/qresearch/ -  Q Research

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Discussion of the role of Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines inevitably leads to a broader question: is AUKUS really all about China?

Former deputy ambassador to China in the 1970s, John Leslie Lander, argued that AUKUS was “clearly aimed at China” and based on a “fictional threat from China”. But is that really true? This goes to the heart of much of the emotion surrounding Australia’s defence debate and is therefore worth addressing.

Good strategy starts with a plan to defend a nation’s vital interests. Australia’s pivot towards maritime capability, from an expanded surface fleet in the 2030s to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines and the development of amphibious capability, reflects a simple reality: one of Australia’s most important national interests is the protection of its maritime trade.

Ninety-nine per cent of Australia’s imports and exports move by sea, including essentials that underpin both prosperity and national security. Protecting these interests requires the ability to project power through the maritime domain, not merely defend the country’s northern approaches. While missile and drone attacks are plausible, the greater risk is maritime coercion: interference with the sea lines of communication on which our economy and security depend.

Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines is first and foremost about protecting a vital national interest: maritime trade. While China’s military build-up is a major factor shaping Australia’s strategic environment, the capability is ultimately about protecting Australian interests rather than targeting any one country. Few events illustrated this more clearly than the Chinese naval task group’s circumnavigation of Australia in February and March 2025, and the return of a second task group in November 2025.

But that is precisely why the debate must be anchored in Australia’s interests, not caricatures of them. Nuclear-powered submarines are not being acquired because Australia seeks conflict with China, nor because Canberra has surrendered its strategic agency to Washington. They are being acquired because this country is a maritime trading nation whose prosperity and security depend on access to the sea, lengthy oceanic trade routes and a vast maritime domain.

In an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific, where for the first time since 1942 a regional military power possesses the ability to threaten Australia’s maritime supply lines and trade at scale, the ability to protect those interests is not optional. It is the foundation of a credible defence and an insurance policy that underpins Australia’s security.

Jennifer Parker is an Adjunct Professor with the University of Western Australia Defence and Security Institute and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/gareth-evans-is-wrong-aukus-isn-t-about-china-but-nation-s-survival-20260616-p6077g

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'Vile piece of work': notorious childcare abuser Ashley Paul Griffith to be extradited to NSW

Robyn Wuth - June 16 2026

Australia's worst pedophile will be extradited to face further abuse allegations after his heinous crimes prompted the creation of a powerful child protection watchdog.

Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has confirmed Ashley Paul Griffith, 48, will be sent to NSW after his failed bid to reduce a life sentence for years of childcare centre assaults.

"Griffith is a vile piece of work," she told the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane.

A scathing review into his offending spanning almost 20 years has sparked an unprecedented $250 million child safety overhaul, which was unveiled by Ms Frecklington on Tuesday.

A Queensland Protection Commission will be set up as a dedicated child safeguarding body with responsibility for the reportable conduct scheme, child safe standards and working-with-children checks.

It will be backed by a permanent intelligence hub drawing on experts and data from health, education and law enforcement authorities to share information, spot patterns of risk earlier and force faster responses when concerns are raised.

Griffith, a qualified early childhood educator, received a 27 year non-parole sentence in November 2024 for 307 child sex offences against 69 children – most under five – at 22 early education and care services.

He is also set to face almost 200 child sexual charges in NSW after the Queensland Court of Appeal recently dismissed his argument that his sentence was excessive.

Ms Frecklington said Griffith's Queensland appeal was now finalised, paving the way for him to be transferred interstate.

NSW and federal attorneys-general had signed off on the extradition.

A final decision on timing rested with the court but the transfer was expected soon.

The 10-month review into Griffith's conduct found there were more than 18 separate points where his offending could have been detected or disrupted earlier, including five clear missed opportunities to stop or expose him.

Instead, repeated failures to introduce a promised reportable conduct scheme left dangerous gaps in the system, allowing him to keep abusing toddlers and preschoolers while parents believed their children were safe.

"Can there be a more brutal betrayal than child sexual abuse? I sincerely doubt it," Ms Frecklington said.

"If we are to rebuild a child safety system that absolutely acts in the best interests of the child, truth and transparency cannot be a casualty."

Griffith did not lurk on the margins, Ms Frecklington said, but "operated in plain sight" as an educator trusted by thousands of families who handed over their children daily.

The review uncovered what she called a "litany of failure" – siloed information, fragmented responsibilities, insufficient thresholds for action against offenders, poor record-keeping and "enormous sector and inter-agency gaps".

It concluded the introduction of a reportable conduct scheme, recommended by a 2017 royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, could have led to Griffith being stopped on up to five separate occasions.

"The complacency was a broken promise to Queenslanders and a devastating misstep for the growing toll of Griffith's innocent victims who continued to be abused," the attorney-general said.

The state government would allocate $250 million over four years to set up the Queensland Protection Commission and kickstart the intelligence hub.

The existing Queensland Family and Child Commission will be absorbed by the overhauled system.

More funding might be provided after the new commission and hub were established, Ms Frecklington said.

"Every harmed child and every impacted family is our collective pain," she said.

"This is about protecting vulnerable children who cannot protect themselves."

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

https://1800respect.org.au/

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service (1800 211 028)

https://fullstop.org.au/get-help/our-services/redresssupport

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9293344/vile-piece-of-work-notorious-abuser-to-be-extradited/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZo8rFJCWaR/

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Australian World Cup referee Shaun Evans responds to accusations he used a hate symbol at World Cup

abc.net.au - 16 June 2026

The Australian referee at the centre of the World Cup hand gesture controversy has responded after calls to have him sacked from the tournament.

Shaun Evans, who was filmed in the review box before Germany's opening game against Curaçao on Monday morning, was accused of making a "white power" symbol after appearing to make a circle with his fingers.

In 2019, the gesture, with the thumb and forefinger touching in a circle and the other fingers outstretched, was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

"I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind," Evans said in a statement.

"The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch, and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.

"The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted, and I regret this. However, I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested.

"Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament."

FIFA's discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Evans to be removed from the tournament.

"Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 'OK' hand symbol used as a 'white power' symbol in global far-right circles," said the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games.

"Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup," Fare said in its statement, describing the gesture as "neo-Nazi".

FIFA's independent disciplinary committee said it looked into the matter and "found no evidence of breaches of the FIFA disciplinary code".

"The disciplinary committee has also taken note of Mr Evans's statement," it said.

At the time it was thought that Evans, working at his second-straight World Cup and his first game at this edition, was either making a political gesture or playing a children's game prank.

The "gotcha" or "circle game" is where someone flashes an upside-down OK sign below their waist and punches in the shoulder anyone who looks at it. It became popular after being used in an episode of comedy TV show Malcolm in the Middle in 2000.

It was appropriated a decade ago as a signal for white supremacy that started as a hoax on the far-right online message board 4chan.

The sign received global attention in March 2019 in New Zealand, after it was made during the first court appearance by the white supremacist shooter who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch.

Later in 2019, when the sign was designated as a hate symbol, Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism, said context was key to interpreting whether an "OK" symbol was hateful or harmless.

At the time, he said: "There is enough of a volume of use for hateful purposes that we felt it was important to add."

Evans is among 30 video review analysts selected by FIFA to work at the World Cup being played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"Why is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him?" Fare said.

"We note that in the two subsequent games it appears TV directors have stopped introducing the VAR panel to the TV audience."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-16/fifa-world-cup-discrimination-body-calls-for-evans-to-be-sacked/106801784

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As soon as the banner was unfurled, Mr Reilly and members of staff swiftly moved to remove the offending material, which Senator Hanson appeared largely unfazed by despite cameras clamouring to capture it.

The messaging on the anti-Hanson banner referenced revelations first published by The Australian in March Senator Hanson’s parliamentary salary had increased from about $239,000 to approximately $341,000 a year. The change came after One Nation secured official minor party status due to former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce’s defection from the Nationals.

The banner also draws on One Nation’s opposition to the changes Labor has implemented to industrial laws since it won office in 2022, with the populist right-wing party arguing the reforms would increase costs for businesses.

At the conclusion of Senator Hanson’s speech – which ran close to twice the club’s customary 30-minute format – Mr Connell apologised for the disruption.

“Just in case it needs clarifying, we had no knowledge of what happened here – maybe Banksy is big in Australian politics, I’m not sure,” he said.

“Just tell me, is this another first?” Senator Hanson quipped in response. “I get a lot of firsts in my life.”

In a statement released at the conclusion of the address, GetUp chief executive Paul Ferris said the action was intended to draw attention to Senator Hanson’s parliamentary record.

“Pauline Hanson has built her entire brand on being for the battlers. But her record tells a different story,” Mr Ferris said.

“One Nation has consistently opposed wage rises, affordable child care, increases to the aged pension, and housing affordability measures. We thought the occasion deserved some honesty. So we provided it.”

Both Mr Sharaz and his wife, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins – who recently joined the progressive Vida Fund – have signalled their intentions to use their influence to counter One Nation.

Outside the club, dozens of demonstrators from the Canberra Socialists gathered before Senator Hanson’s appearance. Protesters carried placards bearing slogans including “Migrants are welcome, racists are not”, “People before profit” and “One Nation serves the billionaires”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/getup-attempts-to-crash-pauline-hansons-press-club-address/news-story/0ac8f5f404103b7f8f4295efdf0f84d9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6iqZ02RxS8

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

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GetUp stunt at Hanson speech referred to police as One Nation says leader safety compromised

James Massola - June 17, 2026

One Nation says leader Pauline Hanson’s safety was compromised when activist group GetUp was able to unfurl a stunt banner behind her as she delivered her first-ever speech at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Hanson pushed on to outline plans to clamp down on Muslim migration, end multiculturalism and axe the climate change department.

Speaking after Wednesday’s event, Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, said, “there are safety concerns around Pauline’s security”. He demanded the club impose a lifetime ban on the activist group, including the organisation’s media and campaigns lead, David Sharaz.

The club issued an apology to Hanson and said neither its staff nor its contractors had any involvement in the incident and that it was the work of third parties. Footage has been handed to the Australian Federal Police.

After the speech, GetUp claimed responsibility for the stunt, which involved remotely unfurling a banner that said, “I opposed a pay rise for workers while I took a $100,000 pay rise for myself”. The banner was unfurled shortly after Hanson started speaking.

Hanson was momentarily distracted by the banner’s appearance but pushed on with her speech.

Ashby later said he had been assured on Tuesday and Wednesday “by members of the Press Club and the AFP that she had the same level of security as was provided to Israeli dignitaries who were recently here, which is one step above the security provided to the PM”.

“What signal does this send to dignitaries if vigilante groups and protesters like GetUp are allowed to do that? I think the National Press Club should be looking very closely at their constitution for a way in which to impose a lifetime ban on GetUp and its members who were there, and I am pointing my finger specifically at David Sharaz.”

Sharaz came to prominence working with his partner, Brittany Higgins, when she went public with her claims she had been raped by fellow political staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

Sharaz was at the National Press Club for the event but has not responded to a request for comment.

The club said in a comment released at 5.20pm: “At time of writing, we understand he [Sharaz] is yet to be interviewed by the AFP. It appears that two persons entered the club building yesterday afternoon without permission and installed a separate drop-down screen in front of our media wall/light box.

“It is evident that a further person present during the address activated a remote device to trigger the unfurling of the coiled banner. David Sharaz was seen filming the incident on his phone and, after the banner had lowered, left abruptly. We understand that this is likely to form part of the AFP investigation.

“When the investigation has concluded, the club will consider its legal options against the perpetrators including recovering costs for the significant damage to the media wall/light box.”

The club’s president, Sky News presenter Tom Connell, told his employer that preliminary vision suggested someone had set the stunt up much earlier.

“It appears from vision we’ve looked at so far that people were able to get access to the building yesterday, not today, and somebody who bought a ticket pressed a button during the address,” he told Sky News.

Hanson’s colleagues, including Barnaby Joyce and senators Malcolm Roberts, Sean Bell and Tyron Whitten, were also in the room for the speech, which ran about 15 minutes over time, and One Nation staff and supporters were also present, many of whom repeatedly cheered the party leader.

Hanson also attacked Guardian Australia journalist Sarah Martin for asking why her daughter, Lee Hanson, was working for NSW senator Bell while the younger Hanson lived and worked in Tasmania – where she is the party’s Senate candidate at the next election – and whether Pauline Hanson had had any role in her daughter being hired.

“Honestly, you never give up,” Hanson said. “I’ve never seen a person that’s such a trashy journalist, you know, and what you put out all the time, you’ve got this obsession with constantly trying to pull down myself, my party, or Mrs [Gina] Rinehart,” she said.

Rinehart is a major donor to One Nation, including recently giving the party leader a small plane.

SBS journalist Anna Henderson also received a blast after asking about Hanson’s plan to shut down the network, with the One Nation leader saying: “You’re going to be without a job, certainly.”

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/getup-stunt-at-hanson-speech-referred-to-police-as-one-nation-says-leader-safety-compromised-20260617-p607j8.html

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/pauline-hanson-faces-media-grilling-at-national-press-club/news-story/40452acfe15b98ff5cd169fb7c7ce21e

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Accused Islamic State bride denied bail over ‘unacceptable risk’ to community

MOHAMMAD ALFARES and PHOEBE GRIFFITHS - 17 June 2026

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The former Islamic State bride accused of enslaving a young Yazidi girl in Syria has been denied bail after a Victorian court found her alleged loyalty to extremist ideology posed an “unacceptable risk” to the community that could not be managed through control orders.

