/qnotables26/ - ===Q Notables 2026===

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24789042 (041718ZJUL26) Notable: WA Police Child Exploitation Squad catch more than 200 predators in one year revealing shocking online horror - (Video) WA Police arrested more than 200 alleged online child predators and identified 67 previously unknown child victims over the past year. Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Britton of the WA Child Exploitation Squad said the figures represent only a fraction of the state's online child exploitation problem, warning that offenders increasingly use gaming platforms, chatrooms and encrypted messaging apps to groom children before shifting conversations to anonymous messaging services that are harder to trace. Officers conduct covert operations by posing as children as young as 13, with many suspects continuing explicit conversations despite knowing the child's stated age. Police said those arrested came from diverse backgrounds, including teachers, lawyers and accountants. Cyber safety experts urged parents to monitor children's online activity, particularly games with chat functions, while police warned young teenagers should avoid communicating with anonymous users online.

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WA Police Child Exploitation Squad catch more than 200 predators in one year revealing shocking online horror

Jerrie Demasi - 21 June 2026

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Shocking police figures have exposed the scale of our State’s online child exploitation crisis, with more than 200 predators apprehended and 67 previously unknown child victims uncovered in just one year.

But detectives warn those confronting numbers barely scratch the surface, as offenders increasingly use games, chatrooms and encrypted apps to target children.

The new statistics, revealed to 7NEWS during rare access inside the WA Police Child Exploitation Squad, represent just a fraction of the real scale of child abuse material and online grooming in the State, according to investigators.

Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Britton said most child victims in WA remained unidentified, despite the squad’s extensive work in trying to track offenders online.

“Those victims there, are definitely a small percentage of what’s out there,” he said.

“Absolutely.”

The way these highly skilled officers catch online predators is covert and quite confronting.

Inside an unsuspecting Perth office building, specialist detectives spend their shifts in online chatrooms, monitoring digital platforms and identifying adults allegedly trying to groom or exploit minors.

To do this, the officers use fake profiles, posing as children aged as young as 13.

Detective Senior Sergeant Britton said the stated age of the child often did nothing to deter alleged predators.

“It’s made very clear the age of the person,” he said.

“Time and time again we will explain that we are a 13, 14, 15-year-old.

“The majority of people we deal with, unfortunately, will continue the conversation knowing they’re dealing with a child.”

In an unprecedented all-access report airing on 7NEWS Monday, detectives demonstrate how quickly a seemingly casual online exchange can escalate.

Investigators say groomers often begin by flattering a child, mirroring their interests or using friendly conversation to build trust — before manipulating the interaction into explicit territory.

In many cases, police say offenders then attempt to lure children from chatrooms or gaming platforms onto encrypted messaging services, where they are harder to trace.

“They’re anonymous, so sometimes there’ll be no phone linked to it, there’ll be no email linked to it,” Det. Sen. Sgt Britton said.

“And then we have the battle of identifying who that person is.”

The squad uses specialist technology and covert online methods to identify suspects before search warrants and arrests are carried out.

Body-worn camera vision obtained by 7NEWS shows WA Police arresting suspects accused of offences including possessing, producing and distributing child exploitation material.

It includes a horrific case in Geraldton, where detectives allege a man induced a child to engage in prostitution.

Another offender posted chilling online advertisements soliciting access to children.

“Obviously that sparked significant concern because we learned there are people actually out there actively doing this,” Det. Sen. Sgt Britton said.

“They wanted to develop a network of people with access to children who are willing to share them and come up with plans and ideas to discuss how they would do this.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24792252 (051138ZJUL26) Notable: OPINION: As a priest, I wonder what Jesus would say about the Christian Brothers crying poor - "What would the Pope make of recent reporting that reveals the Christian Brothers in Australia is set to declare itself bankrupt after shifting at least $500 million in assets into a separate legal entity, making it inaccessible to church child abuse victims seeking compensation? Pope Leo XIV last month denounced the “scourge” of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy before he met privately with abuse victims in Spain. The Pope said some of his most painful encounters had been with those who have been wounded by those who were supposed to care for them, including members of the clergy ... As a Catholic priest of nearly 60 years, I’m ashamed that those poor kids were damaged and burdened for life by people they were told they must both obey and trust. Yet rather than responding in good faith, the Christian Brothers in Australia have reportedly spent years transferring the assets - mainly land and school buildings potentially worth billions – to the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia. On Thursday, all sex abuse claims against the Christian Brothers in Australia were suspended after the Supreme Court of NSW granted the Christian Brothers a moratorium, noting the organisation could run out of money if it weren’t granted. In 2018, the order transferred schools in NSW - Waverley College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, St Patrick’s College in Strathfield, and St Pius X College in Chatswood – to the Edmund Rice trustees for the nominal consideration of $1 each ... Does the shifting of assets (albeit legally) to limit compensation claims satisfy Pope Leo’s requirement of “reparation and a culture of care”? Even more fundamentally, does it pass the standard of Jesus Himself, to “treat others as you would like to be treated yourself”? Surely not. To its great credit, over many years that same Catholic order has educated untold thousands of young people and, in doing so, helped form them as responsible and upright citizens as well as imparting academic knowledge. How tragic to undo all that good by marshalling wily and reprehensible legal strategies and using them against those who have already been irreparably damaged. In response to the sex abuse crisis within the Catholic and other churches over the past 50 years, heart-felt apologies have been issued, public ceremonies of “lamentation and sorrow” have been held, assurances have been given that “we have learnt from our mistakes”, and payments of compensation - both adequate and inadequate, court-imposed and negotiated – have been made to victims. But by and large, the church has failed to live up to its basic Christian obligations. Had it done so, perhaps the many empty pews in our churches might still be occupied by people who treasure their faith. The offences, the subsequent cover-ups and the indefensible legal strategies used to avoid fundamental obligations largely explain why so many, in the Western world especially, no longer associate with the church in any meaningful way ... I have spent the vast majority of my life serving as an ordained Catholic priest. I still say Mass every day and assist regularly in parish ministry. But I find it impossible to comprehend how hair-splitting legal strategies can be justified when the lives of so many former pupils, parishioners and their families continue to lie in ruins." - Father Kevin Dillon, a Catholic priest who works with survivors of church-related sexual abuse via his establishment of the Lifeboat Geelong Foundation, The Age - https://www.lifeboatgeelong.com.au

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OPINION: As a priest, I wonder what Jesus would say about the Christian Brothers crying poor

Father Kevin Dillon - July 5, 2026

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What would the Pope make of recent reporting that reveals the Christian Brothers in Australia is set to declare itself bankrupt after shifting at least $500 million in assets into a separate legal entity, making it inaccessible to church child abuse victims seeking compensation?

Pope Leo XIV last month denounced the “scourge” of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy before he met privately with abuse victims in Spain. The Pope said some of his most painful encounters had been with those who have been wounded by those who were supposed to care for them, including members of the clergy.

“The Church community must respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an even more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care,” the US-born Pope told Spanish bishops.

As a Catholic priest of nearly 60 years, I’m ashamed that those poor kids were damaged and burdened for life by people they were told they must both obey and trust.

Yet rather than responding in good faith, the Christian Brothers in Australia have reportedly spent years transferring the assets – mainly land and school buildings potentially worth billions – to the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia.

On Thursday, all sex abuse claims against the Christian Brothers in Australia were suspended after the Supreme Court of NSW granted the Christian Brothers a moratorium, noting the organisation could run out of money if it weren’t granted.

In 2018, the order transferred schools in NSW – Waverley College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, St Patrick’s College in Strathfield, and St Pius X College in Chatswood – to the Edmund Rice trustees for the nominal consideration of $1 each.

Three years earlier, the order had transferred three of its top Victorian schools – St Kevin’s College in Toorak, Geelong’s St Joseph’s College and Parade College in Bundoora – to Edmund Rice Australia. Doing so limits survivors’ claims for just and appropriate compensation.

The timing of this asset transfer occurred just months before state governments across Australia removed the controversial Ellis Defence, which had prevented abuse survivors from suing unincorporated organisations including churches and other institutions and had limited civil claims against churches since 2007.

Technical interpretations and nuances occasionally carry the day in some legal disputes, but for church personnel dealing with the extreme and life-long harm to children in their care, the words of Pope Leo must be paramount. Victims should not be palmed off as a merely “helpful background” to policies and decisions. Their stories must stand as a clear and decisive cornerstone in providing genuine reparation.

Does the shifting of assets (albeit legally) to limit compensation claims satisfy Pope Leo’s requirement of “reparation and a culture of care”? Even more fundamentally, does it pass the standard of Jesus Himself, to “treat others as you would like to be treated yourself”?

Surely not.

To its great credit, over many years that same Catholic order has educated untold thousands of young people and, in doing so, helped form them as responsible and upright citizens as well as imparting academic knowledge. How tragic to undo all that good by marshalling wily and reprehensible legal strategies and using them against those who have already been irreparably damaged.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24795432 (060944ZJUL26) Notable: China launches sea-based missile in South Pacific after Anthony Albanese signs pact with Fiji - China has confirmed it test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile carrying a simulated warhead into the South Pacific, describing the launch as a routine military exercise conducted in accordance with international law and with prior notification to regional governments. The test occurred within hours of Australia and Fiji signing the Veitacini Treaty, a new mutual defence alliance, alongside the Vuvale Union economic and security partnership, prompting Australia to describe the launch as destabilising. Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said China notified Australia only on the day of the launch, while Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra had formally conveyed its concerns to Beijing. Analysts, including the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Malcolm Davis, argued the timing appeared intended as strategic coercive messaging and said same-day notification fell short of accepted international practice. Japanese analyst Tetsuo Kotani said the missile was likely the JL-3, an intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missile designed to strengthen China's sea-based nuclear deterrent and future continuous at-sea patrol capability.

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China launches sea-based missile in South Pacific after Anthony Albanese signs pact with Fiji

BEN PACKHAM and YONI BASHAN - 6 July 2026

China has confirmed it fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile fitted with a simulated warhead into the South Pacific Ocean on Monday, describing the test as a routine component of its annual military training and stating that regional governments had been notified in advance.

Few experts were persuaded and the timing was not lost on anyone.

The missile was launched at 12.01pm local time by the People’s Liberation Army Navy from what Chinese state media described as a “strategic nuclear submarine”, and reportedly struck its designated target in the “relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean”. Beijing maintained the exercise was conducted in accordance with international law and was “not directed against any specific country or target”.

The launch occurred within hours of Australia and Fiji signing the landmark Veitacini Treaty – also known as the Ocean of Peace Alliance – in Suva. The mutual defence agreement, which commits both nations to come to each other’s aid in times of crises, marks Fiji’s first-ever defence alliance and Australia’s fourth, alongside its existing pacts with the United States, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

The treaty was signed alongside the Vuvale Union, a sweeping economic partnership that will see Australia invest over $1bn into Fiji over the next decade, and is open to other Pacific nations – including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga – to join in the future.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who had travelled with Anthony Albanese for the signing ceremony, said Australia had made clear to Beijing that the test was “destabilising to the region”.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed that China had informed Australia of its intention to conduct a long-range missile test on the day of the launch itself – the same day the treaty was signed. “We are very concerned about any actions which undermine the stability, the peace, and security of the Pacific,” Mr Marles said.

Beijing’s claim of advance notice was swiftly challenged by analysts who noted a same-day advisory falls short of the standard required under international law.

“It is notification in name only,” said Dr Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “The timing of the launch — on the day of the signing of the Veitacini Treaty — simply cannot be seen to be coincidental. China uses military power for coercive messaging.”

Dr Davis also highlighted the deeper strategic significance of conducting the test from a submarine platform, saying it reinforced China’s development of a “second-strike capability based on ballistic missile submarines” – vessels designed to survive an initial nuclear exchange and retaliate.

Chinese state media did not confirm the type of warhead used. Tetsuo Kotani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, a think tank in Tokyo, said China was most likely to have test-fired the JL-3, its newest submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile.

“Because its range exceeds 10,000 kilometers, the missile could not be tested by firing westward into the desert as has traditionally been done, so it was likely fired toward the Pacific instead,” Mr Kotani said.

He added that China is advancing development of the quieter Type 096 strategic nuclear-powered submarine, which would likely be armed with the JL-3 for continuous at-sea deployment, a move that would significantly enhance Beijing’s capacity for sustained nuclear deterrence.

Monday’s launch follows an September 2024 intercontinental ballistic missile test carrying a dummy warhead, which similarly alarmed Canberra, in part due to a lack of advance notice.

That missile flew across the Pacific Ocean and landed in waters near French Polynesia, marking China’s first such announced test over international waters in more than four decades.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/china-to-test-nuclear-missile-in-south-pacific-after-anthony-albanese-signs-pact-with-fiji/news-story/5c7504085d0c5221a9dd4bc8881d1dfc

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24795443 (060954ZJUL26) Notable: ‘Destabilising’: Australia blasts China for launching nuclear-capable weapon in Pacific - Australia and New Zealand have condemned China after it launched a nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the South Pacific, describing the test as destabilising and concerning. The launch occurred hours after Australia and Fiji signed the Ocean of Peace defence alliance, with China providing only limited advance notice. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the test was inconsistent with Pacific leaders' vision of the region as an "Ocean of Peace", while New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters warned such launches should not become normalised within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. Maritime intelligence firm Starboard reported Chinese tracking ships were positioned in the region during the test. China maintained the launch was a routine military exercise conducted in accordance with international law and not directed at any particular country.

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‘Destabilising’: Australia blasts China for launching nuclear-capable weapon in Pacific

Matthew Knott and Lisa Visentin - July 6, 2026

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The launch of a nuclear-capable long-range missile from a Chinese submarine in the South Pacific with just hours of notice has angered Australia and New Zealand, who labelled the test destabilising and concerning.

The firing of the ballistic missile, fitted with a dummy warhead, came just hours after Australia and Fiji struck a new defence alliance that commits them to come to each other’s aid if they come under attack.

A Chinese tracking ship was stationed alongside Fiji at the time of the missile firing, with a leading maritime surveillance company saying its presence was unlikely to have been coincidental.

Senior Captain Wang Xuemeng, a spokesman for China’s People’s Liberation Army navy, said that a Chinese strategic nuclear submarine successfully launched a strategic missile carrying a training dummy warhead toward “relevant high seas areas of the Pacific Ocean” at 12.01pm on Monday.

Wang said the missile “accurately landed within the predetermined sea area”.

“This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of the Chinese side’s annual military training, and relevant countries have been notified in advance,” he said.

“It complies with international law and international practices and is not targeted at any specific country or target.”

Chinese officials had briefed various regional governments, including Australia and New Zealand, about an intercontinental ballistic missile test in the Pacific earlier on Monday.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilising to the region” before adding that Pacific leaders had made clear they wanted the Pacific to be “an Ocean of Peace. We believe this test is inconsistent with that objective.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China hoped “relevant countries will not overinterpret the matter”. She described the launch as “a routine military training exercise, not targeted at any specific country or target, and relevant countries have been notified in advance, which is in line with international law and international practice”.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he was “deeply concerned” by the testing, complaining that it was carried out only hours after notice was given to Pacific nations.

“New Zealand considers this an unwelcome and concerning development,” Peters said.

“We, like our neighbours in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability.”

Peters said the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone established by the Treaty of Rarotonga as he flagged further discussions with Pacific nations in response to the test.

“We as a region should not sit by and allow such tests to become normalised or routine,” he said.

The Japanese government said it had urged China to reconsider the missile launch after receiving notification. “We expressed our grave concern over the Chinese military’s increased activity,” a government spokesperson said.

Maritime intelligence company Starboard said it had identified two Chinese satellite tracking ships, the Yuan Wang 3 and Yuan Wang 6, operating in international waters near the Federated States of Micronesia’s exclusive economic zone at the time of the test. The vessels left China around June 25.

A third tracking ship, the Yuan Wang 5, is currently alongside in Suva after operating in the eastern Pacific and arriving in Fiji on July 3.

Mark Douglas, a senior Starboard employee, said Yuan Wang 5’s “presence in the region is unlikely to be coincidental. The significance of that vessel being berthed in Fiji’s capital in the same week Fiji signed its first defence alliance with Australia won’t be lost on anyone.”

The ship was used to support China’s test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in September 2024 – its first such test since 1980.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said he did not believe the test was designed as retaliation for the defence treaty struck between Australia and Fiji.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien criticised the Chinese missile launch, saying: “This is irresponsible, and it is not welcomed.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24795501 (061016ZJUL26) Notable: Aussie top cop Krissy Barrett’s warning to UN: time to get leaner and meaner as China grows - Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett will urge the United Nations to modernise its peacekeeping model by making police training leaner, faster and more affordable, while promoting greater Pacific leadership in international policing. Addressing the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) in New York, Barrett will advocate training officers closer to their home countries and establishing the proposed PACPOL bloc to give Pacific police forces a stronger collective voice in global security matters. The initiative is intended to strengthen regional policing cooperation as China expands its security presence and police training across the Pacific, particularly in Solomon Islands. During the visit, Barrett will also meet FBI Director Kash Patel, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Canadian and US law enforcement leaders, and sign agreements to strengthen cooperation against terrorism, transnational crime and financial crime.

