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#36 - Part 76

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 1

>>21252828 AUKUS: Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility Welcomes ASC Personnel - Twenty-eight ASC Pty Ltd [formerly known as the Australian Submarine Corporation] personnel began training at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as part of the Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) enhanced trilateral security partnership this week. The ASC employees will be trained and certified on various aspects of submarine maintenance to support the AUKUS Pillar 1 program that is supporting Australia’s acquisition of sovereign conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. “After months of preparation, we are excited to welcome the Australian maintainers into our shipyard family. The intensive training process they will undergo over the next few years will lay the groundwork for them to ultimately lead and execute their own maintenance operations,” said Capt. Ryan McCrillis, commanding officer of PHNSY & IMF.

>>21273950 AUKUS to withstand winds of political change: navy chiefs - The US Navy's highest-ranking officer has reaffirmed her nation's commitment to AUKUS, regardless of who wins the White House. As she visited the HMAS Stirling naval base alongside her Australian and UK counterparts for the first time, Admiral Lisa Franchetti said the US would be there for its partners when it matters, where it matters. As part of the AUKUS plan, US and UK nuclear submarines will rotate through HMAS Stirling, located on Garden Island south of Perth, before the site houses Australia's own nuclear submarine fleet. But growing expectations of a second Donald Trump presidency and delays in the US submarine supply chain have fuelled concerns that Australia's military partners may not follow through on their commitment. But Admiral Franchetti hosed down those concerns. "Regardless of who is in our political parties and whatever is happening in that space, it's allies and partners that are always our priority," she told reporters on Tuesday. "I am committed to delivering our part of AUKUS and really working with my teammates every day to make sure that … we meet those key milestones to deliver AUKUS for our nations today, tomorrow and far into the future. I know that all of our partners know that we are going to be there for them when it matters, where it matters, and that's what we deliver every single day."

>>21273969 Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy downplays Rockingham residents' concerns of AUKUS nuclear waste storage - The Albanese government has sought to dispel community concerns surrounding a planned radioactive waste management site off Perth's coast for AUKUS nuclear submarines. It comes as the chiefs of navy of the three AUKUS countries - the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia - met for the first time at the HMAS Stirling naval base on Garden Island, 50 kilometres south of the Perth CBD and about five kilometres off the coast of Rockingham, where the submarines will dock and be serviced. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), the nuclear safety watchdog, has issued a licence to the Australian Submarine Agency to prepare a site on HMAS Stirling for a low-level radiation waste management and maintenance site, to be known as the "Controlled Industrial Facility". It will be a workshop for servicing and repairing the nuclear submarines and will temporarily store the waste. Some Rockingham residents have expressed alarm at the prospect of a radiation site just off the coast. Among the submissions to ARPANSA on the facility, concerns were expressed about residents' safety and the potential for radiation leaks. But federal Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has sought to ease those fears, saying there was no risk to the community. "This is akin to what occurs in 100 other sites around the country, anywhere that has a hospital that deals with medical imagery that involves radioactive isotopes has exactly the same level of waste," Mr Conroy said. "This is completely safe, and has been approved by the regulatory authorities."

#36 - Part 77

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 2

>>21281355 Australia confident Trump will back AUKUS sub deal after talks with his camp - Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday Canberra is confident a re-elected Donald Trump will back the AUKUS security alliance and associated nuclear submarine sales after talks with his camp. The possibility of a Trump victory in the November presidential election has U.S. allies around the world scrambling to divine and prepare for his diplomatic agenda, including his take on the A$368 billion ($243 billion) AUKUS deal to help Australia acquire nuclear powered submarines and deter China in the Pacific. The deal includes the sale of three to five U.S. nuclear-powered Virginia Class submarines in the 2030s, a time when the U.S. fleet will shrink to a historic low. Some fear Trump's America First stance could hew to voices in Congress who want the submarines reserved for the U.S. navy instead. But conversations with the Trump camp had given Australia confidence he would honour the deal should he win the presidency again, Marles said in an interview on Sky News. "Every engagement we've had with the Trump camp in the normal process of speaking with people on both sides of politics in America, there is support for what is playing out in relation to AUKUS," he said. "We do have a sense of confidence, irrespective of what occurs in November of this year, we can firstly look forward to the alliance being as strong as ever and secondly that the equities that we have in that alliance, AUKUS front and center, will be maintained"

>>21289243 Video: UK First Sea Lord on AUKUS, Royal Navy in Asia Pacific and CSG deployments - Interview with the UK Royal Navy's most senior sailor, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, on AUKUS, OPVs in Asia Pacific and Carrier Strike Group (CSG) deployments to the Indo Pacific. Recorded in July 2024 at the Indian-Ocean Defence and Security (IODS) conference held in Perth, Australia. Includes the importance of AUKUS for the Royal Navy and progress made to date on AUKUS Pillar 1.

>>21303420 Federal government signs $2.2 billion deal to extend life of Collins submarines into the 2030s - The federal government has signed a $2.2 billion, four-year deal with the national submarine builder ASC to ensure the navy's existing Collins submarines are still functioning into the 2030s. The contract is part of a broader $4 to $5 billion spend on ensuring the serviceability of the Collins submarines, after half of the fleet was found to have significant corrosion damage earlier this year. HMAS Sheehan, HMAS Farncomb and HMAS Rankin have all been ruled out of action for the rest of 2024, meaning the navy has only three submarines at its disposal. Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said on Saturday the "sustainment contract" with ASC, formerly Australian Submarine Corporation, represented an investment to "maintain our sovereign capability". Mr Conroy said the contract would enable 700 new jobs in Osborne, South Australia, 400 in Henderson in Western Australia, and would help to grow the workforce needed for the planned AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines. Australia is hoping to continue operating the Collins Class submarines well into the 2030s, when they're gradually replaced by second-hand nuclear-powered Virginia class boats purchased from the US under the AUKUS partnership.

>>21326219 First Royal Australian Navy Sailors Graduate From Basic Enlisted Submarine School - In a first for the AUKUS trilateral enhanced security partnership, a group of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) enlisted sailors has graduated from the United States Navy's Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS). The sailors all graduated with distinction with one of them being named the Honor Graduate for scoring a 100% in the class. The graduation marks a significant milestone in the development of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) fleet for Australia under the AUKUS Pillar 1 Optimal Pathway. “It’s another exciting step to see our Royal Australian Navy sailors graduate from this unique and challenging training. I am incredibly proud of their exceptional dedication and effort to reach this significant milestone,” said Chief of the Royal Australian Navy Vice Adm. Mark Hammond. “I’d like to thank our long-standing partners and friends in the U.S. Navy for providing the training to assist the Royal Australian Navy to operate, maintain and support Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarine capability.”

#36 - Part 78

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 3

>>21348313 Powerful Republicans back AUKUS under Trump - Australia’s sovereignty of nuclear-powered submarines will be guaranteed under the AUKUS defence pact if Donald Trump wins back the White House at the November election, two top Republican senators said. Ranking members of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees Jim Risch and Marco Rubio said Australia would still have control of the submarines by the early 2030s even if America’s own production targets were not met. The US Navy submarine building program is substantially stretched, prompting concerns about shipbuilding delays and budget cutbacks. It has also raised concerns about whether the US would seek to keep control of vessels sold to Australia and determine where they are positioned to cover any shortfalls in its own fleet. “The sovereignty issue has been resolved. Australia is going to have submarines to use as submarines, the US has got submarines to use as submarines, and the sovereignty over the submarine is not an issue,” Senator Risch told The Australian Financial Review. The comments come as the US secretary of defence and the secretary of state are set this week to meet with their Australian counterparts for annual talks in Annapolis. The ministers are expected to question delays over the US relaxing defence export controls to foster defence trade under the AUKUS pact between the US, Australia and Britain. Senator Risch, a top Republican whose endorsement of Trump before the Iowa caucus in January helped him regain control of the Republican Party, said he did not think Trump would renege on the AUKUS arrangements, most of which have now passed Congress as law. “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue whichever administration it will be,” Senator Risch said. “I’d be careful until when the election is over before you start writing stories about who’s going to do what.”

>>21372114 Australia makes undisclosed 'political commitments' in new AUKUS deal on transfer of naval nuclear technology - Undisclosed "political commitments" have been made between the Albanese government and its AUKUS partners in a new agreement for the transfer of naval nuclear technology to Australia, which critics warn is likely to also allow radioactive waste to be dumped here. The White House confirmed Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States had reached another significant "AUKUS milestone" that set up further trilateral cooperation that would be essential for this country to build, operate and maintain nuclear-powered submarines. Under the AUKUS "optimal pathway" unveiled in San Diego last year, Australia will spend up to $368 billion over the next three decades to first purchase second-hand Virginia-class submarines and then develop a new SSN-AUKUS fleet using British technology. In a letter to the Australian House of Representatives speaker and the president of the Senate, US President Joe Biden urged Congress to give the revamped AUKUS agreement "favourable consideration". Mr Biden's letter explains that the new agreement would permit the continued communication and exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information (NNPI), including certain Restricted Data (RD), only previously shared between the US and UK. "[It] would also expand on the cooperation between the governments by enabling the transfer of naval nuclear propulsion plants of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines, including component parts and spare parts thereof, and other related equipment," the letter reads. "I have determined that Australia and the United Kingdom, by participating with the United States pursuant to international arrangements, are making substantial and material contributions to our mutual defence and security."

>>21379709 Video: Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating attacks senior members of Albanese government over AUKUS agreement and foreign policy - Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles, accusing them of abandoning traditional party values. Speaking to 7.30 in an interview about the AUKUS agreement, Mr Keating accused the government of being a "sellout" on its defence policy, while defending Chinese interests in Taiwan. "In defence and foreign policy, this is not a Labor government," Mr Keating said. "This is a party which has adopted the defence and foreign policies of the Morrison Liberal government. This is a sellout." The former Labor leader had been asked about the AUKUS agreement between the US, UK and Australia, which he has been a constant critic of since its announcement. Mr Keating then called it "the worst deal in all history".

#36 - Part 79

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 4

>>21379731 Aukus pact will turn Australia into ‘51st state’ of the US, Paul Keating says - Australia’s participation in the Aukus defence pact risks handing military control of the country to Washington and becoming the “51st state of the United States”, according to former prime minister Paul Keating. Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night, Keating argued that Australia had made itself a target for aggression by joining the military alliance with the US and the UK in implicit opposition to China’s growing power in the Asia Pacific region. Australia had no quarrel with China, Keating said, and concerns about China’s designs on Taiwan were not justified because the island was “Chinese real estate”. “Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,” he said, adding that the American attitude to Taiwan was like China deciding that Tasmania needed help to secede from Australia. “What Aukus is about in the American mind is turning [Australia into suckers], locking us up for 40 years with American bases all around … not Australian bases,” he said. “So Aukus is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean, what’s happened … is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States.”

>>21379780 Anthony Albanese brushes off criticism by former Labor PM Paul Keating - Paul Keating has taken another swipe at the Albanese Labor government’s national security policies, saying it should be “celebrating the rise” of China instead of turning Australia into “a US protectorate”. The former prime minister started his brutal assessment of Labor’s defence policy in an interview on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday, where he said the government’s embrace of the AUKUS nuclear submarines deal was “likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States”. “This is a party which has adopted the defence and foreign policies of the Morrison Liberal government. This is a sellout,” Mr Keating said. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unperturbed by the views of the 80-year-old Mr Keating, who was voted out of office 28 years ago. “Paul was a great prime minister - that ended in 1996,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Perth on Friday. “Paul has his views. They’re well known. The world has changed between 1996 and 2024. My government is doing what we need to do today, and everyone will get a go here.” Mr Keating, who has been vocal in his criticism of the tripartite deal between Australia, the UK and US since it was announced in 2021 when Scott Morrison was prime minister, took another shot at Mr Albanese late on Friday. Mr Keating said Mr Albanese had put Australia on a path to becoming a “US protectorate” in Asia when the nation should be “celebrating the rise of China”. “The fact is, the Albanese government is returning to the Anglosphere to garner Australia’s security,” Mr Keating said in a statement. “In effect, the Albanese government is doing the very thing that all my life, I had trenchantly opposed, and in the post-War years, Labor had opposed. And that is, finding our security from Asia rather than our security in Asia.”

>>21385621 Defence Minister Richard Marles insists AUKUS milestone won't force Australia to accept foreign nuclear waste - The defence minister insists Thursday's milestone agreement on AUKUS does not oblige Australia to take nuclear waste from the United States or the United Kingdom. Australia and the US made significant progress on Thursday towards acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement, in a deal that included undisclosed "political commitments" to Australia's partner nations, the US and the UK. Critics of the nuclear submarine plan claimed that the deal would eventually oblige Australia to take high-level radioactive waste from the US and UK. Defence Minister Richard Marles insisted on Friday morning that was not the case. "Nuclear waste won't end up in Australia, other than the waste that is generated by Australia," Mr Marles said. "That is the agreement that we reached with the UK and the US back in March of last year, and so all this is doing is providing for the legal underpinning of that." Mr Marles said there would be "no circumstance" where Australia takes waste from any other country.

#36 - Part 80

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 5

>>21396367 US, UK could pull out of AUKUS with year’s notice - The US or the UK could pull out of the AUKUS submarine deal with just a year’s notice if either nation decides the pact weakens their own nuclear submarine programs, new documents reveal. An updated AUKUS agreement and a political “understanding” between the countries, tabled in parliament on Monday, establish a 50-year legal framework for the transfer of nuclear materials and equipment to Australia. The understanding says the US and UK “should not unreasonably withhold” nuclear information or equipment from Australia. But it includes an escape clause for either country if they decide the AUKUS deal adversely affects their ability to “meet their respective military requirements and to not degrade their respective naval nuclear propulsion programs”. “A government may discontinue its participation in this understanding earlier and, in such case, should provide one year’s written notice to the other governments of its intent to do so,” the understanding says. Under the new agreement, the terms for the transfer of nuclear material and equipment will be “mutually decided in writing” at a later point in time. The documents also reveal Australia will indemnify the US and UK “against any liability, loss, costs, damage, or injury” arising from nuclear risks connected to the $368bn program. The agreement - which expires in 2075 - confirms Australia will be responsible for all management, storage and disposal of spent fuel and nuclear waste, including radioactive materials from maintenance of US and UK submarines in Australia.

>>21422049 Australia, New Zealand vow joint response to cyber threats under ANZUS - Australia and New Zealand have moved to modernise the nations’ defence alliance, declaring a major cyber strike on either country would be treated as an armed attack under the ANZUS Treaty, requiring a joint response “to meet the common danger”. In annual leaders’ talks on Friday, Anthony Albanese and New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon also pledged to purchase the same military hardware whenever possible, opening the prospect that Wellington could buy Australian-built general purpose frigates. Amid growing concerns over the threat of crippling cyber strikes, the leaders confirmed such attacks would trigger the nations’ treaty obligations under ANZUS. “Warfare has changed and cyber warfare is a large part,” Mr Luxon said. “We are making sure (the alliance) is modern and reflective of the environment we operate in.” The change will ensure New Zealand - which has no other formal allies - has access to the Australian Signals Directorate’s world-leading offensive and defensive cyber capabilities if its networks suffer a major attack.

>>21422173 NT bases key for US: Deterrence starts at the Top (End) - Australia has become “the central base of operations” for America’s military to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific, the chair of the US House of Representatives’ powerful foreign affairs committee has declared. Republican congressman ­Michael McCaul told The Weekend Australian a recently announced boost to US bomber deployments to Australia’s Top End bases would enable America to project power across the region to prevent future wars. Mr McCaul also hailed an AUKUS breakthrough on Friday allowing licence-free technology transfers. He declared the partnership vital to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping that an invasion of Taiwan was a “not a good idea”. He said the security pact would survive a Trump presidency, arguing that the AUKUS concept predated the Biden administration and had “very, very strong bipartisan support”. Speaking in Sydney after a 10-day visit, Mr McCaul said Australia’s geography offered key advantages to the US as it sought to deter Chinese aggression. “It is the central base of operations in the Indo-Pacific to ­counter the threat,” he said. “If you really look at the concentric ­circles emanating from Darwin - that is the base of operations, and the rotating (US) forces there are providing the projection of power and force that we’re seeing in the region.”

#36 - Part 81

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 6

>>21466649 Video: USS Hawaii (SSN 776) joins USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) in First-ever Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine Maintenance Availability in Australia - In a historic first, Australian personnel will work alongside with their U.S. counterparts to conduct maintenance on USS Hawaii (SSN 776) in Australia as part of a Submarine Tendered Maintenance Period (STMP) at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia. The STMP marks a significant step forward in the Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) Pillar 1 program, which is paving the way for Australia to acquire a sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability. Over the coming weeks, submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) will execute several maintenance activities aboard Hawaii. This is the first time Australians have participated in a U.S. submarine maintenance period in Australia. More than 30 Australian personnel who participated in a knowledge exchange period that began in January 2024 aboard Emory S. Land will execute the majority of planned maintenance work with U.S. support and oversight. The Emory S. Land crew will execute planned and emergent maintenance activities including the removal and reinstallation of an antenna located in Hawaii’s sail, divers visually inspecting the underwater towed array and torpedo tube muzzles, and simulating the removal and installation of a trim pump, to include full rigging and preparations. “This is an important moment for the Royal Australian Navy,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Buckley, the Australian Submarine Agency’s Head of Submarine Capability. “For the first time, we have Australians who were trained and certified aboard Emory S. Land using their skills on a U.S. SSN in Australian waters.”