Victoria’s chief magistrate Lisa Hannan on Wednesday refused to release Zeinab Ahmad, ruling the 31-year-old had failed to establish the “exceptional circumstances” required for bail and remained a risk to public safety while awaiting trial in Australia’s first crimes against humanity prosecution.

Ms Ahmad, a former bride of three ISIS fighters, is charged with two crimes against humanity offences relating to the alleged enslavement of a Yazidi girl while living under Islamic State rule in Syria. The charges carry maximum penalties of 25 years’ imprisonment.

In the highly anticipated ruling following a week of evidence in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, Ms Hannan rejected defence arguments that likely delays in the landmark prosecution and the impact of Ms Ahmad’s imprisonment on her young daughter justified her release.

While accepting there was a risk the “complex” prosecution could face substantial delays, Ms Hannan said it was too early to determine the likely duration of any delay.

“I think there is at least a risk of substantial delay, but the duration of any delay will be better assessed once the case against the applicant and timelines are clearer,” Ms Hannan said.

“In this regard this application might be seen as premature as relevant information is not yet available.”

The defence had argued the unprecedented prosecution, involving overseas witnesses, intelligence from government agencies, and material gathered from multiple jurisdictions, could take years to reach trial.

Ms Hannan accepted delay need not be fully realised before being considered in a bail application but found it did not amount to exceptional circumstances in the current case.

She also accepted expert evidence about the impact of Ms Ahmad’s imprisonment on her daughter, who spent much of her life in Syrian detention camps before being repatriated to Australia earlier this year with the help of her uncle, Abraham Abbas and Robert Van Aalst.

“There is no doubt that her child has had a traumatic history,” Ms Hannan said.

However, she found the hardship flowing from the separation of a child from an imprisoned parent was not, by itself, exceptional.

“It is a sad fact that a parent’s ongoing custody affects a child negatively, however that of itself is not exceptional,” she said.

Ms Hannan concluded that neither the factors relied upon by the defence, nor their cumulative effect, were sufficient to satisfy the exceptional circumstances test.

“Combining all matters relied upon by the defence in seeking to establish exceptional circumstances, I am not satisfied that either individually or in combination that the applicant has discharged the burden of establishing exceptional circumstances,” she said.

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Prosecutors had argued Ms Ahmad’s alleged conduct while living under Islamic State rule, together with social media posts said to express support for the terrorist organisation and its ideology, demonstrated she posed an unacceptable risk to the community.

During the hearing, prosecutor Andrew Sprague relied on allegations Ms Ahmad travelled to Syria in 2014, received a salary from Islamic State, held an Islamic State identification card and expressed support for the terrorist group and its actions while living in territory controlled by the organisation.

The defence argued Ms Ahmad had since rejected Islamic State, harboured “deep anger” towards the terrorist group and wanted to rebuild her life in Australia with her daughter.

But Ms Hannan ultimately sided with the prosecution.

“As regards unacceptable risk, I am satisfied that the prosecution has discharged the burden of establishing that there is a risk of the applicant endangering the safety or welfare of any other person and that risk is unacceptable,” she said.

The magistrate said the risk remained unacceptable “even at a low level” because of the potentially serious consequences if it materialised.

She further found there were no bail conditions capable of adequately managing that risk.

“I am further satisfied that there are no conditions capable of making that risk acceptable because of the nature of the risk and it substantially lying in belief and adherence to ideology,” Ms Hannan said.

“Accordingly, bail is refused.”

The decision means Ms Ahmad will remain in custody. She will next appear for a committal mention on July 31.

Her mother, Kawsar Abbas, who was arrested alongside her daughter upon returning to Australia, is expected to make her own application for bail later this week.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/accused-islamic-state-bride-denied-bail-over-unacceptable-risk-to-community/news-story/d7b15ee37381315909cb179712ba06d0

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Antisemitism royal commission overrules government bid to hide ASIO evidence

JAMES DOWLING - 17 June 2026

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Labor has been accused of breaking its promise to give complete assistance to the antisemitism royal commission after Virginia Bell overruled its third application to hide evidence related to federal counter-terrorism operations.

Documents quietly released by the royal commissioner on Thursday showed she last week determined that the “public interest” in evidence given by ASIO chief Mike Burgess overruled cabinet confidence, rejecting a request from the Albanese government to keep the evidence secret.

The Australian understands that the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet pledged unimpeded cabinet access to former ASIO chief Dennis Richardson’s internal inquiry, and many documents had already been provided.

However, the department then flagged its public interest immunity claim after the Richardson review was folded into the royal commission.

Opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonno Duniam said it was “atrocious that Labor is continuously trying to shield critical evidence from scrutiny”.

“Virginia Bell’s decision is another serious rebuke of a government that appears far more interested in protecting itself than being upfront with the Australian people,” he said.

“Australians deserve to know exactly what the government was doing – and deciding – prior to the Bondi massacre and why the share of counter-terrorism funding was allowed to decline during a period of heightened threat.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion demanded Ms Bell receive the “fullest access to government documents” to properly interrogate antisemitism in Australia. “When the government says that it will fully co-operate with the royal commission, I would expect it to provide the commissioner with all of the documents that she needs to do her work and not to resist her requests,” he told The Australian.

“The commission needs to understand the threat environment so as to protect against the risk of another terrorist attack. We do not want another Bondi. The commissioner should be given every opportunity to investigate the funding requirements and constraints of our security services to ensure that we are protected.”

A government source said privilege claims were more about precedent and principle than withholding specific information, arguing the Coalition would have been equally furious if Labor released cabinet documents from the prior government without any claim for immunity.

The federal government previously tried and failed to suppress cabinet documents that show what it knew and when about a sinking proportion of security and intelligence funding allocated to counter-terrorism from 2020 to 2025.

Ms Bell’s June 9 decision covered three relevant sections in one of Mr Burgess’s affidavits, which she will now consider but not make public. “The topic to which the redacted paragraphs are directed is the question of allocation of commonwealth resources to counter-terrorism as considered in cabinet,” the decision reads.

“I am satisfied public interest in that limited scope of disclosure of the following information outweighs the public interest in maintenance of its strict confidentiality as cabinet information.”

(continued)

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Newly released documents also show the government argued for wide-ranging public interest immunities. Submissions from February by the commonwealth’s counsel assisting and PM&C secretary Steven Kennedy argue for broad immunity rather than protecting specific documents.

The commonwealth submission said Ms Bell should seek cabinet information only when “satisfied that no alternative evidence, and no alternative course, is available”, and even then should “preserve the confidentiality of those documents to the greatest extent possible”.

“The topic of the cabinet considerations recorded or revealed by those documents is both current and controversial,” it reads.

“Substantial public harms resulting from disclosure may be sustained with little corresponding benefit to public interest in the conduct of the royal commission.”

A government spokesperson said redactions were made to protect cabinet confidentiality, sensitive security information and avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings. “The commonwealth is assisting the royal commission to provide redacted versions of witness statements which are suitable for publication,” they said.

In an affidavit, Mr Burgess said he was unruffled by how much of his budget went to counter-terrorism compared to other priorities.

“This is an interesting number for government to be aware of but it does not drive resourcing within ASIO,” he wrote. “ASIO was not directed by any minister between 1 January. 2023. and November 2025 to reduce CT efforts to service other priorities.”

Ms Bell’s two previous cabinet document decisions predated her April 30 interim report and gave access to clear evidence that cabinet discussed the decline in ­counter-terror funding allocation across agencies, despite senior MPs saying they distanced themselves from resourcing decisions inside security services.

The interim report found the proportion of funds spent on counter-terrorism had “significantly declined” over five years.

The Albanese government has said claims were made on advice from PM&C and ASIO officials and they did not request immunity claims.

The royal commission has spent almost three weeks holding closed sessions covering the December 14 Bondi Beach massacre and national security arrangements. The third hearing block from June 29 to July 10 will cover social media and traditional media, while a fourth block of unknown subject matter will run in Melbourne from July 13 to 24.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/royal-commission-overrules-government-bid-to-hide-asio-evidence/news-story/32e2cc41349792fc38fa9d6c767d51f2

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National Press Club rejects David Sharaz’s membership after GetUp’s stunt during Pauline Hanson address

Andrew Greene - 18 June 2026

Political activist David Sharaz has had his membership application to the National Press Club rejected after the organisation he works for disrupted Pauline Hanson’s address to journalists in Canberra on Wednesday.

Left-wing campaign group GetUp immediately claimed responsibility for the stunt that involved a “drop-down screen” being lowered onto the stage as Senator Hanson was speaking to the NPC.

The NPC has referred the matter to Federal Police for investigation and in a statement on Wednesday said: “David Sharaz was seen filming the incident on his phone and, after the banner had lowered, left abruptly.”

The Nightly can reveal that GetUp’s director of campaigns and media had recently applied for NPC membership and had separately purchased a ticket to attend Senator Hanson’s first speech to the club.

During a scheduled and lengthy board meeting on Thursday morning, the NPC resolved to formally reject Mr Sharaz’s membership application, and to ban all GetUp staff from attending future events.

Sources have confirmed that NPC security video showing Mr Sharaz filming the GetUp stunt as it occurred has also been handed to police for their investigation, and the club has now launched its own internal security review.

ACT Policing has confirmed an investigation had been launched into the incident and urged anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers.

“ACT Policing has received a complaint regarding the alleged unauthorised access and interference with equipment in a building in Barton,” a spokesperson said.

“Investigations into this matter are underway including examination by AFP Forensics officers.”

GetUp has not responded to questions from The Nightly about the incident or David Sharaz’s involvement.

Asked what steps needed to be taken following the GetUp stunt the Prime Minister told reporters: “I think in general sometimes actions can be counterproductive, and I think that was as well”.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said the incident highlighted security fears for his party’s leader and appeared to be an “inside job”.

“Imagine if that had been a bomb. If that had been Pauline or the Prime Minister, the room would’ve been packed… blown the place sky high’’ Mr Joyce told Radio 2GB in Sydney.

Meanwhile the Federal Parliament Press Gallery committee, which represents political journalists based in Canberra, has condemned Pauline Hanson’s threats to ban certain reporters from future events.

During her National Press Club address, Senator Hanson called journalist Sarah Martin “trashy” for questions about her daughter Lee Hanson’s employment and said The Guardian reporter would be banned from future events.

“Honestly, you never give up. I have never seen a person that is such a trashy journalist, and what you put out all the time, you’ve got this obsession with constantly trying to pull down myself, my party or Mrs [Gina] Rinehart,” Senator Hanson said on Monday.

“You will be banned from my answering. I’ll answer you this question today, but I am telling you now, don’t come near me for an interview in the future.”

In a statement the Federal Parliament Press Gallery criticised Senator Hanson’s comments declaring: “the ability to scrutinise and question politicians is one of the fundamental functions of our work as journalists”.

“Against this backdrop, the Gallery Committee strongly objects to threats made by One Nation – or by any political party - to ban certain journalists and organisations from doing their jobs as important observers and interpreters of federal politics.”

https://thenightly.com.au/politics/national-press-club-rejects-david-sharazs-membership-after-getups-stunt-during-pauline-hanson-address-c-22449651

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‘I want to hear them cry’: Boy, 13, refused bail over school massacre plot

MACKENZIE SCOTT - June 17, 2026

The reclusive teenager who allegedly planned to enact a primary school killing spree detailed his deep hatred of Jews and black people in his alleged murderous manifesto in which he said he wanted children to “see his wrath”.

The digital document, written by the Indigenous teenager who can not be named, labelled black people as “disgusting filth of the world and labelled children as ”pathetic pieces of shit”. A police prosecutor also said the 13-year-old had a hatred for Jewish people and had “expressed plans for mass murders”.

The teenager called himself “a God”.

“Nothing bad happened in my life,” the document read.

“Just, I have this feeling to commit a big attack on kids. I want to hear them cry and beg me for their life.

“I’ll probably kill the teachers … they are just worthless creatures, pathetic piece of shit. I hate them. My hatred for little children is f*cking unyielding.

“I might be 13 at this time, but when I’m 18, they will see my wrath.

“I wouldn’t say I’m crazy, I’m a normal person. I just don’t feel any empathy, fear. I only feel disgust and angry, and f*cking hate children.

“I am a God.

“If this is posted online, it’s because I followed through on my act and killed a lot of people, and the cops found my notes… damn pigs.”

The court heard the child had previously threatened to smother his sister, with his mother having to sleep between the siblings in the lounge room for protection. The teenager is also alleged to have threatened to harm his mother.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service barrister Clem Van Der Weegen said the document was nothing more than the “ranting of a teenager”.

“There is no context to it, there is no indication that this was an intention of his other than threatening,” Mr Van Der Weegen said.

“The irony is he is talking about children when he himself is a child.”

The 13-year-old boy from the regional Queensland town of Maryborough, on the Fraser Coast, was refused bail on Wednesday. He faces one charge of the Queensland offence of preparing or planning to cause death or grievous bodily harm and one commonwealth offence of possessing or controlling violent ­extremist material obtained or ­accessed using a carriage of ­service related to a copy of the Christchurch Massacre found on his device.

