标签： Oceania

One of Australia’s most high-profile former union figures has made headlines again after revealing he has been targeted with death threats, as he fronts a Melbourne court over allegations of abusive and harassing correspondence with a Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) administrator.

Sixty-one-year-old John Setka, who served for decades as secretary of the CFMEU’s Victorian and Tasmanian branch before stepping down in July 2024, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to face charges stemming from alleged improper communications sent last year. Law enforcement officials allege that Setka sent a series of threatening, offensive, and abusive emails to the union administrator in October 2024, followed by an additional harassing message sent on Christmas Day. The former union heavyweight has confirmed he will contest all charges against him.

During the Wednesday hearing, Setka’s legal team requested an adjournment to the proceeding, explaining that they had submitted a formal request to Victoria Police to turn over key undisclosed documents related to the case. Alex Turner, the police prosecutor handling the matter, told the court that of the six documents Setka’s team has requested, police intend to raise objections to the release of several. Turner noted that some of the requested materials are held by the CFMEU itself, not by Victoria Police, while other requests are overly broad and would place an unreasonable administrative burden on law enforcement to fulfill.

The court confirmed that a subpoena will be issued to compel the production of the contested documents, with a dedicated two-hour hearing scheduled for September to resolve the disclosure dispute. When media outlets applied for public access to court records linked to the case, Setka’s legal team requested that the former union leader’s residential address be redacted from all publicly available files. Setka’s lawyer told the court that the redaction was necessary because his client is currently the target of active death threats, which are still being investigated by Victoria Police.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse following the hearing, Setka brushed off the threats, responding “I’m really happy about it” when asked how he felt about the ongoing danger. Setka was arrested in November 2024 in relation to the harassment charges, and stood down from his long-held leadership role with the CFMEU three years ago [correction: July 2024], citing what he called “ongoing false allegations” as the driving force behind his decision. The case is scheduled to return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for the next procedural step on September 3.

Fresh escalations between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz have thrown a spotlight on Australia’s hidden military footprint alongside its key Western allies, with the nation’s top defence official confirming that more than 700 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel are currently embedded with American and British armed forces.

Addressing a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday, Chief of Defence Admiral David Johnston revealed the exact figure stands at 729 active ADF troops, with an additional 96 Australian public servants also deployed alongside allied commands. Johnston noted that the actual number of personnel embedded with US forces alone is likely even higher than the current official count, though only a small fraction of these troops are assigned to frontline tactical units.

With regional violence on the edge of a major widening, Johnston emphasized that strict Australian government rules limit all embedded personnel to strictly defensive roles, clarifying that Australia is not participating in any offensive operations targeting Iran. He pointed to the recent deployment of an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft to the United Arab Emirates as a key example of this constrained mandate, explaining that the jet supports defensive security efforts for Gulf states rather than engaging in offensive strikes.

The hearing saw intense questioning from Greens Senator David Shoebridge, who pressed Johnston over the risks of blurred rules of engagement, particularly for Australian personnel posted aboard US submarines. Past disclosures have already confirmed that Australian service members were present on a US submarine that sank an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean, raising questions about how Australian personnel navigate conflicting operational orders.

Johnston pushed back against concerns, asserting that all deployed personnel have full clarity on what actions they are authorized to take, and that he is unaware of any case where troops have faced uncertainty over their rules of engagement. When asked whether Australia’s presence on the submarine that sank the Iranian vessel aligned with national interests, Johnston framed the embedding as a critical training opportunity: Australian personnel are gaining hands-on experience operating Virginia-class submarines, a capability Australia is set to introduce under the AUKUS pact, to ensure they can safely and proficiently operate the platforms when they enter Australian service.

Beyond troop deployments, the hearing also shone a light on Australia’s controversial contract with US spyware firm Palantir, with officials confirming the ADF has paid roughly AU$14.4 million for access to the company’s data aggregation software. Senator Shoebridge highlighted that Palantir’s tools are used by both the US and Israel — two powers actively engaged in conflict against Iran and its regional allies — including for target identification operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Australian Army Major-General Richard Vagg, head of land capability, confirmed that the ADF is using the same product suite that includes AI-powered targeting functions, but stressed that Australian use of the software is limited to non-offensive applications. Vagg explained that the ADF runs the platform in an isolated “sandbox” environment disconnected from main defence networks, using it only to practice aggregating multiple data streams to improve commanders’ situational awareness and battlefield target selection training, rather than for active offensive targeting operations.

The disclosures come as renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran have stoked fears of a full-scale regional war, prompting new scrutiny of Australia’s military commitments alongside its allies and the potential for the nation to be drawn unintentionally into a wider conflict.

