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A Montessori childcare director who allegedly allowed her convicted husband to work at her centre has been sacked. 7NEWS exclusively revealed Andrew Vassel, 44, was employed to do odd jobs at his wife’s Amanda Vassel’s daycare in Beenleigh, about 30 minutes south of Brisbane in Queensland, despite the fact he is a convicted child rapist and has no clearance to be around children. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Convicted child sex offender arrested Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Despite being a registered sex offender banned from working with children, Vassel was allegedly allowed on-site regularly and even donned a Santa suit during a Christmas event. Vassel was convicted in 2007 in New South Wales for sexual assault against a minor. He served eight months in jail and remains banned from child-related work. Andrew Vassel, a convicted child sex offender, was known to have played Santa at the centre. Credit: 7NEWS On Wednesday, 16 July, Andrew and Amanda Vessel, 46, were taken into custody at their residence in Logan, following the execution of several search warrants by detectives. Queensland Family and Child Commissioner Luke Twyford said cases like this show urgent change is needed. “We need to make sure we act even before things reach a criminal threshold,” he said. From October 1, Queensland will roll out ten new child safe standards. A mandatory reportable conduct scheme will follow from July 1, 2026. “If someone in charge of, say, an early day care center has a concern raised to them about one of their staff, they must immediately, within 24 hours, notify the Queensland Family and Child Commission, and they must commence an investigation into that concern,” Twyford said. Amanda Vassel was the director at the centre. Credit: Supplied Daycare director Amanda Vassel questioned by 7NEWS after allegedly allowing her husband, a registered sex offender, to work at the centre. Credit: 7NEWS Those who fail to report concerns could be fined $17,000, with a formal breach recorded against their organisation. “That means we’re slowly building a central database of all the concerns about a worker, and that we’re having a closer look at any organisation where there are multiple concerns,” Twyford added. The disturbing revelations come as national concerns around childcare safety continue to escalate. Last month, Victorian educator Joshua Brown was charged with more than 70 child sex offences, including rape. Separately, a worker at a child care centre at Tingalpa was accused of abusing a four-year-old. Andrew Vassel has been charged with two breaches of child protection laws. Amanda Vassel faces charges for allegedly allowing the breaches to occur. She is due to face Beenleigh court on August 19. Read More

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt has dismissed his Agenda Setters colleague Luke Hodge’s suggestion that comparing Ross Lyon’s current Saints side to that of Brett Ratten three years ago is fair. On last Tuesday’s episode of The Agenda Setters, Hodge suggested that Riewoldt has been inconsistent in his criticism of the Saints in recent years because of who has been coaching them. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nick Riewoldt fires back at Luke Hodge over ‘rubbish’ take. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Riewoldt, who played under Lyon during the club’s most successful recent period, has in the past been very critical the culture Ratten led during his time at Moorabbin before being sacked in 2022. With the Saints struggling once again in 2025, the former skipper has not held the Lyon to the same level of scrutiny that he did with Ratten, despite similar results. Stream The Agenda Setters for free, live or on-demand, anytime at 7plus Last week, Kane Cornes pressed Hodge on his view of Riewoldt. “Do you think that because Ross has so many friends in the media that we go soft on him?” Cornes asked, referring also to other former St Kilda players like Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo who too have commentary jobs in the media. Hodge said: “I thought Nick would’ve went a lot harder at Ross (given) the fact that he was going at Brett Ratten when they were sitting 10th.” Nick Riewoldt and Ross Lyon were a famous captain-coach axis at St Kilda. Credit: JS MJ/AAPIMAGE Responding on Monday night after the Saints were again beaten on the weekend, Riewoldt explained why he doesn’t think it’s fair to compare the two. “Hodgey and I are fine, we work together and we’re decent mates,” he started by clarifying. “I mean, I understand where he was coming from; he worked with Brett Ratten in the past and he was trying to protect Ratts’ reputation in that conversation. I think we all have slightly vested interests. “But with this one specifically, I think if you actually drill down into the facts, to suggest that Ross Lyon and Brett Ratten have the same lists essentially — which is what Hodgey did — is complete rubbish. “Ross had the same list for one year and made finals, and then realised that that list could go no further, so what do you do in that situation? Do you stay stuck in quicksand, or do you cut, and cut really hard, and make 26 list changes over the last three years? Go from the fourth-oldest list profile to the fourth-youngest. “And that’s the decision that they’ve made. “So, anyone that doesn’t think St Kilda are in a rebuild just hasn’t done the work and doesn’t realise what they’ve actually done down there over the last few years.” Brett Ratten was sacked by St Kilda in 2022. Credit: AAP St Kilda have turned over 28 players from their list over the past three years, including 11 last year. Riewoldt said they had to do that to avoid being stuck in the mediocrity of the AFL ladder’s yearly logjam-middle. “I’m OK with the direction because they were going to middle in that sixth to 12th landscape if they didn’t cut and cut hard,” he said. “And I think this all feeds into the (Nasiah) Wanganeen-Milera conversation; he would be aware of the young crew that’s coming through and the potential to be part of something for the long-term. “And if it’s a two-year deal, the Saints have got two years to prove it to him.” The St Kilda champion also scoffed at the suggestion that Lyon needed or even benefitted from some of his former pupils standing up for him in the media. “Ross is a big boy, he doesn’t need me or Leigh Montagna sitting here defending him, he’s big enough,” he said. Read More

