AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 29 at 0200
Legal: Germani (SYDNEY)
The mastermind of a fake jewellery store robbery and a man he enlisted to take part in a failed $2.5 million insurance fraud bid have been hit with a combined jail sentence of over eight years.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Mounir Helou was heard saying over an audiovisual link from custody before being sentenced at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.
"I don't know my friend, I don't know. I'm so scared," former jewellery store owner Michel Elias Germani replied.
The pair were part of a group that planned and performed the sham robbery of Germani Jewellers at Sydney's Hilton Hotel in January 2023.
Germani was the mastermind of the scheme while Helou and another man attended the store after hours.
Boy (BRISBANE)
A fresh search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont on a remote South Australian cattle station has failed to uncover any trace of the little boy.
Major crime detectives and specialist officers have spent the past three days combing Oak Park Station in the state's outback, returning to the property in the hope downpours exposed new evidence.
Officers from Task Force Horizon began the latest search on Monday, targeting numerous locations across the vast station, including areas where rain and erosion could have shifted soil or cleared vegetation.
"Unfortunately, we have not uncovered any further evidence that helps us locate Gus," Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said on Thursday.
"Task Force Horizon members on the property, together with STAR Group officers — up to 17 people over the past three days — have searched all of these areas in an effort to uncover new evidence or information that might help us locate Gus.
Legal: Brown (MELBOURNE)
Childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown has pleaded not guilty to abusing young children in his care and creating child abuse material.
Brown, 27, formally entered the pleas in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon while appearing on a videolink from prison.
The more than 150 charges relate to allegations of abusing children, bestiality, producing child abuse material, and contaminating food with intent to cause public alarm and anxiety.
Brown's defence barrister Rishi Nathwani KC told the court his client accepted a significant amount of the offending but there were still issues over which charges should proceed.
Mr Nathwani said discussions with prosecutors had been exhausted and the parties needed the assistance of the higher court.
"He will enter 'not guilty' pleas, which are really holding pleas in the circumstances," the barrister said.
NZ Budget (WELLINGTON)
New Zealand has unveiled a stripped-back budget with few voter incentives ahead of what is shaping up to be a tightly contested election, as policymakers focus on preserving fiscal firepower amid rising risks linked to the Iran conflict.
"This budget takes careful steps to support New Zealanders now while strengthening the economy for the years ahead," Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in a statement on Thursday, as she warned the war in the Middle East was stoking inflation and threatening the recovery in the trade-dependent economy.
Willis vowed to boost capital spending on defence, schools and hospitals while keeping a tight grip on new operating spending, flagging deeper cuts across the public service that could put thousands of jobs on the line.
Legal: Griffith (BRISBANE)
One of Australia's worst pedophiles, childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has launched a bid to slash the life sentence he received for abusing dozens of young children.
Lawyers for the notorious predator on Thursday argued in the Queensland Court of Appeal that the 27‑year non‑parole period he was handed in 2024 was "manifestly excessive" as they sought leave to appeal.
Griffith is behind bars after a horrifying history of abuse stretching almost two decades was exposed.
He pleaded guilty to 307 child sex offences against 65 victims aged between one and nine.
It included 28 counts of rape against girls mainly aged three to five at Queensland childcare centres between 2007 and 2022.
Griffith used his trusted role to prey on toddlers and preschoolers as they slept or by taking them into isolated corners of childcare centres, often while their parents believed they were safe in his care.
Housing (CANBERRA)
Australia is banking on a Scandinavian-style solution to its housing problems.
The government has promised $39.3 million for a trial of modular, pre-made building components - similar to IKEA flat-pack furniture - which could speed up construction times while driving down costs.
Australia needs to think outside the box when it comes to getting homes built faster, Housing Minister Clare O'Neil says.
"Most homes use the same basic components - walls, windows, roofs, bathrooms, kitchens,'' she said ahead of a major speech defending controversial changes to tax concessions for investors.
"So instead of designing everything from scratch every single time, we can standardise some parts of the process and make construction more efficient."
Ms O'Neil has taken inspiration from Sweden, the home of furniture giant IKEA, where about 80 per cent of detached homes are built using prefabricated parts, compared to just five per cent in Australia.
PFAS (MELBOURNE)
Australia has launched an extraordinary multibillion-dollar lawsuit over widespread contamination of defence sites with "forever chemicals".
The federal government is suing manufacturer 3M for more than $2 billion to recover costs from per- and poly-fluoroaklyl substances (PFAS) contamination in firefighting foam at 28 defence bases across the country.
The claim, lodged in the Federal Court, alleges 3M withheld a range of information and misrepresented the effects of its aqueous film-forming foam, including environmental risks.
"This is the largest legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth," Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told reporters on Thursday.
Recouped money would be used to cover past and future expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historical storage and use of the foam.
It has already cost Australian taxpayers more than $1 billion to investigate, remediate and mitigate PFAS contamination on defence estates.
