Lamb writhes while starving in Mount Gambier skate park
A lamb locked in a skate park in Mount Gambier by council staff writhes as it apparently almost starves to death. Supplied: Julia Dangerfield
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Health authority hands down lifetime ban for testosterone salesman Michael Farrelly
When Michael Farrelly stepped out onto a Gold Coast street in late 2016, wearing a jumper plastered in oversized Chanel logos, an ABC TV crew was waiting for him. As he walked to a waiting convertible, the self-described "serial entrepreneur" dodged questions about charging patients as much as $44,000 for untested stem cell therapy with the promise it could treat everything from multiple sclerosis to cancer. "Just wondering if you're aware that your company … has been referred to the Queensland Health Ombudsman for misleading and deceptive practices?" the reporter asked him. "You'll have to talk to my lawyer about that," he replied, before speeding off into the night. The Queensland Health Ombudsman never took any action against Michael Farrelly, who'd been operating his stem cell business in that state under an alias, Mikael Wolfe. It would be nearly a decade before Michael Farrelly came onto the ABC's radar again. When Background Briefing started looking into serious complaints about him last year, the businessman had undergone a makeover — he'd found a new product to spruik, moved to New South Wales and even taken up a new alias, Vergel Page. As Vergel Page, he was selling testosterone online to men with the promise of making them feel like a "million bucks", giving them "big coconut balls" and sending their sex drive "through the roof". Many of his clients told us the reality of this treatment fell far short of his shiny sales pitch. Some were left thousands of dollars out of pocket, while others even experienced serious health impacts. But now, almost a decade after he was first investigated by health authorities, Michael Farrelly has been permanently banned from the healthcare industry by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). In issuing the permanent ban this month, the HCCC found that in operating three online testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) clinics — Climax Clinic, Australian Institute of Sports Science and Peak Performance Clinic — Farrelly's conduct had "posed a risk to public safety". It said that despite having no qualifications to do so, he'd made recommendations to his clients about medication, including telling one patient to double his testosterone dose "against the instruction of the named prescriber". "A permanent prohibition order means Mr Farrelly is banned from providing any health service in any capacity in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria," NSW Health Care Complaints Commissioner John Tansey told the ABC. "Mr Farrelly showed little regard for client safety or the laws that regulate health services. The evidence confirmed he posed a serious and ongoing risk to the public, and his refusal to cooperate left the Commission with no option but to impose a permanent ban." The HCCC regulates hundreds of thousands of practitioners in NSW and this is just the third permanent ban it has made this year. While the ban stops Farrelly from running a healthcare service, it appears there's nothing to stop him starting up another company in another industry. He has also not been charged with any criminal offences. TRT has exploded in popularity in recent years, spruiked to men by manosphere influencers including Joe Rogan. Many men are inundated with ads on social media, with clinics promising it's a cure-all for everything from flagging energy to low libido. For one of Farrelly's former clients, retired builder Sam, the draw was the hope of alleviating the crippling pain of his osteoarthritis. An online ad led him to contact one of Farrelly's online TRT clinics, the Australian Institute of Sports Science — mistakenly thinking it was associated with the Australian Institute of Sport — and he spoke to a man who called himself "Vergel Page". Michael Farrelly's lawyers admitted to the HCCC that Vergel Page was a "sales pseudonym" for Farrelly. After a short phone consultation with a doctor, Sam paid $3,500 for a year's supply of TRT and ongoing care. But when his testosterone shot up to more than 10 times his original levels, neither Vergel Page nor the clinic would respond to him. "I had no help," Sam says. "Zero." Sam is just one of many former Farrelly clients who spoke to Background Briefing, recounting similar stories of paying thousands of dollars for TRT, only to be ghosted. Jamie, 48, developed a chronic heart issue, atrial fibrillation, after starting on injectable testosterone prescribed by a Farrelly TRT business called the Climax Clinic. He and others also received abusive messages from Farrelly after contacting him for a refund. In March last year, Farrelly put his TRT clinics into liquidation, saying there was no money left, and disappeared. So Sam and some of his other clients started organising in a Facebook group to try and find him — to get their money back, and to get some answers. They thought Farrelly was still operating in New South Wales, until one day Sam got an intriguing Facebook message: a tip that the TRT salesman, with his distinctive facial tattoos, had been spotted in a small, sleepy town in northern Tasmania. Background Briefing found that property records showed a house in the Tasmanian town was purchased in late 2023 under Farrelly's mother's name. A liquidator's report also confirmed that a car at this property, a white Mercedes-Benz, was owned by Michael Farrelly. Eyewitnesses said the TRT salesman was living at the address, too. HCCC commissioner John Tansey told the ABC that Farrelly first came onto the regulator's radar in 2022, but his move interstate, while operating under multiple businesses and aliases, made its investigation very difficult. In Australia, each state has its own individual health regulator. The national healthcare watchdog, AHPRA, currently only polices registered healthcare practitioners, such as doctors and nurses, and not unregistered practitioners like