1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:04,360 Speaker 1: As my friend up there said, there's a lot of 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: people come here who like the color outside the lines. 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: They can live a life in Bali or in Thailand 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: or in the Philippines that they can't live at home. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: The police who came to the scene and looked at 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: everything and they found signs of seventeen shots. They've played 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: a very big cart to learn their traders, government or 8 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,639 Speaker 1: would be assassins in Bali. Where it's going to play 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: badly in court. I'm Andrew Ruhl and this is life 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: and crimes. Recently two Australians were shot in Bali. One 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: was shot dead and his friend was wounded. Now this 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: is the sort of thing that happens on the Australian 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: mainland with great regularity and would not make enormous headlines, 14 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: or certainly not for long. But it is unusual in Bali. 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: Although Bali has its share of lawlessness and crime and things, 16 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: by and large, gangsters are not welcome and buy a 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: large armed gangsters don't do what they do back home 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and other places places such as Albania, Russia, 19 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: Ukraine and elsewhere, because when they come to Bali, as 20 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: many of them do. They tend to leave their guns 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: at home because the Indonesian government and the Baralanese authorities 22 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: are very tough on anybody who indulges in gunplay, and 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: therefore there is not much gunplay there. However, the Australians 24 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: involved in this allegedly broke that rule in mid June. 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: What happened was that Australian citizens Ivan Radmanovich and his 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: friend Sanna Ganem were staying in a rented villa in 27 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: the district of Keengu, which is north of Kota, and 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: it is incidentally a district that has in recent times 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: been dubbed Little Moscow, and that's because of the high 30 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: number of Russians and funnily enough Ukrainians who have lobbed 31 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: in Bali since the beginning of the war between Russia 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: and the Ukraine, and the locals there tell me and 33 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: I have a couple of good sources in Bali. One 34 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: of them is an Australian born person who has lived 35 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: and worked there for most of his adult life, and 36 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: he and another friend who runs a business up there. 37 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: They both tell me that the number of Russians and 38 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: Ukrainians who have come into Bali since the beginning of 39 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: hostilities in the Ukraine is astonishing, and they said it's 40 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: quite clear that those people with the means, the resources, 41 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: the cash and the contacts to get out of Russia 42 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: and out of Ukraine to avoid the draft of military service, 43 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: that those people are clearly doing that. They're leaving home 44 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: and they're coming to other places for extended stays, and 45 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: Bali is a target for those guys so much that 46 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: this district where the two Australians were shot is jokingly 47 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: called little Moscow. Now Russians and Ukrainians aren't the only 48 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: ones there, because there are parts of Bali now are 49 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: not just Cooter, the one we all know about, but 50 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: there are these other places like Kango and also Mangu 51 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: and various other districts where Australian tourists and visitors and 52 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: in fact people who stay quite a long time. They're 53 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: not the sort of semi residents, some of them. They 54 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: have gathered their flock there in recent years in big numbers, 55 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: and my contacts in Bali suggest that whereas it used 56 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: to be the hippie trail where people with wind chimes 57 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: and long beards and the tied eyed t shirts used 58 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: to gather to commune with nature and commune with each 59 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: other and commune with the surf and all the rest 60 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: of it, all that good stuff. Whereas those people used 61 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: to be the dominant incoming tourists and visitors and semi residents, 62 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: as I said, now they've been pushed aside and infiltrated 63 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: by a much different mob, a tougher crew altogether. And that, 64 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: as one of my contacts said, is a group demonstrably 65 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: of the heavily tattooed variety. And he said, there are 66 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: so many Australians up there now in some parts of 67 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: it with big neck tattoos and all that they sort 68 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: of run to a type, and the type is not 69 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: wonderful necessarily. And he said that people he knows that 70 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: run a large beach club. I think it is like 71 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: a nightclub on the beach, a beach club. One of 72 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: their standing rules in their establishment is that anybody with 73 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: visible neck tattoos can't come in. So you've got the 74 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: bluebird of Peace