Residents of Sydney’s inner west are one step closer to being able to walk, run and cycle between the Cooks River and Iron Cove after the state government committed an additional $9.8 million towards the long-awaited greenway.
The shared path, which will follow the route of the Inner West Light Rail Line, is one of 55 projects in the greater Sydney region to receive a share of $40 million of funding that will be unveiled by the NSW government on Friday.
Active transport minister Rob Stokes said the grants would give families added opportunities for commuting and recreation, giving them the chance to leave the car at home and “leave more money in hip-pockets”.
The path to the Richard Murden Reserve in Haberfield has already been completed.Credit:Wolter-Peeters
“The evidence is clear that investing in active transport infrastructure makes local communities happier, healthier and more productive,” he said.
The shared path, or greenway, will provide a continuous link between the Cooks River cycle path and the popular Bay Run at Iron Cove, which is close to city bike corridors.
The Inner West Council approved a master plan for the greenway in 2018 and expected it to be in use by the end of 2021, but the $45 million project is now slated for completion by 2024.
Greens councilor Marghanita da Cruz said funding had been one of the major delays to the project. She said building the greenway would help keep up with development in the area, as well as increased demand for recreation after coronavirus lockdowns.
“I don’t know why it’s taken so long because that extra pathway is really important to the community,” she said.
Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s controversial prime minister and an ally of former President Trump, issued a call for conservatives in Europe and the United States to unite in the fight against the liberal global order, in remarks delivered to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas on Thursday .
Orbán, who has exercised authoritarian rule over Hungary and employed rhetoric evoking Nazi propaganda, criticized the Biden administration as displaying weak leadership on the global stage and putting Brussels, the seat of the European Union, under “ideological pressure.”
“We must take back the institutions in Washington and in Brussels,” Orbán said.
The Hungarian leader’s remarks were largely met with cheers from the audience, which also issued loud boos when Orbán brought up billionaire-philanthropist and Democratic donor George Soros.
Soros, who is Jewish and Hungarian American, is a high-profile target of the conservative right, with some criticism tying in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Orbán called Soros his “opponent” and attacked him as having an “army at his service,” citing civil society and largely independent institutions like nongovernmental organizations, universities and the civil service.
Action for Democracy Board and Advisory Council, a US based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, slammed CPAC for inviting Orban and condemned his remarks as helping “legitimize fascist ideas and further fan the flames of intolerance in the US.”
“He railed against the free media, vilified George Soros, equated communists with liberals, and promoted culture war and civilizational confrontation, all the while staying silent on his close relationship to Vladimir Putin and the Chinese communist leadership,” the group said in a statement .
“We join Hungary’s chief rabbi Róbert Frölich, the International Auschwitz Committee, and many others who have condemned the use of fascist terminology and call upon US political leaders on both sides of the aisle to condemn Orbán’s hateful rhetoric.”
Some Republicans in the US view Orbán’s tenure as laying the groundwork for the far-right conservative movement internationally. His appearance by him in Texas followed his delivering a keynote address at a CPAC conference in Budapest in May, the first-ever European conference for the organization.
The Hungarian leader said he had come to Texas to tell the audience “how you should fight. My answer is play by your own rules.”
“We must coordinate a movement of our troops because we face the same challenge,” he continued, calling the 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential and congressional elections part of “the fight for civilization.”
Orbán emphasized Hungary’s hard-line policies criminalizing illegal migration and restricting marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.
“To sum up, the mother is a woman. The father is a man, and leave our children alone, full stop, end of discussion.”
Orbán also reiterated a call for the US to negotiate with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“We, in the neighborhood of Ukraine, are desperately in need of strong leaders who are capable of negotiating a peace deal. … We need a strong America and a strong leader.”
The Biden administration has limited communication with Moscow and said it is only interested in talking with the Kremlin if they determine the Russians are serious about diplomacy.
Orbán secured a fourth term as Hungary’s prime minister in April and, while the election was considered fair according to international monitors, it was criticized as marred by an uneven playing field that favored Orbán’s Fidesz party.
The Hungarian leader is widely viewed as an autocratic leader that is eroding his country’s democratic institutions and promoting an isolationist, racist and discriminatory ideology.
