Placeholder Content Image

"Pathetic" fine for killer of beloved 40-year-old blue groper

<p>In a shocking act of disregard for both marine life and the law, a 26-year-old individual has plunged a spear into the heart of Sydney's Cronulla community by illegally spearing and killing the beloved blue groper known as Gus.</p> <p>Blue gropers, revered for their non-aggressive nature and inquisitive demeanour, have been the official fish of New South Wales since 1996, enjoying legal protection against spearfishing and commercial exploitation.</p> <p>After visiting and entertaining locals in the area for over 40 years, Gus, affectionately named by the community, met a tragic end at Old Park in Cronulla, a well-signed no-spearfishing zone. The incident has left the local community seething with anger and grief, prompting demands for harsher penalties and increased community education.</p> <p>A local Facebook post on the incident quickly garnered more than 100 comments and 500 reactions, reflecting the collective outrage of concerned locals. One individual expressed their frustration, saying, "Omg what an a**hole! I've been trying to find that groper for ages, and now I'll never get to see him. I hope this guy gets a massive fine."</p> <p>Witnesses to the distressing incident, including Tenielle Piek, reported the callousness of the spearfisherman to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/outrage-over-fishermans-pathetic-punishment-for-killing-iconic-blue-groper-in-cronulla/news-story/7dec503e9b95ec1fd8d7e7b0f8438036" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a>, who proudly displayed the lifeless groper. Piek lamented the loss of the "Labrador of the Sea" and the vulnerability of these tame and curious creatures to spearfishing. She fears that future generations may be deprived of the opportunity to experience these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat along the shores of Cronulla.</p> <p>Despite the gravity of the crime, the spearfisherman was initially handed a meagre fine of $500, sparking outrage among locals who believed the punishment to be woefully inadequate. NSW Fisheries then tacked on an additional $300, and while the culprit displayed remorse during the interview with fisheries officers and was a first-time offender, the community clearly still feels shortchanged by the leniency of the penalty.</p> <p>A spokesperson from the Department of Primary Industries claimed that the individual was provided with education and awareness material to understand the rules of spearfishing. However, the paltry $300 fine out of a potential $11,000 seems insufficient to deter future acts of this nature.</p> <p>As the investigation appears to conclude, the Cronulla community remains on edge, grappling with the inadequacy of the penalties issued. The tragic fate of Gus demands justice and a resolute commitment to preserving the delicate marine ecosystem. Anything less than a substantial deterrent risks further harm to these innocent creatures and the cherished natural beauty of Cronulla's shores.</p> <p><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Gus Worland rushed to hospital

<p>Gus Worland was rushed to hospital in Orange NSW on Saturday the 4th of June, after attending a fundraiser for his charity Gotcha4life.</p> <p>The Triple M host fell ill with a hernia and was rushed into emergency surgery, he will be staying in Orange Hospital for a few days.</p> <p>Colleague Anthony Maroon will be filling his seat this week.</p> <p>“What started with a fundraiser for my foundation in Orange at the mighty @orangeemusrugby on Saturday night turned into an emergency hernia operation-brilliant staff. Here for a few days,” he posted to Instagram.</p> <p>The Gotcha4life foundation focuses on mental health and hosts a variety of events around the country including visiting schools and sports clubs.</p> <p>The team aim to teach boys and young men the skills they need to navigate modern life and gives them the strength to reach out to someone if it all begins to feel like too much.</p> <p>Worland said the focus is to learn to separate mates from true friends, with the radio star saying that, no matter how many mates you have, your true friends really count at the end of the day.</p> <p>“Gotcha4Life came off the back of a program I did, Man Up, for the ABC. It’s had more than 78 million views now. I’m so proud of it. It’s by far the most important thing I’ve ever done,” he says.</p> <p>“I went on a journey to figure our why a friend of mine took his own life. Here was a guy that I thought had everything covered. He had a beautiful wife, family, job; he seemed to have it all. And I loved him like a brother”.</p> <p>“Then I started investigating mental health in Australia, and I realised that the number one way to lose your life as an Aussie male between 15 and 44 is to take your own life. We lose six blokes every single day.</p> <p>I realised I had this wonderful opportunity to set up a foundation around men’s mental health. I’m talking about getting mentally fit, realising it’s OK to not have everything covered. That it’s OK to not to be OK.”</p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

