Latest news with #Kennett
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Veteran reunited with cadet 50 years on
When Neil Newman turned on the television on VE Day, he was shocked to see his former Air Training Cadet (ATC) warrant officer giving permission for the parade to start in London. He and other members of the 495 (Sutton Coldfield) Squadron had no idea that the man, Alan Kennett, who inspired many of them to go into the military as a career, was still alive. On Thursday, the men, both from Sutton Coldfield, were reunited for RAF veteran Mr Kennett's 101st birthday at his daughter's house in Lichfield, alongside an RAF cadets band who performed to mark the occasion. "We didn't know you were still alive… we wanted to get in touch with you, that's how much of an impact you had on us," Mr Newman told Mr Kennett. "As soon as he was on the TV, the phone didn't stop, it was a WhatsApp group that we were all in," he told the BBC. "We just couldn't believe that Alan was starting this parade, it's been 45 years since we last saw him." The men were aged between 12 and 14 when Mr Kennett oversaw them. "We had total respect for Alan because as long as we walked the straight path it was okay… I think that's why we're all still in touch now, because he gelled us as a team," said Mr Newman. "He came on the camps with us, took us flying, took us shooting." Looking back, Mr Kennett said: "I think the lads all knew that as long as they behaved themselves they were all right, but if they didn't, they were in trouble." "I must have done something right." Mr Kennett was in the RAF during WW2 and worked as a mechanic on Spitfires. Reflecting on his own contribution, he told the BBC earlier this month that it was a "job" he was doing, whereas those who died deserved the most recognition. He formally started the military procession of 1,300 members of the armed forces in London as part of events marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. 'I'm no hero, they're still out there' Red Arrows, royals, veterans and tea: VE Day at 80 in pictures Royal Air Force
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Jeff Kennett warns ‘dysfunctional' Victorian Liberals face ‘extroadinary implosion' as fallout from Deeming-Pesutto case continues
Jeff Kennett has lamented the state of the Victorian Liberal Party, warning it is on the cusp of an 'extraordinary implosion' as the fallout from Moira Deeming's successful defamation battle against John Pesutto continues. Mr Pesutto is in a race against time to raise the $2.3 million needed to cover Ms Deeming's legal costs after a federal court found he had defamed his own MP as someone who 'associates with Nazis'. Liberals are divided on whether the party or its fundraising body, the Cormack Foundation, should cover the costs of the debt in order to prevent a by-election in Mr Pesutto's seat of Hawthorn – which could result in a Teal victory. Speaking to the Herald Sun on Wednesday, Mr Kennett said there was a complete absence of leadership in the party, labelling it 'dysfunctional'. 'Leadership is absent (and) they are prepared to bankrupt one of their own. What values does the party have when it won't embrace one of its own?' Mr Kennett said. 'Our members and volunteers deserve so much better.' Mr Pesutto has until Friday before bankruptcy proceedings begin. He will then have 21 days to either pay the amount owed, agree on a payment plan, or be declared bankrupt – an outcome that will result in his expulsion from parliament. Lawyers for Ms Deeming have also begun preparing to go after key Liberal figures who helped fund Mr Pesutto's legal case, taking advantage of a precedent that allows the successful party in a defamation case to recoup costs from the financial backers of the unsuccessful party. The Australian revealed earlier this week that Ms Deeming's lawyers had written a legal letter naming nine Liberal figures – including Mr Kennett and two other former premiers – as potential targets, if Mr Pesutto is unable to pay the $2.3 million owed. The letter sought further information about the contributions of Mr Kennett, former premiers Ted Baillieu and Dennis Napthine, and six other Liberal figures had made to Mr Pesutto's legal case. Mr Kennett is on the public record as having supported the Hawthorn MP, but the former premier has told The Australian he only made a 'token' contribution. 'My army training taught me you salute the uniform and support the leader, so when John (Pesutto) was under pressure, very early I made a token donation as a public gesture of supporting the leader,' the former Premier said. 'After that I had no idea or involvement in the conduct of the court case. It was a token donation.' Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ms Deeming said there was 'no case except the one against John'. The Western Metropolitan MP took out a loan to fund her successful defamation battle, which the $2.3 million in costs and the $315,000 in damages Mr Pesutto has already paid are being used to cover. 'My lawyers ensured that when Mr Grugeon (NSW businessman Hilton Grugeon) generously agreed to loan me millions of dollars to defend myself against the campaign to destroy my life, he was fully aware of the fact that he could be held liable to pay for mine and Pesutto's costs if I lost and went bankrupt,' Ms Deeming said in a statement earlier this week. 'So I have no doubt that Mr Pesutto, being a lawyer himself, ensured that his financiers were aware of that same risk prior to accepting their support.' Mr Pesutto has embarked on a publicity tour since the costs order was issued, and on Monday he told Sky News Australia he was 'hopeful' of raising the money. 'I'm working with a number of potential supporters to try and raise that money,' he said. 'There are some hopeful signs that I can get there. 'I do want to meet that debt that I owe Ms Deeming, and I want to discharge the court's order, so I'm working very carefully to try and do that by the due date.' A GoFundMe page set up on his behalf has now raised more than $187,000, and reports late last week indicated he had also managed to raise an additional $500,000 from donors and supporters.
