Liberals
DIRT FLIES: Poor tenants make Basil de Jong filthy rich while local councillors might find the mud sticks
A politically ambitious outer suburban Melbourne councillor has been linked to a controversial landlord Bastiaan (Basil) De Jong. De Jong has been slammed by critics for creating a business model that exploits the poorest and most vulnerable in the community.
The property developer’s business strategy is to operate boarding houses in the Ferntree Gully area.
He also operated the legendary Swagman that once dominated the late-night airwaves with some of the most annoying TV ads ever broadcast and another business that emerged Phoenix style from the ashes of the Swagman, a nightclub Stylus that also went belly up, without paying employees all their entitlements. So Basil is a class act.
De Jong is as popular as a scantily clad female pork chop vendor in Mecca after Stylus went down causing community groups to lose deposits for Christmas functions that were being accepted in the days prior to the closure of the facility.
Local Liberals are said to be worried about Sue McMillan’s decision to associate with De Jong. They want her to run for State Parliament and fear she could be the victim of guilt by association and for supporting De Jong’s unpopular business activities.
Rosemarie Moore – De Jong’s wife – has publicly expressed support for Councillor McMillan, including letters to the editor. Some think it could be a kiss of death.
One female resident who’d been campaigning against the boarding houses questioned Councillor McMillan about her views on the issue and her willingness to support boarding house proposals in the Knox municipality.
After the council meeting, it got personal. McMillan’s husband Greg Hyams who is believed to work for the company that brought us Myki, which the Sunday Herald Sun Peter Rolfe amusingly pointed out on the weekend is costing more than various NASA space exploration programmes, has been accused of accosting the civic-minded questioner.
He threateningly demanded to know “who put her up” to her question which he thought was dirty pool. Formal complaints were made, although Hyams denied all wrong-doing.
Boarding houses are not popular but of course play an important role in providing low income earners with accommodation.
That’s De Jong’s spin too.
But what isn’t really consistent with his community-minded words is his willingness to charge rent for properties grossly out of proportion to their market value and normal rents that would be paid by tenants.
We are told by interested observers that De Jong operates 41 rooms in six different properties in the area, booking between around $120 to $160 a room. Industry insiders say this can give a slumlord like De Jong a yield or return on each property of at least double or tripe what he could have got for renting the property to a single tenant.
He is able to charge that much because of the welfare payments received by many of De Jong’s tenants. In effect the Commonwealth Government is his blue-ribbon low-risk tenant, but in practice he charges them well over the odds.
It’s a great earn. Couple the super-profits with De Jong’s past exploits in the community and it prompts considerable community concern.
And it’s political poison for McMillan, insiders say and she’ll need to be careful to avoid an association with him, especially if the highly presentable candidate is to achieve her parliamentary aspirations.
Discussion
33 comments for “DIRT FLIES: Poor tenants make Basil de Jong filthy rich while local councillors might find the mud sticks”
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He buys a house for $300,000 and collects $60,000 a year rent. So what? If everyone else was as commercially smart our economy wouldn’t be in the toilet.
If everyone was like de Jong then we would all be effectively relying on the Commonwealth for a sweet deal. Our economy would not be in the toilet it would be already flushed away!
What?
Hey Fegan,
The members want their 300,000 back
If Local Liberals are said to be worried about Sue McMillan’s decision to associate with De Jong and after the local council meeting, it got personal when. McMillan’s husband Greg Hyams who has been accused of accosting a civic-minded questioner well what about this one? Sue McMillan’s associate Mr. Michael Martin who ran a campaign of threats and intimidation tactics to scare the public recently On The Ferntree Gully Foothills issue turned himself in to the Knox police recently for threatening a local shop owner over a liquor licensing issue.
If they want her to run for State Parliament and fear she could be the victim of guilt by association and for supporting De Jong’s unpopular business activities. Well what about the vigilante tactics of her mates in the Ferntree Gully Village? Where they get off with no charges being laid by saying sorry to the Police. And not even apologizing to the victim. But that all seem s to be OK by the Local Press who don’t have the guts to report this stuff because “She just Loves Ferntree Gully”
Jack the Giant Killer
de jong must have learned his trade from the master crook Fegan. HSU members are looking for their money Pauline.
Not much chance for Monbulk now Suzie
Whats wrong with Monbulk.
McMillan loves the Place
Celebrate Capitalism – there is a difference between making money and living a good lifestyle because you have earned it and abusing your position as a landlord and ripping desperate people off.