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Aussie top cop Krissy Barrett’s warning to UN: time to get leaner and meaner as China grows

RICHARD FERGUSON and GEOFF CHAMBERS - 5 July 2026

Australia’s top cop will warn the UN it needs to become a leaner and more agile peacekeeping corps as she takes her calls for a Pacific law enforcement bloc countering Chinese influence to her fellow security chiefs in New York.

Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett is set to meet FBI director Kash Patel and NYPC chief Jessica Tisch this week to discuss co-operation on terrorism post-Bondi, as she hosts the UNCOPS summit and works to elevate Australia’s role in inter­national policing.

First revealed by The Australian last year, the commissioner’s focus will be on countering the growing influence of Chinese police and security forces in the Pacific region, and giving island nations access to UN peacekeeping deployments.

Amid fears China is seeking to dominate peacekeeping operations worldwide, given it now provides the most troops and police of any Security Council member, the AFP boss will tell the UN that it needs to streamline the corps and train more officers closer to their home countries. “When UN member states adopted the Pact for the Future in 2024, they agreed peacekeeping must become more agile and better tailored to today’s challenges,” she will say.

“Australia took that call seriously. With our Pacific partners, we built a leaner, more sustainable police training model, without lowering the bar.

“When we say leaner, we mean a program delivered in five weeks instead of many months. When we say more affordable, we mean a model member states can actually sustain year on year, not one that strains a peacekeeping budget already under pressure. And when we say more agile, we mean police who can be trained closer to home and deployed where they’re needed, faster.”

Commissioner Barrett will be joined by three other Pacific ­nation police chiefs at the UNCOPS event as she seeks a global rebalance of law enforcement.

Beijing’s aggressive push to embed security personnel and exert influence over Pacific police forces was headlined by a 2023 deal struck between China and Solomon Islands, which included an implementation plan on policing scheduled to run until the end of 2025. A broader security deal was signed by the countries in April 2022.

While the AFP boasts a longstanding relationship with Pacific police chiefs and played a central role in the Australian-led ­Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon ­Islands, Beijing has expanded its security presence in Honiara and provided equipment and training for Solomon Islands police officers.

The AFP chief will tell her global colleagues that the Pacific policing bloc – PACPOL – will give island nation police a “greater say at global forums about security and safety matters”.

“A decision will be made by Pacific chiefs of police in Oct­ober on whether they agree to a new bloc, PACPOL. This will allow them to collectively establish priorities, with one voice at global and regional forums,” she will say.

After years of concerns about waste and corruption in peacekeeping missions, Ms Barrett will also call for financial belt-tightening at the UN and new models that will benefit smaller countries that cannot afford more bureaucratic and expensive police training methods. “Cost matters because sustainability matters. Member states have been candid about the financial pressure on UN peacekeeping,” she will say.

“A leaner training model means more countries can contribute capable, UN-ready officers without the price tag that has held them back. That’s how you protect police peacekeeping for the long term.”

Amid the UN event, Ms Barrett will sign a new memorandum of understanding with Donald Trump’s FBI chief, Mr Patel, on combating trans­national crime and terrorism.

She will meet with Ms Tisch, the powerful head of the New York police who has retained her power even under new socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Ms Barrett will also meet with the US’s top drugs cops and the head of the Canadian Mounties, as well as sign a deal with digital payments giant PayPal on sharing information.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/aussie-top-cop-krissy-barretts-warning-to-un-time-to-get-leaner-and-meaner-as-china-grows/news-story/ff9b8c2f4c157449930a97c83145e516

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/afp-commissioner-address-united-nations-chiefs-police-summit-her-vision

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24795523 (061024ZJUL26) Notable: One Nation eyes Andrew Hastie’s federal stronghold in Secret Harbour by-election test - One Nation will use the forthcoming Western Australian by-election in Secret Harbour as a test of support ahead of targeting Andrew Hastie’s federal seat of Canning at the next election. The by-election follows the resignation of state minister Paul Papalia, whose electorate largely overlaps with Canning. Premier Roger Cook said Labor expected a difficult contest despite previously holding the seat. WA One Nation leader Rod Caddies said the party had been preparing for months, with cost-of-living pressures expected to dominate the campaign. The party believes Secret Harbour will provide an indication of its prospects against Hastie, who retained Canning with an increased margin at the 2025 federal election despite the Coalition’s broader losses in Western Australia.

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One Nation eyes Andrew Hastie’s federal stronghold in Secret Harbour by-election test

PAIGE TAYLOR - 6 July 2026

One Nation will use an imminent by-election for the West Australian lower house seat of Secret Harbour as a practice run for Andrew Hastie’s federal seat south of Perth.

The resignation on Monday of Cook Labor government minister Paul Papalia is expected to test One Nation’s popularity with voters in the sprawling seat of Canning held by Mr Hastie since 2015. Mr Papalia’s state seat of Secret Harbour, about 60km south of Perth, is mostly within the boundaries of Mr Hastie’s federal seat.

WA Labor retained Secret Harbour last year when it won a third term. While the Cook Labor government’s victory was a landslide overall, there was a 19.8 per cent swing against Labor in Mr Papalia’s seat. One Nation polled 8.3 per cent of the primary vote in Secret Harbour last year, a 6.3 per cent improvement on its 2021 vote.

Mr Papalia, 64, cited the illness of a close family member as the reason for his decision to leave parliament 22 months out from the next state election.

WA Premier Roger Cook told reporters on Monday that he expected a “really tough” campaign.

“It’s going to be very hard. We are not taking anything for granted,” he said.

“And we know that during a by-election there is heightened debate, there’s increased focus, and we are going to have to fight for our lives on this one.”

One Nation on Monday already had campaign T-shirts and a short list of candidates for the Secret Harbour by-election, according to the party’s WA leader, Rod Caddies, a member of the state upper house. Mr Caddies said One Nation began planning months ago amid rumours that Mr Papalia would quit before the next state election.

Mr Caddies predicted cost of living would be an important issue in the by-election. He said that while federal MPs had been a big asset for major parties in past state election campaigns, he did not think Mr Hastie was as popular with locals as he had been.

The Liberals were wiped out across Perth at the 2025 federal election but Mr Hastie was re-elected with a 5.4 per cent swing towards him in the federal seat of Canning. He relied on a strong local campaign that emphasised his work in the electorate, with little mention of the Coalition.

One Nation is known to consider Mr Hastie’s seat a big prize, and party leader Pauline Hanson has been in a war of words with him. Mr Hastie in June told a podcast hosted by Nine: “Pauline Hanson’s problem is that she is MAGA first, even when the Australian people suffer the economic consequences.”

Senator Hanson responded by saying she wanted to make Australia great again, and “clearly, his party is not being accepted by the Australian people”.

Senator Hanson is a vocal supporter of Ben Roberts-Smith – the Victoria Cross recipient who is facing war crimes murder charges – as is the party’s highest-profile backer, billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Mr Hastie, a former SAS captain who served alongside Mr Roberts-Smith in Afghanistan, has been targeted online for his evidence at the defamation trial that Mr Roberts-Smith initiated and lost against media outlet Nine. Mr Hastie was among more than 20 former and serving soldiers who were summonsed to appear as witnesses at that trial.

He has since said Mr Roberts-Smith is entitled to the presumption of innocence in the criminal proceedings.

In a statement to his constituents in June, Mr Hastie accused One Nation of “a relentless campaign of personal attacks against me online. It’s become serious enough that security at my home and electorate office needs to be upgraded”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/west-australian/one-nation-eyes-andrew-hasties-federal-stronghold-in-secret-harbour-byelection-test/news-story/3e9a4919da43c78957b33b257b2d0066

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24795552 (061041ZJUL26) Notable: Neo-Nazi complains he’s ‘unemployable’ after salute during Holocaust movie - Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Nathan Bull, 24, has been sentenced to a six-month community corrections order with 125 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of performing a prohibited Nazi salute during a screening of The Zone of Interest in Melbourne. Bull and others disrupted the March 2024 screening by performing Nazi salutes, mocking Holocaust victims and making Holocaust denial statements. Representing himself, Bull told the court his political views had made him unemployable, claiming employers rejected him because they could identify him online. Magistrate Stella Stuthridge sentenced him without recording a conviction, finding his notoriety and ongoing legal matters had already significantly affected his employment prospects, but rejected any suggestion that the seriousness of the offending did not warrant punishment.

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Neo-Nazi complains he’s ‘unemployable’ after salute during Holocaust movie

Melissa Meehan - July 6, 2026

A white supremacist found guilty of performing a Nazi salute during a film about the Holocaust says his political beliefs make him unemployable.

Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Nathan Bull was found guilty on Monday of performing a prohibited salute at Cinema Nova in Carlton, in Melbourne’s inner-north.

Bull was charged after he and others disrupted a screening of The Zone of Interest on March 9, 2024, by making Nazi salutes and mocking Holocaust atrocities.

The Zone of Interest follows the horrifying daily life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his family, who build an idyllic domestic life in a house directly adjacent to Auschwitz concentration camp.

Six witnesses testified about Bull’s conduct, including cinema patrons and staff, in a two-day contested hearing in May.

Bull, representing himself on Monday, was asked by magistrate Stella Stuthridge whether he thought he should be sentenced with or without conviction.

The 24-year-old said his job prospects had already been badly affected because of his far-right political beliefs.

Bull told the court he relied on Centrelink payments to support his family. His partner is due to have their second child in coming days.

“It is quite difficult to get a job, obviously, because of who I am,” he told the court.

“They can just Google me and they don’t want the issues that it comes with being pulled up by communists, saying they have a Nazi working for them or the police showing up.”

Bull did not apologise for his actions during the court proceedings.

Police prosecutor Jessica McCartney said a conviction was warranted given the gravity of the offending.

Stuthridge ruled Bull’s ongoing court cases and political views had a “dramatic impact on his employability”, and decided to sentence him without a conviction.

“I think a conviction could only add to those difficulties,” she said.

Bull was sentenced to a six-month community corrections order including 125 hours of unpaid work.

Previously, witness Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court the film focused on a concentration camp manager’s mundane life, set against the horror occurring nearby.

She said she noticed a rowdy group of five when they first entered the small cinema and witnessed them “laugh and snicker” during a scene that depicted human loss.

“It felt like they were excited to be there, they were egging each other on and announced to the cinema that we’d been lied to, that the Holocaust didn’t happen,” Mohajer va Pesaran said.

She said the group, seated in the front row, stood up and announced to the audience that “Hitler was a great guy” and “he didn’t do anything wrong”.

Another witness, Richard Schultz, said he saw two members of the group perform a Nazi salute in the cinema.

Bull wore a black Helly Hansen polo shirt in court, a clothing brand far-right extremists have appropriated because the prominent “HH” logo is interpreted as an abbreviation for “Heil Hitler”.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/neo-nazi-complains-he-s-unemployable-after-salute-during-holocaust-movie-20260706-p60cz5.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24798559 (071046ZJUL26) Notable: China warns Australia over military alliance with Fiji that promises to 'act to meet the common danger' - China has warned Australia not to undermine its interests in the Pacific following the signing of the Ocean of Peace Alliance, a new mutual defence treaty between Australia and Fiji. The agreement commits both countries to "act to meet the common danger" if either faces armed attack and makes Fiji Australia's fourth formal defence ally. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning urged Australia to respect the independence of Pacific island nations and avoid targeting third countries. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he did not expect a severe Chinese backlash and suggested other Pacific nations could eventually join the pact. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to discuss regional security and a proposed bilateral treaty with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale during talks in Honiara.

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China warns Australia over military alliance with Fiji that promises to 'act to meet the common danger'

Stephen Dziedzic - 6 July 2026

China has warned Australia not to harm its interests in the Pacific after Anthony Albanese struck a landmark military alliance with Fiji that could reshape the region's security architecture and draw in multiple other Pacific nations.

The prime minister and his Fiji counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka unveiled the Ocean of Peace Alliance on Monday morning, along with the Vuvale Union treaty, after months of secretive negotiations.

Fiji will become Australia's fourth official ally under the pact, with both countries promising to "act to meet the common danger, in accordance with its domestic processes" if the other faces a military attack.

Mr Rabuka also suggested he would be happy for many other countries in the region to join the pact, although Australia has signalled it is initially focused only on countries with standing militaries.

The new alliance forms part of the web of agreements Australia is pulling together as it tries to entrench Australia's strategic position and stop China establishing a military foothold in the region.

Mr Rabuka played down the prospect of any backlash from China, telling journalists in Fiji's capital Suva that he did not expect "severe pushback" and that he believed Beijing would "welcome" the understanding reached by both countries.

But China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning issued a frosty response on Monday evening.

"We do not engage in geopolitical rivalry or seek selfish political games," she said.

"It is hoped that the country of concern will truly respect the independence of Pacific island nations, focus on their sustainability, such as economic development, and avoid targeting any third party or harming the interest of any third party."

One Fiji government source also told the ABC they expected China to be "unhappy" about the agreement, but insisted the Pacific nation was determined to press ahead with the pact.

New Zealand has already welcomed the announcement, although it has not yet started any formal discussions about joining the alliance.

"As agreed by Pacific leaders, Pacific security should be led by the Pacific. The alliance reinforces this," a foreign affairs ministry spokesperson said.

Mr Albanese is likely to discuss the new alliance with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale as he makes a lightning-quick stop-off in the capital Honiara as the nation celebrates Independence Day.

Mr Wale has been pushing his own idea of a regional security pact for Pacific nations, although it is unclear how this vision fits with the agreement unveiled by Mr Rabuka and Mr Albanese on Monday.

Australia and Solomon Islands agreed last month to kickstart negotiations on a new bilateral treaty, with Mr Wale telling the ABC he would like to conclude the deal before the end of the year.

Both leaders are also certain to field questions about China's ballistic missile test in the Pacific on Monday, which occurred just hours after the new Fiji-Australia agreement was signed.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-06/china-warns-australia-over-alliance-with-fiji/106886394

https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/xw/fyrbt/202607/t20260706_11976109.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24798598 (071130ZJUL26) Notable: COMMENTARY: Anthony Albanese throws his China caution to the wind after ‘provocative’ nuclear missile test - "Anthony Albanese has taken extreme care to avoid inflaming tensions with China since he was elected. On Tuesday, that caution was thrown out the window. China’s nuclear-capable missile launch into the Pacific was a “provocative act”, he said, destabilising the region and undermining peace. The comment was calibrated to be heard in Beijing and by Pacific Island leaders, who are equally angry at and bewildered by the missile test. Solomon Islands’ leader Matthew Wale, the current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, spoke for the entire region when he warned “Don’t threaten us”. Beijing wants to win over regional leaders as part of its quest to secure a base in the Pacific. But it is its own worst enemy. The South Pacific has a long memory of US, British and French nuclear tests. The entire region signed the Treaty of Rarotonga in 1985, banning the use, testing and possession of nuclear weapons. China’s missile test was an affront to that diplomatic pact. Beijing’s reaction to the uproar was typically abrasive. State-run mouthpiece The Global Times attacked “voices with ulterior motives, or even those with guilty consciences”. If anything, this incident will drive Pacific leaders even closer to Australia, as the Albanese government looks to counter China’s strategic ambitions at every turn. It comes ahead of talks on a proposed but long-elusive region-wide security agreement between Pacific Island countries and Australia. Wale, a longtime China critic who is championing the idea, is expected to lead discussions on it at the PIF leaders’ meeting in late August and early September. He now has an even more powerful argument - that the region needs the platform to share intelligence and “speak as one”. Meanwhile, Australia has been amassing bilateral security agreements, including two new mutual defence alliances in the space of less than 12 months. The first, with Papua New Guinea, will enter into force on Wednesday with an exchange of letters between Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape. Albanese signed the second, with Fiji, on Tuesday. That treaty has an added provision allowing other Pacific nations to join with the approval of the original signatories. This will have set off the klaxons inside the Chinese Communist Party, which is seeing its prospects for gaining a military foothold in the region slipping away." - Ben Packham, The Australian

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COMMENTARY: Anthony Albanese throws his China caution to the wind after ‘provocative’ nuclear missile test

BEN PACKHAM - 7 July 2026

Anthony Albanese has taken extreme care to avoid inflaming tensions with China since he was elected. On Tuesday, that caution was thrown out the window.

China’s nuclear-capable missile launch into the Pacific was a “provocative act”, he said, destabilising the region and undermining peace.

The comment was calibrated to be heard in Beijing and by Pacific Island leaders, who are equally angry at and bewildered by the missile test.

Solomon Islands’ leader Matthew Wale, the current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, spoke for the entire region when he warned “Don’t threaten us”.

Beijing wants to win over regional leaders as part of its quest to secure a base in the Pacific. But it is its own worst enemy.

The South Pacific has a long memory of US, British and French nuclear tests.

The entire region signed the Treaty of Rarotonga in 1985, banning the use, testing and possession of nuclear weapons. China’s missile test was an affront to that diplomatic pact.

Beijing’s reaction to the uproar was typically abrasive. State-run mouthpiece The Global Times attacked “voices with ulterior motives, or even those with guilty consciences”.

If anything, this incident will drive Pacific leaders even closer to Australia, as the Albanese government looks to counter China’s strategic ambitions at every turn.

