Ashley Geelan has found the one form of journalism he cannot handle: his own

There is an old boxing line about a fighter with a glass jaw. He can throw punches all night, but the first one that comes back makes the whole act wobble.

That is where Ashley Geelan appears to be this week.

For years, Geelan has dressed up fact-light, emotionally loaded reporting as public-interest journalism. Names in headlines. Personal details. Breathless framing. Big claims, thin proof, and very little care for the people on the receiving end. But when someone mirrors that same loose, theatrical style back at him, suddenly the tone changes. Suddenly, democracy is at stake. Suddenly, a Facebook post is not just a Facebook post. It is harassment, stalking, lies, damage, family impact, and a reason to stand up.

The irony is doing all the heavy lifting here.

The article that started the tantrum

On June 19, 2026, VicNews published an article titled “Former Mernda footballer harasses journalist online”. The piece was written by Ashley Geelan and concerned a Facebook post that claimed Geelan had barricaded himself inside a building near Cramer Street in Reservoir.

The VicNews article says Victoria Police told the outlet that Geelan was not involved in the incident. If that is accurate, the original Facebook claim was wrong. Fine. Correcting false claims is fair game.

But Geelan did not stop at correction. He turned it into a full personal spectacle. The article named the alleged poster repeatedly, tied him to a football club, reproduced abusive private messages, framed the conduct as possible harassment and stalking, and originally used the wrong footballer’s image before publishing a correction.

That last part matters. VicNews later admitted: “The original image posted in this article was not of David Hutchinson, but of another former Mernda FNC football player.” The outlet apologised for the error, then insisted the rest of the report stood.

So Geelan’s complaint about inaccurate personal targeting arrived inside an article that inaccurately targeted someone else with the wrong image. You could not script a cleaner example of the glass jaw problem if you tried.

The meltdown after publication

After publishing the article, Geelan posted it to Bluesky through the Geelan Mitchell Media account. Screenshots supplied to Geelan Lies show him defending the article in a string of emotional replies.

He wrote that he would rather be reporting on other matters, but said he would “stand up” when faced with what he called provable lies affecting his family. In another reply, he argued that people who publish lies do not get to avoid being named. He then speculated that the subject of the article was more worried because his football club and league now knew about it.

That is the interesting part. Geelan was not just correcting the record. He was broadcasting consequences. Club. League. Damage control. Reputation. Employment. All the pressure points he normally seems comfortable applying to other people.

In a later reply, when another user raised the risk of defamation and reputational damage, Geelan dismissed the idea of courts and lawyers. He wrote that the problem was already solved, then asked: what if the person’s employer saw what he had published? He finished by saying he had corrected the record and that the fallout was “their, not my, problem.”

That is not merely a correction. That is the punishment being said out loud.

Then came the correction about the wrong photo.

And even after that, he kept going. Another screenshot shows him suggesting that the account connected to the story had disappeared shortly before the club president contacted him. A reply from another Bluesky user warned that publishing something like this publicly without proof was serious because it could do real reputational damage.

Exactly.

When Geelan gets Geelaned

The glass jaw is not that Geelan objected to a false claim. Anyone would object to being falsely dragged into a police incident. The glass jaw is that Geelan seems genuinely shocked that other people might play by the same rough rules he uses.

Loose claim? Public name? Emotional framing? Social pressure? Reputation damage? A headline designed to make one person look terrible?

That is not some alien tactic. That is the Geelan method with the mirror turned around.

And once the mirror was up, he reacted exactly like someone who can dish it out but cannot take it. The public replies were not calm journalism. They read like a man furious that his own formula had been applied to him.

He has every right to correct a falsehood. He does not have a right to pretend his own outlet has always handled other people’s names, reputations, and private lives with surgical care. The wrong-photo correction alone should have caused a pause. Instead, the response was essentially: yes, we used the wrong image, but the rest stands.

The real lesson

Geelan’s article is useful, just not in the way he intended. It shows how quickly he recognises reputational harm when he is the subject. It shows how comfortable he is escalating a dispute into a public naming exercise. It shows how little room there is between “I was wronged” and “here is a full public article about the person I blame.”

