Latest news with #Nazis
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Ex-TV star asks to be spared conviction for Nazi salute
An ex-television soap star is asking to be spared a criminal conviction for allegedly performing a Nazi salute. Former Neighbours and McLeod's Daughters actor Damien Patrick Richardson, 55, faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court in suburban Melbourne supported by his mother on Friday. He has been charged with performing a Nazi salute on September 14, 2024. Richardson is accused of intentionally performing the salute "whilst knowing that the symbol is associated with Nazi ideology" in a public place at Urban St restaurant in McKinnon, the court was told. Defence, prosecution and Richardson all appeared online on Friday morning, but magistrate Luisa Bazzani asked them to come into the court in person. Richardson's lawyer Peter Monagle said his client was preparing material to hand to prosecutors asking he be given a diversion. Diversion would mean Richardson is spared a criminal conviction for the offence, however the prosecution must agree to this and then recommend it to a magistrate. Mr Monagle said if the diversion was not accepted by the prosecution then the matter would proceed to a three-hour contest mention. "The issues in dispute are legal," he told the court. "There was an action performed by my client, but there are provisions in the act that we say cover that, but the prosecution argues doesn't cover that." He said there was no relevant prior case law, because the only people convicted of the offence "openly said they were Nazis". The first Victorian convicted of performing the gesture in public was Jacob Hersant, a far-right extremist who was handed a one-month jail term and is appealing this. Hersant performed the salute in front of news cameras in October 2023, days after it was outlawed. Mr Monagle asked for time to gather materials in favour of diversion, including character and work references, and said Richardson has four letters from people who were at the event in question. Ms Bazzani said if diversion is accepted, the matter will go before a magistrate for consideration. If diversion is not accepted by the prosecution, then it is open for Richardson to enter a plea and seek a sentence indication, she said. Richardson, who is on summons, will next face court on July 15. He starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters and Wentworth. He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and state elections. An ex-television soap star is asking to be spared a criminal conviction for allegedly performing a Nazi salute. Former Neighbours and McLeod's Daughters actor Damien Patrick Richardson, 55, faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court in suburban Melbourne supported by his mother on Friday. He has been charged with performing a Nazi salute on September 14, 2024. Richardson is accused of intentionally performing the salute "whilst knowing that the symbol is associated with Nazi ideology" in a public place at Urban St restaurant in McKinnon, the court was told. Defence, prosecution and Richardson all appeared online on Friday morning, but magistrate Luisa Bazzani asked them to come into the court in person. Richardson's lawyer Peter Monagle said his client was preparing material to hand to prosecutors asking he be given a diversion. Diversion would mean Richardson is spared a criminal conviction for the offence, however the prosecution must agree to this and then recommend it to a magistrate. Mr Monagle said if the diversion was not accepted by the prosecution then the matter would proceed to a three-hour contest mention. "The issues in dispute are legal," he told the court. "There was an action performed by my client, but there are provisions in the act that we say cover that, but the prosecution argues doesn't cover that." He said there was no relevant prior case law, because the only people convicted of the offence "openly said they were Nazis". The first Victorian convicted of performing the gesture in public was Jacob Hersant, a far-right extremist who was handed a one-month jail term and is appealing this. Hersant performed the salute in front of news cameras in October 2023, days after it was outlawed. Mr Monagle asked for time to gather materials in favour of diversion, including character and work references, and said Richardson has four letters from people who were at the event in question. Ms Bazzani said if diversion is accepted, the matter will go before a magistrate for consideration. If diversion is not accepted by the prosecution, then it is open for Richardson to enter a plea and seek a sentence indication, she said. Richardson, who is on summons, will next face court on July 15. He starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters and Wentworth. He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and state elections. An ex-television soap star is asking to be spared a criminal conviction for allegedly performing a Nazi salute. Former Neighbours and McLeod's Daughters actor Damien Patrick Richardson, 55, faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court in suburban Melbourne supported by his mother on Friday. He has been charged with performing a Nazi salute on September 14, 2024. Richardson is accused of intentionally performing the salute "whilst knowing that the symbol is associated with Nazi ideology" in a public place at Urban St restaurant in McKinnon, the court was told. Defence, prosecution and Richardson all appeared online on Friday morning, but magistrate Luisa Bazzani asked them to come into the court in person. Richardson's lawyer Peter Monagle said his client was preparing material to hand to prosecutors asking he be given a diversion. Diversion would mean Richardson is spared a criminal conviction for the offence, however the prosecution must agree to this and then recommend it to a magistrate. Mr Monagle said if the diversion was not accepted by the prosecution then the matter would proceed to a three-hour contest mention. "The issues in dispute are legal," he told the