Sam Wood denied bail + Sanding back Australia's darkest Test

Chris Spyrou (0:08)

Hey, Chris Spyrou with you. Happy Friday, and welcome to The Briefing. We made it.

Today, Australia's men's cricket team plays its first test in South Africa since the infamous Sandpaper Gate. That was a cheating scandal that blew up eight years ago and involved a piece of sandpaper, a tearful press conference, condemnation from the PM, and a media frenzy like nothing Australian cricket had ever seen before.

Sam Ferris (0:32)

So it was just chaos, and you probably would have seen all the vision of guys leaving the airport. I mean, Julie the Nassange didn't get this kind of treatment. It was like a terrorist was leaving the country.

Chris Spyrou (0:42)

In today's Deep Dive, we take a look back at Sandpaper Gate with the journo who was on the ground at the time and ask him whether the outrage was justified or just a massive overreaction. First though, let's get into the headlines of Sacha Barbour Gatt on Friday, the 9th of October.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:01)

Thanks Chris. And first up, a warning. This story contains details of an alleged domestic violence assault. Former reality TV personality Sam Wood has spent the night behind bars after he was denied bail on domestic violence charges. The 46-year-old is facing two offences following an incident in Noosa last Saturday night with his wife, Snoshana, named in court as the victim.

Chris Spyrou (1:23)

The prosecution's lawyer says she thought she was going to die, alleging she was choked until there was a cessation of breath and that Wood banged her head on the floor. It's alleged he stopped when he stepped out or called out and she was the one to call emergency services. Wood appeared via video link as his lawyer sought bail and confirmed his client would be denying the charges.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:43)

Now, the lawyer argued Wood was suffering severe depression and should be able to access treatment in the community. But the judge denied the bail request, saying the case against Wood is relatively strong and a guilty verdict would likely result in jail time. He is due to face court again on November 23

Now, the court was shown images of Snoshana's injuries, as well as a video statement, which were both tended as evidence in this case. The police prosecutor did also tell the court there was a previous matter of a similar nature, which involved the pair in Victoria. There was a police report submitted, but Snoshana did not make any criminal complaints on that occasion, as she was in fear of retribution of the defendant. That's a direct quote from the lawyer. Now, if this story has brought up any issues for you, you can contact 1800RESPECT.

Chris Spyrou (2:32)

Overseas now into the UK, where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has won his court fight against the police who raided his homes earlier this year. Overnight, a high court judge ruled the search warrants were unlawful and threw them out. Police didn't even fight it, admitting they had used the wrong type of warrant. And for context, because this was a warrant dealing with public office stuff, which you will get into in the next line, they just had to find a more stricter warrant, which they didn't use this time around.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:59)

Yeah, and a reminder, the former prince was arrested in February, weeks after the US released around 3 million documents linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Now, emails in those files appear to show him forwarding confidential government reports to Epstein in 2010 when he was Britain's trade envoy.

He has not been charged, and he denies any wrongdoing.

Chris Spyrou (3:20)

While the High Court judge quashed the warrants used ahead of his arrest, he was clear that his ruling does not end the police investigation into Andrew. Thames Valley Police has now made an application to keep the material it had discovered in carrying out those search warrants on grounds that, you know, the material could be seized again if they use another warrant.

Andrew is fighting that with a decision not expected until next year.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (3:45)

Labor is putting pressure on the ATO to reverse the decision to ban the use of credit cards to pay tax bills as small businesses protest the call. Now, Chris, this seems to be yet another unexpected fallout from the Reserve Bank's move to ban card surcharges back on October 1st, which we've already seen in the form of retailers increasing prices to cover the new costs.

Chris Spyrou (4:07)

Yeah, to recap, the government took credit for the RBA decision, which came into effect last week, claiming it would save us $1.6 billion in fees every year. The money from surcharges has been used by businesses to cover the cost charged by banks and credit card companies for processing payments. But then the tax office announced it would stop accepting credit card payments as a result of the move, as the surcharge ban was going to cost it $200 million a year. So the surcharge ban doesn't only apply to businesses, it also applies to the ATO, and they could no longer pass on those costs to consumers, in this case, people paying their tax bill.