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#36 - Part 1

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 1

>>20895013 Video: ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM and Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over alleged war crimes. ICC prosecutor Karim AA Khan KC has made applications for the warrants, claiming he has reasonable grounds to believe Mr Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant bear responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israel-Gaza war. Arrest warrants have also been sought for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Both Israel and Hamas have previously dismissed allegations of war crimes. The prosecutor must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges, who take on average two months to consider the evidence and determine if the proceedings can move forward.

>>20895037 Australia backs ICC’s role but says ‘no equivalence between Israel and Hamas’ - The federal government has insisted there is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas while backing the International Criminal Court’s role upholding international law after its top prosecutor sensationally requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defence chief as well as three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes. In a notable divergence from US President Joe Biden, who blasted the requested warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sidestepped questions about the issue on Tuesday, prompting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to accuse him of “selling out Australia” by failing to back Israel. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson, responding on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, said: “Australia respects the ICC and the important role it has in upholding international law. “The decision on whether to issue arrest warrants is a matter for the court in the independent exercise of its functions. “It is not appropriate to comment on matters before the court.” The department spokesperson continued: “There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It is proscribed as such in Australia … Any country under attack by Hamas would defend itself. And in defending itself, every country is bound by the same fundamental rules. Israel must comply with international humanitarian law.”

>>20895062 Alexander Downer slams International Criminal Court over ‘outrageous’ arrest move - Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer has accused prosecutor Karim Khan of “destroying” the International Criminal Court in requesting arrest warrants of Israeli leaders alongside those of Hamas terrorists, and says he would, if still in government, withdraw from the court if judges proceed with prosecution. Mr Downer, who led Australia to joining the ICC under the Howard government, says Mr Khan has drawn a “moral equivalence” between Israel’s functioning democracy and a “terrorist organisation which is determined to destroy and kill the Jewish people and eliminate their country”. He said the decision to issue the warrants “makes me sick”, labelling the move as “so, so wrong” and saying he is “absolutely heartbroken” at what the ICC has become.

>>20899389 Labor senator Fatima Payman joins Melbourne uni protest - Under fire Labor senator Fatima Payman has shown up to support University of Melbourne students currently involved in the protest occupying one of the faculty buildings. Senator Payman last week broke rank with the Labor Party and accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza and called on the government to sanction Israel. The WA senator ended a speech last week with the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which was the catalyst for the phrase being condemned in a motion in parliament. It is unknown how much planning went into Senator Payman’s university visit with the senator seen talking with student activist leaders and posing for photos. In one picture she posed with student protesters in front of a Gaza solidarity encampment sign with her fist raised in the air.

#36 - Part 2

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 2

>>20899413 Jewish groups condemn Sydney bakery for Hamas-themed birthday party - A Sydney bakery is under fire for posting images of what appears to be a Hamas-themed birthday party, including cupcakes and cake decorated with images of a notorious terrorist. Oven Bakery by Fufu uploaded the photos to Instagram on Tuesday and then took them down when the posts were flooded with criticism. One of the images was of a boy dressed in the same red keffiyeh and camouflage jacket as the infamous terrorist depicted on the birthday cake - Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida. The boy was photographed mimicking the action as Obaida, with his finger pointed in front of his face just like the masked terrorist. Jewish groups were quick to condemn the bakery for promoting terrorism to young children. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the bakery and the parents of the child should be held accountable for “glorifying extremism”. “It takes a rare kind of psychosis to want to teach infant children that Hamas terrorists are to be admired and emulated,” Mr Ryvchin said.

>>20903622 ‘Terrorism pays’: Israeli fury as allies recognise Palestine - Israel has recalled its ambassadors from Ireland, Spain and Norway for “urgent consultations” after the three European nations ­announced they would formally recognise a Palestinian state. The co-orindated move prompted a furious response from Israel, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying: “Today’s decision sends a message to the Palestinians and the world: terrorism pays. “After the Hamas terror organisation carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, after committing heinous sexual crimes witnessed by the world, these countries chose to ­reward Hamas and Iran by recognising a Palestinian state. “This distorted step by these countries is an injustice to the memory of the victims of 7/10, a blow to efforts to return the 128 hostages, and a boost to Hamas and Iran’s jihadists, which undermines the chance for peace and questions Israel’s right to self-defence.” The three nations will formally recognise the state of Palestine on May 28.

>>20903643 Stand on the right side of history, rabbis implore Anthony Albanese - The nation’s leading rabbis - who were personally assured by Anthony Albanese he would “unequivocally fight anti-Semitism” - have implored him to show moral clarity and reject a bid to put Israel’s Prime Minister on trial, as Labor refused to say if it would ­arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot in Australia. The rabbis’ call came as Peter Dutton warned that a future Coalition government could cut ties with the International Criminal Court over its prosecutor’s bid to arrest Mr Netanyahu and his ­Defence chief Yoav Gallant alongside three Hamas terrorists. If the ICC issues the warrants, the Albanese government will be technically obligated to arrest the Israeli leaders if they travel to Australia. But a government source refused to speculate on such a possibility, saying “we don’t engage in hypotheticals”. Mr Dutton urged the Prime Minister to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with US President Joe Biden to condemn the warrants bid, as America flagged possible sanctions against the ICC. A day after Mr Albanese refused to comment on ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s warrants bid, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia respected the role of the court and the issuing of any warrants was “fundamentally an issue for the ICC”. But Dr Chalmers said there could be “no equivalence between Hamas, the terrorist organisation, and Israel”.

>>20908931 Vote with your feet, Peter Dutton urges students amid soaring anti-Semitism - Peter Dutton has urged students to vote with their feet and parents to speak out against indoctrination amid soaring anti-Semitism on campuses, as he warned Jewish leaders the Albanese government has “lost its moral compass”. In a closed-door speech at the Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction on Friday night, the Opposition Leader ramped-up calls by the Coalition, minor parties and independents for Anthony Albanese to order a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on university campuses. Ahead of parliament returning on Tuesday and Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser putting forward a private members’ bill for a judicial inquiry, Mr Dutton said the key to fighting anti-Semitism and indoctrination is “addressing the crisis in education”. “Nothing short of a societal-wide effort is needed to reject indoctrination and bring about a renaissance of education. Parents must speak out - because the disruption and brainwashing on campuses is affecting your children’s future,” Mr Dutton said.

#36 - Part 3

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 3

>>20908964 More chaotic than coherent on Israel: Anthony Albanese under fire on ICC - Anthony Albanese has refused to say whether Australia would ­enforce International Criminal Court arrest warrants against top Israeli officials, while declaring in a chaotic press conference that his government had adopted a “coherent” and “principled” position on the war in Gaza. The government has for days defended the ICC’s independence after the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, applied for warrants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his ­Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas terrorists for war crimes and crimes against ­humanity. Amid condemnation of the move by international leaders ­including Joe Biden, the Prime Minister would not commit to ­enforcing the warrants if they were issued and the Israeli leaders set foot in Australia. After initially declaring Australia would “make its own decisions”, Mr Albanese said he was not prepared to get ahead of the court. “I’m not about to go into hypotheticals about things that have not happened,” he said, amid repeated questions on the matter. Mr Albanese, who days earlier refused to comment on the warrants bid at all, said his government supported Israel’s right to defend itself, but “how it defends itself matters”.

>>20912404 Video: Jewish women call on Penny Wong to speak louder about the horrors of Hamas - Australian Jewish women have called on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to view the harrowing Hamas footage of bloodied female Israeli hostages and speak out on their behalf, saying violence against women is not an Israeli or a Palestinian issue but a human rights issue. Families of the five 19-year-old hostages released the shocking vision to highlight the plight of their daughters, who have been held captive by Hamas for 230 days. In it, the five women – Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, whose cousin Nikki Perzuck lives in Melbourne – lie terrified and bloodied as Hamas terrorists tie their hands, subject them to vicious abuse, and abduct them on October 7. One of the terrorists is heard telling the others: “Here are the girls who can get pregnant.” Another tells one of the women: “You are so beautiful.” Melbourne-based mother and Jewish community activist Lillian Kline led a group of five Jewish women to Parliament House in Canberra to call on the government to speak out on behalf of the women and the sexual violence used against women by Hamas. “What was done to these women can never be justified or swept up in political debates about the history of the conflict. These are ­horrific crimes against women inflicted by men” Ms Kline said. “Hamas have used rape and sexual torture to destroy these women in body and soul and to terrorise. We have a duty to save these five women plus the other 14 women still enslaved and being tortured by their male captors.” She called on Senator Wong and the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, to “lead the campaign to alert the world to their plight and to call for their immediate release”. “This is not an Israeli or Palestinian issue, it is a women’s issue and a basic human rights issue,” Ms Kline said.

>>20916892 Video: University of Sydney pro-Palestine ‘Trots’ ambush Jewish event, abuse former deputy prime minister - Pro-Palestine “Trots” behind encampments at Australia’s oldest university ambushed a Jewish organisation’s event dressed as terrorists and harassed former deputy prime minister John Anderson, peppering him with slurs and abuse. It has led to doxxing concerns and a police complaint in an escalation of the crisis engulfing some of Australia’s most prestigious universities. On Wednesday, activists from the “USYD Muslim Encampments” group - a spearhead behind the University of Sydney encampments - orchestrated a “Zoom bombing” of the Australian Jewish Association’s online event with former Nationals leader Mr Anderson, with one activist calling him a “c*nt. That activist, who hid behind a turned-off camera and a fake “Tony Abbott” name, hurled abuse at the former deputy prime minister, telling him to “shut the f*ck up” and “shut your mouth you old c*nt”. “You’re a bunch of Zionists, grubs … stop yapping,” the activist continued. Another accused him of being a “professional racist”.

#36 - Part 4

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 4

>>20921838 ‘Anti-Semitic’: Education Minister Jason Clare slams ‘Israel should not exist’ UniMelb protesters - Education Minister Jason Clare has slammed as “repugnant” and “anti-Semitic” a statement from pro-Palestine student protesters at the University of Melbourne that “Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist”. The ‘unimelbforpalestine’ Instagram account on Monday shared with its 20,000 followers a post that said “calls need to emphasise that Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist”. The account was sharing a post from Palestinian-American blogger Mariam Barghouti, who claimed on social media that “Israel has lost all legitimacy … No more simple calls for the end of bombs, no more calls to ceasefire, the calls need to emphasise that Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist”. Mr Clare, when contacted by The Australian, said of the comment: “it’s repugnant and anti-Semitic”. “There is no place for anti-Semitism on our university campuses or anywhere else,” he said.

>>20921874 ABC: Hamas rockets a ‘show of resilience’ - Jewish leaders have slammed the ABC for an “activist-like” Instagram post, which called the terror group’s rocket launch towards Tel Aviv a “show of resilience”. It comes after Hamas on Sunday launched rockets towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months, with warning signs heard in the Israeli city as the Israel Defence Forces confirmed eight projectiles launched from Rafah had been identified and a number intercepted. The “resilience” turn of phrase was included in a Monday morning Instagram post from the ABC News account, promoting a story about Israeli air strikes killing 35 people in Rafah. “The Israeli air strike was reported hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv,” the post read. “… In a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel’s massive air, sea and ground offensive.”

>>20926898 Threats, abuse, as Deborah Conway targeted by pro-Palestine protest at gig - A video has emerged of ugly scenes at a Hobart theatre as pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a performance by Jewish singer songwriter Deborah Conway, who accused those involved of “extreme intolerance”. Palestinian-flag bearing protesters demonstrated outside Hobart’s Playhouse Theatre on Saturday night and some then disrupted the performance inside. Conway, appearing alongside husband and musical collaborator Willy Zygier, had to repeatedly suspend the performance due to shouted questions, accusations and flag waving from protesters. A self-described “autonomous group of pro-Palestine protesters” said the theatre disruption was a response to “publicly hateful” statements Conway had made about Palestinian children. They said this included an ABC interview last year when, after being challenged to condemn the mass murder of Palestinian children, responded: “It depends on what you call kids.”

>>20937517 Fatima Payman resigns from parliamentary committees after ‘genocide’ comments - Fatima Payman has stepped down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised the Labor senator for using the controversial phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Payman accused Israel of conducting a genocide in Gaza, in a dramatic intervention two weeks ago, also calling for Australia to end trade with Israel, implement sanctions and immediately recognise a Palestinian state. Government sources confirmed that Payman had resigned from the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. “The government’s policy is clear - we support a two-state solution,” a government spokesperson said. Labor MPs said they did not believe Payman had been ordered to step down by government leadership, but had instead decided to do so herself to avoid being targeted by the Coalition and the Greens.

#36 - Part 5

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 5

>>20955138 No investigation into terror-praising preacher after bishop stabbing comments - A terror-praising Sydney preacher who applauded a teen for “standing up for prophet Mohammed” when he allegedly stabbed Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel will not be investigated by police, as political leaders said authorities have “to get serious” on hate speech. The Australian can reveal that a southwest Sydney cleric known only as “Brother Ismail” made the intervention on the alleged stabbing to a packed crowd at the Al Madina Dawah Centre in late May. But that praise does not fall foul of commonwealth legislation outlawing “praising” a terrorist act, with state police confirming it would not investigate the cleric. “These are our red lines and insults from a man (Bishop Emmanuel) followed by billions … it’s not a good idea, and this was the outcome and consequences,” the preacher said, referring to the Wakeley alleged terror incident on April 15. The sermon, posted to an online video platform, also appears to cut as Brother Ismail continues criticising the bishop and he lashed mainstream Islamic leaders for urging social cohesion in the wake of the attack. A NSW Police spokesman said: “the force has sought legal advice and it has been determined that the comments in question do not meet the (criminality) threshold”.

>>20959166 Video: ‘You are collaborating’: Wong attacks Greens over violent Gaza protests - Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has accused Greens politicians of collaborating with violent pro-Palestine protesters and inciting attacks on Labor MPs’ offices that have led to public servants being injured, a claim rejected by the Greens as a false smear. Questioned by Greens senator Jordon Steele-John earlier about whether the government had applied double standards by not imposing sanctions on Israel over its conduct in the war in Gaza, Wong said: “It is double standards to engage in violent and aggressive protests and incite them and think that you’re doing something about peace. “On social media, we have posts which target people personally, we have posts which are threatening and violent, and you are collaborating with them. That is not leadership. So if you think you are for the cause of peace, maybe you should start practising it in this country.” Wong said Greens MPs had spoken at rallies that led to Labor MPs’ offices being invaded and electorate staff being injured, as well as the storming of Labor’s Victorian state party conference in May.

>>20969698 Fury on the floor: Dutton and Albanese clash with Greens over Gaza protests - Labor and the Coalition have berated the Greens for lending support to pro-Palestinian activists who have targeted federal MPs and vandalised electoral offices, sparking a fierce debate in parliament over domestic protests and the war in the Middle East. Greens leader Adam Bandt accused the government of being complicit in the Israeli invasion of Gaza after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton blamed the Greens for encouraging the protests. Stung by the criticism from the two leaders, Bandt sought to condemn the government for shipping arms to Israel but was shut down after Labor MPs branded him a “fraud” and a “liar” who was spreading misinformation. The final vote left the Greens isolated in parliament when Labor, the Coalition and crossbenchers including Kate Chaney, Zoe Daniel, Rebekha Sharkie, Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall and Kylea Tink voted in favour of adjourning the debate.

>>20969717 Anthony Albanese locked out of Sydney electorate office by anti-war protests - Anthony Albanese has been locked out of his Sydney electorate office this year because of pro-Palestinian protests, amid official security warnings that Islamist extremists are attending anti-­Israel demonstrations on university campuses and outside parliamentarians’ offices. The Prime Minister’s Marrickville office has not been used since January because of fears for the safety of staff from continuous protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators and warnings from federal police. Security around Mr Albanese, other MPs and in Parliament House has been tightened since late last year after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel in October and the conflict in Gaza sparked protests and vandalism at MPs’ offices and even in parliament. Parliamentarians requested a security briefing from the AFP and ASIO as concerns rose about protests and security. The Australian understands there was formal advice Islamist extremists and political activists were appearing together at university campus protests around the nation, outside ministerial offices and at public demonstrations.

#36 - Part 6

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 6

>>20969809 Judge grants bail to alleged teen terrorist, branding case 'thin' in bruising ruling for AFP - A Supreme Court judge has granted bail to a Sydney teenager accused of terrorism and branded the case against him as "thin", in a bruising ruling for the Australian Federal Police. The 15-year-old was among six boys arrested in sweeping police raids on an alleged Sydney terrorist network in April, after another teenager stabbed an Assyrian Orthodox bishop in a church in Wakeley, in the city's west. Four of those boys are accused of planning a terrorist attack in the wake of the stabbing, allegedly plotting to obtain guns and exchanging messages about their willingness to kill and die as so-called martyrs. The 15-year-old was part of a chat group called "Plans", on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where they allegedly conspired to plan a terrorist act between April 18 and 24. The boy, who cannot be identified because he is a juvenile, allegedly wrote: "I really want to target the yahood [Jewish people] … we will plan it".

>>20993059 Bandt challenges Labor to sanction Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘extreme war cabinet’ - Greens leader Adam Bandt has challenged Labor to punish Israel’s “extreme war cabinet” and has told the pro-Palestine camp that the Albanese government is attempting to slander them. After coming under fire this week from both Labor and the Opposition and threatening to sue Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Mr Bandt took to the stage at a Free Palestine rally in Melbourne to demand the Albanese government slap Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with sanctions, expel the Israeli ambassador, and cut a contract with weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. He also called on the Prime Minister to join South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Criminal Court, and ensure F-35 fighter jet parts are not used “in acts of aggression”. “Our government could have recognised Palestine, our government could … in the last 35 weeks, have put sanctions on this extreme war cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu that is now subject to court orders to stop genocide,” Mr Bandt told the hundreds of activists on Sunday afternoon.

>>20993088 Labor to pick first Palestinian Australian to replace veteran MP - The first Palestinian-Australian federal politician is likely to be installed in place of a veteran Labor MP, providing a new voice for the government in its ferocious political dispute with the Greens over the conflict in Gaza. Maria Vamvakinou, one of the party’s most sympathetic Palestinian supporters, told this masthead she had informed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese she would end her 23-year-long political career at the next federal election. Basem Abdo, a communications specialist, has won the support of key Socialist Left figures, including Vamvakinou. Preselection for the seat will take place later this year, but Abdo’s backing from the Socialist Left means he is poised to replace the veteran MP. Born in Kuwait to parents from a village in the occupied West Bank, Abdo’s family sought refuge in Jordan during the Gulf War before migrating to Australia in 1991. Labor sources said Abdo had been a mature and conciliatory voice during a heated factional dispute over the wording of a motion on the Middle East conflict at last month’s Victorian Labor conference.

>>20998305 Video: Australia PM condemns graffiti attack on US consulate in Sydney - Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese on Monday condemned vandalism of the U.S. consulate in Sydney after the building was defaced in what local media said appeared to be a pro-Palestinian protest. The building in the northern suburbs of Australia's largest city was attacked and sprayed with paint by a person carrying a small sledgehammer at around 3 a.m. local time on Monday. "I would just say that people should have respectful political debate and discourse," Albanese said in a televised media conference from Canberra when asked about the incident. "Measures such as painting the U.S. Consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is of course a crime to damage property," he added. Nine windows of the consulate were damaged and the building's door was graffitied, police said. A spokesperson for the U.S. consulate confirmed the building had been damaged but said staff and operations were unaffected. "Australian Federal Police and New South Wales Police are investigating the incident," the spokesperson said in a statement.

#36 - Part 7

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 7

>>20998311 NSW Premier Chris Minns blasts ‘reprehensible’ US consulate damage, warns of rising anti-Semitism - NSW Premier Chris Minns has warned of “rising anti-Semitism” across the state as he slams “reprehensible” damage to the United States consulate, which was smashed and tagged with Hamas symbols on Monday morning. The North Sydney consulate, on Miller St, was left with nine hammer holes and two red inverted triangles, commonly used by Hamas in propaganda videos to identify the Israeli targets it seeks to destroy. Mr Minns said the incident alienated the “overwhelming majority of Australians”. “It (the damage) is a criminal act and you’ll be charged by police,” Mr Minns said. “It’s not the kind of public debate the overwhelming majority of Australians want to have … no one wants to see violence or malicious damage, and I think it’s reprehensible.” Mr Minns also made a clear warning against rising anti-Semitism in NSW, something he said was “regrettable”. “I particularly want to say vilification of the Jewish community … anti-Semitism in NSW is on the rise,” he told reporters on Monday. “That (anti-Semitism) is a shameful and regrettable event, and we need to make sure that we’ve got the laws in place to keep pace with contemporary events.”

>>20998335 ‘My heart burns, my blood boils’: Houli’s vow to speak up on Gaza suffering after King’s Birthday award - Three-time Richmond premiership player and Muslim community leader Bachar Houli says he feels conflicted about receiving a King’s Birthday Honour while the Israel-Hamas war continues and that his blood boils at the suffering of innocent people in Gaza. Houli has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Islamic community, multiculturalism and Australian rules football. The 36-year-old former AFL champion used the occasion to urge the federal government to push harder for a ceasefire. “The conflict that is happening around the world, particularly in Gaza, is affecting us, mate, and this recognition for me is quite hard at this given time,” said Houli, who retired from football in 2021. “But the reality is this is not about me; it is about celebrating what the community has contributed to my life and doing our best to celebrate it while there is so much bad stuff happening around the world which nobody prays for. Everyone prays for peace, everyone prays for happiness, and that’s exactly what I hope for.”

>>20998353 Vandals behead King George V statue in Melbourne on King’s Birthday - A statue of King George V has been beheaded and covered in red paint in Melbourne’s CBD in the latest attack by activists on colonial monuments in Victoria. Police were called to the King George V statue in Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue, near the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, just after 9am on Monday. Victoria and most other states in Australia held a public holiday on Monday to observe King Charles III’s birthday. “It appears the head of the statue has been removed and red paint thrown at the monument,” a police spokesman said in a statement. In a 54-second video posted to X by the Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance account @akaWACA, a group of people deface the statue as the song God Save the Queen by UK punk rock band the Sex Pistols plays. One person, wearing a fluorescent green high-vis jacket, uses a power tool to cut off the head of the former British monarch’s statue in the early morning darkness. As the video continues, a man in a black hoodie spray paints “the colony will fall” on the statue’s plinth, that was already red with paint. In another shot, the video shows the statue’s head on the floor, with the words “Happy Birthday Motherf-cker” edited over the image.

#36 - Part 8

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 8

>>21004539 Marles enforces his veto on all potential defence shipments to Israel - Australian defence exports are facing tighter scrutiny under federal rules that alert Defence Minister Richard Marles to every potential shipment to Israel, ensuring no military equipment has been supplied to the country since the invasion of Gaza. Approvals are being escalated to Marles regardless of the value of the defence contract, superseding an earlier protocol that allowed low-value deals to be approved by a delegate within the Defence Department. On Monday, the government revealed more about its exports after rejecting claims by the Greens last week that it was “complicit in genocide” and supported the “slaughter” by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza. Labor accused the Greens of spreading lies about defence exports, because no weapons or ammunition had been sent from Australia to Israel over the past five years. The rules have ensured no other military components have been supplied to Israel since October 7, when Hamas terrorists killed 1200 people and Israel responded with an incursion into Gaza that is estimated by Palestinian health authorities to have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.

>>21009097 Muslim leader Sheik Wesam Charkawi driving the bid to topple Labor in southwest Sydney - Community leader Wesam Charkawi is mobilising the Muslim vote across key southwest Sydney federal seats to topple Labor at the next election as prominent figures warned the ALP of electoral abandonment. Sheik Charkawi, a Western Sydney University PhD candidate, is the brains and organiser behind The Muslim Vote campaign, The Australian can reveal. It is one among many websites to emerge recently targeting Muslim Australians to support pro-Palestine candidates or oust sitting members who are not, including some Labor ministers, and rates them on their voting record and stance on Israel. The emergence of such campaigns, and popular and well-connected figures such as Sheik Charkawi driving them, will remain a headache for Labor HQ until and during the federal election, likely to be early next year. Last month Sheik Charkawi - a Sunni Muslim - led calls for the dismissal of ASIO chief Mike Burgess, who had said Sunni Islamic extremism posed the “greatest religi­ously motivated threat in Australia”.

>>21021999 Video: ‘Scumbag’ defaces Australian War Memorial in Canberra - The Australian War Memorial has been defaced with pro-­Palestinian graffiti in what has been described as an “abhorrent” act of disrespect that will serve as a “kick in the guts” to veterans across the country. ACT police confirmed on ­Friday they were hunting for an individual captured on CCTV graffitiing three areas of the War Memorial with “pro-Palestinian slogans”, which were quickly ­covered up with black tarpaulin in a bid to stop similar crimes being incited. Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, who served in the Special Air Service Regiment between 2010 and 2015, branded the activists carrying out the vandalism “deranged”. “(They) will stop at nothing to make their point: even dishonouring our war dead and desecrating their sacred memorial. It’s no wonder they make easy allies with Hamas,” he said.

>>21030777 Australia among 93 countries in show of support for ICC - Australia has joined almost 100 other countries to sign a statement in support of the International Criminal Court. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed the move on Saturday after Belgium, Jordan, Chile, Senegal and Slovenia initiated the statement. "Australia is among 93 countries reiterating our commitment to the independence of the International Criminal Court," she wrote on social media platform X. Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Japan, Germany and France also committed to the statement. "As States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, we uphold that the Court, its officials and staff shall carry out their professional duties as international civil servants without intimidation," the pledge read. "The ICC, as the world's first and only permanent international criminal court, is an essential component of the international peace and security architecture. "We therefore call on all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, grave crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world."

#36 - Part 9

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 9

>>21036247 Political, Jewish leaders urge crackdown on activists’ Hamas, Hezbollah symbols - Pro-Palestine activists in Melbourne have been displaying and wearing Hezbollah and Hamas emblems unimpeded, despite criminal legislation outlawing the usage of the two terror groups’ symbols. Photographs obtained by The Australian from recent Melbourne pro-Palestine rallies stretching back weeks show a cohort of activists wearing Hamas’ distinctive emblem on their clothing -- one activist donning the insignia is pictured less than a metre from Victoria Police officers. In another from early June, two activists hold up a cardboard poster of the Hezbollah flags. One of those pictured, and a prominent leader of the rallies, is Mohammad Sharab, shown wearing a Hamas badge while leading one of the protests. Sharab was charged in February after an alleged abduction, alongside another prominent activist, Laura Allam, after an incident in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The entirety of both Hamas and Hezbollah are recognised by the federal government as terrorist organisations, and in certain circumstances the public display of the groups’ insignias is a breach of section 80.2 of the commonwealth criminal code. The outlawing of the groups’ emblems was introduced into the criminal code in January, alongside the display of Nazi symbols. For someone to be charged with the offence, one further element is that the display of the symbols would also have to incite others to offend, insult or intimidate people of a certain race or religion, or advocate “hatred” of that group. It is punishable with up to a year imprisonment.

>>21037715 Video: Jerry Seinfeld and pro-Palestinian protester in heated exchange at Australian show - Jerry Seinfeld savaged a pro-Palestinian heckler in front of a crowd of thousands of people at his stand-up comedy show in Sydney on Sunday night after the man accused the American comedian of being a Zionist who supported a “terrorist state”. Two videos of the confrontation have emerged, representing contrasting views of the exchange. One, shared via the Instagram feed of a pro-Palestinian activist campaign, captures the words of the protester, directed at the vocal support Seinfeld has shown for Israel throughout the current crisis. Another, posted online by the Australian Jewish Association and widely reported by mainstream media, captures Seinfeld’s response and shows the protester being escorted out of the QUDOS Bank Arena, which has a capacity in theatre mode of about 21,000 people. “We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen,” Seinfeld responded to the heckler. “He’s solved the Middle East! He’s solved it: It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to [get], they’re the ones doing everything.” Seinfeld’s put-down was in line with his oft-repeated position that he is merely a comedian, and not in any real sense political.

>>21042253 Labor Senator calls for Palestinian state, as party split deepens - Labor Senator Fatima Payman has urged her Albanese government colleagues to immediately recognise a Palestinian state, rejecting criticism that the Greens are seeking to score “cheap points” by backing the bid for statehood. In an opinion piece published in Al Jazeera, Senator Payman said Palestinian statehood was a “moral and ethical imperative” that would bring peace to the Middle East, and accused Israel of carrying out a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip under the “guise of self-defence”. The West Australian first-term senator broke ranks with her own government on Israel last month when she made a defiant address which she closed by repeating the controversial “from the river to the sea” chant. In her latest remarks on the Hamas-Israel war, Senator Payman distanced herself from the Prime Minister’s claims that the Greens were playing politics by moving a motion in parliament to recognise Palestinian statehood. The motion failed in the House of Representatives after 80 MPs voted against it. “My party, the Australian Labor Party, has consistently argued that such motions are political machinations on the part of the Greens in order to score ‘cheap points’ and sway the public,” she said. “Even if that were the case, this ‘politicking’ does not detract from the underlying fact that a genocide is ongoing, and the Australian public knows it. “Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been slaughtered, among them 15,000 children.”

#36 - Part 10

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 10

>>21042279 Fatima Payman: Australia must recognise Palestine to promote peace - "Over the last eight months, we have witnessed the mass killing and displacement of Palestinians and the devastation and destruction of Gaza carried out by Israel under the guise of “self-defence”. As the Israeli government continues to disregard its obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and cease genocidal acts, it is imperative for influential nations to take a definitive stance. Australia, with its global standing and democratic values, is in a strong position to facilitate peace. An important step in this direction is recognising a Palestinian state. It is also a moral and ethical imperative. UN experts have stated that Israel has committed at least three acts of genocide over the past eight months. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has stated that “Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is an escalatory stage of a long-standing settler colonial process of erasure”. This is why a recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders is imperative. Australia’s recognition would be a symbolic and bold rejection of Israel’s current bid to erase the Palestinian people. Recognition of a Palestinian state would not frustrate a peace process; rather, it would rescue that very peace process and keep it alive." - Fatima Payman, Labor Senator for Western Australia - aljazeera.com

>>21049413 Albanese says MP office attack is a major escalation in local tensions over Gaza - Vandals smashing windows and using flammable liquid to set fires at the office of Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns represent a troubling escalation of radical pro-Palestinian activism in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says. Burns said he was worried about the safety of MPs and their staff after his Melbourne inner-city office was targeted at about 3.20am on Wednesday. Police said five people sprayed the St Kilda office with red paint, which has been used across Australia by activists targeting a group of Labor MPs they regard as too close to Israel. Burns held a press conference on Wednesday morning and said police inspectors found flammable chemicals on the office site. Two small fires were lit: one to the left of the office entrance and another outside the street-facing door to apartments on the floor above the office. The attackers smashed the front windows and entered the office, the inside of which was sprayed with red paint. Burns said the incident put the lives of the apartment residents at risk and said he was worried about the safety of his Labor colleagues, whose offices have also been targeted, and his staff. “I’m nervous about someone getting hurt, or worse,” he said, adding that the vandalism was politically motivated. “How is this a peaceful act?”

>>21049442 Video: Pro-Palestine activists disrupt second Jerry Seinfeld show - A second Jerry Seinfeld show has been disrupted by pro-Palestine hecklers, as the US Jewish comedian told them their activism was misplaced and they were “ruining the night”. Video appears to show a number of protesters standing up, waving a Palestinian flag and yelling that he was “a hack and a fraud” during the comedy routine at the ICC Sydney Theatre in Sydney, before Seinfeld fired back. “It’s working … Yes, yes, you’re doing so good. You have strong political feelings … but you don’t know where to say them,” he said, as the crowd laughed and booed. “You think ruining the night … It doesn’t affect me … all these people, you’re ruining their night,” he said to cheers and clapping. He added, to laughter: “This is all set up by me. This is a friend of mine, let me introduce him, his name is Hymie Goldstein. And this is all set up”.

#36 - Part 11

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 11

>>21049452 Video: Jerry Seinfeld tells activists they’re in the wrong place at his Australian shows. Here’s why they persist - Announcing his forthcoming stadium tour last November, Jerry Seinfeld said: “I have loved Australia since my first tour there in 1998, and I cannot wait to come back to visit some of the greatest comedy fans in the world.” Three shows into that tour, he might now be having second thoughts. For the second time this week, the 70-year-old US comedian became embroiled on Tuesday night in a heated exchange with pro-Palestinian protesters at a stand-up comedy show in Australia. In a statement issued to this masthead, activists associated with the two actions explained why they had targeted the comedian. They said they hoped to “raise awareness for both Seinfeld’s audience and the wider community of the current and ongoing illegal occupation and genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians” and to “generate conversation around the issue and encourage others to educate themselves and engage more deeply” with it. Comments posted in response to videos on the activist Instagram page littlepalestineatalbos suggested many people had been unaware of Seinfeld’s position on the conflict prior to the actions, they said. Accepting that their protests might make patrons uncomfortable, the activists said “but such discomfort surely pales in comparison to our community’s collective trauma at the devastating loss of life in Gaza and the West Bank for the last eight months (and indeed since 1948)”.

>>21054337 Carlton Trades Hall defaced with vile anti-cop graffiti as vandals lashed - The iconic Trades Hall union building in Melbourne was defaced early Thursday morning with vicious anti-police graffiti in the latest incident of pro-Palestine vandalism to strike the city. Messages in orange paint reading “cops defend genocide” and “ACAB”, which stands for “all cops are bastards”, were written on the pillars of the legendary 19th-century hall, the home of Victoria’s trade union movement. “Free Palestine” and “cops out of trades hall” were also painted onto the building. Victoria Police is investigating the defacement. “Police are investigating after a building near the intersection of Victoria and Lygon streets was graffitied around 3.30am this morning,” the police said. “The investigation into the incident is ongoing.” Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari slammed the act as “cowardly”. “These people are broadly some left wing anarchists who think you make change through the end of a spray can rather than actually doing real work,” he said. “It’s performative activism. The people who have something to say, they don’t hide behind masks. This is cowardly.” A video posted to the Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance Facebook page shows at least three people in black outfits and masks spray-painting the messages in the dark.

>>21060788 Israeli ‘extremist’ tells Australian audience Gaza should have been reduced to ashes - A former Israeli parliamentarian who once held a position in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government told an online gathering of Australian Jews this week that Israel should have abandoned adherence to international law and reduced Gaza to ashes. In a series of incendiary claims, Moshe Feiglin, the leader of Israel’s far-right Zehut party, said there was no such thing as Palestinians, Palestinian statehood was the biggest lie of the 20th century and that Gaza should be resettled by Jewish Israelis and Arab families encouraged to leave. “What Israel should have done to Gaza, on the 8th of October, was exactly what the British people did in Hamburg and Dresden, and exactly what the American people did in every Japanese city they could reach,” he told a Zoom meeting hosted by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA). “They burnt them to ashes. No ridiculous humanitarian aid. The burnt those cities. If we had done that, we would have won the war in a few days and many of the hostages would be free today.”

#36 - Part 12

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 12

>>21060825 Video: Dan Andrews joins pro-Israel group, denounces ‘antisemitism and terrorism’ - Daniel Andrews has thrown his weight behind Israel and urged Australians to rally against antisemitism and terrorism as debate rages about activists vandalising MPs’ offices. The former Victorian premier has been named as an inaugural patron of Labor Friends of Israel, which was created earlier this year to emphasise support for the state of Israel within the labour movement. Former Labor senator Nova Peris will join him in the role. Publicly expressing support for Israel has become politically tricky for Labor MPs as the Netanyahu government wages a military campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Andrews said it was crucial Australians spoke out to support the local Jewish community but did not directly mention the war. “I have always supported Israel and the Jewish community. It’s important now more than ever to stand against antisemitism and terrorism, I am proud to work with Nova Peris, an outstanding Australian,” he said in a written statement. “I am appalled by the rise of antisemitism in Australia and want to ensure the Labor Party stays true to its values of respect and equality for all Australians.”

>>21070672 Video: Jerry Seinfeld opens up on time in Australia in exclusive 7NEWS interview amid heckler-plagued tour - Jerry Seinfeld says Australia is “the best place to be a comedian”, while urging hecklers at his shows to “go where things are political” if they want to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza. In his most in-depth on-camera interview while touring Australia, the legendary funnyman told 7NEWS of his “love” of the country despite his stand-up shows twice being interrupted by pro-Palestine hecklers. “I love Australia, of course,” he told 7NEWS in Brisbane on Thursday, the morning after his only show in the Queensland capital. After being heckled at both shows in Sydney, he said the “very polite” and “great” Brisbane crowd on Wednesday night did not follow suit. A supporter of Israel in its war on Hamas which has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, he encouraged his audiences to keep their political views to themselves. “I don’t care what your politics are, but go where things are political,” he said. “This is where we go to, kind of, forget about politics. “We all want to forget about it for a couple of hours. That’s the whole idea of the show. Forget about everything for a couple of hours.”

>>21070696 Video: ‘Just gave money to a Jew’: Seinfeld faces more pro-Palestine hecklers in Melbourne - US comedian Jerry Seinfeld didn’t back down when hecklers interrupted his Melbourne show on Saturday night, sending the crowd at Rod Laver Arena into laughter. Ten minutes before the evening show was due to finish, at least two protesters chanted “free Palestine”, prompting Seinfeld to draw on his trademark black comedy. “You need to go back and tell whoever is running your organisation (that) ‘we just gave more money to a Jew’,” the 70-year-old US comedian told the protesters. The response drew raucous laughter from the crowd as he continued with a two-minute spiel in response to the interruption. “Listen, dude, listen, listen, let me explain something. You and I are in the same business,” he said. He went on to tell the protesters that they were in the wrong place. “Our business is to get people to see things the way we see it,” he said. Later, before taking questions from the audience, Seinfeld mused that the protesters might’ve taken so long to make their presence known because they were enjoying the show.

#36 - Part 13

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 13

>>21136534 Extraordinary diplomatic dressing down puts Australia-Jewish relations at all-time low - Australia has sparked a diplomatic flashpoint after the ­Albanese government hauled in Israel’s ambassador for a dressing down over his country’s war in the Middle East. Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon was formally summoned to a meeting in Canberra 10 days ago and warned that the Jewish state could not expect Australia’s support if it goes to war against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. In a sign of the deteriorating relationship between Australia and Israel, the federal government’s position on a potential war in Southern Lebanon was not delivered by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, but was left to Ms Wong’s underling, Assistant Minister Tim Watts. Several people familiar with the situation said Mr Maimon’s relationship with Senator Wong has been “in the freezer” for several months. Formally summoning an ambassador is considered a serious step in the diplomatic world, akin to a formal rebuke. The warning to Israel that it should not expect Australian support in the event of a ground war against Hezbollah is just the latest sign of the cooling of relations between Canberra and Jerusalem. Israeli officials have made no secret of their anger at Australia’s recent vote in favour of upgrading Palestine’s status at the UN which came months after it appointed a Special Adviser to report on the Israeli government’s investigation of the killing by the IDF of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.

>>21136515 Video: Pro-Palestine protesters climb onto parliament roof - A pro-Palestine protest that saw four people breach Parliament House security and unfurl black banners from the building’s roof was “designed to inflict fear and instil chaos in Australia’s society,” Peter Dutton says. The Opposition Leader and opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham wrote to Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the presiding officers of Parliament House immediately after the stunt, asking them to take “immediate and decisive action” to hold the protesters to account. Four people were charged after they climbed on top of Parliament House and draped signs across the building declaring: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. The protesters, and a group of a few dozen on the ground, chanted: “If they don’t give us justice, they don’t get no peace”. It is understood some climate protesters glued themselves to the marble floors in the foyer of Parliament House, directly beneath where other protesters are positioned on the roof. The Australian witnessed the protest unfolding, with four people able to easily jump a 2.5m security fence and access the roof above the public entrance of parliament. The fence was part of a $126.7m security upgrade in 2017.

>>21153379 Video: Greens deputy Mehreen Faruqi refuses to say whether Hamas should be dismantled - Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has refused to say whether terror group Hamas should be dismantled, saying that should be a decision made by Palestinians once they are granted statehood. The Greens have been vocal in parliament about the need to recognise Palestine as a state, and have accused the government of being "complicit in genocide" by refusing to sanction Israel over the war in Gaza. Speaking on ABC's Insiders, Senator Faruqi said Hamas was a listed terror organisation and the Greens were demanding no change to that. But asked repeatedly whether Hamas should be dismantled, or whether Palestinians should be allowed to choose to be ruled by Hamas under their own state, the senator avoided answering. "Listen, the situation with Hamas is, I can't keep repeating it again and again, it has nothing to do with Palestinian statehood and Palestinian self-determination," Senator Faruqi said. "The Palestinians need to decide where they want to go with their own region. It's not up to me to say who should be gone or not."

#36 - Part 14

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 14

>>21171787 Embattled MP slams Muslim Vote claim that Labor’s ‘weak on Palestine’ - Labor’s Peter Khalil has become the first MP to push back against claims made by a pro-Palestinian political movement aiming to unseat Labor politicians, declaring the group known as The Muslim Vote is misleading the public about the government’s stance on the Gaza war. The Melbourne MP is fighting to hold onto his inner-northern seat of Wills after a redistribution proposal five weeks ago that favours the Greens, who are reaching out to Muslims who make up 10 per cent of the electorate’s voters. The Muslim Vote’s network plans to campaign against Labor MPs they regard as “weak on Palestine” in several seats - including Wills – and met Senator Fatima Payman last month before she crossed the floor to vote with the Greens on immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood. Khalil on Monday accused the group’s leaders of failing to mention “countless” public statements by Labor such as breaking with the United States to back a ceasefire vote at the United Nations, calling for unimpeded aid, demanding Israel respect humanitarian law, and affirming Australia’s role in a peace process that could lead to a Palestinian state. Khalil has expressed the private frustration of target MPs, including senior ministers, who believe the group is fuelling misinformation and distrust, but they are unwilling to criticise the group openly.

>>21171794 Video: Prime minister names Jillian Segal as first Australian anti-Semitism envoy - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has named Jewish lawyer and business leader Jillian Segal as the nation's first anti-Semitism envoy, in response to the rise of Jewish people being targeted amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. Ms Segal is an accomplished lawyer with extensive business experience, including as deputy chancellor of UNSW, serving on the board of the National Australia Bank and as a president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). Announcing her appointment as special envoy for three years, Mr Albanese said Ms Segal's appointment would promote social cohesion. "What we need to do is to make sure that the conflict that is occurring in the Middle East - that has caused a great deal of grief for the Jewish community, for members of the Islamic and Palestinian communities — Australians overwhelmingly do not want conflict brought here," Mr Albanese said. "We hope there is not a need for ongoing work, but it has been a reminder over recent months that we cannot take respect and social cohesion for granted. We need to nourish it." Ms Segal will advise the prime minister and Multicultural Affairs Minister Andrew Giles on issues of anti-Semitism, and promote education and awareness of the issue. Mr Giles said Ms Segal was someone of "unflinching principle and unwavering strength". Mr Albanese also reconfirmed the government would also shortly appoint a special envoy on Islamophobia.

>>21172250 ‘Antisemitic stereotypes’: Meta to remove more posts attacking ‘Zionists’ - Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta will start removing more posts that attack “Zionists” when the term is used to represent Jewish people or Israelis more generally. Meta usually removes posts that attack a person based on a “protected characteristic,” such as their race, nationality or religion, though political affiliation doesn’t fall into that protected class. While Zionism is a political movement to establish - and now to maintain – a formal Jewish state in the Middle East, the company said that people are also using the term “Zionist” to refer to Jewish or Israeli people more broadly. “We will remove content attacking ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement, but instead uses antisemitic stereotypes, or threatens other types of harm through intimidation, or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists,” Meta wrote in a blog post. Meta previously considered the term “Zionist” as a proxy for Jewish people in very narrow or explicit cases, like if Zionists were compared to rats, according to the blog post. This change in policy expands what could be a violation to phrases where “Jew” or “Israeli” are not mentioned.