He appeared via video link wearing a prison-issued green tracksuit from Wacol Youth Remand Centre in Brisbane, where he has been held since his arrest.

Magistrate John Milburn said the bail hearing was “unusual” because of the child’s age and his lack of prior criminal history.

“I can't be satisfied there are exceptional circumstances to justify bail,” he said.

The boy and his mother, who were in the court, cried upon hearing the decision. She did not answer questions from reporters outside of court.

The boy first came to the attention of police on May 28 after entering a BP service station in Maryborough wearing a face covering over his mouth. He was armed with a knife he had taken from the kitchen sink at home, tucked into one of his black gloves.

He locked himself in the business’s toilet and threatened to stab a worker who later banged on the door, telling him to leave. Police were called, and after being interviewed, the teen was released with a caution.

Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Investigation Group executed a search warrant two days later, during which three devices were seized.

Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland will be required to sign off on the commonwealth charge before it can proceed, given the child’s age.

It is the first time the Queensland offence had been laid since it was legislated in March as part of the Liberal National Party government’s response to the Bondi massacre.

The matter will next be heard on September 15 at Maryborough Children’s Court.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/i-want-to-hear-them-cry-boy-13-refused-bail-over-school-massacre-plot/news-story/d8e4b6d0a01c15f6b29eb1633df840cc

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Taskforce Summit Detective Inspector Anthony Gasparini said: “Since the fatal shooting in Porepunkah in August last year, police have worked tirelessly to piece together the events of the day and also the subsequent movements of Freeman leading up to his death in Thologolong.

“It’s important that we provide answers to the families of the police who were shot and killed in Porepunkah, as well as other police members who were impacted by the incident.

“We also have to consider the broader Porepunkah community who were affected for many months, as well providing a thorough response as part of the coronial investigation.

“Part of this involves determining Freeman’s movements after the fatal shooting and who may have assisted him before he was ultimately located in Thologolong.

“The investigation does not stop simply because Freeman was located. We said from the outset that if alive, Freeman would likely need significant support to leave the area and survive over the following months.

“To that end, we are looking to identify and hold to account those people who provided that support to harbour a wanted fugitive and have potentially committed serious offences themselves.

“We are keen to speak to anyone who may have information about Freeman’s movements in the seven months leading up to his death, including those in the areas where warrants have been conducted today. We can also assure anyone who is willing to speak to police or provide information, that this can be done confidentially via Crime Stoppers.”

The arrests came after the first stage of the coronial inquiries into the deaths of the police and Freeman in separate incidents.

It was revealed that Freeman asked Victoria Police’s elite tactical officers to “have a beer” with him moments before he was shot dead during the dramatic siege.

Details of Freeman’s final hours and the Porepunkah killings were aired last month in the Victorian Coroners Court, where an inquest into the deaths of two police officers was heard alongside a separate inquest into his fatal police shooting.

The Porepunkah inquest heard Freeman had shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson in the face after he breached Freeman’s makeshift home outside Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne.

Freeman then took Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart’s service handgun after shooting him in the head from behind, using it to fire again at Thompson when he was already dead.

Both inquests were attended by family members of the officers, including Thompson’s sisters Dianne Thompson and Lois Kirk. De Waart-Hottart’s family was dialled in from Belgium.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/seven-properties-raided-as-police-search-for-dezi-freemans-alleged-helpers/news-story/151959803976cca41c4bbcd836b2bf05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH6jvHZkIWg

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At the start of the hearing, Mr Wighton had questioned why the women were wearing face masks inside the court.

“Why do they have masks on?” he asked.

“They should not be masked in the court.”

Ms Bull said they were wearing masks for “health reasons”, citing Ms Tidmarsh’s auto-immune disease and Ms Pope’s “immunity-related issues”.

Mr Wighton asked whether there was any medical material to support these claims.

“Do they go about their lives … masked?” he asked.

He said he would permit the women to remain masked, but only on this occasion.

Prosecutor Bianca Moleta also questioned whether the women were wearing wigs, but did not take a position on the suppression order bid.

As they walked from the courthouse, the banner unfurled by their supporters read: “Courts have no jurisdiction on stolen land. Land back. F*ck the Anzacs.”

Shadow Attorney-General James Newbury said the women should not be protected.

“Where people are seeking to cover up their identity after being accused of committing some of the most heinous crimes they should have no cover,” he said.

“It’s wrong.”

RSL Victoria President Dr Mark Schröffel condemned the sign held outside the court as “disgraceful behaviour”.

“While we respect the court process dealing with the mindless vandalism that took place at some RSL subbranches on Anzac Day, there is no excuse for attacks on the men and women who have dedicated their lives to their country,” Dr Schröffel said.

Police allege two patrolling officers arrested Ms Pope and Ms Tidmarsh in action at Heidelberg RSL at 1.45am on April 25.

Investigators later linked them to a second alleged attack on the Reservoir RSL.

Messages including “kill the troops”, “f*ck the Anzacs”, “death to ADF”, “Gallipoli – do it again” and “death to Australia” were sprayed in red across multiple external walls of the Reservoir venue.

The women are facing charges including grossly offensive public conduct, criminal damage, mark graffiti on property without consent and possess graffiti implement to mark graffiti.

Ms Bull asked for the criminal case to be adjourned to allow her to examine the brief of evidence.

The pair will return to court in September.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/women-accused-of-anzac-day-graffiti-win-fight-to-keep-faces-secret/news-story/6c36d9b15c1612015dfcd10ee1e4922b

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOz9sGAq5gY

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The documents also offer an insight into Roberts-Smith’s time at Silverwater, revealing the strict policy in place to manage his time in custody.

Three days after Australian Federal Police officers arrested Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport, the prison’s security manager emailed colleagues.

“Emotions are running high both internally and externally, but professionalism must remain our standard,” he said. “He is to be managed like any other inmate, respectfully and without unnecessary attention.”

The same security manager then personally intervened to ensure Roberts-Smith would receive his daily exercise.

“Hi, as discussed this morning over the weekend can you ensure BRS is offered his exercise each day?,” he said.

In advice to Wilkinson sent on April 21, Aboud said he directed officers to escort Matulin, Roberts-Smith’s partner, from the Silverwater complex to “mitigate risks” because she was not familiar with the facility’s layout.

“Any assertion that the release arrangements constituted special or preferential treatment is not supported by me or the operational facts,” he said.

“I stand by my decision and will do this all over again without fear or favour. The use of a rear exit and escorted release constituted a deliberate, risk-informed, and professionally justified response to an exceptionally complex operational environment.”

Aboud’s only recommendation was that Wilkinson “note the circumstances of the release, the timeline of key operational decisions, and the risk-based rationale underpinning the actions taken”.

None of the officers involved in the botched escort, who said in statements provided as part of the review into Roberts-Smith’s release they had intervened because they feared for the former soldier’s safety, activated their body-worn cameras or submitted incident reports.

The review criticised officers for failing to activate their body cameras despite “it constituting a significant external security event”. It recommended officers activate body-worn cameras during incidents or significant interactions with members of the public.

“Just a reminder that we are limited with our powers to deal with these types of situation [sic] on public roads. No further action required,” Ken Pese, the general manager of the Security Operations Group, wrote to the officers on April 20.

In a separate email to a colleague, Pese said: “In future, we’ll need to advise our teams that we don’t have any powers on public roads so such actions are not necessary.”

Pese wrote to the officers on April 20, requesting they take part in a workshop with the Corrective Services NSW media unit to establish a protocol governing the release of high-profile inmates from Silverwater.

“It has been identified from an operational planning perspective that there is a gap in our procedures, especially when we are engaged to enhance the safety and security from a [Security Operations Group], perspective,” he wrote in an April 23 email.

Corrective Services NSW maintained that Roberts-Smith was not given preferential treatment in being escorted out of a rear exit. The documents, however, reveal the department’s scramble to contain the fallout as pressure mounted over its handling of his release.

The department was hit with a barrage of questions from the ABC, The Daily Telegraph and this masthead in the wake of the incident, but it was not until three days later that it ordered an “After Action Review” into what had taken place.

The outcome of the review was not made public until documents requested by this masthead were released on Wednesday.

“The review determined that officers acted with the intent of ensuring safety and security of Mr Roberts-Smith, staff and members of the public (including the media),” the documents state. “However, procedural and compliance requirements were not fully met.”

In a statement issued in response to documents’ release, a Corrective Services NSW spokesperson said staff were undertaking tailored media training on how to manage high-profile releases.

“While we acknowledge that, in this instance, the protocols applied by CSNSW staff were not well suited to engagement with the media, CSNSW has reviewed the actions of all correctional staff involved and have not found any evidence of misconduct,” the spokesperson said.

“Corrective Services staff are trained to prioritise community safety and to keep themselves and inmates safe while performing their duties.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/secret-plan-to-sneak-ben-roberts-smith-out-back-exit-of-sydney-prison-20260617-p607pi.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzqY8kFNWU

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ISIS flag video key evidence in slavery case against Melbourne grandmother Kawsar Abbas

MOHAMMAD ALFARES - June 19, 2026

A black ISIS flag draped across the wall of a Syrian living room is at the centre of explosive evidence against a Melbourne grandmother accused of enslaving a Yazidi girl during the Islamic State’s reign of terror.

Lawyers for ISIS bride Kawsar Abbas on Friday mounted a strong defence for her case to be freed into the community while awaiting her landmark crimes against humanity prosecution.

It comes after the 54-year-old’s daughter, Zeinab Ahmad, was denied bail this week at the Melbourne Magistrate’ Court because she posed an unacceptable risk to the community.

Ms Abbas is facing four counts of slavery charges that include enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave, and engaging in slave trading. Each count has a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment and is considered a crime against humanity in the context of the persecution of Yazidi people during the caliphate.

Before Chief magistrate Lisa Hannan, the court heard Ms Abbas had engaged in the purchase and trade of a young Yazidi girl with her husband at the height of the caliphate.

Allegations of abuse and harrowing evidence of sexual slavery were aired to the court, with police relying on social media posts, intercepted calls and images recovered from devices that they say demonstrate Ms Abbas’s enduring support for Islamic State.

The Australian-first federal prosecution follows a complex investigation into the Melbourne-based family, who allegedly used a local charity named Global ­Humanitarian Aid to fund their journey to the conflict zone.

It’s suspected that Ms Abbas and her husband, Mohammed Ahmad, used public donations intended for Syrian refugees to instead facilitate their family’s flights and illegal entry into Islamic State territory.

Although Ms Abbas claimed on an outgoing passenger card in August 2014 that she was embarking on a two-month trip to Turkey, the AFP claims she and her family crossed into Syria by January 2015 to embed themselves within ISIS.

Shocking allegations of the treatment of the Yazidi girl allegedly purchased by the family to be used as a sex slave, who was captured by ISIS in 2014 at the age of 15, were aired in court on Friday.

According to a summary of facts tendered to the court and provided to media, the girl was brought to the family’s residence in Mayadin around Ramadan in 2017, where Ms Abbas allegedly participated in the inspection of the teenager and approved her purchase for $US10,000. The court heard that Ms Abbas stood by when her husband told the girl he bought her for the purpose of raping and serving the home. It was also alleged Ms Abbas had told her husband to beat the girl when she did not do house chores.

In her evidence, the girl told AFP officers she was subjected to regular domestic servitude and forced to study Islam under Ms Abbas’s watch. She also said Ms Abbas allegedly forced her into military indoctrination, telling her: “I want you to be taught how to use weapons, according to the Daesh (ISIS) beliefs, we should be the same, whatever they do, we have to do the same.”

Senior constable Marc Clendenning told the court Ms Abbas had endorsed an online post by her daughter Zeinab that prayed for the destruction of Western nations and celebrated the expansion of the Islamic State.

She also disclosed her movements during the military battle for Aleppo in late 2016, confirming on a Facebook post: “No alhamdulillah we managed to leave a few months ago.”

The prosecution’s case is further bolstered by a 2016 home video recovered from an encrypted device, which shows Ms Abbas reacting in a panicked manner as a camera panned across her Syrian living room during a phone call with her mother.

Ms Abbas could be heard demanding: “Can I have a look at the video please? Look at the room.” Images from the video show an ISIS flag hanging on the wall.

Inside her bedroom, the court heard she kept her Australian passport side-by-side with an official ISIS ID card, an assault rifle, a Glock pistol, and cash.

Ms Abbas and her daughter were arrested at Melbourne Airport on May 7 after arranging their own travel back to Australia with the help of her brother, Abraham Abbas and Robert Van Aalst.

The bail hearing continues.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/isis-flag-video-key-evidence-in-slavery-case-against-melbourne-grandmother/news-story/5246c6aa6460db0ff459219603fffd4b

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Barunga Festival 2026: Marines gain cultural experience in the outback of the Northern Territory

1st Lt. Chase Fortier - 06.15.2026

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DARWIN, Australia – Three vehicles pulled up to an empty plot of grass at the end of a short row of houses, and a group of men and women disembarked. Their clothing, their accents, their mannerisms—all an immediate tell that they were not from here. This was the first indication to the small community of Barunga, which typically consists of about 350 people, that their town was about to be flooded by thousands of people. And the Marines had just arrived to help them welcome the crowds.