Most of all, it shows the glass jaw.

Ashley Geelan wants the freedom to publish sharp, personal, emotionally charged material about others. But when the same style comes back at him, he calls it harassment, talks about family impact, and turns the grievance into content.

That is not strength. That is a very fragile chin.

Sources:

• VicNews: “Former Mernda footballer harasses journalist online”, published June 19, 2026.
• Reader-supplied screenshots of Geelan Mitchell Media’s Bluesky thread and replies, supplied June 20, 2026.

VicNews has published a Judy Clements OAM story that, in our view, amounts to blatant plagiarism of the North Central Review / Whittlesea Review’s reporting.

The original North Central Review article, “Judy Clements earns OAM”, reported Ms Clements’ Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Whittlesea community. It covered her 50 years with the Whittlesea Agricultural Society, advocacy for farming, work after Black Saturday, service to local history and cemetery organisations, and her City of Whittlesea Citizen of the Year recognition.

VicNews later published a story with the same headline and a structure that tracks the North Central Review piece almost paragraph-for-paragraph. The VicNews article does not visibly credit the North Central Review, link to the original article, or acknowledge that another local newsroom appears to have done the reporting work first.

That is not normal attribution. It is not ethical aggregation. It is another publisher’s local journalism being repackaged and misrepresented as VicNews content.

Why this is an ethical problem

Local journalism depends on trust, attribution and fair dealing. If a publication uses another outlet’s work, the honest thing is to name the source, link to it and make clear what has been independently verified. Passing off another newsroom’s story as your own misleads readers and disrespects the people who did the work.

The ethical concern is sharper because Ashley Geelan presents VicNews as a community news outlet. Community news should not mean taking a competitor’s work without credit. It should not mean hiding the source of a story while benefiting from another publisher’s reporting. And it should not mean pretending copied material is original journalism.

In our view, this raises serious questions about Geelan’s editorial standards, respect for other journalists, and willingness to be transparent with readers.

Unfortunately this is not the first time Ashley Geelan has been caught stealing an honest journalists work.  This shamefully is a common occurrence.

Evidence preserved

Because copied material can be edited or removed after being called out, we preserved a PDF copy of the VicNews article as it appeared on 9 June 2026 at 04:39 UTC.

The issue is simple: Judy Clements’ OAM was a significant Whittlesea community story. The North Central Review covered it. VicNews then appears to have copied the work without proper credit. Readers deserve better than that, and so do the local journalists whose work appears to have been lifted.

Sources

• The North Central Review / Whittlesea Review: Judy Clements earns OAM
• VicNews: Judy Clements earns OAM
• Archived PDF copy of the VicNews article, captured 9 June 2026 at 04:39 UTC
• Governor-General: King’s Birthday 2026 Honours List media notes, Order of Australia OAM Medal

The public catalogue record says something less convenient.

State Library Victoria has a record for VicNews / Victorian Orienteering Association Inc.. It lists the contributor as the Victorian Orienteering Association, the publisher as “Melbourne : The Association”, and the holdings as running from June/July 1979 through December 1992/January 1993. The notes say later issues had the subtitle “official newsletter of the Victorian Orienteering Association”.

That matters because Geelan’s own line is that his VicNews began in August 1992. On the library record, the Orienteering Victoria use was already old by then. It was not a new name he conjured out of nowhere. It was a title already sitting in the Victorian public record.

What the records show

• State Library Victoria: VicNews / Victorian Orienteering Association Inc., published by the Victorian Orienteering Association, with holdings from 1979 June/July to 1992 Dec/1993 Jan.
• Trove / National Library of Australia: Geelan’s VicNews : the Victorian news record says it was printed and published by Ashley Stephen Geelan from 1992, with ISSN 1038-6971 and a note that from May 2020 it was published by Geelan Media Pty Ltd.
• ISSN Portal: ISSN 1038-6971 currently resolves to VicNews, medium print, country Australia. Archived 2021 and 2023 captures show the same title and record modification date of 23 November 2019.
• NLA online record: The online VicNews : the Victorian News record is a 2020- Geelan Media Pty Ltd online resource with ISSN 2652-354X, and says it is also available in print.