#36 - Part 15

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 15

>>21177924 ‘I’ll be fighting tooth and nail’: Muslim leader vows to back Labor - Muslim leaders have warned against a new pro-Palestinian political group that vows to target Labor ministers at the next election, saying the faith-based movement could backfire by deepening community division. The government is trying to contain anger over the war in Gaza in key electorates with thousands of Muslim voters, while the Greens accuse Labor of siding with Israel, and the Coalition says Labor offers too much support for an independent Palestine. The new movement, called The Muslim Vote and backed by Sydney Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, has labelled several cabinet ministers as “weak on Palestine”, and has threatened to run candidates against Labor at the election. Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi said the new movement was wrong about senior Labor figures such as Employment Minister Tony Burke and Education Minister Jason Clare, given their public positions on the Middle East. “I totally disagree with The Muslim Vote on that. They are totally ignorant of everything those two people have done over the years and in the immediate past,” he said. “I’ll be fighting tooth and nail to protect our friends in the Labor Party.”

>>21177984 Video: Melbourne pro-Palestine activist who openly called for 'armed resistance', 'death' to America outside city's US consulate referred to the Australian Federal Police - A leading Palestinian activist has been referred to federal and state police after openly calling for “armed resistance” on the streets of Melbourne. Sky News has exclusively obtained disturbing new video of Mohammad Sharab, who is on bail for unrelated charges of kidnapping and assault, calling for death to America and its allies and warning he and supporters would dig “tunnels”, understood to be a reference to Hamas’ terror tunnels. The tirade took place outside the US Consulate in Melbourne’s CBD on US Independence Day on July 4, in full view of police. “We believe in the armed resistance, I say bring back the armed resistance,” Sharab can be heard telling a cheering crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters. “We’re going to start the armed resistance and we’re going to celebrate the fall of that colony. Inshallah, we will. Long live the resistance.” Wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh and a cap in the colours of the Palestinian flag, the 37-year-old repeatedly calls for death to America, Israel and other Western countries. “Death - that is what America deserves,” Sharab says.

>>21185528 Politicians harassed as pro-Palestine supporters target ALP dinner - A 21-year-old woman has been charged with seriously assaulting police, after she allegedly spat on an officer’s face at a pro-Palestine protest targeting an ALP dinner in Brisbane on Friday. Pro-Palestine protesters descended on the event where Anthony Albanese was due to speak, jostling and harassing guests as they entered the event. Queensland Premier Steven Miles, Queensland cabinet members and other senior ALP members are also at the True Believers dinner, which is taking place at The Greek Club in Brisbane. Protesters jostled and harassed guests as they entered the venue at about 6pm, identifying some ALP members to the crowd by name and accusing them “of supporting genocide and baby killing,” one witness said. “It was quite an unhinged, vicious crowd, unlike anything I’ve seen in Brisbane so far.” The protest was organised by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin, which had advertised the event on its social media pages. “Join us to protest the Australian Government’s support for Israel’s Genocide in Palestine,” its advertisement for the protest read. “We demand the Australian Government ends its support and complicity in the Gaza Genocide and immediately sanctions Apartheid Israel.” Protestors at the event could be seen waving flags and could be heard chanting “free, free Palestine”, with one protestor recorded saying: “Albo is a satanist. All zionists are satanists.”

#36 - Part 16

Israel / Hamas Conflict - The Australian Perspective - Part 16

>>21217734 Greens tell Muslim Vote to ‘leave Wills, Senate alone’ - Panicked Greens senators and MPs fear the burgeoning The Muslim Vote movement could cost them the prized target seat of Wills and upper house votes, pleading with the campaign to leave it and the Senate race alone. A potential split in the pro-­Palestine vote came as Muslim leaders said the Greens’ policy slate would be a “deal-breaker” for the community, regardless of its pro-Palestine stance. Amid the five days that saw senator Fatima Payman resign and the emergence of The Muslim Vote, the Greens realised the wedge they drove into the ALP may have been two-edged. Multiple figures in the progressive party picked up the phone to “preference whisperer” and political strategist Glenn Druery, who had reportedly been advising Senator Payman and, separately and informally, The Muslim Vote campaign. Mr Druery didn’t respond to questions from The Australian, but insiders said Greens figures, including NSW senator David Shoebridge, quickly contacted the strategist concerned with how an organised Muslim campaign could affect them, particularly in Wills and the Senate. Sources said some pleaded to Mr Druery that he tell The Muslim Vote to focus solely on the lower house, leaving the Senate alone so as to not take potential votes and spots from the party. The party had been “caught out” by the The Muslim Vote’s sudden mobilisation and was concerned whether its desire to oust Labor extended to the Senate, and how or if Senator Payman would lead a form of upper house ticket. “They’ve tried to wedge Labor on Palestine but they’ve also wedged themselves,” one source said.

>>21234023 Mark Binskin report backs Israel’s findings on World Central Kitchen drone strike - Former defence chief Mark ­Binskin’s report on the Israeli drone strikes that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues is set to largely back the Jewish state’s official response to the tragedy, drawing a line under Anthony Albanese’s ­demands for “full accountability” over the deaths. The Australian understands the government’s special adviser on the incident accepted Israel’s findings that the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza on April 1 was the result of a serious failure in its targeting ­procedures. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Air Chief Marshal Binskin was satisfied that, although mistakes were made, the Israeli Defence Forces had safeguards to avoid civilian casualties that were in line with those of Western counterparts ­including Australia. He will brief Frankcom’s family on his findings, which follow the Prime Minister’s declaration after the tragedy that it was “not good enough” to dismiss it as a wartime accident.

>>21234043 Labor works to cool fear of Israel-Lebanon war as Wong lambasts Israel - Foreign Minister Penny Wong has demanded Israel stop killing innocent Palestinians as her government works to tamp down a boilover in local tensions if Israel and Lebanon go to war. As Israel’s parliament voted overwhelmingly against Palestinian statehood, Wong used some of her strongest language to date to condemn Israeli Defence Force strikes that Hamas-run health authorities said killed 50 Palestinians. The recently designated humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi was attacked on July 13 and another attack hit a UN-run school housing displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp on July 15. “Australia condemns the unacceptable deaths of innocent civilians as a result of Israel’s operations in this last week, including many near schools,” Wong said on X on Thursday, as Labor urged Israel to accept a US-led ceasefire deal thwarted partly by Hamas’ refusal to release hostages. “Australia has been calling for a ceasefire for eight months. This must stop. Civilians, including women and children, are caught in the middle. They must be protected. Hostages must be released and humanitarian access must be increased.”

#36 - Part 17

Australian Politics and Society - Part 1

>>20895255 Scott Morrison explains why evangelical Christians love Trump - Donald Trump’s status as a political outsider amid “deep disenfranchisement” with government institutions is what makes him so appealing to evangelical Christians, according to his ally Scott Morrison, Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister. Criss-crossing America to promote his new book about faith, Morrison shared his insights of the former US president, who heads towards the November election against President Joe Biden, with more support from evangelical Christians than ever before. Campaign rallies often begin with prayer sessions for the 77-year-old Republican; merchandise worn and sold at his events feature slogans such as “Jesus is my saviour, Trump is my president”; and Trump himself recently launched a new Bible for $US60 ($90) as part of his fundraising efforts, spruiking the need to “Make America Pray Again”. Asked to explain Trump’s appeal among evangelicals, Morrison told this masthead: “He is very much outside the political orthodoxy and mainstream, where I think there’s a deep disenfranchisement, and that’s where he connects with people. “There is a sense that he will stick up for people against the things that seek to hold them down, and I think that is something that resonates very strongly. The external commentary about President Trump often fails to get that.”

>>20903669 Video: Anthony Albanese abandons principles and fails own leadership test - "Anthony Albanese is leading the country down a dangerous path that risks polarising our closest allies by putting domestic politics ahead of Australia’s longstanding support for like-minded liberal democracies and a rules-based global order. In a National Press Club address before the 2022 election, Albanese delivered a scathing assessment of Scott Morrison’s leadership. “Never before has Australia had a prime minister with such a pathological determination to avoid responsibility,” the then Labor opposition leader said. “He declares: it’s not my job, it’s not a race, it’s a matter for the states. He doesn’t hold a hose - and he doesn’t give a rats.” The Albanese government has drifted from projecting Australia’s middle power status on the global stage, choosing not to follow the US in key UN votes, rebuffing US requests for naval support in the Red Sea and joining New Zealand and Canada to support positions that don’t align with Washington. On China, Albanese has provided soft responses to two incidents where the People’s Liberation Army put the lives of Australian Defence Force personnel at risk. One week, Albanese tells leading Australian rabbis that pro-Palestine protesters encamped at universities are “Trots” who are ignorant of Middle East history; the next he refuses to reprimand Labor senator Fatima Payman for accusing Israel of genocide and declaring “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. As opposition leader, Albanese talked a big game about leadership and responsibility. Less than 12 months out from the next election, voters will make their assessments on whether the Prime Minister has lived up to his own standards." - Geoff Chambers, The Australian’s Chief Political Correspondent - theaustralian.com.au

>>20909003 Peter Dutton ‘is nothing more than Scott Morrison 2.0’, says Anthony Albanese - Anthony Albanese will launch a major political attack on Peter Dutton in an election-style speech warning voters it is “too important to go back to fear and division” and accusing his rival of being a carbon copy of Scott ­Morrison. The Prime Minister - who makes no reference to Indigenous Australians or the voice referendum in a speech marking two years since his election victory – will say the nation faces challenges that are “too urgent for a retreat to denial and delay”. While the bulk of Mr Albanese’s Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue address on Friday is dedicated to the government’s achievements, the Labor leader will frame the Opposition Leader as an anti-business wrecker ­focused only on “political self-interest”. Following last week’s budget, Mr Albanese will sharpen the government shift from identity politics to a broad-based election pitch around tax cuts, energy bill relief, higher wages and stronger Medicare for “all Australians”. Painting himself as a nation builder with the vision to accelerate Australia’s future economy and jobs, Mr Albanese on Friday will accuse Mr Dutton of wanting to drag the country “back to the era of conflict fatigue”. “We have seen what happens when the only test that politicians apply is their own political self-interest. We saw it with Scott Morrison, we’re seeing it again with Peter Dutton. Governing Australia requires more than sound bites - you need substantial propositions.”

#36 - Part 18

Australian Politics and Society - Part 2

>>20909090 Elon Musk's X can be liable for hate speech published on platform in landmark QCAT ruling - Social media company X, formerly Twitter, has lost a key fight over whether it's legally responsible for its activities in Australia. The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) has made a landmark ruling that the company can be held liable for hate speech published on its platform. The decision is a win for the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN), which lodged a complaint in July 2022 accusing X of being responsible for publishing denigrating and hateful comments from a far-right conspiracy group, about Muslims being "an existential threat" to the world. The posts in question were published in the aftermath of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, in which 51 people were killed. Islamophobic incidents surged in Australia in the aftermath of that atrocity. But despite requests from AMAN, X refused to remove or geoblock posts that allegedly vilified Australian Muslims, under Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Act. Billionaire Elon Musk, who owns the company - which is based in Delaware in the US - argued that the company should be exempt. But this week's ruling rejects that. The company can appeal the tribunal's decision via the Queensland Supreme Court.

>>20912444 US bans imports of all poultry products from Victoria - The United States Department of Agriculture has banned imports of all Victorian poultry products following an avian influenza outbreak. The H7N3 strain of the virus commonly known as bird flu was found on an egg farm in Meredith, west of Melbourne, on Wednesday and has since been linked to another site 130 kilometres south-west in Terang. The two properties share joint management, staff and machinery. More than 500,000 birds have had to be euthanased this week. The H7N3 is a high pathogenic strain of avian influenza and resulted in 400,000 chicken deaths at the Meredith farm in a bid to control the spread of the virus. The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said it was restricting the importation of "poultry, commercial birds, ratites, avian hatching eggs, unprocessed avian products and by-products, and certain fresh poultry products from the State of Victoria, Australia". The ban applies to products originating or transiting through Victoria as of May 22.

>>20912456 Former NASA boss arrives to boost Australian space race - Australia’s space effort is taking a leap forward after recruiting a retired US Air Force lieutenant general and NASA administrator. Lieutenant General Larry D. James’ 46-year career has led him from the US Air Force to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He retired from there in March as deputy director and chief operating officer after 11 years’ overseeing 6000 staff who explored solar systems and researched astronomy, physics and Earth sciences. James flew into Australia last Tuesday and starts work on June 1 at Monash University as a professor of space innovation. He will also work at the Adelaide research consortium, SmartSat, as a strategic adviser. “Australia is really doing a lot to boost its space capabilities. And this would be a good time to join in that effort,” James said from Sydney, where he will be based. He said his role would be to “continue to raise the bar for space in Australia, which is an incredible ally for the US”.

>>20916909 The Aussie pop star who became queen of the Trump party scene - For those of a certain political persuasion and bank balance, there will be only one party in London on June 7 at which to be seen: Donald Trump’s fundraiser. “It will be the best party,” one Republican operative told me. “It’s kind of a must-attend, if you can afford a ticket.” Tickets cost up to AUD$150,000 (USD100,000) per couple. If you’re feeling flush, you can pay an extra $25,000 for a picture with two of the hosts: Donald Trump Jr and his fiancee, a former Fox News anchor called Kimberly Guilfoyle. The former president will not be there. But there’s another name on the host list that stands out: the Neighbours star and Kiss Kiss singer, Holly Valance Candy, 41. For those on the right-wing social scene, her name on the invitation is a promising sign. “It’s a Holly party,” said Nigel Farage, who will, of course, be there. “So you can guarantee it’s going to be enormous fun.” To some of her fans the Australian celebrity’s political views might come as a surprise. “She kept quiet for many, many years,” Farage said. The pair have been discussing their shared views for nearly a decade, but the politician always warned Valance that “once you go public there’s no way back”.

#36 - Part 19

Australian Politics and Society - Part 3

>>20921946 Ukraine pleaded for help from Australia six months ago. It hasn’t received a reply - Ukraine has appealed directly to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong for an urgent shipment of Australian coal to help meet its energy needs as Russia bombards its power plants with missile and drone attacks. The Eastern European nation lodged an official request with the government in December for a supply of coal but has yet to receive a response, leading officials to become increasingly worried a shipment may not arrive in time for the European winter. In a letter to Wong sent on May 6, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said that “events over the last five months have increased Ukraine’s need for energy security and the assistance of its allies in that regard”. “The stark reality is that no power plant in Ukraine has been exempt from Russian targeting or not sustained [damage], and this is having direct impact on Ukraine’s people and the quality of their lives,” he wrote, adding that Russia had targeted Ukrainian power plants, oil refineries and heating facilities. “You would appreciate that the need for energy security, including ensuring Ukraine’s remaining hydro-thermal generation capacity, has increased as a result of the most recent wave of attacks, and I therefore again ask for Australia’s consideration.”

>>20921983 Operation Ironside: Aussies at heart of global criminal plot smashed by cops - Two Australians at the heart of a global plot to help crime gangs communicate on encrypted devices have pleaded guilty, three years after the scheme was smashed in the police sting of the century. Sydney pair Edwin Kumar and Osemah Elhassen - who distributed the AN0M devices without realising they were being secretly monitored by law enforcement - are the first of 17 foreign nationals charged by the FBI to admit to their role in the conspiracy. It marks a major breakthrough in the world-first investigation, spearheaded by the Australian Federal Police, in which 27 million intercepted messages helped police allegedly foil murder plots and block a multibillion-dollar drug trade involving the Mafia, bikies and South American cartels. It can also be revealed US authorities have arrested two other alleged device distributors - Dragan Nikitovic and Miwand Zakhimi - in the past six months as they continue to round up those allegedly behind the app that its creators bragged was “designed by criminals for criminals”.

>>20926912 Video: Trio of rapists on the Andrew Giles visa leniency list - A trio of child rapists are among the growing list of pedophiles and sex offenders allowed to remain in the country under Andrew Giles’s call for greater tolerance for foreign offenders with ties to Australia, as the Immigration Minister refuses to say if he will intervene in any of the visa approvals. Abdul Wahab Trad, a 45-year-old Lebanese citizen who permanently relocated to Australia in 2013 escaped deportation in March over his 2020 rape of a 13-year-old girl after the Administrative Appeals Tribunal found that the man’s ties to Australia weighed heavily in favour of revoking the cancellation of his visa. His case is one of dozens identified by The Australian in which the AAT’s decision has been shaped by Mr Giles’s Direction 99. The direction’s biggest change was to make the “strength, nature and duration of an individual’s ties to Australia” a primary consideration for the tribunal when considering appeals against the cancellation of visas. Since the direction was handed down in January 2023, dozens of convicted non-citizens - including rapists, drug traffickers, pedophiles and repeat domestic violence perpetrators - have avoided being kicked out of the country after successfully arguing to the AAT that they had ties to Australia. That cohort includes Sudan-born Emmanuel Saki, who was charged over a stabbing murder in Queensland weeks after the AAT agreed to revoke the cancellation of his visa.

#36 - Part 20

Australian Politics and Society - Part 4

>>20926971 Video: Former US president Donald Trump says he will give 'very serious consideration' to pardoning Julian Assange if he takes office - Former US president Donald Trump will give “very serious consideration” to pardoning Julian Assange if he is returned to office in the upcoming presidential election. The Australian Wikileaks founder is currently fighting extradition to the United States, where he faces espionage charges carrying a maximum 175-year sentence for publishing classified information obtained from whistle-blower Chelsea Manning. Trump was asked whether he would pardon the Australian citizen during a podcast interview with Youtuber Tim Pool. "Well I'm going to talk about that today, and we're going to give it very serious consideration,” the former President said. The interview was recorded on Saturday evening (local time), prior to Trump’s speech at the 2024 National Convention of the US Libertarian Party. “And we're going to have a couple of other things to say in the speech - that I think you’re going to love,” he added. The former US president is all but guaranteed to win the Republican nomination, which will set up a re-run of the 2020 contest with current US President Joe Biden. The Australian government has been lobbying the Biden administration to pardon Mr Assange since the election of Anthony Albanese in 2022, with the Prime Minister telling ABC Radio in February that it was “time Julian Assange was brought home”.

>>20932063 Video: Rapist attacks 25 women, teen … and allowed to retain his visa - A remorseless serial rapist who attacked 25 women and a child kept his visa as a result of Andrew Giles's catastrophic push to give more leniency to foreign-born criminals with ties to Australia, as it was revealed the embattled Immigration Minister was warned his policy would lead to a huge rise in offenders successfully beating deportation. The Australian can reveal a man who had “some of the worst child abuse material in the world”, a rapist who molested four children and a criminal who laundered more than $5m also kept their visas as a by-product of Mr Giles’s Direction 99. As Labor was consumed on Tuesday by revelations of offenders who kept their visas as a result of Mr Giles’s direction, the minister declared he would prioritise a possible appeal of cancelled criminal deportations months after they were first overturned and days after the cases were uncovered by The Australian.

>>20932075 Greens to push Palestinian statehood in hung parliament - Greens leader Adam Bandt has made clear he will elevate the recognition of a Palestinian State in any discussions for minority government should the election return a hung parliament, fuelling opposition concerns about the prospect of a Labor-Green coalition. NSW Liberal MP Julian Leeser expressed alarm early on Wednesday that a hung parliament at the next election could see the Greens making the “unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and the weakening of the Western alliance a price of government.” Following the comments, Mr Bandt told The Australian that “in any future minority parliament, the Greens will use every lever at our disposal to push for an end to the invasion of Gaza and the occupation of Palestine, as well as for Australia to recognise the State of Palestine”.

>>20937481 Video: Andrew Giles under fire as PM rips up deportation rule book - Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is under pressure to fix the detainee crisis and save his job as he scrambles to rewrite the rule used to allow violent criminals to stay in Australia, including serial rapists and paedophiles the government was fighting to deport. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to back his embattled minister in a fiery question time following growing opposition calls for Giles to be sacked. “The new directive will ensure that the protection of the community outweighs any other consideration,” Albanese told federal parliament on Wednesday amid growing government criticism of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s decisions. This followed revelations Giles’ departmental secretary kept him in the dark about a slew of cases reinstating the visas of serial rapists under “direction 99”, which was issued by the minister last year. Direction 99 states: “Australia will generally afford a higher level of tolerance” based on the length of time a non-citizen has spent in the Australian community, particularly in formative years.

#36 - Part 21

Australian Politics and Society - Part 5

>>20937493 Giles says he’s using drones to track freed foreign criminals - Beleaguered Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has claimed the government is using drones to track former immigration detainees following revelations that murderers, sex offenders and domestic attackers released since last year’s High Court decision were not being electronically monitored. After a bruising week of question time attacks, several caucus colleagues are privately discussing Giles’ future in the portfolio after a ministerial direction he issued last year was used by a tribunal to allow visa holders who had committed serious crimes to stay in Australia. However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told colleagues that he places a premium on stability, does not want a reshuffle and will not let Opposition Leader Peter Dutton dictate terms. Labor’s move to rewrite ministerial Direction 99 - which mandates the consideration of a foreign criminal’s Australian ties before cancelling their visa – prompted New Zealand to warn against deporting Kiwi citizens who had spent little time in the country.

>>20937501 NZ seeks talks with Canberra over Direction 99 reform - New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is seeking urgent talks with Australia over Direction 99 reform, saying he doesn’t want to see Australia deport New Zealanders who have little connection to their country of origin. The Albanese government has committed to reforming the controversial Ministerial Direction, which was introduced last year to appease New Zealand’s anger over a string of deportations of long-term Australian residents with few ties to their country of citizenship. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles announced he would repeal the directive on Wednesday, after The Australian revealed multiple cases of rapists and pedophiles being allowed to stay because of their ties to Australia. But Mr Peters, who is also NZ’s foreign minister, suggested he would appeal to Anthony Albanese’s “common sense” approach to the issue. “We accept that Australia has the right to determine what level of offending by non-citizens is unacceptable. “But we do not want to see deportation of people with little or no connection to New Zealand, whose formative experiences were nearly all in Australia. “We note Prime Minister Albanese’s previous commitment to take a ‘common sense’ approach to deportation of people to New Zealand who had effectively spent their entire lives in Australia.”

>>20945186 Donald Trump guilty in hush money trial - Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial in New York. The verdict makes Trump the first former US president to be convicted of a felony. Judge Juan Merchan has set the sentencing date for July 11. Outside court, a furious Trump continued his claims that the trial had been "rigged" and accused Merchan of being "conflicted" and "corrupt". "This was a rigged decision right from day one with a conflicted judge who should have never been allowed to try this case," Trump said. He said "the real verdict" would come in on November 5 - the date of the upcoming US presidential election for which Trump is the presumed Republican nominee. "This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent," Trump said.

>>20945225 Australia reacts: Anthony Albanese ‘wishes the US well’ as Penny Wong says she’s open to meeting Trump - Australia’s political leaders have vowed to maintain the relationship with the United States regardless of who is elected president in the wake of Donald Trump’s criminal conviction just months out from a bitterly contested poll. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had no doubt the news would be “the global story of the day” but it was inappropriate for him to comment on the case. “We’re not a party to this court proceedings. So we regard that as a matter for the United States and their system, as we regard the election of the US president to be a matter for the people of the United States as well,” he said. “We would probably object to a New Zealand prime minister or a US president, or a German chancellor, or a French president, telling us how we should conduct our political system and I have no intention of telling the United States.” He noted his close personal relationship with current president Joe Biden, but said the US-Australia alliance was a relationship between countries not individuals.

#36 - Part 22

Australian Politics and Society - Part 6

>>20945256 Doubts over drone program after under-fire minister’s detainee claim - The existence of a drone program to monitor former detainees has been thrown into doubt after under-fire Immigration Minister Andrew Giles made the claim in defence of the government’s handling of multiple visa crises. Despite Giles’ assertion, government sources say drones are not being used to track detainees after the practicality of the program was questioned by a security expert and the Coalition demanded to know details of the secret measures. While facing a political storm fresh over his ministerial direction 99 being used by a tribunal to justify reinstating the visas of a series of serious criminals, Giles also responded to fresh Home Affairs figures showing three freed murderers and 26 sex offenders were not wearing monitors. AFP deputy commissioner Ian McCartney told a Senate estimates hearing on Friday evening the agency was not using drones on the cohort and he had no knowledge of drones being used as part of the taskforce’s operations. “We believe there hasn’t but as a matter of completeness we’ll take it on notice,” he said. Victoria Police confirmed it was not using drones to monitor released immigration detainees while NSW Police said it was a Commonwealth issue.

>>20945327 Ukraine gets $31m aid boost, but no coal - Australia will provide $20 million to an energy support fund for Ukraine amid pleas for an urgent shipment of coal. Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Friday a $31 million package for Ukraine's energy and humanitarian needs. Kyiv has requested the coal shipment as Russia bombards its power plants with missile and drone strikes. Instead of providing coal, funds will be used to provide heat and electricity for Ukrainians, amid concerns the conflict could continue into the European winter. The Albanese government has been criticised after a call for help by Ukraine went unanswered for six months. Senator Wong said the government remained unwavering in its support for Ukraine's sovereignty. "Australia's $20 million contribution to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund will be used meet the highest priority energy needs and support the Ukrainian people," she said.

>>20950711 US Space Forces Indo-Pacific commander highlights key alliance at Australian Space Summit - Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific commander, participated in the Australian Space Summit at the International Convention Center in Sydney, Australia, May 27-28. The Australian Space Summit aimed to provide presentation to critical funding issues and unveil fresh opportunities for international collaboration with the goal of growing Australia’s space sector. During the two-day event that explored space collaboration and competition in the Pacific, Mastalir delivered a keynote address and participated in panels which discussed space capabilities and the U.S.-Australian alliance in the Indo-Pacific. Joining Mastalir on the panel was Royal Australian Air Force Maj. Gen. Gregory Novak, Defence Space Command, Australian Defence Forces commander. The panel focused on emphasizing collaboration as a critical component in enhancing the U.S.-Australian partnership for securing the Indo-Pacific. “There are many similarities in what we’re doing here,” Novak said. “The space domain has always been a strong part of the U.S.-Australian military-to-military relationship and our alliance. One thing that struck me over the past six months is just how much it’s deepened and broadened over that time.”

>>20954706 Doctors blast opaqueness of gender clinics - Australia’s major gender clinics have refused to confirm whether they are tracking long-term health outcomes of thousands of young children they have treated, despite a landmark British review that criticised the opaqueness and secrecy of the medical care. Children’s hospitals in NSW, Queensland and Victoria have given no indication they will be changing treatment options for young people with gender dysphoria, despite serious issues raised by the Cass review and growing international evidence over the safety and clinical effectiveness of the drugs. As an increasing number of ­voices call for an independent inquiry into the prescription of ­puberty blockers to young teens, medical experts have urged Australian hospitals to release up-to-date information on treatment plans and long-term outcomes of hormone treatments, warning that the current lack of transparency is leading to harmful outcomes. Clinicians have also hit out at the nation’s peak body for transgender health, AusPATH, after it this week dismissed findings of the Cass review, saying that the medical body was “digging their heels in” despite increasing alarm over the rising prescription of ­puberty-blocking drugs in young teenagers.

#36 - Part 23

Australian Politics and Society - Part 7

>>20954768 Trans ‘lab leak’ unleashed a scandalous medical experiment - "Equality Australia, a transgender activist lobby, issued a curious media statement this week deploring England’s Cass review into the medicalisation of distressed minors alienated from their birth sex. The statement ran to almost 900 words, but none could be spared to spell out puberty blockers or synthetic cross-sex hormones. Hiding behind the euphemism of gender-affirming care, the clinicians and activists quoted in the statement would have us believe the medical scandal documented by British pediatrician Hilary Cass is simply not relevant here in Australia. Yet it is, of course. Same hormonal drugs likely to sterilise minors and rob them of sexual pleasure as adults, same low-quality evidence base, same zealous affirmation of gender as the cause of distress. Teenagers turn up at gender clinics primed with the diagnostic checklist for gender dysphoria, but the true causes of their unhap­piness may lie elsewhere. Maybe undiagnosed autism, awkward same-sex attraction, mental health disorders, past sex abuse or just the unsurprising confusion of teenage brains exposed to a pseudoscientific celebrity culture of gender diversity." - Bernard Lane, former journalist with The Australian and writer of the genderclinicnews.com newsletter

>>20954866 People are in denial following the Cass report - it’s like deprogramming cult members - "I suppose if I had been cheering on a vast medical experiment on children that was now shown to be extremely harmful, I might be keeping my head down. If I had been interning as a witch hunter, I might say, “I only helped with the pyres, I didn’t actually light the fire.” If I needed other people’s small children to prove my very “existence” as an adult, I may keep rather quiet. Indeed, the reaction to the Cass Review has been notable in that many who have previously intoned trans rights slogans have just changed the subject. Their silence is deafening. The other reaction is almost Trumpian in its delusion. When presented with the biggest survey of the evidence by a top paediatrician, some zealots simply come out with their own “alternative facts”. The disinformation they have spread has meant that Dr Hilary Cass, the report’s author, has been threatened and advised not to travel on public transport. These people, quite frankly, disgust me. One of them, Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, was asked five times on the Today programme whether he accepted Cass’s findings and he would not answer. Thankfully, he is not in charge of NHS Scotland, which has now also paused the prescription of puberty blockers and will not give cross-sex hormones to new patients under 18." - Suzanne Moore - telegraph.co.uk

>>20954935 Australian transgender healthcare guidelines ‘lack rigour and independence’, say Cass review researchers - Australia’s guidelines on gender-affirmative medicine lack rigour and independence, and fail to recommend formal assessment processes that screen for body image problems, autism spectrum disorder, sexual orientation, or physical health conditions, according to international researchers commissioned by the UK Cass review. University of York researchers conducted a study analysing international standards of care in gender-affirming medicine. The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne guidelines, which are followed by all Australia’s children’s hospitals, were examined. The review found all guidelines around the world, including Australia’s, recommend a multidisciplinary approach to assessment, but few provide specific detail or clarity on the purposes of assessment. For instance, very few guidelines recommend formal measures or clinical tools to assess gender dysphoria. Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne guidelines in Australia were found to contain no recommendations for the discussion of body image, neurodiversity or autism spectrum disorder, sexuality, sexual functioning or sexual orientation, or physical health or conditions.

#36 - Part 24

Australian Politics and Society - Part 8

>>20954971 Video: Cass Down Under - "Centre-right politics in Australia is alert to the message of paediatrician Hilary Cass, who is about to make a virtual visit to the country. Members of the centre-right Liberal Party in Australia’s most populous state have endorsed a motion urging a ban on medicalised gender change for minors. The motion, passed at Saturday’s state council meeting of the party’s New South Wales (NSW) division, calls on “the federal and state governments to ban chemical (drug) and surgical gender dysphoria treatment for minors due to the inability of a child to provide informed consent to these types of procedures.” The motion is not binding on the parliamentary Liberal Party, which is in opposition, but the overwhelming support shown by members and delegates on Saturday sends a signal to the leadership ahead of a vote on legislation that would allow minors easier access to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. England’s Cass report - which deplored the “remarkably weak evidence” for youth gender medicine and confirmed the experimental status of puberty blockers - was cited in support of Saturday’s motion at the state council meeting of the NSW Liberals. Dr Cass, the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health who led England’s 2020-24 review of youth dysphoria care, has agreed to take part in a webinar on the relevance of her report to Australia. The July 2 webinar will be moderated by Professor Philip Morris, president of the National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP), which in 2019 became the first Australian medical society to call for an inquiry into paediatric gender medicine." - Bernard Lane - genderclinicnews.com

>>20954995 Q Post #1735 - There is nothing more precious than our children. Evil has no boundaries. https://genius.com/Slayer-evil-has-no-boundaries-lyrics - The choice to know will ultimately be yours. These people are SICK!To those who are courageous enough to speak out - we stand with you! You are not alone in this fight. God bless. Q

>>20955150 US Marine on rape charge placed on bail, denied trip home to await trial in America - A US Marine charged with rape while on rotation in the Top End has had his plans to return home to await trial put on ice after being placed on bail in the Darwin Local Court on Friday. The court heard the 24-year-old - who cannot be named before being committed to stand trial - had been issued with a notice to appear after the charge was laid on May 1. But prosecutor Rhiannon McGlinn said her office had requested the case be relisted a day before his Marine Corps contract was due to lapse to ask that he be placed on bail instead. “I understand he then had plans to return to the United States of America,” she said. “However the US Marine Corps has been in contact with my office and has notified us they will keep him here if there is a bail order requiring him to remain in Darwin.” In granting bail, Mr Neill ordered the man to live at the Defence Establishment Berrimah and not travel more than 100km from Darwin while surrendering his travel documents and steering clear of the airport. “I’m satisfied that circumstances exist which warrant the imposing of bail conditions on the defendant because of his situation with the US Marine force and his potential to depart the jurisdiction,” he said.

>>20959141 Labor cancels visas of 20 foreign criminals in Direction 99 fallout - The number of visas re-cancelled by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles more than doubled to 20 at the weekend, as he faces a new attack from the Coalition over his claims that drones are being used to monitor foreign criminals. As senior Labor figures deny the government made “a mistake” in implementing Direction 99 under pressure from New Zealand last year, opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan demanded the government reveal whether it was indeed flying drones near schools to track foreign-born criminals and prevent them coming into contact with children. “The Albanese Labor government needs to come clean: are they now saying that drones are flying over schools?” Mr Tehan said. “If this is the case, which schools? And have the parents of schoolchildren who attend these schools been notified? Once again this sounds like fantasy land to defend the indefensible, which is the sheer incompetence of Andrew Giles.”

#36 - Part 25

Australian Politics and Society - Part 9

>>20959152 Minister admits there are no detainee drones - Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has admitted that drones are not being used to track released detainees in a fresh gaffe for the frontbencher. Giles made the sensational statement in a TV interview last week during a bruising week for the government over its handling of former detainees convicted of serious crimes and revelations a ministerial directive he issued last year led to a tribunal allowing a number of foreign criminals to stay in Australia. In a statement released on Monday, Giles corrected the record after doubts were raised over the use of drones to monitor detainees, when the Australian Border Force declined to confirm it was using them in its operations and the Australian Federal Police saying it had no knowledge of the operation. “Last week, in an interview on Sky News, I stated that Operation AEGIS was using drones. I relied on information provided by my department at the time, which has since been clarified,” Giles said. “As part of the work monitoring and supporting community safety, Operation AEGIS draws on information from a range of sources using different technologies including aerial open-source and other imagery through their work with state and territory law enforcement bodies.”

>>20964564 ‘Can’t get story straight’: Confusion over plan to allow foreigners to serve in ADF - The federal government has scrambled to clarify that only citizens from Five Eyes nations will initially be able to serve in the Australian Defence Force after the announcement of an overhaul of recruitment rules became mired in confusion. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the government of creating a “dog’s breakfast” with its announcement that foreigners would be allowed to enlist in the military to help address a dire personnel shortage, with ministers providing conflicting explanations about how the policy would work. The government’s initial media release suggested that only permanent residents from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network - the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada – would be eligible to enlist. Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh later said that permanent residents from “any other countries” living in Australia would be able to apply to join the ADF, prompting questions about whether permanent residents from autocracies such as China could be recruited. Defence Minister Richard Marles subsequently told reporters that “the focus is on Five Eyes and the Pacific”, with Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy saying Pacific Islanders would be able to serve from next year.

>>20964579 Third Victorian poultry farm declares outbreak of avian influenza, source under investigation - A third poultry farm has declared an outbreak of avian influenza in Victoria. Farm Pride Foods announced this morning the viral strain detected at its Lethbridge aviary site was "the same strain found on the egg farm at Meredith" about 10 days ago. Those farms are about 10 minutes' apart by road in the Golden Plains Shire in central Victoria. A different strain of avian influenza - H7N9 - was discovered at a farm at Terang on May 24. Farm Pride Foods said it had been collaborating with Agriculture Victoria to conduct hen health assessments. Tests on June 1 showed hens kept in sheds were free of bird flu. But tests carried out on Sunday, June 2 showed free-range hens had the H7N3 strain.

#36 - Part 26

Australian Politics and Society - Part 10

>>20964628 Malcolm Turnbull urges world leaders to follow his example: stand up to Donald Trump - Malcolm Turnbull has blasted Donald Trump as a ‘volatile, narcissistic gaslighter’, urging world leaders to follow his own example and stand up to Mr Trump should he return to the White House next year. Mr Turnbull, whose term as prime minister overlapped with Mr Trump’s presidency until 2018, wrote in the prestigious journal Foreign Affairs that “character, courage and candour may be the most important aid [foreign leaders] can render to the United States in a second age of Trump”. “There has never been such an effective and relentless gaslighter,” Mr Turnbull wrote, referring to the former Republican president, who remains the favourite to win against Joe Biden in November despite his conviction for election interference in New York last week. Mr Turnbull recounted his famous phone call with a newly elected Mr Trump in early 2017, where the prime minister sought to obtain assurances the new Trump administration would honour a deal to struck the former president Barack Obama to take some of Australia’s undocumented arrivals. “On the call, I told Trump that Australia expected the United States to stick to its word. Trump was furious, raging that the deal was a terrible one, that it would kill him politically, that Obama had been a fool to do it,” Mr Turnbull wrote. “It was daunting to be yelled at by the president of the United States, but I stood my ground. By the end of the call, Trump had, with great reluctance, agreed to go along with it”.

>>20964719 Malcolm Turnbull: How the World Can Deal With Trump - Advice for Leaders Facing the Potential Return of “America First” - "In this year of major elections around the world, none is more consequential than that in the United States on the first Tuesday in November. Polling suggests Donald Trump will enter the White House again in January 2025. If he does, he will return to office perhaps no wiser but certainly more experienced and more convinced than ever of his own exceptional genius. More ominously, he will be determined to rectify in his second term what he insists was the major failing of his first: that both his own advisers and Washington officialdom got in his way. Like most people, Trump is often wrong. Unlike most people, however, he is never in doubt. A powerful narcissistic self-belief has given him the strength to defy not just his many enemies but even reality itself. For four years, he has denied the outcome of the 2020 election and persuaded most of his party, and millions of Americans, to agree with him. There has never been such an effective and relentless gaslighter. A Trump returned to the White House, convinced of his own genius, and with the evidence of an election win to prove it, will be surrounded by more yes men and sycophants than ever. In that environment, who will be prepared to tell him what he doesn’t want to hear? The leaders of the countries that are the United States’ friends and allies will be among the very few who can speak truthfully to Trump. He can shout at them, embarrass them, even threaten them. But he cannot fire them. Their character, courage, and candor may be the most important aid they can render to the United States in a second age of Trump." - Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018 - foreignaffairs.com

>>20969901 Operation Ironside: How biggest sting in history brought down world’s toughest criminals - It was March 2020, the start of the Covid pandemic, and like half the planet, Australia’s most wanted gangster Hakan Ayik was coming to grips with meeting work colleagues online via Zoom. The prolific drug smuggler was sitting in the cafe of the Kings Cross Hotel that he owns and runs in the Turkish city of Istanbul, talking about how to turbocharge his illicit business, flogging encrypted phones. The phones and their encrypted platform, known as AN0M, were proving popular with international drug cartels and money-laundering syndicates, and Ayik wanted to maximise profits. Three other men were in the meeting, and one of them, identified only as Afgoo, was the global head of the AN0M business. Ayik, who had fled Sydney more than a decade earlier and had managed to stay a step ahead of law-enforcement ever since, had no idea that every detail of the meeting was being monitored by police and the FBI. And he didn’t know Afgoo was the man who secretly sold the AN0M platform to law enforcement and was now operating as a confidential informant to the FBI.

#36 - Part 27

Australian Politics and Society - Part 11

>>20969930 Video: eSafety drops case against Elon Musk's X over church stabbing videos - A legal battle to have graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney removed from Elon Musk's social media platform X will be abandoned by the eSafety commissioner. Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant confirmed the Federal Court case would be abandoned, after several blows in court and an attempt to temporarily force the footage to be hidden expiring. "After weighing multiple considerations, including litigation across multiple cases, I have considered this option likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children," Ms Inman-Grant said. "Our sole goal and focus in issuing our removal notice was to prevent this extremely violent footage from going viral, potentially inciting further violence and inflicting more harm on the Australian community and I stand by my investigators and the decisions eSafety made." The case was seen as a test of Australia's ability to enforce online safety requirements on the social media platforms. Posting on social media, X's government affairs arm celebrated the announcement. "This case has raised important questions on how legal powers can be used to threaten global censorship of speech, and we are heartened to see that freedom of speech has prevailed," the company said. Mr Musk also posted, saying "freedom of speech is worth fighting for."

>>20976380 eSafety chief Julie Inman Grant pushes powers to ban tech giants from local advertising cash and data - eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is pushing for “business disruption powers” restricting advertising revenue and siphoning of Australians’ personal data as punishment for tech companies that breach online safety rules. After abandoning her Federal Court case to remove videos of the Wakeley terrorist stabbing from Elon Musk’s social media platform X, Ms Inman Grant warned that the 2021 Online Safety Act had been “leapfrogged” by overseas ­jurisdictions. Ms Inman Grant, who has been the country’s online safety tsar for more than seven years, said Australia’s enforcement powers and penalties must be on par with domestic and global regulators. As the Albanese government reviews the Online Safety Act, Ms Inman Grant said “we should be looking at business disruption powers”. “Why should these companies that aren’t abiding by our laws be monetising our citizens’ personal data and taking our advertising funds? This is where we need to look, particularly with the more recalcitrant players,” she told The Australian.

>>20983445 Peter Dutton tells Anthony Albanese: put Adam Bandt’s Greens party last - Peter Dutton has called on Anthony Albanese to reject the anti-Semitism “flourishing within the Greens political party” and put its candidates last on Labor how-to-vote cards at the next election. After joining the Prime Minister this week in condemning the Greens for “pouring fuel on the fire” of social division and anti-Semitism, the Opposition Leader shifted greater responsibility on to the government for allowing fear to “fester” within the Jewish community. In an interview with The Australian on the second anniversary of his becoming Opposition Leader, Mr Dutton said protesters chanting hateful slogans - including “from the river to the sea” and promoting “intifada” – had been “allowed to coexist on the Prime Minister’s watch”. He doubled down on his criticism of the Greens, saying they were an anti-Semitic party - a claim strongly refuted by Adam Bandt – with Mr Dutton branding the minor party leader a “radical … unworthy of public office”. “I think the Prime Minister should join our commitment to put the Greens last at this election,” Mr Dutton said. “Should the Greens be condemned for encouraging these extremists? Yes. And it is absolutely appropriate to condemn them, and I join the Prime Minister in doing that.”

>>20983586 Anthony Albanese’s electorate office ‘targeted’ by Hamas symbol with a ‘history of violence’ - Anthony Albanese’s electorate office has been tagged with terror group Hamas’s symbol indicating its Israeli military targets as police across Australia said officers would clamp down on protest ­activity that spilt into criminality. The Australian on Wednesday revealed how the Prime Minister had been locked out of his Sydney Grayndler electorate office since January because of a pro-­Palestinian encampment on its doorstep amid safety concerns, with the office since plastered with red inverted triangles, used by Hamas and associated with a “history of violence”. The symbol is used in videos by Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, to illustrate the Israeli targets it intends to fire at. It has since been embraced by pro-Palestine activists, who use it for both graffiti and at protests.

#36 - Part 28

Australian Politics and Society - Part 12

>>20983605 NZ upset by Giles decision to replace ‘direction 99’ rule on deporting criminals - New Zealand has expressed its disappointment at a new direction that will lower the threshold to deport foreign criminals from Australia as the Albanese government seeks to regain control over the troubled immigration portfolio. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles released a new rule - known as “direction 110” – on Friday morning to replace the previous “direction 99” which was blamed for dozens of convicted criminals being released into the community rather than returned to their country of citizenship. Asked by a New Zealand journalist whether the new policy was a “betrayal of New Zealand”, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that “we regret the decision Australia has made”, while noting the country was allowed to set its own immigration rules. “It’s just not right that people with no connection to New Zealand are deported to New Zealand,” Luxon said on Friday. “We need to monitor the implementation of it. I note that prime minister Albanese has also assured me that a common-sense approach will continue to apply.”

