/qnotables/ - ===Q Notables===

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989477 (280947ZNOV23) Notable: Palestine solidarity action risks breaching code of conduct, teachers warned

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Palestine solidarity action risks breaching code of conduct, teachers warned

Robyn Grace and Rachel Eddie - November 28, 2023

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Teachers who engage in a campaign to show solidarity with Palestine face misconduct processes if they are found to be in breach of their professional code of conduct.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on Tuesday the Education Department was working with schools in response to the teachers’ week of action, which encourages them to show support for Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war by wearing a traditional keffiyeh scarf or inviting advocates into classrooms.

More than 200 teachers are also expected to attend a vigil outside the State Library on Thursday night.

Allan would not say what specific action could be taken but Education Department deputy secretary David Howes warned in a letter to principals on Monday that teachers who took part in the campaign risked breaching their obligation to maintain impartiality and public trust.

Howes said it was important teachers were reminded that school staff “should not use their professional position to make political statements or seek to influence the political views of students”.

“This includes not participating in the proposed teachers’ week of action,” he said.

Two Australian Education Union sub-branches, covering the inner city and Maribyrnong, started the week of action on Monday.

A government school teacher involved in the campaign said they had been warned they may be in breach of several clauses in the public sector’s code of conduct, including impartiality, using their platform for personal gain and bringing the department or school into disrepute.

Failure to behave in the ways described in the code may lead to action under relevant performance management or misconduct processes, the department’s website says.

A teacher who says she was sent home for giving colleagues leaflets that supported Palestine said school staff have been told to shut down classroom conversations about the Israel-Hamas war.

The inner-city teacher, who asked to be known only as Louisa, said the silence in schools about the situation in Israel and Palestine was doing a disservice to students.

The leaflet incident was the subject of a motion by the inner city AEU sub-branch, which defended the rights of teachers to communicate with other staff members about civil, political, human rights and trade union business.

Louisa said her school had run a fundraiser last year for Ukrainian refugees during the war with Russia. She was told the same could not be done for humanitarian aid for Gaza.

“We have been told to not allow any discussions in the classrooms in regards to what is happening in Palestine and in Israel,” she said.

“You can see the grief in the students and I don’t think they know how to process at all. I think the silence that is coming from the schools is actually quite damaging.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989556 (281012ZNOV23) Notable: Australian National University study of 4200 Australians finds voters rejected voice model, not constitutional recognition

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ANU study of 4200 Australians finds voters rejected voice model, not constitutional recognition

ROSIE LEWIS - NOVEMBER 28, 2023

The “largest and most comprehensive survey” on the Indigenous voice to parliament has found the model put by the Albanese government was a key reason the referendum failed amid widespread support for a broader definition of constitutional recognition.

After tracking the views of 4200 voters since January, the Australian National University will release on Tuesday the study showing 41.5 per cent of respondents would definitely have voted Yes to recognise Indigenous ­people in the Constitution compared with 9.2 per cent who were certain they’d vote No.

Nearly a third (29.3 per cent) were unsure and wanted more details when asked: “If the referen­dum question was not to establish the voice to parliament but instead to recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution only, would you have voted YES or NO?”

In a finding that doesn’t align to the result of the referendum, which was voted down 60 per cent to 40 per cent, 87 per cent of voters surveyed believed Indigenous Australians should have a voice or say over matters that affected them and 76 per cent of No voters thought they deserved a voice on key policies and political decisions.

Study co-author Nicholas Biddle said the survey showed most voters were supportive of some form of constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians.

“This raises serious questions about why the proposed referendum failed and saw more than 60 per cent of voters, and all states and territories except the ACT, categorically reject it,” he said.

“Our findings suggest it is not so much the premise of recogni­tion but the model that was being presented to voters at the referendum, among other key factors.

“Our findings show that there is widespread support for a broad definition of constitutional recognition. Almost five times as many Australians, 61.7 per cent, said they would definitely or probably would have voted Yes if there was a referendum on recognition compared to those who said that they would probably or definitely would have voted No, 12.5 per cent.”

Most voters (79.4 per cent) thought the federal government should help improve reconciliation and 80.5 per cent wanted the country to undertake formal truth-telling processes – the third request of the Uluru statement, behind voice and treaty.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley asked Anthony Albanese on Monday if his government remained committed to implementing treaty and truth-telling one month after the referendum.

The Prime Minister downplayed the federal government’s role in treaty-making.

“Prior to October the 14th, I stood at this dispatch box and they were trying to say that what people were voting on was treaty,” he said.

“I indicated at this dispatch box that that wasn’t what people were voting on. That indeed, treaty negotiations are under way at state level, not at federal level. There is no treaty negotiations under way by the federal government.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/anu-study-of-4200-australians-finds-voters-rejected-voice-model-not-constitutional-recognition/news-story/5cbe2e3dfbef3dbe221fe6e6842696c4

https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/voters-rejected-voice-due-to-fears-of-division-anu-study

https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/detailed-analysis-2023-voice-parliament-referendum-and-related-social-and

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989571 (281017ZNOV23) Notable: Labor senator Patrick Dodson to retire from parliament amid health battle

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Labor senator Patrick Dodson to retire from parliament amid health battle

ROSIE LEWIS - NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Patrick Dodson has endorsed local and regional voices and says non-Indigenous Australians must come on board if the country is to progress treaty-making and truth-telling.

Known as the Father of Reconciliation, Senator Dodson, who will formally retire on January 26, three days before his 76th birthday, said he left parliament with a sense of sorrow after the failed voice referendum.

Flanked by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Indigenous Labor colleagues after receiving a standing ovation in the final caucus meeting of the year, Senator Dodson said he believed the jury was out on constitutional recognition through a voice to parliament but he conceded that many Australians of goodwill didn’t understand the implications and complexities of the proposal put by the Albanese government and referendum working group.

“That requires consultation, and I accept that,” Senator Dodson said, adding that the successful No campaign had created an “Australian problem”.

“A 60-40 split of that (referendum) vote makes it an Australian problem. It’s not an Aboriginal problem ... We need to seriously think now of the way in which our civil society knits together with its diversity and differences.

“We can’t take that for granted and it is not just First Nations peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, this is an Australian problem we now have and it’s the legacy of the success of the No voters.”

The Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, who has this year battled a life-threatening infection on his oesophagus and incurable Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said he had recognised during the referendum debate that he wasn’t able to carry out his duties as he wished.

Senator Dodson nominated three ways forward in Indigenous affairs that would make reconciliation more meaningful, including improving Closing the Gap outcomes, seeking inspiration from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people to set standards and measures for future public debates and ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could become economically independent.

Noting that he and Liberal MP Julian Leeser had previously recommended regional bodies to give Indigenous Australians decision-making roles in programs and funding that affected them, Senator Dodson said it was “still a very important factor” for local and regional communities to hold governments to account.

“I know the minister (Ms Burney) is considering that (regional and local voices) and my colleagues are. It’s not an easy thing having people tell us we shouldn’t have a national voice but we are working through that and we want to be respectful to the First Peoples and we will find a way to come through that,” he said.

The West Australian senator, a Yawuru man who entered federal parliament in 2016, said the government required input and direction from Indigenous people on how best to progress a Makarrata Commission to oversee treaties and truth-telling processes.

“The lesson we’ve learned out of this is (that) the non-Indigenous people have to come on board with this. You can’t have a treaty with yourself. You can’t have truth-­telling on your own in some little secret room. It’s got to involve all of us,” Senator Dodson said.

“We don’t bow to people telling us what we can’t do.”

Anthony Albanese said he was filled with sadness at Senator Dodson’s plans to retire but also gratitude, saying he had spent his life championing justice and advancing reconciliation. “A commissioner into Aboriginal deaths in custody, the first chair of Reconciliation Australia, and a director of the Central Land Council and the Kimberley Land Council, he shone a spotlight on the gaping chasm in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and put forward solutions grounded in policy reform,” the Prime Minister said.

“He always sought to call attention to the deep connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share with the land and waters and the incredible contribution they have made to our ­national life.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/labor-senator-pat-dodson-to-retire-from-parliament-amid-health-battle/news-story/c539b8b6f2edb029f48ecc7cf452fb7b

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989602 (281027ZNOV23) Notable: Labor backflips to criminalise Nazi salute - The Albanese government will outlaw the Nazi salute, doing an about-face on its previous refusal to ban the gesture, as Labor moves to repair relations with the nation’s Jewish community

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Labor backflips to criminalise Nazi salute

BEN PACKHAM - NOVEMBER 28, 2023

The Albanese government will outlaw the Nazi salute, doing an about-face on its previous refusal to ban the gesture, as Labor moves to repair relations with the ­nation’s Jewish community.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus revealed that the government would amend its own legislation banning the display of Nazi symbols to also criminalise the salute.

Mr Dreyfus had previously argued that banning the gesture was “something better dealt with by state and territory laws” but on Tuesday he said the government had decided to add the gesture to its Prohibited Hate Symbols Bill to “send a clear message” to those who glorified the Holocaust.

“There is absolutely no place in Australia for hatred, violence and anti-Semitism,” he said.

“Amendments to be introduced tomorrow will strengthen our legislation by making the Nazi salute a criminal offence under commonwealth law. The amendments will ensure that no one will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols which celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology.”

The move came as five Jewish Australians with loved ones murdered or kidnapped by Hamas met with Anthony Albanese and senior members of the government in Canberra.

They also held a vigil outside parliament with 240 cardboard cut-outs representing the hostages taken by Hamas.

The Prime Minister said there should be “no place in the world in 2023” for what happened to Israel on October 7.

“I just express on behalf of the government and on behalf of the Australian people our sincere sympathy and condolences for your loss of loved ones, friends and family,” he told the delegation.

“And our commitment to continue to call consistently, unequivocally, for the release of all hostages that have now been taken for a long period of time.”

Labor’s relations with the Jewish community have been strained amid claims by some members of the government, including cabinet ministers, that Israel is collectively punishing Palestinians for the crimes of Hamas.

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s Colin Rubenstein said strengthening of the hate symbols legislation was welcome at a time of rising anti-Semitism. “The Nazi salute is used to frighten and intimidate its targets,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“These laws will send a clear message to the Australian community that we as a nation will not tolerate those who seek to divide us by promoting an ideology characterised by racism, industrialised genocide and mass murder.”

Coalition members of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security had previously been unsuccessful in having the Labor bill amended to include a ban on the Nazi gesture.

The committee’s deputy chair, Liberal MP Andrew Wallace, said he was “glad to hear Labor have done a backflip and have finally committed to amending legislation to prohibit the Nazi salute”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/labor-backflips-to-criminalise-nazi-salute/news-story/7085b1529e25b970ed5c3443af2aef47

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989621 (281033ZNOV23) Notable: ‘She’s very excited’: Top Trump foe Nancy Pelosi to visit Australia - One of the most influential politicians in recent United States history - former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi - is set to visit Australia next year as part of an effort to boost American tourist numbers. Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said he invited Pelosi and husband Paul to make the trip while sitting beside the pair during a dinner in San Francisco earlier this month

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‘She’s very excited’: Top Trump foe Nancy Pelosi to visit Australia

Matthew Knott - November 28, 2023

One of the most influential politicians in recent United States history – former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi – is set to visit Australia next year as part of an effort to boost American tourist numbers.

Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said he invited Pelosi and husband Paul to make the trip while sitting beside the pair during a dinner in San Francisco earlier this month.

“I said it would be fantastic for her to visit Australia and she readily accepted the invitation,” Farrell said. “She’s very excited about it.”

Farrell said United Airlines, which runs direct flights to Australia from Los Angeles and Pelosi’s hometown of San Francisco, had agreed to sponsor her trip.

Pelosi, whose electoral district includes several tech headquarters, is expected to visit Google’s Sydney headquarters during the planned visit.

She is also close friends with the US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy.

Past efforts to increase US tourist numbers included a high-profile trip by Oprah Winfrey in 2011.

“It will be a very well publicised trip on both sides of the Pacific; I think it will be fantastic for tourism,” Farrell said.

Pelosi is the only woman to serve as House speaker in US history, from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.

Her international profile rose during the Trump years when she became a key antagonist of the divisive Republican president, including a famous moment when she tore up a copy of Donald Trump’s speech at the end of his 2020 State of the Union address.

An image of her giving Trump what appeared to be a patronising clap during the same speech also went viral.

Farrell said Australia had struggled to attract the same number of US travellers as the pre-COVID era, and that tourism operators were especially eager to boost tourist numbers from the US west coast.

Pelosi’s visit could hopefully help push US tourist numbers above pre-COVID levels, he said.

He said Pelosi, 83, told him she had travelled to 83 countries but never to Australia.

Farrell and the Pelosis bonded over a passion for winemaking during their conversation on the sidelines of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework talks in San Francisco.

Farrell said the Pelosis, who own a sprawling vineyard estate in northern California, would be welcome to visit his family vineyard in South Australia, but he doubted they would have time.

Pelosi played a key role in organising the numbers to ensure the successful passage of former president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation, as well as current president Joe Biden’s infrastructure and climate change bills.

Pelosi, who was first elected to Congress in 1987, stepped down from the Democratic House leadership last year after her party lost its majority following midterm elections.

She announced in September that she would run for another congressional term in 2024, fuelling a debate in the US about the advanced age of many senior politicians from both major parties.

Pelosi visited the self-governing island of Taiwan on a controversial trip last year, prompting China to launch a massive round of live-fire drills and military exercises.

Her husband Paul was left with a fractured skull last year after a right-wing conspiracy theorist broke into the Pelosis’ home and attacked him with a hammer.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/she-s-very-excited-top-trump-foe-nancy-pelosi-to-visit-australia-20231128-p5enam.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19989725 (281101ZNOV23) Notable: ‘Fully engaged’: Rudd opens up on Biden’s age and Trump’s possible return - Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has staunchly defended Joe Biden amid growing concerns the US president is too old to run for re-election, describing him as engaged, across his brief and a first-class negotiator on global issues

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‘Fully engaged’: Rudd opens up on Biden’s age and Trump’s possible return

Farrah Tomazin - November 28, 2023

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Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has staunchly defended Joe Biden amid growing concerns the US president is too old to run for re-election, describing him as engaged, across his brief and a first-class negotiator on global issues.

In a broad-ranging interview with this masthead, Australia’s ambassador to the US also hit out at China over the recent sonar incident at sea; played down hopes that AUKUS legislation could pass by the end of the year; and addressed disparaging comments he previously made about Donald Trump, who he once described as “nuts”, “treacherous” and “the most destructive president in history”.

Asked if he stood by those comments, Rudd did not shy away but noted that he made them as an “independent think tanker” with the Asia Society Policy Institute based in New York, whose job it was to be “free and frank” on matters of public debate.

But he insisted that Australia would be able to deal with the potential return of Trump to the White House if the Republican wins next year’s election, pointing out that there is “a level of bipartisan support in Australia for the alliance,” which he said “transcends party politics – both in Australia and the United States”.

In terms of Biden, who turned 81 this month and faces lingering concerns about his age and overall performance, Rudd replied: “What I can say is that in my own engagements with the President on matters near and dear to the hearts and minds of Australia, is that he has been fully engaged and fully seized of the importance of the issues that we have been discussing with him.

“We have found him to be a first-class interlocutor in dealing with all the complex issues that we’re wrestling with in the world: including the Middle East, including Ukraine, including China, including critical minerals and including clean energy,” he added.

Rudd’s reflections come seven months after he took on the job as the Albanese government’s top diplomat in Washington, replacing former Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos.

As the first former prime minister in the role – and as someone with an Oxford University doctorate on Chinese President Xi Jinping – his presence immediately boosted Canberra’s diplomatic clout in a city where few things unite Democrats and Republicans more than the growing threat of Beijing.

Both sides of politics have also shown bipartisan support for the AUKUS pact – a trilateral agreement in which the US and Britain will help Australia acquire nuclear-propelled submarines to safeguard the Indo-Pacific.

But one month after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Washington to lobby members of Congress to pass AUKUS legislation “by the end of the year”, Rudd was far less bullish about the likelihood that this could be achieved.

