HeraldSun's 30 Biggest Scandals HeraldSun's 30 Biggest Scandals

Part of it's fabulous Herald Sun Turns 30 series, the HeraldSun's 30 Biggest Scandals is a fabulous insight into the city of Melbourne.

Sex, drugs and polictics dominates 30 years of headlines and scandals.

30 Biggest Scandals

We all know Victoria is a great place to live but that doesn't mean we haven't had our share of scandals since the Herald Sun first rolled off the presses 30 years ago

LAWYER X, 2019

A story years in the making, broken by the Herald Sun and pursued by journalists Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon, who won the right to name Nicola Gobbo (Lawyer X).

Sex, drugs, cops, crims and dodgy dealing, this one is still running. Gobbo, who has suddenly disappeared from the spotlight, was the lawyer to Melbourne's baddest criminals. What they did not know was that before Gobbo graduated from law school, she was an informer.

The closer you were to her, the more potent the sting. Her prey included the greedy and the murderous, such as Rob Karam, Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams. Gobbo would become what she always wanted to be - the greatest informer in the state's history. The execution of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine in May, 2004, played on Gobbo's conscience.

She was Hodson's lawyer when he began informing about police corruption. At the same time she was entangling herself with the very police officers and criminals he was informing on. To this day she has not told the whole truth about what she knows. The Hodsons' daughter, Mandy, says her father knew he was a "dead man walking" . "Hopefully one day we can have some closure," Mandy said. "Dad was going to expose the other side of the law." More than five years after breaking the scandal, and fighting a wave of suppression orders to tell the story, a royal commission was launched and a flood of appeals lodged.

Gangland figure Faruk Orman is the only Gobbo client to overturn his conviction, for murder, and is now a free man. It is a legal scandal without precedent worldwide.

PYRAMID BUILDING SOCIETY COLLAPSE, 1990

When Geelong's Farrow Group of companies crumbled with debts of more than $2bn, Victorian taxpayers paid more than $900m and a fuel levy of 3c a litre was introduced to help depositors. People lost their life savings, businesses and homes in the collapse.

TASTY NIGHTCLUB RAID, 1994

Tasty was little known outside the gay and trans scene ... until the police raided it, subjecting patrons to humiliating searches. Class actions resulted in compensation payments totalling more than $10m and an official police apology finally came in 2014.

ESSO LONGFORD GAS EXPLOSION, 1998

Two dead, eight injured and the state's gas supplies crippled, delivering a hit to the state economy of about $1.3bn. Many Victorians endured 20 days without gas, hot water or heating. And the average compensation to users on their subsequent gas bill? A princely $10.

KEROSENE BATHS, 2000

There was uproar when it was revealed the Riverside Nursing Home had bathed 57 aged-care residents in diluted kerosene baths to cure a suspected outbreak of scabies. The federal government closed the home and those involved were later disciplined. Nearly two decades later further problems in aged care were investigated by a royal commission.

ANSETT COLLAPSE, 2001-2002

When airline Ansett Australia collapsed after more than 65 years, about 16,000 people lost their jobs, thousands of passengers were stranded and everyone blamed everyone else. More a train wreck than a plane crash, really.

WAYNE CAREY-KELLI STEVENS AFFAIR, 2002

When it emerged Kangaroos great Carey had a fling with the wife of teammate (and great friend) Anthony Stevens, the outrage was loud and furious. With your mate's wife, Duck? Really? He stepped down from the club and the fracture in the friendship group is still felt today.

HOLLINGWORTH RESIGNATION, 2003

Melbourne-raised Archbishop Peter Hollingworth was 1991 Australian of the Year and governor-general in 2003 - but when a church inquiry revealed he had allowed a paedophile to remain a priest, he had to go.

SHANE WARNE'S DRUG BAN, 2003

Warnie was found to have taken a prohibited substance before the 2003 World Cup, sent home and copped a year-long ban. He famously said the diuretic, to aid weight loss (these were SKW's porky years), had been given to him by his mum.

JAMES RAMAGE, 2004

Millionaire businessman James Ramage controversially beat a murder charge over the death of his wife Julie. Ramage successfully argued he was provoked when she wanted to end their 23-year marriage. The defence of provocation was abolished as a result of public outcry over the case.

AUSTRALIAN WHEAT BOARD KICKBACKS, 2005

The AWB breached UN sanctions and Australian law when it paid tens of millions to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime to win wheat contracts. So heads rolled, right? Wrong. Nobody was charged.

KERANG RAIL CRASH, 2007

Eleven people died and 23 were injured when a truck collided with a V/Line train just outside Kerang. There had been a previous fatal accident at the level crossing and several near misses. It led to upgrades of regional level crossings. The truck driver was charged but acquitted.

BLACK SATURDAY BUSHFIRES, 2009

So much tragedy, so many reasons for outrage: ageing power lines, naive views on fuel reduction, distracted public officials ... but the way Victorians came together to help, support and rebuild was inspiring.

MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB TANKING, 2009

The club denied it had deliberately lost matches to receive a priority draft pick and although an inquiry found it not guilty, penalties were imposed on former coach Dean Bailey and football manager Chris Connolly, while the club was fined $500,000.

RUDD, GILLARD, RUDD, ABBOTT, TURNBULL 2010-2018

We'd like our leaders to be responsible adults rather than bickering children but the behaviour of Labor in this period suggests that's a forlorn hope. At least Turnbull and Abbott didn't fall into the same trap. Oh wait ...

AQUANITA HORSE RACING SCANDAL, 2010-2017

One of the most brazen doping cases in racing history resulted in five trainers and three stable hands being found guilty of administering banned substances on race days. Text messages laid bare the extent of the doping, which included a plan to target the Melbourne Cup.