Approximately 30 Marines and Sailors with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 26 volunteered six days to be a part of the working party that would help set up, facilitate, and take down the Aboriginal culture festival known as Barunga Festival, in Barunga, Northern Territory, Australia, June 2026. Marines who volunteered for this opportunity did so to offer their hard physical labor for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to interact with a culture and people that they may otherwise have never been able to meet.

After the four-and-a-half-hour journey into the outback, and once the tents were set up and properly covered and aligned as overseen by their staff noncommissioned officer in charge, Gunnery Sgt. Elkan Meyervolinek, the acting first sergeant of Headquarters Company, 5th Marine Regiment, MRF-D 26, the Marines were taken on a walking tour of the community. Barunga locals greeted and waved at the newly arrived Marines, asking to take pictures and telling the Marines how excited they were for the upcoming weekend festivities. At the end of the tour, the Marines were invited to a barbecue at the Barunga School by community organizers and leaders. Malcolm Hales, the principal of the Barunga School, introduced the Marines to Aussie-rules football (or “footie”), the most popular sport in the Northern Territory and one of the main events of the Barunga Festival. The Marines took turns learning how to kick the football as one does in footie, which is quite different from how it is done in American grid-iron football. Over dinner, the Marines engaged with community organizers about the local community and culture and the work that was to be done to prepare this small town for the weekend.

Hard work followed, as the Marines spent the next day and a half carrying concrete blocks, fence panels, tables, and tents to prepare the community for the festival. What motivated these Marines to give their time and energy to this community was a sense of gratitude and desire to reciprocate the kinship that the Indigenous people of Australia had given to them. Not only does MRF-D train on the land of the Indigenous people—they are also considered family.

In 2023, an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed on Tiwi Island, and three Marines tragically passed away in an incident that reminds all Marines of the dangerous nature of their job. The Indigenous people of Tiwi Island, particularly the Mantiyupwi—who are the traditional custodians of the land on which the incident occurred—wanted to support the Marines in honoring the life of their brothers and sister in arms, especially since the Marines of MRF-D are so far from their families while on deployment. After the traditional mourning period of 1 year and 1 month—known to the Indigenous people as “sorry business”—the Mantiyupwi officially adopted MRF-D as family and invited them to the final farewell ceremony for the Marines who passed away. Those Marines are referred to by the Mantiyupwi as “big brother,” “big sister,” and “little brother.”

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As a show of mutual appreciation and respect, Esther Bulumbara (who goes by “Auntie Esther”), the senior traditional owner of the Bagala clan lands where the Barunga Festival is held, and U.S. Marine Corps Col. George Flynn, commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 26, exchanged gifts, as Marines stood in formation. Auntie Esther’s gift to the MRF-D was a woomera (a device to assist in throwing a spear) and three spears painted in ochre, tipped in bright red—a significant color to the Indigenous groups of the Northern Territories, and typically reserved for the most significant ceremonial uses.

As the festival kicked off, the Marines’ work did not stop. They refereed basketball games between local communities, showed off their talents on the barbecue grill, and continued to assist in physical labor to keep the event running. Throughout the weekend, Marines engaged with the local community and participated in traditional and modern arts and culture. Marines made didgeridoos, threw spears in the spear throwing competition, participated in a run, and watched bungul dancing to traditional music.

While the more senior Marines talked (or “yarned,” as they say) with older members of the community, the younger Marines found a common language with the younger community members through sports, participating in basketball and tug-of-war, and trying their hands at footie.

“Engaging directly with the community at this festival really gave the Marines who volunteered a great chance to gain a deeper respect for the Indigenous culture of our host nation,” said 1st Lt. Braeden Garrett, commander of Headquarters Co., 5th Marines, MRF-D 26. “Serving as the officer-in-charge of the Marines and Sailors who volunteered this week, getting to see them have this cultural experience, and having the chance to show respect and appreciation for the Indigenous community that adopted us is a huge honor.”

At the closing ceremony, Marines stood by and reverently watched the final bungul while bearing the spears gifted to them by Auntie Esther, held properly in the way that Meyervolinek had been taught by a senior in the community. Community members shook hands and took pictures with the Marines as the weekend came to a close—locals thanking Marines for their assistance, and Marines thanking locals for their hospitality.

The Marines completed their work by taking down all they had set up, making sure as always to leave no trace other than the impressions they made on the local community, and the impression made on them by all they learned from their interactions with a new group—an extended family they had just met for the first time.

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/567875/barunga-festival-2026-marines-gain-cultural-experience-outback-northern-territory

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Amy Wallace is still fighting for Virginia Giuffre

“Never underestimate the power of your individual outrage”

Zing Tsjeng - 19 June 2026

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“The reason it’s called a ghostwriter is you’re supposed to be invisible,” Amy Wallace says from her home office in northern California, where the wall behind her is sprinkled with meticulously colour-coded Post-its. The veteran magazine journalist is used to disappearing into her stories, not being in the spotlight herself, especially when it comes to her side gig co-authoring memoirs.

But Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice is a very different type of book. It tells the story of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the survivor and advocate best known for helping to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex-trafficking ring. Giuffre was one of the first to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of the American financier, his crony Ghislaine Maxwell and their elite circle of friends and hangers-on. It is 17-year-old Giuffre apparently pictured with the then Prince Andrew’s hand around her waist in the infamous 2001 photo at Maxwell’s house in Belgravia, London. It is Giuffre who, for years, led calls to prosecute Epstein and his accomplices.

The reason Wallace is stepping forward to speak about Nobody’s Girl – which was published last autumn, sold a million copies in its first two months alone and won Book of the Year at the British Book Awards in May – is because Giuffre is no longer able to. In April 2025, six months before publication, she died by suicide at her farm in Neergabby, Western Australia. She was only 41 years old. “I was shocked, because she’d always been so resilient,” Wallace says plainly. “But of course, I also knew what she was struggling with every day.” She trails off, looking tired – she’s only just recovered from jetlag after a trip to Australia to promote the book – and melancholy. “We were very close. We talked a huge amount.”

Despite the conspiracy theories surrounding Giuffre’s death, Wallace, 63, firmly rejects the idea of foul play. Nobody’s Girl also documents Giuffre’s ongoing struggles with her physical and mental health, including two earlier suicide attempts. Wallace says that Giuffre was adamant about unflinchingly detailing the legacy of her abuse, worried that if she gave the impression of being fully healed, she would “create shame in other survivors”. A few weeks before she died, Giuffre sent an email to Wallace and her publicist, making it clear that Nobody’s Girl should be published even “in the event of my passing…I believe it has the potential to impact many lives and foster necessary discussions about these grave injustices.”

In the four years over which they crafted the manuscript, Giuffre and Wallace excavated some of the most painful moments of Giuffre’s life, including the alleged grooming and abuse she was subjected to by Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, and Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking two years later. Their time together produced hundreds of hours of recordings. The tapes contain the names of more alleged abusers; many are powerful men who have “access to violence”, in Wallace’s words. “I have not been physically confronted,” she says carefully, but she has kept the tapes locked away in a secure location nonetheless. Before the book was announced, she even received a phishing email claiming to be from her editor, inquiring, “Hey, can you shoot me the latest copy of the manuscript?”

Wallace enlisted a fact-checker to corroborate Giuffre’s account of the abuse with flight logs, deposition files, wire images and interviews with other sources. “I drove by the now empty lot where Epstein’s mansion was,” she recalls. “I went to Australia twice, lived with the [Giuffre] family in the guest room.”

This was not a typical assignment for Wallace. In her previous work, she’s grabbed commissary burgers with Hollywood auteurs and tracked down luxury watch thieves. For Nobody’s Girl, she had to learn about trauma reporting and how to avoid inflicting further harm on Giuffre during the writing process. At their first meeting, Giuffre launched straight into a well-worn account of her abuse. Wallace interrupted on pure instinct: “We have to get to know each other,” she said. “We have to get to trust each other. You don’t have to serve that up to me on a call without even knowing me.” Today, she wonders if that moment was why Giuffre chose to partner with her.

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Through the intensive process, the two women became friends: they fed chickens on the farm together and got their nails done in Perth with Giuffre’s daughter. “There had to be an emotional bond, or it wouldn’t have worked,” Wallace explains. Her ability to form that rapport with her sources is at the core of her most compelling stories, like her longform Vulture profile of Hollywood director Stacy Title, who was dying of ALS. But writing with and for Giuffre felt different. They talked about everything: sex, being a woman, motherhood, marriage. Giuffre had spent over a decade speaking out and seeking accountability, and she was exhausted. “The goal was that once the book existed, she would finally be able to say, ‘I appreciate that you’re curious about it – go to my book,’” Wallace says. “It just is so tragic and sad to me that she almost made it to that moment.”

Since Nobody’s Girl was published, Wallace has received emails from all over the world thanking her for helping get Giuffre’s story out. One male survivor of sexual abuse wrote, “Thank you for being not only Virginia’s voice, but many of ours.” It is clearly a bittersweet experience, and Wallace takes care to minimise her role as the ghostwriter, particularly one who only pulled aside the veil of anonymity in terrible circumstances at the request of Giuffre’s publishers: “I facilitated her telling of her story, and I’m very honoured to have been the person she chose to do that – but she’s the hero.”

Less than two weeks after publication, Buckingham Palace announced that the man now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor would be stripped of his royal title. Giuffre had written that Andrew “believed that having sex with [her] was his birthright”. (Mountbatten-Windsor denied all of Giuffre’s accusations; in 2022, they reached an out-of-court settlement in which he made no admission of liability and paid unspecified amounts to Giuffre and to her survivors’ charity, Soar.) “Never underestimate the power of your individual outrage,” says Wallace. “Virginia’s individual outrage has led to people losing their jobs all over the world. It has led to resignations in the United States.” If there’s one lesson she’d like people to take away from Nobody’s Girl, it’s this: “[Giuffre] teaches us that we all can make a difference individually. All you have to do is speak up.”

Amy Wallace will be at GQ Heroes in Oxfordshire, from 30 June-2 July 2026. For more information and tickets, visit:

https://gqheroes.com/

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/amy-wallace-is-still-fighting-for-virginia-giuffre

Former ACT attorney-general Gordon Ramsay facing new charges after arrest for child grooming

Elizabeth Byrne - 16 June 2026

The ACT's former attorney-general Gordon Ramsay is facing a raft of new charges after he was arrested last year for grooming a young person.

The arrest sent shock waves through Canberra when Mr Ramsay, the former Labor politician, was initially charged in October.

He was to have been committed to trial in the ACT Supreme Court today, but instead his lawyers turned up to court to ask for more time to prepare the case.

That's because he is now facing seven more charges which include two counts of committing an act of indecency on a person under special care, and several counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material and to menace, harass or offend.

The offences all relate to the same alleged victim.

Magistrate Jane Campbell also pointed out the new charges relate to events that occurred after the boy turned 16.

Brief of evidence thousands of pages long

All of the alleged offences are now said to have occurred between 2022 and 2025.

A redacted statement of facts, released before the new charges were laid, alleged Mr Ramsay groomed the boy with dinners and alcohol, telling him he was special, before requesting increasingly sexualised images.

It's alleged the pair began communicating on Instagram, with weekend catch ups and phone calls.

Among the allegations are claims Mr Ramsay continually pushed the boundaries, first asking for photos with the boy clothed, and later asking him to take pictures of himself in his underwear.

Police allege that when the boy's parents mentioned going to the police, Mr Ramsay messaged the boy suggesting they needed to delete the images.

Prosecutors told the court today it had taken a while to lay the new charges because the brief was 7,000 pages long.

Gordon Ramsay was the ACT attorney-general between 2016 and 2020, when he lost his seat in an election.

He then became chief executive officer of the Cultural Facilities Corporation, which oversees the Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Museum and Gallery, and ACT historic places.

Mr Ramsay was suspended without pay from the position when he was charged with the current offences.

Before his stint in politics, he had been a minister in the Uniting Church in Sydney and from 1997 at Kippax Uniting Church in Canberra.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-16/former-act-attorney-general-gordon-ramsay-faces-new-charges/106802188

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Anglican Church to deliver second apology to survivor after decades-long battle for justice

JAMIE WALKER - June 19, 2026

A senior Anglican Church figure will issue the second personal apology in three months to sexual abuse survivor Beth Heinrich, capping her decades-long fight for justice.

Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder will apologise during a Sunday service at St John’s Church in Forbes, NSW – adjoining the former Anglican hostel where Ms Heinrich as a teenager was groomed and exploited by a predatory priest.

This follows the heartfelt apology delivered in March by Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves. He acknowledged that his predecessor, the late Peter Hollingworth, had failed Ms Heinrich when he suggested, while governor-general, that she had instigated a sexual relationship with her abuser.

The 86-year-old told The Australian the move by Bishop Calder sent an important message to other sexual abuse survivors that they should never stop demanding accountability and redress.

“It’s not for myself. I’m doing it … to demonstrate that if people have been abused out there they should not give up, they need to keep going to be heard and to get something done,” she said.

“I think my experience shows that you will get somewhere if you keep at it.”

Bishop Calder said: “I’m very sad that Beth was harmed by the church and the apology expresses that.”

Ms Heinrich’s interaction with her abuser, future bishop Donald Shearman, began in the mid-1950s after she was sent to board at the hostel in Forbes attached to St John’s, her family’s farm being too far away for her to commute to high school.