The careful version is this: the current ISSN records now point to Geelan’s VicNews records. But the title VicNews itself did not start with him. Orienteering Victoria had a VicNews publication for years before his claimed August 1992 start, and its run overlaps the beginning of his version.

So when Geelan talks as though VicNews is his original brand, the public record gets in the way. The fiction is exclusivity. The name was already in use.

Other uses of the name

I checked for other reliable uses of the name. The one that matters is the Victorian Orienteering Association record, because it is a library record, it predates Geelan, and it overlaps his claimed start. State Library Victoria also records the later title Orienteer Victoria and the other title Vic news for that publication.

The other main public records are Geelan’s later print and online records: Trove’s print record for VicNews : the Victorian news, and the NLA online record for the Geelan Media Pty Ltd online version. I did not find a stronger unrelated modern VicNews use in public catalogue/search results than the Orienteering Victoria one.

Geelan Media did not last

There is also a later company detail worth keeping separate from the title-history point. ABN Lookup records GEELAN MEDIA PTY LTD, ACN 640 523 593, with the business name “The Victorian News” registered from 27 May 2020. The same ABN record shows the ABN status as cancelled from 7 October 2022.

That does not decide who first used the name VicNews. It does show that the later Geelan Media company record is not a live ongoing company wrapper for the publication today.

The part still worth checking

There is one narrower question still worth pinning down: whether ISSN 1038-6971 was ever attached directly to the Victorian Orienteering Association’s VicNews record before the later Geelan record. I have not seen that on the public State Library Victoria record. What I can verify is the prior title use, the overlap, and the current ISSN records.

That is enough to puncture the big claim. It is not enough to pretend a clean chain of ownership has been proved in either direction. The honest finding is simpler: Geelan did not own the VicNews name from the beginning. Orienteering Victoria was there first.

Sources

• State Library Victoria: VicNews / Victorian Orienteering Association Inc.
• Trove: VicNews : the Victorian news
• ISSN Portal: ISSN 1038-6971
• National Library of Australia: VicNews : the Victorian News, online record
• ABN Lookup: GEELAN MEDIA PTY LTD, ABN 26 640 523 593
• Geelan’s 2 June 2026 Bluesky post claiming the National Library granted VicNews an ISSN to him and his school friends

Geelanlies.com is back online.

We paused the site before Geelan’s court appearances because it was right to let the legal process run its course. That pause was not a retreat, and it was not because the issues had gone away. It was a deliberate hiatus while the courts did their work.

That process has now had time to run, and we believe it is time for Geelan to be held to account once more.

The article we are using as the basis for this post reported on serious court matters involving Geelan and the consequences that followed. We will continue to focus on the record: court outcomes, contemporaneous reporting, public claims, and the facts that can be checked.

Geelanlies.com exists to document the pattern, preserve the evidence, and make sure that misleading claims are answered with sourced material. We will not be rushed, and we will not publish lightly, but we are back.

More updates will follow.

Geelan appears to be quickly returning to his old ways and is likely to find himself with a custodial sentence very soon.

Our question is directed on this occasion at Kerry Ann.

We know Kerry Ann to be a reasonable and caring person taking on more than her fair share of hard knocks and set backs in her life.  The question is this… How can she tolerate such unhinged and out of control behavior from someone who is supposed to care for her.

It started back when Geelan was fresh on the scene with the loss of her housing commission property in Whittlesea.  We are not suggesting Geelan intentionally caused this fire but it seems likely if he had not been messing in the roof earlier the house would not have burnt down.

Following on from this is Geelan’s exile from Kinglake community.  Geelan has sought through stupidity or malice to defame upstanding members of the Kinglake community including but not limited to local business identities, the Kinglake Police, senior members of the Kinglake Football club and many many others.  Kerry Ann sticks by his side through all of this.

While admirable, we suspect Kerry Ann’s patience must be wearing thin, surely she is looking at the example being set for her children and grandchildren and thinking to herself what is she doing?