It comes ahead of talks on a proposed but long-elusive region-wide security agreement between Pacific Island countries and Australia.

Wale, a longtime China critic who is championing the idea, is expected to lead discussions on it at the PIF leaders’ meeting in late August and early September.

He now has an even more powerful argument – that the region needs the platform to share intelligence and “speak as one”.

Meanwhile, Australia has been amassing bilateral security agreements, including two new mutual defence alliances in the space of less than 12 months.

The first, with Papua New Guinea, will enter into force on Wednesday with an exchange of letters between Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape.

Albanese signed the second, with Fiji, on Tuesday. That treaty has an added provision allowing other Pacific nations to join with the approval of the original signatories.

This will have set off the klaxons inside the Chinese Communist Party, which is seeing its prospects for gaining a military foothold in the region slipping away.

In reality, New Zealand and Tonga are the only other South Pacific nations with standing armies that could credibly seek to join the pact.

Yet even the prospect of the treaty’s expansion represents a further blow to Beijing’s strategic ambitions and institutional prestige.

Albanese will, perhaps uncoincidentally, get together with Tonga’s Prime Minister, Lord Fakafanua, in Brisbane on Wednesday, before hosting him and Marape at the NRL’s State of Origin decider.

Samoa’s Prime Minister, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt, may also attend, despite recently undergoing surgery in New Zealand.

This is the sort of bridge-building China is incapable of pulling off. Its diplomatic engagements are intended to inspire awe, even fear. Albanese, on the other hand, can set his counterparts at ease over a beer and meat pie at the footy.

The PM’s week of good international vibes is set to continue on Thursday when he hosts Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Melbourne.

Modi remains a formidable global figure despite a drop in support for his governing BJP at the last election and concerns over human rights in India.

Albanese will bask in his reflected star power. He knows diplomacy is all about relationships – something China struggles to grasp.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/anthony-albanese-throws-his-china-caution-to-the-wind-after-provocative-nuclear-missile-test/news-story/97a59f7f44e3e26ef70574a09c181c5f

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24798619 (071142ZJUL26) Notable: Australia instrumentalizes 'sports diplomacy' and defense pact to counter China; expert sees anxiety behind bid to shore up fading dominance - "Three Pacific island leaders are scheduled to attend security talks in Australia while also attending a rugby league final, as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reportedly mounts a sports-diplomacy push to curb China's influence. Separately, Albanese inked a defense deal with Fiji on Monday, viewed as a "rebuff to China." An observer said that Canberra is packaging sports outreach, security agreements and other tools into a full-fledged mechanism to counter China's influence, driven by Canberra's anxiety over the unraveling of its long-standing position across the Pacific. AFP reported that Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Tonga's Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua will travel to Australia on Wednesday, with at least one other Pacific leader also expected for bilateral security talks on the day. According to AFP, the Australian Prime Minister will host these leaders at the final State of Origin rugby league match between Queensland and New South Wales states ... Officials have privately said rugby league and rugby union, where Australian and Pacific players have significant success, offer a soft-power edge over China, which does not have a history of playing the codes, per the report. When sport, which promotes exchanges, ties and regional identity, is packaged with elements of soft-power competition and embedded into security negotiations, it turns from a bridge for communication into a strategic bargaining chip, reflecting the instrumentalization of sports diplomacy, Chen Hong, Director of Asia Pacific Studies Centre, East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday ... Chen said with new partners including China offering Pacific island nations a broader range of cooperation options, Australia clearly realizes it can no longer take the Pacific island countries' political alignment and security dependence for granted. It is therefore attempting to re-entrench its central position in the region by tapping into carriers brimming with cultural connotations, Chen added ... Judging from Australia's multiple moves targeting China, the country has been attempting to continuously package issues such as sports and security agreements into a broader mechanism to counterbalance China, the expert pointed out. These attempts also reveal that Australia's anxiety does not stem from any single cooperative initiative, but rather from the unraveling of its long-standing dominance across the Pacific, Chen said. In the long run, Australia's logic of competition for dominance in the region will not only marginalize issues that truly affect people's livelihoods, such as climate, health, and development, but also squeeze the space for Pacific island nations to pursue their own independent and balanced diplomacy, Chen added." - Li Yawei, Global Times

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Australia instrumentalizes 'sports diplomacy' and defense pact to counter China; expert sees anxiety behind bid to shore up fading dominance

Li Yawei - Jul 06, 2026

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Three Pacific island leaders are scheduled to attend security talks in Australia while also attending a rugby league final, as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reportedly mounts a sports-diplomacy push to curb China's influence. Separately, Albanese inked a defense deal with Fiji on Monday, viewed as a "rebuff to China." An observer said that Canberra is packaging sports outreach, security agreements and other tools into a full-fledged mechanism to counter China's influence, driven by Canberra's anxiety over the unraveling of its long-standing position across the Pacific.

AFP reported that Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Tonga's Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua will travel to Australia on Wednesday, with at least one other Pacific leader also expected for bilateral security talks on the day.

According to AFP, the Australian Prime Minister will host these leaders at the final State of Origin rugby league match between Queensland and New South Wales states.

"Through one of Australia's favorite sporting codes, we are bringing our Pacific family closer together," Albanese said in a statement on Sunday.

Officials have privately said rugby league and rugby union, where Australian and Pacific players have significant success, offer a soft-power edge over China, which does not have a history of playing the codes, per the report.

When sport, which promotes exchanges, ties and regional identity, is packaged with elements of soft-power competition and embedded into security negotiations, it turns from a bridge for communication into a strategic bargaining chip, reflecting the instrumentalization of sports diplomacy, Chen Hong, Director of Asia Pacific Studies Centre, East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.

The AFP report also said that Prime Minister Albanese "mounts a sports diplomacy push to curb China's influence."

Chen said with new partners including China offering Pacific island nations a broader range of cooperation options, Australia clearly realizes it can no longer take the Pacific island countries' political alignment and security dependence for granted. It is therefore attempting to re-entrench its central position in the region by tapping into carriers brimming with cultural connotations, Chen added.

Concurrently, Albanese signed an agreement, named the Ocean of Peace Alliance, alongside Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Suva, on a one-day trip to the Pacific island on Monday, The Australian reported.

Under the mutual defense provision, the agreement states: "Each party recognizes that an armed attack on any of the parties within the Pacific would be dangerous to each other's peace and security as well as the security of the Pacific, and declares that it would act to meet the common danger, in accordance with its domestic processes," The Australian reported.

When asked to comment on Australia and Fiji signing a mutual defense treaty and a new agreement to develop ties, which is part of Canberra's campaign to shore up its influence in the South Pacific and to limit China's influence, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that China always upholds the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness in carrying out cooperation with Pacific island nations, adding that "we do not engage in geopolitical rivalry or seek selfish political gains."

"It is hoped that the country concerned will truly respect the independence of Pacific island nations, focus on their sustainable socioeconomic development, and avoid targeting any third party or harming the interests of any third party," Mao said.

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802360 (081011ZJUL26) Notable: ISIS-linked Australian woman Hodan Abby accused of beating enslaved Yazidi girl - The last known Australian woman linked to Islamic State, Hodan Abby, is expected to return to Australia under strict conditions amid allegations she abused a young Yazidi girl enslaved in her Syrian home a decade ago. The alleged victim, identified as Sara, told the ABC she was repeatedly beaten, deprived of food and knew Abby as "Umm Osama", the wife of an IS fighter known as "Abu Osama", who allegedly repeatedly raped her while she was held captive. Another Yazidi witness said she observed the abuse, while a former UN human rights specialist said multiple survivor accounts led investigators to believe Umm Osama was Abby. Abby, who left Australia in 2014 and was previously prevented from returning under a Temporary Exclusion Order, was later granted permission to return. The Australian Federal Police declined to comment on potential charges but said returning Australians who allegedly breached Australian law may be investigated.

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ISIS-linked Australian woman Hodan Abby accused of beating enslaved Yazidi girl

Stephanie March - 8 July 2026

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Warning: this article includes graphic descriptions of violence that some readers may find distressing.

The last of the known Islamic State-linked Australian women in Syria is expected to return home amid allegations a Yazidi girl was enslaved, beaten and raped in the woman's home in Syria a decade ago, the ABC can reveal.

Sydney woman Hodan Abby spent more than a decade in the self-declared Islamic State (IS) caliphate and Kurdish detention camps after leaving Australia in 2014.

When she left her home in Western Sydney it was with a friend who reportedly declared her desire to marry a jihadi fighter and become a martyr alongside him.

Ms Abby, who is of Somali descent, had been prevented from coming back to Australia under a Temporary Exclusion Order designed to delay the return of a person deemed a terrorism or security threat.

Last month, she was granted permission to return under strict conditions.

The ABC has spoken to Yazidi woman Sara, whose name has been changed, who was held as a slave in the home of a woman believed to be Hodan Abby, known to her by the nom de guerre "Umm Osama".

The Yazidis are a minority group that were targeted for extermination, mass execution and slavery by IS in 2014 in what the UN recognises as a genocide.

Having been abducted by IS members along with thousands of other Yazidi women and children in northern Iraq in 2014, Sara was just nine or 10 years old when she was sold into the home of a foreign IS fighter she knew as "Abu Osama" in neighbouring Syria in 2016.

His wife, Umm Osama, was pregnant with their daughter.

According to Sara, she spent the first three days in their home locked in a room without food.

When she was finally introduced to Umm Osama, her captor tried to convince his wife he'd bought the slave to help around the house, Sara said.

"After three days he told Umm Osama that he had brought me for her because she was about to give birth," Sara told the ABC.

"But his main purpose of taking me there was rape," Sara alleged.

She claimed Umm Osama initially did not realise Sara was being raped, but when she found out, she was furious.

"After she knew that, she started beating me and all my body was having bruises because of her beatings," Sara alleged.

"She beat me and also told me I wanted Osama to sleep with me."

Sara said Abu Osama then started taking her to the nearby house of his friend — another foreign IS fighter known as Abu Yahya — where Sara said Abu Osama would rape her in secret.

Sara said she was sold eight times to different ISIS households during her years in captivity, but she said the worst treatment she received from a woman was from Umm Osama.

"I was like her younger sister and she knew I was getting raped and she was not preventing that from happening," Sara told the ABC exclusively from her home abroad.

Sara discovers Australian link

While Sara never knew Umm Osama's real name, she describes her as English-speaking and having dark skin.

It was only after Sara was freed from IS captivity that she learned the woman she knew as Umm Osama was believed to be Australian.

Sara said the revelation came when she was working with investigators in Germany on a case against Abu Osama's friend, the IS fighter known as Abu Yahya.

"During the investigation I was asked about [Umm Osama] and [the investigators] said she was Australian," Sara said.

While the identification of Hodan Abby as Sara's abuser is not definitive, a former UN human rights specialist who has spent years working on IS cases said he believed this Umm Osama was Hodan Abby, based on what he had been told by multiple Yazidi survivors who gave statements about their time in captivity.

"When we conducted interviews we met with those who were there while Abu Osama was in Syria," the former UN specialist, who wants to remain anonymous to protect ongoing investigations, told the ABC.

"That is how our assessment was that this lady was Australian … it's according to the witnesses."

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802395 (081017ZJUL26) Notable: Australian uranium to supercharge Indian nuclear power surge in breakthrough deal - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to sign a long-awaited commercial agreement to enable significant Australian uranium exports to India, overcoming regulatory barriers that have limited trade since the countries signed a nuclear co-operation pact in 2014. The deal is expected to accompany new agreements on critical minerals and defence cooperation during Modi's Melbourne visit. India is rapidly expanding its nuclear energy sector, targeting 100GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 and planning to add 18 reactors by 2032 to meet growing electricity demand driven by economic growth and artificial intelligence data centres. Australian uranium producers are expected to benefit from the agreement, while Albanese and Modi are also expected to deepen defence and strategic cooperation despite continuing criticism from human rights advocates over India's domestic record.

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Australian uranium to supercharge Indian nuclear power surge in breakthrough deal

Matthew Knott - July 8, 2026

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are set to strike a breakthrough deal to unleash a surge of Australian uranium exports to India, ending more than a decade of delays since the nations signed a historic nuclear co-operation pact.

Modi, one of the world’s most powerful leaders, was scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday night for meetings with Albanese on Thursday and what is set to be a raucous rally at Marvel Stadium where Modi will be cheered by 30,000 members of the Indian-Australian community.

Sources familiar with the planning of the visit said the leaders were expected to sign a long-awaited commercial uranium supply agreement, as flagged by this masthead in June, alongside pacts on critical minerals and defence co-operation.

Albanese told reporters on Wednesday he would have more to say about uranium exports to India in the coming days, as he flagged that he and Modi would make “a range of announcements” during the visit.

Australia and India signed a nuclear co-operation pact in 2014 which was controversial at the time, including within the Labor Party, because India has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

There have been only negligible uranium shipments over the past 12 years due to technical and regulatory barriers in India.

Changes to Indian safeguards have now paved the way for significant quantities of uranium to be exported for peaceful purposes.

India is planning a massive increase in nuclear power capacity to help reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and power the boom in data centres linked to artificial intelligence.

Major tech companies such as Google, Meta and Amazon are pumping billions of dollars into data centres in India, the world’s most populous nation with 1.47 billion people.

India has set an ambitious target to have 100GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, 10 times greater than current levels.

The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation Of India has said the country planned to add 18 more nuclear reactors to its energy mix by 2032.

Sources in the resources sector, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said Australian uranium companies were eager to seize opportunities to export to India and were willing to expand their operations if necessary.

Australia has the world’s largest uranium reserves – almost a third of the global total – according to the World Nuclear Association, but is only the world’s fourth-largest producer.

Uranium mining is banned in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said during a meeting with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in May: “On the energy side, we have energy trade, we are looking to expand that as well into the uranium supplies.

“Our own nuclear sector has undergone reform, which will grow nuclear energy.”

Albanese described Modi as “the boss” during a stadium rally in Sydney during his last visit in 2023, prompting concerns from human rights advocates that he had not spoken out about discrimination towards minorities and democratic backsliding in India under Modi’s watch.

Pranav Aggarwal, from the Australia-India Foundation, said members of the Indian diaspora were travelling from Perth, Darwin, Auckland and Tasmania to attend the stadium rally in Melbourne.

Albanese will also speak at the event.

“We are super excited to welcome Prime Minister Modi and showcase the vibrancy of India,” Aggarwal said.

Shruti Pandalai, the Lowy Institute’s India Chair, said Modi was seeking to diversify India’s energy sources, raising the importance of securing uranium supplies from Australia.

She said she expected Australia and India to expand defence co-operation, especially on maritime security and the production of weapons and other military equipment.

Human Rights Watch Australia executive director Daniela Gavshon has called for Albanese to raise human rights concerns with Modi during the visit.

Human Rights Watch’s most recent report on India said that over the past year, the “slide to authoritarianism under the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led government continued, with increased vilification of Muslims and government critics”.

Modi, who was first elected prime minister in 2014, is travelling to Australia from Indonesia, where he visited the country’s largest Hindu temple and signed a series of defence deals with counterpart Prabowo Subianto.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-and-modi-to-strike-breakthrough-uranium-deal-20260708-p60djm.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802414 (081022ZJUL26) Notable: Jacinta Allan’s central role in Modi’s visit: Airport greeting, private meeting and centre stage at Marvel - Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will play a prominent role during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Melbourne visit, welcoming him at the airport, holding a private meeting and joining him and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on stage before up to 30,000 people at Marvel Stadium. The visit comes as Labor seeks to strengthen support among Victoria’s 370,000-strong Indian-Australian community, now regarded as a key part of the party’s electoral base. Political analyst Kosmos Samaras said Labor enjoys strong support in electorates with large Indian-Australian populations, while arguing federal Liberal policies on immigration have complicated the Coalition’s efforts to rebuild support. Human rights organisations have meanwhile urged Albanese to raise concerns about the treatment of religious minorities and civil liberties during his talks with Modi.

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Jacinta Allan’s central role in Modi’s visit: Airport greeting, private meeting and centre stage at Marvel

ANTHONY GALLOWAY - 8 July 2026

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Melbourne on Wednesday night before holding a one-on-one meeting with him and joining the Indian leader on stage at Marvel Stadium in front of up to 30,000 people.

Ms Allan’s high-profile role in Mr Modi’s three-day visit comes as Labor seeks to reinforce its standing among Victoria’s large Indian-Australian community.

With more than 370,000 residents of Indian ancestry, Victoria is home to Australia’s largest Indian diaspora.

Ms Allan and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil will greet Mr Modi on arrival in Melbourne, before the Premier will appear alongside him and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the “Melbourne Meets Modi” event at Marvel Stadium.

It is understood Ms Allan has also secured a private meeting with the Indian leader on Friday. Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson are expected to attend the stadium event but will remain in the audience rather than appear on stage. They will also meet Mr Modi on Friday.

The visit will be Mr Modi’s first to Australia in three years, following a similar community event in Sydney in 2023 where Mr Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns shared the stage with him. Former Labor strategist and RedBridge director Kosmos Samaras said Mr Modi’s brand in Australia was now “strongly aligned with Labor”.