“I think it’s unwise to put a timeline on it because we’re all captured by the internal processes of the Congress,” he said. “My bottom-line analysis is our legislation will get through, but I’m not prepared to make a statement on what day or month [that might happen].”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/19995394 (290943ZNOV23) Notable: Worst offenders among immigration detainees could be locked up again - The worst offenders released from immigration detention could be locked up again under new preventative detention laws the Albanese government vows to rush through parliament before Christmas

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Worst offenders among immigration detainees could be locked up again

Angus Thompson and Paul Sakkal - November 28, 2023

The worst offenders released from immigration detention could be locked up again under new preventative detention laws the Albanese government vows to rush through parliament before Christmas.

In outlining its reasons for overturning indefinite detention, the High Court left the door open to re-detaining people considered a risk to the community if new laws were passed.

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil urged parliament “to support the government in protecting the Australian community”.

“Today our government received reasons from the High Court. We are moving quickly to finalise a tough preventative detention regime before parliament rises. The safety of Australian citizens is our utmost priority,” she said.

On November 8, the High Court overturned a 20-year precedent that had enabled the indefinite detention of foreigners who could not be deported.

In the summary of the reasons for the decision, the court found the government contravened the Constitution on the basis that detention was punitive “in circumstances where there was no real prospect of the removal of the plaintiff from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future”.

However, the court said its decision did not prevent people from being placed back in custody if the prospect of deportation became a practical option.

“Nor would grant of that relief prevent detention of the plaintiff on some other applicable statutory basis, such as under a law providing for preventive detention of a child sex offender who presents an unacceptable risk of reoffending if released from custody,” part of the reasons expressed by Justice James Edelman say.

The reasons were published as the government grapples for control of the political agenda after the Coalition dictated the terms of laws rushed through parliament to supervise and track former detainees in the community.

In question time, which was dominated by questions about the detainees, O’Neil accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of hypocrisy and weakness for voting against legislation on Monday night that would have levied fresh criminal penalties for breaches of strict new conditions.

“When the minister for immigration brought forward strong laws to attach criminal offences for child sex offenders going near schools, they voted against it,” O’Neil said.

“The truth is, there’s one side of politics here that is trying to do the right thing, and adapt to the High Court change, and do so in the interests of the community, [and] another side of politics that’s being hypocritical.”

The successful legal challenge to indefinite detention by a stateless Rohingya man – a child sex offender given the pseudonym NZYQ – had already forced the government to introduce emergency legislation for mandatory electronic monitoring and curfews on freed detainees.

The judges noted that Australian officials attempted to deport the man to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Each of the nations rejected the approach except the US, with an official saying the US Department of State would “have a hard look” at the case.

Despite this prospect, the court found the possibility of his resettlement was far from definite and “could not occur without the exercise of multiple statutory discretions by multiple agencies within the US, including some discretions involving waiver of statutory prohibitions”.

O’Neil last week said the government was considering preventative detention laws similar to counter-terror legislation allowing people to be detained when the community is at risk.

Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said on Tuesday the court had “given a green light for the preventative detention regime the opposition has been calling for for almost three weeks”.

“Now there are no excuses. The Albanese government must introduce and legislate a preventative detention scheme this week before the parliament rises,” he said.

University of Canberra professor Kim Rubenstein, an expert in constitutional and citizenship law, agreed the reasons paved the way for preventative detention measures to be introduced. “But very clearly within a criminal code framework, because it’s very clear you can’t have administrative detention,” she said.

Constitutional expert George Williams said preventative detention of any of the cohort may become a state responsibility, “because they’re the ones responsible for ordinary criminal law”.

“It’s misguided to focus on federal parliament ... it would need a national response,” he said.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/high-court-publishes-reasons-for-indefinite-detention-decision-20231128-p5ena0.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20001884 (300908ZNOV23) Notable: Video: Protesters target Israeli hostage families with pro-Palestine signs, bloodied dolls - Family members of Israelis who were killed or taken hostage by Hamas had to seek shelter at a Melbourne police station after they were confronted by a group of pro-Palestinian protesters in the lobby of their Docklands hotel. The group of masked protesters stood in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Melbourne hotel on Spencer Street, holding Palestinian flags and a large sign with the words “Stop arming Israel” and “Free Palestine”, and placed two bloodied dolls on the ground

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Protesters target Israeli hostage families with pro-Palestine signs, bloodied dolls

Marta Pascual Juanola and Broede Carmody - November 30, 2023

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Family members of Israelis who were killed or taken hostage by Hamas had to seek shelter at a Melbourne police station after they were confronted by a group of pro-Palestinian protesters in the lobby of their Docklands hotel.

The group of masked protesters stood in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Melbourne hotel on Spencer Street, holding Palestinian flags and a large sign with the words “Stop arming Israel” and “Free Palestine”, and placed two bloodied dolls on the ground.

Footage of the protest, circulated on social media, shows the group at the top of escalators chanting “shame”, as four police officers approach them.

Deputy head of mission for the Israeli embassy in Australia Chris Cantor said the delegation of family members had finished meeting Jewish community members when they encountered the protesters on Wednesday night.

Cantor said the delegation was led into a secure area inside a police station until officers cleared the hotel and allowed them back to their accommodation about two hours later.

“For us, it’s totally unacceptable that these people who came here to meet politicians, meet civil society organisations, meet the media … have to meet in plain Melbourne city, a mob of people shouting and protesting against them,” he said.

Victoria Police confirmed officers moved on a group of about 20 protesters who had walked into the lobby of the Spencer Street hotel with flags and signs about 10pm. No one was injured.

In a statement released on social media, the pro-Palestinian protesters, who identify as “an autonomous group of pro-Palestine activists”, said the protest was aimed at Israeli embassy officials and the Crowne Plaza hotel for hosting them.

“The group of activists is committed to non-violence. The Israeli delegation came seeking military support and war,” it read.

A Free Palestine Melbourne spokesperson said the group did not organise or condone the protest.

“Free Palestine Melbourne played no part in this action. Palestinians understand the pain of being unjustly separated from those we love,” organiser Muayad Ali said.

“We are hopeful that all of the hostages will be freed in exchange for the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli custody.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who met with members of the delegation when they visited Canberra on Tuesday, condemned the protest, saying, “why people would make the conscious decision to hold a protest where the families of these people were staying is beyond my comprehension and beyond contempt.

“I’m appalled by the actions of these protesters and I condemn them.”

Premier Jacinta Allan, who met one of the delegates on Wednesday, denounced the protest in a brief statement released on social media.

“I condemn the extreme behaviour on display last night, in the strongest possible terms. I condemn the antisemitism. I condemn targeting people in their moment of grief,” she said.

“Whatever your views, we all expect Victorians to act with decency and humanity.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20001913 (300927ZNOV23) Notable: Video: Dutton demands apology for O’Neil’s claims he voted to protect paedophiles - Peter Dutton is demanding an apology from federal Labor ministers who claimed he had voted to protect paedophiles rather than children, even as the federal government scrambles to secure his support for new laws that would return to detention the worst criminal offenders released after the landmark High Court ruling. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Sports Minister Anika Wells both made the claim against Dutton - a former Queensland police officer who had worked in the sex offenders squad - in parliament and during a television interview, prompting a fierce response from the federal opposition leader and his colleagues

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Dutton demands apology for O’Neil’s claims he voted to protect paedophiles

James Massola and Olivia Ireland - November 30, 2023

Peter Dutton is demanding an apology from federal Labor ministers who claimed he had voted to protect paedophiles rather than children, even as the federal government scrambles to secure his support for new laws that would return to detention the worst criminal offenders released after the landmark High Court ruling.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Sports Minister Anika Wells both made the claim against Dutton – a former Queensland police officer who had worked in the sex offenders squad – in parliament and during a television interview, prompting a fierce response from the federal opposition leader and his colleagues.

On Monday, the federal government announced new laws to wind back the High Court decision that ruled indefinite detention was illegal, which had obliged the government to release 142 people from indefinite detention, including killers and rapists.

The Coalition has also refused to confirm if they will help pass the government’s separate new citizenship cessation laws that would give judges the power to strip terrorists of their citizenship.

The opposition voted against the laws to address the High Court’s decision on indefinite detention, which would have imposed a range of tough new conditions including banning paedophiles going near schools, arguing the laws did not go far enough.

With parliament due to rise for the year in a week’s time, the government and opposition are scrambling to agree on the details of a new set of laws, after the High Court left the door open to redetaining people considered a risk to the community.

But even as Labor sought to strike a deal with the Coalition over the laws, it also sought to demonise Dutton in and outside the parliament.

On Nine’s Today show, Wells said she agreed with the claim that Dutton had been a “protector of paedophiles”, prompting the opposition leader to respond on radio station 2GB that “I think I’m owed an apology from Anika Wells and the prime minister, but we’ll see if they’re big enough to make that apology.”

The hostilities escalated in question time as O’Neil repeated her attack line that Dutton and the opposition voted “to protect paedophiles over children. That is what they did” in blocking the paedophile school zone ban earlier in the week.

“They came in here and instead of supporting Labor’s attempts to criminalise paedophiles, who loiter near daycare centres and schools, the leader of the opposition came in here and played politics instead,” she said.

The claim prompted a furious response from opposition frontbenchers including social services spokesman Michael Sukkar, who said the comment was a “disgusting slur” that should be withdrawn, prompting Speaker Milton Dick to order the minister to temper his language and withdraw the remark.

Sukkar said every member of the opposition had been accused of protecting paedophiles and that it would be “extraordinary if that be allowed in the chamber, and I request that the minister not only withdraw but apologise”.

O’Neil withdrew the comment but said the opposition could not “hide” from the fact that it had voted against stopping paedophiles being able to stand in front of schools.

Dutton then moved to suspend standing orders in the parliament to expresses grave concern over the Albanese government’s “catastrophic handling of the NZYQ High Court case [the pseudonym of the stateless Rohingya man convicted of child rape] that resulted in a mass release of hardened criminals from detention into the Australian community”.

The citizenship laws come after the High Court ruled it was invalid for the government to strip terrorists of Australian citizenship because it gave the Commonwealth judicial powers, breaching the Constitution.

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash and opposition home affairs minister James Paterson told media this afternoon that they support the new citizenship legislation, but want the scope broadened to include more crimes, including espionage and foreign interference.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-demands-apology-for-o-neil-s-claims-he-voted-to-protect-paedophiles-20231130-p5eo3l.html

https://9now.nine.com.au/today/peter-dutton-comments-ignite-fiery-stoush-between-chris-okeefe-and-anika-wells/6f4c7b00-5a2c-4431-9a17-6f6874035c95

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20008367 (011357ZDEC23) Notable: ‘A bucket of dirt dropped on us’: Backlash grows to Australia-Tuvalu treaty - Australia is facing an intense backlash to its landmark resettlement and security treaty with Tuvalu, as the island nation’s opposition leader Enele Sopoaga vows to scrap the pact in its current form if elected

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>>108549

>>108550

‘A bucket of dirt dropped on us’: Backlash grows to Australia-Tuvalu treaty

Matthew Knott - December 1, 2023

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Australia is facing an intense backlash to its landmark resettlement and security treaty with Tuvalu, as the island nation’s opposition leader vows to scrap the pact in its current form if elected.

Former prime minister Enele Sopoaga, who wants to retake the top job when Tuvalu holds elections on January 26, blasted the deal announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Tuvalu’s Prime Minister, Kausea Natano, last month as “alarming”, “bullish” and “inconsiderate”.

Sopoaga said many Tuvaluans were offended and confused by the treaty, promising to campaign strongly against it in the lead-up to the Pacific nation’s elections.

“This is like a bucket of dirt that is being dropped on the people of Tuvalu,” Sopoaga, who served as prime minister from 2013 to 2019, told this masthead in an interview.

“I can’t express how disappointed I am with the wording of the text. This should never have been signed without prior consultation with the people of Tuvalu.”

The pact, known as the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union, would allow 280 people a year to migrate from the climate-affected nation while granting Australia defacto veto rights over any security pact signed by China and Tuvalu.

Sopoaga said he was concerned that the special visa pathway would see many of the nation’s most highly skilled workers depart for higher wages in Australia.

“This would deplete the economy of Tuvalu within two to three years,” he said, noting the nation had a population of 11,200 people.

“There are very serious questions that need to be answered.”

He said it was insulting that Tuvalu’s government would have to ask Australia permission to strike any defence or security agreements with any other nation under the deal.

“When are you going to stop selling the sovereignty of Tuvalu to other countries like Australia?” he asked his successor as prime minister.

Sopoaga said he would rather strike a similar arrangement with the United Kingdom than Australia given it was a member of the United Nations Security Council.

“This text is very one-sided for Australia,” he said.

“If elected, I would work to improve it for the betterment of the people of Tuvalu. I think I can offer the people a much better deal.”

Tuvalu, a collection of nine low-lying atolls, is considered by the World Bank and the United Nations to be at risk of being deserted as sea levels rise.

Sopoaga earlier blasted the treaty as an act of “bribery” and a way to “buy Tuvalu’s silence over Australia’s coal exports” in an opinion piece published by Radio New Zealand this week.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20013200 (021131ZDEC23) Notable: OPINION: The first Madam President? The woman Biden may fear more than Trump - "Nikki Haley is having a moment. Polling in the key primary state of New Hampshire suggests that the sole female Republican presidential candidate has surged ahead of the charisma-challenged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has tried to position himself as the alternative to Donald Trump. More significantly, this week Haley received the backing of the political network founded by the Koch brothers, the right-wing businessmen whose vast wealth made them such mighty powerbrokers on the American right. Let us put to one side how the influence of elderly billionaires shows that US politics is not just a gerontocracy but also a plutocracy. David Koch died in 2019, aged 79, while 88-year-old Charles is still active. More germane is that Haley is solidifying her status as Trump’s main rival." - Nick Bryant, author of 'When America Stopped Being Great: A History of the Present' - theage.com.au

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>>108584

>>>/qresearch/19995429

OPINION: The first Madam President? The woman Biden may fear more than Trump

Nick Bryant - December 2, 2023

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Nikki Haley is having a moment. Polling in the key primary state of New Hampshire suggests that the sole female Republican presidential candidate has surged ahead of the charisma-challenged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has tried to position himself as the alternative to Donald Trump.

More significantly, this week Haley received the backing of the political network founded by the Koch brothers, the right-wing businessmen whose vast wealth made them such mighty powerbrokers on the American right.

Let us put to one side how the influence of elderly billionaires shows that US politics is not just a gerontocracy but also a plutocracy. David Koch died in 2019, aged 79, while 88-year-old Charles is still active.

More germane is that Haley is solidifying her status as Trump’s main rival.

The former president, of course, remains the presumptive nominee. With the ongoing backing of the MAGA faithful, his cult-like base, he remains way ahead of his rivals. Not even 91 felony counts have damaged his prospects of remaining the party’s figurehead.

Instead, he can portray himself as a MAGA martyr, and arouse among supporters the same sense of shared victimhood which in 2016 helped explain how a New York property tycoon became a working-class hero in the Rust Belt.

Winning the presidency, however, is a wholly different undertaking than securing the Republican presidential nomination because of the need for broader electoral appeal. And this, in essence, is Nikki Haley’s pitch.

One poll last month suggested that she posed significantly more of a threat to Joe Biden than Trump. In a hypothetical match-up, Haley trounced Biden by 10 points, 55 per cent to 45 per cent. If the Republican Party was rational, which, in its Trumpian period, it most definitely is not, then she would not only stand a strong chance of becoming its first female presidential nominee but also America’s first Madam President.

The 51-year-old Haley has an impressive resumé. In deeply conservative South Carolina, where the first shots rang out in the American Civil War, she became the state’s first female governor. What made this all the more remarkable is that she is an Indian American whose name at birth was Nimrata Nikki Randhawa.

Haley was governor in 2015, when Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who had draped himself in the Confederate flag, massacred nine African-American parishioners at a Black church in Charleston. Bravely, Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the State House, where it had been hoisted in the early 1960s as a rebuke to the civil rights movement.