Freedom House, which monitors the state of civil freedoms and democracy worldwide, rated Hungary as “partly free” in its 2022 Freedom in the World report, saying Orbán and his Fidesz party have passed laws restricting operations of opposition groups and free media, instituted ant -migrant and anti-LGBTQ policies and asserted government control over independent institutions, including the judiciary.
Orban is widely seen as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite saying that he is in “full solidarity” with Ukraine.
In a speech in Romania last month, Orban spoke out against European Union sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and said that Washington should negotiate with Moscow over Kyiv’s fate.
His speech was criticized as a “Nazi diatribe” by his longtime adviser Zsuzsa Hegedus, who resigned in protest over remarks in which he doubled down on wanting an “unmixed Hungarian race.”
Orban is also a close ally of Trump, whom he met earlier in the week at the former president’s golf club in New Jersey.
In January, Trump issued an endorsement for Orbán’s reelection, an unusual gesture that broke with diplomatic norms for potentially giving the impression of the US interfering in a foreign country’s democratic process.
Nothing seemed to go right for Brisbane Broncos on Thursday evening, but Kevin Walters’ men were perhaps lucky to be awarded their second try against the Sydney Roosters at the SCG.
The Broncos were trailing by 20 points in the 60th minute when five-eighth Ezra Mam floated a pass over the Roosters defensive line towards winger Corey Oates, who dived over for the try.
But replays suggested the pass was forward, with Mam releasing the ball behind the 10m line and Oates catching it approximately eight meters out.
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The referee believed the ball was passed backwards but floated forwards — which is legal. The Sydney crowd didn’t agree though, with a chorus of boos echoing around the stadium when replays were shown on the big screen.
“Man, that’s way forward,” Channel 9 commentator Mathew Thompson said. “Oh he’s going to let it go. He’s let it go!
“It can’t have been thrown back either.”
Melbourne Storm legend Cameron Smith continued: “Seriously? Unless it’s come off a Rooster’s hand … I think that ball has drifted forward about three meters.”
Former New South Wales representative Michael Ennis agreed on Fox League. “The pass from Ezra Mam looked like it was two meters forward out of his hands from him,” he said.
“It certainly went forward.”
Regardless, the Roosters have taken another important step towards securing a top eight berth after beating Brisbane 34-16.
Trent Robinson’s men weren’t at their ruthless best, but a fourth straight win has put their premiership rivals on notice.
The Roosters started the round at risk of dropping to ninth but will finish the weekend either seventh or eighth, keeping their closest pursuers at bay for at least another week.
They have a tough run home over the closing month – meeting North Queensland, Wests Tigers, Melbourne and South Sydney – but who would be foolish enough to declare the Chooks won’t reach the finals for a sixth straight season?
And any team featuring James Tedesco, Joey Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Luke Keary, Victor Radley and Joseph Suaalii will be a threat come September.
“We feel like we’ve worked hard enough this year and tried different things (and) it’s time to play better,” Robinson said.
“The last month has been good and we’re improving but we’ve got to keep going.”
Skipper Tedesco added: “We’re still chasing that 80-minute performance but we’re getting better and better.”
The Roosters led this must-win game 18-0 after as many minutes, pouring through the Broncos’ ineffectual defense and eating up the meters with ease.
It took the hosts just five minutes to open the Broncos up, a lovely bat-on pass from Tedesco handing Paul Momirovski an open passage to the line.
Sam Walker engineered the next try three minutes later with a clever chip kick into the in-goal for Nat Butcher to reach out and ground the ball with his fingertips.
When Angus Crichton pushed through some Brisbane’s flimsy right-edge defense to reach out and score, the Roosters were headed for an 18-0 lead and complete control of a one-sided contest.
Then they took the foot from the throat, inviting Brisbane back into the game.
The Broncos scored through Corey Oates to narrow the gap to 14 as the Roosters’ completion rate went through the floor.
Robinson told the Tricolours to park the fancy stuff in the second half – and they did – but they still came up with three tries to snuff out any hope of a Brisbane revival.
Keary was superb, putting the finishing touches on a standout performance with a brilliant individual try 12 minutes from the end.
We were expecting a strong response from the Broncos following their shock loss to Wests Tigers, but they fired a few decent shots in another worrying performance.