Mr Samaras said the Indian-Australian community, once regarded as a genuine electoral battleground, had increasingly become part of Labor’s base, and now forms a coalition of voters Ms Allan could not afford to lose.

“In electorates where there are high numbers of people who speak a language other than English at home, Labor’s primary vote is in excess of 40 per cent,” he said. “That extends into the Indian community. The two-party-preferred vote is well above 60 per cent, and against One Nation it’s more than 70 per cent.”

Ms Wilson has sought to rebuild the Coalition’s standing with migrant communities since becoming Victorian Liberal leader last November, including among Chinese and Indian-Australian voters.

However, Mr Samaras said Mr Taylor’s stance on immigration, including his pledge to block non-citizens from accessing welfare payments, had complicated those efforts.

“Angus Taylor has been very unhelpful. If you think about the intricate network that is the Indian community in Victoria … for a portion to be targeted like they have been by the Liberal Party at a federal level, it’s made Jess Wilson’s job a lot harder,” he said.

“I would say it’s pretty much sealed it, it’s very hard to see how the Liberal Party can rebuild those relationships while Angus Taylor is there. That is the brand.

“The rebuilding of those relationships will take some time, but that doesn’t mean it’s irreparable. These are socially conservative, aspirational, wealth-accumulating Aussies. They should be voting Liberal.”

Mr Modi has strident critics among the Indian community, with Muslim and Sikh Australians typically having more negative views on his Bharatiya Janata party’s form of Hindu ethno-nationalism.

The Australian Federal Police this week issued a warning to an individual who is alleged to have made a threat to Mr Modi ahead of the visit, while human rights advocates have urged Mr Albanese to raise India’s human rights record in his talks with Mr Modi.

Amnesty International Australia said Mr Modi’s treatment of marginalised communities – particularly Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities – should be raised by the Australian government.

This includes a citizenship bill which discriminates against refugees from Muslim countries and the demolition of Muslim homes, businesses and places of worship.

“Australia has consistently affirmed its commitment to universal human rights,” Amnesty International said.

“As a close partner of India, Australia has an opportunity to engage through principled and constructive dialogue and to ensure that human rights remain a central component of bilateral relations.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/jacinta-allans-central-role-in-modis-visit-airport-greeting-private-meeting-and-centre-stage-at-marvel/news-story/ff10781be5f3e27f2c385b90583cca1a

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802461 (081033ZJUL26) Notable: Probe into former anti-corruption chief Paul Brereton dropped over cost and disruption fears - The Inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission has discontinued two misconduct investigations into former commissioner Paul Brereton, concluding that completing them would impose unjustified costs and unnecessarily disrupt the agency following his resignation in May. Inspector Gail Furness said substantial public funds had already been spent, the key conflict-of-interest issues had been addressed through reforms to the NACC's declaration and reporting processes, and there was little public interest in pursuing the investigations further. A second complaint was also abandoned because it related to a single incident, raised no systemic issues and public disclosure could pose safety risks to those involved. The Coalition criticised the decision, with Michaelia Cash calling on the Albanese government to ensure the investigations are completed to maintain public confidence in the NACC.

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Probe into former anti-corruption chief Paul Brereton dropped over cost and disruption fears

ELIZABETH PIKE - 8 July 2026

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The Inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission has dropped its investigations against the agency’s besieged former boss Paul Brereton, finding the probes would “unnecessarily” hamper the office’s work less than two months after the matters forced his resignation.

Inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness, announced she had discontinued both investigations into Mr Brereton’s alleged misconduct as she could not “justify” the costs now the commissioner had resigned and “systemic issues” had been “addressed,” according to a statement penned last Friday.

The NACC welcomed the decision in its response on Wednesday but the Coalition called for the Albanese government to “step in” and ensure the investigations are completed.

It comes after Ms Furness said “significant” taxpayer money had been spent on the cases and the NACC’s efforts to detect, investigate and deter corruption would be “unnecessarily hampered by continued scrutiny” of the former commissioner.

Mr Brereton announced in late May that he would step down from the role, just three years into the five-year position, following months of scrutiny about his alleged conflicts of interest and handling of corruption complaints.

It was revealed in February that Mr Brereton was being investigated by the Inspector following reports that he had performed undisclosed work with the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland reprimanded Mr Brereton for failing to adequately address his ties to the Defence Force, which had sparked concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest in corruption complaints levelled against the ADF.

Mr Brereton, a former army reservist, had acknowledged the investigations into his conduct were “drawing attention away” from the NACC’s work when he announced his resignation.

The NACC also spent at least $204,000 on lawyers to help respond to the Inspector’s draft report into his alleged misconduct.

Ms Furness said “significant public money” had gone towards the investigations and “further considerable funds” would be needed to complete them, which she could not justify.

The chief watchdog for the NACC said many of the details about Mr Brereton’s conduct were already known and when it came to the complaint about his Defence ties, there was “little, (if any)” merit or public interest in seeing through the case now that he had resigned.

Ms Furness said the resignation also meant she no longer had to “resolve” the key issue at the heart of the case, which questioned whether Mr Brereton had met the legal requirements for declaring conflicts of interest.

“Third, the actions that have been the subject of this investigation were Commissioner Brereton’s alone … The other statutory officer holders did not know of his ongoing role and were not party to his decision to make the Declarations of Interest in the terms he did,” Ms Furness said.

“The question then became whether there were any systemic issues which could be identified from Commissioner Brereton’s actions and which needed to be addressed.”

Changes made to the NACC’s guide for declaring conflicts of interests, as well as reforms to internal reporting procedures, had satisfied her concerns.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802486 (081038ZJUL26) Notable: Prosecutors fight to use video of Bankstown nurses in court - Commonwealth prosecutors have appealed a ruling excluding from evidence the viral video of former Bankstown Hospital nurses Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir, who allegedly made threats against Israeli patients during an online conversation with Israeli influencer Max Ilinski. NSW District Court Judge Michael McHugh SC ruled the recording was inadmissible because it had been unlawfully recorded and shared, leaving the prosecution to rely primarily on Ilinski's testimony at the trial beginning on August 31. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in an effort to have the video admitted. Defence solicitor Zemarai Khatiz argued the appeal was unlikely to succeed and would unnecessarily delay proceedings and increase public expense.

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Prosecutors fight to use video of Bankstown nurses in court

BIMINI PLESSER - 8 July 2026

Commonwealth prosecutors have appealed the decision to exclude from evidence a video of two Sydney nurses allegedly threatening to kill Israeli patients, after a judge ruled it inadmissible ahead of their criminal trial.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir made global headlines last year after Israeli influencer Max Ilinski recorded their conversation in an online chatroom, in which Mr Nadir allegedly suggested he had sent Israeli patients to “hell”, and Ms Abu Lebdeh allegedly claimed she would “kill” Israelis rather than treat them.

In an extraordinary ruling, NSW District Court judge Michael McHugh SC declared last month the viral video was inadmissible and could not form part of the evidence against the nurses as it was unlawful for Mr Ilinski to have recorded and shared the private conversation.

Without the video, the prosecution’s case must rely on Mr Ilisnki’s testimony when the trial begins on August 31.

But two weeks after the controversial decision was handed down, the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions has lodged an appeal with the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to overturn it. The CDPP declined to answer questions about the appeal.

The CDPP’s attempt to reintroduce the video into evidence follows warnings from the defence that any such appeals would likely fail.

Mr Nadir’s solicitor, Zemarai Khatiz, told The Australian he believed the prosecution’s bid was a “long shot” that would face “significant legal challenges and obstacles”.

“I am of the view that His Honour Judge McHugh SC delivered an incredibly thorough and meticulous judgment ... (that) is consistent with how the law should be applied, considering the evidence of this case,” he said.

“Whilst the prosecution is entitled to appeal, in my view, I am confident that any appeal would not have any reasonable prospects of success and prolong the inevitable.

“Pursuing this appeal under these circumstances would further delay the proceedings that have already been ongoing for approximately 15 months and further result in unnecessary expenditure of court resources and taxpayers’ money.”

The CDPP’s appeal will appear before the NSW Supreme Court for the first time on July 16.

Mr Khatiz said the defence was preparing to argue that Judge McHugh “reached the correct decision and made no error”.

Most of Judge McHugh’s judgment was suppressed and only limited reasons for his decision were released publicly last month. The reason for the suppression was not aired in open court.

Judge McHugh found evidence ­obtained illegally should only be allowed into court if “the desirability of admission outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence that has been obtained in such a way or ways”.

The former Bankstown Hospital nurses have both pleaded not guilty to using a carriage ­service to menace, harass or offend, and Ms Abu Lebdeh has pleaded not guilty to an ­additional charge of threatening violence to a group.

They have been stood down from their jobs by NSW Health and issued a two-year ban from working with NDIS participants.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/prosecutors-fight-to-use-video-of-bankstown-nurses-in-court/news-story/969960a5d088fcd6cb4bc5b14d5500e6

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24802527 (081051ZJUL26) Notable: Australian woman arrested in US after allegedly voting illegally in federal elections - Australian citizen Denise Nataly Migliore, 51, has been arrested in Louisiana after being accused of illegally voting in the 2022 and 2024 US federal elections. Prosecutors allege she falsely claimed to be a US citizen when registering to vote before casting ballots despite being ineligible as a non-citizen. Ms Migliore, originally from Sydney, was arrested in New Orleans following an investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. She told a local media outlet she believed permanent residents could vote and considered herself a citizen after living in the US for almost 30 years while her citizenship application was pending. President Donald Trump highlighted the case on Truth Social, reposting a news report about the arrest. If convicted, Ms Migliore faces up to five years' imprisonment, a substantial fine and possible deportation.

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Australian woman arrested in US after allegedly voting illegally in federal elections

Lucia Stein - 8 July 2026

An Australian woman has been arrested in the United States after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation found she had allegedly voted illegally in multiple federal elections.

Denise Nataly Migliore, 51, was indicted on four counts on June 11 for illegal voting in an election and making false statements in order to register to vote, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Prosecutors allege that in October 2022 and October 2024, Ms Migliore knowingly made false claims about her US citizenship to register to vote in a federal election.

Then on November 8, 2022 and November 5, 2024 she cast ballots that were ineligible because she was not a US citizen, prosecutors said.

The Australian was arrested at a federal courthouse in New Orleans on July 1.

"Her arrest and charges are the result of the hard work of the men and women of ICE law enforcement and our federal partners," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said.

"Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences, including criminal charges and deportation. Only Americans should be electing American leaders."

US President Donald Trump also weighed in on the case on Truth social on Tuesday, local time, posting a link to a news article about the investigation.

"Australian alien arrested after investigation finds she illegally voted in two federal elections," he wrote.

Mr Trump has previously alleged that immigrants have improperly influenced federal elections, but this has been debunked by comprehensive studies and state voting data, which indicates such instances are incredibly rare.

The full circumstances around Ms Migliore's arrest are not known.

Local news outlet NOLA has reported that Ms Migliore said she thought legal permanent residents could vote, and she did not know it was illegal for non-citizens to vote.

"I have been here almost three decades, I had a pending application for citizenship, and I just considered myself a citizen," she told the outlet earlier this month.

"I just didn't realise that it was such a big deal."

Ms Migliore is currently a resident of Franklinton, Louisiana but is originally from Sydney.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian facing legal action in the United States.

There are approximately 2.9 million registered voters in Louisiana but since last year, state election officials have started verifying their citizenship status with the federal Department of Homeland Security.

It runs the information through a database called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program.

Both Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the investigation that led to Ms Migliore's arrest.

If convicted, Ms Migliore faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She could also be fined up to $US250,000 ($360,000).

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-08/australian-accused-of-illegally-voting-in-us-elections/106893092

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/07/07/ice-investigation-leads-arrest-australian-alien-who-illegally-voted-multiple

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116882008915975445

https://justthenews.com/government/security/australian-alien-arrested-after-investigation-finds-she-illegally-voted-two

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810431 (101231ZJUL26) Notable: ABC rejects claims of antisemitic bias ahead of fronting royal commission - The ABC has rejected allegations its journalism contributed to antisemitism or social division ahead of appearing with SBS before the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The inquiry will examine claims of bias in Middle East reporting, complaint-handling processes and why the broadcasters have not adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The ABC said its reporting had been "evidence-based, fair, impartial" and consistent with its charter, while SBS said its coverage was "respectful, accurate and inclusive". The ABC reported complaints about Middle East coverage surged after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack, but said no bias complaints regarding its news coverage had been upheld and differing complaints reflected sharply divided community views.

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ABC rejects claims of antisemitic bias ahead of fronting royal commission

Barbara Miller - 8 July 2026

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The ABC has rejected "claims that its journalism has contributed to antisemitism or social division" ahead of appearances by ABC and SBS executives at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Thursday.

The public broadcasters are expected to be probed on allegations of bias in their reporting of events related to the Middle East.

Ahead of proceedings, the ABC issued a statement on Wednesday night that said its "reporting has been evidence-based, fair, impartial and consistent with its Charter obligations".

In its statement ahead of the hearing, the SBS said it represented "Jewish Australian stories and perspectives in a way that is respectful, accurate and inclusive".

The ABC's editorial director Gavin Fang and ombudsman Fiona Cameron will front the commission on Thursday morning.

They will be followed by SBS's director of Audio and Language Content David Thanh Man Tue Hua, director of News and Current Affairs Amanda Wicks and ombudsman Amy Stockwell.

Submissions 'highly critical of broadcasters'

The commission's current hearing block, being held in Sydney, is focusing on antisemitism and hate speech in the online environment and in traditional media and broadcasting.

In opening remarks last week, counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC noted the ABC and SBS "occupy a particularly important, trusted position in the Australian media landscape".

Mr Lancaster said the organisations' "statutes, charters and policies commit them to high standards of accuracy, impartiality and balance".

He said the broadcasters would be asked about their policies and management of "allegations of antisemitism and the effectiveness of those measures".

"This will involve asking if there is any demonstrable antisemitic bias in the reporting of journalists or in the editorial policy in those media organisations."

Mr Lancaster told the commission that some of the submissions it received were "highly critical" of the coverage of the Middle East conflict by the ABC and SBS.

"There are complaints that the ABC and the SBS have produced coverage that is inaccurate or unbalanced both in their selection of stories and focus and in the reportage that they produce," Mr Lancaster said.

Submissions to the commission through its website have not yet been published, but a number of commission witnesses have been critical of the ABC in their testimony.

Speaking of her lived experience of antisemitism, Léa Levy, who emigrated to Australia from France in 2015, told the commission that during the Gaza war the ABC "never talked about Israelis' pain".

Former editor-in-chief of the Age newspaper Michael Gawenda claimed the ABC and other outlets "minimised antisemitism".

"They ran pieces by people who claimed that it was a concocted notion, this notion of antisemitism, done by a powerful lobby that was trying to cover up and silence criticism of Israel."

In its statement released on Wednesday evening, the ABC issued a strongly worded rebuttal of such claims.

"The ABC has devoted extensive coverage to the rise of antisemitism in Australia and included all relevant perspectives," the statement read.

"The ABC reporting has consistently centred on the experiences of Jewish Australians while providing context regarding broader social and political issues."

Ahead of appearing at the hearing, the SBS released its 39-page submission to the royal commission.

The ABC has not made its submission publicly available.

Complaints surge in wake of October 7

Australia's commercial networks have not been asked to appear at the commission, set up in the wake of last December's terrorist attack during a celebration of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.

The ABC put questions to the royal commission on why only the ABC and SBS were being asked to appear.

In a statement, the commission said it had called on the ABC and SBS to give evidence "following concerns raised by members of Australia's Jewish community … about reporting sentiment and bias".

Commissioner Virginia Bell said in her remarks last week at the opening of block three that it was not the job of the commission "to resolve individual complaints".

The former High Court judge said the commission's focus was rather "on the adequacy of the broadcasters' complaint-handling mechanisms, including with respect to allegations of bias in the reporting of events in the Middle East relating to the state of Israel".

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810451 (101239ZJUL26) Notable: Envoy to combat antisemitism calls for independent oversight committee to review ABC's compliance with charter - Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal urged the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to establish an independent external oversight body for the ABC, arguing its current complaints system left the broadcaster acting as "judge, counsel and jury". The commission heard the ABC breached its accuracy standards after incorrectly repeating a claim that 14,000 babies in Gaza faced imminent starvation, with editorial director Gavin Fang describing it as a "bad mistake". ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron said complaints about Middle East coverage had risen sharply but broad allegations of institutional bias fell outside her remit. Segal also criticised the Australian Communications and Media Authority as lacking sufficient powers and urged the ABC and SBS to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

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Envoy to combat antisemitism calls for independent oversight committee to review ABC's compliance with charter

Phoebe Pin - 9 July 2026

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Australia's envoy to combat antisemitism has accused the ABC of being its own "judge, counsel and jury", recommending the establishment of an independent oversight committee to review the public broadcaster's compliance with its charter obligations.

The ABC and SBS were today called to give evidence at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, with the inquiry hearing that a number of complaints had been received about the public broadcasters' coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.

Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal was called to discuss those concerns, telling the inquiry the Jewish community had told her the nature and volume of the coverage of the Israel-Gaza war had contributed to "an impression of great negativity about Israel".

