The Budgie Smuggler Nine are living proof that a good school, good DNA and good clothes maketh neither the man nor for good sense.
For years, the BS Nine have wandered the world marking out a little bits of England, Croatia, China, Greece, Italy and Holland that will be forever Australia.
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'Budgie nine' arrive at Malaysian court
Nine Australians arrive at a court in Malaysia after they were detained for stripping down to their swimwear at the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the weekend.
But desporting themselves at the Malaysian Grand Prix last Sunday proved a prix too far.
The BS Nine dropped their pants to reveal Sluggos emblazoned with the brand "Budgy Smuggler" and the Malaysian flag then chanted "Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi" for several minutes, while quaffing beer from shoes to celebrate fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo's first F1 win in two years.
![Edward Leaney and Jack Walker leaving court.](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/j/9/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
They were arrested, and Thursday they fronted the Sepang Magistrates Court on charges unbecoming a gentleman. They escaped conviction, one apologising profusely.
But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of their arrests is how such well-travelled, well-read and well-bred twentysomethings managed to behave so boorishly in a country renown for modesty in dress, demeanour and democracy.
Those who bared their bodies with pride if not prejudice at the Sepang International Circuitwere Branden Stobbs, 29, Edward Leaney, 25, Nicolas Kelly, 27, Thomas Laslett, 28, Thomas Whitworth, 28, James Paver, 27, Adam Pasfield 25, Timothy Yates 29, and Jack Walker, 26, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne's staffer.
Walker is Pyne's defence innovation adviser, a senior and newly created role within the crucial (for South Australia) Defence Industry portfolio.
![Nine Australian men celebrate in Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag at the conclusion of ...](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/9/k/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
He came to politics via Cranbrook School, Macquarie Bank and a stint at Liberal lobbyist Michael Photios' firm.
Walker's shooting himself in the buttock resulted in widespread hilarity and headlines and a piece in the latest issue of the Spectator Australia magazine, purportedly by an anonymous former ministerial adviser, lamenting the "growing culture within the Liberal ranks...the staffer brat" with an accompanying photograph of Rob Lowe in full Sam Seaborn mode from The West Wing.
![Branden Stobbs, front, and Thomas Laslett arrive at the Sepang Magistrate in Sepang, Malaysia.](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/8/z/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
"When Jack Walker did the no trousers dance in front of the world's media, he did it with zero thought for his Minister or the broader government agenda. After all the Neverland he lives in has never had consequences," the anonymous former adviser wrote.
But perhaps the plight of the BS Nine's is in part testimony to the role privilege and protectionism play in shaping how the Australian well-to-do ensure that their scions keep doing well.
![Nick Kelly was among nine friends who spent four nights in Malaysian police detention following the incident.](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/j/a/1/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
Those leg-ups to business success, the University of Sydney and the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, seem shared experiences.
Timothy Yates is an exemplar of the sort of man who enlisted in the BS Nine.
![The nine men escaped conviction on Thursday.](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/u/2/v/k/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
The son of senior diplomat Tom Yates (who served as consul-general in Libya and is now trade commissioner in Japan) and the nephew of Peter Yates (former Packer family vassal and current Myer Family Investments deputy chair), he was educated in Jakarta and Melbourne, and now works with Emersion Software Systems.
Brisbane-educated Thomas Laslett, a Palm Beach SLSC member and senior project engineer worked with construction firm Leighton before joining the Sydney Light Rail project when the Liberals won government. His father Craig Laslett is a managing director at Lend Lease.
![Illustration: Matt Golding](/web/20161006094529im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/p/k/e/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grwbiz.png/1475746100457.jpg)
Fellow Palmie clubbie Thomas Whitforth attended The Kings School, completed an economics degree at Sydney and now works for First Class Capital.
Edward Leaney attended Trinity Grammar and is now general manager of the family company, Focus Uniforms. Nick Kelly, a product of Sydney Grammar, works in advertising while Adam Pasfield, the son of a publican, attended St Aloysius College and is a medical graduate from the University of NSW. James Paver works at Leighton Properties. Canadian Branden Stobbs is a marketeer who also studied at Sydney University.
The infamy of the BS Nine's buttocks bearing the Malaysian flag have given an unexpected boost to the Sydney-based swimwear business whose name they carried.
On Saturday, Budgy Smuggler will stage its "search for Australia's most ordinary rig" on Saturday at the Ivy hotel swimming pool bar in Sydney: the winner will receive a pair of Custom Smugglers with pictures of themselves emblazoned across them.