She was 14 when she entered the married priest’s orbit. Within a year, Shearman, the boarding master, was regularly having sex with her; he promised to leave his wife and that they would marry.

Instead, he contrived to have her expelled, falsely claiming that she had been promiscuous with boys. This destroyed her relationship with her parents and her hope of becoming a teacher.

But it didn’t end there. The man who targeted her as a child continued to use her as a vulnerable adult. She fled a troubled marriage into his arms and they lived together briefly in 1984 before, at the urging of another bishop, Shearman returned to his wife.

Eventually, Ms Heinrich complained to the church. But it would take nearly two decades for anything to come of it.

Hollingworth, as governor-general, fanned the flames in 2002, after Ms Heinrich went public with her story, claiming there was “no suggestion of rape or anything like that”.

Ignoring that Ms Heinrich was underage when Shearman took her to bed, Hollingworth notoriously said: “Quite the contrary. My information is that it was rather the other way around.”

Shearman was found guilty of misconduct by a church tribunal and became the first Anglican bishop in Australia to be defrocked in 2004, by which time Hollingworth had been forced to quit his vice-regal role.

Shearman died in 2019. Hollingworth apologised on a number of occasions to Ms Heinrich before his death last month, aged 91.

While she also received written apologies from both the Anglican dioceses of Brisbane and Bathurst, which covers Forbes in central west NSW, Ms Heinrich said hearing directly from the bishops was important.

She will be on hand when Bishop Calder addresses the congregation on Sunday

“That’s a physical demonstration that they did something wrong and they’re sorry for it,” Ms Heinrich said.

Describing her past treatment by the church as “shameful”, Bishop Calder told The Australian: “I will be saying that what happened to her was appalling and should never have occurred.”

In apologising to Ms Heinrich in Brisbane’s St John’s Anglican Cathedral on March 22, Archbishop Greaves said she had been ignored by the church when she found the courage to speak out about her abuse.

“Most grievously, those in positions of senior leadership in the Brisbane diocese, including archbishop Peter Hollingworth, failed Beth,” he said.

“Rather than expressing compassion, justice and accountability … the victim-survivor was blamed, while the person responsible was defended or excused.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/anglican-church-to-deliver-second-apology-to-survivor-after-decadeslong-battle-for-justice/news-story/69ae4f47e281d29a62061f8d1b7c2cce

https://qresear.ch/?q=Beth+Heinrich

https://qresear.ch/?q=Peter+Hollingworth

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>>24643186

Royal commission probes if police mistrust hampered detection of Bondi gunmen

JAMES DOWLING - 21 June 2026

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The antisemitism royal commission questioned whether communication breakdowns from the Dural caravan investigation hampered the ability to detect radicalisation of Bondi gunmen Sajid and Naveed Akram, following decades of mistrust between police services.

As part of early inquiries into factors leading up to the worst terror attack in Australia’s history, the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission investigated how a phony bomb threat on Sydney’s outskirts drove a wedge between state and federal police, and interviewed former Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw before releasing its interim report in April.

The Australian previously reported that NSW Police sent a senior officer to Canberra after the Dural plot was exposed in January last year to negotiate with AFP commanders about the future and function of the NSW Joint Counter-Terrorism Team – the state’s main terror investigators, comprising NSW Police, AFP, ASIO and State Crime Command officers.

A government source has now revealed the royal commission heard there were threats made during these discussions about future participation in the NSW JCTT, though the substance of these threats was unclear.

Problems identified in the cross-jurisdiction relationship stretched back 25 years to the inception of the JCTT, the source said, but the investigation into the Dural incident – when an explosives-laden caravan was found with a series of notes listing Jewish sites and buildings, including the Great Synagogue – was the nadir.

The Australian understands Mr Kershaw, who was commissioner at the time, was interviewed during the short-lived internal inquiry led by senior public servant Dennis Richardson, which was later folded into the royal commission.

While peripheral to the wider investigation into the Akrams, inquiries into the Dural incident were intended to gauge how it affected the relationship between federal and state police, and whether that impacted their co-operation monitoring persons of interest and rooting out terror plots before December 14.

The Australian in January found that despite AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett “almost immediately” knowing the caravan was a “fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job”, her officers maintained a top priority for the investigation as a terrorist threat and ordered state police officers to sign non­disclosure agreements and not pass information up the chain of command.

It caused ructions and NSW Police pushed publicly and privately for an independent inquiry into the NSW JCTT and counter-terrorism protocols to clear the “bad blood” between senior police in Canberra and Sydney. However, there was no subsequent change to the counter­terrorism protocols and no independent inquiry was held.

The Dural caravan was also examined by a NSW parliamentary inquiry where both NSW Police counter-terror commander David Hudson and former NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb spoke about their early certainty there was no real threat, but said they could not rule it out until the AFP discredited a source behind the terror tip-off.

“Contrary information from the AFP could not be ignored at the level it was being provided,” Mr Hudson said

“Until … the source had been discredited we needed to continue treating it as a threat.”

(continued)

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When the “con job” motive was revealed publicly on March 10, Ms Barrett said the AFP “discussed providing this information earlier to the public” but it “could not risk ignoring the information provided”, which Mr Hudson was questioned on at the inquiry. He did not give unqualified support, saying his “position is slightly different”, and elaborated further only in a closed session.

Mr Hudson, when called before the royal commission last month, alluded to federal authorities using “different interpretations” of an information-sharing framework to withhold critical details.

Ms Barrett was questioned at Senate estimates hearings last month on both the Dural investigation and information-sharing practices, but took questions on notice, for fear the discussion was “traversing topics that are very front and centre in the current royal commission”.

She was also asked whether the AFP ever ordered NSW officers to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of JCTT investigations. AFP deputy commissioner Stephen Nutt, speaking to Ms Barrett, said: “We did in that case (Dural), Commissioner, if I recall.” She then spoke over him to request to take the question on notice.

She later confirmed the AFP had, at times, requested NDAs be signed.

Both Mr Kershaw and Ms Webb retired from their posts in the months after Dural. The government source said the mutual resignations gave the agencies clear air, although there remained “lingering suspicion further down”.

The public version of the commission’s interim report made reference to the Dural caravan incident without commenting on its investigation. It recommended a three-month confidential, independent review into the JCTT and its information-sharing arrangements.

“The commission notes that neither the AFP nor NSW Police have given unqualified support for the present functioning of the NSW JCTT,” the report reads. “It is clear that the agencies involved consider there may be room for improvement, in particular in respect of information management and sharing.”

The NSW Police and AFP declined to comment while the commission is under way, both noting they were “working collaboratively with partner agencies”. A spokesperson for the royal commission said it was “examining a range of matters relating to cooperation and information sharing between federal and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/threats-between-police-chiefs-after-dural-probe-rc-investigates-akram-impact/news-story/92b483ca7d9a497138b6c60814d904c2

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Accused ISIS bride seeks divorce from alleged fighter as bail hearing continues

MOHAMMAD ALFARES - 22 June 2026

An accused ISIS bride wants to divorce the husband she allegedly joined in buying a slave, as her lawyers argue she is now “fair dinkum” and wants to live peacefully in Australia.

Lawyers for Kawsar Abbas told the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday that the 54-year-old had provided written instructions to begin divorce proceedings against her husband, alleged Islamic State fighter Mohammed Ahmad, who is believed to be imprisoned in Iraq.

Ms Abbas is seeking bail in the Melbourne Magistrates Court while being tried in an Australian-first crimes against humanity prosecution over allegations of enslaving a Yazidi teenager during the Islamic State caliphate in Syria.

In the third bail application hearing before Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan, defence barrister Peter Morrissey SC told the court his client wanted to live a peaceful life in Australia and wanted to show that she was “fair dinkum”.

Mr Morrissey also said the grandmother had renounced the Islamic State entirely.

“She is not a supporter of ISIS. She does not have anything to do with ISIS. She hates them regardless. She wants to have nothing to do with them,” Mr Morrissey said.

“She wants her children and grandchildren to have nothing to do with them.”

In his submission, Mr Morris­sey said his client, who had an ISIS flag draped on the wall of her Syrian home, would accept “anything” to show that “she is being good”.

“The court instructions and the boundaries are a help to her in their demonstration to the community, that she wants to live in peace … that she’s fair dinkum and that she wants to behave,” he said.

“She is game for any restrictions to be placed and would like to show that she’s worthy of trust.”

Giving evidence in court, Ms Abbas’s younger brother, Abraham Abbas, provided a $75,000 bail surety that also included his five-bedroom house.

Mr Abbas told the court he had visited his sister up to 12 times in prison and, if released, she would be residing with his 73-year-old mother. Asked if he understood what would happen if the accused did not comply with any bail conditions, Mr Abbas said he would personally call the police.

“I would lose my house and virtually everything that I ever worked for, so, yeah,” he said. “That’s everything I’ve worked for.” Asked about his views on the Islamic State, Mr Abbas said neither he nor his family had ever expressed support for it.

“I denounced the Islamic State. I never supported this thing. Our family doesn’t support Islamic State. Not now, not ever.”

Forensic clinical psychologist Michael Davis told the court there was “nothing blatant whatsoever” to suggest Ms Abbas remained committed to extremist ideology and said he had found no evidence that she was likely to engage in terrorism-related offending if released. Mr Davis said he was struck by Ms Abbas’s discussion of her favourite Koranic passages, telling the court it showed that she held beliefs different from those espoused by the Islamic State.

Mr Davis said he spent more than five hours interviewing Ms Abbas and found no sign that she continued to support the terrorist organisation.

“I was certainly looking for them,” he said. “The fact that she lost a brother and two sons whilst over there has probably contributed to her current very negative view of Islamic State.”

Asked by Ms Hannan whether the accused’s “dependent personality” could make her vulnerable to re-radicalisation, Mr Davis rejected the suggestion.

“I can’t see her being re-radicalised,” he said. “With the depth of her anger and hatred towards the Islamic State … re-radicalisation, if it happens at all, is extraordinarily rare.”

Mr Davis described the accused as suffering from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder, and said separation from her children and grandchildren was causing her distress.

“The only positive aspect that she has in her life is her children and her grandchildren,” he told the court.

Ms Abbas is facing four slavery offences, including enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and engaging in slave trading, over allegations she and her husband purchased a Yazidi teenager while living under Islamic State rule in Syria.

The bail application continues before Ms Hannan.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/accused-isis-bride-seeks-divorce-from-alleged-fighter-as-bail-hearing-continues/news-story/9f45bf69a14a1412ffe9d0c94ef38b8c

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Australia and Canada ink $2.5 billion over-the-horizon radar deal

Tom Lowrey - 22 June 2026

A $2.5 billion deal to sell Australia's highly advanced over-the-horizon radar system to Canada has been signed, making it Australia's most valuable defence export ever.

Canada is buying the powerful radar system to monitor the Arctic, modelling the system on Australia's Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN).

The JORN radar has been operating for 40 years, allowing up to 3,000 kilometres of surveillance coverage of Australia's northern approaches.

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, announced in March that his country would spend billions on the system, the first time Australia has sold the technology.

Now the first stage of that deal has been signed, allowing it to go ahead with the prospect of more to come.

The deal was noted at the time as a sign that Canada was keen to broaden its defence partnerships beyond a heavy reliance on the United States.

Canada's secretary for defence procurement, Stephen Fuhr, said the deal marked a significant shift in the Australia-Canada relationship.

"As the world adjusts to its new strategic and economic realities, I can't think of a stronger partner to work with than Australia," he said.

The Canadian project will be built through defence manufacturer BAE Systems, which also maintains Australia's JORN radar.

Canada has provisioned $6.5 billion in total for the project and will look at expanding the network in the years ahead.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the deal comes with benefits to Australia beyond the billions in export revenue, as Australia will benefit from future shared expertise in developing the radar system further.

He said Australia would be open to selling the radar to other countries, like the US, but noted the sensitivity of the technology.

"This is an exquisite technology with a really impressive IP, and something that we would only do with the closest of friends," he said.

"That said, under our government, we have looked to be more ambitious in terms of finding more opportunities to engage in defence industry exports."

Canada looks at Ghost Bat aerial drone

Mr Fuhr said he would also be taking the chance to inspect a Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft while in Australia.

The Ghost Bat is a highly capable drone designed to operate alongside fighter aircraft like the F-35.

It was primarily designed for intelligence and reconnaissance missions, with a range of about 3,700km, but can also carry weapons.

Germany is taking a strong interest in acquiring the Ghost Bat, and Mr Fuhr said Canada is also keen to take a look.

"I'm quite interested; collaborative combat aircraft are a thing, and it seems like Australia has a bit of a lead there," he said.

"So I'm curious to see where that's at, and I'll see it this afternoon."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/australia-canada-sign-billion-dollar-over-horizon-radar-deal/106827724

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>>24673267

China’s policing plans should be sidelined, says top Solomons minister

Matthew Knott - June 22, 2026

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One of Solomon Islands’ most senior ministers has called for security and policing co-operation with China to be sidelined in a boost for Australia’s efforts to counter Beijing’s influence in the Pacific.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will conduct a Pacific diplomacy blitz in July, including a visit to the Solomons to drive forward negotiations on a new comprehensive treaty while finalising pacts with Fiji and Vanuatu.

Recently elected Solomons Prime Minister Matthew Wale vowed to review a controversial security agreement struck with China during a visit to Canberra this month and promised a “reset” in the relationship with Australia after years of tension and distrust.