>>20988386 Musk’s X in fresh legal stoush with Australia’s e-safety commission - Australia’s eSafety Commissioner will take on Elon Musk’s X Corp in court later this year after it issued the social media giant with a six-figure fine, a court has heard. eSafety in December last year announced that it had commenced civil proceedings in the Federal Court against X Corp relating to its response to a “transparency notice”. In a statement, eSafety said the notice required the company to explain how it was “meeting the Basic Online Safety Expectations in relation to child sexual exploitation and abuse material”. eSafety has alleged that X Corp “failed to respond or failed to respond truthfully and accurately to certain questions” and issued the company with a $615,500 infringement notice. X Corp is separately seeking judicial review of the infringement notice and has launched proceedings which will run alongside the case launched by the eSafety Commissioner.

>>20993031 Video: Labor blasts Peter Dutton’s threat to withdraw from 2030 climate targets - Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Peter Dutton’s vow to axe Australia’s 2030 climate emissions target would be a “wrecking ball” for the country’s relationships with its key foreign partners. The Opposition Leader has said if he wins the next federal election, he would scrap Labor’s legislated target for 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and focus on nuclear energy to reach net zero by 2050. The decision would place Australia at odds with its legally binding targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement, where nearly 200 countries committed to their own plans to reduce planet-warming emissions. Mr Bowen said a weakened climate emissions goal could leave the nation out of step with Pacific Island states and a significant portion of the international community.

>>20998381 Video: Andrews, McGowan catch pair of Covid honours - Australia’s most polarising Covid-era premiers have been awarded the nation’s highest honour, with both recognised for their health policies ­despite one presiding over one of the world’s longest lockdowns and a botched hotel quarantine program that led to the deaths of more than 800 people, and the other having closed the borders of his state for almost two years. Daniel Andrews has received a Companion of the Order of Australia for “eminent service to the people and parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development” while Mark McGowan receives the same award for “eminent service to the people and parliament of Western Australia, to public health and education, and to international trade relations”. Both premiers were most prominent on the national stage at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and their citations for “eminent service … to public health” largely refer to these roles. Mr McGowan’s citation for services to “international trade relations” comes after he pushed for a softer stance on China and labelled the Morrison government’s security-led position on the superpower “insane”; Mr Andrews’ citation for “policy and regulatory reform” and “infrastructure development” comes after he left his state budget on a trajectory to hit more than $187bn in net debt within the next four years.

#36 - Part 29

Australian Politics and Society - Part 13

>>20998391 Jeff Kennett: Awarding Daniel Andrews a Companion of the Order of Australia devalues it beyond recognition - "Victorians, every Australian should be outraged that the individual who has so destroyed the opportunities for generations in this state has been granted the highest civilian award in Australia. In doing so, the awards under the Order of Australia have been devalued beyond recognition. In awarding the highest honour to Mr Andrews, the Governor-General, and the Secretariat that manages the awarding of honours, have rewarded gross financial mismanagement of Victoria, the deaths of more than 800 Victorians, and manifest failure of Mr Andrews to discharge his responsibilities under the Westminster system. On two measures in the citation that accompanies Mr Andrews’ award - health and infrastructure - he has failed. Certainly, the third, reform, when he failed to accept responsibility for his actions that so disadvantaged his community. Victorian citizens are going to pay heavily, for decades, for the failures of Mr Andrews. Under no circumstances should he have been recognised for an Order of Australia Award. He should give it back, or we Victorians should write to the Governor-General asking that he revoke the award." - Jeff Kennett, premier of Victoria from 1992 to 1999 - heraldsun.com.au

>>20998398 Stop using Trump-like tactics on climate change, independent MPs warn Dutton - Teal independents have accused Peter Dutton of putting the country’s economic and environmental future at risk by abandoning the Paris Agreement, while sharpening their pre-election attack lines on the Liberal Party as it seeks to win back wealthy seats in the capital cities. Independents Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel said Dutton’s decision to ditch Australia’s 2030 targets to cut emissions by 43 per cent while promising to achieve net zero by 2050 would push investment out of the country to nations that recognised the environmental risks. Zoe Daniel, who won the neighbouring Melbourne seat of Goldstein from Liberal Tim Wilson, said Dutton was trying to reignite the political war over climate change on the back of policy backsliding and a “campaign of misinformation”. “I doubt the Goldstein community will take kindly to Mr Dutton spouting unedited lines out of the [Donald] Trump playbook, blaming migrants for every problem from congestion to pressure on the health system while following Trump’s example of pulling out of Paris,” she said.

>>21004642 Malcolm Turnbull issues warning over what a second Donald Trump presidency might bring to the world - Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned a second term as US president for Donald Trump could lead to him being surrounded by more "yes-men" and a shift in US foreign policy. Trump was recently the first US president to have a criminal conviction recorded, when he was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Speaking to 7.30, Mr Turnbull, who was Australian PM when Trump was first elected to office, said he feared Trump would only be more emboldened should he defeat President Joe Biden in the race for the White House. "In a second term, Trump will be surrounded by more yes-men and yes-women than ever, and he will feel unassailable, because he will have done the impossible and got himself re-elected," Mr Turnbull said He then warned that leaders of nations who were allies with the US would have to stand up to Trump. "Trump is a bully, with a domineering personality," Mr Turnbull told 7.30.

>>21004651 Video: Malcolm Turnbull on how to deal with Donald Trump | 7.30 - Elections in Europe have once again raised the spectre of a shift to the right across the globe. In response President Emmanuel Macron has just called a snap election to try to head off the rise of the far right in France. But no election result is more anticipated than the one in the United States later this year which could see Donald Trump return to the White House. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull famously had a run in with President Trump and he's now published an essay in Foreign Affairs magazine, "How the world can deal with Trump". - ABC News In-depth

#36 - Part 30

Australian Politics and Society - Part 14

>>21015094 Marine Corps Osprey lands on Australian warship 3 months after flight ban was lifted - An MV-22 Osprey touched down on an Australian warship last week, another indicator the tiltrotor is returning to routine service with the Marine Corps after a series of deadly crashes. The aircraft - part of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin - landed aboard the HMAS Adelaide on June 4 as it cruised off Australia’s northern coast, Capt. Edwin Myers, who commanded a detachment of Marines on the helicopter flight deck, told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. The U.S. military grounded its fleet of about 400 Ospreys between Dec. 6 and March 8 as it investigated the Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force CV-22 Osprey that killed eight airmen off Japan’s southern coast. An Osprey assigned to last year’s Marine rotational force crashed in August north of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, killing three Marines and injuring 20 others, three seriously. Neither accident investigation report has been released, although the Air Force initially found “a materiel failure of a V-22 component” in the November crash, according to a March 8 news release from the Pentagon, which did not identify the component.

>>21015132 Gender diversity a ‘normal variation’, doctor tells court - A doctor advising a young girl on whether to take cross-sex hormones told the child some side ­effects of taking testosterone, including vaginal atrophy, were reversible or would not last forever, and said there was “scientific debate” about whether the treatment could have an impact on her fertility. The doctor, who works for one of Australia’s largest public gender clinics, also says gender diversity is a “normal variation of human development” and refuses to admit it could be influenced by “external pressure”. The case emerged as the latest development in a highly complex family law matter in which the parents are divided over whether their child can medically transition to become a boy. One parent opposes the prescription of the cross-sex hormones, previously telling the child they will “grow out of it”. The other supports the transition, and is trying to claim full parental responsibility. The matter is on the brink of becoming a “royal commission” into the Australian model of care for gender dysphoria, the Federal Circuit and Family Court heard on Tuesday, as lawyers debate the legitimacy of Britain’s Cass review which found Australia’s guidelines on gender-affirmative medicine lacked rigour and independence.

>>21015592 PNG offers skilled workers for Australia’s infrastructure sector, pledges no ‘riff raff’ - Papua New Guinea will urge the Albanese government to help it dramatically increase the number of temporary workers it supplies to Australia, saying it has thousands of skilled tradesmen from the oil and gas sector who could work on major infrastructure projects. Seven federal government ministers, led by Richard Marles and Penny Wong, will travel to Port Moresby next week for the 30th Australia-PNG ministerial forum, with labour mobility and policing support at the top of the agenda. PNG hopes to send 8000 of its workers to Australia by 2025, but by June 30 last year had supplied less than a quarter of that figure. PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said PNG had 20,000 qualified tradies who worked on the country’s ExxonMobil LNG project who could bolster Australia’s infrastructure workforce. He said the country could also supply more workers to Australia’s horticulture sector and other rural industries such as abattoirs.

>>21015613 Doctor’s defiance on child’s sex swap - A doctor from one of Australia’s largest public gender clinics says a gender dysphoric child who believed taking cross-sex hormones would help her grow male genitalia is still able to show mature thinking in the area of gender. The Federal Circuit and Family Court on Wednesday heard the child, whose parents are divided over whether she should be allowed treatment, exhibited a “lack of understanding” that could indicate she was not ready for medical intervention. The doctor, however, said while the comments might indicate the child’s juvenile grasp of how testosterone would impact her genitals, it does not necessarily show an overall lack of critical thinking in the area of gender. The matter - in which one parent opposes the prescription of cross-sex hormones and has previously told the child they would “grow out of it”, and the other who supports the transition - is in the midst of a multi-day hearing, in which various expert witnesses are giving evidence.

#36 - Part 31

Australian Politics and Society - Part 15

>>21015643 Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas fails in legal bid to qualify for Paris Olympic Games - Transgender United States swimmer Lia Thomas has lost any chance of competing in the Paris Olympic Games after losing a significant case against World Aquatics in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Thomas, 25, had taken the case to the Lausanne-based court to try and force World Aquatics to overturn its rules which bars anyone who has undergone any part of male puberty from competing in the female category of the sport. But the court has ruled against Thomas and the swimmer will not be eligible to try for Olympic Games selection in the female category. British swimming champion Sharron Davies tweeted after hearing the court decision: “Good, no elite female athlete will have to lose out to this mediocre 6’4ft male swimmer.” Thomas was born male and went through puberty as a male ranked in the mid 500s in men’s competitions, and a career high of 65th in the 500 yards freestyle in 2019 before becoming a trans woman and winning the female 500m NCAA college title in March 2022, sparking a flurry of controversy. In a separate legal case that is still ongoing, 16 US women have since lodged a legal claim from that race claiming the National Collegiate Athletics Association had institutionalised discrimination and cheating against them.

>>21015700 Trump Jr and Farage attend London fundraiser hosted by Holly Valance - Donald Trump Jr and Nigel Farage are among the guests at a London fundraiser that has so far raised more than $2 million (£1.6 million) for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The reception, believed to be the biggest fundraising event outside the US for Trump’s re-election bid, is being hosted by Holly Valance, the Australian actor and singer, in the Chelsea mansion she shares with her husband, the billionaire property tycoon Nick Candy. Farage, the leader of Reform UK and prospective MP for Clacton, took a break from his election campaigning to attend the event alone. He arrived holding a copy of the Gospel According to St John. When asked if he had any reservations about donating to a convicted felon, he responded: “I can’t donate, I’m British.” Last month, before announcing his bid to become an MP, he said he had a “firm job offer” related to Trump’s re-election campaign.

>>21026625 Elon Musk chases ‘overpayments’ from Australia’s sacked Twitter staff - Elon Musk’s social media platform X is threatening to take some former Australian employees to court, demanding they return entitlements it claims were overpaid to them after it bungled the currency conversion from US to Australian dollars on the payments. Acknowledging its “conversion error”, the platform formerly known as Twitter is asking former employees, some sacked more than 18 months ago, to repay amounts of up to $70,000 in some cases. At least six former X employees have received legal notices, according to people speaking on the condition of anonymity. The company said the overpayment was related to “deferred cash compensation”, in the form of employee shares issued to the staff when they joined Twitter. These shares were valued at $US54.20 ($82) each, the price at which Musk bought Twitter in 2022, and the total number of shares acquired by an employee was based on the length of their tenure at the company. The currency conversion errors made by X when employees were paid their entitlements once they were made redundant had led to overpayments of between $1500 and $70,000. According to one account, X paid out the share entitlements at a conversion rate 2.5 times the value of the shares. Employment law specialist Hayden Stephens said it sounded like an odd mistake. He suggested the best thing for the former Twitter staff involved to do would be to ask X to clearly explain how the error occurred and ask for supporting documentary evidence. Stephens said that under Australian employment law, when there had been a genuine mistake, “there is usually an obligation to repay that money”.

#36 - Part 32

Australian Politics and Society - Part 16

>>21026659 Pope Francis bans traditional Mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s - In a move that has shocked and upset hundreds of Catholics in Melbourne, the Vatican has banned the traditional Latin Mass from the city’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. The final traditional Mass will be offered on Wednesday, June 19, at 5.30pm. By essentially ordering traditional Catholics to get out of their own cathedral, the ban is stirring up tensions and divisions. On Wednesday evening Mass, which has been a regular feature of cathedral worship for 13 years, drew a crowd of more than 150, mainly young people, including city workers not aligned with traditional parishes. The ban was imposed by Archbishop Peter Comensoli, who had no choice, following a direction from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship. It is the next step in a campaign by Pope Francis to crush the traditional rite, which evolved through the early centuries of the church and was largely unchanged for about 1500 years until the mid-1960s. It was phased out following the second Vatican Council, replaced by the more prosaic novus ordo (New Mass), usually said in the vernacular. The traditional Mass was given fresh impetus by Saint John Paul II in the 1980s and by Pope Benedict in 2007, who affirmed the right of all priests to say Mass using the traditional rite (now known as the “extraordinary form”), without the permission of bishops. Benedict’s letter also clarified the fact that the Traditional rite was never abrogated. While those changes were initially expected to accommodate older Catholics who remember the pre-1969 Latin Mass, the growth in attendance stunned church leaders as young families and 20-something and 30-somethings discovered the Old Mass and stayed. Francis overturned his predecessors’ initiatives three years ago, in a document ironically entitled Traditionis Custodes (Custodians of Tradition), which crushed centuries of tradition. Traditionis Custodes stipulates that the traditional Mass is “not to take place any longer’’ in normal parishes. But bishops around Australia, including Archbishop Comensoli, have used their authority and discretion in implementing it, with a view to the pastoral needs of growing numbers of worshippers, especially the young and converts, who were drawn to the transcendence and gravitas of the Old Rite.

>>21030796 Senior Cardinal backs Australians’ right to celebrate Latin mass despite Vatican ban - A senior Roman cardinal has backed the right of Melbourne ­Catholics to attend a weekly traditional Latin mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral after it was banned by Archbishop Peter Comensoli on the orders of the Vatican. Speaking from Rome, Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was the church’s top canon law authority under Benedict XVI, said: “The centuries-long proven beauty of the more ancient usage (Usus Antiquior) of the Roman rite, which continues in its vitality to the present day, will endure. While the use of Latin, the ancient language of the church, is integral to its beauty, the beauty is in the form or usage itself.” Cardinal Burke’s view is in stark contrast to that of Francis, who has waged a three-year campaign to eliminate the traditional rite, which evolved through the early centuries of the church and was largely unchanged for about 1500 years until the mid-1960s. It was replaced by the more prosaic novus ordo (New Mass), usually said in the vernacular. The traditional mass was given fresh impetus by Saint John Paul II in the 1980s and by Pope Benedict in 2007. It has become one of the strongest growth areas of Christianity around the world. The final traditional mass in St Patrick’s will be said on Wednesday, June 19, at 5.30pm. By essentially ordering traditional Catholics to get out of their own cathedral, the ban has stirred tensions and divisions.

>>21042300 Liberal MP Matt Kean resigns from NSW Parliament - Former NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has announced his resignation from state parliament, ending his 13 years as the member for Hornsby. Mr Kean dashed rumours he was making a tilt for federal politics, saying he would be pursuing opportunities in the private sector. The Liberal MP made the announcement with his wife Wendy and four-year-old son Tom in a snap press conference at 4.20pm, just hours after Labor Treasurer Daniel Mookhey handed down his second NSW state budget. While he said hadn’t confirmed a new role, he said he intended to pursue a role in the “energy and climate-related space”. “I’m passionate about energy, and I’m passionate about the transition (to renewable energy). This transition is inevitable,” he said.

#36 - Part 33

Australian Politics and Society - Part 17

>>21049303 Video: Dutton reveals locations for seven nuclear power plants under Coalition plan - Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has unveiled long-awaited details of his pledge to build nuclear reactors in Australia, confirming that two nuclear plants would produce electricity by the middle of next decade and be built with public funding under a government-owned business model. The Coalition revealed seven nuclear plants would be built at the sites of former coal power plants: Lithgow and the Hunter Valley in NSW, Loy Yang in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia. “We know the government has renewables only policy which is not fit for purpose. No other country in the world can keep the lights on 24/7 with the renewables-only policy,” Dutton said at an announcement in Sydney on Wednesday morning. “Today we announce seven locations that we have looked at in great detail over a long period of time that can host new nuclear sites, and that’ll be part of an energy mix with renewables and significant amounts of gas into the system, particularly in the interim period.”

>>21049355 Peter Dutton has put the energy debate on its axis and radically reshapes the next election - "Peter Dutton has just radically reshaped the political contest. He has staked his leadership and the Coalition’s election prospects on a contest over nuclear power. Anthony Albanese might well be thinking: “I can’t believe my luck”. But having on Wednesday announced the first phase of the nuclear plan - the seven regional locations - the Liberal leader has strongly signalled that he too wants a fight with Labor over energy. The electoral interpretation of the nuclear option is also not as controversial as some may believe. Voters like visionary leaders, even if they don’t necessarily agree with the vision. And on nuclear, people are nowhere near as hung up about it as they once were. At another level, the nuclear plan is also a platform for the rebranding of Dutton as leader. It shifts the dynamic from a Coalition opposition always opposed to things as to one fighting for something. The politics of the voice proved that Dutton’s negative approach was right for that policy. On energy, however, if the Coalition is going to maintain parity with Labor on net-zero, it needed a point of significant differentiation on delivery. Nuclear has given Dutton that option and completely swung the axis on the energy debate." - Simon Benson - theaustralian.com.au

>>21049530 What to expect from the Tucker Carlson, Clive Palmer roadshow - When asked how Clive Palmer had approached him to come to Australia, American uber-conservative commentator Tucker Carlson revealed his waggish side. “A text message. Which is an emerging technology in the United States where you use your phone to do some chat with people,” he said. Of course there is more to Carlson than sarcasm. He has been called “the most influential voice in right-wing media”. A former Fox News commentator who continues to argue that the 2020 US presidential election was rigged, Carlson now runs his own media outlet and broadcasts on X He recently became the first Western journalist to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Ukraine war started, but was roundly criticised for his soft line of questioning. Now he’s the star attraction at Palmer’s Australian Freedom Conference tour, which begins in Cairns on Friday before travelling to Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. Carlson tops a bill of speakers that also includes Queensland GP and anti-COVID vaccination campaigner Dr Melissa McCann and American filmmaker and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza.

#36 - Part 34

Australian Politics and Society - Part 18

>>21054370 Senate crossbench leans to ending nuclear power ban - Much of the Senate crossbench is at least open to considering removal of the federal ban on nuclear power, in a boost for Peter Dutton’s energy policy. With Labor and the Greens opposed to removing the ban, introduced during Senate horse-trading in 1998, a Coalition government if elected would likely need crossbench support. Tasmanian crossbench senators Tammy Tyrrell and Jacqui Lambie on Thursday indicated they were willing to consider removing the legislated prohibition. Even ACT independent David Pocock, who is critical of the Coalition’s nuclear policy, did not rule out supporting the ban’s removal, saying he would consult at the time. Much of the crossbench, meanwhile, is openly enthusiastic about nuclear energy and removing the ban. This includes Pauline Hanson and her One Nation colleague Malcolm Roberts, the United Australia Party’s Ralph Babet and independent David Van. Senators Roberts, Lambie and Van are up for re-election at the next election. “I support nuclear - it’s one step cheaper than the Bowen, Albanese wind and solar pipe dream – and we should absolutely remove the ban,” Senator Roberts said, referring to Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese.

>>21054380 Nuclear power strategy would plug holes in planning for subs - "Peter Dutton’s plan for Australia to build a nuclear energy industry provides the best chance of the AUKUS agreement actually delivering something for Australia. All leading nations are masters of nuclear technology. Almost all use nuclear energy. Dutton’s plan is a huge commitment to nation building. It would be the first substantial economic supply side and productivity-enhancing reform in Australia since the introduction of the GST. Its application to AUKUS is central. One of the many unresolved contradictions at the heart of AUKUS is that Australia is planning to become the only nation that builds, possesses and operates nuclear submarines without also having nuclear energy for electricity generation. The US, Russia, China, India, Britain and France operate ­nuclear-powered subs. They also operate substantial nuclear energy programs. They also, incidentally, possess nuclear weapons. This means they have hundreds, thousands, of nuclear engineers, technicians and workers who are masters of nuclear technology in all its stages and guises. No first-rate nation is without ­nuclear technology. Part of the air of unreality over the Albanese government’s AUKUS plan is that it is not preparing the nation, nor preparing the infrastructure, nor making any of the hard decisions, which even buying nuclear subs from the US would involve, much less building them ourselves in Adelaide. If we are developing nuclear power, we’re much more likely to be able to build, sustain, operate and expand a nuclear-powered submarine fleet. Against all the evidence so far, AUKUS might ­actually come to mean something for Australia in terms of military capability." - Greg Sheridan - theaustralian.com.au

>>21054410 OPINION: Peter Dutton is crazy brave to the point of being reckless. He’s also outsmarting Anthony Albanese - "Peter Dutton has always been heading for this moment, when his politics would meet an issue that could give him a chance to break the world open. Dutton is his own man, fashioned by his own experiences and inclinations, but he is also something of a mash-up, recalling aspects of other leaders. Like John Howard, he is a naturally gifted communicator, one of the very best in the current parliament. Dutton’s greatest good fortune is to have Anthony Albanese, a weak communicator who is bad on detail and a mostly hopeless policy advocate, as his direct opponent. The key to understanding Dutton’s crusade for nuclear energy is the deep belief, shared widely in the Liberal and National parties at the parliamentary and membership levels, that the theory of anthropogenic climate change and the consequent need to shift to renewables to avoid an existential threat, are bulldust - part of a global left-wing plot. The calculus is simple: it must be wrong and should be thwarted with whatever argument comes to hand. More and more voters are giving up on Albanese and instead want to listen to Dutton, a trend that’s been clear for more than 12 months. Dutton is offering solutions that he frames as easy, and consequence and cost-free. In a cost-of-living crunch, those who are fearful of making ends meet will naturally find that opposition argument appealing if the government is not rebutting it with a persuasive counter-argument." - Shaun Carney, former associate editor - smh.com.au

#36 - Part 35

Australian Politics and Society - Part 19

>>21054473 ASIO boss Mike Burgess has been reappointed for five more years - ASIO boss Mike Burgess will continue to lead the spy agency for another term. Federal Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil confirmed Mr Burgess’ appointment will remain as Director-General of Security for an additional five-year term. “Mr Burgess has made an extraordinary contribution to Australia’s national security and his leadership of ASIO has been invaluable in an increasingly complex security environment,” Ms O’Neil said in a statement. “ASIO is a critical part of our national security community and plays a crucial role in protecting Australians from security threats. “For the past 75 years ASIO’s operational and analytic efforts have helped keep Australians safe from threats like terrorism, espionage, and foreign interference. “ASIO’s people are its greatest asset and every Australian is safer because of their diligent work.”

>>21054569 Hundreds take part in final Latin mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral - “We shall return,” a buoyant Father Glen Tattersall said after the final traditional Latin mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Wednesday evening. The cathedral was packed with a crowd of 850 people, every pew from the front the back and across the cathedral transepts were taken. They came in business suits, in strollers, on trams, and in fluoro tradie gear. Most were rugged up in heavy coats against the Melbourne winter, which did not dim the spirit of the cathedral lit with candlelight and optimism. The crowd of all ages left no doubt that demand for this mass will remain strong Archbishop Peter Comensoli sat in the Sanctuary, but did not address the crowd. Acting on an edict from the Vatican, Archbishop Comensoli has been forced to stop the popular mass which has been held weekly since 2011. Despite the people’s disappointment, there was a sense of optimism that Cardinal George Pell’s prediction that Pope Francis’s edict against the traditional mass, Traditionis Custodes, would not extend past the current pontificate. Many of the people said they sometimes went to the new mass in English, but preferred the traditional mass for the greater transcendence it offered.

>>21060743 Peter Dutton in nuclear strike at Anthony Albanese - Peter Dutton has the support of a majority of residents in regional communities where ­nuclear power generators will be built under the Coalition’s controversial plan, as he accuses the Prime Minister of international “appeasement” on renewable energy and climate change targets. The Opposition Leader on Saturday will rally the Liberal Party faithful around his nuclear ­ambitions at a meeting of the party’s federal council, claiming that Labor’s renewable-energy-only plan will cost the nation $1.3 trillion. Mr Dutton will address the meeting armed with tightly held polling conducted separately by the Liberal Party and the Nationals, and obtained by The Weekend Australian. It shows more than 50 per cent of residents in communities support a nuclear replacement option for coal across all seven sites, taking in two Liberal held seats, four Nationals seats and one Labor seat. While the research doesn’t ­signal electoral enthusiasm for nuclear, and could be regarded as soft support, those in favour ­significantly outnumbered those opposed in most seats polled. Liberal Party strategists believe the results expose a political risk for Anthony Albanese’s ­attempts to build a safety scare ­campaign around nuclear, with the number of people who support nuclear in some seats almost ­double the number opposed.

>>21066001 Opposition Leader Peter Dutton rallies supporters for next election and calls Anthony Albanese ‘a child in a man’s body’ - Liberal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has likened Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “a child in a man’s body”, as well as a political appeaser who has compromised his own office. Labor responded that Mr Dutton had displayed “the same nasty negativity” and “personal attacks”. In an address to the Liberal Party Federal Council on Saturday, Mr Dutton outlined how the party could beat the first-term Albanese Labor government at the election due by May next year, and launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister. “He’s a man with a mind still captured in his university years, he’s a child in a man’s body,” the Opposition Leader told the Liberal faithful. He offered Mr Albanese some credit, calling him a “decent man who cares deeply about his country”, but said he was out of his depth as Prime Minister.

#36 - Part 36

Australian Politics and Society - Part 20

>>21066175 Australia’s Fears Over Trump’s Return Are Baseless, Ex-Prime Minister Says - Australian concerns about Donald Trump’s potential return to power are “baseless hyperventilation,” ex-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, adding the former president is a major supporter of the US-Australia alliance. Morrison, one of the primary architects of the Aukus security pact with the US and UK, said he had worked with both Trump and President Joe Biden during his time in office from 2018 to 2022. Asked about the implications of a second Trump administration for Australia, he said it would mean “a president who was deeply committed to the alliance.” “There’s been a lot of baseless hyperventilation about this,” Morrison said in an interview on Tuesday. “People are getting themselves tied up in knots over things looking from this side of the Pacific into a US polity which they, I don’t think, understand. They’re overreading any number of things here.” Morrison met with the former president during a visit to the US in May, after which he said Trump had expressed a positive opinion toward the Aukus pact.

>>21070659 Charlatan, opportunist, climate change denialist: Keating unloads on Dutton - Former prime minister Paul Keating has compared Peter Dutton to the “most wicked and cynical of individuals” in a searing statement that accuses the opposition leader of opportunism and climate change denialism in his advocacy for nuclear power. As the political debate over nuclear energy became increasingly personal over the weekend - with the Coalition mounting character attacks on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and teal MPs – Keating released a statement late on Sunday that began: “[Peter] Dutton is a charlatan – an inveterate climate change denialist.” “A denialist now seeking to camouflage his long-held denialism in an industrial fantasy [nuclear power] … Dutton, like [former prime minister Tony] Abbott, will do everything he can to de-legitimise renewables and stand in the way of their use,” Keating wrote. “Only the most wicked and cynical of individuals would foist such a blight on an earnest community like Australia. A community which fundamentally believes in truth and decency and which relies on its political system to advance those ideals.”

>>21076925 Video: Matt Kean named head of Climate Change Authority - Anthony Albanese has announced former NSW energy minister and Liberal MP, Matt Kean, as the new head of the Climate Change Authority. Mr Kean announced his retirement earlier this month after 13 years in NSW parliament, ruling out a run as a federal Liberal candidate. The Prime Minister said Mr Kean was an “outstanding appointment” to chair of the Climate Change Authority. “Matt Kean is uniquely qualified to lead the Climate Change Authority and I am so pleased that he has accepted the government’s invitation to take up the vacancy which is there due to the resignation of Grant King,” he said. “I worked very closely with Mr Kean when we introduced … our energy price relief plan in partnership with the New South Wales state government and other state governments as well. Mr Kean understands the opportunity that the transition to clean energy represents for our nation … and he also understands the folly that walking away from the renewables transition represents.”

>>21076936 Video: Matt Kean’s appointment as Climate Change Authority chair is frankly astounding - "Matt Kean’s appointment as Climate Change Authority chair without any due diligence or formal recruitment process is astounding and diminishes the independent, expert advice expected of the role. Kean - a vocal proponent of renewables who conveniently is now anti-nuclear – is a career politician whose 13-year tenure in the NSW parliament ended with a whimper. Kean, a NSW Liberal Party moderate-faction powerbroker and protege of lobbyist Michael Photios, made his name as one of Australia’s most senior Liberal figures backing renewables and batteries as the future. Elected to the NSW parliament in 2011 as a 29-year-old after previously working as a Liberal staffer, Kean enjoyed a meteoric rise into Cabinet by age 35. As Energy Minister from 2019 and Treasurer from 2021, Kean fast-tracked renewable energy zones across NSW and announced a 70 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035. As CCA chair, Kean will have major input into the Albanese government’s 2035 target. Standing alongside Kean and Anthony Albanese in the Prime Minister’s courtyard on Monday, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the former Liberal politician was a captain’s pick. Asked about the process of selecting Kean, Bowen said he recommended the former NSW treasurer to Albanese and the Cabinet approved the appointment because “he was the best for the job”." - Geoff Chambers, The Australian’s Chief Political Correspondent - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 37

Australian Politics and Society - Part 21

>>21076973 Anti-voice activists launch pre-election attack on the Greens - The conservative activist group that torpedoed Anthony Albanese’s voice referendum will pump millions of dollars into a sole election campaign vehicle designed to drag down the Greens’ vote and expose the party’s radical policies. The Australian can reveal that Advance, backed by 306,000 supporters and 32,000 donors, will spend $5m on phase one of a national election campaign titled “Greens Truth”, aiming to inflict “significant damage” to the left-wing party’s brand. Armed with a post-voice war chest and new research showing voters remain disillusioned by the major political parties, Advance is launching its pre-election campaign to disrupt and halt the expanding electoral success of the Greens. Amid rising speculation of an early election, and Peter Dutton’s Coalition making ground on the Albanese government, there is growing probability the Prime Minister could be forced into striking a deal with Adam Bandt to form minority government in a hung parliament. With Greens preferences helping Mr Albanese claim victory after Labor secured a paltry 32.6 per cent primary vote at the 2022 election, Advance is warning voters of “catastrophic” outcomes for families if the left-wing party’s agenda is implemented.

>>21110078 ‘I walked for humanity’: Labor senator Fatima Payman crosses floor to recognise Palestine - Labor senator Fatima Payman has become the party’s first member to cross the floor in decades after she voted with the Greens to recognise Palestinian statehood in a vote on Tuesday. The federal government moved quickly to quell expectations the WA senator would be expelled from Labor, despite the fact MPs have previously been thrown out for not toeing the party line. Payman, a first-term senator, said she was proud she had upheld her convictions, although she was bitterly disappointed her Labor colleagues had not joined her. “My decision to cross the floor was the most difficult decision I have had to make, and although each step I took across the Senate floor felt like a mile, I know I did not walk these steps by myself, and I know I did not walk them alone,” Payman said during a snap press conference held minutes after the vote. “I walked with the people of Palestine, for the 40,000 killed, for the hungry and scared boys and girls who now walk alone without their parents, and for the brave men and women who have to walk alone without their children. I walked for humanity. I am proud of what I did today, and I’m bitterly disappointed that my colleagues do not feel the same way.”

>>21110092 Labor senator Fatima Payman vows to keep voting by ‘conscience’ on Israel-Palestine - Labor senator Fatima Payman insists the backlash from within the party over her decision to cross the floor on a vote for Palestinian statehood “won’t derail me from continuing to vote with my conscience”, as Anthony Albanese refuses to say whether he sought her assurance she would vote with the party going forwards. The 28-year-old Muslim senator broke with 130 years of Labor tradition on Tuesday night in voting against her party while refusing to tender her resignation, prompting calls for her immediate expulsion or a long-term suspension from the party. But the Prime Minister instead barred Senator Payman from attending just one scheduled caucus meeting next week, drawing criticism from Labor stalwarts over his lack of stronger action. Mr Albanese was asked by this masthead several times on Friday whether he had explicitly sought assurances from Senator Payman in his meeting with her this week, but did not confirm or deny he had made such a demand. “We expect that people will participate in our caucus processes and comply with them. The important thing to note about this week is that Senate motions do not determine Australia’s foreign policy,” he said.

#36 - Part 38

Australian Politics and Society - Part 22

>>21110210 Australian-US intelligence alliance ‘phenomenal’ countering adversaries, says top US spy - The US and Australia are leading an intense intelligence co-operation effort in the Indo-Pacific to combat the unprecedented, hostile intelligence activities of Western adversaries China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, says Avril Haines, US Director of National Intelligence. Ms Haines visited Australia to become only the second foreign national to be awarded the Australian Intelligence Medal, our highest honour for distinguished service to the national intelligence community. (The only other foreign recipient was Shig­eru Kitamura of Japan in 2022.) In an exclusive interview with The Australian, the first a serving DNI has done with an Australian journalist, Ms Haines hailed the Australia-US intelligence partnership - part of the Five Eyes arrangements that also involve Britain, Canada and New Zealand - as “phenomenal”. “I would describe the (intelligence) partnership (between the US and Australia) as phenomenal,” she said. “I really want to give a tremendous amount of credit to the Australian intelligence community. Andrew Shearer (the director-general of the Australian Office of National Intelligence and principal adviser to the Prime Minister on intelligence matters) is my principal interlocutor in this context and I cannot say enough about his leadership in driving collaboration, not just between Australia and the US, but across the Five Eyes and with our Indo-Pacific partners, which I think has been fundamental to our capacity to lay out the intelligence landscape to our policymakers and military leaders.”

>>21110321 Russia’s Kremlin sanctions former PMs John Howard and Tony Abbott - John Howard and Tony Abbott are among the latest Australians to be sanctioned by Russia for their role in what the Kremlin says is a “Russophobic campaign by the collective West”. Moscow has released a list of 27 Australians that have been added to its sanctions list, which also includes Sydney priest Bill Crews, Vice Chief of Defence Robert Chipman, and former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the individuals would be denied entry to Russia for an “indefinite term”, and warned more names would be added to its catalogue of banned Australians. “Considering the fact that official Canberra does not intend to renounce its anti-Russia line and continues to impose new sanctions, we will update the Russian stop list still further,” it said in a statement. Mr Abbott, who once vowed to “shirtfront” Russian president Vladimir Putin, said he was pleased his advocacy for Ukraine had been so prominently recognised by Moscow. “I’m surprised it’s taken them so long and am proud to be in such company,” he told The Australian on Friday.

>>21114421 Video: Fatima Payman confirms she would cross the floor again as Deputy Prime Minister issues blunt warning - Fatima Payman’s future with Labor is in doubt after the rogue WA senator vowed to defy party leadership and again cross the floor to support Palestinian recognition. The Greens are set to immediately test Senator Payman’s resolve with more votes on Palestine and the Gaza conflict to be brought forward this week in the Senate. The internal drama is a political headache for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that threatens to derail efforts to keep focus on its long-awaited tax cuts, which start on Monday. Senator Payman stoked fresh anger inside Labor ranks after using an appearance on national television on Sunday morning to confirm she would again cross the floor if the Greens put a forward a motion to recognise Palestine for a second consecutive week. Senator Payman accepted such a move could imperil her future with the Labor caucus. “What I know is that this is about 40,000 Palestinians that have been massacred and slaughtered since the 7th of October,” she said in the interview. “I know that Australians are a fair people and knowing about the Labor Party, we are a party with a conscience and champions of human rights, whether that be justice, fighting for freedom or equality. So I believe … I’ve been abiding by those principles of the party.”

#36 - Part 39

Australian Politics and Society - Part 23

>>21114443 Fatima Payman indefinitely suspended from caucus in crisis talks with PM over Palestine - Labor senator Fatima Payman has been indefinitely suspended from the Labor caucus during crisis talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at The Lodge in Canberra. Payman was summoned to the prime minister’s residence on Sunday afternoon after an explosive interview on the ABC’s Insiders program in which she vowed to cross the floor again and vote for a motion supporting an independent Palestinian state, should the Greens put one before parliament again this week. The defiant West Australian senator was at The Lodge for about 40 minutes and was spotted leaving by this masthead about 3.10pm on Sunday. Asked if she had been expelled from the ALP, Payman said no but did not take any further questions. A source close to the senator not permitted to speak on the record said she was now considering her future with Labor and had received a “stern” talking to from the prime minister. A Labor spokesperson said after the meeting: “By her own actions and statements, Senator Payman has placed herself outside the privilege that comes with participating in the federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus. “If Senator Payman decides she will respect the caucus and her Labor colleagues, she can return, but until then Senator Payman is suspended from the right to participate in federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus meetings and processes.”

>>21119470 ‘Exiled’ Payman told to consider quitting the Senate by Albanese - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told renegade Senator Fatima Payman she should consider quitting the senate and handing back her seat to Labor, fuelling her growing anger at her exile from the party. A day after the prime minister summoned her to The Lodge to suspend her from Labor’s caucus, the 29-year-old claimed she had lost contact with her colleagues and been kicked out of group chats. “I have been exiled,” she said in a statement released on Monday afternoon. “These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate. I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of Western Australia.” Payman was indefinitely suspended by the Labor caucus on Sunday after a bombshell interview on the ABC’s Insiders program in which she vowed to cross the floor again and vote in support of recognising a Palestinian state. She can serve out the remaining four years of her term whether she is representing Labor or joins the crossbench, just as Lidia Thorpe and David Van remain in parliament after quitting their parties. If she were to quit, the WA Labor Party would be able to parachute in a new Labor senator to replace the first-term backbencher whose refusal to vote with the party forces the government to seek an extra crossbench vote to pass bills in the upper house. Sources said Payman does not plan, at this stage, to move to the crossbench or to the Greens, and instead will withhold her vote entirely on motions and legislation.

>>21119474 Sheik Charkawi’s bid to dump Labor to field ‘teal-like’ campaign-backed federal candidates - A Muslim teal-style campaign to oust the ALP in Sydney and Melbourne is seeking candidates as Anthony Albanese’s suspension of Fatima Payman from the Labor caucus exacerbates a rift between the party and the ­Islamic community. The suspension of the senator for crossing the floor to vote with the Greens on Palestine statehood, and her warning that she’d do it again, has alienated Labor from its historically loyal Muslim voter base, which is mobilising to make that clear at the next election. The Muslim Vote - a formal campaign bidding to oust Labor incumbents in seats with high Muslim populations – has opened applications for prospective candidates, including in the electorates of Education Minister Jason Clare and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Any candidates running as part of the Muslim Vote platform are likely to be campaign-affiliated independents, backed with resources, volunteers and funding, similar to Climate 200’s support of independent teal candidates, albeit not to the same extent. The Australian revealed in April that Labor powerbrokers feared abandonment by Muslim voters across southwest Sydney and inner-city Melbourne over its Gaza war stance and, in June, how the campaign was spearheaded by Islamic leader Sheik Wesam Charkawi. On Sunday, Sheik Charkawi published a “candidate call out”, encouraging people to put themselves forward to run with the Muslim Vote’s backing. The sheik has also started expanding the campaign’s reach and pool of canvassers. The group is also now accepting ­donations, which will go toward “local and national campaigns, mobilisation, rallies, event ­material, and direct lobbying”.

#36 - Part 40

Australian Politics and Society - Part 24

>>21119494 Anthony Albanese to reap as he sowed, over Fatima Payman whirlwind - "Anthony Albanese is reaping the Fatima Payman whirlwind as he sowed: an initial weak reaction to the junior WA Senator’s defiant crossing of the floor and the snubbing of her ALP colleagues has only been made worse by a late, frustrated penalty that has gifted the two-year senator enhanced power. Payman can now dictate terms to the Prime Minister on every vote from a ban on live-sheep exports to Palestine and govern the extent of the damage and distraction Labor is suffering. Labor’s entire economic re-election plan and answer to the supreme political priority of easing the cost-of-living pressure on households is now being publicly sidetracked and downgraded. Albanese’s authority, already diminished, is captive to Payman and the Greens who can further undermine Labor unity with a cheap trick any hour in the Senate and is also being challenged by union leaders. Instead of confronting the Payman problem last week when the 28-year old Muslim Senator crossed the Senate floor to vote with the Greens on a motion contradicting Labor policy on Israel and Palestine Albanese let her off with a slap on the wrist only to face a defiant declaration she would do it all again. Thus, a political dust-up of lesser import would have been finished by the end of last week, instead it has redoubled its momentum and dramatically spread the fallout." - Dennis Shanahan - theaustralian.com.au

>>21119498 Anthony Albanese doesn’t know how to use what little prime ministerial authority he has left - "Anthony Albanese’s weakness and lack of authority are on full display. Whatever precious little prime ministerial authority he had left, he has shown he simply doesn’t know how to use it. It’s either too much too soon, as in the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, or too little too late, suspending Western Australian senator Fatima Payman from the Labor caucus indefinitely for defiantly declaring she would continue to defy the PM, government policy and her Labor colleagues. As a young, female Afghani migrant, Muslim and union-backed senator elected with less than 2000 primary votes in 2022, Payman first tested the waters by speaking in support of pro-Palestinian protesters; when nothing happened, she crossed the floor to support a Greens motion only identifying Palestine’s existence. What should have been a straightforward punishment last week for “ratting” on a Labor vote - a serious suspension at least, and possibly expulsion, given the gravity of the social division exemplified by the anti-Israel motion – was virtually a free pass and a smack in the face for so many Labor MPs and senators. Albanese’s history as a factional bully boy expelling ALP members over trivial votes at local councils stood in stark contrast to his inability to do more than recuse a junior senator from one partyroom meeting for further dividing Labor on one of the great social issues it faces. The result is now a full-blown crisis in the Senate, a potential union war in WA and yet another cultural and political distraction from what should be Labor’s core task - easing the cost of living." - Dennis Shanahan - theaustralian.com.au

>>21125738 Video: Some of Labor's safest seats are facing a political backlash, as 'exiled' Fatima Payman weighs up her future in the party - Senator Fatima Payman's "exile" from Labor's caucus has sparked fresh speculation about a backlash towards the party from parts of Australia's Muslim community. The WA senator is considering her future in the Labor Party, as she faces indefinite suspension from the caucus over her plans to continue voting against party lines on issues around Palestinian statehood. On Sunday she accused colleagues of trying to intimidate her into quitting parliament altogether. There are suggestions Senator Payman may instead leave Labor to join new political organisation The Muslim Vote, which is planning to run candidates on a pro-Palestinian platform in some of Labor's safest seats. Labor is being warned of a looming political backlash in areas it considers the party's heartland, from voters that have been some of its most reliable. In particular, Muslim groups in Western Sydney have warned concerns about the federal government's approach to the Israel-Hamas war, and Palestinian statehood, are turning long-time Labor voters away from the party.

#36 - Part 41

Australian Politics and Society - Part 25

>>21125827 Fatima Payman enlists minor party specialist as Labor braces for backlash - Suspended Labor MP Fatima Payman has enlisted the advice of a minor party political "whisperer" as her party colleagues brace themselves for the possibility she will move to the cross bench. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese handed Senator Payman an indefinite suspension on Sunday after she said she would continue to defy the party's position on Palestinian recognition in parliamentary votes. On Monday, the West Australian senator said she had been "exiled" by her colleagues and would reflect on "the best way to represent the people of Western Australia," opening the door to a party exit. Glenn Druery, a political operative nicknamed "the preference whisperer" for his history of helping minor parties achieve political success, told the ABC he had had "informal conversations in recent days with Senator Payman." Mr Druery also said he had had "informal conversations with the Muslim community" about election strategies. Asked if he was bothered by Senator Payman having conversations with people who want to thwart the government agenda, the prime minister said her moves were not his primary concern. "I'm not focused on it, I've got a big job," he told 7.30.

