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AFL boss speaks out after local club devastated
By Alex Crowe
AFL acting chief executive Andrew Dillon says Sunday’s fatal bus crash has left the sport “deeply saddened”.
Five of the 10 passengers unaccounted for after the crash played for local AFL club the Singleton Roosters, and another was the club president.
They were on their way home after attending the wedding of teammates Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell.
Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell cutting their wedding cake.Credit: instagram.com/alextigani
Dillon said the Roosters club had been left devastated by the crash.
“Our thoughts go out to all those associated with the club, AFL Hunter Central Coast and local community experiencing unimaginable pain due to the loss of loved ones,” Dillon said.
Dillon said the AFL and AFL NSW/ACT would continue to work closely with the club and league to offer support to those from the club and football community impacted by the tragedy.
“We extend our sympathies to the families, friends and wider community connected to the people involved,” he said.
‘There are no words’: Victims’ family issues statement
By Anthony Segaert
Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This post contains images and references to persons thought to be deceased.
The extended family of Nadene and Kyah McBride, both presumed dead after Sunday night’s bus crash, have just released a statement via NSW Police.
“There are no words to describe the grief our family is feeling at this time,” they said, declining media interview requests.
Kyah and Nadene McBride.Credit: Facebook/Sydney Women's AFL Masters
“We ask that the media respect our privacy while we grieve and process this tragedy as a family unit,” they said.
The mother and daughter both played for the Singleton Roosters, with daughter Kyah also selected to represent the Sydney Swans in the Women’s Summer Series Round.
Crisis centre set up in Singleton
By Michael Koziol
A pop-in crisis centre has been set up in Singleton to provide information and support for the community in the aftermath of the Hunter Valley bus tragedy.
Representatives from NSW Health, the Red Cross, the Rural Adversity Mental Health program and Centrelink are on-site at the Singleton Youth Venue near the town centre. It will be open for the rest of the week.
Labor MP Emily Suvaal outside the Singleton crisis centre.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Outside on Tuesday afternoon, upper house government MP Emily Suvaal said people were in the “initial stages of grief” and were generally consoling each other privately, but support would be there for whoever sought it.
“I think a lot of people are really in that process of trying to make sense of all that has gone on,” she said.
A similar centre was set up near the crash site, in Branxton.
Singleton Baptist Church will host a prayer vigil on Tuesday night, and Premier Chris Minns will visit the community on Wednesday.
Other crashes have happened on same section of roundabout
By Anthony Segaert
At least two other crashes have occurred at the same site as Sunday’s fatal bus crash that killed 10 people.
Data from Transport for NSW’s Centre for Road Safety, which records crashes across the state, shows two crashes occurred at the same section of the roundabout on Wine Country Drive between New England Highway and Bridge Street in 2021.
One crash resulted in serious injury after a vehicle careered off the highway onto the side of the road, while the other less serious incident saw two vehicles collide as one left the roundabout. Both events occurred in darkness.
Three further vehicles were involved in separate crashes in 2020 and 2021 at different sections of the roundabout. Two were not serious, while the third was reported to involve moderate injury.
Data from last year is yet to be released.
Sydney Swans to wear black armbands for bus crash victims
By Georgina Mitchell
The Sydney Swans will wear black armbands this weekend in memory of the 10 people who lost their lives in the Hunter Valley bus tragedy.
In a statement on Tuesday, the club said it extends it “deepest condolences” to the friends and family of those involved in the crash.
“Many of those involved are connected to the Singleton AFL club, while there is also a connection to the QBE Sydney Swans Academy program, and therefore the wider Swans community,” the statement said.
Those who remain unaccounted for in the Hunter Valley bus crash.
Tom Harley, the club’s chief executive, said they were “deeply saddened by the horrific events over the weekend”.
“Our hearts go out to all of those impacted by this tragedy and our club offers its deepest condolences to their family and friends,” Harley said.
“Sydney Swans players will wear black armbands this weekend in memory of those who have lost their lives.”
The Swans are playing the Brisbane Lions at The Gabba on Friday night.
Many of those injured and killed in the crash are linked to the Singleton Roosters Australian rules club.
The club launched an online fundraiser on Tuesday to help with the ongoing costs from the “horrific” event, which quickly raised more than $10,000.
“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and love towards all who are suffering,” the Roosters committee wrote.
Bus driver charged over crash ‘a good family man’: neighbour
By Michael Koziol
Hunter Valley bus driver Brett Button has arrived at his home near Maitland after being released on bail this afternoon.
He arrived in a white car which pulled directly into the driveway at about 2pm. Family members ushered him out of the passenger seat and into the house through the garage door.
Brett Button arrives home wearing a black hoodie after being granted bail on Tuesday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Button remained under his black hoodie and stayed silent as he exited the vehicle.
