Latest news with #Laming
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- 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.
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Former MP's win against $40,000 fine for Facebook posts
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Former MP's win against $40,000 fine for Facebook posts
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. However, Justice James Edelman dissented from the majority opinion and called on Parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman said. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for the appeal to the High Court. The commission and Dr Laming have been contacted for comment. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal.
The Journal
29-07-2025
- General
- The Journal
Inis Oírr message in a bottle could help solve mystery of missing Taiwanese fishermen
ON THE COAST of Inis Oírr ten days ago, two men on a work trip were examining rock pools about 200 yards from the Plassey shipwreck when they came across a clear glass bottle that appeared to contain a scrolled message. The two, Matthew Laming and Chris Hurley, pulled it from the water and took a few pictures of it, curious, and then brought it back to the bar they had been occupying with others. The bottle was sealed with a flaky, floral-scented wax, Laming said, and it was firmly sealed shut. Matthew Laming Matthew Laming 'We tried to get the message out of the bottle, but we couldn't,' Laming told The Journal . 'So another friend ended up smashing the bottle to get the message out.' A video taken of the men opening the message shows them in a busy bar carefully pulling a waxed cord from the paper. 'Did you find this?' a friend of theirs off-screen asks. 'Sure I thought you were sending it.' Once the message was out, it revealed itself to be written in thick black ink in another language. 'We tried to translate the message, and it seemed to be like an SOS type message. But we kind of just dismissed it as a hoax,' he said. 'We didn't really believe it, but we thought it was interesting anyway, so we posted it up on Reddit, and that's kind of when it kicked off.' Matthew Laming Matthew Laming Once it was posted on Reddit, hundreds of people grew fascinated with the story, and made the link between the curious message and the crew missing from an abandoned Taiwanese fishing boat. On 1 January, 2021, a Taiwanese fishing boat by the name of Yong You Sung No. 18 was reported missing by its owner after they lost contact with the boat's captain. According to local media, the boat was a commercial Taiwanese tuna longliner. It was located by an American rescue aircraft about 606 nautical miles northeast of Midway Atoll. The captain, whose surname is Li, and his nine Indonesian crewmen were not on board the ship. Advertisement 'Photographs taken from the plane showed that the windows of Li's cabin had been damaged and that the lifeboat was missing. The rescue team suspected that the crew had successfully escaped after the ship was hit by large waves,' Taiwan News reported in 2021. The message found by Laming and Hurley roughly translates to the following: 'PLEASE SEND HELP!' 'WE ARE LOST SINCE 12/20″ 'THERE ARE 3 OF US HERE' 'WE DO NOT KNOW THE NAME OF THE ISLAND' 'INJURED'. Beneath it are the words 'HELP HELLO SOS', followed by a Chinese symbol that translates to 'LI' – the surname of the boat's captain. At the bottom of the note is 'YONG YU SING 18″. A comment on a Taiwanese news channel on Youtube said the bottle appears to be a Stella Artois Cider bottle, Laming said, which he agrees could be possible. The product hasn't been available in Ireland for the last number of years and its production has heavily reduced due to poor sales since 2021. 'If this is a hoax then it's still most likely four to five years old,' Laming said. Laming says that he still has a healthy degree of scepticism towards the authenticity of the message, but after users on Reddit pointed to the unsolved mystery of the missing fishermen, he decided to hand it in to local gardaí. Matthew Laming Matthew Laming And what if it is real? 'As unlikely as it is, that's one of the reasons why we really handed it in, you know, what if? You'd always be thinking. Then if you didn't hand it in, if there were trapped somewhere… you'd always be thinking, wouldn't you?' In recent days, the story has been picked up by Taiwanese media. 'We've just seen all the clips that's been on TV over there for however long. It's in all the newspapers over there,' Laming said, adding that it's been the 'talk of work' since the potential connection has been realised. When asked about the note being handed in, a garda spokesperson said: 'Gardaí in Co Galway received a report of an item found at Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, at approximately 4pm on 19th of July 2025.' The Taiwanese Embassy in Ireland has been contacted for comment. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Post
29-07-2025
- Irish Post
Message in a bottle from missing crew washes up on Irish shores four years later
A MESSAGE in a bottle discovered on the coast of a remote Irish island has captured global attention and revived questions surrounding the unexplained disappearance of a Taiwanese fishing crew more than four years ago. The bottle, found on the shore of Inisheer (Inis Oírr), the smallest of the Aran Islands, contained a handwritten note in a mix of Indonesian, English, and Chinese. It was discovered last week by Matthew Laming and a friend while they were walking along the beach. After breaking open the wax-sealed bottle, they found what appeared to be a desperate SOS message. 'We used Google Translate, and the first part of it translated to an SOS in Indonesian,' Laming said in an interview. 'At first, I thought it was a prank, but now, I'm not so sure.' According to Laming's Reddit post, the note reads, 'Please send help! We are lost since 12/20. There are 3 of us here. We don't know the name of this island. We are injured. HELP. HELLO. SOS.' The note ends with the Chinese character 'Li' (李) and the name 'Yong Yu Sing No. 18,' the designation of a Taiwanese tuna fishing vessel that went missing in late 2020. The Yong Yu Sing No. 18 was last heard from on December 30, 2020. Just days later, the US Coast Guard found the vessel drifting aimlessly over 600 miles northeast of Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The boat's windows were shattered, its lifeboat was missing, and the ten-man crew—including a Taiwanese captain surnamed Li and nine Indonesian fishermen—were gone without a trace. Taiwanese prosecutors later ruled the incident an accident but offered no answers about what happened to the crew. The case remains one of the country's most unsettling maritime mysteries. The note's sudden appearance thousands of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean has sparked an online frenzy, particularly on Reddit, where Laming's post on the subreddit r/beachcombing quickly went viral. Internet users dug into the message's possible origins, some pointing out the similarities to the real-life disappearance of the Yong Yu Sing No. 18, while others speculated on ocean currents, timelines, and whether the note could have plausibly made it from the Pacific to the Irish coast. Some sceptics dismissed it as a hoax, noting the improbability of such a message surviving the ocean's journey for over four years. But others took the note seriously, especially after connecting it to the captain's surname and the ship's exact name. A few commenters even drew comparisons to historical cases, such as the 1992 Friendly Floatees incident, in which thousands of plastic toys released during a shipping accident were found on beaches around the world decades later. In Taiwan, the note is being treated with caution but seriousness. The Su'Ao Fisherman's Association, which represents many of the region's fishermen, issued a statement calling on the government to verify the message and, if confirmed, to cooperate with international authorities on potential rescue or recovery efforts. The Taiwan Yilan District Prosecutors Office, which led the original investigation, has not publicly responded to the discovery. Meanwhile, Laming and his friend handed the message over to local authorities in Galway. Ireland's police service, An Garda Síochána, confirmed receiving a report of the item found on Inisheer but declined to comment on third-party content or ongoing speculation. While the message is yet to be unverified, its emotional impact is undeniable. For the families of the missing crew, the note—whether genuine or not—serves as a painful reminder of unanswered questions and lost loved ones. For internet sleuths, it's a mystery that might yet unravel. 'My gut tells me it's a hoax,' Laming admitted, 'but Reddit has made me think—just maybe.' See More: An Garda Síochána, Aran Islands, Fishing, Reddit, Taiwan