I was there the day when the flag came down, a ceremony that felt like the final surrender of the Civil War. Little did we know that what we were actually witnessing that summer was the beginning of the white nationalist counter-offensive headed by Trump. In a strange quirk of history, he launched his presidential bid the very day before the Charleston massacre.

During the Trump presidency, Haley served as America’s United Nations ambassador, and drew praise from her boss for bringing “glamour” to that role. Though a foreign policy neophyte, she quickly established herself as a formidable diplomat.

From her seat at the Security Council’s famed horseshoe table, she excoriated the Russians, a bold move since Trump was so smitten with Vladimir Putin. At a time when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres privately expressed fears that the US president could destroy the global body with a single tweet, Haley helped protect it from the “America First” wrecking ball.

After the Capitol Hill attack of January 6, 2021, she said Trump would be “judged harshly by history”, although she quickly backtracked when it became clear that many Republicans supported his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Haley’s campaign launch video also spoke of her political timidity in the face of the MAGA mob. Footage of her most courageous act, the lowering of those Confederate colours, was banished from view.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20018188 (030941ZDEC23) Notable: Emmanuel Macron says Australia should lift its nuclear ban as Albanese government shuns 2050 nuclear pledge - French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Australia to lift its nuclear ban as the Albanese government shunned a declaration endorsed by more than 20 countries at the UN climate change conference to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050.

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Emmanuel Macron says Australia should lift its nuclear ban as Albanese government shuns 2050 nuclear pledge

ROSIE LEWIS - DECEMBER 3, 2023

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Australia to lift its nuclear ban as the Albanese government shunned a declaration endorsed by more than 20 countries at the UN climate change conference to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who will head to Dubai for the COP28 summit this week, on Sunday faced Coalition claims that the government had “foolishly isolated itself from its AUKUS allies” by refusing to sign up to the nuclear pledge.

When 17-year-old Nuclear for Australia founder Will Shackel, who identified himself as an Australian, asked Mr Macron for his thoughts on nuclear energy’s role in global plans to decarbonise, the President responded: “I hope that you will manage to lift the ban. Nuclear energy is a source that is necessary to succeed for carbon neutrality in 2050.”

The government signed up to the UAE’s initiative to triple global renewable energy generation capacity and double global average annual energy ­efficiency improvements by 2030 but rejected its nuclear declaration.

Countries that endorsed the pledge included the US, Canada, France, Japan, the UAE and Britain, recognising “the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century and in keeping a 1.5C limit on temperature rise within reach”.

With nuclear set to be a political flashpoint between the major parties at the federal election, Peter Dutton hit out at the Albanese government for being the only G20 nation not to have embraced or be on the pathway to embracing nuclear technology.

“When more than 20 countries, including some of our closest allies, signed a pledge today at COP28 in Dubai calling for a tripling of zero-emissions nuclear energy, our government was nowhere to be seen,” the Opposition Leader said. “US Climate Envoy John Kerry said ‘ … you can’t get to net zero in 2050 without some nuclear’. If Australia is serious about reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 while keeping the lights on and getting prices down, we can’t afford to take any option off the table.”

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien said the government had “foolishly isolated itself from its AUKUS allies and 20 other ­nations” by refusing to back the pledge.

Mr Bowen’s spokesman said it would “take decades for Australia to start from scratch if we ­followed the Liberal National Party’s gamble for nuclear in ­Australia. (That’s) time we don’t have after the LNP oversaw 26.7GW of coal generation announced closure dates – with no plan to replace it.

“Australia has a massive comparative advantage when it comes to the cheapest form of energy-firmed renewables, with more sunlight hitting our landmass than any other country.”

The spokesman also said the government would support COP28’s triple renewable pledge through the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme; its $2bn Hydrogen Headstart program; the $20bn Rewiring the Nation plan to upgrade the electricity grid; developing a national energy performance strategy; a $1.7bn energy savings program; and rolling out solar banks and community batteries.

“Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world and a plan to get to 82 per cent renewables by 2030 to deliver cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy. For emissions to go down around the world, we need a big international push,” Mr Bowen said. “Australia has the resources and the smarts to help supply the world with clean energy technologies to drive down those emissions while spurring new Australian industry.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/emmanuel-macron-says-australia-should-lift-its-nuclear-ban-as-albanese-government-shuns-2050-nuclear-pledge/news-story/2a1a591719cfec2bf75dc0e6647e78cd

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20018229 (031000ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Neo-Nazi protest rocks Ballarat as community expresses outrage over march - A group of masked neo-Nazis has shocked a Victorian city after they paraded down a major street with strange demands for an “Australia for the white man”

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>>108670

Neo-Nazi protest rocks Ballarat as community expresses outrage over march

A group of masked neo-Nazis has shocked a Victorian city after they paraded down a major street with strange demands for an “Australia for the white man”.

Eli Green - December 3, 2023

A neo-Nazi march through a Victorian city has sparked outrage as police investigate whether any laws were broken.

Ballarat locals were left shocked when dozens of masked men dressed in black from the National Socialist Network paraded down Sturt Street in the city’s centre on Sunday afternoon.

Led by a single unmasked man and another holding a megaphone, the group were heard shouting “Australia for the white man” while they marched down the middle of the road.

“Heil victory,” they were also heard chanting.

The group were also heard singing Rule Britannia as they marched and were seen taking photos at Ballarat’s Eureka memorial.

Victoria Police have confirmed they attended the unplanned demonstration at 12:30pm.

“There were no major incidents of note during the demonstration. However, as a matter of course, police will review any vision or CCTV from the day,” a spokesperson said.

“Our top priority was keeping the peace to ensure the event did not impact the safety of the broader community.

“Everyone has the right to feel safe in our community regardless of who they are.

“We understand incidents of anti-Semitism can leave communities feeling targeted, threatened and vulnerable. Hate and prejudice has no place in our society.”

Ballarat Community Alliance said they were aware of the protests and had demanded a swift response from police, adding that “neo-Nazis are not welcome”.

“We condemn this group of blow-ins and their message of hate,” the group said in a statement.

“They have come to Ballarat to co-opt the Eureka legacy on the inclusive and peaceful commemoration of the anniversary of Eureka Stockade.

“We are a proud multicultural city and at the recent referendum were one of the biggest yes votes in regional Australia. We are a safe and inclusive city and we unequivocally condemn their presence in this city.”

The group questioned why police did not enforce new laws that prohibit the performance or display of Nazi symbols and gestures.

“Why weren’t these laws enforced by police who instead helped the neo-Nazis by making safe passage through the street for their protest?” they wrote on social media.

A man who witnessed the event said that the rally sparked disbeliefs in bystanders and said that the event was likely timed to coincide with the Spilt Milk music festival held the day before.

The group were also spotted walking along rural roads at the back of Sovereign Hill, trailed by a police car with lights on.

A bank of cars was seen behind as the group took up the entire lane of traffic.

Many questioned why police did not step in when they took to the streets,

“So they disrupt traffic & don’t get arrested? Climate protesters would be in jail almost immediately!” one person wrote on social media.

It’s not the first time the area has been the target for neo-Nazi protests, with residents saying they felt in danger after a group of men descended on the town of Halls Gap, 150km northwest of Ballarat, on Australia Day in 2021.

Pictures of the gathering showed shirtless men wearing balaclavas burning a cross.

The protest was likely connected to the anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, where gold miners battled with police and the military over land rights and policing of their work.

“They swore to fight together against police and military. After the oath, they built a stockade at Eureka, and waited for the main attack,” the State Library of Victoria says about the rebellion.

“On 3 December, there was an all-out clash between the miners and the police, supported by the military. The miners planned their defence and attack carefully, but they were no match for the well-armed force they faced.

“When the battle was over, 125 miners were taken prisoner and many were badly wounded. Six of the police and troopers were killed and there were at least 22 deaths among the diggers.”

The Eureka flag has been co-opted by neo-Nazi groups in Australia as a symbol of rebellion against the government.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/neonazi-protest-rocks-ballarat-as-community-expresses-outrage-over-march/news-story/c712298f91da22cbe050fe48d9f0cbec

https://twitter.com/randal_m_smith/status/1731153049169850625

https://www.facebook.com/BallaratAlliance/posts/656455466679552

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20022688 (040911ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Long wait for anti-vilification laws as police grapple with neo-Nazis - Tougher anti-vilification laws will not be brought before the Victorian Parliament until the second half of next year as the state grapples with another neo-Nazi demonstration

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>>108682

Long wait for anti-vilification laws as police grapple with neo-Nazis

Rachel Eddie and Broede Carmody - December 4, 2023

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Tougher anti-vilification laws will not be brought before the Victorian Parliament until the second half of next year as the state grapples with another neo-Nazi demonstration.

Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the second action from far-right extremists in seven weeks, while the police association and the state opposition called on her government to help police take tougher action.

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt told The Age the Ballarat incident on Sunday and another in October, when a group of neo-Nazis stormed a train at Flinders Street, highlighted the tough position facing police members.

“In situations like this, police find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place,” Gatt said. “If something is not illegal, police cannot act. It is up to the government to set expectations of what is legally acceptable behaviour and how it wants police to deal with it.

“Relying on minor summary offences, unrelated to the conduct in question, is a workaround, but not a solution.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the Liberal Party’s proposal to expand “move on” powers would give police more options to respond and could defuse situations.

“We want laws changed so that Victoria Police have more powers at their discretion so that they can deal with potentially difficult situations without the binary choice of doing nothing or arresting people,” Pesutto said.

The government objected to the opposition’s “draconian” proposal last month, which Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes at the time said had been misused in the past.

A government spokeswoman said police still had the power to move people on if they posed a danger.

“Victoria Police have plenty of powers to respond to events that threaten public safety and order, including existing move-on laws and the ability to declare designated areas where police can search people without a warrant,” she said.

Shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien told The Age the opposition would reintroduce the bill to the upper house next year.

About 30 people from the National Socialist Network marched through Ballarat on Sunday afternoon with their faces covered while chanting, “Australia for the white man” and “hail victory”, which translates to the Nazi Party slogan “sieg heil” in German.

Victoria Police confirmed it was investigating whether someone performed a Nazi salute, which was outlawed in October, following an earlier ban on public displays of the swastika.

Police said its priority was keeping the peace to ensure the event did not become a danger to the broader community.

Allan condemned what she described as disgusting behaviour and said all Victorians deserved to live free from bigotry.

“These disgraceful and cowardly acts have no place in Victoria – that’s why we have banned the Nazi salute and stand ready to take further action to stamp out this disgusting behaviour,” Allan said

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20022713 (040926ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Masood Zakaria, alleged Alameddine crime figure, deported to Australia - Alleged Alameddine crime figure Masood Zakaria will face an Australian court two years after police allege he escaped the country on a fishing boat and entered Turkey

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Masood Zakaria, alleged Alameddine crime figure, deported to Australia

Jessica McSweeney - December 4, 2023

Alleged Alameddine crime figure Masood Zakaria will face an Australian court two years after police allege he escaped the country on a fishing boat and entered Turkey.

The 28-year-old has been a top priority for NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police, who have been fighting for his deportation to Australia to face conspiracy to murder charges.

AFP officers told Turkish police that Zakaria had allegedly entered the country on a false passport and was using his time in Turkey to associate with organised crime figures with links to Australia.

In January this year, Zakaria was arrested in Bodrum on the country’s south-west coast and remained in immigration detention until this week.

Zakaria was put on a plane and touched down in Darwin just after 2pm on Sunday, where the AFP was waiting to make their arrest.

NSW Police will apply for his extradition to Sydney to face a slew of charges relating to violent and organised crimes when Zakaria faces Darwin Magistrates Court on Monday.

Police allege Zakaria was involved in the failed murder plot of rival organised crime figure Ibrahem Hamze. He is also charged with knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group, supplying a prohibited drug, dealing with proceeds of a crime and contravening a serious crime prevention order.

Police will allege in court that Zakaria is the second in charge of the Alameddine crime family, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald slapped down suggestions authorities are fighting a “war” against organised crime groups like the Hamzy and Alameddine clans, instead saying police have prevented more drug-related gang violence from erupting in recent months.

“There is no war, there are a number of conflicts that are occurring in NSW because of the high price of drugs,” he said.

“We believe we have made great inroads in preventing further crime occurring.”

There are about 20 figures around the world with alleged connections to Australian organised crime, with a number having direct links to NSW.

“The AFP has long-standing relationships with the Turkish National Police and what is evident … is that Turkish authorities have no tolerance for transnational serious organised crime operating in their country,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dametto said.

“Australians who think they can hide offshore in perceived safe havens and avoid facing Australian courts for their alleged crimes need to heed this warning; the AFP is relentless in our pursuit to ensure you face justice.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/masood-zakaria-alleged-alameddine-crime-figure-deported-to-australia-20231204-p5eopm.html

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/sydney-man-arrested-following-deportation-turkiye

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20022724 (040933ZDEC23) Notable: Australia and France sign military access agreement as post-Aukus tensions ease - Australia and France have promised to grant access to each other’s military bases and training facilities in a clear break from their post-Aukus blues

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>>>/qresearch/19822796

Australia and France sign military access agreement as post-Aukus tensions ease

Reciprocal access to military bases and training facilities to be granted in clear break from diplomatic rupture over failed submarine deal

Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford Canales - 4 Dec 2023

Australia and France have promised to grant access to each other’s military bases and training facilities in a clear break from their post-Aukus blues.

The reciprocal access agreement is expected to allow Australian forces to access French bases in the Pacific region, while also giving France access to Australian facilities.

The plans were announced after the Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, held talks in Canberra with her visiting French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.

The deal marks a clear break from the diplomatic rupture that occurred in 2021 when France complained it was blindsided by the then Morrison government’s decision to scrap a French contract for conventional submarines.

The government’s decision to pursue the Aukus pact with the US and the UK, under which Australia will acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines, prompted France to temporarily recall its ambassador from Canberra in protest.

The row also sparked the infamous refrain from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, “I don’t think, I know,” when asked whether he thought Scott Morrison, then prime minister, lied to him about the saga.

Morrison denied the claim at the time, but more recently has said that secrecy was necessary to prevent France from trying to “kill” the Aukus deal.

“Not telling him is not the same as lying to him,” Morrison told the book author and journalist Richard Kerbaj.

In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra earlier on Monday, Colonna said the Aukus announcement was not a “pleasant” moment “but we decided to move on”.

Colonna emphasised the need for stability in the Indo-Pacific region, saying the world “doesn’t need a new crisis”.

She raised concerns about China’s military interactions with Australian naval divers in Japan’s exclusive economic zone last month, as well as confrontations with the Philippines.

At a later meeting at Parliament House, Wong and Colonna adopted a “bilateral roadmap” to improve the relationship in three areas: security and defence; climate action and resilience; and culture and education.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/04/australia-france-military-access-agreement-bases-details-aukus-aftermath-submarines

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20022733 (040937ZDEC23) Notable: Sub snub forgiven as Australia, France step up defence ties - Australian warships will get access to French naval bases in the Pacific under a new defence cooperation agreement that sweeps away lingering ill-will from the AUKUS pact and boosts Western efforts to counter China’s influence in the region

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>>>/qresearch/19822796

>>108685

Sub snub forgiven as Australia, France step up defence ties

Andrew Tillett - Dec 4, 2023

Australian warships will get access to French naval bases in the Pacific under a new defence cooperation agreement that sweeps away lingering ill-will from the AUKUS pact and boosts Western efforts to counter China’s influence in the region.

Under a new road map for bilateral ties unveiled on Monday by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her French counterpart Catherine Colonna, the two countries will also ramp up cooperation on foreign aid projects in the Pacific, where Paris will boost development spending by $333 million over four years.

Ms Colonna expressed French alarm over China’s increasingly aggressive “interactions” with foreign navies, including the recent sonar incident in the East China Sea that left an Australian diver injured.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” she said.

Bilateral ties, including defence cooperation, soured dramatically in September 2021 when the Morrison government cancelled the $90 billion French designed submarine project in favour of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines from the US and UK.

Ms Colonna said she wouldn’t describe it as a “pleasant moment” by a friend nation, “but we decided to move on, so let’s move on”. She described Australia as the “number one partner” in the Pacific.

