A university employee with agoraphobia, who was required to attend campus only four days a year, alleged she had been discriminated against after being refused a parking space.

Amanda Barrow sought to reserve a space at Leeds Beckett University in 2024, almost four years after her parking permit had lapsed, but was initially turned down because the car park was already at capacity.

The university later provided her with a space once she made clear the request was connected to her disability, but she continued to complain, saying it was not “unreasonable for her to have on-site parking for the odd event”.

Ms Barrow had relied on “ad hoc parking arrangements” from 2020 and, in April 2023, was reminded she could apply for an annual pass, though she decided not to submit an application.

She maintained that access to parking was necessary because of her agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder in which people can fear leaving places or situations they regard as safe.

The university employs more than 2,500 staff and provides an ‘occupational health need’ permit specifically for conditions such as these. 

Ms Barrow admitted that she never tried to renew the pass and when the university suggested she get a blue badge, she said she ‘did not need it for anything else’.

Leeds Beckett had tried to make adjustments for her, including letting her book twice as far in advance as other staff members.

But after quitting her job she claimed at an employment tribunal in Sheffield that she was a victim of indirect disability discrimination and the university had failed to make reasonable adjustments. 

Ms Barrow began working at Leeds Polytechnic – now Leeds Beckett University – in 1984 where she was employed as a learning technologist.

Since 2013, Ms Barrow ‘worked mostly from home’ and would have a call with occupational health every year to check if she still needed the parking spot.

Spaces cost 1 per cent of a worker’s annual salary, while blue badge holders are able to park there for free.

However, following the Covid pandemic in 2020 workers in her role were expected to attend campus just four or five times a year.

In March 2020, Ms Barrow’s ‘last annual on-campus parking permit expired’ and she never applied to renew it, according to a tribunal judgment.

It was not until more than three years later in 2023 that she next requested a parking space, which she did with a week’s notice in line with an ad hoc arrangement to secure staff parking.

RELATED: STAX Founders Face Marriage Crisis After Activewear Label Collapse

That request was granted – but a year later she was required to attend a seminar at the university. This time her parking request was denied due to the car park already being fully booked.

Ms Barrow replied saying it was for her disability and a parking space was arranged for her on a one-time basis.

After being granted the space, Ms Barrow complained: ‘When I worked on-site, I had a permanent parking place organised by OH [occupational health] for 36 years without a break.

‘Now I work at home I need a parking space occasionally. However, you have made it clear in your email that this is not to be the case.

‘It is of some concern to me that people without disability have priority over those that do.

‘I don’t need a blue badge for anything else and as I said, I have had onsite parking for 36 years without a break until Covid.

‘I’m sorry but I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to have onsite parking for the odd event, when I used to take up a place full time.’

A manager promised to look into her situation and in the meantime assured her she could book parking two weeks in advance – a week more than most people – so she should always be able to get parking.

However Ms Barrow went on sick leave in May 2024 and then quit her job. 

At the tribunal, her claims were dismissed and she was ordered to pay back £20,000 in costs.

Employment judge Andrew James said: ‘[Ms Barrow] retained the option of applying for an annual pass; she was reminded of that in April 2023. She declined to make an application. Had she done so, the matters which gave rise to these allegations may well never have arisen.

‘Requiring claimants with disability issues to make an annual application was a reasonable requirement, given the demand for car parking spaces.

‘After March 2020, [Ms Barrow] chose to rely on ad hoc parking arrangements, in relation to which no problems were experienced until one occasion in April 2024.

‘[Ms Barrow] was able to apply for an annual pass as an alternative, something which she was reminded about in April 2023, but chose not to do so, presumably because the ad hoc arrangements were working perfectly fine for her.

‘Allowing [Ms Barrow] to apply two weeks in advance meant it was even more likely that in future, the ad hoc arrangements would continue to be sufficient.’

Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where one of Australia’s best-connected society watchers brings you the whispers, sightings and social clues before they become tomorrow’s headlines.

Hide and chic

Rising eastern suburbs identity Chloe Stewart — also known online as Chloe Korner, depending on the platform — appears to be leaving less-than-subtle hints about the man in her life: a wealthy boyfriend said to be considerably older.