"Among the Australian Jewish community there is a common and pervasive perception that has been expressed to me repeatedly, that public broadcasters' coverage of the State of Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attacks, and the ensuing conflict in [the] Gaza region lacked balance, was over-emphasised relative to other global conflicts, disproportionately gave voice to anti-Israel perspectives," she told the commission.

The inquiry heard the ABC repeatedly reported an incorrect statement first made on the BBC that 14,000 babies would die within 48 hours in Gaza on May 21, 2025.

The statement was made at 6am on News Breakfast, with an on-air correction not made until 4pm during Afternoon Briefing.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC asked ABC's editorial director Gavin Fang whether he agreed the correction would not have been apparent to many of the viewers of the News Breakfast program.

"Yes, it was a bad mistake," he said.

"The correction came on the news channel, the same channel that hosts News Breakfast, later in the afternoon. Ordinarily we would try to … get a correction as soon as possible, but also do a correction to the same or similar audience."

An online correction was published online a week later.

Responding to four complaints about the incident, the ABC ombudsman found the broadcaster had breached its accuracy standards through its reporting and failure to issue a timely correction.

'Judge, counsel and jury'

Mr Lancaster put to Ms Segal that it was difficult to verify those community perceptions given the concerns were broad in nature.

Ms Segal said mechanisms like the ABC's complaints management process, overseen by the ABC ombudsman, could be used to test the accuracy of concerns within the Jewish community.

But she said those processes were currently ineffective, recommending an independent oversight board be appointed for the public broadcaster.

"They are, with respect, judge, counsel and jury.

"I suggest re-establishing … an external ombudsman like other industries have. It is the gold standard. They don't mark their own homework."

Mr Lancaster put to Ms Segal that the ABC ombudsman had a "track record" of causing editorial policy changes to be made in response to complaints about coverage of matters in the Middle East.

"Does that suggest that the ombudsman is functioning independently of the ABC editorial management because there is a track record of causing editorial changes to be made to at least that Middle East guidance policy?" he put to Ms Segal.

Ms Segal said the ombudsman, appointed by the ABC board, was a voice independent of the ABC's reporting, but maintained external oversight was important.

"Most important structures in our society … have external complaints management. It is the gold standard," she said.

"I think that the media … is incredibly important and we should make them be beyond reproach."

Mr Fang said he did not know how an external oversight body like the one Ms Segal suggested would operate effectively.

"I think the current structures, which involve an ombudsman that is separate to the content teams that reports to the board is functioning effectively, and there is additional oversight from the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority)," he said.

"I'm not sure how another oversight body might function in addition to that existing oversight body, which already has the power to review and to examine the ABC's content."

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810476 (101245ZJUL26) Notable: Antisemitism Royal Commission: X Corp used Holocaust images in fight to keep Bondi footage online - The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard X Corp used Holocaust images in legal submissions opposing the removal of graphic footage from the December 2025 Bondi Hanukkah terrorist attack, prompting counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC to question whether the platform should retain a "social licence to operate in Australia". Lancaster said the company had attached pages of Holocaust images to argue the Bondi footage should remain online and criticised X for failing to engage with the commission despite repeated requests. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant previously told the inquiry X had challenged efforts to remove the footage. The commission also signalled stronger regulation of social media platforms, arguing Australian laws must be enforceable against companies that facilitate harmful or extremist content.

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Antisemitism Royal Commission: X Corp used Holocaust images in fight to keep Bondi footage online

The antisemitism royal commission has questioned whether Elon Musk’s X should have a ‘social licence to operate in Australia’ after it used photos from the Holocaust in legal submissions over Bondi footage.

JAMES DOWLING - July 10, 2026

Trillionaire Elon Musk’s X used pages of Holocaust pictures to justify why a video of murdered Bondi victims should remain online, according to extraordinary evidence heard before the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC on Friday appeared to hint that a recommendation could be made for heavy regulation or a total ban on the parent company of the social media platform after condemning its “shocking disrespect and disregard for the Australian community”.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant last week told the royal commission that she had successfully ordered X Corp to remove violent footage of the December 14 Bondi massacre from its platform, but said the tech giant had fought to keep the video online and argued it was no worse than a “gore movie”.

Mr Lancaster on Friday grilled a sweep of social media platforms who “have either not co-operated with the commission or have co-operated in a manner that was insufficient”, with X Corp nominated as a chief offender.

He told commissioner Virginia Bell the inquiry had gotten copies of X’s legal submissions from its attempt to lower the video’s classification and keep it online.

Mr Lancaster said deploying Holocaust imagery in this argument was “extraordinary”, especially after a massacre targeting Jews, and the platform should be “unequivocally condemned” for doing it.

“X supported its case by saying that notorious depictions of historic and political significance are available online, none of which have been refused classification. The submission attached page after page of images from the Holocaust,” he said.

“It was extraordinary of X to deploy those images. In my submission, they give no support to a contention that a video made in 2025 showing some of the deceased after the Bondi Hanukkah attack should be permitted to be shown online, and the use of Holocaust imagery in that context should be unequivocally condemned.

“During the course of the eSafety Commissioner’s evidence, she referred to the concept of a social license. X Corp’s conduct, both within this commission and outside of it, begs the question whether X Corp has or ought to have a social license to operate in Australia.”

Mr Lancaster described how the royal commission had tried to contact X Corp and its lawyers on at least six different occasions and received no response, despite being a “key perpetrator in the proliferation of antisemitic hate in the online environment”.

It demonstrated, Mr Lancaster said, “a complete lack of interest in providing transparency concerning a topic as important as keeping Australians safe from the proliferation of terrorist and violent extremist material, including extreme antisemitism”.

“X Corp’s attitude to regulation and to antisemitism is perhaps most evident in its response to footage connected with the Bondi Hanukkah attack itself,” he said.

“Bringing the proceedings to challenge the classification was a step that was legally open to X, but what does it say about corporate and social responsibility?

“X decides to be active in Australia to fight for content to be available on X that would, if published, cause immense sadness and harm to the Australian Jewish community. Yet the same company refuses to engage with an Australian royal commission that is inquiring into ways to make social media a better place for Australian end users.”

It was part of a broader pattern of negligence among tech giants, he argued, saying Telegram and Reddit had failed to assist the commission “despite earning substantial advertising revenue from publishing content to Australian end users”.

Ms Bell echoed his point, saying: “It will not come as a surprise to those who are following the work of this commission that regulation of the online ecosystem, in order to tackle hate speech and antisemitism in particular, is very central to the work of this commission.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810498 (101251ZJUL26) Notable: ‘Shocking disregard’: Elon Musk, X condemned at royal commission - The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard strong criticism of X and its owner, Elon Musk, after the platform declined repeated requests to participate in the inquiry. Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC condemned X for using Holocaust images in legal submissions supporting its bid to keep footage of victims from the Bondi Hanukkah terrorist attack online, describing the conduct as demonstrating "shocking disregard for the Australian community" and questioning whether the company should retain a "social licence to operate in Australia". The commission also heard evidence that X's removal of antisemitic content had declined since 2024. Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell said regulating online platforms to address hate speech was central to the inquiry's work, while LinkedIn and the Australian Communications and Media Authority also gave evidence.

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‘Shocking disregard’: Elon Musk, X condemned at royal commission

Kate Aubusson and Alexandra Smith - July 10, 2026

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A counsel assisting the antisemitism royal commission unequivocally condemned X and its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, for using Holocaust images to justify allowing gruesome footage from the Bondi Hanukkah terror attack to appear online, after the platform ignored repeated requests to appear before the commission.

Richard Lancaster, SC, on Friday said that “although an apparent proponent of unconstrained speech, X has remained silent” in the face of damning evidence that the social media platform was one of the worst perpetrators in proliferating antisemitic hate online.

The corporation’s refusal to engage with the royal commission after repeated attempts to engage them showed “a shocking disregard for the Australian community”.

“X has demonstrated a complete lack of interest in providing transparency concerning a topic as important as keeping Australians safe from the proliferation of terrorist and violent mixed material, including extreme anti-Semitism,” Lancaster said.

He said X Corp’s attitude towards regulating hate speech was perhaps most evident in its response to footage connected with the Bondi Hanukkah attack itself, Lancaster said.

The royal commission earlier heard that Musk’s organisation fought to keep gruesome content relating to the Bondi massacre online, arguing it was no more graphic than a “gore movie”, Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant told the royal commission on antisemitism.

Lancaster called X’s inclusion of “page after page” of Holocaust imagery in its submission supporting its position that a video depicting deceased victims of the Bondi Hanukkah attack should be permitted online “should be unequivocally condemned”.

“X Corp’s conduct, both within this commission and outside of it, begs the question whether X Corp has or ought to have a social licence to operate in Australia,” Lancaster said.

Dr Andre Oboler, chief executive officer of the Online Hate Prevention Institute, earlier told the commission that X had been difficult to work with for a decade, and particularly since the platform was bought by Musk, who had significantly downgraded its trust function.

“Dr Oboler has observed that [X] remains a major online contributor to online antisemitism … indeed, Dr Oboler was personally targeted on the platform,” Lancaster said.

Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor at CyberWell, a nonprofit that monitors and counters online antisemitism, told the commission that X’s removal rate for antisemitic content dropped from 54 per cent in 2024 to just above 29 per cent in 2026, making it the platform with the lowest removal rate, Lancaster recalled.

Lancaster said what occurs on social media platforms like X, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok had profound consequences for Australia.

“If social media platforms are capable of inflicting harm or are actually inflicting harm upon Australians, the laws of Australia must be capable of securing accountability for those harms,” he said.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810505 (101254ZJUL26) Notable: Australian antisemitism worse than in Muslim nations, declares Israel’s top diplomat - Israel's Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Hillel Newman, says Australia is experiencing the highest levels of antisemitism he has witnessed during his 26-year diplomatic career, claiming hostility towards Jews exceeds that seen during his postings in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Writing in The Australian, Newman argued accusations that Israel is committing genocide or other atrocities have normalised modern forms of antisemitic "blood libel" and warned such rhetoric could contribute to further violence following the Bondi Hanukkah terrorist attack. He also criticised anti-Zionist activism, including the slogan "From the river to the sea", arguing it called for Israel's destruction. His comments come ahead of Labor's national conference and amid the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

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Australian antisemitism worse than in Muslim nations, declares Israel’s top diplomat

RICHARD FERGUSON - July 08, 2026

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Israel’s ambassador to Australia says he has never seen so much hatred toward Jews as he has in this country in a 26 year-long diplomatic career, declaring modern “blood libel” myths are being normalised and the nation could face more antisemitic terror and violence.

In his most searing comments since landing in Canberra earlier this year, and in the middle of a groundbreaking royal commission, top Israeli diplomat Hillel Newman has called the nation’s antisemitism scourge significantly worse than the two Muslim countries he was previously ­ambassador in.

While he does not reference Anthony Albanese or his government, Dr Newman’s intervention follows revelations that Labor’s draft policy platform has ramped up the ALP’s pressure on Israel and watered down the party’s previous commitment to hold Palestinian interests accountable.

Dr Newman writes in The Australian that “obsessive herds” accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and of using dogs to rape Palestinians are akin to medieval antisemitic tropes of Jews contaminating water with the black plague and using babies’ blood in rituals.

He also says that antisemites using the cloak of anti-Zionism could help spark further violence like the scenes at Bondi Beach last year that led to the nation’s worst terror attack.

“We should not be surprised if the toleration of the new inflammatory anti-Zionist antisemitism leads to further violence and terrorism,” he writes.

“Make no mistake – the obsessive, multi-ranged, wild, unfounded accusations thrown time and time again at Israel, are not legitimate criticism. They are not caring for anyone. They are driven by hate. They are a manifestation of antisemitism.

“Throughout my 26-year career as an Israeli diplomat, I have never seen such levels of hatred of Israel, and of Jews, as I experience and witness here in Australia.”

Dr Newman’s language is considerably stronger than any public statements made by his predecessor Amir Mamon, who headed up the embassy from before the October 7 massacres to the immediate aftermath of the Bondi terror attack.

The Israeli ambassador also hits out at progressives who campaign for Indigenous rights in Australia, but refuse to acknowledge the Jewish people’s thousands of years of connection to what is now modern day Israel and Jerusalem.

“People promote and support the connection Indigenous Australians have to land, history and ancestry,” Mr Newman writes. “Yet deny and refuse to recognise the historic connection between the Jews and the land of Israel, as documented in the Bible, archaeological artefacts and literature – this is a sign.”

Anti-Australia Day marches since the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack have conflated anti-Israel and far-left anti-colonial messages. Some of Australia’s strongest supporters of the Jewish community include Indigenous rights leaders like Marcia Langton and Noel Pearson.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810513 (101257ZJUL26) Notable: COMMENTARY: I’ve seen less Jew-hatred in Muslim countries - "It is sad to say this, but the truth must be said. Throughout my 26-year career as an Israeli diplomat I have never seen such levels of hatred of Israel, and of Jews, as I experience and witness here in Australia. I served as ambassador in two Muslim countries. Yet I did not see these levels of hatred. The non-radicalised and unpoliticised Muslims understood the issues and showed more understanding than the obsessive herds on the streets of Australia calling for Israel’s annihilation and protesting against Israel’s existence. In a reverse of moral and immoral, this modern antisemitism disguises itself as virtue. They dress it up as caring for some humanitarian cause. It is not love or care of any kind that drives them. It is hatred. Hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel, the one and only majority Jewish state. Not only are these hate-filled people not held in contempt but in some cases they are even glorified. They become social icons and get rewarded for their deeds. You need to be blind, totally delusional or purely and simply antisemitic to lack the ability to detect the drive and motivation behind these activists ... I have seen legitimate criticism of the policies of the Israeli government. As a robust democracy, Israel is full of self-reflection and internal criticism. Many Israelis have disagreements over the policies of the state of Israel, as I assume many in different democratic countries around the world may have legitimate criticism of their own government or any other government’s policies. However, what we see on the streets of Australian cities is not legitimate criticism of policy decisions, it is pure antisemitic hatred. Hostility once directed at individual Jews is increasingly transposed on to the collective Jewish national experience - that is, on to the state of Israel. When antisemitism presented itself in the raw appearance of racial hatred, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and neo-Nazi manifestations, it became undeniable. So, we now see contemporary antisemitism presenting itself in more socially acceptable ways that allow deniability ... There is a continuous line from the blood libels of the past - accusing Jews of contaminating wells during the black plague or using blood of babies for baking unleavened bread for Passover – to the blood libels of the modern period: genocide, training dogs to rape and starvation. Our sages stated already in the Hellenistic period that there will be haters of Israel in every generation. We see them in our generation today. We should not be surprised if the toleration of the new inflammatory anti-Zionist antisemitism leads to further violence and terrorism." - Hillel Newman, Israel’s ambassador to Australia - The Australian

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COMMENTARY: I’ve seen less Jew-hatred in Muslim countries

HILLEL NEWMAN - July 08, 2026

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It is sad to say this, but the truth must be said. Throughout my 26-year career as an Israeli diplomat I have never seen such levels of hatred of Israel, and of Jews, as I experience and witness here in Australia.

I served as ambassador in two Muslim countries. Yet I did not see these levels of hatred. The non-radicalised and unpoliticised Muslims understood the issues and showed more understanding than the obsessive herds on the streets of Australia calling for Israel’s annihilation and protesting against Israel’s existence.

In a reverse of moral and immoral, this modern antisemitism disguises itself as virtue. They dress it up as caring for some humanitarian cause. It is not love or care of any kind that drives them. It is hatred. Hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel, the one and only majority Jewish state. Not only are these hate-filled people not held in contempt but in some cases they are even glorified. They become social icons and get rewarded for their deeds. You need to be blind, totally delusional or purely and simply antisemitic to lack the ability to detect the drive and motivation behind these activists.

As the royal commission continues its important work, we hear witness testimonies and are exposed to the levels of Jew-hatred in Australia. While this classic antisemitism continues to reveal itself, it has already evolved into the anti-Zionism version.

Those who feel that it may not be as popular as in the past to attack Jews dress up their Jew-hatred as hatred of the Jewish state. They then try to camouflage their hatred, calling it “legitimate criticism” of the state of Israel.

I have seen legitimate criticism of the policies of the Israeli government. As a robust democracy, Israel is full of self-reflection and internal criticism. Many Israelis have disagreements over the policies of the state of Israel, as I assume many in different democratic countries around the world may have legitimate criticism of their own government or any other government’s policies.

However, what we see on the streets of Australian cities is not legitimate criticism of policy decisions, it is pure antisemitic hatred. Hostility once directed at individual Jews is increasingly transposed on to the collective Jewish national experience – that is, on to the state of Israel. When antisemitism presented itself in the raw appearance of racial hatred, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and neo-Nazi manifestations, it became undeniable. So, we now see contemporary antisemitism presenting itself in more socially acceptable ways that allow deniability.

Although one cannot always prove motives, hatred is identifiable. When so-called moral activists chant hate slogans, reveal double standards, display hypocrisy and resort to distorting reality, this is a sign. When they demand conformity, bully those who do not conform, demonise the state of Israel, reduce complex realities to simplistic anti-Israel narratives, this is a sign.

