LIFE OF LUXURY FOR ‘BROKE’ RECYCLER

BANKRUPT C&D Recycling operator David McAuliffe has admitted to buying $550 boots despite telling court on Wednesday that he couldn’t afford a lawyer.

Mr McAuliffe pleaded guilty to nine criminal charges in Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after he failed to comply with Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal orders to have an excavator, bulldozer and water tanker permanently on hand for firefighting at his Lara waste site.

The Geelong Advertiser questioned Mr McAuliffe about his boots after he was photographed wearing them in June.

“They are RM Williams boots and they last for years. The photo you’re talking about was taken a couple of months ago, I don’t know exactly when I got them, I’ve probably had them a couple of years,” he said. “I’ve always worn them.” Mr McAuliffe was also photo- graphed on a 28-metre long luxury yacht in Queenscliff Harbour in June, but yesterday said that he had never lived on the yacht, instead living in Melbourne’s western suburbs for 18 months.

The Eagle One yacht, boasting a large jacuzzi on one of its three decks, has been advertised for charter for $45,000 a week.

“I’ve never lived on the yacht,” Mr McAuliffe said.

Multiple sources have told the Geelong Advertiser Mr McAuliffe was a regular sight on the vessel.

Mr McAuliffe said the yacht was owned by a family trust, from which he had divested in 2006.

“We’ve lost several million dollars,” he said in June.

Last year, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal effectively shut C&D Recycling down over public safety concerns and it has been dormant since then.

There are an estimated 350,000 cubic metres of materials on the Broderick Rd site, which, if sent to landfill, would cost about $99 million.