New York Times
3 days ago
- General
- New York Times
A Missouri Town Was Solidly Behind Trump. Then Carol Was Detained.
The first sign of trouble came early this month when Carol didn't show up for her shift at John's Waffle and Pancake House. She was as reliable as the sun rising over rice and melon fields in her adopted hometown, Kennett, Mo., a conservative farming hub of 10,000 people in the state's southeastern boot heel, where 'Missouri' becomes 'Missour-uh.' In the 20 years since she arrived from Hong Kong, she had built a life and family in Kennett, working two waitressing jobs and cleaning houses on the side. She began every morning at the bustling diner, serving pecan waffles, hugging customers and reading leftover newspapers to improve her English. 'Everyone knows Carol,' said Lisa Dry, a Kennett city councilwoman. That all ended on April 30, when federal immigration officials summoned Carol, 45, whose legal name is Ming Li Hui, to their office in St. Louis, a three-hour drive from Kennett. Her partner, a Guatemalan immigrant, had voiced suspicion about the sudden call. But 'I didn't want to run,' Ms. Hui said in a jailhouse phone interview. 'I just wanted to do the right thing.' She was arrested and jailed to await deportation. Ms. Hui's detention has forced a rural Missouri county to face the fallout of President Trump's immigration crackdown, which was supported in theory by many residents in this Trump-loving corner of an increasingly red America. Many are now asking how you can support Carol and also Mr. Trump. 'I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,' said Vanessa Cowart, a friend of Ms. Hui from church. 'But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.' She paused. 'This is Carol.' Adam Squires, a onetime candidate for mayor of Kennett, saw it differently. He did not bear any ill will for Ms. Hui, he said, but he voted for Mr. Trump, as did 80 percent of voters in Dunklin County, and he was glad to see the deportation campaign reach home. 'They vote for Trump, and then they get mad because the stuff starts happening,' he said of his neighbors. 'We've got to get rid of all the illegals. This is just a start.' Ms. Hui said the call she received from immigration authorities ordered her to appear in St. Louis without any explanation. At the office, she said, an immigration officer called her into a secure area and initially told her the authorities would help her get a passport. Then she was told that she was being detained for overstaying a tourist visa that had expired long ago, and that she would be deported. Now, as Ms. Hui bounces from county jail to county jail, her name has popped up on prayer lists at local churches in Kennett. Her absence was felt, residents said, when she was not in the baseball stands to watch her younger son pitch, nor at the eighth-grade graduation to see her older son to receive an agricultural science award. Ms. Cowart was her religious sponsor when Ms. Hui converted to Catholicism earlier this year, learning the Gospels from her Chinese Bible. She became a regular at Sunday morning Mass, as was her partner and their three American-born children: a daughter, 7, and two sons, 12 and 14. Ms. Hui was keenly interested in early Christian martyrs, Ms. Cowart said: 'She'd smile and say, God will take care of us.' According to the government, Ms. Hui does not have a blameless past. In court records, the government said she arrived in the United States from Hong Kong in February 2004, and paid an American citizen $2,000 to enter into a sham marriage with her sometime around 2005. She had hoped the marriage would allow her to get permanent resident status and permit her to travel to Hong Kong to see her dying grandmother and return to the United States afterward, according to court records. Her lawyer, Raymond Bolourtchi, said Ms. Hui was young and desperate in those days, and she acknowledged that her actions were wrong. 'Not a day goes by that she doesn't feel remorse,' he said. Ms. Hui was never criminally charged for the fake marriage, which ended in divorce in 2009. Court papers indicate that she has no criminal record. Nonetheless, she was working, which people who enter as tourists are generally not allowed to do, and her tourist visa had lapsed. Her status in the country became a matter of dispute. Many people in Kennett expressed outrage that a hardworking mother had spent the past month jailed by immigration authorities. Supporters described her as an ideal addition to a rural town where the population is declining and the only hospital has closed. 