Asked if they wanted to say anything, another man travelling with Button nodded vigorously but did not speak.
Neighbours reported having seen Linq Buslines buses occasionally parked near the home. The company owns the coach involved in Sunday night’s fatal crash.
“He’s a good family man,” one neighbour said. “They’re a pretty tight-knit family. They’ve got their family support and if they ask for something I can do I’ll probably say yes.”
Magistrate Robyn Richardson said earlier today it was a tragic incident and the 58-year-old man was obviously suffering.
“It’s clear to this court he suffers along with the rest of the community,” she said.
Federal parliament pauses to mark Hunter Valley bus tragedy
By Paul Sakkal
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have said Australians’ thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost loved ones in this week’s Hunter Valley bus crash.
Parliament has paused before question time to mark the tragedy.
The prime minister said it was harrowing that the accident occurred on a bus organised by the wedding hosts to keep their guests safe.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pictured in Canberra yesterday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“We know that feeling of getting together with friends and family to celebrate the happy couple. To celebrate the love between two people and their declaration of spending a lifetime together,” Albanese said.
“The hard truth is that mental and emotional scars of this will not fade with time … Australians’ prayers are with you at what is an extraordinarily difficult and traumatic time.”
Dutton said: “As news of this disaster spread around the nation, I’m sure that for so many Australians their phone calls with family would have felt even more precious. Their embraces with loved ones would have been a little tighter.”
“This tragedy reinforces to all of us to never take our precious relationships for granted, to value the moments we have with families and with friends,” Dutton said. “To always cherish those closest to us because life can be unpredictably cruel.”
Hunter MP Dan Repacholi, who represents the electorate where the accident unfolded, said his community was in shock.
Passengers told ‘fasten your seatbelts’ before crash, court told
By Perry Duffin
Hunter Valley bus driver Brett Button allegedly told his passengers to “fasten your seatbelts” moments before the crash that claimed 10 lives, a court has heard.
Button was granted bail earlier today after Magistrate Robyn Richardson said he was suffering along with the tight-knit community.
The 58-year-old, in tears, was led back to the police station next door to Cessnock Local Court so his family could surrender his passport, secure $10,000 and organise his transport home as part of his bail conditions.
Brett Button leaves Cessnock Police Station on Tuesday afternoon.Credit: Janie Barrett
The police prosecutor, who opposed the release on bail, told the court there were 10 witnesses who told police Button engaged in a “prolonged” period of unsafe driving.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Button allegedly told the passengers, the court heard.
Court documents show Button is accused of ten counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, one for each deceased passenger, for a seven-minute window on Sunday evening.
He is further charged with one count of negligent driving occasioning death which is related to all the deaths together.
Button was red-eyed and emotional as he sat in court on Tuesday.
His family, equally emotional, sat behind him in the public gallery exhaling with relief when he was bailed.
Bus driver Brett Button walks free after being granted bail
By Perry Duffin and Georgina Mitchell
Bus driver Brett Button has walked free from Cessnock police station after being granted bail this morning in court.
The 58-year-old, who lives near Maitland, was charged on Monday with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and one charge of negligent driving occasioning death.
Brett Button leaves Cessnock police station on Tuesday.Credit: Janie Barrett
Button was in tears and kept his head bowed when his lawyer successfully applied for bail in Cessnock Local Court.
He walked from the police station just before 1.30pm wearing a black hoodie and walked to a white car in the driveway where family members were waiting.
He made no comment and got into the front passenger seat before police escorted the car down the driveway on foot, keeping media cameras at bay.
Under his bail conditions, Button must report to police three times a week, surrender his passport, not go within five kilometres of any point of international departure, and remain at home between 8pm and 6am unless he is in the company of a relative.
Police inspect the bus at the crash scene on Monday.Credit: Nick Moir
He has also offered a $10,000 surety, must not contact any prosecution witness, must not take any drugs or alcohol, and must not occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle. The court heard police have already suspended his licence after the crash.
Button will face court again in Newcastle on August 9.
People urged to avoid unofficial crowdfunding pages for crash victims
By Michael Koziol
Community members and well-wishers looking to donate to victims of the horror Hunter Valley bus crash have been warned to avoid unofficial fundraising pages that have appeared online.
Local newspaper The Hunter River Times posted the warning from its deputy editor Alex Tigani, who was master of ceremonies of the wedding and was injured in the accident.
“After Sunday’s tragedy there are multiple GoFundMe pages which are circulating on social media,” he wrote on the paper’s Facebook page.
“These are not official. The official GoFundMe page is currently being set up by the Singleton Roosters [football club]. We will share it on our page.”
Earlier, Tigani’s mother Loretta told News Corp her son had described the crash as a “war scene”.
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2023-06-13 07:21:36Z
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