Gerard Baden-Clay secretly sells investment property

Allison Bayden-Clay's father Geoffrey Dickie, was appointed interim administrator of his daughter's estate yesterday by Supreme Court Justice Glenn Martin after his son-in-law secretly sold an investment property he jointly owned with his deceased wife.

He organised the sale from his cell where he is being held awaiting trial for the murder of his wife Allison.  He wrote to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission stating that as his wife was now deceased, she was no longer a director or secretary of their family company World of Top Step Pty Ltd, so he was legally able to sell the property.  

It was listed for auction on September 16 but further investigation revealed that it has already been sold, an offer accepted and settlement will take place in three weeks.  The three bedroom house was previously rented out at $340 per week.


Mr Dickie put it to the judge that his daughter's estate, which includes the Paradise Point property, should not be sold off before her husband goes to trial.  The Judge and all other parties, including Bayden-Clay's defence team, agreed that Mr Dickie be made interim administrator.


In a will Allison made in 1997, before she got married and had children, she names her future husband as sole executor and benefactor and appoints her father to act as executor in the event that Gerard could not fulfill his obligations.

Mr Dickie and his wife Priscilla are also interim legal guardians to Allison's three daughters, aged 10, 8 and 5.  One can only imagine what this shocking affair is doing to the children.


The court heart that Gerard Bayden-Clay's debts totalled around $1 million and his wife had an insurance and superannuation policies worth around $960,000.  The case comes before the Supreme Court on September 24.

Exclusive Brethren doctor struck off for gay "cure"

Kevin Rudd famously labelled the Exclusive Brethren (EB) a "cult" when he was in opposition and heaped scorn on John Howard for being too generous with their cause.  But when he became Prime Minister, he changed his mind and figures show that funding to schools run by the EB under the Rudd government, increased by 50 per cent.  

So we know that the Exclusive Brethren is a rich and powerful cult who have proven political influence in Australia.  They are isolationist and believe it is the duty of God's chosen people to avoid all contact with the ungodly which also applies in business.  EB members either own their own company or work for someone who does. 


Wealthy leader Bruce Hales lives on Sydney's north shore and runs a number of companies including a furniture business and a computing company, despite telling his followers that television, radio, computers, smart phones and the Internet are all evil.   EB followers have no idea what is going on in the outside world which gives Hales enormous power over his flock.  He said that Apple founder Steve Jobs was given cancer as a punishment from God.


EB is in the news again today but its followers will never know about it. They do not tolerate homosexuality and when a troubled 18 year old youth told an elder of the church he was gay, he was told to see Dr Craddock, who would give him something "that would help his problem." But what he was really talking about was chemical castration.


Mark Christopher James Craddock, 75, a member of EB, gave the youth a prescription for anti-androgen therapy, cyproterone acetate (Cyprostat), at his home in February 2008.


The patient, who is no longer a member of the church, wrote to the Health Care Complaints Commission and told them about his 10 minute consultation with the doctor who gave him a prescription for Cyprostat with 5 repeats.  The powerful drug lowers libido by reducing testosterone levels and is used to treat prostate cancer,  and male sexual disorders such as pedophilia.  


Dr Craddock was brought before the Medical Council of NSW in June and admitted he did not obtain a medical history or conduct a physical examination.  He didn't bother to arrange a follow-up appointment or refer him to a counsellor or psychologist, despite the drug manufacturer's recommendation that this must be done.  He didn't order a liver test or discuss the effects of the drug which include impotence.


Dr Craddock conceded it was potentially dangerous for a patient to have such medication unsupervised and that in hindsight, he should not have prescribed it at all.  He was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and banned from practicing as a GP.

Charlotte Dawson's Twitter meltdown

Last Thursday afternoon, Charlotte Dawson left the Emergency Psychiatric Care Unit of St Vincent's Hospital to tape an interview with 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown.  She was driven to the brink of suicide by cruel comments posted on Twitter, urging her to kill herself.