'She's exactly the sort of person you'd want to come to the country,' said Chuck Earnest, a farmer. 'I don't know how this fits into the deportation problem with Trump.' Celena Horton, a waitress at a local steak house, said she and Ms. Hui would give each other huge tips when they ate at one another's restaurants. Ms. Horton said she loved almost everything that Mr. Trump was doing in his second term. Ms. Hui is the reason for the almost. 'I can't believe they're doing this to her,' Ms. Horton said. The sentiment reflects a stirring unease nationally over Mr. Trump's handling of immigration, his most potent political issue. Though most Americans in a recent New York Times/Siena College survey said they still supported deporting undocumented immigrants, a majority of respondents disapproved of how Mr. Trump was carrying out his immigration policies. In Kennett, some residents said they had implored state and national Republican lawmakers representing the area to intervene to stop Ms. Hui's deportation, but had gotten mostly cursory responses. Kennett's own leaders have not officially weighed in. Ms. Hui's church organized a prayer vigil for her and meal deliveries for her family. Her bosses at the waffle house held a 'Carol Day' fund-raiser that brought in nearly $20,000. Petitions to bring Ms. Hui home, which have been signed by hundreds of local residents, now sit on every table, next to the jelly packets and ketchup. 'This lady has the biggest heart in the whole world,' said Liridona Ramadani, whose family runs John's Waffle and Pancake House. 'Democrat, Republican, everybody was there for Carol' on 'Carol Day,' she said. Well, not everybody. When an article about her detention was posted by The Delta Dunklin Democrat, the local newspaper, it was deluged with 400 reader comments. Most of them expressing sympathy, but not all. 'If you're here illegally, expect to be removed,' said one. 'This is the consequence of being in a nation with laws,' said another. One commenter simply wrote 'Bye.' The online debate got so nasty that the owners of the waffle house implored people to keep their political comments to themselves. From jail, Ms. Hui expressed surprise that her arrest had galvanized so many people in Kennett. Only a few people in town speak Cantonese, she said, so when she settled there she started to go by the English name she had chosen for herself as a girl back in Hong Kong, when it was still under British rule. She started a family with her partner, who also works at restaurants around town. (He declined to comment for this article, and his immigration status is not clear.) Ms. Hui bought a house in Kennett, and her front yard is decorated with 'Student of the Month' signs. She made an application for asylum in 2009, saying that her mother in Hong Kong had beaten her and threatened her because Ms. Hui was a girl, and that she was afraid to return, according to court records. Her claim was denied in 2012, and an immigration judge ordered her deported. Despite multiple legal setbacks, though, she managed to stay in the United States by getting temporary government permissions known as orders of supervision, according to her lawyer, Mr. Bolourtchi. Ms. Hui's most recent order of supervision was valid through August 2025, records show. But on the day that Ms. Hui was arrested, she was told that the order was being terminated, Mr. Bolourtchi said. ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment about Ms. Hui's case. Ms. Hui said she had been blindsided by her arrest, which was one of many the Trump administration has been carrying out at mandatory immigration check-ins. She said she spends her days shuffling between her bunk and meals, and waiting for chances to video chat with her children. She frets over how she would ever see them again if she is deported to Hong Kong. Her lawyer recently filed a legal motion to reopen Ms. Hui's immigration case. Ms. Hui said that being separated from her family was the hardest part. Her 14-year-old son was upset that she missed his middle-school graduation. Her daughter told her that one of her school friends offered to adopt Ms. Hui, so she could stay in the country. During one call, her children tried to cheer up Ms. Hui by telling her about 'Carol Day.' She said she was stunned to learn about the outpouring of support. 'I didn't know they loved me,' she said.