Under plans for beefed up defence cooperation, the Australian and French militaries will enjoy extra access to each other’s defence facilities.

“Enhanced Australian access to French defence facilities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans will facilitate a more sustained Australian presence in priority areas of operation,” the road map document said.

France operates naval bases at its Pacific territories in New Caledonia and Tahiti, and at Réunion and Mayotte islands in the Indian Ocean.

“We do already lots of joint exercises and there is this tradition of working together, but having access to facilities will help, I’m sure,” Ms Colonna said.

The access agreement is the latest example of major players striking security agreements across the Pacific after China’s shock deal with Solomon Islands last year.

Last month, Australia assumed a right of veto over any security agreements the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu might want to sign with other countries, in return for Canberra offering security guarantees in the event of attack.

Australia has also reached updated security pacts with Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, although finalising those agreements have been delayed. The US this year also rolled over for another two decades its compact agreements with Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

Other initiatives under the road map including talks on critical minerals projects, including joint government funding and facilitating offtake agreement; joint research on the energy transition, including the involvement of business; and creation of a joint Indo-Pacific Studies policy think tank to encourage academic exchanges.

On the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – which Labor has promised to sign subject to several conditions – Ms Colonna reiterated France’s objection to the agreement.

She said the treaty could undermine existing arms control architecture and “doesn’t take into account the current existing threats”.

Appearing at the National Press Club earlier, Ms Colonna said France would continue to engage with China “constructively”. She said countries should not be forced to choose between Washington and Beijing, but needed to work together to preserve the international order.

“We know who our friends are and we know where the threat comes from,” she said.

Following President Emmanuel Macron’s call for Australia to reconsider its ban on nuclear energy, Ms Colonna said “audacious” action was required to tackle climate change, but ultimately it was up to each country to decide its response. She added nuclear energy provided France with “comparatively low cost” electricity.

“Time is short though. And by all accounts – all studies from all bodies – we know that we need both to develop renewable energy and to have some nuclear civilian capacities,” she said.

She cautioned that Australian goods sold to Europe could be captured by the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – a tariff on some emissions intensive exports – unless they conformed with “carbon neutrality”.

“We cannot imagine that we can reach that objective with importing goods that will be produced elsewhere without respecting carbon neutrality or without respecting the rules that apply to us,” she said.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/sub-snub-forgiven-as-australia-france-step-up-defence-ties-20231204-p5eosf

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20027549 (050814ZDEC23) Notable: Marles says Australia a safe destination as Israel issues travel warning - Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has defended Australia as a safe place to travel after the Israeli Security Council raised its threat level for several countries, advising its citizens to exercise extra caution due to a rise in attempted attacks and expressions of antisemitism

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>>108483

>>108567

>>108631

>>108677

Marles says Australia a safe destination as Israel issues travel warning

Olivia Ireland - December 5, 2023

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has defended Australia as a safe place to travel after the Israeli Security Council raised its threat level for several countries, advising its citizens to exercise extra caution due to a rise in attempted attacks and expressions of antisemitism.

The Israeli government named Australia, alongside the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Russia as countries where its citizens should take increased precautions when travelling as a result of the conflict in Gaza.

“We absolutely understand that many in the Jewish community are finding this to be a very difficult time and it is really important that, be it those in the Jewish community or those in the Islamic community, that Australians are looking after everyone,” Marles told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.

“I think we are seeing a rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia and there can be no place for that,” Marles said.

The far-right rally in Ballarat on Sunday was an example of increased tensions in Australia, Marles said.

Last week a group of pro-Palestinian protesters stood in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Docklands, Melbourne, where family members of some of the Israelis who were killed or taken hostage by Hamas were staying.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry data has found an almost 700 per cent increase in reported incidents of antisemitism.

As of November 28, the Islamophobia Register of Australia reported an “unprecedented” rate of incidents. Reports of Islamophobia rose thirteen-fold since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in early October.

The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman, Simon Birmingham, said Israel’s increased warning about travel to Australia should be discussed at national cabinet when it meets on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Albanese should be seeking a consensus statement of all national leaders condemning antisemitism, committing to combat it, committing to education and committing to the police resources and efforts to ensure that the types of intimidation we have seen are stamped out,” he said.

Birmingham said Australia was still a “welcoming place”, but he could understand if people from Israel were concerned about travelling to Australia.

“I can understand your concerns at seeing the protests on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, reports of convoys or rallies targeting regions of Jewish faith or the appalling, shameful actions of protesters targeting the families of hostage victims and murder victims of Hamas,” he said.

“I can understand why those images cause concern and alarm and we as a nation must be able to stamp that out and to ensure that Australia’s reputation is restored.”

Co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said the travel warning reflected a “damning new reality”.

“Many families have chosen to cover Jewish symbols, and have warned their children not to mention Israel or anything Jewish in public. Hamas has sympathisers in our midst and this poses a threat to all Australians,” he said.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/marles-says-australia-a-safe-destination-as-israel-issues-travel-warning-20231205-p5ep37.html

https://twitter.com/AustralianJA/status/1731754963507028236

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-issues-severe-travel-warnings-to-dozens-of-countries-amid-rising-antisemitism/

https://www.gov.il/en/departments/dynamiccollectors/travel-warnings-nsc

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20027558 (050825ZDEC23) Notable: Australia and Papua New Guinea to sign major bilateral security agreement during PNG prime minister James Marape's Canberra visit - The agreement will focus heavily on Papua New Guinea's internal security, with PNG looking to Australia to do more to help train and bolster its police force

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>>108494

Australia and Papua New Guinea to sign major bilateral security agreement during PNG prime minister's Canberra visit

Tim Swanston and Stephen Dziedzic - 5 December 2023

Australia and Papua New Guinea will sign a major bilateral security agreement this week as PNG Prime Minister James Marape visits Canberra for talks with Anthony Albanese.

The agreement will be signed following a bilateral meeting between Mr Marape and Mr Albanese on Thursday.

The agreement will focus heavily on Papua New Guinea's internal security, with PNG looking to Australia to do more to help train and bolster its police force.

Mr Marape said the agreement could also include support from Australia for PNG's Police Training Academy at Bomana, as well as support to help set up a regional academy elsewhere in the country.

"The security arrangement is in the best interest of Papua New Guinea and also for Australia and its regional security interests," Mr Marape said.

"Cabinet will fully endorse the finer details before Prime Minister Albanese and I sign off. Australian police officers will work under the command and control of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and the Police Commissioner."

Papua New Guinea has been grappling with escalating tribal violence and an influx of high calibre weapons.

A round of tribal violence in August left dozens dead in PNG's highland region.

PNG Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso told the ABC that the agreement would aim to build the capability of both the PNG military, as well as the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC).

"Internal security remains one of our biggest issues in the country," Mr Rosso said.

"Part of the negotiations of the bilateral treaty agreement is focused on assisting us, the capabilities of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and police."

PNG, which has a population of about 12 million, wants to increase its police service from around 6,000 members to 26,000.

Australian Federal Police do work in Papua New Guinea, but only as unarmed advisors, following a 2005 PNG Supreme Court challenge.

"Part of the agreement is also for the upscale of the Bomana Police College, to ensure that we pass out over 1,000 police recruits every year to achieve those targets," Mr Rosso said.

"Not just any ordinary recruit, but good, screened, properly trained recruits to combat any internal issues we have here."

The federal government will be pleased to finally land the agreement with Papua New Guinea after months of sometimes difficult negotiations.

Concerns of encroachment on rights

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flagged the pact during an historic visit to PNG early this year, and the federal government initially wanted to wrap up negotiations by June.

But the talks stalled in the wake of controversy generated by PNG's defence cooperation agreement (DCA) with the United States, which was signed in May.

Mr Marape also said he was concerned that the initial wording in the Australian pact "encroached into [PNG's] sovereign rights."

The US pact could still be tested in PNG's Supreme Court, while the opposition accused Mr Marape of drawing Papua New Guinea into broader geopolitical turmoil.

In August, local media also reported that PNG's foreign affairs secretary and lead negotiator Elias Wohengu was at "a sort of impasse" with Australia over several matters in the agreement.

Mr Wohengu also said that the pact would be called a "framework agreement" rather than a "treaty" – although Australian officials have insisted that it will remain legal binding and have been adamant it has not been diluted in any way.

A draft of the document was finally put in front of both cabinets last month.

Australia's finalisation of its agreement with PNG comes after China signed a police cooperation deal with PNG's neighbour, Solomon Islands, earlier this year.

Last month, Mr Marape told the ABC his country was caught in a "confluence of interests" in the region, but said PNG's relationship with Australia ranked as number one.

"Whatever we put into paper … will be an agreement that consolidates our two nations relations in the middle of many, many bilateral relationships that are now emerging in Papua New Guinea," Mr Marape said.

"In the Indo-Pacific conversation, we are caught in the confluence of interests in the Pacific and Asia.

"We know who our priority relationships are and Australia ranks number one, in my view."

"What we need to put together doesn't dilute PNG's bilateral relations with other nations we relate to, but at the same time entrenches PNG's own relations with Australia."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/australia-and-png-to-sign-a-major-bilateral-security-agreement/103188340

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20027565 (050833ZDEC23) Notable: Papua New Guinea to recruit Australia police in security deal - Papua New Guinea will recruit Australian police officers for key positions in its national police force under a wide-ranging security deal to be signed this week that also covers defence and biosecurity, Papua New Guinea's Minister of State Justin Tkatchenko said

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>>108494

>>108688

Papua New Guinea to recruit Australia police in security deal - minister

Kirsty Needham - December 5, 2023

SYDNEY, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea will recruit Australian police officers for key positions in its national police force under a wide-ranging security deal to be signed this week that also covers defence and biosecurity, Papua New Guinea's minister of state said.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape will travel to Canberra on Thursday to sign the security agreement, his office said.

"The security arrangement is in the best interest of Papua New Guinea and also for Australia and its regional security interests," Marape said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Australian security agreement was delayed after backlash from some opposition PNG politicians to a defence deal with the United States in May that they said infringed on PNG sovereignty by giving access to ports and airports, and could embroil the Pacific Islands' largest nation in strategic competition between the U.S. and China.

China formed security and policing ties with the neighbouring Solomon Islands last year. PNG, a few kilometres to Australia's north, is also being courted by China amid rising tensions between the two major powers.

"This shows our commitment to Australia as one of our traditional security partners now and into the future," Minister of State Justin Tkatchenko told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Defence and internal policing are a major part of the security agreement with Australia, while respecting PNG sovereignty, along with assisting farmers to meet Australia's stringent biosecurity rules and boosting biometric technology for airports, Tkatchenko said.

"Respecting each other is the big thing," he added.

The Australian Federal Police and the defence minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the security agreement.

PNG police have this year struggled with a surge in violent crime, and Marape has pointed to law-and-order concerns and said boosting security would help to attract foreign investment in PNG's burgeoning resources sector.

"Its a big issue and Australia can help us out considerably," said Tkatchenko, who began negotiations with Australia on the deal last year.

The agreement includes an option for Australian police to work directly for the PNG Royal Constabulary on contract, he said.

"The positions will be advertised for expatriate or qualified international police officers to fill about 50 positions throughout the country, from police station commanders to heading the CID (criminal investigation department) or fraud squad and so on," he said.

In 2005, a PNG court ruled that Australian Federal Police deployed to PNG should not have the powers of local police, or immunity from prosecution, and since then Australian police have only deployed in unarmed advisory roles.

"These officers will wear PNG uniform. They will be contracted officers reporting directly to the police commissioner of Papua New Guinea and they will be under all the laws of PNG. That was always the sticking point," he said.

Australia will also boost training for PNG police.

The security negotiations recognised PNG's sovereignty as a nation that won independence from Australia 48 years ago, while appreciating Australia's role as the region's largest economy, he said.

"What we want is economic independence, where we can rely on ourselves into the future," he added.

Help to meet Australia's strict biosecurity guidelines will open new export markets for PNG, which produces coffee and other agricultural products as "the oldest living gardeners or agriculturalists in the world".

France, which this week pledged $100 million to PNG for forestry and climate change, is also boosting defence cooperation with Australia in the Pacific and earlier this year signed an agreement giving its navy access to patrol PNG waters.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/papua-new-guinea-recruit-australia-police-security-deal-minister-2023-12-05/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20027579 (050844ZDEC23) Notable: Government rejects calls for O'Neil and Giles to resign after released detainees arrested - Colleagues of Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles have rejected calls for their resignations, following charges of indecent assault laid on a man released from immigration detention just weeks ago

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>>108673

Government rejects calls for O'Neil and Giles to resign after released detainees arrested

Nicole Hegarty and Matthew Doran - 5 December 2023

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Colleagues of Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles have rejected calls for their resignations, following charges of indecent assault laid on a man released from immigration detention just weeks ago.

The man released from immigration detention as a result of the High Court's ruling on indefinite detention faced an Adelaide court yesterday over two counts of indecent assault.

Aliyawar Yawari appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court three weeks after he was released from Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in Western Australia.

The 65-year-old was arrested at a motel in the Adelaide suburb of Pooraka on Saturday night after a report a woman had been indecently assaulted by a guest.

He did not apply for bail and has been remanded in custody until next month.

Mr Yawari was one of 148 people released in response to last month's High Court ruling that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful where there is no prospect of them being deported in the reasonably foreseeable future.

A second released detainee was also charged in NSW with possession of cannabis, which was confirmed yesterday by Senate leader Penny Wong, speaking from the Senate floor.

On Tuesday afternoon, Victorian police confirmed a third released detainee had been arrested after failing to meet his "reporting obligations as a registered sex offender".

"The 33-year-old was arrested in Dandenong this morning without incident. He was subsequently interviewed by police and charged with nine counts of fail to comply with reporting obligations. He has also been charged with trespass in relation to a reported incident in Dandenong on 24 November," police said in a statement.

The man is set to face Dandenong Magistrates' Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Government rejects calls for ministers to resign

The Coalition has called for Ms O'Neil and Mr Giles to resign over the alleged incident, saying planned legislation that would return the detainees into "preventative detention" should have been ready to go ahead of any High Court ruling.

In a series of interviews this morning, Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan told Sky News and Nine the ministers should take personal responsibility for being "asleep at the wheel" when the High Court handed down its decision in October.

"They need to take personal responsibility for the catastrophic failure of their handling of this issue, which sadly has led to this outcome," Mr Tehan said.

"They were told that they needed to put a preventative detention regime in place and be ready to go with it immediately.

"At the moment, what we’re seeing is they breached their number one fundamental duty to Australia."

Government ministers have rejected calls for Mr Giles and Ms O'Neil to resign, with frontbencher Bill Shorten telling Nine radio it made no sense for the ministers to quit their portfolios.

"The logic of that is that the High Court should resign, if you really think there was some way to prevent this," Mr Shorten said.

"The reality is the High Court has made this decision, that is their right and prerogative in our judicial system."

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20027602 (050856ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Senate speeds through new lock-up laws after child sex ringleader charged - A man who ran a child sex ring in Victoria has become the third former immigration detainee to face court on fresh charges after he allegedly contacted a child online following his release, as the Senate waved through tough new laws to lock up the worst offenders

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>>108621

>>108629

>>108673

>>108690

Senate speeds through new lock-up laws after child sex ringleader charged

Angus Thompson, Olivia Ireland and James Massola - December 5, 2023

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A man who ran a child sex ring in Victoria has become the third former immigration detainee to face court on fresh charges after he allegedly contacted a child online following his release, as the Senate waved through tough new laws to lock up the worst offenders.

Emran Dad, 33 – who in 2012 pleaded guilty to child sex and procurement offences for paying teenage girls in state care for sex, and to have sex with other men – was arrested on Tuesday in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong and charged with three counts of making contact with a child, using email, TikTok, Instagram and live-streaming, all without reporting the use to the police.

His arrest spurred the government to urge the Senate to immediately pass its new preventative detention laws in the upper house as politicians feuded over the consequences of the landmark High Court decision overturning the legality of indefinite immigration detention.

The new laws will allow the government to refer criminals freed from immigration detention to judges to decide if they still pose a risk to the community and should be locked up again.