Peter Kenilorea Junior, the minister of national planning and development coordination, said the new government was seeking a “a rebalancing of relations” with its development partners after the nation moved closer to China under previous governments.

Asked if he wanted to see a winding back of China’s role in policing and security in the Solomons, Kenilorea told this masthead that “we would like to focus more on economic development”.

He continued: “The security space, in my own personal opinion, is a little bit too crowded for a small country like the Solomons. So I would definitely emphasise the development aspect of China’s involvement.”

Chinese police have been fingerprinting Solomon Islanders and getting them to fill out household registration cards under a community policing model based on a Mao Zedong-era system requiring citizens to keep tabs on each other.

Kenilorea said last year he was concerned about the practice, describing it as an invasion of privacy.

Chinese police have also been offering martial arts and self-defence training to Solomon Islanders.

A report released in May by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime found the Solomons had “emerged as China’s most prominent policing partner in the Pacific”.

“The relationship includes training, equipment, advisory presence and high-level political signalling,” the report found.

The Albanese government has insisted that Pacific nations’ security and policing co-operation should be limited to other island nations including Australia.

The 2022 security pact between China and the Solomons caused alarm in Canberra, reviving fears Beijing could seek to establish a military base in the Pacific near Australia’s coastline.

Australian officials have said that Australia is facing a “diplomatic knife fight” with China in the Pacific, including fending off alleged efforts by Beijing to pay bribes to corrupt politicians.

(continued)

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Kenilorea said he believed the Australia-Solomons relationship would be “very positive” under the new government as he urged the nations to strike a new treaty “sooner rather than later”.

“The reset or the rebalancing that we set out during prime minister Wale’s initial visit to Australia has been well received here in country,” he said.

“I think the next step that we’re looking forward to is announcing the comprehensive treaty…The end of the year would be good timing. The next six months are a good deadline for us to put pen to paper.”

Kenilorea, the son of the Solomon Islands’ first independent prime minister, said he expected the treaty to contain a deepening of security ties as well as expanded access for Solomon Islanders to live and work in Australia.

A new Australia-Solomons treaty would follow pacts Labor has struck with Tuvalu, Nauru and Papua New Guinea since returning to office in 2022.

Wale initially promised to release the 2022 security treaty with China, but said earlier this month he would not be able to make it public because of a non-disclosure clause in the pact.

“We have different partners that have different ways of doing things that perhaps not as transparent as other partners,” Kenilorea said.

Often described as a possible future prime minister, Kenilorea has been an outspoken critic of China, previously calling for the security pact to be torn up and blasting Beijing’s attempts to influence Solomon politicians.

Albanese is planning to travel next month to the Solomons and Fiji, where he hopes to seal a major new security pact with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

The prime minister is also hoping to finalise a treaty agreement with Vanuatu, but it is expected that a clause limiting China’s involvement in critical infrastructure such as ports and airports will have to be removed to get the agreement over the line.

The Quad nations of Australia, the US, India and Japan agreed in May to jointly build a port in Fiji as part of their efforts to limit China’s influence in the Pacific.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/china-s-policing-plans-should-be-sidelined-says-top-solomons-minister-20260622-p608w0.html

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‘Concerns’ raised over trust withdrawals in Virginia Giuffre’s estate battle

Carla Hildebrandt and Melissa Fyfe - June 22, 2026

Virginia Giuffre’s former lawyer and her carer, who are locked in a battle with her sons over her multimillion-dollar estate, are concerned about money being withdrawn from a family trust controlled by her estranged husband, Robert Giuffre.

The issue was aired during a case management conference before registrar Danielle Davies in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Monday, where administrative matters were discussed before an expected mediation later this year or next year.

Child sex-trafficking survivor Giuffre died aged 41 in April last year at her farm in Neergabby, about an hour’s drive north of Perth. Her estate is believed to include substantial compensation payments received from Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Giuffre had separated from her husband and was involved in divorce proceedings at the time of her death. The couple share three children.

Last year, her adult sons, Christian, 20, and Noah, 18, brought proceedings seeking to be appointed administrators of the estate. They argue their mother died without a valid will and lacked “testamentary capacity” when an informal will was created, according to court filings.

Giuffre’s lawyer Karrie Louden and carer Cheryl Myers filed a counterclaim alleging Giuffre expressed in an “informal will” that her estranged husband should not benefit from her estate.

Robert Giuffre and the couple’s daughter have since been joined to the proceedings, with the public trustee appointed to represent the teenager.

Perth lawyer Ian Torrington Blatchford remains the interim administrator currently managing the estate.

During Monday’s hearing, Louden and Myers’ lawyer McLane Edinger told the court he had “concerns relating to the use of funds” from the Witty River Family Trust, in which Robert and Virginia Giuffre held 50 shares each.

McLane told the court he had been speaking with Blatchford “extensively” and asked for an extension for him to give evidence on the state of affairs of the estate.

“I do not speak for him … there is quite a bit that has occurred … complex issues have arisen,” McLane told the court.

“There are issues in the Family Court … and issues with the use of funds from the family trust.”

George St Chambers barrister Jon Patty, representing Christian and Noah Giuffre, who appeared via audio link from Queensland, told the court Blatchford had already received extensions and opposed the order.

But registrar Davies approved the order, telling the court it was a “very short extension” and it “made sense” to grant it.

Patty told the court his clients were seeking to access a range of medical and financial documents from third parties, including a “small medical centre” and an accounting firm.

Davies told the plaintiffs to file a further amended application within 14 days.

Since the last court appearance, Louden and Myers have changed legal representation from Craig Hollett to Edinger, who is part of national firm Hall and Wilcox.

He previously managed Heath Ledger’s estate for eight years.

The next hearing would be set once registrar Davies was provided availability from the parties.

Lifeline 13 11 14

https://www.lifeline.org.au/

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/concerns-raised-over-trust-withdrawals-in-virginia-giuffre-s-estate-battle-20260622-p608wz.html

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Andrew Hastie receives security upgrades after being targeted by pro-Ben Roberts-Smith online campaign

THOMAS HENRY - 23 June 2026

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie is set to receive security upgrades at his home and electorate office, believed to be linked to an online campaign by One Nation supporters targeting the MP over his involvement in the Ben Roberts-Smith war crimes scandal.

According to Nine reports Mr Hastie told his Coalition colleagues he had been informed of the security upgrades by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and believed the move was driven by One Nation’s base over his role in the BRS affair.

“I would rather get taken out in a box than bend the knee to One Nation,” Hastie reportedly told the meeting.

“I will never surrender to One Nation, and we will do them, and do them slowly.”

The minor party’s leader Pauline Hanson has been one of Mr Roberts-Smith’s most strident supporters since he was arrested on suspicion of war crimes at Sydney airport earlier this year, and One Nation’s supporters have rallied against those who have testified against him.

Mr Hastie became a target for Mr Roberts-Smith’s supporters after he gave evidence during defamation proceedings launched against Nine newspapers by Mr Roberts-Smith over a series of articles alleging he was involved in four murders in Afghanistan.

The Victoria Cross recipient has been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder over the alleged killing of unarmed Afghan detainees.

Senator Hanson earlier this month again threw her support behind Mr Roberts-Smith at an event in Brisbane, but rejected rumours the party would run him against Mr Hastie in his seat of Canning at the next election.

“I’ve been in Ben Roberts-Smith’s shoes, as far as facing a criminal trial. I’ve been there, and it’s a distressing time, especially when you know you’re innocent, and I think Ben needs to know that people are supportive of him,” she said at a barbecue organised by BRS supporters.

“I don’t think it would be fair to Ben to put that pressure on him (to run). He’s going through a hell of a thing at the moment.”

The furore surrounding the case against Mr Roberts-Smith formed a key part of the party’s campaign in the Farrer by-election, erecting placards expressing support for him at pre-polling booths across the electorate.

Despite Senator Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby promising to run a strong candidate in the seat of Canning at the next election, Mr Hastie claimed he backed himself to hang onto the key West Australian seat.

“Pauline Hanson and James Ashby have declared war on me – they said they’re coming for Canning. I don’t negotiate, mate. If they want war, I’m going to give them war,” he told 2GB last week.

“I back myself as a campaigner, I back myself for delivering for my local community, so I welcome the fight.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/andrew-hastie-receives-security-upgrades-after-online-campaign-in-defence-of-ben-robert-smith/news-story/7c16efd8206b7fc094bf26938b925c34

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Prosecutor Justin Hannebery KC argued earlier this month that, as neither Mr Ilinski nor his devices were in NSW at the time of the conversation, he could not have broken local law.

Mr Hannebery said the influencer using the nurses’ device, “a device that (he’s) got no knowledge of, no ownership of”, to record a conversation in Sydney “is, respectfully, stretching the concept (of privacy) to a great degree”.

He said the video would provide an “unchallengeable account” of the conversation at trial.

Despite Mr Hannebery’s arguments, Judge McHugh on Tuesday ruled in the defence’s favour, deeming the recording inadmissible in court.

Without the video, the prosecution will have to rely on Mr Ilinski’s testimony when the trial begins on August 31. Earlier this month, Mr Hannebery revealed his “plan” for the trial included having Mr Ilinski travel to Sydney to testify.

Mr Hannebery did, however, remind Judge Michael McHugh that the commonwealth had an active application for Mr Ilinski to be allowed to give evidence via video link. He said that, while the plan was to have the Israeli appear in court in Sydney, he would not be withdrawing that application.

Mr Nadir’s solicitor, Zemarai Khatiz, previously said having the video removed from evidence would be “a devastating blow to the prosecution case”.

In the 2½ minute video, Mr Nadir allegedly said, “You (Mr Ilinksi) have no idea how many (Israeli people) come to this hospital…I send to Jahannam”, the Arabic word for “hell”.

Ms Abu Lebdeh allegedly told Mr Ilinski he was going to “die the most disgusting death” and, when asked what would happen if an Israeli patient came into the hospital, she allegedly said: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.”

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

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

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/influencers-video-of-nurses-threatening-to-kill-israeli-patients-thrown-out-of-evidence-ahead-of-trial/news-story/aa3bd20278c68aae80cc8b9455ea7f02

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rf3K19kss0

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Dennis Richardson’s Bondi report abandoned as Virginia Bell reinterviews ex-spy chief’s subjects

DENNIS SHANAHAN - 22 June 2026

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The antisemitism royal commission has effectively shelved the ­interviews and findings of the three-week independent inquiry of former spy boss Dennis Richardson into the police and security agencies ahead of the Bondi Beach massacre.

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell’s inquiry did not consider the Richardson probe – which was launched immediately after the terror attack and included interviews with security and police heads – as “evidence” the commission could use in its findings.

Instead, it took the work of the former ASIO chief and leading diplomat as a guide and conducted its own interviews with the same people Mr Richardson interviewed, including former ­Australian Federal Police comm­issioner Reece Kershaw.

The interim security report in April did not rely on material Mr Richardson gathered as “evidence” in its findings and recommendations, which included a review of counter-terrorism operations between federal and state police.

The decision not to use evidence from Mr Richardson has nullified much of his work and increased the chances of a harsher finding about security preparedness before the Bondi massacre.

Anthony Albanese last December appointed Mr Richardson a week after the Bondi shootings to hold an immediate inquiry into the security and police handling leading up to the December 14 shooting of 15 innocent people during a celebration of the Hanukkah holiday as he fended off calls for a royal commission.

On December 21 last year, the Prime Minister said the former secretary of the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would work with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to review the security agencies to keep “Australians safe in the wake of the horrific antisemitic Bondi Beach terrorist attack”.

“The ISIS-inspired atrocity reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation. Our security agencies must be in the best position to respond,” Mr Albanese said.

He described Mr Richardson as the best person to conduct a ­review, saying he was someone “who can look quickly, sharply”, and was an “actual expert” who could determine any further actions required to improve security with a report due in April.

Mr Richardson immediately started interviewing security chiefs, including on Christmas Day, as he worked to deliver an April report on the preparedness of the police and intelligence organisations before the massacre.

But on January 8 this year his inquiry was folded into the royal commission after the Prime Minister caved in to public pressure for a royal commission and appointed former High Court judge, Virginia Bell as commissioner.

Mr Richardson’s powers and the standing of the inquiries he had already made were not clear despite Mr Albanese’s assurances and claims he was “an actual expert” reviewing the security agencies and would report in April.

At the beginning of March, Mr Richardson raised concerns about the legalistic limits of the commission’s inquiries preventing a swift report on security by April, and on March 11 he formally resigned from the inquiry stating that he had become “surplus to requirements”.

(continued)

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The commission’s refusal to accept the work of the Prime Minister’s hand-picked investigator as evidence came out when The Australian revealed the commission’s dual investigations into the tensions between the AFP and NSW Police over the handling of the explosives-laden caravan at Dural in January 2025.

It also questioned whether communication breakdowns from the Dural caravan investigation hampered the ability to detect radicalisation of Bondi gunmen Sajid and Naveed Akram, following decades of mistrust between police services.

The Australian previously ­reported that a senior NSW police officer went to Canberra after the Dural plot was exposed to negotiate with AFP commanders about the future and function of the NSW Joint Counter-­Terrorism Team – the state’s main terror investigators, comprising NSW Police, AFP, ASIO and State Crime Command ­officers.

