Body of missing man Bradley Hair has been located near the Kiama blowhole
Police launched an investigation into the disappearance of Kiama resident Bradley Hair, 57, on Tuesday.
Officers from the Lake Illawarra Police District, Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, Marine Area Command, SES and Surf Life Saving NSW searched the blowhole area from 8.30am on Wednesday to try and locate Mr Bradley.
A police spokesman said emergency services found a man's body during the search, which they believed to be Mr Bradley.
'While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing man,' a spokesman said.
'A report will be prepared for the Coroner.'
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News.com.au
28 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Bruce Lehrmann returns to court to fight damning rape findings
Bruce Lehrmann will return to a Sydney court on Wednesday in an effort to overturn his blockbuster defamation suit loss to Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10, and the damning findings made by a Federal Court judge. In a landmark judgment, Justice Michael Lee in April last year dismissed his multi-million dollar lawsuit against the network and its former star journalist over its reporting of Brittany Higgins' rape allegations on The Project. Justice Lee found – on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities – that Lehrmann had raped his then colleague inside Parliament House in March 2019 after a night out drinking in Canberra. Lehrmann is now seeking to have the findings overturned on appeal, with a three-day hearing before the Full Court of the Federal Court beginning on Wednesday morning. The appeal hearing will be presided over by Justices Michael Wigney, Justice Craig Colvin and Justice Wendy Abraham. 'Procedural fairness' Justice Lee found: 'it is more likely than not' that Lehrmann was 'so intent upon gratification to be indifferent to Ms Higgins' consent, and hence went ahead with sexual intercourse without caring whether she consented.' In commenting on Lehrmann's decision to sue after criminal proceedings against him were withdrawn, Justice Lee said: 'Having escaped the lions' den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat.' Lehrmann's legal team, headed by solicitor Zali Burrows, has claimed that Lehrmann was denied procedural fairness, because Justice Lee's findings were different to the case put forward by Ten and Wilkinson at trial. Lehrmann has maintained his innocence and claimed that he had no sexual contact with Higgins inside the office of their then-boss Senator Linda Reynolds. On his version of events, after entering Reynolds' office, he went to the left and she went to the right, and he did not see her again that night. In her evidence given to the court during the trial in late 2023, Ms Higgins said she told Mr Lehrmann 'no on a loop', that she couldn't scream and that she felt 'waterlogged and heavy'. Justice Lee found that he was not satisfied that Ms Higgins said 'no on a loop' and it was more likely than not 'that she was passive … during the entirety of the sexual act.' Lehrmann argues there are inconsistencies between Justice Lee's findings and the case pleaded by Ten and Wilkinson. 'Consent' Lehrmann's legal team argued that while he was on the witness stand, he should have been questioned further about whether he was reckless about consent. But that argument has been slammed by Wilkinson's legal team which described it as 'entirely misconceived'. In their written submissions to the court, they said that during the trial, Lehrmann was probed by Ten's barrister Dr Matt Collins about whether Ms Higgins had consented to sex. 'Did Ms Higgins at any time consent,' Dr Collins asked at the time. 'I didn't get consent because I didn't have sexual intercourse with her,' Lehrmann said. Ms Wilkinson's lawyers say in their submission: 'At trial Mr Lehrmann's lawyers were of the view that it was unfair to ask him about consent because he had denied sexual intercourse. 'They now apparently take the view that it was unfair to him to not have asked him specific questions about consent.' They say it is 'difficult to see' how he was 'denied natural justice or procedural fairness' because he was not questioned further. 'Given his emphatic denials of sexual intercourse or any similar intimate interaction whatsoever, there was no lack of fairness in not putting to Mr Lehrmann that he was reckless to Ms Higgins' consent when he had had sexual intercourse with her,' the submissions say. Lehrmann faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court in 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent. The trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charge and plans for a retrial due to concerns about Ms Higgins' welfare.
ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Goodstart educators claim they were 'silenced' by childcare giant over abuse case
Former Goodstart Early Learning educators claim the childcare giant told them not to talk to parents or colleagues about investigations into a staff member accused of sexually abusing children. An ABC investigation has revealed a male educator at a Ballarat-region Goodstart centre was barred from early childhood work after allegedly sexually abusing two children and "potentially grooming" a child in out-of-home care living with him. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, worked at five Goodstart centres in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat between December 2020 and August 2024. Victoria Police investigated the Goodstart centre allegations but concluded there was insufficient evidence to press charges. It comes amid revelations other senior staff at Goodstart had been alerted to the man's alleged behaviour on at least one occasion where no official complaint was made. Former childcare staff at the centre have also spoken to the ABC and accused Goodstart of trying to stop staff discussing the man's alleged offending. "I think Goodstart were more worried about protecting the centre than actually worried about the safety of the children," said one former educator known only as Alex. The ABC can also reveal the man worked for another childcare operator in the Ballarat region in 2018. "The person was never unaccompanied in the presence of children. There were no concerns raised about the person's interactions with children," a spokesperson for that centre said. According to the Services Victoria online portal, the man still holds a current Working with Children Check. Do you know more about this story? Contact Josie Taylor at If you are sharing sensitive information, read our tips on how to contact us confidentially. Goodstart Early Learning said it had fired a Ballarat-region centre director in April 2025 for serious misconduct after an extensive search of emails and computer files. "Goodstart now knows that a centre director repeatedly failed in their obligations to report allegations made to them about this person. We terminated their employment for that failure," said Goodstart CEO Dr Ros Baxter. However, the ABC can reveal that at least one other senior manager, who is still employed at Goodstart, had been informed about an incident of inappropriate behaviour from the man in 2023. Goodstart said that senior manager was led to believe the subsequently-sacked centre director had made the required reports. The revelation comes as former staff at the centre allege Goodstart told educators not to talk to parents or each other about the allegations. Former educator Alex said once Goodstart learned of allegations that the man had sexually abused two children, management directed staff not to talk to parents about the allegations. "Staff had been advised that they could call the police if they didn't want to talk to the family," Alex said. "They [Goodstart] just didn't want to deal with it, they just want to try and keep it quiet." Alex said staff had complained the man had allegedly kissed children on the lips and engaged in other inappropriate behaviour, and that the man had been told to tone down his behaviour by management. Goodstart maintains its instructions to staff would only be to assist, and not impede, a police investigation. "We have consistently asked police when we can talk to … families and commence our own investigation," the company said in a statement. "It is standard practice for police to instruct Goodstart to share no information and to put on hold our investigations while they conduct their inquiries. "As a result we instruct our team to direct all queries direct to police." Another former educator described a culture of secrecy around the complaints. "We were basically silenced," said Rebecca, not her real name. "We weren't allowed to talk to parents [about complaints], we weren't allowed to talk to each other." Rebecca said she was disgusted with the response from Goodstart. "I just want Goodstart to take some accountability, it happened in their centre, with their educators that they had employed, so they have some responsibility for that," she said. "To turn around and blame someone else, its just a protection measure. "They don't want anything to do with it." Rebecca said she was one of a number of educators that had raised concerns about the man's behaviour, including his alleged fixation on a particular child. "Us educators would see him staring at her, or constantly asking where she was," she said. She said the child was scared of him and would allegedly start shaking if he came near her. "It appeared that he was watching this child," she said. Fellow former worker Alex said the man exhibited "very off behaviours" in the final year of his employment. "He'd picked them [children] up a lot more, he'd sit them on his lap a lot more, you know, he'd tickle them," Alex said. "He had been told to tone it down," Alex said. "But he continued on." Former staff said that lying down with children, kissing them on the lips and being overly affectionate is considered inappropriate behaviour from educators. Under Victorian law, childcare centres must report all allegations of misconduct against a child to the Victorian Children's Commissioner within three days. That includes allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse, physical violence and neglect of a child. Failing to report allegations is a criminal offence. Goodstart Early Learning, which has more than 650 not-for-profit childcare centres around Australia, emailed parents after receiving ABC media inquiries, telling them an independent investigator would now probe the allegations. Goodstart's Ros Baxter said the organisation "absolutely" did not fail to investigate 12 complaints about the male worker, and blamed a former centre director. "I believe what we saw here is someone who potentially just believed that she knew this person [the male worker] could not be a problem," Dr Baxter said. Victorian government minister Colin Brooks said he was unable to comment on individual cases but the scope of the alleged situation was "completely unacceptable". "We acknowledge the system has not worked the way it should," he said. "We accept responsibility to fix that." The Victorian government is scheduled to hold a special cabinet meeting today to discuss its response to the rapid review into childcare ordered in the wake of the Joshua Dale Brown allegations. "We are all sickened by what's happened. These things shouldn't happen," Mr Brooks said.
