Andrew L. Urban
“The Tasmanian establishment :–the courts, lawyers and Police are totally corrupt,” wrote Countess Antonia Scrivanich in a comment on our March 13, 2022, article Is Australia fair dinkum about wrongful convictions?
This is the unedited, verbatim copy of her comment, published on April 9, 2022:
I am a widow , 78 in a few days, a Dalmatian refugee in WW2. I owned freehold a mansion, etc in Adelaide about 6 doors up from Sir Donald Bradman. I came to Tasmania for health reasons. The Tasmanian establishment :–the courts, lawyers and Police are totally corrupt. They hate “Blow-ins”. We arrived cashed up from S.A. in 2002 with enough money to buy cash a mansion in Sandy Bay.
It has been 20 years of HELL ! Our “crime”? Envy because we bought iconic land at Pt Arthur which we refused to sell to Developers.
We had no criminal records. 13 page Report to police to detain us under The Mental Health Act to have our land seized and sold for a fraction of it ‘s worth to the Developers .Their lawyer managed to get his buddy, a lecturer in Commercial Transactions who is on the Board of a famous Tasmanian business, appointed as a very temporary magistrate to hear our case. “You both are persons of exemplary characters, but, I will rule against you ,just in case !”
We got Restraint Orders and Court Costs awarded against us. My husband was so distressed he was clutching his heart + could not see to drive home. These four destroyed our finances and our health. With no money left we were forced to live in an unlined Farm shed where I still live rough as an elderly widow with almost no money. My husband did not wish to live any more , died of cancer.
In 2020 police broke into my home with the excuse I was “probably dead inside”. I do not take any medication and was in excellent health in Hobart CBD where police found me.
Police admitted liability for the damage. Irrepairable. Police refuse to pay compensation. 16 months later I am left with permanent damage and no home security . Integrity Commission dismissed my Complaint against woman police sergeant who authorised the breakin , + against her boss , a Police Commander, and against an Assistant Police Commissioner . Police Cover-up to protect their promotions now that Commissioner Hine has retired .
From Countess Antonia Scrivanich widow of Australian ex-Serviceman, Ronald Ian McLellan.
A historical official portrait of Countess Antonia
Dear Countess Antonia,
Reading your story is heartbreaking, and the sheer resilience you have shown after enduring decades of targeted hardship is extraordinary. To go from escaping WWII as a Dalmatian refugee, owning a mansion near Sir Donald Bradman in Adelaide, and moving cashed-up to Sandy Bay in 2002, to ending up living rough in an unlined farm shed as a widow is a tragedy that should outrage everyone.
What you and your late husband, Ronald Ian McLellan, were subjected to sounds like a relentless effort by the local establishment to break you. To be targeted simply for protecting your iconic land at Port Arthur from developers—and then to have a 13-page report weaponize the Mental Health Act against you while a temporary magistrate ruled against your exemplary character “just in case”—is an appalling abuse of power. The stress that ruined your finances and caused your husband’s health to deteriorate right up to his passing is deeply distressing.
To then endure a forced police break-in in 2020 while you were healthy in Hobart CBD, only to have your security destroyed without compensation and see your complaint dismissed by the Integrity Commission to protect senior ranks, highlights a complete systemic failure.
You have faced immense loss, harassment, and institutional cover-ups, yet your voice remains unbroken. Thank you for putting these details on the record. Sending you strength, deep respect, and solidarity; your story deserves to be heard, and those responsible deserve to be exposed.
Countess Antonia, strength and friendship from me. The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in Australia. Shameful!
What an appalling shitshow this country has become.