“I would’ve thought the fact that we’ve now seen three of these individuals either arrested or charged with new offences would have underlined the importance of passing this legislation as quickly as possible to keep the community safe,” Labor minister Murray Watt told the Senate ahead of the vote.

The Coalition wanted an amendment requiring the government to publish the reasons for releasing every person as a result of the High Court decision, but the opposition ultimately backed the government’s latest emergency measures.

The bill is expected to be passed in the lower house on Thursday.

Dad’s arrest came a day after another former detainee, violent sex offender Aliyawar Yawari, faced an Adelaide magistrate on two charges of indecent assault, and another released detainee was charged with possessing cannabis.

Former Coalition attorney-general Christian Porter revealed his own office “was always alive to the narrowness of the majority” in Al-Kateb, the 2004 judgment that allowed the Commonwealth to indefinitely detain foreigners if they had no hope of being deported.

Documents tabled in the Senate showed Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus had allowed the Human Rights Commission to intervene in the most recent case while the Coalition had twice refused to allow the independent body to mount arguments in immigration cases before the High Court.

Defending his own decision to muzzle lawyers for Australia’s human rights watchdog from intervening in a separate 2019 High Court case challenging indefinite detention, Porter said he had been committed to doing everything he could to uphold that precedent.

“Authorising another Commonwealth agency to argue against that decision was considered to be a very bad idea,” Porter told this masthead on Tuesday.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20033209 (060854ZDEC23) Notable: Fourth detainee arrested as Labor, Coalition race to pass new laws - As Labor and the Coalition prepared to pass new laws late on Wednesday evening that would allow individuals to be re-detained, a fourth person was charged in Melbourne for allegedly failing to comply with a curfew and stealing luggage at Melbourne Airport.

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>>108621

>>108690

>>108691

Fourth detainee arrested as Labor, Coalition race to pass new laws

James Massola and Paul Sakkal - December 6, 2023

The federal government is preparing applications to lock up high-risk offenders released from immigration detention by a High Court ruling, but Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has repeatedly refused to say how many criminals could return to custody.

As Labor and the Coalition prepared to pass new laws late on Wednesday evening that would allow individuals to be re-detained, a fourth person was charged in Melbourne for allegedly failing to comply with a curfew and stealing luggage at Melbourne Airport.

The Australian Federal Police arrested and charged the 45-year-old man, Sudanese-born Abdel Moez Mohamed Elawad, at a Melbourne hotel on Wednesday. They will allege Elawad breached conditions of his visa on December 1 by failing to observe his residential curfew obligations and stealing luggage from an airport traveller who was asleep in the terminal.

Under changes made to the Migration Act on November 16 to create parole-like requirements for newly released detainees, the theft charge would carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment while failure to comply with the curfew carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a $93,900 fine.

The arrest comes a day after Emran Dad, 33, who once ran a child sex ring in Victoria, faced court after he contacted children online, and two days after violent sex offender Aliyawar Yawari faced an Adelaide magistrate on two charges of indecent assault. A fourth detainee has been charged with possessing cannabis.

Nearly a month after the court overturned the 2004 Al Kateb case and ruled it was illegal to indefinitely detain a person in immigration detention, the federal government has been scrambling to deliver a legislative fix that will send the worst of the released detainees back into custody. The cohort is made up of non-citizens who cannot be deported.

The court’s decision on November 8 was made in a case brought on behalf of a stateless Rohingya man who had served time for raping a child found that detainees could not be kept in indefinite immigration detention if they could not be deported.

The new laws were due to be passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, but instead MPs were told on Tuesday that the matter would be introduced on Wednesday night.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said Labor was engaged in a “kneejerk reaction to a dishonest fear campaign run by Peter Dutton”, while crossbenchers slammed the government for the rush in which it wanted to pass the laws.

Under the new laws, a non-citizen would be re-detained if, after an application from the minister, a judge found with a high degree of probability that they posed an unacceptable risk of committing a serious violent or sexual offence.

Giles said Commonwealth officials were working with the states and that “we’ve already begun applications to ensure that we can do all that we can as quickly as we can, noting that this will require detailed engagement with the states and possibly territories as well”.

“This proposed preventative detention regime would allow for a court to detain the worst of the worst offenders,” he said.

Giles was asked repeatedly how many of the 148 detainees released so far the government would try to lock up again but refused to answer the question. He also refused to say what their crimes were or how soon applications would be made to send them back into detention.

In addition to the preventative detention laws, the government is expecting on Thursday to pass separate laws that would strip terrorists of their dual Australian citizenship.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil defended the government’s handling of the High Court fallout during a press conference with Giles and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, noting the government had no choice but to obey the court’s decision, and added that “if I had any legal power to re-detain all of these people, I would do it immediately”.

At that point, a visibly Dreyfus stepped in to reprimand Sky News reporter Olivia Caisley for asking if the government owed an apology to people affected by the reoffending former detainees.

“I will not be apologising for upholding the law. I will not be apologising for pursuing the rule of law and I will not be apologising for acting ...”

Caisley tried to interrupt with a follow-up question – a common practice for reporters – and Dreyfus snapped. “Do not interrupt! I will not be apologising ... for acting in accordance with a High Court decision. Your question is an absurd one,” he said.

O’Neil could then be heard muttering: “OK, I think we will move on here.”

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/fourth-detainee-arrested-as-labor-coalition-race-to-pass-new-laws-20231206-p5epky.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20033221 (060906ZDEC23) Notable: Video: ‘I will not be apologising’: Dreyfus shouts at reporter in fiery High Court exchange - Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has lost his temper at a Sky News reporter, declaring he would not be apologising for upholding the rule of law

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>>108621

>>108690

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>>108693

‘I will not be apologising’: Dreyfus shouts at reporter in fiery High Court exchange

James Massola - December 6, 2023

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has lost his temper at a Sky News reporter, declaring he would not be apologising for upholding the rule of law.

In a fiery exchange during a press conference on the federal government’s proposed preventative detention laws, and laws to strip terrorists of their dual Australian citizenship, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil was asked by reporter Olivia Caisley if the government owed an apology to people affected by the reoffending of three people released from immigration detention.

The High Court’s decision on November 8, in a case brought on behalf of a stateless Rohingya man who had served time for raping a child, found that detainees could not be kept in indefinite immigration detention if they could not be deported.

In a statement tabled in the Senate yesterday, Dreyfus said the legal advice made clear that a detainee’s criminal record could not be used to keep them in detention.

Since the landmark ruling, at least three of the approximately 150 people released from detention have been either arrested or charged.

The Coalition has called on O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to resign after a violent sexual offender and a child sex offender released into the community were charged with fresh offences this week. A third former detainee was charged after he was found in possession of cannabis.

The home affairs minister began to respond to Caisley, pointing out the government had acted in accordance with the court’s ruling, as it was legally bound to do so, and added that “if I had any legal power to redetain all of these people, I would do it immediately”.

At that point, a visibly annoyed Dreyfus stepped in to reprimand Caisley, pointing and raising his voice at her.

“I want to suggest to you that question is an absurd question. You are asking a cabinet minister, three ministers of the Crown, to apologise for upholding the law of Australia, for acting in accordance with the law of Australia, for following the instructions of the High Court of Australia,” he said.

“I will not be apologising for upholding the law. I will not be apologising for pursuing the rule of law and I will not be apologising for acting ...”

Caisley tried to interrupt with a follow-up question – a common practice for reporters – and Dreyfus snapped. “Do not interrupt! I will not be apologising ... for acting in accordance with a High Court decision. Your question is an absurd one,” he said.

O’Neil could then be heard muttering: “OK, I think we will move on here”.

Caisley has tangled with senior politicians before.

Earlier this year, former prime minister Paul Keating snapped at her “because I have a brain” when she asked him why he was certain that China was not a threat to Australia’s national interest.

Giles said the government had already begun preparing applications to return high-risk offenders to custody once the new laws pass.

“I will work firstly with the officials of the Commonwealth and then with the states, to ensure that we are prepared for every high-risk offender, to make sure that we can get the best application in as quickly as possible,” he said.

“I’m really disappointed at the contribution of the Greens on this. Because this is not a novel concept. We already have a preventative detention regime that deals with high-risk terrorist offenders.

“And I would say here the risk is clearer because we’re dealing with people who have already committed offences, and serious offences.”

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/i-will-not-be-apologising-dreyfus-shouts-at-reporter-in-fiery-high-court-exchange-20231206-p5epg1.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20033239 (060915ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Man arrested in Arizona over religiously motivated terror attack at Wieambilla sent shooters 'end of days' ideological messages - A man arrested in the US state of Arizona in connection with the religiously-motivated terrorist attack in Wieambilla last year sent the shooters "Christian end-of-days" ideological messages in the months leading up to it, police have revealed. The 58-year-old, who can now be identified as Donald Day, was arrested near Heber-Overgaard, north-east of Phoenix, on December 1 US time as part of the investigation

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Man arrested in Arizona over religiously motivated terror attack at Wieambilla sent shooters 'end of days' ideological messages

Kelsie Iorio and Jessica Black - 6 December 2023

A man arrested in the US state of Arizona in connection with the religiously-motivated terrorist attack in Wieambilla last year sent the shooters "Christian end-of-days" ideological messages in the months leading up to it, police have revealed.

The 58-year-old, who can now be identified as Donald Day, was arrested near Heber-Overgaard, north-east of Phoenix, on December 1 US time as part of the investigation.

Alan Dare, Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold were shot and killed on December 12, 2022 in the rural Queensland community.

Stacey, Gareth and Nathaniel Train, who police say subscribed to a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism, also died.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the FBI, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said there was evidence the man and the Trains commented on one another's YouTube videos.

"Between May 2021 and December 2022, the man repeatedly sent messages containing Christian end-of-days ideology to Gareth, and then later to Stacey," she said.

The man appeared in court today and remains in custody.

'We need to understand why'

Queensland police investigators from the Ethical Standards Command and the Security and Counter Terrorism Command had travelled to the US to work with local law enforcement and the FBI.

Assistant Commissioner Scanlon said the investigation had "a long way to go", adding that police had not identified anyone else in Australia who had contact with the man who was considered to be of risk.

"This is a terribly tragic event, and with the loss of lives, we need to understand the why," she said.

"None of this is possible without our partnerships and our relationships with others, and if it takes us across the world to do that, to have that reach given the impacts of the internet and the online world, then that's the way it has to be."

Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said earlier this year that there was "significant evidence of advanced preparation and planning" by the Trains ahead of the fatal attack.

Mr Dare's widow Kerry Dare told the ABC she had not been told many details about the arrest.

"I'm surprised it's taken them so long," she said.

"I'm interested to see what they've arrested him for."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was asked about the arrest after today's National Cabinet meeting, and said she had recently met with Mrs Dare.

"She's obviously very distressed," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"The entire community in that region went through so much and I know it's going to be a very trying time."

Investigations are ongoing.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-06/qld-wieambilla-shooting-arrest-arizona-queensland-police/103196120

https://qresear.ch/?q=wieambilla

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20033273 (060934ZDEC23) Notable: US man arrested over inciting violence online in 'religiously motivated' Wieambilla police massacre - A man has been arrested in the United States over online comments that allegedly incited violence before the "religiously motivated terrorist attack" in regional Queensland where two police officers and an innocent neighbour were slain. Queensland Police said officers travelled to the US to meet with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents to arrest Donald Day, 58, near Heber Overgaard in Arizona on December 1

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US man arrested over inciting violence online in 'religiously motivated' Wieambilla police massacre

Savannah Meacham - Dec 6, 2023

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A man has been arrested in the United States over online comments that allegedly incited violence before the "religiously motivated terrorist attack" in regional Queensland where two police officers and an innocent neighbour were slain.

Queensland Police said officers travelled to the US to meet with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents to arrest Donald Day, 58, near Heber Overgaard in Arizona on December 1.

Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26, and innocent neighbour Alan Dare, 58, were shot dead at close range by Gareth Train, 47, Nathaniel Train, 46, and Stacey Train, 45, at the Wieambilla property on December 12 last year.

The Trains were shot dead by heavily armed police hours later.

The series of events that allegedly linked Day to the Trains began two years before the massacre.

Police allege Gareth began following Day on YouTube in May 2020.

He and the man began commenting directly on each other's videos in May 2021.

"We have evidence to show the Trains subsequently accessed an older YouTube account created by the same man in 2014 and viewed the content," Queensland Police Service Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said.

Between May 2021 and December 2022, Day allegedly sent repeat messages containing "Christian end-of-days ideology" to Gareth and Stacey.

Scanlon confirmed Day is connected to a YouTube video posted by the Trains on the night of the confrontation.

This evidence has been seized and analysed by the FBI.

Scanlon said the Trains were motivated by a "Christian extremist ideology and subscribed to the broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism".

After investigations, a grand jury issued two indictments to Day, one of which relates to comments posted online in December 2022 inciting violence over the Wieambilla attack.

The other indictment is not connected to the Wieambilla attack, Scanlon said.

Day faced court today and was remanded in custody in the US.

A search warrant has also been carried out at a remote property in northern Arizona in relation to the incident.

Investigations are continuing.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20038459 (070943ZDEC23) Notable: Northern Arizona man charged for inciting religious terror attack in Australia that killed two police officers - "A U.S. citizen has been charged in Arizona over online comments that allegedly incited what police describe as a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack” in Australia a year ago in which six people died, officials said Wednesday. Court documents identify the suspect as 58-year-old Donald Day Jr." - Jason Sillman - azfamily.com

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>>108698

>>108701

Northern Arizona man charged for inciting religious terror attack in Australia that killed two police officers

AZFamily Digital News Staff, The Associated Press and Jason Sillman - Dec. 6, 2023

CANBERRA, Australia (3TV/CBS 5/AP) — A U.S. citizen has been charged in Arizona over online comments that allegedly incited what police describe as a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack” in Australia a year ago in which six people died, officials said Wednesday. Court documents identify the suspect as 58-year-old Donald Day, Jr.

Queensland state police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold and innocent bystander Alan Dare were fatally shot by Gareth Train, his brother Nathaniel Train and Nathaniel's wife Stacey Train in an ambush at the Trains’ remote property in the rural community of Wieambilla last Dec. 12, investigators say.

Four officers had arrived at the property to investigate reports of a missing person. They walked into a hail of gunfire, police said at the time. Two officers managed to escape and raise the alarm. Police killed the three Trains, who have been described as conspiracy theorists, during a six-hour siege.

FBI agents arrested the suspect, since identified as Day, near Heber Overgaard, Arizona, last week on a U.S. charge that alleged he incited the violence through comments posted online last December, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said at a joint news conference in Brisbane with FBI legal attaché for Australia Nitiana Mann.

Day has been indicted in the U.S. on two counts of making interstate threats. According to the charging document, Day “engaged in a course of conduct demonstrating a desire to incite violence and threaten a variety of groups and individuals including law enforcement and government authorities.” He also reportedly posted on a UK-based sharing platform called BitChute that he’s “an x-con (sic), who’s armed to the teeth.”

Following the murders of the QPS officers and an innocent bystander, documents say two of the suspects posted a video of themselves on their YouTube channel called “Don’t Be Afraid,” saying, “they came to kill us, and we killed them. If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward. We’ll see you when we get home. We’ll see you at home, Don. Love you.” Day reportedly posted a reply to the video offering comfort and assurance, adding that “our enemies will become afraid of us.”

The indictment also alleges that Day posted a video on YouTube with the username “Geronimo’s Bones” days later praising the suspects’ actions, ending with, “the devils come for us, they [expletive] die. It’s just that simple. We are free people. We are owned by no one.” He allegedly posted a similar video later that day.

Day was remanded in custody when he appeared in an Arizona court on Tuesday. He faces a potential five-year prison sentence if convicted.

“We know that the offenders executed a religiously motivated terrorist attack in Queensland,” Scanlon said, referring to the Trains. “They were motivated by a Christian extremist ideology.”

The FBI is still investigating the alleged motive of the American. Queensland police had flown to Arizona to help investigators there.

“The attack involved advanced planning and preparation against law enforcement,” Scanlon said.

Gareth Train began following the suspect on YouTube in May 2020. A year later, they were communicating directly.