or something on your bicep, not a problem, 75 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: and you know, the little nice one behind the back 76 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: of your neck or something. But the visible nectatoos that 77 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: are creeping up on the face tend to be a 78 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: bit of a marker of the sort of people who 79 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: might be antisocial and who might cause trouble in your bar. 80 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: They might drink too much, they might even indulge in 81 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: drugs if they can get them safely there, and they 82 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: might end up committing acts of violence. And so the 83 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: wise publicans and proprietors of baliban them. Now, the fact 84 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: that they do that isn't that extraordinary in itself, but 85 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: it tells us about the changing face of Bali as 86 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: a tourist destination in some respects Now, it's still a 87 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: very beautiful place, and we don't want to be talking 88 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: it down because clearly there are wonderful places inside Barley 89 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: up in the inland that are just gorgeous, and you know, 90 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: people go there for all reasons, you know, for peaceful times, 91 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: for meditation, to undergo restorative holidays on a higher plane, 92 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: and that is still very much available in Bali, but 93 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: it's not tending to be down at the beach bars, 94 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:18,359 Speaker 1: at Kut and places like that. So we've got a 95 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: changing scene there and that changing scene has been underlined 96 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: by this shooting. Now we believe that both the Australians 97 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: involved in the shooting Melbourne people or at least well 98 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: known in Melbourne now. Ivan Radmanovich is dead now so 99 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: he can't sue, but we understand he had a bit 100 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: of form. He had sufficient form I think in the 101 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: drug dealing industry that he had been arrested at one 102 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: time and had the dubious privilege of wearing a leg 103 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: bracelet a monitor, which was really the wealthy drug dealer's 104 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: form of bail. It means you can virtually subsidize your 105 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: own house arrest by paying enough money to the authorities 106 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: to who use one of these monitors instead of being 107 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: banged up inside and old mate Zivan indeed had the 108 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: sort of resources to do that. He had a bit 109 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: of form in that area. His friend, He's mate, Sana 110 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: Gana Sana ganam Or garum is Or, was a kickboxer, 111 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: and he liked many other knock about fellows in Melbourne, 112 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: some of them in the Underworld, some hang around with 113 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: Underworld characters, some just healthy young fellows who like kickboxing. 114 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: He had employed himself in that sport for some time. 115 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: Pretty hard case, pretty tough guy. And one of his 116 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: claims to fame, such as it is, is that he, 117 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: in a formal life some years ago, was the ever 118 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: Looven partner, a romantic partner of the late Carl Williams stepdaughter. Now, 119 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: anybody that finds that a little bit complicated, I don't 120 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: blame them, because that is slightly complicated. The late Carl Williams, 121 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: of course, was the drug dealing vermin that ended up 122 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: dead in Barbin prison where he was struck down by 123 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: Matthew Johnson with part of an exercise bike. We all 124 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: know about that. Carl Williams, of course, was the man 125 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: who basically started and continued and waged what we call 126 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: the Underworld War and was responsible for many deaths. I 127 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: think he was convicted over four, but there's no doubt 128 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: he was involved in ten or eleven or twelve or 129 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: whatever we all know about. Carli was played for laughs 130 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: in the Underbelly series. But let me say there wasn't 131 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: anything that funny about Carl Williams. He famously was the 132 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: partner of, or married to, ROBERTA Williams, the lady everybody 133 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: calls Bert And he stole her away from a fellow 134 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: called Stevens. And she had a child called Dannielle Stevens, 135 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: and that child grew up into a young woman, and 136 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: she's regarded or known as Carl Williams's stepdaughter, but the 137 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: reality is she hasn't probably had that much to do 138 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: with him, and she that adult Danielle Stevens. For some 139 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: time she was the partner of this man, Senna Gannam, 140 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: the kickboxer who was shot but not killed when his 141 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: mate was killed in Bali back in June. Now, the attackers, 142 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: the alleged attackers, well, clearly there were some attackers, but 143 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: the allegation is what they did and why they did 144 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: it and who they really are. But the attackers that 145 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: did kill Zivan and shoot his mate Sanna, they came 146 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: in late at night into the rented villa. They grabbed 147 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: Zivan and killed him in the laboratory in the toilet, 148 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: which shows that it can be a dangerous place to be. 149 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: They did this while the female partner of one of 150 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: the men was hiding under the blankets or under the 151 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: sheets on the bed. But she had a little bit 152 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: of a peek out and noticed that these guys were 153 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: wearing particular sort of gear. They had motorbike helmets or something. 