We at Geelan Lies have alot of admiration for Kerry Ann but we have to ask…. how can you put up with him?

Kerry Ann is welcome to respond to this article on geelanlies.com via out feedback page.  Will commit to publishing her response in full when received.

This information has come to light as part of legal proceedings which took place at the Heidelberg Magistrates Court on 7th Jan 2020.

Geelan appears to be trying to defend the indefensible.  In this typically moronic move it is likely that Geelan will be handed larger sentences cutting off their nose despite their face.

The legal proceedings have now been adjourned until the 10/3/2020.

Geelan Lies suggests that Geelan may be poorly advised and may be suffering from a victim complex egged on by Kerry Ann.  One can only imagine the deluded conversations going on in the housing commission house these days!

One also has to ask can Geelan refrain from posting online for another two months, we suspect not.  We also need to ask has his clear breach (registration of “Long Media”) been taken into account?

We at Geelan Lies have a strong view that Geelan needs to be incarcerated until such time that his attitude towards others improves, we will keep bringing you news on Geelan and please contact us with anything on Geelan you may have.

Lets make the internet a better place.

We at Geelan Lies understand there is an intervention order against Geelan mentioning the name “Long” in any way.

Geelan has sought and been approved the business name “Long Media”, this along with a number of other fictional businesses that Geelan claims to operate are pure works of fiction and another sign that Geelan has serious mental health issues.

It also appears Geelan has not learnt his lesson around business registrations and Kerry Ann’s address.  As noted on screenshot he is still registering business names at a housing commission address occupied by his common law wife.  We understand that Geelan has been raked over the coals and possibly bounced off the walls by Kerry Ann over the listing of this address by this site amongst others.

When will Geelan learn?  We suspect never!

We hope that Geelan receives a fair trial and the court takes into account his past behaviour along with his multiple mental health conditions when considering an appropriate punishment.

Hopefully Geelan receives professional treatment for his personality disorders and returns to us a reformed character.

Geelan must be getting very very familiar with the Victorian justice system, on our calculations he has appeared before a Victorian court as the accused on more than 20 occasions.

Unfortunately we don’t think any of this will lead to Geelan reforming, some of us are looking forward to Geelan returning to social networking to give us more entertainment and provide us more entertaining material for our site.

Google Analytics say that traffic to Geelan’s blog plummeted by 54.03 per cent in October. This follows a similar slump in September.

According to SimilarWeb and Google Analytics, Geelan’s website total traffic was 176 visits a day, i.e. 5,470 for the entire month.

There was an 89.44 per cent bounce rate of visitors who steered away from his site within 43 seconds, leaving just 19 real visits a day.

There would be more visits if you put a moustache on a test pattern.

Kinglake people have totally rejected Geelan as a reliable source of any local news.

So much for the 24/7 Kinglake news site that Geelan promised when he first undertook his journalism studies at La Trobe University, at the taxpayers’ expense.

Earlier this year, Geelan was boasting of more than one million hits to his website in two months.

This would have meant 16,666 visits a day.

In truth, it was more like 16 visits a day, an exaggeration by a multiple of one thousand.

Geelan lies.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

We will leave the rest of this article live for transparency. We got it wrong.

The team at Geelan Lies has reason to believe that Ashley Stephen Geelan may already be a guest of Her Majesty’s, awaiting his sentence for multiple breaches of multiple court orders.

It is believed that Geelan has been remanded due to the court’s view that he could not refrain from his abusive and threatening behaviour toward multiple Murrindindi personalities, including the newly elected Mayor.

The supporting evidence that Geelan is, in fact in jail, would include total ‘radio silence’ on all of his social media accounts and blogs.

We are all well aware that Geelan does not possess the discipline to refrain from posting his usual attention seeking drivel, even if ordered by a court to cease and desist.

We are awaiting further news, pending Geelan’s 10/12/2019 court appearance.

Geelan is no stranger to the law and this week his rants, abuse and personal attacks seemed to have caught up with him.

As published in The Local Paper on 04/11/2019:

Police questioned Kinglake Ranges News publisher Ashley Geelan at the weekend following an alleged potential threat against the personal safety of Murrindindi Shire Mayor Cr Leigh Dunscombe. 

