Category: Australia

A man who was a teenager when he murdered a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from school almost two decades ago has been released from jail.

The killer was only 16 when he stabbed Tania Burgess 48 times in a frenzied attack on the New South Wales Central Coast in 2005.

He served 17 years at Cessnock jail after the sentence was reduced on appeal.

The law protects the identity of youth offenders even after they turn 18, which means Burgess’ killer can only be referred to as DL and any images of him must be blurred.

The now 32-year-old man will face intensive supervision under 15 bail conditions, including wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.

“He gets to take no responsibility for anything that he’s done,” father Chris Burgess said.

Tania’s mother, Mandy Burgess, said she would never forget the face of her daughter’s killer, and says she has not had justice.

“Whether he was a youth at that age or 16 or now in his 30s as a man, I’ll never forget it,” she said.

A petition for law reform is underway to see those responsible for heinous crimes identified regardless of their age.

Redland Mayor Karen Williams has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a drink driving charge.

Williams was also disqualified from driving for six months in a decision handed down in Cleveland Magistrates Court earlier today.

Both the 55-year-old and a passenger who was in the car at the time were not seriously injured.

On the night of the crash, Williams had finalized the municipality’s budget, then had four glasses of wine before leaving the council offices.

The crash happened shortly after Williams had held a Zoom meeting with the families of victims of drink-drivers.

In July, Williams took personal leave, temporarily stepping aside from her role, after she was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a reading off 0.177 percent.

Today, protesters gathered outside the court demanding she resign from her position on the council.

Williams refused to take questions from reporters on whether her role as mayor was still tenable.

“I know I have hard work to do,” Williams said outside court.

“And I will regain that trust as I return to work later this week.”

The Legislative Council’s Transport Committee today handed down a report on the state’s road toll system.

The review found motorists are undertaking more than one million toll trips a day which is adding up to more than $2 billion a year in toll revenue for the government.

It also found the government has “failed” to provide details to the inquiry about the total toll burden under existing contacts, including new toll roads and the granting of concessions on already built roads.

The inquiry estimated this burden to be more than $100 billion.

It also found the decision by NSW Treasury not to publicly release the contract details about the WestConnex until 2060 an “abuse of executive power”.

Chair of the Committee Abigail Boyd said road users have the right to know whether the government’s tolling contracts are “in the public interest and deliver a fair price.”

“The evidence tended to this inquiry made it impossible to ignore the significant impact that tolls are having on residents and businesses,” she said.

“They are clearly paying a high price for the government’s continuing privatization of our roads, and not just in monetary terms.

“Paying exorbitant tolls just to complete a day’s work, access medical care or attend study, is an unreasonable impost on household budgets that are already stretched by mounting cost of living pressures.”

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said toll prices are “all over the place” and a standardized approach should be taken.

“We want people getting home quicker, that’s why we’re building toll roads but if the roll roads aren’t set at a fair and equitable price, people won’t use them and nobody wins,” he said.

Boyd said the impact of high tolls is particularly evident for west and south west Sydney residents due to the lack of public transport options as an alternative to driving.

The review made a range of recommendations including that the government adopt toll caps and flag falls rather than distance-based tolling across the network.

It also recommended toll relief and cashback schemes are reviewed to make sure the money is going back to the people who need it “based on their ability to pay as well as the existence of public transport alternatives”.

Other recommendations included a review of the rate by which tolls go up and a reduction in administration fees.