>>21125875 Dutton tells MPs to ‘be ready’ for early election after PM scraps Washington visit - Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has warned Coalition colleagues that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision not to attend a historic NATO summit in Washington next week is a sign to prepare for an early election as Labor strives to sell its domestic economic agenda. Albanese was expected to gather with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and New Zealand as members of the so-called “Indo-Pacific Four” at the summit marking NATO’s 75th anniversary beginning next Tuesday, but Defence Minister Richard Marles will now travel to the US in his place. Dutton speculated about Albanese’s decision in the Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday, saying the decision “could be because he’s considering an early election”. A government source, not authorised to speak on the record, said the decision was made after Albanese was unable to confirm a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. Albanese’s office advised him not to make the trip as it could invite further criticism as his government struggles with a cost-of-living crisis at home.

>>21125981 Porn crackdown amid fears Australia facing ‘harmful sexual socialisation of entire generation’ - Australia is facing a “harmful sexual socialisation of an entire generation” if unfettered access to online pornography by children is not urgently reversed, with the Albanese government giving tech companies a six-month deadline to act or face forced regulation. The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has warned of underage kids setting-up OnlyFans accounts monetising sexual acts, replicating extreme choking and asphyxiation themes glorified in porn content and viewing “unsolicited dick pics and nudes” via messaging and gaming apps. The call for action follows a spike in the exposure of young Australians to pornographic material on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, which “violates their terms of service”. With Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton warning of the need for stricter age-verification rules amid concerns about the social perils of porn, tech companies have been set an October deadline to present preliminary codes. The new enforceable codes, which primarily focus on pornography, also capture other high-impact material including themes of suicide and serious illness such as self-harm and eating disorders. Measures floated by the eSafety Commissioner include “opt-out” default settings on new devices that automatically include safety and parental controls, deployment of age assurance technologies, blurring or filtering unwanted sexual content and applying multi-layered protections.

#36 - Part 42

Australian Politics and Society - Part 26

>>21131120 Cut-back deployment sends ‘dangerous message’ on ADF capability - The Albanese government has dramatically scaled back Australia’s participation in America’s biggest military exercise as the nation faces a decade-long capability crisis following years of under-investment in defence. Australia’s contribution to the biennial Rim of the Pacific war games off Hawaii is the smallest in at least a decade, and comes amid Anthony Albanese’s decision to skip next week’s NATO summit in Washington in a move the Coalition has warned could signal an early election. The Australian Defence Force has sent just 320 personnel, a single warship and one P-8A maritime reconnaissance aircraft to RIMPAC 2024, which the US has hailed as its biggest yet. The contingent falls 80 per cent short of the nation’s 2022 contribution, when the ADF provided 1600 personnel, three surface ships, a Collins-class submarine, two Poseidon aircraft, an army combat group, and a clearance diving team. It comes as the navy’s fleet - already one of the oldest and smallest in decades - is decimated by defects, maintenance problems and a personnel crisis that shows no signs of abating.

>>21131124 Going AWOL at RIMPAC bares our lack of fight - "The biennial RIMPAC exercise, which runs for the next month, is by some distance the most important military exercise Australia participates in. Involving 29 nations, 40 surface ships, 150 aircraft and some 25,000 personnel, it is an exercise that China truly hates because it does more than any other to prepare countries across the region to repel any military adventurism from Beijing. China’s state-run mouthpiece the Global Times fumes that this year’s RIMPAC will “sabotage, not safeguard, peace and stability in the region” because the exercise will practise drills aimed at sinking a Chinese aircraft carrier. Yet at a time when the Albanese government claims the rise of China has delivered the most frightening strategic outlook in a generation, Australia cannot muster more than symbolic military support for this year’s RIMPAC. At the last RIMPAC in 2022, we sent 1600 personnel, three warships, a Collins-class submarine, two P-8A Poseidon aircraft and an army amphibious combat group, together with mine warfare and clearance diving teams. This year we are sending 320 personnel, a single warship, and a single air force P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft. In other words, Australia is providing one of the 40 surface ships involved in RIMPAC, just one of the 150 aircraft involved and just 1.29 per cent of the personnel. It is a shamefully microscopic contribution for a supposed ­middle power that spends $55bn on defence a year and harbours ambitions to become an operator of nuclear-powered submarines." - Cameron Stewart - theaustralian.com.au

>>21131140 Gender affirmative guidelines just an echo chamber, says UK expert - The British paediatrician who carried out a world-leading review of care models for children with gender distress has criticised trans healthcare guidelines as an “echo chamber” based on weak evidence that show no efficacy in alleviating the psychological distress of young people. Hilary Cass, who led the landmark review of gender-affirming care that prompted the UK’s Nat­ional Health Service to ban the prescription of puberty blocker hormone drugs for children under 16, said that gender affirmative care guidelines around the world had not followed an evidence-based approach, and “sort of copy and paste off each other” in order to justify their medical approaches. Dr Cass, a former president of the UK’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, participated in a panel live from the UK on Tuesday night, which was hosted by Australian psychiatrist Phillip Morris, the president of the ­National Association of Practising Psychiatrists, one of the first bodies to call for caution on experimental medical treatments and greater wholistic psychotherapy for young people with gender distress. Dr Cass criticised the activist World Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare for essentially suppressing evidence that the standards of care it ­devised were not evidence-based and showed no proof of alleviating the distress of children. “The evidence base is weak … international guidelines have for the most part not followed standard evidence-based approaches,” Dr Cass told the Australian seminar. “And it has influenced most other international guidelines. There is a sort of echo chamber of sort of copying and pasting off each other. The only guidelines that have taken an independent and evidence based ­approach are the Swedish and the Finnish guidelines.”

#36 - Part 43

Australian Politics and Society - Part 27

>>21131154 Tucker Carlson’s Warning to Australians | Melbourne, Australia Full Speech - Tucker Carlson speaks Down Under from Melbourne, Australia, and delivers his message to Australians. Chapters: Intro - Australian's Love of Animals - Australian Leadership - Julian Assange - Energy - Christianity

>>21136400 Video: Accusations, intimidation and resignation: Senator Fatima Payman quits Labor - Senator Fatima Payman has become the Albanese government’s first defection as she resigned from the party on the last day of parliament before the winter break, accusing the prime minister of pressuring her onto the crossbench where she will act as a high-profile critic of the government’s stance on the war in Gaza. In an impassioned press conference in Canberra, Payman wept as she declined to pledge her support for Labor’s legislative agenda on issues such as climate change or industrial relations, accusing Labor of not caring about the suffering of Palestinians. “I am torn, deeply torn. On one hand, I have the immense support of the rank-and-file members, unionists, the lifelong party volunteers, who are calling on me to hang in there and to make change happen internally. On the other hand, I am pressured to conform to caucus solidarity and toe the party line,” she said. “I see no middle ground and my conscience leaves me no choice.” The 29-year-old’s resignation was expected for days after revelations the Afghan-born backbencher had begun taking advice from Glenn Druery, a consultant who specialises in getting independents elected to parliament.

>>21136416 Video: 'It made me feel like I don't belong': Fatima Payman speaks about resigning from Labor - In an interview with SBS News, Western Australian senator Fatima Payman has spoken about feeling intimidated by members of the Labor caucus and a focus on her religious identity in the lead-up to her resignation from the Labor Party. Payman resigned from the Labor Party on Thursday, saying her conscience had left her "no choice". "With a heavy heart but a clear conscience, I announce my resignation from the Australian Labor Party," she told reporters in Canberra. "I have informed the prime minister that, effective immediately, I will sit on the crossbench to represent Western Australia." Payman said she had been "deeply torn" when trying to make a decision about her future, but Palestinian recognition and "liberation" was an issue that she couldn't compromise on. The 29-year-old is the first Labor politician to defy party rules and cross the floor of federal parliament since 2005. Payman also said that, while some members of the Labor caucus had reached out to check on her wellbeing, she had been intimidated by other members. "I wouldn't constitute it as bullying but it definitely made me feel like I don't belong, made me feel like there was no return for me in the Labor Party … this was a red line that I had to draw," she told SBS News. During Question Time on Thursday afternoon, Albanese was asked by the Opposition if he had spoken to Payman in an "aggressive or intimidatory manner" during that meeting. "The answer is no," Albanese said.

>>21136438 Don’t underestimate the damage Fatima Payman’s resignation has done to Labor - "Anthony Albanese heads into the parliamentary winter break with the government’s cost of living narrative completely evaporated by Fatima Payman’s dramatic resignation and an image of party in disarray. The damage from this indulgent outbreak of identity politics can’t be underestimated. Nothing has gone to script for Albanese this week. Nor last week, nor the previous parliamentary sitting period. And once again, it has been a failure of political management that has overshadowed its policy agenda. Labor has fallen into the trap of publicly dissecting itself, at a time when the only thing it should be talking about is how hard everybody else has it. This has been sparked by the singular action of dissident senator Fatima Payman, her resignation from the Labor Party over recigntion of Palestine and ending on the last day of parliament with pro-Palestinian protesters breaching Parliament House security. This is not a winning formula for Labor if indeed Albanese is contemplating an earlier than expected election." - Simon Benson - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 44

Australian Politics and Society - Part 28

>>21136457 Stay tuned, this could get a whole lot worse for Labor - "Fatima Payman’s resignation from the Labor Party opens a new chapter in Australian political history and contains a far more potent threat to Anthony Albanese than just the loss of one vote in the Senate. It could also be the dawn of a new era in Australia of candidates forming a party based on faith, with the sole purpose of appealing to those of that faith. With the chilling words of “stay tuned”, the renegade WA senator has put the Prime Minister and his government on notice of the likelihood of her providing the foundation stone for a new Muslim political movement based around a minor party or closely orchestrated independents. At an “emotional” press conference after sending Albanese her resignation, Payman repeated her claims she had been intimidated and isolated by Labor MPs and senators, denied she had been planning the resignation for a month - as Albanese indicated - and said she would not be joining the Greens. But, when asked if she would form a new party - which as a sitting senator she can fast-track - Payman said: “At this stage, I do not plan to form a party … but stay tuned.” Stay tuned. It’s not as if Albanese and his colleagues have been tuning out as Payman orchestrated a media campaign that distracted entirely from Labor’s July 1 cost-of-living measures, accused them of intimidation, handed the Greens propaganda victories and put Labor in outer suburban Sydney and Melbourne on a war footing. Much damage has been done to Labor over the whole issue of support for Palestine since the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, which killed 1200 Israelis and saw hundreds more taken hostage. The PM has suffered a loss of authority, social division has risen, and vandalism and damaging protests, such as the occupation of the Parliament House roof on Thursday, has occurred, but there is potential for much worse if Payman tunes in to Muslim political movement." - Dennis Shanahan - theaustralian.com.au

>>21136548 New data cloud to protect nation’s secrets - Australia’s defence and national security agencies will partner with Amazon Web Services to create a $2bn top secret data cloud to securely store and analyse the nation’s most sensitive information. Three secure data centres and two control centres will be built at undisclosed locations for use by Australia’s intelligence community and the Australian Defence Force. They will be air-gapped from the internet, accessible only by those with appropriate security clearances, and be operational by mid-2027. The purpose-built cloud will enable security agencies to apply the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to vast, top secret data sets, and provide Defence with a resilient IT network for its military operations. National security leaders said the cloud system would also allow greater co-operation with Australia’s Five Eyes intelligence partners. Anthony Albanese said: “My government is bolstering our defence and national intelligence community to ensure they can deliver world leading protection for our nation.” Defence Minister Richard Marles said the cloud would strengthen the ADF’s warfighting capabilities and improve interoperability with the US, “in order to address the complex strategic circumstances we face”. ASD director-general Rachel Noble said the system would provide “a state-of-the-art collaborative space for our intelligence and defence community to store and access top secret data. This will transform how we work together as agencies and partners,” Ms Noble said.

>>21136614 Video: Amazon wins contract to store 'top-secret' Australian military intelligence - American technology giant Amazon will establish a "top-secret" data cloud to store classified Australian military and intelligence information under a $2 billion partnership with the federal government. Three highly secure data centres will be built in secret locations across the country to support the purpose-built Top Secret (TS) Cloud which will be run by a local subsidiary of Amazon Web Services (AWS). The massive new project is expected to harness cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology and scheduled to be in operation by 2027, with the government insisting Australia will have complete sovereignty over the cloud. Similar data clouds have already been established in the US and UK allowing the sharing of "vast amounts of information", with intelligence figures highlighting that potential adversaries were also investing heavily in similar technology. Initially, the government will invest at least $2 billion into the project being run by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and AWS, but it's expected to cost billions more in operating costs over the coming years.

#36 - Part 45

Australian Politics and Society - Part 29

>>21143736 Citizenship revenge: Labor targets rebel senator Fatima Payman - Senior Labor figures are raising Fatima Payman’s Afghan citizenship as a risk to her remaining in the Senate because of a potential breach of section 44 of the Constitution, after she quit the ALP and left the door open to forming her own political party. Senator Payman on Thursday declared she would joint the crossbench as an independent senator due to her concerns about Labor’s policy on Palestine, but refused to rule out establishing a political party to contest ALP-held seats with large Muslim populations. Senator Payman’s statement on parliament’s register of qualifications - introduced following the 2017-18 citizenship crisis – confirms that she is a dual citizen of Afghanistan and Australia. Senator Payman, who was born in Afghanistan in 1995 before fleeing Taliban rule and resettling in Australia with her mother in 2003, was granted Australian citizenship in 2005. In her 2022 register of qualifications statement, Senator Payman said she had received legal advice confirming that she was eligible to sit in the Senate because she had taken reasonable steps to renounce her Afghan citizenship. “In light of the situation in ­Afghanistan and the impossibility of progressing my application to renounce Afghan citizenship following the recent takeover by the Taliban, I am not disqualified from sitting as a senator and so I can nominate as a candidate,” Senator Payman wrote. Senator Payman, whose resignation from the Labor government triggered a wave of anger inside party ranks, said she approached the Afghanistan embassy in October 2021 to renounce her Afghan citizenship. “The embassy advised me that there is no communication ­between it and the new Taliban government in Afghanistan. As such, the embassy told me that my application for renunciation could not (be) finalised in Kabul (as required under pre-Taliban Afghan law),” she wrote.

>>21143817 PM warns against faith-based political movements as Payman hints at next move - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned against faith-based political parties and argued one that advocated for Muslim Australians would only isolate the religious group, as rebel senator Fatima Payman hints at a new political movement. Payman, who on Thursday quit the Labor to sit on the crossbench, said “stay tuned” and “anything can happen” when asked if she wanted to collaborate with a coalition of Islamic community groups planning to run against Labor MPs in seats with large Muslim populations. The prime minister on Friday echoed the view of NDIS Minister Bill Shorten from earlier this week warning any faith-based party would risk social cohesion and Australia’s secularised political culture. “My party has in around the cabinet and ministerial tables people who are Catholic, people who are Uniting Church, people who are Muslim, people who are Jewish,” Albanese said. “That is the way that we’ve conducted politics in Australia. “And it seems to me as well, beyond obvious that it is not in the interest of smaller minority groups to isolate themselves.”

>>21143888 Fatima Payman citizenship case ‘unprecedented’: law experts - Rogue senator Fatima Payman’s inability to renounce her Afghan citizenship is “unprecedented” and leaves uncertainty about her eligibility to serve, constitutional experts warn, as Anthony Albanese went on the attack over his former colleague’s refusal to resign and give her Senate spot back to Labor. Questions over whether Senator Payman would remain an independent or establish her own party followed senior government figures raising her Afghan citizenship as a risk to her remaining in the Senate because of the potential breach to section 44. Constitutional expert Anne Twomey said while the chance of the matter ending up in court before Senator Payman next faced the polls was “very low”, there was “no precedent” for her case. “The problem is that we don’t actually really know what the answer is, because the High Court’s never had this case actually come before it in practical terms. So there’s no actual precedent on it,” she told The Weekend Australian. “She probably has a good claim to say that she’s not disqualified, but no one could say that with absolute certainty.”

#36 - Part 46

Australian Politics and Society - Part 30

>>21148743 Video: Crowd cheers Fatima Payman on arrival in WA - Cheering supporters have greeted West Australian Senator Fatima Payman at Perth Airport with the former Labor MP vowing to “serve them as an independent voice”. The new crossbench senator quit the Labor Party this week over her stance on Palestinian rights and freedoms. Members of the crowd hugged her and cheered as she made her way through the terminal late on Friday. “I’m ready to serve them as an independent voice, to be their voice in Canberra,” Senator Payman told reporters. “This is honestly the most humbling experience. I will be working hard for them making sure that I’ve represented them every step of the way, because west is the best.” Senator Payman has previously rubbished claims she would join the Muslim Vote movement, a grassroots organisation that is set to run candidates in some Western Sydney Labor strongholds. She has branded suggestions her departure was purely a result of her religion as insulting.

>>21148792 Plots to eliminate dissidents inside Australia disrupted as government boosts efforts to fight foreign interference - New measures to fight the growing threat of foreign interference are being introduced as details emerge of recent plots by overseas agents to eliminate ethnic dissidents on Australian soil. With authorities continuing to disrupt international attempts to track and harass members of multicultural communities, the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce established in 2020 will be made permanent and expanded to include agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office. A new Technology Foreign Interference Taskforce (TechFIT), similar to the University Interference Taskforce (UFIT) will be established to protect the sector from espionage, sabotage and other international threats. The federal government is also establishing a new Foreign Interference Communities Support Hub to help local ethnic groups better understand and identify threats as well as how to mitigate and report them. "Foreign interference is a complex problem and we are constantly working with our agencies to make sure that we are covering all possible avenues of attack", Claire O'Neil said. "These changes are essential upgrades to our defences, which will result in vulnerable communities and sensitive technologies being better protected from a threat that the Director General of ASIO has identified as the most serious we face."

>>21159328 Video: Australian military to buy small US-made lethal drones being used by Ukrainian forces - A lightweight US-made drone which carries an explosive payload and fits in a backpack will soon enter service with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) following its successful use on the battlefield in Europe. On Monday the Albanese government will announce it's acquiring the "Switchblade 300", a precision loitering munition with a range of around 10 kilometres that's being operated by Ukrainian soldiers in their fight against invading Russian forces. According to US manufacturer AeroVironment, the portable device weighs only a few kilograms and uses a strike missile capable of hitting beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) enemy targets. On its website the company boasts the latest version of its product is a "lightweight, miniature, precision-guided lethal missile" and can be deployed in less than two minutes via tube-launch from land, sea, or mobile platforms providing greater mission flexibility. The growing importance of lethal drone warfare has been highlighted in the war in Ukraine where both sides have demonstrated effective use of unmanned aerial systems, prompting criticism of the ADF's limited current capability in the area. At present the ADF operates around 760 unmanned aerial systems mainly for surveillance missions, with some models capable of being armed. But the Defence department is also trialling low-cost, expendable systems which can be produced in vast numbers.

#36 - Part 47

Australian Politics and Society - Part 31

>>21159347 Video: ADF enters drone age after years of indecision - "The Australian Defence Force will finally get killer drones - 30 years after they first made their mark on the battlefield. Perhaps it was the shock of being beaten to the punch by even Yemen’s Houthi rebels that finally got the capability across the line. The Albanese government is congratulating itself for providing “world-leading lethality and protection” for Australian troops, in an announcement on Monday that the ADF will get US-made Switchblade 300 drones. But in truth, Australian governments of both persuasions have been far too late to invest in armed drones, placing ADF personnel at risk. For a country with a $55bn defence budget, it’s a national embarrassment that it’s taken until now to equip the ADF with these 21st century weapons. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has refused to say how many of the drones the ADF will get, or how much the investment is worth. But it’s likely the answers to these questions are: Too few, and not enough. Conroy says the government has announced the purchase to “send a deterrent signal to potential aggressors”. That’d be amusing if it wasn’t so concerning. China will be completely untroubled by the announcement given its devastating arsenal of killer drones, not to mention long-range missiles." - Ben Packham - theaustralian.com.au

>>21159397 Video: Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ phone records to be handed into court over near-fatal collision with teenage cyclist - Lawyers for former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews have agreed to hand in phone records from the day his family car hit and injured a teenage cyclist in 2013. Ryan Meuleman was seriously injured in a crash involving the Andrews’ Ford Territory - driven by Catherine Andrews - on the Morning Peninsula on January 7, 2013 when he was 15-years-old. The cyclist is suing Slater and Gordon, who initially acted for him after the incident, with his new legal team accusing the law firm of failing to both conduct a proper investigation into the crash and act in Mr Meuleman’s best interests when negotiating his $80,000 compensation payout. The Andrews family have maintained their story that the car was T-boned by Mr Meuleman’s bike, while the cyclist argues the car was speeding and “seemed to come out of nowhere”. Mr Meuleman was struck 17m on from the Melbourne Road and Ridley Street intersection and suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs. The former Labor premier, who was state opposition leader at the time of the 2013 incident, recently hired top lawyer Leon Zwier to fight a court order directing him to submit his phone records. Mr Meuleman’s legal team is seeking to establish to whom Mr Andrews spoke in the four minutes between the crash, which is estimated to have occurred at about 1:06pm, and when emergency services were called to the scene at 1:10pm. The former Premier’s phone records must be handed in by July 24.

>>21159488 Video: NT police commissioner declares curfew in Alice Springs after multiple violent incidents - The Northern Territory police commissioner has declared another curfew in Alice Springs for the next three nights, following a string of violent incidents in the outback town. The curfew will run from 10pm to 6am each night and applies to both children and adults. Commissioner Michael Murphy had been considering implementing a curfew since Sunday, after what NT Police Minister Brent Potter described as a "horror 72 hours" in the Red Centre. This included the alleged assault of four off-duty police officers - three women and a man - in the early hours of Sunday morning by a group of about 20 people. A police officer was also run over outside a bottle shop on Friday afternoon and a 42-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed with a knife on Sunday at lunchtime. Under controversial new laws introduced in May, the Northern Territory's police commissioner has the power to declare 72-hour lockdowns to respond to "public disorder".

>>21159559 Video: Tucker Carlson in Australia | Best Moments Montage - Watch more here: https://watchtcn.co/49CDF2t

#36 - Part 48

Australian Politics and Society - Part 32

>>21172294 Marles to meet Trump Republicans on US trip as Biden fights for his future - Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will meet Trump Republicans to shore up ongoing support for the AUKUS submarine deal as the world braces for another potential shake-up of American leadership at this year’s US election. But as Joe Biden fights for his political life following his devastating performance in the first presidential debate, Marles - who is in Washington for the NATO summit - threw his support behind the embattled president, praising the global alliances forged under his administration. “We could not be more pleased with that, and we’re certainly very pleased about the focus that the Biden administration has placed on the Indo-Pacific, and on the issues which are front and centre for Australia,” he said. “We are seeing strong leadership by America … and that is absolutely critical in terms of the challenges that the world faces today.”

>>21172356 U.S. Embassy Australia Tweet: Statement by U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy on the passing of Australian Coastwatchers Jim Burrowes and Ronald (Dixie) Lee - "I'd like to pay tribute to Jim Burrowes and Ronald (Dixie) Lee, the last two surviving Australian Coastwatchers who both passed away this week. Shortly after I arrived in Australia, I had the privilege to meet and honor Jim and Dixie at a ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. Through their stories and memories, I learned more about the heroism of the hundreds of Australian and Pacific Islander Coastwatchers and scouts who braved difficult conditions during World War II to monitor enemy movements and save lives, including my father's. An Australian Coastwatcher and two Solomon Islander scouts rescued my father and his crew when their PT109 sank in the Solomon Islands. My sympathies go out to Jim and Dixie's families and friends---I am truly grateful for their service."

>>21178010 Democrats ‘evenly divided’ on Biden as US announces new diplomatic initiative with Australia - A key Democratic congress member says that the party is split on whether to replace President Joe Biden and has no practical way to do it, even as the US announces a new diplomatic initiative including Australia. The most important Congressional advocate for the AUKUS partnership, Joe Courtney, said that US democracy and national security would be at risk if Donald Trump were to win the presidential election. “Right now they are both risk factors because of the poor debate [performance by Biden],” he said. The paralysis in the party was no hindrance to the Biden administration’s diplomacy, said US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Campbell said that despite the Democrat leadership dilemma, a four-nation grouping of Indo-Pacific democracies - Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – would now be launched as a new, standalone diplomatic entity and partner for the US. The leaders of this group, the so-called Indo-Pacific Four or IP4, have been invited to join NATO summits in recent years, acknowledging that they share some of the same concerns as the NATO allies. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles plus the leaders of the other three IP4 countries are in Washington this week for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit. Campbell said that the group of four had developed into a new entity. “What you’ll see is a clear set of guidelines and initiatives designed to embed the IP4 into this nascent architecture that is emerging in the Indo-Pacific,” Campbell said. “We fully expect the IP4 to join AUKUS and the Quad as fundamental features of the diplomatic and military architecture and dialogue of the Pacific.”

#36 - Part 49

Australian Politics and Society - Part 33

>>21185546 Australia promises record military aid for Ukraine as NATO calls out China as an 'enabler' of Russia's invasion - The Australian government is set to give Ukraine another $250 million in military support - its largest contribution to the war effort since Russia invaded. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the package on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington DC. The Australian military package includes guided and air defence missiles, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, and a shipment of boots. The government says it brings the value of Australia's overall support to $1.3 billion, including $1.1 billion for Ukraine's military. "This will not be the last package that we announce," Mr Marles said. "We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its own terms." The Australian Defence Force has already been training Ukrainian army recruits under Operation Kudu in the UK. It will now also sign on as an "operational partner" to a new NATO command for Ukraine, and a group of Australian personnel who are already stationed in Europe will transfer across to the 700-person training and security initiative.

>>21185679 Video: Two Australians charged with spying offences for allegedly conspiring to share ADF secrets with Russia - Two Russian-born Australian citizens have been accused of obtaining Australian Defence Force material to share with Russian authorities. Australian Federal Police arrested 40-year-old Kira Korolev, who is an ADF army private, and 62-year-old Igor Korolev at their home in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park yesterday morning. The married couple have been charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment. It is the first time an espionage offence has been laid since foreign interference laws were introduced in 2018. The pair are appearing before Brisbane Magistrates Court today, where police will allege the woman undertook undeclared travel to Russia while on long-term leave from the ADF, where she allegedly instructed her husband on how to log into her work account and access material to send to her. The couple had been in Australia for more than a decade before the alleged offending. Police will allege the pair sought the information with the intention to provide it to Russian authorities - whether it was actually shared is still a subject of Operation BURGAZADA's investigation. AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said espionage offences were not victimless. "It has the potential to impact on Australia's sovereignty, safety and way of life." Mr Kershaw said. Spy chief Mike Burgess said espionage was not a "quaint" notion and could have "catastrophic real-world consequences". "Espionage is real. Multiple countries are seeking to steal Australia's secrets," Mr Burgess said. Mr Burgess said he would not make further comment because the offences had not been tested in court. The AFP and ASIO said there was no ongoing risk to the public.

>>21185727 Russian-born Australian couple charged with espionage: Security vetting in question amid spy allegations - "The stunning spy allegations against two Russian-born Australians read like a plot of a TV thriller and represent the dawn of a new era for the nation’s intelligence agencies. The prospect that Russia may have planted sleeper agents to live among us - an idea popularised by the hit TV show The Americans – will shock everyday Australians. The bringing of charges over the alleged espionage plot in suburban Brisbane is a credit to ASIO and the Australian Federal Police. It marks the first-ever use of new espionage laws introduced five years ago, and comes amid surging efforts by foreign spies to gain access to classified information. But many questions remain unanswered. Chief among them -- did Kira and Igor Korolev move to Australia a decade ago as part of a long-term Russian plan to spy on Australia? Or will it be alleged they were turned by a Russian agent after they arrived? Police are yet to say. But ASIO director-general Mike Burgess hinted the plot may have been years in the making, saying foreign intelligence services “play the long game”. It remains to be seen whether any sensitive material was actually handed to the Russians, although Burgess suggested the authorities had been “able to control this”. Australians will also rightly ask, if Kira Korolev is a spy, how did she manage to get through the Australian Defence Force’s security vetting processes to take up a job as an information systems technician?" - Ben Packham - theaustralian.com.au

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Australian Politics and Society - Part 34

>>21188695 Woolworths to stock Aussie flags just months after Australia Day controversy - Woolworths will put Australian flags back on shelves, just months after the supermarket giant chose not to stock Australia Day merchandise. Woolworths revealed it will make Aussie flags available to customers ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. “With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games beginning later this month, and as a proud Australian retailer, we are pleased once again to be the official Fresh Food Partner of the Australian Olympic & Paralympic teams,” Woolworths said in a statement to staff. “Given the Australian flag is the official flag of the Australian Olympic Committee and of our team competing in Paris, a locally made handheld Australian flag, made from long lasting materials such as timber and polyester, will also be available for customers to purchase across our Supermarkets and selected Metro stores.” Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said the move was a clear cash grab. “They’ve finally found their patriotism,” she said on the Today show. “What this really is the reason they’re stocking these flags is because they see a financial benefit. They’re sponsoring the Olympics. So the more eyeballs they get, the more people through the door.” The move comes six months after Woolworths dumped all Australia Day merchandise from stores across the nation, sparking outrage from customers.

>>21188731 Alleged member of Sydney terror network granted bail as magistrate brands Crown case 'weak' - A magistrate has dealt a fresh blow to a "weak" Commonwealth case against a suspected Sydney terrorism network, describing an alleged terror plan as "all talk" as he granted bail to a fourth teenager. The teenager, who cannot be identified because he is a juvenile, is accused of conspiring with three boys to plan a terrorist attack in the wake of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in April. They were among six juveniles charged in sweeping police raids on an alleged terrorism network on April 24, four of whom have now been granted strict bail. Magistrate Paul Mulroney on Wednesday expressed concern the teenager could have access to knives and guns, but granted bail on strict conditions including house arrest and 24-hour parental supervision. "Given that it's a relatively weak prosecution case, it would be unfair and unjust to refuse bail," he said. Mr Mulroney said the alleged terror plan was "particularly vague" to substantiate a charge of conspiring to do an act in preparation for or planning of a terrorist act. "There needs to be some action on behalf of the offender to ensure that they're not all talk," he said. "There's talk about having access to a 'stash house'… there's talk about the young person supplying 'nerf guns' … and the young person saying in unequivocal terms on the 20th April that he wants to kill. "But basically it's all talk."

>>21189008 Australia’s last two WWII coast watchers die, aged 100 and 101 - "The last two World War II coast watchers, Jim Burrowes (101) and Ron “Dixie” Lee (100) passed away in Melbourne on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The courageous deeds of the legendary and secretive WWII coast watchers represent one of the most illustrious chapters in Australia’s military history. Despite their losses, the coast watchers’ contribution to reporting on Japanese shipping and air movements had a real strategic impact. Their finest hour was in the Guadalcanal campaign, where they reported on incoming waves of enemy aircraft, rescued the future president John F Kennedy, and launched lethal guerilla raids on the Japanese with the assistance of fearless Solomon Islanders. Their actions led Admiral “Bull” Halsey to remark: “The coast watchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific.” Prior to World War II, the Royal Australian Navy detailed a former New Guinea District Officer, Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt, to establish a network of expatriates who could covertly report on enemy movements around the coastline of New Guinea and the Solomons in time of war. In short order, he recruited planters, patrol officers and even priests for this potentially dangerous assignment. When the Japanese invaded the islands in 1942, these coast watchers undertook their mission with courage and at great personal cost. Some were beheaded, others simply disappeared, while others continued their clandestine task for months on end with the help of local villagers." - Vice Admiral Peter Jones (Retd) - smh.com.au

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Australian Politics and Society - Part 35

>>21190908 Video: Australia's domestic spy agency first to investigate concerns about Brisbane couple charged with Russian espionage - Australia's domestic spy agency ASIO was the first to investigate concerns that Russian-born Australian citizen Kira Korolev might be up to more than she was letting on. Ms Korolev and her husband Igor arrived in Australia more than a decade ago, and by 2015 she was making no secret of her desire to join the army. Today, the now suspended member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), is accused of spying for Russia and facing a lengthy jail sentence if found guilty. The ABC has confirmed investigations into the Korolevs began with ASIO. The investigation was then moved to a foreign interference task force, which comprised ASIO, Australian Federal Police (AFP) and other Commonwealth agencies, called Operation BURGAZADA. Sources have told the ABC that the couple were watched for an undisclosed period of time and it was ultimately referred to the AFP to build a case that would meet evidentiary standards for a prosecution. Authorities allege Ms Korolev, while on long-term leave from her role as an information systems technician, took undeclared trips to Russia, some alone, others with her husband. On the trips that she went alone, the AFP alleges Ms Korolev instructed Mr Korolev on how to access her official work account, guiding him to access specific information to send to her via a private email. The AFP alleges the information the couple sought to gain related to Australia's national security interests, with the intent of providing it to Russian authorities.

>>21190994 Video: Anthony Albanese tells Moscow to 'back off' after Russian embassy criticises spying allegations - The prime minister has rejected Russian criticism of the arrests of two of its former citizens on espionage charges, telling the Kremlin to "back off". Speaking in Brisbane on Saturday, Anthony Albanese said Russia had "no credibility" after engaging in "espionage around the world". "Russia can get the message: Back off," he said. Kira Korolev, 40, and her husband Igor Korolev, 62, were arrested on Friday at their home in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park. The two Russian-born Australian citizens became the first people charged with espionage offences under foreign interference laws introduced in 2018. On Friday evening the Russian embassy in Australia released a statement on X saying the joint AFP and ASIO media conference announcing the arrests was "clearly intended to launch another wave of anti-Russian paranoia in Australia". The embassy said "theatrical tricks" were used and that "imaginary 'Russian spies'" were presumed to be everywhere within Australia. Mr Albanese said he had a clear message for Russian authorities in the wake of the espionage allegations. "How about you try to stop interfering in domestic affairs of other sovereign nations," he said.

>>21196236 Trump rally shooting:Donald Trump rushed off stage, audience member dead after shots fired at rally in Pennsylvania- Donald Trump has thanked Secret Service agents who rushed him off stage during a shooting at a campaign rally that left an audience member dead and two others critically injured. Mr Trump said a bullet grazed his ear before he was taken away, with his fist in the air and blood on his face, during the incident in Butler, in western Pennsylvania. The shooter was killed, authorities said. Screams tore through the crowd and Mr Trump grabbed at the side of his face and ducked behind a riser during the shooting, which is now being investigated by the FBI and Secret Service as an assassination attempt, according to law enforcement sources. The local county district attorney, Richard Goldinger, told America's ABC News the shooter had been on the roof of an adjacent venue, so did not go through security screening. In a statement, the Secret Service said "multiple shots were fired from an elevated position outside of the rally venue". "US Secret Service personnel neutralised the shooter, who is now dead," it said. "US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and the former president is safe and being evaluated." The Trump campaign released a statement shortly after the shooting that said he was "fine".

#36 - Part 52

Australian Politics and Society - Part 36

>>21196409 Anthony Albanese ‘relieved’ to hear Donald Trump is safe - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is “relieved” to hear former US president Donald Trump is safe amid speculation he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Mr Trump was rushed off a stage by secret service agents just after the campaign event commenced, with the former president’s right ear and the side of his face appearing bloodied. “The incident at former President Trump’s campaign event in Pennsylvania today is concerning and confronting,” the Prime Minister said in a statement released on Sunday morning. “There is no place for violence in the democratic process. I am relieved to hear reports that former President Trump is now safe.” Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, the Australian Ambassador to the United States, shared a statement saying “Violence has no place in our democracies.” Former prime minister Scott Morrison has expressed “saddened, shocked and appalled” at what he described as an “attempted assassination” of former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. “Prayers for him and his family today, as well as all those who put their own lives at risk to protect those in public life,” Mr Morrison wrote in a post to X. “Prayers also for America and its people, a great democracy and our great friend, at this difficult time.”

>>21196590 ‘They blew his head off’: eyewitness recalls Secret Service killing alleged shooter - The shooter who attempted to assassinate former US president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally is dead, law enforcement officials have confirmed, with one eye witness claiming he saw Secret Service agents “blow his head off”. Eyewitnesses have said the shots came from a man, holding a rifle, who crawled on top of a one-storey building with a white roof to the right of where Trump was standing on stage. One man, wearing a ‘Trump 2024’ cap, said he was standing outside the event when he saw the gunman crawl up onto a roof 50ft away from him. “We could clearly see him with a rifle,” the witness, who introduced himself as Greg, told the BBC on Saturday night (local time). Greg said he and his friends attempted to alert police and the Secret Service of the shooter’s presence, to no avail. “Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle,” he said he told officers. “Next thing I know I’m thinking ‘Why is Trump still speaking? Why haven’t they pulled him off the stage?’,” he said. “Next thing I know, five shots rang out.” Greg said the shooter was on the roof “for at least three to four minutes”. “We were telling the police, we were pointing up there for the Secret Service,” he said. He said the Secret Service crawled onto the roof, pointed their guns at the shooter and “blew his head off”.

>>21196806 Video: Rep. Matt Gaetz Tweet - FIGHT! - https://x.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1812265050289422722

>>21197523 In pictures: How the Trump rally shooting unfolded - theage.com.au - July 14, 2024 - https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/trump-shooting-20240714-p5jtgl.html - https://qanon.pub/#3967

>>21198957 Video: Trump rally shooting: Anthony Albanese relieved Trump safe, warns ‘things can escalate’ in Australia - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on Australians to lower the temperature of public debate over divisive issues such as the war in Gaza as he expressed his horror at the attempt on the life of former president Donald Trump. Albanese would not be drawn on whether the failed assassination attempt would force changes to security measures for Australian MPs, but drew a link between America’s fractious political culture and recent attacks on MPs’ offices and on parliamentarians being harassed by protesters. “We must lower [the] temperature of debate. There is nothing to be served by some of the escalation of rhetoric that we see in some of our political debate, political discourse, in the democratic world. It’s a phenomenon that’s not unique to the United States,” he said. He said he was still worried about recent pro-Palestinian protests outside MPs offices, including his own, which has been the subject of a months-long protest. “I’ve expressed my concern that people who just dismiss actions outside electorate offices, these things can escalate, which is why they need to be called out unequivocally, and opposed,” he said.

#36 - Part 53

Australian Politics and Society - Part 37

>>21200234 Donald J. Trump Truth: - Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed. In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win. I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin. 🙏 DJT

>>21208901 Democrats may regret their demonisation of Donald Trump - "The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has thrown Joe Biden’s re-election strategy into turmoil, as extreme campaign rhetoric against the former president levelled by the White House and other top Democrats comes back to haunt the Democratic party. The failed murder attempt on the former president, which left him injured and one rally attendee dead, has triggered a frenzy of attacks on the Democratic party by prominent Republicans who have sought to turn Democrats’ warnings about supposed MAGA extremism against the ruling party. Republican senator JD Vance, rumoured to be among Mr Trump’s top candidates to be his vice-presidential running mate, blamed Democrats for “rhetoric that led directly to Trump’s assassination”, echoing a deluge of similar criticism that will reverberate until the November poll. “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that president Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” he said in a statement. American mainstream media also came under attack for obscuring what was for most observers a clear assassination attempt for up to more than an hour after the shooting. CNN’s online headline read “Secret Service rushes Trump off state after he falls at rally”. Washington Post headlines included “Trump was escorted away after loud noises at Pennsylvania rally”." - Adam Creighton - theaustralian.com.au

>>21208929 Video: Scott Morrison says he feels 'incredibly disturbed and upset' after attempt on Donald Trump's life at Pennsylvania rally - Former prime minister Scott Morrison says he feels “incredibly disturbed and upset” following the attempt on Donald Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The US presidential candidate was speaking to a cheering crowd from a stage in Butler when shots rang out, one grazing his ear and drawing a considerable amount of blood. Trump was rushed into waiting car by secret service agents. One rally-goer was fatally shot and another two were critically injured. Mr Morrison has met the US presidential candidate multiple times and the pair were leaders of their respective nations at the same time over a four-year period. Speaking to Sky News Australia on Monday, Mr Morrison appeared visibly discomfited, revealing he felt “incredibly disturbed” by the weekend’s events. “I was shocked yesterday, terribly saddened by all of this,” he told host Peter Stefanovic. “This is an awful, violent thing that has occurred in a country, which are great friends of ours. “My thoughts also went to the American people who are going through a very difficult time and will continue to in the months ahead.” He said he had reached out to Trump via an intermediary, though noting he was likely busy with an upcoming Republican convention in Milwaukee.

#36 - Part 54

Australian Politics and Society - Part 38

>>21208994 Video: How AP photographer Evan Vucci captured this defining news image of our era - This morning, the world wakes up to the same front-page photograph: former President Donald Trump, his fist raised, eyes fixed on the horizon, mouth agape as he shouts, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, a vivid stream of blood from a bullet wound tracing a line down his face. He is framed by dutiful federal agents in dark suits; in the background, the American flag flutters against a perfect blue sky. On Saturday night, at a rally in Pennsylvania, a lone gunman - identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park - opened fire at the former president as he addressed the crowd onstage. Although Trump was safe, his ear was injured. One spectator was killed, and at least two others were critically injured. The Secret Service confirmed the would-be assassin was dead. The moment was captured with piercing clarity through the lens of Associated Press chief photographer Evan Vucci, who was one of the few photographers positioned in a buffer zone metres from Trump when gunfire erupted. As members of the Secret Service rushed the stage to cover Trump, Vucci, 47 “went into work mode,’’ and made a mad dash towards the danger. With his camera held above his head, he clicked away and, miraculously, captured the perfectly composed photograph which is destined to become one of the defining images of our time - serving not only as a stark document of the moment but also as a symbol of the fraught and turbulent era in which it occurred. Speaking with CNN, Vucci recounted, “I’ve done this hundreds of times; it was a normal rally. Everything was completely normal. Then, over my left shoulder, I heard pops, and I knew immediately what it was,” he said. “I went into work mode. The Secret Service rushed the stage, and I jumped up and got there as quickly as I could. I was photographing them covering President Trump, and I was thinking in my head, ‘What are they going to do next? How are they going to get him off the stage? Where is he going to go? How is this going to unfold?’ “You’re trying to make all these decisions in a moment. So, I ran to the other side of the stage, thinking that would be their evacuation route. As the President was standing up, he started pumping his fist. I saw the blood on the side of his face, and I knew that was the moment…”

>>21215420 Video: Heroic Donald Trump soars whilst Joe Biden is weaker than ever following assassination attempt - Sky News Australia

>>21217653 ‘New low’: Bandt claims PM politicised Trump shooting - Greens leader Adam Bandt has condemned Anthony Albanese’s criticisms of fringe pro-Palestine protesters outside MPs’ offices following the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump as “an outrageous and cynical move”. The prime minister on Sunday expressed concern over people dismissing the actions of protesters outside electorate offices when asked what Australia was doing to keep politicians safe, adding “these things can escalate”. Bandt told this masthead: “Connecting peaceful protesters here with a murderous gunman on the other side of the world isn’t just a long bow, it’s a new low. “Australia is not like the gun-toting United States, and if we respect peaceful protest instead of attacking it, we never will be. “Labor and [the] Liberals have repeatedly joined together to distract from their backing of the invasion of Gaza by attacking peaceful protesters, and they’re doing it again.”