Terror Aust (CANBERRA)
A woman linked to Islamic State has been charged with terrorism offences on her return to Australia.
Two groups of women, often referred to as "ISIS brides", and their children returned to Sydney and Melbourne in May after years of detention in Syria's Al Roj camp.
The camp is for families of killed or detained former Islamic State fighters.
The latest cohort, made up of six women and their children, landed in Australia on Tuesday.
The Australian Federal Police on Thursday said one female returnee had been charged with terrorism offences by officers attached to Operation Kurrajong.
The agency is due to provide more details at a media briefing.
Operation Kurrajong is a joint operation of the AFP, domestic spy agency ASIO, and state and territory police focused on investigating individuals alleged to have travelled to Syria during the reign of the Islamic State caliphate.
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
The Iran war appears to be having little impact on Australia's data centre boom, but households are starting to feel the pinch.
Private capital expenditure jumped 6.5 per cent in the first three months of 2026, smashing consensus expectations of a 1.2 per cent rise, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.
That was driven by a near tripling in spending on information media and telecommunications equipment to a record $6 billion in the quarter.
It followed a similar spike in the three months to September 2025, ABS head of business statistics Tom Lay said.
"The lift in investment was the result of investment in data centre equipment, specifically server racks and processing equipment, significantly boosting overall investment figures," Mr Lay said.
Legal: Star (SYDNEY)
A proposed $1.3 million penalty against Star's former head could be derailed by the corporate watchdog's decision to settle negligence cases against two other executives for much smaller amounts.
Former Star chief executive Matthias Bekier failed to inform the board of suspicious conduct committed by Chinese junket operator Suncity in 2018 and 2019, the Federal Court found in March.
Mr Bekier and former Star general counsel Paula Martin have been successfully sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for breaches of their duties.
The watchdog is seeking a $1.3 million fine against Mr Bekier and a $1.1 million fine against Ms Martin.
But Mr Bekier's barrister Justin Williams SC pointed out on Thursday this was much higher than penalties imposed of $180,000 on former chief casino officer Greg Hawkins and $60,000 on former chief financial officer Harry Theodore.
In entertainment ...
Rodrigo (LONDON)
Olivia Rodrigo has hit back over the criticism of her wearing a babydoll dress, labelling it "so weird" and that it "normalises pedophilia in our culture".
The American singer is set to release her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, in June.
However, she has come under fire for wearing a pink-and-white floral puff-sleeve babydoll dress with matching ruffled bloomers.
Speaking on The New York Times podcast Popcast, Rodrigo said it was her "right" to dress how she wanted – but added recent online criticism of her wearing babydoll dresses "shows how we really normalise pedophilia in our culture".
"Also, it's just this rhetoric we're fed as girls since we're so little, which is, don't wear that because then a man is going to sexualise your body and it's your fault. It's so weird," she said.
Cage (LONDON)
Nicolas Cage has legally changed his name.
The Spider-Noir star was born Nicolas Coppola but he adopted the name Cage at the start of his career because he wanted to distance himself from his famous relatives including his uncle, esteemed director Francis Ford Coppola, because he didn't want to be known as the "clown cousin" of Hollywood's Coppola family.
Now Cage has revealed he finally made the change legal in 2025, telling Variety: "I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year.
"I'm Nick Cage in life, and I'm Nick Cage on camera. 'Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else's, so I decided I'm going to bring it on and be Cage".
In sport ...
Ten Open Men (PARIS)
World No.1 and overwhelming favourite Jannik Sinner has crashed out of the French Open in one of the biggest boilovers in tennis history, beaten by Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo and the searing heat in Paris.
Just as in Australian Open in January, the blistering temperatures proved too much for the Italian mountain man and after serving for a straight-sets win at 5-4 in the third set, he turned into a stricken figure, his superman powers melting as he eventually capitulated 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 to the world No.56.
It was a defeat that left the entire sports world stunned as Sinner had been the most dominant favourite to win any grand slam since Rafa Nadal in his pomp here at Roland Garros.
He had been unbeaten in 30 matches and there was no defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the field to threaten him, the Spaniard having been sidelined by a wrist injury.
Ten Open Aust (PARIS)
Kimberly Birrell has been brought down to earth after her giant-killing exploits at Roland Garros, initially bamboozled and eventually outlasted by unorthodox Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova to crash out in the second round of the French Open.
Two days after knocking out fifth seed Jessica Pegula for the win of her life, the Gold Coast fighter initially found the all-court variety of the crafty Oliynykova a rather different challenge.
After looking a little bewildered in the opening stanza, it looked as if she'd solved the puzzle by whitewashing the increasingly weary-looking Ukrainian in the second.
But in the decider, Oliynykova, who at times appeared to have been wilting in the 30 degree heat, somehow found fresh reserves and in a thrilling 10-point tiebreak decider, her rhythm-breaking game proved too much for Birrell as she prevailed 6-3 0-6 7-6 (10-5).
Ends Bulletin
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