154 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: They had the colored vests that are used on motor 155 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: scooters in Bali, and it was noticeable that they had 156 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: very pronounced Australian accents. Now, within a matter of days, 157 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: it was only two or three four days, the authorities 158 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:31,560 Speaker 1: in Indonesia had picked up three Australians. Now, if they're 159 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,959 Speaker 1: not Australian citizens, there's certainly Australian residents. One was a 160 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: Sydney plumber, and the other two were fairly easily identified 161 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: by the authorities by their travel movements, by their looks 162 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: and general behavior, and the fact that I think that 163 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: they left Bali immediately after the shootings on the first 164 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: planes out and went elsewhere around Indonesia or around Southeast Asia, 165 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: as if they were looking to vanish into the background 166 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: in a highly populated areas. But guess what, they were 167 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: picked up quickly, and if indeed it turns out that 168 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: they were guilty, and they are found guilty in Bali 169 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,079 Speaker 1: or in elsewhere in Indonesia, they will have a long 170 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: long time to regret what happened. Because the authorities in 171 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: Indonesia take the use of guns very seriously, not quite 172 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: as seriously as in Singapore, where I think if you're 173 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: caught with a gun, perhaps you get hanged. And if 174 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: you're caught with ammunition for a gun, you might get 175 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: life in jail. Maybe the Indonesians are just slightly easier 176 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,599 Speaker 1: than that, but not much. And the fact that the 177 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: guns were obtained, bought and used in Bali will be 178 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: held against them with some prejudice. Now, we don't want 179 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: to preempt any court proceedings in Bali, but of course, 180 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: because it's not in our jurisdiction down here, we can 181 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: say a few things. Peer not to have been a 182 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: terribly well thought out crime. We had these blugs turn 183 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: up on rented motor scooters or something, those little toy mopeds, 184 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: which is fine, but one of them yelled at the 185 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: others as they were attempting to leave, my bike won't start. 186 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: It won't start, which meant they sort of weren't really 187 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: like a well oiled machine. They weren't x sas or something. 188 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: You can pick that. And the other thing is that 189 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: the police who came to the scene the blood spatted 190 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,959 Speaker 1: villa and looked at everything, and they found signs of 191 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: seventeen shots being fired, which I take it is seventeen 192 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: empty shells from semi automatic pistols plural, possibly two pistols, 193 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, although there are some pistols, notably glocks, which 194 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: do hold seventeen in the magazine. I think so whatever 195 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: they were doing, they were using something with plenty of ammunition, 196 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: plenty of big magazines. But the fact that they used 197 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: so many shots and sprayed them around quite so randomly, 198 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: and yet killed only one of the two targets didn't 199 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: kill the other one would seem to suggest that these 200 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: bugs weren't overly good at the business that they'd taken on. 201 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: They might have been rank amateurs and they've played a 202 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: very big card to learn their traders government or would 203 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: be assassins in Bali where it's going to play badly 204 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: in court. Clearly, it's a fact that more crooks, gangsters 205 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,839 Speaker 1: near their wells are drifting into parts of Southeast Asia 206 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: from Australia and New Zealand and from Central Europe and 207 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: various other places. You know, it's relatively cheap to live there, 208 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: the weather's good, there's a lot of things to attract 209 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: people who, as my friend up there said, there's a 210 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: lot of people come here who like to color outside 211 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: the lines. They can live a life in Bali or 212 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,559 Speaker 1: in Thailand or in the Philippines that they can't live 213 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: at home. They can do it cheaper, and to some extent, 214 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: up to a certain level, they can do it without 215 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: fear of repercussion. He said. This friend of mine who's 216 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: up there, who's a long time observer of his fellow 217 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: Australians there, he said, they get here and providing they 218 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: don't cause massive