For almost two full years of war, the only Catholic church in Gaza has served as a fragile refuge in the besieged enclave, where hundreds of Christian and Muslim families took shelter from the Israeli assault outside its stone walls. The Israeli shelling that blasted through that sanctuary on Thursday — killing three, including the church’s janitor, and wounding nine, including a priest — has seen Christians worldwide voice solidarity with their small community of fellow worshippers and drawn an unusually direct response from both the US and the Vatican amid increasing global outrage. Pope Leo XIV spoke Sunday of his “deep sorrow” and called for an end to the “barbarity of war”, reading out the names of those killed at Holy Family Church. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today “This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” he said, speaking after his Angelus prayer. Holy Family Church remains standing despite Thursday’s deadly strike, which Israel said it “deeply regrets”. Ornate crucifixes and paintings depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ still adorn its walls. Amid the flickering candlelight, its shattered windows and scorched façade attest to the strike. The church was watched over closely by the late Pope Francis, who spoke daily with its parish priest and once gifted his Popemobile to the children there. In a rare and risky visit to Gaza — largely sealed off from foreign officials — Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, led a delegation into the territory on Friday to show their support. Video captured their arrival at the church, greeted by cheers and ringing bells. “On behalf of all the Christians of our land, all the churches all over the world are united with us in this moment,” Pizzaballa, who also led Sunday-morning Mass at the church, said. The Holy Family Church in Gaza City is the only Catholic church inside the Palestinian enclave. Credit: AAP US President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the strike. White House spokesperson Tammy Bruce said it was an understatement to say Trump was not happy with Netanyahu during the call, adding that the US had asked Israel to investigate the strike and “ensure that all civilians, including Christian civilians, remain safe”. “Everyone is appalled,” she said. On Friday, staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, introduced a bill to strip $500 million in US military funding to Israel, a measure that was overwhelmingly rejected but marked a rare rebuke. Netanyahu said that Israel “deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church” and called Pope Leo on Friday night. The Israel Defense Forces said it was reviewing the incident. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the results of the investigation would be published. Bruce called the prime minister’s response “an appropriate start” and reiterated Israel’s framing of the strike as an accident. But admissions of regret have not satisfied the grieving Catholic community, which has amplified its calls for a ceasefire. The Jerusalem branch of the Vatican’s Caritas federation named two of the dead as Saad Salameh, 60, the church’s janitor, and Fumayya Ayyad, 84, who had been sitting inside a Caritas psychosocial support tent when the blast sent shrapnel and debris flying. The pope named the other as Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for peace and an “immediate ceasefire” following the strike, echoing Pope Leo and renewing calls made so often under Francis. “With the Holy Father, the Catholic bishops of the United States are deeply saddened to learn about the deaths and injuries at Holy Family Church in Gaza caused by a military strike,” Broglio said in a statement. “May there be peace in Gaza.” Pax Christi International, a Christian peace organisation, condemned the strike and called for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire”. Yet while those calls may have intensified in the wake of the attack, there was little sign of one this weekend. Since Pizzaballa first arrived at Holy Family Church on Friday, more than 150 people had been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities. On Sunday, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders that suggested its ground offensive may be about to extend into new areas in the heart of the enclave, while the United Nations said that civilians were starving and in urgent need of aid. Pizzaballa, closer to the carnage than most foreigners have managed since the current conflict began, once again called for peace. “Churches all over the world, especially the church in the Holy Land, the Greek Orthodox, and all the churches, will never abandon and neglect you,” he said, addressing the church. “We are working in the diplomatic world in order for a ceasefire, to stop this war, this tragedy,” he said. Read More