>>21507255 Submarine chiefs sketch out scale of AUKUS challenge, but say we are on target - The head of the US Navy’s nuclear propulsion program says it will be “challenging” for America to meet its production targets to provide Australia with between three and five nuclear-powered Virginia class submarines, but that “we are on the path to achieve this.” Admiral William Houston, the former US submarine forces commander, provided an assurance on Friday that the US was hiring 40,000 workers and investing more than $10bn in its submarine industrial base to ensure it was in a position to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines from 2032. “We are fully committed to the sale and transfer of the submarines we have discussed to Australia,” he said. “Of course, it’s conditions based - that you are ready to maintain them, which you are well on track to do, and to meet the safety and stewardship requirements.” Admiral Houston was speaking alongside Australian Submarine Agency director-general, Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, and Royal Navy second sea lord, Vice Admiral Martin Connell, at HMAS Stirling near Perth. The submarine chiefs appeared together to mark the first time that a Virginia class submarine, the USS Hawaii, had received maintenance work outside of a US territory - a key milestone in Australia achieving an enduring nuclear-powered submarine capability. More than 30 Australian Navy personnel, embedded since January on the USS Emory S. Land, a submarine tender, have been working alongside US counterparts to provide the maintenance work. Vice Admiral Mead said this was an “unprecedented” development that would help ensure, from 2027, that the nation was ready to accommodate a rotational presence at HMAS Stirling of one UK and up to four US nuclear-powered submarines and - beyond that - Australia’s own future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

>>21520904 PM dodges China question, spruiks ‘jobs for subs’ - Anthony Albanese has dodged a question about the purpose of AUKUS while spruiking a new “jobs for subs” initiative in Western Australia. Speaking to reporters from HMAS Stirling, an island naval base just off Perth, the Prime Minister was asked on Monday if the trilateral defence pact was designed to fight a third world war, possibly against China, or prevent one. “AUKUS is designed to serve Australia’s national interest, working with the United States and the United Kingdom, which is, of course, our traditional allies,” he said. “This is about our own national interest.” Earlier, the federal government unveiled its Nuclear-Powered Submarine Graduate, Apprenticeship and Traineeship Initiative. The program aims to help shipbuilder ASC Pty Ltd recruit 200 entry-level workers over the next two years to build up the workforce needed to maintain the AUKUS fleet. The jobs will be mostly based in Western Australia, where up to five nuclear-powered submarines are to be docked at HMAS Stirling. The roles will be wide ranging, offering opportunities in fabrication, machining, engineering, project management, supply chain and operations qualifications.

#36 - Part 82

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 7

>>21520908 Video: Entry-level workers set to support AUKUS submarines - Graduates, apprentices and trainees will be recruited to maintain Australia's future nuclear-powered submarine fleet in an attempt to shore up the necessary workforce. The federal government's initiative will allow submarine builder ASC Pty Ltd to hire about 200 entry-level workers over the next two years. As part of Australia's trilateral agreement with the US and UK - known as AUKUS - up to five nuclear-powered submarines will have a presence at the HMAS Stirling naval base just south of Perth from as early as 2027. The new roles will help sustain and maintain the fleet. "We want to keep Australians safe," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. "That's why WA will play a key role in building AUKUS. This will help promote peace and deterrence in the region and support local jobs." The new jobs will span fabrication, machining, engineering, project management, supply chain and operations, and most will be based in WA. About $8 billion will be spent on wharf upgrades, training facilities and supporting infrastructure at the WA naval base. The government has also committed to funding more than 4000 Commonwealth-supported places in science, technology, engineering and mathematics bachelor degrees across 16 universities to nurture the future submarine workforce. Across the nation, the submarine program is expected to create about 20,000 jobs over the next three decades.

>>21525998 US navy boss Tom Mancinelli says Australia will retain sovereignty over nuclear subs - The US Acting Under-Secretary of the Navy, Tom Mancinelli, has said the Indo-Pacific is America’s “priority theatre” and that the US is “here to stay” on a trip to Western Australia in support of the AUKUS security partnership. Mr Mancinelli told The Australian that US national defence strategy had assessed the People’s Republic of China as being its long-term “pacing challenge” and the US Navy was “laser focused” on the Pacific region. Mr Mancinelli said that the US would “benefit tremendously” from the AUKUS security partnership, including “what it means for American force posture, for what it means for our own defence industrial base”. He said maintenance work being conducted at HMAS Stirling near Perth on the USS Hawaii – a Virginia-class submarine – was the “hallmark event of AUKUS for 2024”. America was looking towards achieving a “steady drumbeat of US sailors and attack submarines coming here to HMAS Stirling,” he said. “I believe the goal we set for ourselves is two per year, beginning in 2025, to make sure that the sailors of the Australian navy team here at HMAS Stirling are improving their skills and know-how to the point where the Submarine Rotational Force-West is a reality by the end of 2027.” SRF-West is aimed at accommodating a rotational presence at HMAS Stirling from 2027 of one British and up to four US nuclear-powered submarines and - beyond that - Australia’s own future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

>>21556604 White House pushes for AUKUS to move to ‘pillar two’ weapons focus - The US is pushing for the AUKUS partnership to launch some world-leading new military technology projects before Joe Biden’s presidency ends, amid signs of growing impatience with the initiative. The US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, revealed in an interview at the White House that he wanted to see “two or three signature projects launched and under way by the time the administration finishes” on January 20. While he expressed satisfaction with progress on so-called pillar one of AUKUS, the submarine program, his timeline for pillar two’s cutting-edge tech scheme puts new pressure on the three countries’ military and scientific agencies to deliver in the next five months. It is three years ago this month that the leaders of the US, UK and Australia announced the joint technology initiative. In the meantime, China has extended its advantage in critical technologies, according to a report last week by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

#36 - Part 83

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 8

>>21607503 Gareth Evans: Why AUKUS is not in Australia’s interests - a response by Labor’s elders - "Paul Keating, Bob Carr and I seem to have jangled a few security establishment nerves with our critique of the AUKUS submarine deal as having profound negative implications for Australia’s security and sovereignty. Our former colleagues and advisers, Kim Beazley, Paul Dibb, Mike Pezzullo and the US Studies Centre’s Peter Dean, were in full war-cry mode in The Weekend Australian. They have now been joined by the Australian National University’s John Blaxland, currently seconded to the Australian embassy in Washington. Our critique much of which has either been misrepresented or ignored in these responses – has five basic elements. One, there is zero certainty of the timely delivery of the eight AUKUS boats. Both the US and UK have explicit opt-out rights. Even in the wholly unlikely event that everything falls smoothly into place, we will be waiting 40 years for the last boat to arrive, posing real capability gap issues. Two, even acknowledging the superior capability of nuclear-propelled submarines, making large assumptions about their continued detectability advantages, and accepting for the sake of argument the utility of “deterrence at a distance”, how useful will this eight-boat fleet actually be for Australia’s defence? When, given usual operating constraints, only two of them will be deployable across our vast maritime environment at any one time. Third, even assuming the eye-watering cost of these boats is fiscally manageable, it will make much harder the acquisition of other capabilities - in particular, state-of-the-art missiles, aircraft and drones – arguably even more important than submarines for any kind of self-reliant capacity in meeting an invasion threat, were one ever to arise. Four, the price now being demanded by the US for giving us access to its nuclear propulsion technology - achieving what is now described as fleet “interchangeability”, not just “interoperability” – has become indefensibly high. The conversion of Stirling into a major base for a US Indian Ocean fleet will mean Perth now joining Pine Gap and the North West Cape, and probably the B-52 base Tindal, as a potential nuclear target. It is hard to conceive of Australia ever being a target of any kind of Chinese military attack, short of our being sucked into fighting alongside the US in a war not of our making, and manifestly not in our national interest. But that prospect is now very real, given the abdication of Australian sovereign agency inherent in the AUKUS decision as it has evolved. Five, the purchase price we are now paying, for all its exorbitance, will never be enough to guarantee the absolute protective insurance that supporters of AUKUS think they are buying. ANZUS, it cannot be said too often, does not bind the US to defend Australia, even in the event of existential attack. We can rely on military support if the US sees it in its own national interest to offer it, but not otherwise." - Gareth Evans was Australia’s foreign minister from 1988-96 - theaustralian.com.au

>>21607516 China says AUKUS is ‘driven by Cold War thinking’. Here are 3 reasons it is so threatened by the pact - Ever since AUKUS’ public announcement three years ago, China has been staunchly opposed to the partnership. Beijing has blasted AUKUS diplomatically and mounted a concerted campaign to challenge its legality. China has said AUKUS is “driven by Cold War thinking,” “fuelling military confrontation,” and creating “additional nuclear proliferation risks”. The aim of AUKUS is for the Australian navy to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, with Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States also collaborating on other advanced military technologies. As AUKUS sceptics have argued, it’s entirely possible Australia will never get its planned nuclear-powered attack submarines. Any number of factors — from the mercurial whims of a future US president to American shipbuilding constraints — could see the partnership fall over. However, if the plan succeeds, even in a modified form, it’ll pose a serious military challenge to China. As Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister and current ambassador to the US, said in recent days, it’s probably already complicating China’s future geopolitical calculations. Here are three reasons why China finds the pact so threatening.

#36 - Part 84

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 9

>>21621205 AUKUS open to military technology co-operation with key allies - Former prime minister Scott Morrison has welcomed the potential inclusion of allies Canada, New Zealand, and South Korea to AUKUS Pillar II to share military technology, but experts are warning that broadening the defence alliance could undermine its relevance. Mr Morrison, who negotiated the establishment of the tripartite pact with the US and Britain when he was prime minister, said it was a “good and welcome move, so long as AUKUS remains a highest common denominator partnership and harmonising and collaborating among founding AUKUS jurisdictions retains priority”. Anthony Albanese, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said “AUKUS partners and Japan are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of co-operation” in a development revealed in The Australian on Tuesday evening. “Recognising these countries’ close bilateral defence partnerships with each member of AUKUS, we are consulting with Canada, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II,” the leaders said in a statement. Strategic Analysis Australia director Peter Jennings said, however, it was best for AUKUS to remain exclusive to Australia, Britain and the US to keep its “relevance and force”. “I think the most effective way to kill AUKUS would be to broaden it out too widely,” he said. “With maybe the odd exception if there’s technology that’s worth thinking about.”

>>21660461 New AUKUS treaty with UK to keep $368bn nuclear-powered submarine program on track - Australia and the United Kingdom are to negotiate a separate bilateral treaty “at pace and with high priority” to keep the $368bn AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program on target. The new treaty, which will be negotiated in confidence, is supplementary to the broader 2021 trilateral AUKUS deal between the UK, Australia and the United States. Ministers believe having a new strategic and operational bilateral framework between just Australia and the United Kingdom will help the two countries focus on the core elements of the submarine, and will accelerate the design, build and delivery of SSN-AUKUS. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles met UK Defence Secretary John Healey, and the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in central London on Thursday. Mr Marles was expected to discuss the skilling up of local workers for submarine manufacture with his AUKUS partners. Last year it was announced SSN-AUKUS would be based on the United Kingdom’s next-generation design, using nuclear power technology from the United States and other new technologies from all three nations. The timetable has been for Australia and the UK to begin building SSN-AUKUS in local shipyards “within this decade” and that SSN-AUKUS will be the submarines used by the UK at the end of the 2030s and Australia will use them by early 2040s.

>>21666169 Video: Richard Marles meets with US, UK counterparts to discuss AUKUS deal progress - The UK will train hundreds of Australians to operate nuclear powered submarines as part of a new bilateral treaty, to try to keep the $368 billion AUKUS security pact on track. - ABC News (Australia)

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>>21666281 ‘Utterly untrue’: Keating berates Marles over AUKUS defence - Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has slapped down former prime minister Paul Keating and other senior Labor critics of the AUKUS defence pact, as the government looks to rein in the controversy before it threatens to sap public support. Standing beside the American and British defence secretaries at a press conference in London, Mr Marles said AUKUS was now rolling inexorably forward, and had the strong backing of the Australian public. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also weighed in: he rejected one of Mr Keating’s central claims, telling journalists that AUKUS would not compromise Australia’s ability to make sovereign defence and security decisions in its own national interest. Mr Keating ridiculed these comments, saying Australia would only remain in charge of its own security until the prime minister and defence minister took a call from the US president, seeking to mobilise Australia’s submarines. “Wherein, both would click their heels in alacrity and agreement. The rest of us would read about it in some self-serving media statement afterwards,” Mr Keating said in a statement. The $368 billion plan to bring nuclear-powered submarines to Australia has come under increasing fire from Labor grandees, including Mr Keating and former foreign ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans. They have argued it will be too expensive and potentially undeliverable and will yoke Australia into military and geopolitical dependency on the US. The debate has not frayed the bipartisan support for AUKUS in Canberra, but could spur concern among observers in Britain and the US about the solidity of Australia’s commitment.

>>21666329 Keating, Marles exchange fire over pact to buy US submarines - Former prime minister Paul Keating has berated the Labor government for claiming the AUKUS alliance will follow a similar path to his defence policy from three decades ago, escalating his attacks by calling the defence pact an act of “sublimation” to America. Keating accused Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles of misleading Australians over the plan to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, arguing the outcome would sacrifice Australian sovereignty. His blistering comments about “flogging a dead seahorse” came after Marles met his United States and United Kingdom counterparts in London on Thursday and recommitted to the plan to buy several US submarines before building a new fleet of AUKUS submarines. “The fact is, the Albanese government, through this program and the ambitious basing of American military forces on Australian soil is doing nothing other than abrogating Australia’s sovereign right to command its own continent and its military forces,” Keating said. Marles launched a passionate defence of the strategy by vowing there was no turning back on the $368 billion nuclear submarines deal, speaking alongside UK Defence Secretary John Healey and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin at Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich on Thursday. “We have to have a top-of-the-line, first-rate, long-range submarine capability,” Marles said, drawing a parallel between the current plan and the Keating government’s decision to build the Collins-class submarine in the 1990s. “So to be able to have the same capability in the future that in Mr Keating’s time he was planning for with the Collins-class submarines, we must walk down this path.”

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>>21258031 Alarm over espionage, organised crime risk posed by Chinese cameras - Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cameras manufactured by companies linked to grave human rights abuses by the Chinese government are monitoring public spaces all over Australia, and potentially providing backdoor access to footage to other bad actors. The cameras, manufactured by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies Hikvision and Dahua, were removed last year from government departments amid spyware concerns, but they remain prolific in countless other public settings. Leading global security expert Conor Healy, who visited Australia last week, said concerns regarding the capacity for the cameras to enable covert access to an array of bad actors, including pedophiles and organised criminal networks, were at least as worrying as the companies’ links to Chinese human rights abuses. “Claims of thousands or tens of thousands of Dahua and Hikvision surveillance devices in Australia are serious underestimations,” said Mr Healy, director of government research at US-based independent security and surveillance industry research group IPVM. “The true number is at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions, given their significant market share in Australia. Australians can easily see this for themselves by walking a block of any city street, and that is without considering the numerous other brands these devices masquerade as.”

>>21281383 Navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond say AUKUS doesn’t mean war with China over Taiwan is inevitable - The AUKUS agreement will not automatically drag Australia into a war to defend Taiwan, the ADF’s navy boss has declared. Chief of navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond spoke on stage with his counterparts US Admiral Lisa Franchetti and UK Admiral Sir Ben Key — at day one of the Indian Ocean Conference on Wednesday. The three admirals represent each nation in the trilateral AUKUS agreement that will see rotations of nuclear-powered submarines visit Australia from 2027. Australia will acquire the vessels in the 2030s. The agreement is largely seen as an effort to deter and contain an increasingly belligerent China, whose leadership has a long-held goal of annexing Taiwan. When asked if AUKUS meant Australia would inevitably be “dragged” into a conflict over the island-nation, Admiral Hammond replied sharply: “No.” “Any participation by Australian Defence Force in any conflict, anywhere on the planet is a sovereign decision of the Australian Government, so no,” he continued.

>>21296756 Video: US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia's northern bases amid China tensions - The U.S. military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with U.S. and Australian defence officials show. Closer to the Philippines than Australia's east coast capital, Canberra, Darwin has long been a garrison town for the Australian Defence Force and a U.S. Marine Rotational Force that spends six months of each year there. A few hundred kilometres to the south, RAAF Base Tindal is home to key elements of Australia's airpower, and was a temporary base for U.S. jets in recent exercises. As northern Australia re-emerges as a strategically vital Indo-Pacific location amid rising tensions with China, the United States has quietly begun constructing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of facilities there to support B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, and refuelling and transport aircraft - all part of a larger effort to distribute U.S. forces around the region and make them less vulnerable. "When you look at the positioning of northern Australia, particularly Darwin, in relation to the region … it's always good to have multiple options in where you would want to put your forces in any type of crisis," said Colonel Brian Mulvihill, commanding officer of the U.S. Marine Rotational Force.

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>>21314074 Quad meets in Japan as Beijing pressures politicians not to attend Taiwan summit - Foreign Minister Penny Wong has announced at the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting that Australia will contribute $18 million for a Canberra-based "Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre" for countries in the Indo-Pacific region which are rolling out new cable networks. It comes as politicians from at least six countries say Chinese diplomats are pressuring them not to attend a China-focused summit in Taiwan, in what they describe as efforts to isolate the self-governed island. Representatives from Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and one other Asian country that declined to be named say they are getting texts, calls and urgent requests for meetings that would conflict with their plans to travel to Taipei, the island's capital. The IPAC summit in Taiwan begins on Monday and is being held by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC, a group of hundreds of politicians from 35 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing. The summit was held as Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets her US, Japanese and Indian counterparts in Tokyo for the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting. All four nations say the grouping is focused on building a "positive" agenda for the region, but the Quad has also devoted considerable time and effort to pushing back against China's growing financial and strategic clout in Asia.

