under $5 at Marvel. MCC says pies are priced the same for all events, whereas other venues change their prices according to the event. Seems even the MCC crowd is suffering from cossie livs. Back in 2015 under McLachlan's early leadership, the price of meat pies at the 'G fell by 80¢ to a bargain $4. Marvel, then known as Etihad, followed suit by introducing $3 pies on Sundays, plus free popcorn and fairy floss at half-time on the day of rest. AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko says affordability is a major concern for fans, and they shouldn't have to pay much more to eat at the 'G. 'It's understandable that the prices might be different, as the AFL owns Marvel and directly has relationship with the caterers, whereas the MCG deals with their own caterers,' Issko says. 'However, the price discrepancy is too much, and I'm sure the AFL could talk to the MCG and the caterers and say, how can we get the prices closer?' We'll keep you posted on Piegate. Win for Laming The end of former Liberal MP Andrew Laming 's political career has been a morass of scandal and arcane legal battles. But Laming had the last laugh in one of those battles on Wednesday, when the High Court upheld his appeal over a series of near seven-year-old Facebook posts viewed by just 28 people that led to a fine from the Australian Electoral Commission. In late 2021, after Laming had announced his impending retirement from politics, the AEC launched proceedings against the MP over three posts made on the 'Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding' Facebook page before the previous election in 2019, which the regulator argued had lacked proper authorisation of political links. Initially, the Federal Court imposed three penalties totalling $20,000 on Laming. The AEC appealed that decision, and a three-judge bench ruled that Laming had contravened the laws every time each post was viewed, doubling his fine to $40,000. Laming successfully appealed that decision, with the High Court agreeing with the initial judgment, which found that he had breached electoral laws each time he posted the offending material. The majority ruling focused on one specific section of the Electoral Act, with Justice James Edelman dissenting in a judgment that flexed his relative youth by mentioning TikTok. So in other words, a win for Laming, even if the original $20,000 fine remains in place. And separately, he remains on the hook for $10,000 in unpaid parliamentary expenses from 2019, after losing a Federal Court challenge last year.
ABC News
07-08-2025
- ABC News
Italy greenlights project to build world's longest suspension bridge from mainland to Sicily
Italy has cleared the way to build the world's largest suspension bridge, which would link the mainland with Sicily. The 13.5 billion euro ($24.2 billion) infrastructure project has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact, and the spectre of mafia interference. The Strait of Messina Bridge will be "the biggest infrastructure project in the West," Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome. Premier Giorgia Meloni said the bridge "will be an engineering symbol of global significance". Mr Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year, and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more in investments are made in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge. Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy's court of audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year. Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be completed between 2032 and 2033, Mr Salvini said. The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and cancelled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969. The Meloni administration revived the project in 2023, and this marks the furthest stage the ambitious project — first envisioned by the Romans — has ever reached. "From a technical standpoint, it's an absolutely fascinating engineering project,'' Mr Salvini said. The bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometres, with the suspended span reaching 3.3 kilometres. That would surpass Türkiye's Çanakkale Bridge, currently the longest, by 1,277 metres. The Çanakkale Bridge was built in 2022, using an engineering design similar to the one devised for the Messina bridge. The design includes a wing profile and a deck shape that resembles a fighter jet fuselage with openings to allow wind to pass through the structure, according to Webuild, the industrial group awarded the project. With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day — reducing the time to cross the strait by ferry from up to 100 minutes to 10 minutes by car. The project could provide a boost to Italy's commitment to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, as targeted by NATO. The government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defence-related, helping it to meet a 1.5 per cent security component. Italy argues the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO's southern flanks, qualifying it as a "security-enhancing infrastructure". Mr Salvini confirmed the intention to classify the project as dual use but said it was up to Italy's defence and economic ministers. The military classification has been criticised by a group of more than 600 professors and researchers. They signed a letter noting that such a move would require additional assessments to see if it could withstand military use. Opponents also say the designation would potentially make the bridge a target. The decree that reactivated the bridge project included language giving Italy's Ministry of the Interior control over anti-mafia measures. But the country's president insisted the project remain subject to anti-mafia legislation that applies to all large-scale infrastructure projects in Italy, out of concerns the ad hoc arrangement could weaken controls. Mr Salvini pledged that keeping organised crime out of the project was a top priority, saying it would adhere to the same protocols used for the Expo 2015 World's Fair and the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. "We need to pay attention so that the entire supply chain is impermeable to bad actors,'' he said. Addressing concerns about building the bridge over the Messina fault, which triggered a deadly earthquake in 1908, Webuild has emphasised that suspension bridges are structurally less vulnerable to seismic forces. It noted that such bridges have been built in seismically active areas, including Japan, Türkiye and California. Environmental groups have lodged complaints with the European Union, citing concerns the project will impact migratory birds, noting environmental studies had not demonstrated the project is a public imperative, and any environmental damage would be offset. AP