The 20-year-old has been enjoying a lavish European escape, filling her feeds with luxury hotels, designer outfits and the kind of polished travel content that suggests no expense has been spared.

Behind the camera, it seems, is the mystery man himself, apparently tasked with capturing Chloe’s every glamorous moment abroad.

That would explain the one thing followers are unlikely to find: a clear photo of the couple posing together.

Chloe has been quietly dating New Zealand property millionaire Ben Cook for the past three months.

The Daily Mail revealed their low-key relationship back in May, yet Chloe remains curiously camera-shy when it comes to publicly showing off her older squeeze.

Instead, followers have been treated to an endless stream of carefully curated snaps from luxury hotels and glamorous European destinations, all conspicuously devoid of the man one would assume is footing the bill.

The mystery act has prompted more than a few laughs in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Chloe is the daughter of Sydney businessman Ben Stewart and Olivia Korner, heiress to the Australian beauty empire Madame Korner, which reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s.

Her parents had a messy split in 2009 and later became embroiled in an embarrassing public spat that made headlines.

Korner ultimately pleaded guilty to a common assault charge five years later, with no conviction recorded.

Part 2 pending…

From mogul to influencer, STAX co-founder Matilda Murray Robertson has a few words for her critics following the spectacular collapse of the activewear label.

Murray Robertson co-founded the size-inclusive brand with her husband, Don Robertson, before it was placed into receivership in June, just four years after the pair were named to the AFR Young Rich List.

Now, the 33-year-old has taken to blogging platform Substack to lift the lid on the aftermath of their crumbled empire, covering everything from the state of her marriage to her latest career move, while also delivering a sarcastic apology to those questioning her social media activity.

‘Sorry I’m not acting how you expected me to,’ she wrote in response to critics who snarkily observed that she had gone from owning every influencer’s favourite activewear label to becoming, in their eyes, just another influencer herself.

In a post published on Thursday morning, which coincided with R U OK? Day, if you were unlucky enough to be cornered by a colleague armed with a box of KitKats, she defended her decision to continue posting online and attending events despite the drama unfolding so publicly.

‘My job is to be online. I’m working in the brand consulting and PR space. I have to go out, I have to post, I have to network and I have to be at events. Plus, I also really enjoy it,’ she wrote.

‘After everything I’ve been through, I’m still saddened to see that if I’m online supporting a friend at their event, I will almost always get a message from someone making a comment that implies I’m not still working through the aftermath of losing the business, having my life turned upside down, rebuilding and restarting.’

Meanwhile, it appears the collapse of the business took a significant toll on more than just the couple’s finances.

In a paid Substack post titled The Conversation My Marriage Needed (Part 1), Murray Robertson revealed she and her husband had stopped getting along and were forced to have a much-needed reckoning in the wake of the business’s demise.

‘Our entire lives had been turned upside down. Everything we’d known for the past 10-plus years, the entire length of our relationship, had disappeared,’ she wrote.

‘We’d stopped being kind to each other. We were rude, bickering, taking things personally and making little digs at each other.

‘We were having the same arguments again and again, but perhaps the worst part of all was the silence.

‘You could cut the tension between us with a knife.’

As for what happened next? You’ll have to wait for Part 2.

At one point, STAX was touted as a $52 million business.

At its peak, the brand operated eight stores nationwide. Last year, six of them quietly disappeared as rising interest rates and tightening consumer spending caught up with the athleisure boom. By June, it was all over.

The power couple’s rise was not always quite as glamorous as their Instagram posts suggested.

In the early days, after relocating from Perth to Sydney in 2019, Don was still digging himself out of debt following the collapse of his first venture, Muscle Stax.

In one extraordinary bid to keep the dream alive, he applied for 36 credit cards in a single week, obliterating his credit rating and effectively locking himself out of traditional bank finance.

In July, I took a deep dive into Don’s business history, which showed him linked to a bewilderingly long list of companies and domain registrations.

Many appear to be speculative ventures or URLs secured for a rainy day.