>>21332391 Norther Territory base upgrades will ‘help protect’ US B-52s in a conflict - The US’s top air force commander in the Pacific says upgrades to Australia’s Tindal air base to accommodate B-52 bombers will give American forces the flexibility they need in a future conflict. General Kevin Schneider, the Commander of the US’s Pacific Air Forces, said he was pleased with the pace of jointly funded base upgrades at Tindal and Darwin to support joint air operations, including a new runway and ­hangar for US strategic bombers. He said the remoteness of the Australian bases, which are beyond the range of most Chinese missiles, offered the US the ability to protect its forces should war break out. “Defence of the force is always something that is top of mind,” General Schneider said at the RAAF-hosted Exercise Pitch Black in the Northern Territory. “So in all of our planning, all of our considerations for how we would respond, defence of our ­forces and the risk to our forces is something that we continue to consider.” He said the distance of the bases from potential conflict areas would give US forces the time they needed to move into and out of harm’s way. While Australia’s Top End bases are unprotected by air and missile defence systems, General Schneider hinted the US would step in to protect the facilities with its own defensive batteries in the event of a conflict.

>>21332444 United States Air Force commander General Kevin Schneider on regional tension - A senior US military commander says the “heavy handed” activities of Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang has forced like-minded nations across the globe to unite, maintaining large scale military activities across Northern Australia is sending a strong, collective message to the region’s troublemakers. The comments come amid heightened military activity across the Northern Territory, where multinational exercises across air, land and maritime domains are being conducted. In the skies, Exercise Pitch Black 2024 is the largest in its 43-year history, with more than 140 aircraft across 20 nations testing their air combat skills, air-to-air refuelling methods, and air reconnaissance practices. On the ground, Exercise Predators Run - an annually held land warfighting activity – has also delivered the largest instalment in its history, with thousands of troops from Australia, United Kingdom, United States and The Philippines using the width and breadth of the Top End to improve its ‘near-peer’ fighting ability. Speaking to media at RAAF Base Darwin on Tuesday, United States Air Force commander General Kevin Schneider said the mammoth training exercises underway in Darwin and beyond were part of a broader effort to “build relationships” across the Indo-Pacific in the face of aggressive posturing from the north. “(There are) like-minded partners who continue to see the security situation in the same light that we do, as governments in Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang are heavy handed in their activities and conduct,” he said. “Things that we would describe as illegal, aggressive and deceptive.”

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>>21366092 U.S.-Australia talks focus on China's 'coercive behaviour' - The United States and Australia kicked off high-level talks on Tuesday that will focus on China's "coercive behaviour", as well as the AUKUS nuclear submarine project and mounting tensions in the Middle East, officials said. The annual Australia-U.S. AUSMIN talks, taking place in Annapolis, Maryland, include the top defense and diplomatic officials from both nations. "We're working together today to tackle shared security challenges, from coercive behaviour by the PRC (People's Republic of China), to Russia's war of choice against Ukraine, to the turmoil in the Middle East," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. "And I know that (this) year's AUSMIN will deliver results for both of our peoples." The U.S. and China are at odds on a range of issues including U.S. support for Taiwan, as well as Chinese military activity in the South China Sea, over most of which China claims control including the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where U.S. ally the Philippines has maritime claims.

>>21366107 US to increase force projection from Australia in face of 'coercive' China - Australia will begin co-manufacturing guided weapons with the US next year to boost supply for allies in the Indo Pacific and increase a US military presence in the country, including bomber aircraft, the two nations said after annual defence talks. Australia and the United States are already working to upgrade air bases in northern and western Australia, which are closer to potential flashpoints with China in the South China Sea than Australia's capital of Canberra. After annual AUSMIN talks in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there would be an increase in the presence of rotational U.S. forces in Australia. "This will mean more maritime patrol aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft operating from bases across northern Australia. It will also mean more frequent rotational bomber deployments," he said. In opening remarks Austin said the two allies faced shared security challenges including "coercive behaviour" by China. A joint statement released after the AUSMIN talks expressed concern over Chinese military activity around Taiwan, and China's excessive maritime claims in the South China Sea. They "noted grave concern about China's dangerous and escalatory behavior toward Philippine vessels lawfully operating within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone".

>>21366116 Deepened US-Australia security cooperation ‘risks exacerbating confrontation’ - "The US and Australia are expected to hold the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), with the participation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday. Observers warned further military cooperation between the US and Australia would expand US hegemony in the region and exacerbate geopolitical confrontation. Ahead of AUSMIN, Austin met Marles at the Pentagon to discuss the historic military-to-military progress between the two nations, the US defense department said on Monday local time. Austin hailed the achievement in their defense industrial cooperation and expanding efforts with their allies and partners. Australia is involved in the US strategy to contain China in the Indo-Pacific region and the US has long been hoping that Australia will fully commit to the US strategy, Yu Lei, a professor at Shandong University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. From what we have seen so far, the Australian government has shown prudence and political wisdom in dealing with its relations with China, demonstrating a relatively flexible posture, said Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University. He warned that Australia should realize that being used by the US and serving its Indo-Pacific strategy will only exacerbate geopolitical confrontation, rather than benefit its own security." - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

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>>21385715 Canada and Australia, eyeing China, signal more military cooperation - Canada and Australia, expressing alarm at China's claims over the disputed waters of the South China Sea, on Thursday said they would increase their military and defense industry cooperation. Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said security in the Indo-Pacific region was being challenged "in a number of significant and difficult ways" and accused Beijing of trying to reshape the international system to advance its own interests. Blair, speaking after Vancouver talks with Australian counterpart Richard Marles, said the two nations needed to work more closely together to maintain order in the Indo-Pacific. "We have agreed to pursue closer collaboration by enhancing the interoperability of our armed forces and by deepening our operational cooperation," he told reporters. The two said they were concerned about what they called Beijing's excessive maritime claims in the South China Sea as well as Chinese military activity around Taiwan. The Philippines' armed forces and their counterparts from Canada, United States, and Australia this week held joint maritime exercises in the South China Sea. "Our cooperation is based on seeking to deter. We are absolutely about working with each other so that we can avoid conflict," said Marles, referring to his talks with Blair.

>>21404174 Nancy Pelosi rebukes former Australian PM Paul Keating over ‘stupid statement’ on Taiwan - A war of words has broken out between the former Australian prime minister Paul Keating and the former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi over Taiwan, after the prominent Democrat accused Keating of making a “stupid statement” about the territory. Keating was quick to hit back on Tuesday, suggesting Pelosi had “very nearly” sparked a military confrontation between the US and China over her “indulgent” 2022 visit to Taiwan. The dispute began after the national broadcaster published an excerpt of an upcoming interview with Pelosi in which she rebuked Keating for describing Taiwan as “Chinese real estate”. “That’s ridiculous. It is not Chinese real estate and he should know that,” Pelosi told the ABC’s 7.30 program. “Taiwan is Taiwan and it is the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there. I think that that was a stupid statement.” In the interview, to be broadcast in full on Tuesday evening, Pelosi added: “I’ve no idea about Keating, but I think that it was a stupid statement to make, and I don’t know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing. “But it is really not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way.”

>>21409544 Video: Nancy Pelosi takes aim at Paul Keating over his 'ridiculous' statement on Taiwan, speaks out on the dangers of Donald Trump - Former US speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi has slammed former Australian prime minister Paul Keating's controversial remarks about Taiwan as "ridiculous". Speaking to 7.30 last week Mr Keating described Taiwan as "Chinese real estate" and called for Australia to back away from what he deemed a dangerous alliance with the US, especially when it came to the AUKUS agreement. "You don't want to get my description of him for saying that," Ms Pelosi told 7.30 in an exclusive interview. "That's ridiculous. It is not Chinese real estate, and he should know that Taiwan is Taiwan, and it's the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there." Ms Pelosi said that Mr Keating's comments went against the interests of the region. "I think that was a stupid statement," Ms Pelosi told 7.30. "I don't know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing, but it is really not in the in the security interest of the Asia Pacific region for people to talk that way. "It may be something he believes, but I think he's wrong." Since entering congress in 1987 Ms Pelosi has been outspoken on human rights issues related to China, as well as on the issue of Taiwanese independence. She led a high-profile Congressional delegation to Taipei in 2022. "We have a history of support for Taiwan for decades in the congress, it's bipartisan, Democrats and Republicans … and it has been very strong in support of the democracy in Taiwan."

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>>21439410 Liberals seek to regain lost Chinese voters at next election - The Coalition will target Chinese voters in key inner city seats with messages of their frugal economic management, tough stance on crime and support for entrepreneurship in the hopes of winning back the diaspora that swung against the party at nearly double the rate of the national average in 2022. The Australian can reveal the opposition intends to pour “significant effort and resources” into winning back hundreds of thousands of voters in Chinese communities, with Liberal MPs in key seats describing the “huge opportunity” the cohort presents for the party at the next election. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton - who has personally attended half a dozen engagements with Chinese communities this year — said traditional Liberal Party values were “resonating” with multicultural Australia because of the cost-of-living crisis and poorly-managed migration system, among other failings of the government. “My message to communities across Australia, and to Chinese Australians and to other multicultural communities, is that there is a better way,” he told The Australian. “Australians are fast realising that they just can’t afford another three years of the Albanese government,” Mr Dutton said. The Liberal Party suffered swings of nearly 7 per cent across the 15 seats with the highest proportion of people with Chinese ancestry at the last election, compared to its national average of just 3.7 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis. But numerous Liberal sources said that, without Scott Morrison as leader and a reduction in the “clunky language” on China exercised under his government, they were optimistic the party would win back a significant portion of Chinese voters.

>>21459246 Liberals talked of banning Chinese super app - now MPs flock to it - Liberal MPs are flocking back to Chinese social media service WeChat, reversing a Morrison-era boycott over national security concerns to win back diaspora voters who turned against the party and cost it seats at the last election. The party’s full court press to woo the constituency includes recruiting candidates and staffers of Chinese heritage, along with a plan to push more MPs to open accounts on the ubiquitous platform despite accusations it is a Communist Party tool. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been working with local Chinese media on the app that spans everything from messaging to payments. Melbourne MPs Michael Sukkar and Keith Wolahan are gaining hundreds of thousands of views on videos posted to their own accounts. The Liberals are considering setting up an official party account alongside individual MPs who are establishing accounts. Senior party sources familiar with the matter said they viewed winning back Chinese-Australians as equally important to retaking the six seats it lost to teal independents. “We pissed off a lot of the Chinese community in 2022 [under Scott Morrison] and Dutton instinctively knows we can and must improve on last time,” a top Liberal source said. Dutton has notably softened his rhetoric on China since the past election, describing himself as “pro-China” in the lead-up to a June visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, stressing his desire for peace in the Indo-Pacific and effusively praising the Chinese diaspora. However, the Liberals responded with harsh criticism when Chinese officials clumsily inserted themselves between reporter Cheng Lei and cameras during Li’s visit, highlighting the difficulty in maintaining a more dovish stance.

>>21483208 Australia looks to sideline China in ‘far-reaching’ Pacific policing deal - Australian officials are confident of locking in regional support this week for an ambitious Pacific-wide policing pact they hope will help stymie Beijing’s energetic efforts to gain a security foothold in the region. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel on Tuesday to the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, with the Pacific Policing Initiative set to be one of the key agenda items alongside tackling climate change and the recent unrest in New Caledonia. The initiative, to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, would see a regional training centre established in Brisbane, centres of law enforcement excellence set up across the Pacific and the formation of new multinational police units that could rapidly deploy across the region when trouble arises. Pacific police chiefs have compared the initiative to bodies such as EUROPOL (the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) and AMERIPOL (the Police Community of the Americas) that combat crime beyond national borders. Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni will seek official endorsement from fellow leaders for the initiative at the forum and request that Pacific police chiefs develop an implementation plan to drive it forward.

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>>21494416 ‘Godsend’: Australia wins support for policing pact to counter China - Nuku’alofa, Tonga: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has scored a significant diplomatic victory, locking in support from Pacific leaders for a far-ranging $400 million policing pact designed to counter China’s growing security presence in the region. The quicker-than-expected show of support for the Pacific Policing Initiative came despite pushback from some Pacific leaders, who said the pact was “cryptic” and risked entangling the Pacific in the superpower rivalry between China and Western nations led by the United States. Albanese and three fellow leaders announced on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga on Tuesday that the policing agreement had been endorsed by forum leaders. While stressing the initiative will be “Pacific-led”, Australia will be the main funder for the initiative, spending $400 million over five years on the pact and setting up a new co-ordination hub at Australian Federal Police facilities in Brisbane. The initiative will also see four regional training centres established across the Pacific, beginning with Papua New Guinea, and the creation of a new multinational standing police unit ready to respond to natural disasters or other crises. Progress on the policing pact has rankled Beijing, with the state-owned Global Times newspaper quoting an expert saying the agreement “not only violates general principles in international relations, but also infringes on [Pacific nations’] sovereignty to independently choose co-operation partners”.

>>21494421 Anthony Albanese tries his hand at soft-touch diplomacy at Pacific Islands Forum - Anthony Albanese has sealed a major agreement with Pacific Island nations to create region-wide police response force, in a blow to China’s ambitions to expand its security support for the region. Australian taxpayers will foot the bill for the “Pacific-led” initiative, paying $400m over the next five years to stand up a multi-country Pacific Police Support Group and establish new police training centres across the region. At least four police training centres will be opened in Pacific countries under the new law and order partnership, starting with Papua New Guinea, while a new co-ordination hub will be established in Brisbane to prepare Pacific police force members for regional deployments. Forum members will contribute members to the standing police response force, which will be deployed to respond to civil unrest, natural disasters and major regional events. “This policing initiative continues a long history of Pacific police forces working together to strengthen regional peace and security, and to support each other in times of need,” Mr Albanese said. “The security of the Pacific is the shared responsibility of the Pacific region and this initiative benefits each of our nations.” Mr Albanese won the support of regional counterparts for the initiative despite a warning by Vanuatu - one of China’s closest partner’s in the region. “We need to make sure this (initiative) is framed to fit our purposes and not developed to suit the geo-strategic interests and geo-strategic denial security postures of our big partners,” Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said.

>>21500024 Anthony Albanese caught on camera joking about Pacific Policing Initiative with top US official Kurt Campbell - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has bridled at questions from journalists about a private conversation where he joked with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell about splitting the cost of the Pacific Policing Initiative announced yesterday in Tonga. Last night Radio New Zealand journalist Lydia Lewis filmed Mr Albanese and the top US official discussing the ambitious plan, which could reshape the way policing is conducted across the region. In the video, Mr Albanese calls the announcement a "cracker" and said the initiative would make "such a difference" in the Pacific. Mr Campbell called the plan "fantastic." He also suggested that the US had been contemplating a similar initiative until Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd asked them not to. "I talked with Kevin about it and so you know, we were going to do something like that and he asked us not to so we did not," he said. "We've given you the lane, so take the lane!" After that Mr Albanese joked that the US could wear some of the cost of the initiative. "We can go halfsies on the cost if you like," he laughed. "Only cost you a bit." Mr Albanese brushed off the exchange when he was asked about it this morning, saying there were no plans for the US to help cover the initiative's $400 million dollar price tag.

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>>21509573 China responds furiously as Pacific Islands leaders reject bid to cut Taiwan from bloc meetings - China's ambassador to the Pacific has responded furiously after the region's leaders rejected a push from Solomon Islands to stop Taiwan participating in its top diplomatic gathering. Pacific leaders have also formally endorsed a major new policing pact championed by Australia, as well as signing off on the terms for a high-level mission to the troubled Pacific territory of New Caledonia. Solomon Islands had been pressing other Pacific nations to strip Taiwan of its status as a "development partner" for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), with its foreign minister Peter Shanel saying this week that Taiwan was "not a sovereign country" and PIF should "follow international law". But reopening a debate over Taiwan - which still maintains three diplomatic allies in the Pacific - risks opening a new fissure in the forum, and the final communique issued by leaders makes it clear the organisation will stick with a 1992 agreement which maintains the status quo. But China's ambassador to the Pacific nations, Qian Bo, said the final communique "must be a mistake". "The situation is obvious, among the 18 members of the PIF, 15 countries have diplomatic relations with China and 15 countries have categorically stated they stand by the One China principle," he told reporters after the meeting. "So this is a surprising mistake made by someone, I'm not sure [who] but I think it must be corrected!" The ambassador suggested that he was also blindsided by the reference to Taiwan and China in the final communique. "Surprisingly we also learned there is language concerning [Taiwan and China] … this should not be the final communique, there must be a correction on the text," he said. "We have already talked to the secretariat and to the [secretary-general] and other delegations where we have received wide understanding and support."

>>21510024 Pacific Islands Forum communique taken down after Chinese envoy calls Taiwan reference ‘unacceptable’ - A summit of Pacific leaders has ended in drama after China’s regional envoy demanded the scrapping of language about Taiwan, with the communique later republished without the offending paragraph. The Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) summit in Tonga this week brought together Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific island countries or territories, only three of which still have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. China is not a member of the regional grouping, but - like the US and numerous other major countries – attends some of the Pif events as a “dialogue partner”. For more than 30 years, Taiwan has been afforded the lesser status of “development partner”, a situation that irks Beijing, which claims the self-governed democracy as its territory. Solomon Islands, which has fostered increasingly warm ties with Beijing since switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan in 2019, had raised concerns in the lead-up to this week’s summit about Taiwan’s status. But the final communique published on the Pif website on Friday rebuffed any push for change and stood by existing arrangements. “Leaders reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China,” it said. China’s special envoy for the Pacific, Qian Bo, called for changes to the communique. He reiterated Beijing’s position that China should be seen as the representative “on behalf of the whole China, including Taiwan and the mainland”, Nikkei Asia reported. The Guardian has seen and verified a copy of the final communique that appeared on the Pif website earlier on Friday. It included a line reaffirming the decades-long arrangements regarding Taiwan. But as of Friday evening local time, this communique was no longer easily accessible on the website. The communique was republished on the Pif website on Saturday morning local time, but with paragraph 66 about Taiwan no longer included. A paragraph about Solomon Islands being the host of next year’s Pif was moved up to become the new paragraph 66.

