Violence rocks Melbourne's south: Dozens of black teenage thugs are pepper-sprayed by cops after brawling on a BUS following a rampage that turned  beachside Chelsea into a war zone

Dozens of teenage thugs were pepper-sprayed by police after an all-in brawl broke out on a Melbourne bus in an affluent suburb increasingly plagued by youth crime.

The chaos started when the gangs started terrorising locals in Chelsea, a beachside suburb in the city's south-east to which they commute, at about 9.30pm on Wednesday.

About 30 Victoria Police officers arrived and moved the men away from the beach, shipping them onto a 902 back to Springvale in the city's outer southeast suburbs.

But as they boarded the bus, a brawl erupted between two groups of teenagers.

Police were forced to use pepper spray in an attempt to stop the fight.

The brawling teenagers were dragged off the bus and ended up on Station Street, where police had to cordon off part of the road to traffic.

One of the teenagers was heard saying 'I f**ked her up, I f**ked her up. Say something now, I f**ked her up,' the Herald Sun reported.

Several others screamed that they needed water for their eyes after being pepper-sprayed. Officers hosed down a group of the teenagers at the nearby police station.

An 18-year-old man was arrested but released early Thursday morning while police conduct further investigations. 

Police said they would inquire about his possible involvement in several incidents which occurred during the night.

The incident follows a spate of youth crime in the suburb in recent months. Last week a fight started outside Chelsea Pizza House and Fish and Chips, where around 12 teens were seen screaming, swearing and kicking each other as terrified bystanders watched on.  

In December last year, youths of African background smashed a glass bottle over a teenager's head before assaulting multiple swimmers and stealing their wallets on the same beach. A male swimmer was assaulted when he confronted the thieves who fled with mobile phones and purses.

The group later approached three other men who were also assaulted.

Moments after, a 19-year-old man who was sitting on the beach was approached by the group of thugs. He was violently struck in the head with a glass bottle and assaulted with a plastic cricket bat.

In 2016, a woman suffered spinal injuries after an attack involving up to 10 men of Sudanese appearance at Chelsea beach.

On another occasion, a shopper was kicked and punched by five youths in a Woolworths car park.

Fed up locals have voiced their fear on social media, calling on Mordialloc state Labor MP Tim Richardson to step up and do something about the violence.  

'Please do something about our once peaceful and safe neighbourhood … we are all scared,' one woman said.

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Inflation nightclub manager Martha Tsamis to get $90k defamation payout from Victoria Police



Victoria Police has been ordered to pay $90,000 to a nightclub manager who won a defamation case over allegations that she was running a "honeypot" for drug dealers.

Martha Tsamis sued the police over comments made to the media in 2014 by then-superintendent Brett Guerin, who said Ms Tsamis was running the Inflation nightclub in "a manner that was conducive to drug trafficking, drunkenness and violence".

The Supreme Court also found Mr Guerin conveyed to the Herald Sun newspaper and radio station 3AW that she had allowed minors into the venue and jeopardised the health of patrons.

Victoria Police was pushing to limit the CBD club's trading hours because of concerns about activities at the venue. It had cited 59 incidents at the club in an application to the liquor regulation commission.

Ms Tsamis was also accused of improperly approaching witnesses who were taking part in commission hearings.

Ms Tsamis argued there were eight instances of defamation by police as part of a campaign to inflict "maximum hurt" on her position before the commission. In August, a jury found in her favour on four of those, but found the claims about drug activity use to be "substantially true".

Justice John Dixon acknowledged the personal hurt to Ms Tsamis and the damage to her reputation, in particular her integrity. "Mr Guerin inflicted damage on the plaintiff's reputation through publication of the false imputations," Justice Dixon wrote in a 48-page ruling.

"She felt that her business was under attack and that she personally was under attack." She also received threats, including an email after the radio interview aired, the court heard. "She felt her safety was in jeopardy and forwarded that email to police," Justice Dixon wrote.

Mr Guerin was stood down from his role as Assistant Commissioner of Professional Standards Command in February last year for using an alias to make "crude and coarse" comments about former colleagues. The state's Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) confirmed in September he would not face charges.

'Overwhelming evidence' of drug activity

Justice Dixon also noted the "apparent contradictions" in the jury's findings. The six jury members found the drugs claims were true, but the personal allegations against her and her role as the licensee were false.

