Family of dead Rottnest pilot mourn self-proclaimed ‘seaplane tragic’
The family of a pilot killed in a seaplane crash near Rottnest Island have paid tribute to a “dear friend, brother, son and partner” in a fundraising post.
Organiser of the GoFundMe, Angela Cloeraine, wrote the loss of James Sai Meng Wong was “sudden, unexpected and devastating”.
On Tuesday the 7th of January 2025 we lost a dear friend, brother, son and partner in a tragic accident. He was known for his love for adventure, exceptional knowledge on every topic and his passion for seaplanes – a self proclaimed “seaplane tragic”. His trademark skinny jeans and peace signs will never be forgotten.
Consequently, we are hoping to raise funds to support his family and loved ones as they navigate this treacherous time. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The fundraiser had received more than $8,000 of its $10,000 target as of Thursday afternoon.
Key events
Bank of mum and dad risks running dry
Many Australians are turning to the “bank of mum and dad” to get a foothold on the property ladder, though as many as one in 20 parents could be risking a financially stable retirement, AAP reports.
About 6% of parents have gone into debt to help their children or grandchildren, with about 2% tapping into the equity of their homes via a reverse mortgage.
Parents could be compromising their financial stability by taking on debt or exhausting their savings, financial comparison company Compare Club’s head of research Kate Browne said:
We’re seeing cases where the bank of mum and dad is effectively operating as an unregulated lending institution, but without the safety nets.
Those who had taken out a reverse mortgage were 64% more likely to be stressed about their mortgage than the average Australian, according to the comparison company’s survey of 1000 people.
Intergenerational wealth transfers have become a prominent feature of a pricey property market first-time buyers are struggling to crack into, especially at a time of high living costs.
Garbage truck dumps load on Sydney street as toxic vapours rise from the rubbish
Earlier today a garbage truck in Sydney was forced to dump its load on to the street after the contents started producing a toxic vapour.
The truck was carrying 150kg of a powdered bleach substance that started reacting with other materials in the load.
Fire and Rescue NSW says six fire trucks and 22 firefighters including hazardous materials experts were on the scene in Mascot, in Sydney’s inner south, as the truck unloaded its contents.
No injuries have been reported, and the source of the substance is unknown at this stage.
Man accused of selling cannabis seeds online granted bail but warned selling more would be ‘pure stupidity’
A man accused of selling $700,000 worth of cannabis seeds online has been granted bail and warned it would be “pure stupidity” to break his strict release conditions, AAP reports.
Samuel Joseph Topia, 40, appeared in Brisbane supreme court on Thursday via video link and represented himself in his bail application.
Topia was charged on 19 August 2024 with cannabis production, possession, supply, importation and trafficking at a farming property outside Kingaroy, west of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Prosecutors alleged Topia had been running an online business offering sales of 285 types of cannabis seeds and had 1,800 packages ready to fulfil orders.
Justice Melanie Hindman asked Topia why she should grant him bail when he had previously been convicted of similar offending at the same farm in April 2023.
Topia said his time on remand since his arrest was the first time he had been in custody.
Hindman said Topia must have known after he was convicted that he could not continue the research he claimed to be doing on an illegal plant.
That might have washed, perhaps, back in 2023, but surely the inference I make now is you thought, ‘bugger it, I’ll just keep doing it’.
Topia said he had turned 40 in custody and wanted to reconnect with estranged family members.
Hindman granted Topia bail on the condition he not consume cannabis even in medicinal form and not promote the sale of cannabis on his website.
The police will be watching very closely … It would just be pure stupidity to go back to that sort of offending and no one will have any sympathy for you.
‘Proliferation’ of demountable classrooms blamed on lack of planning
Education leaders have defended forcing more students into demountable classrooms for the upcoming school year, blaming predecessors’ poor planning, AAP reports.
Figures suggest more than 13,000 demountable classrooms are used in NSW, Victorian and West Australian public schools alone.
The education minister, Prue Car, trying to spruik a maintenance blitz across more than 800 public schools over the summer break, complained of a lack of planning for many high-growth areas in Sydney’s north-west and south-west.
But the former NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell expects families will wait longer to get the schools they need under Labor after a slowdown in new project numbers in the latest budget.
The Australian Education Union described a “proliferation” of demountable classrooms in public schools in a 2024 report.
The report pointed to figures showing one in eight public school classrooms in NSW was a demountable in 2020, with the total portfolio exceeding 5,000 by 2022.
Victoria meanwhile had 5,761 demountables in 1,130 public schools, the report said. The WA government told local media in August it had 3,006 demountable classrooms.
Black Friday sales boost retail figures for November
Australian retail sales rose 0.8% in November, bolstered by the ever-growing popularity of Black Friday sales, AAP reports.
