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Truckie on trial "gloated" over death of 6-year-old boy

<p>A truck driver who has been charged with causing a horrific crash that killed a 6-year-old boy reportedly "gloated" about the accident over his CB radio after he failed to stop, a court has heard.</p> <p>Allan Michael Dyson, 59, appeared via videolink in Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday to apply for bail after being charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and three counts of causing bodily harm by misconduct.</p> <p>Police allege Mr Dyson was behind the wheel of a truck on November 6th 2004, when it collided with a station wagon in the New South Wales Southern Highlands. </p> <p>Rian Strathdee was reportedly sitting in the back of the car when the crash forced the vehicle to roll 40 meters down the ridge of the road. </p> <p>Rain died at the scene, and two other family members who were also in the car at the time of the impact were rushed to hospital for their injuries. </p> <p>Police claim Mr Dyson, then 42 years old, did not stop to offer help after the collision, and instead drove away. </p> <p>“Rather than stopping and rendering assistance, the applicant sees it fit to get on the CB radio and gloat,” police prosecutor Kerry-Ann McKinnon told the court. </p> <p>The truck driver allegedly made “callous remarks” about the deadly crash which were heard by two witnesses.</p> <p>The sergeant told the court the police would be relying on a number of lawfully intercepted telephone calls to prove their case.</p> <p>“Not only do we say that he puts himself in the driver’s seat that day (during the tapped calls) but we say he makes admissions to the offences,” she said.</p> <p>During an intercepted phone call, police allege Mr Dyson made damning statements about the police case against him.</p> <p>“Yeah they’ve got their facts pretty much right …. I’d say they’ll lock me up pretty much straight away,” he allegedly said in a phone call to a friend. </p> <p>“Someone obviously stirred them up, yeah someone dobbed me in.”</p> <p>Sergeant McKinnon said there could be “no denying” that Mr Dyson was the driver of the truck that killed six-year-old Rian and injured his family members. </p> <p>“Anyhow, like I said, I did it,” the truck driver allegedly said in a phone call heard by police, the court was told.</p> <p>“I could have stopped really, I could have.”</p> <p>The truck driver will remain behind bars on remand until December 15th when his matter returns to court. </p> <p>He has not entered any pleas to the five charges.</p> <p><em>Image credits: ABC News / Strathdee family</em></p>

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Outraged truckie overcharged $57k in tolls

<p dir="ltr">A truckie who was wrongly charged $57,000 from NSW tolls has slammed the government for offering him credit in return, rather than a refund. </p> <p dir="ltr">Jason Clenton was one of the 45,000 motorists who were charged double on tolls.</p> <p dir="ltr">He slammed Transport for NSW’s offer of credit, which meant he would actually have to use $57,000 worth of tolls to get his money back.</p> <p dir="ltr">"This is an absolute joke by Transport NSW and E-Toll," he told 2GB.</p> <p dir="ltr">"As a business owner, I'm absolutely disgusted."</p> <p dir="ltr">Jason deactivated his account stating that the credit is “absolutely no good for me”. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I don't have an account from E-Toll because of the misuse of stealing money from our business account, unauthorised."</p> <p dir="ltr">Transport for NSW’s Chief Operations Officer Howard Collins apologised for the errors and says they are working on returning people’s money. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Transport for NSW apologises unreservedly once again to all our customers affected by these unacceptable errors. We continue to do everything we can to minimise any further customer impacts," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Roads Minister Natalie Ward also apologised for the damning error claiming it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

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National chaos as Aussie truckies hit the brakes

<p>Up to 7000 truckies are going on strike for 24 hours from today, which could affect the nation's food and fuel supplies. The strike will have a knock-on effect over the next few days so the public has been warned to buy extra food and fuel supplies now.</p> <p>The truckies have been accused of disrupting medical supplies as well but a Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) statement said it "has never and will never disrupt medical supplies or vaccines.”</p> <p>The TWU organised the strike, accusing the major employer, Toll, of scrapping overtime entitlements and engaging outside drivers in a bid to compete with global firms like Amazon Flex.</p> <p>Earlier this week, TWU national secretary Michael Kaine accused Toll of trying to imitate companies like Amazon Flex.</p> <p>"Toll workers have been forced to take the last resort option to go on strike this week because their jobs are being smashed," Kaine added.</p> <p>Much like Uber, Amazon Flex describes its model as "you use your own vehicle to deliver packages ... as a way of earning extra money".</p> <p><strong>Toll argues it has the industry’s best enterprise agreement</strong></p> <p>Toll has argued back with the TWU, saying its enterprise agreement is the best in the industry.</p> <p>President of its Toll Global Express businesses, Alan Beacham, has accused the TWU of refusing to compromise during negotiations.</p> <p>Beacham said: "It is clear the union was always planning this industrial action, no matter how the negotiations were going."</p> <p>"Toll will not be bullied by the union,” he added. "We will not allow the Australian public to be held to ransom at the behest of the TWU leadership."</p> <p><strong>4000 TWU members to take part in strike</strong></p> <p>Beacham said he expects 4000 employees, who are voting TWU members, to take part in the strike rather than the 7000 threatened by the union.</p> <p>He said Toll had put in place contingency plans to deal with disruptions caused by the strike.</p> <p>Beacham added: "Instead of attacking Toll at the top of the sector, why aren't the TWU going after the bottom of the sector to raise the standards there?”</p> <p>But speaking for the TWU, the secretary Michael Kaine said: "It is an abomination that billionaire retailers like Amazon are smashing profit records while ripping off transport supply chains and crushing the jobs of the truck drivers who've risked the health of their families to deliver parcels and keep shelves stocked."</p> <p><em>Photo: Shutterstock</em></p>