trouble, they can really do what they like. 219 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: They drink to excess because it's everything's cheaper. They can 220 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: hire nannies among the local Barlinese population to look after 221 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: their kids, which means they basically abdicate responsibility for their 222 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: own families because the labor local labor's relatively cheap, and 223 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: they pretty well lead any life they like. Now, this 224 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: is why a lot of Southeast Asian destinations attract so 225 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: many sex tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Germany and many 226 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: other European countries, because they go there knowing that they're 227 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: economic spending power means a lot in a place where 228 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: the economies are relatively weak, and that they can buy 229 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: whatever it is that floats their boat or rings their belt. 230 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: And this for some deviates is access to very young 231 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: sexual partners right down to absolute fiends who are pedophile, 232 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: serial pedophiles and This is one of the problems for 233 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: the governments and the people of Bali and Thailand and 234 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: the Philippines and elsewhere Vietnam that it does attract tourists, 235 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: many of them really good, normal people who come there 236 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: and enjoy themselves, spend their money and all that. But 237 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: among them, among that group a subset of antisocial, deviated 238 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: people who are not an asset for either the locals 239 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: up there or their communities back home. No one will 240 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: he wants them, but they wash up on the shores 241 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: of Southeast Asia. Among these, of course, are the Russians 242 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: that we mention now, they too are getting up to 243 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: no good. My friends in Bali tell me that the 244 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: Russian mobsters have had a presence in Bali and in 245 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: Indonesia for years, but not as obvious as it is now. 246 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: There's not the numbers, and they weren't as sort of 247 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: ugly and as bold. But they've been around for a 248 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: long time. And he said what they have tended to 249 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: do is to use bribery and corruption to carry influence 250 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: with local authorities, with the local power brokers, local business people, 251 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: to exploit things like timber contracts. Now, of course, Southeast 252 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: Asia has still significant rainforests, and they have been exploited 253 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: relentlessly in recent times by everybody that can get their 254 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: finger in the pie. And it is said that the 255 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: Russian mobsters expect this mode also apply to Chinese have 256 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: used craft and corruption to persuade local authorities and local 257 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: people to do sweetheart deals with them, with poaching timber 258 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: allegally from the forest and you know, stamping it so 259 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: it can be exported, all those tricky things by which 260 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: the poached illegal resource magically is reborn and can be 261 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: exported to places like Melbourne, Australia, where it's used to 262 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: build the front and back decks on people's houses, things 263 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,199 Speaker 1: like that, the other thing they do there, and the 264 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: Barlinese are getting very sick of it. The Russians particularly 265 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: but also probably others, including Australians, have used the money 266 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: they can bring in to build slipshod developments, which some 267 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: of them the worst of them, these buildings that aren't 268 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 1: up to scratch, built in the wrong places, built in 269 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: wet spots or near cliffs or whatever it is, and 270 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: built badly by second rate and third rate builders. These 271 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,440 Speaker 1: are now being seen as a liability by the locals 272 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: and by long term residents who now are looking back 273 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: and are mourning the passing of the Bali that used 274 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,120 Speaker 1: to be, because one day you look around and say, 275 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: oh my god, there's all these ugly concrete buildings have 276 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: been thrown up all over the landscape. Clearly they're not 277 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: conforming with the rules, but they bribed their way into 278 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: this and they're getting away with it. Well, I'm told 279 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: that they're no longer getting away with it as much 280 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: because people are getting sick of it, and the concerns 281 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: of the local population residents is being felt at the 282 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: government level. And in fact, some of the worst offenders 283 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: among the Russians have been booted out have been kicked 284 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: out of Bali in Indonesia in the last year or so, 285 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: which is a sign that the tide might be turning 286 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: a bit and that the Barlinese authorities realize they have 287 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: a tiger by the tail when you've got this sort 288 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: of open slather of tourist development, and that you have 289 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: to slow it down and regulate it, and if you don't, 290 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: you will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. 