{"id":835752,"date":"2026-07-31T14:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/835752\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:06:14","slug":"ari-sherani-grandmothers-tenant-lets-four-bedroom-home-turn-into-tip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/835752\/","title":{"rendered":"Ari Sherani: Grandmother\u2019s tenant lets four-bedroom home turn into tip"},"content":{"rendered":"

As high as the roof, rubbish as far as the eye can see.<\/p>\n

This is the story of a 70-year-old grandmother, the brother of a convicted terrorist, and a rental agreement.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The tenant is Ari Sherani (centre).\u00a0A Current Affair<\/p>\n

Too scared to be identified, the landlord has asked not to be named.<\/p>\n

The tenant said he was going to move into the four-bedroom home in Melbourne\u2019s north-west and live at the property.<\/p>\n

While he never did that, trucks were seen dumping tonnes of rubbish at the property shortly after he signed the lease.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy neighbours say more than 25 trucks, so big trucks come into this property dumping rubbish,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

The tenant is Ari Sherani.<\/p>\n

He is a free man after a jury acquitted him in 2023 over allegations relating to planning a terror attack.<\/p>\n

His little brother was not so lucky, found guilty of terrorism-related offences and jailed for lighting fires in the same bushland scorched on Black Saturday.<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s fears Sherani could be behind this pile of rubbish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey make this house like a commercial rubbish depot,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

Four days after Sherani signed the residential tenancy agreement, trucks started tipping.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe signed the lease on the 25th June, so less than four weeks,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Environment Protection Authority has given Sherani a deadline to remove all waste by August 14.\u00a0A Current Affair<\/p>\n

The landlord uncovered text messages that had been sent out advertising her Diggers Rest hobby farm as a tip.<\/p>\n

\u201cTemporary tip.. Open daily.. Cash required before entry for each load,\u201d the text reads.<\/p>\n

The ad lists prices including $1000 for rubbish and $750 for green waste, while mixed and wet fill and grassy soil was also accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my neighbours has moved out, she is very scared,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

A Current Affair phoned one of the trucks pictured at the property, who revealed they didn\u2019t dump after being told at the gate: \u201cOur EFTOS machine is down, we only accept cash\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Current Affair put these allegations to Sherani, with no response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot believe it,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

\"Too<\/p>\n

Too scared to be identified, the landlord has asked not to be named.\u00a0A Current Affair<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what to do with all this rubbish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Environment Protection Authority has given Sherani a deadline to remove all waste by August 14, telling A Current Affair it will \u201cnot hesitate to take escalated enforcement action should the occupier fail to comply\u201d.<\/p>\n

Victorian Libertarian leader David Limbrick has taken the fight to parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t seem to show any fear at all of getting in trouble with the law, and clearly that\u2019s a failing of the law,\u201d Limbrick said.<\/p>\n

The trucks have stopped for now but the piles are going nowhere.<\/p>\n

\u201c2000 tonnes of rubbish is sitting at the back paddock,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n

Statement from the EPA<\/p>\n

EPA Victoria has ordered the occupier of a property in Bulla-Diggers Rest Road to immediately cease accepting industrial waste and remove all waste deposited at the site by 14 August. <\/p>\n

EPA will not hesitate to take escalated enforcement action should the occupier fail to comply.<\/p>\n

The property was leased to the current tenant in late June, 2026. <\/p>\n

After receiving reports of illegal dumping on the site in early July, EPA confirmed the presence of illegally dumped industrial waste on 16 July.<\/p>\n

An Environmental Action Notice was issued to the tenant on 17 July. <\/p>\n

EPA continues to monitor the site to assess compliance.<\/p>\n

As this is an active operational matter, we are unable to provide further details.<\/p>\n

Statement from Hume City Mayor Carly Moore<\/p>\n

Council will not tolerate illegal dumping, unlawful land use or deliberate damage to land in Hume City.<\/p>\n

These activities cause significant harm to local amenity, impact neighbouring properties, damage land, and create unacceptable burdens for residents and landowners who deserve to live and operate without these issues.<\/p>\n

Council understands and shares the community\u2019s frustration. Where we have the authority to act, we will. <\/p>\n

However, Council\u2019s powers are limited by the current legislative and regulatory framework that governs these matters. <\/p>\n

Council\u2019s response is often constrained by required planning and regulatory processes, which can limit the speed and scope of enforcement action.<\/p>\n

Council has consistently called for stronger enforcement powers and higher penalties to deal with illegal dumping and unlawful land use. <\/p>\n

Current fines are often not a sufficient deterrent, particularly where individuals or businesses may be profiting from the misuse of land. <\/p>\n

Penalties must reflect the seriousness of the harm caused to communities, landowners and the environment. <\/p>\n

That is why Council continues to call for stronger State Government action, including faster enforcement pathways, dedicated funding for clean-up and compliance, and better coordination across agencies<\/p>\n

We will continue to pursue every avenue available to us, advocate for stronger laws, and hold those responsible to account wherever Council has the power to do so. <\/p>\n

Council has also written to the Minister for Environment today on this matter.<\/p>\n

The matter in Diggers Rest is currently subject to assessment under relevant planning and regulatory processes. <\/p>\n

Any information relevant to the matter may be submitted to Council to assist with investigations and assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As high as the roof, rubbish as far as the eye can see. This is the story of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-835752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}