I almost called him a troglodyte. Now I’m glad I didn’t, because he really was one. Literally.
Alex Vella, left
The only available biography of Alex ‘MC Rebels’ Vella appears to be Wikipedia’s. It says he is one of the 11 children of people who lived in a cave in Malta without electricity or plumbing and with a well as the only source of water. His real name is Alessio Emanuel, not Alex.
He never went to school, is still functionally illiterate, and he started working when he was eight, carrying buckets of water on a building site (in Malta) for a few pennies a day.
In the late 1960s, the whole family moved to Australia, where they set up a strawberry farm at Horsley Park, a semi-rural suburb of Sydney with under 2,000 residents, almost half of whom were born outside Australia, mainly in Malta, Italy and Iraq.
I quote the rest directly:
In his 20s, he sometimes worked two or three jobs at a time; as a bouncer, labourer and bricklayer. He also joined the Rebels Motorcycle Club while pursuing a promising career as a boxer; he eventually became the Maltese light-heavyweight champion. After a serious road accident, he received $225,000 in compensation and used this money to set up a business importing and selling motorcycles.
In 1990, police found a $15,000 stash of marijuana while searching his home, which they believed to be a methamphetamine factory. He received a fairly light sentence: 18-months of two-nights-a-week prison, and two-days-a-week community service. He has also been arrested, but not convicted, of a number of other crimes including stabbing two men and assaulting a woman. He was freed on appeal after being given six months in jail for the latter.
On May 28, 2008, Vella won a court case against the ANZ Bank. He sued them for $2.7 million after his former business partner, Tony Caradonna, re-mortgaged three properties, including the Rebels’ club house, for $2.4 million by falsifying Vella’s signature. He also claimed $300,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from their joint bank account.
On June 16, 2014, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison cancelled Vella’s visa on character grounds while he was visiting Malta.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Vella
You almost called the rebel bikie a troglodyte, but the caricature in this article puts all Maltese in one basket, and knowing our prime minister, it is likely to cause a diplomatic row between the two friendly countries.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/rebels-bikie-boss-alex-vella-falls-into-limbo-trap-visa-cancelled-while-he-was-in-malta/story-fni0cx12-1226956632488
Expect the prime minister to cancel the visa of the first Aussie citizen to land in Malta, and to order a “push back.”
Its one thing having one source describing a situation in Malta nearly 50 years ago and another having tens of thousands of sources describing other countries in 2014.
More about Alex Vella in the Australian and British press:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/rebels-bikie-boss-alex-vella-falls-into-limbo-trap-visa-cancelled-while-he-was-in-malta/story-fni0cx12-1226956632488
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/senior-rebels-bikie-dies-while-president-alex-vella-is-locked-out-of-country-20140617-zsajr.html
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/not-welcome-rebels-bikie-gang-leader-alex-vella-stranded-in-malta-as-australian-visa-blocked/story-fnihsrf2-1226956612902
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2660087/Double-trouble-Rebels-bikie-boss-BANNED-entering-Australia-clubs-seargent-arms-dying-suddenly-Sunday-night.html
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/govt-defends-bikie-boss-visa-cancellation/story-fn3dxiwe-1226957539326
http://netrider.net.au/threads/bikie-war-escalates.55196/
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/alex-vella-president-of-rebels-bikie-gang-unfairly-targeted-over-visa-cancellation-20140617-zsa1k.html
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/minister-revokes-rebels-bikie-boss-alex-vellas-visa-while-overseas/story-fni0fiyv-1226956327257
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/rebels-bikie-gang-president-alex-vella-has-visa-cancelled/story-fn9hm1gu-1226956322197
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/alex-maltese-falcon-vella-has-his-visa-cancelled-while-visiting-family-in-malta-stopping-him-reentering-the-country/story-fni0cx12-1226956288188
http://benhills.com/articles/scams-scoundrels/the-millionaire-bikie/
If he is a millionaire he must be talented. Why didn’t the Australian government issue him with a passport?
Lawrence Gonzi would have. And so would Joseph Muscat.
Muscat should teach the Australian government about passports ; they’ll be missing out on importing talent in their country – kemm ghadhom lura marelli .
I’m willing to bet that many of those who have expressed support for this person are also in favour of push-backs and are ardent supporters of anti-immigration rhetoric.
It would seem that they miss the contradiction of rooting for a convicted criminal who, effectively, has been pushed back, with the clear difference that this man is getting what he deserves because he is a proven undesirable.
But just because he happens to be Maltese, all is forgiven and forgotten, except by the victims of his criminal activities. How about a thought for them?
Ask the biker community. A crowd of them voted for Norman Lowell. Now they’re all crying foul because Elix got the treatment they think everyone else deserves.
Well one expects Jo-Jo to hug this chap too.