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>>21510053 China condemns support for Taiwan at Pacific leaders' forum - China's special envoy for the Pacific, Qian Bo, on Friday slammed a joint communique by Pacific Islands Forum leaders that affirmed support for Taiwan's participation in PIF events, calling the reference to the self-governing island a "mistake" that should be "corrected." The joint communique states that PIF leaders "reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China," a reference to when Taiwan became a PIF "development partner." Qian's remarks came on the final day of the 53rd PIF leaders' meeting in Tonga, following a closing news conference by PIF Secretary-General Baron Waqa and the leaders of Tonga, the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands, who are the current, preceding and next chairs of the PIF. The Chinese envoy communicated his displeasure to Waqa immediately after the news conference in a contentious exchange that highlights how tensions over Taiwan, and China's role in the region, have simmered beneath the surface of the meeting and in the increasingly contested region. China has been pushing to strip Taiwan of its position as a PIF development partner and thwart its attendance at next year's meeting in the Solomon Islands, which has been accused of acting as a proxy for Beijing's efforts. With pledges of aid, Beijing has been making appeals to Taiwan's diplomatic partners in the region, with Kiribati and the Solomon Islands recognizing China in 2019 and Nauru switching its ties earlier this year. The Solomon Islands' Agovaka called into question Taiwan's participation with PIF but denied his country was acting as a proxy for China. "We are not working on behalf of China. As I said, this is about sovereignty. China is a sovereign state, Solomon Islands is a sovereign state, our friends from Taiwan are not a sovereign state," he told Nikkei on Friday. Three PIF members - Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Palau - have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

>>21512355 Video: China wins a ‘correction’ against Taiwan after Pacific summit - A reference to Taiwan’s ongoing role as a Pacific Islands Forum partner has been stripped from the final communique issued for the body’s meeting in Tonga this week after a backlash by China. The communique from the PIF leaders’ meeting was reissued by the forum’s secretariat without explanation after China’s envoy demanded a correction. The earlier version issued on Friday after the departure of regional including Anthony Albanese affirmed Taiwan’s status as a PIF development partner since 1992. But the reference was erased from a subsequent version published on Saturday after China’s ambassador to the Pacific nations, Qian Bo, told journalists there “must be a mistake”. The Chinese envoy said there was language in the statement that should “not be the final communique”, declaring: “There must be a correction on the text.” Taiwan later accused China of “an arbitrary intervention” and “unreasonable actions” but said the communique did not undermine Taiwan’s status with the PIF. The Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program director, Mihai Sora, said after the change was revealed that it looked like China had got its way, and “more surprises” could be expected when pro-China Solomon Islands hosted the next ’ meeting. “This example of how China wields its increasing influence makes it crystal clear that it has interests in the Pacific beyond providing ‘development assistance’,” said Mr Sora, a former Australian diplomat whose postings included Solomon Islands. “Namely, China wants to eradicate all diplomatic support from Taiwan in the region, even through direct interference in the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting,” he said. “Given Qian Bo’s apparent outrage at the original text, perhaps he expected different language. It looks like he got his way on the day, but at what cost to the integrity of the Forum, and to regional unity? “I’m sure we can expect more surprises the next time Forum leaders meet in 2025, when Honiara will be host,” he said.

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>>21516451 China, Philippines accuse each other of ramming ships in South China Sea - The Philippines and China exchanged accusations of intentionally ramming coast guard vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, the latest in an escalating series of clashes in the vital waterway. The collision near the Sabina Shoal was their fifth maritime confrontation in a month in a longstanding rivalry. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Portions of the waterway, where $3 trillion worth of trade passes annually, are believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits, as well as fish stocks. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 found China's sweeping claims had no legal basis, a ruling Beijing rejects. Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela showed videos of Saturday's confrontation at a press conference, saying China Coast Guard vessel 5205 "directly and intentionally rammed the Philippine vessel" without provocation. The ramming damaged the 97-metre (320-foot) Teresa Magbanua, one of the Philippines' largest coast guard cutters, but no personnel were injured, Tarriela said. Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's coast guard, said in a statement a Philippine ship, "illegally stranded" at the shoal, had lifted anchor and "deliberately rammed" a Chinese vessel. He called on the Philippines to withdraw immediately or bear the consequences. "The Chinese coast guard will take the measures required to resolutely thwart all acts of provocation, nuisance and infringement and resolutely safeguard the country's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," Liu said. Tarriela said Manila would not withdraw its ship "despite the harassment, the bullying activities and escalatory action of the Chinese coast guard".

>>21516458 Australia joins US to condemn China’s aggressive Coast Guard tactics - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised dangerous actions in the contested South China Sea after the Chinese Coast Guard rammed a Philippines vessel, sparking counterclaims from China that the smaller nation was at fault. It follows a backflip by the Pacific Islands Forum, a bloc of 18 countries including Australia, to remove a reference to Taiwan from an official communique after Chinese complaints, showing the superpower’s growing influence in the region. Saturday’s ramming incident was the fifth confrontation between China and the Philippines in a month as China asserts its claim over most of the crucial trade route, including sections claimed by nations including Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Philippines Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela displayed footage of a Chinese ship that “directly and intentionally rammed the Philippine vessel” without provocation, and revealed damage to the 97-metre Philippines ship. Nobody was injured in the incident. Australia, the UK and US criticised China’s behaviour. “We need nations in the South China Sea to recognise the international law of the sea requires safe navigation there,” Albanese said at a press conference on Sunday. “I’ll get a full briefing about it but there shouldn’t be dangerous activity because it comes at great risk.” Albanese’s call for restraint comes days after he secured a $400 million deal at the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) to fund policing in Pacific nations where China and the US are competing for influence. A communiqué released at the end of last week’s forum included a segment on “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China”, sparking the ire of Chinese officials who claim the democratic island as Chinese territory. After China expressed its discontent, the document was removed from a website on Friday and a new document was posted on Saturday with the references to Taiwan removed. Asked about the change, Albanese was more muted, saying the communique expressed what leaders had agreed at the Tongan conference.

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>>21520879 Video: 'We'll remove it' - Pacific caves to China's demand to exclude Taiwan from leaders communique - The Pacific Islands Forum has submitted to China's demand to remove the mention of Taiwan from the final communique of the leaders' summit that concluded in Tonga this week. Kiribati wants to see consequences for whoever is behind the Taiwan communique bungle, after Beijing's special envoy to the region cried foul at the inclusion of Taipei in the outcomes document. On Friday, China's Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, was furious after the PIF Secretariat released the final communique which included a section in which Pacific leaders "reaffirmed" their relations with Taiwan. Qian told journalists that affirming reference to Taiwan "must be a mistake" and "must be corrected", and soon after the document was taken down from the PIF website. The moment Qian asks the PIF past chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown to remove the Taiwan reference has been caught on camera by RNZ Pacific. "We'll remove it, I'll talk to you about it later," Brown can be heard saying to Beijing's top diplomat. Qian's outburst has since been reported widely with some Pacific political commentators suggesting it demonstrates how Beijing throws its weight to exert its influence the region. The Forum Secretariat has "re-issued" a new version of the communique, which according to a PIF spokesperson is "correct version of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Communique". This new version has removed the following section: "Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China: 66. Leaders reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China."

>>21520889 Video: Chinese experts criticize Philippines for endangering ships and violating humanitarian principles after Philippine vessel deliberately collides with CCG ship at Xianbin Jiao - "At 08:02 on Saturday, the Philippine ship 9701 weighed anchor and continued its provocations at China's Xianbin Jiao (also known as Xianbin Reef) in the South China Sea. In response, the Chinese coast guard ship 5205 lawfully issued verbal warnings and conducted monitoring and control measures, according to the China Coast Guard (CCG) on Saturday. At 12:06, the Philippine ship deliberately rammed into the Chinese ship 5205 in an unprofessional and dangerous manner, causing a collision for which the Philippines bears full responsibility, CCG spokesperson Liu Dejun said. China once again urges the Philippines to face reality, abandon illusions, and immediately withdraw their illegal ship, as this is the only correct path forward. The Philippines should not misinterpret the situation, provoke conflicts, or escalate tensions, otherwise, the consequences will be solely borne by the Philippine side, the spokesperson warned. The CCG reiterated China's indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Qundao, or Nansha Islands, including Xianbin Jiao, and their adjacent waters. China will take necessary measures to resolutely thwart any provocative acts of infringement and firmly defend the country's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, the spokesperson said." - Zhang Yuying - globaltimes.cn

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>>21525977 Concerns raised over Australians doing research on ethnic minorities in China - In Xinjiang, Uyghurs and other minority groups live in a police state. More than a million men, women and children have been taken from their families and held by the Chinese government in re-education camps; there are allegations of forced sterilisation, forced labour and genocide. Despite this context, Australian researchers have, over the past decade, collaborated with Chinese colleagues on several studies of tissue and DNA taken from Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. There are now questions about whether the test subjects truly gave informed consent for their DNA and blood to be taken. “We don’t have any rights to say yes or no to anything,” said Adam Turan, a Uyghur who left the region in 2011. His family remains there. Consent is an important pillar of human research. Research subjects must freely give it, and Australian collaborators must assure themselves Australian ethical standards have been met - including in cases where the study was done overseas. In July, an Australian-Chinese study testing the DNA of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang to help build a forensic database was pulled from the scientific record after it emerged police may have been involved in collecting the samples. This masthead can also reveal another Australian team worked on ways of measuring ethnic identity at a boarding school program for Uyghurs. Turan said children were often forcibly removed to such schools, which exist to stamp out Uyghur culture. “I would think [collecting DNA] would be a red line for anyone who has read any news in the last seven or eight years - but clearly it’s not,” said Monash University’s Dr Kevin Carrico, who studies the ethics of research in China. “I am baffled by how researchers could find themselves working in this context. It’s genuinely beyond comprehension.”

>>21547121 US national security adviser reveals new plan for Australia to help curb Chinese dominance - The United States intends to confront China’s dominance of the world’s key ingredients for cutting-edge technology by creating a major new network of democratic powers, including Australia, according to a top American official. The US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, revealed in an interview inside the White House that the scheme was a top priority and that he hoped to set it up before the next administration took power in January. “It’s a big piece of business, it’s vital, and it’s unfinished,” he said. Even amid intensifying military and political rivalry between Washington and Beijing, technology was the most intense realm of contestation: “The technology competition between the US and China remains probably the place of greatest sustained and strategic friction,” the top adviser said. The potential members of such a new democratic supply network are the world’s seven leading industrial democracies - the G7 nations of the US, Germany, Japan, the UK, France, Italy and Canada – plus South Korea and Australia, according to US sources. This group collectively accounts for about 48 per cent of the global economy by value. Of these nations, only Australia and Canada are major sources of raw critical minerals, indispensable for high-performance computer chips and feeding into civilian products like mobile phones, fibre optic cables, lithium batteries and solar panels but also military essentials such as radar, missile targeting, night vision goggles, turbines and solid-state lasers. The intention was to “ensure that China cannot simply dump and drive alternatives out of business” in its drive to control the global supply of critical minerals, Sullivan said.

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>>21575846 Australia sends expert teams to Fiji as Chinese state-backed hackers attack Pacific Islands Forum - The Australian government sent expert teams to Fiji this year to help the Pacific's top regional body after its networks were infiltrated by Chinese state-backed hackers, the ABC has learned. The cyber attack on the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat, which is based in Suva, was first detected in February this year, although the hackers likely gained access well before that. It comes as China continues to press its interests in the Pacific, and as competition between China and the West throughout the region continues to intensify. Beijing has also been building up policing ties in the region, holding its third annual meeting with Pacific police representatives in Fuzhou yesterday. The ABC has been told that the PIF cyber breach detected in February was "extensive" and that the group behind the hack was intent on gathering information about the Secretariat and its operations. The hackers also wanted to gather information on the Secretariat's communications with PIF member nations. The Australian government sent one of its roving teams of cyber specialists - which draw on both government and private sector expertise — to Fiji, to help the Secretariat deal with the problem. Over time those teams have helped PIF expel the hackers and remediate its computer networks. The ABC has also been told that analysis by the Australian Cyber Security Centre found that the attack was the work of a group of hackers backed by the Chinese government. Australia has publicly attributed multiple cyber-attacks to Chinese state-backed groups before, including to hackers linked to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS).

>>21575862 First parliamentary delegation in five years about to visit China - A bipartisan parliamentary delegation is to visit China in October, the first such trip since Beijing denied visas to former ­Coalition government MPs Andrew Hastie and James ­Paterson in 2019 for failing to “repent” for their views on the rising super power. The Australian can reveal the China trip has been approved by the offices of Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, but the participants are still to be confirmed. President of the Senate, Labor’s Sue Lines, is under consideration to lead the delegation, but the West Australian senator’s office was not able to confirm she would do so late on Wednesday. The Australian has learned fellow federal politicians in WA, whose economy is hugely reliant on China, have been lobbying for a spot on the trip, as have other MPs in seats with high proportions of Chinese-heritage Australians. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on the trip, redirecting The Australian to federal parliament’s International and Parliamentary Relations Office, which did not reply by late Wednesday. Sources familiar with the China trip, which like nearly everything involving Canberra’s relationship with Beijing is highly sensitive, said it would include a stop in neighbouring Mongolia. All participants will be issued burner phones, standard on parliamentary trips to China and a rising number of overseas destinations. China’s ambassador in Australia, Xiao Qian, has raised a potential parliamentary visit for more than a year, as his embassy has become frustrated with the frequency of trips by Australian federal politicians to Taiwan. Chinese Premier Li Qiang raised the prospect in a meeting in Canberra in June with Senator Lines and Speaker of the House, Milton Dick, a Labor MP from Queensland. A spokesman at the Chinese embassy in Canberra on Wednesday declined to comment about the trip.

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>>21582746 Chinese Communist Party propaganda boss on a secret mission to Australia - A top official from the Chinese Communist Party’s central propaganda department has made a discreet trip to Australia that reveals both Beijing’s ­improved diplomatic ties with Canberra but also the extreme sensitivity surrounding the “stabilised” relationship. The Australian can reveal Mo Gaoyi, the deputy director of the Communist Party’s publicity department, is currently in Australia and on Wednesday met in Canberra with Assistant Minister for Foreign Relations Tim Watts. Sources familiar with the itinerary of Mr Mo, who also oversees Beijing’s State Council Information Office, said he had since travelled to Sydney where he was due to have private meetings with Chinese journalists and a select group of Australian academics. The Chinese embassy in Canberra declined to comment on the extremely rare trip, the first by a Deputy Director of the Communist Party’s Central Committee publicity department since 2014. Sources familiar with his meeting with Mr Watts told The Australian it covered areas of co-operation in the bilateral relationship, such as trade, and arts and cultural exchanges, along with more prickly subjects, including consular matters, cyber attacks, foreign interference and access for Australian journalists to China. Mr Mo’s visit to Canberra and Sydney - which was at the request of Beijing and has been overseen by the Chinese embassy – is a further sign of the improvement in diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing. However, the extreme secrecy around the trip again reveals the sensitive nature of Australia’s relationship with China despite a two-year “stabilisation” process.

>>21593708 US military build-up in Australia hailed as major win for security - Australia is being transformed into a pivotal American military base the likes of which we have not seen since World War II. This historic change has occurred so progressively over the past decade that few Australians have stopped to consider the big picture significance of this moment for Australia’s future security in the face of a rising China. If Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to see the self-harm he has inflicted from his country’s hegemonic behaviour in the Indo-Pacific he needs to look no further than this new and powerful military marriage of convenience between Australia and the US. As a direct result of Xi’s actions, Washington now sees Australia as its last regional bastion in any future conflict with China. This is a pivotal and historic change from the Cold War when the US saw Australia as only a bit player in its larger battle with the Soviet Union. This has severely complicated China’s calculations about its long-term ability to project power far beyond its shores, and is likely to give it pause when considering military adventurism in the region, including against the likely flashpoints of Taiwan and the Philippines. As a result of China’s rise, the US is now moving fast to position its military here on a scale not seen since US general Douglas Mac­Arthur plotted from Brisbane in 1942 to repel the Japanese advance in the Pacific. This ever-increasing rotational presence of US forces - from marines, to nuclear bombers to warships and soon nuclear submarines and much more – has not just been welcomed by both sides of politics in Canberra and in Washington, it is being turbocharged.

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>>21593741 Beijing ‘is suppressing ethnic Chinese in Australia’: Taiwan - Taiwan’s Foreign Minister has ­accused China of suppressing Australia’s ethnic Chinese population, saying Beijing gave up on its trade sanctions against Canberra only because they failed. Lin Chia-lung also said Taiwan did not fear the slow improvement in Australia’s relationship with China because it was not a “zero sum game”. He said Australia’s recent experience as a victim of Chinese trade sanctions worth $20bn required other countries in the region to join forces to push back against any future bullyboy trade tactics by China. In strongly worded comments in an interview in Taipei, Mr Lin said Beijing’s aggressive behaviour extended to China’s attempts to control or “suppress” the behaviour and the public attitude of the Chinese population in Australia. “Recently we also see that Chinese have a long-armed jurisdiction over some citizens in Australia, they suppress people overseas,” Mr Lin told The Australian. Intelligence agencies believe China has actively sought to influence and pressure ethnic Chinese in Australia, especially students, to promote the interests and views of Beijing and suppress criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. Mr Lin said all countries in the Indo-Pacific were increasingly vulnerable to China’s economic coercion. “I know that Chinese policies for Australia caused some detrimental effects on the Australian economy but eventually China stepped back because what China did to Australia is not beneficial to anybody,” he said.

>>21600988 Video: Ex-pilot facing extradition makes final bid for freedom - A lengthy submission by a former pilot seeking to halt his extradition to the US to face trial over allegations he unlawfully trained Chinese military personnel will be considered by the attorney-general. Ex-fighter pilot Daniel Duggan has spent 22 months behind bars and was ruled eligible for extradition by a magistrate in May. Mark Dreyfus holds the final say on whether the 56-year-old will be extradited over his alleged crimes. The 89-page submission was given to the attorney-general in late August after months of research, background and expert opinion, Duggan's wife Saffrine said. "It is the most detailed examination into the allegations against Dan and it revealed glaring errors in process and fact in the US case," she said in a statement on Monday. Ms Duggan described the case as "vague, embarrassing and oppressive", saying it had omitted key pieces of evidence such as her husband's flight logbook. While someone could only be extradited for conduct which was a crime in both countries, Ms Duggan said her husband was accused of actions that were only illegal in the US but were "tenuously" linked to legislation enacted in 2018. "In other words, this was legislated nine months after the US indictment, and six years after Dan's alleged offences. It is retrospective," she said. Duggan was arrested in Australia in October 2022 at the behest of the US after being accused of breaching arms-trafficking laws by providing military training to Chinese pilots in South Africa between 2010 and 2012.