Farrelly. The NSW HCCC's investigation into Farrelly stretched out for over a year, as investigators combed through business records and even got clinical records from the TRT clinics' software provider when, the HCCC said in its decision, Farrelly stopped cooperating. Commissioner Tansey said the evidence collected during the HCCC's investigation confirmed Farrelly had facilitated the supply of prescription medication without having the qualification to do so, and that the commission was keeping an eye on him. "Any breach of the order is a criminal offence and may result in prosecution," the commissioner said. While the HCCC is only the regulator for NSW, its ban on Farrelly is also enforced by Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. And in December last year, his new home base of Tasmania passed laws to recognise other states' healthcare prohibition orders, putting an end to the possibility of him being able to practise there too. Sam thinks more needs to be done to make TRT safe, including national regulation and stricter rules on who can open up these clinics. "I know there's a lot of people on Facebook that will hate me because they don't want it regulated because they won't get their medication," he says. "I just think the whole industry needs to be regulated." He points to the fact that in January this year, while still under a temporary prohibition order from the HCCC over his existing TRT clinics, Michael Farrelly was able to open a new business that supplied testosterone replacement therapy. Company records show that the business was registered at the Tasmanian address, where the HCCC's orders didn't apply, and Farrelly was named as its director. Its directorship was only transferred to someone else this week. The ABC understands ASIC has not disqualified Farrelly from managing corporations. The liquidator of Farrelly's TRT businesses has spent more than a year trying to trace more than $15 million of transactions that flowed in and out of the companies. He's expected to report to creditors within the month.
The Australian
8 hours ago
- The Australian
Horror moment Brisbane bus driver is attacked by passenger
Disturbing footage has captured the moment a Brisbane bus driver was brutally attacked by a passenger. Footage captured the moment a bus driver was repeatedly punched by a man on a busy bus. The video, shared to social media overnight, shows a man appearing to briefly get off the bus before going back to land a final punch. A Queensland Police spokesperson told NewsWire an incident on a bus shortly after 6pm on Friday night in Southbank was being investigated. The matter was reported to police on Saturday afternoon, the spokesperson said. Footage captures the moment a Brisbane bus driver was brutally attacked by a passenger. Picture: Luke Goldfish / Facebook. No charges have been laid over the incident. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner called the incident 'deeply disturbing' in a post to social media on Saturday afternoon. 'No one deserves to face violence in their workplace, especially from a single individual whose reckless actions endangered the safety of everyone on board,' Mr Schrinner wrote. 'My thoughts are with the bus driver who was subjected to this appalling and completely unacceptable attack while simply doing his job.' Mr Schrinner added Brisbane was a 'friendly city' where everyone deserved to feel safe. 'While we have strong safety protections for our bus drivers, we shouldn't need them which is why we continue to stand up for Brisbane against crime to keep our community safe,' he said. The video was circulated across social media over the weekend, with many labelling the conduct 'unacceptable'. 'No one helps him … feeling really bad after seeing this video,' one person commented. 'Bloody disgrace. Get in there and help him,' another said. Anyone with information or footage has been urged to contact police. Rhiannon Lewin Court Reporter Rhiannon is a Sydney-based court reporter with NewsWire. Formerly the NSW Editor at she is now on the ground covering some of the state's most high-profile criminal cases. Rhiannon Lewin
The Australian
8 hours ago
- The Australian
Police probe Melbourne woman's ‘suspicious' death
How a woman reported missing came to suffer injuries consistent with a serious assault before she died in hospital is the subject of a police probe, with her death being treated as 'suspicious'. A woman in her 60s was reported missing by her neighbour on June 14, just a week after the neighbour had seen her with an unknown man outside her Noble Park home in Melbourne's southeast. A neighbour spotted the woman talking to an unknown man outside her Marna Court home in Noble Park more than a week before she was found in hospital. Picture: Google Maps. The neighbour hadn't been able to contact her since spotting her with the man on June 7. The woman was found at Dandenong Hospital on June 16, with a Victoria Police spokesperson revealing she had injuries that appeared consistent with being seriously assaulted. Police were able to speak with the woman before she died in hospital days later on June 20. Her death is being treated as suspicious: the homicide squad have been called in to investigate. 'The exact circumstances surrounding the incident which led to her being injured are still being determined,' a Victoria Police spokesperson said. 'However detectives from the Homicide Squad are investigating and her death is being treated as suspicious.' The woman died at Dandenong Hospital on June 20. Picture: Google Maps Police have spoken to a 62-year-old Endeavour Hills man, who was known to the woman, regarding the incident, but he was released pending further inquiries. The woman's next of kin have not yet been notified of her death. Anyone with information about the circumstances leading up to the woman's death have been urged to come forward. Clareese Packer Reporter Clareese is a Court Reporter at NewsWire. She previously covered breaking news for the outlet after completing the 2023 NewsCorp cadet program, where she worked at The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, the National News Network and NewsWire. Clareese Packer