Their next move is anyone’s guess. Maybe they’ll livestream a trial separation behind a paywall?

Rich kid’s rebrand

Another day, another cocky influencer rewriting history. 

This week it’s Sydney expat Matt Cameron, who has been busy peddling online what one person familiar with his past described as ‘nonsense’, prompting plenty of eye-rolls back home among those who knew him before he became the guru of all things wealth and success.

The 49-year-old, who claims to be ‘worth millions’ and once bravely told his life story on The Karl Stefanovic Show, uprooted his life in 2023 and moved to Bali with his wife and her two children after becoming, by his own account, ‘sick to death of losing so much money to the tax office’.

But a cringeworthy post sent my way by an ‘old friend’ has apparently struck a nerve.

Cameron shared a photo of his stepchildren alongside the caption: ‘My biggest flex is that my kids’ lives look completely different from mine at their age.’

He added: ‘And that was always the goal.’

Lovely sentiment. Shame the backstory doesn’t quite add up.

‘It is amazing to me, just amazing, the life he apparently didn’t have!’ the acquaintance howled.

‘He went to Cranbrook and lived rent-free in Watsons Bay because his old man was the commander of HMAS Watson.

‘He carries on as if he couch-surfed his whole life and went to Campbelltown High.’

According to the source, Cameron ran nightclubs in Sydney before reinventing himself as a self-made expert on wealth, success and telling everyone else how to live.

‘He talks like he’s Donald Trump and made it in downtown Bali,’ they quipped.

Before meeting his wife, Felicity Morgan, Cameron was married to South African-born, New Zealand-raised model Cassie Matthews.

According to my source, that marriage eventually went ‘tits up’.

Morgan, the mother of the children Cameron now proudly calls his own, has had her own financial dramas.

Her business, Felicity Morgan Coaching, was placed into liquidation on September 22, ASIC records show, after racking up an estimated $774,118 in unpaid tax liabilities.

The company also owes $138,803 to unsecured creditors American Express and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, as well as a further $76,350 in outstanding loans.

Morgan, known as Felicity Ludlow during her brief career as a reality star, built her profile as a ‘business savage’ life coach and entrepreneur, with a particular focus on ‘shadow work’, a self-exploration approach centred on uncovering unconscious beliefs and emotional patterns.

She now runs the Shadow World brand, which includes a subscription-style app and platform offering guided sessions, monthly journals, daily prompts and access to a private online community.

‘You could spend $200 for one hour dissecting the past with a therapist. Or, for only $24.99 a month, you can gain the tools to stop your patterns in the moment before they destroy another relationship, opportunity or year of your life,’ the website boasts.

What a colourful life these two lead.

From Sydney nightclubs to Bali wealth guru, with a little shadow work and a $774,000 tax bill thrown into the mix, it’s quite the origin story.

I’m officially dubbing them the King and Queen of Kuta.

One seat empty

It was a bittersweet first Father’s Day for new dad Mitch Cleary, who was notably absent from his fiancée Kate Watts’ family celebration with their newborn daughter.

In a post shared to Instagram by Kate’s brother, former Melbourne and Port Adelaide player Jack Watts, the family gathered with their parents to mark the occasion.

Jack captioned the family photo ‘Much needed’, tagging several relatives in the post, which was later reshared by Kate.

But Seven AFL reporter Cleary appeared to be missing from the family gathering.

The Daily Mail was first to reveal that Cleary had kissed a Collingwood Magpies staffer during an overseas press trip to the United Arab Emirates in November.

The situation unfolded publicly last month after racing commentator Kate called out Cleary and the woman, whom the Mail has chosen not to name, in an Instagram post that was later shared widely on X and footy gossip forums.

Cleary later took to Instagram to address the speculation, admitting there had been a ‘kiss’. Sources at Seven and Collingwood denied any affair took place, and we do not suggest otherwise.

‘I am sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I have caused,’ he said.

‘The kiss was a terrible error of judgement, for which I am incredibly sorry, and I am dealing with the consequences privately with my family and those closest to me.’

It is understood the kiss occurred during an off-season trip while Watts was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Cleary is Seven’s chief football reporter and regularly appears on the network’s news bulletins and programs, including Agenda Setters.