>>21217684 Tenacious D cancel show after making Trump assassination joke at Sydney gig - Tuesday night’s Newcastle concert by Tenacious D, the musical-comedy duo featuring Jack Black and Kyle Gass, has been called off without explanation, leaving fans in the queue outside the Newcastle Entertainment Centre demanding answers and others fuming online about wasted airfare and accommodation expenses. The shock move comes the day after Gass was presented with a birthday cake onstage, and when asked what his wish was answered: “Don’t miss Trump next time.” Promoter Frontier Touring posted on social media that the Newcastle leg of the Spicy Meatball Tour had been postponed, but offered no explanation. Controversial right-wing senator Ralph Babet, of the United Australia Party, was quick to denounce Gass’ gag, claiming it was “not a joke” and insisting he was “deadly serious when he wished for the death of the president”. “Anything less than deportation is an endorsement of the shooting and attempted assassination of Donald J Trump,” Babet said in a statement posted to social media.

#36 - Part 55

Australian Politics and Society - Part 39

>>21217752 Democracy is under attack and must adapt, warns Claire O’Neil - Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has warned that democracy in Australia is under attack from the spread of misinformation, rise of new media platforms, threat of foreign interference and declining social cohesion. Speaking in the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Ms O’Neil said that declining trust was a major problem that needed to be addressed to restore confidence in democracy and warned some nations were doing better than others in addressing this challenge. She also took aim at pro-Palestine protesters who had vandalised Labor electorate offices including those of Anthony Albanese in Sydney and Josh Burns, the Labor MP for Macnamara whose St Kilda electorate office was firebombed last month. In a speech to the Museum of Australian Democracy in Canberra, Ms O’Neil said “denying access to government services, terrorising politicians and their staff, painting symbols of terrorism in public spaces, smashing windows, setting buildings alight - these are the measures of autocrats, despots and tyrants. They have no place in our democracy.” Launching the Strengthening Democracy report which was commissioned by government in December 2022 to safeguard Australia’s democratic system, Ms O’Neil said it was inevitable that democracies would change over time. She said democracy would need to adapt to new challenges. “The democracy of 2025 cannot be expected to look identical to the democracies of 2005, or 1985,” she said. “Every generation needs to discover how to nurture and protect their democracy.”

>>21225909 Muslim Vote campaign politically soul-searching amid rifts, ALP infiltration - The fledgling Muslim Vote campaign risks “imploding”, with ­divisions widening within the group and among the community amid delays in locking in candidates and claims of infiltration by ALP operatives. Community leaders have said the group had “bitten off more than it could chew”, and Canberra sources have described its leaders as “passionate” but “politically naive”, destined to lose against Labor incumbents without a change of tack. Other top Muslim leaders have said while the campaign was “fumbling” and its political strength “overplayed”, “cooler heads” had emerged and discussions were changing on what strategy was best ahead of an election. They said the community was in a “lose-lose” situation and The Muslim Vote’s existence showed it was formally engaging in democracy. Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, who established and has led the movement since December, said in the week of senator Fatima Payman’s resignation to expect candidates in “days”. The campaign, however, has struggled to tie down those it would endorse in its prized ­targets of Blaxland and Watson, asking supporters on Monday to refill candidacy forms to help the process.

>>21225929 US relationship with Australia only stronger under Trump, says Kevin McCarthy - Former US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy says America’s relationship with Australia “will only be stronger” under a second Trump presidency, including the future of the AUKUS submarine pact. Speaking on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention, the senior Trump ally sought to assuage concerns about what it might mean for the defence pact between Australia, the US and the UK if Trump is re-elected in November. “That will be very safe,” McCarthy told this masthead, citing alliances between the two countries, such as the Five Eyes partnership between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and America. “I will tell you, the bipartisan support that this deal has in Congress is tremendous. I’ve seen it on both sides coming as a former Speaker. And I think the relationship that America has with Australia will only be stronger.”

#36 - Part 56

Australian Politics and Society - Part 40

>>21225996 Jack Black cancels Tenacious D national tour amid calls for deportation over sick Donald Trump joke - Tenacious D, the comedy-rock duo fronted by Hollywood A-list celebrity Jack Black with Kyle Gass, have cancelled their Australian tour after an Australian senator called for the band to be deported over “evil” comments made about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet said the duo should be “immediately removed from the country” after Black’s bandmate “wished for the death of the president” during a concert in Sydney on Sunday. Kyle Gass made the comment at the ICC Theatre in Sydney on Sunday night, which was also his 64th birthday. In footage shared on social media, Black presented Gass with a birthday cake on stage and asked him to “make a wish”. “Don’t miss Trump next time,” Gass joked before the crowd burst in laughter. “I was blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday. I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” Black said on social media. “After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold.” Gass also apologised for the “improvised” joke made on onstage in Sydney, saying it was “highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake”. “I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone,” Gass added. “What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement. I profoundly apologise to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”

>>21226022 Video: Ambassador Kevin Rudd talks up his relationship with Trump’s VP pick Vance, slams Tenacious D Trump comment - Kevin Rudd has urged governments around the world to “chill out” about the increasingly likely prospect of a second Trump administration, declaring Australia’s relationship with the US would remain strong and positive whatever the outcome in November. Speaking to Joe Hockey on Sky News from the floor of the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Ambassador Rudd said he was telling “many ambassadors in Washington [that] it’s really important to chill, just chill”, amid a surge in concern among US allies a Trump administration could see the US abrogate its role as world policeman. “If instead you think, my God, this is beyond the pale, and reach for your smelling salts, well, you know something that’s going to cruel you from day one … I say a lot, to the euros along these lines, which is chill bill,” he said on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). Mr Rudd has been on a charm offensive seeking to broaden and deepen his Republican contacts in recent months as polls suggest Mr Trump was likely to defeat Joe Biden in November, especially in the wake of the president’s disastrous debate performance last month and his recent near brush with death from would-be assassin’s bullet last week in Pennsylvania.

>>21226061 Australia ready to work with Trump, Vance if they win election, Rudd says - One-time Donald Trump critic Kevin Rudd says Australia stands ready to work with the Republican candidate and his chosen running mate J.D. Vance if they win November’s election. Speaking at the Republican National Convention, Australia’s ambassador to the US also revealed he has “what I’ve described as a texting relationship” with Vance, and had contacted the Ohio Senator after Trump was almost killed last Saturday to convey his concern about the shocking event. The comments came a day after Trump and Vance were formally endorsed as the Republican candidates for the White House, and mark the first time the former prime minister has publicly addressed the moment when Trump learnt about past comments Rudd made as an independent think tanker, in which he referred to the Republican as “nuts”, a “traitor to the west” and “the most destructive president in history”. “He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” Trump had replied, when told about Rudd’s comments by former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage during an interview on Britain’s right-leaning GB News. “I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. But I don’t know much about him. But if, if he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.” Asked if he was concerned about his future in Washington if Trump becomes president again, Rudd said he did not wish to add to the issue, other than to say: “I think you’ll note that a whole range of people over time have had a range of interesting things to say about President Trump, including John Howard, including Tony Abbott, including others.”

#36 - Part 57

Australian Politics and Society - Part 41

>>21234139, >>21234164 Video: Australia’s war hero and Olympic gold medallist Cecil Healy honoured in France - Deep in the French countryside, where some of the Somme’s fiercest World War One battles took place, lies the grave of a remarkable Australian now sprinkled with sand from Sydney’s Manly Beach. Cecil Healy is so special, the local Assevillers villagers raised money for a separate statue outside of their town hall, and on Wednesday the Australian Olympic Committee and Australian government officials arrived to lay wreaths ahead of the Paris Olympic Games. Healy was not only an Olympic gold, silver and bronze swimming medallist, he was a revered surf lifesaver who rescued a child from the wild surf, helped to found the Manly surf club, and was one of the first proponents of the turn of the 20th century swimming stroke, the crawl, developing the side-breathing technique. Healy also has another, tragic distinction: he is the only Australian Olympic gold medallist to have died in combat. On September 12, 1918, Le Journal reported that Lieutenant Cecil Healy, a “widely known Australian swimmer”, had been killed by a bullet on the Somme battlefield nearly two weeks earlier. He had been a member of the 19th Sportsman’s Battalion and the newspaper recorded how Healy had led a party of 500 swimmers across the Somme, enveloped the enemy positions, and captured Mont St. Quentin, the key to the nearby town of Peronne. Of Healy’s death, the former Wallaby rugby union captain and Healy’s commander Major Syd Middleton said the world had lost one of its greatest champions and one of its best men.

>>21242744 Major global tech outage from US cyber security company CrowdStrike plunges world's largest companies into chaos - A major global tech outage, believed to have been sparked by a flawed anti-virus update from United States cyber security company CrowdStrike, plunged many of the world's largest companies into crisis on Friday afternoon. Operations at some of the biggest companies around the world, including banks, supermarkets and even airports, were thrown into chaos for hours as the outage brought down IT systems. Major news outlets including SBS, Network 10, the ABC and Sky News Australia were also temporarily prevented from broadcasting scheduled programming due to the outage. Sources within the Australian government had earlier confirmed to Sky News Australia the issue originated from the US cyber security company.

>>21245847 Video: ‘Largest IT outage in history’ caused by US-based cybersecurity firm - A worldwide cyber crash described as “the largest IT outage in history” brought down computer systems across Australia and parts of the world, crippling airport check-ins, supermarkets and emergency information services. The outage struck just after 3pm on Friday, triggering delays at airports around the country and world, hampering internet banking systems and forcing laptops across the globe to suddenly shut down. The federal government called a snap meeting of emergency authorities, and executives from Telstra, Optus, Coles, Woolworths, Qantas and Virgin on Friday night to respond to the unfolding chaos. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he understood Australians were “concerned about the outage that is unfolding globally and affecting a wide range of services”. “My government is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator,” he said. “There is no impact to critical infrastructure, government services or triple-zero services at this stage. NSW Police confirmed triple zero was working, but that police information distribution services had been impacted. Victoria Police said they were able to receive and dispatch calls from triple zero, but some internal systems had been affected by the national outage. Jetstar was forced to cancel all its flights in Australia and New Zealand on Friday night, impacting thousands of customers about to fly out for the weekend. Overseas, the global crash forced American Airlines, United and Delta to ask the Federal Aviation Administration ground stop on all flights just after 5pm AEST.

#36 - Part 58

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide - Part 1

>>20950665 Secret Covid documents in Victoria to be released after almost 4 year fight - Secret government documents behind Victoria’s controversial Covid lockdowns are set to be released after the state’s Department of Health lost an almost four year long fight to keep them concealed. A judge at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal this week ordered the department to process freedom of information requests it had refused for the briefings provided to the Chief Health Officer, Deputy Chief Health Officer and Minister for Health relating to public health orders made in 2020. Liberal MP David Davis made four requests for the briefings to be handed over back in 2020 under the FOI Act - three requests within ten days in July and the fourth request made in December. The department refused them all, saying the work would substantially and unreasonably divert resources. Mr Davis sought a review by the Victorian Information Commissioner but the commissioner did not reach a decision within the statutory time frame. The MP then took the cases to VCAT in late 2020 and early 2021. Then Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar claimed it would take an estimated 169.4 to 208.4 working weeks (about four years) to process Mr Davis’ combined FOI requests, in a statement dated October 2021. But Judge Caitlin English, who is Vice President of VCAT, didn’t accept this as grounds for refusal. In her decision, she said she was not convinced the department had reasonably estimated the resources required to process the requests, and noted the “strong public interest” in the information. She acknowledged the resources required to process the request were substantial, but said it was manageable for the department. “The Department, bearing the onus, has not satisfied me on the evidence that the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations,” her order stated. “I direct the agency to process Mr Davis’s requests in accordance with the FOI Act.” Mr Davis argued there was high public interest in release of the documents because of the nature of the way the pandemic was dealt with in Victoria compared to other states. Melbourne had some of the toughest Covid rules in the world and the longest lockdown on the planet.

>>20983654 Former CDC chief Dr Robert Redfield has blasted Covid-19 vaccine mandates, lockdowns as a ‘terrible mistake’ - Robert Redfield, the former head of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said mandating Covid-19 vaccine was a “terrible decision” and lockdowns and school closures were a “big mistake”. Dr Redfield, an esteemed virologist who led the CDC from 2018 to 2021, said the pharmaceutical giants had a “huge influence” over convincing governments that everyone including children should be coerced into being vaccinated and boosted during the pandemic. “We absolutely never should have mandated vaccines, it was a terrible decision … the rationale for mandating vaccines for healthy firefighters and policemen, those in the military, hospital workers, teachers, was emotional, it shouldn’t have happened,” he said in an interview with Chris Cuomo published on Wednesday (Thursday AEST). Dr Redfield, 72, said the Covid-19 vaccines, which the Biden administration tried to mandate for all workers in late 2021, worked to prevent serious illness and death for vulnerable, older patients “over 65” but weren’t suitable for healthy young people, didn’t prevent transmission and wore off after six months at most. “If you came down and visited me and interviewed my patients, you’d interview patient after patient that did not have Covid, but are very sick, long covid patients, and it’s all from the vaccine,” he added, in comments that would have been censored on social media and censured publicly during the pandemic.

#36 - Part 59

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Pandemic, Australia and Worldwide - Part 2

>>20998450 Video: Anthony Fauci - ‘America’s doctor’ put under the microscope - “When you make it difficult for people in their lives, they lose their ideological bullshit and they get vaccinated.” Dr Anthony Fauci didn’t appear to enjoy being reminded of his 2021 advocacy of de facto compulsory Covid-19 vaccination during his interrogation by congress this week, quibbling that he’d been misunderstood. It was a humiliating four hours of testimony on Monday for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose role in convincing governments to impose lockdowns, school closures, mask and vaccine mandates is looking more and more destructive as time goes by. If only there’d been more respect for “ideological bullshit” - also known as human rights, including free speech – throughout the pandemic the US and the developed world might have avoided one of the greatest public policy fiascos in history.

>>21234077 Coronial inquest likely for Natalie Boyce death after Covid-19 vaccine - The family of a young Melbourne woman who died five weeks after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine has fought a request from Moderna’s lawyers to access medical documents from four years prior to the death, as a coroner speculated a full inquest could eventuate. Natalie Boyce, 21, fell ill after getting a Moderna vaccine in February 2022 and was admitted to the Alfred Hospital where she died in March. The Therapeutic Goods Administration accepted that there was a link between the law student’s death and the third jab she received in February. The government agency also recognised the death as the 14th to be linked to Covid vaccines. About a week after receiving her booster shot, Ms Boyce experienced vomiting and aching pain. She later went to Mulgrave Private Hospital and was then transferred to the Alfred Hospital where she was diagnosed with fulminant myocarditis. Ms Boyce had surgery to remove a clot and suffered a heart attack while getting an MRI. The forensic pathologist who performed the post-mortem ruled she died from acute myocarditis infarction.

#36 - Part 60

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 1

>>20886492 WikiLeaks' Julian Assange faces U.S. extradition judgment day - A British court could give a final decision on Monday on whether WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret U.S. documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions. Two judges at the High Court in London are set to rule on whether the court is satisfied by U.S. assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a U.S. trial for spying. Assange's legal team say he could be on a plane across the Atlantic within 24 hours of the decision, could be released from jail, or his case could yet again be bogged down in months of legal battles. "I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage," his wife Stella said last week. "Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed." She said her husband hoped to be in court for the crucial hearing.

>>20895103 Video: Julian Assange wins right to appeal US extradition - Julian Assange has won the right to appeal his extradition to the US to a full British appeals court. The significant legal win for the WikiLeaks founder came after the High Court judges ruled they were not satisfied that Assange, 53, would not face discrimination under the US Constitution’s first amendment because of his Australian citizenship. But Assange, who was too ill to attend the court hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, will face many more months in Belmarsh jail as a remand prisoner until the courts can find time for the full appeal to be heard. The two judges hearing the case said they had carefully considered the submissions in writing and orally. “We have decided to give leave to appeal,’’ they said. Stella Assange said outside the court that the US administration “should drop these shameful charges immediately”. She called for her husband’s release saying that the ongoing legal battles was imposing a dreadful toll on his health. Mrs Assange said that as well as being immediately freed, her husband should receive compensation as well as the Nobel Peace Prize.

>>20903692 Video: Assange case shows world what US-style ‘press freedom’ means: Chinese FM - "The case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange shows the world what US-style "freedom of the press" really is, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press briefing on Tuesday. Wang said the case shows the US believes exposure of other countries' secrets should be rewarded, but exposure of its own should be punished. The remarks came after Assange won a victory in his ongoing battle against extradition from the UK to the US, after the High Court in London granted him permission to appeal. Wang said freedom of the press, like so-called democratic human rights, is just a tool that the US uses to suppress dissidents and maintain its own hegemony. The spokesperson stated that Assange has won a round in his struggle against US hegemony, but whether he can ultimately emerge victorious in this contest remains to be seen. Assange, 52, is wanted by the US for allegedly disclosing national defense information following WikiLeaks's publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked military documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars a decade ago." - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

>>21009247 Assange's UK appeal against US extradition to begin on July 9 - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's appeal against a UK court ruling that approved his extradition to the United States to face trial for breaking national security laws will begin on July 9, a judicial spokesman said Tuesday. Assange, 52, won his bid to challenge the ruling last month, and the two-day hearing will now take place at the High Court in London next month. The Australian publisher is wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. Had he lost at last month's hearing, Assange - who has become a figurehead for free speech campaigners - could have been swiftly extradited after a five-year legal battle.

#36 - Part 61

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 2

>>21080059 Breaking News - June 24, 2024 -Wikileaks founder Julian Assange strikes plea deal with the U.S.- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has entered into a plea deal with the U.S. government, bringing an end to a years-long international saga over his handling of national security secrets. Assange is preparing to plead guilty to a single count of conspiring to obtain and disclose information related to the national defense in a U.S. federal court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, this week, according to newly filed court papers. Under the terms of the agreement, Assange faces a sentence of 62 months, equivalent to the time he has already served at Belmarsh Prison in the United Kingdom while fighting extradition to the United States. He is expected to be released and to return to his home country of Australia following the court proceeding later this week.

>>21083236 Julian Assange released from jail, after accepting US plea deal - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been freed from a British prison and will return to Australia within days after agreeing to a US plea deal over his role in the publication of troves of classified military and diplomatic documents. Assange, who has spent more than a decade trying to avoid extradition to the US, boarded a flight from London on Tuesday AEST en route to the US territory of Saipan, where the plea deal is expected to be finalised. The dramatic turn of events follows high-level lobbying by Australia of US and British officials, including by Anthony Albanese who publicly called for his release. The Prime Minister’s office was cautious at the news of Assange’s release, saying his legal proceedings were yet to be finalised. “Given those proceedings are ongoing, it is not appropriate to provide further comment,” Mr Albanese’s spokesman said. “Prime Minister Albanese has been clear - Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.” Assange is expected to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to obtain and distribute classified information, according to court papers and people familiar with the matter. The charge relates to Wikileaks’ publication of thousands of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables about America’s actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s. Assange is expected to be sentenced to the 62 months he has already spent in a London prison, and be allowed to return to Australia.

>>21083246 Video: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to be freed after pleading guilty to US espionage charge - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return home to Australia, ending a 14-year legal odyssey. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. He is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served at a hearing in Saipan at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2300 GMT Tuesday). The island in the Pacific was chosen due to Assange's opposition to travelling to the mainland U.S. and for its proximity to Australia, prosecutors said. Assange left Belmarsh prison in the UK on Monday before being bailed by the UK High Court and boarding a flight that afternoon, Wikileaks said in a statement posted on social media platform X. "This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations," the statement said.

#36 - Part 62

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 3

>>21083263 WikiLeaks Tweet - JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE - Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK. This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible. After more than five years in a 2x3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars. WikiLeaks published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people's right to know. As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom. Julian's freedom is our freedom. [More details to follow]

>>21083271 Video: Stella Assange Tweet - Julian is free!!!! Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. tHANK YOU. THANK YOU. Follow @WikiLeaks for more info soon…

>>21083277 Mike Pence Tweet - Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families. There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever. - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna158695

>>21083286 Video: Anthony Albanese tells parliament he wants Julian Assange 'brought home to Australia' - Anthony Albanese has shared his thoughts on Julian Assange's release in parliament, saying, 'the case has dragged on too long'. 'There is nothing to be gained from his continued incarceration and we want him brought home to Australia,' the prime minister said. Assange has been released from British prison and is expected to plead guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that would allow him to return home to Australia. - Guardian Australia

>>21083294 Video: Penny Wong nods to Julian Assange's supporters after plea deal sees WikiLeaks founder freed - Penny Wong, the foreign minister, acknowledges Julian Assange's supporters after a plea deal sees the Australian WikiLeaks founder released from prison. 'There are many here in parliament who have advocated for Mr Assange to come home, as have supporters in Australia and around the world,' says Wong. 'We have consistently stated that there is nothing to be said for the ongoing incarceration of Mr Julian Assange'. - Guardian Australia

>>21083298 Video: 'The end has not arrived': Barnaby Joyce on Assange plea deal with US justice department - The former deputy PM cautiously welcomed developments that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the US justice department that will allow him to walk free. Joyce was part of the delegation to lobby US law makers over Julian Assange. - Guardian News

>>21083318 Stella Assange Tweet - Julian calling into Sydney from Stansted airport last night (his day time). #AssangeJet #AssangeFree

>>21083318 WikiLeaks Tweet - Approaching Bangkok airport for layover. Moving closer to freedom. #AssangeJet

#36 - Part 63

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 4

>>21089005 Pit stop for a guilty plea and Julian Assange is homeward bound - Julian Assange has landed on the US territory of Saipan Island and is on his way to court, where he will plead guilty to a single felony charge of conspiring to obtain and distribute classified information, before heading home to Australia. The WikiLeaks founder flew in to the remote Northern Marianas Islands on a private jet from Bangkok, an almost six-hour journey, and will face court at 9am (AEST). The flight tracker website Flightradar24 said Assange’s jet was the most tracked flight on Wednesday. Assange’s wife says she is “elated” at her husband’s release from prison and the family’s top priority is to help him regain his health following a plea deal with US authorities to end his long-running legal saga. Assange landed in Bangkok on Tuesday afternoon, AEST, accompanied by Australia’s high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, after a dramatic breakthrough that saw him released from a British prison after nearly 2000 days on remand fighting ­extradition to the US. Under the deal, the US Justice Department will end its pursuit of Assange over his release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents, allowing him to return home to Australia.

>>21089028 Video: Why the hearing to free Julian Assange happened on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific - Julian Assange's long-running legal odyssey has moved around the world, involving high-level negotiations across Australia, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ecuador. And now, more than 14 years after WikiLeaks dropped a cache of classified US defence documents alleging war crimes in Afghanistan and Syria, his case has reached a courtroom on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The Northern Mariana Islands is a US territory and one of the closest to mainland Australia. It shares a time zone with Australia's east coast. US prosecutors said the location was important to Assange and that he wanted to go to a court close to Australia. In a letter filed to the US court on Saipan, a Department of Justice official thanks the court for accommodating the matter "at the joint request of both of the parties". The letter notes "the defendant's opposition to travelling to the continental United States to enter his guilty plea and the proximity of this federal US District Court to the defendant’s country of citizenship, Australia". Assange and his legal team have long believed it would not be safe for him to enter the United States, but under the terms of the plea deal, it appears a compromise was found.

>>21089064 ‘He did the right thing’: Assange’s father ready for reunion - No matter what a United States court says about Julian Assange, one man wants all Australians to know the Wikileaks founder should be declared not guilty when he returns home. Assange’s father, John Shipton, arrived in Canberra on Tuesday night in the hope he could embrace his son on Australian soil for the first time in 15 years. “He stood his ground, he did the right thing,” Shipton says of the controversial work by WikiLeaks to reveal alleged war crimes, diplomatic cables and other secrets others wanted to hide. Shipton believes Assange was and is a journalist who revealed news others wanted to keep secret, and says he is just as deeply Australian as other expatriate journalists such as John Pilger or Phillip Knightley. Shipton is seen by some as an apologist for Russia because they claim he has spoken at a pro-Russian rally after the invasion of Ukraine, but he denies this and says he was speaking about his son. “I was ambushed by Cossack people who surrounded me with Russian flags and took photographs,” he says. Of the invasion, he says he is against all war. The claim against him is another reflection of the concern that Assange used information from Russian hackers to release emails that undermined Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. While Shipton was photographed in Canberra on Wednesday morning wearing a Russian hat, with an Assange badge on the front, he says he was given this during a New York winter.

#36 - Part 64

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 5

>>21089086 Video: Julian Assange freed after pleading guilty to one espionage charge at a hearing in Saipan - Julian Assange is a free man after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage in a federal United States court as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. But inside the room, he had one last act of defiance. The tension was palpable as the chief judge entered the US federal court of the remote Northern Mariana Islands, deep in the Pacific Ocean. Assange was facing one charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, which carries a maximum 10-year jail penalty. Julian Assange spoke directly and calmly when it was discussed if he was willing to enter a plea. "Guilty," he said. He spoke calmly and confidently before the court, stating there were caveats to his guilt, and spoke of the US Constitution's First Amendment, which upholds free speech and freedom of the press. It was another act of defiance against the US legal system that has pursued him for more than a decade. "Working as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information," Assange told the court when asked to explain his understanding of the charge. "I believed the First Amendment protected that activity. I believe the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction."

>>21089113 WikiLeaks Tweet - Just a moment - https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1805825779130831061

>>21089113 Stella Assange Tweet - Julian walks out of Saipan federal court a free man. I can’t stop crying. #AssangeFree #AssangeJet

>>21089129 Video: Julian Assange's lawyer says WikiLeaks founder 'cannot, and should not, be silenced' - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is on a flight home to Australia after pleading guilty to a felony espionage charge in a US court, under a deal negotiated with the Department of Justice. The resolution, which played out in the US District Court on the island of Saipan, brings to a close more than a decade of legal fighting sparked by WikiLeaks' release in 2010 of a cache of classified US defence documents alleging US war crimes in Afghanistan and Syria. Speaking outside court, Assange's US lawyer Barry J Pollack called the prosecution of his client "unprecedented" and said Assange should never have been charged with an espionage offence for publishing the documents. "He has suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom of the press, and to ensure that the American public and the world community gets truthful and important newsworthy information," Mr Pollack said. "We firmly believe that Mr Assange never should have been charged under the Espionage Act as he engaged in an exercise that journalists engage in every day, and we are thankful that they do. "It is appropriate, though … for the judge, as she did today, to determine that no additional incarceration of Mr Assange would be fair." Mr Pollack said WikiLeaks would continue its work, which often involves publishing leaked government documents, and Assange himself would remain "a continuing force for freedom of speech and transparency in government. He is a powerful voice and a voice that cannot, and should not, be silenced," he said.

>>21089153 Julian Assange: Fittingly pathetic end to tawdry tale of a traitor - "Finally, at long last, Julian Assange has confessed to being a traitor. For who else disseminates our military or diplomatic secrets in a time of excruciating and bloodcurdling wars he never had to fight, bleed for, or watch his friends die in, and does so with unabashed “look at me” abandon? Materials he disseminated without a conscious thought for the safety of the people or methods named in the documents he paraded, without a thought to anyone’s actual lives. Documents that, in the hands of a journalist, would have been equally revealed but with ethical and moral guardianship. In the end, perhaps fittingly, the self-aggrandising saga of Assange has ended ignominiously on an island, in a far-off tiny commonwealth of the US in the Pacific Ocean, where he is due to plead guilty to a single US felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material. It may be a Pyrrhic victory, but it’s a victory nonetheless. Not only for our national security services, but for journalists as well. For in the courtroom of public opinion and in the halls of justice, Tuesday was a condemnation not only of treason but a validation of high journalism. Julian Assange will no longer play the poster child of national security secret dumping masquerading as heroic selflessness in the name of freedom of the press." - Michael Ware, former CNN war correspondent and Justine A. Rosenthal, former executive editor of Newsweek Magazine - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 65

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 6

>>21089163 U.S. Embassy Australia Tweet - STATEMENT BY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA CAROLINE KENNEDY - “The return of Julian Assange to Australia brings this longstanding and difficult case to a close. The United States is grateful to the Government of Australia for their commitment and assistance throughout this process.”

>>21094264 Video: Julian Assange reunites with family after he arrives in Canberra - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has landed in Australia, ending the former fugitive's decade-long diplomatic saga. Assange's plane touched down just after 7:30pm in Canberra as his family, supporters and media watched on. Crowds erupted in cheers as Assange waved at supporters and hugged his wife on the tarmac. As he stepped off the plane, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking from parliament, welcomed his return. "Earlier tonight I was pleased to speak to Mr Assange to welcome him home and had the opportunity to ask him about his health and have my first discussion with him," he said. "His safe return to Australia as we know means so much to his family." Assange's family and media then raced to East Hotel in Kingston, where his wife Stella Assange and legal team addressed media and celebrated his return. Ms Assange thanked the government and opposition, public servants and the Australian people for their tireless advocacy. "It took all of them, it took millions of people, it took people working behind the scenes, people protesting on the streets for day, and weeks, and months and years," Ms Assange said. "And we achieved it."

>>21094288 Video: Assange’s defiant gesture on return as wife asks for time to recover - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to Australia with a clenched-fist gesture in emotional scenes in Canberra on Wednesday night, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to always stand up for citizens in trouble overseas. Assange made a symbolic show of victory, his arm outstretched and his fist clenched, after stepping onto Australian soil for the first time in 14 years, as he hugged his wife, Stella Assange, and his father, John Shipton, on the tarmac. A crowd gathered in Canberra to greet the controversial figure, hailed a hero by some and traitor by others, when he landed in Australia after a plea deal in a remote Pacific island courthouse to end years of legal pursuit by United States authorities. Assange told Albanese “you saved my life” in a phone conversation as soon as the charter flight landed, with the prime minister saying the WikiLeaks founder described the arrival as a “surreal and happy moment” after years in prison. Stella Assange made an emotional plea for her husband to be given privacy while he reunited with their children, while she also signalled a campaign to secure a presidential pardon for Assange in the years ahead.

>>21094308 Anthony Albanese first on the phone as convicted felon Julian Assange tastes freedom at last - Australia’s highest profile fugitive Julian Assange has returned home a convicted felon, reuniting with his wife and father after five years in prison and more than a decade on the run from US authorities over his publication of troves of top secret documents. He disembarked from a charter flight from Saipan in the western Pacific at about 7.55pm on Wednesday, raising a fist as he walked across the tarmac at Canberra’s RAAF Fairbairn terminal. He embraced wife Stella ­Assange on the tarmac, lifting her off the ground before hugging his father John Shipton amid cheers from supporters. Moments after his arrival, ­Anthony Albanese declared: “We have got this done.” The Prime Minister revealed he was the first person Assange spoke to after he touched down. According to one of the WikiLeaks founder’s lawyers, Assange told Mr Albanese he had “saved his life”. Mr Albanese claimed credit for Assange’s release, saying his government was focused on “making a difference”. “This is what standing up for Australians around the world looks like,” he said. “It means getting the job done; getting results and getting outcomes; having the determination to stay the course.”

#36 - Part 66

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 7

>>21094328 It took ‘creative nous’: Rudd on behind-the-scenes efforts to secure Assange release - US ambassador Kevin Rudd has suggested he played an important role in convincing Julian Assange to accept a plea deal with the United States Justice Department as a partisan stoush erupted over the WikiLeaks founder’s return to Australia. The opposition accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of giving Assange, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, an overly warm welcome by calling him just after he touched down in Canberra on Wednesday night. In his first public comments since Assange’s departure from London’s Belmarsh Prison, Rudd said it had taken “creative nous” from Australia to secure his release. Asked if he persuaded Assange to accept a plea deal to bring the matter to a close, Rudd told the ABC: “You could say that, I couldn’t possibly comment. Ultimately, it was a matter for the parties.” Assange’s lawyers have credited Albanese and Rudd with playing a pivotal role in securing their client’s release. Rudd said he acted as the principal point of contact between the US Justice Department and Assange’s legal team after becoming ambassador in early 2023, adding it was crucial that Albanese had granted him a “clear prime ministerial mandate” to pursue the matter with the Biden administration. Asked if he acted as a linchpin in the negotiations, he replied: “That’s your term, not mine.” Rudd said he feared the Assange case would have become a “long-term irritant” in the US-Australia relationship if it continued to drag out through the courts.

>>21094388 Video: Australian leaders celebrate Julian Assange's freedom but opposition says he is 'no martyr' - Julian Assange spent his first night in 14 years as a free man back at home in Australia as the conservative opposition on Thursday cautioned the government against hailing the WikiLeaks founder as a hero. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who supported Assange's release years before taking office in 2022, welcomed him home in a phone call. He said he "had a very warm discussion" with Assange. However, the conservative opposition raised concerns about portraying Assange as a hero after he spent more than a decade trying to avoid prosecution and then pleaded guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defence documents. The opposition leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, welcomed Assange's release but said the WikiLeaks founder was "no martyr" for the mass data leak. "That wasn't an act of journalism. It wasn't like these were edited or curated documents. It was simply a data dump, a data dump from a leak and a data dump that came with consequences for the U.S. in terms of how they managed their operations and their officials because of the safety risks that were created," he told Reuters in an interview. He cautioned Albanese against meeting Assange and said the celebration of his release was likely to lead to disquiet among some members of the U.S. Congress.

>>21094413 ‘He needs time to heal after 14 years of hell’, says Julian Assange’s wife Stella - Julian Assange’s wife has made an emotional plea for the WikiLeaks founder to be given time to ­recuperate from a 14-year ordeal avoiding extradition to Sweden over rape allegations that were later dropped and the US over the release of classified documents ­relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Assange embraced his ­family as a free man for the first time in 14 years after he touched down in Canberra on Wednesday night. Holding back tears, Stella Assange said: “Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he’s been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate. And this is a process. Julian needs time to recover. To get used to freedoms. Someone told me yesterday who had been through something similar that freedom comes slowly. And I want Julian to have that space to rediscover freedom. I ask you - please - to give us space, to give us privacy. To find our place. To let our family be a family before he can speak again at a time of his choosing.”

#36 - Part 67

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 8

>>21094430 Settling Assange's case helps US consolidate ties with Australia, strengthen small cliques in Asia-Pacific: expert - "The curtain has closed on Julian Assange's saga as the WikiLeaks founder pleaded guilty to violating US espionage laws and walked out of court as a free man on Wednesday. Yet his case has exposed the hypocrisy of the US' long-flaunted freedom of speech and the ugliness of the country's relentless efforts to crush those who have "got in the way". The US' gains from settling this high-profile case are multi-dimensional. Not only did the US intimidate people trying to expose US' dirty laundries, but it also removed one obstacle in its relationship with Australia, where Assange is from and where there has been advocacy for his release, observers noted. Consolidating coordination with Australia can help the US counter China's influence in the Western Pacific region through the creation of alliances, said experts. The release of Assange has helped to remove a major obstacle between Washington and Canberra, strengthening their coordination. Washington had the current Asia-Pacific situation in mind when deciding to settle the case, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. The US and Australia have strong cooperation in both political and security aspects. Strengthening cooperation with Australia can help US counter China's influence in the Western Pacific region through the creation of alliances, Li explained. Li said after 14 years, the US has come to the conclusion that continuing to pursue the Assange case is no longer worth the effort. Therefore, Assange's confession and return to Australia are seen as a means for the US to save face and for the relationship between the US and Australia to be repaired. What is even more tragic than Assange's guilty plea is that his fate is not the outcome of his own actions, but rather the result of a compromise and coordination among various governments for geopolitical reasons, said Li." - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

>>21094541 Full Video: Tucker Carlson Responds to Julian Assange’s Release During Australia Speech - Tucker Carlson speaks Down Under from Canberra and assesses Julian Assange's release. We also answer questions from an adversarial press corps. Chapters: Intro - Tucker reacts to Julian Assange's release - Christianity - Q&A - Who's the most difficult person Tucker has interviewed? - Tucker clashes with journalist over Putin - Assange - Is China a threat? - Heated exchange between Tucker and liberal journalist on immigration

>>21094566 Tucker Carlson Tweet - Video: Meet the Australian media. - https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1806034521369776406

>>21104531 ‘Welcome home, Julian Assange: don’t leak again’, warns Penny Wong - Penny Wong has said the government will not tolerate the leaking of top secret information like that published by Julian Assange, as the Coalition accused Anthony Albanese of welcoming the convicted felon back to Australia like a “homecoming hero”. The Foreign Minister defended Mr Albanese’s decision to speak personally with Assange, who told the Prime Minister he had saved his life, but she said Mr Albanese’s welcome for Assange should not be interpreted as a signal the government tolerated the leaking of secret documents. “We have laws in Australia in relation to national security information. We expect those laws to be observed by all citizens and by all entities. That is our position,” Senator Wong said. “In relation to Mr Assange, we have taken the view that this matter had gone on for too long, and as the Prime Minister has said, nothing would be served by further incarceration of Mr ­Assange.”

>>21110047 Why the confusion? Assange is neither a victim nor a hero - "The media is buzzing with human interest stories about the release by the US government of Julian Assange, after a 14-year stand-off and a plea of guilty to a single charge of espionage. His family are delighted and relieved. Those who have always seen him as a maligned hero and a victim of the national security state feel vindicated. But what’s getting lost in all the brouhaha about the return of an Australian citizen are the underlying issues to do with freedom of speech and the classification of official information. Assange is not a hero, intellectual or moral. He has for many years been an avowed anarchist and hacker who, while running WikiLeaks, openly declared that his ambition was to make it impossible for the machinery of state (in the US and among its allies) to function." - Paul Monk, former senior defence intelligence analyst - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 68

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 9

>>21114370 Diplomacy, distrust and the last-minute hiccup that almost sank the Assange deal - After more than a year of quiet diplomacy, the whole deal on the criminal espionage case against Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, almost collapsed at the last minute because of mutual mistrust between Assange and the American justice authorities. Simultaneously, there was a threat from London because Britain’s prosecution service feared it would be held responsible if the Australian charged with espionage against the US, held in an Eng­lish prison, did “a runner” after being released from the British justice system. There had been the key change in negotiations of ­Assange’s legal team and the US Department of Justice agreeing to talk directly about a settlement but the execution of the deal was under threat. It was here that the legal and symbolic involvement of Australia’s two top diplomats -- UK high commissioner Stephen Smith and Australian ambassador in Washington Kevin Rudd – became essential to the finalisation of the deal in the last days.

>>21114398 Forget the media circus, Julian Assange put our brave soldiers’ lives in danger - "Julian Assange emerged from his charter jet in Canberra on Wednesday night in a dark suit, white shirt and thin tie, raising his right arm in a clenched-fist salute. Perhaps Assange wanted to echo the image of Nelson Mandela walking out of the Victor Verster prison on February 11, 1990. But Assange is no Mandela. He will not go on to lead this country or be a global figure of reconciliation. Assange is and will remain a disrupter. Now that he is out of His Majesty’s Belmarsh Prison, we will come to know the real Julian, not the figure managed so artfully over the past decade by the Assange fan club. Assange’s WikiLeaks shot to global prominence on July 25, 2010, when it released online what it called the Afghanistan War Diary - 91,000 reports “written by soldiers and intelligence officers, and mainly describing lethal military actions involving the United States military, (and including) intelligence information, reports of meetings with political figures, and related details”. This act flung Canberra into a panic. What if these reports gave targetable details of Australian military operations, or named Afghans working with Defence or intelligence? I was deputy secretary for strategy in Defence and was tasked to lead a process reviewing the leaked material. The context is important. We were fighting a bloody counter-terrorism war at the time. Assange’s WikiLeaks release of uncensored battlefield reports put our forces, indeed the whole of the international coalition in Afghanistan, and the many brave Afghans fighting with us, under serious risk. The only group that could benefit from this tactical information was the Taliban. It is by no means clear that the material put online by Assange did not cause deaths. The release of the State Department cables caused significant disruption to Western intelligence operations globally, including the urgent withdrawal of exposed agents." - Peter Jennings, former deputy secretary for strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12) - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 69

Julian Assange: Indictment, Extradition and Plea Deal - Part 10

>>21119464 ‘Champagne, Mr Assange?’ This man is no hero - certainly not to our closest ally - "If an American anti-Western activist hacked into the classified communications systems of DFAT and the Defence Department and then gave all the cables, memos, records of conversation and submissions to selected left-leaning newspapers, how would Anthony Albanese and his ministers feel? Would they proclaim the hacker a national hero and argue he was a brilliant investigative journalist, or would they throw the book at him? And imagine if the same hacker had been facing sexual assault charges in Sweden and hid in the embassy of a rogue regime to avoid facing court? Would the government invoke the language of the #MeToo campaign or would it proclaim the aggrieved women were exaggerating and rejoice when the charges against the alleged assailant were dropped because of the statute of limitations? You see my point. Apparently concerns about the lack of convictions of men charged with rape exclude anti-Americans. The Americans, who are our closest and most important ally, took a dim view of Julian Assange for conspiring unlawfully to obtain and disclose classified documents. Surely we don’t want our principal ally’s secrets blasted all over the world to the advantage of adversaries." - Alexander Downer, foreign minister from 1996-97 and high commissioner to the UK from 2014-18 - theaustralian.com.au

>>21119456 OPINION: Just don’t call him a hero. Assange’s recklessness may have cost lives - "Julian Assange has long been a hero to his natural supporters: the usual crowd of rich actors, preachy human rights lawyers and professional activists. Celebrities look after their own, and there is no doubt that Assange is in the club. Assange’s repatriation was an exercise in stage management that would have made his Hollywood cheer squad proud. Being escorted by both an ambassador and a high commissioner was completely unnecessary, but it added gravitas to the show. What other convicted Australian receives a welcome home call from the prime minister? Assange’s supporters have never made any secret of the fact that he did what he was accused of. Many actually boast about the fact that this was the greatest release of classified documents in American history. The fact that the documents published by Assange contained the unredacted names of numerous intelligence sources also shows how wickedly reckless his conduct was. These included people in Afghanistan and Iraq who put their lives on the line to help Western - including Australian – forces. I know the view of Australian intelligence agencies (which briefed me when I was Australia’s attorney-general) that it was likely Assange’s leak cost lives. This assessment was shared by our Five Eyes partners. Even if none of the sources exposed by Assange did come to harm, at the time he published the documents he could not have known that. At the very least, he hazarded innocent lives for his own gratification." - George Brandis, former high commissioner to the UK, former Liberal senator and federal attorney-general - theage.com.au

#36 - Part 70

Brittany Higgins Rape Allegations and Bruce Lehrmann Defamation Trial - Part 1

>>20895231 ‘Heading for trial’: Linda Reynolds, Brittany Higgins mediation talks break down - Senator Linda Reynolds has told the Albanese government it must accept that it paid $2.45m to Brittany Higgins based on claims identified as untrue in the civil court judgment that also found Bruce Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. Senator Reynolds made the comments outside court on Tuesday as she pressed on her with her defamation case against Ms Higgins, her former media adviser, and Ms Higgins’ partner David Sharaz. She is suing them over social media posts from 2022 and 2023. In court, Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett has previously described those posts as attacks on Senator Reynolds and as a “concerted plan”. A long day of mediation to avoid a trial failed in March. A second attempt at mediation on Tuesday also failed after three hours. Senator Reynolds emerged from the David Malcolm Justice Centre in the centre of Perth shortly after 1pm local time on Tuesday and told waiting media: “Unfortunately, it appears at this stage that we still will be heading to trial in July.”

>>20945301 Bruce Lehrmann lodges appeal against Network Ten, Lisa Wilkinson verdict - Bruce Lehrmann will represent himself in an appeal against the judgment that found he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, as his supporters abandon him and he is left alone to tackle judge Michael Lee’s landmark verdict. Mr Lehrmann, a law student, on Friday afternoon lodged the appeal against findings that Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson did not defame him when airing an interview with Ms Higgins on The Project in 2021. The Australian understands Mr Lehrmann will argue Justice Lee denied him procedural fairness, and will claim Ms Higgins’ evidence had serious credibility issues. He is calling on the Federal Court to set aside the judgment against him, a verdict be made in his favour, and for Ten and Wilkinson to pay his legal bills for both the appeal and the defamation proceedings. The long-awaited judgment of the matter brought by Mr Lehrmann was handed down last month, finding Ten successfully made out its truth defence and proved, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in the office of Liberal senator Linda Reynolds. However, Justice Lee found the network failed to make out its qualified privilege defence and acted unreasonably in its treatment of Mr Lehrmann when airing The Project interview.