>>21614220 Video: Chinese military video appears to show 'dangerous' intercept of Australian aircraft over South China Sea - The People's Liberation Army has released video of a 2022 incident that appears to show a Chinese J-16 fighter intercepting an "enemy" Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft while it was conducting a routine patrol in international airspace. During the encounter over the South China Sea, the PLA aircraft flew closely alongside the RAAF plane firing flares, before cutting in front of it and releasing "chaff" into its flight path, which included aluminium fragments that were sucked into the P-8's engine. More than two years after the "dangerous" intercept, the Chinese military broadcast the video of the events as part of a PLA documentary in which the J-16 pilot described "facing a strong enemy, a tough opponent" and not being "afraid". According to the PLA propaganda film shown on Chinese state television in recent days, a "flashing infrared bomb" was also fired towards the Australian aircraft, although the ABC has been unable to verify this claim. Australia's defence department said it was aware of the "unverified" video that purported to show the 2022 incident and emphasised that it had undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region for decades "in accordance with international law".

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>>21614266 Video: ‘Draw your sword’: China releases video of PLA jet harassing RAAF plane - Nationalistic Chinese have mocked an Australian air force pilot and claimed Beijing had cowed the Albanese government after China’s national broadcaster released rare footage of what appeared to be the People’s Liberation Army Air Force harassing an RAAF plane in a tense encounter over the South China Sea. The Albanese government has been muted in its initial response to the apparent addition of the encounter between an Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet in a recently released documentary run on China’s flagship broadcaster CCTV. Previously neither the Chinese or Australian governments had released footage of the encounter, which took place in 2022, weeks after Anthony Albanese became prime minister. The footage featured in the second episode of a six part documentary made by China’s national broadcaster to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party’s army, the PLA, in 2027. In publicity for the show, CCTV said it had been created to “educate and inspire” Chinese soldiers to follow “Xi Jinping’s Thought on Strengthening the Army”. China’s leader has made achieving a “world-class army”, a key priority during his 12 years in power. Australia was not named in the show, but widespread reports on China’s internet said the footage was of the infamous 2022 encounter that Defence Minister Richard Marles described as “very dangerous” in some of his first comments after being sworn into his portfolio. Beijing has told Canberra to keep away from water and air near China, as it tries to push back on military operations by American allies in its near neighbourhood. The documentary gave a public airing to what is often kept behind closed doors. “You must draw your sword when you meet the enemy,” the Chinese pilot in the encounter said in the documentary.

>>21638248 Video: Biden caught saying China is ‘testing us’ in hot mic moment with Albanese - US President Joe Biden has been caught in another hot mic moment, this time warning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other Indo-Pacific leaders that he believes China’s aggression is a deliberate strategy to test the region at a challenging time for Beijing. Biden’s candid comments were caught at a summit of the Quad alliance on Saturday (Sunday AEST), which he convened at his former high school in Delaware to put his personal mark on a group he hopes will endure well after his presidency ends in January. The White House has long been careful not to frame the Quad – which is made up of the US, Australia, Japan and India – primarily as a vehicle for Washington to thwart Beijing’s ambitions. However, this notion was undermined when a camera feed picked up the president beginning the discussion by focusing on China and declaring that its recent assertiveness was a “change in tactic, not a change in strategy”. “China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” Biden told Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “We believe [Chinese President] Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.” The remarks were made after journalists were forced to leave the room once the leaders had given their formal remarks. And while it’s not the first time Biden has been caught on a hot mic, the comments are nonetheless likely to raise eyebrows in China, which has been at odds with the US over everything from trade to spy balloons.

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>>21642550 Quad leaders meet; group ‘incites bloc confrontation’ - "At the Quad leaders' summit US President Joe Biden hosted in his Delaware hometown over the weekend, the four-nation group - which consists of the US, Japan, India and Australia - agreed to expand security cooperation, including joint coast guard mission, with China on mind. The agenda of the meeting and its joint statement, which referred to East and South China Seas, exposed Quad's nature of bloc confrontation, analysts said on Sunday, criticizing the four-nation partnership for its detrimental role of fomenting confrontation and inciting geopolitical tensions in Asia Pacific. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan insisted earlier Saturday during a briefing with reporters that "China is not the focus of the Quad," CNN reported, but the issue (of China) featured throughout the day. The joint statement, released on the White House's website, did not directly name China, but it did mention "East and South China Seas," meanwhile, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling the other leaders that an "aggressive China is testing us," CNN reported. Anchored by shared values, the Quad leaders seek to uphold the international order based on the rule of law and they are "seriously concerned" about the situation in East and South China Seas, according to a joint statement after the summit." - Zhang Han and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn

>>21642580 Taiwan in bid for UN membership after success for Palestine - Taiwan has urged Penny Wong to throw Australia’s support behind the self-governed territory’s bid for UN membership after the Albanese government backed Palestine’s admission to the global body. Taiwan’s top diplomat in Australia, Douglas Hsu, said Palestine’s recently upgraded UN status underscored the injustice of Taiwan’s exclusion from the organisation at China’s behest. “We found it very interesting and we found it very unreasonable, because Taiwan is a leading democracy,” he told The Australian. “Taiwan is an important economy in the world. We play a very important role in global supply chains. However, we are not even granted the status of being included in the United Nations.” As the Foreign Minister departed for New York to attend the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level session, Mr Hsu said: “We are asking like-minded countries to address this issue.” Taiwan’s request follows the Senate’s repudiation last month of Beijing’s interpretation of a 1971 UN resolution recognising the People’s Republic of China as “the only legitimate representative of China to the UN”. It passed a bipartisan motion declaring UN Resolution 2758 “does not establish the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the UN, nor Taiwanese participation in UN agencies or international organisations”.

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>>21642629 Labor elders now just weak-kneed ‘appeasers’ on AUKUS - "Paul Keating and Gareth Evans in their attacks on AUKUS demonstrate they have learned nothing from history. One lesson is that to keep the peace it’s necessary to maintain a balance between major powers and their allies. That was the key to peace in Europe for nearly a century after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It’s the key to peace in the Indo-Pacific region today. We have to maintain a balance of power with an aggressive China. Both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 of AUKUS will help to do that. If we don’t, China will dominate the region, reducing neighbouring countries to the traditional status of mere tributes to China. The South China Sea would be turned into a Chinese lake, giving China complete command of sea and air traffic through that vital waterway. And Taiwan would of course be incorporated into the People’s Republic of China. To stop this, there is a coalition of nations that balances the power of China and deters Chinese adventurism. That coalition is led by the US and its allies. It’s also includes countries such India and, for that matter, Indonesia, which while cautious not to become allies of any nation nevertheless want a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. This seems to me to be a straightforward proposition for anyone who is concerned about Australia’s security. But the likes of Keating and Evans seem to think a policy of appeasement will work. If deterrence and power balances are one of the lessons of history, then another is that appeasement does not work. In the 1930s it failed and it is not going to work today. Using language such as de-escalation when the Russians are pouring missiles and bombs into Ukraine, the Iranians through their surrogates are firing thousands of rockets and missiles into Israel, and the Chinese are threatening and harassing allies such as The Philippines is the language of weakness and fear. They need to understand that unless this behaviour stops they run the risk themselves of escalating to the point of war with the West. If we stick with the appeasement strategy - the one favoured by Keating and Evans - that is the strategy that leads to war." - Alexander Downer, foreign affairs minister from 1996-2007, and high commissioner to the UK from 2014-18 - theaustralian.com.au

>>21648253 Defending nation’s sovereignty is not ‘appeasement’ - a response to Alexander Downer - "Could the Alexander Downer who accuses me and Paul Keating of appeasement possibly be the same Alexander Downer who recently wrote in this newspaper that if he had a vote in the US presidential election it would be for Donald Trump? That same Donald Trump whose willingness to accommodate Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine makes Chamberlain’s behaviour in Munich in 1938 seem almost Churchillian. And could this Downer, who now tells us the West is facing “an existential threat from the alliance of Russia, Iran and China”, possibly be the same Downer whose enthusiastic embrace of George W. Bush’s fanciful “axis of evil” (Iran, Iraq and North Korea) led us to blindly follow the US in its invasion of Iraq in 2003, with consequences resonating catastrophically ever since? I would normally ignore being offensively lectured to and misrepresented by a former foreign minister whose only memorable achievement in nearly 12 years in that office was longevity, but his latest contribution is so wrongheaded and at odds with Australia’s national interests as to demand a response. It is not appeasement to demand that those who beat the drums of war justify their fearmongering with more than rhetoric. And it is not appeasement to believe that Australia’s national interests - as for others in our region trying to navigate a course between the US and China – lie in maintaining close and mutually beneficial relations with both the neighbourhood giants, not becoming either’s patsy, and working diplomatically to encourage détente between them. While China’s behaviour certainly justifies push-back, much of it is no more than what we can and should expect of a rapidly, economically rising, hugely trade-dependent regional superpower, which is wanting to claim its own strategic space, and to generally reassert some of its historical greatness after more than a century of wounded national pride. It is not unreasonable to think much of China’s assertiveness would be significantly moderated were the US to step back from demanding recognition of America’s continued primacy, with Washington now seeing just about every arena as a zero-sum struggle for dominance." - Gareth Evans, Australia’s foreign minister from 1988-96 and president of the International Crisis Group from 2000-09 - theaustralian.com.au

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>>21660354 Jim Chalmers takes economic charm offensive to China - Jim Chalmers has warned that further deterioration in China’s slowing economy would wreak havoc on Australia, with a drop of one percentage point in Chinese GDP growth projected to inflict about $6bn in lost domestic output. Amid global concerns over the rapid slowdown in China and as President Xi Jinping met his top comrades to discuss their enormous economic challenges, the Treasurer arrived in Beijing on Thursday to meet National Development and Reform Commission chair Zheng Shanjie, who oversees China’s five-year economic plans and the country’s foreign investment regime. Dr Chalmers, who late on Thursday co-chaired with Mr Zheng the first meeting of the ­Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue since 2017, said there were “consequences for us” if the Communist nation’s economic slowdown and structural challenges worsened. Writing for The Australian to mark the first visit to Beijing by a treasurer in seven years, Dr Chalmers said Australia’s resilience and prosperity were closely connected to China’s economy and the global economy, which is “why we monitor the Chinese economy so closely”. Hours before Dr Chalmers met his Chinese counterparts, China’s politburo - led by Mr Xi – pledged a new stimulus package to ­implement better “the driving role of government investment”.

>>21660373 China-Australia relations see more high-level exchanges, conducive to avoid amplifying difference: experts - "China-Australia relations have seen positive progress with more recent high-level exchanges, and observers noted that strengthened communication between the two sides can effectively avoid amplifying differences. The two countries' top diplomats met on Tuesday, meanwhile the fourth China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue is scheduled to be held in Beijing. According to Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Wong that both sides should continue to build a more mature, stable, and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership. Both sides should properly handle the issues in bilateral exchanges and not define China-Australia relations from the perspective of differences, Wang said, hoping Australia joins hands with China to ensure that bilateral relations go on the right track and achieve more results. Wong said Australia is ready to work with China to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, engage in constructive communication on issues of differences, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations. The Australian side's adherence to the one-China policy has not changed, Wong said." - Xu Keyue - globaltimes.cn

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>>21660409 Morrison pushes for stronger Quad to counter aggressive China - Scott Morrison has warned Quad leaders to not allow their “focus and agenda to become diluted and distracted” in a new era of globalised strategic rivalry pitting western powers against aggressive and coercive autocracies led by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Following criticism about the substance of the Quad leaders’ dialogue meeting in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware last weekend, Mr Morrison said the pact between Japan, Australia, the US and India must be maintained and strengthened as a key pillar in deterring the “arc of autocracy”. Speaking at the Yomiuri International Economic Security Symposium in Tokyo on Thursday, the former prime minister launched a defence of his former government’s “strident position” towards Xi Jinping’s People’s Republic of China. “We can peacefully coexist, but only with the right safeguards in place. We must do so with our eyes wide open and with the good sense to put a sufficient deterrent in place to counterbalance the growing power and influence of autocracies,” Mr Morrison said. “The objective of such a deterrent is simple, to ensure that when President Xi (Jinping) wakes up every morning and thinks about Taiwan, he concludes ‘not today’.” Ahead of Jim Chalmers meeting with Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Thursday, marking the first visit to the Communist nation by an Australian treasurer in seven years, Mr Morrison explained why he had pushed-back against the PRC. “I believed this was necessary to counter the PRC’s deliberate strategy to test Australia’s will and to split us off from our allies and partners. I believed that pretending to share values and interests with an autocracy seeking to bully and coerce us, while they undermined the very rules and norms that afforded us our freedom, got us where we are today. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”

>>21666439 Pierside accident: -China’s Newest Nuclear Submarine Sank, Setting Back Its Military Modernization- China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank in the spring, a major setback for one of the country’s priority weapons programs, U.S. officials said. The episode, which Chinese authorities scrambled to cover up and hasn’t previously been disclosed, occurred at a shipyard near Wuhan in late May or early June. It comes as China has been pushing to expand its navy, including its fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The Pentagon has cast China as its principal long-term “pacing challenge,” and U.S. officials say that Beijing has been using political and military pressure to try to coerce Taiwan, a separately governed island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. China says its goal in building a world-class military is to deter aggression and safeguard its overseas interests. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. doesn’t know if the sub was carrying nuclear fuel at the time it sank, but experts outside the U.S. government said that was likely. The Zhou-class vessel that sank is the first of a new class of Chinese nuclear-powered subs and features a distinctive X-shaped stern, which is designed to make the vessel more maneuverable. The sub was built by China State Shipbuilding Corp., a state-owned company, and was observed alongside a pier on the Yangtze River in late May when it was undergoing its final equipping before going to sea. After the sinking, large floating cranes arrived in early June to salvage the sub from the river bed, according to satellite photos of the site.

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>>21718402 Darwin Port increases 'friendly cooperation' with China in new deal - The Chinese-controlled Port of Darwin has signed a "friendly cooperation" agreement with Shenzhen Port in southern China, a city that controversially entered a "strategic partnership" with the Northern Territory capital five years ago. Representatives from both ports last month conducted a signing ceremony in China's Guandong Province to establish the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which aims to increase trade links between both strategic maritime gateways. Details of the "friendly port relationship" do not appear to have been announced locally in Australia, but according to official Chinese statements both parties will soon carry out "all-round in-depth exchanges and cooperation". In a brief statement, Darwin Port CEO Peter Dummett confirmed to the ABC that he had travelled to China to sign the agreement with Shenzen representatives on September 23. "Darwin Port and Shenzhen Port have entered into a friendly non-binding MOU in order to establish a closer relationship between both ports and to further understand potential business opportunities for trade and development." In 2015 the CLP Northern Territory government signed a $506 million deal with Chinese-owned Landbridge Group to lease Darwin Port for 99 years, sparking security concerns at the highest levels of Australia's defence department and in the United States. Last year, the Albanese government announced it would not cancel the controversial lease after a review by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet found there was "a robust regulatory system in place to manage risks to critical infrastructure". Both the federal government and Northern Territory government are yet to respond to requests for comment about the recent "friendly cooperation agreement" struck between Darwin Port and Shenzhen Port.

>>21739533 Chinese trade restrictions on Australian lobsters to be lifted before Chinese New Year - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has secured a promise from China's Premier Li Qiang to lift a ban on Australian rock lobsters by the end of the year. The news will be welcomed by the rock lobster industry, which has struggled since being locked out of the lucrative market, and which had been growing increasingly frustrated by the delay to restoring the trade. Mr Albanese met with Premier Li today on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Laos, and emerged saying China's second most senior leader had agreed on a "timetable" to let lobsters back by the end of this year, in time for Chinese New Year in early 2025. "This will be welcomed by the people engaged in the live lobster industry in places like Geraldton and South Australia and Tasmania and so many parts of particularly regional Australia," he said. Australian rock lobster exports to China were worth some $700 million a year before Beijing locked them out as part of a broader campaign of economic punishment against Australia in 2020 and 2021, when the bilateral relationship hit its nadir. China has already removed tariffs and barriers on a host of other Australian products – including wine, coal and barley – leaving lobsters as the last major industry that remained frozen out of the massive market. Mr Albanese told journalists in Vientiane that Premier Li's promise had once again vindicated the government's approach to China. "With our patient, calibrated and deliberate approach, we've restored Australian trade with our largest export market, and today we discussed restarting exports of Australian live rock lobsters," Albanese said in Laos.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 1

>>21258061 Satanic Temple set to return to Memphis-area school with 'Before School Satan Club' - The Satanic Temple has plans to come back to the Memphis area. After hosting its “After School Satan Club” at Cordova-based Chimneyrock Elementary on Jan. 10, the Salem, Massachusetts-based nonprofit is poised to host a “Before School Satan Club” in the coming weeks. The pending dates are March 20, April 17, and May 15, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., the group said in a social media post. The plan is to offer science projects, community service projects, puzzles and games, nature activities, arts and crafts, and snacks. A flyer posted on Twitter says “Hey Kids! Let’s have fun at the Before School Satan Club!” When the group started promoting the “After School Satan Club,” it used the line, “Hey Kids, Let’s have fun at the After School Satan Club.” Not long after The Satanic Temple started promoting the original After School Satan Club, interim superintendent Toni Williams, board chair and reverend Althea Greene, and board member Mauricio Calvo passionately denounced the group, while flanked by pastors of local churches. “As a superintendent, I am duty bound to uphold our board policy, state laws, and the constitution,” Williams said at the time. “But let’s not be fooled. Let’s not be fooled by what we’ve seen in the past 24 hours, which is an agenda, initiated to make sure that we cancel all faith-based organizations that partner with our district.” Added board chair Althea Greene: “You see the faith-based community standing here,” she said. “We're going to stand up and we're going to be vocal. Satan has no room in this district.”