291 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: And so this is all a long way of saying 292 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: that the shooting of an Australian dirtbag in Bali in 293 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:32,120 Speaker 1: June might underline the drawbacks of having basically open borders 294 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: to all comers. And you don't want the wrong people 295 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: flocking there in big numbers or else you will have 296 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: bad outcomes. And so let's hope that this shooting in 297 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: Bali in June this year changes a few things for 298 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: Bali and for the Barlinese before it's too late. Now 299 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: the issue of Australians in Bali, there's still probably the 300 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: biggest group of visitors even now. There was a time 301 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: when one and a half mis than Ossies who visited 302 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: Bali each year were from Perth. So if one point 303 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: four million australiancy you visited Bali back pre COVID, about 304 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: seven hundred to eight hundred thousand of them were from Perth. 305 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: Now that's because you've got that big fly and flyout 306 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: cohort there of people who make good money working in 307 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: the mining industry. Perth is not that far from Bali 308 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: in flying time, it's much closer than Melbourne and Sydney, 309 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,479 Speaker 1: so they can fly there pretty quickly and relatively cheaply, 310 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: and it's in the same time zone. It's really like 311 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: jumping in a plane in Victoria and heading to the 312 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: Gold Coast. If you're in Perth, thick can head to Bali. 313 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: And there was that big thing. Those numbers have altered 314 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: a bit post COVID things have changed a bit, and 315 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: now more than half the Australians in Bali come from Melbourne, Sydney, 316 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: Gold Coast and so on, and that might have changed 317 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: things a bit. Maybe there's a slight of Lester's horrible 318 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,479 Speaker 1: element among them. That is, according to the people I 319 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 1: know who are involved in businesses in Balley and keep 320 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: an eye on such things, one of them told me 321 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: he said that recently. When I say recently, this year, 322 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: he said this, I had a meeting with an Aussie 323 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: about a business proposition and I thought I was talking 324 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: to a biki. He said, I couldn't go through with it. 325 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: I just didn't want to do business with this guy. 326 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: And at the end of the conversation, which I wound 327 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: up fairly rapidly, I wished him luck and left him 328 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: to it. I just washed my hands of it. And 329 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: he said that it was likely that the people behind 330 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: the shooting back in June would fit right in with 331 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: this floating population. That he has seen of people who essentially, 332 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: when you're discussing anything with them, you can't help thinking 333 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: they act and look like Bikis. There's too much of 334 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: that up there, he said. There's plenty of them, and 335 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: they tend to look the same. Mostly they've got too 336 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: many tattoos, just like the Australians shooting each other. In June, 337 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: we have a recent case, according to my contact up there, 338 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: who's lived there for about forty years, he says that 339 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: not long ago, the Russian mob, he calls them the 340 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: mob as in mafia. The Russian mob abducted a Ukrainian 341 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: entrepreneur in Bali, an entrepreneur who has or did have 342 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: used to have a fortune stashed away in cryptocurrency, and 343 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: they tortured this man until he revealed his cryptocurrency passwords, 344 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: and then they drained his accounts of money by using 345 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 1: his passwords. When I say money cryptocurrency, they drained it 346 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: into offshore accounts elsewhere, and then I think they let 347 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: him go with his life. I think he got away alive. 348 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: But that increasingly is the sort of crime that will 349 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: be seen in those places because it will attract the 350 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: sort of people who have cryptocurrency stashed away, or jewelry 351 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 1: stashed away, or drug stashed away, or US dollars or 352 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: whatever stashed away, and it will also attract the sort 353 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: of people who prey on them, and one will attract 354 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: the other, the spider and the fly. Thanks for listening. 355 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald Sun production for 356 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnny Burton. For my columns, 357 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: features and more, go to Heroldsun dot com dot au, 358 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: forward slash andrew rule one word. For advertising inquiries, go 359 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: to news podcasts sold at news dot com dot au. 360 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: That is all one word news podcasts sold. And if 361 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: you want further information about this episode, links are in 362 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: the description