“He’d be dating Brad Pitt!” Deborra-Lee Furness addresses Hugh Jackman rumours

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During a hilarious and at times touching and revealing podcast with Gus Worland recently, Hugh Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness addressed the longheld rumours surrounding her husband’s sexuality – before opening up on how she and the children cope whenever Hugh has a sex scene in one of his films.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When asked by Worland on his Not an Overnight Success podcast about the rumours that Hugh is “gay”, Furness simply mocked the idea as baseless and “so silly” – and that it’s just one of many rumours that have circulated about Jackman over the years. </span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I mean HELLO, guys,” said Furness, “if he was gay, he could be gay!</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'He didn't have to hide in the closet anymore, and he'd be dating Brad Pitt, or whatever. Not that Brad's gay, but you know what I'm saying!'</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She continued: 'It's so silly, and then people perpetuate silly things and it's boring.'</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later on in the podcast, Worland then questioned Furness about how she and the kids handle it when Jackman is asked to get hot and heavy with an on-screen love interest – as well as how HE copes when she is required to do the same.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What's it like when you're doing a love scene in the movie, and Jacko's watching and vice-versa?' posed Worland.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It's so weird,” replied Furness. “I suppose because I've done it so many times before, it's not really romantic. You've got the light in your face, you've got to hit a mark and so it's not really sexy.”</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But when it comes to watching Jackman perform in romantic scenes, it’s a little different. </span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When I'm sitting in the theatre watching – especially if I'm with the kids – I feel a little uncomfortable,” she said.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But also a lot of the times I'm very good friends with the actress he's making out with as we're making a film, we all get to know each other.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sometimes it’s weird seeing it, and I think the kids are like, "Ahh!" [Oscar] doesn't want to watch.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When you're in a relationship, that's just all fluff, you know? It's all fluff.”</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><em><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image: Instagram</span></em></p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-548722b6-7fff-cafa-fdb5-8ab7c81c60b9"></span></p>

Relationships

Placeholder Content Image

Hollywood A-lister made Hugh Jackman clean up vomit in his trailer

<p>The Hollywood star wasn’t happy when Hugh Jackman’s best mate since kindergarten – Gus Worland - vomited in his trailer and he made the Aussie actor clean it up.</p> <p>Worland recapped the whole story on KIIS FM’s <em>Kyle and Jackie O Show</em> today and then he challenged listeners to call in and guess who the Hollywood star was.</p> <p>The incident happened in the earlier days of Jackman’s career when Worland was visiting Jackman on a movie set. One of Jackman’s co-stars invited them both to have a drink in his “much bigger trailer”.</p> <p>Worland said he walked into the trailer “… and it’s got a Cuban cigar in each corner with a cigar cutter … and there’s a tub of drinks and stuff.”</p> <p>“We sit down and start having a conversation and I’m struggling to get the words out because I’m so excited that I’m in his company,” Worland said about Jackman’s co-star.</p> <p>Worland’s nerves got the better of him and he said he was “drinking a little bit too quickly” and he found himself not feeling well, he said on the radio show.</p> <p>“Jacko’s looking at me going: ‘Are you OK, mate?’ I said, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.”</p> <p>But he wasn’t. He added: “I’m smoking this cigar, I’m drinking these drinks and I’m hammered within an hour. I just go, ‘Oh no, I can’t hold this.’ I tried to shimmy out of the horseshoe [table] set up … which is a difficult thing to do … and I don’t quite get to the door of the trailer and I throw up everywhere.”</p> <p>Worland said that Jackman found it fairly funny but the other celebrity didn’t have the same sense of humour about the situation and he told Jackman he’d have to clean the whole thing up.</p> <p>“That takes Jacko about 20 minutes,” Worland recalled.</p> <p>Kyle Sandilands asked Worland: “He got Hugh Jackman to mop up your chunder?”</p> <p>“Yeah,” Worland said.</p> <p><strong>So, who was the Hollywood A-lister who wasn’t impressed?</strong></p> <p>Eventually a listener called through with the right answer – it was John Travolta and it was when Travolta and Jackman were filming <em>Swordfish.</em></p> <p>Worland was on the <em>Kyle and Jackie O Show</em> to promote a new initiative for his Gotcha4Life Foundation called the ‘Mind Your Mate’ campaign.</p> <p>“I want everyone to write down a list of all the people in their life that they love and actually go to our website <a href="https://www.gotcha4life.org/">gotcha4life.org</a> and pledge your mateship to them,” Worland said. “And I can send you some tips and tricks to make sure your relationship is stronger than ever before.”</p> <p>Gotcha4Life is an Australian mental fitness charity which Worland set up which takes action to engage, educate and empower people to improve their mental health and end suicide.</p> <p><strong>Image: Getty Images</strong></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