>>21258069 Satanic group leads invocation at Ottawa County board meeting amid lobby uproar - Protest and support chants erupted in the lobby steps away from the Ottawa County board podium, where a leader of a West Michigan satanic group led the commissioners in prayer before a meeting Tuesday night. Standing tall with a smile in the middle of a small room with every seat filled, a man identifying himself as Luis Cypher with the Satanic Temple of West Michigan greeted residents and commissioners before delivering the opening invocation. "That must be destroyed by truth, should never be spared. It's demise. It is done. Hail Satan. Thank you very much, we wish everyone a wonderful evening tonight," Cypher said while raising his hand with his index finger and pinky extended in the air. What appeared to be over 100 individuals flocked to the lobby ahead of the meeting, signs were waved reading "One Nation Under God" as well as chants of "Hail Satan!" and "We Love Satan!" The allowance of a Satanic Temple, described on their website among other things as a "leading beacon of light in the battle of abortion access," sparked an uproar at the Tuesday night meeting. Ottawa County residents took advantage of the public comment period to advocate toward beliefs of God, shaming the Satanic temple. "Tonight you all had failed miserably in your primary responsibility. You have out of the respect for a flawed custom of men allowed worship not only to a false ideal of man's creation but to the greatest enemy of the all good God who allowed you to fill these positions," one resident said at the podium while holding a cross.

>>21258072 Video: Commissioner disagrees with policy allowing Satanist to give opening prayer - Ottawa County Commissioner Doug Zylstra disagrees with a policy change allowing an ordained minister of Satan to give opening prayer during a board meeting Tuesday. Luis Cypher, head of the Satanic Temple of West Michigan, delivered the opening invocation while over a hundred attended, many pushing back against his troubling remarks. On Tuesday, people choosing to worship Satan, and those worshiping Jesus came face to face. A protest erupting ahead of Tuesday's meeting. “That which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is done, hail Satan," Cypher said. Many attending Tuesday's meeting held signs, sang and prayed while disagreeing with the choice to let Cypher speak. Followers of Christ held flags with "One Nation under God" while others like Joseph Amorasos prayed for change. “For the lord has truly risen, hallelujah, let us pray," Amorasos said. Every chair in the meeting room was filled, while overflow in the hallway sang Amazing Grace. One woman even held a sign with "My Jesus mercy" while Cypher gave his remarks.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 2

>>21258080 Satanic Temple invocation forces Ottawa County to reckon with the meaning of religious freedom - It was an odd night in Ottawa County. The planned invocation from the Satanic Temple of West Michigan, scheduled several months after a lawsuit led the board to develop new policies for accepting invocation requests, drew hundreds to the Fillmore Complex on Tuesday. The Satanic Temple of West Michigan announced in March they'd been scheduled to give the meeting’s prayer April 23. The meeting drew one of the largest crowds the board has seen since Ottawa Impact commissioners took office in January 2023. Hundreds gathered in the lobby and in front of the Fillmore Complex. Many stood in small groups to pray, sing hymns and hold signs opposed to the TST. Attendees in the lobby continued to sing through the start of the meeting, including during the invocation. Cypher, minister of Satan and lifelong resident of Ottawa County, gave an invocation which, including an introductory statement, lasted about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. He started by offering a “loving embrace” to residents. “Let us stand now, unbound and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times. Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old,” Cypher said. Commissioners Gretchen Cosby and Kendra Wenzel prayed to themselves during the invocation. Prior to the meeting, Commissioner Rebekah Curran handed out heart-shaped cookies with “John 3:16” stickers on the packaging. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." When the meeting moved to public comment, Curran was the first speaker. She offered a prayer from the lectern. “I feel like it's a really important moment in time to not only show the love of Christ, but show the power of Christ,” Curran said. “I just pray that everyone will feel the manifest presence of God in this room and in this building today.”

>>21258091 Q Post #3967 - These people are pure evil. This is not about politics. You are ready. Q - https://qanon.pub/#3967

>>21258091 Q Post #4545 - Humanity is good, but, when we let our guard down we allow darkness to infiltrate and destroy. Like past battles fought, we now face our greatest battle at present, a battle to save our Republic, our way of life, and what we decide (each of us) now will decide our future. Will we be a free nation under God? Or will we cede our freedom, rights and liberty to the enemy? If America falls so does the world. If America falls darkness will soon follow. Only when we stand together, only when we are united, can we defeat this highly entrenched dark enemy. This is not about politics. This is about preserving our way of life and protecting the generations that follow. We are living in Biblical times. Children of light vs children of darkness. United against the Invisible Enemy of all humanity. Q - https://qanon.pub/#4545

>>21274018 Australian Federal Police charge man for allegedly trafficking Indonesian girl to Sydney to work in brothels - A man has been charged with recruiting a teenager from Indonesia to work in Sydney brothels as part of what authorities say is an international sex trafficking ring. Australian Federal Police (AFP) claim to have removed at least seven potential victims from sexual exploitation following a 20-month investigation into the alleged syndicate operating between Australia and Indonesia. A 43-year-old Arncliffe man has been charged with one count of trafficking children and is accused of facilitating the transportation of a 17-year-old girl from Indonesia to Sydney to engage in sex work. Authorities also allege he was the "principal" in the criminal operation. AFP officers have been working with Indonesian authorities since December 2022 after receiving intelligence about a trafficking ring forcing young women into sexual servitude in Sydney brothels. Officers searched several properties in Sydney's south-west in March this year, where they allegedly found several foreign nationals who were identified as potential victims of human trafficking. AFP Commander Kate Ferry said she was "confident we have disrupted the criminal syndicate". "This result is a testament to our resolve and the resolve of the Australian Federal Police to stop the exploitation of vulnerable women being trafficked into Australia for sexual exploitation," Commander Ferry said. "We understand it can be incredibly difficult for vulnerable victims to come forward, and we want to assure them that there is help and protection available."

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 3

>>21274077 Video:The children for sale - and the Australians who exploit them- Anna dreams of becoming an astronaut when she grows up. “I want to go to the moon,” the 12-year-old murmured as she stared down at her interlaced hands inside a children’s rescue shelter three hours north-west of the Philippines’ capital, Manila. The moon is worlds away from the province of Bulacan, where Anna and her two younger cousins - aged 11 and 8 - were sexually abused by their parents and two uncles. Their offenders arranged for Western foreigners to purchase live-stream viewings of the crimes and watch from thousands of kilometres away for their sick sexual gratification. Shamefully, Australian predators are major contributors to the dark and disturbing trade. The children were told the acts were needed to pay for food, clothes and school. International law enforcement alerted local authorities to the abuse and the three cousins were sent to the People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation (Preda), where they have spent more than two years trying to heal from a type of pain no child should ever understand, let alone feel. The phones used to record the abuse were traced to their parents, who are detained awaiting trial and their uncles, who fled and are at large. The Philippines is the global epicentre of the live-stream child sexual abuse trade, according to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund. According to the 2022 Disrupting Harm Study conducted by UNICEF, ECPAT International and Interpol, 20 per cent of internet-using Filipino children aged 12 to 17 were subjected to online abuse and exploitation, representing an estimated 2 million children. Statistics show Australia is among the leading countries feeding the demand. Rescue organisations say the issue has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic began, when high internet usage combined with lockdowns created a thriving environment for online exploitation. Behind each statistic is an innocent child who, in the majority of cases, has been abused by those they trusted the most, selling their bodies to Australians and other foreigners for as little as $20 per act of abuse.

>>21332280 National Gallery of Australia acquires painting by controversial artist Paul Gauguin for almost $10 million - Paul Gauguin was a violent paedophile. The blue roof, or Farm at Le Pouldu, by Paul Gauguin has been purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for $9.8 million, becoming the first painting by the artist in an Australian public collection. Gauguin is one of the world's most famous artists, but has a controversial legacy due to accusations of sexual predation of girls while in French Polynesia.

>>21348278 Brett Sutton - Australian coach of olympic triathlon medallist was child sex offender - An Australian who coached the women’s triathlon silver medallist is the second known child sex offender to be accredited for the Paris Olympics. The presence of the Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was jailed for raping a 12-year-old British girl, caused a storm of protests when he competed last weekend. Now The Sunday Times can reveal that on Wednesday Brett Sutton, 65, who had been given accreditation by China, attended the triathlon to watch his athlete, Switzerland’s Julie Derron, take silver ahead of Team GB’s Beth Potter. Sutton even gave an interview to Swiss television close to the finish line on Pont Alexandre III in which his official Olympic accreditation lanyard could be seen hanging from his neck. Sutton pleaded guilty in 1999 to five counts of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old Australian girl, a talented swimmer he had been coaching. He was sentenced to two years in prison the year before the Sydney Olympics, but the sentence was suspended for three years. The judge, Robert Hall, said that Sutton had interfered with the girl in a “gross and disgraceful way” and “abused his role to an inexcusable degree”, but he took into account that, as the national triathlon coach, Sutton was preparing a number of athletes for the Games. “A large number of leading athletes will suffer disadvantage from your absence from the scene,” Hall said. Sutton has been at the Olympics despite being banned from coaching by several federations.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 4

>>21354276 Australian sex offender has left the Games, IOC looking into the issue - A convicted sex offender who coached women’s triathlon silver medallist Julie Derron of Switzerland has left the Paris 2024 Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday it was looking into the matter. Australian Brett Sutton appeared on an interview with Swiss TV channel RTS commenting on Derron's performance after Wednesday's triathlon. He was wearing an Olympic accreditation and was also seen wearing a red jacket with the Chinese flag and Olympic rings on it. The Chinese Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In 1999, Sutton pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old Australian swimmer he had been coaching and was sentenced to two years in prison. The sentence was suspended for three years. "I understand that this person is no longer here at the Games, they have left the Games," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference on Sunday. "It is an issue for the Chinese Olympic Committee and the national federation will need to get involved," he added, referring to reports that Sutton had been accredited by the Chinese Committee. "Looking forward I can tell you we will obviously look into this issue." "Coaches are not accredited by us but by the National Olympic Committees, and approved by the IOC," a World Triathlon spokesperson said on Sunday.

>>21386017 Video:How 'unassuming' crocodile expert Adam Britton shocked a community- Every month, Merinda Sharp cuts flowers and visits her neighbours' neglected rural home. "I put them on the gate, in memory of the torture and the horrific life that those animals went through," she says. On the outskirts of Darwin, hidden within a tight-knit outback community of dusty and isolated sprawling properties, where dogs are trained to scare off visitors, this one remained quiet and overlooked for years. Then one of the nation's worst cases of bestiality exposed the sinister events that had been taking place for almost a decade, sending shock waves through the neighbourhood and fracturing it with disbelief. Adam Britton, celebrated as a world-renowned crocodile expert and zoologist, was arrested and remanded in custody in 2022, last year pleading guilty to 60 charges of bestiality, animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material. In a shipping container he called his "torture room", Britton filmed himself abusing, raping and killing dozens of dogs and puppies. In some instances, he would drive to a secluded location to brutally murder his victims "for his own sadistic sexual pleasure", court documents state. Between 2020 and 2022, Britton sourced 42 dogs for free from online classifieds giant Gumtree, promising their previous owners he would give them a "good home". Britton killed at least 39 of them before his arrest. The details of Britton's crimes are so graphic, the ABC has chosen not to publish them in full.

>>21386104 Adam Britton:TV croc expert who filmed dog abuse, killings jailed for ten years- A prominent crocodile expert who appeared on ABC will spend the next six years behind bars after admitting to the “sadistic” torture and sexual abuse of more than 42 dogs. Adam Robert Corden Britton, 51, was sentenced before Darwin Supreme Court on Thursday to 10 years and five months behind bars with a non-parole period of six years. Britton, who worked as a croc expert with David Attenborough on the BBC as well as National Geographic, was also sentenced for the possession of child abuse material. It comes two years after Britton’s arrest and almost a year after he was found guilty, but was slammed as “pathetically weak” by Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst. “These were horrific acts of animal cruelty. There is a well-researched link between violence towards animals and violence towards people,” Ms Hurst said in a statement. “This man is a danger to other animals and the community. I am relieved to hear his sentence includes time behind bars … but it is not long enough.” According to the facts, Britton would refer to the cruelty as “ZooSadism” and posted to Telegram groups such as “New Wicked Kennel”, which had 15 users. In an online chat, Britton referred to his “torture room” and what implements he would use, including a bread knife, before adding that: “I can’t stop myself hurting dogs. “I am going to get another dog to kill tomorrow. I plan to hurt it, a lot. I am ridiculously excited about it,” he said.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 5

>>21386175 Adam Britton:NT crocodile expert sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for bestiality and animal cruelty crimes- Adam Britton, a once-celebrated zoologist, remained expressionless as he was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison, with a non-parole period of six years, for the rape, torture and murder of dozens of dogs. His sentence was backdated to his arrest in April 2022. Britton has been on remand at the Darwin Correctional Centre since his arrest, and has faced multiple delays to sentencing since pleading guilty to 60 charges of bestiality, animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material last year. On Thursday afternoon, in front of a packed gallery in the Northern Territory Supreme Court, as Chief Justice Michael Grant detailed what he described as Britton's "grotesque" and "unspeakable" crimes against animals, the distress in the courtroom was palpable. Like at previous court appearances, Justice Grant warned that the details had the potential to cause "nervous shock or some other adverse psychological reactions" and excused court officers. While Adam Britton marketed himself as an acclaimed crocodile expert and researcher, appearing in National Geographic and in documentaries alongside David Attenborough, he concealed a disturbing double life systematically torturing animals for years. Britton sourced 42 dogs from online classifieds giant Gumtree between 2020 and 2022, promising dog owners - who were often reluctantly giving their pets away due to travel or work commitments — that he would give them a "good home". He then filmed himself raping and killing them in a shipping container he called his "torture room" on his rural property on the outskirts of Darwin. On the free messenger service Telegram, Britton discussed his kill count and uploaded videos of his murders under the pseudonyms 'Monster' and 'Cerberus'. Justice Grant said Britton's communications with other users on Telegram incited violence, and said it was "manifestly clear" that he derived "perverse pleasure and excitement from the suffering of these animals". "Your conduct on each of those occasions involved a degree of depravity and reprehensibility which falls entirely outside any ordinary human conception and comprehension," Justice Grant said.

>>21386240 Adam Britton:British croc expert jailed for sexual abuse of dogs- A renowned British crocodile expert has been jailed for 10 years and five months in Australia, after admitting to sexually abusing dozens of dogs, in a case which horrified the nation. Adam Britton, a leading zoologist who has worked on BBC and National Geographic productions, pleaded guilty to 56 charges relating to bestiality and animal cruelty. The Northern Territory (NT) Supreme Court heard the 53-year-old filmed himself torturing the animals until almost all died, and then shared the videos online under pseudonyms. His abuse went unnoticed for years, until a clue was found in one of his videos. Britton was arrested in April 2022 after a search of his rural Darwin property, which also uncovered child abuse material on his laptop. Much of the detail of Britton's crimes are too graphic to publish, and so "grotesque" Chief Justice Michael Grant warned the courtroom they could cause "nervous shock". As the facts of the case were read aloud, some members of the public rushed outside. Others watching from the gallery cried and mouthed insults at Britton. He at times hung his head and reached for tissues. Born in West Yorkshire, Britton grew up in the UK before moving to Australia more than 20 years ago to work with crocodiles. With a PhD in zoology, he had built a global reputation for his expertise, even hosting Sir David Attenborough while the veteran broadcaster filmed part of the Life in Cold Blood docuseries on his property. Locals have told media he seemed like a quiet but passionate defender of animals. But he was harbouring a "sadistic sexual interest" in them, court documents say. In reality, he was abusing the animals in a shipping container on his property that had been fitted out with recording equipment - which he called his "torture room" - before sharing footage of his crimes online using aliases. He was only caught after uploading a clip in which he tortured at least eight dogs - all except one were puppies - which was passed on to NT police in an anonymous tip-off. Britton usually went to great lengths to avoid identifying himself or his location in his videos, but in this one a bright orange City of Darwin dog leash could be seen in the background. Within weeks, in April 2022, police swooped on his property and arrested Britton, who has been remanded in custody ever since.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 6

>>21396446 ‘He could’ve been stopped’: State pays $34m compensation to survivors of paedophile teacher - Survivors of a paedophile teacher who was moved around Victorian schools for decades received up to $34 million compensation from the state government - the highest payout linked to a state school offender. Vincent Henry Reynolds was jailed in 2019 after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 38 children over three decades at state primary schools across north and central Victoria. The 83-year-old is serving a 12-year sentence and will be eligible for parole after spending nine years behind bars. The $34 million in compensation paid to his victims is the most the department has paid out in relation to a single perpetrator. But one man, abused by Reynolds as a schoolboy and who did not wish to be named, told The Age that the damage could not be measured in monetary terms. “It’s lives lost, education abandoned, health and happiness destroyed,” the survivor said. “He could have been stopped, and we could have been spared. It’s heartbreaking.” Rightside Legal partner Grace Wilson said mismanagement by education authorities over the years had allowed Reynolds to wreak havoc on many lives. “The mismanagement beggars belief. The cost to the state of repeatedly putting a sex offender back into the classroom is big, but the cost to the victims is much, much bigger,” Wilson said. The lawyer said the compensation helped many victims put their lives back together, but only to an extent. “Nothing can restore the childhood innocence they were robbed of.”