court. "There was an action performed by my client, but there are provisions in the act that we say cover that, but the prosecution argues doesn't cover that." He said there was no relevant prior case law, because the only people convicted of the offence "openly said they were Nazis". The first Victorian convicted of performing the gesture in public was Jacob Hersant, a far-right extremist who was handed a one-month jail term and is appealing this. Hersant performed the salute in front of news cameras in October 2023, days after it was outlawed. Mr Monagle asked for time to gather materials in favour of diversion, including character and work references, and said Richardson has four letters from people who were at the event in question. Ms Bazzani said if diversion is accepted, the matter will go before a magistrate for consideration. If diversion is not accepted by the prosecution, then it is open for Richardson to enter a plea and seek a sentence indication, she said. Richardson, who is on summons, will next face court on July 15. He starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters and Wentworth. He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and state elections. An ex-television soap star is asking to be spared a criminal conviction for allegedly performing a Nazi salute. Former Neighbours and McLeod's Daughters actor Damien Patrick Richardson, 55, faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court in suburban Melbourne supported by his mother on Friday. He has been charged with performing a Nazi salute on September 14, 2024. Richardson is accused of intentionally performing the salute "whilst knowing that the symbol is associated with Nazi ideology" in a public place at Urban St restaurant in McKinnon, the court was told. Defence, prosecution and Richardson all appeared online on Friday morning, but magistrate Luisa Bazzani asked them to come into the court in person. Richardson's lawyer Peter Monagle said his client was preparing material to hand to prosecutors asking he be given a diversion. Diversion would mean Richardson is spared a criminal conviction for the offence, however the prosecution must agree to this and then recommend it to a magistrate. Mr Monagle said if the diversion was not accepted by the prosecution then the matter would proceed to a three-hour contest mention. "The issues in dispute are legal," he told the court. "There was an action performed by my client, but there are provisions in the act that we say cover that, but the prosecution argues doesn't cover that." He said there was no relevant prior case law, because the only people convicted of the offence "openly said they were Nazis". The first Victorian convicted of performing the gesture in public was Jacob Hersant, a far-right extremist who was handed a one-month jail term and is appealing this. Hersant performed the salute in front of news cameras in October 2023, days after it was outlawed. Mr Monagle asked for time to gather materials in favour of diversion, including character and work references, and said Richardson has four letters from people who were at the event in question. Ms Bazzani said if diversion is accepted, the matter will go before a magistrate for consideration. If diversion is not accepted by the prosecution, then it is open for Richardson to enter a plea and seek a sentence indication, she said. Richardson, who is on summons, will next face court on July 15. He starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters and Wentworth. He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and state elections.
Perth Now
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Ex-TV star asks to be spared conviction for Nazi salute
An ex-television soap star is asking to be spared a criminal conviction for allegedly performing a Nazi salute. Former Neighbours and McLeod's Daughters actor Damien Patrick Richardson, 55, faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court in suburban Melbourne supported by his mother on Friday. He has been charged with performing a Nazi salute on September 14, 2024. Richardson is accused of intentionally performing the salute "whilst knowing that the symbol is associated with Nazi ideology" in a public place at Urban St restaurant in McKinnon, the court was told. Defence, prosecution and Richardson all appeared online on Friday morning, but magistrate Luisa Bazzani asked them to come into the court in person. Richardson's lawyer Peter Monagle said his client was preparing material to hand to prosecutors asking he be given a diversion. Diversion would mean Richardson is spared a criminal conviction for the offence, however the prosecution must agree to this and then recommend it to a magistrate. Mr Monagle said if the diversion was not accepted by the prosecution then the matter would proceed to a three-hour contest mention. "The issues in dispute are legal," he told the court. "There was an action performed by my client, but there are provisions in the act that we say cover that, but the prosecution argues doesn't cover that." He said there was no relevant prior case law, because the only people convicted of the offence "openly said they were Nazis". The first Victorian convicted of performing the gesture in public was Jacob Hersant, a far-right extremist who was handed a one-month jail term and is appealing this. Hersant performed the salute in front of news cameras in October 2023, days after it was outlawed. Mr Monagle asked for time to gather materials in favour of diversion, including character and work references, and said Richardson has four letters from people who were at the event in question. Ms Bazzani said if diversion is accepted, the matter will go before a magistrate for consideration. If diversion is not accepted by the prosecution, then it is open for Richardson to enter a plea and seek a sentence indication, she said. Richardson, who is on summons, will next face court on July 15. He starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod's Daughters and Wentworth. He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and state elections.
