Rocco Arico has just commenced a 14 year jail sentence. Arico, a member of the Calabrian mafia, ‘Ndrangheta, and a person of note in Melbourne’s bloody gangland wars, has more than his jail sentence to worry about.
Arico, 38, known as ‘Rocky’ to his friends and criminal associates, came to Australia with his parents as a young child. He married here and has children but he is a resident, not an Australian citizen. When his jail term ends, Arico will almost certainly be bundled off to Tullamarine Airport and put on a plane back to Italy, deported on character grounds.
Late last year Arico was convicted of extortion, intentionally causing injury and trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine. Details of his conviction were suppressed by the courts while he faced firearms and further drug charges.
Arico first came to my attention when I was making a documentary on the life of one of his associates, Dino Dibra. Dibra was a member of the Sunshine Boys, a gang of young villains most of whom became casualties in Melbourne’s underworld bullet fest. Founding members Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin, Paul Kalipolitis and Mark Mallia are all dead. Dibra was slain in a hail of bullets outside one of his safe houses in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west in October 2000. One of the two shooters was Veniamin.
Full column here.
RE: BASSMAN says:
March 23, 2017 at 10:02 pm
B’Man,
Best I can do quickly:
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0~2016~Main%20Features~Key%20findings~1
A bit dated but …….. :
http://aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi150.pdf
WOW:- you have done very well. The 2nd link in particular is VERY interesting. Although the data is quite old (1998) it shows for example that prisoners from Turkey and Lebanon were more than times 3 the number of Aussies imprisoned as a percentage of the whole prison population.
I wander what the data these days would show.
Jack, just had a look at the link re the Frank Madafferi case. Very interesting to note he had his visa cancelled on character grounds and had been detained pending removal in 1997 on Phillip Ruddock’s watch and was subsequently allowed to stay on Amanda Vanstone’s watch after lobbying by the family (despite multiple unsuccessful legal challenges). I’d expect the lobbying by Arico’s family to let him stay will be similarly energetic.
This is sort-of the point I was making earlier. It doesn’t even require a change of government for focus and priorities to shift, just a change of minister. I’ve written before about a case I saw close up where permanent residence was granted to asylum seekers who had fought their removal for about ten years and through not less than nine rounds of unsuccessful tribunal, court and ministerial appeals. I mean, they were on an absolute hiding to nothing but their lawyer – a persistent, high-profile pain in the arse refugee activist who obviously never learned the adult skill of accepting the word “no” – kept at it. Ultimately they were successful through sheer bloody-mindedness. By the time they were on their third minister the department had spent a fortune fighting their empty claims and the new minister just wanted the case off the books.
From the point of view of clearing the decks it was an understandable outcome, but from the point of view of discouraging baseless claims and strategic litigation it was a terrible decision. Every win for undeserving visa applicants is like a cocktail of steroids and meth for activist lawyers – it just builds them up for the next round of bogus claims.
where was the funding sourced for the appeals bowie? is it a bottomless pit?
To be perfectly honest I couldn’t tell you. I only came in as a peripheral player quite late and learnt most of what I knew via the case files. What I do know is that the lawyer who ultimately got them permanent residence did do some pro bono work. They were also not above telling some fairly florid lies to journalists to drum up public sympathy, although not in that case, as far as I know.
I met them once at a department event. You could almost mistake them for human if you ignored the smell of dead ethics and rotting principles.
Smoke, there’s no such thing as a “bottomless pit”. If it was “bottomless” it would be a tunnel.
However, there’s plenty of bottomless spits on here.
But no names, no pack drill so no one will be dismayed.
tunnel yeah…to which bank?
Talk about a crime. Those earning up to $350,000 get more child care Welfare while those that have the least and need it the most to try and break generational poverty get less early learning access. To pay for all of this again those with the least get less. The coalition and its supporters are living in Bizarro world. FN Disgraceful government.
Child care is not early childhood learning. It is baby sitting. I doubt qualified early education specialists would work in the child care industry. the pay is not that good. It is not early education.
RE: Jean Baptiste says:
March 23, 2017 at 9:03 pm
JB,
Your concern for young Milton is inspiring!!
Might I say the the young ecumenicals in your cited epistle do illustrate a couple of fundamental truths; literacy and intelligence are not God-Given but are acquired through practice and example and the absence of such leads to a BLeak Toon Rating of 0 – !!!
There again in the ‘beltway’ nature of the political highway, especially here in Abbottabad, where the rabid left & right arrive at the same spot, while declaring their irreconcilable differences; perhaps the ecumenicals demonstrate a tendency to a BLeak Toon Rating of 5+ !!
I find The Baptiste’s interest and concern touching. I think he is taking me under his wings and offering a bit of mentoring. I doubt that will come cheap.