>>20959181 The four reasons Bruce Lehrmann thinks his appeal should succeed - Bruce Lehrmann has urged an appeal court to overturn a finding that he raped his then-colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, arguing that the evidence before the court did not support that conclusion. In a notice of appeal, filed in the Federal Court on Friday, Lehrmann sets out four grounds of appeal against the landmark decision of Justice Michael Lee on April 15 to dismiss his defamation suit against Network Ten and high-profile presenter Lisa Wilkinson. Lehrmann has asked the Full Court of the Federal Court to set aside Lee’s decision and enter judgment in his favour. The former federal Liberal staffer claims he was denied procedural fairness during his defamation case. He alleges Lee made findings in relation to Ten and Wilkinson’s successful truth defence that were not put to him when he gave evidence in the Federal Court last year. The judge’s finding that the truth defence was established was “contrary to evidence” and did not meet the standard of proof, Lehrmann claims.

#36 - Part 71

Brittany Higgins Rape Allegations and Linda Reynolds Defamation Trial - Part 2

>>21042324 Former PM Scott Morrison prepared to take witness stand in Reynolds, Higgins row - Former prime minister Scott Morrison has been named among the high-profile witnesses prepared to climb into the witness box in WA Senator Linda Reynolds’ high-stakes defamation trial against former staffer Brittany Higgins. Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett told the WA Supreme Court Morrison had filed and signed a witness outline on Tuesday, as the parties gathered to finalise the exchange of documents before the trial in late July. The court was told the bundle of evidence adduced by Reynolds’ legal team would also contain sworn testimony from WA Senator Michaelia Cash, Cash’s former chief of staff, and medical professionals who would attest to the toll the saga had taken on Reynolds’ health. The court has previously been told Channel 10, journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden, and Senator Katy Gallagher had been hit with subpoenas to provide evidence for both cases. Outside court, Bennett told the waiting press pack Morrison was expected to be overseas at the time of the trial, but was prepared to give evidence remotely if required.

>>21171764 The Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz ‘strategy’ to burn down the House - Anthony Albanese’s closest confidantes, Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, were drip-fed false information by David Sharaz and Brittany Higgins as part of a larger plan to destroy the career of Liberal senator Linda Reynolds and take down the Morrison government, explosive court documents allege. Mr Sharaz also organised meetings between Ms Higgins and Labor members of parliament to discuss her rape allegations, the documents say, including then opposition leader Mr Albanese and Tanya Plibersek, as well as former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd. The extraordinary claims form part of Senator Reynolds’ case against Ms Higgins in the Western Australian Supreme Court, where she is suing her former employee over a series of social media posts she says defamed her. Senator Reynolds claims the Instagram, Twitter and Threads posts falsely alleged she had “harassed” Ms Higgins, and mishandled the allegations of rape against former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann by failing to provide her with any support. The case is set down for trial on August 2, following multiple failed mediation talks.

>>21171776 ‘The Plan’ Brittany Higgins’ lawyers didn’t want us to see - "This is the statement of claim that lawyers for Brittany Higgins didn’t want us at The Australian to see. They didn’t want us to report it, to analyse what Linda Reynolds set out in her defamation claim against Higgins in the West Australian Supreme Court. Fear not. We’re fighting objections by the Higgins team to us ­accessing all the documents filed in this litigation. I filed further submissions with the WA Supreme Court on Monday. The wheels of justice move slowly - court orders are currently not due until the end of this month. In the meantime, my intrepid colleague Ellie Dudley got hold of a copy of the statement of claim current as at June 4. No wonder the Higgins team tried to block us from seeing it. It is an extraordinary read. For the first time in one document are allegations of what Reynolds calls “the Plan” - a carefully orchestrated, pre-meditated political hit job where Higgins and Sharaz used allegations of a rape and a political cover-up “as a weapon to inflict immediate political damage” on Reynolds and the then government of the day." - Janet Albrechtsen - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 72

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 1

>>20890833 New report warns plan to extend life of the Collins Class submarine is a ‘high risk endeavour’ - The Albanese government has been warned that the $5bn plan to extend the life of the navy’s ageing fleet of Collins-class submarines for another decade is a perilously high-risk endeavour that is not guaranteed to succeed. Australia’s ability to defend itself using submarines over the next decade would be in jeopardy if the plan to extend the life of the Collins-class fleet cannot be achieved, given that the first of the nuclear-powered AUKUS submarines is not due to arrive in Australia until 2032. An interim report and verbal briefings delivered to the government have revealed significant technical challenges to the planned $5bn Life of Type Extension to the six Collins-class sub­marines due to begin in 2026. The classified assessment of the LOTE project, by former US navy deputy assistant secretary Gloria Valdez, was commissioned by the government last October to assess the viability of the plan to extend the life of the Collins boats to ensure that Australia “retains an enduring, potent and agile submarine capability”.

>>20903732 ‘No obligation’ to go to war under AUKUS, US general says - One of the US military’s top Indo-Pacific commanders says America will not “kidnap” Australian sailors serving on its nuclear submarines if it finds itself in a war with China, declaring there was “no expectation” that Australia would follow the US into such a conflict. As Beijing launched “punishment” exercises in the Taiwan Strait following the inauguration of the territory’s new president, Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka said the US was on the alert for a Chinese invasion of the self-governing island within the next three years. General Sklenka, the deputy commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, said the Chinese were “bullies” harassing other nations’ ships and aircraft with “dangerous behaviour” that could escalate into conflict. Joe Biden’s No. 2 diplomat Kurt Campbell in April suggested that Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines could one day be deployed against China in a conflict over Taiwan but General Sklenka told the National Press Club that the AUKUS pact did not obligate Australia to fight alongside the US in any future conflict. “When they’re on our submarines, we don’t kidnap them,” he said. “There’s no expectation of anybody participating in any conflict with us because those decisions are national sovereign decisions. The US can’t, and we don’t, dictate that.”

>>20921910 Australia had almost no submarines available for more than four years as China awakened - In one of the most tightly held national security secrets in the country’s history, Australia had almost no submarines available to defend itself for at least four years from 2009 to 2012 during the Rudd/Gillard governments. It was an embarrassing bungle that could have had tragic consequences in a conflict but was considered too sensitive to reveal publicly at a time when China was aggressively expanding its navy. The shocking history of the mismanagement of the six-boat Collins class submarine fleet at that time had the effect of delaying any discussion inside the government of building new submarines for years. The revelation of the parlous state of the nation’s submarine fleet a decade ago, caused by poor planning, no spare parts, shoddy maintenance and a lack of crews, is contained in the first comprehensive history of the Collins class fleet by defence analyst Andrew Davies, to be published by ASPI on Tuesday. It reveals that the then Labor defence minister Stephen Smith, now Australia’s High Commissioner in London, was told in 2010 that there was all but zero submarine capability available to defend the country at that time -- a fact that could not be released publicly.

#36 - Part 73

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 2

>>20926922 AUKUS submarines ‘bigger, better, faster, bolder’ than existing US versions - The nuclear-powered submarines to be built in Australia under the AUKUS agreement with the US and Britain will be substantially bigger than the US Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines. Australian Submarine Agency director-general Jonathan Mead tells The Australian’s defence special report that at 10,000 tonnes, the conventionally armed SSN-AUKUS will be a “bigger, better, faster and bolder”, evolution of Britain’s Astute-class submarines. By comparison, Australia’s six Collins-class submarines are each about 3300 tonnes and the US existing Virginia-class boats are just over 7000 tonnes. The SSN-AUKUS will have strong US technological input. Its nuclear reactor will be built by Britain’s Rolls-Royce but with significant American enhancements. Vice-Admiral Mead says all five of Australia’s SSNs will be built at Osborne in South Australia, which will become one of the world’s most advanced technology hubs. They will be built from Australian steel if the metal passes rigorous testing now under way. The US has ordered the same Australian steel to assess its suitability for its submarine construction industry.

>>20937541 Defending Australia: AUKUS subs to be armed with hypersonic missiles - Australia’s AUKUS-class nuclear submarines will be capable of firing next-generation hypersonic missiles, giving the nation a potent strike capability near-impossible for adversaries to defeat. Australian Submarine Agency director-general Jonathan Mead said the AUKUS boats would have “more firepower” than the US’s current Virginia-class boats, as well as space for underwater drones and special forces. “It will be able to fire more long-range missiles or hypersonic missiles,” he told The Australian’s Defending Australia summit. “It’ll be able to fire more long-range torpedoes. It will be able to carry a larger reactor for more power. It will be able to carry uncrewed autonomous vehicles. “It will be able to accommodate special forces components.” The Australian revealed this week that the AUKUS boats, at more than 10,000 tonnes, would be larger than Virginia-class submarines that displace just over 7000 tonnes. Australia’s six conventionally powered Collins-class submarines are about 3300 tonnes. Asked how many missiles the AUKUS subs would carry, Vice-Admiral Mead said “many”.

>>20959188 Corroding subs raise capability fears - Half of the nation’s Collins-class submarines are out of service amid unexpected corrosion problems with two of the ageing boats, prompting capability concerns and fresh questions over plans to extend the fleet’s life by a decade. The commonwealth’s submarine maintenance corporation, ASC, revealed on Friday three of the navy’s six Collins boats were in maintenance - the first time that has occurred since 2012. The opposition said the lack of availability was “a disastrous setback for Australia’s submarine capability”, and undermined trust in the government’s ability to ­deliver the AUKUS submarine program. ASC managing director Stuart Whiley said HMAS Sheean -- one of the youngest of the Collins boats – was out of the water at South Australia’s Osborne shipyard with corrosion in weapons and exhaust areas that had not previously been encountered. One of the oldest Collins boats, HMAS Farncomb, was ­undergoing maintenance at Western Australia’s Henderson shipyards with “very different” corrosion issues, Mr Whiley said. A third submarine, HMAS Rankin, was tied up at Osborne ahead of a two-year “full cycle docking” maintenance period, he said.

>>20969837 US torpedoes ‘unviable’ submarine missile plan - The Albanese government has abandoned plans to arm the navy’s ageing Collins-class submarines with Tomahawk missiles, scuttling hopes the 1990s boats could be transformed into potent long-range strike platforms. The move follows a feasibility study and advice from the US on launching the missiles through the Collins’ torpedo tubes that said integrating the weapons into the subs was “not viable and does not represent value for money”. The Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines promised to Australia under the AUKUS partnership will be equipped with Tomahawks, but the first of them isn’t due until the early 2030s. When Australia finally receives the weapons it will be one of just three countries, alongside the US and Britain, to operate them. It is understood Defence was warned arming the Collins with Tomahawks would complicate their $5bn upgrades and undermine the boats’ ability to defend themselves by cutting the number of torpedoes they could carry.

#36 - Part 74

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 3

>>21014848 US Army deploys a completely new type of cyber missile unit as part of Aukus alliance - The United States Army’s newly established Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) in the Pacific is a completely new kind of military unit. Armed with an array of cutting-edge technologies, such as high-altitude balloons, Precision Strike Missiles, cyber warfare units and unmanned systems, the MDTF is also the first real world manifestation of the lesser-known second pillar of the Australia-UK-US defence pact - Aukus. Although Aukus Pillar 1, which concentrates on nuclear-powered submarines, has garnered much attention. Pillar 2 is less known. It involves advanced capabilities, including hypersonics, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence, and is equally, if not more, significant. In the words of the agreement itself: “Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are pooling the talents of our defence sectors to catalyse, at an unprecedented pace, the delivery of advanced capabilities.” The 3rd MDTF, headquartered in Hawaii, really illustrates this kind of thinking and it also indicates how seriously the US Army takes its dedication to Multi-Domain Operations. Multi-Domain Operations refers to the strategic integration of capabilities across all domains of warfare—land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. The task force will welcome five Australian and three British officers this summer. General Charles Flynn, the US Army Pacific Commander, referred to this as the “initial seed corn of creating that combined capability,” showcasing the collaborative nature of Aukus Pillar 2.

>>21025516 AUKUS: First Royal Australian Navy Enlisted Sailors Begin Training at U.S. Submarine School - The U.S. Naval Submarine School in Groton welcomed its first cadre of nine enlisted sailors and the second cadre of three officers from the Royal Australian Navy on June 3rd and 10th respectively. These 12 Australians will train alongside their American counterparts to operate conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). The enrollment of Royal Australian Navy sailors at the Submarine School marks a significant step in the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) Pillar 1 Optimal Pathway, aimed at helping Australia acquire a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet. “We’re excited to welcome these sailors and officers to Groton and build on the momentum of the first cohort of Australian officers to graduate from Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC) in April,” said Capt. Matthew Fanning, commanding officer, Naval Submarine School. “It is an honor to be part of the team that is delivering game-changing capabilities to one of our country’s closest and staunchest allies.” “Australians are exceptional submariners,” said Rear Adm. Lincoln Reifsteck, the U.S. Navy’s AUKUS Integration and Acquisition program manager. “The training they receive at Submarine School will set them up for a successful tour aboard an American SSN, moving the Royal Australian Navy that much closer to operating sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.” The number of Royal Australian Navy personnel training across the U.S. will increase to over 100 people in the next 12 months. Training Royal Australian Navy sailors alongside their American counterparts will enhance interoperability across the submarine forces, which is a cornerstone of establishing Australia's sovereign nuclear-powered attack submarine capability.

>>21066037 Australians deploy for nuclear sub training mission - The first workers tasked with maintaining and operating Australia's future nuclear-powered submarines have been sent to the US for training. The cohort of 30 skilled submarine workers from the government's ASC shipbuilding company departed for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to get hands-on experience maintaining US Virginia-class undersea vessels. More than 100 ASC workers are expected to be sent overseas by mid-2025 for naval propulsion skilling. Once they complete their training, the workers will return to Western Australia where they will take up key roles to train other workers and lead the maintenance of rotating US and UK nuclear-powered submarines. A UK Astute-class submarine and up to four US Virginia-class submarines will be on rotation at WA's HMAS Stirling base.

#36 - Part 75

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 4

>>21066075 AUKUS Shines Spotlight on Power of Partnerships, Pentagon Official Says - The security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, known as AUKUS, is aimed at promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific and represents a tangible example of the Defense Department's longstanding commitment to deepening alliances, a senior Pentagon official said today. Madeline Mortelmans, acting assistant secretary of defense for strategies, plans and capabilities, underscored the core role allies and partnerships serve in carrying out the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the lasting impact AUKUS will have on DOD's approach to strategic competition. Mortelmans said today that the three countries have made long strides since the agreement was first announced. She noted that over the last year, the U.S. has increased submarine visits to Australia, and hosted Australian naval personnel at U.S. training schools. Australia has also begun to set the foundation with industry for the future production and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines.

>>21172340 Australian submariners to serve on UK’s Astute-class nuclear vessels for first time - Australian sailors will serve on the Royal Navy’s latest attack submarines for the first time, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced. After nine months of intensive training at HMS Sultan -- a military training facility – in Gosport, Hampshire, three newly-qualified Australian nuclear engineers will work alongside their Royal Navy counterparts in British submarines. The programme, part of the Aukus trilateral defence arrangement alongside the US, will see Britain and Australia develop new nuclear-powered attack submarines in the next decade. The three countries have agreed to share sensitive military intelligence and jointly develop next-generation technology to counter China’s increased assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. A Lt-Cdr named James, Lieut Isabella and Lieut Steve (all surnames has been withheld for security reasons) will now go on to serve in Astute-class submarines alongside Royal Navy crews, adding practical experience to all they have learned on the nuclear operator course. The nine-month course included training on nuclear physics, metallurgy, advanced mathematics, thermodynamics and nuclear safety management. Vice-Adml Mark Hammond, the chief of the Royal Australian Navy, praised the “exceptional dedication” of the trailblazing trio of officers for their success - and the Royal Navy for the “world-class training” it has provided.

>>21172345 Australian Navy nuclear submarine engineers complete training with Royal Navy - The Royal Navy has helped lay the foundation for its Australian ally to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability, including through the country’s first UK-trained nuclear submarine engineers. Three Royal Australian Navy officers graduated alongside their British counterparts after nine intensive months of training at HMS Sultan in Gosport. Lieutenant Commander James, Lieutenant Isabella and Lieutenant Steve will now go on to serve in Astute-class submarines side-by-side with Royal Navy crews, adding practical experience to all they have learned on the Nuclear Operator Course. Their success marks a significant milestone in developing the skilled workforce to operate Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarine capability. The three officers are part of a pioneering cohort who will be among the first to operate Australia’s future conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines, having gained education, experience and training in both UK and US shipyards, facilities and warships. As the first nuclear engineers to go through the UK training program in their navy’s history, the Australian trio have been under the spotlight, with regular visits from senior officers to check on their progress. “It’s been great that they’ve continually shown interest in what we’re doing,” said 29-year-old Lieutenant Steve. “I was a weapons engineer, but nuclear engineering is a completely different ball park. I wanted a challenge, something interesting. It’s been very challenging, but also fascinating and much more interesting than conventional engineering.”

#36 - Part 76

AUKUS Security Pact and Nuclear Submarine Program - Part 5

>>21185644 South Korea pushes Australia on AUKUS and cyber cooperation as it eyes $10 billion warship prize - Almost a year after clinching a multi-billion-dollar contract to build Australian Army vehicles, South Korea is again promoting closer defence ties as it seeks to win another lucrative prize; to deliver Navy's new fleet of "general-purpose frigates". Visiting South Korean Vice-Defence Minister Kim Seon-ho will hold talks with officials in Canberra today to discuss possible future cooperation on AUKUS Pillar 2 projects, while also pushing for more joint military exercises and cyber cooperation. "I believe we could increase our participation within the land forces exercises, and the second part is I believe we need to increase our exercises within the cyber domain," Mr Kim told the ABC during his only interview in Australia. While attending a Republic of Korea-Australia Defence Conference in Canberra, the visiting minister said his nation was also "looking forward to participating in AUKUS Pillar 2 and cooperating with Australia" on advanced military technologies. "Since March of this year we have prepared our plans on how we should participate with Pillar 2 and our position regarding this issue, however at the current point we have not reached any practical actions or cooperative channels."

>>21185797 Female Royal Australian Navy engineer from Sydney is dux of nuclear training course in Britain in first AUKUS deployment - Sydney submariner Lieutenant Isabella is the first woman from the Royal Australian Navy to graduate under the billion dollar AUKUS program and has been seconded to the newest “hunter killer” British Astute class submarine. Lieut. Isabella - no last names allowed for security purposes - is an engineer previously attached to a Collins class sub but has spent the past 18 months completing Royal Navy training courses including seven months in nuclear reactors at Gosport. She emerged as dux of the Nuclear Reactor course, and was the only woman of 17, and one of three Australians to finish the challenging studies. Lt-Cdr James, 33, was second behind Lieut. Isabella and will now join the HMS Agamemnon, which is nearing completion in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and will begin sea trials soon. The other Australian, weapons engineer Lieut. Steve finished in the top five, ensuring a lofty standard for other Australians beginning the annual intake to live up to. Eventually many hundreds of Australian submariners will be similarly trained in preparation for the delivery of the AUKUS submarines in the 2040s.

#36 - Part 77

Australia / China Tensions - Part 1

>>20886418 Video: Former US fighter pilot accused of giving military secrets to China - A former US Marine fighter pilot and current Australian citizen is facing extradition to America, accused of sharing military secrets with China. Who is the real Daniel Duggan? It’s a simple question, but the answer is highly contested and has enormous consequences. For his family and a large group of supporters, he’s a hero. A former US Marine fighter pilot turned proud Australian citizen; a loving husband and devoted dad. For others though, namely the United States government, he’s a traitor, accused of supplying China with top-secret military information. For the past 19 months, Duggan has been sitting in Australian prisons fighting attempts to send him back to the United States. As Dimity Clancey reports, a decision about his extradition is expected within weeks, but if the Americans get a hold of him and can prove the allegations, he faces up to 65 more years locked up. It’s a thought his wife Saffrine and six children are struggling to comprehend. - 60 Minutes Australia

>>20890891 Video: Chinese ambassador to New Zealand critical of AUKUS Pillar Two - The Chinese ambassador to New Zealand has issued a stern warning over AUKUS as NZ explores the possibility of joining Pillar Two of the US-led security pact. Speaking at the China Business Summit in Auckland today, Ambassador Wang Xiaolong spoke about China’s economic outlook and its trade relationship with New Zealand. It comes as the Government considers joining AUKUS’s non-nuclear second pillar, which would move New Zealand further away from China - our biggest trade partner. AUKUS is a deal between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines for its defence force. The stated aim of Pillar Two is about sharing advanced technology, like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The tech could also include drones or support systems for hypersonic weapons. In his speech, Wang said China and New Zealand’s relationship was at a “critical juncture”. He was heavily critical of AUKUS and said it would only serve to heighten tensions in the region. "The sole purpose of the second pillar is to serve and support nuclear-related military cooperation under the first pillar rather than being an innocent platform for technology sharing," he said. "Many people in New Zealand and beyond believe that joining such an alliance in whatever form is indeed taking sides."

>>20895188 Australia keen to keep police in Solomon Islands - Australia stands ready to help Solomon Islands build a military force, as Defence Minister Richard Marles seized the opportunity to hold talks with the nation's new prime minister. Mr Marles has travelled to Honiara for high-level meetings as the Pacific nation transitions to a new government under the leadership of Jeremiah Manele. The defence minister, who pledged $50 million for border management and a health centre on Tuesday, said Australia would help establish a military as previously put forward by former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare. "If Solomon Islands wishes to walk down that path, we stand ready to assist Solomon Islands in the establishment of such course," he said. Mr Marles said the government was "very open" to ensuring an ongoing presence of Australian police remained in Solomon Islands. A security deal inked with Beijing in 2022 by Mr Sogavare, who encouraged Chinese investment in the Pacific Island nation, alarmed Australia and the US. Mr Manele said his nation was ready to discuss a "much, much larger bilateral co-operation" with Canberra. "Australia remains Solomon Islands' partner of choice and I want to see our relationship grow to new heights during my tenure as prime minister," he told Mr Marles in his first meeting as leader, a statement read.

#36 - Part 78

Australia / China Tensions - Part 2

>>20903682 Daniel Duggan: Man accused of training Chinese pilots airs ASIO claims - A former fighter pilot accused of aiding China's military will claim Australia's intelligence agency knew about his actions and tried to bring him on board as a spy. Daniel Duggan, 55, has spent 17 months in a maximum-security prison as he fights a US extradition order. He was arrested in Australia at the behest of the US after being accused of breaching American arms trafficking laws by providing military training to Chinese pilots in South Africa between 2010 and 2012. The former US top gun stands accused of training the Chinese military to land on aircraft carriers. He renounced his US citizenship in 2012 and became an Australian citizen in the same year. Duggan and his family argue the charges are politically motivated given the deterioration of the Sino-American relationship and how long ago the alleged actions occurred. In a letter from prison, seen by AAP, Duggan said he believed his activities weren't illegal and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the US Naval Central Intelligence Service (NCIS) knew of his work. "Neither ASIO or NCIS made any claim or gave any warning that the activity was considered illegal," he wrote.

>>20903719 PLA holds joint drills surrounding Taiwan island to punish secessionist forces - "The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday morning launched a military exercise surrounding the island of Taiwan in a move to punish "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and to send a warning to belligerent external forces following Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's separatist inaugural speech on May 20. Designed to surround the island of Taiwan from both the east and the west, the exercises display the PLA's strike capability across all directions of the island without any blind spots, forming a situation where the island is pinned down from both sides, experts said. The PLA has a complete arsenal available to resolve the Taiwan question if a prospect for a peaceful reunification no longer exists, and the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and external interference forces should fully realize that the PLA is fully determined and capable of safeguarding China's national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, analysts said." - Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan - globaltimes.cn

>>20909118 Daniel Duggan: Ex-pilot has 'no arguments' to make against extradition - An ex-US fighter pilot's lawyers have conceded they have no case to mount against his extradition as he faces prosecution in the US on allegations of unlawfully aiding the Chinese military. Former top gun Daniel Duggan has spent 19 months in a maximum-security prison before Friday's hearing in a Sydney court on the US extradition order. Magistrate Daniel Reiss will deliver a decision on his eligibility for extradition on Friday afternoon after barrister Bret Walker SC told a court Duggan could not legally mount a defence. Asked by the magistrate if Friday's hearing would be contested, Mr Walker told the court: "Not really, no." There was no argument to written material provided by lawyers for the US, he added. The magistrate can order Duggan to stay in custody to await extradition, an order he can appeal for review within 15 days, lawyer Trent Glover, acting for the US, told the court. Mr Reiss noted that the position from Duggan's lawyers had "streamlined the considerations significantly".

>>20909138 Daniel Duggan loses fight against extradition to US over allegedly training Chinese pilots, magistrate rules - Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and former US marine pilot wanted in the United States over allegations he trained Chinese fighter pilots, is eligible to be extradited, a Sydney magistrate has ruled. Duggan appeared in court for the first time since his arrest 19 months ago, dressed in a grey suit jacket, white shirt and blue tie. From behind the security glass of the dock he blew kisses to his family and supporters, and made a love-heart symbol towards his wife, Saffrine, mouthing the words “I love you”. The magistrate, Daniel Reiss, told the court Duggan was “eligible for surrender” to the US and ordered that he be committed to prison. Duggan has 15 days to seek a review in the federal court. The extradition process, which involves several levels of review and appeal before a final decision by the attorney general, could remain before Australian authorities for years. In his formal decision, Reiss wrote: “Mr Duggan has not pressed any extradition objections and has not tendered any documentation that might support any such objection. “Mr Duggan has not satisfied the court that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is an extradition objection in relation to the offences. “I therefore conclude that Mr Duggan is eligible for extradition to the USA.”

#36 - Part 79

Australia / China Tensions - Part 3

>>20909164 Daniel Duggan case: ‘Mr Duggan is eligible for surrender’ over Chinese fighter pilots training claims - A former US marine pilot who has been accused of unlawfully training Chinese fighter pilots has been deemed eligible for extradition to the US after his lawyers conceded they have no legal grounds to fight the request. Daniel Duggan has been in custody since October 2022 over charges of conspiracy, arms trafficking and money laundering after the US requested he be extradited. US authorities allege Duggan breached money laundering and arms export control laws while teaching foreign pilots at a flying academy in South Africa more than 12 years ago. They also claim Duggan taught pilots - including Chinese citizens - how to land atop an aircraft carrier, and therefore breached US arms control laws. Duggan was allegedly paid more than $110,000 for his expertise but he had not sought the government’s permission to undertake the role. Magistrate Daniel Reiss confirmed Duggan is eligible for extradition on Friday afternoon, with the final decision to be handed down by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

>>20909180 Ex-US Marines fighter pilot loses bid to block extradition to the United States over China training allegations - The fate of former US Marines pilot Daniel Duggan now rests with Australia’s attorney general after a magistrate ruled he was eligible to be extradited to the United States to face charges related to the alleged training of Chinese military pilots. After a short hearing on Friday, Magistrate Daniel Reiss found that Duggan met the conditions for extradition and ordered him to be moved to prison while lawyers for the US wait for Attorney General Mark Dreyfus to approve his removal. Duggan has 15 days to seek a review of the order, which comes 19 months after his arrest in rural New South Wales, just weeks after returning from China to join his family in Australia. Duggan’s wife Saffrine stood outside court with their six children, as she appealed to the Australian authorities to intervene. “My husband is a good man, a great father, a wonderful friend and husband. He faces no Australian charges and has no criminal background whatsoever. Yet he is locked up by the say-so of the United States government,” she said.

>>20909198 Video: NSW magistrate rules ex-marine pilot Daniel Duggan can be handed over to US over claims he trained Chinese pilots - A former US marine pilot accused of unlawfully aiding the Chinese military has been deemed eligible for surrender to America by a NSW court, leaving his hopes of avoiding extradition in the hands of the federal attorney-general. Daniel Edmund Duggan, an Australian citizen, denies allegations by the US he helped train Chinese military pilots more than a decade ago, which relate to his work at the Test Flying Academy of South Africa. US authorities allege Mr Duggan was paid about $100,000 for his services but had not sought permission from the US government to provide the training. The 55-year-old has been held in a maximum-security jail in NSW for the past 19 months after he was arrested in October 2022 at the behest of the US.

>>20909230 Video: Ex-US pilot accused of training Chinese military loses legal bid to block extradition - An ex-US fighter pilot and Australian citizen has been ruled eligible for extradition to his former home country for prosecution on allegations of unlawfully aiding the Chinese military. Former top gun Daniel Duggan has spent 19 months in a maximum-security prison before today's hearing in a Sydney court on the US extradition order. Magistrate Daniel Reiss ruled him eligible for extradition this afternoon after barrister Bret Walker SC told the court Duggan could not legally mount a defence. The magistrate ordered Duggan be held in custody to await extradition under a temporary surrender warrant, an order he can appeal for review within 15 days. Duggan's wife, children and supporters gathered outside Downing Centre Local Court before the extradition hearing to call for his freedom. "This deliberate torture has to stop today," Saffrine Duggan said.

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>>20926953 Video: ‘Intimidatory’: Chinese government bullies NSW MPs over Taiwan - The Chinese government has been caught trying to blatantly bully Australian politicians over the “Taiwan Question,” urging them to adhere to Beijing’s belief that “Taiwan is a province of China”. The Daily Telegraph has obtained an extraordinary letter sent by an unnamed Chinese government official to 11 MPs, including federal Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher, after the politicians attended an event celebrating the inauguration of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan’s new president. The email, titled: “Concerns Regarding Attendance at the Taiwan-related Event,” was sent to every MP that attended the function in Rhodes last Monday. The galling email sent to 11 MPs said that the Consulate-General “firmly opposes” their attendance at the dinner. The email outlined China’s position on “the Taiwan Question,” insisting that “Taiwan is a province of China”. The email criticised MPs for attending the Taiwan inauguration event, suggesting the politicians could be putting Australia’s ties with Beijing at risk. “The Consulate-General hopes that you will adhere to the fact that “Taiwan is a province of China” and properly handle Taiwan-related issues with prudence and rein, so as to truly honor (sic) the one-China principle and avoid unnecessary interference or damage to the hard-earned momentum towards improving China-Australia relations,” the email said.

>>20937530 Anthony Albanese to protest guilty verdict for Aussie Gordon Ng in Hong Kong - Anthony Albanese will lobby ­Chinese Premier Li Qiang on behalf of an Australian citizen facing a life sentence after being convicted by a Hong Kong Court on ­national security charges. Dual Australian-Hong Kong national Gordon Ng was among 14 pro-democracy activists found guilty of subversion by the territory’s High Court on Thursday under laws introduced by Beijing to smash dissent in the former British colony. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government was “deeply concerned” at the verdicts and would raise Mr Ng’s plight with the Chinese government “at the highest levels”. His conviction comes just weeks ahead of the Chinese No. 2 leader’s visit to Australia for talks with the Prime Minister on a raft of difficult bilateral issues. Mr Ng, who went to high school in Sydney, was arrested in 2021 for his involvement in an unofficial pre-election ballot that authorities labelled a “vicious plot” to paralyse the territory. The convicted activists will be sentenced at a later date, and face prison terms ranging between three years and life. Senator Wong said: “The Australian government raises consular and human rights concerns directly with the Hong Kong and Chinese governments regularly and at the highest levels. We will continue to do so, including in the case of Mr Ng.

>>20950629 Marles raises ‘unsafe’ navy encounters in ‘frank’ talks with Chinese defence minister - Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has used a face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, to raise concerns directly about the dangerous tactics used by People’s Liberation Army in recent confrontations with the Australian Navy. Marles met Dong for a 45-minute discussion on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit on Saturday, marking the first face-to-face talks between the pair since the admiral was appointed China’s defence minister in December. Describing the talks as “frank”, Marles declined to go into detail of the substance of the discussions but confirmed that he raised the recent incidents between the PLA forces and the Australian Navy. “It was a good meeting. We certainly set out our different positions, but it is positive that there is dialogue,” Marles told this masthead at the summit.

>>20950649 Video: Richard Marles confronted by Chinese PLA officers at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore - Officers from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) have confronted Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles at an international security conference over Australia's criticisms of Beijing's military build-up. Mr Marles, who is also the defence minister, used a speech at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore to call out China for its recent confrontations with Australian naval forces, as well as to express concern over the country's aggression towards the Philippines and provocation of Taiwan. "Actions by Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, such as the use of water cannons and the ramming of Philippine vessels, are a serious escalation of tensions," Mr Marles told the room of senior defence officials and ministers. In response to Mr Marles's speech, PLA officer Hanwen Ge, who was in the audience, said China cooperated with countries in the region. "Since the end of the Cold War, China has never been at war against its neighbouring countries," he said.

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>>20955115 China defence chief says Beijing ready to 'forcefully' stop Taiwan independence - Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has told a security forum in Singapore that Beijing's military is ready to "forcefully" stop Taiwan independence. The remarks at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue come one week after China held military drills around self-ruled Taiwan and warned of war following the inauguration of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. "The Chinese People's Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defence of the unification of the motherland, and it will act resolutely and forcefully at all times to curb the independence of Taiwan and to ensure that it never succeeds in its attempts," Mr Dong told the forum on Sunday. "Whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and suffer his own destruction." Mr Dong also warned of "limits" to Beijing's restraint in the South China Sea, where China has been involved in increasingly hostile confrontations with Philippine vessels. "China has maintained sufficient restraint in the face of rights infringements and provocation, but there are limits to this," Mr Dong said.

>>20955125 The $50 billion gas deal Australia hopes will keep China quiet - Australia is offering Timor-Leste a multi-billion-dollar lifeline to fast-track the Greater Sunrise offshore gas project, which promises generational wealth for the fledgling nation while keeping Beijing at bay. Australia has offered Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s government a sizable package of incentives that would effectively give Timor-Leste 90 per cent of revenue from the project. Senior diplomatic and government sources say ensuring the development of the long-stalled Greater Sunrise field, 450km northwest of Darwin and 150km south of Timor-Leste, is one of the Albanese government’s top strategic priorities. “We don’t want Timor to become another Solomons,” one high-level political source told this masthead. Timor-Leste has forged closer relations with China, with Gusmao signing a strategic partnership with President Xi Jinping in September The offer includes a dedicated infrastructure fund, financed by Australia’s share of the gas revenues, and an acceleration of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) program that would see more Timorese come to Australia for work and training.

>>20959202 GT Voice: Australia’s ‘security anxiety’ toward China unwarranted - "Despite the challenges posed by so-called security issues in recent years, pragmatic cooperation has always been essential for the continued advance of China-Australia relations. In a Bloomberg Television interview on Saturday, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said that Australia still has "security anxieties" in its relationship with China despite the warming trade ties between the two countries. His remarks underscore the intricate considerations in Australia's relationship with China, which stem from the intertwined nature of trade collaboration and security concerns. It should be pointed out that the so-called "security anxieties" in Australia do not stem from the actual threat posed by China to Australia, but rather from the anxiety the US has created in its attempt to make Australia a strategic pawn in containing China. Australia needs to turn this anxiety into an impetus for pragmatic cooperation with China. There is vast potential for collaboration in various areas including the economy, science, technology and education. However, unlocking this potential requires not only political wisdom from both governments but also a more holistic and unbiased understanding of China-Australia relations from Australian politicians." - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

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>>20959239 AFP stopped allowing Chinese police to operate in Australia over foreign interference concerns, Senate hearing told - The Australian Federal Police has told a parliamentary hearing it halted a years-long policy of allowing Chinese police to come and operate in Australia, following a 2019 incident exposed by the ABC's Four Corners program. AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney told the hearing that the 2019 case was "a turning point", and that the policy was ended due to the agency's greater awareness of foreign interference threats. "2019-2020 was a pivotal moment in terms of our relationship," Deputy Commissioner McCartney later said, adding that the decision to stop the Chinese police visits was due to the growth of foreign interference. "We made a conscious decision in executive that we weren't going to apply that guidance again," he said. The AFP were questioned following revelations in a Four Corners episode last month that the federal police had allowed Chinese officers to come to Australia, and those officers then escorted a 59-year-old female Australian resident back to China. The visit occurred under protocols and guidelines established by the AFP after a 2014 incident when Chinese police officers slipped into Australia unannounced in an attempt to convince a Melbourne bus driver to return to China. The guidelines state that officers of China's national policing and security agency, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), could only come to Australia if the matter being investigated was serious, the suspect was not an Australian citizen, and they were willing to engage with MPS officers. Four Corners reported the MPS officers breached agreed protocol during the 2019 visit that led the AFP to reassess their agreement with the MPS about police visits.

>>20964535 Foreign Minister Penny Wong demands end to suppression of freedoms in China on 35th anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre - Foreign Minister Penny Wong has commemorated the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and urged China to “cease suppression of freedoms”. On June 4, 1989, after seven weeks of protests against corruption, inflation and authoritarianism, Tiananmen Square hosted one of the darkest days of China’s history. The Chinese Communist Party declared martial law and deployed troops to the square, where hundreds, maybe thousands, of people were killed. The number of students who died has not been confirmed but estimates have ranged from several hundred to more than 10,000. Ms Wong observed the 35th anniversary of the “tragic events” on Tuesday and recalled “the use of brutal force against student protesters in Beijing”. “We remember the tragic events and loss of life on 4 June 1989, along with the international community,” Ms Wong said. “As we have consistently said, Australia remains concerned about ongoing restrictions on freedom of association, expression and political participation in China. “We call on China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society and to release those detained for peacefully expressing their political views.”

>>20976344 US, 'Five Eyes' allies warn China recruiting Western military trainers - The U.S. and other "Five Eyes" countries on Wednesday warned that China has been circumventing measures aimed at halting its recruitment of current and former Western military pilots and other personnel to train the Chinese military. "Western recruits who train the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) may increase the risk of future conflict by reducing our deterrence capabilities," said a public bulletin issued by the U.S., British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand intelligence services. The notice is the latest warning by the English-speaking "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance about rising concerns with Chinese government-directed espionage, cyber hacking and intellectual property theft as Beijing's growing might has roiled relations with Washington and its allies. The PLA is using private companies in South Africa and China to hire former fighter pilots, flight engineers and air operations center personnel from Western countries to train its Air Force and Navy aviators, the services said in the notice. "The PLA wants the skills and expertise of these individuals to make its own military air operations more capable while gaining insight into Western air tactics, techniques, and procedures," the notice said. It said the efforts represented a "persistent, adaptive threat," with the insight gleaned by the PLA a threat to "U.S. and allied security." In one high-profile case, former U.S. Marine pilot Daniel Duggan is fighting extradition from Australia on U.S. charges of training Chinese military pilots through a South African flight school in how to land on aircraft carriers.

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>>20983635 War over Taiwan would change world, says Australia ambassador to US Kevin Rudd - Australia's ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, cautioned in a speech that the global consequences of a war over Taiwan would be as great as the impact of the Second World War, making the world "a radically different place". If Chinese President Xi Jinping, who turns 71 this month, wanted to achieve "final national unification" with Taiwan he would likely act in the next decade before he reaches his 80s, Rudd said in a speech in Honolulu on Thursday. "We would be foolish to ignore the increasing clarity of China's military signalling, including the pattern of its most recent military exercises," said Rudd, who was twice Australia's prime minister in the previous decade.

>>20998413 Top US general Stephen Sklenka says an Asia-Pacific NATO would help him sleep at night - A top Chinese general recently accused the United States of a hidden agenda to create a version of NATO in the Asia-Pacific, and now a senior American officer has welcomed the idea. As the number of Asia-Pacific security arrangements has been increasing year by year, China’s Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month: “The true motive of the US is to converge small circles into a big circle, that is an Asian-Pacific version of NATO, to maintain the US-led hegemony.” Jiang, deputy chief of China’s Joint Staff Department at the Central Military Commission of the People’s Liberation Army, said Washington was “tying the region’s countries to the US war chariot”. The Chinese Communist Party should “look in the mirror” and ask why countries in the region were forming new partnerships with each other but not with Beijing, said Sklenka. Asked whether a collective defence treaty between the US and its Indo-Pacific allies was conceivable or desirable, Sklenka told this masthead: “Those of us at Indopacom would sleep better at night if we had something like a NATO out here, but that’s not happening. “But my retort to that is no, instead of castigating those relationships, the Chinese should probably look in the mirror and ask themselves why have these arrangements come into fruition. “Why did the Quad [a security dialogue embracing the US, India, Japan and Australia] come into play? Because these countries are nervous, they’re nervous about the direction the CCPs going,” said Sklenka, a US Marines officer and the deputy commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, the largest of the US regional commands. He was in Australia as the 2024 Australian-American Leadership Dialogue scholar.

>>20998419 New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says China Premier Li Qiang will visit this week - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced that China's premier, Li Qiang, will visit the country this week. It will be the first trip to the nation by a Chinese premier since Li Keqiang's visit in 2017. Mr Luxon, speaking at a post-cabinet press conference on Monday, local time, said the visit would be a valuable opportunity for exchanges on areas of cooperation between the two countries. "New Zealand and China engage where we have shared interests, and we speak frankly and constructively with each other where we have differences," he said. "Our relationship is significant, complex, and resilient. The challenging global outlook makes it vital that we are sharing perspectives and engaging China on key issues that matter to New Zealand," he added. New Zealand has long been seen as a moderate or absent voice on China in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, but in recent years has spoken up about what it considers to be concerning actions by Beijing.

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>>21004567 Chinese premier visit to include both ‘panda diplomacy’ and difficult issues - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to use a four-day visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang to raise difficult issues including provocative military actions by China’s People’s Liberation Army as hopes grow that Chinese pandas will remain in Australia as a symbol of improved relations between the two nations. Li - who is second-in-command in the Chinese system to President Xi Jinping - will visit Australia from June 15-18, the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years and the latest sign of stabilisation in a bilateral relationship that soured dramatically during the Morrison government. Albanese said he would warn China not to put the lives of Australian military personnel at risk, raise the suspended death sentence handed to Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun and push for the resumption of Australian shellfish exports. After arriving on Saturday evening, Li will first visit Adelaide Zoo, home to the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere, before travelling to Canberra and Western Australia. Li could use his Sunday zoo visit to announce an extension of the prized panda loan agreement between Australia and China, which was due to expire at the end of this year.

>>21004607 Coalition wants annual intelligence analysis of China - The Coalition wants the nation’s peak intelligence assessment body to issue annual threat assessments calling out Chinese foreign interference, saying Beijing’s relentless propaganda operations could not go unanswered. Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson will propose the new role for the Office of National Intelligence in a major speech on Tuesday, arguing its “unparalleled situational awareness” is not being sufficiently utilised. Senator Paterson will tell the Global Information Conference in Adelaide that China has long placed “information warfare” at the centre of its strategic plans, and Australia needs to fight back with truth and transparency. Pointing to the Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, he will flag similar yearly statements by ONI if the Coalition is elected. The proposed assessments would focus on Australia’s immediate region and “should provide specific examples of foreign interference, cyber-attacks, corruption and coercion”, Senator Paterson will say. The director-general of intelligence, Andrew Shearer, could be called upon to deliver an annual speech on his agency’s assessment, like those provided each year by ASIO boss Mike Burgess, Senator Paterson will suggest.

>>21004625 Plea to NSW premier for ex-pilot facing extradition - The wife of a former US pilot facing possible extradition to the United States for unlawfully training Chinese pilots has asked the NSW premier for help after her husband was transferred to another prison. Ex-fighter pilot Daniel Duggan spent 19 months in the maximum-security prison at Lithgow before a magistrate ruled him eligible for extradition in May. He has since been transferred to Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington weeks before federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus determines whether he should be surrendered to the US. On Friday, his wife Saffrine Duggan sent a letter to NSW Premier Chris Minns saying the ex-pilot's conditions had "significantly deteriorated" and he was further away from his family and legal team. "I can only assume this is a mistake … which you can remedy as a matter of urgency given the horrendous impact it has had on my family," she wrote. Because of the transfer, Duggan had lost access to a computer to prepare his case for the attorney-general and meetings with his legal team had been "cancelled, delayed and changed," she said.