How about you ask de jong how many people he crams into one house with one toilet or how many complaints he has had from the tenancy board for his treatment of tenants.
The Global financial crisis has been created by unrestrained capitalism as opposed to responsible capitalism.
The local press – particularly the Knox Leader have given all the Libs a free ride, Chris Pearce, Nick Wakeling, Kim Wells and Heidi Victoria and now the Lib councillors NEVER have any articles criticising them. On the contrary, if a Local lib politician has a go at Knox council the Leader is all over it like a rash with leading questions like ‘Do you think Knox council is doing a good job (and then adds something vile which you can’t vote yes for). It’s becoming embarrassingly monotonous. Just look at that beat-up by Hiedi Victoria over Knox not attending some mental health meeting that SHE didn’t attend. She claims she was on ‘fire relief duties’. The last time I looked Bayswater didn’t get terribly burnt. The Knox Leader is a joke. They can’t even get their letters page right. A few weeks ago they published the same letter on the same page twice – edited differently. How slack is that?
What about Sue McMillan ? It is more inportant for her to go to a birthday party than to be in attendance at Council organised meeting for the future developement of the Ferntree Gully Village.She opened the meeting then left.HOW MUCH DOES SHE REALLY LOVE THE PLACE ?
What worries me is the bit about McMillan’s husband harrassing a local resident when they asked a question in question time. If it’s true, what kind of message does that send to ratepayers who want to question councillors? Apparently, if you stand up in open council to ask a question, then some heavy monsters you on the way out. So much for council democracy and ratepayer safety. The CEO should make McMillan and her husband publicly apologise – in council – in front of the person who was threatened. And, why was it not reported in the local papers? Apparently the (lack of) safety for ratepayers attending council meetings doesn’t rate a mention but anything Hideous Victoria wants put in, gets in. Or was it because it because both McMillan and her husband are local Liberals and there-fore untouchable.
Well said John 8:32 but how does Sue Mc Millan get away with it ?
She’s protected under the umbrella of Pearce’s Liberals. They seem to be immune from public scrutiny and the Knox Leader appears to go along with it. You have to wonder with all the machinations and skullduggery that goes on in the local libs that there isn’t a few juicy stories – but no – the local rags just ignore them, or they know about them and won’t publish them for fear of upsetting the Libs.
Can any of the bloggers please let me know if this is true. Apparently at the last Knox Council meeting, Darren (NO Rate Rises)Pearce, made an absolute tool of himself by ranting about the ‘fallacy’ of global warming. Have only heard it second hand and was wondering if there were any witnesses. Coz, if there were, I’d like to know what he had to say. IF he did say that Global Warming was all bumkum, I bet any money you like, it doesn’t rate a mention in the Knox Leader that at least one one of the councillors is a rabid Global Warming sceptic.
Its true John 8:32 Sue Mcmillan is protected under the umbrella of Pearce’s Liberals But why ? I wonder
if its to do with all the machinations and skullduggery that goes on in the local libs. Maybe there are a few juicy stories .Are you not telling us something Sue?
The council minutes indicate that Ms McMillan is providing a written answer to the question asked by the ratepayer. Would love to see how she squirms out of this one. Especially given the circumstances with her husband later. Which raises another set of legal and conflict of interest issues. If, as has been alleged, her husband harrassed the questioner about the origins of the question, then Cr McMillan has no alternative but to stand aside from any discussion on the issue raised by the questioner. Otherwise there is a clear conflict of interest.
The equation is simple.
Ratepayer askes question to councillor in open council -> afterwards husband of councillor harrasses ratepayer re the question raised -> Councillor is caught between loyalty to council responsibilities and husband. This is a no brainer. Not only does there have to be a conflict of interest but a perception of conflict for there to be a conflict. Sue McMillan needs to tell her husband to butt out – he wasn’t elected and to stand aside from any and all discussion on the issue raised by the questioner. To do otherwise would be dishonest. And she only has her husband to blame…… If it’s true of course…..
May be McMillan will stand aside from any discussion on the issue raised by the questioner?It sees to be her mode of approach so far to being questioned .Her clear conflict of interests here is only the tip of the iceberg.
Maybe she has difficulty working out where her loyalties lie. The Liberal Party and those who back her or the Ratepayers she was voted to represent.
Working out where her loyalties lie? What a joke!