SIMON OVERLAND RESIGNATION, 2011

The man credited with helping end Melbourne's gangland war had a dramatic fall from grace. An Ombudsman's investigation of claims the police chief commissioner had selectively released crime figures that reflected well on the former state Labor government left Simon Overland with nowhere to go but out the door. He has since become embroiled in the Lawyer X controversy.

JILL MEAGHER'S MURDER, 2012

This was a case that shamed Victoria's judicial system. Why was Adrian Bayley, a man with an "extensive history of rape and violence" , on parole for a string of sex offences on the night he raped and strangled Jill Meagher in a Brunswick lane?

ESSENDON SUPPLEMENTS SAGA, 2012

What can you say? The reputation of a proud club sullied irreparably, players misled, Jobe Watson stripped of his Brownlow with the facts of who knew what when forever murky. The Bombers still haven't recovered.

BAILLIEU SECRET TAPES, 2013

Premier Ted Baillieu resigned after the Herald Sun released tapes revealing government officials had tried to undermine police commissioner Simon Overland and the new anti-corruption commission.

EAST WEST LINK FARCE, 2015

The most expensive road never built. No one came out of this mess looking good but the East West road project's cancellation and Daniel Andrews paying more than $1.1bn to not build something takes some beating.

CASEY COUNCIL IBAC PROBE, 2015-PRESENT

The seemingly boring matter of rezoning land in Cranbourne West has become a bombshell inquiry unearthing alleged shady characters, ignored advice, inexplicable decisions and suitcases filled with cash. Expect much, much more.

HEALTH SERVICES UNION EXPENSES AFFAIR, 2015

Kathy Jackson, Craig Thomson, misused credit cards, lavish dinners, booze, hookers ... the claims and counter claims flew, as did the charges. Bottom line: some of our lowest-paid workers were ripped off.

RED SHIRTS RORT, 2015

After the Andrews government put electoral staff to work as campaign field officers, Ombudsman Deborah Glass found Labor had misused $388,000 of public money. Labor's view? Nothing to see here, move on. And they got away with it.

SANDPAPER GATE, 2018

Ball tampering is as old as cricket but when David Warner and Cameron Bancroft damaged the ball with sandpaper, with the knowledge of captain Steve Smith, in a Test in South Africa, they did it on camera. The stupidity was almost as bad as the cheating.

GEORGE PELL CONVICTION, 2018

Pell professed his innocence from the day he was charged and there were serious concerns around his conviction for child sex abuse. The High Court agreed this year when it overturned the conviction.

DARREN WEIR, 2019

Most of us didn't know what a jigger was until the illegal, and cruel, electrical prods were discovered at two of horse trainer Weir's yards. Weir, trainer of Melbourne Cup winner Prince of Penzance, was banned for four years.

QUARANTINE HOTEL, 2020

A stuff-up so monumental that it not only crippled the state but apparently erased the memories of every official involved. The real scandal will be if former health minister Jenny Mikakos shoulders all the blame.

KIRSTIE MARSHALL EJECTION, 2003

Former Olympian and Labor MP Kirstie Marshall caused uproar in 2003 when she was forced to leave parliament for breastfeeding her baby.

Ms Marshall took her daughter Charlotte, who was just 11 days old, into the Legislative Assembly on her first day back at work after giving birth.

Despite doing well to even be there such a short time after giving birth, she was ushered out of the male-dominated chamber after she tried to feed the baby.

Looking back on the scandal, Ms Marshall told the Herald Sun she felt confused over the reaction.

"I was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about but also there were no other options that were presented to me that could have changed that situation," she said.

"Nobody actually provided me with other options to do anything other than what I did so I was a bit confused as to why there was such a furore at the time." In the 17 years since, Ms Marshall believes that times have changed dramatically. "I think there's a real understanding of the commitments people make to balance work and life," she said. "I don't think it's a female thing or a male thing, the roles have become far less defined and structured. "The adaptability and the endurance that we've seen through COVID is a reflection of those changed attitudes." When asked if she believed her experience was a catalyst for change, Ms Marshall said she believed it played a role in changing the view on work-life balance. "I don't really think it was about breastfeeding, I think it was about the challenges and the juggle to work," she said. "I don't think my situation was a catalyst in any specific way but I think it added to the growing movement towards change. "We're changing, but it's not always immediate. We just have to keep moving in the right direction."

FISKVILLE CONTAMINATION, 2016

The courage of Brian Potter to blow the whistle on the Fiskville CFA contamination led to the closure of the training site and a parliamentary inquiry.

Mark Potter recalls his father's determination to pursue the issue despite his own failing health - cancers he believed were caused by the toxins.

"Working to bring light to the issues at Fiskville and the increased risk of firefighters getting cancer was a challenging period for dad," he said.

"This was not an attack on the CFA today, it was an attempt to profile issues that had unfortunately been swept under the carpet. He did this while suffering from debilitating cancers and other illnesses and ongoing pain.

"He would often go to bed early, completely exhausted but proud that he in some small way had contributed to maintaining the focus on this issue and hopefully preventing the poor treatment he and others had received."

Sadly, the former CFA chief and Fiskville trainer didn't live to see the parliamentary inquiry announced - he died two years after the first Herald Sun article exposed the suspected cancer cluster.

"Our family saw the inquiry as vindication for dad. Everything he said was correct," his son said.

Mr Potter said the family was "very proud" of their father's effort and pleased presumptive legislation had been introduced in Victoria, but their fight wasn't over.

"We are disappointed that to this day, the Fiskville redress scheme has not been introduced," he said. "Numerous promises have been made, we are still waiting."

This article is from the October 13, 2020 issue of The Herald Sun Digital Edition.
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