Their attack was pedestrian and clunky for most of the night and there wasn’t much in the way of whack in defense.
The visitors were chasing the game from the outset and did well to avoid a blowout, although they never really looked like mounting any sort of concerted comeback.
“At 18-0 we got a bit of momentum back and (then) a couple of things didn’t go to plan,” Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds said.
“It’s obviously disappointing, but it’s a learning curve. We’re still a young team that’s figuring it out.”
Brisbane could finish the round as low as seventh if Parramatta and Souths win their respective matches.
Back in 2017, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) decided against investigating Guy’s lobster dinner determining the catch-up didn’t fall within its jurisdiction.
But Guy went on to suffer a humiliating defeat at the 2018 poll which the Victorian Liberal Party’s own review linked to the enormous damage caused by that infamous meal at a Beaumaris restaurant. It found the scandal was “used repeatedly and effectively to undermine him”.
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“In the environment of 2018 it was not necessary to fully articulate let alone authenticate the case, it was enough to allege and thus badge it strongly in voters’ minds,″ the review found.
With 16 weeks until the election, that should sound alarm bells for the Coalition.
There is a risk that the latest untidy affair will cause voters to add it to the mountain of baggage Guy already carries. From controversial planning decisions, to rolling Michael O’Brien. It’s likely to all add up.
Labour, which has amassed an impressive portfolio of scandals since coming to office, is unlikely to benefit electorally from the opposition’s woes. Instead, political strategists believe the saga will fuel a wider perception that the major parties are both up to no good and push voters to search for another option.
If the federal election is to be any guide, such a scenario will have a bigger impact on the Liberal Party which is so far at greater risk from independent candidates who purport to be holier than you and will campaign on a pledge to clean up politics.
Guy and many of his supporters are trying to deflect from the drama by focusing on the source of the leak, and any possible reasons for it.
As a political strategy, such a diversion may boost internal morality, but there is a risk that Liberal MPs let the myth set in that this scandal has been unfairly imposed on Guy and not a mess of his own making.
Guy may be frustrated that his integrity has been called into question over a contract which he insists was never executed. Particularly when his political rivals of him have been caught using public money to pay for election campaign staff, rampant nepotism, attempts to interfere with government grants and dogged by expenses scandals.
But protesting that the leak or any subsequent probes are unfair is a political red herring and masks the abysmal judgment that led to these scandals.
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Five years later even Guy’s biggest fans question his decision to go to the Lobster Cave with an alleged mobster, particularly when he wanted to run a law and order campaign.
As one former Liberal MP said yesterday: “I never thought it was a problem that he went to the dinner, it was the fact that when he got there and realized what was happening, he failed to leave.”
The latest scandal again raises questions about Guy’s integrity and judgment.
If, as Guy insists, the deal didn’t go ahead, why did he accept the resignation of his chief of staff? And if, as an email seen by The Age indicates, Guy was aware of the proposed contract why did it take him 10 months to act?
At best, Guy is a victim of his own carelessness. But in both cases he let ambition or ignorance cloud his political judgment of him.
Her father’s ad dropped less than two weeks before Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is set to face a tough challenge from a Trump-backed candidate, attorney Harriet Hageman, in her Aug. 16 primary. Cheney has raised millions as her national profile balloons, but it might not be enough to take on Trump and his advisers from him, who have poured money and energy into her takedown of her.
The former president’s wrath began when Cheney joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Her role as a vocal Trump critic cost Cheney her GOP leadership position, and she was censored by Wyoming’s Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.
Trump’s targeting of Cheney grew more intense when she agreed to serve as the top Republican on the House Jan. 6 select committee, where she was the breakout star during a series of revealing hearings about the former president and his inner circle in the days leading up to the attack. In the rup-up to her primary role, the Wyoming Republican has only leaned into her newfound role as the face of the anti-Trump GOP.
“Lynne and I are so proud of Liz for standing up for the truth, doing what’s right, honoring her oath to the Constitution, as so many in our party are too scared to do so,” Dick Cheney said in the ad, referring to his wife. “Liz is fearless. She never backs down from a fight. There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again or the Oval Office and she will succeed.”
Dozens of major bank branches across Australia are set to close within months, with the finance union expecting more than 100 jobs to be cut.
