Man charged with foreign interference to remain behind bars until Monday
Caitlin Cassidy
An Australian man charged with a foreign interference offence will remain behind bars until Monday after his case was adjourned in Sydney.
Alexander Csergo, a 55-year-old business man who normally lives overseas, was arrested in Bondi on Saturday for allegedly sharing information with individuals who work for a foreign intelligence service, the AFP said.
The AFP allege that he was contacted over social media by an individual who claimed to be from a thinktank.
The man allegedly met with two individuals, known to him as “Ken” and “Evelyn”, who offered the man money to gather information about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries.
The AFP alleges the man put together a number of reports for them and was paid for his reports.
The police allege “Ken” and “Evelyn” work for a foreign intelligence service and are undertaking intelligence collection activities.
Police allege over a period of two years between Shanghai, NSW and elsewhere Csergo intentionally engaged in with “reckless” conduct by two people acting on behalf of a foreign principal.
His LinkedIn page suggests Csergo worked in China for a period of two decades across communications, business strategy and marketing.
Csergo appeared at Parramatta local court on Saturday morning via video link on one count of reckless foreign interference, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars. He will appear on Monday where he will apply for bail.
Key events
What we learned today, Saturday 15 April
We are going to close the blog for now, so here’s a recap of today’s major news.
We’ll be back if need be, otherwise, have a safe and restful afternoon.
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An Australian man charged with a foreign interference offence will remain behind bars until Monday after his case was adjourned in Sydney. Alexander Csergo, a 55-year-old businessman who normally lives overseas, was arrested in Bondi on Friday for allegedly sharing information with individuals who work for a foreign intelligence service, the AFP said.
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The ambulance paramedic who tragically died after he was stabbed outside a McDonald’s in south-west Sydney has been named as Steven Tougher, a 29-year-old father of one. Colleagues have paid tributes to Tougher as a “dedicated nurse” who “never stopped advocating for his colleagues and patients”.
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A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing. He has been refused bail to appear at Parramatta local court today.
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And the tail end of Cyclone Ilsa is expected to bring flash flooding to Northern Territory communities after causing damage in remote inland Western Australia. The storm weakened to below tropical cyclone strength as it moved into southern parts of the Northern Territory on Saturday.
And in lighter animal-related news, ever wondered how a prize-winning guinea pig is judged?
More than 200 roosters seized after cockfight tipoff
More than 200 cockfighting roosters were removed from a property by the RSPCA following a search west of Melbourne, AAP reports.
RSPCA inspectors went to a property in the Melton area on Friday in response to an anonymous tip about an expected cockfighting event.
They found hundreds of roosters kept in unsanitary conditions without access to water.
Here’s RSPCA Victoria’s inspectorate team leader, Lisa Calleja:
The results from today represent a significant disruption to an alleged illegal animal fighting ring.
Anti-crime rally to call for Northern Territory government action
In Darwin, a second anti-crime rally is being held outside parliament house calling for greater government action to curb the Northern Territory’s crime rates.
On 25 March around 2,000 people gathered following the alleged stabbing murder of 20-year-old bottle shop worker Declan Laverty. The Facebook group behind the protest has since amassed more than 2,000 followers.
Crowds will gather at 4pm local time.
Wet night ahead for parts of Tasmania
Tasmania! The Bureau of Meteorology is warning minor flooding may develop in parts of the Mersey, Meander, North Esk and South Esk rivers with a wet Saturday night expected.
Are Gen Z over ‘being real’?
The spell of Gen Z wanting to ‘BeReal’ seems to have broken, the New York Times reports.
Downloads for the photo-sharing app, which claimed to be the antidote to over-styling on Instagram by prompting people to take photos of what they’re doing at a random time each day, has been slipping since September.
The number of people who use the app daily has dropped 61% from its peak, from about 15 million in October to less than six million in March, according to analytics firm Apptopia.
It seems some users have discovered that seeing the monotony of their own lives reflected back at them is compelling for only so long.
If you want to understand more about this once chart-topping platform and have a laugh while you’re at it, I suggest checking out this piece from last year by my colleague Michael Sun:
Sophisticated impersonation scam using new technology targets major bank
A sophisticated scam using new technology to con Australians out of millions of dollars is now targeting some ING bank customers, Seven News reports.
Technology allowing scammers to impersonate the phone numbers of financial institutions in phone calls and text messages has already hit the big four banks, prompting urgent warnings.
The consumer watchdog says scammers are tricking their victims by sending texts that appear in previous conversation threads from their genuine banks, and also making calls that appear to be from the bank’s legitimate phone numbers.
The watchdog has warned Australians to be wary of any calls and texts that have a sense of urgency, raising issues such as fraudulent activity or a frozen account.
Aged care provider set to close Sydney facilities will be required to relocate residents
Wesley Mission is required to ensure the smooth transfer of all its aged care residents to alternative accommodation that suits their needs, says the industry’s quality and safety commissioner.
Janet Anderson, the aged care quality and safety commissioner, made the comments on Channel Seven’s Sunrise today following Wesley Mission’s announcement it would close its Sydney aged care homes due to challenges meeting the federal government’s new staffing requirements.
The provider will close its aged care homes in Narrabeen, Carlingford and Sylvania, which will impact 200 residents.
The federal government now requires aged care homes have a registered nurse present 24/7 from 1 July.
Here’s Anderson:
The provider has very specific obligations to ensure that the quality and safety of care that those residents receive will be up to standard right until the point of the closure of that facility.
Severe weather warning for damaging winds in parts of Victoria
‘Booker’s remorse’: fine dining cancellations up 88% as punters turn to pubs
Australian diners are trading souffle for schnitzel as the cost-of-living crisis bites. Fine-dining restaurants across Australia have experienced a 28% decline in bookings, while bookings at mid-priced pubs and cafes are rising.
In an analysis of more than 3.79m bookings and 14.8m “covers” (hospitality jargon for customers served) during 2022, reservation platform ResDiary found diners are forgoing premium-end meals where the average spend per head is $81 or more.
Rebecca Zeitunian of ResDiary said their data showed fine dining’s decline was “very much correlated” with rising interest rates.
From May 2022 – when the RBA raised the cash rate for the first time in 12 years – to October 2022, there was an 88% increase in cancellations at fine-dining restaurants.
Read the full story from my colleague Yvonne C Lam here:
Electric car changes needed to stop ‘going in reverse’
Six months after submissions to the country’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy closed, the federal government has yet to respond or introduce new electric car policies, AAP reports.
Experts say the delay could mean the country not only trailed the rest of the world in zero-emission transport but could see it “going in reverse”. They say new international policies in the US and Europe should put further pressure on Australian policymakers to act.
America’s newest proposal revealed this week from its Environmental Protection Agency is designed to cut pollution from light, medium and heavy vehicles by more than 50% between 2027 and 2032.
If passed, the EPA forecasts electric vehicles to make up 67% of new car sales and 46% of medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032.
Behyad Jafari, the chief executive of Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council, says America’s bold approach should encourage Australia to follow.
Just like every other market, they too have shown that 60 to 70% of their vehicles will be electric by 2032, and more than half will be electric by 2030.
Adopting what the US has done is really the least we could do in Australia.