Her loyalty is to hubby Hyams.And according to her the reason why she ran for coucil was she became interested in the Ferntree Gully Foothills Renaming Issue and that prompted her to run for council.That’s just pathetic Greg.
Who is she anyway?
Like other Libs in the area she’s appears to be little more than a puppet afraid that if she goes against the ruling junta she will be cut off without support. Going against them is known locally as ‘doing a Cicciello’.
The Ferntree Gully Foothills Renaming issue was a total beat-up – and proven to be – but she still managed to get great press over it in the lead-up to the local elections (all hail Saint Sue – Patron Saint of the Name of Gully). It beggars belief that a clear and unamiguously non-story, as the FTG rename was, could get acres of coverage in the local paper while other, more pressing allegations of political interference, got swept under the carpet.
Dear oh dear. Fact of the matter is Ed of Knox Leader, Kathy just goes all weak around her boy Chris Pearce. Locals are sick of this one eyed rag – just look how many are left around shopping centres. As for little Napoleon at Knox Journal…bit like a limp piece of celery really. Dear old Winnie usually means well but he just can’t get there. Hasn’t quite got the fortitude. Papers in Knox should hang their heads in shame. “Reporters”…don’t think so…more like mouthpieces. They just wait for the council to issue a press release….lazy as and the Libs have a field day. By the Way John 8.32 – Leader will run Darren Pearces hissy fit at the council meeting on global warming..he is after all a member of the Rowville Liberal branch with cousin Chris.
I am confused. Kathy only has one eye?
Yep one eye and half a brain
The local papers are weak especially the Leader.You let them know about what is going on in Knox and then they just make a whitewash of the whole topic.May be its because of the editors background ?
Half a brain ? Are we talking about McMillan again?
Black and White – are you trying to blacken some-one’s name? Tsk Tsk.
Black and White – are you trying to blacken some-one’s name? Tsk Tsk.
If it wasn’t so serious you would have to laugh at the pro-Liberal bias shown by the Knox Leader. In the past few weeks we have had a Knox Councillor’s husband intimidate and harass a civic-minded female ratepayer who dared to asked his (Liberal) councillor wife a question in open council about a council issue and now we have a (Liberal) Councillor, openly denying Global Warming and stating that climate change is ‘state-sponsored propaganda’.
Were either of these important and highly embarrassing issues (for the local Liberals) mentioned in the Knox Leader? No way. The fact that the first story is about gross intimidation of, and lack of safety for, ratepayers at Knox council meetings and the second shows how out-of-touch with community attitudes the local a Liberal councillor is, would appear to be non-news to the editor of the Knox Leader.
Is Knox Leader not represented at council meetings? Does the reporter fall asleep during them? Have they no idea of a good story when they hear one? Are members of the Knox community getting the uneasy feeling that the Knox Leaders editor is burying liberal councillor stories which put them in a poor light and highlighting those that make them look good?
Of course it’s just a coincidence that both councillors and the harassing spouse are all members of the so called ‘Aston Liberal Alliance’ who all seem to be protected from any form of bad press in the Knox Leader.
And why is there a huge picture of Liberal State Member Nick Wakeling stuck next to a full-of-praise letter to the editor. Don’t we know what he looks like? Is it a free political ad, for the local Liberals, courtesy of the Knox Leader?
Knox Leader appears more interested in the sex lives of cats and it’s ongoing obsession with the cost of, or lack of, public toilets in Knox (another picture op for a Liberal – this time Heidi Victoria).
Guess it’s appropriate really, given that it’s a pussy newspaper which only reports on crap issues, it makes it’s headlines perfect.
Front Page – Knox Leader
http://leader-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/claws-out-over-cats-in-knox/
Front page – Knox Journal
http://knox.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/green-report-a-con/1475634.aspx
I love the comments about the Knox papers.
As for Ms McMillan hmmmm. If she loves Ferntree Gully SO much why doesnt she attend important meetings that affect the area.
The only reason McMillan stood for council was so that she could run for Monbulk.
Lets hope she doesnt win.
I love the comments about the Knox papers. The support they show for the local Liberals is pathetic.
As for Ms McMillan hmmmm. If she loves Ferntree Gully SO much why doesnt she attend important meetings that affect the area.
The only reason McMillan stood for council was so that she could run for Monbulk.
Lets hope she doesnt win.
If McMillan cannot con her way into Monbulk then Knox is going to be stuck with her.
What a worry ?
D. U. M. P
(Destroy Unwanted McMillan Permanently)