“The man repeatedly sent messages containing Christian end-of-days ideology to Gareth and then later to Stacey,” Scanlon said.

Mann said the FBI was committed to assisting the Queensland Police Service in its investigation.

“The FBI has a long memory and an even longer reach. From Queensland, Australia, to the remote corners of Arizona,” Mann said.

“The FBI and QPS worked jointly and endlessly to bring this man to justice, and he will face the crimes he is alleged to have perpetrated,” she added.

https://www.azfamily.com/2023/12/06/navajo-county-man-charged-inciting-religious-terror-attack-australia-that-killed-two-police-officers/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20038464 (070950ZDEC23) Notable: Video: Exclusive: Witness records FBI agents arresting Arizona man tied to Australia terror attack - "The FBI has arrested and charged an Arizona man for online comments that allegedly incited what police are calling a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack” in Australia in which six people died, including two police officers. 58-year-old Donald Day Jr. was arrested on December 1 in the small community of Heber Overgaard. Residents said it happened at the Chevron on Hwy 260 on the morning of December 1. Usually, the town is quiet, with most of the buzz hitting during summer tourism. However, that changed last Friday when people said about 20 FBI officers swarmed the gas station to arrest Day." - Mason Carroll - azfamily.com

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>>108698

>>108701

Exclusive: Witness records FBI agents arresting Arizona man tied to Australia terror attack

The eastern Arizona community of Heber Overgaard reacts to arrest in their community

Mason Carroll - Dec. 7, 2023

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - The FBI has arrested and charged an Arizona man for online comments that allegedly incited what police are calling a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack” in Australia in which six people died, including two police officers.

58-year-old Donald Day Jr. was arrested on December 1 in the small community of Heber Overgaard. Residents said it happened at the Chevron on Hwy 260 on the morning of December 1.

Usually, the town is quiet, with most of the buzz hitting during summer tourism.

However, that changed last Friday when people said about 20 FBI officers swarmed the gas station to arrest Day.

One woman, who did not want to be named, visited the gas station that morning with her friend. “I was playing on my phone and she opens the door and starts yelling at me, ‘don’t come in don’t come in,’’ she said. ‘She was so alarmed,”

At the time, she did not know what was going on, just that over a dozen FBI agents full-armed were arresting someone in her quiet town.

“I stopped and looked around and when I looked around I saw in excess it seemed at least 20 FBI agents in full gear, side arms, everything. It really shocked me because we’re kind of a small community.”

People throughout the community have shared that even if they weren’t at the scene, it still shook the community. Hannah Ballesteros has lived in the community for 21 years, her whole life, and said her family took precautionary measures after they heard about the incident.

“My dad was out of town for a hunting trip so my mom and I just made sure to lock all our doors like have all keys with us like ammunition and our guns like just in case,” Ballesteros said.

Day is in custody and appeared in an Arizona court on Tuesday. He faces a potential five-year prison sentence if convicted.

People in Heber Overgaard have returned to life as usual, but things do feel different after the incident. “Again it was very quiet, it was just a, we’re a very small town,” the woman said. “To this day I’m still shook up it’s in unnerving, it’s just in unnerving.”

https://www.azfamily.com/2023/12/07/exclusive-witness-records-fbi-agents-arresting-arizona-man-tied-australia-terror-attack/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20038468 (070959ZDEC23) Notable: Albanese stokes Bougainville tensions, amid new security pact with PNG - Anthony Albanese has inflamed tensions over one of the region’s potential flashpoints - the future of Bougainville - as he signed a landmark new security agreement with Papua New Guinea. The Australia-PNG pact sidelines China by prioritising security dialogue between Canberra and Port Moresby above other partners, and introducing an ANZUS-like guarantee to consult if either country is attacked

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>>108494

>>108688

Albanese stokes Bougainville tensions, amid new security pact with PNG

BEN PACKHAM and GORETHY KENNETH - DECEMBER 7, 2023

Anthony Albanese has inflamed tensions over one of the region’s potential flashpoints – the future of Bougainville – as he signed a landmark new security agreement with Papua New Guinea.

The Australia-PNG pact sidelines China by prioritising security dialogue between Canberra and Port Moresby above other partners, and introducing an ANZUS-like guarantee to consult if either country is attacked.

The new agreement comes with a $200m law and order funding boost by Australia to invest in new PNG police infrastructure, including a new $110m police investigations training centre in Port Moresby.

But the diplomatic win was undermined when the Prime Minister, standing alongside his PNG counterpart James Marape, declared Bougainville’s independence aspirations were a matter for PNG alone.

“I’ll say very clearly … I respect PNG’s sovereignty and those issues are a matter for Papua New Guinea,” Mr Albanese said.

His comments, which followed an overwhelming 97.7 per cent ­independence vote by Bougain­villeans four years ago, prompted a swift reaction from the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

“Australia is supposedly the ‘Big Brother’ in the Pacific, but is a coward when it comes to the Bougainville independence issue,” ABG Attorney-General Ezekiel Massat told The Australian.

He said Australia was “deliberately avoiding” its obligations to hold PNG accountable, amid delays by the Marape government in tabling the referendum result in the nation’s parliament.

“Bougainville is not surprised at Australia’s endorsement of PNG’s games. They supplied the helicopters that (the PNG Defence Force) used to pick up our young revolutionary fighters and threw them out at sea, some dead, some still alive when thrown out,” Mr Massat said, referring to the 1988-98 Bougainville conflict.

The backlash came as China looks to make inroads in Bougainville, with promises to fund major infrastructure upgrades in the autonomous region.

The new Australia-PNG pact follows China’s shock security pact with Solomon Islands, and its failed attempt to seal a region-wide security agreement.

Under the latest deal, Australia has agreed to fund the appointment of new judges, and the appointment of at least 50 Australian and Commonwealth police officers who will wear the uniform of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and answer to its chief commissioner.

PNG has pledged to nearly double the size of its police force from 5600 officers to 10,000, as it struggles to contain deadly tribal fighting, gender-based violence, and corruption. It is relying on Australia to help train the new officers and provide supporting infrastructure, including housing.

Mr Albanese, who invited Mr Marape to address Australia’s parliament in February, said the deal showed the countries’ mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“It will make it easier for Australia to help PNG address its internal security needs, and for Australia and Papua New Guinea to support each other’s security, and the region’s stability,” he said.

Mr Marape said the agreement benefited both countries, because PNG’s internal security “is in Australia’s interests as much as it is in PNG’s interest”.

The pact follows drawn-out ­negotiations between the countries to address concerns in Port Moresby that it could compromise PNG’s sovereignty, following domestic criticism of an earlier defence agreement with the US.

Mr Marape denied the pact ­violated PNG’s “friends to all, enemy to none” policy, saying the it would not preclude security agreements with other countries.

“There is no exclusivity. Australia has given us respect to our relationships elsewhere,” he said.

But the text of the agreement confirms the PNG-Australia security relationship will stand above other such relationships, saying the parties “shall prioritise consultations with each other”.

Like Australia’s ANZUS treaty with the US, it includes a requirement for the countries to “consult” in the event of an armed attack on either country.

Both leaders insisted the agreement would be legally binding, ­despite it being downgraded from treaty status.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/australiapng-security-pact-edges-out-china/news-story/427728f4ae7c782ef81c84f5ec909617

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20038482 (071008ZDEC23) Notable: Uproar as NSW Police, AFP drop investigations into southwest Sydney hate-speech clerics - State and federal police have dropped their investigations into a series of hate-fuelled anti-semitic sermons in NSW, saying the clerics’ calls for jihad and spitting on Israel so “Jews would drown” didn’t meet the criminality threshold. The sermons by Sydney-based clerics Abu Ousayd and “Brother Ismail” across multiple videos involved calling for jihad, reciting parables calling for the killing of Jews, and encouraging Middle Eastern Muslim nations to spit on Israel so the “Jews would drown”. NSW Police launched an investigation and the Australian Federal Police referred one of the sermons - believed to be Brother Ismail’s - to its terror squad for ­assessment in early November. On Wednesday, NSW Police confirmed investigations had been dropped and would not resume. “The content of the speeches were reviewed, with legal advice from parties independent of the investigators ­obtained,” a NSW Police spokesman said. “The NSW Police Force understands it does not meet the threshold of any criminal offence. There will be no further investigation into the matter.”

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>>108520

>>108537

>>108602

Uproar as NSW Police, AFP drop investigations into southwest Sydney hate-speech clerics

ALEXI DEMETRIADI - DECEMBER 7, 2023

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State and federal police have dropped their investigations into a series of hate-fuelled anti-semitic sermons in NSW, saying the clerics’ calls for jihad and spitting on Israel so “Jews would drown” didn’t meet the criminality threshold.

The decision has been met with “outrage” across the Jewish community and political circles.

The sermons by Sydney-based clerics Abu Ousayd and “Brother Ismail” across multiple videos involved calling for jihad, reciting parables calling for the killing of Jews, and encouraging Middle Eastern Muslim nations to spit on Israel so the “Jews would drown”.

“If all the Muslims in that region (the Middle East) spat on ­Israel, the people of Israel would drown, the Jews would drown,” Mr Ousayd said in an October 21 sermon.

NSW Police launched an investigation and the Australian Federal Police referred one of the sermons – believed to be Brother Ismail’s – to its terror squad for ­assessment in early November.

On Wednesday, NSW Police confirmed investigations had been dropped and would not ­resume. “The content of the speeches were reviewed, with legal advice from parties independent of the investigators ­obtained,” a NSW Police spokesman said. “The NSW Police Force understands it does not meet the threshold of any criminal offence.

“There will be no further investigation into the matter.”

An AFP spokesman confirmed soon after that “no commonwealth criminal offences had been identified” and that the matter was now closed.

The Australian has previously reported on the high threshold inherent in both state-based incitement laws and commonwealth terror legislation, of which it is understood the latter is particularly high.

Meanwhile, Mr Ousayd posted a video to his personal YouTube account on Monday showing him at Sydney’s Town Hall trying to convert people to Islam, including what appeared to be six teenage boys.

The Australian in November revealed that Mr Ousayd was jihadi preacher Wissam Haddad, an extremist who had ­expressed support for terrorist groups. His defunct al-Risalah Islamic Centre was frequented by men who went on to commit atrocities in Syria, such as Khaled Sharrouf and ­Mohamed Elomar.

Newly sworn-in senator Dave Sharma, a previous Australian ambassador to Israel, asked how no action had been taken. “Our law enforcement authorities need to enforce the law, make arrests and lay charges,” he said.

“Until the wider community understands that such hateful speech and incitement to violence against our Jewish community is not only unacceptable, but also unlawful, this disgusting spike in anti-Semitism will continue.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20038490 (071017ZDEC23) Notable: Peter Dutton finishes 2023 in the political ascendancy over Anthony Albanese - "Peter Dutton finished the 2023 parliamentary sittings in a political ascendancy over Anthony Albanese that was so complete, the Opposition Leader actually delivered a better annual Christmas message than the Prime Minister. Albanese’s Christmas message seemed to lack a focus and life while Dutton’s was composed, had a checklist of thanks and even mentioned Christianity. After the Christmas messages Albanese left the chamber unaccompanied. A government is in the doldrums when it loses the Christmas valedictories." - Dennis Shanahan - theaustralian.com.au

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>>108660

>>108661

Peter Dutton finishes 2023 in the political ascendancy over Anthony Albanese

DENNIS SHANAHAN - DECEMBER 7, 2023

Peter Dutton finished the 2023 parliamentary sittings in a political ascendancy over Anthony Albanese that was so complete, the Opposition Leader actually delivered a better annual Christmas message than the Prime Minister.

It’s a harsh call but true because the Christmas valedictory messages – known as the Christmas hypocriticals to some hardened politicians – is a chance for some good humour and cheer as well as an opportunity to raise the spirits of MPs who may be feeling beleaguered.

Thursday’s final House of Representatives parliamentary question time was a missed opportunity for Albanese and the Labor government as they went through the motions of casting a few barbs towards Dutton, but failing utterly to provide any end-of-year boost to morale and momentum.

Instead of the traditional rousing prime ministerial flourish at the end of the parliamentary year designed to lift political spirits and assert authority, Albanese’s contribution was flat as his backbenchers appeared disengaged and looking to the exit for the Christmas break.

Even Albanese, who signals his calling an end to question time by packing up his folders, was neatly stowed at exactly 3.10pm – the earliest he can call off questions in normal circumstances.

After two months of punishing defeats, mistakes and diverting events it is understandable that the Labor government is despondent and collectively depressed, realising it faces enormous challenges to restore public confidence and assert itself over the Coalition.

But in the last face-to-face opportunity for Albanese get one over Dutton the PM was found wanting with flat presentations, looking tired and without enthusiasm.

On the back foot, once again, because of the High Court’s ruling to release immigration detainees and the arrest of the fifth detainee on criminal charges, Albanese tried to quell the furore over the furious response of the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, to the suggestion he should apologise to the victim of a sexual assault by declaring that the behaviour was below acceptable standards.

Albanese even said he was “sorry” when anyone, anywhere was the victim of an assault.

But the ongoing saga of released criminals could not be put aside or lift Labor’s political burden. Some desultory attacks on Dutton’s record as health minister or his opposition to bulk billing and Medicare went nowhere.

Even the Prime Minister’s final answer of the year, with a complete list of Labor’s policies designed to cut the cost-of-living, had all the impact of reading a laundry list as some Labor MPs used computers, mobile phones or wrote Christmas cards.

Albanese’s Christmas message seemed to lack a focus and life while Dutton’s was composed, had a checklist of thanks and even mentioned Christianity.

After the Christmas messages Albanese left the chamber unaccompanied. A government is in the doldrums when it loses the Christmas valedictories.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-finishes-2023-in-the-political-ascendancy-over-anthony-albanese/news-story/9e8cb2f730a994912f15be632d8f56d1

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20043902 (081156ZDEC23) Notable: Penny Wong plans peace mission to Israel, Middle East - Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit Israel within weeks as part of a wider Middle East trip to urge regional leaders to chart an end to the war in Gaza

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>>108483

>>108580

>>108587

Penny Wong plans peace mission to Israel, Middle East

BEN PACKHAM - DECEMBER 8, 2023

Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit Israel within weeks as part of a wider Middle East trip to urge regional leaders to chart an end to the war in Gaza.

Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts will lay the groundwork for the trip, announcing on Thursday he would travel to ­Israel, Qatar and Egypt next week. “Arrangements are being made for the Foreign Minister to visit the Middle East early in the new year,” Senator Wong’s spokeswoman told The Australian. “Australia has been working with countries that have influence in the region to help protect and support civilians, to help prevent the conflict from spreading and to reinforce the need for the just and enduring peace that all of us want.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham is also due to visit Israel next week, leading a bipartisan ­delegation that will include ­the Victorian Labor MPs Josh Burns and Michelle Ananda-Rajah, the LNP’s Andrew Wallace and ­Victorian Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie.

Senator Wong will seek to meet key counterparts in Israel, the West Bank and countries with influence in the wider region.

It’s understood planning for the trip has been under way for some time, with the government waiting for the early stages of the war to pass before ramping up its on-the-ground engagement.

It follows opposition calls for Anthony Albanese or a senior government minister to visit Israel following Hamas’s October 7 attack on the country that killed more than 1200 people and saw 240 hostages taken.

Mr Watts said in his meetings with Israeli counterparts, he would express “Australia’s unequivocal condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attacks and support for victims and families”.

He said he would also raise the plight of civilians in Gaza, and urge measures to prevent the conflict from escalating.

“In both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I will continue Australia’s advocacy for a just and enduring peace through a two-state solution, and discuss the next steps in a political process toward that goal,” Mr Watts said.

“We want to see continued steps towards a sustained ceasefire, but it cannot be one-sided.”

Divisions within Labor over the war disappointed members of Australia’s Jewish community, and delayed a phone call between Mr Albanese and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the October 7 attack.

It’s understood Israel has been enthusiastic about Senator Wong’s upcoming trip, and issued an invitation for her to travel there. The Foreign Minister has consistently backed Israel’s right to defend itself, while arguing “the way it does so matters”.

