KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Some of the nine Australian men who stripped down to swimming briefs at the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix come from Australia’s most well-connected families, The Australian reported.
The Australian daily reported today that among the group, most of whom went to private school, was Australian diplomat Tom Yates’ son, Timothy.
Tom Yates was reportedly a former consul-general in Tripoli, Libya, who is now the trade commissioner in Fukuoka, Japan, while Timothy Yates’ uncle, Peter Yates, is a former chief executive of the Australian Packer media empire and deputy chairman of the Myer Family Investments. He reportedly hosted more than 100 guests at a Liberal fundraiser for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in April.
Jack Walker, a policy adviser to Australian minister for defence industry Christopher Pyne, was among the nine Australian men, aged between 25 and 29, who were nabbed for public indecency and for allegedly disrespecting the national flag after they stripped to their briefs in public at the Sepang Formula 1 circuit last Sunday.
They reportedly flashed their custom-made swimwear called “budgie smugglers”, which had the Malaysian flag design, in a crowd while chanting and shaking the Australian flag to celebrate Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s first Formula One victory of the season.
According to The Australian, the group has previously paraded in their swimwear by Australian company Budgy Smuggler, such as at Yacht Week in Croatia in 2012 and in a large parade in Sydney that year to raise money for an indigenous charity.
The Australian reported that speculation was rife that Walker could lose his job in the diplomatic incident that has caused “high stress” to the men’s family members.
The other Australians arrested reportedly included Tom Whitworth, a chief financial officer at financial services company First Class Capital; senior project engineer Tom Laslett; Nick Kelly, a former student at Sydney Church of England Grammar School; and Edward Leaney, who studied at Trinity Grammar.
All the men, except Yates, reportedly went to the University of Sydney and many of them studied government and international relations overseas.
“I have been privileged enough to grow up in international schools throughout high school years and what I treasure most is the ability to empathise and culturally understand those who surrounded me,” Yates was quoted as writing in a recent Facebook post.
The other Australians detained were Branden Stobbs, James Paver and Adam Pasfield, according to The Australian.
The Australian reported that several of the families and close friends of the Australians met last night to discuss the situation.
Most of the men reportedly spent time as lifesavers to patrol the northern beaches in Australia.
International newswire Reuters reported the authorities as saying yesterday that the Australians could face indecency charges or deportation.