Geelan was charged, and released on bail to appear in the Magistrates’ Court next week.

Geelan, 41, journalism student, of Reservoir (formerly of Kinglake), is alleged to have sent an internet message to a third party in which he said he had given Cr Dunscombe’s home address to “enforcers”.

“I met some of these men at around 3am this morning. I gave them your, Leigh Dunscombe’s, Ash Long’s and [redacted] home address. What they – whomever they are – do with it ain’t up to me,” said the alleged message, which was passed on to Police.

Geelan’s alleged message to the third party said: “I advise you as a friend to walk from the lot real f——- fast. That is if you’d like to have a home to return to! … I’m walking away. I don’t want to be killed by bikies. Some may.”

Geelan was said to have alleged that an associate of his had “made a phone call and called in a favour”.

Police are said to have sought to interviewed Geelan immediately after they became aware of the alleged potential threat to Cr Dunscombe and others. 

It is understood that Geelan appeared before a Magistrate in an out-of-sessions Court hearing on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 3).

Geelan was bailed to appear before Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court at 10am on Tuesday, December 10.

Geelan is alleged to have breached the conditions of a two-year Personal Safety Intervention Order issued against him earlier this year.

Under the interim order, Geelan is prohibited from “publish [ing] on the internet, by email or other electronic communication any material
about the protected person(s)”.

A final order, sought by newspaper editor Ash Long, was granted by Magistrate Ian McGrane at Heidelberg Court on April 16. 

The latest further allegations came as Geelan late last month published extravagant claims about Kinglake Police. The geelanlies.com website says that a Magistrate issued a ‘cease and desist’ notice against Geelan late in October. His posts were subsequently removed from his website, and Facebook and Twitter.

On Wednesday last week (Oct. 30), Geelan made claims on the internet that a number of Murrindindi identities had been placed on the Sexual Offenders’ Register. He offered no evidence to back these seemingly unsubstantiated claims.

Geelan this year made allegations that Murrindindi Shire Council had been involved in im-proper conduct. Council CEO Craig Lloyd wrote to Geelan, saying that the allegations were without foundation, and advised that if Geelan had any evidence, he had a responsibility to pass that information to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission.

The team at Geelan Lies suspect we may not see or hear from Geelan and his online abuse between now and the time sentence is handed down by the judge.

If anyone sees or hears from Geelan, please let us know.

It appears Geelan may finally get what is coming to him in the form of another offical sanction.

One can only hope that this time it is serious jail time and that he learns his lesson. We here at Geelan Lies very much doubt this will form any kind of real lesson.

Geelan used his Kinglake Ranges News blog to malign the reputation of Craig Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Murrindindi Shire Council.

Mr Lloyd, a former policeman, has a hard-won and impeccable reputation in Victoria’s local government arena.

Geelan’s posts include wrongful allegations that people connected with the council have acted in a wrongful way.

One of the allegations was that unspecified payments had been made by a Kinglake West-Pheasant Creek planning permit applicant to an unspecified person or people.

Mr Lloyd wrote immediately to Geelan, requesting that the post be removed immediately.

Mr Lloyd said that if Geelan had credible evidence against any council person, it was Geelan’s responsibility to report those allegations to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).

Geelan has published further slurs against the council, Mr Lloyd, and Deputy Mayor Cr Leigh Dunscombe.

In a bizarre series of posts last Christmas (2018), Ashley Geelan made baseless allegations that Cr Dunscombe was hacking Geelan’s computer system at a Robertson Rd house in Kinglake by remote control.

Geelan targetted Cr Dunscombe for perceived shortcomings in his role as a Councillor and Deputy Mayor.

Geelan has recently published more accusations against the Council, claiming that it has behaved in some form of inappropriate way in its purchases of newspaper advertising space.

In another bizarre claim, Geelan claimed that the Council owed him at least $20,000 for publishing its advertisements in another media outlet’s products. Geelan revealed that he owed $20,000 unpaid rates to Murrindindi Shire Council relating to his half-share of a property in Robertson Road, Kinglake.