>>21009124 Protest clashes to mar China’s panda diplomacy - Police are preparing for potential clashes between “patriotic” ­Chinese and anti-China protesters when Premier Li Qiang visits Canberra next week, after Beijing urged its Australian supporters to show up in force to welcome the country’s No. 2 leader. The call-out came as Anthony Albanese framed Mr Li’s trip as a boost for Australia’s economic prosperity, noting China’s hunger for the nation’s resources including critical minerals. Xi Jinping’s right-hand man will kick off his June 15-18 Australian trip in Adelaide, where he is expected to announce that two pandas on loan at the city’s zoo will have their stay extended. Mr Li will meet winemakers in the South Australian capital on Sunday and attend a state lunch hosted by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell, before heading to Canberra for talks with Mr Albanese on Monday. The Prime Minister will accompany the Chinese leader to Perth the following day for talks with business leaders and tours of a Chinese-backed lithium venture and a Fortescue Metals Group ­hydrogen plant.

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>>21009148 Security barrier to China’s panda diplomacy - Police will erect a fence on the lawn in front of Parliament House to separate “patriotic” Chinese from human rights protesters when China’s No.2 leader visits Canberra on Monday amid fears of clashes between the two camps. As pro-Beijing Chinese community associations rally their members to welcome Premier Li Qiang, a coalition of human rights groups have called for peaceful protests against the “henchman of dictator Xi” -- a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Australia Tibet Council executive director Zoe Bedford said the anti-China protesters would target Beijing’s “appalling” human rights record, and the Albanese government’s failure to take a more forceful stand against Mr Xi’s regime. The Australian Federal Police declined to comment on security arrangements but AFP plans seen by The Australian show a physical barrier will be set up on the parliamentary lawn to keep the rival groups apart. Dr Bedford said: “We understand the Chinese embassy and pro-China groups are organising people to counter-protest and we are concerned about our safety as they have been aggressive and ­violent towards our peaceful human rights protests in the past. “This is a part of China’s transnational repression - where the Chinese embassy is attempting to intimidate our community, most of whom are former political prisoners from Tibet.”

>>21009172 Working productively with China will benefit everyone in the region - "China and Australia are two very different nations, with different systems of government and different ways of looking at the world. Points of contention are inevitable; what matters is how you manage them. I take the view that whatever our differences might be, it is always better when we can deal with each other directly, through dialogue. This is how we firmly and calmly call out unacceptable risks to Australian naval personnel on duty in international waters, as well as making clear Australia’s resolute position on the UN Conven­tion on the Law of the Sea and our unwavering support for the territorial integrity of our neighbours. This is not always a smooth process, or a swift one, but while issuing threats and delivering ultimatums may be the easy road, it never takes you very far. In a world of increasing complexity, the true measure of foreign policy strength is the ability to effectively manage differences, not manufacture confronta­tions. That’s why, as well as reminding ourselves of the benefits we have been able to secure through dialogue, we must always remember the potentially devastating cost of the alternative. Australia, China and every nation in our region has a role to play in upholding the rules based-order, respecting our neighbours’ sovereignty and maintaining the stability of the Indo-Pacific. What’s more, we all have much to gain from it. In this spirit, our government will continue to use dialogue to advance Australia’s interests, articulate our values and build a more prosperous and secure future for all who call the Indo-Pacific home." - Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia - theaustralian.com.au

>>21015578 Australia, NZ more wary on China as Premier Li visits - Regional security concerns will overshadow lucrative trade ties when China's Premier Li Qiang visits New Zealand and Australia this week, with the mood markedly different from the last Chinese premier's visit seven years ago. Li arrives in New Zealand on Thursday, before travelling to Australia at the weekend, China's foreign ministry said. Australia is the top supplier of iron ore to China, its largest trading partner, but there is competition for Australia's rare earths needed for electric vehicles and defence from Western security allies. New Zealand was the first Western nation to strike a free trade agreement with China in 2008, and China remains its largest export market for milk and agriculture products, with two-way trade of nearly NZ$38 billion ($23 billion). New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Li's visit was an opportunity for businesses to strike deals, and there was "massive areas of cooperation with China, particularly in the areas of trade, energy, climate change". Differences would also be discussed, he added. Once a moderate voice on China, New Zealand has toughened its stance, this year calling out Beijing for hacking the country's parliament and noting the growing threat China poses to security in the Pacific.

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>>21025476 AUKUS and foreign interference raised in discussions with Chinese premier - Christopher Luxon - AUKUS and foreign interference have been discussed as part of official meetings between Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Li is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit New Zealand in seven years. The trip coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. He received a full official welcome on Thursday for the official meeting at Government House in Wellington, where a range of topics were discussed, namely - our two-way trade. The meeting also came against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions. China has made no secret of its displeasure toward the AUKUS defence pact - which New Zealand supports and has considered joining in a second-tier capacity. China's Ambassador to New Zealand has said joining would be akin to "taking sides".

>>21025479 Premier Li visits New Zealand as two countries to expand trade, exchanges - "China-New Zealand cooperation has set a model of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems, historical cultures, and stages of development, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said during his visit to New Zealand on Thursday, adding that the respective development of China and New Zealand is an opportunity for each other rather than a challenge. Observers said China-New Zealand ties are a "model" of relations between China and Western countries. They said Li's visit highlights the fact that China is willing to retain friendly ties with Western countries if they seek pragmatic cooperation and hold on to strategic autonomy. Li arrived in New Zealand on Thursday for an official visit, the first leg of his three-nation tour from June 13 to 20. Li said his visit to New Zealand is intended to continue traditional friendship, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and drive common development." - Zhao Yusha - globaltimes.cn

>>21025492 Albanese’s three fudges on China yield nothing - and weaken us - "The price Australia pays for Anthony Albanese’s stabilised engagement with communist China is that all substance is drained from the relationship. That’s why the most concrete aim mentioned by the Prime Minister in his commentary piece in The Australian last Wednesday was to “see further progress for our shellfish exporters”. He has nothing to say about Beijing’s open challenge to regional security. Albanese’s article did not touch on China’s military threats against Taiwan. He raised no issues about Chinese cyber malware planted into Australian critical infrastructure. He said nothing about China’s relentless intellectual property theft, about unprecedented levels of espionage, about threats and bullying of Chinese Australians, or about attempts to bribe Australian politicians. The Prime Minister can fool himself that the less offensive Chinese diplomacy is the result “of the benefits we have been able to secure through dialogue”. A more accurate assessment is that China shelved the wolf warrior nonsense because Beijing realised it was doing harm. The resumption of dialogue under Labor happened precisely because it has no substance. China has not changed its strategic behaviour in any way and actually has become more militarily aggressive. Until such time as China can manage a respectful relationship with Australia, or until we can handle ties with a hint of backbone, it would be best for our national security and self-respect that Premier Li return home and take his pandas with him." - Peter Jennings, former executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (2012-22) - theaustralian.com.au

>>21025506 Anthony Albanese told by Trump adviser to ‘have eyes open’ on Li Qiang - Donald Trump’s former Asia tsar Matt Pottinger has urged Anthony Albanese to have his “eyes wide open” when he meets visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as ­former Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo warned Labor’s preoccupation with stabilising ties with Beijing risked emboldening Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr Pottinger told The Weekend Australian leader-level contact with Beijing was important, but Mr Albanese said should not expect any real improvement in Beijing’s behaviour. “I’m usually more sceptical about the sorts of activities that the Chinese Communist Party likes to lure governments into at the working level, where no real progress ever gets made,” the former deputy US national security adviser said ahead of Mr Li’s ­arrival in Australia on Saturday. “It’s usually a system to stall and buy time and advance Chinese Communist Party interests. “I think it’s reasonable that Australia’s Prime Minister and New Zealand’s leader would be meeting the Premier as well as the General Secretary (Xi Jinping), but to do so with eyes wide open.”

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>>21026539 Chinese premier Li Qiang arrives in Adelaide, Jim Chalmers hails ‘important’ visit - Chinese Premier Li Qiang has arrived in Australia for a four-day visit, declaring he wants to leave the nations’ differences in the past. China’s No. 2 leader arrived in Adelaide about 4.50pm on Saturday, where he was met by Penny Wong, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian and Australia’s ambassador to China, Scott Dewar. He is the most senior Chinese leader to visit Australia in seven years, and the Albanese government is hailing the trip as a fresh milestone in its stabilisation of the nation’s China relationship. In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy, Mr Li said “shelving differences” had helped get the bilateral relationship “back on track after a period of twists and turns”, and China was looking forward to renewing the nations’ cooperation and “friendship”. “China stands ready to work with Australia,” he said. “A more mature, stable and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership will be a treasure shared by both countries.”

>>21026584 ‘I’ve agonised over this’: Suspected foreign interference victims break silence - Federal police told prominent critics of the Chinese Communist Party they were suspected targets of a foreign interference operation, warning them to avoid adopting a predictable daily routine to prevent putting themselves in danger. Activist Drew Pavlou and journalist Vicky Xu told this masthead the Australian Federal Police (AFP) asked them not to speak to anyone about the investigation, but they had decided to go public out of frustration that no arrests had been made, or charges laid, since they were informed about the probe 10 months ago. Details of the secretive foreign interference probe have come to light as Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives in Adelaide for a four-day Australian visit, highlighting the significant difficulties that remain in the Australia-China relationship despite markedly improved trade ties. Pavlou and Xu urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise concerns about foreign interference in his discussions with Li, a call backed by the federal opposition. An AFP spokesman said that “espionage and foreign interference represent a serious threat to Australian sovereignty and security and the integrity of our national institutions. The AFP is a member of the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which is investigating a range of foreign interference matters,” the spokesman said. “It would be inappropriate to comment further on the status of those investigations.”

>>21030663 ‘Twists and turns’ in Australia-China ties are over, Li Qiang says - but Penny Wong highlights tensions - China’s second-most powerful leader has announced that the “twists and turns” in Australia-China relations are over - and invited Australian officials to pick a new pair of pandas for Adelaide’s zoo. But Penny Wong chose to highlight the tensions that remain in the relationship before a series of talks with Premier Li Qiang, who arrived in Australia on Saturday evening and was met by protesters outside the zoo on Sunday. Li Qiang’s arrival marks the first time a Chinese premier has visited Australia since Li Keqiang accepted Malcolm Turnbull’s invitation in 2017. Li is in Australia for the annual leaders meeting, which both sides see as central to stabilising relations between the nations. Australia’s foreign affairs minister welcomed Li’s visit, which Wong said was the result of “two years of very deliberate, very patient work” by the Albanese government to “bring about a stabilisation of the relationship” with Australia’s largest trade partner. She acknowledged that tensions remained. But Wong also noted that Australia was in a “permanent contest” with China over the Pacific, a state she blamed the former Coalition government for.

#36 - Part 88

Australia / China Tensions - Part 12

>>21030682 Chinese premier kicks off Australia visit, as bilateral relations ‘get back on normal track after frosty years’ - "Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Adelaide on Saturday to kick off his official visit to Australia, following his trip to New Zealand. The visit, which is the first in seven years by a Chinese premier, shows that the bilateral relations have returned to a normal track following frosty years, analysts said. Arriving in Adelaide, Li said on Saturday that the exchanges between China and Australia have a long history, and the friendship between the two peoples remains ever new over time. A more mature, stable and fruitful China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership will be a shared asset for both peoples, Li said, adding that China is willing to work with Australia to that end. Last year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid a successful visit to China, getting bilateral relations back to the right track after twists and turns, the Chinese premier said. History has proven that mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and mutually beneficial cooperation are valuable experience in the development of China-Australia relations, and need to be upheld and carried forward, he noted." - Cui Fandi - globaltimes.cn

>>21030698 China wants to keep New Zealand as a passive friend in the Pacific - "Chinese Premier Li Qiang passed through New Zealand before landing in Adelaide. Many Australians see the New Zealand stop as a minor component of Li’s Australasia trip, the main purpose of which is to endorse Anthony Albanese’s approach of stabilising ties with China. To downplay the New Zealand component is to misunderstand Chinese strategy and intention in our region. If overt tensions with China increased significantly with almost all liberal democracies over the past few years, New Zealand was a notable exception under John Key and Jacinda Ardern. Although Australia’s ally and a member of the Five Eyes intelligence network, Wellington took a small-target approach with China. In practice, this meant turning a blind eye to extensive Chinese infiltration and interference in New Zealand’s institutions, retaining a studied silence vis-a-vis Chinese aggression and transgressions around the world, and being the only Five Eyes nation to formally sign on to Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. New Zealand is hardly a regional, let alone, global power. But Wellington is a potential complication for Beijing’s designs in the Pacific and Antarctica as it expands its presence in both these subregions. As Australia has shown, small countries can achieve outsized impacts through effective advocacy and example. For this reason, Beijing has long been delighted New Zealand did not follow Australia’s approach." - Dr John Lee, senior adviser to the Australian foreign minister (2016-18)

>>21030729 Video: Chinese boat arrival intercepted by Australian authorities - Nine Chinese citizens attempting to reach Australia have been rescued by fishermen off southern Java and detained after they claimed they were pushed back into Indonesian waters by the Australian Border Force. The nine, along with three Indonesian crew members, were taken to the western port town of Pelabuhan Ratu, telling local authorities they had been turned back after being held at sea by an Australian naval vessel for five days. They told Indonesian police their wooden boat had become disabled and was drifting about 65km off Java, when they were rescued by fishermen and taken to Pelabuhan Ratu - which has long been a departure point for illegal smuggling vessels – on Saturday afternoon. The group’s detention is the fourth known attempt by groups of Chinese nationals to break through to Australia this year, having been told by smugglers that asylum awaits them should they make landfall.

#36 - Part 89

Australia / China Tensions - Part 13

>>21036085 Penny Wong claims Liberals’ climate stance helps China in Pacific, as Li Qiang heads to Canberra - Penny Wong says Peter Dutton’s plan to ditch the nation’s 2030 climate target will strengthen Beijing’s hand in the “permanent contest” in the Pacific, as Anthony Albanese prepares to welcome Chinese Premier Li Qiang to ­Canberra by lauding the contribution of Chinese Australians “to the story of our modern nation”. Framing the coming election as a battle over climate change with national security implications, the Foreign Minister declared the ­Coalition had “abandoned the field in the Pacific, and others have filled that space”. “We’re in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific. That’s the ­reality,” she told the ABC, alluding to China’s sustained push for influence across the region. “I wish there were a rewind ­button (so) we could recover the last 10 years, but we don’t. We have to deal with what we have now, which is a permanent contest in the Pacific.” China’s No. 2 leader arrived in Adelaide at the weekend declaring the nations’ bilateral relationship was “back on track”, and deploying Beijing’s trademark “panda diplomacy”. He announced the city would get two new giant pandas to replace Adelaide Zoo’s current pair - Wang Wang and Funi - who are to return home in November. He said the “shelving of differences” between Australia and China had opened the door to “a more mature, stable” relationship, and declared: “China stands ready to work with Australia.”

>>21036111 China Daily praises Anthony Albanese for not being ‘under the sway of Washington’ - Beijing has praised Prime Minister Albanese for not being “under the sway of Washington”, as China’s propaganda machine has tried to explain away Australia’s high levels of distrust towards its rising power. As Chinese Premier Li Qiang was given a ceremonial welcome in Canberra on Monday, Mr Albanese was applauded in an editorial in Beijing’s most authoritative English language masthead, China Daily, for “taking steps in the right direction” and demonstrating that “Canberra can balance relations with Beijing and Washington”. China Daily contrasted Mr Albanese’s approach with his “confrontational” predecessor Scott Morrison, who it accused of being “under the sway of Washington”. “The fast recovering curve of Sino-Australian ties over the past two years should prompt both Beijing and Canberra to foster a more mature, stable and fruitful partnership that is resistant to outside interference,” the China Daily said. The masthead also claimed Canberra had “already demonstrated that it is not willing to unreservedly follow Washington’s lead having expressed critical views on the US’ tariff attack on Chinese goods and export restrictions targeting Chinese technology development”. It is not clear which comments the Chinese masthead was referring to.

>>21036156 Video: Chinese officials block Cheng Lei from view at Australia-China press event - Sky News Australia journalist Cheng Lei says while it’s unfortunate Chinese officials repeatedly attempted to block her from view during a historic joint press event with Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, she’s not surprised. The bizarre scene unfolded when Cheng - who was detained in a Chinese prison for three years - was seated among other Australian journalists to watch the Prime Minister and Premier Li speak on a series of agreements struck between Beijing and Canberra. Video of the incident shows a man in a blue suit and a woman in a brown coat repeatedly manoeuvring in an attempt to prevent Cheng from being captured by news cameras. Mr Albanese and Premier Li used the speech to assert that the relationship between Australia and China had been “renewed and revitalised” and the two countries were focused on stability in the Asia-Pacific. Mr Albanese declined to condemn the conduct of Chinese officials attempting to block Cheng from the view of news cameras. The Prime Minister said it was important that everyone is able to participate in the day’s events, but he did not see the incident in question which was captured on camera. “Well, I didn’t see it, but I saw Cheng Lei and we smiled at each other during the event,” he said. “I’m not aware of those issues and it is important that people be allowed to participate fully, and that is what should happen in this building, or anywhere else in Australia.”

#36 - Part 90

Australia / China Tensions - Part 14

>>21036163 Video: Cheng Lei wanted to do her job. A Chinese embassy official had other ideas - Even in Canberra’s Parliament House - Australia’s monument to democracy - Cheng Lei cannot avoid being hassled by the Chinese government. Just eight months ago, Cheng was locked up in a detention facility in Beijing, facing a long prison sentence after being accused of vague national security charges. She was released last October following strenuous lobbying by Australian officials. The Chinese-Australian journalist is now living freely in Australia and working as a journalist for Sky News. In this capacity, Cheng attended a signing ceremony on Monday morning following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. As Li and Albanese arrived at the event, a junior official from the Chinese embassy in Canberra planted himself in front of Cheng, who was sitting silently among a group of other Australian journalists. He then started filming the event on his iPhone. At first, it was unclear exactly what was going on. Then it became apparent. The Chinese official, named Thomas, and a female colleague in a brown coat were trying to ensure Cheng would not feature in any footage or photographs of the event. A quick-minded Australian official motioned to Cheng to move a few seats across, to an aisle seat where she would not be blocked. Even then, Thomas remained in place, obstructing the view of other Australian journalists. He refused to budge despite pleas from multiple Australian officials. Albanese and Li beamed for the cameras, but the Australian public servants were ropeable. “That was the height of rudeness,” one seethed, her face red with anger as she upbraided Thomas. In his remarks at the event, Li vowed that “China will work with Australia in a spirit of mutual respect”. A lovely sentiment. In practice, little respect was on display for Cheng, the other journalists in the room or Australian officials. Australia was hosting this event, but the Chinese side thought it was setting the rules.

>>21036172 Australian writer Yang Hengjun’s supporters criticise ‘weak’ Albanese government - Supporters of Australian Yang Hengjun have criticised a “weak” Albanese government for prioritising pandas and wine exports over their imprisoned friend. Hopes the visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang could improve the plight of Dr Yang have faded among his supporters, who in recent months had urged the Albanese government to make his release to Australia on medical parole a precondition for the trip. “I’m quite disappointed,” Feng Chongyi, a close friend of the pro-democracy writer, told The Australian. “It’s a very weak position. They should have put Yang’s release as the top priority, but instead they put pandas [and] the sale of lobster and wine. They got it wrong,” Professor Feng said. The Australian government has always privately argued that Dr Yang’s former career as a junior agent working for China’s Ministry of State Security made his case much more complicated. Dr Yang was given a suspended death sentence in February on espionage charges, shocking Canberra and devastating his friends and family. Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Sunday indicated Dr Yang’s sentence and conditions would be raised in talks on Monday in Canberra with China’s second most senior leader. “We will continue to advocate for Dr Yang wherever we are able, and we will continue to advocate, including for appropriate medical treatment,” Senator Wong told the ABC.

#36 - Part 91

Australia / China Tensions - Part 15

>>21036210 OPINION: We can’t pander to China. Hong Kong Australians need us to speak up for them - "As Australia hosts China’s Premier Li this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the visit is an “opportunity for Australia to advance our interests by demonstrating our national values” and that “Australia continues to pursue a stable and direct relationship with China, with dialogue at its core”. In the lead-up to this landmark visit, increasingly brazen steps have been taken to crack down on freedoms in Hong Kong. New, draconian national security laws have been introduced despite significant human rights concerns raised by the UN. Peaceful protesters, as well as booksellers, journalists and children’s book authors have been arrested and prosecuted. Fourteen pro-democracy activists have been convicted of “subversion” for peacefully participating in political activities. Even singing a protest song, Glory to Hong Kong, can now result in prosecution. Lai’s case is emblematic of the crackdown on free speech, democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong, which is also affecting Australians. Just last month, 14 democracy activists were convicted under the national security law, including an Australian citizen. As part of the crackdown, Hong Kong has issued “bounties” for the arrest of high-profile activists living in exile, including for former legislator Ted Hui and lawyer Kevin Yam, who is also an Australian citizen. Both live in Australia. Australia has a large Hong Kong community: around 86,000 people born in Hong Kong now call Australia home. This growing transnational repression threat makes it all the more important that Australia raises it. Australia must raise free speech and democracy in Hong Kong and call for the release of Jimmy Lai and all journalists and pro-democracy campaigners." - Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, international human rights lawyer and Jennifer Robinson, Australian barrister and member of Jimmy Lai’s legal team - theage.com.au

>>21042011 Video: ‘Rude, inappropriate’: Albanese toughens language on Cheng Lei incident as Chinese premier departs - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted his government has improved relations with China without giving ground on core values, as he revealed he complained directly to Chinese Premier Li Qiang about embassy officials’ disrespectful treatment of journalist Cheng Lei. Albanese toughened his language late on Tuesday afternoon after coming under attack by the opposition for failing to condemn the embassy officials’ behaviour strongly enough. He described the conduct as “rude”, “entirely inappropriate” and “counterproductive”, while the government separately blasted China for “dangerous and illegal” behaviour in the South China Sea. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton lashed Albanese for failing to call out the Chinese officials’ behaviour swiftly on Monday, saying the prime minister needed to “grow a backbone” after Albanese initially called the conduct “clumsy” and “ham-fisted” on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, Albanese had said the “idea of standing between a camera and a journalist is just clearly inappropriate”. “That was rude what occurred and, frankly, just counterproductive from the Chinese side and just drew attention to the fact that Cheng Lei was there,” he said in an interview with 6PR.

>>21042044 Chinese officials were rude and belligerent. Why did that take Albanese so long to say? - "Rude. Belligerent. Completely disrespectful. Utterly inappropriate. These were some of the words Anthony Albanese could have accurately used when asked on Tuesday morning to describe the behaviour of Chinese embassy officials at a signing ceremony at Parliament House the previous day. Instead, the prime minister opted for “ham-fisted” and “clumsy”. He used this language in multiple breakfast radio interviews, indicating it had been carefully chosen the night before. It took about eight more hours - and Coalition demands for him to “grow a backbone” - for Albanese to toughen his language. It’s true that a foreign official behaving like a pork chop by standing in front of a reporter is a trivial affair in and of itself. Beijing’s systematic repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, its assault on democracy in Hong Kong and cyberattacks on nations, including Australia, are far more significant violations, to name just a few. Yet what occurred at the signing ceremony was a symbolically powerful moment, one that affronted Australians’ famed sense of fairness. By refusing to budge despite the protestations of Australian officials, the Chinese embassy official confirmed Australians’ worst fears of China under Xi Jinping: a thuggish superpower so smitten with its sense of superiority that it can throw its weight around at will." - Matthew Knott - theage.com.au

#36 - Part 92

Australia / China Tensions - Part 16

>>21042081 With friends like these … ties still ‘wary’ with China - "China’s No. 2 leader, Li Qiang, has committed to a new defence ­hotline with Canberra to avoid military mishaps and sealed a raft of agreements with Anthony ­Albanese on visas, trade and ­climate, in the first visit to Australia by a senior Chinese leader in seven years. But despite declaring bilateral relations were “on the right track”, Mr Li’s visit was marred by members of his entourage, who stood over Sky News journalist and former Chinese political prisoner, Cheng Lei, trying to prevent her being seen in television footage. As Chinese propaganda outlets praised the Prime Minister for demonstrating Canberra was not “under the sway of Washington”, Mr Albanese said he had had a “positive” meeting with Mr Li, but declined to say whether he trusted his Chinese counterpart. Outside parliament, Tibetan community spokesman Tsewang Thupten said he was disappointed at “the red-carpet welcome while human rights are being swept under the rug”. He called for Australia to ­implement sanctions against ­Chinese officials involved in the repression of the country’s minorities. Ramila Chanisheff, from the Australian Uighur Women’s Association, said the government was putting “panda policy before human rights”." - Ben Packham - theaustralian.com.au

>>21042098 All warm on the surface, with little trust below in Australia-China ties - "When Chinese President Xi Jinping meets foreign leaders, his face is impassive. Perhaps, if the occasion requires it, he might offer the barest hint of a smile. It was a different story when Anthony Albanese greeted Chinese Premier Li Qiang outside Parliament House, looking like a kid on Christmas Day. He was positively beaming, shaking Li’s hand so enthusiastically it looked like he might do him an injury. In what might have been a parallel universe just a few hundred metres away, an estimated 500 ­Tibetan, Uighur and Falun Gong protesters screamed their lungs out, branding Xi Jinping a “killer” and a “liar”. Many said they had family members in Chinese concentration camps. They drowned out a roughly equal-sized group of flag-waving Chinese loyalists, who were lured to Canberra with offers of free food and accommodation by ­Beijing’s United Front network. After his closed-door talks with Li, Albanese professed - yet again – the value of dialogue with China. But does he trust China to do what it says? Not on your life. Despite all the smiles and gestures of friendship, the government has zero faith that China will ever be a reliable partner." - Ben Packham - theaustralian.com.au

>>21042111 Cheng Lei incident diminishes PM, nation - "At one level it may seem a trivial enough incident, officious Chinese government personnel trying to block Australian journalist Cheng Lei from view of the Chinese Premier, Li Qiang, and Chinese TV cameras. Cheng Lei is an Australian citizen and a journalist at Sky News. She formerly worked as a broadcast journalist in China. She was held in a Chinese prison for more than three years on ridiculous, trumped-up charges. Key elements of consular agreements with Australia, such as access by our diplomats, were denied in her case. She was a victim of Beijing’s brutal hostage diplomacy, by which it takes foreign citizens into punitive custody, to punish, and establish leverage over, nations it’s annoyed with. Cheng Lei is now none of the Chinese government’s business. The extreme arrogance of the Chinese state was evident in the behaviour of Chinese officials in Canberra towards her. In one of his meaningless statements in Canberra, the Chinese Premier talked of “an increasingly open China”. Yet right here in Australia’s own Parliament House, which is decidedly not part of Chinese sovereign territory and where officials of the Chinese state have no authority, their diplomats not only tried to block an Australian journalist, but physically checked members of staff of the Prime Minister’s Office and refused even the most elementary directions from the PMO. Behaviour that would be unacceptable from any other nation - imagine the uproar if American diplomats tried to prevent some ABC journalist from attending a press conference with the US Secretary of State – is apparently okay from China. Of course, it’s not an analogous situation because Chinese government figures don’t do press conferences." - Greg Sheridan - theaustralian.com.au

#36 - Part 93

Australia / China Tensions - Part 17

>>21042140 OPINION: Beijing is not on our side. Let’s not fall for a pair of therapy pandas - "The mask is back on again. The Chinese Communist Party removed the mask of friendship four years ago and showed us its true face - the face of a malign bully. Now it wants us to forget what we saw. To “shelve our differences”, in the words yesterday of Premier Li Qiang. Why? Because the bullying wasn’t working. And because Beijing realised that it had overreached so much that it had alienated and alerted many countries at once in its “wolf warrior” phase. It wants us to relapse into our customary stupor so it can work towards dominance without disturbance. You’d imagine that the Albanese government won’t fall for it. To the prime minister’s credit, he did raise directly with Li Qiang several of Beijing’s more egregious harms to Australia. These include the People’s Liberation Army’s dangerous and deliberate harassments of the Australian Navy in international waters, the CCP’s illegal interference operations against Australian citizens on Australian soil, the imprisonment of Australian citizen Yang Hengjun under sentence of death, and the last remaining trade bans on Australian abattoirs and lobsters. There are more troubling signs that Australia is turning a blind eye to critical areas where Beijing is encroaching on Australian sovereignty and rights. Why would Albanese go easy? Because the government has adopted a policy of “stabilisation”, a self-imposed trap. If your stated aim is “stabilisation”, you don’t want to do anything that might roil relations. The moment there’s a sign of destabilisation, your policy has failed." - Peter Hartcher, international editor - smh.com.au

>>21042162 Premier Li meets Albanese; 'visit shows China’s sincerity in improving ties with Australia' - "Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Monday that China is ready to work with Australia to build a more mature, stable and fruitful China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership to better benefit the two peoples. Li also announced on Monday that China will include Australia on the list of unilateral visa-free countries. The premier's visit to Australia has showcased China's sincerity in improving ties with Australia, and it is hoped that Australia will meet China halfway to allow for the evolution of bilateral relations and increased cooperation, said observers. Looking back at the development of China-Australia relations over the past decade, the most important experience and inspiration is to uphold mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation, and seek common ground while shelving differences, Li said. Li made the remarks during the ninth China-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Since Prime Minister Albanese's visit to China last November, China and Australia have further restored and developed dialogues and cooperation in various fields, achieving a comprehensive turnaround in bilateral relations, Li said." - Zhao Yusha - globaltimes.cn

>>21042176 What do the 'back on track' China-Australia ties reveal?: Global Times editorial - "Will China-Australia relations officially break the ice? Are China-Australia relations still testing the waters? Can China-Australia relations stabilize and continue to improve? Before the annual meeting between Chinese Premier and Australian Prime Minister, public opinion on the current state of China-Australia relations was still divided. However, with China unilaterally granting visa-free entry to Australians, the initiation of cooperation on giant panda conservation, and a series of pragmatic achievements, including bilateral cooperation documents in strategic economic dialogue, further promotion of free trade agreement implementation, climate change response, education, and culture, dominating media headlines, the relationship between the two countries has not only achieved the goals of rebuilding dialogue and stabilizing, as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mentioned, but also, as Chinese Premier Li Qiang noted, has been "back on track after a period of twists and turns."" - Global Times - globaltimes.cn

#36 - Part 94

Australia / China Tensions - Part 18

>>21042213 Chinese premier's Western Australia tour spotlights global race for critical minerals - Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited a lithium processing plant in resource-rich Western Australia state on Tuesday, highlighting China's push to secure critical minerals as Washington tries to break Beijing's supply dominance. Western Australia supplies more than half of the world's seaborne iron ore, with China its top customer, and half of its lithium used in electric vehicles, smartphones and other electronic devices. Li's visit to Australia, which began Sunday, is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and marks a stabilisation in ties between the U.S. ally and the world's second-biggest economy. While China has largely lifted suspensions imposed on $20 billion worth of Australian exports in 2020, after Canberra sought an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, it continues to express concerns about obstacles to Chinese investment in Australia's vast resources industry. The issue of how Australia screens Chinese investment in its critical minerals sector was expected to be discussed at a business roundtable in Perth attended by Li and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

>>21049225 Video: Sky News journalist Cheng Lei blocked by Chinese from second media event - Sky News Australia journalist Cheng Lei was blocked from covering Peter Dutton’s meeting with China’s Premier Li Qiang, adding to a diplomatic controversy that has gone entirely unreported on the Chinese internet. The Opposition Leader criticised Anthony Albanese over his initial response to an earlier effort in Parliament House by Chinese diplomats to block Ms Cheng from television cameras, telling the Prime Minister to “grow a backbone”. But on Wednesday, Ms Cheng revealed she had also been blocked from attending the opening remarks of a meeting between Mr Dutton and the Chinese Premier at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra, despite a member of the opposition’s staff assuring her: “I’ll get you in.” Ms Cheng, who was imprisoned in Beijing for almost three years on dubious national security charges, said she was blocked after an intervention by the same two staff at the Chinese Embassy who had shadowed her at an earlier press event in Parliament House. “This is our turf, we can veto it,” Ms Cheng said she overheard one of the Chinese officials saying to their counterpart.

>>21049260 Anthony Albanese’s last word on press freedom to Chinese Premier Li Qiang - Anthony Albanese directly raised concerns about press freedoms with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as the senior Chinese leader’s final day in Australia ended without any breakthrough on the last key industry still suffering from Chinese-imposed trade barriers. Australia’s lobster industry was the last major export still subject to trade impediments that sprung up when relations between China and Australia soured during the pandemic, and there had been growing hopes in the lead-up to Mr Li’s visit that this week could mark the point at which those impositions were lifted. The hundreds of guests at a banquet in Perth honouring Mr Li were all served lobster as an entree. But those trade barriers remained in place as Mr Li boarded his China-bound 747 on Tuesday afternoon, with China’s second-highest ranked official instead ­focusing on celebrating the deep commodity export ties with Australia and the potential for both countries to benefit from growth in renewable technologies. Mr Li’s final day in Australia started with a direct discussion with the Prime Minister about the treatment of Australian journalist and former Chinese political prisoner Cheng Lei at a media event in Canberra on Monday, after members of Mr Li’s entourage attempted to stand over her and block her from being seen in TV footage.

#36 - Part 95

Australia / China Tensions - Part 19

>>21049388 Australia announces new initiatives to help improve PNG's internal security, law and justice as part of major bilateral security agreement - Australia has announced a package of initiatives aimed at strengthening Papua New Guinea's internal security and law and justice priorities under a major bilateral security agreement. A delegation of Australian officials - including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Minster for International Development Pat Conroy — are in PNG to attend the 30th Ministerial Forum. Australia will give additional support for stability in the PNG Highlands as part of the agreement, including a new program to help PNG improve weapons management. It comes more than a year after one of PNG's worst massacres, which left at least 49 people dead and drew attention to the stacks of illegal firearms and ammunition making their way through the region. Australia's finalisation of the bilateral security agreement with PNG last year came after China signed a police cooperation deal with PNG's neighbour, Solomon Islands. Mininster Tkatchencko yesterday reiterated that his country was not considering similar policing and security offers made by China to PNG. "We have chosen not to entertain that at all, made that very, very clear," he said. "We need to now strengthen our partnership with Australia, who is our traditional partner."

>>21054503 China renames hundreds of villages in Xinjiang to scrub away Uyghur identity: Human Rights Watch - China has renamed at least 630 villages in Xinjiang, erasing references to Uyghur culture in what human rights advocates say is a systematic propaganda rebrand designed to stamp out the Muslim minority group’s identity. In a research brief released by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday, the organisation said it had identified a mass renaming process by Chinese authorities in the country’s north-western region, with “Happiness,” “Unity,” and “Harmony” among the most common replacement names for villages. The renaming involved deleting references to religion, Uyghur history and cultural practices. The report found, for example, that since 2009 all but six of the 47 villages in Xinjiang with the word mazar (shrine) in their names had been renamed by 2023, while 25 of the 28 villages that had a reference to Hoja (religious teacher) in 2016 had been renamed. “This is part of a broader effort to really scrub Uyghur identity. We’ve seen numerous measures by the Chinese government to do this, but changing the names of villages, particularly those with religious or Islamic significance, has a huge bearing on people,” said Elaine Pearson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. The Chinese embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. During Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s four-day visit to Australia this week, protesters in Adelaide and Canberra drew attention to human rights violations in Xinjiang, where up to 1 million Uyghurs were reportedly detained in re-education camps.

>>21054526 US Navy admiral highlights WA's strategic role in AUKUS deal, alongside warning about power-hungry China - A US Navy chief has accused China of planning to dominate the Asia-Pacific during a speech in Perth, one day after the Chinese premier's visit to the city. Commander of the US Pacific fleet, Admiral Stephen Koehler, emphasised Western Australia's strategic importance to the AUKUS partnership in his address at the Perth USAsia Centre Wednesday evening. Western Australia is set to be the base for Australia's nuclear-powered submarines under the plan, with HMAS Stirling hosting rotations of US and UK submarines from 2027. "That starts here in Perth," Admiral Koehler said. "[The rotating submarine force] employs Perth's unique combination of positional advantage and strategic depth to maximize a key allied capability." In the same breath, he condemned what he described as confrontational and illegal actions by China towards other nations in the strategically important South China Sea. Admiral Koehler said China's Pacific strategy was "fixated on power" and sought to undermine a rules-based international order. "From my vantage point, the PRC's intentions are clear," he said. "In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi expressed Beijing's view on the primacy of power in its relationships with its neighbours when he said at an ASEAN meeting that 'China is a big country and you are small countries, and that is a fact'. "Fourteen years later this attitude persists."

#36 - Part 96

Australia / China Tensions - Part 20

>>21077001 Journos fall for spin as they tiptoe around China - "Had China’s diplomats not tried to shut out Sky News Australia reporter Cheng Lei from two Canberra events, our media would have let Prime Minister Anthony Albanese get away with a largely false narrative: he and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are repairing the China relationship broken by Albanese’s predecessor, Scott Morrison. The rift started during Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership when, in August 2018, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei was banned from the 5G telecommunications rollout on security advice. The Australia-China relationship really hit the rocks at the end of January 2020, when prime minister Morrison banned flights from China in the early stages of the spread of Covid-19, and then called for an international investigation into the emergence of the pandemic in the city of Wuhan. Morrison was right on both counts. The truth is that just as China’s bullying of Cheng Lei backfired, its strategy of using trade to punish Australia for speaking up on Covid was a spectacular own goal. Some of the world’s leading economics and foreign policy journals, including The Economist, The Atlantic and Foreign Policy, have not only called out the failure of China’s bullying but praised Australia for resisting pressure from the world’s number two economy. Discussing our China trade relationship, reporters should have been led by the facts rather than by Labor’s spin. The Coalition did a lot wrong during the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison years, but it mostly got China right and it certainly got the AUKUS submarine partnership with the US and UK right. Journalists need to take care not to appear to be pushing the false narratives of their preferred side of politics." - Chris Mitchell - theaustralian.com.au

>>21077018 Solomon Islands PM Jeremiah Manele seeks budget bailout - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele will seek an ­urgent budget bailout for his country when he meets Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Wednesday amid improving relations between Canberra and Honiara. Mr Manele is in Australia on his first international trip as the country’s leader, before heading on to Beijing and Tokyo. The six-day trip comes amid ongoing Australian concerns over Solomon Islands’ security ties with China, which have been exacerbated in recent weeks by an alleged covert visit to Honiara by a delegation of Chinese police. Sources in both countries said the Australia-Solomon Islands relationship had stabilised since Mr Manele replaced former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare on May 2. Mr Manele flagged three weeks into his term that he would be seeking substantial budget support from Solomon Islands’ partners, noting such funding “will further cement our relations”. After a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Mr Manele said he wanted to discuss “the possibility of much, much larger bilateral co-operation partnerships” to fast-track his country’s development. Mr Manele is expected to make a similar pitch to China, but Beijing typically doesn’t provide cash, preferring loan-funded infrastructure projects.

>>21110238 Police pledge for Solomon Islands to ‘strengthen regional stability’ - Anthony Albanese has pledged Australian support to help Solomon Islands double the size of its police force as the country’s new Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele vowed a Pacific-first security policy cementing Australia’s role as its primary partner ahead of China. In bilateral talks in Canberra on Wednesday, Prime Minister Albanese said Australia would come up with a plan to help Solomon Islands increase the size of its police force from 1500 to 3000 officers to strengthen its sovereignty and improve regional stability. Mr Manele laid out a three-tier security framework for his country prioritising domestic policing, co-operation with Melanesian partners, and strengthened ties with Pacific Island Forum nations including Australia. The policy which pointedly excludes China follows Solomon Islands’ controversial security partnership with Beijing signed by the country’s mercurial former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare. Mr Manele, who received a ceremonial welcome to Parliament House, said he wanted to “lift the current Solomon Islands-Australia relationship to another transformational partnership”. “I’ve committed to ensure our relationship with Australia goes from strength to strength. I have also committed to finding win-win solutions to any areas of our partnership that may require attention,” he said.

#36 - Part 97

Australia / China Tensions - Part 21

>>21110395 China expels former defence minister Li Shangfu accused of violating Communist Party principles and 'discipline' - Former Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party (CCP), months after being removed from office in an abrupt leadership shake-up. State-run Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday Mr Li was removed over allegations of corruption and bribery, which he was undergoing investigation for. The general was ousted from his positions as defence minister and state councillor last October, with no explanation being provided for the dismissal. Prior to that, he had gone missing from public view for about two months amidst a clampdown on corruption by the Xi Jinping government. Xinhua said CCP leadership decided on Mr Li's expulsion due to his "serious violation of Party discipline and the law", determined by China's Central Military Commission (CMC) through a probe running since August. "According to the investigation results, Mr Li seriously violated political and organisational discipline," the news agency reported. "He sought improper benefits in personnel arrangements for himself and others, took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others, and accepted a huge amount of money and valuables in return. He is suspected of the crime of taking bribes. He was also found to have offered money to others to seek undue benefits, constituting the suspected crime of offering bribes."

>>21110410 Defence ministers charged in Xi Jinping’s latest anti-corruption purge - China’s previous two defence ministers are to be tried for dereliction of duty and bribery, as President Xi Jinping’s campaign to modernise and clean up his military takes its most prominent scalps yet. General Li Shangfu, who disappeared from view last summer and was formally replaced as defence minister in October, is to be stripped of his rank and handed to the judiciary, the ruling politburo said. An investigation found that he had given and taken bribes, “betrayed his original mission” and failed to act in accordance with Communist Party principles. A similar finding was made in the case of his predecessor, General Wei Fenghe, whose offences may be even greater: he retired in March last year after five years as minister, something that often puts officials beyond the reach of anti-corruption drives. The men rose to prominence in related fields, China’s missile, nuclear and space programs, with Wei at one point heading China’s nuclear forces. These linked programs are the focus of a significant upgrade by the People’s Liberation Army and are subject to a corruption inquiry in which 70 officers have been purged. As often with the Communist Party, an opaque dual judicial system for officials, where the courts are involved only after internal party investigations have been conducted, makes it hard to be sure the purge is truly to do with corruption rather than an attempt to root out dissent against party leaders. In practice, once senior officials come before the courts after a party investigation they are inevitably convicted, normally after a brief hearing involving a confession and guilty plea.

>>21168049 Labor names and shames Chinese state-sponsored hackers - A Chinese cyber espionage group called out by the Albanese government for infiltrating public and private sector networks in Australia had also targeted government systems across the South Pacific. In an unprecedented Australian-led attribution of Beijing’s cyber espionage, the Australian Signals Directorate said the group, dubbed APT40, had waged a years-long hacking campaign on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security. The move came just weeks after Anthony Albanese welcomed China’s No 2 leader to Australia and hailed the stabilisation of the countries’ ties. It’s unclear whether the Prime Minister specifically raised ATP40’s activities with Premier Li Qiang, but it’s understood he conveyed Australia’s concerns over cybersecurity breaches and foreign interference. APT40, also known as Gingham Typhoon, Kryptonite Panda, Leviathan and Bronze Mohawk, was recently identified by Microsoft as the region’s “most active” cyber espionage group, targeting networks in “nearly every South Pacific Island country”. The group infiltrated island state government systems and internet service providers as Beijing sought to broker security agreements and seek favourable economic agreements with Pacific nations. “Heightened geopolitical and diplomatic competition in the region may be motivations for these offensive cyber activities,” Microsoft said. Australia’s decision to publicly call out the state-sponsored group was backed by the US, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Germany.