She is an ambassador for the anti-bullying program Community Brave and wanted to do the interview to bring attention to cyber bullying and how it can, under certain circumstances, lead to someone taking their own life.  People like Dawson who have a history of depression, when submitted to constant verbal abuse on Twitter or Facebook, can sink so far down into a black hole of self-loathing, it's very hard to climb back out.


I have no sympathy for cowards who spew abuse at others and it's great when their cruel taunts come back to bite them, like the woman who was outed and sacked for saying 'Go hang yourself.'  But there are always two sides to a story and Charlotte admits she's got a problem.  "I always bite back, I know it's my problem, but I can't just let it go without having something to say."  


Most of us know how it feels to be hurt on line but if we react with a hateful comment back, they've won.  Nobody likes being ignored and these trolls have big egos.  They are counting on your outrage and by not reacting, they lose.


Last night on 60 Minutes she admitted she was very drunk when she tweeted "Hope this ends the misery" and "You win."  The circumstances surrounding that awful night were a recipe for disaster.  She went out to a function, came home, drank some more alcohol, starting reading the hateful tweets and couldn't stop.  Because she lives alone, there was nobody there to help her snap out of it.


Her decision to be interviewed by 60 Minutes is already coming back to haunt her.  This morning, there are rumours circulating that she did the paid interview to gain publicity for her new book.  These accusations won't help Dawson's already fragile state of mind and I hope she is getting the help she needs to steer her through this difficult time in her life.  I sincerely hope she comes out the other end a stronger, wiser woman.

Charley Sheen's "Anger Management" a hit

Getting the sack from Two and a Half Men turned out to be a positive experience for Charlie Sheen - his new show Anger Management is now officially a hit.  We were led to believe that his self-destructive lifestyle of drugs and beautiful women would eventually end his career, but he's come back bigger and better than ever.

The FX Network, a unit of News Corp and owner of The Wall Street Journal, have ordered an extra 90 episodes of the new comedy from producer Lions Gate Entertainment Group.  Because the show exceeded ratings expectations, it triggered an automatic order for more episodes.


Although Sheen isn't getting as much per episode as he did in Two and a Half Men, rumour has it that he has forty per cent equity in the show, which will give him a healthy share of any syndication revenue.  It has already been sold to Canada, Latin America, Germany, Scandinavia and Australia for around $600,000 an episode.

Sheen plays a former baseball player with anger management issues who becomes a therapist.  Sheen's real life father Martin will appear in 20 of the 90 episodes but executives stress it won't become the "Charlie and Martin Show."

Anger Management is a clear winner with the 18-49 age demographic and ranks as the most watched sitcom premiere in cable history.

Anger Management airs in Australia on Channel 9. 

Five Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

As Australian soldiers were relaxing, playing cards in a tent in Uruzgan province yesterday, a rogue Afghan opened fire at close range killing three soldiers and wounding two others.  And in an unrelated incident, two members of the Special Forces died when their helicopter crashed.  It was our country's worst day in combat since the Vietnam War and the hunt is now on to find the man who was a member of the Afghan National Army and a guard at the base.


There is no shortage of experts who have an opinion as to why it happened.  The so-called green-on-blue attacks have increased over the last two years and it's the fourth time a member of the Afghan Army has turned on Australian forces.  Former Afghan Commander John Cantwell said "At the heart of their mission, which is training the Afghan Army, is the idea of trust, and if that trust is eroded, the mission is therefore eroded and put at risk."


Sir Simon Gass, the NATO civilian representative in Afghanistan said there are a number of reasons why insider attacks are increasing.  In some cases, they have a connection to the insurgency and "in some cases it seems that it is more about personal issues and disagreements and flaring tempers and as we approach 2014, the point at which our campaign comes to an end in Afghanistan, we may be seeing some Afghans expressing their view on that by committing this sort of crime."


Australian Professor William Maley says the Taliban are trying to infiltrate Afghan security forces so they can carry out attacks like this one yesterday.  "From the Taliban's point of view, these attacks are politically positive, not just because they unsettle the public in contributing countries such as Australia, but they also create in the minds of ordinary people in Afghanistan the sense that the Taliban are strong and the international forces are weak" he said.  "There's a great fear in Afghanistan that 2014 may witness a collapse and a return of the Taliban and it's in the interests of the Taliban to make it appear that as the international forces leave, they do so with their tails between their legs." 