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Truckies’ plan to block highways around the country

<p>Many Aussies are furious at a plan launched by Australian truck drivers to block all of our major highways and to disrupt food supplies, as part of a nationwide protest against lockdown.</p> <p>The truck drivers have released a series of videos online warning about the strike which will reportedly 'block every highway entering every state' next Tuesday, August 31, bringing logistics operations to a halt nationwide.</p> <p>They say in one of the videos, they are 'planning to shut down the country' to 'remove the s**t government'.</p> <p>Outraged Aussies have blasted the plan as 'selfish' saying it could leave millions of families in COVID lockdowns around the country without essential goods.</p> <p>The truck drivers say the they are protesting against COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates. They’ve received support from truck drivers from overseas who’ve offered hacks for how to ensure the trucks are impossible to move.</p> <p>Talk of a protest from truck drivers flared within the industry after some legislation was passed mandating vaccinations for authorised workers who cross state borders – which includes truck drivers.</p> <p>Those involved in the rally launched a GoFundMe page to support them financially but it has since been taken down.</p> <p><strong>Aussies slam the plan on social media</strong></p> <p>Many Aussies are upset by the truckies’ plan and they’ve taken to social media to register their concerns: 'How long before the good people of Australia turn against truck drivers for starving their families? Stupid anarchy and terrorism - domestic terrorism,' one tweeted.</p> <p>'How incredibly f**king selfish. Have the disadvantaged, elderly and our farmers not suffered enough over the past few years?' another wrote.</p> <p>'Now a bunch of truck drivers want to strike and cause even more suffering to those who can't stock up on everything they need. Causing panic buying and food shortages because some bloke is upset by the government? How is that going to help?' a third added.</p> <p><strong>Truck drivers from around the world have offered support</strong></p> <p>Truck drivers from around the world have praised the plan with some sharing hacks for how to make sure the protest works.</p> <p>In a video posted on Twitter, an America truckie gave details about how the best way to prevent trucks from being towed away would be to remove the ‘caging bolts.’</p> <p>He wrote: ‘Hey to all my Australian truck drivers, this is just a quick tip. If you do want to leave your truck somewhere and you don't want a wrecker driver to be able to remove it, make sure you go to your air chambers and take the caging bolts home with you.</p> <p>'Because there is no way the wrecker drivers that the government calls are going to have thousands of these, and with no supply line on the air chamber - no one is moving that f**king truck.'</p> <p><strong>Legislation comes in on August 30</strong></p> <p>New legislation comes in on Monday August 30 which states that authorised workers from COVID hotspots cannot leave their LGA for work unless they have received one dose of the vaccine or have a medical certificate.</p> <p>Similar rules apply for freight workers entering Queensland, while other strict COVID restrictions, such as mandatory testing, govern entry requirements to other states.</p> <p><strong>Anti-lockdown protesters support the plan</strong></p> <p>As well as some overseas drivers, a number of anti-lockdown supporters jumped in to support the truckies’ plan.</p> <p>Some wished them good luck, while others applauded their devotion to 'freedom' and rebellion against 'tyranny' and COVID vaccines.</p> <p>But other Australian truck drivers who are against the protest, asked their colleagues to change the plan.</p> <p>One truck driver begged them to consider whether it was 'hypocritical or heroic' to protest against lockdowns by pushing their own agenda. In his own video he said:</p> <p>'I believe everybody has a choice and I understand your argument but denying your fellow Australians of their right to choose and to work and to eat defeats your whole argument…are you heroes or hypocrites?'</p> <p>'It's on. The truckies are doing it. The truckies are going to shut down the country,' he added. ‘What that means is you need to go shopping now, get what you can for the next week or two, load your fridge, freezers.’</p> <p>NSW Police have said they are aware of the planned protest and 'will continue to ensure compliance with the public health orders'.</p> <p><em>Photos: Twitter</em></p>

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Truckie collides with merging car in the dash cam video that has Australia divided

<p>Horrifying footage of a truckie colliding with a merging car in NSW has emerged, in the shocking dash cam video that has viewers around Australia divided.</p> <p>The incident, which was posted on Dash Cam Owners Australia, occurred on the M4 at Merrylands and is a shocking reminder of the dangers of heavy vehicles on motorways.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmark.wearne.1%2Fvideos%2F10214611162490157%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=476" width="476" height="476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>Mark Wearne, who was behind the wheel of the truck, claims he was driving at 3.30pm on Wednesday when the sedan abruptly merged in front.</p> <p>“Two days ago, I had an accident. a car merges out in front of me. You can hear a gasp of air. Just before the initial hit, then she stopped dead and got hit a second time (no surprise there), after a few F bombs, I made sure she was ok,” he wrote.</p> <p>“I also saw she had a kid with her, I’ve gone from being super angry to being exceptionally upset, In very dangerous situation, the whole time I had my eye on her passenger door, waiting for the kid to jump out and potentially become road kill. I asked her (very politely and calmly) for her to move her car, she refused, I just wanted them both of the road, so I asked again and again, each time my anger and frustration is building to boiling point. In her second stupid move for the day, she approaches the truck and demands my licence, I told her not to worry about that now, and that she needs to move her car immediately, again she refused and demanded my licence, that’s when flew off the handle, only this time she moved her car. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.</p> <p>“She and her little boy were perfectly fine, that was my main concern, especially toward the little boy. Seeing her being taken to hospital, I’d get over it, but not the kid, that would destroy me. I make no apologies for yelling at her, it was a necessary evil.”</p> <p>What are your thoughts? Who do you think is in the wrong?</p>

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