A total of 37 branches are confirmed to close over the next few months.
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What does it mean for customers and jobs?
Westpac Group has made the most significant slash, with 24 branches set to shut nationwide.
The group says the “majority” of employees will be unaffected by the move and will go on to other jobs within the company.
Chief customer engagement officer Ross Miller said the closures are an investment in how customers are choosing to bank.
“Declining customer use of branches means that, in some instances, we may take a difficult decision to leave a branch location,” Miller told 7NEWS.com.au, adding Westpac Group services more than five million digitally active customers.
“In these instances, we continue to support our customers with access to banking services via Bank@Post, telephone, mobile and virtual banking.”
Miller said customers will be notified in advance about the changes and will be directly connected to the services they will need to continue to bank.
He said there was a “robust process” in place to help employees find new opportunities within Westpac Group, meaning “the majority of employees affected secure a new role and continue their career”.
“As we continue to adapt to our changing customer needs, this will result in new opportunities for our employees within the Westpac Group as we grow our phone, digital and virtual offerings,” he said.
Westpac Group is closing 24 branches across Australia as it shifts to digital. Credit: AAP
NAB has confirmed it is closing nine branches, and vowed no employees would be cut.
“As more and more customers are choosing to bank online, we’ve made the difficult decision to close some branches,” personal banking executive Krissie Jones told 7NEWS.com.au.
“The branch teams have begun talking to customers about alternatives available such as Bank@post, mobile bankers, home lending specialists or business bankers who they can meet in person or via phone or video link.”
Jones said employees at closing branches will be offered jobs at other branches or elsewhere throughout the organisation.
“There will be no job losses as a result of any branch closure and we will still be there for our customers, just in different ways,” she said.
Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh says banks are investing in new digital services to meet the needs of customers, who have shifted towards online banking.
“Banks remain committed to providing banking services to every Australian, especially those in regional and remote areas,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Despite more than 80 per cent of Australians preferring to do their everyday banking online, banks still have thousands of branches across the country, in addition to the banking services that banks pay to make available in 3500 Australia Post outlets.
“There will be a place for physical bank branches in Australia well into the future, but Australians are embracing digital banking with their arms wide open.”
NAB has vowed no jobs will be lost in the branch closures. Credit: JOEL CARRETT/AAPIMAGE
While the banks say they are committed to supporting workers transition to new roles, the Finance Sector Union expects 182 Aussies to lose their jobs as the closures reach “crisis point”.
“This latest list of closures means the big four have closed more than 550 bank branches across Australia since January 2020,” national secretary Julia Angrisano told news.com.au.
“We must act to stop the banks walking away from communities in our suburbs and towns.
“It’s time to examine the impact of these closures which have hit hundreds of communities across the country.”
Customers at all the banks will continue to be able to access Bank@post at Australia Post Offices.
The full list of branch closures
WA
Westpac: Mandurah, South Perth
SA
Bank SA: Munno Parra, St Peters
VIC
Westpac: Braeside, Whittlesea, Werribee, Lilydale
Bank of Melbourne: Croydon, Coburg, Fitzroy, Sunbury, Footscray, 114 William St Melb, Mornington
Oh, internet… my best friend, my arch nemesis, my ride or die. We’ve been together for as long as I can remember, I am after all, a Gen Z. (Cusp, don’t question it!)
As a certified purveyor of fine memes, the internet makes up nine-tenths of my personality. I would rather tell you my pin number than reveal my clocked screentime hours. I genuinely search YouTube fail videos to help cure my assortment of (probably internet-fueled) mental illnesses and my everyday conversation consists of so many acronyms and TikTok soundbites that I advise all future lovers to open a permanent Urban Dictionary tab. PSA, you may also need to do that after reading this article!
Now, while the aforementioned traits may scream RED FLAG, or give you the instant ick, I can assure you this, if my extreme internet usage has given me one thing, it’s the ability to heal an immaculate list of hilarious internet content. So without further ado, please allow me to Ctrl + V the funniest shit I’ve seen on the world wide web.