>>21409571 Notorious pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale admits more child sex abuse - Convicted pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has admitted more historical child sexual abuse in Victoria. Appearing in Bendigo Magistrates Court via video link from Port Phillip Prison, as he lay in his prison bed and propped up by three pillows, the frail 90-year-old pleaded guilty to eight additional sexual assault charges against children. He was facing 62 child sexual assault charges but 56 were withdrawn. The former Catholic priest, who had been too unwell to appear before his committal hearing previously, admitted six counts of indecently assaulting young males and two counts of buggery of two children who were aged under 14. The crimes were committed in the regional Victorian towns of Inglewood, Ballarat, Apollo Bay, Horsham and Mortlake between 1973 and 1981. "Are you guilty or not guilty, Mr Ridsdale," Magistrate Megan Aumair asked the accused on Wednesday. "I'm guilty," Ridsdale replied. Ridsdale is serving a maximum of 40 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and '80s while working as a Catholic priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria. He had a fall in November 2022 and was bed-ridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs and was recommended to be placed into palliative care in 2023. If he serves out his current maximum sentence, Ridsdale will be at least 100 years old.

>>21415088 Geelong man from secretive church pleads guilty to raping multiple boys - A member of a secretive and ultra-conservative Pentecostal church has pleaded guilty to raping and persistently sexually abusing multiple children in the Geelong area. Todd Hubers, 38, also known as Todd Hubers Van Assenraad, from East Geelong, was charged in January 2023 with a string of child abuse charges relating to nine boys, including the sexual penetration of two children who were aged under 12 years old. On Thursday, Hubers, a software engineer, stood for the County Court via video link from remand at Ravenhall Correctional Centre and uttered the word “guilty” after each of the 16 charges. The court heard that between 2016 and 2023 Hubers sexually penetrated and touched boys aged 16 and two boys aged under 12, multiple times, and performed indecent acts in front of other children. The court heard the crimes took place at various locations around the Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula areas including at public swimming pools and on one occasion inside play equipment. Hubers is a member of the controversial Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), where sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he taught religion and music within the assembly. The Age has previously spoken to more than a dozen former GRC members who raised serious allegations about a range of incidents stemming from their years inside the church. These include alleged incidents of sexual abuse not being reported to police, claims of brutal physical punishments on children, pressure on members not to seek medical treatment for serious illnesses in the belief that prayer would be sufficient, and the forced separation of families if a member decides to leave the church.

#36 - Part 112

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 7

>>21415105 Identities of abusers should be listed on church websites, WA child sexual abuse inquiry finds - The names of known child abusers should be published prominently on church websites and the WA government should create a centrally accessible list of all known perpetrators, an inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse has urged. The Community Development and Justice Standing Committee handed down its final report on Thursday after examining the support available to survivors of institutional child abuse. It found the Catholic Church and other religious entities had prioritised their own institutional and financial wellbeing over the needs of those that had been abused by their members. "Institutions that maintain an unholy wall of silence can only be doing so as a strategy to limit their financial liability rather than providing just outcomes for victim/survivors," the committee said in its report. "Transparency would be a game changer." The committee singled out the Christian Brothers, accusing them of moral failure by trying to hide information on the abuse of children under their care to protect their financial viability. It claimed they refused to attend the inquiry - despite every effort made to accommodate them - giving reasons "that did not bear scrutiny". "It is the conspiracy of secrecy and institutional denial around abuse that not only adds to the trauma suffered by those who were abused but also obstructs their path to justice," committee member Christine Tonkin told state parliament on Thursday.

>>21489976 Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed sentenced to 17 years in jail for sexual abuse of hundreds of victims - A sex predator who pretended to be a teenage YouTube star to blackmail hundreds of children into performing sexual acts has been sentenced to 17 years in jail. In handing down her sentence in the District Court of WA on Tuesday, Judge Amanda Burrows said the volume of offences was of such magnitude there was "no comparable case … I can find in Australia". Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed, 29, targeted children in Australia and overseas by pretending to be a 15-year-old social media influencer with a large following. He would approach children online in that guise, sending them pictures of the online star and initially asking innocuous questions to gain their trust. The court heard that then escalated to sexually explicit "fantasies" he asked them to approve of, while also asking them for pictures of themselves he could "rate". He threatened to send screenshots of their responses to friends and family unless they performed increasingly extreme sexual acts – including those involving family pets and other young siblings or children in the home. In sentencing, Judge Burrows said those offences were "of a degrading, humiliating nature [and] the conduct involving a family pet was particularly abhorrent". The court heard Rasheed would set a "countdown" timer, threatening to distribute the responses and further images he had made of them if they didn't comply with his demands. Judge Burrows said Rasheed's offending was aggravated by the fact he abused a number of the victims with groups of other adults, inviting other paedophiles to watch live streams while he directed children to perform the distressing acts.

>>21492766 Video: AFP to take on cyberscam kingpins fleecing Australians of billions - The Australian Federal Police is taking on cyber scam syndicates netting billions of dollars a year from unsuspecting Australians in a new global operation using the same sophisticated tactics that have helped bring down some of the nation’s most-wanted offshore criminals. Operation Firestorm will focus on disrupting online criminal networks operating out of Southeast Asia and Eastern ­Europe that fleeced Australians out of $2.74bn last year, and restraining the assets of syndicate crime bosses, The Australian has been told. It will also seek to disrupt human trafficking networks that The Australian revealed in an investigation in May had already tricked tens of thousands of workers into forced criminality in cyber slave factories operating across Southeast Asia. The global initiative is being welcomed by enforcement agencies across Southeast Asia, where increasingly sophisticated, Chinese-run criminal networks are generating more revenue than the regional drug trade. The operation will be run out of the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Co-ordination Centre (JPC3) in Sydney, which brings together law enforcement and key industry partners including Austrac and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in the fight against cybercrime. It will involve extensive co-­operation and intelligence sharing with partners worldwide to reach criminals fleecing Australians.

#36 - Part 113

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 8

>>21494425 ‘Leader of the Pack’: Inmate allegedly led child sex abuse ring from prison - A woman who called herself “leader of The Pack” was allegedly directing a child abuse ring from inside a NSW prison, police say. Jessica Isabelle Rose, 31, a transgender woman formerly known as Dean Angus Bell, allegedly directed a group of inmates who called themselves “The Pack” to share letters detailing the sexual abuse of children and plans to abuse more children in the future. The group allegedly wrote accounts based on real-life experiences of abusing children, as well as assaults they planned to commit after release - with murder allegedly mentioned in one of the stories. The group allegedly passed the stories between them at Junee Correctional Centre. Police became aware of the alleged child abuse ring in April as part of Strike Force Edits, which was established to uncover the distribution of child abuse material in NSW prisons. Sex crimes detectives identified the group of inmates as part of their investigation and arrested Rose at Junee Correctional Centre on Tuesday. The size of “The Pack” will form part of investigations, but police believe a significant number of inmates could be involved, due to the amount of child abuse material allegedly being created. The priority for police was to arrest the alleged leader and disperse the group, with more arrests expected in the near future. Rose was taken to Wagga Wagga police station and charged with eight counts of producing child abuse material, eight counts of disseminating the material, and knowingly directing a criminal group. Bail was not applied for and was formally refused. She will next face court on October 23.

>>21494429 Former Sydney swimming coach Dick Caine revealed as serial paedophile - Former elite swimming coach Dick Caine has been revealed as a serial paedophile after a judge found he had sexually abused six underage students, and lifted an order concealing his identity to the applause of his victims. Caine, who was head coach at the Carss Park swimming pool in Sydney’s south for decades, pleaded not guilty to 39 charges against girls aged 10 to 16 across the 1970s and 1980s. The 78-year-old did not appear for a single day of his lengthy judge-alone special hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after he was previously deemed unfit to face a criminal trial due to health reasons. The court heard that Caine was in palliative care in hospital. Delivering his long-awaited judgment, Judge Paul McGuire found “on the limited evidence available, the accused committed the offence charged” on all 39 counts against all six victims, some of whom attended court and welcomed the outcome as “closure”. Caine’s offending includes multiple counts of indecent assault of a child and unlawful carnal knowledge of a pupil, a form of sexual assault. McGuire found Caine had a tendency to have a particular state of mind, being a sexual interest in prepubescent and pubescent females, and to act on that in a particular way, including touching their breasts, forcing oral sex, digital penetration and sexual intercourse with girls for whom he was a swimming coach. “I find that none of the complainants consented to any of the sexual contact, and that the accused knew that none of them consented,” the judge said. Caine’s offending occurred in the pool sauna, gym, female toilets, his office, home and car. The court heard his victims had “genuine” hopes of competing in the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. But after the coach’s abuse, one victim had disposed of her collection of sporting memorabilia and trophies. Another victim had received annual Christmas cards from Caine, and found them “to be a reminder of the accused’s previous threat for her to keep quiet”.

#36 - Part 114

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 9

>>21507224 NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon charged with child sex offences; quits party, parliament - NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon has quit his party and his seat after he was charged by police with historic child sex offences, allegations he says he will deny in court. Mr Amon, the representative for the state electorate of Pittwater appeared before Magistrate Lisa Stapleton at Manly Local Court on Friday afternoon. The charges relate to an alleged sexual assault in Mona Vale in July 2017, in which Mr Amon allegedly assaulted a teenage boy who was known to him. Mr Amon was charged with five counts of sexual intercourse with a person over 10 and under 14 years, two charges of indecent assault of a person under 16 years, one charge of commit act of indecency with a person under 16 years and two charges of attempting sexual intercourse child with a child over 10 under 14. “Following extensive inquiries, a 35-year-old man was arrested at Manly Police Station about 6am today,” a NSW Police spokesperson said. “In March 2023, Strike Force NOORAL was established to investigate the incident.” The taskforce investigation began the same month Mr Amon was elected to parliament, he is the opposition assistant youth spokesperson. All ten alleged incidents took place between June 1 and late July in Mona Vale. The teenage boy, according to court documents, was 13 years old at the time of Mr Amon’s alleged sexual offences. Born Roderick Gilmore Amon, he joined the Northern Beaches Council in September 2017, meaning the alleged assault predates his political career by two months. Prior to local politics he worked as a family law solicitor with a specialty in domestic and family violence.

>>21520935 Daycare paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith pleads guilty to sexually abusing dozens of children in Brisbane and Italy - A former Queensland childcare worker has pleaded guilty to raping, sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of girls under his care. Ashley Paul Griffith was arraigned on more than 300 charges in the District Court in Brisbane today. The offences against around 60 children happened between 2003 and 2022 at early learning centres in Brisbane and Italy. Several victims and their families were in court, with some parents crying as the names of their children were read out. The parents of one of the young victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, described the "horrific" moment they were told their daughter had been sexually abused. They said they thought police were contacting them about another incident at the daycare centre. Instead, they were asked to identify their child from a photo. "We see people going in [to the daycare centre now], and I [think], this happened to my child in that room," the child's mother said. "It’s a room of horrors." The child's father said it was "hard to believe" how someone could "get away with something like that for so long". The couple said they decided to tell their daughter about what happened to her, but she's still very young and doesn't entirely understand. "As she grows up, we'll deal with that as it comes but it’s going to be something we deal with through our lives now," the child’s father said. "It was good that [he pleaded guilty] and we can move onto the next step now."

>>21521002 Video: Brisbane childcare rapist unseen for years in 'broken' system - The parents of one of dozens of young girls raped by a childcare worker say the system is broken and they can't fathom how he got away with prolific offending over years in a "room full of horrors". Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, today pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to more than 300 child sex offences including 28 charges of rape, as well as ongoing sexual abuse and making child exploitation material. Griffith committed the crimes at childcare centres in multiple Brisbane suburbs over a span of more than 19 years. The parents of one of the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, spoke outside court after Griffith spent more than two hours entering his pleas to each individual charge. "We certainly feel there's something broken in the system," the victim's father said. "How someone like that could get away with that for so long, it's hard to believe it's being run as effectively as it could be". The victim's mother said she wanted to stand outside the childcare centre where her daughter was attacked in order to warn other parents. "It happened to my child in that room. It's a room full of horrors," she said. The mother said her complaint about Griffith's behaviour in 2018 was not acted upon and she accused the centre of being run "as a business, not as a place that was looking after children".

#36 - Part 115

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 10

>>21525868 ‘Never free this predator’: parents’ plea on pedophile childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith after pleading guilty to 306 child abuse charges - The parents of a little girl preyed upon by Australia’s worst alleged pedophile have been joined by a leading abuse advocate in calling for the former childcare worker to never be released after he pleaded guilty to more than 300 child abuse charges. Ashley Paul Griffith appeared in Brisbane’s District Court on Monday before a courtroom packed with families of young girls he abused over 15 years as he moved between Queensland, NSW and Italy. Griffith accepted 28 counts of rape against at least 12 children, 190 counts of unlawfully and indecently dealing with a child and 67 counts of making child exploitation material. He also pleaded guilty to 15 counts of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, four counts of producing child abuse material outside of Australia, one count of distributing child abuse material outside of Australia, one count of using a carriage service for child pornography material and one count of possessing child exploitation material. A man and woman whose daughter was allegedly abused by Griffith said life in prison was not long enough for the man who had been so prolific in his abuse. “It’s a little bit disappointing that life is probably not as long as we’d like, especially if there’s any kind of parole element to that,” said the father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his child.

>>21530701 Queensland Police asked to reinvestigate failed complaints about pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith - The Queensland Police Minister has demanded a new internal investigation into officers’ handling of complaints about a childcare worker’s behaviour with young girls before he was unmasked as Australia’s worst pedophile. After Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty to more than 300 charges of child exploitation on Monday, Labor government minister Mark Ryan ordered Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski to conduct another review of how two complaints made to officers in 2021 and ’22 were handled. An internal review was previously completed by police, which found the matters were appropriately investigated and the claims could not be substantiated. Mr Ryan said it was important nothing else could be learned. “The level of trauma he has inflicted upon so many is almost beyond comprehension,” Mr Ryan said. “Notwithstanding this matter having been previously reviewed, I have asked the commissioner if this matter could be examined again. If any improvements or learnings can be identified, then it is my expectation they should be implemented as soon as possible.” A former co-worker of Griffith, Yolanda Borucki, 60, alerted police in August 2021 to an incident involving the man and a child. However, investigators said there was insufficient evidence to lay charges. Within weeks, he returned to the centre before moving on to two other facilities in neighbouring northside suburbs in early 2022. A separate investigation was undertaken by Queensland Police in April 2022, but no details are known. In that time, he assaulted several other young girls before his arrest that August.

>>21547193 ‘He got me when I was young’: The brave evidence of Dick Caine’s victims - One of Sydney swimming coach Dick Caine’s victims was just 10 when she was first sexually abused by the man her parents had considered the “ants pants”. More than four decades later, when news of Caine’s arrest broke in 2022, the woman cried as she told her husband: “He got me when I was young.” Caine’s identity was covered by a non-publication order as six complainants gave evidence during his judge-alone special hearing from June to August in Downing Centre District Court. That veil of secrecy was lifted last week after Judge Paul McGuire found, on the limited evidence available, Caine had committed 39 offences of child sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Caine, 78, was deemed unfit to face a traditional trial due to health reasons. His lawyers in 2022 said he had terminal cancer, that he would probably not make Christmas 2023, and now claim he is in palliative care. His victims are outraged Caine did not front up to a single day of proceedings and is not in custody. This is what they told Caine’s hearing, according to the judge’s 132-page summary of evidence published after the verdicts.

#36 - Part 116

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 11

>>21551369 Adam Britton:NT crocodile expert’s depraved childhood interest in animals- A one-time prominent crocodile expert outed as a depraved torturer and killer of dogs had only ever been sexually attracted to animals, court documents reveal. Adam Robert Corden Britton had sexually abused, brutalised and killed at least 39 dogs in less than two years before he was finally tracked down by authorities in April 2022. The former senior research associate at Charles Darwin University sourced these animals from sites including Gumtree, promising them a “good home” He regularly filmed himself carrying out acts a judge described as being of “sheer deviancy and brutality”, and uploaded them to bestiality sharing platforms under the pseudonyms ‘Monster’ and “Cerberus’. Britton, 53, was sentenced to 10 years and five months, with a non-parole period of six years, on August 10 after pleading guilty to 56 offences. In beginning his sentence remarks, Chief Justice Michael Grant warned they would include “graphic descriptions of what can only be described as grotesque depravity and cruelty towards animals”. He believed some of the facts he had to read to the court had the potential to “cause nervous shock” or other physiological reactions. Much of the detail included in the judgment are too grotesque and disturbing to report.

>>21551377 Adam Britton's lifelong lie:Crocodile expert who raped and tortured pet dogs was NEVER attracted to humans despite his 16-year marriage- A depraved zoologist who was jailed for a decade for filming the rape and torture of pet dogs was never attracted to humans, despite his 16-year marriage, and fantasised about animals from the age of six. Adam Robert Corden Britton, 53, was this month sentenced to 10 years and five months behind bars, with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his April 2022 arrest. UK-born Britton, who moved to Darwin to pursue his zoology career, pleaded guilty to 63 charges of animal abuse, bestiality, and possession of child exploitation material. He sourced the dogs from Gumtree Australia over a two-year period for the sole purpose of torturing them to death on camera, but would tell the former owners their pets were enjoying their new home. The dogs were usually already dead by the time updates were given to their old owners. Most were horrifically abused and slowly murdered within a few days. On Thursday, sentencing remarks by NT Chief Justice Michael Grant were released by the Northern Territory Supreme Court. The 42-page document, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, gives a horrifying insight into Britton's privileged childhood which was marred with depraved sexual fantasies - such as sneaking into paddocks at the age of ten to hug horses and eat their hair. The judge said Britton's had an 'unusual' interest in animals from the age of six, when he would watch videos of animals defecating and urinating and fantasised about being immersed in cow faeces. The sentencing remarks also outlined Britton's lifelong struggle with the socio-sexual disorder, paraphelia and zoosadism. Britton was never attracted to humans and struggled to have proper relationships with women when he was a university student in Hong Kong and the UK. He had two female partners, but they were not sexual relationships.