Sky News AU
7 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Sky News host Peta Credlin unleashes on Victorian Liberals and their former leader John Pesutto over $1.55m bailout 'mess'
Last December, Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $300,000 in damages as well as foot Ms Deeming's legal fees, which equated to about $2.3 million. Mr Pesutto had already raised just over $750,000 in order to help pay off his debt and was pushing for an agreement which would see the Liberal Party, or a party-linked investment fund, loan him the remaining $1.55 million. The party agreed on Thursday night to loan him the remaining amount, which means he can officially repay Ms Deeming the $2.3 million he owed ahead of the deadline next week, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in the process. Watch Peta Credlin's analysis and her full program with a Streaming Subscription. The Victorian Liberal Party was deeply divided over whether its funds should be used to bail out Mr Pesutto, who was found to have defamed Ms Deeming as someone who 'associates with Nazis'. Credlin, the former chief of staff to Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, told viewers on Thursday, before the Victorian Liberal Party held a meeting about the loan, that the money did not come from a bank as Mr Pesutto would not put his home up for security. She said the funds instead came from party volunteers - the 'unsung heroes of the Victorian Liberal Party' - which directly contradicted Liberal Party President Greg Mirabella and the current incumbent Phil Davis, as well as Mr Pesutto himself, who said not a dollar of Liberal Party funds would be used for legal bills. Credlin lashed Mr Pesutto and quoted him saying: 'I will not be asking the party to cover any legal fees .' The Sky News host said Mr Pesutto was a lawyer who 'clearly doesn't keep his word'. 'Worryingly, reports today that Pesutto's successor as leader, Brad Batten, supports this loan not because he's a fan of Pesutto, but because he doesn't want to face a by-election for Pesutto's seat, which will happen if he can't pay his debt and Paz is bankrupted,' Credlin said. Bankruptcy disqualifies MPs from holding a seat in Parliament in Australia. Credlin said the motivation to bail out Mr Pesutto was 'fair enough', but added no political party should be 'frightened' of an election. 'Even now, after being out of power for the better part of 25 years, this is the Victorian Liberal Party that is still focused on itself, not the voters who were desperate for change,' Credlini said. 'A party room of malcontents who still are intent on scoring points against each other instead of working together to save Victorians from a government that wants to tax them into oblivion.' Credlin said Mr Pesutto had gotten himself and the party into a 'mess of his own making' and accused him of being 'spooked' by former premier Daniel Andrews which led him to acting 'irrationally'. In closing, Credlin addressed Mr Pesutto by his first name and said: 'Sorry John, you've made your bed, now lie in it.' In a statement, Victorian Liberal Leader Brad Battin said he supported the Party's Administrative Committee to pay Ms Deeming the $1.55 million owed to her by Mr Pesutto to 'satisfy the Federal Court costs order'. 'This decision was not about personalities or past disputes – it was about protecting the interests of the people we serve and ensuring our Party can continue its important work,' Mr Battin said. 'The loan arrangement ensures the Party avoids further financial and reputational damage, allows us to put this matter behind us, and refocuses our efforts where they belong – holding Australia's worst government to account and building a stronger, fairer future for Victoria.' In a social media post, Ms Deeming posted an image of herself with superimposed words reading: 'They failed to protect her when she was attacked. They punished her for defending herself.' 'They financially profited off her trauma,' the post continued. 'They told the world they did her a favour. This is what institutional abuse looks like.'
Middle East Eye
14 hours ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Bombing hospitals is a red line - unless Israel is doing it
On Thursday morning, Iranian missiles struck Soroka hospital in Beersheba, triggering expressions of outrage from Israeli officials. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir likened the Iranian regime to 'Nazis who fire missiles at hospitals, the elderly and children'. President Isaac Herzog evoked imagery of a baby in intensive care and a doctor rushing between beds. Culture Minister Miki Zohar declared on social media that 'only the scum of the earth fires missiles at hospitalized children and elderly people in their sick beds'. The chair of Israel's medical association, Zion Hagay, decried the strike as a war crime and urged the international medical community to condemn it. This swift and unified condemnation by Israeli political and medical leadership underscores a striking contradiction: these same actors not only ignored but openly justified the destruction of Gaza's hospitals over the past two years. Since 7 October 2023, Israeli air strikes and ground invasions have decimated Gaza's healthcare infrastructure. The World Health Organisation has recorded around 700 attacks on healthcare facilities. Major hospitals - al-Shifa, Nasser and the Indonesian hospital, among others - have been besieged, bombed and dismantled. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Israeli officials frame these hospitals as military targets and Hamas 'shields'. Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, was placed under siege and then invaded, with the attack hailed by Israeli media as a victory. Meanwhile, the Israeli Medical Association remained silent. In one of its rare statements after a year and a half of Israel's repeated and targeted attacks on hospitals and civilian infrastructure, the association echoed the state's narrative, stating that health facilities and personnel must not be targeted 'unless these are being used as a base for terrorist activities'. Selective moral outrage What is especially striking about this moment is the selective moral outrage from Israeli officials. The same ministers who justified the systematic dismantling of Gaza's healthcare system now describe an attack on an Israeli hospital as a red line, a war crime. Herzog's sentimental imagery of doctors rushing between beds evokes the stark reality in Gaza, where health workers have been shot and shelled in operating rooms, imprisoned, or forced to abandon their patients under fire. International medical voices have played along. While many doctors and health workers have spoken out, many others have remained silent, with no real actions taken to hold Israel accountable. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war It would be a mistake to treat these official statements as being detached from the public mood in Israel. Most Israelis have defended the destruction of Gaza's healthcare infrastructure. Public discourse has normalised the idea that Palestinian hospitals are legitimate military targets, even celebrating their destruction in some cases. This normalisation is not incidental. It is part of a broader dehumanisation of Palestinians, where even a child under anaesthesia in a Gaza operating room is not seen as a victim, but as collateral damage or a 'shield'. The outrage over Soroka thus reveals a deeper truth: in the eyes of many institutions and audiences, some lives are inherently more valuable than others. When Israeli hospitals are struck, the world responds with empathy and urgency. When Palestinian hospitals are dismantled - patients killed in their beds, doctors arrested mid-surgery - the world hesitates, rationalises or remains silent. How can Palestinian medics 'cooperate' with Israeli health bodies during a genocide? Read More » This is not simply a double standard; it reflects an entrenched hierarchy of whose suffering matters. Israeli leaders speak today of moral lines, of civilians and children, of hospitals as sanctuaries. Yet for nearly two years, those very values have been systematically violated in Gaza, with hardly a whisper of regret. This situation reveals not only hypocrisy but also the cynical confidence that comes with impunity. It reflects how the boundaries of Israeli grief and outrage are drawn narrowly around Jewish Israeli lives, grounded in the certainty that Israel will face no consequences. This moment puts the international system to the test. While some medical and humanitarian groups have expressed concern, most international stakeholders have remained silent in the face of the destruction of Gaza's entire health system. Will medical journals, international associations and UN bodies respond to the attack on an Israeli hospital with the kind of swift condemnation and concrete actions they failed to take when hospitals in Gaza were bombed? The world should have acted when the first operating room was hit in Gaza. It should not take an Israeli facility being targeted for them to remember that hospitals are meant to be protected spaces. If an attack on a hospital is a red line, this must be true for all hospitals, not just those serving Israelis. If international law is to mean anything, it must protect everyone, with the same standards applied to every violation. Anything less is not only hypocrisy; it is complicity. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Outrageous star had ‘mental block' delivering her ‘offensive' dialogue
Actress Joanna Vanderham admits she had difficulty wrapping her head around her character's fascist views in the new period drama, Outrageous Outrageous star Joanna Vanderham admits she was uncomfortable with some of the dialogue she had to say as historical fascist figure Diana Mitford in the new series. U and U&Drama's six-part period drama reveals more about the life of iconic author Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) and her five sisters. In the 1930s, with war looming and women struggling to find a place in society outside the home, the Mitfords stood out as rebels and pioneers amongst their aristocratic peers. However, their rise to notoriety threatened to fracture the family as both Diana and their younger sister Unity (Shannon Watson) began to associate with British Fascists and Nazis. Reach caught up with Vanderham at Outrageous' London premiere and asked if she found the role of a notable Nazi sympathiser challenging. 'Absolutely,' she said. 'Diana has a couple of lines that refer to what was happening at the time, and I personally found them quite difficult to deliver. 'I'm usually really quick to learn lines, they go in in an instant. But, for some reason, there was like a mental block of, 'I don't want to say this!' 'So some of those political lines, those were hard to say.' Written by Sarah Williams, this new period drama is a must-watch for fans of Downton Abbey, but be warned - it's a historical series like no other. Outrageous takes an unflinching look at the role of British aristocrats in the years leading up to the Second World War, proving not everyone was on the right side of history. Viewers will also get to know one of the most infamous wealthy families of the 20th Century better than ever before. 'What's so remarkable about Sarah's writing is so much of it is about what's between the lines and what's unsaid, the subtext of it,' Vanderham added. 'Which a) I think is really British, but b) when you have a family, you can have those silent communications and the little nods that's sort of like, 'Go on, do it', 'Go on, say it', 'Oh my God! You're not going to say that!' And it's just all silent. 'That's what lends itself to the fact that this was a real family and we were just really lucky to get to spend time together beforehand to really create that camaraderie.' The riveting new series is now streaming completely for free, so there's no excuse not to get totally scandalised by this shocking corner of history. Outrageous is available to stream on U, U&Drama and Britbox.
