An Australian tourist has made international headlines and was labeled a “barbarian” after he was arrested for riding through a UNESCO world heritage site in Italy.
The male tourist, aged 33, was charged with “unauthorized access” by police after he drove a moped for almost two kilometers through the ancient ruins of Pompeii in the country’s south.
Italian police allege the Aussie man rode through the world-famous archaeological park via a service gate following the entry of cars from construction companies.
An Australian tourist was captured on CCTV scooting through Pompeii. Supplied Credit: NCA NewsWire
Security and guards apprehended the man before any damage was done to the 2000 year old site following a series of CCTV footage.
“The route taken is a dirt road outside the ancient city walls, used by site vehicles for excavation works,” the park said in a statement.
“It is safe, restored, and not accessible to the public. So there was no danger for either visitors or for the archaeological heritage at any point.”
The man claimed he was unaware he drove through the ancient site – which was destroyed in 79AD following a volcanic eruption.
The UNESCO world heritage site does not allow tourist vehicles to drive through.
No parts of the ancient city were accessed or damaged by the tourist, however Italian media has slammed the man, labeling him as a “barbarian”.
Qantas has responded to an announcement that more than 700 aircraft engineers from Qantas and Jetstar are planning to stop work for “one-minute” in August.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association(ALAEA) federal secretary Steve Purvinas told members in a meeting on Wednesday the majority had voted in favor of industrial action.
Airline engineers are asking their employer for a 12 per cent pay rise to make up for stagnant wages the last four years.
The union’s first action will be a one-minute stoppage across all airlines sometime in late August.
Qantas engineering executive manager Scott McConnell has said the airline is “disappointed” in the union’s decision to strike and is putting contingency plans in place to deal with disruptions.
Airline engineers from Qantas and Jetstar will stop work for one-minute in August. NCA NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia
“It’s extremely disappointing the union has taken this step towards industrial action,” Mr McConnell said.
“The union has repeatedly said that any industrial action won’t impact customers’ travel plans and, while we hope they stick to their word, we’re also putting in place contingency plans in case they don’t.
“The entire aviation sector is still recovering from the impact of Covid, and the threat of industrial action is the last thing travelers need.”
“The first action will be a token one,” Mr Purvinas told members.
“A one-minute stoppage of course is not going to harm any airline and also demonstrates our willingness to negotiate in good faith and not try and harm the airline.”
Airports across the country have reported massive queues, flight cancellations and missing luggage. NCA NewsWire / David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia
Mr Purvinas said the token stoppage aimed to give the airlines an opportunity to come to the table.
“We do want to give some time for resolution of these matters before we have to do anything that may even be close to disrupting the public,” he said.
The strikes come at a difficult time for Australia’s national flag carrier, as the aviation industry struggles with staff shortages that have led to flight cancellations, delays and missing luggage.
If the stoppage does not motivate negotiations, the union plans to notify the airline of more work stoppages.
During these stoppages, the union has offered to provide “alternative labor provisions” to the airline.
ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas says the stoppage isn’t designed to ‘harm’ travellers. Ray Strange Credit: News Corp Australia
“We want to assure the public that we won’t be harming their services,” Mr Purvinas said.
“Our target is the airlines who are not negotiating in good faith.”
ALAEA members voted against using overtime bans to avoid “exacerbating” already challenging conditions in the industry.
A Qantas spokesman told the NCA NewsWire in July that the 12 per cent pay rise was something the airline “simply can’t afford”.
They said Qantas had a policy of 2 per cent annual increases for all employees across the Group.
The airline has a history of not holding back when it comes to dealing with union industrial action.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce infamously grounded the airline during a dispute with the ALAEA and two other unions back in 2011, leaving 200,000 passengers stranded without notice.
Milk costing more than $9 and a tin of instant coffee for an astounding $84. These are real prices – and they show just how dire things are for some Aussie shoppers.
Consumers all across the country are being hit by the cost-of-living crisis, which has sent the price of everyday goods such as lettuce and milk soaring.
But shocking photos shared to social media show how grocery bills cost more in some places – and expose just how dire the situation has become.
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One photo of an April receipt from a store in the town of Kaltukatjara, southwest of Alice Springs, showed a two liter carton of milk costing $9.20.
At a Sydney Woolworths, the same product was being sold for just $3.10 this week.
Milk was spotted at a high price in one remote community. Credit: Facebook
Donna Donzow, an operations manager for the non-profit EON Foundation which helps grow and supply fresh produce to communities in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, said she noticed the unusually high grocery prices in June when she was in Minyerri, a town 240km southeast of Katherine.
“The cost of a mixed salad pack was $17,” Donzow told 7NEWS.com.au.
By comparison, a mixed bag of salad at a Sydney Woolworths this week cost just $3.
The high grocery prices in remote areas are due to a range of issues including long supply chains, poor quality roads and freight costs – and experts say more needs to be done to sort out the problem.
A long-time problem
Food has cost more in the regions than in our biggest cities for years – as photos on social media show.
One photo shared in 2020 showed a tin of instant coffee selling at a Hope Vale grocery store, in remote Queensland, for $84, according to the poster.
According to a 2021 report by healthcare policy organization Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (Amsant), food in supermarkets is 56 per cent more expensive in remote communities than in regional supermarkets.
A 2020 inquiry by federal MP Julian Leeser echoed these findings, stating that “the cost of purchasing food is considerably higher for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities than for people living in larger population centers in urban and regional Australia”.
A tin of instant coffee was being sold at a Hopevale Island and Cape grocery store, in remote Queensland for $84. Credit: Facebook
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the cost of groceries has increased by 5.9 per cent across all of Australia’s capital cities since June last year – and there’s reason to believe costs are also going up in rural Australia, where prices were already astronomically high.
In Minyerri, for instance, Donzow said she saw signs around the shop advising community members of that fruit and vegetable costs had gone up due to flooding in Australia’s southern states.
EON Foundation executive chair Caroline de Mori said she’d had a similar experience.
“I heard people complaining the other day about a lettuce for sale in Sydney for $8, but can you imagine what it’s like when you go a few thousand kilometers inland?” de Mori said.
“You end up paying $12 for one brown-headed broccoli.”
‘It’s only getting worse’
The enormous costs aren’t just an issue for getting food on the table now – they have flow-on effects for the future.
De Mori told 7NEWS.com.au that the lack of cheap fruit and vegetables meant some shoppers were turning to processed food.
“By the time it all gets (to remote communities) it’s moldy and not fresh, so it’s not necessarily an option,” she said.
“This means we see astronomically higher disease rates and health issues in these communities, and it’s only getting worse.”
The foundation helps set up community gardens to encourage locals to grow their own fruit and veg. Credit: EON FoundationThe community gardens are being accessed more and more by locals. Credit: EON Foundation
De Mori added some communities only have one store selling essentials for the whole town.
“Because they’ve got the monopoly, they can charge whatever they like and it just seems to be a terrible downwards spiral,” she said.
University of Queensland public health policy professor Amanda Lee told 7NEWS.com.au while experts recommended numerous solutions over the years, little has been done overall.
Lee recommends subsidizing freight costs and preventing supermarkets from marking up fruit and vegetables.
“Unfortunately, while there’s a long list of recommendations from all the inquiries over the past 40 years … there’s been very little collective action to address it.”