Turnover lifted across all retail categories over the month, led by a 1.8% bump in department store sales as shoppers rushed to snap up hot deals.
November’s lift followed a 0.5% increase in sales in October and a 0.4% rise in September.
Australian Bureau of Statistics head of business statistics Robert Ewing said Black Friday sales events “proved once again to be a big hit, with widespread discounting and higher spending across all retail industries”.
The popularity of Black Friday sales continues to grow with promotional activity now stretching across the entire month of November, not just solely focused on the Black Friday weekend.
Businesses in food retailing also benefited from sales-induced spending. Food retailing rose 0.5%, while cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services recorded its fourth consecutive monthly increase, lifting 1.5%.
Consumer budgets have been under pressure from higher mortgage repayments and cost-of-living pain but tax cuts, stronger wage growth and lower inflation have been giving incomes a much-needed boost.
Family of dead Rottnest pilot mourn self-proclaimed ‘seaplane tragic’
The family of a pilot killed in a seaplane crash near Rottnest Island have paid tribute to a “dear friend, brother, son and partner” in a fundraising post.
Organiser of the GoFundMe, Angela Cloeraine, wrote the loss of James Sai Meng Wong was “sudden, unexpected and devastating”.
On Tuesday the 7th of January 2025 we lost a dear friend, brother, son and partner in a tragic accident. He was known for his love for adventure, exceptional knowledge on every topic and his passion for seaplanes – a self proclaimed “seaplane tragic”. His trademark skinny jeans and peace signs will never be forgotten.
Consequently, we are hoping to raise funds to support his family and loved ones as they navigate this treacherous time. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The fundraiser had received more than $8,000 of its $10,000 target as of Thursday afternoon.
Krishani Dhanji
Sixth man charged over alleged conspiracy to murder plot
Organised crime squad detectives have charged a sixth man over an alleged plot to murder a 30-year-old in Sydney.
NSW crime command’s organised crime squad established Strike Force Barralier in December 2023 to investigate the alleged conspiracy.
Five others have already been charged and their cases are before the courts.
The latest arrest of a 32-year-old man was made by detectives this morning during a vehicle stop in Miranda. Officers later searched a home in the Sutherland Shire area and police say items were seized.
The man has been charged with conspire and agreed to murder any person, and was refused bail to appear before the Sutherland local court today.
Hiker who found Hadi Nazari in Kosciuszko says he ‘couldn’t believe it’
Joshua Dart told the ABC about the moment he and his friends hiking in KNP found Hadi Nazari, who had been missing for 13 days.
My mate James looked down towards the shouting and we shouted back. We heard him [Nazari] saying, ‘I need help’…
When we realised it was him, I couldn’t believe it. We were just emotional, we were crying and he was in tears.
Dart says his group had seen the missing persons alert on Wednesday morning, so it was “fresh in our head”.
Nazari was found at 3:15pm that afternoon.
Dart shared a picture to Instagram with Nazari, which you can see here in an earlier blog post.
Krishani Dhanji
‘I campaign every January,’ says PM while travelling through regions
Anthony Albanese has said he wants to represent the whole country, as he travels through regional Australia and visits seats that will be key in the next election.
So far several big-ticket announcements have been made – most notably the $7.2bn to upgrade the Bruce Highway in Queensland. Albanese says:
All of these places I have visited is because as prime minister I want to represent the entire country …
And that’s why we’ve made, I think, a substantial difference with the announcements that we’ve made today.
We don’t make decisions based upon colour-coded maps. There’s been some question about our Bruce Highway commitments. There were 41 deaths last year. It’s Australia’s worst road in terms of fatalities. Something needed to be done.
Albanese’s reference to “colour-coded maps” goes to the “sports rorts scandal” where it was revealed a community sports fund was being used with a bias towards marginal Coalition seats and electorates the party was targeting.
Krishani Dhanji
Anthony Albanese is also asked about the plane crash off the West Australian coast that killed three people.
He says his “heart goes out to family and friends of those who lost their lives”.
When an incident like this occurs, an inquiry is automatically triggered and they will be here. If any lessons can be learned from it then they certainly will be, and will be put in place by the government in the form of any new regulations that are required.
The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, is asked if there’s any cause to ground seaplanes while the investigation is carried out:
There’s no indication of that. We’ll take the advice from the authorities.
You can read more details on the latest of that crash here:
‘Fantastic news’: Albanese responds to Nazari being found in Snowy Mountains
The prime minister says it’s “remarkable” 23-year-old Hadi Nazari was found after 13 days, and thanked emergency service workers and volunteers who helped find him.
I just think that everyone will have jumped for joy, the whole nation at this news. I look forward to reading more about the story and perhaps seeing the movie, the documentary, the other information that will come out of this.