The wider investigation into the Dural incident was to find out how it affected the relationship between federal and state police, and whether that affected their co-operation on monitoring persons of interest and rooting out terror plots before December 14.

The Australian in January found that despite AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett “almost immediately” knowing the caravan was a “fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job”, her officers maintained a top priority for the investigation as a terrorist threat and ordered state police officers to sign non­disclosure agreements and not pass information up the chain of command.

NSW Police pushed publicly and privately for an independent inquiry into the NSW JCTT and counter-terrorism protocols to clear the “bad blood” between senior police in Canberra and Sydney.

However, there was no subsequent change to the ­counter-­terrorism protocols and no independent inquiry was held.

The Dural caravan incident was also examined by a NSW parliamentary inquiry where both NSW Police counter-terror commander David Hudson and former NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb spoke about their early certainty there was no real threat, but said they could not rule it out until the AFP discredited a source behind the terror tip-off.

When the “con job” motive was revealed publicly on March 10, Ms Barrett said the AFP “discussed providing this information earlier to the public” but it “could not risk ignoring the information provided”, which Mr Hudson was questioned on at the inquiry. He did not give unqualified support, saying his “position is slightly different”, and elaborated further only in a closed session.

Mr Hudson, when called before the royal commission last month, alluded to federal authorities using “different interpretations” of an information-sharing framework to withhold critical details.

Ms Barrett was questioned at Senate estimates hearings last month on both the Dural investigation and information-sharing practices, but took questions on notice for fear the discussion was “traversing topics that are very front and centre in the current royal commission”.

The public version of the royal commission’s interim report made reference to the Dural caravan incident without commenting on its investigation. It recommended a three-month confidential, independent review into the JCTT and its information-sharing arrangements.

“The commission notes that neither the AFP nor NSW Police have given unqualified support for the present functioning of the NSW JCTT,” the report reads.

“It is clear that the agencies ­involved consider there may be room for improvement, in particular in respect of information management and sharing.”

Ms Barrett was also asked whether the AFP ever ordered NSW officers to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of JCTT investigations.

AFP deputy commissioner Stephen Nutt, speaking to Ms Barrett, said: “We did in that case (the Dural caravan), Commissioner, if I recall.”

She then spoke over him to ­request to take the question on notice.

She later confirmed the AFP had, at times, requested NDAs be signed.

Both Mr Kershaw and Ms Webb retired from their posts in the months after the Dural bomb hoax. The government source said the mutual resignations gave the agencies clear air, although there remained “lingering suspicion further down”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/dennis-richardsons-bondi-report-abandoned-as-virginia-bell-reinterviews-exspy-chiefs-subjects/news-story/ccd1050e84bd73daaac06f493e652f47

>>24643186

Jewish leader says government delayed antisemitism envoy to find candidate for Islamophobia role

JAMES DOWLING - 22 June 2026

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Anthony Albanese delayed appointing an antisemitism envoy because he could not fill an equivalent Islamophobia role, according to one of the Prime Minister’s most influential Jewish allies.

In a submission to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, Executive Council of Australia Jewry president Daniel Aghion claimed that Islamophobia envoy position was “created for political reasons to demonstrate even-handedness” as a counterweight to Jillian Segal’s position.

This drew a sharp response from Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik, who warned that Muslim perspectives were cheapened when treated merely as “a political balancing exercise,” insisting his role must be genuinely valued by the government.

Mr Albanese was first lobbied by Ms Segal, ECAJ co-chief Peter Wertheim and Mr Aghion to appoint an antisemitism envoy in December 2023, according to the submission.

“In January 2024, the federal government responded to me to the effect that they would agree to our proposal, if an Islamophobia envoy were also appointed,” Mr Aghion wrote.

“I advised the government that this was acceptable, provided that the appointments were not the same person. By Easter 2024 however, there had been no appointment. I was told by several government representatives that the delay was due to the government taking longer than it had anticipated in identifying a suitable candidate for the Islamophobia envoy position.”

In the months from when the prospect was first raised and Ms Segal’s appointment in July 2024, a group chat of Jewish creatives was doxxed, the electoral offices of Jewish Labor MPs Josh Burns and Mark Dreyfus were vandalised, and the Jewish-run Mount Scopus Memorial College was defaced with antisemitic slurs.

As the royal commission heads into its third hearing block next week, Mr Aghion’s submission is set to intensify pressure on Mr ­Albanese. The Prime Minister has frequently championed Ms Segal’s appointment as crucial to tackling antisemitism, but Mr Aghion’s submission raises sharp questions about the urgency of his government’s response to the unfolding crisis.

The Australian understands Ms Segal was the clear frontrunner for the position as early as March 2024. The Albanese government had hoped, however, to announce the antisemitism and Islamophobia envoys side by side.

“The delay in appointing the antisemitism envoy was extremely frustrating,” Mr Aghion wrote. “The ECAJ knew that ­Australia was facing a rising tide of antisemitism; we knew that the best response to antisemitism is strong, decisive and early leadership; and we had conveyed this repeatedly to the federal government.

“But the appointment of an antisemitism envoy was being held up because of the government’s inability to fill an unrelated position, which we considered the government had created for ­political reasons to demonstrate even-handedness.”

By July, a global conference of appointed Jewish advocates in Argentina was approaching and ECAJ pressured the government to send a delegate, saying it would “be embarrassing if Australia did not have a representative”.

Ms Segal was appointed a week before it.

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Mr Albanese, announcing the appointment at what Mr Aghion described as a “hastily arranged media conference” in Sydney’s Jewish museum, said: “We brought forward the announcement to make sure that Jillian could go to the conference”.

He formalised the appointment of Mr Malik – a former public servant with the NSW Premier’s Department recognised by the UN Alliance of Civilisations as an expert on Muslim affairs – as Islamophobia envoy in September 2024. Mr Malik told The Australian it was critical “all forms of hatred are confronted consistently and seriously”.

“Islamophobia is a real and documented issue in Australia, and the need to address it existed long before this office,” he said.

“The experiences of Muslim Australians and the documented rise in Islamophobia cannot and should not be reduced to a political balancing exercise. The role exists because these concerns are serious, real and deserve attention in their own right. My focus remains on continuing the work, advancing practical solutions and ensuring the voices of affected communities are heard.”

The government approached Islamic College of Brisbane chief executive Ali Kadri and western Sydney GP Jamal Rifi before it ­selected Mr Malik, with the two prior candidates pulling out due to personal responsibilities.

Dr Rifi told The Australian he was approached by a member of then-immigration minister Andrew Giles’s staff but withdrew from the application process when he became concerned it would clash with his efforts to ­rescue a cohort of ISIS-linked women and children from Syria.

“I felt, to be honest, the plight of those children in Syria was more important,” Dr Rifi said.

“I just felt that it was going to impact on my project that I’ve been working on for the last seven years, and I didn’t want it to do that.”

Ms Segal presented her report on combating antisemitism in July last year at a press conference beside Mr Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. It then went unaddressed for five months, until after the December 14 Bondi terror attack when its recommendations were accepted in full.

“No explanation for that delay has ever been provided,” Mr Aghion wrote. “Despite repeated warnings from the ECAJ and others, I consider that the federal government has not responded proactively to contain a threat of harm to the Australian Jewish community. Responses have only been forthcoming when the Australian Jewish community has pressed for them, and even then only after long delays.

“I do not accuse the federal government of ill-will. I do however contend that until Bondi, the federal government failed to appreciate the significance and scale and severity of the problem.”

Education Minister Jason Clare said in July he would not act on the Segal report’s findings until he could weigh it alongside the contents of the Malik report, handed over two months later in September. That document, which includes recommendations for religious discrimination laws akin to the Racial Discrimination Act, is now nine months old and awaiting a response.

Mr Malik said he was still engaging with ministers and agencies. “I would welcome a timely response,” he said. “As would many community members who contributed to the consultation process.”

Mr Albanese was contacted for comment and Ms Segal declined to answer questions.

Mr Aghion’s submission sheds light on years of backroom negotiations between the Prime Minister and senior representatives in Jewish community forums, with Ms Segal, Mr Aghion and Mr Wertheim repeatedly coming together as an informal delegation to push major priorities to the PM and cabinet.

The Australian in January revealed the same group met with Mr Albanese hours before he announced the antisemitism royal commission to discuss who would lead it.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/jewish-leader-says-government-delayed-antisemitism-envoy-to-find-candidate-for-islamophobia-role/news-story/9f018820892d7f9614ebfcbfd4f77e63

>>24643186

Teacher union demands guidance on Holocaust lessons

NATASHA BITA - 23 June 2026

The Australian Education Union claims it is harder to teach about the Holocaust during war in the Middle East, despite outrage over some teachers refusing to teach Muslim students about the mass murder of six million Jews in World War II.

Asked if she supported teachers who fail to teach about the Holocaust to avoid upsetting Muslim students, AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said teachers needed “more guidance’’ from education ministers because of the “diverse lived experience’’ of students.

“Antisemitism, like all forms of racism, discrimination and hate, has no place in our education system,’’ she said. “Teachers understand their responsibilities to teach a broad, rich syllabus, based on the Australian curriculum.

“However, teachers are navigating complex and emotionally charged environments while balancing curriculum requirements, duty of care obligations and the diverse lived experiences of their students. In the absence of consistent guidance, this work has been made more difficult.

“That is why in June last year, the AEU called on all Australian education ministers for clear, consistent national guidance for teachers on how to discuss global conflicts in the classroom, particularly the ongoing situation in the Middle East.”

The failure to teach mandatory Holocaust lessons was exposed in a PhD thesis by NSW high school history teacher Greg Keith last year, who found some Sydney teachers worried about “heightened tensions’’ following the Oct­ober 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare on Monday said “there is no place for the poison of antisemitism anywhere in our ­society’’.

“The Holocaust is already part of the curriculum but there is more we can do to make sure students are learning about it and the evils of antisemitism,’’ he said.

“There’s a lot we as a country need to do to tackle antisemitism and what we do in education is an important part of that.

“That’s why we established the Antisemitism Education Taskforce chaired by David Gonski.’’

Mr Gonski, a prominent Jewish business leader, refused to comment on the controversy.

NSW Teachers Federation senior vice-president Michael De Wall said the Holocaust, which is taught in year 10 history, should “remain central to the curriculum … the Holocaust is one of the most distressing, significant episodes in human history. The lessons of antisemitism, minority persecution and the danger of hate should never be lost upon us,’’ he said. “That is why teaching of the Holocaust is, and should always remain, central to the NSW ­curriculum.”

Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he expected students to study the Holocaust in high school. “Queensland has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, ­racism, and antisemitism in our schools, and that’s why it’s important this part of the curriculum is followed,’’ his spokesman said.

Federal opposition education spokesman Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, said antisemitism education “should move away from Holocaust education and towards the contribution of Jews to our society. It is not enough to describe the way Jews are murdered.”

Dr Keith’s thesis cites one teacher who told him “the nature of his student cohort, which included a significant Arabic-speaking population … meant he was not prepared to try to have conversations about antisemitism as they might not be productive’’.

Another teacher said “many of our students are of Middle Eastern background and I have decided not to teach The Diary of Anne Frank this term to my year 9 history elective class because of their views on Jewish people in the ­Israeli-Palestine conflict.’’

A third teacher told him “she could not teach about the Holocaust in her school … because the (October 7) conflict had created such a volatile situation’’.

“The reality in Australia today is that it is impossible to know when and where the Holocaust is being taught, in how much depth it is being taught, and the effectiveness of teaching program,’’ Dr Keith wrote in his thesis. “Any claim Holocaust education in any Australian state is compulsory is founded purely on hope rather than reality. The Holocaust must become a substantial focus of teacher training and professional development.’’

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/education/teacher-union-demands-guidance-on-holocaust-lessons/news-story/ae923991cd918ec4d766fcaf73bb23e8

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>>24648353

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>>24748137

COMMENTARY: Islamophobia mirage led Labor and Albanese away from antisemitism reality

GEOFF CHAMBERS - 22 June 2026

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An Islamophobia distraction driven by Labor politics clouded the judgment of Anthony Albanese and his ministers, and ultimately weakened the govern­ment’s response to a two-year explosion in antisemitism ahead of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

It should not have taken Australia’s worst terrorist attack and the massacre of 15 Jewish-­Australians and bystanders at a Hanukkah family holiday event on a Sunday afternoon to stop the Left’s false equivocation between antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks against Israel in 2023 and the subsequent wave of homegrown antisemitic incidents targeting synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and homes, ministers would not mention Israel without referencing Palestine or address antisemitism without invoking Islamophobia.

That mixed, conditional leadership fuelled fundamental weaknesses in how our institutions, including universities and schools, responded to antisemitism across society, workplaces and in Australian classrooms.

Revelations that a western Sydney teacher decided to not teach The Diary of Anne Frank to their year 9 history class because of the views of students of Middle Eastern background on Jewish people in the Israeli-Palestine conflict is frankly beyond ­comprehension.

The tragic and heroic story of Anne has been a bedrock for millions of Australians to understand the Holocaust.

Education Minister Jason Clare, whose western Sydney seat of Blaxland is home to 60,000 Muslims, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, whose Sydney electorate of Watson is home to the Lakemba mosque and almost 46,000 Muslims, have authority over ensuring the Holocaust is taught in schools, that university staff and students feel safe from antisemitism and that Australians are safe from violent Islamic extremism and terrorism.