Murrindindi Shire Council is understood to have referred Mr Geelan’s behaviour to a top Melbourne law firm that specialises in reputational damage.

In another legal matter in actions with Mr Jack Russell of Yea, the Council has spent more than $100,000 on legal advice.

It is as if he is concerned that his computer drives will be seized, and the files thereon used against him in multiple potential prosecutions.

A perfect storm from the many enemies he has created through his irresponsible internet publishing has arrived.

Geelan has this month gone on a paranoid, obsessive drive of deleting hundreds of previous posts on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

He has blocked public access to his Muck Rack account, which detailed most of the stories he has filed at his Kinglake Ranges News website.

His panic started immediately after a Victorian magistrate ordered to ‘cease and desist’ his dodgy behaviour; this was precipitated by Geelan’s published accusations against the Victoria Police at Kinglake. 

Geelan has since removed posts relating to parties that he has defamed on the internet over past years, including the Kinglake Police Station, Victoria Police, Centrelink and Medicare staff, The Local Paper, Ash Long, Murrundindi Shire Council and its individual councillors including Cr Leigh Dunscombe, plus the patrons, operators, and owners of the Kinglake Pub.

A network of local Kinglake residents was established some time ago, who have quietly and systematically taken ‘screen captures’ of all of Geelan’s internet sniping.

A trail of most of Geelan’s stories is still available at the Authory website, but they too are expected to be deleted as soon as Geelan reads this post.

His posts can still be seen in the public forum for the Reckon accounting software group.

Geelan represented that he was an important ABC on-air presenter, and made threats that he would use the ABC Twitter account to publicise unfavourable comments about the company’s response to his complaints about software failure.

Geelan wrote in 2015:

“Alternatively, and I have to offer you right of reply

“I’m employed part-time by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and do both off-air technical work for ABC Master Control Victoria, and some on-air things for 774ABC Melbourne (3LO); 3GV (ABC Goulburn-Murray/Shepparton/Albury/Coroa) and ABC Kinglake Ranges.

“I am now going to discuss the failures of your software on air as soon as I get my next on-air opportunity, which I will also put ot all of these statements via the ABC Twitter account.

“I will offer a rep of your company a right of reply. Can’t wait to hear the “answers.”“

For the record, Ashley Geelan has never worked and will never work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in any capacity, including that of the cleaning staff.

One fellow operator told an Internet news group:

“Unfortunately in recent times Ashley has suffered the collapse of the Geelan empire which included the closing down of his fantastic Yahoo email group and the Australian Communications Authority raiding his house and taking all of his radio gear off him, apparently for illegally transmitting on amateur frequencies without a licence or authority and possibly on Police channels as well.  

“I don’t know if St Helena Paving is suffering as a result of this, or if Ashley has had to sell the Torana as well … Keep it up Ashley. Your keeping us all entertained with your famous and stupid bloody ways.” 

St Helena Paving was a registered business name of Ashley Stephen Geelan.

Ashley Geelan replied:

“It had to more to do with a local councillor – name [redacted] – (a corrupt copper as well who I had dirt on for car theft, bashing prisoners etc) who doesn’t like me (like many of you) so may I suggest you actually do some research and get your facts straight before you open your rather large mouths.” 

Sound familiar to 2019?

Back in 2004, Geelan was talking about his unproven allegations of corrupt police, wicked councillors, and fact checking.

Fifteen years on, it’s the same hopeless story. Only the names of his accused have changed.

Andrew Kenna was monitoring Geelan’s website in 2004:

“If you check out Ashley Geelan’s web site he says its 100% legal to steal Foxtel. I think the Police, ACA, and Foxtel would say otherwise.”

Kenna continued:

“Ashley Geelan and [redacted] certainly helped 2003 go out with a big bang (they probably did a big bang – and a big bong with each other anyway). There is one thing we should thank them for and that is our comical entertainment. These guys are the greatest joke I have come across in a
long time … Keep it up Ashley and Michael, I need the laughs. You guys are fucken dickheads.”