1. How Animals Eat Their Food
This video dropped on my 16th birthday and I remember walking around school insisting that my friends, teachers and even the school gardener watch what I then deemed to be “the funniest video ever”. In hindsight, do I regret that title and is this a cheugy video to start off with? And it is. Will I decide whether we can be friends based on your reaction to this video? Also yes. The pinnacle of 2013 YouTube comedy and the birthday treat that keeps on giving, please enjoy the simple pleasures of How Animals Eat Their Food.
2. Is this available? (Attorney General) Internet Drama Part 1
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There is nothing juicier than Facebook Marketplace beef. Lubalin has taken this real-life internet interaction and turned it into a musical comedy masterpiece. The beats, the plot development, the twist!? I’m declaring musical comedy funny again.
3. This dog rug listing on Facebook Marketplace
“Tragedy plus time equals comedy,” I whisper to myself nervously as I link you to this travesty of a Facebook listing.
4. James Acaster on British Bake Off
In lockdown one I decided that I should make gnocchi from scratch and, let me tell you, they came out so wet and hard the only accurate description I can give you is that they tasted like “river rocks”. Anyway, this video makes my kitchen nightmare look like Attica. I’m pretty sure I contracted food poisoning simply viewing this but comedian James Acaster struggling through a string of mental breakdowns while attempting to make flapjacks will never not be iconic.
5.Flat Earth Conference
I have a special place in my heart for conspiracy theorists. My dream is to one day own a pizzeria called Flat Earth Pizza’s just for the demographic of customers it would attract and the wild conversations I would have. For now I will make do with this report from a flat earthers’ conference – bonus points for the freestyle rap.
I know I screamed earlier about being a Zoomer and being “one with the internet” but I truly have nothing on iPad kids. Generation Alpha – those born 2010-24, yes I am vomiting in millennials – will be the funniest of all time. With their evolved texting thumbs and Google glasses, they are coming for the jugular. This Twitter page features genuine joke attempts by children and, let me say, my career in standup comedy is quaking.
7. Ziwe: Baited interview with Matt Rogers
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Ziwe will be president of the world one day. Please enjoy this perfect segment of her de ella baiting her white friends into racist aphorisms.
8. Sylvanian Drama on TikTok
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I actually don’t have the articulation skills to define what makes this TikTok so funny so, if you don’t understand this, I’m sorry for your loss.
If you pissed away your precious youth watching Glee and/or trying to belt a high C, consider this your safe space. Yes, it’s a Facebook group where everyone pretends to be rehearsing for the same musical amateur. Way too much of my lockdown was spent here. You’re welcome.
10. This Tiktok jumpscare
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Number 10 should probably have been my grandma’s close-friends Instagram stories (yes, you heard right) but that is for a selected crowd only and we are a queen who seeks privacy around her meme selection. In lieu, here is a simple yet perfect TikTok.
The simplistic view is that the All Blacks just have to meet Boks force with Kiwi might and they can secure the victory they so desperately need in the Rugby Championship opener in Mbombela on Saturday (early Sunday NZT).
But coach Ian Foster – more than likely battling to save his national coaching career in these back-to-back contests in the republic – knows better.
After naming a side featuring four changes from the series decider against Ireland, including a minor bombshell at hooker where Samisoni Taukei’aho gets just his second start in the biggest test of his short career, he made it clear that brainpower would be every bit as important as horsepower in this opening matchup.
This is not your typical New Zealand-South Africa test, however.
That’s for the simple reason that the All Blacks are mightily struggling for form, cohesion and confidence, having lost four of their last five, suffered a rare home series defeat in July and not made this visit since 2018 (the Boks, would you believe, haven’t beaten the New Zealanders on their home deck since 2014).
Foster has responded by tweaking his lineup slightly, bringing in the more dynamic power game of the Chiefs hooker, starting Angus Ta’avao at tighthead prop in the absence of Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi, moving Scott Barrett back to lock with Brodie Retallick out, and handing a fit-again Caleb Clarke his first test start since his sensational debut season in 2020.
It’s an All Blacks pack with plenty of experience – a combined 387 caps, compared to South Africa’s 449 – but light on runs on the board across the front row.
MONIQUE FORD/Stuff
All Blacks coach Ian Foster has unveiled his team to battle the Boks in the Rugby Championship opener.
Ta’avao, Taukei’aho and sophomore loosehead George Bower look set for a brutal examination up front. They’re also a group still searching for a collective might, as badly exposed by the Irish.