He may not be your typical automotive industry executive, but Bernie Quinn has assembled some formidable feathers in his cap during a near 30-year engineering career that has produced some of this country’s most iconic vehicles. These days he’s the CEO of Premcar, which most people recognise as the engineering company that helped transform the Nissan Navara ute and Patrol SUV into hardcore Warrior-branded off-roaders, more than 10,000 of which have now been produced. First established in 2019, Nissan’s Warrior sub-brand has been so successful it’s being replicated in other markets starting with South Africa, where Premcar has formed a joint venture to produce Navara Warriors in Nissan’s Rosslyn factory. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today A Melbourne engineering firm born out of the death of Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV), Premcar can trace its roots back to the 1997 launch of the Tickford Vehicle Engineering-enhanced Ford EL Falcon GT, followed by the 1998 TS50, TE50 and TL50, and the 2001 Mustang converted locally to right-hand drive by Tickford. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Supplied Credit: CarExpert FPV was then formed in a joint venture between Ford and Prodrive, which bought out Tickford, and the first fruit was the 2003 BA Falcon-based FPV GT. But Prodrive also helped develop Mazda Australia’s MX-5 SP and Toyota Australia’s TRD-badged HiLux and Aurion. After it developed the supercharged 5.0-litre ‘Miami’ V8 for FPV’s Falcon-based range, Prodrive became Premcar in 2012 and it immediately produced the 335kW FG Falcon-based FPV GT, followed by the 351kW FPV GT-F in 2014, and then the 325kW FG-X Falcon XR6 Sprint and XR8 Sprint sports sedans based on the final and finest Falcons in 2016. A year earlier, Premcar also began its extensive defence industry work, and even co-developed its first helicopter for a major corporation, before teaming up with Nissan to become one of Australia’s two largest automotive engineering companies alongside Walkinshaw Automotive. We sat down with Bernie to ask him about what’s next for Premcar, the Warrior brand, and the Australian auto industry as it undergoes rapid change amid an influx of new brands and products. Why is local new-vehicle enhancement so popular in Australia? There are a couple of reasons why. First of all, many new-car buyers in Australia are very particular. I’ve said this a few times over the years. A lot of Australian car buyers grew up when we had local car manufacturing. You had Falcons and Commodores, for example, and you could effectively customise them to the spec you wanted when new. You could have almost any colour. There were utes, sedans and wagons; sports, executive and luxury; long-wheelbase and short-wheelbase; various engines such as V8, V6, I6, turbo, supercharged; pretty much every permutation and combination you could have. Australians became very used to customising their cars to their own specifications. Supplied Credit: CarExpert But when Ford and Holden and others, including Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi, left the local new-car manufacturing scene in Australia, the options became far more limited because we got generic global vehicles. But local customer tastes didn’t go away. That money they were spending personalising their new cars started to be spent on accessories and in the aftermarket, and so companies like ARB and others thrived in that car-customising environment. So that’s the first thing. Secondly, the Australian new-car market is relatively small at around 1.1 to 1.2 million [annually], but the number of brands on sale here is around 70. So in order to create a unique point of difference, carmakers have the ability to customise their vehicles using a local enhancement program. Offering new-car models that are better suited to Australia’s driving conditions can give them a strong competitive advantage. They’re the two big reasons. Why is locally tuned suspension such a valuable enhancement for consumers and auto brands, and not just in Australia? Well, some conditions we’re exposed to in Australia can be quite different but they’re not always vastly different to anywhere else in the world. But it’s the variety of conditions which a driver might encounter in a single day that can be so vast. And we sometimes expect our vehicles to do too much. You can see this in the fact that the two best-selling cars in Australia are quite often the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. Dual-cab utes are very popular here, partly because the bandwidth these vehicles have to cope with in terms of usage profile is huge. So you have to try and create a suspension tune that works well on a massive variety of surfaces with a very wide range of driving conditions, and this needs very special consideration. And this, to me, is a unique customer usage profile that you won’t find in many other markets. How important is local advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) tuning? The proof’s in the pudding. When you drive a car with poor ADAS tuning, or a car that hasn’t been tuned to specific Australian conditions, and it’s a very frustrating experience. There’s a temptation for a lot of carmakers to conclude, “oh, Australia’s just a relatively small market. Let’s just use this ADAS tune from the US or Japan or China or wherever”. It’s a mistake. It simply doesn’t work because Australia’s driving environment is unique. Cars parked on the side of the road, bike lanes, different architecture for traffic lights, speed-limit signs, warning signs, and other street furniture. Supplied Credit: CarExpert ADAS systems that have been developed and tuned somewhere else too often don’t work correctly here. So it’s extremely important to have locally tuned – and correctly tuned – ADAS systems, especially if you don’t want to end up with a dissatisfied customer or a customer that just turns the system off. And keep in mind that locally tuning a car’s ADAS systems isn’t just a matter of plugging in a laptop and fiddling with some digital