A corrupt scheme that peddled unearned provisional driving licences to untested drivers has led three South Australian public servants to face criminal charges, with two making their first court appearances this week.

The investigation, which uncovered the alleged fraud, names 46-year-old Scott Charles Applebee, a serving Adelaide police officer who was suspended immediately following his arrest in March this year. He stands alongside 50-year-old Sam Wheatley, a current state government employee, and 43-year-old Elijah Conrad Ware, a former authorised driving test examiner and instructor. All three men face accusations of abusing their public positions to orchestrate the scam, which prosecutors say unfolded between May and August 2025.

On Wednesday, Applebee from Adelaide and Wheatley from Balhannah made their initial appearances before the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Their co-accused Ware, a resident of Trott Park, already appeared for his first hearing at the same court on May 8. All three are accused of colluding to fraudulently issue provisional driving licences without requiring applicants to complete mandatory on-road driving assessments, in exchange for illegal payments.

Court documents detail specific allegations against each defendant: Applebee and Ware are accused of improperly leveraging their official authority to secure a competency certificate for an individual named Benjamin Wilkin, which was subsequently used to issue a valid provisional licence. The pair is alleged to have accepted payment for a road test that was never administered, with Applebee’s offence linked to a May 21, 2025 incident in Glandore. For Wheatley, charges stem from a May 26, 2025 incident in Mount Barker, where he and Ware are accused of falsifying official documents while misusing their public influence to push through the fraudulent licence approval.

At the time of the alleged offences, all three men held secondary roles as driving instructors, giving them additional access to the licensing process that they exploited for the scheme. Ware faces a total of 12 separate criminal charges in connection to the scam, while Applebee and Wheatley each face two counts of abuse of public office-related offences.

During Wednesday’s brief preliminary hearing, neither Applebee nor Wheatley made any statement while standing in the dock. Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos granted an adjournment for the case, scheduling the next hearing for October 13. This date aligns with the already scheduled next appearance for Ware, moving all three defendants’ cases forward on the same timeline.

An explosive investigation by South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has exposed widespread misuse of a taxpayer-backed professional development fund, revealing that senior medical practitioners across the state have claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in lavish, personal expenses through the program.

Launched to cover legitimate professional development costs for registered consultants, practicing doctors and medical registrars, the scheme allows eligible clinicians to claim up to $23,000 in reimbursements every calendar year. Official data shows that between April 2025 and April 2026 alone, SA Health allocated $64 million in public funds to the initiative, which was designed to help clinicians stay updated on evolving clinical practices and maintain high standards of patient care.

Instead of supporting legitimate training and education, the ICAC probe uncovered a pattern of brazen abuse, with senior medics filing claims for a litany of personal luxury items and leisure trips that have no connection to professional development. Among the most staggering abuses documented by investigators: one senior medical officer claimed reimbursement for a single luxury watch priced at $23,000, and accumulated a total of $49,000 in reimbursements for four luxury watches over a three-year period. The same clinician also submitted a $68,600 claim for a range of Apple consumer devices, including four watches, five iPads and four smartphones. Other outlandish claims documented in the report include a $3,400 five-day Disneyland trip for four people, $23,000 in flights and accommodation for the French Alps to attend an entirely online conference, a $12,000 personal wellness retreat in Bali, a $7,340 premium workbag and a $1,260 luxury fountain pen.

ICAC Commissioner Emma Townsend noted that the widespread misuse of funds stems from a critical lack of clear guidelines defining what qualifies as eligible professional development spending. “There is no doubt that the lack of clarity has contributed to the wide range of claims identified during the evaluation, including examples that, on the surface, appear to blur the lines between professional and personal development,” Townsend said in the commission’s official report. She emphasized that while ongoing professional development is an essential pillar of a high-functioning public health system, large-scale public investment requires accountability to the community. “However, with significant public investment comes a responsibility to ensure those funds are used for their intended purpose and deliver value to the public health system and community,” she added.

In response to the findings, the ICAC has put forward a series of targeted recommendations to curb future abuse, centered on introducing clear, binding definitions of eligible professional development activities and strengthening oversight of the claims approval process. SA Health Chief Executive Robyn Lawrence confirmed that the department accepts all of the commission’s recommendations, noting that the vast majority of participating medical officers use the funding appropriately for legitimate professional development. “However, SA Health accepts all the recommendations outlined in the report, which will provide our medical officers with greater clarity over appropriate professional development spending and ultimately increase protection against corruption, misconduct and maladministration,” Lawrence said.

Work to update the scheme’s guidelines was initially paused pending the outcome of the ICAC review, but Lawrence confirmed preliminary discussions with the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association began last year to develop clear guidance for line managers reviewing professional development funding applications.