A South African journalist asked Foster a slightly loaded question revolving around the Boks being a one-trick pony, but with a very good trick, and his forwards needing to “man up”.
“It’s about the team manning up,” said the coach.
“They’re definitely not a one-trick pony – that’s just a fallacy. But what they do well, they do really well. You don’t become world champions if you’re not proficient in a lot of areas. They’re a great team … but it’s about us not getting too hung up on that and going in with a mindset to play our game.
Darren England/AAP
Ian Foster wants his players to mix brainpower and horsepower when they run out against South Africa in Mbombela.
“There is an edge, we know we can play better, but you do that by honing down and getting excited about playing how we want to play.
“So, manning up? We’ll always man up. That’s not the issue. You’ve got to be smart, you’ve got to be physical and you’ve got to have a pretty good combination of both.”
Foster was also asked about any “angst” the All Blacks took in to Saturday’s first appearance in the town formerly known as Nelspruit.
“There’s been a lot of reflection from our players, on their roles, their performances… it has created an edge in the week, and then you dovetail that with where we are and who we are playing and it’s a great concoction.”
The All Blacks coach didn’t want to get into too much detail around the coaching shakeup.
He’s now hands-on with the attack, and new face Jason Ryan has command of the big men after the mid-year firing of John Plumtree and Brad Mooar.
“You’d probably write it up as just an old voice saying the same old stuff,” he responded a little cryptically to the Kiwi scribe’s question on the subject.
“Much is made of the last series, but we were in the process of putting blocks in place. Did we get everything right? No, but we’ve got a lot of faith in areas where we want to grow our game. There are tweaks in attack we’re working on, but some are just focus points we didn’t get right in the last series.”
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho gets just his second test start against the Springboks in Mbombela this weekend.
In terms of Taukei’aho’s dramatic promotion, with Codie Taylor playing the price for an off-key July with omission (Dane Coles comes off the bench), Foster said the 24-year-old Tonga-born hooker had earned this crack.
“He’s uncomplicated. We don’t believe he gets over-awed on big occasions and he’s been a big mover the last 12 months. Physicality is not his only purpose, but it is a key strength.
“We’ve got three good hookers. Dane has an energy about him and we feel his experience of him in that latter part of the game is going to be key.
The pack selection, added Foster, had been a mix of turning to established combinations (Taukei’aho and Ta’avao are Chiefs team-mates, Barrett and Whitelock are second-row regulars for franchise and country) and rewarding form.
“We had a good look at Akira [Ioane]. We liked his growth last year. He came in for the third [Irish] test, and we felt he did some really good things. He’s a big, physical man, but he’s going to need to be.”
And Clarke’s return was a no-brainer.
“We need to get a ball in his hands, and we need to get him involved. If that happens there will be more good moments than bad ones.”
Not so much time to man up, as play well.
All Blacks: Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, David Havili, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Ardie Savea, Sam Cane (capt), Akira Ioane, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Angus Ta’avao, Samisoni Taukei’aho, George Bower. Reservations: Dane Coles, Ethan de Groot, Tyrel Lomax, Tupou Vaa’i, Shannon Frizell, Finlay Christie, Richie Mo’unga, Quinn Tupaea.
When news articles refer to amateur sleuths who’ve dedicated time and effort to investigating the Somerton Man mystery, they’re referring to people like Nick Pelling.
The 57-year-old London-based computer programmer, author and researcher has never set foot in Adelaide, let alone on Somerton beach.
But that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing the case with the tenacity that one would expect from someone with his skills.
His blog Cipher Mysteries is a testament to his capacity to trawl through undigested records like those on Trove, the National Library of Australia’s freely accessible digital archive.
“History is a funny old thing,” he said.
“The stuff in archives is the stuff that didn’t get thrown away that day — it’s the stuff that survived somehow, just randomly.
“As a historian, you have to merge different types of evidence together because you only have scraps.”
Mr Pelling, pictured in 2014, shares his research into enigmatic cases at his blog Cipher Mysteries.(YouTube: Gamification World)
The Somerton Man is not the only enigmatic case to have captured Mr Pelling’s attention — but it is the one that has most recently made headlines.
