Tag Archives: oceania

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Man alleged stabbed in Gold Coast public bathroom

A man has been stabbed in a public bathroom on the Gold Coast.

At around 5.40am on Monday morning, police allege another man followed the victim into a stall at a Burleigh Heads bathroom before stabbing him in the head from behind.

A council cleaner is believed to have entered the facility, attempting to pull the man from the 43-year-old before seeing the knife.

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After the altercation, the accused fled the scene.

The 31-year-old, was intercepted by police at 23rd Avenue on Palm Beach and arrested.

He has been charged with attempted murder.

"It is alleged the 31-year-old stabbed and slashed the 43-year-old man with a knife, before he was confronted by passers-by and ran from the scene," a police statement read.

"The men are not known to each other."

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The victim was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious condition with non-life threatening stab wounds.

Witnesses nearby described hearing a "blood curdling scream" from the bathroom as the assault unfolded.

They said the man had been carrying a surf board and had likely been surfing at the popular beach spot.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

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Monique Ryan says Frydenberg's comments are 'unacceptable'

Kooyong independent candidate Monique Ryan has called out Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's behaviour as "unacceptable" after he involved one of her family members in the battle for the marginal inner-Melbourne seat.

During his campaign launch on Sunday, the treasurer told the crowd he had shared an interaction with Dr Ryan's mother-in-law, during which she said she would be voting for him.

"A very nice lady in her 70's I think, said 'Josh I am voting for you, I am Monique Ryan's mother-in-law,"' he said.

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Dr Ryan accused Mr Frydenberg of "misquoting" her family member.

"It's unacceptable for Josh Frydenberg to bring my family into the political fray," she wrote on Twitter.

"It's behaviour like this that has turned so many people in Kooyong away from Mr Frydenberg and the Liberal Party.

"Political discourse in this country should be of a higher standard."

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Mr Frydenberg defended the anecdote, saying he recalled the interaction "word-for-word".

"I was approached by a lady on Auburn Road. She said 'Josh I'll be voting for you'. I said 'that's nice' and she said 'I'm Monique Ryan's mother-in law'. I said 'why are you voting for me?' and she said 'because you know what you're doing and you're a nice person'," he told The Age.

"Those were her exact words. They are word for word. I said 'thank you very much'."

Asked earlier on Sunday whether it was offensive to draw Ryan's relatives into the campaign, Frydenberg said "absolutely no".

The seat of Kooyong — which takes in Melbourne suburbs such as Kew and Hawthorn has historically been one of the Liberal Party's safest seats.

However, it is now at risk of being lost to Dr Ryan.

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The decision that cost this couple $87k

EXCLUSIVE: It seemed like the stars were finally aligning for Josh Girle-Bennett and his wife Michelle when the Federal Government announced its $25,000 HomeBuilder's grant in June 2020.

The couple had moved from Sydney to Orange in regional NSW three years ago, in part because of the astronomical property prices in the city.

Now here was their chance to finally make a move on owning their first home.

"It really spurred my wife to say, hey, you know, we might be able to do something here," Mr Girle-Bennett said. 

"If we have this extra $25,000, we can do this."

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Josh Girle-Bennett and his wife Michelle, pictured outside their almost completed first home in Orange, NSW.

Two days later, the couple bought a 650-square metre block of land for $215,000.

The couple spent the next six months saving until December of 2020, which was when they needed to sign a building contract in order to qualify for the HomeBuilders grant.

They signed on the dotted line with a few weeks to spare.

But their problems were just about to start.

An ominous warning

The first sign that something was wrong came when Mr Girle-Bennett got a call from the bank.

The council had approved the house plans without a hitch, but the bank also wanted to see a construction certificate, which would show their building work had permission to begin.

For two months, Mr Girle-Bennett tried to chase up the construction certificate with the builder, with no luck.

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Mr Girle-Bennett and his wife say they were forced to terminate their first building contract after no work was done in six months. The delay cost them dearly.

The inexplicable delays stretched on and on.

By the time 128 days had passed no work had even been started on the couple's home, which was supposed to take 210 days to complete.

There was also still no construction certificate. 

After seeing a solicitor, Mr Girle-Bennet and his wife terminated their contract with the builder on the grounds a clause had been breached which stated work needed to be commenced within 20 working days of council plans being approved.

But terminating their building contract turned out to have several financially devastating knock-on effects, some completely unforeseen.

'A kick in the guts'

For a start, it meant the couple no longer met the rigid dates and deadlines set out under the HomeBuilder grant.

Mr Girle-Bennet said he submitted his application for the Federal grant anyway, hopeful the state administrators – Revenue NSW – would take into account their genuine intentions to build and the extenuating circumstances which had forced them to terminate their contract.

But in July 2021, the couple received a letter informing them their application for the HomeBuilder grant had been rejected.

Building their first home has come with significant extra financial stress for Mr Girle-Bennett and his wife missed out on two government grants and COVID-19 pushed up construction costs.

"It was a bit of a kick in the guts because the way the letter was worded made it sound like we had made the decision on a whim," Mr Girle-Bennett.

"But this was done on the basis that the builder failed to meet their contractual obligations."

"It just felt unfair and un-Australian."

The couple went on to sign another contract with a new builder in August 2021. 

They requested Revenue NSW review their case but the decision to deny them the HomeBuilder grant was upheld.  

A spokesperson for Revenue NSW said a second contract may be accepted after the closing date if the builder enters into liquidation or passes away, provided all other eligibility criteria was met.

"The HomeBuilder Grant guidelines were enacted by the Commonwealth Government and apply across all states and territories. Revenue NSW does not have the authority to pay the grant where the eligibility criteria has not been met," the spokesperson said.

'It was a triple whammy'

Mr Girle-Bennett said he and his wife had been pleased with the work of their current builder and expected to be in their new home next month.

But breaking their first contract set them back financially in more ways than one, he said.

Rubbing salt into the wound, a shortage of building materials during the pandemic meant prices surged during their six-month delay, adding around 9 percent – or $52,000 – to their costs.

This in turn meant the price of their home exceeded the $750,000 cap for the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant by $20,000.

After signing with a new builder, the couple expect to be able to move into their home next month.

"It was a triple whammy," Mr Girle-Bennett said.

"We lost the Homebuilder grant, we lost the First Home Owner Grant and we've had to pay extra money in the cost of materials and labour."

Exceeding $750,000 would have also provided further complications for the couple had they been approved for the HomeBuilder grant.

For contracts signed up until December 31, 2020 a cap of $750,000 applies to all new dwellings. 

The cap was later raised in NSW to $950,000 but the grant reduced to $15,000.

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au