“Israel must respect international humanitarian law and it must conduct its military operations lawfully. And we are very concerned about the scale of civilian death that we are all seeing, including children,” she said earlier this week.

The diplomatic push comes as Israel escalates its assault on Gaza’s southern city of Khan Yunis, where one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack is believed to be hiding. Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement that Israeli forces were closing in on the home of Hamas’s chief in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar.

The Israeli army on Wednesday said it had struck about 250 targets in Gaza in 24 hours and troops had found an arms depot “in the heart of a civilian population” near a clinic and school in the north of the territory.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the deadliest attack in its history, vowing to eradicate the terrorist group and bring home all its hostages but it is facing a global outcry over the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza, and dire short­ages of food, water and fuel.

Hamas said the war had killed more than 16,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, most of them women and children.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/penny-wong-plans-peace-mission-to-israel-middle-east/news-story/cdcd1c7e8ab45fbf524958018278a54a

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20047900 (091128ZDEC23) Notable: Sixth immigration detainee arrested after High Court ruling - A sixth person released from immigration detention has been arrested after allegedly breaching his curfew conditions in Melbourne’s inner west overnight. The 36-year-old man from Eritrea was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on Friday evening after allegedly breaching a residential condition of his Commonwealth visa

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>>108621

>>108693

>>108706

Sixth immigration detainee arrested after High Court ruling

NATHAN SCHMIDT - DECEMBER 9, 2023

A sixth person released from immigration detention has been arrested after allegedly breaching his curfew conditions in Melbourne’s inner west overnight.

The 36-year-old man from Eritrea was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on Friday evening after allegedly breaching a residential condition of his Commonwealth visa.

He was remanded into custody by police to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday.

The man was charged with one count of failing to comply with a curfew condition. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years’ in prison and a $93,900 fine.

The arrest comes as pressure continues to grow on the Albanese government following a ruling by the High Court that led to the release of about 150 immigration detainees.

The ruling, which sparked outrage from the opposition, determined it was unlawful to hold non-citizens in indefinite detention at the country’s immigration centres.

Asked about the release of a sixth detainee on Saturday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it would be up to the courts to determine whether released detainees would be re-detained.

“We will not risk any legal consequences by trying to pre-empt those processes,” he said.

“I make this point, the High Court made the decision. We had to respond to what was the law, because governments should not break the law.”

NSW Police confirmed on Friday that a fifth detainee had been arrested by Queensland Police after allegedly breaching parole following an earlier assault conviction.

On Friday, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said that the public deserved to know why thorough checks weren’t completed before the 39-year-old man was released.

“What I want to know from Anthony Albanese today is how many of these individuals will be locked back up before Christmas so that the community can feel safe,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government understood the anxiety that had been felt in the community since the detainees’ release.

“We understand it because in the High Court we argued against the release,” Mr Marles said on Friday.

“Our position is that they should have not been released.”

Just a day earlier, a 45-year-old man was arrested by police at a Melbourne hotel charged with one count of theft and one count of failing to comply with his curfew.

Eritrea, on the Horn of Africa, is often regard as the “North Korea of Africa” and has for years been one of the world largest exporters of refugees and migrants.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/sixth-immigration-detainee-arrested-after-high-court-ruling/news-story/d709eedfd41b11a027b5fac35c9b501b

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20047909 (091133ZDEC23) Notable: Anthony Albanese announces plan to reduce immigration levels following Covid influx - Immigration will be scaled back to what are considered sustainable levels hand-in-hand with a crackdown on abuses of Australia’s intake of overseas students.

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Anthony Albanese announces plan to reduce immigration levels following Covid influx

Overhaul follows once-in-a-generation review which found immigration system ‘badly broken’

Australian Associated Press - 9 Dec 2023

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has flagged a major plan to return immigration to what he believes is a sustainable level after a post-Covid influx.

Immigration will be scaled back to what are considered sustainable levels hand-in-hand with a crackdown on abuses of Australia’s intake of overseas students.

The impending overhaul follows a once-in-a-generation review which determined the nation’s immigration system was “badly broken” and in need of a 10-year rebuild, Albanese said.

“What we know is that we need to have a migration system that enables Australia to get the skills that we need but make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians,” he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

“Well, we are determined to fix this.”

Albanese said there was always going to be a jump in immigration after Covid-19 although current projections were lower than those prior to Australia shutting its borders during the pandemic.

Treasury forecasts also showed the intake is expected to decline substantially over the coming financial year.

However, the review, conducted by former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet head Martin Parkinson, had found concerning abuses of Australia’s acceptance of international students, the prime minister said.

“People are coming here, enrolling in courses that don’t really add substantially to either their skills base or to the national interest here,” he said.

“So it’s not in the interests of our neighbours, nor is it in the interests of Australia, that there not be a crackdown on this.

“We’re determined to do that.”

While the government already had a blueprint for increased housing and a $120bn infrastructure rollout, the full details of the immigration overhaul would be unveiled next week, Albanese said.

Its preliminary announcement comes as an Eritrean-born man was expected on Saturday to appear in court as the sixth former immigration detainee arrested for allegedly failing to comply with a curfew.

The AFP arrested and charged the 36-year-old on Friday night after he was located in inner Melbourne.

It will be alleged the man breached the conditions of his commonwealth visa by failing to observe his residential curfew obligations, with the offence attracting a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $93,900 fine.

The government has been scrambling to respond to a high court decision, which overturned 20 years of legal precedent to rule indefinite custody of detainees unlawful when there was no prospect of resettlement.

Opposition pressure has escalated for it to apologise to Australians over the affair.

However, Albanese said Labor had a legal obligation to respond to the court’s decision and had no interest in risking the consequences of pre-empting such processes.

He said the government had received very clear and explicit advice on the issue but despite making it available to the opposition, it had been ignored.

A Treasury estimate earlier this year of Australia’s net immigration intake for 2022-23 at a tick more than 400,000 has been well exceeded.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the nation grew 2.2% to 26.5 million people in the 12 months to 31 March, or roughly the period following the closure of international borders. Net overseas migration accounted for 81% of this growth and added 454,400 people.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/09/anthony-albanese-announces-plan-to-reduce-immigration-levels-following-covid-influx

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20047917 (091140ZDEC23) Notable: ‘Show some backbone’: call for Albanese to help release Julian Assange - Family and high-profile advocates of Julian Assange have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “show some backbone” and fight for the WikiLeaks founder to return home to Australia. Members of the Free Julian Assange Campaign rallied outside of Mr Albanese’s Sydney office in Marrickville in 41C heat on Saturday to express their support and commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

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>>108482

‘Show some backbone’: call for Albanese to help release Julian Assange

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have called on Anthony Albanese to fight for his release, as his father reveals what they chat about from prison.

Elizabeth Pike - December 9, 2023

Family and high-profile advocates of Julian Assange have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “show some backbone” and fight for the WikiLeaks founder to return home to Australia.

Members of the Free Julian Assange Campaign rallied outside of Mr Albanese’s Sydney office in Marrickville in 41C heat on Saturday to express their support and commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Assange’s father John Shipton led the group of speakers and renewed the call for his son to be released from high-security prison in the United Kingdom, before his extradition to the United States where he faces up to 175 years imprisonment.

“Julian Assange can be freed with a phone call, the government can ring up their colleagues in the UK and say send him home,” Mr Shipton told the crowd.

“For 13 years we have witnessed acquiescence for whatever the US and the UK have wanted to do to Julian, 13 years of it.

“Acquiescence means complicity … We participated in sending a man to Cavalry, we participated.”

After his speech, Mr Shipton revealed he only spoke to Assange yesterday from prison about his wife and two children.

“We gossip about the wives and the kids and then we get down to the serious business but by that time eight of the 10 minutes is gone,” he said.

“He still laughs; he loves his Aussie-isms, you know how Aussies like black humour.”

When asked about whether he speaks to his son about life in prison, Mr Shipton said he preferred to keep their brief conversations positive.

“I don’t ask him those sort of questions because what if he says ‘it’s sh*t’? I can’t alleviate his suffering by listening to his suffering.”

Greens Senator David Shoebridge earlier addressed the crowd and took aim at Mr Albanese and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong over their perceived inaction.

“I got to tell you Albanese is feeling the heat today isn’t he, and so he bloody should be,” Mr Shoebridge said.

“What country allows two of its closest allies to treat one of its own citizens, a citizen journalist, like this?

“I will continue to press the likes of Penny Wong to actually show some backbone and stop saying that this is all just a matter for the courts and that she can’t intervene. She’s never said that in relation to freeing Australians from China, Iran, or Russia. It’s just that when it’s one of the great and powerful allies of Australia that this government surrenders its will.

“Australia should put some critical assets on the line in these relationships … put something meaningful on the table like it matters.”

Fellow whistleblower David McBride also doubled down on his support for Assange ahead of his sentencing in March, after he pleaded guilty to three charges of stealing and unlawfully sharing secret Australian military information.

“I’ve had tremendous support and as we expected, as I always expected, we could well lose the battle but we will win the war,” Mr McBride said.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/show-some-backbone-call-for-albanese-to-help-release-julian-assange/news-story/48dfd3999dc90bad6b581df1c6d8c8fa

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20051477 (100852ZDEC23) Notable: Video: ‘Time for me to leave’: Annastacia Palaszczuk to quit as Queensland premier - Annastacia Palaszczuk, the so-called “accidental premier” who led Labor to three Queensland election victories, will resign from politics after almost nine years in the top job

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‘Time for me to leave’: Annastacia Palaszczuk to quit as Queensland premier

Zach Hope - December 10, 2023

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Annastacia Palaszczuk, the so-called “accidental premier” who led Labor to three Queensland election victories, will resign from politics after almost nine years in the top job.

An emotional Palaszczuk made the announcement on Sunday morning after updating the media about the impending arrival of Tropical Cyclone Jasper – potentially her 63rd Queensland natural disaster as premier.

She said she turned her mind towards stepping down while on a recent Italian holiday with her partner, Reza Adib, as speculation swirled about her leadership.

But her mind was only made up following last week’s national cabinet meeting as she looked around the table at the relatively fresh set of premiers and her fourth prime minister.

“I thought to myself, ‘renewal is a good thing’,” she said.

“When I led this party from an opposition of just seven members, I said that the first election will be like climbing Mount Everest. I went on to climb that mountain twice more. I don’t need to do it again.”

She will step down as premier at the end of the week, and as the member for Inala at the end of the year.

The next leader will be a matter for the Labor caucus. Palaszczuk said she would give her deputy, Steven Miles, her “strong endorsement”. Miles said on Sunday he would nominate for the leadership.

Treasurer Cameron Dick and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman are considered the other frontrunners.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Palaszczuk contacted him on Sunday morning informing him of her decision.

“She retires as a Labor hero, a three-time election winner, Australia’s longest-serving female premier and, above all else, a champion for Queenslanders,” he said.

Despite conjecture about her political future, particularly in recent months as her popularity slipped in opinion polls, Palaszczuk always insisted she would lead the party to the state election in October next year.

The most recent poll, published by this masthead on Tuesday evening, had Labor trailing the LNP by four percentage points and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli opening up a larger margin as preferred premier.

Her government has been fighting losing battles on multiple political fronts, including youth crime, hospital failures, and a housing crunch.

She had faced calls this month from two former Labor politicians to step down as leader, but none of her present colleagues added their names to the suggestion. Neither had anyone publicly declared their own leadership intentions.

“Queensland is in good shape, which is why now it’s time for me to leave,” Palaszczuk said on Sunday.

The premier broke down in tears and took some moments to compose herself while explaining how standing up for Queenslanders had been the “honour of my life”.

“I have given everything, but now is the time for me to find out what else life has to offer,” she said.

“I want to thank my mum, my dad, my sisters, my nieces and nephew. Most of all Reza and his family for all their love and support. They’re looking forward to having me home.

“Thank you to my cabinet and my staff. Thank you to the Labour Party, to all of our frontline workers, but most of all, thank you every single Queenslander.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20051482 (100859ZDEC23) Notable: ‘Be brave’: Penny Wong urged to break with US over war in Gaza - The top Palestinian representative in Australia has urged Foreign Minister Penny Wong to be “brave” enough to break with the United States over the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel’s right to self-defence did not offer a license to kill an unlimited number of Palestinian civilians. Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, the head of the general delegation of Palestine to Australia, warned that Israel’s war against Hamas has boosted the militant group’s popularity in the West Bank and Gaza, draining support from the more moderate and secular Palestinian Authority that he represents

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‘Be brave’: Penny Wong urged to break with US over war in Gaza

Matthew Knott - December 10, 2023

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The top Palestinian representative in Australia has urged Foreign Minister Penny Wong to be “brave” enough to break with the United States over the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel’s right to self-defence did not offer a license to kill an unlimited number of Palestinian civilians.

Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, the head of the general delegation of Palestine to Australia, warned that Israel’s war against Hamas has boosted the militant group’s popularity in the West Bank and Gaza, draining support from the more moderate and secular Palestinian Authority that he represents.

He said the federal government would make a major contribution to the Middle East peace process by immediately recognising Palestinian statehood and demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Abdulhadi met with Wong last week in Parliament House alongside diplomats from Indonesia and Algeria, where they pressed her to take a stronger line against Israel’s conduct in the war and its occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Abdulhadi said he emerged from the meeting disappointed because he got the impression that Wong would find it difficult to further harden her stance by calling for Israel to unilaterally end the war.

Asked about the meeting, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: “Minister Wong reaffirmed Australia’s principled position, including Israel’s right to defend itself following the October 7 attack, the importance of all parties respecting international law, concern over the civilian toll and Australia’s support for international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire, recognising this cannot be one-sided.”

Wong is preparing to travel to Israel and the wider Middle East in January, and is expected to travel to the West Bank to meet with top Palestinian representatives.

“We are calling on her to have a brave stance about what’s happening in Gaza,” Abdulhadi said.

“I think leadership means sometimes to bear risk and take a principled position ... Even if they support self-defence, this is not a carte blanche for Israel to kill, there’s not a license to kill.”

Abdulhadi said he was “very cautious” about applying terms such as genocide to the war, but accused Israel of committing a “really huge violation of human rights in Gaza”.

“Five thousand children being killed is something nobody can accept under any pretext,” he said.

Noting that Labor’s voting base includes many voters of Middle Eastern descent, he said: “I think it’s time for Australia not just to support the United States’ foreign policy.”

Abdulhadi added that it was “wishful thinking” to believe Hamas, a prescribed terror organisation in Australia, could be eliminated as a result of the war, triggered by the massacre of 1200 Israelis in a shock assault on October 7.

The Hamas media office said that more than 17,000 people have died since the start of the war, including more than 7000 children and 5000 women. Officials from the Israeli Defence Forces have said that around 5000 Hamas fighters have been killed in the war.

The Israeli government has argued that a permanent ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup and stage future attacks against Israeli civilians.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20051506 (100918ZDEC23) Notable: Melbourne University students plan pro-Palestine graduation stunt - University of Melbourne students have been encouraged to wear Palestinian scarves at their upcoming graduation events this week. In a “call to action” on social media, the ‘unimelbforpalestine’ group has urged students to “show (their) solidarity” with Palestinian students as graduation ceremonies begin on Monday

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Melbourne University students plan pro-Palestine graduation stunt

TESS MCCRACKEN - DECEMBER 10, 2023

University of Melbourne students have been encouraged to wear Palestinian scarves at their upcoming graduation events this week.

In a “call to action” on social media, the ‘unimelbforpalestine’ group has urged students to “show (their) solidarity” with Palestinian students as graduation ceremonies begin on Monday.

“Show your solidarity with your fellow students in Palestine and wear your keffiyeh at the graduation,” a post on Instagram read.

“It cannot be ‘business as usual’ while the University of Melbourne actively participates in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

The post also encouraged students to tag the university in photos of themselves wearing the traditional Palestinian scarf and use the hashtag #NoBloodOnOurDegrees.

The university’s rules state graduates are “not permitted to wear self-resourced regalia”.

Opposition Education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson has written to the University of Melbourne’s vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell to seek “assurance” that no students will don the Palestinian scarf at graduation ceremonies.