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright accuses pilot Sebastian Robinson's family of ‘manufacturing' charges
An Aussie reality television star has accused the loved ones of a catastrophic helicopter crash survivor of concocting the allegations against him. Outback Wrangler Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the chopper crash that killed his co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson and critically injured pilot Sebastian Robinson on February 28, 2022. It is alleged Mr Wright knew this helicopter should never have taken off that fateful morning, as it had crossed a critical flight hour maintenance threshold. On Tuesday, the jury heard from Mr Robinson's brother, uncle and mother who all maintained they heard Mr Wright ask the recently comatose, paraplegic Mr Robinson to manipulate flight records. Noelene Chellingworth said her son's boss brought a colour coded spreadsheet, which she understood to be tracking flights by his multiple pilots, as well as A3 documents to a hospital visit on March 11. 'I didn't get the feeling that Matt was really concerned about Sebastian at all,' she said. Mr Robinson's brother, Zaccarie Chellingworth alleged Mr Wright asked his brother to 'take 15 to 20 hours off IDW', the crashed chopper, and put them on Sebastian's personal helicopter. He said Mr Wright said this was 'because there were hours unaccounted for'. Mr Chellingworth did not see Mr Wright holding his brother's phone, but his mother maintained Mr Wright went through the phone saying: 'you need to delete, delete, delete'. 'I said 'Why are you doing this?' and he sort of fobbed me off,' she said. 'He said he was just 'cleaning up stuff'.' Mr Wright's defence senior counsel David Edwardson suggested that because her son was 'miles behind' on his paperwork while operating under Mr Wright's air operator's certificate, he was simply 'helping your son get up to date on his paperwork'. Mr Edwardson accused Mr Robinson's family of completely fabricating the alleged request to 'move hours' around. Ms Chellingworth rejected Mr Edwardson's suggestion her family had 'manufactured' the charges because 'you didn't want the buck to fall on your son'. 'You've been, as a mother, trying to protect him, by pointing the finger at Matt Wright on matters that never happened?' Mr Edwardson asked. 'That is incorrect,' she replied. On Mr Wright's second hospital visit on March 12, Mr Robinson's uncle James 'Jim' Carew secretly recorded their conversations. 'I was just there to prevent Sebastian signing anything against his will or being coerced,' Mr Carew said. Mr Robinson's family all told the jury the injured pilot declined his boss's suggestion, with Mr Chellingworth saying Mr Wright replied 'it's OK if you don't want to do it, I'll find another way'. Mr Chellingworth, who is also a fixed wing aircraft engineer for CareFlight NT, helped take Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority investigators to the scene of the crash. He acknowledged he was aware the investigation had determined the 'engine was starved of fuel', and sent photos of the crash to his brother. Mr Edwardson said Mr Chellingworth knew his brother would be 'well and truly in the crosshairs' if it was found the helicopter was not fuelled up at the Mt Borradaile site, just 20 minutes from the wreckage. 'You relayed information from the authorities, and passing it on to your brother,' Mr Edwardson said. 'I do not know the ins and outs of rotary aircraft, I was only speculating (over the cause of the crash) — as was the whole of Darwin,' Mr Chellingworth replied. The jury has repeatedly heard the young pilot had trace amounts of cocaine in his system, allegedly from a party two nights before the crash. Mr Chellingworth said he was also aware of his younger brother's occasional cocaine use. Despite the jury hearing Mr Wright had a 'zero tolerance for cocaine', Mr Chellingworth said he had seen his brother use the drug once before in 2016. 'It was my buck's party on Matt Wright's boat,' he said. His mother, Ms Chellingworth, will continue giving evidence on Wednesday.