He also co-hosts the weekly Tradies podcast with fellow journalist Sam McClure.

The podcast is normally released on Tuesdays, but McClure confirmed this week’s episode would be delayed.

Cleary and Watts got engaged in February 2024 and welcomed daughter Sophia in February this year.

It remains unclear whether they have ended their five-year relationship. Last week, Watts was seen leaving her parents’ home on the outskirts of Melbourne with the couple’s baby, while her husband-to-be was nowhere in sight.

Fairfax family drama continues

Former rugby union and league star Russell Fairfax’s son, Thomas Fairfax, has been convicted of a domestic violence-related property damage offence and fined $220.

Thomas was also convicted at Waverley Local Court of possessing a prohibited drug after pleading guilty, although no further penalty was imposed.

The convictions come two months after Russell, the father of former ‘It’ girl Nadia Fairfax-Wayne, obtained an apprehended domestic violence order against his son.

Police sought the order earlier this year, with the matter finalised on June 18.

The two-year order, which remains in force until June 17, 2028, prohibits Thomas from assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating Russell or anyone he has a domestic relationship with.

He is also barred from intentionally or recklessly damaging property belonging to, or in the possession of, his father, or harming an animal.

Under the order, Thomas must not approach or be in the company of Russell within 12 hours of drinking alcohol or taking illicit drugs.

He is also prohibited from going within 100 metres of any place where Russell lives or works.

British households are bracing for a severe winter energy price squeeze after oil prices surged to a four-month high above $105 a barrel.

The jump is another setback for millions of families already under pressure from the cost of living crisis, with Brent crude climbing as high as $105.84 a barrel on Thursday as worsening conflict in the Middle East raised fresh concerns over global oil supplies.

Oil has risen by nearly $10 since the start of the week, while UK natural gas prices have reached their highest level since December 2022.

The sharp increase is expected to be felt quickly by motorists through higher petrol and diesel prices, while also threatening to push up food and household energy bills — deepening fears of a difficult winter for consumers.

A renewed rise in inflation could also put pressure on the Bank of England to lift interest rates in the months ahead, increasing mortgage costs for homeowners and buyers.

Government borrowing costs rose again yesterday as the prospect of higher inflation and interest rates – as well as increased spending and borrowing under Andy Burnham – rattled the bond markets.

The yield on ten-year gilts – a key measure of how much it costs the UK to borrow – surged to a 19-year high above 5.3 per cent .

It came after the UK this week paid a record 5.82 per cent interest on the sale of £4.25billion of 30-year bonds – the highest yield since the Debt Management Office was set up in 1998 to raise funds from investors.

The squeeze on family finances is a major blow to Mr Burnham’s hopes to tackle the spiralling costs facing households.

And the spike in borrowing costs is a headache for Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Budget next month as he struggles to calm jittery bond markets.

UK bond yields are the highest in the G7 and it is feared any misstep in the form of extra spending and more debt could spark a fierce backlash on the markets – sending borrowing costs ever higher.

‘The UK’s poor fiscal position argues in favour of a cautious approach,’ said Andrew Goodwin, chief UK economist at Oxford Economics.

‘The credibility of the current plan to reduce borrowing is relatively weak.’

Inflation is running well above the 2 per cent target at 2.9 per cent with economists warning it could hit 4 per cent next year.

Thomas Pugh, chief economist at consulting firm RSM UK, said: ‘Inflation is now on track to peak at almost 4 per cent next year. For businesses this means higher input costs at a time when the economy is likely to be weakening, putting pressure on margins.

‘For households it means private sector pay growth is likely to turn negative in the second half of the year, creating even more pressure on the cost of living.

‘And last, but not least, for Chancellor Healey, it will mean balancing an even bigger hit to his fiscal headroom against demands to do more on the cost of living.’

The latest rise in oil prices followed US attacks on Iranian tankers and strikes on Saudi Arabia by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

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It came just day after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned the Iran war and extreme weather threaten to ignite another burst of inflation.

