OPINION: Boarding houses were common in many New Zealand towns and cities after the war.

The children had black eyes and sores.

The 52-year-old admitted to police it was a ‘stupid’ move.

Disgraced Australian Rules football legend Barry Cable repeatedly sexually abused a Perth girl at the height of his playing career and there is compelling evidence he also violated other children, a judge has found.

But his victim expects to receive no compensation from the now-bankrupt Cable despite being awarded $818,700.

After a civil trial in the District Court of Western Australia earlier in 2023, Judge Mark Herron on Friday found Cable abused the victim over five years from 1968 when she was aged 12.

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Cable began grooming the girl, who used to babysit his infant son, with sexualised conversations and unwanted touching before escalating to almost-weekly sexual assaults.

He assaulted the girl at a public swimming pool, the Perth Football Club change rooms and at his home while her younger sister slept nearby.

On multiple occasions, Cable threatened to sexually abuse the younger sister if his victim did not comply with his demands, Herron found.

The abuse triggered suicidal thoughts and caused her to start binge eating and using laxatives, leading to a lifelong medical condition.

Cable, who repeatedly attempted to have the proceedings permanently thrown out and did not attend the trial, has denied abusing the woman.

He has not been charged with any criminal offences.

The trial also heard evidence from four other women who alleged Cable had sexually offended against them when they were children in the 1980s and 1990s.

Herron said he was satisfied each of the women had also been abused by Cable, describing the evidence of one witness as particularly compelling.

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The victim who launched the lawsuit, now aged 67, first went to police in 1998 but prosecutors declined to charge Cable.

She launched civil proceedings in 2019 after the WA government removed time limits for abuse survivors to launch legal action.

"As a child, I was unlucky enough to live next door to a paedophile, Barry Cable," she said in a statement provided by her lawyers.

"I no longer feel shame for the crimes committed against me.

"It's his turn to feel the burning shame … nobody should ever forget that he spent decades enjoying the limelight and spent vast sums of money fighting to hide the truth."

Herron found the woman was entitled to general and exemplary damages and further compensation reflecting past loss of earnings, interest and future medical and psychotherapy expenses totalling $818,700.

She expected to receive "zero" compensation, her lawyer Michael Magazanik said, due to Cable's bankruptcy.

"It's never been about money for my client. It's always been about the truth," Magazanik told reporters outside court.

"If Cable had admitted publicly what he'd done, this would have been over years ago."

Magazanik said he would be "shocked" if police did not examine potentially bringing criminal charges against Cable.

He said Cable had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to stop the case.

"He lied about it for years … he was too gutless to turn up to trial and face the music," Magazanik said.

One of football's most decorated players, Narrogin-born Cable was in 2012 elevated to legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

He had an illustrious playing career for Perth and East Perth in the WAFL and North Melbourne in the VFL, going on to coach in both leagues.

In 2005, he was named by the AFL as a player and coach in the Indigenous team of the century.

Magazanik has urged the AFL to immediately expel Cable from the Hall of Fame and other sporting bodies to follow suit.

The AFL said in a statement it "acknowledges the court's findings today and has no further update at this stage".

A spokeswoman for North Melbourne said the club would consider its options.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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Hawke’s Bay was cheated out of its Valentine’s Day. But love always wins, right?

‘Meng Foon failed to declare a range of interests,’ Associate Minister of Justice said.

An investigation is underway after a police car was rammed and shots were fired in Melbourne's south-east this morning.

Police officers came across a white van driving in a carpark at the intersection of Heatherton Road and James Street in Dandenong North at around 7.20am today.

The van rammed the unmarked police car twice before an officer got out of the car and fired two shots at the van as it drove away on Heatherton Road.

READ MORE: Revealed: How much power bills will be increasing by in your state

It is unknown if the shots hit the van.

Police are investigating the incident with oversight by the Professional Standards Command.

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‘I just hope the police are able to find some answers now for the family.’

A man found guilty of raping a sleeping woman has had his sentence reduced by one year.

Electricity prices in Australia are now among the highest in the world, with our bills eclipsing averages in the US and still showing no signs of slowing.

With some of nation's biggest suppliers – AGL, Origin and Energy Australia – confirming expected increases from July 1, customers can expect a costly winter.

For customers in New South Wales, AGL said households on variable rates can expect increases starting at 29.7 per cent ($540 per year).

READ MORE: Hundreds of thousands to be hit by big electricity bill increase

In Victoria, households can expect rises of 25.5 per cent ($341 per year), in Queensland prices will be hiked by 26.4 per cent ($447), while in South Australia, rates will rise by 29.8 per cent ($565).

For those with Origin, the provider announced increases of 21 per cent in NSW and Queensland, 24 per cent in South Australia and 25 per cent in Victoria.

Energy Australia said NSW customers can expect a 20.5 per cent increase – equating to around $338 per year.

An increase of 23.6 per cent is expected in Victoria (about $324 per year), in South Australia, residents will see a 23.2 per cent increase ($453), and in Queensland hikes of roughly 20.3 per cent are forecast ($363).

'Renewables are key' 

While the price jump spells bad news for the average household, Labor Party president and former treasurer Wayne Swan said there is some hope on the horizon for cash-strapped Aussies.

"Renewable energy is the key, it's far cheaper than traditional fossil fuels," Swan said on Today.

"If the Coalition had left in place the carbon price we put in place in 2013, power prices in this country would be much cheaper.

"We don't have enough renewables in the system."

Swan said another driving factor in the soaring prices is our energy infrastructure - "the poles and wires" – being one of the largest in the world, meaning "we're dependent upon high-cost fossil fuels" spread out over "a huge distribution system."

"When the world events occur, that we have experienced, that pushes prices up," he said.

"That really hits consumers.

"Just goes to show we've got to get on with getting those renewables in place and you can't do it overnight."

READ MORE: Electricity prices set to soar by 20 per cent in some states

'Not a decision taken lightly' 

"We understand that higher energy prices will put pressure on households and businesses amidst the broader cost of living pressures Australians are facing at the moment," an AGL spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

"Our decision to increase prices for our market contract customers is based on a detailed consideration of a range of factors including wholesale prices, network charges, retail operating costs, customer affordability and the value we offer to our customers."

Jon Briskin, head of retail at Origin, told 9news.com.au that "increasing prices is never a decision we take lightly".

"Especially at a time many people are struggling with higher cost of living," he said.

"We are protecting existing customers in our Power On hardship program by shielding them from these price changes so that they won't be impacted.

"We'll spend up to $45 million over the next 12 months to provide support to customers in hardship, which is in addition to the $30m in payment support we have provided over the past year."

Some 600,000 Aussies affected 

Last month, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) confirmed electricity prices will increase between 20 and 25 per cent from July 1 for about 600,000 customers.

The AER's decision will particularly impact customers in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia who are on the default market offer (DMO) over the coming financial year.

AER chair Clare Savage said the regulator had to balance the cost-of-living pressures customers faced with the need for retailers to recover reasonable costs.

"We know households and small businesses continue to face cost-of-living pressures on many fronts, and that's why it's important the DMO provides a safety net for those who might not have shopped around for a better power deal," Savage said.

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