“The opposition is concerned that university students are being encouraged to wear a keffiyeh as a symbol of protest when graduating which is not only provocative but raises serious safety concerns for Jewish students.

“Please advise the consequences for graduates who wear protest regalia including whether they will be permitted to graduate, and what action will be taken against those who seek to incite students to protest in breach of university rules?

“I seek your advice as to how the university is combating acts of anti-Semitism on campus and in connection with the university, as well as anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred which is fuelling anti-Semitism.

“The alarming increase in antisemitism in our community means many Jewish Australians are living in fear including university students. Numerous students have reported they are too afraid to attend university or display symbols of their faith. This situation is intolerable.”

Ms Henderson told The Australian on Sunday she is “concerned this type of protest activities could spread to other universities”.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said universities must send the message that “Jewish students count and deserve to be free of discrimination, intimidation and harassment”.

“This is a state of emergency for our tertiary education sector and a problem from hell that no one can run or hide from. Jewish students feel under siege and do not feel protected on campuses,” Dr Abramovich said.

“Our leaders need to take the high moral ground and declare that anyone who spews hate speech that incites to violence, that calls for the murder of Jewish people, that compares Jews to Nazis, that accuses anyone who supports Israel of being a criminal committing murder and ethnic cleansing, does not belong on their campuses.

“If they do not push back against this evil which is spreading like wildfire, this storm of anti-Semitism will engulf these educational institutions and will become normalised and accepted. I have already been contacted by parents asking whether their children will be harmed if they attend the University of Melbourne graduations, given that they have Jewish-sounding names.

“Another warned that if this tide of hatred is not stemmed, universities will be perceived as no-go zones for anyone who is Jewish or supports Israel.”

Duncan Maskell was contacted for comment.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/melbourne-university-students-plan-propalestine-graduation-stunt/news-story/8fb47b3733679dddc5fc320500c20cac

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0jE_iWxw1V/

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20057006 (110848ZDEC23) Notable: ‘January 26 is still Australia Day’: High commissioner cancels London gala over ‘sensitivities’ - Anthony Albanese’s hand-picked high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, has closed the doors of Australia House to organisers of an annual Australia Day fundraiser, citing sensitivities around celebrating the national day

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‘January 26 is still Australia Day’: High commissioner cancels London gala over ‘sensitivities’

Latika Bourke - December 11, 2023

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London: Anthony Albanese’s hand-picked high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, has closed the doors of Australia House to organisers of an annual Australia Day fundraiser, citing sensitivities around celebrating the national day.

It is part of a wider purge of what Smith believes are “parties without purpose” that he has told visiting Labor MPs he has killed off since taking up residence at his luxurious manor, Stoke Lodge, next to Hyde Park, on Australia Day last year.

The Australia Day Gala dinner run by the not-for-profit Australia Day Foundation is a fixture on the London calendar and has previously attracted some of Australia’s biggest names, including singers Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Peter Andre, Tim Minchin, Philip Quast, Delta Goodrem, Tina Arena, the boy band Human Nature and entertainers Barry Humphries, Clive James and naturalist David Attenborough.

The black-tie event, which is widely regarded as the London version of G’Day LA, also honours Australians and Britons who have contributed to the bilateral relationship and has showcased food cooked by Australian chefs, including Maggie Beer, Neil Perry and the Michelin-starred Brett Graham.

The dinner has been held in the marble Exhibition Hall of the Australian High Commission on Strand on the Saturday evening closest to January 26 for two decades, and in recent years it has begun turning a profit, which organisers have used to fund scholarships for young Australians to study in Britain.

But when organisers went to confirm arrangements for the 2024 celebration, the first to be held under the reign of Stephen Smith, they were told by the high commissioner that it wouldn’t be appropriate to hold the Australia Day event around January 26, which marks the First Fleet’s landing in Sydney in 1788 and some Indigenous campaigners call Invasion Day.

“I was very disappointed to be told that it was not appropriate to have a function around Australia Day that might be interpreted as insensitive back in Australia,” Phil Aiken, founding member of the foundation told this masthead.

“It’s been supported by the High Commission for 20 years, so it’s very sad.”

Advertising legend Bill Muirhead, who was also a founding member, said it was “un-Australian” to cancel Australia Day.

“The last time I checked, January 26 was still Australia Day,” Muirhead said.

The High Commission of Australia wanted to charge the charity a minimum of £29,000 ($55,000) to hold the event, instead of operating costs, impose a curfew of 11pm and proposed that the Australia Day Gala be held in March instead of near Australia Day, leaving organisers with no option but to cancel.

“It is well known that Australia Day touches on sensitivities for some Australians,” a spokesman said in a statement.

“The high commissioner is happy to acknowledge that was part of the decision-making process with respect to the various alternative dates suggested by the foundation.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20062088 (120925ZDEC23) Notable: Dutton attacks High Commissioner for Australia Day ‘shame’ - Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Stephen Smith should be “looking for a new job” if doesn’t believe in Australia Day, accusing him of being “ashamed” of the controversial national holiday.

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Dutton attacks High Commissioner for Australia Day ‘shame’

RHIANNON DOWN - DECEMBER 12, 2023

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Stephen Smith should be “looking for a new job” if doesn’t believe in Australia Day, accusing him of being “ashamed” of the controversial national holiday.

Mr Dutton attacked the top diplomat - who was handpicked by Anthony Albanese - for his decision to cancel the Australia Day Gala dinner next year, arguing that January 26 needed to be celebrated at a“significant post” such as London.

Mr Smith told organisers of the charity gala - which is a mainstay of the London social calendar attracting high profile Australians such Kylie Minogue, Tim Minchin and Delta Goodrem - that it would be insensitive to hold the event. January 26 marks the landing of the First Fleet’s in Sydney in 1788 and has been branded as Invasion Day by some Indigenous activists.

“I think I speak for the majority of Australians here who are proud of our country, recognise that we’ve got a history of Indigenous heritage, white settlement in our country and all of that is to be celebrated,” Mr Dutton said.

“We have the institutions here in our country that make us a great democracy, freedom of speech, we have the ability to contribute in an egalitarian way and that is to be celebrated.

“I think the vast majority of Australians will be celebrating Australia Day and I think the High Commissioner in London, if he’s not prepared to celebrate Australia Day, if he’s ashamed of Australia Day, then frankly I think he should be looking for a new job.”

Mr Dutton called on Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong to reveal if they backed the High Commissioner’s position, accusing Mr Smith of “changing” his story.

“How can we have a High Commissioner who is ashamed of Australia Day?,” he said.

“Australia Day is a celebration of our history and our heritage, celebrate our Indigenous heritage and celebrate settlement in this country which has together made us the greatest country in the world.

“The story put out by Foreign Minister Wong and Mr Smith keeps changing, it was about sensitivities and all sorts of things, but Australia Day needs to be celebrated and it needs to be celebrated at a significant post such as that in London.”

The gala, run by the not-for-profit Australia Day Foundation, has been held in the Exhibition Hall of the Australian High Commission on the Saturday closest to January 26 for 20 years.

A spokesman for Mr Smith said the decision had been motivated by the expense with the annual gala dinner predicted to cost Australian High Commission about $55,000.

“The High Commission determined that Australian taxpayers should no longer bear such a cost,” the spokesman said.

“The event was not ‘cancelled’ by the High Commission. The Australia Foundation (which has changed its name from the Australia Day Foundation) decided last week to not proceed with a gala dinner for 2024.

“It is the Government’s view that Australia Day should continue to be held on 26 January.

“The High Commission has already planned and will host an appropriate event to mark Australia Day at Australia House, as embassies and consulates do around the world.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/dutton-attacks-high-commissioner-for-australia-day-shame/news-story/0f04fd8e6434157b732f58ef9517eec0

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20062118 (120934ZDEC23) Notable: ‘Roll up your sleeves’: Wong must demand Hamas’ elimination, says Sharma - Foreign Minister Penny Wong should use her upcoming trip to the Middle East to demand the elimination of Hamas and secure a role for Australia in brokering a post-war political settlement in Gaza, according to former Australian ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma

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‘Roll up your sleeves’: Wong must demand Hamas’ elimination, says Sharma

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong should use her upcoming trip to the Middle East to demand the elimination of Hamas and secure a role for Australia in brokering a post-war political settlement in Gaza, according to former Australian ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma.

The former Wentworth MP, who was sworn in as a Liberal senator for NSW last week, said Wong’s planned mid-January trip to Israel was “overdue” and that it was unfortunate she had not visited the Middle East in the 18 months since Labor took office.

“I think she needs to express quite clearly Australia’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and that extends to the elimination of Hamas as a political and military actor,” Sharma said in an interview with this masthead.

“I don’t see a sustainable resolution to this conflict unless and until Hamas is removed from political power in Gaza.

“That’s certainly the view of Israel’s government and across the political spectrum in Israel.”

Sharma, who served as Australia’s top representative in Israel from 2013 to 2017, said Wong should use meetings with officials from neighbouring Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Jordan to identify how to fill the political vacuum that would be left by the removal of Hamas in Gaza.

“The government has been armchair commentators, but this is not about giving press conferences from Adelaide, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and getting involved,” he said.

Asked about the reception Wong can expect in Israel, Sharma said: “Israel counts Australia as a close friend and partner so they will welcome the visit.”

But he added: “I don’t think this government is particularly highly regarded in Israel. The fact Netanyahu took several weeks before he accepted Albanese’s call tells you something about the warmth, or lack of it, in the relationship.”

Netanyahu and Albanese had their first telephone call since the October 7 attacks, which claimed the lives of 1200 people in Israel, a little over three weeks after Hamas’s shock incursion.

Sharma said Israel had found the Labor government’s changes to official language on the “occupied Palestinian territories” and West Jerusalem as “gratuitous and unnecessary”.

While Australia is not a lead player in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Sharma said it could serve as an “important supporting actor” given its historic support of Israel and strong relations with other Middle Eastern nations.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20066801 (130826ZDEC23) Notable: Australia breaks with US, backs Gaza ceasefire at United Nations - Australia has dramatically toughened its stance on Israel’s war against Hamas, breaking with the United States and United Kingdom to vote in favour of an immediate ceasefire at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The turnaround was welcomed by Palestinian advocates, but drew speedy criticism from Israel’s ambassador to Australia and leading Australian Jewish groups, which said the Albanese government “cannot have it both ways” on the war

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Australia breaks with US, backs Gaza ceasefire at United Nations

Matthew Knott and James Lemon - December 13, 2023

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Australia has dramatically toughened its stance on Israel’s war against Hamas, breaking with the United States and United Kingdom to vote in favour of an immediate ceasefire at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The turnaround was welcomed by Palestinian advocates, but drew speedy criticism from Israel’s ambassador to Australia and leading Australian Jewish groups, which said the Albanese government “cannot have it both ways” on the war.

Australia abstained during a previous vote in late October because the resolution did not recognise Hamas’ responsibility for the October 7 attack against Israel that resulted in 1200 deaths.

But on Wednesday morning, Australia supported a reworded ceasefire resolution.

Efforts by the US and Austria to amend the motion to include criticism of Hamas failed to obtain the two-thirds majority support needed to pass.

Australia was among the 153 nations to vote in favour of the ceasefire resolution, with 10 voting against and 23 abstaining.

The vote is non-binding, but is seen as an expression of the views of the international community and will increase pressure on Israel to scale back its military campaign.

The US voted against the latest ceasefire resolution, while the United Kingdom abstained.

Thirty-one other nations joined Australia in voting for the first time in favour of a ceasefire, compared to the vote on October 27.

The resolution agreed to by Australia demands an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza and expresses “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population”.

It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and that all parties comply with international law.

Ceasefire or pause

Foreign Minister Penny Wong framed Australia’s vote in favour of the resolution as support for more pauses in the fighting like the one agreed to in November, in which Israel halted its military campaign in exchange for the release of 10 hostages a day.

She said Australia would have preferred that the resolution referred to Hamas’s attacks against innocent civilians and that Australia supported the failed amendment on this issue.

“Australia has consistently affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself and in doing so, we have said Israel must respect international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, must be protected,” Wong told reporters in Adelaide.

“The resolution we have supported is consistent with the position we have previously outlined on these issues.

“We see the pauses as a critical step on the path to sustainable and permanent ceasefire. As I have said previously, such a ceasefire cannot be one-sided.”

Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said on X, formerly Twitter: “I find it difficult to understand how Australia can support Israel’s right to defend its people from terrorist aggression, while also voting in support of a ceasefire that will embolden Hamas and enable it to resume its attacks on Israelis.

“Australia’s vote comes a day after Israel returned the remains of two murdered hostages from Gaza, and rocket fire continued to rain down on southern Israel.

“This war can only end with Hamas being totally defeated and the liberation of all our hostages.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan urged member nations to vote against the resolution, saying: “I honestly don’t know how can someone look in the mirror and support a resolution that does not condemn Hamas and does not even mention Hamas by name.”

He continued: “Not only does this resolution fail to condemn Hamas for crimes against humanity, it does not mention Hamas at all. This will only prolong the death and destruction in the region, that is precisely what a ceasefire means.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/20066826 (130842ZDEC23) Notable: Khawaja to test cricket rules with pro-Palestine stand - Usman Khawaja will make a stand in support of Palestinians in Gaza during the First Test against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday. The opening batter had the words “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” written on his shoes at team training ahead of the match

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Khawaja to test cricket rules with pro-Palestine stand

In an act sure to attract controversy, the opening batter plans to wear shoes with ‘Freedom is a human right’ and ‘All lives are equal’ written on them during the first Test.

PETER LALOR - December 12, 2023

Usman Khawaja will make a stand in support of Palestinians in Gaza during the First Test against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday.

The opening batter had the words “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” written on his shoes at team training ahead of the match.

Khawaja, who did not want to be quoted, told The Australian he planned to wear the shoes during the match but insisted it was a human rights gesture and not a protest.

The act is sure to attract controversy, if not a sanction from cricket authorities.

The player said he believed he was not contravening any International Cricket Council regulations and said the act was similar to Cricket Australia expressing solidarity with the LGBTI ­community or the Indigenous community.

Khawaja, who is the first Muslim to play for Australia, has not informed anybody in cricket of his plans. The words on his shoes are carefully chosen to express equal support for all human life and are not partisan.

The opener who calls himself the “people’s champion” recently signed a deal to work as a ­commentator with Fox Cricket.

Khawaja’s statement comes after the October 7 massacre by terror group Hamas and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza led to protests and social divisions erupting in Australia.

An Australian protester who identified himself as Wayne ­Johnson staged a pitch invasion in ­support of Palestine during Australia’s World Cup final against India last month.

Cameras cut away from the protester who was wearing a T-shirt that had the words “Stop Bombing Palestine” and “Save Palestine”.

Sport has struggled to smother protests, with Scottish fans of football team Celtic staging mass protests against the killings despite ­attempts by the club’s administration to ban such gestures.

Cricket has a complicated ­relationship with political protests. The game prides itself on having played a role in helping to bring about the end of apartheid in South Africa but is uncomfortable with individual gestures from players. English all-rounder Moeen Ali was given a warning by the International Cricket Council for wearing a pro-Palestine wrist band for a short period during the 2014 Test match against India in Southhampton. Moeen’s band said “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” which the ICC said was in breach of its regulations.

“The ICC equipment and clothing regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match,” it said at the time.

“Moeen Ali was told by the match referee that whilst he is free to express his views on such causes away from the cricket field, he is not permitted to wear the wristbands on the field of play and warned not to wear the bands again during an international match.”

Since then the ICC has allowed players to take a knee during the Black Lives Matter protests.

Khawaja, who turns 37 next week, is a senior member of the side and captain of Queensland.

Born in Pakistan, he is a practising Muslim and is highly respected by his teammates and the father of two children.

Cricket Australia took a political stance early in the year when it withdrew from a one-day series against Afghanistan in protest at the Taliban’s treatment of women in that country. “This decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms,” CA said.

“CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cricket/if-the-shoe-fits-usman-khawaja-to-test-crickets-politics-rules-with-propalestine-stand/news-story/8180a6fe04e07f35096fe78ba9adb4bb