#36 - Part 98

Australia / China Tensions - Part 22

>>21172337 China disputes ‘smear and frame’ cyber attack report - China has criticised the US global surveillance network as it faces questions about a multinational report saying a Chinese government-backed hacking group is repeatedly targeting governments across the Pacific. The Australian government took the forthright step of naming the Sino-backed group APT40 in a report released on Tuesday. Five Eyes allies Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK co-authored the report, as did Germany, South Korea and Japan. “We are firmly opposed to such repeated hypes about so-called ‘Chinese cyber attacks’ aimed to smear and frame China on cybersecurity,” People’s Republic Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in China on Tuesday. Chinese institutions had analysis showing US APT (advanced persistent threat) groups spread “disinformation”, hyping up the Chinese cyber attack threat, Mr Lin said. “(The US is) using its tech predominance to carry out massive cyberspace surveillance all over the world,” he said. The Australian government report says APT40 is actively conducting regular reconnaissance against networks of interest in Australia, looking for opportunities to compromise its targets. “The tradecraft described in this advisory is regularly observed against Australian networks,” it says in the Australian Signals Directorate report. The APT40 group conducts malicious cyber operations for the People’s Republic of China Ministry of State Security, it says in the report.

>>21185603 Australia and allies must spend more on defence to stop ‘peril’ of our times, Kurt Campbell warns - Australia, the US and other allied nations must increase their defence budgets and military preparedness because of the “enormous peril” of the times we live in and China’s increased strategic co-operation with Russia, Iran and North Korea, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has warned. Dr Campbell is Washington’s single most influential policy figure on Asia. He became Deputy Secretary of State after three years in the White House as the national security council co-­ordinator on the Indo-Pacific. In the Obama administration, he was assistant secretary of state for East Asia and before that held important positions in the Pentagon. In a first for any US administration, Dr Campbell told The Australian that China was actively seeking to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The Australian government believes such a development would be catastrophic for Australian and New Zealand security, but Washington and Canberra have previously been shy of explicitly and publicly calling out Beijing’s military intentions. This Chinese ambition poses a permanent challenge for Australian and American diplomacy. “They’re looking across the Pacific,” Dr Campbell said. “This is something where we’re never going to be able to rest.” He said Chinese interests in the South Pacific extended far beyond a military base: “They’re looking for a variety of things. There are vast fishing resources in the Pacific which are being over-fished by Chinese fishing fleets. “When China looks at its space operations, they need nodes on the ground. They’ve built some of those nodes in the South Pacific. “They’re looking for steaming sites, places for resupply and power projection.”

>>21217753 Xi meets PMs of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu; visits deepen bilateral ties - "Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Jeremiah Manele and Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu Charlot Salwai in Beijing on Friday. During the meeting with Manele, Xi said that China is ready to enhance strategic communication with the Solomon Islands to firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests and addressing major concerns, enhance the synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategy of the Solomon Islands. China's friendly cooperation with the Solomon Islands and other Pacific Island countries is a sincere effort to assist these island nations in achieving development, falls within the framework of South-South cooperation, and is part of the common development of the Global South, without targeting any third party or seeking any selfish gain, he said. When meeting with Salwai, Xi said China will continue to provide economic and technical assistance to Vanuatu without attaching any political conditions, to help it achieve development and prosperity. Xi emphasized that China is committed to equality among all countries, big or small, and adheres to the principle of combining justice with interests while prioritizing justice. China does not seek major-power competition or geopolitical spheres of influence. It does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or force them to take sides." - GT staff reporters - globaltimes.cn

#36 - Part 99

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

>>20890947 Abuse victim sues parole board for letting paedophile priest Michael Glennon access children - A man who says he was raped as a boy by paedophile priest Michael Glennon is suing Victoria’s parole board for failing to restrict Glennon’s access to children after his release from jail. Lawyers involved in the Supreme Court case believe it is the first attempt in Victoria to extend culpability for historical clerical abuse beyond the Catholic Church to the government statutory body responsible for releasing convicted paedophiles into the community. John Rule, a principal lawyer for Maurice Blackburn who specialises in abuse cases, said the church, the Adult Parole Board and the parole officer responsible for supervising Glennon had all failed to protect his client, who is suspected to have been one of dozens of children sexually abused by Glennon in the 1970s and ’80s at a youth camp near Lancefield. “They knowingly and almost expressly allowed Glennon to work with the Peaceful Hand Youth Foundation while fully aware that he had been convicted of serious sexual offences against a child,” Rule said. Glennon is currently the subject of a separate damages claim before the Supreme Court in which two Aboriginal men are attempting to sue the Pope over Rome’s failure to defrock the paedophile priest despite successive Melbourne archbishops petitioning the Vatican to do so. Pope Francis, in documents filed with the court, has flagged his intention to claim legal immunity from Australian laws as a foreign head of state. That case returns to court in August.

>>20909278 Police charge disgraced AFL player Barry Cable with sexual abuse of young girl in 1960s - WA police have charged disgraced AFL footballer Barry Cable with child sexual abuse after he allegedly assaulted a young girl in the 1960s. Child Abuse Squad detectives say they charged the 80-year-old as a result of their investigation into historical child sexual abuse allegations. It will be alleged during 1967 and 1968, Cable sexually assaulted a girl who was between nine and 10 years old at the time. He has been charged with five counts of indecently dealing with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years. The charges come less than a year after Cable was found to have abused a young girl in the 1960s during a civil matter. A Perth judge ruled he had sexually abused the woman - now aged in her 60s - starting from when she was just 12 years old. She launched a lawsuit against the disgraced former footballer in 2019 and was awarded $818,700 for the "catastrophic" damage she suffered. Four other women gave evidence against Cable during the proceedings, with Judge Mark Herron accepting their testimony that they, too, had been sexually abused by Cable. Cable has always categorically denied all the allegations. He had not faced criminal charges until Friday.

>>20916896 ‘Groomed in minutes’: Warning issued over notorious app Kik - Kik, a dark corner of the internet where child abuse material and users with sinister intentions lurk have authorities warning parents that their children can be groomed “in a matter of minutes”. The instant messaging app was founded in 2010 by Canadian company Kik interactive, and shot to popularity upon its release, attracting one million users in the first 15 days. But its reputation is one plagued with stories of child abuse material, pedophiles and minors exchanging explicit content with sometimes adult users. The Australian Federal Police’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) is more than familiar with the notorious app, and have arrested offenders who have accessed illegal content on Kik. AFP acting commander ACCCE and Human Exploitation Stephen Jay said that the centre has received referrals from the United States’ National Center for Missing & Exploited Children relating to Kik and other platforms. “The functionality of messaging and file sharing applications means that offenders can exploit them for a wide range of illegal activity, including accessing and distributing child abuse material,” he told The Weekend Australian. “The experience at the ACCCE is that offenders will gravitate to any platform known to be used by children.”

#36 - Part 100

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

>>20922020 Former student alleges historical sexual abuse at St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School in Port Hedland, WA - A former Catholic school student has taken legal action against the church, alleging harrowing sexual abuse at one of its primary schools in northern Western Australia. In a writ lodged with the District Court by former student Michael Cornes, he alleged he was one of several children abused by a teacher and a school chaplain at St Cecilia's Primary School in Port Hedland during the 1990s. Mr Cornes, who has given permission to be identified by the ABC, said he started Year 4 at the school in 1994 and the alleged abuse began days later. The writ, filed in January this year, alleged he was subject to repeated abuse by school chaplain Father Walter McNamara, known as Father Wally, and teacher Brother David Austin Christian, known as Brother David. Mr Cornes alleged in the court document that the abuse occurred nearly every day and involved different boys. The court document alleges Father Wally and Brother David "rewarded" the boys with chocolates, which were put in a stocking to be collected by the boys at the end of the year.

>>20937555 Ex-AFL Hall of Famer Barry Cable pleads not guilty to child sexual abuse charges after arrest - Former Australian Rules footballer Barry Cable has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a young girl decades ago. Cable, 80, appeared in a Perth court this morning to face five counts of indecently dealing with a girl under 13, and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13. Police allege Cable sexually assaulted the complainant between January 1, 1967 and April 27, 1968, when she was between nine and 10 years old. Represented by high profile lawyer Tom Percy K.C., Cable appeared in court on Thursday supported by his sons. He pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. It is the first time Cable has appeared in public since a District Court judge's finding, in a civil case, that he repeatedly sexually abused a young girl in the 1960s and 70s when he was at the height of his playing career. The judge found that the abuse started when the girl was 12. The woman was awarded more than $800,000 for what Judge Mark Herron found was the "catastrophic" damage she suffered. Despite the ruling, the woman's lawyers said it was unlikely she would receive any money because the court was told before trial Cable had been declared bankrupt. The standard of proof in civil cases is the "balance of probabilities", which is a lesser standard than in criminal cases, which requires a finding of "beyond a reasonable doubt". Cable has always denied the allegations and he has never been charged with any offences relating to the woman.

>>20955131 Federal government to introduce ban on sharing of non-consensual deepfake pornography - People who share deepfake pornography will face serious criminal penalties as part of legislation being introduced into federal parliament. A deepfake is an image or video in which a person's face or body has been altered to make it appear they are doing or saying something that never actually happened. There has been an increase in pornographic deepfake images generated by artificial intelligence, prompting the move from the federal government to ban the sharing of non-consensual digitally created and altered sexually explicit material. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the non-consensual sharing of such images was a "damaging and deeply distressing form of abuse". "We know it overwhelmingly affects women and girls who are the target of this kind of deeply offensive and harmful behaviour. It can inflict deep, long-lasting harm on victims," Mr Dreyfus said. "The Albanese government has no tolerance for this sort of insidious criminal behaviour. "The government's reforms will make clear that those who share sexually explicit material without consent, using technology like artificial intelligence, will be subject to serious criminal penalties." The sharing of non-consensual deepfake sexually explicit material will carry a penalty of six years in jail.

#36 - Part 101

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

>>20976422 An abuse victim got $50,000 through the National Redress Scheme. He fought on, and settled for $500,000 - A victim of historical sexual abuse at the former Bayswater Boys’ Home has reached a $500,000 settlement with the Salvation Army, after receiving just $50,000 under the National Redress Scheme. The case raises significant concerns about the capacity of the redress scheme to adequately compensate victims of historical abuse. Under the scheme, payments are capped at $150,000 and require recipients to waive their legal rights to sue the organisation involved. Geoff, who asked for his surname not to be used because he is a victim of sexual assault, was initially sent to the former Baltara Reception Centre in Parkside, in Melbourne’s north-east, which provided accommodation for boys involved in minor offending or who were wards of the state. He was transferred to the Bayswater Boys’ Home in about 1971, where he was abused by three staff members over almost four years. Two of the men accused in court documents of the sexual assaults were later jailed after being convicted of assaulting other vulnerable children in their care. Geoff received a $50,000 payment in 2019 from the National Redress Scheme, which identified the state government and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services as being culpable for the abuse. “As Baltara Reception Centre no longer exists, the state of Victoria is their representative. I found the Department of Health and Human Services equally responsible,” says NRS correspondence from August 2019. The decision by the NRS to ignore the abuse that occurred at Bayswater Boys’ Home allowed Geoff to launch a separate civil court action against the Salvation Army in 2022, which was recently settled before trial with a payment of $500,000. The disparity in payments casts doubt over the ability of the redress scheme to provide fair compensation.

>>21030435 FBI investigating Two by Twos for historical child sexual abuse claims, including in Australia - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched an international investigation into child sexual abuse within a secretive Christian sect that has followers throughout Australia. The global fundamentalist sect does not have an official name. It is referred to by believers as The Truth or The Way, or by non-believers as the Two by Twos, or the Church with No Name. Believers of the church meet in people's homes for prayer sessions, with the group's ministers moving between the different cities and countries where followers are based. In February in the United States, the FBI launched a probe into the group after widescale reports of abuse were publicised by the BBC earlier this year. A hotline for former members who have experienced sexual abuse within the sect in Australia and New Zealand has received allegations involving about 130 separate people. The sect's Australian leaders said they had a "zero-tolerance" to "any child being harmed" and would "cooperate fully" with the FBI or other law enforcement if contacted.

>>21049488 ‘We failed’: Victoria flags truth-telling process for child abuse victims - For Glen Fearnett, the past few years have been about hope. Hope that he would be heard. Hope that those who heard would listen. And hope that by speaking out about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at a Melbourne bayside school, things would change. On Wednesday, the Allan government announced it would adopt all recommendations in a board of inquiry report that found a cluster of abuse at Beaumaris Primary School in the 1960s and ’70s was insidious but not isolated. Fearnett had pinned his hopes on recommendation three in the board of inquiry’s findings, delivered in February. Of the nine recommendations, this was the one he most wanted to see adopted: a truth-telling process that would give victim-survivors a voice. A chance to be heard in a supportive setting. “I’m now hopeful that things have changed,” Fearnett said, following Premier Jacinta Allan’s commitment that survivors of child sexual abuse would be given a platform to tell their stories. As Fearnett expressed hope, Allan acknowledged failure. Victoria had not kept children safe from a cluster of historical abuse cases at schools, including Beaumaris Primary School. “We make a clear and simple acknowledgement - we failed,” Allan said as she stood beside Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who is also education minister. “We failed to keep these children safe. We failed to listen when they spoke out. We failed to act to ensure that it did not happen again,” she said. The statewide independent truth-telling process will hear from victim-survivors about abuse at government schools before 2000.

#36 - Part 102

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

>>21054559 Anglican Church defends decision not to inform WACA about paedophile Roy Wenlock - Victims of abuse at the hands of a serial paedophile and WA cricket identity Roy Wenlock are attempting to sue the Anglican Church, alleging it failed to protect them by disclosing what they knew about his behaviour. Wenlock, who's now deceased, offended against children when he worked for Anglican Church hostels between 1963 and 1977, and continued abusing boys during a 29-year career at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The extent of his abuse was laid bare in a sweeping 2012 parliamentary inquiry investigating systematic sexual abuse at state-run hostels in WA. On Thursday, in the District Court in Perth, lawyers for two men who claim they were abused by Wenlock while he was employed by the WACA in the early 1990s argued to include the Anglican Church in their legal action. But the church's lawyers say it did not have a duty of care to inform the WACA that a known paedophile had gone to work for the organisation and is seeking to have the claims struck out. Geoffrey Bourhill SC told the court a legal duty of care "could not be found to exist". Mr Bourhill said courts had emphasised that a person did not have a duty to protect someone from the conduct of a third person. He said there was "no basis on which it can be said" the church "had any control over what happened to the plaintiffs".

>>21077046 Judge lashes Xavier College’s ‘troubling’ conduct in school abuse claim - The religious order that runs Catholic boys’ school Xavier College is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit after a Supreme Court judge overturned a settlement struck to compensate the victim of a “serial recidivist paedophile” who abused a student at the elite school. The victim, a 69-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, successfully appealed the agreement struck in August 2011 between him and the Society of Jesus in Australia, which included a term that Xavier College in Kew cover tuition for his two sons and pay him $150,000. In a decision released last week, the victim claims priest Noel Bradford abused him in 1968 and 1970 while he was a boarder. The former student is now claiming loss of past earnings and superannuation of between $1,248,791.62 and $4,952,307.62 in damages. The Society of Jesus in Australia, more commonly known as the Jesuits, runs Xavier College and would be financially liable for any settlement. The college declined to comment. The Jesuits have accepted the 1968 abuse allegation but have not admitted the alleged instance of abuse in 1970. Supreme Court associate justice Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou overturned and criticised the settlement deed because the victim did not have a lawyer when it was struck, and no Jesuit or school staff told him to report the matter to police.

>>21077070 Victorian Supreme Court judge: ‘reasonable’ to set aside alleged sex abuse settlement deed for former Xavier College student - A former Xavier College student could seek almost $5m in dam­ages after a judge ruled it was just and reasonable to set aside a settlement deed over historic sex abuse claims against a priest alleged to be a “well known toucher of boys” at the Melbourne elite private school. The plaintiff, a 69-year-old who will be referred to as “P”, alleges he was abused twice by priest Noel Bradford in 1968 and 1970 while he was a student and is now seeking to claim between $1,248,791.62 and $4,952,307.62 in damages for past pecuniary loss and loss of future earning ­capacity. A settlement deed inked in Aug­ust 2011 between P and The Society of Jesus in Australia stated that the victim would receive a $150,000 payout and free tuition for his two sons to attend Xavier College, in exchange for the defendant to be released from any future lawsuits. Victorian Supreme Court judge Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou last week ruled it was just and reasonable to set aside the settlement deed. Justice Ierodiaconou found that legal barriers, namely the plaintiff’s claim was subject to a statute of limitations and legal identity barriers, materially impacted his decision to enter into a settlement deed. In his deposition, P said: “I had no idea what my claim was really worth. In the end, the Jesuits offered me $150,000 and I took it. “It seemed like a modest sum, given what I had been through, but I was very aware that this was my only avenue for getting some compensation from them.” He also submitted that children at Xavier College were abused by staff and priests before his alleged abuse, and that the school ought to have known this.

#36 - Part 103

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

>>21131206 Former Vatican auditor Libero Milone vows to get to the truth: -George Pell’s death ‘shrouded in mystery’- The Vatican’s first auditor-general, Libero Milone, has described the death of cardinal George Pell as “shrouded in mystery” and revealed he made a heartfelt vow to “get to the truth” for his colleague while paying final respects at his coffin in Rome. Milone, a former partner with multinational accounting giant Deloitte is the only man left alive of the high-powered trio -- led by Pell – who launched Pope Francis’s reforms of the Holy See’s ­corrupt, sclerotic financial systems. But on June 18, 2017 - 11 days before Pell had to return to Australia to face historic child sexual abuse charges – Milone and his deputy, the late Ferruccio Panicco, a specialist forensic accountant, were sacked in mysterious, violent circumstances. As Milone prepares for the start of an appeal hearing on Wednesday over his and Panicco’s sackings, the former auditor-general said Pell’s success in overturning his convictions on child-sex offences proved that “some ­judicial systems are efficient and effective”. And amid rumours swirling around the Vatican about Pell’s death and the state of his body post-autopsy, Milone said: “At his funeral, at his casket, I promised him that we would seek out the truth.”

>>21132756 Andrew Bolt:Final indignity for George Pell should cause shame- "For a year I’ve kept a secret that infuriated me about the death last year of Cardinal George Pell - the final insult to a great and innocent man. I’d promised not to reveal it to spare Pell’s grieving family. But one line in an article in The Australian on Wednesday, and a call to Pell’s brother, leaves me now free to say what I learned - or most of it. It’s this line, in a story on the financial scandals that Pell as the reforming Vatican treasurer was exposing until he was falsely, bizarrely and conveniently accused of abusing two boys at once in an open room in his busy cathedral: “Rumours have swirled around the Holy See for months that Pell’s body was left in post-autopsy disarray and not been properly dressed sparking further concerns about his last hours.” I don’t buy conspiracy theories about Pell’s death, but I do know about the state of his body after the Vatican sent it to Australia for burial. In Rome, some mourners had been surprised that Pell’s body was not shown there in an open coffin. When his body later arrived in Sydney, a Pell confidant at the opening of the coffin could see why not. The body had been treated with gross disrespect. Perhaps it was incompetence, but some of Pell’s closest associates told me they suspect it could be a sign that some in the Vatican had not forgiven Pell for hunting down corruption. After reading the Australian I rang Pell’s brother, David, to check what he knew of what had been done to the Cardinal’s body. It turns out he had learned many of the details, despite our attempts to shield him. “The embalming had been mucked up,” he said. The undertaker in Sydney had to clean the body. Pell’s nose was also broken. I’ll leave out some other details. Pell was also shoeless, said David Pell. In fact, I’d been told he wasn’t just shoeless - Pell’s clothes had been just thrown in the coffin. It is true that, outwardly, the Vatican did Pell full honours at his death, with a packed service at St Peter’s, attended by the Pope. For all his media haters in Australia, Pell remains admired by many around the world as a true man of God, a reformer, a leader and a man persecuted for his faith, falsely jailed for 404 days. But the Vatican should be ashamed to have treated his body so shabbily." - Andrew Bolt - heraldsun.com.au

>>21132756 Q Post #2590 - [Cardinal Pell] - Dark to LIGHT. Q - https://qanon.pub/#2590

>>21132756 Q Post #2594 - >He was the vatican treasurer I'm sure that carries some weight - #3 in the pecking order. Define 'pecking' [animals]. Q - https://qanon.pub/#2594

>>21132756 Q Post #2894 - Many more to come? Dark to LIGHT. Q - https://qanon.pub/#2894

#36 - Part 104

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

>>21136721 Video:Andrew Bolt says the Vatican should be 'deeply ashamed' about how they treated George Pell's body before it was sent back to Australia- Sky News host Andrew Bolt has claimed Cardinal George Pell's body had been "mucked up" - with the nose broken and his clothes simply thrown into the coffin - before it returned to Australia after his death. Pell died at the age of 81 in a Rome hospital in Italy on January 10, 2023 as a result of complications from a routine hip surgery. His body was embalmed by the Vatican before a requiem mass was held for him at St Peter's Basilica. Pell's body was then flown home to Australia where his funeral took place at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on February 1. Sky News host Andrew Bolt revealed graphic details of the process on Wednesday night as he described how a confidante of Pell who was at the opening of the Cardinal's coffin found his body had been treated with "gross disrespect" in what the host described as a "final insult" to a "great and innocent man." Bolt called Pell's brother David to confirm if he knew about what had happened to the Cardinal's body. “As he confirmed, the embalming, in his words, had been mucked up, or buggered up," Bolt said. "A Sydney undertaker had to clean the body - Pell's nose had also been broken. Pell was also shoeless. "In fact, I'd been told he wasn't only shoeless - all his clothes had simply been just thrown in the coffin." The host said the Cardinal was still given an appropriate farewell by the Vatican but that it should be "ashamed" over how his body was treated.

>>21136668 Video: Senior Tasmanian police officer Paul Reynolds groomed more than 50 boys and young men, final report finds - A senior Tasmanian police officer was a paedophile who groomed more than 50 boys and young men over three decades before his death by suicide in 2018, an independent report has found. A review by former war crimes prosecutor Regina Weiss into Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds' conduct found the extent of his grooming and sexual abuse between 1988 and 2018 was "truly shocking and horrific". Reynolds took his own life while under investigation over multiple child sexual abuse offences in 2018, but was given a full police funeral with honour guard in Launceston, a decision Police Commissioner Donna Adams has since apologised for. The review heard from 15 victim-survivors of Reynolds, and identified up to 52 males who were at minimum groomed by him over a 30-year period, with some resulting in sexual abuse. It found Reynolds was sending explicit messages to "no less than nine teenage boys up to the day of his death". Ms Weiss recommended Tasmania Police establish restorative processes and a redress scheme for people who were groomed and sexually abused by Reynolds, plus a similar framework for people groomed or abused by other police officers.

>>21148935 George Pell ‘a ticking time bomb’, says family - George Pell’s family has no ­complaints about his medical treatment in Rome’s Salvator Mundi Hospital and the autopsy report of his death, which they have had translated and scrutinised by Australian doctors. The Cardinal, who had several serious heart conditions, the first dating back to the 1990s, was “a ticking time bomb’’, his brother, David Pell, told The Weekend Australian. David Pell said his brother’s body was dressed but the vestments “weren’t on in the correct sequence”. His brother’s nose “was askew’’ and “could have been ­broken by the lid of his tight fitting coffin’’ which was zinc lined. Or, as a medico suggested, the Cardinal’s nose could have been damaged by hospital tubes while nursing staff were trying to revive him. The late Cardinal’s size 14 shoes were not on, Mr Pell said, because there was no room. They were in the coffin and the family asked the undertaker to give them away. They went to a St Vincent de Paul shop in Sydney. Mr Pell did not see his brother’s body in Rome. It was transferred to Australia immediately after the funeral Mass in St Peter’s Basilica. Mr Pell decided the coffin should not be open at St Mary’s Cathedral because the embalming “was not up to scratch’’ and by the time of the funeral on February 2 the Cardinal had been dead for three weeks.

#36 - Part 105

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

>>21149132 Pope Francis excommunicates archenemy Archbishop Vigano - The Vatican on Friday excommunicated its former ambassador to the US after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable outcome for Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. The conservative had become one of Pope Francis’ most ardent critics and a symbol of the polarised Catholic Church in the United States and beyond. While once enjoying support in the Vatican and US church hierarchies, the Italian archbishop alienated many as he developed a fringe following while delving deeper into conspiracy theories on everything, from the coronavirus pandemic to what he called the “great reset” and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Vatican’s doctrine office announced the penalty after a meeting of its members on Thursday and informed Vigano of its decision on Friday. It cited Vigano’s public “refusal to recognise and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council”. The excommunication, which Vigano incurred automatically with his positions, means he is formally outside communion with the church, and cannot celebrate or receive its sacraments. The crime of schism occurs when someone withdraws submission to the pope or from the communion of Catholics who are subject to him.

>>21159645 Video: 'Beast Boy' now facing dozens more bestiality, child abuse material charges - Sex crimes detectives have levelled dozens of extra charges against a man, allegedly known online as 'Beast Boy', who police believe was one of the state's worst bestiality offenders. Colin Baker, 38, was arrested on April 30 by specialist officers under Strike Force Trawler, the team investigating the abuse and exploitation of children on the internet and telecommunication devices. The Mid North Coast man, who police claim was known online under the pseudonym Beast Boy, stands accused of using encrypted messaging apps to share material that involved the sexual abuse of animals like dogs, sheep, goats, chickens and a dead kangaroo. Police initially laid 20 charges against Baker and he was ordered to remain in custody. Police on Monday confirmed further analysis of seized electronics and hard drives allegedly led investigators to identify thousands of videos and images of bestiality and child abuse material. Police confirmed on Monday that 29 more charges were to be laid against Baker when he fronted Taree Local Court on July 8. The additional charges included seven counts of bestiality, five counts of possessing and disseminating bestiality material, committing an act of cruelty upon an animal, possessing child abuse material, and 15 counts of using a carriage service to access, transmit and solicit child abuse material.

>>21188830 Player sues Cricket Australia claiming sexual assault by coach - Cricket Australia is facing accusations it failed to protect junior cricketers from sexual abuse after a claim it allowed a player to be molested by a coach during a tour of India in 1985. Dean Raymond Reynolds, now 57, is suing the sport’s governing body for more than $4m in the Queensland Supreme Court alleging assistant coach Robert ‘Bob’ Bitmead sexually assaulted him on the U19 Australian tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1985. According to the claim lodged with the court, the assault occurred when Mr Reynolds, then aged 17, fell sick with gastroenteritis and was lying on his bed in a Mumbai hotel room. After being given an injection by team doctor Malcolm McKenzie reportedly to treat the stomach illness, Mr Reynolds alleged he was approached by Mr Bitmead who proceeded to massage his penis without his permission. “The plaintiff was groggy and in a semiconscious state but nonetheless protested to Bitmead,” according to court documents. “Bitmead stated he was there to make the plaintiff feel better. Bitmead continued to stroke and masturbate the penis of the plaintiff for approximately a minute. The plaintiff then lost consciousness.” He claims the assault effectively destroyed his cricketing career as well as a later role with Qantas after he developed an alcoholic abuse disorder linked to the alleged abuse.

#36 - Part 106

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

>>21188964 Video: Christian Brothers criticised over absence at parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse in WA institutions - The Christian Brothers have been accused of hiding from public scrutiny and giving "bogus" reasons for a last-minute decision to not appear before a parliamentary committee inquiry into child sex abuse. The religious order baulked at proposed questions about one of their now-deceased brothers allegedly abusing schoolboys in Western Australia, claiming it could compromise current civil child sex abuse proceedings. The Christian Brothers Oceania provincial leader Brother Gerard Brady was slated to face questions in Perth on Thursday morning, but late yesterday afternoon confirmed he would not attend. It's a move that has attracted criticism from sexual abuse survivors. "Clearly, they're not prepared to be open and transparent with the Australian community, and particularly survivors," Terry Martino, from the group Survivors of Child Abuse said. "It's devastating. [Survivors] want the truth to be revealed." Mr Martino called on Catholic Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe to act. "I ask him to insist to the Christian Brothers they appear before this inquiry, because if he doesn't do that, then clearly he's condoning their conduct," he said.

>>21217774 ‘The system needs to catch up’: Push to abolish suspended sentences for child sex offenders - A push to abolish suspended sentences for convicted child sex offenders will go to state parliament as part of a bill to overhaul punishments for paedophile rapists and abusers. Abuse survivor and campaigner Stewart Carter - who watched the teacher who sexually abused him as a child walk free from court without ever spending a day in jail – is calling on the state government to back the state opposition’s bill. “If this bill passes it’ll show that justice is attainable irrespective of when the offending happened,” he said. Carter said existing sentencing practices allowed those responsible for child sex crimes committed before 2011 to receive wholly suspended jail terms, which he said is out of touch with community expectations. He said the catalyst for his call for change was his personal experience of watching the man who abused him as a child in the ’80s avoid a custodial sentence. “If an offence happened in 1985, you are tried, convicted and sentenced against the law of the day,” he said. “Societal views and expectations around these crimes have since seen the law change, but the system needs to catch up.” In October, this masthead revealed that Carter’s abuser - 68-year-old Gary Bloom - was handed a three-year wholly suspended sentence in the County Court over three charges of indecently assaulting Carter in 1985, who was then aged 10. Bloom pleaded guilty but avoided spending any time in jail.

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Australians warned to expect lingering issues after worldwide IT outage recovery

Ashleigh McMillan - July 20, 2024

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Australians have been warned to expect “teething issues” following a worldwide cyber crash which brought down computer systems and grounded planes across the country.

The outage struck just after 3pm (AEST) on Friday and hampered banking services, airport check-ins and supermarkets across the world, and forced laptops to shut down.

Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said while the country was now in the “recovery phase” of responding to the issue, the outage was a “serious incident” for the Australian economy.

At a press conference in Melbourne on Saturday, O’Neil said the government’s priority was ensuring people could access the services they need, and it was too early to ascribe blame for the chaos.

“I’ve seen it reported that this is the biggest IT outage in world history, and that is absolutely possible. It’s certainly the largest [outage] in the time that I’ve been alive,” she said.

“This is a really significant incident that’s occurred here, and there will be a long run of discussion about what we’ve learned and who is ultimately responsible, but those are not questions for today.”

O’Neil said she could not provide an estimate on the number of businesses affected or the cost to the Australian economy.

The outage was caused by a fault in the “Falcon sensor” used by US-based cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike after a defective software update was launched. The company confirmed that the issue was not caused by a cyber hack.

The sensor is installed on many business computers to gather security data. The fault had a major impact on Microsoft systems worldwide.

CrowdStrike founder and CEO George Kurtz apologised in a statement on Saturday morning, and said the company would be transparent about steps they were taking to ensure this never happened again.

Emergency services were online on Saturday, with no interruption to triple-zero calls.

O’Neil said while most technical issues were resolved on Friday night, Australians would still notice some “teething issues” at places like supermarkets and airports on Saturday.

“Shelves are fully stocked. We don’t have any food shortages ... but some of the tellers and some of the checkouts may not be open in all the supermarkets around the country,” she said.

“We’ve seen our major airlines are back online, but there might be internal technical difficulties, for example, with baggage handler systems communicating with the front of the terminal.”

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Commissioner disagrees with policy allowing Satanist to give opening prayer

Autumn Pitchure - April 25th 2024

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. - 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.

"In my opinion we had a better policy before the lawsuit, where the commissioners chose who got the chance to speak. The 2023 lawsuit changed our approach," Zylstra said.

The policy change stemmed from a federal lawsuit filed in 2023 by a pastor at St John’s Episcopal Church.

Jared Cramer, the pastor at St John's Episcopal Church, is also an LGBTQ+ advocate who said he was denied his request to deliver the invocation.

Following the complaint, the board updated their policy, allowing anyone to speak regardless of their religious beliefs.

Luis Cypher, head of the Satanic Temple of West Michigan, delivered the opening invocation Tuesday 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.

“I am deeply concerned for the grave error that you my leaders, those whom I voted for allowed to happen here," an attendee said.

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.

“Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions," Cypher said.

While some may blame the board of commissioners for allowing the speech to happen, Jeffrey Swartz, a professor of law with Cooley Law School said, "they followed protocol."

"It may offend people but the bottom line is you let everybody do it, or you let no one do it," Swartz said.

“They should reverse the changes and go back to having a prayer before the meeting which were godly prayers," a woman protesting said.

Zylstra said the only requirement for a person to request to give the invocation is to be a resident of Ottawa County.

https://wwmt.com/news/local/ottawa-county-invocation-satan-jesus-god-satanic-temple-prayer-board-meeting-doug-zylstra-speech-lbgtq-lawsuit-lawyer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67sdPOFZHmc

Australia preparing for a post-Biden world

Kat Wong - 22 July 2024

Australia is getting ready to work with either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris after US President Joe Biden revealed he was withdrawing from the race.

The 81-year-old has nominated his vice president to replace him in the November contest against second-time presidential hopeful Mr Trump, and will remain in his role until his term officially ends in January.

Australian politicians are familiar with Ms Harris and Mr Trump, University of Sydney associate professor David Smith said, which means they already understand how the bilateral relationship might work.

"Australia is already preparing for a world after President Biden," he told AAP.

A second Trump term could pose issues for Australian exports after the 78-year-old's campaign began promoting protectionist policies, including large tariffs on Chinese goods, Prof Smith said.

The Republican runner's approach to democracy both internationally and domestically has also worried some Australians.

Mr Trump has previously said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, but it's unclear if that means pushing for Ukrainian territory to be ceded to Russia or other methods.

His rhetoric also affects politics in other countries, with many far-right movements across the world adopting Mr Trump as their global icon.

And within the US, his attempts to undermine the 2020 outcome that evicted him from office by falsely claiming the election had been "stolen" - as well as indications he could do similar if he doesn't win in November - also remain a concern.

"If he loses, I think he does remain a threat to democracy," Prof Smith said.

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged Labor's Anthony Albanese not to "suck up" to "bullies" like Mr Trump.

"America under Trump is a less reliable ally than it has been under Biden or other presidents," he told ABC on Monday.

Ms Harris' approach to foreign affairs has been relatively discrete, but her leadership is unlikely to raise similar concerns.

"She's been one of the lowest-profile vice presidents in my lifetime … which means we don't have any great insight into how she views the world," Prof Smith said.

"For people in the Australian government, I don't think they'll be very worried by the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency because they would see it as a lot of continuity from the Biden administration."

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‘Great friend of Australia’: PM praises outgoing US President Joe Biden

Samuel Davis - July 22, 2024

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to the service of outgoing US President Joe Biden, declaring him a “great friend of Australia” who championed the historic AUKUS partnership, fought against Russian aggression and campaigned for climate change action.

The 81-year-old announced that he would withdraw from the US presidential race in a letter he posted to social media before later endorsing vice president Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s candidate.

Mr Albanese, who has been on leave in Far North Queensland, took time to recognise the global leader’s legacy, reflecting on the outcomes of several meetings at global summits in recent years.

The trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, first announced in 2021, had served to strengthen the nation’s already strong bond as allies, Mr Albanese said.

“President Biden has a record of engagement in the Indo-Pacific and increasing the relationship through AUKUS which was of course finalised at the meeting that we held in San Diego at the beginning of last year,” the Prime Minister said.

“The AUKUS relationship is just one aspect of the closeness between Australia and the United States.

“It’s also been a period where President Biden has presided over an increase in the economic relationship between our two great nations but also the important co-operation that has taken place in climate change action.

“The (US’s) Inflation Reduction Act is no doubt the most significant piece of legislation to reduce emissions introduced anywhere in the world.”

Mr Albanese recalled a private dinner at the West Wing with the President in 2023 as a key moment in the pair’s relationship.

He first met Mr Biden while he was serving under former president Barack Obama.

“It was one of my first events as Prime Minister to travel to the Quad meeting that was held in Tokyo within days of my election in May of 2022,” he said.

“Since then we have had a number of meetings on the sidelines of international summits but also during my official visit to the United States last year where President Biden and (First Lady) Jill Biden were gracious hosts at an official state dinner as well as the four of us having dinner with my partner Jodie Haydon … in the West Wing.

“We also met with his entire cabinet just outside of the Oval Office and it was a very gracious reception that the President hosted myself in recognition of the important relationship between our two great nations.”

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The children for sale – and the Australians who exploit them

Clare Sibthorpe, Daniel Ceng and Aram Lascano - JULY 23, 2024

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Warning: This story contains distressing content.

Olongapo: 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.

How parents sell their kids to Australian paedophiles

Through a Filipino interpreter, Anna’s 11-year-old cousin Nicholas* told this masthead why he and his cousins were at Preda, which was established by Irish priest and four-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Father Shay Cullen in 1974.

“Because our parents abused us,” Nicholas said. “I wish they would change”.

Despite having endured unimaginable suffering, the three cousins found many moments in their jungle-fringed sanctuary to smile, giggle and play.

Their favourite subjects ranged from science to English and they had earned several academic awards between them. They loved to swim, sing and play basketball. They each agreed, albeit shyly, that they were glad to have each other at their new home.

Amid a backdrop of mountains, the children filled the many rows of chairs for their Sunday gathering. Fittingly, Anna’s shirt read “wear whatever you want”.

Cullen introduced Preda’s three new children, who stood up, smiled and waved to the crowd.

“Our family is growing bigger and bigger every week,” he said.

There was a round of applause for a birthday boy. Then, Cullen began his homily in their native language. He spoke of every child’s right to dignity and safety.

“Who is the greatest?” Cullen asked.

“Children,” they chanted.

One teenager clutched her 12-month-old baby in her arms, cooling her face with a handheld fan. Another young girl played with her friend’s hair. Echoes of national Filipino melodies bounced off the walls before the service ended with a dance.

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Major Labor backflip as ASIO chief Mike Burgess is reinstated as a permanent member of the National Security Committee less than two years after his removal

Olivia Caisley - July 24, 2024

Australian spy chief Mike Burgess has been reinstated as a permanent member of the National Security Committee after initially being removed just six months into the Albanese government’s first term.

Sky News can reveal Labor has backflipped on its decision for the ASIO Director-General to only consult on national security matters on a case-by case-basis, restoring his permanent position.

It’s understood this change was made only recently and comes amid an explosion in espionage and foreign interference in Australia.

The Albanese government was roundly criticized for initially diluting Mr Burgess’ contribution to the grouping, which makes decisions on the most urgent and highest risk national security matters, although it never publicly confirmed the change after it was revealed by Sky News host Sharri Markson.

A heavily redacted freedom of information request, obtained by Sky News, shows the change happened as early as January of last year.

The FOI shows the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus wrote to Mr Burgess on January 9, 2023, thanking him for his contribution.

“On behalf of the Prime Minister, I want to thank you for your contributions to this committee throughout 2022,” he wrote.

“I look forward to your contribution through co-option to relevant matters at this committee as they arise in the future.”

Under the decision, both Mr Burgess and Australian Secret Intelligence Service Director-General Kerri Hartlan were officially removed as permanent members.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson told Sky News the backflip was an admission of guilt by the government.

“The Albanese Government should never have removed any of our intelligence agency heads from the national security committee,” he said.

“It’s welcome they have finally come to their senses although only after their recklessness was publicly exposed. Our national security has been damaged by this episode and the Prime Minister should take responsibility, publicly explain his change of heart, and apologise.”

Just last month Mr Burgess was reappointed Director-General of Security and will serve an additional five-year term.

Under the Coalition, the head of ASIO and ASIS were permanent members of the National Security Committee of Cabinet - giving classified advice on issues affecting our security and sovereignty.

Labor will now follow suit.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/major-labor-backflip-as-asio-chief-mike-burgess-is-reinstated-as-a-permanent-member-of-the-national-security-committee-less-than-two-years-after-his-removal/news-story/ec0363ee2db7cf7e30ea1bf175f51a6d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ucTzEkrqM4

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Australia confident Trump will back AUKUS sub deal after talks with his camp

Lewis Jackson - July 24, 2024

SYDNEY, July 24 (Reuters) - 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"

Marles also pointed to the passage of AUKUS legislation last December, which he said was supported by Republicans, including those associated with Trump. ($1 = 1.5168 Australian dollars)

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/australia-confident-trump-will-back-aukus-sub-deal-after-talks-with-his-camp-2024-07-24/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSSeHvcyAn4

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AFP crackdown on activists wearing terrorist symbols at pro-Palestine rallies

MOHAMMAD ALFARES - 25 July 2024

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Disturbing images of activists and children wearing clothing items emblazoned with terrorist insignia at pro-Palestine rallies across the country have been referred by Victoria Police to the Australian Federal Police.

The Australian has obtained evidence of children wearing Hamas-style logos at a Melbourne protest led by prominent activist and restaurateur Hash Tayeh, who is being investigated for inciting hatred after declaring all Zionists were terrorists.

Victoria Police said it had referred the images of terrorist symbols being worn in public rallies to the AFP. “Appropriate referrals have been made to AFP. We are unable to provide specific comments on every clothing item,” a police spokesperson said.

The Australian has approached the AFP for comment.

During a rally in Melbourne on Sunday, one child could be seen wearing a Hamas-style headband with “I love chocolate” written across it.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe previously sparked outrage after donning the insignia in a now deleted social media post.

Pro-Palestine activists in Melbourne were previously spotted displaying and wearing Hezbollah and Hamas emblems, despite criminal legislation outlawing the usage of the two terror groups' symbols.

The Australian understands printing business Free Palestine Printing was responsible for selling merchandise with Hamas emblems. One design appeared to feature a Hamas member wearing the terror group’s associated headband, while boycott-Israel stickers, signs reading “Zionism is Terrorism” and a colouring book for children with maps of Israel replaced with Palestine were also on display.

They appear to be sold exclusively at rallies.

It is illegal to purchase, display or distribute terrorist symbols under Australian law, with offenders facing up to one year in prison.

During the July 21 protest, Mr Tayeh was pictured addressing the crowd while a child, wearing a Hamas-style headband and had an upside down red triangle painted on his face to resemble a Hamas target, stood next to him.

The Australian understands the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions will decide whether to press charges against Mr Tayeh for inciting hatred against Australian Jewish people.

(continued)

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UK First Sea Lord on AUKUS, Royal Navy in Asia Pacific and CSG deployments

Naval News

Jul 25, 2024

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.

This interview was recorded in July 2024 at the Indian-Ocean Defence and Security (IODS) conference held in Perth, Australia.

00:33 - Importance of AUKUS for the Royal Navy

01:30 - Progress made to date on AUKUS Pillar 1

03:11 - Astute SSN at HMAS Stirling as part of SRF West

03:50 - Royal Navy supporting the nuclear training of RAN personnel

04:51 - Contribution made by HMS Tamar and HMS Spey to security and surveillance in Asia Pacific

06:25 - The Royal Navy and French Navy coordinating the Indo Pacific deployment of their respective CSG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La2ewg3MEWw

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia's northern bases amid China tensions

Kirsty Needham - July 26, 2024

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DARWIN, July 26 (Reuters) - 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.

Tender documents show that intelligence briefing rooms, upgraded runways for bombers, warehouses, data centres and maintenance hangars are in the works. Massive fuel storage facilities are already built, officials told Reuters on a rare visit to the two northern bases.

The projects, scheduled for construction in 2024 and 2025, make northern Australia the top overseas location for U.S. Air Force and Navy construction spending, with more than $300 million set aside under the U.S. congressional defence authorisations for those years.

There is more on the horizon: The U.S. Navy in June sought contractors for projects worth up to $2 billion to build wharves, runways, fuel storage and hangars in places including Australia's Cocos Islands, and neighbouring Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, under a program to counter China.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Air Commodore Ron Tilley, the Royal Australian Air Force director-general of capital facilities and infrastructure, confirmed Washington was paying for the facilities at Darwin and Tindal, which would support U.S. operations.

"I don't believe the U.S. would be spending all this money on our northern bases if there wasn't an arrangement in place where they could use those facilities they are funding in times of conflict," he added.

Canberra has drawn closer to its top security ally, Washington, under the AUKUS pact to transfer U.S. nuclear submarine technology to Australia next decade. Yet it has been largely silent on U.S. military construction in the north.

The Australian government recently highlighted its own plans to spend A$14 billion "hardening" the northern bases under the country's biggest defence shakeup since World War Two.

The Australian and U.S. defence officials interviewed for this story said the new facilities should not be characterised as U.S. bases. Foreign basing is a sensitive domestic political issue for Australia; successive governments, including that of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have said there are no U.S. bases on Australian soil.

"All the bases will remain Australian bases, but will be able to be utilised by our international partners," Tilley said.

(continued)