“He was in a filthy mood”: Triple M’s Gus Worland reveals best and worst celebrities to interview

<p>Triple M radio star Gus Worland is celebrating 10 years on radio as he hosts<span> </span>Moonman in the Morning<span> </span>with Lawrence Mooney and Jess Eva.</p> <p>After reflecting on his time in radio, he’s revealed which two celebrities were the most disappointing out of the hundreds that he’s interviewed.</p> <p>Worland spoke to<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/radio/triple-ms-gus-worland-reveals-best-and-worst-celebrities-hes-met-during-10-years-on-air/news-story/cd98feb42a885e0161480d8800969afe" target="_blank">news.com.au</a><span> </span>to mark the milestone and reveal which celebrities are the best and worst ones to interview.</p> <p>“The best, the number one standout, is Hulk Hogan,” he said. “He was actually meant to go to Kyle and Jackie O (who at the time were broadcasting on 2Day FM which is in the same building as Triple M) who were one level above us.</p> <p>“But the security guy that let him into the building just assumed, ‘Oh, he must be here for Triple M.’</p> <p>“Hulk Hogan wasn’t going to sit outside the studio and wait, he literally busted through the door when we were halfway through a break and all of a sudden Hulk Hogan was there,” Worland said. “That was a real highlight.”</p> <p>Other celebrities that were a joy to interview include Rick Astley, Michael Buble and Michael Parkinson.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPoG7GFg3um/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPoG7GFg3um/" target="_blank">#johnnybigg</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/gusworland/" target="_blank"> Gus Worland</a> (@gusworland) on Jan 23, 2017 at 4:17pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The worst celebrities include an Aussie motorcyclist and a Hollywood action star.</p> <p>“The one we disliked the most was Steven Seagal who is the perfect actor for Triple M listeners but he’s always been very difficult,” Worland said.</p> <p>“Every single time Seagal’s been on he just hasn’t wanted to play or even talk about the reason he’s actually on the show for. I’ve never watched a Seagal movie since. I just look at him now and think, ‘What’s wrong with you, brother?’</p> <p>“Wayne Gardner (former 500cc Motorcycle World Champion) was a bit of a knob-end too,” the Triple M host said.</p> <p>“He was in a filthy mood and we wanted to talk about a whole lot of things from motorcycling to V8s and he just didn’t want to play. He gave really short answers and there were no explanations when we asked for a story. We ended up not even airing it.</p> <p>“When you meet someone that you’ve looked up to and they don’t play ball, it does leave a bit of a sour taste in your mouth,” he added.</p>

Music

Our Partners