Experts believe that Afghan soldiers are being threatened by members of the Taliban to organise or directly participate in the killings.  After decades of war, many locals can see what will happen when the troops go home and are keen to show their loyalty to the Taliban.


Thirty eight Australians have now died in Afghanistan since 2002. Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey said "The Afghan army is copping most of the casualties....not us, that's the way it should be...we're training them."


Tony Abbott said yesterday that Australia didn't want to be seen as a country who "cut and run."  But the Dutch had the good sense to get out, ending their military commitment in 2010 after four years, with 24 soldiers killed and 140 wounded.  NATO begged The Netherlands to extend their mission but they refused. Dutch citizens were so against the war, it brought about the downfall of the Coalition government.  This worried other European countries, especially Germany who has the third largest commitment after the US and the UK.  The German people are still against the war but like us, are powerless to do anything about it.


Although we live in a democracy, we have no say in sending our troops to Afghanistan and are baffled by our politicians' resolve to stay the distance and wonder about the legitimacy of being there in the first place.  We can only look on, shake our heads, and watch as more young men die, and wonder why.

Minimum wage too high says Gina Rinehart

Gina Rinehart is way out of touch with mainstream Australia if she thinks the minimum wage is too high.  To suggest that $606.40 per week is too much is an insult to all the working poor in Australia who get out of bed every morning and go to work for a lousy $15.96 an hour. Why do they do it?  Because it's more than the dole, now called Newstart, which is $245 a week, and impossible to live on.


"There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire" she said but forgets she is an only child who inherited a fortune from her father.  Admittedly, she has done well with her inheritance and  proved herself to be an astute businesswoman, but it's clear she has no empathy with the working classes.  


To suggest that people who are jealous of the wealthy should start working harder, cut down on drinking, smoking and socializing is such an inane comment, it makes you wonder just how smart she really is.


There is no doubt that Gina Rinehart's wealth is good for the country and we could do with a few more like her, but sadly for her, she doesn't know how to relate to ordinary folk.  She's already upset workers  by importing cheap labour and with out-of-touch comments like these, she's on her way to becoming the most hated woman in Australia.

Aboriginal woman murdered for drinking her partner's wine

Makeshift dwelling at Ninga Mia

Shane Shaun Bates 32, kicked his partner to death for drinking his wine.  It's another tragic situation that happened in a remote Aboriginal community, Ninga Mia, near Kalgoorlie, where people can drink themselves into oblivion without any outside interference.

But what is even more tragic is that the brute who killed her only got six years in prison and it's not called murder, but manslaughter.  That's the going price for an Aboriginal woman's life these days, you can kick her to death but you'll only get six years and with parole, probably only serve four.

Bates was arrested earlier in the day for drunk driving and police dropped him off near the community at 11.30pm.   When he arrived, he found his partner drinking his wine with another man around a campfire. He was furious and told the woman to come home and dragged her by the hair towards the camp.  He then repeatedly kicked her in the head and stomach and when she was lying on the ground, he stomped on her neck, causing a fracture.  Although he could remember hearing her groaning in pain, he left her there by the roadside and went home.

When he woke next morning, he went back and covered her with a blanket and called for help.  An ambulance arrived at 6.45 am but it was too late, she was later pronounced dead.  When police arrived, Bates said "I done it, I did it last night, I'm going to jail because she's dead."

A post-mortem found the woman died of serious head and internal injuries including a brain haemorrage, lacerations to the liver and a bruised pancreas.

In sentencing, Justice Eric Heenan said "The reason for the assault upon her was extremely trivial and no matter what background a person may come from, the community does not and cannot tolerate drunken violence again women."

Bates will be eligible for parole in less than three years, after already spending more than a year in jail.

The wheel turns slowly, but some things remain the same.