Cairns Regional Council candidate Shane Cuthbert has referred a “threatening” email sent by a rival candidate to police who have now closed their investigation.
February 10, 2024 – 5:00AM
A Cairns Regional Council candidate has referred a “threatening” email sent by a rival candidate to police who have now closed their investigation.
The Cairns Post has seen an email sent by council candidate Shane Cuthbert to his Division 4 rival Jeremy Neal on November 14, but has chosen to not publish it in respect to Mr Neal’s privacy.
Mr Neal confirmed he had reported the matter to police.
“I received a concerning email from one of my opposition candidates. I perceived a threat in the email,” Mr Neal said.
“The email was referred to police. I’ve left it with them.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed the incident was reported to them in November 2023, which police are no longer investigating.
The Cairns Post understands Mr Neal could take the matter to the civil court but is not doing so at this time.
Shane Cuthbert acknowledged he had sent correspondence to Mr Neal that mentioned “something similar” to having friends that Mr Neal would not want to engage with.
“He was reporting my YouTube videos. At some point I would have sent him an email telling him to stop playing games,” Shane Cuthbert said.
It comes after Shane Cuthbert sent a series of unprompted text messages to a Cairns Post journalist in October and November 2023 after this masthead published an article detailing his past including that he was filmed screaming at a bruised and cowering woman.
On October 3, Shane Cuthbert sent a screenshot of an Instagram post that contained an image of himself holding what appeared to be a pistol with the message “people love this stuff”.
On November 1, he questioned why members of “bikie clubs” did not appear on the Cairns Post’s list of most influential people and stated “which surprises me because we run this town”.
Later that day, Shane Cuthbert stated he was “almost invincible” and he “seemed to be able to get away with everything”.
“The truth is I was very vulnerable as a child and now as an adult I’ve worked very hard to be the opposite, powerful, friends that will break your legs or put bullets in your house, getting a law degree to sue people …”
Shane Cuthbert also forwarded a message he said he had sent to another journalist.
“Looking forward to your riveting story, if you defame me or even just write something that pisses me off my friends will be visiting you, my friends in Brisbane, those friends I told (Nine Network’s A Current Affair) I have,” Shane Cuthbert said.
The Cairns Post has not referred the messages to police.
The Cairns Post approached Shane Cuthbert before publishing this story and put a series of questions to him about the messages.
When this masthead asked Shane Cuthbert why he sent the image of himself with a pistol he said it was not sent with intention to intimidate.
“(I sent that) possibly to show you how popular this kind of content is. People can’t get enough and as a journalist you want to write stories that people want to read,” he said.
When asked why he sent the November 1 message that stated “we run this town”, referring to “bikie clubs”, Shane Cuthbert said he had “no answer” for why he used the pronoun “we” and also said the message claiming he had friends who would “put bullets in your house” was not meant as intimidation.
“It’s just about me being open, honest and transparent,” he said.
“I have friends that would put bullets through people’s houses, I have friends who are bikies, who have done that … that is accurate, I do have those friends … bikies are people who do those things.
“Am I having anyone put bullets through someone’s house? No. Am I having anyone’s legs broken? No … that’s not something that I’ve done.”
When asked on February 7 why he sent a message to a journalist that stated his friends would “visit” them if they wrote something that angered him, Shane Cuthbert said it was sent as a warning.
“I guess it was (a warning),” he said.
“Obviously it’s a caution to make sure what you’re writing is factual and not defamatory.”
Shane Cuthbert is competing against the Unity Team’s Jeremy Neal and Team Eden’s Trevor Tim for the Division 4 seat at the March 16 election.
An Electoral Commission if Queensland spokeswoman said matters needed to be handled by police.
“Unless a candidate’s behaviour involves attempts to influence a person’s vote at an election or obstructs a person in the free exercise or performance of a right or responsibility … that relates to an election, the ECQ has no remit,” the spokeswoman said.
Threatening Messages Sent by Shane Cuthbert
Here is a small collection of just some of the threatening messages Shane Cuthbert has sent to people, purely over the recorded conversations with him from 2023. See the recorded conversations themselves below.
Shane Cuthbert Recorded Conversations from May 2023
🔊Charity Fraud, Drug Trafficking & Police Informant
Shane Cuthbert admits to registering fake charities including ‘Domestic Violence Anonymous’ using the identity of his friends (including a mentally disabled man) and partner without their awareness. He admits to fooling members of parliament into thinking that he is an expert on DV and applying for grants. He also talks about trafficking guns and the drug ICE into Cairns whilst avoiding investigation by being a police informant.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Infiltrating Society & Collecting Dirt on Judges
Shane Cuthbert laughs about infiltrating every aspect of society. He talks about being a member of various law associations where he attends to get pictures with magistrates and judges. He explains that if he goes before one of these judicial officers as a defendant and the case isn’t going his way, he can produce the photos to claim a conflict of interest so that judicial officer will have to recuse themselves.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Threatens to Burn His Partners Place Down
Shane Cuthbert admits to running a business under his partner (Georgia Rosandich) name to avoid scrutiny due to his criminal record. He reveals he invested proceeds of crime into the venture and used Georgia’s name to secure licensing. He describes controlling the business from behind the scenes and threatening to burn it down if she cuts him out. He boasts about self-nominating for awards, manipulating systems, and using intimidation to maintain power.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Using Dead Cats to Intimidate Neighbour
Shane Cuthbert brags about placing dead animals on his neighbour’s front door step and car windshield as revenge for complaining about Shane’s loud parties. He brags about taunting police after a raid, and building fake business websites to create the illusion of criminal sophistication. He admits to collecting Centrelink while claiming to run multiple ventures and manipulating how others perceive him to appear more powerful and dangerous than he is.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Blackmailing Parliament to be like Adolf Hitler
Shane Cuthbert talks about his obsession with wanting to manipulate and blackmail the Queensland parliament to get his way and become the ultimate controller of the state, the country and the world to be like Hitler. He says Debbie Kilroy laughed when he told her about his wife, that Pat O’Shane doesn’t care about his past but is only interested in using him to research her PhD and that Cairns Councillor Rob Pyne is easily taken advantage of and is desperate for supporters.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Everyone is Too Scared to Talk About the Bruises
Shane Cuthbert admits he volunteers to gain votes and plans to run for state parliament with support from a political team helping him manage scandals. He confirms there is video evidence of bruises from a past domestic violence case but says people stay silent because they’re unsure how to react. He relies on his credibility and connections to prevent media scrutiny and believes journalists are too afraid to challenge him due to past legal threats.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Shane Cuthbert banned from Queensland parliament
Shane Cuthbert talks about his political ambitions and expresses frustration over being banned from attending QLD state parliament by Curtis Pitt MP, speaker of the house. He wonders if police have told the Labor Party that he is involved in organised crime. He also admits that a friend of his who is a police prosecutor advised him that if he sues government departments for $10k or less they will likely just settle out of court to avoid the costs.
🔊A Current Affair and Breaching the ADVO
Shane Cuthbert talks about contacting A Current Affair to request a copy of their 2016 segment. He also talks about the current Apprehended Domestic Violence Order condition which prohibits him from publishing photos or adverse comments about his ex wife Berenger Rose. He discusses testing the boundaries by talking about her to the media knowing that they would publish his comments and discusses what defence he would use if he’s charged.