He also said that mortgage costs in the UK have already risen faster than in any other country in the G7 ‘with the possible exception of Japan’ – even though the Bank has not raised official rates.

This is because the surge in bond yields has fed through the real economy – pushing up the cost of borrowing for households and businesses alike.

Oil prices have risen more than 30 per cent since the US-Iran war started more than six months ago but the benchmark is well below the high above $126 a barrel reached in late April 2026.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which previously funnelled around 20 per cent of global supplies but now only hands a fraction of its normal traffic.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said the rising oil price and subsequent inflation shock ‘has major implications for personal finances, corporate profits and financial markets’.

The latest data from the RAC showed the average price of petrol has increased by 5p a litre in the last week to reach 167.17p, and diesel has risen by the same amount to 188.63p.

The last time unleaded petrol prices were that high was four years ago, according to the motoring group.

Furthermore, experts warned that the latest surge in wholesale prices could feed through into consumer energy bills in the winter.

Ofgem’s energy price cap will rise by 4 per cent in October, and analysts are predicting a bigger hike to the price cap in the new year.

Oxford Economics warned it could rise by another 13 per cent in January – hitting households in the depths of winter.

Ellidy Pullin has shared the happy news that she is engaged to her partner, Brock Wadsworth.

The 34-year-old Gold Coast influencer and podcast host is now wearing a dazzling engagement ring that appears to come with a sizeable price tag, according to a jewellery specialist.

Wedding and engagement ring expert Nilesh Rakholia, founder of Abelini jewellers, examined the eye-catching piece and offered an estimate on its impressive value.

The ring features an elongated cushion-cut diamond set in a yellow-gold bezel design, a style that closely resembles the sparkling piece pop superstar Taylor Swift received from her now-husband, Travis Kelce, when they became engaged in 2025.

According to Nilesh, the main diamond is likely to be in the region of five carats.

It features what appears to be a high-quality natural diamond, putting the ring at a value of $250,000 to $350,000. 

If the diamond was lab-grown, Nilesh estimates a visually comparable ring could be worth around $7,000 to $12,000.

‘It’s a beautiful ring, and very wearable. The elongated cushion gives you the softness of a traditional cushion cut, but with more length through the finger, so it feels substantial without looking overly square or heavy,’ Nilesh says. 

For Nilesh, the bezel setting is the most distinctive part of the design and makes the ring comfortable for daily wear. 

‘Rather than claws holding the diamond at individual points, the gold follows the outline of the stone,’ he said. 

‘It gives the ring a much cleaner silhouette and also protects the edge of the diamond more effectively, which makes sense for something you’re going to wear every day.’

Nilesh says he is not surprised to see another high-profile engagement ring use a bezel setting after Taylor Swift kickstarted the trend. 

‘Taylor Swift’s engagement ring helped put bezels back into the mainstream conversation,’ he said.

‘The appeal is easy to understand. People want engagement rings that feel a little less formulaic, but still practical enough for everyday wear. A bezel gives you both.’ 

He continued: ‘Ellidy’s ring is a really good example of why bezel settings are having a moment. 

‘The elongated cushion gives you the scale, the yellow gold adds warmth and the bezel keeps the whole thing clean and distinctive.

‘It photographs beautifully, but more importantly it looks like a ring someone could live in.’ 

Abelini is a high-end jeweller with locations in Australia and the United Kingdom,  specialising in high-quality diamond and gemstone jewellery, including an array of wedding and engagement rings. 

Pullin’s engagement marks a major new chapter six years after the death of Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin in July 2020. 

Taking to Instagram to share the news, Ellidy revealed Brock had popped the question during a trip to Europe, with the couple celebrating their engagement in a series of romantic photographs. 

‘HE WANTS TO BE STUCK WITH ME FOREVER,’ she captioned the post alongside several crying and ring emojis.

Brock is a Gold Coast-based contractor and the managing director for Wadsworth Contracting.

Ellidy’s former partner Chumpy drowned on the Gold Coast at the age of 32 in a freak spearfishing accident on July 8, 2020.

In the months following his death, Ellidy underwent posthumous sperm retrieval and later welcomed their daughter Minnie in October 2021.