Sky News AU
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Haven't seen a worse one': Jeff Kennett lashes Coalition's failed election campaign and endorses Sussan Ley for Liberal leader
Former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has lashed the Coalition's chaotic election campaign, revealing he 'hadn't seen a worse one' as he officially endorsed Sussan Ley as his desired pick for Liberal leader. Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor have begun counting their numbers ahead of the upcoming leadership contest next Tuesday, following Peter Dutton's shock loss in the seat of Dickson. The contest has, however, turned ugly, with new claims emerging about supporters from both camps anonymously attacking their rivals. The Liberals suffered a catastrophic election result on Saturday night, receiving their lowest primary vote since the party's formation in the 1940s while barely securing 40 seats in the nation's parliament. Mr Kennett said that throughout his entire political career he 'hadn't seen a worse' election campaign whether it be 'state or federal' and blasted his own party for neglecting common sense policies and advancing contradictory messages. 'Oppositions don't win governance, governments lose it. In this case once only the opposition lost the election and gave the Labor Party a free kick' Mr Kennett said. The former premier, who served from 1992 to 1999, said the most profound 'mistake' made by the Coalition was when Angus Taylor announced it would not vote in favour of Labor's top up tax cuts as he condemned the Liberal Party for supporting higher taxes. 'Whenever has the Liberal Party supported higher taxes? We lost the election because we failed and when you make mistakes there are consequences,' he said. 'It had nothing to do with the left or the right. It was just the way in which we presented ourselves to the public.' The eminent party elder was also dumbfounded by the Coalition's decision to announce a ban on work from home provisions for federal bureaucrats and to sack thousands of Canberra based civil servants. 'Obviously working from home, obviously the decision to sack 41,000 public servants without knowing where they're going to come from etc, etc and then the tax break. No it was not a good campaign,' Mr Kennett said. When asked which direction the Liberal Party needed to take to rehabilitate its brand and expand its diminishing voting base, Mr Kennett said the Coalition must unify itself around a central figure and backed Ms Ley as his desired choice for leader. 'I'm not interested in supporting or indicating who I'd support based on left or right. That doesn't interest me at all. I am looking for the person who will bring the party together in a disciplined way," he said. 'Sussan to me is that candidate. I think she has the capacity to bring the party together, I think she has a capacity to present a different image of the Liberal Party to the public and I think, and I know, that as a woman, she will listen better than a man will listen. So, to me she's the obvious choice.' Ms Ley is backed by the increasingly depleted moderate wing of the party and is seen as someone who could potentially enact sweeping structural reform, whilst Mr Taylor has the support of the dominant conservative branch and is viewed as the status quo candidate. Mr Kennett also vehemently rejected the notion the Coalition should abandon its controversial nuclear energy policy and firmly backed in the plan moving forward. 'That was the one thing amongst our policies that was futuristic. Announcing it was right, that was a good policy, and it should not be dropped, and we should continue to articulate it and to advocate for it," he said. 'The moment it was announced, we should have had people prepared to come out and support it from a scientific point of view. Our spokesman did a good job, but there wasn't enough of it.' In the aftermath of the election loss the Coalition has engaged in a heated debate about the future of nuclear energy, with some arguing the plan was emphatically repudiated by the wider electorate while others used the relative success of the Nationals as an indicator the policy was well received by rural voters. 'I would be very, very distressed if the Liberal Party dropped that component and those who argue for dropping the advocacy for nuclear power are totally ignoring the fundamental errors that were committed in the campaign' Mr Kennett said.
Sky News AU
08-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Nuclear energy ‘should not be dropped' from Liberal policies
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett says nuclear power was a 'futuristic' policy and should not be scrapped. Mr Kennett told Sky News host Andrew Bolt that nuclear energy would 'ensure' consistent energy for Australian households. 'Announcing it was right, that was a good policy, and it should not be dropped.'