He noted that drug issues were common to all nightclubs. "There was overwhelming evidence of drug activity in and around the venue that the jury accepted," Justice Dixon wrote. "The evidence demonstrated that the police failed to control drug activity."

He also said police had ultimately dropped the application to alter trading hours.

Ms Tsamis has been managing Inflation since 1995, and has 30 years experience in the hospitality industry.

Justice Dixon noted Ms Tsamis had been active in endorsing safe practices in licensed premises in Melbourne since 1993. "The plaintiff [Ms Tsamis] made clear, and I accept, that she has a strong personal anti-drug attitude," he wrote.

Ms Tsamis told the ABC the court win was "fantastic" but that the action was "not about the money". "This was about me clearing my name," she said. "It's a great result. It's over."

She said the claims made by police about the way she ran the nightclub had taken a deep emotional toll. "I was pretty angry. I was upset. I was hurt. I felt let down. I felt betrayed … But if you don't stand up, these things will continue," she said. "Most nightclub owners don't speak out because we feel that if we speak out we will be targeted."

Ms Tsamis said the court's finding that there was drug activity at the club was something she had been battling for years. She said police needed to do more to stem the tide of drugs into society and stay away from making comments like those that ultimately defamed her. "I just want them to do their job and protect us, and not get involved in this behaviour," she said.

In a statement, Victoria Police acknowledged the court decision and said the force had no further comment.

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A 'vital' social media group connecting farmers battling the drought has been reinstated by Facebook after being abruptly disabled

More than 11,000 people signed an online petition within hours of the One Day Closer to Rain (Drought) group being removed from Facebook, calling for its return.

The page brings together thousands of primary producers who give each other advice and support, as well as allowing people from the city to see the realities of the drought.

"It was a place for people to share their stories so they weren't alone in drought, and it just grew from there," founder and New South Wales farmer Cassandra McLaren said.

"It's more than a Facebook page — it's a community, it's a family.

"It was farmers sharing their stories, it was people living in rural towns but not necessarily on farms sharing their stories, it was people in city and urban areas that didn't live on farms trying to understand."

The group was suspended by Facebook yesterday after it breached a community standard in relation to selling livestock, a mistake Facebook has now acknowledged.

"We appreciate the hard work that 'One Day Closer To Rain' is doing to support drought-stricken farmers and their families at this difficult time," a Facebook company spokesperson said.

"We've looked into yesterday's removal, and upon further review, realised that we made an error and have since restored the Group and are reaching out to the admins of this Group to apologise for our mistake."

Isolation is a common feeling shared by primary producers living through the worst drought in a century, but the online community group offers a little reprieve and crucial connections, disregarding countless kilometres between its users.

"We are ecstatic that it is back up," Ms McLaren said.

"Still reeling and trying to process it all but are extremely appreciative of the support of everyday Australians who have rallied to ensure our page is able to continue.

"With this being recorded as the biggest drought on record, it's actually a historical record of this drought.

"We look forward to hopefully direct contact with Facebook and an understanding of what has happened."

After first learning the group had been taken down over concerns of the sale of livestock and guns, Ms McLaren said she was "devastated and gobsmacked." "Anybody who knows our main One Day Closer To Rain page, [knows] it's not a sales group," she said.

"We don't allow sales — we don't even allow hunting, so why we would we be selling guns?" Users have often praised the group because of the exclusion of sales.

"Often the comments have been … 'it's so supportive, it doesn't have all the other crap other pages have', and we had to moderate fairly hard to get it to that standard," Ms McLaren said.

Within hours more than 11,000 people had signed the online petition, and many other emailed Facebook with their concerns, as well as voicing them online.

"This is devastating to us that are on the land … it's a lifeline to each other and city folk who are interested in what we do," Robyn Clydsdale wrote. "It's a wealth of information to us all."

Another user, Kerry Fraser, said she was worried about the impacts Facebook restrictions could have. "This is deeply concerning," Ms Fraser said. "At this time of the year this lifeline is critical for our farmers for our mental health."

That was a sentiment echoed by Ms McLaren. "We can't be without that page, it's vital, it's saved lives and that's not an underestimation," she said. "Australia needs it, farmers need it, and those that aren't on the land need to know they can support them, even if it's just emotionally, because it does make a difference.