>>21551386 SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - R v ADAM BRITTON - Sentencing Remarks -The choice to know will ultimately be yours.- https://supremecourt.nt.gov.au/_resources/documents/sentencing-remarks/html?url=https://supremecourt.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/rtf_file/0010/1439632/Britton_08082024_22212255_sen_net.rtf

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 12

>>21556741 Ashley Griffith arrest: Don’t admit liability, church managers told as police traced sex abuse victims - Uniting Church managers were told by their internal insurance expert that they were not to admit any liability as police investigated the nation’s worst case of child abuse in daycare, involving the rape and sexual abuse of at least 91 girls in Queensland, NSW and Italy by childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith. A raft of new documents leaked to The Australian also raise more serious questions about how authorities handled a complaint against Griffith after he appeared to have been seen kissing a sleeping girl at a Brisbane childcare centre 10 months before his arrest. A local station’s police sergeant was initially assigned to the complaint, and a specialist child protection squad had still not contacted a church manager four days later to take up the investigation, it can now be revealed. After being cleared by police and the church over the complaint, Griffith went on to rape at least one more girl and sexually abused three others before his arrest in an unrelated investigation. He pleaded guilty in the District Court in Brisbane last Monday to 307 charges. Queensland police maintain an internal review cleared officers over their handling of the complaint and of another later one against Griffith, but there are calls for a broad independent inquiry into how he was able to abuse girls for almost two full decades.

>>21561874 Child rapist Ashley Griffith’s evil act after redundancy notice - The nation’s worst pedophile, Ashley Paul Griffith, singled out and raped a little girl at a Uniting Church daycare centre in Brisbane in the weeks after he was told he was being made redundant and four months after a complaint about him “kissing” a girl at the same centre was dismissed, court records indicate. His devastating abuse of the girl, a new victim he is not known to have previously assaulted, on his way out of the daycare centre can be revealed as calls grow for an independent and public inquiry into how he was able to abuse children for almost two full decades. On Monday, March 14, 2022, the church’s early learning operations manager Yolanda Borucki informed Griffith his position had been made redundant, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Nine days later, on March 23, 2022, Griffith submitted a letter of resignation from the centre, and on March 31 he emailed families announcing he had resigned. In this same period, he struck a new victim. Among the hundreds of shocking charges Griffith pleaded guilty to in Brisbane’s District Court last week, five related to the rape, abuse and recording of a girl between March 23 and April 1, 2022. The charges are listed as occurring in the same suburb as the Uniting Church childcare centre. He then went on to abuse at least three more girls at other Brisbane daycare centres before his arrest in an unrelated investigation, according to the charges he pleaded guilty to. It can also be revealed one of the most senior leaders of the Uniting Church in Queensland took just 43 minutes to approve Griffith’s redundancy, after he was earlier cleared of kissing a sleeping girl at the same centre. Reverend Heather den Houting was then the general secretary of the church and had been involved in managing a report from a co-worker that Griffith was seen on top of a little girl during nap time and that his “mouth was moving along her mouth” in October 2021. Both police and an internal church investigation found he had no case to answer in November 2021.

#36 - Part 118

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 13

>>21575883 Western Bulldogs set to face second legal claim over historical sexual abuse - The Western Bulldogs are facing a second potentially devastating legal action over alleged abuse by a convicted pedophile who volunteered at the club. The alleged victim, now 51, claims he was abused by child predator Graeme Hobbs in 1987 after meeting him at Whitten Oval. Hobbs’ first victim, Adam Kneale, was awarded $5.9 million in November 2023, after the club stalwart had admitted abusing him, was jailed and the Bulldogs were found negligent in protecting him from harm. The landmark judgement was hailed as an “earthquake” in Australia’s legal system, with the sum dwarfing previous compensation payouts to abuse survivors. It was also the first successful claim against an AFL club. Kneale was aged 11 when the “jack of all trades” Hobbs first raped him at the ground in 1984. The Western Bulldogs have challenged the negligence verdict in the Kneale case, with the hearing scheduled to start in the Court of Appeal on Friday. But a second alleged victim - a schoolmate of Kneale – has now claimed in Supreme Court documents he too was befriended and abused by Hobbs at the club and off-site. He alleged Hobbs twice took him, when he was 14, from the club to an Essendon house where he was abused. On one occasion, he alleged he was forced to watch Hobbs rape Kneale, while another time he claimed he was asked to strip naked and Hobbs tried to rape him. Hobbs, who is now dead, was a club volunteer, fundraiser and under 19s training staff member. Rightside Legal partner Michael Magazanik, who represents Kneale and the alleged second victim, said both abuse survivors were committed to holding the club to account. “Both of my clients have lived with their shocking consequences of their abuse for decades,’’ Mr Magazanik said. “It has caused mental illness, torment and suffering. Hobbs and his pedophile friends were convicted and jailed but that doesn’t give their victims their lives back. “That’s why both my clients want justice from the Western Bulldogs and it’s why the jury (in the first case), six Victorians chosen at random, thought justice was required.’’

>>21582871 Video: Uniting Church set cops on Ashley Griffith abuse informer - The Uniting Church accused a whistleblowing manager of damaging its reputation and future profitability for going to the media about Australia’s worst pedophile, Ashley Paul Griffith, before pursuing a complaint against her with police. A leaked “show cause” notice sent to the church’s early learning operations manager, Yolanda Borucki, accuses her of likely causing “significant reputational damage” and “significant damage to ongoing profitability” for emailing confidential and sensitive information to a journalist at Nine Network’s A Current Affair. Eleven days after the notice, acting on a complaint from the church, police raided Ms Borucki’s home on Brisbane’s bayside, seized her phones and devices and charged her with computer hacking for allegedly using a restricted computer without the church’s consent. Ms Borucki, 60, was charged despite still being employed by the church when she allegedly ­accessed the ­information, and having possession of her work phone, computer and car and the ability to log into her emails. The grandmother allegedly used her work email and a work device to forward the ­material. Queensland police were declining to answer questions about past complaints against Griffith when Ms Borucki appeared on the national television program in August last year. She revealed that in October 2021 a co-worker at a Uniting Church childcare centre in Brisbane reported stumbling across Griffith leaning over a sleeping girl in an outdoor fort, “basically kissing her”. Police and the church cleared Griffith and dismissed the complaint. Griffith went on to rape another little girl from the same centre in his final week there after being told his position was being made redundant, court records indicate. Subsequently, he abused three more girls at other centres before his arrest in an unrelated police investigation in August 2022. The Uniting Church has said it is “deeply saddened and sorry that harm was done at one of our facilities”.

#36 - Part 119

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 14

>>21589845 Western Bulldogs fight multimillion-dollar payout to child sex abuse survivor, claim jury was ‘misled’ - The Western Bulldogs claim a jury that awarded a “startling” $5.9m to child sex abuse survivor Adam Kneale, assaulted for years at Whitten Oval by a club volunteer and pedophile, was “misled”. The footy club has demanded a jury verdict finding it was negligent for abuse committed by star fundraising volunteer Graeme ‘Chops’ Hobbs be thrown out, or the multimillion-dollar compensation payout to the predator’s victim be slashed. The pedophile, now dead, was jailed after admitting to abusing Mr Kneale for six years from the age of 11. During his civil trial in October 2023, Mr Kneale gave evidence he was sexually assaulted at the Bulldogs’ home-ground more than 40 times. The appeal fight is set to be closely watched by a second alleged victim who has launched fresh legal action against the club, also for abuse at the hands of Hobbs at Whitten Oval in the 1980s. In the Court of Appeal on Friday, the Bulldogs’ high profile barrister Bret Walker SC labelled the award - the highest amount handed to an abuse survivor in Australia - as “genuinely startling”. “It speaks for itself as to its excessiveness,” said the lawyer, who charges north of $25,000 a day. The Bulldogs were ordered by the jury to pay Mr Kneale $3.25m for pain and suffering alone, with Court of Appeal judge Justice David Beach stating he was “not aware” of any other cases where general damages were assessed at more than $1m. Barrister Sam Hay KC, for Mr Kneale, conceded “the award is high” but that it could be “indicative of the way the general public views the nature of this abuse”.

>>21648351 Victims warned WA’s worst serial sex predator could be released - Victims of WA’s worst serial sex predator Dennis John McKenna are reeling after being told the child abuser could be released from prison in two months. Department of Justice letters have been sent to a number of men preyed upon by McKenna, while they boarded as students at St Andrew’s Hostel in Katanning some time between 1975 and 1990. “I am writing to offer you the opportunity to discuss any concerns or queries you may have about future contact with an offender,” the letter reads. “The Prisoners Review Board is required to consider Mr McKenna for possible release on parole. I would like to speak with you regarding your thoughts on this matter. The offender’s date of parole eligibility is 17 November, 2024.” Those notified of the parole date can now make a written submission to the department’s Victim offender Mediation Unit. Since 1991, McKenna has been handed jail sentences on three occasions after police investigations highlighted more victims from his reign of terror as the hostel’s warden. When combined, McKenna was sentenced to 22 years behind bars for 65 offences against 29 boys. The most recent punishment came in 2013, when the now 79-year-old was convicted of a further 34 child sex crime offences. His systemic abuse at the Katanning facility, used to accommodate the children of farming families attending the town’s high school, resulted in a 2012 inquiry and report titled St Andrew’s Hostel: How the System and Society Failed our Children. But those who survived McKenna’s molestation never want to see him free again. “He’s a rapist, he’s a paedophile, and there’s no way he should be let out,” survivor Michael Hilder told Radio 6PR.

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Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 15

>>21653844 Convicted pedophile, Olympic swim coach Dick Caine dead at 78 -Convicted pedophile Dick Caine, the former Sydney swimming coach found to have raped six students under his care, has died in hospital following a terminal cancer diagnosis. Caine, 78, was spared jail and deemed unfit to appear physically in court due to his poor health following his arrest in June 2022. His ongoing trial was kept under wraps by a gag order, prompted by fears among Caine’s legal representation he would attempt suicide if the details of the trial were widely reported. The order was lifted upon his conviction. He was found to have sexually abused six girls aged 10 to 16 in the 1970s through to the 1980s during his career as an Olympic and world champion swim coach at Carss Park swimming pool in Sydney’s south. All 39 charges brought against Caine were proven in a hearing before Judge Paul McGuire at the Downing Centre District Court between June and August this year. Caine’s next hearing remains listed for December 6, though a District Court representative said they anticipated the matter would be relisted in the wake of his death. His six victims were due to provide victim impact statements. He died on Wednesday morning, having reportedly survived past a prior prognosis anticipating he would be dead in the months following his 2022 arrest. In court, his wife Jennifer alleged he had lung and throat cancer for which he was in palliative care with “maybe six months” to live. Caine also suffered from dementia, with his defence arguing further public scrutiny placed him at risk of stroke and heart attack. He was released on bail following charges. In Caine’s judge-only trial, he was found to have raped his victims in the pool’s sauna, office and bathrooms, also sexually assaulting his victims at a hotel, in his car and at his home.

>>21711060 ‘It empowers others’: Former Australian under-19s captain speaks out on abuse allegation - A former juniors Australian captain who is suing Cricket Australia over a historical allegation of sexual abuse says he has come forward “to call out both those who take advantage of the vulnerable and the organisations who protect them”. Dean Reynolds led Australia on the 1985 under-19s tour to India and Sri Lanka, where he has alleged he was sexually touched by the coach Bob Bitmead. He filed a statement of claim in the Queensland Supreme Court in July that seeks damages of more than $4 million from CA. Bitmead has previously denied the allegation. CA has lodged its defence, denying all of Reynolds’ claims. CA’s defence denies that Bitmead abused Reynolds and then says: “The claim is excessive and has no proper regard to the evidence; and, any injury resulting from the subject incident (which is denied) has resolved.” CA’s defence also argues that “the nature and extent of any duty of care owed by the defendant (CA), or by Bitmead, which is not admitted, is a question of law to be determined by trial”. The case is set down for mediation on November 14. Now 57, Reynolds was interviewed as part of a 2022 investigation of the tour by the ABC, an episode that led him to reconsider his own experiences in 1985 and afterwards. “I am sharing my story now because I seek closure and feel it is important to demonstrate bravery in speaking out against authority figures who have acted wrongly,” Reynolds told this masthead. “I know I am not the first or the last, but it’s important to call out both those who take advantage of the vulnerable and the organisations who protect them, either directly or by choosing to look the other way.”

#36 - Part 121

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 16

>>21718411 Former Marist College student preparing to sue over alleged canings and other corporal punishments in 1970s - A former Canberra Marist College student is preparing to sue over the canings and other corporal punishments he allegedly received as a young student in the early 1970s. The case against the Trustees of the Marist Brothers has been lodged with the ACT Supreme Court. In his statement of claim, the now 67-year-old described extraordinary incidents including being repeatedly struck on the hand with a metal ruler, caned on his hands until the cane broke, and caned on the back of the legs. He also alleged one teacher instructed him to hold out his hand while the teacher stood on the edge of a podium, raised the cane above his head and leapt off with all his weight to strike the student's hand. The man, who was first enrolled at the school as a 12-year-old and attended from 1970 to 1972, is being represented by Shine Lawyers. His statement of claim also alleges a sexual assault after a school play at the Canberra Theatre when he said he was left alone in a room with a man he did not know. In their submissions, the Trustees of the Marist Brothers questioned that allegation, saying there was no record of the school holding a production at the Canberra Theatre at the time. The man's lawyers have not mentioned any figures but said they were claiming negligence, saying the operators of the school owed the boy a duty of care to avoid the risks of harm. The claim suggests those running the school should have had a system for students to report misconduct, should have removed abusive teachers and staff from the school, and put a mandatory reporting system in place as well as ensuring students were not put in a position where they would be assaulted or be in fear of assault.

>>21718431 Australian Bishop Christopher Saunders pleads ‘not guilty’ to abuse charges - Bishop Christopher Saunders appeared in Australian court Monday to enter a plea of not guilty to 28 criminal charges, including allegations of sexual assault and indecent dealings with a minor. The former bishop of the Diocese of Broome stands accused of a long slate of alleged crimes of grooming and abusing young Aboriginal men over a period of eight years, beginning in 2008. Saunders, 74, confirmed to the court that he understood the charges and entered a plea of not guilty on all counts. He is due back in court for the next hearing in the case in January, having last appeared in June as his lawyer argued against a petition to change the bishop’s bail conditions. The bishop also faces several separate firearms charges, including illegal possession of a weapon. He did not enter a plea on those charges during the Sept. 30 hearing. Saunders was arrested in February of this year, following a January police raid on his former residence in the Diocese of Broome, carried out by Child Abuse Squad detectives. The bishop led the Diocese of Broome in Western Australia until 2021, when he resigned citing “ill health” amid allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming against young Aboriginal men. The bishop’s resignation followed a decision to step back from governance of the diocese in 2020, after accusations surfaced that he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of Church funds on gifts for vulnerable young men, including cash, phones, alcohol, and travel. The police investigation which led to the raid and the bishop’s arrest came after Church authorities handed over a 200-page investigation conducted into Saunders alleged misconduct, ordered by the Vatican in 2022, after a separate police investigation had been closed the previous year due to lack of evidence. In a statement at the time of Saunders’ arrest, Australian bishops’ conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth said that “It is right and proper, and indeed necessary, that all allegations be thoroughly investigated,” and promised that the Church would “cooperate fully with police and take every necessary step to avoid any actions which may compromise the integrity and autonomy of the police investigation.” Saunders now faces 28 criminal charges related to alleged sexual abuse, including two counts of rape and 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault related to alleged victimization of young Aboriginal men in towns throughout the diocese between 2008 and 2016.

#36 - Part 122

Child Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Human Trafficking and Satanism Investigations - Part 17

>>21739558 Beaumaris Primary School sexual abuse survivor reaches record $8 million settlement with Victorian government - A survivor of "shocking" sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school has received what his lawyer has called "the biggest publicly known payment to an abuse survivor in Australia" in an extraordinary $8 million settlement with the Victorian Education Department. The man, who was sexually abused by notorious paedophile Darrell Ray, was among a generation of students who suffered abuse in the 1960s and 70s at Beaumaris Primary School in bayside Melbourne. The man's lawyer, Michael Magazanik of Rightside Legal, said his client had been fighting for justice for most of his adult life and settled the claim a week before it was set to reach Victoria's Supreme Court. "He's been on this path for decades, first pushing for a criminal prosecution for lots of Ray's victims, and then his own fight for proper compensation," Mr Magazanik said. "Of course, it's been a rocky road for him and life hasn't been easy because he's been dealing with entrenched damage. Now he's got what he deserves and we're proud to have fought for him. It's the biggest publicly-known payment to an abuse survivor in Australia. It represents the shocking damage the abuse did and the cost of starting to repair my client's life, starting to put him back in the position he might have been in had the school kept him safe." Speaking to ABC Investigations, the man said he hoped his legal victory would inspire survivors who have lost faith in the justice system. "I'd strongly recommend that victims of sexual abuse get themselves a lawyer and not go down the National Redress path," the man said. "That's the main thing I'd want to get across to other survivors. Trust your lawyer and get what you deserve, not what the government wants to give you. For me, personally, an apology was never going to give me any closure. I was offered twice and said no. Other people might get closure from an apology, but I won't. And the money does not give me closure either - I will never get closure. I wouldn't still be here were it not for finding my faith. And that's not for everyone either. But I had to become a Christian to even have a remote chance of surviving and finding a better way of life."

>>21739573 Video: British YouTuber and rapper Yung Filly extradited to Perth to face allegations of rape - He is accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room on September 28th 2024. In 2021 Yung Filly was also accused of meeting and texting 17 year old girls when he was 26 and recently he was also seen biting women outside clubs (Allegedly). UPDATE: Yung Filly has been granted bail of $122,000, with conditions that require him to stay in Western Australia until his court appearance in December. He must also report to the police three times a week.