When Israel and Jews become the object of disproportionate hostility, fixation or moral obsession, this is a sign. When Israel is judged by standards applied to no other nation or when Jewish self-determination (Zionism) is considered uniquely illegitimate, this is a sign.

One clear and obvious sign was the demonstration opposite Sydney Opera House only days after the brutal Hamas massacre in Israel. According to reports, demonstrators chanted “Gas the Jews”. This predated Israel’s incursion into Gaza. So, what were they protesting? They were celebrating the slaughter of 1200 Israelis and Jews.

The fact these protests predate Israel’s self-defensive operation in Gaza disproves their dishonest attempts to attribute care for the Gazans as the reason for their protests. They were supporting the killing of Jews. Period.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24810894 (101420ZJUL26) Notable: ‘We Indians infuse the world’: Thousands cheer Narendra Modi at stadium extravaganza - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by an estimated 20,000 people at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium during a community celebration held alongside his official visit to Australia. Joined by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Modi highlighted the contribution of the Indian diaspora, saying "we Indians infuse the world", while describing Australia and India as close partners. The event featured cultural performances and drew only a small protest outside the venue. Speakers and attendees highlighted the rapid growth of Australia's Indian community and its economic and cultural contribution. The celebration followed bilateral agreements on trade, defence and energy announced earlier in the day, underscoring the increasingly close relationship between the two countries.

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‘We Indians infuse the world’: Thousands cheer Narendra Modi at stadium extravaganza

Stephen Brook - July 9, 2026

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Melbourne visit had a few elements: business, diplomatic, and sporting. And then there was Thursday night’s genre-busting community/cultural/rock star/political extravaganza at Marvel Stadium.

Thousands waved their mobile phone lights aloft as Modi took to a purple garlanded stage in the middle of the stadium, accompanied by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, who both experienced a level of cheering and a lack of booing neither was used to.

In a speech punctuated by frequent bursts of applause, Modi declared that just as sugar sweetens milk, Indians integrate and sweeten societies globally.

“Just as when sugar is added to milk it makes it sweeter,” he said.

“Just as we Indians infuse the world,” he continued to a crowd estimated at 20,000.

“The milk comes from Australia. However, the tea is made the Indian way.

“I am the tea vendor – the chai wallah,” Modi said to huge applause.

Albanese said he had first visited India in 1991 as a backpacker, while Allan said that she was on a 600-day streak of practising yoga since visiting as premier in 2024.

Modi has now visited Australia three times, the first in 2014.

“This completes the hat trick,” he said. “This demonstrates the heights Indian-Australia relations have reached.”

Not even the Docklands stadium could contain the size or exuberance of “Melbourne Meets Modi”, with Cranbourne’s 50-strong Janagar Jana Dhol Pathak drumming group outside gate 2 delivering an eardrum-shattering serenade as the audience arrived.

“This is a very important event for us,” drumming leader Satish Gaikwad said. “Australia and India coming together. That’s the unity we want to show the world.”

The sound of the massive dhol drums, carried over the shoulder, and the smaller tasha drums completely eclipsed the 30-odd protesters who were sporting a feeble PA system and “Modi Go Home” and “Stop Indian Invasion” posters.

This group was largely unnoticed by the 20,000 Indians streaming along the concourse into the stadium, in what could be seen as a metaphor of geopolitical realities between Australia (population 27 million) and India (population 1.47 billion).

Rachita Savant from Wyndham Vale said she had mixed opinions about the protesters.

“I think they don’t have enough information about what they’re speaking,” she said.

“I understand their emotions. But honestly, the groups that are coming here today, they’re not all harmful to Australia. These are people who have some calibre to be here. They’re not here living off Centrelink.”

“Especially the Indians,” said her friend Gayatri Gangapurkar of Truganina.

“Australia is a diverse culture,” Gangapurkar added. “Australia accepts diversity and India is the same. Because it is one India, but there are different cultures, different languages living together. It’s quite similar.”

(continued)

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24811038 (101539ZJUL26) Notable: Far-right influencer gatecrashes Indian PM’s Australian hotel, leads protest at event - A small group of far-right activists protested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Melbourne after far-right influencer Hugo Lennon entered Modi's hotel and shouted anti-India slogans before being removed by Victoria Police. Lennon later joined a protest outside Marvel Stadium organised with Mitch Hobbs, where attendees included several alleged neo-Nazi associates. The demonstration was largely overshadowed by thousands attending a community event celebrating Modi's visit, with Indian-Australian drumming groups drowning out the protesters. Police said a 22-year-old man was moved on from the hotel without incident. The Australian Federal Police also confirmed a young person who allegedly made an online death threat against Modi before the visit had been identified and formally warned.

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Far-right influencer gatecrashes Indian PM’s Australian hotel, leads protest at event

Carla Jaeger and Sherryn Groch - July 9, 2026

A far-right agitator gatecrashed the Melbourne hotel of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hours before dozens of neo-Nazis and their associates gathered to protest his visit.

But the small contingent gathered outside Marvel Stadium were drowned out by joyful performers from an Indian-Australian drumming group celebrating Modi’s Australian visit.

Neo-Nazi associate Hugo Lennon, a wealthy property development heir turned far-right influencer, posted footage of his late-night tirade against the Indian leader after midnight on Thursday. In the video, police officers quickly swarm Lennon and drag him away from the first-floor balcony overlooking the hotel lobby as he bellows “F*ck Modi!” and “F*ck India!” to people below.

Lennon later led the small protest group from the Department of Home Affairs headquarters to the steps of Marvel Stadium, where they hurled racist abuse at the incoming crowd for two hours before disbanding.

Modi touched down in Melbourne at 10.30pm Wednesday just hours before Lennon’s hotel stunt.

Police did not answer questions regarding how Lennon knew where the Indian prime minister was staying or how close he got to Modi but confirmed a 22-year-old man “attended a hotel and shouted political statements” about 12:30am.

“He was moved on by police without incident”, a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

Lennon and his collaborator Mitch Hobbs, a Melbourne stockbroker who goes by the name “Sir Doug”, had organised the protest against Modi’s visit and Australian immigration.

Posters for the event were circulated online by prominent neo-Nazis, including Thomas Sewell, the leader of the now outlawed National Socialist Network.

Many attendees at the demonstration were known neo-Nazis, including Nathan Bull and Michael J Nelson, who were also seen shaking hands with Lennon and Hobbs.

But the groups efforts to disrupt the event made little impact on the festive atmosphere of the arriving crowd, some who took defiant pictures in front of the far-right contingent.

Two musical groups drowned out the protesters’ chants, and Lennon was forced to stop his speech after the Janagar Jana Dhol Pathak drumming group began performing in front of the neo-Nazis.

Lennon’s stunt overnight follows a series of ambushes on politicians by far-right figures during the 2025 federal election, including when two other known neo-Nazi associates confronted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a Melbourne hotel lobby. At the time, those involved boasted in leaked audio about gaining “private intel” on Albanese’s movements.

Nelson also unsuccessfully gatecrashed a One Nation fundraiser last month.

Both Lennon and Hobbs are among a number of wealthy backers recently unmasked by this masthead now helping Sewell and his supporters plot their next move into politics.

Some far-right influencers had shared knowledge online of Modi’s movements around the city during his visit.

Victoria Police stressed officers would be out in force in Melbourne’s CBD throughout.

Security measures are expected to be high throughout Modi’s trip after the Australian Federal Police issued an official warning to a young person who made a death threat towards the Indian leader last week.

An AFP spokesperson said on Monday the source of the online threat was identified and spoken to on July 3.

“Following an assessment of the matter, the young person was issued a formal warning,” they said. “There is no current or impending risk to the community.”

Lennon has been contacted for comment.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/far-right-influencer-gatecrashes-indian-pm-s-australian-hotel-20260709-p60dvw.html

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820640 (130626ZJUL26) Notable: Trump looks to Australia for US retirement overhaul - US President Donald Trump said his administration is examining Australia's superannuation system as a model for broader retirement savings reform, describing it as a plan that has "worked out very well". Speaking at the White House while launching Trump Accounts, investment accounts for children created under his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump said the administration would later pursue a retirement savings proposal aimed at adults. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the initiative sought to expand share ownership among Americans, with government-funded accounts for eligible newborns and contributions from families, employers and charities. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said developing a system modelled on Australia's superannuation framework formed the second phase of the administration's retirement agenda.

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Trump looks to Australia for US retirement overhaul

JOE KELLY - July 07, 2026

Donald Trump has again floated interest in building an ­Australian-style superannuation retirement system for American workers, saying his administration was looking at a model that “worked out very well” in Australia.

The US President was speaking at the White House Oval Office on Monday (Tuesday, AEST) to launch his “Trump Accounts”, which are investment vehicles for children created under his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Mr Trump marked the occasion by ringing the opening bell for the first time for both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office at 9.30am, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the administration was “equipping the next generation with the right to claim their rightful share”.

Mr Bessent outlined a plan to turn more Americans into capitalists who invested in the sharemarket. “Our President is creating an ownership economy, an ownership economy where all citizens become shareholders,” Mr Bessent said.

“Thirty-eight per cent of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets but, with Trump Accounts, over time, we can get that number to zero. Already, six million American children have signed up, 86 per cent of them with families earning less than $US200,000.”

Mr Bessent said 1.4 million of those accounts would receive $US1000 in seed funding from the US Treasury as soon as the markets opened.

He has previously promoted the program by saying it was aimed at giving children a “stake in the American Dream”.

Under the scheme, the administration would provide $US1000 for every American child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, with a valid social security number whose family registered for a Trump account.

The account would remain in the name of the child, but parents would remain sole custodians until their child turned 18.

Parents, other family members and employers would be allowed to contribute to the Trump Account. Contribution limits for individuals and employers is $US5000 for 2026 and 2027 but will be indexed for inflation beyond 2027.

Charitable and philanthropic organisations will also be allowed to contribute.

At the White House on Monday, Mr Bessent said “on the heels of our 250th anniversary, this will be one of the President’s most enduring legacies.”

Mr Trump said “nobody thought it was possible. Think of it, children that are born without money, without any money … They can have everything. They can become very wealthy children at 18.”

“And they can flip it over, their people can flip it over into other vehicles at a certain age, so that they don’t take it out. I would recommend they probably don’t take it out,” he said.

Mr Trump then signalled his ambitions were broader than providing investment vehicles for children, harking back to his State of the Union address in February when he warned that half of all working Americans lacked access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer.

On Monday, he said he was “going to be doing also something we’re working on later on. And it’ll be also, I think, very popular.”

“I guess the best definition is they have a plan in Australia, which people really like. It’s really worked out very well, incredibly well, and is very respected,” Mr Trump said.

“And we’re going to be talking about that with congress, and see if we can implement it.”

“That would be more for grown-ups as opposed to children, but it’s something that’s going to be great … if we can get it done.”

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, on May 1 said the administration was working with the Department of Treasury and congress on a model“pretty close or in the direction of the Australian system”.

He was speaking at event where Mr Trump signed an executive order directing Treasury to create TrumpIRA.gov – a platform aimed at making it easier for Americans without workplace retirement plans to open low-cost retirement accounts.

Mr Hassett said the plan to try to build a model based on the Australian superannuation system was Phase II of the administration’s retirement agenda.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/trump-looks-to-australia-for-us-retirement-overhaul/news-story/adda4510a913a6620111fbc030f43e9b

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820648 (130647ZJUL26) Notable: ‘Eternity of pain’: Angus Taylor takes on Pauline Hanson in crucial speech for the Coalition leader - Opposition Leader Angus Taylor launched his strongest attack yet on Pauline Hanson's One Nation, arguing the party's unfunded economic policies would leave Australians worse off than under Labor. In a speech to the Sydney Institute, Taylor claimed One Nation's proposals would fuel inflation, force interest rates about three percentage points higher, sharply increase mortgage costs, nearly triple national debt and risk a sovereign debt crisis. While acknowledging many voters were frustrated by the major parties, he likened One Nation to the Greens, arguing it offered rhetoric rather than credible policy. One Nation rejected the criticism, accusing the Coalition of failing to address cost-of-living pressures, housing affordability and migration during its years in government.

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‘Eternity of pain’: Angus Taylor takes on Pauline Hanson in crucial speech for the Coalition leader

GREG BROWN - July 09, 2026

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Angus Taylor has warned a One Nation government would create an “eternity of pain” for Australians and deliver even worse economic outcomes than the ­Albanese government, likening Pauline Hanson’s populist party to the Greens in his fiercest ­critique since becoming Liberal leader.

The Opposition Leader said One Nation’s unfunded policies would increase inflation, send interest rates 3 per cent higher, cost mortgage holders $20,000 a year, triple the debt, and cause a sovereign debt crisis requiring cuts to pensions and Medicare.

In a major speech to the Sydney Institute on Thursday evening, Mr Taylor warned Australians were becoming ­poorer under Labor due to bigger government, sluggish productivity, high immigration, support for net zero and a the rollout of a union-endorsed industrial ­relations agenda.

“Labor expands government, which slows the economy, reducing revenue,” Mr Taylor said. “So it levies new taxes on investment, saving, and aspiration. And this slows the economy further, reducing revenue further still. Labor has put our economy into a death loop.”

But he warned the ­future would be even worse under a government led by Senator Hanson, likening One Nation to the Greens while declaring the party would “send us broke” if it won an election.

Mr Taylor’s speech came as Senator Hanson travelled to Britain this week to meet with far-right celebrities including former Neighbours actor Holly Valance and the controversial anti-Islam podcaster Tommy Robinson.

With the Coalition grappling over how to campaign against a surging One Nation that is rivalling Labor in the polls, Mr Taylor did not take a personal swipe at Senator Hanson but tore down her party’s answers to Australia’s economic problems and argued she did not have a credible team around her.

He also empathised with many voters turning to One Nation, describing them as people who have done “everything right” but are weighed down by an economy not delivering for them.

“Many have lost hope,” he said, according to a copy of his speech. “They look left at a government that lies to them. They look right at an opposition that has too many times let them down. I understand why some Australians think the way out is to blow the place up.

“But to those who feel like lighting a match, believe me when I say, that a moment of satisfaction isn’t worth the eternity of pain that will follow.

“One Nation claims to offer a way out of our national malaise. In reality, they would only make things worse.”

Describing One Nation as a “column of smoke”, Mr Taylor said the party was long on rhetoric but short on substance.

He rejected Senator Hanson’s claim One Nation had consistent values since she founded the party in the 1990s, highlighting the divergent views of Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts and new Farrer MP David Farley.

“One Nation’s offering is a random grab bag of poorly defined, contradictory, and constantly changing positions that leave no clear sense of who they are or what they stand for,” he said. “Their longest serving MP thinks the United States is the ‘world’s greatest terrorist organisation’, and their newest MP is ­already voting with the Greens and teals.”

While Mr Taylor said commonwealth spending needed to be curtailed to fix the nation’s economic woes, he accused One Nation of planning to “double down” on big government intervention. “But with even less of a concern than Labor about how to make the numbers add up,” Mr Taylor said. “Their top four financial commitments alone could cost the budget in the order of a trillion dollars over a decade. And they have no clear or credible plan for how they’d pay for these commitments.

“One Nation’s promise to abolish parts of the bureaucracy would cover perhaps just one 15th of these commitments.

“Of course, it’s easy to make promises when you aren’t a party of government. One Nation is a lot like the Greens in that regard.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820676 (130717ZJUL26) Notable: Deeming apologises to backers, vows to ‘boot this corrupt Labor Grubberment out’ - (Video) Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming apologised to supporters for the distractions caused by her prolonged disputes with the Victorian Liberal Party, saying they had taken attention away from representing her constituents. Without discussing details of ongoing legal proceedings, Deeming said matters were being mediated and urged supporters to maintain their trust in her. A trial next week will determine whether the party can disendorse her before the November state election, following her unsubstantiated assault allegations against fellow Liberal Matthew Guy and her refusal to apologise. Deeming said she remained committed to her policy priorities, including combating union corruption, defending parental rights and child safeguards, and defeating the Victorian Labor government at the upcoming election.

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Deeming apologises to backers, vows to ‘boot this corrupt Labor Grubberment out’

GEORGIA PALGAN - July 07, 2026

Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has apologised to her supporters for “so many huge distractions” after she made un­substantiated allegations of assault against her colleague Matthew Guy, while urging voters to keep faith in her ahead of the state election.

In a video on her social channels, Ms Deeming said she could not elaborate on her ongoing legal battle against the Victorian Liberal Party, but suggested matters were “being mediated behind the scenes where it should be mediated”.

She responded to negative comments on the post by expressing support for current leader Jess Wilson and saying it was “excruciating” not to be able to defend herself publicly.

“There have been so many huge distractions that have taken away from the work that you as my constituents and Victorians really needed to be done, and I am genuinely so, so sorry that all of these things over the past 3½ years have happened,” she said in the video.

The court action was lodged by Ms Deeming after she made ­assault allegations against former opposition leader Mr Guy that were unable to be substantiated by police, and then defied Ms Wilson’s request to apologise.

A trial, which will determine whether the party can disendorse Ms Deeming ahead of the November state election, is set down for next week.

