Latest news with #deregistration
The Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Australian
Rupinder Brar's Barkly International College shuts its website, office lights off
You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback. You can now listen to The Australian's articles. A dodgy international college run by a Rolls Royce-driving businessman who sat next to Anthony Albanese at a suspected Labor fundraising event has 'permanently' shut its website. Barkly International College — owned and operated by Indian-Australian property developer Rupinder Brar, who recently lauded the PM as a leader of 'vision, integrity and courage' — was stripped of its registration by a federal watchdog three months ago. BIC's website now only displays a message stating 'our website is permanently closed' and when The Australian visited its Lonsdale St headquarters on Tuesday the lights were out and the office appeared closed. Despite the 'permanent' closure of BIC's website, Mr Brar has maintained he intends pushing ahead with an appeal to overturn the deregistration of the college, which mainly caters to Indian students. 'We have shut the website down so there is no suggestion we are trading or advertising or otherwise breaching ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) requirements while we pursue our appeal against the cancellation,' Mr Brar told The Australian. 'I feel like a broken record, but as advised to you previously (and as you have reported previously), the matter is still before the (Administrative Review Tribunal) so I cannot comment any further.' Melbourne-based Australian-Indian businessman and entrepreneur Rupinder Brar. Mr Brar dined with Mr Albanese and former Victorian Labor premier Daniel Andrews in a four-hour dinner at Toorak mansion last November and has actively promoted his association with the PM on social media. Mr Albanese, Mr Andrews and Mr Brar have all failed to deny the event was an election campaign fund raiser for the ALP. In the days after Mr Albanese's emphatic May 3 federal election victory, Mr Brar described the win as a 'well deserved victory' in a social media post and hailed the PM as a 'true leader with vision, integrity, and the courage to rise above the noise'. Rupinder Brar (seated beside the PM), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Daniel Andrews (seated to the other side of the PM) at a function held in Toorak on November 12, 2024. 'Despite all the attempts to distract and discredit, the people stood with truth and truth won,' Mr Brar posted. 'I'm proud to have supported a man who leads with purpose and heart. This victory is not just his, but for all who believe in honest leadership and a brighter future. Myself and my community are very much looking forward to working with him in building a better future and contributing to the continued progress of our great nation.' Three months ago the Administrative Review Tribunal rejected an application by BIC to continue teaching foreign students pending an appeal against its deregistration over what the watchdog found were serious noncompliance issues. ASQA cancelled BIC's registration after an investigation found it had breached 30 regulations covering training, assessment, enrolment, marketing and governance systems, including a lack of training for students, insufficient trainers and educational support services and facilities to support students. Mr Brar has made a fortune out of property investments, in one case pocketing a $22m profit when a company associated with him bought a Craigieburn block for $11m and sold it a year later for $33m. Four months after paying $11m, the Victorian government announced Amazon was locating to a nearby industrial estate. Mr Brar has told The Australian the business had 'no knowledge' that Amazon was moving nearby when it bought the block. Mr Brar's company sold the block for $33m to property investment firm Cadence in November 2022 which, in turn, sold the land to Amazon for $79m. Do you know more? Email Read related topics: Anthony Albanese Damon Johnston Melbourne Bureau Chief Damon Johnston has been a journalist for more than 35 years. Before joining The Australian as Victoria Editor in February 2020, Johnston was the editor of the Herald Sun - Australia's biggest selling daily newspaper - from 2012 to 2019. From 2008 to 2012, Johnston was the editor of the Sunday Herald Sun. During his editorship of the Herald Sun, the newspaper broke the story of Lawyer X, Australia's biggest police corruption scandal, which was recognised with major journalism awards in 2019. Between 2003 and 2008, Johnston held several senior editorial roles on the Herald Sun, including Chief-of-Staff and Deputy Editor. From 2000 to 2003, Johnston was the New York correspondent for News Corporation and covered major international events including the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the city. After joining the Herald Sun in 1992, Johnston covered several rounds including industrial relations, transport and state politics. @damonTheOz Damon Johnston
Mail & Guardian
29-05-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
ANC cries sabotage as 99 voters deregister from IEC's Free State roll amid R7000 bribery allegations
At least 99 voters have deregistered from the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) voter's roll in the Free State over the past year. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G) At least 99 voters have deregistered from the Independent Electoral Commission's ( The increase in deregistrations has raised suspicions in the ANC about why a group of people would sign out of the democratic process. ANC members have suggested it is part of a 'plot' to undermine their majority in the province. IEC spokesperson David Mandaha said that in the last financial year, at least 99 registered voters in certain segments of the Free State voters' roll had voluntarily deregistered. In 2021/2022, one person deregistered from the IEC's voters roll in the Free State province while in 2022/20 22 three deregistered and 33 people deregistered in 2023/2024. Mandaha confirmed that there had been a 'relative rise' in the number of deregistrations in this fincial year. He said deregistration as a voter means that citizens are abdicating their right to elect public representatives and relegating this to others. A registered voter wanting to deregister must complete a deregistration form and submit it in person, along with their identity document, to a municipal electoral office, in accordance with section 10 of the Electoral Act and voter registration regulations. The local office will forward the forms to the national office. Mandaha said the procedure is designed to protect citizens' franchise rights against arbitrary actions or undue influence. Senior ANC leaders the Mail & Guardian spoke to said they are aware of some voters being offered R7 000 a month to deregister. One source, who declined to be named, claimed she was approached and promised R7 000 monthly, provided it could be continually proven that she remained deregistered. She said this required her to visit her 'handler' at the beginning of each month to prove that she was still deregistered. 