What I do find alarming is how he stumbles across such sites. Bad luck i’d imagine.
Hmmm, Beltway ecumenicals? , therein lies a problem for toonists and lampoonists, how do you parody a travesty?
It’s a demarcation issue really, is there a union for toonists in order to protest?
My concern for Miltoon (that was a typo, but it could grow legs) was that he might not open the link. Nothing like a hint of the salacious twinned with taboo to compel the prurient!
Me think he protesteth in vain. We know.
Richo again
“Lastly, a message to my friend, Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk. Crocodiles are a massive problem in northern Australia. Twenty years ago, it took real effort to find a 5m or 6m crocodile. Now such sightings are common. Crocodiles have been protected since 1974 but a cull of crocs above about 5m length must happen. People will always be more important than crocodiles. The only endangered species in north Queensland are humans, not crocodiles.”
we will know when we have killed enough crocs when the numbers of people being harmed approaches zero, same for the sharks for that matter.
Just stay away from the water. Or are entitled to that space also.
I’m not entirely sure Jack. There does seem to be a case crocodiles insofar as Darwinian selection goes.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/blood-everywhere-after-crocodile-mauls-teen/news-story/012cf457f0631243c7c3cfead4a82765
An old African fella told me once that if they didn’t like the look of the new British District Officer they would tell him “Sir you must not bathe in the river. The crocodiles will eat you.” Got ’em every time.
An English gentleman would rather be eaten by a crocodile than take advice from a native
Give ’em heaps. .
From Richo,
“I just wish Labor would acknowledge that problem but, then again, no significant Labor figure bothered to turn up at the Leak memorial service, and for me that said a great deal. Where have Bill Shorten and Mark Dreyfus been while Leak and the students suffered? Labor must stand up every time injustice rears its head, no matter how uncomfortable or politically dangerous.”
well, at least he showed, and he is a significant Labor figure, and he knew how to win.
Spot on.
All a bit ridiculous, this 18C hoo ha. I wonder if this goes on in other countries.
It would appear that Triggs has been less than upfront at senate committee hearings about the conduct of the AHRC in the QUT and Bleak cases.
She is giving an oration of some sort on the AHRC down here soon. Bob Brown and the Greens are right behind her. Which I find surprising and disappointing – I like Bob. Could be controversial.
She is probably an intelligent person but clearly not suited for the job she is doing.
If any of the so-called “progressives” had shown their faces at a non-Politburo-approved event they’d have broken the tradition of toeing the line that formally started the day Leon Trotsky copped an ice-pick in the forehead.
Of more significance:- where was Rupert? Bill had been with the paper na looooooooong time.
Rupert was represented there and sent a message that was read to those in attendance. Rupert and Bill got on very well over many years.
Apologies…pleased to hear that Jack…he put in a great deal of time at the Oz. I would HATE the pressure of having to come up with a Toon to meet a deadline with nothing but a blank sheet in front of me!
Can anybody provide me with the most up to date links/information on incarceration based on ethnicity/religion/race across Oz? I have written to the govts/jails/unis. No one replies. It must be a BIG secret.
SOUTHS:- Sad Cafe.
Bassy,
I’ll see what I can do.
Division and blaming ethnics groups does NOT help this Nation.
Dismayed,
I do not see how identifying the demographics that make up prison populations causes division. If you were a glass half full man you might look at it as a way that government and NGO’s can identify certain cohorts they can concentrate resources on to reduce overall prison populations.
Sadly, Dismayed is a brain half full type and pragmatism was denied him too. He seems more interested in optics and sensitivities than solutions or outcomes. He is one of many speed bumps in the way of progress.
Here’s a little stat just to keep you all awake at night. 21 foreign fighters returned to Australia from the Afghanistan / Iraq conflict. Of those 19 have since been convicted of terrorism offences. ISIS is about finished in the ME and we currently have over 100 identified foreign fighters who are Australian citizens there. Those who survive have only one place to go.
ISIS may well be finished, Guv’nor but these criminals (rapists, murderer’s, drug addicts) looking for a cause will be desperate and deluded enough to find some other initials to attach themselves to. No welcome mat should be provided back here.
Are you talking about the IPA and the conservatives?
It’s a happy thought, isn’t it?
I’ve had a lot of arguments on the pages of The Oz with people who say things like, “It’s simple! [you know when someone tells you a plan regarding border control that contains words like “it’s simple” that they have no idea what they’re talking about] All we need to do is cancel their passports and not let them back in!”