The action is the third time Ms Deeming has been involved in a legal case against fellow Liberals, after she successfully sued then opposition leader John Pesutto for defaming her over her attendance at a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

She remains an independently represented defendant in a case being brought by five current and former members of the Liberal state executive against the party over the decision to loan Mr Pesutto $1.55m to enable him to pay his legal debts.

Comments flooded Ms Deeming’s Facebook post, with one suggesting they had backed the MP “all the way with the initial incident. However, a public apology for your misunderstanding to Matt Guy was required last week.”

Ms Deeming replied to the commenter: “I hear you – please understand I am not against Jess, believe it or not … It’s excruciating not being able to just defend myself publicly.

“But only Labor wins if I do that right now.”

On Tuesday, Ms Deeming acknowledged the loyalty of supporters who had backed her through what she described as the most difficult and tenuous period of her life, and said their trust remained well-placed.

“For all of you people that have been supporting me, you supported me through the most difficult times … and I have just been so grateful for the way in which you’ve all done that and you’ve put your trust in me and I hope you all know that you can still trust me,” she said.

A caption that accompanied Tuesday’s post read: “Don’t lose hope. Hold steady and press towards the goal. Let’s boot this corrupt Labor Grubberment out of office.”

“The simple fact is that things go wrong in life and you have to just pick yourself up and keep going forward. That’s what I ­intend to do,” she said.

Ms Deeming said she remained committed to the agenda her constituents had elected her to pursue, including fighting union corruption, defending parental rights and child safeguards, and advancing what she described as “actual true equality in the law”.

“That job is still sitting there, it needs to be done, and we have never, ever been so close to being able to get rid of Labor and actually do it,” Ms Deeming said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/deeming-apologises-to-backers-vows-to-boot-this-corrupt-labor-grubberment-out/news-story/126df9ad41e4ba072b34907463846a1b

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1319740489847037

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820686 (130731ZJUL26) Notable: Teenager accused of terror plot used AI to craft Bondi-inspired massacre stories - A Queensland Supreme Court judge refused bail to a 13-year-old boy accused of planning a terrorist attack at a primary school, citing the unstable nature of his mental state and the risk to public safety. Police allege the teenager held neo-Nazi beliefs and used artificial intelligence to generate fictional first-person mass killing stories, including one inspired by the Bondi attack and another inspired by a Russian school massacre. Investigators also allege they found extremist material, a manifesto, a document referring to a local primary school, and evidence of access to dark web weapons suppliers. The boy, who is receiving involuntary mental health treatment, will return to court in September, with bail able to be reconsidered if his condition improves.

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Teenager accused of terror plot used AI to craft Bondi-inspired massacre stories

MACKENZIE SCOTT - July 09, 2026

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A reclusive teenager accused of planning a terror attack at a Queensland primary school had allegedly used AI to create first-person mass-murder stories, including one inspired by the Bondi Beach massacre.

At a Supreme Court appeal hearing over whether to grant the 13-year-old bail on Wednesday, judge Peter Davis upheld the decision by a Fraser Coast magistrate to deny the boy’s release because of “the unstable nature” of his mental state.

Police allege the boy held neo-Nazi-aligned views, and had a ­hatred of young children, black people, Muslims and Jews.

At 4.37am on April 22, little more than a month after he was alleged to have entered a service station with a knife, the boy was accused of asking an AI program to create a fictional story inspired by Bondi and a Russian school shooting.

“Make me a mass shooting story 18+ kinda like the Bondi beach shooting, but it’s in Qld heavybay (sic) beach when there is a Jewish and blacks festival,” he is alleged to have prompted.

“The mc (main character) shooter is Romolus Vanguard, 19, immigrant from Europe.

“Legal immigrant, moved when he was 11 year old. He is from sebira (sic), dark messy hair, good looking, sharp jawline, tall and skinny like (Crimean school shooter) Vladislav Roslyakov and more he uses a sp-15-tac.

“The POVs (point of view) are just normal Australians on the beach … he also is neo nazi.”

In 2018, 18-year-old Roslyakov killed 20 people at his high school, Kerch Polytechnic College, before committing suicide.

Footage from the massacre event can be found online.

The Maryborough teen, who cannot be identified because of his age, faces one state and one commonwealth terror charge.

He allegedly walked into a ­petrol station on May 28 wearing a lower face covering and carrying a knife taken from the kitchen sink, before threatening the ­attendant. Investigators will allege he also tried to steal a car in order to drive to a primary school and fulfil his plan to kill children, whom he perceived to be easy ­targets.

Police were called to the business and arrested the boy, who allegedly disclosed in an interview that he had wanted to kill people for months and had been inspired by Russian shooters and mass killers who targeted schools.

He was released with a warning under the Youth Justice Act.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820726 (130851ZJUL26) Notable: University leaders called to royal commission over campus antisemitism crisis - Leaders from the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, Monash University and the Australian National University will give evidence before the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion as it examines universities' responses to antisemitism experienced by Jewish students and staff. Hearings will consider incidents following the October 2023 Hamas attacks and the war in Gaza, including campus protests, intimidation and allegations of harassment. Macquarie University has provided written submissions but is not scheduled to appear, while the University of Queensland has not been called. The Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism says many Jewish staff and students conceal their identities for fear of discrimination, while Greg Craven's interim review found ongoing intimidation and the targeting of Jewish academics.

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University leaders called to royal commission over campus antisemitism crisis

NATASHA BITA - July 10, 2026

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Sydney University, Melbourne University, Monash University and the Australian National University have been called to give evidence to the Royal Commission’s on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion next week.

The lived experiences of antisemitism and its impacts on Jewish students and academics will be examined during the fourth block of hearings, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell will inquire into the universities’ responses to combat the antisemitism that was experienced by staff and students.

Most of Australia’s sandstone city universities hosted protests and student encampments in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, and Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza.

The University of Sydney – where anti-Israel activists have targeted Jewish students and academics – revealed on Friday that it had been called to appear before the commission.

“To assist with its important work, the university will appear before the royal commission,’’ it told staff in a statement.

“We have made important progress over the last two years but we know our work is not yet finished. We will continue to engage openly and constructively with the royal commission and listen to our community. Antisemitism has absolutely no place at the University of Sydney, or in society.’’

Masked protesters have interrupted lectures by Jewish professors at the University of Sydney, including its director of European Studies, Professor Peter Morgan, who was left “shaking’’ after the infiltrators shouted at his students and refused to leave the lecture theatre in a 2024 incident.

The university sacked a staff member last year after she was filmed ranting at Jewish students celebrating the religious festival of Sukkoth, calling them “depraved’’ and “disgusting’’.

The University of Melbourne confirmed the royal commission had called its interim vice-chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis.

“The University of Melbourne is part of the national process to reflect, mourn and seek a renewed sense of trust and belonging for all,’’ a spokesperson said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for all and acknowledge the important work of the royal commission. As a diverse university community, we must come together and stand united in our continued efforts to eradicate hate and discrimination in all forms.’’

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820738 (130901ZJUL26) Notable: ‘Baby killer, genocide supporter’: Jewish student describes ‘exhausting’ life on campus - A Jewish student told the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion she endured persistent harassment and intimidation at the Australian National University following the October 2023 Hamas attacks, describing campus life as "exhausting" and saying she was called a "baby killer" and "genocide supporter" while passing a pro-Palestinian encampment. The student said she concealed her Jewish identity, lost many non-Jewish friends and witnessed a Nazi salute at a counter-protest. A University of New South Wales tutor also described students performing Nazi salutes towards him, while a former University of Sydney academic spoke of the impact of campus protests. The hearings coincide with new federal measures requiring universities to define and report on racism, including antisemitism.

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>>74971

‘Baby killer, genocide supporter’: Jewish student describes ‘exhausting’ life on campus

Michael Bachelard - July 13, 2026

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A Jewish student was called a “baby killer” and “genocide supporter” on a prestigious Australian university campus by people taking part in the country’s longest-running university encampment in 2024.

Appearing as part of a two-week block of hearings in Melbourne for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the student, Liat, was granted partial anonymity and was the first of a number of lived experience witnesses who will not be fully named.

Commissioner Virginia Bell said the hearings were taking place in Melbourne because it was the location of Australia’s largest Jewish population.

Liat on Monday described experiencing a “low-level hum” of antisemitism on campus before October 2023, but said that after the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza, a sense of “pervasive fear” had developed. She told the royal commission she felt the need to hide her identity, to the extent of not using her real name when ordering coffee.

Living as a Jew at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra had been “exhausting”, Liat said, and passing the encampment, which was set up in the middle of the campus, was a daily ordeal.

“I felt very physically unsafe when people would laugh and leer at me and say, ‘Look at the baby killer, look at the genocide supporter’,” she said.

Liat, who acts as a spokesperson for the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, said she helped organise a counter-protest on campus where a man approached, despite a heavy security presence, and performed a Nazi salute.

After October 2023, the student, who told the commission she was a Zionist, said she lost the vast majority of her non-Jewish friends.

She said one friend told her: “You’re of Israeli heritage, you can’t possibly be my friend.”

In the magazine welcoming students produced by the ANU student association, a line included said: “Zionism is a far-right political project, and the state of Israel is run by war criminals and proponents of genocide”. Liat told the royal commission the statement “portrays Jews as uniquely and distinctly bloodthirsty and murderous” and was an antisemitic trope.

She said she also felt unwelcome when, in a meeting of the student association, fellow students voted to remove a reference that condemned Hamas as a terror organisation.

Bell said on Monday lived experience witnesses would not be cross-examined on their evidence.

In other evidence, a tutor and PhD student at the University of New South Wales told the commission that in 2024, four students had performed the Nazi salute towards him in his classroom, and again in the corridor outside the business lesson.

As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, he said, “when someone does a Nazi salute to me, it feels like they want to kill me”.

When the man complained to the university, he said the response was inadequate. Initially, he was told the students would be given a verbal reprimand and reminded of university policies, and it was only after he reported the incident to police that the students were suspended for two weeks.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24820750 (130914ZJUL26) Notable: ISIS-linked Australian woman Hodan Abby was enforcer of Sharia law in Syrian camp, ABC told - New allegations have emerged that Australian Islamic State-linked woman Hodan Abby acted as an enforcer of Sharia law while detained at the al-Roj camp in north-eastern Syria. Security sources and former US diplomat Peter Galbraith alleged Abby intimidated other women, enforced Islamic dress, arranged marriages, passed instructions from Islamic State figures and remained committed to the group's ideology. The allegations also link her to prominent IS supporter Khadra Essa, who is wanted by the United States. Abby was issued a temporary exclusion order earlier this year before later receiving a return permit to Australia. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said authorities continued gathering evidence, while legal experts said the allegations could potentially support future criminal charges.

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ISIS-linked Australian woman Hodan Abby was enforcer of Sharia law in Syrian camp, ABC told

Stephanie March - 13 July 2026

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It would come as a silent threat in the middle of the night - a niqab and a knife - left outside a tent in the squalid, prison-like detention camp housing Islamic State-linked families in Syria.

The message for the occupant was simple: wear the black veil preferred by the Islamic State (IS), or else.

This is one of the not-so-subtle acts in support of IS ideology that Sydney woman Hodan Abby is alleged to have been behind during her years in the Kurdish-run detention camp, al-Roj, in north-east Syria, the ABC can reveal.

She is the last known Australian IS-linked woman in Syria and was issued with a temporary exclusion order (TEO) in February, barring her from returning to Australia.

That order was later revoked, and she was issued a return permit last month.

A security source from within the camp - who doesn't want to be named - but who dealt directly with Hodan Abby - described the Australian as a cunning, threatening figure and the "driving force" behind many of the problems in the camp.

According to the security source, Ms Abby acted as what they called a "Sharia judge", or an enforcer of Sharia law, arranged marriages for IS women over the phone, and bribed other women in the camp with charity money to win their loyalty.

Some of her alleged actions landed her in trouble with camp authorities - the source said Ms Abby admitted to taking instructions and orders from IS commanders in Idlib and Jarabulus and passing them on to others within the camp. The security source said they oversaw Hodan Abby's two stints in the camp "prison" in 2021 and 2022.

The ABC understands that in these camps, intelligence officers conduct interrogations and detain individuals periodically, and the prison is an informal detention facility with no formal jurisdiction or judicial proceedings.

Devoted 'by choice'

Former US diplomat, Peter Galbraith - who has spent decades helping rescue IS-linked children from north-east Syria - said his sources in the camp also describe Ms Abby as an IS "true believer".

"She is known in the camps to the people I'm in touch with, and they say that she was very radical," he told the ABC.

"She would try to enforce Islamic dress, that she made people - along with another woman - go to their tents [and] make them repent any supposed sins they committed, to say the Shahada [Islamic declaration of faith]," he said.

His source alleged that an ideological disagreement with another camp resident led to violence.

"In 2021, she allegedly hit a woman with a hammer," he said.

His source also said she spent a lot of time talking online to IS men to solicit donations from them.

He said his contacts said there was no evidence that Ms Abby was coerced into following IS ideology in the camps.

"There are a number of women in the camps, of course, including the women that I talk to, who have renounced ISIS - they no longer follow the ISIS dress code, and they can function in the camp.

"The women who are still devoted to ISIS are doing so by choice, and they can be a threat to other women in the camp," he said.

Connections to the highly radicalised

The camp security source who spoke to the ABC also said Ms Abby was "very close" to a family which includes Khadra Essa - a Dutch-Somali woman who the US State Department said "advocated the use of violence and encouraged other ISIS members to conduct attacks in multiple countries". The State Department has put a USD$5 million bounty on her head.

Essa, also known as Umm Qaqa al-Somali, is accused of being the chief Sharia instructor of an all-female fighting battalion that formed in Raqqa in 2016 called the Nusaybah Katibah (ISIS-NK), and is trained in using weapons, explosives, and carrying out suicide operations.

"Additionally, she has taught ISIS extremist ideology that justified suicide operations and killing of civilians and has recruited new members for ISIS," the State Department said.

Essa is most well-known for her role in allegedly hiding two US-born children who had been taken to the self-declared IS caliphate by their mother, who died in an air strike.

"In 2019, she held US siblings Yusuf and Zahra Shikder and took them to an undisclosed location in Syria after their mother died during a military strike against ISIS forces," the State Department said.

Mr Galbraith has been looking for Yusuf and Zahra but said they have "simply disappeared".

"Radical ISIS women hid other people's children to keep them from going to families who might be unbelievers," he said.

"Keeping children in miserable conditions and away from their families is yet another example of the cruelty of ISIS and its adherents. Cruel to the families and cruel to the children," he said.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24828095 (151041ZJUL26) Notable: ‘TikTok dances in the car parks of Auschwitz’: Universities slammed at royal commission - Australia's Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard evidence from Jewish students and academics alleging persistent antisemitism and inadequate responses from universities. Monash University law student Paris Enten described fellow students behaving disrespectfully during a Holocaust study tour and recounted repeated anti-Zionist hostility on campus, saying the experiences left her traumatised. University of Melbourne professor Steven Prawer told the commission masked protesters occupied his office, accused him of genocide and left threatening messages, while later disciplinary action against identified students was reduced. Australasian Union of Jewish Students president Jeremy Suss criticised universities for delaying or minimising complaints, while La Trobe University professor Dennis Altman urged greater attention to neo-Nazism and more dialogue between Jewish and Palestinian communities.

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>>74971

‘TikTok dances in the car parks of Auschwitz’: Universities slammed at royal commission

Michael Bachelard - July 14, 2026

When Paris Enten went to Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic with her peers at university in 2024, she wasn’t there for a European summer holiday. She was there to better understand her beloved grandmother’s Holocaust experience – but she says her fellow students from Monash University did not feel the same way.

“People were doing TikTok dances in the car parks of Auschwitz and concentration camps,” Lenten told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Tuesday.

“People complained about having to go to visit camps and ghettos where people were mass slaughtered because it was too early in the morning; they were still hungover … People made comments to the effect of, ‘Well, Jews weren’t really the main victims of the Holocaust,’” Enten said.

“If you’re going to be giggling in the Auschwitz car park, you’re not a friend to Jews.”

On the second day in Melbourne, Commissioner Virginia Bell heard a string of stories from staff and students on Australian university campuses, along with deep dissatisfaction about how institutions dealt with their complaints.

Professor Steven Prawer told the commission he was left fearful after a group of masked people occupied his office, and those identified ultimately had their punishments overturned.

A registered interpreter, who was given the pseudonym ACK, told the commission they had been forced to translate someone at a university saying in class, “Hitler didn’t have anything against Jewish people, he just didn’t want them to suffer”. ACK told the commission nobody in the classroom responded.

President of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students Jeremy Suss said of universities: “We’ve seen them minimise … they discredit reports of incidents. Their instant incident reporting mechanisms drag on for months … reporting of racism, reporting of harassment feels like it goes nowhere.”

Lenten said she had felt ostracised a number of times at Monash University because of her identity as a Zionist Jew.

The law student said that when taking a flyer from a left-wing activist on a refugee issue, she mentioned she had visited a kibbutz in Israel and was told, “we’re an anti-Zionist organisation”. Members of the group then started chanting slogans at her, and one activist said: “We won’t stop until people like you are kicked off campus”.

When she signed a petition for women’s rights after the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade judgment in 2022 – a year before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza – an activist scratched her name out because she was Jewish.