'They said that as long as we prove we are deregistered, we would receive the money. They did not say where they were from.' When further questioned about whether she had received the payment or completed the deregistration, the source declined to comment further. The ActionSA provincial chair Patricia Kopano said this was the first time she had heard about this, questioning whether people are allowed constitutionally to do this. 'How can you deregister yourself, it's like removing yourself from the National Population Register Act. It is only through home affairs [department] through the death certificate that you can be deregistered. To go to the extreme that I want to deregister, I've never heard of that,' she said. Kopano said the only way to change the government is through the ballot paper, adding that if one is registered, they can abstain rather than go to the IEC to deregister. She said the party would open criminal charges against any people involved in such a scheme because this was unconstitutional and undemocratic. 'There's a loophole in the IEC, they must make sure why a person is deregistering. As ActionSA, we believe this is a criminal offence. Any political party that is encouraging people not to go and vote is unconstitutional.' 'We are also advocating that it must become a law where people must be forced to go and vote. In other countries, it is a criminal offence if you don't go and vote.' Independent elections analyst Wayne Sussman said he has never heard about people deregistering before, because people preferred to just stay away from voting. He said usually people get deregistered when they die or immigrate. 'Usually when people do not participate in an election, it is when they simply do not show up to vote. We know that in the last three consecutive major elections, we have had the worst turn out — the elections in 2019, the local government elections in 2021 and the one in the national elections in 2024. 'I am not familiar with this deregistration campaign. I mean R7000, if it is a successful campaign and you do that properly, that's going to be a lot of money.' An IEC source told the M&G that in recent months, several people had visited the IEC offices to deregister in the Free State. The official said that although the Constitution allows for voter deregistration, the number of requests has 'raised eyebrows'. 'To be honest, it dropped a bit last month, but there was a time when we were processing a large number,' the official said. 'It started with black voters, but in the past two months, we've seen more white people deregistering.' The official confirmed that a provincial meeting had taken place to address the surge in deregistrations. 'I know the local The official dismissed allegations that IEC staff were involved in bribery, saying: 'People make baseless accusations. Some say they're deregistering due to poor service delivery — it's a political strategy. But ultimately, these people are choosing to remove themselves and they know they can register again later if they want.' Free State Premier Letsoha-Mathae said she knew of an ANC woman who was approached to deregister and she had asked the mayor of the municipality to verify the claims. 'Indeed, they found that the particular person was no longer on the register. I am not sure if she removed herself,' said Letsoha-Mathae. She added that mayors of various municipalities have been instructed to request affidavits from people who claim to have been offered money to deregister. 'They are hesitant to come forward and submit affidavits to municipalities … We've said that during this registration period, there is a need to engage those who've been identified, and we hope they will comply.' Letsoha-Mathae characterised the allegations as sabotage against the ANC. 'If people known to be ANC activists are being paid not to vote so that other parties can gain support, then it is sabotage. Free State police spokesperson Mmako Mophiring said police were not aware of the allegations and that no case had been opened in this regard. The ANC has traditionally maintained strong support in the province despite a collapse in service delivery. But, in the 2021 local government elections, the ANC lost control of the troubled Maluti-a-Phofung municipality and entered into a coalition with smaller parties. The ANC also lost its outright majority in the Metsimaholo and Matjhabeng local municipalities. In the A senior ANC official in the province said that known ANC supporters were allegedly being offered money to deregister, but they could not confirm whether IEC officials were involved. 'As things stand, we don't have evidence of who is paying or promising these individuals money.' The official claimed that 'multiple parties' were attempting to sabotage the ANC. 'These people are discouraging communities from voting to reduce support for ANC-led municipalities. It's happening particularly in ANC-led wards.' The official said the IEC has confirmed that some people have deregistered but noted that it remains unclear whether they were paid to do so. 'We are not certain if MPLC members from different parties are collaborating with IEC officials,' they added. Dihlabeng local municipality mayor Tseki Tseki said he is aware of the issue and that it has been going on for several months. 'While I may not know the reasons behind their deregistration, it appears to be a targeted attempt against the ANC ahead of next year's elections,' he said. 'The stakes are high, and perhaps the aim is to reduce the number of ANC councillors, given the narrow margins. This may be a desperate attempt to unseat the ANC.' Tseki said the alleged practice was undemocratic. 'This is not good for our democracy. Given our country's history, when people were denied the right to vote, it is unacceptable that anyone would now discourage others from participating in the democratic process.' He said the ANC would intensify voter registration campaigns. 'There may be some who have deregistered, but more people will register. There will still be registration weekends before election day. We must ensure all eligible voters are encouraged to register and vote for the party of their choice.'