From the disgraceful chants at the Sydney Opera House protest shortly after Hamas terrorists murdered innocent Jews to the disgusting Sydney Harbour Bridge protest where Labor MPs and elders marched alongside activists holding up photos of the now slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Albanese government was flat-footed for too long in its response to antisemitism.

Just a month after the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest, the Prime Minister in September last year flew to New York to announce his government formally recognised Palestinian statehood.

On December 14, father-and-son Islamic radical extremists Sajid and Naveed Akram shook the nation to its core after conducting Australia’s most terrifying terrorist attack.

Albanese’s immediate response to the massacre was unsteady and headlined by a weeks-long delay in ordering the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.

The terror attack triggered deep concern in the electorate over public safety, Islamic extremism and whether the government’s national security architecture was fit-for-purpose.

The Bondi terror massacre, combined with ISIS brides returning to Australia, marked a turning point in the political fortunes of Labor and the Coalition, as voters shifted to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

As the royal commission continues investigations and public hearings ahead of its December 14 reporting deadline, new submissions are shining a light on what happened behind closed doors.

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The submission of Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion reveals the Albanese government delayed the establishment of an antisemitism envoy because it wanted to fill an equivalent Islamophobia role at the same time.

Jewish leaders had advised the government against linking antisemitism and Islamophobia.

“If a Hindu temple were attacked, for example, it would not be appropriate for the federal government to state ‘We condemn Hinduphobia and antisemitism’. To put it in that language diminishes the importance of the condemnation, and neutralises it to meaningless words that do not address the problem,” Aghion wrote.

After travelling to Canberra with ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim and Jillian Segal in December 2023 to raise the idea of a special envoy to combat antisemitism, the government in early 2024 said it “would agree to our proposal, if an Islamophobia envoy were also appointed”.

“By Easter 2024, however, there had been no appointment. I was told by several government representatives the delay was due to the government taking longer than it had anticipated in identifying a suitable candidate for the Islamophobia envoy position.

“The appointment of an antisemitism envoy was being held up because of the government’s inability to fill an unrelated position, which position we con­sid­ered the government had created for political reasons to demonstrate even-handedness.”

Aftab Malik, whom the government appointed as Islamophobia envoy, on Monday said the “experiences of Muslim Australians and the documented rise in Islamophobia cannot and should not be reduced to a political balancing exercise” and warned that “all forms of hatred” should be “confronted consistently and seriously”.

For the sake of the nation, the royal commission must not whitewash the government’s ­security failures and weak response to vile antisemitism.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/islamophobia-mirage-led-labor-and-albanese-away-from-antisemitism-reality/news-story/91493c14893562d64cf7b5606fe66694

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>>24743390

Australian media's renewed hype over Solomons minister's remark on China 'policing plans' exposes exclusionary mindset, says Chinese expert

Deng Xiaoci - Jun 23, 2026

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A reported remark by a senior Solomon Islands official to "sideline" so-called China's policing plans in the Pacific island country has become the latest trigger for Australian media to hype claims about Beijing's security cooperation with the South Pacific country.

According to Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) report on local time Monday, Peter Kenilorea Junior, the minister of national planning and development coordination of Solomon Islands, claimed the new government was seeking a "a rebalancing of relations" with its development partners after the nation moved closer to China under previous governments.

Asked by the SMH if he wanted to see a winding back of China's role in policing and security in the Solomons, Kenilorea told this masthead that "we would like to focus more on economic development." The minister also claimed that "the security space, in my own personal opinion, is a little bit too crowded for a small country like the Solomons. So I would definitely emphasize the development aspect of China's involvement."

Yet behind the latest round of hype lies a broader question: is Australia willing to respect Pacific island countries' right to make independent diplomatic choices, or is it trying to turn the region into a closed security circle under Canberra's approval, a Chinese observer asked on Tuesday. The renewed hype says less about the actual content of China-Solomon Islands policing cooperation than about Australia's persistent attempt to draw an exclusionary security boundary around the South Pacific.

The issue has been put under media spotlight again after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale visited Canberra and said his government would review the 2022 security agreement signed with China, while also agreeing to begin negotiations on a comprehensive strategic treaty with Australia. Reuters reported on June 3 that Wale said he had only recently seen the full China agreement and that his government would review it alongside other security arrangements. The same report said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to elevate bilateral ties while offering to move forward on a policing partnership.

Chinese observers pointed out that as a sovereign country, Solomon Islands has the right to assess its foreign partnerships according to its own domestic political priorities and development needs. The real problem, they said, is that some Australian voices have used the review to revive an old narrative that smears China's role in the South Pacific.

Notably, the SMH Monday report wrote that the Albanese government has insisted that Pacific nations' security and policing cooperation should be limited to other island nations including Australia.

"This shows that Australia is promoting a security arrangement that sets limits in the name of regionalism, while in effect placing itself at the center," Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

This round of media hype by Australian media is not an isolated incident, but a psychological projection of Australia's changing role in the region, Chen noted.

For a long time, Australia has been accustomed to viewing the South Pacific as its strategic backyard, and to holding a dominant position in security, aid, infrastructure and diplomatic agendas. After China developed normal relations with Solomon Islands and other island countries, Australian public opinion quickly interpreted this change as a "challenge" and "infiltration," turning cooperation issues that should belong to the island countries' own development agenda into an arena of China-Australia competition, the expert explained.

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By amplifying issues such as China's policing cooperation, the Australian media are in effect exerting public opinion pressure on the new Solomon Islands government. The most dangerous part of this narrative is that it marginalizes the island countries' real development and governance needs, he added.

Asked on June 3 about Wale's remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China and Solomon Islands are "comprehensive strategic partners featuring mutual respect and common development for a new era," and that China stands ready to work with the new Solomon Islands government "to expand practical cooperation in various fields and better benefit the people of both countries."

According to the Australian local media, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will conduct a Pacific diplomacy blitz in July, including a visit to the Solomons to drive forward negotiations on a new comprehensive treaty while finalizing pacts with Fiji and Vanuatu.

This statement by the Solomon Island official seemingly has a political timing link with Albanese's planned visit to Solomon Islands in July and his push for negotiations on a comprehensive treaty, according to Chen.

The idea of "moving closer to Australia on security while continuing to work with China on trade and development" is understandable, but carries clear risks, Chinese observers warned.

If Solomon Islands believes concessions on security issues will be enough to secure Australia's acceptance of its economic cooperation with China, that may be overly optimistic, observers said. What Australia seeks is not merely security cooperation, but greater influence over the direction of island countries' external partnerships.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202606/1364214.shtml

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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson backs Ben Roberts-Smith invite to War Memorial opening

Nicholas McElroy - 23 June 2026

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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith should be welcome to attend the opening of new hall at the Australian War Memorial extension this evening.

It comes as parliament's lower house prepares to finish early to allow MPs to attend the ceremony.

Mr Roberts-Smith was expected to attend the event after his bail conditions over alleged war crime charges were varied in a Sydney court last week.

But at another bail variation hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for Mr Roberts-Smith revealed he would no longer travel to Canberra for the event due to illness.

Senator Hanson earlier said Mr Roberts-Smith was innocent until proven guilty and there was no reason for him not to take part.

"Why shouldn't he?" she said.

"I'll be going, and I am hoping to actually catch up with him, say hello to him, give him my support."

Defence Minister Richard Marles also said it was "appropriate" for Mr Roberts-Smith to receive an invite.

"There is a presumption of innocence in this country, and Ben Roberts-Smith is a recipient of the Victorian Cross," he said.

"It's a very significant moment for the nation, and the Victoria Cross recipients to be invited to this is absolutely appropriate."

But Greens leader Larissa Waters said she would not attend the event, saying it was "not appropriate" for Mr Roberts-Smith to be invited.

The official opening of Anzac Hall, led by an address by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is the latest in several staged openings as part of the controversial $550 million War Memorial extension.

Parliament's chambers typically adjourn to mark visits by high-level international visitors or to honour the deaths of distinguished figures. In most cases, adjournment must be agreed to by the chamber.

But Mr Albanese will tell the event the House of Representatives finished at 5:30pm instead of 8pm so MPs could attend the opening.

"Today we adjourned the parliament so that everyone who wished to could come mark the opening of this Atrium and Anzac Hall," according to a speech Mr Albanese will deliver.

The project has faced controversy since former prime minister Scott Morrison said the government would award the AWM almost $500 million in 2018 before a project business case was finished.

Former AWM director Brendan Nelson also championed the project. Dr Nelson began a paid role with arms manufacturer Thales while director in 2015, which was not disclosed for four years until he was forced to register on the government's foreign influence register.

An auditor-general's report slammed the upgrade, saying ministerial oversight was deliberately avoided, while public consultation by the National Capital Authority received 601 submissions on the project, most opposed to the expansion.

The funding, procurement and the architectural merits of the project have also been questioned, and there was criticism it would become "a kind of Disneyland of war".

However, Mr Albanese said he welcomed the final project designed to enhance the memorial, which opened in 1941.

"What a sublime and powerful addition it is," he said.

"A bold vision turned into a reality that enhances the institution of which it is now part."

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Roberts-Smith was invited to event

Mr Roberts-Smith was invited to attend the ceremony as a recipient of the Victoria Cross, an invitation director Matt Anderson has described as "standard practice".

The former Special Air Service Regiment soldier faces five counts of war crime murder relating to his deployments in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2012 and involving what investigators allege were unarmed Afghan nationals.

He has categorically rejected the allegations and said he plans to fight to clear his name in court.

Mr Anderson said that, of 2 million men and women who have served Australia, 102 have been awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.

"There are four living recipients … and it is standard practice for the memorial for them to be invited to major commemorative events," Mr Anderson said.

"Beyond that, I'm not prepared to say or do anything that would undermine presumption of innocence or a chance for a fair trial."

Parliament's adjournment comes as the government works to pass its capital gains tax and negative gearing laws through the Senate.

For 'fighters for peace, keepers of peace'

The Hall, which focuses mainly on Australia’s commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations, is the latest addition to the AWM after the Atrium, Southern Entrance, Parade Ground and the Bean Building.

While final works are not expected to be completed until 2028, the memorial has remained open to visitors, with organisers saying it had 1.14 million visitors in the last financial year.

Mr Albanese said the development was a heartfelt sign of respect for those who have served country.

"It amounts to an act of profound respect from the nation to all who have served in our name and all who serve now. The fighters for peace, the keepers of peace," Mr Albanese said.

"It honours all who went and all who fell. It honours those who came home, including the many whose hearts never knew peace again."

"It is an act of remembrance that also acknowledges that not every conflict has been supported — and that, too, is part of our hard-won freedom."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-23/parliament-adjourns-for-official-opening-war-memorial-extension/106827948

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>>24692356

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Ben Roberts-Smith decides not to attend War Memorial event unveiling $55m renovation despite Hanson support

BEN PACKHAM - 23 June 2026

Victoria Cross recipient and accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will no longer attend the opening of the Australian War Memorial’s new $550m renovation on Tuesday night.

Mr Roberts-Smith was invited to the event along with the nation’s three other living VC recipients, and had his bail conditions varied last week so he could be there.

But The Australian has confirmed he has pulled out of the event, citing illness.

The former SAS corporal, who is charged with five counts of the war crime of murder, was granted permission to attend the AWM opening after prosecutors conceded it was “highly unlikely” that a certain potential Crown witness would be present.

Earlier, Defence Minister Richard Marles defended the invitation to Mr Roberts-Smith, saying the AWM was “the most sacred building in our country” and it was “absolutely appropriate” that the country’s war heroes attended.

“There is a presumption of innocence in this country and Ben Roberts-Smith is a recipient of the Victoria Cross, and the Victoria Cross recipients have been invited to this, which is appropriate and so I am comfortable about that,” Mr Marles said.

Mr Roberts-Smith has consistently denied all wrongdoing in regard to the allegations against him.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson – one of the former SAS corporal’s most vocal backers – also supported his right to attend.

“Why shouldn’t he?” she said. “I’ll be going, and I am hoping to actually catch up with him, say hello to him, give him my support.”

The extension to the AWM, delivering an 80 per cent increase to its exhibition space, was controversial when it was first announced by former prime minister Scott Morrison due to its high cost.

But the Prime Minister said the new sections of the building were “sublime and powerful” additions to the national shrine.

“It amounts to an act of profound respect from the nation to all who have served in our name, and all who serve now – the fighters for peace, the keepers of peace,” he said.

“It honours all who went and all who fell. It honours those who came home, including the many whose hearts never knew peace again.”

The new AWM’s new Anzac Hall features a soaring roofline which takes inspiration from the iconic Rising Sun badge worn by the Australian Army.

AWM director Matt Anderson said the memorial’s mission was unlike that of any other cultural institution.

“We have a unique and enduring purpose and are three things at once — a shrine, an archive, and a museum,” he said.

“This allows us to explore more deeply each of the stories entrusted to us. These are not static, they evolve, while paying tribute to the facts of the past. That is how we help our visitors to understand the causes, conduct and consequences of conflict.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/ben-robertssmith-decies-not-to-attend-war-memorial-event-unveiling-55m-renovation-despite-hanson-support/news-story/fa50b6cf6cd9195bfb3e63530bdd0c98