“I think there was a crisis of antisemitism on campus already in 2021,” Lenten said.

After the Holocaust trip, she said she became what she described as “clinically traumatised”.

“I would hear people laughing in the street and for a split second assume they were laughing at me because for so much of the trip I was being laughed at, and my family was being laughed at,” she told the commission. “It took a really long time for me to return to a normal state.”

Speaking to reporters after providing evidence, Lenten said: “I started university incredibly naive, incredibly excited to meet people and to make friends … I was a happy-go-lucky kid.

“By the time I ended, I was jaded and traumatised and untrusting and very deeply angry and scared. And just a very different person.”

For Professor Steven Prawer, the University of Melbourne’s campus protest became deeply personal in 2024 when about 20 masked intruders occupied his office and told him he was guilty of genocide.

The physics professor recalled chants the group made that day, including: “‘Prawer, Prawer, you can’t hide. You’re guilty of genocide.’”

They also left behind an inverted red triangle – often used to denote terror organisation Hamas – and a message saying, “Your work will break your soul before it breaks the resistance.”

“Clearly, this was a highly personal attack,” Prawer said. “‘Break your soul’ is … not generic. It’s not a generic chant.”

Prawer said he was targeted by protesters because he had done work with the Commonwealth’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation and, separately, with a PhD program involving the Hebrew University in Israel.

However, he said these two projects had not been related, and protesters had conflated them to target him, a visible, kippah-wearing Jewish Zionist on campus.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24828139 (151052ZJUL26) Notable: ‘It’s a form of intimidation and unacceptable’: Vice-chancellor grilled on student protesters - University of Melbourne interim vice-chancellor Glyn Davis told Australia's Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that the university's 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment contributed to its lowest-ever student satisfaction ratings but said this alone did not justify ending the protest. He defended the university's handling of the encampment and its response to the occupation of Professor Steven Prawer's office, while acknowledging that filming students during classroom votes on Middle East issues and posting the footage online was "a form of intimidation and unacceptable". University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott apologised for allowing a prolonged encampment, saying Jewish staff and students had suffered as a result. Davis said subsequent bylaw changes banned camping on campus and protests by non-university members.

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>>74971

‘It’s a form of intimidation and unacceptable’: Vice-chancellor grilled on student protesters

Michael Bachelard - July 15, 2026

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The pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of Melbourne made it the least popular campus in Australia, its interim vice-chancellor has conceded, but says that was not enough to shut down the protest.

Professor Glyn Davis was the first of three university leaders to give evidence at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Melbourne on Wednesday, where he was taken through the chaotic on-campus incidents of 2024, when Israel’s war on Gaza was in full swing.

Under questioning, Davis defended the university’s actions in allowing the encampment to proceed, and its handling of Professor Steven Prawer’s office being invaded.

The commission also heard on Wednesday from the vice-chancellors of Sydney University and the University of NSW.

Sydney University Vice Chancellor Mark Scott used his appearance to apologise for his light-touch approach to a two-month pro-Palestinian encampment on his campus in mid-2024 and the harm it caused.

“I can see that our Jewish students and staff paid the price for that as the encampment dragged on, and I am sorry to them that it took that long for us to get it done, and I’m sorry we did not keep them more closely engaged and listen more intently to them as it was going,” Scott told the commission.

In a sometimes feisty encounter, Scott had to fend off criticisms that his campus remains unsafe for Jewish staff and students.

Melbourne University’s Davis, who was not in charge during the protest period, told Commissioner Virginia Bell that when encampments on the south lawn had been set up in early 2024, the university’s approach was to allow the protests as long as they did not present a threat to safety.

“There were constant discussions between the university security team and the leaders of the encampment and that was a shared objective,” Davis said.

He said the large presence of protesters in a high-traffic area of the campus, the “chants and singing and waving of banners”, and regular marches towards the central administrative building “made people nervous about their safety … [and] whether they’re welcome on campus”.

This was reflected in surveys which include a measure of student satisfaction with their time on campus.

“We got in 2024 our worst-ever scores, the worst in the sector … and I think students used that measure to tell us they were unhappy with what was going on,” Davis said.

Even so, the right to protest was upheld.

In early May 2024, the University of Melbourne received a letter from the deputy commissioner of Victoria Police asking it to “carefully consider the risks of whether to allow” a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

The letter read: “We assess the presence of permanent encampments, and any increase in size in those encampments, will likely lead to significant public safety risks.”

The atmosphere had changed, Davis said, when protesters occupied the Arts West building, erecting 20 tents with 50 protesters in residence in early May 2024.

Then-vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell ordered they leave the university grounds and warned that if they did not, they would be charged with trespassing. Still, the protesters stayed.

“There was significant damage to the building,” Davis told the commission. “There was damage in the adjacent building … people were coming in at night, red paint through the library.”

On May 22, 2024, the protesters and university negotiated an end to that protest. The university agreed to publish a list of its defence collaborations, yielding details of agreements with Boeing Aerostructures and Lockheed Martin, among US Defence Department collaborations worth $15.4 million.

Challenged by counsel assisting the royal commission Zelie Heger about whether it was appropriate for the university to negotiate with the protesters, Davis said: “The university was very clear … that this was unacceptable behaviour.”

He added: “On the other hand, the university does not have a police service, doesn’t have its own enforcement. Security guards who work at the university are not empowered to move people on – certainly are not empowered to arrest people for breaking the law. And only Victoria Police can decide that something is trespass.”

Davis said it took four police officers to forcibly remove one protester.

In response, the university changed its bylaws, which included an order that camping was not allowed on campus, and outsiders could not protest at the university.

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24828189 (151114ZJUL26) Notable: Rayann El Houli: Court hears ISIS bride’s alleged lessons in slaying ‘disbelievers’ - A Melbourne court heard accused former Islamic State member Rayann El Houli, 34, allegedly recorded videos in Syria showing her young children being encouraged to praise jihadist fighters, handle a toy rifle and imitate the killing of "disbelievers". Prosecutors allege the recordings demonstrate her ideological commitment to ISIS as they oppose her application for bail on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation and entering a declared conflict zone after travelling to Syria in 2014. Defence lawyer Peter Morrissey SC argued El Houli was a young mother subjected to marital coercion who posed no current threat to the community. The Australian Federal Police oppose her release, citing public safety concerns and alleging she has refused to participate in a government countering violent extremism program since returning to Australia.

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Rayann El Houli: Court hears ISIS bride’s alleged lessons in slaying ‘disbelievers’

MOHAMMAD ALFARES - 14 July 2026

An accused Australian ISIS bride seeking freedom on bail had allegedly filmed herself training her toddlers how to use a rifle and demanded they show her how jihadist fighters “slaughter” an infidel.

The disturbing clips were not aired in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court because playing the footage would have distressed the 34-year-old accused, Rayann El Houli.

Instead, Ms El Houli teared up as harrowing transcripts of the videos she allegedly captured in Syria were read aloud.

She faces charges of being a member of a terrorist organisation and entering a declared conflict zone after allegedly fleeing Melbourne to join the caliphate in 2014.

Magistrate Brett Sonnet is expected to hand down his final decision on her release next week.

The court heard that over a two-year period, Ms El Houli allegedly recorded her young children being exposed to violent extremist media.

In one video from May 2015, Ms El Houli allegedly captured herself quizzing her eldest child – who was an toddler at the time – about Islamic State fighters while jihadi chants played in the background.

According to court transcripts, she asked the child who the “mujahidin” were and what happens to “disbelievers”.

When the child did not initially answer, Ms El Houli prompted them multiple times until the child repeated: “In the hellfire.”

In another video recorded in March 2016, Ms El Houli’s children – then aged just 2 years and 9 months, and 1 year and 9 months – were shown watching an ISIS media production. The footage featured a French jihadist singer and a commentator threatening to “fill your streets with terror” in the West.

During the screening, Ms El Houli’s youngest child was allegedly filmed raising her index finger in alignment with the commentary, before the accused asked: “What does the Mujahid do to the infidel?”

Raising the index finger in Islam is a gesture known as Tawhid, which signifies the indivisible oneness of God.

Only days later, Ms El Houli allegedly filmed her eldest child playing with a toy rifle. In the recording, she coached the toddler on how to hold the weapon like a “fighter” and asked: “Did you see how the Mujahideen kill the Kuffar (infidels) with the knife? Look at me. How did they slaughter them with the knife?

“Look at me, how do they slaughter the apostate? Show me how.”

According to police, Ms El Houli initially travelled to the conflict zone in September 2014 with her first husband, Allak Hamad, who was pictured carrying an automatic assault rifle before being killed in early 2015.

Ms El Houli then chose to enter into two more marriages with known Australian ISIS militants – Abdulkadehr Assaad (who was also killed) and Mohammed Noor Masri (whom she later divorced in an ISIS sharia court).

Police search warrants executed on Ms El Houli’s family in Australia further uncovered photos from 2018 showing an AK-47 automatic assault rifle left unsecured, leaning against a wall directly next to a bed where her young children slept.

Following the military defeat of the caliphate in 2019, the accused and her children spent more than six years interred in Syria’s Al-Hawl displaced persons camp before being smuggled into Lebanon and eventually returned to Australia in late 2025.

The AFP are fiercely opposing bail, stating she is an unacceptable risk to public safety and noting that since her return to Melbourne, Ms El Houli has flatly refused to participate in the government’s Counter Violent Extremism counselling program.

But as she shed tears in court on Tuesday, her high-profile defence lawyer Peter Morrissey SC told the court his client was no threat to the community.

“The risk alleged in this case is not a catastrophic risk,” Mr Morrissey said, highlighting a 10-year gap since the initial offending began.

Mr Morrissey, who successfully bailed former ISIS bride Kawsar Abbas last month, had painted a picture of a naive 21-year-old mother who “took the Kool-Aid” under strict “marital coercion” from her husband.

He argued that Ms El Houli was never an extremist “preacher” and has already suffered heavy consequences.

If Mr Sonnet grants bail next Monday, Ms El Houli is prepared to accept stringent conditions, including zero contact with individuals of concern to the police, and will reside under the supervision of her mother, who dialled into the courtroom.

Prosecutor Andrew Sprague argued that the volume of evidence comfortably proved Ms El Houli’s ideological alignment with ISIS and vehemently opposed bail.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/court-hears-accused-isis-bride-quizzed-toddler-about-killing-disbelievers/news-story/66e8a072885afd9d1b6bc926a2c3f437

Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24828214 (151127ZJUL26) Notable: Victorian Liberals to reject Moira Deeming’s last-ditch plea to mediate dispute - The Victorian Liberal Party is expected to reject Moira Deeming's proposal to mediate her dispute with former opposition leader Matthew Guy and proceed with efforts to disendorse her before November's state election. Deeming argues she is being punished for using the party's confidential complaints process after alleging Guy subjected her to unwanted physical contact during a May event. She maintains she acted in good faith, disputes claims she leaked her complaint and has proposed a joint statement acknowledging Guy intended only "a friendly gesture" while affirming her conduct was appropriate. Party sources contend the complaint reached the media through others, not Guy. A Victorian Supreme Court hearing will determine whether the disendorsement process can proceed, while Guy continues to deny any wrongdoing.

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>>74969

Victorian Liberals to reject Moira Deeming’s last-ditch plea to mediate dispute

ANTHONY GALLOWAY - 15 July 2026

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The Victorian Liberal Party will reject Moira Deeming’s last-ditch bid to mediate her dispute after she argued she was being punished for following the party’s internal complaints process, amid conflicting accounts over who leaked her complaint against former opposition leader Matthew Guy.

Ms Deeming on Wednesday released a 12-page statement she had sent to the party’s state executive, proposing the matter be resolved through a joint statement acknowledging that Mr Guy’s actions were intended only as “a friendly gesture”, while affirming that she had acted “honestly, privately, in good faith and in accordance with the Liberal Party’s established processes”.

The party moved to disendorse Ms Deeming after she refused to apologise for making assault allegations against Mr Guy that were unable to be substantiated by police.

Ms Deeming on Wednesday told The Australian she “only refused to apologise for two things – making a fraudulent bad faith police complaint and leaking this to defame him”.

CCTV of the incident on May 23 showed Mr Guy – who vehemently denies any wrongdoing – putting his right arm across Ms Deeming’s shoulder during a conversation.

Multiple senior Victorian Liberal Party sources confirmed to The Australian that the party would proceed with Ms Deeming’s disendorsement and Friday’s one-day Supreme Court hearing, at which she is seeking orders preventing the party from taking that action.

Liberal leader Jess Wilson said on Wednesday “the matter is before the courts and it’s not appropriate to comment at this time”.

In her statement to state executive members, Ms Deeming said she was making inquiries into “how my private internal complaints to senior members within the Liberal Party came to be provided to Mr Guy, and from Mr Guy to journalists, while a police investigation was active”.

“Those enquiries are ongoing. The state executive should not act until all the facts are established,” she wrote.

Ms Deeming’s complaint, together with the CCTV footage, was first reported on June 24 by several media outlets, including The Australian.

But senior Liberal figures, who were not authorised to comment publicly on the complaint, said it is their understanding the complaint first reached the media through individuals with whom Ms Deeming had shared its contents, rather than through Mr Guy.

They said Mr Guy sought access to the CCTV footage from the May 23 Macedonian community function only after becoming aware of the complaint.

Ms Deeming disputes that account, saying in her statement that “I did not leak the story, brief journalists, or disclose my complaint. I had not even seen the CCTV footage until it appeared in the media”.

Ms Deeming alleged Mr Guy provided CCTV footage and excerpts of her confidential complaint to journalists while the police investigation was under way, and said she has sought legal advice into how her private communications became public.

Mr Guy was contacted for comment.

She doubled down on her accusation that she was “grabbed, held and pulled with force that caused me pain and distress” by Mr Guy during a Liberal Party event in May and subsequently sought to resolve the matter privately through senior party figures.

Ms Deeming said disendorsing her would set a dangerous precedent by discouraging party members from making confidential complaints.

“You may soon be asked to consider revoking my endorsement as the Party’s number one candidate for the Western Metropolitan Region, less than five months from the election,” she wrote.

“This decision extends well beyond my own endorsement. It will also establish an important precedent about whether party members may safely use our confidential complaints processes without fear of political reprisal.”

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Originally posted at >>>/qresearch/24828255 (151143ZJUL26) Notable: WA project approval seals Trump’s critical minerals pact - Alcoa has approved construction of a gallium extraction facility at its Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia, a project expected to supply about 10 per cent of global gallium demand. Backed by Australia, the United States and Japan, the development advances the critical minerals framework agreed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump to strengthen allied supply chains for strategically important minerals. Gallium is widely used in semiconductors, defence technologies and advanced electronics. The Australian government said the project would enhance economic security and reduce reliance on concentrated global supplies. Environmental groups criticised the decision, arguing it would support continued bauxite mining in the northern jarrah forest, while Alcoa said the new facility would occupy less than two per cent of the existing refinery footprint.

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WA project approval seals Trump’s critical minerals pact

Michael Philipps - July 15, 2026

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A major WA project set to provide around 10 per cent of the world’s demand for gallium has been given the green light, marking a major development in the critical minerals pact signed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump last year.

Bauxite miner Alcoa is set to construct and manage the operation at the site of its Wagerup alumina refinery in the south west of WA after a final investment decision was made with the backing of three nations.

Australia, Japan and the United States will support the construction of the project in a bid to strengthen critical mineral supply chains between the countries.

The international support has allowed Alcoa to officially kick off the project, which was identified as a priority under a framework to secure supply in the mining and processing of critical minerals signed by Albanese and Trump last year

Production capacity is anticipated to be 100 tonnes per annum, representing about 10 per cent of the global demand for the critical mineral, which is used heavily in the manufacturing of electronics, including semiconductors.

Global supply of gallium is currently highly concentrated, but the mineral can be extracted during the bauxite-to-alumina refining process, meaning the material would come from Alcoa’s strip-mining venture in WA’s Darling Scarp.

Antimony, gallium and rare earths have been flagged as the first three minerals to be focused on under the $1.2 billion strategic reserve for critical minerals, with the Australian government identifying them as crucial to clean-energy and high-technology manufacturing, as well as advanced military equipment.

However, the process by which gallium will be extracted by Alcoa has raised eyebrows, especially given its tie-in with existing strip-mining operations in Perth’s northern jarrah forest.

Conservation Council of WA executive director Matt Roberts said the deal struck between the US and Australia highlighted that government support, funding and trade agreements were increasingly focused on defence – “not the energy transition that was pitched to Australians ahead of the last election”.

Roberts said the federal government had more than 15 years to take action on Alcoa’s clearing, which is currently operating under a “national interest” mining order exemption as its operations in WA are assessed.

He said the company was now allowed to continue bulldozing the forest under the “halo” of a critical minerals deal, on the eve of “tougher” new environment laws coming into effect.

“This exemption to support the gallium deal does nothing to protect the environment here in Western Australia, but it does demonstrate the federal government’s willingness to advance the interests of foreign powers and corporations,” Roberts said.

“There is no tenable excuse to support increased bauxite mining from an environmental perspective. Alcoa’s operations are pushing the Northern Jarrah Forest and the threatened species that rely on this habitat to the brink of extinction.”

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