Nathan Cleary in Rugby League 26. Picture supplied Sports video games have come a long way. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today’s Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, covering business and entertainment most of the time. Got a tip? Send it to me at joel.ehsman@austcommunitymedia.com.au. He/Him Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, covering business and entertainment most of the time. Got a tip? Send it to me at joel.ehsman@austcommunitymedia.com.au. He/Him Daily Your morning news Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Read More

Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today’s Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia As the lifestyle reporter, I love finding out what makes people tick and giving insight into the different ways that you can enjoy the city we live in. Email: amy.martin@canberratimes.com.au As the lifestyle reporter, I love finding out what makes people tick and giving insight into the different ways that you can enjoy the city we live in. Email: amy.martin@canberratimes.com.au More from Food & Drink Daily Your morning news Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Read More

Almost a dozen protesters have been charged after disruptive action at two weapons manufacturing businesses in Canberra. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today’s Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia I report on crime, emergency services, police and jail matters. Email me on bageshri.s@canberratimes.com.au or send confidential tips to bageshri.s@proton.me I report on crime, emergency services, police and jail matters. Email me on bageshri.s@canberratimes.com.au or send confidential tips to bageshri.s@proton.me More from Court and Crime Daily Your morning news Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Read More

A man has been accused of serious assaults at a Canberra strip club and nightclub, the latter said to have been in retaliation to an accidental bump. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today’s Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia Tim covers courts and legal affairs for the Canberra Times. He came to the nation’s capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au. Tim covers courts and legal affairs for the Canberra Times. He came to the nation’s capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au. More from Court and Crime Daily Your morning news Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Read More

A man is dead after a car went down an embankment and struck a tree on the state’s Far South Coast. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today’s Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au Daily Your morning news Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Read More

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