One internet post had the familiar theme of re-written song lyrics, and the threat that a policeman’s home would by destroyed by fire. “How about a molitof (sic) cocktail, straight through the window at 2am?”

“One day, he’ll go for a drive to find he has no brakes – who cut the lines?”

Radio operator ‘Adam’ told the Aus.Radio.Scanner news group about Ashley Geelan’s on-air behaviour: “The worst part about this is that it gives us all a bad name. Not good for our hobby.”

Another operator agreed: “Too many dickheads making it look bad for everybody else.

Now if only Ashley could go play in the traffic.”

Locals smile at how Ashley Geelan, at every opportunity, describes himself as a local hero, with details of how he saved lives and buildings in the 2009 tragedy.

One of the Kinglake Ranges, Castella & Toolangi Community Facebook Group administrators this month (15/10/2019) described it this way:

“I don’t think I’m alone but I’m so sick of the self-indulgent dribble being posted. Should Ashlee (I’m a hero just ask me) be removed from the group.”

By the way, 61 people agreed, 9 joked that they would contribute towards a hit man, and there were 8 other responses.

Interestingly, Geelan also describes himself as the hero of another fire.

This time in Whittlesea (20/08/2018).

The story became big news at Geelan’s Kinglake Ranges News blog.

”On Monday, August 20 a Whittlesea house fire started in the lounge room roof. The smoke alarm did not sound until it was too late as the tiled roof began collapsing.”

“Black acrid smoke was seen throughout Whittlesea.”

The spotlight turns to Ashley Geelan in a pathetic attempt at “journalism” where the reporter becomes the story.

“Within seconds of the smoke alarm sounding the lounge room was ablaze as the roof collapsed onto a couch. Despite Geelan’s best efforts the fire took hold within seconds and there was nothing Geelan could do.”

It turns out that the leased property was that of Geelan’s common law wife; and that Geelan had been inside the roof earlier.

”Whilst running television and radio communications cables in the roof Geelan had noticed and removed some insulation ‘pink batts’ that showed evidence of burning from being too close to low-voltage down lights that create heat in the transformers,” said the report at Geelan’s website.

“Most of the house was destroyed with only items in the bathroom and rear of the home surviving. What the fire didn’t get was soon water or soot damaged.

“As a former Country Fire Authority volunteer (Eltham 1994 – 2000) Geelan shouldn’t have gone back inside the home without building fire turn-out gear (PPE), a charged canvas 38mm fire hose, a rope trace line and breathing apparatus.

The report was supposed to have been penned by an independent third person, then mid-sentence, the Ashley Geelan story takes over as author; there’s no explanation of how the author fits in the story, and no disclaimer of the author’s conflict of interest.

“Adrenalin took over and Geelan went in anyway.

“Later Geelan was taken to hospital after suffering mild burns taking in too much carbon monoxide to my bloodstream from breathing the toxic smoke.

“Radio communications and computer equipment that Geelan used to keep police and fire on air during Black Saturday were destroyed.

“Due to asphyxiation and possible carbon monoxide poisoning Barbara Kress and Geelan were taken to the Northern Hospital for oxygen and observation, before detectives took all of our clothes – yes all – for forensic testing.

“The clothes were returned, no evidence of arson was found and our clothes were returned last Thursday, September 27. No charges were laid.

“Geelan lost nothing on Black Saturday, but helped others.

‘This reporter always has – and always will – put people’s safety and well-being before filing reports. It was rather disappointing to see so many capable people standing around filming on phones and posting to face(less)book rather than helping out. I’m a reporter and photographer, but if I see someone who requires first aid or needs assistance, then fuck the camera, news reporting and taking photos of it, administer first aid and help first. Report later.”

Geelan’s efforts were never reported to any authority with the recommendation of a hero’s medallion for valour.

However, Ashley Geelan did use the incident to unsuccessfully attempt to persuade La Trobe University authorities to give the 40-year-old student extra time for his overdue assignments.

Is Geelan a hero? Not in this life time.

Is Geelan a professional victim? Indeed.

Is Geelan a pathological liar? Absolutely.

Is Geelan responsible for burning down the former Whittlesea home of his common law wife? It’s very possible.