Last week, Adelaide-based academic and long-time Somerton Man devotee Derek Abbott announced that he and a US-based colleague had solved the mystery.
They identified the man as Carl “Charles” Webb, a Melbourne-born engineer.
The breakthrough has spurred Mr. Pelling to uncover more.
He believes the Webb hypothesis is a compelling one, and he wants to find evidence to corroborate it.
The beach at Somerton Park, pictured in 2018, where the Somerton Man’s body was found 70 years earlier.(ABC News: Carl Saville)
“My best-case scenario is that we find a picture of Carl Webb. He was married – people have wedding photos, it’s a big day,” he said.
“We may be able to find more records of what Carl Webb was doing in the year-and-a-half after he left his wife and before he died [in 1948].
“It’s not that long ago in the bigger scheme of things.”
Detective work and the Da Vinci Code
A suitcase and belongings found at Adelaide Railway Station are believed to have belonged to the Somerton Man.(Supplied)
For Mr Pelling, discovery is as much about pathways as epiphanies — the investigator never knows how much treasure is awaiting excavation.
“The idea of Dan Brown and his ilk is that the archivist finds … one document that explains everything — it’s never like that,” Mr Pelling explained.
“[But] if you can ask the right questions of the right people, then all kinds of things open up.
“Things like photographs and diaries and journals all persist in attics and lofts.”
Over the years Mr Pelling has corresponded with Australian-based experts, including retired detective Gerry Feltus, who praised Mr Pelling’s endeavours.
“He’s got a massive website going, and people from all over the world have been contributing to that,” Mr Feltus said.
Retired detective Gerry Feltus authored the book The Unknown Man: A Suspicious Death at Somerton Beach.(ABC Australian Story)
Methodical by nature, Mr Feltus is withholding judgment on the Somerton Man’s identity until police and Forensic Science SA complete their own investigations.
“They are both working on it at this stage,” he said.
“Because of what I know and what I believe, I’m just not prepared to sit back and say I’m satisfied that the person is Webb.
“If it comes back as being Webb, I’d have to say that’s great news, simply because it would clarify a lot of matters.”
Moving behind the veil
For Mr Pelling, coding came before codes — he started designing his own computer games while still at school.
But when the cipher bug struck, it struck hard. He became fascinated with something called the Voynich manuscript, an enigmatic text believed to date back to the 1400s.
While he can’t recall exactly when he became interested in the Somerton Man, he can recall why.
It was the sequence of letters linked to the case, which Mr Pelling doubts is a code, that captured his attention.
The sequence of letters, thought by some to be a code, was found inscribed on a book of poems linked to the case.(Supplied: Australian Police)
“Mysterious writing excites people’s imaginations,” he said.
That point is the premise of the blog — Cipher Mysteries is a site where those who share his passion for cryptography can exchange facts they’ve gleaned from archives like Trove.
“Trove is the most marvelous resource for historians,” he said.
“Every country should look long and hard at Trove and say, ‘Why don’t we do this?'”
But Trove can only take you so far, he said.
All kinds of factors, including socio-economic ones, determine how many traces a person leaves to posterity.
“Genealogy has a very middle-class bias. If you’re doing okay, you might write letters to the newspapers,” he said.
“If you’re working class, you’ve got other things on your mind. There are a lot of people whose lives don’t get decorated by Trove.”
Does Trove hold further clues about the story of the Somerton Man? Or will they only be found in those attics and lofts?
“I’m hoping that we can move from Trove-type history to family history,” Mr Pelling said.
“Reconstructing the person’s life will be a whole load more work.
“I don’t think you can ever see the Wizard of Oz, but you can see a little bit beyond the veil.”
The Somerton Man’s remains were exhumed in 2021 to allow Forensic Science SA to conduct their own investigation.(ABC News: Daniel Keane)
The award from the jury was far less than what the plaintiffs, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, had asked for. At the start of the trial, attorneys for Lewis and Heslin asked the jury to award their clients $150 million in compensatory damages.
A separate, shorter trial during which punitive damages will be discussed is now expected. Punitive damages are awarded when the court finds the defendant’s behavior to be especially offensive.
Mark Bankston, an attorney for the parents, told CNN that the plaintiffs are happy with the jury’s decision, noting that they had also received money prior to the trial due to sanctions the court had hit Jones with.