The big problem with that, of course is that a founding principle of most modern nation states is that they are required to provide protection to their citizens, regardless of how scummy they are. Indeed, we rely upon other countries honouring that principle in order for us to be able to hand their scummy citizens, like Rocco Arico, back to them when we’re done with them. If Australia were to start refusing to handle its own garbage by stranding them on foreign soil, not only would we be setting the Commonwealth up for the Mother of all Compensation Claims, we would be breaking faith with other countries whose cooperation we occasionally need to take back their own human waste.
That’s a very sound, factual argument that struggles to float in One Nation Town.
Exactly right BLS. These are Australian citizens who, I might add, are often Australian born. We have to take them. Statelessness is not an option.
Did i not hear PM Trumble a week or so back state that the government’s preference was for them to be killed first? May well get his wish with some of them.
Speaking of crimes Jack, your mob lead off the footy tonight!
I hope everyone remembered to get their tips in. I was shattered to see the Aus omitted Its guest tipping today. I know Bruce McAvaney has been battling with his illness, but gee you’d think they’d give the mugs a bit of a clue from the so called experts to start the season.
Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of this preoccupation with 18C?
Surely there are more important issues at stake.
We have learnt that in today’s world, humour is no laughing matter Boadicea.
Dictators brook no dissent.
Surely there is no other issue that’s more important than that.
yerrrss
Depends on priorities I suppose.
It’s a bit like fighting over the umbrella to keep the rain off , knee deep in water on the deck of theTitanic.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4335386/7-000-underground-methane-gas-bubbles-Russia.html
Oops. I might have done the wrong thing there, someone was just complaining about the tedium of climate change discussions. My bad.
Oh damn! It’s a slippery slope, I swore I was going avoid fracking like the plague, I think I have been possessed by the nuisance fairy
https://www.thenation.com/article/global-warming-terrifying-new-chemistry/
You gwine to hell for dat one Jean Baptiste.
Daily Mail? Something called The Nation?
Oh of course. It cant be happening then.
I’m merely asking you to find better sources.
It’s whats in the can that counts.
I see those clever Hollywood studio technicians have been ‘blowing bubbles’ in their old fake moon landing sites.
Pingos in a bathtub indeed!
Hmmm, Carl, you have the nous to “get” the absurdity of the moon landings while remaining the Basil Marceaux of AGW denialists. An enigma wrapped in a share certificate?
Barnaby Joyce agrees with you Bald. And according to Peda Credlin when Abbott was leader Turnbull screamed the loudest NOT to change the wording of 18C. Has there EVER been a bigger hypocrite?
Its a shocker Boadicea and indicative of a PM totally lost. Turnbull a shocker he will soon have to be replaced but the question is with whom?
Jacqui Lambie for PM.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-23/praise-for-lambies-emotional-senate-speech/8381726
The rest of the snouts are thieves with no shame.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/minister-michael-mccormack-invokes-penalty-rates-to-defend-generous-travel-allowance-20170321-gv3kc1.html
They must be so proud, in an immoral kinda way, that they’ve acquired huge personal wealth off the taxpayer whilst taking food from the kitchen tables of the real workers, the pensioners, the unemployed & the disabled.
Pfft to their soul-less hearts.
I am in great admiration for Jacqui Lambie, Bella, a lady of courage and conviction indeed something sadly lacking in the goose Turnbull imho.
The more I hear from Ms Lambie the more I support her, esp the way she gave it to Pauline Hansen, likening her to Palmer…
Nothing more important than freedom of speech, B. A lot of people in a lot of places have died over it.
B, I suppose the point is that either non-econonic issues matter, or they don’t. Personally, I think they do. But I smell an ideological rat when people dismiss popular issues, such as reform of the Marriage Act, as a distraction, yet happily bang on about the desperate need to abolish a minute and well-supported curtailment of racial speech.
Oddly, they do this while ignoring many far more onerous restrictions on speech on other topics more central to the purpose of free speech, like criticism of the government.
We were about to have a plebescite on ssm and labor knocked it on its head, despite being something Shorten once thought was a good idea and the coalition had taken to the last election. Labor seem opposed or scornful of the will of the people, or democracy and in the unions case (the puppet masters) the law.
BODHISATTVA:-Why do the Looters seem so keen on insulting people? The wording has lasted 20 odd yrs without a problem. The most puzzling aspect of the campaign to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is why any reasonably normal person would want to insult, offend or humiliate someone else in the first place. Is that good for ‘our grandchildren’ in The Land of The Fair Go? Now, suddenly, it is okay to “offend, insult and humiliate” someone on the basis of their race, so long as this does not amount to “harassment and intimidation”. Now harassment is gonna take some defining isn’t it Bald? If the section lost its credibility “a long time ago”, as Turnbull asserted in Parliament, why did he repeatedly insist before last year’s election that he had no plans to change it? Mad Barnaby Joyce is right on this. Nobody down at the pub gives a bugger about 18C. They think it is a room upstairs.