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Regulators approve environmental plan for Equinor’s proposed oil exploration well in Great Australian Bight

Australia could once again become independent of overseas oil

A controversial plan for oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight has received environmental approval amid protests from green groups.

Drilling for an oil exploration well could take place in the Great Australian Bight next year after a Norwegian company received approval for its environmental plan amid protests from green groups.

The approval of Equinor’s plan has been welcomed by the South Australian and federal governments as well as the energy sector, but environmental groups have described it as “madness”.

The decision from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) is the second of four approvals Equinor requires to move ahead with the plan.

The oil drilling has been controversial among environmental groups and has sparked protests in South Australia.

“We are gobsmacked that NOPSEMA could approve Equinor’s plan that experts have slammed,” Wilderness Society South Australia director Peter Owen said.

Earlier this year a group of energy and natural resource experts, led by the University of Sydney, made a submission to NOPSEMA that Equinor’s “overconfidence” in its ability to prevent a major spill could lead to catastrophic environmental impacts.

“Throughout the environmental plan, Equinor has consistently made optimistic choices in order to convince the public and NOPSEMA that ‘it is safe’ to drill,” they wrote.

“However, we saw a similar style of overconfidence demonstrated in BP’s proposal to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, which led to one of the world’s biggest oil spills in 2010.

“History has shown us that overconfidence precedes catastrophic failure in many spheres of engineering endeavour. No matter how many layers of defence there are between a hazard and an accident, accidents can and still do happen.”

But Equinor’s country manager for Australia, Jone Stangeland, told The Advertiser in November that the chemical would only be used if there were “shortfalls in the supply chain” of accepted dispersants.

NOPSEMA has made it a condition of approval that Equinor demonstrates its spill response equipment is appropriate before it drills.

“Equinor has obviously failed to satisfy the regulator of that yet,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific head of campaigns Jamie Hanson said.

James Cook University professor Jodie Rummer produced a report for Greenpeace about the dispersant, which had been shown to cause symptoms such as nausea, memory loss, nervous system damage and irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat in humans.

“Studies from the Deepwater Horizon spill show that dispersants mixed with oil are often more toxic to marine life than oil alone,” Prof Rummer said.

The Australia Institute also released a report this year that showed 27,000 jobs in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania would be put at risk if a catastrophic oil spill occurred.

“Equinor have already had 239 oil spills in their history and, according to their own modelling, a major incident in The Bight would cover thousands of kilometres of the Australian coastline,” The Australia Institute’s SA projects manager Noah Schultz-Byard said.

Greenpeace’s Jamie Hanson said Equinor could not be trusted to operate in the pristine waters of the Great Australian Bight without the risk of incidents that could coat Australia’s much-loved beaches in black oil.

“This disastrous decision paves the way for an oil company that has a worsening safety record, and a history of accidents all over the world, to conduct dangerous, experimental drilling in Australia’s whale nursery in the Great Australian Bight,” he said.

Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society say they will continue to fight the proposal.

“The approval flies in the face of experts, communities, traditional owners, surfers, coastal families and the South Australian seafood industry who have all relentlessly campaigned against plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight for over five years,” Mr Hanson said.

The Wilderness Society said it was considering legal options to stop the well from going ahead. “The fight for The Bight is one of the biggest environmental protests Australia has seen, and this approval will only further mobilise community opposition,” director Peter Owen said.

Equinor was first granted a petroleum title over areas in The Bight in 2011 and now has an accepted environment plan.

It must still have a well operations plan and a facility safety case approved before it can begin drilling its proposed Stromlo-1 well at a site about 400 kilometres off the SA coast in water more than 2.2km deep.

If approved, Equinor plans to begin work in late 2020 with the operations expected to last for 60 days.

Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan said The Bight project had the potential to open up a major new petroleum basin.

“In a continent as large as ours I hope we can find another oil and gas province to replace the Bass Strait,” he said.

Mr Jone Stangeland, said environmental approval was an important milestone for the drilling program.

“We have been preparing for safe operations for two-and-a-half years, holding over 400 meetings with more than 200 organisations across southern Australia,” he said.

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