“Having already secured $1.5 million in fines from Mr Jones, the plaintiffs are now due $5.6 million that Alex Jones will have to pay them,” Bankston said.
“Neil and Scarlett are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting Mr. Jones’ money to good use,” Bankston added. “Mr Jones on the other hand will not sleep easy tonight. With punitive damages still to be decided and multiple additional defamation lawsuits pending, it is clear that Mr Jones’ time on the American stage is finally coming to an end.”
An attorney for Jones could not immediately be reached for comment.
The decision from the jury is a partial ending to a years-long process that began in 2018 when Lewis and Heslin sued Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, which is the parent of the right-wing media organization Infowars.
Jones baselessly said in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, in which 26 people were killed, that the incident was staged. Facing multiple lawsuits, Jones later acknowledged the shooting occurred. He testified in court this week that he now believed it to be “100% real.”
But Jones failed to comply with court orders during the discovery process of the lawsuit. His failure to do so led to Heslin and Lewis winning default judgments against Jones.
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled in October that Jones was legally responsible for inflicting emotional distress on Heslin and Lewis. Gamble also ruled that Jones was liable for defaming Heslin.
Jones claimed in his testimony that a jury award of just $2 million would destroy him financially.
But the accountant who is now in charge of overseeing Jones’ company Free Speech Systems, the parent of his conspiratorial media outlet Infowars, testified in bankruptcy court Wednesday that Jones withdrew about $62 million dollars from the company over 14 years, of which about $30 million was paid to the IRS.
And the accountant testified that Infowars had received about $9 million in cryptocurrency donations and that “they went directly to Mr. Jones.”
The decision to punish Jones in such terms also comes at a seismic moment in American society, where the lies and conspiracy theories have flourished in recent years.
The jury’s decision, while far lower than what the plaintiffs’ attorneys had asked for, sends a message to those who propel lies into the public conversation, whether for political power or financial gain, that there can be consequences for such behavior.
“Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for,” the Sandy Hook family attorneys argued to the jury during their opening statements and closing arguments.
During the trial, Heslin and Lewis offered emotional testimony, telling the jury that the lies pushed by Jones stained the legacy of their son Jesse and tormented them for years.
Fighting back tears at times, Heslin told the jury that Jones, through his conspiratorial media organization Infowars, “tarnished the honor and legacy” of his son. Heslin said that he could n’t “even begin to describe the last nine-and-a-half years of hell” he has endured because of Jones, and described in detail how he fears for the safety of himself and his family. .
In a remarkable moment in court, Lewis spoke directly to Jones, saying she wanted to address him to his face.
“Jesse was real,” Lewis told Jones. “I’m a real mom.”
Lewis told the jury she feels monetary damages were appropriate in the case because she doesn’t believe Jones would otherwise ever stop his behavior.
“There has not been a sincere apology,” she said. “But if there was, ever, I like it to be in a car accident and you run over someone and cause tremendous bodily damage and you look at that person lying on the ground and say, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m not accountable for any of the damage I just caused. That’s how I see it.”
Lewis also reflected on what it meant that the trial had to ever take place.
“It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this,” Lewis told Jones. “That we have to implore you — not just implore you, punish you — to get you to stop lying…It is surreal what is going on in here.”
The trial in Texas is one of three that is expected to play out over the next couple of months.
A different group of Sandy Hook families sued Jones in Connecticut. Those families also won a default judgment against Jones and a trial was scheduled to begin in September. But jury selection was suspended the same day it started earlier this week and the trial could be delayed because of a bankruptcy filing from Free Speech Systems.
Attorneys representing some Sandy Hook families have accused Jones of having drained Free Speech Systems of assets in recent years as part of an effort to protect himself from potential judgments he may be ordered to pay.
One of the attorneys, Avi Moshenberg, told CNN on Tuesday that the bankruptcy filing made by Free Speech Systems indicated that $62 million in assets had been withdrawn from the company in 2021 and 2022.
“If you look at the bankruptcy filing, leading up to the declaration of bankruptcy, Alex Jones, the sole owner [of Free Speech Systems], took $62 million in draws in 2021 and 2022,” Moshenberg told CNN. “Just straight up draws. That’s why the company has few assets.”
